The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1886-06-03
Cooperative Industry.
BY C. $. GRIFFIN.
NO. VII.

| NO. VII.
When Cyrus Field talked first of putting a
telegraph wire across the Atlantic the idea
was secuted and ridiculcd. They said he
couldn't set his telegraph poles, and ships
would keep breaking down his wires. In the
same way when it is suggested that it is pos
Siblc to abolish all crime and poverty people
stupidity answer that you can't make the pen
atty strong enough and that it will take ten
| thousand years to alter human nature we
can do without crime or poverty. There are
two ways to cure Il brcarhy cow. Either build
the fences SO high She cannot jump over them
or leave The fences down altogether. Either
will cure the jumping. So with the thief; pen
alties and safe locks may stop them, but giving
| him free access will stop his stealing also
When we think of another life beyond this we
do not ask how severe the laws must he there,
OF how stout. gloomy and tormentng the prs-
ons must be to make every one perfectly good
in heaven. We simply conclude that all is
free there and consequently there is nothing to
steal and therefore no for prisons. II never
seems to occur TO Us that the natural law of our
beings what Christ called the ''kingtlom Of
atcd ON earth as il is, or is believed to be in
heaven He said The Kingdom of heaven is
within you, and that eve should call no man
MASTER" He said BLESSED are the poor He
| commanded us to visit and comfort all those in
prison. TO the guilty he said, Il do not con-
denim thee And speaking Of the new king
dom that should come he said rich man could
not enter into the new kingdom He did not
believe in statute laws or human penalties He
said if the people would Join together as one
| need
| row about what they should cat, drink or
wear. This statement has been much ridicul-
ed, yet it j. a fundamental plank Of true phil
oSophy. People treat this in the same spirit in
which they asked Field where he would get
his telegraph poles As they did not think he
could lay his cable on the bottom 50 neither do
| they think amy system can be established that
will lay aside the personal property or com
| pctitiNc system We have always lived under.
| People once thought piracy a standard
| institution and could not be abolished. And
they said of slavery. 1t is Older than history
and therefore we know the human race must
| always have slavery. Now that slavery and
| piracy have been abolished il is hard to find
person who will admit that he ever favored
| either of them. \ ct thousands are still living
| who have been engaged i'll both. Many wood
On headed people still believe that kings and
| priests are Indispensable Christ took the
| kings. priests, capitalists and their followers
| and Jumped them altogether and called them
| generation of Nipcr>." and otherwise denoun-
ced them III The strongest possible language.
| He refused to respect the sabbath a. different
| from any other day. and authorized his di>ci-
| pies to enter Il coril-iich and help themselves
| without paying for it: and declared that out
doors was Il holicr place than in Il church. AS
consequence. the property holders denounced
| him aS Il thief and the priests denounced him
| aS hereto, and the governor authorized his
| execution for preaching treason against the
| government of Caesar. lpon these three
| charges he was executed and upon the one
| charge of thicVing, two others were executed
| with him. Realizing that men differed i'll color
| language, habits, disposition. etc. but were all
OF one blood he took blood a> u symbol of uni
| vcrsal brotherhood. For the same reason the
socialists have adopted the blood red tlag ;l> the
| symbol of universal brotherhood regardless of
nationality. Christ realizing that not all would
| be accomplished through peace said. come
not only to bring peace but Il sword. This
| sentiment too, some of the socialists are strong
| ly inclined to rc-eclo. That fear is the begin
ming of wisdom" is another strong point in
| their belief. | may be accused of introducing
| foreign matter here under the head of cooper
aivr industry, but | wish to state that it was
through study of Christianity that first led to
the establishment; of cooperation, and it was
| through study of Christianity and the work
| ing> of cooperative industry that led to the
| founding Of socialism. But the socialists are
| by no means the strongest party in America
| that uphold cooperation. Cooperative indus
try is one of the foundation plankS in the writ
| ten platform of the knights of Labor. The
ultimate objects of the anarchists and NihiliSts
is cooperation. All these various organiza-
| tion> have been confoundcd one with an
| other of late that little statement concerning
| their objects and methods of action may be
| useful. The declared object of all Of them is
ultimate equality and cooperative industry
! The difference between them is in the radical
| difference in their plans for accomplishing the
end. The Knights of Labor i'll their platform
| demand that all things shall be done according
| TO law with peace and order, and by the ballot,
| and that the government Shall buy, own and
| operate all railroads and tclcgraphS and opcr-
ate them for the equal good of all the people
and with economy the same as the government
| now operates the post office 1t will be noticed
| that the post carries freight to the amount of
| four pounds for fixed price regardless of dis
| tancc. 1t will carry four pounds of freight
| three miles or three thousand miles for one and
the same price When these equality princ
| plies are extended then one place will have no
| advantage over another because of it.. locality
In short. the knights of Labor propose to ac-
| comp>h equality and cooperation by and
| through the law. They are therefore poiit-
| cal organization, but of course cannot be allied
to any political party outside of themselves
| They simply require that the government shall
manage the large industries and make all laws
| for the management of the smaller ones which
| the people will carry on as cooperative bodies,
| or >lngly a> the ease may require. They stick
| to wage labor, personal property and the right
| they differ most with the socialists. The So
| cia>tS demand the abolition of private prop
| crty and the consequent abolition of the wage
and competitive systems, and demand that all
| industry of whatsoever nature shall be carried
| on by one grand body known rs the Co-opera-
tive Commonwealth. They believe this Com
monweath should have constitution aud be
| operated by elections, legislation and political
| laws much the same rs the government of the
! United States is now operated. or as far aS this
| is possible after the wage, personal property
| and competitive systems have been abolished.
They believe in accomplishing these ends in a
| peaceful, orderly and lawful manner. not
| through our present government but by the
consent of it. Here, too, they differ from the
! Knights of Labor for they propose simply to
| add new matter to the present government,
| while the socialists propose to complete
their arrangements that the present govern
| mcnt will become obsolete and be abandoned
as the continental government was abandoned
| in l1S9 by common consent for the government
| we now have. The anarchists radically differ
| in their creed from either of the above. They
| believe in no constitution and no legislation
| and in no government whatever. They be-
| lievc i'll organization but believe in perpetual
| ing no organization. They believe every or
ganizaion if left to natural law will spring up
| whenever its existence will be useful and will
| fall to pieces whenever it has done its work,
and on this ground they clam that no constitu-
ton or law is necessary to create or pcrpetuatc
any organization, political, religious or eco
nomic. Their creed iS"A government is to gov
| crn and whoever is governed cannot be free.
ana that therefore government and freedom
| cannot co-eNist.' They claim that every per-
| son acting in the capacity of Il governor or
| ruler should be treated as an enemy of liberty.
and that whoever sees tit to aSSaSsinate such
| person is justified in so doing. They arc
charged with being organi:ed assassns. They
| believe every person has Il right to assassinatc
| if he sees fit to do so, or to commit any crime
he sees fit, and that by natural law he must