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WORKMEN'S AUVucatjS. 0HKMN'SADVOCATfc orricuL journal or THE SOCIALISTIC LABOR PARTY OK NOKTH AMERICA. rl'BUIHIil BT THE TIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, VIHT WIIK. blloatloo OIHce, 78 1 Chapel .Street. iterentlnK oorreBpondnoe Hollrlled from pro rtani In all parti of the world. Letter re ring answers uuould contain return putttuKo. ddrem all oumuiuulcattuUH to Workmen' Advocate, O. Drawer 103. New Ilaveu, Coun. mil lubnurlptluu money to 1'. 0. Drawer 103, v Haveu, Conu, or call at t tie ufllce, No. Tm) pel ttreet. SUBHCRUflON KATES: i Year (pontage free), - $1 00 Montlia " - - 50 PAYABLE IN ADVANCE. -ibid at rut rotrr orrici at nkw uavkn, con moTIOUT, AS 1IOON1J CI.AKB MATTKtt vv Haven, Fehkuaky l!, 1S87. OUR "SOCIETY." There is, no doubt, good reason the association of men in the uerous societies with whicli the on is honeycombed. Mutual dance in case of sickness; assist- to families in case of the death le breadwinuer of the family; al of members, etc. Such soci- are the Odd Fellows, Foresters, the like. Then there are sooie of a business nature, such as ling and loan societies, eo-oper-" purchasing societies, not to tion the insurance, banking, and r corporations. Finally, among .vorkers, are the trades unions and without insurance features, . of L. Assemblies, out-of-work -tickness assistance clubs, and so Jn all of these there are certain plinary rules and regulations h, enforced, aro calculated to order and insure stability, thus g confidence in the organization Hill its obligations. these various combinations the ctive memberships pay tribute ie full confidence that in the t of the presentment of acquired s under the laws each member receive his due and biwiit. v' individuals hold membership veral of these organizations, and benefits from them. They pay ie8 and assessments much more they pay in direct taxes to the , yet the State furnishes in re fer the taxes paid it benefits at equal to those of any one of societies. e State furnishes schools and ers; streets, public highways ridges, and halls of legislation. 0 cities and towns, means for uishing lires; parks, libraries, lals, and police. To be sure, propertied class receives the at direct benefit from the most se institutions, and because 1 so there are some who would y this by abolishing the State abstituting therefor private itions. Socialists would do lg of th kind; they would use ate for the benefit of all, and State could assume the fune f most of the private assoeia with greater economy, such e associations would naturally ie obsolete. it be remembered that the ' paid into the treasuries of all es represents labor. The more h societies the jioople support, . 'ater the cost in the aggregate, i ; greater the number of cleri cials must there be. It is so ade and labor organizations, as with mere benefit societies, who hold membership in a union and the K. of L. at the .ime know it and feel it. Yet, y admit that all these forms of ization were natural in the of progress. The people learn by experience, but (lii'ij for that experience. Not only do the people pay in money for the benefits derived from the private benefit associations, but in time ami extra work. They at tend meetings and discuss the affairs of their societies and unions. They serve on committees and as officials without pay. The more enthusiast ic workers among them absent them selves from their families to attend to the affairs of their pet societies. Many of our readers will recognize this; but will they not a!uo draw in ferences 'f Let us suggest a line of thought: Here we have the ballot, and the unlimited resources of the country at the ballots' command. We may accept this as a fact until it is proved untrue by treasonable force. Wo have the State, the county, the town, the borough; the city, the ward and the election district. In these divisions we have our respec tive duties and powers. Notoriously we have neglected to use them for our benefit. Politics has been left to politicians. If we paid one-tenth as much attention to our duties as members of the political divisions as we do to our private societies, much more could be accomplished. Let us substitute the State for the "(I rand Lodge," and the citizen for the "member in good standing," and we shall find that to lie a citizen in the full sense of the word will confer greater benefits than all the experimental and really supcrflous societies put together. This theme, if enlarged upon by our intelligent readers will suggest to them the pos sibilities and beauties of the Social istic State the Co-operative Com monwealth. OUR GREEK BROTHERS. The economic conditions that ob tain in this country do not prevail in (I recce. There production on a large scale is not the rule. Jn the country districts they still use sharp sticks for plows, and women work in the field with men. So. it may be easily imagined that the Social ism advocated there does not com prehend all the characteristics of (lernian or American socialistic de mands. There is not as yet, we be lieve, a Socialistic Party in (I recce. Still, judging from the platform published in Ardcn, our Athenian contemporary, there is room for much improvement in the condition of the working people of (ireece. Whether they must go throui'li the same process of evolution as the Anglo-Savons and northern races before they reach a condition that will demand revolutionary reform will depend upon the advance of Socialism in Western Kurope. The motto of Anen is: "The Truth shall make you free." And its platform calls for: "A life free from the cures of providing- "A regular ami lieulthful sustenance for everliody. "Housing according to the rules of health. "Sutlicieut clean clothing for every one. "Abundant means of education accord ing to every man's inclination. "Three hours per day necessary lalmr for everyone." There is a seventh demand in favor of women. From these demands it is natural U suppose that healthful sustenance, housing, clean clothing, educational advantages, are not enjoyed by a large proportion of the inhabitants of (ireece, and that the opposite is the case with long hours of labor for men and women. We hope soon to hear of the or ganization of the (i reek workingmen, and trust that they may lean from the exK'rienee of the Western na tions and escape the troubles our capitalistic "civilization" entails u'Hm the workers. RUSSELL'S SPECTACLES. One of our good citizens permitted a few friends to lock through his spectacles at "Socialism," and ac cording to a rejKirt in the Muminij Xeirs the view obtained was rather vague, not to say misleading. Here are some of panoramic effects which amused ami delighted Socialists and anarchists respectively: "Socialists, in their legislation, would forget the individual and legislate for the whole." "Socialism is fatal to individual char acter." "It is lietter to have an occp ional riot and thai sort of thing than to leach peo ple to keep looking to the State for everything." One of tho finest views obtained was of the "socialistic ideas" dicta ting to the State: "Pay all men alike whether they work much or work little." That Socialists would legislate for the whole people rather than for in dividuals is true enough. That is where they differ from the corrupt legislators of tho present who legis late, not in the interest of the whole people, but in the interest of a class, and that class the capitalist class. As to Socialism being fatal to in dividual character, we think that Socialists will compare favorably with tho advocates of capitalism. "Occasional riots and that sort of thing" Socialists don't want. Such things play into the hands of capi talists every time. And as to look ing to the State for justice, it is sim ply looking to the people it is in terdependence. To appeal to the people's sense of justice is better in our opinion than "riots and that sort of thing." We would respectfully advise our friend Uussell to procure a better pair of spectacles, or at least discard those capitalistic and deceptive ones which makes him believe that So cialism favors paying "all men alike, whether they work much or little." Hut even that would be better than paying little or nothing to those who do work, and paying largo fortunes out of the labor of the workers to those who do not work. Hut to look through such spec tacles 'is enough to make a fellow cock-eyed. EFFECT OF EVENTS. Some few of the more intelligent capitalists are beginning to compre hend the fact that Labor is organ ized to some extent, and are benn ning to pay tribute (in a left-handed way, 'tis true) to the waking giant. The New York Sim, however we may disagree with it, is undoubtedly one of the intelligent enemies of the coming order of things, and no doubt for the mere sake of convincing jts readers that its editor is not quite a fool acknowledges certain hard facts. For instance, speaking of the recent strike of the coal shovellers and at tending incidents, it says: "Whatever else the strikers have failed to accomplish, they have not failed to increase anil inteesify the wholesome re lied which has now for several years lieen grow ing in the minds of employers for the human rights of the employed. The old fashioned idea, derived from feudal times, that it was a favor to a man to tind work for him, and that he ought to take any w ages he could get and lie humbly thankful to his master, has re ceived another severe blow , and has been pushed a little further toward its destined extinction." One can see that tho Sun at least recognizes facts that are big enough to be seen without a microscope. It recognizes the fact, also, that labor organizations are imperfect, as shown by the only partial success of the movement. So far, Socialists can agree with the Sun. Hut the Sun sees more good still in the strikes. It says: "The strikes have done another good thing in bringing out some hitherto se cret purposes and principles of their leaders. For instance, they have given invasion to Master Workman (jmim to advocate publicly the theory of State Socialism, or the management of all great public industrial enterprises by the Int ernment. Some ill-intornied people have ridiculed Mr. tuinn as a sort of idiot for entertaining this idea, but they are not aware that it has the countenance of a political party in Germany called the Social Democrats, and is entertained by theoretical philosophers elsewhere." The Sun sneaks wiser words than many of those in Labor's ranks, cap italistic as it is. The Dry Moods Clerks' Assemblies, for instance, in passing resolutions of horror at Mas ter Workman Quinu's position, come under the head of "ill-informed persons." -Vow, the Sun does not agree with the Socialists at all Dana is not likely to acknowledge himself in the wrong as a taker of interest and an exploiter of Labor. Hut that is im material the logic of events is what he needs, ami what he will ac knowledge in due time. WHAT OTHERS SAY. The Haverhill Daily Ltilmrer, the only labor daily in New England, is financially embarasscd, and negotia tions are now in progress to Bell it out to some persons in that city, who propose to run it in the rum interest. The paper will make more money in supporting the rum inttrest than it has in supporting the labor interest. The 'tvih. Sorry that they are going to the wall, but a daily labor paper cannot get news to compete with the monop olistic press so long as the telegraphs are under private ownership and control, and people buy daily papers tor the news they contain. Cleve land Workman. SOMETHING ELSE WANTED. The Hoston Iferahl, which oc casionally finds time to devote a thought to the Labor problem says that "the higher the wages the stronger the organizations." To this the Lator Leader replies: "Yes, and the other way around as well the stronger the organizations the higher the wages." Yes, and there is still room for one turn more which says "The higher the wages and the stronger the organizations, the higher the prirex which the "wages" and "organizations" must pay. There is evidently something else wanted to finish the explanation. Hartford Examiner. The only way that labor can hope to obtain justice at the hands of monopoly is through harmony and perseverance. The reason that cap ital has the advantage of labor in many cases where trouble arises be tween employer and employe, is be cause there is so much dissension in the ranks of the latter. The dis charge of cigarmakers who are Knights of Labor, simply be because they also belonged to the Interna tional Union, is an act that can not help but prevent that harmony which should prevail throughout labor's ranks. Some of the dis charged men have worked diligently for years to better the condition of all wage-workers, and now to be thrown out of employment because they took so much interest in the cause of labor that they belonged to two organizations, and thrown out, too, by one with which they affili ated, seems to us, to be an act that will tend to still further widen the breach that should not exist among working people. It will require the combined jwwer of labor to be suc cessful in the objects for which all labor organizations are formed, and where any antagonism exists be tween the several branches of organ ized industry, the full power of labor cau not possibly be brought to bear against monopoly. ('in. rnionist. THE OBJECT OF THE LABOR MOVEMENT. by John jakoby. A Speech DVllvervd Before His Constituency. Jn 10th, We shall not inveigate the chain of historical conditions in consequence of w hich the workman was gradually se arated from the means of production and the present disproportion between work and wages brought about. The question now is: What ha, the State done to bring about a more just distribution of the product oflalmr? Has it made any attempt by legislation or otherwise to protect the woikingman against the superior power of capital or to set a limit to the social inequality that is growing from day to day ? Whoever scrutinizes the history of the nations down to the present day will tind that in this direction practically nothing has been done. Nobility, clergy and the higher digni taries of State have separately and to get her exercised an almost exclusive control in public affairs; they have not hesitated to turn to account for them selves and their own interests power and wealth from which all should have prof ited equally. Legislation itself, far from distributing air and sunshine equitably in the economic race, has contributed its large share by conferring privileges on the one hand and interfering with liber ty on the other, to wideu and deepen the chasm between the property-holding and the non-possessing classes. How then can any one blame the men of toil, if, having awakened to the con sciousness of their rights and their power, they demand from the State a very special consideration of their so long neglected interests? When, in the artiele of the Zurich Constitution, State protection and State help is especially promised to the workers, there is in volved in this no infringement upon the principle of equality. There is no question, as some anxious souls fear, of feeding the poor working man at the cost of the rich citizen; still less of form ing a privileged class of workinginen, stipendiaries of the government. It is simply the frank and honorably out spoken recognition by the law-givers of the State's duty to do that which has been left undone and to expiate injus tice committed, so righting the social wrong for which the State is, in part, responsible. It is only the wished-for fulfillment of that which we have called thede mand for reeoneiliating and rep arative justice. But the Zurich Constitution does not stop with the recognition of th dntu j and responsibility of the State in general, it specifies in precise terms the means by which alone the working class can now be helped: "The development of co-operation based upon self-help shall be promoted and assisted." The ultimate object of this process of development is: The abolition of wages labor by the gradual transition from the wages system to that of co-oner- ative labor. Let us glance now in detail at the demands to he made of the State, i. e., the whole community of individuals. First comes unrestricted freedom of opinion and the right to organize and hold meetings at will. The repeal of all laws framed for the purpose of limiting or, as the phrase goes, "regulating" liberty. Next, equal right of liartieioa- tion in public affairs for all, universal, direct suffrage and its corollary.universal direct participation of the people in leg islation and administration. Further, free compulsory education in imblie secular institutions and the introduction of universal compulsory military train ing in place of standing army and militia. These two demands we com bine localise public instruction and the peoples' power of defense are most closely connected. For the conduct of war the primary need is money and effi cient soldiers; both