Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1889-09-07

| leafle for general agitation.
We live in the present, and hope and
work for the future. Therefore, the
labor movement is two.fold: One of its
objects is the bettering of the condi
ton of the working classes, or at least
the prevention of its becoming worse in
hepresent; the other is to create better
conditions for the producers in the fu-
ture. The first involves the elevation
or at least the maintenance of the stand
ard of living. The second involves the
entire change of our economic condi.
tions as our social system. 1t is mainly
the trades unions which aim at the first.
1t is the socialists who aim at the
second.
The maintenance, or, if possible, the
elevation, of the standard of living is
surely laudable object and of the ut
most importance. Aside from the nat
ural desire of man to live as well and
comfortably as possible, experience
shows that the lower a mans place is on
the ladder Of social standing, the fewer
are his desires, the more content is he
to do with little, and the less ia he apt
to join the ranks of those who struggle
for the betterment of the conditions of
the working classes.
But surely as much good as there is in
the elevation of the standard of living,
as much as an increase of wages or
shortening of the work-day is desirable,
yet there is in the struggle for that
| nf "a alntt
tween employer and employe. This re-
lation is neither changed by better
wages nor by shorter hours. just as
heretofore, labor force Its sold for the
highest price which can be obtained on
the market, and just as heretofore all
that the workman produces over and
above his wages is pocketed by the cap-
talist.
To prevent this, to abolish the rela.
tionship of employer and employe, to
abolish a social system under which the
majority of men have to give the larger
part Of the product of their labor for
the permission to work, and to create
social conditions under which the teller
is allowed to enjoy the entire fruit of
his labor is the aim and object of So
cialism.
Considering that the true cause of the
abject condition of the laboring classes,
the possibility of robbing them of the
larger part of the fruit of their labor, is
to be found in the fact that the laborer
has nothing but his bare arms and
his skill, that is, mere labor force, while
the means of labor, that is, machinery,
tools, raw material, etc, in short, capital,
is in the hands of comparatively small
number of capitalists Considering that
the ultimate cause of the evils of our
economic condition is the separation
of labor force from the means of labor,
the object of socialism is to create
social system under which both will be
united in the same hands, in the hands
of the entire people, so that the sale of
human labor force, the working for
wages, will cease entirely. 1t is quite
obvious that this cannot be done at
once, and if it cannot be done at once
now, it cannot be done at once at any
future period. 1t is necessary to pre-
pare for such a change. 1t is necessary
that the people get rid OF many false
notions about what is right and what is
wrong We must cease to believe that
dead matter, capital, has greater rights
than man, endowed with feeling and
reason. We must free ourselves of the
belief that it is moral that the mere
possession of wealth grants privileges
which are an injury to him who does
not enjoy such possession. 1t takes time
to convince people of the wrong they
suffer by our economic system. All of
this must be the work of education and
agitation; but we must do something
more than educate and agitate. We
must do something practicable. We
must make use of the ballot.
A change of the economic system in
wolves change of the entire ground
work of our laws and statutes. While
it is true that a change of the latter
must be preceded by a change of senti-
ment, yet the change of sentiment will
not of itself result in change of laws.
First, the change of sentiment must
find expression. 1t must find express
sion not merely through newspapers
and literature, because this shows al
ways only the views OF few. There
must be the combined expression of
many, of multitude. The expression
of the change of views and sentiment
must be of character which leaves no
doubt that the change has taken place
in the minds of many and extended to
an entire class of the people.
There is only one way in which it is
possible to give so stl ong an expression,
and that is by voting-by using the
ballot as means of expression.
Second, if a change in the economic
system is to be effected by the way of
legislation, it is indispensably necessary