han it can adapt
itself to the old forms of political organization.

The wage system arises out of the individual ownership of the land and
the instruments of labour. It was the necessary condition for the
development of capitalist production, and will perish with it, in spite
of the attempt to disguise it as "profit-sharing." The common
possession of the instruments of labour must necessarily bring with it
the enjoyment in common of the fruits of common labour.

We hold further that Communism is not only desirable, but that existing
societies, founded on Individualism, _are inevitably impelled in the
direction of Communism_. The development of Individualism during the
last three centuries is explained by the efforts of the individual to
protect himself from the tyranny of Capital and of the State. For a time
he imagined, and those who expressed his thought for him declared, that
he could free himself entirely from the State and from society. "By
means of money," he said, "I can buy all that I need." But the
individual was on a wrong track, and modern history has taught him to
recognize that, without the help of all, he can do nothing, although his
strong-boxes are full of gold.

In fact, along this current of Individualism, we find in all modern
history a tendency, on the one hand to retain all that remains of the
partial Communism of antiquity, and, on the other, to establish the
Communist principle in the thousand developments of modern life.

As soon as the communes of the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries
had succeeded in emancipating themselves from their lords,
ecclesiastical or lay, their communal labour and communal consumption
began to extend and develop rapidly. The township--and not private
persons--freighted ships and equipped expeditions, for the export of
their manufacture, and the benefit arising from the foreign trade did
not accrue to individuals, but was shared by all. At the outset, the
townships also bought provisions for all their citizens. Traces of these
institutions have lingered on into the nineteenth century, and the
people piously cherish the memory of them in their legends.

All that has disappeared. But the rural township still struggles to
preserve the last traces of this Communism, and it succeeds--except when
the State throws its heavy sword into the balance.

Meanwhile new organizations, based on the same principle--_to every man
according to his needs_--spring up under a tho