The Progressive West Virginian. [volume] (Williamson, W. Va.) 1911-1913, 1912-06-06
ANARCHIST GIVES
: I n "
HIS VIEWS OF LIFE
French Millionaire Offers Doctrine
Of Evolution by knowledge.
Declares Capital Never Lends Hand
to Any Popular Revolution.

M. Fromentin, the famous mill
lionaire anarchist, who is said to
have 10 900 followers in France and
has established colony i'm Morocco,
has been interviewed by the war
correspondent of LIE journal. Fro
mentin feeds the mind with such lit
erature as Mental Contagion,' by
DIR. Vigouroux "A Study of the
Brain" by Paul blessing. General
Psychology" by Richet "Piosons Of
the Intelligence, by DR.. Legrain,
and Mechanism of Thought by
Revelsed.
81 have the most profound respect
for every living thing. Law is not
revolution with revolt by bloodshed,
but evolution by knowledge Of lit
erature My chief defect is oversen-
sitiveness for human suffering. The
misery of fellow man moves me
profoundly. When / find myself in
the presence Of human suffering I
never hesitate to give help, and
without nquiring about the opinions
of the victims of modern social or
ganisms.
1T is knowledge of hannah suffer
ing which has induced me 10 study
the great problem Of social misefsv
think | have solved this problem in
my forthcoming volume, MY Eie-
ments of Scientific Sociology"
The cause Of the high cost of liv-
ing rs soupG In the bad ejaculation Of
riches The capitalist class has fall
sified HE function of money, tie OBJ
ject of which is to facil.tai, busi-
ness. Money is the mechanism of
exchange. Its aim Is to assure circu-
lation. All money, taken together,
represents all riches taken in entire
ty.
Poverty increases with oyenpro-
duction. Why? Because products
cannot circulate. Because money, the
mechanism of circulation is absorbed
in enormous quantities by capitalists
who do not give the equivalent in
labor or personal services for its
possession.
Capitalists today represent the
robber Darons Of the middle ages.
Their names alone have changed.
Great trusts robbed producers with
more impunity than did the robber
barons. Observe that the necessities
or immediate wants Of man are lin
tied. On the contrary the wants of
luxury are limitless and can absorb
a limitless amount of money. Capt.
talists create the wants of luxury
and enormous quantities of money
are absorbed for the production of
things useless in the life of man.
The bulk Of currency serves to
assure life of luxury to aiminority
to the detriment of the workers or
producers.
Another point is that the machin-
cry Is not owned by those qualified
to use 1t. That is to say, by those
who could use the instruments Of
production to increase the wealth of
the whole community. These instru-
ments of prodution are the property
of nolWorkers, or parasites These
latter have the extraordinary right
of refusing men the use of these in
struments of production without
which work cannot he transformed
into wages. N
sFinanciers Juggling with money
make 1t scarcer in the field of labor
Hence the circulation of produts
beomes more difficult because the
power of purchase decreases contin-
ually. The circulation of money Is
- xryno "a nfr
lation of blood is to the human body
Nor Is the imposition of an income
tax remedy because, in the final
analysis tax is borne by the workers
for capitalists immediately increase
the price of products, raise rents
etc.
moreover most Of the money il
the possession of capitalists is mo-
the equivalent of their labor, bu'
the result of speculation sor OF thu
exploitation of workers. Nor d.
strikes help Men strike for an in
crease of wages and get it. Capital
lists respond by corresponding in
crease in the cost of living, which, q
course, the workers must pay. Worl
Is an article of merchandise, Xix,
any other. It's quality and Quantit.
determine its value.
"A social organization in whicl
reform is impossible is crimina
body. 1t cannot be modified, and !
should be made to disappear w
must establish an equilibrium he
tween the needs Of consumption AM
production. The capitalist regim
is essentially incapable of solvinl
the problem OF poverty. In our cap
italist organism, abundance brings
crisis, strike, stoppage. of business
poverty and suffering in the bod
polite The reason is because CAPT
taIistic society is based on profit
which epcircle production with
wall of indestructible iron. Profit
BECOME greater as products are mad
or become rarer. The logical RENE
dyyas to remove the causes of povert
by reconstructing society on anethe
and more honest basis.
Let me add. that in capitalist
society no hand is ever extended t
help the man who, in despair, re
volts against the. existing order G
things and the result is he is pushe
to new crimes"
The Real Convention Eav0rife