1886: Expropriation An Essay by Kropotkin

 

 

 

Expropriation
An Essay by Kropotkin 

Published in La Revolte in 1886 
Translated by Henry Glasse 

No Social problem is more important for Revolutionists than that which deals with the expropriation of the rich in favour of the people, and the appropriation of all wealth by the latter. We invite all our comrades to study this problem under all its aspects, and to disenss it unceasingly, in view of its realization, which must sooner or later force itself upon us, as the definite success or temporary failure of the Revolution depends upon the manner in which this expropriation is applied.

As a matter of fact, no Socialist can doubt that any revolutionary effort is condemned in advance if, it does not correspond with the interests of the great majority, and find means for satisfying its requirements. It is not enough to have a noble id al: man cannot live on great thoughts and lofty discourses alone; he requires bread; the stomach has more rights than even the brain, for it is the stomach which sustains the whole organism. If, on the morrow of the Revolution, men do not see by the force of evidence as clear as daylight that the situation has been totally changed to their advantage—if the upset ends merely in a change of persons and formulas, nothing will have been done, and once more we shall have to set ourselves to the thankless task of Sisyphus ceaselessly rolling his massive rock uphill. In order that the Revolution may be something more than a name, and that a reaction may not bring us back on the morrow to the situation of the day before, it is necessary that the conquest of the day should be worth defending, it is necessary that he, who was wretched yesterday should no longer be miserable to-day. After the Revolution of 1848, simple-minded Republicans placed “three mouths of misery” at the disposal of the Provisional Government. The offer was accepted with enthusiasm, and, when the appointed time came, those who had accepted it did not fail to render payment for the three months, but they did so with volleys of grape-shot and wholesale transportation. The unfortunate people had hoped that those painful months of waiting would have sufficed for the enactment of the salutary laws which they expected would make them free men, and secure to them work and their daily bread. In place of asking, would it not have been better to take? Instead of making a parade of their misery, would it not have been preferable to put an end to it? Not but what devotion is a grand and beautiful thing, but it is not devotion, it is treason to abandon to their unhappy lot all those who march along with us. Let combatants die —Good! but let their death be of some use! Let devoted men sacrifice themselves-Quite right! but let the masses profit by the self-sacrifice of those valiant ones!

A general expropriation alone can satisfy the multitude of sufferers and oppressed. The matter must be made to pass from the domain of theory into that of practice: but, in order that expropriation may correspond with its principle, which is the suppression of private property and the restoration of all to all, it ought to be accomplished in vast proportions. On a small scale it would seem only vulgar pillage, on a large scale it would be the commencement of the Social Revolution. Of course we should be altogether ignorant of the laws of history, if we were to imagine that all at once a whole vast country could become our field of experience. Europe and the world will not become anarchist by a sudden transformation, but we know that on the one hand the madness of the ruling classes, together with their ambitions, their wars and their bankruptcies, and, on the other hand, the unceasing spread of our ideas, will have as their consequences great upheavals, that is to say, revolutions. It is at such times that we can act. How many times already have Revolutionists been taken by surprise, and allowed events to pass without taking advantage of them, and so have left propitious destiny still unattained!

Well, when these opportunities arise—and it is for you, comrades, to hasten their coming—when a whole district, or when large towns with their environs shall have shaken off their rulers, our work will be clearly traced out for us; the whole stock of instruments of labour must return into the possession of the community, and the wealth detained by private individuals must be restored to its true master -everybody- in order that each may be able to have his ample share in consumption, that production may be continued in respect to all matters necessary and useful, and that our social life, far from being interrupted, may he renewed with greater energy. Without the gardens and fields which afford us the articles indispensable to life; without the granaries, stores and warehouses which contain the accumulated products of labour; without the manufactories and workshops which supply the stuffs, the wrought metals, the thousand objects of industry and of art, together with the means of defence, without the railways and other means of communication which will enable us to exchange our products with the free communities in our neighbourhood, and to combine our efforts for resistance and attack: without all these we are condemned beforehand to perish, and to be stifled like the fish out of water, which cannot breathe, though bathed in the immense ocean of the air. Let us remember the great strike of railway servants which took place in America some years ago. The great bulk of the public recognized that their cause was just, everybody was weary of the insolence of the railway companies and rejoiced to see them at the mercy of their servants; but when the latter, having made themselves masters of the locomotives and railways, had neglected to make use of them; when the interchange of commodities continued interrupted, and food and articles of all descriptions had doubled in price, then public opinion changed sides, and people began to cry out, “Let us rather have the companies that rob us and break our limbs than these fellows on strike who starve us.” Let us never forget that it is necessary that all the interests of the people be protected, and that its needs as well as its instinctive love of justice be fully satisfied. 

