Page:Songs of the Workers 15th Edition.djvu/14

  We must ourselves decide our duty,
 * We must decide and do it well.

The law oppresses us and tricks us,
 * Wage systems drain our blood;

The rich are free from obligations,
 * The laws the poor delude.

Too long we've languished in subjection,
 * Equality has other laws;

"No rights" says she, "without their duties,
 * No claims on equal without cause."

Behold them seated in their glory,
 * The kings of mine and rail and soil!

What have you read in all their story,
 * But how they plundered toil?

Fruits of the workers' toil are buried
 * In the strong coffers of a few;

In working for their restitution
 * The men will only ask their due.

Toilers from shops and fields united,
 * The union we of all who work;

The earth belongs to us, the workers,
 * No room here for the shirk.

How many on our flesh have fattened!
 * But if the noisesome birds of prey

Shall vanish from the sky some morning,
 * The blessed sunlight will stay.

A shorter work day for all employed workers would put thousands of unemployed to work. If everybody worked there would be no poverty.

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