,the ,conquest of ,bread ,by ,,peter ,,kropotkin ,author of ,fields1 ,factories1 and ,workshops ,the ,memoirs of a ,revolutionist1 ,etc4 ,illustration ,,new ,,york ,,vanguard ,,press ,,mcmxxvi ,,printed ,,in ,,the ,,united ,,states ,,of ,,america ,,the ,,man 7#ahdb-aiba73 ,prince ,peter ,alexeivitch ,kropotkin1 revolutionary and scientist1 was descended from the old ,russian nobility1 but decided1 at the age of thirty1 to throw in his lot with the social rebels not only of his own country1 but of the entire world4 ,he became the intellectual leader of ,anarchist-,communism2 took part in the labor movement2 wrote many books and pamphlets2 established ,le ,rvolt in ,geneva and ,freedom in ,london2 contributed to the ,encyclopedia ,britannica2 was twice imprisoned because of his radical activities2 and twice visited ,america4 ,after the ,bolshevist revolution he returned to ,russia1 kept himself apart from ,soviet activities1 and died true to his ideals4 ,,the ,,book3 ,the ,conquest of ,bread is a revolutionary idyl1 a beautiful outline sketch of a future society based on liberty1 equality and fraternity4 ,it is1 in ,kropotkin's own words1 a study of the needs of humanity1 and of the economic means to satisfy them4 ,read in conjunction with the same author's ,fields1 ,factories and ,workshops1 it meets all the difficulties of the social inquirer who says3 ,the ,anarchist ideal is alluring1 but how could you work it out8 ,,contents ,,chapter ,,page ,i4 ,,our ,,riches #a ,,ii4 ,,well-,,being ,,for ,,all #ab ,,iii4 ,,anarchist ,,communism #bc ,,iv4 ,,expropriation #cd ,v4 ,,food #dg ,,vi4 ,,dwellings #gc ,,vii4 ,,clothing #hd ,,viii4 ,,ways ,,and ,,means #hg ,,ix4 ,,the ,,need ,,for ,,luxury #ie ,x4 ,,agreeable ,,work #aaj ,,xi4 ,,free ,,agreement #aai ,,xii4 ,,objections #acd ,,xiii4 ,,the ,,collectivist ,,wages ,,system #aeb ,,xiv4 ,,consumption ,,and ,,production #afh ,,xv4 ,,the ,,division ,,of ,,labour #agf ,,xvi4 ,,the ,,decentralization ,,of ,,industry #ahj ,,xvii4 ,,agriculture #aia ,,notes #bac ,,preface ,one of the current objections to ,communism1 and ,socialism altogether1 is that the idea is so old1 and yet it has never been realized4 ,schemes of ideal ,states haunted the thinkers of ,ancient ,greece2 later on1 the early ,christians joined in communist groups2 centuries later1 large communist brotherhoods came into existence during the ,reform movement4 ,then1 the same ideals were revived during the great ,english and ,french ,revolutions2 and finally1 quite lately1 in #ahdh1 a revolution1 inspired to a great extent with ,socialist ideals1 took place in ,france4 ,and yet1 you see1 we are told1 how far away is still the realization of your schemes4 ,don't you think that there is some fundamental error in your understanding of human nature and its needs8 ,at first sight this objection seems very serious4 ,however1 the moment we consider human history more attentively1 it loses its strength4 ,we see1 first1 that hundreds of millions of men have succeeded in maintaining amongst themselves1 in their village communities1 for many hundreds of years1 one of the main elements of ,socialism--the common ownership of the chief instrument of production1 the land1 and the apportionment of the same according to the labour capacities of the different families2 and we learn that if the communal possession of the land has been destroyed in ,western ,europe1 it was not from within1 but from without1 by the governments which created a land monopoly in favour of the nobility and the middle classes4 ,we learn1 moreover1 that the medieval cities succeeded in maintaining in their midst1 for several centuries in succession1 a certain socialized organization of production and trade2 that these centuries were periods of a rapid intellectual1 industrial1 and artistic progress2 while the decay of these communal institutions came mainly from the incapacity of men of combining the village with the city1 the peasant with the citizen1 so as jointly to oppose the growth of the military states1 which destroyed the free cities4 ,the history of mankind1 thus understood1 does not offer1 then1 an argument against ,communism4 ,it appears1 on the contrary1 as a succession of endeavours to realize some sort of communist organization1 endeavours which were crowned here and there with a partial success of a certain duration2 and all we are authorized to conclude is1 that mankind has not yet found the proper form for combining1 on communistic principles1 agriculture with a suddenly developed industry and a rapidly growing international trade4 ,the latter appears especially as a disturbing element1 since it is no longer individuals only1 or cities1 that enrich themselves by distant commerce and export2 but whole nations grow rich at the cost of those nations which lag behind in their industrial development4 ,these conditions1 which began to appear by the end of the eighteenth century1 took1 however1 their full development in the nineteenth century only1 after the ,napoleonic wars came to an end4 ,and modern ,communism has to take them into account4 ,it is now known that the ,french ,revolution1 apart from its political significance1 was an attempt made by the ,french people1 in #agic and #agid1 in three different directions more or less akin to ,socialism4 ,it was1 first1 the equalization of fortunes1 by means of an income tax and succession duties1 both heavily progressive1 as also by a direct confiscation of the land in order to sub-divide it1 and by heavy war taxes levied upon the rich only4 ,the second attempt was a sort of ,municipal ,communism as regards the consumption of some objects of first necessity1 bought by the municipalities1 and sold by them at cost price4 ,and the third attempt was to introduce a wide national system of rationally established prices of all commodities1 for which the real cost of production and moderate trade profits had to be taken into account4 ,the ,convention worked hard at this scheme1 and had nearly completed its work1 when reaction took the upper hand4 ,it was during this remarkable movement1 which has never yet been properly studied1 that modern ,socialism was born--,fourierism with ,l',ange1 at ,lyons1 and authoritarian ,communism with ,buonarroti1 ,babeuf1 and their comrades4 ,and it was immediately after the ,great ,revolution that the three great theoretical founders of modern ,socialism--,fourier1 ,saint ,simon1 and ,robert ,owen1 as well as ,godwin 7the ,no-,state ,socialism7--came forward2 while the secret communist societies1 originated from those of ,buonarroti and ,babeuf1 gave their stamp to militant1 authoritarian ,communism for the next fifty years4 ,to be correct1 then1 we must say that modern ,socialism is not yet a hundred years old1 and that1 for the first half of these hundred years1 two nations only1 which stood at the head of the industrial movement1 i4e41 ,britain and ,france1 took part in its elaboration4 ,both--bleeding at that time from the terrible wounds inflicted upon them by fifteen years of ,napoleonic wars1 and both enveloped in the great ,european reaction that had come from the ,east4 ,in fact1 it was only after the ,revolution of ,july1 #ahcj1 in ,france1 and the ,reform movement of #ahcj-ahcb in this country1 had begun to shake off that terrible reaction1 that the discussion of ,socialism became possible for a few years before the revolution of #ahdh4 ,and it was during those years that the aspirations of ,fourier1 ,st4 ,simon1 and ,robert ,owen1 worked out by their followers1 took a definite shape1 and the different schools of ,socialism which exist nowadays were defined4 ,in ,britain1 ,robert ,owen and his followers worked out their schemes of communist villages1 agricultural and industrial at the same time2 immense co-operative associations were started for creating with their dividends more communist colonies2 and the ,great ,consolidated ,trades' ,union was founded--the forerunner of both the ,labour ,parties of our days and the ,international ,working-men's ,association4 ,in ,france1 the ,fourierist ,considrant issued his remarkable manifesto1 which contains1 beautifully developed1 all the theoretical considerations upon the growth of ,capitalism1 which are now described as ,scientific ,socialism4 ,proudhon worked out his idea of ,anarchism and ,mutualism1 without ,state interference4 ,louis ,blanc published his ,organization of ,labour1 which became later on the programme of ,lassalle4 ,vidal in ,france and ,lorenz ,stein in ,germany further developed1 in two remarkable works1 published in #ahdf and #ahdg respectively1 the theoretical conceptions of ,considrant2 and finally ,vidal1 and especially ,pecqueur1 developed in detail the system of ,collectivism1 which the former wanted the ,national ,assembly of #ahdh to vote in the shape of laws4 ,however1 there is one feature1 common to all ,socialist schemes of that period1 which must be noted4 ,the three great founders of ,socialism who wrote at the dawn of the nineteenth century were so entranced by the wide horizons which it opened before them1 that they looked upon it as a new revelation1 and upon themselves as upon the founders of a new religion4 ,socialism had to be a religion1 and they had to regulate its march1 as the heads of a new church4 ,besides1 writing during the period of reaction which had followed the ,french ,revolution1 and seeing more its failures than its successes1 they did not trust the masses1 and they did not appeal to them for bringing about the changes which they thought necessary4 ,they put their faith1 on the contrary1 into some great ruler1 some ,socialist ,napoleon4 ,he would understand the new revelation2 he would be convinced of its desirability by the successful experiments of their phalansteries1 or associations2 and he would peacefully accomplish by his own authority the revolution which would bring well-being and happiness to mankind4 ,a military genius1 ,napoleon1 had just been ruling ,europe4 ,why should not a social genius come forward1 carry ,europe with him and translate the new ,gospel into life8 ,that faith was rooted very deep1 and it stood for a long time in the way of ,socialism2 its traces are even seen amongst us1 down to the present day4 ,it was only during the years #ahdj-dh1 when the approach of the ,revolution was felt everywhere1 and the proletarians were beginning to plant the banner of ,socialism on the barricades1 that faith in the people began to enter once more the hearts of the social schemers3 faith1 on the one side1 in ,republican ,democracy1 and on the other side in free association1 in the organizing powers of the working-men themselves4 ,but then came the ,revolution of ,february1 #ahdh1 the middle-class ,republic1 and--with it1 shattered hopes4 ,four months only after the proclamation of the ,republic1 the ,june insurrection of the ,paris proletarians broke out1 and it was crushed in blood4 ,the wholesale shooting of the working-men1 the mass deportations to ,new ,guinea1 and finally the ,napoleonian coup d'tat followed4 ,the ,socialists were prosecuted with fury1 and the weeding out was so terrible and so thorough that for the next twelve or fifteen years the very traces of ,socialism disappeared2 its literature vanished so completely that even names1 once so familiar before #ahdh1 were entirely forgotten2 ideas which were then current--the stock ideas of the ,socialists before #ahdh--were so wiped out as to be taken1 later on1 by our generation1 for new discoveries4 ,however1 when a new revival began1 about #ahff1 when ,communism and ,collectivism once more came forward1 it appeared that the conception as to the means of their realization had undergone a deep change4 ,the old faith in ,political ,democracy was dying out1 and the first principles upon which the ,paris working-men agreed with the ,british trade-unionists and ,owenites1 when they met in #ahfb and #ahfd1 at ,london1 was that the emancipation of the working-men must be accomplished by the working-men themselves4 ,upon another point they also were agreed4 ,it was that the labour unions themselves would have to get hold of the instruments of production1 and organize production themselves4 ,the ,french idea of the ,fourierist and ,mutualist ,association thus joined hands with ,robert ,owen's idea of ,the ,great ,consolidated ,trades' ,union1 which was extended now1 so as to become an ,international ,working-men's ,association4 ,again this new revival of ,socialism lasted but a few years4 ,soon came the war of #ahgj-ga1 the uprising of the ,paris ,commune--and again the free development of ,socialism was rendered impossible in ,france4 ,but while ,germany accepted now from the hands of its ,german teachers1 ,marx and ,engels1 the ,socialism of the ,french forty-eighters that is1 the ,socialism of ,considrant and ,louis ,blanc1 and the ,collectivism of ,pecqueur1--,france made a further step forward4 ,in ,march1 #ahga1 ,paris had proclaimed that henceforward it would not wait for the retardatory portions of ,france3 that it intended to start within its ,commune its own social development4 ,the movement was too short-lived to give any positive result4 ,it remained communalist only2 it merely asserted the rights of the ,commune to its full autonomy4 ,but the working-classes of the old ,international saw at once its historical significance4 ,they understood that the free commune would be henceforth the medium in which the ideas of modern ,socialism may come to realization4 ,the free agro-industrial communes1 of which so much was spoken in ,england and ,france before #ahdh1 need not be small phalansteries1 or small communities of #bjjj persons4 ,they must be vast agglomerations1 like ,paris1 or1 still better1 small territories4 ,these communes would federate to constitute nations in some cases1 even irrespectively of the present national frontiers 7like the ,cinque ,ports1 or the ,hansa74 ,at the same time large labour associations would come into existence for the inter-communal service of the railways1 the docks1 and so on4 ,such were the ideas which began vaguely to circulate after #ahga amongst the thinking working-men1 especially in the ,latin countries4 ,in some such organization1 the details of which life itself would settle1 the labour circles saw the medium through which ,socialist forms of life could find a much easier realization than through the seizure of all industrial property by the ,state1 and the ,state organization of agriculture and industry4 ,these are the ideas to which ,i have endeavoured to give a more or less definite expression in this book4 ,looking back now at the years that have passed since this book was written1 ,i can say in full conscience that its leading ideas must have been correct4 ,state ,socialism has certainly made considerable progress4 ,state railways1 ,state banking1 and ,state trade in spirits have been introduced here and there4 ,but every step made in this direction1 even though it resulted in the cheapening of a given commodity1 was found to be a new obstacle in the struggle of the working-men for their emancipation4 ,so that we find growing amongst the working-men1 especially in ,western ,europe1 the idea that even the working of such a vast national property as a railway-net could be much better handled by a ,federated ,union of railway employs1 than by a ,state organization4 ,on the other side1 we see that countless attempts have been made all over ,europe and ,america1 the leading idea of which is1 on the one side1 to get into the hands of the working-men themselves wide branches of production1 and1 on the other side1 to always widen in the cities the circles of the functions which the city performs in the interest of its inhabitants4 ,trade-unionism1 with a growing tendency towards organizing the different trades internationally1 and of being not only an instrument for the improvement of the conditions of labour1 but also of becoming an organization which might1 at a given moment1 take into its hands the management of production2 ,co-operation1 both for production and for distribution1 both in industry and agriculture1 and attempts at combining both sorts of co-operation in experimental colonies2 and finally1 the immensely varied field of the so-called ,municipal ,socialism--these are the three directions in which the greatest amount of creative power has been developed lately4 ,of course1 none of these may1 in any degree1 be taken as a substitute for ,communism1 or even for ,socialism1 both of which imply the common possession of the instruments of production4 ,but we certainly must look at all these attempts as upon experiments--like those which ,owen1 ,fourier1 and ,saint ,simon tried in their colonies--experiments which prepare human thought to conceive some of the practical forms in which a communist society might find its expression4 ,the synthesis of all these partial experiments will have to be made some day by the constructive genius of some one of the civilized nations4 ,but samples of the bricks out of which the great synthetic building will have to be built1 and even samples of some of its rooms1 are being prepared by the immense effort of the constructive genius of man4 ,,brighton4 ,january1 #aiac4 ,,the ,,conquest ,,of ,,bread ,,chapter ,i ,,our ,,riches ,i ,the human race has travelled a long way1 since those remote ages when men fashioned their rude implements of flint and lived on the precarious spoils of hunting1 leaving to their children for their only heritage a shelter beneath the rocks1 some poor utensils--and ,nature1 vast1 unknown1 and terrific1 with whom they had to fight for their wretched existence4 ,during the long succession of agitated ages which have elapsed since1 mankind has nevertheless amassed untold treasures4 ,it has cleared the land1 dried the marshes1 hewn down forests1 made roads1 pierced mountains2 it has been building1 inventing1 observing1 reasoning2 it has created a complex machinery1 wrested her secrets from ,nature1 and finally it pressed steam and electricity into its service4 ,and the result is1 that now the child of the civilized man finds at its birth1 ready for its use1 an immense capital accumulated by those who have gone before him4 ,and this capital enables man to acquire1 merely by his own labour combined with the labour of others1 riches surpassing the dreams of the fairy tales of the ,thousand and ,one ,nights4 ,the soil is cleared to a great extent1 fit for the reception of the best seeds1 ready to give a rich return for the skill and labour spent upon it--a return more than sufficient for all the wants of humanity4 ,the methods of rational cultivation are known4 ,on the wide prairies of ,america each hundred men1 with the aid of powerful machinery1 can produce in a few months enough wheat to maintain ten thousand people for a whole year4 ,and where man wishes to double his produce1 to treble it1 to multiply it a hundred-fold1 he makes the soil1 gives to each plant the requisite care1 and thus obtains enormous returns4 ,while the hunter of old had to scour fifty or sixty square miles to find food for his family1 the civilized man supports his household1 with far less pains1 and far more certainty1 on a thousandth part of that space4 ,climate is no longer an obstacle4 ,when the sun fails1 man replaces it by artificial heat2 and we see the coming of a time when artificial light also will be used to stimulate vegetation4 ,meanwhile1 by the use of glass and hot water pipes1 man renders a given space ten and fifty times more productive than it was in its natural state4 ,the prodigies accomplished in industry are still more striking4 ,with the co-operation of those intelligent beings1 modern machines--themselves the fruit of three or four generations of inventors1 mostly unknown--a hundred men manufacture now the stuff to provide ten thousand persons with clothing for two years4 ,in well-managed coal mines the labour of a hundred miners furnishes each year enough fuel to warm ten thousand families under an inclement sky4 ,and we have lately witnessed the spectacle of wonderful cities springing up in a few months for international exhibitions1 without interrupting in the slightest degree the regular work of the nations4 ,and if in manufactures as in agriculture1 and as indeed through our whole social system1 the labour1 the discoveries1 and the inventions of our ancestors profit chiefly the few1 it is none the less certain that mankind in general1 aided by the creatures of steel and iron which it already possesses1 could already procure an existence of wealth and ease for every one of its members4 ,truly1 we are rich--far richer than we think2 rich in what we already possess1 richer still in the possibilities of production of our actual mechanical outfit2 richest of all in what we might win from our soil1 from our manufactures1 from our science1 from our technical knowledge1 were they but applied to bringing about the well-being of all4 ,,ii ,in our civilized societies we are rich4 ,why then are the many poor8 ,why this painful drudgery for the masses8 ,why1 even to the best paid workman1 this uncertainty for the morrow1 in the midst of all the wealth inherited from the past1 and in spite of the powerful means of production1 which could ensure comfort to all1 in return for a few hours of daily toil8 ,the ,socialists have said it and repeated it unwearyingly4 ,daily they reiterate it1 demonstrating it by arguments taken from all the sciences4 ,it is because all that is necessary for production--the land1 the mines1 the highways1 machinery1 food1 shelter1 education1 knowledge--all have been seized by the few in the course of that long story of robbery1 enforced migration and wars1 of ignorance and oppression1 which has been the life of the human race before it had learned to subdue the forces of ,nature4 ,it is because1 taking advantage of alleged rights acquired in the past1 these few appropriate to-day two-thirds of the products of human labour1 and then squander them in the most stupid and shameful way4 ,it is because1 having reduced the masses to a point at which they have not the means of subsistence for a month1 or even for a week in advance1 the few can allow the many to work1 only on the condition of themselves receiving the lion's share4 ,it is because these few prevent the remainder of men from producing the things they need1 and force them to produce1 not the necessaries of life for all1 but whatever offers the greatest profits to the monopolists4 ,in this is the substance of all ,socialism4 ,take1 indeed1 a civilized country4 ,the forests which once covered it have been cleared1 the marshes drained1 the climate improved4 ,it has been made habitable4 ,the soil1 which bore formerly only a coarse vegetation1 is covered to-day with rich harvests4 ,the rock-walls in the valleys are laid out in terraces and covered with vines4 ,the wild plants1 which yielded nought but acrid berries1 or uneatable roots1 have been transformed by generations of culture into succulent vegetables or trees covered with delicious fruits4 ,thousands of highways and railroads furrow the earth1 and pierce the mountains4 ,the shriek of the engine is heard in the wild gorges of the ,alps1 the ,caucasus1 and the ,himalayas4 ,the rivers have been made navigable2 the coasts1 carefully surveyed1 are easy of access2 artificial harbours1 laboriously dug out and protected against the fury of the sea1 afford shelter to the ships4 ,deep shafts have been sunk in the rocks2 labyrinths of underground galleries have been dug out where coal may be raised or minerals extracted4 ,at the crossings of the highways great cities have sprung up1 and within their borders all the treasures of industry1 science1 and art have been accumulated4 ,whole generations1 that lived and died in misery1 oppressed and ill-treated by their masters1 and worn out by toil1 have handed on this immense inheritance to our century4 ,for thousands of years millions of men have laboured to clear the forests1 to drain the marshes1 and to open up highways by land and water4 ,every rood of soil we cultivate in ,europe has been watered by the sweat of several races of men4 ,every acre has its story of enforced labour1 of intolerable toil1 of the people's sufferings4 ,every mile of railway1 every yard of tunnel1 has received its share of human blood4 ,the shafts of the mine still bear on their rocky walls the marks made by the pick of the workman who toiled to excavate them4 ,the space between each prop in the underground galleries might be marked as a miner's grave2 and who can tell what each of these graves has cost1 in tears1 in privations1 in unspeakable wretchedness to the family who depended on the scanty wage of the worker cut off in his prime by fire-damp1 rock-fall1 or flood8 ,the cities1 bound together by railroads and waterways1 are organisms which have lived through centuries4 ,dig beneath them and you find1 one above another1 the foundations of streets1 of houses1 of theatres1 of public buildings4 ,search into their history and you will see how the civilization of the town1 its industry1 its special characteristics1 have slowly grown and ripened through the co-operation of generations of its inhabitants before it could become what it is to-day4 ,and even to-day1 the value of each dwelling1 factory1 and warehouse1 which has been created by the accumulated labour of the millions of workers1 now dead and buried1 is only maintained by the very presence and labour of legions of the men who now inhabit that special corner of the globe4 ,each of the atoms composing what we call the ,wealth of ,nations owes its value to the fact that it is a part of the great whole4 ,what would a ,london dockyard or a great ,paris warehouse be if they were not situated in these great centres of international commerce8 ,what would become of our mines1 our factories1 our workshops1 and our railways1 without the immense quantities of merchandise transported every day by sea and land8 ,millions of human beings have laboured to create this civilization on which we pride ourselves to-day4 ,other millions1 scattered through the globe1 labour to maintain it4 ,without them nothing would be left in fifty years but ruins4 ,there is not even a thought1 or an invention1 which is not common property1 born of the past and the present4 ,thousands of inventors1 known and unknown1 who have died in poverty1 have co-operated in the invention of each of these machines which embody the genius of man4 ,thousands of writers1 of poets1 of scholars1 have laboured to increase knowledge1 to dissipate error1 and to create that atmosphere of scientific thought1 without which the marvels of our century could never have appeared4 ,and these thousands of philosophers1 of poets1 of scholars1 of inventors1 have themselves been supported by the labour of past centuries4 ,they have been upheld and nourished through life1 both physically and mentally1 by legions of workers and craftsmen of all sorts4 ,they have drawn their motive force from the environment4 ,the genius of a ,sguin1 a ,mayer1 a ,grove1 has certainly done more to launch industry in new directions than all the capitalists in the world4 ,but men of genius are themselves the children of industry as well as of science4 ,not until thousands of steam-engines had been working for years before all eyes1 constantly transforming heat into dynamic force1 and this force into sound1 light1 and electricity1 could the insight of genius proclaim the mechanical origin and the unity of the physical forces4 ,and if we1 children of the nineteenth century1 have at last grasped this idea1 if we know now how to apply it1 it is again because daily experience has prepared the way4 ,the thinkers of the eighteenth century saw and declared it1 but the idea remained undeveloped1 because the eighteenth century had not grown up like ours1 side by side with the steam-engine4 ,imagine the decades that might have passed while we remained in ignorance of this law1 which has revolutionized modern industry1 had ,watt not found at ,soho skilled workmen to embody his ideas in metal1 bringing all the parts of his engine to perfection1 so that steam1 pent in a complete mechanism1 and rendered more docile than a horse1 more manageable than water1 became at last the very soul of modern industry4 ,every machine has had the same history--a long record of sleepless nights and of poverty1 of disillusions and of joys1 of partial improvements discovered by several generations of nameless workers1 who have added to the original invention these little nothings1 without which the most fertile idea would remain fruitless4 ,more than that3 every new invention is a synthesis1 the resultant of innumerable inventions which have preceded it in the vast field of mechanics and industry4 ,science and industry1 knowledge and application1 discovery and practical realization leading to new discoveries1 cunning of brain and of hand1 toil of mind and muscle--all work together4 ,each discovery1 each advance1 each increase in the sum of human riches1 owes its being to the physical and mental travail of the past and the present4 ,by what right then can any one whatever appropriate the least morsel of this immense whole and say--,this is mine1 not yours8 ,,iii ,it has come about1 however1 in the course of the ages traversed by the human race1 that all that enables man to produce and to increase his power of production has been seized by the few4 ,some time1 perhaps1 we will relate how this came to pass4 ,for the present let it suffice to state the fact and analyze its consequences4 ,to-day the soil1 which actually owes its value to the needs of an ever-increasing population1 belongs to a minority who prevent the people from cultivating it--or do not allow them to cultivate it according to modern methods4 ,the mines1 though they represent the labour of several generations1 and derive their sole value from the requirements of the industry of a nation and the density of the population--the mines also belong to the few2 and these few restrict the output of coal1 or prevent it entirely1 if they find more profitable investments for their capital4 ,machinery1 too1 has become the exclusive property of the few1 and even when a machine incontestably represents the improvements added to the original rough invention by three or four generations of workers1 it none the less belongs to a few owners4 ,and if the descendants of the very inventor who constructed the first machine for lace-making1 a century ago1 were to present themselves to-day in a lace factory at ,ble or ,nottingham1 and claim their rights1 they would be told3 ,hands off6 this machine is not yours1 and they would be shot down if they attempted to take possession of it4 ,the railways1 which would be useless as so much old iron without the teeming population of ,europe1 its industry1 its commerce1 and its marts1 belong to a few shareholders1 ignorant perhaps of the whereabouts of the lines of rails which yield them revenues greater than those of medieval kings4 ,and if the children of those who perished by thousands while excavating the railway cuttings and tunnels were to assemble one day1 crowding in their rags and hunger1 to demand bread from the shareholders1 they would be met with bayonets and grapeshot1 to disperse them and safeguard vested interests4 ,in virtue of this monstrous system1 the son of the worker1 on entering life1 finds no field which he may till1 no machine which he may tend1 no mine in which he may dig1 without accepting to leave a great part of what he will produce to a master4 ,he must sell his labour for a scant and uncertain wage4 ,his father and his grandfather have toiled to drain this field1 to build this mill1 to perfect this machine4 ,they gave to the work the full measure of their strength1 and what more could they give8 ,but their heir comes into the world poorer than the lowest savage4 ,if he obtains leave to till the fields1 it is on condition of surrendering a quarter of the produce to his master1 and another quarter to the government and the middlemen4 ,and this tax1 levied upon him by the ,state1 the capitalist1 the lord of the manor1 and the middleman1 is always increasing2 it rarely leaves him the power to improve his system of culture4 ,if he turns to industry1 he is allowed to work--though not always even that--only on condition that he yield a half or two-thirds of the product to him whom the land recognizes as the owner of the machine4 ,we cry shame on the feudal baron who forbade the peasant to turn a clod of earth unless he surrendered to his lord a fourth of his crop4 ,we called those the barbarous times4 ,but if the forms have changed1 the relations have remained the same1 and the worker is forced1 under the name of free contract1 to accept feudal obligations4 ,for1 turn where he will1 he can find no better conditions4 ,everything has become private property1 and he must accept1 or die of hunger4 ,the result of this state of things is that all our production tends in a wrong direction4 ,enterprise takes no thought for the needs of the community4 ,its only aim is to increase the gains of the speculator4 ,hence the constant fluctuations of trade1 the periodical industrial crises1 each of which throws scores of thousands of workers on the streets4 ,the working people cannot purchase with their wages the wealth which they have produced1 and industry seeks foreign markets among the monied classes of other nations4 ,in the ,east1 in ,africa1 everywhere1 in ,egypt1 ,tonkin or the ,congo1 the ,european is thus bound to promote the growth of serfdom4 ,and so he does4 ,but soon he finds that everywhere there are similar competitors4 ,all the nations evolve on the same lines1 and wars1 perpetual wars1 break out for the right of precedence in the market4 ,wars for the possession of the ,east1 wars for the empire of the sea1 wars to impose duties on imports and to dictate conditions to neighbouring states2 wars against those blacks who revolt6 ,the roar of the cannon never ceases in the world1 whole races are massacred1 the states of ,europe spend a third of their budgets in armaments2 and we know how heavily these taxes fall on the workers4 ,education still remains the privilege of a small minority1 for it is idle to talk of education when the workman's child is forced1 at the age of thirteen1 to go down into the mine or to help his father on the farm4 ,it is idle to talk of studying to the worker1 who comes home in the evening wearied by excessive toil1 and its brutalizing atmosphere4 ,society is thus bound to remain divided into two hostile camps1 and in such conditions freedom is a vain word4 ,the ,radical begins by demanding a greater extension of political rights1 but he soon sees that the breath of liberty leads to the uplifting of the proletariat1 and then he turns round1 changes his opinions1 and reverts to repressive legislation and government by the sword4 ,a vast array of courts1 judges1 executioners1 policemen1 and gaolers is needed to uphold these privileges2 and this array gives rise in its turn to a whole system of espionage1 of false witness1 of spies1 of threats and corruption4 ,the system under which we live checks in its turn the growth of the social sentiment4 ,we all know that without uprightness1 without self-respect1 without sympathy and mutual aid1 human kind must perish1 as perish the few races of animals living by rapine1 or the slave-keeping ants4 ,but such ideas are not to the taste of the ruling classes1 and they have elaborated a whole system of pseudo-science to teach the contrary4 ,fine sermons have been preached on the text that those who have should share with those who have not1 but he who would carry out this principle would be speedily informed that these beautiful sentiments are all very well in poetry1 but not in practice4 ,to lie is to degrade and besmirch oneself1 we say1 and yet all civilized life becomes one huge lie4 ,we accustom ourselves and our children to hypocrisy1 to the practice of a double-faced morality4 ,and since the brain is ill at ease among lies1 we cheat ourselves with sophistry4 ,hypocrisy and sophistry become the second nature of the civilized man4 ,but a society cannot live thus2 it must return to truth1 or cease to exist4 ,thus the consequences which spring from the original act of monopoly spread through the whole of social life4 ,under pain of death1 human societies are forced to return to first principles3 the means of production being the collective work of humanity1 the product should be the collective property of the race4 ,individual appropriation is neither just nor serviceable4 ,all belongs to all4 ,all things are for all men1 since all men have need of them1 since all men have worked in the measure of their strength to produce them1 and since it is not possible to evaluate every one's part in the production of the world's wealth4 ,all things for all4 ,here is an immense stock of tools and implements2 here are all those iron slaves which we call machines1 which saw and plane1 spin and weave for us1 unmaking and remaking1 working up raw matter to produce the marvels of our time4 ,but nobody has the right to seize a single one of these machines and say3 ,this is mine2 if you want to use it you must pay me a tax on each of your products1 any more than the feudal lord of medieval times had the right to say to the peasant3 ,this hill1 this meadow belong to me1 and you must pay me a tax on every sheaf of corn you reap1 on every brick you build4 ,all is for all6 ,if the man and the woman bear their fair share of work1 they have a right to their fair share of all that is produced by all1 and that share is enough to secure them well-being4 ,no more of such vague formulas as ,the right to work1 or ,to each the whole result of his labour4 ,what we proclaim is ,,the ,,right ,,to ,,well-,,being3 ,,well-,,being ,,for ,,all6 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,well-,,being ,,for ,,all ,i ,well-being for all is not a dream4 ,it is possible1 realizable1 owing to all that our ancestors have done to increase our powers of production4 ,we know1 indeed1 that the producers1 although they constitute hardly one-third of the inhabitants of civilized countries1 even now produce such quantities of goods that a certain degree of comfort could be brought to every hearth4 ,we know further that if all those who squander to-day the fruits of others' toil were forced to employ their leisure in useful work1 our wealth would increase in proportion to the number of producers1 and more4 ,finally1 we know that contrary to the theory enunciated by ,malthus--that ,oracle of middle-class ,economics--the productive powers of the human race increase at a much more rapid ratio than its powers of reproduction4 ,the more thickly men are crowded on the soil1 the more rapid is the growth of their wealth-creating power4 ,thus1 although the population of ,england has only increased from #ahdd to #ahij by #fb per cent41 its production has grown1 even at the lowest estimate1 at double that rate--to wit1 by #acj per cent4 ,in ,france1 where the population has grown more slowly1 the increase in production is nevertheless very rapid4 ,notwithstanding the crises through which agriculture is frequently passing1 notwithstanding ,state interference1 the blood-tax 7conscription71 and speculative commerce and finance1 the production of wheat in ,france has increased four-fold1 and industrial production more than tenfold1 in the course of the last eighty years4 ,in the ,united ,states this progress is still more striking4 ,in spite of immigration1 or rather precisely because of the influx of surplus ,european labour1 the ,united ,states have multiplied their wealth tenfold4 ,however1 these figures give but a very faint idea of what our wealth might become under better conditions4 ,for alongside of the rapid development of our wealth-producing powers we have an overwhelming increase in the ranks of the idlers and middlemen4 ,instead of capital gradually concentrating itself in a few hands1 so that it would only be necessary for the community to dispossess a few millionaires and enter upon its lawful heritage--instead of this ,socialist forecast proving true1 the exact reverse is coming to pass3 the swarm of parasites is ever increasing4 ,in ,france there are not ten actual producers to every thirty inhabitants4 ,the whole agricultural wealth of the country is the work of less than seven millions of men1 and in the two great industries1 mining and the textile trades1 you will find that the workers number less than two and one-half millions4 ,but the exploiters of labour1 how many are they8 ,in the ,united ,kingdom a little over one million workers--men1 women1 and children1 are employed in all the textile trades2 less than nine hundred thousand work the mines2 much less than two million till the ground1 and it appeared from the last industrial census that only a little over four million men1 women and children were employed in all the industries4#a ,so that the statisticians have to exaggerate all the figures in order to establish a maximum of eight million producers to forty-five million inhabitants4 ,strictly speaking the creators of the goods exported from ,britain to all the ends of the earth comprise only from six to seven million workers4 ,and what is the number of the shareholders and middlemen who levy the first fruits of labour from far and near1 and heap up unearned gains by thrusting themselves between the producer and the consumer8 ,nor is this all4 ,the owners of capital constantly reduce the output by restraining production4 ,we need not speak of the cartloads of oysters thrown into the sea to prevent a dainty1 hitherto reserved for the rich1 from becoming a food for the people4 ,we need not speak of the thousand and one luxuries--stuffs1 foods1 etc41 etc4--treated after the same fashion as the oysters4 ,it is enough to remember the way in which the production of the most necessary things is limited4 ,legions of miners are ready and willing to dig out coal every day1 and send it to those who are shivering with cold2 but too often a third1 or even one-half1 of their number are forbidden to work more than three days a week1 because1 forsooth1 the price of coal must be kept up6 ,thousands of weavers are forbidden to work the looms1 although their wives and children go in rags1 and although three-quarters of the population of ,europe have no clothing worthy the name4 ,hundreds of blast-furnaces1 thousands of factories periodically stand idle1 others only work half-time--and in every civilized nation there is a permanent population of about two million individuals who ask only for work1 but to whom work is denied4 ,how gladly would these millions of men set to work to reclaim waste lands1 or to transform ill-cultivated land into fertile fields1 rich in harvests6 ,a year of well-directed toil would suffice to multiply fivefold the produce of those millions of acres in this country which lie idle now as permanent pasture1 or of those dry lands in the south of ,france which now yield only about eight bushels of wheat per acre4 ,but men1 who would be happy to become hardy pioneers in so many branches of wealth-producing activity1 must remain idle because the owners of the soil1 the mines and the factories prefer to invest their capital--taken in the first place from the community--in ,turkish or ,egyptian bonds1 or in ,patagonian gold mines1 and so make ,egyptian fellahs1 ,italian emigrants1 and ,chinese coolies their wage-slaves4 ,this is the direct and deliberate limitation of production2 but there is also a limitation indirect and not of set purpose1 which consists in spending human toil on objects absolutely useless1 or destined only to satisfy the dull vanity of the rich4 ,it is impossible to reckon in figures the extent to which wealth is restricted indirectly1 the extent to which energy is squandered1 while it might have served to produce1 and above all to prepare the machinery necessary to production4 ,it is enough to cite the immense sums spent by ,europe in armaments1 for the sole purpose of acquiring control of markets1 and so forcing her own goods on neighbouring territories1 and making exploitation easier at home2 the millions paid every year to officials of all sorts1 whose function it is to maintain the rights of minorities--the right1 that is1 of a few rich men--to manipulate the economic activities of the nation2 the millions spent on judges1 prisons1 policemen1 and all the paraphernalia of so-called justice--spent to no purpose1 because we know that every alleviation1 however slight1 of the wretchedness of our great cities is always followed by a considerable diminution of crime2 lastly1 the millions spent on propagating pernicious doctrines by means of the press1 and news cooked in the interest of this or that party1 of this politician or of that group of speculators4 ,but over and above this we must take into account all the labour that goes to sheer waste1--here1 in keeping up the stables1 the kennels1 and the retinue of the rich2 there1 in pandering to the caprices of society and the depraved tastes of the fashionable mob2 there again1 in forcing the consumer to buy what he does not need1 or foisting an inferior article upon him by means of puffery1 and in producing on the other hand wares which are absolutely injurious1 but profitable to the manufacturer4 ,what is squandered in this manner would be enough to double the production of useful things1 or so to plenish our mills and factories with machinery that they would soon flood the shops with all that is now lacking to two-thirds of the nation4 ,under our present system a full quarter of the producers in every nation are forced to be idle for three or four months in the year1 and the labour of another quarter1 if not of the half1 has no better results than the amusement of the rich or the exploitation of the public4 ,thus1 if we consider on the one hand the rapidity with which civilized nations augment their powers of production1 and on the other hand the limits set to that production1 be it directly or indirectly1 by existing conditions1 we cannot but conclude that an economic system a trifle more reasonable would permit them to heap up in a few years so many useful products that they would be constrained to say--,enough6 ,we have enough coal and bread and raiment6 ,let us rest and consider how best to use our powers1 how best to employ our leisure4 ,no1 plenty for all is not a dream--though it was a dream indeed in those days when man1 for all his pains1 could hardly win a few bushels of wheat from an acre of land1 and had to fashion by hand all the implements he used in agriculture and industry4 ,now it is no longer a dream1 because man has invented a motor which1 with a little iron and a few sacks of coal1 gives him the mastery of a creature strong and docile as a horse1 and capable of setting the most complicated machinery in motion4 ,but1 if plenty for all is to become a reality1 this immense capital--cities1 houses1 pastures1 arable lands1 factories1 highways1 education--must cease to be regarded as private property1 for the monopolist to dispose of at his pleasure4 ,this rich endowment1 painfully won1 builded1 fashioned1 or invented by our ancestors1 must become common property1 so that the collective interests of men may gain from it the greatest good for all4 ,there must be ,,expropriation4 ,the well-being of all--the end2 expropriation--the means4 ,,ii ,expropriation1 such then is the problem which ,history has put before the men of the twentieth century3 the return to ,communism in all that ministers to the well-being of man4 ,but this problem cannot be solved by means of legislation4 ,no one imagines that4 ,the poor1 as well as the rich1 understand that neither the existing ,governments1 nor any which might arise out of possible political changes1 would be capable of finding such a solution4 ,they feel the necessity of a social revolution2 and both rich and poor recognize that this revolution is imminent1 that it may break out in a few years4 ,a great change in thought has taken place during the last half of the nineteenth century2 but suppressed1 as it was1 by the propertied classes1 and denied its natural development1 this new spirit must now break its bonds by violence and realize itself in a revolution4 ,whence will the revolution come8 how will it announce its coming8 ,no one can answer these questions4 ,the future is hidden4 ,but those who watch and think do not misinterpret the signs3 workers and exploiters1 ,revolutionists and ,conservatives1 thinkers and men of action1 all feel that a revolution is at our doors4 ,well1 then1--,what are we going to do when the thunderbolt has fallen8 ,we have all been bent on studying the dramatic side of revolutions so much1 and the practical work of revolutions so little1 that we are apt to see only the stage effects1 so to speak1 of these great movements2 the fight of the first days2 the barricades4 ,but this fight1 this first skirmish1 is soon ended1 and it only after the breakdown of the old system that the real work of revolution can be said to begin4 ,effete and powerless1 attacked on all sides1 the old rulers are soon swept away by the breath of insurrection4 ,in a few days the middle-class monarchy of #ahdh was no more1 and while ,louis ,philippe was making good his escape in a cab1 ,paris had already forgotten her citizen king4 ,the government of ,thiers disappeared1 on the #ahth of ,march1 #ahga1 in a few hours1 leaving ,paris mistress of her destinies4 ,yet #ahdh and #ahga were only insurrections4 ,before a popular revolution the masters of the old order disappear with a surprising rapidity4 ,its upholders fly the country1 to plot in safety elsewhere and to devise measures for their return4 ,the former ,government having disappeared1 the army1 hesitating before the tide of popular opinion1 no longer obeys its commanders1 who have also prudently decamped4 ,the troops stand by without interfering1 or join the rebels4 ,the police1 standing at ease1 are uncertain whether to belabour the crowd1 or to cry3 ,long live the ,commune6 while some retire to their quarters to await the pleasure of the new ,government4 ,wealthy citizens pack their trunks and betake themselves to places of safety4 ,the people remain4 ,this is how a revolution is ushered in4 ,in several large towns the ,commune is proclaimed4 ,in the streets wander scores of thousands of men1 and in the evening they crowd into improvised clubs1 asking3 ,what shall we do8 and ardently discuss public affairs4 ,all take an interest in them2 those who yesterday were quite indifferent are perhaps the most zealous4 ,everywhere there is plenty of good-will and a keen desire to make victory certain4 ,it is a time when acts of supreme devotion are occurring4 ,the masses of the people are full of the desire of going forward4 ,all this is splendid1 sublime2 but still1 it is not a revolution4 ,nay1 it is only now that the work of the revolutionist begins4 ,doubtless there will be acts of vengeance4 ,the ,watrins and the ,thomases will pay the penalty of their unpopularity2 but these are mere incidents of the struggle--not the revolution4 ,socialist politicians1 radicals1 neglected geniuses of journalism1 stump orators--both middle-class people and workmen--will hurry to the ,town ,hall1 to the ,government offices1 to take possession of the vacant seats4 ,some will decorate themselves with gold and silver lace to their hearts' content1 admire themselves in ministerial mirrors1 and study to give orders with an air of importance appropriate to their new position4 ,how could they impress their comrades of the office or the workshop without having a red sash1 an embroidered cap1 and magisterial gestures6 ,others will bury themselves in official papers1 trying1 with the best of wills1 to make head or tail of them4 ,they will indite laws and issue high-flown worded decrees that nobody will take the trouble to carry out--because revolution has come4 ,to give themselves an authority which they have not they will seek the sanction of old forms of ,government4 ,they will take the names of ,provisional ,government1 ,committee of ,public ,safety1 ,mayor1 ,governor of the ,town ,hall1 ,commissioner of ,public ,safety1 and what not4 ,elected or acclaimed1 they will assemble in ,boards or in ,communal ,councils1 where men of ten or twenty different schools will come together1 representing--not as many private chapels1 as it is often said1 but as many different conceptions regarding the scope1 the bearing1 and the goal of the revolution4 ,possibilists1 ,collectivists1 ,radicals1 ,jacobins1 ,blanquists1 will be thrust together1 and waste time in wordy warfare4 ,honest men will be huddled together with the ambitious ones1 whose only dream is power and who spurn the crowd whence they are sprung4 ,all coming together with diametrically opposed views1 all--forced to enter into ephemeral alliances1 in order to create majorities that can but last a day4 ,wrangling1 calling each other reactionaries1 authoritarians1 and rascals1 incapable of coming to an understanding on any serious measure1 dragged into discussions about trifles1 producing nothing better than bombastic proclamations2 all giving themselves an awful importance while the real strength of the movement is in the streets4 ,all this may please those who like the stage1 but it is not revolution4 ,nothing has been accomplished as yet4 ,and meanwhile the people suffer4 ,the factories are idle1 the workshops closed2 trade is at a standstill4 ,the worker does not even earn the meagre wage which was his before4 ,food goes up in price4 ,with that heroic devotion which has always characterized them1 and which in great crises reaches the sublime1 the people will wait patiently4 ,we place these three months of want at the service of the ,republic1 they said in #ahdh1 while their representatives and the gentlemen of the new ,government1 down to the