The Labor enquirer., 1884-06-14
BEAST OF PROPERTY
The Curse of the World Which
Defeats the, Peoples
Emancipation.
Total Annihilation Proposed, by John
Most, as the Only Infallible
Remedy.

| oCeop VI .iiopClIJ w O 6CiCSi duulCuCC
in East Turner hall. This was the frs
time Mr.. Most ever delivered an even
ing's lecture in the English language, and
the verbatim report which follows is the
first time this lecture has ever beer
printed in English. .- s..----,-- g.
After the introduction, Mr.. Most said
"Among beasts of prey man is GER
tainly the worst" This expression, very
commonly made nowadays, is only rela,
lively true. Not man as such, but man
in connection with wealth is a beast Of
prey. The richer man, the greater his
greed for more. We may call such mon
ster the "beast of property ;"it now rules
the world, makes mankind misers BILE,
and gains in cruelty and voracity with
the progress of our so-called "civillza-
tion.' This monster we will in the fol-
lowing characterize and recommend to
determination.
Look about vel In every so-called
"civilizedT country there are among
every 100 men about 95 more or less des-
titute and about five monev-bags.
1t is unnecessary to trace all the sneak
ing ways by which the latter have gained
their possessions. The fact that they
own ALL, while the others exist, or
rather vegetate merely, admits OF mo
doubt, that these few have grown rich at
the cost of the many.
Either by direct brute force, by cum
ming, or by fraud, this horde has from
time to time seized the soil with all it's
wealth. The laws of inheritance and
entail, and the changing of hands, have
lent venerable" color to this robbery,
and consequently mystifed and erased
the true character of such actions. For
this reason the "beast of property" is not
yet fully recognized, but is, on the con-:
trary, worshiped with holy awe.
And yet, all who do not belong to this
class are its victims. Every offspring of
non-possessor (poor mani finds every
nook and corner of the earth occupied
at his entrance into the world. There is
nothing which is ''lordless." Without
labor nothing is produced; and in order
to labor, there are required not only
ability and will, but also room to work,
tools, raw materials and means of susie
nance. The poor man must, therefore,
by force of necessity, apply to those who
possess these things in plenty. And, be-
hold the rich give him permission to
continue his existence. But IN return
for this he must divest himself of his
skill and power. These qualities hence
forth his pretended "saviors" use for
themselves. They place him under the
yoke of labor-they force him to the ut
most of his mental and physicalabilities
to produce new treasures, which how
ever he is hot entitled to own. Should
he desire to deliberate long before max
ing so unequal contract, his growing
stomach will soon convince him that the
poor man has no time for that, for there
are millions in the same position as
himself and he will risk that, while de-
liberating, hundreds of others will ap-
ply-his chance is gone and he again be
at the mercy of the winds.
1t is the lash of hunger which compels
the poor man to submit. In order to
live he MUST sELL-"voLUNTARILY" SELL
HIMSELF every day and hour to the "beast
of property"
The bygone times, when the ruling
classes, on their slave-hunting raids,
threw their victims in chains and forced
them to work, of which the rulers had
all the beneft-the times when chris
tian-germanic robbers stole entire coun-
tries, deprived the inhabitants of the
soil, and pressed them to feudal service,
were indeed terrible enough, but the
climax of infamy has been reached by
our present Flaw and order" system, for
it has defrauded more than nine-tenths
of mankind of their means of existence,
reduced them to dependence upon an
insignificant minority, and condemned
them to self-sacrifce. At the same time
it has so disguised this relation with all
sorts of jugglery that the thralls of
to-day-the wage slaves-but partially
recognize their serfdom and outlawed
position, they rather incline to ascribe
it to the caprices of fortune.
To perpetuate this state of affairs is
the only aim of the prominent" classes.
Though not always united amongst
themselves-one seeking to gain advan-
tage over the other by tricks of trade,
cunning in speculation and divers machi-
nations of competition in opposl-
ton to the proletariat they stand in one
united hostile phalanx. Their political
ideal is, therefore-in spite of all liberal
phrases most powerful, centralized
and brutal beadle government.
If the poor man, who is momentarialy
unable to sell himself toTan exploiter OF
labor ,orisalready fayed to complete help
lessness by the ''beast of.property," has
recourse to begging then the glutted
bourgeois terms it Yagrancy, and calls
for police; he demands pillory and prison
for the poor devil who refuses to starve
between mountains of food.
Should the unemployed apply little
of the much vaunted selEhelp, that is
49,