The Labor enquirer., 1884-01-19

food less exciting, walks in the fresh air,
calm Of mind and . little gymnastics in
her room to somewhat take the place Of
productive labor.
One woman is dying because all her
lire she has not had enough to eat, nor
enough sleep nor rest, the other is Lam
gushing because all her life she has
never known what it is to work.
If you are one Of those soft natures
that at the sight of the most revolving
things solace themselves with light
sigh and chop, then these contrasts will
teach you, with the help of your own
brutal nature, to entrench yourselves in
the ranks of the fortunate that you may
never be found among the wretched.
But if you are man, if every feeling in
you resolves itself into will, if the beast
in you has not destroyed your intelli-
gence, you will some day say to your
self. "No, it is unjust, things ought not
to go on 80. It is no use trying to cure
diseases. The thing is to prevent them.
A little comfort and intellectual develop
ment would clear off our lists half the
sick and half tho diseases. To the devil
with the drugs. Fresh air, nourishment
and work less brutifying is what we must
begin with; without that, all our profes-
sion of medicine is a pretense and a
cheat"
I The day you say that, you will under
stand Socialism. You will want to un-
derstand it still more, aud if unselfsh-
ness is not for you meaningless word,
if.you apply to the study of the social
question the severe induction of the
naturalist, you will finish by joining our
ranks and you will work like us to bring
about the Social Revolution.
But perhaps you will say, ITO the
devil with the practice; like the astrono-
mer, like the chemist, we will devote
ourselves to pure science, that will always
yield fruit, if but for future generations" I"
Let us understand, first of all, what it
is you will seek in science: Will it be
simply the pleasure certainly, immense
which the study of the mysteries of
nature and the exercise of our intel
lectual faculties always yield? In that
case / ask you how the sayant who
studies science to pass his life agreeably,
differs from the drunkard who also only
seeks pleasure and finds it in drink. The
sayant has certainly better chosen the
source of his pleasures since those it
Yields him are the most intense and the
most durable, but that is all. The
drunkard and the savant alike have but
the same selfish end: personal enjoy
ment. .t.rfE ..+ .
But no, you do not desire this selfish
life. In pursuing science you mean to
work for humanity. tits this idea which
guides you in your search.
Beautiful illusion! And who of us has
not entertained it awhile when he first
gave himself to science.
Buff you really dream of humanity.
If it is her you see in your studies a
formidable objection will present itself
before you, for if you have ever so little
intelligence you will notice at once in
the present order of society, science is
but an object of luxury which serves to
render the lives of few persons more
pleasant, but which is absolutely mac
cessable to almost the entire human
race. Il III. H -. ~
, In fact, it is more than century since
science established sound cosmogonlc
notions, but how MANY people are &C.
ouainted with them or have ACQUIRED a
spirit of investigation really scientiticf
Hardly couple of thousands who are
lost in the midst of hundreds of millions
having ~prejudices and superstitlons
worthy of barbarism and consequently
exposed to become the puppets OF re-
ligious imposters. n
Glance only at what science has done
to elaborate the rational basis of physical
and moral hygiene. 1t tells how we
must live to keep the health OF our
bodies and to maintain in good condition
our agglomerations of population, it in
dicated the way Of intellectual and moral
happiness. But does not the immense
work accomplished in these two lines
lie in a state of dead letter in our bookst
And why2 Because science to-day is
only for handfulsof privileged persons
Because the social inequality which di,
vides society into two classes, capitalists
and wage-workers, makes all directions
how to live a rational life sound like
raillery to nine-tenths of the human
race. .
I could cite still more examples but
refrain. Only go beyond Fausts story
where the windows black with dust
hardly let the light of day fall on the
books, and at each .step you take In any
direction, you will find for yourself new
proofs of this idea. .-
The thing is not now to accumulate
scientific truths, to make more scientific
discoveries. What is needed first OF al
is to spread the truths already acquired
and make them enter the life of ths
people to form common domain. Wha
is needed is that all humanity become
capable of assimilating and applying
them. What Is needed is that science
caasa tn he a .luyury for the few, anC