New Proudhon Library

Proudhon before the Court of Assizes (1849)

Citizen jurors, you have heard the accusation; you will evaluate the defense. You will judge the good faith of the first; allow me to begin by expressing gratitude for the devotion of the second. The Advocate General made a mistake just now when he believed that if I was not speaking after him, it was because I had in reserve a few arguments that I wanted to present to you in all their freshness, without allowing him to answer them. I repeat, the Citizen Advocate-General was mistaken; I have nothing to say to you regarding the accusation and I have nothing to add to the defence; I have only to tell you about the origin of this lawsuit.

[…]

Proudhon Library

The Present Utility and Future Possibility of the State (Sixth article)

(La Voix du Peuple, N 102. — 11 janvier 1850.)   Regarding Louis Blanc.—The Present Utility and Future Possibility of the State.    (Sixth article.)   The following objection has been addressed to me: Your theory is only a sophism. This so-called anarchic organization of credit and banks is only a delegation by the people renewed by the State, a little State alongside the State. So where, if you please, is the difference between the two systems? Why believe that the present state, which is already organized, should not add circulation and credit to its present responsibilities, and administer the […]