Workmen's advocate., February 12, 1887, Image 1

About Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891

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m
gtctu -Haven, (Connecticut, J&ituvrtati, j'cbvunvn 12. 1887
ADVOCATE.
1
r
11 at is acrimh;
THE
RELATION OF LAW
THE PEOPLE
TO
A 1'ha tci' on Sorial I'coiioiny lt a
Radical Writer of Ante-Hcllum
Ihiys Advocal inr Ucsist-
ain't' 1t I'mjiisI
V.wa lj r'nicc.
Wo print, to-day, an extract from
the anonymous work from which we
last week quoted views on the land
question; trom tunc to time we shall
present extracts on various social
topics.
Especial attention is invited to
the propositions following, as they
form the, basis of the author's argu
ment for land-national i.ation, which
will be completed in our next edi
tion under the title ' Crime and
Property."
"The ii rat and most obvious re
tirement in a country, is some de
gree of security for lift', lil-erlji and
jiroirrl '. This gives birth to crimi
nal law, the great end of which is to
prevent crimes. Now, here we have
the whole evidence of history, that
law began at the wrong end.
"Law ought to emanate from
ethics, and the very lirst and most
important question to determine is,
"what is a crime'' and "what is not
a crime?" Instead of aseertainiiuj,
what was a crime, and then pro
ceeded to enact laws for its punish
ment, they made a synthesis be
fore making an analysis, and made
that synthesis the basis of political
enactments, and committed murder,
robbery and every other crime un
der the shelter of their legislation.
So far as the seienee of politics was
concerned, they were in much the
same position as those who made
astronomy without observation; that
is, they were wholly and totally
basing on arbitrary assumption.
Hut wrong proceedings in politics
are far more serious than wrong
proceedings in other departments,
inasmuch as man and man's welfare
are concerned; and the laws of
former times, and to a large extent
of the present time, being based on
superstition, necessarily produced
and continue to produce, effects the
most detrimental to society. Kven
admitting the major proposition of
the law, that crime ought to be
punished, the minor (this act and
that act are crimes) was purely ar
bitrary; it was determined on no
principle of stability, was variable,
contradictory, often absurd, and
very generally unjust.
"Thus, at one period, it was a
crime for a man to be free, as it still
is in Pussia, and in the Southern
States of America this was writ
ten in 1 8 ." 1 Li. J. At another
period, it was a crime to have a
slave.
"At one period, it was a crime to
go to church; at another, to refrain
from going to church.
"At one period, it was a crime to
shoot a deer; at another, no crime.
At one period, it was a crime to be
a witch; at another period it was ad
mitted that there were no witches.
''Sow, all this diversity, is ex
actly similar to the diversity that
prevailed in the h tsieal si , m-es be-
tore Bacon s time. I lie major
principles of investigation were not
in dispute; but Paeon, with a grasp
of magnificent genius, laid hold of
the miliars of the sciences, and told
men that they must first ascertain
I hem before they could arrive at
knowledge.
"And so it is in lair, the exponent
of men's proposition "what is a
crime?'' requires to be determined
upon exactly the same principles as
we determine "what is a square?" or.
"what is the orbit of the earth?"
Without this determination, made
on principles which are not arbi
trary, but scientific, law is despot
ism; tiicf no mftii in the icnrhl
iituroUji hut ml In iilti ij it, except as
scripture may enjoin him to obey
even unjust laws si. If legisla
tures will make actions legally crim
inal which are not actually criminal
--II Hlflllhlinil is hull llll li o'll
I In hi. On the contrary n-eomes
mil' of Hi r hithes! iiiir of hiuh hi re
sist snrh tan's U use eeerij (furl hi
jirucitri' hn'r aulilion ; it ml, if In'
ritium ilu so In reason, lln'ii h so
hlj fortr,
"The welfare of humanity de
mands this at the hand of every
man; and the Intse it ml shtn'si lnc
Irinr of inm-resislnnee is I'd, not for
men who study truth in (iod's uni
verse, but for hireling sycophants,
who care not what man may suffer,
so that their vile carcasses arc
clothed and fed. The
power of the ruler to determine w hat
is a crime?" is the origin and sole
basis of the political degradation of
the continent of Kurope. Abstract
this determination from the power
of the rulers let it be made on the
principle of imleienienl investiga
tion, and let the rulers be the e.eeen
turs of the laws and we have the
first great practical reform that en
velopes the germ of all others, and
that -cannot fail ultimately to entail
the best blessings of liberty and se
curity. All the revolutions of the
continent, from the day of the Jen
ili1 Unit me, down to the year 1S49,
have originated in nothing else than
the false determination of crime by
the htr, and the power of the ruler,
not merely to ceveiile laws, but to
make, tiller, ninl uriiinale them.
