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Equality!! Justice!!!, by Victoria C. Woodhull</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<div style='display:table'> - <div style='display:table-row'> - <div style='display:table-cell; padding-right:0.5em'>Title:</div> - <div style='display:table-cell; padding-right:0.5em'>Freedom! Equality!! Justice!!!</div> - </div> - <div style='display:table-row;'> - <div style='display:table-cell'></div> - <div style='display:table-cell'>A Speech on the Impending Revolution, Delivered in Music Hall, Boston, Thursday, Feb, 1, 1872, and the Academy of Music, New York, Feb. 20, 1872</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Victoria C. Woodhull</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: May 31, 2021 [eBook #65477]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FREEDOM! EQUALITY!! JUSTICE!!! ***</div> - -<div class='tnotes covernote'> - -<p class='c000'><strong>Transcriber’s Note:</strong></p> - -<p class='c000'>The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='titlepage'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>Freedom! Equality!! Justice!!!</div> - <div>These three; but the greatest of these is Justice.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div> - <h1 class='c001'><span class='xlarge'>A SPEECH</span><br /> <span class='small'>ON THE</span><br /> Impending Revolution,<br /> <span class='small'>DELIVERED IN</span><br /> <span class='large'>Music Hall, Boston, Thursday, Feb, 1, 1872,</span><br /> <span class='small'>AND THE</span><br /> <span class='large'>Academy of Music, New York, Feb. 20, 1872,</span></h1> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='small'>BY</span></div> - <div class='c003'><span class='xlarge'>VICTORIA C. WOODHULL.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/title.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>NEW YORK:</div> - <div><span class='small'>WOODHULL, CLAFLIN & CO., PUBLISHERS,</span></div> - <div><span class='small'>No. 44 Broad Street.</span></div> - <div class='c003'>1872.</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_3'>3</span> - <h2 class='c004'><span class='large'>THE</span><br /> IMPENDING REVOLUTION.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c005'>Standing upon the apex of the nineteenth century, we look backward -through the historic era, and in the distant, dim past catch sight -of the feeble outreachings of the roots of humanity, which during -thousands of years have evolved into the magnificent civilization by -which we are surrounded. Mighty nations have risen and fallen; empires -have gathered and wasted; races and peoples have evolved and -decayed; but the mystic ebb and flow of the Gigantic Spirit concealed -within the universe has continued upon its course, ever increasing in -strength and in variety of sequence.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It is true that the results which have flown from this progressive -course have very materially changed. Early in its history every -achievement was considered great or small, as its conquests by military -prowess were great or small. But who in this era would think of placing -a Sesostris, or a Semiramis, or even an Alexander, or Cæsar, in -comparison as conquerors, with the steamship, the locomotive engine, -the electric telegraph, and last and greatest, collecting the efforts of all -men, and spreading them world-wide—the printing-press. Where -kings and emperors once used the sword to hew their way into the -centers of barbarism, the people now make use of their subtle powers -of intellect to pierce the heart of ignorance. The conquerors of the -present, armed with these keen weapons, are so intertwining the material -interests of humanity that, where exclusion was once the rule among -nations, intercommunication has made it the exception. Every year -some new tie has been added to those which already bound the nations -together, until even the continents clasp hands across the oceans, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_4'>4</span>salute each other in fraternal unity, and the islands stand anxiously -waiting for their deliverance.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The grand results of all these magnificent changes have accrued to -the benefit of nations as such. All the revolutions of the past have -resulted in the building of empires and the dethroning of kings. The -grandeur of the Roman Empire consisted in its power, centered in and -expressed by its rulers. The glory of France under the great Napoleon -was the result of his capacity to use the people. We have no histories -making nations famous by the greatness of their peoples. Centralization -of power at the head of the government has been the source of all -national honor. Under this system grades and castes of people have -built themselves, the stronger upon the weaker, and the people as individuals -have never appeared upon the surface.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Government has gone through various and important evolutions and -changes. First we learn of it as residing in the head of the family, -there being no other organization. Next, families aggregated into -tribes, with an acknowledged head. Again, tribes united into nations, -occupying specified limits, and having an absolute ruler. Then began -a double process, which is even now unfinished—the consolidation of -nations into races, and the redistribution of power to the people. That -which was once absolute in the head of the family, the tribe and the -nation, is now shared by the head with the most powerful among the -people. These two processes will continue until both are complete—until -all nations are merged into races, and all races into one government; -and until the power is completely and equally returned to all the -people, who will no longer be denominated as belonging to this or that -country or government, but as citizens of the world—as members of a -common humanity.</p> - -<p class='c006'>“God loves from whole to parts: but human soul -Must rise from individual to the whole.”<a id='t4'></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>It is at once one of the most interesting as well as instructive of -studies, to trace the march which civilization has described. Beginning -in Asia, it traversed westward by and through the rise and decay -of the Assyrian, Egyptian, Persian, Grecian and Roman Empires, each -one of which built successively upon the ruins of the preceding, and all -<span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span>culminating in the downfall of the last, whose civilization was disseminated -to impregnate that portion of the world then unknown. Modern -Europe rose, and when at its height of power, civilization still undeviatingly -marching westward, crossed the stormy Atlantic, and implanted -itself in the virgin soil of America.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Here, however, an entirely new process was begun. Representatives -from all nations, races and tongues here do congregate. Not only do -the nations of Europe and Africa pour their restless sons and daughters -westward, but the nations of Asia, setting at defiance the previous law of -empire, send their children against its tide to meet it and to coalesce. To -those who can view humanity as one, this is a fact of great significance, -since it proves America to be the center to which the nations naturally -tend. But this is only a part of its significance. The more prophetic -portion is, that here a new race is being developed, into which will be -gathered all the distinctive characteristics of all the various races. -Each race is the distinct representative of some special and predominant -characteristic, being weak in all others. The new race will combine all -these different qualities in one grand character, and shall ultimately -gather in all people of all races. Observe the merging of the black -and white races. The white does not descend to the black, but the -black gradually approaches the white. And this is the prophecy of -what shall be:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c007'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“For mankind are one in spirit, and an instinct bears along,</div> - <div class='line'>Round the earth’s electric circle, the swift flash of right and wrong;</div> - <div class='line'>Whether conscious or unconscious, yet Humanity’s vast frame,</div> - <div class='line'>Through its ocean-sundered fibres, feels the gush of joy or shame:</div> - <div class='line'>In the gain or loss of one race, all the rest have equal claim.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>As in this country the future race of the world is being developed, -so also will the foundation of the future government be developed, -which shall become universal. It was no mere child’s play or idle -fancy of the old prophets, whose prophecies of a Christ who should -rule the world, come trooping down the corridors of time, and from all -eras converge upon this. Neither were the Jews entirely at fault when -they looked for a Messiah who should reign over the world in temporal -as well as in spiritual things, since it is beginning to be comprehended -that a reign of justice in temporal things can only follow from the baptism -<span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span>of them by spirituality. And it is the approach of these heretofore -widely-separated principles which is to produce the impending -revolution. And that revolution will be the final and the ultimate contest -between justice and authority, in which the latter will be crushed, -never again to raise its despotic head among and to divide the members -of a common humanity.</p> - -<p class='c006'>St. Paul said: “Faith, Hope and Charity. These three, but the greatest -of these is charity.” Beautiful as this triplet may appear to be to the -casualist, it cannot bear the test of analysis. It will be replaced in the -vocabulary of the future by the more perfect one—Knowledge, Wisdom -and Justice. These three, but the greatest of these is Justice. Charity, -with its long cloak of justice escaped, has long enough covered a multitude -of sins. Justice will in the future demand perfect compensation -in all things, whether material, mental or spiritual.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Heretofore justice has only been considered as having relation to -matters covered by enacted law, and its demands have been considered -as satisfied when the law has had its full course. With Freedom and -Equality it has been a mere abstract term with but little significance. -There has never been such a thing as freedom for the people. It has -always been concession by the government. There has never been an -equality for the people. It has always been the stronger, in some -sense, preying upon the weaker; and the people have never had justice. -When there is authority, whether it be of law, of custom, or of individuals, -neither of these can exist except in name. Neither do these -principles apply to the people in their collective capacity, but when the -people’s time shall come they will belong to every individual separately. -Equality will exist in freedom and be regulated by justice.