The Labor enquirer., 1886-03-27
GOVERNMENT.

GOVERNMENT.
How 1t Is Defined by Writers From
Different standpoinfs.
For The Enquirer.
A Communistie-Anarchist writes in
the Alarm:
"But the general idea ofState Social
ism in America to-day is not what it
was five years ago. Then. the state was
an organization of everything under
one head, an entirety, a power. 1t owned
everything, received rents, paid wages
in the for1a of labor certificates, and was
the employer of everv person within its
limits. State Socialism to-day seems to
mean a general organization of the differ
ent depart ments of society, with vague
sort of GENERALIZATION somewhere, that
hasn't much to do." l..
State So,aaiisn,, five years ago, was
nothing ofthe sort. The state was not
tol"own e1 erything," for of what value
would the labor certificates be, If they
would purchase no private property !?
The state was not to receive rents" for
State Socialists, in convention resolved {:
"That land, light, air and water, are free
gifts of nature to all mankind" etc., as
part of a Platform that should not be for
gotten by one who was once State So
cialist.
so that the o1,lY difference between
us is, that while We may admit the ne
cessity of school boards, water works,
committees, and bureaus of various
works, we see no use for power, CEN
tralization above all these to which all
the widely different departments must
be subject"
No such Capitalization was ever de.
sired by Socialists. 1t is purely the in
vention oftheir enemies, and indorsed
by our old allies who grew too wise for
us, and discovering the principle of local
option, called it Anarchy and forgot it
was the ch ef feature of State Socialism /;
that election of rules, foremen and man
ayers of local industries by the workers
themselves, was the proposed remedy
for the evil of arbitrary private control
of the same, by capitalists. These local
interests W ere not to be tributary to any
central power, any more than the Chi
cago fire department is tributary to the
United States senate.
The only grounds for this charge of
+ this Capitalization, were. that some in
terests are co,extensive with the area of
country and therefore the manage
ment must be equally extensive. If we
ask for proof of the existence of central
power, from the literature on thesubject,
, we get siferce for an answer. 1t is like
attempting to, prove a doctrine from
scripture without reference to- scripture.
So about the only difference between us
is that the Communists accuse US of re-
semblance to the prevailing despotisms
of The world, which we never pore.
"The words people and government
never have been identical in the whole
history of tie world and in their very
nature never can be. Government
means DO 1er centered in one person
or set of persons capable of making
laws and furnishing all violations of
them"
l shal! prove by different writers that
government has meant to Socialists a
very different thing. If | do, the An
archists may own their error, and unite
with US.
Here is " hat the writer of the above
as State Socialist said of government,
not five years, but less than two years
ago, in the Radical Review:
I'VE wan tC rid ourselves of the idea
that govern ment is being apart from
ourselves"
ut will be- as easy for an enlightened
people conscious of their rights to organ
ize governn ent so as to secure justice
and equal opportunities, as to secure
reforms thai are only ameliorative."
"a government so constituted would
be simple organization of the people
for mutual'aid ana protection, and not a
hideous phantom of personal author
ity."
The fact is our associations with each
other must De governed by rules and
regulations"
THE only remedy for society is to
study the natural laws OF association and
forever afterwards live up to them"
That mild can forget the use which
custom gave to a word, so soon, and utter
such conflicting ideas of governments is
on e of the mysteries of human nature.
Returning to the Alarm article, we read {:
THE frs, barbaric chiettain who
wished to keep more property than he
could protect with his own brute
strength, w&s the first to see the neces-
sity of a government"
Quite true, and therefore we are asked
to 90 back a few hundred years, (where
the Anarchist now stands) and form our