meanest ,jack-in-office received their salary regularly4 ,the people suffer4 ,with the childlike faith1 with the good humour of the masses who believe in their leaders1 they think that yonder1 in the ,house1 in the ,town ,hall1 in the ,committee of ,public ,safety1 their welfare is being considered4 ,but yonder they are discussing everything under the sun except the welfare of the people4 ,in #agic1 while famine ravaged ,france and crippled the ,revolution2 whilst the people were reduced to the depths of misery1 although the ,champs ,elyses were lined with luxurious carriages where women displayed their jewels and splendour1 ,robespierre was urging the ,jacobins to discuss his treatise on the ,english ,constitution4 ,while the worker was suffering in #ahdh from the general stoppage of trade1 the ,provisional ,government and the ,national ,assembly were wrangling over military pensions and prison labour1 without troubling how the people managed to live during the terrible crisis4 ,and could one cast a reproach at the ,paris ,commune1 which was born beneath the ,prussian cannon1 and lasted only seventy days1 it would be for this same error--this failure to understand that the ,revolution could not triumph unless those who fought on its side were fed3 that on fifteen pence a day a man cannot fight on the ramparts and at the same time support a family4 ,the people will suffer and say3 ,how is a way out of these difficulties to be found8 ,,iii ,it seems to us that there is only one answer to this question3 ,we must recognize1 and loudly proclaim1 that every one1 whatever his grade in the old society1 whether strong or weak1 capable or incapable1 has1 before everything1 ,,the ,,right ,,to ,,live1 and that society is bound to share amongst all1 without exception1 the means of existence it has at its disposal4 ,we must acknowledge this1 and proclaim it aloud1 and act up to it4 ,affairs must be managed in such a way that from the first day of the revolution the worker shall know that a new era is opening before him2 that henceforward none need crouch under the bridges1 while palaces are hard by1 none need fast in the midst of plenty1 none need perish with cold near shops full of furs2 that all is for all1 in practice as well as in theory1 and that at last1 for the first time in history1 a revolution has been accomplished which considers the ,,needs of the people before schooling them in their ,,duties4 ,this cannot be brought about by ,acts of ,parliament1 but only by taking immediate and effective possession of all that is necessary to ensure the well-being of all2 this is the only really scientific way of going to work1 the only way which can be understood and desired by the mass of the people4 ,we must take possession1 in the name of the people1 of the granaries1 the shops full of clothing and the dwelling houses4 ,nothing must be wasted4 ,we must organize without delay a way to feed the hungry1 to satisfy all wants1 to meet all needs1 to produce not for the special benefit of this one or that one1 but so as to ensure to society as a whole its life and further development4 ,enough of ambiguous words like the right to work1 with which the people were misled in #ahdh1 and which are still resorted to with the hope of misleading them4 ,let us have the courage to recognise that ,well-being for all1 henceforward possible1 must be realized4 ,when the workers claimed the right to work in #ahdh1 national and municipal workshops were organized1 and workmen were sent to drudge there at the rate of #as4 #h;d4 a day6 ,when they asked the ,organization of ,labour1 the reply was3 ,patience1 friends1 the ,government will see to it2 meantime here is your #as4 #h;d4 ,rest now1 brave toiler1 after your life-long struggle for food6 ,and in the meantime the cannons were overhauled1 the reserves called out1 and the workers themselves disorganized by the many methods well known to the middle classes1 till one fine day1 in ,june1 #ahdh1 four months after the overthrow of the previous ,government1 they were told to go and colonize ,africa1 or be shot down4 ,very different will be the result if the workers claim the ,,right ,,to ,,well-,,being6 ,in claiming that right they claim the right to take possession of the wealth of the community--to take houses to dwell in according to the needs of each family2 to socialize the stores of food and learn the meaning of plenty1 after having known famine too well4 ,they proclaim their right to all social wealth--fruit of the labour of past and present generations--and learn by its means to enjoy those higher pleasures of art and science which have too long been monopolized by the rich4 ,and while asserting their right to live in comfort1 they assert1 what is still more important1 their right to decide for themselves what this comfort shall be1 what must be produced to ensure it1 and what discarded as no longer of value4 ,the right to well-being means the possibility of living like human beings1 and of bringing up children to be members of a society better than ours1 whilst the right to work only means the right to be always a wage-slave1 a drudge1 ruled over and exploited by the middle class of the future4 ,the right to well-being is the ,social ,revolution1 the right to work means nothing but the ,treadmill of ,commercialism4 ,it is high time for the worker to assert his right to the common inheritance1 and to enter into possession of it4 ,,footnote3 #a #d1jac1gaa now employed in all the #ec branches of different industries1 including the ,state ,ordnance ,works1 and #bda1ecj workers engaged in the ,construction and ,maintenance of ,railways1 their aggregate production reaching the value of #a1jda1jcg1jjj1 and the net output being #djf1gii1jjj4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,anarchist ,,communism ,i ,every society1 on abolishing private property will be forced1 we maintain1 to organize itself on the lines of ,communistic ,anarchy4 ,anarchy leads to ,communism1 and ,communism to ,anarchy1 both alike being expressions of the predominant tendency in modern societies1 the pursuit of equality4 ,time was when a peasant family could consider the corn it sowed and reaped1 or the woolen garments woven in the cottage1 as the products of its own soil4 ,but even then this way of looking at things was not quite correct4 ,there were the roads and the bridges made in common1 the swamps drained by common toil1 the communal pastures enclosed by hedges which were kept in repair by each and all4 ,if the looms for weaving or the dyes for colouring fabrics were improved by somebody1 all profited2 and even in those days a peasant family could not live alone1 but was dependent in a thousand ways on the village or the commune4 ,but nowadays1 in the present state of industry1 when everything is interdependent1 when each branch of production is knit up with all the rest1 the attempt to claim an ,individualist origin for the products of industry is absolutely untenable4 ,the astonishing perfection attained by the textile or mining industries in civilized countries is due to the simultaneous development of a thousand other industries1 great and small1 to the extension of the railroad system1 to inter-oceanic navigation1 to the manual skill of thousands of workers1 to a certain standard of culture reached by the working class as a whole--to the labours1 in short1 of men in every corner of the globe4 ,the ,italians who died of cholera while making the ,suez ,canal1 or of anchylosis in the ,st4 ,gothard ,tunnel1 and the ,americans mowed down by shot and shell while fighting for the abolition of slavery1 have helped to develop the cotton industry of ,france and ,england1 as well as the work-girls who languish in the factories of ,manchester and ,rouen1 and the inventor who 7following the suggestion of some worker7 succeeds in improving the looms4 ,how then1 shall we estimate the share of each in the riches which ,,all contribute to amass8 ,looking at production from this general1 synthetic point of view1 we cannot hold with the ,collectivists that payment proportionate to the hours of labour rendered by each would be an ideal arrangement1 or even a step in the right direction4 ,without discussing whether exchange value of goods is really measured in existing societies by the amount of work necessary to produce it--according to the teaching of ,adam ,smith and ,ricardo1 in whose footsteps ,marx has followed--suffice it to say here1 leaving ourselves free to return to the subject later1 that the ,collectivist ideal appears to us untenable in a society which considers the instruments of labour as a common inheritance4 ,starting from this principle1 such a society would find itself forced from the very outset to abandon all forms of wages4 ,the migrated individualism of the ,collectivist system certainly could not maintain itself alongside a partial communism--the socialization of land and the instruments of production4 ,a new form of property requires a new form of remuneration4 ,a new method of production cannot exist side by side with the old forms of consumption1 any more than it can adapt itself to the old forms of political organization4 ,the wage system arises out of the individual ownership of the land and the instruments of labour4 ,it was the necessary condition for the development of capitalist production1 and will perish with it1 in spite of the attempt to disguise it as profit-sharing4 ,the common possession of the instruments of labour must necessarily bring with it the enjoyment in common of the fruits of common labour4 ,we hold further that ,communism is not only desirable1 but that existing societies1 founded on ,individualism1 are inevitably impelled in the direction of ,communism4 ,the development of ,individualism during the last three centuries is explained by the efforts of the individual to protect himself from the tyranny of ,capital and of the ,state4 ,for a time he imagined1 and those who expressed his thought for him declared1 that he could free himself entirely from the ,state and from society4 ,by means of money1 he said1 ,i can buy all that ,i need4 ,but the individual was on a wrong track1 and modern history has taught him to recognize that1 without the help of all1 he can do nothing1 although his strong-boxes are full of gold4 ,in fact1 along this current of ,individualism1 we find in all modern history a tendency1 on the one hand to retain all that remains of the partial ,communism of antiquity1 and1 on the other1 to establish the ,communist principle in the thousand developments of modern life4 ,as soon as the communes of the tenth1 eleventh1 and twelfth centuries had succeeded in emancipating themselves from their lords1 ecclesiastical or lay1 their communal labour and communal consumption began to extend and develop rapidly4 ,the township--and not private persons--freighted ships and equipped expeditions1 for the export of their manufacture1 and the benefit arising from the foreign trade did not accrue to individuals1 but was shared by all4 ,at the outset1 the townships also bought provisions for all their citizens4 ,traces of these institutions have lingered on into the nineteenth century1 and the people piously cherish the memory of them in their legends4 ,all that has disappeared4 ,but the rural township still struggles to preserve the last traces of this ,communism1 and it succeeds--except when the ,state throws its heavy sword into the balance4 ,meanwhile new organizations1 based on the same principle--to every man according to his needs--spring up under a thousand different forms2 for without a certain leaven of ,communism the present societies could not exist4 ,in spite of the narrowly egoistic turn given to men's minds by the commercial system1 the tendency towards ,communism is constantly appearing1 and it influences our activities in a variety of ways4 ,the bridges1 for the use of which a toll was levied in the old days1 have become public property and are free to all2 so are the high roads1 except in the ,east1 where a toll is still exacted from the traveller for every mile of his journey4 ,museums1 free libraries1 free schools1 free meals for children2 parks and gardens open to all2 streets paved and lighted1 free to all2 water supplied to every house without measure or stint--all such arrangements are founded on the principle3 ,take what you need4 ,the tramways and railways have already introduced monthly and annual season tickets1 without limiting the number of journeys taken2 and two nations1 ,hungary and ,russia1 have introduced on their railways the zone system1 which permits the holder to travel five hundred or eight hundred miles for the same price4 ,it is but a short step from that to a uniform charge1 such as already prevails in the postal service4 ,in all these innovations1 and in a thousand others1 the tendency is not to measure the individual consumption4 ,one man wants to travel eight hundred miles1 another five hundred4 ,these are personal requirements4 ,there is no sufficient reason why one should pay twice as much as the other because his need is twice as great4 ,such are the signs which appear even now in our individualist societies4 ,moreover1 there is a tendency1 though still a feeble one1 to consider the needs of the individual1 irrespective of his past or possible services to the community4 ,we are beginning to think of society as a whole1 each part of which is so intimately bound up with the others that a service rendered to one is a service rendered to all4 ,when you go to a public library--not indeed the ,national ,library of ,paris1 but1 say1 into the ,british ,museum or the ,berlin ,library--the librarian does not ask what services you have rendered to society before giving you the book1 or the fifty books1 which you require2 he even comes to your assistance if you do not know how to manage the catalogue4 ,by means of uniform credentials--and very often a contribution of work is preferred--the scientific society opens its museums1 its gardens1 its library1 its laboratories1 and its annual conversaziones to each of its members1 whether he be a ,darwin1 or a simple amateur4 ,at ,st4 ,petersburg1 if you are elaborating an invention1 you go into a special laboratory1 where you are given a place1 a carpenter's bench1 a turning lathe1 all the necessary tools and scientific instruments1 provided only you know how to use them2 and you are allowed to work there as long as you please4 ,there are the tools2 interest others in your idea2 join with fellow workers skilled in various crafts1 or work alone if you prefer it4 ,invent a flying machine1 or invent nothing--that is your own affair4 ,you are pursuing an idea--that is enough4 ,in the same way1 those who man the lifeboat do not ask credentials from the crew of a sinking ship2 they launch their boat1 risk their lives in the raging waves1 and sometimes perish1 all to save men whom they do not even know4 ,and what need to know them8 ,they are human beings1 and they need our aid--that is enough1 that establishes their right---- ,to the rescue6 ,thus we find a tendency1 eminently communistic1 springing up on all sides1 and in various guises1 in the very heart of theoretically individualist societies4 ,suppose that one of our great cities1 so egotistic in ordinary times1 were visited to-morrow by some calamity--a siege1 for instance--that same selfish city would decide that the first needs to satisfy were those of the children and the aged4 ,without asking what services they had rendered1 or were likely to render to society1 it would first of all feed them4 ,then the combatants would be cared for1 irrespective of the courage or the intelligence which each had displayed1 and thousands of men and women would outvie each other in unselfish devotion to the wounded4 ,this tendency exists1 and is felt as soon as the most pressing needs of each are satisfied1 and in proportion as the productive power of the race increases4 ,it becomes an active force every time a great idea comes to oust the mean preoccupations of everyday life4 ,how can we doubt1 then1 that when the instruments of production are placed at the service of all1 when business is conducted on ,communist principles1 when labour1 having recovered its place of honour in society1 produces much more than is necessary to all--how can we doubt that this force 7already so powerful71 will enlarge its sphere of action till it becomes the ruling principle of social life8 ,following these indications1 and considering further the practical side of expropriation1 of which we shall speak in the following chapters1 we are convinced that our first obligation1 when the revolution shall have broken the power upholding the present system1 will be to realize ,communism without delay4 ,but ours is neither the ,communism of ,fourier and the ,phalansteriens1 nor of the ,german ,state ,socialists4 ,it is ,anarchist ,communism1 ,communism without government--the ,communism of the ,free4 ,it is the synthesis of the two ideals pursued by humanity throughout the ages--,economic and ,political ,liberty4 ,,ii ,in taking ,anarchy for our ideal of political organization we are only giving expression to another marked tendency of human progress4 ,whenever ,european societies have developed up to a certain point1 they have shaken off the yoke of authority and substituted a system founded more or less on the principles of individual liberty4 ,and history shows us that these periods of partial or general revolution1 when the old governments were overthrown1 were also periods of sudden1 progress both in the economic and the intellectual field4 ,so it was after the enfranchisement of the communes1 whose monuments1 produced by the free labour of the guilds1 have never been surpassed2 so it was after the great peasant uprising which brought about the ,reformation and imperilled the papacy2 and so it was again with the society1 free for a brief space1 which was created on the other side of the ,atlantic by the malcontents from the ,old world4 ,and1 if we observe the present development of civilized nations1 we see1 most unmistakably1 a movement ever more and more marked tending to limit the sphere of action of the ,government1 and to allow more and more liberty to the individual4 ,this evolution is going on before our eyes1 though cumbered by the ruins and rubbish of old institutions and old superstitions4 ,like all evolutions1 it only waits a revolution to overthrow the old obstacles which block the way1 that it may find free scope in a regenerated society4 ,after having striven long in vain to solve the insoluble problem--the problem of constructing a government which will constrain the individual to obedience without itself ceasing to be the servant of society1 men at last attempt to free themselves from every form of government and to satisfy their need for organization by free contacts between individuals and groups pursuing the same aim4 ,the independence of each small territorial unit becomes a pressing need2 mutual agreement replaces law in order to regulate individual interests in view of a common object--very often disregarding the frontiers of the present ,states4 ,all that was once looked on as a function of the ,government is to-day called in question4 ,things are arranged more easily and more satisfactorily without the intervention of the ,state4 ,and in studying the progress made in this direction1 we are led to conclude that the tendency of the human race is to reduce ,government interference to zero2 in fact1 to abolish the ,state1 the personification of injustice1 oppression1 and monopoly4 ,we can already catch glimpses of a world in which the bonds which bind the individual are no longer laws1 but social habits--the result of the need felt by each one of us to seek the support1 the co-operation1 the sympathy of his neighbours4 ,assuredly the idea of a society without a ,state will give rise to at least as many objections as the political economy of a society without private capital4 ,we have all been brought up from our childhood to regard the ,state as a sort of ,providence2 all our education1 the ,roman history we learned at school1 the ,byzantine code which we studied later under the name of ,roman law1 and the various sciences taught at the universities1 accustom us to believe in ,government and in the virtues of the ,state providential4 ,to maintain this superstition whole systems of philosophy have been elaborated and taught2 all politics are based on this principle2 and each politician1 whatever his colours1 comes forward and says to the people1 ,give my party the power2 we can and we will free you from the miseries which press so heavily upon you4 ,from the cradle to the grave all our actions are guided by this principle4 ,open any book on sociology or jurisprudence1 and you will find there the ,government1 its organization1 its acts1 filling so large a place that we come to believe that there is nothing outside the ,government and the world of statesmen4 ,the ,press teaches us the same in every conceivable way4 ,whole columns are devoted to parliamentary debates and to political intrigues2 while the vast everyday life of a nation appears only in the columns given to economic subjects1 or in the pages devoted to reports of police and law cases4 ,and when you read the newspapers1 your hardly think of the incalculable number of beings--all humanity1 so to say--who grow up and die1 who know sorrow1 who work and consume1 think and create outside the few encumbering personages who have been so magnified that humanity is hidden by their shadows1 enlarged by our ignorance4 ,and yet as soon as we pass from printed matter to life itself1 as soon as we throw a glance at society1 we are struck by the infinitesimal part played by the ,government4 ,balzac already has remarked how millions of peasants spend the whole of their lives without knowing anything about the ,state1 save the heavy taxes they are compelled to pay4 ,every day millions of transactions are made without ,government intervention1 and the greatest of them--those of commerce and of the ,exchange--are carried on in such a way that the ,government could not be appealed to if one of the contracting parties had the intention of not fulfilling his agreement4 ,should you speak to a man who understands commerce1 he will tell you that the everyday business transacted by merchants would be absolutely impossible were it not based on mutual confidence4 ,the habit of keeping his word1 the desire not to lose his credit1 amply suffice to maintain this relative honesty4 ,the man who does not feel the slightest remorse when poisoning his customers with noxious drugs covered with pompous labels1 thinks he is in honour bound to keep his engagements4 ,but if this relative morality has developed under present conditions1 when enrichment is the only incentive and the only aim1 can we doubt its rapid progress when appropriation of the fruits of others' labour will no longer be the basis of society8 ,another striking fact1 which especially characterizes our generation1 speaks still more in favour of our ideas4 ,it is the continual extension of the field of enterprise due to private initiative1 and the prodigious development of free organizations of all kinds4 ,we shall discuss this more at length in the chapter devoted to ,free ,agreement4 ,suffice it to mention that the facts are so numerous and so customary that they are the essence of the second half of the nineteenth century1 even though political and socialist writers ignore them1 always preferring to talk to us about the functions of the ,government4 ,these organizations1 free and infinitely varied1 are so natural an outcome of our civilization2 they expand so rapidly and federate with so much ease2 they are so necessary a result of the continual growth of the needs of civilized man2 and lastly1 they so advantageously replace governmental interference1 that we must recognize in them a factor of growing importance in the life of societies4 ,if they do not yet spread over the whole of the manifestations of life1 it is that they find an insurmountable obstacle in the poverty of the worker1 in the divisions of present society1 in the private appropriation of capital1 and in the ,state4 ,abolish these obstacles1 and you will see them covering the immense field of civilized man's activity4 ,the history of the last fifty years furnishes a living proof that ,representative ,government is impotent to discharge all the functions we have sought to assign to it4 ,in days to come the nineteenth century will be quoted as having witnessed the failure of parliamentarianism4 ,this impotence is becoming so evident to all2 the faults of parliamentarianism1 and the inherent vices of the representative principle1 are so self-evident1 that the few thinkers who have made a critical study of them 7,j4 ,s4 ,mill1 ,leverdays71 did but give literary form to the popular dissatisfaction4 ,it is not difficult1 indeed1 to see the absurdity of naming a few men and saying to them1 ,make laws regulating all our spheres of activity1 although not one of you knows anything about them6 ,we are beginning to see that government by majorities means abandoning all the affairs of the country to the tide-waiters who make up the majorities in the ,house and in election committees2 to those1 in a word1 who have no opinion of their own4 ,mankind is seeking and already finding new issues4 ,the ,international ,postal ,union1 the railway unions1 and the learned societies give us examples of solutions based on free agreement in place and stead of law4 ,to-day1 when groups scattered far and wide wish to organize themselves for some object or other1 they no longer elect an international parliament of ,jacks-of-all-trades4 ,they proceed in a different way4 ,where it is not possible to meet directly or come to an agreement by correspondence1 delegates versed in the question at issue are sent1 and they are told3 ,endeavour to come to an agreement on such or such a question1 and then return1 not with a law in your pocket1 but with a proposition of agreement which we may or may not accept4 ,such is the method of the great industrial companies1 the learned societies1 and numerous associations of every description1 which already cover ,europe and the ,united ,states4 ,and such will be the method of a free society4 ,a society founded on serfdom is in keeping with absolute monarchy2 a society based on the wage system and the exploitation of the masses by the capitalists finds its political expression in parliamentarianism4 ,but a free society1 regaining possession of the common inheritance1 must seek in free groups and free federations of groups1 a new organization1 in harmony with the new economic phase of history4 ,every economic phase has a political phase corresponding to it1 and it would be impossible to touch private property unless a new mode of political life be found at the same time4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,expropriation ,i ,it is told of ,rothschild that1 seeing his fortune threatened by the ,revolution of #ahdh1 he hit upon the following stratagem3 ,i am quite willing to admit1 said he1 that my fortune has been accumulated at the expense of others2 but if it were divided to-morrow among the millions of ,europe1 the share of each would only amount to four shillings4 ,very well1 then1 ,i undertake to render to each his four shillings if he asks me for it4 ,having given due publicity to his promise1 our millionaire proceeded as usual to stroll quietly through the streets of ,frankfort4 ,three or four passers-by asked for their four shillings1 which he disbursed with a sardonic smile4 ,his stratagem succeeded1 and the family of the millionaire is still in possession of its wealth4 ,it is in much the same fashion that the shrewed heads among the middle classes reason when they say1 ,ah1 ,expropriation6 ,i know what that means4 ,you take all the overcoats and lay them in a heap1 and every one is free to help himself and fight for the best4 ,but such jests are irrelevant as well as flippant4 ,what we want is not a redistribution of overcoats1 although it must be said that even in such a case1 the shivering folk would see advantage in it4 ,nor do we want to divide up the wealth of the ,rothschilds4 ,what we do want is so to arrange things that every human being born into the world shall be ensured the opportunity1 in the first instance of learning some useful occupation1 and of becoming skilled in it2 and next1 that he shall be free to work at his trade without asking leave of master or owner1 and without handing over to landlord or capitalist the lion's share of what he produces4 ,as to the wealth held by the ,rothschilds or the ,vanderbilts1 it will serve us to organize our system of communal production4 ,the day when the labourer may till the ground without paying away half of what he produces1 the day when the machines necessary to prepare the soil for rich harvests are at the free disposal of the cultivators1 the day when the worker in the factory produces for the community and not the monopolist--that day will see the workers clothed and fed1 and there will be no more ,rothschilds or other exploiters4 ,no one will then have to sell his working power for a wage that only represents a fraction of what he produces4 ,so far1 so good1 say our critics1 but you will have ,rothschilds coming in from the outside4 ,how are you to prevent a person from amassing millions in ,china1 and then settling amongst you8 ,how are you going to prevent such a one from surrounding himself with lackeys and wage-slaves--from exploiting them and enriching himself at their expense8 ,you cannot bring about a revolution all over the world at the same time4 ,well1 then--are you going to establish custom-houses on your frontiers to search all who enter your country and confiscate the money they bring with them8--,anarchist policemen firing on travellers would be a fine spectacle6 ,but at the root of this argument there is a great error4 ,those who propound it have never paused to inquire whence come the fortunes of the rich4 ,a little thought would1 however1 suffice to show them that these fortunes have their beginnings in the poverty of the poor4 ,when there are no longer any destitute1 there will no longer be any rich to exploit them4 ,let us glance for a moment at the ,middle ,ages1 when great fortunes began to spring up4 ,a feudal baron seizes on a fertile valley4 ,but as long as the fertile valley is empty of folk our baron is not rich4 ,his land brings him in nothing2 he might as well possess a property in the moon4 ,what does our baron do to enrich himself8 ,he looks out for peasants--for poor peasants6 ,if every peasant-farmer had a piece of land1 free from rent and taxes1 if he had in addition the tools and the stock necessary for farm labour--,who would plough the lands of the baron8 ,everyone would look after his own4 ,but there are thousands of destitute persons ruined by wars1 or drought1 or pestilence4 ,they have neither horse nor plough4 7,iron was very costly in the ,middle ,ages1 and a draught-horse still more so47 ,all these destitute creatures are trying to better their condition4 ,one day they see on the road at the confines of our baron's estate a notice-board indicating by certain signs adapted to their comprehension that the labourer who is willing to settle on his estate will receive the tools and materials to build his cottage and sow his fields1 and a portion of land rent free for a certain number of years4 ,the number of years is represented by so many crosses on the sign-board1 and the peasant understands the meaning of these crosses4 ,so the poor wretches come to settle on the baron's lands4 ,they make roads1 drain the marshes1 build villages4 ,in nine or ten years the baron begins to tax them4 ,five years later he increases the rent4 ,then he doubles it1 and the peasant accepts these new conditions because he cannot find better ones elsewhere4 ,little by little1 with the aid of laws made by the barons1 the poverty of the peasant becomes the source of the landlord's wealth4 ,and it is not only the lord of the manor who preys upon him4 ,a whole host of usurers swoop down upon the villages1 multiplying as the wretchedness of the peasants increases4 ,that is how these things happened in the ,middle ,ages4 ,and to-day is it not still the same thing8 ,if there were free lands which the peasant could cultivate if he pleased1 would he pay #ej to some shabble of a ,duke#b for condescending to sell him a scrap8 ,would he burden himself with a lease which absorbed a third of the produce8 ,would he--on the mtayer system--consent to give half of his harvest to the landowner8 ,but he has nothing4 ,so he will accept any conditions1 if only he can keep body and soul together1 while he tills the soil and enriches the landlord4 ,so in the nineteenth century1 just as in the ,middle ,ages1 the poverty of the peasant is a source of wealth to the landed proprietor4 ,,ii ,the landlord owes his riches to the poverty of the peasants1 and the wealth of the capitalist comes from the same source4 ,take the case of a citizen of the middle class1 who somehow or other finds himself in possession of #bj1jjj4 ,he could1 of course1 spend his money at the rate of #b1jjj a year1 a mere bagatelle in these days of fantastic1 senseless luxury4 ,but then he would have nothing left at the end of ten years4 ,so1 being a practical person1 he prefers to keep his fortune intact1 and win for himself a snug little annual income as well4 ,this is very easy in our society1 for the good reason that the towns and villages swarm with workers who have not the wherewithal to live for a month1 or even a fortnight4 ,so our worthy citizen starts a factory4 ,the banks hasten to lend him another #bj1jjj1 especially if he has a reputation for business ability2 and with this round sum he can command the labour of five hundred hands4 ,if all the men and women in the countryside had their daily bread assured1 and their daily needs already satisfied1 who would work for our capitalist at a wage of half a crown a day1 while the commodities one produces in a day sell in the market for a crown or more8 ,unhappily--we know it all too well--the poor quarters of our towns and the neighbouring villages are full of needy wretches1 whose children clamour for bread4 ,so1 before the factory is well finished1 the workers hasten to offer themselves4 ,where a hundred are required three hundred besiege the doors1 and from the time his mill is started1 the owner1 if he only has average business capacities1 will clear #dj a year out of each mill-hand he employs4 ,he is thus able to lay by a snug little fortune2 and if he chooses a lucrative trade1 and has business talents1 he will soon increase his income by doubling the number of men he exploits4 ,so he becomes a personage of importance4 ,he can afford to give dinners to other personages--to the local magnates1 the civic1 legal1 and political dignitaries4 ,with his money he can marry money2 by and by he may pick and choose places for his children1 and later on perhaps get something good from the ,government--a contract for the army or for the police4 ,his gold breeds gold2 till at last a war1 or even a rumour of war1 or a speculation on the ,stock ,exchange1 gives him his great opportunity4 ,nine-tenths of the great fortunes made in the ,united ,states are 7as ,henry ,george has shown in his ,social ,problems7 the result of knavery on a large scale1 assisted by the ,state4 ,in ,europe1 nine-tenths of the fortunes made in our monarchies and republics have the same origin4 ,there are not two ways of becoming a millionaire4 ,this is the secret of wealth3 find the starving and destitute1 pay them half a crown1 and make them produce five shillings worth in the day1 amass a fortune by these means1 and then increase it by some lucky speculation1 made with the help of the ,state4 ,need we go on to speak of small fortunes attributed by the economists to forethought and frugality1 when we know that mere saving in itself brings in nothing1 so long as the pence saved are not used to exploit the famishing8 ,take a shoemaker1 for instance4 ,grant that his work is well paid1 that he has plenty of custom1 and that by dint of strict frugality he contrives to lay by from eighteen pence to two shillings a day1 perhaps two pounds a month4 ,grant that our shoemaker is never ill1 that he does not half starve himself1 in spite of his passion for economy2 that he does not marry or that he has no children2 that he does not die of consumption2 suppose anything and everything you please6 ,well1 at the age of fifty he will not have scraped together #hjj2 and he will not have enough to live on during his old age1 when he is past work4 ,assuredly this is not how fortunes are made4 ,but suppose our shoemaker1 as soon as he has laid by a few pence1 thriftily conveys them to the savings bank and that the savings bank lends them to the capitalist who is just about to employ labour1 i4e41 to exploit the poor4 ,then our shoemaker takes an apprentice1 the child of some poor wretch1 who will think himself lucky if in five years' time his son has learned the trade and is able to earn his living4 ,meanwhile our shoemaker does not lose by him1 and if trade is brisk he soon takes a second1 and then a third apprentice4 ,by and by he will take two or three working men--poor wretches1 thankful to receive half a crown a day for work that is worth five shillings1 and if our shoemaker is in luck1 that is to say1 if he is keen enough and mean enough1 his working men and apprentices will bring him in nearly one pound a day1 over and above the product of his own toil4 ,he can then enlarge his business4 ,he will gradually become rich1 and no longer have any need to stint himself in the necessaries of life4 ,he will leave a snug little fortune to his son4 ,that is what people call being economical and having frugal1 temperate habits4 ,at bottom it is nothing more nor less than grinding the face of the poor4 ,commerce seems an exception to this rule4 ,such a man1 we are told1 buys tea in ,china1 brings it to ,france1 and realizes a profit of thirty per cent4 on his original outlay4 ,he has exploited nobody4 ,nevertheless the case is quite similar4 ,if our merchant had carried his bales on his back1 well and good6 ,in early medieval times that was exactly how foreign trade was conducted1 and so no one reached such giddy heights of fortune as in our days4 ,very few and very hardly earned were the gold coins which the medieval merchant gained from a long and dangerous voyage4 ,it was less the love of money than the thirst of travel and adventure that inspired his undertakings4 ,nowadays the method is simpler4 ,a merchant who has some capital need not stir from his desk to become wealthy4 ,he telegraphs to an agent telling him to buy a hundred tons of tea2 he freights a ship1 and in a few weeks1 in three months if it is a sailing ship1 the vessels brings him his cargo4 ,he does not even take the risks of the voyage1 for his tea and his vessel are insured1 and if he has expended four thousand pounds he will receive more than five or six thousand2 that is to say1 if he has not attempted to speculate in some novel commodities1 in which case he runs a chance of either doubling his fortune or losing it altogether4 ,now1 how could he find men willing to cross the sea1 to travel to ,china and back1 to endure hardship and slavish toil and to risk their lives for a miserable pittance8 ,how could he find dock labourers willing to load and unload his ships for starvation wages8 ,how8 ,because they are needy and starving4 ,go to the seaports1 visit the cook-shops and taverns on the quays1 and look at these men who have come to hire themselves1 crowding round the dock-gates1 which they besiege from early dawn1 hoping to be allowed to work on the vessels4 ,look at these sailors1 happy to be hired for a long voyage1 after weeks and months of waiting4 ,all their lives long they have gone to the sea in ships1 and they will sail in others still1 until they have perished in the waves4 ,enter their homes1 look at their wives and children in rags1 living one knows not how till the father's return1 and you will have the answer to the question4 ,multiply examples1 choose them where you will1 consider the origin of all fortunes1 large or small1 whether arising out of commerce1 finance1 manufacturers1 or the land4 ,everywhere you will find that the wealth of the wealthy springs from the poverty of the poor4 ,this is why an anarchist society need not fear the advent of a ,rothschild who would settle in its midst4 ,if every member of the community knows that after a few hours of productive toil he will have a right to all the pleasures that civilization procures1 and to those deeper sources of enjoyment which art and science offer to all who seek them1 he will not sell his strength for a starvation wage4 ,no one will volunteer to work for the enrichment of your ,rothschild4 ,his golden guineas will be only so many pieces of metal--useful for various purposes1 but incapable of breeding more4 ,in answering the above objection we have at the same time indicated the scope of ,expropriation4 ,it must apply to everything that enables any man--be he financier1 mill-owner1 or landlord--to appropriate the product of others' toil4 ,our formula is simple and comprehensive4 ,we do not want to rob any one of his coat1 but we wish to give to the workers all those things the lack of which makes them fall an easy prey to the exploiter1 and we will do our utmost that none shall lack aught1 that not a single man shall be forced to sell the strength of his right arm to obtain a bare subsistence for himself and his babes4 ,this is what we mean when we talk of ,expropriation2 this will be our duty during the ,revolution1 for whose coming we look1 not two hundred years hence1 but soon1 very soon4 ,,iii ,the ideas of ,anarchism in general and of ,expropriation in particular find much more sympathy than we are apt to imagine among men of independent character1 and those for whom idleness is not the supreme ideal4 ,still1 our friends often warn us1 take care you do not go too far6 ,humanity cannot be changed in a day1 so do not be in to great a hurry with your schemes of ,expropriation and ,anarchy1 or you will be in danger of achieving no permanent result4 ,now1 what we fear with regard to ,expropriation is exactly the contrary4 ,we are afraid of not going far enough1 of carrying out ,expropriation on too small a scale to be lasting4 ,we would not have the revolutionary impulse arrested in mid-career1 to exhaust itself in half measures1 which would content no one1 and while producing a tremendous confusion in society1 and stopping its customary activities1 would have no vital power--would merely spread general discontent and inevitably prepare the way for the triumph of reaction4 ,there are1 in fact1 in a modern ,state established relations which it is practically impossible to modify if one attacks them only in detail4 ,there are wheels within wheels in our economic organization--the machinery is so complex and interdependent that no one part can be modified without disturbing the whole4 ,this becomes clear as soon as an attempt is made to expropriate anything4 ,let us suppose that in a certain country a limited form of expropriation is effected4 ,for example1 that1 as it has been suggested more than once1 only the property of the great landlords is socialized1 whilst the factories are left untouched2 or that1 in a certain city1 house property is taken over by the ,commune1 but everything else is left to private ownership2 or that1 in some manufacturing centre1 the factories are communalized1 but the land is not interfered with4 ,the same result would follow in each case--a terrible shattering of the industrial system1 without the means of reorganizing it on new lines4 ,industry and finance would be at a deadlock1 yet a return to the first principles of justice would not have been achieved1 and society would find itself powerless to construct a harmonious whole4 ,if agriculture were freed from great landowners1 while industry still remained the bond-slave of the capitalist1 the merchant1 and the banker1 nothing would be accomplished4 ,the peasant suffers to-day not only in having to pay rent to the landlord2 he is oppressed on all hands by existing conditions4 ,he is exploited by the tradesman1 who makes him pay half a crown for a spade which1 measured by the labour spent on it1 is not worth more than sixpence4 ,he is taxed by the ,state1 which cannot do without its formidable hierarchy of officials1 and finds it necessary to maintain an expensive army1 because the traders of all nations are perpetually fighting for the markets1 and any day a little quarrel arising from the exploitation of some part of ,asia or ,africa may result in war4 ,then again the peasant suffers from the depopulation of country places3 the young people are attracted to the large manufacturing towns by the bait of high wages paid temporarily by the producers of articles of luxury1 or by the attractions of a more stirring life4 ,the artificial protection of industry1 the industrial exploitation of foreign countries1 the prevalence of stock-jobbing1 the difficulty of improving the soil and the machinery of production--all these agencies combine nowadays to work against agriculture1 which is burdened not only by rent1 but by the whole complex of conditions in a society based on exploitation4 ,thus1 even if the expropriation of land were accomplished1 and every one were free to till the soil and cultivate it to the best advantage1 without paying rent1 agriculture1 even though it should enjoy--which can by no means be taken for granted--a momentary prosperity1 would soon fall back into the slough in which it finds itself to-day4 ,the whole thing would have to be begun over again1 with increased difficulties4 ,the same holds true of industry4 ,take the converse case3 instead of turning the agricultural labourers into peasant-proprietors1 make over the factories to those who work in them4 ,abolish the master-manufacturers1 but leave the landlord his land1 the banker his money1 the merchant his ,exchange2 maintain the swarm of idlers who live on the toil of the workmen1 the thousand and one middlemen1 the ,state with its numberless officials1--and industry would come to a standstill4 ,finding no purchasers in the mass of peasants who would remain poor2 not possessing the raw material1 and unable to export their produce1 partly on account of the stoppage of trade1 and still more so because industries spread all over the world1 the manufacturers would feel unable to struggle1 and thousands of workers would be thrown upon the streets4 ,these starving crowds would be ready and willing to submit to the first schemer who came to exploit them2 they would even consent to return to the old slavery1 under promise of guaranteed work4 ,or1 finally1 suppose you oust the landowners1 and hand over the mills and factories to the worker1 without interfering with the swarm of middlemen who drain the product of our manufacturers1 and speculate in corn and flour1 meat and groceries1 in our great centres of commerce4 ,then1 as soon as the exchange of produce is slackened2 as soon as the great cities are left without bread1 while the great manufacturing centres find no buyers for the articles of luxury they produce1--the counter-revolution is bound to take place1 and it would come1 treading upon the slain1 sweeping the towns and villages with shot and shell2 indulging in orgies of proscriptions and deportations1 such as were seen in ,france in #ahae1 #ahdh1 and #ahga4 ,all is interdependent in a civilized society2 it is impossible to reform any one thing without altering the whole4 ,therefore1 on the day a nation will strike at private property1 under any one of its forms1 territorial or industrial1 it will be obliged to attack them all4 ,the very success of the ,revolution will impose it4 ,besides1 even if it were desired1 it would be impossible to confine the change to a partial expropriation4 ,once the principle of the ,divine ,right of ,property is shaken1 no amount of theorizing will prevent its overthrow1 here by the slaves of the field1 there by the slaves of the machine4 ,if a great town1 ,paris for example1 were to confine itself to taking possession of the dwelling houses of the factories1 it would be forced also to deny the right of the bankers to levy upon the ,commune a tax amounting to #b1jjj1jjj1 in the form of interest for former loans4 ,the great city would be obliged to put itself in touch with the rural districts1 and its influence would inevitably urge the peasants to free themselves from the landowner4 ,it would be necessary to communalize the railways1 that the citizens might get food and work1 and lastly1 to prevent the waste of supplies2 and to guard against the trusts of corn-speculators1 like those to whom the ,paris ,commune of #agic fell a prey1 it would have to place in the hands of the ,city the work of stocking its warehouses with commodities1 and apportioning the produce4 ,some ,socialists still seek1 however1 to establish a distinction4 ,of course1 they say1 the soil1 the mines1 the mills1 and manufacturers must be expropriated1 these are the instruments of production1 and it is right we should consider them public property4 ,but articles of consumption--food1 clothes1 and dwellings--should remain private property4 ,popular common sense has got the better of this subtle distinction4 ,we are not savages who can live in the woods1 without other shelter than the branches4 ,the civilized man needs a roof1 a room1 a hearth1 and a bed4 ,it is true that the bed1 the room1 and the house is a home of idleness for the non-producer4 ,but for the worker1 a room1 properly heated and lighted1 is as much an instrument of production as the tool or the machine4 ,it is the place where the nerves and sinews gather strength for the work of the morrow4 ,the rest of the workman is the daily repairing of the machine4 ,the same argument applies even more obviously to food4 ,the so-called economists1 who make the just-mentioned distinction1 would hardly deny that the coal burnt in a machine is as necessary to production as the raw material itself4 ,how then can food1 without which the human machine could do no work1 be excluded from the list of things indispensable to the producer8 ,can this be a relic of religious metaphysics8 ,the rich man's feast is indeed a matter of luxury1 but the food of the worker is just as much a part of production as the fuel burnt by the steam-engine4 ,the same with clothing4 ,we are not ,new ,guinea savages4 ,and if the dainty gowns of our ladies must rank as objects of luxury1 there is nevertheless a certain quantity of linen1 cotton1 and woolen stuff which is a necessity of life to the producer4 ,the shirt and trousers in which he goes to his work1 the jacket he slips on after the day's toil is over1 are as necessary to him as the hammer to the anvil4 ,whether we like it or not1 this is what the people mean by a revolution4 ,as soon as they have made a clean sweep of the ,government1 they will seek first of all to ensure to themselves decent dwellings and sufficient food and clothes--free of capitalist rent4 ,and the people will be right4 ,the methods of the people will be much more in accordance with science than those of the economists who draw so many distinctions between instruments of production and articles of consumption4 ,the people understand that this is just the point where the ,revolution ought to begin2 and they will lay the foundations of the only economic science worthy the name--a science which might be called3 ,the ,study of the ,needs of ,humanity1 and of the ,economic ,means to satisfy them4 ,,footnote3 #b ,shabble of a ,duke is an expression coined by ,carlyle2 it is a somewhat free rendering of ,kropotkine's ,monsieur le ,vicomte1 but ,i think it expresses his meaning4--,trans4 ,,chapter ,v ,,food ,i ,if the coming ,revolution is to be a ,social ,revolution1 it will be distinguished from all former uprisings not only by its aim1 but also by its methods4 ,to attain a new end1 new means are required4 ,the three great popular movements which we have seen in ,france during the last hundred years differ from each other in many ways1 but they have one common feature4 ,in each case the people strove to overturn the old regime1 and spent their heart's blood for the cause4 ,then1 after having borne the brunt of the battle1 they sank again into obscurity4 ,a ,government1 composed of men more or less honest1 was formed and undertook to organize a new regime3 the ,republic in #agic1 ,labour in #ahdh1 the ,free ,commune in #ahga4 ,imbued with ,jacobin ideas1 this ,government occupied itself first of all with political questions1 such as the reorganization of the machinery of government1 the purifying of the administration1 the separation of ,church and ,state1 civic liberty1 and such matters4 ,it is true the workmen's clubs kept an eye on the members of the new ,government1 and often imposed their ideas on them4 ,but even in these clubs1 whether the leaders belonged to the middle or the working classes1 it was always middle-class ideas which prevailed4 ,they discussed various political questions at great length1 but forgot to discuss the question of bread4 ,great ideas sprang up at such times1 ideas that have moved the world2 words were spoken which still stir our hearts1 at the interval of more than a century4 ,but the people were starving in the slums4 ,from the very ,commencement of the ,revolution industry inevitably came to a stop--the circulation of produce was checked1 and capital concealed itself4 ,the master--the employer--had nothing to fear at such times1 he fattened on his dividends1 if indeed he did not speculate on the wretchedness around2 but the wage-earner was reduced to