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But what does freedom mean? “As free as the winds” is a common -expression. But if we stop to inquire what that freedom is, we find -that air in motion is under the most complete subjection to different -temperatures in different localities, and that these differences arise from -conditions entirely independent of the air simply as such. That is to -say, the air of itself never changes its temperature. Therefore the -freedom of the wind is the freedom to obey commands imposed by -conditions to which it is by nature related. So also is water always -<span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>free to seek its own level. But neither the air or the water of one -locality obeys the commands which come from the conditions surrounding -another locality. That is to say, that while air and water as a -whole are subject to general laws, when individualized, each separate -body must be subject to its peculiar relations, and to the law of its conditions. -Water in one locality may be pure—hydrogen, nitrogen and -oxygen; while in others it may contain various additional elements, as -sodium, calcium or ammonium, and yet each is free. Air in one -locality may be twenty degrees above, and in another twenty degrees -below, zero; and yet each is free in its own sphere.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Now, individual freedom in its true sense means just the same thing -for the people that freedom for the air and water means to them. It -means freedom to obey the natural condition of the individual, modified -only by the various external forces which are brought to bear -upon, and which induce action in, the individual. What that action -will be, must be determined solely by the individual and the operating -causes, and in no two cases can they be precisely alike; since no two -human beings are precisely alike. Now, is it not plain that freedom -means that individuals having the right to it, are subject only to the -laws of their own being, and to the relations they sustain to the laws of -other things by which they are surrounded?</p> - -<p class='c006'>If, then, freedom mean anything, it means that no individual is subject -to any rule or law to be arbitrarily imposed by other individuals. -But several individuals may agree among themselves to be governed by -certain rules, since that is their freedom to do so. And here is the -primal foundation and the only authoritative source of government. No -individual can be said to be free and be held accountable to a law to -which he or she did not consent.</p> - -<p class='c006'>In the light of that analysis, have the people of this country got -freedom? But should it be objected that such freedom would be -liable to abuse, we reply that that is impossible. Since the moment -one individual abuses his or her freedom, that moment he or she is -encroaching upon the freedom of some one else who is equally entitled -to the same right. And the law of the association must protect against -such encroachment. And, so far as restraint is concerned, this is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>the province—the sole province—of law, to protect the rights of individual -freedom.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But what is equality, which must be maintained in freedom? A -good illustration of what equality among the people means, may be -drawn from the equality among the children of a family in the case of -an equal division of the property of the deceased father. If the property -is divided among them according to their respective merits, that -would not be equality.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Now, equality for the people means the equality of the family, extended -to all families. It means that no personal merit or demerit can -interfere between individuals, so that one may, by arbitration or laws, -be placed unequally with another. It means that every individual is -entitled to all the natural wealth that he or she requires to minister to -the various wants of the body, and to an equal share of all accumulated, -artificial wealth—which will appear self-evident when we shall -have analyzed wealth. It also means that every person is entitled to -equal opportunity for intellectual acquirements, recreation and rest, -since the first is necessary to make the performance of the individual’s -share of duty possible; while the second and third are the natural -requirements of the body, independent of the individuality of the person, -and which was not self-created but inherited.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Under this analysis have we any such thing as equality in this -country? And yet it should be the duty of government, since it is a -fundamental portion of its theory, to maintain equality among the -people; otherwise the word is but a mere catch, without the slightest -signification in fact.</p> - -<p class='c006'>What, then, should be the sphere of justice in maintaining equality -in freedom? Clearly to maintain equal conditions among free individuals. -But this will appear the more evident as we proceed. The -impending revolution, then, will be the strife for the mastery between -the authority, despotism, inequalities and injustices of the present, and -freedom, equality and justice in their broad and perfect sense, based on -the proposition that humanity is one, having a common origin, common -interests and purposes, and inheriting a common destiny, which is the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span>complete statement of the religion of Jesus Christ, unadulterated by -his professed followers.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But does the impending revolution imply a peaceful change or a -bloody struggle?</p> - -<p class='c006'>No person who will take the trouble to carefully observe the conditions -of the various departments of society can fail to discern the -terrible earthquakes just ready to burst out upon every side, and -which are only now restrained by the thick incrustations with which -customs, prejudices and authorities have incased humanity. Indeed, -the whole surface of humanity is surging like the billows of the stormy -ocean, and it only escapes general and destructive rupture because its -composition, like the consciences of its constituent members, is so -elastic. But, anon, the restrained furies will overcome the temper of -their fastenings, and, rending them asunder, will sweep over the -people, submerging them or cleansing them of their gathered debris, as -they shall have located themselves, with regard to its coming.</p> - -<p class='c006'>All the struggles of humanity in the centuries which have come and -gone have been for freedom—for freedom to think and for freedom to -act, as against authority and despotic law, without regard to what should -come of that thought and action. But we are now entering upon a -struggle for something quite different from this. Having obtained freedom -from the despotism of rulers and governments, the rule and despotism -of individuals began to usurp the places made vacant by them. -Where once the king or the emperor reigned, capital, reinforced by the -power of public opinion and religious authorities, now sits and forges -chains with which to fetter and bind the people. Where, by divine -right, men once demanded the results of the labors of their people, the -privileged few, by the means of an ingenious system, facetiously -called popular laws, now make the same demand, and with equally decisive -results. The demand is answered by the return of the entire -proceeds of each year’s surplus productions into their coffers. And this -is no more true of the pauper laborers of Europe and the slave laborers -of Asia than it is of the free labor of America. Six hundred millions -people constantly toil all their lives long, while about ten millions sit -quietly by gathering and luxuriating in their results.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>Simple freedom, then, is not enough. It has not accomplished the -redemption of the people. It has only relieved them from one form of -slavery to leave them at the mercy of another still more insidious in -its character, because more plausible; since, if penury and want exist, -accompanied by suffering and privation, under the rule of a monarch, -he may justly be held responsible. But when it exists under the reign -of freedom, there is no responsibility anywhere, unless it may be said -to be in the people themselves, which is equivalent to saying responsibility -without application.</p> - -<p class='c006'>To illustrate this distinction without a difference, take the island of -Cuba, with its half million inhabitants, and suppose it to be ruled by an -absolute monarch, who administers his commands through the usual -attachés of the court and the noblemen of the island. Virtually owning -the people, he commands them to labor, taking from them all their products, -and merely feeding, clothing and sheltering them. In this case -it would be the non-laborers who, without any circumlocution, directly -obtain all the produced wealth, they simply expending their time and -talent in its securing, while the lives of the people who produce it would -be simply maintained.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Now advance one step toward popular government—to a constitutional -monarchy. In this the same results to the producing people -will be maintained, while the noblemen will share the wealth among -themselves, allotting a certain share to the monarch.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Coming down to a representative government, of which personal -liberty is the basis, the despotism of laws enacted in the interest of -privileged classes are substituted for the personal despotism of monarchs -and nobles. What the absolute monarch possesses himself of by -the right of might, the privileged class in the popular government -possess themselves of by the right of law, everything legal being held -to be just.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Now is not that precisely the case in this country? Do not all the -results of labor accrue to the privileged few? and are not the producing -classes just as much enslaved to them as the subjects of an absolute -monarch are to him?</p> - -<p class='c006'>With this mortification, however. In the last instance, they suffer -<span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span>from conditions over which they have no control; whilst in the former -case the conditions by which they are enslaved are of their own formation. -And I say, I would rather be the unwilling subject of an absolute -monarch than the willing slave of my own ignorance, of which advantage -is taken by those who spend their time in endeavoring to prove -to me that I am free and in singing the glories of my condition, to -hoodwink my reason and to blind my perception.</p> - -<p class='c006'>And I further say, that that system of government by which it is possible -for a class of people to practice upon my credulity, and, under -false pretenses, first entice me to acquiesce in laws by which immense -corporations and monopolies are established, and then to induce me to -submit to their extortions because they exist according to law, pursuing -none but lawful means, is an infernal despotism, compared to which -the Russian Czar is a thousand times to be preferred.</p> - -<p class='c006'>This may at first seem a sweeping indictment of our form of government, -but I say it is just. Suppose we take our railroad system, now -amounting to fifty-five thousand miles. At an average cost of eighty -thousand dollars per mile for construction and equipment, its total cost -would be four billions four hundred millions dollars. To pay the shareholders -an eight per cent. dividend for doing nothing, the industries of the -country would have to be taxed three hundred and fifty millions dollars -over and above the cost of maintenance and operation. Did this enormous -drain from the products of the people stop here, the fertility of -the country, made use of by the ingenuity of the people, might possibly -keep pace with the demand. But it does not stop there. The net -earning of the railroads enables their directors to make larger dividends -than eight per cent. Do their managers relinquish this increase in favor -of the people? Never a bit of it. But they increase their stock either -by selling new shares, or by making stock or scrip dividends, and to -neither process has there been found any legal bar or cure.