Individual Liberty

304 Pages·2009·22.05 MB·English

by  Benjamin R. Tucker

IndividualLiberty
Selections From the Writings 0/
BENJAMIN R. TUCKER
E;.DITED· Bye. L. S.
NEW YORK
VANGUARD PRESS
MCMXXVI
PRllNTEDIN THE UNITEDSTATES OF AMERICA
~4r89
(
PUBL""I8HER'8 NOTE
C. L. S., the editor and compiler of this book, has known
:Benjamin R. Tucker personally since 1891" having entered
his'employ at. that time in the mechanical department of
Liberty, Mr. Tucker's,journal.for the exposition of Individ
ualist Anarchism. •After that time and until the final suspen-'
sion of publication 'of Liberty, C. ,L. S. contributed many
articles to the columns. of that periodical, both signed and
unsigned, usually in the editorial department. For a
considerable period he had complete editorial charg~, during
Mr. Tucker's absence. Thus the present work has been per
formed by one who has entire "familiarity with Liberty's
philosophy and who perhaps at present has a closer sympathy
with Mr. Tucker's ideas than any other person in America.
Mr. Tucker has written that ((the editor is well chosen~
andhis qualificatio~s for-the job undeniable." He does~how
ever, request that the volume shall be prefaced by a state
ment that he, ((while gratefully acknowledging the good will
that has inspired.the.publication," has•had'no hand in the
work of abridgment, and that the project has been executed
without his e~press sanction or approval, although the pub..
lisher's action is ((above,reproach."
In justice to Mr. Tucker, however, it should be stated that
he emphatically protested against the elimination of the words
of••'his opponents .in the controversies, since he had always
been scrupulously exact in presenting their ideas in full;' but
the limited scope of this volume made such omission im
perative.
A word as to the title of this boak. Tucker's life
work is devoted to the exposition of the fights of the
iii
iv PUBLISHER'S NOTE
Individual. As a title for the journal which he used as a
medium of expression for thirty years, he chose Liberty. It
seems fitting that these two words, standing as theydo for the
highest aspirations of mankind, should be joined togethe'r in
a title for'this compilation' of Tucker's libertarian and/
anarchistic te·achings.
EDITOR'S FOREWo1{n
For a number of years practically all of the. literature of
Individualist Anarchism has been.Qut of· print. The great
bulkof whatever matterthere was had, ofcourse, been in.the
handsof Benjamin R. Tucker, and upto 1908 it wasbeing
constantly augmen/ted byhim. But when, in January of that
year, his entire wholesale stock of publications, manuscripts,
etc., and nearly.all of his plates were wiped out by fire,the
lo~s was irreparable, and little attempt has been made.to•re
place any of the material destroyed.
The demand for something representative ,of Individualist
Anarchismhas become soinsistent that ithas been.determined
to··produce at least.one volume of the best matter available,
and in that volumeto'attempt to cover the whole subject. \
The ·.·nearest .that.an.y .hqokevc·r came .to answering that
description isTucker's UInstead of a Book,"first.published.in
1893,.culledfrom his writings in his pe,riodical, Liberty, and
of
out printsince 1908. Thiscloselyprinted volumeofnea'rly
500 pages was.composed of questions-and criticisms by his
correspondents and bywritersinotherperiodicals,all answered
by the editorofLiberty in that keen, clear~cutstylethat was
the delight of his.adherents and thedespair of his opponents.
, In•casting about for material·for the proposed. v()lume~
therefore,nootherwritings thanthoseof BenjaminR. Tucker
could for"a moment be considered, and it is no exaggeration
to say that ·~hey.stand. high above everything else .that has
beenwritten on.the subject,.not eVen excepting the works of
Jos~ahWarren,Proudhon,and Lysander Spooner, or·of any
otherperson whohas evera.:tt~mptedtoexpound theprinciples
ofIndividualist·Anarchism.
Mr. Tucke:r is an educated and cultured man. His
v
vi EDITOR'S FOREWORD
literary style is both fluent and elegant, his statements concise
and accurate, his arguments logical and convincing, and his
replies terse yet courteous. The reade'r is never at a loss to
know what he means. There is not a word too much or too
little. Every sentence is rounded and complete-not a re
dundant syllable or a missing punctuation mark. What he
writes is a joy to read, even when the reader himself is the
victim of his withering sarcasm or caustic satire.
A brief resume of Mr. Tucker's life will serve to indicate
the background of his remarkable personality. He was born
in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, April 17, 1854, the son
of Abner R. Tucker, owner and outfitterof whale ships and
later agrocer in New Bedford. His mother was Caroline A.
Cummings, his father's second wife, and Benjamin was their
only child. The father was of Quaker parents and the
mother was a Unitarian, and an able, progressive and radical
woman, her father having been a pronounced admirer of
Thomas Paine.
At two years Tucker was reading English fluently and at
four gleefully discovered that the Episcopal Prayer Book had
misquoted the' Bible. At sixteen he had finished the course
at the Friends' Academy, and, while at :first refusing to go to
any college, he finally spent two years at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (Boston). After' hearing Josiah
Warren speak and CoL William B. Greene quote Proudhon at
a convention of the New England Labor Reform League in
Boston in 1872, he soon became an Anarchist and translated