Nevertheless it is not sufficient to recognise the principle, we must also apply it. Our opponents say to us, “Venture to touch the peasant’s plot of ground or the mechanic’s cottage, and see how they will receive you.” Very well! But we shall not interfere with the plot of ground nor with the cottage. We shall take good care not to attack our best friends, who without knowing it to-day, will certainly be our allies to-morrow. The expropriation will be to their advantage. We know that there is an average of means below which men suffer want, and above which they have a superfluity. In each town, in each country this average differs, but the popular instinct will not err, and without there being any necessity for drawing up lengthy statistics on paper, or for filling a whole series of volumes with figures, the people will know how to recover what is its own. In our beautiful existing society, a feeble minority lays claim to the bulk of the national wealth, has town and country houses built for itself, and accumulates in banks the coin, notes and documents of all sorts which represent the wealth produced by labour. All this we must seize, and by one and the same blow we shall set free the unhappy peasant whose plot of ground is burdened by a mortgage, the small shopkeeper who lives in constant dread of bankruptcy, and all that wretched crowd of persons who have not enough bread for the morrow. All this multitude may have been indifferent on the eve of the Revolution, but when the day of expropriation comes, how can it fail to see that it depends upon itself whether it is to remain free or to fall again into misery and eternal anxiety? Or, indeed, instead of freeing itself by itself, will it again have the simplicity to appoint a provisional government consisting of individuals with supple fingers and glibly wagging tongues, nor be contented until it has set up new masters in place of the old? Let it do its own work if it is to be done; let it confide it to representatives if it wishes to be betrayed!

It is not enough that the interested parties should come to recognise their interest, which is to live without continual anxiety respecting the future, and without the humiliation of having to serve masters, it is also necessary that ideas should change with regard to property, and that corresponding ideas of morality should be modified in consequence. We must understand and admit without hesitation or reserve that all the instruments and products of human labour are due to the united labour of all, and have but one proprietor – Humanity. We must clearly see that private property is a conscious or an unconscious theft of that which belongs to all, and we must be prepared to sieze all with alacrity for the common use and benefit so soon as ever the hour of redress shall sound. Take, waste not, for all is yours, and you have need of it. But destroy without delay all that has to be destroyed; the forts which are built to overawe the towns, the prisons, and those unhealthy quartes in which you have so long breathed an atmosphere loaded with poison. Take up your abode in the palaces and mansions, and make a bonfire of the piles of bricks and rotting wood which were your unwholesome dwellings. The instinct of destruction so natural and so just, because it is at the same time the instinct of renovation, will find ample room for satisfaction. How many antiquated obstructions there are to be done away with! Everything has to be re-modelled-- houses, cities, agricultural and industrial appliances, and, in short, the entire social apparatus.

To each great historical event there corresponds a certain evolution in human morality. It is certain that the morality of equals will not be the same as that of the charitable rich and the grateful poor. For a new world a new law is necessary, and it is indeed a new world which is giving notice of its near approach. Our adversaries themselves repeat unceasingly: “The gods are vanishing, the kings are going, the prestige of authority is disappearing.” And what is there to take the place of the gods, the kings, and the priests, if not the free individual relying on his manhood? Blind faith takes flight! Make way for Science! Gracious pleasure and Charity disappear! Make room for Justice!

P. Kropotkin

1886 The Berne Convention

 Given its importance in the world of copyright I felt it would be useful to have a copy of the original version of the Berne Convention available to reference. It has been modified and updated multiple times over the past century but this is still largely the framework.

 Berne Convention, 1886*

Convention Concerning the Creation of An
International Union for the Protection of Literary
and Artistic Works
of September 9, 1886

Article 1
The Contracting States are constituted into
a Union for the protection of the rights of
authors over their literary and artistic works.

Article 2

 
Authors who are subjects or citizens of any of
the countries of the Union, or their lawful rep-
resentatives, shall enjoy in the other countries
for their works, whether published in one of
those countries or unpublished, the rights
which the respective laws do now or may here-
after grant to natives.

