ZEALANDIA FELIX

Fair Play, Volume II, Issue 27, 1 November 1894, Page 28

ZEALANDIA FELIX

Bemg a series letters on Socialism and its relation to the Labour Problem , addressed to Tom Brown , a Wellington ■ Workman. ' . ' “ :

[By Fabian Black.]

Dear Mr. Brown, —The Labour problem has two distinct .phases. The first is: the existence and steady increase of an unemployed class; the second is, the almost universal complaint made by the brain and manual labourers of all nations,* of the the insufficiency of the reward, or wages of labour. The latter

is, of_course, the effect of the former. No man can expect to -get*more than a bare subsistence wage, while hundreds of others ■ are willing to take his place on the same terms. It is, therefore, very necessary for us to sweep away the conditions or the system which produce? an unemployed class. While we are . fighting for the unemployed we are fighting for ourselves. .. Professor Thorold Bogers says • “ There is no expedient beyond bringing about a scarcity of. labour which will raise wages, and no special or local scarcity will raise general wages. If the'persons who engage in a particular calling agree to limit their own numbers, they may perhaps raise their own wages; but they will do so only by driving a larger number of persons into other callings, and so lowering the wages V. . in other callings.”

He is of course speaking of labour under our present system, .where men are compelled to sell it as a marketable commodity. . Now, Socialism is the only method which will successfully solve the unemployed question and the wages question. , "What is Socialism? yon ask. “It is the extension to industry and economics of' the free self-governing principles recognised in democracy.” It means that the people shall control and direct their own industry. It means that, the instruments of production', distribution, .and exchange shall belong to the people collectively. It means that food, clothing, and all the necessaries of life shall be produced because they are wanted for all, and not merely.to afford profit to those who do not work. Socialism asserts the right of every man to live by work, and denies the right of any to live without it. “Unless a man work, neither shall he eat,” is ono of its most fundamental principles. Who is to direct and organise all this ? you ask. Why, the State. But.you say—Will not the State be as hard a master as the private- capitalist ? ' The State, Tom, is the people themselves. The ministers, members, officials, and directors are merely the servants of the' people. The people have even now such power that they could make this country one of the happiest in the world, only, like Samson, they are blind. Years ago a certain French king said—“ I am the State.” When the landlords of England ruled England they were the “. State,” and now democracy rules New Zealand, the people are the State. Socialism means that the people would employ themselves, just as Democratic Government means that they govern themselves. But if they do not own their own land, their own machines and implements, and their own money, they cannot employ themselves. They can attaiu all these things without robbing anybody. But how is it to be brought about, you ask ? Simply enough ; through the ballot box. There is no necessity for bloodshed, riot, confiscation, or revolution. They.have simply to riiake it understood that the State must employ those people whom private .enterprise cannot employ, and to vote against any candidates who will not pledge themselves to carry this into effect; and.in a very short time the State industries will' be extended and new ories spring up. If they, at the next election, say wewill riot -be..dependent;on the European or British money lender, but will, have _ a\''National.'■ Currency of our own, there', is nothing in the world can stop them. And the means of exchange will be nationalised. It will not. be robbing the moneylender,- it will' tie simply discontinuing to . deal with him. We shall be merely exercising the “ freedom of so' glibly ; talked' abriut; to. half-starving people. ' The change will come

gradually, but it will come. The trend of economic, change is moving rapidly in that direction. We who see it coming, and are trying to assist and hasten-it, are not the motive power. In a community where every man was certain of employment at Bs. or 10s. per day, and where an opportunity of laying something by for old age existed, Socialism would not be heard of. Where every man can own. his own little plot of ground and his own home, land nationalisation and single tax would find no voice. It is poverty, misery, helplessness, uncertainty of employment which impel these movements. It is these things, which give rise to Socialism, first as a criticism and an enquiry into the economic conditions, and the system; then as an idea ; and, finally, , as a passion of such power and strength of conviction that it carries all before it, and. becomes steadily realised, changing the old order for new. , . - The objections which are made to Socialism, which Socialists have to refute, are generally raised against a misconceived notion of what Socialism really is. People who have never studied the subject oppose it through ignorance. To begin with : thousands of people never think that our present state of civilisation can be improved on. They unconsciously accept it as the highest -possible state. They look back and say “ how much better off we are than previous generations”—which is open to argument. Every generation has no doubt thought that. Even Lord Macaulay expressed himself so. Indeed, there is little doubt that the cattle-raiding Highland chief and the feudal lord could not have imagined a state of society in which “ money” not “arms/ would “ boss the show.” When he had the Jew imprisoned in the “ deepest dungeon beneath the castle moat” (and drew a tooth out of his head each morning unless he parted some of his shekels) he could not have been persuaded that the time was coming when the descendants of the Jew would control nations simply by monopolising financial power. And the ancient economists could not see how slavery could be dispensed with. So many of us cannot see how wagedom and capitalism can be superseded by an improved state. The first error that many of our opponents run into is that Socialism involves a periodical sharing-out of property, and that those who were strong, capable, intelligent, and vigorous would have to share with the lazy, the idle, and the improvident. I willlet that independent and impartial critic, Dr. Schaffle, reply to that. He says : .

