Industrial freedom. [volume] (Edison, Wash.) 1898-1???, 1898-10-15
Some Things That Will Not Occur
Under the Cooperative
Commonwealth
Commonwealth.

ness. Inc 'nrSt law OF nature sell
preservation will undoubtedly stand
as long as nature stands. This law
has in times past impelled men to
look out especially for "No. land
the crowd has applauded and honored
those who have made Il conspicuous
success of the operation, and stimu
lated others to follow the same course
long after all necessity for such &C
ton has ceased. But may we not hope
that when the human swine discover
that the cooperative feed trough con-
tains an abundance for all, they will
at least refrain from getting into it
with their feet?
There will be no poverty in the CO.
operative commonwealth. In the true
family the results of the productive
energy of all its members accrue to
the good of all: hence, unless some gifts
members are working independently
and Withholding from others, no men,
Der of the family can suffer from pow
erty except the whole family suffers.
Socialism demands the practical
application of the true family prin-
ciple, to the community: and since. un-
der the highly developed social con-
ditions which now exist ard must
hereafter prevail, the community will
produce enough for all, when no one
is debarred from receiving his share
of this common product, no one can
suffer for the want of it.
Because there can be no poverty
under cooperation, there can be no
milllonaires. What makes d million
aire? Simply the diversion of the
wealth produced by large number
of persons into the possession of one
person A simple illustra ton brings
the millionaire's position into it's prop
er light. If a thousand people by
their combined efforts produced ten
thousand loaves of bread, the one man
among the thousand who by any
means should obtain possession of
nine thousand of the loaves of bread
and withhold them from the nine-hun-
dred and ninety-nine people, however
hungry they might be. would be in
the position of the millionaire. 1t is
a good principle of Socialism that one
person has no more right to withhold
from others anything which tends to
their comfort and happiness than he
has to withhold the necessaries of life.
When true cooperation prevails there
will be no occasion for boarding
wealth and no opportunity to hoard
it. Each individual will be expected
to contribute to the common product
according to his ability, and each will
receive from it according to his needs.
Individuality will not be suppre ssed
by the conditions which are sought
under Socialism. a little thought
J will show that the present anarchial
conditions are quite destructive of
individuality, for the people at large.
The necessity for continuous and
eXhaustipg toll forbids the develop
ment of individuality; the grind of
competition forces many into occupa-
tions for which they have no taste
and few qualifications: and the COM
paratively few who attempt to follow
their ideals, generally do so at the
loss of the means of securing a co III
comfortable livelihood and the re-
spect of their fellows. 1t would be
poor economy to harness our dogs to
carriages and use our horses to run
down foxes and woodchucks. 1t is
equally poor economy to doom the
physically weak to an endless round
of muscular labor while the ro-
bust are engaged in nothing more ar
duous than measuring tape or push
ing the quill. Socialism is not an at
tempt to fit square pegs into round
holes. Carroll d. Wright, our gov
eminent labor statistician, has said
that 1.-TWO hours and fifteen minutes
daily work for each able-bodied man,
if systematically applied, would pro-
duce all the food, clothing and shell
ter that people need" In the CO. ope-
rative commonwealth, the aim will be
that all labor shall be performed on
scientifically economic basis; and
the small amount of labor required
will give all ample opportunity for
development in such things as indi-
vidual tastes dictate and health and
happiness demand, and thus to become
more valuable members of the COM
munity.
Cooperation will not do away with
the necessity for labor, but on the
contrary will make labor more gene
ral as that portion of the people who
now "live by their wits" will be re-
CURED to work for their daily bread.
But it is safe to say that when all
who are able take part in production
under the conditions heretofore out
lined, the work will be so easy and