The enjoyment of these rights shall be
subject to the accomplishment of the condi-
tions and formalities prescribed by law in the
country of origin of the work, and must not
exceed in the other countries the term of
protection granted in the said country of
origin.

The country of origin of the work shall be
considered to be that in which the work is first
published, or if such publication takes place
simultaneously in several countries of the
Union, that one of them the laws of which
grant the shortest term of protection.
For unpublished works the country to
which the author belongs shall be considered to
be the country of origin of the work.

Article 3

 
The stipulations of the present Convention
shall apply equally to the publishers of literary
and artistic works published in one of the
countries of the Union, but of which the
authors belong to a country which is not a
party to the Union.

Article 4

 
The expression ‘literary and artistic works’
shall include books, pamphlets, and all other
writings; dramatic or dramatico-musical
works, musical compositions with or without
words; works of drawing, painting, sculpture
and engraving; lithographs, illustrations,
geographical charts; plans, sketches, and plas-
tic works relative to geography, topography,
architecture, or science in general; in fact,
every production whatsoever in the literary,
scientific, or artistic domain which can be
published by any mode of impression or
reproduction.

Article 5

 
Authors who are subjects or citizens of any of
the countries of the Union, or their lawful
representatives, shall enjoy in the other
countries the exclusive right of making or
authorizing the translation of their works
until the expiration of ten years from the
publication of the original work in one of the
countries of the Union.

For works published in incomplete
parts (livraisons) the period of ten years shall
commence from the date of publication of the
last part of the original work.

For works composed of several volumes pub-
lished at intervals, as well as for bulletins or collec-
tions (cahiers) published by literary or scientific
societies, or by private persons, each volume, bul-
letin, or collection shall be, with regard to the
period of ten years, considered as a separate work.
In the cases provided for by the present
Article, and for the calculation of the terms of
protection, the 31st December of the year in
which the work was published shall be regarded
as the date of publication.

Article 6 

Lawful translations shall be protected as ori-
ginal works. They shall consequently enjoy the
protection stipulated in Articles 2 and 3 as
regards their unauthorized reproduction in the
countries of the Union.

It is understood that, in the case of a work
for which the translating right has fallen into the
public domain, the translator cannot oppose the
translation of the same work by other writers.

Article 7

Articles from newspapers or periodicals pub-
lished in any of the countries of the Union may
be reproduced in original or in translation in the
other countries of the Union, unless the authors
or publishers have expressly forbidden it. For
periodicals it shall be sufficient if the prohibi-
tion is indicated in general terms at the begin-
ning of each number of the periodical.

This prohibition cannot in any case apply to
articles of political discussion, or to the repro-
duction of news of the day or miscellaneous
information.

Article 8

As regards the liberty of extracting portions
from literary or artistic works for use in pub-
lications destined for educational or scientific
purposes, or for chrestomathies, the effect of
the legislation of the countries of the Union,
and of special arrangements existing or to be
concluded between them, is not affected by the
present Convention.

Article 9

The stipulations of Article 2 shall apply to
the public representation of dramatic or
dramatico-musical works, whether such works
be published or not.

Authors of dramatic or dramatico-musical
works, or their lawful representatives, shall be,
during the existence of their exclusive right of
translation, equally protected against the unau-
thorized public representation of translations
of their works.

The stipulations of Article 2 shall apply
equally to the public performance of unpub-
lished musical works, or of published works
in which the author has expressly declared on
the title page or commencement of the work
that he forbids the public performance
thereof.

Article 10

The following shall be specially included
amongst the illicit reproductions to which
the present Convention applies: unauthorized
indirect appropriations of a literary or artistic
work, of various kinds, such as adaptations,
musical arrangements, etc., when they are only
the reproduction of a particular work, in the
same form, or in another form, without essential
alterations, additions, or abridgments, so as not
to present the character of a new original work.
It is agreed that, in the application of the
present Article, the tribunals of the various
countries of the Union will, if there is occasion,
conform themselves to the provisions of their
respective laws.

Article 11

 
In order that the authors of works protected by
the present Convention shall, in the absence of
proof to the contrary, be considered as such,
and be consequently admitted to institute
proceedings against pirates before the courts of
the various countries of the Union, it will be
sufficient that their name be indicated on the
work in the accustomed manner.

