equitable commerce

Sidney H. Morse, “Liberty and Wealth” (1882)

“Well,” he said, the smile still lingering in the corners of his mouth, “we are in one sense, my friend, a poverty-stricken people. We haven’t any institutions to speak of. All we can boast are certain outgrowths of our needs, which, for the most part, have taken care of themselves. We have, perhaps, an unwritten law, or general understanding, though no one to my knowledge has tried to state it. We all seem to know it when we meet it, and, as yet, have had no dispute about it. It may be said in a general way, however, as a matter of observation, that we are believers in liberty, in justice, in equality, in fraternity, in peace, progress, and in a state of happiness here on earth for one and all. What we mean by all this defines itself as we go along. It is a practical, working belief, we have. When we find an idea won’t work, we don’t decide against it; we let it rest; perhaps, later on, it will work all right. I don’t know as there is much more to say.”

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equitable commerce

Equitable Commerce in 1828

[two_third padding=”0 10px 0 0px”] TO THE PUBLIC. Cincinnati, April 20, 1828. Dear S— The perusal of your letter which I received about three weeks since, gave me great satisfaction. It affords me pleasure to find that you still feel such interest in the subject to which I am devoted. You inquire what progress has been made since you left here; to this I could reply more than the limits of a letter will permit, but I will endeavour to enable you to form some idea. I think you left before the cold weather commenced, and therefore have not witnessed […]
equitable commerce

A Documentary History of the Movement for Equitable Commerce

Equitable Commerce was the name given to Josiah Warren’s social system, which combined the principles of individual autonomy and “cost the limit of price.” Warren’s approach attracted a fairly substantial following at various times and was influential among anarchists. The works collected here are either writings by Warren and his associates, elaborating the system, or outside accounts of the movement.

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equitable commerce

Equitable Commerce in 1849

[two_third padding=”0 10px 0 0px”] January 17, 1849 Lecture by Josiah Warren. People’s Sunday Meeting.—The usual discussion next Sunday will be suspended in order to allow Mr. Josiah Warren, lately of New Harmony, (Ind.,) an opportunity to deliver a lecture on the subject of “Equitable Commerce.” This new mode of Social Reformation is one that Mr. Warren has paid much attention to for several years, and from the very favorable manner in which we have seen him noticed in Western papers, we have no doubt of his being a gentleman of considerable ability and well-qualified to give an interesting and […]
Featured articles

Eliphalet Kimball, “Thoughts on Natural Principles” (1867)

It is only by anarchy and violence that a great accumulation of social wrongs can be removed. Anarchy is a good word. It means, “without a head.” Violence is the healing power of Nature applied to society. The violence which would follow from the abolishment of law, would be proportion to the number and magnitude of the wrongs that needed removal. There ought always to be anarchy, but there would be no violence where there were no wrongs.

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Bakunin Library

Mikhail Bakunin in “The Working Man” (1862)

[two_third padding=”0 10px 0 0px”] MICHAEL BAKUNIN HE Committee of the “Working Man,” on Tuesday, the 7th of January, having been informed that Michael Bakunin had arrived in London, a deputation was appointed to go and present to this martyr of human progress an address of welcome. On Friday, the 10th, accordingly the deputation waited upon Alexander Herzen, the celebrated Russian exile and “publiciste,” who introduced them to Bakunin, surrounded by a goodly staff of Russians, Poles, &c, all friends of progress, united by the brotherly love for one common mother—Liberty. The following address was then read:— The Committee of […]
Catechisms and Dialogues

Vicente Carreras, “Acraciápolis” (1902)

[one_third padding=”0 10px 0 0px”] This translation from Spanish has been sitting, complete except for a last few lines, for quite some time now, probably because I had forgotten quite how much of it I had finished (undoubtedly late one night, while I should have been digging up more Max Nettlau articles from La Revista Blanca.) It was an obvious, appealing choice for translation—so obvious, in fact, that I find Jesse Cohn has also included a translation in his essay, “Escape From Cretinolândia: Strategies of Displacement in Anarchist Fiction.” Anyway, here is my translation of a short interesting, anarchist utopian […]
equitable commerce

Josiah Warren, “Social Reform in America” (1862)

When, in 1827, I first conceived the principles of equity, and designed to illustrate them by the working of a family store, I talked incessantly for six weeks to my most sympathising friends in order to get them to appreciate the subject, and to assist me in working it out; but the whole of that labour was entirely thrown away; but as soon as I commenced the store single-handed—individually—it explained itself, and more than itself. The working of it—the facts of it—explained the principle of Equity as no words could; and I saw that it was the incompetency of language that had neutralised all my efforts at theorising.

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Saint Ravachol

A Letter from Georges Etiévant (1898)

[one_half padding=”0 10px 0 0″] UNE LETTRE D ETIEVANT Voici la lettre écrite, par l’anarchiste Etiévant, en prison, à un de ses camarades et dont nous avons parlé plus haut : Paris, 30 janvier 1898. Mon cher camarade, J’ai reçu ta lettre m’annonçant ton changement forcé d’adresse. Je te remercie d’avoir été voir mon père. Il m’a écrit et m’a dit qu’au milieu de ses chagrins ta visite et celle des autres camarades lui avaient fait un grand plaisir. Tu me dis qu’Alfieri avait raison. Certes, dans son livre de la Tyrannie il y a de fort bel les choses […]
A Good Word

Henry Glasse, “Libertarian or Anarchist?” (1899)

[one_third padding=”0 10px 0 0″][/one_third][two_third_last padding=”0 0px 0 10px”] LIBERTARIAN OR ANARCHIST? The term “Libertarian” in place of “Anarchist” seems to be used with increasing frequency. The newer term pleases me better because, while it emphatically denotes our cardinal principle, it admits of no misconstruction nor misunderstanding. We who have long fought under the device of “Anarchy” have naturally acquired a regard for the name and frankly accepted it with whatever stigma might attach thereto, still we must admit that the very word in itself is liable to be taken, quite honestly, in a wrong sense, while our many dishonest […]