'But, intimately connected with
the theory of rrime, is the theory of
natural froiertti. The law assumed
crime ttrln'rart't, and proceeded to
mnish it. It assumed property a r
hilrarihi and proceeded to roeet it.
The king who had the power to
make or unmake crimes, had the
power to dispose of the land that be
longed to the State. lie sold or
gifted it, and thus, in the long run
the whole of the lands of England,
with some trifling exceptions, have
been alienated from the nation, and
the burden of taxation, has been
placed upon the people.
"Superstition that is, unbounded
credence was at the bottom of the
king's right in both cases ; and the
present inhabitants of the British
islands are bound to observe the
laws made in former times, concern
ing crimes and property, just in so
far as those laws are now equitable,
or would now be re-enacted wen1
there no laws on those subjects.
The present possessor of a portion
of land derives not one iota of ires
en! riijhl, from the former gift of a
defunct monarch; and his right, to
be now valid, must be such, that,
were all his titles destroyed, the
nation would proceed to place him
in possession of the lands, because
he, as an individual man. had an
eiiiiiille claim to them.
Just as, if all the laws and statutes
of England were destroyed, the na
tion would proceed, as usual, to the
arrest and punishment of the mur
derer or robber those crimes be
ing punished, not because, there are
laws for their punishnment, but be
cause it is jit si that they should be
punished.
The jitsfiee of the punishment
does in no case derire I mm lite late,
but the whole force and validity of
the law ierirrs from the jnstirr of Urn
iiit iiislimrnl '. And where the punish
ment is mil jnsl, 'lull iitiiisiiiienl is
a rrime, whatsoever the law may be,
or whatever it may declare.
PROVIDENCE. R. I.
The American Section, S. L. 1'.,
of Providence, hen! an interesting
and well-attended meeting last Sun
day afternoon, at which nine new
members were received. Comrade
Edward Lupton was elected Organ
izer, liegular meetings will be held
the first and third Sunday after
noons in each month at Socialist
Labor Hall, corner Bell and Kiswald
streets.
m n;i:i;s!'siu:Ts.
Several interesting articles came
to late for publication, among which
was the 1 1 ol voke, Mass., letter.
IT WILL NOT PASS.
V 1'nqMKition to Capitalism to De
stroy Itself ly Law.
The following interesting docu
ment, all the way from Washington
Territory, has been submitted for
publication previoiis'to its introduc
tion iu Congress. j, Imagine the mil
lionaire Senators wrestling with it !
.n Act In irrrriif sjieriitalitiit in Ctntl
Lnml of the I'liileil Slates.
He it enacted by the Senate and
House of Representatives of the
Enitcd States of America, in Con
gress assembled :
Srelion 1. That hereafter the
coal lands of the I'nited States shall
only be disposed of to companies or
corporations composed of actual
wanworking miners, incorporated
in pursuance of, and under an Act,
entitled "An Act to legalize the in
corporation of National Trade-Unions.'"
Seeinn '.'. That any corporation
or company so incorporated, and
holding such coal-lands, shall not
dispose of, alienate or transfer any
of such coal-lands to any corpora
tion, person or company, except to
a corporation or company organized
and existing as provided for in Sec
tion 1 of this Act. And if any cor
poration or company holding such
coal-lands under this Act shall cease
to operate lnines, or become insol
vent, or go out of existence, or dis
solve, then such company or corpor
ation shall relinquish its rights of
and to any coal-lands by it held, to
the United States; or, if no relin
quishment thereof be made by such
corporation or company, the said
coal-lands shall revert back to the
United States.
Section II. Any corporation or
company, organized, as herein "pro
vided, shall be entitled to receive
twenty acres of coal-land from the
United States for each member of
the corporation or company apply
ing, and shall pay for such coal-land
1. ,!. per acre, provided that no such
company or corporation shall hold
more than :,(H)0 acres of coal-land.
Seel inn 4. Any person, corpor
ation or company, violating any of
this Act, shall be subject to a line
not exceeding five thousand dollars,
or to imprisonment not exceeding
six months, or both.
Seeion .. Any person, company
or corporation, not composed and
incorporated as stated in Section 1
of this Act, which may by deed,
sab;, lease, or otherwise obtain pos
session of any coal-land, after the
passage of this Act, from the United
States, or from a corporation of
wage-working mines, shall be sub
ject to the same fine or imprison
ment, or both, as related in Section
4 of this Act; and any land so ob
tained contrary to the intentions of
this Act, revert back to the United
States.
