The Labor enquirer., 1883-10-13
The Worlds Master Intellect
Speaks Out Upon. the T
Labor Question.
Bold Words that Smite as Swords
Translated for San Fran
cisco Truth.
Wise Counsel Addressed to Rich
and Poor by the Great
Proletarian.

am asked what has been the lesson
of my life, what haYe l learned in my
years of living to bequeath as my most
precious legacy to humanity. l reply
that my soul has two messages of coun-
sell of promise and threat, to deliver.
One to the rich, the other to the poor.
The two contain the sum of human
wisdom.
TO THE RICH.r
The poor cry out to the wealthy The
slaves implore their rulers. And as
much now as in the days of Spartan
Helots. am one,of them and l add my
voice, TO that of the multitude that it may
reach the ears of the rich. Who am L?
One of the people. From whence come
I? From the bottomless pit. How am l
named? am Wretchedness. Ny lords,
have something to say to you.
My lords, you are placed high. You
have power, opulence, pleasure, the sun
immovable at your zenith, unlimited
authority, enjoyment undivided, total
forgetfulness of others. So be it. But
there is something below you. Above
you, perhaps. My lords, impart to you
novelty. The human race exists.
am he who comes from the depths
My lords, you are the great and the rich.
That is perlous You take advantage of
the night But have a care; there is a
greater power, the morning. The dawn
cannot be vanquished. 1t will come. 1t
comes. 1t has withinit the outbreak Of
irresistible day.
You, you are the dark clouds of privi-
lege. Be afraid. The true master is
about to knock at the door.
What is the father of Privilege 4?
Chance. What is his son? Abuse
Neither chance nor abuse is enduring.
They have, both Of them, an evil tomor-
row.
come to warn you. l come to de-
nounce to you your own bliss. 1t is made
out of the ills of the others. Your para
disc is made out of the hell of the poor.
l come to open before you, the wealthy,
the grand assizes of the pOOr-that SOW
ereign who is the slave, that convict who
is the Judge. l am bow ed down under
what have to say. Where to begin? |
know not. have picked up in the cruel
experience Of suffering, my vast though
struggling pleas. Now, what shall | do
with them? They overwhelm me, and
throw them forth, pellmell before me.
am diver and bring up from the
depths pearl, the Truth. | speak be-
cause l know have experienced. l
have seen. Suffering? No, the word is
weak, 0, masters in bliss. Poverty-l
have grown up in it; famine have
tasted it; winter-I have shIvered in it;
scorn-I have undergone it; the plague
I have had it; shame-I have drunk
of it.
felt it requisite that should come
among you. Why? Because Of my yes
terday's rags. 1t was in order that my
voice might be raised among the satlated,
that God commingled me with the hun
gered. Oh, have pity. Oh, you know not
this fatal world, whereto you believe
that you belong. So high, you are out
side of it. l will tell you what 1t is.
Abandoned an orphan, alone in bound
less creation, made my entry into this
gloom that you call society. The first
thing l saw was law, under the form OF
a gibbet the second was wealth-lt IS
your wealth-under the form of a wo-
man dead of cold and hunger; the third
gadvnxury under the shape of hunted
(ThA chained 70 prison walls; the fourth
.kkntly your palaces beneath the shadow OF
which covered the tramp.
The human race has been made by YOU
slaves and conyicts. You have made of
this earth dungeon. Light is wanting,
air is wanting, virtue is wanting.
The workers of this world, whose
fruits you enjoy, live in death. There
are little girls who begin at eight by pros
titution, and who end at twenty by old
age. Who among you have been to New
castle-on-Tyne There are men IN the
mines who chew coal, to fill the stomach
and cheat hunger. Look you in Lanca-
shire. Misery everywhere. Are you
aware that the Harlech fishermen eat
grass when the fishery fails ? Are you
aware that at Burton-Lazers there are
still certain lepers driven into the woods
who are fired at if they come out of their
dens? In Peckridge there are no beds
in the novels, and holes are dug in the
ground for little children to sleep in; so
that in the place of beginning with the
cradle, they begin with the tomb.
Mercy, have mercy for the poor2 Oh,
1 conjure you, have pity! But, no, you
will not. know ye all. Devils bred in
hell and dogs with hearts of stone. Up
wards to your golden thrones for ages
has gone the cry of misery, the groan OF
hunger and thu sob of despair, and We
needed not. What mercy thou has given
shall be meted out to you in turn,
Bear in mind that the series OF Kings