Freeland

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Thanks to the fact that the election for the Constituent Congress has been
the means of universally diffusing the intelligence that it was intended to
act upon the principle of respecting most scrupulously all acquired rights,
productive activity during the period of transition has suffered no
disturbance, but has rather received a fresh impetus. The companies in
process of formation compel the existing undertakers to make a considerable
rise in wages in order to retain the labour requisite for the provisional
carrying on of their concerns; and as this rise in wages has suddenly
increased the demand for all kinds of production it has become still more
the interest of the undertakers to guard against any interruption in their
production. These two tendencies mutually strengthen each other to such a
degree that at the present time the minimum wages exceed three dollars a
day, and a feverish spirit of enterprise has taken possession of the whole
business world. The machine industry, in particular, exhibits an activity
that makes all former notions upon the subject appear ridiculous. The dread
of over-production has become a myth, and since the undertakers can reckon
upon finding very soon in the associations willing purchasers of
well-organised concerns, they do not refrain from making the fullest
possible use of the last moments left of their private activity. Even the
landlords find their advantage in this, for the value of land has naturally
risen very materially in consequence of the rapidly grown demand for all
kinds of the produce of land. In short, everything justifies us in
anticipating that the transition to the new order of things with us will
take place not only easily and smoothly, but also in a way most gratifying
to _all_ classes of our people.

The PRESIDENT asked the assembly whether they would continue the debate on
the fourth point on the Agenda, by at once discussing the message from the
American Congress; or whether they would first receive the report which the
Freeland commissioner in Russia had sent by a messenger who had just
arrived in Eden Vale. As the congress decided to hear the report,

DEMETER NOVIKOF (messenger of the Freeland commissioner for Russia) said:
When we, the commissioners appointed by the Freeland central government at
the wish of the Russian people, arrived in Moscow, we found quiet--at least
externally--so far restored that the parties which had been attacking each
other with reckless fury had agreed to a provisional truce at the news of
our arrival. Not merely the cannons and rifles, but even the guillotine and
the gallows were at rest. Radoslajev, our plenipotentiary commissioner,
called the chiefs of the parties together, induced them to lay down their
weapons, to give up their prisoners, to dissolve the seven different
parliaments, each one of which had been assuming the authority of exclusive
representative of the Russian people; and then, after he had furnished
himself for the interim with a council of reliable men belonging to the
different parties, he made arrangements for the election of a constituent
assembly with all possible speed.

As production and trade were nearly at a standstill, the misery was
boundless. To be an employer was looked upon by several of the extreme
parties as a crime worthy of death; hence no one dared to give workers
anything to do. In most parts of the empire the ignorant masses, who had
been held down in slavish obedience, were altogether incapable of
organising themselves; and as the most extreme of the Nihilists had begun
to guillotine the organisers of the free associations as 'masters in
disguise,' it seemed almost as if mutual slaughter could henceforth be the
only occupation that would be pursued in Russia.

The proclamation, in which Radoslajev called upon the people to elect an
assembly, and in which he insisted upon the security of the person and of
property as _conditio sine qua non_ of our continued assistance, calmed the
minds of the people, but it did not suffice to produce a speedy growth of
productive activity. When, therefore, the constituent assembly met,
Radoslajev proposed a mixed system as transition stage into the _regime_ of
economic justice. In this mixed system a kind of transitory Communism was
to be combined with the germs of the Free Society and with certain remnants
of the old industrial system.

