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diff --git a/28361-8.txt b/28361-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9b10038 --- /dev/null +++ b/28361-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,19824 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of British Socialism, by J. Ellis Barker + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: British Socialism + An Examination of Its Doctrines, Policy, Aims and Practical Proposals + + +Author: J. Ellis Barker + + + +Release Date: March 19, 2009 [eBook #28361] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRITISH SOCIALISM*** + + +E-text prepared by Jeannie Howse, Carl Hudkins, jnik (media provider), and +the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team +(http://www.pgdp.net) + + + + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's note: | + | | + | Inconsistent hyphenation in the original document has | + | been preserved. | + | | + | This e-book has many unusual words and spelling that have | + | been retained. | + | | + | Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. For | + | a complete list, please see the end of this document. | + | | + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + + + + + +BRITISH SOCIALISM + +An Examination of Its Doctrines, Policy, Aims and Practical Proposals + +by + +J. ELLIS BARKER + +Author of +'Modern Germany: Her Political and Economic Problems, etc.' +'The Rise and Decline of the Netherlands' + + + + + + + +London +Smith, Elder, & Co. +New York: Charles Scribner's Sons +1908 + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER PAGE + + I. INTRODUCTION--WHAT IS SOCIALISM? 1 + + II. SOME SOCIALIST VIEWS OF PRESENT SOCIETY AND OF THE + SOCIETY OF THE FUTURE 10 + + III. THE GRIEVANCES OF THE SOCIALISTS 30 + + IV. THE FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES OF SOCIALISM 50 + + V. THE AIMS AND POLICY OF THE SOCIALISTS 92 + + VI. THE ATTITUDE OF SOCIALISTS TOWARDS THE WORKING + MASSES 115 + + VII. THE ATTITUDE OF SOCIALISTS TOWARDS TRADE UNIONISTS + AND CO-OPERATORS 131 + + VIII. SOCIALIST VIEWS AND PROPOSALS REGARDING LAND AND + THE LANDLORDS 145 + + IX. SOCIALIST VIEWS AND PROPOSALS REGARDING CAPITAL + AND THE CAPITALISTS 152 + + X. SOCIALIST VIEWS AND PROPOSALS REGARDING TAXATION + AND THE NATIONAL BUDGET 160 + + XI. SOCIALISM AND THE EMPIRE 170 + + XII. SOCIALIST VIEWS ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND + FOREIGN POLICY 183 + + XIII. SOCIALISM AND THE ARMY 192 + + XIV. SOCIALISM AND THE MONARCHY 207 + + XV. SOCIALIST VIEWS ON PARLIAMENT AND THE NATIONAL + ADMINISTRATION 209 + + XVI. THE ATTITUDE OF THE SOCIALISTS TOWARDS THE TWO + PARLIAMENTARY PARTIES 225 + + XVII. SOCIALISM AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT 240 + + XVIII. SOCIALISM AND AGRICULTURE 261 + + XIX. SOCIALIST VIEWS ON BRITISH RAILWAYS AND SHIPPING 269 + + XX. SOME SOCIALIST VIEWS ON MONEY, BANKS, AND BANKING 278 + + XXI. SOME SOCIALIST VIEWS ON FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION 285 + + XXII. SOCIALISM AND EDUCATION 302 + + XXIII. THE ATTITUDE OF SOCIALISTS TOWARDS PROVIDENCE, THRIFT, + AND TEMPERANCE 311 + + XXIV. SOCIALIST VIEWS ON LAW AND JUSTICE 325 + + XXV. SOCIALISM AND WOMAN, THE FAMILY AND THE HOME 330 + + XXVI. THE SOCIALIST ATTITUDE TOWARDS CHRISTIANITY AND + RELIGION 354 + + XXVII. THE RELIGION OF SOCIALISM 364 + +XXVIII. CHRISTIAN SOCIALISM 375 + + XXIX. SOCIALISM AND COMMUNISM 381 + + XXX. SOCIALISM AND ANARCHISM 394 + + XXXI. SOCIALISM AND REVOLUTION 404 + + XXXII. STATE SOCIALISM 411 + +XXXIII. THE SOCIALIST ORGANISATIONS: THEIR MUTUAL RELATIONS + AND THEIR POLICY 415 + + XXXIV. THE GROWTH AND DANGER OF BRITISH SOCIALISM 431 + + XXXV. HOW THE PROGRESS OF SOCIALISM MAY BE CHECKED 440 + + XXXVI. IS SOCIALISM POSSIBLE?--A GLANCE INTO THE SOCIALIST + STATE OF THE FUTURE 444 + +XXXVII. CONCLUSION 470 + +APPENDIX--OFFICIAL PROGRAMMES OF THE SOCIALISTIC ORGANISATIONS 481 + +BIBLIOGRAPHY 493 + +ANALYTICAL INDEX 509 + + + + +BRITISH SOCIALISM + + + + +CHAPTER I + +INTRODUCTION--WHAT IS SOCIALISM? + + +What is Socialism? + +It is exceedingly difficult to answer that question in a few words, +for Socialism is exceedingly elusive and bewildering in its doctrines, +its aims, and its proposals. + +Its opponents have described it as "a doctrine of sordid materialism +and of atheism," they have denounced it as "the gospel of everlasting +bellyful,"[1] and as "the coming slavery."[2] They have stated that +Socialism means to abolish religion, that it "would try to put +laziness, thriftlessness, and inefficiency on a par with industry, +thrift, and efficiency, that it would strive to break up not merely +private property, but, what is far more important, the home, the chief +prop upon which our whole civilisation stands."[3] + +The Socialists, on the other hand, claim that "Socialism presents the +only living ideal of human existence"[4]; that "Socialism is science +applied with knowledge and understanding to all branches of human +activity"[5]; that "Socialism is freedom,"[6] and that it is +exceedingly just, for "the justice of Socialism will see all things, +and therefore understand all things."[7] One of the Socialist leaders +has told us "Socialism is much more than either a political creed or +an economic dogma. It presents to the modern world a new conception of +society and a new basis upon which to build up the life of the +individual and of the State."[8] Another informs us "Socialism to +Socialists is not a Utopia which they have invented, but a principle +of social organisation which they assert to have been discovered by +the patient investigators into sociology whose labours have +distinguished the present century."[9] A third has stated that +"Socialism is really neither more nor less than the science of +sociology."[10] A fourth asserts that "it is a scientific scheme of +national government entirely wise, just, and practical."[11] A fifth +states "Socialism to me has always meant not a principle, but certain +definite economic measures which I wish to see taken."[12] + +Other Socialists have taught that "Socialism is an ethical system +founded on justice and truth; it is a heartfelt, soul-inspiring +religion, resting upon the love of God."[13] "Socialism is a theory of +social organisation, which reconciles the individual to society. It +has discovered how the individual in society can attain to a state of +complete development."[14] "Socialism is the right of the community, +acting in its corporate capacity, to intervene in the lives and +labours of men and women."[15] "Socialism is nothing but the +extension of democratic self-government from the political to the +industrial world."[16] "Socialism is an endeavour to substitute for +the anarchical struggle or fight for existence an organised +co-operation for existence."[17] "Socialism may be described as an +endeavour to readjust the machinery of industry in such a way that it +can at once depend upon and issue in a higher kind of character and +social type than is encouraged by the conditions of ordinary +competitive enterprise."[18] "Socialism is the development of policies +concerning the welfare of society."[19] "It is not arbitrary +destruction and reconstruction, but a natural process of +development."[20] "The idea of Socialism will conquer the world, for +this idea is nothing but the real, well understood interest of +mankind."[21] "Its principles will carry the whole human race to a +higher state of perfection."[22] "It is the great modern protest +against unreality, against the delusive shams which now masquerade as +verities."[23] "Socialism is of the character of a historical +discovery."[24] "Socialism, the inspiring principle of all Labour +Parties, whether they know it or not, is the next world movement--the +movement of the constructive intellect."[25] + +Socialism is rich in promises, and its claims to our consideration and +support are manifold. Are these claims justified or not? Are the +Socialists or the Anti-Socialists right in their conception of +Socialism? + +The Socialists maintain that all opposition to Socialism is based +either on self-interest or ignorance, and principally upon the +latter. Therefore one of the Socialist leaders wrote: "Those who wish +to understand Socialism will be wise to study Socialist books and +papers. One does not expect a true and fair account of any theory or +cause from its enemies. The man who takes his ideas of Trade-Unionism +from the Free Labour League, his ideas of Liberalism from the Tory +papers, his ideas of South African affairs--or any other affairs--from +the Yellow Press, will be misled into all manner of absurdities and +errors. The statements of party politicians and party newspapers on +most controversial subjects are prejudiced and inaccurate; but there +is no subject upon which the professional misleaders of the people are +so untrustworthy and so disingenuous as they are upon the subject of +Socialism."[26] A leading Socialist organ complained: "Our opponents +decline to deal with the fundamental principles of Socialism--its +unanswerable indictment of the capitalist system, with all its +concomitants of wage-slavery and slumdom; prostitution and child +murder--and prefer instead to indulge in calumniation and +misrepresentation of Socialism. We need not complain about that. It is +a tribute to the soundness of the Socialist position, to the +irrefutability of its principles, the impregnability of the rock of +economic truth upon which it is based, that our enemies dare not +oppose the principles of Socialism, dare not attempt to meet the +charge Socialism levels against the existing order."[27] + +There is much truth in these complaints. The general public and most +writers and speakers know very little about Socialism, because this +most interesting subject has been very inadequately treated in the +existing books. + +The existing books on Socialism describe, analyse, and criticise the +Socialist doctrines only in the abstract as a rule. However, +Socialism is not only an elaborate economic doctrine, it is at the +same time a complete system of practical politics. Hence it does not +suffice to study the doctrines of Socialism by themselves. In order to +understand Socialism we must also investigate its practical proposals. + +Following the methods of our political economists, most writers on +Socialism have, unfortunately, treated Socialism rather as a +scientific abstraction than as a business proposition. Consequently +the most important practical details of Socialism, such as: What are +the views of the Socialist with regard to the Monarchy, the Army, the +Banks, the National Currency, the Law, Education? what are their +practical aims as regards Parliamentary Representation, Foreign +Policy, Agriculture, Taxation, Old-age Pensions, Fiscal Policy? what +are their relations with the Parliamentary Parties, the Trade-Unions, +the Co-operators, etc? what is their attitude towards International +Communism and Anarchism? is English Socialism an Evolutionary or a +Revolutionary Movement?--these and many other questions are touched +but lightly or are not touched at all. + +It is somewhat difficult to deal fully with the practical proposals of +the Socialists, because the Socialists are very averse from +formulating their aims and disclosing their plans. An English +Socialist wrote: "To dogmatise about the form which the Socialist +State shall take is to play the fool."[28] Another one stated: "It is +quite impossible, at this time, nor would it be desirable, if +possible, to lay down any hard and fast line as to the development of +the details of Socialist organisation. Broad principles are all that +can with any degree of confidence be spoken about. The details will +arrange themselves, as the time arrives when it becomes necessary to +settle them."[29] Gronlund, perhaps the most prominent American +Socialist, stated: "Socialists do not profess to be architects. They +have not planned the future in minute detail."[30] Herr Bebel, the +leader of the German Social-Democratic Party, said on February 3, +1893, in the Reichstag, replying to the Roman Catholics, "We do not +ask from you the details of the future life of which you speak so +incessantly. Why, then, do you ask us about the future society?"[31] +Although we are told that "Socialism claims the consideration of +mankind, because it comes forward and offers a complete scheme to +improve the conditions of human life,"[32] Socialists carefully +abstain as a rule from giving us the details of that scheme. + +The Socialists of all countries have very excellent reasons for +keeping to themselves the details of their plans for the future. +Nevertheless, a careful search through their numerous writings will +enable us to obtain a fairly clear and comprehensive view of their +political and economic plans and intentions. + +Great Britain does not as yet possess a great Socialist party but only +a number of Socialist groups and factions which are totally at +variance as regards their aims, policy, and tactics. "They differ as +to the best means of getting what they want, and as to the best ways +of managing the work, and as to the proper way of sharing the +earnings. Some Socialists still believe that Socialism will have to be +got by force. I think there are not many. Some are in favour of buying +the land, the railways, the machinery, and other things; and some are +in favour of taking them, by force, or by new laws. Then some say that +there should be no wages paid at all, but that everyone should do an +equal share of work, and take whatever he needed from the nation's +goods. Others say that all men should do an equal share of work, and +have an equal share of the goods, or of the earnings. Others say it +would be better to pay wages, as now, but to let the wages be fixed by +the Government, or by corporations, or other officials, and that all +wages should be equal. Others, again, say that wages should be paid, +that the wages should be fixed as above stated, and that different +kinds of work should be paid for at different rates. In one kind of +Socialism the civil engineer, the actor, the general, the artist, the +tram guard, the dustman, the milliner, and the collier would all be +paid the same wages. In another kind of Socialism there would be no +wages, but all would be called upon to work, and all who worked would +'take according to their needs.' In another kind of Socialism the +civil engineer would be paid more than the navvy, the opera singer +more than the milliner, the general more than the sergeant, and the +editor more than the scavenger."[33] + +Notwithstanding these numerous and important differences, of which +more will be learned in the course of this book, British Socialists +are absolutely united in certain important respects. "The policies of +Socialism are a changeable quantity, though the principle is as fixed +as the Northern Star."[34] "Socialism is as flexible in its form as it +is definite in its principles."[35] + +A superficial study of Socialism reveals to us not a single and +generally accepted plan, but a confused and confusing mass of mutually +contradictory plans and doctrines. Therefore he who wishes to know +what Socialism is, must study the many-headed movement in its entirety +and give an impartial hearing to all its advocates. We can understand +Socialism only if we are acquainted with practically its entire +literature. + +Unfortunately the literature of Socialism is very vast. A complete +collection of modern Socialist literature would embrace at least +thirty thousand items. Therefore a full analysis of international +Socialism based upon the study of the original sources is a forbidding +undertaking. I have consequently limited myself to the investigation +of the British Socialist movement, although I have cast a cursory +glance upon foreign Socialism whenever it seemed necessary to do so. + +I have consulted altogether about a thousand books and pamphlets, and +have given representative extracts from four hundred or five hundred +of those which seemed most proper to elucidate the subject of this +book. Having given space to the views of all the Socialist groups, +this book is a summary of the whole literature of British Socialism +and a key to it. It is based exclusively on first-hand evidence, and +every statement contained in it can instantly be verified by reference +to the original sources indicated in the footnotes. In the +Bibliography at the end of this volume the full title, publisher's +address, and date of publication of all sources drawn upon are given, +so that readers will have no difficulty in procuring any Socialist +books they may want for further study. + +Most of the books quoted are unknown to booksellers, and are not in +public libraries. Even the British Museum Library possesses only part +of the publications used in this book, which is the first to exploit +fully the whole Socialist party literature. Whilst most books on +Socialism take note only of Socialist text-books addressed to +students, the present volume considers chiefly the propaganda +literature which is educating the Socialist rank and file and shaping +its political views. For all practical political purposes the +propaganda literature is undoubtedly by far the more important of the +two to the statesman and the citizen. + +The present volume is the only book of its kind, and I hope that the +Socialist movement in Germany, France, and the United States will be +treated with similar completeness by writers of these countries. The +perusal of the present volume will enable us to form an opinion of the +merits or demerits of the Socialistic theories and practical plans, +and make it possible for us to separate the grain from the chaff, the +wisdom from the folly, in the teachings of the Socialists. Thus we +shall be able to see which of their complaints and proposals are +justified and practical, and which are unjustified and unpractical. + +Popular dissatisfaction, Socialistic and non-Socialistic, points to +the existence of ills in the body politic, and the Socialistic +agitation is exceedingly valuable inasmuch as it draws general +attention to these ills. Some complaints of the Socialists will be +found to be imaginary, others are very real. + +It would be a sterile undertaking merely to analyse and criticise +Socialism and the Socialistic proposals. Therefore, after having +described the policy, ideals, and aims of the Socialists, I mean to +analyse the disease of which Socialism is a consequence and a symptom, +and to propose practical measures for curing it. + +In the course of this book I shall show that Socialism seems likely to +become a very great danger in this country--a far greater danger than +is generally realised. Therefore its opponents will be wise not to +sneer at Socialism, but to study it and to try to understand it. That +task will be found worth our while, and only after it shall we be able +to further Socialism if it is beneficial, to combat it if it is +pernicious, and to correct it if it is only the misguided expression +of genuine suffering and want. Indifference to a great and dangerous +political movement such as Socialism may have the gravest +consequences. Idlers do not make history. They suffer it. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Millar, _Socialism_, p. 21. + +[2] Herbert Spencer, _The Man versus the State_, p. 18 ff. + +[3] Roosevelt, Presidential Message, December 1907. + +[4] Walter Crane in Squire, _Socialism and Art_, Foreword. + +[5] Bebel, _Woman_, p. 256. + +[6] Kessack, _Capitalist Wilderness_, p. 2. + +[7] Ford, _Woman and Socialism_, p. 3. + +[8] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, p. 1. + +[9] Webb, _The Difficulties of Individualism_, p. 3. + +[10] Hyndman, _Socialism and Slavery_, Preface. + +[11] Blatchford, _Merrie England_, p. 100. + +[12] Shaw, _The Impossibilities of Anarchism_, p. 3. + +[13] "Veritas," _Did Jesus Christ teach Socialism?_ p. 1. + +[14] Macdonald, _Socialism_, p. 3. + +[15] _Labour Record_, February 1907. + +[16] Webb, _The Difficulties of Individualism_, p. 15. + +[17] _Will Socialism benefit the British People?_ p. 4. + +[18] Ball, _The Moral Aspects of Socialism_, p. 3. + +[19] Williams, _The Difficulties of Socialism_, p. 3. + +[20] Bebel, _Woman_, p. 257. + +[21] Sorge, _Socialism and the Worker_, p. 13. + +[22] _Ibid._ p. 16. + +[23] Bax, _Religion of Socialism_, p. ix. + +[24] Lafargue, in Bliss, _Encyclopedia of Social Reform_, p. 1264. + +[25] Macdonald, _Labour and the Empire_, p. 108. + +[26] Blatchford, _What is this Socialism?_ p. 2. + +[27] _Justice_, October 19, 1907. + +[28] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, p. 96. + +[29] Ethel Snowden, _The Woman Socialist_, p. 44. + +[30] Gronlund, _Co-operative Commonwealth_, p. 126. + +[31] Guyot, _Pretensions of Socialism_, p. 11. + +[32] Hird, _From Brute to Brother_, p. 1. + +[33] Robert Blatchford, _Real Socialism_, p. 15. + +[34] Williams, _Difficulties of Socialism_, p. 4. + +[35] Bliss, _Encyclopedia of Social Reform_, p. 1265. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +SOME SOCIALIST VIEWS OF PRESENT SOCIETY AND OF THE SOCIETY OF THE +FUTURE + + +"We are not indebted to reason," wrote the greatest American +Socialist, "for the landmarks of human progress, for the introduction +of Christianity, the institution of the monastic orders, the Crusades, +the Reformation, the American Revolution, or the abolition of slavery. +Man is only irresistible when he acts from passion. The masses of men +are never moved except by passions, feelings, interests."[36] +"Socialism has the advantage of appealing to the interests as well as +to the enthusiasm of all except the few who think the world good +enough as it is.... It is, of course, to the discontented wage-workers +that the Socialist can appeal with the greatest chance of +success."[37] These indiscreet words, which might have been written by +the most implacable of Anti-Socialists, sum up and explain the +Socialistic agitation and tactics. They are a proclamation and an +avowal, and the worst enemy of Socialism would have found it difficult +to pen a more damaging statement. Socialists rely not on reason or +justice, but on unreason and passion, for the victory of their cause; +and that fact is very much to be regretted, for it is bound to create +prejudice and suspicion, and to greatly weaken their case. + +The British Socialists, seeking to rouse the passions of men, +habitually rely on exaggeration and misrepresentation. They do not +tire of painting the present state of society in the darkest colours +and of describing with an unbounded but hardly justifiable optimism +and enthusiasm the advantages which will accrue to society when +Socialism has come to rule. It will be seen that in describing society +of the present and society of the future, Socialists let their +imagination run riot in the most astounding fashion. + +To the Socialist modern civilisation is worse than a failure. "Our +civilisation seems all so savage and bestial and filthy and +inartistic; all so cowardly and devilish and despicable. We fight by +cheatery and underselling, and adulteration and bribery, and unmanly +smirking for our bone of a livelihood; all scrambling and biting round +the platter when there is abundance for all, if we were orderly and +courteous and gentlemanly; all crushing the weaker; all struggling to +the platter-side for the privilege of wearing tall hats and of giving +good advice to the poor dogs outside. We, the well-fed, shout lordily +to the hungry and cheer them with legends to the effect that though +the poor are juggled out of earth, they may be masters in Heaven. Our +civilisation is barbarous."[38] + + Where'er we go, to east or west + North or south, 'tis all the same; + Civilisation at it's best + Is savagery's newer name. + For we see on every hand + 'Midst the whirr and noise of trade + The toilers, crushed and trampled, and + Into beasts of burden made.[39] + +"The one reality of the nineteenth century is the scramble for wealth; +politics, literature, science, religion, art, are, apart from +money-getting, mere lifeless wraiths."[40] Government in general, and +British Government in particular, is vicious, tyrannous, and +neglectful, and deserves the utmost contempt. "National Government is +devised for other objects than the adjustment of essential, economic, +and hygienic arrangements for the redemption of human life; to use it +for such a purpose is gross tyranny and a deadly blow at the very +foundations of morality and religion! Governments exist for quite +other purposes than this--to pay a million pounds yearly to one family +and its immediate parasites, to supply power of life and death over +the people to the exploiting class and fat places to their satellites +and creatures, to squander hundreds of millions on gunpowder and +armaments, to use the whole socialised power of the nation to overawe, +exploit, rob, and ruin the so-called lower races--all these are the +proper objects of government according to our orthodox wiseacres, but +to use the same obvious instrument adequately to protect human life at +home, and that life, to quote Mr. Burns, 'the weakest, the smallest, +and the dearest to us all,' is to undermine the foundations of British +manliness and to poison the fountain of British liberty and greatness. +Such is the curious _mélange_ of selfishness, hypocrisy, prejudice, +ignorance, and incoherence which passes muster for argument amongst +our anti-Socialist opponents."[41] + +British social legislation has been a failure. Never was the lot of +the workers worse than it is now. "Your legislation for the past +hundred years is a perpetual and fruitless effort to regulate the +disorders of your economic system. Your poor, your drunken, your +incompetent, your sick, your aged, ride you like a nightmare. You have +dissolved all human and personal ties. The salient characteristic of +your civilisation is its irresponsibility. The making of dividends is +the universal preoccupation; the well-being of the labourer is no +one's concern. You depend on variations of supply and demand which +you can neither determine nor anticipate. The failure of a harvest, +the modification of a tariff in some remote country dislocates the +industry of millions, thousands of miles away. You are at the mercy of +a prospector's luck, an inventor's genius, a woman's caprice--nay, you +are at the mercy of your own instruments. Your capital is alive and +cries for food."[42] + +Virtue has disappeared, religion is a fraud, clergy and priesthood are +mercenary, cowardly, and interested time-servers. "The priests and the +parsons are salary-slaves as much as the workers are wage-slaves. The +majority of them dare not preach the Gospel of Humanity, Justice, and +Socialism from their pulpits owing to their fear of their paymasters. +Religion is divorced from business, politics, the administration of +public authorities, the treatment of the aged worker, and written +across the actions of the professing Christians is 'Self-interest; +every man for himself and the Workhouse take the hindmost.'"[43] + +Life is hell, and only Socialism can regenerate the world. + + Things are all wrong, and we must put them right + So say all Socialists, and truly too. + Man does not get the chance here to subdue + The brute in self; and hence the fearful blight + Which makes one sicken at the dreadful sight + Of all society in one hell stew.[44] + +Apparently all British workers spend their lives in terrible misery +and constant privation. Hunger and despair are their constant +companions, and they will see in Socialism their only salvation even +if Socialism should destroy individual liberty, for to them individual +liberty is a word without meaning. One of the most prominent British +Socialists, Mr. Philip Snowden, M.P., in a pamphlet addressed to +working men, writes: "Let those who fear that Socialism will destroy +individual liberty and hinder intellectual development go with their +talk to the machine-workers of our great northern towns, who are +chained for eleven hours a day to a monotonous toil, with the eye of +the overseer and the fear of dismissal spurring them on to an exertion +which leaves them at the end of their day's work physical wrecks, with +no ambition but to restore their wasted energies at the nearest +public-house. Let them go with their talk of the blessings of +civilisation to the pottery and chemical workers, whose systems are +poisoned, whose sight is destroyed, where, through the bodies of the +parents being saturated with poison, half the children are born dead, +and of the rest not one in four lives to be five--tell them to hold +fast to their share of the blessings of our glorious civilisation. Or +go to the sweaters' victims, living, eating, working, dying in one +room, for which a vampire landlord will take in rent one-half of all +the family can earn by working day and night--talk to them of +individual liberty and warn them of the tyranny of the coming +Socialism. Or go on a bitterly cold winter morning to the dock gates +of one of our great ports and see thousands of men waiting in the hope +of a day's job, and watch how a few here and there of the strongest +are selected, and the rest left to another day of hunger and despair; +or, wait still, and see how a few remain behind in the hope that their +mate may meet with an accident and 'they can snatch at the work he +had.' Why, to talk of individual freedom and equality of opportunity +under a system of cannibalistic competition like this is like the +mocking laughter of a raving maniac gloating over the torture of the +victim it holds in its murderous grip."[45] In another popular +pamphlet the worker is told: "After all, John, does it not strike you +that there is some foul iniquity in a system which allows one part of +the community to do another portion of it to death and to rob and +enslave those it is pleased to let live? Do you not see that those +your capitalists find it convenient and profitable to employ may live; +and that those they do not choose to employ must die? Do you not see +that these are hurried and driven hither and thither in haggard, +destitute misery; are thrust into festering heaps in your foul slums; +into your gaols, and penitentiaries, and workhouses; that they wander +in hopeless misery, hungering within sight of food, penniless amid +plenty, enforcedly idle, and work to which they can have no access +lying upon every hand of them, as though the world were under an +enchantment and God were dead!"[46] + +The British working man, as he is generally known, is a manly and very +independent personage. As a rule his master is more afraid of him than +he is of his master. Yet, according to the picture drawn of him by the +Socialists, he is a timorous, cowardly, whining, pitiful creature who +has to cringe to his tyrannic employers: + + See the toiler, how he slaves + For a trifle of his toil. + How disease and death he braves, + Yet the masters take the spoil; + And how often, cap in hand, + Trembling, pleading piteously, + He is forced to take his stand + In the mart of slavery. + + Oh! ye tyrants of the earth, + Who make others' ruin your trade, + 'Midst licentious love and mirth + Fashion, pomp, and church parade. + Do you never think, oh, tell + Of the hideous crime and shame + That has made this earth a hell + Of commercial fraud and shame?[47] + +During the week the British workers work at most five and a half days +out of seven, and as a rule they work during from eight to ten hours a +day. Generally speaking, the pace at which British workmen work is not +forced. Except in a few special industries overwork among the working +men is practically unknown. Besides, the pace at which work is +performed is as a rule determined not by the employer, but by the +employees. Nevertheless we read, "It is monstrous that, while some +half million of men are vainly seeking employment, millions of their +fellows should have no respite from arduous ill-requited toil and +should be hastening to a premature death through overwork."[48] In +prose and verse the British workers are constantly told that they are +slaves[49] who are driven into starvation and suicide: + + Let them brag until in the face they are black + That over oceans they hold their sway, + Of the flag of Old England, the Union Jack, + About which I have something to say. + 'Tis said that it floats o'er the free; but it waves + Over thousands of hard-worked, ill-paid British slaves, + Who are driven to pauper and suicide graves-- + The starving poor of Old England. + + _Chorus._ + + 'Tis the poor, the poor the taxes have to pay, + The poor who are starving every day, + Who faint and die on the King's highway-- + The starving poor of Old England. + + There's the slaves of the needle and the slaves of the mine, + The postmen, and the sons of the plough, + And the hard-worked servants on the railway line, + Who get little by the sweat of their brow. + 'Tis said that the labourer is worthy of his hire; + But of whom does he get it? we'd like to enquire. + Not of any mill-owner, or farmer, or squire, + Who grind down the poor of Old England.[50] + +Now let us cast a glance at the Socialist picture of the society of +the future under Socialistic rule. + +The first thing which Socialism would do would be to organise work, +for "practical Socialism is a kind of national scheme of co-operation, +managed by the State."[51] There would be no more employers, for +"under Socialism all the work of the nation would be managed by the +nation for the nation,"[52] and all would have plenty to eat, because +"Socialism would leave no man to starve."[53] "All the work of the +nation would be organised--that is to say, it would be ordered or +arranged so that no one need be out of work, and so that no useless +work need be done, and so that no work need be done twice where once +would serve."[54] + +It is expected that the national organisation and administration of +all the industries would prove more efficient than private enterprise. +We are assured that "under Socialism the efficiency of production +developed by Capitalism will not only be preserved but improved. +Mechanical invention will be encouraged and utilised to the +utmost."[55] Compulsory labour, State regulation of work, and +increased production would lead to increased consumption and increased +comfort. "Who would deny that, if it is everybody's duty to work, if +the production of unnecessary--nay, even of injurious--articles is +abolished, if production is organised in conformity with the real +wants and pleasures of mankind--who would deny, I ask, that the +standard of life of the whole human race might be raised infinitely +above its present grade?"[56] + +Although Socialism would make work compulsory to all, and place every +man, woman, and child under the direction of the great Socialist +organisation with its army of officials, and although it would destroy +individual liberty as at present understood, by placing the daily life +of every citizen under Government regulations and restrictions, it +would bring with it a greater liberty. Unfortunately the Socialists +fail to say what that liberty consists in, and we must take their +assurances in lieu of details. "Those who fear that Socialism will +destroy individual liberty fail to distinguish between liberty and +licence. Individualism is licence--it is the freedom of the individual +to do as he likes without regard to the effect of his action on +others, or even without regard to his own best welfare. Socialism is +liberty; for it will restrict the freedom of the individual to inflict +injury upon others or to do what is morally injurious to himself."[57] + +Socialism will release the British slaves out of their slavery, and +restore them to everlasting freedom. "Such Socialism as we champion +means for all future generations not slavery, but full and +never-ending freedom."[58] "Socialism declares it to be the duty of +man to remove all artificial barriers to the improvement of +circumstances, in order that humanity, as a whole, may have freedom +and all possible assistance to attain to its full stature, physically, +mentally, and spiritually."[59] + +With the introduction of the Socialist _régime_ the earth would, as by +a magician's wand, be transformed into a paradise. Over-population, +bad harvests, the maladjustment of international demand and supply, +and individual folly, laziness, wastefulness, improvidence, and +passion would apparently no longer have the same unfortunate +consequences which they have now. "The struggle for individual +existence disappears...."[60] "The words 'poor' and 'charity' will be +expunged from the dictionary as relics of a barbarous past."[61] +"There would be no starvation, there would be no pauperism, there +would be no sweaters; there would be no barefooted children in the +streets; there would be no fraudulent trustees, no bankrupts; there +would be no slums, no annual massacre of innocents by preventable +disease; there would be hardly such a thing known as ignorance, there +would be scarcely any drunkenness, and crime would shrink to +microscopic dimensions."[62] + +"Practical Socialism would educate the people. It would provide cheap +and pure food. It would extend and elevate the means of study and +amusement. It would foster literature and science and art. It would +encourage and reward genius and industry. It would abolish sweating +and jerry-work. It would demolish the slums and erect good and +handsome dwellings. It would compel all men to do some kind of useful +work. It would recreate and nourish the craftsman's pride in his +craft. It would protect women and children. It would raise the +standard of health and morality; and it would take the sting out of +pauperism by paying pensions to honest workers no longer able to +work."[63] + +"There is something in Socialism to kill ignorance and to destroy +vice. There is something in it to shut up the gaols, to do away with +prostitution, to reduce crime and drunkenness, and wipe out for ever +the sweater and the slums, the beggars and the idle rich, the useless +fine ladies and lords, and to make it possible for sober and willing +workers to live healthy, and happy, and honourable lives."[64] + +The Socialist Government would apparently be all-powerful and +all-wise. At any rate, it would improve the character of the people. +"Socialism would teach and train all children wisely; it would foster +genius and devotion to the common good; it would kill scamping, and +loafing, and jerrymandering; it would give us better health, better +homes, better work, better food, better lives, and better men and +women."[65] + +When Socialism is introduced and private capital abolished, the golden +age of the world will begin: + + When all mankind are workers, + And no drones in the hive; + Oh, what a happy, glorious time + They'll have who are alive. + This world will be a garden, + An Eden full of bliss; + Oh, brother--sister--won't you strive + For such a state as this? + + There will be no starving children, no; + Nor tramps, nor beggars then; + No workhouses, nor prisons, and + No slums, nor sweater's den. + The land-grabber and the vampire, + And the fleecer of our toil, + Will all have ceased to crush us + In their vile rush for the spoil.[66] + +So far we have looked chiefly at the economic consequences which the +introduction of Socialism is going to bring about. However, according +to the Socialists, it is not true that "Socialism is merely sordid and +material, and has no regard for the more ideal side of human +interests. The Socialist recognises, far more than others, the higher +ideals of human life as being its true end."[67] Therefore "Socialism +seeks to improve the physical, mental, and spiritual environment of +every man, woman, and child, so that all mankind may be purer, +healthier, happier, stronger, nobler, and that each generation may be +nearer perfection than the one immediately preceding."[68] In other +words, "the creation of a higher type of mankind than the modern man +will be the result of Socialism. Men will have no need to think, day +in, day out, where to get the bread for to-morrow."[69] "Material +conditions form the fundamental basis of human existence. When these +become common property, free to all and abundant for all, they will +cease to have that importance they now possess. The sordid struggle +for mere material things will disappear; free play will be given to +man's higher faculties, and the struggle, competition, or emulation +between man and man will be for the realisation of his highest +conceivable aspirations."[70] + +According to many Socialists, money and wages would disappear. Food, +clothing, lodging, &c., would be given gratis to the citizens. "Under +ideal Socialism there would be no money at all and no wages. The +industry of the country would be organised and managed by the State, +much as the Post Office now is; goods of all kinds would be produced +and distributed for use, and not for sale, in such quantities as were +needed; hours of labour would be fixed, and every citizen would take +what he or she desired from the common stock. Food, clothing, +lodging, fuel, transit, amusements, and all other things would be +absolutely free, and the only difference between a prime minister and +a collier would be the difference of rank and occupation."[71] + +Not only food, clothing, and shelter would be supplied gratis by a +bountiful State to the people. In order to banish _ennui_ from among +the workers, entertainments and amusements also would be provided, +free of charge. Gratis travel on the railways would make life a +permanent holiday, and the last cause of dissatisfaction would be +removed by transferring the surroundings of the gratuitously +maintained and amused people into a garden of Eden. "I would have the +towns rebuilt with wide streets, with detached houses, with gardens +and fountains and avenues of trees. I would make the railways, the +carriage of letters, and the transit of goods as free as the roads and +bridges. I would make the houses loftier and larger, and clear them of +all useless furniture. I would institute public dining-halls, public +baths, public washhouses on the best plans, and so set free the hands +of those slaves--our English women. I would have public parks, public +theatres, music-halls, gymnasiums, football and cricket fields, public +halls and public gardens for recreation and music and refreshment. I +would have all our children fed and clothed and educated at the cost +of the State. I would have them all taught to play and to sing. I +would have them all trained to athletics and to arms. I would have +public halls of science. I would have the people become their own +artists, actors, musicians, soldiers, and police. Then, by degrees, I +would make all these things free."[72] In the words of the Socialist +poet-- + + We'll grow up true men and women + And enjoy life from our birth.[73] + +Men, being no longer compelled to work hard for a living, will lose +the desire for wealth and all that wealth supplies and will devote +themselves more and more to the culture of their mind. "Under +Socialism the possession of riches will cease to be a ruling passion, +for honest labour will be a guarantee against want, and riches will no +longer be the passport to social position. Under such conditions the +possession of riches will be a superfluous burden which no sane man +will wish to bear."[74] "When land and capital are the common property +of all the people, class distinctions, as we know them at present, +will no longer exist. The Mind will then be the standard by which a +man's place among his fellows will be determined."[75] Hence +"Socialism means the elevation of the struggle for existence from the +material to the intellectual plane. Socialism will raise the struggle +for existence into a sphere where competition shall be emulation, +where the treasures are boundless and eternal, and where the abundant +wealth of one does not cause the poverty of another."[76] + +The poet has described in a vision this phase of the golden age of +Socialism as follows: + + A strain of distant music + Floats on the gentle breeze, + Its captivating sweetness + Bends e'en the proudest knees; + Now soft as angel whispers, + Then, loud as trumpet's blast + It sounds the knell of sorrows + And pains for ever past. + + Now sweeter and more varied, + The music doth appear; + Ten thousand harps Ćolian + Seem to be drawing near. + Ten thousand angels' voices + Are mingled with the strain, + Chanting the song of Freedom-- + Justice has come to reign; + + Telling of bounteous harvests, + Of waving golden corn, + Waiting the reaper's sickle, + And asking to be shorn; + Lands rich with milk and honey + Promised in days of yore; + Asking all those that hunger + To eat and faint no more. + + The song grows loud and mighty + As thunder in the storm, + The tyrant quakes and trembles, + And hides his guilty form; + And stronger and still stronger + The joyous chorus grows-- + Rejoice! all ye that labour, + Ye triumph o'er your foes.[77] + +"Socialism, being at the same time the sublimest science, art, and +religion, will naturally elevate man. The British people will become a +nation of scientists and philosophers who, throwing natural enjoyments +aside, will lead a life of pure intellectual happiness. Mortal men +will become demi-gods. Socialism will justify God's way to man."[78] +"Socialism comes as the Angel of Light bearing to mankind this message +of truth. Socialism, equipped with all the learning of the ages, takes +up the ripest teaching of the poet, the philosopher, the economist, +the scientist, the historian, and joins the conclusion of each +together into one harmonious whole. Now we know that suffering, +misery, and poverty are a violation of God's will. Now we know that +the fulness of time has come for us to cast the last relic of our +fallen nature from us and to follow the beckoning angel who is waiting +to lead us back through the gates of Paradise into an Eden of +intellectual joys."[79] + + These things shall be! a loftier race + Than e'er the world hath known shall rise + With flame of freedom in their souls, + And light of science in their eyes. + + They shall be gentle, brave, and strong, + To spill no drop of blood, but dare + All that may plant man's lordship firm + On earth, and fire, and sea, and air. + + Nation with nation, land with land, + Unarmed shall live as comrades free; + In every heart and brain shall throb + The pulse of one fraternity. + + New arts shall bloom of loftier mould, + And mightier music thrill the skies, + And every life shall be a song + When all the earth is paradise. + + These things--they are no dreams--shall be + For happier men when we are gone. + These golden days for them shall dawn, + Transcending aught we gaze upon.[80] + +All men will be brothers. The difference among nations and races will +disappear by the rule of love and justice. "Justice is to be the +foundation on which we must build: not the kind of justice we have +hitherto considered as sufficient for us, and which many countries +pride themselves is their watchword and standard, but a justice that +demands freedom for all."[81] + + Equal rights it gives, my brothers, + To the eagle and the dove; + Right to air, and light, and knowledge, + Right to rise your toil above-- + Hearken! hearken! O, my brothers, + For this new great Right is Love.[82] + +Wars will be abolished. + + There's a good time coming, boys, + A good time coming; + The pen shall supersede the sword, + And right, not might, shall be the lord + In the good time coming. + Worth, not birth, shall rule mankind, + And be acknowledged stronger; + The proper impulse has been giv'n-- + Wait a little longer.[83] + +Being a religion of peace and love, and preaching the brotherhood of +man, Socialism will conquer the world. "Socialism with its promise of +freedom, its larger hope for humanity, its triumph of peace over war, +its binding of the races of the earth into one all-embracing +brotherhood, must prevail."[84] "We mean the establishment of a +political power which shall have for its conscious and definite aim +the common ownership and control of the _whole_ of the world's +industry, exchange, &c."[85] + +According to many Socialists, Socialism is not an original religion, +but it is the most sublime form of Christianity. "Socialism is in +accordance with the revealed will of God."[86] "Karl Marx was an +utter pagan, but there is not an essential proposition in 'Das +Kapital' that Jesus of Nazareth did not inculcate. Is it a question of +rent? You are as much entitled to immunity from it as the birds of the +air, or the grass of the fields. Is it a question of usury or +interest? Lend, hoping for nothing again. Is it a question of profit +or inequitable exchange? Do unto others as ye would that they should +do unto you."[87] "Did Jesus Christ teach Socialism? Unless we are +prepared to deny the truth of the Gospel, there can be but one +answer--Yes. And Socialism naturally evolves from Christianity."[88] +Socialism will mean the establishment of the rule of Christ upon +earth. "The political democracy, dominated by the social ideal, will +be the coming of Christ to rule the nations in righteousness."[89] The +Socialist leaders see visions. "I do sometimes dream dreams, and I see +a vision of what the world will be when this spirit of love and +sacrifice which has actuated some noble spirits in all ages and which +shone with the glory of full perfection in the life and example of +Jesus of Nazareth--I sometimes see, as through a glass darkly, a +vision of what the world will be when this spirit of love and +sacrifice shall animate all men. I see our modern towns swept away, +and in their place beautiful cities whose buildings reflect the pride +of the community in their common life, and whose healthy homes show +the value society attaches to the individual life. I see everywhere a +change come over the face of the landscape; every meadow smiles with +plenty, every valley blossoms as the rose, every hill is green with +the glory of Lebanon. I see a revived art and a revived literature. I +see a people healthy, happy, cultured, contented, whose wealth is +life, full and free, 'whose ways are ways of pleasantness, whose +flowery paths are paths of peace.' And my vision extends, though more +dimly, beyond the confines of my own dear land, and I see this spirit +of brotherhood among the nations has broken down international +barriers, and international hatred is no more. The sword is beaten +into a ploughshare, the spear into a pruning-hook, and the peoples of +all lands are one, each freely sharing of its special bounties to add +to the comforts of all."[90] + +The new Christian religion, like the old one, demands its saints and +its martyrs, if not the reincarnation of Christ. "The only way to +regain the earthly paradise is by the old, hard road to +Calvary--through persecution, through poverty, through temptation, by +the agony and bloody sweat, by the crown of thorns, by the agonising +death, and then the resurrection to the New Humanity--purified by +suffering, triumphant through Sacrifice."[91] + +The new Christ also has his forerunner and herald. "Mr. Keir Hardie, +M.P., the leader of the Labour Party, resembles John the Baptist,"[92] +and the Socialist leaders will do even greater things than did Christ. +We are told: "When Christ told His disciples that it was possible for +them to do greater things than they had seen Him do they must have +been fairly staggered. Just think for a moment of the nature of the +works He had done, most of them in their very presence. Those who are +striving to obtain a better social order and provide a fairer +distribution of the good gifts of God among the sons of men, these men +I say, in so far as their efforts are successful, are doing greater +things than Christ did when He performed the miracle of feeding the +hungry."[93] + +"Man is only irresistible when he acts from passion. The masses of men +are never moved except by passions feelings, interests. It is of +course to the discontented wage-earners that the Socialist can appeal +with the greatest chance of success."[94] All Socialists agree in +depicting to the workers life in present society as hell incarnate and +in giving a picture of life in the Socialist State of the future which +resembles the descriptions found in the "Arabian Nights" tales. They +only disagree in this: that some promise him heaven, whilst those +possessed of less enthusiasm promise him only an earthly paradise. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[36] Gronlund, _The Co-operative Commonwealth_, p. 187. + +[37] _Ibid._ p. 184. + +[38] _Forward_, October 12, 1907. + +[39] Neil, _Songs of the Social Revolution_, p. 22. + +[40] Bax, _Outlooks from the New Standpoint_, p. 140. + +[41] Fisher, _The Babies' Tribute_, p. 6. + +[42] Glyde, _The Misfortune of being a Working Man_, p. 1. + +[43] _Ibid._ p. 7. + +[44] Neil, _Songs of the Social Revolution_, p. 1. + +[45] Snowden, _The Individual under Socialism_, pp. 4-5. + +[46] Washington, _A Corner in Flesh and Blood_, p. 15. + +[47] _Social-Democratic Federation Song Book_, p. 29. + +[48] Quelch, _The Social-Democratic Federation_, p. 7. + +[49] Sidney Webb, _The Difficulties of Individualism_, p. 18. + +[50] _Social-Democratic Federation Song Book_, p. 32. + +[51] Blatchford, _Merrie England_, p. 100. + +[52] Blatchford, _What is this Socialism?_ p. 7. + +[53] Blatchford, _Britain for the British_, p. 96. + +[54] Blatchford, _What is this Socialism?_ pp. 5, 6. + +[55] Macdonald, _Socialism_, p. 74. + +[56] Sorge, _Socialism and the Worker_, p. 13. + +[57] Snowden, _The Individual under Socialism_, pp. 12, 13. + +[58] Hyndman, _Socialism and Slavery_, p. 13. + +[59] "Veritas," _Did Jesus Christ teach Socialism?_ p. 1. + +[60] Engels, _Socialism: Utopian and Scientific_, p. 81. + +[61] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 170. + +[62] Blatchford, _The Pope's Socialism_, p. 16. + +[63] Blatchford, _Merrie England_, p. 102. + +[64] Blatchford, _Britain for the British_, p. 89. + +[65] _Ibid._ p. 89. + +[66] Neil, _Songs of the Social Revolution_, p. 8. + +[67] Bax and Quelch, _A New Catechism of Socialism_, p. 43. + +[68] "Veritas," _Did Jesus Christ teach Socialism?_ p. 1. + +[69] Kautsky, _The Social Revolution_, p. 43. + +[70] Bax and Quelch, _A New Catechism of Socialism_, p. 44. + +[71] Blatchford, _Merrie England_, p. 103. + +[72] _Ibid._ pp. 43, 44. + +[73] Neil, _Songs of the Social Revolution_, p. 8. + +[74] Snowden, _The Individual under Socialism_, p. 9. + +[75] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, p. 24. + +[76] Snowden, _The Individual under Socialism_, p. 8. + +[77] _Clarion Song Book_, p. 18. + +[78] Snowden, _The Individual under Socialism_, p. 8. + +[79] Snowden, _The Individual under Socialism_, p. 9. + +[80] _Clarion Song Book_, p. 14. + +[81] Ford, _Women and Socialism_, p. 2. + +[82] _Clarion Song Book_, p. 31. + +[83] _Ibid._ p. 25. + +[84] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, p. 104. + +[85] Bax and Quelch, _A New Catechism of Socialism_, p. 9. + +[86] "Veritas," _Did Jesus Christ teach Socialism?_ p. 15. + +[87] Davidson, _The Gospel of the Poor_, p. 153. + +[88] "Veritas," _Did Jesus Christ teach Socialism?_ p. 16. + +[89] Snowden, _The Christ that is to be_, p. 13. + +[90] Snowden, _The Christ that is to be_, pp. 13, 14. + +[91] _Ibid._ p. 14. + +[92] "Veritas," _Did Jesus Christ teach Socialism?_ p. 4. + +[93] Ward, _Prevention is Better than Cure_, pp. 2, 5, and 6. + +[94] Gronlund, _The Co-operative Commonwealth_, p. 184. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE GRIEVANCES OF THE SOCIALISTS + + +"Socialism is not only a theory of another and better system of +society: it is an indictment of the existing order."[95] The Socialist +conception of society as at present constituted, given in the +preceding chapter, will have prepared the reader to some extent for +the Socialist grievances. These grievances are three in number, and +may be summed up as follows: + +(1) The workers are for all practical purposes slaves who are kept in +chains and forced to work by the capitalist class. + +(2) The rich men cause the poverty of the poor by defrauding them of +the largest part of their wages. + +(3) The workers receive only from one third to one fourth of the wage +which is their rightful due. + +Let us look into these grievances. + +According to the Socialist leaders, the workers-- + + Helots in hunger nursed + Slaves of their reign accursed[96]-- + +keep the rich in affluence. Nevertheless they themselves are kept in +poverty, degradation, and slavery by the capitalists whom they nourish +by their labour. "The landlord owns the raw material and can live in +idleness. The capitalist owns the machinery and can live in idleness. +The worker has nothing, except his ability to work, and he cannot +work without the consent of the landlord and the capitalist. +Therefore, he is virtually a slave. He cannot control his own +life."[97] + +As a matter of fact the position of the worker is worse than was that +of the slave. "It did not always pay to starve a slave, because if he +died you might have to buy another one. Therefore the lot of the slave +under a good master was in many respects better than that of the +proletariat in our great cities."[98] "Poverty rather than property is +the reward of labour to-day."[99] "Poverty is our reward for creating +plenty, and the class that lives in luxury by exploiting our labour +contemptuously informs us that the law of supply and demand condemns +us to suffer the most hideous privation whenever our excessive +industry has created a glut of all the things that satisfy human +needs."[100] + +The workers are unfree, being enslaved by the capitalists. It is true +that they possess freedom of contract, but freedom of contract, like +individual liberty, is an illusion, because the workers, being +penniless, are compelled to accept whatever work is obtainable, and to +be satisfied with whatever wages are offered. "The right to sell in +the markets is now well established, but the chief difficulty with the +majority of workers lies in the fact that they have nothing but their +labour to sell, and a market is not easy to find even for that."[101] + +Although co-operation has made millions of workers in Germany, France, +Belgium, and other countries prosperous and independent, independence +is, according to the Socialists, for some unspecified reason, +unobtainable for the workers of Great Britain, and co-operation is a +failure. "The chance of the great bulk of the labourers ever coming to +work upon their own land and capital in associations for co-operative +production, has become even less hopeful than it ever was."[102] +"Everywhere the workman is coming to understand that it is practically +hopeless for him, either individually or co-operatively, to own the +constantly growing mass of capital by the use of which he lives."[103] +The advent of the great industry has not benefited but harmed him. +"The supersession of the small by the great industry has given the +main fruits of invention and the new power over Nature to a +comparatively small proprietary class, upon whom the mass of the +people are dependent for leave to earn their living."[104] "The worker +is now a mere item in a vast industrial army over the organisation and +direction of which he has no control. He is free, but free only to +choose to which master he will sell his labour--free only to decide +from which proprietor he will beg that access to the new instruments +of production without which he cannot exist."[105] + +As the capitalist class owns the factories, workshops, &c., the worker +has become to that class a slave in the full and generally accepted +meaning of the word. "The effect of private property in land and +capital is in all essential respects the same as was the effect of +private property in human beings. In each case slavery is the result. +The form may have changed, but the substance remains."[106] "The +labourer to-day is a slave, and labour has become a mark of +bondage."[107] Except for a slight difference in outward form, the +British wage-slaves are no better off than were the black slaves on +the sugar plantations in the past. "Much as the 'free-born Briton' may +dislike to hear the painful truth recited, it is a fact, not to be +controverted, that four-fifths of our total population are bound as +completely and as miserably as ever was a black African slave to a +Western planter. There is no real freedom which is not economic +freedom. He is a slave who depends for his bread upon the will or the +whim of a man like himself, or of a number of such masters."[108] In +other words, capitalism and slave-owning are for all practical +purposes synonymous words, as may be seen from the Socialist +Catechism: "Q. What constitutes the chief difference between +capitalism and slave-owning? A. The fact that the capitalist goes +through the form of bargaining with the labourer as to the amount of +the portion of the produce that shall be returned to him.--Q. What is +this farce called? A. Freedom of contract.--Q. In what sense is it +free? A. In this sense--that the labourer is free to take what is +offered or nothing.--Q. Has he anything to fall back upon? A. He has +absolutely nothing in countries where the tyranny of capitalism is +untempered by any form of Socialism."[109] + +To those working men who might object that it is a gross exaggeration +to say that the British worker is a slave, and that he is penniless, +the Socialist agitator answers: "What? You are a free man and not a +slave? There are no slaves in this country? What is a slave? One who +works at the bidding of another, and only by permission of another, +and for the profit of that other. Does not that fit your case exactly? +Do you work when you like and idle when you like? Not you! You work +when the capitalist requires your labour, when your services will be +useful in making a profit for him. When that is not the case you can +starve in the gutter, although there may be all the necessaries of +life in profusion around you. These things do not belong to you, +although you and your class have made them; they are so much wealth +which your masters have acquired from your unpaid labour, things which +you have produced, but for which you have never been paid, out of +which you have been swindled by the natural operation of the system of +wage-slavery of which you are the unconscious victim. From this +condition of things there is no escape while the whole of the people +do not own the means of production. Nothing but the abolition of the +class ownership of the means of life, and the substitution of +ownership of the whole people, will abolish this form of +slavery."[110] + +The foregoing grievance is absurd. If regular work for a regular wage, +agreed upon by contract, is slavery, then all salaried men from the +Prime Minister and the Lord Chancellor downward are also +"wage-slaves." + +The Socialist agitator, after having told the working men that they +are no better off than negro slaves, then asks his hearers, as a rule: +"Why is it that the producers in this country are the poorest of the +population? Why is it that those who do not produce are the +richest?"[111] The manner in which this question is put suggests the +reply. Indeed, all Socialists agree in holding the rich responsible +for the poverty of the poor, as the following utterances will show: +"Socialism contends that the poverty of the poor is caused by robbery +on the part of the rich. The mansion explains the hovel. Belgravia has +its counterpart in Shoreditch. The factory, the foundry, the +ship-building yard account for the shooting lodge, the yacht, and the +tours in foreign lands. The long day's toil of one class renders +possible the life-long play of the other."[112] "If you have no +unemployed at the top of the social ladder you will have none at the +bottom."[113] + +"The riches of the rich class are the cause of the poverty of the +masses."[114] "You make the automobile, he rides in it. If it were not +for you, he would walk; and if it were not for him, you would +ride."[115] "Colossal poverty is the foundation of colossal wealth; he +who would eliminate the poverty of the masses assails the wealth of +the few."[116] + +The foregoing arguments, or rather assertions, may sound very +convincing and may be exceedingly useful for propaganda purposes, but +they are disproved by facts. If the existence of the rich were the +cause of the poverty of the masses, the workers in countries which +possess few rich capitalists, such as Ireland, Spain, Italy, Servia, +and Bulgaria, should be exceedingly well off; the workers in the +countries where the richest millionaires live, such as the United +States, should be the poorest. In reality, the American workmen are +the most prosperous, whilst the workers in Ireland and other +millionaire-less countries are the poorest. Rich men are not the +consumers, but merely the trustees and managers, of the national +wealth which is invested chiefly in reproductive undertakings--mills, +railways, mines, &c.--which supply comforts and conveniences to all. + +The capitalists, the employers, British Socialists say, have become +rich by defrauding the worker of his wages. The worker must starve so +that a few rich people may live in luxury, and things will become +better for the worker only when there are no more rich men. "The gains +of the capitalist are simply the losses of labour! The partly or +wholly unearned incomes of the rich consist of the unpaid, withheld +wages of the industrious poor."