Labor and Liberty: A Model Constitution, Embodying All the Benefits of Collective Industry ...

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Preface

When the futility of the quack remedies and half measures with which purblind legislators and administrators are trying to cure the economic evils of the day shall have become universally manifest — ^which, by the way, is likely to happen sooner than many anticipate — ^the true and only efficient remedy, THE ENTRANCE OF THE STATE INTO THE FIELD OF INDUSTRY, is bound to loom up large on the horizon of the civilized world.

Whether the new order of things will rush upon us in a roaring tempest of revolution or will steal upon us imperceptibly with the gentle breeze of evolution, is at this moment difficult to foretell ; it seemed, however, clear to the author that an outline at this time of the most practical ways in which the principles of the new system may be applied cannot fail to hasten its coming and to mitigate to some extent the throes of its birth; hence the creation of this work.

While this is not a first attempt in the indicated direction, the work now before you will be found to stand in a class by itself in point of sobriety, practicability and freedom from Utopianism. Owing to the multiplicity of husks in which the new economic doctrine has been swathed by its early expounders, and the load of irrelevant issues with which it has

PREFACE

been weighted down by them, the mass of the people has hitherto remained undecided as to whether die proposed remedy is not worse than the evil itself. It was the purpose of the author to dear away all such extraneous matter and to reveal the kernel in its purity and natural simplicity, so that all who have eyes to see might examine it and decide for themadves.

Since the inception of the idea, the chief objection to an extension of the functions of the State has been the alleged curtailment of individual liberty which it was erroneously supposed to carry with it. It is therefore the chief aim of this work to dispel such apprehensions by proving to all who are free from bias that it is possible for National Industry and Individual Liberty to dwell peaceably together.

Incidentally, however, this work is also a complete compendium of social reform in all its branches. The student will find in it the sum total of the labors of many minds in the field of sociology supplemented by the net results of the author's own humble efforts in the same domain, while the great majority of readers who have little knowledge of the new ecomonic doctrine, but whose curiosity has been aroused to know more about it» will find in it a veritable mine of information answering every conceivable question allied with the subject, and hurling back every objection to National Industry directly and in the most practical manner.

S. R.

Brooklyn, N. Y., 1917.

vi

Part I A Model Constitution

PAGE

Introduction 3

ASTXCL8

I. First Principles 27

II. Economic Rights, Powers and

Limitations op the State ... - 29

III. The Rights op Individuals and

Their Claim upon the State 32

IV. Citizenship 37

V. The Legislative 40

VI. The Executive 51

VII. The Organization op Trades.. . 57

VIII. Production 65

IX. Distribution 67

X. The National Reserve 71

XI. Agriculture 73

XII. Mining 75

XIII. Transportation and Communica-

tion 76

XIV. Public Service 77

XV. Currency 80

XVI. The Wages op Labor 83

XVIL Prices , 86

vu

CONTENTS

▲KTICLS PAGB

XVIII. The Working-Day 89

XIX. Regulation of Supply and Demand IN National Production

AND Distribution 90

XX. Private and Foreign Trade 91

XXI. Strikes and Labor Troubles. . . 95 XXII. LoCK-OUTS 98

XXIII. National Revenue loi

XXIV. Construction 112

XXV. Repairs and Renewals 113

XXVI. National Insurance 114

XXVII. The National Treasury 116

XXVIII. The National Debt 118

XXIX. The Judiciary 122

XXX. Penal Colonies 130

XXXI. Education 135

XXXII. Public Relief 138

XXXIII. Discovery, Invention and Im-

provement 140

XXXIV. The Military 145

XXXV. Union and Separation 151

XXXVI. The Chief Executive 154

XXXVII. The Functions, Powers and Limitations OF Parliament 157

XXXVIII. The Initiative and RjEFERENDim 164

XXXIX. Bureaus and Offices 168

XL. Official Service 169

XLI. Preparation for Office 175

XLII. Tenure op and Removal from

Office 176

XLIII. The Province and Municipality 183

« • • vui

CONTENTS

Part II Commentary On The Model Constitution

CBAPTSE VACI

I. On the Right of Private Ownership OP Property in General and op

Land in Particular 191

II. On the Right op the State to Seize

Private Lands por Public Use . . T96

III. Who Shall Administer the People's

Industries? 203

IV. On the Existence and Validity op

Natural Rights ao6

V. Can an Industrial State give Employment TO ALL Applicants?.. . . 208

VI. Free Trade 211

VII. A Bi- OR Uni-Cameral Legislative,

Which? 213

VIII. Proportional Representation 217

IX. The Functions OP A True Executive 221 X. Relieving a Cramped Currency... 227 XI. Will National Industry Increase

THE Wealth op the Nation?. . . . 239 XII. UnequalRemuneration FOR Unequal 242 Work

XIII. What Constitutes Economic Value ? 243

XIV. Taxation 258

ix

CONTENTS

CBAFTBS PAGB

XV. Private Holders op Land Must Indemnify THE People 265

XVI. A Representative Judiciary a68

XVII. Free Attorney's Services 271

XVIII. Whether or Not a Court op Justice^ or any Other Official Body shall BE Clothed with the Power op Passing upon the Constitutionality OP Legislative Enactments. 272

XIX. Trial by Court Martial 276

XX. On the Selection op Juries 277

XXI. Contempt op Court 278

XXII. Prison Reform 278

XXIII. National Control op Professional

and Technical Education 283

XXIV. Op the Right op Property in Ideas . . 285 XXV. Military Preparedness for Defense

Only 290

XXVI. No Annexation op Territory with-' out the Consent op the Popula-

lation Thereof , . 294

XXVII. Let the People Rule 297

PARTI

A MODEL CONSTITUTION

To all who believe in Collective Industry and are disposed to make some sacrifices for their convictionsl

A definite and thorough exposition of the principles and workings of National Industry^ coupled with the retention and even further extension of Individual Liberty — such as is afforded by this work — cannot fail to remove old prejudices and misconceptions, as well as to create wide-spread sympathy with the new movement. Not being aware of any other work thai may serve the purpose, equaUy well, I DEMAND of every true believer in National Industry to aid in the dissemination of this work among the people as the surest service to the cause.

The adoption of this constitution by cM parties aiming at Collective Industry and the recognition of the same c^ their Official Platform^ would put an end to the mass of malicious libels that have for decades been heaped upon the movement by interested traducers of all stripes. If after reading this work you concur with me in this opinion, it li your duty to urge such adoption and recognition upon your respective party organizations.

The Author.

P.S. All orders marked ^^For distribution** will befitted at $i.oo per copy.

The task early social reformers set themselves to perform was to reveal the economic law which moves modem industry and the crucial problems it created for labor, as well as to arouse a spirit of class-consciousness among the workers to resist the crushing power of Capitalism. This task was accomplished so thoroughly that in less than half a century the movement spread like wildfire to every nook and cranny of the inhabited world. In 1910, the number of Socialist voters throughout the world was authoritatively estimated to be about 10,000,000, with about four htmdred representatives in the parliaments of the various constitutional countries.

The influence of this valiant vanguard reached out still farther; it aroused the curiosity of the rest of the civilized world to know clearly what sort of edifice these new economic apostles would erect in place of the old one which they propose to tear down. THIS QUESTION, HOWEVER, HAS NOT SO FAR BEEN FULLY AND SATISFACTORILY AN- SWERED.

Has Socialism ia any land or at any time been g^ven a practical trial? No, Socialism has never yet been tried; furthermore, according to orthodox exponents of the doctrine, it cannot at all be tried piece-meal. Socialism, they say, will receive its trial only after it is firmly established as a national economic system, and it cannot be so established tmless a nation is willing^ to bum all its capitalistic bridges behind it, and be wedded to Socialism for better or for worse; for, from Socialism, as from death, there is no turning back.

In view of this declaration which has been made and repeated by Socialist authorities for more than a generation, it is evident that, notwithstanding the phenomenal progress made by Socialism in winning the sympathies of the world, no nation will ever plunge into it imless driven to desperation by the evils of Capitalism, and even then, not before it is given a clear and definite imderstanding of the nature and modus operandi of the new system that is offered them instead of the old.

