The Labor enquirer., 1886-09-25
THE RED SPECTRE.
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Socialists declare that ito emancipate
labor it is necessary that all the means
or instruments of labor become the COM
mon property of society," The Hunga-
rian Socialists declare that they will
pursue without cessation the social
transformation by which the land and
all means of production shall become
common property" In the United
States the party demands that all the
resources of life. the means of produc-
ton. means of transportation and com.
municahon, such as land, machinery,
railroads, telegraphs, canals, ETC., be-
come the property of the entire people
at the earliest possible moment, in order
to abolish salaries.
In Belgium there is demanded the
greatest liberty of individual action,
with a common division of the original
matters furnished by the globe, and an
equal participation in all che benefits of
common labor. The Polish Socialists
ask that the instruments of labor shall
cease to be private property THAT Is, all
capitaD and that all workingmen labor
to this end without regard to national
ity. The workmen of Milan would like
to hale all society become one family
of laborers or producers, having as base
collective property in land and instru-.
ments of labor" In Spain 1t is thought
that "the transformation of individual
property into social or collective prop
erty is the only sure and firm base
on which ought to rest the emancipation
of workingmen. To overthrow these
obstacles, the workingmen oughtTto
conquer the political po yer."
As the Barcelona operatives are po-
tent IN the present movement in Cata-
lonia, it is see? that an effort is being
made to give to these principles an &C
tive and tangible form. The Danish
Socialists wish the abolition of the sal
ariat, and of the systems of production
by capital, for which they would like to
have substituted one "organized by the
state which shall assure to each work
man an integral part of his labor In
these expressions of the desires of the
proletarians of the different countries of
Europe, Karl Marx lives, and if any
thing can be inferred from the labor ex
element everywhere, his soul goes
marching On with the pertinacity of that
of old John Brown.
What then is the outlook for Social
ism, let US cav, in France, where it ls the
most potent and progressiye?l = 1t has its
roots down deep in the sorrows of the
people. 1t lives by discomfort. 1t
hourishes even by crime, though the
great truth is those who profess its
doctrines are by no means criminals.
The situation Is at the moment favor
able to the Socialists. Their recruit
ment is from various classes besides
Workingmen. Among these recruits
pesslmistic writers give the first place to
the annually increasing number of per-
sons that come out of the schools and
colleges. These young people are un-
able to find work suited to their capac-
ity. They find it less now than ever,
because the commercial crisis is closing
many of the avenues of labor.
The bachelors of arr are condemned to
idleness, misery, discomfort, and are
easily converted into Revolutionary ma
terIal. The sons of peasants, reared with
difficulty and well educated by their
parents, or those of little shopkeepers,
They cannot dig, and to beg they are
ashamed, like the man in the parable.
The financial speculation of late years IS
said to have taken almost all the money
of the people of small means. Hun
dreds of them may be seen about the
Paris Bourse or in the afternoon study
ing the stock lists. Thousands have put
their money into Panama canal stock.
Countless numbers have put their
money in certificates of stock of various
kinds which are scarcely worth the
paper they are written on. The peas
ant has been obliged to sell or mortgage
his land. The small merchants have, as
l have already said, been sorely tried by
the depression in business and bv hav-
ing their trade captured by the great
stores or bazars that sell everything
When a man fails the law and his neigh
bors regard him as criminal. He has
no recourse and enters the discontented
and Revolutionary classes.
The great banks and money lending
companies are gradually absorbing the
real estate. This is resold, perhaps, to
peasant purchasers who cannot pay for
it, or can only ay part by using up all
their savings and borrowing the rest
from the company of credit, which ex-
acts an interest beyond their means
Then comes a bad harvest and the farm
goes probably in default of interest into
the hands of the village usurer. So by
all these means the class of the impover-
ished is constantly increasing and each
individual considers himself wronged
by society. He acquires hatred for
capitalists snd gravitates easily toward
the Revolutionary class, either as leader
or follower, because anything is better
than his nresent misery And to all