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Now, what may the result of such a system be? Why, this. If the -stock of all these railroads be increased in the same proportion that -some of them have already been increased, it may be raised to a thousand -billions of dollars, and the people, instead of being compelled to -pay three hundred and fifty millions dollars to provide an eight per -<span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>cent. dividend on their cost, will have to submit to the extortion of eight -hundred million dollars annually to satisfy the demands of these legal -despots for an eight per cent. dividend upon stock, a large part of -which represent absolutely nothing but the people’s stolen money.</p> - -<p class='c006'>A person who would double the size of another’s note simply because -the profits of his business would permit the payment of twelve -per cent. interest, so that instead of paying twelve per cent. upon one -hundred dollars, which would be an illegal charge, it would be six per -cent. upon two hundred dollars, would be deemed and adjudged guilty -of forgery. But these railroad magnates sit in their palatial offices -and raise their notes at pleasure, and they are considered public benefactors. -It is a crime for a single person to steal a dollar, but a corporation -may steal a million dollars, and be canonized as saints.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Oh, the stupid blindness of this people! Swindled every day before -their very eyes, and yet they don’t seem to know that there is anything -wrong, simply because no <i>law</i> has been violated. In their eyes everything -that is lawful is right, and this has become the curse of the -nation. But the opposite—that everything which is right is lawful—don’t -follow as a part of their philosophy.</p> - -<p class='c006'>No matter what a person does if it is not actionable under the law; -he is an honest man and a good church member. But Heaven defend -us from being truthful, natural beings, unless the law says we may—since -that is to be an infamous scoundrel.</p> - -<p class='c006'>A Vanderbilt may sit in his office and manipulate stocks, or make -dividends, by which, in a few years, he amasses fifty millions dollars -from the industries of the country, and he is one of the remarkable -men of the age. But if a poor, half-starved child were to take a loaf -of bread from his cupboard, to prevent starvation, she would be sent -first to the Tombs, and thence to Blackwell’s Island.</p> - -<p class='c006'>An Astor may sit in his sumptuous apartments, and watch the property -bequeathed him by his father, rise in value from one to fifty millions, -and everybody bows before his immense power, and worships -his business capacity. But if a tenant of his, whose employer had discharged -him because he did not vote the Republican ticket, and thereby -fails to pay his month’s rent to Mr. Astor, the law sets him and his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span>family into the street in midwinter; and, whether he dies of cold or -starvation, neither Mr. Astor or anybody else stops to ask, since that is -nobody’s business but the man’s. This is a free country, you know, -and why should I trouble myself about that person, because he happens -to be so unfortunate as not to be able to pay Mr. Astor his rent?</p> - -<p class='c006'>Mr. Stewart, by business tact, and the various practices known to -trade, succeeds, in twenty years, in obtaining from customers whom he -has entrapped into purchasing from him fifty millions dollars, and with -his gains he builds costly public beneficiaries, and straightway the -world makes him a philanthropist. But a poor devil who should come -along with a bolt of cloth, which he had succeeded in smuggling into -the country, and which, consequently, he could sell at a lower price -than Mr. Stewart, who paid the tariff, and is thereby authorized by law -to add that sum to the piece, would be cast into prison.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Now these individuals represent three of the principal methods that -the privileged classes have invented by which to monopolize the accumulated -wealth of the country. But let us analyze the processes, and -see if it is wholly by their personal efforts that they gain this end.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Nobody pretends that Mr. Stewart ever produced a single dollar of -his vast fortune. He accumulated it by dealing in the productions of -others, which he first obtained at low rates, and then sold at a sufficient -advance over the cost of handling to make in the aggregate a sum -amounting to millions.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Now, I want to ask if all this is not arriving at the same result, by -another method, at which the slaveholders of the South arrived, by -owning negroes? In the case of the latter, the slaveholder reaped all the -benefits of the labors of the negroes. In the former case the merchant -princes, together with the various other privileged classes, reap the -benefit of the labors of all the working-classes of the country. Every -year the excess of the produced wealth of the country finds final lodgment -in the pockets of these classes, and they grow richer at each succeeding -harvest, while the laborers toil their lives away; and when all -their strength and vigor have been transformed into wealth, which has -been legally transferred to the capitalists, they are heavy with age, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>as destitute as when they began their life of servitude. Did ever -Southern slave have meaner end than this?</p> - -<p class='c006'>In all seriousness, is there any common justice in such a state of -things? Is it right that the millions should toil all their lives long, -scarcely having comfortable food and clothes, while the few manage to -control all the benefits? People may pretend that it is justice, and good -Christians may excuse it upon that ground, but Christ would never -have called it by that name. He would even give him that labored -but an hour as much as he that had labored all the day, but to him -who labored not at all he would take away even that which he hath. -And yet we hear loud professions of Christianity ascending from the -pulpit throughout the length and breadth of the land. And when I -listen, I cannot help exclaiming, “O, ye hypocrites, how can ye hope -to escape the damnation of hell?”</p> - -<p class='c006'>Am I asked, How are these things to be amended? I will tell you -in the first place, that they must be remedied; and this particular case -of dealing in the labor of the people is to be remedied by abolishing -huckstering, or the system of middle-men, and substituting therefor a -general system of public markets, conducted by the people through -their paid agents, as all other public business is performed. In these -markets the products of the country should be received, in first hands, -direct from the producers, who should realize their entire proceeds. In -this manner the immense fortunes realized by middle-men, and the -profits made by the half-dozen different hands through which merchandise -travels on its way to consumers, would be saved to the producer. -A bushel of apples, purchased in the orchard at twenty-five cents, is -finally sold to the consumer at a dollar. Now, either the consumer -has paid at least a half dollar too much, or the producer has received a -half dollar too little, for the apples; since, under a perfect system, the -apples would go direct from the orchard to the market, and thence -direct to the consumer.</p> - -<p class='c006'>We are forever talking of political economy, but it appears to me -that the most vital points—one of which is our system of huckstery—is -entirely overlooked.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Suppose Mr. Stewart, instead of having labored all these years for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>his own selfish interests, had labored in the interests of the people? Is -it not clear that the half-a-hundred million dollars he has accumulated -would have remained with the people who have consumed his goods? -Place all other kinds of traffic upon the same proposed basis, and do -you not see that the system which makes merchant-princes would be -abolished? Neither would it require one-half the people to conduct -a general system of markets who are now employed speculating in the -results of labor.</p> - -<p class='c006'>In short, every person should either be a producer or a paid agent -or officer of consumers and producers, and our entire system of shopkeeping -reduced to a magnificent system of immense public markets. -In this way there could also be a perfect control exercised over the -quality of perishable goods, the want of which is now felt so severely -in summer in all large cities, and a thousand unthought of remedies -would necessarily suggest themselves as the system should develop.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But let us pass to one of the other branches of this same system. -We have in our midst thousands of people of immense wealth who have -never even done so much to justify its possession as the merchant-princes -have done to justify themselves. I refer to our land monopolists, -and to Mr. Astor as their representative. Mr. Astor inherited a -large landed estate, which has risen in value to be worth millions of -dollars, to which advance Mr. Astor never contributed even a day’s -labor. He has done nothing except to watch the rise and gather in the -rents, while the whole laboring country has been constantly engaged -in promoting that advance. What would Mr. Astor have been without -the City of New York? And what would the City of New York have -been without the United States? You see, my friends, it will not do to -view this matter superficially. We live in too analytic an age to permit -these things to go on in the way they have been going. There is -too much poverty, too much suffering, too much hard work, too many -hours of labor for individuals, too many sleepless nights, too many -starving poor, too many hungry children, too many in helpless old age, -to permit these villanous abuses to continue sheltered under the name -of respectability and public order.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But again, and upon a still worse swindle of the people. A person -<span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>having money goes out into the public domain and acquires an immense -tract of land. Shortly a railroad is projected and built, which -runs through that tract. It offers a fine location for a station. A city -springs up, and that which cost in some instances as little as a shilling -per acre, is divided into town lots, and these are reluctantly parted with -at five hundred dollars each.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Again, I wish to inquire, in the name of Justice, to whom does that -advance belong? To the person who nominally holds the land? What -has he done to entitle him to receive dollars for what he only paid cents? -Is there any equality—is there any justice—in such a condition? He -profits by the action of others; in fact at the public expense, since in -its last analysis it is the common public who are the basis of all advance -in the value of property.