Serf ion i. This Act to take effect
immediately.
SCORE ONE FOR "47."
Alexander Troup Hronnlit to Term
ami Ituilcr I'lates AltoU-diori.
New Haven Typographical Union,
No. 47, has succeeded at last in
"persuading" Alexander Troup to
keen nlatcs out of his naner, the
Union. Other irregularities on that
paper will no doubt be settled soon.
Mr. Tronn is himself a member of
the Typographical Union, and in
days gone by was a very noisy union
ist, though it is evident that his
unionism was only skin-deep. Bosses
seldom make good union men their
interests are always in the fore. The
latest on 'lit is that Troup lias taken
revenge by discharging two men
another proof of his unselfish na
ture. SEVENTH WARD.
The Seventh Ward Labor Party
will meet at Central LiW Hall
(Lamar Block, opposite Bunnell's.
Crown street) to-morrow (Sunday)
afternoon at 3 o'clock.
STAR Ch MBER TACTICS.
t- ii in it I of Cihmim'I tor the c
llau'ii I'.ojcolteis in reply to
Hie "State."
The following interest iiix arjm
mcnt, embodied in the "Defendants'
Keply to the Brief for the State"
contains the gist of the defence
against the "odious engine of oppres
sion," the "conspiracy law," which
he proprietor of the boycotted .hnir
mil ami Courier, through his lawyer,
endeavored to have the State prosti
tute itself to enforce against men
who violated no law:
In this cause thi' counsel for the State
and the accused exchanged hriel's on the
evening of .January '.'."itli. Sn far as the
particular arguments contained in the
brief for the State are concerned, we do
not feel called upon to reply in print,
and to reply in kind would necessitate a
larger admixture of denunciatory matter
than would lie appropriate to an inquiry
of this sort. But some of tlie"inemiseH
or grounds from which the arguments
proceed arc so novel and curious for this
ae as to he worthy of attention.
It seems to he assumed throughout
that if the accused combined to do any
acts that would inconvenience the prose
cutors, or reduce the income they other
wise niiuht have received, the accused
are guilty, whether in so doing they
violated any law or not. In other words,
the assumption seems to he that the de
fendants are criminals although they
have done no legal w rongthey an to
he punished criminally because they are
inconvenient persons.
Hut the counsel for the State have not
left us to inference in ascertaining the
ground of their argument. On page 7
of their brief they say:
'It ts niil nceiwury tlisii (lie 'unlawful' in-t to
In- iliiiie shiiiilil he sui'li us to lay (lie I'niHiclnlloil
of mi nrflon for ilamaifi's, when ilniic."
"In ri'liiiinal law. the offense In In Ihe eoinhi
natlini. anil no overt net Is necessary to i'onsli
tnlell." Undoubtedly the criminal oll'ense is in
the combination or agreement , but men
enter combinations with reference to
.some object or end. Tim mere fact of
combination is without any legal signifi
cance whatever. It is (he act or acts
agreed to be done, either as ends or
means, that gives to the combination the
element of criininaiity. Combination is
the largest factor in modern life. Men
combine in the pursuit of the most Ix
nelieent. ends. Modern civilization has
been defined as the combination of man
kind to resist and overcome the forces of
nature in the struggle for existence. Our
learned friends may find criminality here;
hut they should heed the admonition of
Kurke, that you cannot draw an indict
ment against a w hole people.
It is, then, the act or acts agreed to be
done that stamps the combination with
its quality, whether criminal or other
wise. Of course t he acts need not be
done. If the agreement is unlimited in
overt acts, there is no occasion to explore
the realm of chaos in search of weapons
with which to punish the offenders.
In our brief we have contended that
the true rule is, that the act or acts
agreed to be done, cither as ends or
means, should be such that if done they
would constitute a crime, and that other
wise a combination or agreement to do
them is not a criminal conspiracy. To
rehearse here the arguments and author
ities bearing upon this point would he
simply tedious, and we forbear.
The position of the counsel for the
State is this: The acts agreed lo be
done need not he criminal, '. ., of such
a nature that the person or persons doing
them would become amenable to a crim
inal sanction. They need not lie such
that if directed toward a private ierson,
and causing him losses, the law would
give him a civil action for damagesand
yet two or more persons entering into
such an agreement are conspirators, and
may lie punished for a criminal con
spiracy. In simpler phase, the proposition is
this: Several may lie punished for a
criminal conspiracy if tln-y merely agree
to do an ai t which, if actually done by
one, woiuu ie neiiiier a crime nor a
civil injury.
