The right to be lazy, and other studiesLafargue, Paul
Philosophy
The right to be lazy, and other studies
Lafargue, Paul
Hours of labor; Social problems; Socialism; Working class
[7] At the first Congress of Charities held at Brussels in 1857 one
of the richest manufacturers of Marquette, near Lille, M. Scrive, to
the plaudits of the members of the congress declared with the noble
satisfaction of a duty performed: "We have introduced certain methods
of diversion for the children. We teach them to sing during their work,
also to count while working. That distracts them and makes them accept
bravely "those twelve hours of labor which are necessary to procure
their means of existence." Twelve hours of labor, and such labor,
imposed on children less than twelve years old! The materialists will
always regret that there is no hell in which to confine these Christian
philanthropic murderers of childhood.
[8] Speech delivered before the International Society of Practical
Studies in Social Economics, at Paris in May 1863, and published in the
French "Economist" of the same epoch.
[9] Note that this was before the era of railroads and street cars.
(Translator.)
[10] L. R. Villermé. Tableau de l'état physique et moral des ouvriers
dans les fabriques de coton, de laine et de soie (1840). It is not
because Dollfus, Koechlin and other Alsatian manufacturers were
republicans, patriots and protestant philanthropists that they treated
their laborers in this way, for Blanqui, the academician, Reybaud, the
prototype of Jerome Paturot, and Jules Simon, have observed the same
amenities for the working class among the very catholic and monarchical
manufacturers of Lille and Lyons. These are capitalist virtues which
harmonize delightfully with all political and religious convictions.
[11] The Indians of the warlike tribes of Brazil kill their invalids
and old people; they show their affection for them by putting an end
to a life which is no longer enlivened by combats, feasts and dances.
All primitive peoples have given these proofs of affection to their
relatives: the Massagetae of the Caspian Sea (Herodotus), as well as
the Wens of Germany and the Celts of Gaul. In the churches of Sweden
even lately they preserved clubs called family clubs which served to
deliver parents from the sorrows of old age. How degenerate are the
modern proletarians to accept with patience the terrible miseries of
factory labor!
[12] At the Industrial Congress held in Berlin in Jan. 21, 1879, the
losses in the iron industry of Germany during the last crisis were
estimated at $109,056,000.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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