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Now, I say, that that common public is entitled to all the benefits -accruing from common efforts; and it is an infamous wrong that -makes it accrue to the benefit of a special few. And a system of society -which permits such arbitrary distributions of wealth is a disgrace to -Christian civilization, whose Author and his Disciples had all things in -common. Let professing Christians who, for a pretense, make long -prayers, think of that, and then denounce Communism, if they can; -and denounce me as a Revolutionist for advocating it, if they dare.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But, is it asked, how is this to be remedied? I answer, very easily! -Since those who possess the accumulated wealth of the country have -filched it by legal means from those to whom it justly belongs—the -people—it must be returned to them, by legal means if possible, but it -must be returned to them in any event. When a person worth millions, -dies, instead of leaving it to his children, who have no more title to it -than anybody else’s children have, it must revert to the people, who -really produced it. Do you say that is injustice to the children? I -say, No! And if you ask me how the rich man’s children are going -to live after his death, I answer, by the same means as the poor man’s -children live. Let it be remembered that we have had simple freedom -quite long enough. By setting all our hopes on freedom we -have been robbed of our rights. What we want now is more than -freedom—we want equality! And by the Heaven above us, earth’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>growing children are going to have it! What right have the children -of the rich to be born to luxurious idleness, while the children of the -poor are born to, all their lives long, further contribute to their ease? -Do they not in common belong to God’s human family? If I mistake -not, Christ told us so. You will not dispute his authority, I am sure. -If, instead of preaching Christ and him crucified quite so much, we -should practice his teaching a little more, my word for it, we should all -be better Christians.</p> - -<p class='c006'>And when by this process all the land shall have been returned to -the people, there will be just as much of it, and it will be equally -as productive, and just as much room on it as there is now. But -instead of a few people owning the whole of it, and farming it out to -all the rest at the best possible prices, the people will possess it themselves -in their own right, through just laws, paying for its possession -to the government such moderate rates of taxes as shall be necessary -to maintain the government.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But I may as well conclude what I have to say regarding railroads, -which must also revert back to the people, and be conducted by them -for the public benefit, as our common highways are now conducted. -Vanderbilt, Scott & Co. are demonstrating it better and better every -day that all the railroads of the country can be much more economically -and advantageously conducted under one management than under -a thousand different managements. They imagine that very soon they -will have accomplished a complete consolidation of the entire system, -and that by the power of that consolidation they will be able to control -the government of this country.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But they will not be the first people who have made slight miscalculations -as to ultimate results. Thomas Scott might make a splendid -Secretary of the Department of Internal Improvements, for which the -new Constitution, which this country is going to adopt, makes provision; -but he will never realize his ambition to preside over the railroad -system of the country in any other manner.</p> - -<p class='c006'>And I will tell you another benefit that will follow the nationalization -of our railroads. You have all heard of the dealing in stocks, of -the “bulls” and the “bears,” and the “longs” and the “shorts,” and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>the “lame ducks” of Wall street. Well, they will all be abolished. -There will be no stocks in which to deal. That sort of speculation, -by which gigantic swindlers corner a stock and take it in at their own -figures, will, to use a vulgar phrase, be “played out.” And if you -were to see their customers, as I have seen them, rushing about Broad -street to catch sight of the last per cent. of their margins as they disappear -in the hungry maw of the complacent brokers, you would -agree with me that it ought to be “played out.”</p> - -<p class='c006'>Under the system which I propose, not only will stock gambling be -abolished, but also all other gambling, and the hundreds of thousands -of able-bodied people who are now engaged in it, living from the products -of others, will be compelled to go to producing themselves.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But, says the objector, take riches away from people and there will -be no incentive to accumulate. But, my dear sir, we don’t propose to -do anything of the kind, nor to destroy any wealth. There will never -be any less wealth than now, but a constant increase upon it. We only -propose that the people shall hold it in their own right, instead of its -being held in trust for them by a self-appointed few. Instead of -having a few millionaires, and millions on the verge of starvation, we -propose that all shall possess a comfortable competence—that is, shall -possess the results of their own labors.</p> - -<p class='c006'>I can’t see where there is a chance for a lack of motive to come in. -It seems to me that everybody will have a better and a more certain -chance, as well as a better incentive to accumulate. Will the certainty -of accumulation destroy the desire to accumulate? Nobody but the -most stupid would attempt to maintain that. It is not great wealth in -a few individuals that proves a country prosperous, but great general -wealth evenly distributed among the people. That country must be -the most prosperous and happy where the people are most generally -comfortably and happily circumstanced. And in this country, instead -of a hundredth part of the people living in palaces and riding in -coaches, while the balance live in huts and travel on foot, every person -may live in a palace and ride in a coach. I leave it to you to -decide which is the preferable condition and which the more Christian.</p> - -<p class='c006'>And why should the rich object to this? If everybody has enough -<span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>and to spare, should that be a subject of complaint? What more do -people want, except it be for the purpose of tyrannizing over others -dependent upon them? But no objections that may be raised will be -potent enough to crush out the demand for equality now rising from -an oppressed people. This demand the possessors of wealth cannot -afford to ignore. It comes from a patiently-enduring people, who -have waited already too long for the realization of the beautiful -pictures of freedom which have been painted for them to admire; for -the realization of the songs which poets have sung to its praise. Let -me warn, nay, let me implore them not to be deaf to this demand, since -they do not know so well as I know what temper there is behind it. I -have tested it, and I know it is one that will not much longer brook -the denial of justice.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But there is another monopoly of which I must speak—I mean the -monopoly of money itself. We have seen how great a tyranny that is -which arises from monopolizing the land. But that occurring from -the monopoly of money, is a still more insidious and dangerous form -of despotism, since its ramifications are more extensive and minute. -It may be exercised by the person possessing a hundred, or by the -person possessing a million dollars. But what is the process? A -person inherits a half million dollars for which he never expended a -single day’s labor. He sits in his office loaning that sum of money -say, in sums of one thousand dollars to one thousand different persons, -each of whom conducts a little business which yields just enough to -support a family and to pay the interest. These people live for forty -years in this manner, and die no better off than when they began -life. But during that time they have paid all their extra production -to the amount of four thousand dollars, each, to the capitalist; and, -finally, the business itself is sold out to pay the principal. And thus -it turns out that the capitalist obtains everything those thousand persons -earned during their whole lives, they leaving nothing to their -families. Now, what better is that result than it would have been had -these people been slaves? Could their owners have obtained any more -from them? I say they would have obtained less; since, had they -been slaves in name, as in fact they were, there would have been times -<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>during the forty years that they would not have earned interest -over cost of their support. Now, look at the capitalist. For one -million dollars, and without the straining of a muscle, he receives five -million dollars direct, which, reinvested from time to time as it increases, -amounts at the end of the forty years to not less than fifteen -millions dollars.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But try another example of a somewhat different kind. A person -having four grown children, whom he has reared in luxury, and given -all the facilities of education, dies, leaving each of them a farm worth -twenty-five thousand dollars. These children having never learned -the art of farming are incapable of conducting these farms; but they -lease them to four different people for a thousand dollars a year each, -and live at ease all their lives, therefrom, never so much as lifting their -hands to do an hour’s labor. Now, who is it that supports those four -people? Is it not clear that it is the people who work the farms? -And how did it happen that they had the farms to lease? Simply by -an incident for which there was no legitimate general cause, else why -do not all children have farms and live without work?</p> - -<p class='c006'>Nor can you, my friends, discover anything approaching equality, or -aught<a id='t20'></a> that looks like justice in that operation. I tell you nay! It is the -most insidious despotism, with a single exception, that is possible among -a people. It is a despotism which was condemned in all former times, -even by barbarians, and which the Jews were only permitted to enforce -upon people of other nations. It is the hideous vampire fastened upon -the vitals of our people, sucking—sucking—sucking their very life’s -blood, leaving just enough to keep up their vitality, that they may -manufacture more. It is the heartless monster that will have the exact -pound of flesh, even if there be loss of blood to obtain it, and there is -no just judge near to prevent the taking, or to hold him to account if -he take it. It paralyzes our industries; shuts the gates in the way that -leads to our inexhaustible treasures within the bosom of mother earth; -strips the stars and stripes from the masts of merchantmen; compels our -immense cotton lands to luxuriate in weeds; robs our spindles of the -power to turn them; and lays an embargo upon every productive enterprise. -Whoever makes a movement to compel the earth to yield her -<span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>wealth, or to transform that wealth into useful form, must first obtain -the consent of this despot, and pay his demands for a license.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Thirteen millions of laborers in this country produce annually four -thousand millions dollars of wealth, every dollar of which over and -above the cost of living is paid over to appease the demands of this -insatiate monster—this horrid demon, whose name is Interest.