EDUCATION.—MONEY.
(To the Editor of the Evening Star.) Sib,—A philological exegises of my last letter's definition of "liberty " will reveal in the simple word " power" a whole school of philosophy. Between the two ideas of right and might, the same difference exists as between theory and practice, between the abstract and the real, the shadow and the substance. The problem we seek to solve is the inaugura ; tion of a state of society in which every ban shall have the power to develope his faculties at his pleasure, without infringing a like right in others, and in which, amongst other privileges, the hypocritical despotism of usury and money should yield to a scientific system of credit, embodying the debt of all to each. A system in which the realm of labour and mechanics, instead .of being, as. how, a battlefield covered with ruin and death, would be fertilised by fraternal associa-
tions united with each other. A consti* tution in which the distribution of toil and the sharing of its fruits would be based on the principle even now recognised in well ordered families : From each, according to his faculties; to each, according to his wants. Ignorance of the laws of production and distribution must yield to those higher and nobler, because scientific, principles upon which society has yet to be constituted. Gambling ii all its hideous forms, fostered by a gold and silver currency, must cease. The Stock Exchanges and Bourses of the civilised world traffic, to the extent of buying and selling the whole national debts of countries, their stocks and shares, amounting to thousands of millions, three or four times over in the course of the year, while public and private gambling in stocks, shares, horse races, cards, sweeps, and produce, with their concomitants of despair, murder, madness, suicide, robberyi and all social crimes, prevail to an incalculable extent. Gold has consigned - the industrious population of the World to indigence and, hitherto, endless misery, and elevated into special good fortune those who not only have never produced any good for the human race, but to whom the race is indebted for all those,-! demoralizing hellish wars, poverty, and crime that deface and disfigure our social condition. It bas encouraged sordid ■ avarice, pride, and disgusting egotism on" one hand; hatred, low cunning, dissipation, and despair on the other. A,g01d,,, curreucy was to elevate and improve the ' physical and social position of the, pro-- -r- . ducers, but distress and abject misery, ' ' huge commercial frauds and all classes oh > 'domestic crime, am g$ rife, if not more , '•' prevalent than ever. The evils oE money in the bands of usurers are multiplied* < : intensified, and exceeded when exercised •'., by the labor purchasers, with whom the helpless ones' bread winners are brought " into daily contact,' and. When -of course, / their only means of sustenance is selling -' their labor to the highest bidder.. Then - r commences the fearful hand to hand * struggle of capital .against labor. -Few working men have escaped the capitalist's fierce fight to obtain the uttermost amount of labor for his money, and the unequal and seldom successful struggle of the operative to get the largest 'possible amount for his labour. la face of theae patent facts political economists maintain -■ - "that money, with a purchasing power ' attached to it, is h fair,, just, and suitable medium of equitable exchange, but a more deliberate untruth, a greater delusion and snare was nevef utljered by man. Common sense even will discover that gold'is ; not a standard of value, and experience proves that it is not so, for it always makes its deal' below or- above par, the difference arising from which it is that forms the hot bed where the rich section of the community is propagated, and where are bred the drones of society, who are so fond of being called by other -o»me than .those- born* lam their., t brother man, who have been made poor iS by the sucking power of money, making the rich richer, and the vain,title take of " master;" then Men of New Zealand, awake from your lethargy! The dark veil of slumber remove from your eyes;' * '- Know the laws—Try the men by whom you would governed be> . • - , --, r And show thus posterity's forefathers wise. Any man seeking suffrages at the coming - election should have his sincerity tested ' vby asking him whether he will serve in . the interest of capital or labour. His knowledge aud character will be disclosed by his answer. If he is for capital he |s an honest enemy. If he temporizes, he is I either deceiving himself 6r others. If he ■ is for labour, a written, signed,' and duly witnessed deed to that effect, verified and , secured by his proposer, seconder, and ' some considerable number of respectable citizens should be demanded. f The ' ; highest mark of respect that one citizen can bestow upon another is to delegate to him his political power; and rather than betray that sacred trust, an honest man would suffer death.—l am, <fee, • Bon Ami.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THS18811004.2.17
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3983, 4 October 1881, Page 2
Word count
Tapeke kupu
836EDUCATION.—MONEY. Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3983, 4 October 1881, Page 2
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
No known copyright (New Zealand)
To the best of the National Library of New Zealand’s knowledge, under New Zealand law, there is no copyright in this item in New Zealand.
You can copy this item, share it, and post it on a blog or website. It can be modified, remixed and built upon. It can be used commercially. If reproducing this item, it is helpful to include the source.
For further information please refer to the Copyright guide.