The Labor enquirer., 1884-03-15
,o1rrr1lFirc soOIALnG

The following short article from the
pen Of Burnett G. Haskell, editor OF the
Gan FRANCISCO Truth, contains 80 much
that is clean cut and to the point, that |
am constrained to force other matter
aside andEmake room for it in this issue.
/ hope every reader of The ENQUIRER
will carefully read it, and dwell upon the
points it contains:
We Socialists know perfectly well that we
are right. And so do all our enemies. NOT
one among them dares to meet us face TO
face and debate the justice OF our demands
Being unable to answer us they resort 70
back-biting, ridicule, angry denunciation OF
completely ignore our existence.
The most polished logician, the ablest
lawyer, the most deceptive political econo-
mist or all Of them combined, can certainly
| find no answer to statement like this:
The first fundamental principle OF Social
ism is, that every individual is entitled to the
| full product of his own labor. Proof: A
man is the owner Of himself being this, he
is the owner of what that self produces, and
all Of it
The second fundamental principle is that
no man can own what he has not either pro
duced or rendered an equivalent for, to the
man who did produce it. Because since the
right OF possession inheres from the fact OF
creation, the real owner Of property held by
| A, which "a did not produce or render an
equivalent for, is the one who DID produce
| it. For instance, Nature produced the land {;
Nature therefore owns 1t, and Natures
ownership inhibits the ownership OF anyone
| else. ~ #
The third fundamental principle is, that
in things which human beings cannot claim
Ownership individually, there exists only a
common privilege of equal possession for
use of all mankind. For, here no man has
any personal right above any other man, and
all men being, therefore, upon the same
footing, the privilege that they have must
necessarily be equal Were it otherwise
s'rights" would be created without basis OF
Justice. :, .
Upon this scientific foundation we, as prac,
tical Socialists, build a proposed society
which we claim will. by its establishment
secure the willing observance and practice by
all men of the principles quoted, and which
we can demonstrate by Science will, within
one generation, remove from the face OF
earth all poverty, within two generations g
per cent of all crime, and within three,
nearly everyone Of the other evils which now
affiict humanity. :
To bring about this proposed social con,
dition, we need from the working people OF
the world but one thing: that they will hon
estly study this one question, "Why is II
that no matter how hard we labor we are al
ways poorp" And that in studying 1t they
will give US fair hearing. y We ask OF the
honest merchant class, the small traders and
manufacturers, that they on their. part will,
as well, honestly study the question, tsWhy
is it that each year we find it harder and
harder to get along in the world, and why
is it that we see friends all around US contin-
ually being reduced to the ranks OF the
wageworkers ?" And that in seeking an
answer to this vital question they, on their
part will lnot be too bigoted or cowardly to
ask the ideas Of Socialist.
In brief: All we ask to make the world an
Eden within your life time is that you will
be a man and not a thing; that you shall ex-
ercise your jaw less and your brain more;
that you shall BIZ less Of a slave and bigot
and more of sensible, reasoning human
being. Ia
Once the people know what is the matter
with them, and what medicine will cure
their ills, they will easily find way of ad,
minfstering it.,
| II they can't, we will find one for them.