New-York tribune., 1895-05-15

Industrial commercial. educational. religious. is
70 be radically changed. First. however. 1t pro-
poses to deal with industry and property. and
this is entirely logical since those are matters Of
basic and elemental import. The labor ques-
ton. so-called. is old as history: and its record
though instructive, is not agreeable to contem-
plate. For although 1t is a wonderful mani
festation Of the power. ingenuity and persever-
of man. II is also a most deplorable exhibi-
ton OF his selfshness. injustice and cruelty. II
is the history OF secret open war from the
earliest times. and over the whole earth. between
rich and poor. masters and servants. labor and
capital . 8. On no subject Is it at present so easy
to satisfy prejudice and to inflame passion. Re-
ligious animosties nearly extinct.
Merely political distinctions are losing their
sharpness and their power to divide But the
la Dor question Is in all lands agitated with pas
slonate ferceness and gives rise. In many in
stances. to violence. conspiracy, assassination
and insurrec;ion. 1t is the distinctively burning
question of the Europe OF to-day. the religious
question OF the Europe Of the Reformation
period or the political questions OF the Europe Of
the Revolution period All that is entirely true.
and as true Of America rs OF Europe. But there is
this vast difference between the labor question
and the two prototypes which have men
time when the masses Of the people had little IN
telligence and less governing power. while it
comes before us at a time when Information is
widespread and the sovereign ballot well-nigh
universal Therefore. 1t ought to be possible TO
settle It with less Of fanatic violence than was
displayed in the former instances
In what manner, however. do the apostles OF
Socialism address themselves to the world? With
words OF soberness and truth? Professor Flint
says plainly. no: or that many of them. at any
rate. concentrate their efforts upon the spreading
of discomfort. the arousing OF passions and the
incucation Of falsehoods. Take. for example.
Marx. one Of the foremost Of them, with his doc
trine that labor is the sole source Of wealth. and
that the value Of anything Is determined by the
amount OF manual work expended on II. Nothing
could b. more mischievousy untrue. Indeed. Its
falsity is SO patent and SO absurd that ii seems
scarcely worth while TO refute it seriously Yet
even Ricardo and Adam Smith had been partially
deluded by IT, and 10 this day II forms the basis
OF half the stock arguments Of Socialists. Vast
discomfort" Professor Flint declares may be
produced by such teaching but it can only be
most dangerous and destructive discomfort 1t is
false discomfort. because founded false
hood" Indeed. ne convncingly sets forth.
labor alone can produce nothing. can confer
value upon nothing. and any theory OF Industrial
reform which regards only the immediate inter
ests of labor must therefore be faulty and vicious
and void. A prerequisite Of labor is the laborer
But the laborer is himself the product OF capital.
and that not rs own. And II that capital was
the product of labor. the laborer who performed
the IL GER was in turn the product Of still further
pro-existent capital; and so on to the beginning
OF the Industrial world. Labor and capital have
,;r Aaou apI afu b. .,,.1i
by nature az they have unhap-
PLY been made superf2ia antagonstic by err
ing practice. Moreover. while the aborer is
himself the product and representative OF capital
the capital that nurtured. lodged. fed and
clothed him in his early years OF helplessness
and non -productiveness-he Is also dependent
upon other capital for the direction and fructin-
cation OF his toll The Socialist tells the shoe
maker that he (the shoemaker) is the sole creator
OF the value OF the shoes ne makes, and therefore
Is entitled to all the profit arising from the sale
OF them. But what could that shoemaker do
without the cattle-raiser the tanner. the tool
maker. the salesman? OF what avail would be
his labor without the popular taste that calls for
just that kind OF shoe And what shall We say
Of the police. the courts. the Government. that
protect him In his work and in the collection and
Of his gains? The whole complex
system OF social. political and Industrial or
is brought to bear upon the value Of
that one pair OF shoes. Does IT not seem
amazing anomaly that that organization should
be the one thing most overlooked by Socialists:
Is IL not eviden; that any scheme Of Industrial
which does not recognize the necessity
and office Of that organization or which ascribes
to one element OF II the functions aud powers
shared by them all in common. ls essentially er-
rOneous and mischievous?
But labor is not TO be ef. 20 the tender mer-
cies Of "anarchc indlvduaistic competition"
and the law ~ the survival of the fttcst The
State has duty TO fulhl toward labor as well as
toward capital or property. Whatever else the
State may be- 1t Is society organized for the
maintenance and realization ~ justice. A State
which allows any class Of it's citizens TO op-
press or plunder any other class fails 10 justify
ts own existence. The State is an essentially
ethical organism and institute: and the laws Of
ethics ought 10 condition. permeatc and regulate
the entire economic life. The mere freedom and
general liberty the members % the State enjoy
the scope and need there for the
ethical superintendence and Intervention OF the
state Those who suppose that an ample and
practical recognition OF the ethical character and
functions OF the State Is n distinctive feature Of
the competition inseparabls from industrial free
iom. are utterly mistaken"
Professor Flint does no, hesitate TO give his
,ntire assent to the principle Of Industrial compe-
inon That principle. In theory. Is nothing less
han tho principle OF Industrial liberty; OF mans
right to work and earn an honest living In |
whatsoever calling seems TO him best. so long as
he does not wrong his fellows. In practice It has
proved benehcent. for since the beginning OF In
dustra and capitalist competition. and during
the prevalence Of the factory system. the number
'f paupers has greatly diminished. remuneration
of labor has vastly increased and a marked I'm |
provement has been effected In all the conditions
of life OF the so-called laboring classes. And |
finally he gives assent to that principle. MS op- |
posed to Socialism. beca what Socialism would
substitute for II is nothing else than universal |
slavery. THE real opposite OF compe-
tition Is compulsion. the authoritative assign
ment to each man Of the work which he has to |