The Labor enquirer., 1884-02-16
How Dement, Proposes to Cor
rect Present Evils and
Insure
Justiee to All in the Future, With
out Resorting to Bloody
Revolution.
Can a Congressman be Found to
Introduce and Champion
the Bills2
Workers and Idlers.

Lu6 DlllSf
Workers and Idlers.
E. VI.
1t becomes. then, necessary to consider
whether a man who is possessed of prop
ertY or money should be permitted to
rent or loan the same for consideration
and whether society has right to re-
strain him in order to preserve itself. In
other words, whether money should be
permitted to earn money; whether the
man who owes to society his due proper
tion of the labor necessary to sustain it,
may refuse to work, and may compel
others to do his work ; whether he may
receive the necessaries and luxuries OF
life which have been produced by
others, without giving to society proper
return therefor. .Ei
The only right which man can NOR.
ally or naturally have in property is that
which Is due him for having produced or
earned it. And the question arises
What is proper and complete reward
for labor? If a man shall do days
labor, to what is he entitled? And what
would be full pay for his labor? Clearly
he is entitled to the possession, use and
enjoyment of that which he has pro-
duced !; and nothing more and nothing
less. Or he may exchange his product,
or portion of it, for an equal amount
of the product of another mans labor
or, he may sell his product or a protion
of it, and receive money instead, which
he may more conveniently keep; and he
may exchange the money, as he may de-
sire, for the proper amount of the pro-
duct of the labor of others. The money
is not value; it is simply certificate
that the bearer has contributed to soci-
ETY. the product of so much labor, and is
entitled on demand to an equal amount
of product of labor. And these privi-
leges constitute complete reward for
labor. So that if man shall by labor
have produced value or property, and is
given the right to enjoy it OF exchange
it, or keep it for sickness or old age, he
can ask no more of society.
And if he shall claim the further right
to lease his property or lend his money,
for rent or interest, society may deny
him that right, if it be found that ii
tends to make one man the slave of an
other; to give one class immense riches
and another class great misery to SUBJ
vert the objects of free government and
destroy the strength and unity of society
VII.
1t has, however, been argued that rent
and interest are just and proper. And
some authors of works on political econ
omy have written long chapters to show
that while rent and interest, as whole,
produced bad results, there was yet a
distinction to be made between certain
portions-one portion being proper and
just and the other spurious and unjust.
1t would seem that these writers realized
the evil without understanding the
cause and, having based their argu-
ments upon error, they were led into a
labyrinth from which their reason could
not rescue them; and the science of po-
litical economy has thus been left in a
most unsatisfactory and incomprehensi-
bic state. When, if proper basis be
found, the science would be simple
enough for truth is simplicity itself
Let us then see where the difficulty
really lies. If one man shall loan an
other 500 for month, the borrower is
certainly under some obligation for the
accommodation. This obligation may
remain until the lender shall borrow
500 for month of the former borrower.
Supposing both loans to be promptly
paid, each party would have granted and
received favor, and the account would
in all respects be squared and settled.
But it often happens that the man
who borrows is not always able to return
the favor in kind and it also often hap
pens that the lender does not require a
loan in return. In such case, the usual
way to discharge the obligation which
the borrower is under is for him to give
to the lender bonus as interest on the
money. As business transaction, the
whole thing would seem equitable
enough, provided the interest be not ex-
cessiye; yet right in this little germ lies
all the virus which poisons the whole
social system. Neighborly kindnesses
make men better; but when borrowing
becomes habit, and lending becomes a
business, society has started in the we'll
beaten path which leads to poverty and
servitude on the one hand, and riches
and power on the other.
When a man wants something which
he has not, the proper course is for him
to make the thing which he wants, or
make something which he can exchange
for that which he wants. In other