In the first place, however, order had to be restored in the existing legal
relationships. During the reign of terror previous to our arrival, all
fixed possessions were declared to be the property of the nation, without
giving any compensation to the former owners. All existing debts were
simply cancelled; and the first business now was to make good as far as
practicable the injury done by these acts of violence. But at first the new
national assembly showed itself to be intractable upon these points. Hatred
of the old order was so universal and so strong that even those who had
been dispossessed did not venture to endorse our views. The private
property of the epoch of exploitation was considered to be merely robbery
and theft, the claims for compensation were so obnoxious to many that a
deputation of former landowners and manufacturers, headed by two who had
borne the title of grand-duke, conjured Radoslajev to desist from his
purpose, lest the scarcely sleeping nihilistic fanaticism should be awaked
anew. The latter, nevertheless, persisted in his demands, after he had
consulted us Freelanders who had been appointed to assist him. He announced
to the national assembly that we were far from wishing to force our views
upon the Russian nation, but that, on the other hand, Russia could not
require us to take part in a work based--in our eyes--upon robbery; and
this threat, backed by our withdrawal, finally had its effect. The national
assembly made another attempt to evade the task of passing a measure which
it disliked: it offered Radoslajev the dictatorship during the period of
transition. After he had refused this offer, the assembly gave in and
reluctantly proceeded with the consideration of the compensation law.
Radoslajev drafted a bill according to which the former owners were to be
paid the full value in instalments; and the old relations between the
debtors and creditors were to be restored, and the debts discharged in full
also in instalments. However, Radoslajev could not get this bill passed
unaltered. The national assembly unanimously voted a clause to the effect
that no one claim for compensation should exceed 100,000 rubles; if debts
were owing to the owner, the amount was to be added, yet no claim for
compensation for debts owing to any one creditor was to exceed 100,000
rubles. For property that had been devastated or destroyed a similar
maximum of compensation was voted.

In the meantime we had made all the necessary arrangements for organising
production upon the new principles. Private undertakers did not venture to
come forward, though the field was left open to them; on the other hand,
free associations of workers, after the pattern of those in Freeland, were
soon organised, particularly in the western governments of Russia. The
great mass of the working population, however, proved to be as yet
incapable of organising themselves, and the government was therefore
compelled to come to their assistance. Twenty responsible committees were
appointed for twenty different branches of production, and these
committees, with the help of such local intelligence as they found at their
disposal, took the work of production in hand. The liberty of the people
was so far respected that no one was compelled to engage in any particular
kind of work; but those who took part in the work organised by the
authorities had to conform to all the directions of the latter. At present
there are 83,000 such undertakings at work, with twelve and a-half millions
of workers. The division of the profits in these associations is made
according to a system derived in part from the principles of free
association and in part from those of Communism. One half of the net
profits is equally divided among the whole twelve and a-half millions of
workers; the other half is divided by each undertaking among its own
workers. In this way, we hope on the one hand to secure every undertaking
from the worst consequences of any accidental miscarriage in its
production, and on the other to arouse the interest of the workers in the
success of each individual undertaking. The managers of these productive
corporations are paid according to the same mixed system.

The time of labour is fixed at thirty-six hours per week. Every worker is
forced to undergo two hours' instruction daily, which instruction is at
present given by 65,000 itinerant teachers, the number of whom is being
continually increased. This obligation to learn ceases when certain
examinations are passed. Down to the present time, 120,000 people's
libraries have been established, to furnish which with the most needful
books a number of large printing works have been set up in Russia, and the
aid of the more important foreign printing establishments has also been
called in; the Freeland printing works alone have already supplied
twenty-eight million volumes. And as the teaching of children is being
carried on with all conceivable energy--780 teachers' seminaries either
have been or are about to be established; large numbers of teachers, &c.,
have been brought in from other Slav countries, particularly Bohemia--we
hope to see the general level of popular culture so much raised in the
course of a few years that the communistic element may be got rid of.