[117] "Only by living off another man's +labour and denying another man the fruits of his toil can riches be +acquired. Riches are directly responsible for poverty, and the art of +being rich is the art of keeping one's neighbour poor. When there are +no rich there will be no poor. To the wealth of the few, acquired at +the expense of the many, and not to drink or want of thrift, are all +the evils of our social life to be ascribed."[118] "Production is +carried on to-day purely in the interest and for the profit of the +class which owns the instruments of production."[119] + + There are ninety-and-nine who live and die + In want and hunger and cold, + That one may revel in luxury, + And be wrapped in its silken fold; + The ninety-and-nine in their hovels bare, + The one in a palace with riches rare.[120] + + Ye poor of wealthy England, + Who starve and sweat and freeze + By labour sore to fill the store + Of those who live at ease; + 'Tis time to know your real friends, + To face your real foe, + And to fight for your right + Till ye lay your masters low; + Small hope for you of better days + Till ye lay your masters low.[121] + +The working men are, according to the Socialist agitators, "excluded" +from property by the capitalist class which owns all the land, +factories, machinery, &c. The capitalist class has thus reserved for +itself a monopoly of all the instruments of production. Consequently, +"the only means by which the excluded class can live is by working for +the capitalist class--by getting some one or other of the capitalist +class to allow them access to the tools and materials in his +possession, and pay them wages in return for their labour."[122] +However, the capitalists do not grant to the workers access to the +instruments of production free of charge. They exact a toll from them, +and employ them only if, by so doing, they can secure a profit for +themselves. In the fact that an employer will engage workmen only if +he can make a profit by their labour, the Socialists see a cruel +injustice. "Your capitalist class draw upon this excluded horde of +landless, toolless, foodless lack-alls, and do actually find work for +as many as they can employ at a profit to themselves. This excluded +class have no rights--not even the elementary right to exist. What God +meant by creating them when He knew, or might have known, that +everything belonged to the capitalists, nobody can understand."[123] +"The whole of our industrial system is founded on a principle existing +nowhere else in Nature, the principle of production and distribution +for profit. If no employer can make a profit out of the worker's +labour he is cast into the unemployed army."[124] "Seven out of every +eight persons in your community, 37,500,000 of the men, and women, and +children who form your nation, can lay no claim to any right to +exist--exist only on sufferance. If one or other of the irresponsible +persons who own the country can be induced to allow them to earn their +bread, well and good; if not, they must die. At the present moment +there are 700,000 persons shut out in this manner from any chance of +obtaining food to eat. You call it being 'out of work,' and can see +the spectral army, 700,000 strong, hungry and in want. They are not +kept idle and hungry because there is no 'work.' The earth is there +with all its boundless store that their 'work' would turn into wealth +if they could but get at it. They are kept idle because those who own +the country cannot find them employment at a profit to themselves, +because the blind, fatuous insanity of your 'system of trade' makes no +provision even for keeping its slaves in work."[125] + +According to the Socialists, the employer of labour has no right to +work at a profit, and the capitalist has no right to demand rent or +interest. "The great central truth of Socialistic economy, ever to be +kept in mind, is Adam Smith's definition of wages: 'The produce of +labour is the natural recompense or wages of labour.' From this +'natural recompense' rent and profit are, in Socialist eyes, +unnatural, illegitimate abstractions, to be recovered and added to +wages as speedily as possible."[126] "Profit is the result of unpaid +labour; it is the produce of the working man, for which the latter +receives no equivalent. If he received his proper and just share, if +the capitalist could not deprive him of this, then the capitalist +could make no profit."[127] + +Not only are "rent" and "profit" illegitimate abstractions, but they +are downright theft. Every landowner, every banker, every +manufacturer, every shopkeeper is a thief. All business for profit is +swindling. "Land-rent and capital-rent are thefts from the produce of +labour."[128] "The manufacturer aims primarily at producing, by means +of the labour he has stolen from others, not goods, but profits."[129] +"What is successful business but cheating? What is the whole basis of +capitalist industry but the use of the means of production, not for +the legitimate end of producing wealth for use, but for the purpose of +making profit for the few by despoiling, sweating, pillaging, and +murdering the many?"[130] + +Even the more moderate Socialists complain that work is carried on by +the employers only "at a profit to themselves," and they wish to +abolish this state of affairs, which, they argue, is demoralising to +the working men, and is the cause of low wages and unemployment. "The +workman is called into the workshop when capital can profitably employ +him, and turned adrift again the moment capital finds it can no longer +turn his services to profitable account. He is not consulted as to +when he shall be employed or when cast adrift. His necessities and +those of his dependents are no concern of anyone save himself. He has +no right to employment, no one is under obligation to find him work, +nor is he free to work for himself, since he has neither the use of +land nor the command of the necessary capital."[131] "So long as +industry is carried on for profit instead of for use, for gain instead +of for need, so long must the evils of low wages and no wages go +on."[132] + +The grievance that the manufacturers manufacture "not for use but for +profit" is ridiculous. The manufacturers manufacture things which the +public will buy and use. There is consequently no distinction between +manufacturing for use and manufacturing for profit, except this, that +no manufacturer will give his time and trouble, and run considerable +risks, without adequate compensation. The complaint must therefore be +limited to the fact that the employer of labour makes a profit. The +question now arises: "What does the manufacturer do with his +earnings?" In the vast majority of cases he will use by far the larger +part of his profits for renewing machinery and enlarging his works, +and thus increase the national capital and the national power of +production, spending privately only a director's salary which he would +also receive as a director-employee of the Socialist commonwealth. +"The employer who works without a profit breaks himself,"[133] and in +breaking himself he breaks up the factory. Universal production +regardless of profit would lead to universal bankruptcy, whilst the +curtailing of profits may lead to a proportionate curtailment in the +expansion of industry and in the production of articles for use, and +to general poverty. It has the same effect whether the workers destroy +the capitalist's capital or whether they break the machinery and +devastate the corn-fields. + +The complaints of the Socialists as to the way in which the workers +are exploited by the capitalist class are founded not only on +arguments such as those given in the foregoing but on figures as well, +and these are exceedingly curious and interesting. Under titles such +as "How the Worker is Robbed,"[134] statements are made every day, and +by all Socialists, which are to prove that the national income is +inequitably divided between capitalists and workers. These statements +are calculated to make every workman's blood boil, and they seem to +confirm the contention of the Socialists that the capitalists +inhumanely plunder the working masses. However, these figures are so +palpably false and so grossly misleading that attention cannot +sufficiently strongly be drawn to the deception which is constantly +being practised upon the workers. I hope, therefore, that my readers +will patiently and carefully consider the following. + +The figures relating to the yearly income of the "capitalist class" +and the "working class" which are given in innumerable Socialistic +writings, and which are brought forward at almost every Socialist +meeting and lecture, are usually taken from a pamphlet entitled +"Facts for Socialists from the Political Economists and +Statisticians," published by the Fabian Society. The copy lying before +me bears the notice, "Tenth Edition (Revised), 111th thousand, 1906." +That pamphlet furnishes the statistical basis of fact to the Socialist +agitation. Its effect may be measured by its enormous circulation. It +contains a vast number of quotations from Blue-books, political +economists, and statisticians; and a certain show of learning, of +thoroughness, and of conscientiousness gives it at first sight the +appearance of being a reliable and honest production. However, +appearances are proverbially deceptive. + +According to "Facts for Socialists," the whole national income amounts +to _1,800,000,000l._ per year (page 3), and is derived from the +following sources: + + +"I.--RENT + +"The total profits from the ownership of lands, houses, tithes, &c., +the rents of mines, quarries, ironworks, gasworks, waterworks, canals, +fishings, shootings, markets, tolls, &c., must amount to at least +_290,000,000l._[135] + + +"II.--INTEREST ON CAPITAL + +"The profits of public companies, foreign investments, railways, &c., +assessed to income tax in the United Kingdom, the interest payable +from British public funds and from Indian, Colonial, and Foreign +Governments' funds, and the interest on capital employed in private +undertakings of manufacture or trade cannot be less than +_360,000,000l._ Adding hereto the rent (_290,000,000l._), we have a +total of _650,000,000l._ for rent and interest together. This +represents the proportion of the nation's income claimed from the +workers, _not in return for any service rendered to the community, but +merely as the payment for permission to use the land and the already +accumulated capital of the country_.[136] + + +"III.--PROFITS AND SALARIES + +"The numbers and total income of this large class cannot be exactly +ascertained. It includes workers of all grades, from the exceptionally +skilled artisan to the Prime Minister, and from the city clerk to the +President of the Royal Academy. It is convenient for statistical +purposes to include in it all those who do not belong to the 'manual +labour class.' If we take the 'rent of ability' to have increased in +the same proportion as the assessments to income tax, this prosperous +body may be estimated to receive for its work as profits and salaries +about _460,000,000l._ annually.[137]" + +Adding up the income from "Rent," "Interest and Capital," and "Profits +and Salaries," the pamphlet continues: + + +"THE CLASSES + +"The total drawn by the legal disposers of what are sometimes called +the 'three rents' of land, capital, and ability amounts at present to +about _1,110,000,000l._ yearly, or just under two-thirds of the total +produce. + + +"AND THE MASSES + +"Allowing for the increase since these estimates were made, we may +safely say that the manual labour class receives for all its millions +of workers only some _690,000,000l._"[138] + +In a short table the distribution of the national income is then given +as follows: + + Rent Ł290,000,000 + Interest 360,000,000 + Profits and Salaries 460,000,000 + ------------- + + Total (that is, the income of the + legal proprietors of the three + natural monopolies of land, capital, + and ability) 1,110,000,000 + Income of manual labour class 690,000,000 + ------------- + Total produce Ł1,800,000,000[139] + +At first sight it seems outrageous that "the income of the legal +proprietors of the three natural monopolies of land, capital, and +ability" should come to _1,110,000,000l._ per annum, and the income of +the manual labour class only to _690,000,000l._ per annum, about +one-third of the whole, especially as we learn on page 4 of the +pamphlet that the "idle rich" are only a small fraction of the +community. This statement would prove the assertion that the idle rich +are causing the poverty of the poor to be correct if it were honest +and fair, but it is neither the one nor the other. + +In the first place the foregoing statement divides the nation into two +classes "the masses" and "the classes": manual labourers and "the +legal proprietors of the three natural monopolies." As the pamphlet is +addressed to the uncritical body of general readers, and especially to +working men, these will naturally divide, owing to the artful wording +of the phrase, the national income between manual labourers and +capitalist monopolists. According to this pamphlet everyone who is not +a labourer is a capitalist monopolist. Therefore the capitalist +monopolist class includes all lawyers and doctors, all parsons and +clerks, all officers and salaried officials. Every business man, every +farmer, every fisherman, every greengrocer, every baker, every +butcher, every sailor, every cobbler, every chimney-sweep, every +clerk, being not a wage-earning labourer, is "one of the legal +proprietors of the three natural monopolies," or in plainer language, +a monopolist. At least, the income of this very large class has +barefacedly been credited to the capitalist class, whilst its members +have been utilised (on page 4 of the pamphlet) to swell the ranks of +the workers. This is dishonesty number one. + +The income of the exceptionally skilled artisans, who also form a very +large class, is credited on page 7 to the "classes" under the heading +"profits and salaries." They also are included among the +"monopolists," although their number has likewise been utilised (on +page 4) to swell the number of the workers. This is dishonesty number +two. + +Let us now look at the result of the dishonest Fabian juggling with +figures by comparing the statement regarding the national income +contained in the Fabian pamphlet with a recent statement of Mr. +Chiozza Money, M.P., who is a Socialist, and who divides the national +income as follows: + + Income of working class (33,000,000 people) + about Ł650,000,000 + + Income of middle class (all except manual + labourers and the rich--small business + men, managers, clerks, public servants, + &c., with incomes up to Ł700--9,750,000 + people) about 475,000,000 + + Income of rich (with incomes Ł700 and + above) (1,250,000 people) about 600,000,000 + -------------- + Total about Ł1,725,000,000[140] + +From the foregoing statement it appears that the rich draw not +two-thirds, but only one-third, of the national income, and this fact +should be carefully borne in mind in view of the contents of the +following pages. + +The pamphlet states on page 6 that _650,000,000l._ per annum are paid +in the shape of rent and interest, "not in return for any service +rendered to the community, but merely as the payment for permission to +use the land and the already accumulated capital of the country." The +national capital is invested chiefly in perishable objects such as +houses, factories, railways, steamships, mines, &c., which depreciate +unless kept in proper repair. There is wear and tear in capital as in +everything else. Capital is lost and destroyed every day. Lastly, the +national capital is growing, and must continue growing, in accordance +with the growing capital requirements of the time and the growing +number of its inhabitants, or the country will decay. New houses, new +factories, new railways, new steamships must be built and new mines be +opened to increase the comfort of all. From _200,000,000l._ to +_300,000,000l._ are thus reinvested every year in Great Britain, and +only by this constant process of reinvestment is it possible to +maintain and increase the productive power of the country for the +benefit of all. The _200,000,000l._ to _300,000,000l._ which are +yearly reinvested in reproductive undertakings are found by the +capitalists, the trustees, directors and managers, not the consumers, +of the national industry and of the national wealth. This sum comes +out of their earnings, which thus benefit not only the capitalists but +the whole nation. Much irrelevant statistical matter is given in the +pamphlet, but this large item is left out. That is dishonesty number +three. + +On page 6 the profits of public companies are treated as "Interest on +capital," and interest on capital is disparagingly called "unearned +income" on page 7. Most British industries are carried on by limited +companies, and limited companies are as a rule formed in this way, +that the partners in the former private enterprise become directors. +As directors they receive a purely nominal salary. They work as much +as they did whilst the business was a private concern, and their +income depends on their usually very large holding of shares. The +large director-shareholders, and their number is very great, earn +their dividends by hard work. Nevertheless their whole income is +included in the item "interest on capital," and called "unearned +income." This is dishonesty number four. + +On page 7 the property of the "manual labour class," or the poor, in +land and capital is given as follows:-- + +In 1901 the deposits in P.O. Savings Bank were Ł140,392,916 + The deposits in Trustee Savings Banks were 51,966,386 + Consols purchased for small holders were 14,450,877 + +In 1900 the capital of Building Societies was 46,775,143 + The funds of Trade-Unions, Co-operative, + Friendly, and Provident Societies were 72,219,991 + The funds of Industrial Life Assurance + Societies were 22,998,793 + ------------ + Total Ł348,804,106[141] + +In reality the property of the "manual labour class" in land and +capital amounts not to _348,804,106l._, but to at least +_1,000,000,000l._[142] This is dishonesty number five. + +The imports of Great Britain are larger than the exports by about +_150,000,000l._ The larger part of the money paid for these imports +goes in wages paid to foreigners, and is paid away by the British +capitalist class out of their earnings. British wage-earners surely +cannot expect to be paid wages in respect of articles made abroad. +However, no allowance for this large item has been made in comparing +the appropriation of the national income between capital and labour. +This is dishonesty number six. + +Between one hundred and two hundred million pounds of the national +income is derived from foreign investments. The income derived from +foreign investments should in fairness either be left out of the +account or the income of foreign labour, received in respect of these +investments, be added to the British labour income. In comparing the +income of capital and labour, the pamphlet takes note of the earnings +of British capital on all five continents and on the sea, and compares +with it only the income of British labour--although foreign, not +British labour, produces the foreign income of British capital. + +Giving as authority an ancient Board of Trade Return, and wishing to +magnify the difference in the earnings of the idle rich and the +industrious poor, the average yearly income of "those of the manual +labour class who are best off" is given at _48l._ per adult. This +means _18s._ per week. In view of the fact that most British workers +earn between _1l._ and _2l._ per week, that in many Trade-Unions the +_average_ wage is about _35s._ per week, the figures given are +palpably wrong unless the female workers are included. Whether this is +the case or no is not stated, but even if the wages of both sexes +should be joined together they appear to be very considerably +understated. This is dishonesty number seven. + +There are many more unfair, misleading, and dishonest statements in +this pamphlet which it would lead too far to enumerate. + +Most of the important pamphlets issued by the Fabian Society are +signed by their authors. The fact that the most effective, "Facts for +Socialists," is unsigned seems to indicate that the author--apparently +a well-known leader of the Fabians--had some sense of shame, and it is +to be hoped that the Fabian Society will immediately, and publicly, +repudiate this dishonest pamphlet. + +The statements contained in the pamphlet "Facts for Socialists," may +be misleading and utterly dishonest, but they are very useful for +propaganda purposes. Nothing is more likely to inflame the masses than +to be told that the "idle rich" take more than two-thirds of the +national income. The practical effect of this pamphlet may be seen in +utterances such as the following: "It has been estimated that in our +country of the wealth produced, one-third is enjoyed by those who earn +it and two-thirds by those who have not laboured for it. To put it in +other words, of every three pounds earned by labour, one pound goes to +him who earned it and two pounds to others who have done nothing +towards its production."[143] "For two-thirds of his time the worker +is a slave, labouring not for himself but for others."[144] "On the +average at the present time the workers produce nearly four times as +much as they consume."[145] "Nearly two-thirds of the wealth produced +is retained by an eighth of the population."[146] "The great mass of +the people, the weekly wage-earners, four out of five of the whole +population, toil perpetually for less than a third of the aggregate +product of labour, at an annual wage averaging at most _40l._ per +adult, and are hurried into unnecessarily early graves by the severity +of their lives."[147] "Out of the wealth which his labour creates, the +worker receives but one-third. He is paid one-third the value of his +labour, and when he seeks to lay it out he is robbed of one-half its +purchasing power, and all this is done by a Christian people."[148] +"Q. How does the capitalist act? A. He extorts from those labourers +who are excluded from the land a share of all that they produce, under +threat of withholding from them the implements of production and thus +refusing to let them work at all.--Q. On what terms does the +capitalist allow the labourers to work? A. The capitalist agrees to +return to them as wages about a quarter of what they have produced by +their work, keeping the remaining three-quarters for himself and his +class.--Q. What is this system called? A. The capitalist system."[149] +"By analysing the returns of the income-tax, various economists show +that the value received by the working class and the superintendents +of labour amount to a third or less of the wealth produced. The +income-tax returns, however, are not a very reliable test of the +degree of exploitation, though, of course, they afford us valuable and +incontestable evidence that the worker does not receive more than a +third of what he produces. One to four, or one to five, in my opinion, +expresses more accurately the rate of exploitation."[150] + +I am not prepared to give an estimate how the national income is +distributed between hand workers, brain workers, and men who live on +their income without doing any useful work, because such an estimate +could be arrived at only by guesswork. However, it is quite clear that +it is untrue that the wage-earners receive only one-third, one-fourth, +or one-fifth of the wages which they ought to receive, as is +constantly stated. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[95] _Justice_, October 19, 1907. + +[96] _Social-Democratic Federation Song Book_, p. 13. + +[97] _The Worker's Burden_, p. 1. + +[98] Hyndman, _Social Democracy_, p. 9. + +[99] Macdonald, _Socialism_, p. 12. + +[100] _Protect the Home_, p. 1. + +[101] _John Ball_, p. 10. + +[102] _Facts for Socialists_, p. 12. + +[103] Sidney Webb, _The Difficulties of Individualism_, p. 15. + +[104] _Ibid._ p. 7. + +[105] _Ibid._ p. 12. + +[106] Keir Hardie, _Can a Man be a Christian on a Pound a Week?_ p. +12. + +[107] McClure, _Socialism_, p. 27. + +[108] Ethel Snowden, _The Woman Socialist_, p. 11. + +[109] Joynes, _The Socialist Catechism_, p. 5. + +[110] _To the Man in the Street_, Social-Democratic Federation +Leaflet. + +[111] Hyndman in Debate, _Will Socialism Benefit the English People?_ +p. 5. + +[112] Leatham, _The Class War_, p. 4. + +[113] _Socialism, For and Against_, p. 6. + +[114] Snowden, _Socialists' Budget_, p. 11. + +[115] Debs, _Industrial Unionism_, p. 5. + +[116] Kautsky, _Class Struggle_, p. 10. + +[117] Hall, _The Old and New Unionism_, p. 4. + +[118] Lister, _Riches and Poverty_, pp. 13, 14. + +[119] Bax and Quelch, _A New Catechism of Socialism_, p. 7. + +[120] _Poems for Socialists_, p. 8. + +[121] _Social-Democratic Federation Song Book_, p. 25. + +[122] Washington, _A Corner in Flesh and Blood_, p. 14. + +[123] _Ibid._ + +[124] Benson, _Socialism_, p. 5. + +[125] Washington, _Nation of Slaves_, p. 11. + +[126] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 30. + +[127] _Some Objections to Socialism_, p. 7. + +[128] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 45. + +[129] Morris, _Useful Work and Useless Toil_, p. 30. + +[130] _Some Objections to Socialism_, p. 20. + +[131] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, p. 52. + +[132] Hall, _The Old and New Unionism_, p. 5. + +[133] Macdonald, _Socialism_, p. 6. + +[134] _The Socialist Annual_, 1907, p. 16 f. + +[135] _Facts for Socialists_, p. 5. + +[136] _Facts for Socialists_, pp. 6, 7. + +[137] _Ibid._ p. 7. + +[138] _Ibid._ p. 8. + +[139] _Facts for Socialists_, pp. 8, 9. + +[140] See _Daily News_, November 28, 1907. + +[141] _Facts for Socialists_, p. 7. + +[142] See Mr. Quail's paper in the _Contemporary Review_ for August +1907. + +[143] Ward, _The Ideal City_, pp. 5, 6. + +[144] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, p. 15. + +[145] Quelch, _Social-Democratic Federation_, p. 5. + +[146] _Manifesto of the Socialist Party of Great Britain_, p. 8. + +[147] Sidney Webb, _The Difficulties of Individualism_, p. 8. + +[148] Keir Hardie, _Can a Man be a Christian on a Pound a Week?_ p. 7. + +[149] Joynes, _The Socialist Catechism_, p. 2. + +[150] Hazell, _Summary of Marx's "Capital,"_ p. 9. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES OF SOCIALISM + + +In describing the doctrines of Socialism I do not mean to state in +detail the whole of the Socialistic theories. Such a statement would +fill a volume, it would be excessively tedious to most readers, and it +is for all practical purposes quite unnecessary. A statement of the +leading doctrines on which the activity of the Socialists is +based--the doctrines which are constantly asserted and which are the +fundamental dogmas of the Socialist faith--will enable us to obtain a +clear view of the foundations upon which the theoretic fabric of +Socialism is built, and to judge whether that foundation is scientific +and sound, or unscientific and unsound. + +The basic doctrine of Socialism, upon which the great edifice of +Socialistic theory has been reared, may be summed up in the phrase + + "LABOUR IS THE ONLY SOURCE OF WEALTH" + +Therefore we read in the celebrated pamphlet "Facts for Socialists," +of which some important extracts were given in the preceding chapter: +"Commodities are produced solely by the 'efforts and sacrifices' +(Cairns), whether of muscle or of brain, of the working portion of the +community, employed upon the gifts of Nature. Adam Smith 'showed that +labour is the only source of wealth.... It is to labour, therefore, +and to labour only, that man owes everything possessed of +exchangeable value (McCulloch's 'Principles of Political Economy,' +Part II., section 1). 'No wealth whatever can be produced without +labour' (Professor Henry Fawcett (Cambridge), 'Manual of Political +Economy,' p. 13),"[151] + +This statement is scarcely honest, for it quotes opinions of Adam +Smith and others which are erroneous, as will be seen in the +following, and which have been generally abandoned. This statement may +impose upon the simple by its show of learning, but it is somewhat +vague, for it only suggests, but does not distinctly assert, that +manual labour is the only source of wealth. However, in most--one +might say in nearly all--Socialist books, pamphlets, and declarations +of policy we find the basic doctrine of Socialism asserted in a form +which leaves no doubt that according to the Socialist theories the +manual labour of the labourer is the only source of wealth. + +The founder of modern Socialism declared, "Labour is the only source +of wealth,"[152] and his disciples--at least his British +disciples--support that declaration. "All wealth is due to labour; +therefore, to the labourers all wealth is due."[153] "Labour applied +to natural objects is the source of all wealth."[154] The Socialist +Party of Great Britain declares: "Wealth is natural material converted +by labour-power to man's use, and as such is consequently produced by +the working class alone."[155] The Independent Labour party asserts: +"No man or class of men made the first kind of wealth, such as land, +minerals, and water. Therefore no man or class of men should be +allowed to call these things their own, or to prevent others from +using them (except on certain conditions), as the landowners and +mine-owners do now. The only class of human beings who make the +second kind of wealth are the workers. Working men and women produce +and prepare for us all those things which we use or consume, such as +food, clothing, houses, furniture, instruments and implements, trams, +railways, pictures, books, gas, drains, and many other things. They +produce all the wealth obtained by toil from the land."[156] + +Those who maintain that labour, or, as some Socialists assert, the +labourer's labour, is the only source of wealth, look merely at the +mechanical factor, but omit the force which directs and controls it. +The Socialistic argument "We can run the mills without the +capitalists, but they cannot run them without us"[157] is misleading. +Labour is certainly an indispensable ingredient in production, but it +is no more indispensable than is direction, invention, and thrift. +Hence it is as absurd to assert "All wealth is due to labour" as to +say "All wealth is due to invention," or "All wealth is due to +thrift." As the brain is more important than the hand, at least in a +highly organised state of production, so invention, organisation, +management, and thrift are more important than manual labour, because +invention, organisation, management, and thrift alone enable manual +labour, working with modern machinery, to be highly productive. In +fact, it may be asserted that wealth is created not so much by labour +as by the saving of labour. A factory-owner who is dissatisfied with +the profits of his factory or with its products does not get better +workers, but gets a better manager or better machinery, keeping his +workers. This fact proves that labour is the least important factor in +modern production. The doctrine "Labour is the only source of wealth" +is untenable and absurd. + +Another fundamental doctrine of Socialism is that of + + "THE IRON LAW OF WAGES" + +According to that law, "wages under competition can never be higher +than that which will just support the labourer and enable him to renew +his kind."[158] In the words of Lassalle, the inventor of the Iron Law +of Wages, "the wages of the labourer are limited to the exact amount +necessary to keep him alive."[159] + +The British Socialist writers tell us: "The average price of +wage-labour is the minimum wage--_i.e._ that quantum of the means of +subsistence which is absolutely requisite to keep the labourer in bare +existence."[160] "The labourer cannot as a rule command more than his +cost of subsistence in return for his labour. This principle, that the +return to labour is determined by the cost of subsistence of the +labourer, is generally known as 'The Iron Law of Wages.' But has not +this law been discarded even by some Socialists? There have been +attempts in some quarters to demonstrate that this law does not +actually operate with the rigidity at first claimed for it; but in +truth, it stands as firmly to-day as when insisted upon by +Lassalle."[161] "Capitalism always keeps the wages down to the lowest +standard of subsistence which the people will accept,"[162] for "the +basis of wages is the cost of subsistence of the labourer. This is +called the 'Iron Law of Wages.'"[163] "By the Iron Law of Wages the +recompense of the workers always tends to the minimum on which they +are willing to subsist. If they are content with water to drink and +cabbage to eat, they may be sure that the means of buying whisky or +roast beef will very soon be taken from them. Messrs. Rentmonger, +Interestmonger, and Profitmonger will speedily scent additional swag, +and they will have it, too."[164] "The 'Iron Law of Wages' reduces the +wages to as near the level of the means of subsistence as local +circumstances will admit of."[165] If these arguments were correct it +would follow that the workers could cause their wages to rise by +drinking wine instead of whisky, and by smoking Havana cigars instead +of pipe-tobacco. + +This theory of wages is called the "Iron Law of Wages" because of its +absolute and pitiless rigidity. For instance, the Iron Law of Wages +will prevent lower prices of food benefiting the workman in any way. +"If the working class is enabled to buy cheap bread, the operation of +the 'Iron Law of Wages' will secure all the advantage for the +capitalists, as it did in the days of the saintly Bright, when the +corn laws were repealed. Capital is always the same in its effect on +the working-class, whether manipulated by an individual capitalist, +joint-stock enterprise, municipality, or government, and with each +step in concentration the working-class gets relatively less and the +master class gets richer, more corrupt, and more bestial, as recent +events in Berlin and elsewhere show."[166] The "Iron Law of Wages" is +irrefutable and irresistible. "Economists have come to talk about the +'Iron Law of Wages' with as much assurance as if it were an +irreversible law of Nature."[167] + +The Iron Law of Wages exists chiefly in the imagination of British +Socialists. The general wage of British workmen living in towns ranges +from, say _18s._ to more than _2l._ per week, and its amount does not +depend on the cost of subsistence, but on the working skill and +various other factors. If the Iron Law of Wages were correct, wages +would be almost uniform. The Iron Law of Wages can possibly apply only +to one small class of workers, the lowest and least skilled labourers, +provided that unemployment is so great among them that they abandon +collective bargaining and underbid one another down to the level of +subsistence. When workers are organised, the Iron Law of Wages does +not apply. The level of wages depends, broadly speaking, on supply and +demand. Wages rise when two employers run after one workman; wages +fall when two workmen run after one employer. An employer who engages +a workman does not ask, "How much do you eat?" but "What can you do?" +and he proportions the worker's remuneration not to his appetite, but +to his ability and his value as a producer. The wages paid to married +men and to unmarried men are identical in the same trade. If there was +an "Iron Law of Wages," the wages of married men should be about twice +as large as those of unmarried men. + +The Iron Law of Wages is manifestly absurd. It has therefore been +officially abandoned by the German Socialists at the Halle Congress of +1890 "as being scientifically untenable."[168] "German Social +Democracy no longer recognises the Iron Law of Wages."[169] The +British Socialists have not abandoned it, probably not because they +believe it to be scientifically correct--no one can believe that--but +because it is a plausible and effective means of poisoning the minds +of the people. + +As regards the factors which determine wages, one of the foremost +Socialist authorities says: "Thoughtful workmen in the staple trades +have become convinced by their own experience, no less than by the +repeated arguments of the economists, that a rising standard of wages +and other conditions of employment must depend ultimately on the +productivity of labour, and therefore upon the most efficient and +economical use of credit, capital, and capacity."[170] In other words, +productivity and profit determine wages, and it is ridiculous that +Socialists argue: "Over 90 per cent. of our women do not drink, back +horses, smoke, attend football or cricket matches, they do not stop +off their work to watch England and Australia play at cricket, and the +result is they are paid less wages than men in our factories for doing +the same work."[171] Does Councillor Glyde really believe that women's +wages would rise as soon as they took to smoking and drinking? + + +THE LAW OF INCREASING MISERY + +According to this law the improvements in machinery, the increase of +capital and increase of production do not benefit the worker. They +only lead to a decline in wages and thus increase the workers' misery. +"In proportion as the use of machinery and division of labour +increases, in the same proportion the burden of toil also increases +whether by prolongation of the working hours, by increase of the work +exacted in a given time, or by increased speed of the machinery, +&c."[172] "The faster productive capital increases, the more does the +division of labour and the employment of machinery extend. The more +the division of labour and the employment of machinery extend, so much +the more does competition increase among the labourers and so much the +more do their average wages dwindle. And thus the forest of arms +outstretched by those who are entreating for work becomes ever denser +and the arms themselves grow ever leaner."[173] "The more the worker +labours the less reward he receives for it; and that for this simple +reason, that he competes against his fellow-workmen and thus compels +them to compete against him and to offer their labour on as wretched +conditions as he does, and that he thus, in the last result, competes +against himself as a member of the working-class."[174] "The worker in +the factory gets, as a worker, absolutely no advantage from the +machinery which causes the product of his labour to be multiplied a +hundredfold."[175] "John Stuart Mill, it will be remembered, +questioned whether mechanical invention had lightened the labours of a +single human being."[176] "With increasing powers of production, the +worker's share, and therefore his purchasing power, grows less."[177] +"Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the +labourers."[178] "The iron law of competition means, and must mean, +continued degradation for the workers, even though their physical +condition in youth may be improved."[179] "The worker in the factory +is now seen to work no shorter hours or gain no higher wages merely +because the product of his labour is multiplied a hundredfold by +machinery which he does not own. 'The remuneration of labour as such,' +wrote Cairnes in 1874, 'skilled or unskilled, can never rise much +above its present level.'"[180] + +The celebrated "Doctrine of Increasing Misery" stands in diametrical +opposition to those facts with which nowadays every child is +acquainted. During the time when our Socialists have been preaching +the "Doctrine of Increasing Misery" working hours have been very +greatly diminished and wages have not been reduced, but have risen by +about 100 per cent. During the same time working hours in Germany have +also been reduced and wages have risen up to 400 per cent.[181] The +German Socialists have been honest enough to abandon the Doctrine of +Increasing Misery under the guidance of Bernstein; the French have +dropped it under the guidance of Sorel; the Dutch have seen its +absurdity, guided by Vandervelde, their foremost leader. The British +Socialists, on the other hand, have not abandoned it, though they must +see its absurdity, probably because, though palpably and ridiculously +false, the Doctrine of Increasing Misery is considered to be a useful +and effective part of the Socialist agitator's stock-in-trade. + +The next doctrine to be considered is + + +THE SURPLUS-VALUE DOCTRINE + +The Socialists argue that the position of the worker cannot improve +because the capitalist, possessing the monopoly of property, pockets +all that the worker produces except the mere cost of his subsistence, +which, owing to the "Iron Law of Wages," is given to the workman in +the form of wages. "The amount of wealth which the labourer produces +in the time for which he has sold his labour-force is out of all +proportion to what it costs to produce and maintain his labour-force +for that time. This, the difference between what he produces and his +own cost of production, is surplus-value, and is taken and divided up +by the capitalist into rent, interest, profit. This surplus-value, +then, this profit, is so much robbery effected by taking advantage of +the necessity of the proletarian--the naked propertyless +labourer."[182] "All that the worker produces beyond what is +absolutely necessary to keep himself and his offspring in life, this +surplus beyond subsistence--this difference between the recompense of +labour and its products--this unrighteous subtrahend, this swag, is +the booty alike of slavelord, serflord, and drudgelord, or +capitalist."[183] The question now arises: "How does the capitalist +secure this surplus-value of labour without paying for it? If the +workman is free, why cannot he insist on receiving, not the mere +exchange-value of his commodity--'labour-power'--but the full value of +the labour he expends for the capitalist? The capitalist obtains this +surplus-value owing to his monopoly of the means of production. The +labourer cannot, as a rule, command more than his cost of subsistence +in return for his labour--although his wages, like the prices of all +commodities, sometimes rise above this and sometimes fall +below--because, although apparently free, he is really not free. He +must sell his labour-power in order to live; he has no other commodity +to dispose of. Consequently he must accept the terms that the +purchaser will offer, subject only to two conditions--his own cost of +subsistence and the fluctuations of the market."[184] "Owing to the +monopoly of the means of production in the past, industrial inventions +and the transformation of surplus income into capital have mainly +enriched the proprietary class, the worker being now dependent on that +class for leave to earn a living."[185] + +The Surplus-Value Doctrine, like the preceding doctrines, is founded +rather upon imagination than upon fact. In the first place, it is +absurd to speak of a "capitalist class" which, having a "monopoly of +the means of production," exploits "the naked and propertyless +labourer." This picture is a fancy picture. In the second place, +"class" is not synonymous with "caste." The population is not divided +into two rigidly defined and limited castes of capitalists and +wage-earners. There is neither a monopoly of capital nor a monopoly of +labour. Capital is founded by thrift. Most respectable workmen are +capitalists to a greater or lesser extent. Every day workmen become +capitalists. It should not be forgotten that many of the wealthiest +men, such as Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Krupp, the first +Rothschild, Sir Thomas Lipton, Passmore Edwards, and many others, have +risen from the ranks and were working men--and every day capitalists +lose their money and become workmen. Workmen may become capitalists by +thrift. Co-operating workmen in England, France, Germany, and other +countries own vast industrial undertakings, banks, &c. In those +districts where thrift and co-operation are general (France, +Switzerland, Holland) the "naked and propertyless labourers" +disappear, whilst in equally prosperous districts where improvidence +is general, they are many. The prosperity of the working classes in +France, Switzerland, Holland, and other countries disproves the +assertion that the workman is condemned to everlasting poverty because +of the Surplus-Value Doctrine. + +Assertions in support of the "Surplus-Value Doctrine" such as +"Carnegie and other millionaires have wrung their wealth literally out +of the bodies of the underfed"[186] are as malicious as they are +untrue. Men like Carnegie and Krupp have not "wrung their wealth out +of the bodies of the underfed," but out of Nature. They have created +vast industries in barren places, and the industries which they have +created nourish now tens of thousands of working men. Men like Krupp +and Carnegie have diminished misery, not increased it. Their capital, +created by their brains with the assistance of labour out of Nature, +has rather enriched labour than that labour has enriched Carnegie and +Krupp. Their wealth is not dead wealth; it produces wages and articles +of use. The "Surplus-Value Doctrine" is a grotesque distortion of, and +an unjustified protest against, the fact that manufacturers and other +organisers and directors of labour will not work for nothing. + +We have seen in the foregoing that, according to the fundamental +Socialist doctrines, "labour is the only source of wealth." We have +also seen that, according to the "Iron Law of Wages" and the "Law of +Increasing Misery," the workmen are condemned to great, permanent, and +constantly increasing misery. Further, we have learned that, according +to the "Surplus-Value Doctrine," all the fruit of their labour, minus +the cost of their bare subsistence, is taken from the workers by the +capitalists. Hence it is only natural and logical that the assertion +of the fundamental doctrines, namely-- + + 1. Labour is the only source of wealth, + 2. Wages maintains mere animal existence, + 3. The misery of the workers is constantly increasing, + 4. The position of the worker is hopeless, + +has led to this fifth doctrine: + + +THE LABOURER IS ENTITLED TO THE ENTIRE PRODUCT OF HIS LABOUR + +This doctrine is put forth by practically all British Socialists, not +only as a doctrine but also as a demand. For instance "the New School +of Trades-Unionists declare themselves in open and uncompromising +revolt against the established relations between capital and labour; +and they expound a new political economy which says that nothing less +than the full fruits of industry shall be reckoned the fair reward of +the producing class. They want the whole four-fourths of their +earnings, instead of the one-fourth at present doled back in +wages."[187] This demand must have precedence over all other measures +whatsoever, for "until you have settled the material question as to +how the producers of wealth are to get for themselves the full value +of what they produce by their labour, it is impossible to settle +anything else."[188] + +According to many Socialists, Socialism would immediately abolish +their grievances and give to the worker the entire produce of his +labour. "At present the frugal workman only gets about one-third of +his earnings. Under Socialism he would get all his earnings."[189] +"Under the new order all will be productive workers, receiving an +equivalent for what they produce--not merely one-half of it as now +under the wage-system--in some form."[190] Under the heading "Basis of +the Fabian Society," the Fabian Society publishes a statement of the +fundamental principles of that Society in which we read: "If these +measures" (confiscation of all private property) "be carried out, +without compensation (though not without such relief to expropriated +individuals as may seem fit to the community), rent and interest will +be added to the reward of labour, the idle class now living on the +labour of others will necessarily disappear, and practical equality of +opportunity will be maintained by the spontaneous action of economic +forces with much less interference with personal liberty than the +present system entails." + +The absurdity of the demand for "the entire product of labour," which +is raised by Socialists on behalf of the labourer is clear even to the +most superficial thinker. The majority of Socialists know quite well +that writing off, repairs, renewals, the replacing of machinery, the +enlargement of factories, &c., cannot be done gratis, that the +distribution of the whole produce of labour to the workers can be +effected only by neglecting and destroying the means of production. + +The impossibility of giving to the worker the "whole product of his +labour" by abolishing the private capitalist is clearly recognised and +honestly admitted by the German Socialists. Kautsky, for instance, +writes: "If the income of the capitalists were added to that of the +workers, the wages of each would be doubled. Unfortunately, however, +the matter will not be settled so simply. If we expropriate +capitalism, we must at the same time take over its social +functions--among these the important one of capitalist accumulation. +The capitalists do not consume all their income; a portion of it they +put away for the extension of production. A proletarian _régime_ would +also have to do the same in order to extend production. It would not +therefore be able to transfer, even in the event of a radical +confiscation of capital, the whole of the former income to the working +class. Besides, a portion of the surplus value which the capitalists +now pocket, they must hand over to the State in the shape of taxes. +For these reasons our Socialists are guilty of wilful deception if +they tell the workers that under a Socialist _régime_ their wages +would be doubled and trebled."[191] Nevertheless, the doctrine and the +demand that "the labourer is entitled to the entire product of his +labour" is not abandoned by British Socialists, apparently because it +is extremely useful for arousing the passions of the workers against +the capitalists in accordance with Gronlund's advice,[192] and for +bringing new adherents to the Socialist camp. + +Only the Fabian Society, the more scientific section of the English +Socialists, has mildly protested against this absurd doctrine and +demand, but that protest has not been heeded. In a little-read +pamphlet of that Society, the following statement may be found: "The +Fabian Society steadfastly discountenances all schemes for securing +to any person or any group of persons the entire product of their +labour. It recognises that wealth is social in its origin and must be +social in its distribution" (which means in plain English, must be +preserved by the thrifty few, official or non-official, for the use of +the unthrifty many), "since the evolution of industry has made it +impossible to distinguish the particular contribution that each person +makes to the common product, or to ascertain the value."[193] +Notwithstanding these emphatic statements, the Fabian Society +preserves with characteristic duplicity[194] the statement in its +programme that "rent and interest, will be added to the reward of +labour." + +Most British Socialist writers are not aware, or rather pretend not to +be aware, of the necessity of preserving and increasing the national +capital. In "Land, Labour, and Liberty," we read: "Whilst in 1845 the +total wealth of this country was estimated at _4,000,000,000l._, it is +now estimated at over _12,000,000,000l._ The monopolist classes, +without denying themselves anything, and whilst producing +comparatively nothing, have piled up an additional eight thousand +millions. The superfluous handful of mere possessors remain the +flowers and foliage of society; the three-quarters of the nation of +indispensable producers remain the manure."[195] This writer, like +most Socialists, though acknowledging the enormous growth of the +national capital of Great Britain, pretends that the "monopolist +classes" have not denied themselves anything. If that were true, the +national capital would still amount to only _4,000,000,000l._ as in +1845. Great Britain would have few factories, no new machinery, no +steamships, and but a very few miles of railway. But for the +self-denial, the thrift of the "superfluous handful of mere +possessors," Englishmen would still live in the Hungry Forties and +Great Britain would be able to nourish only about 20,000,000 people as +she did in 1845. National capital and the comforts and conveniences +which it supplies to all are at least as much the result of thrift, +inventiveness, enterprise, and wise direction as of manual labour. + +The foregoing shows that, to say the least, the grievances of the +Socialists are greatly--one might almost say grotesquely--exaggerated, +and that they are largely founded on a perversion of facts; a +perversion which can be easily explained by the desire of the +Socialist leaders to arouse the blind passions of the discontented +wage-earners in accordance with Gronlund's advice, quoted on page 10. + +The next doctrine which should be considered may be summed up in the +words: + + +"THE EXISTING MISERY CAN BE ABOLISHED, NOT BY INCREASING PRODUCTION, +BUT BY ALTERING THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE WEALTH PRODUCED" + +"The Socialist emphatically denies the assertion that the poor must +always be with us. The productive capacity of society is now so great +that none need want, and all are able to earn their livelihood, and +more, except where they are prevented from doing so by sickness, +infirmity, or by the existence of laws and customs which the individual +cannot himself, acting alone, remove."[196] "There is a demand for the +labour of every man under any well-ordered social system. If there is a +waste of men now, it is the fault of the wage system."[197] "Sufficient +wealth is produced in this country to-day which would, under a +well-ordered state of society, enable every man, woman, and child to +have a sufficiency of all things essential to a healthy human life. +To-day the people produce this wealth, and, after they have produced +it, quite two-thirds of it is taken from them by a very small section +of the people. Consequently we have a very few rich, and many that are +poor."[198] "We may claim to have solved the problem of how to produce +enough, and the question which confronts us is how to bring +distribution into line with the productive capacity of our +people."[199] "The old argument that there is not enough work to do +cannot be seriously listened to by anyone who has walked through a +London or Manchester slum. There is work in the world for all, just as +there is wealth in the world for all, and every man has a right to +work, just as he has a right to wealth."[200] "The chief problem is not +the production of more wealth, but its equitable distribution."[201] + +The increase of production and therefore of reproductive capital in +the form of machinery, mines, railways, ships, &c., in which most of +the "Surplus-Value" is invested, is explained to be a matter of +secondary consideration and importance, and it is stated that the +world suffers rather from over-production than from under-production. +"The tendency of the conditions of employment under present +circumstances, under the capitalist system, always is for production +to outstrip consumption."[202] "Our power to produce has always, since +the beginnings of capitalism, shown a tendency to grow more rapidly +than our power to consume."[203] "Then because there is a plethora of +goods and a dearth of purchasers, the workshops are closed and Hunger +lashes the working population with his thousand-thonged whip. The +workers, stupefied by the dogma of work, do not understand that the +cause of their present misery is the overwork that they have inflicted +on themselves during the time of sham prosperity."[204] "For some +insane reason the capitalist has thought of nothing but +production."[205] "If, by a fiat from heaven, the wealth of the world +were doubled to-morrow and the present system of capitalistic monopoly +and commercial competition were allowed to continue, the social misery +would, in a very short time, reappear in a form even still more +accentuated, were that possible. Individualism, commercialism, +capitalism--call it what we may--has demonstrably produced the +evil."[206] + + +THE EXISTING CAPITALIST SYSTEM IS RESPONSIBLE FOR POVERTY, WANT, AND +UNEMPLOYMENT + +Unemployment is largely caused by commercial crises, commercial crises +are caused by over-production, over-production is caused by the fact +that the national industries are divided and the industrial output is +regulated not by the nation in accordance with the national demand but +by irresponsible private individuals whose aim is profit, not the +fulfilment of a national demand. "The causes of commercial depression +lie in the non-consumption of the incomes of our millionaires."[207] +Another Socialist writer asserts: "Our era is cursed with crises +occurring far more frequently than plagues and causing as much misery. +Economists say that these crises are caused by over-production. +Private enterprise compels every producer to produce for himself, to +sell for himself, to keep all his transactions to himself, without +regard to anybody else in the wide world. Merchants have got no +measure at hand by which they can, even approximately, either +estimate the effective demand of their customers or ascertain the +producing capacity of their rivals. Production by all these +manufacturers is, and must necessarily be, absolutely planless. This +planless production must end in the market being overstocked with +commodities of one kind or another; that is, that it must end in +'over-production.' In the trade which has been thus overdone, prices +fall and wages come down; or a great manufacturer fails and a smaller +or greater number of workmen are discharged. Crises are therefore the +direct result of private enterprise."[208] "Why are men--men that is +who are able and willing, nay, eager and anxious, to work--unemployed? +Because, it is said, there is nothing for them to do. Nothing for them +to do? Is all the necessary work of the world, then, already finished, +so that there is nothing more remaining for anyone to do? No; it is +not because all the necessary and useful work is done that men are +unemployed, it is because all the means of production--all the +machines, tools, and implements of labour and all the raw +material--are owned by a class, and may only be used by permission of +that class, and when that class can make a profit out of their +use."[209] "It is indisputable that modern poverty is artificial. It +is neither the result of divine anger nor the niggardliness of Nature. +It is the product of the private ownership of land and capital by +which men are prevented from earning their living unless the +proprietary class can make profit from their labour. The inevitable +result of this system is that in all industries and at all times there +are more men seeking employment than there is employment for.[210]" +"Your system of private ownership, in conferring the possession and +control of the nation's storehouse of wealth and of the instruments by +which all further wealth must be obtained from it, upon your +capitalist class, has reduced the nation at large into nothing more +nor less than an elaborate machine which your capitalists use for +extracting wealth from the earth for their own benefit.... It is not +well that by a foolish and wicked system of government, one small +class of the community should be enabled to organise its production in +such a manner that the full stream of wealth is diverted into their +own possession whilst the mass of the nation by whose labour it is +obtained are defrauded of it, and brought into a state of subtle +slavery worse both in kind and degree than could be possible under any +system of direct and open slavery."[211] "Unemployment is an +inevitable feature of capitalism, and is impossible of removal without +at the same time abolishing the capitalist system that produces it. +That is a fact known to any Socialist with the most elementary +knowledge of the economics of capitalism. Unemployment is caused by +the exactions of the capitalist class. The prime cause of unemployment +is the robbery of the workers by which the capitalist class +appropriate the whole of the wealth produced by the workers, returning +to them just as much on the average as will keep them physically fit +to continue working. The difference between the quantities produced +and consumed by the working class (a difference continually increasing +with every increase in the productivity of labour) represents a +surplus which all the waste and all the luxury of its owners cannot +absorb, with the result that the markets are glutted with an excess of +commodities. Thus the 'over-production,' the crisis, and the +slackening of production involving an increase of unemployment."[212] + +Employers of labour profit directly from unemployment, and will +therefore presumably do all they can to bring it about. "Employers and +other well-to-do people have no interest in finding work for the +workless. They benefit from the unemployment of the poor."[213] The +foregoing statement is as malicious as it is absurd. Employers do not +desire unemployment, partly from humanitarian reasons, partly because +it is a loss to them. The father of English Socialism taught: "The +labourer perishes if capital does not employ him. Capital perishes if +it does not exploit labour."[214] In other words, unemployed labour +means unemployed capital; besides, those business men who do not +actually dismiss their workers suffer also through unemployment, +because the unemployed are supported by the rates. + +The doctrines that "the existing misery can be abolished, not by +increased production but by altering the distribution of the wealth +produced," and that the "capitalist system is responsible for want, +poverty, and unemployment," are manifestly unsound. A larger +consumption of food, clothing, &c., can be effected only by a larger +production. Gluts and crises, with consequent unemployment, occur, not +through general over-production, which would benefit all, but by +ill-balanced production, as the following example will prove: Imagine +an island off the African coast on which there are two villages, the +inhabitants of which require only two commodities, loin-cloths and +mealies. One village manufactures loin-cloths, the other raises +mealies, and these are exchanged against each other. These villages +fulfil the Socialistic ideal. There are no capitalists and no +middlemen, and production is only "for use," not "for profit." +Balanced over-production will result in this, that every native will +have a superabundance of loin-cloths and food. But supposing that the +agriculturists go in for loin-cloth making, finding that occupation +more congenial, and that they abandon much agriculture; or supposing +that inclement weather, or a plague of grasshoppers, should seriously +curtail the harvest, then there will soon be a glut of loin-cloths and +a crisis. The cry of over-production will arise among the loin-cloth +makers, but that cry will be unjustified and absurd. The more the +people make the more they will have, provided production is properly +balanced. The doctrine that we suffer from over-production and that +the capitalist system is at fault, that altered distribution rather +than increased production will abolish misery, and that Socialism can +prevent want and unemployment by a scientific organisation of +production, is wrong. + +Socialists may, of course, argue, "In the Socialist State production +would be organised, and controlled, and properly balanced and +harmonised," an argument which is irrelevant with regard to the +over-production doctrine, and which besides is unsound, although it +may be found in most Socialistic writings. As production is +world-wide, the Socialists' control of production would also have to +be world-wide. It would involve not only the control of all human +energy throughout the world, but also the control of the seasons, of +the weather, of insect plagues, of fashions, of appetite, &c. + +The foregoing proves that "men can never become richer till the +produce of their labour increases. The more they produce the richer +they will be, provided there be a demand for the produce of their +labour. If a shoemaker makes four pairs of shoes in a day he will be +twice richer than he would be if he made only two pairs in a day, +provided that an increased demand is co-existing. The question, +therefore, 'How can we become richer?' is reduced to this one, 'How +can we increase the produce of labour and at the same time maintain an +equivalent demand for that produce?'"[215] The doctrines that want and +unemployment are due to over-production and to the capitalist system +are wrong. + +We now come to the + + +DOCTRINE OF THE CLASS WAR + +Having, by the fundamental doctrines enumerated in the foregoing, +proved that all misery of the working masses is caused by the +existence of a capitalist class which has enslaved the workers, the +Socialists conclude that there is a natural antagonism between capital +and labour; that social life is dominated by the Class War. + +"The Socialists say that the present form of property-holding divides +society into two great classes."[216] "Capitalist society is divided +into two classes: owners of property and owners of no property."[217] +"Society is to-day divided into two classes with opposing interests, +one class owning the means of life, and the other nothing but their +power to work. Never in the history of society was the working-class +so free from all traces of property as to-day."