The present system cannot hold for ever. Every day sees its power waning. It is the self-interest of everyone who hopes for the dawn of a brighter day to assist in dispelling the darkness which overhands and threatens to engulph us, and to work together to substitute in its place a system that shall be more just, more merciful, more equitable, more harmonious. The slavery of the workers by the politically-created and politically-fostered monopoly of property, and the robbery of the laborers by rent, interest, profit, and taxation, must be abolished—abolished peacefully, expeditiously, and permanently. And to do so, we must start from where we now stand, and despite all the disadvantages which surround us, and with all the ignorance, all the bigotry, all the intolerance, and all the debasement and cowardice which characterize the down-trodden millions, we must side by side make our way along the path which so many have found slippery, until we reach the long-cherished goal of Labor’s Emancipation.
But how can we do it? How can we get from the present unjust, destructive system, into one in which justice and happiness shall be the distinguishing characteristics? How shall we fight out of the present blood-thirsty system without the shedding of blood and without the disastrous reaction which has marked the bloody rebellions of the past? How shall we walk from bondage into liberty?
That is the problem which awaits our immediate solution. We cannot avoid it: we must face it. We dare not ignore it, for the present system is destroying us. We, slaves as we are, have to emancipate ourselves. It can be done. It must be done. It shall be done. But how?
NOTE.
In estimating that the annual profit at 75% on merchantable commodities in the table showing “How the Australasian laborers spend their annual earnings,” a deduction of about 20% of the total amount of commodities (£112,000,000), is made in order to allow for that portion of the profits which pay the capitalists’ rent, interest, and taxes, and which have already been included under those heads.
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