In the meantime, the control provisionally exercised over the masses who
willingly submit to it will be utilised in the elevation and ennoblement of
their habits and needs. Spirituous liquors, notably brandy, are given out
in only limited quantities; on the other hand, care is taken that breweries
are erected everywhere. The workers receive a part of their earnings in the
form of good clothing; the wretched mud huts and dens in which the workmen
live are being gradually superseded by neat family dwellings with small
gardens. At least once a month the authorities appoint a public festival,
when it is sought to raise the aesthetic taste of the participators by
means of simple but good music, dramatic performances and popular
addresses, and to cultivate their material taste by viands fit for rational
and civilised beings. Special care is devoted to the education of the
women. Nearly 80,000 itinerant women-teachers are now moving about the
country, teaching the women--who are freed from all coarse kinds of
labour--the elements of science as well as a more civilised style of
household economy. These teachers also seek to increase the self-respect
and elevate the tastes of the women, to enlighten them as to their new
rights and duties, and particularly to remove the hitherto prevalent
domestic brutality. As these apostles of a higher womanhood--as well as all
the teachers--are supported by the full authority of the government, and
devote themselves to their tasks with self-denying assiduity, very
considerable results of their work are already visible. The wives of the
working classes, who have hitherto been dirty, ill-treated, mulish beasts
of burden, begin to show a sense of their dignity as human beings and as
women. They no longer submit to be flogged by their husbands; they keep the
latter, themselves, and their children clean and tidy; and emulate one
another in acquiring useful knowledge. Thanks to the maintenance allowance
for women, which was at once introduced, an incredible progress--nay, a
veritable revolution--has taken place in the morals of the people. Whilst
formerly, particularly among the urban proletariate, sexual licence and
public prostitution were so generally prevalent that--as our Russian
friends assure us--anyone might accost the first poorly clad girl he met in
the streets without anticipating refusal, now sexual false steps are seldom
heard of. Moreover, it is particularly interesting to observe the
difference which public opinion makes between such offenders in the past
and those of the present. Whilst the mantle of oblivion is thrown over the
former, public opinion has no indulgence for the latter. 'The woman who
sold herself in former times was an unfortunate; she who does it now is an
abandoned woman,' say the people. The woman who in former times was a
prostitute but is now blameless carries her head high, and looks down with
haughty contempt upon the girl or the wife who, 'now that we women are no
longer compelled to sell ourselves for bread,' commits the least offence.

(_End of Fifth Day's Debate_)

CHAPTER XXVIII

SIXTH DAY

The business begins with the continuation of the debate upon point 4 of the
Agenda.

IBRAHIM EL MELEK (_Right_): The very instructive reports from America and
Russia, heard yesterday, afford strong proof that the transition to the
system of economic justice is accomplished not merely the more easily, but
also the more pleasantly for the wealthy classes, the more cultured and
advanced the working classes are. In view of this, it will cause no wonder
that we in Egypt do not expect to effect the change of system without
painful convulsions. The nearness of Freeland, with the consequently speedy
advent of its commissioners, who were received by the violently excited
fellaheen with almost divine honours, has preserved us from scenes of cruel
violence such as afflicted Russia for weeks. No murders and very little
destruction of property have taken place; but the Egyptian national
assembly, called into being by the Freeland Commissioners, shows itself far
less inclined than its Russian contemporary to respect the compensation
claims of the former owners. In this I see the ruling of fate, against
which nothing can be done, and to which we must therefore submit with
resignation. But I would exculpate from blame those who have had to suffer
so severely. Though no one has expressly said it, yet I have an impression
that the majority of the assembly are convinced that those who have
composed the ruling classes are now everywhere suffering the lot which they
have prepared for themselves. As to this, I would ask whether the
landlords, capitalists, and employers of America, Australia, and Western
Europe were less reckless in taking advantage of their position than those
of Russia or Egypt? That they could not so easily do what they pleased with
their working classes as the latter could is due to the greater energy of
the American national character and to the greater power of resistance
possessed by the masses, and not to the kindly disposition of the masters.
Hence I cannot think it just that the Russian boyar or the Egyptian bey
should lose his property, whilst the American speculator, the French
capitalist, or the English lord should even derive profit from the
revolution.

