,ver4#jd4bi4ic99;,,end99 ,scanned with ,omni,page ,professional ,,ocr software donated by ,caere ,corporation1 #a-hjj-ece-gbbf4 ,contact ,mike ,lough ,mikelcaere4com ,,the ,,evolution ,,of ,,capitalism ,,system ,,of ,,economical ,,contradictions ,,or1 ,,the ,,philosophy ,,of ,,misery4 ,,by ,p4 ,j4 ,,proudhon ,destruam et aedificabo4 ,deuteronomy3 c4 #cb4 ,,volume ,,first4 ,,contents4 ,,introduction ,,chapter ,i4 ,,of ,,the ,,economic ,,science #a4 ,opposition between ,,fact and ,,right in ,social ,economy #b4 ,inadequacy of ,theories and ,criticisms ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,of ,,value #a4 ,opposition of ,value in ,,use and ,value in ,,exchange #b4 ,constitution of ,value2 ,definition of ,wealth #c4 ,application of the ,law of ,proportionality of ,values ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,economic ,,evolutions4--,,first ,,period4--,,the ,,division ,,of ,,labor #a4 ,antagonistic ,effects of the ,principle of ,division #b4 ,impotence of ,palliatives4--,,mm4 ,blanqui1 ,chevalier1 ,dunoyer1 ,rossi1 and ,passy ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,second ,,period4--,,machinery #a4 ,of the ,function of ,machinery in its ,relations to ,liberty #b4 ,machinery's ,contradiction4--,origin of ,capital and ,wages #c4 ,of ,preservatives against the ,disastrous ,influence of ,machinery ,,chapter ,v4 ,,third ,,period4--,,competition #a4 ,necessity of ,competition #b4 ,subversive ,effects of ,competition1 and the ,destruction of ,liberty thereby #c4 ,remedies against ,competition ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,fourth ,,period4--,,monopoly #a4 ,necessity of ,monopoly #b4 ,the ,disasters in ,labor and the ,perversion of ,ideas caused by ,monopoly ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,fifth ,,period4--,,police1 ,,or ,,taxation #a4 ,synthetic ,idea of the ,tax4 ,point of ,departure and ,development of this ,idea #b4 ,antinomy of the ,tax #c4 ,disastrous and ,inevitable ,consequences of the ,tax4 7,provisions1 ,sumptuary ,laws1 ,rural and ,industrial ,police1 ,patents1,trade-,marks1 etc47 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,of ,,the ,,responsibility ,,of ,,man ,,and ,,of ,,god1 ,,under ,,the ,,law ,,of ,,contradiction1 ,,or ,a ,,solution ,,of ,,the ,,problem ,,of ,,providence #a4 ,the ,culpability of ,man4--,exposition of the ,myth of the ,fall #b4 ,exposition of the ,myth of ,providence4--,retrogression of ,god ,,introduction4 ,before entering upon the subject-matter of these new memoirs1 ,i must explain an hypothesis which will undoubtedly seem strange1 but in the absence of which it is impossible for me to proceed intelligibly3 ,i mean the hypothesis of a ,god4 ,to suppose ,god1 it will be said1 is to deny him4 ,why do you not affirm him8 ,is it my fault if belief in ,divinity has become a suspected opinion2 if the bare suspicion of a ,supreme ,being is already noted as evidence of a weak mind2 and if1 of all philosophical ,utopias1 this is the only one which the world no longer tolerates8 ,is it my fault if hypocrisy and imbecility everywhere hide behind this holy formula8 ,let a public teacher suppose the existence1 in the universe1 of an unknown force governing suns and atoms1 and keeping the whole machine in motion4 ,with him this supposition1 wholly gratuitous1 is perfectly natural2 it is received1 encouraged3 witness attraction--an hypothesis which will never be verified1 and which1 nevertheless1 is the glory of its originator4 ,but when1 to explain the course of human events1 ,i suppose1 with all imaginable caution1 the intervention of a ,god1 ,i am sure to shock scientific gravity and offend critical ears3 to so wonderful an extent has our piety discredited ,providence1 so many tricks have been played by means of this dogma or fiction by charlatans of every stamp6 ,i have seen the theists of my time1 and blasphemy has played over my lips2 ,i have studied the belief of the people1--this people that ,brydaine called the best friend of ,god1--and have shuddered at the negation which was about to escape me4 ,tormented by conflicting feelings1 ,i appealed to reason2 and it is reason which1 amid so many dogmatic contradictions1 now forces the hypothesis upon me4 ,a priori dogmatism1 applying itself to ,god1 has proved fruitless3 who knows whither the hypothesis1 in its turn1 will lead us8 ,i will explain therefore how1 studying in the silence of my heart1 and far from every human consideration1 the mystery of social revolutions1 ,god1 the great unknown1 has become for me an hypothesis1--,i mean a necessary dialectical tool4 ,i4 ,if ,i follow the ,god-idea through its successive transformations1 ,i find that this idea is preeminently social3 ,i mean by this that it is much more a collective act of faith than an individual conception4 ,now1 how and under what circumstances is this act of faith produced8 ,this point it is important to determine4 ,from the moral and intellectual point of view1 society1 or the collective man1 is especially distinguished from the individual by spontaneity of action1--in other words1 instinct4 ,while the individual obeys1 or imagines he obeys1 only those motives of which he is fully conscious1 and upon which he can at will decline or consent to act2 while1 in a word1 he thinks himself free1 and all the freer when he knows that he is possessed of keener reasoning faculties and larger information1--society is governed by impulses which1 at first blush1 exhibit no deliberation and design1 but which gradually seem to be directed by a superior power1 existing outside of society1 and pushing it with irresistible might toward an unknown goal4 ,the establishment of monarchies and republics1 caste-distinctions1 judicial institutions1 etc41 are so many manifestations of this social spontaneity1 to note the effects of which is much easier than to point out its principle and show its cause4 ,the whole effort1 even of those who1 following ,bossuet1 ,vico1 ,herder1 ,hegel1 have applied themselves to the philosophy of history1 has been hitherto to establish the presence of a providential destiny presiding over all the movements of man4 ,and ,i observe1 in this connection1 that society never fails to evoke its genius previous to action3 as if it wished the powers above to ordain what its own spontaneity has already resolved on4 ,lots1 oracles1 sacrifices1 popular acclamation1 public prayers1 are the commonest forms of these tardy deliberations of society4 ,this mysterious faculty1 wholly intuitive1 and1 so to speak1 super-social1 scarcely or not at all perceptible in persons1 but which hovers over humanity like an inspiring genius1 is the primordial fact of all psychology4 ,now1 unlike other species of animals1 which1 like him1 are governed at the same time by individual desires and collective impulses1 man has the privilege of perceiving and designating to his own mind the instinct or fatum which leads him2 we shall see later that he has also the power of foreseeing and even influencing its decrees4 ,and the first act of man1 filled and carried away with enthusiasm 7of the divine breath71 is to adore the invisible ,providence on which he feels that he depends1 and which he calls ,,god1--that is1 ,life1 ,being1 ,spirit1 or1 simpler still1 ,me2 for all these words1 in the ancient tongues1 are synonyms and homophones4 ,i am ,,me1 ,god said to ,abraham1 and ,i covenant with ,,thee44444 ,and to ,moses3 ,i am the ,being4 ,thou shalt say unto the children of ,israel1 ,the ,being hath sent me unto you4' ,these two words1 the ,being and ,me1 have in the original language--the most religious that men have ever spoken--the same characteristic4#a ,elsewhere1 when ,ie-hovah1 acting as law-giver through the instrumentality of ,moses1 attests his eternity and swears by his own essence1 he uses1 as a form of oath1 ,i2 or else1 with redoubled force1 ,i1 ,,the ,,being4 ,thus the ,god of the ,hebrews is the most personal and wilful of all the gods1 and none express better than he the intuition of humanity4 #a ,ie-hovah1 and in composition ,iah1 the ,being2 ,iao1 ioupitur1 same meaning2 ha-iah1 ,heb41 he was2 ei1 ,gr41 he is1 ei-nai1 to be2 an-i1 ,heb41 and in conjugation th-i1 me2 e-go1 io1 ich1 i1 m-i1 me1 t-ibi1 te1 and all the personal pronouns in which the vowels i1 e1 ei1 oi1 denote personality in general1 and the consonants1 m or n1 s or t1 serve to indicate the number of the person4 ,for the rest1 let who will dispute over these analogies2 ,i have no objections3 at this depth1 the science of the philologist is but cloud and mystery4 ,the important point to which ,i wish to call attention is that the phonetic relation of names seems to correspond to the metaphysical relation of ideas4 ,god appeared to man1 then1 as a me1 as a pure and permanent essence1 placing himself before him as a monarch before his servant1 and expressing himself now through the mouth of poets1 legislators1 and soothsayers1 musa1 nomos1 numen2 now through the popular voice1 vox populi vox ,dei4 ,this may serve1 among other things1 to explain the existence of true and false oracles2 why individuals secluded from birth do not attain of themselves to the idea of ,god1 while they eagerly grasp it as soon as it is presented to them by the collective mind2 why1 finally1 stationary races1 like the ,chinese1 end by losing it4#b ,in the first place1 as to oracles1 it is clear that all their accuracy depends upon the universal conscience which inspires them2 and1 as to the idea of ,god1 it is easily seen why isolation and statu quo are alike fatal to it4 ,on the one hand1 absence of communication keeps the mind absorbed in animal self-contemplation2 on the other1 absence of motion1 gradually changing social life into mechanical routine1 finally eliminates the idea of will and providence4 ,strange fact6 religion1 which perishes through progress1 perishes also through quiescence4 #b ,the ,chinese have preserved in their traditions the remembrance of a religion which had ceased to exist among them five or six centuries before our era4 7,see ,pauthier1 ,china1 ,paris1 ,didot47 ,more surprising still is it that this singular people1 in losing its primitive faith1 seems to have understood that divinity is simply the collective me of humanity3 so that1 more than two thousand years ago1 ,china had reached1 in its commonly-accepted belief1 the latest results of the philosophy of the ,occident4 ,what ,heaven sees and understands1 it is written in the ,shu-king1 is only that which the people see and understand4 ,what the people deem worthy of reward and punishment is that which ,heaven wishes to punish and reward4 ,there is an intimate communication between ,heaven and the people3 let those who govern the people1 therefore1 be watchful and cautious4 ,confucius expressed the same idea in another manner3 ,gain the affection of the people1 and you gain empire4 ,lose the affection of the people1 and you lose empire4 ,there1 then1 general reason was regarded as queen of the world1 a distinction which elsewhere has been bestowed upon revelations4 ,the ,tao-te-king is still more explicit4 ,in this work1 which is but an outline criticism of pure reason1 the philosopher ,lao-tse continually identifies1 under the name of ,,tao1 universal reason and the infinite being2 and all the obscurity of the book of ,lao tse consists1 in my opinion1 of this constant identification of principles which our religious and metaphysical habits have so widely separated4 ,notice further that1 in attributing to the vague and 7so to speak7 objectified consciousness of a universal reason the first revelation of ,divinity1 we assume absolutely nothing concerning even the reality or non-reality of ,god4 ,in fact1 admitting that ,god is nothing more than collective instinct or universal reason1 we have still to learn what this universal reason is in itself4 ,for1 as we shall show directly1 universal reason is not given in individual reason1 in other words1 the knowledge of social laws1 or the theory of collective ideas1 though deduced from the fundamental concepts of pure reason1 is nevertheless wholly empirical1 and never would have been discovered a priori by means of deduction1 induction1 or synthesis4 ,whence it follows that universal reason1 which we regard as the origin of these laws2 universal reason1 which exists1 reasons1 labors1 in a separate sphere and as a reality distinct from pure reason1 just as the planetary system1 though created according to the laws of mathematics1 is a reality distinct from mathematics1 whose existence could not have been deduced from mathematics alone3 it follows1 ,i say1 that universal reason is1 in modern languages1 exactly what the ancients called ,god4 ,the name is changed3 what do we know of the thing8 ,let us now trace the evolution of the ,divine idea4 ,the ,supreme ,being once posited by a primary mystical judgment1 man immediately generalizes the subject by another mysticism1--analogy4 ,god1 so to speak1 is as yet but a point3 directly he shall fill the world4 ,as1 in sensing his social me1 man saluted his ,,author1 so1 in finding evidence of design and intention in animals1 plants1 springs1 meteors1 and the whole universe1 he attributes to each special object1 and then to the whole1 a soul1 spirit1 or genius presiding over it2 pursuing this inductive process of apotheosis from the highest summit of ,nature1 which is society1 down to the humblest forms of life1 to inanimate and inorganic matter4 ,from his collective me1 taken as the superior pole of creation1 to the last atom of matter1 man ,,extends1 then1 the idea of ,god1--that is1 the idea of personality and intelligence1--just as ,god himself ,,extended ,,heaven1 as the book of ,genesis tells us2 that is1 created space and time1 the conditions of all things4 ,thus1 without a ,god or master-builder1 the universe and man would not exist3 such is the social profession of faith4 ,but also without man ,god would not be thought1 or--to clear the interval--,god would be nothing4 ,if humanity needs an author1 ,god and the gods equally need a revealer2 theogony1 the history of heaven1 hell1 and their inhabitants1--those dreams of the human mind1--is the counterpart of the universe1 which certain philosophers have called in return the dream of ,god4 ,and how magnificent this theological creation1 the work of society6 ,the creation of the demiourgos was obliterated2 what we call the ,omnipotent was conquered2 and for centuries the enchanted imagination of mortals was turned away from the spectacle of ,nature by the contemplation of ,olympian marvels4 ,let us descend from this fanciful region3 pitiless reason knocks at the door2 her terrible questions demand a reply4 ,what is ,god8 she asks2 where is he8 what is his extent8 what are his wishes8 what his powers8 what his promises8--and here1 in the light of analysis1 all the divinities of heaven1 earth1 and hell are reduced to an incorporeal1 insensible1 immovable1 incomprehensible1 undefinable ,i-know-not-what2 in short1 to a negation of all the attributes of existence4 ,in fact1 whether man attributes to each object a special spirit or genius1 or conceives the universe as governed by a single power1 he in either case but ,,supposes an unconditioned1 that is1 an impossible1 entity1 that he may deduce therefrom an explanation of such phenomena as he deems inconceivable on any other hypothesis4 ,the mystery of ,god and reason6 ,in order to render the object of his idolatry more and more ,,rational1 the believer despoils him successively of all the qualities which would make him ,,real2 and1 after marvellous displays of logic and genius1 the attributes of the ,being par excellence are found to be the same as those of nihility4 ,this evolution is inevitable and fatal3 atheism is at the bottom of all theodicy4 ,let us try to understand this progress4 ,god1 creator of all things1 is himself no sooner created by the conscience1--in other words1 no sooner have we lifted ,god from the idea of the social me to the idea of the cosmic me1--than immediately our reflection begins to demolish him under the pretext of perfecting him4 ,to perfect the idea of ,god1 to purify the theological dogma1 was the second hallucination of the human race4 ,the spirit of analysis1 that untiring ,satan who continually questions and denies1 must sooner or later look for proof of religious dogmas4 ,now1 whether the philosopher determine the idea of ,god1 or declare it indeterminable2 whether he approach it with his reason1 or retreat from it1--,i say that this idea receives a blow2 and1 as it is impossible for speculation to halt1 the idea of ,god must at last disappear4 ,then the atheistic movement is the second act of the theologic drama2 and this second act follows from the first1 as effect from cause4 ,the heavens declare the glory of ,god1 says the ,psalmist4 ,let us add1 ,and their testimony dethrones him4 ,indeed1 in proportion as man observes phenomena1 he thinks that he perceives1 between ,nature and ,god1 intermediaries2 such as relations of number1 form1 and succession2 organic laws1 evolutions1 analogies1-- forming an unmistakable series of manifestations which invariably produce or give rise to each other4 ,he even observes that1 in the development of this society of which he is a part1 private wills and associative deliberations have some influence2 and he says to himself that the ,great ,spirit does not act upon the world directly and by himself1 or arbitrarily and at the dictation of a capricious will1 but mediately1 by perceptible means or organs1 and by virtue of laws4 ,and1 retracing in his mind the chain of effects and causes1 he places clear at the extremity1 as a balance1 ,god4 ,a poet has said1-- ,par dela tous les cieux1 le ,dieu des cieux reside4 ,thus1 at the first step in the theory1 the ,supreme ,being is reduced to the function of a motive power1 a mainspring1 a corner-stone1 or1 if a still more trivial comparison may be allowed me1 a constitutional sovereign1 reigning but not governing1 swearing to obey the law and appointing ministers to execute it4 ,but1 under the influence of the mirage which fascinates him1 the theist sees1 in this ridiculous system1 only a new proof of the sublimity of his idol2 who1 in his opinion1 uses his creatures as instruments of his power1 and causes the wisdom of human beings to redound to his glory4 ,soon1 not content with limiting the power of the ,eternal1 man1 increasingly deicidal in his tendencies1 insists on sharing it4 ,if ,i am a spirit1 a sentient me giving voice to ideas1 continues the theist1 ,i consequently am a part of absolute existence2 ,i am free1 creative1 immortal1 equal with ,god4 ,cogito1 ergo sum1--,i think1 therefore ,i am immortal1 that is the corollary1 the translation of ,ego sum qui sum3 philosophy is in accord with the ,bible4 ,the existence of ,god and the immortality of the soul are posited by the conscience in the same judgment3 there1 man speaks in the name of the universe1 to whose bosom he transports his me2 here1 he speaks in his own name1 without perceiving that1 in this going and coming1 he only repeats himself4 ,the immortality of the soul1 a true division of divinity1 which1 at the time of its first promulgation1 arriving after a long interval1 seemed a heresy to those faithful to the old dogma1 has been none the less considered the complement of divine majesty1 necessarily postulated by eternal goodness and justice4 ,unless the soul is immortal1 ,god is incomprehensible1 say the theists2 resembling in this the political theorists who regard sovereign representation and perpetual tenure of office as essential conditions of monarchy4 ,but the inconsistency of the ideas is as glaring as the parity of the doctrines is exact3 consequently the dogma of immortality soon became the stumbling-block of philosophical theologians1 who1 ever since the days of ,pythagoras and ,orpheus1 have been making futile attempts to harmonize divine attributes with human liberty1 and reason with faith4 ,a subject of triumph for the impious6 4 4 4 4 ,but the illusion could not yield so soon3 the dogma of immortality1 for the very reason that it was a limitation of the uncreated ,being1 was a step in advance4 ,now1 though the human mind deceives itself by a partial acquisition of the truth1 it never retreats1 and this perseverance in progress is proof of its infallibility4 ,of this we shall soon see fresh evidence4 ,in making himself like ,god1 man made ,god like himself3 this correlation1 which for many centuries had been execrated1 was the secret spring which determined the new myth4 ,in the days of the patriarchs ,god made an alliance with man2 now1 to strengthen the compact1 ,god is to become a man4 ,he will take on our flesh1 our form1 our passions1 our joys1 and our sorrows2 will be born of woman1 and die as we do4 ,then1 after this humiliation of the infinite1 man will still pretend that he has elevated the ideal of his ,god in making1 by a logical conversion1 him whom he had always called creator1 a saviour1 a redeemer4 ,humanity does not yet say1 ,i am ,god3 such a usurpation would shock its piety2 it says1 ,god is in me1 ,,immanuel1 nobiscum ,deus4 ,and1 at the moment when philosophy with pride1 and universal conscience with fright1 shouted with unanimous voice1 ,the gods are departing6 excedere deos6 a period of eighteen centuries of fervent adoration and superhuman faith was inaugurated4 ,but the fatal end approaches4 ,the royalty which suffers itself to be limited will end by the rule of demagogues2 the divinity which is defined dissolves in a pandemonium4 ,christolatry is the last term of this long evolution of human thought4 ,the angels1 saints1 and virgins reign in heaven with ,god1 says the catechism2 and demons and reprobates live in the hells of eternal punishment4 ,ultramundane society has its left and its right3 it is time for the equation to be completed2 for this mystical hierarchy to descend upon earth and appear in its real character4 ,when ,milton represents the first woman admiring herself in a fountain1 and lovingly extending her arms toward her own image as if to embrace it1 he paints1 feature for feature1 the human race4--,this ,god whom you worship1 ,o man6 this ,god whom you have made good1 just1 omnipotent1 omniscient1 immortal1 and holy1 is yourself3 this ideal of perfection is your image1 purified in the shining mirror of your conscience4 ,god1 ,nature1 and man are three aspects of one and the same being2 man is ,god himself arriving at self-consciousness through a thousand evolutions4 ,in ,jesus ,christ man recognized himself as ,god2 and ,christianity is in reality the religion of ,god-man4 ,there is no other ,god than he who in the beginning said1 ,,me2 there is no other ,god than ,,thee4 ,such are the last conclusions of philosophy1 which dies in unveiling religion's mystery and its own4 ,,ii4 ,it seems1 then1 that all is ended2 it seems that1 with the cessation of the worship and mystification of humanity by itself1 the theological problem is for ever put aside4 ,the gods have gone3 there is nothing left for man but to grow weary and die in his egoism4 ,what frightful solitude extends around me1 and forces its way to the bottom of my soul6 ,my exaltation resembles annihilation2 and1 since ,i made myself a ,god1 ,i seem but a shadow4 ,it is possible that ,i am still a ,,me1 but it is very difficult to regard myself as the absolute2 and1 if ,i am not the absolute1 ,i am only half of an idea4 ,some ironical thinker1 ,i know not who1 has said3 ,a little philosophy leads away from religion1 and much philosophy leads back to it4 ,this proposition is humiliatingly true4 ,every science develops in three successive periods1 which may be called--comparing them with the grand periods of civilization--the religious period1 the sophistical period1 the scientific period4#c ,thus1 alchemy represents the religious period of the science afterwards called chemistry1 whose definitive plan is not yet discovered2 likewise astrology was the religious period of another science1 since established1--astronomy4 #c ,see1 among others1 ,auguste ,comte1 ,course of ,positive ,philosophy1 and ,p4 ,j4 ,proudhon1 ,creation of ,order in ,humanity4 ,now1 after being laughed at for sixty years about the philosopher's stone1 chemists1 governed by experience1 no longer dare to deny the transmutability of bodies2 while astronomers are led by the structure of the world to suspect also an organism of the world2 that is1 something precisely like astrology4 ,are we not justified in saying1 in imitation of the philosopher just quoted1 that1 if a little chemistry leads away from the philosopher's stone1 much chemistry leads back to it2 and similarly1 that1 if a little astronomy makes us laugh at astrologers1 much astronomy will make us believe in them8#d #d ,i do not mean to affirm here in a positive manner the transmutability of bodies1 or to point it out as a subject for investigation2 still less do ,i pretend to say what ought to be the opinion of savants upon this point4 ,i wish only to call attention to the species of scepticism generated in every uninformed mind by the most general conclusions of chemical philosophy1 or1 better1 by the irreconcilable hypotheses which serve as the basis of its theories4 ,chemistry is truly the despair of reason3 on all sides it mingles with the fanciful2 and the more knowledge of it we gain by experience1 the more it envelops itself in impenetrable mysteries4 ,this thought was recently suggested to me by reading ,m4 ,liebig's ,letters on ,chemistry 7,paris1 ,masgana1 #ahde1 translation of ,bertet-,dupiney and ,dubreuil ,helion74 ,thus ,m4 ,liebig1 after having banished from science hypothetical causes and all the entities admitted by the ancients1--such as the creative power of matter1 the horror of a vacuum1 the esprit recteur1 etc4 7p4 #bb71--;admits immediately1 as necessary to the comprehension of chemical phenomena1 a series of entities no less obscure1--vital force1 chemical force1 electric force1 the force of attraction1 etc4 7pp4 #adf1 #adi74 ,one might call it a realization of the properties of bodies1 in imitation of the psychologists' realization of the faculties of the soul under the names liberty1 imagination1 memory1 etc4 ,why not keep to the elements8 ,why1 if the atoms have weight of their own1 as ,m4 ,liebig appears to believe1 may they not also have electricity and life of their own8 ,curious thing6 the phenomena of matter1 like those of mind1 become intelligible only by supposing them to be produced by unintelligible forces and governed by contradictory laws3 such is the inference to be drawn from every page of ,m4 ,liebig's book4 ,matter1 according to ,m4 ,liebig1 is essentially inert and entirely destitute of spontaneous activity 7p4 #adh73 why1 then1 do the atoms have weight8 ,is not the weight inherent in atoms the real1 eternal1 and spontaneous motion of matter8 ,and that which we chance to regard as rest1--may it not be equilibrium rather8 ,why1 then1 suppose now an inertia which definitions contradict1 now an external potentiality which nothing proves8 ,atoms having ,,weight1 ,m4 ,liebig infers that they are ,,indivisible 7p4 #eh74 ,what logic6 ,weight is only force1 that is1 a thing hidden from the senses1 whose phenomena alone are perceptible1--a thing1 consequently1 to which the idea of division and indivision is inapplicable2 and from the presence of this force1 from the hypothesis of an indeterminate and immaterial entity1 is inferred an indivisible material existence6 ,for the rest1 ,m4 ,liebig confesses that it is ,,impossible ,,for ,,the ,,mind to conceive of particles absolutely indivisible2 he recognizes1 further1 that the ,,fact of this indivisibility is not proved2 but he adds that science cannot dispense with this hypothesis3 so that1 by the confession of its teachers1 chemistry has for its point of departure a fiction as repugnant to the mind as it is foreign to experience4 ,what irony6 ,atoms are unequal in weight1 says ,m4 ,liebig1 because unequal in volume3 nevertheless1 it is impossible to demonstrate that chemical equivalents express the relative weight of atoms1 or1 in other words1 that what the calculation of atomic equivalents leads us to regard as an atom is not composed of several atoms4 ,this is tantamount to saying that ,,more ,,matter weighs more than ,,less ,,matter2 and1 since weight is the essence of materiality1 we may logically conclude that1 weight being universally identical with itself1 there is also an identity in matter2 that the differences of simple bodies are due solely1 either to different methods of atomic association1 or to different degrees of molecular condensation1 and that1 in reality1 atoms are transmutable3 which ,m4 ,liebig does not admit4 ,we have1 he says1 no reason for believing that one element is convertible into another element 7p4 #ace74 ,what do you know about it8 ,the reasons for believing in such a conversion can very well exist and at the same time escape your attention2 and it is not certain that your intelligence in this respect has risen to the level of your experience4 ,but1 admitting the negative argument of ,m4 ,liebig1 what follows8 ,that1 with about fifty-six exceptions1 irreducible as yet1 all matter is in a condition of perpetual metamorphosis4 ,now1 it is a law of our reason to suppose in ,nature unity of substance as well as unity of force and system2 moreover1 the series of chemical compounds and simple substances themselves leads us irresistibly to this conclusion4 ,why1 then1 refuse to follow to the end the road opened by science1 and to admit an hypothesis which is the inevitable result of experience itself8 ,m4 ,liebig not only denies the transmutability of elements1 but rejects the spontaneous formation of germs4 ,now1 if we reject the spontaneous formation of germs1 we are forced to admit their eternity2 and as1 on the other hand1 geology proves that the globe has not been inhabited always1 we must admit also that1 at a given moment1 the eternal germs of animals and plants were born1 without father or mother1 over the whole face of the earth4 ,thus1 the denial of spontaneous generation leads back to the hypothesis of spontaneity3 what is there in much-derided metaphysics more contradictory8 ,let it not be thought1 however1 that ,i deny the value and certainty of chemical theories1 or that the atomic theory seems to me absurd1 or that ,i share the ,epicurean opinion as to spontaneous generation4 ,once more1 all that ,i wish to point out is that1 from the point of view of principles1 chemistry needs to exercise extreme tolerance1 since its own existence depends on a certain number of fictions1 contrary to reason and experience1 and destructive of each other4 ,i certainly have less inclination to the marvellous than many atheists1 but ,i cannot help thinking that the stories of miracles1 prophecies1 charms1 etc41 are but distorted accounts of the extraordinary effects produced by certain latent forces1 or1 as was formerly said1 by occult powers4 ,our science is still so brutal and unfair2 our professors exhibit so much impertinence with so little knowledge2 they deny so impudently facts which embarrass them1 in order to protect the opinions which they champion1--that ,i distrust strong minds equally with superstitious ones4 ,yes1 ,i am convinced of it2 our gross rationalism is the inauguration of a period which1 thanks to science1 will become truly ,,prodigious2 the universe1 to my eyes1 is only a laboratory of magic1 from which anything may be expected4 4 4 4 ,this said1 ,i return to my subject4 ,they would be deceived1 then1 who should imagine1 after my rapid survey of religious progress1 that metaphysics has uttered its last word upon the double enigma expressed in these four words1--the existence of ,god1 the immortality of the soul4 ,here1 as elsewhere1 the most advanced and best established conclusions1 those which seem to have settled for ever the theological question1 lead us back to primeval mysticism1 and involve the new data of an inevitable philosophy4 ,the criticism of religious opinions makes us smile today both at ourselves and at religions2 and yet the resume of this criticism is but a reproduction of the problem4 ,the human race1 at the present moment1 is on the eve of recognizing and affirming something equivalent to the old notion of ,divinity2 and this1 not by a spontaneous movement as before1 but through reflection and by means of irresistible logic4 ,i will try1 in a few words1 to make myself understood4 ,if there is a point on which philosophers1 in spite of themselves1 have finally succeeded in agreeing1 it is without doubt the distinction between intelligence and necessity1 the subject of thought and its object1 the me and the not-me2 in ordinary terms1 spirit and matter4 ,i know well that all these terms express nothing that is real and true2 that each of them designates only a section of the absolute1 which alone is true and real2 and that1 taken separately1 they involve1 all alike1 a contradiction4 ,but it is no less certain also that the absolute is completely inaccessible to us2 that we know it only by its opposite extremes1 which alone fall within the limits of our experience2 and that1 if unity only can win our faith1 duality is the first condition of science4 ,thus1 who thinks1 and what is thought8 ,what is a soul8 what is a body8 ,i defy any one to escape this dualism4 ,it is with essences as with ideas3 the former are seen separated in ,nature1 as the latter in the understanding2 and just as the ideas of ,god and immortality1 in spite of their identity1 are posited successively and contradictorily in philosophy1 so1 in spite of their fusion in the absolute1 the me and the not-me posit themselves separately and contradictorily in ,nature1 and we have beings who think1 at the same time with others which do not think4 ,now1 whoever has taken pains to reflect knows today that such a distinction1 wholly realized though it be1 is the most unintelligible1 most contradictory1 most absurd thing which reason can possibly meet4 ,being is no more conceivable without the properties of spirit than without the properties of matter3 so that if you deny spirit1 because1 included in none of the categories of time1 space1 motion1 solidity1 etc41 it seems deprived of all the attributes which constitute reality1 ,i in my turn will deny matter1 which1 presenting nothing appreciable but its inertia1 nothing intelligible but its forms1 manifests itself nowhere as cause 7voluntary and free71 and disappears from view entirely as substance2 and we arrive at pure idealism1 that is1 nihility4 ,but nihility is inconsistent with the existence of living1 reasoning--,i know not what to call them--uniting in themselves1 in a state of commenced synthesis or imminent dissolution1 all the antagonistic attributes of being4 ,we are compelled1 then1 to end in a dualism whose terms we know perfectly well to be false1 but which1 being for us the condition of the truth1 forces itself irresistibly upon us2 we are compelled1 in short1 to commence1 like ,descartes and the human race1 with the me2 that is1 with spirit4 ,but1 since religions and philosophies1 dissolved by analysis1 have disappeared in the theory of the absolute1 we know no better than before what spirit is1 and in this differ from the ancients only in the wealth of language with which we adorn the darkness that envelops us4 ,with this exception1 however2 that while1 to the ancients1 order revealed intelligence ,,outside of the world1 to the people of today it seems to reveal it rather ,,within the world4 ,now1 whether we place it within or without1 from the moment we affirm it on the ground of order1 we must admit it wherever order is manifested1 or deny it altogether4 ,there is no more reason for attributing intelligence to the head which produced the ,iliad than to a mass of matter which crystallizes in octahedrons2 and1 reciprocally1 it is as absurd to refer the system of the world to physical laws1 leaving out an ordaining ,,me1 as to attribute the victory of ,marengo to strategic combinations1 leaving out the first consul4 ,the only distinction that can be made is that1 in the latter case1 the thinking ,,me is located in the brain of a ,bonaparte1 while1 in the case of the universe1 the ,,me has no special location1 but extends everywhere4 ,the materialists think that they have easily disposed of their opponents by saying that man1 having likened the universe to his body1 finishes the comparison by presuming the existence in the universe of a soul similar to that which he supposes to be the principle of his own life and thought2 that thus all the arguments in support of the existence of ,god are reducible to an analogy all the more false because the term of comparison is itself hypothetical4 ,it is certainly not my intention to defend the old syllogism3 ,every arrangement implies an ordaining intelligence2 there is wonderful order in the world2 then the world is the work of an intelligence4 ,this syllogism1 discussed so widely since the days of ,job and ,moses1 very far from being a solution1 is but the statement of the problem which it assumes to solve4 ,we know perfectly well what order is1 but we are absolutely ignorant of the meaning of the words ,soul1 ,spirit1 ,intelligence3 how1 then1 can we logically reason from the presence of the one to the existence of the other8 ,i reject1 then1 even when advanced by the most thoroughly informed1 the pretended proof of the existence of ,god drawn from the presence of order in the world2 ,i see in it at most only an equation offered to philosophy4 ,between the conception of order and the affirmation of spirit there is a deep gulf of metaphysics to be filled up2 ,i am unwilling1 ,i repeat1 to take the problem for the demonstration4 ,but this is not the point which we are now considering4 ,i have tried to show that the human mind was inevitably and irresistibly led to the distinction of being into me and not-me1 spirit and matter1 soul and body4 ,now1 who does not see that the objection of the materialists proves the very thing it is intended to deny8 ,man distinguishing within himself a spiritual principle and a material principle1--what is this but ,nature herself1 proclaiming by turns her double essence1 and bearing testimony to her own laws8 ,and notice the inconsistency of materialism3 it denies1 and has to deny1 that man is free2 now1 the less liberty man has1 the more weight is to be attached to his words1 and the greater their claim to be regarded as the expression of truth4 ,when ,i hear this machine say to me1 ,i am soul and ,i am body1 though such a revelation astonishes and confounds me1 it is invested in my eyes with an authority incomparably greater than that of the materialist who1 correcting conscience and ,nature1 undertakes to make them say1 ,i am matter and only matter1 and intelligence is but the material faculty of knowing4 ,what would become of this assertion1 if1 assuming in my turn the offensive1 ,i should demonstrate that belief in the existence of bodies1 or1 in other words1 in the reality of a purely corporeal nature1 is untenable8 ,matter1 they say1 is impenetrable4--,impenetrable by what8 ,i ask4 ,itself1 undoubtedly2 for they would not dare to say spirit1 since they would therein admit what they wish to set aside4 ,whereupon ,i raise this double question3 ,what do you know about it1 and what does it signify8 #a4 ,impenetrability1 which is pretended to be the definition of matter1 is only an hypothesis of careless naturalists1 a gross conclusion deduced from a superficial judgment4 ,experience shows that matter possesses infinite divisibility1 infinite expansibility1 porosity without assignable limits1 and permeability by heat1 electricity1 and magnetism1 together with a power of retaining them indefinitely2 affinities1 reciprocal influences1 and transformations without number3 qualities1 all of them1 hardly compatible with the assumption of an impenetrable aliquid4 ,elasticity1 which1 better than any other property of matter1 could lead1 through the idea of spring or resistance1 to that of impenetrability1 is subject to the control of a thousand circumstances1 and depends entirely on molecular attraction3 now1 what is more irreconcilable with impenetrability than this attraction8 ,finally1 there is a science which might be defined with exactness as the ,,science ,,of ,,penetrability ,,of ,,matter3 ,i mean chemistry4 ,in fact1 how does what is called chemical composition differ from penetration8#e4 4 4 4 ,in short1 we know matter only through its forms2 of its substance we know nothing4 ,how1 then1 is it possible to affirm the reality of an invisible1 impalpable1 incoercible being1 ever changing1 ever vanishing1 impenetrable to thought alone1 to which it exhibits only its disguises8 ,materialist6 ,i permit you to testify to the reality of your sensations2 as to what occasions them1 all that you can say involves this reciprocity3 something 7which you call matter7 is the occasion of sensations which are felt by another something 7which ,i call spirit74 #e ,chemists distinguish between ,,mixture and ,,composition1 just as logicians distinguish between the association of ideas and their synthesis4 ,it is true1 nevertheless1 that1 according to the chemists1 composition may be after all but a mixture1 or rather an aggregation of atoms1 no longer fortuitous1 but systematic1 the atoms forming different compounds by varying their arrangement4 ,but still this is only an hypothesis1 wholly gratuitous2 an hypothesis which explains nothing1 and has not even the merit of being logical4 ,why does a purely ,,numerical or ,,geometrical difference in the composition and form of atoms give rise to ,,physiological properties so different8 ,if atoms are indivisible and impenetrable1 why does not their association1 confined to mechanical effects1 leave them unchanged in essence8 ,where is the relation between the cause supposed and the effect obtained8 ,we must distrust our intellectual vision3 it is with chemical theories as with psychological systems4 ,the mind1 in order to account for phenomena1 works with atoms1 which it does not and can never see1 as with the ,,me1 which it does not perceive3 it applies its categories to everything2 that is1 it distinguishes1 individualizes1 concretes1 numbers1 compares1 things which1 material or immaterial1 are thoroughly identical and indistinguishable4 ,matter1 as well as spirit1 plays1 as we view it1 all sorts of parts2 and1 as there is nothing arbitrary in its metamorphoses1 we build upon them these psychologic and atomic theories1 true in so far as they faithfully represent1 in terms agreed upon1 the series of phenomena1 but radically false as soon as they pretend to realize their abstractions and are accepted literally4 #b4 ,but what1 then1 is the source of this supposition that matter is impenetrable1 which external observation does not justify and which is not true2 and what is its meaning8 ,here appears the triumph of dualism4 ,matter is pronounced impenetrable1 not1 as the materialists and the vulgar fancy1 by the testimony of the senses1 but by the conscience4 ,the ,,me1 an incomprehensible nature1 feeling itself free1 distinct1 and permanent1 and meeting outside of itself another nature equally incomprehensible1 but also distinct and permanent in spite of its metamorphoses1 declares1 on the strength of the sensations and ideas which this essence suggests to it1 that the ,,not-,,me is extended and impenetrable4 ,impenetrability is a figurative term1 an image by which thought1 a division of the absolute1 pictures to itself material reality1 another division of the absolute2 but this impenetrability1 without which matter disappears1 is1 in the last analysis1 only a spontaneous judgment of inward sensation1 a metaphysical a priori1 an unverified hypothesis of spirit4 ,thus1 whether philosophy1 after having overthrown theological dogmatism1 spiritualizes matter or materializes thought1 idealizes being or realizes ideas2 or whether1 identifying ,,substance and ,,cause1 it everywhere substitutes ,,force1 phrases1 all1 which explain and signify nothing1--it always leads us back to this everlasting dualism1 and1 in summoning us to believe in ourselves1 compels us to believe in ,god1 if not in spirits4 ,it is true that1 making spirit a part of ,nature1 in distinction from the ancients1 who separated it1 philosophy has been led to this famous conclusion1 which sums up nearly all the fruit of its researches3 ,in man spirit ,,knows ,,itself1 while everywhere else it seems ,,not ,,to ,,know ,i,t,s,e,lf--,that which is awake in man1 which dreams in the animal1 and sleeps in the stone1 said a philosopher4 ,philosophy1 then1 in its last hour1 knows no more than at its birth3 as if it had appeared in the world only to verify the words of ,socrates1 it says to us1 wrapping itself solemnly around with its funeral pall1 ,i know only that ,i know nothing4 ,what do ,i say8 ,philosophy knows today that all its judgments rest on two equally false1 equally impossible1 and yet equally necessary and inevitable hypotheses1--matter and spirit4 ,so that1 while in former times religious intolerance and philosophic disputes1 spreading darkness everywhere1 excused doubt and tempted to libidinous indifference1 the triumph of negation on all points no longer permits even this doubt2 thought1 freed from every barrier1 but conquered by its own successes1 is forced to affirm what seems to it clearly contradictory and absurd4 ,the savages say that the world is a great fetich watched over by a great manitou4 ,for thirty centuries the poets1 legislators1 and sages of civilization1 handing down from age to age the philosophic lamp1 have written nothing more sublime than this profession of faith4 ,and here1 at the end of this long conspiracy against ,god1 which has called itself philosophy1 emancipated reason concludes with savage reason1 ,the universe is a ,,not-,,me1 objectified by a ,,me4 ,humanity1 then1 inevitably supposes the existence of ,god3 and if1 during the long period which closes with our time1 it has believed in the reality of its hypothesis2 if it has worshipped the inconceivable object2 if1 after being apprehended in this act of faith1 it persists knowingly1 but no longer voluntarily1 in this opinion of a sovereign being which it knows to be only a personification of its own thought2 if it is on the point of again beginning its magic invocations1--we must believe that so astonishing an hallucination conceals some mystery1 which deserves to be fathomed4 ,i say hallucination and mystery1 but without intending to deny thereby the superhuman content of the ,god-idea1 and without admitting the necessity of a new symbolism1--,i mean a new religion4 ,for if it is indisputable that humanity1 in affirming ,god1--or all that is included in the word me or spirit1--only affirms itself1 it is equally undeniable that it affirms itself as something other than its own conception of itself1 as all mythologies and theologies show4 ,and since1 moreover1 this affirmation is incontestable1 it depends1 without doubt1 upon hidden relations1 which ought1 if possible1 to be determined scientifically4 ,in other words1 atheism1 sometimes called humanism1 true in its critical and negative features1 would be1 if it stopped at man in his natural condition1 if it discarded as an erroneous judgment the first affirmation of humanity1 that it is the daughter1 emanation1 image1 reflection1 or voice of ,god1--humanism1 ,i say1 if it thus denied its past1 would be but one contradiction more4 ,we are forced1 then1 to undertake the criticism of humanism2 that is1 to ascertain whether humanity1 considered as a whole and throughout all its periods of development1 satisfies the ,divine idea1 after eliminating from the latter the exaggerated and fanciful attributes of ,god2 whether it satisfies the perfection of being2 whether it satisfies itself4 ,we are forced1 in short1 to inquire whether humanity ,,tends ,,toward ,god1 according to the ancient dogma1 or is itself ,,becoming ,god1 as modern philosophers claim4 ,perhaps we shall find in the end that the two systems1 despite their seeming opposition1 are both true and essentially identical3 in that case1 the infallibility of human reason1 in its collective manifestations as well as its studied speculations1 would be decisively confirmed4--,in a word1 until we have verified to man the hypothesis of ,god1 there is nothing definitive in the atheistic negation4 ,it is1 then1 a scientific1 that is1 an empirical demonstration of the idea of ,god1 that we need3 now1 such a demonstration has never been attempted4 ,theology dogmatizing on the authority of its myths1 philosophy speculating by the aid of categories1 ,god has existed as a ,,transcendental conception1 incognizable by the reason1 and the hypothesis always subsists4 ,it subsists1 ,i say1 this hypothesis1 more tenacious1 more pitiless than ever4 ,we have reached one of those prophetic epochs when society1 scornful of the past and doubtful of the future1 now distractedly clings to the present1 leaving a few solitary thinkers to establish the new faith2 now cries to ,god from the depths of its enjoyments and asks for a sign of salvation1 or seeks in the spectacle of its revolutions1 as in the entrails of a victim1 the secret of its destiny4 ,why need ,i insist further8 ,the hypothesis of ,god is allowable1 for it forces itself upon every man in spite of himself3 no one1 then1 can take exception to it4 ,he who believes can do no less than grant me the supposition that ,god exists2 he who denies is forced to grant it to me also1 since he entertained it before me1 every negation implying a previous affirmation2 as for him who is in doubt1 he needs but to reflect a moment to understand that his doubt necessarily supposes an unknown something1 which1 sooner or later1 he will call ,god4 ,but if ,i possess1 through the fact of my thought1 the right to ,,suppose ,god1 ,i must abandon the right to ,,affirm him4 ,in other words1 if my hypothesis is irresistible1 that1 for the present1 is all that ,i can pretend4 ,for to affirm is to determine2 now1 every determination1 to be true1 must be reached empirically4 ,in fact1 whoever says determination1 says relation1 conditionality1 experience4 ,since1 then1 the determination of the idea of ,god must result from an empirical demonstration1 we must abstain from everything which1 in the search for this great unknown1 not being established by experience1 goes beyond the hypothesis1 under penalty of relapsing into the contradictions of theology1 and consequently arousing anew atheistic dissent4 ,,iii4 ,it remains for me to tell why1 in a work on political economy1 ,i have felt it necessary to start with the fundamental hypothesis of all philosophy4 ,and first1 ,i need the hypothesis of ,god to establish the authority of social science4--,when the astronomer1 to explain the system of the world1 judging solely from appearance1 supposes1 with the vulgar1 the sky arched1 the earth flat1 the sun much like a football1 describing a curve in the air from east to west1 he supposes the infallibility of the senses1 reserving the right to rectify subsequently1 after further observation1 the data with which he is obliged to start4 ,astronomic philosophy1 in fact1 could not admit a priori that the senses deceive us1 and that we do not see what we do see3 admitting such a principle1 what would become of the certainty of astronomy8 ,but the evidence of the senses being able1 in certain cases1 to rectify and complete itself1 the authority of the senses remains unshaken1 and astronomy is possible4 ,so social philosophy does not admit a priori that humanity can err or be deceived in its actions3 if it should1 what would become of the authority of the human race1 that is1 the authority of reason1 synonymous at bottom with the sovereignty of the people8 ,but it thinks that human judgments1 always true at the time they are pronounced1 can successively complete and throw light on each other1 in proportion to the acquisition of ideas1 in such a way as to maintain continual harmony between universal reason and individual speculation1 and indefinitely extend the sphere of certainty3 which is always an affirmation of the authority of human judgments4 ,now1 the first judgment of the reason1 the preamble of every political constitution seeking a sanction and a principle1 is necessarily this3 ,,there ,,is ,a ,,god2 which means that society is governed with design1 premeditation1 intelligence4 ,this judgment1 which excludes chance1 is1 then1 the foundation of the possibility of a social science2 and every historical and positive study of social facts1 undertaken with a view to amelioration and progress1 must suppose1 with the people1 the existence of ,god1 reserving the right to account for this judgment at a later period4 ,thus the history of society is to us but a long determination of the idea of ,god1 a progressive revelation of the destiny of man4 ,and while ancient wisdom made all depend on the arbitrary and fanciful notion of ,divinity1 oppressing reason and conscience1 and arresting progress through fear of an invisible master1 the new philosophy1 reversing the method1 trampling on the authority of ,god as well as that of man1 and accepting no other yoke than that of fact and evidence1 makes all converge toward the theological hypothesis1 as toward the last of its problems4 ,humanitarian atheism is1 therefore1 the last step in the moral and intellectual enfranchisement of man1 consequently the last phase of philosophy1 serving as a pathway to the scientific reconstruction and verification of all the demolished dogmas4 ,i need the hypothesis of ,god1 not only1 as ,i have just said1 to give a meaning to history1 but also to legitimate the reforms to be effected1 in the name of science1 in the ,state4 ,whether we consider ,divinity as outside of society1 whose movements it governs from on high 7a wholly gratuitous and probably illusory opinion72 or whether we deem it immanent in society and identical with that impersonal and unconscious reason which1 acting instinctively1 makes civilization advance 7although impersonality and ignorance of self are contrary to the idea of intelligence72 or whether1 finally1 all that is accomplished in society results from the relation of its elements 7a system whose whole merit consists in changing an active into a passive1 in making intelligence necessity1 or1 which amounts to the same thing1 in taking law for cause71--it always follows that the manifestations of social activity1 necessarily appearing to us either as indications of the will of the ,supreme ,being1 or as a sort of language typical of general and impersonal reason1 or1 finally1 as landmarks of necessity1 are absolute authority for us4 ,being connected in time as well as in spirit1 the facts accomplished determine and legitimate the facts to be accomplished2 science and destiny are in accord2 everything which happens resulting from reason1 and1 reciprocally1 reason judging only from experience of that which happens1 science has a right to participate in government1 and that which establishes its competency as a counsellor justifies its intervention as a sovereign4 ,science1 expressed1 recognized1 and accepted by the voice of all as divine1 is queen of the world4 ,thus1 thanks to the hypothesis of ,god1 all conservative or retrogressive opposition1 every dilatory plea offered by theology1 tradition1 or selfishness1 finds itself peremptorily and irrevocably set aside4 ,i need the hypothesis of ,god to show the tie which unites civilization with ,nature4 ,in fact1 this astonishing hypothesis1 by which man is assimilated to the absolute1 implying identity of the laws of ,nature and the laws of reason1 enables us to see in human industry the complement of creative action1 unites man with the globe which he inhabits1 and1 in the cultivation of the domain in which ,providence has placed us1 which thus becomes in part our work1 gives us a conception of the principle and end of all things4 ,if1 then1 humanity is not ,god1 it is a continuation of ,god2 or1 if a different phraseology be preferred1 that which humanity does today by design is the same thing that it began by instinct1 and which ,nature seems to accomplish by necessity4 ,in all these cases1 and whichever opinion we may choose1 one thing remains certain3 the unity of action and law4 ,intelligent beings1 actors in an intelligently-devised fable1 we may fearlessly reason from ourselves to the universe and the eternal2 and1 when we shall have completed the organization of labor1 may say with pride1 ,the creation is explained4 ,thus philosophy's field of exploration is fixed2 tradition is the starting-point of all speculation as to the future2 utopia is forever exploded2 the study of the ,,me1 transferred from the individual conscience to the manifestations of the social will1 acquires the character of objectivity of which it has been hitherto deprived2 and1 history becoming psychology1 theology anthropology1 the natural sciences metaphysics1 the theory of the reason is deduced no longer from the vacuum of the intellect1 but from the innumerable forms of a ,nature abundantly and directly observable4 ,i need the hypothesis of ,god to prove my good-will towards a multitude of sects1 whose opinions ,i do not share1 but whose malice ,i fear3-- theists2 ,i know one who1 in the cause of ,god1 would be ready to draw sword1 and1 like ,robespierre1 use the guillotine until the last atheist should be destroyed1 not dreaming that that atheist would be himself2-- mystics1 whose party1 largely made up of students and women marching under the banner of ,,mm4 ,lamennais1 ,quinet1 ,leroux1 and others1 has taken for a motto1 ,like master1 like man2 like ,god1 like people2 and1 to regulate the wages of the workingman1 begins by restoring religion2-- spiritualists1 who1 should ,i overlook the rights of spirit1 would accuse me of establishing the worship of matter1 against which ,i protest with all the strength of my soul2--sensualists and materialists1 to whom the divine dogma is the symbol of constraint and the principle of enslavement of the passions1 outside of which1 they say1 there is for man neither pleasure1 nor virtue1 nor genius2--eclectics and sceptics1 sellers and publishers of all the old philosophies1 but not philosophers themselves1 united in one vast brotherhood1 with approbation and privilege1 against whoever thinks1 believes1 or affirms without their permission2--conservatives finally1 retrogressives1 egotists1 and hypocrites1 preaching the love of ,god by hatred of their neighbor1 attributing to liberty the world's misfortunes since the deluge1 and scandalizing reason by their foolishness4 ,is it possible1 however1 that they will attack an hypothesis which1 far from blaspheming the revered phantoms of faith1 aspires only to exhibit them in broad daylight2 which1 instead of rejecting traditional dogmas and the prejudices of conscience1 asks only to verify them2 which1 while defending itself against exclusive opinions1 takes for an axiom the infallibility of reason1 and1 thanks to this fruitful principle1 will doubtless never decide against any of the antagonistic sects8 ,is it possible that the religious and political conservatives will charge me with disturbing the order of society1 when ,i start with the hypothesis of a sovereign intelligence1 the source of every thought of order2 that the semi-,christian democrats will curse me as an enemy of ,god1 and consequently a traitor to the republic1 when ,i am seeking for the meaning and content of the idea of ,god2 and that the tradesmen of the university will impute to me the impiety of demonstrating the non-value of their philosophical products1 when ,i am especially maintaining that philosophy should be studied in its object1--that is1 in the manifestations of society and ,nature8 4 4 4 4 ,i need the hypothesis of ,god to justify my style4 ,in my ignorance of everything regarding ,god1 the world1 the soul1 and destiny2 forced to proceed like the materialist1--that is1 by observation and experience1--and to conclude in the language of the believer1 because there is no other2 not knowing whether my formulas1 theological in spite of me1 would be taken literally or figuratively2 in this perpetual contemplation of ,god1 man1 and things1 obliged to submit to the synonymy of all the terms included in the three categories of thought1 speech1 and action1 but wishing to affirm nothing on either one side or the other1--rigorous logic demanded that ,i should suppose1 no more1 no less1 this unknown that is called ,god4 ,we are full of ,divinity1 ,jovis omnia plena2 our monuments1 our traditions1 our laws1 our ideas1 our languages1 and our sciences1 all are infected by this indelible superstition outside of which we can neither speak nor act1 and without which we do not even think4 ,finally1 ,i need the hypothesis of ,god to explain the publication of these new memoirs4 ,our society feels itself big with events1 and is anxious about the future3 how account for these vague presentiments by the sole aid of a universal reason1 immanent if you will1 and permanent1 but impersonal1 and therefore dumb1 or by the idea of necessity1 if it implies that necessity is self-conscious1 and consequently has presentiments8 ,there remains then1 once more1 an agent or nightmare which weighs upon society1 and gives it visions4 ,now1 when society prophesies1 it puts questions in the mouths of some1 and answers in the mouths of others4 ,and wise1 then1 he who can listen and understand2 for ,god himself has spoken1 quia locutus est ,deus4 ,the ,academy of ,moral and ,political ,sciences has proposed the following question3-- ,to determine the general facts which govern the relations of profits to wages1 and to explain their respective oscillations4 ,a few years ago the same ,academy asked1 ,what are the causes of misery8 ,the nineteenth century has1 in fact1 but one idea1--equality and reform4 ,but the wind bloweth where it listeth3 many began to reflect upon the question1 no one answered it4 ,the college of aruspices has1 therefore1 renewed its question1 but in more significant terms4 ,it wishes to know whether order prevails in the workshop2 whether wages are equitable2 whether liberty and privilege compensate each other justly2 whether the idea of value1 which controls all the facts of exchange1 is1 in the forms in which the economists have represented it1 sufficiently exact2 whether credit protects labor2 whether circulation is regular2 whether the burdens of society weigh equally on all1 etc4 ,and1 indeed1 insufficiency of income being the immediate cause of misery1 it is fitting that we should know why1 misfortune and malevolence aside1 the workingman's income is insufficient4 ,it is still the same question of inequality of fortunes1 which has made such a stir for a century past1 and which1 by a strange fatality1 continually reappears in academic programmes1 as if there lay the real difficulty of modern times4 ,equality1 then1--its principle1 its means1 its obstacles1 its theory1 the motives of its postponement1 the cause of social and providential iniquities1--these the world has got to learn1 in spite of the sneers of incredulity4 ,i know well that the views of the ,academy are not thus profound1 and that it equals a council of the ,church in its horror of novelties2 but the more it turns towards the past1 the more it reflects the future1 and the more1 consequently1 must we believe in its inspiration3 for the true prophets are those who do not understand their utterances4 ,listen further4 ,what1 the ,academy has asked1 are the most useful applications of the principle of voluntary and private association that we can make for the alleviation of misery8 ,and again3-- ,to expound the theory and principles of the contract of insurance1 to give its history1 and to deduce from its rationale and the facts the developments of which this contract is capable1 and the various useful applications possible in the present state of commercial and industrial progress4 ,publicists admit that insurance1 a rudimentary form of commercial solidarity1 is an association in things1 societas in re2 that is1 a society whose conditions1 founded on purely economical relations1 escape man's arbitrary dictation4 ,so that a philosophy of insurance or mutual guarantee of security1 which shall be deduced from the general theory of real 7in re7 societies1 will contain the formula of universal association1 in which no member of the ,academy believes4 ,and when1 uniting subject and object in the same point of view1 the ,academy demands1 by the side of a theory of association of interests1 a theory of voluntary association1 it reveals to us the most perfect form of society1 and thereby affirms all that is most at variance with its convictions4 ,liberty1 equality1 solidarity1 association6 ,by what inconceivable blunder has so eminently conservative a body offered to the citizens this new programme of the rights of man8 ,it was in this way that ,caiaphas prophesied redemption by disowning ,jesus ,christ4 ,upon the first of these questions1 forty-five memoirs were addressed to the ,academy within two years1--a proof that the subject was marvellously well suited to the state of the public mind4 ,but among so many competitors no one having been deemed worthy of the prize1 the ,academy has withdrawn the question2 alleging as a reason the incapacity of the competitors1 but in reality because1 the failure of the contest being the sole object that the ,academy had in view1 it behooved it to declare1 without further delay1 that the hopes of the friends of association were groundless4 ,thus1 then1 the gentlemen of the ,academy disavow1 in their session-chamber1 their announcements from the tripod6 ,there is nothing in such a contradiction astonishing to me2 and may ,god preserve me from calling it a crime6 ,the ancients believed that revolutions announced their advent by dreadful signs1 and that among other prodigies animals spoke4 ,this was a figure1 descriptive of those unexpected ideas and strange words which circulate suddenly among the masses at critical moments1 and which seem to be entirely without human antecedent1 so far removed are they from the sphere of ordinary judgment4 ,at the time in which we live1 such a thing could not fail to occur4 ,after having1 by a prophetic instinct and a mechanical spontaneity1 pecudesque locutae1 proclaimed association1 the gentlemen of the ,academy of ,moral and ,political ,sciences have returned to their ordinary prudence2 and with them custom has conquered inspiration4 ,let us learn1 then1 how to distinguish heavenly counsel from the interested judgments of men1 and hold it for certain that1 in the discourse of sages1 that is the most trustworthy to which they have given the least reflection4 ,nevertheless the ,academy1 in breaking so rudely with its intuitions1 seems to have felt some remorse4 ,in place of a theory of association in which1 after reflection1 it no longer believes1 it asks for a ,critical examination of ,pestalozzi's system of instruction and education1 considered mainly in its relation to the well-being and morality of the poor classes4 ,who knows8 perchance the relation between profits and wages1 association1 the organization of labor indeed1 are to be found at the bottom of a system of instruction4 ,is not man's life a perpetual apprenticeship8 ,are not philosophy and religion humanity's education8 ,to organize instruction1 then1 would be to organize industry and fix the theory of society3 the ,academy1 in its lucid moments1 always returns to that4 ,what influence1 the ,academy again asks1 do progress and a desire for material comfort have upon a nation's morality8 ,taken in its most obvious sense1 this new question of the ,academy is commonplace1 and fit at best to exercise a rhetorisian's skill4 ,but the ,academy1 which must continue till the end in its ignorance of the revolutionary significance of its oracles1 has drawn aside the curtain in its commentary4 ,what1 then1 so profound has it discovered in this ,epicurean thesis8 ,the desire for luxury and its enjoyments1 it tells us2 the singular love of it felt by the majority2 the tendency of hearts and minds to occupy themselves with it exclusively2 the agreement of individuals ,,and ,,the ,,state in making it the motive and the end of all their projects1 all their efforts1 and all their sacrifices1--engender general or individual feelings which1 beneficent or injurious1 become principles of action more potent1 perhaps1 than any which have heretofore governed men4 ,never had moralists a more favorable opportunity to assail the sensualism of the century1 the venality of consciences1 and the corruption instituted by the government3 instead of that1 what does the ,academy of ,moral ,sciences do8 ,with the most automatic calmness1 it establishes a series in which luxury1 so long proscribed by the stoics and ascetics1--those masters of holiness1--must appear in its turn as a principle of conduct as legitimate1 as pure1 and as grand as all those formerly invoked by religion and philosophy4 ,determine1 it tells us1 the motives of action 7undoubtedly now old and worn-out7 of which ,,luxury is historically the providential successor1 and1 from the results of the former1 calculate the effects of the latter4 ,prove1 in short1 that ,aristippus was only in advance of his century1 and that his system of morality must have its day1 as well as that of ,zeno and ,a ,kempis4 ,we are dealing1 then1 with a society which no longer wishes to be poor2 which mocks at everything that was once dear and sacred to it1--liberty1 religion1 and glory1--so long as it has not wealth2 which1 to obtain it1 submits to all outrages1 and becomes an accomplice in all sorts of cowardly actions3 and this burning thirst for pleasure1 this irresistible desire to arrive at luxury1--a symptom of a new period in civilization1--is the supreme commandment by virtue of which we are to labor for the abolition of poverty3 thus saith the ,academy4 ,what becomes1 then1 of the doctrine of expiation and abstinence1 the morality of sacrifice1 resignation1 and happy moderation8 ,what distrust of the compensation promised in the other life1 and what a contradiction of the ,gospel6 ,but1 above all1 what a justification of a government which has adopted as its system the golden key6 ,why have religious men1 ,christians1 ,senecas1 given utterance in concert to so many immoral maxims8 ,the ,academy1 completing its thought1 will reply to us3-- ,show how the progress of criminal justice1 in the prosecution and punishment of attacks upon persons and property1 follows and marks the ages of civilization from the savage condition up to that of the best- governed nations4 ,is it possible that the criminal lawyers in the ,academy of ,moral ,sciences foresaw the conclusion of their premises8 ,the fact whose history is now to be studied1 and which the ,academy describes by the words progress of criminal justice1 is simply the gradual mitigation which manifests itself1 both in the forms of criminal examinations and in the penalties inflicted1 in proportion as civilization increases in liberty1 light1 and wealth4 ,so that1 the principle of repressive institutions being the direct opposite of all those on which the welfare of society depends1 there is a constant elimination of all parts of the penal system as well as all judicial paraphernalia1 and the final inference from this movement is that the guarantee of order lies neither in fear nor punishment2 consequently1 neither in hell nor religion4 ,what a subversion of received ideas6 ,what a denial of all that it is the business of the ,academy of ,moral ,sciences to defend6 ,but1 if the guarantee of order no longer lies in the fear of a punishment to be suffered1 either in this life or in another1 where then are to be found the guarantees protective of persons and property8 ,or rather1 without repressive institutions1 what becomes of property8 ,and without property1 what becomes of the family8 ,the ,academy1 which knows nothing of all these things1 replies without agitation3-- ,review the various phases of the organization of the family upon the soil of ,france from ancient times down to our day4 ,which means3 ,determine1 by the previous progress of family organization1 the conditions of the existence of the family in a state of equality of fortunes1 voluntary and free association1 universal solidarity1 material comfort and luxury1 and public order without prisons1 courts1 police1 or hangmen4 ,there will be astonishment1 perhaps1 at finding that the ,academy of ,moral and ,political ,sciences1 after having1 like the boldest innovators1 called in question all the principles of social order1--religion1 family1 property1 justice1--has not also proposed this problem3 ,,what ,,is ,,the ,,best ,,form ,,of ,,government8 ,in fact1 government is for society the source of all initiative1 every guarantee1 every reform4 ,it would be1 then1 interesting to know whether the government1 as constituted by the ,charter1 is adequate to the practical solution of the ,academy's questions4 ,but it would be a misconception of the oracles to imagine that they proceed by induction and analysis2 and precisely because the political problem was a condition or corollary of the demonstrations asked for1 the ,academy could not offer it for competition4 ,such a conclusion would have opened its eyes1 and1 without waiting for the memoirs of the competitors1 it would have hastened to suppress its entire programme4 ,the ,academy has approached the question from above4 ,it has said3-- ,the works of ,god are beautiful in their own essence1 justificata in semet ipsa2 they are true1 in a word1 because they are his4 ,the thoughts of man resemble dense vapors pierced by long and narrow flashes4 ,,what1 ,,then1 ,,is ,,the ,,truth ,,in ,,relation ,,to ,,us1 ,,and ,,what ,,is ,,the ,,character ,,of ,,certainty8 ,as if the ,academy had said to us3 ,you shall verify the hypothesis of your existence1 the hypothesis of the ,academy which interrogates you1 the hypotheses of time1 space1 motion1 thought1 and the laws of thought4 ,then you may verify the hypothesis of pauperism1 the hypothesis of inequality of conditions1 the hypothesis of universal association1 the hypothesis of happiness1 the hypotheses of monarchy and republicanism1 the hypothesis of ,providence6 4 4 4 4 ,a complete criticism of ,god and humanity4 ,i point to the programme of the honorable society3 it is not ,i who have fixed the conditions of my task1 it is the ,academy of ,moral and ,political ,sciences4 ,now1 how can ,i satisfy these conditions1 if ,i am not myself endowed with infallibility2 in a word1 if ,i am not ,god or divine8 ,the ,academy admits1 then1 that divinity and humanity are identical1 or at least correlative2 but the question now is in what consists this correlation3 such is the meaning of the problem of certainty1 such is the object of social philosophy4 ,thus1 then1 in the name of the society that ,god inspires1 an ,academy questions4 ,in the name of the same society1 ,i am one of the prophets who attempt to answer4 ,the task is an immense one1 and ,i do not promise to accomplish it3 ,i will go as far as ,god shall give me strength4 ,but1 whatever ,i may say1 it does not come from me3 the thought which inspires my pen is not personal1 and nothing that ,i write can be attributed to me4 ,i shall give the facts as ,i have seen them2 ,i shall judge them by what ,i shall have said2 ,i shall call everything by its strongest name1 and no one will take offence4 ,i shall inquire freely1 and by the rules of divination which ,i have learned1 into the meaning of the divine purpose which is now expressing itself through the eloquent lips of sages and the inarticulate wailings of the people3 and1 though ,i should deny all the prerogatives guaranteed by our ,constitution1 ,i shall not be factious4 ,i shall point my finger whither an invisible influence is pushing us2 and neither my action nor my words shall be irritating4 ,i shall stir up the cloud1 and1 though ,i should cause it to launch the thunderbolt1 ,i should be innocent4 ,in this solemn investigation to which the ,academy invites me1 ,i have more than the right to tell the truth1--,i have the right to say what ,i think3 may my thought1 my words1 and the truth be but one and the same thing6 ,and you1 reader1--for without a reader there is no writer1--you are half of my work4 ,without you1 ,i am only sounding brass2 with the aid of your attention1 ,i will speak marvels4 ,do you see this passing whirlwind called ,,society1 from which burst forth1 with startling brilliancy1 lightnings1 thunders1 and voices8 ,i wish to cause you to place your finger on the hidden springs which move it2 but to that end you must reduce yourself at my command to a state of pure intelligence4 ,the eyes of love and pleasure are powerless to recognize beauty in a skeleton1 harmony in naked viscera1 life in dark and coagulated blood3 consequently the secrets of the social organism are a sealed letter to the man whose brain is beclouded by passion and prejudice4 ,such sublimities are unattainable except by cold and silent contemplation4 ,suffer me1 then1 before revealing to your eyes the leaves of the book of life1 to prepare your soul by this sceptical purification which the great teachers of the people--,socrates1 ,jesus ,christ1 ,st4 ,paul1 ,st4 ,remi1 ,bacon1 ,descartes1 ,galileo1 ,kant1 etc4--have always claimed of their disciples4 ,whoever you may be1 clad in the rags of misery or decked in the sumptuous vestments of luxury1 ,i restore you to that state of luminous nudity which neither the fumes of wealth nor the poisons of envious poverty dim4 ,how persuade the rich that the difference of conditions arises from an error in the accounts2 and how can the poor1 in their beggary1 conceive that the proprietor possesses in good faith8 ,to investigate the sufferings of the laborer is to the idler the most intolerable of amusements2 just as to do justice to the fortunate is to the miserable the bitterest of draughts4 ,you occupy a high position3 ,i strip you of it2 there you are1 free4 ,there is too much optimism beneath this official costume1 too much subordination1 too much idleness4 ,science demands an insurrection of thought3 now1 the thought of an official is his salary4 ,your mistress1 beautiful1 passionate1 artistic1 is1 ,i like to believe1 possessed only by you4 ,that is1 your soul1 your spirit1 your conscience1 have passed into the most charming object of luxury that nature and art have produced for the eternal torment of fascinated mortals4 ,i separate you from this divine half of yourself3 at the present day it is too much to wish for justice and at the same time to love a woman4 ,to think with grandeur and clearness1 man must remove the lining of his nature and hold to his masculine hypostasis4 ,besides1 in the state in which ,i have put you1 your lover would no longer know you3 remember the wife of ,job4 ,what is your religion8 4 4 4 4 ,forget your faith1 and1 through wisdom1 become an atheist4--,what6 you say2 an atheist in spite of our hypothesis6--,no1 but because of our hypothesis4 ,one's thought must have been raised above divine things for a long time to be entitled to suppose a personality beyond man1 a life beyond this life4 ,for the rest1 have no fears for your salvation4 ,god is not angry with those who are led by reason to deny him1 any more than he is anxious for those who are led by faith to worship him2 and1 in the state of your conscience1 the surest course for you is to think nothing about him4 ,do you not see that it is with religion as with governments1 the most perfect of which would be the denial of all8 ,then let no political or religious fancy hold your soul captive2 in this way only can you now keep from being either a dupe or a renegade4 ,ah6 said ,i in the days of my enthusiastic youth1 shall ,i not hear the tolling for the second vespers of the republic1 and our priests1 dressed in white tunics1 singing after the ,doric fashion the returning hymn3 ,change o ,dieu1 notre servitude1 comme le vent du desert en un souffle rafraichissan6 4 4 4 4 4 ,but ,i have despaired of republicans1 and no longer know either religion or priests4 ,i should like also1 in order to thoroughly secure your judgment1 dear reader1 to render your soul insensible to pity1 superior to virtue1 indifferent to happiness4 ,but that would be too much to expect of a neophyte4 ,remember only1 and never forget1 that pity1 happiness1 and virtue1 like country1 religion1 and love1 are masks4 4 4 4 ,,system ,,of ,,economical ,,contradictions3 ,,or1 ,,the ,,philosophy ,,of ,,misery4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,of ,,the ,,economic ,,science4 #a4--,opposition between ,,fact and ,,right in social economy4 ,i affirm the ,,reality of an economic science4 ,this proposition1 which few economists now dare to question1 is the boldest1 perhaps1 that a philosopher ever maintained2 and the inquiries to follow will prove1 ,i hope1 that its demonstration will one day be deemed the greatest effort of the human mind4 ,i affirm1 on the other hand1 the ,,absolute ,,certainty as well as the ,,progressive nature of economic science1 of all the sciences in my opinion the most comprehensive1 the purest1 the best supported by facts3 a new proposition1 which alters this science into logic or metaphysics in concreto1 and radically changes the basis of ancient philosophy4 ,in other words1 economic science is to me the objective form and realization of metaphysics2 it is metaphysics in action1 metaphysics projected on the vanishing plane of time2 and whoever studies the laws of labor and exchange is truly and specially a metaphysician4 ,after what ,i have said in the introduction1 there is nothing in this which should surprise any one4 ,the labor of man continues the work of ,god1 who1 in creating all beings1 did but externally realize the eternal laws of reason4 ,economic science is1 then1 necessarily and at once a theory of ideas1 a natural theology1 and a psychology4 ,this general outline alone would have sufficed to explain why1 having to treat of economic matters1 ,i was obliged previously to suppose the existence of ,god1 and by what title ,i1 a simple economist1 aspire to solve the problem of certainty4 ,but ,i hasten to say that ,i do not regard as a science the incoherent ensemble of theories to which the name ,,political ,,economy has been officially given for almost a hundred years1 and which1 in spite of the etymology of the name1 is after ail but the code1 or immemorial routine1 of property4 ,these theories offer us only the rudiments1 or first section1 of economic science2 and that is why1 like property1 they are all contradictory of each other1 and half the time inapplicable4 ,the proof of this assertion1 which is1 in one sense1 a denial of political economy as handed down to us by ,adam ,smith1 ,ricardo1 ,malthus1 and ,j4 ,b4 ,say1 and as we have known it for half a century1 will be especially developed in this treatise4 ,the inadequacy of political economy has at all times impressed thoughtful minds1 who1 too fond of their dreams for practical investigation1 and confining themselves to the estimation of apparent results1 have constituted from the beginning a party of opposition to the statu quo1 and have devoted themselves to persevering1 and systematic ridicule of civilization and its customs4 ,property1 on the other hand1 the basis of all social institutions1 has never lacked zealous defenders1 who1 proud to be called ,,practical1 have exchanged blow for blow with the traducers of political economy1 and have labored with a courageous and often skilful hand to strengthen the edifice which general prejudice and individual liberty have erected in concert4 ,the controversy between conservatives and reformers1 still pending1 finds its counterpart1 in the history of philosophy1 in the quarrel between realists and nominalists2 it is almost useless to add that1 on both sides1 right and wrong are equal1 and that the rivalry1 narrowness1 and intolerance of opinions have been the sole cause of the misunderstanding4 ,thus two powers are contending for the government of the world1 and cursing each other with the fervor of two hostile religions3 political economy1 or tradition2 and socialism1 or utopia4 ,what is1 then1 in more explicit terms1 political economy8 ,what is socialism8 ,political economy is a collection of the observations thus far made in regard to the phenomena of the production and distribution of wealth2 that is1 in regard to the most common1 most spontaneous1 and therefore most genuine1 forms of labor and exchange4 ,the economists have classified these observations as far as they were able2 they have described the phenomena1 and ascertained their contingencies and relations2 they have observed in them1 in many cases1 a quality of necessity which has given them the name of ,,laws2 and this ensemble of information1 gathered from the simplest manifestations of society1 constitutes political economy4 ,political economy is1 therefore1 the natural history of the most apparent and most universally accredited customs1 traditions1 practices1 and methods of humanity in all that concerns the production and distribution of wealth4 ,by this title1 political economy considers itself legitimate in ,,fact and in ,,right3 in fact1 because the phenomena which it studies are constant1 spontaneous1 and universal2 in right1 because these phenomena rest on the authority of the human race1 the strongest authority possible4 ,consequently1 political economy calls itself a ,,science2 that is1 a rational and systematic knowledge of regular and necessary facts4 ,socialism1 which1 like the god ,vishnu1 ever dying and ever returning to life1 has experienced within a score of years its ten-thousandth incarnation in the persons of five or six revelators1--socialism affirms the irregularity of the present constitution of society1 and1 consequently1 of all its previous forms4 ,it asserts1 and proves1 that the order of civilization is artificial1 contradictory1 inadequate2 that it engenders oppression1 misery1 and crime2 it denounces1 not to say calumniates1 the whole past of social life1 and pushes on with all its might to a reformation of morals and institutions4 ,socialism concludes by declaring political economy a false and sophistical hypothesis1 devised to enable the few to exploit the many2 and applying the maxim ,a fructibus cognoscetis1 it ends with a demonstration of the impotence and emptiness of political economy by the list of human calamities for which it makes it responsible4 ,but if political economy is false1 jurisprudence1 which in all countries is the science of law and custom1 is false also2 since1 founded on the distinction of thine and mine1 it supposes the legitimacy of the facts described and classified by political economy4 ,the theories of public and international law1 with all the varieties of representative government1 are also false1 since they rest on the principle of individual appropriation and the absolute sovereignty of wills4 ,all these consequences socialism accepts4 ,to it1 political economy1 regarded by many as the physiology of wealth1 is but the organization of robbery and poverty2 just as jurisprudence1 honored by legists with the name of written reason1 is1 in its eyes1 but a compilation of the rubrics of legal and official spoliation1--in a word1 of property4 ,considered in their relations1 these two pretended sciences1 political economy and law1 form1 in the opinion of socialism1 the complete theory of iniquity and discord4 ,passing then from negation to affirmation1 socialism opposes the principle of property with that of association1 and makes vigorous efforts to reconstruct social economy from top to bottom2 that is1 to establish a new code1 a new political system1 with institutions and morals diametrically opposed to the ancient forms4 ,thus the line of demarcation between socialism and political economy is fixed1 and the hostility flagrant4 ,political economy tends toward the glorification of selfishness2 socialism favors the exaltation of communism4 ,the economists1 saving a few violations of their principles1 for which they deem it their duty to blame governments1 are optimists with regard to accomplished facts2 the socialists1 with regard to facts to be accomplished4 ,the first affirm that that which ought to be ,,is2 the second1 that that which ought to be ,,is ,,not4 ,consequently1 while the first are defenders of religion1 authority1 and the other principles contemporary with1 and conservative of1 property1--although their criticism1 based solely on reason1 deals frequent blows at their own prejudices1--the second reject authority and faith1 and appeal exclusively to science1-- although a certain religiosity1 utterly illiberal1 and an unscientific disdain for facts1 are always the most obvious characteristics of their doctrines4 ,for the rest1 neither party ever ceases to accuse the other of incapacity and sterility4 ,the socialists ask their opponents to account for the inequality of conditions1 for those commercial debaucheries in which monopoly and competition1 in monstrous union1 perpetually give birth to luxury and misery2 they reproach economic theories1 always modeled after the past1 with leaving the future hopeless2 in short1 they point to the regime of property as a horrible hallucination1 against which humanity has protested and struggled for four thousand years4 ,the economists1 on their side1 defy socialists to produce a system in which property1 competition1 and political organization can be dispensed with2 they prove1 with documents in hand1 that all reformatory projects have ever been nothing but rhapsodies of fragments borrowed from the very system that socialism sneers at1--plagiarisms1 in a word1 of political economy1 outside of which socialism is incapable of conceiving and formulating an idea4 ,every day sees the proofs in this grave suit accumulating1 and the question becoming confused4 ,while society has traveled and stumbled1 suffered and thrived1 in pursuing the economic routine1 the socialists1 since ,pythagoras1 ,orpheus1 and the unfathomable ,hermes1 have labored to establish their dogma in opposition to political economy4 ,a few attempts at association in accordance with their views have even been made here and there3 but as yet these exceptional undertakings1 lost in the ocean of property1 have been without result2 and1 as if destiny had resolved to exhaust the economic hypothesis before attacking the socialistic utopia1 the reformatory party is obliged to content itself with pocketing the sarcasms of its adversaries while waiting for its own turn to come4 ,this1 then1 is the state of the cause3 socialism incessantly denounces the crimes of civilization1 verifies daily the powerlessness of political economy to satisfy the harmonic attractions of man1 and presents petition after petition2 political economy fills its brief with socialistic systems1 all of which1 one after another1 pass away and die1 despised by common sense4 ,the persistence of evil nourishes the complaint of the one1 while the constant succession of reformatory checks feeds the malicious irony of the other4 ,when will judgment be given8 ,the tribunal is deserted2 meanwhile1 political economy improves its opportunities1 and1 without furnishing bail1 continues to lord it over the world2 possideo quia possideo4 ,if we descend from the sphere of ideas to the realities of the world1 the antagonism will appear still more grave and threatening4 ,when1 in these recent years1 socialism1 instigated by prolonged convulsions1 made its fantastic appearance in our midst1 men whom all controversy had found until then indifferent and lukewarm went back in fright to monarchical and religious ideas2 democracy1 which was charged with being developed at last to its ultimate1 was cursed and driven back4 ,this accusation of the conservatives against the democrats was a libel4 ,democracy is by nature as hostile to the socialistic idea as incapable of filling the place of royalty1 against which it is its destiny endlessly to conspire4 ,this soon became evident1 and we are witnesses of it daily in the professions of ,christian and proprietary faith by democratic publicists1 whose abandonment by the people began at that moment4 ,on the other hand1 philosophy proves no less distinct from socialism1 no less hostile to it1 than politics and religion4 ,for just as in politics the principle of democracy is the sovereignty of numbers1 and that of monarchy the sovereignty of the prince2 just as likewise in affairs of conscience religion is nothing but submission to a mystical being1 called ,god1 and to the priests who represent him2 just as finally in the economic world property--that is1 exclusive control by the individual of the instruments of labor--is the point of departure of every theory1--so philosophy1 in basing itself upon the a priori assumptions of reason1 is inevitably led to attribute to the ,,me alone the generation and autocracy of ideas1 and to deny the metaphysical value of experience2 that is1 universally to substitute1 for the objective law1 absolutism1 despotism4 ,now1 a doctrine which1 springing up suddenly in the heart of society1 without antecedents and without ancestors1 rejected from every department of conscience and society the arbitrary principle1 in order to substitute as sole truth the relation of facts2 which broke with tradition1 and consented to make use of the past only as a point from which to launch forth into the future1--such a doctrine could not fail to stir up against it the established ,,authorities2 and we can see today how1 in spite of their internal discords1 the said ,,authorities1 which are but one1 combine to fight the monster that is ready to swallow them4 ,to the workingmen who complain of the insufficiency of wages and the uncertainty of labor1 political economy opposes the liberty of commerce2 to the citizens who are seeking for the conditions of liberty and order1 the ideologists respond with representative systems2 to the tender souls who1 having lost their ancient faith1 ask the reason and end of their existence1 religion proposes the unfathomable secrets of ,providence1 and philosophy holds doubt in reserve4 ,subterfuges always2 complete ideas1 in which heart and mind find rest1 never6 ,socialism cries that it is time to set sail for the mainland1 and to enter port3 but1 say the antisocialists1 there is no port2 humanity sails onward in ,god's care1 under the command of priests1 philosophers1 orators1 economists1 and our circumnavigation is eternal4 ,thus society finds itself1 at its origin1 divided into two great parties3 the one traditional and essentially hierarchical1 which1 according to the object it is considering1 calls itself by turns royalty or democracy1 philosophy or religion1 in short1 property2 the other socialism1 which1 coming to life at every crisis of civilization1 proclaims itself preeminently ,,anarchical and ,,atheistic2 that is1 rebellious against all authority1 human and divine4 ,now1 modern civilization has demonstrated that in a conflict of this nature the truth is found1 not in the exclusion of one of the opposites1 but wholly and solely in the reconciliation of the two2 it is1 ,i say1 a fact of science that every antagonism1 whether in ,nature or in ideas1 is resolvable in a more general fact or in a complex formula1 which harmonizes the opposing factors by absorbing them1 so to speak1 in each other4 ,can we not1 then1 men of common sense1 while awaiting the solution which the future will undoubtedly bring forth1 prepare ourselves for this great transition by an analysis of the struggling powers1 as well as their positive and negative qualities8 ,such a work1 performed with accuracy and conscientiousness1 even though it should not lead us directly to the solution1 would have at least the inestimable advantage of revealing to us the conditions of the problem1 and thereby putting us on our guard against every form of utopia4 ,what is there1 then1 in political economy that is necessary and true2 whither does it tend2 what are its powers2 what are its wishes8 ,it is this which ,i propose to determine in this work4 ,what is the value of socialism8 ,the same investigation will answer this question also4 ,for since1 after all1 socialism and political economy pursue the same end1--namely1 liberty1 order1 and well-being among men1--it is evident that the conditions to be fulfilled--in other words1 the difficulties to be overcome--to attain this end1 are also the same for both1 and that it remains only to examine the methods attempted or proposed by either party4 ,but since1 moreover1 it has been given thus far to political economy alone to translate its ideas into acts1 while socialism has scarcely done more than indulge in perpetual satire1 it is no less clear that1 in judging the works of economy according to their merit1 we at the same time shall reduce to its just value the invective of the socialists3 so that our criticism1 though apparently special1 will lead to absolute and definitive conclusions4 ,this it is necessary to make clearer by a few examples1 before entering fully upon the examination of political economy4 #b4--;,inadequacy of theories and criticisms4 ,we will record first an important observation3 the contending parties agree in acknowledging a common authority1 whose support each claims1--,,science4 ,plato1 a utopian1 organized his ideal republic in the name of science1 which1 through modesty and euphemism1 he called philosophy4 ,aristotle1 a practical man1 refuted the ,platonic utopia in the name of the same philosophy4 ,thus the social war has continued since ,plato and ,aristotle4 ,the modern socialists refer all things to science one and indivisible1 but without power to agree either as to its content1 its limits1 or its method2 the economists1 on their side1 affirm that social science in no wise differs from political economy4 ,it is our first business1 then1 to ascertain what a science of society must be4 ,science1 in general1 is the logically arranged and systematic knowledge of that which ,,is4 ,applying this idea to society1 we will say3 ,social science is the logically arranged and systematic knowledge1 not of that which society ,,has ,,been1 nor of that which it ,,will ,,be1 but of that which it ,,is in its whole life2 that is1 in the sum total of its successive manifestations3 for there alone can it have reason and system4 ,social science must include human order1 not alone in such or such a period of duration1 nor in a few of its elements2 but in all its principles and in the totality of its existence3 as if social evolution1 spread throughout time and space1 should find itself suddenly gathered and fixed in a picture which1 exhibiting the series of the ages and the sequence of phenomena1 revealed their connection and unity4 ,such must be the science of every living and progressive reality2 such social science indisputably is4 ,it may be1 then1 that political economy1 in spite of its individualistic tendency and its exclusive affirmations1 is a constituent part of social science1 in which the phenomena that it describes are like the starting-points of a vast triangulation and the elements of an organic and complex whole4 ,from this point of view1 the progress of humanity1 proceeding from the simple to the complex1 would be entirely in harmony with the progress of science2 and the conflicting and so often desolating facts1 which are today the basis and object of political economy1 would have to be considered by us as so many special hypotheses1 successively realized by humanity in view of a superior hypothesis1 whose realization would solve all difficulties1 and satisfy socialism without destroying political economy4 ,for1 as ,i said in my introduction1 in no case can we admit that humanity1 however it expresses itself1 is mistaken4 ,let us now make this clearer by facts4 ,the question now most disputed is unquestionably that of the ,,organization ,,of ,,labor4 ,as ,john the ,baptist preached in the desert1 ,,repent ,,ye1 so the socialists go about proclaiming everywhere this novelty old as the world1 ,,organize ,,labor1 though never able to tell what1 in their opinion1 this organization should be4 ,however that may be1 the economists have seen that this socialistic clamor was damaging their theories3 it was1 indeed1 a rebuke to them for ignoring that which they ought first to recognize1--labor4 ,they have replied1 therefore1 to the attack of their adversaries1 first by maintaining that labor is organized1 that there is no other organization of labor than liberty to produce and exchange1 either on one's own personal account1 or in association with others1--in which case the course to be pursued has been prescribed by the civil and commercial codes4 ,then1 as this argument served only to make them the laughing-stock of their antagonists1 they assumed the offensive2 and1 showing that the socialists understood nothing at all themselves of this organization that they held up as a scarecrow1 they ended by saying that it was but a new socialistic chimera1 a word without sense1--an absurdity4 ,the latest writings of the economists are full of these pitiless conclusions4 ,nevertheless1 it is certain that the phrase organization of labor contains as clear and rational a meaning as these that follow3 organization of the workshop1 organization of the army1 organization of police1 organization of charity1 organization of war4 ,in this respect1 the argument of the economists is deplorably irrational4 ,no less certain is it that the organization of labor cannot be a utopia and chimera2 for at the moment that labor1 the supreme condition of civilization1 begins to exist1 it follows that it is already submitted to an organization1 such as it is1 which satisfies the economists1 but which the socialists think detestable4 ,there remains1 then1 relatively to the proposal to organize labor formulated by socialism1 this objection1--that labor is organized4 ,now1 this is utterly untenable1 since it is notorious that in labor1 supply1 demand1 division1 quantity1 proportion1 price1 and security1 nothing1 absolutely nothing is regulated2 on the contrary1 everything is given up to the caprices of free-will2 that is1 to chance4 ,as for us1 guided by the idea that we have formed of social science1 we shall affirm1 against the socialists and against the economists1 not that labor ,,must ,,be ,,organized1 nor that it is ,,organized but that it ,,is ,,being ,,organized4 ,labor1 we say1 is being organized3 that is1 the process of organization has been going on from the beginning of the world1 and will continue till the end4 ,political economy teaches us the primary elements of this organization2 but socialism is right in asserting that1 in its present form1 the organization is inadequate and transitory2 and the whole mission of science is continually to ascertain1 in view of the results obtained and the phenomena in course of development1 what innovations can be immediately effected4 ,socialism and political economy1 then1 while waging a burlesque war1 pursue in reality the same idea1--the organization of labor4 ,but both are guilty of disloyalty to science and of mutual calumny1 when on the one hand political economy1 mistaking for science its scraps of theory1 denies the possibility of further progress2 and when socialism1 abandoning tradition1 aims at reestablishing society on undiscoverable bases4 ,thus socialism is nothing but a profound criticism and continual development of political economy2 and1 to apply here the celebrated aphorism of the school1 ,nihil est in intellectu1 quod non prius fuerit in sensu1 there is nothing in the socialistic hypotheses which is not duplicated in economic practice4 ,on the other hand1 political economy is but an impertinent rhapsody1 so long as it affirms as absolutely valid the facts collected by ,adam ,smith and ,j4 ,b4 ,say4 ,another question1 no less disputed than the preceding one1 is that of usury1 or lending at interest4 ,usury1 or in other words the price of use1 is the emolument1 of whatever nature1 which the proprietor derives from the loan of his property4 ,quidquid sorti accrescit usura est1 say the theologians4 ,usury1 the foundation of credit1 was one of the first of the means which social spontaneity employed in its work of organization1 and whose analysis discloses the profound laws of civilization4 ,the ancient philosophers and the ,fathers of the ,church1 who must be regarded here as the representatives of socialism in the early centuries of the ,christian era1 by a singular fallacy1--which arose however from the paucity of economic knowledge in their day1--allowed farm-rent and condemned interest on money1 because1 as they believed1 money was unproductive4 ,they distinguished consequently between the loan of things which are consumed by use--among which they included money--and the loan of things which1 without being consumed1 yield a product to the user4 ,the economists had no difficulty in showing1 by generalizing the idea of rent1 that in the economy of society the action of capital1 or its productivity1 was the same whether it was consumed in wages or retained the character of an instrument2 that1 consequently1 it was necessary either to prohibit the rent of land or to allow interest on money1 since both were by the same title payment for privilege1 indemnity for loan4 ,it required more than fifteen centuries to get this idea accepted1 and to reassure the consciences that had been terrified by the anathemas pronounced by ,catholicism against usury4 ,but finally the weight of evidence and the general desire favored the usurers3 they won the battle against socialism2 and from this legitimation of usury society gained some immense and unquestionable advantages4 ,under these circumstances socialism1 which had tried to generalize the law enacted by ,moses for the ,israelites alone1 ,non foeneraberis proximo tuo1 sed alieno1 was beaten by an idea which it had accepted from the economic routine1-- namely1 farm-rent1--elevated into the theory of the productivity of capital4 ,but the economists in their turn were less fortunate1 when they were afterwards called upon to justify farm-rent in itself1 and to establish this theory of the product of capital4 ,it may be said that1 on this point1 they have lost all the advantage they had at first gained against socialism4 ,undoubtedly--and ,i am the first to recognize it--the rent of land1 like that of money and all personal and real property1 is a spontaneous and universal fact1 which has its source in the depths of our nature1 and which soon becomes1 by its natural development1 one of the most potent means of organization4 ,i shall prove even that interest on capital is but the materialization of the aphorism1 ,,all ,,labor ,,should ,,leave ,,an ,,excess4 ,but in the face of this theory1 or rather this fiction1 of the productivity of capital1 arises another thesis no less certain1 which in these latter days has struck the ablest economists3 it is that all value is born of labor1 and is composed essentially of wages2 in other words1 that no wealth has its origin in