The Labor enquirer., 1885-03-07

ltls the only wofkiug- tool placed by M
ture iu the hande of man, should be SUR
fered TO become individual property.
All experience consinces ps that the gre
garious instincts implanted in mankind,
are. and are meant TO be. bis guide Of
conduct All experiences points 70 the
fact that united action is far more pow
erf1l than individual effort. therefore
We hold that We were meant by nature
to use the land. our only working tool,
in common, cultivating and developing
its resources By concerted effort for the
benefit Of all. This is but another form
of expressing the common belief that
since by the soil only can man live, to
deprive any human being Of his share in
that soil is to decree his death.
Against individual property in land
Therefore We unrelentingly war.
Thirdly, we maintain that all the in
struments Of production. such % machln-
erv and the like, should be held IN com-
mon to be used for the public good, since
al production should be for the benefit
Of society at large, and since, such in
struments being made out Of the mate
rial supplied 70 us by Nature, which ls
the joint property Of ell mankind, 90
ciety alone has the title 70 them, the In
Idiyidual receiving bis just due in being
irewarded by society according to the
time and labor he ha spent in fashion,
ing them.
Such are the cardinal principles Of
Scientific Socialism, based upon study
of the workings of nature herself, and,
placing itself in accord with those rela-
tlons of man to man, as dictated by
nature, which we term justice. We hold
that it Is the dutyof each to work for
the good, not of himself alone, but of all,
and that it is the corresponding duty of
society. of all, to see to it that each re-
ceives reward in proportion to his labor.
We believe in CO operation and not COM
petition. We preach of duties as well as
of rights, holding that it is the duty of
each to act as shall be best for all, and
that it Is the right of each to compel
society in its united action to study and
| further his individual welfare. That is
Itrue freedom, actual liberty, to be at no
mans beck and call, but to be free to do
| whatever is best for the united, and
therefore for our own personal prosper
| ity. This is true equality, when each
shall be required to.do his general work,
and each rewarded in proportion to his
work. This is true fraternlty, where
each is busy for the good of all, and all
are anxious for the good of each. These
are the principles which the Inter
national processes in every country ;
these are the principles which it is
pledged to carry into actual practice.
We have but little more to add and it
1 is this. You, who have taken pains to
read thus far, may be probably saying to
yourselves, "This all sounds well enough
| in theory, butitnever can be carried into
practice" A cowardly remark which
Itself accounts for our degraded condi-
tion as class. 1t is because those who
new rule us have in the past been solid
in their determination that, come what
may, they must and will succeed, that
they now are in the seats Of power.
while we are trampled under foot. The
advice. that all business men give to
/ those who are ambitious to rise, viz,
that energy intelligently directed will
accomplish almost anything, applies pre-
ciseiy to us. Individually We, with only
our brains and muscle to rely upon,
4 cannot hope to contend with the re-
sources which civilization has placed, at
the command of the Vanderbilts and
Crockers who now rule the world. Nor
as a class can we, the disinherited-we
from. whom that earth, on and by which
alone we can live, has been in direct
disregard of Natures plainest law, stolen
by force and fraud-hope by strikes, and
the mere abstaining from work, to gain
other than the briefest and most tempo
rary advantage. This every thinker
at once admits; this the working
classes, when they begiu to think, will
also unanimously, admit. Nevertheless,
though isolated, individual action will
accomplish nothing; and though united
action as a class, if directed toward the
promotion of strikes as the panacea for
all our ills, will accomplish nothing ;
united action if directed, consistently
and untiringly, toward the overthrow Of
the fundamental wrongs, from which
arise all the injustice, and robberies OF
our present system, will nevitably insure
success. This is the only course of action
worth moving finger to assist; united
solid action by all workers, regardless OF
caste, nationality and creed, standing as
/ man by man, shoulder to shoulder, for
i the overthrow of the gross injustice
which lies at the root of our entire social
system. That glaring injustice, that sin
against God and man, is the usurpation
by individuals for private use of what
Nature has meant for the use of all man
( kind. Recognizing that by the earth
alone can man live, and seeing therein,
as natural sequence, that mother earth
was meant for one and all; we proclaim