</p> - -<p class='c006'>We are told that we cannot manufacture railroad iron in this country -as cheap as it can be manufactured in England. Yes! And why? -Is it because we have no ore or no coal; or that, which is not as good -as England has? No! We have on the surface what in England -is hundreds of feet in the bowels of the earth, and coal the same; -and both of better quality. But money can be put at interest in this -country so as to double itself every four years, and be amply secured. -What reason have capitalists to construct iron works, or to have their -care, when twenty-five per cent. per year is returned them, without -care or risk? And what is true of iron is also true of every other -natural production. Is it any wonder that our manufacturers are -obliged to demand that the people pay an additional per cent. upon -everything they eat, drink or wear, that they may be protected in their -various productive enterprises, when such exactions are laid upon them -by this more than absolute monarch? No! It would indeed be a -wonder if it were not so.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Now, do you suppose our markets would be flooded with British -goods if our producing and manufacturing interests had all the money -they require without interest? If there are any borrowers at ten per -cent. who hear my voice, let them answer. No; it is the tribute that -industry is compelled to pay to capital that forces our government to -exact ten, twenty, fifty, aye, even a hundred per cent. for the privilege -of bringing merchandise into this country.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But they tell us if we go to free trade that our country would -be flooded with foreign products, so there would be absolutely no -production of manufactured goods in the country. Now that would -be true, if we should attempt free trade and leave the monster Interest -with his grip upon our vitals. And here is the short-sightedness of Free-Traders. -If we want free trade, we must, in the first place, attack, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>throttle and kill this demon, after which we may manufacture at -prices that will not only absolutely forbid the importation of almost -everything that is now imported, but which will also enable us to play -the same game with Europe that Europe has played so long upon us. -Free money in this country would abolish every European throne within -ten years. And yet people cannot be made to see that this country is -their support. With free money what need would we have for a protective -tariff? Can any Protectionist answer that?</p> - -<p class='c006'>You see, my friends, that it is the people who catch sight of an -idea and pursue it to the death, regardless of relative ideas, who make -reform so ridiculous. One reform cannot advance alone. All kinds -of reform must go on together. Interest and free trade must go hand -in hand; interest, if either, a little ahead.</p> - -<p class='c006'>And in this regard I am free to confess that the National Labor -Union’s demand for a decrease of interest is the most reasonable single -reform now being advocated. We want free trade; but we want free -money first, so that not a spindle or forge in this country shall stop at -the command of those across the ocean.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But how are we going to get free money? Why, in the very -easiest way possible. It is the simplest problem of them all. -I am not going into this discussion to prove to you that gold is -not money, since everybody ought to know that it has no more the -properties of money than cotton, corn and pork have the properties of -money. Now, money is that thing which, if every dollar in circulation -should be destroyed, there would be no loss of wealth. Gold, cotton, -corn and wheat are wealth. Destroy these and there is a loss. But -when money is destroyed, there is no more loss than when a promissory -note is destroyed. A note is an evidence of debt. It is not -wealth, but its representative. So also is money not wealth, but its -representative. And if we had a thousand million dollars in circulation -to-day, there would be no more wealth in the country than there -now is, and we would have quite as much wealth if there were two -thousand millions dollars, since money and wealth are two entirely -distinct things.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But they tell us that unless money is made redeemable in gold, it -<span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>is not of any account, and that, too, in the face of our miserable greenback -system, which was so much better even than gold that it saved the -nation when, had we stuck to gold, we should have been destroyed. -Oh, but it was a depreciated currency, says some one. Yes, it was a -depreciated currency, and we should have ample reason to be thankful -if when we come to pay our bonds, we have a depreciated currency -with which to liquidate them, instead of being obliged, as we shall, -to pay a thousand dollars in cotton for what we realized less than five -hundred in gold.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It is not the gold only of a country that constitutes its wealth. -What should we care if we had not a single ounce of gold, if we had a -thousand million bales of cotton, ten thousand millions bushels of corn -and wheat, and a billion dollars’ worth of manufactured goods to -send to other countries? So you see it is not the gold after all that -makes a circulation good, but the sum total of all kinds of wealth. -Now, that is what we propose to substitute for gold as the basis for a -money issue. And instead of permitting corporations to issue it and -remain at liberty to dispose of their property and let the people who -hold their circulation whistle for its redemption, we propose that -government, which can neither sell our property nor abscond with it, -shall issue it for the people and lend it to them at cost; or if you will -insist on paying interest for money, why, then, pay it to the government -and lessen your taxes that much, instead of paying interest to bankers -and supporting government besides.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Now, don’t you think that would be rather a good sort of a money -system? I know that every manufacturer in the country would like -it. But I can tell you who will not like it; and whom we may be -compelled to fight before they will permit us to have it; and these are -the money-lenders and money-changers, such as it is related the Head -of the Christian Church—one Jesus Christ, of whom we hear a great -deal said, but whose teachings and doctrines are wofully perverted—scourged -out of the Temple at a place known as Jerusalem.</p> - -<p class='c006'>I have not been guilty of frequenting the temples of the country -much of late, but if I am not misinformed upon the subject, and unless -they have changed since I did frequent them, if Christ should pass -<span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>through this land of a Sunday, scourge in hand, he would find plenty -of work to do in the same line in which he labored so faithfully among -the Jews.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But the National Labor Union say they won’t be so hard upon these -money-lenders as we would be. They are willing that they shall be -eased down from the vast height to which they have attained. They -say they shall have three per cent. interest instead of six, seven, eight -and ten, or as much more as they can steal out of the necessities of the -case, by the circumstances and discounts. But they shall be limited to -three per cent., and in a way that they cannot evade, as they now -evade, lawful interest. It is proposed that government shall issue this -money, but that it shall be convertible into a three per cent. interest-bearing -bond; so that when money shall be so plenty that it will be -worth less than three per cent. in business, it can be invested in bonds -drawing three per cent.; and the bonds to also be reconvertible into -money, so that the moment business shall demand more money than -there should be in circulation—which would increase the value of money -to more than three per cent.—the bonds would be converted into money -again; and when there should be no more bonds to convert, and money -still worth more than three per cent., then the Government shall issue -more money to restore the equilibrium. In this way money would always -be worth just three per cent. No more nor less, and there would -always be just enough; or, in other words, money would be measured, -as it never has been, and which has been the cause of all our financial -troubles. What would you say to a person who should talk to you -about measuring your corn in a bushel that had itself never been measured? -But you complacently talk of money being a measure of -values, and money has never had a measure regulating its own value.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But this consideration is only a stepping-stone to what shall be. -Money must be made free from interest. In fact, I do not know but -people who have money should pay something to have it securely -loaned, the same as you must pay your Safe Deposit Companies for -safely keeping bonds, jewels and other valuables. I think people -ought to be made to pay for the safe keeping of money upon the same -principle. Money under our present system is the only thing which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>we possess that does not depreciate in value by use. The more money -is used, the more it increases; a proof complete of the fallacy and its -despotism.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The Government now pay the banks thirty millions dollars per -year for the privilege of loaning them about three hundred millions -national currency, which the banks reloan to the people at an average -of ten per cent. It seems to me that is almost too good a thing to last -long. If the Government can afford to do this thing, why can’t they -better afford to loan directly to the people for nothing, and save thirty -millions dollars annually? Do you think the people would object? -Oh, no; but the bankers would. But for all that the cry of “Down -with the tyrant” is raised, and it will never cease until interest shall -be among the things that were.</p> - -<p class='c006'>I also desire to call attention to the reduction of the Public Debt, -and to the means by which this reduction has been accomplished. -The Administration hangs almost all of its hopes upon this fact, while -if it were thoroughly understood it would prove its condemnation. It -has paid three hundred millions of the debt, they say. Who has paid -it? we inquire. It fails to answer. We say that that entire payment has -been made by the producing classes of the country, while the capitalists -have not reduced their cash balances in the least. In other words, the -producers have got no more money now than they had before the debt -was paid, while the capitalists have had their bonds changed into -money. Now, who have paid that three hundred millions dollars? I -repeat the laboring people have done it, just as they pay all public -debts and all public expenses, besides constantly adding to the wealth -of the capitalists themselves. Can such a state of things continue? -Again I tell you nay.</p> - -<p class='c006'>This wrong must be remedied by a system of progressive taxation. -If persons having a hundred thousand dollars pay one-half per cent. -tax, let those having a million pay ten per cent., or two millions twenty-five -per cent. Let there be a penalty placed upon monopolizing the -common property, and it will soon cease and equality come in its place. -Now, the poorest woman who buys the cheapest calico pays a tax to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>the Government, while the rich appropriate her labor to pay their -dues. Truly said Jesus, “The poor ye have with you always.”