The Labor enquirer., 1886-08-07

a
vined hill. carrying the selgneur to his
estate, but two psssers-by, aided by the
position, garotted him and rolled him
to the bottom of the ravine, and in his
+ pocket was found a paper saying
From the Jacques!n !n-and so in case
= after case. \.
| Well, one day, at the crossiag of two
roads, gallows was noticed, bearing
this inscription: "Ifthe seigneur dare
to take the rents, he shall be hanged to
this gallows. Whoever shall dare to pay
them to the seigneur shall meet the
same fate" And the peasant did not
pay Them any more without being com
PEELED to by the "mare'chausee," happy
in his heart at having found an excuse
fer not paying. He felt that there was a
secret force sustaining him; lie accus'
toned himself to the idea of not paying
of revolving against the selgneur, and
soon, in actual fact, he did not pay any
more, and he wrung from the seigneur
by menace, the refusal of all rents.
Placards could be continually seen in
the village announcing that thenceforth
there would be no more rents to pay,
that the chateaus and the terriers
trent t-6ooks) must be burned, that the
peoples council had just issued decree
to that effect, etc. "Breadl No more
rent or taxesw There you have the
watchword that was sent running
through the village A watchword that
all could understand, that went straight
to the heart ofthe mother whose chill
dren had not eaten for three days,
that went straight to the breast of the
peasant harrassed by the marechaussee
that wru ng from him arrears OF taxes.
Down with the monopollst," and his
stores were forced, his conveys of wheat
stopped, and outbreak unclaimed itself
in the province. Down with the city
toll !" and the barriers were burned. the
clerks Knocked dowl, and the towns
being in want of money revolted IN
their turn against the central power that
demanded it of them. ITO the fire with
the registers, the account books, the mu-
nicipal archives" and the old paper
blazed in July, 1889, the power became
disorganized, the seigueurs emigrated,
and the Revolution extended ever more
and more its circle Of fire.
The whole drama that was PLAYED
upon the grand st tge of Paris was but
the reflection of that which was takln
place in the provinces, of the Revolution
which, for four years, growled In each
town, in each hamlet, and in which the
people interested itself far less IN its
enemies, the central power, than in
those which were nearest to its hand ::
the exploiters, the leeches of the place.
We sum up.-The Revolution of l7SS
SO, which presents to us on grand scale
the 1isorganization of the state by, pop
ular Revolution, (eminently economic
like every trie popular ReVol1ton), Is
thus Of great instructive value to US.
Ling before 1889 France presented a
Revolutionary situation. But the spirit
of Revolt was not sufficiently ripe for
the Revolution to break out. 1t Is there
fore to the DEVELOPMENT of this spirit of
insubordination, of boldness, Of hatred
against the existing order Of society
that the efforts of Revolutionists should
be directed.
While the R4volutionists of the bOur-
geoisie were directing their attacks
against the government, the popular
Reyolutionists of whom history
has not preserved for US even the name
the men of the people were preparing
their uprising, their Revolution by acts
of Revolt directed against the seigneurs,
the fiscal agents, the exploiters of every
stamp.
In 1888, when the approach of the
Revolution announced itself bv serious
outbreaks of the masses of the people,
the royalty and the bourgeolsie sought
. to master it by a few concessions ); but
could one allaY the popular wave by the
states general, by the Je5ultlcal conces-
sions OF the fourth of August, or by the
miserable acts passed by t'e legislature
One allays thus political outbreak, but
one does not get the better of Revolt
of the people with 80 small a matter.
And the wave kept ever mounting
higher. But, in attacking property, 1t
at the same time disorganized the state
it rendered all government absolutely
, impossible, and the Revolt Of the people
directed against the seigneurs and the
rich in general, finished, as one knows
at the end of four years, by sweeping
away royalty and ab5oIutism.
This course is the course of all grea
Revolutions. 1t will he also the devel
opment and the course of the next Rev
olution, if that is to be-as we are per
: suaded it will be-not a mere change o
government, but true, popular Reyolu
! ton, a cataclysm which will Transform
from top to bottom the regime of prop
erty.
An Exception.
We learn that there is one factory l
America which respects tie rights Q
- labor. 1t Is the boot and shoe fact or
. of E, & A. H. Bachelor, of North Brook