For anonymous or pseudonymous works, the
publisher whose name is indicated on the work
shall be entitled to protect the rights belonging
to the author. He shall be, without other proof,
deemed to be the lawful representative of the
anonymous or pseudonymous author.

It is, nevertheless, agreed that the courts
may, if necessary, require the production of a
certificate from the competent authority to the
effect that the formalities prescribed by law in
the country of origin have been accomplished,
as contemplated in Article 2.
 

Article 12

Pirated works may be seized on importation
into those countries of the Union where the
original work enjoys legal protection.
The seizure shall take place in accordance
with the domestic legislation of each country.

Article 13

It is understood that the provisions of the pre-
sent Convention cannot in any way affect the
right belonging to the Government of each
country of the Union to permit, to control, or
to prohibit, by measures of domestic legisla-
tion or police, the circulation, representation,
or exhibition of any works or productions in
regard to which the competent authority may
find it necessary to exercise that right.

Article 14

Under the reserves and conditions to be deter-
mined by common agreement, the present
Convention shall apply to all works which at
the moment of its coming into force have not
yet fallen into the public domain in the country
of origin.

Article 15

It is understood that the Governments of the
countries of the Union reserve to themselves
respectively the right to enter into special
arrangements between each other, provided
always that such arrangements confer upon
authors or their lawful representatives more
extended rights than those granted by the
Union, or embody other stipulations not
contrary to the present Convention.

Article 16

An International Office shall be established,
under the name of ‘Office of the International
Union for the Protection of Literary and
Artistic Works.’

This office, of which the expenses will be
borne by the Administrations of all the countries
of the Union, shall be placed under the high
authority of the Superior Administration of the
Swiss Confederation, and shall work under its
direction. The functions of this office shall be
determined by common accord between the
countries of the Union.

Article 17

 
The present Convention may be submitted to
revisions for the purpose of introducing therein
amendments intended to perfect the system of
the Union.

Questions of this kind, as well as those
which are of interest to the Union in other
respects, shall be considered in Conferences to
be held successively in the countries of the
Union by delegates of the said countries.
It is understood that no alteration in the
present Convention shall be binding on the
Union except by the unanimous consent of
the countries composing it.

Article 18 

 
Countries which have not become parties to
the present Convention, and which make
provision by the domestic law for the protec-
tion of the rights forming the object of the pre-
sent Convention, shall be admitted to accede
thereto on request to that effect.

Such accession shall be notified in writing to
the Government of the Swiss Confederation,
who will communicate it to all the other coun-
tries of the Union.

Such accession shall imply full acceptance of
all the clauses and admission to all the advant-
ages provided by the present Convention.

 

Article 19

 
Countries acceding to the present Convention
shall also have the right to accede thereto at any
time for their Colonies or foreign possessions.
They may do this either by a general
Declaration comprising in the accession all
their Colonies or possessions, or by specially
naming those comprised therein, or by simply
indicating those which are excluded.

Article 20

 
The present Convention shall be put in force
three months after the exchange of ratifica-
tions, and shall remain in force for an indefinite
period until the termination of a year from the
day on which it may have been denounced.
Such denunciation shall be made to the
Government authorized to receive accessions.
It shall only take effect in regard to the country
making it, the Convention remaining in full
force and effect for the other countries of the
Union.

Article 21

 
The present Convention shall be ratified, and
the ratifications exchanged at Berne within one
year at the latest.

Additional Article

 
The Convention concluded this day shall in no
way affect the maintenance of existing
Conventions between the Contracting States,
provided always that such Conventions confer
on authors, or their lawful representatives,
rights more extended than those secured by the
Union, or contain other stipulations which are
not contrary to this Convention.

Final Protocol

 
1. As regards Article 4 it is agreed that those
countries of the Union where the character of
artistic works is not refused to photographs
engage to admit them to the benefits of the
Convention concluded today, from the date of
its coming into force. They shall, however, not
be bound to protect the authors of such works
further than is permitted by their own legisla-
tion except in the case of international engage-
ments already existing, or which may hereafter
be entered into by them.

It is understood that an authorized photograph
of a protected work of art shall enjoy legal protec-
tion in all the countries of the Union, as contem-
plated by the said Convention, for the same period
as the principal right of reproduction of the work
itself subsists, and within the limits of private
agreements between those who have legal rights.

