Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

The Anarchist a collection of manuscript notes, printed matter, cartoons and two Active Service Brigade leaflets, 1896-1897
C497

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[Cover]

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[Blank page]

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The Anarchist
Neither God nor Law nor Property
– But –
Liberty – Equality – Fraternity.

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[Sketch – The Unemployed]

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[Sketch – The Scapegoat]

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[Blank Page]

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[Sketch – The Active Service Brigade]

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The Anarchist.
Organ of Anarchist Communism.
– By – ME –
April 1897 – Sydney – N.S.W.

The Anarchist’ Battle Cry is:- Abolish the State; the State, that stifles the liberty of the thought and speech; the State, that spreds disease and death; the State, that is supported by jobbery and corruption; the State, that distorts love by marriage monopoly and produces prostitution; the State, that murders millions and secures spoils by foreign conquest; the State, that educates children into Slavery and Superstition; the State, that fosters nice creates crime and –

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[Printed material]

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Revengefully punishes its own victims; the State, that steals the Land, controls credit and restricts exchange; the State, that compels honest Labor to be dependent on idle and unproductive Capital, and by legallising the Robbery of rent, interest, profit and taxes, makes – Industry – a Pauper and a Slave.

Are – The Interest of Capital and Labor – Identical?

Leaving the Socialist and his – Utopia – alone for a moment, and listening attentively, we can hear from everywhere a song which stimulates the spirit of all classes of men and women; and that is, that – The Interest of Capital and Labor, are Identical.

Blessed words! So suggestive of peace and brotherly Love. Let us sing it again Workers.

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Now Lads! Altogether, or rather – All = together. The Interest of Capital and Labor, are Identical. How often we heard this? How often we heard it, not only from the other class, but we frequently find those claiming to be on our side, who are ever so Stupid or dishonest as to be still singing this – Identical – or rather – Idiotical – refrain. What does it mean? –

Well, strictly interpreted as above exposed, which is the form commonly used, it means – nothing.

Capital being inanimate matter, can have neither interests, rights nor Duties. But this of course, is not what is meant. What is meant to be said is that, the – Interest of the Capitalist and of Labor, are Identical.

The interest of the – Cancer – and of the body upon which it feeds, are Identical; because the more strenght developed by the body, the more blood made, the more

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will the Cancer have to feed upon. And is it not to every one’s interest to develop physical strenght? – The interest of the – Robber – and of his victim, are Identical; because, the more money possessed by the victim, the more for the – robber.

And surely, it is to everyone’s interest to have money, at least at the present time.

In such a manner only are the interest of the Capitalist and of – Labor – Identical; and in no other manner.

Notwithstanding all that has been said and written on this subject, the thoughtlessness which is still broadcast among the working and productive class regarding this very simple question, is almost discouraging, and often have I been, – there and then, tempted (by the Devil I suppose, or something else), to commit suicide by hanging myself (on my better-half’s neck, which is the only capital punishment – as an Anarchist – I believe in). It is the one great question

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which lies at the foundation of all our industrial wrongs; and untill the settlement of which there can be no permanent conditions of those who – Work. There seem to be quite a general confusion as to the words Capital and Capitalist. This is due to the practice of the Plutocratic writers and speakers, (more or less afluent in language) in using the words synonimously as though they were interchangible, inseparable; thus endeavouring to impress upon the thoughtless, that had we no Capitalists, we would have no Capital.

Capital is simply stored up Labor. A capitalist is one who takes through interest, rent – profit or otherwise, the possession of another; whether such possession be – Labor – goods, or money, in excess of the production returned.

Therefore, whether such returns be in money, goods or services, the only difference between a capitalist and a – Thief – is that the capitalist takes the excess nominaly with the consent of his

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victim, notwithstanding the alternative may be suffering – Starvation.

Labor earns, Capitalists eat.

The interest of the capitalist as a capitalist, and of Labor as a – Worker – are squarely, uncompromisingly – Opposed – while the one remains a capitalist and the other a wage worker it cannot be otherwise.

No matter how well-meaning a man your capitalist friend may be, he is engaged in an effort to make his capital – Earn – which except into the – Robbery – of Labor, is an impossibility.

Labor alone – Earns! –
So, the interest of the capitalist and of the Laborer, are not, never were, and never can be – Identical.

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Socialism – or – Communism.

Most of the errors in the criticisms of – Free Communism – so far as concerns those who are really honest in such criticisms, results from an imperfect conception of the potentialities of freedom, together with the unconscious carrying over into communism of ideas and forms of reasoning which are the products of, and can only exist under the present form of society.