live from hand to mouth4 ,want knocked at the door4 ,famine was abroad in the land--such famine as had hardly been seen under the old regime4 ,the ,girondists are starving us6 was the cry in the workmen's quarters in #agic1 and thereupon the ,girondists were guillotined1 and full powers were given to the ,mountain and to the ,commune4 ,the ,commune indeed concerned itself with the question of bread1 and made heroic efforts to feed ,paris4 ,at ,lyons1 ,fouch and ,collot d',herbois established city granaries1 but the sums spent on filling them were woefully insufficient4 ,the town councils made great efforts to procure corn2 the bakers who hoarded flour were hanged--and still the people lacked bread4 ,then they turned on the royalist conspirators and laid the blame at their door4 ,they guillotined a dozen or fifteen a day--servants and duchesses alike1 especially servants1 for the duchesses had gone to ,coblentz4 ,but if they had guillotined a hundred dukes and viscounts every day1 it would have been equally hopeless4 ,the want only grew4 ,for the wage-earner cannot live without his wage1 and the wage was not forthcoming4 ,what difference could a thousand corpses more or less make to him8 ,then the people began to grow weary4 ,so much for your vaunted ,revolution6 ,you are more wretched than ever before1 whispered the reactionary in the ears of the worker4 ,and little by little the rich took courage1 emerged from their hiding-places1 and flaunted their luxury in the face of the starving multitude4 ,they dressed up like scented fops and said to the workers3 ,come1 enough of this foolery6 ,what have you gained by your ,revolution8 ,and1 sick at heart1 his patience at an end1 the revolutionary had at last to admit to himself that the cause was lost once more4 ,he retreated into his hovel and awaited the worst4 ,then reaction proudly asserted itself1 and accomplished a counter-revolutionary stroke4 ,the ,revolution dead1 nothing remained but to trample its corpse under foot4 ,the ,white ,terror began4 ,blood flowed like water1 the guillotine was never idle1 the prisons were crowded1 while the pageant of rank and fashion resumed its old course1 and went on as merrily as before4 ,this picture is typical of all our revolutions4 ,in #ahdh the workers of ,paris placed three months of starvation at the service of the ,republic1 and then1 having reached the limit of their powers1 they made1 in ,june1 one last desperate effort--an effort which was drowned in blood4 ,in #ahga the ,commune perished for lack of combatants4 ,it had taken measures for the separation of ,church and ,state1 but it neglected1 alas1 until too late1 to take measures for providing the people with bread4 ,and so it came to pass in ,paris that lgantes and fine gentlemen could spurn the confederates1 and bid them go sell their lives for a miserable pittance1 and leave their betters to feast at their ease in fashionable restaurants4 ,at last the ,commune saw its mistake1 and opened communal kitchens4 ,but it was too late4 ,its days were already numbered1 and the troops of ,versailles were on the ramparts4 ,bread1 it is bread that the ,revolution needs6 ,let others spend their time in issuing pompous proclamations1 in decorating themselves lavishly with official gold lace1 and in talking about political liberty6444 ,be it ours to see1 from the first day of the ,revolution to the last1 in all the provinces fighting for freedom1 that there is not a single man who lacks bread1 not a single woman compelled to stand with the wearied crowd outside the bakehouse-door1 that haply a coarse loaf may be thrown to her in charity1 not a single child pining for want of food4 ,it has always been the middle-class idea to harangue about great principles--great lies rather6 ,the idea of the people will be to provide bread for all4 ,and while middle-class citizens1 and workmen infested with middle-class ideas admire their own rhetoric in the ,talking ,shops1 and practical people are engaged in endless discussions on forms of government1 we1 the ,utopian dreamers--we shall have to consider the question of daily bread4 ,we have the temerity to declare that all have a right to bread1 that there is bread enough for all1 and that with this watchword of ,bread for ,all the ,revolution will triumph4 ,,ii ,that we are ,utopians is well known4 ,so ,utopian are we that we go the length of believing that the ,revolution can and ought to assure shelter1 food1 and clothes to all--an idea extremely displeasing to middle-class citizens1 whatever their party colour1 for they are quite alive to the fact that it is not easy to keep the upper hand of a people whose hunger is satisfied4 ,all the same1 we maintain our contention3 bread must be found for the people of the ,revolution1 and the question of bread must take precedence of all other questions4 ,if it is settled in the interests of the people1 the ,revolution will be on the right road2 for in solving the question of ,bread we must accept the principle of equality1 which will force itself upon us to the exclusion of every other solution4 ,it is certain that the coming ,revolution--like in that respect to the ,revolution of #ahdh--will burst upon us in the middle of a great industrial crisis4 ,things have been seething for half a century now1 and can only go from bad to worse4 ,everything tends that way--new nations entering the lists of international trade and fighting for possession of the world's markets1 wars1 taxes ever increasing4 ,national debts1 the insecurity of the morrow1 and huge colonial undertakings in every corner of the globe4 ,there are millions of unemployed workers in ,europe at this moment4 ,it will be still worse when ,revolution has burst upon us and spread like fire laid to a train of gunpowder4 ,the number of the out-of-works will be doubled as soon as the barricades are erected in ,europe and the ,united ,states4 ,what is to be done to provide these multitudes with bread8 ,we do not know whether the folk who call themselves practical people have ever asked themselves this question in all its nakedness4 ,but we do know that they wish to maintain the wage system1 and we must therefore expect to have national workshops and public works vaunted as a means of giving food to the unemployed4 ,because national workshops were opened in #aghi and #agic2 because the same means were resorted to in #ahdh2 because ,napoleon ,,iii4 succeeded in contenting the ,parisian proletariat for eighteen years by giving them public works--which cost ,paris to-day its debt of #hj1jjj1jjj and its municipal tax of three or four pounds a-head2#c because this excellent method of taming the beast was customary in ,rome1 and even in ,egypt four thousand years ago2 and lastly1 because despots1 kings1 and emperors have always employed the ruse of throwing a scrap of food to the people to gain time to snatch up the whip--it is natural that practical men should extol this method of perpetuating the wage system4 ,what need to rack our brains when we have the time-honoured method of the ,pharaohs at our disposal8 ,yet should the ,revolution be so misguided as to start on this path1 it would be lost4 ,in #ahdh1 when the national workshops were opened on ,february #bg1 the unemployed of ,paris numbered only #h1jjj2 a fortnight later they had already increased to #di1jjj4 ,they would soon have been #ajj1jjj1 without counting those who crowded in from the provinces4 ,yet at that time trade and manufacturers in ,france employed half as many hands as to-day4 ,and we know that in time of ,revolution exchange and industry suffer most from the general upheaval4 ,we have only to think1 indeed1 of the number of workmen whose labour depends directly or indirectly upon export trade1 or of the number of hands employed in producing luxuries1 whose consumers are the middle-class minority4 ,a revolution in ,europe means1 then1 the unavoidable stoppage of at least half the factories and workshops4 ,it means millions of workers and their families thrown on the streets4 ,and our practical men would seek to avert this truly terrible situation by means of national relief works2 that is to say1 by means of new industries created on the spot to give work to the unemployed6 ,it is evident1 as ,proudhon had already pointed out more than fifty years ago1 that the smallest attack upon property will bring in its train the complete disorganization of the system based upon private enterprise and wage labour4 ,society itself will be forced to take production in hand1 in its entirety1 and to reorganize it to meet the needs of the whole people4 ,but this cannot be accomplished in a day1 or even in a month2 it must take a certain time to reorganize the system of production1 and during this time millions of men will be deprived of the means of subsistence4 ,what then is to be done8 ,there is only one really practical solution of the problem--boldly to face the great task which awaits us1 and instead of trying to patch up a situation which we ourselves have made untenable1 to proceed to reorganize production on a new basis4 ,thus the really practical course of action1 in our view1 would be that the people should take immediate possession of all the food of the insurgent communes1 keeping strict account of it all1 that none might be wasted1 and that by the aid of these accumulated resources every one might be able to tide over the crisis4 ,during that time an agreement would have to be made with the factory workers1 the necessary raw material given them1 and the means of subsistence assured to them1 while they worked to supply the needs of the agricultural population4 ,for we must not forget that while ,france weaves silks and satins to deck the wives of ,german financiers1 the ,empress of ,russia1 and the ,queen of the ,sandwich ,islands1 and while ,paris fashions wonderful trinkets and playthings for rich folk all the world over1 two-thirds of the ,french peasantry have not proper lamps to give them light1 or the implements necessary for modern agriculture4 ,lastly1 unproductive land1 of which there is plenty1 would have to be turned to the best advantage1 poor soils enriched1 and rich soils1 which yet1 under the present system1 do not yield a quarter1 no1 nor a tenth of what they might produce1 would be submitted to intensive culture1 and tilled with as much care as a market garden or a flower pot4 ,it is impossible to imagine any other practical solution of the problem2 and1 whether we like it or not1 sheer force of circumstances will bring it to pass4 ,,iii ,the most prominent characteristic of our present capitalism is the wage system1 which in brief amounts to this3-- ,a man1 or a group of men1 possessing the necessary capital1 starts some industrial enterprise2 he undertakes to supply the factory or workshops with raw material1 to organize production1 to pay the employes a fixed wage1 and lastly1 to pocket the surplus value or profits1 under pretext of recouping himself for managing the concern1 for running the risks it may involve1 and for the fluctuations of price in the market value of the wares4 ,to preserve this system1 those who now monopolize capital would be ready to make certain concessions2 to share1 for example1 a part of the profits with the workers1 or rather to establish a sliding scale1 which would oblige them to raise wages when prices were high2 in brief they would consent to certain sacrifices on condition that they were still allowed to direct industry and to take its first fruits4 ,collectivism1 as we know1 does not abolish the wage system1 though it introduces considerable modifications into the existing order of things4 ,it only substitutes the ,state1 that is to say1 some form of ,representative ,government1 national or local1 for the individual employer of labour4 ,under ,collectivism it is the representatives of the nation1 or of the ,commune1 and their deputies and officials who are to have the control of industry4 ,it is they who reserve to themselves the right of employing the surplus of production--in the interests of all4 ,moreover1 ,collectivism draws a very subtle but very far-reaching distinction between the work of the labourer and of the man who has learned a craft4 ,unskilled labour in the eyes of the collectivist is simple labour1 while the work of the craftsman1 the mechanic1 the engineer1 the man of science1 etc41 is what ,marx calls complex labour1 and is entitled to a higher wage4 ,but labourers and craftsmen1 weavers and men of science1 are all wage-servants of the ,state--all officials1 as was said lately1 to gild the pill4 ,well1 then1 the coming ,revolution could render no greater service to humanity than by making the wage system1 in all its forms1 an impossibility1 and by rendering ,communism1 which is the negation of wage-slavery1 the only possible solution4 ,for even admitting that the ,collectivist modification of the present system is possible1 if introduced gradually during a period of prosperity and peace--though for my part ,i question its practicability even under such conditions--it would become impossible in a period of ,revolution1 when the need of feeding hungry millions would spring up with the first call to arms4 ,a political revolution can be accomplished without shaking the foundations of industry1 but a revolution where the people lay hands upon property will inevitably paralyse exchange and production4 ,the millions of public money flowing into the ,treasury would not suffice for paying wages to the millions of out-of-works4 ,this point cannot be too much insisted upon2 the reorganization of industry on a new basis 7and we shall presently show how tremendous this problem is7 cannot be accomplished in a few days2 nor1 on the other hand1 will the people submit to be half starved for years in order to oblige the theorists who uphold the wage system4 ,to tide over the period of stress they will demand what they have always demanded in such cases--communization of supplies--the giving of rations4 ,it will be in vain to preach patience4 ,the people will be patient no longer1 and if food is not forthcoming they will plunder the bakeries4 ,then1 if the people are not strong enough to carry all before them1 they will be shot down1 to give ,collectivism a fair field for experiment4 ,to this end order must be maintained at any price--order1 discipline1 obedience6 ,and as the capitalists will soon realize that when the people are shot down by those who call themselves ,revolutionists1 the ,revolution itself will become hateful in the eyes of the masses1 they will certainly lend their support to the champions of order--even though they are collectivists4 ,in such a line of conduct1 the capitalists will see a means of hereafter crushing the collectivists in their turn4 ,and if order is established in this fashion1 the consequences are easy to foresee4 ,not content with shooting down the marauders1 the faction of order will search out the ringleaders of the mob4 ,they will set up again the law courts and reinstate the hangman4 ,the most ardent revolutionists will be sent to the scaffold4 ,it will be #agic over again4 ,do not let us forget how reaction triumphed in the last century4 ,first the ,hbertists and the madmen1 were guillotined--those whom ,mignet1 with the memory of the struggle fresh upon him1 still called ,anarchists4 ,the ,dantonists soon followed them2 and when the party of ,robespierre had guillotined these revolutionaries1 they in their turn had to mount the scaffold2 whereupon the people1 sick of bloodshed1 and seeing the revolution lost1 threw up the sponge1 and let the reactionaries do their worst4 ,if order is restored1 we say1 the social democrats will hang the anarchists2 the ,fabians will hang the social democrats1 and will in their turn be hanged by the reactionaries2 and the ,revolution will come to an end4 ,but everything confirms us in the belief that the energy of the people will carry them far enough1 and that1 when the ,revolution takes place1 the idea of anarchist ,communism will have gained ground4 ,it is not an artificial idea4 ,the people themselves have breathed it in our ear1 and the number of communists is ever increasing1 as the impossibility of any other solution becomes more and more evident4 ,and if the impetus of the people is strong enough1 affairs will take a very different turn4 ,instead of plundering the bakers' shops one day1 and starving the next1 the people of the insurgent cities will take possession of the warehouses1 the cattle markets1--in fact of all the provision stores and of all the food to be had4 ,the well-intentioned citizens1 men and women both1 will form themselves into bands of volunteers and address themselves to the task of making a rough general inventory of the contents of each shop and warehouse4 ,if such a revolution breaks out in ,france1 namely in ,paris1 then in twenty-four hours the ,commune will know what ,paris has not found out yet1 in spite of its statistical committees1 and what it never did find out during the siege of #ahga--the quantity of provisions it contains4 ,in forty-eight hours millions of copies will be printed of the tables giving a sufficiently exact account of the available food1 the places where it is stored1 and the means of distribution4 ,in every block of houses1 in every street1 in every town ward1 groups of volunteers will have been organized1 and these commissariat volunteers will find it easy to work in unison and keep in touch with each other4 ,if only the ,jacobin bayonets do not get in the way2 if only the self-styled scientific theorists do not thrust themselves in to darken counsel6 ,or rather let them expound their muddle-headed theories as much as they like1 provided they have no authority1 no power6 ,and that admirable spirit of organization inherent in the people1 above all in every social grade of the ,french nation1 but which they have so seldom been allowed to exercise1 will initiate1 even in so huge a city as ,paris1 and in the midst of a ,revolution1 an immense guild of free workers1 ready to furnish to each and all the necessary food4 ,give the people a free hand1 and in ten days the food service will be conducted with admirable regularity4 ,only those who have never seen the people hard at work1 only those who have passed their lives buried among the documents1 can doubt it4 ,speak of the organizing genius of the ,great ,misunderstood1 the people1 to those who have seen it in ,paris in the days of the barricades1 or in ,london during the great dockers' strike1 when half a million of starving folk had to be fed1 and they will tell you how superior it is to the official ineptness of ,bumbledom4 ,and even supposing we had to endure a certain amount of discomfort and confusion for a fortnight or a month1 surely that would not matter very much4 ,for the mass of the people it would still be an improvement on their former condition2 and1 besides1 in times of ,revolution one can dine contentedly enough on a bit of bread and cheese while eagerly discussing events4 ,in any case1 a system which springs up spontaneously1 under stress of immediate need1 will be infinitely preferable to anything invented between four walls by hide-bound theorists sitting on any number of committees4 ,,iv ,the people of the great towns will be driven by force of circumstances to take possession of all the provisions1 beginning with the barest necessaries1 and gradually extending ,communism to other things1 in order to satisfy the needs of all the citizens4 ,the sooner it is done the better2 the sooner it is done the less misery there will be and the less strife4 ,but upon what basis must society be organized in order that all may have their due share of food produce8 ,this is the question that meets us at the outset4 ,we answer that there are no two ways of it4 ,there is only one way in which ,communism can be established equitably1 only one way which satisfies our instincts of justice and is at the same time practical2 namely1 the system already adopted by the agrarian communes of ,europe4 ,take for example a peasant commune1 no matter where1 even in ,france1 where the ,jacobins have done their best to destroy all communal usage4 ,if the commune possesses woods and copses1 then1 so long as there is plenty of wood for all1 every one can take as much as he wants1 without other let or hindrance than the public opinion of his neighbours4 ,as to the timber-trees1 which are always scarce1 they have to be carefully apportioned4 ,the same with the communal pasture land2 while there is enough and to spare1 no limit is put to what the cattle of each homestead may consume1 nor to the number of beasts grazing upon the pastures4 ,grazing grounds are not divided1 nor is fodder doled out1 unless there is scarcity4 ,all the ,swiss communes1 and scores of thousands in ,france and ,germany1 wherever there is communal pasture land1 practise this system4 ,and in the countries of ,eastern ,europe1 where there are great forests and no scarcity of land1 you will find the peasants felling the trees as they need them1 and cultivating as much of the soil as they require1 without any thought of limiting each man's share of timber or of land4 ,but the timber will be allowanced1 and the land parcelled out1 to each household according to its needs1 as soon as either becomes scarce1 as is already the case in ,russia4 ,in a word1 the system is this3 no stint or limit to what the community possesses in abundance1 but equal sharing and dividing of those commodities which are scarce or apt to run short4 ,of the #cej millions who inhabit ,europe1 #bjj millions still follow this system of natural ,communism4 ,it is a fact worth remarking that the same system prevails in the great towns in the distribution of one commodity at least1 which is found in abundance1 the water supplied to each house4 ,as long as there is no fear of the supply running short1 no water company thinks of checking the consumption of water in each house4 ,take what you please6 ,but during the great droughts1 if there is any fear of the supply failing1 the water companies know that all they have to do is to make known the fact1 by means of a short advertisement in the papers1 and the citizens will reduce their consumption of water and not let it run to waste4 ,but if water were actually scarce1 what would be done8 ,recourse would be had to a system of rations4 ,such a measure is so natural1 so inherent in common sense1 that ,paris twice asked to be put on rations during the two sieges which it underwent in #ahga4 ,is it necessary to go into details1 to prepare tables1 showing how the distribution of rations may work1 to prove that it is just and equitable1 infinitely more just and equitable than the existing state of things8 ,all these tables and details will not serve to convince those of the middle classes1 nor1 alas1 those of the workers tainted with middle-class prejudices1 who regard the people as a mob of savages ready to fall upon and devour each other1 as soon as the ,government ceases to direct affairs4 ,but those only who have never seen the people resolve and act on their own initiative could doubt for a moment that if the masses were masters of the situation1 they would distribute rations to each and all in strictest accordance with justice and equity4 ,if you were to give utterance1 in any gathering of people1 to the opinion that delicacies--game and such-like--should be reserved for the fastidious palates of aristocratic idlers1 and black bread given to the sick in the hospitals1 you would be hissed4 ,but say at the same gathering1 preach at the street corners and in the market places1 that the most tempting delicacies ought to be kept for the sick and feeble--especially for the sick4 ,say that if there are only five brace of partridge in the entire city1 and only one case of sherry1 they should go to sick people and convalescents4 ,say that after the sick come the children4 ,for them the milk of the cows and goats should be reserved if there is not enough for all4 ,to the children and the aged the last piece of meat1 and to the strong man dry bread1 if the community be reduced to that extremity4 ,say1 in a word1 that if this or that article of consumption runs short1 and has to be doled out1 to those who have most need most should be given4 ,say that and see if you do not meet with universal agreement4 ,the man who is full-fed does not understand this1 but the people do understand1 and have always understood it2 and even the child of luxury1 if he is thrown on the street and comes into contact with the masses1 even he will learn to understand4 ,the theorists--for whom the soldier's uniform and the barrack mess table are civilization's last word--would like no doubt to start a regime of ,national ,kitchens and ,spartan ,broth4 ,they would point out the advantages thereby gained1 the economy in fuel and food1 if such huge kitchens were established1 where every one could come for their rations of soup and bread and vegetables4 ,we do not question these advantages4 ,we are well aware that important economies have already been achieved in this direction--as1 for instance1 when the handmill1 or quern1 and the baker's oven attached to each house were abandoned4 ,we can see perfectly well that it would be more economical to cook broth for a hundred families at once1 instead of lighting a hundred separate fires4 ,we know1 besides1 that there are a thousand ways of preparing potatoes1 but that cooked in one huge pot for a hundred families they would be just as good4 ,we know1 in fact1 that variety in cooking being a matter of the seasoning introduced by each cook or housewife1 the cooking together of a hundredweight of potatoes would not prevent each cook or housewife from dressing and serving them in any way she pleased4 ,and we know that stock made from meat can be converted into a hundred different soups to suit a hundred different tastes4 ,but though we are quite aware of all these facts1 we still maintain that no one has a right to force a housewife to take her potatoes from the communal kitchen ready cooked if she prefers to cook them herself in her own pot on her own fire4 ,and1 above all1 we should wish each one to be free to take his meals with his family1 or with his friends1 or even in a restaurant1 if it seemed good to him4 ,naturally large public kitchens will spring up to take the place of the restaurants1 where people are poisoned nowadays4 ,already the ,parisian housewife gets the stock for her soup from the butcher1 and transforms it into whatever soup she likes1 and ,london housekeepers know that they can have a joint roasted1 or an apple or rhubarb tart baked at the baker's for a trifling sum1 thus economizing time and fuel4 ,and when the communal kitchen--the common bakehouse of the future--is established1 and people can get their food cooked without the risk of being cheated or poisoned1 the custom will no doubt become general of going to the communal kitchen for the fundamental parts of the meal1 leaving the last touches to be added as individual taste shall suggest4 ,but to make a hard and fast rule of this1 to make a duty of taking home our food ready cooked1 that would be as repugnant to our modern minds as the ideas of the convent or the barrack--morbid ideas born in brains warped by tyranny or superstition4 ,who will have a right to the food of the commune8 will assuredly be the first question which we shall have to ask ourselves4 ,every township will answer for itself1 and we are convinced that the answers will all be dictated by the sentiment of justice4 ,until labour is reorganized1 as long as the disturbed period lasts1 and while it is impossible to distinguish between inveterate idlers and genuine workers thrown out of work1 the available food ought to be shared by all without exception4 ,those who have been enemies to the new order will hasten of their own accord to rid the commune of their presence4 ,but it seems to us that the masses of the people1 which have always been magnanimous1 and have nothing of vindictiveness in their disposition1 will be ready to share their bread with all who remain with them1 conquered and conquerers alike4 ,it will be no loss to the ,revolution to be inspired by such an idea1 and1 when work is set agoing again1 the antagonists of yesterday will stand side by side in the same workshops4 ,a society where work is free will have nothing to fear from idlers4 ,but provisions will run short in a month6 our critics at once exclaim4 ,so much the better1 say we4 ,it will prove that for the first time on record the people have had enough to eat4 ,as to the question of obtaining fresh supplies1 we shall discuss the means in our next chapter4 ,v ,by what means could a city in a state of revolution be supplied with food8 ,we shall answer this question1 but it is obvious that the means resorted to will depend on the character of the ,revolution in the provinces1 and in neighbouring countries4 ,if the entire nation1 or1 better still1 if all ,europe should accomplish the ,social ,revolution simultaneously1 and start with thorough-going ,communism1 our procedure would be simplified2 but if only a few communities in ,europe make the attempt1 other means will have to be chosen4 ,the circumstances will dictate the measures4 ,we are thus led1 before we proceed further1 to glance at the ,state of ,europe1 and1 without pretending to prophesy1 we may try to foresee what course the ,revolution will take1 or at least what will be its essential features4 ,certainly it would be very desirable that all ,europe should rise at once1 that expropriation should be general1 and that communistic principles should inspire all and sundry4 ,such a universal rising would do much to simplify the task of our century4 ,but all the signs lead us to believe that it will not take place4 ,that the ,revolution will embrace ,europe we do not doubt4 ,if one of the four great continental capitals--,paris1 ,vienna1 ,brussels1 or ,berlin--rises in revolution and overturns its ,government1 it is almost certain that the three others will follow its example within a few weeks' time4 ,it is1 moreover1 highly probable that the ,peninsulas and even ,london and ,st4 ,petersburg would not be long in following suit4 ,but whether the ,revolution would everywhere exhibit the same characteristics is highly doubtful4 ,it is more than probable that expropriation will be everywhere carried into effect on a larger scale1 and that this policy carried out by any one of the great nations of ,europe will influence all the rest2 yet the beginnings of the ,revolution will exhibit great local differences1 and its course will vary in different countries4 ,in #aghi-ic1 the ,french peasantry took four years to finally rid themselves of the redemption of feudal rights1 and the bourgeois to overthrow royalty4 ,let us keep that in mind1 and therefore be prepared to see the ,revolution develop itself somewhat gradually4 ,let us not be disheartened if here and there its steps should move less rapidly4 ,whether it would take an avowedly socialist character in all ,european nations1 at any rate at the beginning1 is doubtful4 ,germany1 be it remembered1 is still realizing its dream of a ,united ,empire4 ,its advanced parties see visions of a ,jacobin ,republic like that of #ahdh1 and of the organization of labour according to ,louis ,blanc2 while the ,french people1 on the other hand1 want above all things a free ,commune1 whether it be a communist ,commune or not4 ,there is every reason to believe that1 when the coming ,revolution takes place1 ,germany will go further than ,france went in #agic4 ,the eighteenth-century ,revolution in ,france was an advance on the ,english ,revolution of the seventeenth1 abolishing as it did at one stroke the power of the throne and the landed aristocracy1 whose influence still survives in ,england4 ,but1 if ,germany goes further and does greater things than ,france did in #agic1 there can be no doubt that the ideas which will foster the birth of her ,revolution will be those of #ahdh2 while the ideas which will inspire the ,revolution in ,russia will probably be a combination of those of #aghi with those of #ahdh4 ,without1 however1 attaching to these forecasts a greater importance than they merit1 we may safely conclude this much3 the ,revolution will take a different character in each of the different ,european nations2 the point attained in the socialization of wealth will not be everywhere the same4 ,will it therefore be necessary1 as is sometimes suggested1 that the nations in the vanguard of the movement should adapt their pace to those who lag behind8 ,must we wait till the ,communist ,revolution is ripe in all civilized countries8 ,clearly not6 ,even if it were a thing to be desired1 it is not possible4 ,history does not wait for the laggards4 ,besides1 we do not believe that in any one country the ,revolution will be accomplished at a stroke1 in the twinkling of an eye1 as some socialists dream4#d ,it is highly probable that if one of the five or six large towns of ,france--,paris1 ,lyons1 ,marseilles1 ,lille1 ,saint-,etienne1 ,bordeaux--were to proclaim the ,commune1 the others would follow its example1 and that many smaller towns would do the same4 ,probably also various mining districts and industrial centres would hasten to rid themselves of owners and masters1 and form themselves into free groups4 ,but many country places have not advanced to that point4 ,side by side with the revolutionized communes such places would remain in an expectant attitude1 and would go on living on the ,individualist system4 ,undisturbed by visits of the bailiff or the tax-collector1 the peasants would not be hostile to the revolutionaries1 and thus1 while profiting by the new state of affairs1 they would defer the settlement of accounts with the local exploiters4 ,but with that practical enthusiasm which always characterizes agrarian uprisings 7witness the passionate toil of #agib7 they would throw themselves into the task of cultivating the land1 which1 freed from taxes and mortgages1 would become so much dearer to them4 ,as to other countries1 revolution would break out everywhere1 but revolution under divers aspects2 in one country ,state ,socialism1 in another ,federation2 everywhere more or less ,socialism1 not conforming to any particular rule4 ,,vi ,let us now return to our city in revolt1 and consider how its citizens can provide foodstuffs for themselves4 ,how are the necessary provisions to be obtained if the nation as a whole has not accepted ,communism8 ,this is the question to be solved4 ,take1 for example1 one of the large ,french towns--take the capital itself1 for that matter4 ,paris consumes every year thousands of tons of grain1 #djj1jjj head of oxen1 #cjj1jjj calves1 #djj1jjj swine1 and more than two millions of sheep1 besides great quantities of game4 ,this huge city devours1 besides1 more than #bj million pounds of butter1 #bjj million eggs1 and other produce in like proportion4 ,it imports flour and grain from the ,united ,states and from ,russia1 ,hungary1 ,italy1 ,egypt1 and the ,indies2 live stock from ,germany1 ,italy1 ,spain--even ,roumania and ,russia2 and as for groceries1 there is not a country in the world that it does not lay under contribution4 ,now1 let us see how ,paris or any other great town could be revictualled by home-grown produce1 supplies of which could be readily and willingly sent in from the provinces4 ,to those who put their trust in authority the question will appear quite simple4 ,they would begin by establishing a strongly centralized ,government1 furnished with all the machinery of coercion--the police1 the army1 the guillotine4 ,this ,government would draw up a statement of all the produce contained in ,france4 ,it would divide the country into districts of supply1 and then command that a prescribed quantity of some particular foodstuff be sent to such a place on such a day1 and delivered at such a station1 to be there received on a given day by a specified official and stored in particular warehouses4 ,now1 we declare with the fullest conviction1 not merely that such a solution is undesirable1 but that it never could by any possibility be put into practice4 ,it is wildly ,utopian6 ,pen in hand1 one may dream such a dream in the study1 but in contact with reality it comes to nothing1--this was proved in #agic2 for1 like all such theories1 it leaves out of account the spirit of independence that is in man4 ,the attempt would lead to a universal uprising1 to three or four ,vendes1 to the villages rising against the towns1 all the country up in arms defying the city for its arrogance in attempting to impose such a system upon the country4 ,we have already had too much of ,jacobin ,utopias6 ,let us see if some other form of organization will meet the case4 ,during the great ,french ,revolution1 the provinces starved the large towns1 and killed the ,revolution4 ,and yet it is a known fact that the production of grain in ,france during #agib-c had not diminished2 indeed1 the evidence goes to show that it had increased4 ,but after having taken possession of the manorial lands1 after having reaped a harvest from them1 the peasants would not part with their grain for paper-money4 ,they withheld their produce1 waiting for a rise in the price1 or the introduction of gold4 ,the most rigorous measures of the ,national ,convention were without avail1 and her executions failed to break up the ring1 or force the farmers to sell their corn4 ,for it is a matter of history that the commissaries of the ,convention did not scruple to guillotine those who withheld their grain from the market1 and pitilessly executed those who speculated in foodstuffs4 ,all the same1 the corn was not forthcoming1 and the townsfolk suffered from famine4 ,but what was offered to the husbandman in exchange for his hard toil8 ,assignats1 scraps of paper decreasing in value every day1 promises of payment1 which could not be kept4 ,a forty-pound note would not purchase a pair of boots1 and the peasant1 very naturally1 was not anxious to barter a year's toil for a piece of paper with which he could not even buy a shirt4 ,as long as worthless paper-money--whether called assignats or labour notes--is offered to the peasant-producer it will always be the same4 ,the country will withhold its produce1 and the towns will suffer want1 even if the recalcitrant peasants are guillotined as before4 ,we must offer to the peasant in exchange for his toil not worthless paper-money1 but the manufactured articles of which he stands in immediate need4 ,he lacks the proper implements to till the land1 clothes to protect him from the inclemencies of the weather1 lamps and oil to replace his miserable rushlight or tallow dip1 spades1 rakes1 ploughs4 ,all these things1 under present conditions1 the peasant is forced to do without1 not because he does not feel the need of them1 but because1 in his life of struggle and privation1 a thousand useful things are beyond his reach2 because he has not money to buy them4 ,let the town apply itself1 without loss of time1 to manufacturing all that the peasant needs1 instead of fashioning geegaws for the wives of rich citizens4 ,let the sewing machines of ,paris be set to work on clothes for the country folk workaday clothes and clothes for ,sunday too1 instead of costly evening dresses for the ,english and ,russian landlords and the ,african gold-magnates' wives4 ,let the factories and foundries turn out agricultural implements1 spades1 rakes1 and such-like1 instead of waiting till the ,english send them to ,france1 in exchange for ,french wines6 ,let the towns send no more inspectors to the villages1 wearing red1 blue1 or rainbow-coloured scarves1 to convey to the peasant orders to take his produce to this place or that1 but let them send friendly embassies to the countryfolk and bid them in brotherly fashion3 ,bring us your produce1 and take from our stores and shops all the manufactured articles you please4--,then provisions would pour in on every side4 ,the peasant would only withhold what he needed for his own use1 and would send the rest into the cities1 feeling for the first time in the course of history that these toiling townsfolk were his comrades--his brethren1 and not his exploiters4 ,we shall be told1 perhaps1 that this would necessitate a complete transformation of industry4 ,well1 yes1 that is true of certain departments2 but there are other branches which could be rapidly modified in such a way as to furnish the peasant with clothes1 watches1 furniture1 and the simple implements for which the towns make him pay such exorbitant prices at the present time4 ,weavers1 tailors1 shoemakers1 tinsmiths1 cabinet-makers1 and many other trades and crafts could easily direct their energies to the manufacture of useful and necessary articles1 and abstain from producing mere luxuries4 ,all that is needed is that the public mind should be thoroughly convinced of the necessity of this transformation1 and should come to look upon it as an act of justice and of progress1 and that it should no longer allow itself to be cheated by that dream1 so dear to the theorists--the dream of a revolution which confines itself to taking possession of the profits of industry1 and leaves production and commerce just as they are now4 ,this1 then1 is our view of the whole question4 ,cheat the peasant no longer with scraps of paper--be the sums inscribed upon them ever so large2 but offer him in exchange for his produce the very things of which he1 the tiller of the soil1 stands in need4 ,then the fruits of the land will be poured into the towns4 ,if this is not done there will be famine in our cities1 and reaction and despair will follow in its train4 ,,vii ,all the great towns1 we have said1 buy their grain1 their flour1 and their meat1 not only from the provinces1 but also from abroad4 ,foreign countries send ,paris not only spices1 fish1 and various dainties1 but also immense quantities of corn and meat4 ,but when the ,revolution comes these cities will have to depend on foreign countries as little as possible4 ,if ,russian wheat1 ,italian or ,indian rice1 and ,spanish or ,hungarian wines abound in the markets of western ,europe1 it is not that the countries which export them have a superabundance1 or that such a produce grows there of itself1 like the dandelion in the meadows4 ,in ,russia for instance1 the peasant works sixteen hours a day1 and half starves from three to six months every year1 in order to export the grain with which he pays the landlord and the ,state4 ,to-day the police appears in the ,russian village as soon as the harvest is gathered in1 and sells the peasant's last horse and last cow for arrears of taxes and rent due to the landlord1 unless the victim immolates himself of his own accord by selling the grain to the exporters4 ,usually1 rather than part with his livestock at a disadvantage1 he keeps only a nine-months' supply of grain1 and sells the rest4 ,then1 in order to sustain life until the next harvest1 he mixes birch-bark and tares with his flour for three months1 if it has been a good year1 and for six months if it has been bad1 while in ,london they are eating biscuits made of his wheat4 ,but as soon as the ,revolution comes1 the ,russian peasant will keep bread enough for himself and his children2 the ,italian and ,hungarian peasants will do the same2 the ,hindoo1 let us hope1 will profit by these good examples2 and the farmers of ,america will hardly be able to cover all the deficit in grain which ,europe will experience4 ,so it will not do to count on their contributions of wheat and maize satisfying all the wants4 ,since all our middle-class civilization is based on the exploitation of inferior races and countries with less advanced industrial systems1 the ,revolution will confer a boon at the very outset1 by menacing that civilization1 and allowing the so-called inferior races to free themselves4 ,but this great benefit will manifest itself by a steady and marked diminution of the food supplies pouring into the great cities of western ,europe4 ,it is difficult to predict the course of affairs in the provinces4 ,on the one hand the slave of the soil will take advantage of the ,revolution to straighten his bowed back4 ,instead of working fourteen or fifteen hours a day1 as he does at present1 he will be at liberty to work only half that time1 which of course would have the effect of decreasing the production of the principal articles of consumption--grain and meat4 ,but1 on the other hand1 there will be an increase of production as soon as the peasant realizes that he is no longer forced to support the idle rich by his toil4 ,new tracts of land will be cleared1 new and improved machines set a-going4 ,never was the land so energetically cultivated as in #agib1 when the peasant had taken back from the landlord the soil which he had coveted so long1 ,michelet tells us speaking of the ,great ,revolution4 ,of course1 before long1 intensive culture would be within the reach of all4 ,improved machinery1 chemical manures1 and all such matters would soon be supplied by the ,commune4 ,but everything tends to indicate that at the outset there would be a falling off in agricultural products1 in ,france and elsewhere4 ,in any case it would be wisest to count upon such a falling off of contributions from the provinces as well as from abroad4--,how is this falling off to be made good8 ,why6 by setting to work ourselves6 ,no need to rack our brains for far-fetched panaceas when the remedy lies close at hand4 ,the large towns1 as well as the villages1 must undertake to till the soil4 ,we must return to what biology calls the integration of functions--after the division of labour1 the taking up of it as a whole--this is the course followed throughout ,nature4 ,besides1 philosophy apart1 the force of circumstances would bring about this result4 ,let ,paris see that at the end of eight months it will be running short of bread1 and ,paris will set to work to grow wheat4 ,land will not be wanting1 for it is round the great towns1 and round ,paris especially1 that the parks and pleasure grounds of the landed gentry are to be found4 ,these thousands of acres only await the skilled labour of the husbandman to surround ,paris with fields infinitely more fertile and productive than the steppes of southern ,russia1 where the soil is dried up by the sun4 ,nor will labour be lacking4 ,to what should the two million citizens of ,paris turn their attention1 when they would be no longer catering for the luxurious fads and amusements of ,russian princes1 ,roumanian grandees1 and wives of ,berlin financiers8 ,with all the mechanical inventions of the century2 with all the intelligence and technical skill of the worker accustomed to deal with complicated machinery2 with inventors1 chemists1 professors of botany1 practical botanists like the market gardeners of ,gennevilliers2 with all the plant that they could use for multiplying and improving machinery2 and1 finally1 with the organizing spirit of the ,parisian people1 their pluck and energy--with all these at its command1 the agriculture of the anarchist ,commune of ,paris would be a very different thing from the rude husbandry of the ,ardennes4 ,steam1 electricity1 the heat of the sun1 and the breath of the wind1 will ere long be pressed into service4 ,the steam plough and the steam harrow will quickly do the rough work of preparation1 and the soil1 thus cleaned and enriched1 will only need the intelligent care of man1 and of woman even more than man1 to be clothed with luxuriant vegetation--not once but three or four times in the year4 ,thus1 learning the art of horticulture from experts1 and trying experiments in different methods on small patches of soil reserved for the purpose1 vying with each other to obtain the best returns1 finding in physical exercise1 without exhaustion or overwork1 the health and strength which so often flags in cities1--men1 women and children will gladly turn to the labour of the fields1 when it is no longer a slavish drudgery1 but has become a pleasure1 a festival1 a renewal of health and joy4 ,there are no barren lands2 the earth is worth what man is worth--that is the last word of modern agriculture4 ,ask of the earth1 and she will give you bread1 provided that you ask aright4 ,a district1 though it were as small as the two departments of the ,seine and the ,seine-et-,oise1 and with so great a city as ,paris to feed1 would be practically sufficient to grow upon it all the food supplies1 which otherwise might fail to reach it4 ,the combination of agriculture and industry1 the husbandman and the mechanic in the same individual--this is what anarchist communism will inevitably lead us to1 if it starts fair with expropriation4 ,let the ,revolution only get so far1 and famine is not the enemy it will have to fear4 ,no1 the danger which will menace it lies in timidity1 prejudice1 and half-measures4 ,the danger is where ,danton saw it when he cried to ,france3 ,de l'audace1 de l'audace1 et encore de l'audace4 ,the bold thought first1 and the bold deed will not fail to follow4 ,,footnotes3 #c ,the municipal debt of ,paris amounted in #aijd to #b1bff1egi1ajj francs1 and the charges for it were #aba1jjj1jjj francs4 #d ,no fallacy more harmful has ever been spread than the fallacy of a ,one-day ,revolution1 which is propagated in superficial ,socialist pamphlets speaking of the ,revolution of the #ahth of ,march at ,berlin1 supposed 7which is absolutely wrong7 to have given ,prussia its representative ,government4 ,we saw well the harm made by such fallacies in ,russia in #aije-aijg4 ,the truth is that up to #ahga ,prussia1 like ,russia of the present day1 had a scrap of paper which could be described as a ,constitution1 but it had no representative ,government4 ,the ,ministry imposed upon the nation1 up till #ahgj1 the budget it chose to propose4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,dwellings ,i ,those who have closely watched the growth of ,socialist ideas among the workers must have noticed that on one momentous question--the housing of the people--a definite conclusion is being imperceptibly arrived at4 ,it is a fact that in the large towns of ,france1 and in many of the smaller ones1 the workers are coming gradually to the conclusion that dwelling-houses are in no sense the property of those whom the ,state recognizes as their owners4 ,this idea has evolved naturally in the minds of the people1 and nothing will ever convince them again that the rights of property ought to extend to houses4 ,the house was not built by its owner4 ,it was erected1 decorated and furnished by innumerable workers in the timber yard1 the brick field1 and the workshop1 toiling for dear life at a minimum wage4 ,the money spent by the owner was not the product of his own toil4 ,it was amassed1 like all other riches1 by paying the workers two-thirds or only a half of what was their due4 ,moreover--and it is here that the enormity of the whole proceeding becomes most glaring--the house owes its actual value to the profit which the owner can make out of it4 ,now1 this profit results from the fact that his house is built in a town--that is1 in an agglomeration of thousands of other houses1 possessing paved streets1 bridges1 quays1 and fine public buildings1 well lighted1 and affording to its inhabitants a thousand comforts and conveniences unknown in villages2 a town in regular communication with other towns1 and itself a centre of industry1 commerce1 science1 and art2 a town which the work of twenty or thirty generations has made habitable1 healthy1 and beautiful4 ,a house in certain parts of ,paris is valued at many thousands of pounds sterling1 not because thousands of pounds' worth of labour have been expended on that particular house1 but because it is in ,paris2 because for centuries workmen1 artists1 thinkers1 and men of learning and letters have contributed to make ,paris what it is to-day--a centre of industry1 commerce1 politics1 art1 and science2 because ,paris has a past2 because1 thanks to literature1 the names of its streets are household words in foreign countries as well as at home2 because it is the fruit of eighteen centuries of toil1 the work of fifty generations of the whole ,french nation4 ,who1 then1 can appropriate to himself the tiniest plot of ground1 or the meanest building in such a city1 without committing a flagrant injustice8 ,who1 then1 has the right to sell to any bidder the smallest portion of the common heritage8 ,on that point1 as we have said1 the workers begin to be agreed4 ,the idea of free dwellings showed its existence very plainly during the siege of ,paris1 when the cry was for an abatement pure and simple of the terms demanded by the landlords4 ,it appeared again during the ,commune of #ahga1 when the ,paris workmen expected the ,council of the ,commune to decide boldly on the abolition of rent4 ,and when the ,new ,revolution comes1 it will be the first question with which the poor will concern themselves4 ,whether in time of revolution or in time of peace1 the worker must be housed somehow or other2 he must have some sort of roof over his head4 ,but1 however tumble-down and squalid his dwelling may be1 there is always a landlord who can evict him4 ,true1 during the ,revolution the landlord cannot find bailiffs and police-sergeants to throw the workman's rags and chattels into the street1 but who knows what the new ,government will do to-morrow8 ,who can say that it will not call coercion to its aid again1 and set the police pack upon the tenant to hound him out of his hovels8 ,have we not seen the commune of ,paris proclaim the remission of rents due up to the first of ,april only6#e ,after that1 rent had to be paid1 though ,paris was in a state of chaos1 and industry at a standstill2 so that the federate who had taken arms to defend the independence of ,paris had absolutely nothing to depend upon--he and his family--but an allowance of