2. As regards Article 9 it is agreed that those
countries of the Union whose legislation implic-
itly includes choreographic works amongst
dramatico-musical works expressly admit the
former works to the benefits of the Convention
concluded this day.

It is, however, understood that questions
which may arise on the application of this
clause shall rest within the competence of the
respective tribunals to decide.

3. It is understood that the manufacture
and sale of instruments for the mechanical
reproduction of musical airs in which copyright
subsists shall not be considered as constituting
an infringement of musical copyright.

4. The common agreement contemplated in
Article 14 of the Convention is established as
follows:
The application of the Convention to works
which have not fallen into the public domain at
the time when it comes into force shall take
effect according to the relevant stipulations
contained in special Conventions existing, or
to be concluded, to that effect.
In the absence of such stipulations between
any countries of the Union, the respective
countries shall regulate, each in so far as it is
concerned, by its domestic legislation, the
manner in which the principle contained in
Article 14 is to be applied.
5. The organization of the International
Office established in virtue of Article 16 of the
Convention shall be fixed by a regulation
which shall be drawn up by the Government of
the Swiss Confederation.
The official language of the International
Office shall be French.

The International Office will collect every
kind of information relative to the protection of
the rights of authors over their literary and artis-
tic works. It will arrange and publish such infor-
mation. It will undertake the study of questions
of general interest concerning the Union, and, by
the aid of documents placed at its disposal by the
different Administrations, will edit a periodical
publication in the French language on the ques-
tions which concern the purpose of the Union.
The Governments of the countries of the Union
reserve to themselves the power to authorize, by
common accord, the publication by the Office of
an edition in one or more other languages if
experience should show this to be requisite.
The International Office will always hold
itself at the disposal of members of the Union
with a view to furnish them with any special
information they may require relative to the
protection of literary and artistic works.

The Administration of the country where a
Conference is to meet will prepare the
programme of the Conference with the assis-
tance of the International Office. The Director
of the International Office shall attend the
sittings of the Conferences, and shall take part
in the discussions without the right to vote. He
shall make an annual report on his administra-
tion, which shall be communicated to all the
members of the Union.


The expenses of the office of the International
Union shall be shared by the Contracting States.
Until a fresh arrangement be made, they cannot
exceed the sum of sixty thousand francs a year.
This sum may be increased, if necessary, by the
simple decision of one of the Conferences
provided for in Article 17.

The share of the total expense to be paid by
each country shall be determined by the division
of the contracting and acceding countries into
six classes, each of which shall contribute in the
proportion of a certain number of units, viz.:
1st class 25 units
2nd ”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 ”
3rd ”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 ”
4th ”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 ”
5th ”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 ”
6th ”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 ”
These coefficients will be multiplied by the
number of countries of each class and the total
product thus obtained will give the number of
units by which the total expense is to be
divided. The quotient will give the amount of
the unit of expense.

Each country shall declare, at the time of its
accession, in which of the said classes it desires
to be placed.

The Swiss Administration will prepare
the budget of the Office, superintend its
expenditure, make the necessary advances,
and draw up the annual account, which
shall be communicated to all the other
Administrations.

6. The next Conference shall be held at Paris
between four and six years from the date of the
coming into force of the Convention.
The French Government will fix the date
within these limits after having consulted the
International Office.

7. It is agreed that, as regards the exchange
of ratifications contemplated in Article 21,
each Contracting Party shall deliver a single
instrument, which shall be deposited, with
those of the other countries, in the archives of
the Government of the Swiss Confederation.
Each Party shall receive in return a copy of
the procès-verbal of the exchange of ratifica-
tions, signed by the Pleni-potentiaries who
took part.

The present Final Protocol, which shall be
ratified with the Convention concluded this
day, shall be considered as forming an integral
part of the said Convention, and shall have the
same force and duration.

* The Berne Convention, its Additional Article
and its Final Protocol were signed by the following
ten countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Haiti,
Italy, Liberia, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, and the
United Kingdom.

Mormonism in Utah - Cave of Despair (Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1882)

 

I saw this while looking through an archive of old newspaper comics. The artist's point, a dim view of Mormonism, is clear, and the detailing makes modern political cartoons look amateurish. Though, it is interesting to see that the practice of over labelling is older than I thought.

Propaganda is a term that has been discredited by its usage in the 20th century by government's around the world, especially dictatorships, so it shouldn't be surprising that talented and experienced artists prefer to work in other less overtly political forms like illustrating character designs for gacha games, and spandex wearing Ubermensch. 

Also, a funny coincidence, the official name of Mormonism is the Latter Day Saint's (LDS) which is also the name of one of the most notorious purveyors of copyfraud (in my opinion) services on YouTube. Upload content on that platform and you'll eventually see them pop up in a e-mail about a restriction on your video.

Are We Good Enough?: Peter Kropotkin

 

 

"Are We Good Enough" by Pyotr Kropotkin is an essay written and published in june of 1888.

ry; words said twenty and forty centuries ago by those who like too much their own quietness for liking rapid changes, whom boldness of thought frightens, and who themselves have not suffered enough from the iniquities of the present society to feel the deep necessity of new issues!

Men are not good enough for Communism, but are they good enough for Capitalism? If all men were good-hearted, kind, and just, they would never exploit one another, although possessing the means of doing so. With such men the private ownership of capital would be no danger. The capitalist would hasten to share his profits with the workers, and the best remunerated workers with those suffering from occasional causes. If men were provident they would not produce velvet and articles of luxury while food is wanted in cottages: they would not build palaces as long as there are slums.

If men had a deeply developed feeling of equity they would not oppress other men. Politicians would not cheat their electors; Parliament would not be a chattering and cheating box, and Charles Warren’s policemen would refuse to bludgeon the Trafalgar Square talkers and listeners. And if men were gallant, self-respecting, and less egotistic, even a bad capitalist would not be a danger; the workers would have soon reduced him to the role of a simple comrade-manager. Even a king would not be dangerous, because the people would merely consider him as a fellow unable to do better work, and therefore entrusted with signing some stupid papers sent out to the other cranks calling themselves kings.

But men are not those free-minded, independent, provident, loving, and compassionate fellows which we should like to see them. And precisely, therefore, they must not continue living under the present system which permits them to oppress and exploit one another. Take, for instance, those misery-stricken tailors who paraded last Sunday in the streets, and suppose that one of them has inherited a hundred pounds from an American uncle. With these hundred pounds he surely will not start a productive association for a dozen of like misery-stricken tailors, and try to improve their condition. He will become a sweater. And, therefore, we say that in a society where men are so bad as this American heir, it is very hard for him to have misery-stricken tailors around him. As soon as he can he will sweat them; while if these same tailors had a secured living from the Communist stores, none of them would sweat to enrich their ex-comrade, and the young sweater would himself not become the very bad beast he surely will become if he continues to be a sweater.

We are told we are too slavish, too snobbish, to be placed under free institutions; but we say that because we are indeed so slavish we ought not to remain any longer under the present institutions, which favour the development of slavishness. We see that Britons, French, and Americans display the most disgusting slavishness towards Gladstone, Boulanger, or Gould. And we conclude that in a humanity already endowed with such slavish instincts it is very bad to have the masses forcibly deprived of higher education, and compelled to live under the present inequality of wealth, education, and knowledge. Higher instruction and equality of conditions would be the only means for destroying the inherited slavish instincts, and we cannot understand how slavish instincts can be made an argument for maintaining, even for one day longer, inequality of conditions; for refusing equality of instruction to all members of the community.

Our space is limited, but submit to the same analysis any of the aspects of our social life, and you will see that the present capitalist, authoritarian system is absolutely inappropriate to a society of men so improvident, so rapacious, so egotistic, and so slavish as they are now. Therefore, when we hear men saying that the Anarchists imagine men much better than they really are, we merely wonder how intelligent people can repeat that nonsense. Do we not say continually that the only means of rendering men less rapacious and egotistic, less ambitious and less slavish at the same time, is to eliminate those conditions which favour the growth of egotism and rapacity, of slavishness and ambition? The only difference between us and those who make the above objection is this: We do not, like them, exaggerate the inferior instincts of the masses, and do not complacently shut our eyes to the same bad instincts in the upper classes. We maintain that both rulers and ruled are spoiled by authority; both exploiters and exploited are spoiled by exploitation; while our opponents seem to admit that there is a kind of salt of the earth – the rulers, the employers, the leaders – who, happily enough, prevent those bad men – the ruled, the exploited, the led – from becoming still worse than they are.

There is the difference, and a very important one. We admit the imperfections of human nature, but we make no exception for the rulers. They make it, although sometimes unconsciously, and because we make no such exception, they say that we are dreamers, ‘unpractical men’.