From capitalistic premises, men seek to deduce communistic conclusions; their reasoning is thus illegitimate and their conclusions of no account.

The greater part of this erroneous criticism, of course relates to the communistic plan of distribution; and your so-called – Scientific Socialist – is generally as vigorous in his contemptiuous denunciations of the idea of absolutely – Free – consumption as is the – hard and fast –

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capitalist. Both assert the absolute necessity of some fixed rule for proportioning reward to effort; the only advantage possessed by the Socialist lies in the fact that he recognises the economic superiority of co-operation, and propose to utilise it for the benefit of the entire Social body; basing his rule of distribution on actual service performed; on what one – Does – instead of what one – Owns. –

It is very good and lofty, but notwithstanding that capitalism is his – Bete Noire – when the socialist attempts to develop his distribution theory, he becomes enmeshed in the capitalistic net.

He adopts for his basis of distribution a strictly capitalistic form, failing to perceive that with the accomplishment of the avowed objects of Socialism, thus form must necessarily disappear, thus removing the keystone of his whole theory, and leaving him between

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the horns of a dilemma, out of which he must choose either – Authoritarian Communism – or absolutely free consumption.

Now, let me briefly indicate this – Dilemma. – Karl Marx wrote very learnedly and very exhaustively on the subject of value; the Marxian concept of an absolute value unit is the central point of the whole philosophy of so-called – Scientific Socialism – ; but, all that he wrote doesn’t amount to a pinch of snuff, for the simple reason that the phenomenon of Value itself is a consequence of Slavery, of capitalism, and more, of the most detestable bureaucracy, the very conditions which Socialism assumes to destroy.

The Socialistic concept of value assumes the existence of an absolute value form, an exact and unvarying measure, namely, Social Labor-time.

Products have value in exact proportion to

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the social labor-time employed in their – Production. – Equal quantities of labor-time expended in social production, produce values of equal magnitude.

This of course, leaves entirely out of account the various forms of production and the varying utilities of such forms of production; it makes all labor of equal value, and logical necessity apportions to each laborers, without regard to the character of their labor, with the single proviso that it is – Social necessity – Labor, equal portions of the social products.

That is to say, without any regard to vocation, all persons who labor an equal number of hours must receive – Equal Pay.

This, begins to look like Communism, but it isn’t; and neither is it calculated to be.

Your Scientific Utopian imagines himself superior to communism, but it is his misfortune to be unable to form any conception of

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Communism, save in its authoritarian dress.

Having reach this point in the development of his theory, the Socialist encounters a – Snag – .

His capitalist opponent gets him on the hip by pointing out that such plan would result in the total destruction of economic arrangement of the social body.

Under such a rule says he, your producers remaining perfectly free to choose their occupations to suit themselves, how would you prevent a rush of laborers into the more congenial and easy occupations, and a death of the same for the exhausting and repugnant ones?

How would you prevent a useless accumulation of certain products, and an absolute – famine – of others?

He must either adopt authoritarian communism and decree that the producers must be – Forced – into their places and held there by

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the strong arm of the – Law, – or he must abandon his whole theory of value and adopt – Free Communism – as the Anarchist wants it, as the only solution.

The acceptance of either horn from the standpoint at which the socialist allows himself to be placed by his capitalist opponent, is equally fatal to the theory of – Scientific Socialism.

It is impossible for him to accept either horn, so he compromises the matter by turning his back on the first, and attempting to evade the second, he still makes an attempt or rather a pretense of clinging to his absolute theory of value, and attempts to remove the inconsistencies of his scheme by decreeing differences in the duration of the Labor-day for the different occupations, the proportions of Labor-time due to the different vocations, to be determined by statistics! It requires no gigantic intellect

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to be able to perceive that this is a total sacrifice of the Socialist theory of value, a complete abandonment of the entire basis of socialist distribution; labor-time is no longer an absolute measure of value; the socialist is deprived of his absolute rule and driven to empiricism to determine that which the Communist Anarchist rightly apprehends to be indeterminate.

In this he lands himself on the same vicious circle as his capitalistic opponent.

The capitalist economist defines – Value – as whatever the consumer is willing to pay for the article. The Socialist makes merry over this, rightly contending that it is mere – tautology – , as if one should say:– The value of a thing is whatever the thing is worth. – But, the Socialist makes an Ass of himself, for look how his case stands! –

He starts out with the firm assumption of an absolute measure of value, and plants

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himself as on a solid rock, on the declaration:– The value of a thing is the quantity of labor (measured by time) required to produce it.