privilege1 or acquires any value except through work2 and that1 consequently1 labor alone is the source of revenue among men4 ,how1 then1 reconcile the theory of farm-rent or productivity of capital--a theory confirmed by universal custom1 which conservative political economy is forced to accept but cannot justify--with this other theory which shows that value is normally composed of wages1 and which inevitably ends1 as we shall demonstrate1 in an equality in society between net product and raw product8 ,the socialists have not wasted the opportunity4 ,starting with the principle that labor is the source of all income1 they began to call the holders of capital to account for their farm-rents and emoluments2 and1 as the economists won the first victory by generalizing under a common expression farm-rent and usury1 so the socialists have taken their revenge by causing the seignorial rights of capital to vanish before the still more general principle of labor4 ,property has been demolished from top to bottom3 the economists could only keep silent2 but1 powerless to arrest itself in this new descent1 socialism has slipped clear to the farthest boundaries of communistic utopia1 and1 for want of a practical solution1 society is reduced to a position where it can neither justify its tradition1 nor commit itself to experiments in which the least mistake would drive it backward several thousand years4 ,in such a situation what is the mandate of science8 ,certainly not to halt in an arbitrary1 inconceivable1 and impossible juste milieu2 it is to generalize further1 and discover a third principle1 a fact1 a superior law1 which shall explain the fiction of capital and the myth of property1 and reconcile them with the theory which makes labor the origin of all wealth4 ,this is what socialism1 if it wishes to proceed logically1 must undertake4 ,in fact1 the theory of the real productivity of labor1 and that of the fictitious productivity of capital1 are both essentially economical3 socialism has endeavored only to show the contradiction between them1 without regard to experience or logic2 for it appears to be as destitute of the one as of the other4 ,now1 in law1 the litigant who accepts the authority of a title in one particular must accept it in all2 it is not allowable to divide the documents and proofs4 ,had socialism the right to decline the authority of political economy in relation to usury1 when it appealed for support to this same authority in relation to the analysis of value8 ,by no means4 ,all that socialism could demand in such a case was1 either that political economy should be directed to reconcile its theories1 or that it might be itself intrusted with this difficult task4 ,the more closely we examine these solemn discussions1 the more clearly we see that the whole trouble is due to the fact that one of the parties does not wish to see1 while the other refuses to advance4 ,it is a principle of our law that no one can be deprived of his property except for the sake of general utility1 and in consideration of a fair indemnity payable in advance4 ,this principle is eminently an economic one2 for1 on the one hand1 it assumes the right of eminent domain of the citizen expropriated1 whose consent1 according to the democratic spirit of the social compact1 is necessarily presupposed4 ,on the other hand1 the indemnity1 or the price of the article taken1 is fixed1 not by the intrinsic value of the article1 but by the general law of commerce1--supply and demand2 in a word1 by opinion4 ,expropriation in the name of society may be likened to a contract of convenience1 agreed to by each with all2 not only then must the price be paid1 but the convenience also must be paid for3 and it is thus1 in reality1 that the indemnity is estimated4 ,if the ,roman legists had seen this analogy1 they undoubtedly would have hesitated less over the question of expropriation for the sake of public utility4 ,such1 then1 is the sanction of the social right of expropriation3 indemnity4 ,now1 practically1 not only is the principle of indemnity not applied in all cases where it ought to be1 but it is impossible that it should be so applied4 ,thus1 the law which established railways provided indemnity for the lands to be occupied by the rails2 it did nothing for the multitude of industries dependent upon the previous method of conveyance1 whose losses far exceeded the value of the lands whose owners received compensation4 ,similarly1 when the question of indemnifying the manufacturers of beet-root sugar was under consideration1 it occurred to no one that the ,state ought to indemnify also the large number of laborers and employees who earned their livelihood in the beet-root industry1 and who were1 perhaps1 to be reduced to want4 ,nevertheless1 it is certain1 according to the idea of capital and the theory of production1 that as the possessor of land1 whose means of labor is taken from him by the railroad1 has a right to be indemnified1 so also the manufacturer1 whose capital is rendered unproductive by the same railroad1 is entitled to indemnification4 ,why1 then1 is he not indemnified8 ,alas6 because to indemnify him is impossible4 ,with such a system of justice and impartiality society would be1 as a general thing1 unable to act1 and would return to the fixedness of ,roman justice4 ,there must be victims4 ,the principle of indemnity is consequently abandoned2 to one or more classes of citizens the ,state is inevitably bankrupt4 ,at this point the socialists appear4 ,they charge that the sole object of political economy is to sacrifice the interests of the masses and create privileges2 then1 finding in the law of expropriation the rudiment of an agrarian law1 they suddenly advocate universal expropriation2 that is1 production and consumption in common4 ,but here socialism relapses from criticism into utopia1 and its incapacity becomes freshly apparent in its contradictions4 ,if the principle of expropriation for the sake of public utility1 carried to its logical conclusion1 leads to a complete reorganization of society1 before commencing the work the character of this new organization must be understood2 now1 socialism1 ,i repeat1 has no science save a few bits of physiology and political economy4 ,further1 it is necessary in accordance with the principle of indemnity1 if not to compensate citizens1 at least to guarantee to them the values which they part with2 it is necessary1 in short1 to insure them against loss4 ,now1 outside of the public fortune1 the management of which it demands1 where will socialism find security for this same fortune8 ,it is impossible1 in sound and honest logic1 to escape this circle4 ,consequently the communists1 more open in their dealings than certain other sectarians of flowing and pacific ideas1 decide the difficulty2 and promise1 the power once in their hands1 to expropriate all and indemnify and guarantee none4 ,at bottom1 that would be neither unjust nor disloyal4 ,unfortunately1 to burn is not to reply1 as the interesting ,desmoulins said to ,robespierre2 and such a discussion ends always in fire and the guillotine4 ,here1 as everywhere1 two rights1 equally sacred1 stand in the presence of each other1 the right of the citizen and the right of the ,state2 it is enough to say that there is a superior formula which reconciles the socialistic utopias and the mutilated theories of political economy1 and that the problem is to discover it4 ,in this emergency what are the contending parties doing8 ,nothing4 ,we might say rather that they raise questions only to get an opportunity to redress injuries4 ,what do ,i say8 ,the questions are not even understood by them2 and1 while the public is considering the sublime problems of society and human destiny1 the professors of social science1 orthodox and heretics1 do not agree on principles4 ,witness the question which occasioned these inquiries1 and which its authors certainly understand no better than its disparagers1--,,the ,,relation ,,of ,,profits ,,and ,,wages4 ,what6 an ,academy of economists has offered for competition a question the terms of which it does not understand6 ,how1 then1 could it have conceived the idea8 ,well6 ,i know that my statement is astonishing and incredible2 but it is true4 ,like the theologians1 who answer metaphysical problems only by myths and allegories1 which always reproduce the problems but never solve them1 the economists reply to the questions which they ask only by relating how they were led to ask them3 should they conceive that it was possible to go further1 they would cease to be economists4 ,for example1 what is profit8 ,that which remains for the manager after he has paid all the expenses4 ,now1 the expenses consist of the labor performed and the materials consumed2 or1 in fine1 wages4 ,what1 then1 is the wages of a workingman8 ,the least that can be given him2 that is1 we do not know4 ,what should be the price of the merchandise put upon the market by the manager8 ,the highest that he can obtain2 that is1 again1 we do not know4 ,political economy prohibits the supposition that the prices of merchandise and labor can be ,,fixed1 although it admits that they can be ,,estimated2 and that for the reason1 say the economists1 that estimation is essentially an arbitrary operation1 which never can lead to sure and certain conclusions4 ,how1 then1 shall we find the relation between two unknowns which1 according to political economy1 cannot be determined8 ,thus political economy proposes insolvable problems2 and yet we shall soon see that it must propose them1 and that our century must solve them4 ,that is why ,i said that the ,academy of ,moral ,sciences1 in offering for competition the question of the relation of profits and wages1 spoke unconsciously1 spoke prophetically4 ,but it will be said1 ,is it not true that1 if labor is in great demand and laborers are scarce1 wages will rise1 while profits on the other hand will decrease2 that if1 in the press of competition1 there is an excess of production1 there will be a stoppage and forced sales1 consequently no profit for the manager and a danger of idleness for the laborer2 that then the latter will offer his labor at a reduced price2 that1 if a machine is invented1 it will first extinguish the fires of its rivals2 then1 a monopoly established1 and the laborer made dependent on the employer1 profits and wages will be inversely proportional8 ,cannot all these causes1 and others besides1 be studied1 ascertained1 counterbalanced1 etc48 ,oh1 monographs1 histories6--we have been saturated with them since the days of ,adam ,smith and ,j4 ,b4 ,say1 and they are scarcely more than variations of these authors' words4 ,but it is not thus that the question should be understood1 although the ,academy has given it no other meaning4 ,the ,,relation ,,of ,,profits ,,and ,,wages should be considered in an absolute sense1 and not from the inconclusive point of view of the accidents of commerce and the division of interests3 two things which must ultimately receive their interpretation4 ,let me explain myself4 ,considering producer and consumer as a single individual1 whose recompense is naturally equal to his product2 then dividing this product into two parts1 one which rewards the producer for his outlay1 another which represents his profit1 according to the axiom that all labor should leave an excess1--we have to determine the relation of one of these parts to the other4 ,this done1 it will be easy to deduce the ratio of the fortunes of these two classes of men1 employers and wage-laborers1 as well as account for all commercial oscillations4 ,this will be a series of corollaries to add to the demonstration4 ,now1 that such a relation may exist and be estimated1 there must necessarily be a law1 internal or external1 which governs wages and prices2 and since1 in the present state of things1 wages and prices vary and oscillate continually1 we must ask what are the general facts1 the causes1 which make value vary and oscillate1 and within what limits this oscillation takes place4 ,but this very question is contrary to the accepted principles2 for whoever says ,,oscillation necessarily supposes a mean direction toward which value's centre of gravity continually tends2 and when the ,academy asks that we ,,determine ,,the ,,oscillations ,,of ,,profit ,,and ,,wages1 it asks thereby that we ,,determine ,,value4 ,now that is precisely what the gentlemen of the ,academy deny3 they are unwilling to admit that1 if value is variable1 it is for that very reason determinable2 that variability is the sign and condition of determinability4 ,they pretend that value1 ever varying1 can never be determined4 ,this is like maintaining that1 given the number of oscillations of a pendulum per second1 their amplitude1 and the latitude and elevation of the spot where the experiment is performed1 the length of the pendulum cannot be determined because the pendulum is in motion4 ,such is political economy's first article of faith4 ,as for socialism1 it does not appear to have understood the question1 or to be concerned about it4 ,among its many organs1 some simply and merely put aside the problem by substituting division for distribution1--that is1 by banishing number and measure from the social organism3 others relieve themselves of the embarrassment by applying universal suffrage to the wages question4 ,it is needless to say that these platitudes find dupes by thousands and hundreds of thousands4 ,the condemnation of political economy has been formulated by ,malthus in this famous passage3-- ,a man who is born into a world already occupied1 his family unable to support him1 and society not requiring his labor1--such a man1 ,i say1 has not the least right to claim any nourishment whatever3 he is really one too many on the earth4 ,at the great banquet of ,nature there is no plate laid for him4 ,nature commands him to take himself away1 and she will not be slow to put her order into execution4#f #f ,the passage quoted may not be given in the exact words used by ,malthus1 it having reached its present shape through the medium of a ,french rendering--,translator4 ,this then is the necessary1 the fatal1 conclusion of political economy1--a conclusion which ,i shall demonstrate by evidence hitherto unknown in this field of inquiry1--,death to him who does not possess6 ,in order better to grasp the thought of ,malthus1 let us translate it into philosophical propositions by stripping it of its rhetorical gloss3-- ,individual liberty1 and property1 which is its expression1 are economical data2 equality and solidarity are not4 ,under this system1 each one by himself1 each one for himself3 labor1 like all merchandise1 is subject to fluctuation3 hence the risks of the proletariat4 ,whoever has neither income nor wages has no right to demand anything of others3 his misfortune falls on his own head2 in the game of fortune1 luck has been against him4 ,from the point of view of political economy these propositions are irrefutable2 and ,malthus1 who has formulated them with such alarming exactness1 is secure against all reproach4 ,from the point of view of the conditions of social science1 these same propositions are radically false1 and even contradictory4 ,the error of ,malthus1 or rather of political economy1 does not consist in saying that a man who has nothing to eat must die2 or in maintaining that1 under the system of individual appropriation1 there is no course for him who has neither labor nor income but to withdraw from life by suicide1 unless he prefers to be driven from it by starvation3 such is1 on the one hand1 the law of our existence2 such is1 on the other1 the consequence of property2 and ,m4 ,rossi has taken altogether too much trouble to justify the good sense of ,malthus on this point4 ,i suspect1 indeed1 that ,m4 ,rossi1 in making so lengthy and loving an apology for ,malthus1 intended to recommend political economy in the same way that his fellow-countryman ,machiavel1 in his book entitled ,the ,prince1 recommended despotism to the admiration of the world4 ,in pointing out misery as the necessary condition of industrial and commercial absolutism1 ,m4 ,rossi seems to say to us3 ,there is your law1 your justice1 your political economy2 there is property4 ,but ,gallic simplicity does not understand artifice2 and it would have been better to have said to ,france1 in her immaculate tongue3 ,the error of ,malthus1 the radical vice of political economy1 consists1 in general terms1 in affirming as a definitive state a transitory condition1-- namely1 the division of society into patricians and proletaires2 and1 particularly1 in saying that in an organized1 and consequently solidaire1 society1 there may be some who possess1 labor1 and consume1 while others have neither possession1 nor labor1 nor bread4 ,finally ,malthus1 or political economy1 reasons erroneously when seeing in the faculty of indefinite reproduction--which the human race enjoys in neither greater nor less degree than all animal and vegetable species--a permanent danger of famine2 whereas it is only necessary to show the necessity1 and consequently the existence1 of a law of equilibrium between population and production4 ,in short1 the theory of ,malthus--and herein lies the great merit of this writer1 a merit which none of his colleagues has dreamed of attributing to him--is a reductio ad absurdum of all political economy4 ,as for socialism1 that was summed up long since by ,plato and ,thomas ,more in a single word1 ,,utopia1--that is1 ,,no-,,place1 a chimera4 ,nevertheless1 for the honor of the human mind and that justice may be done to all1 this must be said3 neither could economic and legislative science have had any other beginning than they did have1 nor can society remain in this original position4 ,every science must first define its domain1 produce and collect its materials3 before system1 facts2 before the age of art1 the age of learning4 ,the economic science1 subject like every other to the law of time and the conditions of experience1 before seeking to ascertain how things ,,ought ,,to ,,take ,,place in society1 had to tell us how things ,,do ,,take ,,place2 and all these processes which the authors speak of so pompously in their books as ,,laws1 ,,principles1 and ,,theories1 in spite of their incoherence and inconsistency1 had to be gathered up with scrupulous diligence1 and described with strict impartiality4 ,the fulfilment of this task called for more genius perhaps1 certainly for more self-sacrifice1 than will be demanded by the future progress of the science4 ,if1 then1 social economy is even yet rather an aspiration towards the future than a knowledge of reality1 it must be admitted that the elements of this study are all included in political economy2 and ,i believe that ,i express the general sentiment in saying that this opinion has become that of the vast majority of minds4 ,the present finds few defenders1 it is true2 but the disgust with utopia is no less universal3 and everybody understands that the truth lies in a formula which shall reconcile these two terms3 ,,conservation and ,,motion4 ,thus1 thanks to ,adam ,smith1 ,j4 ,b4 ,say1 ,ricardo1 and ,malthus1 as well as their rash opponents1 the mysteries of fortune1 atria ,ditis1 are uncovered2 the power of capital1 the oppression of the laborer1 the machinations of monopoly1 illumined at all points1 shun the public gaze4 ,concerning the facts observed and described by the economists1 we reason and conjecture3 abusive laws1 iniquitous customs1 respected so long as the obscurity which sustained their life lasted1 with difficulty dragged to the daylight1 are expiring beneath the general reprobation2 it is suspected that the government of society must be learned no longer from an empty ideology1 after the fashion of the ,contrat social1 but1 as ,montesquieu foresaw1 from the ,,relation ,,of ,,things2 and already a ,left of eminently socialistic tendencies1 composed of savants1 magistrates1 legists1 professors1 and even capitalists and manufacturers1--all born representatives and defenders of privilege1--and of a million of adepts1 is forming in the nation above and outside of ,,parliamentary opinions1 and seeking1 by an analysis of economic facts1 to capture the secrets of the life of societies4 ,let us represent political economy1 then1 as an immense plain1 strewn with materials prepared for an edifice4 ,the laborers await the signal1 full of ardor1 and burning to commence the work3 but the architect has disappeared without leaving the plan4 ,the economists have stored their memories with many things3 unhappily they have not the shadow of an estimate4 ,they know the origin and history of each piece2 what it cost to make it2 what wood makes the best joists1 and what clay the best bricks2 what has been expended in tools and carts2 how much the carpenters earned1 and how much the stone-cutters3 they do not know the destination and the place of anything4 ,the economists cannot deny that they have before them the fragments1 scattered pell-mell1 of a chef-d'oeuvre1 disjecti membra poetae2 but it has been impossible for them as yet to recover the general design1 and1 whenever they have attempted any comparisons1 they have met only with incoherence4 ,driven to despair at last by their fruitless combinations1 they have erected as a dogma the architectural incongruity of the science1 or1 as they say1 the ,,inconveniences of its principles2 in a word1 they have denied the science4#g #g ,the principle which governs the life of nations is not pure science3 it is the total of the complex data which depend on the state of enlightenment1 on needs and interests4 ,thus expressed itself1 in ,december1 #ahdd1 one of the clearest minds that ,france contained1 ,m4 ,leon ,faucher4 ,explain1 if you can1 how a man of this stamp was led by his economic convictions to declare that the ,,complex ,,data of society are opposed to ,,pure ,,science4 ,thus the division of labor1 without which production would be almost nothing1 is subject to a thousand inconveniences1 the worst of which is the demoralization of the laborer2 machinery causes1 not only cheapness1 but obstruction of the market and stoppage of business2 competition ends in oppression2 taxation1 the material bond of society1 is generally a scourge dreaded equally with fire and hail2 credit is necessarily accompanied by bankruptcy2 property is a swarm of abuses2 commerce degenerates into a game of chance1 in which it is sometimes allowable even to cheat3 in short1 disorder existing everywhere to an equal extent with order1 and no one knowing how the latter is to banish the former1 taxis ataxien diokein1 the economists have decided that all is for the best1 and regard every reformatory proposition as hostile to political economy4 ,the social edifice1 then1 has been abandoned2 the crowd has burst into the wood-yard2 columns1 capitals1 and plinths1 wood1 stone1 and metal1 have been distributed in portions and drawn by lot3 and1 of all these materials collected for a magnificent temple1 property1 ignorant and barbarous1 has built huts4 ,the work before us1 then1 is not only to recover the plan of the edifice1 but to dislodge the occupants1 who maintain that their city is superb1 and1 at the very mention of restoration1 appear in battle-array at their gates4 ,such confusion was not seen of old at ,babel3 happily we speak ,french1 and are more courageous than the companions of ,nimrod4 ,but enough of allegory3 the historical and descriptive method1 successfully employed so long as the work was one of examination only1 is henceforth useless3 after thousands of monographs and tables1 we are no further advanced than in the age of ,xenophon and ,hesiod4 ,the ,phenicians1 the ,greeks1 the ,italians1 labored in their day as we do in ours3 they invested their money1 paid their laborers1 extended their domains1 made their expeditions and recoveries1 kept their books1 speculated1 dabbled in stocks1 and ruined themselves according to all the rules of economic art2 knowing as well as ourselves how to gain monopolies and fleece the consumer and laborer4 ,of all this accounts are only too numerous2 and1 though we should rehearse forever our statistics and our figures1 we should always have before our eyes only chaos1--chaos constant and uniform4 ,it is thought1 indeed1 that from the era of mythology to the present year #eg of our great revolution1 the general welfare has improved3 ,christianity has long been regarded as the chief cause of this amelioration1 but now the economists claim all the honor for their own principles4 ,for after all1 they say1 what has been the influence of ,christianity upon society8 ,thoroughly utopian at its birth1 it has been able to maintain and extend itself only by gradually adopting all the economic categories1--labor1 capital1 farm-rent1 usury1 traffic1 property2 in short1 by consecrating the ,roman law1 the highest expression of political economy4 ,christianity1 a stranger in its theological aspect to the theories of production and consumption1 has been to ,european civilization what the trades-unions and free-masons were not long since to itinerant workmen1--a sort of insurance company and mutual aid society2 in this respect1 it owes nothing to political economy1 and the good which it has done cannot be invoked by the latter in its own support4 ,the effects of charity and self-sacrifice are outside of the domain of economy1 which must bring about social happiness through justice and the organization of labor4 ,for the rest1 ,i am ready to admit the beneficial effects of the system of property2 but ,i observe that these effects are entirely balanced by the misery which it is the nature of this system to produce2 so that1 as an illustrious minister recently confessed before the ,english ,parliament1 and as we shall soon show1 the increase of misery in the present state of society is parallel and equal to the increase of wealth1--which completely annuls the merits of political economy4 ,thus political economy is justified neither by its maxims nor by its works2 and1 as for socialism1 its whole value consists in having established this fact4 ,we are forced1 then1 to resume the examination of political economy1 since it alone contains1 at least in part1 the materials of social science2 and to ascertain whether its theories do not conceal some error1 the correction of which would reconcile fact and right1 reveal the organic law of humanity1 and give the positive conception of order4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,of ,,value4 #a4--,opposition of value in ,,use and value in ,,exchange4 ,value is the corner-stone of the economic edifice4 ,the divine artist who has intrusted us with the continuation of his work has explained himself on this point to no one2 but the few indications given may serve as a basis of conjecture4 ,value1 in fact1 presents two faces3 one1 which the economists call value in ,,use1 or intrinsic value2 another1 value in ,,exchange1 or of opinion4 ,the effects which are produced by value under this double aspect1 and which are very irregular so long as it is not established1--or1 to use a more philosophical expression1 so long as it is not constituted1--are changed totally by this constitution4 ,now1 in what consists the correlation between ,,useful value and value in ,,exchange8 ,what is meant by ,,constituted value1 and by what sudden change is this constitution effected8 ,to answer these questions is the object and end of political economy4 ,i beg the reader to give his whole attention to what is to follow1 this chapter being the only one in the work which will tax his patience4 ,for my part1 ,i will endeavor to be more and more simple and clear4 ,everything which can be of any service to me is of value to me1 and the more abundant the useful thing is the richer ,i am3 so far there is no difficulty4 ,milk and flesh1 fruits and grains1 wool1 sugar1 cotton1 wine1 metals1 marble2 in fact1 land1 water1 air1 fire1 and sunlight1-- are1 relatively to me1 values of use1 values by nature and function4 ,if all the things which serve to sustain my life were as abundant as certain of them are1 light for instance1--in other words1 if the quantity of every valuable thing was inexhaustible1--my welfare would be forever assured3 ,i should not have to labor2 ,i should not even think4 ,in such a state1 things would always be ,,useful1 but it would be no longer true to say that they ,,are ,,valuable2 for value1 as we shall soon see1 indicates an essentially social relation2 and it is solely through exchange1 reverting as it were from society to ,nature1 that we have acquired the idea of utility4 ,the whole development of civilization originates1 then1 in the necessity which the human race is under of continually causing the creation of new values2 just as the evils of society are primarily caused by the perpetual struggle which we maintain against our own inertia4 ,take away from man that desire which leads him to think and fits him for a life of contemplation1 and the lord of creation stands on a level with the highest of the beasts4 ,but how does value in use become value in exchange8 ,for it should be noticed that the two kinds of value1 although coexisting in thought 7since the former becomes apparent only in the presence of the latter71 nevertheless maintain a relation of succession3 exchangeable value is a sort of reflex of useful value2 just as the theologians teach that in the ,trinity the ,father1 contemplating himself through all eternity1 begets the ,son4 ,this generation of the idea of value has not been noted by the economists with sufficient care3 it is important that we should tarry over it4 ,since1 then1 of the objects which ,i need1 a very large number exist in ,nature only in moderate quantities1 or even not at all1 ,i am forced to assist in the production of that which ,i lack2 and1 as ,i cannot turn my hand to so many things1 ,i propose to other men1 my collaborators in various functions1 to yield me a portion of their products in exchange for mine4 ,i shall then always have in my possession more of my own special product than ,i consume2 just as my fellows will always have in their possession more of their respective products than they use4 ,this tacit agreement is fulfilled by ,,commerce4 ,here we may observe that the logical succession of the two kinds of value is even more apparent in history than in theory1 men having spent thousands of years in disputing over natural wealth 7this being what is called ,,primitive ,,communism7 before their industry afforded opportunity for exchange4 ,now1 the capacity possessed by all products1 whether natural or the result of labor1 of serving to maintain man1 is called distinctively value in use2 their capacity of purchasing each other1 value in exchange4 ,at bottom this is the same thing1 since the second case only adds to the first the idea of substitution1 which may seem an idle subtlety2 practically1 the consequences are surprising1 and beneficial or fatal by turns4 ,consequently1 the distinction established in value is based on facts1 and is not at all arbitrary3 it is for man1 in submitting to this law1 to use it to increase his welfare and liberty4 ,labor1 as an author 7,m4 ,walras7 has beautifully expressed it1 is a war declared against the parsimony of ,nature2 by it wealth and society are simultaneously created4 ,not only does labor produce incomparably more wealth than ,nature gives us1--for instance1 it has been remarked that the shoemakers alone in ,france produce ten times more than the mines of ,peru1 ,brazil1 and ,mexico combined1--but1 labor infinitely extending and multiplying its rights by the changes which it makes in natural values1 it gradually comes about that all wealth1 in running the gauntlet of labor1 falls wholly into the hands of him who creates it1 and that nothing1 or almost nothing1 is left for the possessor of the original material4 ,such1 then1 is the path of economic progress3 at first1 appropriation of the land and natural values2 then1 association and distribution through labor until complete equality is attained4 ,chasms are scattered along our road1 the sword is suspended over our heads2 but1 to avert all dangers1 we have reason1 and reason is omnipotence4 ,it results from the relation of useful value to exchangeable value that if1 by accident or from malice1 exchange should be forbidden to a single producer1 or if the utility of his product should suddenly cease1 though his storehouses were full1 he would possess nothing4 ,the more sacrifices he had made and the more courage he had displayed in producing1 the greater would be his misery4 ,if the utility of the product1 instead of wholly disappearing1 should only diminish1--a thing which may happen in a hundred ways1--the laborer1 instead of being struck down and ruined by a sudden catastrophe1 would be impoverished only2 obliged to give a large quantity of his own value for a small quantity of the values of others1 his means of subsistence would be reduced by an amount equal to the deficit in his sale3 which would lead by degrees from competency to want4 ,if1 finally1 the utility of the product should increase1 or else if its production should become less costly1 the balance of exchange would turn to the advantage of the producer1 whose condition would thus be raised from fatiguing mediocrity to idle opulence4 ,this phenomenon of depreciation and enrichment is manifested under a thousand forms and by a thousand combinations2 it is the essence of the passional and intriguing game of commerce and industry4 ,and this is the lottery1 full of traps1 which the economists think ought to last forever1 and whose suppression the ,academy of ,moral and ,political ,sciences unwittingly demands1 when1 under the names of profit and wages1 it asks us to reconcile value in use and value in exchange2 that is1 to find the method of rendering all useful values equally exchangeable1 and1 vice versa1 all exchangeable values equally useful4 ,the economists have very clearly shown the double character of value1 but what they have not made equally plain is its contradictory nature4 ,here begins our criticism4 ,utility is the necessary condition of exchange2 but take away exchange1 and utility vanishes3 these two things are indissolubly connected4 ,where1 then1 is the contradiction8 ,since all of us live only by labor and exchange1 and grow richer as production and exchange increase1 each of us produces as much useful value as possible1 in order to increase by that amount his exchanges1 and consequently his enjoyments4 ,well1 the first effect1 the inevitable effect1 of the multiplication of values is to ,,lower them3 the more abundant is an article of merchandise1 the more it loses in exchange and depreciates commercially4 ,is it not true that there is a contradiction between the necessity of labor and its results8 ,i adjure the reader1 before rushing ahead for the explanation1 to arrest his attention upon the fact4 ,a peasant who has harvested twenty sacks of wheat1 which he with his family proposes to consume1 deems himself twice as rich as if he had harvested only ten2 likewise a housewife who has spun fifty yards of linen believes that she is twice as rich as if she had spun but twenty- five4 ,relatively to the household1 both are right2 looked at in their external relations1 they may be utterly mistaken4 ,if the crop of wheat is double throughout the whole country1 twenty sacks will sell for less than ten would have sold for if it had been but half as great2 so1 under similar circumstances1 fifty yards of linen will be worth less than twenty-five3 so that value decreases as the production of utility increases1 and a producer may arrive at poverty by continually enriching himself4 ,and this seems unalterable1 inasmuch as there is no way of escape except all the products of industry become infinite in quantity1 like air and light1 which is absurd4 ,god of my reason6 ,jean ,jacques would have said3 it is not the economists who are irrational2 it is political economy itself which is false to its definitions4 ,mentita est iniquitas sibi4 ,in the preceding examples the useful value exceeds the exchangeable value3 in other cases it is less4 ,then the same phenomenon is produced1 but in the opposite direction3 the balance is in favor of the producer1 while the consumer suffers4 ,this is notably the case in seasons of scarcity1 when the high price of provisions is always more or less factitious4 ,there are also professions whose whole art consists in giving to an article of minor usefulness1 which could easily be dispensed with1 an exaggerated value of opinion3 such1 in general1 are the arts of luxury4 ,man1 through his aesthetic passion1 is eager for the trifles the possession of which would highly satisfy his vanity1 his innate desire for luxury1 and his more noble and more respectable love of the beautiful3 upon this the dealers in this class of articles speculate4 ,to tax fancy and elegance is no less odious or absurd than to tax circulation3 but such a tax is collected by a few fashionable merchants1 whom general infatuation protects1 and whose whole merit generally consists in warping taste and generating fickleness4 ,hence no one complains2 and all the maledictions of opinion are reserved for the monopolists who1 through genius1 succeed in raising by a few cents the price of linen and bread4 ,it is little to have pointed out this astonishing contrast between useful value and exchangeable value1 which the economists have been in the habit of regarding as very simple3 it must be shown that this pretended simplicity conceals a profound mystery1 which it is our duty to fathom4 ,i summon1 therefore1 every serious economist to tell me1 otherwise than by transforming or repeating the question1 for what reason value decreases in proportion as production augments1 and reciprocally what causes this same value to increase in proportion as production diminishes4 ,in technical terms1 useful value and exchangeable value1 necessary to each other1 are inversely proportional to each other2 ,i ask1 then1 why scarcity1 instead of utility1 is synonymous with dearness4 ,for--mark it well--the price of merchandise is independent of the amount of labor expended in production2 and its greater or less cost does not serve at all to explain the variations in its price4 ,value is capricious1 like liberty3 it considers neither utility nor labor2 on the contrary1 it seems that1 in the ordinary course of affairs1 and exceptional derangements aside1 the most useful objects are those which are sold at the lowest price2 in other words1 that it is just that the men who perform the most attractive labor should be the best rewarded1 while those whose tasks demand the most exertion are paid the least4 ,so that1 in following the principle to its ultimate consequences1 we reach the most logical of conclusions3 that things whose use is necessary and quantity infinite must be gratuitous1 while those which are without utility and extremely scarce must bear an inestimable price4 ,but1 to complete the embarrassment1 these extremes do not occur in practice3 on the one hand1 no human product can ever become infinite in quantity2 on the other1 the rarest things must be in some degree useful1 else they would not be susceptible of value4 ,useful value and exchangeable value remain1 then1 in inevitable attachment1 although it is their nature continually to tend towards mutual exclusion4 ,i shall not fatigue the reader with a refutation of the logomachies which might be offered in explanation of this subject3 of the contradiction inherent in the idea of value there is no assignable cause1 no possible explanation4 ,the fact of which ,i speak is one of those called primitive1--that is1 one of those which may serve to explain others1 but which in themselves1 like the bodies called simple1 are inexplicable4 ,such is the dualism of spirit and matter4 ,spirit and matter are two terms each of which1 taken separately1 indicates a special aspect of spirit1 but corresponds to no reality4 ,so1 given man's needs of a great variety of products together with the obligation of procuring them by his labor1 the opposition of useful value to exchangeable value necessarily results2 and from this opposition a contradiction on the very threshold of political economy4 ,no intelligence1 no will1 divine or human1 can prevent it4 ,therefore1 instead of searching for a chimerical explanation1 let us content ourselves with establishing the necessity of the contradiction4 ,whatever the abundance of created values and the proportion in which they exchange for each other1 in order that we may exchange our products1 mine must suit you when you are the ,,buyer1 and ,i must be satisfied with yours when you are the ,,seller4 ,for no one has a right to impose his own merchandise upon another3 the sole judge of utility1 or in other words the want1 is the buyer4 ,therefore1 in the first case1 you have the deciding power2 in the second1 ,i have it4 ,take away reciprocal liberty1 and exchange is no longer the expression of industrial solidarity3 it is robbery4 ,communism1 by the way1 will never surmount this difficulty4 ,but1 where there is liberty1 production is necessarily undetermined1 either in quantity or in quality2 so that from the point of view of economic progress1 as from that of the relation of consumers1 valuation always is an arbitrary matter1 and the price of merchandise will ever fluctuate4 ,suppose for a moment that all producers should sell at a fixed price3 there would be some who1 producing at less cost and in better quality1 would get much1 while others would get nothing4 ,in every way equilibrium would be destroyed4 ,do you wish1 in order to prevent business stagnation1 to limit production strictly to the necessary amount8 ,that would be a violation of liberty3 for1 in depriving me of the power of choice1 you condemn me to pay the highest price2 you destroy competition1 the sole guarantee of cheapness1 and encourage smuggling4 ,in this way1 to avoid commercial absolutism1 you would rush into administrative absolutism2 to create equality1 you would destroy liberty1 which is to deny equality itself4 ,would you group producers in a single workshop 7supposing you to possess this secret78 ,that again does not suffice3 it would be necessary also to group consumers in a common household1 whereby you would abandon the point4 ,we are not to abolish the idea of value1 which is as impossible as to abolish labor1 but to determine it2 we are not to kill individual liberty1 but to socialize it4 ,now1 it is proved that it is the free will of man that gives rise to the opposition between value in use and value in exchange3 how reconcile this opposition while free will exists8 ,and how sacrifice the latter without sacrificing man8 ,then1 from the very fact that ,i1 as a free purchaser1 am judge of my own wants1 judge of the fitness of the object1 judge of the price ,i wish to pay1 and that you on the other hand1 as a free producer1 control the means of production1 and consequently have the power to reduce your expenses1 absolutism forces itself forward as an element of value1 and causes it to oscillate between utility and opinion4 ,but this oscillation1 clearly pointed out by the economists1 is but the effect of a contradiction which1 repeating itself on a vast scale1 engenders the most unexpected phenomena4 ,three years of fertility1 in certain provinces of ,russia1 are a public calamity1 just as1 in our vineyards1 three years of abundance are a calamity to the wine-grower ,i know well that the economists attribute this distress to a lack of markets2 wherefore this question of markets is an important one with them4 ,unfortunately the theory of markets1 like that of emigration with which they attempted to meet ,malthus1 is a begging of the question4 ,the ,states having the largest market are as subject to over-production as the most isolated countries3 where are high and low prices better known than in the stock-exchanges of ,paris and ,london8 ,from the oscillation of value and the irregular effects resulting therefrom the socialists and economists1 each in their own way1 have reasoned to opposite1 but equally false1 conclusions3 the former have made it a text for the slander of political economy and its exclusion from social science2 the latter1 for the denial of all possibility of reconciliation1 and the affirmation of the incommensurability of values1 and consequently the inequality of fortunes1 as an absolute law of commerce4 ,i say that both parties are equally in error4 #a4 ,the contradictory idea of value1 so clearly exhibited by the inevitable distinction between useful value and value in exchange does not arise from a false mental perception1 or from a vicious terminology1 or from any practical error2 it lies deep in the nature of things1 and forces itself upon the mind as a general form of thought1--that is1 as a category4 ,now1 as the idea of value is the point of departure of political economy1 it follows that all the elements of the science--,i use the word science in anticipation--are contradictory in themselves and opposed to each other3 so truly is this the case that on every question the economist finds himself continually placed between an affirmation and a negation alike irrefutable4 ,,antinomy1 in fine1 to use a word sanctioned by modern philosophy1 is the essential characteristic of political economy2 that is to say1 it is at once its death-sentence and its justification4 ,,antinomy1 literally ,,counter-,,law1 means opposition in principle or antagonism in relation1 just as contradiction or ,,antilogy indicates opposition or discrepancy in speech4 ,antinomy1--,i ask pardon for entering into these scholastic details1 comparatively unfamiliar as yet to most economists1--antinomy is the conception of a law with two faces1 the one positive1 the other negative4 ,such1 for instance1 is the law called ,,attraction1 by which the planets revolve around the sun1 and which mathematicians have analyzed into centripetal force and centrifugal force4 ,such also is the problem of the infinite divisibility of matter1 which1 as ,kant has shown1 can be denied and affirmed successively by arguments equally plausible and irrefutable4 ,antinomy simply expresses a fact1 and forces itself imperatively on the mind2 contradiction1 properly speaking1 is an absurdity4 ,this distinction between antinomy 7contra-lex7 and contradiction 7contra-dictio7 shows in what sense it can be said that1 in a certain class of ideas and facts1 the argument of contradiction has not the same value as in mathematics4 ,in mathematics it is a rule that1 a proposition being proved false1 its opposite is true1 and vice versa4 ,in fact1 this is the principal method of mathematical demonstration4 ,in social economy1 it is not the same3 thus we see1 for example1 that property being proved by its results to be false1 the opposite formula1 communism1 is none the truer on this account1 but is deniable at the same time and by the same title as property4 ,does it follow1 as has been said with such ridiculous emphasis1 that every truth1 every idea1 results from a contradiction1-- that is1 from a something which is affirmed and denied at the same moment and from the same point of view1--and that it may be necessary to abandon wholly the old-fashioned logic1 which regards contradiction as the infallible sign of error8 ,this babble is worthy of sophists who1 destitute of faith and honesty1 endeavor to perpetuate scepticism in order to maintain their impertinent uselessness4 ,because antinomy1 immediately it is misunderstood1 leads inevitably to contradiction1 these have been mistaken for each other1 especially among the ,french1 who like to judge everything by its effects4 ,but neither contradiction nor antinomy1 which analysis discovers at the bottom of every simple idea1 is the principle of truth4 ,contradiction is always synonymous with nullity2 as for antinomy1 sometimes called by the same name1 it is indeed the forerunner of truth1 the material of which1 so to speak1 it supplies2 but it is not truth1 and1 considered in itself1 it is the efficient cause of disorder1 the characteristic form of delusion and evil4 ,an antinomy is made up of two terms1 necessary to each other1 but always opposed1 and tending to mutual destruction4 ,i hardly dare to add1 as ,i must1 that the first of these terms has received the name thesis1 position1 and the second the name anti-thesis1 counter-position4 ,this method of thought is now so well-known that it will soon figure1 ,i hope1 in the text-books of the primary schools4 ,we shall see directly how from the combination of these two zeros unity springs forth1 or the idea which dispels the antinomy4 ,thus1 in value1 there is nothing useful that cannot be exchanged1 nothing exchangeable if it be not useful3 value in use and value in exchange are inseparable4 ,but while1 by industrial progress1 demand varies and multiplies to an infinite extent1 and while manufactures tend in consequence to increase the natural utility of things1 and finally to convert all useful value into exchangeable value1 production1 on the other hand1 continually increasing the power of its instruments and always reducing its expenses1 tends to restore the venal value of things to their primitive utility3 so that value in use and value in exchange are in perpetual struggle4 ,the effects of this struggle are well-known3 the wars of commerce and of the market2 obstructions to business2 stagnation2 prohibition2 the massacres of competition2 monopoly2 reductions of wages2 laws fixing maximum prices2 the crushing inequality of fortunes2 misery1--all these result from the antinomy of value4 ,the proof of this ,i may be excused from giving here1 as it will appear naturally in the chapters to follow4 ,the socialists1 while justly demanding that this antagonism be brought to an end1 have erred in mistaking its source1 and in seeing in it only a mental oversight1 capable of rectification by a legal decree4 ,hence this lamentable outbreak of sentimentalism1 which has rendered socialism so insipid to positive minds1 and which1 spreading the absurdest delusions1 makes so many fresh dupes every day4 ,my complaint of socialism is not that it has appeared among us without cause1 but that it has clung so long and so obstinately to its silliness4 #b4 ,but the economists have erred no less gravely in rejecting a priori1 and just because of the contradictory1 or rather antinomical1 nature of value1 every idea and hope of reform1 never desiring to understand that1 for the very reason that society has arrived at its highest point of antagonism1 reconciliation and harmony are at hand4 ,this1 nevertheless1 is what a close study of political economy would have shown to its adepts1 had they paid more attention to the lights of modern metaphysics4 ,it is indeed demonstrated1 by the most positive evidence known to the human mind1 that wherever an antinomy appears there is a promise of a resolution of its terms1 and consequently an announcement of a coming change4 ,now1 the idea of value1 as developed by ,j4 ,b4 ,say among others1 satisfies exactly these conditions4 ,but the economists1 who have remained for the most part by an inconceivable fatality ignorant of the movement of philosophy1 have guarded against the supposition that the essentially contradictory1 or1 as they say1 variable1 character of value might be at the same time the authentic sign of its constitutionality1--that is1 of its eminently harmonious and determinable nature4 ,however dishonorable it may be to the economists of the various schools1 it is certain that their opposition to socialism results solely from this false conception of their own principles2 one proof1 taken from a thousand1 will suffice4 ,the ,academy of ,sciences 7not that of ,moral ,sciences1 but the other71 going outside of its province one day1 listened to a paper in which it was proposed to calculate tables of value for all kinds of merchandise upon the basis of the average product per man and per day's labor in each branch of industry4 ,le ,journal des ,economistes 7,august1 #ahde7 immediately made this communication1 intrusive in its eyes1 the text of a protest against the plan of tariff which was its object1 and the occasion of a reestablishment of what it called true principles3-- ,there is no measure of value1 no standard of value1 it said in its conclusions2 economic science tells us this1 just as mathematical science tells us that there is no perpetual motion or quadrature of the circle1 and that these never will be found4 ,now1 if there is no standard of value1 if the measure of value is not even a metaphysical illusion1 what then is the law which governs exchanges8 4 4 4 4 4 ,as we have said before1 it is1 in a general way1 ,,supply and ,,demand3 that is the last word of science4 ,now1 how did ,le ,journal des ,economistes prove that there is no measure of value8 ,i use the consecrated expression3 though ,i shall show directly that this phrase1 ,,measure ,,of ,,value1 is somewhat ambiguous1 and does not convey the exact meaning which it is intended1 and which it ought1 to express4 ,this journal repeated1 with accompanying examples1 the exposition that we have just given of the variability of value1 but without arriving1 as we did1 at the contradiction4 ,now1 if the estimable editor1 one of the most distinguished economists of the school of ,say1 had had stricter logical habits2 if he had been long used1 not only to observing facts1 but to seeking their explanation in the ideas which produce them1--,i do not doubt that he would have expressed himself more cautiously1 and that1 instead of seeing in the variability of value the ,,last ,,word ,,of ,,science1 he would have recognized unaided that it is the first4 ,seeing that the variability of value proceeds not from things1 but from the mind1 he would have said that1 as human liberty has its law1 so value must have its law2 consequently1 that the hypothesis of a measure of value1 this being the common expression1 is not at all irrational2 quite the contrary1 that it is the denial of this measure that is illogical1 untenable4 ,and indeed1 what is there in the idea of measuring1 and consequently of fixing1 value1 that is unscientific8 ,all men believe in it2 all wish it1 search for it1 suppose it3 every proposition of sale or purchase is at bottom only a comparison between two values1--that is1 a determination1 more or less accurate if you will1 but nevertheless effective4 ,the opinion of the human race on the existing difference between real value and market price may be said to be unanimous4 ,it is for this reason that so many kinds of merchandise are sold at a fixed price2 there are some1 indeed1 which1 even in their variations1 are always fixed1--bread1 for instance4 ,it will not be denied that1 if two manufacturers can supply one another by an account current1 and at a settled price1 with quantities of their respective products1 ten1 a hundred1 a thousand manufacturers can do the same4 ,now1 that would be a solution of the problem of the measure of value4 ,the price of everything would be debated upon1 ,i allow1 because debate is still our only method of fixing prices2 but yet1 as all light is the result of conflict1 debate1 though it may be a proof of uncertainty1 has for its object1 setting aside the greater or less amount of good faith that enters into it1 the discovery of the relation of values to each other1-- that is1 their measurement1 their law4 ,ricardo1 in his theory of rent1 has given a magnificent example of the commensurability of values4 ,he has shown that arable lands are to each other as the crops which they yield with the same outlay2 and here universal practice is in harmony with theory4 ,now who will say that this positive and sure method of estimating the value of land1 and in general of all engaged capital1 cannot be applied to products also8 4 4 4 4 4 ,they say3 ,political economy is not affected by a priori arguments2 it pronounces only upon facts4 ,now1 facts and experience teach us that there is no measure of value and can be none1 and prove that1 though the conception of such an idea was necessary in the nature of things1 its realization is wholly chimerical4 ,supply and demand is the sole law of exchange4 ,i will not repeat that experience proves precisely the contrary2 that everything1 in the economic progress of society1 denotes a tendency toward the constitution and establishment of value2 that that is the culminating point of political economy--which by this constitution becomes transformed--and the supreme indication of order in society3 this general outline1 reiterated without proof1 would become tiresome4 ,i confine myself for the moment within the limits of the discussion1 and say that ,,supply and ,,demand1 held up as the sole regulators of value1 are nothing more than two ceremonial forms serving to bring useful value and exchangeable value face to face1 and to provoke their reconciliation4 ,they are the two electric poles1 whose connection must produce the economical phenomenon of affinity called ,,exchange4 ,like the poles of a battery1 supply and demand are diametrically opposed to each other1 and tend continually to mutual annihilation2 it is by their antagonism that the price of things is either increased1 or reduced to nothing3 we wish to know1 then1 if it is not possible1 on every occasion1 so to balance or harmonize these two forces that the price of things always may be the expression of their true value1 the expression of justice4 ,to say after that that supply and demand is the law of exchange is to say that supply and demand is the law of supply and demand2 it is not an explanation of the general practice1 but a declaration of its absurdity2 and ,i deny that the general practice is absurd4 ,i have just quoted ,ricardo as having given1 in a special instance1 a positive rule for the comparison of values3 the economists do better still4 ,every year they gather from tables of statistics the average prices of the various grains4 ,now1 what is the meaning of an average8 ,every one can see that in a single operation1 taken at random from a million1 there is no means of knowing which prevailed1 supply--that is1 useful value--or exchangeable value1--that is1 demand4 ,but as every increase in the price of merchandise is followed sooner or later by a proportional reduction2 as1 in other words1 in society the profits of speculation are equal to the losses1--we may regard with good reason the average of prices during a complete period as indicative of the real and legitimate value of products4 ,this average1 it is true1 is ascertained too late3 but who knows that we could not discover it in advance8 ,is there an economist who dares to deny it8 ,nolens volens1 then1 the measure of value must be sought for3 logic commands it1 and her conclusions are adverse to economists and socialists alike4 ,the opinion which denies the existence of this measure is irrational1 unreasonable4 ,say as often as you please1 on the one hand1 that political economy is a science of facts1 and that the facts are contrary to the hypothesis of a determination of value1 or1 on the other1 that this troublesome question would not present itself in a system of universal association1 which would absorb all antagonism1--,i will reply still1 to the right and to the left3-- #a4 ,that as no fact is produced which has not its cause1 so none exists which has not its law2 and that1 if the law of exchange is not discovered1 the fault is1 not with the facts1 but with the savants4 #b4 ,that1 as long as man shall labor in order to live1 and shall labor freely1 justice will be the condition of fraternity and the basis of association2 now1 without a determination of value1 justice is imperfect1 impossible4 #b4--;,constitution of value2 definition of wealth4 ,we know value in its two opposite aspects2 we do not know it in its ,,totality4 ,if we can acquire this new idea1 we shall have absolute value2 and a table of values1 such as was called for in the memoir read to the ,academy of ,sciences1 will be possible4 ,let us picture wealth1 then1 as a mass held by a chemical force in a permanent state of composition1 in which new elements1 continually entering1 combine in different proportions1 but according to a certain law3 value is the proportional relation 7the measure7 in which each of these elements forms a part of the whole4 ,from this two things result3 one1 that the economists have been wholly deluded when they have looked for the general measure of value in wheat1 specie1 rent1 etc41 and also when1 after having demonstrated that this standard of measure was neither here nor there1 they have concluded that value has neither law nor measure2 the other1 that the proportion of values may continually vary without ceasing on that account to be subject to a law1 whose determination is precisely the solution sought4 ,this idea of value satisfies1 as we shall see1 all the conditions3 for it includes at once both the positive and fixed element in useful value and the variable element in exchangeable value2 in the second place1 it puts an end to the contradiction which seemed an insurmountable obstacle in the way of the determination of value2 further1 we shall show that value thus understood differs entirely from a simple juxtaposition of the two ideas of useful and exchangeable value1 and that it is endowed with new properties4 ,the proportionality of products is not a revelation that we pretend to offer to the world1 or a novelty that we bring into science1 any more than the division of labor was an unheard-of thing when ,adam ,smith explained its marvels4 ,the proportionality of products is1 as we might prove easily by innumerable quotations1 a common idea running through the works on political economy1 but to which no one as yet has dreamed of attributing its rightful importance3 and this is the task which we undertake today4 ,we feel bound1 for the rest1 to make this declaration in order to reassure the reader concerning our pretensions to originality1 and to satisfy those minds whose timidity leads them to look with little favor upon new ideas4 ,the economists seem always to have understood by the measure of value only a standard1 a sort of original unit1 existing by itself1 and applicable to all sorts of merchandise1 as the yard is applicable to all lengths4 ,consequently1 many have thought that such a standard is furnished by the precious metals4 ,but the theory of money has proved that1 far from being the measure of values1 specie is only their arithmetic1 and a conventional arithmetic at that4 ,gold and silver are to value what the thermometer is to heat4 ,the thermometer1 with its arbitrarily graduated scale1 indicates clearly when there is a loss or an increase of heat3 but what the laws of heat-equilibrium are2 what is its proportion in various bodies2 what amount is necessary to cause a rise of ten1 fifteen1 or twenty degrees in the thermometer1--the thermometer does not tell us2 it is not certain even that the degrees of the scale1 equal to each other1 correspond to equal additions of heat4 ,the idea that has been entertained hitherto of the measure of value1 then1 is inexact2 the object of our inquiry is not the standard of value1 as has been said so often and so foolishly1 but the law which regulates the proportions of the various products to the social wealth2 for upon the knowledge of this law depends the rise and fall of prices in so far as it is normal and legitimate4 ,in a word1 as we understand by the measure of celestial bodies the relation resulting from the comparison of these bodies with each other1 so1 by the measure of values1 we must understand the relation which results from their comparison4 ,now1 ,i say that this relation has its law1 and this comparison its principle4 ,i suppose1 then1 a force which combines in certain proportions the elements of wealth1 and makes of them a homogeneous whole3 if the constituent elements do not exist in the desired proportion1 the combination will take place nevertheless2 but1 instead of absorbing all the material1 it will reject a portion as useless4 ,the internal movement by which the combination is produced1 and which the affinities of the various substances determine--this movement in society is exchange2 exchange considered no longer simply in its elementary form and between man and man1 but exchange considered as the fusion of all values produced by private industry in one and the same mass of social wealth4 ,finally1 the proportion in which each element enters into the compound is what we call value2 the excess remaining after the combination is ,,non-,,value1 until the addition of a certain quantity of other elements causes further combination and exchange4 ,we will explain later the function of money4 ,this determined1 it is conceivable that at a given moment the proportions of values constituting the wealth of a country may be determined1 or at least empirically approximated1 by means of statistics and inventories1 in nearly the same way that the chemists have discovered by experience1 aided by analysis1 the proportions of hydrogen and oxygen necessary to the formation of water4 ,there is nothing objectionable in this method of determining values2 it is1 after all1 only a matter of accounts4 ,but such a work1 however interesting it might be1 would teach us nothing very useful4 ,on the one hand1 indeed1 we know that the proportion continually varies2 on the other1 it is clear that from a statement of the public wealth giving the proportions of values only for the time and place when and where the statistics should be gathered we could not deduce the law of proportionality of wealth4 ,for that1 a single operation of this sort would not be sufficient2 thousands and millions of similar ones would be necessary1 even admitting the method to be worthy of confidence4 ,now1 here there is a difference between economic science and chemistry4 ,the chemists1 who have discovered by experience such beautiful proportions1 know no more of their how or why than of the force which governs them4 ,social economy1 on the contrary1 to which no a posteriori investigation could reveal directly the law of proportionality of values1 can grasp it in the very force which produces it1 and which it is time to announce4 ,this force1 which ,adam ,smith has glorified so eloquently1 and which his successors have misconceived 7making privilege its equal71--this force is ,,labor4 ,labor differs in quantity and quality with the producer2 in this respect it is like all the great principles of ,nature and the most general laws1 simple in their action and formula1 but infinitely modified by a multitude of special causes1 and manifesting themselves under an innumerable variety of forms4 ,it is labor1 labor alone1 that produces all the elements of wealth1 and that combines them to their last molecules according to a law of variable1 but certain1 proportionality4 ,it is labor1 in fine1 that1 as the principle of life1 agitates 7mens agitat7 the material 7molem7 of wealth1 and proportions it4 ,society1 or the collective man1 produces an infinitude of objects1 the enjoyment of which constitutes its ,,well-,,being4 ,this well-being is developed not only in the ratio of the ,,quantity of the products1 but also in the ratio of their ,,variety 7quality7 and ,,proportion4 ,from this fundamental datum it follows that society always1 at each instant of its life1 must strive for such proportion in its products as will give the greatest amount of well-being1 considering the power and means of production4 ,abundance1 variety1 and proportion in products are the three factors which constitute ,,wealth3 wealth1 the object of social economy1 is subject to the same conditions of existence as beauty1 the object of art2 virtue1 the object of morality2 and truth1 the object of metaphysics4 ,but how establish this marvelous proportion1 so essential that without it a portion of human labor is lost1--that is1 useless1 inharmonious1 untrue1 and consequently synonymous with poverty and annihilation8 ,prometheus1 according to the fable1 is the symbol of human activity4 ,prometheus steals the fire of heaven1 and invents the early arts2 ,prometheus foresees the future1 and aspires to equality with ,jupiter2 ,prometheus is ,god4 ,then let us call society ,prometheus4 ,prometheus devotes1 on an average1 ten hours a day to labor1 seven to rest1 and seven to pleasure4 ,in order to gather from his toil the most useful fruit1 ,prometheus notes the time and trouble that each object of his consumption costs him4 ,only experience can teach him this1 and this experience lasts throughout his life4 ,while laboring and producing1 then1 ,prometheus is subject to an infinitude of disappointments4 ,but1 as a final result1 the more he labors1 the greater is his well-being and the more idealized his luxury2 the further he extends his conquests over ,nature1 the more strongly he fortifies within him the principle of life and intelligence in the exercise of which he alone finds happiness2 till finally1 the early education of the ,laborer completed and order introduced into his occupations1 to labor1 with him1 is no longer to suffer1--it is to live1 to enjoy4 ,but the attractiveness of labor does not nullify the rule1 since1 on the contrary1 it is the fruit of it2 and those who1 under the pretext that labor should be attractive1 reason to the denial of justice and to communism1 resemble children who1 after having gathered some flowers in the garden1 should arrange a flower-bed on the staircase4 ,in society1 then1 justice is simply the proportionality of values2 its guarantee and sanction is the responsibility of the producer4 ,prometheus knows that such a product costs an hour's labor1 such another a day's1 a week's1 a year's2 he knows at the same time that all these products1 arranged according to their cost1 form the progression of his wealth4 ,first1 then1 he will assure his existence by providing himself with the least costly1 and consequently most necessary1 things2 then1 as fast as his position becomes secure1 he will look forward to articles of luxury1 proceeding always1 if he is wise1 according to the natural position of each article in the scale of prices4 ,sometimes ,prometheus will make a mistake in his calculations1 or else1 carried away by passion1 he will sacrifice an immediate good to a premature enjoyment1 and1 after having toiled and moiled1 he will starve4 ,thus1 the law carries with it its own sanction2 its violation is inevitably accompanied by the immediate punishment of the transgressor4 ,say1 then1 was right in saying3 ,the happiness of this class 7the consumers71 composed of all the others1 constitutes the general well- being1 the state of prosperity of a country4 ,only he should have added that the happiness of the class of producers1 which also is composed of all the others1 equally constitutes the general well-being1 the state of prosperity of a country4 ,so1 when he says3 ,the fortune of each consumer is perpetually at war with all that he buys1 he should have added again3 ,the fortune of each producer is incessantly attacked by all that he sells4 ,in the absence of a clear expression of this reciprocity1 most economical phenomena become unintelligible2 and ,i will soon show how1 in consequence of this grave omission1 most economists in writing their books have talked wildly about the balance of trade4 ,i have just said that society produces first ,,the ,,least ,,costly1 ,,and ,,consequently ,,most ,,necessary1 ,,things4 ,now1 is it true that cheapness of products is always a correlative of their necessity1 and vice versa2 so that these two words1 ,,necessity and ,,cheapness1 like the following ones1 ,,costliness and ,,superfluity1 are synonymes8 ,if each product of labor1 taken alone1 would suffice for the existence of man1 the synonymy in question would not be doubtful2 all products having the same qualities1 those would be most advantageously produced1 and therefore the most necessary1 which cost the least4 ,but the parallel between the utility and price of products is not characterized by this theoretical precision3 either through the foresight of ,nature or from some other cause1 the balance between needs and productive power is more than a theory1--it is a fact1 of which daily practice1 as well as social progress1 gives evidence4 ,imagine ourselves living in the day after the birth of man at the beginning of civilization3 is it not true that the industries originally the simplest1 those which required the least preparation and expense1 were the following3 ,,gathering1 ,,pasturage1 ,,hunting1 and ,,fishing1 which were followed long afterwards by agriculture8 ,since then1 these four primitive industries have been perfected1 and moreover appropriated3 a double circumstance which does not change the meaning of the facts1 but1 on the contrary1 makes it more manifest4 ,in fact1 property has always attached itself by preference to objects of the most immediate utility1 to ,,made ,,values1 if ,i may so speak2 so that the scale of values might be fixed by the progress of appropriation4 ,in his work on the ,liberty of ,labor ,m4 ,dunoyer has positively accepted this principle by distinguishing four great classes of industry1 which he arranges according to the order of their development1--that is1 from the least labor-cost to the greatest4 ,these are ,,extractive ,,industry1--including all the semi-barbarous functions mentioned above1--,,commercial ,,industry1 ,,manufacturing1 ,,industry1 ,,agricultural ,,industry4 ,and it is for a profound reason that the learned author placed agriculture last in the list4 ,for1 despite its great antiquity1 it is certain that this industry has not kept pace with the others1 and the succession of human affairs is not decided by their origin1 but by their entire development4 ,it may be that agricultural industry was born before the others1 and it may be that all were contemporary2 but that will be deemed of the latest date which shall be perfected last4 ,thus the very nature of things1 as well as his own wants1 indicates to the laborer the order in which he should effect the production of the values that make up his well-being4 ,our law of proportionality1 then1 is at once physical and logical1 objective and subjective2 it has the highest degree of certainty4 ,let us pursue the application4 ,of all the products of labor1 none perhaps has cost longer and more patient efforts than the calendar4 ,nevertheless1 there is none the enjoyment of which can now be procured more cheaply1 and which1 consequently1 by our own definitions1 has become more necessary4 ,how1 then1 shall we explain this change8 ,why has the calendar1 so useless to the early hordes1 who only needed the alternation of night and day1 as of winter and summer1 become at last so indispensable1 so unexpensive1 so perfect8 ,for1 by a marvelous harmony1 in social economy all these adjectives are interconvertible4 ,how account1 in short1 by our law of proportion1 for the variability of the value of the calendar8 ,in order that the labor necessary to the production of the calendar might be performed1 might be possible1 man had to find means of gaining time from his early occupations and from those which immediately followed them4 ,in other words1 these industries had to become more productive1 or less costly1 than they were at the beginning3 which amounts to saying that it was necessary first to solve the problem of the production of the calendar from the extractive industries themselves4 ,suppose1 then1 that suddenly1 by a fortunate combination of efforts1 by the division of labor1 by the use of some machine1 by better management of the natural resources1--in short1 by his industry1--,prometheus finds a way of producing in one day as much of a certain object as he formerly produced in ten3 what will follow8 ,the product will change its position in the table of the elements of wealth2 its power of affinity for other products1 so to speak1 being increased1 its relative value will be proportionately diminished1 and1 instead of being quoted at one hundred1 it will thereafter be quoted only at ten4 ,but this value will still and always be none the less accurately determined1 and it will still be labor alone which will fix the degree of its importance4 ,thus value varies1 and the law of value is unchangeable3 further1 if value is susceptible of variation1 it is because it is governed by a law whose principle is essentially inconstant1--namely1 labor measured by time4 ,the same reasoning applies to the production of the calendar as to that of all possible values4 ,i do not need to explain how--civilization 7that is1 the social fact of the increase of life7 multiplying our tasks1 rendering our moments more and more precious1 and obliging us to keep a perpetual and detailed record of our whole life--the calendar has become to all one of the most necessary things4 ,we know1 moreover1 that this wonderful discovery has given rise1 as its natural complement1 to one of our most valuable industries1 the manufacture of clocks and watches4 ,at this point there very naturally arises an objection1 the only one that can be offered against the theory of the proportionality of values4 ,say and the economists who have succeeded him have observed that1 labor being itself an object of valuation1 a species of merchandise indeed like any other1 to take it as the principal and efficient cause of value is to reason in a vicious circle4 ,therefore1 they conclude1 it is necessary to fall back on scarcity and opinion4 ,these economists1 if they will allow me to say it1 herein have shown themselves wonderfully careless4 ,labor is said ,,to ,,have ,,value1 not as merchandise itself1 but in view of the values supposed to be contained in it potentially4 ,the ,,value ,,of ,,labor is a figurative expression1 an anticipation of effect from cause4 ,it is a fiction by the same title as the ,,productivity ,,of ,,capital4 ,labor produces1 capital has value3 and when1 by a sort of ellipsis1 we say the value of labor1 we make an enjambement which is not at all contrary to the rules of language1 but which theorists ought to guard against mistaking for a reality4 ,labor1 like liberty1 love1 ambition1 genius1 is a thing vague and indeterminate in its nature1 but qualitatively defined by its object1--that is1 it becomes a reality through its product4 ,when1 therefore1 we say3 ,this man's labor is worth five francs per day1 it is as if we should say3 ,the daily product of this man's labor is worth five francs4 ,now1 the effect of labor is continually to eliminate scarcity and opinion as constitutive elements of value1 and1 by necessary consequence1 to transform natural or indefinite utilities 7appropriated or not7 into measurable or social utilities3 whence it follows that labor is at once a war declared upon the parsimony of ,nature and a permanent conspiracy against property4 ,according to this analysis1 value1 considered from the point of view of the association which producers1 by division of labor and by exchange1 naturally form among themselves1 is the ,,proportional ,,relation ,,of ,,the ,,products ,,which ,,constitute ,,wealth1 and what we call the value of any special product is a formula which expresses1 in terms of money1 the proportion of this product to the general wealth4--,utility is the basis of value2 labor fixes the relation2 the price is the expression which1 barring the fluctuations that we shall have to consider1 indicates this relation4 ,such is the centre around which useful and exchangeable value oscillate1 the point where they are finally swallowed up and disappear3 such is the absolute1 unchangeable law which regulates economic disturbances and the freaks of industry and commerce1 and governs progress4 ,every effort of thinking and laboring humanity1 every individual and social speculation1 as an integrant part of collective wealth1 obeys this law4 ,it was the destiny of political economy1 by successively positing all its contradictory terms1 to make this law known2 the object of social economy1 which ,i ask permission for a moment to distinguish from political economy1 although at bottom there is no difference between them1 will be to spread and apply it universally4 ,the theory of the measure or proportionality of values is1 let it be noticed1 the theory of equality itself4 ,indeed1 just as in society1 where we have seen that there is a complete identity between producer and consumer1 the revenue paid to an idler is like value cast into the flames of ,etna1 so the laborer who receives excessive wages is like a gleaner to whom should be given a loaf of bread for gathering a stalk of grain3 and all that the economists have qualified as ,,unproductive ,,consumption is in reality simply a violation of the law of proportionality4 ,we shall see in the sequence how1 from these simple data1 the social genius gradually deduces the still obscure system of organization of labor1 distribution of wages1 valuation of products1 and universal solidarity4 ,for social order is established upon the basis of inexorable justice1 not at all upon the paradisical sentiments of fraternity1 self-sacrifice1 and love1 to the exercise of which so many honorable socialists are endeavoring now to stimulate the people4 ,it is in vain that1 following ,jesus ,christ1 they preach the necessity1 and set the example1 of sacrifice2 selfishness is stronger1 and only the law of severity1 economic fatality1 is capable of mastering it4 ,humanitarian enthusiasm may produce shocks favorable to the progress of civilization2 but these crises of sentiment1 like the oscillations of value1 must always result only in a firmer and more absolute establishment of justice4 ,nature1 or ,divinity1 we distrust in our hearts3 she has never believed in the love of man for his fellow2 and all that science reveals to us of the ways of ,providence in the progress of society--,i say it to the shame of the human conscience1 but our hypocrisy must be made aware of it--shows a profound misanthropy on the part of ,god4 ,god helps us1 not from motives of goodness1 but because order is his essence2 ,god promotes the welfare of the world1 not because he deems it worthy1 but because the religion of his supreme intelligence lays the obligation upon him3 and while the vulgar give him the sweet name ,father1 it is impossible for the historian1 for the political economist1 to believe that he either loves or esteems us4 ,let us imitate this sublime indifference1 this stoical ataraxia1 of ,god2 and1 since the precept of charity always has failed to promote social welfare1 let us look to pure reason for the conditions of harmony and virtue4 ,value1 conceived as the proportionality of products1 otherwise called ,,constituted ,,value1 necessarily implies in an equal degree ,,utility and ,,venality1 indivisibly and harmoniously united4 ,it implies utility1 for1 without this condition1 the product would be destitute of that affinity which renders it exchangeable1 and consequently makes it an element of wealth2 it implies venality1 since1 if the product was not acceptable in the market at any hour and at a known price1 it would be only a non-value1 it would be nothing4 ,but1 in constituted value1 all these properties acquire a broader1 more regular1 truer significance than before4 ,thus1 utility is no longer that inert capacity1 so to speak1 which things possess of serving for our enjoyments and in our researches2 venality is no longer the exaggeration of a blind fancy or an unprincipled opinion2 finally1 variability has ceased to explain itself by a disingenuous discussion between supply and demand3 all that has disappeared to give place to a positive1 normal1 and1 under all possible circumstances1 determinable idea4 ,by the constitution of values each product1 if it is allowable to establish such an analogy1 becomes like the nourishment which1 discovered by the alimentary instinct1 then prepared by the digestive organs1 enters into the general circulation1 where it is converted1 according to certain proportions1 into flesh1 bone1 liquid1 etc41 and gives to the body life1 strength1 and beauty4 ,now1 what change does the idea of value undergo when we rise from the contradictory notions of useful value and exchangeable value to that of constituted value or absolute value8 ,there is1 so to speak1 a joining together1 a reciprocal penetration1 in which the two elementary concepts1 grasping each other like the hooked atoms of ,epicurus1 absorb one another and disappear1 leaving in their place a compound possessed1 but in a superior degree1 of all their positive properties1 and divested of all their negative properties4 ,a value really such--like money1 first-class business paper1 government annuities1 shares in a well-established enterprise--can neither be increased without reason nor lost in exchange3 it is governed only by the natural law of the addition of special industries and the increase of products4 ,further1 such a value is not the result of a compromise1--that is1 of eclecticism1 juste-milieu1 or mixture2 it is the product of a complete fusion1 a product entirely new and distinct from its components1 just as water1 the product of the combination of hydrogen and oxygen1 is a separate body1 totally distinct from its elements4 ,the resolution of two antithetical ideas in a third of a superior order is what the school calls ,,synthesis4 ,it alone gives the positive and complete idea1 which is obtained1 as we have seen1 by the successive affirmation or negation--for both amount to the same thing--of two diametrically opposite concepts4 ,whence we deduce this corollary1 of the first importance in practice as well as in theory3 wherever1 in the spheres of morality1 history1 or political economy1 analysis has established the antinomy of an idea1 we may affirm on a priori grounds that this antinomy conceals a higher idea1 which sooner or later will make its appearance4 ,i am sorry to have to insist at so great length on ideas familiar to all young college graduates3 but ,i owed these details to certain economists1 who1 apropos of my critique of property1 have heaped dilemmas on dilemmas to prove that1 if ,i was not a proprietor1 ,i necessarily must be a communist2 all because they did not understand ,,thesis1 ,,antithesis1 and ,,synthesis4 ,the synthetic idea of value1 as the fundamental condition of social order and progress1 was dimly seen by ,adam ,smith1 when1 to use the words of ,m4 ,blanqui1 he showed that labor is the universal and invariable measure of values1 and proved that everything has its natural price1 toward which it continually gravitates amid the fluctuations of the market1 occasioned by ,,accidental ,,circumstances foreign to the venal value of the thing4 ,but this idea of value was wholly intuitive with ,adam ,smith1 and society does not change its habits upon the strength of intuitions2 it decides only upon the authority of facts4 ,the antinomy had to be expressed in a plainer and clearer manner3 ,j4 ,b4 ,say was its principal interpreter4 ,but1 in spite of the imaginative efforts and fearful subtlety of this economist1 ,smith's definition controls him without his knowledge1 and is manifest throughout his arguments4 ,to put a value on an article1 says ,say1 is to ,,declare that it should be ,,estimated equally with some other designated article4 4 4 4 4 4 ,the value of everything is vague and arbitrary ,,until ,,it ,,is ,,recognized4 4 4 4 4 4 ,there is1 therefore1 a method of recognizing the value of things1--that is1 of determining it2 and1 as this recognition or determination results from the comparison of things with each other1 there is1 further1 a common feature1 a principle1 by means of which we are able to ,,declare that one thing is worth more or less than1 or as much as1 another4 ,say first said3 ,the measure of value is the value of another product4 ,afterwards1 having seen that this phrase was but a tautology1 he modified it thus3 ,the measure of value is the ,,quantity of another product1 which is quite as unintelligible4 ,moreover1 this writer1 generally so clear and decided1 embarrasses himself with vain distinctions3 ,we may ,,appreciate the value of things2 we cannot ,,measure it1--that is1 ,,compare it with an invariable and known standard1 for no such standard exists4 ,we can do nothing but ,,estimate ,,the ,,value of things by comparing them4 ,at other times he distinguishes between ,,real values and ,,relative values3 ,the former are those whose value changes with the cost of production2 the latter are those whose value changes relatively to the value of other kinds of merchandise4 ,singular prepossession of a man of genius1 who does not see that to ,,compare1 to ,,appraise1 to ,,appreciate1 is to ,,measure2 that every measure1 being only a comparison1 indicates for that very reason a true relation1 provided the comparison is accurate2 that1 consequently1 value1 or real measure1 and value1 or relative measure1 are perfectly identical2 and that the difficulty is reduced1 not to the discovery of a standard of measure1 since all quantities may serve each other in that capacity1 but to the determination of a point of comparison4 ,in geometry the point of comparison is extent1 and the unit of measure is now the division of the circle into three hundred and sixty parts1 now the circumference of the terrestrial globe1 now the average dimension of the human arm1 hand1 thumb1 or foot4 ,in economic science1 we have said after ,adam ,smith1 the point of view from which all values are compared is labor2 as for the unit of measure1 that adopted in ,france is the ,,franc4 ,it is incredible that so many sensible men should struggle for forty years against an idea so simple4 ,but no3 ,,the ,,comparison ,,of ,,values ,,is ,,effected ,,with ,,out ,a ,,point ,,of ,,comparison ,,between ,,them1 ,,and ,,without ,a ,,unit ,,of ,,measure1--such is the proposition which the economists of the nineteenth century1 rather than accept the revolutionary idea of equality1 have resolved to maintain against all comers4 ,what will posterity say8 ,i shall presently show1 by striking examples1 that the idea of the measure or proportion of values1 theoretically necessary1 is constantly realized in every-day life4 #c4--;,application of the law of proportionality of values4 ,every product is a representative of labor4 ,every product1 therefore1 can be exchanged for some other1 as universal practice proves4 ,but abolish labor1 and you have left only articles of greater or less usefulness1 which1 being stamped with no economic character1 no human seal1 are without a common measure1--that is1 are logically unexchangeable4 ,gold and silver1 like other articles of merchandise1 are representatives of value2 they have1 therefore1 been able to serve as common measures and mediums of exchange4 ,but the special function which custom has allotted to the precious metals1--that of serving as a commercial agent1--is purely conventional1 and any other article of merchandise1 less conveniently perhaps1 but just as authentically1 could play this part3 the economists admit it1 and more than one example of it can be cited4 ,what1 then1 is the reason of this preference generally accorded to the metals for the purpose of money1 and how shall we explain this speciality of function1 unparalleled in political economy1 possessed by specie8 ,for every unique thing incomparable in kind is necessarily very difficult of comprehension1 and often even fails of it altogether4 ,now1 is it possible to reconstruct the series from which money seems to have been detached1 and1 consequently1 restore the latter to its true principle8 ,in dealing with this question the economists1 following their usual course1 have rushed beyond the limits of their science2 they have appealed to physics1 to mechanics1 to history1 etc42 they have talked of all things1 but have given no answer4 ,the precious metals1 they have said1 by their scarcity1 density1 and incorruptibility1 are fitted to serve as money in1 a degree unapproached by other kinds of merchandise4 ,in short1 the economists1 instead of replying to the economic question put to them1 have set themselves to the examination of a question of art4 ,they have laid great stress on the mechanical adaptation of gold and silver for the purpose of money2 but not one of them has seen or understood the economic reason which gave to the precious metals the privilege they now enjoy4 ,now1 the point that no one has noticed is that1 of all the various articles of merchandise1 gold and silver were the first whose value was determined4 ,in the patriarchal period1 gold and silver still were bought and sold in ingots1 but already with a visible tendency to superiority and with a marked preference4 ,gradually sovereigns took possession of them and stamped them with their seal2 and from this royal consecration was born money1--that is1 the commodity par excellence2 that which1 notwithstanding all commercial shocks1 maintains a determined proportional value1 and is accepted in payment for all things4 ,that which distinguishes specie1 in fact1 is not the durability of the metal1 which is less than that of steel1 nor its utility1 which is much below that of wheat1 iron1 coal1 and numerous other substances1 regarded as almost vile when compared with gold2 neither is it its scarcity or density1 for in both these respects it might be replaced1 either by labor spent upon other materials1 or1 as at present1 by bank notes representing vast amounts of iron or copper4 ,the distinctive feature of gold and silver1 ,i repeat1 is the fact that1 owing to their metallic properties1 the difficulties of their production1 and1 above all1 the intervention of public authority1 their value as merchandise was fixed and authenticated at an early date4 ,i say then that the value of gold and silver1 especially of the part that is made into money1 although perhaps it has not yet been calculated accurately1 is no longer arbitrary2 ,i add that it is no longer susceptible of depreciation1 like other values1 although it may vary continually nevertheless4 ,all the logic and erudition that has been expended to prove1 by the example of gold and silver1 that value is essentially indeterminable1 is a mass of paralogisms1 arising from a false idea of the question1 ab ignorantia elenchi4 ,philip ,i41 ,king of ,france1 mixed with the livre tournois of ,charlemagne one-third alloy1 imagining that1 since he held the monopoly of the power of coining money1 he could do what every merchant does who holds the monopoly of a product4 ,what was1 in fact1 this adulteration of money1 for which ,philip and his successors are so severely blamed8 ,a very sound argument from the standpoint of commercial routine1 but wholly false in the view of economic science1--namely1 that1 supply and demand being the regulators of value1 we may1 either by causing an artificial scarcity or by monopolizing the manufacture1 raise the estimation1 and consequently the value1 of things1 and that this is as true of gold and silver as of wheat1 wine1 oil1 tobacco4 ,nevertheless1 ,philip's fraud was no sooner suspected than his money was reduced to its true value1 and he lost himself all that he had expected to gain from his subjects4 ,the same thing happened after all similar attempts4 ,what was the reason of this disappointment8 ,because1 say the economists1 the quantity of gold and silver in reality being neither diminished nor increased by the false coinage1 the proportion of these metals to other merchandise was not changed1 and consequently it was not in the power of the sovereign to make that which was worth but two worth four4 ,for the same reason1 if1 instead of debasing the coin1 it had been in the king's power to double its mass1 the exchangeable value of gold and silver would have decreased one-half immediately1 always on account of this proportionality and equilibrium4 ,the adulteration of the coin was1 then1 on the part of the king1 a forced loan1 or rather1 a bankruptcy1 a swindle4 ,marvelous6 the economists explain very clearly1 when they choose1 the theory of the measure of value2 that they may do so1 it is necessary only to start them on the subject of money4 ,why1 then1 do they not see that money is the written law of commerce1 the type of exchange1 the first link in that long chain of creations all of which1 as merchandise1 must receive the sanction of society1 and become1 if not in fact1 at least in right1 acceptable as money in settlement of all kinds of transactions8 ,money1 ,m4 ,augier very truly says1 can serve1 either as a means of authenticating contracts already made1 or as a good medium of exchange1 only so far as its value approaches the ideal of permanence2 for in all cases it exchanges or buys only the value which it possesses4#h #h ,history of ,public ,credit4 ,let us turn this eminently judicious observation into a general formula4 ,labor becomes a guarantee of well-being and equality only so far as the product of each individual is in proportion with the mass2 for in all cases it exchanges or buys a value equal only to its own4 ,is it not strange that the defence of speculative and fraudulent commerce is undertaken boldly1 while at the same time the attempt of a royal counterfeiter1 who1 after all1 did but apply to gold and silver the fundamental principle of political economy1 the arbitrary instability of values1 is frowned down8 ,if the administration should presume to give twelve ounces of tobacco for a pound1#i the economists would cry robbery2 but1 if the same administration1 using its privilege1 should increase the price a few cents a pound1 they would regard it as dear1 but would discover no violation of principles4 ,what an imbroglio is political economy6 #i ,in ,france1 the sale of tobacco is a government monopoly4-- ,translator4 ,there is1 then1 in the monetization of gold and silver something that the economists have given no account of2 namely1 the consecration of the law of proportionality1 the first act in the constitution of values4 ,humanity does all things by infinitely small degrees3 after comprehending the fact that all products of labor must be submitted to a proportional measure which makes all of them equally exchangeable1 it begins by giving this attribute of absolute exchangeability to a special product1 which shall become the type and model of all others4 ,in the same way1 to lift its members to liberty and equality1 it begins by creating kings4 ,the people have a confused idea of this providential progress when1 in their dreams of fortune and in their legends1 they speak continually of gold and royalty2 and the philosophers only do homage to universal reason when1 in their so-called moral homilies and their socialistic utopias1 they thunder with equal violence against gold and tyranny4 ,auri sacra fames6 ,cursed gold6 ludicrously shouts some communist4 ,as well say cursed wheat1 cursed vines1 cursed sheep2 for1 like gold and silver1 every commercial value must reach an exact and accurate determination4 ,the work was begun long since2 today it is making visible progress4 ,let us pass to other considerations4 ,it is an axiom generally admitted by the economists that ,,all ,,labor ,,should ,,leave ,,an ,,excess4 ,i regard this proposition as universally and absolutely true2 it is a corollary of the law of proportionality1 which may be regarded as an epitome of the whole science of economy4 ,but--,i beg pardon of the economists--the principle that ,,all ,,labor ,,should ,,leave ,,an ,,excess has no meaning in their theory1 and is not susceptible of demonstration4 ,if supply and demand alone determine value1 how can we tell what is an excess and what is a ,,sufficiency8 ,if neither cost1 nor market price1 nor wages can be mathematically determined1 how is it possible to conceive of a surplus1 a profit8 ,commercial routine has given us the idea of profit as well as the word2 and1 since we are equal politically1 we infer that every citizen has an equal right to realize profits in his personal industry4 ,but commercial operations are essentially irregular1 and it has been proved beyond question that the profits of commerce are but an arbitrary discount forced from the consumer by the producer1--in short1 a displacement1 to say the least4 ,this we should soon see1 if it was possible to compare the total amount of annual losses with the amount of profits4 ,in the thought of political economy1 the principle that ,,all ,,labor ,,should ,,leave ,,an ,,excess is simply the consecration of the constitutional right which all of us gained by the revolution1-- the right of robbing one's neighbor4 ,the law of proportionality of values alone can solve this problem4 ,i will approach the question a little farther back3 its gravity warrants me in treating it with the consideration that it merits4 ,most philosophers1 like most philologists1 see in society only a creature of the mind1 or rather1 an abstract name serving to designate a collection of men4 ,it is a prepossession which all of us received in our infancy with our first lessons in grammar1 that collective nouns1 the names of genera and species1 do not designate realities4 ,there is much to say under this head1 but ,i confine myself to my subject4 ,to the true economist1 society is a living being1 endowed with an intelligence and an activity of its own1 governed by special laws discoverable by observation alone1 and whose existence is manifested1 not under a material aspect1 but by the close concert and mutual interdependence of all its members4 ,therefore1 when a few pages back1 adopting the allegorical method1 we used a fabulous god as a symbol of society1 our language in reality was not in the least metaphorical3 we only gave a name to the social being1 an organic and synthetic unit4 ,in the eyes of any one who has reflected upon the laws of labor and exchange 7,i disregard every other consideration71 the reality1 ,i had almost said the personality1 of the collective man is as certain as the reality and the personality of the individual man4 ,the only difference is that the latter appears to the senses as an organism whose parts are in a state of material coherence1 which is not true of society4 ,but intelligence1 spontaneity1 development1 life1 all that constitutes in the highest degree the reality of being1 is as essential to society as to man3 and hence it is that the government of societies is a ,,science1-- that is1 a study of natural relations1--and not an ,,art1-- that is1 good pleasure and absolutism4 ,hence it is1 finally1 that every society declines the moment it falls into the hands of the ideologists4 ,the principle that ,,all ,,labor ,,should ,,leave ,,an ,,excess1 undemonstrable by political economy1--that is1 by proprietary routine1--is one of those which bear strongest testimony to the reality of the collective person3 for1 as we shall see1 this principle is true of individuals only because it emanates from society1 which thus confers upon them the benefit of its own laws4 ,let us turn to facts4 ,it has been observed that railroad enterprises are a source of wealth to those who control them in a much less degree than to the ,state4 ,the observation is a true one2 and it might have been added that it applies1 not only to railroads1 but to every industry4 ,but this phenomenon1 which is essentially the result of the law of proportionality of values and of the absolute identity of production and consumption1 is at variance with the ordinary notion of useful value and exchangeable value4 ,the average price charged for the transportation of merchandise by the old method is eighteen centimes per ton and kilometer1 the merchandise taken and delivered at the warehouses4 ,it has been calculated that1 at this price1 an ordinary railroad corporation would net a profit of not quite ten per cent41 nearly the same as the profit made by the old method4 ,but let us admit that the rapidity of transportation by rail is to that by wheels1 all allowances made1 as four to one3 in society time itself being value1 at the same price the railroad would have an advantage over the stage-wagon of four hundred per cent4 ,nevertheless1 this enormous advantage1 a very real one so far as society is concerned1 is by no means realized in a like proportion by the carrier1 who1 while he adds four hundred per cent4 to the social value1 makes personally less than ten per cent4 ,suppose1 in fact1 to make the thing still clearer1 that the railroad should raise its price to twenty- five centimes1 the rate by the old method remaining at eighteen2 it would lose immediately all its consignments2 shippers1 consignees1 everybody would return to the stage-wagon1 if necessary4 ,the locomotive would be abandoned2 a social advantage of four hundred per cent4 would be sacrificed to a private loss of thirty-three per cent4 ,the reason of this is easily seen4 ,the advantage which results from the rapidity of the railroad is wholly social1 and each individual participates in it only in a very slight degree 7do not forget that we are speaking now only of the transportation of merchandise72 while the loss falls directly and personally on the consumer4 ,a special profit of four hundred per cent4 in a society composed of say a million of men represents four ten-thousandths for each individual2 while a loss to the consumer of thirty-three per cent4 means a social deficit of thirty- three millions4 ,private interest and collective interest1 seemingly so divergent at first blush1 are therefore perfectly identical and equal3 and this example may serve to show already how economic science reconciles all interests4 ,consequently1 in order that society may realize the profit above supposed1 it is absolutely necessary that the railroad's prices shall not exceed1 or shall exceed but very little1 those of the stage-wagon4 ,but1 that this condition may be fulfilled1--in other words1 that the railroad may be commercially possible1--the amount of matter transported must be sufficiently great to cover at least the interest on the capital invested and the running expenses of the road4 ,then a railroad's first condition of existence is a large circulation1 which implies a still larger production and a vast amount of exchanges4 ,but production1 circulation1 and exchange are not self-creative things2 again1 the various kinds of labor are not developed in isolation and independently of each other3 their progress is necessarily connected1 solidary1 proportional4 ,there may be antagonism among manufacturers2 but1 in spite of them1 social action is one1 convergent1 harmonious1--in a word1 personal4 ,further1 there is a day appointed for the creation of great instruments of labor3 it is the day when general consumption shall be able to maintain their employment1--that is1 for all these propositions are interconvertible1 the day when ambient labor can feed new machinery4 ,to anticipate the hour appointed by the progress of labor would be to imitate the fool who1 going from ,lyons to ,marseilles1 chartered a steamer for himself alone4 ,these points cleared up1 nothing is easier than to explain why labor must leave an excess for each producer4 ,and first1 as regards society3 ,prometheus1 emerging from the womb of ,nature1 awakens to life in a state of