[218] "There are in +reality but two classes, those who live by labour and those who live +upon those who labour, the two classes of exploiter and +exploited."[219] "Society has been divided mainly into two economic +classes, a relatively small class of capitalists who own tools in the +form of great machines they did not make and cannot use, and a great +body of many millions of workers who did make these tools and who do +use them, and whose very lives depend upon them, yet who do not own +them."[220] + +It is usually said that society has three classes, but Socialists +maintain that there are in reality only two classes. William Morris +still divided society into three groups, which, however, at closer +inspection will be found to form but two classes. According to Morris, +"Civilised States consist of (1) the class of rich people doing no +work, who consume a great deal while they produce nothing. Therefore, +clearly they have to be kept at the expense of those who do work, just +as paupers have, and are a mere burden on the community. (2) The +middle class, including the trading, manufacturing, and professional +people of our society. It is their ambition and the end of their whole +lives to gain, if not for themselves, yet at least for their children, +the proud position of being obvious burdens on the community. Here +then is another class, this time very numerous and all-powerful, which +produces very little and consumes enormously, and is therefore +supported, as paupers are, by the real producers. (3) The class that +remains to be considered produces all that is produced and supports +both itself and the other classes, though it is placed in a position +of inferiority to them, real inferiority, mind you, involving a +degradation both of mind and body. To sum up, then, civilised States +are composed of three classes--a class which does not even pretend to +work, a class which pretends to work but which produces nothing, and a +class which works."[221] In other words, William Morris divided +society into two classes: propertied non-producers and non-propertied +toilers. + +According to practically all living English Socialists, there are but +two classes in society. "Modern society is divided into two +classes--the possessors of property and the non-possessors: the +dominant class and the subject class; the class which rules and the +class which has to obey. He who possesses sufficient wealth to +exercise control over the labour of others, to exploit that labour for +his own profit, belongs to the one class; he who possesses nothing but +the power to labour contained in his own body, and who is therefore +compelled to sell that labour power in order to live, belongs to the +other. It is this struggle and conflict between these two classes +that Socialists call the class war, a recognition of which is +essential to a clear conception of what the Socialist movement +involves."[222] "Society is divided into two opposite classes, one, +the capitalists and their sleeping partners the landlords and +loanmongers, holding in their hands the means of production, +distribution, and exchange, and being therefore able to command the +labour of others; the other, the working class, the wage-earners, the +proletariat, possessing nothing but their labour power, and being +consequently forced by necessity to work for the former."[223] "In +society there is an antagonism of interests, manifesting itself as a +class struggle between those who possess but do not produce, and those +who produce but do not possess."[224] "The people of this unfortunate +country have been aptly divided by Mr. Gladstone into the 'masses' and +the 'classes'--that is to say, into those who live by their own labour +and those who live on the labour of others. Among the latter tribe of +non-producers are included all manner of thieves, pick-pockets, +burglars, sharpers, prostitutes, Peers of Parliament, their families +and menials, all, or nearly all, the 'six hundred and odd scoundrels +of the House of Commons,' the twenty thousand State parsons, who every +Sunday shamelessly travesty the Christian religion in the interest of +the 'classes.'"[225] + +The theory of dividing society into two classes, capitalists and +workers, or as others put it, "exploiters and exploited," is +manifestly absurd, and its absurdity has been pointed out by a few +Socialists. "It is not true that there are only two great economic +classes in the community. The Communist Manifesto, even in its day, +admitted as much, but made no place for the fact in its theories. +There is an economic antagonism between landlords and capitalists as +well as between capitalists and workmen."[226] Besides, most +capitalists are workers, and probably the great majority of English +workers are capitalists to a larger or smaller extent. + +Now let us study the Socialists' description of the hostile forces +which are engaged in the Class War. + +According to the Socialist teaching, the property-owners as a class +are useless idlers who impoverish the workers and who shamelessly +spend their whole income on demoralising luxuries. "The idlers and +non-workers produce no wealth and take the greater share. They live on +the labour of those who work. Nothing is produced by idleness; work +must be done to obtain a thimble, a pin, and even a potato for dinner. +The non-workers get the greater share of the wealth, and the greater +part of this share is wasted. Therefore it is not good to have any +people in the land who do not work. Only those who are old or sick +should be kept by the toil of the rest."[227] Taking their figures +from the pamphlet "Facts for Socialists," of which details have been +given on pp. 41-48, the Independent Labour party states under the +heading of "Wealth Makers and Wealth Takers": "The total incomes of +persons in the United Kingdom amount in round figures to +_1,800,000,000l._ How is this wealth distributed? 250,000 persons +actually receive a total of _585,000,000l._--that is, one-thirtieth of +the population receive one-third of the national income. Nearly the +whole of these large incomes are unearned--_i.e._ they are made up of +rents, interest, dividends, &c. This small class of rent and interest +receivers perform no useful function. We may describe these people as +social parasites, absolutely useless, yet levying toll to the extent +of _6s. 8d._ in every _20s._ value of wealth created."[228] "At +present more than _600,000,000l._ of the national income goes in the +form of unearned rent and interest to support an idle class who spend +it mainly on profitless and demoralising luxuries."[229] + +The foregoing extracts make it clear that, in the eyes of Socialists, +practically all citizens, manual labourers excepted, are "drones and +parasites." Directors, managers, doctors, chemists, ships' captains, +teachers, &c., and even workmen of exceptional ability also, rob the +general body of workers of half their wages and subsist only owing to +the monopoly of property-holders who control the distribution of +wealth. Upon these curious premisses are based the conclusions: "The +profits and salaries of the class who share in the advantages of the +monopoly of the instruments of production, or are endowed by Nature +with any exceptional ability of high marketable value, amount +according to the best estimate that can be formed, to about +_460,000,000l._ annually, while out of a national income of some +_1,800,000,000l._ a year the workers in the manual labour +class--four-fifths of the whole population--obtain in wages not more +than _690,000,000l._ It may be safely said that the workers from top +to bottom of society pay a fine of one-half the wealth they produce to +a parasitic class before providing for the maintenance of themselves +and their proper dependents."[230] "It is this robbery and waste on +the part of the minority which keeps the majority poor."[231] "So long +as the instruments of production are in unrestrained private +ownership, so long must the tribute of the workers to the drones +continue, so long will the toiler's reward inevitably be reduced by +their exactions."[232] + +"Socialism regards the capitalist proper not as a useful captain of +industry, but as a mere share-holding, dividend-drawing parasite upon +labour, and the Socialist party presses forward to his elimination +from the field of production."[233] "The workers who have produced all +this wealth only get a part--the smallest part at that--of the wealth +they produce. Now we Socialists say that this wealth produced by the +labour of the workers should belong to them, and not to the +capitalists who produce nothing. Seeing that the interest of the +worker is to get as much of this wealth, and on the other hand the +capitalist wants as much of this wealth, as he can get, therefore we +say that the interests of the workers and of the capitalists are not +identical, but opposite."[234] "The interest of the working class can +only be served even in the smallest degree by the curtailment of the +power of the master class; that every material advance is useless +except in so far as it helps to effect other achievements, and that +the realisation of Labour politics, the well-being of the working +class, can only be accomplished by its complete emancipation from +capitalism."[235] In other words, the Socialist writers quoted agree +in this: that the lot of the wage-earners can be improved only by +taking the wealth from the rich. In order to introduce Socialism the +present social order must be overturned. With this object in view they +have addressed declarations of war to the owners of property. + +We owe to Marx not only the Class War doctrine, but also a declaration +of war to the propertied class: "The Communists everywhere support +every revolutionary movement against the existing social and political +order of things. In all these movements they bring to the front, as +the leading question in each, the property question, no matter what +its degree of development at the time. Finally they labour everywhere +for the union and agreement of the democratic parties of all +countries. The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. +They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the +forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling +classes tremble at a Communistic revolution. The proletarians have +nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Working +men of all countries, unite!"[236] + +Marx's disciples have issued similar declarations. For instance, in +the official programme of the Social Democratic Federation we read: +"The Social Democratic Federation is a militant Socialist organisation +whose members, men and women, belong almost entirely to the working +class. Its object is the realisation of Socialism, the emancipation of +the working class from its present subjection to the capitalist class. +To this end the Social Democratic Federation proclaims and preaches +the Class War."[237] "There is no way in which the Class War can be +avoided. You cannot have the reward of your labour and the idler have +it too. There is just so much wealth produced every day. It may be +more, it may be less; but there is always just so much, and the more +the capitalist gets the less you will get, and _vice versa_. We preach +the gospel of hatred, because in the circumstances it seems the only +righteous thing we can preach. The talk about the 'Gospel of Love' is +simply solemn rubbish. It is right to hate stealing, right to hate +lying, it is right to hate meanness and uncleanness, right to hate +hypocrisy, greed, and tyranny. Those who talk of the Gospel of Love +with landlordism and capitalism for its objects want us to make our +peace with iniquity."[238] "The Class War is inevitable under the +present form of property-holding, and for it there can be neither +truce, quarter, nor ending, save by the extinction of the class +system itself. The identity of interests between capitalism and +labour is a shibboleth that can only be given any sane meaning at all +in the cynical sense that the interests of the wolf and the lamb are +also 'identical' when the wolf has got the lamb inside him."[239] + +The doctrine of the Class War is a holy faith, the expropriation of +property-owners is a divine task. "Unless we hate the system which +prevents us from being what we otherwise might have been, we will not +be able to strive against it with the patient, never-flagging zeal +which our work, to be well done, requires. And to keep alive and +undimmed this flame of hatred, divine not diabolical, we require to +not only look around us, but especially to look back upon the world as +it has been and to the example of those who have fought the good +fight. To Socrates, to Savonarola, to John Ball, Wat the Tyler, and +Jack Cade, in our land the first forerunners of Socialism; to Bruno +and Vanini, to Cromwell, Milton, Hampden, and Pym, to John Eliot, +Harry Vane; to Defoe, Mure, and Thomas Spence; to Ernest Jones, +Bronterre O'Brien, and Robert Owen; to Wolfe Tone and Robert Emmet; to +Allen, Larkin, and O'Brien; to Vera Sassoulitch, Marie Spiridonova, +Sophia Perovsky; to Karl Marx."[240] The company of reformers and +revolutionists seems somewhat mixed. + +The doctrine that the interests of employers and employees are +irreconcilably opposed, not identical, is false, Socialist rhetoric to +the contrary notwithstanding. As soon as a calamity threatens +capital--for instance, a rise in raw cotton or a cotton +famine--masters and men are seen to be in the same boat and devise +combined measures for meeting the difficulty. The doctrine of the +Class War is opposed to common experience and to common-sense. + +Let us now take note of the doctrine + + +PRIVATE PROPERTY IS IMMORAL AND PRIVATE WEALTH IS A CRIME + +In the Class War right is, according to the Socialists, on the side of +the propertyless. Not only are the owners of property objectionable in +their persons, being "drones and parasites" who squander the earnings +of the poor on riotous living, as we have learned in the foregoing +pages, but private property as an institution is immoral in itself and +ought to be abolished. No man has a right to be rich; no man can +become rich honestly. Hence it follows that all rich men are robbers, +thieves, and swindlers. "The poor owe no duty to the rich, unless it +be the duty which an honest man owes to the thief who has robbed him. +The rich have no right to any of their possessions, for there is but +one right, and that is the right of the labourer to the fruits of his +labour, and the rich do not labour. No man has any right to be rich. +No man ever yet became rich by fair means. No man ever became rich by +his own industry."[241] "No man or class of men made the first kind of +wealth, such as land, minerals, and water. Therefore no man or class +of men should be allowed to call these things their own."[242] As +private property is immoral in itself, it is doubly immoral to lend +out such property and to charge rent or interest for the use of it. +Mr. G.J. Wardle, M.P., said, in a recent speech at Glasgow, that rent +"was social immorality, and the State or society which allowed crimes +of that kind to go on unpunished could never be a moral society. The +same thing applied to interest on money. From the moral standpoint +interest is unearned by the man who gets it, and it does not matter +how that is cloaked over, that is the fact. Nowadays it was counted +the greatest virtue to lend at so much per cent. That was a socially +immoral proceeding, and because it was socially immoral it ate like a +canker into the heart of society. As Socialists they objected to +profit."[243] + +There are Socialists who preach the same doctrine of immorality and +criminality of private property in more decided terms. They assert +that it is criminal and immoral to make a profit as a compensation for +the work of directing and taking heavy capital risks in productive +business because such profits are opposed to the principle, "The +labourer is entitled to the whole product of his labour" (see page +61). "A man has a 'right' to that which he has produced by the unaided +exercise of his own faculties; but he has not a right to that which is +not produced by his own unaided faculties; nor to the whole of that +which has been produced by his faculties aided by the faculties of +another man."[244] "Everyone who pockets gains without rendering an +equivalent to society is a criminal. Every millionaire is a criminal. +Every company-chairman with nominal duties, though his salary be but +_400l._, is a criminal. Everyone who lends his neighbour _5l._ and +exacts _5l. 5s. 0d._ in return, is a criminal."[245] "When Proudhon +advanced the somewhat startling proposition, 'Property is theft,' he +merely stated positively what good, orthodox Adam Smith, in his +'Wealth of Nations' set forth more urbanely when he wrote, 'The +produce of labour (it is clear from the context that he meant the +whole produce), is the natural recompense or wages of labour.'"[246] +"'Property' is theft, said Proudhon, and surely private property in +the means of production is not only theft, but the means of more +theft."[247] + +Starting from the premiss that profit is immoral, the philosopher of +British Socialism logically concludes: "The cheapest way of obtaining +goods is not to pay for them, and if a buyer can avoid payment for the +goods he obtains, he has quite as much right to do so as the seller +has to receive for them double or treble their cost price and call it +profit."[248] + +Private property being, according to the Socialist doctrines, immoral +and criminal, it follows that + + +"PRIVATE PROPERTY OUGHT TO BE ABOLISHED" + +Let us take note of an utterance in support of that doctrine: "If the +life of men and women were a thing apart from that of their +neighbours, there would be no need for a Socialist party nor any call +for social reform. But man is not an entity; he is only part of a +mighty social organism. Every act of his has a bearing upon the like +of his fellow. It is difficult, if not impossible, to determine the +moral title to private property in anything. Private property exists +entirely on sufferance. Private property therefore cannot be justly +allowed when it interferes with the law of our social life or +intercepts the progress of social development."[249] + +Let us now consider the doctrine + + +"COMPETITION SHOULD BE REPLACED BY CO-OPERATION" + +Socialists teach: "Under Socialism you would have all the people +working together for the good of all. Under non-Socialism you have all +the persons working separately (and mostly against each other), each +for the good of himself. So we find Socialism means co-operation and +non-Socialism means competition."[250] "Socialism is constructive as +well as revolutionary, and Socialists propose to replace competition +by co-operation."[251] + +The question now arises: "On what ground do capitalists defend the +principle of competition? A. On the ground that it brings into play a +man's best qualities.--Q. Does it effect this? A. This is occasionally +its result, but it also brings out his worst qualities by stimulating +him to struggle with his fellows for the relative improvement of his +own position rather than for the absolute advancement of the interests +of all."[252] + +"Apart altogether from its injustice, competitive capitalism, regarded +as a system of serving the community, is a business bungle. What the +party of the Fourth Estate objects to in the existing commercial and +industrial system is, not merely the stealages which go on under the +guise of rent, profit, and interest, but the enormous waste arising +from lack of consolidation and co-operation in the processes of +production and distribution."[253] "During the last half-century we +have lost more by our 'business principle' of dividing up our national +work into competing one-man and one-company speculations, and +insisting on every separate speculation paying its own separate way, +than by all the tariffs and blockades that have been set up against +us."[254] "In our age there is, as we have seen, throughout our whole +economic sphere, no social order at all. There is absolute social +anarchy. Against this anarchy Socialism is a protest."[255] "There is +only one remedy for both the waste and the stealages, and that is the +substitution of public enterprise with organisation for private +enterprise with competition."[256] "Socialism means the socialising of +the means and instruments of production, distribution, and exchange. +For the individual capitalist it would substitute, as the director and +controller of production and distribution, the community in its +organised capacity. The commercial and industrial chaos and waste +which are the outcome of monopolistic competition would give place to +the orderliness of associated effort, and under Socialism society +would for the first time in history behave like an organism."[257] +Private capitalism and consequent competition are responsible not only +for waste and muddle, but also for the adulteration of food and other +necessaries of life. "Every man who knows anything of trade knows how +general is the knavish practice of adulteration. Now all adulteration +is directly due to competition. Did not Mr. John Bright once say that +adulteration is only another form of competition?"[258] + +There is much truth in the contention of the Socialists that +co-operation is mightier, and often better, than free competition. +However, that is no new discovery, and the introduction of Socialism +is not needed to bring about co-operation. In Germany, Switzerland, +and Denmark national and private co-operation are far more developed +than in Great Britain, and waste, muddle, and stealages are rare in +those countries, although none of these is ruled by a Socialist +Government. Co-operation, national as well as private, is developing +also in Great Britain, and it will continue to develop as its value +becomes more and more understood. It is a curious fact that +Socialists, though they recommend co-operation in the abstract, oppose +it in the concrete for similar reasons. They fear that satisfied and +prosperous co-operators will oppose Socialism.[259] + +The assertion that adulteration is due to competition is not founded +upon fact. Adulteration springs from many causes, and would continue +to flourish even under the Socialistic _régime_. If all cowkeepers +were salaried officials of the Socialist State or municipality, they +might nevertheless mix water with the milk to obtain milk for their +own consumption and that of their families, and to diminish the labour +of milking. Adulteration may be abolished by efficient supervision and +well-devised and rigorously enforced sanitary laws. + +Let us now glance at the doctrine + + +"THE SOCIALIST STATE WILL ARISE BY NATURAL DEVELOPMENT, AND IT WILL +HANDLE BUSINESS MORE EFFICIENTLY THAN DO PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS" + +"The State now registers, inspects, and controls nearly all the +industrial functions which it has not yet absorbed. The inspection is +often detailed and rigidly enforced. The State, in most of the larger +industrial operations, prescribes the age of the worker, the hours of +work, the amount of air, light, cubic space, heat, lavatory +accommodation, holidays, and meal-times; where, when, and how wages +shall be paid; how machinery, staircases, lift-holes, mines, and +quarries are to be fenced and guarded; how and when the plant shall be +cleaned, repaired, and worked."[260] "Step by step political power and +political organisation have been used for industrial ends, until a +Minister of the Crown is the largest employer of labour in the +country, and at least 200,000 men, not counting the army and navy, are +directly in the service of the community, without the intervention of +the profit of any middleman."[261] + +From the fact that the State inspects many things and carries on some +business, it does not by any means follow that the State should +inspect all things and could efficiently carry on all business. +Questions such as "If the State can build battleships and make +swords, why not also trading ships and ploughshares,"[262] are +ridiculous. One might as well ask, "If Messrs. Whiteley or Marshall +Field can supply furniture, houses, dresses, and funerals, being +universal providers, why not also battleships, armies, and colonies?" +It is also not true that the State or municipal corporations have more +business ability than private business men. As an example of +successful business management Socialists are fond of pointing to the +Post Office, and of asserting that no private company could work as +efficiently and as cheaply. These statements are erroneous. The +success of the British Post Office, as of every post office, is due +not to ability but to monopoly, as the following example will prove. +Private individuals in Germany discovered some years ago a flaw in the +legislation regarding the Post Office which enabled them to compete +with the Imperial Post Office, not in postal business between +different towns, but in local delivery. Private post offices sprang up +in many towns and began to deliver letters at the rate of two pfennigs +(one farthing) each. Although the German Post Office is the most +efficient Post Office in Europe, it could not compete with these +private post offices, and, after lengthy competition, steps had to be +taken to extend the postal monopoly to town deliveries. The British +Post Office, like most public offices, is a most conservative +institution. Every progress and every reform had to be forced upon it +by outside agitation. Services such as money delivery at private +residences, cash on delivery parcels, &c., which other countries have +enjoyed during several decades, are stubbornly denied to England. +Private competition would probably have furnished these conveniences +long ago. In London the Messenger Boy Company competes with the Post +Office in the carrying of express letters, and various private +carriers compete with it in delivering parcels, and in both instances +the private trader supplies a better and cheaper service than the +Government Post Office. A comparison of the Post Office telephone in +England and the private telephone in America shows the great +superiority of the latter. The slow and ultra-conservative British +Post Office supplies no proof that the Government would handle +production and distribution better than private enterprise. On the +contrary. + +British Socialists claim unanimously that their theories and demands +are founded upon science. "The Socialist doctrine systematises the +industrial changes. It lays down a law of capitalist evolution. It +describes the natural history of society. It is not, therefore, only a +popular creed for the market-place, but a scientific inquiry for the +study. Like every theory in Sociology, it has a political bearing, but +it can be studied as much detached from politics as is Darwinism."[263] +Do the fundamental doctrines of British Socialism bear out the claims +of its champions? The foregoing pages prove that the scientific basis +of Socialism, or rather of British Socialism, consists of a number of +doctrines which cannot stand examination and which are disproved by +daily experience and by common-sense. + +The question now suggests itself: "How is it that the British +Socialists base their demands on pseudo-scientific doctrines of +obvious absurdity?" + +British Socialism has been imported from Germany. Marx, Engels, +Lassalle, Rodbertus, and various other Germans are the fathers of +modern scientific Socialism. "To German scholars is largely due the +development of Socialism from the Utopian stage to the scientific. +Universality is its distinguishing feature."[264] "Karl Marx and +Frederick Engels in 1847 laid, through the 'Communist Manifesto,' the +scientific foundation of modern Socialism."[265] "And 'Capital,' Karl +Marx's great work, has become the loadstar of modern economic +science."[266] Karl Marx's "Manifesto" appeared in 1847; the first +volume of his "Capital" was published in 1867. Since the appearance of +the former sixty years, and since the publication of the latter forty +years, have passed by. Much has changed in the world, but the Marxian +doctrines have remained unchanged. + +The worst about speculative doctrines is that time is apt to disprove +them. + +Whilst the German Socialists have thinkers in their ranks who have +adapted the older Communist theories to present conditions, leaving +out those theories which are palpably false, English Socialists have +stood still and are satisfied to repeat those ancient doctrines which +the Germans have abandoned long ago. English Socialists try to impose +upon an uncritical public by parading the worn-out stage properties of +the forties. Marx is to the vast majority of British Socialists still +an oracle and the fountain head of all wisdom. "Marx is the Darwin of +modern sociology."[267] "All over the world his brain is put on pretty +much the same level as Aristotle's."[268] "Modern Socialism is based, +nationally and internationally, theoretically and to a large extent +practically, on the writings of Karl Marx. These writings have been +expounded, and where necessary applied, extended, and amplified, to +meet conditions which have developed since his death nearly a quarter +of a century ago, in every civilised country. It is safe to say that +no one who does not understand and accept in the main the views set +forth by Marx, comprehends the real position of capitalist Society, +nor, what is even more important, can fully master the problems of +the coming time."[269] "The Social-Democratic Federation, which is by +far the oldest and still the most active Socialist organisation in +this country, bases its teaching to-day, as it has always done, upon +the words of Karl Marx."[270] + +Most active Socialists in Great Britain think Marx and Lassalle +infallible. It is true that the Fabian Society has pointed out "the +necessity of maintaining as critical an attitude towards Marx and +Lassalle, some of whose views must by this time be discarded as +erroneous or obsolete,"[271] but that protest appears to have been +left unheeded by most British Socialists. In fact, the abandonment of +revolutionary Marxianism has caused the Fabians to be treated with +open hostility by the other Socialist sections. The reasons for that +hostility are obvious. The doctrines of Marx and Lassalle, though they +are, to say the least, erroneous and obsolete, are admirably fitted to +inflame the passions of the masses. Their doctrines may not be true, +but they are useful to professional agitators. Independent Socialists +in all countries have not disguised their opinion of Marx's "Capital," +which, in the words of an English Socialist, "is not a treatise on +Socialism; it is a jeremiad against the bourgeoisie, supported by such +a mass of evidence and such a relentless Jewish genius for +denunciation as had never been brought to bear before."[272] + +British Socialism is neither scientific nor sincere. Its leaders know +that the Iron Law of Wages (see p. 53), the Law of Increasing Misery +(see p. 56), and other doctrines, which are exceedingly useful to the +agitator who wishes to poison the mind of the masses, have been thrown +into the lumber room in Germany and most other countries (see the +writings of Bernstein, Jaurčs, and others), but they do not abandon +them. Apparently it is their policy rather to create strife and +confusion than to alleviate existing misery. That attitude must have +covered English Socialists with ignominy in the eyes of foreign +Socialists. The very humiliating treatment which the English +Socialists received at the International Socialist Congress in +Stuttgart of 1907 from their Continental comrades suggests that the +curious attitude and the not very estimable tactics of British +Socialists have not found the approval of their Continental +colleagues. + +The doctrines of the English Socialists with regard to property are +identical with those of most Anarchists (see Eltzbacher, "Der +Anarchismus"). For instance, Proudhon taught: "We rob (1) by murder on +the highway; (2) alone, or in a band; (3) by breaking into buildings, +or scaling walls; (4) by abstraction; (5) by fraudulent bankruptcy; +(6) by forgery of the handwriting of public officials, or private +individuals; (7) by manufacture of counterfeit money; (8) by cheating; +(9) by swindling; (10) by abuse of trust; (11) by games and lotteries; +(12) by usury; (13) by farm rent, house rent, and leases of all kinds; +(14) by commerce, when the profit of the merchant exceeds his +legitimate salary; (15) by making profit on our product, by accepting +sinecures, and by exacting exorbitant wages."[273] "What is property? +It is robbery."[274] "Property, after having robbed the labourer by +usury, murders him slowly by starvation."[275] Practically the +identical doctrines are propounded by British Socialists. Further +instances of the resemblance between Socialism and Anarchism will be +found in Chapter XXX, "Socialism and Anarchism." + +Society is at present based upon individualism. In their anxiety to +prove the failure of modern civilisation British Socialists deny that +the world has progressed under individualism. "Not by individual +selfishness, or national selfishness, has the progress of the human +race been advanced."[276] And they boldly declare that all history, +having been written by men of the dominant class, is a deception. "Are +we then to understand that the whole of history, so far, has been +written from the point of view of the dominant class of every age? +Most assuredly so; and this applies to well-nigh the whole of the +sources of past history."[277] + +The foregoing should suffice to make it clear that the Socialist +agitation is not based on irrefutable scientific doctrines, as +Socialists pretend, but on deception. It may be said that no agitation +is free from deception, that the end justifies the means, that +Socialism means for the best. We have been told "Socialism is a +religion of humanity. Socialism is the only hope of the race. +Socialism is the remedy--the only remedy--which Lord Salisbury could +not find."[278] We must look into the practical proposals of British +Socialism in order to be able to judge its character. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[151] _Facts for Socialists_, p. 3. + +[152] Hazell, _Summary of Marx's "Capital,"_ p. 1; Macdonald, +_Socialism_, p. 54. + +[153] _Socialism made Plain_, p. 8. + +[154] Hobart, _Social-Democracy_, p. 7. + +[155] _Manifesto_, Socialist Party of Great Britain, p. 8. + +[156] _What Socialism Means_: Independent Labour Party Leaflet, No. 8, +p. 3. + +[157] Debs, _Industrial Unionism_, p. 20. + +[158] Bliss, _Encyclopedia of Social Reform_, 1368. + +[159] _Ibid._ 807. + +[160] _Manifesto of the Communist Party_, p. 17. + +[161] Bax and Quelch, _A New Catechism of Socialism_, p. 15. + +[162] Blatchford, _Merrie England_, p. 163. + +[163] Quelch, _Economics of Labour_, p. 13. + +[164] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 107. + +[165] Bax, _Outlooks from the New Standpoint_, p. 99. + +[166] _Socialist Standard_, December 1907. + +[167] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 32. + +[168] Stegman und Hugo, _Handbuch_, p. 473. + +[169] _Christliche Arbeiterpflichten_, p. 15. + +[170] Webb, _Industrial Democracy_, p. 548. + +[171] Councillor Glyde, _A Peep behind the Scenes on a Board of +Guardians_, p. 5. + +[172] Marx and Engels, _Manifesto of the Communist Party_, p. 12. + +[173] Marx, _Wage, Labour, and Capital_, pp. 23, 24. + +[174] Marx, _Wage, Labour, and Capital_, p. 22. + +[175] _English Progress towards Social-Democracy_, p. 12. + +[176] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, p. 99. + +[177] Marx and Engels, _Manifesto of the Communist Party_, p. 8. + +[178] _Ibid._ p. 16. + +[179] Hyndman, _Socialism and Slavery_, p. 12. + +[180] Sidney Webb, _The Difficulties of Individualism_, p. 9. + +[181] Ellis Barker, _Modern Germany_, p. 528. + +[182] Quelch, _Economics of Labour_, p. 18. + +[183] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 3. + +[184] Bax and Quelch, _A New Catechism_, p. 15. + +[185] Sidney Webb, _The Difficulties of Individualism_, p. 19. + +[186] _Clarion_, November 29, 1907. + +[187] Hall, _The Old and New Unionism_, p. 5. + +[188] _Socialism and the Single Tax_, p. 6. + +[189] Blatchford, _Merrie England_, p. 189. + +[190] Gronlund, _Co-operative Commonwealth_, p. 86. + +[191] Kautsky, _The Social Revolution_, pp. 7, 8. + +[192] See _ante_ p. 10. + +[193] _Report on Fabian Policy_, p. 8. + +[194] See Chapter XXXIII. + +[195] Hall, _Land, Labour, and Liberty_, p. 5. + +[196] Jowett, _The Socialist and the City_, p. 66. + +[197] Gronlund, _Co-operative Commonwealth_, p. 86. + +[198] _Rich and Poor_, Introd. + +[199] Martyn, _Co-operation_, p. 3. + +[200] Lister, _Riches and Poverty_, p. 12. + +[201] Fisher, _The Babies' Tribute_, p. 16. + +[202] _Socialism and the Single Tax_, p. 7. + +[203] Kessack, _The Capitalist Wilderness and the Way Out_, p. 9. + +[204] Lafargue, _Right to Leisure_, p. 11. + +[205] Tillett, _Trades Unionism and Socialism_, p. 14. + +[206] Fisher, _The Babies' Tribute_, p. 16. + +[207] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 67. + +[208] Gronlund, _Co-operative Commonwealth_, pp. 32, 33. + +[209] Social-Democratic Federation, _The Unemployed_, leaflet. + +[210] Smart, _The Right to Work_, p. 3. + +[211] Washington, _A Corner in Flesh and Blood_, p. 12. + +[212] _The Socialist Standard_, December 1907. + +[213] _Why Labour Men should be on Town Councils_, p. 2. + +[214] Marx, _Wage-Labour and Capital_, p. 12. + +[215] L'Auton, _The Nationalisation of Society_, p. 4. + +[216] Jaurčs, _Studies in Socialism_, p. 1. + +[217] _Handbuch für Sozialdemokratische Wähler_, 1903, p. 233. + +[218] _Manifesto of the Socialist Party of Great Britain_, p. 7. + +[219] _The Socialist Standard_, December 1907. + +[220] Debs, _Industrial Unionism_, p. 4. + +[221] Morris, _Useful Work_ versus _Useless Toil_, pp. 22, 25. + +[222] _The Class War_, p. 1. + +[223] _Programme and Rules, Social-Democratic Federation._ + +[224] _Socialist Standard_, October 1, 1907. + +[225] Davidson, _The New Book of Kings_, p. 115. + +[226] Macdonald, _Socialism and Society_, pp. 111, 112. + +[227] _What Socialism Means_, p. 3. + +[228] _Wealth Makers and Wealth Takers_, p. 2. + +[229] _After Bread, Education_, p. 12. + +[230] _Capital and Land_, p. 13. + +[231] Morris, _Useful Work versus Useless Toil_, p. 26. + +[232] Sidney Webb, _The Difficulties of Individualism_, p. 8. + +[233] Leatham, _Was Jesus a Socialist?_ p. 4. + +[234] _The Socialist_, October 1907. + +[235] _The Socialist Annual_, 1907, p. 42. + +[236] Marx and Engels, _Manifesto_, pp. 30, 31. + +[237] Quelch, _The Social-Democratic Federation_, p. 1. + +[238] Leatham, _The Class War_, p. 10. + +[239] Hall, _The Old and the New Unionism_, p. 4. + +[240] Leatham, _The Class War_, p. 11. + +[241] Blatchford, _The Pope's Socialism_, p. 2. + +[242] _What Socialism Means_, p. 3. + +[243] _Forward_, November 23, 1907. + +[244] Blatchford, _Merrie England_, p. 58. + +[245] Gronlund, _Co-operative Commonwealth_, p. 166. + +[246] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 4. + +[247] McClure, _Socialism_, p. 16. + +[248] Bax, _Outlooks from the New Standpoint_, p. 98. + +[249] Williams, _The Difficulties of Socialism_, pp. 3, 4. + +[250] Blatchford, _Real Socialism_, p. 11. + +[251] Hyndman, _Social-Democracy_, p. 24. + +[252] Joynes, _The Socialists' Catechism_, p. 13. + +[253] Leatham, _The Evolution of the Fourth Estate_, p. 3. + +[254] _Fabianism and the Fiscal Question_, p. 19. + +[255] Gronlund, _Co-operative Commonwealth_, p. 41. + +[256] Leatham, _The Evolution of the Fourth Estate_, p. 3. + +[257] Leatham, _Was Jesus a Socialist?_ p. 4. + +[258] Blatchford, _Competition_, p. 15. + +[259] See Chapters VII & XXIII. + +[260] _English Progress towards Social-Democracy_, p. 14. + +[261] _Ibid._ p. 13. + +[262] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, p. 15. + +[263] Macdonald, _Socialism_, p. 3. + +[264] McClure, _Socialism_, p. 13. + +[265] Kautsky, _The Class Struggle_, p. 24. + +[266] Kautsky, _The Socialist Republic_, p. 21. + +[267] Hyndman, _Historic Basis of Socialism_, p. 435. + +[268] _Justice_, October 12, 1907. + +[269] _Justice_, October 12, 1907. + +[270] _The Social Democrat_, November 1907, p. 676. + +[271] _Report on Fabian Policy_, 1896, p. 6. + +[272] G.B. Shaw, quoted in Jackson, _Bernard Shaw_, p. 100. + +[273] Proudhon, _What is Property?_ pp. 252-256. + +[274] _Ibid._ p. 37. + +[275] _Ibid._ p. 184. + +[276] Snowden, _The Christ that is to be_, p. 6. + +[277] Bax and Quelch, _A New Catechism of Socialism_, p. 32. + +[278] Blatchford, _What is this Socialism?_ p. 11. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE AIMS AND POLICY OF THE SOCIALISTS + + +Those people who formerly called themselves Communists now call +themselves Socialists. Marx and Engels wrote in their celebrated +"Manifesto": "The theory of the Communists may be summed up in the +single sentence: Abolition of private property."[279] The policy of +modern British Socialism may be summed up in the identical words. +Indeed, we are told by one of its most eager champions that "The +programme of Socialism consists essentially of one demand--that the +land and other instruments of production shall be the common property +of the people, and shall be used and governed by the people for the +people."[280] "We suggest that the nation should own all the ships, +all the railways, all the factories, all the buildings, all the land, +and all the requisites of national life and defence."[281] + +According to the Socialist doctrines which have been given in Chapter +IV, private property is the enemy of the workers. Therefore they quite +logically demand that all private property must be abolished. "The +problem has to be faced. Either we must submit for ever to hand over +at least one-third of our annual product to those who do us the favour +to own our country without the obligation of rendering any service to +the community, and to see this tribute augment with every advance in +our industry and numbers, or else we must take steps, as +considerately as may be possible, to put an end to this state of +things."[282] "The modern form of private property is simply a legal +claim to take a share of the produce of the national industry year by +year without working for it. Socialism involves discontinuance of the +payment of these incomes and addition of the wealth so saved to +incomes derived from labour. The economic problem of Socialism is thus +solved."[283] + +A general division of the existing private property among all the +people is not intended, because it is considered to be impracticable. +"Socialism does not consist in violently seizing upon the property of +the rich and sharing it out amongst the poor."[284] "Plans for a +national 'dividing up' are not Socialism. They are nonsense. 'Dividing +up' means individual ownership. Socialism means collective +ownership."[285] "It is obvious that, in the present stage of economic +development, individual ownership is impossible. All the great means +of production are collectively owned now. Individual liberty based +upon individual property is therefore out of the question, and the +emancipation of the working class can only be achieved in social +freedom, based upon social property, through the transformation of +privately owned collective property into publicly owned collective +property."[286] + +Starting from these premisses, the Socialists arrive at the demand +that "all the means of production and distribution, all the machinery, +all the buildings, everything that is necessary to provide the +fundamental necessaries of life, must be common property."[287] "We +want all the instruments for the purposes of trade to be the property +of the State. With that will have come at the same time the abolition +of power permitting any individual to exact rent or interest for the +loan of land or of the implements of production. The abolition of all +private property will mean the extinction of the parasite."[288] "The +overthrow of capitalism and the establishment of a system of society +based upon the common ownership and democratic control of the means +and instruments for producing and distributing wealth, by and in the +interest of the whole community: That is Socialism."[289] "The Fabian +Society aims at the reorganisation of society by the emancipation of +land and industrial capital from individual and class ownership, and +the vesting of them in the community for the general benefit. The +Society accordingly works for the extinction of private property in +land, and of the consequent individual appropriation, in the form of +rent, of the price paid for permission to use the earth, as well as +for the advantages of superior soils and sites. The Society, further, +works for the transfer to the community of the administration of such +industrial capital as can conveniently be managed socially."[290] +"Here in plain words is the principle, or root idea, on which all +Socialists agree--that the country and everything in the country shall +belong to the whole people (the nation), and shall be used by the +people and for the people. That principle, the root idea of Socialism, +means two things: (1) That the land, and all the machines, tools, and +buildings used in making needful things, together with all the canals, +rivers, roads, railways, ships, and trains used in moving, sharing +(distributing) needful things, and all the shops, markets, scales, +weights, and money used in selling or dividing needful things, shall +be the property of (belong to) the whole people (the nation). (2) That +the land, tools, machines, trains, rivers, shops, scales, money, and +all the other things belonging to the people, shall be worked, +managed, divided, and used by the whole people, in such way as the +greater number of the whole people shall deem best."[291] + +A perusal of the party programmes and other Socialist documents +contained in the Appendix will show that the abolition of all private +property, and its transference to the State, is the aim of all the +Socialist organisations and parties, and no further extracts need be +given in order to prove the unanimity of the Socialists on this point. + +The question now arises: How is this transference of all private +property to the State to be effected? Will the present holders of +property be fully compensated, partly compensated, or not compensated +at all? Do the Socialists aim at purchase or at confiscation of +existing private property. Will they respect existing rights, or are +they bent upon open or more or less disguised spoliation? + +It is, unfortunately, very difficult to obtain a plain and +straightforward answer upon this important point. Instead of giving +this answer, British Socialists loudly protest that it is not their +aim to destroy or abolish property. As nobody has suspected the +Socialists to be foolish enough to abolish or destroy property--which +means the instruments of production, such as factories, machines, +railways, &c., by the use of which the people live, and thus bring +starvation upon themselves--their eagerness to explain that they do +not intend to abolish or destroy property can only be explained by the +surmise that they hope shallow simpletons will say, "The Socialists +have no intention to take our capital away from us by force and +without compensation, for they have declared that they do not intend +to abolish property." A few of these declarations should here be +given: "So far from abolishing property, Socialism desires to +establish it upon the only basis which makes property secure--that of +service, of creative service."[292] "Socialism does not propose to +abolish land or capital. Only a genius could have thought of this as +an objection to Socialism."[293] "Socialism is far from aiming at the +destruction of private property. Its object is to increase private +property amongst those whose property is so limited that they have a +difficulty in keeping themselves alive."[294] Another Socialist makes +the very irrelevant and unnecessary observation: "It is a firm +principle of Socialism never to interfere with personal property in +order to investigate its origin or to arrange it in a different way. +Never and nowhere! And whoever asserts to the contrary either does not +know the principles of Socialism or willingly and knowingly asserts an +untruth. The Socialists deem an investigation into the origin of an +acknowledged personal property an unnecessary trouble. They consider +the personal property an accomplished fact and respect it: so much so, +that they consider stealing a crime."[295] Mr. Blatchford informs us, +"We do not propose to seize anything. We do propose to get some things +and to make them the property of the whole nation by Act of Parliament +or by purchase."[296] + +As regards the question whether compensation or no compensation will be +given, our Socialist leaders give us very vague and unsatisfactory +replies, which rather contain highly respectable but perfectly +irrelevant commonplaces than definite proposals. Most Socialists will +answer the plain question of confiscation or no confiscation with a +quibble or a conundrum, as the following examples will show: "One view +of Socialism is that it is a scheme of confiscation of property from +one class to give it to another class--that Socialists are Dick Turpins +made respectable by using Acts of Parliament instead of pistols. Now +the real fact is that the Socialist has come to put an end to Dick +Turpin methods. Socialism is a rational criticism of our present +methods of production and distribution. It desires to say to the +possessors: Show us by what title you possess; and it proposes to pass +its judgments upon the axiom that whoever renders service to society +should be able to have some appropriate share in the national +wealth."[297] In other words, an inquisitorial tribunal with arbitrary +powers would be empowered to confiscate at will. "Socialism is not a +plan to despoil the rich: it is a plan to stop the rich from despoiling +the poor. Socialism is not a thief; it is a policeman."[298] "Do any +say we attack private property? We deny it. We attack only that private +property for a few thousand loiterers and slave-drivers which renders +all property in the fruits of their own labour impossible for millions. +We challenge that private property which renders poverty at once a +necessity and a crime."[299] "Socialism would not rob anyone. It would +distinguish between the lawful possessor and the rightful possessor, +and it would compel the 'lawful' possessor to restore to the rightful +possessor the property of which he had robbed him."[300] "We do not +propose to rob the rich man of his wealth; we deny that it is his +wealth. Wealth is a social product, and therefore belongs to society. +It is not an act of brigandage to demand that society shall own and use +what society has created."[301] + +Some Socialists consider the question of compensation or no +compensation as one of very minor importance. "The question of +compensation need not greatly worry us. Socialists hold that +plutocrats owe all their wealth to society; and therefore that society +has the right at any moment to take it back."[302] The more cautious +and moderate French and German Socialists are apt to promise +compensation in terms such as the following: "We declare expressly +that it is the duty of the State to give to those whose interests will +be damaged by the necessary abolition of laws which are detrimental to +the common interest compensation as far as it is possible and +consistent with the interests of all."[303] + +It will be observed that the plain word compensation is circumscribed +by the phrase, "compensation as far as it is possible and consistent +with the interests of all." In other and plainer words, compensation +is to be arbitrarily given, and its proportion to the property +acquired is apparently to be determined not by its value or by +fairness and equity, but by the will of those who may be in power. + +English Socialists, on the other hand, are apt to recommend a far more +drastic treatment of property-owners. "We claim that land in country +and land in towns, mines, parks, mountains, moors, should be owned by +the people for the people, to be held, used, built over, and +cultivated upon such terms as the people themselves see fit to ordain. +The handful of marauders who now hold possession have, and can have, +no right save brute force against the tens of millions whom they +wrong."[304] The most moderate school of British Socialism, the Fabian +Society, favours in its statement of policy given under the heading +"Basis of the Fabian Society" the expropriation of all private +capital "without compensation, though not without such relief to +expropriated individuals as may seem fit to the community." In other +words, expropriated property-owners may, or may not, be given +something to protect them from starvation, not as a matter of right, +but of charity. + +Most Socialists who favour compensation recommend that it should be +given only in the form of consumable articles such as food, clothes, +&c., or in bonds which are changeable only into consumable articles. +"Rothschild will be paid in bread and meat and luxury and wine and +theatre tickets."[305] "When capitalistic property shall have been +socialised, the holders of compensation deeds will not be able to +purchase either fresh means of production or producers; they will only +be able to buy products."[306] + +Some Socialists suggest that the bonds given in exchange for property +acquired by the State might be cancelled later on. The property-owners +could be deprived of their possessions without any difficulty, either +gradually by taxation or at one blow by confiscation at the option of +the men in power. "When the entire capitalistic property takes the +form of State bonds, the property which it is impossible to ascertain +to-day would then be known to everybody. It would only be necessary to +decree that all bonds are to be registered in the name of the owner, +and it would be possible to estimate exactly the capitalist income and +the property of everyone. It would then also be possible to screw up +the taxes to any extent without fear of their being evaded by any +concealments. It would then be also impossible to escape them by +emigration, since it is the public institutions of the country, and in +the first place the State, from which all interest comes, and the +latter can deduct the tax from the interest before it is paid out. +Under these circumstances it would be possible to raise the +progressive income and property tax as high as necessary--if necessary +as high as would come very near, if not actually amount to, +confiscation of the large property."[307] The foregoing is a simple +plan of swindling property-owners out of their holdings. + +Some of the more moderate Socialists argue: "There is much to be said +in favour of the liberal treatment of the present generation of +proprietors and even of their children. But against the permanent +welfare of the community the unborn have no rights."[308] On the other +hand, Bax, the philosopher of British Socialism, quite logically and +honestly states that the idea of compensation has no room in the +Socialist code of ethics, that the bourgeois idea of compensation on +grounds of justice is irreconcilable with the Socialist conception of +justice. He says: "Between possession and confiscation is a great gulf +fixed, the gulf between the bourgeois and the Socialist worlds. +Well-meaning men seek to throw bridges over this gulf by schemes of +compensation, abolition of inheritance, and the like. But the +attempts, as we believe, even should they ever be carried out +practically, must fall disastrously short of their mark and be +speedily engulfed between the two positions they are intended to +unite. Nowhere can the phrase 'He that is not for us is against us' be +more aptly applied than to the moral standpoint of modern +individualism and of modern Socialism. To the one, individual +possession is right and justice, and social confiscation is wrong and +injustice; to the other, individual possession is wrong and injustice, +and confiscation is right and justice. This is the real issue. Unless +a man accept the last-named standpoint unreservedly, he has no right +to call himself a Socialist. If he does accept it, he will seek the +shortest and most direct road to the attainment of justice rather than +any longer and more indirect ones, of which it is at best doubtful +whether they will attain the end at all. For be it remembered the +moment you tamper with the sacredness of private property, no matter +how mildly, you surrender the conventional bourgeois principle of +justice, while the moment you talk of compensation you surrender the +Socialist principle of justice, for compensation can only be real if +it is adequate, and can only be adequate if it counterbalances, and +thereby annuls, the confiscation. It is just, says the individualist, +for a man to be able to do what he likes with his own. Good; but what +is his own?"[309] "The great act of confiscation will be the seal of +the new era; then and not till then will the knell of civilisation, +with its rights of property and its class society, be sounded; then, +and not till then, will justice--the justice not of civilisation but +of Socialism--become the corner-stone of the social arch."[310] + +I think the straightforwardness of Bax is preferable to the crooked +and insincere explanations and proposals of the British and foreign +Socialist given in the foregoing. Bax's opinion is irrefutable. +According to the doctrines of Socialism given in Chapter IV., labour +is the source of all wealth; the greater part of the products of that +labour is dishonestly abstracted from the labourer by the capitalist +class, which has converted the result of that labour into property. +Hence Socialists think with Proudhon, and they very often openly +declare, that property is theft. Capitalist society will not +compensate the thief when taking from him his booty. Socialism will +not compensate property-owners when taking away their property. +Besides, compensation would be utterly opposed to the root idea of +Socialist justice. At present expropriation without indemnity is +called theft, but it would not be called theft under a Socialist +_régime_. The chapter on "Law and Justice under Socialism" will make +that quite clear. + +Socialism teaches that no man is entitled to anything except that +which he has made himself. "No man has a right to call anything his +own but that which he himself has made. Now, no man makes the land. +The land is not created by labour, but it is the gift of God to all. +The earth belongs to the people. For the nonce please take the +statement on the authority of Herbert Spencer, All men 'have equal +rights to the use of the earth.' So that he who possesses land +possesses that to which he has no right, and he who invests his +savings in land becomes a purchaser of stolen property."[311] "No man +made the land, and laws and lawyers notwithstanding no man has any +moral right before God to call a solitary strip of God's earth his +than has the burglar to call his stolen goods his personal property. +It is therefore evident that the bite named 'rent' given to landlords +for permission to live upon and use God's free gift to man is as much +the fruit of robbery, the spoil of plunder, as is the result of a +burglar's night's marauding, a common pickpocket's day's +'takings.'"[312] Capital is in the same position as land, for "Land +and capital are indistinguishable."[313] + +The more honest Socialists agree with Bax that compensation for +property acquired would be inadvisable and impracticable. "In a +pamphlet called 'Collectivism and Revolution' M. Jules Guesde said, +'Expropriation with indemnity is a chimera. And whatever regret one +may feel, however difficult may appear to peaceful natures the last +method, we have no other way than to retake violently that which +belongs to all, by--let us say the word--the Revolution.' He added, +'Capital which it is necessary to take from individuals, such as the +land, is not of human creation; it is anterior to man, for whom it is +a _sine qua non_ of existence. It cannot therefore belong to some to +the exclusion of others, without the others being robbed. And to make +the robbers deliver up, to oblige them to restore in any and every way +is not so much a right as a duty, the most sacred of duties."[314] A +respected English Socialist says bluntly, "How to secure the swag to +the workers is the problem."[315] A Christian Socialist clergyman +sarcastically proposes: "If you are a Christian and love your rich +neighbour as yourself, you will do all you can to help him to become +poorer. For if you believe in the Gospel, you know that to be rich is +the very worst thing that can happen to a man. That if a man is rich, +it is with the greatest difficulty that he can be saved; for 'it is +easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich +man to enter into the Kingdom of God' (Mark x. 25). This is startling +now, but it was not less strange and startling to the disciples who +'were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can +be saved?' But the needle's eye has not grown any larger since then, +and the camels certainly have not grown smaller! All true Christians +then must desire to relieve the rich man of his excess for his own +sake, since the inequality that ruins the body of Lazarus ruins the +soul of Dives; and Dives is the more miserable of the two, because the +soul is more precious than the body."[316] + +The abolition of private property requires also the abolition of the +right of inheritance, as otherwise capital might again be accumulated +in the hands of the thrifty and the enterprising. Therefore the +manifesto of Marx and Engels already demands the "abolition of all +right of inheritance."[317] Other Socialists say that this right +should not be abolished. "Socialists used to insist upon the abolition +of the right of inheritance and bequest. But if what I gain by my own +labour is rightfully my property--and the Co-operative Commonwealth +will, as we have seen, declare it to be so--it will be inexpedient in +that Commonwealth to destroy any of the essential qualities of +propertyship; and I can hardly call that my property which I may not +give to whom I please at my death. No man in a Co-operative +Commonwealth could acquire so much more wealth than his fellows as to +make him dangerous to them."[318] "Socialists do not object to +property; they are not opposed to private property. They are therefore +not opposed to inheritance. The right to acquire and hold involves the +right to dispose by will or by gift. We only object to such a use of +property as enables classes for generation after generation to live on +the proceeds of other people's labour without doing any useful service +to society."[319] This very diplomatic sentence may be explained in a +variety of ways. Probably it means that holders of property of large +size could summarily be deprived of their possessions by order of the +Government, as has been indicated by that writer in another passage +(see page 97). Such a power would make the right to hold and to +bequeath property a farce. Property could be held then only on the +same terms on which, I believe, it is held by Central African negroes. +Another Socialist states, "If I am entitled to what I produce, then it +follows that I am entitled to dispose of all that I produce;" and then +denies the right to personal property by continuing: "The Socialists +say, 'Not thine or mine, but ours.'"[320] + +It would be only logical that the Socialist State, after abolishing +private property by following the principle "not thine but ours," +should not allow its re-creation and re-accumulation. "This pernicious +right (wrong) of inheritance must be abolished. It is the means by +which the 'classes' perpetuate their robbery of the 'masses' from +generation to generation and age to age. The disinherited would of +course have the community to look to for sound education in youth, +suitable employment in years of maturity, generous pension in old age, +&c., and to what else can any rational human being lay just +claim?"[321] Some Socialists argue that in the Socialist State "there +will be nothing to bequeath, unless we choose to regard household +furniture as a legacy of any importance. This settles the question of +the right of inheritance, which Socialism will have no need to abolish +formally."[322] "Socialism condemns as reactionary and immoral all +that tends to the debasement of humanity. It condemns our industrial +and commercial system as a degrading system--degrading both to the few +who amass wealth and to the many who by their labour enable the few to +lay up riches. It is degrading to those who rob and to those who are +robbed; to those who cheat and to those who are cheated; to those who +swim and to those who sink; to those who revel in luxury and to those +who, barely sustaining their own lives, are compelled by their toil to +supply luxuries for others to enjoy."[323] Therefore Socialism means +to abolish the present system root and branch, and the most +straightforward Socialists are frankly in favour of the most thorough +measures for abolishing private property. + +Children and poets proverbially speak the truth. Let us see what the +Socialist poets think of the expropriation of property-owners. + +Some of the poets tell the workers that the labourers not only produce +all the wealth, but are also all-powerful, and, if they wish to, they +can do what they like with the country. + + Shall you complain who feed the world-- + Who clothe the world, who house the world? + Shall you complain who are the world + Of what the world may do? + As from this hour you use your power, + The world must follow you. + As from this hour you use your power. + The world must follow you.