I do hope, comrades, that I shall be with you for many months longer, and before I continue, I feel it my duty to pass on to you such wisdom as I have acquired. I have had a fair life, I have had much time for thought as I lay alone in my room, and I think I may say that I understand the nature of life on this earth as well as any person now living. It is about this that I wish to speak to you.

Now, comrades, what is the nature of this life of ours? Let us face it: our lives are miserable, laborious, and short. We are born, we are given just so much food as will keep the breath in our bodies, and those of us who are capable of it are forced to work to the last atom of our strength; and the very instant that our usefulness has come to an end we are done away with hideous cruelty. No person in America knows the meaning of happiness or leisure after he is a year old. No person in America is free. The life of a proletariat is misery and slavery: that is the plain truth.

But is this simply part of the order of nature? Is it because this land of ours is so poor that it cannot afford a decent life to those who dwell upon it? No, comrades, a thousand times no! The soil of America is fertile, its climate is good, it is capable of affording food in abundance to an enormously greater number of people than now inhabit it. Why then do we continue in this miserable condition? Because nearly the whole of the produce of our labour is stolen from us by capitalists. There, comrades, is the answer to all our problems. It is summed up in a single word-Bourgeoisie. Bourgeoisie is the only real enemy we have. Remove Bourgeoisie from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished forever.

Bourgeoisie is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give effort, he does not work, he is too weak to wield the hammer, he cannot think well enough to plan a harvest. Yet he is lord of all the workers. He sets them to work, he gives back to them the bare minimum that will prevent them from starving, and the rest he keeps for himself. Our labour tills the soil, our labour rises towers and yet there is not one of us that owns more than his life. You builders that I see before me, how many thousands of homes have you constructed during this last year? And what has happened to those homes which should have been sheltering sturdy children? All of it has sheltered our enemies. And you teachers, how many students have you taught in this last year, and how many of your children ever got a good education? It was saved and preserved for those who could afford it.


Is it not crystal clear, then, comrades, that all the evils of this life of ours spring from the tyranny of capitalists? Only get rid of Bourgeoisie, and the produce of our labour would be our own. Almost overnight we could become rich and free. What then must we do? Why, work night and day, body and soul, for the overthrow of the human race! That is my message to you, comrades: Rebellion! I do not know when that Rebellion will come, it might be in a week or in a hundred years, but I know, as surely as I see this floor beneath my feet, that sooner or later justice will be done. Fix your eyes on that, comrades, throughout the short remainder of your lives! And above all, pass on this message of mine to those who come after you, so that future generations shall carry on the struggle until it is victorious.

And remember, comrades, your resolution must never falter. No argument must lead you astray. Never listen when they tell you that capitalist and the worker have a common interest, that the prosperity of the one is the prosperity of the others. It is all lies. Capitalists serve the interests of no creature except themself. And among us proletariats let there be perfect unity, perfect comradeship in the struggle. All capitalists are enemies. All workers are comrades.







I have little more to say. I merely repeat, remember always your duty of enmity towards the capitalist and all his ways. Whatever exploits is an enemy. Whatever works for the betterment of mankind is a friend. And remember also that in fighting against capitalists, we must not come to resemble them. Even when you have conquered him, do not adopt his vices. No animal must ever drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, or touch money. All the habits of capitalists are evil. And, above all, no proletariat must ever tyrannise over his own kind. Weak or strong, clever or simple, we are all brothers. No worker must ever kill any other worker. All workers are equal.

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“Capitalism cannot reform itself; it is doomed to self-destruction. No universal selfishness can bring social good to all.” —Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois