Hartford labor., October 20, 1894, Image 1

About Hartford labor. (Hartford, Conn.) 1894-189?

Image provided by: Connecticut State Library, Hartford, CT

                
Hartford:
WORKMEN OF THE WORLD,
UNITE!
DOWN WITH WAGE SLAVERY
AND UP WITH
THE STANDARD OF LABOR!
THE ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION
AND INDEPENDENT POLITICAL
ACTION OP LABOR TOi
ENSURE OUR EMANCIPATION
DOF,
PRICE, 5 CENTS.
VOL. I. NO. 1
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1894.
SOCIALISTS VICTORIOUS.
OUR BELGIAN COMRADES ELECT
OVER. THIRTY OF THEIR CAN
DIDATES TO THE CHAM
BER OF" DEPUTIES.
Honor to Jean "Volders, , Who Sac
', rificed. His Life for tlie NobI
Cause of Labor.
Three cheers for the Socialist Labor
Party of Belgium!
Over 30 Socialists elected to the Bel-
Han Phnmhpr nf DeDUties!
And fifteen more . may be elected at
the coming" by-elections!
The elections for members of the Cham
ber of ' Deputies were held throughout
Belgium last Sunday. The voting was
under the new compulsory system, which
provides severe penalties for non-voters.
Not Equal Suffrage.
According to the election laws the
Troters in Belgium are divided into three
classes, as follows: 1. Workmen over
25 years of age are entitled to one vote.
2. Married men with families, who pay
taxes, are entitled to two votes. 3. Land
lords, priest's, educators, etc., are entitled
to more than two votes.
Since the Socialist Labor Party's mem
bership Is composed mainly of working
people, who own nothing but their manual
and mental iabor-power, the disadvant
ages under which this party labors un
der the new election laws, j can , readily
be seen. But in spite of all this our
Belgian comrades gained a glorious vic
tory and completely broke up the Liberal
Party machine ' that has so often de
ceived the disfranchised Belgian work,
men. . - -. - .1 ..
Tl Liberals' Defeat.
1 The Clerical and Liberal parties having
In their ranks all the wealthy and pos
sessing classes, who had the privilege1 of
casting , more ' than one vote, naturally
represented a great voting strength Jn
comparison with, the Socialists. At the
time of writing this article a complete
report of the election returns is not. yet
at hand. The Liberal Party seems to
be nearly broken : up. Thirty-one seats
that were ' formerly represented by the
Liberals have been won by the Social
ist tabor Party. '
: In .Lieee , the T .SaeLUists. . hav. secured
mining district. In Bru sls and Ghent
- the -Socialists have also gained a numbfer
of seats. ' . "
v The Middle Party sWept Off.
In Brussels the middle class Liberal
Party . was ! completely routed by the
two extreme parties, the Liberals on one
side, and the Socialists on the other.
The Socialists polled a heavy vote that
surpassed even 1 the most optimistic . ex
pectations of the Labor agitators. The
Clericals have 1 lost seven, seats, five of
which : were captured by ' the Liberals
and two by the -Socialists. The 31 seats
. lost bv the Liberals were won. a.lrnrtst
without exception, , by the Socialist La
bor Party; According to the latest re-
ports the ; Socialists have captured , At,
least 30 seats. "
" A Re-Ballot Necessary. ;
In many districts a re-ballot Is neces
sary and will come off within a few days.
It may be predicted that the Socialists
' will . capture several more of the 1 (con
tested seats. The fight in the by-elections
will be a hot one, and the Socialists
wtH make It their duty to make the best
out of it for the International Labor
movement. -" v . ; - , ' .
Socialist Leaders Elected. -
Among the Socialist candidates elected
are the most prominent leaders of the
Belgian Labor movement. Zf. Anseele,
who was elected in Ghent, is one of the
oldest fighters in the International Labor
movement, and one of the first organizers
of the old International Workingmen's
Association. M. Dufuisseaux, who was
elected in the Charlerol District, is the
leader -of the coal miners ef Belgium.
As one of the leaders of the great strike
in 1888 he was indicted and fled to France,
whence he returned to Belgium a few
weeks ago. Arriving at the frontier he
was promptly , arrested and is still kept
imprisoned In the city of Mons. Calle
waerts, the Socialist, who was also elect
ed in Charlerol, is the leader of the
Belgian Knights of Labor.
The General Strike.
Last Sunday's election was the first
election held under the new law, -brought
about by last ? ear' s general strike. It
will be remembered that the, working peo
ple of Belgium went on a general strike
about a year ago, thereby forcing the
Government to grant the right of voting
to every Belgian workman of 25 years
of age. The leader of this general strike
-was' -
Comrade Jean Voider.
It was especially through his energetic
nnri nnttrlnc seMtatlon that the Govern
ment, fearing a bloody revolution, sub
mitted to the demands of Organized La
bor, and after five days the general strike
was declared off. Comrade "Volders sac
rificed his life for the ' cause of the op
pressed. The enormous amount of agita
tion work heaped , upon his shoulders,
the great excitement, accompanied 51 by
the hard work during the general strike
movement was more than his uncommon
ly strong constitution could bear. He
4 ;c?:.
broke down, physically and mentally.
His Socialist comrades sent him to Italy,
hoping that his health might be "restored,
but In vain. Returning to Belgium his
condition became worse, and to-day the
brave proung hero - of the Belgian Labor
movement, Jean Volders, is confined in
an asylum. According to the latest in
formation there is hardly any hope for
his recovery.
.- Thus live and die the true fteroes on
the battlefield for human freedom.
Socialists of - America! Honor the man
who sacrificed his life for our noble cause.
Honor to him who paved the way for the
Socialist victory of. last Sunday.
Honor to brave Jean Volders!
Honor to the many brave comrades
who In ed his life and died his death.
HOW SIGNIFICANT.
Are ye blind that you cannot see?
Deaf that you cannot hear? Are you
criminally indifferent to all sense of man
ly duty? If not, .arouse from your lethar
gy and ponder well o'er the "signs of the
times."
We are beset by the tools of capitalist
ic usurpation every way we turn. Truth
is perverted in every form in the endeavor
to check the tidal wave of reform. Trust
not to the honied lies of the capitalistic
press. Their entire interest as news read
ers is grossly selfish. Money, not right, Is
their sole objective point, and to attain
it they must necessarily toady to and do
the bidding of oppressive Capitalism.
To this end the Associated Press acts in
concert terdwarf and belittle and even
suppress entirely all news of a reforma
tory character likely to interfere or do
away with the selfish opportunities of the
capitalistic classes. The wires flash their
messages across ' the oceans and conti
nents fraught with news of greatest im
port to .alt but ' the capitalistic censors
hold it back that the masses may be kept
longer In igtaorance and .chains.
It would fee too dangerous to their in
terest that jthe struggling toilers of one
nation should receive encouragement to
look upwards from the triumphs of the
struggling Wage-serfs across the seas.
Belgium is undergoing ' an economic
cleansing and purifying. An important
victory has been gained by her oppressed
people in the . election of so many (30) So
cialists to the Belgian Congress. Most of
our capitalistic papers had but a few
words of news about it in fact, they did
not even give the number elected or com
ment on the importance of the movement.
This is but one instance of thousands
where they have purposely suppressed or
belittled the news which should properly
be made public.
We need not expect any other than this
from them.
Wake up and let us have our own
dailies in all the large commercial cen
tres of the country!
The masses are hungry for some other
mental pap than base ball and prize fight
ing news, rotten old party political rub
bish, society flatterers and quack nostrum
advertisements. Step forward, Socialists!
Rake up a few dimes each week, deposit
the money in the party press fund, and
if you do . we'll soon give the public a
higher order of brain food than has been
or ever will be dished up by the Capitalistic-Dishwashers
the most noble and
mighty daily press.
SAN I AL VS. BATTERSON.
THE PURPOSE OF SOCIALISM AC
CORDING TO SOCIALISTS VS. A
CONTRADICTION OF THE
STATEMENT OF
SOCIALISTS.
A Discussion Between Comrade Ln
clen Sanlal, of New York, and Jag.
G. Batterson, of Hartford.
Mr. James G. Batterson, a Hartford
capitalist, recently read before the Hart
ford tBoard of Trade an essay on the eco
nomic and social question, which was
published in the local papers. Comrade
Lucien Sanial of New York, on the re
quest of our Hartford comrades, consent
ed to reply and the Hartford "Post" was
selected as the paper wherein the discus
sion should be carried on. We publish this
discussion for the benefit of those who
are seeking the truth: ,
LUCIEN SANIAL OPENS.
Hon. J. G. Batterson, Hartford:
Dear Sir My fellow Socialists of Hart
ford, probably because of the high posi
tion you occupy in the world of affairs,
are, it seems fo me, attaching some un
due importance to a paper entitled
"Social Problems, Ancient and Mod
ern," read by you some time ago at a meeting
of the Board of Trade. At any rate, they
have requested me to criticise it, and I
defer to their wishes, although I see no
reason to fear that your presentation of
certain fundamental tenets of capitalism,
if allowed to be disposed of by the com
mon sense of the people without refuta
tion on our part, might by its novelty and
power arrest for one moment the progress (
of Socialism in Connecticut. I may even
venture the opinion that nothing would be
better calculated to promote the advance
of
Socialist Thonght and Aspirations
than the frequent issue of such papers
under the seal and approval of Boards of
Trade, Chambers of Commerce, Stock Ex
changes, manufacturers associations,
trust directories and other bodies simi
larly representative of congregated or ag
gregated capital. In your scholarly refer
ence to Plato, Lycurgus and Aristotle you
speak of our present environments, which,
according to your own felicitous language,
"are totally different" from those which
in 4 V i T tima T oav "f aliVitnin."
because it shows plainly that your own
class i
The Rullns Class, the Managing:
the only one that you consider in con
nection with the evolution of environ
ment; otherwise you would have said "to
tally different for that particular class
only." The world, Indeed, has moved
somewhat for that class since those great
and good men flourished. The merchant
has supplanted the warrior at the top of
the social ladder, and most of the labor
which in their days had to be done by
slaves is now done much better and in
far greater quantity by men, women and
children who are not held in much higher
esteem and are
Treated With Far Less Consldera
, tlon.
than were the slaves of Athens. In his
Principles of Political Economy, your own
John Stewart . Mill says: "It is question
able if all the mechanical inventions yet
made have lightened the day's toil of
any human being." And in commenting
on this remarkable utterance, Karl Marx,
of whom you may perhaps have heard,
observed dryly: "Mill should have said:
of any human being - not fed by other
people's labor,' for, without doubt, ma
chinery has greatly increased the number
of well-to-do Idlers." Could the Greek
philosophers have foreseen the modern
enslavement of the forces of nature by
the genius of man, they would probably
have gone much farther than they did in
their
Utopian Conception of a. Social
State
in which the sole purpose of government
would be "to secure the equal and inal
ienable rights of all to life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness." Plato, in particu
lar, would not have said: "Slavery will be
preserved." As late, indeed, as the ear
ly part of this century, Malthus himself
would have cast into the fire his "Essay
on Population" if he could have foreseen
our present facilities for the production
and distribution of food. If, however,
supplied with Cagliostro's magical glass
they could have seen in it the reflected
image of our present state, they would
surely have recoiled from the sight of
so many men, women and
Children Toiling in Wage Slavery
for a contemptible pittance or actually
starving in enforced idleness. And if, in
quiring more deeply into the phenomenon,
they had perceived that the whole pur.
pose of modern government, under the
control of a so-called "better class,"
would be to vest in the individual of that
class the right and title to every mine
and quarry, to every plain and mountain,
and to every Instrument through which
the forces ti nature can be enslaved by
the genius of man, they might well have
been curious to know what conditions of
tenure the class in question would be
permitted to hold such privileges. But if,
lastly, they had been told that
The Grant Would Be Absolute
that it would even be unconditioned on
its use for the public welfare, because
the whole system would rest upon the
monstrous assumption that in benefiting
himself every individual Capitalist would
benefit society at large then the great
thinkers of whom you speak so learnedly
would have understood at a glance our
otherwise incomprehensible conditions i.
e... enormous wealth, unlimited capacity
of production and vast knowledge coin
cident with
Extreme Poverty, Enforced Idleness
and ignorance. Then also, without the
further 'aid of a magical glass, they could
have followed at every step the effects of
that "perversion of Democracy to the ends
of plutocracy," through which all the
factors ' of civilization are now turned
Into instruments of physical decay, men
tal degradation and moral turpitude. And
they would have boldly predicted, that on
the one hand the anarchists of the upper
crust who now deny the right of govern
ment to do aught but protect them by
force
In Their Privileges and Plunder
would in your own words, "call for the
assassination of the law (their own law.
of course) to keep down the people;"
while on the other hand the anarchists
of the lower stratum, led by traditional
oppression to believe that all law is mc
essarily an instrument of despotism, would
resort to the most violent means for the
destruction of all social order, or disor
der, established, sanctioned or protected
by human decree. It is, to be sure, an
appalling spectacle, this moral combat
between the two classes of anarchists.
The people can no longer remain' indiffer
ent to it, and it is well that men of
your class of the class that runs the pres
ent disorder begin to realize that it
Will Not Be Permitted to Last For
ever. In your own words "Society must sooner
or later deal with this question; and no
progress will be made until the bed-rock
of anarchy is reached. The ararchists
have declared war against socitey, and
there will be no peace until one or the
other is destroyed." Aye, society! You
have used the correct expression, how
ever, unconsciously. Manifestly, 'this
word "society"
Does Not Mean n. Few Plutocrats.
If It means anything it means the whole
people organized as a corporate body for
peaceful progress in general co-operation.
True to its nature, society is, therefore,
irresistibly moving towards Socialism and
against anarchism of any srt. Long be
fore the fight between the two classes of
anarchists can be fought to a finish', so
ciety will step In and put an end to the
disgusting conflict by establishing
The Co-Operative Commonwealth.
Vainly.then.will some eloquent Batterson,
speaking In behalf of capitalistic anarchy,
argue from the necessity and beneficence
of capital to the necessity and beneficence
of the capitalist class. Society will laugh
at this non sequitur for the absurdity of
the notion that there would be no capital
if there were not capitalists will be as ob
vious to intelligent men as might the fool
ishness of the assertion that "there would
be no potatoes -
If There Were no Potato Bags. ..
Likewise will his plea seem ridiculous,
that the Astors and the Vanderbilts have
abstained from eating the houses and lo- ,
comotlves which a certain category of la
bor scantily fed, poorly clothed and mis- .
erably sheltered by other labor has alone
produced. For It will be seen that they
might with as much reason claim the re
ward of abstinence for not having eaten
the earth, on which their houses and rail
roads stand, and a valuable part of which
they own although they had no more to
do with the emerging of the earth from
prlmatiye chaos than they had with the
growth of cities and the existence of.
" I - i- - TP-
railroads. So will .
Tho Stamp of . "Ingenious Tomfool
ery"
be put on the ancient claim, already dis
allowed by Adam Smith a century , ago,
that the "generous patronage" . bestowed
by the wealthy classes upon the pro
ducers of luxuries and the servant class
is a public benefaction; for It will then ap
pear most plainly (1), that this "generous
patronage" is r bestowed upon certain -workers
at the expense of other workers.
who produce the necessaries for all, but In ,
return receive a small share only of those
necessaries and none at all of the luxur
ies that are produced or enjoyed by
others, and (2) that the remuneration of .
the labor thus diverted from productive to
wasteful employment is considerably less
than it would be if. directed in its legiti
mate channels. -Lastly, the merriment of
society will reach . its climax when -the
authorized;...;;:,.;.--., -''''-. ;" " -'':'
Mouthpiece Capitalistic Anarchy
will apologize for: the. stupendous misman
agement of the natural resources and me-
funda. av. uic v mil in. i
class, with the soft, remark that the men -of
that class -."could ; not,, if they would,
and would not if they could, prevent tb .
general t public, from - -profiting ' largely by
humor of it-rverTsoghastly in tie light
otion of . our -BSmdle-clsSS" by bank-'
ruptey,- offthS'tisIng- intensity w'of the
struggle) for life among our professional!,
classes, . of the -growing numbers in ' our
permanent army of idle laborers, and of.
the consequent -"V : - , '
Increase of Poverty and Crime .
will very truly be irresistible, Mr. Batter
son. You will observe that I have touched .:
only those passages of your paper In
which you plead for the perservatlon of
capitalistic anarchy and by inunendo
would have It -understood that the people '
must not look to Socialism for a practical
solution of our 1 social problems. It were,
indeed, puerile. to discuss the methods you
propose. In the name of capitalistic anar-"-chy,
for the suppression of proletarian an
archy. The germs of the latter are In the -body
of the former. Having imported the.
first you cannot, by quarantine regulation,
protect the country from invasion of the "
second, which is now indigenous; just as
having at the foundation of the Republic
imported from England the system of pro
duction by machinery "for the exclusive
Benefit of a Capitalist Class,
you cannot now, by a custom regulation
of foreign products, or even by the abso
lute prohibition of immigration, protect
the American -workerever so "dear" to'
you from the competition of pauper la
bor, which has also become indigenous.
If you were a practical scientist, Mr. Bat
terson, instead of being cimply an erudite
dilettante, you would not attempt to sup
press an effect without first suppressing
the cause. The cause here is capitalism,
and Socialism alone.by 'suppressing It, can
suppresss anarchy. Respectfully,
LUCIEN SANIAL.
New York, Sept. 30, 1834.
MR. BATTERSON'S REPLY.
To Mr. Lucien Sanlal, New York: .
Dear Sir: I am very glad after two
months of silence, to find that my paper
contained so little for your objectionable
criticism. I have read with respectful
interest your -arraignment of the "rul
ing or managing class," but you are very
greatly in error when you put me down
as belonging to that class. 4
I Have Never Held Public Office,
and perhaps for that reason I have too
often expressed my own dissatisfaction,
with less generosity towards that class
than I should have done, if I had ever
been one of the rulers myself. ' Like
yourself I am one of the people, and in
terested In everything and anything
which tends to promote the public wel
fare. I claim no higher privilege, and
stand on no higher plane of citizenship
than you enjoy. '.;, .
Your Right to Challenge
and criticise my words was not disputed,
even though your associates . did not
favor me with your name, nor grant me
the honor of even an informal Introduc
tion. So much- Is preliminary, for the
reason that I have not been permitted
to know who you are, and in what field
(Continued on ith. page.)