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Benjamin Tucker Individual Liberty 1926 Contents Publisher’sNote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Editor’sForeword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Sociology 7 I.StateSocialismandAnarchism: Howfartheyagree, andwhereintheydiffer. ................................. 9 Postscript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 II.TheIndividual,Society,andtheState ................... 29 TheRelationoftheStatetotheInvididual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Liberty’sDeclarationofPurpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 AnarchismandtheState . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 ResistancetoGovernment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 LibertyandOrganization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 LibertyandTaxation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 AnarchismandCrime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 LibertyandPolitics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 LibertyandProhibition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 AnarchismandCapitalPunishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 LibertyandProperty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 AnarchismandForce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Methods ............................................. 83 PassiveResistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 TheFutilityoftheBallot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 VoluntaryCooperationaRemedy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Economics 95 I.MoneyandInterest .................................. 97 Capital,ProfitsandInterest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 FreeMoneyFirst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 FreeBanking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 1 TheAbolitionofInterest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 NecessityforaStandardofValue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 TheRedemptionofPaperMoney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 GovernmentandValue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 HenryGeorgeandInterest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 VariousMoneySchemes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 II.LandAndRent ..................................... 187 LandforthePeople . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 Rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 EconomicRent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 Liberty,Land,andLabor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 PropertyUnderAnarchism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 OccupancyandUseVersustheSingleTax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 GeorgeandtheSingleTax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Methods ............................................. 247 RefusaltoPayRent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 III.TradeandIndustry ................................. 251 TheAttitudeofAnarchismTowardIndustrialCombinations . . . 251 StrikesandForce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260 LaboranditsPay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 ThePostOfficeandPrivateMailService . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 LibertyorAuthority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273 LibertyandLabor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279 CompetitionandCooperation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283 LibertyandtheBoycott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285 AnarchismandCopyright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287 Bibliography ......................................... 291 2 Publisher’s Note C.L.S.,theeditorandcompilerofthisbook,hasknownBenjaminR. Tucker personally since 1891, having entered his employ at that time in the mechanical department of Liberty, Mr. Tucker’s journal for the expositionofIndividualistAnarchism. Afterthattimeanduntilthefinal suspensionofpublicationofLiberty,C.L.S.contributedmanyarticlesto thecolumnsofthatperiodical,bothsignedandunsigned,usuallyinthe editorialdepartment. Foraconsiderableperiodhehadcompleteeditorial charge,duringMr. Tucker’sabsence. Thusthepresentworkhasbeen performedbyonewhohasentirefamiliaritywithLiberty’sphilosophy and who perhaps at present has a closer sympathy with Mr. Tucker’s ideasthananyotherpersoninAmerica. Mr. Tuckerhaswrittenthat“theeditoriswellchosen,andhisqual- ifications for the job undeniable.” He does, however, request that the volume shall be prefaced by a statement that he, “while gratefully ac- knowledgingthegoodwillthathasinspiredthepublication,”hashadno handintheworkofabridgment,andthattheprojecthasbeenexecuted withouthisexpresssanctionorapproval,althoughthepublisher’saction is“abovereproach.” InjusticetoMr. Tucker,however,itshouldbestatedthatheemphat- icallyprotestedagainsttheeliminationofthewordsofhisopponents in the controversies, since he had always been scrupulously exact in presentingtheirideasinfull;butthelimitedscopeofthisvolumemade suchomissionimperative. A word as to the title of this book. Tucker’s life work is devoted to theexpositionoftherightsoftheIndividual. Asatitleforthejournal which he used as a medium of expression for thirty years, he chose Liberty. Itseemsfittingthatthesetwowords,standingastheydofor thehighestaspirationsofmankind,shouldbejoinedtogetherinatitle forthiscompilationofTucker’slibertarianand,anarchisticteachings. 