The Labor enquirer., 1884-11-15

the due desires OF other people, since
you will soon find when You get TO know
q work of Art, that slavish work is nm
desirable. 81. s
| And here furthermore is at least q
i little sign whereby to distinguish be-
tween a rag Of fashion and work Of
4 Art as the toys of fashion when the gloss
, is worn off them do become obviously
worthless even to the frivolous-a work
of Art, be it never so humble, is long
lived we never tire Of 1t; as long as 2
scrap hangs together it is valuable and
instructive TO each new generation. All
works of Art in short have the property
i of becoming venerable amidst decay ;
and reason good, for from the first there
was soul in them, the thought of man,
| which will be visible in them so long as
| the body exists in which they were i'm
planted.
/ And that last sentence brings me to
considering the other side of the neces-
sity for labor only occupying itself in
making goods that are worth making
Hitherto we have been thinking of it
only from the users point of view p; even
so looked at it was surely important
enough yet from the other side-as to
the producer-it is far more imp ortant
STILL .vr
For say again that in buying these
things
1 "'Tis the lives of men you buy!"
Will you from mere folly and thought
lesssness make yourselves partakers of
the guilt of those who compel their fel-
low men to labor uselessly?
For when said 1t was necessary for all
things made to be worth making, l set
up that claim chiefly on behalf of Labor;
since the waste of making useless things
grieves the workman doubly. AS part
of the public he is forced into buying
them, and the more part of his misera-
Bile wages are squeezed out of him by 40
universal kind of truck system; as one
of the producers he is forced into making
them, and 80 into losing the very foun-
dations of that pleasure III daily work
which claim as his. birthright; he is
compelled to labor joylessly at making
the poison which the truck system COM
pels him to buy. So that the huge mass
of men who are compelled bv folly and
greed to make harmful and useless things
are sacrificed to society say that this
would be terrible and uncomfortable even
though they were sacrificed to the good
of society if that were possible but if
they are sacrificed not for the welfare of
society but for its whims, to add to its
degradation, what do luxury and fashion
look like then? On one side ru1nous
and weariso me waste leading through
corruption to corruption on to complete
cynicism at last, and the disintegration
of all society and on the other side i'm
placable oppression destructive Of all
pleasure and hope in life, and leading
whitherward ?
Here then is one thing for US of the
middle classes to do before We can clear
the ground for the new birth of Art, be-
fore we can clear our own consciences of
the guilt of enslaving men by their labor.
One thing and if we could do it perhaps
that one thing would be enough, and all
other healthy changes would follow it
but can we do it? Can we escape from
the corruption of society which threatens
US? Can the middle classes regenerate
themselves?
At first sight one would say that
body of people so powerful, who have
built up the gigantic edfce of modern
commerce, whose science, invention and
energy have subdued the forces of nature
to serve their every day purposes, and
who guide the organization that keeps
these natural powers in subsection in a
way almost miraculous at first sight one
would say surely such a mighty mass of
wealthy men could do anything they
please.
And vet doubt it their own creation,
the Commerce they are so proud of, has
become their master and all we of the
well-to-do classes-some of us with tri-
umphant glee, some with dull satisfac
ton, and some with sadness of heart-
are compelled to admit not that Com
merce was made for man, but that man
was made for Commerce.
On all sides We are forced to admit it..
There are of the English middle-class to-
day, for instance, men of the highest as
pirations towards. Art, and of the strong
est will ; men who are most deeply con-
vinced of the necessity to civilization of
surrounding men's lives with beauty !;
and many lesser men, thousands for what
| know, refined and cultivated follow
them and praise their opinions; but both
the leaders and the lead are incapable of
saving so much as half dozen commons
from the grasp of inexorable Commerce;
they are as helpless in spite of their cul-
ture and their genius as if they were Just
80 many over worked shoemakers less
lucky than King Midas our green fields
and clear waters, nav, the very air we
breathe are turned not to gold (Which
might please some of us for an hour may
be) but to dirt; and to speak plainly we
| l.or, f,l1 ,uall tbot rpdarr tho Dresant