The Labor enquirer., 1885-02-07

|
Al lppeaa IA u sssns WssId
sink % ~ - nssst 81
desa 81 Ns.s1
This grand 81 ~ printed in TN
lEKourRER - = yaas ago. but is now
Irepuhlished cnlsrly for the new
readers Of the per. and the large class
which has hui ntiy begun in earnest
to st,.dv sht sGl ccndition Of the
world. But h suld not hurt if such
powerful tiut lsrs read every day in
It Is essy 81 shorf II speaking To-
lyou yovps Is g. 81. sssIas -. -
or have the courage 10 sct according to
your reason. In fact modern Socialism
has sprung from the very depth Of the
working people itself Ifsome thinkers
from the bourgeoise class come to it,
afording 1t the sanction of science and
the support OF philosophy, the base of
the ideas they declared has been, never
theless, the result of the collective mind
of the people. The rational Socialism
of the international, which IS to-day our
best force, has been elaborated in the
worklngmen's organizations, under the
direct influence of the masses. and the
few writer's who have lent their aid TO
the work of elaboration have only prom
ulgated the aspirations which they found
already rife among the workers.
For one sprung from the ranks Of the
working peopiesnot to devote himself to
the triumph of Socialism is to ignore his
own interest, is to deny his own cause,
-f.-a H. Y
and to betrav his historic mission.
You remember still, when you were
mere child, going to play on the streets
of winters day, the cold biting through
your thin clothing and the slush filling
your. worn-out shoes. You see children,
plump and richly dressed. who look at
You with an air 81 disdain. You know
perfectly that those slnck-up brats are
not equal to. you OF your COMPANIONS for
intelligence, good sense or energy. But
later, when you had to be, from five to
six o'clock in the morning, shut up
twelve hours day IN a dirty Workshop,
beside noisy machinery, and machine
yourself follow day by day, year after
year. its merciless movement, while the
others went quietly to study in colleges
in fine schools, in universities And
NOW these came chi ldren, less intelligent.
but better instructed than you, have be-
come your masters. and enjoy all the
pleasures Of life and the advantages
of civilization; and you-what is for
you? Yougo to your little apartment,
dark and damp, where five or six human
beings erovel in the space of few yards
square; where your mother-tired of
life, more aged by cares than years;
gives you, for every meal, bread. potatoes
and black liquid. ironically called cof-
fee; and for seasoning YOU have always
the same question how to pay the
baker, and low to pay the landlord.
And what would you drag out the
same miserable existence as your father
and mother have done for the last thirty
years? To work lifetime to procure
for some all the enjoyments Of we'll
being, of knowledge, of art, and keep for
yourself continual anxiety about the
morsel of bread2 Would you remove
forever all 4 lat makes life beautiful, and
devote yourself to procuring all these
advantages for handful of idlers2
Would younse up your forces in labor.
and have tnly misery when the stop
page-of work arrives? Is it thus you
would have your life?
Not seeing the end Of the situation,
you may resign yourself; you may say
Entire generations. have submitted to
the same fate; and i who cannot change
Il must submit to it also. Then Jet US
WORK, and get along as best We can
swe1f,, then. Life itself will undertake
to enlighten youl
Some day will come the crisis. Not a
transient crisis as formerly, but one kill
ing an entire industry, reducing to
misery many thousands Of workers, and
DESTROYING whole families You will
struggl6 m s,lf5 others in the face Of
this calamity ,;Out BY and by youswill see
that your wife, your child, your friend,
have succumbed gradually to priyations,
and are sinking before your eyes for
want Of food. for want of comfort, and
that they will finish by laying down to
die. Meanwhile life is rolling its bright
wheels in the streets of the great city,
without caring for those who are perish