inertia which is very charming1 but which would soon become misery and torture if he did not make haste to abandon it for labor4 ,in this original idleness1 the product of ,prometheus being nothing1 his well-being is the same as that of the brute1 and may be represented by zero4 ,prometheus begins to work3 and from his first day's labor1 the first of the second creation1 the product of ,prometheus--that is1 his wealth1 his well-being--is equal to ten4 ,the second day ,prometheus divides his labor1 and his product increases to one hundred4 ,the third day1 and each following day1 ,prometheus invents machinery1 discovers new uses in things1 new forces in ,nature2 the field of his existence extends from the domain of the senses to the sphere of morals and intelligence1 and with every step that his industry takes the amount of his product increases1 and assures him additional happiness4 ,and since1 finally1 with him1 to consume is to produce1 it is clear that each day's consumption1 using up only the product of the day before1 leaves a surplus product for the day after4 ,but notice also--and give especial heed to this all-important fact--that the well-being of man is directly proportional to the intensity of labor and the multiplicity of industries3 so that the increase of wealth and the increase of labor are correlative and parallel4 ,to say now that every individual participates in these general conditions of collective development would be to affirm a truth which1 by reason of the evidence in its support1 would appear silly4 ,let us point out rather the two general forms of consumption in society4 ,society1 like the individual1 has first its articles of personal consumption1 articles which time gradually causes it to feel the need of1 and which its mysterious instincts command it to create4 ,thus in the middle ages there was1 with a large number of cities1 a decisive moment when the building of city halls and cathedrals became a violent passion1 which had to be satisfied at any price2 the life of the community depended upon it4 ,security and strength1 public order1 centralization1 nationality1 country1 independence1 these are the elements which make up the life of society1 the totality of its mental faculties2 these are the sentiments which must find expression and representation4 ,such formerly was the object of the temple of ,jerusalem1 real palladium of the ,jewish nation2 such was the temple of ,jupiter ,capitolinus of ,rome4 ,later1 after the municipal palace and the temple1--organs1 so to speak1 of centralization and progress1--came the other works of public utility1--bridges1 theatres1 schools1 hospitals1 roads1 etc4 ,the monuments of public utility being used essentially in common1 and consequently gratuitously1 society is rewarded for its advances by the political and moral advantages resulting from these great works1 and which1 furnishing security to labor and an ideal to the mind1 give fresh impetus to industry and the arts4 ,but it is different with the articles of domestic consumption1 which alone fall within the category of exchange4 ,these can be produced only upon the conditions of mutuality which make consumption possible1--that is1 immediate payment with advantage to the producers4 ,these conditions we have developed sufficiently in the theory of proportionality of values1 which we might call as well the theory of the gradual reduction of cost4 ,i have demonstrated theoretically and by facts the principle that ,,all ,,labor ,,should ,,leave ,,an ,,excess2 but this principle1 as certain as any proposition in arithmetic1 is very far from universal realization4 ,while1 by the progress of collective industry1 each individual day's labor yields a greater and greater product1 and while1 by necessary consequence1 the laborer1 receiving the same wages1 must grow ever richer1 there exist in society classes which ,,thrive and classes which ,,perish2 laborers paid twice1 thrice1 a hundred times over1 and laborers continually out of pocket2 everywhere1 finally1 people who enjoy and people who suffer1 and1 by a monstrous division of the means of industry1 individuals who consume and do not produce4 ,the distribution of well-being follows all the movements of value1 and reproduces them in misery and luxury on a frightful scale and with terrible energy4 ,but everywhere1 too1 the progress of wealth--that is1 the proportionality of values--is the dominant law2 and when the economists combat the complaints of the socialists with the progressive increase of public wealth and the alleviations of the condition of even the most unfortunate classes1 they proclaim1 without suspecting it1 a truth which is the condemnation of their theories4 ,for ,i entreat the economists to question themselves for a moment in the silence of their hearts1 far from the prejudices which disturb them1 and regardless of the employments which occupy them or which they wait for1 of the interests which they serve1 of the votes which they covet1 of the distinctions which tickle their vanity3 let them tell me whether1 hitherto1 they have viewed the principle that all labor should leave an excess in connection with this series of premises and conclusions which we have elaborated1 and whether they ever have understood these words to mean anything more than the right to speculate in values by manipulating supply and demand2 whether it is not true that they affirm at once1 on the one hand the progress of wealth and well-being1 and consequently the measure of values1 and on the other the arbitrariness of commercial transactions and the incommensurability of values1--the flattest of contradictions8 ,is it not because of this contradiction that we continually hear repeated in lectures1 and read in the works on political economy1 this absurd hypothesis3 ,if ,,the ,,price ,,of ,,all ,,things ,,was ,,doubled4 4 4 4 4 4 8 ,as if the price of all things was not the proportion of things1 and as if we could double a proportion1 a relation1 a law6 ,finally1 is it not because of the proprietary and abnormal routine upheld by political economy that every one1 in commerce1 industry1 the arts1 and the ,state1 on the pretended ground of services rendered to society1 tends continually to exaggerate his importance1 and solicits rewards1 subsidies1 large pensions1 exorbitant fees3 as if the reward of every service was not determined necessarily by the sum of its expenses8 ,why do not the economists1 if they believe1 as they appear to1 that the labor of each should leave an excess1 use all their influence in spreading this truth1 so simple and so luminous3 ,each man's labor can buy only the value which it contains1 and this value is proportional to the services of all other laborers8 ,but here a last consideration presents itself1 which ,i will explain in a few words4 ,j4 ,b4 ,say1 who of all the economists has insisted the most strenuously upon the absolute indeterminability of value1 is also the one who has taken the most pains to refute that idea4 ,he1 if ,i am not mistaken1 is the author of the formula3 ,,every ,,product ,,is ,,worth ,,what ,,it ,,costs2 or1 what amounts to the same thing3 ,,products ,,are ,,bought ,,with ,,products4 ,this aphorism1 which leads straight to equality1 has been controverted since by other economists2 we will examine in turn the affirmative and the negative4 ,when ,i say that every product is worth the products which it has cost1 ,i mean that every product is a collective unit which1 in a new form1 groups a certain number of other products consumed in various quantities4 ,whence it follows that the products of human industry are1 in relation to each other1 genera and species1 and that they form a series from the simple to the composite1 according to the number and proportion of the elements1 all equivalent to each other1 which constitute each product4 ,it matters little1 for the present1 that this series1 as well as the equivalence of its elements1 is expressed in practice more or less exactly by the equilibrium of wages and fortunes2 our first business is with the relation of things1 the economic law4 ,for here1 as ever1 the idea first and spontaneously generates the fact1 which1 recognized then by the thought which has given it birth1 gradually rectifies itself and conforms to its principle4 ,commerce1 free and competitive1 is but a long operation of redressal1 whose object is to define more and more clearly the proportionality of values1 until the civil law shall recognize it as a guide in matters concerning the condition of persons4 ,i say1 then1 that ,say's principle1 ,,every ,,product ,,is ,,worth ,,what ,,it ,,costs1 indicates a series in human production analogous to the animal and vegetable series1 in which the elementary units 7day's works7 are regarded as equal4 ,so that political economy affirms at its birth1 but by a contradiction1 what neither ,plato1 nor ,rousseau1 nor any ancient or modern publicist has thought possible1-- equality of conditions and fortunes4 ,prometheus is by turns husbandman1 wine-grower1 baker1 weaver4 ,whatever trade he works at1 laboring only for himself1 he buys what he consumes 7his products7 with one and the same money 7his products71 whose unit of measurement is necessarily his day's work4 ,it is true that labor itself is liable to vary2 ,prometheus is not always in the same condition1 and from one moment to another his enthusiasm1 his fruitfulness1 rises and falls4 ,but1 like everything that is subject to variation1 labor has its average1 which justifies us in saying that1 on the whole1 day's work pays for day's work1 neither more nor less4 ,it is quite true that1 if we compare the products of a certain period of social life with those of another1 the hundred millionth day's work of the human race will show a result incomparably superior to that of the first2 but it must be remembered also that the life of the collective being can no more be divided than that of the individual2 that1 though the days may not resemble each other1 they are indissolubly united1 and that in the sum total of existence pain and pleasure are common to them4 ,if1 then1 the tailor1 for rendering the value of a day's work1 consumes ten times the product of the day's work of the weaver1 it is as if the weaver gave ten days of his life for one day of the tailor's4 ,this is exactly what happens when a peasant pays twelve francs to a lawyer for a document which it takes him an hour to prepare2 and this inequality1 this iniquity in exchanges1 is the most potent cause of misery that the socialists have unveiled1--as the economists confess in secret while awaiting a sign from the master that shall permit them to acknowledge it openly4 ,every error in commutative justice is an immolation of the laborer1 a transfusion of the blood of one man into the body of another4 4 4 4 4 ,let no one be frightened2 ,i have no intention of fulminating against property an irritating philippic2 especially as ,i think that1 according to my principles1 humanity is never mistaken2 that1 in establishing itself at first upon the right of property1 it only laid down one of the principles of its future organization2 and that1 the preponderance of property once destroyed1 it remains only to reduce this famous antithesis to unity4 ,all the objections that can be offered in favor of property ,i am as well acquainted with as any of my critics1 whom ,i ask as a favor to show their hearts when logic fails them4 ,how can wealth that is not measured by labor be ,,valuable8 ,and if it is labor that creates wealth and legitimates property1 how explain the consumption of the idler8 ,where is the honesty in a system of distribution in which a product is worth1 according to the person1 now more1 now less1 than it costs4 ,say's ideas led to an agrarian law2 therefore1 the conservative party hastened to protest against them4 ,the original source of wealth1 ,m4 ,rossi had said1 is labor4 ,in proclaiming this great principle1 the industrial school has placed in evidence not only an economic principle1 but that social fact which1 in the hands of a skilful historian1 becomes the surest guide in following the human race in its marchings and haltings upon the face of the earth4 ,why1 after having uttered these profound words in his lectures1 has ,m4 ,rossi thought it his duty to retract them afterwards in a review1 and to compromise gratuitously his dignity as a philosopher and an economist8 ,say that wealth is the result of labor alone2 affirm that labor is always the measure of value1 the regulator of prices2 yet1 to escape one way or another the objections which these doctrines call forth on all hands1 some incomplete1 others absolute1 you will be obliged to generalize the idea of labor1 and to substitute for analysis an utterly erroneous synthesis4 ,i regret that a man like ,m4 ,rossi should suggest to me so sad a thought2 but1 while reading the passage that ,i have just quoted1 ,i could not help saying3 ,science and truth have lost their influence3 the present object of worship is the shop1 and1 after the shop1 the desperate constitutionalism which represents it4 ,to whom1 then1 does ,m4 ,rossi address himself8 ,is he in favor of labor or something else2 analysis or synthesis8 ,is he in favor of all these things at once8 ,let him choose1 for the conclusion is inevitably against him4 ,if labor is the source of all wealth1 if it is the surest guide in tracing the history of human institutions on the face of the earth1 why should equality of distribution1 equality as measured by labor1 not be a law8 ,if1 on the contrary1 there is wealth which is not the product of labor1 why is the possession of it a privilege8 ,where is the legitimacy of monopoly8 ,explain then1 once for all1 this theory of the right of unproductive consumption2 this jurisprudence of caprice1 this religion of idleness1 the sacred prerogative of a caste of the elect4 ,what1 now1 is the significance of this appeal from ,,analysis to the false judgments of the synthesis8 ,these metaphysical terms are of no use1 save to indoctrinate simpletons1 who do not suspect that the same proposition can be construed1 indifferently and at will1 analytically or synthetically4 ,,labor ,,is ,,the ,,principle ,,of ,,value ,,end ,,the ,,source ,,of ,,wealth3 an analytic proposition such as ,m4 ,rossi likes1 since it is the summary of an analysis in which it is demonstrated that the primitive notion of labor is identical with the subsequent notions of product1 value1 capital1 wealth1 etc4 ,nevertheless1 we see that ,m4 ,rossi rejects the doctrine which results from this analysis4 ,,labor1 ,,capital1 ,,and ,,land ,,are ,,the ,,sources ,,of ,,wealth3 a synthetic proposition1 precisely such as ,m4 ,rossi does not like4 ,indeed1 wealth is considered here as a general notion1 produced in three distinct1 but not identical1 ways4 ,and yet the doctrine thus formulated is the one that ,m4 ,rossi prefers4 ,now1 would it please ,m4 ,rossi to have us render his theory of monopoly analytically and ours of labor synthetically8 ,i can give him the satisfaction4 4 4 4 4 ,but ,i should blush1 with so earnest a man1 to prolong such badinage4 ,m4 ,rossi knows better than any one that analysis and synthesis of themselves prove absolutely nothing1 and that the important work1 as ,bacon said1 is to make exact comparisons and complete enumerations4 ,since ,m4 ,rossi was in the humor for abstractions1 why did he not say to the phalanx of economists who listen so respectfully to the least word that falls from his lips3 ,capital is the ,,material of wealth1 as gold and silver are the material of money1 as wheat is the material of bread1 and1 tracing the series back to the end1 as earth1 water1 fire1 and air are the material of all our products4 ,but it is labor1 labor alone1 which successively creates each utility given to these ,,materials1 and which consequently transforms them into capital and wealth4 ,capital is the result of labor1-- that is1 realized intelligence and life1--as animals and plants are realizations of the soul of the universe1 and as the chefs d'oeuvre of ,homer1 ,raphael1 and ,rossini are expressions of their ideas and sentiments4 ,value is the proportion in which all the realizations of the human soul must balance each other in order to produce a harmonious whole1 which1 being wealth1 gives us well-being1 or rather is the token1 not the object1 of our happiness4 ,the proposition1 ,,there ,,is ,,no ,,measure ,,of ,,value1 is illogical and contradictory1 as is shown by the very arguments which have been offered in its support4 ,the proposition1 ,,labor ,,is ,,the ,,principle ,,of ,,proportionality ,,of ,,values1 not only is true1 resulting as it does from an irrefutable analysis1 but it is the object of progress1 the condition and form of social well-being1 the beginning and end of political economy4 ,from this proposition and its corollaries1 ,,every ,,product ,,is ,,worth ,,what ,,it ,,costs1 and ,,products ,,are ,,bought ,,with ,p,r,o,d,u,c,ts1 follows the dogma of equality of conditions4 ,the idea of value socially constituted1 or of proportionality of values1 serves to explain further3 7a7 how a mechanical invention1 notwithstanding the privilege which it temporarily creates and the disturbances which it occasions1 always produces in the end a general amelioration2 7b7 how the value of an economical process to its discoverer can never equal the profit which it realizes for society2 7c7 how1 by a series of oscillations between supply and demand1 the value of every product constantly seeks a level with cost and with the needs of consumption1 and consequently tends to establish itself in a fixed and positive manner2 7d7 how1 collective production continually increasing the amount of consumable things1 and the day's work constantly obtaining higher and higher pay1 labor must leave an excess for each producer2 7e7 how the amount of work to be done1 instead of being diminished by industrial progress1 ever increases in both quantity and quality--that is1 in intensity and difficulty--in all branches of industry2 7f7 how social value continually eliminates fictitious values1--in other words1 how industry effects the socialization of capital and property2 7g7 finally1 how the distribution of products1 growing in regularity with the strength of the mutual guarantee resulting from the constitution of value1 pushes society onward to equality of conditions and fortunes4 ,finally1 the theory of the successive constitution of all commercial values implying the infinite progress of labor1 wealth1 and well-being1 the object of society1 from the economic point of view1 is revealed to us3 ,,to ,,produce ,,incessantly1 ,,with ,,thee ,,least ,,possible ,,amount ,,of ,,labor ,,for ,,each ,,product1 ,,the ,,greatest ,,possible ,,quantity ,,and ,,variety ,,of ,,values1 ,,in ,,such ,a ,,way ,,as ,,to ,,realize1 ,,for ,,each ,,individual1 ,,the ,,greatest ,,amount ,,of ,,physical1 ,,moral1 ,,and ,,intellectual ,,well-,,being1 ,,and1 ,,for ,,the ,,race1 ,,the ,,highest ,,perfection ,,and ,,infinite ,,glory4 ,now that we have determined1 not without difficulty1 the meaning of the question asked by the ,academy of ,moral ,sciences touching the oscillations of profit and wages1 it is time to begin the essential part of our work4 ,wherever labor has not been socialized1--that is1 wherever value is not synthetically determined1--there is irregularity and dishonesty in exchange2 a war of stratagems and ambuscades2 an impediment to production1 circulation1 and consumption2 unproductive labor2 insecurity2 spoliation2 insolidarity2 want2 luxury3 but at the same time an effort of the genius of society to obtain justice1 and a constant tendency toward association and order4 ,political economy is simply the history of this grand struggle4 ,on the one hand1 indeed1 political economy1 in so far as it sanctions and pretends to perpetuate the anomalies of value and the prerogatives of selfishness1 is truly the theory of misfortune and the organization of misery2 but in so far as it explains the means invented by civilization to abolish poverty1 although these means always have been used exclusively in the interest of monopoly1 political economy is the preamble of the organization of wealth4 ,it is important1 then1 that we should resume the study of economic facts and practices1 discover their meaning1 and formulate their philosophy4 ,until this is done1 no knowledge of social progress can be acquired1 no reform attempted4 ,the error of socialism has consisted hitherto in perpetuating religious reverie by launching forward into a fantastic future instead of seizing the reality which is crushing it2 as the wrong of the economists has been in regarding every accomplished fact as an injunction against any proposal of reform4 ,for my own part1 such is not my conception of economic science1 the true social science4 ,instead of offering a priori arguments as solutions of the formidable problems of the organization of labor and the distribution of wealth1 ,i shall interrogate political economy as the depositary of the secret thoughts of humanity2 ,i shall cause it to disclose the facts in the order of their occurrence1 and shall relate their testimony without intermingling it with my own4 ,it will be at once a triumphant and a lamentable history1 in which the actors will be ideas1 the episodes theories1 and the dates formulas4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,economic ,,evolutions4--,,first ,,period4--,,the ,,division ,,of ,,labor4 ,the fundamental idea1 the dominant category1 of political economy is ,,value4 ,value reaches its positive determination by a series of oscillations between ,,supply and ,,demand4 ,consequently1 value appears successively under three aspects3 useful value1 exchangeable value1 and synthetic1 or social1 value1 which is true value4 ,the first term gives birth to the second in contradiction to it1 and the two together1 absorbing each other in reciprocal penetration1 produce the third3 so that the contradiction or antagonism of ideas appears as the point of departure of all economic science1 allowing us to say of it1 parodying the sentence of ,tertullian in relation to the ,gospel1 ,credo quia absurdum3 ,there is1 in social economy1 a latent truth wherever there is an apparent contradiction1 ,credo quia contrarium4 ,from the point of view of political economy1 then1 social progress consists in a continuous solution of the problem of the constitution of values1 or of the proportionality and solidarity of products4 ,but while in ,nature the synthesis of opposites is contemporary with their opposition1 in society the antithetic elements seem to appear at long intervals1 and to reach solution onlyafter long and tumultuous agitation4 ,thus there is no example--the idea even is inconceivable--of a valley without a hill1 a left without a right1 a north pole without a south pole1 a stick with but one end1 or two ends without a middle1 etc4 ,the human body1 with its so perfectly antithetic dichotomy1 is formed integrally at the very moment of conception2 it refuses to be put together and arranged piece by piece1 like the garment patterned after it which1 later1 is to cover it4#aj #aj ,a subtle philologist1 ,m4 ,paul ,ackermann1 has shown1 using the ,french language as an illustration1 that1 since every word in a language has its opposite1 or1 as the author calls it1 its antonym1 the entire vocabulary might be arranged in couples1 forming a vast dualistic system4 7,see ,dictionary of ,antonyms4 ,by ,paul ,ackermann4 ,paris3 ,brockhaus ,avenarius4 #ahdb7 ,in society1 on the contrary1 as well as in the mind1 so far from the idea reaching its complete realization at a single bound1 a sort of abyss separates1 so to speak1 the two antinomical positions1 and even when these are recognized at last1 we still do not see what the synthesis will be4 ,the primitive concepts must be fertilized1 so to speak1 by burning controversy and passionate struggle2 bloody battles will be the preliminaries of peace4 ,at the present moment1 ,europe1 weary of war and discussion1 awaits a reconciling principle2 and it is the vague perception of this situation which induces the ,academy of ,moral and ,political ,sciences to ask1 ,what are the general facts which govern the relations of profits to wages and determine their oscillations8 in other words1 what are the most salient episodes and the most remarkable phases of the war between labor and capital8 ,if1 then1 ,i demonstrate that political economy1 with all its contradictory hypotheses and equivocal conclusions1 is nothing but an organization of privilege and misery1 ,i shall have proved thereby that it contains by implication the promise of an organization of labor and equality1 since1 as has been said1 every systematic contradiction is the announcement of a composition2 further1 ,i shall have fixed the bases of this composition4 ,then1 indeed1 to unfold the system of economical contradictions is to lay the foundations of universal association2 to show how the products of collective labor ,,come ,,out of society is to explain how it will be possible to make them ,,return to it2 to exhibit the genesis of the problems of production and distribution is to prepare the way for their solution4 ,all these propositions are identical and equally evident4 #a4--;,antagonistic effects of the principle of division4 ,all men are equal in the state of primitive communism1 equal in their nakedness and ignorance1 equal in the indefinite power of their faculties4 ,the economists generally look at only the first of these aspects2 they neglect or overlook the second4 ,nevertheless1 according to the profoundest philosophers of modern times1 ,la ,rochefoucault1 ,helvetius1 ,kant1 ,fichte1 ,hegel1 ,jacotot1 intelligence differs in individuals only ,,qualitatively1 each having thereby his own specialty or genius2 in its essence1--namely1 judgment1--it is ,,quantitatively equal in all4 ,hence it follows that1 a little sooner or a little later1 according as circumstances shall be more or less favorable1 general progress must lead all men from original and negative equality to a positive equivalence of talents and acquirements4 ,i insist upon this precious datum of psychology1 the necessary consequence of which is that the ,,hierarchy ,,of ,,capacities henceforth cannot be allowed as a principle and law of organization3 equality alone is our rule1 as it is also our ideal4 ,then1 just as the equality of misery must change gradually into equality of well-being1 as we have proved by the theory of value1 so the equality of minds1 negative in the beginning1 since it represents only emptiness1 must reappear in a positive form at the completion of humanity's education4 ,the intellectual movement proceeds parallelly with the economic movement2 they are the expression1 the translation1 of each other2 psychology and social economy are in accord1 or rather1 they but unroll the same history1 each from a different point of view4 ,this appears especially in ,smith's great law1 the ,,division ,,of ,,labor4 ,considered in its essence1 the division of labor is the way in which equality of condition and intelligence is realized4 ,through diversity of function1 it gives rise to proportionality of products and equilibrium in exchange1 and consequently opens for us the road to wealth2 as also1 in showing us infinity everywhere in art and ,nature1 it leads us to idealize our acts1 and makes the creative mind--that is1 divinity itself1 mentem diviniorem--immanent and perceptible in all laborers4 ,division of labor1 then1 is the first phase of economic evolution as well as of intellectual development3 our point of departure is true as regards both man and things1 and the progress of our exposition is in no wise arbitrary4 ,but1 at this solemn hour of the division of labor1 tempestuous winds begin to blow upon humanity4 ,progress does not improve the condition of all equally and uniformly1 although in the end it must include and transfigure every intelligent and industrious being4 ,it commences by taking possession of a small number of privileged persons1 who thus compose the elite of nations1 while the mass continues1 or even buries itself deeper1 in barbarism4 ,it is this exception of persons on the part of progress which has perpetuated the belief in the natural and providential inequality of conditions1 engendered caste1 and given an hierarchical form to all societies4 ,it has not been understood that all inequality1 never being more than a negation1 carries in itself the proof of its illegitimacy and the announcement of its downfall3 much less still has it been imagined that this same inequality proceeds accidentally from a cause the ulterior effect of which must be its entire disappearance4 ,thus1 the antinomy of value reappearing in the law of division1 it is found that the first and most potent instrument of knowledge and wealth which ,providence has placed in our hands has become for us an instrument of misery and imbecility4 ,here is the formula of this new law of antagonism1 to which we owe the two oldest maladies of civilization1 aristocracy and the proletariat3 ,labor1 in dividing itself according to the law which is peculiar to it1 and which is the primary condition of its productivity1 ends in the frustration of its own objects1 and destroys itself1 in other words3 ,division1 in the absence of which there is no progress1 no wealth1 no equality1 subordinates the workingman1 and renders intelligence useless1 wealth harmful1 and equality impossible4 ,all the economists1 since ,adam ,smith1 have pointed out the ,,advantages and the ,,inconveniences of the law of division1 but at the same time insisting much more strenuously upon the first than the second1 because such a course was more in harmony with their optimistic views1 and not one of them ever asking how a ,,law can have ,,inconveniences4 ,this is the way in which ,j4 ,b4 ,say summed up the question3-- ,a man who during his whole life performs but one operation1 certainly acquires the power to execute it better and more readily than another2 but at the same time he becomes less capable of any other occupation1 whether physical or moral2 his other faculties become extinct1 and there results a degeneracy in the individual man4 ,that one has made only the eighteenth part of a pin is a sad account to give of one's self3 but let no one imagine that it is the workingman who spends his life in handling a file or a hammer that alone degenerates in this way from the dignity of his nature2 it is the same with the man whose position leads him to exercise the most subtle faculties of his mind4 4 4 ,on the whole1 it may be said that the separation of tasks is an advantageous use of human forces2 that it increases enormously the products of society2 but that it takes something from the capacity of each man taken individually4#aa #aa ,treatise on ,political ,economy4 ,what1 then1 after labor1 is the primary cause of the multiplication of wealth and the skill of laborers8 ,division4 ,what is the primary cause of intellectual degeneracy and1 as we shall show continually1 civilized misery8 ,division4 ,how does the same principle1 rigorously followed to its conclusions1 lead to effects diametrically opposite8 ,there is not an economist1 either before or since ,adam ,smith1 who has even perceived that here is a problem to be solved4 ,say goes so far as to recognize that in the division of labor the same cause which produces the good engenders the evil2 then1 after a few words of pity for the victims of the separation of industries1 content with having given an impartial and faithful exhibition of the facts1 he leaves the matter there4 ,you know1 he seems to say1 that the more we divide the workmen's tasks1 the more we increase the productive power of labor2 but at the same time the more does labor1 gradually reducing itself to a mechanical operation1 stupefy intelligence4 ,in vain do we express our indignation against a theory which1 creating by labor itself an aristocracy of capacities1 leads inevitably to political inequality2 in vain do we protest in the name of democracy and progress that in the future there will be no nobility1 no bourgeoisie no pariahs4 ,the economist replies1 with the impassibility of destiny3 ,you are condemned to produce much1 and to produce cheaply2 otherwise your industry will be always insignificant1 your commerce will amount to nothing1 and you will drag in the rear of civilization instead of taking the lead4--,what6 among us1 generous men1 there are some predestined to brutishness2 and the more perfect our industry becomes1 the larger will grow the number of our accursed brothers6 4 4 4 4 4 --,alas6 4 4 4 4 4 ,that is the last word of the economist4 ,we cannot fail to recognize in the division of labor1 as a general fact and as a cause1 all the characteristics of a ,,law2 but as this law governs two orders of phenomena radically opposite and destructive of each other1 it must be confessed also that this law is of a sort unknown in the exact sciences1--that it is1 strange to say1 a contradictory law1 a counter-law an antinomy4 ,let us add1 in anticipation1 that such appears to be the identifying feature of social economy1 and consequently of philosophy4 ,now1 without a ,,recomposition of labor which shall obviate the inconveniences of division while preserving its useful effects1 the contradiction inherent in the principle is irremediable4 ,it is necessary1--following the style of the ,jewish priests1 plotting the death of ,christ1--it is necessary that the poor should perish to secure the proprietor his for tune1 expedit unum hominem pro populo mori4 ,i am going to demonstrate the necessity of this decree2 after which1 if the parcellaire laborer still retains a glimmer of intelligence1 he will console himself with the thought that he dies according to the rules of political economy4 ,labor1 which ought to give scope to the conscience and render it more and more worthy of happiness1 leading through parcellaire division to prostration of mind1 dwarfs man in his noblest part1 minorat capitis1 and throws him back into animality4 ,thenceforth the fallen man labors as a brute1 and consequently must be treated as a brute4 ,this sentence of ,nature and necessity society will execute4 ,the first effect of parcellaire labor1 after the depravation of the mind1 is the lengthening of the hours of labor1 which increase in inverse proportion to the amount of intelligence expended4 ,for1 the product increasing in quantity and quality at once1 if1 by any industrial improvement whatever1 labor is lightened in one way1 it must pay for it in another4 ,but as the length of the working-day cannot exceed from sixteen to eighteen hours1 when compensation no longer can be made in time1 it will be taken from the price1 and wages will decrease4 ,and this decrease will take place1 not1 as has been foolishly imagined1 because value is essentially arbitrary1 but because it is essentially determinable4 ,little matters it that the struggle between supply and demand ends1 now to the advantage of the employer1 now to the benefit of the employee2 such oscillations may vary in amplitude1 this depending on well-known accessory circumstances which have been estimated a thousand times4 ,the certain point1 and the only one for us to notice now1 is that the universal conscience does not set the same price upon the labor of an overseer and the work of a hod-carrier4 ,a reduction in the price of the day's work1 then1 is necessary3 so that the laborer1 after having been afflicted in mind by a degrading function1 cannot fail to be struck also in his body by the meagreness of his reward4 ,this is the literal application of the words of the ,gospel3 ,,he ,,that ,,hath ,,not1 ,,from ,,him ,,shall ,,be ,,taken ,,even ,,that ,,which ,,he ,,hath4 ,there is in economic accidents a pitiless reason which laughs at religion and equity as political aphorisms1 and which renders man happy or unhappy according as he obeys or escapes the prescriptions of destiny4 ,certainly this is far from that ,christian charity with which so many honorable writers today are inspired1 and which1 penetrating to the heart of the bourgeoisie1 endeavors to temper the rigors of the law by numerous religious institutions4 ,political economy knows only justice1 justice as inflexible and unyielding as the miser's purse2 and it is because political economy is the effect of social spontaneity and the expression of the divine will that ,i have been able to say3 ,god is man's adversary1 and ,providence a misanthrope4 ,god makes us pay1 in weight of blood and measure of tears1 for each of our lessons2 and to complete the evil1 we1 in our relations with our fellows1 all act like him4 ,where1 then1 is this love of the celestial father for his creatures8 ,where is human fraternity8 ,can he do otherwise8 say the theists4 ,man falling1 the animal remains3 how could the ,creator recognize in him his own image8 ,and what plainer than that he treats him then as a beast of burden8 ,but the trial will not last for ever1 and sooner or later labor1 having been ,,particularized1 will be synthetized4 ,such is the ordinary argument of all those who seek to justify ,providence1 but generally succeed only in lending new weapons to atheism4 ,that is to say1 then1 that ,god would have envied us1 for six thousand years1 an idea which would have saved millions of victims1 a distribution of labor at once special and synthetic6 ,in return1 he has given us1 through his servants ,moses1 ,buddha1 ,zoroaster1 ,mahomet1 etc41 those insipid writings1 the disgrace of our reason1 which have killed more men than they contain letters6 ,further1 if we must believe primitive revelation1 social economy was the cursed science1 the fruit of the tree reserved for ,god1 which man was forbidden to touch6 ,why this religious depreciation of labor1 if it is true1 as economic science already shows1 that labor is the father of love and the organ of happiness8 ,why this jealousy of our advancement8 ,but if1 as now sufficiently appears1 our progress depends upon ourselves alone1 of what use is it to adore this phantom of divinity1 and what does he still ask of us through the multitude of inspired persons who pursue us with their sermons8 ,all of you1 ,christians1 protestant and orthodox1 neo-revelators1 charlatans and dupes1 listen to the first verse of the humanitarian hymn upon ,god's mercy3 ,in proportion as the principle of division of labor receives complete application1 the worker becomes weaker1 narrower1 and more dependent4 ,art advances3 the artisan recedes6#ab #ab ,tocqueville1 ,democracy in ,america4 ,then let us guard against anticipating conclusions and prejudging the latest revelation of experience4 ,at present ,god seems less favorable than hostile3 let us confine ourselves to establishing the fact4 ,just as political economy1 then1 at its point of departure1 has made us understand these mysterious and dismal words3 ,,in ,,proportion ,,as ,,the ,,production ,,of ,,utility ,,increases1 ,,venality ,,decreases2 so arrived at its first station1 it warns us in a terrible voice3 ,,in ,,proportion ,,as ,,art ,,advances1 ,,the ,,artisan ,,recedes4 ,to fix the ideas better1 let us cite a few examples4 ,in all the branches of metal-working1 who are the least industrious of the wage-laborers8 ,precisely those who are called ,,machinists4 ,since tools have been so admirably perfected1 a machinist is simply a man who knows how to handle a file or a plane3 as for mechanics1 that is the business of engineers and foremen4 ,a country blacksmith often unites in his own person1 by the very necessity of his position1 the various talents of the locksmith1 the edge-tool maker1 the gunsmith1 the machinist1 the wheel-wright1 and the horse-doctor3 the world of thought would be astonished at the knowledge that is under the hammer of this man1 whom the people1 always inclined to jest1 nickname brule-fer4 ,a workingman of ,creuzot1 who for ten years has seen the grandest and finest that his profession can offer1 on leaving his shop1 finds himself unable to render the slightest service or to earn his living4 ,the incapacity of the subject is directly proportional to the perfection of the art2 and this is as true of all the trades as of metal-working4 ,the wages of machinists are maintained as yet at a high rate3 sooner or later their pay must decrease1 the poor quality of the labor being unable to maintain it4 ,i have just cited a mechanical art2 let us now cite a liberal industry4 ,would ,gutenburg and his industrious companions1 ,faust and ,schoffer1 ever have believed that1 by the division of labor1 their sublime invention would fall into the domain of ignorance--,i had almost said idiocy8 ,there are few men so weak-minded1 so ,,unlettered1 as the mass of workers who follow the various branches of the typographic industry1-- compositors1 pressmen1 type-founders1 book-binders1 and paper-makers4 ,the printer1 as he existed even in the days of the ,estiennes1 has become almost an abstraction4 ,the employment of women in type-setting has struck this noble industry to the heart1 and consummated its degradation4 ,i have seen a female compositor--and she was one of the best--who did not know how to read1 and was acquainted only with the forms of the letters4 ,the whole art has been withdrawn into the hands of foremen and proof-readers1 modest men of learning whom the impertinence of authors and patrons still humiliates1 and a few workmen who are real artists4 ,the press1 in a word1 fallen into mere mechanism1 is no longer1 in its ,,personnel1 at the level of civilization3 soon there will be left of it but a few souvenirs4 ,i am told that the printers of ,paris are endeavoring by association to rise again from their degradation3 may their efforts not be exhausted in vain empiricism or misled into barren utopias6 ,after private industries1 let us look at public administration4 ,in the public service1 the effects of parcellaire labor are no less frightful1 no less intense3 in all the departments of administration1 in proportion as the art develops1 most of the employees see their salaries diminish4 ,a letter-carrier receives from four hundred to six hundred francs per annum1 of which the administration retains about a tenth for the retiring pension4 ,after thirty years of labor1 the pension1 or rather the restitution1 is three hundred francs per annum1 which1 when given to an alms-house by the pensioner1 entitles him to a bed1 soup1 and washing4 ,my heart bleeds to say it1 but ,i think1 nevertheless1 that the administration is generous3 what reward would you give to a man whose whole function consists in walking8 ,the legend gives but ,,five ,,sous to the ,wandering ,jew2 the letter-carriers receive twenty or thirty2 true1 the greater part of them have a family4 ,that part of the service which calls into exercise the intellectual faculties is reserved for the postmasters and clerks3 these are better paid2 they do the work of men4 ,everywhere1 then1 in public service as well as free industry1 things are so ordered that nine-tenths of the laborers serve as beasts of burden for the other tenth3 such is the inevitable effect of industrial progress and the indispensable condition of all wealth4 ,it is important to look well at this elementary truth before talking to the people of equality1 liberty1 democratic institutions1 and other utopias1 the realization of which involves a previous complete revolution in the relations of laborers4 ,the most remarkable effect of the division of labor is the decay of literature4 ,in the ,middle ,ages and in antiquity the man of letters1 a sort of encyclopaedic doctor1 a successor of the troubadour and the poet1 all-knowing1 was almighty4 ,literature lorded it over society with a high hand2 kings sought the favor of authors1 or revenged themselves for their contempt by burning them1--them and their books4 ,this1 too1 was a way of recognizing literary sovereignty4 ,today we have manufacturers1 lawyers1 doctors1 bankers1 merchants1 professors1 engineers1 librarians1 etc42 we have no men of letters4 ,or rather1 whoever has risen to a remarkable height in his profession is thereby and of necessity lettered3 literature1 like the baccalaureate1 has become an elementary part of every profession4 ,the man of letters1 reduced to his simplest expression1 is the ,,public ,,writer1 a sort of writing commissioner in the pay of everybody1 whose best-known variety is the journalist4 ,it was a strange idea that occurred to the ,chambers four years ago1-- that of making a law on literary property6 ,as if henceforth the idea was not to become more and more the all-important point1 the style nothing4 ,thanks to ,god1 there is an end of parliamentary eloquence as of epic poetry and mythology2 the theatre rarely attracts business men and savants2 and while the connoisseurs are astonished at the decline of art1 the philosophic observer sees only the progress of manly reason1 troubled rather than rejoiced at these dainty trifles4 ,the interest in romance is sustained only as long as it resembles reality2 history is reducing itself to anthropological exegesis2 everywhere1 indeed1 the art of talking well appears as a subordinate auxiliary of the idea1 the fact4 ,the worship of speech1 too mazy and slow for impatient minds1 is neglected1 and its artifices are losing daily their power of seduction4 ,the language of the nineteenth century is made up of facts and figures1 and he is the most eloquent among us who1 with the fewest words1 can say the most things4 ,whoever cannot speak this language is mercilessly relegated to the ranks of the rhetoricians2 he is said to have no ideas4 ,in a young society the progress of letters necessarily outstrips philosophical and industrial progress1 and for a long time serves for the expression of both4 ,but there comes a day when thought leaves language in the rear1 and when1 consequently1 the continued preeminence of literature in a society becomes a sure symptom of decline4 ,language1 in fact1 is to every people the collection of its native ideas1 the encyclopaedia which ,providence first reveals to it2 it is the field which its reason must cultivate before directly attacking ,nature through observation and experience4 ,now1 as soon as a nation1 after having exhausted the knowledge contained in its vocabulary1 instead of pursuing its education by a superior philosophy1 wraps itself in its poetic mantle1 and begins to play with its periods and its hemistichs1 we may safely say that such a society is lost4 ,everything in it will become subtle1 narrow1 and false2 it will not have even the advantage of maintaining in its splendor the language of which it is foolishly enamored2 instead of going forward in the path of the geniuses of transition1 the ,tacituses1 the ,thucydides1 the ,machiavels1 and the ,montesquieus1 it will be seen to fall1 with irresistible force1 from the majesty of ,cicero to the subtleties of ,seneca1 the antitheses of ,st4 ,augustine1 and the puns of ,st4 ,bernard4 ,let no one1 then1 be deceived3 from the moment that the mind1 at first entirely occupied with speech1 passes to experience and labor1 the man of letters1 properly speaking1 is simply the puny personification of the least of our faculties2 and literature1 the refuse of intelligent industry1 finds a market only with the idlers whom it amuses and the proletaires whom it fascinates1 the jugglers who besiege power and the charlatans who shelter themselves behind it1 the hierophants of divine right who blow the trumpet of ,sinai1 and the fanatical proclaimers of the sovereignty of the people1 whose few mouth-pieces1 compelled to practise their tribunician eloquence from tombs until they can shower it from the height of rostrums1 know no better than to give to the public parodies of ,gracchus and ,demosthenes4 ,all the powers of society1 then1 agree in indefinitely deteriorating the condition of the parcellaire laborer2 and experience1 universally confirming the theory1 proves that this worker is condemned to misfortune from his mother's womb1 no political reform1 no association of interests1 no effort either of public charity or of instruction1 having the power to aid him4 ,the various specifics proposed in these latter days1 far from being able to cure the evil1 would tend rather to inflame it by irritation2 and all that has been written on this point has only exhibited in a clear light the vicious circle of political economy4 ,this we shall demonstrate in a few words4 #b4--;,impotence of palliatives4--,,mm4 ,blanqui1 ,chevalier1 ,dunoyer1 ,rossi1 and ,passy4 ,all the remedies proposed for the fatal effects of parcellaire division may be reduced to two1 which really are but one1 the second being the inversion of the first3 to raise the mental and moral condition of the workingman by increasing his comfort and dignity2 or else1 to prepare the way for his future emancipation and happiness by instruction4 ,we will examine successively these two systems1 one of which is represented by ,m4 ,blanqui1 the other by ,m4 ,chevalier4 ,m4 ,blanqui is a friend of association and progress1 a writer of democratic tendencies1 a professor who has a place in the hearts of the proletariat4 ,in his opening discourse of the year #ahde1 ,m4 ,blanqui proclaimed1 as a means of salvation1 the association of labor and capital1 the participation of the working man in the profits1--that is1 a beginning of industrial solidarity4 ,our century1 he exclaimed1 must witness the birth of the collective producer4 ,m4 ,blanqui forgets that the collective producer was born long since1 as well as the collective consumer1 and that the question is no longer a genetic1 but a medical1 one4 ,our task is to cause the blood proceeding from the collective digestion1 instead of rushing wholly to the head1 stomach1 and lungs1 to descend also into the legs and arms4 ,besides1 ,i do not know what method ,m4 ,blanqui proposes to employ in order to realize his generous thought1--whether it be the establishment of national workshops1 or the loaning of capital by the ,state1 or the expropriation of the conductors of business enterprises and the substitution for them of industrial associations1 or1 finally1 whether he will rest content with a recommendation of the savings bank to workingmen1 in which case the participation would be put off till doomsday4 ,however this may be1 ,m4 ,blanqui's idea amounts simply to an increase of wages resulting from the copartnership1 or at least from the interest in the business1 which he confers upon the laborers4 ,what1 then1 is the value to the laborer of a participation in the profits8 ,a mill with fifteen thousand spindles1 employing three hundred hands1 does not pay at present an annual dividend of twenty thousand francs4 ,i am informed by a ,mulhouse manufacturer that factory stocks in ,alsace are generally below par and that this industry has already become a means of getting money by ,,stock-,,jobbing instead of by ,,labor4 ,to ,,sell2 to sell at the right time2 to sell dear1--is the only object in view2 to manufacture is only to prepare for a sale4 ,when ,i assume1 then1 on an average1 a profit of twenty thousand francs to a factory employing three hundred persons1 my argument being general1 ,i am twenty thousand francs out of the way4 ,nevertheless1 we will admit the correctness of this amount4 ,dividing twenty thousand francs1 the profit of the mill1 by three hundred1 the number of persons1 and again by three hundred1 the number of working days1 ,i find an increase of pay for each person of twenty-two and one-fifth centimes1 or for daily expenditure an addition of eighteen centimes1 just a morsel of bread4 ,is it worth while1 then1 for this1 to expropriate mill-owners and endanger the public welfare1 by erecting establishments which must be insecure1 since1 property being divided into infinitely small shares1 and being no longer supported by profit1 business enterprises would lack ballast1 and would be unable to weather commercial gales4 ,and even if no expropriation was involved1 what a poor prospect to offer the working class is an increase of eighteen centimes in return for centuries of economy2 for no less time than this would be needed to accumulate the requisite capital1 supposing that periodical suspensions of business did not periodically consume its savings6 ,the fact which ,i have just stated has been pointed out in several ways4 ,m4 ,passy#ac himself took from the books of a mill in ,normandy where the laborers were associated with the owner the wages of several families for a period of ten years1 and he found that they averaged from twelve to fourteen hundred francs per year4 ,he then compared the situation of mill-hands paid in proportion to the prices obtained by their employers with that of laborers who receive fixed wages1 and found that the difference is almost imperceptible4 ,this result might easily have been foreseen4 ,economic phenomena obey laws as abstract and immutable as those of numbers3 it is only privilege1 fraud1 and absolutism which disturb the eternal harmony4 #ac ,meeting of the ,academy of ,moral and ,political ,sciences1 ,september1 #ahde4 ,m4 ,blanqui1 repentant1 as it seems1 at having taken this first step toward socialistic ideas1 has made haste to retract his words4 ,at the same meeting in which ,m4 ,passy demonstrated the inadequacy of cooperative association1 he exclaimed3 ,does it not seem that labor is a thing susceptible of organization1 and that it is in the power of the ,state to regulate the happiness of humanity as it does the march of an army1 and with an entirely mathematical precision8 ,this is an evil tendency1 a delusion which the ,academy cannot oppose too strongly1 because it is not only a chimera1 but a dangerous sophism4 ,let us respect good and honest intentions2 but let us not fear to say that to publish a book upon the ,,organization ,,of ,,labor is to rewrite for the fiftieth time a treatise upon the quadrature of the circle or the philosopher's stone4 ,then1 carried away by his zeal1 ,m4 ,blanqui finishes the destruction of his theory of cooperation1 which ,m4 ,passy already had so rudely shaken1 by the following example3 ,m4 ,dailly1 one of the most enlightened of farmers1 has drawn up an account for each piece of land and an account for each product2 and he proves that within a period of thirty years the same man has never obtained equal crops from the same piece of land4 ,the products have varied from twenty-six thousand francs to nine thousand or seven thousand francs1 sometimes descending as low as three hundred francs4 ,there are also certain products--potatoes1 for instance--which fail one time in ten4 ,how1 then1 with these variations and with revenues so uncertain1 can we establish even distribution and uniform wages for laborers8 4 4 4 4 ,it might be answered that the variations in the product of each piece of land simply indicate that it is necessary to associate proprietors with each other after having associated laborers with proprietors1 which would establish a more complete solidarity3 but this would be a prejudgment on the very thing in question1 which ,m4 ,blanqui definitively decides1 after reflection1 to be unattainable1--namely1 the organization of labor4 ,besides1 it is evident that solidarity would not add an obolus to the common wealth1 and that1 consequently1 it does not even touch the problem of division4 ,in short1 the profit so much envied1 and often a very uncertain matter with employers1 falls far short of the difference between actual wages and the wages desired2 and ,m4 ,blanqui's former plan1 miserable in its results and disavowed by its author1 would be a scourge to the manufacturing industry4 ,now1 the division of labor being henceforth universally established1 the argument is generalized1 and leads us to the conclusion that ,,misery ,,is ,,an ,,effect ,,of ,,labor1 as well as of idleness4 ,the answer to this is1 and it is a favorite argument with the people3 ,increase the price of services2 double and triple wages4 ,i confess that if such an increase was possible it would be a complete success1 whatever ,m4 ,chevalier may have said1 who needs to be slightly corrected on this point4 ,according to ,m4 ,chevalier1 if the price of any kind of merchandise whatever is increased1 other kinds will rise in a like proportion1 and no one will benefit thereby4 ,this argument1 which the economists have rehearsed for more than a century1 is as false as it is old1 and it belonged to ,m4 ,chevalier1 as an engineer1 to rectify the economic tradition4 ,the salary of a head clerk being ten francs per day1 and the wages of a workingman four1 if the income of each is increased five francs1 the ratio of their fortunes1 which was formerly as one hundred to forty1 will be thereafter as one hundred to sixty4 ,the increase of wages1 necessarily taking place by addition and not by proportion1 would be1 therefore1 an excellent method of equalization2 and the economists would deserve to have thrown back at them by the socialists the reproach of ignorance which they have bestowed upon them at random4 ,but ,i say that such an increase is impossible1 and that the supposition is absurd3 for1 as ,m4 ,chevalier has shown very clearly elsewhere1 the figure which indicates the price of the day's labor is only an algebraic exponent without effect on the reality3 and that which it is necessary first to endeavor to increase1 while correcting the inequalities of distribution1 is not the monetary expression1 but the quantity of products4 ,till then every rise of wages can have no other effect than that produced by a rise of the price of wheat1 wine1 meat1 sugar1 soap1 coal1 etc41--that is1 the effect of a scarcity4 ,for what is wages8 ,it is the cost price of wheat1 wine1 meat1 coal2 it is the integrant price of all things4 ,let us go farther yet3 wages is the proportionality of the elements which compose wealth1 and which are consumed every day reproductively by the mass of laborers4 ,now1 to double wages1 in the sense in which the people understand the words1 is to give to each producer a share greater than his product1 which is contradictory3 and if the rise pertains only to a few industries1 a general disturbance in exchange ensues1--that is1 a scarcity4 ,god save me from predictions6 but1 in spite of my desire for the amelioration of the lot of the working class1 ,i declare that it is impossible for strikes followed by an increase of wages to end otherwise than in a general rise in prices3 that is as certain as that two and two make four4 ,it is not by such methods that the workingmen will attain to wealth and--what is a thousand times more precious than wealth--liberty4 ,the workingmen1 supported by the favor of an indiscreet press1 in demanding an increase of wages1 have served monopoly much better than their own real interests3 may they recognize1 when their situation shall become more painful1 the bitter fruit of their inexperience6 ,convinced of the uselessness1 or rather1 of the fatal effects1 of an increase of wages1 and seeing clearly that the question is wholly organic and not at all commercial1 ,m4 ,chevalier attacks the problem at the other end4 ,he asks for the working class1 first of all1 instruction1 and proposes extensive reforms in this direction4 ,instruction6 this is also ,m4 ,arago's word to the workingmen2 it is the principle of all progress4 ,instruction6 4 4 4 4 ,it should be known once for all what may be expected from it in the solution of the problem before us2 it should be known1 ,i say1 not whether it is desirable that all should receive it1--this no one doubts1--but whether it is possible4 ,to clearly comprehend the complete significance of ,m4 ,chevalier's views1 a knowledge of his methods is indispensable4 ,m4 ,chevalier1 long accustomed to discipline1 first by his polytechnic studies1 then by his ,st4 ,simonian connections1 and finally by his position in the ,university1 does not seem to admit that a pupil can have any other inclination than to obey the regulations1 a sectarian any other thought than that of his chief1 a public functionary any other opinion than that of the government4 ,this may be a conception of order as respectable as any other1 and ,i hear upon this subject no expressions of approval or censure4 ,has ,m4 ,chevalier an idea to offer peculiar to himself8 ,on the principle that all that is not forbidden by law is allowed1 he hastens to the front to deliver his opinion1 and then abandons it to give his adhesion1 if there is occasion1 to the opinion of authority4 ,it was thus that ,m4 ,chevalier1 before settling down in the bosom of the ,constitution1 joined ,m4 ,enfantin3 it was thus that he gave his views upon canals1 railroads1 finance1 property1 long before the administration had adopted any system in relation to the construction of railways1 the changing of the rate of interest on bonds1 patents1 literary property1 etc4 ,m4 ,chevalier1 then1 is not a blind admirer of the ,university system of instruction1--far from it2 and until the appearance of the new order of things1 he does not hesitate to say what he thinks4 ,his opinions are of the most radical4 ,m4 ,villemain had said in his report3 ,the object of the higher education is to prepare in advance a choice of men to occupy and serve in all the positions of the administration1 the magistracy1 the bar and the various liberal professions1 including the higher ranks and learned specialties of the army and navy4 ,the higher education1 thereupon observes ,m4 ,chevalier1#ad is designed also to prepare men some of whom shall be farmers1 others manufacturers1 these merchants1 and those private engineers4 ,now1 in the official programme1 all these classes are forgotten4 ,the omission is of considerable importance2 for1 indeed1 industry in its various forms1 agriculture1 commerce1 are neither accessories nor accidents in a ,state3 they are its chief dependence4 4 4 4 ,if the ,university desires to justify its name1 it must provide a course in these things2 else an ,,industrial ,,university will be established in opposition to it4 4 4 4 ,we shall have altar against altar1 etc4 4 4 4 #ad ,journal des ,economistes1 ,april1 #ahdc4 ,and as it is characteristic of a luminous idea to throw light on all questions connected with it1 professional instruction furnishes ,m4 ,chevalier with a very expeditious method of deciding1 incidentally1 the quarrel between the clergy and the ,university on liberty of education4 ,it must be admitted that a very great concession is made to the clergy in allowing ,latin to serve as the basis of education4 ,the clergy know ,latin as well as the ,university2 it is their own tongue4 ,their tuition1 moreover1 is cheaper2 hence they must inevitably draw a large portion of our youth into their small seminaries and their schools of a higher grade4 4 4 4 ,the conclusion of course follows3 change the course of study1 and you decatholicize the realm2 and as the clergy know only ,latin and the ,bible1 when they have among them neither masters of art1 nor farmers1 nor accountants2 when1 of their forty thousand priests1 there are not twenty1 perhaps1 with the ability to make a plan or forge a nail1--we soon shall see which the fathers of families will choose1 industry or the breviary1 and whether they do not regard labor as the most beautiful language in which to pray to ,god4 ,thus would end this ridiculous opposition between religious education and profane science1 between the spiritual and the temporal1 between reason and faith1 between altar and throne1 old rubrics henceforth meaningless1 but with which they still impose upon the good nature of the public1 until it takes offence4 ,m4 ,chevalier does not insist1 however1 on this solution3 he knows that religion and monarchy are two powers which1 though continually quarrelling1 cannot exist without each other2 and that he may not awaken suspicion1 he launches out into another revolutionary idea1--equality4 ,france is in a position to furnish the polytechnic school with twenty times as many scholars as enter at present 7the average being one hundred and seventy-six1 this would amount to three thousand five hundred and twenty74 ,the ,university has but to say the word4 4 4 4 ,if my opinion was of any weight1 ,i should maintain that mathematical capacity is ,,much ,,less ,,special than is commonly supposed4 ,i remember the success with which children1 taken at random1 so to speak1 from the pavements of ,paris1 follow the teaching of ,la ,martiniere by the method of ,captain ,tabareau4 ,if the higher education1 reconstructed according to the views of ,m4 ,chevalier1 was sought after by all young ,french men instead of by only ninety thousand as commonly1 there would be no exaggeration in raising the estimate of the number of minds mathematically inclined from three thousand five hundred and twenty to ten thousand2 but1 by the same argument1 we should have ten thousand artists1 philologists1 and philosophers2 ten thousand doctors1 physicians1 chemists1 and naturalists2 ten thousand economists1 legists1 and administrators2 twenty thousand manufacturers1 foremen1 merchants1 and accountants2 forty thousand farmers1 wine-growers1 miners1 etc41--in all1 one hundred thousand specialists a year1 or about one-third of our youth4 ,the rest1 having1 instead of special adaptations1 only mingled adaptations1 would be distributed indifferently elsewhere4 ,it is certain that so powerful an impetus given to intelligence would quicken the progress of equality1 and ,i do not doubt that such is the secret desire of ,m4 ,chevalier4 ,but that is precisely what troubles me3 capacity is never wanting1 any more than population1 and the problem is to find employment for the one and bread for the other4 ,in vain does ,m4 ,chevalier tell us3 ,the higher education would give less ground for the complaint that it throws into society crowds of ambitious persons without any means of satisfying their desires1 and interested in the overthrow of the ,state2 people without employment and unable to get any1 good for nothing and believing themselves fit for anything1 especially for the direction of public affairs4 ,scientific studies do not so inflate the mind4 ,they enlighten and regulate it at once2 they fit men for practical life4 4 4 4 ,such language1 ,i reply1 is good to use with patriarchs3 a professor of political economy should have more respect for his position and his audience4 ,the government has only one hundred and twenty offices annually at its disposal for one hundred and seventy-six students admitted to the polytechnic school3 what1 then1 would be its embarrassment if the number of admissions was ten thousand1 or even1 taking ,m4 ,chevalier's figures1 three thousand five hundred8 ,and1 to generalize1 the whole number of civil positions is sixty thousand1 or three thousand vacancies annually2 what dismay would the government be thrown into if1 suddenly adopting the reformatory ideas of ,m4 ,chevalier1 it should find itself besieged by fifty thousand office- seekers6 ,the following objection has often been made to republicans without eliciting a reply3 ,when everybody shall have the electoral privilege1 will the deputies do any better1 and will the proletariat be further advanced8 ,i ask the same question of ,m4 ,chevalier3 ,when each academic year shall bring you one hundred thousand fitted men1 what will you do with them8 ,to provide for these interesting young people1 you will go down to the lowest round of the ladder4 ,you will oblige the young man1 after fifteen years of lofty study1 to begin1 no longer as now with the offices of aspirant engineer1 sub-lieutenant of artillery1 second lieutenant1 deputy1 comptroller1 general guardian1 etc41 but with the ignoble positions of pioneer1 train-soldier1 dredger1 cabin-boy1 fagot- maker1 and exciseman4 ,there he will wait1 until death1 thinning the ranks1 enables him to advance a step4 ,under such circumstances a man1 a graduate of the polytechnic school and capable of becoming a ,vauban1 may die a laborer on a second class road1 or a corporal in a regiment ,oh6 how much more prudent ,catholicism has shown itself1 and how far it has surpassed you all1 ,st4 ,simonians1 republicans1 university men1 economists1 in the knowledge of man and society6 ,the priest knows that our life is but a voyage1 and that our perfection cannot be realized here below2 and he contents himself with outlining on earth an education which must be completed in heaven4 ,the man whom religion has moulded1 content to know1 do1 and obtain what suffices for his earthly destiny1 never can become a source of embarrassment to the government3 rather would he be a martyr4 ,o beloved religion6 is it necessary that a bourgeoisie which stands in such need of you should disown you8 4 4 4 ,into what terrible struggles of pride and misery does this mania for universal instruction plunge us6 ,of what use is professional education1 of what good are agricultural and commercial schools1 if your students have neither employment nor capital8 ,and what need to cram one's self till the age of twenty with all sorts of knowledge1 then to fasten the threads of a mule-jenny or pick coal at the bottom of a pit8 ,what6 you have by your own confession only three thousand positions annually to bestow upon fifty thousand possible capacities1 and yet you talk of establishing schools6 ,cling rather to your system of exclusion and privilege1 a system as old as the world1 the support of dynasties and patriciates1 a veritable machine for gelding men in order to secure the pleasures of a caste of ,sultans4 ,set a high price upon your teaching1 multiply obstacles1 drive away1 by lengthy tests1 the son of the proletaire whom hunger does not permit to wait1 and protect with all your power the ecclesiastical schools1 where the students are taught to labor for the other life1 to cultivate resignation1 to fast1 to respect those in high places1 to love the king1 and to pray to ,god4 ,for every useless study sooner or later becomes an abandoned study3 knowledge is poison to slaves4 ,surely ,m4 ,chevalier has too much sagacity not to have seen the consequences of his idea4 ,but he has spoken from the bottom of his heart1 and we can only applaud his good intentions3 men must first be men2 after that1 he may live who can4 ,thus we advance at random1 guided by ,providence1 who never warns us except with a blow3 this is the beginning and end of political economy4 ,contrary to ,m4 ,chevalier1 professor of political economy at the ,college of ,france1 ,m4 ,dunoyer1 an economist of the ,institute1 does not wish instruction to be organized4 ,the organization of instruction is a species of organization of labor2 therefore1 no organization4 ,instruction1 observes ,m4 ,dunoyer1 is a profession1 not a function of the ,state2 like all professions1 it ought to be and remain free4 ,it is communism1 it is socialism1 it is the revolutionary tendency1 whose principal agents have been ,robespierre1 ,napoleon1 ,louis ,,xviii1 and ,m4 ,guizot1 which have thrown into our midst these fatal ideas of the centralization and absorption of all activity in the ,state4 ,the press is very free1 and the pen of the journalist is an object of merchandise2 religion1 too1 is very free1 and every wearer of a gown1 be it short or long1 who knows how to excite public curiosity1 can draw an audience about him4 ,m4 ,lacordaire has his devotees1 ,m4 ,leroux his apostles1 ,m4 ,buchez his convent4 ,why1 then1 should not instruction also be free8 ,if the right of the instructed1 like that of the buyer1 is unquestionable1 and that of the instructor1 who is only a variety of the seller1 is its correlative1 it is impossible to infringe upon the liberty of instruction without doing violence to the most precious of liberties1 that of the conscience4 ,and then1 adds ,m4 ,dunoyer1 if the ,state owes instruction to everybody1 it will soon be maintained that it owes labor2 then lodging2 then shelter4 4 4 4 ,where does that lead to8 ,the argument of ,m4 ,dunoyer is irrefutable3 to organize instruction is to give to every citizen a pledge of liberal employment and comfortable wages2 the two are as intimately connected as the circulation of the arteries and the veins4 ,but ,m4 ,dunoyer's theory implies also that progress belongs only to a certain select portion of humanity1 and that barbarism is the eternal lot of nine-tenths of the human race4 ,it is this which constitutes1 according to ,m4 ,dunoyer1 the very essence of society1 which manifests itself in three stages1 religion1 hierarchy1 and beggary4 ,so that in this system1 which is that of ,destutt de ,tracy1 ,montesquieu1 and ,plato1 the antinomy of division1 like that of value1 is without solution4 ,it is a source of inexpressible pleasure to me1 ,i confess1 to see ,m4 ,chevalier1 a defender of the centralization of instruction1 opposed by ,m4 ,dunoyer1 a defender of liberty2 ,m4 ,dunoyer in his turn antagonized by ,m4 ,guizot2 ,m4 ,guizot1 the representative of the centralizers1 contradicting the ,charter1 which posits liberty as a principle2 the ,charter trampled under foot by the ,university men1 who lay sole claim to the privilege of teaching1 regardless of the express command of the ,gospel to the priests3 ,,go ,,and ,,teach4 ,and above all this tumult of economists1 legislators1 ministers1 academicians1 professors1 and priests1 economic ,providence giving the lie to the ,gospel1 and shouting3 ,pedagogues6 what use am ,i to make of your instruction8 ,who will relieve us of this anxiety8 ,m4 ,rossi leans toward eclecticism3 ,too little divided1 he says1 labor remains unproductive2 too much divided1 it degrades man4 ,wisdom lies between these extremes2 in medio virtus4 ,unfortunately this intermediate wisdom is only a small amount of poverty joined with a small amount of wealth1 so that the condition is not modified in the least4 ,the proportion of good and evil1 instead of being as one hundred to one hundred1 becomes as fifty to fifty3 in this we may take1 once for all1 the measure of eclecticism4 ,for the rest1 ,m4 ,rossi's juste-milieu is in direct opposition to the great economic law3 ,,to ,,produce ,,with ,,the ,,least ,,possible ,,expense ,,the ,,greatest ,,possible ,,quantity ,,of ,,values4 4 4 4 ,now1 how can labor fulfil its destiny without an extreme division8 ,let us look farther1 if you please4 ,all economic systems and hypotheses1 says ,m4 ,rossi1 belong to the economist1 but the intelligent1 free1 responsible man is under the control of the moral law4 4 4 ,political economy is only a science which examines the relations of things1 and draws conclusions therefrom4 ,it examines the effects of labor2 in the application of labor1 you should consider the importance of the object in view4 ,when the application of labor is unfavorable to an object higher than the production of wealth1 it should not be applied4 4 4 ,suppose that it would increase the national wealth to compel children to labor fifteen hours a day3 morality would say that that is not allowable4 ,does that prove that political economy is false8 ,no2 that proves that you confound things which should be kept separate4 ,if ,m4 ,rossi had a little more of that ,gallic simplicity so difficult for foreigners to acquire1 he would very summarily have ,,thrown ,,his ,,tongue ,,to ,,the ,,dogs1 as ,madame de ,sevigne said4 ,but a professor must talk1 talk1 talk1 not for the sake of saying anything1 but in order to avoid silence4 ,m4 ,rossi takes three turns around the question1 then lies down3 that is enough to make certain people believe that he has answered it4 ,it is surely a sad symptom for a science when1 in developing itself according to its own principles1 it reaches its object just in time to be contradicted by another2 as1 for example1 when the postulates of political economy are found to be opposed to those of morality1 for ,i suppose that morality is a science as well as political economy4 ,what1 then1 is human knowledge1 if all its affirmations destroy each other1 and on what shall we rely8 ,divided labor is a slave's occupation1 but it alone is really productive2 undivided labor belongs to the free man1 but it does not pay its expenses4 ,on the one hand1 political economy tells us to be rich2 on the other1 morality tells us to be free2 and ,m4 ,rossi1 speaking in the name of both1 warns us at the same time that we can be neither free nor rich1 for to be but half of either is to be neither4 ,m4 ,rossi's doctrine1 then1 far from satisfying this double desire of humanity1 is open to the objection that1 to avoid exclusiveness1 it strips us of everything3 it is1 under another form1 the history of the representative system4 ,but the antagonism is even more profound than ,m4 ,rossi has supposed4 ,for since1 according to universal experience 7on this point in harmony with theory71 wages decrease in proportion to the division of labor1 it is clear that1 in submitting ourselves to parcellaire slavery1 we thereby shall not obtain wealth2 we shall only change men into machines3 witness the laboring population of the two worlds4 ,and since1 on the other hand1 without the division of labor1 society falls back into barbarism1 it is evident also that1 by sacrificing wealth1 we shall not obtain liberty3 witness all the wandering tribes of ,asia and ,africa4 ,therefore it is necessary--economic science and morality absolutely command it--for us to solve the problem of division3 now1 where are the economists8 ,more than thirty years ago1 ,lemontey1 developing a remark of ,smith1 exposed the demoralizing and homicidal influence of the division of labor4 ,what has been the reply2 what investigations have been made2 what remedies proposed2 has the question even been understood8 ,every year the economists report1 with an exactness which ,i would commend more highly if ,i did not see that it is always fruitless1 the commercial condition of the ,states of ,europe4 ,they know how many yards of cloth1 pieces of silk1 pounds of iron1 have been manufactured2 what has been the consumption per head of wheat1 wine1 sugar1 meat3 it might be said that to them the ultimate of science is to publish inventories1 and the object of their labor is to become general comptrollers of nations4 ,never did such a mass of material offer so fine a field for investigation4 ,what has been found2 what new principle has sprung from this mass2 what solution of the many problems of long standing has been reached2 what new direction have studies taken8 ,one question1 among others1 seems to have been prepared for a final judgment1--pauperism4 ,pauperism1 of all the phenomena of the civilized world1 is today the best known3 we know pretty nearly whence it comes1 when and how it arrives1 and what it costs2 its proportion at various stages of civilization has been calculated1 and we have convinced ourselves that all the specifics with which it hitherto has been fought have been impotent4 ,pauperism has been divided into genera1 species1 and varieties3 it is a complete natural history1 one of the most important branches of anthropology4 ,well ,i the unquestionable result of all the facts collected1 unseen1 shunned1 covered by the economists with their silence1 is that pauperism is constitutional and chronic in society as long as the antagonism between labor and capital continues1 and that this antagonism can end only by the absolute negation of political economy4 ,what issue from this labyrinth have the economists discovered8 ,this last point deserves a moment's attention4 ,in primitive communism misery1 as ,i have observed in a preceding paragraph1 is the universal condition4 ,labor is war declared upon this misery4 ,labor organizes itself1 first by division1 next by machinery1 then by competition1 etc4 ,now1 the question is whether it is not in the essence of this organization1 as given us by political economy1 at the same time that it puts an end to the misery of some1 to aggravate that of others in a fatal and unavoidable manner4 ,these are the terms in which the question of pauperism must be stated1 and for this reason we have undertaken to solve it4 ,what means1 then1 this eternal babble of the economists about the improvidence of laborers1 their idleness1 their want of dignity1 their ignorance1 their debauchery1 their early marriages1 etc48 ,all these vices and excesses are only the cloak of pauperism2 but the cause1 the original cause which inexorably holds four-fifths of the human race in disgrace1--what is it8 ,did not ,nature make all men equally gross1 averse to labor1 wanton1 and wild8 ,did not patrician and proletaire spring from the same clay8 ,then how happens it that1 after so many centuries1 and in spite of so many miracles of industry1 science1 and art1 comfort and culture have not become the inheritance of all8 ,how happens it that in ,paris and ,london1 centres of social wealth1 poverty is as hideous as in the days of ,caesar and ,agricola8 ,why1 by the side of this refined aristocracy1 has the mass remained so uncultivated8 ,it is laid to the vices of the people3 but the vices of the upper class appear to be no less2 perhaps they are even greater4 ,the original stain affected all alike3 how happens it1 once more1 that the baptism of civilization has not been equally efficacious for all8 ,does this not show that progress itself is a privilege1 and that the man who has neither wagon nor horse is forced to flounder about for ever in the mud8 ,what do ,i say8 ,the totally destitute man has no desire to improve3 he has fallen so low that ambition even is extinguished in his heart4 ,of all the private virtues1 observes ,m4 ,dunoyer with infinite reason1 the most necessary1 that which gives us all the others in succession1 is the passion for well-being1 is the violent desire to extricate one's self from misery and abjection1 is that spirit of emulation and dignity which does not permit men to rest content with an inferior situation4 4 4 4 ,but this sentiment1 which seems so natural1 is unfortunately much less common than is thought4 ,there are few reproaches which the generality of men deserve less than that which ascetic moralists bring against them of being too fond of their comforts3 the opposite reproach might be brought against them with infinitely more justice4 4 4 4 ,there is even in the nature of men this very remarkable feature1 that the less their knowledge and resources1 the less desire they have of acquiring these4 ,the most miserable savages and the least enlightened of men are precisely those in whom it is most difficult to arouse wants1 those in whom it is hardest to inspire the desire to rise out of their condition2 so that man must already have gained a certain degree of comfort by his labor1 before he can feel with any keenness that need of improving his condition1 of perfecting his existence1 which ,i call the love of well-being4#ae #ae ,the ,liberty of ,labor1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 p4 #hj4 ,thus the misery of the laboring classes arises in general from their lack of heart and mind1 or1 as ,m4 ,passy has said somewhere1 from the weakness1 the inertia of their moral and intellectual faculties4 ,this inertia is due to the fact that the said laboring classes1 still half savage1 do not have a sufficiently ardent desire to ameliorate their condition3 this ,m4 ,dunoyer shows4 ,but as this absence of desire is itself the effect of misery1 it follows that misery and apathy are each other's effect and cause1 and that the proletariat turns in a circle4 ,to rise out of this abyss there must be either well-being1--that is1 a gradual increase of wages1--or intelligence and courage1--that is1 a gradual development of faculties3 two things diametrically opposed to the degradation of soul and body which is the natural effect of the division of labor4 ,the misfortune of the proletariat1 then1 is wholly providential1 and to undertake to extinguish it in the present state of political economy would be to produce a revolutionary whirlwind4 ,for it is not without a profound reason1 rooted in the loftiest considerations of morality1 that the universal conscience1 expressing itself by turns through the selfishness of the rich and the apathy of the proletariat1 denies a reward to the man whose whole function is that of a lever and spring4 ,if1 by some impossibility1 material well-being could fall to the lot of the parcellaire laborer1 we should see something monstrous happen3 the laborers employed at disagreeable tasks would become like those ,romans1 gorged with the wealth of the world1 whose brutalized minds became incapable of devising new pleasures4 ,well-being without education stupefies people and makes them insolent3 this was noticed in the most ancient times4 ,incrassatus est1 et recalcitravit1 says ,deuteronomy4 ,for the rest1 the parcellaire laborer has judged himself3 he is content1 provided he has bread1 a pallet to sleep on1 and plenty of liquor on ,sunday4 ,any other condition would be prejudicial to him1 and would endanger public order4 ,at ,lyons there is a class of men who1 under cover of the monopoly given them by the city government1 receive higher pay than college professors or the head-clerks of the government ministers3 ,i mean the porters4 ,the price of loading and unloading at certain wharves in ,lyons1 according to the schedule of the ,rigues or porters' associations1 is thirty centimes per hundred kilogrammes4 ,at this rate1 it is not seldom that a man earns twelve1 fifteen1 and even twenty francs a day3 he only has to carry forty or fifty sacks from a vessel to a warehouse4 ,it is but a few hours' work4 ,what a favorable condition this would be for the development of intelligence1 as well for children as for parents1 if1 of itself and the leisure which it brings1 wealth was a moralizing principle6 ,but this is not the case3 the porters of ,lyons are today what they always have been1 drunken1 dissolute1 brutal1 insolent1 selfish1 and base4 ,it is a painful thing to say1 but ,i look upon the following declaration as a duty1 because it is the truth3 one of the first reforms to be effected among the laboring classes will be the reduction of the wages of some at the same time that we raise those of others4 ,monopoly does not gain in respectability by belonging to the lowest classes of people1 especially when it serves to maintain only the grossest individualism4 ,the revolt of the silk-workers met with no sympathy1 but rather hostility1 from the porters and the river population generally4 ,nothing that happens off the wharves has any power to move them4 ,beasts of burden fashioned in advance for despotism1 they will not mingle with politics as long as their privilege is maintained4 ,nevertheless1 ,i ought to say in their defence that1 some time ago1 the necessities of competition having brought their prices down1 more social sentiments began to awaken in these gross natures3 a few more reductions seasoned with a little poverty1 and the ,rigues of ,lyons will be chosen as the storming-party when the time comes for assaulting the bastilles4 ,in short1 it is impossible1 contradictory1 in the present system of society1 for the proletariat to secure well-being through education or education through well-being4 ,for1 without considering the fact that the proletaire1 a human machine1 is as unfit for comfort as for education1 it is demonstrated1 on the one hand1 that his wages continually tend to go down rather than up1 and1 on the other1 that the cultivation of his mind1 if it were possible1 would be useless to him2 so that he always inclines towards barbarism and misery4 ,everything that has been attempted of late years in ,france and ,england with a view to the amelioration of the condition of the poor in the matters of the labor of women and children and of primary instruction1 unless it was the fruit of some hidden thought of radicalism1 has been done contrary to economic ideas and to the prejudice of the established order4 ,progress1 to the mass of laborers1 is always the book sealed with the seven seals2 and it is not by legislative misconstructions that the relentless enigma will be solved4 ,for the rest1 if the economists1 by exclusive attention to their old routine1 have finally lost all knowledge of the present state of things1 it cannot be said that the socialists have better solved the antinomy which division of labor raised4 ,quite the contrary1 they have stopped with negation2 for is it not perpetual negation to oppose1 for instance1 the uniformity of parcellaire labor with a so-called variety in which each one can change his occupation ten1 fifteen1 twenty times a day at will8 ,as if to change ten1 fifteen1 twenty times a day from one kind of divided labor to another was to make labor synthetic2 as if1 consequently1 twenty fractions of the day's work of a manual laborer could be equal to the day's work of an artist6 ,even if such industrial vaulting was practicable1--and it may be asserted in advance that it would disappear in the presence of the necessity of making laborers responsible and therefore functions personal1--it would not change at all the physical1 moral1 and intellectual condition of the laborer2 the dissipation would only be a surer guarantee of his incapacity and1 consequently1 his dependence4 ,this is admitted1 moreover1 by the organizers1 communists1 and others4 ,so far are they from pretending to solve the antinomy of division that all of them admit1 as an essential condition of organization1 the hierarchy of labor1--that is1 the classification of laborers into parcellaires and generalizers or organizers1--and in all utopias the distinction of capacities1 the basis or everlasting excuse for inequality of goods1 is admitted as a pivot4 ,those reformers whose schemes have nothing to recommend them but logic1 and who1 after having complained of the ,,simplism1 monotony1 uniformity1 and extreme division of labor1 then propose a ,,plurality as a ,,synthesis1--such inventors1 ,i say1 are judged already1 and ought to be sent back to school4 ,but you1 critic1 the reader undoubtedly will ask1 what is your solution8 ,show us this synthesis which1 retaining the responsibility1 the personality1 in short1 the specialty of the laborer1 will unite extreme division and the greatest variety in one complex and harmonious whole4 ,my reply is ready3 ,interrogate facts1 consult humanity3 we can choose no better guide4 ,after the oscillations of value1 division of labor is the economic fact which influences most perceptibly profits and wages4 ,it is the first stake driven by ,providence into the soil of industry1 the starting-point of the immense triangulation which finally must determine the right and duty of each and all4 ,let us1 then1 follow our guides1 without which we can only wander and lose ourselves4 ,tu longe sequere1 et vestigia semper adora4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,second ,,period4--,,machinery4 ,i have witnessed with profound regret the ,,continuance ,,of ,,distress in the manufacturing districts of the country4 ,words of ,queen ,victoria on the reassembling of parliament4 ,if there is anything of a nature to cause sovereigns to reflect1 it is that1 more or less impassible spectators of human calamities1 they are1 by the very constitution of society and the nature of their power1 absolutely powerless to cure the sufferings of their subjects2 they are even prohibited from paying any attention to them4 ,every question of labor and wages1 say with one accord the economic and representative theorists1 must remain outside of the attributes of power4 ,from the height of the glorious sphere where religion has placed them1 thrones1 dominations1 principalities1 powers1 and all the heavenly host view the torment of society1 beyond the reach of its stress2 but their power does not extend over the winds and floods4 ,kings can do nothing for the salvation of mortals4 ,and1 in truth1 these theorists are right3 the prince is established to maintain1 not to revolutionize2 to protect reality1 not to bring about utopia4 ,he represents one of the antagonistic principles3 hence1 if he were to establish harmony1 he would eliminate himself1 which on his part would be sovereignly unconstitutional and absurd4 ,but as1 in spite of theories1 the progress of ideas is incessantly changing the external form of institutions in such a way as to render continually necessary exactly that which the legislator neither desires nor foresees1--so that1 for instance1 questions of taxation become questions of distribution2 those of public utility1 questions of national labor and industrial organization2 those of finance1 operations of credit2 and those of international law1 questions of customs duties and markets1--it stands as demonstrated that the prince1 who1 according to theory1 should never interfere with things which nevertheless1 without theory's foreknowledge1 are daily and irresistibly becoming matters of government1 is and can be henceforth1 like ,divinity from which he emanates1 whatever may be said1 only an hypothesis1 a fiction4 ,and finally1 as it is impossible that the prince and the interests which it is his mission to defend should consent to diminish and disappear before emergent principles and new rights posited1 it follows that progress1 after being accomplished in the mind insensibly1 is realized in society by leaps1 and that force1 in spite of the calumny of which it is the object1 is the necessary condition of reforms4 ,every society in which the power of insurrection is suppressed is a society dead to progress3 there is no truth of history better proven4 ,and what ,i say of constitutional monarchies is equally true of representative democracies3 everywhere the social compact has united power and conspired against life1 it being impossible for the legislator either to see that he was working against his own ends or to proceed otherwise4 ,monarchs and representatives1 pitiable actors in parliamentary comedies1 this in the last analysis is what you are3 talismans against the future6 ,every year brings you the grievances of the people2 and when you are asked for the remedy1 your wisdom covers its face6 ,is it necessary to support privilege1--that is1 that consecration of the right of the strongest which created you and which is changing every day8 ,promptly1 at the slightest nod of your head1 a numerous army starts up1 runs to arms1 and forms in line of battle4 ,and when the people complain that1 in spite of their labor and precisely because of their labor1 misery devours them1 when society asks you for life1 you recite acts of mercy6 ,all your energy is expended for conservatism1 all your virtue vanishes in aspirations6 ,like the ,pharisee1 instead of feeding your father1 you pray for him6 ,ah6 ,i tell you1 we possess the secret of your mission3 you exist only to prevent us from living4 ,nolite ergo imperare1 get you gone6 ,as for us1 who view the mission of power from quite another standpoint1 and who wish the special work of government to be precisely that of exploring the future1 searching for progress1 and securing for all liberty1 equality1 health1 and wealth1 we continue our task of criticism courageously1 entirely sure that1 when we have laid bare the cause of the evils of society1 the principle of its fevers1 the motive of its disturbances1 we shall not lack the power to apply the remedy4 #a4--,of the function of machinery in its relations to liberty4 ,the introduction of machinery into industry is accomplished in opposition to the law of division1 and as if to reestablish the equilibrium profoundly compromised by that law4 ,to truly appreciate the significance of this movement and grasp its spirit1 a few general considerations become necessary4 ,modern philosophers1 after collecting and classifying their annals1 have been led by the nature of their labors to deal also with history3 then it was that they saw1 not without surprise1 that the ,,history ,,of ,,philosophy was the same thing at bottom as the ,,philosophy ,,of ,,history2 further1 that these two branches of speculation1 so different in appearance1 the history of philosophy and the philosophy of history1 were also only the stage representation of the concepts of metaphysics1 which is philosophy entire4 ,now1 dividing the material of universal history among a certain number of frames1 such as mathematics1 natural history1 social economy1 etc41 it will be found that each of these divisions contains also metaphysics4 ,and it will be the same down to the last subdivision of the totality of history3 so that entire philosophy lies at the bottom of every natural or industrial manifestation2 that it is no respecter of degrees or qualities2 that1 to rise to its sublimest conceptions1 all prototypes may be employed equally well2 and1 finally1 that1 all the postulates of reason meeting in the most modest industry as well as in the most general sciences1 to make every artisan a philosopher1--that is1 a generalizing and highly synthetic mind1--it would be enough to teach him--what8 his profession4 ,hitherto1 it is true1 philosophy1 like wealth1 has been reserved for certain classes3 we have the philosophy of history1 the philosophy of law1 and some other philosophies also2 this is a sort of appropriation which1 like many others of equally noble origin1 must disappear4 ,but1 to consummate this immense equation1 it is necessary to begin with the philosophy of labor1 after which each laborer will be able to attempt in his turn the philosophy of his trade4 ,thus every product of art and industry1 every political and religious constitution1 like every creature organized or unorganized1 being only a realization1 a natural or practical application1 of philosophy1 the identity of the laws of nature and reason1 of being and idea1 is demonstrated2 and when1 for our own purpose1 we establish the constant conformity of economic phenomena to the pure laws of thought1 the equivalence of the real and the ideal in human facts1 we only repeat in a particular case this eternal demonstration4 ,what do we say1 in fact8 ,to determine value1--in other words1 to organize within itself the production and distribution of wealth1--society proceeds exactly as the mind does in the generation of concepts4 ,first it posits a primary fact1 acts upon a primary hypothesis1 the division of labor1 a veritable antinomy1 the antagonistic results of which are evolved in social economy1 just as the consequences might have been deduced in the mind3 so that the industrial movement1 following in all respects the deduction of ideas1 is divided into a double current1 one of useful effects1 the other of subversive results1 all equally necessary and legitimate products of the same law4 ,to harmonically establish this two-faced principle and solve this antinomy1 society evokes a second1 soon to be followed by a third2 and such will be the progress of the social genius until1 having exhausted all its contradictions1--supposing1 though it is not proved1 that there is an end to contradiction in humanity1--it shall cover with one backward leap all its previous positions and in a single formula solve all problems4 ,in following in our exposition this method of the parallel development of the reality and the idea1 we find a double advantage3 first1 that of escaping the reproach of materialism1 so often applied to economists1 to whom facts are truth simply because they are facts1 and material facts4 ,to us1 on the contrary1 facts are not matter1--for we do not know what the word matter means1--but visible manifestations of invisible ideas4 ,so viewed1 the value of facts is measured by the idea which they represent2 and that is why we have rejected as illegitimate and non-conclusive useful value and value in exchange1 and later the division of labor itself1 although to the economists all these have an absolute authority4 ,on the other hand1 it is as impossible to accuse us of spiritualism1 idealism1 or mysticism3 for1 admitting as a point of departure only the external manifestation of the idea1--the idea which we do not know1 which does not exist1 as long as it is not reflected1 like light1 which would be nothing if the sun existed by itself in an infinite void1--and brushing aside all a priori reasoning upon theogony and cosmogony1 all inquiry into substance1 cause1 the me and the not-me1 we confine ourselves to searching for the ,,laws of being and to following the order of their appearance as far as reason can reach4 ,doubtless all knowledge brings up at last against a mystery3 such1 for instance1 as matter and mind1 both of which we admit as two unknown essences1 upon which all phenomena rest4 ,but this is not to say that mystery is the point of departure of knowledge1 or that mysticism is the necessary condition of logic3 quite the contrary1 the spontaneity of our reason tends to the perpetual rejection of mysticism2 it makes an a priori protest against all mystery1 because it has no use for mystery except to deny it1 and because the negation of mysticism is the only thing for which reason has no need of experience4 ,in short1 human facts are the incarnation of human ideas3 therefore1 to study the laws of social economy is to constitute the theory of the laws of reason and create philosophy4 ,we may now pursue the course of our investigation4 ,at the end of the preceding chapter we left the laborer at loggerheads with the law of division3 how will this indefatigable ,oedipus manage to solve this enigma8 ,in society the incessant appearance of machinery is the antithesis1 the inverse formula1 of the division of labor2 it is the protest of the industrial genius against parcellaire and homicidal labor4 ,what is a machine1 in fact8 ,a method of reuniting divers particles of labor which division had separated4 ,every machine may be defined as a summary of several operations1 a simplification of powers1 a condensation of labor1 a reduction of costs4 ,in all these respects machinery is the counterpart of division4 ,therefore through machinery will come a restoration of the parcellaire laborer1 a decrease of toil for the workman1 a fall in the price of his product1 a movement in the relation of values1 progress towards new discoveries1 advancement of the general welfare4 ,as the discovery of a formula gives a new power to the geometer1 so the invention of a machine is an abridgment of manual labor which multiplies the power of the producer1 from which it may be inferred that the antinomy of the division of labor1 if not entirely destroyed1 will be balanced and neutralized4 ,no one should fail to read the lectures of ,m4 ,chevalier setting forth the innumerable advantages resulting to society from the intervention of machinery2 they make a striking picture to which ,i take pleasure in referring my reader4 ,machinery1 positing itself in political economy in opposition to the division of labor1 represents synthesis opposing itself in the human mind to analysis2 and just as in the division of labor and in machinery1 as we shall soon see1 political economy entire is contained1 so with analysis and synthesis goes the possession of logic entire1 of philosophy4 ,the man who labors proceeds necessarily and by turns by division and the aid of tools2 likewise1 he who reasons performs necessarily and by turns the operations of synthesis and analysis1 nothing more1 absolutely nothing4 ,and labor and reason will never get beyond this3 ,prometheus1 like ,neptune1 attains in three strides the confines of the world4 ,from these principles1 as simple and as luminous as axioms1 immense consequences follow4 ,as in the operation of the mind analysis and synthesis are essentially inseparable1 and as1 looking at the matter from another point1 theory becomes legitimate only on condition of following experience foot by foot1 it follows that labor1 uniting analysis and synthesis1 theory and experience1 in a continuous action1--labor1 the external form of logic and consequently a summary of reality and idea1--appears again as a universal method of instruction4 ,fit fabricando faber3 of all systems of education the most absurd is that which separates intelligence from activity1 and divides man into two impossible entities1 theorizer and automaton4 ,that is why we applaud the just complaints of ,m4 ,chevalier1 ,m4 ,dunoyer1 and all those who demand reform in university education2 on that also rests the hope of the results that we have promised ourselves from such reform4 ,if education were first of all experimental and practical1 reserving speech only to explain1 summarize1 and coordinate work2 if those who cannot learn with imagination and memory were permitted to learn with their eyes and hands1--soon we should witness a multiplication1 not only of the forms of labor1 but of capacities2 everybody1 knowing the theory of something1 would thereby possess the language of philosophy2 on occasion he could1 were it only for once in his life1 create1 modify1 perfect1 give proof of intelligence and comprehension1 produce his master-piece1 in a word1 show himself a man4 ,the inequality in the acquisitions of memory would not affect the equivalence of faculties1 and genius would no longer seem to us other than what it really is1--mental health4 ,the fine minds of the eighteenth century went into extended disputations about what constitutes ,,genius1 wherein it differs from ,,talent1 what we should understand by ,,mind1 etc4 ,they had transported into the intellectual sphere the same distinctions that1 in society1 separate persons4 ,to them there were kings and rulers of genius1 princes of genius1 ministers of genius2 and then there were also noble minds and bourgeois minds1 city talents and country talents4 ,clear at the foot of the ladder lay the gross industrial population1 souls imperfectly outlined1 excluded from the glory of the elect4 ,all rhetorics are still filled with these impertinences1 which monarchical interests1 literary vanity1 and socialistic hypocrisy strain themselves to sanction1 for the perpetual slavery of nations and the maintenance of the existing order4 ,but1 if it is demonstrated that all the operations of the mind are reducible to two1 analysis and synthesis1 which are necessarily inseparable1 although distinct2 if1 by a forced consequence1 in spite of the infinite variety of tasks and studies1 the mind never does more than begin the same canvas over again1--the man of genius is simply a man with a good constitution1 who has worked a great deal1 thought a great deal1 analyzed1 compared1 classified1 summarized1 and concluded a great deal2 while the limited being1 who stagnates in an endemic routine1 instead of developing his faculties1 has killed his intelligence through inertia and automatism4 ,it is absurd to distinguish as differing in nature that which really differs only in age1 and then to convert into privilege and exclusion the various degrees of a development or the fortunes of a spontaneity which must gradually disappear through labor and education4 ,the psychological rhetoricians who have classified human souls into dynasties1 noble races1 bourgeois families1 and the proletariat observed nevertheless that genius was not universal1 and that it had its specialty2 consequently ,homer1 ,plato1 ,phidias1 ,archimedes1 ,caesar1 etc41 all of whom seemed to them first in their sort1 were declared by them equals and sovereigns of distinct realms4 ,how irrational6 ,as if the specialty of genius did not itself reveal the law of the equality of minds6 ,as if1 looking at it in another light1 the steadiness of success in the product of genius were not a proof that it works according to principles outside of itself1 which are the guarantee of the perfection of its work1 as long as it follows them with fidelity and certainty6 ,this apotheosis of genius1 dreamed of with open eyes by men whose chatter will remain forever barren1 would warrant a belief in the innate stupidity of the majority of mortals1 if it were not a striking proof of their perfectibility4 ,labor1 then1 after having distinguished capacities and arranged their equilibrium by the division of industries1 completes the armament of intelligence1 if ,i may venture to say so1 by machinery4 ,according to the testimony of history as well as according to analysis1 and notwithstanding the anomalies caused by the antagonism of economic principles1 intelligence differs in men1 not by power1 clearness1 or reach1 but1 in the first place1 by specialty1 or1 in the language of the schools1 by qualitative determination1 and1 in the second place1 by exercise and education4 ,hence1 in the individual as in the collective man1 intelligence is much more a faculty which comes1 forms1 and develops1 quae fit1 than an entity or entelechy which exists1 wholly formed1 prior to apprenticeship4 ,reason1 by whatever name we call it1--genius1 talent1 industry1--is at the start a naked and inert potentiality1 which gradually grows in size and strength1 takes on color and form1 and shades itself in an infinite variety of ways4 ,by the importance of its acquirements1 by its capital1 in a word1 the intelligence of one individual differs and will always differ from that of another2 but1 being a power equal in all at the beginning1 social progress must consist in rendering it1 by an ever increasing perfection of methods1 again equal in all at the end4 ,otherwise labor would remain a privilege for some and a punishment for others4 ,but the equilibrium of capacities1 the prelude of which we have seen in the division of labor1 does not fulfil the entire destiny of machinery1 and the views of ,providence extend far beyond4 ,with the introduction of machinery into economy1 wings are given to ,,liberty4 ,the machine is the symbol of human liberty1 the sign of our domination over nature1 the attribute of our power1 the expression of our right1 the emblem of our personality4 ,liberty1 intelligence1--those constitute the whole of man3 for1 if we brush aside as mystical and unintelligible all speculation concerning the human being considered from the point of view of substance 7mind or matter71 we have left only two categories of manifestations1--the first including all that we call sensations1 volitions1 passions1 attractions1 instincts1 sentiments2 the other1 all phenomena classed under the heads of attention1 perception1 memory1 imagination1 comparison1 judgment1 reasoning1 etc4 ,as for the organic apparatus1 very far from being the principle or base of these two orders of faculties1 it must be considered as their synthetic and positive realization1 their living and harmonious expression4 ,for just as from the long-continued issue by humanity of its antagonistic principles must some day result social organization1 so man must be conceived as the result of two series of potentialities4 ,thus1 after having posited itself as logic1 social economy1 pursuing its work1 posits itself as psychology4 ,the education of intelligence and liberty1--in a word1 the welfare of man1--all perfectly synonymous expressions1--such is the common object of political economy and philosophy4 ,to determine the laws of the production and distribution of wealth will be to demonstrate1 by an objective and concrete exposition1 the laws of reason and liberty2 it will be to create philosophy and right a posteriori3 whichever way we turn1 we are in complete metaphysics4 ,let us try1 now1 with the joint data of psychology and political economy1 to define liberty4 ,if it is allowable to conceive of human reason1 in its origin1 as a lucid and reflecting atom1 capable of some day representing the universe1 but at first giving no image at all1 we may likewise consider liberty1 at the birth of conscience1 as a living point1 punctum saliens1 a vague1 blind1 or1 rather1 indifferent spontaneity1 capable of receiving all possible impressions1 dispositions1 and inclinations4 ,liberty is the faculty of acting and of not acting1 which1 through any choice or determination whatever 7,i use the word determination here both passively and actively71 abandons its indifference and becomes ,,will4 ,i say1 then1 that liberty1 like intelligence1 is naturally an undetermined1 unformed faculty1 which gets its value and character later from external impressions1--a faculty1 therefore1 which is negative at the beginning1 but which gradually defines and outlines itself by exercise1--,i mean1 by education4 ,the etymology of the word liberty1 at least as ,i understand it1 will serve still better to explain my thought4 ,the root is lib-et1 he pleases 7,german1 lieben1 to love72 whence have been constructed lib-eri1 children1 those dear to us1 a name reserved for the children of the father of a family2 lib-ertas1 the condition1 character1 or inclination of children of a noble race2 lib-ido1 the passion of a slave1 who knows neither ,god nor law nor country1 synonymous with licentia1 evil conduct4 ,when spontaneity takes a useful1 generous1 or beneficent direction1 it is called libertas2 when1 on the contrary1 it takes a harmful1 vicious1 base1 or evil direction1 it is called libido4 ,a learned economist1 ,m4 ,dunoyer1 has given a definition of liberty which1 by its likeness to our own1 will complete the demonstration of its exactness4 ,i call liberty that power which man acquires of using his forces more easily in ,,proportion ,,as ,,he ,,frees ,,himself from the obstacles which originally hindered the exercise thereof4 ,i say that he is the ,,freer the more thoroughly ,,delivered he is from the causes which prevented him from making use of his forces1 the farther from him he has driven these causes1 the more he has extended and cleared the sphere of his action 4 4 4 4 ,thus it is said that a man has a free mind1 that he enjoys great liberty of mind1 not only when his intelligence is not disturbed by any external violence1 but also when it is neither obscured by intoxication1 nor changed by disease1 nor kept in impotence by lack of exercise4 ,m4 ,dunoyer has here viewed liberty only on its negative side1--that is1 as if it were simply synonymous with ,,freedom ,,from ,,obstacles4 ,at that rate liberty would not be a faculty of man2 it would be nothing4 ,but immediately ,m4 ,dunoyer1 though persisting in his incomplete definition1 seizes the true side of the matter3 then it is that it occurs to him to say that man1 in inventing a machine1 serves his liberty1 not1 as we express ourselves1 because he determines it1 but1 in ,m4 ,dunoyer's style1 because he removes a difficulty from its path4 ,thus articulate language is a better instrument than language by sign2 therefore one is freer to express his thought and impress it upon the mind of another by speech than by gesture4 ,the written word is a more potent instrument than the spoken word2 therefore one is freer to act on the mind of his fellows when he knows how to picture the word to their eyes than when he simply knows how to speak it4 ,the press is an instrument two or three hundred times more potent than the pen2 therefore one is two or three hundred times freer to enter into relation with other men when he can spread his ideas by printing than when he can publish them only by writing4 ,i will not point out all that is inexact and illogical in this fashion of representing liberty4 ,since ,destutt de ,tracy1 the last representative of the philosophy of ,condillac1 the philosophical spirit has been obscured among economists of the ,french school2 the fear of ideology has perverted their language1 and one perceives1 in reading them1 that adoration of fact has caused them to lose even the perception of theory4 ,i prefer to establish the fact that ,m4 ,dunoyer1 and political economy with him1 is not mistaken concerning the essence of liberty1 a force1 energy1 or spontaneity indifferent in itself to every action1 and consequently equally susceptible of any determination1 good or bad1 useful or harmful4 ,m4 ,dunoyer has had so strong a suspicion of the truth that he writes himself3 ,instead of considering liberty as a dogma1 ,i shall present it as a ,,result2 instead of making it the attribute of man1 ,i shall make it the ,,attribute ,,of ,,civilization2 instead of imagining forms of government calculated to establish it1 ,i shall do my best to explain how it is ,,born ,,of ,,every ,,step ,,of ,,our ,,progress4 ,then he adds1 with no less reason3 ,it will be noticed how much this method differs from that of those dogmatic philosophers who talk only of rights and duties2 of what it is the duty of governments to do and the right of nations to demand1 etc4 ,i do not say sententiously3 men have a right to be free2 ,i confine myself to asking3 how does it happen that they are so8 ,in accordance with this exposition one may sum up in four lines the work that ,m4 ,dunoyer has tried to do3 ,a ,,review of the obstacles that ,,impede liberty and the means 7instruments1 methods1 ideas1 customs1 religions1 governments1 etc47 that ,,favor it4 ,but for its omissions1 the work of ,m4 ,dunoyer would have been the very philosophy of political economy4 ,after having raised the problem of liberty1 political economy furnishes us1 then1 with a definition conforming in every point to that given by psychology and suggested by the analogies of language3 and thus we see how1 little by little1 the study of man gets transported from the contemplation of the me to the observation of realities4 ,now1 just as the determinations of man's reason have received the name of ,,ideas 7abstract1 supposed a priori ideas1 or principles1 conceptions1 categories2 and secondary ideas1 or those more especially acquired and empirical71 so the determinations of liberty have received the name of ,,volitions1 sentiments1 habits1 customs4 ,then1 language1 figurative in its nature1 continuing to furnish the elements of primary psychology1 the habit has been formed of assigning to ideas1 as the place or capacity where they reside1 the ,,intelligence1 and to volitions1 sentiments1 etc41 the ,,conscience4 ,all these abstractions have been long taken for realities by the philosophers1 not one of whom has seen that all distribution of the faculties of the soul is necessarily a work of caprice1 and that their psychology is but an illusion4 ,however that may be1 if we now conceive these two orders of determinations1 reason and liberty1 as united and blended by organization in a living1 reasonable1 and free ,,person1 we shall understand immediately that they must lend each other mutual assistance and influence each other reciprocally4 ,if1 through an error or oversight of the reason1 liberty1 blind by nature1 acquires a false and fatal habit1 the reason itself will not be slow to feel the effects2 instead of true ideas1 conforming to the natural relations of things1 it will retain only prejudices1 as much more difficult to root out of the intelligence afterwards1 as they have become dearer to the conscience through age4 ,in this state of things reason and liberty are impaired2 the first is disturbed in its development1 the second restricted in its scope1 and man is led astray1 becomes1 that is1 wicked and unhappy at once4 ,thus1 when1 in consequence of a contradictory perception and an incomplete experience1 reason had pronounced through the lips of the economists that there was no regulating principle of value and that the law of commerce was supply and demand1 liberty abandoned itself to the passion of ambition1 egoism1 and gambling2 commerce was thereafter but a wager subjected to certain police regulations2 misery developed from the sources of wealth2 socialism1 itself a slave of routine1 could only protest against effects instead of rising against causes2 and reason was obliged1 by the sight of so many evils1 to recognize that it had taken a wrong road4 ,man can attain welfare only in proportion as his reason and his liberty not only progress in harmony1 but never halt in their development4 ,now1 as the progress of liberty1 like that of reason1 is indefinite1 and as1 moreover1 these two powers are closely connected and solidary1 it must be concluded that liberty is the more perfect the more closely it defines itself in conformity with the laws of reason1 which are those of things1 and that1 if this reason were infinite1 liberty itself would become infinite4 ,in other words1 the fullness of liberty lies in the fullness of reason3 summa lex summa libertas4 ,these preliminaries were indispensable in order to clearly appreciate the role of machinery and to make plain the series of economic evolutions4 ,and just here ,i will remind the reader that we are not constructing a history in accordance with the order of events1 but in accordance with the succession of ideas4 ,the economic phases or categories are now contemporary1 now inverted1 in their manifestation2 hence the extreme difficulty always felt by the economists in systematizing their ideas2 hence the chaos of their works1 even those most to be commended in every other respect1 such as ,adam ,smith's1 ,ricardo's1 and ,j4 ,b4 ,say's4 ,but economic theories none the less have their logical succession and their series in the mind3 it is this order which we flatter ourselves that we have discovered1 and which will make this work at once a philosophy and a history4 #b4--,machinery's contradiction4--,origin of capital and wages4 ,from the very fact that machinery diminishes the workman's toil1 it abridges and diminishes labor1 the supply of which thus grows greater from day to day and the demand less4 ,little by little1 it is true1 the reduction in prices causing an increase in consumption1 the proportion is restored and the laborer set at work again3 but as industrial improvements steadily succeed each other and continually tend to substitute mechanical operations for the labor of man1 it follows that there is a constant tendency to cut off a portion of the service and consequently to eliminate laborers from production4 ,now1 it is with the economic order as with the spiritual order3 outside of the church there is no salvation2 outside of labor there is no subsistence4 ,society and nature1 equally pitiless1 are in accord in the execution of this new decree4 ,when a new machine1 or1 in general1 any process whatever that expedites matters1 says ,j4 ,b4 ,say1 replaces any human labor already employed1 some of the industrious arms1 whose services are usefully supplanted1 are left without work4 ,a new machine1 therefore1 replaces the labor of a portion of the laborers1 but does not diminish the amount of production1 for1 if it did1 it would not be adopted2 ,,it ,,displaces ,,revenue4 ,but the ultimate advantage is wholly on the side of machinery1 for1 if abundance of product and lessening of cost lower the venal value1 the consumer--that is1 everybody--will benefit thereby4 ,say's optimism is infidelity to logic and to facts4 ,the question here is not simply one of a small number of accidents which have happened during thirty centuries through the introduction of one1 two1 or three machines2 it is a question of a regular1 constant1 and general phenomenon4 ,after revenue has been ,,displaced as ,say says1 by one machine1 it is then displaced by another1 and again by another1 and always by another1 as long as any labor remains to be done and any exchanges remain to be effected4 ,that is the light in which the phenomenon must be presented and considered3 but thus1 it must be admitted1 its aspect changes singularly4 ,the displacement of revenue1 the suppression of labor and wages1 is a chronic1 permanent1 indelible plague1 a sort of cholera which now appears wearing the features of ,gutenberg1 now assumes those of ,arkwright2 here is called ,jacquard1 there ,james ,watt or ,marquis de ,jouffroy4 ,after carrying on its ravages for a longer or shorter time under one form1 the monster takes another1 and the economists1 who think that he has gone1 cry out3 ,it was nothing6 ,tranquil and satisfied1 provided they insist with all the weight of their dialectics on the positive side of the question1 they close their eyes to its subversive side1 notwithstanding which1 when they are spoken to of poverty1 they again begin their sermons upon the improvidence and drunkenness of laborers4 ,in #agej1--,m4 ,dunoyer makes the observation1 and it may serve as a measure of all lucubrations of the same sort1--in #agej the population of the duchy of ,lancaster was #cjj1jjj souls4 ,in #ahja1 thanks to the development of spinning machines1 this population was #fgb1jjj souls4 ,in #ahca it was #a1ccf1jjj souls4 ,instead of the #dj1jjj workmen whom the cotton industry formerly employed1 it now employs1 since the invention of machinery1 #a1ejj1jjj4 ,m4 ,dunoyer adds that at the time when the number of workmen employed in this industry increased in so remarkable a manner1 the price of labor rose one hundred and fifty per cent4 ,population1 then1 having simply followed industrial progress1 its increase has been a normal and irreproachable fact1--what do ,i say8--a happy fact1 since it is cited to the honor and glory of the development of machinery4 ,but suddenly ,m4 ,dunoyer executes an about-face3 this multitude of spinning-machines soon being out of work1 wages necessarily declined2 the population which the machines had called forth found itself abandoned by the machines1 at which ,m4 ,dunoyer declares3 ,abuse of marriage is the cause of poverty4 ,english commerce1 in obedience to the demand of the immense body of its patrons1 summons workmen from all directions1 and encourages marriage2 as long as labor is abundant1 marriage is an excellent thing1 the effects of which they are fond of quoting in the interest of machinery2 but1 the patronage fluctuating1 as soon as work and wages are not to be had1 they denounce the abuse of marriage1 and accuse laborers of improvidence4 ,political economy--that is1 proprietary despotism--can never be in the wrong3 it must be the proletariat4 ,the example of printing has been cited many a time1 always to sustain the optimistic view4 ,the number of persons supported today by the manufacture of books is perhaps a thousand times larger than was that of the copyists and illuminators prior to ,gutenberg's time2 therefore1 they conclude with a satisfied air1 printing has injured nobody4 ,an infinite number of similar facts might be cited1 all of them indisputable1 but not one of which would advance the question a step4 ,once more1 no one denies that machines have contributed to the general welfare2 but ,i affirm1 in regard to this incontestable fact1 that the economists fall short of the truth when they advance the absolute statement that ,,the ,,simplification ,,of ,,processes ,,has ,,nowhere ,,resulted ,,in ,a ,,diminution ,,of ,,the ,,number ,,of ,,hands ,,employed ,,in ,,any ,,industry ,,whatever4 ,what the economists ought to say is that machinery1 like the division of labor1 in the present system of social economy is at once a source of wealth and a permanent and fatal cause of misery4 ,in #ahcf1 in a ,manchester mill1 nine frames1 each having three hundred and twenty-four spindles1 were tended by four spinners4 ,afterwards the mules were doubled in length1 which gave each of the nine six hundred and eighty spindles and enabled two men to tend them4 ,there we have the naked fact of the elimination of the workman by the machine4 ,by a simple device three workmen out of four are evicted2 what matters it that fifty years later1 the population of the globe having doubled and the trade of ,england having quadrupled1 new machines will be constructed and the ,english manufacturers will reemploy their workmen8 ,do the economists mean to point to the increase of population as one of the benefits of machinery8 ,let them renounce1 then1 the theory of ,malthus1 and stop declaiming against the excessive fecundity of marriage4 ,they did not stop there3 soon a new mechanical improvement enabled a single worker to do the work that formerly occupied four4 ,a new three-fourths reduction of manual work3 in all1 a reduction of human labor by fifteen-sixteenths4 ,a ,bolton manufacturer writes3 ,the elongation of the mules of our frames permits us to employ but twenty-six spinners where we employed thirty-five in #ahcg4 ,another decimation of laborers3 one out of four is a victim4 ,these facts are taken from the ,revue ,economique of #ahdb2 and there is nobody who cannot point to similar ones4 ,i have witnessed the introduction of printing machines1 and ,i can say that ,i have seen with my own eyes the evil which printers have suffered thereby4 ,during the fifteen or twenty years that the machines have been in use a portion of the workmen have gone back to composition1 others have abandoned their trade1 and some have died of misery3 thus laborers are continually crowded back in consequence of industrial innovations4 ,twenty years ago eighty canal-boats furnished the navigation service between ,beaucaire and ,lyons2 a score of steam-packets has displaced them all4 ,certainly commerce is the gainer2 but what has become of the boating-population8 ,has it been transferred from the boats to the packets8 ,no3 it has gone where all superseded industries go1--it has vanished4 ,for the rest1 the following documents1 which ,i take from the same source1 will give a more positive idea of the influence of industrial improvements upon the condition of the workers4 ,the average weekly wages1 at ,manchester1 is ten shillings4 ,out of four hundred and fifty workers there are not forty who earn twenty shillings4 ,the author of the article is careful to remark that an ,englishman consumes five times as much as a ,frenchman2 this1 then1 is as if a ,french workingman had to live on two francs and a half a week4 ,edinburgh ,review1 #ahce3 ,to a combination of workmen 7who did not want to see their wages reduced7 we owe the mule of ,sharpe and ,roberts of ,manchester2 and this invention has severely punished the imprudent unionists4 ,,punished should merit punishment4 ,the invention of ,sharpe and ,roberts of ,manchester was bound to result from the situation2 the refusal of the workmen to submit to the reduction asked of them was only its determining occasion4 ,might not one infer1 from the air of vengeance affected by the ,edinburgh ,review1 that machines have a retroactive effect8 ,an ,english manufacturer3 ,the insubordination of our workmen has given us the idea of ,,dispensing ,,with ,,them4 ,we have made and stimulated every imaginable effort of the mind to replace the service of men by tools more docile1 and we have achieved our object4 ,machinery has delivered capital from the oppression of labor4 ,wherever we still employ a man1 we do so only temporarily1 pending the invention for us of some means of accomplishing his work without him4 ,what a system is that which leads a business man to think with delight that society will soon be able to dispense with men6 ,,machinery ,,has ,,delivered ,,capital ,,from ,,the ,,oppression ,,of ,,labor6 ,that is exactly as if the cabinet should undertake to deliver the treasury from the oppression of the taxpayers4 ,fool6 though the workmen cost you something1 they are your customers3 what will you do with your products1 when1 driven away by you1 they shall consume them no longer8 ,thus machinery1 after crushing the workmen1 is not slow in dealing employers a counter-blow2 for1 if production excludes consumption1 it is soon obliged to stop itself4 ,during the fourth quarter of #ahda four great failures1 happening in an ,english manufacturing city1 threw seventeen hundred and twenty people on the street4 ,these failures were caused by over-production1--that is1 by an inadequate market1 or the distress of the people4 ,what a pity that machinery cannot also deliver capital from the oppression of consumers6 ,what a misfortune that machines do not buy the fabrics which they weave6 ,the ideal society will be reached when commerce1 agriculture1 and manufactures can proceed without a man upon earth6 ,in a ,yorkshire parish for nine months the operatives have been working but two days a week4 ,machines6 ,at ,geston two factories valued at sixty thousand pounds sterling have been sold for twenty-six thousand4 ,they produced more than they could sell4 ,machines6 ,in #ahda the number of children ,,under thirteen years of age engaged in manufactures diminishes1 because children ,,over thirteen take their place4 ,machines6 ,the adult workman becomes an apprentice1 a child1 again3 this result was foreseen from the phase of the division of labor1 during which we saw the quality of the workman degenerate in the ratio in which industry was perfected4 ,in his conclusion the journalist makes this reflection3 ,since #ahcf there has been a retrograde movement in the cotton industry2--that is1 it no longer keeps up its relation with other industries3 another result foreseen from the theory of the proportionality of values4 ,today workmen's coalitions and strikes seem to have stopped throughout ,england1 and the economists rightly rejoice over this return to order1-- let us say even to common sense4 ,but because laborers henceforth--at least ,i cherish the hope--will not add the misery of their voluntary periods of idleness to the misery which machines force upon them1 does it follow that the situation is changed8 ,and if there is no change in the situation1 will not the future always be a deplorable copy of the past8 ,the economists love to rest their minds on pictures of public felicity3 it is by this sign principally that they are to be recognized1 and that they estimate each other4 ,nevertheless there are not lacking among them1 on the other hand1 moody and sickly imaginations1 ever ready to offset accounts of growing prosperity with proofs of persistent poverty4 ,m4 ,theodore ,fix thus summed up the general situation in ,december1 #ahdd3 ,the food supply of nations is no longer exposed to those terrible disturbances caused by scarcities and famines1 so frequent up to the beginning of the nineteenth century4 ,the variety of agricultural growths and improvements has abolished this double scourge almost absolutely4 ,the total wheat crop in ,france in #agia was estimated at about #acc1jjj1jjj bushels1 which gave1 after deducting seed1 #b4hee bushels to each inhabitant4 ,in #ahdj the same crop was estimated at #aih1eij1jjj bushels1 or #b4hfj bushels to each individual1 the area of cultivated surface being almost the same as before the ,revolution4 4 4 4 ,the rate of increase of manufactured goods has been at least as high as that of food products2 and we are justified in saying that the mass of textile fabrics has more than doubled and perhaps tripled within fifty years4 ,the perfecting of technical processes has led to this result4 4 4 4 ,since the beginning of the century the average duration of life has increased by two or three years1--an undeniable sign of greater comfort1 or1 if you will1 a diminution of poverty4 ,within twenty years the amount of indirect revenue1 without any burdensome change in legislation1 has risen from #dj1jjj1jjj francs to #gbj1jjj1jjj1--;a symptom of economic1 much more than of fiscal1 progress4 ,on ,january #a1 #ahdd1 the deposit and consignment office owed the savings banks #cea1ejj1jjj francs1 and ,paris figured in this sum for #aje1jjj1jjj4 ,nevertheless the development of the institution has taken place almost wholly within twelve years1 and it should be noticed that the #cea1ejj1jjj francs now due to the savings banks do not constitute the entire mass of economies effected1 since at a given time the capital accumulated is disposed of otherwise4 4 4 4 ,in #ahdc1 out of #cbj1jjj workmen and #hj1jjj house-servants living in the capital1 #ij1jjj workmen have deposited in the savings banks #b1edg1jjj francs1 and #cd1jjj house-servants #a1bfh1jjj francs4 ,all these facts are entirely true1 and the inference to be drawn from them in favor of machines is of the exactest1--namely1 that they have indeed given a powerful impetus to the general welfare4 ,but the facts with which we shall supplement them are no less authentic1 and the inference to be drawn from these against machines will be no less accurate1--to wit1 that they are a continual cause of pauperism4 ,i appeal to the figures of ,m4 ,fix himself4 ,out of #cbj1jjj workmen and #hj1jjj house-servants residing in ,paris1 there are #bcj1jjj of the former and #df1jjj of the latter--a total of #bgf1jjj--who do not deposit in the savings banks4 ,no one would dare pretend that these are #bgf1jjj spendthrifts and ne'er-do-weels who expose themselves to misery voluntarily4 ,now1 as among the very ones who make the savings there are to be found poor and inferior persons for whom the savings bank is but a respite from debauchery and misery1 we may conclude that1 out of all the individuals living by their labor1 nearly three-fourths either are imprudent1 lazy1 and depraved1 since they do not deposit in the savings banks1 or are too poor to lay up anything4 ,there is no other alternative4 ,but common sense1 to say nothing of charity1 permits no wholesale accusation of the laboring class3 it is necessary1 therefore1 to throw the blame back upon our economic system4 ,how is it that ,m4 ,fix did not see that his figures accused themselves8 ,they hope that1 in time1 all1 or almost all1 laborers will deposit in the savings banks4 ,without awaiting the testimony of the future1 we may test the foundations of this hope immediately4 ,according to the testimony of ,m4 ,vee1 mayor of the fifth arrondissement of ,paris1 the number of needy families inscribed upon the registers of the charity bureaus is #cj1jjj1-- which is equivalent to #fe1jjj individuals4 ,the census taken at the beginning of #ahdf gave #hh1dgd4 ,and poor families not inscribed1--how many are there of those8 ,as many4 ,say1 then1 #ahj1jjj people whose poverty is not doubtful1 although not official4 ,and all those who live in straitened circumstances1 though keeping up the appearance of comfort1--how many are there of those8 ,twice as many1--a total of #cfj1jjj persons1 in ,paris1 who are somewhat embarrassed for means4 ,they talk of wheat1 cries another economist1 ,m4 ,louis ,leclerc1 but are there not immense populations which go without bread8 ,without leaving our own country1 are there not populations which live exclusively on maize1 buckwheat1 chestnuts8 ,m4 ,leclerc denounces the fact3 let us interpret it4 ,if1 as there is no doubt1 the increase of population is felt principally in the large cities1--that is1 at those points where the most wheat is consumed1--it is clear that the average per head may have increased without any improvement in the general condition4 ,there is no such liar as an average4 ,they talk1 continues the same writer1 of the increase of indirect consumption4 ,vain would be the attempt to acquit ,parisian adulteration3 it exists2 it has its masters1 its adepts1 its literature1 its didactic and classic treatises4 4 4 4 ,france possessed exquisite wines2 what has been done with them8 ,what has become of this splendid wealth8 ,where are the treasures created since ,probus by the national genius8 ,and yet1 when one considers the excesses to which wine gives rise wherever it is dear1 wherever it does not form a part of the regular life of the people2 when in ,paris1 capital of the kingdom of good wines1 one sees the people gorging themselves with ,i know not what1--stuff that is adulterated1 sophisticated1 sickening1 and sometimes execrable1--and well-to-do persons drinking at home or accepting without a word1 in famous restaurants1 so-called wines1 thick1 violet-colored1 and insipid1 flat1 and miserable enough to make the poorest ,burgundian peasant shudder1--can one honestly doubt that alcoholic liquids are one of the most imperative needs of our nature8 ,i quote this passage at length1 because it sums up in relation to a special case all that could be said upon the ,,inconveniences of machinery4 ,to the people it is with wine as with fabrics1 and generally with all goods and merchandise created for the consumption of the poor4 ,it is always the same deduction3 to reduce by some process or other the cost of manufacture1 in order1 first1 to maintain advantageously competition with more fortunate or richer rivals2 second1 to serve the vast numbers of plundered persons who cannot disregard price simply because the quality is good4 ,produced in the ordinary ways1 wine is too expensive for the mass of consumers2 it is in danger of remaining in the cellars of the retailers4 ,the manufacturer of wines gets around the difficulty3 unable to introduce machinery into the cultivation of the vine1 he finds a means1 with the aid of some accompaniments1 of placing the precious liquid within the reach of all4 ,certain savages1 in their periods of scarcity1 eat earth2 the civilized workman drinks water4 ,malthus was a great genius4 ,as far as the increase of the average duration of life is concerned1 ,i recognize the fact1 but at the same time ,i declare the observation incorrect4 ,let us explain that4 ,suppose a population of ten million souls3 if1 from whatever cause you will1 the average life should increase five years for a million individuals1 mortality continuing its ravages at the same rate as before among the nine other millions1 it would be found1 on distributing this increase among the whole1 that on an average six months had been added to the life of each individual4 ,it is with the average length of life1 the so-called indicator of average comfort1 as with average learning3 the level of knowledge does not cease to rise1 which by no means alters the fact that there are today in ,france quite as many barbarians as in the days of ,francois ,i4 ,the charlatans who had railroad speculation in view made a great noise about the importance of the locomotive in the circulation of ideas2 and the economists1 always on the lookout for civilized stupidities1 have not failed to echo this nonsense4 ,as if ideas1 in order to spread1 needed locomotives6 ,what1 then1 prevents ideas from circulating from the ,institute to the ,faubourgs ,saint-,antoine and ,saint-,marceau1 in the narrow and wretched streets of ,old ,paris and the ,temple ,quarter1 everywhere1 in short1 where dwells this multitude even more destitute of ideas than of bread8 ,how happens it that between a ,parisian and a ,parisian1 in spite of the omnibus and the letter-carrier1 the distance is three times greater today than in the fourteenth century8 ,the ruinous influence of machinery on social economy and the condition of the laborers is exercised in a thousand ways1 all of which are bound together and reciprocally labelled3 cessation of labor1 reduction of wages1 over-production1 obstruction of the market1 alteration and adulteration of products1 failures1 displacement of laborers1 degeneration of the race1 and1 finally1 diseases and death4 ,m4 ,theodore ,fix has remarked himself that in the last fifty years the average stature of man1 in ,france1 has diminished by a considerable fraction of an inch4 ,this observation is worth his previous one3 upon whom does this diminution take effect8 ,in a report read to the ,academy of ,moral ,sciences on the results of the law of ,march #bb1 #ahda1 ,m4 ,leon ,faucher expressed himself thus3 ,young workmen are pale1 weak1 short in stature1 and slow to think as well as to move4 ,at fourteen or fifteen years they seem no more developed than children of nine or ten years in the normal state4 ,as for their intellectual and moral development1 there are some to be found who1 at the age of thirteen1 have no notion of ,god1 who have never heard of their duties1 and whose first school of morality was a prison4 ,that is what ,m4 ,leon ,faucher has seen1 to the great displeasure of ,m4 ,charles ,dupin1 and this state of things he declares that the law of ,march #bb is powerless to remedy4 ,and let us not get angry over this impotence of the legislator3 the evil arises from a cause as necessary for us as the sun2 and in the path upon which we have entered1 anger of any kind1 like palliatives of any kind1 could only make our situation worse4 ,yes1 while science and industry are making such marvellous progress1 it is a necessity1 unless civilization's centre of gravity should suddenly change1 that the intelligence and comfort of the proletariat be diminished2 while the lives of the well-to-do classes grow longer and easier1 it is inevitable that those of the needy should grow harder and shorter4 ,this is established in the writings of the best--,i mean1 the most optimistic--thinkers4 ,according to ,m4 de ,morogues1 #g1ejj1jjj men in ,france have only ninety- one francs a year to spend1 #be centimes a day4 ,cinq sous6 cinq sous6 7,five cents6 five cents674 ,there is something prophetic1 then1 in this odious refrain4 ,in ,england 7not including ,scotland and ,ireland7 the poor-rate was3 #ahja4--,l #d1jgh1hia for a population of4 4 4 4 4#h1hgb1ihj #ahah4--,l #g1hgj1hja 4 4 4 4#aa1igh1hge #ahcc4--,l #h1jjj1jjj 4 4 4 4#ad1jjj1jjj ,the progress of poverty1 then1 has been more rapid than that of population2 in face of this fact1 what becomes of the hypotheses of ,malthus8 ,and yet it is indisputable that during the same period the average comfort increased3 what1 then1 do statistics signify8 ,the death-rate for the first arrondissement of ,paris is one to every fifty-two inhabitants1 and for the twelfth one to every twenty-six4 ,now1 the latter contains one needy person to every seven inhabitants1 while the former has only one to every twenty-eight4 ,that does not prevent the average duration of life1 even in ,paris1 from increasing1 as ,m4 ,fix has very correctly observed4 ,at ,mulhouse the probabilities of average life are twenty-nine years for children of the well-to-do class and ,,two years for those of the workers2 in #ahab the average life in the same locality was twenty-five years1 nine months1 and twelve days1 while in #ahbg it was not over twenty-one years and nine months4 ,and yet throughout ,france the average life is longer4 ,what does this mean8 ,m4 ,blanqui1 unable to explain so much prosperity and so much poverty at once1 cries somewhere3 ,increased production does not mean additional wealth4 4 4 4 ,poverty1 on the contrary1 becomes the wider spread in proportion to the concentration of industries4 ,there must be some radical vice in a system which guarantees no security either to capital or labor1 and which seems to multiply the embarrassments of producers at the same time that it forces them to multiply their products4 ,there is no radical vice here4 ,what astonishes ,m4 ,blanqui is simply that of which the ,academy to which he belongs has asked a determination1--namely1 the oscillations of the economic pendulum1 ,,value1 beating alternately and in regular time good and evil1 until the hour of the universal equation shall strike4 ,if ,i may be permitted another comparison1 humanity in its march is like a column of soldiers1 who1 starting in the same step and at the same moment to the measured beating of the drum1 gradually lose their distances4 ,the whole body advances1 but the distance from head to tail grows ever longer2 and it is a necessary effect of the movement that there should be some laggards and stragglers4 ,but it is necessary to penetrate still farther into the antinomy4 ,machines promised us an increase of wealth2 they have kept their word1 but at the same time endowing us with an increase of poverty4 ,they promised us liberty2 ,i am going to prove that they have brought us slavery4 ,i have stated that the determination of value1 and with it the tribulations of society1 began with the division of industries1 without which there could be no exchange1 or wealth1 or progress4 ,the period through which we are now passing--that of machinery--is distinguished by a special characteristic1--,,wages4 ,wages issued in a direct line from the employment of machinery1--that is1 to give my thought the entire generality of expression which it calls for1 from the economic fiction by which capital becomes an agent of production4 ,wages1 in short1 coming after the division of labor and exchange1 is the necessary correlative of the theory of the reduction of costs1 in whatever way this reduction may be accomplished4 ,this genealogy is too interesting to be passed by without a few words of explanation4 ,the first1 the simplest1 the most powerful of machines is the ,,workshop4 ,division simply separates the various parts of labor1 leaving each to devote himself to the specialty best suited to his tastes3 the workshop groups the laborers according to the relation of each part to the whole4 ,it is the most elementary form of the balance of values1 undiscoverable though the economists suppose this to be4 ,now1 through the workshop1 production is going to increase1 and at the same time the deficit4 ,somebody discovered that1 by dividing production into its various parts and causing each to be executed by a separate workman1 he would obtain a multiplication of power1 the product of which would be far superior to the amount of labor given by the same number of workmen when labor is not divided4 ,grasping the thread of this idea1 he said to himself that1 by forming a permanent group of laborers assorted with a view to his special purpose1 he would produce more steadily1 more abundantly1 and at less cost4 ,it is not indispensable1 however1 that the workmen should be gathered into one place3 the existence of the workshop does not depend essentially upon such contact4 ,it results from the relation and proportion of the different tasks and from the common thought directing them4 ,in a word1 concentration at one point may offer its advantages1 which are not to be neglected2 but that is not what constitutes the workshop4 ,this1 then1 is the proposition which the speculator makes to those whose collaboration he desires3 ,i guarantee you a perpetual market for your products1 if you will accept me as purchaser or middle-man4 ,the bargain is so clearly advantageous that the proposition cannot fail of acceptance4 ,the laborer finds in it steady work1 a fixed price1 and security2 the employer1 on the other hand1 will find a readier sale for his goods1 since1 producing more advantageously1 he can lower the price2 in short1 his profits will be larger because of the mass of his investments4 ,all1 even to the public and the magistrate1 will congratulate the employer on having added to the social wealth by his combinations1 and will vote him a reward4 ,but1 in the first place1 whoever says reduction of expenses says reduction of services1 not1 it is true1 in the new shop1 but for the workers at the same trade who are left outside1 as well as for many others whose accessory services will be less needed in future4 ,therefore every establishment of a workshop corresponds to an eviction of workers3 this assertion1 utterly contradictory though it may appear1 is as true of the workshop as of a machine4 ,the economists admit it3 but here they repeat their eternal refrain that1 after a lapse of time1 the demand for the product having increased in proportion to the reduction of price1 labor in turn will come finally to be in greater demand than ever4 ,undoubtedly1 ,,with ,,time1 the equilibrium will be restored2 but1 ,i must add again1 the equilibrium will be no sooner restored at this point than it will be disturbed at another1 because the spirit of invention never stops1 any more than labor4 ,now1 what theory could justify these perpetual hecatombs8 ,when we have reduced the number of toilers1 wrote ,sismondi1 to a fourth or a fifth of what it is at present1 we shall need only a fourth or a fifth as many priests1 physicians1 etc4 ,when we have cut them off altogether1 we shall be in a position to dispense with the human race4 ,and that is what really would happen if1 in order to put the labor of each machine in proportion to the needs of consumption1--that is1 to restore the balance of values continually destroyed1--it were not necessary to continually create new machines1 open other markets1 and consequently multiply services and displace other arms4 ,so that on the one hand industry and wealth1 on the other population and misery1 advance1 so to speak1 in procession1 one always dragging the other after it4 ,i have shown the contractor1 at the birth of industry1 negotiating on equal terms with his comrades1 who have since become ,,his ,,workmen4 ,it is plain1 in fact1 that this original equality was bound to disappear through the advantageous position of the master and the dependence of the wage-workers4 ,in vain does the law assure to each the right of enterprise1 as well as the faculty to labor alone and sell one's products directly4 ,according to the hypothesis1 this last resource is impracticable1 since it was the object of the workshop to annihilate isolated labor4 ,and as for the right to take the plough1 as they say1 and go at speed1 it is the same in manufactures as in agriculture2 to know how to work is nothing1 it is necessary to arrive at the right time2 the shop1 as well as the land1 is to the first comer4 ,when an establishment has had the leisure to develop itself1 enlarge its foundations1 ballast itself with capital1 and assure itself a body of patrons1 what can the workman who has only his arms do against a power so superior8 ,hence it was not by an arbitrary act of sovereign power or by fortuitous and brutal usurpation that the guilds and masterships were established in the ,middle ,ages3 the force of events had created them long before the edicts of kings could have given them legal consecration2 and1 in spite of the reform of '#hi1 we see them reestablishing themselves under our eyes with an energy a hundred times more formidable4 ,abandon labor to its own tendencies1 and the subjection of three-fourths of the human race is assured4 ,but this is not all4 ,the machine1 or the workshop1 after having degraded the laborer by giving him a master1 completes his degeneracy by reducing him from the rank of artisan to that of common workman4 ,formerly the population on the banks of the ,saone and ,rhone was largely made up of watermen1 thoroughly fitted for the conduct of canal-boats or row-boats4 ,now that the steam-tug is to be found almost everywhere1 most of the boatmen1 finding it impossible to get a living at their trade1 either pass three-fourths of their life in idleness1 or else become stokers4 ,if not misery1 then degradation3 such is the last alternative which machinery offers to the workman4 ,for it is with a machine as with a piece of artillery3 the captain excepted1 those whom it occupies are servants1 slaves4 ,since the establishment of large factories1 a multitude of little industries have disappeared from the domestic hearth3 does any one believe that the girls who work for ten and fifteen cents have as much intelligence as their ancestors8 ,after the establishment of the railway from ,paris to ,saint ,germain1 ,m4 ,dunoyer tells us1 there were established between ,pecq and a multitude of places in the more or less immediate vicinity such a number of omnibus and stage lines that this establishment1 contrary to all expectation1 has considerably increased the employment of horses4 ,,contrary ,,to ,,all ,,expectation6 ,it takes an economist not to expect these things4 ,multiply machinery1 and you increase the amount of arduous and disagreeable labor to be done3 this apothegm is as certain as any of those which date from the deluge4 ,accuse me1 if you choose1 of ill-will towards the most precious invention of our century1--nothing shall prevent me from saying that the principal result of railways1 after the subjection of petty industry1 will be the creation of a population of degraded laborers1--signalmen1 sweepers1 loaders1 lumpers1 draymen1 watchmen1 porters1 weighers1 greasers1 cleaners1 stokers1 firemen1 etc4 ,two thousand miles of railway will give ,france an additional fifty thousand serfs3 it is not for such people1 certainly1 that ,m4 ,chevalier asks professional schools4 ,perhaps it will be said that1 the mass of transportation having increased in much greater proportion than the number of day-laborers1 the difference is to the advantage of the railway1 and that1 all things considered1 there is progress4 ,the observation may even be generalized and the same argument applied to all industries4 ,but it is precisely out of this generality of the phenomenon that springs the subjection of laborers4 ,machinery plays the leading role in industry1 man is secondary3 all the genius displayed by labor tends to the degradation of the proletariat4 ,what a glorious nation will be ours when1 among forty millions of inhabitants1 it shall count thirty-five millions of drudges1 paper-scratchers1 and flunkies6 ,with machinery and the workshop1 divine right--that is1 the principle of authority--makes its entrance into political economy4 ,capital1 ,mastership1 ,privilege1 ,monopoly1 ,loaning1 ,credit1 ,property1 etc41--such are1 in economic language1 the various names of ,i know not what1 but which is otherwise called ,power1 ,authority1 ,sovereignty1 ,written ,law1 ,revelation1 ,religion1 ,god in short1 cause and principle of all our miseries and all our crimes1 and who1 the more we try to define him1 the more eludes us4 ,is it1 then1 impossible that1 in the present condition of society1 the workshop with its hierarchical organization1 and machinery1 instead of serving exclusively the interests of the least numerous1 the least industrious1 and the wealthiest class1 should be employed for the benefit of all8 ,that is what we are going to examine4 #c4--,of preservatives against the disastrous influence of machinery4 ,reduction of manual labor is synonymous with lowering of price1 and1 consequently1 with increase of exchange1 since1 if the consumer pays less1 he will buy more4 ,but reduction of manual labor is synonymous also with restriction of market1 since1 if the producer earns less1 he will buy less4 ,and this is the course that things actually take4 ,the concentration of forces in the workshop and the intervention of capital in production1 under the name of machinery1 engender at the same time overproduction and destitution2 and everybody has witnessed these two scourges1 more to be feared than incendiarism and plague1 develop in our day on the vastest scale and with devouring intensity4 ,nevertheless it is impossible for us to retreat3 it is necessary to produce1 produce always1 produce cheaply2 otherwise1 the existence of society is compromised4 ,the laborer1 who1 to escape the degradation with which the principle of division threatened him1 had created so many marvellous machines1 now finds himself either prohibited or subjugated by his own works4 ,against this alternative what means are proposed8 ,m4 de ,sismondi1 like all men of patriarchal ideas1 would like the division of labor1 with machinery and manufactures1 to be abandoned1 and each family to return to the system of primitive indivision1--that is1 to ,,each ,,one ,,by ,,himself1 ,,each ,,one ,,for ,,himself1 in the most literal meaning of the words4 ,that would be to retrograde2 it is impossible4 ,m4 ,blanqui returns to the charge with his plan of participation by the workman1 and of consolidation of all industries in a joint-stock company for the benefit of the collective laborer4 ,i have shown that this plan would impair public welfare without appreciably improving the condition of the laborers2 and ,m4 ,blanqui himself seems to share this sentiment4 ,how reconcile1 in fact1 this participation of the workman in the profits with the rights of inventors1 contractors1 and capitalists1 of whom the first have to reimburse themselves for large outlays1 as well as for their long and patient efforts2 the second continually endanger the wealth they have acquired1 and take upon themselves alone the chances of their enterprises1 which are often very hazardous2 and the third could sustain no reduction of their dividends without in some way losing their savings8 ,how harmonize1 in a word1 the equality desirable to establish between laborers and employers with the preponderance which cannot be taken from heads of establishments1 from loaners of capital1 and from inventors1 and which involves so clearly their exclusive appropriation of the profits8 ,to decree by a law the admission of all workmen to a share of the profits would be to pronounce the dissolution of society3 all the economists have seen this so clearly that they have finally changed into an exhortation to employers what had first occurred to them as a project4 ,now1 as long as the wage-worker gets no profit save what may be allowed him by the contractor1 it is perfectly safe to assume that eternal poverty will be his lot3 it is not in the power of the holders of labor to make it otherwise4 ,for the rest1 the idea1 otherwise very laudable1 of associating workmen with employers tends to this communistic conclusion1 evidently false in its premises3 ,the last word of machinery is to make man rich and happy without the necessity of labor on his part4 ,since1 then1 natural agencies must do everything for us1 machinery ought to belong to the ,state1 and the goal of progress is communism4 ,i shall examine the communistic theory in its place4 ,but ,i believe that ,i ought to immediately warn the partisans of this utopia that the hope with which they flatter themselves in relation to machinery is only an illusion of the economists1 something like perpetual motion1 which is always sought and never found1 because asked of a power which cannot give it4 ,machines do not go all alone3 to keep them in motion it is necessary to organize an immense service around them2 so that in the end1 man creating for himself an amount of work proportional to the number of instruments with which he surrounds himself1 the principal consideration in the matter of machinery is much less to divide its products than to see that it is fed1--that is1 to continually renew the motive power4 ,now1 this motive power is not air1 water1 steam1 electricity2 it is labor1--that is1 the market4 ,a railroad suppresses all along its line conveyances1 stages1 harness- makers1 saddlers1 wheelwrights1 inn-keepers3 ,i take facts as they are just after the establishment of the road4 ,suppose the ,state1 as a measure of preservation or in obedience to the principle of indemnity1 should make the laborers displaced by the railroad its proprietors or operators3 the transportation rates1 let us suppose1 being reduced by twenty-five per cent4 7otherwise of what use is the railroad871 the income of all these laborers united will be diminished by a like amount1--which is to say that a fourth of the persons formerly living by conveyances will find themselves literally without resources1 in spite of the munificence of the ,state4 ,to meet their deficit they have but one hope1--that the mass of transportation effected over the line may be increased by twenty-five per cent41 or else that they may find employment in other lines of industry1--which seems at first impossible1 since1 by the hypothesis and in fact1 places are everywhere filled1 proportion is maintained everywhere1 and the supply is sufficient for the demand4 ,moreover it is very necessary1 if it be desired to increase the mass of transportation1 that a fresh impetus be given to labor in other industries4 ,now1 admitting that the laborers displaced by this over- production find employment1 and that their distribution among the various kinds of labor proves as easy in practice as in theory1 the difficulty is still far from settled4 ,for the number of those engaged in circulation being to the number of those engaged in production as one hundred to one thousand1 in order to obtain1 with a circulation one- fourth less expensive1--in other words1 one-fourth more powerful1--the same revenue as before1 it will be necessary to strengthen production also by one-fourth1--that is1 to add to the agricultural and industrial army1 not twenty-five1--the figure which indicates the proportionality of the carrying industry1--but two hundred and fifty4 ,but1 to arrive at this result1 it will be necessary to create machines1--what is worse1 to create men3 which continually brings the question back to the same point4 ,thus contradiction upon contradiction3 now not only is labor1 in consequence of machinery1 lacking to men1 but also men1 in consequence of their numerical weakness and the insufficiency of their consumption1 are lacking to machinery3 so that1 pending the establishment of equilibrium1 there is at once a lack of work and a lack of arms1 a lack of products and a lack of markets4 ,and what we say of the railroad is true of all industries3 always the man and the machine pursue each other1 the former never attaining rest1 the latter never attaining satisfaction4 ,whatever the pace of mechanical progress2 though machines should be invented a hundred times more marvellous than the mule-jenny1 the knitting-machine1 or the cylinder press2 though forces should be discovered a hundred times more powerful than steam1--very far from freeing humanity1 securing its leisure1 and making the production of everything gratuitous1 these things would have no other effect than to multiply labor1 induce an increase of population1 make the chains of serfdom heavier1 render life more and more expensive1 and deepen the abyss which separates the class that commands and enjoys from the class that obeys and suffers4 ,suppose now all these difficulties overcome2 suppose the laborers made available by the railroad adequate to the increase of service demanded for the support of the locomotive1--compensation being effected without pain1 nobody will suffer2 on the contrary1 the well-being of each will be increased by a fraction of the profit realized by the substitution of the railway for the stage-coach4 ,what then1 ,i shall be asked1 prevents these things from taking place with such regularity and precision8 ,and what is easier than for an intelligent government to so manage all industrial transitions8 ,i have pushed the hypothesis as far as it could go in order to show1 on the one hand1 the end to which humanity is tending1 and1 on the other1 the difficulties which it must overcome in order to attain it4 ,surely the providential order is that progress should be effected1 in so far as machinery is concerned1 in the way that ,i have just spoken of3 but what embarrasses society's march and makes it go from ,charybdis to ,scylla is precisely the fact that it is not organized4 ,we have reached as yet only the second phase of its evolution1 and already we have met upon our road two chasms which seem insuperable1--division of labor and machinery4 ,how save the parcellaire workman1 if he is a man of intelligence1 from degradation1 or1 if he is degraded already1 lift him to intellectual life8 ,how1 in the second place1 give birth among laborers to that solidarity of interest without which industrial progress counts its steps by its catastrophes1 when these same laborers are radically divided by labor1 wages1 intelligence1 and liberty1--that is1 by egoism8 ,how1 in short1 reconcile what the progress already accomplished has had the effect of rendering irreconcilable8 ,to appeal to communism and fraternity would be to anticipate dates3 there is nothing in common1 there can exist no fraternity1 between such creatures as the division of labor and the service of machinery have made4 ,it is not in that direction--at least for the present--that we must seek a solution4 ,well6 it will be said1 since the evil lies still more in the minds than in the system1 let us come back to instruction1 let us labor for the education of the people4 ,in order that instruction may be useful1 in order that it may even be received1 it is necessary1 first of all1 that the pupil should be free1 just as1 before planting a piece of ground1 we clear it of thorns and dog-grass4 ,moreover1 the best system of education1 even so far as philosophy and morality are concerned1 would be that of professional education3 once more1 how reconcile such education with parcellaire division and the service of machinery8 ,how shall the man who1 by the effect of his labor1 has become a slave1--that is1 a chattel1 a thing1-- again become a person by the same labor1 or in continuing the same exercise8 ,why is it not seen that these ideas are mutually repellent1 and that1 if1 by some impossibility1 the proletaire could reach a certain degree of intelligence1 he would make use of it in the first place to revolutionize society and change all civil and industrial relations8 ,and what ,i say is no vain exaggeration4 ,the working class1 in ,paris and the large cities1 is vastly superior in point of ideas to what it was twenty-five years ago2 now1 let them tell me if this class is not decidedly1 energetically revolutionary6 ,and it will become more and more so in proportion as it shall acquire the ideas of justice and order1 in proportion especially as it shall reach an understanding of the mechanism of property4 ,language1--,i ask permission to recur once more to etymology1--language seems to me to have clearly expressed the moral condition of the laborer1 after he has been1 if ,i may so speak1 depersonalized by industry4 ,in the ,latin the idea of servitude implies that of subordination of man to things2 and when later feudal law declared the serf ,,attached ,,to ,,the ,,glebe1 it only periphrased the literal meaning of the word servus4#af ,spontaneous reason1 oracle of fate itself1 had therefore condemned the subaltern workman1 before science had established his debasement4 ,such being the case1 what can the efforts of philanthropy do for beings whom ,providence has rejected8 #af ,in spite of the most approved authorities1 ,i cannot accept the idea that serf1 in ,latin servus1 was so called from servare1 to keep1 because the slave was a prisoner of war who was kept for labor4 ,servitude1 or at least domesticity1 is certainly prior to war1 although war may have noticeably strengthened it4 ,why1 moreover1 if such was the origin of the idea as well as of the thing1 should they not have said1 instead of serv-us1 serv-atus1 in conformity with grammatical deduction8 ,to me the real etymology is revealed in the opposition of serv-are and serv-ire1 the primitive theme of which is ser-o1 in-sero1 to join1 to press1whence ser-ies1 joint1 continuity1 ser-a1 lock1 sertir1 insert1 etc4 ,all these words imply the idea of a principal thing1 to which is joined an accessory1 as an object of special usefulness4 ,thence serv-ire1 to be an object of usefulness1 a thing secondary to another2 serv-are1 as we say to press1 to put aside1 to assign a thing its utility2 serv-us1 a man at hand1 a utility1 a chattel1 in short1 a man of service4 ,the opposite of servus is dom-inus 7dom-us1 dom-anium1 and dom-are72 that is1 the head of the household1 the master of the house1 he who utilizes men1 servat1 animals1 domat1 and things1 possidet4 ,that consequently prisoners of war should have been reserved for slavery1 servati ad servitium1 or rather serti ad glebam1 is perfectly conceivable2 their destiny being known1 they have simply taken their name from it4 ,labor is the education of our liberty4 ,the ancients had a profound perception of this truth when they distinguished the servile arts from the liberal arts4 ,for1 like profession1 like ideas2 like ideas1 like morals4 ,everything in slavery takes on the character of degradation1-- habits1 tastes1 inclinations1 sentiments1 pleasures3 it involves universal subversion4 ,occupy one's self with the education of the poor6 ,but that would create the most cruel antagonism in these degenerate souls2 that would inspire them with ideas which labor would render intolerable to them1 affections incompatible with the brutishness of their condition1 pleasures of which the perception is dulled in them4 ,if such a project could succeed1 instead of making a man of the laborer1 it would make a demon of him4 ,just study those faces which people the prisons and the galleys1 and tell me if most of them do not belong to subjects whom the revelation of the beautiful1 of elegance1 of wealth1 of comfort1 of honor1 and of science1 of all that makes the dignity of man1 has found too weak1 and so has demoralized and killed4 ,at least wages should be fixed1 say the less audacious2 schedules of rates should be prepared in all industries1 to be accepted by employers and workmen4 ,this hypothesis of salvation is cited by ,m4 ,fix4 ,and he answers victoriously3 ,such schedules have been made in ,england and elsewhere2 their value is known2 everywhere they have been violated as soon as accepted1 both by employers and by workmen4 ,the causes of the violation of the schedules are easy to fathom3 they are to be found in machinery1 in the incessant processes and combinations of industry4 ,a schedule is agreed upon at a given moment3 but suddenly there comes a new invention which gives its author the power to lower the price of merchandise4 ,what will the other employers do8 ,they will cease to manufacture and will discharge their workmen1 or else they will propose to them a reduction4 ,it is the only course open to them1 pending a discovery by them in turn of some process by means of which1 without lowering the rate of wages1 they will be able to produce more cheaply than their competitors3 which will be equivalent again to a suppression of workmen4 ,m4 ,leon ,faucher seems inclined to favor a system of indemnity4 ,he says3 ,we readily conceive that1 in some interest or other1 the ,state1 representing the general desire1 should command the sacrifice of an industry4 ,it is always supposed to command it1 from the moment that it grants to each the liberty to produce1 and protects and defends this liberty against all encroachment4 ,but this is an extreme measure1 an experiment which is always perilous1 and which should be accompanied by all possible consideration for individuals4 ,the ,state has no right to take from a class of citizens the labor by which they live1 before otherwise providing for their subsistence or assuring itself that they will find in some new industry employment for their minds and arms4 ,it is a principle in civilized countries that the government cannot seize a piece of private property1 even on grounds of public utility1 without first buying out the proprietor by a just indemnity paid in advance4 ,now1 labor seems to us property quite as legitimate1 quite as sacred1 as a field or a house1 and we do not understand why it should be expropriated without any sort of compensation4 4 4 4 ,as chimerical as we consider the doctrines which represent government as the universal purveyor of labor in society1 to the same extent does it seem to us just and necessary that every displacement of labor in the name of public utility should be effected only by means of a compensation or a transition1 and that neither individuals nor classes should be sacrificed to ,state considerations4 ,power1 in well- constituted nations1 has always time and money to give for the mitigation of these partial sufferings4 ,and it is precisely because industry does not emanate from it1 because it is born and developed under the free and individual initiative of citizens1 that the government is bound1 when it disturbs its course1 to offer it a sort of reparation or indemnity4 ,there's sense for you3 whatever ,m4 ,leon ,faucher may say1 he calls for the organization of labor4 ,for government to see to it that ,,every ,,displacement ,,of ,,labor ,,is ,,effected ,,only ,,by ,,means ,,of ,a ,,compensation ,,or ,a ,,transition1 ,,and ,,that ,,individuals ,,and ,,classes ,,are ,,never ,,sacrificed ,,to ,,state ,,considerations1--that is1 to the progress of industry and the liberty of enterprise1 the supreme law of the ,state1--is without any doubt to constitute itself1 in some way that the future shall determine1 the ,,purveyor ,,of ,,labor ,,in ,,society and the guardian of wages4 ,and1 as we have many times repeated1 inasmuch as industrial progress and consequently the work of disarranging and rearranging classes in society is continual1 it is not a special transition for each innovation that needs to be discovered1 but rather a general principle1 an organic law of transition1 applicable to all possible cases and producing its effect itself4 ,is ,m4 ,leon ,faucher in a position to formulate this law and reconcile the various antagonisms which we have described8 ,no1 since he prefers to stop at the idea of an indemnity4 ,,power1 he says1 ,,in ,,well-,,organized ,,nations1 ,,has ,,always ,,time ,,and ,,money ,,to ,,give ,,for ,,the ,,mitigation ,,of ,,these ,,partial ,,sufferings4 ,i am sorry for ,m4 ,faucher's generous intentions1 but they seem to me radically impracticable4 ,power has no time and money save what it takes from the taxpayers4 ,to indemnify by taxation laborers thrown out of work would be to visit ostracism upon new inventions and establish communism by means of the bayonet2 that is no solution of the difficulty4 ,it is useless to insist further on indemnification by the ,state4 ,indemnity1 applied according to ,m4 ,faucher's views1 would either end in industrial despotism1 in something like the government of ,mohammed-,ali1 or else would degenerate into a poor-tax1--that is1 into a vain hypocrisy4 ,for the good of humanity it were better not to indemnify1 and to let labor seek its own eternal constitution4 ,there are some who say3 ,let government carry laborers thrown out of work to points where private industry is not established1 where individual enterprise cannot reach4 ,we have mountains to plant again with trees1 ten or twelve million acres of land to clear1 canals to dig1 in short1 a thousand things of immediate and general utility to undertake4 ,we certainly ask our readers' pardon for it1 answers ,m4 ,fix2 but here again we are obliged to call for the intervention of capital4 ,these surfaces1 certain communal lands excepted1 are fallow1 because1 if cultivated1 they would yield no net product1 and very likely not even the costs of cultivation4 ,these lands are possessed by proprietors who either have or have not the capital necessary to cultivate them4 ,in the former case1 the proprietor would very probably content himself1 if he cultivated these lands1 with a very small profit1 and perhaps would forego what is called the rent of the land3 but he has found that1 in undertaking such cultivation1 he would lose his original capital1 and his other calculations have shown him that the sale of the products would not cover the costs of cultivation4 4 4 4 ,all things considered1 therefore1 this land will remain fallow1 because capital that should be put into it would yield no profit and would be lost4 ,if it were otherwise1 all these lands would be immediately put in cultivation2 the savings now disposed of in another direction would necessarily gravitate in a certain proportion to the cultivation of land2 for capital has no affections3 it has interests1 and always seeks that employment which is surest and most lucrative4 ,this argument1 very well reasoned1 amounts to saying that the time to cultivate its waste lands has not arrived for ,france1 just as the time for railroads has not arrived for the ,kaffres and the ,hottentots4 ,for1 as has been said in the second chapter1 society begins by working those sources which yield most easily and surely the most necessary and least expensive products3 it is only gradually that it arrives at the utilization of things relatively less productive4 ,since the human race has been tossing about on the face of its globe1 it has struggled with no other task2 for it the same care is ever recurrent1--that of assuring its subsistence while going forward in the path of discovery4 ,in order that such clearing of land may not become a ruinous speculation1 a cause of misery1 in other words1 in order that it may be possible1 it is necessary1 therefore1 to multiply still further our capital and machinery1 discover new processes1 and more thoroughly divide labor4 ,now1 to solicit the government to take such an initiative is to imitate the peasants who1 on seeing the approach of a storm1 begin to pray to ,god and to invoke their saint4 ,governments--today it cannot be too often repeated--are the representatives of ,divinity1--,i had almost said executors of celestial vengeance3 they can do nothing for us4 ,does the ,english government1 for instance1 know any way of giving labor to the unfortunates who take refuge in its workhouses8 ,and if it knew1 would it dare8 ,,aid ,,yourself1 ,,and ,,heaven ,,will ,,aid ,,you6 ,this note of popular distrust of ,divinity tells us also what we must expect of power1--nothing4 ,arrived at the second station of our ,calvary1 instead of abandoning ourselves to sterile contemplations1 let us be more and more attentive to the teachings of destiny4 ,the guarantee of our liberty lies in the progress of our torture4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,,third ,,period4--,,competition4 ,between the hundred-headed hydra1 division of labor1 and the unconquered dragon1 machinery1 what will become of humanity8 ,a prophet has said it more than two thousand years ago3 ,satan looks on his victim1 and the fires of war are kindled1 ,aspexit gentes1 et dissolvit4 ,to save us from two scourges1 famine and pestilence1 ,providence sends us discord4 ,competition represents that philosophical era in which1 a semi- understanding of the antinomies of reason having given birth to the art of sophistry1 the characteristics of the false and the true were confounded1 and in which1 instead of doctrines1 they had nothing but deceptive mental tilts4 ,thus the industrial movement faithfully reproduces the metaphysical movement2 the history of social economy is to be found entire in the writings of the philosophers4 ,let us study this interesting phase1 whose most striking characteristic is to take away the judgment of those who believe as well as those who protest4 #a4--,necessity of competition4 ,m4 ,louis ,reybaud1 novelist by profession1 economist on occasion1 breveted by the ,academy of ,moral and ,political ,sciences for his anti-reformatory caricatures1 and become1 with the lapse of time1 one of the writers most hostile to social ideas1--,m4 ,louis ,reybaud1 whatever he may do1 is none the less profoundly imbued with these same ideas3 the opposition which he thus exhibits is neither in his heart nor in his mind2 it is in the facts4 ,in the first edition of his ,studies of ,contemporary ,reformers1 ,m4 ,reybaud1 moved by the sight of social sufferings as well as the courage of these founders of schools1 who believed that they could reform the world by an explosion of sentimentalism1 had formally expressed the opinion that the surviving feature of all their systems was ,,association4 ,m4 ,dunoyer1 one of ,m4 ,reybaud's judges1 bore this testimony1 the more flattering to ,m4 ,reybaud from being slightly ironical in form3 ,m4 ,reybaud1 who has exposed with so much accuracy and talent1 in a book which the ,french ,academy has crowned1 the vices of the three principal reformatory systems1 holds fast to the principle common to them1 which serves as their base1--association4 ,association in his eyes1 he declares1 is ,,the ,,greatest ,,problem ,,of ,,modern ,,times4 ,it is called1 he says1 to solve that of the distribution of the fruits of labor4 ,though authority can do nothing towards the solution of this problem1 association ,,could ,,do ,,everything4 ,m4 ,reybaud speaks here like a writer of the phalansterian school4 4 4 4 ,m4 ,reybaud had advanced a little1 as one may see4 ,endowed with too much good sense and good faith not to perceive the precipice1 he soon felt that he was straying1 and began a retrograde movement4 ,i do not call this about-face a crime on his part3 ,m4 ,reybaud is one of those men who cannot justly be held responsible for their metaphors4 ,he had spoken before reflecting1 he retracted3 what more natural6 ,if the socialists must blame any one1 let it be ,m4 ,dunoyer1 who had prompted ,m4 ,reybaud's recantation by this singular compliment4 ,m4 ,dunoyer was not slow in perceiving that his words had not fallen on closed ears4 ,he relates1 for the glory of sound principles1 that1 in a second edition of the ,studies of ,reformers1' ,m4 ,reybaud has himself tempered the absolute tone of his expressions4 ,he has said1 instead of could do ,,everything1 could do ,,much4 ,it was an important modification1 as ,m4 ,dunoyer brought clearly to his notice1 but it still permitted ,m4 ,reybaud to write at the same time3 ,these symptoms are grave2 they may be considered as prophecies of a confused organization1 in which labor would seek an equilibrium and a regularity which it now lacks4 4 4 4 ,at the bottom of all these efforts is hidden a principle1 association1 which it would be wrong to condemn on the strength of irregular manifestations4 ,finally ,m4 ,reybaud has loudly declared himself a partisan of competition1 which means that he has decidedly abandoned the principle of association4 ,for if by association we are to understand only the forms of partnership fixed by the commercial code1 the philosophy of which has been summarized for us by ,,mm4 ,troplong and ,delangle1 it is no longer worth while to distinguish between socialists and economists1 between one party which seeks association and another which maintains that association exists4 ,let no one imagine1 because ,m4 ,reybaud has happened to say heedlessly yes and no to a question of which he does not seem to have yet formed a clear idea1 that ,i class him among those speculators of socialism1 who1 after having launched a hoax into the world1 begin immediately to make their retreat1 under the pretext that1 the idea now belonging to the public domain1 there is nothing more for them to do but to leave it to make its way4 ,m4 ,reybaud1 in my opinion1 belongs rather to the category of dupes1 which includes in its bosom so many honest people and people of so much brains4 ,m4 ,reybaud will remain1 then1 in my eyes1 the vir probus dicendi peritus1 the conscientious and skilful writer1 who may easily be caught napping1 but who never expresses anything that he does not see or feel4 ,moreover1 ,m4 ,reybaud1 once placed on the ground of economic ideas1 would find the more difficulty in being consistent with himself because of the clearness of his mind and the accuracy of his reasoning4 ,i am going to make this curious experiment under the reader's eyes4 ,if ,i could be understood by ,m4 ,reybaud1 ,i would say to him3 ,take your stand in favor of competition1 you will be wrong2 take your stand against competition1 still you will be wrong3 which signifies that you will always be right4 ,after that1 if1 convinced that you have not erred either in the first edition of your book or in the fourth1 you should succeed in formulating your sentiment in an intelligible manner1 ,i will look upon you as an economist of as great genius as ,turgot and ,a4 ,smith2 but ,i warn you that then you will resemble the latter1 of whom you doubtless know little2 you will be a believer in equality4 ,do you accept the wager8 ,to better prepare ,m4 ,reybaud for this sort of reconciliation with himself1 let us show him first that this versatility of judgment1 for which anybody else in my place would reproach him with insulting bitterness1 is a treason1 not on the part of the writer1 but on the part of the facts of which he has made himself the interpreter4 ,in ,march1 #ahdd1 ,m4 ,reybaud published on oleaginous seeds--a subject which interested the city of ,marseilles1 his birthplace--an article in which he took vigorous ground in favor of free competition and the oil of sesame4 ,according to the facts gathered by the author1 which seem authentic1 sesame would yield from forty-five to forty-six per cent4 of oil1 while the poppy and the colza yield only twenty-five to thirty per cent41 and the olive simply twenty to twenty-two4 ,sesame1 for this reason1 is disliked by the northern manufacturers1 who have asked and obtained its prohibition4 ,nevertheless the ,english are on the watch1 ready to take possession of this valuable branch of commerce4 ,let them prohibit the seed1 says ,m4 ,reybaud1 the oil will reach us mixed1 in soap1 or in some other way3 we shall have lost the profit of manufacture4 ,moreover1 the interest of our marine service requires the protection of this trade2 it is a matter of no less than forty thousand casks of seed1 which implies a maritime outfit of three hundred vessels and three thousand sailors4 ,these facts are conclusive3 forty-five per cent4 of oil instead of twenty-five2 in quality superior to all the oils of ,france2 reduction in the price of an article of prime necessity2 a saving to consumers2 three hundred ships1 three thousand sailors1--such would be the value to us of liberty of commerce4 ,therefore1 long live competition and sesame6 ,then1 in order to better assure these brilliant results1 ,m4 ,reybaud1 impelled by his patriotism and going straight in pursuit of his idea1 observes--very judiciously in our opinion--that the government should abstain henceforth from all treaties of reciprocity in the matter of transportation3 he asks that ,french vessels may carry the imports as well as the exports of ,french commerce4 ,what we call reciprocity1 he says1 is a pure fiction1 the advantage of which is reaped by whichever of the parties can furnish navigation at the smallest expense4 ,now1 as in ,france the elements of navigation1 such as the purchase of the ships1 the wages of the crews1 and the costs of outfit1 rise to an excessive figure1 higher than in any of the other maritime nations1 it follows that every reciprocity treaty is equivalent on our part to a treaty of abdication1 and that1 instead of agreeing to an act of mutual convenience1 we resign ourselves1 knowingly or involuntarily1 to a sacrifice4 ,and ,m4 ,reybaud then points out the disastrous consequences of reciprocity3 ,france consumes five hundred thousand bales of cotton1 and the ,americans land them on our wharves2 she uses enormous quantities of coal1 and the ,english do the carrying thereof2 the ,swedes and ,norwegians deliver to us themselves their iron and wood2 the ,dutch1 their cheeses2 the ,russians1 their hemp and wheat2 the ,genoese1 their rice2 the ,spaniards1 their oils2 the ,sicilians1 their sulphur2 the ,greeks and ,armenians1 all the commodities of the ,mediterranean and ,black seas4 ,evidently such a state of things is intolerable1 for it ends in rendering our merchant marine useless4 ,let us hasten back1 then1 into our ship yards1 from which the cheapness of foreign navigation tends to exclude us4 ,let us close our doors to foreign vessels1 or at least let us burden them with a heavy tax4 ,therefore1 down with competition and rival marines6 ,does ,m4 ,reybaud begin to understand that his economico-socialistic oscillations are much more innocent than he would have believed8 ,what gratitude he owes me for having quieted his conscience1 which perhaps was becoming alarmed6 ,the reciprocity of which ,m4 ,reybaud so bitterly complains is only a form of commercial liberty4 ,grant full and entire liberty of trade1 and our flag is driven from the surface of the seas1 as our oils would be from the continent4 ,therefore we shall pay dearer for our oil1 if we insist on making it ourselves2 dearer for our colonial products1 if we wish to carry them ourselves4 ,to secure cheapness it would be necessary1 after having abandoned our oils1 to abandon our marine3 as well abandon straightway our cloths1 our linens1 our calicoes1 our iron products1 and then1 as an isolated industry necessarily costs too much1 our wines1 our grains1 our forage6 ,whichever course you may choose1 privilege or liberty1 you arrive at the impossible1 at the absurd4 ,undoubtedly there exists a principle of reconciliation2 but1 unless it be utterly despotic1 it must be derived from a law superior to liberty itself3 now1 it is this law which no one has yet defined1 and which ,i ask of the economists1 if they really are masters of their science4 ,for ,i cannot consider him a savant who1 with the greatest sincerity and all the wit in the world1 preaches by turns1 fifteen lines apart1 liberty and monopoly4 ,is it not immediately and intuitively evident that ,,competition ,,destroys ,,competition8 ,is there a theorem in geometry more certain1 more peremptory1 than that8 ,how then1 upon what conditions1 in what sense1 can a principle which is its own denial enter into science8 ,how can it become an organic law of society8 ,if competition is necessary2 if1 as the school says1 it is a postulate of production1--how does it become so devastating in its effects8 ,and if its most certain effect is to ruin those whom it incites1 how does it become useful8 ,for the ,,inconveniences which follow in its train1 like the good which it procures1 are not accidents arising from the work of man3 both follow logically from the principle1 and subsist by the same title and face to face4 ,and1 in the first place1 competition is as essential to labor as division1 since it is division itself returning in another form1 or rather1 raised to its second power2 division1 ,i say1 no longer1 as in the first period of economic evolution1 adequate to collective force1 and consequently absorbing the personality of the laborer in the workshop1 but giving birth to liberty by making each subdivision of labor a sort of sovereignty in which man stands in all his power and independence4 ,competition1 in a word1 is liberty in division and in all the divided parts3 beginning with the most comprehensive functions1 it tends toward its realization even in the inferior operations of parcellaire labor4 ,here the communists raise an objection4 ,it is necessary1 they say1 in all things1 to distinguish between use and abuse4 ,there is a useful1 praiseworthy1 moral competition1 a competition which enlarges the heart and the mind1 a noble and generous competition1--it is emulation2 and why should not this emulation have for its object the advantage of all8 ,there is another competition1 pernicious1 immoral1 unsocial1 a jealous competition which hates and which kills1--it is egoism4 ,so says communism2 so expressed itself1 nearly a year ago1 in its social profession of faith1 the journal1 ,la ,reforme4 ,whatever reluctance ,i may feel to oppose men whose ideas are at bottom my own1 ,i cannot accept such dialectics4 ,la ,reforme1 in believing that it could reconcile everything by a distinction more grammatical than real1 has made use1 without suspecting it1 of the golden mean1-- that is1 of the worst sort of diplomacy4 ,its argument is exactly the same as that of ,m4 ,rossi in regard to the division of labor3 it consists in setting competition and morality against each other1 in order to limit them by each other1 as ,m4 ,rossi pretended to arrest and restrict economic inductions by morality1 cutting here1 lopping there1 to suit the need and the occasion4 ,i have refuted ,m4 ,rossi by asking him this simple question3 ,how can science be in disagreement with itself1 the science of wealth with the science of duty8 ,likewise ,i ask the communists3 ,how can a principle whose development is clearly useful be at the same time pernicious8 ,they say3 emulation is not competition4 ,i note1 in the first place1 that this pretended distinction bears only on the divergent effects of the principle1 which leads one to suppose that there were two principles which had been confounded4 ,emulation is nothing but competition itself2 and1 since they have thrown themselves into abstractions1 ,i willingly plunge in also4 ,there is no emulation without an object1 just as there is no passional initiative without an object2 and as the object of every passion is necessarily analogous to the passion itself1--woman to the lover1 power to the ambitious1 gold to the miser1 a crown to the poet1--so the object of industrial emulation is necessarily profit4 ,no1 rejoins the communist1 the laborer's object of emulation should be general utility1 fraternity1 love4 ,but society itself1 since1 instead of stopping at the individual man1 who is in question at this moment1 they wish to attend only to the collective man1--society1 ,i say1 labors only with a view to wealth2 comfort1 happiness1 is its only object4 ,why1 then1 should that which is true of society not be true of the individual also1 since1 after all1 society is man and entire humanity lives in each man8 ,why substitute for the immediate object of emulation1 which in industry is personal welfare1 that far-away and almost metaphysical motive called general welfare1 especially when the latter is nothing without the former and can result only from the former8 ,communists1 in general1 build up a strange illusion3 fanatics on the subject of power1 they expect to secure through a central force1 and in the special case in question1 through collective wealth1 by a sort of reversion1 the welfare of the laborer who has created this wealth3 as if the individual came into existence after society1 instead of society after the individual4 ,for that matter1 this is not the only case in which we shall see the socialists unconsciously dominated by the traditions of the regime against which they protest4 ,but what need of insisting8 ,from the moment that the communist changes the name of things1 vera rerum vocabala1 he tacitly admits his powerlessness1 and puts himself out of the question4 ,that is why my sole reply to him shall be3 ,in denying competition1 you abandon the thesis2 henceforth you have no place in the discussion4 ,some other time we will inquire how far man should sacrifice himself in the interest of all3 for the moment the question is the solution of the problem of competition1--that is1 the reconciliation of the highest satisfaction of egoism with social necessities2 spare us your moralities4 ,competition is necessary to the constitution of value1--that is1 to the very principle of distribution1 and consequently to the advent of equality4 ,as long as a product is supplied only by a single manufacturer1 its real value remains a mystery1 either through the producer's misrepresentation or through his neglect or inability to reduce the cost of production to its extreme limit4 ,thus the privilege of production is a real loss to society1 and publicity of industry1 like competition between laborers1 a necessity4 ,all the utopias ever imagined or imaginable cannot escape this law4 ,certainly ,i do not care to deny that labor and wages can and should be guaranteed2 ,i even entertain the hope that the time of such guarantee is not far off3 but ,i maintain that a guarantee of wages is impossible without an exact knowledge of value1 and that this value can be discovered only by competition1 not at all by communistic institutions or by popular decree4 ,for in this there is something more powerful than the will of the legislator and of citizens1--namely1 the absolute impossibility that man should do his duty after finding himself relieved of all responsibility to himself3 now1 responsibility to self1 in the matter of labor1 necessarily implies competition with others4 ,ordain that1 beginning ,january #a1 #ahdg1 labor and wages are guaranteed to all3 immediately an immense relaxation will succeed the extreme tension to which industry is now subjected2 real value will fall rapidly below nominal value2 metallic money1 in spite of its effigy and stamp1 will experience the fate of the assignats2 the merchant will ask more and give less2 and we shall find ourselves in a still lower circle in the hell of misery in which competition is only the third turn4 ,even were ,i to admit1 with some socialists1 that the attractiveness of labor may some day serve as food for emulation without any hidden thought of profit1 of what utility could this utopia be in the phase which we are studying8 ,we are yet only in the third period of economic evolution1 in the third age of the constitution of labor1--that is1 in a period when it is impossible for labor to be attractive4 ,for the attractiveness of labor can result only from a high degree of physical1 moral1 and intellectual development of the laborer4 ,now1 this development itself1 this education of humanity by industry1 is precisely the object of which we are in pursuit through the contradictions of social economy4 ,how1 then1 could the attractiveness of labor serve us as a principle and lever1 when it is still our object and our end8 ,but1 if it is unquestionable that labor1 as the highest manifestation of life1 intelligence1 and liberty1 carries with it its own attractiveness1 ,i deny that this attractiveness can ever be wholly separated from the motive of utility1 and consequently from a return of egoism2 ,i deny1 ,i say1 labor for labor1 just as ,i deny style for style1 love for love1 art for art4 ,style for style has produced in these days hasty literature and thoughtless improvisation2 love for love leads to unnatural vice1 onanism1 and prostitution2 art for art ends in ,chinese knick-knacks1 caricature1 the worship of the ugly4 ,when man no longer looks to labor for anything but the pleasure of exercise1 he soon ceases to labor1 he plays4 ,history is full of facts which attest this degradation4 ,the games of ,greece1 ,isthmian1 ,olympic1 ,pythian1 ,nemean1 exercises of a society which produced everything by its slaves2 the life of the ,spartans and the ancient ,cretans1 their models2 the gymnasiums1 playgrounds1 horse-races1 and disorders of the market-place among the ,athenians2 the occupations which ,plato assigns to the warriors in his ,republic1 and which but represent the tastes of his century2 finally1 in our feudal society1 the tilts and tourneys1--all these inventions1 as well as many others which ,i pass in silence1 from the game of chess1 invented1 it is said1 at the siege of ,troy by ,palamedes1 to the cards illustrated for ,charles ,,vi4 by ,gringonneur1 are examples of what labor becomes as soon as the serious motive of utility is separated from it4 ,labor1 real labor1 that which produces wealth and gives knowledge1 has too much need of regularity and perseverance and sacrifice to be long the friend of passion1 fugitive in its nature1 inconstant1 and disorderly2 it is something too elevated1 too ideal1 too philosophical1 to become exclusively pleasure and enjoyment1--that is1 mysticism and sentiment4 ,the faculty of laboring1 which distinguishes man from the brutes1 has its source in the profoundest depths of the reason3 how could it become in us a simple manifestation of life1 a voluptuous act of our feeling8 ,but if now they fall back upon the hypothesis of a transformation of our nature1 unprecedented in history1 and of which there has been nothing so far that could have expressed the idea1 it is nothing more than a dream1 unintelligible even to those who defend it1 an inversion of progress1 a contradiction given to the most certain laws of economic science2 and my only reply is to exclude it from the discussion4 ,let us stay in the realm of facts1 since facts alone have a meaning and can aid us4 ,the ,french ,revolution was effected for industrial liberty as well as for political liberty3 and although ,france in #aghi had not seen all the consequences of the principle for the realization of which she asked1--let us say it boldly1--she was mistaken neither in her wishes nor in her expectation4 ,whoever would try to deny it would lose in my eyes the right to criticism3 ,i will never dispute with an adversary who would posit as a principle the spontaneous error of twenty-five millions of men4 ,at the end of the eighteenth century ,france1 wearied with privileges1 desired at any price to shake off the torpor of her corporations1 and restore the dignity of the laborer by conferring liberty upon him4 ,everywhere it was necessary to emancipate labor1 stimulate genius1 and render the manufacturer responsible by arousing a thousand competitors and loading upon him alone the consequences of his indolence1 ignorance1 and insincerity4 ,before '#hi ,france was ripe for the transition2 it was ,turgot who had the glory of effecting the first passage4 ,why then1 if competition had not been a principle of social economy1 a decree of destiny1 a necessity of the human soul1 why1 instead of ,,abolishing corporations1 masterships1 and wardenships1 did they not think rather of ,,repairing them all8 ,why1 instead of a revolution1 did they not content themselves with a reform8 ,why this negation1 if a modification was sufficient8 ,especially as this middle party was entirely in the line of conservative ideas1 which the bourgeoisie shared4 ,let communism1 let quasi-socialistic democracy1 which1 in regard to the principle of competition1 represent--though they do not suspect it--the system of the golden mean1 the counter-revolutionary idea1 explain to me this unanimity of the nation1 if they can6 ,moreover the event confirmed the theory4 ,beginning with the ,turgot ministry1 an increase of activity and well-being manifested itself in the nation4 ,the test seemed so decisive that it obtained the approval of all legislatures4 ,liberty of industry and commerce figure in our constitutions on a level with political liberty4 ,to this liberty1 in short1 ,france owes the growth of her wealth during the last sixty years4 ,after this capital fact1 which establishes so triumphantly the necessity of competition1 ,i ask permission to cite three or four others1 which1 being less general in their nature1 will throw into bolder relief the influence of the principle which ,i defend4 ,why is our agriculture so prodigiously backward8 ,how is it that routine and barbarism still hover1 in so many localities1 over the most important branch of national labor8 ,among the numerous causes that could be cited1 ,i see1 in the front rank1 the absence of competition4 ,the peasants fight over strips of ground2 they compete with each other before the notary2 in the fields1 no4 ,and speak to them of emulation1 of the public good1 and with what amazement you fill them6 ,let the king1 they say 7to them the king is synonymous with the ,state1 with the public good1 with society71 let the king attend to his business1 and we will attend to ours6 ,such is their philosophy and their patriotism4 ,ah6 if the king could excite competition with them6 ,unfortunately it is impossible4 ,while in manufactures competition follows from liberty and property1 in agriculture liberty and property are a direct obstacle to competition4 ,the peasant1 rewarded1 not according to his labor and intelligence1 but according to the quality of the land and the caprice of ,god1 aims1 in cultivating1 to pay the lowest possible wages and to make the least possible advance outlays4 ,sure of always finding a market for his goods1 he is much more solicitous about reducing his expenses than about improving the soil and the quality of its products4 ,he sows1 and ,providence does the rest4 ,the only sort of competition known to the agricultural class is that of rents2 and it cannot be denied that in ,france1 and for instance in ,beauce1 it has led to useful results4 ,but as the principle of this competition takes effect only at second hand1 so to speak1 as it does not emanate directly from the liberty and property of the cultivators1 it disappears with the cause that produces it1 so that1 to insure the decline of agricultural industry in many localities1 or at least to arrest its progress1 perhaps it would suffice to make the farmers proprietors4 ,another branch of collective labor1 which of late years has given rise to sharp debates1 is that of public works4 ,to manage the building of a road1 ,m4 ,dunoyer very well says1 perhaps a pioneer and a postilion would be better than an engineer fresh from the ,school of ,roads and ,bridges4 ,there is no one who has not had occasion to verify the correctness of this remark4 ,on one of our finest rivers1 celebrated by the importance of its navigation1 a bridge was being built4 ,from the beginning of the work the rivermen had seen that the arches would be much too low to allow the circulation of boats at times when the river was high3 they pointed this out to the engineer in charge of the work4 ,bridges1 answered the latter with superb dignity1 are made for those who pass over1 not for those who pass under4 ,the remark has become a proverb in that vicinity4 ,but1 as it is impossible for stupidity to prevail forever1 the government has felt the necessity of revising the work of its agent1 and as ,i write the arches of the bridge are being raised4 ,does any one believe that1 if the merchants interested in the course of the navigable way had been charged with the enterprise at their own risk and peril1 they would have had to do their work twice8 ,one could fill a book with masterpieces of the same sort achieved by young men learned in roads and bridges1 who1 scarcely out of school and given life positions1 are no longer stimulated by competition4 ,in proof of the industrial capacity of the ,state1 and consequently of the possibility of abolishing competition altogether1 they cite the administration of the tobacco industry4 ,there1 they say1 is no adulteration1 no litigation1 no bankruptcy1 no misery4 ,the condition of the workmen1 adequately paid1 instructed1 sermonized1 moralized1 and assured of a retiring pension accumulated by their savings1 is incomparably superior to that of the immense majority of workmen engaged in free industry4 ,all this may be true3 for my part1 ,i am ignorant on the subject4 ,i know nothing of what goes on in the administration of the tobacco factories2 ,i have procured no information either from the directors or the workmen1 and ,i have no need of any4 ,how much does the tobacco sold by the administration cost8 ,how much is it worth8 ,you can answer the first of these questions3 you only need to call at the first tobacco shop you see4 ,but you can tell me nothing about the second1 because you have no standard of comparison and are forbidden to verify by experiment the items of cost of administration1 which it is consequently impossible to accept4 ,therefore the tobacco business1 made into a monopoly1 necessarily costs society more than it brings in2 it is an industry which1 instead of subsisting by its own product1 lives by subsidies1 and which consequently1 far from furnishing us a model1 is one of the first abuses which reform should strike down4 ,and when ,i speak of the reform to be introduced in the production of tobacco1 ,i do not refer simply to the enormous tax which triples or quadruples the value of this product2 neither do ,i refer to the hierarchical organization of its employees1 some of whom by their salaries are made aristocrats as expensive as they are useless1 while others1 hopeless receivers of petty wages1 are kept forever in the situation of subalterns4 ,i do not even speak of the privilege of the tobacco shops and the whole world of parasites which they support3 ,i have particularly in view the useful labor1 the labor of the workmen4 ,from the very fact that the administration's workman has no competitors and is interested neither in profit nor loss1 from the fact that he is not free1 in a word1 his product is necessarily less1 and his service too expensive4 ,this being so1 let them say that the government treats its employees well and looks out for their comfort3 what wonder8 ,why do not people see that liberty bears the burdens of privilege1 and that1 if1 by some impossibility1 all industries were to be treated like the tobacco industry1 the source of subsidies failing1 the nation could no longer balance its receipts and its expenses1 and the ,state would become a bankrupt8 ,foreign products3 ,i cite the testimony of an educated man1 though not a political economist1--,m4 ,liebig4 ,formerly ,france imported from ,spain every year soda to the value of twenty or thirty millions of francs2 for ,spanish soda was the best4 ,all through the war with ,england the price of soda1 and consequently that of soap and glass1 constantly rose4 ,french manufacturers therefore had to suffer considerably from this state of things4 ,then it was that ,leblanc discovered the method of extracting soda from common salt4 ,this process was a source of wealth to ,france2 the manufacture of soda acquired extraordinary proportions2 but neither ,leblanc nor ,napoleon enjoyed the profit of the invention4 ,the ,restoration1 which took advantage of the wrath of the people against the author of the continental blockade1 refused to pay the debt of the emperor1 whose promises had led to ,leblanc's discoveries4 4 4 4 ,a few years ago1 the king of ,naples having undertaken to convert the ,sicilian sulphur trade into a monopoly1 ,england1 which consumes an immense quantity of this sulphur1 warned the king of ,naples that1 if the monopoly were maintained1 it would be considered a casus belli4 ,while the two governments were exchanging diplomatic notes1 fifteen patents were taken out in ,england for the extraction of sulphuric acid from the limestones1 iron pyrites1 and other mineral substances in which ,england abounds4 ,but the affair being arranged with the king of ,naples1 nothing came of these exploitations3 it was simply established1 by the attempts which were made1 that the extraction of sulphuric acid by the new processes could have been carried on successfully1 which perhaps would have annihilated ,sicily's sulphur trade4 ,had it not been for the war with ,england1 had not the king of ,naples had a fancy for monopoly1 it would have been a long time before any one in ,france would have thought of extracting soda from sea salt1 or any one in ,england of getting sulphuric acid from the mountains of lime and pyrites which she contains4 ,now1 that is precisely the effect of competition upon industry4 ,man rouses from his idleness only when want fills him with anxiety2 and the surest way to extinguish his genius is to deliver him from all solicitude and take away from him the hope of profit and of the social distinction which results from it1 by creating around him ,,peace ,,everywhere1 ,,peace ,,always1 and transferring to the ,state the responsibility of his inertia4 ,yes1 it must be admitted1 in spite of modern quietism1--man's life is a permanent war1 war with want1 war with nature1 war with his fellows1 and consequently war with himself4 ,the theory of a peaceful equality1 founded on fraternity and sacrifice1 is only a counterfeit of the ,catholic doctrine of renunciation of the goods and pleasures of this world1 the principle of beggary1 the panegyric of misery4 ,man may love his fellow well enough to die for him2 he does not love him well enough to work for him4 ,to the theory of sacrifice1 which we have just refuted in fact and in right1 the adversaries of competition add another1 which is just the opposite of the first3 for it is a law of the mind that1 when it does not know the truth1 which is its point of equilibrium1 it oscillates between two contradictions4 ,this new theory of anti-competitive socialism is that of encouragements4 ,what more social1 more progressive in appearance1 than encouragement of labor and of industry8 ,there is no democrat who does not consider it one of the finest attributes of power1 no utopian theorist who does not place it in the front rank as a means of organizing happiness4 ,now1 government is by nature so incapable of directing labor that every reward bestowed by it is a veritable larceny from the common treasury4 ,m4 ,reybaud shall furnish us the text of this induction4 ,the premiums granted to encourage exportation1 observes ,m4 ,reybaud somewhere1 are equivalent to the taxes paid for the importation of raw material2 the advantage remains absolutely null1 and serves to encourage nothing but a vast system of smuggling4 ,this result is inevitable4 ,abolish customs duties1 and national industry suffers1 as we have already seen in the case of sesame2 maintain the duties without granting premiums for exportation1 and national commerce will be beaten in foreign markets4 ,to obviate this difficulty do you resort to premiums8 ,you but restore with one hand what you have received with the other1 and you provoke fraud1 the last result1 the caput mortuum1 of all encouragements of industry4 ,hence it follows that every encouragement to labor1 every reward bestowed upon industry1 beyond the natural price of its product1 is a gratuitous gift1 a bribe taken out of the consumer and offered in his name to a favorite of power1 in exchange for zero1 for nothing4 ,to encourage industry1 then1 is synonymous at bottom with encouraging idleness3 it is one of the forms of swindling4 ,in the interest of our navy the government had thought it best to grant to outfitters of transport-ships a premium for every man employed on their vessels4 ,now1 ,i continue to quote ,m4 ,reybaud3 ,on every vessel that starts for ,newfoundland from sixty to seventy men embark4 ,of this number twelve are sailors3 the balance consists of villagers snatched from their work in the fields1 who1 engaged as day laborers for the preparation of fish1 remain strangers to the rigging1 and have nothing that is marine about them except their feet and stomach4 ,nevertheless1 these men figure on the rolls of the naval inscription1 and there perpetuate a deception4 ,when there is occasion to defend the institution of premiums1 these are cited in its favor2 they swell the numbers and contribute to success4 ,base jugglery6 doubtless some innocent reformer will exclaim4 ,be it so3 but let us analyze the fact1 and try to disengage the general idea to be found therein4 ,in principle the only encouragement to labor that science can admit is profit4 ,for1 if labor cannot find its reward in its own product1 very far from encouraging it1 it should be abandoned as soon as possible1 and1 if this same labor results in a net product1 it is absurd to add to this net product a gratuitous gift1 and thus overrate the value of the service4 ,applying this principle1 ,i say then3 ,if the merchant service calls only for ten thousand sailors1 it should not be asked to support fifteen thousand2 the shortest course for the government is to put five thousand conscripts on ,state vessels1 and send them on their expeditions1 like princes4 ,every encouragement offered to the merchant marine is a direct invitation to fraud1--what do ,i say8--a proposal to pay wages for an impossible service4 ,do the handling and discipline of vessels and all the conditions of maritime commerce accommodate themselves to these adjuncts of a useless personnel8 ,what1 then1 can the ship-owner do in face of a government which offers him a bonus to embark on his vessel people of whom he has no need8 ,if the ministry throws the money of the treasury into the street1 am ,i guilty if ,i pick it up8 ,thus--and it is a point worthy of notice--the theory of encouragements emanates directly from the theory of sacrifice2 and1 in order to avoid holding man responsible1 the opponents of competition1 by the fatal contradiction of their ideas1 are obliged to make him now a god1 now a brute4 ,and then they are astonished that society is not moved by their appeal6 ,poor children6 men will never be better or worse than you see them now and than they always have been4 ,as soon as their individual welfare solicits them1 they desert the general welfare3 in which ,i find them1 if not honorable1 at least worthy of excuse4 ,it is your fault if you now demand of them more than they owe you and now stimulate their greed with rewards which they do not deserve4 ,man has nothing more precious than himself1 and consequently no other law than his responsibility4 ,the theory of self-sacrifice1 like that of rewards1 is a theory of rogues1 subversive of society and morality2 and by the very fact that you look either to sacrifice or to privilege for the maintenance of order1 you create a new antagonism in society4 ,instead of causing the birth of harmony from the free activity of persons1 you render the individual and the ,state strangers to each other2 in commanding union1 you breathe discord4 ,to sum up1 outside of competition there remains but this alternative1-- encouragement1 which is a mystification1 or sacrifice1 which is hypocrisy4 ,therefore competition1 analyzed in its principle1 is an inspiration of justice2 and yet we shall see that competition1 in its results1 is unjust4 #b4--,subversive effects of competition1 and the destruction of liberty thereby4 ,the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence1 says the ,gospel1 and the violent take it by force4 ,these words are the allegory of society4 ,in society regulated by labor1 dignity1 wealth1 and glory are objects of competition2 they are the reward of the strong1 and competition may be defined as the regime of force4 ,the old economists did not at first perceive this contradiction3 the moderns have been forced to recognize it4 ,to elevate a ,state from the lowest degree of barbarism to the highest degree of opulence1 wrote ,a4 ,smith1 but three things are necessary1-- peace1 moderate taxes1 and a tolerable administration of justice4 ,all the rest is brought about by the ,,natural ,,course ,,of ,,things4 ,on which the last translator of ,smith1 ,m4 ,blanqui1 lets fall this gloomy comment3 ,we have seen the natural course of things produce disastrous effects1 and create anarchy in production1 war for markets1 and piracy in competition4 ,the division of labor and the perfecting of machinery1 which should realize for the great working family of the human race the conquest of a certain amount of leisure to the advantage of its dignity1 have produced at many points nothing but degradation and misery4 4 4 4 4 ,when ,a4 ,smith wrote1 liberty had not yet come with its embarrassments and its abuses1 and the ,glasgow professor foresaw only its blessings4 4 4 ,smith would have written like ,m4 de ,sismondi1 if he had been a witness of the sad condition of ,ireland and the manufacturing districts of ,england in the times in which we live4 ,now then1 litterateurs1 statesmen1 daily publicists1 believers and half-believers1 all you who have taken upon yourselves the mission of indoctrinating men1 do you hear these words which one would take for a translation from ,jeremiah8 ,will you tell us at last to what end you pretend to be conducting civilization8 ,what advice do you offer to society1 to the country1 in alarm8 ,but to whom do ,i speak8 ,ministers1 journalists1 sextons1 and pedants6 ,do such people trouble themselves about the problems of social economy8 ,have they ever heard of competition8 ,a citizen of ,lyons1 a soul hardened to mercantile war1 travelled in ,tuscany4 ,he observes that from five to six hundred thousand straw hats are made annually in that country1 the aggregate value of which amounts to four or five millions of francs4 ,this industry is almost the sole support of the people of the little ,state4 ,how is it1 he says to himself1 that so easily conducted a branch of agriculture and manufactures has not been transported into ,provence and ,languedoc1 where the climate is the same as in ,tuscany8 ,but1 thereupon observes an economist1 if the industry of the peasants of ,tuscany is taken from them1 how will they contrive to live8 ,the manufacture of black silks had become for ,florence a specialty the secret of which she guarded preciously4 ,a shrewd ,lyons manufacturer1 the tourist notices with satisfaction1 has come to set up an establishment in ,florence1 and has finally got possession of the peculiar processes of dyeing and weaving4 ,probably this ,,discovery will diminish ,florentine exportation4--,a ,journey in ,italy1 by ,m4 ,fulchiron4 ,formerly the breeding of the silk-worm was abandoned to the peasants of ,tuscany2 whom it aided to live4 ,agricultural societies have been formed2 they have represented that the silk-worm1 in the peasant's sleeping-room1 did not get sufficient ventilation or sufficient steadiness of temperature1 or as good care as it would have if the laborers who breed them made it their sole business4 ,consequently rich1 intelligent1 and generous citizens have built1 amid the applause of the public1 what are called bigattieres 7from bigatti1 silk-worm74--,m4 de ,sismondi4 ,and then1 you ask1 will these breeders of silk-worms1 these manufacturers of silks and hats1 lose their work8 ,precisely3 it will even be proved to them that it is for their interest that they should1 since they will be able to buy the same products for less than it costs them to manufacture them4 ,such is competition4 ,competition1 with its homicidal instinct1 takes away the bread of a whole class of laborers1 and sees in it only an improvement1 a saving2 it steals a secret in a cowardly manner1 and glories in it as a ,,discovery2 it changes the natural zones of production to the detriment of an entire people1 and pretends to have done nothing but utilize the advantages of its climate4 ,competition overturns all notions of equity and justice2 it increases the real cost of production by needlessly multiplying the capital invested1 causes by turns the dearness of products and their depreciation1 corrupts the public conscience by putting chance in the place of right1 and maintains terror and distrust everywhere4 ,but what6 ,without this atrocious characteristic1 competition would lose its happiest effects2 without the arbitrary element in exchange and the panics of the market1 labor would not continually build factory against factory1 and1 not being maintained in such good working order1 production would realize none of its marvels4 ,after having caused evil to arise from the very utility of its principle1 competition again finds a way to extract good from evil2 destruction engenders utility1 equilibrium is realized by agitation1 and it may be said of competition1 as ,samson said of the lion which he had slain3 ,de comedente cibus exiit1 et de forti dulcedo4 ,is there anything1 in all the spheres of human knowledge1 more surprising than political economy8 ,let us take care1 nevertheless1 not to yield to an impulse of irony1 which would be on our part only unjust invective4 ,it is characteristic of economic science to find its certainty in its contradictions1 and the whole error of the economists consists in not having understood this4 ,nothing poorer than their criticism1 nothing more saddening than their mental confusion1 as soon as they touch this question of competition3 one would say that they were witnesses forced by torture to confess what their conscience would like to conceal4 ,the reader will take it kindly if ,i put before his eyes the arguments for laissez-passer1 introducing him1 so to speak1 into the presence of a secret meeting of economists4 ,m4 ,dunoyer opens the discussion4 ,of all the economists ,m4 ,dunoyer has most energetically embraced the positive side of competition1 and consequently1 as might have been expected1 most ineffectually grasped the negative side4 ,m4 ,dunoyer1 with whom nothing can be done when what he calls principles are under discussion1 is very far from believing that in matters of political economy yes and no may be true at the same moment and to the same extent2 let it be said even to his credit1 such a conception is the more repugnant to him because of the frankness and honesty with which he holds his doctrines4 ,what would ,i not give to gain an entrance into this pure but so obstinate soul for this truth as certain to me as the existence of the sun1--that all the categories of political economy are contradictions6 ,instead of uselessly exhausting himself in reconciling practice and theory2 instead of contenting himself with the ridiculous excuse that everything here below has its advantages and its inconveniences1--,m4 ,dunoyer would seek the synthetic idea which solves all the antinomies1 and1 instead of the paradoxical conservative which he now is1 he would become with us an inexorable and logical revolutionist4 ,if competition is a false principle1 says ,m4 ,dunoyer1 it follows that for two thousand years humanity has been pursuing the wrong road4 ,no1 what you say does not follow1 and your prejudicial remark is refuted by the very theory of progress4 ,humanity posits its principles by turns1 and sometimes at long intervals3 never does it give them up in substance1 although it destroys successively their expressions and formulas4 ,this destruction is called ,,negation2 because the general reason1 ever progressive1 continually denies the completeness and sufficiency of its prior ideas4 ,thus it is that1 competition being one of the periods in the constitution of value1 one of the elements of the social synthesis1 it is true to say at the same time that it is indestructible in its principle1 and that nevertheless in its present form it should be abolished1 denied4 ,if1 then1 there is any one here who is in opposition to history1 it is you4 ,i have several remarks to make upon the accusations of which competition has been the object4 ,the first is that this regime1 good or bad1 ruinous or fruitful1 does not really exist as yet2 that it is established nowhere except in a partial and most incomplete manner4 ,this first observation has no sense4 ,,competition ,,kills ,,competition1 as we said at the outset2 this aphorism may be taken for a definition4 ,how1 then1 could competition ever be complete8 ,moreover1 though it should be admitted that competition does not yet exist in its integrity1 that would simply prove that competition does not act with all the power of elimination that there is in it2 but that will not change at all its contradictory nature4 ,what need have we to wait thirty centuries longer to find out that1 the more competition develops1 the more it tends to reduce the number of competitors8 ,the second is that the picture drawn of it is unfaithful2 and that sufficient heed is not paid to the extension which the general welfare has undergone1 including even that of the laboring classes4 ,if some socialists fail to recognize the useful side of competition1 you on your side make no mention of its pernicious effects4 ,the testimony of your opponents coming to complete your own1 competition is shown in the fullest light1 and from a double falsehood we get the truth as a result4 ,as for the gravity of the evil1 we shall see directly what to think about that4 ,the third is that the evil experienced by the laboring classes is not referred to its real causes4 ,if there are other causes of poverty than competition1 does that prevent it from contributing its share8 ,though only one manufacturer a year were ruined by competition1 if it were admitted that this ruin is the necessary effect of the principle1 competition1 as a principle1 would have to be rejected4 ,the fourth is that the principal means proposed for obviating it would be inexpedient in the extreme4 ,possibly3 but from this ,i conclude that the inadequacy of the remedies proposed imposes a new duty upon you1--precisely that of seeking the most expedient means of preventing the evil of competition4 ,the fifth1 finally1 is that the real remedies1 in so far as it is possible to remedy the evil by legislation1 would be found precisely in the regime which is accused of having produced it1--that is1 in a more and more real regime of liberty and competition4 ,well6 ,i am willing4 ,the remedy for competition1 in your opinion1 is to make competition universal4 ,but1 in order that competition may be universal1 it is necessary to procure for all the means of competing2 it is necessary to destroy or modify the predominance of capital over labor1 to change the relations between employer and workman1 to solve1 in a word1 the antinomy of division and that of machinery2 it is necessary to ,,organize ,,labor3 can you give this solution8 ,m4 ,dunoyer then develops1 with a courage worthy of a better cause1 his own utopia of universal competition3 it is a labyrinth in which the author stumbles and contradicts himself at every step4 ,competition1 says ,m4 ,dunoyer1 meets a multitude of obstacles4 ,in fact1 it meets so many and such powerful ones that it becomes impossible itself4 ,for how is triumph possible over obstacles inherent in the constitution of society and consequently inseparable from competition itself8 ,in addition to the public services1 there is a certain number of professions the practice of which the government has seen fit to more or less exclusively reserve2 there is a larger number of which legislation has given a monopoly to a restricted number of individuals4 ,those which are abandoned to competition are subjected to formalities and restrictions1 to numberless barriers1 which keep many from approaching1 and in these consequently competition is far from being unlimited4 ,in short1 there are few which are not submitted to varied taxes1 necessary doubtless1 etc4 ,what does all this mean8 ,m4 ,dunoyer doubtless does not intend that society shall dispense with government1 administration1 police1 taxes1 universities1 in a word1 with everything that constitutes a society4 ,then1 inasmuch as society necessarily implies exceptions to competition1 the hypothesis of universal competition is chimerical1 and we are back again under the regime of caprice1--a result foretold in the definition of competition4 ,is there anything serious in this reasoning of ,m4 ,dunoyer8 ,formerly the masters of the science began by putting far away from them every preconceived idea1 and devoted themselves to tracing facts back to general laws1 without ever altering or concealing them4 ,the researches of ,adam ,smith1 considering the time of their appearance1 are a marvel of sagacity and lofty reasoning4 ,the economic picture presented by ,quesnay1 wholly unintelligible as it appears1 gives evidence of a profound sentiment of the general synthesis4 ,the introduction to ,j4 ,b4 ,say's great treatise dwells exclusively upon the scientific characteristics of political economy1 and in every line is to be seen how much the author felt the need of absolute ideas4 ,the economists of the last century certainly did not constitute the science1 but they sought this constitution ardently and honestly4 ,how far we are today from these noble thoughts6 ,no longer do they seek a science2 they defend the interests of dynasty and caste4 ,the more powerless routine becomes1 the more stubbornly they adhere to it2 they make use of the most venerated names to stamp abnormal phenomena with a quality of authenticity which they lack2 they tax accusing facts with heresy2 they calumniate the tendencies of the century2 and nothing irritates an economist so much as to pretend to reason with him4 ,the peculiar characteristic of the present time1 cries ,m4 ,dunoyer1 in a tone of keen discontent1 is the agitation of all classes2 their anxiety1 their inability to ever stop at anything and be contented2 the infernal labor performed upon the less fortunate that they may become more and more discontented in proportion to the increased efforts of society to make their lot really less pitiful4 ,indeed6 ,because the socialists goad political economy1 they are incarnate devils6 ,can there be anything more impious1 in fact1 than to teach the proletaire that he is wronged in his labor and his wages1 and that1 in the surroundings in which he lives1 his poverty is irremediable8 ,m4 ,reybaud repeats1 with greater emphasis1 the wail of his master1 ,m4 ,dunoyer3 one would think them the two seraphim of ,isaiah chanting a ,sanctus to competition4 ,in ,june1 #ahdd1 at the time when he published the fourth edition of his ,contemporary ,reformers1 ,m4 ,reybaud wrote1 in the bitterness of his soul3 ,to socialists we owe the organization of labor1 the right to labor2 they are the promoters of the regime of surveillance4 4 4 4 ,the legislative chambers on either side of the channel are gradually succumbing to their influence4 4 4 4 ,thus utopia is gaining ground4 4 4 4 ,and ,m4 ,reybaud more and more deplores the ,,secret ,,influence ,,of ,,socialism on the best minds1 and stigmatizes--see the malice6--the ,,unperceived ,,contagion with which even those who have broken lances against socialism allow themselves to be inoculated4 ,then he announces1 as a last act of his high justice against the wicked1 the approaching publication1 under the title of ,laws of ,labor1 of a work in which he will prove 7unless some new evolution takes place in his ideas7 that the laws of labor have nothing in common1 either with the right to labor or with the organization of labor1 and that the best of reforms is laissez-faire4 ,moreover1 adds ,m4 ,reybaud1 the tendency of political economy is no longer to theory1 but to practice4 ,the abstract portions of the science seem henceforth fixed4 ,the controversy over definitions is exhausted1 or nearly so4 ,the works of the great economists on value1 capital1 supply and demand1 wages1 taxes1 machinery1 farm-rent1 increase of population1 over-accumulation of products1 markets1 banks1 monopolies1 etc41 seem to have set the limit of dogmatic researches1 and form a body of doctrine beyond which there is little to hope4 ,,facility ,,of ,,speech1 ,,impotence ,,in ,,argument1--such would have been the conclusion of ,montesquieu upon this strange panegyric of the founders of social economy4 ,,the ,,science ,,is ,,complete6 ,m4 ,reybaud makes oath to it2 and what he proclaims with so much authority is repeated at the ,academy1 in the professors' chairs1 in the councils of ,state1 in the legislative halls2 it is published in the journals2 the king is made to say it in his ,new ,year's addresses2 and before the courts the cases of claimants are decided accordingly4 ,,the ,,science ,,is ,,complete6 ,what fools we are1 then1 socialists1 to hunt for daylight at noonday1 and to protest1 with our lanterns in our hands1 against the brilliancy of these solar rays6 ,but1 gentlemen1 it is with sincere regret and profound distrust of myself that ,i find myself forced to ask you for further light4 ,if you cannot cure our ills1 give us at least kind words1 give us evidence1 give us resignation4 ,it is obvious1 says ,m4 ,dunoyer1 that wealth is infinitely better distributed in our day than it ever has been4 ,the equilibrium of pains and pleasures1 promptly continues ,m4 ,reybaud1 ever tends to restore itself on earth4 ,what1 then6 ,what do you say8 ,,wealth ,,better ,,distributed1 ,,equilibrium ,,restored6 ,explain yourselves1 please1 as to this better distribution4 ,is equality coming1 or inequality going8 ,is solidarity becoming closer1 or competition diminishing8 ,i will not quit you until you have answered me1 non missura cutem4 4 4 4 ,for1 whatever the cause of the restoration of equilibrium and of the better distribution which you point out1 ,i embrace it with ardor1 and will follow it to its last consequences4 ,before #ahcj--;,i select the date at random--wealth was not so well distributed3 how so8 ,today1 in your opinion1 it is better distributed3 why8 ,you see what ,i am coming at3 distribution being not yet perfectly equitable and the equilibrium not absolutely perfect1 ,i ask1 on the one hand1 what obstacle it is that disturbs the equilibrium1 and1 on the other1 by virtue of what principle humanity continually passes from the greater to the less evil and from the good to the better8 ,for1 in fact1 this secret principle of amelioration can be neither competition1 nor machinery1 nor division of labor1 nor supply and demand3 all these principles are but levers which by turns cause value to oscillate1 as the ,academy of ,moral ,sciences has very clearly seen4 ,what1 then1 is the sovereign law of well-being8 ,what is this rule1 this measure1 this criterion of progress1 the violation of which is the perpetual cause of poverty8 ,speak1 and quit your haranguing4 ,wealth is better distributed1 you say4 ,show us your proofs4 ,m4 ,dunoyer3 ,according to official documents1 taxes are assessed on scarcely less than eleven million separate parcels of landed property4 ,the number of proprietors by whom these taxes are paid is estimated at six millions2 so that1 assuming four individuals to a family1 there must be no less than twenty-four million inhabitants out of thirty-four who participate in the ownership of the soil4 ,then1 according to the most favorable figures1 there must be ten million proletaires in ,france1 or nearly one-third of the population4 ,now1 what have you to say to that8 ,add to these ten millions half of the twenty- four others1 whose property1 burdened with mortgages1 parcelled out1 impoverished1 wretched1 gives them no support1 and still you will not have the number of individuals whose living is precarious4 ,the number of twenty-four million proprietors perceptibly tends to increase4 ,i maintain that it perceptibly tends to decrease4 ,who is the real proprietor1 in your opinion1--the nominal holder1 assessed1 taxed1 pawned1 mortgaged1 or the creditor who collects the rent8 ,jewish and ,swiss money-lenders are today the real proprietors of ,alsace2 and proof of their excellent judgment is to be found in the fact that they have no thought of acquiring landed estates3 they prefer to invest their capital4 ,to the landed proprietors must be added about fifteen hundred thousand holders of patents and licenses1 or1 assuming four persons to a family1 six million individuals interested as leaders in industrial enterprises4 ,but1 in the first place1 a great number of these licensed individuals are landed proprietors1 and you count them twice4 ,further1 it may be safely said that1 of the whole number of licensed manufacturers and merchants1 a fourth at most realize profits1 another fourth hold their own1 and the rest are constantly running behind in their business4 ,take1 then1 half at most of the six million so-called leaders in enterprises1 which we will add to the very problematical twelve million landed proprietors1 and we shall attain a total of fifteen million ,frenchmen in a position1 by their education1 their industry1 their capital1 their credit1 their property1 to engage in competition4 ,for the rest of the nation1 or nineteen million souls1 competition1 like ,henri ,,iv4's pullet in the pot1 is a dish which they produce for the class which can pay for it1 but which they never touch4 ,another difficulty4 ,these nineteen million men1 within whose reach competition never comes1 are hirelings of the competitors4 ,in the same way formerly the serfs fought for the lords1 but without being able themselves to carry a banner or put an army on foot4 ,now1 if competition cannot by itself become the common condition1 why should not those for whom it offers nothing but perils1 exact guarantees from the barons whom they serve8 ,and if these guarantees can not be denied them1 how could they be other than barriers to competition1 just as the truce of ,god1 invented by the bishops1 was a barrier to feudal wars8 ,by the constitution of society1 ,i said a little while ago1 competition is an exceptional matter1 a privilege2 now ,i ask how it is possible for this privilege to coexist with equality of rights8 ,and think you1 when ,i demand for consumers and wage-receivers guarantees against competition1 that it is a socialist's dream8 ,listen to two of your most illustrious confreres1 whom you will not accuse of performing an infernal work4 ,m4 ,rossi 7,volume ,i41 ,lecture #af7 recognizes in the ,state the right to regulate labor1 ,,when ,,the ,,danger ,,is ,,too ,,great ,,and ,,the ,,guarantees ,,insufficient1 which means always4 ,for the legislator must secure public order by ,,principles and ,,laws3 he does not wait for unforeseen facts to arise in order that he may drive them back with an arbitrary hand4 ,elsewhere 7,volume ,,ii41 pp4 #gc-gg7 the same professor points out1 as consequences of exaggerated competition1 the incessant formation of a financial and landed aristocracy and the approaching downfall of small holders1 and he raises the cry of alarm4 ,m4 ,blanqui1 on his side1 declares that the organization of labor is recognized by economic science as in the order of the day 7he has since retracted the statement71 urges the participation of workers in the profits and the advent of the collective laborer1 and thunders continually against the monopolies1 prohibitions1 and tyranny of capital4 ,qui habet aures audiendi audiat6 ,m4 ,rossi1 as a writer on criminal law1 decrees against the robberies of competition2 ,m4 ,blanqui1 as examining magistrate1 proclaims the guilty parties3 it is the counterpart of the duet sung just now by ,,mm4 ,reybaud and ,dunoyer4 ,when the latter cry ,,hosanna1 the former respond1 like the ,fathers in the ,councils1 ,,anathema4 ,but1 it will be said1 ,,mm4 ,blanqui and ,rossi mean to strike only the ,,abuses of competition2 they have taken care not to proscribe the ,,principle1 and in that they are thoroughly in accord with ,,mm4 ,reybaud and ,dunoyer4 ,i protest against this distinction1 in the interest of the fame of the two professors4 ,in fact1 abuse has invaded everything1 and the exception has become the rule4 ,when ,m4 ,troplong1 defending1 with all the economists1 the liberty of commerce1 admitted that the coalition of the cab companies was one of those facts against which the legislator finds himself absolutely powerless1 and which seem to contradict the sanest notions of social economy1 he still had the consolation of saying to himself that such a fact was wholly exceptional1 and that there was reason to believe that it would not become general4 ,now1 this fact has become general3 the most conservative jurisconsult has only to put his head out of his window to see that today absolutely everything has been monopolized through competition1--transportation 7by land1 rail1 and water71 wheat and flour1 wine and brandy1 wood1 coal1 oil1 iron1 fabrics1 salt1 chemical products1 etc4 ,it is sad for jurisprudence1 that twin sister of political economy1 to see its grave anticipations contradicted in less than a lustre1 but it is sadder still for a great nation to be led by such poor geniuses and to glean the few ideas which sustain its life from the brushwood of their writings4 ,in theory we have demonstrated that competition1 on its useful side1 should be universal and carried to its maximum of intensity2 but that1 viewed on its negative side1 it must be everywhere stifled1 even to the last vestige4 ,are the economists in a position to effect this elimination8 ,have they foreseen the consequences1 calculated the difficulties8 ,if the answer should be affirmative1 ,i should have the boldness to propose the following case to them for solution4 ,a treaty of coalition1 or rather of association1--for the courts would be greatly embarrassed to define either term1--has just united in one company all the coal mines in the basin of the ,loire4 ,on complaint of the municipalities of ,lyons and ,saint ,etienne1 the ministry has appointed a commission charged with examining the character and tendencies of this frightful society4 ,well1 ,i ask1 what can the intervention of power1 with the assistance of civil law and political economy1 accomplish here8 ,they cry out against coalition4 ,but can the proprietors of mines be prevented from associating1 from reducing their general expenses and costs of exploitation1 and from working their mines to better advantage by a more perfect understanding with each other8 ,shall they be ordered to begin their old war over again1 and ruin themselves by increased expenses1 waste1 over-production1 disorder1 and decreased prices8 ,all that is absurd4 ,shall they be prevented from increasing their prices so as to recover the interest on their capital8 ,then let them be protected themselves against any demands for increased wages on the part of the workmen2 let the law concerning joint-stock companies be reenacted2 let the sale of shares be prohibited2 and when all these measures shall have been taken1 as the capitalist-proprietors of the basin cannot justly be forced to lose capital invested under a different condition of things1 let them be indemnified4 ,shall a tariff be imposed upon them8 ,that would be a law of maximum4 ,the ,state would then have to put itself in the place of the exploiters2 keep the accounts of their capital1 interest1 and office expenses2 regulate the wages of the miners1 the salaries of the engineers and directors1 the price of the wood employed in the extraction of the coal1 the expenditure for material2 and1 finally1 determine the normal and legitimate rate of profit4 ,all this cannot be done by ministerial decree3 a law is necessary4 ,will the legislator dare1 for the sake of a special industry1 to change the public law of the ,french1 and put power in the place of property8 ,then of two things one3 either commerce in coals will fall into the hands of the ,state1 or else the ,state must find some means of reconciling liberty and order in carrying on the mining industry1 in which case the socialists will ask that what has been executed at one point be imitated at all points4 ,the coalition of the ,loire mines has posited the social question in terms which permit no more evasion4 ,either competition1--that is1 monopoly and what follows2 or exploitation by the ,state1--that is1 dearness of labor and continuous impoverishment2 or else1 in short1 a solution based upon equality1--in other words1 the organization of labor1 which involves the negation of political economy and the end of property4 ,but the economists do not proceed with this abrupt logic3 they love to bargain with necessity4 ,m4 ,dupin 7session of the ,academy of ,moral and ,political ,sciences1 ,june #aj1 #ahdc7 expresses the opinion that1 though competition may be useful within the nation1 it must be prevented between nations4 ,to ,,prevent or to ,,let ,,alone1--such is the eternal alternative of the economists3 beyond it their genius does not go4 ,in vain is it cried out at them that it is not a question of ,,preventing anything or of ,,permitting everything2 that what is asked of them1 what society expects of them1 is a ,,reconciliation3 this double idea does not enter their head4 ,it is necessary1 ,m4 ,dunoyer replies to ,m4 ,dupin1 to ,,distinguish theory from practice4 ,my ,god6 everybody knows that ,m4 ,dunoyer1 inflexible as to principles in his works1 is very accommodating as to practice in the ,council of ,state4 ,but let him condescend to once ask himself this question3 ,why am ,i obliged to continually distinguish practice from theory8 ,why do they not harmonize8 ,m4 ,blanqui1 as a lover of peace and harmony1 supports the learned ,m4 ,dunoyer1--that is1 theory4 ,nevertheless he thinks1 with ,m4 ,dupin1--that is1 with practice1--that competition is not ,,exempt ,,from ,,reproach4 ,so afraid is ,m4 ,blanqui of calumniating and stirring up the fire6 ,m4 ,dupin is obstinate in his opinion4 ,he cites1 as evils for which competition is responsible1 fraud1 sale by false weights1 the exploitation of children4 ,all doubtless in order to prove that competition ,,within ,,the ,,nation may be useful6 ,m4 ,passy1 with his usual logic1 observes that there will always be dishonest people who1 etc4 ,accuse human nature1 he cries1 but not competition4 ,at the very outset ,m4 ,passy's logic wanders from the question4 ,competition is reproached with the inconveniences which result from its nature1 not with the frauds of which it is the occasion or pretext4 ,a manufacturer finds a way of replacing a workman who costs him three francs a day by a woman to whom he gives but one franc4 ,this expedient is the only one by which he can meet a falling market and keep his establishment in motion4 ,soon to the working women he will add children4 ,then1 forced by the necessities of war1 he will gradually reduce wages and add to the hours of labor4 ,where is the guilty party here8 ,this argument may be turned about in a hundred ways and applied to all industries without furnishing any ground for accusing human nature4 ,m4 ,passy himself is obliged to admit it when he adds3 ,as for the compulsory labor of children1 the fault is on the parents4 ,exactly4 ,and the fault of the parents on whom8 ,in ,ireland1 continues this orator1 there is no competition1 and yet poverty is extreme4 ,on this point ,m4 ,passy's ordinary logic has been betrayed by an extraordinary lack of memory4 ,in ,ireland there is a complete1 universal monopoly of the land1 and unlimited1 desperate competition for farms4 ,competition-monopoly are the two balls which unhappy ,ireland drags1 one after each foot4 ,when the economists are tired of accusing human nature1 the greed of parents1 and the turbulence of radicals1 they find delectation in picturing the felicity of the proletariat4 ,but there again they cannot agree with each other or with themselves2 and nothing better depicts the anarchy of competition than the disorder of their ideas4 ,today the wife of the workingman dresses in elegant robes which in a previous century great ladies would not have disdained4--,m4 ,chevalier3 ,lecture #d4 ,and this is the same ,m4 ,chevalier who1 according to his own calculation1 estimates that the total national income would give thirteen cents a day to each individual4 ,some economists even reduce this figure to eleven cents4 ,now1 as all that goes to make up the large fortunes must come out of this sum1 we may accept the estimate of ,m4 de ,morogues that the daily income of half the ,french people does not exceed five cents each4 ,but1 continues ,m4 ,chevalier1 with mystical exaltation1 does not happiness consist in the harmony of desires and enjoyments1 in thebalance of needs and satisfactions8 ,does it not consist in a certain condition of soul1 the conditions of which it is not the function of political economy to prevent1 and which it is not its mission to engender8 ,this is the work of religion and philosophy4 ,economist1 ,horace would say to ,m3 ,chevalier1 if he were living at the present day1 attend simply to my income1 and leave me to take care of my soul3 ,det vitam1 det opes2 aequum mi animum ipse parabo4 ,m4 ,dunoyer again has the floor3 ,it would be easy1 in many cities1 on holidays1 to confound the working class with the bourgeois class why are there two classes81 so fine is the dress of the former4 ,no less has been the progress in nourishment4 ,food is at once more abundant1 more substantial1 and more varied4 ,bread is better everywhere4 ,meat1 soup1 white bread1 have become1 in many factory towns1 infinitely more common than they used to be4 ,in short1 the average duration of life has been raised from thirty-five years to forty4 ,farther on ,m4 ,dunoyer gives a picture of ,english fortunes according to ,marshall4 ,it appears from this picture that in ,england two million five hundred thousand families have an income of only two hundred and forty dollars4 ,now1 in ,england an income of two hundred and forty dollars corresponds to an income of one hundred and forty-six dollars in our country1 which1 divided between four persons1 gives each thirty-six dollars and a half1 or ten cents a day4 ,that is not far from the thirteen cents which ,m4 ,chevalier allows to each individual in ,france3 the difference in favor of the latter arises from the fact that1 the progress of wealth being less advanced in ,france1 poverty is likewise less4 ,what must one think of the economists' luxuriant descriptions or of their figures8 ,pauperism has increased to such an extent in ,england1 confesses ,m4 ,blanqui1 that the ,english government has had to seek a refuge in those frightful work-houses4 4 4 4 ,as a matter of fact1 those pretended work-houses1 where the work consists in ridiculous and fruitless occupations1 are1 whatever may be said1 simply torture-houses4 ,for to a reasonable being there is no torture like that of turning a mill without grain and without flour1 with the sole purpose of avoiding rest1 without thereby escaping idleness4 ,this organization the organization of competition1 continues ,m4 ,blanqui1 tends to make all the profits of labor pass into the hands of capital4 4 4 4 ,it is at ,reims1 at ,mulhouse1 at ,saint-,quentin1 as at ,manchester1 at ,leeds1 at ,spitalfields1 that the existence of the workers is most precarious4 4 4 4 ,then follows a frightful picture of the misery of the workers4 ,men1 women1 children1 young girls1 pass before you1 starved1 blanched1 ragged1 wan1 and wild4 ,the description ends with this stroke3 ,the workers in the mechanical industries can no longer supply recruits for the army4 ,it would seem that these do not derive much benefit from ,m4 ,dunoyer's white bread and soup4 ,m4 ,villerme regards the licentiousness of young working girls as ,,inevitable4 ,concubinage is their customary status2 they are entirely subsidized by employers1 clerks1 and students4 ,although as a general thing marriage is more attractive to the people than to the bourgeoisie1 there are many proletaires1 ,malthusians without knowing it1 who fear the family and go with the current4 ,thus1 as workingmen are flesh for cannon1 workingwomen are flesh for prostitution3 that explains the elegant dressing on ,sunday4 ,after all1 why should these young women be expected to be more virtuous than their mistresses8 ,m4 ,buret1 crowned by the ,academy3 ,i affirm that the working class is abandoned body and soul to the good pleasure of industry4 ,the same writer says elsewhere3 ,the feeblest efforts of speculation may cause the price of bread to vary a cent a pound and more3 which represents #abd1ajj for thirty-four million men4 ,i may remark1 in passing1 that the much-lamented ,buret regarded the idea of the existence of monopolists as a popular prejudice4 ,well1 sophist6 monopolist or speculator1 what matters the name1 if you admit the thing8 ,such quotations would fill volumes4 ,but the object of this treatise is not to set forth the contradictions of the economists and to wage fruitless war upon persons4 ,our object is loftier and worthier3 it is to unfold the ,system of ,economical ,contradictions1 which is quite a different matter4 ,therefore we will end this sad review here2 and1 before concluding1 we will throw a glance at the various means proposed whereby to remedy the inconveniences of competition4 #c4--,remedies against competition4 ,can competition in labor be abolished8 ,it would be as well worth while to ask if personality1 liberty1 individual responsibility can be suppressed4 ,competition1 in fact1 is the expression of collective activity2 just as wages1 considered in its highest acceptation1 is the expression of the merit and demerit1 in a word1 the responsibility1 of the laborer4 ,it is vain to declaim and revolt against these two essential forms of liberty and discipline in labor4 ,without a theory of wages there is no distribution1 no justice2 without an organization of competition there is no social guarantee1 consequently no solidarity4 ,the socialists have confounded two essentially distinct things when1 contrasting the union of the domestic hearth with industrial competition1 they have asked themselves if society could not be constituted precisely like a great family all of whose members would be bound by ties of blood1 and not as a sort of coalition in which each is held back by the law of his own interests4 ,the family is not1 if ,i may venture to so speak1 the type1 the organic molecule1 of society4 ,in the family1 as ,m4 de ,bonald has very well observed1 there exists but one moral being1 one mind1 one soul1 ,i had almost said1 with the ,bible1 one flesh4 ,the family is the type and the cradle of monarchy and the patriciate3 in it resides and is preserved the idea of authority and sovereignty1 which is being obliterated more and more in the ,state4 ,it was on the model of the family that all the ancient and feudal societies were organized1 and it is precisely against this old patriarchal constitution that modern democracy protests and revolts4 ,the constitutive unit of society is the workshop4 ,now1 the workshop necessarily implies an interest as a body and private interests1 a collective person and individuals4 ,hence a system of relations unknown in the family1 among which the opposition of the collective will1 represented by the ,,employer1 and individual wills1 represented by the ,,wage-,,receivers1 figures in the front rank4 ,then come the relations from shop to shop1 from capital to capital1--in other words1 competition and association4 ,for competition and association are supported by each other2 they do not exist independently2 very far from excluding each other1 they are not even divergent4 ,whoever says competition already supposes a common object2 competition1 then1 is not egoism1 and the most deplorable error of socialism consists in having regarded it as the subversion of society4 ,therefore there can be no question here of destroying competition1 as impossible as to destroy liberty2 the problem is to find its equilibrium1 ,i would willingly say its police4 ,for every force1 every form of spontaneity1 whether individual or collective1 must receive its determination3 in this respect it is the same with competition as with intelligence and liberty4 ,how1 then1 will competition be harmoniously determined in society8 ,we have heard the reply of ,m4 ,dunoyer1 speaking for political economy3 ,competition must be determined by itself4 ,in other words1 according to ,m4 ,dunoyer and all the economists1 the remedy for the inconveniences of competition is more competition2 and1 since political economy is the theory of property1 of the absolute right of use and abuse1 it is clear that political economy has no other answer to make4 ,now1 this is as if it should be pretended that the education of liberty is effected by liberty1 the instruction of the mind by the mind1 the determination of value by value1 all of which propositions are evidently tautological and absurd4 ,and1 in fact1 to confine ourselves to the subject under discussion1 it is obvious that competition1 practised for itself and with no other object than to maintain a vague and discordant independence1 can end in nothing1 and that its oscillations are eternal4 ,in competition the struggling elements are capital1 machinery1 processes1 talent1 and experience1--that is1 capital again2 victory is assured to the heaviest battalions4 ,if1 then1 competition is practised only to the advantage of private interests1 and if its social effects have been neither determined by science nor reserved by the ,state1 there will be in competition1 as in democracy1 a continual tendency from civil war to oligarchy1 from oligarchy to despotism1 and then dissolution and return to civil war1 without end and without rest4 ,that is why competition1 abandoned to itself1 can never arrive at its own constitution3 like value1 it needs a superior principle to socialize and define it4 ,these facts are henceforth well enough established to warrant us in considering them above criticism1 and to excuse us from returning to them4 ,political economy1 so far as the police of competition is concerned1 having no means but competition itself1 and unable to have any other1 is shown to be powerless4 ,it remains now to inquire what solution socialism contemplates4 ,a single example will give the measure of its means1 and will permit us to come to general conclusions regarding it4 ,of all modern socialists ,m4 ,louis ,blanc1 perhaps1 by his remarkable talent1 has been most successful in calling public attention to his writings4 ,in his ,organization of ,labor1 after having traced back the problem of association to a single point1 competition1 he unhesitatingly pronounces in favor of its abolition4 ,from this we may judge to what an extent this writer1 generally so cautious1 is deceived as to the value of political economy and the range of socialism4 ,on the one hand1 ,m4 ,blanc1 receiving his ideas ready made from ,i know not what source1 giving everything to his century and nothing to history1 rejects absolutely1 in substance and in form1 political economy1 and deprives himself of the very materials of organization2 on the other1 he attributes to tendencies revived from all past epochs1 which he takes for new1 a reality which they do not possess1 and misconceives the nature of socialism1 which is exclusively critical4 ,m4 ,blanc1 therefore1 has given us the spectacle of a vivid imagination ready to confront an impossibility2 he has believed in the divination of genius2 but he must have perceived that science does not improvise itself1 and that1 be one's name ,adolphe ,boyer1 ,louis ,blanc1 or ,j4 ,j4 ,rousseau1 provided there is nothing in experience1 there is nothing in the mind4 ,m4 ,blanc begins with this declaration3 ,we cannot understand those who have imagined ,i know not what mysterious coupling of two opposite principles4 ,to graft association upon competition is a poor idea3 it is to substitute hermaphrodites for eunuchs4 ,these three lines ,m4 ,blanc will always have reason to regret4 ,they prove that1 when he published the fourth edition of his book1 he was as little advanced in logic as in political economy1 and that he reasoned about both as a blind man would reason about colors4 ,hermaphrodism1 in politics1 consists precisely in exclusion1 because exclusion always restores1 in some form or other and in the same degree1 the idea excluded2 and ,m4 ,blanc would be greatly surprised were he to be shown1 by his continual mixture in his book of the most contrary principles1-- authority and right1 property and communism1 aristocracy and equality1 labor and capital1 reward and sacrifice1 liberty and dictatorship1 free inquiry and religious faith1--that the real hermaphrodite1 the double- sexed publicist1 is himself4 ,m4 ,blanc1 placed on the borders of democracy and socialism1 one degree lower than the ,republic1 two degrees beneath ,m4 ,barrot1 three beneath ,m4 ,thiers1 is also1 whatever he may say and whatever he may do1 a descendant through four generations from ,m4 ,guizot1 a doctrinaire4 ,certainly1 cries ,m4 ,blanc1 we are not of those who anathematize the principle of authority4 ,this principle we have a thousand times had occasion to defend against attacks as dangerous as absurd4 ,we know that1 when organized force exists nowhere in a society1 despotism exists everywhere4 ,thus1 according to ,m4 ,blanc1 the remedy for competition1 or rather1 the means of abolishing it1 consists in the intervention of authority1 in the substitution of the ,state for individual liberty3 it is the inverse of the system of the economists4 ,i should dislike to have ,m4 ,blanc1 whose social tendencies are well known1 accuse me of making impolitic war upon him in refuting him4 ,i do justice to ,m4 ,blanc's generous intentions2 ,i love and ,i read his works1 and ,i am especially thankful to him for the service he has rendered in revealing1 in his ,history of ,ten ,years1 the hopeless poverty of his party4 ,but no one can consent to seem a dupe or an imbecile3 now1 putting personality entirely aside1 what can there be in common between socialism1 that universal protest1 and the hotch-potch of old prejudices which make up ,m4 ,blanc's republic8 ,m4 ,blanc is never tired of appealing to authority1 and socialism loudly declares itself anarchistic2 ,m4 ,blanc places power above society1 and socialism tends to subordinate it to society2 ,m4 ,blanc makes social life descend from above1 and socialism maintains that it springs up and grows from below2 ,m4 ,blanc runs after politics1 and socialism is in quest of science4 ,no more hypocrisy1 let me say to ,m4 ,blanc3 you desire neither ,catholicism nor monarchy nor nobility1 but you must have a ,god1 a religion1 a dictatorship1 a censorship1 a hierarchy1 distinctions1 and ranks4 ,for my part1 ,i deny your ,god1 your authority1 your sovereignty1 your judicial ,state1 and all your representative mystifications2 ,i want neither ,robespierre's censer nor ,marat's rod2 and1 rather than submit to your androgynous democracy1 ,i would support the status quo4 ,for sixteen years your party has resisted progress and blocked opinion2 for sixteen years it has shown its despotic origin by following in the wake of power at the extremity of the left centre3 it is time for it to abdicate or undergo a metamorphosis4 ,implacable theorists of authority1 what then do you propose which the government upon which you make war cannot accomplish in a fashion more tolerable than yours8 ,m4 ,blanc's ,,system may be summarized in three points3 #a4 ,to give power a great force of initiative1--that is1 in plain ,english1 to make absolutism omnipotent in order to realize a utopia4 #b4 ,to establish public workshops1 and supply them with capital1 at the ,state's expense4 #c4 ,to extinguish private industry by the competition of national industry4 ,and that is all4 ,has ,m4 ,blanc touched the problem of value1 which involves in itself alone all others8 ,he does not even suspect its existence4 ,has he given a theory of distribution8 ,no4 ,has he solved the antinomy of the division of labor1 perpetual cause of the workingman's ignorance1 immorality1 and poverty8 ,no4 ,has he caused the contradiction of machinery and wages to disappear1 and reconciled the rights of association with those of liberty8 ,on the contrary1 ,m4 ,blanc consecrates this contradiction4 ,under the despotic protection of the ,state1 he admits in principle the inequality of ranks and wages1 adding thereto1 as compensation1 the ballot4 ,are not workingmen who vote their regulations and elect their leaders free8 ,it may very likely happen that these voting workingmen will admit no command or difference of pay among them3 then1 as nothing will have been provided for the satisfaction of industrial capacities1 while maintaining political equality1 dissolution will penetrate into the workshop1 and1 in the absence of police intervention1 each will return to his own affairs4 ,these fears seem to ,m4 ,blanc neither serious nor well-founded3 he awaits the test calmly1 very sure that society will not go out of his way to contradict him4 ,and such complex and intricate questions as those of taxation1 credit1 international trade1 property1 heredity1--has ,m4 ,blanc fathomed them8 ,has he solved the problem of population8 ,no1 no1 no1 a thousand times no3 when ,m4 ,blanc cannot solve a difficulty1 he eliminates it4 ,regarding population1 he says3 ,as only poverty is prolific1 and as the social workshop will cause poverty to disappear1 there is no reason for giving it any thought4 ,in vain does ,m4 de ,sismondi1 supported by universal experience1 cry out to him3 ,we have no confidence in those who exercise delegated powers4 ,we believe that any corporation will do its business worse than those who are animated by individual interest2 that on the part of the directors there will be negligence1 display1 waste1 favoritism1 fear of compromise1 all the faults1 in short1 to be noticed in the administration of the public wealth as contrasted with private wealth4 ,we believe1 further1 that in an assembly of stockholders will be found only carelessness1 caprice1 negligence1 and that a mercantile enterprise would be constantly compromised and soon ruined1 if it were dependent upon a deliberative commercial assembly4 ,m4 ,blanc hears nothing2 he drowns all other sounds with his own sonorous phrases2 private interest he replaces by devotion to the public welfare2 for competition he substitutes emulation and rewards4 ,after having posited industrial hierarchy as a principle1 it being a necessary consequence of his faith in ,god1 authority1 and genius1 he abandons himself to mystic powers1 idols of his heart and his imagination4 ,thus ,m4 ,blanc begins by a coup d' ,etat1 or rather1 according to his original expression1 by an application of the ,,force ,,of ,,initiative which he gives to power2 and he levies an extraordinary tax upon the rich in order to supply the proletariat with capital4 ,m4 ,blanc's logic is very simple1--it is that of the ,republic3 power can accomplish what the people want1 and what the people want is right4 ,a singular fashion of reforming society1 this of repressing its most spontaneous tendencies1 denying its most authentic manifestations1 and1 instead of generalizing comfort by the regular development of traditions1 displacing labor and income6 ,but1 in truth1 what is the good of these disguises8 ,why so much beating about the bush8 ,was it not simpler to adopt the agrarian law straightway8 ,could not power1 by virtue of its force of initiative1 at once declare all capital and tools the property of the ,state1 save an indemnity to be granted to the present holders as a transitional measure8 ,by means of this peremptory1 but frank and sincere1 policy1 the economic field would have been cleared away2 it would not have cost utopia more1 and ,m4 ,blanc could then have proceeded at his ease1 and without any hindrance1 to the organization of society4 ,but what do ,i say8 organize6 ,the whole organic work of ,m4 ,blanc consists in this great act of expropriation1 or substitution1 if you prefer3 industry once displaced and republicanized and the great monopoly established1 ,m4 ,blanc does not doubt that production will go on exactly as one would wish2 he does not conceive it possible that any one can raise even a single difficulty in the way of what he calls his ,,system4 ,and1 in fact1 what objection can be offered to a conception so radically null1 so intangible as that of ,m4 ,blanc8 ,the most curious part of his book is in the select collection which he has made of objections proposed by certain incredulous persons1 which he answers1 as may be imagined1 triumphantly4 ,these critics had not seen that1 in discussing ,m4 ,blanc's ,,system1 they were arguing about the dimensions1 weight1 and form of a mathematical point4 ,now1 as it has happened1 the controversy maintained by ,m4 ,blanc has taught him more than his own meditations had done2 and one can see that1 if the objections had continued1 he would have ended by discovering what he thought he had invented1--the organization of labor4 ,but1 in fine1 has the aim1 however narrow1 which ,m4 ,blanc pursued1-- namely1 the abolition of competition and the guarantee of success to an enterprise patronized and backed by the ,state1--been attained8 ,on this subject ,i will quote the reflections of a talented economist1 ,m4 ,joseph ,garnier1 to whose words ,i will permit myself to add a few comments4 ,the government1 according to ,m4 ,blanc1 would choose ,,moral ,,workmen1 and would give them ,,good ,,wages4 ,so ,m4 ,blanc must have men made expressly for him3 he does not flatter himself that he can act on any sort of temperaments4 ,as for wages1 ,m4 ,blanc promises that they shall be ,,good2 that is easier than to define their measure4 ,m4 ,blanc admits by his hypothesis that these workshops would yield a net product1 and1 further1 would compete so successfully with private industry that the latter would change into national workshops4 ,how could that be1 if the cost of the national workshops is higher than that of the free workshops8 ,i have shown in the third chapter that three hundred workmen in a mill do not produce for their employer1 among them all1 a regular net income of twenty thousand francs1 and that these twenty thousand francs1 distributed among the three hundred laborers1 would add but eighteen centimes a day to their income4 ,now1 this is true of all industries4 ,how will the national workshop1 which owes ,,its ,,workmen ,,good ,,wages1 make up this deficit8 ,by emulation1 says ,m4 ,blanc4 ,m4 ,blanc points with extreme complacency to the ,leclaire establishment1 a society of house-painters doing a very successful business1 which he regards as a living demonstration of his system4 ,m4 ,blanc might have added to this example a multitude of similar societies1 which would prove quite as much as the ,leclaire establishment1--that is1 no more4 ,the ,leclaire establishment is a collective monopoly1 supported by the great society which envelops it4 ,now1 the question is whether entire society can become a monopoly1 in ,m4 ,blanc's sense and patterned after the ,leclaire establishment3 ,i deny it positively4 ,but a fact touching more closely the question before us1 and which ,m4 ,blanc has not taken into consideration1 is that it follows from the distribution accounts furnished by the ,leclaire establishment that1 the wages paid being much above the general average1 the first thing to do in a reorganization of society would be to start up competition with the ,leclaire establishment1 either among its own workmen or outside4 ,wages would be regulated by the government4 ,the members of the social workshop would dispose of them as they liked1 and ,,the ,,indisputable ,,excellence ,,of ,,life ,,in ,,common ,,would ,,not ,,be ,,long ,,in ,,causing ,,association ,,in ,,labor ,,to ,,give ,,birth ,,to ,,voluntary ,,association ,,in ,,pleasure4 ,is ,m4 ,blanc a communist1 yes or no8 ,let him declare himself once for all1 instead of holding off2 and if communism does not make him more intelligible1 we shall at least know what he wants4 ,in reading the supplement in which ,m4 ,blanc has seen fit to combat the objections which some journals have raised1 we see more clearly the incompleteness of his conception1 daughter of at least three fathers1-- ,saint-,simonism1 ,fourierism1 and communism1--with the aid of politics and a little1 a very little1 political economy4 ,according to his explanations1 the ,state would be only the regulator1 legislator1 protector of industry1 not the universal manufacturer or producer4 ,but as he exclusively protects the social workshops to destroy private industry1 he necessarily brings up in monopoly and falls back into the ,saint-,simonian theory in spite of himself1 at least so far as production is concerned4 ,m4 ,blanc cannot deny it3 his ,,system is directed against private industry2 and with him power1 by its force of initiative1 tends to extinguish all individual initiative1 to proscribe free labor4 ,the coupling of contraries is odious to ,m4 ,blanc3 accordingly we see that1 after having sacrificed competition to association1 he sacrifices to it liberty also4 ,i am waiting for him to abolish the family4 ,nevertheless hierarchy would result from the elective principle1 as in ,fourierism1 as in constitutional politics4 ,but these social workshops again1 regulated by law1--will they be anything but corporations8 ,what is the bond of corporations8 ,the law4 ,who will make the law8 ,the government4 ,you suppose that it will be good8 ,well1 experience has shown that it has never been a success in regulating the innumerable accidents of industry4 ,you tell us that it will fix the rate of profits1 the rate of wages2 you hope that it will do it in such a way that laborers and capital will take refuge in the social workshop4 ,but you do not tell us how equilibrium will be established between these workshops which will have a tendency to life in common1 to the phalanstery2 you do not tell us how these workshops will avoid competition within and without2 how they will provide for the excess of population in relation to capital2 how the manufacturing social workshops will differ from those of the fields2 and many other things besides4 ,i know well that you will answer3 ,by the specific virtue of the law6 ,and if your government1 your ,state1 knows not how to make it8 ,do you not see that you are sliding down a declivity1 and that you are obliged to grasp at something similar to the existing law8 ,it is easy to see by reading you that you are especially devoted to the invention of a power susceptible of application to your system2 but ,i declare1 after reading you carefully1 that in my opinion you have as yet no clear and precise idea of what you need4 ,what you lack1 as well as all of us1 is the true conception of liberty and equality1 which you would not like to disown1 and which you are obliged to sacrifice1 whatever precautions you may take4 ,unacquainted with the nature and functions of power1 you have not dared to stop for a single explanation2 you have not given the slightest example4 ,suppose we admit that the workshops succeed as producers2 there will also be commercial workshops to put products in circulation and effect exchanges4 ,and who then will regulate the price8 ,again the law8 ,in truth1 ,i tell you1 you will need a new appearance on ,mount ,sinai2 otherwise you will never get out of your difficulties1 you1 your ,council of ,state1 your chamber of representatives1 or your areopagus of senators4 ,the correctness of these reflections cannot be questioned4 ,m4 ,blanc1 with his organization by the ,state1 is obliged always to end where he should have begun 7so beginning1 he would have been saved the trouble of writing his book71--that is1 in the ,,study ,,of ,,economic ,,science4 ,as his critic very well says3 ,m4 ,blanc has made the grave mistake of using political strategy in dealing with questions which are not amenable to such treatment2 he has tried to summon the government to a fulfillment of its obligations1 and he has succeeded only in demonstrating more clearly than ever the incompatibility of socialism with haranguing and parliamentary democracy4 ,his pamphlet1 all enamelled with eloquent pages1 does honor to his literary capacity3 as for the philosophical value of the book1 it would be absolutely the same if the author had confined himself to writing on each page1 in large letters1 this single phrase3 ,i ,,protest4 ,to sum up3 ,competition1 as an economic position or phase1 considered in its origin1 is the necessary result of the intervention of machinery1 of the establishment of the workshop1 and of the theory of reduction of general costs2 considered in its own significance and in its tendency1 it is the mode by which collective activity manifests and exercises itself1 the expression of social spontaneity1 the emblem of democracy and equality1 the most energetic instrument for the constitution of value1 the support of association4 ,as the essay of individual forces1 it is the guarantee of their liberty1 the first moment of their harmony1 the form of responsibility which unites them all and makes them solidary4 ,but competition abandoned to itself and deprived of the direction of a superior and efficacious principle is only a vague movement1 an endless oscillation of industrial power1 eternally tossed about between those two equally disastrous extremes1--on the one hand1 corporations and patronage1 to which we have seen the workshop give birth1 and1 on the other1 monopoly1 which will be discussed in the following chapter4 ,socialism1 while protesting1 and with reason1 against this anarchical competition1 has as yet proposed nothing satisfactory for its regulation1 as is proved by the fact that we meet everywhere1 in the utopias which have seen the light1 the determination or socialization of value abandoned to arbitrary control1 and all reforms ending1 now in hierarchical corporation1 now in ,state monopoly1 or the tyranny of communism4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,fourth ,,period4--,,monopoly4 ,monopoly1 the exclusive commerce1 exploitation1 or enjoyment of a thing4 ,monopoly is the natural opposite of competition4 ,this simple observation suffices1 as we have remarked1 to overthrow the utopias based upon the idea of abolishing competition1 as if its contrary were association and fraternity4 ,competition is the vital force which animates the collective being3 to destroy it1 if such a supposition were possible1 would be to kill society4 ,but1 the moment we admit competition as a necessity1 it implies the idea of monopoly1 since monopoly is1 as it were1 the seat of each competing individuality4 ,accordingly the economists have demonstrated--and ,m4 ,rossi has formally admitted it--that monopoly is the form of social possession1 outside of which there is no labor1 no product1 no exchange1 no wealth4 ,every landed possession is a monopoly2 every industrial utopia tends to establish itself as a monopoly2 and the same must be said of other functions not included in these two categories4 ,monopoly in itself1 then1 does not carry the idea of injustice2 in fact1 there is something in it which1 pertaining to society as well as to man1 legitimates it3 that is the ,,positive side of the principle which we are about to examine4 ,but monopoly1 like competition1 becomes anti-social and disastrous3 how does this happen8 ,by ,,abuse1 reply the economists4 ,and it is to defining and repressing the abuses of monopoly that the magistrates apply themselves2 it is in denouncing them that the new school of economists glories4 ,we shall show that the so-called abuses of monopoly are only the effects of the development1 in a ,,negative sense1 of legal monopoly2 that they cannot be separated from their principle without ruining this principle2 consequently1 that they are inaccessible to the law1 and that all repression in this direction is arbitrary and unjust4 ,so that monopoly1 the constitutive principle of society and the condition of wealth1 is at the same time and in the same degree a principle of spoliation and pauperism2 that1 the more good it is made to produce1 the more evil is received from it2 that without it progress comes to a standstill1 and that with it labor becomes stationary and civilization disappears4 #a4--,necessity of monopoly4 ,thus monopoly is the inevitable end of competition1 which engenders it by a continual denial of itself3 this generation of monopoly is already its justification4 ,for1 since competition is inherent in society as motion is in living beings1 monopoly which comes in its train1 which is its object and its end1 and without which competition would not have been accepted1--monopoly is and will remain legitimate as long as competition1 as long as mechanical processes and industrial combinations1 as long1 in fact1 as the division of labor and the constitution of values shall be necessities and laws4 ,therefore by the single fact of its logical generation monopoly is justified4 ,nevertheless this justification would seem of little force and would end only in a more energetic rejection of competition than ever1 if monopoly could not in turn posit itself by itself and as a principle4 ,in the preceding chapters we have seen that division of labor is the specification of the workman considered especially as intelligence2 that the creation of machinery and the organization of the workshop express his liberty2 and that1 by competition1 man1 or intelligent liberty1 enters into action4 ,now1 monopoly is the expression of victorious liberty1 the prize of the struggle1 the glorification of genius2 it is the strongest stimulant of all the steps in progress taken since the beginning of the world3 so true is this that1 as we said just now1 society1 which cannot exist with it1 would not have been formed without it4 ,where1 then1 does monopoly get this singular virtue1 which the etymology of the word and the vulgar aspect of the thing would never lead us to suspect8 ,monopoly is at bottom simply the autocracy of man over himself3 it is the dictatorial right accorded by nature to every producer of using his faculties as he pleases1 of giving free play to his thought in whatever direction it prefers1 of speculating1 in such specialty as he may please to choose1 with all the power of his resources1 of disposing sovereignly of the instruments which he has created and of the capital accumulated by his economy for any enterprise the risks of which he may see fit to accept on the express condition of enjoying alone the fruits of his discovery and the profits of his venture4 ,this right belongs so thoroughly to the essence of liberty that to deny it is to mutilate man in his body1 in his soul1 and in the exercise of his faculties1 and society1 which progresses only by the free initiative of individuals1 soon lacking explorers1 finds itself arrested in its onward march4 ,it is time to give body to all these ideas by the testimony of facts4 ,i know a commune where from time immemorial there had been no roads either for the clearing of lands or for communication with the outside world4 ,during three-fourths of the year all importation or exportation of goods was prevented2 a barrier of mud and marsh served as a protection at once against any invasion from without and any excursion of the inhabitants of the holy and sacred community4 ,six horses1 in the finest weather1 scarcely sufficed to move a load that any jade could easily have taken over a good road4 ,the mayor resolved1 in spite of the council1 to build a road through the town4 ,for a long time he was derided1 cursed1 execrated4 ,they had got along well enough without a road up to the time of his administration3 why need he spend the money of the commune and waste the time of farmers in road-duty1 cartage1 and compulsory service8 ,it was to satisfy his pride that ,monsieur the ,mayor desired1 at the expense of the poor farmers1 to open such a fine avenue for his city friends who would come to visit him6 ,in spite of everything the road was made and the peasants applauded6 ,what a difference6 they said3 it used to take eight horses to carry thirty sacks to market1 and we were gone three days2 now we start in the morning with two horses1 and are back at night4 ,but in all these remarks nothing further was heard of the mayor4 ,the event having justified him1 they spoke of him no more3 most of them1 in fact1 as ,i found out1 felt a spite against him4 ,this mayor acted after the manner of ,aristides4 ,suppose that1 wearied by the absurd clamor1 he had from the beginning proposed to his constituents to build the road at his expense1 provided they would pay him toll for fifty years1 each1 however1 remaining free to travel through the fields1 as in the past3 in what respect would this transaction have been fraudulent8 ,that is the history of society and monopolists4 ,everybody is not in a position to make a present to his fellow-citizens of a road or a machine3 generally the inventor1 after exhausting his health and substance1 expects reward4 ,deny then1 while still scoffing at them1 to ,arkwright1 ,watt1 and ,jacquard the privilege of their discoveries2 they will shut themselves up in order to work1 and possibly will carry their secret to the grave4 ,deny to the settler possession of the soil which he clears1 and no one will clear it4 ,but1 they say1 is that true right1 social right1 fraternal right8 ,that which is excusable on emerging from primitive communism1 an effect of necessity1 is only a temporary expedient which must disappear in face of a fuller understanding of the rights and duties of man and society4 ,i recoil from no hypothesis3 let us see1 let us investigate4 ,it is already a great point that the opponents confess that1 during the first period of civilization1 things could not have gone otherwise4 ,it remains to ascertain whether the institutions of this period are really1 as has been said1 only temporary1 or whether they are the result of laws immanent in society and eternal4 ,now1 the thesis which ,i maintain at this moment is the more difficult because in direct opposition to the general tendency1 and because ,i must directly overturn it myself by its contradiction4 ,i pray1 then1 that ,i may be told how it is possible to make appeal to the principles of sociability1 fraternity1 and solidarity1 when society itself rejects every solidary and fraternal transaction8 ,at the beginning of each industry1 at the first gleam of a discovery1 the man who invents is isolated2 society abandons him and remains in the background4 ,to put it better1 this man1 relatively to the idea which he has conceived and the realization of which he pursues1 becomes in himself alone entire society4 ,he has no longer any associates1 no longer any collaborators1 no longer any sureties2 everybody shuns him3 on him alone falls the responsibility2 to him alone1 then1 the advantages of the speculation4 ,but1 it is insisted1 this is blindness on the part of society1 an abandonment of its most sacred rights and interests1 of the welfare of future generations2 and the speculator1 better informed or more fortunate1 cannot fairly profit by the monopoly which universal ignorance gives into his hands4 ,i maintain that this conduct on the part of society is1 as far as the present is concerned1 an act of high prudence2 and1 as for the future1 ,i shall prove that it does not lose thereby4 ,i have already shown in the second chapter1 by the solution of the antinomy of value1 that the advantage of every useful discovery is incomparably less to the inventor1 whatever he may do1 than to society2 ,i have carried the demonstration of this point even to mathematical accuracy4 ,later ,i shall show further that1 in addition to the profit assured it by every discovery1 society exercises over the privileges which it concedes1 whether temporarily or perpetually1 claims of several kinds1 which largely palliate the excess of certain private fortunes1 and the effect of which is a prompt restoration of equilibrium4 ,but let us not anticipate4 ,i observe1 then1 that social life manifests itself in a double fashion1--,,preservation and ,,development4 ,development is effected by the free play of individual energies2 the mass is by its nature barren1 passive1 and hostile to everything new4 ,it is1 if ,i may venture to use the comparison1 the womb1 sterile by itself1 but to which come to deposit themselves the germs created by private activity1 which1 in hermaphroditic society1 really performs the function of the male organ4 ,but society preserves itself only so far as it avoids solidarity with private speculations and leaves every innovation absolutely to the risk and peril of individuals4 ,it would take but a few pages to contain the list of useful inventions4 ,the enterprises that have been carried to a successful issue may be numbered2 no figure would express the multitude of false ideas and imprudent ventures which every day are hatched in human brains4 ,there is not an inventor1 not a workman1 who1 for one sane and correct conception1 has not given birth to thousands of chimeras2 not an intelligence which1 for one spark of reason1 does not emit whirlwinds of smoke4 ,if it were possible to divide all the products of the human reason into two parts1 putting on one side those that are useful1 and on the other those on which strength1 thought1 capital1 and time have been spent in error1 we should be startled by the discovery that the excess of the latter over the former is perhaps a billion per cent4 ,what would become of society1 if it had to discharge these liabilities and settle all these bankruptcies8 ,what1 in turn1 would become of the responsibility and dignity of the laborer1 if1 secured by the social guarantee1 he could1 without personal risk1 abandon himself to all the caprices of a delirious imagination and trifle at every moment with the existence of humanity8 ,wherefore ,i conclude that what has been practised from the beginning will be practised to the end1 and that1 on this point1 as on every other1 if our aim is reconciliation1 it is absurd to think that anything that exists can be abolished4 ,for1 the world of ideas being infinite1 like nature1 and men1 today as ever1 being subject to speculation1--that is1 to error1--individuals have a constant stimulus to speculate and society a constant reason to be suspicious and cautious1 wherefore monopoly never lacks material4 ,to avoid this dilemma what is proposed8 ,compensation8 ,in the first place1 compensation is impossible3 all values being monopolized1 where would society get the means to indemnify the monopolists8 ,what would be its mortgage8 ,on the other hand1 compensation would be utterly useless3 after all the monopolies had been compensated1 it would remain to organize industry4 ,where is the system8 ,upon what is opinion settled8 ,what problems have been solved8 ,if the organization is to be of the hierarchical type1 we reenter the system of monopoly2 if of the democratic1 we return to the point of departure1 for the compensated industries will fall into the public domain1--that is1 into competition1--and gradually will become monopolies again2 if1 finally1 of the communistic1 we shall simply have passed from one impossibility to another1 for1 as we shall demonstrate at the proper time1 communism1 like competition and monopoly1 is antinomical1 impossible4 ,in order not to involve the social wealth in an unlimited and consequently disastrous solidarity1 will they content themselves with imposing rules upon the spirit of invention and enterprise8 ,will they establish a censorship to distinguish between men of genius and fools8 ,that is to suppose that society knows in advance precisely that which is to be discovered4 ,to submit the projects of schemers to an advance examination is an a priori prohibition of all movement4 ,for1 once more1 relatively to the end which he has in view1 there is a moment when each manufacturer represents in his own person society itself1 sees better and farther than all other men combined1 and frequently without being able to explain himself or make himself understood4 ,when ,copernicus1 ,kepler1 and ,galileo1 ,newton's predecessors1 came to the point of saying to ,christian society1 then represented by the ,church3 ,the ,bible is mistaken2 the earth revolves1 and the sun is stationary1 they were right against society1 which1 on the strength of its senses and traditions1 contradicted them4 ,could society then have accepted solidarity with the ,copernican system8 ,so little could it do it that this system openly denied its faith1 and that1 pending the accord of reason and revelation1 ,galileo1 one of the responsible inventors1 underwent torture in proof of the new idea4 ,we are more tolerant1 ,i presume2 but this very toleration proves that1 while according greater liberty to genius1 we do not mean to be less discreet than our ancestors4 ,patents rain1 but ,,without ,,governmental ,,guarantee4 ,property titles are placed in the keeping of citizens1 but neither the property list nor the charter guarantee their value3 it is for labor to make them valuable4 ,and as for the scientific and other missions which the government sometimes takes a notion to entrust to penniless explorers1 they are so much extra robbery and corruption4 ,in fact1 society can guarantee to no one the capital necessary for the testing of an idea by experiment2 in right1 it cannot claim the results of an enterprise to which it has not subscribed3 therefore monopoly is indestructible4 ,for the rest1 solidarity would be of no service3 for1 as each can claim for his whims the solidarity of all and would have the same right to obtain the government's signature in blank1 we should soon arrive at the universal reign of caprice1--that is1 purely and simply at the statu quo4 ,some socialists1 very unhappily inspired--,i say it with all the force of my conscience--by evangelical abstractions1 believe that they have solved the difficulty by these fine maxims3 ,inequality of capacities proves the inequality of duties2 ,you have received more from nature1 give more to your brothers1 and other high-sounding and touching phrases1 which never fail of their effect on empty heads1 but which nevertheless are as simple as anything that it is possible to imagine4 ,the practical formula deduced from these marvellous adages is that each laborer owes all his time to society1 and that society should give back to him in exchange all that is necessary to the satisfaction of his wants in proportion to the resources at its disposal4 ,may my communistic friends forgive me6 ,i should be less severe upon their ideas if ,i were not irreversibly convinced1 in my reason and in my heart1 that communism1 republicanism1 and all the social1 political1 and religious utopias which disdain facts and criticism1 are the greatest obstacle which progress has now to conquer4 ,why will they never understand that fraternity can be established only by justice2 that justice alone1 the condition1 means1 and law of liberty and fraternity1 must be the object of our study2 and that its determination and formula must be pursued without relaxation1 even to the minutest details8 ,why do writers familiar with economic language forget that superiority of talents is synonymous with superiority of wants1 and that1 instead of expecting more from vigorous than from ordinary personalities1 society should constantly look out that they do not receive more than they render1 when it is already so hard for the mass of mankind to render all that it receives8 ,turn which way you will1 you must always come back to the cash book1 to the account of receipts and expenditures1 the sole guarantee against large consumers as well as against small producers4 ,the workman continually lives ,,in ,,advance of his production2 his tendency is always to get ,,credit1 contract ,,debts and go into ,,bankruptcy2 it is perpetually necessary to remind him of ,say's aphorism3 ,,products ,,are ,,bought ,,only ,,with ,,products4 ,to suppose that the laborer of great capacity will content himself1 in favor of the weak1 with half his wages1 furnish his services gratuitously1 and produce1 as the people say1 ,,for ,,the ,,king ,,of ,,prussia--that is1 for that abstraction called society1 the sovereign1 or my brothers1--is to base society on a sentiment1 ,i do not say beyond the reach of man1 but one which1 erected systematically into a principle1 is only a false virtue1 a dangerous hypocrisy4 ,charity is recommended to us as a reparation of the infirmities which afflict our fellows by accident1 and1 viewing it in this light1 ,i can see that charity may be organized2 ,i can see that1 growing out of solidarity itself1 it may become simply justice4 ,but charity taken as an instrument of equality and the law of equilibrium would be the dissolution of society4 ,equality among men is produced by the rigorous and inflexible law of labor1 the proportionality of values1 the sincerity of exchanges1 and the equivalence of functions1--in short1 by the mathematical solution of all antagonisms4 ,that is why charity1 the prime virtue of the ,christian1 the legitimate hope of the socialist1 the object of all the efforts of the economist1 is a social vice the moment it is made a principle of constitution and a law2 that is why certain economists have been able to say that legal charity had caused more evil in society than proprietary usurpation4 ,man1 like the society of which he is a part1 has a perpetual account current with himself2 all that he consumes he must produce4 ,such is the general rule1 which no one can escape without being1 ipso facto struck with dishonor or suspected of fraud4 ,singular idea1 truly1--that of decreeing1 under pretext of fraternity1 the relative inferiority of the majority of men6 ,after this beautiful declaration nothing will be left but to draw its consequences2 and soon1 thanks to fraternity1 aristocracy will be restored4 ,double the normal wages of the workman1 and you invite him to idleness1 humiliate his dignity1 and demoralize his conscience2 take away from him the legitimate price of his efforts1 and you either excite his anger or exalt his pride4 ,in either case you damage his fraternal feelings4 ,on the contrary1 make enjoyment conditional upon labor1 the only way provided by nature to associate men and make them good and happy1 and you go back under the law of economic distribution1 ,,products ,,are ,,bought ,,with ,,products4 ,communism1 as ,i have often complained1 is the very denial of society in its foundation1 which is the progressive equivalence of functions and capacities4 ,the communists1 toward whom all socialism tends1 do not believe in equality by nature and education2 they supply it by sovereign decrees which they cannot carry out1 whatever they may do4 ,instead of seeking justice in the harmony of facts1 they take it from their feelings1 calling justice everything that seems to them to be love of one's neighbor1 and incessantly confounding matters of reason with those of sentiment4 ,why then continually interject fraternity1 charity1 sacrifice1 and ,god into the discussion of economic questions8 ,may it not be that the utopists find it easier to expatiate upon these grand words than to seriously study social manifestations8 ,fraternity6 ,brothers as much as you please1 provided ,i am the big brother and you the little2 provided society1 our common mother1 honors my primogeniture and my services by doubling my portion4 ,you will provide for my wants1 you say1 in proportion to your resources4 ,i intend1 on the contrary1 that such provision shall be in proportion to my labor2 if not1 ,i cease to labor4 ,charity6 ,i deny charity2 it is mysticism4 ,in vain do you talk to me of fraternity and love3 ,i remain convinced that you love me but little1 and ,i feel very sure that ,i do not love you4 ,your friendship is but a feint1 and1 if you love me1 it is from self-interest4 ,i ask all that my products cost me1 and only what they cost me3 why do you refuse me8 ,sacrifice6 ,i deny sacrifice2 it is mysticism4 ,talk to me of ,,debt and ,,credit1 the only criterion in my eyes of the just and the unjust1 of good and evil in society4 ,to each according to his works1 first2 and if1 on occasion1 ,i am impelled to aid you1 ,i will do it with a good grace2 but ,i will not be constrained4 ,to constrain me to sacrifice is to assassinate me4 ,god6 ,i know no ,god2 mysticism again4 ,begin by striking this word from your remarks1 if you wish me to listen to you2 for three thousand years of experience have taught me that whoever talks to me of ,god has designs on my liberty or on my purse4 ,how much do you owe me8 ,how much do ,i owe you8 ,that is my religion and my ,god4 ,monopoly owes its existence both to nature and to man3 it has its source at once in the profoundest depths of our conscience and in the external fact of our individualization4 ,just as in our body and our mind everything has its specialty and property1 so our labor presents itself with a proper and specific character1 which constitutes its quality and value4 ,and as labor cannot manifest itself without material or an object for its exercise1 the person necessarily attracting the thing1 monopoly is established from subject to object as infallibly as duration is constituted from past to future4 ,bees1 ants1 and other animals living in society seem endowed individually only with automatism2 with them soul and instinct are almost exclusively collective4 ,that is why1 among such animals1 there can be no room for privilege and monopoly2 why1 even in their most volitional operations1 they neither consult nor deliberate4 ,but1 humanity being individualized in its plurality1 man becomes inevitably a monopolist1 since1 if not a monopolist1 he is nothing2 and the social problem is to find out1 not how to abolish1 but how to reconcile1 all monopolies4 ,the most remarkable and the most immediate effects of monopoly are3 #a4 ,in the political order1 the classification of humanity into families1 tribes1 cities1 nations1 ,states3 this is the elementary division of humanity into groups and sub-groups of laborers1 distinguished by race1 language1 customs1 and climate4 ,it was by monopoly that the human race took possession of the globe1 as it will be by association that it will become complete sovereign thereof4 ,political and civil law1 as conceived by all legislators without exception and as formulated by jurists1 born of this patriotic and national organization of societies1 forms1 in the series of social contradictions1 a first and vast branch1 the study of which by itself alone would demand four times more time than we can give it in discussing the question of industrial economy propounded by the ,academy4 #b4 ,in the economic order1 monopoly contributes to the increase of comfort1 in the first place by adding to the general wealth through the perfecting of methods1 and then by ,,capitalizing1--that is1 by consolidating the conquests of labor obtained by division1 machinery1 and competition4 ,from this effect of monopoly has resulted the economic fiction by which the capitalist is considered a producer and capital an agent of production2 then1 as a consequence of this fiction1 the theory of ,,net ,,product and ,,gross ,,product4 ,on this point we have a few considerations to present4 ,first let us quote ,j4 ,b4 ,say3 ,the value produced is the ,,gross product3 after the costs of production have been deducted1 this value is the ,,net product4 ,considering a nation as a whole1 it has no net product2 for1 as products have no value beyond the costs of production1 when these costs are cut off1 the entire value of the product is cut off4 ,national production1 annual production1 should always therefore be understood as gross production4 ,the annual revenue is the gross revenue4 ,the term net production is applicable only when considering the interests of one producer in opposition to those of other producers4 ,the manager of an enterprise gets his ,,profit from the value ,,produced after deducting the value ,,consumed4 ,but what to him is value consumed1 such as the purchase of a productive service1 is so much income to the performer of the service4--,treatise on ,political ,economy3 ,analytical ,table4 ,these definitions are irreproachable4 ,unhappily ,j4 ,b4 ,say did not see their full bearing1 and could not have foreseen that one day his immediate successor at the ,college of ,france would attack them4 ,m4 ,rossi has pretended to refute the proposition of ,j4 ,b4 ,say that ,,to ,a ,,nation ,,net ,,product ,,is ,,the ,,same ,,thing ,,as ,,gross ,,product by this consideration1--that nations1 no more than individuals of enterprise1 can produce without advances1 and that1 if ,j4 ,b4 ,say's formula were true1 it would follow that the axiom1 ,ex nihilo nihil fit1 is not true ,now1 that is precisely what happens4 ,humanity1 in imitation of ,god1 produces everything from nothing1 de nihilo hilum just as it is itself a product of nothing1 just as its thought comes out of the void2 and ,m4 ,rossi would not have made such a mistake1 if1 like the physiocrats1 he had not confounded the products of the ,,industrial ,,kingdom with those of the animal1 vegetable1 and mineral kingdoms4 ,political economy begins with labor2 it is developed by labor2 and all that does not come from labor1 falling into the domain of pure utility1--that is1 into the category of things submitted to man's action1 but not yet rendered exchangeable by labor1--remains radically foreign to political economy4 ,monopoly itself1 wholly established as it is by a pure act of collective will1 does not change these relations at all1 since1 according to history1 and according to the written law1 and according to economic theory1 monopoly exists1 or is reputed to exist1 only after labor's appearance4 ,say's doctrine1 therefore1 is unassailable4 ,relatively to the man of enterprise1 whose specialty always supposes other manufacturers cooperating with him1 profit is what remains of the value produced after deducting the values consumed1 among which must be included the salary of the man of enterprise1--in other words1 his wages4 ,relatively to society1 which contains all possible specialties1 net product is identical with gross product4 ,but there is a point the explanation of which ,i have vainly sought in ,say and in the other economists1--to wit1 how the reality and legitimacy of net product is established4 ,for it is plain that1 in order to cause the disappearance of net product1 it would suffice to increase the wages of the workmen and the price of the values consumed1 the selling-price remaining the same4 ,so that1 there being nothing seemingly to distinguish net product from a sum withheld in paying wages or1 what amounts to the same thing1 from an assessment laid upon the consumer in advance1 net product has every appearance of an extortion effected by force and without the least show of right4 ,this difficulty has been solved in advance in our theory of the proportionality of values4 ,according to this theory1 every exploiter of a machine1 of an idea1 or of capital should be considered as a man who increases with equal outlay the amount of a certain kind of products1 and consequently increases the social wealth by economizing time4 ,the principle of the legitimacy of the net product lies1 then1 in the processes previously in use3 if the new device succeeds1 there will be a surplus of values1 and consequently a profit1--that is1 net product2 if the enterprise rests on a false basis1 there will be a deficit in the gross product1 and in the long run failure and bankruptcy4 ,even in the case--and it is the most frequent-- where there is no innovation on the part of the man of enterprise1 the rule of net product remains applicable1 for the success of an industry depends upon the way in which it is carried on4 ,now1 it being in accordance with the nature of monopoly that the risk and peril of every enterprise should be taken by the initiator1 it follows that the net product belongs to him by the most sacred title recognized among men1-- labor and intelligence4 ,it is useless to recall the fact that the net product is often exaggerated1 either by fraudulently secured reductions of wages or in some other way4 ,these are abuses which proceed1 not from the principle1 but from human cupidity1 and which remain outside the domain of the theory4 ,for the rest1 ,i have shown1 in discussing the constitution of value 7,chapter ,,ii41 #b73 #a1 how the net product can never exceed the difference resulting from inequality of the means of production2 #b1 how the profit which society reaps from each new invention is incomparably greater than that of its originator4 ,as these points have been exhausted once for all1 ,i will not go over them again2 ,i will simply remark that1 by industrial progress1 the net product of the ingenious tends steadily to decrease1 while1 on the other hand1 their comfort increases1 as the concentric layers which make up the trunk of a tree become thinner as the tree grows and as they are farther removed from the centre4 ,by the side of net product1 the natural reward of the laborer1 ,i have pointed out as one of the happiest effects of monopoly the ,,capitalization of values1 from which is born another sort of profit1--namely1 ,,interest1 or the hire of capital4 ,as for ,,rent1 although it is often confounded with interest1 and although1 in ordinary language1 it is included with profit and interest under the common expression ,,revenue1 it is a different thing from interest2 it is a consequence1 not of monopoly1 but of property2 it depends on a special theory41 of which we will speak in its place4 ,what1 then1 is this reality1 known to all peoples1 and nevertheless still so badly defined1 which is called interest or the price of a loan1 and which gives rise to the fiction of the productivity of capital8 ,everybody knows that a contractor1 when he calculates his costs of production1 generally divides them into three classes3 #a1 the values consumed and services paid for2 #b1 his personal salary2 #c1 recovery of his capital with interest4 ,from this last class of costs is born the distinction between contractor and capitalist1 although these two titles always express but one faculty1 monopoly4 ,thus an industrial enterprise which yields only interest on capital and nothing for net product1 is an insignificant enterprise1 which results only in a transformation of values without adding anything to wealth1-- an enterprise1 in short1 which has no further reason for existence and is immediately abandoned4 ,why is it1 then1 that this interest on capital is not regarded as a sufficient supplement of net product8 ,why is it not itself the net product8 ,here again the philosophy of the economists is wanting4 ,to defend usury they have pretended that capital was productive1 and they have changed a metaphor into a reality4 ,the anti-proprietary socialists have had no difficulty in overturning their sophistry2 and through this controversy the theory of capital has fallen into such disfavor that today1 in the minds of the people1 ,,capitalist and ,,idler are synonymous terms4 ,certainly it is not my intention to retract what ,i myself have maintained after so many others1 or to rehabilitate a class of citizens which so strangely misconceives its duties3 but the interests of science and of the proletariat itself oblige me to complete my first assertions and maintain true principles4 #a4 ,all production is effected with a view to consumption1--that is1 to enjoyment4 ,in society the correlative terms production and consumption1 like net product and gross product1 designate identically the same thing4 ,if1 then1 after the laborer has realized a net product1 instead of using it to increase his comfort1 he should confine himself to his wages and steadily apply his surplus to new production1 as so many people do who earn only to buy1 production would increase indefinitely1 while comfort and1 reasoning from the standpoint of society1 population would remain unchanged4 ,now1 interest on capital which has been invested in an industrial enterprise and which has been gradually formed by the accumulation of net product1 is a sort of compromise between the necessity of increasing production1 on the one hand1 and1 on the other1 that of increasing comfort2 it is a method of reproducing and consuming the net product at the same time4 ,that is why certain industrial societies pay their stockholders a dividend even before the enterprise has yielded anything4 ,life is short1 success comes slowly2 on the one hand labor commands1 on the other man wishes to enjoy4 ,to meet all these exigencies the net product shall be devoted to production1 but meantime 7inter-ea1 inter-esse7--that is1 while waiting for the new product--the capitalist shall enjoy4 ,thus1 as the amount of net product marks the progress of wealth1 interest on capital1 without which net product would be useless and would not even exist1 marks the progress of comfort4 ,whatever the form of government which may be established among men2 whether they live in monopoly or in communism2 whether each laborer keeps his account by credit and debit1 or has his labor and pleasure parcelled out to him by the community1--the law which we have just disengaged will always be fulfilled4 ,our interest accounts do nothing else than bear witness to it4 #b4 ,values created by net product are classed as savings and capitalized in the most highly exchangeable form1 the form which is freest and least susceptible of depreciation1--in a word1 the form of specie1 the only constituted value4 ,now1 if capital leaves this state of freedom and ,,engages ,,itself1--that is1 takes the form of machines1 buildings1 etc41--it will still be susceptible of exchange1 but much more exposed than before to the oscillations of supply and demand4 ,once engaged1 it cannot be ,,disengaged without difficulty2 and the sole resource of its owner will be exploitation4 ,exploitation alone is capable of maintaining engaged capital at its nominal value2 it may increase it1 it may diminish it4 ,capital thus transformed is as if it had been risked in a maritime enterprise3 the interest is the insurance premium paid on the capital4 ,and this premium will be greater or less according to the scarcity or abundance of capital4 ,later a distinction will also be established between the insurance premium and interest on capital1 and new facts will result from this subdivision3 thus the history of humanity is simply a perpetual distinction of the mind's concepts4 #c4 ,not only does interest on capital cause the laborer to enjoy the fruit of his toil and insure his savings1 but--and this is the most marvellous effect of interest--while rewarding the producer1 it obliges him to labor incessantly and never stop4 ,if a contractor is his own capitalist1 it may happen that he will content himself with a profit equal to the interest on his investment3 but in that case it is certain that his industry is no longer making progress and consequently is suffering4 ,this we see when the capitalist is distinct from the contractor3 for then1 after the interest is paid1 the manufacturer's profit is absolutely nothing2 his industry becomes a perpetual peril to him1 from which it is important that he should free himself as soon as possible4 ,for as society's comfort must develop in an indefinite progression1 so the law of the producer is that he should continually realize a surplus3 otherwise his existence is precarious1 monotonous1 fatiguing4 ,the interest due to the capitalist by the producer therefore is like the lash of the planter cracking over the head of the sleeping slave2 it is the voice of progress crying3 ,on1 on6 ,toil1 toil6 ,man's destiny pushes him to happiness3 that is why it denies him rest4 #d4 ,finally1 interest on money is the condition of capital's circulation and the chief agent of industrial solidarity4 ,this aspect has been seized by all the economists1 and we shall give it special treatment when we come to deal with credit4 ,i have proved1 and better1 ,i imagine1 than it has ever been proved before3 ,that monopoly is necessary1 since it is the antagonism of competition2 ,that it is essential to society1 since without it society would never have emerged from the primeval forests and without it would rapidly go backwards2 ,finally1 that it is the crown of the producer1 when1 whether by net product or by interest on the capital which he devotes to production1 it brings to the monopolist that increase of comfort which his foresight and his efforts deserve4 ,shall we1 then1 with the economists1 glorify monopoly1 and consecrate it to the benefit of well-secured conservatives8 ,i am willing1 provided they in turn will admit my claims in what is to follow1 as ,i have admitted theirs in what has preceded4 #b4--,the disasters in labor and the perversion of ideas caused by monopoly4 ,like competition1 monopoly implies a contradiction in its name and its definition4 ,in fact1 since consumption and production are identical things in society1 and since selling is synonymous with buying1 whoever says privilege of sale or exploitation necessarily says privilege of consumption and purchase3 which ends in the denial of both4 ,hence a prohibition of consumption as well as of production laid by monopoly upon the wage-receivers4 ,competition was civil war1 monopoly is the massacre of the prisoners4 ,these various propositions are supported by all sorts of evidence1-- physical1 algebraic1 and metaphysical4 ,what ,i shall add will be only the amplified exposition3 their simple announcement demonstrates them4 ,every society considered in its economic relations naturally divides itself into capitalists and laborers1 employers and wage- receivers1 distributed upon a scale whose degrees mark the income of each1 whether this income be composed of wages1 profit1 interest1 rent1 or dividends4 ,from this hierarchical distribution of persons and incomes it follows that ,say's principle just referred to3 ,,in ,a ,,nation ,,the ,,net ,,product ,,is ,,equal ,,to ,,the ,,gross ,,product1 is no longer true1 since1 in consequence of monopoly1 the ,,selling ,,price is much higher than the ,,cost ,,price4 ,now1 as it is the cost price nevertheless which must pay the selling price1 since a nation really has no market but itself1 it follows that exchange1 and consequently circulation and life1 are impossible4 ,in ,france1 twenty millions of laborers1 engaged in all the branches of science1 art1 and industry1 produce everything which is useful to man4 ,their aggregate annual wages amount1 it is estimated1 to twenty thousand millions2 but1 in consequence of the profit 7net product and interest7 accruing to monopolists1 twenty-five thousand millions must be paid for their products4 ,now1 as the nation has no other buyers than its wage- receivers and wage-payers1 and as the latter do not pay for the former1 and as the selling-price of merchandise is the same for all1 it is clear that1 to make circulation possible1 the laborer would have to pay five for that for which he has received but four4--,what is ,property3 ,chapter ,,iv4#ag #ag ,a comparison of this passage1 as given here1 with the ,english translation of ,what is ,property will show a marked variation in the language4 ,this is explained by the fact that the author1 in reproducing the passage1 modified it considerably4 ,the same is true of another quotation from the same work which will be found a few pages farther on4--,translator4 ,this1 then1 is the reason why wealth and poverty are correlative1 inseparable1 not only in idea1 but in fact2 this is the reason why they exist concurrently2 this is what justifies the pretension of the wage- receiver that the rich man possesses no more than the poor man1 except that of which the latter has been defrauded4 ,after the monopolist has drawn up his account of cost1 profit1 and interest1 the wage-paid consumer draws up his2 and he finds that1 though promised wages stated in the contract as one hundred1 he has really been given but seventy- five4 ,monopoly1 therefore1 puts the wage-receivers into bankruptcy1 and it is strictly true that it lives upon the spoils4 ,six years ago ,i brought out this frightful contradiction3 why has it not been thundered through the press8 ,why have no teachers of renown warned public opinion8 ,why have not those who demand political rights for the workingman proclaimed that he is robbed8 ,why have the economists kept silent8 ,why8 ,our revolutionary democracy is so noisy only because it fears revolutions3 but1 by ignoring the danger which it dares not look in the face1 it succeeds only in increasing it4 ,we resemble1 says ,m4 ,blanqui1 firemen who increase the quantity of steam at the same time that they place weights on the safety-valve4 ,victims of monopoly1 console yourselves6 ,if your tormentors will not listen1 it is because ,providence has resolved to strike them3 ,non audierunt1 says the ,bible1 quia ,deus volebat occidere eos4 ,sale being unable to fulfil the conditions of monopoly1 merchandise accumulates2 labor has produced in a year what its wages will not allow it to consume in less than fifteen months3 hence it must remain idle one-fourth of the year4 ,but1 if it remains idle1 it earns nothing3 how will it ever buy8 ,and if the monopolist cannot get rid of his products1 how will his enterprise endure8 ,logical impossibility multiplies around the workshop2 the facts which translate it are everywhere4 ,the hosiers of ,england1 says ,eugene ,buret1 had come to the point where they did not eat oftener than every other day4 ,this state of things lasted eighteen months4 ,and he cites a multitude of similar cases4 ,but the distressing feature in the spectacle of monopoly's effects is the sight of the unfortunate workingmen blaming each other for their misery and imagining that by uniting and supporting each other they will prevent the reduction of wages4 ,the ,irish1 says an observer1 have given a disastrous lesson to the working classes of ,great ,britain4 4 4 4 4 ,they have taught our laborers the fatal secret of confining their needs to the maintenance of animal life alone1 and of contenting themselves1 like savages1 with the minimum of the means of subsistence sufficient to prolong life4 4 4 4 4 ,instructed by this fatal example1 yielding partly to necessity1 the working classes have lost that laudable pride which led them to furnish their houses properly and to multiply about them the decent conveniences which contribute to happiness4 ,i have never read anything more afflicting and more stupid4 ,and what would you have these workingmen do8 ,the ,irish came3 should they have been massacred8 ,wages were reduced3 should death have been accepted in their stead8 ,necessity commanded1 as you say yourselves4 ,then followed the interminable hours1 disease1 deformity1 degradation1 debasement1 and all the signs of industrial slavery3 all these calamities are born of monopoly and its sad predecessors1--competition1 machinery1 and the division of labor3 and you blame the ,irish6 ,at other times the workingmen blame their luck1 and exhort themselves to patience3 this is the counterpart of the thanks which they address to ,providence1 when labor is abundant and wages are sufficient4 ,i find in an article published by ,m4 ,leon ,faucher1 in the ,journal des ,economistes 7,september1 #ahde71 that the ,english workingmen lost some time ago the habit of combining1 which is surely a progressive step on which they are only to be congratulated1 but that this improvement in the morale of the workingmen is due especially to their economic instruction4 ,it is not upon the manufacturers1 cried a spinner at the meeting in ,bolton1 that wages depend4 ,in periods of depression the employers1 so to speak1 are only the lash with which necessity is armed2 and whether they will or no1 they have to strike4 ,the regulative principle is the relation of supply to demand2 and the employers have not this power4 4 4 4 ,let us act prudently1 then2 let us learn to be resigned to bad luck and to make the most of good luck3 by seconding the progress of our industry1 we shall be useful not only to ourselves1 but to the entire country4 ,applause4 ,very good3 well-trained1 model workmen1 these6 ,what men these spinners must be that they should submit without complaint to the ,,lash ,,of ,,necessity1 because the regulative principle of wages is ,,supply ,,and ,,demand6 ,m4 ,leon ,faucher adds with a charming simplicity3 ,english workingmen are fearless reasoners4 ,give them a ,,false ,,principle1 and they will push it mathematically to absurdity1 without stopping or getting frightened1 as if they were marching to the triumph of the truth4 ,for my part1 ,i hope that1 in spite of all the efforts of economic propagandism1 ,french workingmen will never become reasoners of such power4 ,,supply ,,and ,,demand1 as well as the ,,lash ,,of ,,necessity1 has no longer any hold upon their minds4 ,this was the one misery that ,england lacked3 it will not cross the channel4 ,by the combined effect of division1 machinery1 net product1 and interest1 monopoly extends its conquests in an increasing progression2 its developments embrace agriculture as well as commerce and industry1 and all sorts of products4 ,everybody knows the phrase of ,pliny upon the landed monopoly which determined the fall of ,italy1 latifundia perdidere ,italiam4 ,it is this same monopoly which still impoverishes and renders uninhabitable the ,roman ,campagna and which forms the vicious circle in which ,england moves convulsively2 it is this monopoly which1 established by violence after a war of races1 produces all the evils of ,ireland1 and causes so many trials to ,o',connell1 powerless1 with all his eloquence1 to lead his repealers through this labyrinth4 ,grand sentiments and rhetoric are the worst remedy for social evils3 it would be easier for ,o',connell to transport ,ireland and the ,irish from the ,north ,sea to the ,australian ,ocean than to overthrow with the breath of his harangues the monopoly which holds them in its grasp4 ,general communions and sermons will do no more3 if the religious sentiment still alone maintains the morale of the ,irish people1 it is high time that a little of that profane science1 so much disdained by the ,church1 should come to the aid of the lambs which its crook no longer protects4 ,the invasion of commerce and industry by monopoly is too well known to make it necessary that ,i should gather proofs3 moreover1 of what use is it to argue so much when results speak so loudly8 ,e4 ,buret's description of the misery of the working-classes has something fantastic about it1 which oppresses and frightens you4 ,there are scenes in which the imagination refuses to believe1 in spite of certificates and official reports4 ,couples all naked1 hidden in the back of an unfurnished alcove1 with their naked children2 entire populations which no longer go to church on ,sunday1 because they are naked2 bodies kept a week before they are buried1 because the deceased has left neither a shroud in which to lay him out nor the wherewithal to pay for the coffin and the undertaker 7and the bishop enjoys an income of from four to five hundred thousand francs72 families heaped up over sewers1 living in rooms occupied by pigs1 and beginning to rot while yet alive1 or dwelling in holes1 like ,albinoes2 octogenarians sleeping naked on bare boards2 and the virgin and the prostitute expiring in the same nudity3 everywhere despair1 consumption1 hunger1 hunger6 4 4 ,and this people1 which expiates the crimes of its masters1 does not rebel6 ,no1 by the flames of ,nemesis6 when a people has no vengeance left1 there is no longer any ,providence for it4 ,exterminations en masse by monopoly have not yet found their poets4 ,our rhymers1 strangers to the things of this world1 without bowels for the proletaire1 continue to breathe to the moon their melancholy ,,delights4 ,what a subject for ,,meditations1 nevertheless1 is the miseries engendered by monopoly6 ,it is ,walter ,scott who says3 ,formerly1 though many years since1 each villager had his cow and his pig1 and his yard around his house4 ,where a single farmer cultivates today1 thirty small farmers lived formerly2 so that for one individual1 himself alone richer1 it is true1 than the thirty farmers of old times1 there are now twenty-nine wretched day-laborers1 without employment for their minds and arms1 and whose number is too large by half4 ,the only useful function which they fulfil is to pay1 ,,when ,,they ,,can1 a rent of sixty shillings a year for the huts in which they dwell4#ah #ah ,this extract from ,scott1 as well as that from a parliamentary report cited a few paragraphs later1 is here translated from the ,french1 and presumably differs in form somewhat1 therefore1 from the original ,english4--,translator4 ,a modern ballad1 quoted by ,e4 ,buret1 sings the solitude of monopoly3 ,le rouet est silencieux dans la vallee3 ,c'en est fait des sentiments de famille4 ,sur un peu de fumee le vieil aieul ,etend ses mains pales2 et le foyer vide ,est aussi desole que son coeur4#ai #ai ,the spinning-wheel is silent in the valley3 family feelings are at an end4 ,over a little smoke the aged grandsire spreads his pale hands2 and the empty hearth is as desolate as his heart4--,translator4 ,the reports made to parliament rival the novelist and the poet3 ,the inhabitants of ,glensheil1 in the neighborhood of the valley of ,dundee1 were formerly distinguished from all their neighbors by the superiority of their physical qualities4 ,the men were of high stature1 robust1 active1 and courageous2 the women comely and graceful4 ,both sexes possessed an extraordinary taste for poetry and music4 ,now1 alas6 a long experience of poverty1 prolonged privation of sufficient food and suitable clothing1 have profoundly deteriorated this race1 once so remarkably fine4 ,this is a notable instance of the inevitable degradation pointed out by us in the two chapters on division of labor and machinery4 ,and our litterateurs busy themselves with the pretty things of the past1 as if the present were not adequate to their genius6 ,the first among them to venture on these infernal paths has created a scandal in the coterie6 ,cowardly parasites1 vile venders of prose and verse1 all worthy of the wages of ,marsyas6 ,oh6 if your punishment were to last as long as my contempt1 you would be forced to believe in the eternity of hell4 ,monopoly1 which just now seemed to us so well founded in justice1 is the more unjust because it not only makes wages illusory1 but deceives the workman in the very valuation of his wages by assuming in relation to him a false title1 a false capacity4 ,m4 de ,sismondi1 in his ,studies of ,social ,economy1 observes somewhere that1 when a banker delivers to a merchant bank-notes in exchange for his values1 far from giving credit to the merchant1 he receives it1 on the contrary1 from him4 ,this credit1 adds ,m4 de ,sismondi1 is in truth so short that the merchant scarcely takes the trouble to inquire whether the banker is worthy1 especially as the former asks credit instead of granting it4 ,so1 according to ,m4 de ,sismondi1 in the issue of bank paper1 the functions of the merchant and the banker are inverted3 the first is the creditor1 and the second is the credited4 ,something similar takes place between the monopolist and wage-receiver4 ,in fact1 the workers1 like the merchant at the bank1 ask to have their labor discounted2 in right1 the contractor ought to furnish them bonds and security4 ,i will explain myself4 ,in any exploitation1 no matter of what sort1 the contractor cannot legitimately claim1 in addition to his own personal labor1 anything but the ,,idea3 as for the ,,execution1 the result of the cooperation of numerous laborers1 that is an effect of collective power1 with which the authors1 as free in their action as the chief1 can produce nothing which should go to him gratuitously4 ,now1 the question is to ascertain whether the amount of individual wages paid by the contractor is equivalent to the collective effect of which ,i speak3 for1 were it otherwise1 ,say's axiom1 ,,every ,,product ,,is ,,worth ,,what ,,it ,,costs1 would be violated4 ,the capitalist1 they say1 has paid the laborers their daily wages at a rate agreed upon2 consequently he owes them nothing4 ,to be accurate1 it must be said that he has paid as many times one day's wage as he has employed laborers1--which is not at all the same thing4 ,for he has paid nothing for that immense power which results from the union of laborers and the convergence and harmony of their efforts2 that saving of expense1 secured by their formation into a workshop2 that multiplication of product1 foreseen1 it is true1 by the capitalist1 but realized by free forces4 ,two hundred grenadiers1 working under the direction of an engineer1 stood the obelisk upon its base in a few hours2 do you think that one man could have accomplished the same task in two hundred days8 ,nevertheless1 on the books of the capitalist1 the amount of wages is the same in both cases1 because he allots to himself the benefit of the collective power4 ,now1 of two things one3 either this is usurpation on his part1 or it is error4--,what is ,property3 ,chapter ,,iii4 ,to properly exploit the mule-jenny1 engineers1 builders1 clerks1 brigades of workingmen and workingwomen of all sorts1 have been needed4 ,in the name of their liberty1 of their security1 of their future1 and of the future of their children1 these workmen1 on engaging to work in the mill1 had to make reserves2 where are the letters of credit which they have delivered to the employers8 ,where are the guarantees which they have received8 ,what6 millions of men have sold their arms and parted with their liberty without knowing the import of the contract2 they have engaged themselves upon the promise of continuous work and adequate reward2 they have executed with their hands what the thought of the employers had conceived2 they have become1 by this collaboration1 associates in the enterprise3 and when monopoly1 unable or unwilling to make further exchanges1 suspends its manufacture and leaves these millions of laborers without bread1 they are told to be ,,resigned6 ,by the new processes they have lost nine days of their labor out of ten2 and for reward they are pointed to the ,,lash ,,of ,,necessity flourished over them6 ,then1 if they refuse to work for lower wages1 they are shown that they punish themselves4 ,if they accept the rate offered them1 they lose ,,that ,,noble ,,pride1 that taste for ,,decent ,,conveniences which constitute the happiness and dignity of the workingman and entitle him to the sympathies of the rich4 ,if they combine to secure an increase of wages1 they are thrown into prison6 ,whereas they ought to prosecute their exploiters in the courts1 on them the courts will avenge the violations of liberty of commerce6 ,victims of monopoly1 they will suffer the penalty due to the monopolists6 ,o justice of men1 stupid courtesan1 how long1 under your goddess's tinsel1 will you drink the blood of the slaughtered proletaire8 ,monopoly has invaded everything1--land1 labor1 and the instruments of labor1 products and the distribution of pro ducts4 ,political economy itself has not been able to avoid admitting it4 ,you almost always find across your path1 says ,m4 ,rossi1 some monopoly4 ,there is scarcely a product that can be regarded as the pure and simple result of labor2 accordingly the economic law which proportions price to cost of production is never completely realized4 ,it is a formula which is profoundly ,,modified by the intervention of one or another of the monopolies to which the instruments of production are subordinated4--,course in ,political ,economy3 ,volume ,i41 page #adc4 ,m4 ,rossi holds too high an office to give his language all the precision and exactness which science requires when monopoly is in question4 ,what he so complacently calls a ,,modification ,,of ,,economic ,,formulas is but a long and odious violation of the fundamental laws of labor and exchange4 ,it is in consequence of monopoly that in society1 net product being figured over and above gross product1 the collective laborer must repurchase his own product at a price higher than that which this product costs him1--which is contradictory and impossible2 that the natural balance between production and consumption is destroyed2 that the laborer is deceived not only in his settlements1 but also as to the amount of his wages2 that in his case progress in comfort is changed into an incessant progress in misery3 it is by monopoly1 in short1 that all notions of commutative justice are perverted1 and that social economy1 instead of the positive science that it is1 becomes a veritable utopia4 ,this disguise of political economy under the influence of monopoly is a fact so remarkable in the history of social ideas that we must not neglect to cite a few instances4 ,thus1 from the standpoint of monopoly1 value is no longer that synthetic conception which serves to express the relation of a special object of utility to the sum total of wealth3 monopoly estimating things1 not in their relation to society1 but in their relation to itself1 value loses its social character1 and is nothing but a vague1 arbitrary1 egoistic1 and essentially variable thing4 ,starting with this principle1 the monopolist extends the term ,,product to cover all sorts of servitude1 and applies the idea of ,,capital to all the frivolous and shameful industries which his passions and vices exploit4 ,the charms of a courtesan1 says ,say1 are so much ,,capital1 of which the ,,product follows the general ,,law of ,,values1--namely1 ,,supply and ,,demand4 ,most of the works on political economy are full of such applications4 ,but as prostitution and the state of dependence from which it emanates are condemned by morality1 ,m4 ,rossi will bid us observe the further fact that political economy1 after having ,,modified its formula in consequence of the intervention of monopoly1 will have to submit to a new ,,corrective1 although its conclusions are in themselves irreproachable4 ,for1 he says1 political economy has nothing in common with morality3 it is for us to accept it1 to modify or correct its formulas1 whenever our welfare1 that of society1 and the interests of morality call for it4 ,how many things there are between political economy and truth6 ,likewise1 the theory of net product1 so highly social1 progressive1 and conservative1 has been individualized1 if ,i may say so1 by monopoly1 and the principle which ought to secure society's welfare causes its ruin4 ,the monopolist1 always striving for the greatest possible net product1 no longer acts as a member of society and in the interest of society2 he acts with a view to his exclusive interest1 whether this interest be contrary to the social interest or not4 ,this change of perspective is the cause to which ,m4 de ,sismondi attributes the depopulation of the ,roman ,campagna4 ,from the comparative researches which he has made regarding the product of the agro romano when in a state of cultivation and its product when left as pasture-land1 he has found that the ,,gross product would be twelve times larger in the former case than in the latter2 but1 as cultivation demands relatively a greater number of hands1 he has discovered also that in the former case the ,,net product would be less4 ,this calculation1 which did not escape the proprietors1 sufficed to confirm them in the habit of leaving their lands uncultivated1 and hence the ,roman ,campagna is uninhabited4 ,all parts of the ,roman ,states1 adds ,m4 de ,sismondi1 present the same contrast between the memories of their prosperity in the ,middle ,ages and their present desolation4 ,the town of ,ceres1 made famous by ,renzo da ,ceri1 who defended by turns ,marseilles against ,charles ,v4 and ,geneva against the ,duke of ,savoy1 is nothing but a solitude4 ,in all the fiefs of the ,orsinis and the ,colonnes not a soul4 ,from the forests which surround the pretty ,lake of ,vico the human race has disappeared2 and the soldiers with whom the formidable prefect of ,vico made ,rome tremble so often in the fourteenth century have left no descendants4 ,castro and ,ronciglione are desolated4--,studies in ,political ,economy4 ,in fact1 society seeks the greatest possible gross product1 and consequently the greatest possible population1 because with it gross product and net product are identical4 ,monopoly1 on the contrary1 aims steadily at the greatest net product1 even though able to obtain it only at the price of the extermination of the human race4 ,under this same influence of monopoly1 interest on capital1 perverted in its idea1 has become in turn a principle of death to society4 ,as we have explained it1 interest on capital is1 on the one hand1 the form under which the laborer enjoys his net product1 while utilizing it in new creations2 on the other1 this interest is the material bond of solidarity between producers1 viewed from the standpoint of the increase of wealth4 ,under the first aspect1 the aggregate interest paid can never exceed the amount of the capital itself2 under the second1 interest allows1 in addition to reimbursement1 a premium as a reward of service rendered4 ,in no case does it imply perpetuity4 ,but monopoly1 confounding the idea of capital1 which is attributable only to the creations of human industry1 with that of the exploitable material which nature has given us1 and which belongs to all1 and favored moreover in its usurpation by the anarchical condition of a society in which possession can exist only on condition of being exclusive1 sovereign1 and perpetual1--monopoly has imagined and laid it down as a principle that capital1 like land1 animals1 and plants1 had in itself an activity of its own1 which relieved the capitalist of the necessity of contributing anything else to exchange and of taking any part in the labors of the workshop4 ,from this false idea of monopoly has come the ,greek name of usury1 tokos1 as much as to say the child or the increase of capital1 which caused ,aristotle to perpetrate this witticism3 ,,coins ,,beget ,,no ,,children4 ,but the metaphor of the usurers has prevailed over the joke of the ,stagyrite2 usury1 like rent1 of which it is an imitation1 has been declared a perpetual right2 and only very lately1 by a half-return to the principle1 has it reproduced the idea of ,,redemption4 ,such is the meaning of the enigma which has caused so many scandals among theologians and legists1 and regarding which the ,christian ,church has blundered twice1--first1 in condemning every sort of interest1 and1 second1 in taking the side of the economists and thus contradicting its old maxims4 ,usury1 or the right of increase1 is at once the expression and the condemnation of monopoly2 it is the spoliation of labor by organized and legalized capital2 of all the economic subversions it is that which most loudly accuses the old society1 and whose scandalous persistence would justify an unceremonious and uncompensated dispossession of the entire capitalistic class4 ,finally1 monopoly1 by a sort of instinct of self-preservation1 has perverted even the idea of association1 as something that might infringe upon it1 or1 to speak more accurately1 has not permitted its birth4 ,who could hope today to define what association among men should be8 ,the law distinguishes two species and four varieties of civil societies1 and as many commercial societies1 from the simple partnership to the joint-stock company4 ,i have read the most respectable commentaries that have been written upon all these forms of association1 and ,i declare that ,i have found in them but one application of the routine practices of monopoly between two or more partners who unite their capital and their efforts against everything that produces and consumes1 that invents and exchanges1 that lives and dies4 ,the sine qua non of all these societies is capital1 whose presence alone constitutes them and gives them a basis2 their object is monopoly1--that is1 the exclusion of all other laborers and capitalists1 and consequently the negation of social universality so far as persons are concerned4 ,thus1 according to the definition of the statute1 a commercial society which should lay down as a principle the right of any stranger to become a member upon his simple request1 and to straightway enjoy the rights and prerogatives of associates and even managers1 would no longer be a society2 the courts would officially pronounce its dissolution1 its nonexistence4 ,so1 again1 articles of association in which the contracting parties should stipulate no contribution of capital1 but1 while reserving to each the express right to compete with all1 should confine themselves to a reciprocal guarantee of labor and wages1 saying nothing of the branch of exploitation1 or of capital1 or of interest1 or of profit and loss1--such articles would seem contradictory in their tenor1 as destitute of purpose as of reason1 and would be annulled by the judge on the complaint of the first rebellious associate4 ,covenants thus drawn up could give rise to no judicial action2 people calling themselves the associates of everybody would be considered associates of nobody2 treatises contemplating guarantee and competition between associates at the same time1 without any mention of social capital and without any designation of purpose1 would pass for a work of transcendental charlatanism1 whose author could readily be sent to a madhouse1 provided the magistrates would consent to regard him as only a lunatic4 ,and yet it is proved1 by the most authentic testimony which history and social economy furnish1 that humanity has been thrown naked and without capital upon the earth which it cultivates2 consequently that it has created and is daily creating all the wealth that exists2 that monopoly is only a relative view serving to designate the grade of the laborer1 with certain conditions of enjoyment2 and that all progress consists1 while indefinitely multiplying products1 in determining their proportionality1--that is1 in organizing labor and comfort by division1 machinery1 the workshop1 education1 and competition4 ,on the other hand1 it is evident that all the tendencies of humanity1 both in its politics and in its civil laws1 are towards universalization1--that is1 towards a complete transformation of the idea of society as determined by our statutes4 ,whence ,i conclude that articles of association which should regulate1 no longer the contribution of the associates1--since each associate1 according to the economic theory1 is supposed to possess absolutely nothing upon his entrance into society1--but the conditions of labor and exchange1 and which should allow access to all who might present themselves1--,i conclude1 ,i say1 that such articles of association would contain nothing that was not rational and scientific1 since they would be the very expression of progress1 the organic formula of labor1 and since they would reveal1 so to speak1 humanity to itself by giving it the rudiment of its constitution4 ,now1 who1 among the jurisconsults and economists1 has ever approached even within a thousand leagues of this magnificent and yet so simple idea8 ,i do not think1 says ,m4 ,troplong1 that the spirit of association is called to greater destinies than those which it has accomplished in the past and up to the present time4 4 4 2 and ,i confess that ,i have made no attempt to realize such hopes1 which ,i believe exaggerated4 4 4 4 ,there are well-defined limits which association should not overstep4 ,no6 association is not called upon in ,france to govern everything4 ,the spontaneous impulse of the individual mind is also a living force in our nation and a cause of its originality4 4 4 4 ,the idea of association is not new4 4 4 4 ,even among the ,romans we see the commercial society appear with all its paraphernalia of monopolies1 corners1 collusions1 combinations1 piracy1 and venality4 4 4 4 ,the joint-stock company realizes the civil1 commercial1 and maritime law of the ,middle ,ages3 at that epoch it was the most active instrument of labor organized in society4 4 4 4 ,from the middle of the fourteenth century we see societies form by stock subscriptions2 and up to the time of ,law's discomfiture1 we see their number continually increase4 4 4 4 ,what6 we marvel at the mines1 factories1 patents1 and newspapers owned by stock companies6 ,but two centuries ago such companies owned islands1 kingdoms1 almost an entire hemisphere4 ,we proclaim it a miracle that hundreds of stock subscribers should group themselves around an enterprise2 but as long ago as the fourteenth century the entire city of ,florence was in similar silent partnership with a few merchants1 who pushed the genius of enterprise as far as possible4 ,then1 if our speculations are bad1 if we have been rash1 imprudent1 or credulous1 we torment the legislator with our cavilling complaints2 we call upon him for prohibitions and nullifications4 ,in our mania for regulating everything1 ,,even ,,that ,,which ,,is ,,already ,,codified2 for enchaining everything by texts reviewed1 corrected1 and added to2 for administering everything1 even the chances and reverses of commerce1--we cry out1 in the midst of so many existing laws3 ,there is still something to do6' ,m4 ,troplong believes in ,providence1 but surely he is not its man4 ,he will not discover the formula of association clamored for today by minds disgusted with all the protocols of combination and rapine of which ,m4 ,troplong unrolls the picture in his commentary4 ,m4 ,troplong gets impatient1 and rightly1 with those who wish to enchain everything in texts of laws2 and he himself pretends to enchain the future in a series of fifty articles1 in which the wisest mind could not discover a spark of economic science or a shadow of philosophy4 ,,in ,,our ,,mania1 he cries1 ,,for ,,regulating ,,everything1 ,,even ,,that ,,which ,,is ,,already ,,codified6 4 4 4 4 ,i know nothing more delicious than this stroke1 which paints at once the jurisconsult and the economist4 ,after the ,code ,napoleon1 take away the ladder6 4 4 4 ,fortunately1 ,m4 ,troplong continues1 all the projects of change so noisily brought to light in #ahcg and #ahch are forgotten today4 ,the conflict of propositions and the anarchy of reformatory opinions have led to negative results4 ,at the same time that the reaction against speculators was effected1 the common sense of the public did justice to the numerous official plans of organization1 much inferior in wisdom to the existing law1 much less in harmony with the usages of commerce1 much less liberal1 after #ahcj1 than the conceptions of the imperial ,council of ,state6 ,now order is restored in everything1 and the commercial code has preserved its integrity1 its excellent integrity4 ,when commerce needs it1 it finds1 by the side of partnership1 temporary partnership1 and the joint-stock company1 the free silent partnership1 tempered only by the prudence of the silent partners and by the provisions of the penal code regarding swindling4--,troplong3 ,civil and ,commercial ,societies3 ,preface4 ,what a philosophy is that which rejoices in the miscarriage of reformatory endeavors1 and which counts its triumphs by the ,,negative ,,results of the spirit of inquiry6 ,we cannot now enter upon a more fundamental criticism of the civil and commercial societies1 which have furnished ,m4 ,troplong material for two volumes4 ,we will reserve this subject for the time when1 the theory of economic contradictions being finished1 we shall have found in their general equation the programme of association1 which we shall then publish in contrast with the practice and conceptions of our predecessors4 ,a word only as to silent partnership4 ,one might think at first blush that this form of joint-stock company1 by its expansive power and by the facility for change which it offers1 could be generalized in such a way as to take in an entire nation in all its commercial and industrial relations4 ,but the most superficial examination of the constitution of this society demonstrates very quickly that the sort of enlargement of which it is susceptible1 in the matter of the number of stockholders1 has nothing in common with the extension of the social bond4 ,in the first place1 like all other commercial societies1 it is necessarily limited to a single branch of exploitation3 in this respect it is exclusive of all industries foreign to that peculiarly its own4 ,if it were otherwise1 it would have changed its nature2 it would be a new form of society1 whose statutes would regulate1 no longer the profits especially1 but the distribution of labor and the conditions of exchange2 it would be exactly such an association as ,m4 ,troplong denies and as the jurisprudence of monopoly excludes4 ,as for the personal composition of the company1 it naturally divides itself into two categories1--the managers and the stockholders4 ,the managers1 very few in number1 are chosen from the promoters1 organizers1 and patrons of the enterprise3 in truth1 they are the only associates4 ,the stockholders1 compared with this little government1 which administers the society with full power1 are a people of taxpayers who1 strangers to each other1 without influence and without responsibility1 have nothing to do with the affair beyond their investments4 ,they are lenders at a premium1 not associates4 ,one can see from this how all the industries of the kingdom could be carried on by such companies1 and each citizen1 thanks to the facility for multiplying his shares1 be interested in all or most of these companies without thereby improving his condition3 it might happen even that it would be more and more compromised4 ,for1 once more1 the stockholder is the beast of burden1 the exploitable material of the company3 not for him is this society formed4 ,in order that association may be real1 he who participates in it must do so1 not as a gambler1 but as an active factor2 he must have a deliberative voice in the council2 his name must be expressed or implied in the title of the society2 everything regarding him1 in short1 should be regulated in accordance with equality4 ,but these conditions are precisely those of the organization of labor1 which is not taken into consideration by the code2 they form the ,,ulterior object of political economy1 and consequently are not to be taken for granted1 but to be created1 and1 as such1 are radically incompatible with monopoly4#bj #bj ,possibly these paragraphs will not be clear to all without the explanation that the form of association discussed in them1 called in ,french the commandite1 is a joint-stock company to which the shareholders simply lend their capital1 without acquiring a share in the management or incurring responsibility for the results thereof4-- ,translator4 ,socialism1 in spite of its high-sounding name1 has so far been no more fortunate than monopoly in the definition of society3 we may even assert that1 in all its plans of organization1 it has steadily shown itself in this respect a plagiarist of political economy4 ,m4 ,blanc1 whom ,i have already quoted in discussing competition1 and whom we have seen by turns as a partisan of the hierarchical principle1 an officious defender of inequality1 preaching communism1 denying with a stroke of the pen the law of contradiction because he cannot conceive it1 aiming above all at power as the final sanction of his system1--,m4 ,blanc offers us again the curious example of a socialist copying political economy without suspecting it1 and turning continually in the vicious circle of proprietary routine4 ,m4 ,blanc really denies the sway of capital2 he even denies that capital is equal to labor in production1 in which he is in accord with healthy economic theories4 ,but he can not or does not know how to dispense with capital2 he takes capital for his point of departure2 he appeals to the ,state for its silent partnership3 that is1 he gets down on his knees before the capitalists and recognizes the sovereignty of monopoly4 ,hence the singular contortions of his dialectics4 ,i beg the reader's pardon for these eternal personalities3 but since socialism1 as well as political economy1 is personified in a certain number of writers1 ,i cannot do otherwise than quote its authors4 ,has or has not capital1 said ,la ,phalange1 in so far as it is a faculty in production1 the legitimacy of the other productive faculties8 ,if it is illegitimate1 its pretensions to a share of the product are illegitimate2 it must be excluded2 it has no interest to receive3 if1 on the contrary1 it is legitimate1 it cannot be legitimately excluded from participation in the profits1 in the increase which it has helped to create4 ,the question could not be stated more clearly4 ,m4 ,blanc holds1 on the contrary1 that it is stated in a ,,very ,,confused manner1 which means that it embarrasses him greatly1 and that he is much worried to find its meaning4 ,in the first place1 he supposes that he is asked whether it is equitable to allow the capitalist a share of the profits of production ,,equal ,,to ,,the ,,laborer',s4 ,to which ,m4 ,blanc answers unhesitatingly that that would be unjust4 ,then follows an outburst of eloquence to establish this injustice4 ,now1 the phalansterian does not ask whether the share of the capitalist should or should not be ,,equal ,,to ,,the ,,laborer',s2 he wishes to know simply ,,whether ,,he ,,is ,,to ,,have ,a ,,share4 ,and to this ,m4 ,blanc makes no reply4 ,is it meant1 continues ,m4 ,blanc1 that capital is ,,indispensable to production1 like labor itself8 ,here ,m4 ,blanc distinguishes3 he grants that capital is indispensable1 ,,as labor is1 but not ,,to ,,the ,,extent ,,that labor is4 ,once again1 the phalansterian does not dispute as to quantity1 but as to right4 ,is it meant--it is still ,m4 ,blanc who interrogates--that all capitalists are not idlers8 ,m4 ,blanc1 generous to capitalists who work1 asks why so large a share should be given to those who do not work8 ,a flow of eloquence as to the ,,impersonal services of the capitalist and the ,,personal services of the laborer1 terminated by an appeal to ,providence4 ,for the third time1 you are asked whether the participation of capital in profits is legitimate1 since you admit that it is indispensable in production4 ,at last ,m4 ,blanc1 who has understood all the time1 decides to reply that1 if he allows interest to capital1 he does so only as a transitional measure and to ease the descent of the capitalists4 ,for the rest1 his project leading inevitably to the absorption of private capital in association1 it would be folly and an abandonment of principle to do more4 ,m4 ,blanc1 if he had studied his subject1 would have needed to say but a single phrase3 ,i deny capital4 ,thus ,m4 ,blanc1--and under his name ,i include the whole of socialism1-- after having1 by a first contradiction of the title of his book1 ,,organization ,,of ,,labor1 declared that capital was ,,indispensable in production1 and consequently that it should be organized and participate in profits like labor1 by a second contradiction rejects capital from organization and refuses to recognize it3 by a third contradiction he who laughs at decorations and titles of nobility distributes civic crowns1 rewards1 and distinctions to such litterateurs inventors1 and artists as shall have deserved well of the country2 he allows them salaries according to their grades and dignities2 all of which is the restoration of capital as really1 though not with the same mathematical precision1 as interest and net product3 by a fourth contradiction ,m4 ,blanc establishes this new aristocracy on the principle of equality1-- that is1 he pretends to vote masterships to equal and free associates1 privileges of idleness to laborers1 spoliation in short to the despoiled3 by a fifth contradiction he rests this equalitarian aristocracy on the basis of a ,,power ,,endowed ,,with ,,great ,,force1--that is1 on despotism1 another form of monopoly3 by a sixth contradiction1 after having1 by his encouragements to labor and the arts1 tried to proportion reward to service1 like monopoly1 and wages to capacity1 like monopoly1 he sets himself to eulogize life in common1 labor and consumption in common1 which does not prevent him from wishing to withdraw from the effects of common indifference1 by means of national encouragements taken out of the common product1 the grave and serious writers whom common readers do not care for3 by a seventh contradiction4 4 4 4 but let us stop at seven1 for we should not have finished at seventy-seven4 ,it is said that ,m4 ,blanc1 who is now preparing a history of the ,french ,revolution1 has begun to seriously study political economy4 ,the first fruit of this study will be1 ,i do not doubt1 a repudiation of his pamphlet on ,organization of ,labor1 and consequently a change in all his ideas of authority and government4 ,at this price the ,history of the ,french ,revolution1 by ,m4 ,blanc1 will be a truly useful and original work4 ,all the socialistic sects1 without exception1 are possessed by the same prejudice2 all1 unconsciously1 inspired by the economic contradiction1 have to confess their powerlessness in presence of the necessity of capital2 all are waiting1 for the realization of their ideas1 to hold power and money in their hands4 ,the utopias of socialism in the matter of association make more prominent than ever the truth which we announced at the beginning3 ,,there ,,is ,,nothing ,,in ,,socialism ,,which ,,is ,,not ,,found ,,in ,,political ,,economy2 and this perpetual plagiarism is the irrevocable condemnation of both4 ,nowhere is to be seen the dawn of that mother-idea1 which springs with so much eclat from the generation of the economic categories1--that the superior formula of association has nothing to do with capital1 a matter for individual accounts1 but must bear solely upon equilibrium of production1 the conditions of exchange1 the gradual reduction of cost1 the one and only source of the increase of wealth4 ,instead of determining the relations of industry to industry1 of laborer to laborer1 of province to province1 and of people to people1 the socialists dream only of providing themselves with capital1 always conceiving the problem of the solidarity of laborers as if it were a question of founding some new institution of monopoly4 ,the world1 humanity1 capital1 industry1 business machinery1 exist2 it is a matter now simply of finding their philosophy1--in other words1 of organizing them3 and the socialists are in search of capital6 ,always outside of reality1 is it astonishing that they miss it8 ,thus ,m4 ,blanc asks for ,state aid and the establishment of national workshops2 thus ,fourier asked for six million francs1 and his followers are still engaged today in collecting that sum2 thus the communists place their hope in a revolution which shall give them authority and the treasury1 and exhaust themselves in waiting for useless subscriptions4 ,capital and power1 secondary organs in society1 are always the gods whom socialism adores3 if capital and power did not exist1 it would invent them4 ,through its anxieties about power and capital1 socialism has completely overlooked the meaning of its own protests3 much more1 it has not seen that1 in involving itself1 as it has done1 in the economic routine1 it has deprived itself of the very right to protest4 ,it accuses society of antagonism1 and through the same antagonism it goes in pursuit of reform4 ,it asks capital for the poor laborers1 as if the misery of laborers did not come from the competition of capitalists as well as from the factitious opposition of labor and capital2 as if the question were not today precisely what it was before the creation of capital1--that is1 still and always a question of equilibrium2 as if1 in short1--let us repeat it incessantly1 let us repeat it to satiety1--the question were henceforth of something other than a synthesis of all the principles brought to light by civilization1 and as if1 provided this synthesis1 the idea which leads the world1 were known1 there would be any need of the intervention of capital and the ,state to make them evident4 ,socialism1 in deserting criticism to devote itself to declamation and utopia and in mingling with political and religious intrigues1 has betrayed its mission and misunderstood the character of the century4 ,the revolution of #ahcj demoralized us2 socialism is making us effeminate4 ,like political economy1 whose contradictions it simply sifts again1 socialism is powerless to satisfy the movement of minds3 it is henceforth1 in those whom it subjugates1 only a new prejudice to destroy1 and1 in those who propagate it1 a charlatanism to unmask1 the more dangerous because almost always sincere4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,fifth ,,period4--,,police1 ,,or ,,taxation4 ,in positing its principles humanity1 as if in obedience to a sovereign order1 never goes backward4 ,like the traveller who by oblique windings rises from the depth of the valley to the mountain-top1 it follows intrepidly its zigzag road1 and marches to its goal with confident step1 without repentance and without pause4 ,arriving at the angle of monopoly1 the social genius casts backward a melancholy glance1 and1 in a moment of profound reflection1 says to itself3 ,monopoly has stripped the poor hireling of everything1--bread1 clothing1 home1 education1 liberty1 and security4 ,i will lay a tax upon the monopolist2 at this price ,i will save him his privilege4 ,land and mines1 woods and waters1 the original domain of man1 are forbidden to the proletaire4 ,i will intervene in their exploitation1 ,i will have my share of the products1 and land monopoly shall be respected4 ,industry has fallen into feudalism1 but ,i am the suzerain4 ,the lords shall pay me tribute1 and they shall keep the profit of their capital4 ,commerce levies usurious profits on the consumer4 ,i will strew its road with toll-gates1 ,i will stamp its checks and indorse its invoices1 and it shall pass4 ,capital has overcome labor by intelligence4 ,i will open schools1 and the laborer1 made intelligent himself1 shall become a capitalist in his turn4 ,products lack circulation1 and social life is cramped4 ,i will build roads1 bridges1 canals1 marts1 theatres1 and temples1 and thus furnish at one stroke work1 wealth1 and a market4 ,the rich man lives in plenty1 while the workman weeps in famine4 ,i will establish taxes on bread1 wine1 meat1 salt1 and honey1 on articles of necessity and on objects of value1 and these shall supply alms for my poor4 ,and ,i will set guards over the waters1 the woods1 the fields1 the mines1 and the roads2 ,i will send collectors to gather the taxes and teachers to instruct the children2 ,i will have an army to put down refractory subjects1 courts to judge them1 prisons to punish them1 and priests to curse them4 ,all these offices shall be given to the proletariat and paid by the monopolists4 ,such is my certain and efficacious will4 ,we have to prove that society could neither think better nor act worse3 this will be the subject of a review which1 ,i hope1 will throw new light upon the social problem4 ,every measure of general police1 every administrative and commercial regulation1 like every law of taxation1 is at bottom but one of the innumerable articles of this ancient bargain1 ever violated and ever renewed1 between the patriciate and the proletariat4 ,that the parties or their representatives knew nothing of it1 or even that they frequently viewed their political constitutions from another standpoint1 is of little consequence to us3 not to the man1 legislator1 or prince do we look for the meaning of his acts1 but to the acts themselves4 #a4--,synthetic idea of the tax4--,point of departure and development of this idea4 ,in order to render that which is to follow more intelligible1 ,i will explain1 inverting1 as it were1 the method which we have followed hitherto1 the superior theory of the tax2 then ,i will give its genesis2 finally ,i will show the contradiction and results4 ,the synthetic idea of the tax1 as well as its original conception1 would furnish material for the most extensive developments4 ,i shall confine myself to a simple announcement of the propositions1 with a summary indication of the proofs4 ,the tax1 in its essence and positive destiny1 is the form of distribution among that species of functionaries which ,adam ,smith has designated by the word ,,unproductive1 although he admits as much as any one the utility and even the necessity of their labor in society4 ,by this adjective1 ,,unproductive1 ,adam ,smith1 whose genius dimly foresaw everything and left us to do everything1 meant that the product of these laborers is ,,negative1 which is a very different thing from null1 and that consequently distribution so far as they are concerned follows a method other than exchange4 ,let us consider1 in fact1 what takes place1 from the point of view of distribution1 in the four great divisions of collective labor1-- ,,extraction1#ba ,,manufactures1 ,,commerce1 ,,agriculture4 ,each producer brings to market a real product whose quantity can be measured1 whose quality can be estimated1 whose price can be debated1 and1 finally1 whose value can be discounted1 either in other services or merchandise1 or else in money4 ,in all these industries distribution1 therefore1 is nothing but the mutual exchange of products according to the law of proportionality of values4 #ba ,hunting1 fishing1 mining1--in short1 the gathering of all natural products4--,translator4 ,nothing like this takes place with the functionaries called ,,public4 ,these obtain their right to subsistence1 not by the production of real utilities1 but by the very state of unproductivity in which1 by no fault of their own1 they are kept4 ,for them the law of proportionality is inverted3 while social wealth is formed and increased in the direct ratio of the quantity1 variety1 and proportion of the effective products furnished by the four great industrial categories1 the development of this same wealth1 the perfecting of social order1 suppose1 on the contrary1 so far as the personnel of police is concerned1 a progressive and indefinite reduction4 ,state functionaries1 therefore1 are very truly unproductive4 ,on this point ,j4 ,b4 ,say agreed with ,a4 ,smith1 and all that he has written on this subject in correction of his master1 and which has been stupidly included among his titles to glory1 arises entirely1 it is easy to see1 from a misunderstanding4 ,in a word1 the wages of the government's employees constitute a social ,,deficit2 they must be carried to the account of ,,losses1 which it must be the object of industrial organization to continually diminish3 in this view what other adjective could be used to describe the men of power than that of ,adam ,smith8 ,here1 then1 is a category of services which1 furnishing no real products1 cannot be rewarded in the ordinary way2 services which do not fall under the law of exchange1 which cannot become the object of private speculation1 competition1 joint-stock association1 or any sort of commerce1 but which1 theoretically regarded as performed gratuitously by all1 but entrusted1 by virtue of the law of division of labor1 to a small number of special men who devote themselves exclusively to them1 must consequently be paid for4 ,history confirms this general datum4 ,the human mind1 which tries all solutions of every problem1 has tried accordingly to submit public functions to exchange2 for a long time ,french magistrates1 like notaries1 etc41 lived solely by their fees4 ,but experience has proved that this method of distribution applied to unproductive laborers was too expensive and subject to too many disadvantages1 and it became necessary to abandon it4 ,the organization of the unproductive services contributes to the general welfare in several ways3 first1 by relieving producers of public cares1 in which all must participate1 and to which1 consequently1 all are more or less slaves2 secondly1 by establishing in society an artificial centralization1 the image and prelude of the future solidarity of industries2 and1 finally1 by furnishing a first attempt at balance and discipline4 ,so we admit1 with ,j4 ,b4 ,say1 the usefulness of magistrates and the other agents of public authority2 but we hold that this usefulness is wholly negative1 and we insist1 therefore1 on describing these functionaries by the adjective unproductive which ,a4 ,smith applied to them1 not to bring them into discredit1 but because they really cannot be classed in the category of producers4 ,taxation1 very well says an economist of ,say's school1 ,m4 ,j4 ,garnier1--taxation is a ,,privation which we should try to reduce to the furthest point of compatibility with the needs of society4 ,if the writer whom ,i quote has reflected upon the meaning of his words1 he has seen that the word ,,privation which he uses is synonymous with ,,non-,,production1 and that consequently those for whose benefit taxes are collected are very truly ,,unproductive laborers4 ,i insist upon this definition1 which seems to me the less questionable from the fact that1 however much they may dispute over the word1 all agree upon the thing1 because it contains the germ of the greatest revolution yet to be accomplished in the world1--,i mean the subordination of the unproductive functions to the productive functions1 in a word1 the effective submission1 always asked and never obtained1 of authority to the citizens4 ,it is a consequence of the development of the economical contradictions that order in society first shows itself inverted2 that that which should be above is placed below1 that which should be in relief seems sunken1 and that which should receive the light is thrown into the shadow4 ,thus power1 which1 in its essence1 is1 like capital1 the auxiliary and subordinate of labor1 becomes1 through the antagonism of society1 the spy1 judge1 and tyrant of the productive functions2 power1 whose original inferiority lays upon it the duty of obedience1 is prince and sovereign4 ,in all ages the laboring classes have pursued against the office-holding class the solution of this antinomy1 of which economic science alone can give the key4 ,the oscillations--that is1 the political agitations which result from this struggle of labor against power--now lead to a depression of the central force1 which compromises the very existence of society2 now1 exaggerating this same force beyond measure1 give birth to despotism4 ,then1 the privileges of command1 the infinite joy which it gives to ambition and pride1 making the unproductive functions an object of universal lust1 a new leaven of discord penetrates society1 which1 divided already in one direction into capitalists and wage-workers1 and in another into producers and non-producers1 is again divided as regards power into monarchists and democrats4 ,the conflicts between royalty and the republic would furnish us most marvellous and interesting material for our episodes4 ,the confines of this work do not permit us so long an excursion2 and after having pointed out this new branch in the vast network of human aberrations1 we shall confine ourselves exclusively1 in dealing with taxation1 to the economic question4 ,such1 then1 in succinctest statement1 is the synthetic theory of the tax1--that is1 if ,i may venture to use the familiar comparison1 of this fifth wheel of the coach of humanity1 which makes so much noise1 and which1 in governmental parlance1 is styled the ,state4 ,the ,state1 the police1 or their means of existence1 the tax1 is1 ,i repeat1 the official name of the class designated in political economy as nonproducers1--in short1 as the domestics of society4 ,but public reason does not attain at a single bound this simple idea1 which for centuries had to remain in the state of a transcendental conception4 ,before civilization can mount to such a height1 it must pass through frightful tempests and innumerable revolutions1 in each of which1 one might say1 it renews its strength in a bath of blood4 ,and when at last production1 represented by capital1 seems on the point of thoroughly subordinating the unproductive organ1 the ,state1 then society rises in indignation1 labor weeps at the prospect of its immediate freedom1 democracy shudders at the abasement of power1 justice cries out as if scandalized1 and all the oracles of the departing gods exclaim with terror that the abomination of desolation is in the holy places and that the end of the world has come4 ,so true is it that humanity never desires what it seeks1 and that the slightest progress cannot be realized without spreading panic among the peoples4 ,what1 then1 in this evolution1 is the point of departure of society1 and by what circuitous route does it reach political reform1--that is1 economy in its expenditures1 equality in the assessment of its taxes1 and the subordination of power to industry8 ,that is what we are about to state in a few words1 reserving developments for the sequel4 ,the original idea of the tax is that of ,,redemption4 ,as1 by the law of ,moses1 each first-born was supposed to belong to ,jehovah1 and had to be redeemed by an offering1 so the tax everywhere presents itself in the form of a tithe or royal prerogative by which the proprietor annually redeems from the sovereign the profit of exploitation which he is supposed to hold only by his pleasure4 ,this theory of the tax1 moreover1 is but one of the special articles of what is called the social contract4 ,ancients and moderns all agree1 in terms more or less explicit1 in regarding the juridical status of societies as a reaction of weakness against strength4 ,this idea is uppermost in all the works of ,plato1 notably in the ,gorgias1 where he maintains1 with more subtlety than logic1 the cause of the laws against that of violence1--that is1 legislative absolutism against aristocratic and military absolutism4 ,in this knotty dispute1 in which the weight of evidence is equal on both sides1 ,plato simply expresses the sentiment of entire antiquity4 ,long before him1 ,moses1 in making a distribution of lands1 declaring patrimony inalienable1 and ordering a general and uncompensated cancellation of all mortgages every fiftieth year1 had opposed a barrier to the invasions of force4 ,the whole ,bible is a hymn to ,,justice1--that is1 in the ,hebrew style1 to charity1 to kindness to the weak on the part of the strong1 to voluntary renunciation of the privilege of power4 ,solon1 beginning his legislative mission by a general abolition of debts1 and creating rights and reserves1--that is1 barriers to prevent their return1--was no less reactionary4 ,lycurgus went farther2 he forbade individual possession1 and tried to absorb the man in the ,state1 annihilating liberty the better to preserve equilibrium4 ,hobbes1 deriving1 and with great reason1 legislation from the state of war1 arrived by another road at the establishment of equality upon an exception1--despotism4 ,his book1 so much calumniated1 is only a development of this famous antithesis4 ,the charter of #ahcj1 consecrating the insurrection made in '#hi by the plebeians against the nobility1 and decreeing the abstract equality of persons before the law1 in spite of the real inequality of powers and talents which is the veritable basis of the social system now in force1 is also but a protest of society in favor of the poor against the rich1 of the small against the great4 ,all the laws of the human race regarding sale1 purchase1 hire1 property1 loans1 mortgages1 prescription1 inheritance1 donation1 wills1 wives' dowries1 minority1 guardianship1 etc41 etc41 are real barriers erected by judicial absolutism against the absolutism of force4 ,respect for contracts1 fidelity to promises1 the religion of the oath1 are fictions1 osselets1#bb as the famous ,lysander aptly said1 with which society deceives the strong and brings them under the yoke4 #bb ,little bones taken from the joints of animals and serving as playthings for children4--,translator4 ,the tax belongs to that great family of preventive1 coercive1 repressive1 and vindictive institutions which ,a4 ,smith designated by the generic term police1 and which is1 as ,i have said1 in its original conception1 only the reaction of weakness against strength4 ,this follows1 independently of abundant historical testimony which we will put aside to confine ourselves exclusively to economic proof1 from the distinction naturally arising between taxes4 ,all taxes are divisible into two great categories3 7#a7 taxes of assessment1 or of privilege3 these are the oldest taxes2 7#b7 taxes of consumption1 or of quotite1#bc whose tendency is1 by absorbing the former1 to make public burdens weigh equally upon all4 #bc ,a tax whose total product is not fixed in advance1 but depends upon the quantity of things or persons upon whom it happens to fall4-- ,translator4 ,the first sort of taxes--including in ,france the tax on land1 the tax on doors and windows1 the poll-tax1 the tax on personal property1 the tax on tenants1 license-fees1 the tax on transfers of property1 the tax on officials' fees1 road-taxes1 and brevets--is the share which the sovereign reserves for himself out of all the monopolies which he concedes or tolerates2 it is1 as we have said1 the indemnity of the poor1 the permit granted to property4 ,such was the form and spirit of the tax in all the old monarchies3 feudalism was its beau ideal4 ,under that regime the tax was only a ,,tribute paid by the holder to the universal proprietor or sleeping-partner 7commanditaire71 the king4 ,when later1 by the development of public right1 royalty1 the patriarchal form of sovereignty1 begins to get impregnated by the democratic spirit1 the tax becomes a quota which each voter owes to the ,,commonwealth1 and which1 instead of falling into the hand of the prince1 is received into the ,state treasury4 ,in this evolution the principle of the tax remains intact2 as yet there is no transformation of the institution2 the real sovereign simply succeeds the figurative sovereign4 ,whether the tax enters into the peculium of the prince or serves to liquidate a common debt1 it is in either case only a claim of society against privilege2 otherwise1 it is impossible to say why the tax is levied in the ratio of fortunes4 ,let all contribute to the public expenses3 nothing more just4 ,but why should the rich pay more than the poor8 ,that is just1 they say1 because they possess more4 ,i confess that such justice is beyond my comprehension4 4 4 4 ,one of two things is true3 either the proportional tax guarantees a privilege to the larger tax-payers1 or else it is a wrong4 ,because1 if property is a natural right1 as the ,declaration of '#ic declares1 all that belongs to me by virtue of this right is as sacred as my person2 it is my blood1 my life1 myself3 whoever touches it offends the apple of my eye4 ,my income of one hundred thousand francs is as inviolable a the grisette's daily wage of seventy-five centimes2 her attic is no more sacred than my suite of apartments4 ,the tax is not levied in proportion to physical strength1 size1 or skill3 no more should it be levied in proportion to property4--,what is ,property3 ,chapter ,,ii4 ,these observations are the more just because the principle which it was their purpose to oppose to that of proportional assessment has had its period of application4 ,the proportional tax is much later in history than liege-homage1 which consisted in a simple officious demonstration without real payment4 ,the second sort of taxes includes in general all those designated1 by a sort of antiphrasis1 by the term ,,indirect1 such as taxes on liquor1 salt1 and tobacco1 customs duties1 and1 in short1 all the taxes which ,,directly affect the only thing which should be taxed1--product4 ,the principle of this tax1 whose name is an actual misnomer1 is unquestionably better founded in theory and more equitable in tendency than the preceding3 accordingly1 in spite of the opinion of the mass1 always deceived as to that which serves it as well as to that which is prejudicial to it1 ,i do not hesitate to say that this tax is the only normal one1 barring its assessment and collection1 with which it is not my purpose now to deal4 ,for1 if it is true1 as we have just explained1 that the real nature of the tax is to pay1 according to a particular form of wages1 for certain services which elude the usual form of exchange1 it follows that all producers1 enjoying these services equally as far as personal use is concerned1 should contribute to their payment in equal portions4 ,the share for each1 therefore1 would be a fraction of his exchangeable product1 or1 in other words1 an amount taken from the values delivered by him for purposes of consumption4 ,but1 under the monopoly system1 and with collection upon land1 the treasury strikes the product before it has entered into exchange1 even before it is produced1--a circumstance which results in throwing back the amount of the tax into the cost of production1 and consequently puts the burden upon the consumer and lifts it from monopoly4 ,whatever the significance of the tax of assessment or the tax of quotite1 one thing is sure1 and this is the thing which it is especially important for us to know1--namely1 that1 in making the tax proportional1 it was the intention of the sovereign to make citizens contribute to the public expenses1 no longer1 according to the old feudal principle1 by means of a poll-tax1 which would involve the idea of an assessment figured in the ratio of the number of persons taxed1 and not in the ratio of their possessions1 but so much per franc of capital1 which supposes that capital has its source in an authority superior to the capitalists4 ,everybody1 spontaneously and with one accord1 considers such an assessment just2 everybody1 therefore1 spontaneously and with one accord1 looks upon the tax as a resumption on the part of society1 a sort of redemption exacted from monopoly4 ,this is especially striking in ,england1 where1 by a special law1 the proprietors of the soil and the manufacturers pay1 in proportion to their incomes1 a tax of forty million dollars1 which is called the poor-rate4 ,in short1 the practical and avowed object of the tax is to effect upon the rich1 for the benefit of the people1 a proportional resumption of their capital4 ,now1 analysis and the facts demonstrate3 ,that the tax of assessment1 the tax upon monopoly1 instead of being paid by those who possess1 is paid almost entirely by those who do not possess2 ,that the tax of quotite1 separating the producer from the consumer1 falls solely upon the latter1 thereby taking from the capitalist no more than he would have to pay if fortunes were absolutely equal2 ,finally1 that the army1 the courts1 the police1 the schools1 the hospitals1 the almshouses1 the houses of refuge and correction1 public functions1 religion itself1 all that society creates for the protection1 emancipation1 and relief of the proletaire1 paid for in the first place and sustained by the proletaire1 is then turned against the proletaire or wasted as far as he is concerned2 so that the proletariat1 which at first labored only for the class that devours it1--that of the capitalists1--must labor also for the class that flogs it1--that of the nonproducers4 ,these facts are henceforth so well known1 and the economists--,i owe them this justice--have shown them so clearly1 that ,i shall abstain from correcting their demonstrations1 which1 for the rest1 are no longer contradicted by anybody4 ,what ,i propose to bring to light1 and what the economists do not seem to have sufficiently understood1 is that the condition in which the laborer is placed by this new phase of social economy is susceptible of no amelioration2 that1 unless industrial organization1 and therefore political reform1 should bring about an equality of fortunes1 evil is inherent in police institutions as in the idea of charity which gave them birth2 in short1 that the ,,state1 whatever form it affects1 aristocratic or theocratic1 monarchical or republican1 until it shall have become the obedient and submissive organ of a society of equals1 will be for the people an inevitable hell1--,i had almost said a deserved damnation4 #b4--;,antinomy of the tax4 ,i sometimes hear the champions of the statu quo maintain that for the present we enjoy liberty enough1 and that1 in spite of the declamation against the existing order1 we are below the level of our institutions4 ,so far at least as taxation is concerned1 ,i am quite of the opinion of these optimists4 ,according to the theory that we have just seen1 the tax is the reaction of society against monopoly4 ,upon this point opinions are unanimous3 citizens and legislators1 economists1 journalists1 and ballad-writers1 rendering1 each in their own tongue1 the social thought1 vie with each other in proclaiming that the tax should fall upon the rich1 strike the superfluous and articles of luxury1 and leave those of prime necessity free4 ,in short1 they have made the tax a sort of privilege for the privileged3 a bad idea1 since it involved a recognition of the legitimacy of privilege1 which in no case1 whatever shape it may take1 is good for anything4 ,the people had to be punished for this egoistic inconsistency3 ,providence did not fail in its duty4 ,from the moment1 then1 of the conception of the tax as a counter-claim1 it had to be fixed proportionally to means1 whether it struck capital or affected income more especially4 ,now1 ,i will point out that the levying of the tax at so much a franc being precisely that which should be adopted in a country where all fortunes were equal1 saving the differences in the cost of assessment and collection1 the treasury is the most liberal feature of our society1 and that on this point our morals are really behind our institutions4 ,but as with the wicked the best things cannot fail to be detestable1 we shall see the equalitarian tax crush the people precisely because the people are not up to it4 ,i will suppose that the gross income in ,france1 for each family of four persons1 is #a1jjj francs3 this is a little above the estimate of ,m4 ,chevalier1 who places it at only #fc centimes a day for each individual1 or #iai francs #hj centimes for each household4 ,the tax being today more than a thousand millions1 or about an eighth of the total income1 each family1 earning #a1jjj francs a year1 is taxed #abe francs4 ,accordingly1 an income of #b1jjj francs pays #bej francs2 an income of #c1jjj francs1 #cge2 an income of #d1jjj francs1 #ejj1 etc4 ,the proportion is strict and mathematically irreproachable2 the treasury1 by arithmetic1 is sure of losing nothing4 ,but on the side of the taxpayers the affair totally changes its aspect4 ,the tax1 which1 in the intention of the legislator1 was to have been proportioned to fortune1 is1 on the contrary1 progressive in the ratio of poverty1 so that1 the poorer the citizen is1 the more he pays4 ,this ,i shall try to make plain by a few figures4 ,according to the proportional tax1 there is due to the treasury3 for an income of #a1jjj #b1jjj #c1jjj #d1jjj #e1jjj #f1jjj francs1 etc4 a tax of #abe #bej #cge #ejj #fbe #gej ,according to this series1 then1 the tax seems to increase proportionally to income4 ,but when it is remembered that each annual income is made up of #cfe units1 each of which represents the daily income of the taxpayer1 the tax will no longer be found proportional2 it will be found equal4 ,in fact1 if the ,state levies a tax of #abe francs on an income of #a1jjj francs1 it is as if it took from the taxed family #de days' subsistence2 likewise the assessments of #bej1 #cge1 #ejj1 #fbe1 and #gej francs1 corresponding to incomes of #b1jjj1 #c1jjj1 #d1jjj1 #e1jjj1 and #f1jjj francs1 constitute in each case a tax of #de days' pay upon each of those who enjoy these incomes4 ,i say now that this equality of taxation is a monstrous inequality1 and that it is a strange illusion to imagine that1 because the daily income is larger1 the tax of which it is the base is higher4 ,let us change our point of view from that of personal to that of collective income4 ,as an effect of monopoly social wealth abandoning the laboring class to go to the capitalistic class1 the object of taxation has been to moderate this displacement and react against usurpation by enforcing a proportional replevin upon each privileged person4 ,but proportional to what8 ,to the excess which the privileged person has received undoubtedly1 and not to the fraction of the social capital which his income represents4 ,now1 the object of taxation is missed and the law turned into derision when the treasury1 instead of taking its eighth where this eighth exists1 asks it precisely of those to whom it should be restored4 ,a final calculation will make this evident4 ,setting the daily income of each person in ,france at #fh centimes1 the father of a family who1 whether as wages or as income from his capital1 receives #a1jjj francs a year receives four shares of the national income2 he who receives #b1jjj francs has eight shares2 he who receives #d1jjj francs has sixteen1 etc4 ,hence it follows that the workman who1 on an income of #a1jjj francs1 pays #abe francs into the treasury renders to public order half a share1 or an eighth of his income and his family's subsistence2 whereas the capitalist who1 on an income of #f1jjj francs1 pays only #gej francs realizes a profit of #ag shares out of the collective income1 or1 in other words1 gains by the tax #dbe per cent4 ,let us reproduce the same truth in another form4 ,the voters of ,france number about #bjj1jjj4 ,i do not know the total amount of taxes paid by these #bjj1jjj voters1 but ,i do not believe that ,i am very far from the truth in supposing an average of #cjj francs each1 or a total of #fj1jjj1jjj for the #bjj1jjj voters1 to which we will add twenty-five per cent4 to represent their share of indirect taxes1 making in all #ge1jjj1jjj1 or #ge francs for each person 7supposing the family of each voter to consist of five persons71 which the electoral class pays to the ,state4 ,the appropriations1 according to the ,annuaire ,economique for #ahde1 being #a1ajf1jjj1jjj1 there remains #a1jca1jjj1jjj1 which makes the tax paid by each non-voting citizen #ca francs #cj centimes1--two-fifths of the tax paid by the wealthy class4 ,now1 for this proportion to be equitable1 the average welfare of the non-voting class would have to be two-fifths of the average welfare of the voting class3 but such is not the truth1 as it falls short of this by more than three-fourths4 ,but this disproportion will seem still more shocking when it is remembered that the calculation which we have just made concerning the electoral class is altogether wrong1 altogether in favor of the voters4 ,in fact1 the only taxes which are levied for the enjoyment of the right of suffrage are3 7#a7 the land tax2 7#b7 the tax on polls and personal property2 7#c7 the tax on doors and windows2 7#d7 license-fees4 ,now1 with the exception of the tax on polls and personal property1 which varies little1 the three other taxes are thrown back on the consumers2 and it is the same with all the indirect taxes1 for which the holders of capital are reimbursed by the consumers1 with the exception1 however1 of the taxes on property transfers1 which fall directly on the proprietor and amount in all to #aej1jjj1jjj4 ,now1 if we estimate that in this last amount the property of voters figures as one-sixth1 which is placing it high1 the portion of direct taxes 7#dji1jjj1jjj7 being #ab francs for each person1 and that of indirect taxes 7#edg1jjj1jjj7 #af francs1 the average tax paid by each voter having a household of five will reach a total of #bfe francs1 while that paid by the laborer1 who has only his arms to support himself1 his wife1 and two children1 will be #aab francs4 ,in more general terms1 the average tax upon each person belonging to the upper classes will be #ec francs2 upon each belonging to the lower1 #bh4 ,whereupon ,i renew my question3 ,is the welfare of those below the voting standard half as great as that of those above it8 ,it is with the tax as with periodical publications1 which really cost more the less frequently they appear4 ,a daily journal costs forty francs1 a weekly ten francs1 a monthly four4 ,supposing other things to be equal1 the subscription prices of these journals are to each other as the numbers forty1 seventy1 and one hundred and twenty1 the price rising with the infrequency of publication4 ,now1 this exactly represents the increase of the tax3 it is a subscription paid by each citizen in exchange for the right to labor and to live4 ,he who uses this right in the smallest proportion pays much2 he who uses it a little more pays less2 he who uses it a great deal pays little4 ,the economists are generally in agreement about all this4 ,they have attacked the proportional tax1 not only in its principle1 but in its application2 they have pointed out its anomalies1 almost all of which arise from the fact that the relation of capital to income1 or of cultivated surface to rent1 is never fixed4 ,given a levy of one-tenth on the income from lands1 and lands of different qualities producing1 the first eight francs' worth of grain1 the second six francs' worth1 the third five francs' worth1 the tax will call for one-eighth of the income from the most fertile land1 one-sixth from that a little less fertile1 and1 finally1 one-fifth from that less fertile still4#bd ,will not the tax thus established be just the reverse of what it should be8 ,instead of land1 we may suppose other instruments of production1 and compare capitals of the same value1 or amounts of labor of the same order1 applied to branches of industry differing in productivity3 the conclusion will be the same4 ,there is injustice in requiring the same poll-tax of ten francs from the laborer who earns one thousand francs and from the artist or physician who has an income of sixty thousand4--,j4 ,garnier3 ,principles of ,political ,economy4 #bd ,this sentence1 as it stands1 is unintelligible1 and probably is not correctly quoted by ,proudhon4 ,at any rate1 one of ,garnier's works contains a similar passage1 which begins thus3 ,given a levy of one on the area of the land1 and lands of different qualities producing1 the first eight1 the second six1 the third five1 the tax will call for one- eighth1 etc4 ,this is perfectly clear1 and the circumstances supposed are aptly illustrative of ,proudhon's point4 ,i should unhesitatingly pronounce it the correct version1 except for the fact that ,proudhon1 in the succeeding paragraph1 interprets ,garnier as supposing income to be assessed instead of capital4--,translator4 ,these reflections are very sound1 although they apply only to collection or assessment1 and do not touch the principle of the tax itself4 ,for1 in supposing the assessment to be made upon income instead of upon capital1 the fact always remains that the tax1 which should be proportional to fortunes1 is borne by the consumer4 ,the economists have taken a resolve2 they have squarely recognized the iniquity of the proportional tax4 ,the tax1 says ,say1 can never be levied upon the necessary4 ,this author1 it is true1 does not tell us what we are to understand by the necessary1 but we can supply the omission4 ,the necessary is what each individual gets out of the total product of the country1 after deducting what must be taken for taxes4 ,thus1 making the estimate in round numbers1 the production of ,france being eight thousand millions and the tax one thousand millions1 the necessary in the case of each individual amounts to fifty-six and a half centimes a day4 ,whatever is in excess of this income is alone susceptible of being taxed1 according to ,j4 ,b4 ,say2 whatever falls short of it must be regarded by the treasury as inviolable4 ,the same author expresses this idea in other words when he says3 ,the proportional tax is not equitable4 ,adam ,smith had already said before him3 ,it is not unreasonable that the rich man should contribute to the public expenses1 not only in proportion to his income1 but something more4 ,i will go further1 adds ,say2 ,i will not fear to say that the progressive tax is the only equitable tax4 ,and ,m4 ,j4 ,garnier1 the latest abridger of the economists1 says3 ,reforms should tend to establish a progressional equality1 if ,i may use the phrase1 much more just1 much more equitable1 than the pretended equality of taxation1 which is only a monstrous inequality4 ,so1 according to general opinion and the testimony of the economists1 two things are acknowledged3 one1 that in its principle the tax is a reaction against monopoly and directed against the rich2 the other1 that in practice this same tax is false to its object2 that1 in striking the poor by preference1 it commits an injustice2 and that the constant effort of the legislator must be to distribute its burden in a more equitable fashion4 ,i needed to establish this double fact solidly before passing to other considerations3 now commences my criticism4 ,the economists1 with that simplicity of honest folk which they have inherited from their elders and which even today is all that stands to their credit1 have taken no pains to see that the progressional theory of the tax1 which they point out to governments as the ne plus ultra of a wise and liberal administration1 was contradictory in its terms and pregnant with a legion of impossibilities4 ,they have attributed the oppression of the treasury by turns to the barbarism of the time1 the ignorance of princes1 the prejudices of caste1 the avarice of collectors1 everything1 in short1 which1 in their opinion1 preventing the progression of the tax1 stood in the way of the sincere practice of equality in the distribution of public burdens2 they have not for a moment suspected that what they asked under the name of progressive taxation was the overturn of all economic ideas4 ,thus they have not seen1 for instance1 that the tax was progressive from the very fact that it was proportional1 the only difference being that the progression was in the wrong direction1 the percentage being1 as we have said1 not directly1 but inversely proportional to fortunes4 ,if the economists had had a clear idea of this overturn1 invariable in all countries where taxation exists1 so singular a phenomenon would not have failed to draw their attention2 they would have sought its causes1 and would have ended by discovering that what they took for an accident of civilization1 an effect of the inextricable difficulties of human government1 was the product of the contradiction inherent in all political economy4 ,the progressive tax1 whether applied to capital or to income1 is the very negation of monopoly1 of that monopoly which is met everywhere1 according to ,m4 ,rossi1 across the path of social economy2 which is the true stimulant of industry1 the hope of economy1 the preserver and parent of all wealth2 of which we have been able to say1 in short1 that society cannot exist without it1 but that1 except for it1 there would be no society4 ,let the tax become suddenly what it unquestionably must sometime be1--namely1 the proportional 7or progressional1 which is the same thing7 contribution of each producer to the public expenses1 and straightway rent and profit are confiscated everywhere for the benefit of the ,state2 labor is stripped of the fruits of its toil2 each individual being reduced to the proper allowance of fifty-six and a half centimes1 poverty becomes general2 the compact formed between labor and capital is dissolved1 and society1 deprived of its rudder1 drifts back to its original state4 ,it will be said1 perhaps1 that it is easy to prevent the absolute annihilation of the profits of capital by stopping the progression at any moment4 ,eclecticism1 the golden mean1 compromise with heaven or with morality3 is it always to be the same philosophy1 then8 ,true science is repugnant to such arrangements4 ,all invested capital must return to the producer in the form of interest2 all labor must leave a surplus1 all wages be equal to product4 ,under the protection of these laws society continually realizes1 by the greatest variety of production1 the highest possible degree of welfare4 ,these laws are absolute2 to violate them is to wound1 to mutilate society4 ,capital1 accordingly1 which1 after all1 is nothing but accumulated labor1 is inviolable4 ,but1 on the other hand1 the tendency to equality is no less imperative2 it is manifested at each economic phase with increasing energy and an invincible authority4 ,therefore you must satisfy labor and justice at once2 you must give to the former guarantees more and more real1 and secure the latter without concession or ambiguity4 ,instead of that1 you know nothing but the continual substitution of the good pleasure of the prince for your theories1 the arrest of the course of economic law by arbitrary power1 and1 under the pretext of equity1 the deception of the wage worker and the monopolist alike6 ,your liberty is but a half-liberty1 your justice but a half-justice1 and all your wisdom consists in those middle terms whose iniquity is always twofold1 since they justify the pretensions of neither one party nor the other6 ,no1 such cannot be the science which you have promised us1 and which1 by unveiling for us the secrets of the production and consumption of wealth1 must unequivocally solve the social antinomies4 ,your semi- liberal doctrine is the code of despotism1 and shows that you are powerless to advance as well as ashamed to retreat4 ,if society1 pledged by its economic antecedents1 can never retrace its steps2 if1 until the arrival of the universal equation1 monopoly must be maintained in its possession1--no change is possible in the laying of taxes3 only there is a contradiction here1 which1 like every other1 must be pushed till exhausted4 ,have1 then1 the courage of your opinions1-- respect for wealth1 and no pity for the poor1 whom the ,god of monopoly has condemned4 ,the less the hireling has wherewith to live1 the more he must pay3 qui minus habet1 etiam quod habet auferetur ab eo4 ,this is necessary1 this is inevitable2 in it lies the safety of society4 ,let us try1 nevertheless1 to reverse the progression of the tax1 and so arrange it that the capitalist1 instead of the laborer1 will pay the larger share4 ,i observe1 in the first place1 that with the usual method of collection1 such a reversal is impracticable4 ,in fact1 if the tax falls on exploitable capital1 this tax1 in its entirety1 is included among the costs of production1 and then of two things one3 either the product1 in spite of the increase in its selling value1 will be bought by the consumer1 and consequently the producer will be relieved of the tax2 or else this same product will be thought too dear1 and in that case the tax1 as ,j4 ,b4 ,say has very well said1 acts like a tithe levied on seed1--it prevents production4 ,thus it is that too high a tax on the transfer of titles arrests the circulation of real property1 and renders estates less productive by keeping them from changing hands4 ,if1 on the contrary1 the tax falls on product1 it is nothing but a tax of quotite1 which each pays in the ratio of his consumption1 while the capitalist1 whom it is purposed to strike1 escapes4 ,moreover1 the supposition of a progressive tax based either on product or on capital is perfectly absurd4 ,how can we imagine the same product paying a duty of ten per cent4 at the store of one dealer and a duty of but five at another's8 ,how are estates already encumbered with mortgages and which change owners every day1 how is a capital formed by joint investment or by the fortune of a single individual1 to be distinguished upon the official register1 and taxed1 not in the ratio of their value or rent1 but in the ratio of the fortune or presumed profits of the proprietor8 ,there remains1 then1 a last resource1--to tax the net income of each tax-payer1 whatever his method of getting it4 ,for instance1 an income of one thousand francs would pay ten per cent42 an income of two thousand francs1 twenty per cent42 an income of three thousand francs1 thirty per cent41 etc4 ,we will set aside the thousand difficulties and annoyances that must be met in ascertaining these incomes1 and suppose the operation as easy as you like4 ,well6 that is exactly the system which ,i charge with hypocrisy1 contradiction1 and injustice4 ,i say in the first place that this system is hypocritical1 because1 instead of taking from the rich that entire portion of their income in excess of the average national product per family1 which is inadmissible1 it does not1 as is imagined1 reverse the order of progression in the direction of wealth2 at most it changes the rate of progression4 ,thus the present progression of the tax1 for fortunes yielding incomes of a thousand francs and ,,under1 being as that of the numbers #aj1 #aa1 #ab1 #ac1 etc41 and1 for fortunes yielding incomes of a thousand francs and ,,over1 as that of the numbers #aj1 #i1 #h1 #g1 #f1 etc41-- the tax always increasing with poverty and decreasing with wealth1--if we should confine ourselves to lifting the indirect tax which falls especially on the poorer class and imposing a corresponding tax upon the incomes of the richer class1 the progression thereafter1 it is true1 would be1 for the first1 only as that of the numbers #aj1 #aj4be1 #aj4ej1 #aj4ge1 #aa1 #aa4be1 etc41 and1 for the second1 as #aj1 #i4ge1 #i4ej1 #i4be1 #i1 #h4ge1 etc4 ,but this progression1 although less rapid on both sides1 would still take the same direction nevertheless1 would still be a reversal of justice2 and it is for this reason that the so-called progressive tax1 capable at most of giving the philanthropist something to babble about1 is of no scientific value4 ,it changes nothing in fiscal jurisprudence2 as the proverb says1 it is always the poor man who carries the pouch1 always the rich man who is the object of the solicitude of power4 ,i add that this system is contradictory4 ,in fact1 ,,one ,,cannot ,,both ,,give ,,and ,,keep1 say the jurisconsults4 ,instead1 then1 of consecrating monopolies from which the holders are to derive no privilege save that of straightway losing1 with the income1 all the enjoyment thereof1 why not decree the agrarian law at once8 ,why provide in the constitution that each shall freely enjoy the fruit of his labor and industry1 when1 by the fact or the tendency of the tax1 this permission is granted only to the extent of a dividend of fifty-six and a half centimes a day1--a thing1 it is true1 which the law could not have foreseen1 but which would necessarily result from progression8 ,the legislator1 in confirming us in our monopolies1 intended to favor production1 to feed the sacred fire of industry3 now1 what interest shall we have to produce1 if1 though not yet associated1 we are not to produce for ourselves alone8 ,after we have been declared free1 how can we be made subject to conditions of sale1 hire1 and exchange which annul our liberty8 ,a man possesses government securities which bring him an income of twenty thousand francs4 ,the tax1 under the new system of progression1 will take fifty per cent4 of this from him4 ,at this rate it is more advantageous to him to withdraw his capital and consume the principal instead of the income4 ,then let him be repaid4 ,what6 repaid6 ,the ,state cannot be obliged to repay2 and1 if it consents to redeem1 it will do so in proportion to the net income4 ,therefore a bond for twenty thousand francs will be worth not more than ten thousand to the bondholder1 because of the tax1 if he wishes to get it redeemed by the ,state3 unless he divides it into twenty lots1 in which case it will return him double the amount4 ,likewise an estate which rents for fifty thousand francs1 the tax taking two-thirds of the income1 will lose two- thirds of its value4 ,but let the proprietor divide this estate into a hundred lots and sell it at auction1 and then1 the terror of the treasury no longer deterring purchasers1 he can get back his entire capital4 ,so that1 with the progressive tax1 real estate no longer follows the law of supply and demand and is not valued according to the real income which it yields1 but according to the condition of the owner4 ,the consequence will be that large capitals will depreciate in value1 and mediocrity be brought to the front2 land-owners will hasten to sell1 because it will be better for them to consume their property than to get an insufficient rent from it2 capitalists will recall their investments1 or will invest only at usurious rates2 all exploitation on a large scale will be prohibited1 every visible fortune proceeded against1 and all accumulation of capital in excess of the figure of the necessary proscribed4 ,wealth1 driven back1 will retire within itself and never emerge except by stealth2 and labor1 like a man attached to a corpse1 will embrace misery in an endless union4 ,does it not well become the economists who devise such reforms to laugh at the reformers8 ,after having demonstrated the contradiction and delusion of the progressive tax1 must ,i prove its injustice also8 ,the progressive tax1 as understood by the economists and1 in their wake1 by certain radicals1 is impracticable1 ,i said just now1 if it falls on capital and product3 consequently ,i have supposed it to fall on incomes4 ,but who does not see that this purely theoretical distinction between capital1 product1 and income falls so far as the treasury is concerned1 and that the same impossibilities which we have pointed out reappear here with all their fatal character8 ,a manufacturer discovers a process by means of which1 saving twenty per cent4 of his cost of production1 he secures an income of twenty-five thousand francs4 ,the treasury calls on him for fifteen thousand4 ,he is obliged1 therefore1 to raise his prices1 since1 by the fact of the tax1 his process1 instead of saving twenty per cent41 saves only eight per cent4 ,is not this as if the treasury prevented cheapness8 ,thus1 in trying to reach the rich1 the progressive tax always reaches the consumer2 and it is impossible for it not to reach him without suppressing production altogether3 what a mistake6 ,it is a law of social economy that all invested capital must return continually to the capitalist in the form of interest4 ,with the progressive tax this law is radically violated1 since1 by the effect of progression1 interest on capital is so reduced that industries are established only at a loss of a part or the whole of the capital4 ,to make it otherwise1 interest on capital would have to increase progressively in the same ratio as the tax itself1 which is absurd4 ,therefore the progressive tax stops the creation of capital2 furthermore it hinders its circulation4 ,whoever1 in fact1 should want to buy a plant for any enterprise or a piece of land for cultivation would have to consider1 under the system of progressive taxation1 not the real value of such plant or land1 but rather the tax which it would bring upon him2 so that1 if the real income were four per cent41 and1 by the effect of the tax or the condition of the buyer1 must go down to three1 the purchase could not be effected4 ,after having run counter to all interests and thrown the market into confusion by its categories1 the progressive tax arrests the development of wealth and reduces venal value below real value2 it contracts1 it petrifies society4 ,what tyranny6 ,what derision6 ,the progressive tax resolves itself1 then1 whatever may be done1 into a denial of justice1 prohibition of production1 confiscation4 ,it is unlimited and unbridled absolutism1 given to power over everything which1 by labor1 by economy1 by improvements1 contributes to public wealth4 ,but what is the use of wandering about in chimerical hypotheses when the truth is at hand4 ,it is not the fault of the proportional principle if the tax falls with such shocking inequality upon the various classes of society2 the fault is in our prejudices and our morals4 ,the tax1 as far as is possible in human operations1 proceeds with equity1 precision4 ,social economy commands it to apply to product2 it applies to product4 ,if product escapes it1 it strikes capital3 what more natural6 ,the tax1 in advance of civilization1 supposes the equality of laborers and capitalists3 the inflexible expression of necessity1 it seems to invite us to make ourselves equals by education and labor1 and1 by balancing our functions and associating our interests1 to put ourselves in accord with it4 ,the tax refuses to distinguish between one man and another3 and we blame its mathematical severity for the differences in our fortunes6 ,we ask equality itself to comply with our injustice6 ,was ,i not right in saying at the outset that1 relatively to the tax1 we are behind our institutions8 ,accordingly we always see the legislator stopping1 in his fiscal laws1 before the subversive consequences of the progressive tax1 and consecrating the necessity1 the immutability of the proportional tax4 ,for equality in well-being cannot result from the violation of capital3 the antinomy must be methodically solved1 under penalty1 for society1 of falling back into chaos4 ,eternal justice does not accommodate itself to all the whims of men3 like a woman1 whom one may outrage1 but whom one does not marry without a solemn alienation of one's self1 it demands on our part1 with the abandonment of our egoism1 the recognition of all its rights1 which are those of science4 ,the tax1 whose final purpose1 as we have shown1 is the reward of the non-producers1 but whose original idea was a restoration of the laborer1--the tax1 under the system of monopoly1 reduces itself therefore to a pure and simple protest1 a sort of extra-judicial act1 the whole effect of which is to aggravate the situation of the wage-worker by disturbing the monopolist in his possession4 ,as for the idea of changing the proportional tax into a progressive tax1 or1 to speak more accurately1 of reversing the order in which the tax progresses1 that is a blunder the entire responsibility for which belongs to the economists4 ,but henceforth menace hovers over privilege4 ,with the power of modifying the proportionality of the tax1 government has under its hand an expeditious and sure means of dispossessing the holders of capital when it will2 and it is a frightful thing to see everywhere that great institution1 the basis of society1 the object of so many controversies1 of so many laws1 of so many cajoleries1 and of so many crimes1 ,,property1 suspended at the end of a thread over the yawning mouth of the proletariat4 #c4--;,disastrous and inevitable consequences of the tax4 7,provisions1 sumptuary laws1 rural and industrial police1 patents1 trade-marks1 etc47 ,m4 ,chevalier addressed to himself1 in ,july1 #ahdc1 on the subject of the tax1 the following questions3 7#a7 ,is it asked of all or by preference of a part of the nation8 7#b7 ,does the tax resemble a levy on polls1 or is it exactly proportioned to the fortunes of the tax-payers8 7#c7 ,is agriculture more or less burdened than manufactures or commerce8 7#d7 ,is real estate more or less spared than personal property8 7#e7 ,is he who produces more favored than he who consumes8 7#f7 ,have our taxation laws the character of sumptuary laws8 ,to these various questions ,m4 ,chevalier makes the reply which ,i am about to quote1 and which sums up all of the most philosophical considerations upon the subject which ,i have met3 7a7 ,the tax affects the universality1 applies to the mass1 takes the nation as a whole2 nevertheless1 as the poor are the most numerous1 it taxes them willingly1 certain of collecting more4 7b7 ,by the nature of things the tax sometimes takes the form of a levy on polls1 as in the case of the salt tax4 7c1 d1 e7 ,the treasury addresses itself to labor as well as to consumption1 because in ,france everybody labors1 to real more than to personal property1 and to agriculture more than to manufactures4 7f7 ,by the same reasoning1 our laws partake little of the character of sumptuary laws4 ,what1 professor6 is that all that science has taught you8 ,,the ,,tax ,,applies ,,to ,,the ,,mass1 you say2 ,,it ,,takes ,,the ,,nation ,,as ,a ,,whole4 ,alas6 we know it only too well2 but it is this which is iniquitous1 and which we ask you to explain4 ,the government1 when engaged in the assessment and distribution of the tax1 could not have believed1 did not believe1 that all fortunes were equal2 consequently it could not have wished1 did not wish1 the sums paid to be equal4 ,why1 then1 is the practice of the government always the opposite of its theory8 ,your opinion1 if you please1 on this difficult matter8 ,explain2 justify or condemn the exchequer2 take whatever course you will1 provided you take some course and say something4 ,remember that your readers are men1 and that they cannot excuse in a doctor1 speaking ex cathedra1 such propositions as this3 ,,as ,,the ,,poor ,,are ,,the ,,most ,,numerous1 ,,it ,,taxes ,,them ,,willingly1 ,,certain ,,of ,,collecting ,,more4 ,no1 ,monsieur3 ,,numbers do not regulate the tax2 the tax knows perfectly well that millions of poor added to millions of poor do not make one voter4 ,you render the treasury odious by making it absurd1 and ,i maintain that it is neither the one nor the other4 ,the poor man pays more than the rich because ,providence1 to whom misery is odious like vice1 has so ordered things that the miserable must always be the most ground down4 ,the iniquity of the tax is the celestial scourge which drives us towards equality4 ,god6 if a professor of political economy1 who was formerly an apostle1 could but understand this revelation6 ,,by ,,the ,,nature ,,of ,,things1 says m4 ,chevalier1 ,,the ,,tax ,,sometimes ,,takes ,,the ,,form ,,of ,a ,,levy ,,on ,,polls4 ,well1 in what case is it just that the tax should take the form of a levy on polls8 ,is it always1 or never8 ,what is the principle of the tax8 ,what is its object8 ,speak1 answer4 ,and what instruction1 pray1 can we derive from the remark1 scarcely worthy of quotation1 that ,,the ,,treasury ,,addresses ,,itself ,,to ,,labor ,,as ,,well ,,as ,,to ,,consumption1 ,,to ,,real ,,more ,,than ,,to ,,personal ,,property1 ,,to ,,agriculture ,,more ,,than ,,to ,,manufactures8 ,of what consequence to science is this interminable recital of crude facts1 if your analysis never extracts a single idea from them8 ,all the deductions made from consumption by taxation1 rent1 interest on capital1 etc41 enter into the general expense account and figure in the selling price1 so that nearly always the consumer pays the tax3 that we know4 ,and as the goods most consumed are also those which yield the most revenue1 it necessarily follows that the poorest people are the most heavily burdened3 this consequence1 like the first1 is inevitable4 ,once more1 then1 of what importance to us are your fiscal distinctions8 ,whatever the classification of taxable material1 as it is impossible to tax capital beyond its income1 the capitalist will be always favored1 while the proletaire will suffer iniquity1 oppression4 ,the trouble is not in the distribution of taxes2 it is in the distribution of goods4 ,m4 ,chevalier cannot be ignorant of this3 why1 then1 does not ,m4 ,chevalier1 whose word would carry more weight than that of a writer suspected of not loving the existing order1 say as much8 ,from #ahjf to #ahaa 7this observation1 as well as the following1 is ,m4 ,chevalier's7 the annual consumption of wine in ,paris was one hundred and forty quarts for each individual2 now it is not more than eighty-three4 ,abolish the tax of seven or eight cents a quart collected from the retailer1 and the consumption of wine will soon rise from eighty-three quarts to one hundred and seventy-five2 and the wine industry1 which does not know what to do with its products1 will have a market4 ,thanks to the duties laid upon the importation of cattle1 the consumption of meat by the people has diminished in a ratio similar to that of the falling-off in the consumption of wine2 and the economists have recognized with fright that the ,french workman does less work than the ,english workman1 because he is not as well fed4 ,out of sympathy for the laboring classes ,m4 ,chevalier would like our manufacturers to feel the goad of foreign competition a little4 ,a reduction of the tax on woollens to the extent of twenty cents on each pair of pantaloons would leave six million dollars in the pockets of the consumers1--half enough to pay the salt tax4 ,four cents less in the price of a shirt would effect a saving probably sufficient to keep a force of twenty thousand men under arms4 ,in the last fifteen years the consumption of sugar has risen from one hundred and sixteen million pounds to two hundred and sixty million1 which gives at present an average of seven pounds and three-quarters for each individual4 ,this progress demonstrates that sugar must be classed henceforth with bread1 wine1 meat1 wool1 cotton1 wood1 and coal1 among the articles of prime necessity4 ,to the poor man sugar is a whole medicine-chest3 would it be too much to raise the average individual consumption of this article from seven pounds and three-quarters to fifteen pounds8 ,abolish the tax1 which is about four dollars and a half on a hundred pounds1 and your consumption will double4 ,thus the tax on provisions agitates and tortures the poor proletaire in a thousand ways3 the high price of salt hinders the production of cattle2 the duties on meat diminish also the rations of the laborer4 ,to satisfy at once the tax and the need of fermented beverages which the laboring class feels1 they serve him with mixtures unknown to the chemist as well as to the brewer and the wine-grower4 ,what further need have we of the dietary prescriptions of the ,church8 ,thanks to the tax1 the whole year is ,lent to the laborer1 and his ,easter dinner is not as good as ,monseigneur's ,good ,friday lunch4 ,it is high time to abolish everywhere the tax on consumption1 which weakens and starves the people3 this is the conclusion of the economists as well as of the radicals4 ,but if the proletaire does not fast to feed ,caesar1 what will ,caesar eat8 ,and if the poor man does not cut his cloak to cover ,caesar's nudity1 what will ,caesar wear8 ,that is the question1 the inevitable question1 the question to be solved4 ,m4 ,chevalier1 then1 having asked himself as his sixth question whether our taxation laws have the character of sumptuary laws1 has answered3 ,no1 our taxation laws have not the character of sumptuary laws4 ,m4 ,chevalier might have added--and it would have been both new and true-- that that is the best thing about our taxation laws4 ,but ,m4 ,chevalier1 who1 whatever he may do1 always retains some of the old leaven of radicalism1 has preferred to declaim against luxury1 whereby he could not compromise himself with any party4 ,if in ,paris1 he cries1 the tax collected from meat should be laid upon private carriages1 saddle- horses and carriage-horses1 servants1 and dogs1 it would be a perfectly equitable operation4 ,does ,m4 ,chevalier1 then1 sit in the ,college of ,france to expound the politics of ,masaniello8 ,i have seen the dogs at ,basle wearing the treasury badge upon their necks as a sign that they had been taxed1 and ,i looked upon the tax on dogs1 in a country where taxation is almost nothing1 as rather a moral lesson and a hygienic precaution than a source of revenue4 ,in #ahdd the dog tax of forty-two cents a head gave a revenue of #ab1fjj in the entire province of ,brabant1 containing #ffg1jjj inhabitants4 ,from this it may be estimated that the same tax1 producing in all ,france #fjj1jjj1 would lighten the taxes of ,,quotite ,,less ,,than ,,two ,,cents a year for each individual4 ,certainly ,i am far from pretending that #fjj1jjj is a sum to be disdained1 especially with a prodigal ministry2 and ,i regret that the ,chamber should have rejected the dog tax1 which would always have served to endow half a dozen highnesses4 ,but ,i remember that a tax of this nature is levied much less in the interest of the treasury than as a promoter of order2 that consequently it is proper to look upon it1 from the fiscal point of view1 as of no importance2 and that it will even have to be abolished as an annoyance when the mass of the people1 having become a little more humanized1 shall feel a disgust for the companionship of beasts4 ,,two ,,cents ,a ,,year1 what a relief for poverty6 ,but ,m4 ,chevalier has other resources in reserve1--horses1 carriages1 servants1 articles of luxury1 luxury at last6 ,how much is contained in that one word1 ,,luxury6 ,let us cut short this phantasmagoria by a simple calculation2 reflections will be in order later4 ,in #ahdb the duties collected on imports amounted to #be1hjj1jjj4 ,in this sum of #be1hjj1jjj1 sixty-one articles in common use figure for #bd1hjj1jjj1 and one hundred and seventy-seven1 used only by those who enjoy a high degree of luxury1 for ,,ten ,,thousand ,,dollars4 ,in the first class sugar yielded a revenue of #h1fjj1jjj1 coffee #b1djj1jjj1 cotton #b1bjj1jjj1 woollens #b1jjj1jjj1 oils #a1fjj1jjj1 coal #hjj1jjj1 linens and hemp #fjj1jjj1-- making a total of #ah1bjj1jjj on seven articles4 ,the amount of revenue1 then1 is lower in proportion as the article of merchandise from which it is derived is less generally used1 more rarely consumed1 and found accompanying a more refined degree of luxury4 ,and yet articles of luxury are subject to much the highest taxes4 ,therefore1 even though1 to obtain an appreciable reduction upon articles of primary necessity1 the duties upon articles of luxury should be made a hundred times higher1 the only result would be the suppression of a branch of commerce by a prohibitory tax4 ,now1 the economists all favor the abolition of custom-houses2 doubtless they do not wish them replaced by city toll- gates8 ,let us generalize this example3 salt brings the treasury #aa1djj1jjj1 tobacco #af1hjj1jjj4 ,let them show me1 figures in hand1 by what taxes upon articles of luxury1 after having abolished the taxes on salt and tobacco1 this deficit will be made up4 ,you wish to strike articles of luxury2 you take civilization at the wrong end4 ,i maintain1 for my part1 that articles of luxury should be free4 ,in economic language what are luxuries8 ,those products which bear the smallest ratio to the total wealth1 those which come last in the industrial series and whose creation supposes the preexistence of all the others4 ,from this point of view all the products of human labor have been1 and in turn have ceased to be1 articles of luxury1 since we mean by luxury nothing but a relation of succession1 whether chronological or commercial1 in the elements of wealth4 ,luxury1 in a word1 is synonymous with progress2 it is1 at each instant of social life1 the expression of the maximum of comfort realized by labor and at which it is the right and destiny of all to arrive4 ,now1 just as the tax respects for a time the newly-built house and the newly-cleared field1 so it should freely welcome new products and precious articles1 the latter because their scarcity should be continually combatted1 the former because every invention deserves encouragement4 ,what6 under a pretext of luxury would you like to establish new classes of citizens8 ,and do you take seriously the city of ,salente and the prosopopoeia of ,fabricius8 ,since the subject leads us to it1 let us talk of morality4 ,doubtless you will not deny the truth so often dwelt upon by the ,senecas of all ages1--that luxury ,,corrupts and ,,weakens morals3 which means that it humanizes1 elevates1 and ennobles habits1 and that the first and most effective education for the people1 the stimulant of the ideal in most men1 is luxury4 ,the ,graces were naked1 according to the ancients2 where has it ever been said that they were needy8 ,it is the taste for luxury which in our day1 in the absence of religious principles1 sustains the social movement and reveals to the lower classes their dignity4 ,the ,academy of ,moral and ,political ,sciences clearly understood this when it chose luxury as the subject of one of its essays1 and ,i applaud its wisdom from the bottom of my heart4 ,luxury1 in fact1 is already more than a right in our society1 it is a necessity2 and he is truly to be pitied who never allows himself a little luxury4 ,and it is when universal effort tends to popularize articles of luxury more and more that you would confine the enjoyment of the people to articles which you are pleased to describe as articles of necessity6 ,it is when ranks approach and blend into each other through the generalization of luxury that you would dig the line of demarcation deeper and increase the height of your steps6 ,the workman sweats and sacrifices and grinds in order to buy a set of jewelry for his sweetheart1 a necklace for his granddaughter1 or a watch for his son2 and you would deprive him of this happiness1 unless he pays your tax1--that is1 your fine4 ,but have you reflected that to tax articles of luxury is to prohibit the luxurious arts8 ,do you think that the silk-workers1 whose average wages does not reach forty cents2 the milliners at ten cents2 the jewellers1 goldsmiths1 and clockmakers1 with their interminable periods of idleness2 servants at forty dollars1--do you think that they earn too much8 ,are you sure that the tax on luxuries would not be paid by the worker in the luxurious arts1 as the tax on beverages is paid by the consumer of beverages8 ,do you even know whether higher prices for articles of luxury would not be an obstacle to the cheapness of necessary objects1 and whether1 in trying to favor the most numerous class1 you would not render the general condition worse8 ,a fine speculation1 in truth6 ,four dollars to be returned to the laborer on his wine and sugar1 and eight to be taken from him in the cost of his pleasures6 ,he shall gain fifteen cents on the leather in his boots1 and1 to take his family into the country four times a year1 he shall pay one dollar and twenty cents more for carriage-hire6 ,a small bourgeois spends one hundred and twenty dollars for a housekeeper1 laundress1 linen-tender1 and errand-boys2 but if1 by a wiser economy which works for the interest of all1 he takes a domestic1 the exchequer1 in the interest of articles of subsistence1 will punish this plan of economy6 ,what an absurd thing is the philanthropy of the economists1 when closely scrutinized6 ,nevertheless ,i wish to satisfy your whim2 and1 since you absolutely must have sumptuary laws1 ,i undertake to give you the receipt4 ,and ,i guarantee that in my system collection shall be easy3 no comptrollers1 assessors1 tasters1 assayers1 inspectors1 receivers2 no watching1 no office expenses2 not the smallest annoyance or the slightest indiscretion2 no constraint whatever4 ,let it be decreed by a law that no one in future shall receive two salaries at the same time1 and that the highest fees1 in any situation1 shall not exceed twelve hundred dollars in ,paris and eight hundred in the departments4 ,what6 you lower your eyes6 ,confess1 then1 that your sumptuary laws are but hypocrisy4 ,to relieve the people some would apply commercial practices to taxation4 ,if1 for instance1 they say1 the price of salt were reduced one-half1 if letter-postage were lightened in the same proportion1 consumption would not fail to increase1 the revenue would be more than doubled1 the treasury would gain1 and so would the consumer4 ,let us suppose the event to confirm this anticipation4 ,then ,i say3 ,if letter-postage should be reduced three-fourths1 and if salt should be given away1 would the treasury still gain8 ,certainly not4 ,what1 then1 is the significance of what is called the postal reform8 ,that for every kind of product there is a natural rate1 ,,above which profit becomes usurious and tends to decrease consumption1 but ,,below which the producer suffers loss4 ,this singularly resembles the determination of value which the economists reject1 and in relation to which we said3 ,there is a secret force that fixes the extreme limits between which value oscillates1 of which there is a mean term that expresses true value4 ,surely no one wishes the postal service to be carried on at a loss2 the opinion1 therefore1 is that this service should be performed ,,at ,,cost4 ,this is so rudimentary in its simplicity that one is astonished that it should have been necessary to resort to a laborious investigation of the results of reducing letter-postage in ,england2 to pile up frightful figures and probabilities beyond the limit of vision1 to put the mind to torture1 all to find out whether a reduction in ,france would lead to a surplus or a deficit1 and finally to be unable to agree upon anything6 ,what6 there was not a man to be found in the ,chamber with sense enough to say3 ,there is no need of an ambassador's report or examples from ,england2 letter-postage should be gradually reduced until receipts reach the level of expenditures4#be ,what1 then1 has become of our old ,gallic wit8 #be ,thank heaven6 the minister has settled the question1 and ,i tender him my very sincere compliments4 ,by the proposed tariff letter-postage will be reduced to #b cents for distances under #ab #a_/b miles2 #d cents1 for distances between #ab #a_/b and #be miles2 #f cents1 between #be and #ge miles2 #h cents1 between #ge and #bbe miles2 #aj cents1 for longer distances4 ,but1 it will be said1 if the tax should furnish salt1 tobacco1 letter-carriage1 sugar1 wines1 meat1 etc41 at cost1 consumption would undoubtedly increase1 and the improvement would be enormous2 but then how would the ,state meet its expenses8 ,the amount of indirect taxes is nearly one hundred and twenty million dollars2 upon what would you have the ,state levy this sum8 ,if the treasury makes nothing out of the postal service1 it will have to increase the tax on salt2 if the tax on salt be lifted also1 it will have to throw the burden back upon drinks2 there would be no end to this litany4 ,therefore the supply of products at cost1 whether by the ,state or by private industry1 is impossible4 ,therefore1 ,i will reply in turn1 relief of the unfortunate classes by the ,state is impossible1 as sumptuary laws are impossible1 as the progressive tax is impossible2 and all your irrelevancies regarding the tax are lawyer's quibbles4 ,you have not even the hope that the increase of population1 by dividing the assessments1 may lighten the burden of each2 because with population misery increases1 and with misery the work and the personnel of the ,state are augmented4 ,the various fiscal laws voted by the ,chamber of ,deputies during the session of #ahde-df are so many examples of the absolute incapacity of power1 whatever it may be and however it may go to work1 to procure the comfort of the people4 ,from the very fact that it is power1--that is1 the representative of divine right and of property1 the organ of force1--it is necessarily sterile1 and all its acts are stamped in the corner with a fatal deception4 ,i referred just now to the reform in the postage rates1 which reduces the price of letter-carriage about one-third4 ,surely1 if motives only are in question1 ,i have no reason to reproach the government which has effected this useful reduction2 much less still will ,i seek to diminish its merit by miserable criticisms upon matters of detail1 the vile pasturage of the daily press4 ,a tax1 considerably burdensome1 is reduced thirty per cent42 its distribution is made more equitable and more regular2 ,i see only the fact1 and ,i applaud the minister who has accomplished it4 ,but that is not the question4 ,in the first place1 the advantage which the government gives us by changing the tax on letters leaves the proportional--that is1 the unjust--character of this tax intact3 that scarcely requires demonstration4 ,the inequality of burdens1 so far as the postal tax is concerned1 stands as before1 the advantage of the reduction going principally1 not to the poorest1 but to the richest4 ,a certain business house which paid six hundred dollars for letter-postage will pay hereafter only four hundred2 it will add1 then1 a net profit of two hundred dollars to the ten thousand which its business brings it1 and it will owe this to the munificence of the treasury4 ,on the other hand1 the peasant1 the laborer1 who shall write twice a year to his son in the army1 and shall receive a like number of replies1 will have saved ten cents4 ,is it not true that the postal reform acts in direct opposition to the equitable distribution of the tax8 that if1 according to ,m4 ,chevalier's wish1 the government had desired to strike the rich and spare the poor1 the tax on letters was the last that it would have needed to reduce8 ,does it not seem that the treasury1 false to the spirit of its institution1 has only been awaiting the pretext of a reduction inappreciable by poverty in order to seize the opportunity to make a present to wealth8 ,that is what the critics of the bill should have said1 and that is what none of them saw4 ,it is true that then the criticism1 instead of applying to the minister1 struck power in its essence1 and with power property1 which was not the design of the opponents4 ,truth today has all opinions against it4 ,and now could it have been otherwise8 ,no1 since1 if they kept the old tax1 they injured all without relieving any2 and1 if they reduced it1 they could not make different rates for classes of citizens without violating the first article of the ,charter1 which says3 ,all ,frenchmen are equal before the law1--that is1 before the tax4 ,now1 the tax on letters is necessarily personal2 therefore it is a capitation-tax2 therefore1 that which is equity in this respect being iniquity from another standpoint1 an equilibrium of burdens is impossible4 ,at the same time another reform was effected by the care of the government1--that of the tax on cattle4 ,formerly the duties on cattle1 whether on importation from foreign countries1 or from the country into the cities1 were collected at so much a head2 henceforth they will be collected according to weight4 ,this useful reform1 which has been clamored for so long1 is due in part to the influence of the economists1 who1 on this occasion as on many others which ,i cannot recall1 have shown the most honorable zeal1 and have left the idle declamations of socialism very far in the rear4 ,but here again the good resulting from the law for the amelioration of the condition of the poor is wholly illusory4 ,they have equalized1 regulated1 the collection from beasts2 they have not distributed it equitably among men4 ,the rich man1 who consumes twelve hundred pounds of meat a year1 will feel the effects of the new condition laid upon the butchers2 the immense majority of the people1 who never eat meat1 will not notice it4 ,and ,i renew my question of a moment ago3 ,could the government1 the ,chamber1 do otherwise than as it has done8 ,no1 once more2 for you cannot say to the butcher3 ,you shall sell your meat to the rich man for twenty cents a pound and to the poor man for five cents4 ,it would be rather the contrary that you would obtain from the butcher4 ,so with salt4 ,the government has reduced four-fifths the tax on salt used in agriculture1 on condition of its undergoing a transformation4 ,a certain journalist1 having no better objection to raise1 has made thereupon a complaint in which he grieves over the lot of those poor peasants who are more maltreated by the law than their cattle4 ,for the third time ,i ask3 ,could it be otherwise8 ,of two things one3 either the reduction will be absolute1 and then the tax on salt must be replaced by a tax on something else2 now ,i defy entire ,french journalism to invent a tax which will bear two minutes' examination2 or else the reduction will be partial1 whether by maintaining a portion of the duties on salt in all its uses1 or by abolishing entirely the duties on salt used in certain ways4 ,in the first case1 the reduction is insufficient for agriculture and the poor2 in the second1 the capitation-tax still exists1 in its enormous disproportion4 ,whatever may be done1 it is the poor man1 always the poor man1 who is struck1 since1 in spite of all theories1 the tax can never be laid except in the ratio of the capital possessed or consumed1 and since1 if the treasury should try to proceed otherwise1 it would arrest progress1 prohibit wealth1 and kill capital4 ,the democrats1 who reproach us with sacrificing the revolutionary interest 7what is the revolutionary interest87 to the socialistic interest1 ought really to tell us how1 without making the ,state the sole proprietor and without decreeing the community of goods and gains1 they mean1 by any system of taxation whatever1 to relieve the people and restore to labor what capital takes from it4 ,in vain do ,i rack my brains2 on all questions ,i see power placed in the falsest situation1 and the opinion of journals straying into limitless absurdity4 ,in #ahdb ,m4 ,arago was in favor of the administration of railways by corporations1 and the majority in ,france thought with him4 ,in #ahdf he has announced a change in his opinion2 and1 apart from the speculators in railways1 it may be said again that the majority of citizens have changed as ,m4 ,arago has4 ,what is to be believed and what is to be done amid this see-sawing of the savants and of ,france8 ,state administration1 it would seem1 ought to better assure the interests of the country2 but it is slow1 expensive1 and unintelligent4 ,twenty-five years of mistakes1 miscalculations1 improvidence1 hundreds of millions thrown away1 in the great work of canalizing the country1 have proved it to the most incredulous4 ,we have even seen engineers1 members of the administration1 loudly proclaiming the incapacity of the ,state in the matter of public works as well as of industry4 ,administration by corporations is irreproachable1 it is true1 from the standpoint of the interest of the stockholders2 but with these the general interest is sacrificed1 the door opened to speculation1 and the exploitation of the public by monopoly organized4 ,the ideal system would be one uniting the advantages of both methods without presenting any of their shortcomings4 ,now1 the means of realizing these contradictory characteristics8 the means of breathing zeal1 economy1 penetration into these irremovable officers who have nothing to gain or to lose8 the means of rendering the interests of the public as dear to a corporation as its own1 of making these interests veritably its own1 and still keeping it distinct from the ,state and having consequently its private interests8 ,who is there1 in the official world1 that conceives the necessity and therefore the possibility of such a reconciliation8 much more1 then1 who possesses its secret8 ,in such an emergency the government1 as usual1 has chosen the course of eclecticism2 it has taken a part of the administration for itself and left the rest to the corporations2 that is1 instead of reconciling the contraries1 it has placed them exactly in conflict4 ,and the press1 which in all things is precisely on a par with power in the matter of wit1--the press1 dividing itself into three fractions1 has decided1 one for the ministerial compromise1 another for the exclusion of the ,state1 and the third for the exclusion of the corporations4 ,so that today no more than before do the public or ,m4 ,arago1 in spite of their somersault1 know what they want4 ,what a herd is the ,french nation in this nineteenth century1 with its three powers1 its press1 its scientific bodies1 its literature1 its instruction6 ,a hundred thousand men1 in our country1 have their eyes constantly open upon everything that interests national progress and the country's honor4 ,now1 propound to these hundred thousand men the simplest question of public order1 and you may be assured that all will rush pell-mell into the same absurdity4 ,is it better that the promotion of officials should be governed by merit or by length of service8 ,certainly there is no one who would not like to see this double method of estimating capacities blended into one4 ,what a society it would be in which the rights of talent would be always in harmony with those of age6 ,but1 they say1 such perfection is utopian1 for it is contradictory in its statement4 ,and instead of seeing that it is precisely the contradiction which makes the thing possible1 they begin to dispute over the respective value of the two opposed systems1 which1 each leading to the absurd1 equally give rise to intolerable abuses4 ,who shall be the judge of merit8 asks one3 the government4 ,now1 the government recognizes merit only in its creatures4 ,therefore no promotion by choice1 none of that immoral system which destroys the independence and the dignity of the office-holder4 ,but1 says another1 length of service is undoubtedly very respectable4 ,it is a pity that it has the disadvantage of rendering stagnant things which are essentially voluntary and free1--labor and thought2 of creating obstacles to power even among its agents1 and of bestowing upon chance1 often upon incapacity1 the reward of genius and audacity4 ,finally they compromise3 to the government is accorded the power of appointing arbitrarily to a certain number of offices pretended men of merit1 who are supposed to have no need of experience1 while the rest1 apparently deemed incapable1 are promoted in turn4 ,and the press1 that ambling old nag of all presumptuous mediocrities1 which generally lives only by the gratuitous compositions of young people as destitute of talent as of acquired knowledge1 hastens to begin again its attacks upon power1 accusing it1--not without reason too1--here of favoritism1 there of routine4 ,who could hope ever to do anything to the satisfaction of the press8 ,after having declaimed and gesticulated against the enormous size of the budget1 here it is clamoring for increased salaries for an army of officials1 who1 to tell the truth1 really have not the wherewithal to live4 ,now it is the teachers1 of high and low grade1 who make their complaints heard through its columns2 now it is the country clergy1 so insufficiently paid that they have been forced to maintain their fees1 a fertile source of scandal and abuse4 ,then it is the whole administrative nation1 which is neither lodged1 nor clothed1 nor warmed1 nor fed3 it is a million men with their families1 nearly an eighth of the population1 whose poverty brings shame upon ,france and for whom one hundred million dollars should at once be added to the budget4 ,note that in this immense personnel there is not one man too many2 on the contrary1 if the population grows1 it will increase proportionally4 ,are you in a position to tax the nation to the extent of four hundred million dollars8 ,can you take1 out of an average income of #ahd for four persons1 #dg4be--more than one-fourth--to pay1 together with the other expenses of the ,state1 the salaries of the non-productive laborers8 ,and if you cannot1 if you can neither pay your expenses nor reduce them1 what do you want8 of what do you complain8 ,let the people know it1 then1 once for all3 all the hopes of reduction and equity in taxation1 with which they are lulled by turns by the harangues of power and the diatribes of party leaders1 are so many mystifications2 the tax cannot be reduced1 nor can its assessment be more equitable1 under the monopoly system4 ,on the contrary1 the lower the condition of the citizen becomes1 the heavier becomes his tax2 that is inevitable1 irresistible1 in spite of the avowed design of the legislator and the repeated efforts of the treasury4 ,whoever cannot become or remain rich1 whoever has entered the cavern of misfortune1 must make up his mind to pay in proportion to his poverty3 ,lasciate ogni speranza1 voi ch' entrate4 ,taxation1 then1 police1--henceforth we shall not separate these two ideas1--is a new source of pauperism2 taxation aggravates the subversive effects of the preceding antinomies1--division of labor1 machinery1 competition1 monopoly4 ,it attacks the laborer in his liberty and in his conscience1 in his body and in his soul1 by parasitism1 vexations1 the frauds which it prompts1 and the punishments which follow them4 ,under ,louis ,,xiv4 the smuggling of salt alone caused annually thirty- seven hundred domiciliary seizures1 two thousand arrests of men1 eighteen hundred of women1 sixty-six hundred of children1 eleven hundred seizures of horses1 fifty confiscations of carriages1 and three hundred condemnations to the galleys4 ,and this1 observes the historian1 was the result of one tax alone1--the salt-tax4 ,what1 then1 was the total number of unfortunates imprisoned1 tortured1 expropriated1 on account of the tax8 ,in ,england1 out of every four families1 one is unproductive1 and that is the family which enjoys an abundance4 ,what an advantage it would be for the working-class1 you think1 if this leprosy of parasitism should be removed6 ,undoubtedly1 in theory1 you are right2 in practice1 the suppression of parasitism would be a calamity4 ,though one-fourth of the population of ,england is unproductive1 another fourth of the same population is at work for it3 now1 what would these laborers do1 if they should suddenly lose the market for their products8 ,an absurd supposition1 you say4 ,yes1 an absurd supposition1 but a very real supposition1 and one which you must admit precisely because it is absurd4 ,in ,france a standing army of five hundred thousand men1 forty thousand priests1 twenty thousand doctors1 eighty thousand lawyers1 and ,i know not how many hundred thousand other nonproducers of every sort1 constitute an immense market for our agriculture and our manufactures4 ,let this market suddenly close1 and manufactures will stop1 commerce will go into bankruptcy1 and agriculture will be smothered beneath its products4 ,but how is it conceivable that a nation should find its market clogged because of having got rid of its useless mouths8 ,ask rather why an engine1 whose consumption has been figured at six hundred pounds of coal an hour1 loses its power if it is given only three hundred4 ,but again1 might not these non-producers be made producers1 since we cannot get rid of them8 ,eh6 child3 tell me1 then1 how you will do without police1 and monopoly1 and competition1 and all the contradictions1 in short1 of which your order of things is made up4 ,listen4 ,in #ahdd1 at the time of the troubles in ,rive-de-,gier1 ,m4 ,anselme ,petetin published in the ,revue ,independante two articles1 full of reason and sincerity1 concerning the anarchy prevailing in the conduct of the coal mines in the basin of the ,loire4 ,m4 ,petetin pointed out the necessity of uniting the mines and centralizing their administration4 ,the facts which he laid before the public were not unknown to power2 has power troubled itself about the union of the mines and the organization of that industry8 ,not at all4 ,power has followed the principle of free competition2 it has let alone and looked on4 ,since that time the mining companies have combined1 not without causing some anxiety to consumers1 who have seen in this combination a plot to raise the price of fuel4 ,will power1 which has received numerous complaints upon this subject1 intervene to restore competition and prevent monopoly8 ,it cannot do it2 the right of combination is identical in law with the right of association2 monopoly is the basis of our society1 as competition is its conquest2 and1 provided there is no riot1 power will let alone and look on4 ,what other course could it pursue8 ,can it prohibit a legally established commercial association8 ,can it oblige neighbors to destroy each other8 ,can it forbid them to reduce their expenses8 ,can it establish a maximum8 ,if power should do any one of these things1 it would overturn the established order4 ,power1 therefore1 can take no initiative3 it is instituted to defend and protect monopoly and competition at once1 within the limitations of patents1 licenses1 land taxes1 and other bonds which it has placed upon property4 ,apart from these limitations power has no sort of right to act in the name of society4 ,the social right is not defined2 moreover1 it would be a denial of monopoly and competition4 ,how1 then1 could power take up the defence of that which the law did not foresee or define1 of that which is the opposite of the rights recognized by the legislator8 ,consequently1 when the miner1 whom we must consider in the events of ,rive-de-,gier as the real representative of society against the mine- owners1 saw fit to resist the scheme of the monopolists by defending his wages and opposing combination to combination1 power shot the miner down4 ,and the political brawlers accused authority1 saying it was partial1 ferocious1 sold to monopoly1 etc4 ,for my part1 ,i declare that this way of viewing the acts of authority seems to me scarcely philosophical1 and ,i reject it with all my energies4 ,it is possible that they might have killed fewer people1 possible also that they might have killed more3 the fact to be noticed here is not the number of dead and wounded1 but the repression of the workers4 ,those who have criticised authority would have done as it did1 barring perhaps the impatience of its bayonets and the accuracy of its aim3 they would have repressed1 ,i say2 they would not have been able to do anything else4 ,and the reason1 which it would be vain to try to brush aside1 is that competition is legal1 joint-stock association is legal1 supply and demand are legal1 and all the consequences which flow directly from competition1 joint-stock association1 and free commerce are legal1 whereas workingmen's strikes are ,,illegal4 ,and it is not only the penal code which says this1 but the economic system1 the necessity of the established order4 ,as long as labor is not sovereign1 it must be a slave2 society is possible only on this condition4 ,that each worker individually should have the free disposition of his person and his arms may be tolerated2#bf but that the workers should undertake1 by combinations1 to do violence to monopoly society cannot permit4 ,crush monopoly1 and you abolish competition1 and you disorganize the workshop1 and you sow dissolution everywhere4 ,authority1 in shooting down the miners1 found itself in the position of ,brutus placed between his paternal love and his consular duties3 he had to sacrifice either his children or the republic4 ,the alternative was horrible1 ,i admit2 but such is the spirit and letter of the social compact1 such is the tenor of the charter1 such is the order of ,providence4 #bf ,the new law regarding service-books has confined the independence of workers within narrower limits4 ,the democratic press has again thundered its indignation this subject against those in power1 as if they had been guilty of anything more than the application of the principles of authority and property1 which are those of democracy4 ,what the ,chambers have done in regard to service-books was inevitable1 and should have been expected4 ,it is as impossible for a society founded on the proprietary principle not to end in class distinctions as for a democracy to avoid despotism1 for a religion to be reasonable1 for fanaticism to show tolerance4 ,this is the law of contradiction3 how long will it take us to understand it8 ,thus the police function1 instituted for the defence of the proletariat1 is directed entirely against the proletariat4 ,the proletaire is driven from the forests1 from the rivers1 from the mountains2 even the cross- roads are forbidden him2 soon he will know no road save that which leads to prison4 ,the advance in agriculture has made the advantage of artificial meadows and the necessity of abolishing common land generally felt4 ,everywhere communal lands are being cleared1 let1 enclosed2 new advances1 new wealth4 ,but the poor day-laborer1 whose only patrimony is the communal land and who supports a cow and several sheep in summer by letting them feed along the roads1 through the underbrush1 and over the stripped fields1 will lose his sole and last resource4 ,the landed proprietor1 the purchaser or farmer of the communal lands1 will alone thereafter sell1 with his wheat and vegetables1 milk and cheese4 ,instead of weakening an old monopoly1 they create a new one4 ,even the road- laborers reserve for themselves the edges of the roads as a meadow belonging to them1 and drive off all non-administrative cattle4 ,what follows8 ,that the day-laborer1 before abandoning his cow1 lets it feed in contravention of the law1 becomes a marauder1 commits a thousand depredations1 and is punished by fine and imprisonment3 of what use to him are police and agricultural progress8 ,last year the mayor of ,mulhouse1 to prevent grape-stealing1 forbade every individual not an owner of vines to travel by day or night over roads running by or through vineyards1--a charitable precaution1 since it prevented even desires and regrets4 ,but if the public highway is nothing but an accessory of private property2 if the communal lands are converted into private property2 if the public domain1 in short1 assimilated to private property1 is guarded1 exploited1 leased1 and sold like private property1--what remains for the proletaire8 ,of what advantage is it to him that society has left the state of war to enter the regime of police8 ,industry1 as well as land1 has its privileges1--privileges consecrated by the law1 as always1 under conditions and reservations1 but1 as always also1 to the great disadvantage of the consumer4 ,the question is interesting2 we will say a few words upon it4 ,i quote ,m4 ,renouard4 ,privileges1 says ,m4 ,renouard1 were a corrective of regulation4 ,i ask ,m4 ,renouard's permission to translate his thought by reversing his phrase3 ,regulation was a corrective of privilege4 ,for whoever says regulation says limitation3 now1 how conceive of limiting privilege before it existed8 ,i can conceive a sovereign submitting privileges to regulations2 but ,i cannot at all understand why he should create privileges expressly to weaken the effect of regulations4 ,there is nothing to prompt such a concession2 it would be an effect without a cause4 ,in logic as well as in history1 everything is appropriated and monopolized when laws and regulations arrive3 in this respect civil legislation is like penal legislation4 ,the first results from possession and appropriation1 the second from the appearance of crimes and offences4 ,m4 ,renouard1 preoccupied with the idea of servitude inherent in all regulation1 has considered privilege as a compensation for this servitude2 and it was this which led him to say that ,,privileges ,,are ,a ,,corrective ,,of ,,regulation4 ,but what ,m4 ,renouard adds proves that he meant the opposite3 ,the fundamental principle of our legislation1 that of granting temporary monopoly as a condition of a contract between society and the laborer1 has always prevailed1 etc4 ,what is1 in reality1 this grant of a monopoly8 ,a simple acknowledgment1 a declaration4 ,society1 wishing to favor a new industry and enjoy the advantages which it promises1 ,,bargains with the inventor1 as it has bargained with the farmer2 it guarantees him the monopoly of his industry for a time2 but it does not create the monopoly4 ,the monopoly exists by the very fact of the invention2 and the acknowledgment of the monopoly is what constitutes society4 ,this ambiguity cleared up1 ,i pass to the contradictions of the law4 ,all industrial nations have adopted the establishment of a temporary monopoly as a condition of a contract between society and the inventor4 4 4 4 4 ,i do not take readily to the belief that all legislators of all countries have committed robbery4 ,m4 ,renouard1 if ever he reads this work1 will do me the justice to admit that1 in quoting him1 ,i do not criticise his thought2 he himself has perceived the contradictions of the patent law4 ,all that ,i pretend is to connect this contradiction with the general system4 ,why1 in the first place1 a ,,temporary monopoly in manufacture1 while land monopoly is ,,perpetual8 ,the ,egyptians were more logical2 with them these two monopolies were alike hereditary1 perpetual1 inviolable4 ,i know the considerations which have prevailed against the perpetuity of literary property1 and ,i admit them all2 but these considerations apply equally well to property in land2 moreover1 they leave intact all the arguments brought forward against them4 ,what1 then1 is the secret of all these variations of the legislator8 ,for the rest1 ,i do not need to say that1 in pointing out this inconsistency1 it is not my purpose either to slander or to satirize2 ,i admit that the course of the legislator is determined1 not by his will1 but by necessity4 ,but the most flagrant contradiction is that which results from the enacting section of the law4 ,title ,,iv1 article #cj1 #c1 reads3 ,if the patent relates to principles1 methods1 systems1 discoveries1 theoretical or purely scientific conceptions1 without indicating their industrial applications1 the patent is void4 ,now1 what is a ,,principle1 a ,,method1 a ,,theoretical ,,conception1 a ,,system8 ,it is the especial fruit of genius1 it is invention in its purity1 it is the idea1 it is everything4 ,the application is the gross fact1 nothing4 ,thus the law excludes from the benefit of the patent the very thing which deserves it1--namely1 the idea2 on the contrary1 it grants a patent to the application1--that is1 to the material fact1 to a pattern of the idea1 as ,plato would have said4 ,therefore it is wrongly called a ,,patent ,,for ,,invention2 it should be called a ,,patent ,,for ,,first ,,occupancy4 ,in our day1 if a man had invented arithmetic1 algebra1 or the decimal system1 he would have obtained no patent2 but ,bareme would have had a right of property in his ,computations4 ,pascal1 for his theory of the weight of the atmosphere1 would not have been patented2 instead of him1 a glazier would have obtained the privilege of the barometer4 ,i quote ,m4 ,arago3 ,after two thousand years it occurred to one of our fellow-countrymen that the screw of ,archimedes1 which is used to raise water1 might be employed in forcing down gases2 it suffices1 without making any change1 to turn it from right to left1 instead of turning it1 as when raising water1 from left to right4 ,large volumes of gas1 charged with foreign substances1 are thus forced into water to a great depth2 the gas is purified in rising again4 ,i maintain that there was an invention2 that the person who saw a way to make the screw of ,archimedes a blowing machine was entitled to a patent4 ,what is more extraordinary is that ,archimedes himself would thus be obliged to buy the right to use his screw2 and ,m4 ,arago considers that just4 ,it is useless to multiply these examples3 what the law meant to monopolize is1 as ,i said just now1 not the idea1 but the fact2 not the invention1 but the occupancy4 ,as if the idea were not the category which includes all the facts that express it2 as if a method1 a system1 were not a generalization of experiences1 and consequently that which properly constitutes the fruit of genius1--invention6 ,here legislation is more than anti-economic1 it borders on the silly4 ,therefore ,i am entitled to ask the legislator why1 in spite of free competition1 which is nothing but the right to apply a theory1 a principle1 a method1 a non-appropriable system1 he forbids in certain cases this same competition1 this right to apply a principle8 ,it is no longer possible1 says ,m4 ,renouard1 with strong reason1 to stifle competitors by combining in corporations and guilds2 the loss is supplied by patents4 ,why has the legislator given hands to this conspiracy of monopolies1 to this interdict upon theories belonging to all8 ,but what is the use of continually questioning one who can say nothing8 ,the legislator did not know in what spirit he was acting when he made this strange application of the right of property1 which1 to be exact1 we ought to call the right of priority4 ,let him explain himself1 then1 at least1 regarding the clauses of the contract made by him1 in our name1 with the monopolists4 ,i pass in silence the part relating to dates and other administrative and fiscal formalities1 and come to this article3 ,the patent does not guarantee the invention4 ,doubtless society1 or the prince who represents it1 cannot and should not guarantee the invention1 since1 in granting a monopoly for fourteen years1 society becomes the purchaser of the privilege1 and consequently it is for the patentee to furnish the guarantee4 ,how1 then1 can legislators proudly say to their constituents3 ,we have negotiated in your name with an inventor2 he pledges himself to give you the enjoyment of his discovery on condition of having the exclusive exploitation for fourteen years4 ,but we do not guarantee the invention8 ,on what1 then1 have you relied1 legislators8 ,how did you fail to see that1 without a guarantee of the invention1 you conceded a privilege1 not for a real discovery1 but for a possible discovery1 and that thus the field of industry was given up by you before the plough was found8 ,certainly1 your duty bade you to be prudent2 but who gave you a commission to be dupes8 ,thus the patent for invention is not even the fixing of a date2 it is an abandonment in anticipation4 ,it is as if the law should say3 ,i assure the land to the first occupant1 but without guaranteeing its quality1 its location1 or even its existence2 not even knowing whether ,i ought to give it up or that it falls within the domain of appropriation6 ,a pretty use of the legislative power6 ,i know that the law had excellent reasons for abstaining2 but ,i maintain that it also had good reasons for intervening4 ,proof3 ,it cannot be concealed1 says ,m4 ,renouard1 it cannot be prevented2 patents are and will be instruments of quackery as well as a legitimate reward of labor and genius4 4 4 4 ,it is for the good sense of the public to do justice to juggleries4 ,as well say it is for the good sense of the public to distinguish true remedies from false1 pure wine from adulterated2 or1 it is for the good sense of the public to distinguish in a buttonhole the decoration awarded to merit from that prostituted to mediocrity and intrigue4 ,why1 then1 do you call yourselves the ,state1 ,power1 ,authority1 ,police1 if the work of ,police must be performed by the good sense of the public8 ,as the proverb says1 he who owns land must defend it2 likewise1 he who holds a privilege is liable to attack4 ,well6 how will you judge the counterfeit1 if you have no guarantee8 ,in vain will they offer you the plea3 in right first occupancy1 in fact similarity4 ,where reality depends upon quality1 not to demand a guarantee is to grant no right over anything1 is to take away the means of comparing processes and identifying the counterfeit4 ,in the matter of industrial processes success depends upon such trifles6 ,now1 these trifles are the whole4 ,i infer from all this that the law regarding patents for inventions1 indispensable so far as its motives are concerned1 is impossible--that is1 illogical1 arbitrary1 disastrous--in its economy4 ,under the control of certain necessities the legislator has thought best1 in the general interest1 to grant a privilege for a definite thing2 and he finds that he has given a signature-in-blank to monopoly1 that he has abandoned the chances which the public had of making the discovery or some other similar to it1 that he has sacrificed the rights of competitors without compensation1 and abandoned the good faith of defenceless consumers to the greed of quacks4 ,then1 in order that nothing might be lacking to the absurdity of the contract1 he has said to those whom he ought to guarantee3 ,guarantee yourselves6 ,i do not believe1 any more than ,m4 ,renouard1 that the legislators of all ages and all countries have wilfully committed robbery in sanctioning the various monopolies which are pivotal in public economy4 ,but ,m4 ,renouard might well also agree with me that the legislators of all ages and all countries have never understood at all their own decrees4 ,a deaf and blind man once learned to ring the village bells and wind the village clock4 ,it was fortunate for him1 in performing his bell- ringer's functions1 that neither the noise of the bells nor the height of the bell-tower made him dizzy4 ,the legislators of all ages and all countries1 for whom ,i profess1 with ,m4 ,renouard1 the profoundest respect1 resemble that blind and deaf man2 they are the ,jacks-in-the- clock-house of all human follies4 ,what a feather it would be in my cap if ,i should succeed in making these automata reflect6 if ,i could make them understand that their work is a ,penelope's web1 which they are condemned to unravel at one end as fast as they weave at the other6 ,thus1 while applauding the creation of patents1 on other points they demand the abolition of privileges1 and always with the same pride1 the same satisfaction4 ,m4 ,horace ,say wishes trade in meat to be free4 ,among other reasons he puts forward this strictly mathematical argument3 ,the butcher who wants to retire from business seeks a purchaser for his investment2 he figures in the account his tools1 his merchandise1 his reputation1 and his custom2 but under the present system1 he adds to these the value of the bare title1--that is1 the right to share in a monopoly4 ,now1 this supplementary capital which the purchasing butcher gives for the title bears interest2 it is not a new creation2 this interest must enter into the price of his meat4 ,hence the limitation of the number of butchers' stalls has a tendency to raise the price of meat rather than lower it4 ,i do not fear to affirm incidentally that what ,i have just said about the sale of a butcher's stall applies to every charge whatever having a salable title4 ,m4 ,horace ,say's reasons for the abolition of the butcher's privilege are unanswerable2 moreover1 they apply to printers1 notaries1 attorneys1 process-servers1 clerks of courts1 auctioneers1 brokers1 dealers in stocks1 druggists1 and others1 as well as to butchers4 ,but they do not destroy the reasons which have led to the adoption of these monopolies1 and which are generally deduced from the need of security1 authenticity1 and regularity in business1 as well as from the interests of commerce and the public health4 ,the object1 you say1 is not attained4 ,my ,god6 ,i know it3 leave the butcher's trade to competition1 and you will eat carrion2 establish a monopoly in the butcher's trade1 and you will eat carrion4 ,that is the only fruit you can hope for from your monopoly and patent legislation4 ,abuses6 cry the protective economists4 ,establish over commerce a supervisory police1 make trade-marks obligatory1 punish the adulteration of products1 etc4 ,in the path upon which civilization has entered1 whichever way we turn1 we always end1 then1 either in the despotism of monopoly1 and consequently the oppression of consumers1 or else in the annihilation of privilege by the action of the police1 which is to go backwards in economy and dissolve society by destroying liberty4 ,marvellous thing6 in this system of free industry1 abuses1 like lice1 being generated by their own remedies1 if the legislator should try to suppress all offences1 be on the watch against all frauds1 and secure persons1 property1 and the public welfare against any attack1 going from reform to reform1 he would finally so multiply the non-productive functions that the entire nation would be engaged in them1 and that at last there would be nobody left to produce4 ,everybody would be a policeman2 the industrial class would become a myth4 ,then1 perhaps1 order would reign in monopoly4 ,the principle of the law yet to be made concerning trade-marks1 says ,m4 ,renouard1 is that these marks cannot and should not be transformed into guarantees of quality4 ,this is a consequence of the patent law1 which1 as we have seen1 does not guarantee the invention4 ,adopt ,m4 ,renouard's principle2 after that of what use will marks be8 ,of what importance is it to me to read on the cork of a bottle1 instead of ,,twelve-,,cent ,,wine or ,,fifteen-,,cent ,,wine1 ,,wine-,,drinkers' ,,company or the name of any other concern you will8 ,what ,i care for is not the name of the merchant1 but the quality and fair price of the merchandise4 ,the name of the manufacturer is supposed1 it is true1 to serve as a concise sign of good or bad manufacture1 of superior or inferior quality4 ,then why not frankly take part with those who ask1 besides the mark of ,,origin1 a mark significant of something8 ,such a reservation is incomprehensible4 ,the two sorts of marks have the same purpose2 the second is only a statement or paraphrase of the first1 a condensation of the merchant's prospectus2 why1 once more1 if the origin signifies something1 should not the mark define this significance8 ,m4 ,wolowski has very clearly developed this argument in his opening lecture of #ahdc-dd1 the substance of which lies entirely in the following analogy3 ,just as the government has succeeded in determining a standard of ,,quantity1 it may1 it should also fix a standard of ,,quality2 one of these standards is the necessary complement of the other4 ,the monetary unit1 the system of weights and measures1 have not infringed upon industrial liberty2 no more would it be damaged by a system of trade-marks4 ,m4 ,wolowski then supports himself on the authority of the princes of the science1 ,a4 ,smith and ,j4 ,b4 ,say1--a precaution always useful with hearers who bow to authority much more than to reason4 ,i declare1 for my part1 that ,i thoroughly share ,m4 ,wolowski's idea1 and for the reason that ,i find it profoundly revolutionary4 ,the trade-mark1 being1 according to ,m4 ,wolowski's expression1 nothing but a standard of qualities1 is equivalent in my eyes to a general scheduling of prices4 ,for1 whether a particular administration marks in the name of the ,state and guarantees the quality of the merchandise1 as is the case with gold and silver1 or whether the matter of marking is left to the manufacturer1 from the moment that the mark must give ,,the ,,intrinsic ,,composition ,,of ,,the ,,merchandise 7these are ,m4 ,wolowski's own words7 ,,and ,,guarantee ,,the ,,consumer ,,against ,,all ,,surprise1 it necessarily resolves itself into a fixed price4 ,it is not the same thing as price2 two similar products1 but differing in origin and quality1 may be of equal value1 as a bottle of ,burgundy may be worth a bottle of ,bordeaux2 but the mark1 being significant1 leads to an exact knowledge of the price1 since it gives the analysis4 ,to calculate the price of an article of merchandise is to decompose it into its constituent parts2 now1 that is exactly what the trade-mark must do1 if designed to signify anything4 ,therefore we are on the road1 as ,i have said1 to a general scheduling of prices4 ,but a general scheduling of prices is nothing but a determination of all values1 and here again political economy comes into conflict with its own principles and tendencies4 ,unfortunately1 to realize ,m4 ,wolowski's reform1 it is necessary to begin by solving all the previous contradictions and enter a higher sphere of association2 and it is this absence of solution which has brought down upon ,m4 ,wolowski's system the condemnation of most of his fellow-economists4 ,in fact1 the system of trade-marks is inapplicable in the existing order1 because this system1 contrary to the interests of the manufacturers and repugnant to their habits1 could be sustained only by the energetic will of power4 ,suppose for a moment that the administration be charged with affixing the marks2 its agents will have to interpose continually in the work of manufacture1 as it interposes in the liquor business and the manufacture of beer2 further1 these agents1 whose functions seem already so intrusive and annoying1 deal only with taxable quantities1 not with exchangeable qualities4 ,these fiscal supervisors and inspectors will have to carry their investigation into all details in order to repress and prevent fraud2 and what fraud8 ,the legislator will have defined it either incorrectly or not at all2 it is at this point that the task becomes appalling4 ,there is no fraud in selling wine of the poorest quality1 but there is fraud in passing off one quality for another2 then you are obliged to differentiate the qualities of wines1 and consequently to guarantee them4 ,is it fraudulent to mix wines8 ,chaptal1 in his treatise on the art of making wine1 advises this as eminently useful2 on the other hand1 experience proves that certain wines1 in some way antagonistic to each other or incompatible1 produce by their mixture a disagreeable and unhealthy drink4 ,then you are obliged to say what wines can be usefully mixed1 and what cannot4 ,is it fraudulent to aromatize1 alcoholize1 and water wines8 ,chaptal recommends this also2 and everybody knows that this drugging produces sometimes advantageous results1 sometimes pernicious and detestable effects4 ,what substances will you proscribe8 ,in what cases8 ,in what proportion8 ,will you prohibit chicory in coffee1 glucose in beer1 water1 cider1 and three-six alcohol in wine8 ,the ,chamber of ,deputies1 in the rude attempt at a law which it was pleased to make this year regarding the adulteration of wines1 stopped in the very middle of its work1 overcome by the inextricable difficulties of the question4 ,it succeeded in declaring that the introduction of water into wine1 and of alcohol above the proportion of eighteen per cent41 was fraudulent1 and in putting this fraud into the category of offences4 ,it was on the ground of ideology2 there one never meets an obstacle4 ,but everybody has seen in this redoubling of severity the interest of the treasury much more than that of the consumer2 the ,chamber did not dare to create a whole army of wine-tasters1 inspectors1 etc41 to watch for fraud and identify it1 and thus load the budget with a few extra millions2 in prohibiting watering and alcoholization1 the only means left to the merchant-manufacturers of putting wine within the reach of all and realizing profits1 it did not succeed in increasing the market by a decrease in production4 ,the chamber1 in a word1 in prosecuting the adulteration of wines1 has simply set back the limits of fraud4 ,to make its work accomplish its purpose it would first have to show how the liquor trade is possible without adulteration1 and how the people can buy unadulterated wine1--which is beyond the competency and escapes the capacity of the ,chamber4 ,if you wish the consumer to be guaranteed1 both as to value and as to healthfulness1 you are forced to know and to determine all that constitutes good and honest production1 to be continually at the heels of the manufacturer1 and to guide him at every step4 ,he no longer manufactures2 you1 the ,state1 are the real manufacturer4 ,thus you find yourself in a trap4 ,either you hamper the liberty of commerce by interfering in production in a thousand ways1 or you declare yourself sole producer and sole merchant4 ,in the first case1 through annoying everybody1 you will finally cause everybody to rebel2 and sooner or later1 the ,state getting itself expelled1 trade-marks will be abolished4 ,in the second you substitute everywhere the action of power for individual initiative1 which is contrary to the principles of political economy and the constitution of society4 ,do you take a middle course8 ,it is favor1 nepotism1 hypocrisy1 the worst of systems4 ,suppose1 now1 that the marking be left to the manufacturer4 ,i say that then the marks1 even if made obligatory1 will gradually lose their ,,significance1 and at last become only proofs of ,,origin4 ,he knows but little of commerce who imagines that a merchant1 a head of a manufacturing enterprise1 making use of processes that are not patentable1 will betray the secret of his industry1 of his profits1 of his existence4 ,the significance will then be a delusion2 it is not in the power of the police to make it otherwise4 ,the ,roman emperors1 to discover the ,christians who dissembled their religion1 obliged everybody to sacrifice to the idols4 ,they made apostates and martyrs2 and the number of ,christians only increased4 ,likewise significant marks1 useful to some houses1 will engender innumerable frauds and repressions2 that is all that can be expected of them4 ,to induce the manufacturer to frankly indicate the intrinsic composition--that is1 the industrial and commercial value--of his merchandise1 it is necessary to free him from the perils of competition and satisfy his monopolistic instincts3 can you do it8 ,it is necessary1 further1 to interest the consumer in the repression of fraud1 which1 so long as the producer is not utterly disinterested1 is at once impossible and contradictory4 ,impossible3 place on the one hand a depraved consumer1 ,china2 on the other a desperate merchant1 ,england2 between them a venomous drug causing excitement and intoxication2 and1 in spite of all the police in the world1 you will have trade in opium4 ,contradictory3 in society the consumer and the producer are but one1--that is1 both are interested in the production of that which it is injurious to them to consume2 and as1 in the case of each1 consumption follows production and sale1 all will combine to guard the first interest1 leaving it to each to guard himself against the second4 ,the thought which prompted trade-marks is of the same character as that which formerly inspired the maximum laws4 ,here again is one of the innumerable cross-roads of political economy4 ,it is indisputable that maximum laws1 though made and supported by their authors entirely as a relief from famine1 have invariably resulted in an aggravation of famine4 ,accordingly it is not injustice or malice with which the economists charge these abhorred laws1 but stupidity1 inexpediency4 ,but what a contradiction in the theory with which they oppose them6 ,to relieve famine it is necessary to call up provisions1 or1 to put it better1 to bring them to light2 so far there is nothing to reproach4 ,to secure a supply of provisions it is necessary to attract the holders by profits1 excite their competition1 and assure them complete liberty in the market3 does not this process strike you as the absurdest homoeopathy8 ,how is it that the more easily ,i can be taxed the sooner ,i shall be provided8 ,let alone1 they say1 let pass2 let competition and monopoly act1 especially in times of famine1 and even though famine is the effect of competition and monopoly4 ,what logic6 but1 above all1 what morality6 ,but why1 then1 should there not be a tariff for farmers as well as for bakers8 ,why not a registration of the sowing1 of the harvest1 of the vintage1 of the pasturage1 and of the cattle1 as well as a stamp for newspapers1 circulars1 and orders1 or an administration for brewers and wine-merchants8 ,under the monopoly system this would be1 ,i admit1 an increase of torments2 but with our tendencies to unfairness in trade and the disposition of power to continually increase its personnel and its budget1 a law of inquisition regarding crops is becoming daily more indispensable4 ,besides1 it would be difficult to say which1 free trade or the maximum1 causes the more evil in times of famine4 ,but1 whichever course you choose1--and you cannot avoid the alternative1--the deception is sure and the disaster immense4 ,with the maximum goods seek concealment2 the terror increasing from the very effect of the law1 the price of provisions rises and rises2 soon circulation stops1 and the catastrophe follows1 as prompt and pitiless as a band of plunderers4 ,with competition the progress of the scourge is slower1 but no less fatal3 how many deaths from exhaustion or hunger before the high prices attract food to the market6 how many victims of extortion after it has arrived6 ,it is the story of the king to whom ,god1 in punishment for his pride1 offered the alternative of three days' pestilence1 three months' famine1 or three years' war4 ,david chose the shortest2 the economists prefer the longest4 ,man is so miserable that he would rather end by consumption than by apoplexy2 it seems to him that he does not die as much4 ,this is the reason why the disadvantages of the maximum and the benefits of free trade have been so much exaggerated4 ,for the rest1 if ,france during the last twenty-five years has experienced no general famine1 the cause is not in the liberty of commerce1 which knows very well1 when it wishes1 how to produce scarcity in the midst of plenty and how to make famine prevail in the bosom of abundance2 it is in the improvement in the methods of communication1 which1 shortening distances1 soon restore the equilibrium disturbed for a moment by local penury4 ,a striking example of that sad truth that in society the general welfare is never the effect of a conspiracy of individual wills6 ,the farther we delve into this system of illusory compromises between monopoly and society1--that is1 as we have explained in #a of this chapter1 between capital and labor1 between the patriciate and the proletariat1--the more we discover that it is all foreseen1 regulated1 and executed in accordance with this infernal maxim1 with which ,hobbes and ,machiavel1 those theorists of despotism1 were unacquainted3 ,,everything ,,by ,,the ,,people ,,and ,,against ,,the ,,people4 ,while labor produces1 capital1 under the mask of a false fecundity1 enjoys and abuses2 the legislator1 in offering his mediation1 thought to recall the privileged class to fraternal feelings and surround the laborer with guarantees2 and now he finds1 by the fatal contradiction of interests1 that each of these guarantees is an instrument of torture4 ,it would require a hundred volumes1 the life of ten men1 and a heart of iron1 to relate from this standpoint the crimes of the ,state towards the poor and the infinite variety of its tortures4 ,a summary glance at the principal classes of police will be enough to enable us to estimate its spirit and economy4 ,after having sown trouble in all minds by a confusion of civil1 commercial1 and administrative laws1 made the idea of justice more obscure by multiplying contradictions1 and rendered necessary a whole class of interpreters for the explanation of this system1 it has been found necessary also to organize the repression of crimes and provide for their punishment4 ,criminal justice1 that particularly rich order of the great family of non-producers1 whose maintenance costs ,france annually more than six million dollars1 has become to society a principle of existence as necessary as bread is to the life of man2 but with this difference1--that man lives by the product of his hands1 while society devours its members and feeds on its own flesh4 ,it is calculated by some economists that there is1 ,in ,london 4 4 #a criminal to every #hi inhabitants4 ,in ,liverpool 4 4 #a #de ,in ,newcastle 4 4 #a #bg ,but these figures lack accuracy1 and1 utterly frightful as they seem1 do not express the real degree of social perversion due to the police4 ,we have to determine here not only the number of recognized criminals1 but the number of offences4 ,the work of the criminal courts is only a special mechanism which serves to place in relief the moral destruction of humanity under the monopoly system2 but this official exhibition is far from including the whole extent of the evil4 ,here are other figures which will lead us to a more certain approximation4 ,the police courts of ,paris disposed1 ,in #ahce 4 4 4 4 of #ajf1dfg cases4 ,in #ahcf 4 4 4 4 #abh1dhi ,in #ahcg 4 4 4 4 #adj1bdg ,supposing this rate of increase to have continued up to #ahdf1 and to this total of misdemeanors adding the cases of the criminal courts1 the simple matters that go no further than the police1 and all the offences unknown or left unpunished1--offences far surpassing in number1 so the magistrates say1 those which justice reaches1--we shall arrive at the conclusion that in one year1 in the city of ,paris1 there are more infractions of the law committed than there are inhabitants4 ,and as it is necessary to deduct from the presumable authors of these infractions children of seven years and under1 who are outside the limits of guilt1 the figures will show that every adult citizen is guilty1 three or four times a year1 of violating the established order4 ,thus the proprietary system is maintained at ,paris only by the annual consummation of one or two millions of offences6 ,now1 though all these offences should be the work of a single man1 the argument would still hold good3 this man would be the scapegoat loaded with the sins of ,israel3 of what consequence is the number of the guilty1 provided justice has its contingent8 ,violence1 perjury1 robbery1 cheating1 contempt of persons and society1 are so much a part of the essence of monopoly2 they flow from it so naturally1 with such perfect regularity1 and in accordance with laws so certain1--that it is possible to submit their perpetration to calculation1 and1 given the number of a population1 the condition of its industry1 and the stage of its enlightenment1 to rigorously deduce therefrom the statistics of its morality4 ,the economists do not know yet what the principle of value is2 but they know1 within a few decimals1 the proportionality of crime4 ,so many thousand souls1 so many malefactors1 so many condemnations3 about that there can be no mistake4 ,it is one of the most beautiful applications of the theory of chances1 and the most advanced branch of economic science4 ,if socialism had invented this accusing theory1 the whole world would have cried calumny4 ,yet1 after all1 what is there in it that should surprise us8 ,as misery is a necessary result of the contradictions of society1 a result which it is possible to determine mathematically from the rate of interest1 the rate of wages1 and the prevailing market-prices1 so crimes and misdemeanors are another effect of this same antagonism1 susceptible1 like its cause1 of estimation by figures4 ,the materialists have drawn the silliest inferences from this subordination of liberty to the laws of numbers3 as if man were not under the influence of all that surrounds him1 and as if1 since all that surrounds him is governed by inexorable laws1 he must not experience1 in his freest manifestations1 the reaction of those laws6 ,the same character of necessity which we have just pointed out in the establishment and sustenance of criminal justice is found1 but under a more metaphysical aspect1 in its morality4 ,in the opinion of all moralists1 the penalty should be such as to secure the reformation of the offender1 and consequently free from everything that might cause his degradation4 ,far be it from me to combat this blessed tendency of minds and disparage attempts which would have been the glory of the greatest men of antiquity4 ,philanthropy1 in spite of the ridicule which sometimes attaches to its name1 will remain1 in the eyes of posterity1 the most honorable characteristic of our time3 the abolition of the death penalty1 which is merely postponed2 the abolition of the stigma2 the studies regarding the effects of the cellular system2 the establishment of workshops in the prisons2 and a multitude of other reforms which ,i cannot even name1--give evidence of real progress in our ideas and in our morals4 ,what the author of ,christianity1 in an impulse of sublime love1 related of his mystical kingdom1 where the repentant sinner was to be glorified above the just and the innocent man1--that utopia of ,christian charity has become the aspiration of our sceptical society2 and when one thinks of the unanimity of feeling which prevails in respect to it1 he asks himself with surprise who then prevents this aspiration from being realized4 ,alas6 it is because reason is still stronger than love1 and logic more tenacious than crime2 it is because here as everywhere in our civilization there reigns an insoluble contradiction4 ,let us not wander into fantastic worlds2 let us embrace1 in all its frightful nudity1 the real one4 ,le crime fait la honte1 et non pas l'echafaud1#bg says the proverb4 ,by the simple fact that man is punished1 provided he deserved to be1 he is degraded3 the penalty renders him infamous1 not by virtue of the definition of the code1 but by reason of the fault which caused the punishment4 ,of what importance1 then1 is the materiality of the punishment8 of what importance all your penitentiary systems8 ,what you do is to satisfy your feelings1 but is powerless to rehabilitate the unfortunate whom your justice strikes4 ,the guilty man1 once branded by chastisement1 is incapable of reconciliation2 his stain is indelible1 and his damnation eternal4 ,if it were possible for it to be otherwise1 the penalty would cease to be proportional to the offence2 it would be no more than a fiction1 it would be nothing4 ,he whom misery has led to larceny1 if he suffers himself to fall into the hands of justice1 remains forever the enemy of ,god and men2 better for him that he had never been born2 it was ,jesus ,christ who said it3 ,bonum erat ei1 si natus non fuisset homo ille4 ,and what ,jesus ,christ declared1 ,christians and infidels do not dispute3 the irreparability of shame is1 of all the revelations of the ,gospel1 the only one which the proprietary world has understood4 ,thus1 separated from nature by monopoly1 cut off from humanity by poverty1 the mother of crime and its punishment1 what refuge remains for the plebeian whom labor cannot support1 and who is not strong enough to take8 #bg ,the crime makes the shame1 and not the scaffold4 --,translator4 ,to conduct this offensive and defensive war against the proletariat a public force was indispensable3 the executive power grew out of the necessities of civil legislation1 administration1 and justice4 ,and there again the most beautiful hopes have changed into bitter disappointments4 ,as legislator1 as burgomaster1 and as judge1 the prince has set himself up as a representative of divine authority4 ,a defender of the poor1 the widow1 and the orphan1 he has promised to cause liberty and equality to prevail around the throne1 to come to the aid of labor1 and to listen to the voice of the people4 ,and the people have thrown themselves lovingly into the arms of power2 and1 when experience has made them feel that power was against them1 instead of blaming the institution1 they have fallen to accusing the prince1 ever unwilling to understand that1 the prince being by nature and destination the chief of non-producers and greatest of monopolists1 it was impossible for him1 in spite of himself1 to take up the cause of the people4 ,all criticism1 whether of the form or the acts of government1 ends in this essential contradiction4 ,and when the self-styled theorists of the sovereignty of the people pretend that the remedy for the tyranny of power consists in causing it to emanate from popular suffrage1 they simply turn1 like the squirrel1 in their cage4 ,for1 from the moment that the essential conditions of power--that is1 authority1 property1 hierarchy--are preserved1 the suffrage of the people is nothing but the consent of the people to their oppression1--which is the silliest charlatanism4 ,in the system of authority1 whatever its origin1 monarchical or democratic1 power is the noble organ of society2 by it society lives and moves2 all initiative emanates from it2 order and perfection are wholly its work4 ,according to the definitions of economic science1 on the contrary1--definitions which harmonize with the reality of things1-- power is the series of non-producers which social organization must tend to indefinitely reduce4 ,how1 then1 with the principle of authority so dear to democrats1 shall the aspiration of political economy1 an aspiration which is also that of the people1 be realized8 ,how shall the government1 which by the hypothesis is everything1 become an obedient servant1 a subordinate organ8 ,why should the prince have received power simply to weaken it1 and why should he labor1 with a view to order1 for his own elimination8 ,why should he not try rather to fortify himself1 to add to his courtiers1 to continually obtain new subsidies1 and finally to free himself from dependence on the people1 the inevitable goal of all power originating in the people8 ,it is said that the people1 naming its legislators and through them making its will known to power1 will always be in a position to arrest its invasions2 that thus the people will fill at once the role of prince and that of sovereign4 ,such1 in a word1 is the utopia of democrats1 the eternal mystification with which they abuse the proletariat4 ,but will the people make laws against power2 against the principle of authority and hierarchy1 which is the principle upon which society is based2 against liberty and property8 ,according to our hypothesis1 this is more than impossible1 it is contradictory4 ,then property1 monopoly1 competition1 industrial privileges1 the inequality of fortunes1 the preponderance of capital1 hierarchical and crushing centralization1 administrative oppression1 legal absolutism1 will be preserved2 and1 as it is impossible for a government not to act in the direction of its principle1 capital will remain as before the god of society1 and the people1 still exploited1 still degraded1 will have gained by their attempt at sovereignty only a demonstration of their powerlessness4 ,in vain do the partisans of power1 all those dynastico-republican doctrinaires who are alike in everything but tactics1 flatter themselves that1 once in control of affairs1 they will inaugurate reform everywhere4 ,reform what8 ,reform the constitution8 ,it is impossible4 ,though the entire nation should enter the constitutional convention1 it would not leave it until it had either voted its servitude under another form1 or decreed its dissolution4 ,reconstruct the code1 the work of the emperor1 the pure substance of ,roman law and custom8 ,it is impossible4 ,what have you to put in the place of your proprietary routine1 outside of which you see and understand nothing8 in the place of your laws of monopoly1 the limits of whose circle your imagination is powerless to overstep8 ,more than half a century ago royalty and democracy1 those two sibyls which the ancient world has bequeathed to us1 undertook1 by a constitutional compromise1 to harmonize their oracles2 since the wisdom of the prince has placed itself in unison with the voice of the people1 what revelation has resulted8 what principle of order has been discovered8 what issue from the labyrinth of privilege pointed out8 ,before prince and people had signed this strange compromise1 in what were their ideas not similar8 and now that each is trying to break the contract1 in what do they differ8 ,diminish public burdens1 assess taxes on a more equitable basis8 ,it is impossible3 to the treasury as to the army the man of the people will always furnish more than his contingent4 ,regulate monopoly1 bridle competition8 ,it is impossible2 you would kill production4 ,open new markets8 ,it is impossible4#bh ,organize credit8 ,it is impossible4#bi ,attack heredity8 ,it is impossible4#cj #bh ,see volume ,,ii41 chapter ,,ix4 #bi ,ibid41 chapter ,x4 #cj ,ibid41 chapter ,,xi4 ,create national workshops1 assure a minimum to unemployed workmen1 and assign to employees a share of the profits8 ,it is impossible4 ,it is in the nature of government to be able to deal with labor only to enchain laborers1 as it deals with products only to levy its tithe4 ,repair1 by a system of indemnities1 the disastrous effects of machinery8 ,it is impossible4 ,combat by regulations the degrading influence of parcellaire division8 ,it is impossible4 ,cause the people to enjoy the benefits of education8 ,it is impossible4 ,establish a tariff of prices and wages1 and fix the value of things by sovereign authority8 ,it is impossible1 it is impossible4 ,of all the reforms which society in its distress solicits not one is within the competence of power2 not one can be realized by it1 because the essence of power is repugnant to them all1 and it is not given to man to unite what ,god has divided4 ,at least1 the partisans of governmental initiative will say1 you will admit that1 in the accomplishment of the revolution promised by the development of antinomies1 power would be a potent auxiliary4 ,why1 then1 do you oppose a reform which1 putting power in the hands of the people1 would second your views so well8 ,social reform is the object2 political reform is the instrument3 why1 if you wish the end1 do you reject the means8 ,such is today the reasoning of the entire democratic press1 which ,i forgive with all my heart for having at last1 by this quasi-socialistic confession of faith1 itself proclaimed the emptiness of its theories4 ,it is in the name of science1 then1 that democracy calls for a political reform as a preliminary to social reform4 ,but science protests against this subterfuge as an insult2 science repudiates any alliance with politics1 and1 very far from expecting from it the slightest aid1 must begin with politics its work of exclusion4 ,how little affinity there is between the human mind and truth6 ,when ,i see the democracy1 socialistic but yesterday1 continually asking for capital in order to combat capital's influence2 for wealth1 in order to cure poverty2 for the abandonment of liberty1 in order to organize liberty2 for the reformation of government1 in order to reform society1--when ,i see it1 ,i say1 taking upon itself the responsibility of society1 provided social questions be set aside or solved1 it seems to me as if ,i were listening to a fortune-teller who1 before answering the questions of those who consult her1 begins by inquiring into their age1 their condition1 their family1 and all the accidents of their life4 ,eh6 miserable sorceress1 if you know the future1 you know who ,i am and what ,i want2 why do you ask me to tell you8 ,likewise ,i will answer the democrats3 ,if you know the use that you should make of power1 and if you know how power should be organized1 you possess economic science4 ,now1 if you possess economic science1 if you have the key of its contradictions1 if you are in a position to organize labor1 if you have studied the laws of exchange1 you have no need of the capital of the nation or of public force4 ,from this day forth you are more potent than money1 stronger than power4 ,for1 since the laborers are with you1 you are by that fact alone masters of production2 you hold commerce1 manufactures1 and agriculture enchained2 you have the entire social capital at your disposition2 you have full control of taxation2 you block the wheels of power1 and you trample monopoly under foot4 ,what other initiative1 what greater authority1 do you ask8 ,what prevents you from applying your theories8 ,surely not political economy1 although generally followed and accredited3 for1 everything in political economy having a true side and a false side1 your only problem is to combine the economic elements in such a way that their total shall no longer present a contradiction4 ,nor is it the civil law3 for that law1 sanctioning economic routine solely because of its advantages and in spite of its disadvantages1 is susceptible1 like political economy itself1 of being bent to all the exigencies of an exact synthesis1 and consequently is as favorable to you as possible4 ,finally1 it is not power1 which1 the last expression of antagonism and created only to defend the law1 could stand in your way only by forswearing itself4 ,once more1 then1 what stops you8 ,if you possess social science1 you know that the problem of association consists in organizing1 not only the ,,non-,,producers1--in that direction1 thank heaven6 little remains to be done1--but also the ,,producers1 and by this organization subjecting capital and subordinating power4 ,such is the war that you have to sustain3 a war of labor against capital2 a war of liberty against authority2 a war of the producer against the non-producer2 a war of equality against privilege4 ,what you ask1 to conduct the war to a successful conclusion1 is precisely that which you must combat4 ,now1 to combat and reduce power1 to put it in its proper place in society1 it is of no use to change the holders of power or introduce some variation into its workings3 an agricultural and industrial combination must be found by means of which power1 today the ruler of society1 shall become its slave4 ,have you the secret of that combination8 ,but what do ,i say8 ,that is precisely the thing to which you do not consent4 ,as you cannot conceive of society without hierarchy1 you have made yourselves the apostles of authority2 worshippers of power1 you think only of strengthening it and muzzling liberty2 your favorite maxim is that the welfare of the people must be achieved in spite of the people2 instead of proceeding to social reform by the extermination of power and politics1 you insist on a reconstruction of power and politics4 ,then1 by a series of contradictions which prove your sincerity1 but the illusory character of which is well known to the real friends of power1 the aristocrats and monarchists1 your competitors1 you promise us1 in the name of power1 economy in expenditures1 an equitable assessment of taxes1 protection to labor1 gratuitous education1 universal suffrage1 and all the utopias repugnant to authority and property4 ,consequently power in your hands has never been anything but ruinous1 and that is why you have never been able to retain it2 that is why1 on the ,eighteenth of ,brumaire1#ca four men were sufficient to take it away from you1 and why today the bourgeoisie1 which is as fond of power as you are and which wants a strong power1 will not restore it to you4 #ca ,date of the ,napoleonic coup d',etat1 according to the revolutionary calendar4 ,thus power1 the instrument of collective might1 created in society to serve as a mediator between labor and privilege1 finds itself inevitably enchained to capital and directed against the proletariat4 ,no political reform can solve this contradiction1 since1 by the confession of the politicians themselves1 such a reform would end only in increasing the energy and extending the sphere of power1 and since power would know no way of touching the prerogatives of monopoly without overturning the hierarchy and dissolving society4 ,the problem before the laboring classes1 then1 consists1 not in capturing1 but in subduing both power and monopoly1--that is1 in generating from the bowels of the people1 from the depths of labor1 a greater authority1 a more potent fact1 which shall envelop capital and the ,state and subjugate them4 ,every proposition of reform which does not satisfy this condition is simply one scourge more1 a rod doing sentry duty1 virgam vigilantem1 as a prophet said1 which threatens the proletariat4 ,the crown of this system is religion4 ,there is no occasion for me to deal here with the philosophic value of religious opinions1 relate their history1 or seek their interpretation4 ,i confine myself to a consideration of the economic origin of religion1 the secret bond which connects it with police1 the place which it occupies in the series of social manifestations4 ,man1 despairing of finding the equilibrium of his powers1 leaps1 as it were1 outside of himself and seeks in infinity that sovereign harmony the realization of which is to him the highest degree of reason1 power1 and happiness4 ,unable to harmonize with himself1 he kneels before ,god and prays4 ,he prays1 and his prayer1 a hymn sung to ,god1 is a blasphemy against society4 ,it is from ,god1 man says to himself1 that authority and power come to me3 then1 let us obey ,god and the prince4 ,obedite ,deo et principibus4 ,it is from ,god that law and justice come to me4 ,per me reges regnant et potentes decernunt justitiam4 ,let us respect the commands of the legislator and the magistrate4 ,it is ,god who controls the prosperity of labor1 who makes and unmakes fortunes3 may his will be done6 ,dominus dedit1 ,dominus abstulit1 sit nomen ,domini benedictum4 ,it is ,god who punishes me when misery devours me1 and when ,i am persecuted for righteousness's sake3 let us receive with respect the scourges which his mercy employs for our purification4 ,humiliamini igitur sub potenti manu ,dei4 ,this life1 which ,god has given me1 is but an ordeal which leads me to salvation3 let us shun pleasure2 let us love and invite pain2 let us find our pleasure in doing penance4 ,the sadness which comes from injustice is a favor from on high2 blessed are they that mourn6 ,beati qui lugent6 4 4 4 4 ,haec est enim gratia1 si quis sustinet tristitias1 patiens injuste4 ,a century ago a missionary1 preaching before an audience made up of financiers and grandees1 did justice to this odious morality4 ,what have ,i done8 he cried1 with tears4 ,i have saddened the poor1 the best friends of my ,god6 ,i have preached the rigors of penance to unfortunates who want for bread6 ,it is here1 where my eyes fall only on the powerful and on the rich1 on the oppressors of suffering humanity1 that ,i must launch the word of ,god in all the force of its thunder6 ,let us admit1 nevertheless1 that the theory of resignation has served society by preventing revolt4 ,religion1 consecrating by divine right the inviolability of power and of privilege1 has given humanity the strength to continue its journey and exhaust its contradictions4 ,without this bandage thrown over the eyes of the people society would have been a thousand times dissolved4 ,some one had to suffer that it might be cured2 and religion1 the comforter of the afflicted1 decided that it should be the poor man4 ,it is this suffering which has led us to our present position2 civilization1 which owes all its marvels to the laborer1 owes also to his voluntary sacrifice its future and its existence4 ,oblatus est quia ipse voluit1 et livore ejus sanati sumus4 ,o people of laborers6 disinherited1 harassed1 proscribed people6 people whom they imprison1 judge1 and kill6 despised people1 branded people6 ,do you not know that there is an end1 even to patience1 even to devotion8 ,will you not cease to lend an ear to those orators of mysticism who tell you to pray and to wait1 preaching salvation now through religion1 now through power1 and whose vehement and sonorous words captivate you8 ,your destiny is an enigma which neither physical force1 nor courage of soul1 nor the illuminations of enthusiasm1 nor the exaltation of any sentiment1 can solve4 ,those who tell you to the contrary deceive you1 and all their discourses serve only to postpone the hour of your deliverance1 now ready to strike4 ,what are enthusiasm and sentiment1 what is vain poesy1 when confronted with necessity8 ,to overcome necessity there is nothing but necessity itself1 the last reason of nature1 the pure essence of matter and spirit4 ,thus the contradiction of value1 born of the necessity of free will1 must be overcome by the proportionality of value1 another necessity produced by the union of liberty and intelligence4 ,but1 in order that this victory of intelligent and free labor might produce all its consequences1 it was necessary that society should pass through a long succession of torments4 ,it was a necessity that labor1 in order to increase its power1 should be divided2 and a necessity1 in consequence of this division1 that the laborer should be degraded and impoverished4 ,it was a necessity that this original division should be reconstructed by scientific instruments and combinations2 and a necessity1 in consequence of this reconstruction1 that the subordinated laborer should lose1 together with his legitimate wages1 even the exercise of the industry which supported him4 ,it was a necessity that competition then should step in to emancipate liberty on the point of perishing2 and a necessity that this deliverance should end in a vast elimination of laborers4 ,it was a necessity that the producer1 ennobled by his art1 as formerly the warrior was by arms1 should bear aloft his banner1 in order that the valor of man might be honored in labor as in war2 and a necessity that of privilege should straightway be born the proletariat4 ,it was a necessity that society should then take under its protection the conquered plebeian1 a beggar without a roof2 and a necessity that this protection should be converted into a new series of tortures4 ,we shall meet on our way still other necessities1 all of which will disappear1 like the others1 before greater necessities1 until shall come at last the general equation1 the supreme necessity1 the triumphant fact1 which must establish the kingdom of labor forever4 ,but this solution cannot result either from surprise or from a vain compromise4 ,it is as impossible to associate labor and capital as to produce without labor and without capital2 as impossible to establish equality by power as to suppress power and equality and make a society without people and without police4 ,there is a necessity1 ,i repeat1 of a ,,major ,,force to invert the actual formulas of society2 a necessity that the ,,labor of the people1 not their valor nor their votes1 should1 by a scientific1 legitimate1 immortal1 insurmountable combination1 subject capital to the people and deliver to them power4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,of ,,the ,,responsibility ,,of ,,man ,,and ,,of ,,god1 ,,under ,,the ,,law ,,of ,,contradiction1 ,,or ,a ,,solution ,,of ,,the ,,problem ,,of ,,providence4 ,the ancients blamed human nature for the presence of evil in the world4 ,christian theology has only embroidered this theme in its own fashion2 and1 as that theology sums up the whole religious period extending from the origin of society to our own time1 it may be said that the dogma of original sin1 having in its favor the assent of the human race1 acquires by that very fact the highest degree of probability4 ,so1 according to all the testimony of ancient wisdom1 each people defending its own institutions as excellent and glorifying them1 it is not to religions1 or to governments1 or to traditional customs accredited by the respect of generations1 that the cause of evil must be traced1 but rather to a primitive perversion1 to a sort of congenital malice in the will of man4 ,as to the question how a being could have perverted and corrupted itself ,,originally1 the ancients avoided that difficulty by fables3 ,eve's apple and ,pandora's box have remained celebrated among their symbolic solutions4 ,not only1 then1 had antiquity posited in its myths the question of the origin of evil2 it had solved it by another myth1 in unhesitatingly affirming the criminality ab ovo of our race4 ,modern philosophers have erected against the ,christian dogma a dogma no less obscure1--that of the depravity of society4 ,,man ,,is ,,born ,,good1 cries ,rousseau1 in his peremptory style2 ,,but ,,society--that is1 the forms and institutions of society--,,depraves ,,him4 ,in such terms was formulated the paradox1 or1 better1 the protest1 of the philosopher of ,geneva4 ,now1 it is evident that this idea is only the ancient hypothesis turned about4 ,the ancients accused the individual man2 ,rousseau accuses the collective man3 at bottom1 it is always the same proposition1 an absurd proposition4 ,nevertheless1 in spite of the fundamental identity of the principle1 ,rousseau's formula1 precisely because it was an opposition1 was a step forward2 consequently it was welcomed with enthusiasm1 and it became the signal of a reaction full of contradictions and absurdities4 ,singular thing6 it is to the anathema launched by the author of ,emile against society that modern socialism is to be traced4 ,for the last seventy or eighty years the principle of social perversion has been exploited and popularized by various sectarians1 who1 while copying ,rousseau1 reject with all their might the anti-social philosophy of that writer1 without perceiving that1 by the very fact that they aspire to reform society1 they are as unsocial or unsociable as he4 ,it is a curious spectacle to see these pseudo-innovators1 condemning after ,jean ,jacques monarchy1 democracy1 property1 communism1 thine and mine1 monopoly1 wages1 police1 taxation1 luxury1 commerce1 money1 in a word1 all that constitutes society and without which society is inconceivable1 and then accusing this same ,jean ,jacques of misanthropy and paralogism1 because1 after having seen the emptiness of all utopias1 at the same time that he pointed out the antagonism of civilization1 he sternly concluded against society1 though recognizing that without society there is no humanity4 ,i advise those who1 on the strength of what slanderers and plagiarists say1 imagine that ,rousseau embraced his theory only from a vain love of eccentricity1 to read ,emile and the ,social ,contract once more4 ,that admirable dialectician was led to deny society from the standpoint of justice1 although he was forced to admit it as necessary2 just as we1 who believe in an indefinite progress1 do not cease to deny1 as normal and definitive1 the existing state of society4 ,only1 whereas ,rousseau1 by a political combination and an educational system of his own1 tried to bring man nearer to what he called ,,nature1 and what seemed to him the ideal society1 we1 instructed in a profounder school1 say that the task of society is to continually solve its antinomies1--a matter of which ,rousseau could have had no idea4 ,thus1 apart from the now abandoned system of the ,social ,contract1 and so far as criticism alone is concerned1 socialism1 whatever it may say1 is still in the same position as ,rousseau1 forced to reform society incessantly1--that is1 to perpetually deny it4 ,rousseau1 in short1 simply declared in a summary and definitive manner what the socialists repeat in detail and at every moment of progress1-- namely1 that social order is imperfect1 always lacking something4 ,rousseau's error does not1 can not lie in this negation of society3 it consists1 as we shall show1 in his failure to follow his argument to the end and deny at once society1 man1 and ,god4 ,however that may be1 the theory of man's innocence1 corresponding to that of the depravity of society1 has at last got the upper hand4 ,the immense majority of socialists--,saint-,simon1 ,owen1 ,fourier1 and their disciples2 communists1 democrats1 progressives of all sorts--have solemnly repudiated the ,christian myth of the fall to substitute there for the system of an aberration on the part of society4 ,and1 as most of these sectarians1 in spite of their flagrant impiety1 were still too religious1 too pious1 to finish the work of ,jean ,jacques and trace back to ,god the responsibility for evil1 they have found a way of deducing from the hypothesis of ,god the dogma of the native goodness of man1 and have begun to fulminate against society in the finest fashion4 ,the theoretical and practical consequences of this reaction were that1 evil--that is1 the effect of internal and external struggle--being abnormal and transitory1 penal and repressive institutions are likewise transitory2 that in man there is no native vice1 but that his environment has depraved his inclinations2 that civilization has been mistaken as to its own tendencies2 that constraint is immoral1 that our passions are holy2 that enjoyment is holy and should be sought after like virtue itself1 because ,god1 who caused us to desire it1 is holy4 ,and1 the women coming to the aid of the eloquence of the philosophers1 a deluge of anti-restrictive protests has fallen1 quasi de vulva erumpens1 to make use of a comparison from the ,holy ,scriptures1 upon the wonder-stricken public4 ,the writings of this school are recognizable by their evangelical style1 their melancholy theism1 and1 above all1 their enigmatical dialectics4 ,they blame human nature1 says ,m4 ,louis ,blanc1 for almost all our evils2 the blame should be laid upon the vicious character of social institutions4 ,look around you3 how many talents misplaced1 and ,,consequently depraved6 ,how many activities have become turbulent for want of having found their legitimate and natural object6 ,they force our passions to traverse an impure medium2 is it at all surprising that they become altered8 ,place a healthy man in a pestilent atmosphere1 and he will inhale death4 4 4 4 ,civilization has taken a wrong road1 4 4 4 and to say that it could not have been otherwise is to lose the right to talk of equity1 of morality1 of progress2 it is to lose the right to talk of ,god4 ,providence disappears to give place to the grossest fatalism4 ,the name of ,god recurs forty times1 and always to no purpose1 in ,m4 ,blanc's ,organization of ,labor1 which ,i quote from preference1 because in my view it represents advanced democratic opinion better than any other work1 and because ,i like to do it honor by refuting it4 ,thus1 while socialism1 aided by extreme democracy1 deifies man by denying the dogma of the fall1 and consequently dethrones ,god1 henceforth useless to the perfection of his creature1 this same socialism1 through mental cowardice1 falls back upon the affirmation of ,providence1 and that at the very moment when it denies the providential authority of history4 ,and as nothing stands such chance of success among men as contradiction1 the idea of a religion of pleasure1 renewed from ,epicurus during an eclipse of public reason1 has been taken as an inspiration of the national genius2 it is this that distinguishes the new theists from the ,catholics1 against whom the former have inveighed so loudly during the last two years only out of rivalry in fanaticism4 ,it is the fashion today to speak of ,god on all occasions and to declaim against the pope2 to invoke ,providence and to scoff at the ,church4 ,,thank ,,god6 ,,we ,,are ,,not ,,atheists1 said ,la ,reforme one day2 all the more1 it might have added by way of increasing its absurdity1 we are not ,christians4 ,the word has gone forth to every one who holds a pen to bamboozle the people1 and the first article of the new faith is that an infinitely good ,god has created man as good as himself2 which does not prevent man1 under the eye of ,god1 from becoming wicked in a detestable society4 ,nevertheless it is plain1 in spite of these semblances of religion1 we might even say these desires for it1 that the quarrel between socialism and ,christian tradition1 between man and society1 must end by a denial of ,divinity4 ,social reason is not distinguishable by us from absolute ,reason1 which is no other than ,god himself1 and to deny society in its past phases is to deny ,providence1 is to deny ,god4 ,thus1 then1 we are placed between two negations1 two contradictory affirmations3 one which1 by the voice of entire antiquity1 setting aside as out of the question society and ,god which it represents1 finds in man alone the principle of evil2 another which1 protesting in the name of free1 intelligent1 and progressive man1 throws back upon social infirmity and1 by a necessary consequence1 upon the creative and inspiring genius of society all the disturbances of the universe4 ,now1 as the anomalies of social order and the oppression of individual liberties arise principally from the play of economic contradictions1 we have to inquire1 in view of the data which we have brought to light3 #a4 ,whether fate1 whose circle surrounds us1 exercises a control over our liberty so imperious and compulsory that infractions of the law1 committed under the dominion of antinomies1 cease to be imputable to us8 ,and1 if not1 whence arises this culpability peculiar to man8 #b4 ,whether the hypothetical being1 utterly good1 omnipotent1 omniscient1 to whom faith attributes the supreme direction of human agitations1 has not himself failed society at the moment of danger8 ,and1 if so1 to explain this insufficiency of ,divinity4 ,in short1 we are to find out whether man is ,god1 whether ,god himself is ,god1 or whether1 to attain the fullness of intelligence and liberty1 we must search for a superior cause4 #a4--,the culpability of man4--,exposition of the myth of the fall4 ,as long as man lives under the law of egoism1 he accuses himself2 as soon as he rises to the conception of a social law1 he accuses society4 ,in both cases humanity accuses humanity2 and so far the clearest result of this double accusation is the strange faculty1 which we have not yet pointed out1 and which religion attributes to ,god as well as to man1 of ,,repentance4 ,of what1 then1 does humanity repent8 ,for what does ,god1 who repents as well as ourselves1 desire to punish us8 ,poenituit ,deum quod hominem fecisset in terra1 et tactus dolore cordis intrinsecus1 delebo1 inquit1 hominem4 4 4 4 ,if ,i demonstrate that the offences charged upon humanity are not the consequence of its economic embarrassments1 although the latter result from the constitution of its ideas2 that man does evil gratuitously and when not under compulsion1 just as he honors himself by acts of heroism which justice does not exact1--it will follow that man1 at the tribunal of his conscience1 may be allowed to plead certain extenuating circumstances1 but can never be entirely discharged of his guilt2 that the struggle is in his heart as well as in his mind2 that he deserves now praise1 now blame1 which is a confession1 in either case1 of his inharmonious state2 finally1 that the essence of his soul is a perpetual compromise between opposing attractions1 his morality a system of seesaw1 in a word1--and this word tells the whole story1-- eclecticism4 ,my proof shall be soon made4 ,there exists a law1 older than our liberty1 promulgated from the beginning of the world1 completed by ,jesus ,christ1 preached and certified by apostles1 martyrs1 confessors1 and virgins1 graven on the heart of man1 and superior to all metaphysics3 it is ,,love4 ,,love ,,thy ,,neighbor ,,as ,,thyself1 ,jesus ,christ tells us1 after ,moses4 ,that is the whole of it4 ,love thy neighbor as thyself1 and society will be perfect2 love thy neighbor as thyself1 and all distinctions of prince and shepherd1 of rich and poor1 of learned and ignorant1 disappear1 all clashing of human interests ceases4 ,love thy neighbor as thyself1 and happiness with industry1 without care for the future1 shall fill thy days4 ,to fulfil this law and make himself happy man needs only to follow the inclination of his heart and listen to the voice of his sympathies4 ,he resists2 he does more3 not content with preferring himself to his neighbor1 he labors constantly to destroy his neighbor2 after having betrayed love through egoism1 he overturns it by injustice4 ,man1 ,i say1 faithless to the law of charity1 has1 of himself and without any necessity1 made the contradictions of society so many instruments of harm2 through his egoism civilization has become a war of surprises and ambushes2 he lies1 he steals1 he murders1 when not compelled to do so1 without provocation1 without excuse4 ,in short1 he does evil with all the characteristics of a nature deliberately maleficent1 and all the more wicked because1 when it so wishes1 it knows how to do good gratuitously also and is capable of self-sacrifice2 wherefore it has been said of it1 with as much reason as depth3 ,homo homini lupus1 vel deus4 ,not to unduly extend the subject1 and especially in order to avoid prejudging the questions that ,i shall have to consider1 ,i limit myself to the economic facts already analyzed4 ,with the fact that the division of labor is by nature1 pending the attainment of a synthetic organization1 an irresistible cause of physical1 moral1 and mental inequality among men neither society nor conscience have anything to do4 ,that is a fact of necessity1 of which the rich man is as innocent as the parcellaire workman1 consigned by his position to all sorts of poverty4 ,but how happens it that this inevitable inequality is converted into