fifteen pence a day6 ,now the worker must be made to see clearly that in refusing to pay rent to a landlord or owner he is not simply profiting by the disorganization of authority4 ,he must understand that the abolition of rent is a recognized principle1 sanctioned1 so to speak1 by popular assent2 that to be housed rent-free is a right proclaimed aloud by the people4 ,are we going to wait till this measure1 which is in harmony with every honest man's sense of justice1 is taken up by the few socialists scattered among the middle class elements1 of which the ,provisionary ,government will be composed8 ,if it were so1 the people should have to wait long--till the return of reaction1 in fact6 ,this is why1 refusing uniforms and badges--those outward signs of authority and servitude--and remaining people among the people1 the earnest revolutionists will work side by side with the masses1 that the abolition of rent1 the expropriation of houses1 may become an accomplished fact4 ,they will prepare the ground and encourage ideas to grow in this direction2 and when the fruit of their labours is ripe1 the people will proceed to expropriate the houses without giving heed to the theories which will certainly be thrust in their way--theories about paying compensation to landlords1 and finding first the necessary funds4 ,on the day that the expropriation of houses takes place1 on that day1 the exploited workers will have realized that new times have come1 that ,labour will no longer have to bear the yoke of the rich and powerful1 that ,equality has been openly proclaimed1 that this ,revolution is a real fact1 and not a theatrical make-believe1 like so many others preceding it4 ,,ii ,if the idea of expropriation be adopted by the people it will be carried into effect in spite of all the insurmountable obstacles with which we are menaced4 ,of course1 the good folk in new uniforms1 seated in the official arm-chairs of the ,htel de ,ville1 will be sure to busy themselves in heaping up obstacles4 ,they will talk of giving compensation to the landlords1 of preparing statistics1 and drawing up long reports4 ,yes1 they would be capable of drawing up reports long enough to outlast the hopes of the people1 who1 after waiting and starving in enforced idleness1 and seeing nothing come of all these official researches1 would lose heart and faith in the ,revolution and abandon the field to the reactionaries4 ,the new bureaucracy would end by making expropriation hateful in the eyes of all4 ,here1 indeed1 is a rock which might shipwreck our hopes4 ,but if the people turn a deaf ear to the specious arguments used to dazzle them1 and realize that new life needs new conditions1 and if they undertake the task themselves1 then expropriation can be effected without any great difficulty4 ,but how8 ,how can it be done8 you ask us4 ,we shall try to reply to this question1 but with a reservation4 ,we have no intention of tracing out the plans of expropriation in their smallest details4 ,we know beforehand that all that any man1 or group of men1 could suggest to-day would be far surpassed by the reality when it comes4 ,man will accomplish greater things1 and accomplish them better and by simpler methods than those dictated to him beforehand4 ,thus we shall merely indicate the manner by which expropriation might be accomplished without the intervention of ,government4 ,we do not propose to go out of our way to answer those who declare that the thing is impossible4 ,we confine ourselves to replying that we are not the upholders of any particular method of organization4 ,we are only concerned to demonstrate that expropriation could be effected by popular initiative1 and could not be effected by any other means whatever4 ,it seems very likely that1 as soon as expropriation is fairly started1 groups of volunteers will spring up in every district1 street1 and block of houses1 and undertake to inquire into the number of flats and houses which are empty and of those which are overcrowded1 the unwholesome slums1 and the houses which are too spacious for their occupants and might well be used to house those who are stifled in swarming tenements4 ,in a few days these volunteers would have drawn up complete lists for the street and the district of all the flats1 tenements1 family mansions and villa residences1 all the rooms and suites of rooms1 healthy and unhealthy1 small and large1 foetid dens and homes of luxury4 ,freely communicating with each other1 these volunteers would soon have their statistics complete4 ,false statistics can be manufactured in board rooms and offices1 but true and exact statistics must begin with the individual and mount up from the simple to the complex4 ,then1 without waiting for anyone's leave1 those citizens will probably go and find their comrades who were living in miserable garrets and hovels and will say to them simply3 ,it is a real ,revolution this time1 comrades1 and no mistake about it4 ,come to such a place this evening2 all the neighbourhood will be there2 we are going to redistribute the dwelling-houses4 ,if you are tired of your slum-garret1 come and choose one of the flats of five rooms that are to be disposed of1 and when you have once moved in you shall stay1 never fear4 ,the people are up in arms1 and he who would venture to evict you will have to answer to them4 ,but every one will want a fine house or a spacious flat6 we are told4--,no1 you are quite mistaken4 ,it is not the people's way to clamour for the moon4 ,on the contrary1 every time we have seen them set about repairing a wrong we have been struck by the good sense and instinct for justice which animates the masses4 ,have we ever known them demand the impossible8 ,have we ever seen the people of ,paris fighting among themselves while waiting for their rations of bread or firewood during the two sieges or during the terrible years of #agib-agid8 ,the patience and resignation which prevailed among them in #ahga was constantly presented for admiration by the foreign ,press correspondents2 and yet these patient waiters knew full well that the last comers would have to pass the day without food or fire4 ,we do not deny that there are plenty of egotistic instincts in isolated individuals4 ,we are quite aware of it4 ,but we contend that the very way to revive and nourish these instincts would be to confine such questions as the housing of the people to any board or committee1 in fact1 to the tender mercies of officialism in any shape or form4 ,then indeed all the evil passions spring up1 and it becomes a case of who is the most influential person on the board4 ,the least inequality causes wranglings and recriminations4 ,if the smallest advantage is given to any one1 a tremendous hue and cry is raised--and not without reason4 ,but if the people themselves1 organized by streets1 districts1 and parishes1 undertake to move the inhabitants of the slums into the half-empty dwellings of the middle classes1 the trifling inconveniences1 the little inequalities will be easily tided over4 ,rarely has appeal been made to the good instincts of the masses--only as a last resort1 to save the sinking ship in times of revolution--but never has such an appeal been made in vain2 the heroism1 the self-devotion of the toiler has never failed to respond to it4 ,and thus it will be in the coming ,revolution4 ,but1 when all is said and done1 some inequalities1 some inevitable injustices1 undoubtedly will remain4 ,there are individuals in our societies whom no great crisis can lift out of the deep mire of egoism in which they are sunk4 ,the question1 however1 is not whether there will be injustices or no1 but rather how to limit the number of them4 ,now all history1 all the experience of the human race1 and all social psychology1 unite in showing that the best and fairest way is to trust the decision to those whom it concerns most nearly4 ,it is they alone who can consider and allow for the hundred and one details which must necessarily be overlooked in any merely official redistribution4 ,,iii ,moreover1 it is by no means necessary to make straightway an absolutely equal redistribution of all the dwellings4 ,there will no doubt be some inconveniences at first1 but matters will soon be righted in a society which has adopted expropriation4 ,when the masons1 and carpenters1 and all who are concerned in house building1 know that their daily bread is secured to them1 they will ask nothing better than to work at their old trades a few hours a day4 ,they will adapt the fine houses1 which absorbed the time of a whole staff of servants1 for giving shelter to several families1 and in a few months homes will have sprung up1 infinitely healthier and more conveniently arranged than those of to-day4 ,and to those who are not yet comfortably housed the anarchist ,commune will be able to say3 ,patience1 comrades6 ,palaces fairer and finer than any the capitalists built for themselves will spring from the ground of our enfranchised city4 ,they will belong to those who have most need of them4 ,the anarchist ,commune does not build with an eye to revenues4 ,these monuments erected to its citizens1 products of the collective spirit1 will serve as models to all humanity2 they will be yours4 ,if the people of the ,revolution expropriate the houses and proclaim free lodgings--the communalizing of houses and the right of each family to a decent dwelling--then the ,revolution will have assumed a communistic character from the first1 and started on a course from which it will be by no means easy to turn it4 ,it will have struck a fatal blow at individual property4 ,for the expropriation of dwellings contains in germ the whole social revolution4 ,on the manner of its accomplishment depends the character of all that follows4 ,either we shall start on a good road leading straight to anarchist communism1 or we shall remain sticking in the mud of despotic individualism4 ,it is easy to see the numerous objections--theoretic on the one hand1 practical on the other--with which we are sure to be met4 ,as it will be a question of maintaining iniquity at any price1 our opponents will of course protest in the name of justice4 ,is it not a crying shame1 they will exclaim1 that the people of ,paris should take possession of all these fine houses1 while the peasants in the country have only tumble-down huts to live in8 ,but do not let us make a mistake4 ,these enthusiasts for justice forget1 by a lapse of memory to which they are subject1 the crying shame which they themselves are tacitly defending4 ,they forget that in this same city the worker1 with his wife and children1 suffocates in a noisome garret1 while from his window he sees the rich man's palace4 ,they forget that whole generations perish in crowded slums1 starving for air and sunlight1 and that to redress this injustice ought to be the first task of the ,revolution4 ,do not let these disingenuous protests hold us back4 ,we know that any inequality which may exist between town and country in the early days of the ,revolution will be transitory and of a nature that will right itself from day to day2 for the village will not fail to improve its dwellings as soon as the peasant has ceased to be the beast of burden of the farmer1 the merchant1 the money-lender1 and the ,state4 ,in order to avoid an accidental and transitory inequality1 shall we stay our hand from righting an ancient wrong8 ,the so-called practical objections are not very formidable either4 ,we are bidden to consider the hard case of some poor fellow who by dint of privation has contrived to buy a house just large enough to hold his family4 ,and we are going to deprive him of his hard-earned happiness1 to turn him into the street6 ,certainly not4 ,if his house is only just large enough for his family1 by all means let him stay there4 ,let him work in his little garden1 too2 our boys will not hinder him--nay1 they will lend him a helping hand if need be4 ,but suppose he lets lodgings1 suppose he has empty rooms in his house2 then the people will make the lodger understand that he need not pay his former landlord any more rent4 ,stay where you are1 but rent free4 ,no more duns and collectors2 ,socialism has abolished all that6 ,or again1 suppose that the landlord has a score of rooms all to himself1 and some poor woman lives near by with five children in one room4 ,in that case the people would see whether1 with some alterations1 these empty rooms could not be converted into a suitable home for the poor woman and her five children4 ,would not that be more just and fair than to leave the mother and her five little ones languishing in a garret1 while ,sir ,gorgeous ,midas sat at his ease in an empty mansion8 ,besides1 good ,sir ,gorgeous would probably hasten to do it of his own accord2 his wife will be delighted to be freed from half her big1 unwieldy house when there is no longer a staff of servants to keep it in order4 ,so you are going to turn everything upside down1 say the defenders of law and order4 ,there will be no end to the evictions and removals4 ,would it not be better to start fresh by turning everybody out of doors and redistributing the houses by lot8 ,thus our critics2 but we are firmly persuaded that if no ,government interferes in the matter1 if all the changes are entrusted to these free groups which have sprung up to undertake the work1 the evictions and removals will be less numerous than those which take place in one year under the present system1 owing to the rapacity of landlords4 ,in the first place1 there are in all large towns almost enough empty houses and flats to lodge all the inhabitants of the slums4 ,as to the palaces and suites of fine apartments1 many working people would not live in them if they could4 ,one could not keep up such houses without a large staff of servants4 ,their occupants would soon find themselves forced to seek less luxurious dwellings4 ,the fine ladies would find that palaces were not well adapted to self-help in the kitchen4 ,gradually people would shake down4 ,there would be no need to conduct ,dives to a garret at the bayonet's point1 or install ,lazarus in ,dives's palace by the help of an armed escort4 ,people would shake down amicably into the available dwellings with the least possible friction and disturbance4 ,have we not the example of the village communes redistributing fields and disturbing the owners of the allotments so little that one can only praise the intelligence and good sense of the methods they employ8 ,fewer fields change hands under the management of the ,russian ,commune than where personal property holds sway1 and is for ever carrying its quarrels into courts of law4 ,and are we to believe that the inhabitants of a great ,european city would be less intelligent and less capable of organization than ,russian or ,hindoo peasants8 ,moreover1 we must not blink at the fact that every revolution means a certain disturbance to everyday life1 and those who expect this tremendous climb out of the old grooves to be accomplished without so much as jarring the dishes on their dinner tables will find themselves mistaken4 ,it is true that ,governments can change without disturbing worthy citizens at dinner1 but the crimes of society towards those who have nourished and supported it are not to be redressed by any such political sleight of parties4 ,undoubtedly there will be a disturbance1 but it must not be one of pure loss2 it must be minimized4 ,and again--it is impossible to lay too much stress on this maxim--it will be by addressing ourselves to the interested parties1 and not to boards and committees1 that we shall best succeed in reducing the sum of inconveniences for everybody4 ,the people commit blunder on blunder when they have to choose by ballot some hare-brained candidate who solicits the honour of representing them1 and takes upon himself to know all1 to do all1 and to organize all4 ,but when they take upon themselves to organize what they know1 what touches them directly1 they do it better than all the talking-shops put together4 ,is not the ,paris ,commune an instance in point8 and the great dockers' strike8 and have we not constant evidence of this fact in every village commune8 ,,footnote3 #e ,the decree of the #cj ,march3 by this decree rents due up to the terms of ,october1 #ahgj1 and ,january and ,april1 #ahga1 were annulled4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,clothing ,when the houses have become the common heritage of the citizens1 and when each man has his daily supply of food1 another forward step will have to be taken4 ,the question of clothing will of course demand consideration next1 and again the only possible solution will be to take possession1 in the name of the people1 of all the shops and warehouses where clothing is sold or stored1 and to throw open the doors to all1 so that each can take what he needs4 ,the communalization of clothing--the right of each to take what he needs from the communal stores1 or to have it made for him at the tailors and outfitters--is a necessary corollary of the communalization of houses and food4 ,obviously we shall not need for that to despoil all citizens of their coats1 to put all the garments in a heap and draw lots for them1 as our critics1 with equal wit and ingenuity1 suggest4 ,let him who has a coat keep it still--nay1 if he have ten coats it is highly improbable that any one will want to deprive him of them1 for most folk would prefer a new coat to one that has already graced the shoulders of some fat bourgeois2 and there will be enough new garments1 and to spare1 without having recourse to second-hand wardrobes4 ,if we were to take an inventory of all the clothes and stuff for clothing accumulated in the shops and stores of the large towns1 we should find probably that in ,paris1 ,lyons1 ,bordeaux1 and ,marseilles1 there was enough to enable the commune to offer garments to all the citizens1 of both sexes2 and if all were not suited at once1 the communal outfitters would soon make good these shortcomings4 ,we know how rapidly our great tailoring and dressmaking establishments work nowadays1 provided as they are with machinery specially adapted for production on a large scale4 ,but every one will want a sable-lined coat or a velvet gown6 exclaim our adversaries4 ,frankly1 we do not believe it4 ,every woman does not dote on velvet nor does every man dream of sable linings4 ,even now1 if we were to ask each woman to choose her gown1 we should find some to prefer a simple1 practical garment to all the fantastic trimmings the fashionable world affects4 ,tastes change with the times1 and the fashion in vogue at the time of the ,revolution will certainly make for simplicity4 ,societies1 like individuals1 have their hours of cowardice1 but also their heroic moments2 and though the society of to-day cuts a very poor figure sunk in the pursuit of narrow personal interests and second-rate ideas1 it wears a different air when great crises come4 ,it has its moments of greatness and enthusiasm4 ,men of generous nature will gain the power which to-day is in the hand of jobbers4 ,self-devotion will spring up1 and noble deeds beget their like2 even the egotists will be ashamed of hanging back1 and will be drawn in spite of themselves to admire1 if not to imitate1 the generous and brave4 ,the great ,revolution of #agic abounds in examples of this kind1 and it is always during such times of spiritual revival--as natural to societies as to individuals--that the spring-tide of enthusiasm sweeps humanity onwards4 ,we do not wish to exaggerate the part played by such noble passions1 nor is it upon them that we would found our ideal of society4 ,but we are not asking too much if we expect their aid in tiding over the first and most difficult moments4 ,we cannot hope that our daily life will be continuously inspired by such exalted enthusiasms1 but we may expect their aid at the first1 and that is all we need4 ,it is just to wash the earth clean1 to sweep away the shards and refuse1 accumulated by centuries of slavery and oppression1 that the new anarchist society will have need of this wave of brotherly love4 ,later on it can exist without appealing to the spirit of self-sacrifice1 because it will have eliminated oppression1 and thus created a new world instinct with all the feelings of solidarity4 ,besides1 should the character of the ,revolution be such as we have sketched here1 the free initiative of individuals would find an extensive field of action in thwarting the efforts of the egotists4 ,groups would spring up in every street and quarter to undertake the charge of the clothing4 ,they would make inventories of all that the city possessed1 and would find out approximately what were the resources at their disposal4 ,it is more than likely that in the matter of clothing the citizens would adopt the same principle as in the matter of provisions--that is to say1 they would offer freely from the common store everything which was to be found in abundance1 and dole out whatever was limited in quantity4 ,not being able to offer to each man a sable-lined coat and to every woman a velvet gown1 society would probably distinguish between the superfluous and the necessary1 and1 provisionally at least class sable and velvet among the superfluities of life1 ready to let time prove whether what is a luxury to-day may not become common to all to-morrow4 ,while the necessary clothing would be guaranteed to each inhabitant of the anarchist city1 it would be left to private activity to provide for the sick and feeble those things1 provisionally considered as luxuries1 and to procure for the less robust such special articles1 as would not enter into the daily consumption of ordinary citizens4 ,but1 it may be urged1 this means grey uniformity and the end of everything beautiful in life and art4 ,certainly not1 we reply4 ,and1 still basing our reasonings on what already exists1 we are going to show how an ,anarchist society could satisfy the most artistic tastes of its citizens without allowing them to amass the fortunes of millionaires4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,ways ,,and ,,means ,i ,if a society1 a city or a territory were to guarantee the necessaries of life to its inhabitants 7and we shall see how the conception of the necessaries of life can be so extended as to include luxuries71 it would be compelled to take possession of what is absolutely needed for production2 that is to say--land1 machinery1 factories1 means of transport1 etc4 ,capital in the hands of private owners would be expropriated1 to be returned to the community4 ,the great harm done by bourgeois society1 as we have already mentioned1 is not only that capitalists seize a large share of the profits of each industrial and commercial enterprise1 thus enabling themselves to live without working1 but that all production has taken a wrong direction1 as it is not carried on with a view to securing well-being to all4 ,there is the reason why it must be condemned4 ,it is absolutely impossible that mercantile production should be carried on in the interest of all4 ,to desire it would be to expect the capitalist to go beyond his province and to fulfil duties that he cannot fulfil without ceasing to be what he is--a private manufacturer seeking his own enrichment4 ,capitalist organization1 based on the personal interest of each individual employer of labour1 has given to society all that could be expected of it3 it has increased the productive force of ,labour4 ,the capitalist1 profiting by the revolution effected in industry by steam1 by the sudden development of chemistry and machinery1 and by other inventions of our century1 has worked in his own interest to increase the yield of human labour1 and in a great measure he has succeeded so far4 ,but to attribute other duties to him would be unreasonable4 ,for example1 to expect that he should use this superior yield of labour in the interest of society as a whole1 would be to ask philanthropy and charity of him1 and a capitalist enterprise cannot be based on charity4 ,it now remains for society1 first1 to extend this greater productivity1 which is limited to certain industries1 and to apply it to the general good4 ,but it is evident that to utilize this high productivity of labour1 so as to guarantee well-being to all1 ,society must itself take possession of all means of production4 ,economists1 as is their wont1 will not fail to remind us of the comparative well-being of a certain category of young robust workmen1 skilled in certain special branches of industry which has been obtained under the present system4 ,it is always this minority that is pointed out to us with pride4 ,but even this well-being1 which is the exclusive right of a few1 is it secure8 ,to-morrow1 maybe1 negligence1 improvidence1 or the greed of their employers1 will deprive these privileged men of their work1 and they will pay for the period of comfort they have enjoyed with months and years of poverty or destitution4 ,how many important industries--the textiles1 iron1 sugar1 etc4--without mentioning all sorts of short-lived trades1 have we not seen decline or come to a standstill on account of speculations1 or in consequence of natural displacement of work1 or from the effects of competition amongst the capitalists themselves6 ,if the chief textile and mechanical industries had to pass through such a crisis as they have passed through in #ahhf1 we hardly need mention the small trades1 all of which have their periods of standstill4 ,what1 too1 shall we say to the price which is paid for the relative well-being of certain categories of workmen8 ,unfortunately1 it is paid for by the ruin of agriculture1 the shameless exploitation of the peasants1 the misery of the masses4 ,in comparison with the feeble minority of workers who enjoy a certain comfort1 how many millions of human beings live from hand to mouth1 without a secure wage1 ready to go wherever they are wanted2 how many peasants work fourteen hours a day for a poor pittance6 ,capital depopulates the country1 exploits the colonies and the countries where industries are but little developed1 dooms the immense majority of workmen to remain without technical education1 to remain mediocre even in their own trade4 ,this is not merely accidental1 it is a necessity of the capitalist system4 ,in order well to remunerate certain classes of workmen1 peasants must become the beasts of burden of society2 the country must be deserted for the town2 small trades must agglomerate in the foul suburbs of large cities1 and manufacture a thousand little things for next to nothing1 so as to bring the goods of the greater industries within reach of buyers with small salaries4 ,that bad cloth may be sold to ill-paid workers1 garments are made by tailors who are satisfied with a starvation wage6 ,eastern lands in a backward state are exploited by the ,west1 in order that1 under the capitalist system1 workers in a few privileged industries may obtain certain limited comforts of life4 ,the evil of the present system is therefore not that the surplus-value of production goes to the capitalist1 as ,rodbertus and ,marx said1 thus narrowing the ,socialist conception and the general view of the capitalist system2 the surplus-value itself is but a consequence of deeper causes4 ,the evil lies in the possibility of a surplus-value existing1 instead of a simple surplus not consumed by each generation2 for1 that a surplus-value should exist1 means that men1 women and children are compelled by hunger to sell their labour for a small part of what this labour produces1 and still more so1 of what their labour is capable of producing3 ,but this evil will last as long as the instruments of production belong to the few4 ,as long as men are compelled to pay a heavy tribute to property holders for the right of cultivating land or putting machinery into action1 and the owners of the land and the machine are free to produce what bids fair to bring them in the largest profits--rather than the greatest amount of useful commodities--well-being can only be temporarily guaranteed to a very few2 it is only to be bought by the poverty of a large section of society4 ,it is not sufficient to distribute the profits realized by a trade in equal parts1 if at the same time thousands of other workers are exploited4 ,it is a case of ,,producing ,,the ,,greatest ,,amount ,,of ,,goods ,,necessary ,,to ,,the ,,well-,,being ,,of ,,all1 ,,with ,,the ,,least ,,possible ,,waste ,,of ,,human ,,energy4 ,this generalized aim cannot be the aim of a private owner2 and this is why society as a whole1 if it takes this view of production as its ideal1 will be compelled to expropriate all that enhances well-being while producing wealth4 ,it will have to take possession of land1 factories1 mines1 means of communication1 etc41 and besides1 it will have to study what products will promote general well-being1 as well as the ways and means of an adequate production4 ,,ii ,how many hours a day will man have to work to produce nourishing food1 a comfortable home1 and necessary clothing for his family8 ,this question has often preoccupied ,socialists1 and they generally came to the conclusion that four or five hours a day would suffice1 on condition1 be it well understood1 that all men work4 ,at the end of last century1 ,benjamin ,franklin fixed the limit at five hours2 and if the need of comfort is greater now1 the power of production has augmented too1 and far more rapidly4 ,in speaking of agriculture further on1 we shall see what the earth can be made to yield to man when he cultivates it in a reasonable way1 instead of throwing seed haphazard in a badly ploughed soil as he mostly does to-day4 ,in the great farms of ,western ,america1 some of which cover #cj square miles1 but have a poorer soil than the manured soil of civilized countries1 only #aj to #ae ,english bushels per ,english acre are obtained2 that is to say1 half the yield of ,european farms or of ,american farms in the ,eastern ,states4 ,and nevertheless1 thanks to machines which enable #b men to plough #d ,english acres a day1 #ajj men can produce in a year all that is necessary to deliver the bread of #aj1jjj people at their homes during a whole year4 ,thus it would suffice for a man to work under the same conditions for #cj hours1 say #f half-days of five hours each1 to have bread for a whole year2 and to work #cj half-days to guarantee the same to a family of #e people4 ,we shall also prove by results obtained nowadays1 that if we took recourse to intensive agriculture1 less than #f half-days' work could procure bread1 meat1 vegetables1 and even luxurious fruit for a whole family4 ,again1 if we study the cost of workmen's dwellings1 built in large towns to-day1 we can ascertain that to obtain1 in a large ,english city1 a semi-detached little house1 as they are built for workmen for #bej1 from #adjj to #ahjj half-days' work of #e hours would be sufficient4 ,and as a house of that kind lasts #ej years at least1 it follows that #bh to #cf half-days' work a year would provide well-furnished1 healthy quarters1 with all necessary comfort for a family4 ,whereas when hiring the same apartment from an employer1 a workman pays from #ge to #ajj days' work per year4 ,mark that these figures represent the maximum of what a house costs in ,england to-day1 being given the defective organization of our societies4 ,in ,belgium1 workmen's houses in the cits ouvrires have been built at a much smaller cost4 ,so that1 taking everything into consideration1 we are justified in affirming that in a well-organized society #cj or #dj half-days' work a year will suffice to guarantee a perfectly comfortable home4 ,there now remains clothing1 the exact value of which is almost impossible to fix1 because the profits realized by a swarm of middlemen cannot be estimated4 ,let us take cloth1 for example1 and add up all the tribute levied on every yard of it by the landowners1 the sheep owners1 the wool merchants1 and all their intermediate agents1 then by the railway companies1 mill-owners1 weavers1 dealers in ready-made clothes1 sellers and commission agents1 and we shall get then an idea of what we pay to a whole swarm of capitalists for each article of clothing4 ,that is why it is perfectly impossible to say how many days' work an overcoat that you pay #c or #d for in a large ,london shop represents4 ,what is certain is that with present machinery it is possible to manufacture an incredible amount of goods both cheaply and quickly4 ,a few examples will suffice4 ,thus in the ,united ,states1 in #gea cotton mills 7for spinning and weaving71 #age1jjj men and women produce #b1jcc1jjj1jjj yards of cotton goods1 besides a great quantity of thread4 ,on the average1 more than #ab1jjj yards of cotton goods alone are obtained by a #cjj days' work of nine and one-half hours each1 say #dj yards of cotton in #aj hours4 ,admitting that a family needs #bjj yards a year at most1 this would be equivalent to #ej hours' work1 say #aj half-days of #e hours each4 ,and we should have thread besides2 that is to say1 cotton to sew with1 and thread to weave cloth with1 so as to manufacture woolen stuffs mixed with cotton4 ,as to the results obtained by weaving alone1 the official statistics of the ,united ,states teach us that in #ahgj1 if workmen worked #ac or #ad hours a day1 they made #aj1jjj yards of white cotton goods in a year2 sixteen years later 7#ahhf7 they wove #cj1jjj yards by working only #ee hours a week4 ,even in printed cotton goods they obtained1 weaving and printing included1 #cb1jjj yards in #bfgj hours of work a year--say about #ab yards an hour4 ,thus to have your #bjj yards of white and printed cotton goods #ag hours' work a year would suffice4 ,it is necessary to remark that raw material reaches these factories in about the same state as it comes from the fields1 and that the transformations gone through by the piece before it is converted into goods are completed in the course of these #ag hours4 ,but to buy these #bjj yards from the tradesman1 a well-paid workman must give at the very least #aj to #ae days' work of #aj hours each1 say #ajj to #aej hours4 ,and as to the ,english peasant1 he would have to toil for a month1 or a little more1 to obtain this luxury4 ,by this example we already see that by working #ej half-days per year in a well-organized society we could dress better than the lower middle classes do to-day4 ,but with all this we have only required #fj half-days' work of #e hours each to obtain the fruits of the earth1 #dj for housing1 and #ej for clothing1 which only makes half a year's work1 as the year consists of #cjj working-days if we deduct holidays4 ,there remain still #aej half-days' work which could be made use of for other necessaries of life--wine1 sugar1 coffee1 tea1 furniture1 transport1 etc41 etc4 ,it is evident that these calculations are only approximative1 but they can also be proved in another way4 ,when we take into account how many1 in the so-called civilized nations1 produce nothing1 how many work at harmful trades1 doomed to disappear1 and lastly1 how many are only useless middlemen1 we see that in each nation the number of real producers could be doubled4 ,and if1 instead of every #aj men1 #bj were occupied in producing useful commodities1 and if society took the trouble to economize human energy1 those #bj people would only have to work #e hours a day without production decreasing4 ,and it would suffice to reduce the waste of human energy which is going on in the rich families with the scores of useless servants1 or in the administrations which occupy one official to every ten or even six inhabitants1 and to utilize those forces1 to augment immensely the productivity of a nation4 ,in fact1 work could be reduced to four or even three hours a day1 to produce all the goods that are produced now4 ,after studying all these facts together1 we may arrive1 then1 at the following conclusion3 ,imagine a society1 comprising a few million inhabitants1 engaged in agriculture and a great variety of industries--,paris1 for example1 with the ,department of ,seine-et-,oise4 ,suppose that in this society all children learn to work with their hands as well as with their brains4 ,admit that all adults1 save women1 engaged in the education of their children1 bind themselves to work #e hours a day from the age of twenty or twenty-two to forty-five or fifty1 and that they follow occupations they have chosen themselves in any one of those branches of human work which in this city are considered necessary4 ,such a society could in return guarantee well-being to all its members1 a well-being more substantial than that enjoyed to-day by the middle classes4 ,and1 moreover1 each worker belonging to this society would have at his disposal at least #e hours a day which he could devote to science1 art1 and individual needs which do not come under the category of necessities1 but will probably do so later on1 when man's productivity will have augmented1 and those objects will no longer appear luxurious or inaccessible4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,the ,,need ,,for ,,luxury ,i ,man is not a being whose exclusive purpose in life is eating1 drinking1 and providing a shelter for himself4 ,as soon as his material wants are satisfied1 other needs1 which1 generally speaking1 may be described as of an artistic character1 will thrust themselves forward4 ,these needs are of the greatest variety2 they vary with each and every individual2 and the more society is civilized1 the more will individuality be developed1 and the more will desires be varied4 ,even to-day we see men and women denying themselves necessaries to acquire mere trifles1 to obtain some particular gratification1 or some intellectual or material enjoyment4 ,a ,christian or an ascetic may disapprove of these desires for luxury2 but it is precisely these trifles that break the monotony of existence and make it agreeable4 ,would life1 with all its inevitable drudge and sorrows1 be worth living1 if1 besides daily work1 man could never obtain a single pleasure according to his individual tastes8 ,if we wish for a ,social ,revolution1 it is no doubt1 first of all1 to give bread to everyone2 to transform this execrable society1 in which we can every day see capable workmen dangling their arms for want of an employer who will exploit them2 women and children wandering shelterless at night2 whole families reduced to dry bread2 men1 women1 and children dying for want of care and even for want of food4 ,it is to put an end to these iniquities that we rebel4 ,but we expect more from the ,revolution4 ,we see that the worker1 compelled to struggle painfully for bare existence1 is reduced to ignore the higher delights1 the highest within man's reach1 of science1 and especially of scientific discovery2 of art1 and especially of artistic creation4 ,it is in order to obtain for all of us joys that are now reserved to a few2 in order to give leisure and the possibility of developing everyone's intellectual capacities1 that the social revolution must guarantee daily bread to all4 ,after bread has been secured1 leisure is the supreme aim4 ,no doubt1 nowadays1 when hundreds and thousands of human beings are in need of bread1 coal1 clothing1 and shelter1 luxury is a crime2 to satisfy it1 the worker's child must go without bread6 ,but in a society in which all have the necessary food and shelter1 the needs which we consider luxuries to-day will be the more keenly felt4 ,and as all men do not and cannot resemble one another 7the variety of tastes and needs is the chief guarantee of human progress7 there will always be1 and it is desirable that there should always be1 men and women whose desire will go beyond those of ordinary individuals in some particular direction4 ,everybody does not need a telescope1 because1 even if learning were general1 there are people who prefer to examine things through a microscope to studying the starry heavens4 ,some like statues1 some like pictures4 ,a particular individual has no other ambition than to possess a good piano1 while another is pleased with an accordion4 ,the tastes vary1 but the artistic needs exist in all4 ,in our present1 poor capitalistic society1 the man who has artistic needs cannot satisfy them unless he is heir to a large fortune1 or by dint of hard work appropriates to himself an intellectual capital which will enable him to take up a liberal profession4 ,still he cherishes the hope of some day satisfying his tastes more or less1 and for this reason he reproaches the idealist ,communist societies with having the material life of each individual as their sole aim4 ,in your communal stores you may perhaps have bread for all1 he says to us1 but you will not have beautiful pictures1 optical instruments1 luxurious furniture1 artistic jewelry--in short1 the many things that minister to the infinite variety of human tastes4 ,and you suppress the possibility of obtaining anything besides the bread and meat which the commune can offer to all1 and the drab linen in which all your lady citizens will be dressed4 ,these are the objections which all communist systems have to consider1 and which the founders of new societies1 established in ,american deserts1 never understood4 ,they believed that if the community could procure sufficient cloth to dress all its members1 a music-room in which the brothers could strum a piece of music1 or act a play from time to time1 it was enough4 ,they forgot that the feeling for art existed in the agriculturist as well as in the burgher1 and1 notwithstanding that the expression of artistic feeling varies according to the difference in culture1 in the main it remains the same4 ,in vain did the community guarantee the common necessaries of life1 in vain did it suppress all education that would tend to develop individuality1 in vain did it eliminate all reading save the ,bible4 ,individual tastes broke forth1 and caused general discontent2 quarrels arose when somebody proposed to buy a piano or scientific instruments2 and the elements of progress flagged4 ,the society could only exist on condition that it crushed all individual feeling1 all artistic tendency1 and all development4 ,will the anarchist ,commune be impelled by the same direction8--,evidently not1 if it understands that while it produces all that is necessary to material life1 it must also strive to satisfy all manifestations of the human mind4 ,,ii ,we frankly confess that when we think of the abyss of poverty and suffering that surrounds us1 when we hear the heartrending cry of the worker walking the streets begging for work1 we are loth to discuss the question3 ,how will men act in a society1 whose members are properly fed1 to satisfy certain individuals desirous of possessing a piece of ,svres china or a velvet dress8 ,we are tempted to answer3 ,let us make sure of bread to begin with1 we shall see to china and velvet later on4 ,but as we must recognize that man has other needs besides food1 and as the strength of ,anarchy lies precisely in that that it understands all human faculties and all passions1 and ignores none1 we shall1 in a few words1 explain how man can contrive to satisfy all his intellectual and artistic needs4 ,we have already mentioned that by working #d or #e hours a day till the age of forty-five or fifty1 man could easily produce all that is necessary to guarantee comfort to society4 ,but the day's work of a man accustomed to toil does not consist of #e hours2 it is a #aj hours' day for #cjj days a year1 and lasts all his life4 ,of course1 when a man is harnessed to a machine1 his health is soon undermined and his intelligence is blunted2 but when man has the possibility of varying occupations1 and especially of alternating manual with intellectual work1 he can remain occupied without fatigue1 and even with pleasure1 for #aj or #ab hours a day4 ,consequently1 the man who will have done the #d or #e hours of manual work that are necessary for his existence1 will have before him #e or #f hours which he will seek to employ according to his tastes4 ,and these #e or #f hours a day will fully enable him to procure for himself1 if he associates with others1 all he wishes for1 in addition to the necessaries guaranteed to all4 ,he will discharge first his task in the field1 the factory1 and so on1 which he owes to society as his contribution to the general production4 ,and he will employ the second half of his day1 his week1 or his year1 to satisfy his artistic or scientific needs1 or his hobbies4 ,thousands of societies will spring up to gratify every taste and every possible fancy4 ,some1 for example1 will give their hours of leisure to literature4 ,they will then form groups comprising authors1 compositors1 printers1 engravers1 draughtsmen1 all pursuing a common aim--the propagation of ideas that are dear to them4 ,nowadays an author knows that there is a beast of burden1 the worker1 to whom1 for the sum of a few shillings a day1 he can entrust the printing of his books2 but he hardly cares to know what a printing office is like4 ,if the compositor suffers from lead-poisoning1 and if the child who sees to the machine dies of anmia1 are there not other poor wretches to replace them8 ,but when there will be no more starvelings ready to sell their work for a pittance1 when the exploited worker of to-day will be educated1 and will have his own ideas to put down in black and white and to communicate to others1 then the authors and scientific men will be compelled to combine among themselves and with the printers1 in order to bring out their prose and their poetry4 ,so long as men consider fustian and manual labour a mark of inferiority1 it will appear amazing to them to see an author setting up his own book in type1 for has he not a gymnasium or games by way of diversion8 ,but when the opprobrium connected with manual labor has disappeared1 when all will have to work with their hands1 there being no one to do it for them1 then the authors as well as their admirers will soon learn the art of handling composing-sticks and type2 they will know the pleasure of coming together--all admirers of the work to be printed--to set up the type1 to shape it into pages1 to take it in its virginal purity from the press4 ,these beautiful machines1 instruments of torture to the child who attends on them from morn till night1 will be a source of enjoyment for those who will make use of them in order to give voice to the thoughts of their favourite author4 ,will literature lose by it8 ,will the poet be less a poet after having worked out of doors or helped with his hands to multiply his work8 ,will the novelist lose his knowledge of human nature after having rubbed shoulders with other men in the forest or the factory1 in the laying out of a road or on a railway line8 ,can there be two answers to these questions8 ,maybe some books will be less voluminous2 but then1 more will be said on fewer pages4 ,maybe fewer waste-sheets will be published2 but the matter printed will be more attentively read and more appreciated4 ,the book will appeal to a larger circle of better educated readers1 who will be more competent to judge4 ,moreover1 the art of printing1 that has so little progressed since ,gutenberg1 is still in its infancy4 ,it takes two hours to compose in type what is written in ten minutes1 but more expeditious methods of multiplying thought are being sought after and will be discovered4#f ,what a pity every author does not have to take his share in the printing of his works6 ,what progress printing would have already made6 ,we should no longer be using movable letters1 as in the seventeenth century4 ,,iii ,is it a dream to conceive a society in which--all having become producers1 all having received an education that enables them to cultivate science or art1 and all having leisure to do so--men would combine to publish the works of their choice1 by contributing each his share of manual work8 ,we have already hundreds of learned1 literary1 and other societies2 and these societies are nothing but voluntary groups of men1 interested in certain branches of learning1 and associated for the purpose of publishing their works4 ,the authors who write for the periodicals of these societies are not paid1 and the periodicals1 apart from a limited number of copies1 are not for sale2 they are sent gratis to all quarters of the globe1 to other societies1 cultivating the same branches of learning4 ,this member of the ,society may insert in its review a one-page note summarizing his observations2 another may publish therein an extensive work1 the results of long years of study2 while others will confine themselves to consulting the review as a starting-point for further research4 ,it does not matter3 all these authors and readers are associated for the production of works in which all of them take an interest4 ,it is true that a learned society1 like the individual author1 goes to a printing office where workmen are engaged to do the printing4 ,nowadays1 those who belong to the learned societies despise manual labour which indeed is carried on under very bad conditions2 but a community which would give a generous philosophic and scientific education to all its members1 would know how to organize manual labour in such a way that it would be the pride of humanity4 ,its learned societies would become associations of explorers1 lovers of science1 and workers--all knowing a manual trade and all interested in science4 ,if1 for example1 the ,society is studying geology1 all will contribute to the exploration of the earth's strata2 each member will take his share in research1 and ten thousand observers1 where we have now only a hundred1 will do more in a year than we can do in twenty years4 ,and when their works are to be published1 ten thousand men and women1 skilled in different trades1 will be ready to draw maps1 engrave designs1 compose1 and print the books4 ,with gladness will they give their leisure--in summer to exploration1 in winter to indoor work4 ,and when their works appear1 they will find not only a hundred1 but ten thousand readers interested in their common work4 ,this is the direction in which progress is already moving4 ,even to-day1 when ,england felt the need of a complete dictionary of the ,english language1 the birth of a ,littr1 who would devote his life to this work1 was not waited for4 ,volunteers were appealed to1 and a thousand men offered their services1 spontaneously and gratuitously1 to ransack the libraries1 to take notes1 and to accomplish in a few years a work which one man could not complete in his lifetime4 ,in all branches of human intelligence the same spirit is breaking forth1 and we should have a very limited knowledge of humanity could we not guess that the future is announcing itself in such tentative co-operation1 which is gradually taking the place of individual work4 ,for this dictionary to be a really collective work1 it would have been necessary that many volunteer authors1 printers1 and printers' readers should have worked in common2 but something in this direction is done already in the ,socialist ,press1 which offers us examples of manual and intellectual work combined4 ,it happens in our newspapers that a ,socialist author composes in lead his own article4 ,true1 such attempts are rare1 but they indicate in which direction evolution is going4 ,they show the road of liberty4 ,in future1 when a man will have something useful to say--a word that goes beyond the thoughts of his century1 he will not have to look for an editor who might advance the necessary capital4 ,he will look for collaborators among those who know the printing trade1 and who approve the idea of his new work4 ,together they will publish the new book or journal4 ,literature and journalism will cease to be a means of money-making and living at the cost of others4 ,but is there any one who knows literature and journalism from within1 and who does not ardently desire that literature should at last be able to free itself from those who formerly protected it1 and who now exploit it1 and from the multitude1 which1 with rare exceptions1 pays for it in proportion to its mediocrity1 or to the ease with which it adapts itself to the bad taste of the greater number8 ,letters and science will only take their proper place in the work of human development when1 freed from all mercenary bondage1 they will be exclusively cultivated by those who love them1 and for those who love them4 ,,iv ,literature1 science1 and art must be cultivated by free men4 ,only on this condition will they succeed in emancipating themselves from the yoke of the ,state1 of ,capital1 and of the bourgeois mediocrity which stifles them4 ,what means has the scientist of to-day to make researches that interest him8 ,should he ask help of the ,state1 which can only be given to one candidate in a hundred1 and which only he may obtain who promises ostensibly to keep to the beaten track8 ,let us remember how the ,academy of ,sciences of ,france repudiated ,darwin1 how the ,academy of ,st4 ,petersburg treated ,mendeleff with contempt1 and how the ,royal ,society of ,london refused to publish ,joule's paper1 in which he determined the mechanical equivalent of heat1 finding it unscientific4#g ,it was why all great researches1 all discoveries revolutionizing science1 have been made outside academies and universities1 either by men rich enough to remain independent1 like ,darwin and ,lyell1 or by men who undermined their health by working in poverty1 and often in great straits1 losing endless time for want of a laboratory1 and unable to procure the instruments or books necessary to continue their researches1 but persevering against hope1 and often dying before they had reached the end in view4 ,their name is legion4 ,altogether1 the system of help granted by the ,state is so bad that science has always endeavoured to emancipate itself from it4 ,for this very reason there are thousands of learned societies