Labour's Wrongs and Labour's Remedy

As nature has made t11e preservation of life dependenton the fulfilment of the same conditions, and has giverl toevery humxn being the powers adequate to l1lnintainexistence, strict equity requires not only tllat these powersshould be tl111y exercised, but likewise that the exertionshould br: rewarded with success; and that it is notSO renrarded, is not the fault of nature, but of man. Naturenever commits errors-never inflicts injustice; andwhen she made man the slave of circun~stances, and lefthim at the mercy of events, she gave him faculties adequateto control the one and direct the other. Thathe might do this more effectually, and have dominion overmost things relating to his existence, man has been taughtto institt~te society; wl~icl~, if it be wisely regnlated, \\,illenable him to accomplisll, by :L proper union and directionof forces, that whicli no isolatetl exertion of human powercould ever achieve. This is the intention and end ofsociety; iintl the first step to the attainment of the wishedforpower is the establisllnlent of institutions which willdestroy or neutralise the trifling inequalities that naturehas created, and at the same time remove all the uncertaintycnnnectecl .rrith the fiitnrc welfare of man, andinsure hiin, until death, an abundance of all those thingswhich make life desirable. Society, thus constituted andregulated, will draw the whole human family into onecommon bond of fello~vsl~ip and union ; for its very principles,by showing to a11 men their dependence on all,prove to theln that man 11as no pre-eminence above hisfello\v-man; as the wisest and the strongest are but asbrolcen reeds when placed beyond the pale of society, andshut out from the communion ant1 co-operation of their kind.Thus, from a consideration of the nature of man andthe object of society, a principle may be deduced, ~vllich,altllough nolo nnactcd upon, and its justice unacltno\vledged,\vill nltimately unite the two jagged and farseparateder~ds of the social chain-forming it into a circle,and putting the last finish upon man and his institutions,namely :-4. As self-preservation is the end of all labour, and as ageneral natural equality of powers and wants prevailsamongst men, it should follow, that all those who performequality of lalotlr ought likewise to receive equality ofreward.However unpalatable may be these principles, they arenot only in strict accordance nrith justice, but they are theon]ycapable of clestroying tlic manifold illsand miseries which a departure from them, in the presentconstitution of society, necessarily engenders.Some of those who feed upon the produce of the workman'sindustry, and y+ld him no service in return, mayboldly assert that equklity of condition can never haveexistence; they may cntieavour to prove that society islike a human body-that there must be a hed, a belly,and members-some to govern and some to obey, some toproduce that others may consume. nut this simile willnot support the cause it is brought to subserve; forall men are of one nature-they are similar powers, orquantities, or qualities-and, as such, tllere can be nodiversity of attributes amongst them. We must likenmen to each other, and bellies to each other, and limbs toeach other: we cannot compare an arm to a belly ora head, for they are not similar powers, and tl~e one can byno possibility perform the functions of the other, placethem in whatever circumstances me map. Bnt what oneman can (lo, another man may do,-whether it be to l-uleas king or obey as subject-they are similar powers-andtherefore there never can be a natural or a just division ofsociety into belly and members-into mere consumers andproducers. All men are of one substance and one nature,they all have the like attributes, and tl~ey are all, therefore,equal in respect of their rights.When we have arrived at the first principles of anything, me can almost see, as it were, the end of our journey,and have only to march forward upon ;I straight andopen road. We no longer ~vantler about in a labyrinth ofdoubt and conjecture, perpetually suffering wrongs anddevising and rejecting I-emeciies ; but we Itnow exactlywhere we are, and the course which me ought to pursue.Thus we lcnow that life is dependent upon food, and thatfod is dependent upon labour. We see at once, that,from the very nature of things, these dependencies areabsoIute; and that, therefore, if labo~~r h evaded by anyhuman being, it can be thus evaded by individualsonly on the condition of increased labozlr by the moss.It requires no arguments, when wc view for one momentthe poor toiler awl the rich idler, to prove that the exemp-