Now, as to the fulfillment of the first of these two conditions, the capitalistic system has done its part with a vengeance; conditions under Capitalism in most countries of the old world have become so galling that their respective peoples began casting about for relief from any source. This accotmts fof the phenomenal growth of Socialist partisans and Socialist sympathizers in almost every European country. In America, where, owing to the vast natural resources of the coimtry, which wanton Capitalism has not yet succeeded in wholly exhausting, conditions are not yet so desperate, Socialism is comparatively weak, but in proportion as economic conditions are approaching tlie European level, Socialism is making corresponding headway.

But the second condition above set forth HAS NOT YET BEEN MET, and you may rest assured that no nation, no matter how hard pressed by the evils of Capitalism, and regardless of how thoroughly it has been converted to Socialism in sympathy, will ever plunge blindly into a system from which there is no turning back, without having a clear understanding of its methods and policies. Any one who has ever tried to make a new convert to Socialism will tell you of the volley of questions with which he has been pelted :

Will every one be compelled to work? Will the state put me in prison if I refuse to work? Who will do the unattractive work? Will the State pay me more wages so as to induce me to clean sewers instead of standing behind a counter and selling perfimiery to bewitching young ladies, or will some politician have the power to put his nephew behind the counter, and me to clean the sewers ?

Will the government give work to all that are at present unemployed, and, if so, what kind of work will it be? Will it set them at whittling wooden sticks, or at producing useful commodities? If the latter is affirmed, what will the government do with the enormous supplies of commodities that will accumulate on its hands over and above what the nation can normally consume? Will it pile them up sky-high like the Tower of Babel as a monument to its industrial activities, or will it dump them into the sea?

What will happen if the labor-force of a certain industry takes it into its head to go out "on strike" against the State? Will they be tried by court-martial and shot down as rebels?

How will the produce of the national industries be divided out to the people? Will every one be given what he says he needs, or will he be required to swear out an affidavit that he needs it?

Will there be any money in circulation in your new Industrial State ? If so, what sort of money will it be? And will it be possible for certain individuals to hoard up large quantities of that money and have the rest of the people at their mercy, as at present, or will the government fix by law a maximum amount any person shall be allowed to accumulate, and confiscate the rest as soon as he oversteps that limit?

Will the State or will it not have the right to sell commodities at prices above the cost of production? If you answer in the affirmative, where is the advantage of this new monopoly over the old ones that have been abolished? If in the negative, what will the administration do in the case of commodities of natural (or temporary) scarcity, but which happen nevertheless to be of low cost of production — such for instance, as in the case of the discovery of a diamond field in the Rocky Mountains — ^will the government sell the products of that field at five cents a piece to the first comers, or will it strew them into the crowd and tell the boys to fight for it?

Suppose I choose to set up in business for myself, will the government make it a felony or a misdemeanor? If so, suppose sbfne wealth-producing property or machinery is found in my possession, will I be treated as a counterfeiter in whose possession an apparatus for stamping currency has been discovered? And will a jack-knife, and a pair of pincers be included in the interdicted tools, or will the government frame a long code of laws specifying in detail which tool is and which is not among those tabooed?

Will the people live in national barracks, something after the manner of soldiers at the present day, or in private houses? If in private houses, who will own these houses, the State or the respective individuals? In the former case, the State will of course make its tenants pay rent, and if so, will not such rent constitute an enormous profit despite your intention of doing away with the profit-system? On the other hand, if the latter case is afiirmed, how will such houses come into existence, and how will they be maintained as private property, seeing that private industry will be tabooed, and the very land on which they are to stand will be national property ?

What precautions will you take against wide-spread official corruption which is sure, to be increased with the multiplication of national functions ?

All these questions and a multitude of others are asked by the innocent inquirer after truth before he will accept the new economic doctrine. Furthermore, the natural or mercenary opponents of Socialism have seized upon these questions and answered them in a way that either renders the socialist doctrine ridiculous or gives it the aspect of a new form of slavery.