[324] + +Others remind them of their grievances, and urge them to drive the +rich man out of the country: + + Think on the wrongs ye bear, + Think on the rags ye wear, + Think on the insults endured from your birth; + Toiling in snow and rain, + Bearing up heaps of gain, + All for the tyrants who grind ye to earth. + + Your brains are as keen as the brains of your masters. + In swiftness and strength ye surpass them by far, + Ye've brave hearts that teach ye to laugh at disasters, + Ye vastly outnumber your tyrants in war. + Why, then, like cowards stand. + Using not brain or hand, + Thankful, like dogs, when they throw ye a bone? + What right have they to take + Things that ye toil to make? + Know ye not, boobies, that all is your own?[325] + + Arise, unite each scattered band, + To sweep all masters from our land, + Then shall each mine and loom and field + Its produce to the workers yield.[326] + +Others, again, urge the workers to seize all property and to make the +rich man work for them. + + They're never done extolling + The nobility of work; + But the knaves! they always take good care + Their share of toil to shirk. + Do they send their sons and daughters, + To the workshop or the mill? + Oh! we'll turn things upside down, my lads; + It will change their tune, it will![327] + + We'll drive the robbers from our lands, our meadows and our hills; + We'll drive them from our warehouses, our workshops and our mills; + We'll make them fare upon their bonds, their bankbooks and their bills, + As we go marching to liberty.[328] + +Some Socialists believe that they will come to power suddenly and by +violence, and abolish private capital at a stroke. Others are inclined +to think that they will only gradually abolish it. Karl Marx was of +the latter opinion. Therefore he wrote in his "Manifesto": "The first +step in the revolution by the working class is to raise the +proletariat to the position of ruling class to win the battle of +democracy. The proletariat will use its political supremacy to wrest, +by degrees, all capital from the bourgeoisie, to centralise all +instruments of production in the hands of the State--_i.e._ of the +proletariat organised as the ruling class; and to increase the total +of productive forces as rapidly as possible. Of course in the +beginning this cannot be effected except by means of despotic inroads +on the rights of property and on the conditions of bourgeois +production: by means of measures therefore which appear economically +insufficient and untenable, but which in the course of the movement +outstrip themselves, necessitate further inroads upon the old social +order, and are unavoidable as a means of entirely revolutionising the +mode of production. These measures will of course be different in +different countries. Nevertheless in the most advanced countries the +following will be pretty generally applicable: + +1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land +to public purposes. + +2. A heavy progressive or graduated income-tax. + +3. Abolition of all right of inheritance. + +4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels. + +5. Centralisation of credit in the hands of the State by means of a +national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly. + +6. Centralisation of the means of communication and transport in the +hands of the State. + +7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the +State; the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the +improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan. + +8. Equal liability of all to labour. Establishment of industrial +armies, especially for agriculture. + +9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual +abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a more +equable distribution of the population over the country. + +10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of +children's factory labour in its present form. Combination of +education with industrial production, &c."[329] + +Marx's programme has served as a model to the English Socialists, as +the following demands of some of our Socialists will show: "The +things you will be working for will be something like this. Shorter +hours is the first thing, then a tax on landlords, then abolition of +the House of Lords and the Monarchy, then more Home-Rule and more +Local Government, then extension of municipal operations, the +socialisation of coal stores, dairy farms, bakeries, laundries, +public-houses, cab-hiring, the slaughter of cattle and the sale of +butcher meat, the building and letting of houses--in short, the taking +over by the local bodies of as many departments of production and +distribution as need be. By this time the Class War will be shaping +for a last great engagement."[330] + +"As stepping stones to a happier period we urge for immediate +adoption: The compulsory construction of healthy artisans' and +agricultural labourers' dwellings in proportion to the population, +such dwellings to be let at rents to cover the cost of construction +and maintenance alone. Free compulsory education for all classes, +together with the provision of at least one wholesome meal a day in +each school. Eight hours or less to be the normal working day in all +trades. Cumulative taxation upon all incomes above a fixed minimum not +exceeding _500l._ a year. State appropriation of railways with or +without compensation. The establishment of national banks which shall +absorb all private institutions that derive a profit from operations +in money or credit. Rapid extinction of the National Debt. +Nationalisation of the land and organisation of agricultural and +industrial armies under State control on co-operative principles. By +these measures a healthy, independent, and thoroughly educated people +will steadily grow up around us, ready to abandon that baneful +competition for starvation wages which ruins our present workers, +ready to organise the labour of each for the benefit of all, +determined, too, to take control finally of the entire social and +political machinery of a State in which class distinctions and class +privileges shall cease to be."[331] + +The Social-Democratic Federation demands the following immediate +reforms: "The socialisation of the means of production, distribution, +and exchange to be controlled by a democratic State in the interests +of the entire community, and the complete emancipation of labour from +the domination of capitalism and landlordism with the establishment of +social and economic equality between the sexes. Abolition of the +Monarchy. Democratisation of the governmental machinery, viz. +abolition of the House of Lords, payment of members of legislative and +administrative bodies, payment of official expenses of elections out +of the public funds, adult suffrage, proportional representation, +triennial Parliaments, second ballot, initiative and referendum. +Foreigners to be granted rights of citizenship after two years' +residence in the country, on the recommendation of four British-born +citizens, without any fee. Canvassing to be made illegal. Legislation +by the people in such wise that no legislative proposal shall become +law until ratified by the majority of the people. Legislative and +administrative independence for all parts of the empire. + +"Repudiation of the National Debt. Abolition of all indirect taxation +and the institution of a cumulative tax on all incomes and +inheritances exceeding _300l._ + +"Extension of the principle of local self-government. Systematisation +and co-ordination of the local administrative bodies. Election of all +administrators and administrative bodies by equal direct adult +suffrage. + +"Elementary education to be free, secular, industrial, and compulsory +for all classes. The age of obligatory school attendance to be raised +to sixteen. Unification and systematisation of intermediate and higher +education, both general and technical, and all such education to be +free. Free maintenance for all attending State schools. Abolition of +school rates, the cost of education in all State schools to be borne +by the National Exchequer. + +"Nationalisation of the land and the organisation of labour in +agriculture and industry under public ownership and control on +co-operative principles. Nationalisation of the trusts, of railways, +docks, and canals, and all great means of transit. Public ownership +and control of gas, electric light, and water-supplies, tramway, +omnibus, and other locomotive services, and of the food and coal +supply. The establishment of State and municipal banks and pawnshops +and public restaurants. Public ownership and control of the lifeboat +service, of hospitals, dispensaries, cemeteries and crematoria, and +control of the drink traffic. + +"A legislative eight-hour working day or forty-eight hours per week to +be the maximum for all trades and industries. Imprisonment to be +inflicted on employers for any infringement of the law. Absolute +freedom of combination for all workers, with legal guarantee against +any action, private or public, which tends to curtail or infringe it. +No child to be employed in any trade or occupation until sixteen years +of age, and imprisonment to be inflicted on employers, parents, and +guardians who infringe this law. Public provision of useful work at +not less than trade-union rates of wages for the unemployed. Free +State insurance against sickness and accident, and free and adequate +State pensions or provision for aged and disabled workers. Public +assistance not to entail any forfeiture of political rights. The +legislative enactment of a minimum wage of _30s._ for all workers. +Equal pay for both sexes for the performance of equal work. + +"Abolition of the present workhouse system, and reformed +administration of the Poor Law on a basis of national co-operation. +Compulsory construction by public bodies of healthy dwellings for the +people, such dwellings to be let at rents to cover the cost of +construction and maintenance alone, and not to cover the cost of the +land. The administration of justice to be free to all; the +establishment of public offices where legal advice can be obtained +free of charge."[332] + +Mr. Blatchford suggests the following: "The public maintenance and the +public education of children. The public provision of work for all. +The taxation of the land and of all large incomes. The confiscation of +unearned increment. Old-age pensions. The minimum wage. Compulsory +land cultivation. Universal adult suffrage. The second ballot. The +payment of election expenses. The nationalisation of the railways and +of the land. The nationalisation or municipalisation of trams, gas, +water, bread, liquor, milk, coal, and many other things. The abolition +of hereditary titles and of the House of Lords."[333] + +The general policy which the Socialists should follow was summed up by +Marx in the following way. "The Communists everywhere support every +revolutionary movement against the existing social and political order +of things."[334] "Socialism is the only hope of the workers. All else +is illusion. Workers of all lands, unite! You have nothing to lose but +your chains. You have a world to win."[335] + +"This is the final struggle. The extinction of classes must follow the +overthrow of the last form of class domination and the emancipation of +the last class to be set free. Rally then, fellow workers, to the +standard of the international class-conscious proletariat, the Red +Flag of Social-Democracy. 'Workers of all countries, unite! You have +nothing to lose but your chains, you have a world to win!'"[336] "The +land of England is no mean heritage."[337] + +"What has hitherto prevented the workers from combining for +the overthrow of the capitalist system? A. Ignorance and +disorganisation.--Q. What has left them in ignorance? A. The system +itself, by compelling them to spend all their lives upon monotonous toil +and leaving them no time for education.--Q. What account have they been +given of the system which oppresses them? A. The priest has explained +that the perpetual presence of the poor is necessitated by a law of God; +the economist has proved its necessity by a law of Nature; and between +them they have succeeded in convincing the labourers of the hopelessness +of any opposition to the capitalist system.--Q. How is it that the +labourers cannot see for themselves that they are legally robbed? A. +Because the present method of extracting their surplus value is one of +fraud rather than of force, and has grown gradually."[338] + +The philosopher of British Socialism well sums up the aims and policy +of the Socialists. He says: "What is vital in Socialism? In the first +line, I take it, come + +"1. The collectivisation of _all_ the instruments of production by +_any_ effective means; + +"2. The doctrine of the Class War as the general historical method of +realising the new form of society; + +"3. The principle of internationalism, the recognition, _i.e._ that +distinction of nationality sinks into nothingness before the idea of +the union of all progressive races in the effort to realise the ideal +of true society as understood by the Social-Democratic Party; + +"4. The utmost freedom of physical, moral, and intellectual +development for each and all consistent with the necessities of an +organised social State. + +"The Socialist's adhesion to the doctrine of the Class War involves +his opposition to all measures subserving the interest of any section +of capitalism. This coupled with his 'Internationalism' leaves him no +choice but to be the enemy of 'his country' and the friend of his +country's enemies whenever 'his country' (which means of course the +dominant classes of his country, who always are for that matter his +enemies) plays the game of the capitalist. Let us have no humbug! The +man who cannot on occasion be (if needs be) the declared and active +enemy of that doubtful entity, 'his country,' is no Social +Democrat."[339] + +"Justice being henceforth identified with confiscation, and injustice +with the right of property, there remains only the question of 'ways +and means.' Our bourgeois apologist, admitting as he must that the +present possessors of land and capital hold possession of them simply +by right of superior force, can hardly refuse to admit the right of +the proletariat organised to that end to take possession of them by +right of superior force. The only question remaining is, How? And the +only answer is, How you can."[340] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[279] Page 17. + +[280] Blatchford, _Merrie England_, p. 100. + +[281] _Clarion_, October 11, 1907. + +[282] Sidney Webb, _The Difficulties of Individualism_, p. 10. + +[283] _Fabian Essays in Socialism_, pp. 26, 27. + +[284] Blatchford, _Merrie England_, p. 99. + +[285] Blatchford, _What is this Socialism?_ p. 1. + +[286] _Socialist Annual_, 1907, p. 39. + +[287] Kirtlan, _Socialism for Christians_, p. 15. + +[288] Tillett, _Trades Unionism and Socialism_, p. 12. + +[289] _Manifesto of the Socialist Party of Great Britain_, p. 9. + +[290] _Basis of the Fabian Society._ + +[291] Blatchford, _Real Socialism_, p. 10. + +[292] Macdonald, _Socialism_, p. 103. + +[293] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, p. 11. + +[294] Ethel Snowden, _The Woman Socialist_, p. 3. + +[295] Sorge, _Socialism and the Worker_, p. 9. + +[296] Blatchford, _Real Socialism_, p. 3. + +[297] Macdonald, _Socialism_, p. 103. + +[298] Blatchford, _What is this Socialism?_ p. 2. + +[299] _Socialism made Plain_, p. 10. + +[300] Blatchford, _The Pope's Socialism_, p. 3. + +[301] Hobart, _Social-Democracy_, p. 7. + +[302] Gronlund, _Co-operative Commonwealth_, p. 94. + +[303] Jaurčs, _Practical Socialism_, p. 3. + +[304] _Socialism Made Plain_, p. 8. + +[305] Gronlund, _Co-operative Commonwealth_, p. 105. + +[306] Jaurčs, _Practical Socialism_, p. 5. + +[307] Kautsky, _The Social Revolution_, p. 10. + +[308] Sidney Webb, _The Difficulties of Individualism_, p. 10. + +[309] Bax, _The Ethics of Socialism_, pp. 75, 76. + +[310] _Ibid._ p. 83. + +[311] Blatchford, _The Pope's Socialism_, p. 6. + +[312] Muse, _Poverty and Drunkenness_, p. 9. + +[313] _Facts for Socialists_, p. 7. + +[314] Guyot, _Pretensions of Socialism_, p. 16. + +[315] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 9. + +[316] Dearmer, _Socialism and Christianity_, pp. 17, 18. + +[317] Marx and Engels, _Manifesto_, p. 22. + +[318] Gronlund, _Co-operative Commonwealth_, p 105. + +[319] Macdonald, _Socialism_, p. 105. + +[320] _Socialism, For and Against_, p. 9. + +[321] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 158. + +[322] Bebel, _Woman_, pp. 231, 232. + +[323] "Veritas," _Did Jesus Christ teach Socialism?_ p. 2. + +[324] _Social-Democratic Federation Song Book_, p. 56. + +[325] _Ibid._ p. 30. + +[326] _Independent Labour Party Song Book_, p. 33. + +[327] _Social-Democratic Federation Song Book_, p. 43 + +[328] _Independent Labour Party Song Book_, p. 7. + +[329] Marx and Engels, _Manifesto_, pp. 21, 22. + +[330] Leatham, _The Class War_, pp. 13, 14. + +[331] _Socialism Made Plain_, p. 10. + +[332] Programme, _Social-Democratic Federation_. + +[333] _Clarion_, October 18, 1907. + +[334] Marx and Engels, _Manifesto_, p. 30. + +[335] _Motto of The Socialist_, weekly, taken from Marx and Engels' +_Manifesto_. + +[336] _The Class War_, p. 2. + +[337] _Socialism Made Plain_, p. 10. + +[338] Joynes, _The Socialist Catechism_, p. 5. + +[339] Bax, _Essays in Socialism_, pp. 101, 102. + +[340] Bax, _Ethics of Socialism_, p. 82. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE ATTITUDE OF SOCIALISTS TOWARDS THE WORKING MASSES + + +Before investigating the attitude of British Socialism towards the +working masses, it is necessary to take note of its doctrines +regarding work. + +Most thinkers, from the time of King Solomon, Socrates, and Confucius +down to the present age, have seen in work conscientiously performed a +blessing; many, probably most, British Socialists declare it to be a +curse and a vice. The leading English philosopher of Socialism, for +instance, tells us: "To the Socialist labour is an evil to be +minimised to the utmost. The man who works at his trade or avocation +more than necessity compels him, or who accumulates more than he can +enjoy, is not a hero but a fool from the Socialists' standpoint."[341] +A leading French Socialist informs us: "Through listening to the +fallacious utterances of the middle-class economists, the workers have +delivered themselves body and soul to the vice of work."[342] When Mr. +Victor Grayson, M.P., a Socialist, in a speech ventured to refer to +work as "one of the greatest blessings and privileges ever conferred +on humanity," one of the Socialist papers wrote: "Victor Grayson is +simply an agent of the capitalist class. Is Mr. Victor Grayson, M.P., +trying to allure the capitalist class by picturing work as a blessing, +or is he trying to get the worker to look upon work through a rosy +mist conjured from the brains of the capitalist's agent who is +saturated with capitalist philosophy? It is time the Beatitudes were +extended or revised. How would this do?--'Blessed is the worker who +works (for the capitalist), for he shall inherit the kingdom (of +starvation and misery under capitalism).' 'Blessed is work in itself, +because it enables (the capitalist) to live in peace and happiness.' +Since work is a blessing, it follows that whatever saves work is a +curse. All the beautiful machinery which the working class have shed +their life blood to produce, to develop which an army of them have +been sacrificed under capitalism by the capitalists; this which the +workers of ages and ages have contributed their mite towards; have +laboured long and suffered silently to create; this is an +evil!!!"[343] + +British Socialists do their utmost to convert the workers into +shirkers by teaching them not only that work is an evil in itself, but +by constantly admonishing them, "on scientific grounds," to work as +little as possible during the time they are employed. "It is the +interest of the employer to get as much work out of his hands as +possible for as little wages as possible. It is the interest of the +workers to get as high a wage as possible for as little labour as +possible."[344] "The workers have been taught by the practical +economists of the trade-unions, and have learnt for themselves by +bitter experience, that every time any of them in a moment of ambition +or good will does one stroke of work not in his bond, he is increasing +the future unpaid labour not only of himself, but of his +fellows."[345] + +The Independent Labour Party has issued a leaflet entitled "Are you a +Socialist?" in which the question occurs, "Do you believe that every +individual should have sufficient leisure to cultivate his higher +faculties and enjoy life to the fullest extent?" and the answer is, +"If you say 'Yes,' join the Independent Labour Party and help to carry +its principles into effect."[346] + +Many Socialists promise the workers that the Socialist State of the +future will abolish the curse of work by greatly diminishing the hours +of labour. A leading English Socialist writer says: "It is as plainly +demonstrable as that twice four make eight that a due system of +organised effort would enable your 43,000,000 of people to win from +Nature an overflowing superfluity of all that man desires, without +one-fourth the effort put forth now to win a beggarly subsistence so +far short of what your community requires that 13,000,000 of your +people live continually upon the very verge of starvation."[347] A +leading American Socialist promises somewhat vaguely, "A few hours of +work will secure to everybody all necessaries, decencies, and comforts +of life."[348] William Morris tells us that four hours' work will +suffice, and that it will not all be "mere machine-tending."[349] +Morrison-Davidson prophesies that the "hours of labour will probably +not exceed a minimum of two and a maximum of five daily."[350] Hyndman +feels quite certain that "two or three hours' labour out of the +twenty-four by all adult males would be enough to give the whole +community all the wholesome necessaries and comforts of life,"[351] +and Bax thinks that "In a perfectly organised Socialist State men +never worked more than two or three hours a day."[352] Yves Guyot +wittily says: "There is no reason why their demands should not go +further. Zero alone can bid them defiance."[353] It is worth noting +that many Anarchists also promise a great lessening of the hours of +labour when the State has been destroyed. Kropotkin, for instance, +requires only from four to five hours' work.[354] Agitators desirous +to secure the support of the workers cannot be too lavish in their +promises. + +In the Socialist State of the future a few hours' work every day will +give boundless prosperity to all, for "Wealth may easily be made as +plentiful as water at the expense of trifling toil."[355] "Under +Socialism, nineteen-twentieths of the people will be better off +materially than they are to-day, for they will be equal partners in +all the productive and distributive wealth of the community."[356] +"Comparative affluence would be enjoyed by each member of the +community."[357] + +In the Socialist commonwealth of the future "all wages will be +immediately increased," for "the social community will apply itself to +raise all salaries of workers and peasants."[358] "In a Socialist +State you will have everyone paid a living wage. The surplus will be +dispensed by the State, bringing happiness to the whole +community."[359] + +The British national revenue amounts at present only to a little more +than _140,000,000l._ By the abolition of the private capitalists and +landowners the Socialist Government of Great Britain "would at once +find themselves in possession of a revenue amounting to some +_900,000,000l._ per annum, and would probably be puzzled for a time +how to dispose of it and prevent themselves being buried under its +accumulation."[360] This is neither a joke nor a misprint, for the +well-known writer, author of countless Socialist pamphlets, continues: +"After a variety of attempts to dispose of it by dividing into good +fat salaries among those of your community who had had least to do +with its production, after the usual custom, I believe means would be +employed ultimately for inducing them to keep it under by increasing +the wages of the workers, which is another way of saying that those +whose labour had produced the wealth would be allowed to enjoy it, +which would be something quite novel."[361] + +The Socialist Government would not only diminish the working hours +making them from three to five hours a day, but would also double and +treble wages, partly in order to get rid of the glut of money flowing +into the National Exchequer, partly because the workers would +presumably receive the whole produce of their labour (see Chapter IV.) +in the form of wages as soon as the private capitalists were +eliminated. Repairs, renewals, replacement of capital losses, and the +extension of national industry, which are at present effected out of +the savings of private capitalists, would, under the Socialist +_régime_, apparently no longer be required, and direction, +supervision, and distribution would apparently no longer cost +anything. The workers are quite seriously told by the philosopher of +British Socialism, collaborating with the editor of "Justice": "Under +present conditions the total wealth produced would, if equitably +divided, amount to a value equal to more than _200l._ per year per +family. But to suppose that any mere distributive readjustment is what +is meant by Socialism is to entirely misunderstand what Socialism +really involves. Socialism means the complete reorganisation of +production as well as distribution. With production scientifically and +socially organised, the productivity of labour would be quintupled, +and the amount of wealth would be increased in proportion."[362] In +other words, there would be _1,000l._ a year for each family. Another +Socialist more plainly states: "At the present hour it is calculated +that the wealth of the United Kingdom exceeds 2,000 millions per year. +This divided among forty millions gives _250l._ per family. It is said +that the abolition of waste labour and the absorption of the idle +classes would quadruple the production. One thousand pounds per year +per family is a very good standard of comfort under a co-operative +system of living."[363] + +The two estimates agree in this, that the Socialist family of five +should receive in wages _1,000l._ per annum, or about _3l. 10s._ per +working day. In another chapter we shall learn that in the Socialist +State only the young and strong would work, and they would work, as we +have seen in the foregoing pages, between three and four hours a day. +In other words, the worker who earns now, say, _10d._ an hour, would, +under the Socialist commonwealth, receive _1l._ per hour. Who would +not be a Socialist? + +A leading German Socialist has endeavoured to gauge the effect of +Socialism upon the working classes. In making his calculations he has +borne in mind the necessity of providing for the wear and tear of +capital, and for other expenditure, and he has arrived at the +conclusion: "A generous sick insurance will have to be set up, as well +as an invalid and old-age insurance for all incapacitated workers, &c. +Thus we see that not much will remain for the raising of the wages +from the present income of the capitalists, even if capital were +confiscated at a stroke, still less if we were to compensate the +capitalists. It will consequently be necessary, in order to be able to +raise the wages, to raise at the same time the production far above +its present level."[364] + +The value of high wages lies in the produce they buy. It is of course +quite clear that a nation, in order to consume more, must also produce +more. It would be interesting to know whether leading Socialists, such +as Messrs. Bax, Quelch, and Hazell, who must be acquainted with the +sober estimates of the German Socialists, honestly believe that under +a Socialist _régime_ _1,000l._ per annum will be available per family, +or whether these statements have only been made to obtain supporters +on the not very honourable principle, _Vulgus vult decipi, +decipiatur_. + +Let us now look into the practical proposals of the Socialists to the +workers. + +In the official programme of the Social-Democratic Federation[365] the +following "Immediate Reforms" concerning the workers are demanded: + +"A legislative eight hours' working day, or forty-eight hours per +week, to be the maximum for all trades and industries. Imprisonment to +be inflicted on employers for any infringement of the law. Absolute +freedom of combination for all workers, with legal guarantee against +any action, private or public, which tends to curtail or infringe it. +No child to be employed in any trade or occupation until sixteen years +of age, and imprisonment to be inflicted on employers, parents, and +guardians who infringe this law. Public provision of useful work at +not less than trade-union rates of wages for the unemployed. Free +State insurance against sickness and accident, and free and adequate +State pensions or provision for aged and disabled workers. Public +assistance not to entail any forfeiture of political rights. The +legislative enactment of a minimum wage of _30s._ for all workers. +Equal pay for both sexes for the performance of equal work." + +It will be noticed that imprisonment is to be inflicted upon employers +who allow their men to work overtime. Would there also be +imprisonment for workers working undertime? Similar demands have been +made by other Socialist bodies. Let us look more closely into some of +those demands which are to be fulfilled forthwith. + + +OLD-AGE PENSIONS + +With the same recklessness with which the Socialist leaders promise to +the working man a large income in return for three or four hours' +daily work in the golden age of Socialism, they try to dazzle him with +promises of wonderful old-age pension schemes which are to be carried +out in the immediate future. Mr. Smart thinks "The smallest sum upon +which an old man can exist, even when his lodging is provided by his +friends, is _7s._ a week. The pension, therefore, should not be less +than this amount, and should be obtainable at sixty years of age. The +annual cost for a universal system would be, with the necessary +administrative expenses, about _60,000,000l._"[366] To Councillor +Glyde the pensionable age of sixty seems to be too high, and the +pension too low. Therefore he proposes that "Old-age pensions of at +least _7s. 6d._ per week should be provided for all aged workers over +fifty-five years of age."[367] But why should a working man have to +wait till he is fifty-five before receiving a pension? In another +pamphlet, Mr. Glyde amends his scheme and tells us, "To give a pension +of _7s. 6d._ per week to all who wished to give up work at fifty years +of age would have very satisfactory results. In the first place, it +would make the aged workers happy and comfortable. In the second +place, it would help to solve the unemployed question by the steady +withdrawal of the aged workmen from the labour market, give them +purchasing power, and thus find a home market for the productivity of +the younger, able-bodied workers. Thirdly, it would prevent the +competition for jobs, and the playing off against the younger workmen +by the employers of the cheaper-paid labour of those who cannot as +they formerly could, so that there would be less strikes, reduction in +wages, and petty tyranny practised upon the younger generation of +workers. Fourthly, it would cause the abolition of workhouses, with +their great army of expensive, well-paid officials. There would be no +need for workhouses, because cottage homes would be provided for those +who were infirm and feeble, on the lines of the present homes for +children; an infirmary for those who were sick and invalids, and +asylums for the imbecile. Thousands would be cared for by relatives +and friends. Fifthly, by Imperial funds being used for old-age +pensions, the Poor rate could be reduced from _6d._ to _1s._ in the +pound. These reforms could be carried out without a single farthing +extra taxation, nor anyone being any worse off than formerly, by the +practice of economy."[368] To pension all workers at fifty would cost +about _100,000,000l._ a year, and I think it would be very difficult +to save that amount on a budget of _140,000,000l._ unless army, navy, +and civil service were abolished. Mr. Morrison Davidson is neither +satisfied with a pension of _7s. 6d._ a week nor with the pensionable +ages of sixty, fifty-five, or even of fifty. He proposes, therefore, +that "Superannuation _on full pay_ will take place at, say, forty-five +or, at the most, fifty."[369] + + +UNEMPLOYMENT + +In the Socialist State of the future there would be no unemployed +workers. Many Socialist writers make forecasts such as the following: +"Under Socialism all the work of the nation would be organised--that +is to say, it would be 'ordered,' or 'arranged,' so that no one need +be out of work and so that no useless work need be done, and so that +no work need be done twice where once would serve."[370] "There would +be a mathematical ordering of production determined by the demands of +the consumer."[371] "Periods of glut and want of work will be +impossible in the new community."[372] + +It is already difficult enough even for the ablest manager to secure +constant employment to workers in a moderate-sized manufactory, shop, +or office. A Socialist Administration composed of fallible men would +have to control and satisfy the whole national demand and supply. It +would have to sow and to reap, to dig for coal and ore, to fish, to +manufacture and to distribute everything wanted and made by all the +people. At the same time it would have to control the vast +international trade on the regular flow of which constant employment +in Great Britain necessarily depends. To satisfy every demand by an +adequate supply, it would therefore have to direct and control not +only all British industries, but also the fashions and the seasons in +Great Britain and in all the countries which stand in commercial +relations with the United Kingdom. The British Socialist +Administration would not only have to provide a sufficient cotton crop +in the United States, a sufficient wool crop in Australia, a +sufficient wheat crop in Canada, but it would also have to provide an +adequate demand for British cotton goods in India and China, for +British coal on the continent of Europe, &c. It would have to provide +sufficient sun in America to produce an adequate cotton crop and +sufficient rain in India to enable the natives to buy part of that +cotton crop in the shape of manufactured articles made in Lancashire. +Unless the Socialist Administration controls not only all foreign +tariffs but also Nature the world over, there might be unemployment in +a socialised Great Britain--and worse. + +The doctrines of English Socialism may be summed up in a single +phrase. Every existing evil is due solely to the capitalistic system, +and every existing evil can be abolished only by Socialism. +Unemployment is no exception to the rule. Our Socialists have, for +reasons which will presently be given, concentrated much energy upon +convincing the working masses that unemployment is due solely to +private property in land and capital. The Social-Democratic Federation +has shown that "The existence of an unemployed class is an essential +characteristic of the capitalist system."[373] The Fabian Society in +congress assembled has registered the declaration: "That the existence +of a class of unemployed willing but unable to find work is a +necessary result of the present industrial system, in which every +improvement in machinery throws fresh masses of men out of work" +[would improved machinery not have the same effect in the Socialist +commonwealth?] "and the competition of capitalists for the market +produces recurring commercial crises; that, consequently, unemployment +can only be abolished with the complete abolition of the competitive +system, and can only be limited in proportion as order and regulation +are introduced into the present competitive confusion."[374] Yet the +same Fabian Society frankly admits in another pamphlet that "No plan +has yet been devised by which the fluctuations of work could be +entirely prevented, or safe and profitable employment found for those +rendered idle by no fault of their own. It is easy enough to demand +something should be done, and I entirely agree with agitating the +subject; but something more than agitation is required. It is of no +use urging remedies which can be demonstrably proved to be worse for +the patient than the disease itself. I fear that if we were given full +power to-morrow to deal with the unemployed all over England, we +should find ourselves hard put to it how to solve the problem."[375] +At the last Conference (1907) of the Social-Democratic Federation the +resolution was moved, "That this Conference reasserts its statement +that unemployment is due to the private ownership of land and +capital."[376] + +The emphatic statements contained in the foregoing declarations that +unemployment is due to the private ownership of land and capital are +absurd. If the private ownership of land and capital were the cause of +unemployment, unemployment should be almost equally great in all +civilised countries, because in all civilised countries land and +capital are in private hands. Whilst in Great Britain unemployment is +a fearful and permanent evil, it has been practically unknown during a +long time in Germany, where there has been for many years so great a +scarcity of labour that immigration is greater than emigration.[377] +Whilst in capitalist Great Britain employment is so bad that from +200,000 to 300,000 people have to emigrate every year, employment in +capitalist Germany has been excellent, and in the capitalist United +States it has been so good that they have absorbed during a number of +years almost 1,000,000 immigrants per year. These facts prove that +private ownership of land and capital and over-production have nothing +to do with unemployment, which is, as a rule, due not to +over-production but to ill-balanced production, as has been proved on +page 70 of this book. In the case of a country such as Great Britain, +unemployment is due principally to the insufficiency and insecurity of +her markets for her manufactured goods and to the decay of her +agriculture. + +The various Socialist organisations have so constantly preached the +doctrine that unemployment is due to the private ownership of land and +capital that the Trade Unions have at last come to believe it. Owing +to Socialist inspiration, the Trade Union Congresses have passed +resolutions in favour of the nationalisation of land and of the other +means of production at most of the meetings since 1888, and a +Socialist weekly has been able to assert that "Every member of the +Socialist Labour Party, either by Trade Union Congresses or by +Independent Labour Party programme, is committed to the +nationalisation of land and the instruments of production."[378] To +the delight of the Socialists, resolutions of the Trade Unions urging +the nationalisation of all land and capital are becoming more and more +emphatic. In the "Social Democrat" for October 1907 we read, under the +heading "Trade Unionists and Unemployment," the following: "The +resolution on unemployment passed at the Bath Trade Union Congress +shows that the Trade Unionists are falling into line with Social +Democrats on this question, and that they are beginning to see that +Trade Unionism alone is no solution for this evil. After referring to +the failure of the Unemployed Workmen Act, and the niggardly manner of +doling out the grant of _200,000l._, the resolution goes on to say +that 'This Congress, recognising that unemployment is now permanent in +character in busy as in slack seasons, in summer and in winter, and is +common to all trades and industries; also that this is due to industry +being unorganised and carried on for private profit and is bound to +continue, and indeed become more accentuated as the development of +machinery and other wage-saving methods proceeds, calls the attention +of the Government to its neglect of the interests of the people in not +grappling with this social evil, and urges it to at once embark upon +work of public utility with the object of (a) absorbing the present +unemployed labour, (b) laying the foundation for a permanent +reorganisation of industry upon a co-operative basis.'"[379] + +The Socialists have been anxious to convince the workers that +unemployment is due to the private ownership of land and capital, and +that all unemployed should be relieved by the State because "A really +adequate system of helping the unemployed will completely alter the +relation of power between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. It will +make the proletariat masters in the factory. If the workers sell +themselves to-day to the employer, if they allow themselves to be +exploited and oppressed, it is the ghost of unemployment, the whip of +hunger, which compels them to it. If, on the other hand, the worker is +secure in his existence, even when not in work, then nothing is easier +to him than to disable the capitalist. He no longer requires the +capitalist, while the latter cannot conduct his business without him. +When the matter has gone so far as that every employer, whenever a +dispute breaks out, will get the worst of it and be forced to yield, +the capitalists may certainly continue to be managers of the +factories, but they will cease to be their masters and exploiters. But +in that case the capitalists will recognise that they only carry the +burdens and risks of the undertakings without receiving any advantage, +and will be the first to give up capitalist production and insist on +being bought out."[380] "The right to work is a charter of industrial +freedom, the emancipation of labour from capitalist tyranny. Till it +is obtained there can be neither social nor moral progress. When it is +obtained all other things become possible."[381] + +The British Labour Party has drafted a Bill which, asserting the right +to work, makes provision of work for the unemployed compulsory and +enables the local authorities compulsorily to acquire land with a view +of setting the unemployed to work.[382] The Annual Conference of the +Independent Labour Party of 1907, going a step further, demanded the +erection of a national department for creating work and giving a +living wage to the unemployed. It resolved: + +"This Conference welcomes the news that a Bill to secure the right to +work is to be introduced into Parliament by the Labour party, +expresses the hope that every effort will be made to secure its +passing into law, and declares in favour of the establishment of a +properly equipped and financed national department for dealing with +the whole problem of unemployment on the basis of putting useful work +at a living wage within the reach of every worker, and of training +such as require to be taught in husbandry, and other forms of work +upon the land."[383] + +There is a great danger in these proposals.[384] Creating work for the +unemployed may not cure, but may aggravate, the disease which springs +not from private property in land and capital, but from an +insufficient outlet for British manufactures. If the disease is +wrongly treated, the unemployed may become an incubus which will +cripple both workers and capitalists. + +A champion of the policy of _laisser faire_ argues: "The State cannot +make work, if by work is meant the doing of something that somebody +wants done. It is of course true that the State can take on new +functions, and do more of the work that is now left to private +enterprise. But that would not make additional employment; it would +only transfer employment from one set of men to another. When the +State or the municipality, instead of seeking to do the thing that is +wanted in the most economical and most efficient manner, deliberately +picks out the least competent workmen and sets them to work on things +that are not wanted, no new wealth is created, and the previous +creation of wealth is diminished, because the taxpayer has been +deprived of the means of employing as many persons as he would have +employed. Artificial jobs may be created for the unemployed, who will +be perfectly conscious that these jobs are artificial, and thus the +independent and self-respecting workman will be arbitrarily deprived +of his job. It cannot be too often repeated that the so-called 'right +to work,' on which Socialists are fond of insisting, means in practice +the right to deprive another man of his job."[385] These arguments are +fallacious. There is work such as the reclamation of the foreshore, +draining of bogs, constructing canals, planting of forests, &c., which +are, as general experience shows, rather the province of the community +than of the private individual. Unemployment may be relieved by the +State and the local authorities if discretion be used. Proposals to +create work of this kind for the genuine unemployed, and to provide +compulsory labour for idlers and loafers, have been advanced by many +Socialists and non-Socialists, and these proposals are worth +considering and adopting. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[341] Bax, _Religion of Socialism_, p. 94. + +[342] Lafargue, _Right to Leisure_, p. 11. + +[343] _The Socialist_, October 1907. + +[344] Leatham, _The Evolution of the Fourth Estate_, p. 13. + +[345] _Fabian Essays in Socialism_, p. 145, + +[346] _Are you a Socialist?_ p. 1. + +[347] Washington, _A Nation of Slaves_, p. 5. + +[348] Gronlund, _Co-operative Commonwealth_, p. 170. + +[349] Morris, _A Factory as it Might Be_, p. 10. + +[350] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 170. + +[351] Hyndman, _Socialism and Slavery_, p. 10. + +[352] Bax, _Religion of Socialism_, p. 58. + +[353] Guyot, _Pretensions of Socialism_, p. 9. + +[354] Kropotkin, _Conquęte du Pain_, p. 239. + +[355] _Socialism Made Plain_, p. 11. + +[356] Snowden, _The Individual under Socialism_, p. 10. + +[357] _Fabian Essays in Socialism_, p. 159. + +[358] Jaurčs, _Practical Socialism_, p. 6. + +[359] _Socialism, For and Against_, p. 11. + +[360] Washington, _Milk and Postage Stamps_, p. 5. + +[361] _Ibid._ p. 5. + +[362] Bax and Quelch, _A New Catechism of Socialism_, p. 17. + +[363] A.P. Hazell, _Summary of Marx's "Capital,"_ p. 17. + +[364] Kautsky, _The Social Revolution_, p. 18. + +[365] See Appendix. + +[366] Smart, _Socialism and the Budget_, p. 12. + +[367] Councillor Glyde, _A Peep Behind the Scenes on a Board of +Guardians_, p. 27. + +[368] Councillor Glyde, _Britain's Disgrace_, pp. 31, 32. + +[369] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 170. + +[370] Robert Blatchford, _Real Socialism_, p. 13. + +[371] Ben Tillett, _Trades Unionism and Socialism_, p. 12. + +[372] Bebel, _Woman_, p. 192. + +[373] Quelch, _The Social-Democratic Federation_, p. 5. + +[374] _Report on Fabian Policy and Resolutions_, p. 11. + +[375] Webb, _Socialism True and False_, pp. 8, 9. + +[376] _Report of 21th Annual Conference, 1907, Social-Democratic +Federation_, p. 17. + +[377] Ellis Barker, _Modern Germany_, p. 546. + +[378] _New Age_, November 30, 1907. + +[379] _Social Democrat_, October 1907, p. 580. + +[380] Kautsky, _The Social Revolution_, p. 6. + +[381] Russell Smart, _The Right to Work_, p. 15. + +[382] A Bill to Provide Work through Public Authorities for Unemployed +Persons. + +[383] _Independent Labour Party Report, Annual Conference, 1907_, p. +54. + +[384] See Thorold Rogers, _Work and Wages_, p. 557. + +[385] Cox, _Socialism_, pp. 37, 39, 40. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE ATTITUDE OF SOCIALISTS TOWARDS TRADE UNIONISTS AND CO-OPERATORS + + +The British Socialists have during many years attacked and denounced +the Trade Unionists and the Co-operators, firstly, because the trade +unionists and co-operators are "capitalists," and therefore traitors +to the Socialist cause; secondly, because Socialism unconditionally +condemns providence and thrift among the working men, as will be seen +in Chapter XXIII. + +Although the Socialists pretend that they denounce co-operation and +thrift, and even abstinence from alcoholic drink, on economic and +scientific grounds, their real reasons are political. Socialism can +flourish only if the masses are dissatisfied. The Socialists are +therefore little interested in improving the position of the worker, +but very greatly in increasing his poverty, unhappiness, and +discontent. Socialism is revolutionary, and the Socialists know that +people who are well off are not revolutionists. For tactical reasons, +therefore, the Socialists oppose and denounce thrift, co-operation, +and abstinence, qualities which are found pre-eminently in +co-operators and trade unionists. + +The trade unionists, the aristocracy of British labour, are too +conservative, too temperate, too cautious, too prosperous, and too +little revolutionary for the taste of Socialists. The Socialists +complain: "The British trade union suffers from three fatal defects: +(1) It is anti-revolutionary. It disavows the fact of the class +struggle. It accepts the capitalist system as a permanency. The rules +and constitutions of many unions explicitly refer to the 'just rights +of the employer,' and those who do not set forth any such statement +openly, admit it in actual practice. The capitalist class, as voiced +by the capitalist press, recognise in these unions the bulwark of +present-day society against the advance of Socialism. (2) The British +trade union method of organisation is a complete negation of the +solidarity of labour. Each trade or section of a trade has its own +particular and autonomous organisation. Even trades which are most +closely connected are divided into separate unions, each union +ignoring the interest of the rest, making its own special contracts +with the capitalists, and assisting them by remaining at work when +their fellow-workers in a kindred trade are on strike. The most +noteworthy example of this form of inter-trade treachery was offered +in the case of the engineers' strike of 1897-8, when the Boilermakers' +Society by remaining at work were the means of defeating the +Amalgamated Society of Engineers and of forcing them to return to work +on the masters' terms. (3) The British trade union refuses to admit to +its ranks those teeming millions of workers whom it terms +'unskilled.'"[386] + +Other Socialists complain: "Trade unionism recognises the present +system of society, justifies capitalism, and defends wage-slavery, and +only seeks to soften the tyranny of the one and assuage the evils of +the other. Social Democracy aims at destroying the whole system."[387] +"We are never allowed to forget the splendid incomes earned by these +aristocrats of labour, a mere tenth of the whole labour class. The +trade unionist can usually only raise himself on the bodies of his +less fortunate comrades."[388] "The old-fashioned policy of the +English trade unions has made them _guilds of privileged_, rather +than fighting representatives of their class."[389] + +Similar complaints are raised against the co-operators. "Co-operation, +though regarded by the individual trader as an enemy, does not +necessarily enter into conflict with the capitalist at all. Indeed, so +far as it transforms workmen into shareholders, it forms a bulwark for +capitalism, the same as the creation of small landholders or any other +class of small proprietors would do."[390] "At present the +co-operative societies in England are very apathetic with regard to +political affairs."[391] "In spite of abstract resolutions, our trade +unionists are devoted to the wages system; still our co-operators +yearn after dividends; still the mass of our producers admire the men +who rise upon their shoulders to place and pay. The twin curses of +democracy, slavishness and jealousy, are curiously blended in their +views of social and political life. They envy capacity; they bow down +before successful blackguardism."[392] + +Some Socialists have called for the unification of all the trades +unions, arguing "Union has failed to adapt itself to changed +conditions. Just as budding industrial development called into being +the shop union, and further industrial expansion meant development of +the union to the local and then the national organisation, so the +exigencies of our time demand a working-class union--one union, not +eleven hundred, as now."[393] Others have bespattered the unions with +insults, and some do so still. A very violent Socialist organ recently +wrote: "Our trade union leaders are not so corrupt as those of +America? Are they not? As a matter of fact, the corruption is tenfold +greater. The difference is that here it is legalised and respectable. +In America the corruption takes the form of a wad of dollar notes +pushed into the fakir's hands in a dark corner. In this country our +trade union leaders are openly corrupted in the face of day by +positions on conciliation boards, Justiceships of the Peace, Cabinet +positions" [this is a hit at Mr. John Burns], "and well-paid jobs in +the Labour Department of the Board of Trade. Are Shackleton, Bell, and +Barnes honester men than Gompers, Mitchell, and Tobin? As Dr. Johnson +very coarsely expressed it: 'It is difficult to settle the question of +precedence between a bug and a louse.'"[394] + +To the more far-sighted Socialists the folly of attacking the powerful +trade unions, with their 2,000,000 members, was perfectly clear. One +of the Socialist leaders wrote: "Of all the blind, fatuous policies in +the world, that of decrying trades unionism by professing Socialists +is about the worst; and the next worst thing is the trades unionist +abusing Socialism."[395] Some Socialists recommended changing the +policy of denunciation for a wiser one: "We have to _convert_ the +trade unions, not to _antagonise_ them"[396]; and their conversion was +thought to be all the more easy because, to quote Ben Tillett, "The +whole of the trades union movement has been tinged with Socialism; +unconsciously the guides of the working classes have always marched +towards the goal of Socialism."[397] + +With this object in view the trade unionists were urged to reform +their tactics, to abandon the economic struggle in the form of +strikes, and to enter upon the more efficacious political struggle +with the employers of labour in the House of Commons. "To go on +following the old beaten paths of trade unionism is simply to go on +exhausting the possibilities of error for an indefinite period. If the +new unions are simply to play the part of regulators of wages, as +trade and prices rise and fall, they will be of very slight advantage +to the workers compared with what they might accomplish if they took a +broader view of their opportunities and their duties. What they have +to do, and that now, is to use the power which organisation gives them +to get control of the political machinery of the country and use it +for the advancement of their class. By this means they could, if they +chose, achieve as much in a year or two as would be gained in a +century by the old methods of trade agitation and strikes."[398] "If +the Labour party had a tithe of the money that the unions have spent +upon getting thrashed and starved and defrauded, it would be a party +to wonder at and be proud of. The miners of Yorkshire have spent +_212,000l._ on six strikes--all of which have been lost. Do you call +this industrial warfare? Insanity and suicide--that is what it is. The +engineers spent three-quarters of a million on the great lock-out. +That is a sum in itself, the ransom of all the workers from the bonds +of wage-slavery. What can the engineers show for their money to-day? +Ask them! We could capture the British Parliament with that sum _plus_ +a little brains and courage."[399] The Fabian Society has issued +numerous pamphlets in which it has shown how the position of the +workers might be improved, and in these it has at every opportunity +urged upon every worker to join a union, and has urged upon the trade +unions to better the position of the workers by relying upon political +action.[400] + +In pursuance of this policy the railway employees were told by the +Socialists, when the difference between the British railway companies +and their workers had been arranged: "You men must cling tight to the +union and keep fostering the discontent of your fellows, not only with +the sectional wrongs which affect you personally, but with the brutal +system of competition of which your own wrongs are but one fractional +consequence. Stick to the Labour party. You have two representatives +in Parliament. Run some more. You need not bother now to build up a +strike fund. Spend the money in politics. The more men you get in the +House, the better chance you will have of convincing a Government +arbitrator of the justice of your claims."[401] + +Wishing to secure the support of the trade unionists and the +co-operators, the Socialists began to preach that there was no +antagonism between Socialists, trade unionists, and co-operators, and +to stretch out a hand towards them. "Socialist influence makes its way +in the union. The trade unions generally must sooner or later +become--they already in some instances are to-day--part and parcel of +the working-class Socialist movement, or must cease to exist as class +organisations. Co-operation is in its inception Socialist. That is to +say, that all co-operation implies co-operative effort and social +union."[402] Another Socialist writer said: "I am sorry that some +Socialists used to cry down the co-operative movement. I know it has +some serious defects, but it has taught the workers of this country +what they can do when they choose. If any power could induce trade +unionists, co-operators, and Socialists to unite, a co-operative +commonwealth would be flourishing in this country before the rich and +educated classes had rubbed open their drowsy eyes."[403] + +The recommendations which the Socialists addressed to the trade +unionists to increase their political power, and to improve their +economic position by the use of their political power, became louder +and louder. They were told that the capitalists were the enemies of +both trade unionists and Socialists, and that co-operation would be of +the greatest benefit to both bodies. The Socialist group of the London +Society of Compositors, for instance, argued: + +"It is unfortunate that after some dozen years or more of Socialist +propaganda there should still be considerable bitterness existing +between trade unionists and Socialists. The cause of the unpopularity +of the Socialists was not due to any desire on their part to irritate +trade unionists, but arose out of the stupid prejudices of the +spokesmen and leaders of the trade unionists themselves. Socialists +are staunch trade unionists. The New trade unionism is evidence of +this, for Socialists are responsible for calling it into existence. +The movement which is now gaining ground in favour of federation among +trade unionists generally, is one of Socialist origin. Trade unionists +look solely to unionism to maintain their miserable standard of +living, ignorant of the economic laws working against them. Socialists +accept unionism as only one method to maintain their present standard +of comfort. + +"Both Socialists and trade unionists have a common enemy, a common +want, and a common economic force which continually and relentlessly +drives them in one direction. Both are driven to defend attacks +against their standard of living by the capitalist, and the one point +of agreement between Socialists and trade unionists, therefore, is +that they both desire to maintain and increase their present standard +of living. Trade unionists enter a union to resist the exactions of +the capitalists, and to baulk attempts on their part to reduce wages. +Socialists enter a union for precisely the same reason. If they would +view Parliamentary action from the standpoint of the collective +welfare of the people, they would soon realise its far-reaching +effects. A legal forty-eight hour working week, for instance, would +bring benefit to all and raise the standard of all by giving more +leisure; thereby affording workers an opportunity of obtaining fresh +air and following artistic and intellectual pursuits. + +"One of the strongest agents which work in favour of the capitalists +is the necessity of the workers to find food and clothing for their +families. This evil can be met by the State proposal which is now +making such headway in England--namely, Free Maintenance for Children. +The old-fashioned prejudices, fostered by the capitalists and their +hangers-on, that it is degrading to accept anything from the State, is +fast dying out in the face of free education, free libraries, free +maintenance for all sickened with infectious fevers. Free maintenance +for children would be a tax on that surplus wealth which the +capitalists and the aristocracy share between them. To the worker, +free maintenance for his children would be equivalent to an additional +income. His standard of living would rise. No doubt the capitalist +would reduce his wages as much as possible, but the worker would then +be able to fight him on more equal terms. His children being well +cared for, he would be able to hold out against the capitalist for an +indefinite period. + +"The Housing Question is also worthy of attention. Trade unionism +should require the State to erect buildings to be let at a sum which +would cover cost of construction and maintenance alone. This would +give them a stationary rent, and when locked out by their employers, +they, as unemployed workers, would not be so liable to be turned into +the street. + +"The workers, unconscious of economic development, unfortunately side +with one political party or the other, not seeing that the one must +inevitably be as antagonistic to their interests as the other. Tory +and Liberal politically represent two classes, who divide the spoils +between them. One is connected by tradition with the soil, the other +with commerce. When they have a quarrel, it is as between kites and +crows for the possession of prey. To assert that a Tory is better than +a Liberal, or a Liberal better than a Tory, is like affirming that one +exploiter is less a thief than another. Until trade unionists form +themselves into an independent party, there can politically be no +common agreement between them and Socialists, because, while they +support the capitalist class they are placing power into the hands of +the exploiting class, who is the common enemy. Co-operation between +Socialists and trade unionists should be adopted whenever possible, +and, when occasion offers, an alliance should be entered into for +common purposes. In America a large section of trade unionists have +already recognised that the class war is inevitable under the present +system of exploitation, and they have entered into an active alliance +with the Socialist party. It is to be hoped that the trade unions of +Great Britain will ere long see their way to follow the example set by +their American brethren in the United States."[404] + +Another writer urged: "Is it not time that we combined and strove for +something higher, wider, and more far-reaching? Let the trade unionists +unite, combine, federate; not for constantly squabbling with the +capitalist over the spoil which the workers alone create, but to secure +for the latter, organised, the control of their own tools and raw +materials--of the mines, the railways, the factories, the shipping, the +land--of all those things which only have value through their labour. +Let the co-operators co-operate with each other, with trade unionists, +and Social Democrats for the same object. Let us all agitate, educate, +and organise to form the workers of the world into a gigantic Trade +Union, an International Co-operation, a Social-Democratic +Commonwealth."[405] + +Since the time when these words were written attempts have constantly +been made by the Socialists to co-operate with the unionists, and, at +least outwardly, their relations have become intimate. Many Socialists +have high hopes for a united Socialist Labour party. At a recent +conference of the Social-Democratic Federation the chairman declared, +in his opening address: "There can be but one Independent Labour +Party, and there ought to be a united Socialist party. Not many years +will pass before the new Labour party will join the Socialist +movement, but in the meantime everything seems ripening for a united +Socialist party, consolidating both forces and funds, preventing +overlapping and removing friction. Never were the times so favourable +to Socialism. In spite of the boycott, the misrepresentation, the +influence of the temporal powers against us, the word Socialism is no +longer unknown or feared. In the workshop, the mine, the train, or the +tram, men are eagerly discussing Socialism. The workers need grumble +of their chains no longer; they can fling them off at will; for they, +and they alone, hold the keys of freedom. This poor blind Samson is +waking up and groping his way; Socialists must be ready to lead +him."