312 Evolution and Social Reform : 



accounted for by, the existence of rent, interest and 

 profits. These, therefore, must disappear before tlie h\;nian 

 race can be free, wealthy and happy. With their dis- 

 appearance secondary causes of poverty will naturally 

 cease. 



This explains the opposition of Anarchists to govern- 

 ment by physical force. They know that those bits of 

 paper by which non-users hold land vacant are legal docu- 

 ments. They know that if laborers should attempt to 

 exercise what should be their right, by taking possession of 

 vacant land for productive use, the whole machinery of 

 government by physical force would be brought to bear 

 upon them, and if nothing else would avail to drive them 

 from the vacant land they would be shot to death by gov- 

 ernment powder and balls from government guns in the 

 hands of government troops. And yet the only crime of 

 which such laborers would be guilty would be that of 

 trying to earn an honest living and promote the happiness 

 of the world by increasing its wealth ; their only crime 

 would be that of wishing to apply productive labor to what 

 we call natural materials, which, Avhen not in legitimate 

 use, should be free to all. They know, in short, that the 

 man-starving monopoly of vacant land is authorized and 

 maintained by military government. 



They know, also, that the monopoly of money is sim- 

 ilarly maintained by government. Free competition with 

 the government in the manufacture and uttering of money is 

 forcibly prevented. And because profits arise on account 

 of the monopoly of land and money the government is the 

 creator of rent, interest and i)rofits, the baleful trinity in 

 unity, more j)Owerful than any imaginary bad god to plunge 

 the human race into poverty and so into misery and crime. 



Anarchists believe, still further, that all statute laws are 

 necessarily partial and unjust, xmless you choose to excejjt 

 laws against violence and theft. It is impossible to devise 

 a statute law that will not favor some persons against 

 others. The very "machinery of justice," as we call our 

 judicial system, Avorks injustice to the poor, if for no other 

 rea,son, because as between a litigant with money and a 

 litigant without money the poor man may be defeated by 

 his very inability to bear the expenses of court-procedure 



All this is very briefly and insufficiently stated, but 

 Anarchists believe that it can be scientifically and elab- 