Socialist writers of a later day could not long remain oblivious to these facts, and so they set about answering those questions in their own way. Some of them confined themselves to the working out of single problems connected with or arising from the proposed industrial system, while others attempted the task of outlining a more or less complete program for the practical application of the entire system.

In this field, however, their labors have proved utterly abortive owing to the fact that the various plans thus outlined lacked thoroughness, practicability, and unanimity. In fact, an impartial study of the workings of Socialism as outlined by Bellamy, Kautzky, Gronlund, Vandervelde, Wells and a host of lesser socialist lights, leaves the reader with a strong impression that the writers themselves were no less at sea on some important problems of the new system than the reader they sought to enlighten. Some of them have only succeeded in establishing their utter unfitness for Solon's mantle; others have unwittingly placed new weapons in the hands of the foes of Socialism by furnishing them with ready material to prove the impracticability or undesirability of the proposed system; at the same time, all of them together, when placed side by side, show a striking divergence of opinion on a number of the most vital questions regarding the nature and methods of the new system they are trying to explain. Thus, in the branch of political sociology, government by the superannuated, government by the scientists, government by the virtuous, the abolition of local government in favor of a strongly concentrated central one, and vice versa, viz., the abolition or weakening of the central government in favor of state (provincial) or municipal rule, have all successively or simultaneously been advocated by different writers on the subject. In the branch of production, some maintained that the industries of the nation will be organized and managed by the central government, others were equally as emphatic in favor of state (provincial) or municipal organization and management, still others expressed themselves in favor of voluntary co-operative groups, while those of an eclectic turn of mind would have them all reign peacefully together.

On the question of the organization of the national labor force, some would make industrial work in the service of the nation as compulsory for all able-bodied men, as is military service in European countries at the present time, while others were content to leave the individual the option to do as he pleases, but at the same time supplemented their liberality with a mass of arbitrary provisions which would reduce the said option to the alternative of government employment or starvation. On the question of Distribution, some were well satisfied to rest upon Blanc's motto of "from each according to his capacity; to each according to his needs"; others advocated a system of wages; of these, some wotdd have perfect equality of remtmeration, while others preferred a varying scale of wages, with the highest rate going to those engaged in menial labor — a public scavenger would thus be better paid than a college professor. On the question of currency, some would do away with money altogether and revert to the ancient system of simple exchange, others would create a system of labor-checks showing the record of time passed in the service of the State, but representing nothing of concrete value. On the question of private wealth, some would do away with it directly by limiting property ownership, others would check its growth indirectly by prohibiting the free transfer of property or by abolishing or limiting inheritance. It cannot be gainsaid that there was an unpremeditated advantage in this confusion of tongues, of which some Socialists were not slow to avail themselves, viz., when a Socialist propagandist was confronted with some one or other absurdity that was advanced as Socialist doctrine, he could readily disavow it and point to some other Socialist light as diametrically opposed to it. Such procedure, however, could not help reminding the impartial inquirer after truth, of the proverbial pair of false prophets, who, according to pre-arranged agreement, presaged the coming of diametrically opposite events, so that one was sure to be in the right.

Modem Socialist writers, realizing the injury to their cause resulting from the maze of confusion and contradiction into which their predecessors have been driven by their attempts at precision, adopted a new policy of non-committal. It is both impossible and unnecessary, they say, to attempt at the present time to formulate a detailed program of how Socialism will work out in practice in the future. For the present, one or two cardinal principles will suffice.

Now, the allegation that it is impossible to formulate in advance a practical working program for the governance of a nation, is simply contrary to historical truth. The fact is that all written constitutions now in operation throughout the civilized world have been written in advance. As an instance, one may point to the constitution of the United States which has also been so written, and which has nevertheless accomplished just what was expected of it for almost a cen- . tury and a half with only eight amendments during the entire period (the first ten having been adopted at the time of its promulgation).

It will, of course, be argued that the business of the proposed Industrial State will be much more extensive and far reaching than the business of any government that hitherto existed, but it is difficult to see why this fact should militate against the practicability of a pre-arranged modus operandi — rather would it seem to accentuate the greater necessity in this case of a previously worked out program.