He is then driven by the necessities of his argument into seeking a standard by which to measure labor itself. In other words, after adopting labor as a measure for value of products, he finds himself as far away from his goal as ever, because he lacks a standard for the measurement of the value of labor; and he is finally driven to this most pitiable tautology:– The Value of Labor is whatever Labor is worth.

He starts out very boldly to hew out a line for himself, but, after travelling around the same vicious circle as the – Bourgeois Economist – he brings up on top of that economic chestnut – Supply and Demand.

Now, let us see where the trouble lies, and see if I – as an Anarchist Communist will

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be able to define the true line.

The trouble is in attempting to measure value at all, in attempting to carry a capitalistic form over into a social synthesis where it has no place. In nature there is no such thing as value; and in a free society it would be absolutely non-existent. In even such a society a socialism contemplates, where every individual would have enough, and would be relieved from the fear of want, value must utterly disappear.

Value is merely a conception which gives expression to the power of authority, to limit the means of life of a people, to deprive them of opportunities to satisfy their wants. It is a measure of Slavery. It is a concept which can be formed by the mind only under Slavish conditions. This is no mere wild assertion; it is a fact which has been demonstrated by the bourgeois econm-

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ists themselves, and the laws of value are well known to all our commercial magnates, who acts upon them every-day of their lives.

In order that value may attach itself to anything whatever its quantity, must be limited to less than is actually needed. When the limitation is removed and supply is allowed to become co-extensive with effective demand, value at once disappear.

It was a practical demonstration of this law of value, that first started – Fourier – to investigate the social problem.

When a clerk in a mercantile establishment he was compelled to superintend the destruction of a large quantity of rice; his employers being driven to this measure of limitation in order to sustain the value of rice.

I said before that the laws of value had been stated by bourgeois economy itself.
The Scientific statement is:– The value

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of a commodity is a function of the quantity available, and will fall to – Zero – when supply outruns demand, so far as to make the final increment of supply useless, or – Not Wanted. – See, theory of Political Economy by Jevons.

It is a very simple matter to cause the disappearance of value.

Just allow the people to produce to the limit of their needs, and let them retain their natural power to consume, and value at once goes – Glimmering. Bring at least a Doctrine which a child can understand, and not a superamount of useless calculations, which neither – HE – or anybody else will be able to arrive at the end of his – so-called Logical Deductions, of Social Democracy.

State Socialism assumes to do this;– therefore it destroys its own basis of Distribu-

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tion.

There is only one workable rule of distribution for a free society, and that is – Absolutely free Consumption – such as the Anarchist Communist proposes. And not, bring that huge machine the – State – as the – Mother-in-Law – of the people.
There is no sentiment about this conclusion, it is pure – Science.

The Sydney Socialist champion begins to understand his doctrine at last.
Mr Holman in his lectures on Social Literature, express the same views on the work of Karl Marx. But, Mr Holman forgets that the new writers on Socialism have almost the same views, and that governmental representation (by Labor only) and their commercial views are as bad and corrupt as those of Karl Marx and Engels.

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Robert Blatchford, or (Nunquam), the editor of the – Clarion – and the shining light of Socialism in England, in his leaflet – What Socialism is;– and – What Socialism is Not, gives one of the most crude assertion which deserves criticism.

Why nationalise the land and instruments of production? Says Nunquam! To save waste; panics; to avert trade depressions, famines, strikes, and congestion of industrial centres; and to prevent greedy and unscrupulous – Sharpers – from enriching themselves at the cost of the national health and prosperity. –

This is very good indeed; but, friends, read attentively the following words:–
In short, to replace Anarchy and war, by – Law and order.

Just the very system, meaning – Law and Order – which is the very wicked thing

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from which the mentioned evils evolve.

So, to my thinking Nunquam has changed nothing except in bringing the horrible Bureaucracy – which is the revolving axis of Scientific Socialism. In fact, no Socialist writers ancient or modern, have ever accomplished any change at all.

As to Anarchy he – Nunquam – is raving! and his reasoning out of shape.

Mr Holman in admitting the uselessness of old writers’ works, is setting another Jewel in the crown of socialistic ignorance, for, no more than any other Socialists, has he lectured on something compiled by his own personal intellect.