</p> - -<p class='c006'>Another mode of remedying the existing ills in industry and the -distribution of wealth, must be in giving employees an actual interest in -the products of their labors, so that ultimately co-operation will be the -source of all production, its results being justly distributed among all -those who assist in the production. First, pay the employer the same -rate of interest for his capital that Government shall charge for loans -made to the people; next, the general expenses, including salaries to -himself and all employees, the remainder to be equitably divided -among all who have an interest in it. Do you not see what a revolution -in industrial production such a constitutional provision would -effect? And do you not suppose if the workingmen and women of -this country understood the justice of it, that they would have it? I -intend that they shall have the required information. Already there -have been half a million tracts upon these subjects sent broadcast over -this land, and the present year shall see double as many more, until -every laborer, male and female, shall hold in his or her own hands the -method of deliverance from this great oppression.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But there is another consideration, which, more forcibly than any -other, shows the suicidal policy which we pursue. If the present rates -of interest are continued to be paid upon only the present banking -capital and bonds of the country, for twenty-five years to come, the -interest, with the principal added, will have absorbed the total present -wealth, as well as its perspective increase. And such a consummation -as this are the European capitalists now preparing for this -country. Europe holds not less than three thousand millions -of bonded indebtedness of this country, which is being augmented -every month by additional railroad bonds, or some syndicate -operation. So do you not see that European capital is gradually, but -nevertheless inevitably, absorbing not only all of our annually produced -wealth, but also acquiring an increased mortgage every year -upon our accumulated wealth? There is no escaping these facts. -Figures don’t lie. Mathematics is an absolute science from whose -edicts there is no escape. And mathematics inform us that we are -<span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>year by year mortgaging ourselves to European capitalists, who will -ultimately step in and foreclose their mortgages, and possess themselves -of our all, just as we foreclose our smaller mortgages, when -there is no hope of a further increase from interest.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Besides the monopoly of land, money and public conveniences, there -is another kind of monopoly still, which may appear rather strange and -new to be thus classed, but it is nevertheless a terrible tyrant. I refer -to the monopoly of education. I hold that a just government is in -duty bound to see to it that all its children of both sexes have the -same and equal opportunities for acquiring education, and that every -person of adult age shall have graduated in the highest departments of -learning, as well as in the arts, sciences and practical mechanics. -Every person should be compelled to acquire a practical knowledge of -some productive branch of labor, because the time will come when all -people will be obliged to produce at least as much as they consume, or -earn what they consume, as the paid agents of producers. What a -revolution would that accomplish? If every person in the world was -to work at production two hours a day there would be a larger -aggregate produced than there is now. Therefore every person -must learn the art of production, and thus be equal in resources to any -other person, and Government must undertake the compulsory industrial -education of all its children.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Thus I could continue analysis upon analysis, until not a stone in -the foundations of our social structure would be left unturned, and all -would be found unworthy of our civilization—our boasted Christian -civilization. I think Christianity has been preached at, long enough. -I go for making a practical application of it at the very foundations of -society. I believe in recognizing the broad principle of all religion—that -we are all children of one great common parent, God, which, -since it disproves the propositions of the Church, that at least a large -portion of us are the children of the devil, and renders the services of -the clergy to save us from that inheritance unnecessary, will abolish -our present system of a licensed and paid ministry. Thirty-five -thousand ministers are paid twenty-five millions dollars annually for -preaching the gospel in cathedrals costing two hundred and fifty millions -dollars; and how many of them ever teach any fact other than -<span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span>that Jesus was crucified, just as though that would save us from -the sloughs of ignorance in which we are sunk? Which one of them -dare tell his congregation the truth, as he, if he be not a blockhead, -knows it? I here and now impeach the clergy of the United States -as dishonest and hypocritical, since the best of them acknowledge that -they do not dare to preach the whole truth, for, if they should, they -would have to preach to empty seats—an admission sufficiently damnable -to consign them to the contempt of the world and to the hell of -which they prate so knowingly, but whose location they have not been -able to determine, and to light the torch which shall fire the last one -of these palatial mockeries of true religion.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Why, should Christ appear among these godly Christians as he did -among the Jews, he would be arrested as a vagrant, or sent to jail for -stealing corn; and in Connecticut, perhaps, for Sabbath-breaking, or for -telling the maid at the well “<i>all she had ever done</i>,” which is now called -fortune-telling, or for healing the sick by laying on of hands, which they -denominate charlatanry. Christ and his Disciples and the multitude -which he gathered together had all things in common. But every -pulpit and every paper in this Christian country launch the thunders -of their denunciations when that damnable doctrine is now advanced. -Now, Christ was a Communist of the strictest sort, and so am I, and -of the most extreme kind. I believe that God is the Father of all -humanity and that we are brothers and sisters; and that it is not -merely a theoretical or hypothetical nothing but a stern reality, to be reduced -to a practical recognition. And they who cannot accept and -practice this doctrine of Christ, and who still profess to be his followers, -are simply stealing the livery of Christ in which to serve the -devil in their own souls.</p> - -<p class='c006'>I do not care to what length Christians may stretch their faces of a -Sunday, nor how much they pay to support their ministers; nor do I -care how long prayers they may make, nor what sermons preach, when -they denounce the fundamental principles of the teachings of Christ, -I will turn upon and, in his language, utter their own condemnation: -“Inasmuch as ye have not done it unto the least of these, -ye have not done it unto” Christ. And they may make all the fuss, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>call me all the hard names, they please; but they can’t escape the -judgment. And I don’t intend they shall have a chance to escape it. -I am going to strip the masks of hypocrisy from their faces, and let -the world see them as they are. They have had preaching without -practice long enough. The people want practice now, and when they -get it, they can even afford to do without the preaching.</p> - -<p class='c006'>These privileged classes of the people have an enduring hatred for -me, and I am glad they have. I am the friend not only of freedom in -all things, and in every form, but also for equality and justice as well. -These cannot be inaugurated except through revolution. I am -denounced as desiring to precipitate revolution. I acknowledge it. I -am for revolution, if to get equality and justice it is required. I -only want the people to have what it is their right to have—what the -religion of humanity, what Christ, were he the arbiter, would give -them. If, in getting that, the people find bayonets opposing them, it -will not be their fault if they make their way through them by the aid -of bayonets. And these persons who possess the monopolies and who -guard them by bayonets, need not comfort themselves with the idea that -the people won’t fight for their rights. Did they not spring to arms -from every quarter to fight for the negro? And will you say they -will not do the same against this other slavery, compared to which the -former is as a gentle shower to a raging tempest?</p> - -<p class='c006'>Don’t flatter yourselves, gentlemen despots, that you are going to -escape under that assumption. You will have to yield, and it will be -best for you to do it gracefully. You are but as one to seven against -them. Numbers will win. It will be your own obduracy if they are -goaded on to madness. Do not rely upon their ignorance of the true -condition. Upon that you have anchored your hopes as long as it is -safe. There are too many reform newspapers in circulation. And -though the columns of all our great dailies are shut to their truths, -still there are channels through which they flow to the people—aye, -even to those who delve in the coal mines of Pennsylvania, seldom -seeing the joyous sunshine. And this education shall continue until -every person who contributes to the maintenance of another in luxurious -idleness shall know how such a result is rendered possible.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>Hence, I say, it lies in the hands of those who have maintained this -despotism over the common people to yield it up to them and recognize -their just relations.</p> - -<p class='c006'>And remember what I say to you to-night: If this that is claimed -is not granted—if, beside freedom, equality is not made possible by -your giving up this power, by which the laborer is robbed of the results -of his labor, before our next centennial birthday, July 4th, 1876, -you will have precipitated the most terrible war that the earth has yet -known.</p> - -<p class='c006'>For three years before the breaking out of the slavery rebellion I -saw and heard with my spiritual senses the marching of armies, the -rattle of musketry, and the roar of cannon; and I already hear and -see the approach of this more terrible contest. I know it is coming. -There is but one way in which it can be averted. There was one -way by which the slave war could have been avoided—the abolition -of slavery. But the slave oligarchy would not listen to our Garrisons, -Sumners, Tiltons and Douglases. They tried the arbitration of war, -but they lost their slaves at last. Now, will not these later oligarchies—the -land, the railroad, the money aristocracies—learn a lesson from -their terrible fate? Will they not listen to the abolitionists—to the -Garrisons, the Sumners, the Tiltons and the Douglases—of to-day? -Will they try the arbitration of war, which will result as did the last, -in the loss of that for which they fight? I would that they should -learn wisdom by experience. The slaveholders could have obtained -compensation for their negroes. They refused it and lost all. Ponder -that lesson well, and do not neglect to give it its true application. -You can compromise now, and the same general end be arrived at -without the baptism of blood. It shall not be my fault if that baptism -comes. Nevertheless, equality and justice are on the march, and -they cannot be hindered. They must and will attain their journey’s -end. The people shall be delivered.