“ It implies collective ownership of the means of production; direct provision, for the maintenance' of public departments out of returns to.collective labour instead of by taxation, distribution of the remaining wealth among individual producers in proportion to their work as private income and private property! It is then absolutely false to say that Socialism.is the system of periodical redistribution of private possessions. That .is absolute nonsense, and every page of a Socialistic journal rightly condemns such an account of the matter as the result of gross ignorance.” Then, again thqy say, no matter how you reconstructed.or improved society the same thing would happen again. In a short time a few would have all the wealth.. The same argument may no doubt have been used when it was first, proposed to restrain the physically strong man in the days of barbarism. For a time the strong inan did oppress the. physically weak, but numbers rebelled against him, .passed laws, raised soldiers and police to. cpntrqi him.: It is), therefore, [likely that some dissentients said :. -‘ lit is no good if youTrestrain hun-tlie next strongest will pireyail, “might has always. rulefij/it 'will- never be otherwise.” But it has not proved the case. . Each successive power which has threatened the liberty of the community; has been

successfully combatted and vanquished. The question of equality is again raised. They say, “ you/Socialists wantall men to be equal,. and you know, such a thingsis against* nature.” Now, we fully recognise that ' inequality among men will always exist, and we have- no idea of levelling down. We merely say that mankind is so far equal that everyone has a right to live, and to live by work. He would be a bold man who would publicly deny’the right of existence to any section of the community. Though their conduct through life • may be one long deliberate attempt to drive them out of it (unconcious, not premeditated). We also deny that the possession lands, . money or economic power of any sort is an assurance- of superiority of any kind. If the wealthy or the comfortable middle olasses are better informed, more gentle or polite,' cleaner in their habits and generally more cultured and sociable than the workers, they have to thank their- good opportunities; Man is the creature of circumstance. The boy born of wealthy parents; educated at public school and college, and polished with good associations and surroundings, will generally turn out a decent young fellow. - Quite -natural you say. So it is quite natural that the child dragged up in a slum midst poverty, tilth, obscenity and drunkenness, should be a blackguard and a rogue. The sort of equality we wish to establish is:equality of: opportunity. Hear John Ruskin, writing before we had ad-... vanced in Socialism so far as. to recognise the instruction of the young as a necessary province of State activity : “ First, that their should be training schools for youth' established at Government expense, and under Government discipline, over the whole country. That every child born m/the : country should, at the parents wish, be permitted (and in .certain cases be under penalty required) to pass through them, and that in these schools the child should with other minor pieces of knowledge hereafter to be considered, imperatively be taught with the best skill of teaching the country could produce the following three lines :— (a) The laws of health and the exercises enjoyed by them. (6) Habits . of gentleness and justice, (c) The calling, by which he 1 is to live. Secondly, that in connection with these training schools, there should.be established; alsounder Government regulation, manufactories and workshops for the production and sale of every necessary of life, and for the exercise of every useful art. And that, interfering .no whit with private enterprise, nor setting any restraints on private trade, but leaving both to do their best and beat the Government if they could, there should at these Government manufac- , tories and shops, be authoritatively good and exemplary work done, and pure and true substance sold, eo.that a man could be sure, if heT chose to pay the Government priced that he got for his money bread that was bread, die that was ale, and work that was work; Thirdly,. that any man or woman, or boy or girl, out of employment, should be at once received at-• the nearest vernment school, and set to. such'work , as it-appeared, on trial, they were fit for, at a fixed rate of wages determinable every year. That being found incapable of work'through ignorance, they should be taught, or being found incapable of work through sickness, should be tended; but that being found objecting to work, they should be sent under compulsion of the strictest nature to the more painful and degrading forms of necessary toil, especially that in mines, and other places of danger (such danger being, however, diminished to the utmost by careful regulation and discipline), and the due .wages of such work be retained—cost of compulsion first abstracted—=-to be at the workman’s command, so soon as he has come to Bonnder mind respecting the-’laws' of. employment.. Lastly, that for the old comfort and home should be provided; which 'provision, when misfortune had' been by. the - working of such v a' system sifted from guilt, would be, honourable instead. of disgraceful to the receiver.' For a labourer serves ,hiß country 1 with

spade, just as a man in the middle%pks jt'with his sword, pen or lancet. If the ' therefore, the, wages during health word when-health is broken may be Tjht honourable, and it ought to be quite as straightforward a matter'for a labourer to tak#~&Syi pension from his parish because he'has deserVed of his parish, as for a man in'higher rank to iakeftiij t ' pension from his country beoaure ho has deserved 'C well of his country.” - ‘ - , This is what our objectors would call Utopian, 0 Tfaey^vonld';" ask who is to pay for this ? In reply, 1 ask,\vdVo. thing now ? The people who labour b,y brain and na'hd/ ratepayer, the merchant prince or the city laud-owner direct to the government a land or income tax, but their: venues are derived from a tribute drawn from the workers, vbfriSf really have to bear the burden. Society would effect a greafc'.4i economy by adopting a process which prevented the growth hf-rM larrikins and criminals. It is almost impossible to calculate thp> cost of crime, but there is no doubt the expense in prison, matories, and the other necessary mennß to Huppross’and punish it are far in excess of what it would cost to prevent a great of it by training the rising generation and giving them occupation and surroundings. *' '?*

(To be continued.)