organized and maintained by volunteers in ,europe and ,america1--some having developed to such a degree that all the resources of subventioned societies1 and all the wealth of millionaires1 would not buy their treasures4 ,no governmental institution is as rich as the ,zoological ,society of ,london1 which is supported by voluntary contributions4 ,it does not buy the animals which in thousands people its gardens3 they are sent by other societies and by collectors of the entire world4 ,the ,zoological ,society of ,bombay will send an elephant as a gift2 another time a hippopotamus or a rhinoceros is offered by ,egyptian naturalists4 ,and these magnificent presents are pouring in every day1 arriving from all quarters of the globe--birds1 reptiles1 collections of insects1 etc4 ,such consignments often comprise animals that could not be bought for all the gold in the world2 thus a traveller who has captured an animal at life's peril1 and now loves it as he would love a child1 will give it to the ,society because he is sure it will be cared for4 ,the entrance fee paid by visitors1 and they are numberless1 suffices for the maintenance of that immense institution4 ,what is defective in the ,zoological ,society of ,london1 and in other kindred societies1 is that the member's fee cannot be paid in work2 that the keepers and numerous employes of this large institution are not recognized as members of the ,society1 while many have no other incentive to joining the society than to put the cabalistic letters ,f4,z4,s 7,fellow of the ,zoological ,society7 on their cards4 ,in a word1 what is needed is a more perfect co-operation4 ,we may say the same about inventors1 that we have said of scientists4 ,who does not know what sufferings nearly all great inventions have cost8 ,sleepless nights1 families deprived of bread1 want of tools and materials for experiments1 this is the history of nearly all those who have enriched industry with inventions which are the truly legitimate pride of our civilization4 ,but what are we to do to alter the conditions that everybody is convinced are bad8 ,patents have been tried1 and we know with what results4 ,the inventor sells his patent for a few pounds1 and the man who has only lent the capital pockets the enormous profits often resulting from the invention4 ,besides1 patents isolate the inventor4 ,they compel him to keep secret his researches which therefore end in failure2 whereas the simplest suggestion1 coming from a brain less absorbed in the fundamental idea1 sometimes suffices to fertilize the invention and make it practical4 ,like all ,state control1 patents hamper the progress of industry4 ,thought being incapable of being patented1 patents are a crying injustice in theory1 and in practice they result in one of the great obstacles to the rapid development of invention4 ,what is needed to promote the spirit of invention is1 first of all1 the awakening of thought1 the boldness of conception1 which our entire education causes to languish2 it is the spreading of a scientific education1 which would increase the number of inquirers a hundredfold2 it is faith that humanity is going to take a step forward1 because it is enthusiasm1 the hope of doing good1 that has inspired all the great inventors4 ,the ,social ,revolution alone can give this impulse to thought1 this boldness1 this knowledge1 this conviction of working for all4 ,then we shall have vast institutes supplied with motor-power and tools of all sorts1 immense industrial laboratories open to all inquirers1 where men will be able to work out their dreams1 after having acquitted themselves of their duty towards society2 machinery palaces where they will spend their five or six hours of leisure2 where they will make their experiments2 where they will find other comrades1 experts in other branches of industry1 likewise coming to study some difficult problem1 and therefore able to help and enlighten each other1--the encounter of their ideas and experience causing the longed-for solution to be found4 ,and yet again1 this is no dream4 ,solany ,gorodk1 in ,petersburg1 has already partially realized it as regards technical matters4 ,it is a factory well furnished with tools and free to all2 tools and motor-power are supplied gratis1 only metals and wood are charged for at cost price4 ,unfortunately workmen only go there at night when worn out by ten hours' labour in the workshop4 ,moreover1 they carefully hide their inventions from each other1 as they are hampered by patents and ,capitalism--that bane of present society1 that stumbling-block in the path of intellectual and moral progress4 ,v ,and what about art8 ,from all sides we hear lamentations about the decadence of art4 ,we are1 indeed1 far behind the great masters of the ,renaissance4 ,the technicalities of art have recently made great progress2 thousands of people gifted with a certain amount of talent cultivate every branch1 but art seems to fly from civilization6 ,technicalities make headway1 but inspiration frequents artists' studios less than ever4 ,where1 indeed1 should it come from8 ,only a grand idea can inspire art4 ,art is in our ideal synonymous with creation1 it must look ahead2 but save a few rare1 very rare exceptions1 the professional artist remains too philistine to perceive new horizons4 ,moreover1 this inspiration cannot come from books2 it must be drawn from life1 and present society cannot arouse it4 ,raphael and ,murillo painted at a time when the search of a new ideal could be pursued while retaining the old religious traditions4 ,they painted to decorate churches which themselves represented the pious work of several generations of a given city4 ,the basilic with its mysterious aspect1 its grandeur1 was connected with the life itself of the city1 and could inspire a painter4 ,he worked for a popular monument2 he spoke to his fellow-citizens1 and in return he received inspiration2 he appealed to the multitude in the same way as did the nave1 the pillars1 the stained windows1 the statues1 and the carved doors4 ,nowadays the greatest honour a painter can aspire to is to see his canvas1 framed in gilded wood1 hung in a museum1 a sort of old curiosity shop1 where you see1 as in the ,prado1 ,murillo's ,ascension next to a beggar of ,velasquez and the dogs of ,philip ,,ii4 ,poor ,velasquez and poor ,murillo6 ,poor ,greek statues which lived in the ,acropolis of their cities1 and are now stifled beneath the red cloth hangings of the ,louvre6 ,when a ,greek sculptor chiseled his marble he endeavored to express the spirit and heart of the city4 ,all its passions1 all its traditions of glory1 were to live again in the work4 ,but to-day the united city has ceased to exist2 there is no more communion of ideas4 ,the town is a chance agglomeration of people who do not know one another1 who have no common interest1 save that of enriching themselves at the expense of one another4 ,the fatherland does not exist4444 ,what fatherland can the international banker and the rag-picker have in common8 ,only when cities1 territories1 nations1 or groups of nations1 will have renewed their harmonious life1 will art be able to draw its inspiration from ideals held in common4 ,then will the architect conceive the city's monument which will no longer be a temple1 a prison1 or a fortress2 then will the painter1 the sculptor1 the carver1 the ornament-worker know where to put their canvases1 their statues1 and their decoration2 deriving their power of execution from the same vital source1 and gloriously marching all together towards the future4 ,but till then art can only vegetate4 ,the best canvases of modern artists are those that represent nature1 villages1 valleys1 the sea with its dangers1 the mountain with its splendours4 ,but how can the painter express the poetry of work in the fields if he has only contemplated it1 imagined it1 if he has never delighted in it himself8 ,if he only knows it as a bird of passage knows the country he soars over in his migrations8 ,if1 in the vigour of early youth1 he has not followed the plough at dawn1 and enjoyed mowing grass with a large sweep of the scythe next to hardy haymakers vying in energy with lively young girls who fill the air with their songs8 ,the love of the soil and of what grows on it is not acquired by sketching with a paint-brush--it is only in its service2 and without loving it1 how paint it8 ,this is why all that the best painters have produced in this direction is still so imperfect1 not true to life1 nearly always merely sentimental4 ,there is no strength in it4 ,you must have seen a sunset when returning from work4 ,you must have been a peasant among peasants to keep the splendour of it in your eye4 ,you must have been at sea with fishermen at all hours of the day and night1 have fished yourself1 struggled with the waves1 faced the storm1 and after rough work experienced the joy of hauling a heavy net1 or the disappointment of seeing it empty1 to understand the poetry of fishing4 ,you must have spent time in a factory1 known the fatigues and the joys of creative work1 forged metals by the vivid light of a blast furnace1 have felt the life in a machine1 to understand the power of man and to express it in a work of art4 ,you must1 in fact1 be permeated with popular feelings1 to describe them4 ,besides1 the works of future artists who will have lived the life of the people1 like the great artists of the past1 will not be destined for sale4 ,they will be an integral part of a living whole that would not be complete without them1 any more than they would be complete without it4 ,men will go to the artist's own city to gaze at his work1 and the spirited and serene beauty of such creations will produce its beneficial effect on heart and mind4 ,art1 in order to develop1 must be bound up with industry by a thousand intermediate degrees1 blended1 so to say1 as ,ruskin and the great ,socialist poet ,morris have proved so often and so well4 ,everything that surrounds man1 in the street1 in the interior and exterior of public monuments1 must be of a pure artistic form4 ,but this can only be realized in a society in which all enjoy comfort and leisure4 ,then only shall we see art associations1 of which each member will find room for his capacity2 for art cannot dispense with an infinity of purely manual and technical supplementary works4 ,these artistic associations will undertake to embellish the houses of their members1 as those kind volunteers1 the young painters of ,edinburgh1 did in decorating the walls and ceilings of the great hospital for the poor in their city4 ,a painter or sculptor who has produced a work of personal feeling will offer it to the woman he loves1 or to a friend4 ,executed for love's sake1--will his work1 inspired by love1 be inferior to the art that to-day satisfies the vanity of the philistine1 because it has cost much money8 ,the same will be done as regards all pleasures not comprised in the necessaries of life4 ,he who wishes for a grand piano will enter the association of musical instrument makers4 ,and by giving the association part of his half-days' leisure1 he will soon possess the piano of his dreams4 ,if he is fond of astronomical studies he will join the association of astronomers1 with its philosophers1 its observers1 its calculators1 with its artists in astronomical instruments1 its scientists and amateurs1 and he will have the telescope he desires by taking his share of the associated work1 for it is especially the rough work that is needed in an astronomical observatory--bricklayer's1 carpenter's1 founder's1 mechanic's work1 the last touch being given to the instrument of precision by the artist4 ,in short1 the five or seven hours a day which each will have at his disposal1 after having consecrated several hours to the production of necessities1 would amply suffice to satisfy all longings for luxury1 however varied4 ,thousands of associations would undertake to supply them4 ,what is now the privilege of an insignificant minority would be accessible to all4 ,luxury1 ceasing to be a foolish and ostentatious display of the bourgeois class1 would become an artistic pleasure4 ,everyone would be the happier for it4 ,in collective work1 performed with a light heart to attain a desired end1 a book1 a work of art1 or an object of luxury1 each will find an incentive and the necessary relaxation that makes life pleasant4 ,in working to put an end to the division between master and slave1 we work for the happiness of both1 for the happiness of humanity4 ,,footnotes3 #f ,they have already been discovered since the above lines were written4 #g ,we know this from ,playfair1 who mentioned it at ,joule's death4 ,,chapter ,x ,,agreeable ,,work ,i ,when ,socialists maintain that a society1 freed from the rule of the capitalists1 would make work agreeable1 and would suppress all repugnant and unhealthy drudgery1 they are laughed at4 ,and yet even to-day we can see the striking progress that is being made in this direction2 and wherever this progress has been achieved1 employers congratulate themselves on the economy of energy obtained thereby4 ,it is evident that a factory could be made as healthy and pleasant as a scientific laboratory4 ,and it is no less evident that it would be advantageous to make it so4 ,in a spacious and well-ventilated factory the work is better2 it is easy to introduce many small ameliorations1 of which each represents an economy of time or of manual labour4 ,and if most of the workshops we know are foul and unhealthy1 it is because the workers are of no account in the organization of factories1 and because the most absurd waste of human energy is the distinctive feature of the present industrial organization4 ,nevertheless1 now and again1 we already find1 even now1 some factories so well managed that it would be a real pleasure to work in them1 if the work1 be it well understood1 were not to last more than four or five hours a day1 and if every one had the possibility of varying it according to his tastes4 ,there are immense works1 which ,i know1 in one of the ,midland counties1 unfortunately consecrated to engines of war4 ,they are perfect as regards sanitary and intelligent organization4 ,they occupy fifty ,english acres of land1 fifteen of which are roofed with glass4 ,the pavement of fire-proof bricks is as clean as that of a miner's cottage1 and the glass roof is carefully cleaned by a gang of workmen who do nothing else4 ,in these works are forged steel ingots or blooms weighing as much as twenty tons2 and when you stand thirty feet from the immense furnace1 whose flames have a temperature of more than a thousand degrees1 you do not guess its presence save when its great doors open to let out a steel monster4 ,and the monster is handled by only three or four workmen1 who now here1 now there1 open a tap causing immense cranes to move one way or another by the pressure of water4 ,you enter these works expecting to hear the deafening noise of stampers1 and you find that there are no stampers4 ,the immense hundred-ton guns and the crank-shafts of transatlantic steamers are forged by hydraulic pressure1 and the worker has but to turn a tap to give shape to the immense mass of steel1 which makes a far more homogeneous metal1 without crack or flaw1 of the blooms1 whatever be their thickness4 ,i expected an infernal grating1 and ,i saw machines which cut blocks of steel thirty feet long with no more noise than is needed to cut cheese4 ,and when ,i expressed my admiration to the engineer who showed us round1 he answered-- ,a mere question of economy6 ,this machine1 that planes steel1 has been in use for forty-two years4 ,it would not have lasted ten years if its parts1 badly adjusted1 'interfered' and creaked at each movement of the plane6 ,and the blast-furnaces8 ,it would be a waste to let heat escape instead of utilizing it4 ,why roast the founders1 when heat lost by radiation represents tons of coal8 ,the stampers that made buildings shake five leagues off were also waste4 ,is it not better to forge by pressure than by impact1 and it costs less--there is less loss4 ,in these works1 light1 cleanliness1 the space allotted to each bench1 are but a simple question of economy4 ,work is better done when you can see what you do1 and have elbow-room4 ,it is true1 he said1 we were very cramped before coming here4 ,land is so expensive in the vicinity of large towns--landlords are so grasping6 ,it is even so in mines4 ,we know what mines are like nowadays from ,zola's descriptions and from newspaper reports4 ,but the mine of the future will be well ventilated1 with a temperature as easily regulated as that of a library2 there will be no horses doomed to die below the earth3 underground traction will be carried on by means of an automatic cable put into motion at the pit's mouth4 ,ventilators will be always working1 and there will never be explosions4 ,this is no dream1 such a mine is already to be seen in ,england2 ,i went down it4 ,here again the excellent organization is simply a question of economy4 ,the mine of which ,i speak1 in spite of its immense depth 7#dff yards71 has an output of a thousand tons of coal a day1 with only two hundred miners--five tons a day per each worker1 whereas the average for the two thousand pits in ,england at the time ,i visited this mine in the early 'nineties1 was hardly three hundred tons a year per man4 ,if necessary1 it would be easy to multiply examples proving that as regards the material organization ,fourier's dream was not a ,utopia4 ,this question has1 however1 been so frequently discussed in ,socialist newspapers that public opinion should already be educated on this point4 ,factory1 forge and mine can be as healthy and magnificent as the finest laboratories in modern universities1 and the better the organization the more will man's labour produce4 ,if it be so1 can we doubt that work will become a pleasure and a relaxation in a society of equals1 in which hands will not be compelled to sell themselves to toil1 and to accept work under any conditions8 ,repugnant tasks will disappear1 because it is evident that these unhealthy conditions are harmful to society as a whole4 ,slaves can submit to them1 but free men will create new conditions1 and their work will be pleasant and infinitely more productive4 ,the exceptions of to-day will be the rule of to-morrow4 ,the same will come to pass as regards domestic work1 which to-day society lays on the shoulders of that drudge of humanity--woman4 ,,ii ,a society regenerated by the ,revolution will make domestic slavery disappear--this last form of slavery1 perhaps the most tenacious1 because it is also the most ancient4 ,only it will not come about in the way dreamt of by ,phalansterians1 nor in the manner often imagined by authoritarian ,communists4 ,phalansteries are repugnant to millions of human beings4 ,the most reserved man certainly feels the necessity of meeting his fellows for the purpose of common work1 which becomes the more attractive the more he feels himself a part of an immense whole4 ,but it is not so for the hours of leisure1 reserved for rest and intimacy4 ,the phalanstery and the familystery do not take this into account1 or else they endeavour to supply this need by artificial groupings4 ,a phalanstery1 which is in fact nothing but an immense hotel1 can please some1 and even all at a certain period of their life1 but the great mass prefers family life 7family life of the future1 be it understood74 ,they prefer isolated apartments1 ,anglo-,saxons even going as far as to prefer houses of from six to eight rooms1 in which the family1 or an agglomeration of friends1 can live apart4 ,sometimes a phalanstery is a necessity1 but it would be hateful1 were it the general rule4 ,isolation1 alternating with time spent in society1 is the normal desire of human nature4 ,this is why one of the greatest tortures in prison is the impossibility of isolation1 much as solitary confinement becomes torture in its turn1 when not alternated with hours of social life4 ,as to considerations of economy1 which are sometimes laid stress on in favour of phalansteries1 they are those of a petty tradesman4 ,the most important economy1 the only reasonable one1 is to make life pleasant for all1 because the man who is satisfied with his life produces infinitely more than the man who curses his surroundings4#h ,other ,socialists reject the phalanstery4 ,but when you ask them how domestic work can be organized1 they answer3 ,each can do 'his own work4' ,my wife manages the house2 the wives of bourgeois will do as much4 ,and if it is a bourgeois playing at ,socialism who speaks1 he will add1 with a gracious smile to his wife3 ,is it not true1 darling1 that you would do without a servant in the ,socialist society8 ,you would work like the wife of our good comrade ,paul or the wife of ,john the carpenter8 ,servant or wife1 man always reckons on woman to do the house-work4 ,but woman1 too1 at last claims her share in the emancipation of humanity4 ,she no longer wants to be the beast of burden of the house4 ,she considers it sufficient work to give many years of her life to the rearing of her children4 ,she no longer wants to be the cook1 the mender1 the sweeper of the house6 ,and1 owing to ,american women taking the lead in obtaining their claims1 there is a general complaint of the dearth of women who will condescend to domestic work in the ,united ,states4 ,my lady prefers art1 politics1 literature1 or the gaming tables2 as to the work-girls1 they are few1 those who consent to submit to apron-slavery1 and servants are only found with difficulty in the ,states4 ,consequently1 the solution1 a very simple one1 is pointed out by life itself4 ,machinery undertakes three-quarters of the household cares4 ,you black your boots1 and you know how ridiculous this work is4 ,what can be more stupid than rubbing a boot twenty or thirty times with a brush8 ,a tenth of the ,european population must be compelled to sell itself in exchange for a miserable shelter and insufficient food1 and woman must consider herself a slave1 in order that millions of her sex should go through this performance every morning4 ,but hairdressers have already machines for brushing glossy or woolly heads of hair4 ,why should we not apply1 then1 the same principle to the other extremity8 ,so it has been done1 and nowadays the machine for blacking boots is in general use in big ,american and ,european hotels4 ,its use is spreading outside hotels4 ,in large ,english schools1 where the pupils are boarding in the houses of the teachers1 it has been found easier to have one single establishment which undertakes to brush a thousand pairs of boots every morning4 ,as to washing up6 ,where can we find a housewife who has not a horror of this long and dirty work1 that is usually done by hand1 solely because the work of the domestic slave is of no account4 ,in ,america they do better4 ,there are already a number of cities in which hot water is conveyed to the houses as cold water is in ,europe4 ,under these conditions the problem was a simple one1 and a woman--,mrs4 ,cochrane--solved it4 ,her machine washes twelve dozen plates or dishes1 wipes them and dries them1 in less than three minutes4 ,a factory in ,illinois manufactures these machines and sells them at a price within reach of the average middle-class purse4 ,and why should not small households send their crockery to an establishment as well as their boots8 ,it is even probable that the two functions1 brushing and washing up1 will be undertaken by the same association4 ,cleaning1 rubbing the skin off your hands when washing and wringing linen2 sweeping floors and brushing carpets1 thereby raising clouds of dust which afterwards occasion much trouble to dislodge from the places where they have settled down1 all this work is still done because woman remains a slave1 but it tends to disappear as it can be infinitely better done by machinery4 ,machines of all kinds will be introduced into households1 and the distribution of motor-power in private houses will enable people to work them without muscular effort4 ,such machines cost little to manufacture4 ,if we still pay very much for them1 it is because they are not in general use1 and chiefly because an exorbitant tax is levied upon every machine by the gentlemen who wish to live in grand style and who have speculated on land1 raw material1 manufacture1 sale1 patents1 and duties4 ,but emancipation from domestic toil will not be brought about by small machines only4 ,households are emerging from their present state of isolation2 they begin to associate with other households to do in common what they did separately4 ,in fact1 in the future we shall not have a brushing machine1 a machine for washing up plates1 a third for washing linen1 and so on1 in each house4 ,to the future1 on the contrary1 belongs the common heating apparatus that sends heat into each room of a whole district and spares the lighting of fires4 ,it is already so in a few ,american cities4 ,a great central furnace supplies all houses and all rooms with hot water1 which circulates in pipes2 and to regulate the temperature you need only turn a tap4 ,and should you care to have a blazing fire in any particular room you can light the gas specially supplied for heating purposes from a central reservoir4 ,all the immense work of cleaning chimneys and keeping up fires--and woman knows what time it takes--is disappearing4 ,candles1 lamps1 and even gas have had their day4 ,there are entire cities in which it is sufficient to press a button for light to burst forth1 and1 indeed1 it is a simple question of economy and of knowledge to give yourself the luxury of electric light4 ,and lastly1 also in ,america1 they speak of forming societies for the almost complete suppression of household work4 ,it would only be necessary to create a department for every block of houses4 ,a cart would come to each door and take the boots to be blacked1 the crockery to be washed up1 the linen to be washed1 the small things to be mended 7if it were worth while71 the carpets to be brushed1 and the next morning would bring back the things entrusted to it1 all well cleaned4 ,a few hours later your hot coffee and your eggs done to a nicety would appear on your table4 ,it is a fact that between twelve and two o'clock there are more than twenty million ,americans and as many ,englishmen who eat roast beef or mutton1 boiled pork1 potatoes and a seasonable vegetable4 ,and at the lowest figure eight million fires burn during two or three hours to roast this meat and cook these vegetables2 eight million women spend their time preparing a meal which1 taking all households1 represents at most a dozen different dishes4 ,fifty fires burn1 wrote an ,american woman the other day1 where one would suffice6 ,dine at home1 at your own table1 with your children1 if you like2 but only think yourself1 why should these fifty women waste their whole morning to prepare a few cups of coffee and a simple meal6 ,why fifty fires1 when two people and one single fire would suffice to cook all these pieces of meat and all these vegetables8 ,choose your own beef or mutton to be roasted if you are particular4 ,season the vegetables to your taste if you prefer a particular sauce6 ,but have a single kitchen with a single fire and organize it as beautifully as you are able to4 ,why has woman's work never been of any account8 ,why in every family are the mother and three or four servants obliged to spend so much time at what pertains to cooking8 ,because those who want to emancipate mankind have not included woman in their dream of emancipation1 and consider it beneath their superior masculine dignity to think of those kitchen arrangements1 which they have put on the shoulders of that drudge--woman4 ,to emancipate woman1 is not only to open the gates of the university1 the law courts1 or the parliaments to her1 for the emancipated woman will always throw her domestic toil on to another woman4 ,to emancipate woman is to free her from the brutalizing toil of kitchen and washhouse2 it is to organize your household in such a way as to enable her to rear her children1 if she be so minded1 while still retaining sufficient leisure to take her share of social life4 ,it will come4 ,as we have said1 things are already improving4 ,only let us fully understand that a revolution1 intoxicated with the beautiful words1 ,liberty1 ,equality1 ,solidarity1 would not be a revolution if it maintained slavery at home4 ,half humanity subjected to the slavery of the hearth would still have to rebel against the other half4 ,,footnote3 #h ,it seems that the ,communists of ,young ,icaria had understood the importance of a free choice in their daily relations apart from work4 ,the ideal of religious ,communists has always been to have meals in common2 it is by meals in common that early ,christians manifested their adhesion to ,christianity4 ,communion is still a vestige of it4 ,young ,icarians had given up this religious tradition4 ,they dined in a common dining room1 but at small separate tables1 at which they sat according to the attractions of the moment4 ,the ,communists of ,anama have each their house and dine at home1 while taking their provisions at will at the communal stores4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,free ,,agreement ,i ,accustomed as we are by heredity prejudices and our unsound education and training to represent ourselves the beneficial hand of ,government1 legislation and magistracy everywhere1 we have come to believe that man would tear his fellow-man to pieces like a wild beast the day the police took his eye off him2 that absolute chaos would come about if authority were overthrown during a revolution4 ,and with our eyes shut we pass by thousands and thousands of human groupings which form themselves freely1 without any intervention of the law1 and attain results infinitely superior to those achieved under governmental tutelage4 ,if you open a daily paper you find that its pages are entirely devoted to ,government transactions and to political jobbery4 ,a man from another world1 reading it1 would believe that1 with the exception of the ,stock ,exchange transactions1 nothing gets done in ,europe save by order of some master4 ,you find nothing in the paper about institutions that spring up1 grow up1 and develop without ministerial prescription6 ,nothing--or almost nothing6 ,even where there is a heading1 ,sundry ,events 7,faits divers1 a favorite column in the ,french papers71 it is because they are connected with the police4 ,a family drama1 an act of rebellion1 will only be mentioned if the police have appeared on the scene4 ,three hundred and fifty million ,europeans love or hate one another1 work1 or live on their incomes2 but1 apart from literature1 theatre1 or sport1 their lives remain ignored by newspapers if ,governments have not intervened in it in some way or other4 ,it is even so with history4 ,we know the least details of the life of a king or of a parliament2 all good and bad speeches pronounced by the politicians have been preserved3 speeches that have never had the least influence on the vote of a single member1 as an old parliamentarian said4 ,royal visits1 the good or bad humour of politicians1 their jokes and intrigues1 are all carefully recorded for posterity4 ,but we have the greatest difficulty to reconstitute a city of the ,middle ,ages1 to understand the mechanism of that immense commerce that was carried on between ,hanseatic cities1 or to know how the city of ,rouen built its cathedral4 ,if a scholar spends his life in studying these questions1 his works remain unknown1 and parliamentary histories--that is to say1 the defective ones1 as they only treat of one side of social life--multiply2 they are circulated1 they are taught in schools4 ,in this way we do not even perceive the prodigious work1 accomplished every day by spontaneous groups of men1 which constitutes the chief work of our century4 ,we therefore propose to point out some of these most striking manifestations1 and to show how men1 as soon as their interests do not absolutely clash1 act in concert1 harmoniously1 and perform collective work of a very complex nature4 ,it is evident that in present society1 based on individual property--that is to say1 on plunder1 and on a narrow-minded1 and therefore foolish individualism--facts of this kind are necessarily limited2 agreements are not always perfectly free1 and often they have a mean1 if not execrable aim4 ,but what concerns us is not to give examples which might be blindly followed1 and which1 moreover1 present society could not possibly give us4 ,what we have to do is to show that1 in spite of the authoritarian individualism which stifles us1 there remains in our life1 taken as a whole1 a very great part in which we only act by free agreement2 and that therefore it would be much easier than is usually thought1 to dispense with ,government4 ,in support of our view we have already mentioned railways1 and we will now return to them4 ,we know that ,europe has a system of railways1 over #age1jjj miles long1 and that on this network you can nowadays travel from north to south1 from east to west1 from ,madrid to ,petersburg1 and from ,calais to ,constantinople1 without delays1 without even changing carriages 7when you travel by express74 ,more than that3 a parcel deposited at a station will find its addressee anywhere1 in ,turkey or in ,central ,asia1 without more formality needed for sending it than writing its destination on a bit of paper4 ,this result might have been obtained in two ways4 ,a ,napoleon1 a ,bismarck1 or some potentate having conquered ,europe1 would from ,paris1 ,berlin1 or ,rome1 draw a railway map and regulate the hours of the trains4 ,the ,russian ,tsar ,nicholas ,i4 dreamt of such a power4 ,when he was shown rough drafts of railways between ,moscow and ,petersburg1 he seized a ruler and drew on the map of ,russia a straight line between these two capitals1 saying1 ,here is the plan4 ,and the road was built in a straight line1 filling in deep ravines1 building bridges of a giddy height1 which had to be abandoned a few years later1 after the railway had cost about #abj1jjj to #aej1jjj per ,english mile4 ,this is one way1 but happily things were managed differently4 ,railways were constructed piece by piece1 the pieces were joined together1 and the hundred different companies1 to whom these pieces belonged1 gradually came to an understanding concerning the arrival and departure of their trains1 and the running of carriages on their rails1 from all countries1 without unloading merchandise as it passes from one network to another4 ,all this was done by free agreement1 by exchange of letters and proposals1 and by congresses at which delegates met to discuss well specified special points1 and to come to an agreement about them1 but not to make laws4 ,after the congress was over1 the delegates returned to their respective companies1 not with a law1 but with the draft of a contract to be accepted or rejected4 ,of course difficulties were met in the way4 ,there were obstinate men who would not be convinced4 ,but a common interest compelled them to agree in the end1 without invoking the help of armies against the refractory members4 ,this immense network of railways connected together1 and the enormous traffic it has given rise to1 no doubt constitutes the most striking trait of the nineteenth century2 and it is the result of free agreement4 ,if somebody had foretold it eighty years ago1 our grandfathers would have thought him idiotic or mad4 ,they would have said3 ,never will you be able to make the shareholders of a hundred companies listen to reason6 ,it is a ,utopia1 a fairy tale4 ,a central ,government1 with an 'iron' dictator1 can alone enforce it4 ,and the most interesting thing in this organization is1 that there is no ,european ,central ,government of ,railways6 ,nothing6 ,no minister of railways1 no dictator1 not even a continental parliament1 not even a directing committee6 ,everything is done by free agreement4 ,so we ask the believers in the ,state1 who pretend that we can never do without a central ,government1 were it only for regulating the traffic1 we ask them3 ,but how do ,european railways manage without them8 ,how do they continue to convey millions of travellers and mountains of luggage across a continent8 ,if companies owning railways have been able to agree1 why should railway workers1 who would take possession of railways1 not agree likewise8 ,and if the ,petersburg-,warsaw ,company and that of ,paris-,belfort can act in harmony1 without giving themselves the luxury of a common commander1 why1 in the midst of our societies1 consisting of groups of free workers1 should we need a ,government8 ,,ii ,when we endeavour to prove by examples that even to-day1 in spite of the iniquitous organization of society as a whole1 men1 provided their interests be not diametrically opposed1 agree without the intervention of authority1 we do not ignore the objections that will be put forth4 ,all such examples have their defective side1 because it is impossible to quote a single organization exempt from the exploitation of the weak by the strong1 the poor by the rich4 ,this is why the ,statists will not fail to tell us with their wonted logic3 ,you see that the intervention of the ,state is necessary to put an end to this exploitation6 ,only they forget the lessons of history2 they do not tell us to what extent the ,state itself has contributed towards the existing order by creating proletarians and delivering them up to exploiters4 ,they forget to prove us that it is possible to put an end to exploitation while the primal causes--private capital and poverty1 two-thirds of which are artificially created by the ,state--continue to exist4 ,when we speak of the accord established among the railway companies1 we expect them1 the worshippers of the bourgeois ,state1 to say to us3 ,do you not see how the railway companies oppress and ill-use their employees and the travellers6 ,the only way is1 that the ,state should intervene to protect the workers and the public6 ,but have we not said and repeated over and over again1 that as long as there are capitalists1 these abuses of power will be perpetuated8 ,it is precisely the ,state1 the would-be benefactor1 that has given to the companies that monopoly and those rights upon us which they possess to-day4 ,has it not created concessions1 guarantees8 ,has it not sent its soldiers against railwaymen on strike8 ,and during the first trials 7quite lately we saw it still in ,russia71 has it not extended the privilege of the railway magnates as far as to forbid the ,press to mention railway accidents1 so as not to depreciate the shares it guaranteed8 ,has it not favoured the monopoly which has anointed the ,vanderbilts and the ,polyakoffs1 the directors of the ,p4,l4,m41 the ,c4,p4,r41 the ,st4 ,gothard1 the kings of our days8 ,therefore1 if we give as an example the tacit agreement come to between railway companies1 it is by no means as an ideal of economical management1 nor even an ideal of technical organization4 ,it is to show that if capitalists1 without any other aim than that of augmenting their dividends at other people's expense1 can exploit railways successfully without establishing an ,international ,department1--societies of working men will be able to do it just as well1 and even better1 without nominating a ,ministry of ,european railways4 ,another objection is raised that is more serious at first sight4 ,we may be told that the agreement we speak of is not perfectly free1 that the large companies lay down the law to the small ones4 ,it might be mentioned1 for example1 that a certain rich ,german company1 supported by the ,state1 compel travellers who go from ,berlin to ,ble to pass via ,cologne and ,frankfort1 instead of taking the ,leipzig route2 or that such a company carries goods a hundred and thirty miles in a roundabout way 7on a long distance7 to favour its influential shareholders1 and thus ruins the secondary lines4 ,in the ,united ,states travellers and goods are sometimes compelled to travel impossibly circuitous routes so that dollars may flow into the pocket of a ,vanderbilt4 ,our answer will be the same3 ,as long as ,capital exists1 the ,greater ,capital will oppress the lesser4 ,but oppression does not result from ,capital only4 ,it is also owing to the support given them by the ,state1 to monopoly created by the ,state in their favour1 that the large companies oppress the small ones4 ,the early ,english and ,french ,socialists have shown long since how ,english legislation did all in its power to ruin the small industries1 drive the peasant to poverty1 and deliver over to wealthy industrial employers battalions of men1 compelled to work for no matter what salary4 ,railway legislation did exactly the same4 ,strategic lines1 subsidized lines1 companies which received the ,international ,mail monopoly1 everything was brought into play to forward the interests of wealthy financiers4 ,when ,rothschild1 creditor to all ,european ,states1 puts capital in a railway1 his faithful subjects1 the ministers1 will do their best to make him earn more4 ,in the ,united ,states1 in the ,democracy that authoritarians hold up to us as an ideal1 the most scandalous fraudulency has crept into everything that concerns railroads4 ,thus1 if a company ruins its competitors by cheap fares1 it is often enabled to do so because it is reimbursed by land given to it by the ,state for a gratuity4 ,documents recently published concerning the ,american wheat trade have fully shown up the part played by the ,state in the exploitation of the weak by the strong4 ,here1 too1 the power of accumulated capital has increased tenfold and a hundredfold by means of ,state help4 ,so that1 when we see syndicates of railway companies 7a product of free agreement7 succeeding in protecting their small companies against big ones1 we are astonished at the intrinsic force of free agreement that can hold its own against all-powerful ,capital favoured by the ,state4 ,it is a fact that little companies exist1 in spite of the ,state's partiality4 ,if in ,france1 land of centralization1 we only see five or six large companies1 there are more than a hundred and ten in ,great ,britain who agree remarkably well1 and who are certainly better organized for the rapid transit of travellers and goods than the ,french and ,german companies4 ,moreover1 that is not the question4 ,large ,capital1 favoured by the ,state1 can always1 if it be to its advantage1 crush the lesser one4 ,what is of importance to us is this3 ,the agreement between hundreds of capitalist companies to whom the railways of ,europe belong1 was established without intervention of a central government to lay down the law to the divers societies2 it has subsisted by means of congresses composed of delegates1 who discuss among themselves1 and submit proposals1 not laws1 to their constituents4 ,it is a new principle that differs completely from all governmental principle1 monarchical or republican1 absolute or parliamentarian4 ,it is an innovation that has been timidly introduced into the customs of ,europe1 but has come to stay4 ,,iii ,how often have we not read in the writings of ,state-loving ,socialists3 ,who1 then1 will undertake the regulation of canal traffic in the future society8 ,should it enter the mind of one of your ,anarchist 'comrades' to put his barge across a canal and obstruct thousands of boats1 who will force him to reason8 ,let us confess the supposition to be somewhat fanciful4 ,still1 it might be said1 for instance3 ,should a certain commune1 or a group of communes1 want to make their barges pass before others1 they might perhaps block the canal in order to carry stones1 while wheat1 needed in another commune1 would have to stand by4 ,who1 then1 would regulate the traffic if not the ,government8 ,but real life has again demonstrated that ,government can be very well dispensed with here as elsewhere4 ,free agreement1 free organization1 replace that noxious and costly system1 and do better4 ,we know what canals mean to ,holland4 ,they are its highways4 ,we also know how much traffic there is on the canals4 ,what is carried along our highroads and railroads is transported on canal-boats in ,holland4 ,there you could find cause to fight1 in order to make your boats pass before others4 ,there the ,government might really interfere to keep the traffic in order4 ,yet it is not so4 ,the ,dutch settled matters in a more practical way1 long ago1 by founding guilds1 or syndicates of boatmen4 ,these were free associations sprung from the very needs of navigation4 ,the right of way for the boats was adjusted by the order of inscription in a navigation register2 they had to follow one another in turn4 ,nobody was allowed to get ahead of the others under pain of being excluded from the guild4 ,none could station more than a certain number of days along the quay2 and if the owner found no goods to carry during that time1 so much the worse for him2 he had to depart with his empty barge to leave room for newcomers4 ,obstruction was thus avoided1 even though the competition between the private owners of the boats continued to exist4 ,were the latter suppressed1 the agreement would have been only the more cordial4 ,it is unnecessary to add that the shipowners could adhere or not to the syndicate4 ,that was their business1 but most of them elected to join it4 ,moreover1 these syndicates offered such great advantages that they spread also along the ,rhine1 the ,weser1 the ,oder1 and as far as ,berlin4 ,the boatmen did not wait for a great ,bismarck to annex ,holland to ,germany1 and to appoint an ,ober ,haupt ,general ,staats ,canal ,navigation's ,rath 7,supreme ,head ,councillor of the ,general ,states ,canal ,navigation71 with a number of gold stripes on his sleeves1 corresponding to the length of the title4 ,they preferred coming to an international understanding4 ,besides1 a number of shipowners1 whose sailing-vessels ply between ,germany and ,scandinavia1 as well as ,russia1 have also joined these syndicates1 in order to regulate traffic in the ,baltic1 and to bring about a certain harmony in the chass-crois of vessels4 ,these associations have sprung up freely1 recruiting volunteer adherents1 and have nought in common with governments4 ,it is1 however1 more than probable that here too greater capital oppresses lesser4 ,maybe the syndicate has also a tendency to become a monopoly1 especially where it receives the precious patronage of the ,state that surely did not fail to interfere with it4 ,let us not forget either1 that these syndicates represent associations whose members have only private interests at stake1 and that if at the same time each shipowner were compelled--by the socializing of production1 consumption1 and exchange--to belong to federated ,communes1 or to a hundred other associations for the satisfying of his needs1 things would have a different aspect4 ,a group of shipowners1 powerful on sea1 would feel weak on land1 and they would be obliged to lessen their claims in order to come to terms with railways1 factories1 and other groups4 ,at any rate1 without discussing the future1 here is another spontaneous association that has dispensed with ,government4 ,let us quote more examples4 ,as we are talking of ships and boats1 let us mention one of the most splendid organizations that the nineteenth century has brought forth1 one of those we may with right be proud of--the ,english ,lifeboat ,association4 ,it is known that every year more than a thousand ships are wrecked on the shores of ,england4 ,at sea a good ship seldom fears a storm4 ,it is near the coasts that danger threatens--rough seas that shatter her stern-post1 squalls that carry off her masts and sails1 currents that render her unmanageable1 reefs and sand banks on which she runs aground4 ,even in olden times1 when it was a custom among inhabitants of the coasts to light fires in order to attract vessels on to reefs1 in order to plunder their cargoes1 they always strove to save the crew4 ,seeing a ship in distress1 they launched their boats and went to the rescue of shipwrecked sailors1 only too often finding a watery grave themselves4 ,every hamlet along the sea shore has its legends of heroism1 displayed by woman as well as by man1 to save crews in distress4 ,no doubt the ,state and men of science have done something to diminish the number of casualties4 ,lighthouses1 signals1 charts1 meteorological warnings have diminished them greatly1 but there remains a thousand ships and several thousand human lives to be saved every year4 ,to this end a few men of goodwill put their shoulders to the wheel4 ,being good sailors and navigators themselves1 they invented a lifeboat that could weather a storm without being torn to pieces or capsizing1 and they set to work to interest the public in their venture1 to collect the necessary funds for constructing boats1 and for stationing them along the coasts1 wherever they could be of use4 ,these men1 not being ,jacobins1 did not turn to the ,government4 ,they understood that to bring their enterprise to a successful issue they must have the co-operation1 the enthusiasm1 the local knowledge1 and especially the self-sacrifice of the local sailors4 ,they also understood that to find men who at the first signal would launch their boat at night1 in a chaos of waves1 not suffering themselves to be deterred by darkness or breakers1 and struggling five1 six1 ten hours against the tide before reaching a vessel in distress--men ready to risk their lives to save those of others--there must be a feeling of solidarity1 a spirit of sacrifice not to be bought with galloon4 ,it was therefore a perfectly spontaneous movement1 sprung from agreement and individual initiative4 ,hundreds of local groups arose along the coasts4 ,the initiators had the common senses not to pose as masters4 ,they looked for sagacity in the fishermen's hamlets1 and when a rich man sent #a1jjj to a village on the coast to erect a lifeboat station1 and his offer was accepted1 he left the choice of a site to the local fishermen and sailors4 ,models of new boats were not submitted to the ,admiralty4 ,we read in a ,report of the ,association3 ,as it is of importance that life-boatmen should have full confidence in the vessel they man1 the ,committee will make a point of constructing and equipping the boats according to the life-boatmen's expressed wish4 ,in consequence every year brings with it new improvements4 ,the work is wholly conducted by volunteers organizing in committees and local groups2 by mutual aid and agreement6--,oh1 ,anarchists6 ,moreover1 they ask nothing of the ratepayers1 and in a year they may receive #dj1jjj in spontaneous subscriptions4 ,as to the results1 here they are3 ,in #ahia the ,association possessed #bic lifeboats4 ,the same year it saved #fja shipwrecked sailors and #cc vessels4 ,since its foundation it has saved #cb1fga human beings4 ,in #ahhf1 three lifeboats with all their men having perished at sea1 hundreds of new volunteers entered their names1 organized themselves into local groups1 and the agitation resulted in the construction of twenty additional boats4 ,as we proceed1 let us note that every year the ,association sends to the fishermen and sailors excellent barometers at a price three times less than their sale price in private shops4 ,it propagates meteorological knowledge1 and warns the parties concerned of the sudden changes of weather predicted by men of science4 ,let us repeat that these hundreds of committees and local groups are not organized hierarchically1 and are composed exclusively of volunteers1 lifeboatmen1 and people interested in the work4 ,the ,central ,committee1 which is more of a centre for correspondence1 in no wise interferes4 ,it is true that when a voting on some question of education or local taxation takes place in a district1 these committees of the ,national ,lifeboat ,association do not1 as such1 take part in the deliberations--a modesty1 which unfortunately the members of elected bodies do not imitate4 ,but1 on the other hand1 these brave men do not allow those who have never faced a storm to legislate for them about saving life4 ,at the first signal of distress they rush to their boats1 and go ahead4 ,there are no embroidered uniforms1 but much goodwill4 ,let us take another society of the same kind1 that of the ,red ,cross4 ,the name matters little2 let us examine it4 ,imagine somebody saying fifty years ago3 ,the ,state1 capable as it is of massacring twenty thousand men in a day1 and of wounding fifty thousand more1 is incapable of helping its own victims2 consequently1 as long as war exists private initiative must intervene1 and men of goodwill must organize internationally for this humane work6 ,what mockery would not have met the man who would have dared to speak thus6 ,to begin with1 he would have been called a ,utopian1 and if that did not silence him he would have been told3 ,what nonsense6 ,your volunteers will be found wanting precisely where they are most needed1 your volunteer hospitals will be centralized in a safe place1 while everything will be wanting in the ambulances4 ,utopians like you forget the national rivalries which will cause the poor soldiers to die without any help4 ,such disheartening remarks would have only been equalled by the number of speakers4 ,who of us has not heard men hold forth in this strain8 ,now we know what happened4 ,red ,cross societies organized themselves freely1 everywhere1 in all countries1 in thousands of localities2 and when the war of #ahgj-a broke out1 the volunteers set to work4 ,men and women offered their services4 ,thousands of hospitals and ambulances were organized2 trains were started carrying ambulances1 provisions1 linen1 and medicaments for the wounded4 ,the ,english committees sent entire convoys of food1 clothing1 