In its liaf'lest lorm the proposition is
this: A man may be punished crimi
nally, though he h;is violated no law.
There was a time when u iiroiiosilion
like this would not have given such a
Miocktothe intelligence and coiisi ienct
as it does now. The court of Star ( 'ham-
ber would have approved it. Ifudson,
an eminent practitioner in that court, in
his Treatise, referred to in our brief,
says, Section 1, it is
"Hssiireilly no matter nf nei-e-,Mty to pnhlisli
the rea-oii of the jinluinint ol Hie law. or
'apices or lietionev juris' to i he ii, nit it inle. who
ale apt to luriii-h tlc7i,..elws with lnlls to
ciniik their wiel.eiiiie"'. rather than to fain yn
iler-tnieliiitr to farther Ihe irovei mneiit of the
oniiuonwealtli: for Miit ir few nu n wotih! he
ruinateil hv ilihom -t in, ans. if tneii know not
how to cover their ilchonety ,un!t r sonic cover
of law or jn-tice."
The doctrine for which our friends
contend still lingered in the courts, not
withstanding: the abolition of the Star
'haiulHT. In the ciw of the King vs.
Sir Charles Sidley, in the K. R, 15 Car.
11. 10G4, 1 Sid. (5:30, who was indicted at
common law for several misdemeanors
against tbe peace of the King, and
which were to (he great scandal of
Christianity, he was told that "although
there was not now a Star Chamber,
"still they would have him know thai
this court is riistns iiiueinn ol' all the sub
jects of the King." The curious will
find a particularstatemont of the olfeipc,
and the punishment meled out, in 1
Keble, (i'.'l).
In the case of Jones vs. Randall, boll't
iiSl, heard in the King's liencb before
l.ord Mansfield in Inl, lie said : "There
is no positive law : Whatever
is contrary, mios imiirn i t ileroeiim, the
principles of oar law prohibit, and the
King's Court, .as the (ieneral Censor and
biardian of the public manners is hound
to restrain and punish."
11ns doctrine never was adopted here,
and has been abandoned iu Kuglaiid, If
in this or any other ease a remedy ought
to exist w here there is none, the people
through their reiirescntativesal the other
end of I ho building will provide one.
Our earned friends under the KUh
point of tin ir Uriel' says as follows :
"11 Is a criminal c. aisoir:n . for several to
coinhlnc hy concerted net inn, ilireetlv. lo Injure
anil opiirc-s anoi her. In liU Irailn or inisiiicss,
tor no .insiinunic reason -'Voiihl
a slalnlc L-ivc a nlalncr ilelinUion of
t he offeiiMc y
If it could not, it ought not to exist.
Is it to be left to the shifting fancies of
committee magistrates, to determine
what acts will not "injure and oppress
another, iu his trade or business." and
are such magistrates to be left to deter
mine from their own notions of what is
convenient and inconvenient as to what
is a "justifiable reason '!" If this he so,
what need for any "law of the land?"
The quotation from Bishop's Hirec
lions and Forms, Sec. :li:s, given in the
brief under this point, tits well into the
claims of the State; hut it contains a
statement of doctrine that any jurist of
uiih age siiouiu oe asiiained to avow.
To the statement of Mishoo we oppose
that of Mr. Field, in his argument in the
Supreme Court of the United States,
in behalf of the defendant, in the case
of the United States vs. Cruikshank, il'J
U. S., r2, and given on page 2U) of the
first volume of his speeees and argu
ments :
"It may not he out of place to ohserve llnil mi
accusal Ion of conspiracy Is of nil accusal inns
the most (lanj.'criuis to meet, ami the. easiest to
make men licllcvc In an excited community. It
ts the harshest Nisflui! of tyranny 'ever use'il un
der the form of law: anil Its freiiuent use Is the
stronttiisl Hvhlcni f nilsiriivcniiiicnt. From
t he hloinly days when the coinpa.ssln of inmclii
Inn t lie ileal h of u klnif was (he inlseralile lire
tense, upon which tyrants look the lives mid
confiscated Hut estates ol their victims, to the
present hour, no surer proof of irootl or evil
government can he found Ihan Ihe chapter on
conspiracies. one lias lull to entn
narc Ihe statutes of misgoverned Ireland lo
learn what an odious engine of oppression Is
the law of conspiracy."