a title of nobility for some1 of abjection for others8 ,how happens it1 if man is good1 that he has not succeeded in levelling by his goodness this wholly metaphysical obstacle1 and that1 instead of strengthening the fraternal tie that binds men1 pitiless necessity breaks it8 ,here man cannot be excused on the ground of his economic inexperience or legislative shortsightedness2 it was enough that he had a heart4 ,since the martyrs of the division of labor should have been helped and honored by the rich1 why have they been rejected as impure8 ,why is it an unheard-of thing for masters to occasionally relieve their slaves1 for princes1 magistrates1 and priests to change places with mechanics1 and for nobles to assume the task of the peasants on the land8 ,what is the reason of this brutal pride of the powerful8 ,and note that such conduct on their part would have been not only charitable and fraternal1 but in accord with the sternest justice4 ,by virtue of the principle of collective force1 laborers are the equals and associates of their leaders2 so that in the system of monopoly itself1 community of action restoring the equilibrium which parcellaire individualism has disturbed1 justice and charity blend4 ,on the hypothesis of the essential goodness of man1 how then is to be explained the monstrous attempt to change the authority of some into nobility and the obedience of others into plebeianism8 ,labor1 between the serf and the free man1 like color between the black and the white1 has always drawn an impassable line2 and we ourselves1 who glory so in our philanthropy1 at the bottom of our hearts are of the same opinion as our predecessors4 ,the sympathy which we feel for the proletaire is like that with which animals inspire us2 delicacy of organs1 dread of misery1 pride in separating ourselves from all suffering1--it is these shifts of egoism that prompt our charity4 ,for in fact--and ,i desire only this fact to confound us--is it not true that spontaneous benevolence1 so pure in its primitive conception 7eleemosyna1 sympathy1 tenderness71 alms1 in fine1 has become for the unfortunate a sign of degradation1 a public stigma8 ,and socialists1 rebuking ,christianity1 dare to talk to us of love6 ,the ,christian thought1 the conscience of humanity1 hit the mark precisely1 when it founded so many institutions for the relief of misfortune4 ,to grasp the evangelical precept in its depth and render legal charity as honorable to those who had been its objects as to those who had exercised it1 there was needed--what8 ,less pride1 less greed1 less egoism4 ,if man is good1 will any one tell me how the right to alms has become the first link in the long chain of infractions1 misdemeanors1 and crimes8 ,will any one still dare to blame the misdeeds of man upon the antagonisms of social economy1 when these antagonisms offered him so beautiful an opportunity of manifesting the charity of his heart1 ,i do not say by self-sacrifice1 but by the simple doing of justice8 ,i know--and this objection is the only one that can be offered against my position--that charity is covered with shame and dishonor because the individual who asks it is too often1 alas6 suspected of misconduct and rarely to be recommended on the score of dignity of morals and of labor4 ,and statistics prove that those who are poor through cowardice and negligence outnumber ten times those who are poor through accident or mischance4 ,far be it from me to challenge this observation1 the truth of which is demonstrated by too many facts1 and which1 moreover1 has received the sanction of the people4 ,the people are the first to accuse the poor of laziness2 and there is nothing more common than to meet in the lower classes men who boast1 as if it were a title of nobility1 that they have never been in the hospital and in their greatest distress have never been recipients of public charity4 ,thus1 just as opulence avows its robberies1 misery confesses its shame4 ,man is a tyrant or a slave by will before becoming so by fortune2 the heart of the proletaire is like that of the rich man1--a sewer of boiling sensuality1 the home of crapulence and imposture4 ,upon this unexpected revelation ,i ask how it happens1 if man is good and charitable1 that the rich calumniate charity while the poor defile it8 ,it is perversion of judgment on the part of the rich1 say some2 it is degradation of faculties on the part of the poor1 say others4 ,but how is it that judgment is perverted on the one hand1 and on the other that faculties are degraded8 ,how comes it that a true and cordial fraternity has not arrested on the one side and on the other the effects of pride and labor8 ,let my questions be answered by reasons1 not by phrases4 ,labor1 in inventing processes and machines which infinitely multiply its power1 and then in stimulating industrial genius by rivalry and assuring its conquests by means of the profits of capital and privileges of exploitation1 has rendered the hierarchical constitution of society more profound and more inevitable2 ,i repeat that no blame attaches to any one for this4 ,but ,i call the holy law of the ,gospel to witness that it was within our power to draw wholly different consequences from this subordination of man to man1 or1 better1 of laborer to laborer4 ,the traditions of feudal life and of that of the patriarchs set the example for the manufacturers4 ,the division of labor and the other accidents of production were only calls to the great family life1 indications of the preparatory system in accordance with which fraternity was to appear and be developed4 ,masterships1 corporations1 and rights of primogeniture were conceived under the influence of this idea2 many communists even are not hostile to this form of association2 is it surprising that the ideal is so tenacious among those who1 conquered but not converted1 still appear as its representatives8 ,what1 then1 prevented charity1 union1 sacrifice from maintaining themselves in the hierarchy1 when the hierarchy might have been only a condition of labor8 ,to this end it would have sufficed if men having machines1 valiant knights fighting with equal weapons1 had not made a mystery of their secrets or withheld them from others2 if barons had set to work1 not to monopolize their products1 but to cheapen them2 and if vassals1 assured that war would result only in increasing their wealth1 had always shown themselves enterprising1 industrious1 and faithful4 ,the chief of the workshop would then have been simply a captain putting his men through manoeuvres in their interest as well as in his own1 and maintaining them1 not with his perquisites1 but with their own services4 ,instead of these fraternal relations1 we have had pride1 jealousy1 and perjury2 the employer1 like the vampire of the fable1 exploiting the degraded wage-worker1 and the wage-worker conspiring against the employer2 the idler devouring the substance of the laborer1 and the serf1 squatting in filth1 having no strength left but for hatred4 ,called on to furnish for the work of production1 these tools1 those labor1 capitalists and laborers are today in a struggle3 why8 ,because absolutism presides over all their relations2 because the capitalist speculates on the need which the laborer feels of procuring tools1 while the laborer1 in turn1 seeks to derive advantage from the need which the capitalist feels of fertilizing his capital4--,l4 ,blanc3 ,organization of ,labor4 ,and why this ,,absolutism in the relations of capitalist and laborer8 ,why this hostility of interests8 ,why this reciprocal enmity8 ,instead of eternally explaining the fact by the fact itself1 go to the bottom1 and you will find everywhere1 as original motive1 a passion for enjoyment which neither law nor justice nor charity restrain2 you will see egoism continually discounting the future1 and sacrificing to its monstrous caprices labor1 capital1 life1 and the security of all4 ,the theologians have given the name ,,concupiscence or ,,concupiscible ,,appetite to the passionate greed for sensual things1 the effect1 according to them1 of original sin4 ,i trouble myself little1 for the present1 as to the nature of the original sin2 ,i simply observe that the concupiscible appetite of the theologians is no other than that ,,need ,,of ,,luxury pointed out by the ,academy of ,moral ,sciences as the ruling motive of our epoch4 ,now1 the theory of proportionality of values demonstrates that luxury is naturally measured by production2 that every consumption in advance is recovered by an equivalent later privation2 and that the exaggeration of luxury in a society necessarily has an increase of misery as its correlative4 ,now1 were man to sacrifice his personal welfare for luxurious and advance enjoyments1 perhaps ,i should accuse him only of imprudence2 but1 when he injures the welfare of his neighbor1--a welfare which he should regard as inviolable1 both from charity and on the ground of justice1--,i say then that man is wicked1 inexcusably wicked4 ,,when ,,god1 according to ,bossuet1 ,,formed ,,the ,,bowels ,,of ,,man1 ,,he ,,originally ,,placed ,,goodness ,,there4 ,thus love is our first law2 the prescriptions of pure reason1 as well as the promptings of the senses1 take second and third rank only4 ,such is the hierarchy of our faculties1--a principle of love forming the foundation of our conscience and served by an intelligence and organs4 ,hence of two things one3 either the man who violates charity to obey his cupidity is guilty2 or else1 if this psychology is false1 and the need of luxury in man must hold a place beside charity and reason1 man is a disorderly animal1 utterly wicked1 and the most execrable of beings4 ,thus the organic contradictions of society cannot cover the responsibility of man2 viewed in themselves1 moreover1 these contradictions are only the theory of the hierarchical regime1 the first form and consequently an irreproachable form of society4 ,by the antinomy of their development labor and capital have been continually led back to equality at the same time as to subordination1 to solidarity as well as to dependence2 one was the agent1 the other the stimulator and guardian of the common wealth4 ,this indication has been indistinctly seen by the theorists of the feudal system2 ,christianity came in time to cement the compact2 and it is still the sentiment of this misunderstood and broken1 but in itself innocent and legitimate1 organization which causes regrets among us and sustains the hope of a party4 ,as this system was written in the book of destiny1 it cannot be said to be bad in itself1 just as the embryonic state cannot be called bad because it precedes adult age in physiological development4 ,i insist1 therefore1 on my accusation3 ,under the regime abolished by ,luther and the ,french ,revolution man could be happy in proportion to the progress of his industry2 he did not choose to be2 on the contrary1 he forbade himself to be4 ,labor has been regarded as dishonorable2 the clergy and the nobility have made themselves the devourers of the poor2 to satisfy their animal passions1 they have extinguished charity in their hearts2 they have ruined1 oppressed1 assassinated the laborer4 ,and thus it is that we see capital still hunting the proletariat4 ,instead of tempering the subversive tendency of economic principles by association and mutuality1 the capitalist exaggerates it unnecessarily and with evil design2 he abuses the senses and the conscience of the workman2 he makes him a valet in his intrigues1 a purveyor of his debaucheries1 an accomplice in his robberies2 he makes him in all respects like himself1 and then it is that he can defy the justice of revolutions to touch him4 ,monstrous thing6 the man who lives in misery1 and whose soul therefore seems a nearer neighbor of charity and honor1 shares his master's corruption2 like him1 he gives everything to pride and luxury1 and if he sometimes cries out against the inequality from which he suffers1 it is still less from zeal for justice than from rivalry in desire4 ,the greatest obstacle which equality has to overcome is not the aristocratic pride of the rich man1 but the ungovernable egoism of the poor man4 ,and you rely on his native goodness to reform at once both the spontaneity and the premeditation of his malice6 ,as the false and anti-social education given to the present generation1 says ,louis ,blanc1 permits no search for any other motive for emulation and encouragement than an increase of reward1 the difference of wages should be graduated according to the hierarchy of functions1 an entirely new education having to change ideas and morals in this matter4 ,dismissing the hierarchy of functions and the inequality of wages for what they are worth1 let us consider here only the motive assigned by the author4 ,is it not strange to see ,m4 ,blanc affirm the goodness of our nature1 and at the same time address himself to the most ignoble of our propensities1--avarice8 ,truly1 evil must seem to you very deeply rooted1 if you deem it necessary to begin the restoration of charity by a violation of charity4 ,jesus ,christ broke openly with pride and greed2 apparently the libertines whom he catechised were holy personages compared with the herd infected with socialism4 ,but tell us then1 in short1 how our ideas have been warped1 why our education is anti-social1 since it is now demonstrated that society has followed the route traced by destiny and can no longer be charged with the crimes of man4 ,really1 the logic of socialism is marvellous4 ,man is good1 they say2 but it is necessary to ,,detach ,,his ,,interests from evil to secure his abstinence from it4 ,man is good2 but he must be ,,interested in the good1 else he will not do it4 ,for1 if the interest of his passions leads him to evil1 he will do evil2 and1 if this same interest leaves him indifferent to good1 he will not do good4 ,and society will have no right to reproach him for having listened to his passions1 because it was for society to conduct him by his passions4 ,what a rich and precious nature was that of ,nero1 who killed his mother because she wearied him1 and who caused ,rome to be burned in order to have a representation of the pillage of ,troy6 ,what an artist's soul was that of ,heliogabalus1 who organized prostitution6 ,what a potent character was ,tiberius6 ,but what an abominable society was that which perverted those divine souls1 and produced1 moreover1 ,tacitus and ,marcus ,aurelius6 ,this1 then1 is what is called the harmlessness of man1--the holiness of his passions6 ,an aged ,sappho1 abandoned by her lovers1 goes back under the conjugal law2 her interest detached from love1 she returns to marriage1 and is holy4 ,what a pity that this word ,,holy 7saint7 has not in ,french the double meaning which it possesses in the ,hebrew language6 ,all would be in accord regarding the holiness of ,sappho4 ,i read in a report upon the railways of ,belgium that1 the ,belgian administration having allowed its engineers a premium of two and one- half cents for every bushel of coke saved out of an average consumption of two hundred and ten pounds for a given distance traversed1 this premium bore such fruits that the consumption fell from two hundred and ten pounds to one hundred and six4 ,this fact sums up the whole socialistic philosophy3 to gradually train the workingman to justice1 encourage him to labor1 lift him to the sublimity of devotion1 by increase of wages1 profit-sharing1 distinctions1 and rewards4 ,certainly ,i do not mean to blame this method1 which is as old as the world3 whatever way you take to tame serpents and tigers and render them useful1 ,i applaud it4 ,but do not say that your beasts are doves2 for then1 as sole reply1 ,i shall point you to their claws and teeth4 ,before the ,belgian engineers became interested in the economy of fuel1 they burned double the quantity4 ,therefore on their part there was carelessness1 negligence1 prodigality1 waste1 perhaps theft1 although they were bound to the administration by a contract which obliged them to practise all the contrasted virtues4 ,,it ,,is ,,good1 you say1 ,,to ,,interest ,,the ,,laborer4 ,i say further that it is just4 ,but ,i maintain that this ,,interest1 more powerful over man than voluntarily accepted obligation1 more powerful1 in a word1 than ,,duty1 accuses man4 ,socialism goes backward in morality1 and it turns up its nose at ,christianity4 ,it does not understand charity1 and yet1 to hear it1 one would suppose that it invented charity4 ,see1 moreover1 observe the socialists1 what fortunate fruits the perfecting of our social order has already borne6 ,the present generation is undeniably better than its predecessors3 are we wrong in concluding that a perfect society will produce perfect citizens8 ,say rather1 reply the conservative believers in the dogma of the fall1 that1 religion having purified hearts1 it is not astonishing that institutions have felt the effects4 ,now let religion finish its work1 and have no fears about society4 ,so speak and retort in an endless wandering from the question the theorists of the two schools4 ,neither understand that humanity1 to use a ,biblical expression1 is one and constant in its generations1--that is1 that everything in it1 at every period of its development1 in the individual as in the mass1 proceeds from the same principle1 which is1 not ,,being1 but ,,becoming4 ,they do not see1 on the one hand1 that progress in morality is a continual conquest of mind over animality1 just as progress in wealth is the fruit of the war waged by labor upon the parsimony of nature2 consequently that the idea of native goodness lost through society is as absurd as the idea of native wealth lost through labor1 and that a compromise with the passions should be viewed in the same light as a compromise with rest4 ,on the other hand1 they refuse to understand that1 if there is progress in humanity1 whether through religion or from some other cause1 the hypothesis of constitutional corruption is nonsense1 a contradiction4 ,but ,i anticipate the conclusions at which ,i must arrive3 let us1 for the present1 establish simply that the moral perfection of humanity1 like material welfare1 is realized by a series of oscillations between vice and virtue1 ,,merit and ,,demerit4 ,yes1 humanity grows in justice1 but this growth of our liberty1 due entirely to the growth of our intelligence1 surely gives no proof of the goodness of our nature2 and1 far from authorizing us to glorify our passions1 it really destroys their sway4 ,the fashion and style of our malice change with time3 the barons of the middle ages plundered the traveller on the highway1 and then offered him hospitality in their castles2 mercantile feudality1 less brutal1 exploits the proletaire and builds hospitals for him3 who would dare to say which of the two has deserved the palm of virtue8 ,of all the economic contradictions value is that which1 dominating the others and summing them up1 holds in a sense the sceptre of society1 ,i had almost said of the moral world4 ,until value1 oscillating between its two poles1--useful value and value in exchange1--arrives at its constitution1 thine and mine remain fixed arbitrarily2 the conditions of fortune are the effect of chance2 property rests on a precarious title2 everything in social economy is provisional4 ,what should social1 intelligent1 and free beings have learned from this uncertainty of value8 ,to make amicable regulations that should protect labor and guarantee exchange and cheapness4 ,what a happy opportunity for all to make up1 by honesty1 disinterestedness1 and tenderness of heart1 for the ignorance of the objective laws of the just and the unjust6 ,instead of that1 commerce has everywhere become1 by spontaneous effort and unanimous consent1 an uncertain operation1 a venturesome enterprise1 a lottery1 and often a deceitful and fraudulent speculation4 ,what obliges the holder of provisions1 the storekeeper of society1 to pretend that there is a scarcity1 sound the alarm1 and provoke a rise of prices8 ,public short-sightedness places the consumer at his mercy2 some change of temperature furnishes him a pretext2 the assured prospect of gain finally corrupts him1 and fear1 skilfully spread abroad1 throws the population into his toils4 ,certainly the motive which actuates the swindler1 the thief1 the assassin1 those natures warped1 it is said1 by the social order1 is the same which animates the monopolist who is not in need4 ,how1 then1 does this passion for gain1 abandoned to itself1 turn to the prejudice of society8 ,why has preventive1 repressive1 and coercive legislation always been necessary to set a limit to liberty8 ,for that is the accusing fact1 which it is impossible to deny3 everywhere the law has grown out of abuse2 everywhere the legislator has found himself forced to make man powerless to harm1 which is synonymous with muzzling a lion or infibulating a boar4 ,and socialism itself1 ever imitating the past1 makes no other pretence3 what is1 indeed1 the organization which it claims1 if not a stronger guarantee of justice1 a more complete limitation of liberty8 ,the characteristic trait of the merchant is to make everything either an object or an instrument of traffic4 ,disassociated from his fellows1 his interests separated from those of others1 he is for and against all deeds1 all opinions1 all parties4 ,a discovery1 a science1 is in his eyes an instrument of war1 out of the way of which he tries to keep1 and which he would like to annihilate1 unless he can make use of it himself to kill his competitors4 ,an artist1 an educated person1 is an artilleryman who knows how to handle the weapon1 and whom he tries to corrupt1 if he cannot win him4 ,the merchant is convinced that logic is the art of proving at will the true and the false2 he was the inventor of political venality1 traffic in consciences1 prostitution of talents1 corruption of the press4 ,he knows how to find arguments and advocates for all lies1 all iniquities4 ,he alone has never deceived himself as to the value of political parties3 he deems them all equally exploitable1--that is1 equally absurd4 ,without respect for his avowed opinions1 which he abandons and resumes by turns2 sharply pursuing in others those violations of faith of which he is himself guilty1--he lies in his claims1 he lies in his representations1 he lies in his inventories2 he exaggerates1 he extenuates1 he over-rates2 he regards himself as the centre of the world1 and everything outside of him has only a relative existence1 value1 and truth4 ,subtle and shrewd in his transactions1 he stipulates1 he reserves1 trembling always lest he may say too much or not enough2 abusing words with the simple1 generalizing in order not to compromise himself1 specifying in order to allow nothing1 he turns three times upon himself and thinks seven times under his chin before saying his last word4 ,has he at last concluded8 ,he rereads himself1 he interprets himself1 he comments on himself2 he tortures himself to find a deep meaning in every part of his contract1 and in the clearest phrases the opposite of what they say4 ,what infinite art1 what hypocrisy1 in his relations with the manual laborer6 ,from the simple shopkeeper to the big contractor1 how skilful they are in exploiting his arms6 ,how well they know how to contend with labor1 in order to obtain it at a low price6 ,in the first place1 it is a hope for which the master receives a slight service2 then it is a promise which he discounts by requiring some duty2 then a trial1 a sacrifice1--for he needs nobody1--which the unfortunate man must recognize by contenting himself with the lowest wages2 there are endless exactions and overcharges1 compensated by settlements on pay-days effected in the most rapacious and deceitful spirit4 ,and the workman must keep silent and bend the knee1 and clench his fist under his frock3 for the employer has the work1 and only too happy is he who can obtain the favor of his swindles4 ,and because society has not yet found a way to prevent1 repress1 and punish this odious grinding process1 so spontaneous1 so ingenuous1 so disengaged from all superior impulse1 it is attributed to social constraint4 ,what folly6 ,the commission-merchant is the type1 the highest expression1 of monopoly1 the embodiment of commerce1 that is1 of civilization4 ,every function depends upon his1 participates in it1 or is assimilated to it3 for1 as from the standpoint of the distribution of wealth the relations of men with each other are all reducible to exchanges1--that is1 to transfers of values1--it may be said that civilization is personified in the commission-merchant4 ,now1 question the commission-merchants as to the morality of their trade2 they will be frank with you2 all will tell you that the commission business is extortion4 ,complaints are made of the frauds and adulterations which disgrace manufactures3 commerce--,i refer especially to the commission business--is only a gigantic and permanent conspiracy of monopolists1 by turns competing or joined in pools2 it is not a function performed with a view to a legitimate profit1 but a vast organization of speculation in all articles of consumption1 as well as on the circulation of persons and products4 ,already swindling is tolerated in this profession3 how many way-bills overcharged1 erased1 altered6 how many stamps counterfeited6 how much damage concealed or fraudulently compounded6 how many lies as to quality6 how many promises given and retracted6 how many documents suppressed6 what intrigues and combinations6 and then what treasons6 ,the commission-merchant--that is1 the merchant--that is1 the man--is a gambler1 a slanderer1 a charlatan1 a mercenary1 a thief1 a forger4 4 4 4 ,this is the effect of our antagonistic society1 observe the neo-mystics4 ,so say the commercial people1 the first under all circumstances to accuse the corruption of the century4 ,they act as they do1 if we may believe them1 simply to indemnify themselves and wholly against their inclination3 they follow necessity2 theirs is a case of legitimate defence4 ,does it require an effort of genius to see that these mutual recriminations strike at the very nature of man1 that the pretended perversion of society is nothing but the perversion of man1 and that the opposition of principles and interests is only an external accident1 so to speak1 which brings into relief1 but without exerting a necessitating influence1 both the blackness of our egoism and the rare virtues with which our race is honored8 ,i understand inharmonious competition and its irresistible eliminating effects3 this is inevitable4 ,competition1 in its higher expression1 is the gearing by means of which laborers reciprocally stimulate and sustain each other4 ,but1 pending the realization of that organization which must elevate competition to its veritable nature1 it remains a civil war in which producers1 instead of aiding each other in labor1 grind and crush each other by labor4 ,the danger here was imminent2 man1 to avert it1 had this supreme law of love2 and nothing was easier1 while pushing competition to its extreme limits in the interest of production1 than to then repair its murderous effects by an equitable distribution4 ,far from that1 this anarchical competition has become1 as it were1 the soul and spirit of the laborer4 ,political economy placed in the hands of man this weapon of death1 and he has struck2 he has used competition1 as the lion uses his paws and jaws1 to kill and devour4 ,how is it1 then1 ,i repeat1 that a wholly external accident has changed the nature of man1 which is supposed to be good and gentle and social8 ,the wine merchant calls to his aid jelly1 magnin1 insects1 water1 and poisons2 by combinations of his own he adds to the destructive effects of competition4 ,whence comes this mania8 ,from the fact1 you say1 that his competitor sets him the example6 ,and this competitor1 who incites him8 ,some other competitor4 ,so that1 if we make the tour of society1 we shall find that it is the mass1 and in the mass each particular individual1 who1 by a tacit agreement of their passions1--pride1 indolence1 greed1 distrust1 jealousy1--have organized this detestable war4 ,after having gathered about him tools1 material1 and workmen1 the contractor must recover in the product1 besides the amount of his outlay1 first the interest of his capital1 and then a profit4 ,it is in consequence of this principle that lending at interest has finally become established1 and that gain1 considered in itself1 has always passed for legitimate4 ,under this system1 the police of nations not having seen at first the essential contradiction of loans at interest1 the wage-worker1 instead of depending directly upon himself1 had to depend upon an employer1 as the soldier belonged to the count1 or the tribe to the patriarch4 ,this order of things was necessary1 and1 pending the establishment of complete equality1 it was not impossible that the welfare of all should be secured by it4 ,but when the master1 in his disorderly egoism1 has said to the servant3 ,you shall not share with me1 and robbed him at one stroke of labor and wages1 where is the necessity1 where the excuse8 ,will it be necessary further1 in order to justify the ,,concupiscible ,,appetite1 to fall back on the ,,irascible ,,appetite8 ,take care3 in drawing back in order to justify the human being in the series of his lusts1 instead of saving his morality1 you abandon it4 ,for my part1 ,i prefer the guilty man to the wild-beast man4 ,nature has made man sociable3 the spontaneous development of his instincts now makes him an angel of charity1 now robs him even of the sentiment of fraternity and the idea of devotion4 ,did any one ever see a capitalist1 weary of gain1 conspiring for the general good and making the emancipation of the proletariat his last speculation8 ,there are many people1 favorites of fortune1 to whom nothing is lacking but the crown of beneficence3 now1 where is the grocer who1 having grown rich1 begins to sell at cost8 ,where the baker who1 retiring from business1 leaves his customers and his establishment to his assistants8 ,where the apothecary who1 under the pretence of winding up his affairs1 surrenders his drugs at their true value8 ,when charity has its martyrs1 why has it not its amateurs8 ,if there should suddenly be formed a congress of bondholders1 capitalists1 and men of business1 retired but still fit for service1 with a view to carrying on a certain number of industries gratuitously1 in a short time society would be reformed from top to bottom4 ,but work for nothing6 ,that is for the ,vincent de ,pauls1 the ,fenelons1 all those whose souls have always been weaned and whose hearts have been pure4 ,the man enriched by gain will be a municipal councillor1 a member of the committee on charities1 an officer of the infant schools3 he will perform all the honorary functions1 barring exactly that which would be efficacious1 but which is repugnant to his habits4 ,work without hope of profits6 ,that cannot be1 for it would be self-destruction4 ,he would like to1 perhaps2 he has not the courage4 ,video meliora proboque1 deteriora sequor4 ,the retired proprietor is really the owl of the fable gathering beech-nuts for its mutilated mice until it is ready to devour them4 ,is society also to be blamed for these effects of a passion so long1 so freely1 so fully gratified8 ,who1 then1 will explain this mystery of a manifold and discordant being1 capable at once of the highest virtues and the most frightful crimes8 ,the dog licks his master who strikes him1 because the dog's nature is fidelity and this nature never leaves him4 ,the lamb takes refuge in the arms of the shepherd who fleeces and eats him1 because the sheep's inseparable characteristics are gentleness and peace4 ,the horse dashes through flame and grape-shot without touching with his swiftly-moving feet the wounded and dead lying in his path1 because the horse's soul is unalterable in its generosity4 ,these animals are martyrs for our sakes through the constancy and devotion of their natures4 ,the servant who defends his master at the peril of his life1 for a little gold betrays and murders him2 the chaste wife pollutes her bed because of some disgust or absence1 and in ,lucrece we find ,messalina2 the proprietor1 by turns father and tyrant1 refits and restores his ruined farmer and drives from his lands the farmer's too numerous family1 which has increased on the strength of the feudal contract2 the warrior1 mirror and paragon of chivalry1 makes the corpses of his companions a stepping- stone to advancement4 ,epaminondas and ,regulus traffic in the blood of their soldiers1--how many instances have my own eyes witnessed6--and by a horrible contrast the profession of sacrifice is the most fruitful in cowardice4 ,humanity has its martyrs and its apostates3 to what1 ,i ask again1 must this division be attributed8 ,to the antagonism of society1 you always say2 to the state of separation1 isolation1 hostility to his fellows1 in which man has hitherto lived2 in a word1 to that alienation of his heart which has led him to mistake enjoyment for love1 property for possession1 pain for labor1 intoxication for joy2 to that warped conscience1 in short1 which remorse has not ceased to pursue under the name of ,,original ,,sin4 ,when man1 reconciled with himself1 shall cease to look upon his neighbor and nature as hostile powers1 then will he love and produce simply by the spontaneity of his energy2 then it will be his passion to give1 as it is today to acquire2 and then will he seek in labor and devotion his only happiness1 his supreme delight4 ,then1 love becoming really and indivisibly the law of man1 justice will thereafter be but an empty name1 painful souvenir of a period of violence and tears4 ,certainly ,i do not overlook the fact of antagonism1 or1 as it will please you to call it1 of religious alienation1 any more than the necessity of reconciling man with himself2 my whole philosophy is but a perpetuity of reconciliations4 ,you admit that the divergence of our nature is the preliminary of society1 or1 let us rather say1 the material of civilization4 ,this is precisely the fact1 but1 remember well1 the indestructible fact of which ,i seek the meaning4 ,certainly we should be very near an understanding1 if1 instead of considering the dissidence and harmony of the human faculties as two distinct periods1 clean-cut and consecutive in history1 you would consent to view them with me simply as the two faces of our nature1 ever adverse1 ever in course of reconciliation1 but never entirely reconciled4 ,in a word1 as individualism is the primordial fact of humanity1 so association is its complementary term2 but both are in incessant manifestation1 and on earth justice is eternally the condition of love4 ,thus the dogma of the fall is not simply the expression of a special and transitory state of human reason and morality3 it is the spontaneous confession1 in symbolic phrase1 of this fact as astonishing as it is indestructible1 the culpability1 the inclination to evil1 of our race4 ,curse upon me a sinner6 cries on every hand and in every tongue the conscience of the human race4 ,vae nobis quia peccavimus6 ,religion1 in giving this idea concrete and dramatic form1 has indeed gone back of history and beyond the limits of the world for that which is essential and immanent in our soul2 this1 on its part1 was but an intellectual mirage2 it was not mistaken as to the essentiality and permanence of the fact4 ,now1 it is this fact for which we have to account1 and it is also from this point of view that we are to interpret the dogma of original sin4 ,all peoples have had their expiatory customs1 their penitential sacrifices1 their repressive and penal institutions1 born of the horror and regret of sin4 ,catholicism1 which built a theory wherever social spontaneity had expressed an idea or deposited a hope1 converted into a sacrament the at once symbolic and effective ceremony by which the sinner expressed his repentance1 asked pardon of ,god and men for his fault1 and prepared himself for a better life4 ,consequently ,i do not hesitate to say that the ,reformation1 in rejecting contrition1 cavilling over the word metanoia1 attributing to faith alone the virtue of justification1 deconsecrating repentance in short1 took a step backward and utterly failed to recognize the law of progress4 ,to deny was not to reply4 ,on this point as on so many others the abuses of the ,church called for reform2 the theories of repentance1 of damnation1 of the remission of sin1 and of grace contained1 if ,i may venture to say so1 in a latent state1 the entire system of humanity's education2 these theories needed to be developed and grown into rationalism2 ,luther knew nothing but their destruction4 ,auricular confession was a degradation of repentance1 an equivocal demonstration substituted for a great act of humility2 ,luther surpassed papist hypocrisy by reducing the primitive confession before ,god and men 7exomologoumai to theo4 4 4 4 kai humin1 adelphoi7 to a soliloquy4 ,the ,christian meaning then was lost1 and not until three centuries later was it restored by philosophy4 ,since1 then1 ,christianity--that is1 religious humanity--has not been in error as to the ,,reality of a fact essential in human nature1--a fact which it has designated by the words ,,original ,,prevarication1 let us further interrogate ,christianity1 humanity1 as to the ,,meaning of this fact4 ,let us not be astonished either by metaphor or by allegory3 truth is independent of figures4 ,and besides1 what is truth to us but the continuous progress of our mind from poetry to prose8 ,and first let us inquire whether this at least singular idea of original prevarication had not1 somewhere in the ,christian theology1 its correlative4 ,for the true idea1 the generic idea1 cannot result from an isolated conception2 there must be a series4 ,christianity1 after having posited the dogma of the fall as the first term1 followed up its thought by affirming1 for all who should die in this state of pollution1 an irrevocable separation from ,god1 an eternity of punishment4 ,then it completed its theory by reconciling these two opposites by the dogma of rehabilitation or of grace1 according to which every creature born in the hatred of ,god is reconciled by the merits of ,jesus ,christ1 which faith and repentance render efficacious4 ,thus1 essential corruption of our nature and perpetuity of punishment1 except in the case of redemption through voluntary participation in ,christ's sacrifice1--such is1 in brief1 the evolution of the theological idea4 ,the second affirmation is a consequence of the first2 the third is a negation and transformation of the two others3 in fact1 a constitutional vice being necessarily indestructible1 the expiation which it involves is as eternal as itself1 unless a superior power comes to break destiny and lift the anathema by an integral renovation4 ,the human mind1 in its religious caprices as well as in its most positive theories1 has always but one method2 the same metaphysics produced the ,christian mysteries and the contradictions of political economy2 faith1 without knowing it1 hangs upon reason2 and we1 explorers of divine and human manifestations1 are entitled to verify1 in the name of reason1 the hypotheses of theology4 ,what was it1 then1 that the universal reason1 formulated in religious dogmas1 saw in human nature1 when1 by so regular a metaphysical construction1 it declared successively the ,,ingenuousness of the offence1 the eternity of the penalty1 the necessity of grace8 ,the veils of theology are becoming so transparent that it quite resembles natural history4 ,if we conceive the operation by which the supreme being is supposed to have produced all beings1 no longer as an emanation1 an exertion of the creative force and infinite substance1 but as a division or differentiation of this substantial force1 each being1 organized or unorganized1 will appear to us the special representative of one of the innumerable potentialities of the infinite being1 as a section of the absolute2 and the collection of all these individualities 7fluids1 minerals1 plants1 insects1 fish1 birds1 and quadrupeds7 will be the creation1 the universe4 ,man1 an abridgment of the universe1 sums up and syncretizes in his person all the potentialities of being1 all the sections of the absolute2 he is the summit at which these potentialities1 which exist only by their divergence1 meet in a group1 but without penetrating or becoming confounded with each other4 ,man1 therefore1 by this aggregation1 is at once spirit and matter1 spontaneity and reflection1 mechanism and life1 angel and brute4 ,he is venomous like the viper1 sanguinary like the tiger1 gluttonous like the hog1 obscene like the ape2 and devoted like the dog1 generous like the horse1 industrious like the bee1 monogamic like the dove1 sociable like the beaver and sheep4 ,and in addition he is man1--that is1 reasonable and free1 susceptible of education and improvement4 ,man enjoys as many names as ,jupiter2 all these names he carries written on his face2 and1 in the varied mirror of nature1 his infallible instinct is able to recognize them4 ,a serpent is beautiful to the reason2 it is the conscience that finds it odious and ugly4 ,the ancients as well as the moderns grasped this idea of the constitution of man by agglomeration of all terrestrial potentialities3 the labors of ,gall and ,lavater were1 if ,i may say so1 only attempts at disintegration of the human syncretism1 and their classification of our faculties a miniature picture of nature4 ,man1 in short1 like the prophet in the lions' den1 is veritably given over to the beasts2 and if anything is destined to exhibit to posterity the infamous hypocrisy of our epoch1 it is the fact that educated persons1 spiritualistic bigots1 have thought to serve religion and morality by altering the nature of our race and giving the lie to anatomy4 ,therefore the only question left to decide is whether it depends upon man1 notwithstanding the contradictions which the progressive emission of his ideas multiplies around him1 to give more or less scope to the potentialities placed under his control1 or1 as the moralists say1 to his passions2 in other words1 whether1 like ,hercules of old1 he can conquer the animality which besets him1 the infernal legion which seems ever ready to devour him4 ,now1 the universal consent of peoples bears witness--and we have shown it in the third and fourth chapters--that man1 all his animal impulses set aside1 is summed up in intelligence and liberty1--that is1 first1 a faculty of appreciation and choice1 and1 second1 a power of action indifferently applicable to good and evil4 ,we have shown further that these two faculties1 which exercise a necessary influence over each other1 are susceptible of indefinite development and improvement4 ,social destiny1 the solution of the human enigma1 is found1 then1 in these words3 ,,education1 ,,progress4 ,the education of liberty1 the taming of our instincts1 the enfranchisement or ,,redemption of our soul1--this1 then1 as ,lessing has proved1 is the meaning of the ,christian mystery4 ,this education will last throughout our life and that of humanity3 the contradictions of political economy may be solved2 the essential contradiction of our being never will be4 ,that is why the great teachers of humanity1 ,moses1 ,buddha1 ,jesus ,christ1 ,zoroaster1 were all apostles of expiation1 living symbols of repentance4 ,man is by nature a sinner1--that is1 not essentially ,,ill-,,doing1 but rather ,,ill-,,done1-- and it is his destiny to perpetually re-create his ideal in himself4 ,that is what the greatest of painters1 ,raphael1 felt profoundly1 when he said that art consists in rendering things1 not as nature made them1 but as it should have made them4 ,henceforth1 then1 it is ours to teach the theologians1 for we alone continue the tradition of the ,church1 we alone possess the meaning of the ,scriptures1 of the ,councils1 and of the ,fathers4 ,our interpretation rests on the most certain and most authentic grounds1 on the greatest authority to which men can appeal1 the metaphysical construction of ideas and facts4 ,yes1 the human being is vicious because he is illogical1 because his constitution is but an eclecticism which holds in perpetual struggle the potentialities of his being1 independently of the contradictions of society4 ,the life of man is only a continual compromise between labor and pain1 love and enjoyment1 justice and egoism2 and the voluntary sacrifice which man makes in obedience to his inferior attractions is the baptism which prepares the way for his reconciliation with ,god and renders him worthy of that beatific union and eternal happiness4 ,the object of social economy1 in incessantly securing order in labor and favoring the education of the race1 is then to render charity--that charity which knows not how to rule its slaves--superfluous as far as possible by equality1 or better1 to make charity develop from justice1 as a flower from its stem4 ,ah6 if charity had had the power to create happiness among men1 it would have proved it long ago2 and socialism1 instead of seeking the organization of labor1 would have had but to say3 ,take care1 you are lacking in charity4 ,but1 alas6 charity in man is stunted1 sly1 sluggish1 and lukewarm2 in order to act1 it needs elixirs and aromas4 ,that is why ,i have clung to the triple dogma of prevarication1 damnation1 and redemption1--that is1 perfectibility through justice4 ,liberty here below is always in need of assistance1 and the ,catholic theory of celestial favors comes to complete this too real demonstration of the miseries of our nature4 ,grace1 say the theologians1 is1 in the order of salvation1 every help or means which can conduct us to eternal life4 ,that is to say1 man perfects himself1 civilizes himself1 humanizes himself only by the incessant aid of experience1 by industry1 science1 and art1 by pleasure and pain1 in a word1 by all bodily and mental exercises4 ,there is an ,,habitual grace1 called also ,,justifying and ,,sanctifying1 which is conceived as a quality residing in the soul1 containing the innate virtues and gifts of the ,holy ,spirit1 and inseparable from charity4 ,in other words1 habitual grace is the symbol of the predominance of good impulses1 which lead man to order and love1 and by means of which he succeeds in subduing his evil tendencies and remaining master in his own domain4 ,as for ,,actual grace1 that indicates the external means which give scope to the orderly passions and serve to combat the subversive passions4 ,grace1 according to ,saint ,augustine1 is essentially gratuitous1 and precedes sin in man4 ,bossuet expressed the same thought in his style so full of poesy and tenderness3 ,when ,god formed the bowels of man1 he originally placed goodness there4 ,in fact1 the first determination of free will is in this natural ,,goodness1 by which man is continually incited to order1 to labor1 to study1 to modesty1 to charity1 and to sacrifice4 ,therefore ,saint ,paul could say1 without attacking free will1 that1 in everything concerning the accomplishment of good1 ,god worketh in us both to will and to do4 ,for all the holy aspirations of man are in him before he begins to think and feel2 and the pangs of heart which he experiences when he violates them1 the delight with which he is filled when he obeys them1 all the invitations1 in short1 which come to him from society and his education1 do not belong to him4 ,when grace is such that the will chooses the good with joy and love1 without hesitation and without recall1 it is styled ,,efficacious4 ,every one has witnessed those transports of soul which suddenly decide a vocation1 an act of heroism4 ,liberty does not perish therein2 but from its predeterminations it may be said that it was inevitable that it should so decide4 ,and the ,pelagians1 ,lutherans1 and others have been mistaken in saying that grace compromised free choice and killed the creative force of the will2 since all determinations of the will come necessarily either from society which sustains it1 or from nature which opens its career and points out its destiny4 ,but1 on the other hand1 the ,augustinians1 the ,thomists1 the congruists1 ,jansen1 ,thomassin1 ,molina1 etc41 were strangely mistaken when1 sustaining at once free will and grace1 they failed to see that between these two terms the same relation exists as between substance and form1 and that they have confessed an opposition which does not exist4 ,liberty1 like intelligence1 like all substance and all force1 is necessarily determined1--that is1 it has its forms and its attributes4 ,now1 while in matter the form and the attribute are inherent in and contemporary with substance1 in liberty the form is given by three external agents1 as it were1--the human essence1 the laws of thought1 exercise or education4 ,,grace1 in fine1 like its opposite1 ,,temptation1 indicates precisely the fact of the determination of liberty4 ,to sum up1 all modern ideas regarding the education of humanity are only an interpretation1 a philosophy of the ,catholic doctrine of grace1 a doctrine which seemed obscure to its authors only because of their ideas upon free will1 which they supposed to be threatened as soon as grace or the source of its determinations was spoken of4 ,we affirm1 on the contrary1 that liberty1 indifferent in itself to all modality1 but destined to act and to take shape according to a preestablished order1 receives its first impulse from the ,creator who inspires it with love1 intelligence1 courage1 resolution1 and all the gifts of the ,holy ,spirit1 and then delivers it to the labor of experience4 ,it follows from this that grace is necessarily ,,pre-,,moving1 that without it man is capable of no sort of good1 and that nevertheless free will accomplishes its own destiny spontaneously1 with reflection and choice4 ,in all this there is neither contradiction nor mystery4 ,man1 in so far as he is man1 is good2 but1 like the tyrant described by ,plato1 who was1 he too1 a teacher of grace1 man carries in his bosom a thousand monsters1 which the worship of justice and science1 music and gymnastics1 all the graces of opportunity and condition1 must cause him to overcome4 ,correct one definition in ,saint ,augustine1 and all that doctrine of grace1 famous because of the disputes which it excited and which disconcerted the ,reformation1 will seem to you brilliant with clearness and harmony4 ,and now is man ,god8 ,god1 according to the theological hypothesis1 being the sovereign1 absolute1 highly synthetic being1 the infinitely wise and free1 and therefore indefectible and holy1 ,me1 it is plain that man1 the syncretism of the creation1 the point of union of all the potentialities manifested by the creation1 physical1 organic1 mental1 and moral2 man1 perfectible and fallible1 does not satisfy the conditions of ,divinity as he1 from the nature of his mind1 must conceive them4 ,neither is he ,god1 nor can he1 living1 become ,god4 ,all the more1 then1 the oak1 the lion1 the sun1 the universe itself1 sections of the absolute1 are not ,god4 ,at the same stroke the worship of man and the worship of nature are overthrown4 ,now we have to present the counter-proof of this theory4 ,from the standpoint of social contradictions we have judged of the morality of man4 ,we are to judge1 in its turn and from the same standpoint1 the morality of ,providence4 ,in other words1 is ,god possible1 as speculation and faith offer him for the adoration of mortals8 #b4--;,exposition of the myth of ,providence4--,retrogression of ,god4 ,among the proofs1 to the number of three1 which theologians and philosophers are accustomed to bring forward to show the existence of a ,god1 they give the foremost position to universal consent4 ,this argument ,i considered when1 without rejecting or admitting it1 ,i promptly asked myself3 ,what does universal consent affirm in affirming a ,god8 ,and in this connection ,i should recall the fact that the difference of religions is not a proof that the human race has fallen into error in affirming a supreme ,me outside of itself1 any more than the diversity of languages is a proof of the non-reality of reason4 ,the hypothesis of ,god1 far from being weakened1 is strengthened and established by the very divergence and opposition of faiths4 ,an argument of another sort is that which is drawn from the order of the world4 ,in regard to this ,i have observed that1 nature affirming spontaneously1 by the voice of man1 its own distinction into mind and matter1 it remained to find out whether an infinite mind1 a soul of the world1 governs and moves the universe1 as conscience1 in its obscure intuition1 tells us that a mind animates man4 ,if1 then1 ,i added1 order were an infallible sign of the presence of mind1 the presence of a ,god in the universe could not be overlooked4 ,unfortunately this ,,if is not demonstrated and cannot be4 ,for1 on the one hand1 pure mind1 conceived as the opposite of matter1 is a contradictory entity1 the reality of which1 consequently1 nothing can attest4 ,on the other hand1 certain beings ordered in themselves--such as crystals1 plants1 and the planetary system1 which1 in the sensations that they make us feel1 do not return us sentiment for sentiment1 as the animals do--seeming to us utterly destitute of conscience1 there is no more reason for supposing a mind in the centre of the world than for placing one in a stick of sulphur2 and it may be that1 if mind1 conscience1 exists anywhere1 it is only in man4 ,nevertheless1 if the order of the world can tell us nothing as to the existence of ,god1 it reveals a thing no less precious perhaps1 and which will serve us as a landmark in our inquiries1--namely1 that all beings1 all essences1 all phenomena are bound together by a totality of laws resulting from their properties1 a totality which in the third chapter ,i have named ,,fatality or ,,necessity4 ,whether or not there exists then an infinite intelligence1 embracing the whole system of these laws1 the whole field of fatalism2 whether or not to this infinite intelligence is united in profound penetration a superior will1 eternally determined by the totality of the cosmic laws and consequently infinitely powerful and free2 whether or not1 finally1 these three things1 fatality1 intelligence1 will1 are contemporary in the universe1 adequate to each other and identical1--it is clear that so far we find nothing repugnant to these positions2 but it is precisely this hypothesis1 this anthropomorphism1 which is yet to be demonstrated4 ,thus1 while the testimony of the human race reveals to us a ,god1 without saying what this ,god may be1 the order of the world reveals to us a fatality1--that is1 an absolute and peremptory totality of causes and effects1--in short1 a system of laws1--which would be1 if ,god exists1 like the sight and knowledge of this ,god4 ,the third and last proof of the existence of ,god proposed by the theists and called by them the metaphysical proof is nothing but a tautological construction of categories1 which proves absolutely nothing4 ,something exists2 therefore there is something in existence4 ,something is multiple2 therefore something is one4 ,something comes after something2 therefore something is prior to something4 ,something is smaller of greater than something2 therefore something is greater than all things4 ,something is moved2 therefore something is mover1 etc41 ad infinitum4 ,that is what is called even today1 in the faculties and the seminaries1 by the minister of public education and by ,messeigneurs the bishops1 proving the existence of ,god by metaphysics4 ,that is what the elite of the ,french youth are condemned to bleat after their professors1 for a year1 or else forfeit their diplomas and the privilege of studying law1 medicine1 polytechnics1 and the sciences4 ,certainly1 if anything is calculated to surprise1 it is that with such philosophy ,europe is not yet atheistic4 ,the persistence of the theistic idea by the side of the jargon of the schools is the greatest of miracles2 it constitutes the strongest prejudice that can be cited in favor of ,divinity4 ,i do not know what humanity calls ,god4 ,i cannot say whether it is man1 the universe1 or some invisible reality that we are to understand by that name2 or indeed whether the word stands for anything more than an ideal1 a creature of the mind4 ,nevertheless1 to give body to my hypothesis and influence to my inquiries1 ,i shall consider ,god in accordance with the common opinion1 as a being apart1 omnipresent1 distinct from creation1 endowed with imperishable life as well as infinite knowledge and activity1 but above all foreseeing and just1 punishing vice and rewarding virtue4 ,i shall put aside the pantheistic hypothesis as hypocritical and lacking courage4 ,god is personal1 or he does not exist3 this alternative is the axiom from which ,i shall deduce my entire theodicy4 ,not concerning myself therefore for the present with questions which the idea of ,god may raise later1 the problem before me now is to decide1 in view of the facts the evolution of which in society ,i have established1 what ,i should think of the conduct of ,god1 as it is held up for my faith and relatively to humanity4 ,in short1 it is from the standpoint of the demonstrated existence of evil that ,i1 with the aid of a new dialectical process1 mean to fathom the ,supreme ,being4 ,evil exists3 upon this point everybody seems to agree4 ,now1 have asked the stoics1 the ,epicureans1 the manicheans1 and the atheists1 how harmonize the presence of evil with the idea of a sovereignly good1 wise1 and powerful ,god8 ,how can ,god1 after allowing the introduction of evil into the world1 whether through weakness or negligence or malice1 render responsible for their acts creatures which he himself has created imperfect1 and which he thus delivers to all the dangers of their attractions8 ,why1 finally1 since he promises the just a never-ending bliss after death1 or1 in other words1 gives us the idea and desire of happiness1 does he not cause us to enjoy this life by stripping us of the temptation of evil1 instead of exposing us to an eternity of torture8 ,such used to be the purport of the protest of the atheists4 ,today this is scarcely discussed3 the theists are no longer troubled by the logical impossibilities of their system4 ,they want a ,god1 especially a ,providence3 there is competition for this article between the radicals and the ,jesuits4 ,the socialists preach happiness and virtue in the name of ,god2 in the schools those who talk the loudest against the ,church are the first of mystics4 ,the old theists were more anxious about their faith4 ,they tried1 if not to demonstrate it1 at least to render it reasonable1 feeling sure1 unlike their successors1 that there is neither dignity nor rest for the believer except in certainty4 ,the ,fathers of the ,church then answered the incredulous that evil is only ,,deprivation ,,of ,a ,,greater ,,good1 and that those who always reason about the ,,better lack a point of support upon which to establish themselves1 which leads straight to absurdity4 ,in fact1 every creature being necessarily confined and imperfect1 ,god1 by his infinite power1 can continually add to his perfections3 in this respect there is always1 in some degree1 a deprivation of good in the creature4 ,reciprocally1 however imperfect and confined the creature is supposed to be1 from the moment that it exists it enjoys a certain degree of good1 better for it than annihilation4 ,therefore1 though it is a rule that man is considered good only so far as he accomplishes all the good that he can1 it is not the same with ,god1 since the obligation to do good infinitely is contradictory to the very faculty of creation1 perfection and creature being two terms that necessarily exclude each other4 ,god1 then1 was sole judge of the degree of perfection which it was proper to give to each creature3 to prefer a charge against him under this head is to slander his justice4 ,as for sin1--that is1 moral evil1--the ,fathers1 to reply to the objections of the atheists1 had the theories of free will1 redemption1 justification1 and grace1 to the discussion of which we need not return4 ,i have no knowledge that the atheists have replied categorically to this theory of the essential imperfection of the creature1 a theory reproduced with brilliancy by ,m4 de ,lamennais in his ,esquisse4 ,it was impossible1 indeed1 for them to reply to it2 for1 reasoning from a false conception of evil and of free will1 and in profound ignorance of the laws of humanity1 they were equally without reasons by which either to triumph over their own doubts or to refute the believers4 ,let us leave the sphere of the finite and infinite1 and place ourselves in the conception of order4 ,can ,god make a round circle1 a right-angled square8 ,certainly4 ,would ,god be guilty if1 after having created the world according to the laws of geometry1 he had put it into our minds1 or even allowed us to believe without fault of our own1 that a circle may be square or a square circular1 though1 in consequence of this false opinion1 we should have to suffer an incalculable series of evils8 ,again1 undoubtedly4 ,well6 that is exactly what ,god1 the ,god of ,providence1 has done in the government of humanity2 it is of that that ,i accuse him4 ,he knew from all eternity--inasmuch as we mortals have discovered it after six thousand years of painful experience--that order in society--that is1 liberty1 wealth1 science--is realized by the reconciliation of opposite ideas which1 were each to be taken as absolute in itself1 would precipitate us into an abyss of misery3 why did he not warn us8 ,why did he not correct our judgment at the start8 ,why did he abandon us to our imperfect logic1 especially when our egoism must find a pretext in his acts of injustice and perfidy8 ,he knew1 this jealous ,god1 that1 if he exposed us to the hazards of experience1 we should not find until very late that security of life which constitutes our entire happiness3 why did he not abridge this long apprenticeship by a revelation of our own laws8 ,why1 instead of fascinating us with contradictory opinions1 did he not reverse experience by causing us to reach the antinomies by the path of analysis of synthetic ideas1 instead of leaving us to painfully clamber up the steeps of antinomy to synthesis8 ,if1 as was formerly thought1 the evil from which humanity suffers arose solely from the imperfection inevitable in every creature1 or better1 if this evil were caused only by the antagonism of the potentialities and inclinations which constitute our being1 and which reason should teach us to master and guide1 we should have no right to complain4 ,our condition being all that it could be1 ,god would be justified4 ,but1 in view of this wilful delusion of our minds1 a delusion which it was so easy to dissipate and the effects of which must be so terrible1 where is the excuse of ,providence8 ,is it not true that grace failed man here8 ,god1 whom faith represents as a tender father and a prudent master1 abandons us to the fatality of our incomplete conceptions2 he digs the ditch under our feet2 he causes us to move blindly3 and then1 at every fall1 he punishes us as rascals4 ,what do ,i say8 ,it seems as if it were in spite of him that at last1 covered with bruises from our journey1 we recognize our road2 as if we offended his glory in becoming more intelligent and free through the trials which he imposes upon us4 ,what need1 then1 have we to continually invoke ,divinity1 and what have we to do with those satellites of a ,providence which for sixty centuries1 by the aid of a thousand religions1 has deceived and misled us8 ,what6 ,god1 through his gospel-bearers and by the law which he has put in our hearts1 commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves1 to do to others as we wish to be done by1 to render each his due1 not to keep back anything from the laborer's hire1 and not to lend at usury2 he knows1 moreover1 that in us charity is lukewarm and conscience vacillating1 and that the slightest pretext always seems to us a sufficient reason for exemption from the law3 and yet he involves us1 with such dispositions1 in the contradictions of commerce and property1 in which1 by the necessity of the theory1 charity and justice are bound to perish6 ,instead of enlightening our reason concerning the bearing of principles which impose themselves upon it with all the power of necessity1 but whose consequences1 adopted by egoism1 are fatal to human fraternity1 he places this abused reason at the service of our passion2 by seduction of the mind1 he destroys our equilibrium of conscience2 he justifies in our own eyes our usurpations and our avarice2 he makes the separation of man from his fellow inevitable and legitimate2 he creates division and hatred among us in rendering equality by labor and by right impossible2 he makes us believe that this equality1 the law of the world1 is unjust among men2 and then he proscribes us en masse for not having known how to practise his incomprehensible precepts6 ,i believe ,i have proved1 to be sure1 that our abandonment by ,providence does not justify us2 but1 whatever our crime1 toward it we are not guilty2 and if there is a being who1 before ourselves and more than ourselves1 is deserving of hell1--,i am bound to name him1--it is ,god4 ,when the theists1 in order to establish their dogma of ,providence1 cite the order of nature as a proof1 although this argument is only a begging of the question1 at least it cannot be said that it involves a contradiction1 and that the fact cited bears witness against the hypothesis4 ,in the system of the world1 for instance1 nothing betrays the smallest anomaly1 the slightest lack of foresight1 from which any prejudice whatever can be drawn against the idea of a supreme1 intelligent1 personal motor4 ,in short1 though the order of nature does not prove the reality of a ,providence1 it does not contradict it4 ,it is a very different thing with the government of humanity4 ,here order does not appear at the same time as matter2 it was not created1 as in the system of the world1 once and for eternity4 ,it is gradually developed according to an inevitable series of principles and consequences which the human being himself1 the being to be ordered1 must disengage spontaneously1 by his own energy and at the solicitation of experience4 ,no revelation regarding this is given him4 ,man is submitted at his origin to a preestablished necessity1 to an absolute and irresistible order4 ,that this order may be realized1 man must discover it2 that it may exist1 he must have divined it4 ,this labor of invention might be abridged2 no one1 either in heaven or on earth1 will come to man's aid2 no one will instruct him4 ,humanity1 for hundreds of centuries1 will devour its generations2 it will exhaust itself in blood and mire1 without the ,god whom it worships coming once to illuminate its reason and abridge its time of trial4 ,where is divine action here8 ,where is ,providence8 ,,if ,,god ,,did ,,not ,,exist1--it is ,voltaire1 the enemy of religions1 who says so1--,,it ,,would ,,be ,,necessary ,,to ,,invent ,,him4 ,why8 ,because1 adds the same ,voltaire1 if ,i were dealing with an atheist prince whose interest it might be to have me pounded in a mortar1 ,i am very sure that ,i should be pounded4 ,strange aberration of a great mind6 ,and if you were dealing with a pious prince1 whose confessor1 speaking in the name of ,god1 should command that you be burned alive1 would you not be very sure of being burned also8 ,do you forget1 then1 anti-,christ1 the ,inquisition1 and the ,saint ,bartholomew1 and the stakes of ,vanini and ,bruno1 and the tortures of ,galileo1 and the martyrdom of so many free thinkers8 ,do not try to distinguish here between use and abuse3 for ,i should reply to you that from a mystical and supernatural principle1 from a principle which embraces everything1 which explains everything1 which justifies everything1 such as the idea of ,god1 all consequences are legitimate1 and that the zeal of the believer is the sole judge of their propriety4 ,i once believed1 says ,rousseau1 that it was possible to be an honest man and dispense with ,god2 but ,i have recovered from that error4 ,fundamentally the same argument as that of ,voltaire1 the same justification of intolerance3 ,man does good and abstains from evil only through consideration of a ,providence which watches over him2 a curse on those who deny its existence6 ,and1 to cap the climax of absurdity1 the man who thus seeks for our virtue the sanction of a ,divinity who rewards and punishes is the same man who teaches the native goodness of man as a religious dogma4 ,and for my part ,i say3 ,the first duty of man1 on becoming intelligent and free1 is to continually hunt the idea of ,god out of his mind and conscience4 ,for ,god1 if he exists1 is essentially hostile to our nature1 and we do not depend at all upon his authority4 ,we arrive at knowledge in spite of him1 at comfort in spite of him1 at society in spite of him2 every step we take in advance is a victory in which we crush ,divinity4 ,let it no longer be said that the ways of ,god are impenetrable4 ,we have penetrated these ways1 and there we have read in letters of blood the proofs of ,god's impotence1 if not of his malevolence4 ,my reason1 long humiliated1 is gradually rising to a level with the infinite2 with time it will discover all that its inexperience hides from it2 with time ,i shall be less and less a worker of misfortune1 and by the light that ,i shall have acquired1 by the perfection of my liberty1 ,i shall purify myself1 idealize my being1 and become the chief of creation1 the equal of ,god4 ,a single moment of disorder which the ,omnipotent might have prevented and did not prevent accuses his ,providence and shows him lacking in wisdom2 the slightest progress which man1 ignorant1 abandoned1 and betrayed1 makes towards good honors him immeasurably4 ,by what right should ,god still say to me3 ,,be ,,holy1 ,,for ,i ,,am ,,holy8 ,lying spirit1 ,i will answer him1 imbecile ,god1 your reign is over2 look to the beasts for other victims4 ,i know that ,i am not holy and never can become so2 and how could you be holy1 if ,i resemble you8 ,eternal father1 ,jupiter or ,jehovah1 we have learned to know you2 you are1 you were1 you ever will be1 the jealous rival of ,adam1 the tyrant of ,prometheus4 ,so ,i do not fall into the sophism refuted by ,st4 ,paul1 when he forbids the vase to say to the potter3 ,why hast thou made me thus8 ,i do not blame the author of things for having made me an inharmonious creature1 an incoherent assemblage2 ,i could exist only in such a condition4 ,i content myself with crying out to him3 ,why do you deceive me8 ,why1 by your silence1 have you unchained egoism within me8 ,why have you submitted me to the torture of universal doubt by the bitter illusion of the antagonistic ideas which you have put in my mind8 ,doubt of truth1 doubt of justice1 doubt of my conscience and my liberty1 doubt of yourself1 ,o ,god6 and1 as a result of this doubt1 necessity of war with myself and with my neighbor6 ,that1 supreme ,father1 is what you have done for our happiness and your glory2 such1 from the beginning1 have been your will and your government2 such the bread1 kneaded in blood and tears1 upon which you have fed us4 ,the sins which we ask you to forgive1 you caused us to commit2 the traps from which we implore you to deliver us1 you set for us2 and the ,satan who besets us is yourself4 ,you triumphed1 and no one dared to contradict you1 when1 after having tormented in his body and in his soul the righteous ,job1 a type of our humanity1 you insulted his candid piety1 his prudent and respectful ignorance4 ,we were as naught before your invisible majesty1 to whom we gave the sky for a canopy and the earth for a footstool4 ,and now here you are dethroned and broken4 ,your name1 so long the last word of the savant1 the sanction of the judge1 the force of the prince1 the hope of the poor1 the refuge of the repentant sinner1--this incommunicable name1 ,i say1 henceforth an object of contempt and curses1 shall be a hissing among men4 ,for ,god is stupidity and cowardice2 ,god is hypocrisy and falsehood2 ,god is tyranny and misery2 ,god is evil4 ,as long as humanity shall bend before an altar1 humanity1 the slave of kings and priests1 will be condemned2 as long as one man1 in the name of ,god1 shall receive the oath of another man1 society will be founded on perjury2 peace and love will be banished from among mortals4 ,god1 take yourself away6 for1 from this day forth1 cured of your fear and become wise1 ,i swear1 with hand extended to heaven1 that you are only the tormentor of my reason1 the spectre of my conscience4 ,i deny1 therefore1 the supremacy of ,god over humanity2 ,i reject his providential government1 the non-existence of which is sufficiently established by the metaphysical and economical hallucinations of humanity1--in a word1 by the martyrdom of our race2 ,i decline the jurisdiction of the ,supreme ,being over man2 ,i take away his titles of father1 king1 judge1 good1 merciful1 pitiful1 helpful1 rewarding1 and avenging4 ,all these attributes1 of which the idea of ,providence is made up1 are but a caricature of humanity1 irreconcilable with the autonomy of civilization1 and contradicted1 moreover1 by the history of its aberrations and catastrophes4 ,does it follow1 because ,god can no longer be conceived as ,providence1 because we take from him that attribute so important to man that he has not hesitated to make it the synonym of ,god1 that ,god does not exist1 and that the theological dogma from this moment is shown to be false in its content8 ,alas6 no4 ,a prejudice relative to the divine essence has been destroyed2 by the same stroke the independence of man is established3 that is all4 ,the reality of the divine ,being is left intact1 and our hypothesis still exists4 ,in demonstrating that it was impossible for ,god to be ,providence1 we have taken a first step in the determination of the idea of ,god2 the question now is to find out whether this first datum accords with the rest of the hypothesis1 and consequently to determine1 from the same standpoint of intelligence1 what ,god is1 if he is4 ,for just as1 after having established the guilt of man under the influence of the economical contradictions1 we have had to account for this guilt1 if we would not leave man wounded after having made him a contemptible satire1 likewise1 after having admitted the chimerical nature of the doctrine of a ,providence in ,god1 we must inquire how this lack of ,providence harmonizes with the idea of sovereign intelligence and liberty1 if we would not sacrifice the proposed hypothesis1 which nothing yet shows to be false4 ,i affirm1 then1 that ,god1 if there is a ,god1 does not resemble the effigies which philosophers and priests have made of him2 that he neither thinks nor acts according to the law of analysis1 foresight1 and progress1 which is the distinctive characteristic of man2 that1 on the contrary1 he seems rather to follow an inverse and retrogressive course2 that intelligence1 liberty1 personality in ,god are constituted not as in us2 and that this originality of nature1 perfectly accounted for1 makes ,god an essentially anti-civilizing1 anti-liberal1 anti-human being4 ,i prove my proposition by going from the negative to the positive1--that is1 by deducing the truth of my thesis from the progress of the objections to it4 #a4 ,god1 say the believers1 can be conceived only as infinitely good1 infinitely wise1 infinitely powerful1 etc41--the whole litany of the infinites4 ,now1 infinite perfection cannot be reconciled with the datum of a will holding an indifferent or even reactionary attitude toward progress3 therefore1 either ,god does not exist1 or the objection drawn from the development of the antinomies proves only our ignorance of the mysteries of infinity4 ,i answer these reasoners that1 if1 to give legitimacy to a wholly arbitrary opinion1 it suffices to fall back on the unfathomability of mysteries1 ,i am as well satisfied with the mystery of a ,god without providence as with that of a ,providence without efficacy4 ,but1 in view of the facts1 there is no occasion to invoke such a consideration of probability2 we must confine ourselves to the positive declaration of experience4 ,now1 experience and facts prove that humanity1 in its development1 obeys an inflexible necessity1 whose laws are made clear and whose system is realized as fast as the collective reason reveals it1 without anything in society to give evidence of an external instigation1 either from a providential command or from any superhuman thought4 ,the basis of the belief in ,providence is this necessity itself1 which is1 as it were1 the foundation and essence of collective humanity4 ,but this necessity1 thoroughly systematic and progressive as it may appear1 does not on that account constitute providence either in humanity or in ,god2 to become convinced thereof it is enough to recall the endless oscillations and painful gropings by which social order is made manifest4 #b4 ,other arguers come unexpectedly across our path1 and cry3 ,what is the use of these abstruse researches8 ,there is no more an infinite intelligence than a ,providence2 there is neither me nor will in the universe outside of man4 ,all that happens1 evil as well as good1 happens necessarily4 ,an irresistible ensemble of causes and effects embraces man and nature in the same fatality2 and those faculties in ourselves which we call conscience1 will1 judgment1 etc41 are only particular accidents of the eternal1 immutable1 and inevitable whole4 ,this argument is the preceding one inverted4 ,it consists in substituting for the idea of an omnipotent and omniscient author that of a necessary and eternal1 but unconscious and blind1 coordination4 ,from this opposition we can already form a presentiment that the reasoning of the materialists is no firmer than that of the believers4 ,whoever says necessity or fatality says absolute and inviolable order2 whoever1 on the contrary1 says disturbance and disorder affirms that which is most repugnant to fatality4 ,now1 there is disorder in the world1 disorder produced by the play of spontaneous forces which no power enchains3 how can that be1 if everything is the result of fate8 ,but who does not see that this old quarrel between theism and materialism proceeds from a false notion of liberty and fatality1 two terms which have been considered contradictory1 though really they are not4 ,if man is free1 says the one party1 all the more surely is ,god free too1 and fatality is but a word2 if everything is enchained in nature1 answers the other party1 there is neither liberty nor ,providence3 and so each party argues in its own direction till out of sight1 never able to understand that this pretended opposition of liberty and fatality is only the natural1 but not antithetical1 distinction between the facts of activity and those of intelligence4 ,fatality is the absolute order1 the law1 the code1 fatum1 of the constitution of the universe4 ,but this code1 very far from being exclusive in itself of the idea of a sovereign legislator1 supposes it so naturally that all antiquity has not hesitated to admit it2 and today the whole question is to find out whether1 as the founders of religions have believed1 the legislator preceded the law in the universe1--that is1 whether intelligence is prior to fatality1--or whether1 as the moderns claim1 the law preceded the legislator1--in other words1 whether mind is born of nature4 ,,before or ,,after1 this alternative sums up all philosophy4 ,to dispute over the posteriority or priority of mind is all very well1 but to deny mind in the name of fatality is an exclusion which nothing justifies4 ,to refute it1 it is sufficient to recall the very fact on which it is based1--the existence of evil4 ,given matter and attraction1 the system of the world is their product3 that is fatal4 ,given two correlative and contradictory ideas1 a composition must follow3 that also is fatal4 ,fatality clashes1 not with liberty1 whose destiny1 on the contrary1 is to secure the accomplishment of fatality within a certain sphere1 but with disorder1 with everything that acts as a barrier to the execution of the law4 ,is there disorder in the world1 yes or no8 ,the fatalists do not deny it1 for1 by the strangest blunder1 it is the presence of evil which has made them fatalists4 ,now1 ,i say that the presence of evil1 far from giving evidence of fatality1 breaks fatality1 does violence to destiny1 and supposes a cause whose erroneous but voluntary initiative is in discordance with the law4 ,this cause ,i call liberty2 and ,i have proved1 in the fourth chapter1 that liberty1 like reason which serves man as a torch1 is as much greater and more perfect as it harmonizes more completely with the order of nature1 which is fatality4 ,therefore to oppose fatality to the testimony of the conscience which feels itself free1 and vice versa1 is to prove that one misconstrues ideas and has not the slightest appreciation of the question4 ,the progress of humanity may be defined as the education of reason and human liberty by fatality3 it is absurd to regard these three terms as exclusive of each other and irreconcilable1 when in reality they sustain each other1 fatality serving as the base1 reason coming after1 and liberty crowning the edifice4 ,it is to know and penetrate fatality that human reason tends2 it is to conform to it that liberty aspires2 and the criticism in which we are now engaged of the spontaneous development and instinctive beliefs of the human race is at bottom only a study of fatality4 ,let us explain this4 ,man1 endowed with activity and intelligence1 has the power to disturb the order of the world1 of which he forms a part4 ,but all his digressions have been foreseen1 and are effected within certain limits1 which1 after a certain number of goings and comings1 lead man back to order4 ,from these oscillations of liberty may be determined the role of humanity in the world2 and1 since the destiny of man is bound up with that of creatures1 it is possible to go back from him to the supreme law of things and even to the sources of being4 ,accordingly ,i will no longer ask3 ,how is it that man has the power to violate the providential order1 and how is it that ,providence allows him to do so8 ,i state the question in other terms3 ,how is it that man1 an integrant part of the universe1 a product of fatality1 is able to break fatality8 ,how is it that a fatal organization1 the organization of humanity1 is adventitious1 contradictory1 full of tumult and catastrophes8 ,fatality is not confined to an hour1 to a century1 to a thousand years3 if science and liberty must inevitably be ours1 why do they not come sooner8 ,for1 the moment we suffer from the delay1 fatality contradicts itself2 evil is as exclusive of fatality as of ,providence4 ,what sort of a fatality1 in short1 is that which is contradicted every instant by the facts which take place within its bosom8 ,this the fatalists are bound to explain1 quite as much as the theists are bound to explain what sort of an infinite intelligence that can be which is unable either to foresee or prevent the misery of its creatures4 ,but that is not all4 ,liberty1 intelligence1 fatality1 are at bottom three adequate expressions1 serving to designate three different faces of being4 ,in man reason is only a defined liberty conscious of its limit4 ,but within the circle of its limitations this liberty is also fatality1 a living and personal fatality4 ,when1 therefore1 the conscience of the human race proclaims that the fatality of the universe--that is1 the highest1 the supreme fatality--is adequate to an infinite reason as well as to an infinite liberty1 it simply puts forth an hypothesis in every way legitimate1 the verification of which is incumbent upon all parties4 #c4 ,now come the ,,humanists1 the new atheists1 and say3 ,humanity in its ensemble is the reality sought by the social genius under the mystical name of ,god4 ,this phenomenon of the collective reason1--a sort of mirage in which humanity1 contemplating itself1 takes itself for an external and transcendent being who considers its destinies and presides over them1--this illusion of the conscience1 we say1 has been analyzed and explained2 and henceforth to reproduce the theological hypothesis is to take a step backward in science4 ,we must confine ourselves strictly to society1 to man4 ,,god in religion1 the ,,state in politics1 ,,property in economy1 such is the triple form under which humanity1 become foreign to itself1 has not ceased to rend itself with its own hands1 and which today it must reject4 ,i admit that every affirmation or hypothesis of ,divinity proceeds from anthropomorphism1 and that ,god in the first place is only the ideal1 or rather1 the spectre of man4 ,i admit further that the idea of ,god is the type and foundation of the principle of authority and absolutism1 which it is our task to destroy or at least to subordinate wherever it manifests itself1 in science1 industry1 public affairs4 ,consequently ,i do not contradict humanism2 ,i continue it4 ,taking up its criticism of the divine being and applying it to man1 ,i observe3 ,that man1 in adoring himself as ,god1 has posited of himself an ideal contrary to his own essence1 and has declared himself an antagonist of the being supposed to be sovereignly perfect1--in short1 of the infinite2 ,that man consequently is1 in his own judgment1 only a false divinity1 since in setting up ,god he denies himself2 and that humanism is a religion as detestable as any of the theisms of ancient origin2 ,that this phenomenon of humanity taking itself for ,god is not explainable in the terms of humanism1 and requires a further interpretation4 ,god1 according to the theological conception1 is not only sovereign master of the universe1 the infallible and irresponsible king of creatures1 the intelligible type of man2 he is the eternal1 immutable1 omnipresent1 infinitely wise1 infinitely free being4 ,now1 ,i say that these attributes of ,god contain more than an ideal1 more than an elevation--to whatever power you will--of the corresponding attributes of humanity2 ,i say that they are a contradiction of them4 ,god is contradictory of man1 just as charity is contradictory of justice2 as sanctity1 the ideal of perfection1 is contradictory of perfectibility2 as royalty1 the ideal of legislative power1 is contradictory of law1 etc4 ,so that the divine hypothesis is reborn from its resolution into human reality1 and the problem of a complete1 harmonious1 and absolute existence1 ever put aside1 ever comes back4 ,to demonstrate this radical antinomy it suffices to put facts in juxtaposition with definitions4 ,of all facts the most certain1 most constant1 most indubitable1 is certainly that in man knowledge is progressive1 methodical1 the result of reflection1--in short1 experimental2 so much so that every theory not having the sanction of experience--that is1 of constancy and concatenation in its representations--thereby lacks a scientific character4 ,in regard to this not the slightest doubt can be raised4 ,mathematics themselves1 though called pure1 are subject to the ,,concatenation of propositions1 and hence depend upon experience and acknowledge its law4 ,man's knowledge1 starting with acquired observation1 then progresses and advances in an unlimited sphere4 ,the goal which it has in view1 the ideal which it tends to realize without ever being able to attain it1-- placing it on the contrary farther and farther ahead of it1--is the infinite1 the absolute4 ,now1 what would be an infinite knowledge1 an absolute knowledge1 determining an equally infinite liberty1 such as speculation supposes in ,god8 ,it would be a knowledge not only universal1 but intuitive1 spontaneous1 as thoroughly free from hesitation as from objectivity1 although embracing at once the real and the possible2 a knowledge sure1 but not demonstrative2 complete1 not sequential2 a knowledge1 in short1 which1 being eternal in its formation1 would be destitute of any progressive character in the relation of its parts4 ,psychology has collected numerous examples of this mode of knowing in the instinctive and divinatory faculties of animals2 in the spontaneous talent of certain men born mathematicians and artists1 independent of all education2 finally1 in most of the primitive human institutions and monuments1 products of unconscious genius independent of theories4 ,and the regular and complex movements of the heavenly bodies2 the marvellous combinations of matter1--could it not be said that these too are the effects of a special instinct1 inherent in the elements8 ,if1 then1 ,god exists1 something of him appears to us in the universe and in ourselves3 but this something is in flagrant opposition with our most authentic tendencies1 with our most certain destiny2 this something is continually being effaced from our soul by education1 and to make it disappear is the object of our care4 ,god and man are two natures which shun each other as soon as they know each other2 in the absence of a transformation of one or the other or both1 how could they ever be reconciled8 ,if the progress of reason tends to separate us from ,divinity1 how could ,god and man be identical in point of reason8 ,how1 consequently1 could humanity become ,god by education8 ,let us take another example4 ,the essential characteristic of religion is feeling4 ,hence1 by religion1 man attributes feeling to ,god1 as he attributes reason to him2 moreover1 he affirms1 following the ordinary course of his ideas1 that feeling in ,god1 like knowledge1 is infinite4 ,now1 that alone is sufficient to change the quality of feeling in ,god1 and make it an attribute totally distinct from that of man4 ,in man sentiment flows1 so to speak1 from a thousand different sources3 it contradicts itself1 it confuses itself1 it rends itself2 otherwise1 it would not feel itself4 ,in ,god1 on the contrary1 sentiment is infinite1--that is1 one1 complete1 fixed1 clear1 above all storms1 and not needing irritation as a contrast in order to arrive at happiness4 ,we ourselves experience this divine mode of feeling when a single sentiment1 absorbing all our faculties1 as in the case of ecstasy1 temporarily imposes silence upon the other affections4 ,but this rapture exists always only by the aid of contrast and by a sort of provocation from without2 it is never perfect1 or1 if it reaches fulness1 it is like the star which attains its apogee1 for an indivisible instant4 ,thus we do not live1 we do not feel1 we do not think1 except by a series of oppositions and shocks1 by an internal warfare2 our ideal1 then1 is not infinity1 but equilibrium2 infinity expresses something other than ourselves4 ,it is said3 ,god has no attributes peculiar to himself2 his attributes are those of man2 then man and ,god are one and the same thing4 ,on the contrary1 the attributes of man1 being infinite in ,god1 are for that very reason peculiar and specific3 it is the nature of the infinite to become speciality1 essence1 from the fact that the finite exists4 ,deny then1 if you will1 the reality of ,god1 as one denies the reality of a contradictory idea2 reject from science and morality this inconceivable and bloody phantom which seems to pursue us the more1 the farther it gets from us2 up to a certain point that may be justified1 and at any rate can do no harm4 ,but do not make ,god into humanity1 for that would be slander of both4 ,will it be said that the opposition between man and the divine being is illusory1 and that it arises from the opposition that exists between the individual man and the essence of entire humanity8 ,then it must be maintained that humanity1 since it is humanity that they deify1 is neither progressive1 nor contrasted in reason and feeling2 in short1 that it is infinite in everything1--which is denied not only by history1 but by psychology4 ,this is not a correct understanding1 cry the humanists4 ,to have the right ideal of humanity1 it must be considered1 not in its historic development1 but in the totality of its manifestations1 as if all human generations1 gathered into one moment1 formed a single man1 an infinite and immortal man4 ,that is to say1 they abandon the reality to seize a projection2 the true man is not the real man2 to find the veritable man1 the human ideal1 we must leave time and enter eternity1--what do ,i say8--desert the finite for infinity1 man for ,god6 ,humanity1 in the shape we know it1 in the shape in which it is developed1 in the only shape in fact in which it can exist1 is erect2 they show us its reversed image1 as in a mirror1 and then say to us3 ,that is man6 ,and ,i answer3 ,it is no longer man1 it is ,god4 ,humanism is the most perfect theism4 ,what1 then1 is this providence which the theists suppose in ,god8 ,an essentially human faculty1 an anthropomorphic attribute1 by which ,god is thought to look into the future according to the progress of events1 in the same way that we men look into the past1 following the perspective of chronology and history4 ,now1 it is plain that1 just as infinity--that is1 spontaneous and universal intuition in knowledge--is incompatible with humanity1 so providence is incompatible with the hypothesis of the divine being4 ,god1 to whom all ideas are equal and simultaneous2 ,god1 whose reason does not separate synthesis from antinomy2 ,god1 to whom eternity renders all things present and contemporary1--was unable1 when creating us1 to reveal to us the mystery of our contradictions2 and that precisely because he is ,god1 because he does not see contradiction1 because his intelligence does not fall under the category of time and the law of progress1 because his reason is intuitive and his knowledge infinite4 ,providence in ,god is a contradiction within a contradiction2 it was through providence that ,god was actually made in the image of man2 take away this providence1 and ,god ceases to be man1 and man in turn must abandon all his pretensions to divinity4 ,perhaps it will be asked of what use it is to ,god to have infinite knowledge1 if he is ignorant of what takes place in humanity4 ,let us distinguish4 ,god has a perception of order1 the sentiment of good4 ,but this order1 this good1 he sees as eternal and absolute2 he does not see it in its successive and imperfect aspects2 he does not grasp its defects4 ,we alone are capable of seeing1 feeling1 and appreciating evil1 as well as of measuring duration1 because we alone are capable of producing evil1 and because our life is temporary4 ,god sees and feels only order2 ,god does not grasp what happens1 because what happens is ,,beneath him1 beneath his horizon4 ,we1 on the contrary1 see at once the good and the evil1 the temporal and the eternal1 order and disorder1 the finite and the infinite2 we see within us and outside of us2 and our reason1 because it is finite1 surpasses our horizon4 ,thus1 by the creation of man and the development of society1 a finite and providential reason1 our own1 has been posited in contradiction of the intuitive and infinite reason1 ,god2 so that ,god1 without losing anything of his infinity in any direction1 seems diminished by the very fact of the existence of humanity4 ,progressive reason resulting from the projection of eternal ideas upon the movable and inclined plane of time1 man can understand the language of ,god1 because he comes from ,god and his reason at the start is like that of ,god2 but ,god cannot understand us or come to us1 because he is infinite and cannot re-clothe himself in finite attributes without ceasing to be ,god1 without destroying himself4 ,the dogma of providence in ,god is shown to be false1 both in fact and in right4 ,it is easy now to see how the same reasoning turns against the system of the deification of man4 ,man necessarily positing ,god as absolute and infinite in his attributes1 whereas he himself develops in a direction the inverse of this ideal1 there is discord between the progress of man and what man conceives as ,god4 ,on the one hand1 it appears that man1 by the syncretism of his constitution and the perfectibility of his nature1 is not ,god and cannot become ,god2 on the other1 it is plain that ,god1 the supreme ,being1 is the antipode of humanity1 the ontological summit from which it indefinitely separates itself4 ,god and man1 having divided between them the antagonistic faculties of being1 seem to be playing a game in which the control of the universe is the stake1 the one having spontaneity1 directness1 infallibility1 eternity1 the other having foresight1 deduction1 mobility1 time4 ,god and man hold each other in perpetual check and continually avoid each other2 while the latter goes ahead in reflection and theory without ever resting1 the former1 by his providential incapacity1 seems to withdraw into the spontaneity of his nature4 ,there is a contradiction1 therefore1 between humanity and its ideal1 an opposition between man and ,god1 an opposition which ,christian theology has allegorized and personified under the name of ,devil or ,satan1--that is1 contradictor1 enemy of ,god and man4 ,such is the fundamental antinomy which ,i find that modern critics have not taken into account1 and which1 if neglected1 having sooner or later to end in the negation of the man-,god and consequently in the negation of this whole philosophical exegesis1 reopens the door to religion and fanaticism4 ,god1 according to the humanists1 is nothing but humanity itself1 the collective me to which the individual me is subjected as to an invisible master4 ,but why this singular vision1 if the portrait is a faithful copy of the original8 ,why has man1 who from his birth has known directly and with out a telescope his body1 his soul1 his chief1 his priest1 his country1 his condition1 been obliged to see himself as in a mirror1 and without recognizing himself1 under the fantastic image of ,god8 ,where is the necessity of this hallucination8 ,what is this dim and ambiguous consciousness which1 after a certain time1 becomes purified1 rectified1 and1 instead of taking itself for another1 definitively apprehends itself as such8 ,why on the part of man this transcendental confession of society1 when society itself was there1 present1 visible1 palpable1 willing1 and acting1--when1 in short1 it was known as society and named as such8 ,no1 it is said1 society did not exist2 men were agglomerated1 but not associated2 the arbitrary constitution of property and the ,state1 as well as the intolerant dogmatism of religion1 prove it4 ,pure rhetoric3 society exists from the day that individuals1 communicating by labor and speech1 assume reciprocal obligations and give birth to laws and customs4 ,undoubtedly society becomes perfect in proportion to the advances of science and economy1 but at no epoch of civilization does progress imply any such metamorphosis as those dreamed of by the builders of utopia2 and however excellent the future condition of humanity is to be1 it will be none the less the natural continuation1 the necessary consequence1 of its previous positions4 ,for the rest1 no system of association being exclusive in itself1 as ,i have shown1 of fraternity and justice1 it has never been possible to confound the political ideal with ,god1 and we see in fact that all peoples have distinguished society from religion4 ,the first was taken as ,,end1 the second regarded only as ,,means2 the prince was the minister of the collective will1 while ,god reigned over consciences1 awaiting beyond the grave the guilty who escaped the justice of men4 ,even the idea of progress and reform has never been anywhere absent2 nothing1 in short1 of that which constitutes social life has been entirely ignored or misconceived by any religious nation4 ,why1 then1 once more1 this tautology of ,society-,divinity1 if it is true1 as is pretended1 that the theological hypothesis contains nothing other than the ideal of human society1 the preconceived type of humanity transfigured by equality1 solidarity1 labor1 and love8 ,certainly1 if there is a prejudice1 a mysticism1 which now seems to me deceptive in a high degree1 it is no longer ,catholicism1 which is disappearing1 but rather this humanitary philosophy1 making man a holy and sacred being on the strength of a speculation too learned not to have something of the arbitrary in its composition2 proclaiming him ,god1--that is1 essentially good and orderly in all his powers1 in spite of the disheartening evidence which he continually gives of his doubtful morality2 attributing his vices to the constraint in which he has lived1 and promising from him in complete liberty acts of the purest devotion1 because in the myths in which humanity1 according to this philosophy1 has painted itself1 we find described and opposed to each other1 under the names of hell and paradise1 a time of constraint and penalty and an era of happiness and independence6 ,with such a doctrine it would suffice--and moreover it would be inevitable--for man to recognize that he is neither ,god1 nor good1 nor holy1 nor wise1 in order to fall back immediately into the arms of religion2 so that in the last analysis all that the world will have gained by the denial of ,god will be the resurrection of ,god4 ,such is not my view of the meaning of the religious fables4 ,humanity1 in recognizing ,god as its author1 its master1 its alter ego1 has simply determined its own essence by an antithesis1--an eclectic essence1 full of contrasts1 emanated from the infinite and contradictory of the infinite1 developed in time and aspiring to eternity1 and for all these reasons fallible1 although guided by the sentiment of beauty and order4 ,humanity is the daughter of ,god1 as every opposition is the daughter of a previous position3 that is why humanity has formed ,god like itself1 has lent him its own attributes1 but always by giving them a specific character1--that is1 by defining ,god in contradiction of itself4 ,humanity is a spectre to ,god1 just as ,god is a spectre to humanity2 each of the two is the other's cause1 reason1 and end of existence4 ,it was not enough1 then1 to have demonstrated1 by criticism of religious ideas1 that the conception of the divine me leads back to the perception of the human me2 it was also necessary to verify this deduction by a criticism of humanity itself1 and to see whether this humanity satisfies the conditions that its apparent divinity supposes4 ,now1 such is the task that we solemnly inaugurated when1 starting at once with human reality and the divine hypothesis1 we began to unroll the history of society in its economic institutions and speculative thoughts4 ,we have shown1 on the one hand1 that man1 although incited by the antagonism of his ideas1 and although up to a certain point excusable1 does evil gratuitously and by the bestial impulse of his passions1 which are repugnant to the character of a free1 intelligent1 and holy being4 ,we have shown1 on the other hand1 that the nature of man is not harmoniously and synthetically constituted1 but formed by an agglomeration of the potentialities specialized in each creature1--a circumstance which1 in revealing to us the principle of the disorders committed by human liberty1 has finished the demonstration of the non- divinity of our race4 ,finally1 after having proved that in ,god providence not only does not exist1 but is impossible2 after having1 in other words1 separated the divine attributes of the infinite ,being from the anthropomorphic attributes1--we have concluded1 contrary to the affirmations of the old theodicy1 that1 relatively to the destiny of man1 a destiny essentially progressive1 intelligence and liberty in ,god suffered a contrast1 a sort of limitation and diminution1 resulting from his eternal1 immutable1 and infinite nature2 so that man1 instead of adoring in ,god his sovereign and his guide1 could and should look on him only as his antagonist4 ,and this last consideration will suffice to make us reject humanism also1 as tending invincibly1 by the deification of humanity1 to a religious restoration4 ,the true remedy for fanaticism1 in our view1 is not to identify humanity with ,god1 which amounts to affirming1 in social economy communism1 in philosophy mysticism and the statu quo2 it is to prove to humanity that ,god1 in case there is a ,god1 is its enemy4 ,what solution will result later from these data8 ,will ,god1 in the end1 be found to be a reality8 ,i do not know whether ,i shall ever know4 ,if it is true1 on the one hand1 that ,i have today no more reason for affirming the reality of man1 an illogical and contradictory being1 than the reality of ,god1 an inconceivable and unmanifested being1 ,i know at least1 from the radical opposition of these two natures1 that ,i have nothing to hope or to fear from the mysterious author whom my consciousness involuntarily supposes2 ,i know that my most authentic tendencies separate me daily from the contemplation of this idea2 that practical atheism must be henceforth the law of my heart and my reason2 that from observable necessity ,i must continually learn the rule of my conduct2 that any mystical commandment1 any divine right1 which should be proposed to me1 must be rejected and combatted by me2 that a return to ,god through religion1 idleness1 ignorance1 or submission1 is an outrage upon myself2 and that if ,i must sometime be reconciled with ,god1 this reconciliation1 impossible as long as ,i live and in which ,i should have everything to gain and nothing to lose1 can be accomplished only by my destruction4 ,let us then conclude1 and inscribe upon the column which must serve as a landmark in our later researches3 ,the legislator ,,distrusts man1 an abridgment of nature and a syncretism of all beings4 ,he ,,does ,,not ,,rely on ,providence1 an inadmissible faculty in the infinite mind4 ,but1 attentive to the succession of phenomena1 submissive to the lessons of destiny1 he seeks in necessity the law of humanity1 the perpetual prophecy of his future4 ,he remembers also1 sometimes1 that1 if the sentiment of ,divinity is growing weaker among men2 if inspiration from above is gradually withdrawing to give place to the deductions of experience2 if there is a more and more flagrant separation of man and ,god2 if this progress1 the form and condition of our life1 escapes the perceptions of an infinite and consequently non-historic intelligence2 if1 to say it all1 appeal to ,providence on the part of a government is at once a cowardly hypocrisy and a threat against liberty1--nevertheless the universal consent of the peoples1 manifested by the establishment of so many different faiths1 and the forever insoluble contradiction which strikes humanity in its ideas1 its manifestations1 and its tendencies indicate a secret relation of our soul1 and through it of entire nature1 with the infinite1--a relation the determination of which would express at the same time the meaning of the universe and the reason of our existence4 ,,end ,,of ,,volume ,,first4