are secured by effi cient schools. The wealth of a country depends upon the successful labor of its inhabitants, but work is the more suc cessful the better the workman can cal culate the success of w hat he undertakes, that is, the more intelligent he is. And the soldier, like the workman, will be more skillful in the jierformance of his task, the defense of his country. With us in Germany, as in most of the countries of Furope, nearly half of the nation's income is spent in preparation for war, while education and culture are put off with sums scarcely worth mentioning. Let us reverse the proportion and the people s wealth will multiply ten-fold without injury to our power of defense. A Minister of Education who under stands bis business is the best Minister of Finance and War. For the working class especially, and that in the interest of the Commonwealth, we demand: SHORTEN Kl HOI KS OF LABOR AND A LF.UAL WORKINU DAY. The wage-worker, too, must hare time and leisure "to cultivate his intelli gence and attend to the affairs of State." The Congress of English Trades Unions, held last year in Birmingham, recom mended the eight-hour working day for all trades, and expressed its conviction that by this means "the physical and mental power of the workers will be in creased and morality promoted and the number of the unemployed diminished." 1 'inhibit tint of the employment of Chil dren unit ei jmif for eonal work for Men and Women. Hoth are necessary to prevent the further sinking of wages and to save the rising generation from deterioration. Abolition of indirect Ta.ces ami intro duction of tt J'rtHjrexxire Income Tax. Every tax upon necessaries of life is a tax upon the worker's force of labor, hence a restriction upon production and an injury to the prosperity of the people. Finally: Reform of the Monet ami Credit Ststem, uitd promotion of lndit trial and Agricultural lYotluctire Co ojeratice AwiatioiiH by the. itdercention of State Credit or State Guaranty. . The point is to make credit accessible to the working class. This the State has done in most generous measure both directly and indirectly fur the promo tion of the capitalistic method of om- duction. Let the State now in its own interest do the same for the co-operative associations of the workers. Nothing is more advantageous to the Common wealth than justice in all things. So much for the preliminary condi tions of labor reform. The working men have been advised, perhaps honestly enough, to keep out of politics and busy themselves solely with their economic interests, as if political and economic in terests could be separated as kindlings are split, with a hatchet. Whoever has followed our line of - reasoning thus far cannot, I think, be in doubt that pre cisely the working class must first of all and most of all resolve to transform po litical conditions in the direction of freedom. State-help no less than self help is needed for securing to the work er the full, undiminished result of his industry, that is, an existence worthy of a man. The State alone, and only a free State will help the workers ! Let us sum up briefly, the substance of the foregoing: The system of wages-labor meets the demands of Justice and Humanity as little as did the slavery and servitude of former times. Like slavery and servi tude, wages-labor was once a step forward in civilization from which un deniable advantages have accrued to society. The social question of the Present is how to abolish the wages system without losing the advantages of production and distribution en yron by means of associ ated labor. To this end there is but one means, the system of free associated labor, the co operative System. The Present is a time of transition from the wages sys tem (capitalistic method of production) to the system of Associated Labor. In order to secure a peaceful transition, the worker, the employer and the State must work together; It is the part of the workers to offer united resistance to the pressure of cap italistic rule, and by self-culture to pre pare themselves for independence. It is the part of the employer to con cern himself for the welfare of the work ers, and especially to yield them a share of the profits. It is the duty of the State to promote the efforts of the workers for self-culture by promoting their organization, deter mining a legal working day and afford ing adequate opportunity for free in struction. It is the further duty of the State to assist the development of the co-operative system by reform of the bank and credit system and by affording to co-operative effort the support of State-credit. Such help being jHissihle only on the part of a free State.it follows that all workers, and all friends of the workers, must aim primarily at establishing time freedom w ithin the State. Political and social freedom, freedom of the citizen without the sacrifice of the majority of mankind as wage-slaves; this is the task of our century. The achievements of the policy of blood and iron, the clang of arms in these, our days, the chase and struggle for wealth and sensual enjoy ment, these are but ripples ujkhi the surface of the stream of the spirit of our time. In the depths, still but cease less is the forward movement of our know ledge of nature and of mind, and with this knowledge the consciousness of the sovreignty of man, that thought which moves the world, the Lilierty, Equality, Fraternity of all. Though years may jukis in vain, the word of scripture shall yet le fulfilled, the joy ful message which the electric wire sjd as its first greeting from free America to Europe still armed to the teeth: Peace on Earth; (food Will to Men P THE END. 9