Individualist Anarchism: About Joseph A. Labadie

The following information about Joseph A. Labadie was drawn from James J. Martins book, entitled, Men Against the State.

Special Announcement

Joseph A. Labadie

from Men Against the State

Joseph A. Labadie was among the contributors to Benjamin Tucker's publication Liberty who "brought to Tucker's paper a quality of radical writing unsurpassed in its own time, and rarely approached since...A Detroit printer and writer for a number of socialist labor papers, including [B.G.] Haskell's Truth, and the Detroit papers Today and the Advance and Labor Leaf, among others, his relations with other portions of the radical and reform movement remained partially intact during his participation in Tucker's literary experiment. A contributor as early as June, 1883, he still remained as secretary of the national board of supervision of the Socialist Labor Party a year later. During this period he gradually lost faith in reconciliation between the various fragments of the socialist movement but retained a strong interest in the fortunes of the labor movement. In this however he gradually became the exponent of anarchist measures, and argued the anti-statist case with their leaders and before their conventions when he attended.
"Most of Labadie's ideas in Liberty were presented through the medium of a column, "Cranky Notions." In agreement with Tucker on most points, he still clung to the belief that the labor movement could produce benefits, primarily in obtaining reductions in the hours worked, with neither raises nor reductions in pay. Admitting his loss of faith in socialism during the fall of 1888, he still considered it expedient for the government to control "natural monopolies" such as water works, streets and railroads; but he thought that schools, banks, post offices, and like institutions should best be left to operation by individuals. Like Tucker, he backed the assertion that the best way to prevent monopolies would be to withhold the grant of franchises.
"Politically, Labadie inclined to a policy of compromise also, in the hope of extracting some gain from a situation which was bound to remain deadlocked as the result of insistence upon total realization of ideals. Unimpressed with voting as utilized under universal suffrage, which he described as 'a process by which truth is established by numbers,' he considered that anarchists might use it to advance the 'principles of liberty.' 'All political questions mean either more or less government,' said Labadie, in defending the participation of anarchists in voting in order to forestall more positive legislation. Nationally, he was shocked by the Republican program, which he said was that of 'establishing a nation with a big N and crushing out local autonomies.' Under their sponsorship he saw the realization of Hamiltonian authoritarianism in its greatest severity, and for this reason inclined to favor the Democrats, whom he saw as still opposed to the centralizing of power. Throughout his gradual swing to anarchism, Labadie retained friendly relations with the Knights of Labor and other workingmen's organizations. It was his belief that his persistence was responsible for weakening the faith of some of Detroit's most active and intelligent labor leaders in the principle of government control. It was not necessary to 'desert one's area of agitation' on becoming an anarchist, Labadie held, and under this impression remained one of Tucker's closest associates, a relationship which even the end of Liberty did not terminate..."

In an introduction to a collection of essays by Laurance Labadie, James J. Martin wrote of Laurance's father, Joseph:

...a celebrated figure in Detroit labor and radical activities, an almost lifelong associate of Tucker, and founder of the famed collection of printed and manuscript materials which has been housed in the Library of the University of Michigan under his name for two generations. The family descended from mixed French and Indian stock which had settled in the Great Lakes region since the 17th century penetration of the area by the famed trappeursand coureurs de bois.

✳ ✳ ✳