As I shall have ample opportunity in future chapters to state my own
opinion on these topics, and on many others connected with and
subordinate to them, I shall now, without further preamble, exhibit
the opinions of distinguished Socialists on the present arrangements
of society, in a selection of passages from their published writings.
For the present I desire to be considered as a mere reporter of the
opinions of others. Hereafter it will appear how much of what I cite
agrees or differs with my own sentiments.
The clearest, the most compact, and the most precise and specific
statement of the case of the Socialists generally against the existing
order of society in the economical department of human affairs, is to
be found in the little work of M. Louis Blanc, _Organisation du
Travail_. My first extracts, therefore, on this part of the subject,
shall be taken from that treatise.
"Competition is for the people a system of extermination. Is the
poor man a member of society, or an enemy to it? We ask for an
answer.
"All around him he finds the soil preoccupied. Can he cultivate
the earth for himself? No; for the right of the first occupant
has become a right of property. Can he gather the fruits which
the hand of God ripens on the path of man? No; for, like the
soil, the fruits have been _appropriated_. Can he hunt or fish?
No; for that is a right which is dependent upon the government.
Can he draw water from a spring enclosed in a field? No; for the
proprietor of the field is, in virtue of his right to the
field, proprietor of the fountain. Can he, dying of hunger and
thirst, stretch out his hands for the charity of his
fellow-creatures? No; for there are laws against begging. Can
he, exhausted by fatigue and without a refuge, lie down to sleep
upon the pavement of the streets? No; for there are laws against
vagabondage. Can he, dying from the cruel native land where
everything is denied him, seek the means of living far from the
place where life was given him? No; for it is not permitted to
change your country except on certain conditions which the poor
man cannot fulfil.
"What, then, can the unhappy man do? He will say, 'I have hands
to work with, I have intelligence, I have youth, I have
strength; take all this, and in return give me a morsel of
bread.' This is what the working-men do say. But even here the
poor man may be answered, 'I have no work to give you.' What is
he to do then?"
* * * * *