nd set the police pack upon the tenant to hound him
out of his hovels? Have we not seen the commune of Paris proclaim the
remission of rents due up to the first of April only![5] After that,
rent had to be paid, though Paris was in a state of chaos, and industry
at a standstill; so that the "federate" who had taken arms to defend the
independence of Paris had absolutely nothing to depend upon--he and his
family--but an allowance of fifteen pence a day!

Now the worker must be made to see clearly that in refusing to pay rent
to a landlord or owner he is not simply profiting by the disorganization
of authority. He must understand that the abolition of rent is a
recognized principle, sanctioned, so to speak, by popular assent; that
to be housed rent-free is a right proclaimed aloud by the people.

Are we going to wait till this measure, which is in harmony with every
honest man's sense of justice, is taken up by the few socialists
scattered among the middle class elements, of which the Provisionary
Government will be composed? If it were so, the people should have to
wait long--till the return of reaction, in fact!

This is why, refusing uniforms and badges--those outward signs of
authority and servitude--and remaining people among the people, the
earnest revolutionists will work side by side with the masses, that the
abolition of rent, the expropriation of houses, may become an
accomplished fact. They will prepare the ground and encourage ideas to
grow in this direction; and when the fruit of their labours is ripe, the
people will proceed to expropriate the houses without giving heed to the
theories which will certainly be thrust in their way--theories about
paying compensation to landlords, and finding first the necessary funds.

On the day that the expropriation of houses takes place, on that day,
the exploited workers will have realized that new times have come, that
Labour will no longer have to bear the yoke of the rich and powerful,
that Equality has been openly proclaimed, that this Revolution is a
real fact, and not a theatrical make-believe, like so many others
preceding it.

II

If the idea of expropriation be adopted by the people it will be carried
into effect in spite of all the "insurmountable" obstacles with which we
are menaced.

Of course, the good folk in new uniforms, seated in the official
arm-chairs of the Hotel de Ville, will be sure to busy themselves in
heaping up obstacles. They will tal