Persons reading and studying the interested views and opinions of – Press writers – particularly during a – Political – campaign, on the subject of Socialism, will – Wrongly – conclude that it is a political question, and can be solved by politics. But, a student on the – Social Question – of the age, and one not content

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with a superficial glance at the subject, realises that – Socialism Proper – can be nothing else (I challenge any Social Democrats to prove to the contrary) than an – Economic question – and not a – Political one; and on economic grounds alone will be, and can only be fought out, and solved satisfactorily.

Buckle, in his – History of Civilisation – says:– That there have been two opposing elements to the progress of the civilisation of man. The first is – the Church – which commands what a man shall believe; and the second is – the State – which commands him what to do.

Just so my friends; during our general Ellection struggles, the Church in all directions commands her flocks to believe that Anarchists are dangerous, wicked people and of the Devil; and the – State – commands its Satellites and adherents to vote

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for individual monopoly.

Numbers of men and women who claim to see clearly and feel deeply the evils attached to our present Social and Industrial system, assert that the evils are inherent in human nature, and would be obtained under any or every system. Is that so? Well, I aver, and can prove, that all the present evils of society result from the fact of over two-thirds of humanity being idlers and non-producers, while the balance have to toil hard and continuously, barely existing to keep the drones and money lords in affluence and idleness.

I claim that the whole curse of our system is that we produce for profit and not for use, that the only god which is worshiped to-day, is – Gold – ! money! money!!!!

Make money my son, make money – honestly – if you can, but make money.

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Here is the crux of the whole discontent.

What had man to do with money originally?

Men existed before money, and money is the result of private property, which Anarchists have sworn to – Destroy. Under our present regime of civilisation, a child is born in the lap of misery, nurtured in vicious immoral surroundings; tutored in selfishness and deceit, and arrives at man’s estate an immoral, cunning, deceitful unit of humanity. Whose fault is this? Not the child’s surely?

Not the parents’ either, as they have been similarly treated; but the fault of society’s systems, which allows a reign of injustice to be engendered and reign supreme.

Look again at a converse picture. Another babe is born in purple and fine linen, nurtured in golden surroundings, tutored in arrogance, self-conceit and pride, and he arrives at man’s estate believing the world was made

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for himself alone, and that his brother nurtured in misery must be his wage-slave, and worldly tool. Again, not the child’s fault, partly the fault of his parents, they being environed by all that is considered of value in this world; but still our beautiful systems of profit-mongering are to blame, systems not inherent in humanity, but fixed on them by the mere cunning of men.

The unjust systems of society are to blame for all the ills in existance to-day. Men and women are all capable of goodness and purity, but they must be surrounded by just conditions, where there is no incentive for wrong-doing. Only under a code of statute, manmade Laws, is it possible that the above pictures – so diverse – could be drawn.

Statute laws authorise and approve of injustice.

Realising this, a true Socialist can have

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no intention in forming a codex of laws for the guidance of future generations.

Future generations will frame regulations to suit altered and advanced conditions; the only thing I believe a sincere student on Socialism can and must do, is; by advocating an ever-lasting advocacy of the – Gospel – of discontent against Social injustice and want of education, in order to banish the dying – misapprehensions of the past, to break down all class monopoly, fight sanctimonious – Priestcraft – and thus hasten humanity’s progress.

Taking a retrospective glance, what is unfolded to my vision? I see mankind who existed by hard, thankless toil, kissing the coat of an alleged religious brother; I see them bowing down to the dust before profligate and licentious princes; I see them idiotically kissing the toes and hands

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of their fellow man whom society has placed on a humbug platform (or pulpit); I see them crawling and cringing to money lords; and society’s noblemen (alas! as occurs every day in a so-called – Free and Civilised State), I see them debasing their – man and womanhood by false obedience to pretended sanctimonious environments, and I have resolved by circulating the doctrine of discontent against injustice in all directions, and on all occasions, to completely shatter (by sound arguments) useless rotten constitutions, written or unwritten, which have been reared on fraud, precedent and cunning, and help all honest and true reformers, to establish on their ashes, a – Rulership of Reason – based on justice, equality and fraternity.

Unjust surroundings are the chief factors, and are mainly responsible for the fact that

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the wage earners of to-day, brain or manual, no longer respect personal or paper gods.

They defy your statute-made laws; they stretch out their hands for the fruits of toil, and are told by a – minister for Labour – that they should be flogged with Scorpions; or that they can’t even expect fifteen bob a day through their hard labor. It is hard to digest such arguments, especially from a minister of the crown, and member of the Wesleyan persuasion; and this is why the Workers hold in scorn and detestation your religious informers and Pinkertons.