[406] + +Socialism has of late years strongly permeated the unions. Will it +succeed in capturing them? The Socialists are very optimistic on that +point. "The outlook is full of promise for the political Labour +movement. It only requires the adoption of a candidate by the united +local societies to turn every trade union institute or office, miners' +lodge and branch meeting-room into a committee-room, and when the call +is made by the Parliamentary group there will be plenty of voluntary +workers. The great fact stands out prominently: Labour is moving; and +that fact points to stirring times and a new phase in the history of +the nation."[407] + +The character of the trade unions has undoubtedly been greatly changed +through Socialist agitation. The trade unionist has almost ceased to +be an individualist. "The modern trade unionist is out for a political +revolution. He has dismissed, as an obsolete absurdity, the idea of +paying for his benefits, pensions, sick-pay, unemployed relief, out of +his union subscriptions. He intends to combine with his fellows of all +trades in a demand for Parliamentary legislation which will provide +these benefits out of national funds, mainly by way of a graduated +income-tax. So he demands old-age pensions and an Unemployed Act. He +has given up the tedious task of bargaining with his master for higher +wages and shorter hours; he intends to compel him by the more drastic +method of an eight-hour day and a minimum wage and State Arbitration +Act."[408] There is much truth in this description. As the real nature +of the relations between the trades unions and the Socialists is known +to only a few, the following documents should be of great interest:-- + +"In consequence of a decision of the International Socialist Bureau +(June 9, 1907), its secretary sent a circular to the affiliated +parties in order to obtain from them official notes on the relations +between the political Parties and trade unions of their country, and +he received the following replies from the Social-Democratic +Federation, the Labour party, and the Independent Labour Party:-- + +"'Although from its formation in March 1881 the Social-Democratic +Federation has strongly opposed the abstention of the older trade +unions from politics, and has still more strongly objected to the very +close alliance which some of its leading members have made with the +capitalist Liberal party, resulting in high office and even Cabinet +rank'" [another hit at Mr. John Burns] "'for those who have thus +deliberately betrayed the interests of their fellows and supporters of +the working class; nevertheless, we have never at any time failed to +help in every way possible, personally and pecuniarily, every strike +which has taken place since 1881 (even in spite of our doubting the +value of the mere strike as a weapon against organised capitalism), +and our organisation has invariably agitated in favour of every +Parliamentary measure accepted by the trade unions which could at all +help the trade unionists and the workers at large. Our relations with +the trade unions may therefore be described as friendly whenever they +take action against capitalism, and appreciative of their increasing +tendency towards Socialism. We always recommend all workers to join +the trade union of their trade. No Socialist propaganda is officially +carried on by the trade unions, but as quite 75 per cent. of the +members of the Social-Democratic Federation are also trade unionists +in their respective trades, by their agency Socialist thought is +steadily permeating the ranks of trade unionism. As also the older +leaders, brought up entirely in the bourgeois school of thought and +action, die or are superannuated, there can be no doubt whatever that +they will be succeeded by Socialists, and in fact they are being so +replaced at the present time. Trade union Socialist leaders, of +course, will then use the trade union organisation to spread +Socialism. So far as they have been elected to executive office, they +do this even now.--H.W. LEE, Secretary.' + +"'The Labour party is a federation of Socialist societies and trade +union organisations. Trade unions are directly affiliated, their +membership forming, together with the membership of the Socialist +organisations, the membership of the Labour party. In some cases +Socialist propaganda is conducted by the trade unions, several of them +embracing the Socialist basis in their rules.--J.S. MIDDLETON, for J. +RAMSAY MACDONALD.' + +"'The Independent Labour Party is affiliated to the Labour party, +which is a federation of trade unions, co-operative societies, and +Socialist societies, for political action. The Independent Labour +Party consists of individual members, and not of federated +organisations. Our membership is only open to Socialists individually. +Our association with the trade unions comes through the Labour party, +with which both we and they are affiliated. The trade unions of Great +Britain do not carry on any specific Socialist propaganda among their +members, although several of the unions state in their constitution +that they believe in Socialism. Many Socialist speeches are made from +trade union platforms and demonstrations held under the auspices of +trade unions.--FRANCIS JOHNSON, Secretary.'"[409] + +The foregoing three letters are most interesting and most important, +and they should be carefully read because they prove that the forces +of trade unionism and Socialism are commingling, and that the trade +unionists may reckon upon the support of the Socialists whenever they +come into conflict with capitalists. Although in constructive policy +Socialism and trade unionism are as yet things apart, they possess a +common working basis as soon as trouble occurs between capital and +labour. + +To increase the intimacy between them and the representatives of +labour pure and simple, and to accustom them to co-operation, the +Socialist cannot do anything better than to cause conflicts to arise +between capital and labour. Therefore it is only natural that the +Socialists will urge the trade unionists to make great, and ever +greater, demands upon capital; that every concession will only be +considered as a stepping-stone to a further concession. Every conflict +between capital and labour, everything that will increase the +dissatisfaction of the workers, will serve the Socialists, because it +will cause the workers to believe in the doctrine of the Iron Law of +Wages, in the Law of Increasing Misery, and in the promised Socialist +paradise. Therefore the Socialists will do all they can to embitter +the relations between capital and labour, and to bring about strikes. +For instance, at the time when, in the autumn of 1907, the differences +between the British railway companies and the men were acute, +practically the whole Socialist press urged the railway servants to +declare a strike, and the settlement of the difficulty by Mr. Lloyd +George was greeted with derision and regret. Mr. Bell, who had +accepted the settlement, was treated with contempt, and the result of +the Railway Conference was declared to be the Sedan of the British +trade union movement.[410] + +Owing to the persistent agitation of the Socialists, the trade unions +are becoming permeated with Socialism. Of late years there have been +few great strikes in Great Britain, but, unless the relations between +Socialists and trade unionists alter, it seems likely that great and +violent industrial disputes will occur in the near future. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[386] _S.L.P. Bulletin No. 2, 1907._ + +[387] Quelch, _Trade Unionism_, p. 10. + +[388] _English Progress towards Social Democracy_, p. 8. + +[389] _S.L.P. Bulletin No. 1, May 1907._ + +[390] Quelch, _Trade Unionism_, p. 16. + +[391] John Penny, _The Political Labour Movement_, p. 10. + +[392] Hyndman, _Darkness and Dawn of May Day, 1907_, p. 2. + +[393] J. O'Connor Kessack, _The Capitalist Wilderness and the Way +Out_, p. 15. + +[394] _S.L.P. Bulletin No. 2._ + +[395] Ben Tillett, _Trades Unionism and Socialism_, p. 1. + +[396] Quelch in _The Socialist_, November 1907. + +[397] Ben Tillett, _Trades Unionism and Socialism_, p. 14. + +[398] Quelch, _Trade Unionism_, p. 13. + +[399] _Clarion_, November 29, 1907. + +[400] _The Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906, What it Means and How to +Make Use of it_; _How Trade Unions Benefit Workmen_; _Eight Hours by +Law: A Practical Solution_; _Cottage Plans and Common Sense_; _Houses +for the People_; _The Case for a Legal Minimum Wage_. + +[401] _Clarion_, November 15, 1907. + +[402] Bax and Quelch, _A New Catechism of Socialism_, p. 40. + +[403] Dennis Hird, _From Brute to Brother_, p. 14. + +[404] _Socialism and Trade Unionism: Wherein do they Differ?_ pp. 2-8. + +[405] Quelch, _Trade Unionism_, p. 16. + +[406] Opening Address, Chairman Hartley at Annual Conference, +_Social-Democratic Federation Annual Report, 1906_, pp. 3, 4. + +[407] John Penny, _The Political Labour Movement_, p. 15. + +[408] _New Age_, November 30, 1907. + +[409] _Social Democrat_, September 1907, pp. 548, 549. + +[410] See the _Labour Leader_, _Clarion_, _Justice_, _Socialist +Standard_, _Socialist_, &c., for November 1907. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +SOCIALIST VIEWS AND PROPOSALS REGARDING LAND AND THE LANDLORDS + + +British Socialists, as we have learned in Chapter IV.,[411] adopting +the celebrated formula of Proudhon, have proclaimed "Property is +theft," and they are of opinion that property in land is a +particularly heinous form of theft. Therefore they demand the +restitution of the land to the people, not as a matter of expediency +but as a matter of right. "Man has a right only to what his labour +makes. No man 'makes' the land."[412] "Land is the gift of Nature. It +is not made by man. Now, if a man has a right to nothing but that +which he has himself made, no man can have a right to the land, for no +man made it."[413] "The land belongs by inalienable right not to any +body of individuals but to all."[414] + + O high cliffs looking heavenward, + O valleys green and fair. + Sea cliffs that seem to gird and guard + Our island once so dear, + In vain your beauty now ye spread, + For we are numbered with the dead; + A robber band has seized the land, + And we are exiles here. + + The ploughman ploughs, the sower sows. + The reaper reaps the ear; + The woodman to the forest goes + Before the day grows clear, + But of our toil no fruit we see; + The harvest's not for you and me: + A robber band has seized the land, + And we are exiles here.[415] + +Appealing to the passions, hatred, and greed of their followers, and +relying on their credulity, Socialist leaders proclaim not only that +the landlords are useless, but also that the people will have the land +rent free as soon as the present owners have been expropriated. "The +landlord, _qua_ landlord, performs no function in the economy of +industry or of food production. He is a rent-receiver; that, and +nothing more. Were the landlord to be abolished, the soil and the +people who till it would still remain, and the disappearance of the +landowner would pass almost unnoticed."[416] "Rent is brigandage +reduced to a system. So long as the English people are content to be +tenants-at-will on their own soil, and to pay for the privilege, they +will remain virtually slaves."[417] "The tenant earns the rent. The +landlord spends it. If the tenant had not to pay the rent he could +spend it himself, and so it would get spent, and get spent by the man +who earns it and has the best right to spend it."[418] + +Whilst some Socialist agitators are unscrupulous enough to make their +followers believe that in the Socialist State they may have land for +the asking, others are so unkind as to destroy that pleasing illusion. +For instance, we learn from a Fabian pamphlet, "A Socialist State or +municipality will charge the full economic rent for the use of its +land and dwellings, and apply that rent to the common purposes of the +community."[419] Another Socialist authority very pertinently remarks: +"It is of not the least consequence to the person who rents the land +whether he pays the rent for it to an individual or whether he Pays it +to the State,"[420] and therefore it is clear that statements such as +"If the tenant had not to pay the rent he could spend it himself," are +merely meant to deceive the simple. Tenants, instead of paying their +rent to a human landlord, would have to pay it to an impersonal State +or municipality, and the latter might prove as grasping and as +heartless as rating committees are now. + +Others base their demand for the spoliation of landlords upon the +Bible and upon the ideal of a "Divine brotherhood," forgetting that +the Bible contains a commandment "Thou shalt not steal," as well as +many warnings against lying, deceit, cant, and covetousness. One of +the champion Bible-Socialists, for instance, writes: "If all men are +brothers, as Christ undoubtedly taught, then the land, the source of +wealth, the means by which men can earn their livelihood, should not +be the property of any set of individuals, but should belong to the +whole community. The fact of a man being born into the world gives him +the divine right to the opportunity of earning his living, and that +right cannot be enjoyed so long as there is a single man on earth +deprived of access to the land from which to earn his bread. When the +spirit of brotherhood prevails, it will be a simple and a natural +thing to arrange that these things shall be used not in the interests +of the few, but for the common good. There are innumerable signs that +the hearts and minds of men are now turning in this direction, and +that they are coming to see that the only just and permanent +arrangement is the divine solution of working on the basis of +universal brotherhood."[421] There is a fraternity among Sicilian +bandits. The "Divine brotherhood" of the writer would be based on +robbery, and have robbery as its object. + +Others demand the confiscation of all land by relying upon +misrepresentation: "If the injustice of the land monopoly is great in +the country, by robbing the grower of his improvements or scaring him +from making any, by robbing the nation of its own legitimate +independent food supply, and by laying waste vast tracts of the +surface, the injustice is even greater in the towns, if only by reason +of the greater numbers whose interests are now involved: (1) by +flooding the town labour markets with surplus labourers, and so--by +their competition between each other for jobs of any sort at any +terms, rather than starve--keeping wages down at the privation point; +(2) by robbing the town workers of that proper and legitimate home +market which a flourishing and proportionately numerous agricultural +population would afford; (3) by the bloated rentals in cities, only +made possible by driving and crowding the people into our unnaturally +swollen centres; and (4) by the continuous re-investment of those +enormous rent extortions in all those secondary monopolies of transit, +finance, and business generally, which can only arise from the primary +monopoly of the soil, and which complete this devil's chain of the +subjection of labour and the dependence of the community."[422] + +The complaints that land is going out of cultivation, that the British +home market has been spoiled, and that towns are overgrown and +overcrowded are unfortunately only too well justified, but these +phenomena are not due to private property in land. Private property in +land is universal, but the desertion of the country and overcrowding +in towns are not universal. These evils are to be found chiefly in +Great Britain, because British economic policy, whilst fostering trade +and the manufacturing industries, has deliberately sacrificed to them +the rural industries. That fact is acknowledged by many Socialists, +as will be seen in Chapter XXL., "Some Socialist's Views on Free Trade +and Protection." + +The question now arises: How do the Socialists propose to deal with +the land and the owners of land? Mr. Blatchford informs us: "The +titled robbers of England have always done their robberies in a legal +manner. We propose to enforce their cessation in a legal manner. We +respect the law, and mean to use it. We are not mere brigands. We are +the new police; our duty is to 'arrest the rogues and dastards'; our +motto is, 'The law giveth and the law taketh away, blessed be the name +of the law.'"[423] A leading Christian-Socialist clergyman tells us +"As for compensation, from the point of view of the highest Christian +morality, it is the landlords who should compensate the people, not +the people the landlords. But practically if you carry out this reform +by taxation, no compensation would be necessary or even +possible."[424] Mines and mine-owners are to be treated in the same +way as land and land-owners. "The minerals should be at once taken +over without compensation; the present owners should think themselves +well off if they escape paying compensation for previous robbery of +the people."[425] Views such as those expressed in the foregoing are +held not only by some unscrupulous agitators. At the last Annual +Conference of the Independent Labour Party the following resolution +was carried: "This Conference, being of opinion that the high price of +coal is a serious menace to the nation, and bears extremely hard upon +householders and especially upon the working classes of the country, +declares in favour of the nationalisation of the mines and +municipalisation of the coal-supply."[426] At the last Annual +Conference of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain, various +resolutions urging the nationalisation of all mines were proposed and +carried. Mr. W.E. Harvey, M.P., for instance, moved "That the members +of Parliament supported by this federation be instructed to direct the +attention of the Government to bring in a Bill for the nationalisation +of land, mines, and mining royalties, as we believe that it is only by +such reforms that the workers can obtain full value for their +labours."[427] It will be observed that nothing is said about +compensation in this resolution, which was passed unanimously. + +How is the nationalisation of the land to be effected? "The land of +every country belongs of natural and inalienable right to the whole +body of the people in each generation. We say therefore, 'You need not +kick the landlords out; you must not buy them out; you had better tax +them out.'"[428] "If the people rose in revolt, took up arms, +confiscated the lands of the nobles, and handed them over to the +control of a Parliament, that would not be brigandage; it would be +revolution. But if the people by the exercise of constitutional means, +passed an Act through Parliament making the estates of the nobles the +property of the nation, with or without compensation, that would be +neither brigandage nor revolution; it would be a legal, righteous, and +constitutional reform. We propose to be neither revolutionaries nor +brigands, but legal, righteous, and constitutional reformers."[429] +Legality implies and presupposes justice, but Socialist law and +justice are different from that conception of law and justice which +has been held hitherto. Chapter XXIV. will make that point clear. + +The foregoing should suffice to show that the Socialists intend to +abolish private property in land by "taxing landowners out of +existence." + +They apparently forget that not all the owners of land are rich; that +many small farmers, shopkeepers, artisans, &c., own freehold land and +freehold houses; and that the insurance companies have a very large +proportion of their funds invested in land and on the security of +land. A confiscation of land would therefore ruin a vast number of +hard-working people. It would cripple some insurance companies and +ruin others. Hence the savings of thrifty workers would be confiscated +or destroyed by the State together with those of the larger +capitalists. + +The Socialists are not entirely agreed as to the way by which the +abolition of private ownership in land should be effected, but some +interesting proposals will be found in Chapter X., "Socialist Views +and Proposals regarding Taxation and the National Budget." The purely +agricultural aspect of the land question is treated in Chapter XVIII., +"Socialism and Agriculture," and in Chapter XXI., "Some Socialist +Views on Free Trade and Protection." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[411] Page 81. + +[412] Blatchford, _Merrie England_, p. 61. + +[413] _Ibid._ p. 60. + +[414] Washington, _A Corner in Flesh and Blood_, p. 60. + +[415] _Clarion Song Book_, p. 6. + +[416] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, p. 11. + +[417] Davidson, _Book of Lords_, p. 25. + +[418] Blatchford, _Land Nationalisation_, p. 9. + +[419] Sidney Webb, _Socialism, True and False_, p. 19. + +[420] _Socialism and the Single Tax_, p. 7. + +[421] Ward, _Are All Men Brothers?_ pp. 14, 15. + +[422] Hall, _Land, Labour, and Liberty_, p. 12. + +[423] Blatchford, _Some Tory Socialisms_, p. 6. + +[424] Headlam, _Christian Socialism_, p. 14. + +[425] _Forward_, October 12, 1907. + +[426] _Independent Labour Party Report, Annual Conference, 1907_, p. +59. + +[427] _Times_, October 12, 1907. + +[428] Headlam, _Christian Socialism_, p. 7. + +[429] Blatchford, _Some Tory Socialisms_, p. 3. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +SOCIALIST VIEWS AND PROPOSALS REGARDING CAPITAL AND THE CAPITALISTS + + +We have seen in Chapter VIII. that Socialists claim that "Man has a +right to nothing but that which he has himself made," that therefore, +"No man can have a right to the land, for no man made it." May, then, +owners of property keep at least that part of their property which is +not invested in land? + +The reply is, of course, in the negative. "As land must in future be a +national possession, so must the other means of producing and +distributing wealth."[430] "Supposing we assume it true that land is +not the product of labour and that capital is; it is not by any means +true that the rent of land is not the product of labour and that the +interest on capital is. Since private ownership, whether of land or +capital, simply means the right to draw and dispose of a revenue from +the property, why should the landowner be forbidden to do that which +is allowed to the capitalist, in a society in which land and capital +are commercially equivalent? Yet land nationalisers seem to be +prepared to treat as sacred the landlords' claim to private property +in capital acquired by thefts of this kind, although they will not +hear of their claim to property in land. Capital serves as an +instrument for robbing in a precisely identical manner. In England +industrial capital is mainly created by wage workers--who get nothing +for it but permission to create in addition enough subsistence to +keep each other alive in a poor way. Its immediate appropriation by +idle proprietors and shareholders, whose economic relation to the +workers is exactly the same in principle as that of the landlords, +goes on every day under our eyes. The landlord compels the worker to +convert his land into a railway, his fen into a drained level, his +barren seaside waste into a fashionable watering-place, his mountain +into a tunnel, his manor park into a suburb full of houses let on +repairing leases; and lo! he has escaped the land nationalisers; his +land is now become capital and is sacred. The position is so glaringly +absurd and the proposed attempt to discriminate between the capital +value and the land value of estates is so futile, that it seems almost +certain that the land nationalisers will go as far as the Socialists. +Whatever the origin of land and capital, the source of the revenues +drawn from them is contemporary labour."[431] + +Most Socialists think it wiser to tax capital gradually out of +existence than to confiscate it at one stroke. "The direct +confiscation of capital affects all, the small and the great, those +unable to work and the able-bodied, everybody in an equal way. It is +difficult by this method, often quite impossible, to separate the +large property from the small invested in the same undertakings. The +direct confiscation would also proceed too quickly, often at one +stroke, while confiscation through taxation would permit the abolition +of capitalist property being made a long-drawn process, working itself +out further and further in the measure as the new order gets +consolidated and makes its beneficent influence felt."[432] + +The argument that excessive taxation would drive capital out of the +country is laughed at by Socialists. A Socialist pamphlet says: "It is +true that the land-sweaters and labour-skinners whom the people keep +on electing to rule and rob them can still frighten noodles by +threatening that they will run away from the country and take their +capital with them; that + + They'll ship the mines and farms to Amsterdam, + The houses and the railways to Peru, + The canals and docks to Russia, + The woods and workshops off to Prussia, + And all the enterprise and brains to Timbuctoo. + +"We calmly reply that there is not one single service that all the +landlords, financiers, and their lesser parasites pretend to perform +for society that could not be performed far more efficiently and +infinitely more cheaply without them." + + Straightway those rich men started + To move their capitals. + On board of ships they carted + Their railways and canals; + With mines mine-owners scurried. + The bankers bore their books. + With mills mill-owners hurried. + The bishops took their crooks.[433] + +The despoiled capitalists might leave the country, but they would have +to leave in the country all their property except perhaps a few +valuables which they might remove. + +Property being theft, capitalists as well as landowners are thieves +who possess no claim whatever to consideration or even to mercy. "To +talk about 'the respective claims of capital and labour' is as +inaccurate as to talk about the 'respective claims' of coals and +colliers, or of ploughs and ploughmen. Capital has no claims. This is +not a quibble. The distinction between capital and the capitalists is +one of vital importance. Capital is a necessary thing. The capitalist +is as unnecessary as any other kind of thief or interloper. The +capitalist, though as loud as greedy in his 'claims,' has no rights at +all."[434] + +"Do you mean to say, then, that the capitalist does not perform a +useful function in running a risk for the profit he receives?--No. In +so far as he exercises the function of management and receives +remuneration for this, his remuneration is not profit at all, but +wages of superintendence, and the functions of management would be +undertaken by the organised society of the future through its +appointed representatives. As to any necessary risks, all individuals +would be relieved from this under Socialism, as it would be borne by +the whole of society."[435] "If capitalists attempt to justify their +way of making profit by saying that they have to run risks sometimes, +that a part of their property might occasionally be lost, we answer +that labour has nothing to do with that."[436] + +Capital large and small is the result of thrift. If capital is theft, +then thrift also is theft. The thrifty investor, being an immoral +person, has no right to protest against the confiscation of his +property. "By capitalist I mean the investor who puts his money into a +concern and draws profits therefrom without participating in the +organisation or management of the business. Were all these to +disappear in the night, leaving no trace behind, nothing would be +changed."[437] Nothing would be changed for the Socialist agitator, +the loafer, and the tramp. On the contrary, they would profit from the +ruin of the industrious and the thrifty. The fact that honest and +hardworking men who do their duty to their family and who wish to +leave their children provided for should have the result of the +economy of a lifetime confiscated matters little to the Socialist +leaders. According to the Socialist doctrines the industrious and the +thrifty are thieves and exploiters of those workers who have never +saved a penny. On the other hand, those men who live from hand to +mouth, who work only a few days each week and loaf on the remaining +days, who waste all their earnings in drink, gambling, and +music-halls, and who possess nothing they can call their own, are +honest and excellent citizens. They are entitled to the savings of the +thrifty. + +In accordance with the Socialist principles stated in the foregoing, +all shareholders, being merely exploiters of labour, would be +expropriated. "Are shareholders in companies useful in organising +labour?--As a rule they employ others to organise labour, and the work +done by the company would go on just as well if the shareholders +disappeared."[438] Besides, "Stocks when analysed, in nine cases out +of ten simply mean the right to squeeze tribute out of workers who are +nominally free. By far the greatest part of what is set down as +national 'capital' is merely slave flesh-and-blood."[439] + +Holders of Government stocks would be treated no better than +landowners and shareholders. Foremost among the "immediate reforms" +demanded in the programme of the Social-Democratic Federation[440] +ranges the "Repudiation of the National Debt." The repudiation of the +National Debt has during many years been demanded, and is still +demanded, by the Social-Democratic Federation, as may be seen from a +recent issue of "Justice," its weekly publication, in which we find +the following statement: "The National Debt is simply a means of +extracting unearned incomes from the people of this country. It is +idle to nationalise or municipalise industries by means of loans on +which interest is paid. Such interest would be only another form of +rent and profit. When capitalism is abolished, every one of its many +forms will necessarily have to go."[441] + +The repudiation of the National Debt is demanded by many Socialist +leaders and leading writers. "The National Debt (falsely so-called) has +already been paid thrice over in usury. All future interest-payments +should be held as part of the principal."[442] "The few thousand +persons who own the National Debt, saddled upon the community by a +landlord Parliament, exact _28,000,000l._ yearly from the labour of +their countrymen for nothing."[443] "Outside the land monopoly, the +most infamous source of usury is unquestionably the so-called 'National +Debt.' There the whole of the capital is absolutely spurious. The real +capital consisted of the gunpowder and the lead which Sovereigns and +statesmen expended so liberally about a century ago in attempting to +murder liberty on the Continents of Europe and America. Our war debt is +the most stupendous monument of human crime and folly in existence; and +worst of all, the 'butcher's bill' has already been paid by the unhappy +toilers thrice over in usury."[444] "The entire national liability has +been discharged to the moneylenders by the people once during the last +thirty-seven years. We repay public debts once every thirty-seven years +without wiping out a penny of the said debts. We pay away in blank +usury _20,000,000l._ per year on this one head, or enough to provide +old-age pensions for three-fourths of our aged poor in the United +Kingdom on the basis of _7s. 6d._ per head per week."[445] "236,514 +blackmailers suck the udder of industry through the convenient teat of +what, with audacious cynicism, is called the 'National Debt.'"[446] + +The largest part of the National Debt was not created by "murdering +liberty" but by fighting the armies of the French Revolution and of +Napoleon I. Besides, the defence against the French Revolution and +Napoleon was not a "crime," but a necessary duty. Furthermore, the +holders of the National Debt are not "blackmailers" but industrious, +useful, and thrifty citizens, or the children and descendants of +industrious, useful, and thrifty citizens. + +About one-half of the National Debt is held by thrifty wage-earners, +as all the money deposited in the savings banks, and most of the +savings deposited with friendly societies, &c., is invested in +Consols, and as a very large part of the assets of the industrial and +other insurance societies consists of Government Stocks. Property +being theft, and thrift being akin to it, the thrifty workman whose +savings are invested in Consols has apparently no right to complain of +being robbed of his savings by the Socialists. + +Some Socialist agitators have the audacity to tell the thrifty worker +that he will not suffer, but benefit, by the confiscation of his +savings. "Opponents try to scare this man against Socialism by the +fear of losing his interest. Granting for a moment he would do so, +would he not gain by the general abolition of interest, &c., which +would double his wage in common with that of all workers?"[447]--The +worker is to be indemnified for his positive and certain loss in +property through the confiscation of his savings, or at the least of +the interest paid on them, by a problematical rise in general wages +which would benefit the unthrifty quite as much as the thrifty. But if +the promised doubling of wages should not take place, what will +happen? The Socialist agitators will explain that they are sorry to +have made a mistake, whilst the thriftless are squandering the +property of the thrifty. + +According to the Socialist teachings, the capitalist is a perfectly +useless being in the national household. "Does he himself want to +work: to do something useful? Far from it. His money works for him; +his money makes money, as the saying is."[448] Most capitalists--and I +think the large majority of wage-earners are capitalists to some +extent--are engaged in useful productive work of hand or brain. +However, the capitalist of the Socialist imagination, the wealthy man +who lives without any work, who studies the money market and Stock +Exchange quotations, and who is occupied solely in investing and +reinvesting his money to the best advantage, is an extremely useful +member of society. It is of the utmost consequence to all workers, and +to the whole nation, that the national capital should grow, that +mines, railways, ships, machinery, houses, &c., should multiply and be +constantly improved. Now the thrifty, not the wasteful, preserve and +increase the national capital. Wise and cautious capitalists in +enriching themselves will enrich the nation. Careless ones will lose +their money and impoverish the nation. The wealth of France has, to a +very large extent, been created by cautious and far-seeing _rentiers_, +and thus France has become the banker among nations. + +Socialists teach that the wealth of the few causes the poverty of the +many; that therefore the private capitalist should be destroyed. Why, +then, are the workers most prosperous in those countries which possess +the wealthiest capitalists, such as France and the United States, and +why are they poorest in countries, such as Turkey and Servia, where +wealthy capitalists do not exist? And may not the destruction of the +capitalists reduce Great Britain to the level of Turkey and Servia? + +FOOTNOTES: + +[430] _Socialism Made Plain_, p. 9. + +[431] _Capital and Land_, pp. 5, 6. + +[432] Kautsky, _The Social Revolution_, p. 11. + +[433] Blatchford, _The Clarion Ballads_, p. 9. + +[434] Blatchford, _The Pope's Socialism_, p. 2. + +[435] Bax and Quelch, _A New Catechism of Socialism_, p. 17. + +[436] Sorge, _Socialism and the Worker_, p. 11. + +[437] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, p. 11. + +[438] Joynes, _The Socialist Catechism_, p. 3. + +[439] Davidson, _The Gospel of the Poor_, p. 54. + +[440] See Appendix. + +[441] _Justice_, October 19, 1907. + +[442] Davidson, _The Democrat's Address_, p. 5. + +[443] _Socialism Made Plain_, p. 8. + +[444] Davidson, _The Gospel of the Poor_, p. 49. + +[445] McLachlan, _Tyranny of Usury_, p. 13. + +[446] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 76. + +[447] _Wealth Makers and Wealth Takers_, p. 1. + +[448] Sorge, _Socialism and the Worker_, p. 10. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +SOCIALIST VIEWS AND PROPOSALS REGARDING TAXATION AND THE NATIONAL +BUDGET + + +To Socialists taxation is chiefly a means for impoverishing the rich +and the well-to-do. It is their object to transfer by taxation the +wealth from the few to the many, as they believe that the +impoverishment of the rich will mean the enrichment of the poor. +Therefore they do not aim at economy in national and local +expenditure. On the contrary, they wish to spend as much as possible. +As money is to be obtained solely from the rich, "An increase in +national taxation has no terrors for Socialists."[449] Every increase +in expenditure is greeted by them with joy, and wastefulness in +national and local undertakings is rather encouraged than condemned. +"Socialists look to the Budget as a means not only of raising revenue +to meet unavoidable expenditure, but as an instrument for redressing +inequalities in the distribution of wealth."[450] Let us first look +into the financial views of the Socialists, and then into their +positive proposals. + +"The purpose of Socialism is to transfer land and industrial capital +to the people. There are two ways in which, simultaneously, this +object may be carried out. The one way is by the municipal and +national appropriation--with such compensation to the existing owners +as the community may think fit to give--of the land and industrial +concerns. The second method is by taxation. Taxation has its special +sphere of usefulness in helping the community to secure some part of +its own by diverting into the national purse portions of the rent, +interest, and profit which now go to keep an idle class in luxury at +the expense of the industrious poor."[451] + +"The existence of a rich class, whose riches are the cause of the +poverty of the masses, is the justification for the Socialist demand +that the cost of bettering the condition of the people must be met by +the taxation of the rich. The Socialist's ideas of taxation may be +briefly summarised as follows: (1) Both local and national taxation +should aim primarily at securing for the communal benefit all +'unearned' or 'social' increment of wealth. (2) Taxation should aim +deliberately at preventing the retention of large incomes and great +fortunes in private hands, recognising that the few cannot be rich +without making the many poor. (3) Taxation should be in proportion to +ability to pay and to protection and benefit conferred by the State. +(4) No taxation should be imposed which encroaches upon the +individual's means to satisfy his physical needs."[452] + +"To the Socialist taxation is the chief means by which he may recover +from the propertied classes some portion of the plunder which their +economic strength and social position have enabled them to extract +from the workers; to him, national and municipal expenditure is the +spending for common purposes of an ever-increasing proportion of the +national income. The degree of civilisation which a State has reached +may almost be measured by the proportion of the national income which +is spent collectively instead of individually. To the Socialist the +best of Governments is that which spends the most. The only possible +policy is deliberately to tax the rich, especially those who live on +wealth which they do not earn; for thus, and thus only, can we reduce +the burthen upon the poor."[453] + +The Fabian Society suggests the following reform of national taxation: +"In English politics successful ends must have moderate beginnings. +Such a beginning might be an income-tax of _2s. 6d._ in the pound. +Unearned incomes above _5,000l._ a year would pay _2s. 6d._ in the +pound, below _5,000l._ a year _1s. 8d._ in the pound. The estate duty +might be handled upon similar principles. Estates between _500,000l._ +and _1,000,000l._ would be charged twelve and a half per cent, instead +of seven and a half, and estates exceeding _1,000,000l._ fifteen per +cent, instead of eight."[454] The Fabian Society does not disguise its +aim in proposing the foregoing: "These suggestions are doubtless +confiscatory, and that is why they should recommend themselves to a +Labour party. But even so, the confiscation is of a timorous and a +slow-footed sort. The average British millionaire dies worth about +_2,770,000l._, on which the death duty would be _415,500l._, leaving +the agreeable nest-egg of _2,254,500l._ to the heirs. Even if we +assume that the inheritance passes to one person only, so as to be +subject to the highest rate of duty, it would not be until five more +lives had passed that it would be reduced to a pitiful million. The +most patient Labour party might not unreasonably demand something a +trifle more revolutionary than this."[455] + +According to the above proposals the income-tax would return +_47,600,000l._ per annum. This sum seems far too moderate to most +Socialist writers. Councillor Glyde, for instance, gives in a widely +read pamphlet elaborate tables in which the produce of a graduated +income-tax is carefully calculated. The Fabian Society would make "a +moderate beginning" by taxing large incomes _2s. 6d._ in the pound. +Councillor Glyde would begin by levying a _3s._ income-tax on them. +Taxation of incomes in accordance with his proposals would bring in +_70,281,839l._ per annum.[456] + +Mr. Smart, of the Independent Labour Party, gives lengthy details of a +taxation reform scheme in which figure a foundation-tax, a special +property-tax, and a super-tax. Large incomes would have to pay 17-1/2 +per cent., or _3s. 6d._ in the pound, and his property and income tax +would bring in _78,000,000l._ per annum.[457] + +Mr. Philip Snowden, M.P., submits a different scheme of taxation. +There is to be an income-tax of _1s._ in the pound and a graduated +super-tax up to _6s._ in the pound. Whilst the three authorities +mentioned so far propose to take from the large incomes _2s. 6d._, +_3s._, and _3s. 6d._ in the pound as a "moderate beginning," Mr. +Snowden would, presumably also as a "moderate beginning," take _7s._ +in the pound from them. He is quite touched with his own generosity +and magnanimity, for might he not demand at once _17s._ or _20s._ in +the pound? "To console the possessors of incomes in the higher grade, +say _50,000l._ a year, to the payment of an income-tax of _1s._ in the +pound, we may remind them that they still retain _33,500l._ a year, +which is a very generous payment by labour to them for the privilege +of seeing them exist in gorgeous splendour and sumptuous +idleness."[458] + +The proposals regarding the estate duty to be charged also vary. The +Fabian Society proposes a maximum of 15 per cent. Mr. Smart would be +satisfied with a graduated estate duty with a maximum of 25 per cent, +instead of the present maximum of 8 per cent.[459] Mr. Snowden +proposes a scale of duties which ranges from 1 per cent, up to 50 per +cent.[460] + +Besides the very greatly increased income-tax and estate duty, there +would be, according to Mr. Snowden, a land value tax of a penny in the +pound of its capital value, which is equal to 10 per cent. annual +value. It is to be the small beginning of the policy of taxing +landowners out of existence, to be speedily followed by confiscation. +"The annual value of land being _250,000,000l._, the produce of the +land value tax would be _25,000,000l._ a year."[461] The author +justifies the creation of that tax as follows: "Liverpool, London, +Glasgow owe their existence and their prosperity to their respective +situations, which are natural advantages and which ought not in +justice to be enjoyed solely by those who live upon the sites. Every +town and village in the country contributes to the prosperity of every +other part. The nation is a unit; its resources and its obligations +should be mutually shared." + +"Land values are so obviously not created by individual effort that +the justice of taking the increment for the use of the community +appeals to those who may have some difficulty in grasping the working +of the 'unearned increment' in commercial concerns, where, however, it +operates just as truly though not so obviously. The imposition of an +Imperial tax of one penny in the pound on the capital value of the +site would be a beginning, but by no means the end, of the process of +diverting socially-created rent of land into the public exchequer. +Taxation will do something towards that end; but taxation would be a +long, irritating, and untrustworthy way of trying to secure the whole +annual value of the land for the community."[462] "The taxation of +land values is not a land reform. To get the full usefulness and the +full value of the land for the community there is no way but for the +State to own the land."[463] + +The contemplated reform of taxation will not be limited to taxing the +rich and the well-to-do out of existence. Relief will be afforded to +the masses by the repeal of all duties on food, and, indeed, of all +indirect taxation. "The reforms which the Labour party will endeavour +to obtain from the Government, in which it believes it will be +expressing the democratic sentiment of the country, are: + +1. Repeal of the duties on foods. + +2. A minimum wage of _30s._ to all workers in Government employ or +working under a contractor for the Government. + +3. Old-age pensions of _7s._ a week for persons over sixty."[464] + +Practically all Socialists agree that all indirect taxation should be +abolished. "Indirect taxation has nothing whatever to recommend it to +an intelligent people, however advantageous it may be to the +well-to-do. Indirect taxation violates every principle of sound +economy."[465] "Its maintenance is excused on the ground that indirect +taxation is the only means by which the working class can be made to +contribute to the cost of national government at ah. The poorer +working classes should not be taxed by the Government at all."[466] +"Under a just system of taxation all indirect taxation for revenue +purposes would be abolished."[467] "With 43 per cent, of the working +classes living in poverty, with an average wage over the whole working +class not sufficient to provide themselves with the standard of +workhouse comfort, it becomes a crime to tax them for the protection +of their property and the enjoyment of their privileges"[468]--Is it +true that, as Mr. Snowden, M.P., writes, the whole working class of +Great Britain is so badly paid that it cannot provide for itself the +standard of workhouse comfort? How then can he reconcile with that +assertion the following statement which he gives in the same book a +few pages further on: "Experts assign the proportion of the total +annual drink bill of the United Kingdom contributed by the +wage-earning classes at _100,000,000l._ A committee of the British +Association, reporting on the 'appropriation of wages,' in 1882 said +that 75 per cent, of the total consumption of beer and spirits, and 10 +per cent. of the wine bill, might be assigned as the shares of the +working class."[469] + +As a matter of fact experts estimate that the British working men +spend even more than _100,000,000l._ per year on drink, and that they +spend about _50,000,000l._ on betting. It is really very inartistic +for a professional agitator to tell us that the British workers are +too poor to pay any taxes, that it is a "crime" to tax them at all, +and then to remind us that the same starving ill-used workers can +afford to spend more than the amount of the whole nation's Budget in +drink and betting, that about one-sixth of the workman's wages are +spent at the public-house, that many workmen spend the larger half of +their income in drink, and that the British nation is the most drunken +in the world, although drink is far more expensive in Great Britain +than in any other country. + +With part of the money taken by means of extortionate taxation from +the rich, whole sections of the population are to be bribed into +supporting Socialism. "Two objectionable heads of revenue would find +no place in a Socialist national balance-sheet--the profit from the +Post Office and the stamp duties. Improvements in the wages and +conditions of labour in the lower grades of the postal service would +absorb a considerable part of the present annual profit of +_5,000,000l._ and the rest might, with benefit, be utilised for +cheapening the cost to the public of postal rates and services."[470] + +Mr. Snowden, in promising in one phrase the repeal of stamp duties and +cheapening of postage, very likely thought that that step would +relieve the poor. He apparently imagined that duty stamps were +identical with postage stamps. If he had known that stamp duties are +largely derived from Stock Exchange transactions and the sale of every +kind of property on a large scale, from legal documents, &c., he would +probably have proposed that they should be increased tenfold in order +to strike another blow at private property, not that they should be +abolished. Even the policy of confiscation requires an elementary +knowledge of facts. + +Furthermore, "The Socialist Budget would provide for a very +considerable increase of the grants-in-aid, retaining for the central +Government just sufficient control or inspection over the expenditure +as would not interfere with the reasonable freedom of the local +authority."[471] "Control which would not interfere" is at present +illogical and impossible, because the one excludes the other. It may +be possible in the Socialist State of the future, because logic will +have to be abolished in it. At all events it seems clear that Mr. +Snowden wishes to secure the support of the local authorities by the +same curious means by which he strives to secure the support of the +Post Office servants. + +The foregoing extracts should suffice to show that the Socialists mean +to ruin the owners of property of every kind by indirect confiscation +in the form of extortionate taxation, which is to be constantly +increased and which may be followed by direct confiscation, and that +they rely upon force for achieving their aim. Capitalists may leave +the country, but they must leave their capital behind, and their +disappearance, Socialists assert, will be no loss. "The vast majority +of our employers are routineers, who could no more contribute an +intelligent statement of their industrial function to this paper than +a bee could write the works of Lord Avebury. Routineers can always be +replaced, and replaced with profit, by educated functionaries. +Consequently when the employers threaten us with emigration, our only +regret as to the majority of them is that it is too good to be +true."[472] "Supposing those who have the money were to threaten to +leave the country and to take their money with them, would not that +upset your plans? Money is not wealth. You would have cause to +rejoice. So would the country which was fortunate enough to see its +capitalists emigrate."[473] + +According to the Socialist teaching, the workers maintain the +capitalists. The brain is mightier than the hand, though the brain +requires the hand. In reality it rather seems that the capitalists +maintain the workers. It cannot too often be pointed out that those +countries which have many wealthy capitalists are highly civilised and +prosperous, and their workers are well off. On the other hand, those +countries which have few or no wealthy capitalists are little +civilised and poor, and their workers are exceedingly badly off. The +masses may conceivably rob the capitalists of their property, and try +to manage the national capital themselves, but whether they will +benefit by spoliation remains to be seen. Lacking direction, +foresight, unity, organisation, discipline, and thrift, the masses +will probably quickly waste the national capital, and national ruin +and distress and starvation will be the consequences of wholesale +robbery. + +The confiscation experiment has often been tried in the past, and it +has always failed. The last time it has been tried was at the time of +the French Revolution. The money secured by robbery was recklessly +squandered. Production was neglected, and the people became poorer +than ever. In the country agriculture came to a standstill, weeds grew +where corn had been growing, gardens became a natural wilderness, and +wolves roamed in thousands.[474] The great manufacturing towns were +dead, manufacturers in Paris who had employed sixty or eighty men +employed but ten.[475] The people in town and country were starving. +Many lived on roots and bark. Many of the poor in Paris waited outside +the slaughter-houses and lapped the blood from the gutters like dogs. + +Private capital has existed in all countries and at all times, because +it is a plant of natural growth. One can destroy it, but it will ever +grow again. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[449] Snowden, _Socialist Budget_, p. 1. + +[450] _Ibid._ + +[451] Snowden, _The Socialist's Budget_, p. 2. + +[452] _Ibid._ pp. 7, 8. + +[453] _Socialism and Labour Policy_, p. 4. + +[454] _Ibid._ pp. 4, 5. + +[455] _Ibid._ p. 5. + +[456] Glyde, _A Peep Behind the Scenes on a Board of Guardians_, pp. +28,29. + +[457] Smart, _Socialism and the Budget_, pp. 14,15. + +[458] Snowden, _The Socialist's Budget_, pp. 78, 79. + +[459] Smart, _Socialism and the Budget_, p. 8. + +[460] Snowden, _The Socialist's Budget_, p. 81. + +[461] _Ibid._ p. 82. + +[462] _Ibid._ pp. 82, 83. + +[463] Snowden, _The Socialist's Budget_, p. 84. + +[464] Smart, _Socialism and the Budget_, p. 15. + +[465] Snowden, _The Socialist's Budget_, p. 15. + +[466] _Ibid._ p. 31. + +[467] _Ibid._ p. 16. + +[468] Snowden, _The Socialist's Budget_, p. 17. + +[469] _Ibid._ pp. 21, 22. + +[470] Snowden, _The Socialist's Budget_, p. 71. + +[471] _Ibid._ p. 59. + +[472] G.B. Shaw in the _New Age_, November 30, 1907. + +[473] Wheatley, _How the Miners are Robbed_, p. 12. + +[474] Vandal, _Avčnement de Bonaparte_, 1903, vol. i. p. 25. + +[475] Schmidt, _Tableaux de la Révolution_, vol. iv. p. 383. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +SOCIALISM AND THE EMPIRE + + +Most British Socialists object to the Empire on various grounds, and +desire its downfall and dissolution. According to their views Great +Britain should, in the first place, give up her non-self-governing +colonies. Let us take note of some Socialistic pronouncements to that +effect: + +"Governments have no right to exist except with the consent of the +governed, and the British have no more right to dominate other peoples +than other peoples have to dominate us. What we can only hold by +maintaining an alien garrison had better be given up. The people of +these islands would not be losers, but the gainers by such a +course."[476] "Is it possible for a self-governing people to rule a +subject race, and yet keep its own love for liberty? Neither the +Greeks nor the Romans could do it, and we are not doing it very well +ourselves. The reason is obvious. No nation can play the part of the +despot (even the benevolent despot) abroad and that of the democrat at +home."[477] "Socialists should oppose the creation of empires on this +simple ground--that empire-building is accompanied by terrible misery +and suffering for those subject races, as they are called, which are +the chosen victims sacrificed on the altar of cupidity and +pride."[478] "A people gain power and influence in the world in +proportion as they solve for themselves the great problems of +democratic self-government. We shall do more to civilise Africa by +civilising the East End of London than by governing from Cape to +Cairo."[479] "It is not only impossible for one nation to civilise +another by governing it; it is wrong that it should attempt to do so. +Conquest may have opened up one civilisation to another in times long +antecedent to the steam engine and a world commerce, but to-day its +only effect is to crush out and level down all national life to the +dead uniformity of an alien political routine."[480] + +"What is the attitude of Socialism towards backward races, savage and +barbaric peoples who are to-day outside the civilised world? The +position of Socialism towards these races is one of absolute +non-interference. We hold that they should be left entirely alone to +develop themselves in the natural order of things; which they must +inevitably do or die out. It is the duty of Socialists to support the +barbaric races in their resistance to aggression."[481] "It is the +duty of International Socialists, the only international +non-capitalist party, to denounce, and wherever possible to prevent, +the extension of colonisation and conquest, leaving to each race and +creed and colour the full opportunity to develop itself until complete +economic and social emancipation is secured by all."[482] "Duty, like +charity, begins at home, and if the civilisation of the blacks is to +be purchased only by the destruction of our own democratic spirit, the +balance to the world is of evil, not of good. There is another view of +Imperialism expressed with brutal candour by Mr. Rhodes when he said +that the flag was our best commercial asset, that trade follows the +flag. Trade does no such thing. Trade follows business enterprise. +Imperialism is, indeed, a policy of industrial deterioration, and by +impoverishing the skill of the country and encouraging the worst +forms of financial capitalism, must crush out every budding hope that +labour has of becoming economically and politically free."[483] + +The foregoing extracts should suffice to show that there is among +British Socialists a strong desire to abandon the non-self-governing +colonies. + +The attitude of the British Socialists towards the great +self-governing dominions is not much more favourable than it is +towards tropical colonies. Their attitude is one of hardly disguised +hostility, which appears to spring partly from jealousy of the +colonists, partly from hatred of the British capitalists who have +invested money in the colonies. The loss of British capital invested +in the colonies would probably be greeted with jubilation by the +Socialists. "The well-to-do sections of society in Great Britain have +found a secure and profitable outlet for their capital in loans and +advances to the colonists alike as organised communities and as +individual property-owners. But the drain for interest and dividends +to England on this account is heavy, and is severely felt at times of +depression, such as that which Australia as a whole has been suffering +from during the recent seven years of almost continuous drought. It +seems tolerably certain, therefore, that this comparative handful of +colonists, eleven millions in all, of which only four millions in +Australia, will in time to come, and as the Labour party and +Socialists gain strength, repudiate, or at any rate reduce, these +onerous obligations. It is also probable that with regard to +Australia, as the white population does not increase and England's day +as a colonising power proper is practically over (having no longer any +agricultural population to send out as emigrants), this huge territory +will not be permanently left at the sole dog-in-the-manger control of +its present handful of inhabitants. We may expect, at least, that +Australia will not be permanently able to retain its position without +an infusion of entirely fresh blood, and should other peoples require +an outlet in that direction, the present preposterous policy will have +to be abandoned."[484] + +Socialists seem, on the whole, to be opposed to the federation of the +British Empire. "The Labour party approaches Imperial problems with +the politics of the industrious classes as guide on the one hand, and +the internationalism of its nature as guide on the other."[485] Its +"internationalism" apparently prevents it from approving of any +practical scheme of Imperial Federation. Mr. Ramsay Macdonald, M.P., +of the Labour party, has not expressed actual hostility to the Empire. +In fact, he has even declared: "Socialism did not intend to re-write +history. It accepted the facts of life, and one of these facts was +that we were responsible for the Empire, and, whether we liked it or +not, we had to rule that Empire. He was overjoyed the other day to +find that at Stuttgart their Dutch and German and French friends were +fully aware of the fact that, if Socialism was to play the proper part +that belonged to it, it must devise a colonial policy."[486] +Nevertheless, Mr. Macdonald's views do not appear to be very +practical, as will be seen in the following pages. + +"These free colonies, though of enormous extent, count for little in +the matter of population. Their wealth is out of all proportion to +their numbers, as their pretensions are out of all proportion to their +power. That they will play any very great part in the future of the +world, either federated to the mother country or in any other way, +seems exceedingly improbable."[487] "Imperialism is crudely +ineffective. Imperial Federation would give the colonies a fuller +sense of independence and liberty, and thus far would benefit them. +But Imperial Federation is not approved on this account, but because +it is supposed to be a way of uniting the Empire. That, it will not +do: it will very likely do the opposite. In whatever form it comes, it +will give to the independent interests of the colonies new importance. +We shall then hear less of the Empire and more of Canada, or New +Zealand, or South Africa, and a great danger will arise that a purely +sectional view of Imperial interests may secure the support of the +might and the arrogance of the whole Empire."[488] "Canada has almost +claimed that it is a right of self-governing States to be allowed to +make treaties for themselves. When that happens, the colonies might as +well sever themselves from the mother country altogether. For under +present circumstances the authority which makes treaties is the +authority which ultimately controls armies. To give any of our +colonies the power to embroil us in war, or to determine our relations +with European Powers, is to give the first shattering blow to Imperial +solidarity."[489] + +Nearly all British Socialists passionately oppose the retention of +India. They never tire of condemning British rule in India, and of +endeavouring to incite the native races to rebellion. According to the +assertions of Socialists, the British Government has "manufactured" +famine and plague in India, and its rule is the worst, the most cruel, +and the most pernicious form of despotism which the world has seen. + +Mr. Hyndman says: "India is the greatest and most awful instance of +the cruelty, greed, and short-sightedness of the capitalist class of +which history gives any record. Even the horrors of Spanish rule in +South America are dwarfed into insignificance in comparison with the +cold, calculating, economic infamy which has starved, and is still +deliberately starving, millions of people to death in British +India."[490] "I charge it against the British Government, at this +moment, that the economic condition of India is much more horrible +than ever it was. I declare that the despotism of Russia is more +apparently cruel, but the actual economic effect of the British +Government's rule in India is more desperate than anything in the +situation in Russia."[491] + +Mr. Hare also speaks of "famine made by Government"[492]--India +suffers from two great evils: famine and the plague. India is very +densely populated. The natives live chiefly upon rice, and rice +requires an enormous quantity of moisture. If rain fails, there is +famine, and no Government can prevent it, though it may alleviate it. +Therefore all rice countries--China, India, Japan--are periodically +stricken by famine. It is difficult enough, and taxes the resources of +a country to the utmost, to feed in a barren country an army of +500,000 men who are closely assembled. It is impossible to feed a +population of 60,000,000, even if funds and stores of food are +unlimited. With the most perfect system of harbours, canals, railways, +&c., the distribution of food for 60,000,000 people offers +insurmountable obstacles. Plague is caused by infection, and may be +stamped out by the observance of those sanitary rules which Indians +refuse to observe. Cases of plague are not reported to the +authorities, but are hidden from them, so that the sanctity of the +home may not be defiled by the entrance of a medical man. +Nevertheless, Socialists never tire of preaching: "If there is one +disease which is more directly the outcome of poverty than any other, +it is the plague."[493] "Just think of 250,000 people dying of +manufactured black plague in one month. It is not the people of +England who benefit by our murderous despotism in India. It is not the +working classes who would suffer if India were relieved from its +present frightful oppression. If the present trade is beneficial, it +is beneficial to the wealthy rather than to the workers."[494] "If +ever there was a population in the history of the world possessed of a +remarkable climate, with a fruitful soil, with all the opportunities +for making wealth, and having been the source of wealth to the peoples +who have traded with them for centuries, the population of India is +that people and Hindostan is that country which ought to be supremely +wealthy."[495] + +Socialists have done all in their power to arouse the hostility of +Europe and America against Great Britain by denouncing British +misrule, cruelty, and tyranny in India. "I rejoice, as an Englishman, +that I have done my share for nearly thirty years to expose in Europe, +America, and Asia the systematic rascality of my aristocratic and +plutocratic countrymen."