</p> - -<p class='c006'>I have several times referred to the methods by which these things -may be accomplished. They are impossible under our present Constitution. -It is too restricted, too narrow, to admit even an idea of a -common humanity. True, its text is complete, but its framework -<span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>does not carry out the original design. Even George Washington, -himself, was accused of treachery for countenancing so great a departure -as was made; and the late war justified the grounds upon which -that accusation was founded. The text of the Constitution held these -truths to be self-evident, “That all men (and women) are born equal -and entitled to certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, -and the pursuit of happiness.” The Constitution should have been -erected in harmony with those declarations. It was not. There is no -such thing as equality provided for. Life and liberty have not been -held inalienable under it; the pursuit of happiness has been outrageously -interfered with, and the government has been made to exist -without the consent of the governed; and exists to-day against the -protests of a large number of its subjects.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Is it to be expected that anything so false as that is to its basic -propositions can be made enduring? It is against the constitution of -nature itself that it should be so. Nature is always true to itself, and -will always vindicate itself. If hedged in and obstructed, it will -burst through or find its way around. The needle is not truer to the -pole than is Nature to the truth. And Nature is always just. Those -propositions were deduced from human rights, regardless of any -authority or despotism. Had they been elucidated—had their principles -guided the construction of the Constitution itself, all would have -been well. What our fathers failed to do is left for this generation to -perform; and it must not shirk the duty. It must look the condition -squarely in the face, and meet the issue as squarely.</p> - -<p class='c006'>What issues must be met and provided for in order that human -rights may be respected and protected? I have already referred to the -monopolies that must be abolished. But there are also many other -things. I will call attention first to minority representation, which lies -at the base of a representative government. The State of Massachusetts -has eleven representatives in Congress, and they are all Republicans. -Justice would infer that there are no Democrats in the State. But -such is not the fact. There are a large body of Democrats. They are -not represented. That is the fault of the system of arriving at representation. -While it is true that majorities must rule, that is not equal -<span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>to saying that minorities shall have no voice. But the practice in -Massachusetts does say just that. I suspect if it were possible for all -the real differences, politically, to be represented, that the Congressmen -would stand something as follows: The Democrats would have, -say, four out of the eleven, the Republicans, say, three, while the -remainder would be divided between the Labor and Temperance Reformers -and Woman Suffragists. Indeed, I am not certain if the door -were to be opened that there would be any straight Republicans left, -since all reformers are, under the present system, compelled to congregate -together in this party, so as not to entirely throw away their -votes. The Democrats are always Democrats. Like the hard-shell -Baptists, you always know where to find them.</p> - -<p class='c006'>They are always on hand to vote early, and often also, if opportunity -permit. Admit minority representation, and the Republican party in -Massachusetts would be abolished, except that part who carry the -loaves and eat the fishes. They are as certain to be found “right -there” as the Democrats are. I think the Woman Suffragists cover -about one-half the Republican party. But a large body of them are -Spiritualists and Temperance men, while as many more are Labor Reformers. -But those who are more Labor Reformers than anything -else, are perhaps two-sevenths; who are more Woman Suffragists than -anything else, are perhaps two-sevenths; who are more Spiritualists -than anything else, perhaps two-sevenths; and who are more Temperance -men than anything else, one-seventh; therefore, if the delegation -were elected by the representation of minorities, it would -stand four Democrats, two Spiritualists, two Labor Reformers, two -Woman Suffragists, and one Temperance man. But all of these, however, -would be again swallowed up whenever a Human Rights party -should be evolved, and that will be the party of the near future, in -whose all embracing arms the people, long suffering and long waiting, -will at last find repose, while the Goddess of Liberty, with her scales -of equality, shall find no more of her subjects to whom justice is not -measured out. Then will partisan politics have received its death -warrant; then will the people become one in heart, one in soul and -one in common purpose—the general good of the general whole. The -<span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>“greatest good of the greatest number” will be supplanted by: “the -general welfare, is best maintained when individual interests are best -protected.” The new government, then, must be the result of minority -representation, and all legislative bodies, and, where possible, -all executive officers, be so elected, while the people shall retain the -appointing as well as the veto power. Our lawmakers must be made -law proposers, who shall construct law to be submitted to the people -for their approval, in the same manner as our public conventions -appoint committees to draft resolutions, which are afterward adopted -or rejected by the convention itself. This will make every person a -legislator, having a direct interest in every law. The people will then -no longer elect representatives to make laws by which they must be -bound whether they approve or disapprove. The referendum is the -desired end. The referendum is what the people require, and it is -what the new Constitution must provide. So that in all future time -the people themselves will be their own lawmakers—will be the -government.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The people must appoint all their officers, heads of departments and -bureaus at regular intervals, and all under assistants, during faithful -performance of duty. We want no Civil Service Commissions. Every -person who shall be eligible to office under the new government will -be competent; and when once familiar with the duties, will not be -removed to give room for the friend of some politician belonging to -the party in power, since it would be the people in power at all times.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Another matter which must have attention is the sweeping away of -that <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">jeu d’esprit</span></i>, our courts of justice, by making all kinds of contracts -stand upon the honor and capacity of the contracting parties. All individual -matters must be settled by the individuals themselves without -appeal to the public. Our present system of enforced collection of -debts costs every year more than is realized, and besides maintains a -vast army of lawyers, constables and court officers in unproductive employ. -All this is wrong, entailing almost untold exactions upon the -producing community, who in the end are made to pay all these things.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Further, our system of oaths and bonds must be abolished. This -swearing people to tell the truth, and binding them to perform their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>duty, presupposes that they will lie and neglect their duty. People are -always placed upon the side of force and compulsion—never upon that -of personal rectitude and honor. The results are what might be expected. -It plunges us into the very things we would avoid. There -is a philosophy, too, in all these things; since in freedom only can -purity exist. Anything that is not free is not pure. Anything that -is accompanied by compulsion is no proof of individual honesty.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The new government must also take immediate steps for the abolition -of pauperism and beggary. It is an infamous reproach upon this -country that there are hundreds of thousands of people who subsist -themselves upon individual charity. I do not care whether this is -from choice or necessity. I say it is a burning shame, requiring immediate -curative steps. The indigent and helpless classes are just as -much a part of our social body as the protected and the rich are, and -they are entitled to its recognition. Society must no longer punish -and compel suffering and death for its own wrongs. It must evolve -such a social system as shall leave no single member of the common -body to suffer. When one member of the body suffers, the whole body -sympathizes. So, also, when a member of the social body suffers, does -the whole body suffer. And yet we have pretended philanthropists -and Christians who have never grasped that truth.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Our civilization and our Christianity have been made too much a -matter of faith in, and devotion to, the unknowable, divorced from all -human relations. We must first recognize and practice the brotherhood -of man before we can be made to realize the Paternity of God, -since “if we love not our brothers whom we have seen, how can we -love God whom we have not seen?” Our religious teaching has been -too much of punishment, and too little of love; too much of faith, too -little of works; too much of sectarianism, too little of humanitarianism; -too much of hell-fire arbitration, too little of inevitable law; and too -much of self-righteousness, and too little of innate goodness.</p> - -<p class='c006'>And here I cannot forbear to depart from the strict line of my subject -to say a word regarding a doctrine, from the effects of which even -this country is but slowly recovering—that of eternal damnation! I -say, that a people who really believe in a God who could burn his own -<span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>children in a lake of literal fire and brimstone, “where the worm dieth -not and the fire is not quenched,” and from which there is no present -escape nor future hope, for a single unrepented misdeed, and still profess -to honor, love and worship a fiend so infernal as that would make -Him, cannot be honest and conscientious, since they must mistake fear -for love, and confound sycophancy with worship. It was such a belief -that kindled the fires by which the early martyrs perished, by -which the Quakers of Massachusetts were burned and the witches hanged, -and which invented the terrible Inquisition, with its horrid racks and -tortures. These are the legitimate results of such a belief; and if the -people of to-day really believed what they profess in their creeds, they -would do precisely the same things. And they would be justified, -since it would be merciful in them to subject a person to a few moments’ -torture, to induce him or her to escape the eternal tortures of Hell, -the horrors of which all the ingenuity men can command could not invent -a torture one-hundredth part as inhuman; and yet they say our -Heavenly Father has prepared this for nineteen-twentieths of humanity.