The examiner., 1886-03-20
ADVANCED IDEAS OF LABOR.

One Of the striking features Of the labor struggle of the present day is progressive thought. The period of direct action and immediate results is passing away. Physical force is giving way t3 mental, brain is supplanting muscle, and as a
 result, indirect methods and remote results
 are valued higher than bluster, strike and perhaps the gain of a temporary ben eft. The causes, the primary causes, of the evils to man and estate, which we see about us, and permanent remedies are sought. This is result of the producers as class rising 10 higher plain of in- telligence. The old theory that the man. ufacturer sets aside two funds, one for wages and machinery and stock, is ex- pT0deu. Uuuer-JiI JIIe0Ty, yet taught in our colleges, all wealth was
 the result of capital and labor. Land, air,
 light, heat and water, together with all surplus products of labor, were treated as capital. In man, who possessed all these
 or the greater portion of them, represent
 ed capital, and the laborer, who was not in
 the possession of this so-caIled capital,
 could not work or maintain himself unless
 this so-cailed capital employed him.
 The promulgation of this erroneous
 riers now existing in the world, of pro-
 tective industry against the producer and
 for the protection of the monopolist. As
 this baseless invention of monopoly to.
 deceive the people disappears. the ques-
 tion of the day come up for discussion on
 their merits
 The toiling millions of earth, forced by
 necessity, have broken down this fiction
 and proclaimed the truth. They have ig-
 nored the teachings of the sophists and
 asked the question, What are the natural
 rights of man ?'' The answer is found in
 the Declaration of Independence where it
 says: All men are born with certain in-
 alienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
 These are rights that cannot be abridged
 under the constitution. The government can tax the citizen for extending him pro- tection in the enjoyment of these rights; this and nothing more. The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happi- ness, carries with it the right to land, air, light heat and water. With the use of these man can live and without them he must die, and that quickly, too.
 Now, the man who owes these five es- sentials of human existence, can deny other men their use-to The extent of his ownership in them. I certainly have right, to the exclusion of all others, to the i ground am occupying, the air am breathing, the sunlight that shines on me, heat that warns me and the water am 1 drinking. While these are my undoubted | natural rights, have I a right to exclude | others from the enjoyment of the land, air, light, heat, and water, that I am not | answer, yes; I have natural right to | liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and | if it affords me happiness to own half a million acres of land, and use it to the exclusion of all others, ought to have | the liberty to do it." The admission that | man has any such right or liberty as the IS the first step in the violation of the constitution of our land and the natural rights of man. The true doctrine is that all men are born equal in their natural right to life, liberty and the pur- suit of happiness until he commences exercising these natural rights in such a manner as to interfere with the natural rights of others.
 The construction of this great natural law is recognized and enforced in every way except one. In every age and nation the few. by common consent, have denied to the many their natural right to land. air, light, heat and water. By this one means more than all others the many have been impoverished by the few.
 Since labor has commenced to think and seek causes as we'll as fight with effects, ,he enormity of this evil has been partially appreciated. This question should be studied by every labor organization in all its phases. The exclusion from the land, ,he natural opportunity to live, the source rom which all the essentials of existence must be drawn, will be found to be at the bottom of all labor troubles. Ex.