[496] "I appeal to this International +Socialist Congress to denounce the statesmen and the nation guilty of +this infamy before the entire civilised world, and to convey to the +natives of India the heartfelt wish of the delegates of the workers of +all nations here assembled that they may shortly, no matter in what +manner, free themselves finally from the horrors of the most criminal +misrule that has ever afflicted humanity."[497] + +Socialists unceasingly work for the overthrow of British rule in +India. Theirs is a larger humanity. They wish to bring about a rising +of the Indian population, and they seem to care little if the 250,000 +British people residing in that country are incidentally +exterminated. Their hatred of the "capitalist" Empire is apparently +greater than their sense of humanity and duty towards their own +countrymen. + +At a recent Socialist meeting in connection with the unrest in India, +Mr. Hyndman submitted the following motion: "This meeting of the +citizens of London expresses its deepest sympathy and admiration for +Lajpat Kai, Adjit Singh, and the Sikh leaders at Rawal Pindi, +Amritsar, and Lahore, now undergoing imprisonment without trial, at +the command of Mr. John Morley and the Liberal Government, and sends +its cordial greetings to the agitators all over India who are doing +their utmost to awaken their countrymen of every race and creed to the +ruinous effect of our rule, which, by draining away _35,000,000l._ +worth of produce yearly from India without return, has manufactured +poverty upon a scale unprecedented in history and is converting the +greatest Empire the world has ever seen into a vast pauper warren and +human plague farm. This meeting further records its fervent hope that +this infamous British system which crushes all economic, social, and +political life out of 230 millions of people will ere long be +peaceably or forcibly swept away for ever."[498] Proceeding, Mr. +Hyndman said: "I may mention I have just finished a pamphlet on India +I have written for the International Socialist Congress at Stuttgart, +which is going to be translated by the International Socialist Bureau +into German and French, and I will take care it is translated into +some other languages--Eastern languages--including the Japanese +language."[499] + +Attempts to incite the native Indians to rise in rebellion and to +massacre the British garrison and the British people residing in India +are not restricted to Mr. Hyndman. We read in the leading Socialist +monthly: "The maintenance of British rule in India means that the +working people of Great Britain are engaged in helping their +masters--the class which robs them--to plunder the unfortunate people +of India of over thirty millions sterling every year. We desire to see +the people of India, as of every other country, not only possessed of +national independence and political rights, but of social and +economical liberty and equality. We assert the right of the Indian +people to manage their own affairs, and ardently desire the +destruction of British rule there."[500] From the official organ of +the Independent Labour Party we learn that that party also "has +declared itself wholly in favour of constitutional government in India +and the social emancipation of the poverty-stricken Indian people. We +believe that Mr. Hardie has had that purpose solely in view, and the +party will stand solidly with him in conveying to the Indian people +the strongest expression of the sympathy and support of British +Socialists in their struggle against social and political +oppression."[501] If British subjects are murdered in India by the ten +thousand, we may thank our revolutionary Socialists. + +Mr. Ramsay Macdonald, M.P., of the Labour party very sensibly +recommends with regard to India: "The Government should win the +confidence and assent of the people."[502] He then continues: "The +immediate reforms necessary are a lightening of India's financial load +by relieving it of the Imperial burdens which it now unjustly bears, +and a readjustment of taxes; the extension of local and State +self-government and further opportunities for natives to be employed +in public offices; the freeing of the press."[503] It is easy to +formulate a policy by expressing generous abstract sentiments. Is Mr. +Macdonald aware that "the lightening of India's financial load" would +mean its transference to English shoulders, that the granting of +self-government and the freeing of the press might lead to a position +which would put before this country the alternative of a war of +repression in India or of its abandonment, and that the abandonment of +India would ruin Lancashire? + +We have taken note of the destructive part of the policy which +Socialists wish to pursue towards the Empire. Now let us take note of +their constructive proposals, though these are not nearly as numerous +as their destructive ones. + +Mr. Ramsay Macdonald, M.P., of the Labour party, is dissatisfied with +Imperial administration in its present form. He would democratise it +and replace the present Imperial Governors by labour men and Socialist +agitators and orators. "The Crown cannot be the custodian of an +Imperial policy, though it may be an Imperial link--and even in this +respect its influence is greatly exaggerated at home."[504] "The real +difficulty lies in securing the confidence of the Imperial States for +whatever authority is to be custodian of the Imperial standard. +Downing Street is ignorant of colonial opinion and needs. Above all, +Downing Street is the surviving symbol of the era of the British +'dominions' and the real 'colonies.' The Imperial States will not +repose confidence in Downing Street, therefore Downing Street cannot +remain the custodian of Imperial standards. What is to take its +place?"[505] + +"The failure of our Empire, except to produce mechanical results, such +as keeping warring tribes at peace, is largely owing to the fact that +the Empire is governed by the most narrow-visioned of our social +classes. National pride may be a valuable possession, but when it +becomes a consciousness of racial superiority it ceases to be an +Imperial virtue. Thus it is not only in its origin, but also in its +present administration, that the Empire in a special sense is a +perquisite of the rich classes, and the influence of the Labour party +on Imperial politics must be to democratise the _personnel_ of the +Imperial machine. A trade union secretary could govern a province +_prima facie_ better than the son of an ancient county family or +someone who was a friend of the Colonial Secretary when he was passing +time at Balliol. We honestly think that the colonies appreciate our +aristocracy, but the colonies laugh at our amiable illusions."[506] + +Is Mr. Macdonald sure that the dominions and colonies would welcome a +change, and that "trade union secretaries" in their very narrow circle +of activity might not become even more "narrow-visioned" than our +present pro-consuls? At the same time it cannot be doubted that all +labour leaders and Socialist agitators will highly approve of his +proposals to make all vice-royalties and governorships their +"perquisites." Apart from a few not very practical proposals, +Socialists follow not a constructive, but a purely destructive, policy +with regard to the Empire, which in their eyes is merely a capitalist +institution. Pursuing consciously or unconsciously a policy of +revolutionary anarchism, they would break up the Empire and even Great +Britain herself. Therefore many Socialists advocate the legislative +independence of both Ireland and Scotland, although some preach, +"'Home Rule' _per se_ will not rid Ireland of Lord Deliverus and the +gang he represents; the remedy for Ireland's distress, as the early +leaders of Irish discontent perceived, is release from the grip of the +brigands who stole the nation's heritage. In other words, the real +object of the Irish movement is Socialism; their cause is ours, and +our paths lie side by side. But they too have been tricked and led +astray by the old political will-o'-the-wisp, the seeming angel of +'Liberty' translated in their case to 'Home Rule.' For many years now +they have pursued this shifty light through the arid desert of +politics, and unless they can come to a clear understanding of their +own original purpose again, and join with their English Socialist +comrades to find a way out of our common difficulties, they are like +to abide in that dreary desert for ever."[507] + +Whilst the vast majority of British Socialists are unpatriotic, +anti-national, and anti-Imperial, and would act as traitors to their +country, the powerful Socialist party of Germany is strongly, one +might almost say passionately, national and Imperial. Many German +Socialists are enthusiastic supporters of the German Navy League, and +they would not hesitate in depriving, if possible, and if need be by +force, Great Britain of those colonies which her Socialists desire to +get rid of. + +The attitude of German Socialists towards their Fatherland, Empire, +colonial possessions, and native races, may be gauged from the words +of Herr Bernstein, one of her most prominent Socialist leaders: "The +national quality is developing more and more. Socialism can and must +be national. Even when we sing _Ubi bene, ibi patria_ we still +acknowledge a _patria_, and therefore, in accordance with the motto +'No rights without duties,' also duties towards her. To-day the +Social-Democratic party is, and that unanimously, the most decided +Imperial party that Germany knows. No other party is so keen to make +over more and more legislative authority to the Empire and to widen +its competence as the Social-Democratic party. The idea that in a +country there exists a powerful party which is only waiting for war in +order to make difficulties for its own Government, to set on foot a +military strike and such-like, this idea may become the greatest +menace to peace by being a spur to adventurous politicians to work +towards a war with that country. But the home Government knows very +well that the declaration that the Social-Democrats would, in case of +need, give their lives for the independence of Germany against a +foreign Power is by no means a free pass for them to take war +easily."[508] + +In another periodical Herr Bernstein wrote: "The advantages of +colonial possessions are always conditional. At a given period a +nation can only sustain a certain quantity of such possessions. As +long as she was ahead of all other nations in productive power, +England could support a much larger amount than any other modern +nation. But the time of her industrial supremacy has passed away, or +at least is nearing its end. Protectionism on the Continent and in the +United States may protract the advent of the inevitable in some +degree. But its hour will strike one day, and when the advantages +which free trade secures her to-day disappear, she would either have, +I believe, to free herself of part of her colonial burdens or lose +more and more of her trade, and with it her regenerative force. So +much for England. With Germany the question is quite different. +Although her rural population is now decreasing, she could, with a +yearly increase of about 800,000, well stand more colonial possessions +than she actually holds, nor would the costs and outlays for her +colonies press very hard on her finances. Where two civilisations +clash, the lower must give way to the higher. This law of evolution we +cannot overthrow, we can only humanise its action. To counteract it +would mean to postpone social progress."[509] + +It is sad to compare the sane, manly, national, and patriotic attitude +of German Socialists with the foolish, anti-national cosmopolitanism +of British Socialists, who, parading beautiful motives of the largest +humanity, would not hesitate to sacrifice their country and their +countrymen, their Empire and their colonies. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[476] Quelch, _Social Democracy and the Armed Nation_, p. 14. + +[477] _Imperialism: Its Meaning and Its Tendency_, p. 10. + +[478] Norman, _Empire and Murder_, p. 3. + +[479] _Imperialism: Its Meaning and Its Tendency_, p. 15. + +[480] _Ibid._ p. 7. + +[481] Bax and Quelch, _A New Catechism of Socialism_, p. 36. + +[482] Hyndman, _Colonies and Dependencies_, p. 14. + +[483] _Imperialism: Its Meaning and Its Tendency_, pp. 12, 13. + +[484] Hyndman, _Colonies and Dependencies_, p. 8. + +[485] Macdonald, _Labour and the Empire_, p. 108. + +[486] _Labour Leader_, October 10, 1907. + +[487] Hyndman, _Colonies and Dependencies_, p. 8. + +[488] _Imperialism: Its Meaning and Its Tendency_, p. 5. + +[489] Macdonald, _Labour and the Empire_, pp. 76, 77. + +[490] Hyndman, _Colonies and Dependencies_, p. 12. + +[491] Hyndman, _The Unrest in India_, p. 13. + +[492] Hare, _Famine in India_, p. 17. + +[493] Hyndman, _The Unrest in India_, p. 7. + +[494] _Ibid._ p. 16. + +[495] _Ibid._ p. 7. + +[496] Hyndman, _Colonies and Dependencies_, pp. 11, 12. + +[497] _Ibid._ p. 14. + +[498] Hyndman, _The Unrest in India_, p. 1. + +[499] _Ibid._ p. 4. + +[500] _Social-Democrat_, July 1907, pp. 393, 394. + +[501] _Labour Leader_, October 11, 1907. + +[502] Macdonald, _Labour and the Empire_, p. 104. + +[503] _Ibid._ p. 105. + +[504] Macdonald, _Labour and the Empire_, p. 70. + +[505] _Ibid._ pp. 67, 68. + +[506] Macdonald, _Labour and the Empire_, pp. 27, 28. + +[507] Thompson, _That Blessed Word Liberty_, p. 10. + +[508] Ed. Bernstein in the _Sozialistische Monatshefte_, translated in +the _Social-Democrat_, July 1907. + +[509] _Nation_, October 12, 1907. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +SOCIALIST VIEWS ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND FOREIGN POLICY + + +"Socialism," Mr. Ramsay Macdonald writes, "has a great part to play +immediately in international politics. It alone can banish national +jealousies from the Foreign Offices; it alone offers the guarantees of +peace which are a necessary preliminary to disarmament. Socialism has +a world policy as well as a national one--a corollary to its belief in +the brotherhood of man."[510] These words contain assurances, not a +plan, and therefore we must inquire, What is the foreign policy of +Socialism? + +As regards foreign policy one may divide the Socialists into two +classes: revolutionaries and visionaries. It will be seen in the +following pages that the aims of both are similar. + +The foreign policy of the revolutionary Socialists of Great Britain is +based on the celebrated "Communist Manifesto" of Marx and Engels, +which contains the following programme regarding foreign policy: "The +Communists are distinguished from the other working-class parties by +this only: in the national struggles of the proletarians of the +different countries they point out and bring to the front the common +interests of the entire proletariat, independently of all +nationality."[511] "The Communists everywhere support every +revolutionary movement against the existing social and political order +of things. In all these movements they bring to the front, as the +leading question of each, the property question, no matter what its +degree of development at the time. Finally, they labour everywhere for +the union and agreement of the democratic parties of all countries. +The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly +declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow +of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a +Communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but +their chains. They have a world to win. Working men of all countries, +unite!"[512] + +In accordance with the foregoing proclamation of Marx and Engels, the +philosopher of British Socialism teaches: "For the Socialist the word +'frontier' does not exist; for him love of country, as such, is no +nobler sentiment than love of class. Race pride and class pride are, +from the standpoint of Socialism, involved in the same condemnation. +The establishment of Socialism, therefore, on any national or race +basis is out of the question. The foreign policy of the great +international Socialist party must be to break up these hideous race +monopolies called empires, beginning in each case at home. Hence +everything which makes for the disruption and disintegration of the +empire to which he belongs must be welcomed by the Socialist as an +ally. It is his duty to urge on any movement tending in any way to +dislocate the commercial relations of the world, knowing that every +shock the modern complex commercial system suffers weakens it and +brings its destruction nearer. This is the negative side of the +foreign policy of Socialism. The positive is embraced in a single +sentence; to consolidate the union of the several national sections on +the basis of firm and equal friendship, steadfast adherence to +definite principles, and determination to present a solid front to the +enemy."[513] + +The head of the Social-Democratic Federation informs us: "We have +never failed to hold up before the people the high ideal of a complete +social revolution, which shall replace the capitalist sweating system +and its terrible class war by the happiness, contentment, and glory of +a great co-operative commonwealth for all mankind."[514] + +Faithful to the teaching of Karl Marx, Mr. Tom Mann proclaims: "We do +not want any walls built round cities or nations for fear of invasion; +what we do now stand in urgent need of is an international working +alliance among the workers of the whole world. The only position of +safety will be found in international action among the organised +workers of the world."[515] + +These being the doctrines of revolutionary Socialism, it is only +natural that many British Socialists take the enemy's part in case of +war.[516] + +The foreign policy of the visionary Socialists is based on the idea of +human brotherhood and the equality of men of all races, creeds, and +colours. "Socialism is brotherhood; and brotherhood is as wide as the +heavens and as broad as humanity. The growth of international +Socialism is the promise of the realisation of the angels' natal song: +On earth, peace; Good will toward men. Socialism will remove the +causes of international antagonism and make the interests of all +nations the same."[517] "Socialism implies the inherent equality of +all human beings. It does not assume that all are alike, but only that +all are equal. Holding this to be true of individuals, the Socialist +applies it also to races. Only by a full and unqualified recognition +of this claim can peace be restored to the world. Socialism implies +brotherhood, brotherhood implies a living recognition of the fact that +the duty of the strong is not to hold the weak in subjection but to +assist them to rise higher and ever higher in the scale of humanity, +and that this cannot be done by trampling upon and exploiting their +weakness, but by caring for them and showing them the better +way."[518] Thus Socialism will bring to the world eternal peace. In +the words of the poet: + + There's a good time coming, boys, + A good time coming; + And war in all men's eyes shall be + A monster of iniquity, + In the good time coming. + Nations shall not quarrel then, + To prove which is the stronger; + Nor slaughter men for glory's sake-- + Wait a little longer.[519] + +The ideas expressed in the above are very noble, but they seem to be +hardly in accordance with historical experience or with human nature +as we know it. The race war on the Pacific coast, and the murderous +attacks by strikers on free labourers who have taken their place which +are of frequent occurrence in all countries, show that even Socialists +are apt to rely rather on threats, violence, and superior force than +on brotherliness and reason, although the Chinaman and the Japanese +have, according to the Socialist doctrines given in the foregoing, as +much right to earn a living as any white man. + +"Socialism is essentially international. It recognises no distinction +between the various nations comprising the modern civilised world. 'My +country, right or wrong,' the expression of modern patriotism, is the +very antithesis of Socialism.... This internationalism means liberty +and equality between nations as between individuals, and amalgamation +as soon as feasible, and as close as possible, under the red flag of +Social Democracy, which does not recognise national distinctions or +the division of progressive humanity into nations and races."[520] +"The new community will be built up on an international basis. The +nations will fraternise together, will shake hands over old quarrels, +and unite in gradually extending the new State over all peoples of the +earth."[521] + +"Nationalisation is only the beginning of Socialism. Once let any +nation be thoroughly imbued with the Socialist spirit, it will become +a missionary nation. It will preach the glad tidings of salvation to +people of other tongues, and that which was national shall become +universal: East and West, North and South, all shall realise, all +shall rejoice in, the glorious brotherhood of man."[522] + +The "brotherhood of man" reminds one of the French Revolution. Like +the French Revolution, Socialism has imposed upon itself the mission +to convert the world to its doctrine, and people may again be placed +before the alternative "La Fraternité ou la Mort." + + Let despots frown and tyrants sneer, + The red flag is unfurled; + We'll to our principles adhere + And socialise the world.[523] + +Being anxious to "socialise the world," Socialists eagerly note every +progress of Socialism in foreign countries from Paris to Pekin. For +instance, we read in the "Reformers' Year Book": "The belief that the +quick-witted Japanese would, at the beginning of their new +civilisation, avoid the evils of European capitalism by accepting a +scheme of Socialism is not being fulfilled. The dividend-hunter, who +has been to Europe and received a business training, is fastening the +chains of monopoly upon the people. To meet this growing danger there +is already a thriving Socialist-Labour party, which has a daily +newspaper, the 'Hikari' ('Light')."[524] To facilitate the +"socialisation of the world" and the introduction of "the brotherhood +of man" by making Socialism truly international, Socialists are urged +to study Esperanto, which apparently is to be the international +Socialist language of the future. The "Clarion" and other Socialist +papers regularly contain articles written in Esperanto, and the +anti-patriotic writings of Hervé and Gohier--an extract from the +writings of the former will be found in Chapter XIII.--have been +translated into Esperanto, apparently in the hope that these +incendiary pamphlets may help in bringing about the great Socialist +revolution. + +Among the 'immediate reforms' demanded in the programme of the +Social-Democratic Federation (see Appendix) are to be found the +demands: "The people to decide on peace and war. The establishment of +international courts of arbitration." In view of these demands, which +are made by most Socialist organisations, it is quite natural that +Socialists condemn the secret action of diplomacy. For instance, a +Socialist writer remarks on the Anglo-French agreements: "Are we the +masters of our destinies, when a Delcassé may at any moment immerse us +in international troubles of the first magnitude? Lord Lansdowne, as +the accomplice of Delcassé, was equally guilty, and Sir Edward Grey, +by now securing this triple alliance without the consent or the +knowledge of the 150 millions of people whom it most vitally concerns, +completes a trio of international plotters and murderers."[525] + +Many Socialists believe that wars may soon be abolished by +international agreement, either among the nations or among the working +masses, who will force their views upon the governments. According to +a very prolific Socialist writer, "There are many signs and portents +to-day that the evil of war, which is not more deeply rooted than was +slavery a hundred years ago, will, ere long, meet a similar +fate."[526] And what are the "signs and portents" upon which the +belief is based that war will be abolished? "It is a significant fact +that whenever the working classes meet to discuss this question of +war, they invariably express themselves in favour of its speedy end. A +few days ago, when the Trades Union Congress met at Liverpool, when +delegates were present representing some two millions of the organised +workers of the country, the representative of the Navvies' Union +declared, amid the resounding cheers of the Congress, that it was +impossible for a man to be a Christian and in favour of war at the +same time."[527] The Navvies' Union will no doubt play a great part in +the foreign policy of the Socialist commonwealth, but is the +importance of their declaration not exaggerated? Wars begin, as a +rule, by an act of aggression. What would the Navvies' Union and the +Trades Union Congress have said if the secretary had read a telegram +stating that British ships had been fired upon and sunk by an enemy, +or that British territory had been invaded and British blood had been +spilt? I fear that eternal peace is not yet in sight, notwithstanding +the "sign and portent" of the statement made by the representative of +the Navvies' Union. Indeed, clear-headed foreign Socialists are aware +of the very limited usefulness of Peace Conferences, and they deride +disarmament proposals, such as that submitted to the last Hague +Conference by Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. + +An exceedingly able article in the foremost Socialist organ of Germany +gave, early in the spring of 1907, the following views on the probable +result of The Hague Conference and on the British proposals regarding +the limitation of armaments, views which are particularly interesting +because they show the sound good sense of the German Socialists and +the difference between the political views of German and British +Socialists. The article stated: + +"Just as the first Hague Conference of 1898 in reality achieved +nothing more than a few secondary amendments to the law of nations, +conformity with which was left completely to the fancy of the +individual Powers, so the second Hague Conference will, it is highly +probable, result in nothing further than a few general peace +assertions and international arrangements which, when it comes to a +war, will not outlive the first interchange of shots. Certainly the +English Premier is right. There does exist among the thoughtful +persons in all European States an intellectual tendency towards the +peaceful settlement of differences between the nations and the +diminution of the gigantic military and naval armaments. But this body +of thoughtful people is--as the last elections in Germany have again +proved--on the whole rather small; and above all, these thoughtful +people do not belong to the economically powerful class who determine +the policy of Governments. + +"The old ideologic conception of the English free trade doctrine, that +the free exchange of goods between the nations leads to the abolition +of war, to the brotherhood of humanity, that conception which found +its most original expression in Dr. Bowring's exclamation 'Free trade +is Jesus Christ,' still haunts some people's minds. With the greatest +number of the liberal advocates of disarmament, their point of view +originates simply in the consideration that the strong naval and +military armaments demand more and more, not only from England's +purse, but from her human material, while, on the other hand, England +possesses all that she can expect, and has, on that account, not much +more to gain. All over the earth's surface she has the most valuable +colonies, and is, since the alliances with Japan and France, in a +perfectly secure position, which awakens in her the wish to +consolidate her position and to economise her finances for the +upholding of her supremacy. It is that satisfied state of mind which +makes the fortunate winner of the game say, 'Let us leave off; I am +tired of playing now.' English capitalists feel themselves in a safe +position. Nothing can easily go wrong at present. The thing is, +therefore, to secure what they have got and to diminish the heavy +burdens. This desire is comprehensible--only the other Powers will +probably not respect it. + +"The working-class party is very much in sympathy with the disarmament +idea in itself. For this party is the most consistent opponent of +militarism, and demands in its programme not only the formation of a +citizen army in place of the standing army, but also that questions of +peace and war should be determined by the people themselves, and that +all international differences should be settled by arbitration. But no +amount of sympathy can get over the fact that in the present +capitalist world there is very little chance of a general disarmament +of the Powers. The conception that war is only a product of human +unreason is on the same level as the idea that revolutions are only +mental aberrations of the masses. War is rooted in the opposing +interests of the nations, as are revolutions in the opposing interests +of the classes."[528] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[510] Macdonald, _Socialism_, p. 120. + +[511] Marx and Engels, _Manifesto_, p. 1 + +[512] Marx and Engels, _Manifesto_, p. 31. + +[513] Bax, _Religion of Socialism_, pp. 126, 127. + +[514] Debate, Hyndman, _Will Socialism Benefit the English People?_ +Introduction. + +[515] Mann, _International Labour Movement_, p. 6. + +[516] See, for instance, Hyndman in _The Transvaal War and the +Degradation of England_. + +[517] Snowden, _The Individual under Socialism_, p. 14. + +[518] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, p. 10. + +[519] _Clarion Song Book_, p. 25. + +[520] Bax and Quelch, _A New Catechism of Socialism_, p. 31. + +[521] Bebel, _Woman in the Past, Present, and Future_, p. 235. + +[522] "Veritas," _Did Jesus Christ teach Socialism?_ p. 2. + +[523] Neil, _Songs of the Social Revolution_, p. 13. + +[524] _Reformers' Year Book, 1907_, p. 195. + +[525] _Social-Democrat_, September 1907, p. 534. + +[526] Ward, _The War Drum shall Throb no Longer_, p. 13. + +[527] _Ibid._ p. 14. + +[528] _Vorwärts_, March 10, 1907, translated in the _Social-Democrat_, +April 1907, pp. 220-224. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +SOCIALISM AND THE ARMY + + +Most Socialists, British and foreign, are opposed to the existing +armies, for two reasons: + +(1) Because they wish to overturn practically all existing +institutions from the Monarchy downwards, and they fear that the +military may defend the _status quo_; + +(2) Because they aim at the abolition of States and of nationality and +at the disappearance of frontiers, as the ideal Socialist State of the +future would, for economic and political reasons, have to embrace the +world. + +The Socialist State of the future, embracing the whole universe, can +be created only after the existing States have been overturned. +Therefore the more immediate aim of Socialists is to seize upon the +political power in accordance with the advice given by Karl Marx in +his celebrated "Manifesto."[529] + +Most Socialists apparently believe that not by Parliamentary means but +only by violence will they succeed in making themselves supreme, for +we are told: "The ballot-box is no doubt a safer weapon than the +rifle; but even when there will be a sufficient number of people in +these islands convinced of the necessity and possibility of the +co-operative commonwealth, the end will not yet be certain. There are +the classes in possession to be considered. Are they going to allow +themselves to be voted out? Will they respect a franchise and +ballot-box which will vote that they shall get off the backs of the +workers? Franchise 'Reform' Bills--and it is astonishing to what use +'reform' can now be put--can be rushed through Parliament, like Crimes +Acts, in twenty-four hours; and there is the 'voluntary' professional +army, under military law, to overawe the recalcitrants who may resent +the suffrage and the ballot-box being jerrymandered against the +popular interest. But none are so likely to be overawed by threatened +displays of armed force--whether voluntary or conscript--as those who +have a difficulty in distinguishing the butt end of a rifle from its +muzzle."[530] + +Under the heading "Will it come to barricades?" we read: "The +barricade is to-day, all will agree, in this country at any rate, an +impossible weapon. Armed insurrection on the part of the workers in +this country would to-day be the height of folly, and will continue to +be so, so long as our standing army of hired mercenaries exists. +Standing armies are the instruments of capitalist oppression at home +and aggression abroad. But so long as even one great Power maintains +the present form of military organisation, so long as war is possible, +so long will it be necessary that some form of military organisation +exist in all countries. We dare not preach peace when we know there +can be no peace. This is why the Socialists of all countries are +to-day in favour of an educational policy which will make every +citizen fit for military service within the ranks of a citizen army, +organised and maintained for purposes of defence only. The advantages +of such a force, from the Socialist standpoint, are so obvious that +they need hardly be stated. And it would at least put the working +class in a position to understand what a barricade means, and how, if +need be, to act in their own defence. There are, I am well aware, a +handful of individual Socialists with us who are against universal +military training, but they are a diminishing quantity, and will in +due season find their natural vocation within the ranks of the +Liberty and Property Defence League."[531] + +Mr. Quelch, the editor of "Justice," shares the foregoing opinion, for +he tells us: "Revolutions, it is said, can no longer be accomplished +by force, but only by peaceful means--the vote, Parliamentary action, +and legislation. It may be so, but it will be unprecedented if the +present ruling class surrender without a struggle. And if they had the +armed force of the nation at their command, they would struggle +successfully no matter what the Legislature may have done. The ruling +class will not be made to submit to law and order which is not their +law and order, except by overwhelmingly superior force. Nobody +supposes that in such a contest the people could win against the +ruling class unless they had been able first to win over the army. +With a professional 'voluntary' army, well paid and well affected to +its paymasters, such winning over would be practically impossible. But +with the armed nation there would be no winning over required. An +armed nation--whatever it may do or submit to--is essentially a free +nation, and whatever such a nation determines upon, that it can do and +have, in spite of any ruling class."[532] + +Similar opinions have frequently been expressed by leading Continental +Socialists. Herr Kautsky, for instance, wrote under the heading +"Expropriation of the Expropriators," as follows: "The arming of the +people is a political measure. It can, under certain circumstances, +cost just as much as a standing army, but it is needed for the safety +of the democracy in order to deprive the Government of its most +important weapon against the people."[533] + +Those who are of opinion that only the extreme section of British +Socialists, the revolutionary wing, is hostile to the army, are +mistaken. This may be seen from the following resolution of the Fabian +Society, which is the most moderate exponent of British Socialism: +"Armies act as a standing menace not to neighbouring States, but to +the working populations of their own countries. A study of the +strategical disposition of many of the great railway stations and +barracks of the Continent will prove that the most important function +of the modern army is to suppress the resistance of labour to capital +in the war of classes."[534] + +Among the "immediate reforms" demanded in the programme of the +Social-Democratic Federation[535] we find a demand for "the abolition +of standing armies and the establishment of national citizen forces." +Army and police are to most Socialists very objectionable because it +is their function to protect the national order and national property +against predatory, anarchistic, and revolutionary attempts. Therefore +it is only natural that "No Social Democrat regards the present police +system as a satisfactory one, or a professional police as other than a +dubious expedient."[536] According to the opinion held by many +Socialists, "The soldier's primary function is to come to the rescue +of the policeman when the latter is overpowered."[537] + +Voluntary armies of the British type are quite as objectionable to +Socialists as are the national armies of the compulsory type raised on +the Continent of Europe. "We are told that the advantage of our +present military system is that it is not compulsory, that people are +free to join the service or not as they please. The freedom of the +average recruit to join the army is about on a par with the freedom +of an unemployed workman to work for lower wages than the recognised +rate of wages, or the freedom of the prostitute."[538] "Your soldier, +ostensibly a heroic and patriotic defender of his country, is really +an unfortunate man driven by destitution to offer himself as food for +powder for the sake of regular rations, shelter, and clothing."[539] +"A standing army of professional soldiers is the most effective +instrument in the hands of the dominant class, the greatest menace to +democracy and popular liberty, and the most effective barrier to +revolutionary change that could possibly be devised. And surely, too, +the antithesis to that is the Armed Nation--every citizen a soldier +and every soldier a citizen."[540] + +The ideal army from the Socialist point of view is the armed nation. +It is, as we shall see in the following, an army composed of Socialist +workmen and commanded by Socialist leaders. It is not an army for +national defence, but one for attack on the existing order; it is a +revolutionary army, an army of plunder. The very natural desire of +Socialists to create such a force is, as a rule, disguised under the +demand for a democratic army and universal military training. "We +Socialists advocate the military training of all citizens and the +abolition of professional armies, as ensuring the maximum of military +efficiency and the minimum of menace to democratic principles and +popular rights. We propose that every man should undergo a thorough +military training so as to be equal to any other man. A professional +army is maintained in the main for the defence and maintenance of the +master class. A professional army is a specialised class or caste, +divorced from civil life, hostile to the general body of the +community, and maintained as an instrument to serve the purpose of the +master class. That purpose is as often the suppression of popular +movements at home as aggression abroad. If it were possible to abolish +all military organisations, the remedy would be simple. But we have +seen that that is, under present conditions, impossible. Therefore we +urge that all citizens should be armed and trained to the use of arms, +so that all reasonable military requirements may be met and +professional soldiering be entirely dispensed with."[541] The fact +that the abolition of the professional army would involve the loss of +India and of other possessions to Great Britain is a matter of no +importance to the Socialists. In fact the Socialists wish Great +Britain to lose not only India but all her colonies, as will be seen +by reference to Chapter XI., "Socialism and the Empire."[542] + +Every attempt at improving the voluntary army of Great Britain is +considered a blow at Socialism, and is therefore vigorously resisted +by the Socialists. Hence the scheme of army reform of Mr. Haldane, +Secretary of State for War, has been loudly condemned by them as +reactionary and likely to strengthen the capitalists, and they entreat +the workers not to oppose universal military training. "The capitalist +class would be perfectly delighted that all the rest of the people +outside themselves and their mercenaries should be peaceful unarmed +non-resisters. Nothing could suit them better. We have Mr. Haldane's +territorial army--on paper; and a more reactionary, militarist (in the +worst sense), and anti-democratic system than that to which the +present War Minister has had the effrontery to apply our term of the +'Armed Nation' could scarcely be devised."[543] + +Whether Mr. Haldane's proposals give Great Britain a better army for +national and Imperial defence, is apparently immaterial to the +Socialists, for they criticise it merely from the point of view of +intending rioters and revolutionaries. They complain: "The position +of the Volunteers now is this, that they are not under military law, +and cannot be called out as soldiers to shoot down workmen at the +bidding of the capitalists. Mr. Haldane's scheme, however, destroys +the civilian character of the Volunteers, and converts them into +professional soldiers."[544] + +Although most Socialists are in favour of a national militia, a +considerable number oppose even a national militia of the Swiss type, +fearing that it would refuse to aid the Socialists in overturning +society as at present constituted. "We have been told of the readiness +with which the Swiss militia have donned their uniforms and seized +their rifles when called upon to act against strikers."[545] The +Socialist delegates who accompanied the committee of inquiry which the +National Service League sent to Switzerland in the autumn of 1907 were +apparently less interested in the efficiency of the Swiss army for +national defence than in its attitude during conflicts between labour +and capital.[546] + +Fearing that a national militia might not be willing to lend itself to +revolutionary purposes, that it might become a patriotic force as is +the Swiss militia, many Socialists condemn every kind of military +service, and are quite ready to disarm the nation in the name of +humanity and civil freedom. For instance, at the annual conference of +the Socialist Independent Labour Party of 1907 the following was moved +by a well-known revolutionary Socialist, Mr. Bruce Glasier: + +"That this Conference believes that the time has come when militarism +in every form should be denounced and resisted as alien to civil +freedom and social progress, and expresses itself emphatically against +compulsory military service, and the attempts which are being made to +introduce military training in public schools or other public +institutions, and views with alarm the purposes of Mr. Haldane's Army +Territorial Bill, which, if passed, will make military service +practically compulsory under officers drawn wholly from, the upper +classes, will make industrial employment dependent upon military +service, and, instead of promoting international unity, will foster +and increase the spirit of militarism and aggression."[547] + +In moving this resolution Mr. Glasier said that "he denounced +militarism root and branch," and Mr. Keir Hardie, a Communist +Socialist, in seconding, said: "The resolution was not only a +declaration against militarism, but a special and specific +condemnation of the Territorial Army Scheme now before the House of +Commons. The Socialist party was bound to protest against a system of +that kind. The particular feature which emphasised the danger was that +there were to be county associations formed to have charge of the new +territorial forces, and to have a majority of military men upon them +with landlords and possibly employers of labour. A citizen army was as +great a menace to an industrial population as a professional army. The +new army would be recruited from the people, and officered by the +enemies of the people, just as the professional army was. Children +were to be taught that the flag was the great thing to value in life. +They would find that a citizen army, officered by the rich and +recruited from their own ranks, would be taught to regard the flag as +something holy, while they shot down strikers and Socialists just as +freely as the most exclusive professional army in the world could do. +Patriotism was one of the weapons used by the enemies of the people to +blind them to facts."[548] + +The Trade Union Congress of 1907, disregarding the security of the +country and the Empire from foreign aggression, also condemned +military training of every kind. Commenting hereon, the +"Social-Democrat," the organ of the Social-Democratic Federation, +which favours a national democratic army, wrote: "The Trades Union +Congress declares against conscription and also condemns military +training, which is a totally different matter. To condemn conscription +is purely negative. It would be very much more to the point if the +representatives of the organised working class would formulate an +expression of opinion on the actual military problem. Conscription, at +the worst, is in the air; but the present-day military problem is not +in the air; it is on the earth, practical and urgent. What have the +trade unionists to say to it? Do they approve of the present system of +a nominally voluntary professional soldiery, maintained as an +instrument at the service of the capitalist class for suppression at +home and aggression abroad?"[549] The trade unionists were urged to +abolish the voluntary army and to create a national citizen army, +which will assist the Socialist in overturning society. + +A national citizen army, composed of Socialists and commanded by +Socialists, is the ideal, and until such an army be created it is in +the interest of Socialists to weaken the existing army and to +undermine its discipline to such an extent that, in the event of a +rising or a revolution, it will side with the revolutionaries. With +this object in view, Socialists are trying to create dissatisfaction +in the army by means of emissaries and literature. For instance, in a +leaflet entitled "An Appeal to Soldiers," the Social-Democratic +Federation says: "If you are to fight for patriotism and country, then +let it be a national duty for all, wealthy as well as poor, to bear +arms. Let not those who are called upon to fight remain a pariah class +apart, bereft of the rights of citizenship--regarded by the upper +classes as something to be avoided."[550] + +In its official programme the Social-Democratic Federation demands, +under the heading "Immediate Reforms," "the abolition of +courts-martial: all offences against discipline to be transferred to +the jurisdiction of civil courts."[551] Why do the Socialists demand +the abolition of military law? Because, in their own words, "With the +abolition of military law, upon which we have always laid the greatest +possible stress, militarism falls to the ground."[552] Therefore the +"Appeal to Soldiers" admonishes the military: "You are and will remain +a class apart from the rest of the nation so long as you are compelled +to serve under a barbarous military code called 'military law.' The +system of trial by court-martial is a mere farce and a mockery. We of +the Social-Democratic Federation intend to do our utmost to abolish it +root and branch. Give us your support. Remember that the late War +Minister, Mr. St. John Brodrick, compared the soldier to the Chinese +coolie in South Africa. This is how you are looked upon by the very +people who use you as food for powder in the interest of their class. +Now is the time for all who wish you well to demand the abolition of +military law, the civilising of military service, and the +establishment of a national citizen force."[553] + +In the autumn of 1907 a letter to the editor was published by the +"Daily Telegraph" which contained the following statement: + +"I do not think that many people, least of all the authorities, +realise what a vigorous campaign is now being waged amongst the rank +and file by the Social-Democratic Federation. Herewith I forward a +leaflet which, I believe, is being distributed in thousands to the +military stations in all the corners of our Empire. The one I enclose +I found attached to a tree by the roadside during the recent +manoeuvres near Aylesbury. Copies of the same leaflet have reached me +from India and Belfast, where they were distributed during the recent +strike trouble. It is no exaggeration to say that this leaflet is +dangerous; the men of our army are peculiarly susceptible to the +tenets of the Social-Democratic Federation. Officers and N.C.O.s will +tell you what a serious effect such propaganda must have upon +discipline. + + "Yours faithfully, + "H.C. SMART, + Editor, 'Army Graphic'" + "_October 7, 1907._" + +Socialism is carrying on a vigorous propaganda for destroying +discipline in the army and also in the navy. Hervéism has been +imported into Great Britain, and is making rapid progress. "The +Socialist," the organ of the Socialist Labour party, a party which at +present is small in number, but which is most violent in attitude, in +an article entitled "The Socialist Labour Party and the Citizen Army," +quotes with approval Hervé's saying: "The present countries are cruel +step-mothers to the proletariat. There is at present no country so +superior to any other that its working class should get themselves +killed in its defence. In case of mobilisation the proletariat should +respond to the call to arms by an insurrection against their rulers to +establish the Socialist or Communist _régime_. Rebellion sooner than +war! In case of an order to mobilise, we would seize the moment to +attempt the revolution, to place our hands on the social wealth to-day +usurped by a minority." The foregoing is printed in very large type. +The article then continues, commenting upon Hervé's advice as follows: +"The soldier has been fed and clothed by the working class. His +continued efficiency as a military automaton depends upon regular +supply of food, clothing, and the necessaries of life from the same +source. He has been transported to the field of conflict by the labour +of a whole army of railwaymen. Let us suppose that the day of the +final struggle has been reached. Suppose the capitalist attempts to +stifle the revolution in blood; suppose he calls upon the army to +crush the revolutionary working class by brute force. Let us suppose, +too, that the revolutionary agitation has not penetrated the Chinese +walls of military discipline (a most improbable hypothesis) and that +the soldiers, instead of turning their guns against the capitalist +murderers, cheerfully and willingly serve their masters in the attempt +to crush the people--what then? We shall put the army in quarantine. +We shall isolate it from the rest of the community. We shall cut off +supplies of food, clothing, and fuel. The railway and telegraph +service will no longer be at its disposal--and in this respect we are +in a more advantageous position than our French and German +fellow-workers, inasmuch as the Government ownership of the railways +in these countries is used to deny the workers connected with them the +right of organisation. The army would be in a state of siege, +surrounded on all sides by implacable foes. That, coupled with +whatever may be possible and necessary in the way of armed +insurrection within and outside of the army, is the policy proposed by +the Socialist Labour party and Industrial Unionism. Circumstances may, +and probably will, modify it in many important details, but there is +the main outline. Is it not more logical, more coherent, more likely +to succeed than any 'citizen army scheme'?"[554] + +Love of country has apparently no room in the Socialist's ethics. Its +defence does not trouble him, since he is taught that his worst +enemies are those Englishmen who happen to be better off. + + Waste not your ready blows, + Strike not at foreign foes, + Your bitterest enemies tread your own soil; + The preachers who blind ye, + The landlords who grind ye, + The gluttons who revel whilst ye are at toil. + + Rise in your might, brothers, bear it no longer, + Assemble in masses throughout the whole land; + Teach the vile bloodsuckers who are the stronger + When workers and robbers confronted shall stand. + Through Castle, Court, and Hall, + Over their acres all, + Onward we'll press like the waves of the sea. + Seizing the wealth we've made. + Ending the spoilers' trade; + Till Labour has triumphed, and England is free.[555] + +In their desire to abolish the army, some Socialists argue that "The +whole of your military system is entirely unnecessary."[556] Others +falsify history and boldly assert that British wars, "in nearly every +case have been waged for the suppression of liberty abroad, or from +the irritating desire on the part of British statesmen to interfere +with the internal affairs of other nations."[557] On the other hand, +Mr. Quelch very sensibly argues: "Militarism is an evil against which +we have to fight with all the means in our power, but to talk of +universal disarmament at the present stage is mere Utopianism, a +crying of peace where there is no peace, and where existing +antagonisms make peace impossible. We have at first to eradicate the +causes of conflict. To-day the unarmed nation offers itself as a +temptation and a prey to some mighty brigand Power. War is the last +argument of kings, and all Governments rest on force. So long as that +is the case, it is only the people which is armed that can maintain +its freedom, or can indeed lay claim to be a free people. An unarmed +nation cannot be free. An armed nation, on the contrary, is a +guarantee of individual liberty, of social freedom, and of national +independence."[558] Mr. Quelch would have the same ideals as the +National Service League, did not later utterances of his contradict +sensible statements such as the above. + +It is a curious and most interesting phenomenon that in France and +Great Britain, two eminently non-aggressive countries, the Socialists +do all in their power to disarm the nation, whilst in Germany, which +can hardly be described as non-aggressive, the Socialists are +patriotic and are ready to go to war, not only for the defence but +also for the aggrandisement of their country. Numerous declarations to +that effect made by the leading German Socialists are on record, and +the following extract is characteristic of their attitude: + +"That Germany be armed to the teeth, possessing a strong fleet, is of +the utmost importance to the working men. What damages our exports +damages them also, and working men have the most pressing interest in +securing prosperity for our export trade, be it even by force of arms. +Owing to her development, Germany may perhaps be obliged to maintain +her position sword in hand. Only he who is under the protection of his +guns can dominate the markets, and in the fight for markets German +working men may come before the alternative either of perishing or of +forcing their entrance into markets sword in hand."[559] + +In the spring of 1907 the leading German Socialist paper wrote in a +weighty article on the Peace Conference at The Hague: "The conception +that war is only a product of human unreason is on the same level as +the idea that revolutions are only mental aberrations of the masses. +War is rooted in the opposing interests of the nations, as are +revolutions in the opposing interests of the classes."[560] + +A comparison of German Socialism with English Socialism shows that +English Socialism is more violent and far less patriotic than German +Socialism. German Socialists love their country. Most British +Socialists apparently love only themselves. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[529] See p. 107. + +[530] H.W. Lee in the _Social-Democrat_, June 1, 1907. + +[531] Thomas Kennedy in _Forward_ of May 25, 1907, reprinted in the +_Social-Democrat_, June 1907. + +[532] Quelch in the _Social-Democrat_ for October 1907. + +[533] Kautsky, _Social Revolution_, p. 4. + +[534] _Report on Fabian Policy and Resolutions_, p. 11. + +[535] See Appendix. + +[536] _Social-Democrat_, October 1907, p. 588. + +[537] Shaw, _The Impossibilities of Anarchism_, p. 25. + +[538] _Social-Democrat_, June 1907. + +[539] Shaw, _The Impossibilities of Anarchism_, p. 25. + +[540] _Social-Democrat_, October 1907, p. 586. + +[541] _Social-Democrat_, April 1907, p. 204. + +[542] See p. 170. + +[543] _Social-Democrat_, October 1907, p. 586. + +[544] _Social-Democrat_, October 1907, p. 589. + +[545] _Ibid._ + +[546] See _The Nation in Arms_, October 1907, and _Journal de +Neuchatel_, September 22, 1907. + +[547] _Independent Labour Party Report_, 1907, p. 64. + +[548] _Ibid._ pp. 64, 65. + +[549] _Social-Democrat_, November 1907, p. 516. + +[550] _An Appeal to Soldiers._ + +[551] See Appendix. + +[552] H.W. Lee in _Social-Democrat_, June 1907. + +[553] _An Appeal to Soldiers._ + +[554] _Socialist_, October 1907. + +[555] _Social-Democratic Federation Song Book_, No. 30. + +[556] Kirtlan, _Socialism for Christians_, p. 6. + +[557] Smart, _Socialism and the Budget_, p. 6. + +[558] Quelch, _Social Democracy and the Armed Nation_, p. 3 f. + +[559] _Sozialistische Monatshefte_, December 1899. + +[560] _Vorwärts_, March 10, 1907. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +SOCIALISM AND THE MONARCHY + + +The first of the "Immediate Reforms" demanded in the official +programme of the Social-Democratic Federation[561] is the "Abolition +of the Monarchy." That that demand has been made so crudely and that +it has been given so prominent a position cannot surprise anybody who +is acquainted with British Socialism. "Socialists are essentially +thorough-going Republicans. Socialism, which aims at political and +economic equality, is radically inconsistent with any other political +form whatever than that of Republicanism, Monarchy and Socialism, or +Empire and Socialism, are incompatible and inconceivable. Socialism +involves political and economic equality, while Monarchy or Empire +essentially imply domination and inequality."[562] + +"As in the political history of the race the logical development of +progress was found in the abolition of the institution of monarchy and +not in its mere restriction, so in industrial history the culminating +point to which all efforts must at last converge lies in the abolition +of the capitalist class, and not in the mere restriction of its +powers. The Socialist Labour Party, recognising these two phases of +human development, unites them in its programme, and seeks to give +them a concrete embodiment by its demand for a Socialist +Republic."[563] + +Most Socialists describe all monarchs as the drones of society, and +habitually refer to crowned heads either as "loafers" or as "Royal +paupers, able-bodied and outdoor."[564] "If the people were of my mind +they would not tolerate for twelve months that the Royal paupers +should wear robes and have every luxury, and the honest, industrious +aged poor should wear rags and eat a crust or be imprisoned for being +hungry."[565] (Has ever anybody in Great Britain, or in any other +country, been imprisoned "for being hungry"?) + +"Is it possible that this degrading monarchical superstition can +survive in England much longer? Has the schoolmaster now been abroad +so long in vain? Will the English people never take their destinies +into their own hands and close the long era of monarchical and +aristocratic robbery? Are we never to have a Government that can hear +the bitter cry of the outcast, and, hearing, act? We know the goal. +The goal is the Democratic Republic."[566] + +Many further extracts regarding English and foreign monarchs might be +given, but they are so indescribably coarse and so offensive--even the +late Queen is most shamelessly slandered, abused, and calumniated--that +they are hardly fit for publication, and their authors shall be +nameless. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[561] See Appendix. + +[562] Bax and Quelch, _A New Catechism of Socialism_, p. 37. + +[563] _Platform, Constitutions, Rules, and Standing Orders, Socialist +Labour Party_, pp. 2, 3. + +[564] See _The Socialist Annual_, 1907, p. 25. + +[565] Glyde, _Britain's Disgrace_, p. 9. + +[566] Davidson, _The New Book of Kings_, p. 107. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +SOCIALIST VIEWS ON PARLIAMENT AND THE NATIONAL ADMINISTRATION + + +The opinion of most Socialists with regard to the British Parliament +is well summed up in the phrase "Parliament a way to the Democracy? +Why, 'tis not a road at all, but only a barricade across our +road."[567] It will be seen in this and the following Chapter that +Socialism means either to capture and hold that barricade or to pull +it down. + +Let us take note of some representative Socialist opinions on the +British Parliament. "The House of Commons is a machine elaborately +contrived by the exploiting classes to serve their own ends. In the +race for Parliamentary seats the wisest and the best are nowhere. They +are rarely even permitted to start. The prizes are for the richest, +the most unscrupulous, cunning, and pushing. And without a complete +revolution in our ideas regarding the objects as well as the methods +of legislation, it must always remain so."[568] "Parliament is +appointed, we are told, to fulfil the will of the nation. Then why +doesn't it do it? If it has a job to do, why does it stand day after +day, week after week, year after year, cackling, cackling, cackling +about it? Can the mind of man conceive anything more intensely +ridiculous than this spectacle solemnly presented for our admiration +by the champions of the system, of six hundred garrulous old gentlemen +making a set and formal business of cackling--cackling, cackling, +cackling, with infinite pride in their own preposterous squeaking and +nagging, and then filing out one by one at intervals, like a stately +Lord Mayor's procession in the kingdom of the black and white +penguins? What is to be done with such a museum?"[569] "Government by +Parliament is a preposterous pretence--a delusion and a snare to the +people. It is a gag imposed by the classes on the aspirations of the +masses. Our Parliamentary representation is a fraud. If we could +appeal directly to the whole people as to whether willing workers +should starve, or little children suffer hunger, then something might +be done. But how can the electors express their desires on this vital +matter under our present electoral system?"[570] + +Socialists complain that Parliament is run by a class. "It is colossal +impudence for a party paper to talk against 'class representation.' +Every class is over-represented--except the great working class. The +mines, the railways, the drink trade, the land, finance, the army +(officers), the navy (officers), the Church, the law, and most of the +big industries (employers) are represented largely in the House of +Commons. And nearly thirty millions of the working classes are +represented by about a dozen men, most of whom are palsied by their +allegiance to the Liberal party."[571] "The rich man's club at St. +Stephen's is merely a committee of plutocrats--rentmongers, +interestmongers, and profitmongers--assembled for the purpose of +safeguarding the spoils which the 'classes' have theftuously contrived +to heap up."[572] "The inequality of representation of classes in +Parliament at present is somewhat startling. It stands as follows: + + _House of Lords_ + + Capitalist members 614 + Labour members 0 + --- + Total 614 + + _House of Commons_ + + Capitalist members 640 + Labour members 30 + --- + Total 670 + +"That is, we have 640 members representing the interests of, say, +6,000,000 of persons, and 30 members representing the interests of +37,000,000."[573] "As recipients of rents, royalties, interests, and +dividends, some 600 of the representatives of the people in the House +of Commons are parasites upon the people's backs. The railway +shareholders have 78 representatives; the railway workers, nearly +400,000 strong, have one. One hundred and eighty thousand landed +proprietors have 155 members; 1,000,000 agricultural labourers have +one. Coal-mine owners have 21; and 655,000 miners have seven members. +The shipowners and builders have 22 representatives; the 200,000 +sailors have none."[574] + +"The social composition of the House of Commons is as follows: 124 +lawyers, 108 manufacturers (including brewers, colliery-owners, &c.), +85 landowners, 64 merchants and shopkeepers, 37 army and navy men, 33 +journalists and authors, 28 financiers, 23 professors, teachers, &c., +18 Civil servants, 18 newspaper proprietors and publishers, 16 heirs +to the peerage, 67 of miscellaneous occupations and professions, and +50 working men. Thus the bulk of the present House of Commons consists +of rent, profit, and interest mongers and their hirelings and +hangers-on. The exploited masses of the people are only represented by +fifty men."[575] + + See your masters, how unceasingly they strive to keep you down, + How they manage all your business up in Parliament and town; + Well, it is not quite your business, for it really is their own. + And that is why the millions of the toilers slave and groan.[576] + +"On the top of all this political chicanery and impudent pretence of +popular representation, there sits an autocratic, irresponsible, +hereditary legislative body, consisting exclusively of idlers and +parasites who reserve to themselves the right of rejecting all laws +which do not clearly further their own exactions and monopolies! Then +ask yourselves: Of what use is Parliament? Of what use can it ever be +to the mass of the common people?"