The Labor enquirer., 1886-07-31
th entire monev power ofthe country.
Rest assured they will strain every nerve
to destroy these eight men, and with
them the hope of all Revolutionary So
cialista. CATO.
Another Dream-Island.

product which people neou W naAo
them comfortable and happy. If all
the islands that have served in dreams
and allegories, ever existed at the same
time the whole five oceans must have
been one vast archipelago. But no mat
teri want an island for this special oc-
casion and we will suppose one.
TIE people of this island possessed
many advantages and some were quite
well advanced in arts and sciences. But
small party of them aned all the
land, streams, springs and ponds, all the
mines, forests and roads, all the ma
chinery and Inventions, while the
others owned nothing. They were
given enough to keep them aliy>, and
in return were expected to be ready to
do any service required of them. The
people had sort of superstition that if
they disobe7 ed any ofthe owners some
dire calamity would befall them either
before or after they died, and they be-
lieved it extremely wicked and unduti-.
full not to obey, so fora time the island
owners had no difficulty in keeping the4
common people in proper subsection.
But finally some of them were daring
enough to try a little disobedience
when some extra task was demanded of
them they found that fire from heaven
did not strike them, nor did ANYTHING
terrible happen, besides some fuming
and sputtering from their masters and
to their surprise they discovered their
wrath was no more potent to DO harm
than the ordinary anger of the same
number of common people. More of
them grew disobedient, until the owners
found that appeals to their sense of duty
and threats of some awful and undefn-
able evil in the future had no longer the
efectual power they once possessed. So
they put heir heads together to consider
what sh ,uld be done. The first plan
was to cut off the supplies of the disobe-
dient, and this arrangement worked
very we'll with the most of the people,
but few hot-headed fellows, who had
begun to scout the idea of any duty to-
ward the island owners, or the fear of
some vague and terrible punishment in
the future, and who having tasted little
liberty, were anxious for more, could
not be starved into submission and
silence.
Now, up to this time no kind of
weapons or instruments of death, be-
yond sticks and stones, had ever been
invented or used on the island. But
the owners putting into action all their
ingenuity conceived of an instrument
that would instantly kill when used
properly and hundred or so people
were set to work manufacturing them !;
and few hundred more, in whom the
superstition of the island was the strong
est, were trained in the use of them and
set to guard the island and its owners
and when they issued anv commands
the trained men stood in readiness to
enforce them. Most of the common
people considered this very proper and
right, as the superstitlous belief in their
superiors was 80 deeply rooted IN tn cir
natures, nothing they could do was
wrong. Even when the trained men
had killed quite number of people who
had intended no disobedience or harm
whatever, the people generally made no
complaint. Every time anybody OBJ
iected to the severity of their tasks or
the poor supply of their food, the
trained men brought the weapons to
bear upon them and they were awed
into silence. Then the great owners
finding how powerful they were behind
their armed men, imposed more and
harder tasks upon the people, allowed
them less and less food, and piled up
needful things and luxuries for them
selves at an astonishing rate. They had
| Various uuoIlouo duu ofSIOuo VI UCluS
thus cruel so as to make it appear they
were doing Just and right, and that even
the keeping of large body of trained
and armed men ready to kill whoever
they wished dead, was for the peoples
good and it would be dangerous to abol-
ish it.
But all the time few were growing
more and more rebellious, and were
studying and thinking for themselves.
They even questioned the right of the
superior class to the ownership of the
island they saw the people drop dead
under their hard toll, and many of sheer
starvation. The children suffered most
for they had to work and starve with
the rest, and had less strength to bear
it. These few thought it could not be
right for tbs owners to make the people
suffer 80, and were brave enough to say
80. Some were Mortified and called
their teaching blasohemy; but many
others caught the idea and began to be
hopeful and wondered if a change could
not be possible. Meanwhile the men
armed with deadly instruments, having
nothing else to do, made every excuse
they could to attack the people, and
everything that could be distorted into
a disobedient act or an invasion of their
masters property-rights, was promptly
punished.
After awhile some daring rerson
asked why they could not make some of