Up to the time of going to press
no decision has been made by the
Supreme Court. Neither have the
organized workmen declared the
boycott at an end. It hardly seems
possible that people can be com
pelled to buy the Jon mnl ami ('mir
ier or to have dealings with those
who advertise in it, and the Supreme
Court will probably recognize this.
STATE PRINTING OFFICE.
The Matter Argued Hel'ere the Legis
lative Caiiiinittee.
hast Wednesday a delegate from
the New Haven Typographical
Union appeared before the commit
tee on appropriations, to whom the
bill for the establishment of the
State Printing Officio was referred,
and argued in favor of the bill. lie
urged that the State could Have
profits and dividends while paying
good wages to the actual workers in
a State Printing office. In answer
to the suggestion that tbe interest
on an appropriation of $100,000
would be considerable, he said that
the State was now paying interest
indirectly to the contractors. As to
eompetion being a means of getting
State work done cheaply, he said
that there was less competition
among the bidders than was usually
assured, and pointed out the absurd
ity of supposing that bidders would
continue to cut each other's throats
for the mere pleasure of doing the
State work: they were sufficiently
alive to their own interests to avoid
such competition.
Pepresentative Ilunie of Mew
Haven is a member of the commit
tee oti appropriations, and was pres
ent at the hearing. Pepresentative
King, who introduced the hill in
the legislature was absent. The
Hartford boss printers are all op
josed to the bill of course. This
shows how much competition re
duces their profits.
OUR. STORMY DAYS
THE BATTLE FOR INDUSTRIAL
FREEDOM RAGING.
New Ytirk's (i rent Strike May he
l'teiiiled Ooveriinient Owner
ship Called lor The Lou
don SocialOt'iioicrats,
Defeated Itohhies.
Notwithstanding all the talk in
dulged in by the capitalistic sheets
about the collapse of the great strike
of 'longshoremen in New York and
Jersey City, the men still hold out
against the bosses as we go to press.
While there can he no doubt of the
suffering caused by this gigantic
struggle of impoverished working
men against the bloated exploiters,
there is a grim determination on the
part of the strikers to tight it out.
Latterly we hear of rumors of arbi
tration, but so far nothing has been
accomplished. Many of the strikers
have experienced the blessings of
the arbitration salve, and are not
over anxious to be plastered with it
again.
In Philadelphia the Heading coal
handlers are awaiting orders to
strike, and are ready to go out at a
moment's notice Tho Heading rail
road employs thousands of men, and
does an immense business. A gen
eral strike along the line would be
severely felt in Philadelphia. Tho
president of tho Reading road seems
inclined to accede to tho demands
of the men should any bo made.
Tho Italians are being organized,
and hundreds of them have loft
work. This cut off the scab ' sup
ply to some extent.
In lkiston tho workingmen held a
great mass meeting Wednesday night
in old Kaneuil Hall. Master Work
man Qui nn of 1). A. 49 and Victor
Hrury were among the speakers.
Mr. Qninn denounced as newspaper
lies any stories that the strikers
were weakening, and said they
would extend the strike over the
whole country if necessary. A reso
lution calling for government owner
ship of the coal mines was passed.
While these scenes are being
enacted on this side of the ocean,
the English proletariat is bestirring
itself and giving strong evidence of
an increasing spirit of revolt against
capitalistic tyranny. Last Tuesday
eening the Social-Democratic Fed
eration arranged for a mass demon
stration, which the frightened gov
ernment prohibited. Hundreds of
mounted police were ordered out,
and tried to disperse the meeting,
but were defeated and outwitted by
the able leaders. From the highly
colored capitalistic cable reports one
would suppose that the Social-Democrats
were a howling mob. Noth
ing is further from the truth, and
our readers shall have a true report
as soon as the mailH from London ar
rive. In (icrmanythe Socialists arc busy
preparing for election. Bismarck
is doing all he can to prevent an
honest vote, and tho meetings of
workingmen are interfered with by
armed police and soldiery. Never
theless, the canvass progresses even
under such difficulties, and we ex
pect to heai encouraging news from
the well-disciplined and courageous
(ierman Socialists.
THE GRAND SOIREE.
Next Monday evening the great
social event of the season will take
place at the Second Itegiment Ar
mory on Meadow street. 1'llC
Knights of Labor of this city will
hold their second annual concert and
soiree then, and the memory of last
year's affair will no doubt stimulate
the desire to participate in the com
ing event. Thomas orchestra of eigh
teen pieces will "discourse sweet
music" and Prof. Burns will prompt
the dancers. The concert begins at
8:30 o'clock.