There Is Not A Tool, An Implement,

The Law Has Been Perverted, And The Powers Of The State Have Become Perverted Along With It. The Law Has Not Only Been Turned From Its Proper Function, But Made To Follow An Entirely Contrary Purpose. The Law Has Become A Tool For Every Kind Of Greed. Instead Of Preventing Crime, The Law Itself Is Guilty Of The Abuses It Is Supposed To Punish. If This Is True, It Is A Serious Matter, And Moral Duty Requires Me To Call The Attention Of My Fellow-citizens To It.

We Cannot But Be Astonished At The Ease With Which Men Resign Themselves To Ignorance About What Is Most Important For Them To Know; And We May Be Certain That They Are Determined To Remain Invincibly Ignorant If They Once Come To Consider It As Axiomatic That There Are No Absolute Principles.

Now Since Man Is Naturally Inclined To Avoid Pain - And Since Labor Is Pain In Itself - It Follows That Men Will Resort To Plunder Whenever Plunder Is Easier Than Work. History Shows This Quite Clearly. And Under These Conditions, Neither Religion Nor Morality Can Stop It. When, Then, Does Plunder Stop? It Stops When It Becomes More Painful And More Dangerous Than Labor. It Is Evident, Then, That The Proper Purpose Of Law Is To Use The Power Of Its Collective Force To Stop This Fatal Tendency To Plunder Instead Of To Work. All The Measures Of The Law Should Protect Property And Punish Plunder.

Property, The Right To Enjoy The Fruits Of One's Labor, The Right To Work, To Develop, To Exercise One's Faculties, According To One's Own Understanding, Without The State Intervening Otherwise Than By Its Protective Action; This Is What Is Meant By Liberty

Thus, If There Exists A Law Which Sanctions Slavery Or Monopoly, Oppression Or Robbery, In Any Form Whatever, It Must Not Even Be Mentioned. For How Can It Be Mentioned Without Damaging The Respect Which It Inspires? Still Further, Morality And Political Economy Must Be Taught From The Point Of View Of This Law; From The Supposition That It Must Be A Just Law Merely Because It Is A Law. Another Effect Of This Tragic Perversion Of The Law Is That It Gives An Exaggerated Importance To Political Passions And Conflicts, And To Politics In General.