[577] + +Parliament is not only useless to the worker, but is also, according +to the Socialists, utterly corrupt and callous to the sufferings of +the people. "Whenever an American is met abroad with the assertion +that government in the Republic is corrupt, he can safely say that for +one ounce of corruption in America there is a full pound avoirdupois +in Britain."[578] "It is extremely doubtful, indeed, whether either +slavery or the slave-trade would be abandoned in the British Empire if +they still existed to-day, and their abrogation and suppression +depended upon the English House of Commons. The hideous corruption in +that assembly and the utter indifference of the majority of its +plutocratic members and their retainers to the welfare of any people, +at home or abroad, where money is to be made by neglecting the +commonest rules of ethics, have never been so clearly manifested as +they are to-day."[579] + +"The suffrage in Great Britain is very unsatisfactory, as the +following table shows: + + Per cent. of the + population + having a vote. + France 27.9 + Switzerland 23.5 + Greece 23.0 + Spain 22.4 + Belgium 21.5 + Germany 21.2 + Bulgaria 21.2 + Norway 19.9 + Austria 19.9 + Portugal 19.0 + Great Britain 16.5 + Denmark 16.4 + Servia 16.0 + Holland 16.0 + +As to England, she occupies a very low place in the scale. But then +the people here have not even got universal suffrage! And this is a +'democratic,' 'self-governing' community."[580] + +Furthermore, "The time has come when members of Parliament will have +to receive payment for their services in the House of Commons, because +the people have realised that they cannot be adequately represented +only by men of wealth and position who are able to pay their own +expenses."[581] + +The national Administration is quite as unsatisfactory to Socialists +as is the national Parliament. "To-day honesty wears rags, and +rascality and idleness wear robes. Every pint of beer, and every drop +of wine or spirits the workers drink, every pipe of tobacco or cigar +they smoke, every cup of tea, coffee, or cocoa they drink, every +patent medicine they purchase, every dog they keep, every pound of +sugar they use, even their playing cards and their insurance policies, +are taxed to help to pay big salaries and pensions to the younger sons +of the aristocracy, &c. The eldest sons live on the family estate; the +younger live on the State. One becomes a lawyer, and will lie for +anyone who will pay him well; another becomes an officer in the army +or navy, and he will cut the throat of anyone in return for a good +salary; another becomes a parson, and in return for a good stipend he +will pray for anyone; the others are quartered on the consular or the +diplomatic service, or are placed as clerks at _1,000l._ per year in +the Colonial, Foreign, or Home Office, &c."[582] The official +Parliamentary Report of the Independent Labour Party for 1907 states: +"Our short experience has been sufficient to teach us that it is as +important to democratise our administrative departments as it is to +democratise our Statute Book. We have found that the doors to the +higher offices in Whitehall are closed to everyone who has not had a +middle-class or aristocratic education, and recent changes have placed +our Civil service more completely in the hands of the wealthy +classes."[583] + +In the foregoing statements we find some of the principal complaints +of the Socialists regarding the national Parliament and +Administration. Let us now take note of their wishes and proposals. + +Among the "Immediate Reforms" demanded in the programme of the +Social-Democratic Federation we find the following regarding +Parliament and the Administration: + +"Abolition of the Monarchy. Democratisation of the Government +machinery, viz. Abolition of the House of Lords, Payment of members +of legislative and administrative bodies, Payment of official expenses +of elections out of the public funds, Adult suffrage, Proportional +representation, Triennial parliaments, Second ballot, initiative and +referendum. Foreigners to be granted rights of citizenship after two +years' residence in the country, on the recommendation of four +British-born citizens, without any fees. Canvassing to be made +illegal. Legislation by the people in such wise that no legislative +proposal shall become law until ratified by the majority of the +people. Legislative and administrative independence for all parts of +the Empire." + +As the above demands are somewhat vague, it is worth while to take +note of another and clearer statement of the political demands made by +the Social-Democratic Federation. "We of the Democratic Federation +demand complete adult suffrage for every man and woman in these +islands, because in this way alone can the whole people give free +expression to their will; we are in favour of paid delegates and +annual conventions, because by this means alone can the people control +their representatives; we stand up for the direct references of all +grave issues to the country at large and for the punishment as felony +of every species of corruption, because thus only can tyranny be +checked and bribery be uprooted; we call for the abolition of all +hereditary authority, because such authority is necessarily +independent of the mass of the people. But all these reforms, when +secured, mean only that the men and women of these islands will at +length be masters in their own house. Mere political machinery is +worthless unless used to produce good social conditions."[584] + +A widely read Socialist writer formulates the Socialistic demands +regarding Parliamentary reform as follows: "(1) The suffrage should +not be given to a man's house or his lodgings, but to the man +himself. I believe in adult suffrage, male and female. (2) +Constituencies should be numerically equal, each having three members, +one retiring annually by rotation. (3) Cabinets should be chosen +annually by the members of the House of Commons, to whom alone they +should be responsible. (4) Payment of members and election expenses. +Members should receive reasonable 'wages' according to the ancient +practice of the Constitution, while all election expenses (not +strictly personal to the candidate) should be defrayed out of the +rates. (5) The Monarchy. If we are to have more kings or queens, their +cost ought not to exceed that of the President of the United States, +viz. _10,000l._ a year. 'The office of a king in this nation is +useless, burdensome, and dangerous, and ought to be abolished' +(Resolution of the Long Parliament, 1649). (6) The House of Lords. 'A +House of Peers in Parliament is useless and dangerous and ought to be +abolished.'"[585] + +The Fabian Society proclaims: "To complete the foundation of the +democratic State, we need manhood suffrage, abolition of all poverty +disqualifications, abolition of the House of Lords, public payment of +candidature expenses, public payment of representatives, and annual +elections."[586] + +"The problem how the Lords are to be abolished is of easy solution. +They cannot present themselves at the Gilded Chamber without writs, +and these a democratic Ministry could and would peremptorily stop. +Should they come without writs, Inspector Denning could be instructed +to take charge of them. Or the House of Commons could simply revive +its resolution of January 6, 1649, decreeing their abolition."[587] + +Many Socialists are opposed not only to the House of Lords but to all +second chambers. "When the hereditary House is abolished, the demand +which will be made by reactionaries for a representative second +chamber must be sternly resisted. True, most nations have second +chambers in imitation of our pernicious example; but there is not one +of them, however constituted, whose history is not a conclusive +argument against such institutions. The second chambers of Europe and +America are nothing more than standing monuments of the gregarious +folly of mankind. Nations can no more have two wills than individuals. +A second chamber at one with the first is superfluous, in opposition +it is noxious."[588] + +A large number of Socialists do not think that the democratisation of +the House of Commons and the abolition of the House of Lords will +suffice. They fear that party politics and party intrigues may become +more pernicious in a Labour Parliament than they have proved to be in +a middle-class Parliament. They fear that adult suffrage may not +improve matters, and that impecunious professional politicians may +prove worse than the class of politicians who up till now have sat in +Parliament. "We stand in England at the parting of the ways. One leads +to the payment of members and the creation of a class of professional +political adventurers; the other leads to the referendum and +initiative."[589] + +"In the Republics of France and the United States the electors are +virtually endowed with male adult suffrage, and Labour representation +is facilitated by State payment of members and of their election +expenses. Yet the French Chamber, with its Panama and Southern Railway +scandals, in which the patriots have gorged their servile lusts, has +stood for many years before the nations as a monument of infamy. The +United States Congress has not a single Labour representative within +its walls, and the Government of the country is become a vile synonym +for corruption."[590] "In America the compensation of each Senator and +each Representative is fixed at five thousand dollars, or one thousand +pounds per year. In addition to this the members have special fares on +the railways, and many other perquisites. Yet the American +'Encyclopedia of Social Reform,' edited by W.D.P. Bliss, says, on page +325, 'Congressmen, notoriously, do not represent the people, but +special interests and great moneyed corporations. The Congress is +almost the only great national legislative body owned wholly by the +well-to-do. In the British Parliament, even after the Conservative +victories of the last election, there are thirteen Labour men. In +Congress there is not one."[591] "Better the stupid British hereditary +gentleman than the cunning politician-for-a-living. Better a Cabinet +of Chamberlains and Gladstones than a circus of conflicting +unscrupulous demagogues on the make." + +"The Parliamentary system tends, not to the summoning of thoughtful +patriots to their country's service, but to the exaltation and +glorification of plausible windbags."[592] "The panacea of Labour +representation will not remedy those defects. It is in the eternal +nature of things that in the electoral competition of rival +personalities the scum must rise to the top. So long as self-seeking +is rewarded by the highest honours self-seeking will flourish."[593] +"A Parliament of Labour members would develop just the same tendency +as any other to division into parties commanded by rival ambitions, +between which the democratic vote would, as always, annul +itself."[594] "If there were five hundred delegates of Labour, if the +whole of the Cardiff Trade Unions Congress could be suddenly +translated to Parliament and power, there might still be some envious, +spiteful braggarts subterraneously scheming and gnawing to undermine +and engulf a rival, though a people's cause were wrecked in the +catastrophe. Leaders are always dangerous. The workmen have too many +leaders. Their first political necessity is to get rid of the +politicians. Therefore I would like to see abolished all Legislative +Chambers, Senates, and Councils of State."[595] + +Views identical with the foregoing are held by many Socialists, and +therefore a Socialist writer has asked: "Why cannot the people, even +of a populous and extensive country, vote upon all laws?"[596] +"Instead of representation we shall have what is technically called +the referendum, or submission of all proposed measures to the people, +who must signify their approval by vote before the measures can pass +into law. This has been practised already to some extent in +Switzerland, both in national and cantonal affairs. It was first +proposed by Robespierre when he advised the king of France to say: 'My +people, here are the laws I have made for you. Will you accept +them?'"[597] + +Another Socialist says: "It is impossible that any delegate should +completely represent the desires of ten or twenty thousand electors. No +two human beings are agreed about everything; and, in every election, +electors, in order to express approval of one cherished principle, are +driven to adopt half-a-dozen others which they bitterly +disapprove."[598] "The way to true democracy will never be found through +delegacy. The only safe way is through direct legislation--through the +referendum and initiative. The referendum and initiative does not mean +more laws, but fewer, shorter, simpler, and more understandable +ones."[599] "What is wanted is neither aristocracy, plutocracy, nor +demagoguecracy, but democracy--the one governing system which never has +been tried. The people must learn that the game of politics is not an +unfathomable science, but a struggle of rival interests in which no +delegate can so well represent their needs as themselves."[600] "The +referendum quite changes the character of the Federal Assembly. It +ceases to be a Parliament, and becomes merely a drafting committee. In +other countries the initiative comes from above; the Parliament and the +King are together the legal sovereign. In Switzerland it comes from +below, for the legal sovereign is the electorate."[601] + +Other Socialists are strongly opposed to the referendum: "Democracy, +as understood by the Fabian Society, means simply the control of the +Administration by freely elected representatives of the people. The +Fabian Society energetically repudiates all conceptions of democracy +as a system by which the technical work of Government administration, +and the appointment of public officials, shall be carried on by +referendum or any other form of direct popular decision. Such +arrangements may be practical in a village community, but not in the +complicated industrial civilisations which are ripening for +Social-Democracy."[602] "The people can only judge political measures +by their effect when they have come into operation; they cannot plan +measures themselves, or foresee what their effect will be, or give +precise instructions to their representatives; nor can any honest +representative tell, until he has heard a measure thoroughly discussed +by representatives of all other sections of the working class, what +form the measure should take so as to keep the interests of his +constituents in due subordination to those of the community. It is to +be considered, further, that intelligent reformers, especially +workmen who have grasped the principles of Socialism, are always in +the minority; they may address themselves with success to the +sympathies of the masses and gain their confidence; but the dry +details of the legislative and administrative steps by which they, +move towards their goal can never be made interesting or intelligible +to the ordinary voter. For these reasons the referendum, in theory the +most democratic of popular institutions, is in practice the most +reactionary."[603] + +Other Socialists are in favour of a reformed Parliament which is to be +a glorified trade union congress. "Each industry would have adequate +representation in the Parliament of Industry, and this Parliament +would connect and harmonise the affairs of the whole. In the future +society the descendant of the union of to-day will be the centre of +social life and the administration of things. Let 'workers of all +trades unite.'"[604] Others, again, call for a Parliament of a frankly +revolutionary type which is characteristically called a "National +Convention." "What is the use of the suffrage? It has but one use--to +enable the workers, as a class, to take peaceful possession of the +power of the State, so as to use that power for social purposes. But +to do this you must have paid delegates from your own class, not +timeserving unpaid representatives from the classes which rob you; you +must put your servants, not your masters, at Westminster; you must +have a National Convention of the People, not a House of the +Confiscating Classes."[605] Readers will no doubt remember the French +National Convention and its reign of terror and crime which culminated +in the execution of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette. + +Many Socialists, like most Anarchists, are utterly opposed to +Parliamentary government and majority rule, preferring rule by +violence to rule by argument. "What has hitherto been called the will +of the people, or the will of the majority as manifested in the modern +constitutional State, does not express any act of will at all, but the +absence of will. It is not the will but the apathy of the majority +that is represented."[606] "The preaching of the _cultus_ of the +majority in the modern State is an absurdity which can only for a +moment go down with the Parliamentary Radical who is wallowing in the +superstitions of exploded Whiggery."[607] "The Socialist has a +distinct aim in view. If he can carry the initial stages towards its +realisation by means of the count-of-heads majority, by all means let +him do so. If, on the other hand, he sees the possibility of carrying +a salient portion of his programme by trampling on this majority, by +all means let him do this also."[608] + +The Women's Suffrage problem has lately come to the front, and it is +characteristic and noteworthy that it has been taken up with the +greatest energy, we might almost say with hysterical energy, by +Socialist women. They tell us, "We desire the stain removed from our +womanhood. Remove the hateful stigma from your mothers, your wives, +and your daughters, which places the noblest and the best of them in a +lower position than the most uncultured and immoral specimen of the +male sex who pays his rates and taxes."[609] According to a woman +Socialist, the Votes-for-Women problem is "the greatest moral and +spiritual problem that has torn asunder the souls of men since the +fall of Adam and the coming of Christ."[610] "Society has no brighter +hope, humanity no larger promise than her coming, radiant with health +and happiness, love and liberty shining from her eyes, the beautiful, +high-souled, sister-mother of the men that are going to be."[611] "The +State cannot spare from its high councils the deep wisdom of its +mothers and the comradeship of its wives."[612] + +It is obvious why Socialist women demand the vote with almost frenzied +fervour, and why the various Socialist societies and parties support +their agitation. Socialists believe that their wives, and the women +workers in general, will vote for Socialism, and that most other women +will be indifferent and abstain from voting. Therefore we learn: +"Socialism in the only true sense of that term, in the only wise +conception of that state, can never be brought into the fulness of its +being until women have been made equal with men as citizens."[613] +"The benches of the National Chamber may yet be seen accommodating +three hundred and thirty-five intelligent women."[614] In referring to +the elections in Finland, Mrs. Snowden writes: "To Socialists, an +interesting point is the fact that, in spite of the women voters, who +are supposed to be retrograde in politics, by far the largest number +of party votes recorded were for the Socialist party."[615] + +The claims of women for the franchise have been supported by large +majorities at important meetings of Socialists. The resolution of the +Independent Labour Party, "That this Conference declares in favour of +adult suffrage and the political equality of the sexes, and considers +that the right of suffrage should immediately be extended to women on +the same conditions as men," was carried by 236 votes to 24.[616] The +Social-Democratic Federation resolved: "That this Conference declares +that the time has arrived when equal rights of citizenship be extended +to all women and men of full age; urges all members to take advantage +of the present suffrage agitation to focus public opinion upon the +only logical solution of the question, viz. the abolition of existing +franchise qualifications and the establishment of universal adult +suffrage; and calls upon them actively to work for this practical +measure of reform." This resolution was carried by 42 votes to 9.[617] + +The recent clamour of "Votes for Women" emanated not so much from +philosophic Radicals who had read John Stuart Mill as from Socialists, +and many non-Socialist women have become their dupes. Socialist women +hope that they will have the voting all to themselves. Therefore they, +and most men Socialists also, would very likely resist to the utmost +all proposals which would make voting compulsory for _all_ women. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[567] Thompson, _Hail Referendum_, p. 3. + +[568] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 99. + +[569] Thompson, _Hail Referendum_, pp. 4, 5. + +[570] Thompson, _The Referendum and Initiative in Practice_, p. 4. + +[571] Blatchford, _Britain for the British_, p. 152. + +[572] Davidson, _The Gospel of the Poor_, p. 59. + +[573] Washington, _Whose Dog art Thou?_ p. 14. + +[574] Thompson, _The Only Way to Democracy_, p. 8. + +[575] _The Socialist Annual_, 1907, p. 43. + +[576] Neil, _Songs of the Social Revolution_, p. 21. + +[577] Thompson, _Hail Referendum_, p. 7. + +[578] Davidson, _The New Book of Kings_, p. 118. + +[579] Hyndman, _Colonies and Dependencies_, p. 9. + +[580] _The Socialist Annual_, 1907, p. 58. + +[581] _The Reformers' Year Book_, 1907, p. 121. + +[582] Councillor Glyde, _Britain's Disgrace_, p. 30. + +[583] _Report Annual Conference of Independent Labour Party_, 1907, p. +52. + +[584] _Socialism Made Plain_, p. 7. + +[585] Davidson, _A Democrat's Address_, p. 4. + +[586] _Fabian Essays in Socialism_, p. 187. + +[587] Davidson, _The Book of Lords_, p. 78. + +[588] Davidson, _The House of Lords, Useless, Dangerous, &c._, p. 13. + +[589] Thompson, _The Only Way to Democracy_, p. 11. + +[590] Thompson, _Hail Referendum_, p. 8. + +[591] Thompson, _The Only Way to Democracy_, p. 10. + +[592] Thompson, _The Referendum, &c._, p. 3. + +[593] _Ibid._ p. 1. + +[594] _Ibid._ p. 16. + +[595] Thompson, _Hail Referendum_, pp. 8, 9. + +[596] Gronlund, _Co-operative Commonwealth_, p. 130. + +[597] _Ibid._ p. 129. + +[598] Thompson, _The Only Way to Democracy_, p. 4. + +[599] _Ibid._ p. 15. + +[600] Thompson, _The Referendum, &c._, p. 5. + +[601] _Ibid._ p. 11. + +[602] _Report on Fabian Policy_, p. 5 + +[603] _Report on Fabian Policy_, p. 13. + +[604] Kessack, _The Capitalist Wilderness and the Way Out_, p. 3. + +[605] _What Use is a Vote?_ p. 1. + +[606] Bax, _The Ethics of Socialism_, p. 120. + +[607] _Ibid._ p. 128. + +[608] _Ibid._ pp. 127, 128. + +[609] Ethel Snowden, _The Woman Socialist_, p. 20. + +[610] _Ibid._ p. 19. + +[611] Ethel Snowden, _The Woman Socialist_, Introd. + +[612] _Ibid._ p. 93. + +[613] _Ibid._ p. 97. + +[614] _Ibid._ p. 92. + +[615] _Ibid._ p. 98. + +[616] _Independent Labour Party Report, Annual Conference_, 1907, p. +45. + +[617] _Report of 27th Annual Conference, 1907, Social-Democratic +Federation_, p. 26. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE ATTITUDE OF THE SOCIALISTS TOWARDS THE TWO PARLIAMENTARY PARTIES + + +From the Socialist point of view there is for all practical purposes +no difference between the two great parties. Both are representative, +not of the people, but of capitalism. Both are hostile to labour. + +"The difference between Liberalism and Toryism is merely a question of +phraseology; there is no fundamental clashing of principle. Both stand +for the private ownership of the means of life. They both support a +competitive state of society with its inevitable exploitation of the +wealth-producers."[618] "Both the Conservative and Liberal parties are +agreed in supporting private ownership in the instruments of +production for the purposes of profit-making. Their differences are +merely superficial and their programmes admittedly offer no solution +of the problems of poverty. The Independent Labour Party regards them +both as equally the enemies of labour, and in fact merely as two +sections of the entrenched forces of plutocracy."[619] "There are not +really two parties in the State. There is but one great party, that of +privilege, divided into two factions, labelled Whig and Tory, or +Liberal and Conservative. Both do much the same things in office. The +mimic warfare which they wage with each other, no shrewd observer +takes seriously. It is merely a pleasant game of which the stakes are +the spoils of office and patronage. An 'organised hypocrisy' is but a +mild description of an English Government, whether Liberal or +Conservative. The Liberal and the Conservative are the two thieves +between whom the people are evermore crucified."[620] "Neither of the +political parties is of any use to the workers, because both the +political parties are paid, officered, and led by capitalists whose +interests are opposed to the interests of the workers. The Socialist +laughs at the pretended friendship of Liberal and Tory leaders for the +workers."[621] "There's no difference whatever between Bannerman, the +Scottish landowner, and Balfour, whose uncle made _200,000l._ out of +army contracts in India in four years. These people are entirely +antagonistic to the worker."[622] + +The assertions of the Liberals that they are the true friends of the +people, that they have always fought for liberty and democracy, that +they have given the vote to the people, and that they trust the +people, are treated with derision and contempt. "Liberalism has +historically opposed itself alike to Toryism, landed interest, and +democracy, working-class interest whenever that interest appeared as a +distinct political party."[623] "Since 1832 the Liberals had eight +opportunities to give justice to the voteless multitude. In every +election from 1832 to 1865 solemn pledges were made by the Liberals +that a Reform Bill should be introduced as soon as they were elected, +and each time these pledges were ignored after they had secured power +and position."[624] As regards the giving of the franchise, the +Conservatives have not been much better than the Liberals. "Neither +party can claim much credit for its Reform Bills, extorted as they +have been, not by belief in democracy, but by fear of the opposing +faction. Even now the citizen is tricked out of his vote by every +possible legal and administrative technicality; so that more than +one-third of our adult men are unenfranchised, together with the whole +of the other sex. Neither the Conservative party nor the self-styled +'Party of the Masses,' gives proof of any real desire to give the vote +to this not inconsiderable remnant; but both sides pay lip-homage to +democracy."[625] + +Socialists say that the claims of the Liberals to the gratitude of the +masses are hypocritical. Their policy has not been based on +philanthropy, but on a sordid selfishness. They attacked the landed +interest not in order to benefit the people, but in order to make +themselves supreme in the State and to fill their own purses. +Liberalism, with talk of liberty of the individual and of freedom of +trade on its lips, is in reality the representative of capitalism of +the most heartless kind. "The political power of the landed classes +was to be broken; the capitalists were to be allowed to do as they +liked with their own; a state of individualism was to be established; +it was to be a fair field for all and devil take the hindmost. So far +as politics and the law are concerned, this ideal of Liberalism has +been realised. Land is no longer supreme. Money ranks with it. +Everyone has a chance of obtaining money. _Ergo_, we are a democratic +nation."[626] "With the change in economic conditions, with the growth +of manufacture, the rise of the bourgeoisie meant the downfall of +feudalism. The plutocrat supplanted the baron, capitalism became king. +The 'old nobility' of England to-day are successful brewers, bankers, +and traders, and the Nonconformist Conscience dominates in the place +of Holy Mother Church."[627] "The representatives of this class in +Parliament repealed the Corn Laws, securing cheap bread for their +workers at the expense of the landlords and the farmers. The new +masters opposed the Factory Acts, championed by Tories such as Lord +Ashley, Thomas Sadler, and 'King Richard' Oastler, They fostered +railway development, at the public expense, so that they might have +quick and cheap transit for their manufactures."[628] + +The Liberals have shown their selfishness, heartlessness, and greed by +opposing the greatest boon to workers, the Factory Acts. "Was it the +Liberal party which initiated the Factory Acts, which were certainly +the greatest step towards the elevation of the working class that was +ever taken in the course of the last century? Oh, no! So far from the +Liberal party initiating the Factory Acts, we know perfectly well that +the Liberal party--leading members of the Liberal party, like Mr. John +Bright and Mr. Richard Cobden--fiercely and bitterly opposed the +Factory Acts. We know that no one fought more strenuously against the +ten-hour day than Mr. John Bright. We know that all these canting +Liberal hypocrites--I can call them nothing else--said with regard to +the ten-hour day, just what they say now about the proposal for an +eight-hour day--one of the proposals we put forward in order to get +rid of this hideous difficulty of the unemployed. The argument was put +forward then, that the restriction of the hours of labour would ruin +our industries. Precisely the same argument was put forward when it +was proposed to put a stop to the terrible over-work of the children +deep down in the bowels of the earth. Women and children were +mercilessly driven by brutal overseers at their task, and this was +maintained by your Liberal party in order that they might obtain large +profits out of their white slaves. Only let the Liberal party appeal +to history in its claim for working-class support, and then the +working class will arrive at the conclusion to which many of us have +already come--that the Liberal party, so far from being entitled to +our support, is entitled to our greatest loathing and hatred."[629] +"As to the Factory Acts, it was not a question of Messrs. Bright and +Cobden alone, but of the whole organised body of the Liberal party, +which opposed the Factory Acts, and they were only carried by the +hostility of the Tory party to the Liberals for having dared to +interfere with the Corn Laws. The Factory Acts were passed in +retaliation by the landlord party against the capitalist party."[630] + +"Mr. Gladstone was the only member who endeavoured to delay the Bill +which delivered women and children from mines and pits; and never did +he say a word on behalf of the factory children until, when defending +slavery in the West Indies, he taunted Buxton with indifference to the +slavery in England."[631] "If I were to draw a comparison between the +Liberal and the Tory parties, I should say that the Tory party has +done more in that direction than the Liberal party has done."[632] Mr. +Blatchford wrote in the "Clarion" that "the Liberal party has never +helped the trade unions," and proved this assertion by giving a +detailed statement of the trade union legislation, which showed that +modern trade unionism was constantly opposed by the Liberals and was +created by the Conservatives.[633] + +In consequence of its record, Socialists see in Liberalism not a friend, +but an enemy. "Liberalism stands for individualism, and the Liberal +capitalist and trader are bitterly opposed to the trade union and +co-operative society. They found that these bodies, however, were +beginning to exercise an important, if indirect, influence upon their +party. Liberal leaders, alive to the importance of vote-catching, began +to angle for the support of the working-class organisations."[634] "We +have no reason for supporting the Liberal party any more than the Tory +party. Men do not gather grapes from thorns, nor figs from thistles. The +Liberal party is to-day what it has always been--an organisation of +capitalists formed to serve the interests of the capitalist class."[635] + +Liberalism, with its championship of exaggerated individualism, stands +not for liberty, but for administrative anarchy. "The trouble with +nineteenth century Liberalism is that, by instinct, by tradition, and +by the positive precepts of its past exponents, it 'thinks in +individuals.' It visualises the world as a world of independent +Roundheads, with separate ends, and abstract rights to pursue those +ends. Nineteenth century Liberalism is, in fact, axiomatically hostile +to the State. It is not 'little Englandism' that is the matter with +those who still cling to such views; it is, as Huxley and Matthew +Arnold correctly diagnosed, administrative Nihilism. So far as +political action is concerned, they tend to be inveterately negative. +They have hung up temperance reform and educational reform for a +quarter of a century, because, instead of seeking to enable the +citizen to refresh himself without being poisoned or inebriated and to +get the children thoroughly taught, they have wanted primarily to +revenge their outraged temperance principles on the publican and their +outraged Nonconformist principles on the Church. Of such Liberals it +may be said that the destructive revolutionary tradition is in their +bones; they will reform nothing unless it can be done at the expense +of their enemies."[636] + +"The question is frequently put: 'Why are Socialists so much opposed +to Liberalism?' But a little serious reflection will explain the +circumstance. Liberalism is really more conservative than Toryism. +This is not a paradox, it is a fact. Toryism stands for government, +and it does not necessarily follow that it stands for bad government. +Liberalism, on the other hand, admittedly seeks an unrestrained +operation of the individual will. It is opposed to government. It does +not consciously subscribe to the recognition of our social being. It +regards individuals as self-contained units operating in separate +spheres. The less government we have the better, is the keynote of +Liberalism. This was Emerson's theory, and Emerson was an +anarchist."[637] "The modern Conservative candidate is politically a +man without prejudices. No abstract principle forbids him to listen +sympathetically to any proposal for reform. Hence he seems on the +platform less belated than the nineteenth century Liberal with his +stock of shop-soiled principles at full price."[638] "In many people's +minds the terms 'Liberalism' and 'insincerity' are held to be +synonymous. Lacking a central idea of its own, and necessarily failing +to nourish on borrowed ones, there is nothing before the Liberal party +but decay. For progress in the future we must look to a party which +has an ideal and is prepared to stand by it."[639] + +Before the general election of 1906 Socialists wrote: "The political +force of Liberalism is spent. During the last twenty years its +aspirations and its watchwords, its ideas of daily life, and its +conceptions of the universe, have become increasingly distasteful to +the ordinary citizen as he renews his youth from generation to +generation. Its worship of individual liberty evokes no enthusiasm. +Its reliance on 'freedom of contract' and 'supply and demand,' with +its corresponding 'voluntaryism' in religion and philanthropy, now +seems to work out disastrously for the masses who are too poor to have +what the economists call an 'effective demand' for even the minimum +conditions of physical and mental health necessary to national +well-being."[640] "For the last twenty years the Liberal party has +been trying to fit itself with a new programme. It took up Home Rule +for Ireland, but found that split the party; it took up temperance +reform, quite a deviation from its old policy of individual liberty, +and again found itself divided; it avowed friendliness to Labour, and +frightened off still another batch of supporters. The Party of +Progress finds itself now in the unhappy position that its basic idea +is old-fashioned, and when it tries to assimilate a new one it becomes +a case of putting new wine into old bottles. That is the sad plight of +the Liberal party. The party is merely living from hand to mouth as an +anti-Tory party, hoping to profit by the mistakes of its rival. The +party has split up on temperance, on labour, on the war, on +Imperialism, on education, simply because there is no central +vivifying ideal to bind together and shape the policy. Can the party +adopt a new ideal? is the great question. Can it drop its fundamental +idea of individualism and take up the idea of co-operation? and the +answer is emphatically 'No.'"[641] + +The philosopher of British Socialism thinks that, owing to the +principles and attitude of the Liberal party, Liberalism and Socialism +are deadly enemies. "Liberalism, in so far as it aims at maintaining +the liberty of private property, is reactionary and false to the +principle which it has always implicitly or explicitly maintained, of +the right of each and every individual to a full and free development. +In so far as Liberalism does this, in so far as it assumes as +axiomatic a state of society based on unrestricted freedom of private +property, and proceeds to adjust social arrangements solely or +primarily in the interests of the owners of private property, in so +far Liberalism and Socialism are death enemies."[642] The leading +Fabian organ stated: "A party subsisting on illusions, concealments, +and hypocrisies, could hardly survive in the atmosphere engendered by +a real fight like that between plutocracy and Socialism. For some time +it may contrive to subsist by telling the electorate that the only +true way of resisting Socialism is by means of Liberal reforms, while +at the same time (with doubtful consistency) asking for Socialist +support on the ground that it goes 'part of the way.' But its best +chance is probably to divert public attention from Socialism to other +matters, and this the Prime Minister evidently feels. The existence of +the Liberal party is incompatible with the existence of intellectual +honesty in its leaders. And with all his faults Sir Henry is too +fundamentally honest a man to lead it effectively at the present +juncture. The reins had better be handed over to Mr. Winston +Churchill, against whom no such objection can be urged."[643] + +Before the Liberals set to work in 1906, Mr. Philip Snowden wrote: "It +might be said that in the next Parliament the Liberal party is on its +last trial."[644] That trial has had, as far as the Socialists and the +Labour party are concerned, an unsatisfactory result. Before the +general election Socialists asked themselves: "Will the Liberal party +come into power with a clear mandate for reform which even the House +of Lords will not dare entirely to obstruct, or will it shuffle into +power on the misdoings of its predecessors and carry out a halfhearted +policy in the hope of not estranging any of its moderate followers? If +it takes the latter course, it will win the undying contempt of all +real reformers; it will be the last time that a Liberal Administration +holds sway, and Labour will be left the only really progressive force +in the country."[645] Twelve months later, in a review of the activity +of the Liberal Government, "The Reformers' Year Book" stated: "The +story of Chinese labour in the Transvaal during the year 1906 has been +one of continuous perfidy on the part of the Liberal Government at +home. Returned to power largely on account of the opposition of the +people of this country to Chinese slavery in any shape or form, they +have burked the main issue at every point, and only carried out a few +minor changes which have been totally ineffective, retaining all the +while a hypocritical devotion to the popular ideal."[646] "The Liberal +Government has failed entirely to justify the confidence reposed in it +by the electorate, not only upon the newer questions as they have +arisen--such as the war in Natal--but on the very matters upon which +it was returned to power, of which the chief was the continuance of +Chinese labour in the Transvaal."[647] + +Socialists think that the Liberal agitation against the House of Lords +is insincere and hypocritical. "Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's brave +talk about fighting the House of Lords sounds very much like blarney +when we call to mind the fact that he has beaten all records in the +creation of peers. He has not yet been two years in office, but he has +managed to make no less than twenty new peers. They include a tobacco +man, a whisky man, a newspaper man who sold his journal to the Tories, +several usurers and company promoters."[648] + +The assurance of the Liberals that they are the friends of Labour is +doubted in view of the attitude of the party towards Labour +candidates. "Liberals are continually saying that there is no quarrel +between Liberalism and Labour. Why, then, do we have the constantly +recurring spectacle of a middle-class Liberal being run against a +popular and capable man who can claim to directly represent the people +who live by the work of their hands and heads as distinguished from +those who live upon rent, dividends, or interest? Are there not even +upon the Liberal side plenty of landlords, railway directors, bankers, +stockbrokers, and employers of labour, that a seat cannot be spared to +a workman till he wins it in despite of Liberal and Tory opposition +alike?"[649] + +An amalgamation of the Liberals and the Socialist-Labour members is +impossible. "Liberal-Labourism" is a delusion. "Labour men and +capitalist Liberals are beginning to see that individualism and +co-operation will not mix. If Liberalism to-day swallows Labourism, it +will have a severe attack of indigestion. Mr. Keir Hardie in the +Liberal ranks would do more to disrupt and destroy the Liberal party +than he can possibly do from the outside. Labour, it is true, might +capture the Liberal party, and this is advocated by some, but if this +took place the party would wither away. The capitalist element would +drop out and Labour would be left alone. Labour might just as well +build up a new party outside. It is no use capturing a weapon which +crumbles to pieces as soon as you grasp it. Better make a new +weapon."[650] "The Labour party in the House of Commons is as yet not +disliked only because as yet it is not feared. Until it has made +itself both disliked and feared, it will be far short of having +fulfilled the objects of its very existence. It is not saying too much +to say that in the very near future the measure of the Labour party's +effectiveness will be its unpopularity in the House of Commons. +Acrimonious as are the feelings often evoked by political +controversies, they are urbanity itself as compared with the passions +aroused over economic issues. The limits of Liberal concession must +needs soon be reached. The Liberal-Labour candidate is but a transient +phenomenon of our time, and with his disappearance the storm will +break."[651] + +The great Liberal majority was created by accident and it is rapidly +dissolving. "The Liberals succeeded to power through no merit of their +own, but merely through the errors of their opponents. Liberalism is +shedding its supporters at both ends, and is rapidly on the way to +becoming a mere _caput mortuum_."[652] It is true that "at the general +election many Socialists climbed into Parliament on the backs of the +Liberals,"[653] but Liberal-Socialist co-operation is not possible. + +Many Socialists believe that Liberalism and Socialism are fundamentally +antagonistic, and that therefore Socialism must fight its battles +unaided. "In Great Britain, as in France, Belgium, Germany, and Italy, +the cleavage has now been definitely marked between capitalist +Liberalism and Socialist Democracy."[654] "Political power, properly +so-called, is merely the organised power of one class for oppressing +another."[655] "All political parties are but the expression of class +interests, and as the interest of the working class is diametrically +opposed to the interests of all sections of the master class, the party +seeking working class emancipation must be hostile to every other +party."[656] "We shall see Liberals and Tories working together in +cordial agreement, as they do in Germany, to prevent the election of +the only politicians who can really profess to go to the poll on the +broad ground of citizenship--labour done by hand or brain for the +community, as apart from idleness and pleasure-seeking supported by +rents, dividends, and interest taken from the community."[657] + +"As the machinery of government, including the armed forces of the +nation, exists only to conserve the monopoly by the capitalist class +of the wealth taken from the workers, the working class must organise +consciously and politically for the conquest of the powers of +government, national and local, in order that this machinery, +including these forces, may be converted from an instrument of +oppression into the agent of emancipation and the overthrow of +privilege, aristocratic and plutocratic."[658] "The property question +is the issue which is creating a new political cleavage in the State. +Somewhat dimly at present, but with growing clearness of vision, the +worker begins to see that he will remain a menial, outcast and +forlorn, until he has made himself master of the machine he tends, and +the soil he tills."[659] + +"The only true position for a genuine working-class party is that of +open hostility to all who support capitalism in any shape or form. +This is the safe, sure, and scientific position."[660] "Liberals will +declare and do declare in most pathetic tones that they have done +more, and will do more, for the workers than the Tories have done or +will do. And Liberals will assure you that they are really more +anxious to help the workers than we Socialists believe. But those are +side issues. The main thing to remember is, that even if the Liberals +are all they claim to be, they will never do as much for Labour as +Labour could do for itself."[661] + + Oh heed not the talk of those fat agitators. + Who prattle of Gladstone, or Churchill, or worse; + Expect not your rights from professional praters, + But manfully trust in your courage and force.[662] + + Onward! Sons of Labour! nerve ye for the fray; + Soon shall beam the dawning of a brighter day. + Keep the red flag flying, herald of the free-- + On yourselves relying, on to liberty. + + See! the coming glory streams across the plains. + Soon the Sons of Labour shall take up the reins. + Then in every nation shall our Cause increase + Till it reigns triumphant--pledge of joy and peace.[663] + +On the other hand, there are Socialists who think that Socialism +cannot succeed if it cuts itself adrift from the great national +parties and pursues a purely Socialistic Labour policy. "A member of +an Imperial Parliament is an Imperialist in spite of himself. A party +which concerns itself with sectional interests only will soon cease to +be a party; it will degenerate into a group, and as such it cannot +hope to receive serious backing in the country."[664] + +Many Socialists feel confident that they will conquer power by +conquering Parliament. "Parliament has always governed the country in +the interest of the class to which the majority of its members +belonged. It governed in the interest of the country gentlemen in the +old days when they were in a majority in the House of Commons; it has +governed in the interests of the capitalists and employers since they +won a majority by the Reform Bill of 1832; and it will govern in the +interest of the people when the majority is selected from the +wage-earning class."[665] "No sooner shall two hundred Labour members +be firmly seated upon the cross-benches of the House, than both +parties will approach them with bended knee, bringing gold and +frankincense and programmes."[666] "There is a fine impartiality about +the policeman and the soldier, who are the cutting edge of the State +power. They take their wages and obey their orders without asking +questions. If those orders are to demolish the homestead of every +peasant who refuses to take the bread out of his children's mouths in +order that his landlord may have money to spend as an idle gentleman +in London, the soldier obeys. But if his orders were to help the +police to pitch his lordship into Holloway Gaol until he had paid an +income-tax of twenty shillings on every pound of his unearned income, +the soldier would do that with equal devotion to duty, and perhaps +with a certain private zest that might be lacking in the other case. +Now these orders come ultimately from the State, meaning in this +country the House of Commons. A House of Commons consisting of 660 +gentlemen and 10 workmen will order the soldier to take money from the +people for the landlords. A House of Commons consisting of 660 workmen +and 10 gentlemen will probably, unless the 660 are fools, order the +soldier to take money from the landlords for the people."[667] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[618] _John Burns and the Unemployed_, p. 1. + +[619] Independent Labour Party, _A Statement of Principles_, p. 3. + +[620] Davidson, _The New Book of Kings_, p. 7. + +[621] Blatchford, _Britain for the British_, p. 151. + +[622] Casey, _Who are the Bloodsuckers?_ p. 16. + +[623] Bax, _Outlooks from the New Standpoint_, p. 70. + +[624] Councillor Glyde, _Liberal and Tory Hypocrisy_, p. 12. + +[625] _Fabian Essays in Socialism_, pp. 39, 40. + +[626] Penny, _The Political Labour Movement_, p. 2. + +[627] Quelch, _Economics of Labour_, pp. 9, 10. + +[628] Leatham, _The Evolution of the Fourth Estate_, p. 11. + +[629] _Should the Working-class Support the Liberal Party?_ p. 10. + +[630] _Ibid._ p. 19. + +[631] Diack, _Socialism and Current Politics_, p. 10. + +[632] _Should the Working-class Support the Liberal Party?_ p. 19. + +[633] _Clarion_, February 16, 1906. + +[634] Penny, _The Political Labour Movement_, p. 2. + +[635] _Should the Working-class Support the Liberal Party?_ p. 13. + +[636] _Twentieth Century Politics_, p. 4. + +[637] Russell Williams, _The Difficulties of Socialism_, pp. 3, 4. + +[638] _Twentieth Century Politics_, p. 6. + +[639] Penny, _The Political Labour Movement_, p. 4. + +[640] _Twentieth Century Politics_, p. 2. + +[641] Penny, _The Political Labour Movement_, p. 3. + +[642] Bax, _Outlooks from the New Standpoint_, pp. 69, 70. + +[643] _New Age_, October 10, 1907. + +[644] _Daily News_, January 20, 1906. + +[645] _The Reformers' Year Book_, 1906, Preface p. 6. + +[646] _Ibid._ 1907, p. 104. + +[647] _Ibid._ Preface. + +[648] _Clarion_, November 1, 1907. + +[649] Leatham, _The Evolution of the Fourth Estate_, p. 14. + +[650] Penny, _The Political Labour Movement_, p. 13. + +[651] _Socialism and Labour Policy_, p. 14. + +[652] _New Age_, November 7, 1907. + +[653] _Ibid._ + +[654] _Clarion_, January 19, 1906. + +[655] Marx and Engels, _Manifesto_, p. 22. + +[656] _Declaration of Socialist Party of Great Britain_, see Appendix. + +[657] Leatham, _The Evolution of the Fourth Estate_, p. 16. + +[658] _Declaration of Principles of Socialist Party of Great Britain._ + +[659] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, p. 30. + +[660] Marx and Engels, _Manifesto of the Communist Party_, p. 16. + +[661] Blatchford, _Britain for the British_, pp. 148, 149. + +[662] _Social-Democratic Federation Song Book_, p. 30. + +[663] _Clarion Song Book_, p. 21. + +[664] _Socialism and Labour Policy_, p. 3. + +[665] _What Socialism Is_, p. 3. + +[666] Leakey, _Co-operators and Labour Platform_, p. 16. + +[667] Shaw, _The Impossibilities of Anarchism_, p. 26. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +SOCIALISM AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT + + +Many Socialists, especially the Fabians, hope to introduce Socialistic +principles and Socialistic rule into Great Britain rather through the +local than through the national authorities. They are strenuously +exerting themselves to bring about that result, and so far their +exertions have been by no means unsuccessful. + +"Socialists to-day are working in the towns with a twofold object. (1) +To level up their districts. If Glasgow has municipal telephones, +there is a very good precedent for Liverpool, Manchester, Bradford, +Leeds, &c., doing likewise. If Liverpool owns a municipal milk-supply, +London, Manchester, Bradford, Leeds, must be brought into line. Each +town must adopt the good points from every other town. (2) To urge +their districts to launch out into something new."[668] "The property +held and worked and controlled by municipalities already exceeds +_500,000,000l._ sterling in value, and is being added to yearly. This +process has but to continue long enough to ensure that every industry +will pass under public control, and thus State Socialism will become +an accomplished fact by a gradual process of easy transition."[669] + +"The proper sphere of municipal activity includes everything a +municipality can do better than a private company."[670] "The +immediate object should be to municipalise all those services which +are necessary to a healthy life. Food, fuel, clothing, shelter--these +are required by all--and no man should have the right to deny them to +any worker. We must not stop at municipal trams. We must not stop at +municipal gas. We must not stop at municipal electricity. These are +only stepping-stones. Not until we can say that poverty and disease +and unemployment are abolished out of the land shall we have the right +to discuss the limits of municipal trading."[671] "The economic forces +which replaced the workshop by the factory will replace the private +shop by the municipal store, and the private factory by the municipal +one."[672] + +According to Socialist teaching the destruction of private enterprise +by municipal undertakings will be a blessing to all citizens. "Where a +city supplies its own gas there is no 'middle-man.' The corporation +stands in the place of the 'middle-man,' and as the corporation is +elected by the citizens the people are thus in the position of getting +their own gas made and paying for it in their own way. Some of the +citizens are makers of gas, or workmen; most of the citizens are users +of gas, or consumers; and all of the citizens are owners and managers +of the gasworks and of the gas supply."[673] + +The suppression of the "unnecessary middleman" sounds so very +plausible that it is certain to prove an excellent election cry. But +has the middleman really disappeared when a city corporation takes his +place? Does the corporation-middleman supply gas gratis? Are the +private middleman's profits not distributed to a host of corporation +officials in the shape of substantial salaries? The transfer of +gasworks, &c., from private hands to a city corporation is no doubt +very beneficial to those who draw the corporation salaries. It may be +very profitable to the local politicians and their hangers-on. Jobs +may be had as a reward for political support. But the citizens may +find the gas to be no cheaper and the rates to be considerably higher +after the suppression of the "unnecessary middleman." And will it then +console him that he is the "owner and manager of the gasworks and of +the gas supply"? + +Under the heading "The Justice of Abolishing the Private Trader" one +of the leading champions of municipal Socialism writes: "Is it unfair +to take away the living of the private trader? Then it is unfair to +take away the living of the unemployed, the twelve millions on the +verge of starvation, and the thousands slain annually by poverty and +preventable disease. I say that the welfare of the nation must be +considered before the profits of the monopolists and the wasteful +freedom of the small trader. Under the present system a large +proportion of the population have so deteriorated in health and +stamina as to endanger the existence of the nation. Private enterprise +and competition are responsible for nine-tenths of the misery and +suffering of our twenty million poor. But we must not attempt to alter +the conditions because the small private trader would be ruined. +Nevertheless the system is going to be altered, whether the small +trader likes it or not."[674] + +The foregoing are typical Socialist arguments. In the first place, the +writer grossly exaggerates existing poverty by speaking of "twenty +million poor." Then he boldly asserts that all poverty is due to +private enterprise and that municipal enterprise will abolish it. So +far municipal enterprise has not even succeeded in diminishing +poverty. On the contrary, with the phenomenal growth of municipal +enterprise in Great Britain pauperism, actual and percentual, has also +grown at an alarming rate. It is significant that poverty and +distress have increased most rapidly, and have become most acute, in +those localities in which municipal enterprise has been most active +and in which Socialist councils have held undisputed sway, as, for +instance, in East and West Ham and Poplar. Municipal enterprise, by +increasing the rates--and, with the rates, the rents--has increased +the general cost of living without at the same time increasing +production. On the contrary, it has driven factories away through high +rates. Therefore municipal enterprise has increased the expenditure of +the general body of workers without increasing their earnings, and +consequently has directly increased the existing poverty which it has +promised to abolish. Municipal enterprise has succeeded chiefly in +giving from the rates high wages to municipal employees at the cost of +all other workers. + +Municipal Socialists rather rely on force than on justice in dealing +with private business men. "For private traders to fight against +municipalisation is a short-sighted policy. One thing is certain--they +have to go. 'What! Compete with us with the ratepayers' money? Our own +money? What injustice!' says the small trader."[675] This just +objection of the ratepayers is answered with a contemptible quibble. +"The small trader is mistaken. The municipality does not use their +money, and would not use their money, under the supposed +circumstances. If the London County Council decided to open 1,000 +bread-shops, how would they raise the capital required? Not by taking +the ratepayers' money, or the private traders' money, but by going +into the money market and borrowing on the credit of all the citizens. +Suppose _100,000l._ were required? Not a penny would come out of the +rates. The credit of all the citizens of London is so good that they +can borrow all the money they want without any difficulty."[676] In +other words, the Social-"Democratic" politician claims for himself the +right of arbitrarily depriving citizens who possess property of that +property and to ruin them by underselling them. They borrow the money +they require for these undertakings on the credit of the very +property-owners whom they wish to ruin, not on the credit of "all the +citizens," as Mr. Suthers pretends, and then they have the impudence +to assert that the corporations do not ruin the citizens with their +own money but only with money borrowed on their credit--as if the one +were not identical with the other. + +The objections to municipal enterprise on a Socialist basis are +twofold: + +(1) That it increases the rates and the municipal debt, and therefore +the rent of houses and lodgings; + +(2) That it is, on the whole, unprofitable, being undertaken without +due regard to sound finance, efficiency, and economy. + +Socialists intend to "tax the rich out of existence." Therefore they +endeavour to increase as much as possible not only the Imperial +taxation but also the rates. Owners of house property are used to a +certain income. If the rates are put up, they put up the rent. +Therefore every increase in the rates leads, as a rule, automatically +to an equivalent increase in the rent. The fact that a rise in the +rates leads to a rise in the rent of houses and lodgings, and that the +Socialist policy of waste and squander falls therefore most heavily +not on the capitalist but on the working man, is boldly denied. +"Generally speaking, the reduction of rates is of no benefit whatever +to the working class. Rates are levied upon property.--Q. Do not the +working class pay the rates and taxes? A. No. Rates and taxes are paid +out of the surplus value taken from the workers by their exploiters. +As already explained, the return to the workers, their wages, is +determined by their cost of subsistence, regulated by competition in +the labour market; consequently they have nothing wherewith to pay +taxes, and whether these be high or low, or whoever has to pay them +directly, the position of the worker remains the same. He gets, on the +average, his subsistence, that is all."[677] + +Unfortunately, many working men know to their cost that the arguments +given above are absolutely untrue. Whilst their wages have remained +stationary, their expenditure for rent has greatly increased owing to +municipal enterprise carried on by Socialists regardless of expense, +which has greatly increased rates. At West Ham "Local government was +to be carried on in a way regardless of expense, and under the +compounding system the vast majority of the electors were not to +realise that there were such things as rates at all. One member of the +Socialist party publicly declared that it did not matter to the +working men of the borough how high the rates were. But the 'people' +got to see in course of time that there were drawbacks, even for them, +in unrestricted Socialism. They found that, because of the increased +rates, house rents were going up twelve and a half to twenty per +cent., notwithstanding the threats of the Socialists that every +landlord who raised his rents should have his assessments +increased."[678] + +Owing to municipal enterprise directed by Socialists, "The sum-total +of the rates, which stood at _6s._ in the pound in 1890 and at _8s._ +_1d._ in 1896, rose to _8s. 10-1/2d._ in the pound in 1900 and _9s._ +_5-1/2d._ in the pound in 1901. From that figure it advanced to _9s._ +_8d._ in the pound,"[679] and to _10s. 8d._ a little later. It is an +impudent misstatement of fact when Socialist leaders tell the workers, +"We are not killed by rates, we are killed by rent."[680] "The whole +of our municipal expenditure is only a paltry 110 millions a year. +What do we pay in rent? Two hundred and seventy-five millions!"[681] +After all, people in other countries, where the blessings of Socialist +local government are unknown, and where poverty is much rarer than in +Great Britain, also pay rent. On an average the rates are 150 per +cent. higher in Great Britain than in Germany.[682] + +Whilst the national Government endeavours to diminish the dead weight +and the heavy yearly charge of national indebtedness, Socialist local +authorities vie with each other in piling up local indebtedness as +fast as possible with a reckless disregard of the future. The increase +of the municipal debt, the increase of local taxation, like the +increase of national taxation, has no terrors for Socialists. On the +contrary, "Municipal debt is not a burden. It is a splendid +investment. We 'owe' 370 millions. Do we 'own' nothing? The +municipalities own all the roads, drains, sewers, public buildings, +parks, libraries, a thousand waterworks, two hundred and sixty +gasworks, three hundred and thirty-four electricity undertakings, one +hundred and sixty-two tramways, two or three hundred markets, a +hundred and fifty cemeteries, forty-three harbours, piers, and docks, +numerous baths, washhouses, and working-class dwellings, thousands of +schools, and thousands of acres of land."[683] Since these words were +written local indebtedness has increased. "We owe" now 470 millions. + +Unfortunately, many of the splendid assets enumerated possess no +realisable value whatever, and many municipal enterprises are run +without an adequate profit or with a loss. + +The Socialist views and aims regarding local indebtedness are well +summed up as follows by Suthers: "The 'municipal debt' argument is a +bogey. The greater the municipal debt, the less private enterprise +there will be. The greater the municipal debt, the cheaper and better +the public services will be. The less private capital, the less +profits going into a few pockets, the richer the general public will +be. Up, then, with municipal debt."