Proudhon's (What Is Property?" from the French. In 1877
he edited The Word in Princeton, Massachusetts, while its
editor, Ezra H. Heywood, was in prison. In 1878 he estab
lished and conducted for a year The Radical Revi{!w in New
Bedford. In the same year he joined the editorial·staff of the
BostonDailyGlobe, remaining foreleven years.
In 188I he founded Liberty, which he continued to pub
lish, withsomeirregularityand several suspensions, until 1908,
the last issue appearing in April of that year, a few months
after the disastrous :fire. In I 892, when he assumed editorial
EDITOR'S· FOREWORD vii
duties.on The Engineering Magazine, he removed Liberty to
NewXork,•whereit was,published.until its final suspension.
Since that time Lucker has been living il1France.
((Instead ofa Book" was.•deemed uns:uitable.for reproduc
tion. in its present form becauseit contains••so many articles
d~alin.g with local and current events.. It was.•decided that
Ingividualist Anarchismcouldbet~erbeexpoundedbypresent
ingthewordsofMr. Tuckeralone~eliminating thevolwninous
letters of his correspondents and many more or less personal
matters that crep.t into the discussions,.with just enough"ex
planatorymatter writtenby the editor to indicate what drew
forth the.arguments advanced by.LiberlJl's editor and to con
nectupthe looseends. In manycases Mr.Tuckerhas socare
fullyrestated theposition of his adversary thatit has been un
necessaryfor the editor to repeat it.
The compiler has therefore merely attempted to weld to
gether· the·.different .sections and' weave the various articles
into a more or less continuous whole. The task.has proved
to be difficult beyond all preconception, and that it has been
performedwith complete success it would be presumptuous to
assert.
In :M:r. Tucker's·controversies with his correspondents and
others, occasional allusions to· persons and matters not in
volved.in the discussion have entered. These, while perfectly
pertinent when his opponents' remarks were given, add·little
1:0 the force of the arguments for the Anarchistic position
whichit isthe purpose of this volum<? exclusively to set·:forth~
and they have therefore generally been excised, in spite ofthe
fact th~ttheyconstitutesome ofMr. Tucker's most pungent
writing.
In some places this method of treatment has made it
necessary to eliminate parts of paragra_phs and even parts of
sentences". This elision has not beenindicated by asterisks or
otherwise, because the frequency of suchin:stances would
hav~madethe mattertoo disconnected;.while·the main object
ofthisvolume is to present, as nearly as possible, an unbroken
exposition. It is cOl}sidered that this proceeding·is entirely
:viii EDITOR'S FOREWORD
unobjectionable, since the essential arguments are thus ex
pressed just as clearly, and of course more concisely, than in
the complete original.
((Instead of a Book" contained only material published in
Liberty previous to 1893, so the columns of Liberty since
that date have been resorted to for some additional material.
The editor wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to those
comrades, all plumb-liners of the period when Liberty w'as
the venerated medium for the exchange of their ideas, who
have aided him, by advice and hard work, in the preparation
of this volume, the index thereto having been prepared by
the same person who performed that service for ((Instead of
a Book."
c.
L. S.
Los Angeles, California.
August, 1926.
CONTENTS
Page
PUBLISHER)-S NOTE .. ...•. .....• iii
EDITOR'S FOREWORD. y
SOCIOLOGY:
I-STATE SOCIALISM AND ANARCHISM:
How FarTheyAgre~and WhereinThey Differ I
II-THE INDIVIDUAL, SOCIETY, AN]) THE STATE:
The Relation of the State to the IndividuaL..... zo
Liberty's Declaration of Purpose......................... 30
Anarchism and the State ' !................... 3I
Resistance to Government.................................. 36
Libertyand Organization.................................... 43
Liberty and Taxation M!.!............... 47
Anarchism and Crime. 58
Liberty and. Politics !.......................... 62.
Liberty and Prohibition.~..................................... 66
Anarchismand Capital.Punishment. 7I
Liberty and Property............................... 72..
Anarchism and·Force......................... 74
METHODS:
Passive· Resistance ]6
The Futility of the Ballot................... 8I
Voluntary Co-operation a Remedy.................... 84-
ECONOMICS:
I-MONEY·AND INTEREST:
Capital, Profits, and Interest...................... 87
Free·Money First 94
Free Bankillg 97
The Abolition ofInterest 1.02.
Necessity for a Standard of Value~ 116
TheRedemption ofPaperMoney................ 135
Government and Value 147
Henry George and Interest 160
Various Money Schemes ~ 169
ix
CONTENTS
Page
II-LAND AND RENT:
Land for the People.................................... 181
Rent 182
Economic Rent ~. 186 ,
Liberty, Land, and Labor · 193
Property Under Anarchism 2.13
Occupancy and Use Versus the Single Tax 2.15
George and the Single Tax.......................... 235
METHODS:
Refusal to Pay Rent...... 244
TIl-TRADE AND INDUSTRY:
The Attitude of Anarchism Toward In-
dustrial Combinations , 248
Strikes and Force 257
Labor and Its Pay......... 262.
The Postoflice and PrivateMail Service 265
Li~ertyor Authority 271
Liberty and Labor 277
Competition and Co-operation. 281
Liberty and the Boycott.............................. 2.83
Anarchism and Copyright.......................... 286
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...............................................•.................... 289
INDEX 291