New-York tribune., 1883-12-10
POLITICAL ECONOMY FROM FELIx Adler
THE PARTNERSHIP WITH HUMANITY-A LECTURE
BEFORE THE ETHICAL SOCIETY.

THE PARTNERSHIP WITH HUMANITY-A LECTURE
BEFORE THE ETHICAL SOCIETY.
Felix Adler spoke before the Society for
Ethical Culture at Cbickering Hall yesterday tho ue o
HIS address being "The Sacreduess or Property EN
amned." While condemning the present system he did
not present n remedy.
sveIy exercised than Is at the present day. said the
speaker. yet there never has been time In the history
bOdness l. for one have denounced many times
the onesdedness OF civilization. which gives great
prizes 10 few and leaves the many IN want No phase
In human life illustrates more clearly the old axiom, TO
him that hath shall be given and from him that hath not
shall be taken that he hath The few get ALL the
many meet only with disappointment and deprivation.
The command thou shalt not steal seems 10 nave lost
some of s force The poor nirh infer that nc had the
right seize OF the wealth boarded not beyond MS
reach But such an inference woa De %
even OF the most Taspng iser have been gathered not
,rIL T on0 n,eais in;nres ali Ills companons i'm want
Most the systems that have been advocated in modern
times remedies for the evil IN the existing state Of
thngs are in my opinion untenabe The sO-cacd Occu
patton theory the worst OF ALL Is rational To say that
those who have first settled upon land have the exclusive
right TO It's pOssessiOn Suppose band OF travellers in
the Arctic regions Of whOm ahead Of the rs have
found store OF provisions Can think that these ad
vance guards have the right 10 the food to the exclusion
of their comrades. No single set OF men, no single gen
Grafton has rights Of property the exclusion of other
There Is another theory which bases the right OF
property labor. As IL is sometimes roughly stated 1t Is
THAT which Is the product Of my labor IL my own and
can do what please with my own But Is there any
product OF my labor that is my OVID III tns exclusive
sense II and another man build house cannot say
house is entirely Well, no man under
takes any business alone. Hc has always partner and
that partner Is humanity In the institutions that have
made the what he a. In the heritage Of tradition and
discovery that constitutes his skill, I'm civilization that
secures to him such freedom as he humanity comes
10 him and says, Part Of what you have is mine Put
the bOastful captains of Industry alone desert
island, without aid without appliances and they could
accomplish nothing. host OF dead men. rise mp
behind the OF to-day and TO them, What you ca
the result OF your work Is the result OF work.
We are your silent partners. Not only are the
dead the partners Of the successful man; but
IL will found that he always has initial advantage
his fellow He had fertile soil to till while
barren cliffs Is merit In that he should be rich
because gold mine discovered In the land which
held No say that his the result OF
labor n were, why should the Chicago grain
speculaOr be Weather than tile farmer who raises the
grain Why should the spcculaOr In stocks bo much
richer than the engineer who lays ont the road the
Italian abOrer who builds III The labor in the one case
quality. When II comes 10 that the labor of tho highest
quality, that OF the scientist the man OF
letters, the man OF genius u the most
poorly paid OF ALL 10 Is the specuatOrs shrcwdncss
that wins the prize for him. The highest kind OF
work goes unrewaIded while prizes are daily drawn by
ignoble minds in The lottery Of the world.
One faaCy, which il the outcome OF tho
that do what nc will with his Own is that ex-
travaRance and luxury Ouly to be limited by the nd
yidual income. man Is condemned, by the mddle-cass
mOralists who spends more than he afford The
should also be condemned who spends than he has
the moral right 10 spend There Is difference between
what a afford TO do pecuniarily and what he
can afford to do morally. man, no matter what his
wealth, has right to be merely luxurious, and he can
afford TO be 30, In view Of the evil example which
sets. the peril OF such O his family and The
robbery which he Ia guilty OF against the poor"