LIONEL SPENCER (_Centre_): The previous speaker may be correct in supposing
that the wealthy classes of England, like those of America, will come out
of the impending revolution without direct loss. There cannot be the
slightest doubt that in England, as well as in France and in several other
countries in which the government has had a democratic character, nothing
will be taken from the wealthy classes for which they will not be fully
compensated. But I am not able to see in this the play of blind fate.
Observe that the sacrifices involved in the social revolution everywhere
stand in an inverse ratio to what has hitherto been the rate of wages,
which is the chief factor in determining the average level of popular
culture. Where the masses have languished in brutish misery, no one can be
surprised that, when they broke their chains, they should hurl themselves
upon their oppressors with brutish fury. Again, the rate of wages is
everywhere dependent upon the measure of political and social freedom which
the wealthy classes grant to the masses. The Russian boyar or the Egyptian
bey may be personally as kindly disposed as the American speculator or the
English landlord; the essential difference lies in the fact that in America
and England the fate of the masses was less dependent upon the personal
behaviour of the wealthy classes than in Russia and Egypt. In the former
countries, the wealthy classes--even if perhaps less kindly in their
personal intercourse--were politically more discreet, more temperate than
in the latter countries, and it is the fruit of this political discretion
that they are now reaping. It may be that they knew themselves to be simply
compelled to exercise this discretion: they exercised it, and what they
did, and not their intentions, decided the result. Those that were the
ruling classes in the backward countries are now atoning for the excessive
exercise of their rights of mastership; they are now paying the difference
between the wages they formerly gave and the--meagre enough--general
average of wages under the exploiting system.

TEI FU (_Right_): The previous speaker overlooks the fact that the rate of
wages depends, rot upon the will of the employer, but upon supply and
demand. That the receiver of a hunger-wage has been degraded to a beast is
unfortunately too true, and the massacres with which the masses of my
fatherland, driven to desperation, everywhere introduced the work of
emancipation are, like the events in Russia, eloquent proofs of this fact.
But how could any political discretion on the part of the ruling classes
have prevented this? The labour market in China was over-crowded, the
supply of hands was too great for any power on earth to raise the wages.

ALEXANDER MING-LI (_Freeland_): My brother, Tei Fu, thinks that wages
depend upon supply and demand. This is not an axiom that was thought out in
our common fatherland, but one borrowed from the political economy of the
West, but which, in a certain sense, is none the less correct on that
account. It holds good of every commodity, consequently of human labour so
long as that has to be offered for sale. But the price depends also upon
two other things--namely, on the cost of production and the utility of the
commodity: in fact, it is these two last-named factors that in the long run
regulate the price, whilst the fluctuations of supply and demand can
produce merely fluctuations within the limits fixed by the cost of
production and the utility. In the long run as much must be paid for
everything as its production costs; and in the long run no more can be
obtained for a thing than its use is worth. All this has long been known,
only unfortunately it has never been fully applied to the question of
wages. What does the production of labour cost? Plainly, just so much as
the means of life cost which will keep up the worker's strength. And what
is the utility of human labour? Just as plainly, the value of what is
produced by that human labour. What does this mean when applied to the
labour market? Nothing else, it seems to me, than that the rate of
wages--apart from the fluctuations due to supply and demand--is in the long
run determined by the habits of the worker on the one hand, and by the
productiveness of his labour on the other. The first affects the demands of
the workers, the second the terms granted by the employers.

But now, I beg my honoured fellow-countryman particularly to note what I am
about to say. The habits of the masses are not unchangeable. Every human
being naturally endeavours to live as comfortably as possible; and though
it must be admitted that custom and habit will frequently for a time act
restrictively upon this natural tendency to expansion in human wants, yet I
can assert with a good conscience that our unhappy brethren in the Flowery
Land did not go hungry and half-clad because of an invincible dislike to
sufficient food and clothing, but that they would have been very glad to
accustom themselves to more comfortable habits if only the paternal wisdom
of all the Chinese governments had not always prevented it by most severely
punishing all the attempts of the workers to agitate and to unite for the
purpose of giving effect to their demands. Workers who united for such
purposes were treated as rebels; and the wealthy classes of China--this is
their folly and their fault--have always given their approval to this
criminal folly of the Chinese government.

