The Labor enquirer., 1884-01-12
SOCIALISM, !!
Equal Pay for Equal Time and
Service--Equalit Of
Woman.
He Who Makes the Canvas as Use
full as He Who Paints the
Picture.
Woman Must be Financially Free
and Independent Of
Man.

Evolution or Revolution.
EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL TIME AND SERVICE
Believing, as we do, in the democratic
principle that all men are born free and
equal, it follows that we should hold, as
the nearest approach to absolute justice,
that all men should have equal opportu-
mites, conditions and incentives for the
, achievement of the greatest happiness
and highest possible Development, and,
therefore, equal pay for equal time and
service.
{ I'VE hold that the man who prevents
disease by the cleansing IF sewers or
other sanitary labors, is as useful mem
Der of society as the man who cures dis
ease after it has been contracted.
That the man who builds house is as
useful as he who designs or decorates it
That he who makes coat is as useful
as he who sells or wears it.
That he who produces wealth is as use
full as the man who protects or monopo-
Lies it, perhaps little more SOY.
That he who prints book or binds it
is as useful as he who writes it.
That he who makes the canvas or
makes the pigments is as useful as he
who paints the picture.
Bear in mind, that If one class of men
have not so much skill, education or in
telligence as the other, that they tthe
producers) had to support, educate and
developithe other class in comparative
idleness while they were learning their
professions, hence society. having con-
ferred these opportunities and benefits on
them, should have their best skill and
service, for the price paid, to those who
were all the time doing useful and active
service. = I'D
In civilized society, every man is de-
pendent upon the labor of thousand
others, and each generation is indebted
for its store of material wealth, knowl-
edge and intelligenceto every generation
that has preceded it. -t--,-. ~.
independence is bsolutely impossible.
A self-made man is an sbsurdity, and a
self-taught man never existed.
If you were to start off entirely naked
to the woods, carrying nothing with you
but resolve to wrest from nature food
and shelter, unaided and alone, even
then you would be debtor to the race
for your intelligence, and to the present
generation for your support until able to
provide for yourself. p.
All useful members of society are
equally useful and necessary, why, there
fore, should the reward of one be so
much greater than that of the other :?
But the climax of the absurdity is
reached, when those who perform the
easiest work the least work, or no work
whatever-receive the largest remuper-
alton and the highest honors.
If all men received equal pay for
equal time and service, each would fol-
low that occupation for which his tastes
and education best fitted him, and not,
as now, the most remunerative, regard
less of any adaptabilitY or natural or
acquired fitness.
As a general rule, by the present sys-
tenn, we have square postsin round holes
IN
Under the Social state all schools, col
leges, institutions of art and mechanics
would be open and free to every citizen
regardless of age, color, class or condi-
ton, and the best possible facilities af-
forded each person to acquire thorough
theoretical and practical knowledge OF
any trade or profession he might select,
without any pecuniary or other expense
to either himself, his parents or friends
then he would not have an excuse to
charge compound interest on the outlay
for his education and professionalism
ing that he had spent so much time and
money, besides undergoing various pri-
vations, hardships and self-denial to &C.
quire lucrative and respectable calling,
and that, having incurred all this, he
was justified in charging more for his
services than hod-carrier or sand
shoveller. ....-
Why should the surgeon charge 800
for cutting off the leg of mechanic,
whilst the same mechanic, for making
the instrument the surgeon used, got
only two or three dollars per dav for an
expenditure of ten times the time and
muscular energy, with one-fiftieth of the
pay that the doctor receivedP
Again, Why should he charge the
printer the boekbinder, the schoolmas
ter, the same amount, when without theil
services he could not have learned his
profession2 Again 1.-THE mechanic could
not have made the instruments, or the
printer, bookbinder or teacher done
their share but for the coal and iron
miner, the farmer, the tanner, the miller
the butcher, the cook, ETC., etc.
Even among the hardest and most use.
ful workers there is caste and an aristoc.
racy of labor.
The mechanic thinks himself supe-
rior being to hod-Arrier or shoveller
and the insignificant thing behind the