tools1 grain to sow1 beasts of draught1 even steam-ploughs with their attendants to help in the tillage of departments devastated by the war6 ,only consult ,la ,croix ,rouge1 by ,gustave ,moynier1 and you will be really struck by the immensity of the work performed4 ,as to the prophets ever ready to deny other men's courage1 good sense1 and intelligence1 and believing themselves to be the only ones capable of ruling the world with a rod1 none of their predictions were realized4 ,the devotion of the ,red ,cross volunteers was beyond all praise4 ,they were only too eager to occupy the most dangerous posts2 and whereas the salaried doctors of the ,napoleonic ,state fled with their staff when the ,prussians approached1 the ,red ,cross volunteers continued their work under fire1 enduring the brutalities of ,bismarck's and ,napoleon's officers1 lavishing their care on the wounded of all nationalities4 ,dutch1 ,italians1 ,swedes1 ,belgians1 even ,japanese and ,chinese agreed remarkably well4 ,they distributed their hospitals and their ambulances according to the needs of the occasion4 ,they vied with one another especially in the hygiene of their hospitals4 ,and there is many a ,frenchman who still speaks with deep gratitude of the tender care he received from the ,dutch or ,german volunteers in the ,red ,cross ambulances4 ,but what is this to an authoritarian8 ,his ideal is the regiment doctor1 salaried by the ,state4 ,what does he care for the ,red ,cross and its hygienic hospitals1 if the nurses be not functionaries6 ,here is then an organization1 sprung up but yesterday1 and which reckons its members by hundreds of thousands2 possesses ambulances1 hospital trains1 elaborates new processes for treating wounds1 and so on1 and is due to the spontaneous initiative of a few devoted men4 ,perhaps we shall be told that the ,state has something to do with this organization4 ,yes1 ,states have laid hands on it to seize it4 ,the directing committees are presided over by those whom flunkeys call princes of the blood4 ,emperors and queens lavishly patronize the national committees4 ,but it is not to this patronage that the success of the organization is due4 ,it is to the thousand local committees of each nation2 to the activity of individuals1 to the devotion of all those who try to help the victims of war4 ,and this devotion would be far greater if the ,state did not meddle with it4 ,in any case1 it was not by the order of an ,international ,directing ,committee that ,englishmen and ,japanese1 ,swedes and ,chinamen1 bestirred themselves to send help to the wounded in #ahga4 ,it was not by order of an international ministry that hospitals rose on the invaded territory and that ambulances were carried on to the battlefield4 ,it was by the initiative of volunteers from each country4 ,once on the spot1 they did not get hold of one another by the hair as was foreseen by the ,jacobinists of all nations2 they all set to work without distinction of nationality4 ,we may regret that such great efforts should be put to the service of so bad a cause1 and we may ask ourselves like the poet's child3 ,why inflict wounds if you are to heal them afterwards8 ,in striving to destroy the power of capitalist and middle-class authority1 we work to put an end to the massacres called wars1 and we would far rather see the ,red ,cross volunteers put forth their activity to bring about 7with us7 the suppression of war2 but we had to mention this immense organization as another illustration of results produced by free agreement and free aid4 ,if we wished to multiply examples taken from the art of exterminating men we should never end4 ,suffice to quote the numerous societies to which the ,german army owes its force1 that does not only depend on discipline1 as is generally believed4 ,i mean the societies whose aim is to propagate military knowledge4 ,at one of the last congresses of the ,military ,alliance 7,kriegerbund71 delegates from #b1deb federated societies1 comprising #aea1gab members1 were present4 ,but there are besides very numerous ,shooting1 ,military ,games1 ,strategical ,games1 ,topographical ,studies ,societies--these are the workshops in which the technical knowledge of the ,german army is developed1 not in regimental schools4 ,it is a formidable network of all kinds of societies1 including military men and civilians1 geographers and gymnasts1 sportsmen and technologists1 which rise up spontaneously1 organize1 federate1 discuss1 and explore the country4 ,it is these voluntary and free associations that go to make the real backbone of the ,german army4 ,their aim is execrable4 ,it is the maintenance of the ,empire4 ,but what concerns us1 is to point out that1 in spite of military organization being the ,great ,mission of the ,state1 success in this branch is the more certain the more it is left to the free agreement of groups and to the free initiative of individuals4 ,even in matters pertaining to war1 free agreement is thus appealed to2 and to further prove our assertion let us mention the ,volunteer ,topographers' ,corps of ,switzerland who study in detail the mountain passages1 the ,aeroplane ,corps of ,france1 the three hundred thousand ,british volunteers1 the ,british ,national ,artillery ,association1 and the ,society1 now in course of organization1 for the defence of ,england's coasts1 as well as the appeals made to the commercial fleet1 the ,bicyclists' ,corps1 and the new organizations of private motorcars and steam launches4 ,everywhere the ,state is abdicating and abandoning its holy functions to private individuals4 ,everywhere free organization trespasses on its domain4 ,and yet1 the facts we have quoted give us only a glimpse of what free government has in store for us in the future when there will be no more ,state4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,objections ,i ,let us now examine the principal objections put forth against ,communism4 ,most of them are evidently caused by a simple misunderstanding1 yet they raise important questions and merit our attention4 ,it is not for us to answer the objections raised by authoritarian ,communism--we ourselves hold with them4 ,civilized nations have suffered too much in the long1 hard struggle for the emancipation of the individual1 to disown their past work and to tolerate a ,government that would make itself felt in the smallest details of a citizen's life1 even if that ,government had no other aim than the good of the community4 ,should an authoritarian ,socialist society ever succeed in establishing itself1 it could not last2 general discontent would soon force it to break up1 or to reorganize itself on principles of liberty4 ,it is of an ,anarchist-,communist society we are about to speak1 a society that recognizes the absolute liberty of the individual1 that does not admit of any authority1 and makes use of no compulsion to drive men to work4 ,limiting our studies to the economic side of the question1 let us see if such a society1 composed of men as they are to-day1 neither better nor worse1 neither more nor less industrious1 would have a chance of successful development4 ,the objection is known4 ,if the existence of each is guaranteed1 and if the necessity of earning wages does not compel men to work1 nobody will work4 ,every man will lay the burden of his work on another if he is not forced to do it himself4 ,let us first note the incredible levity with which this objection is raised1 without even realizing that the real question raised by this objection is merely to know1 on the one hand1 whether you effectively obtain by wage-work1 the results that are said to be obtained1 and1 on the other hand1 whether voluntary work is not already now more productive than work stimulated by wages4 ,a question which1 to be dealt with properly1 would require a serious study4 ,but whereas in exact sciences men give their opinion on subjects infinitely less important and less complicated after serious research1 after carefully collecting and analyzing facts--on this question they will pronounce judgment without appeal1 resting satisfied with any one particular event1 such as1 for example1 the want of success of some communist association in ,america4 ,they act like the barrister who does not see in the counsel for the opposite side a representative of a cause1 or an opinion contrary to his own1 but a simple nuisance1--an adversary in an oratorical debate2 and if he be lucky enough to find a repartee1 does not otherwise care to justify his cause4 ,therefore the study of this essential basis of all ,political ,economy1 the study of the most favourable conditions for giving society the greatest amount of useful products with the least waste of human energy1 does not advance4 ,people either limit themselves to repeating commonplace assertions1 or else they pretend ignorance of our assertions4 ,what is most striking in this levity is that even in capitalist ,political ,economy you already find a few writers compelled by facts to doubt the axiom put forth by the founders of their science1 that the threat of hunger is man's best stimulant for productive work4 ,they begin to perceive that in production a certain collective element is introduced1 which has been too much neglected up till now1 and which might be more important than personal gain4 ,the inferior quality of wage-work1 the terrible waste of human energy in modern agricultural and industrial labour1 the ever-growing quantity of pleasure-seekers1 who shift their burden on to others' shoulders1 the absence of a certain animation in production that is becoming more and more apparent2 all this is beginning to preoccupy the economists of the classical school4 ,some of them ask themselves if they have not got on the wrong track3 if the imaginary evil being1 that was supposed to be tempted exclusively by a bait of lucre or wages1 really exists4 ,this heresy penetrates even into universities2 it is found in books of orthodox economy4 ,but this does not prevent a great many ,socialist reformers from remaining partisans of individual remuneration1 and defending the old citadel of wagedom1 notwithstanding that it is being delivered over stone by stone to the assailants by its former defenders4 ,they fear that without compulsion the masses will not work4 ,but during our own lifetime1 have we not heard the same fears expressed twice8 ,once1 by the anti-abolitionists in ,america before the emancipation of the ,negroes1 and1 for a second time1 by the ,russian nobility before the liberation of the serfs8 ,without the whip the ,negro will not work1 said the anti-abolitionist4 ,free from their master's supervision the serfs will leave the fields uncultivated1 said the ,russian serf-owners4 ,it was the refrain of the ,french noblemen in #aghi1 the refrain of the ,middle ,ages1 a refrain as old as the world1 and we shall hear it every time there is a question of sweeping away an injustice4 ,and each time actual facts give it the lie4 ,the liberated peasant of #agib ploughed with an eager energy1 unknown to his ancestors2 the emancipated ,negro works more than his fathers2 and the ,russian peasant1 after having honoured the honeymoon of his emancipation by celebrating ,fridays as well as ,sundays1 has taken up work with an eagerness proportionate to the completeness of his liberation4 ,there1 where the soil is his1 he works desperately2 that is the exact word for it4 ,the anti-abolitionist refrain can be of value to slave-owners2 as to the slaves themselves1 they know what it is worth1 as they know its motive4 ,moreover1 who but the economists themselves taught us that while a wage-earner's work is very often indifferent1 an intense and productive work is only obtained from a man who sees his wealth increase in proportion to his efforts8 ,all hymns sung in honour of private property can be reduced to this axiom4 ,for it is remarkable that when economists1 wishing to celebrate the blessings of property1 show us how an unproductive1 marshy1 or stony soil is clothed with rich harvests when cultivated by the peasant proprietor1 they in nowise prove their thesis in favour of private property4 ,by admitting that the only guarantee not to be robbed of the fruits of your labour is to possess the instruments of labour--which is true--the economists only prove that man really produces most when he works in freedom1 when he has a certain choice in his occupations1 when he has no overseer to impede him1 and lastly1 when he sees his work bringing in a profit to him and to others who work like him1 but bringing in little to idlers4 ,nothing else can be deducted from their argumentation1 and this is what we maintain ourselves4 ,as to the form of possession of the instruments of labour1 the economists only mention it indirectly in their demonstration1 as a guarantee to the cultivator that he shall not be robbed of the profits of his yield nor of his improvements4 ,besides1 in support of their thesis in favour of private property against all other forms of possession1 should not the economists demonstrate that under the form of communal property land never produces such rich harvests as when the possession is private8 ,but this they could not prove2 in fact1 it is the contrary that has been observed4 ,take for example a commune in the canton of ,vaud1 in the winter time1 when all the men of the village go to fell wood in the forest1 which belongs to them all4 ,it is precisely during these festivals of labour that the greatest ardour for work and the most considerable display of human energy are apparent4 ,no salaried labour1 no effort of a private owner can bear comparison with it4 ,or let us take a ,russian village1 when all its inhabitants mow a field belonging to the commune1 or farmed by it4 ,there you will see what man can produce when he works in common for communal production4 ,comrades vie with one another in cutting the widest swathe1 women bestir themselves in their wake so as not to be distanced by the mowers4 ,it is a festival of labour1 in which a hundred people accomplish in a few hours a work that would not have been finished in a few days had they worked separately4 ,what a miserable contrast compared to them is offered by the work of the isolated owner6 ,in fact1 we might quote scores of examples among the pioneers of ,america1 in ,swiss1 ,german1 ,russian1 and in certain ,french villages2 or the work done in ,russia by gangs 7artels7 of masons1 carpenters1 boatmen1 fishermen1 etc41 who undertake a task and divide the produce or the remuneration among themselves without it passing through an intermediary of middlemen2 or else the amount of work ,i saw performed in ,english ship-yards when the remuneration was paid on the same principle4 ,we could also mention the great communal hunts of nomadic tribes1 and an infinite number of successful collective enterprises4 ,and in every case we could show the unquestionable superiority of communal work compared to that of the wage-earner or the isolated private owner4 ,well-being--that is to say1 the satisfaction of physical1 artistic1 and moral needs1 has always been the most powerful stimulant to work4 ,and where a hireling hardly succeeds to produce the bare necessities with difficulty1 a free worker1 who sees ease and luxury increasing for him and for others in proportion to his efforts1 spends infinitely far more energy and intelligence1 and obtains products in a far greater abundance4 ,the one feels riveted to misery1 the other hopes for ease and luxury in the future4 ,in this lies the whole secret4 ,therefore a society aiming at the well-being of all1 and at the possibility of all enjoying life in all its manifestations1 will give voluntary work1 which will be infinitely superior and yield far more than work has produced up till now under the goad of slavery1 serfdom1 or wagedom4 ,,ii ,nowadays1 whoever can load on others his share of labour indispensable to existence does so1 and it is believed that it will always be so4 ,now1 work indispensable to existence is essentially manual4 ,we may be artists or scientists2 but none of us can do without things obtained by manual work--bread1 clothes1 roads1 ships1 light1 heat1 etc4 ,and1 moreover1 however highly artistic or however subtly metaphysical are our pleasures1 they all depend on manual labour4 ,and it is precisely this labour--the basis of life--that everyone tries to avoid4 ,we understand perfectly well that it must be so nowadays4 ,because1 to do manual work now1 means in reality to shut yourself up for ten or twelve hours a day in an unhealthy workshop1 and to remain chained to the same task for twenty or thirty years1 and maybe for your whole life4 ,it means to be doomed to a paltry wage1 to the uncertainty of the morrow1 to want of work1 often to destitution1 more often than not to death in a hospital1 after having worked forty years to feed1 clothe1 amuse1 and instruct others than yourself and your children4 ,it means to bear the stamp of inferiority all your life2 because1 whatever the politicians tell us1 the manual worker is always considered inferior to the brain worker1 and the one who has toiled ten hours in a workshop has not the time1 and still less the means1 to give himself the high delights of science and art1 nor even to prepare himself to appreciate them2 he must be content with the crumbs from the table of privileged persons4 ,we understand that under these conditions manual labour is considered a curse of fate4 ,we understand that all men have but one dream--that of emerging from1 or enabling their children to emerge from this inferior state2 to create for themselves an independent position1 which means what8--,to also live by other men's work6 ,as long as there will be a class of manual workers and a class of brain workers1 black hands and white hands1 it will be thus4 ,what interest1 in fact1 can this depressing work have for the worker1 when he knows that the fate awaiting him from the cradle to the grave will be to live in mediocrity1 poverty1 and insecurity of the morrow8 ,therefore1 when we see the immense majority of men take up their wretched task every morning1 we feel surprised at their perseverance1 at their zeal for work1 at the habit that enables them1 like machines blindly obeying an impetus given1 to lead this life of misery without hope for the morrow2 without foreseeing ever so vaguely that some day they1 or at least their children1 will be part of a humanity rich in all the treasures of a bountiful nature1 in all the enjoyments of knowledge1 scientific and artistic creation1 reserved to-day to a few privileged favourites4 ,it is precisely to put an end to this separation between manual and brain work that we want to abolish wagedom1 that we want the ,social ,revolution4 ,then work will no longer appear a curse of fate3 it will become what it should be--the free exercise of all the faculties of man4 ,moreover1 it is time to submit to a serious analysis this legend about superior work1 supposed to be obtained under the lash of wagedom4 ,it would be sufficient to visit1 not the model factory and workshop that we find now and again1 but a number of the ordinary factories1 to conceive the immense waste of human energy that characterizes modern industry4 ,for one factory more or less rationally organized1 there are a hundred or more which waste man's labour1 without any more substantial motive than that of perhaps bringing in a few pounds more per day to the employer4 ,here you see youths from twenty to twenty-five years of age1 sitting all day long on a bench1 their chests sunken in1 feverishly shaking their heads and bodies1 to tie1 with the speed of conjurers1 the two ends of worthless scraps of cotton1 the refuse of the lace-looms4 ,what progeny will these trembling and rickety bodies bequeath to their country8 ,but they occupy so little room in the factory1 and each of them brings me in sixpence net every day1 will say the employer4 ,in an immense ,london factory we saw girls1 bald at seventeen from carrying trays of matches on their heads from one room to another1 when the simplest machine could wheel the matches to their tables4 ,but ,it costs so little1 the work of women who have no special trade6 ,why should we use a machine8 ,when these can do no more1 they will be easily replaced1 there are so many of them in the street6 ,on the steps of a mansion on an icy night you will find a bare-footed child asleep1 with its bundle of papers in its arms 444 child-labour costs so little that it may be well employed1 every evening1 to sell tenpenny-worth of papers1 of which the poor boy will receive a penny1 or a penny halfpenny4 ,and continually in all big cities you may see robust men tramping about who have been out of work for months1 while their daughters grow pale in the overheated vapours of the workshops for dressing stuffs1 and their sons are filling blacking-pots by hand1 or spend those years during which they ought to have learned a trade1 in carrying about baskets for a greengrocer1 and at the age of eighteen or twenty become regular unemployed4 ,and so it is everywhere1 from ,san ,francisco to ,moscow1 and from ,naples to ,stockholm4 ,the waste of human energy is the distinguishing and predominant trait of our industry1 not to mention trade where it attains still more colossal proportions4 ,what a sad satire is that name1 ,political ,economy1 given to the science of waste and energy under the system of wagedom6 ,this is not all4 ,if you speak to the director of a well-organized factory1 he will naively explain to you that it is difficult nowadays to find a skilful1 vigorous1 and energetic workman1 who works with a will4 ,should such a man present himself among the twenty or thirty who call every ,monday asking us for work1 he is sure to be received1 even if we are reducing the number of our hands4 ,we recognize him at the first glance1 and he is always accepted1 even though we have to get rid of an older and less active worker the next day4 ,and the one who has just received notice to quit1 and all those who will receive it to-morrow1 go to reinforce that immense reserve-army of capital--workmen out of work--who are only called to the loom or the bench when there is pressure of work1 or to oppose strikers4 ,and those others--the average workers who are sent away by the better-class factories as soon as business is slackened8 ,they also join the formidable army of aged and indifferent workers who continually circulate among the second-class factories--those which barely cover their expenses and make their way in the world by trickery and snares laid for the buyer1 and especially for the consumer in distant countries4 ,and if you talk to the workmen themselves1 you will soon learn that the rule in such factories is--never to do your best4 ,shoddy pay--shoddy work6 this is the advice which the working man receives from his comrades upon entering such a factory4 ,for the workers know that if in a moment of generosity they give way to the entreaties of an employer and consent to intensify the work in order to carry out a pressing order1 this nervous work will be exacted in the future as a rule in the scale of wages4 ,therefore in all such factories they prefer never to produce as much as they can4 ,in certain industries production is limited so as to keep up high prices1 and sometimes the pass-word1 ,go-canny1 is given1 which signifies1 ,bad work for bad pay6 ,wage-work is serf-work2 it cannot1 it must not1 produce all that it could produce4 ,and it is high time to disbelieve the legend which represents wagedom as the best incentive to productive work4 ,if industry nowadays brings in a hundred times more than it did in the days of our grandfathers1 it is due to the sudden awakening of physical and chemical sciences towards the end of last century2 not to the capitalist organization of wagedom1 but in spite of that organization4 ,,iii ,those who have seriously studied the question do not deny any of the advantages of ,communism1 on condition1 be it well understood1 that ,communism be perfectly free1 that is to say1 ,anarchist4 ,they recognize that work paid with money1 even disguised under the name of labour cheques1 to ,workers' associations governed by the ,state1 would keep up the characteristics of wagedom and would retain its disadvantages4 ,they agree that the whole system would soon suffer from it1 even if ,society came into possession of the instruments of production4 ,and they admit that1 thanks to an integral complete education given to all children1 to the laborious habits of civilized societies1 with the liberty of choosing and varying their occupations and the attractions of work done by equals for the well-being of all1 a ,communist society would not be wanting in producers who would soon make the fertility of the soil triple and tenfold1 and give a new impulse to industry4 ,this our opponents agree to4 ,but the danger1 they say1 will come from that minority of loafers who will not work1 and will not have regular habits1 in spite of the excellent conditions that would make work pleasant4 ,to-day the prospect of hunger compels the most refractory to move along with the others4 ,the one who does not arrive in time is dismissed4 ,but one black sheep suffices to contaminate the whole flock1 and two or three sluggish or refractory workmen would lead the others astray and bring a spirit of disorder and rebellion into the workshop that would make work impossible2 so that in the end we should have to return to a system of compulsion that would force such ringleaders back into the ranks4 ,and then1--,is not the system of wages1 paid in proportion to work performed1 the only one that enables compulsion to be employed1 without hurting the feelings of independence of the worker8 ,all other means would imply the continual intervention of an authority that would be repugnant to free men4 ,this1 we believe1 is the objection fairly stated4 ,to begin with1 such an objection belongs to the category of arguments which try to justify the ,state1 the ,penal ,law1 the ,judge1 and the ,gaoler4 ,as there are people1 a feeble minority1 who will not submit to social customs1 the authoritarians say1 we must maintain magistrates1 tribunals and prisons1 although these institutions become a source of new evils of all kinds4 ,therefore we can only repeat what we have so often said concerning authority in general3 ,to avoid a possible evil you have recourse to means which in themselves are a greater evil1 and become the source of those same abuses that you wish to remedy4 ,for1 do not forget that it is wagedom1 the impossibility of living otherwise than by selling your labour1 which has created the present ,capitalist system1 whose vices you begin to recognize4 ,besides1 this way of reasoning is merely a sophistical justification of the evils of the present system4 ,wagedom was not instituted to remove the disadvantages of ,communism2 its origin1 like that of the ,state and private ownership1 is to be found elsewhere4 ,it is born of slavery and serfdom imposed by force1 and only wears a more modern garb4 ,thus the argument in favour of wagedom is as valueless as those by which they seek to apologize for private property and the ,state4 ,we are1 nevertheless1 going to examine the objection1 and see if there is any truth in it4 ,first of all1--,is it not evident that if a society1 founded on the principle of free work1 were really menaced by loafers1 it could protect itself without the authoritarian organization we have nowadays1 and without having recourse to wagedom8 ,let us take a group of volunteers1 combining for some particular enterprise4 ,having its success at heart1 they all work with a will1 save one of the associates1 who is frequently absent from his post4 ,must they on his account dissolve the group1 elect a president to impose fines1 and work out a code of penalties8 ,it is evident that neither the one nor the other will be done1 but that some day the comrade who imperils their enterprise will be told3 ,friend1 we should like to work with you2 but as you are often absent from your post1 and you do your work negligently1 we must part4 ,go and find other comrades who will put up with your indifference6 ,this way is so natural that it is practiced everywhere1 even nowadays1 in all industries1 in competition with all possible systems of fines1 docking of wages1 supervision1 etc42 a workman may enter the factory at the appointed time1 but if he does his work badly1 if he hinders his comrades by his laziness or other defects1 if he is quarrelsome1 there is an end of it2 he is compelled to leave the workshop4 ,authoritarians pretend that it is the almighty employer and his overseers who maintain regularity and quality of work in factories4 ,in reality1 in every somewhat complicated enterprise1 in which the goods produced pass through many hands before being finished1 it is the factory itself1 the workmen as a unity1 who see to the good quality of the work4 ,therefore the best factories of ,british private industry have few overseers1 far less on an average than the ,french factories1 and less than the ,british ,state factories4 ,a certain standard of public morals is maintained in the same way4 ,authoritarians say it is due to rural guards1 judges1 and policemen1 whereas in reality it is maintained in spite of judges1 policemen1 and rural guards4 ,many are the laws producing criminals6 was said long ago4 ,not only in industrial workshops do things go on in this way2 it happens everywhere1 every day1 on a scale that only bookworms have as yet no notion of4 ,when a railway company1 federated with other companies1 fails to fulfil its engagements1 when its trains are late and goods lie neglected at the stations1 the other companies threaten to cancel the contract1 and that threat usually suffices4 ,it is generally believed1 at any rate it is taught in ,state-approved schools1 that commerce only keeps to its engagements from fear of lawsuits4 ,nothing of the sort2 nine times in ten the trader who has not kept his word will not appear before a judge4 ,there1 where trade is very active1 as in ,london1 the sole fact of having driven a creditor to bring a lawsuit suffices for the immense majority of merchants to refuse for good to have any dealings with a man who has compelled one of them to go to law4 ,this being so1 why should means that are used to-day among workers in the workshop1 traders in the trade1 and railway companies in the organization of transport1 not be made use of in a society based on voluntary work8 ,take1 for example1 an association stipulating that each of its members should carry out the following contract3 ,we undertake to give you the use of our houses1 stores1 streets1 means of transport1 schools1 museums1 etc41 on condition that1 from twenty to forty-five or fifty years of age1 you consecrate four or five hours a day to some work recognized as necessary to existence4 ,choose yourself the producing groups which you wish to join1 or organize a new group1 provided that it will undertake to produce necessaries4 ,and as for the remainder of your time1 combine together with whomsoever you like1 for recreation1 art1 or science1 according to the bent of your taste4 ,twelve or fifteen hundred hours of work a year1 in one of the groups producing food1 clothes1 or houses1 or employed in public sanitation1 transport1 and so on1 is all we ask of you4 ,for this amount of work we guarantee to you the free use of all that these groups produce1 or will produce4 ,but if not one1 of the thousands of groups of our federation1 will receive you1 whatever be their motive2 if you are absolutely incapable of producing anything useful1 or if you refuse to do it1 then live like an isolated man or like an invalid4 ,if we are rich enough to give you the necessaries of life we shall be delighted to give them to you4 ,you are a man1 and you have the right to live4 ,but as you wish to live under special conditions1 and leave the ranks1 it is more than probable that you will suffer for it in your daily relations with other citizens4 ,you will be looked upon as a ghost of bourgeois society1 unless some friends of yours1 discovering you to be a talent1 kindly free you from all moral obligation towards society by doing all the necessary work for you4 ,and finally1 if it does not please you1 go and look for other conditions elsewhere in the wide world1 or else seek adherents and organize with them on novel principles4 ,we prefer our own4 ,this is what could be done in a communal society in order to turn away sluggards if they became too numerous4 ,,iv ,we very much doubt that we need fear this contingency in a society really based on the entire freedom of the individual4 ,in fact1 in spite of the premium on idleness offered by the private ownership of capital1 the really lazy man is comparatively rare1 unless his laziness be due to illness4 ,among workmen it is often said that the bourgeois are idlers4 ,there are certainly enough of them1 but they1 too1 are the exception4 ,on the contrary1 in every industrial enterprise1 you are sure to find one or more bourgeois who work very hard4 ,it is true that the majority of bourgeois profit by their privileged position to award themselves the least unpleasant tasks1 and that they work under hygienic conditions of air1 food1 etc41 which permits them to do their business without too much fatigue4 ,but these are precisely the conditions which we claim for all workers1 without exception4 ,it must also be said that if1 thanks to their privileged position1 rich people often perform absolutely useless or even harmful work in society1 nevertheless the ,ministers1 ,heads of ,departments1 factory owners1 traders1 bankers1 etc41 subject themselves for a number of hours every day to work which they find more or less tiresome1 all preferring their hours of leisure to this obligatory work4 ,and if in nine cases out of ten this work is a harmful work1 they find it none the less tiring for that4 ,but it is precisely because the middle class put forth a great energy1 even in doing harm 7knowingly or not7 and defending their privileged position1 that they have succeeded in defeating the landed nobility1 and that they continue to rule the masses4 ,if they were idlers1 they would long since have ceased to exist1 and would have disappeared like the aristocracy4 ,in a society that would expect only four or five hours a day of useful1 pleasant1 and hygienic work1 these same middle-class people would perform their task perfectly well1 and they certainly would not put up with the horrible conditions in which men toil nowadays without reforming them4 ,if a ,huxley spent only five hours in the sewers of ,london1 rest assured that he would have found the means of making them as sanitary as his physiological laboratory4 ,as to the laziness of the great majority of workers1 only philistine economists and philanthropists can utter such nonsense4 ,if you ask an intelligent manufacturer1 he will tell you that if workmen only put it into their heads to be lazy1 all factories would have to be closed1 for no measure of severity1 no system of spying would be of any use4 ,you should have seen the terror caused in #ahhg among ,british employers when a few agitators started preaching the go-canny theory--,bad pay1 bad work2 ,take it easy1 do not overwork yourselves1 and waste all you can4--,they demoralize the worker1 they want to kill our industry6 cried those same people who the day before inveighed against the immorality of the worker and the bad quality of his work4 ,but if the workers were what they are represented to be--namely1 the idler whom the employer is supposed continually to threaten with dismissal from the workshop--what would the word demoralization signify8 ,so when we speak of possible idlers1 we must well understand that it is a question of a small minority in society2 and before legislating for that minority1 would it not be wise to study the origin of that idleness8 ,whoever observes with an intelligent eye1 sees well enough that the child reputed lazy at school is often the one which simply does not understand1 because he is being badly taught4 ,very often1 too1 it is suffering from cerebral anmia1 caused by poverty and an anti-hygienic education4 ,a boy who is lazy at ,greek or ,latin would work admirably were he taught science1 especially if he were taught with the aid of manual labour4 ,a girl who is stupid at mathematics becomes the first mathematician of her class if she by chance meets somebody who can explain to her the elements of arithmetic which she did not understand4 ,and a workman1 lazy in the workshop1 cultivates his garden at dawn1 while gazing at the rising sun1 and will be at work again at nightfall1 when all nature goes to its rest4 ,somebody has said that dust is matter in the wrong place4 ,the same definition applies to nine-tenths of those called lazy4 ,they are people gone astray in a direction that does not answer to their temperament nor to their capacities4 ,in reading the biography of great men1 we are struck with the number of idlers among them4 ,they were lazy so long as they had not found the right path2 afterwards they became laborious to excess4 ,darwin1 ,stephenson1 and many others belonged to this category of idlers4 ,very often the idler is but a man to whom it is repugnant to spend all his life making the eighteenth part of a pin1 or the hundredth part of a watch1 while he feels he has exuberant energy which he would like to expend elsewhere4 ,often1 too1 he is a rebel who cannot submit to being fixed all his life to a work-bench in order to procure a thousand pleasures for his employer1 while knowing himself to be far the less stupid of the two1 and knowing his only fault to be that of having been born in a hovel instead of coming into the world in a castle4 ,lastly1 an immense number of idlers are idlers because they do not know well enough the trade by which they are compelled to earn their living4 ,seeing the imperfect thing they make with their own hands1 striving vainly to do better1 and perceiving that they never will succeed on account of the bad habits of work already acquired1 they begin to hate their trade1 and1 not knowing any other1 hate work in general4 ,thousands of workmen and artists who are failures suffer from this cause4 ,on the other hand1 he who since his youth has learned to play the piano well1 to handle the plane well1 the chisel1 the brush1 or the file1 so that he feels that what he does is beautiful1 will never give up the piano1 the chisel1 or the file4 ,he will find pleasure in his work which does not tire him1 so long as he is not overdriven4 ,under the one name1 idleness1 a series of results due to different causes have been grouped1 of which each one could be a source of good1 instead of being a source of evil to society4 ,like all questions concerning criminality and related to human faculties1 facts have been collected having nothing in common with one another4 ,people speak of laziness or crime1 without giving themselves the trouble to analyze the cause4 ,they are in a hurry to punish these faults without inquiring if the punishment itself does not contain a premium on laziness or crime4#i ,this is why a free society1 if it saw the number of idlers increasing in its midst1 would no doubt think of looking first for the cause of laziness1 in order to suppress it1 before having recourse to punishment4 ,when it is a case1 as we have already mentioned1 of simple bloodlessness1 then before stuffing the brain of a child with science1 nourish his system so as to produce blood1 strengthen him1 and1 that he shall not waste his time1 take him to the country or to the seaside2 there1 teach him in the open air1 not in books--geometry1 by measuring the distance to a spire1 or the height of a tree2 natural sciences1 while picking flowers and fishing in the sea2 physical science1 while building the boat he will go to fish in4 ,but for mercy's sake do not fill his brain with classical sentences and dead languages4 ,do not make an idler of him6444 ,or1 here is a child which has neither order nor regular habits4 ,let the children first inculcate order among themselves1 and later on1 the laboratory1 the workshop1 the work that will have to be done in a limited space1 with many tools about1 under the guidance of an intelligent teacher1 will teach them method4 ,but do not make disorderly beings out of them by your school1 whose only order is the symmetry of its benches1 and which--true image of the chaos in its teachings--will never inspire anybody with the love of harmony1 of consistency1 and method in work4 ,do not you see that by your methods of teaching1 framed by a ,ministry for eight million scholars1 who represent eight million different capacities1 you only impose a system good for mediocrities1 conceived by an average of mediocrities8 ,your school becomes a ,university of laziness1 as your prison is a ,university of crime4 ,make the school free1 abolish your ,university grades1 appeal to the volunteers of teaching2 begin that way1 instead of making laws against laziness which only serve to increase it4 ,give the workman who cannot condemn himself to make all his life a minute particle of some object1 who is stifled at his little tapping machine1 which he ends by loathing1 give him the chance of tilling the soil1 of felling trees in the forest1 sailing the seas in the teeth of a storm1 dashing through space on an engine1 but do not make an idler of him by forcing him all his life to attend to a small machine1 to plough the head of a screw1 or to drill the eye of a needle4 ,suppress the cause of idleness1 and you may take it for granted that few individuals will really hate work1 especially voluntary work1 and that there will be no need to manufacture a code of laws on their account4 ,,footnote3 #i ,kropotkin3 ,in ,russian and ,french ,prisons4 ,london1 #ahhg4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,the ,,collectivist ,,wages ,,system ,i ,in their plans for the reconstruction of society the collectivists commit1 in our opinion1 a twofold error4 ,while speaking of abolishing capitalist rule1 they intend nevertheless to retain two institutions which are the very basis of this rule--,representative ,government and the ,wages' ,system4 ,as regards so-called representative government1 we have often spoken about it4 ,it is absolutely incomprehensible to us that intelligent men--and such are not wanting in the collectivist party--can remain partisans of national or municipal parliaments after all the lessons history has given them--in ,france1 in ,england1 in ,germany1 or in the ,united ,states4 ,while we see parliamentary rule breaking up1 and from all sides criticism of this rule growing louder--not only of its results1 but also of its principles--how is it that the revolutionary socialists defend a system already condemned to die8 ,built up by the middle classes to hold their own against royalty1 sanctioning1 and1 at the same time strengthening1 their sway over the workers1 parliamentary rule is pre-eminently a middle-class rule4 ,the upholders of this system have never seriously maintained that a parliament or a municipal council represent a nation or a city4 ,the most intelligent among them know that this is impossible4 ,the middle classes have simply used the parliamentary system to raise a protecting barrier against the pretensions of royalty1 without giving the people liberty4 ,but gradually1 as the people become conscious of their real interests1 and the variety of their interests is growing1 the system can no longer work4 ,therefore democrats of all countries vainly imagine various palliatives4 ,the ,referendum is tried and found to be a failure2 proportional representation is spoken of1 the representation of minorities1 and other parliamentary ,utopias4 ,in a word1 they strive to find what is not to be found1 and after each new experiment they are bound to recognize that it was a failure2 so that confidence in ,representative ,government vanishes more and more4 ,it is the same with the ,wages' system2 because1 once the abolition of private property is proclaimed1 and the possession in common of all means of production is introduced1--how can the wages' system be maintained in any form8 ,this is1 nevertheless1 what collectivists are doing when they recommend the use of the labour-cheques as a mode of remuneration for labour accomplished for the great ,collectivist employer--the ,state4 ,it is easy to understand why the early ,english socialists1 since the time of ,robert ,owen1 came to the system of labour-cheques4 ,they simply tried to make ,capital and ,labour agree4 ,they repudiated the idea of laying hands on capitalist property by means of revolutionary measures4 ,it is also easy to understand why ,proudhon took up later on the same idea4 ,in his ,mutualist system he tried to make ,capital less offensive1 notwithstanding the retaining of private property1 which he detested from the bottom of his heart1 but which he believed to be necessary to guarantee individuals against the ,state4 ,neither is it astonishing that certain economists1 more or less bourgeois1 admit labour-cheques4 ,they care little whether the worker is paid in labour-notes or in coin stamped with the effigy of the ,republic or the ,empire4 ,they only care to save from destruction the individual ownership of dwelling-houses1 of land1 of factories2 in any case--that1 at least1 of dwelling-houses and the capital that is necessary for manufacturing4 ,and labour-notes would just answer the purpose of upholding this private property4 ,as long as labour-notes can be exchanged for jewels or carriages1 the owner of the house will willingly accept them for rent4 ,and as long as dwelling houses1 fields1 and factories belong to isolated owners1 men will have to pay these owners1 in one way or another1 for being allowed to work in the fields or factories1 or for living in the houses4 ,the owners will agree to be paid by the workers in gold1 in paper-money1 or in cheques exchangeable for all sorts of commodities1 once that toll upon labour is maintained1 and the right to levy it is left with them4 ,but how can we defend labour-notes1 this new form of wagedom1 when we admit that the houses1 the fields1 and the factories will no longer be private property1--that they will belong to the commune or the nation8 ,,ii ,let us closely examine this system of remuneration for work done1 preached by the ,french1 ,german1 ,english1 and ,italian collectivists 7the ,spanish anarchists1 who still call themselves collectivists1 imply by ,collectivism the possession in common of all instruments of production1 and the liberty of each group to divide the produce1 as they think fit1 according to communist or any other principles74 ,it amounts to this3 ,everybody works in field1 factory1 school1 hospital1 etc4 ,the working-day is fixed by the ,state1 which owns the land1 the factories1 the roads1 etc4 ,every work-day is paid for with a labour-note1 which is inscribed with these words3 ,eight hours' work4 ,with this cheque the worker can procure all sorts of merchandise in the stores owned by the ,state or by divers corporations4 ,the cheque is divisible1 so that you can buy an hour's-work worth of meat1 ten minutes' worth of matches1 or half an hour of tobacco4 ,after the ,collectivist ,revolution1 instead of saying twopence worth of soap1 we shall say five minutes' worth of soap4 ,most collectivists1 true to the distinction laid down by middle-class economists 7and by ,marx as well7 between qualified work and simple work1 tell us1 moreover1 that qualified or professional work must be paid a certain quantity more than simple work4 ,thus one hour's work of a doctor will have to be considered as equivalent to two or three hours' work of a hospital nurse1 or to three or five hours' work of a navvy4 ,professional1 or qualified work1 will be a multiple of simple work1 says the collectivist ,grnlund1 because this kind of work needs a more or less long apprenticeship4 ,some other collectivists1 such as the ,french ,marxist1 ,guesde1 do not make this distinction4 ,they proclaim the ,equality of ,wages4 ,the doctor1 the schoolmaster1 and the professor will be paid 7in labour-cheques7 at the same rate as the navvy4 ,eight hours visiting the sick in a hospital will be worth the same as eight hours spent in earthworks or else in mines or factories4 ,some make a greater concession2 they admit that disagreeable or unhealthy work--such as sewerage--could be paid for at a higher rate than agreeable work4 ,one hour's work of a sewerman would be worth1 they say1 two hours of a professor's work4 ,let us add that certain collectivists admit of corporations being paid a lump sum for work done4 ,thus a corporation would say3 ,here are a hundred tons of steel4 ,a hundred workmen were required to produce them1 and it took them ten days4 ,their work-day being an eight-hours day1 it has taken them eight thousand working hours to produce a hundred tons of steel--eight hours a ton4 ,for this the ,state would pay them eight thousand labour-notes of one hour each1 and these eight thousand cheques would be divided among the members of the iron-works as they themselves thought proper4 ,on the other hand1 a hundred miners having taken twenty days to extract eight thousand tons of coal1 coal would be worth two hours a ton1 and the sixteen thousand cheques of one hour each1 received by the ,guild of ,miners1 would be divided among their members according to their own appreciation4 ,if the miners protested and said that a ton of steel should only cost six hours' work instead of eight2 if the professor wished to have his day paid four times more than the nurse1 then the ,state would interfere and would settle their differences4 ,such is1 in a few words1 the organization the collectivists wish to see arise out of the ,social ,revolution4 ,as we see1 their principles are3 ,collective property of the instruments of production1 and remuneration to each according to the time spent in producing1 while taking into account the productivity of his labour4 ,as to the political system1 it would be the ,parliamentary system1 modified by positive instructions given to those elected1 and by the ,referendum--a vote1 taken by noes or ayes by the nation4 ,let us own that this system appears to us simply unrealizable4 ,collectivists begin by proclaiming a revolutionary principle--the abolition of private property--and then they deny it1 no sooner than proclaimed1 by upholding an organization of production and consumption which originated in private property4 ,they proclaim a revolutionary principle1 and ignore the consequences that this principle will inevitably bring about4 ,they forget that the very fact of abolishing individual property in the instruments of work--land1 factories1 road1 capital--must launch society into absolutely new channels2 must completely overthrow the present system of production1 both in its aim as well as in its means2 must modify daily relations between individuals1 as soon as land1 machinery1 and all other instruments of production are considered common property4 ,they say1 ,no private property1 and immediately after strive to maintain private property in its daily manifestations4 ,you shall be a ,commune as far as regards production3 fields1 tools1 machinery1 all that has been invented up till now--factories1 railways1 harbours1 mines1 etc41 all are yours4 ,not the slightest distinction will be made concerning the share of each in this collective property4 ,but from to-morrow you will minutely debate the share you are going to take in the creation of new machinery1 in the digging of new mines4 ,you will carefully weigh what part of the new produce belongs to you4 ,you will count your minutes of work1 and you will take care that a minute of your neighbours should not buy more than yours4 ,and as an hour measures nothing1 as in some factories a worker can see to six power-looms at a time1 while in another he only tends two1 you will weigh the muscular force1 the brain energy1 and the nervous energy you have expended4 ,you will accurately calculate the years of apprenticeship in order to appraise the amount each will contribute to future production4 ,and this--after having declared that you do not take into account his share in past production4 ,well1 for us it is evident that a society cannot be based on two absolutely opposed principles1 two principles that contradict one another continually4 ,and a nation or a commune which would have such an organization would be compelled to revert to private property in the instruments of production1 or to transform itself into a communist society4 ,,iii ,we have said that certain collectivist writers desire that a distinction should be made between qualified or professional work and simple work4 ,they pretend that an hour's work of an engineer1 an architect1 or a doctor1 must be considered as two or three hours' work of a blacksmith1 a mason1 or a hospital nurse4 ,and the same distinction must be made between all sorts of trades necessitating apprenticeship1 and the simple toil of day labourers4 ,well1 to establish this distinction would be to maintain all the inequalities of present society4 ,it would mean fixing a dividing line1 from the beginning1 between the workers and those who pretend to govern them4 ,it would mean dividing society into two very distinct classes--the aristocracy of knowledge placed above the horny-handed lower orders--the one doomed to serve the other2 the one working with its hands to feed and clothe those who1 profiting by their leisure1 study how to govern their fosterers4 ,it would mean reviving one of the distinct peculiarities of present society and giving it the sanction of the ,social ,revolution4 ,it would mean setting up as a principle an abuse already condemned in our ancient crumbling society4 ,we know the answer we shall get4 ,they will speak of ,scientific ,socialism2 they will quote bourgeois