And old quarrel, that quarrel between the ‘practical men’ and the ‘unpractical’, the so-called Utopists: a quarrel renewed at each proposed change, and always terminating by the total defeat of those who name themselves practical people.

Many of us must remember the quarrel when it raged in America before the abolition of slavery. When the full emancipation of the Negroes was advocated, the practical people used to say that if the Negroes were no more compelled to labour by the whips of their owners, they would not work at all, and soon would become a charge upon the community. Thick whips could be prohibited, they said, and the thickness of the whips might be progressively reduced by law to half-an-inch first and then to a mere trifle of a few tenths of an inch; but some kind of whip must be maintained. And when the abolitionists said – just as we say now – that the enjoyment of the produce of one’s labour would be a much more powerful inducement to work than the thickest whip. ‘Nonsense, my friend,’ they were told – just as we are told now. ‘You don’t know human nature! Years of slavery have rendered them improvident, lazy and slavish, and human nature cannot be changed in one day. You are imbued, of course, with the best intentions, but you are quite ”unpractical”.’

Well, for sometime the practical men had their own way in elaborating schemes for the gradual emancipation of Negroes. But, alas!, the schemes proved quite unpractical, and the civil war – the bloodiest on record – broke out. But the war resulted in the abolition of slavery, without any transition period; – and see, none of the terrible consequences foreseen by the practical people followed. The Negroes work, they are industrious and laborious, they are provident – nay, too provident, indeed – and the only regret that can be expressed is, that the scheme advocated by the left wing of the unpractical camp – full equality and land allotments – was not realised: it would have saved much trouble now.

About the same time a like quarrel raged in Russia, and its cause was this. There were in Russia 20 million serfs. For generations past they had been under the rule, or rather the birch-rod, of their owners. They were flogged for tilling their soil badly, flogged for want of cleanliness in their households, flogged for imperfect weaving of their cloth, flogged for not sooner marrying their boys and girls – flogged for everything. Slavishness, improvidence, were their reputed characteristics.

Now came the Utopists and asked nothing short of the following: Complete liberation of the serfs; immediate abolition of any obligation of the serf towards the lord. More than that: immediate abolition of the lord’s jurisdiction and his abandonment of all the affairs upon which he formerly judged, to peasants’ tribunals elected by the peasants and judging, not in accordance with law which they do not know, but with their unwritten customs. Such was the unpractical scheme of the unpractical camp. It was treated as a mere folly by practical people.

But happily enough there was by that time in Russia a good deal of unpracticalness in the air, and it was maintained by the unpracticalness of the peasants, who revolted with sticks against guns, and refused to submit, notwithstanding the massacres, and thus enforced the unpractical state of mind to such a degree as to permit the unpractical camp to force the Tsar to sign their scheme – still mutilated to some extent. The most practical people hastened to flee away from Russia, that they might not have their throats cut a few days after the promulgation of that unpractical scheme.

But everything went on quite smoothly, notwithstanding the many blunders still committed by practical people. These slaves who were reputed improvident, selfish brutes, and so on, displayed such good sense, such an organising capacity as to surpass the expectations of even the most unpractical Utopists; and in three years after the Emancipation the general physiognomy of the villages had completely changed. The slaves were becoming Men!

The Utopists won the battle. They proved that they were the really practical people, and that those who pretended to be practical were imbeciles. And the only regret expressed now by all who know the Russian peasantry is, that too many concessions were made to those practical imbeciles and narrow-minded egotists: that the advice of the left wing of the unpractical camp was not followed in full.

We cannot give more examples. But we earnestly invite those who like to reason for themselves to study the history of any of the great social changes which have occured in humanity from the rise of the Communes to the Reform and to our modern times. They will see that history is nothing but a struggle between the rulers and the ruled, the oppressors and the oppressed, in which struggle the practical camp always sides with the rulers and the oppressors, while the unpractical camp sides with the oppressed; and they will see that the struggle always ends in a final defeat of the practical camp after much bloodshed and suffering, due to what they call their ‘practical good sense’.

If by saying that we are unpractical our opponents mean that we foresee the march of events better than the practical short-sighted cowards, then they are right. But if they mean that they, the practical people, have a better foresight of events, then we send them to history and ask them to put themselves in accordance with its teachings before making that presumptuous assertion.