3 Editor’s Foreword ForanumberofyearspracticallyalloftheliteratureofIndividualist Anarchismhasbeenoutofprint. Thegreatbulkofwhatevermatterthere washad,ofcourse,beeninthehandsofBenjaminR.Tucker,andupto 1908itwasbeingconstantlyaugmentedbyhim. Butwhen,inJanuary ofthatyear,hisentirewholesalestockofpublications,manuscripts,etc., andnearlyallofhisplateswerewipedoutbyfire,thelosswasirreparable, andlittleattempthasbeenmadetoreplaceanyofthematerialdestroyed. ThedemandforsomethingrepresentativeofIndividualistAnarchism hasbecomesoinsistentthatithasbeendeterminedtoproduceatleast onevolumeofthebestmatteravailable,andinthatvolumetoattempt tocoverthewholesubject. The nearest that any book ever came to answering that description is Tucker’s “Instead of a Book”, first published in 1893, culled from his writings in his periodical, Liberty, and out of print since 1908. This closelyprintedvolumeofnearly500pageswascomposedofquestions andcriticismsbyhiscorrespondentsandbywritersinotherperiodicals, allansweredbytheeditorofLibertyinthatkeen,clear-cutstylethatwas thedelightofhisadherentsandthedespairofhisopponents. Incastingaboutformaterialfortheproposedvolume,therefore,no otherwritingsthanthoseofBenjaminR.Tuckercouldforamomentbe considered,anditisnoexaggerationtosaythattheystandhighabove everythingelsethathasbeenwrittenonthesubject,notevenexcepting the works of Josiah Warren, Proudhon, and Lysander Spooner, or of anyotherpersonwhohaseverattemptedtoexpoundtheprinciplesof IndividualistAnarchism. Mr. Tuckerisaneducatedandculturedman. Hisliterarystyleisboth fluentandelegant,hisstatementsconciseandaccurate,hisarguments logicalandconvincing,andhisrepliesterseyetcourteous. Thereaderis neveratalosstoknowwhathemeans. Thereisnotawordtoomuch ortoolittle. Everysentenceisroundedandcomplete—notaredundant syllableoramissingpunctuationmark. Whathewritesisajoytoread, evenwhenthereaderhimselfisthevictimofhiswitheringsarcasmor causticsatire. 4 A brief resume of Mr. Tucker’s life will serve to indicate the back- groundofhisremarkablepersonality. HewasborninSouthDartmouth, Massachusetts, April 17, 1854, the son of Abner R. Tucker, owner and outfitterofwhaleshipsandlateragrocerinNewBedford. Hismother wasCarolineA.Cummings,hisfather’ssecondwife,andBenjaminwas theironlychild. ThefatherwasofQuakerparentsandthemotherwasa Unitarian,andanable,progressiveandradicalwoman,herfatherhaving beenapronouncedadmirerofThomasPaine. AttwoyearsTuckerwasreadingEnglishfluentlyandatfourgleefully discoveredthattheEpiscopalPrayerBookhadmisquotedtheBible. At sixteenhehadfinishedthecourseattheFriends’Academy,and,whileat firstrefusingtogotoanycollege,hefinallyspenttwoyearsattheMass- achusettsInstituteofTechnology(Boston). AfterhearingJosiahWarren speakandCol. WilliamB.GreenequoteProudhonataconventionofthe NewEnglandLaborReformLeagueinBostonin1872,hesoonbecame anAnarchistandtranslatedProudhon’s“WhatIsProperty?”fromthe French. In1877heeditedTheWordinPrinceton,Massachusetts,while itseditor,EzraH.Heywood,wasinprison. In1878heestabIishedand conducted for a year The Radical Review in New Bedford. In the same yearhejoinedtheeditorialstaffoftheBostonDailyGlobe,remainingfor elevenyears. In1881hefoundedLiberty,whichhecontinuedtopublish,withsome irregularityandseveralsuspensions,until1908,thelastissueappearing inAprilofthatyear,afewmonthsafterthedisastrousfire. In1892,when heassumededitorialdutiesonTheEngineeringMagazine,heremoved LibertytoYork,whereitwaspublisheduntilitsfinalsuspension. Since thattimeTuckerhasbeenlivinginFrance. “Instead of a Book” was deemed unsuitable for reproduction in its presentformbecauseitcontainssomanyarticlesdealingwithlocaland currentevents. ItwasdecidedthatIndividualistAnarchismcouldbetter beexpoundedbypresentingthewordsofMr. Tuckeralone,eliminating the voluminous, letters of his correspondents and many more or less personal matters that crept into the discussions, with just enough ex- planatorymatterwrittenbytheeditortoindicatewhatdrewforththe argumentsadvancedbyLiberty’seditorandtoconnectupthelooseends. 5 InmanycasesMr. Tuckerhassocarefullyrestatedthepositionofhis adversarythatithasbeenunnecessaryfortheeditortorepeatit. The compiler has therefore mereiy attempted to weld together the different sections and weave the various articles into a more or less continuouswhole. Thetaskhasprovedtobediffcultbeyondallprecon- ception,andthatithasbeenperformedwithcompletesuccessitwould bepresumptuoustoassert. In Mr. Tucker’s controversies with his correspondents and others, occasionalallusionstopersonsandmattersnotinvolvedinthediscussion have entered. These, while perfectly pertinent wben his opponents’ remarks were given, add little to the force of the arguments for the Anarchisticpositionwhichitisthepurposeofthisvolumeexclusively tosetforth,andtheyhavethereforegenerallybeenexcised,inspiteof thefactthattheyconstitutesomeofMr. Tucker’smostpungentwriting. In some places this method of treatment has made it necessary to eliminatepartsofparagraphsandevenpartsofsentences. Thiselision hasnotbeenindicatedbyasterisksorotherwise,becausethefrequency ofsuchinstanceswouldhavemadethemattertoodisconnected;while the main object of this volume is to present, as nearly as possible, an unbroken exposition. It is considered that this proceeding is entirely unobjectionable,sincetheessentialargumentsarethusexpressedjust asclearly,andofcoursemoreconcisely,thaninthecompleteoriginal. “InsteadofaBook”containedonlymaterialpublishedinLibertyprevi- ousto1893,sothecolumnsofLibertysincethatdatehavebeenresorted toforsomeadditionalmaterial. Theeditorwishestoacknowledgehisindebtednesstothosecomrades, allplumb-linersoftheperiodwhenLibertywastheveneratedmedium fortheexchangeoftheirideas,whohaveaidedhim,byadviceandhard work,inthepreparationofthisvolume,theindextheretohavingbeen preparedbythesamepersonwhoperformedthatservicefor“Insteadof aBook”. C.L.S. LosAngeles,California. August,1926. 6 Sociology 7 8
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