economists1 and ,marx too1 to prove that a scale of wages has its raison d'tre1 as the labour force of the engineer will have cost more to society than the labour-force of the navvy4 ,in fact--have not economists tried to prove to us that if an engineer is paid twenty times more than a navvy it is because the necessary outlay to make an engineer is greater than that necessary to make a navvy8 ,and has not ,marx asserted that the same distinction is equally logical between two branches of manual labour8 ,he could not conclude otherwise1 having taken up on his own account ,ricardo's theory of value1 and upheld that goods are exchanged in proportion to the quantity of work socially necessary for their production4 ,but we know what to think of this4 ,we know that if engineers1 scientists1 or doctors are paid ten or a hundred times more than a labourer1 and if a weaver earns three times more than an agricultural labourer1 and ten times more than a girl in a match factory1 it is not by reason of their cost of production1 but by reason of a monopoly of education1 or a monopoly of industry4 ,engineers1 scientists1 and doctors merely exploit their capital--their diplomas--as middle-class employers exploit a factory1 or as nobles used to exploit their titles of nobility4 ,as to the employer who pays an engineer twenty times more than a labourer1 it is simply due to personal interest2 if the engineer can economize #d1jjj a year on the cost of production1 the employer pays him #hjj4 ,and if the employer has a foreman who saves #djj on the work by cleverly sweating workmen1 he gladly gives him #hj or #abj a year4 ,he parts with an extra #dj when he expects to gain #djj by it2 and this is the essence of the ,capitalist system4 ,the same differences obtain among different manual trades4 ,let them1 therefore1 not talk to us of the cost of production which raises the cost of skilled labour1 and tell us that a student who has gaily spent his youth in a university has a right to a wage ten times greater than the son of a miner who has grown pale in a mine since the age of eleven2 or that a weaver has a right to a wage three or four times greater than that of an agricultural labourer4 ,the cost of teaching a weaver his work is not four times greater than the cost of teaching a peasant his4 ,the weaver simply benefits by the advantages his industry reaps in international trade1 from countries that have as yet no industries1 and in consequence of the privileges accorded by all ,states to industries in preference to the tilling of the soil4 ,nobody has ever calculated the cost of production of a producer2 and if a noble loafer costs far more to society than a worker1 it remains to be seen whether a robust day-labourer does not cost more to society than a skilled artisan1 when we have taken into account infant-mortality among the poor1 the ravages of anmia1 and premature deaths4 ,could they1 for example1 make us believe that the #as4 #c;d4 paid to a ,paris workwoman1 the #c;d4 paid to an ,auvergne peasant girl who grows blind at lace-making1 or the #as4 #h;d4 paid to the peasant represent their cost of production4 ,we know full well that people work for less1 but we also know that they do so exclusively because1 thanks to our wonderful organization1 they would die of hunger did they not accept these mock wages4 ,for us the scale of remuneration is a complex result of taxes1 of governmental tutelage1 of ,capitalist monopoly4 ,in a word1 of ,state and ,capital4 ,therefore1 we say that all wages' theories have been invented after the event to justify injustices at present existing1 and that we need not take them into consideration4 ,neither will they fail to tell us that the ,collectivist scale of wages would be an improvement4 ,it would be better1 so they say1 to see certain artisans receiving a wage two or three times higher than common labourers1 than to see a minister receiving in a day what a workman cannot earn in a year4 ,it would be a great step towards equality4 ,for us this step would be the reverse of progress4 ,to make a distinction between simple and professional work in a new society would result in the ,revolution sanctioning and recognizing as a principle a brutal fact we submit to nowadays1 but that we nevertheless find unjust4 ,it would mean imitating those gentlemen of the ,french ,assembly who proclaimed on ,august #dth1 #aghi1 the abolition of feudal rights1 but who on ,august #hth sanctioned these same rights by imposing dues on the peasants to compensate the noblemen1 placing these dues under the protection of the ,revolution4 ,it would mean imitating the ,russian ,government1 which proclaimed1 at the time of the emancipation of the serfs1 that certain lands should henceforth belong to the nobility1 while formerly these lands were considered as belonging to the serfs4 ,or else1 to take a better known example1 when the ,commune of #ahga decided to pay members of the ,commune ,council #abs4 #f;d4 a day1 while the ,federates on the ramparts received only #as4 #c;d41 this decision was hailed as an act of superior democratic equality4 ,in reality1 the ,commune only ratified the former inequality between functionary and soldier1 ,government and governed4 ,coming from an ,opportunist ,chamber of ,deputies1 such a decision would have appeared admirable1 but the ,commune doomed her own revolutionary principles when she failed to put them into practice4 ,under our existing social system1 when a minister gets paid #d1jjj a year1 while a workman must content himself with #dj or less2 when a foreman is paid two or three times more than a workman1 and among workmen there is every gradation1 from #hs4 a day down to the peasant girl's #c;d41 we disapprove of the high salary of the minister as well as of the difference between the #hs4 of the workman and the #c;d4 of the poor woman4 ,and we say1 ',down with the privileges of education1 as well as with those of birth6 ,we are anarchists precisely because these privileges revolt us4 ,they revolt us already in this authoritarian society4 ,could we endure them in a society that began by proclaiming equality8 ,this is why some collectivists1 understanding the impossibility of maintaining a scale of wages in a society inspired by the breath of the ,revolution1 hasten to proclaim equality of wage4 ,but they meet with new difficulties1 and their equality of wages becomes the same unrealizable ,utopia as the scale of wages of other collectivists4 ,a society having taken possession of all social wealth1 having boldly proclaimed the right of all to this wealth--whatever share they may have taken in producing it--will be compelled to abandon any system of wages1 whether in currency or labour-notes4 ,,iv ,the collectivists say1 ,to each according to his deeds2 or1 in other terms1 according to his share of services rendered to society4 ,they think it expedient to put this principle into practice1 as soon as the ,social ,revolution will have made all instruments of production common property4 ,but we think that if the ,social ,revolution had the misfortune of proclaiming such a principle1 it would mean its necessary failure2 it would mean leaving the social problem1 which past centuries have burdened us with1 unsolved4 ,of course1 in a society like ours1 in which the more a man works the less he is remunerated1 this principle1 at first sight1 may appear to be a yearning for justice4 ,but in reality it is only the perpetuation of injustice4 ,it was by proclaiming this principle that wagedom began1 to end in the glaring inequalities and all the abominations of present society2 because1 from the moment work done began to be appraised in currency1 or in any other form of wage1 the day it was agreed upon that man would only receive the wage he should be able to secure to himself1 the whole history of a ,state-aided ,capitalist ,society was as good as written2 it was contained in germ in this principle4 ,shall we1 then1 return to our starting-point1 and go through the same evolution again8 ,our theorists desire it1 but fortunately it is impossible4 ,the ,revolution1 we maintain1 must be communist2 if not1 it will be drowned in blood1 and have to be begun over again4 ,services rendered to society1 be they work in factory or field1 or mental services1 cannot be valued in money4 ,there can be no exact measure of value 7of what has been wrongly termed exchange value71 nor of use value1 in terms of production4 ,if two individuals work for the community five hours a day1 year in year out1 at different work which is equally agreeable to them1 we may say that on the whole their labour is approximately equivalent4 ,but we cannot divide their work1 and say that the result of any particular day1 hour1 or minute of work of the one is worth the result of one day1 one hour1 or one minute of the other4 ,we may roughly say that the man1 who during his lifetime has deprived himself of leisure during ten hours a day has given far more to society than the one who has only deprived himself of leisure during five hours a day1 or who has not deprived himself at all4 ,but we cannot take what he has done during two hours1 and say that the yield of his two hours' work is worth twice as much as the yield of another individual1 who has worked only one hour1 and remunerate the two in proportion4 ,it would be disregarding all that is complex in industry1 in agriculture1 in the whole life of present society2 it would be ignoring to what extent all individual work is the result of the past and the present labour of society as a whole4 ,it would mean believing ourselves to be living in the ,stone ,age1 whereas we are living in an age of steel4 ,if you enter a modern coal-mine you will see a man in charge of a huge machine that raises and lowers a cage4 ,in his hand he holds a lever that stops and reverses the course of the machine2 he lowers it and the cage reverses its course in the twinkling of an eye2 he sends it upwards or downwards into the depths of the shaft with a giddy swiftness4 ,all attention1 he follows with his eyes fixed on an indicator which shows him1 on a small scale1 at which point of the shaft the cage is at each second of its progress2 and as soon as the indicator has reached a certain level1 he suddenly stops the course of the cage1 not a yard higher nor lower than the required spot4 ,and no sooner have the colliers unloaded their coal-wagonettes1 and pushed empty ones instead1 than he reverses the lever and again sends the cage back into space4 ,during eight or ten consecutive hours every day he must keep the same strain of attention4 ,should his brain relax for a moment1 the cage would inevitably strike against the gear1 break its wheels1 snap the rope1 crush men1 and put a stop to all work in the mine4 ,should he waste three seconds at each touch of the lever1--the extraction1 in our modern1 perfected mines1 would be reduced from twenty to fifty tons a day4 ,is it he who is the most necessary man in the mine8 ,or1 is it perhaps the boy who signals to him from below to raise the cage8 ,is it the miner at the bottom of the shaft1 who risks his life every instant1 and who will some day be killed by fire-damp8 ,or is it the engineer1 who would lose the layer of coal1 and would cause the miners to dig on rock by a simple mistake in his calculations8 ,or is it the mine owner who has put his capital into the mine1 and who has perhaps1 contrary to expert advice1 asserted that excellent coal would be found there8 ,all those who are engaged in the mine contribute to the extraction of coal in proportion to their strength1 their energy1 their knowledge1 their intelligence1 and their skill4 ,and we may say that all have the right to live1 to satisfy their needs1 and even their whims1 when the necessaries of life have been secured for all4 ,but how can we appraise the work of each one of them8 ,and1 moreover1 ,is the coal they have extracted entirely their work8 ,is it not also the work of the men who have built the railway leading to the mine and the roads that radiate from all the railway stations8 ,is it not also the work of those that have tilled and sown the fields1 extracted iron1 cut wood in the forests1 built the machines that burn coal1 slowly developed the mining industry altogether1 and so on8 ,it is utterly impossible to draw a distinction between the work of each of those men4 ,to measure the work by its results leads us to an absurdity2 to divide the total work1 and to measure its fractions by the number of hours spent on the work also leads us to absurdity4 ,one thing remains3 to put the needs above the works1 and first of all to recognize the right to live1 and later on the right to well-being for all those who took their share in production4 ,but take any other branch of human activity--take the manifestations of life as a whole4 ,which one of us can claim the higher remuneration for his work8 ,is it the doctor who has found out the illness1 or the nurse who has brought about recovery by her hygienic care8 ,is it the inventor of the first steam-engine1 or the boy1 who1 one day getting tired of pulling the rope that formerly opened the valve to let steam under the piston1 tied the rope to the lever of the machine1 without suspecting that he had invented the essential mechanical part of all modern machinery--the automatic valve8 ,is it the inventor of the locomotive1 or the workman of ,newcastle1 who suggested replacing the stones formerly laid under the rails by wooden sleepers1 as the stones1 for want of elasticity1 caused the trains to derail8 ,is it the engineer on the locomotive8 ,the signalman who stops the trains1 or lets them pass by8 ,the switchman who transfers a train from one line to another8 ,again1 to whom do we owe the transatlantic cable8 ,is it to the electrical engineer who obstinately affirmed that the cable would transmit messages while learned men of science declared it to be impossible8 ,is it to ,maury1 the learned physical geographer1 who advised that thick cables should be set aside for others as thin as a walking cane8 ,or else to those volunteers1 come from nobody knows where1 who spent their days and nights on deck minutely examining every yard of the cable1 and removed the nails that the shareholders of steamship companies stupidly caused to be driven into the non-conducting wrapper of the cable1 so as to make it unserviceable8 ,and in a wider sphere1 the true sphere of life1 with its joys1 its sufferings1 and its accidents1 cannot each one of us recall someone who has rendered him so great a service that we should be indignant if its equivalent in coin were mentioned8 ,the service may have been but a word1 nothing but a word spoken at the right time1 or else it may have been months and years of devotion1 and we are going to appraise these incalculable services in labour-notes8 ,the works of each6 ,but human society would not exist for more than two consecutive generations if everyone did not give infinitely more than that for which he is paid in coin1 in cheques1 or in civic rewards4 ,the race would soon become extinct if mothers did not sacrifice their lives to take care of their children1 if men did not give continually1 without demanding an equivalent reward1 if men did not give most precisely when they expect no reward4 ,if middle-class society is decaying1 if we have got into a blind alley from which we cannot emerge without attacking past institutions with torch and hatchet1 it is precisely because we have given too much to counting4 ,it is because we have let ourselves be influenced into giving only to receive4 ,it is because we have aimed at turning society into a commercial company based on debit and credit4 ,after all1 the ,collectivists know this themselves4 ,they vaguely understand that a society could not exist if it carried out the principle of ,each according to his deeds4 ,they have a notion that necessaries--we do not speak of whims--the needs of the individual1 do not always correspond to his works4 ,thus ,de ,paepe tells us3 ,the principle--the eminently ,individualist principle--would1 however1 be tempered by social intervention for the education of children and young persons 7including maintenance and lodging71 and by the social organization for assisting the infirm and the sick1 for retreats for aged workers1 etc4 ,they understand that a man of forty1 father of three children1 has other needs than a young man of twenty4 ,they know that the woman who suckles her infant and spends sleepless nights at its bedside1 cannot do as much work as the man who has slept peacefully4 ,they seem to take in that men and women1 worn out maybe by dint of overwork for society1 may be incapable of doing as much work as those who have spent their time leisurely and pocketed their labour-notes in the privileged career of ,state functionaries4 ,they are eager to temper their principle4 ,they say3 ,society will not fail to maintain and bring up its children2 to help both aged and infirm4 ,without doubt needs will be the measure of the cost that society will burden itself with1 to temper the principle of deeds4 ,charity1 charity1 always ,christian charity1 organized by the ,state this time4 ,they believe in improving the asylums for foundlings1 in effecting old-age and sick insurances--so as to temper their principle4 ,but they cannot yet throw aside the idea of wounding first and healing afterwards6 ,thus1 after having denied ,communism1 after having laughed at their ease at the formula--,to each according to his needs--these great economists discover that they have forgotten something1 the needs of the producers1 which they now admit4 ,only it is for the ,state to estimate them1 for the ,state to verify if the needs are not disproportionate to the work4 ,the ,state will dole out charity4 ,thence to the ,english poor-law and the workhouse is but a step4 ,there is but a slight difference1 because even this stepmother of a society against whom we are in revolt has also been compelled to temper her individualist principles2 she1 too1 has had to make concessions in a communist direction and under the same form of charity4 ,she1 too1 distributes halfpenny dinners to prevent the pillaging of her shops2 builds hospitals--often very bad ones1 but sometimes splendid ones--to prevent the ravages of contagious diseases4 ,she1 too1 after having paid the hours of labour1 shelters the children of those she has wrecked4 ,she takes their needs into consideration and doles out charity4 ,poverty1 we have said elsewhere1 was the primary cause of wealth4 ,it was poverty that created the first capitalist2 because1 before accumulating surplus value1 of which we hear so much1 men had to be sufficiently destitute to consent to sell their labour1 so as not to die of hunger4 ,it was poverty that made capitalists4 ,and if the number of the poor increased so rapidly during the ,middle ,ages1 it was due to the invasions and wars that followed the founding of ,states1 and to the increase of riches resulting from the exploitation of the ,east4 ,these two causes tore asunder the bonds that kept men together in the agrarian and urban communities1 and taught them to proclaim the principle of wages1 so dear to the exploiters1 instead of the solidarity they formerly practiced in their tribal life4 ,and it is this principle that is to spring from a revolution which men dare to call by the name of ,social ,revolution1--a name so dear to the starved1 the oppressed1 and the sufferers6 ,it can never be4 ,for the day on which old institutions will fall under the proletarian axe1 voices will cry out3 ,bread1 shelter1 ease for all6 ,and those voices will be listened to2 the people will say3 ,let us begin by allaying our thirst for life1 for happiness1 for liberty1 that we have never quenched4 ,and when we shall have tasted of this joy1 we will set to work to demolish the last vestiges of middle-class rule3 its morality drawn from account books1 its 'debit and credit' philosophy1 its 'mine and yours' institutions4 ',in demolishing we shall build1' as ,proudhon said2 and we shall build in the name of ,communism and ,anarchy4 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,,consumption ,,and ,,production ,i ,looking at society and its political organization from a different standpoint than that of all the authoritarian schools--for we start from a free individual to reach a free society1 instead of beginning by the ,state to come down to the individual--we follow the same method in economic questions4 ,we study the needs of the individuals1 and the means by which they satisfy them1 before discussing ,production1 ,exchange1 ,taxation1 ,government1 and so on4 ,at first sight the difference may appear trifling1 but in reality it upsets all the canons of official ,political ,economy4 ,if you open the works of any economist you will find that he begins with ,,production1 i4 e41 by the analysis of the means employed nowadays for the creation of wealth3 division of labour1 the factory1 its machinery1 the accumulation of capital4 ,from ,adam ,smith to ,marx1 all have proceeded along these lines4 ,only in the latter parts of their books do they treat of ,,consumption1 that is to say1 of the means resorted to in our present ,society to satisfy the needs of the individuals2 and even there they confine themselves to explaining how riches are divided among those who vie with one another for their possession4 ,perhaps you will say this is logical4 ,before satisfying needs you must create the wherewithal to satisfy them4 ,but1 before producing anything1 must you not feel the need of it8 ,was it not necessity that first drove man to hunt1 to raise cattle1 to cultivate land1 to make implements1 and later on to invent machinery8 ,is it not the study of the needs that should govern production8 ,to say the least1 it would therefore be quite as logical to begin by considering the needs1 and afterwards to discuss how production is1 and ought to be1 organized1 in order to satisfy these needs4 ,this is precisely what we mean to do4 ,but as soon as we look at ,political ,economy from this point of view1 it entirely changes its aspect4 ,it ceases to be a simple description of facts1 and becomes a science1 and we may define this science as3 ,the study of the needs of mankind1 and the means of satisfying them with the least possible waste of human energy4 ,its true name should be1 ,physiology of ,society4 ,it constitutes a parallel science to the physiology of plants and animals1 which is the study of the needs of plants and animals1 and of the most advantageous ways of satisfying them4 ,in the series of sociological sciences1 the economy of human societies takes the place1 occupied in the series of biological sciences by the physiology of organic bodies4 ,we say1 here are human beings1 united in a society4 ,all of them feel the need of living in healthy houses4 ,the savage's hut no longer satisfies them2 they require a more or less comfortable solid shelter4 ,the question is1 then3 whether1 taking the present capacity of men for production1 every man can have a house of his own8 and what is hindering him from having it8 ,and as soon as we ask this question1 we see that every family in ,europe could perfectly well have a comfortable house1 such as are built in ,england1 in ,belgium1 or in ,pullman ,city1 or else an equivalent set of rooms4 ,a certain number of days' work would suffice to build a pretty little airy house1 well fitted up and lighted by electricity4 ,but nine-tenths of ,europeans have never possessed a healthy house1 because at all times common people have had to work day after day to satisfy the needs of their rulers1 and have never had the necessary leisure or money to build1 or to have built1 the home of their dreams4 ,and they can have no houses1 and will inhabit hovels as long as present conditions remain unchanged4 ,it is thus seen that our method is quite contrary to that of the economists1 who immortalize the so-called laws of production1 and1 reckoning up the number of houses built every year1 demonstrate by statistics1 that as the number of the new-built houses is too small to meet all demands1 nine-tenths of ,europeans must live in hovels4 ,let us pass on to food4 ,after having enumerated the benefits accruing from the division of labour1 economists tell us the division of labour requires that some men should work at agriculture and others at manufacture4 ,farmers producing so much1 factories so much1 exchange being carried on in such a way1 they analyze the sale1 the profit1 the net gain or the surplus value1 the wages1 the taxes1 banking1 and so on4 ,but after having followed them so far1 we are none the wiser1 and if we ask them3 ,how is it that millions of human beings are in want of bread1 when every family could grow sufficient wheat to feed ten1 twenty1 and even a hundred people annually8 they answer us by droning the same anthem--division of labour1 wages1 surplus value1 capital1 etc4--arriving at the same conclusion1 that production is insufficient to satisfy all needs2 a conclusion which1 if true1 does not answer the question3 ,can or cannot man by his labour produce the bread he needs8 ,and if he cannot1 what is it that hinders him8 ,here are #cej million ,europeans4 ,they need so much bread1 so much meat1 wine1 milk1 eggs1 and butter every year4 ,they need so many houses1 so much clothing4 ,this is the minimum of their needs4 ,can they produce all this8 and if they can1 will sufficient leisure be left them for art1 science1 and amusement8--in a word1 for everything that is not comprised in the category of absolute necessities8 ,if the answer is in the affirmative1--,what hinders them going ahead8 ,what must they do to remove the obstacles8 ,is it time that is needed to achieve such a result8 ,let them take it6 ,but let us not lose sight of the aim of production--the satisfaction of the needs of all4 ,if the most imperious needs of man remain unsatisfied now1--,what must we do to increase the productivity of our work8 ,but is there no other cause8 ,might it not be that production1 having lost sight of the needs of man1 has strayed in an absolutely wrong direction1 and that its organization is at fault8 ,and as we can prove that such is the case1 let us see how to reorganize production so as to really satisfy all needs4 ,this seems to us the only right way of facing things4 ,the only way that would allow of ,political ,economy becoming a science--the ,science of ,social ,physiology4 ,it is evident that so long as science treats of production1 as it is carried on at present by civilized nations1 by ,hindoo communes1 or by savages1 it can hardly state facts otherwise than the economists state them now2 that is to say1 as a simple descriptive chapter1 analogous to the descriptive chapters of ,zoology and ,botany4 ,but if this chapter were written so as to throw some light on the economy of the energy that is necessary to satisfy human needs1 the chapter would gain in precision1 as well as in descriptive value4 ,it would clearly show the frightful waste of human energy under the present system1 and it would prove that as long as this system exists1 the needs of humanity will never be satisfied4 ,the point of view1 we see1 would be entirely changed4 ,behind the loom that weaves so many yards of cloth1 behind the steel-plate perforator1 and behind the safe in which dividends are hoarded1 we should see man1 the artisan of production1 more often than not excluded from the feast he has prepared for others4 ,we should also understand that the standpoint being wrong1 the so-called laws of value and exchange are but a very false explanation of events1 as they happen nowadays2 and that things will come to pass very differently when production is organized in such a manner as to meet all needs of society4 ,,ii ,there is not one single principle of ,political ,economy that does not change its aspect if you look at it from our point of view4 ,take1 for instance1 over-production1 a word which every day re-echoes in our ears4 ,is there a single economist1 academician1 or candidate for academical honours1 who has not supported arguments1 proving that economic crises are due to over-production--that at a given moment more cotton1 more cloth1 more watches are produced than are needed6 ,have we not1 all of us1 thundered against the rapacity of the capitalists who are obstinately bent on producing more than can possibly be consumed6 ,however1 on careful examination all these reasonings prove unsound4 ,in fact1 ,is there one single commodity among those in universal use which is produced in greater quantity than need be4 ,examine one by one all commodities sent out by countries exporting on a large scale1 and you will see that nearly all are produced in insufficient quantities for the inhabitants of the countries exporting them4 ,it is not a surplus of wheat that the ,russian peasant sends to ,europe4 ,the most plentiful harvests of wheat and rye in ,european ,russia only yield enough for the population4 ,and as a rule1 the peasant deprives himself of what he actually needs when he sells his wheat or rye to pay rent and taxes4 ,it is not a surplus of coal that ,england sends to the four corners of the globe1 because only three-quarters of a ton1 per head of population1 annually1 remains for home domestic consumption1 and millions of ,englishmen are deprived of fire in the winter1 or have only just enough to boil a few vegetables4 ,in fact1 setting aside useless luxuries1 there is in ,england1 which exports more than any other country1 one single commodity in universal use--cottons--whose production is sufficiently great to perhaps exceed the needs of the community4 ,yet when we look upon the rags that pass for wearing apparel worn by over a third of the inhabitants of the ,united ,kingdom1 we are led to ask ourselves whether the cottons exported would not1 on the whole1 suit the real needs of the population8 ,as a rule it is not a surplus that is exported1 though it may have been so originally4 ,the fable of the barefooted shoemaker is as true of nations as it was formerly of individual artisans4 ,we export the necessary commodities4 ,and we do so1 because the workmen cannot buy with their wages what they have produced1 and pay besides the rent and interest to the capitalist and the banker4 ,not only does the ever-growing need of comfort remain unsatisfied1 but the strict necessities of life are often wanting4 ,therefore1 surplus production does not exist1 at least not in the sense given to it by the theorists of ,political ,economy4 ,taking another point--all economists tell us that there is a well-proved law3 ,man produces more than he consumes4 ,after he has lived on the proceeds of his toil1 there remains a surplus4 ,thus1 a family of cultivators produces enough to feed several families1 and so forth4 ,for us1 this oft-repeated sentence has no sense4 ,if it meant that each generation leaves something to future generations1 it would be true2 thus1 for example1 a farmer plants a tree that will live1 maybe1 for thirty1 forty1 or a hundred years1 and whose fruits will still be gathered by the farmer's grandchildren4 ,or he clears a few acres of virgin soil1 and we say that the heritage of future generations has been increased by that much4 ,roads1 bridges1 canals1 his house and his furniture are so much wealth bequeathed to succeeding generations4 ,but this is not what is meant4 ,we are told that the cultivator produces more than he need consume4 ,rather should they say that1 the ,state having always taken from him a large share of his produce for taxes1 the priest for tithe1 and the landlord for rent1 a whole class of men has been created1 who formerly consumed what they produced--save what was set aside for unforeseen accidents1 or expenses incurred in afforestation1 roads1 etc4--but who to-day are compelled to live very poorly1 from hand to mouth1 the remainder having been taken from them by the ,state1 the landlord1 the priest1 and the usurer4 ,therefore we prefer to say3 ,the agricultural labourer1 the industrial worker and so on consume less than they produce1--because they are compelled to sell most of the produce of their labour and to be satisfied with but a small portion of it4 ,let us also observe that if the needs of the individual are taken as the starting-point of our political economy1 we cannot fail to reach ,communism1 an organization which enables us to satisfy all needs in the most thorough and economical way4 ,while if we start from our present method of production1 and aim at gain and surplus value1 without asking whether our production corresponds to the satisfaction of needs1 we necessarily arrive at ,capitalism1 or at most at ,collectivism--both being but two different forms of the present wages' system4 ,in fact1 when we consider the needs of the individual and of society1 and the means which man has resorted to in order to satisfy them during his varied phases of development1 we see at once the necessity of systematizing our efforts1 instead of producing haphazard as we do nowadays4 ,it becomes evident that the appropriation by a few of all riches not consumed1 and transmitted from one generation to another1 is not in the general interest4 ,and we see as a fact that owing to these methods the needs of three-quarters of society are not satisfied1 so that the present waste of human strength in useless things is only the more criminal4 ,we discover1 moreover1 that the most advantageous use of all commodities would be1 for each of them1 to go1 first1 for satisfying those needs which are the most pressing3 that1 in other words1 the so-called value in use of a commodity does not depend on a simple whim1 as has often been affirmed1 but on the satisfaction it brings to real needs4 ,communism--that is to say1 an organization which would correspond to a view of ,consumption1 ,production1 and ,exchange1 taken as a whole--therefore becomes the logical consequence of such a comprehension of things--the only one1 in our opinion1 that is really scientific4 ,a society that will satisfy the needs of all1 and which will know how to organize production to answer to this aim will also have to make a clean sweep of several prejudices concerning industry1 and first of all the theory often preached by economists--,the ,division of ,labour theory--which we are going to discuss in the next chapter4 ,,chapter ,,xv ,,the ,,division ,,of ,,labour ,political ,economy has always confined itself to stating facts occurring in society1 and justifying them in the interest of the dominant class4 ,therefore1 it pronounces itself in favour of the division of labour in industry4 ,having found it profitable to capitalists1 it has set it up as a principle4 ,look at the village smith1 said ,adam ,smith1 the father of modern ,political ,economy4 ,if he has never been accustomed to making nails he will only succeed by hard toil in forging two or three hundred a day1 and even then they will be bad4 ,but if this same smith has never made anything but nails1 he will easily supply as many as two thousand three hundred in the course of a day4 ,and ,smith hastened to the conclusion--,divide labour1 specialize1 go on specializing2 let us have smiths who only know how to make heads or points of nails1 and by this means we shall produce more4 ,we shall grow rich4 ,that a smith condemned for life to make the heads of nails would lose all interest in his work1 that he would be entirely at the mercy of his employer with his limited handicraft1 that he would be out of work four months out of twelve1 and that his wages would fall very low down1 when it would be easy to replace him by an apprentice1 ,smith did not think of all this when he exclaimed--,long live the division of labour4 ,this is the real gold-mine that will enrich the nation6 ,and all joined him in this cry4 ,and later on1 when a ,sismondi or a ,j4 ,b4 ,say began to understand that the division of labour1 instead of enriching the whole nation1 only enriches the rich1 and that the worker1 who is doomed for life to making the eighteenth part of a pin1 grows stupid and sinks into poverty--what did official economists propose8 ,nothing6 ,they did not say to themselves that by a lifelong grind at one and the same mechanical toil the worker would lose his intelligence and his spirit of invention1 and that1 on the contrary1 a variety of occupations would result in considerably augmenting the productivity of a nation4 ,but this is the very issue we have now to consider4 ,if1 however1 learned economists were the only ones to preach the permanent and often hereditary division of labour1 we might allow them to preach it as much as they pleased4 ,but the ideas taught by doctors of science filter into men's minds and pervert them2 and from repeatedly hearing the division of labour1 profits1 interest1 credit1 etc41 spoken of as problems long since solved1 all middle-class people1 and workers too1 end by arguing like economists2 they venerate the same fetishes4 ,thus we see most socialists1 even those who have not feared to point out the mistakes of economical science1 justifying the division of labour4 ,talk to them about the organization of work during the ,revolution1 and they answer that the division of labour must be maintained2 that if you sharpened pins before the ,revolution you must go on sharpening them after4 ,true1 you will not have to work more than five hours a day1 but you will have to sharpen pins all your life1 while others will make designs for machines that will enable you to sharpen hundreds of millions of pins during your life-time2 and others again will be specialists in the higher branches of literature1 science1 and art1 etc4 ,you were born to sharpen pins while ,pasteur was born to invent the inoculation against anthrax1 and the ,revolution will leave you both to your respective employments4 ,well1 it is this horrible principle1 so noxious to society1 so brutalizing to the individual1 source of so much harm1 that we propose to discuss in its divers manifestations4 ,we know the consequences of the division of labour full well4 ,it is evident that1 first of all1 we are divided into two classes3 on the one hand1 producers1 who consume very little and are exempt from thinking because they only do physical work1 and who work badly because their brains remain inactive2 and on the other hand1 the consumers1 who1 producing little or hardly anything1 have the privilege of thinking for the others1 and who think badly because the whole world of those who toil with their hands is unknown to them4 ,then1 we have the labourers of the soil who know nothing of machinery1 while those who work at machinery ignore everything about agriculture4 ,the idea of modern industry is a child tending a machine that he cannot and must not understand1 and a foreman who fines him if his attention flags for a moment4 ,the ideal of industrial agriculture is to do away with the agricultural labourer altogether and to set a man who does odd jobs to tend a steam-plough or a threshing-machine4 ,the division of labour means labelling and stamping men for life--some to splice ropes in factories1 some to be foremen in a business1 others to shove huge coal-baskets in a particular part of a mine2 but none of them to have any idea of machinery as a whole1 nor of business1 nor of mines4 ,and thereby they destroy the love of work and the capacity for invention that1 at the beginning of modern industry1 created the machinery on which we pride ourselves so much4 ,what they have done for individuals1 they also wanted to do for nations4 ,humanity was to be divided into national workshops1 having each its speciality4 ,russia1 we were taught1 was destined by nature to grow corn2 ,england to spin cotton2 ,belgium to weave cloth2 while ,switzerland was to train nurses and governesses4 ,moreover1 each separate city was to establish a specialty4 ,lyons was to weave silk1 ,auvergne to make lace1 and ,paris fancy articles4 ,in this way1 economists said1 an immense field was opened for production and consumption1 and in this way an era of limitless wealth for mankind was at hand4 ,however1 these great hopes vanished as fast as technical knowledge spread abroad4 ,as long as ,england stood alone as a weaver of cotton and as a metal-worker on a large scale2 as long as only ,paris made artistic fancy articles1 etc41 all went well1 economists could preach the so-called division of labour without being refuted4 ,but a new current of thought induced bye and bye all civilized nations to manufacture for themselves4 ,they found it advantageous to produce what they formerly received from other countries1 or from their colonies1 which in their turn aimed at emancipating themselves from the mother-country4 ,scientific discoveries universalized the methods of production1 and henceforth it was useless to pay an exorbitant price abroad for what could easily be produced at home4 ,and now we see already that this industrial revolution strikes a crushing blow at the theory of the division of labour which for a long time was supposed to be so sound4 ,,chapter ,,xvi ,,the ,,decentralization ,,of ,,industry#aj ,i ,after the ,napoleonic wars ,britain had nearly succeeded in ruining the main industries which had sprung up in ,france at the end of the preceding century4 ,she also became mistress of the seas and had no rivals of importance4 ,she took in the situation1 and knew how to turn its privileges and advantages to account4 ,she established an industrial monopoly1 and1 imposing upon her neighbours her prices for the goods she alone could manufacture1 accumulated riches upon riches4 ,but as the middle-class ,revolution of the eighteenth century had abolished serfdom and created a proletariat in ,france1 ,french industry1 hampered for a time in its flight1 soared again1 and from the second half of the nineteenth century ,france ceased to be a tributary of ,england for manufactured goods4 ,to-day she too has grown into a nation with an export trade4 ,she sells far more than sixty million pounds' worth of manufactured goods1 and two-thirds of these goods are fabrics4 ,the number of ,frenchmen working for export or living by their foreign trade1 is estimated at three millions4 ,france is therefore no longer ,england's tributary4 ,in her turn she has striven to monopolize certain branches of foreign industry1 such as silks and ready-made clothes1 and has reaped immense profits therefrom2 but she is on the point of losing this monopoly for ever1 just as ,england is on the point of losing the monopoly of cotton goods4 ,travelling eastwards1 industry has reached ,germany4 ,fifty years ago ,germany was a tributary of ,england and ,france for most manufactured commodities in the higher branches of industry4 ,it is no longer so4 ,in the course of the last fifty years1 and especially since the ,franco-,german war1 ,germany has completely reorganized her industry4 ,the new factories are stocked with the best machinery2 the latest creations of industrial art in cotton goods from ,manchester1 or in silks from ,lyons1 etc41 are now realized in new ,german factories4 ,it took two or three generations of workers1 at ,lyons and ,manchester1 to construct the modern machinery2 but ,germany adopted it in its perfected state4 ,technical schools1 adapted to the needs of industry1 supply the factories with an army of intelligent workmen--practical engineers1 who can work with both hand and brain4 ,german industry starts at the point which was only reached by ,manchester and ,lyons after fifty years of groping in the dark1 of exertion and experiments4 ,it follows that since ,germany manufactures so well at home1 she diminishes her imports from ,france and ,england year by year4 ,she has not only become their rival in manufactured goods in ,asia and in ,africa1 but also in ,london and in ,paris4 ,shortsighted people in ,france may cry out against the ,frankfort ,treaty2 ,english manufacturers may explain ,german competition by little differences in railway tariffs2 they may linger on the petty side of questions1 and neglect great historical facts4 ,but it is none the less certain that the main industries1 formerly in the hands of ,england and ,france1 have progressed eastward1 and in ,germany they have found a country1 young1 full of energy1 possessing an intelligent middle class1 and eager in its turn to enrich itself by foreign trade4 ,while ,germany has freed herself from subjection to ,france and ,england1 has manufactured her own cotton-cloth1 and constructed her own machines--in fact1 manufactured all commodities--the main industries have also taken root in ,russia1 where the development of manufacture is the more instructive as it sprang up but yesterday4 ,at the time of the abolition of serfdom in #ahfa1 ,russia had hardly any factories4 ,everything needed in the way of machines1 rails1 railway-engines1 fine dress materials1 came from the ,west4 ,twenty years later she possessed already #he1jjj factories1 and the value of the goods manufactured in ,russia had increased fourfold4 ,the old machinery was superseded1 and now nearly all the steel in use in ,russia1 three-quarters of the iron1 two-thirds of the coal1 all railway-engines1 railway-carriages1 rails1 nearly all steamers1 are made in ,russia4 ,russia1 destined--so wrote economists--to remain an agricultural territory1 has rapidly developed into a manufacturing country4 ,she orders hardly anything from ,england1 and very little from ,germany4 ,economists hold the customs responsible for these facts1 and yet cottons manufactured in ,russia are sold at the same price as in ,london4 ,capital taking no cognizance of father-lands1 ,german and ,english capitalists1 accompanied by engineers and foremen of their own nationalities1 have introduced in ,russia and in ,poland manufactories whose goods compete in excellence with the best from ,england4 ,if customs were abolished to-morrow1 manufacture would only gain by it4 ,not long ago the ,british manufacturers delivered another hard blow to the import of cloth and woolens from the ,west4 ,they set up in southern and middle ,russia immense wool factories1 stocked with the most perfect machinery from ,bradford1 and already now ,russia imports only the highest sorts of cloth and woolen fabrics from ,england1 ,france and ,austria4 ,the remainder is fabricated at home1 both in factories and as domestic industries4 ,the main industries not only move eastward1 they are spreading also to the southern peninsulas4 ,the ,turin ,exhibition of #ahhd already demonstrated the progress made in ,italian manufactured produce2 and1 let us not make any mistake about it1 the mutual hatred of the ,french and ,italian middle classes has no other origin than their industrial rivalry4 ,spain is also becoming an industrial country2 while in the ,east1 ,bohemia has suddenly sprung into importance as a new centre of manufactures1 provided with perfected machinery and applying the best scientific methods4 ,we might also mention ,hungary's rapid progress in the main industries1 but let us rather take ,brazil as an example4 ,economists sentenced ,brazil to cultivate cotton forever1 to export it in its raw state1 and to receive cotton-cloth from ,europe in exchange4 ,in fact1 forty years ago ,brazil had only nine wretched little cotton factories with #che spindles4 ,to-day there are #afj cotton-mills1 possessing #a1ejj1jjj spindles and #ej1jjj looms1 which throw #ejj million yards of textiles on the market annually4 ,even ,mexico is now very successful in manufacturing cotton-cloth1 instead of importing it from ,europe4 ,as to the ,united ,states they have quite freed themselves from ,european tutelage1 and have triumphantly developed their manufacturing powers to an enormous extent4 ,but it was ,india which gave the most striking proof against the specialization of national industry4 ,we all know the theory3 the great ,european nations need colonies1 for colonies send raw material--cotton fibre1 unwashed wool1 spices1 etc41 to the mother-land4 ,and the mother-land1 under pretense of sending them manufactured wares1 gets rid of her damaged stuffs1 her machine scrap-iron and everything which she no longer has any use for4 ,it costs her little or nothing1 and none the less the articles are sold at exorbitant prices4 ,such was the theory--such was the practice for a long time4 ,in ,london and ,manchester fortunes were made1 while ,india was being ruined4 ,in the ,india ,museum in ,london unheard of riches1 collected in ,calcutta and ,bombay by ,english merchants1 are to be seen4 ,but other ,english merchants and capitalists conceived the very simple idea that it would be more expedient to exploit the natives of ,india by making cotton-cloth in ,india itself1 than to import from twenty to twenty-four million pounds' worth of goods annually4 ,at first a series of experiments ended in failure4 ,indian weavers--artists and experts in their own craft--could not inure themselves to factory life2 the machinery sent from ,liverpool was bad2 the climate had to be taken into account2 and merchants had to adapt themselves to new conditions1 now fully mastered1 before ,british ,india could become the menacing rival of the ,mother-land she is to-day4 ,she now possesses more than #bjj cotton-mills which employ about #bcj1jjj workmen1 and contain more than #f1jjj1jjj spindles and #hj1jjj looms1 and #dj jute-mills1 with #djj1jjj spindles4 ,she exports annually to ,china1 to the ,dutch ,indies1 and to ,africa1 nearly eight million pounds' worth of the same white cotton-cloth1 said to be ,england's specialty4 ,and while ,english workmen are often unemployed and in great want1 ,indian women weave cotton by machinery1 for the ,far ,east at wages of six-pence a day4 ,in short1 the intelligent manufacturers are fully aware that the day is not far off when they will not know what to do with the factory hands who formerly wove cotton-cloth for export from ,england4 ,besides which it is becoming more and more evident that ,india will no import a single ton of iron from ,england4 ,the initial difficulties in using the coal and the iron-ore obtained in ,india have been overcome2 and foundries1 rivalling those in ,england1 have been built on the shores of the ,indian ,ocean4 ,colonies competing with the mother-land in its production of manufactured goods1 such is the factor which will regulate economy in the twentieth century4 ,and why should ,india not manufacture8 ,what should be the hindrance8 ,capital8--,but capital goes wherever there are men1 poor enough to be exploited4 ,knowledge8 ,but knowledge recognizes no national barriers4 ,technical skill of the worker8--,no4 ,are1 then1 ,hindoo workmen inferior to the hundreds of thousands of boys and girls1 not eighteen years old1 at present working in the ,english textile factories8 ,,ii ,after having glanced at national industries it would be very interesting to turn to some special branches4 ,let us take silk1 for example1 an eminently ,french produce in the first half of the nineteenth century4 ,we all know how ,lyons became the emporium of the silk trade4 ,at first raw silk was gathered in southern ,france1 till little by little they ordered it from ,italy1 from ,spain1 from ,austria1 from the ,caucasus1 and from ,japan1 for the manufacture of their silk fabrics4 ,in #ahge1 out of five million kilos of raw silk converted into stuffs in the vicinity of ,lyons1 there were only four hundred thousand kilos of ,french silk4 ,but if ,lyons manufactured imported silk1 why should not ,switzerland1 ,germany1 ,russia1 do as much8 ,consequently1 silk-weaving began to develop in the villages round ,zurich4 ,ble became a great centre of the silk trade4 ,the ,caucasian ,administration engaged women from ,marseilles and workmen from ,lyons to teach ,georgians the perfected rearing of silk-worms1 and the art of converting silk into fabrics to the ,caucasian peasants4 ,austria followed4 ,then ,germany1 with the help of ,lyons workmen1 built great silk factories4 ,the ,united ,states did likewise at ,paterson4 ,and to-day the silk trade is no longer a ,french monopoly4 ,silks are made in ,germany1 in ,austria1 in the ,united ,states1 and in ,england1 and it is now reckoned that one-third of the silk stuffs used in ,france are imported4 ,in winter1 ,caucasian peasants weave silk handkerchiefs at a wage that would mean starvation to the silk-weavers of ,lyons4 ,italy and ,germany send silks to ,france2 and ,lyons1 which in #ahgj-d exported #dfj million francs' worth of silk fabrics1 exports now only one-half of that amount4 ,in fact1 the time is not far off when ,lyons will only send higher class goods and a few novelties as patterns to ,germany1 ,russia and ,japan4 ,and so it is in all industries4 ,belgium has no longer the cloth monopoly2 cloth is made in ,germany1 in ,russia1 in ,austria1 in the ,united ,states4 ,switzerland and the ,french ,jura have no longer a clockwork monopoly2 watches are made everywhere4 ,scotland no longer refines sugar for ,russia3 refined ,russian sugar is imported into ,england4 ,italy1 although neither possessing coal nor iron1 makes her own iron-clads and engines for her steamers4 ,chemical industry is no longer an ,english monopoly2 sulphuric acid and soda are made even in the ,urals4 ,steam-engines1 made at ,winterthur1 have acquired everywhere a wide reputation1 and at the present moment1 ,switzerland1 which has neither coal nor iron1 and no sea-ports to import them--nothing but excellent technical schools--makes machinery better and cheaper than ,england4 ,so ends the theory of ,exchange4 ,the tendency of trade1 as for all else1 is toward decentralization4 ,every nation finds it advantageous to combine agriculture with the greatest possible variety of factories4 ,the specialization1 of which economists spoke so highly1 certainly has enriched a number of capitalists1 but is now no longer of any use4 ,on the contrary1 it is to the advantage of every region1 every nation1 to grow their own wheat1 their own vegetables1 and to manufacture