The Labor enquirer., 1884-02-16

with air and water as justly as wha
they do with land.

4 y - =
The air, the water, the land, exist
man had no hand in making them.
They are the first factor in the problem
of maintaing life; but, unused, are
valueless. Labor is the second factor in
this problem, and wealth being what
ever can contribute to the maintenance
of life, or increase its comforts or luxur-
ies-is the result. Before labor there
was no wealth. All wealth comes from
labor, hence belongs to it. Ifthere were
none but equitable exchanges made, all
evidence of labor would remain with It's
producers. But the surplus wealth is
held by those who had no band in its
production, while the producer sees his
fruits added to their aggregations year
after year, and his allowance, in the best
of times, reduced continually nearer the
starvation point; and, in the worst, cut
off altogether. -. ~
If every person had an unrestricted
right to use the elements (under equal
regulations) and should put the right in
practice, everybody would be supplied
with, at least the necessities of life.
| Experience, however, early taught
that it is an economy for people, laboring
in different fields and localities, accord
ing to their soil and climate, and their
general capacities and adaptabilities, to
exchange their products with each
other, rather than for each to attempt to
produce everything he desires. Could
they, living in different localities and
producing different things, have done
their own exchanging, the need for a
non. producing class would never have
arisen. But it was not always convent
ent to pay for clothes in corn nor for the
tailor to receive such pay. !, So here q
need arose for some other than the d.
rect method of exchange. The ingenuity
of man, ever on the alert to serve his
selfshness, invented thing and called
it money, to fill this need. This, while
used for nothing else but this exchange,
performed its functions normally; but
when put to other uses, it became the
Lord of labor.
All exchanges might be effected with
out the use Of money, but not so well ;
not so conveniently; not economically.
1t is, therefore, in strict sense, an eco
nomical convenience for doing what
might be done, but not 30 well, with.
out it.
But now observe how the non-produc-
tive classes rose one after another, to
draw on the producing, and still farther
tax the consuming class.
The use of money made the opportu-
nifty for the modern merchant, His le-
| gitimate functions are the distribute on
of the fruits of labor in the interests of
laborers and consumers, and as their
agent. But from this he degenerates to
speculator on their needs Prostituting
his functions and those of money to sell
fish purposes, he buys from one at the
lowest "a price leaving him no profit
and sells to the other at the highest
price Ia price that exhausts his earn
ings), the difference between the two
remaining in his purse, proft-making
system in which many industrial evils
have originated.
These middlemen were the first abnor-
NAL class. Had they exercised their
normal functions only, they would have
been the allies of laborers, acting as
their agents in exchanging commodities,
and with them shared in the surpluses.
But in the greed for gain, the desire to
dominate, the passion to possess, they
waived their great advantage, and be-
came oppressors began an open war
fare upon producers, which has resulted
in the absorption by the middlemen of
all surplus wealth, leaving labor a bare
subsistence. AS the natural allies of
labor they should have divided the
world into producers and consumers,
[distributors-ED. and this would have
limited the non-productive people to
this class.
But the short-slghted policy of the
middlemen did not stop here even some
of them being successful in speculation
began speculating on the speculators !;
buying large quantities from first hands
(endeavoring to purchase all) and hold
ing to control the market, small dealers
are forced to pay large profits. Here an
other class was introduced to live and
fatten on producers Again, some OF this
class, more shrewd than their associates
in proft-making, gave up the traffic and
made loans to the less fortunate to en-
able them to "bridge over" some fnan-
cial chasm or else to get possession OF
vast quantities of merchandise and
thus the money-lending usurer was born,
the sum paid him as interest, always
being added to the price paid by COLI
sumers, or else deducted from what pro-
ducers should receive. And finally some
of the money-lenders grew rich enough
to cater to the wants of kings. With
money they controlled the destinies Of
nations, and became more powerful than
their royal patrons. All vast aggregates
of wealth have been accumulated from
agriculturists and mechanics through un-
just exchanges, and are the .surpluses