Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1890-08-09

concludes that it cannot be, per SC, an
historical factor; while the middle class
economist, upon the same assumption,
makes a special science of the unscienti-
tic and revolving systems under which
the greater portion Of the human race
like beasts of burden, machines and
inorganic matter-is either appropriated
as Slaves, or attached to the soil as
"serfs" or subject as 'wage.laborers'
to the operation of the so-callcd law of
supply and demand,
Obviously wrong in all its aspects,
this historical treatment Of the Prole- |
tariat may not be expected to undergo a |
radical change until the systems with |
which it harmonizes so well have entirely |
disappeared. But it must undergo pro-
gressiye notifications, corresponding to
the progressive success of the labOring
class in compelling wider recognition
of its value and power as factor not
only human but social, and in accord
ingly securing a larger share IN the
administration and benefits of human
associations.
For instance the comparatively recent
accumulation of valuable data relating
to the condition of labor under past and
present forms of political aggregation,
and the entirely modern developm mt
of statistical system of inquiry, are
clearly traceable to the growth Of the
spirit of organization for defensive pur-
| poses, which, in all industrial countries,
has during the last fifty years become
| constantly more prominent feature of
|
Again, it is even safe to say that neither
| Comte nor Marx would have written as
they did if their broad philanthropic
nature had not been deeply impressed
and their keen philosophic perceptions
greatly quickened by the stupendous
revolutions which they had witnessed.
For it is a characteristic property of the
human mind, as of the human eye, to be
most attracted by bodies in motion.
OF course, no appreciate good would
accrue from history to the laboring class
if no teaching could be obtained from it
before it had come to that very state of
completeness and perfection, which it
cannot reach until the laboring class
itself has gained a social position com
mensurate with its value as a social fac
tor. But all sciences are useful long be-
fore they are perfect. In fact the pro-
gress of mankind and that of science
have to a great extent been reciprocal
and simultaneous, and they would
always be so, absolutely, were it not for
the many obstacles which anti social
interests, rooted in error and thriving
on ignorance, have stubbornly opposed,
now to the expansion, then to the dis
semination, of scientific truth. These
obstacles were chiefly of two kinds
| THEORIES or Dogmds, and conse.
quent Fictions, in the false light OF
which the Investigator was allowed tC
observe phenomena, provided he should
instantly dismiss from his sight ms un.
worthy of consideration, or hold up tC
public adherence as miscellaneous Oh
destructive, those which in any way
conhcted with the prevailing tenets OF
proved subversive of the existing order
2-ActS Of deSp0tisn, through which
the small amount of knowledge that
could be obtained under the restriction.
imposed by the dogma was placed be
yond the reach of any but the privileged
classes. Especially was that positive
knowledge withheld from the multitude
which having forced itself upon tn,
investigator against and in spite of tn,