19 the produce of the~lapour 1of mankind in general. And it is,,. precisely because this ·appropriation and all other forhls of · property, bearing the same character, are a, crying injustice, that a -whole arsenal of laws, and a whole ·army of ;oldiers, policeme~ and. judges a.re needed to maintain it ag;inst. th~ good sense and just feeling inherent in humanity. ·well, half our laws, the civil code in each country ~erves no other purpose than to maintain this. appropriation, this mono~ poly for the benefit of certain individuals, against the whole of I mankin,d. Three-fourths of the causes decided by the tribun~ls are notlNng but quarrels between monopolists-two robbers dis- ).)Uting over their booty. And a _great many of our criminal laws have the same object in view, their end being to keep the workihan in a subordinate position towards his employer, and thus afford security for exploitation. As for guaranteeing the product of his labour to the producer, there are no laws which even attempt such a thing. Jt is so simple and natural, so much a part of the manners and customs of mankind, that law has not given it so much as a thought .. Open brigandage, sword in hand, is no feature of our age. Neither does one workman ever come and dispute the prodt1ce of his 1 labour with another. If they have a misunderstanding they settle it by .calling in a third person, without having recourse to law. The .only person who exacts from another what that other has produced, is the proprietor, who comes in and deducts the lion's share. As for _humanity in . general, it everywhere respects the right of each to what be has created, without the interposition of ~-nyspecial laws. As all the laws about property, which make up thick volumes of codes, a.nd are the delight of our lawyers, have no other object than to protect the unjust appropriation of human labour by certain monopolists, there 'is no reason for their ex- •istence, and, on the day of the Revolution, social revolutionists are thoroughly determined to put.an end to them. Indeed, ·a bonfire might be made with perfect justice of all laws bearing upon the so--0alled "rights of property," all ,title-deeds, all. registers, in a word, of all that is in any way connected. with an - J iristitqtion which will soon be ~ooked upon as a blot in the .his- , ' " . Biblioteca Gino Bianco l I
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