The Labor enquirer., 1884-10-18

Will yOus WHICH 90 you MINK you
would rather have come Is it not as
plain as : pikestaf that the idlers would
be burden to you, whereas the laborers
would support themselves if you only
gave them a chance7 The idlers will
not work, and all the laborers ask is an
opportunity to work and keep what
they earn. It seems to me that not only
common sense. but that greatest Of all
incentives. self.interest, would lead you
to answer that you would rather haye
the laborers Come.
The United States is Uncle Sans
farm, and is it not better for Uncle Sam
that the laborers come here than the
idlers n
But some will say that there is no1
work enough for the laborers that are
already here. This most emphatically
deny. Until every acre of ground il
the United States is cultivated in the
highest degree until every mine in the
United States is worked sufficiently tc
supply the needs of the people; unit
all the mills are run so as to produce
enough clothing, food and other mill
products tomake all the people comfort
able; until the means of transportation
are run so as to furnish all those who
wish to travel the opportunity of doing
SO, until every comfort and desire of the
people are satisfied, there will be enough
work for everybody who is able to work
The first and necessary thing for us to
tdo tolgiye everyone who wants to work
an opportunity to work, is to deny the
rightlof any individual to control more
of the raw materials that nature gives to
man for the production of wealth than
he himself can use. No individual should
t'be allowed more land than he himself
can use; should not be allowed to own
mines of any kind; should not be al
lowed to control water courses of any
kind. In fact, those things that are not
the product of labor should not belong
to any one Individual more than to an
other. If the equal right of all the re-
sources of nature were recognized and
enforced, we would hear no cry Of
"pauper labors," because that abnormity
could not then exist. But we would
hear cry against pauper idlers and
against idlers OF all kinds There is nc
room for idlers in a society where justice
reigns.
| We have got to outgrow many foolish
notions before we can clearly discern
these truths. -
We'must cease paying homage to those
who have wealth unless that wealth is
the result of the labor of the possessors
We must cease attributing smartness
to man because he has got the title to
vast estates. ...
We must cease considering man great
Just because he is rich. The few are
great only where the multitude is small
We must learn to- consider the laborei
of infinitely more importance than the
idler, no matter how learned and pol.
ished and rich and arrogant the idlel
may be; and no matter how poor~and
ragged and unlearned the laborer may
be. In truth, we,must learn to look up
on the laborer as an honest, upright
man, and benefit to the community
and we must learn to look upon the idlel
as dishonest, unrighteous man, and a
detriment to the community.
We must learn that an idler is either a
thief or beggar, because he cannot live
without consuming wealth, and wealth
can only be produced by labor; and il
therefore NECESSARILY follows, by the fact
of his existence, that he either steals OF
begs that which keeps him alive.
Therefore, my comrades, instead Of
using our energies In agitating for the
prohibition of foreign laborers coming
to this country, let us turn our efforts to
wards abolishing the injustices that are
| practiced upon the laborers of the world
and then the idlers and rulers of the
world will know that our movement
means something, and they will then
take measures to give us our just dues
But so long as they can keep the labor
ers contending with each- other, just sc
long will they feel safe with their plum
der and be the loudest to cry out against
the "pauper labor" of the old world.
The same amount of agitation, on the
land, money and transportation ques
tions that has been indulged in on the
foreign "pauper labor" question, would
have won over to the cause of economic
Justice thousands who are not now
with US.
And, too; this agitation is in the direc
line of arraying the laborers of differen
countries against each other the very
thing that capitalists desire to see and
perpetuate. This agitation, too, gives
the lie direct to our claim that the inter
ests Of the laborers all over the worl(
are alike. And l am sorry to see ever
some of those who claim to be cosmopol
itans, and who hold aloft the glorious
banner of Liberty, Equality and Fra
ternity" engaged in this illogical and alb
stractly unjust warfare. is.
Even though we could prohibit en-
tirely foreigners from coming to thi