I call this both folly and crime, because it not merely grossly offended
against justice and humanity, but was also extremely detrimental to the
interests of those who thus acted, and of those who approved of the action.
As to the government, one would have thought that the insane and suicidal
character of its action would long since have been recognised. A blind man
could have seen that the government damaged its financial as well as its
military strength in proportion as its measures against the lower classes
were effective. The consumption by the masses has been in China, as in all
other countries, the principal source of the national income, and the
physical health of the people the basis of the military strength of the
country. But whence could China derive duties and excise if the people were
not able to consume anything; and how could its soldiery, recruited from
the proletariate, exhibit courage and strength in the face of the enemy?
This oppression of the masses was equally injurious to the interests of the
wealthy classes. While the Chinese people consumed little they were not
able to engage in the more highly productive forms of labour--that is,
their labour had a wretchedly small utility because of the wretchedly small
cost at which it was produced.

Thus the Chinese employer could pay but little for labour, because the
worker was prevented from demanding much in such a way as would influence
not merely the individual employer, but the labour market in general. The
individual undertaker could have yielded to the demands of his workers to
only a limited degree, since he as individual would have lost from his
profits what he added to wages. But if wages had risen throughout the whole
of China, this would have increased the demand to such a degree that
Chinese labour would have become more productive--that is, it would have
been furnished with better means of production. The employers would have
covered the rise in wages by the increased produce, not out of their
profits; in fact, their profits would have grown--their wealth, represented
by the capitalistic means of labour in their possession, would have
increased. Of course this does not exclude the possibility that some
branches of production might have suffered under this general change, for
the increase of consumption resulting from better wages does not affect
equally all articles in demand. It may be that while the average
consumption has increased tenfold, the demand for a single commodity
remains almost stationary--in fact, diminishes; but in this case it is
certain that the demand for certain other commodities will increase more
than ten-fold. The losses of individual employers are balanced by the
proportionately larger profits of other employers; and it may be taken as a
general rule that the wealth of the wealthy classes increases in exact
proportion to the increase of wages which they are obliged to pay. It
cannot be otherwise, for this wealth of the wealthy classes consists mainly
of nothing else than the means of production which are used in the
preparation of the commodities required by the whole nation.

Perhaps my honoured fellow countryman thinks that in the matter of rise of
wages we move in a circle, inasmuch as on the one hand the productiveness
of labour--that is, the utility of the power expended in labour--certainly
cannot increase so long as the nation's consumption--that is, the amount
which the labour power itself costs--does not increase, while on the other
hand the latter increase is impossible until the former has taken place. If
so, I would tell him that this is just the fatal superstition which the
wealthy classes and the rulers of so many countries have now so cruelly to
suffer for. Since, in the exploiting world, only a part, and as a rule a
very small part, of the produce of labour went to wages, the
employers--with very rare exceptions--were well able to grant a rise in
wages even before the increase of produce had actually been obtained, and
had resulted in a _universal_ rise in wages. I would tell him that,
especially in China, on the average even three or four times the wages
would not have absorbed the whole profits--that is, of course, the old
profits uninfluenced by the increase of produce. The employers _could_ pay
more, but they _would not_. From the standpoint of the individual this was
quite intelligible; everyone seeks merely his own advantage, and this
demands that one retains for one's self as large a part of any utility as
possible, and hands over as little as possible to others. In this respect
the American speculators, the French capitalists, and the English
landlords, were not a grain better than our Chinese mandarins. But as a
body the former acted differently from the latter. Notwithstanding the fact
that the absurdity that wages _cannot_ be raised was invented in the West
and proclaimed from all the professorial chairs, the Western nations have
for several generations been compelled by the more correct instinct of the
people to act as if the contrary principles had been established. In theory
they persisted in the teaching that wages could not be increased; in
practice, however, they yielded more and more to the demands of the working
masses, with whose undeniable successes the theory had to be accommodated
as well as possible. You, my Chinese brethren, on the contrary, have in
your policy adhered strictly to the teaching of this theory: you have first
driven your toiling masses to desperation by making them feel that the
State is their enemy; and you have then immediately taken advantage of
every excess of which the despairing people have been guilty to impose
'order' in your sense of the word. Your hand was always lifted against the
weaker: do not wonder that when they had become the stronger they avenged
themselves by making you feel some small part of the sufferings they had
endured.