at home most of the produce they consume4 ,this diversity is the surest pledge of the complete development of production by mutual co-operation1 and the moving cause of progress1 while specialization is now a hindrance to progress4 ,agriculture can only prosper in proximity to factories4 ,and no sooner does a single factory appear than an infinite variety of other factories must spring up around1 so that1 mutually supporting and stimulating one another by their inventions1 they increase their productivity4 ,,iii ,it is foolish indeed to export wheat and to import flour1 to export wool and import cloth1 to export iron and import machinery2 not only because transportation is a waste of time and money1 but1 above all1 because a country with no developed industry inevitably remains behind the times in agriculture2 because a country with no large factories to bring steel to a finished condition is doomed to be backward in all other industries2 and lastly1 because the industrial and technical capacities of the nation remain undeveloped1 if they are not exercised in a variety of industries4 ,nowadays everything holds together in the world of production4 ,cultivation of the soil is no longer possible without machinery1 without great irrigation works1 without railways1 without manure factories4 ,and to adapt this machinery1 these railways1 these irrigation engines1 etc41 to local conditions1 a certain spirit of invention1 and a certain amount of technical skill must be developed1 while they necessarily lie dormant so long as spades and ploughshares are the only implements of cultivation4 ,if fields are to be properly cultivated1 if they are to yield the abundant harvests that man has the right to expect1 it is essential that workshops1 foundries1 and factories develop within the reach of the fields4 ,a variety of occupations1 and a variety of skill arising therefrom1 both working together for a common aim--these are the true forces of progress4 ,and now let us imagine the inhabitants of a city or a territory--whether vast or small--stepping for the first time on to the path of the ,social ,revolution4 ,we are sometimes told that nothing will have changed3 that the mines1 the factories1 etc41 will be expropriated1 and proclaimed national or communal property1 that every man will go back to his usual work1 and that the ,revolution will then be accomplished4 ,but this is a mere dream3 the ,social ,revolution cannot take place so simply4 ,we have already mentioned that should the ,revolution break out to-morrow in ,paris1 ,lyons1 or any other city--should the workers lay hands on factories1 houses1 and banks1 present production would be completely revolutionized by this simple fact4 ,international commerce will come to a standstill2 so also will the importation of foreign bread-stuffs2 the circulation of commodities and of provisions will be paralyzed4 ,and then1 the city or territory in revolt will be compelled to provide for itself1 and to reorganize its production1 so as to satisfy its own needs4 ,if it fails to do so1 it is death4 ,if it succeeds1 it will revolutionize the economic life of the country4 ,the quantity of imported provisions having decreased1 consumption having increased1 one million ,parisians working for exportation purposes having been thrown out of work1 a great number of things imported to-day from distant or neighbouring countries not reaching their destination1 fancy-trade being temporarily at a standstill1--,what will the inhabitants have to eat six months after the ,revolution8 ,we think that when the stores containing food-stuffs are empty1 the masses will seek to obtain their food from the land4 ,they will see the necessity of cultivating the soil1 of combining agricultural production with industrial production in the suburbs of ,paris itself and its environs4 ,they will have to abandon the merely ornamental trades and consider their most urgent need--bread4 ,a great number of the inhabitants of the cities will have to become agriculturists4 ,not in the same manner as the present peasants who wear themselves out1 ploughing for a wage that barely provides them with sufficient food for the year1 but by following the principles of the intensive agriculture1 of the market gardeners1 applied on a large scale by means of the best machinery that man has invented or can invent4 ,they will till the land--not1 however1 like the country beast of burden3 a ,paris jeweller would object to that4 ,they will organize cultivation on better principles2 and not in the future1 but at once1 during the revolutionary struggles1 from fear of being worsted by the enemy4 ,agriculture will have to be carried out on intelligent lines1 by men and women availing themselves of the experience of the present time1 organizing themselves in joyous gangs for pleasant work1 like those who1 a hundred years ago1 worked in the ,champ de ,mars for the ,feast of the ,federation--a work of delight1 when not carried to excess1 when scientifically organized1 when man invents and improves his tools and is conscious of being a useful member of the community4 ,of course1 they will not only cultivate wheat and oats--they will also produce those things which they formerly used to order from foreign parts4 ,and let us not forget that for the inhabitants of a revolted territory1 foreign parts may include all districts that have not joined in the revolutionary movement4 ,during the ,revolutions of #agic and #ahga ,paris was made to feel that foreign parts meant even the country district at her very gates4 ,the speculator in grains at ,troyes starved in #agic and #agid the sansculottes of ,paris as badly1 and even worse1 than the ,german armies brought on to ,french soil by the ,versailles conspirators4 ,the revolted city will be compelled to do without these foreigners1 and why not8 ,france invented beet-root sugar when sugar-cane ran short during the continental blockade4 ,parisians discovered saltpetre in their cellars when they no longer received any from abroad4 ,shall we be inferior to our grandfathers1 who hardly lisped the first words of science8 ,a revolution is more than a mere change of the prevailing political system4 ,it implies the awakening of human intelligence1 the increasing of the inventive spirit tenfold1 a hundredfold2 it is the dawn of a new science--the science of men like ,laplace1 ,lamarck1 ,lavoisier4 ,it is a revolution in the minds of men1 as deep1 and deeper still1 than in their institutions4 ,and there are still economists1 who tell us that once the revolution is made1 everyone will return to his workshop1 as if passing through a revolution were going home after a walk in the ,epping forest6 ,to begin with1 the sole fact of having laid hands on middle-class property will imply the necessity of completely reorganizing the whole of economic life in the workshops1 the dockyards1 the factories4 ,and the revolution surely will not fail to act in this direction4 ,should ,paris1 during the social revolution1 be cut off from the world for a year or two by the supporters of middle-class rule1 its millions of intellects1 not yet depressed by factory life--that ,city of little trades which stimulate the spirit of invention--will show the world what man's brain can accomplish without asking for help from without1 but the motor force of the sun that gives light1 the power of the wind that sweeps away impurities1 and the silent life-forces at work in the earth we tread on4 ,we shall see then what a variety of trades1 mutually cooperating on a spot of the globe and animated by a revolution1 can do to feed1 clothe1 house1 and supply with all manner of luxuries millions of intelligent men4 ,we need write no fiction to prove this4 ,what we are sure of1 what has already been experimented upon1 and recognized as practical1 would suffice to carry it into effect1 if the attempt were fertilized1 vivified by the daring inspiration of the ,revolution and the spontaneous impulse of the masses4 ,,footnote3 #aj ,a fuller development of these ideas will be found in my book1 ,fields1 ,factories1 and ,workshops1 published by ,messrs4 ,thomas ,nelson and ,sons in their popular series in #aiab4 ,,chapter ,,xvii ,,agriculture ,i ,political ,economy has often been reproached with drawing all its deductions from the decidedly false principle1 that the only incentive capable of forcing a man to augment his power of production is personal interest in its narrowest sense4 ,the reproach is perfectly true2 so true that epochs of great industrial discoveries and true progress in industry are precisely those in which the happiness of all was inspiring men1 and in which personal enrichment was least thought of4 ,the great investigators in science and the great inventors aimed1 above all1 at giving greater freedom of mankind4 ,and if ,watt1 ,stephenson1 ,jacquard1 etc41 could have only foreseen what a state of misery their sleepless nights would bring to the workers1 they certainly would have burned their designs and broken their models4 ,another principle that pervades ,political ,economy is just as false4 ,it is the tacit admission1 common to all economists1 that if there is often over-production in certain branches1 a society will nevertheless never have sufficient products to satisfy the wants of all1 and that consequently the day will never come when nobody will be forced to sell his labour in exchange for wages4 ,this tacit admission is found at the basis of all theories and all the so-called laws taught by economists4 ,and yet it is certain that the day when any civilized association of individuals would ask itself1 what are the needs of all1 and the means of satisfying them1 it would see that1 in industry1 as in agriculture1 it already possesses sufficient to provide abundantly for all needs1 on condition that it knows how to apply these means to satisfy real needs4 ,that this is true as regards industry no one can contest4 ,indeed1 it suffices to study the processes already in use to extract coals and ore1 to obtain steel and work it1 to manufacture on a great scale what is used for clothing1 etc41 in order to perceive that we could already increase our production fourfold or more1 and yet use for that less work than we are using now4 ,we go further4 ,we assert that agriculture is in the same position3 those who cultivate the soil1 like the manufacturers1 already could increase their production1 not only fourfold but tenfold1 and they can put it into practice as soon as they feel the need of it1--as soon as a socialist organization of work will be established instead of the present capitalistic one4 ,each time agriculture is spoken of1 men imagine a peasant bending over the plough1 throwing badly assorted corn haphazard into the ground and waiting anxiously for what the good or bad season will bring forth2 they think of a family working from morn to night and reaping as reward a rude bed1 dry bread1 and coarse beverage4 ,in a word1 they picture the savages of ,la ,bruyre4 ,and for these men1 ground down to such a misery1 the utmost relief that society proposes1 is to reduce their taxes or their rent4 ,but even most social reformers do not care to imagine a cultivator standing erect1 taking leisure1 and producing by a few hours' work per day sufficient food to nourish1 not only his own family1 but a hundred men more at the least4 ,in their most glowing dreams of the future ,socialists do not go beyond ,american extensive culture1 which1 after all1 is but the infancy of agricultural art4 ,but the thinking agriculturist has broader ideas to-day--his conceptions are on a far grander scale4 ,he only asks for a fraction of an acre in order to produce sufficient vegetables for a family2 and to feed twenty-five horned beasts he needs no more space than he formerly required to feed one2 his aim is to make his own soil1 to defy seasons and climate1 to warm both air and earth around the young plant2 to produce1 in a word1 on one acre what he used to gather from fifty acres1 and that without any excessive fatigue--by greatly reducing1 on the contrary1 the total of former labour4 ,he knows that we will be able to feed everybody by giving to the culture of the fields no more time than what each can give with pleasure and joy4 ,this is the present tendency of agriculture4 ,while scientific men1 led by ,liebig1 the creator of the chemical theory of agriculture1 often got on the wrong tack in their love of mere theories1 unlettered agriculturists opened up new roads to prosperity4 ,market-gardeners of ,paris1 ,troyes1 ,rouen1 ,scotch and ,english gardeners1 ,flemish and ,lombardian farmers1 peasants of ,jersey1 ,guernsey1 and farmers on the ,scilly ,isles have opened up such large horizons that the mind hesitates to grasp them4 ,while up till lately a family of peasants needed at least seventeen to twenty acres to live on the produce of the soil--and we know how peasants live--we can now no longer say what is the minimum area on which all that is necessary to a family can be grown1 even including articles of luxury1 if the soil is worked by means of intensive culture4 ,twenty years ago it could already be asserted that a population of thirty million individuals could live very well1 without importing anything1 on what could be grown in ,great ,britain4 ,but now1 when we see the progress recently made in ,france1 in ,germany1 in ,england1 and when we contemplate the new horizons which open before us1 we can say that in cultivating the earth as it is already cultivated in many places1 even on poor soils1 fifty or sixty million inhabitants to the territory of ,great ,britain would still be a very feeble proportion to what man could extract from the soil4 ,in any case 7as we are about to demonstrate7 we may consider it as absolutely proved that if to-morrow ,paris and the two departments of ,seine and of ,seine-et-,oise organized themselves as an ,anarchist commune1 in which all worked with their hands1 and if the entire universe refused to send them a single bushel of wheat1 a single head of cattle1 a single basket of fruit1 and left them only the territory of the two departments1 they could not only produce all the corn1 meat1 and vegetables necessary for themselves1 but also vegetables and fruit which are now articles of luxury1 in sufficient quantities for all4 ,and1 in addition1 we affirm that the sum total of this labour would be far less than that expended at present to feed these people with corn harvested in ,auvergne and ,russia1 with vegetables produced a little everywhere by extensive agriculture1 and with fruit grown in the ,south4 ,it is self-evident that we in nowise desire all exchange to be suppressed1 nor that each region should strive to produce that which will only grow in its climate by a more or less artificial culture4 ,but we care to draw attention to the fact that the theory of exchange1 such as is understood to-day1 is strangely exaggerated--that exchange is often useless and even harmful4 ,we assert1 moreover1 that people have never had a right conception of the immense labour of ,southern wine growers1 nor that of ,russian and ,hungarian corn growers1 whose excessive labour could also be very much reduced if they adopted intensive culture1 instead of their present system of extensive agriculture4 ,,ii ,it would be impossible to quote here the mass of facts on which we base our assertions4 ,we are therefore obliged to refer our readers who want further information to another book1 ,fields1 ,factories1 and ,workshops4#aa ,above all we earnestly invite those who are interested in the question to read several excellent works published in ,france and elsewhere1 and of which we give a list at the close of this book#ab4 ,as to the inhabitants of large towns1 who have as yet no real notion of what agriculture can be1 we advise them to explore the surrounding market-gardens4 ,they need but observe and question the market-gardeners1 and a new world will be open to them4 ,they will then be able to see what ,european agriculture may be in the twentieth century2 and they will understand with what force the social revolution will be armed when we know the secret of taking everything we need from the soil4 ,a few facts will suffice to show that our assertions are in no way exaggerated4 ,we only wish them to be preceded by a few general remarks4 ,we know in what a wretched condition ,european agriculture is4 ,if the cultivator of the soil is not plundered by the landowner1 he is robbed by the ,state4 ,if the ,state taxes him moderately1 the money-lender enslaves him by means of promissory notes1 and soon turns him into the simple tenant of soil belonging in reality to a financial company4 ,the landlord1 the ,state1 and the banker thus plunders the cultivator by means of rent1 taxes1 and interest4 ,the sum varies in each country1 but it never falls below the quarter1 very often the half of the raw produce4 ,in ,france and in ,italy agriculturists paid the ,state quite recently as much as #dd per cent4 of the gross produce4 ,moreover1 the share of the owner and of ,state always goes on increasing4 ,as soon as the cultivator has obtained more plentiful crops by prodigies of labour1 invention1 or initiative1 the tribute he will owe to the landowner1 the ,state1 and the banker will augment in proportion4 ,if he doubles the number of bushels reaped per acre1 rent will be doubled1 and taxes too1 and the ,state will take care to raise them still more if the prices go up4 ,and so on4 ,in short1 everywhere the cultivator of the soil works twelve to sixteen hours a day2 these three vultures take from him everything he might lay by2 they rob him everywhere of what would enable him to improve his culture4 ,this is why agriculture progresses so slowly4 ,the cultivator can only occasionally make some progress1 in some exceptional regions1 under quite exceptional circumstances1 following upon a quarrel between the three vampires4 ,and yet we have said nothing about the tribute every cultivator pays to the manufacturer4 ,every machine1 every spade1 every barrel of chemical manure1 is sold to him at three or four times its real cost4 ,nor let us forget the middleman1 who levies the lion's share of the earth's produce4 ,this is why1 during all this century of invention and progress1 agriculture has only improved from time to time on very limited areas4 ,happily there have always been small oases1 neglected for some time by the vulture2 and here we learn what intensive agriculture can produce for mankind4 ,let us mention a few examples4 ,in the ,american prairies 7which1 however1 only yield meagre spring wheat crops1 from #g to #ae bushels acre1 and even these are often marred by periodical droughts71 #ejj men1 working only during eight months1 produce the annual food of #ej1jjj people4 ,with all the improvements of the last three years1 one man's yearly labour 7#cjj days7 yields1 delivered in ,chicago as flour1 the yearly food of #bej men4 ,here the result is obtained by a great economy in manual labour3 on those vast plains1 ploughing1 harvesting1 thrashing1 are organized in almost military fashion4 ,there is no useless running to and fro1 no loss of time--all is done with parade-like precision4 ,this is agriculture on a large scale--extensive agriculture1 which takes the soil from nature without seeking to improve it4 ,when the earth has yielded all it can1 they leave it2 they seek elsewhere for a virgin soil1 to be exhausted in its turn4 ,but here is also intensive agriculture1 which is already worked1 and will be more and more so1 by machinery4 ,its object is to cultivate a limited space well1 to manure1 to improve1 to concentrate work1 and to obtain the largest crop possible4 ,this kind of culture spreads every year1 and whereas agriculturists in the south of ,france and on the fertile plains of western ,america are content with an average crop of #aa to #ae bushels per acre by extensive culture1 they reap regularly #ci1 even #ee1 and sometimes #fj bushels per acre in the north of ,france4 ,the annual consumption of a man is thus obtained from less than a quarter of an acre4 ,and the more intense the culture is1 the less work is expended to obtain a bushel of wheat4 ,machinery replaces man at the preliminary work and for the improvements needed by the land--such as draining1 clearing of stones--which will double the crops in future1 once and for ever4 ,sometimes nothing but keeping the soil free of weeds1 without manuring1 allows an average soil to yield excellent crops from year to year4 ,it has been done for forty years in succession at ,rothamstead1 in ,hertfordshire4 ,however1 let us not write an agricultural romance1 but be satisfied with a crop of #dd bushels per acre4 ,that needs no exceptional soil1 but merely a rational culture2 and let us see what it means4 ,the #c1fjj1jjj individuals who inhabit the two departments of ,seine and ,seine-et-,oise consume yearly for their food a little less than #bb million bushels of cereals1 chiefly wheat2 and in our hypothesis they would have to cultivate1 in order to obtain this crop1 #did1bjj acres out of the #a1ejg1cjj acres which they possess4 ,it is evident they would not cultivate them with spades4 ,that would need too much time--#if work-days of #e hours per acre4 ,it would be preferable to improve the soil once for all--to drain what needed draining1 to level what needed levelling1 to clear the soil of stones1 were it even necessary to spend #e million days of #e hours in this preparatory work--an average of #aj work-days to each acre4 ,then they would plough with the steam-digger1 which would take one and three-fifths of a day per acre1 and they would give another one and three-fifths of a day for working with the double plough4 ,seeds would be sorted by steam instead of taken haphazard1 and they would be carefully sown in rows instead of being thrown to the four winds4 ,now all this work would not take #aj days of #e hours per acre if the work were done under good conditions4 ,but if #aj million work-days are given to good culture during #c or #d years1 the result will be that later on crops of #dd to #ee bushels per acre will be obtained by only working half the time4 ,fifteen million work-days will thus have been spent to give bread to a population of #c1fjj1jjj inhabitants4 ,and the work would be such that everyone could do it without having muscles of steel1 or without having even worked the ground before4 ,the initiative and the general distribution of work would come from those who know the soil4 ,as to the work itself1 there is no townsman of either sex so enfeebled as to be incapable of looking after machines and of contributing his share to agrarian work after a few hours' apprenticeship4 ,well1 when we consider that in the present chaos there are1 in a city like ,paris1 without counting the unemployed of the upper classes1 there are always about #ajj1jjj workmen out of work in their several trades1 we see that the power lost in our present organization would alone suffice to give1 with a rational culture1 all the bread that is necessary for the three or four million inhabitants of the two departments4 ,we repeat1 this is no fancy dream1 and we have not yet spoken of the truly intensive agriculture4 ,we have not depended upon the wheat 7obtained in three years by ,mr4 ,hallett7 of which one grain1 replanted1 produced #e1jjj or #f1jjj1 and occasionally #aj1jjj grains1 which would give the wheat necessary for a family of five individuals on an area of #abj square yards4 ,on the contrary1 we have only mentioned what is being already achieved by numerous farmers in ,france1 ,england1 ,belgium1 etc41 and what might be done to-morrow with the experience and knowledge acquired already by practice on a large scale4 ,but without a revolution1 neither to-morrow1 nor after to-morrow will see it done1 because it is not to the interest of landowners and capitalists2 and because peasants who would find their profit in it have neither the knowledge nor the money1 nor the time to obtain what is necessary to go ahead4 ,the society of to-day has not yet reached this stage4 ,but let ,parisians proclaim an ,anarchist ,commune1 and they will of necessity come to it1 because they will not be foolish enough to continue making luxurious toys 7which ,vienna1 ,warsaw1 and ,berlin make as well already71 and to run the risk of being left without bread4 ,moreover1 agricultural work1 by the help of machinery1 would soon become the most attractive and the most joyful of all occupations4 ,we have had enough jewelery and enough dolls' clothes1 they would say2 it is high time for the workers to recruit their strength in agriculture1 to go in search of vigour1 of impressions of nature1 of the joy of life1 that they have forgotten in the dark factories of the suburbs4 ,in the ,middle ,ages it was ,alpine pasture lands1 rather than guns1 which allowed the ,swiss to shake off lords and kings4 ,modern agriculture will allow a city in revolt to free itself from the combined bourgeois forces4 ,,iii ,we have seen how the three and one-half million inhabitants of the two departments round ,paris could find ample bread by cultivating only a third of their territory4 ,let us now pass on to cattle4 ,englishmen1 who eat much meat1 consume on an average a little less than #bbj pounds a year per adult4 ,supposing all meats consumed were oxen1 that makes a little less than the third of an ox4 ,an ox a year for five individuals 7including children7 is already a sufficient ration4 ,for three and one-half million inhabitants this would make an annual consumption of #gjj1jjj head of cattle4 ,to-day1 with the pasture system1 we need at least five million acres to nourish #ffj1jjj head of cattle4 ,this makes nine acres per each head of horned cattle4 ,nevertheless1 with prairies moderately watered by spring water 7as recently done on thousands of acres in the southwest of ,france71 one and one-fourth million acres already suffice4 ,but if intensive culture is practiced1 and beet-root is grown for fodder1 you only need a quarter of that area1 that is to say1 about #caj1jjj acres4 ,and if we have recourse to maize and practice ensilage 7the compression of fodder while green7 like ,arabs1 we obtain fodder on an area of #bag1ejj acres4 ,in the environs of ,milan1 where sewer water is used to irrigate the fields1 fodder for two to three horned cattle per each acre is obtained on an area of #bb1jjj acres2 and on a few favoured fields1 up to #agg tons of hay to the #aj acres have been cropped1 the yearly provender of #cf milch cows4 ,nearly nine acres per head of cattle are needed under the pasture system1 and only two and one-half acres for nine oxen or cows under the new system4 ,these are the opposite extremes in modern agriculture4 ,in ,guernsey1 on a total of #i1hhd acres utilized1 nearly half 7#d1fie acres7 are covered with cereals and kitchen-gardens2 only #e1ahi acres remain as meadows4 ,on these #e1ahi acres1 #a1dhj horses1 #g1bfj head of cattle1 #ijj sheep1 and #d1bjj pigs are fed1 which makes more than three head of cattle per two acres1 without reckoning the sheep or the pigs4 ,it is needless to add that the fertility of the soil is made by seaweed and chemical manures4 ,returning to our three and one-half million inhabitants belonging to ,paris and its environs1 we see that the land necessary for the rearing of cattle comes down from five million acres to #aig1jjj4 ,well1 then1 let us not stop at the lowest figures1 let us take those of ordinary intensive culture2 let us liberally add to the land necessary for smaller cattle which must replace some of the horned beasts and allow #cie1jjj acres for the rearing of cattle--#did1jjj if you like1 on the #a1jac1jjj acres remaining after bread has been provided for the people4 ,let us be generous and give five million work-days to put this land into a productive state4 ,after having therefore employed in the course of a year twenty million work-days1 half of which are for permanent improvements1 we shall have bread and meat assured to us1 without including all the extra meat obtainable in the shape of fowls1 pigs1 rabbits1 etc42 without taking into consideration that a population provided with excellent vegetables and fruit consumes less meat than ,englishmen1 who supplement their poor supply of vegetables by animal food4 ,now1 how much do twenty million work-days of five hours make per inhabitant8 ,very little indeed4 ,a population of three and one-half millions must have at least #a1bjj1jjj adult men1 and as many women capable of work4 ,well1 then1 to give bread and meat to all1 it would need only seventeen half-days of work a year per man4 ,add three million work-days1 or double that number if you like1 in order to obtain milk4 ,that will make twenty-five work-days of five hours in all--nothing more than a little pleasureable country exercise--to obtain the three principal products3 bread1 meat1 and milk4 ,the three products which1 after housing1 cause daily anxiety to nine-tenths of mankind4 ,and yet--let us not tire of repeating--these are not fancy dreams4 ,we have only told what is1 what been1 obtained by experience on a large scale4 ,agriculture could be reorganized in this way to-morrow if property laws and general ignorance did not offer opposition4 ,the day ,paris has understood that to know what you eat and how it is produced1 is a question of public interest2 the day when everybody will have understood that this question is infinitely more important than all the parliamentary debates of the present times--on that day the ,revolution will be an accomplished fact4 ,paris will take possession of the two departments and cultivate them4 ,and then the ,parisian worker1 after having laboured a third of his existence in order to buy bad and insufficient food1 will produce it himself1 under his walls1 within the enclosure of his forts 7if they still exist71 and in a few hours of healthy and attractive work4 ,and now we pass on to fruit and vegetables4 ,let us go outside ,paris and visit the establishment of a market-gardener who accomplishes wonders 7ignored by learned economists7 at a few miles from the academies4 ,let us visit1 suppose1 ,m4 ,ponce1 the author of a work on market-gardening1 who makes no secret of what the earth yields him1 and who has published it all along4 ,m4 ,ponce1 and especially his workmen1 work like niggers4 ,it takes eight men to cultivate a plot a little less than three acres 7#b4g74 ,they work twelve and even fifteen hours a day1 that is to say1 three times more than is needed4 ,twenty-four of them would not be too many4 ,to which ,m4 ,ponce will probably answer that as he pays the terrible sum of #ajj rent a year for his #b4g acres of land1 and #ajj for manure bought in the barracks1 he is obliged to exploit4 ,he would no doubt answer1 ,being exploited1 ,i exploit in my turn4 ,his installation has also cost him #a1bjj1 of which certainly more than half went as tribute to the idle barons of industry4 ,in reality1 this establishment represents at most #c1jjj work-days1 probably much less4 ,but let us examine his crops3 nearly ten tons of carrots1 nearly ten tons of onions1 radishes1 and small vegetables1 #f1jjj heads of cabbage1 #c1jjj heads of cauliflower1 #e1jjj baskets of tomatoes1 #e1jjj dozen of choice fruit1 #aed1jjj salads2 in short1 a total of #abc tons of vegetables and fruit to #b4g acres--#abj yards long by #aji yards broad1 which makes more than forty-four tons of vegetables to the acre4 ,but a man does not eat more than #ffj pounds of vegetables and fruit a year1 and two and one-half acres of a market-garden yield enough vegetables and fruit to richly supply the table of #cej adults during the year4 ,thus twenty-four persons employed a whole year in cultivating #b4g acres of land1 and only five working hours a day1 would produce sufficient vegetables and fruit for #cej adults1 which is equivalent at least to #ejj individuals4 ,to put it another way3 in cultivating like ,m4 ,ponce--and his results have already been surpassed--#cej adults should each give a little more than #ajj hours a year 7#ajc7 to produce vegetables and fruit necessary for #ejj people4 ,let us mention that such a production is not the exception4 ,it takes place1 under the walls of ,paris1 on an area of #b1bbj acres1 by #e1jjj market-gardeners4 ,only these market-gardeners are reduced nowadays to a state of beasts of burden1 in order to pay an average rent of #cb per acre4 ,but do not these facts1 which can be verified by every one1 prove that #ag1cjj acres 7of the #eai1jjj remaining to us7 would suffice to give all necessary vegetables1 as well as a liberal amount of fruit to the three and one-half million inhabitants of our two departments8 ,as to the quantity of work necessary to produce these fruits and vegetables1 it would amount to fifty million work-days of five hours 7#ej days per adult male71 if we measure by the market-gardeners' standard of work4 ,but we could reduce this quantity if we had recourse to the process in vogue in ,jersey and ,guernsey4 ,we must also remember that the ,paris market-gardener is forced to work so hard because he mostly produces early season fruits1 the high prices of which have to pay for fabulous rents1 and that this system of culture entails more work than is necessary for growing the ordinary staple-food vegetables and fruit4 ,besides1 the market-gardeners of ,paris1 not having the means to make a great outlay on their gardens1 and being obliged to pay heavily for glass1 wood1 iron1 and coal1 obtain their artificial heat out of manure1 while it can be had at much less cost in hothouses4 ,,iv ,the market-gardeners1 we say1 are forced to become machines and to renounce all joys of life in order to obtain their marvellous crops4 ,but these hard grinders have rendered a great service to humanity in teaching us that the soil can be made4 ,they make it with old hot-beds of manure1 which have already served to give the necessary warmth to young plants and to early fruit2 and they make it in such great quantity that they are compelled to sell it in part1 otherwise it would raise the level of their gardens by one inch every year4 ,they do it so well 7so ,barral teaches us1 in his ,dictionary of ,agriculture1 in an article on market-gardeners7 that in recent contracts1 the market-gardener stipulates that he will carry away his soil with him when he leaves the bit of ground he is cultivating4 ,loam carried away on carts1 with furniture and glass frames--that is the answer of practical cultivators to the learned treatises of a ,ricardo1 who represented rent as a means of equalizing the natural advantages of the soil4 ,the soil is worth what the man is worth1 that is the gardeners' motto4 ,and yet the market-gardeners of ,paris and ,rouen labour three times as hard to obtain the same results as their fellow-workers in ,guernsey or in ,england4 ,applying industry to agriculture1 these last make their climate in addition to their soil1 by means of the greenhouse4 ,fifty years ago the greenhouse was the luxury of the rich4 ,it was kept to grow exotic plants for pleasure4 ,but nowadays its use begins to be generalized4 ,a tremendous industry has grown up lately in ,guernsey and ,jersey1 where hundreds of acres are already covered with glass--to say nothing of the countless small greenhouses kept in every little farm garden4 ,acres and acres of greenhouses have lately been built also at ,worthing 7#ajc acres in #aiab71 in the suburbs of ,london1 and in several other parts of ,england and ,scotland4 ,they are built of all qualities1 beginning with those which have granite walls1 down to those which represent mere shelters made in planks and glass frames1 which cost1 even now1 with all the tribute paid to capitalists and middlemen1 less than #cs4 #f;d4 per square yard under glass4 ,most of them are heated for at least three of four months every year2 but even the cool greenhouses1 which are not heated at all1 give excellent results--of course1 not for growing grapes and tropical plants1 but for potatoes1 carrots1 peas1 tomatoes1 and so on4 ,in this way man emancipates himself from climate1 and at the same time he avoids also the heavy work with the hot-beds1 and he saves both in buying much less manure and in work4 ,three men to the acre1 each of them working less than sixty hours a week1 produce on very small spaces what formerly required acres and acres of land4 ,the result of all these recent conquests of culture is1 that if one-half only of the adults of a city gave each about fifty half-days for the culture of the finest fruit and vegetables out of season1 they would have all the year round an unlimited supply of that sort of fruit and vegetables for the whole population4 ,but there is a still more important fact to notice4 ,the greenhouse has nowadays a tendency to become a mere kitchen garden under glass4 ,and when it is used to such a purpose1 the simplest plank-and-glass unheated shelters already give fabulous crops--such as1 for instance1 #ejj bushels of potatoes per acre as a first crop1 ready by the end of ,april2 after which a second and a third crop are obtained in the extremely high temperature which prevails in the summer under glass4 ,i gave in my ,fields1 ,factories1 and ,workshops1 most striking facts in this direction4 ,sufficient to say here1 that at ,jersey1 thirty-four men1 with one trained gardener only1 cultivate thirteen acres under glass1 from which they obtain #adc tons of fruit and early vegetables1 using for this extraordinary culture less than #a1jjj tons of coal4 ,and this is done now in ,guernsey and ,jersey on a very large scale1 quite a number of steamers constantly plying between ,guernsey and ,london1 only to export the crops of the greenhouses4 ,nowadays1 in order to obtain that same crop of #ejj bushels of potatoes1 we must plough every year a surface of four acres1 plant it1 cultivate it1 weed1 it1 and so on2 whereas with the glass1 even if we shall have to give perhaps1 to start with1 half a day's work per square yard in order to build the greenhouse--we shall save afterwards at least one-half1 and probably three-quarters of the yearly labour required formerly4 ,these are facts1 results which every one can verify himself4 ,and these facts are already a hint as to what man could obtain from the earth if he treated it with intelligence4 ,v ,in all the above we have reasoned upon what already withstood the test of experience4 ,intensive culture of the fields1 irrigated meadows1 the hot-house1 and finally the kitchen garden under glass are realities4 ,moreover1 the tendency is to extend and to generalize these methods of culture1 because they allow of obtaining more produce with less work and with more certainty4 ,in fact1 after having studied the most simple glass shelters of ,guernsey1 we affirm that1 taking all in all1 far less work is expended for obtaining potatoes under glass in ,april1 than in growing them in the open air1 which requires digging a space four times as large1 watering it1 weeding it1 etc4 ,work is likewise economized in employing a perfected tool or machine1 even when an initial expense had to be incurred to buy the tool4 ,complete figures concerning the culture of common vegetables under glass are still wanting4 ,this culture is of recent origin1 and is only carried out on small areas4 ,but we have already figures concerning the fifty years old culture of early season grapes1 and these figures are conclusive4 ,in the north of ,england1 on the ,scotch frontier1 where coal only costs #cs4 a ton at the pit's mouth1 they have long since taken to growing hot-house grapes4 ,thirty years ago these grapes1 ripe in ,january1 were sold by the grower at #bjs4 per pound and resold at #djs4 per pound for ,napoleon ,,iii4's table4 ,to-day the same grower sells them at only #bs4 #f;d4 per pound4 ,he tells us so himself in a horticultural journal4 ,the fall in the prices is caused by the tons and tons of grapes arriving in ,january to ,london and ,paris4 ,thanks to the cheapness of coal and an intelligent culture1 grapes from the north travel now southwards1 in a contrary direction to ordinary fruit4 ,they cost so little that in ,may1 ,english and ,jersey grapes are sold at #as4 #h;d4 per pound by the gardeners1 and yet this price1 like that of #djs4 thirty years ago1 is only kept up by slack production4 ,in ,march1 ,belgium grapes are sold at from #f;d4 to #h;d41 while in ,october1 grapes cultivated in immense quantities--under glass1 and with a little artificial heating in the environs of ,london--are sold at the same price as grapes bought by the pound in the vineyards of ,switzerland and the ,rhine1 that is to say1 for a few halfpence4 ,yet they still cost two-thirds too much1 by reason of the excessive rent of the soil and the cost of installation and heating1 on which the gardener pays a formidable tribute to the manufacturer and the middleman4 ,this being understood1 we may say that it costs next to nothing to have delicious grapes under the latitude of1 and in our misty ,london in autumn4 ,in one of the suburbs1 for instance1 a wretched glass and plaster shelter1 nine feet ten inches long by six and one-half feet wide1 resting against our cottage1 gave us about fifty pounds of grapes of an exquisite flavour in ,october1 for nine consecutive years4 ,the crop came from a ,hamburg vine-stalk1 six year old4 ,and the shelter was so bad that the rain came through4 ,at night the temperature was always that of outside4 ,it was evidently not heated1 for it would have been as useless as heating the street6 ,and the care which was given was3 pruning the vine1 half an hour every year2 and bringing a wheel-barrowful of manure1 which was thrown over the stalk of the vine1 planted in red clay outside the shelter4 ,on the other hand1 if we estimate the amount of care given to the vine on the borders of the ,rhine of ,lake ,leman1 the terraces constructed stone upon stone on the slopes of the hills1 the transport of manure and also of earth to a height of two or three hundred feet1 we come to the conclusion that on the whole the expenditure of work necessary to cultivate vines is more considerable in ,switzerland or on the banks of the ,rhine than it is under glass in ,london suburbs4 ,this may seem paradoxical1 because it is generally believed that vines grow of themselves in the south of ,europe1 and that the vine-grower's work costs nothing4 ,but gardeners and horticulturists1 far from contradicting us1 confirm our assertions4 ,the most advantageous culture in ,england is vine culture1 wrote a practical gardener1 editor of the ,english ,journal of ,horticulture in the ,nineteenth ,century4 ,prices speak eloquently for themselves1 as we know4 ,translating these facts into communist language1 we may assert that the man or woman who takes twenty hours a year from his leisure time to give some little care--very pleasant in the main--to two or three vine-stalks sheltered by simple glass under any ,european climate1 will gather as many grapes as their family and friends can eat4 ,and that applies not only to vines1 but to all fruit trees4 ,the ,commune that will put the processes of intensive culture into practice on a large scale will have all possible vegetables1 indigenous or exotic1 and all desirable fruits1 without employing more than about ten hours a year per inhabitant4 ,in fact1 nothing would be easier than to verify the above statements by direct experiment4 ,suppose #ajj acres of a light loam 7such as we have at ,worthing7 are transformed into a number of market gardens1 each one with its glass houses for the rearing of the seedlings and young plants4 ,suppose also that fifty more acres are covered with glass houses1 and the organization of the whole is left to practical experienced ,french marachers1 and ,guernsey or ,worthing greenhouse gardeners4 ,in basing the maintenance of these #aej acres on the ,jersey average1 requiring the work of three men per acre under glass--which makes less than #h1fjj hours of work a year--it would need about #a1cjj1jjj hours for the #aej acres4 ,fifty competent gardeners could give five hours a day to this work1 and the rest would be simply done by people who1 without being gardeners by profession1 would soon learn how to use a spade1 and to handle the plants4 ,but this work would yield at least--we have seen it in a preceding chapter--all necessaries and articles of luxury in the way of fruit and vegetables for at least #dj1jjj or #ej1jjj people4 ,let us admit that among this number there are #ac1ejj adults1 willing to work at the kitchen garden2 then1 each one would have to give #ajj hours a year distributed over the whole year4 ,these hours of work would become hours of recreation spent among friends and children in beautiful gardens1 more beautiful probably than those of the legendary ,semiramis4 ,this is the balance sheet of the labour to be spent in order to be able to eat to satiety fruit which we are deprived of to-day1 and to have vegetables in abundance1 now so scrupulously rationed out by the housewife1 when she has to reckon each half-penny which must go to enrich capitalists and landowners#ac4 ,if only humanity had the consciousness of what it ,,can1 and if that consciousness only gave it the power to ,,will6 ,if it only knew that cowardice of the spirit is the rock on which all revolutions have stranded until now4 ,,vi ,we can easily perceive the new horizons opening before the social revolution4 ,each time we speak of revolution1 the face of the worker who has seen children wanting food darkens and he asks--,what of bread8 ,will there be sufficient1 if everyone eats according to his appetite8 ,what if the peasants1 ignorant tools of reaction1 starve our towns as the black bands did in ,france in #agic--what shall we do8 ,let them do their worst4 ,the large cities will have to do without them4 ,at what1 then1 should the hundreds of thousands of workers1 who are asphyxiated to-day in small workshops and factories1 be employed on the day they regain their liberty8 ,will they continue to shut themselves up in factories after the ,revolution8 ,will they continue to make luxurious toys for export when they see their stock or corn getting exhausted1 meat becoming scarce1 and vegetables disappearing without being replaced8 ,evidently not6 ,they will leave the town and go into the fields6 ,aided by a machinery which will enable the weakest of us to put a shoulder to the wheel1 they will carry revolution into previously enslaved culture as they will have carried it into institutions and ideas4 ,hundreds of acres will be covered with glass1 and men1 and women with delicate fingers1 will foster the growth of young plants4 ,hundreds of other acres will be ploughed by steam1 improved by manures1 or enriched by artificial soil obtained by the pulverization of rocks4 ,happy crowds of occasional labourers will cover these acres with crops1 guided in the work and experiments partly by those who know agriculture1 but especially by the great and practical spirit of a people roused from long slumber and illumined by that bright beacon--the happiness of all4 ,and in two or three months the early crops will receive the most pressing wants1 and provide food for a people who1 after so many centuries of expectation1 will at least be able to appease their hunger and eat according to their appetite4 ,in the meanwhile1 popular genius1 the genius of a nation which revolts and knows its wants1 will work at experimenting with new processes of culture that we already catch a glimpse of1 and that only need the baptism of experience to become universal4 ,light will be experimented with--that unknown agent of culture which makes barley ripen in forty-five days under the latitude of ,yakutsk2 light1 concentrated or artificial1 will rival heat in hastening the growth of plants4 ,a ,mouchot of the future will invent a machine to guide the rays of the sun and make them work1 so that we shall no longer seek sun-heat stored in coal in the depths of the earth4 ,they will experiment the watering of the soil with cultures of micro-organisms--a rational idea1 conceived but yesterday1 which will permit us to give to the soil those little living beings1 necessary to feed the rootlets1 to decompose and assimilate the component parts of the soil4 ,they will experiment4444 ,but let us stop here1 or we shall enter into the realm of fancy4 ,let us remain in the reality of acquired facts4 ,with the processes of culture in use1 applied on a large scale1 and already victorious in the struggle against industrial competition1 we can give ourselves ease and luxury in return for agreeable work4 ,the near future will show what is practical in the processes that recent scientific discoveries give us a glimpse of4 ,let us limit ourselves at present to opening up the new path that consists in the study of the needs of man1 and the means of satisfying them4 ,the only thing that may be wanting to the ,revolution is the boldness of initiative4 ,with our minds already narrowed in our youth and enslaved by the past in our mature age1 we hardly dare to think4 ,if a new idea is mentioned--before venturing on an opinion of our own1 we consult musty books a hundred years old1 to know what ancient masters thought on the subject4 ,it is not food that will fail1 if boldness of thought and initiative are not wanting to the revolution4 ,of all the great days of the ,french ,revolution1 the most beautiful1 the greatest1 was the one on which delegates who had come from all parts of ,france to ,paris1 worked all with the spade to plane the ground of the ,champ de ,mars1 preparing it for the fte of the ,federation4 ,that day ,france was united3 animated by the new spirit1 she had a vision of the future in the working in common of the soil4 ,and it will again be by the working in common of the soil that the enfranchised societies will find their unity and will obliterate the hatred and oppression which has hitherto divided them4 ,henceforth1 able to conceive solidarity--that immense power which increases man's energy and creative forces a hundredfold--the new society will march to the conquest of the future with all the vigour of youth4 ,ceasing to produce for unknown buyers1 and looking in its midst for needs and tastes to be satisfied1 society will liberally assure the life and ease of each of its members1 as well as that moral satisfaction which work gives when freely chosen and freely accomplished1 and the joy of living without encroaching on the life of others4 ,inspired by a new daring--born of the feeling of solidarity--all will march together to the conquest of the high joys of knowledge and artistic creation4 ,a society thus inspired will fear neither dissensions within nor enemies without4 ,to the coalitions of the past it will oppose a new harmony1 the initiative of each and all1 the daring which springs from the awakening of a people's genius4 ,before such an irresistible force conspiring kings will be powerless4 ,nothing will remain for them but to bow before it1 and to harness themselves to the chariot of humanity1 rolling towards new horizons opened up by the ,social ,revolution4 ,,footnotes3 #aa ,a new enlarged edition of it has been published by ,thomas ,nelson and ,sons in their ,shilling ,library4 #ab ,consult ,la ,rpartition mtrique des impts1 by ,a4 ,toubeau1 two vols41 published by ,guillaumin in #ahhj4 7,we do not in the least agree with ,toubeau's conclusions1 but it is a real encyclopdia1 indicating the sources which prove what can be obtained from the soil47 ,la ,culture marachere1 by ,m4 ,ponce1 ,paris1 #ahfi4 ,le ,potager ,gressent1 ,paris1 #ahhe1 an excellent practical work4 ,physiologie et culture du bl1 by ,risler1 ,paris1 #ahha4 ,le bl1 sa culture intensive et extensive1 by ,lecouteux1 ,paris1 #ahhc4 ,la ,cit ,chinoise1 by ,eugne ,simon4 ,le dictionnaire d'agriculture1 by ,barral 7,hachette1 editor74 ,the ,rothamstead ,experiments1 by ,wm4 ,fream1 ,london1 #ahhh--;culture without manure1 etc4 7the ,field office1 editor74 ,fields1 ,factories1 and ,workshops1 by the author4 7,thomas ,nelson ,sons47 #ac ,summing up the figures given on agriculture1 figures proving that the inhabitants of the two departments of ,seine and ,seine-et-,oise can live perfectly well on their own territory by employing very little time annually to obtain food1 we have3-- ,,departments ,,of ,,seine ,,and ,,seine-,,et-,,oise ,number of inhabitants in #ahhi #c1ijj1jjj ,area in acres #a1ejg1cjj ,average number of inhabitants per acre #b4f ,areas to be cultivated to feed the inhabitants 7in acres73-- ,corn and ,cereals #did1jjj ,natural and artificial meadows #did1jjj ,vegetables and fruit from #ag1cjj to #be1jjj ,leaving a balance for houses1 roads1 parks1 forests #did1jjj ,quantity of annual work necessary to improve and cultivate the above surfaces in five-hour workdays3-- ,cereals 7culture and crop7 #ae1jjj1jjj ,meadows1 milk1 rearing of cattle #aj1jjj1jjj ,market-gardening culture1 high-class fruit #cc1jjj1jjj ,extras #ab1jjj1jjj ---------- ,total #gj1jjj1jjj ,if we suppose that only half of the able-bodied adults 7men and women7 are willing to work at agriculture1 we see that #gj million work-days must be divided among #a1bjj1jjj individuals1 which gives us fifty-eight work-days of #e hours for each of these workers4 ,with that the population of the two departments would have all necessary bread1 meat1 milk1 vegetables1 and fruit1 both for ordinary and even luxurious consumption4 ,to-day a workman spends for the necessary food of his family 7generally less than what is necessary7 at least one-third of his #cjj work-days a year1 about #a1jjj hours be it1 instead of #bij4 ,that is1 he thus gives about #gjj hours too much to fatten the idle and the would-be administrators1 because he does not produce his own food1 but buys it of middlemen1 who in their turn buy it of peasants who exhaust themselves by working with bad tools1 because1 being robbed by the landowners and the ,state1 they cannot procure better ones4