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Thank Heaven, however, the day has come when such libels -upon the name of God are rapidly merging into the gray twilight, -to soon sink in blank, unfathomable oblivion. Thank -Heaven, for its own approach earthward, to strike off the chains of -superstition from humanity, and for the first faint glimmering of light -shed upon us by its angels’ faces, proving to us that humanity, whether -of earth or heaven, is:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c007'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“One life for those who live and those who die—</div> - <div class='line'>For those whom sight knows and whom memory.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>The Jews would not accept Christ since he came not with temporal -power. But Christ will come in the power of the spirit, and shall baptise -all humanity. Already His messengers begin to herald the “glad -tidings of great joy which shall be unto all people.” Already the -music of the approaching harmonies are heard from the hill-tops of -spirituality singing the approaching millennium. Already its divine -notes have pierced some of the dark places of earth, making glad the -hearts of their oppressed children, shedding light and truth and joy -into their souls. The prophecies of all ages converge upon this, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>for their fulfillment, Christ, with all his holy angels, will come to judge -the world, and to erect upon it that government already inaugurated -in Heaven and long promised Earth, for</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c007'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Decrees are sealed in Heaven’s own chancery,</div> - <div class='line'>Proclaiming universal liberty.</div> - <div class='line'>Rulers and kings who will not hear the call,</div> - <div class='line'>In one dread hour shall thunder-stricken fall.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“So moves the growing world with march sublime,</div> - <div class='line'>Setting new music to the beats of time.</div> - <div class='line'>Old things decay, and new things ceaseless spring,</div> - <div class='line'>And God’s own face is seen in everything.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>Therefore it is that there shall soon come a time in which the people -will ask for universal liberty, universal equality, and universal justice. -Heretofore all branches of reform have been separated each from the -other—have been diffusive, working in single and straight lines from -a principle outward, utterly regardless of all other movements. Reform -has never yet been constructive, but destructive to existing things. -Nevertheless, all reform originates primarily from a common cause—the -effort of humanity to attain to the full exercise of human right, -only attainable through the possession of freedom, equality and justice. -Any reform which does not embrace these three principles must necessarily -be diffusive, instructive or educational. Each different branch -is the squaring of a separate stone, all of which must be brought -together and adjusted before even the corner-stone of the perfect and -permanent structure can be laid. Republicanism even was not integral -in its propositions. It looked simply to personal freedom. Neither -equality in its high, or justice in its broad, sense was a portion of its -creed. Hence republicanism as represented by the party in power -has done its work, and those who prefer to stick to it rather than to -come out and rally around a platform perfect in humanitarian principles, -will thus show themselves to be more republican than humanitarian.</p> - -<p class='c006'>As a nation we are nearing our first centennial birthday. A -hundred years have come and gone since political freedom was evolved -from the womb of civilization. Great as its mission was, great as its -results have been, shall the car of progress stop there? Is there nothing -<span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>more for humanity to accomplish? I tell you there are still -mightier and more glorious things to come than human tongue hath -spoken or heart conceived. Little did our noble sires imagine what a -century would do with what they set in motion. From three to forty -millions is a grand, I may almost say a terrible, stride. But with this -step we cannot stop. We must open new channels for the expansion -of the human soul.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Up to this time we have expanded almost wholly in a material and -intellectual sense. There is a grander expansion than either of -these. Wealth and knowledge have brought us power, but we lack -wisdom. To material prosperity and intellectual acquirements there -must be added moral purity, and then we shall get wisdom. Everybody -appears to live as though this life were all there is of life, and -that to get from it the most physical enjoyment were the grand thing -to be attained. Wealth has been made almost the sole aim of living, -whereas it should only be regarded as the means to a better end; as -the means by which to accumulate an immense capital with which to -begin life in the next and higher stage of existence; and he or she -lives best on earth who does the most for humanity.</p> - -<p class='c006'>In this view, what are professing Christians—the churches—doing for -the general good to-day? What good can come from preaching without -practice, since, though people may be able to say, “All of these -have I kept from my youth up,” Christ, when he shall come, will reply -to them: “Go sell all thou hath and give to the poor, and come and -follow me.” What clergyman in this city dare stand in his pulpit -Sunday after Sunday and insist upon such practice? or what one dare -to insist that his church should have all things in common? or what -one dare to eat with publicans and sinners, or say to the woman, -“Neither do I condemn thee.” Or which one of the people dare go -to her poor, enslaved and suffering sisters and take them to her heart -and home? or be the good Samaritan? I tell you, my friends, beware -lest those whom you scorn to know be before you with Christ, -who knows the heart. It is not what you pretend that shall make you -Christian, but what you do, and if you do right, though the world -curse you, yet shall you lay up treasures in Heaven thereby. Therefore, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>I say that the Christianity of to-day is a failure. It is not the -following of Christ, nor the practice of his precepts. True religion -will not shut itself up in any church away from humanity; it will not -stand idly by and see the people suffer from any misery whatever. -It is its sphere to cure all ills, whether moral, social or political. -There are no distinctions in humanity. Everything to be truly good -and grand, whether it be in politics, society or religion, must be truly -moral, and to be truly moral is to live the Golden Rule.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Therefore, it is foolish for the Christian to say, “I have nothing to -do with politics, as a Christian.” It is the bounden duty of every -Christian to support that political party which bases itself upon Human -Rights; and if there is no such party existing, then to go about to construct -one. It is too late in the century for a Justice of the Supreme -Court of the United States to be a political thief and trickster as a -politician, while he issues a call asking that the people inject God into -the Constitution. Such consummate hypocrisy is an outrage upon the -intelligence of the nineteenth century; and it will meet its just reward.</p> - -<p class='c006'>If they would take the precepts of Christ and build a new Constitution -upon them, nobody would object; but to be asked to recognize a -God whom these people have themselves fashioned and set up, who -hath not even human sense of justice, is quite a different thing, and one -to which this people will not submit. I could point out to you why -this attempt is made just at this time, but I rather prefer to point out -how this and all other attempts to put fetters upon the people must be -avoided, and how to break the fetters by which they are already -galled.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Permit me to ask what practical good arises from the people’s coming -together and merely passing a set of resolutions. You may pass -resolutions with whereases and therefores a mile long, and what will -be the result unless they are made practical use of. What would you -say to a person who should come before you with a resolution setting -forth that whereas, thus and thus, are so and so, therefore some new -invention ought to be made to meet the conditions. Why you would -at once say to him, “Give us the invention; then we shall be able to -judge whether your therefore bears any relation to your whereas.” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>Now precisely in that way should you judge of resolutions for political -reform. We have had resolutions long enough. We now need a -working model which will secure freedom, equality and justice to the -smallest of our brothers and sisters. Anything less than this is no -longer worthy to be considered political reform; and that is not only -political reform, but it is also the best application possible of the precepts -of Jesus Christ, and therefore the best Christianity, the best -religion, since to its creed every human being who is not supremely -selfish can subscribe.</p> - -<p class='c006'>In conclusion, therefore, let me urge every soul who desires to be truly -Christian to no longer separate Christianity from politics, but to make it -the base upon which to build the future political structure. Instead of -an amendment to the Constitution, which these hypocrites desire, recognizing -a God who is simply the Father of themselves, and a Christ of -whom they are the self-appointed representatives, give us a new Constitution, -recognizing the human rights of the people to govern themselves, -of which they cannot be robbed under any pretext whatever, -and my word for it, humanity will not be slow to render due homage to -their God. Let that Constitution give a place to every branch of reform, -while it shall not so much as militate against the rights of a single individual -in the whole world—and we are large enough to begin to say the -whole world—and to think of and prepare the way for the time when -all nations, kindred and tongues shall be united in a universal government, -and the Constitution of the United States of the World be the</p> - -<h3 class='c008'>SUPREME LAW.</h3> - -<p class='c009'>Around this as a New Departure let all reformers rally, and, with a -grand impulse and a generous enthusiasm, join in a common effort for -the great political revolution, after the accomplishment of which the -nations shall have cause to learn war no more.</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> -<div class='tnotes x-ebookmaker'> - -<div class='section ph2'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c010'> - <div>TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - - <ol class='ol_1 c002'> - <li>P. <a href='#t4'>4</a>, corrected “God loves from whole to part. But human soul must from - individual to the whole.” to “God loves from whole to parts: but human soul Must rise - from individual to the whole.” This is to match the original quote by Alexander Pope. - - </li> - <li>P. <a href='#t20'>20</a>, changed “ought that looks like justice” to “aught that looks like - justice”. - - </li> - <li>Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling. - - </li> - <li>Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed. - </li> - </ol> - -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FREEDOM! EQUALITY!! 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