The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-05-26

their remedies do not cure the disease;
they merely prolong it. Indeed, their
remedies are part of the disease.
They try to solve the problem OF
poverty, for example, by keeping the
poor. This is not a solution. 1t is,
in fact, only an aggravation of the
poor alive, or, in the ase Of a very
advanced school, by amusing the
difficulty. Just as the worst slave
owners were those who were kind to
their slaves, SO the people who do
most harm, are those who try to do
the most good. Charity creates a
multitude of sins.
There is also this to be said. It is
immoral to use private property to
alleviate the horrible evils that result
from the institution O. private property.
Under Socialism, all this, of course,
will be altered. The security of sOciety
will not depend, as it does now, on the
state Of the weather. Each member
Of the society will share in the general
prosperity, and if a frost come, no n
will, practically, be anything the
worse.
Upon the other hand, Socialism itself
will be of value simply because it will
lead to Individualism.
Socialism, Communism, or whatever
one chooses to call it, will insure the
material well-being of each member of
the community, and give Life it's
proper basis and environment; but for
the full development of Life to it's
highest mode Of perfection something
more is needed. What is needed is
Individualism. Socialism means In
dustrial Tyranny; Individualism is
emancipation from Tyranny. At pres
ent, in consequence of the existence o.
private property, a great many people
are enabled to develop a certain very
limited amount of Individualism.
These are the poets, the philosophers,
the men of science, the men of culture
in a word, the realmen, the men who
have realized themselves, and in whom
all Humanity gains partialrealizatiOn
Upon the other hand, there are a great
many people, who, having no private
property of their own, and being
always on the brink of sheer starva
ton are compelled to do the work of
beasts of burden, to do work that is
quite uncOngenial to them, and to
which they are forced by the peremp-
tory, unreasonable degrading Tyranny
of want. These are the poor, and
among them there is no grace of man
ner, OF charm of speech. or civilization,
or culture, or refinement in pleasures,
or joy of life. From their collective
force, Humanity gains much in ma
terial prosperity. But it is only the
material result that it gains, and the.
man who is poor is, in himself, abso-
lutely of no Importance.
Of course, it might be said that the
Individualism generated under con-
ditions of private property, is not al
ways of a fine or wonderful type, and
that the poor, if they want culture and
charm, have still many virtues. This
is ~unhappily true. The possession of
private property is very often extreme
ly ~demOraliZing, and that is, of course,
one of the reasons why Socialism wants
to get rid of the institution. The viz
tues of the poor may be readily ad-
mitted, and are much to be regretted.
A poor man who is ungrateful, re-
belliOus, unthrifty and disconnected,
may be really a personality. He is, at
any rate, a healthy protest. AS for
the vlrtuOus poor, one "a pity them,
of course, but one cannot admire them.
They have made private terms with
the enemy, and sold their birthright
for very bad pottage. 1t is to be re
GREETED thatapOrtion of our community
should be practically in slavery, but
to propose to solve the problem by en-
shaving the entire community is child
ish.
Nevertheless, we must pass through
Socialism to attain to true Individual
ism. Up to the present, man has been
to a certain extent, the slave of ma
chinery. This is because the machine
is private property, and doing the work
of five hundred men, it turns five hun
dred out to starve, while one man
secures the product of the machine.
which is much more than he really
wants. Were the machinery the prop
erty of all, every one would benefit by
it. There is no doubt at all that the
future of machinery is to do all the
heavy work for man while he sleeps or
amuses himself, or enjoys cultivated
leisure, or makes beautiful things, or
reads beautiful thoughts. or simply
contemplates the world with admira-
ton and delight. The fact is, that
nirril.un4In- ,non:nou nIn--Au II-.-.