They are unmasking hypocritical sanctity; they are recognising that the – Land – their natural, inalienable heritage has been, and is still, held by exploiting Robbers, whether – ministers – Auctioneers or otherwise.

A spirit of unrest is engendered, and will continue untill the present iniquitous

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conditions of society are reversed, and all mankind, recognising that – Nature’s – products are for the use of all (and not a few,) establish a commune based on the ideal principles of the common – Brotherhood of Man.

A new era is dawning, greater and nobler ideas are filling the hearts of men and women, the ideas of Socialism Proper, or properly termed – Anarchist Communism.

Socialists of modern school, aver that Socialism and Anarchism are not synonymous terms. True, from their – standpoint, – but not from ours;– for instance, Christianity embraces Catholics (Roman); Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and various other religious sects, all of whom call themselves – Christians. But, although every Catholic is a Christian, it by no means

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follows that every Christian is a believer in Roman Catholicism.

The phylosophy of Socialism being a general one, it embraces – Communism, and also Anarchism, as the Anarchist wants it.

A State Socialist of the modern school, is a non-believer in Anarchism, as he wishes the – State – to be the controller of all industries, whereas the Communist Anarchist seeks the entire abolition of – State – interference.

The term – Anarchist – is derived from the Greek, meaning – without Government – or in other words – Without Oppression.

Wageslaves are realising that strikes for higher wages are problematic and out of date, the strike of the near future being to revolutionise Society’s unjust systems, not for better wages, but for justice and the abolition of the accursed wage and profit systems

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altogether. During the strike which the near future will bring forth, necessity will force mankind into producing the necessaries of life for the down trodden; and this will take place on a purely communistic and – co-operative basis, minus – Commercialism – and having no connection with what is called the – State – of to-day at all.

Instead of the accursed system of competition for profit of which our present co-operative Stores and others are so fond, which at the present time completely demoralises all mankind, a new system will be inaugurated, which in a very short space of time will alter the human race altogether.

Man will not need then to snatch the bread from a fellowman’s mouth, which to-day’s cut-throat commercial competition compels him to do; and that terrible struggle for existence, with all its wild and brutal –

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characteristics, as envy, avarice, cunning, selfishness, and lust of power, brought about and engendered by the fear of want, will disappear, being replaced by the true brotherly spirit which communistic Anarchy produces, bringing in its train such a high degree of true nobility and morality, inconceivable at present by upholders of our present iniquitous system.

Keen thinkers and students recognise the Revolution that is taking place, as I have mentioned before, without resort to bloodshed, though it is not illogical to maintain, that when forced is used to uphold an unjust system, an armed force of military and police being kept on hand through ignorance, to help exploiters in maintaining a system of might under the name of right, it would be just as logical for those who believe

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in and denounce the present system of a society of corruption, to use force also to maintain their theories.

On the dawning of the Anarchistic era, when man grasps the true principles, incentive will be given to every men and women to fully develop their mental and physical capacities; because being at perfect liberty to do what suits them best, they will take greater interest in their work;– consequently finding and maintaining pleasure in performing it.

In a Socialistic community (on Anarchist) principles, machinery will become the servant of men; not as now, mankind the Slave of machinery; work for all being equalised will be minimised. Misery and Starvation with all their concomitants, will be unknown; true brotherly love prevailing.

To those who may depreciate or deplore a

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discontented advocacy on the part of Socialists (as they should be), I will quote from – Gronlund:– Next to hope, he says, discontent is the greatest gift to man from the gods. –

Here, in these few – short and sweet words, we find the whole social problem. For, to possess discontent, is to aspire to greater and nobler things, which are too ancients to suit the higher thoughts of each appearing generations

If this conclusion of mine (on Socialism) reach the eyes of Mr T.W. Holman, he will surely admit that, A man may be possessed of all the learning that the – Universities – can aford, and – Yet – be an – Ignoramus – for all that.

A workingman’s advice may prove of great value, provide these arguments are strengthen by – Logic.

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[Poster]

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[Sketch – The Pauper and his Guardian]

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[Sketch – Time and the World]

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[Sketch – Freedom]

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[Letterhead - Active Service Brigade.]

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[Sketch – The Unemployed]

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[Printed text – Socialism]

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[Printed text – Hairdressing and Tobaccos!]

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[Printed text – For Freedom & Unity]

[Transcribed by Darren Blumberg for the State Library of New South Wales]