[684] These are principles which +threaten to make Great Britain bankrupt. "The annual report of the +work of the Local Government Board for 1907 shows that the local debt +of England and Wales, from being 17 per cent. of the National Debt in +1879-80, has grown to 58.5 per cent. of the National Debt in 1904-5. +The National and Local debts have grown as follows: + + 1879-80 1904-5 _Increase_ + National Debt Ł770,604,774 Ł796,736,491 Ł26,131,717 + Local Debt 136,934,070 466,459,269 329,525,199"[685] + +Unless the Imperial Government interferes, the local debt will soon be +larger than the National Debt. + +We have seen in the beginning of this Chapter that, as regards local +government, the Socialists pursue a twofold aim: (1) To level up their +districts; (2) To urge their districts to launch out into something +new. Therefore we find, as Mr. John A. Fairlie says in his book on +"Municipal Administration," that "the danger of excessive debt is most +serious in the smallest cities. The largest cities, while they have +the largest debts, have also the largest resources, and also the +best-developed financial administration. The cities of modest size, +however, which attempt to equal the works of the metropolis without +its available sources of revenue, are very likely to find themselves +in serious difficulties." + +The time may come, and it may come soon, when British local +indebtedness will become greatly reduced by local bankruptcy and +repudiation. That process would have no terrors for Socialists. They +ought rather to look forward to it. As they demand the repudiation of +the National Debt (see Chapter IX.), they should logically also strive +to repudiate the local debt. A general repudiation of local debt would +be the fitting and logical aim and end of municipal enterprise. +Municipal enterprise aims at expropriating private property-owners, +who, rightly considered, are paid not in cash but in debt +certificates. The repudiation of all local debts would convey gratis +to the municipality the municipally managed undertakings which, +rightly considered, belong to the stockholders, and would at the same +time ruin the capitalists who have advanced the money for acquiring +those undertakings. The Socialist policy would triumph. This would be +the fitting end of a rule by irresponsible and penniless demagogues. + +To the Socialist there is no limit to municipal enterprise. Not some +branches of private trade and production, but all private trade and +production are to be taken over by the municipalities. Private +enterprise is to be extinguished altogether. The municipalities are to +be universal owners, manufacturers, and providers. Among the first +things which Socialist municipalities wish to control are the supply +of bread, milk, coal; hospitals and public-houses, banks, fire +insurances, and pawnshops.[686] + +All workers are to be municipal officials. Stretching out beyond their +borders, the municipalities are ultimately to absorb the country, and +to bring it under Socialist management and government.[687] + +Some of the more immediate aims of Socialism as regards London are +expressed by Sydney Webb, the brilliant, but unfortunately somewhat +over-imaginative, leader of British scientific Socialism, as follows: + +"We see in imagination the County Council's aqueducts supplying London +with pure soft water from a Welsh lake; the County Council's mains +furnishing, without special charge, a constant supply up to the top of +every house: the County Council's hydrants and standpipes yielding +abundant cleansing fluid from the Thames to every street. When every +parish has its public baths and washhouses open without fees, every +Board school its swimming-bath and teacher of swimming, every railway +station and public building its drinking-fountain and basin for +washing the hands, every park its bathing and skating ponds--then we +shall begin to show the world that we do not, after all, fall behind +Imperial Rome in this one item of its splendid magnificence. By that +time the landlord will be required, as a mere condition of sanitary +fitness, to lay on water to every floor, if not to every tenement, and +the bath will be as common an adjunct of the workman's home as it now +is of the modern villa residence. And just as in some American cities +hot water and superheated steam are supplied in pipes for warming +purposes over large areas, we may even see the County Council laying +on a separate service of hot water to be drawn at will from a tap in +each tenement. Why should London's million families waste their +million fires every time hot water is needed? + +"The economy of fuel leads, indeed, to the municipalised gas-supply, +then laid on, as a matter of course, to every tenement, and used, not +only for lighting, but still more largely for cooking in the stoves +supplied at a nominal charge. + +"In order to relieve the pressure of population in the centre, and +reduce the rents of the metropolitan "Connaughts," the County Council +tramways will doubtless be made as free as its roads and bridges. +Taxes on locomotion are universally condemned, and the economic +effects of a penny tram-fare are precisely the same as those of a tax +on the trip. The County Council will, however, free its trams on the +empirical grounds of economy and the development of its suburban +estates of artisans' dwellings, built on land bought to retain the +unearned increment for the public benefit. Free trams may well imply +free trains in the metropolitan and suburban area. Does not the +Council already run a free service of steamboats on the Thames at +North Woolwich--eventually, no doubt, to be extended all along the +stream? + +"Public libraries and reading-rooms in every ward are nearly here +already, but we may expect that the library and the public hall will +go far to cut out the tavern (at present our only 'public' house) as +the poor man's club. As for bands of music in the parks, municipal +fętes, and fireworks on 'Labour Day,' and other instances of the +communalisation of the means of 'enjoyment,' all this is already +common form in France. The parks, indeed, will be tremendous affairs. +But when London's gas and water and markets are owned and controlled +by its public authorities; when its tramways, and perhaps its local +railways, are managed like its roads and parks, not for private +profit, but for public use; when the metropolis at length possesses +its own river, and its own docks; when its site is secure from +individual tyranny, and its artisans' dwellings from the whims of +philanthropy; when, in short, London collectively really takes its own +life into its own hands, a vast army of London's citizens will be +directly enrolled in London's service."[688] + +The foregoing political and economic programme would be more +creditable to an imaginative schoolgirl ten years old than to a man of +science and a politician. How are all these wonderful and almost +miraculous changes to be financed? Quite simply and very easily--by +plunder. Mr. Sidney Webb, like most "scientific" Socialists, is a +loose and shallow thinker. He forgets in his calculations that +stubborn little item--human nature. He forgets that nobody can become +richer by transferring money from the right pocket to the left. If you +plunder all capitalists and all middlemen, the workers will certainly +not be better off. Owing to the absence of direct self-interest, the +management by salaried officials will be inefficient. All experience +of management by public bodies through officials shows that public +enterprise is far more wasteful and far less efficient than private +enterprise; that in official management routine, sloth, waste, +irresponsibility, nepotism, favouritism, and often peculation too, +become supreme. Besides, far more money than is wasted now by +capitalists on themselves will be wasted by politicians hankering +after popularity, and after jobs for themselves and their followers +and dependents. The greatest wasters in the poorest districts are the +irresponsible Socialist authorities. In palatial town halls +sumptuously furnished, in magnificent public libraries, in marble +baths, and other outlets of civic magnificence, money wrung from the +hard-worked wage-earners is wasted in far greater sums than could +possibly be spent by the most reckless capitalist on his private +amusement. The most magnificent town halls, &c., are to be found in +the poorest districts. Besides, "salaries must be liberal enough to +attract the best men to the public service."[689] It is a matter of +course that the rule of irresponsible Socialist agitators, that a +system of local government whereby those who have no money are enabled +to spend lavishly by drawing upon those who have money, will not make +for efficiency and economy, and the end will be the Poplar-ising of +Great Britain. There is a generally accepted principle, "No taxation +without representation." That principle requires as a supplement, "No +representation without taxation." Otherwise Great Britain will be +ruled by a mob headed by imaginative and dishonest demagogues. + +No enterprise is too large or too costly for the Socialists. Quite +recently the Fabians recommended in a leaflet that Glasgow should +acquire the whole built-over ground of the city at a cost of +_24,000,000l._, issuing against that sum Corporation Bonds bearing +3-1/4 per cent. interest. Provided that everything should be settled +according to expectations, and supposing that Glasgow should be able +to borrow _24,000,000l._ at 3-1/4 per cent., which seems extremely +unlikely, there would accrue, on the most favourable showing, a net +profit of _200,000l._ per annum to Glasgow, if nothing be allowed for +the cost of management.[690] The possibility that that gigantic +speculation might prove a failure is not even considered. On the +contrary, it is assumed as certain that Glasgow will greatly profit by +the growing value of land. Now if through natural economic +development, or through the rule of a Socialist national or local +administration, Glasgow should decline and land in Glasgow should fall +in value, the town might be ruined. Of course that would not hurt the +penniless Socialist agitators. Besides, there would always be the +sovereign remedy of repudiation. + +According to the fundamental Socialist doctrines which condemn +profit,[691] "Municipal trading does not seek profit. To the private +trader the making of profits or losses is a vital matter. He makes the +mistake of thinking the same motives induce a municipality to provide +a public service."[692] To the Socialist administrators it is quite +immaterial whether their enterprises are run at a profit or at a loss, +so long as they can draw freely on the rich and well-to-do to pay for +their extravagance. "The Socialist view of the fair way of dealing +with profits on trading concerns is to have none--if one may be +excused so paradoxical a statement. Fair wages and good conditions +generally for the employees, and selling at cost so that all may use +freely the commodity or service, is the nearest approach to justice in +respect to such municipal concerns as are incapable of being used with +equal freedom by all."[693] "The only sound principle of municipal +management is to run all these things primarily for use, with no idea +of making profit at all, and as far as possible at a price to the user +covering the cost of the production only. Such profits as are made +should be used either to extend municipal enterprise or be utilised +for what in Scotland is known as "the common good," that is, in the +provision of instruction, amusements, parks and open spaces, helpful +and beneficial to all."[694] + +"Municipalisation or nationalisation must proceed on the right lines +and for a practical object. What should be the object of +municipalisation and nationalisation? The primary object should be the +most economical provision of the best possible public services. The +general well-being should be the first consideration to be served, +having due regard to the welfare of each and all engaged in these +services. The idea of profit either in the shape of interest on loans, +or of reduced rates and taxes, should be eliminated altogether."[695] +"The private trader always pursues profits. That is why he is such a +dreadful failure. The motive of municipal trading, on the contrary, is +public welfare--the benefit of all the citizens. That is why it is +such a tremendous success. No one ever thinks of criticising a town +council because they make no profits on these services. Now when we +consider the question of municipal trading in gas, tramways, and +electricity, is the principle involved any different? Not at all. The +provision of gas, trams, and electricity is inspired by just the same +motives as inspired the provision of roads, parks, libraries, +sewerages, police, and education. That is to say, the benefit of all +the citizens."[696] "The day may come when municipal trams and +municipal light will be just as free as municipal streets and +municipal libraries. That is to say, a rate will be levied on the +citizens for their upkeep, and everyone will be free to use them as +required."[697] + +Such an ideal state of affairs, as pictured by scientific Mr. Webb and +his rapacious followers, would be most desirable from the point of +view of the town loafer. He would no longer monopolise the free +library, the lodging-house, and the public-house corners, as he does +at present. He would vary the monotony of the reading-room and the +street corner by free rides up and down the town and into the country. +In the evening he would take a hot bath in the free public baths +recommended by Sidney Webb, sit for a while in the free clubs +recommended by the same gentleman, and then stroll out to the free +public park to view the free fireworks and listen to the free music. +Free meals and lodgings will no doubt follow in due course. Great +Britain will be ruled for the benefit of the tramp. Why should anybody +work in such a "free" country? Who would not be a loafer or a tramp +under these conditions--especially as the "vice" of work, to use a +Socialistic expression, would speedily be visited by punishment in the +shape of confiscatory taxation, if not of direct confiscation? The +populace of decaying Athens and Rome lived under those conditions +which are the ideals of British Socialists. The citizens lived by +their votes for a time in idleness. They were fed and clothed by +slaves and subject nations. But the end was starvation. + +To provide all these free benefits for those unwilling to work, the +owners of property would of course have to be taxed out of existence. +"There is no limit to the present rating powers of the local +authority, nor to the taxing powers of the State. The recognised +limits to local and national taxation are the needs of the respective +authorities. Though not perhaps clearly or generally understood, the +taxing powers of the community are based upon the principle that +private property is only permitted to be held or enjoyed by +individuals so long as that private possession is not opposed to the +general welfare, and so long as the community does not require the +property or the income for public purposes. The Socialist accepts the +principle of taxation--taxation 'according to ability derived from the +profits of stock-in-trade and other property'--but desires +deliberately to incorporate another idea and purpose in taxation, +namely, the taxation of the rich to secure such socially created +wealth as is now taken in rent, interest, and profit, and to use this +revenue for social reform purposes. In other words, we would by that +means compel 'the rendering unto Cćsar the things that are +Cćsar's.'"[698] Municipal funds would be provided, not only by local +rates, but also by a local income and land taxes.[699] In other words, +Socialism would eat the goose that lays the golden eggs. + +According to leading Socialists, municipal enterprise is preferable to +private enterprise, not only for economic but also for moral reasons. +"The system of private enterprise and competition reeks with +corruption. Honesty under it is impossible. Municipal Socialism, on +the contrary, would provide an environment which would encourage and +promote the growth of moral activities. Instead of leading to +corruption it would lead away from it."[700] "Private enterprise must +lead to fraud, deceit, bribery, corruption, and even murder, in the +struggle for existence. Municipal Socialism would entirely remove any +temptation to commit these immoral actions. Why? Because, under +municipal Socialism, every person who worked would be sure of a +living."[701] We have seen some samples of the moral and purifying +influence of municipal Socialism in the investigations recently made +by the Board of Trade. Unfortunately these have revealed the fact +that, in many of the most advanced Socialist corporations, fraud, +bribery, intimidation, favouritism, and common theft are of daily +occurrence. What else can be expected when men of predatory instincts, +who preach the gospel of idleness and confiscation, who live not by +work but by talk, who have been accustomed to handle pence, and who +have to be taught by the town clerk how to sign a cheque, are suddenly +enabled to dispose of thousands of pounds and to negotiate loans? + +The general public takes little interest in local elections. Most +citizens abstain from voting. Therefore the numerous corporation +employees often have the decisive vote in local elections, and they +will support only a candidate who promises shorter hours or higher +pay. Municipal employees sitting in the public galleries will even +dominate the council chamber, intimidate councillors, and shout down +those of whom they disapprove. Besides, they may strike and +disorganise the public services, and make the Socialistic authorities +look ridiculous. Therefore it is better to humour and to obey them +than to oppose them. The Fabian Society demands for municipal servants +"full liberty of combination," because "the servants of the public +may often need protection against the public, as in the Post +Office."[702] The results of Socialist teachings are to be seen in +many municipalities. "The servants of the public" are already, and +will in an increasing degree become, the masters of the public. + +Under municipal Socialism the wages of tramway-men have increased as +follows: "In Sheffield, where the private company paid _100l._ for +labour, the Corporation pay _165l._ for the same amount of work. In +Bolton, where the private company paid _100l._, the Corporation pay +_137l._ In Wallasey, where the private company paid _100l._, the +District Council pay _185l._ In Northampton, where the private company +paid _100l._, the Corporation pay _120l._ In Birkenhead, where the +private company paid _100l._, the Corporation pay _315l._ In +Portsmouth, where the private company paid _100l._, the Corporation +pay _130l._ In Sunderland, where the private company paid _100l._, the +Corporation pay _145l._ When the Manchester Corporation took over the +trams they paid increased wages amounting to _60,000l._ a year."[703] + +The foregoing information is given by a Socialist. Some of the +advances may be justified, but others, and probably the majority, have +been made with that fine disregard of economy which is commonly found +among men who can afford to be generous at other people's expense. +Municipal Socialism is an ever-growing cancer which is rapidly +exhausting the country. + +"Half the municipal debt is of a nature which can never yield a +profit."[704] The other half is invested in enterprises many of which +are run regardless of economy and of expense, regardless of profit and +loss, in accordance with the Socialistic principles stated in this +Chapter. The policy of deliberate waste and of constant increase of +debt, the principles of "launching out into something new" and +"levelling up their districts," perhaps also the fear of eventual +bankruptcy and repudiation, have at last frightened the investor. +Corporation stocks can no longer be considered as safe first-class +securities. Besides, the banks have begun to refuse to accommodate +Socialistic municipalities with the necessary funds by overdrafts, +short loans, &c. Socialists have therefore begun to complain when they +saw that the unlimited supply of other peoples' money was diminishing. +They consider it a grievance that they can no longer arbitrarily +squander on fantastic undertakings what is not their own. "The +hostility of the banking interest to municipal borrowing, and the +threat to 'cut off supplies' has at length taken practical form. +Disappointed in their attempt to secure sufficiently favourable +treatment from their bankers (Parr's), the Chester Corporation applied +to four other banks in the city, viz. Lloyds, North and South Wales, +National Provincial, and Liverpool Banks. All refused to tender for +the account. The banks are not run for the public, the public are run +for the bankers."[705] Also, the banks, instead of lending their funds +gratis to Socialist corporations, are heartless enough to demand +interest "usury" on their loans. "Unfortunately at present public +bodies must pay heavy tribute as interest on borrowed money."[706] +"Our embryo Socialistic enterprises are even now suffering from the +toll of interest which a restricted credit and currency permit the +money lords to exact."[707] + +Has the attitude of the investing public and the banks caused the +Socialist municipalities to restrain their insane expenditure, and to +keep it within legitimate bounds? No, they have tried to obtain money +by borrowing it in small sums directly from the public. "The +Corporation of Bolton, the Boroughs of Heywood, Middleton, and others, +invite the investment of small sums of money in municipal enterprise, +offering a higher rate of interest on deposits than the banks can +supply."[708] + +Many Socialists advocate that the municipalities should raise money by +issuing paper-money in unlimited quantities or that they should become +bankers, pay interest on deposits, and invest the savings of the poor +in highly speculative enterprises carried on without regard to economy +and expense, or to profit and loss. "Why pay in usury at all? Abolish +the gold monopoly by demonetising metals, and the sole remaining +argument against municipal trading disappears along with the most +crippling restriction under which public enterprise labours."[709] +"Credit notes would be of little use were the city's credit gone, +because the people would be afraid to take them. However valuable the +assets of a municipal authority might be--and municipal concerns are +usually far more substantial and sound than banking companies are--it +is public confidence that constitutes the first requisite, and this it +is the duty of all reformers to establish and maintain against the +assaults of those whose interest it is to break it down. The +institution of municipal savings banks under the protection of, and +subject to inspection by, the State would assist public authorities +and render them less dependent on the bankers; then when people had +become accustomed to thinking their city's credit at least equal to +that of the leading banks, a limited issue of notes might be +allowed."[710] Further proposals for "demonetising" gold and issuing +unlimited amounts of unconvertible notes, on the model of the +assignats of the French Revolution, will be found in Chapter XX. +"Some Socialist Views on Money, Banks, and Banking."[711] + +These and many other dangerous experiments could easily be undertaken +by needy demagogues with fantastic ideas, if the supervision of +municipalities by the national Government were abolished. Therefore +the Independent Labour Party passed at the last Annual Conference the +following resolution: "That this Conference urges the Labour party in +Parliament to secure the extension of power to municipalities, +enabling them to undertake trading and the development of existing +municipal concerns, without the sanction of the Local Government +Board, and to use any profits accruing from same in such manner as may +be decided by the municipality, without the necessity of promoting +Parliamentary Bills."[712] + +No administration can continue for long a financial and general policy +of waste and pillage, such as that followed by the Socialist +municipalities of Great Britain, without diminishing not merely +private wealth but also the national wealth. The British Socialists +seem determined to do all they can to destroy as fast as possible the +accumulated wealth of the country and its productive power. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[668] _The Advance of Socialism_, p. 2. + +[669] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, pp. 27, 28. + +[670] Snowden, _Straight Talk to Ratepayers_, p. 8. + +[671] Suthers, _Mind your own Business_, p. 148. + +[672] _Fabian Essays in Socialism_, p. 157. + +[673] Blatchford, _Competition_, p. 4. + +[674] Suthers, _Mind your own Business_, pp. 93, 94. + +[675] Suthers, _Mind your own Business_, pp. 87, 88. + +[676] Suthers, _Mind your own Business_, p. 88. + +[677] Bax and Quelch, _A New Catechism of Socialism_, p. 42. + +[678] _The Times, Municipal Socialism_, p. 43. + +[679] _Ibid._ + +[680] Suthers, _Killed by High Rates_, p. 12. + +[681] _Ibid._ p. 11. + +[682] Ellis Barker, _Modern Germany_, p. 552. + +[683] Suthers, _Killed by High Rates_, p. 9. + +[684] Suthers, _Municipal Debt_, p. 4. + +[685] _Daily Mail_, November 26, 1907. + +[686] See _A Municipal Bread Supply_; _Municipal Bakeries_; _Municipal +Drink Traffic_; _Municipal Fire Insurance_; Washington, _Milk and +Postage Stamps, &c._ + +[687] _Municipalisation by Provinces._ + +[688] Sidney Webb, _The London Programme_, 1892, pp. 208-213. + +[689] Jowett, _Socialism and the City_, p. 17. + +[690] _Forward_, October 12, 1907. + +[691] See Chapter IV. + +[692] Suthers, _Mind your own Business_, p. 14. + +[693] Jowett, _The Socialist and the City_, p. 40. + +[694] Irving, _The Municipality_, p. 6. + +[695] Bax and Quelch, _A New Catechism of Socialism_, p. 42. + +[696] Suthers, _Mind your own Business_, p. 9. + +[697] _Ibid._ p. 8. + +[698] Snowden, _The Socialist's Budget_, pp. 3, 4, 6. + +[699] Jowett, _The Socialist and the City_, p. 38; Snowden, _The +Socialist's Budget_, p. 83. + +[700] Suthers, _Mind your own Business_, p. 119. + +[701] _Ibid._ p. 122. + +[702] _A Labour Policy for Public Authorities_, p. 19. + +[703] Suthers, _Mind your own Business_, p. 103. + +[704] Snowden, _A Straight Talk to Ratepayers_, p. 8. + +[705] McLachlan, _The Tyranny of Usury_, p. 15. + +[706] Jowett, _The Socialist and the City_, p. 42. + +[707] McLachlan, _The Tyranny of Usury_, p. 11. + +[708] McLachlan, _The Tyranny of Usury_, p. 13. + +[709] _Ibid._ pp. 13, 14. + +[710] Jowett, _The Socialist and the City_, pp. 45, 46. + +[711] See p. 281 ff. + +[712] _Independent Labour Party Report, Annual Conference_, 1907, p. +50. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +SOCIALISM AND AGRICULTURE + + +In one of his books Mr. Blatchford gives prominence to the following +statement contained in Prince Kropotkin's book, "Fields, Factories, +and Workshops": "If the soil of the United Kingdom were cultivated +only as it was thirty-five years ago, 24,000,000 people could live on +home-grown food. If the cultivable soil of the United Kingdom were +cultivated as the soil is cultivated on the average in Belgium, the +United Kingdom would have food for at least 37,000,000 inhabitants. If +the population of this country came to be doubled, all that would be +required for producing food for 80,000,000 inhabitants would be to +cultivate the soil as it is now cultivated in the best farms of this +country, in Lombardy, and in Flanders." + +Commenting on this statement Mr. Blatchford says: "Why, indeed, should +we not be able to raise 29,000,000 quarters of wheat? We have plenty +of land. Other European countries can produce, and do produce, their +own food. Take the example of Belgium. In Belgium the people produce +their own food. Yet their soil is no better than ours, and their +country is more densely populated, the figures being: Great Britain +per square mile, 378 persons; Belgium per square mile, 544 persons. +Suppose wheat will cost us _2s._ a quarter more to grow it than to buy +it. On the 23,000,000 quarters we now import we should be saving +_2,000,000l._ a year. Is that a very high price to pay for security +against defeat by starvation in time of war?"[713] + +Many Socialists very wisely demand that everything possible should be +done to bring about a revival of our agriculture. They point to the +agricultural prosperity of Belgium, France, and Germany, and they +would be quite ready to sanction the re-introduction of Protection, as +will be seen in Chapter XXI. Nevertheless they absolutely and +unconditionally oppose the creation of a class of peasant proprietors, +although the intensive agriculture of France, Belgium, and Germany is +founded upon the system of peasant proprietorship, and although +general experience, both in Europe and on other continents, has proved +the great superiority of peasant proprietors over large farmers in +intensive culture. "No Socialist desires to see the land of the +country divided among small peasant freeholders, though this is still +the ideal professed by many statesmen of 'advanced' views."[714] +"Socialism is hostile to small properties."[715] + +Socialists pretend to be opposed to the creation of peasant +proprietors either on scientific grounds or for ethical reasons. "As a +matter of economic evolution, small properties will have to go. But +viewed from an ethical standpoint, surely nothing has been more +conducive to the development of the worst side of human nature--of +'hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness' than the system of small +properties."[716] "If England were cut up into small allotments, the +general state would be harder and leaner than before."[717] "Would +Socialists take away the land from the landlords and let it out in +little plots? No. Because that would make a lot of little proprietors +as selfish as the landlords."[718] "Divide the land into small +allotments and very soon the cunning and rapacious would 'acquire' the +estates of other men, and so we should come back to the present state +of chaos. In fact, the parcelling out of the land means putting back +the clock of civilisation about one thousand years."[719] + +The real reason which prompts Socialists to oppose by all means the +creation of peasant proprietors is to be found neither in the realm of +political economy nor in that of abstract ethics, but in that of party +politics. The peasant proprietor, like every sensible owner of +property, is hostile to Socialism. "The peasant has nothing else in +the world but his farm, and that is one of the reasons why it is so +very difficult to win him over to our cause. He is, indeed, one of the +last bulwarks of private property."[720] The philosopher of British +Socialism frankly confesses: "On the Continent the peasant proprietor, +who may now be reckoned as part of the _petite bourgeoisie_, just as +the large landlord with us may be reckoned as part of the big +capitalist class, is a potent factor in retarding the process of +Socialisation."[721] + +The experience of Socialists in Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, +Belgium, Holland, Denmark, and Switzerland shows that Socialism finds +practically no adherents among the land-owning peasants. At the German +Reichstag elections of 1903, for instance, the Social-Democrats +received almost 60 per cent. of the votes in the large towns as +compared with less than 20 per cent. of the votes in the country. Of +the latter, the vast majority was given by artisans and landless rural +labourers. The peasant, like every property-owner, is an enemy of +fantastic schemes of confiscation and of general plunder lavishly +embellished with promises of Utopia. Therefore Social-Democrats will +rather see the countryside of Great Britain turned into a wilderness +than see it peopled by peasants. + +Desperately anxious lest the Government of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman +should create a British peasantry, the Socialist press opposed the +creation of a British peasantry as unscientific and certain to lead to +disaster. The people were told in countless articles that peasant +proprietorship had proved a failure everywhere. Under the heading "The +Small-Holding Fraud" the "Social-Democrat" showed the true motive of +the Socialist agitation by expressing the hope that "The Government +will assuredly fail in their attempt to erect a peasant proprietary +barrier against the rising proletariat"[722]--Has the Socialist outcry +against creating peasant proprietors influenced Sir Henry +Campbell-Bannerman's Government in its land-settlement policy? Did Sir +Henry Campbell-Bannerman wish to satisfy the Socialists by rather +creating small leaseholders than small freehold farmers? + +The positive proposals of Socialists for bringing about a revival of +agriculture are frankly Utopian. Their proposals can of course not be +practical, because they object to the present agricultural +arrangements of Great Britain and to those prevailing on the continent +of Europe. Many Socialists desire the towns to control and resettle +the country. "The towns should claim the right of dictating to England +the way in which the land should be put to profit. The great majority +of the classes nearest the land, squires and farmers and parsons, are +disqualified respectively by self-interest, by religious prejudice +that scruples at anything that may lead to the mental enfranchisement +of the poor, and by sheer sluggishness of intellect joined to a blind +selfishness without parallel in any class of English society. The +land and the labourer have hitherto been left to them. And we want a +change of management."[723] + +Socialists want a "change of management" in agriculture, replacing the +expert by the amateur in accordance with their general policy of +turning everything upside down. Their ideal would seem to be that the +owners of land should be dispossessed and driven into the towns, and +be replaced by Socialistic town officials who would exploit the +country in the interest of the town. + +The tenants whom the Socialists would like to create would, rightly +considered, be merely wage-earners in the pay of the Socialistic +administration, who, living from hand to mouth, would not be able to +put anything by. With that object in view, rents would apparently be +adjusted by Socialist administrations. "Tenancies would be granted for +seven years or for twenty-one years revisable at periods of seven +years, so that the tenant might not be able to appropriate the +unearned increment of the land; but it should also be clearly +understood that a satisfactory tenant would not be arbitrarily +disturbed in his holding. At the same time no mercy would be extended +to a bad cultivator; and when a tenant left his holding, either by the +efflux of time or for any other reason, he would have no tenant-right +to dispose of, but would only be entitled to compensation for +unexhausted improvements and to a fair settlement of accounts as +between himself and the committee. Rents would be fixed and disputes +settled by the independent agricultural court, which would also +continue the regulation of agricultural wages. Exploitation of the +economically weak must not be permitted, even to a communal authority. +It would be within the power of the committee to rent farms to +co-operative associations of labourers if satisfied as to their +industrial and financial capacity. Arrangements might also be made +whereby a town could run its own dairy-farm or farms, since this is +probably the only way in which a municipality can be sure of an +uncontaminated supply of milk."[724] + +Many Socialists would like to resettle the country with colonies of town +unemployed, but these proposals are opposed by some as impractical. "To +imagine that any such colony could be self-supporting, that the land +which no capitalist will now till with expert farm labourers at ten +shillings a week would yield trade-union rates of wages to a mixed crowd +of unemployed townsmen, that such a heterogeneous collection of waifs +and strays, without a common acquaintanceship, a common faith, or a +common tradition, could be safely trusted for a single day to manage the +nation's land and capital; finally, to suppose that such a fortuitous +agglomeration of undisciplined human atoms offers 'the most suitable and +hopeful way of ushering in a Socialist State'--all this argues such a +complete misconception of the actual facts of industrial and social +life, such an entire misunderstanding of the process by which a +democratic society passes from one stage of its development to another, +that I feel warranted in quoting it as an extreme instance of +Utopia-founding."[725] + +Whilst the various Socialist schools propound different Utopian +schemes for the resettlement of the land in the future, their +immediate aim is of course not so much to benefit agriculture, as they +profess, but to gain adherents among the rural labourers. With this +object in view they are urged to agitate for, and are promised to be +given by the Socialists, better wages, safe and healthy homes, more +powers for the parish councils, which are to be used for the +restoration of common lands, real free schools and better ones, cheap +and good allotments, pensions for the old people, reform of taxation, +&c. The rural labourers are urged to form trade unions, and they are +told, "All these things you can get for yourself by your trade union +and your vote if you and all the other labourers in the district will +join the union and will agree to vote only for those who will promise +to help to get them for you."[726] + +In other pamphlets specially addressed to the rural labourers they are +told how to get allotments, how to force the district councils to +build good cottages for them, &c.[727] + +Many Socialists propound the doctrine that the first and the principal +object in re-creating the rural industries must be the bettering of +the wages of rural labourers, and that the State should secure them +better wages by arbitrarily reducing rents. The object, it need hardly +be mentioned, is rather to destroy private capital in accordance with +the Socialists' tenets than to benefit the labourers. The Fabian +Society, for instance, claims, "It is necessary for the State to +interfere, partly to secure the better utilisation of our national +resources, partly to increase our agricultural population. The class +most needing protection, the labourers, must be dealt with first in +order to raise them to a decent level of comfort. A living wage must +be secured to them, and, as a consequence, the farmers' rents must be +fixed at a fair level. An agricultural court must be set up in each +county to regulate wages and fix rents. Continental success in +agriculture depends on co-operation, and that in turn is associated +with the peasant-proprietor system. That system for sundry reasons +cannot be adopted here, but its advantages can be obtained through +security of tenure. The small farm system should, therefore, form the +basis of our reconstruction, free play being left for a graded system +of farms where possible. In each county an agricultural committee +should have compulsory power to acquire land and let it out to +tenants, chiefly smallholders. It should have power to advance capital +to individuals on the collective guarantee of its tenants, and it +should be its duty to organise the collection of farm produce and its +disposal in the market."[728] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[713] Blatchford, _Britain for the British_, pp. 111, 112. + +[714] _Socialism True and False_, p. 18. + +[715] _Some Objections to Socialism Considered._ + +[716] _Ibid._ + +[717] Blatchford, _The Pope's Socialism_, p. 8. + +[718] Hazell, _The Red Catechism_, p. 11. + +[719] Blatchford, _The Pope's Socialism_, p. 9. + +[720] Kautsky, _The Social Revolution_, p. 30. + +[721] Bax, _Essays in Socialism_, p. 41. + +[722] _Social-Democrat_, November 1907. + +[723] Pedder, _The Secret of Rural Depopulation_, p. 18. + +[724] _The Revival of Agriculture_, p. 17. + +[725] Sidney Webb, _Socialism True and False_, p. 12. + +[726] _What the Farm Labourer Wants_, p. 4. + +[727] _Allotments and How to get Them_; _Parish Council Cottages and +How to get Them._ + +[728] _The Revival of Agriculture_, p. 22. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +SOCIALIST VIEWS ON BRITISH RAILWAYS AND SHIPPING + + +Many Socialists complain, and they complain with good cause, about the +railways of Great Britain. All the British railways are in private +hands, and they are very inefficient. They are in many respects very +backward, badly equipped, and badly managed. They have wasted their +capital, watered their stock, and have paid dividends out of capital; +their freight charges are exorbitant; besides, they give habitually +and by various means, with which it would lead too far to deal in this +book, preferential treatment of a very substantial kind to the +foreigner. + +Many Socialists have extracted from British Government publications +instances of such preferential treatment. One of the most widely read +Socialist writers, for example, gives among others the following +freight charges favouring the foreigner: + +"Carriage of a ton of British meat, Liverpool to London, _2l._: +Carriage of a ton of foreign meat, Liverpool to London, _1l. 5s._: +Carriage of a ton of eggs Galway to London, _4l. 14s._: Carriage of a +ton of eggs Denmark to London, _1l. 4s._: Carriage of a ton of plums, +apples, and pears, Queenborough (Kent) to London, _1l. 5s._: Carriage +of same from Flushing (Holland), _12s. 6d._: Carriage per ton of +English pianos Liverpool to London _3l. 10s._: Carriage as above of +foreign, _1l. 5s._: British timber per ton Cardiff to Birmingham, +_16s. 8d._: foreign as above _8s. 10d._ In the carriage of iron ore +and steel rails the American railways charge _6s. 3d._ where the +British charge _29s. 3d._"[729] + +"The real enemy are the monopolists of land and locomotion--the +landlord and the raillord who are uprooting the British people from +their native soil. It is in fact by no means easy to say which is the +greater malefactor of the two."[730] Such differential charges are +bound to cripple the British industries, and in view of the harm which +is thus being done to British farmers, manufacturers, and traders, it +is only natural that British Socialists are unanimous in condemning +the anti-British freight policy of the railways and in recommending +that they should be taken over and managed by the State. + +"There are nearly 24,000 miles of railway in the kingdom, the greater +part of which is owned or controlled by a dozen great companies, who, +moreover, have standing conferences through which they exercise a +virtual monopoly against the public, although they have all the +expenses of competing concerns. The public bears the costs and +inconveniences of competition without many of its benefits. The total +capital of the companies is _1,300,000,000l._ of which _200,000,000l._ +is nominal or 'watered' stock. A very large part of the rest was for +extravagant sums paid to great landowners for their land and another +large part for legal expenses. On this huge capital a sum of +_44,000,000l._ has to be earned in dividends. If the State bought out +the railways, it could borrow this necessary sum for at least +_5,000,000l._ to _8,000,000l._ a year less than this, and at once +effect enormous savings resulting from the present competitive and +chaotic methods of the companies. Despite the virtual monopoly, there +are over 3,000 railway directors drawing fees or salaries amounting to +nearly _1,500,000l._ Of the principal of these there are eighty in the +Lords and twenty-five in the Commons. Mr. Gladstone predicted that if +the State did not control the railway companies, they would control +the State, and this has come to pass. Their servants are overworked +and underpaid, extortionate freights are charged on the carriage of +goods, unfair preferences are given, but Parliament is powerless to +check this."[731] + +"The railway system to-day is the greatest protection ever heard of in +favour of the foreigner, and neither Mr. Chamberlain nor Mr. Balfour, +nor any other man makes a single proposal to touch the railway +question. Why? Because the House of Commons is dominated by the +railway interest."[732] "Our railway experience proves that it is not +enough to make preferential rates illegal. They reappear too easily in +the form of rebates and even of allowances which belong to the more +private chapters of capitalist history. The attempt of the Railway +Commission to abolish preference in railway rates has left us with a +system which could not be much worse from the national industrial +point of view."[733] + +"Imperial trade suffers no more serious handicap than that imposed +upon it by shipping rings and railway companies, which exploit the +Imperial needs of transport for their own purposes, which hamper the +ready flow of Imperial trade, and, for an insignificant percentage, +turn the British seamen off the water in favour of the Lascar."[734] + +"The railways of India, which yield a great portion of our Indian +revenue, are owned by the Indian Government. The well-managed and +prosperous systems of Australasia, with the best conditions of labour +and the lowest freights of any railways in the world, are State owned. +Why, then, should not the British Government own and control in the +public interest the systems which are so wastefully and inefficiently +managed by the present companies?"[735] + +The last Annual Conference of the Independent Labour Party resolved: +"That in the opinion of this Conference the time is ripe for the +nationalisation of the railways of the country, and that our +representatives be asked to urge forward a measure to that effect in +Parliament."[736] The Fabians think that "An equitable basis of +purchase may be found in Mr. Gladstone's Act of 1844, which enables +the Treasury to buy out the shareholders of lines built since that +date at twenty-five years' purchase, calculated on the earnings of the +previous three years. The price of the railways need not be an +insuperable, or even a serious, difficulty in the way of national +possession of the means of transit."[737] + +The demand of the Socialists that the Government should acquire the +railways would perhaps be reasonable if that demand was not coupled +with extravagant and fantastic ideas regarding their future +management. The different Socialistic views as to the proper +management of State railways are summed up as follows by Mr. +Blatchford: "The railways belong to railway companies, who carry goods +and passengers and charge fares and rates to make profit. Socialists +all say that the railways should be bought by the people. Some say +that fares should be charged, some that the railways should be +free--just as the roads, rivers, and bridges now are; but all agree +that any profit made by the railways should belong to the whole +nation, just as do the profits now made by the Post Office and the +telegraphs."[738] + +One Socialist writer modestly proposes that the fare anywhere in +Great Britain should be a shilling. "Look at our railroads--might they +not be the property of the community at large as well as the high +roads, instead of being a monopoly in the hands of private persons +whose sole object is to enrich themselves at the cost of their fellow +citizens? If so, it has been proved that you could go to any part of +these islands with a shilling ticket."[739] + +Other Socialists advocate that railway travelling should be made +absolutely free to all, and that the costs of running the railways +free of charge should be borne exclusively by the rich. "The blessings +of free travel are too many by far for enumeration, but one stands +out. It is the only effective means yet suggested for the extirpation +of our vile city slums. At present the sweated must live near their +work."[740] "Overcrowding can only be cured outright by one sovereign +remedy--by giving the toiler a home in the country; and free travel +alone makes this possible. There is no reason why a 'docker' should +not grow his own vegetables and be his own dairyman at the same time. +Free travel would in a few years change the whole face of +society."[741] "A nation that can afford to spend _140,000,000l._ a +year on strong liquors might not unreasonably be asked to strike even +the forty odd millions off its drink-bill--about half that amount +would suffice for the purpose--and take them out in free ozone."[742] +"Then would rise the question how to make up for the abolition of +passenger fares. The answer, it seems to me, is not far to seek. The +substitute tax must be levied on the 'unearned increment' of land, +urban and rural. The people must therefore unfalteringly press for the +reassessment of the 'land-tax' by gradual increase up to _20s._ in the +pound, and in the meantime procure any further funds necessary from +our surplus capital by a graduated income-tax. Personally I abhor +usury, whether in the shape of railway dividends or Government +Consols, as alike _contra naturam_ and _contra Christum_."[743] + +In order to further the policy of free travelling by railway, +Socialists appear to have founded a "Free Railway Travel League," +domiciled at 359 Strand, London, W.C. I am not aware whether the Free +Railway Travel League--every tramp should join it--exists still. + +It is only logical that, if the railways should be made free for the +carriage of people, they should likewise be made free for the +transport of goods. "It is obvious that if railways can be worked free +for passengers they may be made free for goods as well. Free goods +traffic would everywhere equalise the price of commodities, be they +the produce of sea or land, mine or manufacture, and equal wages in +town and country would speedily follow equal prices with beneficial +results to the people altogether incalculable. Granted free passes, +free freights will doubtless in time follow almost as a matter of +course."[744] + +When free travel by railway has been established, free travel by +tramway, which has already been demanded by municipal reformers (see +Chapter XVII.), will necessarily also be introduced. A publication +issued by the most scientific body of British Socialists, the Fabian +Society, urges: "There is only one safe principle to guide the +reformer. The tramways, the light railways, and the railways must be +regarded as the modern form of the king's highway. Our fathers spent +time and trouble ridding the roads of tolls; and railway rates and +passenger fares are merely modern tolls. Their abolition must come +sooner or later."[745] "We have abolished the turnpike gate and the +toll-collector, and our highways are free in the sense that they are +maintained by general assessment. And if the turnpike gate was an +odious obstruction to the traveller, how much more obnoxious to him, +or her, is the railway ticket-box?"[746] + +Railways may be made free before the ideal Socialist State of the +future has been created, but they will certainly be free as soon as +the Socialist commonwealth has been established. "Railways will play a +very great part indeed in the Socialist State, They will be absolutely +'free' for every purpose. The cost of actual working is comparatively +inconsiderable, while the benefits of free transit are incalculable. +To decentralise the population so as to efface the distinction between +dwellers in town and country is to renovate humanity physically and +morally."[747] + +After travel and transport has been made absolutely free on land +throughout the length and breadth of Great Britain, the free travel +and transport principle will of course be extended to travel and +transport by sea, and free travel and transport by sea will better +bind the Empire together than a Pan-Britannic Customs Union. The most +scientific body of British Socialists, the Fabian Society, says: "A +logical consequence of the national management of internal means of +communication will be the completion of the State control of our +oversea transit. It is impossible here to go into details. Let it +suffice to remark that already the nation has a direct financial +interest in the great steamship lines, through its mail subsidies and +Admiralty loans with corresponding claims for service in war; that +intellectually the nation, by its pride in its magnificent mercantile +fleet, regards it as a national possession, and declines to consider +our shipping as the mere private property of the shareholders of the +steamship companies; and finally, that our navy is maintained at +enormous public expense expressly to protect the mercantile fleet, +which at present is mainly private property."[748] "The notion that +the forces making for disintegration can be neutralised by 10 per +cent. preferential duties is not worth discussing; indeed, the raising +of the fiscal question seems at least as likely to reveal our +commercial antagonisms as our community of interests. And the huge +distances will be mighty forces on the side of disintegration unless +we abolish them. Well, why not abolish them? Distances are now counted +in days, not in miles. The Atlantic Ocean is as wide as it was in +1870; but the United States are four days nearer than they were then. +Commercially, however, distance is mainly a matter of freightage. Now +it is as possible to abolish ocean freightage as it was to make +Waterloo Bridge toll-free, or establish the Woolwich free ferry. It is +already worth our while to give Canada the use of the British Navy for +nothing. Why not give her the use of the mercantile marine for nothing +instead of taxing bread to give her a preference? Or, if that is too +much, why not offer her special rates? It is really only a question of +ocean road making. A national mercantile fleet plying between the +provinces of the Empire, and carrying Empire goods and passengers +either free or at charges far enough below cost to bring Australasia +and Canada commercially nearer to England than to the Continent, would +form a link with the mother-country which once brought fully into use +could never be snapped without causing a commercial crisis in every +province."[749] + +The purchase of the whole British mercantile marine by the Government +would incidentally have the effect of abolishing the British shipping +rings, which, like the British railways, frequently penalise with +discriminating rates the British producer and shipper. "Of the real +conditions of ocean traffic, at present, the public has no suspicion. +All our lines of communication are controlled by shipping rings which +carry preferential rating (an illegal practice in our inland transit) +to an extent that would shock Mr. Chamberlain back again to Free +Trade if he realised it; for their preferences are by no means +patriotic; they have helped Belgium into our Indian market, and +Germany and America into South Africa and New Zealand. The cotton +conference of Liverpool directly assisted the American exporters of +cotton to China by the heavy charges they made against the Lancashire +manufacturer--charges which were modified only after repeated +protests. These rings and rates constitute the most dangerous +disintegrating force we have to face."[750] + +There is much justification in the complaints of the Socialists with +regard to British railways and shipping, but their proposals are, as +usual, quite Utopian. For all ills of the body politic and economic, +the Socialists have only one remedy, and that an infallible +one--nationalisation, or rather Socialisation. + +The policy of the British railway and shipping rings is no doubt a +national scandal, but their defects and delinquencies may no doubt be +counteracted by appropriate Government action and legislation. It is +probably now too late for the State to acquire the railways. The State +cannot afford to risk a large capital loss. Railway purchase would +apparently be too speculative an undertaking. + +If the State should acquire the railways, they would certainly be run +at a profit. The sooner the Socialists abandon their fixed idea that +profit on private and national undertakings is immoral, the better +will it be for them. So long as they decry profit and propose to work +State undertakings without a profit, so long can they not be taken +seriously. Profit consists in part of the salary of direction, in part +of the earnings set aside for effecting the necessary alterations, +improvements, and extensions, and for forming a reserve fund for +making losses good, &c. Therefore abandonment of profit would mean the +decline and decay of the national capital. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[729] Davidson, _Free Trade_ v. _Fettered Transport_, p. 9. + +[730] _Ibid._ p. 7. + +[731] _Reformers' Year Book_, 1907, pp. 119, 120. + +[732] Hyndman, _Real Reform_, p. 14. + +[733] _Fabianism and the Fiscal Question_, p. 17. + +[734] Macdonald, _Labour and the Empire_, p. 96. + +[735] _Reformers' Year Book_, 1907, p. 120. + +[736] _Independent Labour Party Report, Annual Conference_, 1907, p. +50. + +[737] _Socialism and Labour Policy_, p. 14. + +[738] Blatchford, _Britain for the British_, p. 86. + +[739] Sorge, _Socialism and the Worker_, p. 13. + +[740] Davidson, _Free Trade and Fettered Transport_, p. 17. + +[741] Davidson, _Free Rails and Trams_, p. 9. + +[742] _Ibid._ p. 13. + +[743] Davidson, _Free Rails and Free Trams_, p. 7. + +[744] _Ibid._ p. 14. + +[745] _Public Control of Electric Power and Transit_, p. 10. + +[746] Davidson, _Free Rails and Trams_, p. 5. + +[747] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 158. + +[748] _Public Control of Electric Power and Transit_, p. 14. + +[749] _Fabianism and the Fiscal Question_, p. 16. + +[750] _Fabianism and the Fiscal Question_, p. 16. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +SOME SOCIALIST VIEWS ON MONEY, BANKS, AND BANKING + + +All Socialists wish to abolish private capital. Money embodies private +capital in its most portable form. It can easily be hidden, and as the +Socialists wish to prevent the re-accumulation of new private capital, +the abolition of money, and especially of gold and silver, has +prominently figured in all Socialistic programmes since the time of +Protagoras and of Plato. Socialists wish to effect the exchange of +commodities, the payment of labour, and the settlement of accounts +mainly by book-keeping. + +"As there are no wares in the new community neither will there be any +money."[751] "In the Social-Democratic State the citizen will be +granted an income, which will be indicated by labour checks or credit +cards, as advocated by Gronlund, Bellamy, and John Carruthers."[752] +"Under ideal Socialism there would be no money at all and no wages. +The industry of the country would be organised and managed by the +State, much as the Post Office now is; goods of all kinds would be +produced and distributed for use and not for sale, in such quantities +as were needed. Hours of labour would be fixed, and every citizen +would take what he or she liked from the common stock. Food, clothing, +lodging, fuel, transit, amusement, and all other things would be +absolutely free, and the only difference between a Prime Minister and +a collier would be the difference of rank and occupation."[753] + +"How will exchange then be carried on? By account facilitated by some +such contrivance as labour checks. When in the Co-operative +Commonwealth money becomes superannuated we shall have nothing but +checks, notes, tickets--whatever you will call them--issued by +authority."[754] And how will international exchange be carried on? +Very simply and easily. By barter. "So much tea is wanted from China. +The Chinese Government is advised of the quantity and asked what +British goods will be acceptable by the Celestials in exchange. There +will be international barter on a grand and equitable scale."[755] It +is quite logical that the Socialists who wish to introduce the +primitive Communism of the prehistoric ages (see Chapter XXIX.), wish +also to reintroduce the aboriginal system of barter. + +However, the contemplated form of "international barter on a grand and +equitable scale" will have its difficulties. China, for instance, may +sell much silk and tea to England and take in exchange mostly foreign +manufactured goods from America, Germany, Belgium, and Japan, as she +does at present. It is to be feared that the "grand and equitable +system of international barter" will prove impracticable even if, as +most Socialists somewhat rashly assume, all States should become +Socialistic commonwealths, or if the grand Socialist Republic of the +world should actually be created. We have at present an international +currency, Gold. The contemplated creation of unlimited paper issues in +lieu of gold, the fulfilment of the ideal of many Socialists, would +have a very simple, a very certain, and a very unpleasant consequence. +Foreign merchants, doubting the value of the new paper currency and +the stability of the new Socialist Government, would of course refuse +to part with their goods. Not a pound of cotton, not a bushel of wheat +would reach England from abroad. The nation would be starving, and +Socialist deputations would hasten to search out Lord Rothschild in +the workhouse, where no doubt he would reside, and implore him to +reintroduce capitalism and food into Great Britain. + +Some Socialists of the saner kind fear that it will not be possible to +abolish money. Kautsky, for instance, writes: "To abolish money I +consider impossible. Money is the simplest means as yet known which +renders it possible in a mechanism so complicated as the modern system +of production, with its enormously minute subdivision of labour, to +arrange for the smooth circulation of products and their distribution +among the individual members of society; it is the means which enables +everyone to satisfy his needs according to his individual taste +(naturally within the limits of his economic power). As a medium of +circulation, money will remain indispensable so long as nothing better +is found."[756] + +Socialists declaim against the immorality of charging +interest--"usury" as they call it (see Chapters IV., IX., and XVII.), +and they are indignant that the banks are unwilling to advance gratis +unlimited funds to Socialist town councils to be wasted as fancy may +direct (see page 258). Therefore they wish to abolish "that most +costly of all modern parasites, the banker."[757] Some very +irreligious, if not atheistic, Anarchist-Socialists, such as Mr. +Morrison Davidson, pretend to object to interest on religious grounds +because, "the Way, the Truth, and the Life said, 'Lend hoping for +nothing again.'"[758] Other Socialists wish to abolish the banks and +the charging of interest for the benefit of the people and of the +Socialist municipal and other councils. "Usury--in that offensive +pregnant little word is contained the secret of Society's worries and +Man's woes. Abolish usury: that is the true Fiscal Reform +Policy."[759] + +"Usury can be arrested at present by nationalisation of exchange. The +nationalisation of exchange must be undertaken. Metal must be +demonetised and reduced to the ranks. Banking must be undertaken by +the municipalities and county councils, and by these elective bodies +only, while a durable paper currency issued on the basis of the +ascertained wealth of the nation, and maintained in true relation to +it, shall supersede gold. Then we arrive at a scientific solution of +the question of exchange and put in operation the currency and credit +system of Socialism."[760] + +When the banks and the gold currency have been abolished and when +"exchange has been nationalised" the Socialist local authorities will +no longer have any difficulty in procuring the unlimited funds they +need for the execution of their boundless plans. They will raise the +money by the printing of practically unlimited quantities of paper +money issued against the security of "the ascertained wealth of the +nation." If they wish to spend money, they simply "make it" by means +of an ordinary printing press. Could a simpler and more ingenious +system for making money be devised? + +"Recently notice has been given by leading bankers of their intention +to discriminate against municipal loans. And as things now stand, it +is certain that, if an organised effort is made generally by the +bankers throughout the country by advising clients against such +investments and by refusing to accept municipal bonds as collateral +security for overdrafts, &c.--a serious check will be put upon public +enterprise. Those who imagine bankers either impotent or incapable of +such treason against the public interest should remember what took +place in the United States in 1893. + +"The natural suggestion to be offered as a counter-move to the threat +of the bankers and their Industrial Freedom League is to add to those +enterprises now under municipal control that of banking. And surely +there is nothing which lends itself more easily to municipalisation! +If the credit of a banking house can be employed for promoting +enterprise and earning dividends, why cannot municipalities employ +their own credit directly? In others words, why cannot the credit of a +city be utilised to carry on its municipal works instead of it having +to borrow the credit of a bank and pay interest charges? Consider how +public works are now financed. The London County Council decides to +build decent and respectable houses in some locality for the working +classes. It requires, we will say, _500,000l._ with which to build +dwellings for 2,000 families. Bankers are invited to tender for the +loan, and finally the Council gets this advance on a guarantee of 3 +per cent. per annum, the principal being repayable at the end of +thirty-three and a third years. At the end of this period the Council +will have paid the bank _500,000l._ in interest as well as the +_500,000l._ original loan. The charge for the loan is equal to the +entire cost of the whole undertaking; the result is that each family +must pay about twice the amount of rent that it would otherwise have +to pay if the Council had not incurred interest charges through +borrowing other people's credit. Was there ever greater lunacy in +public affairs? + +"Suppose that instead of issuing credit in the shape of bonds of large +denomination, the Council issued it in notes of small denominations of +pounds and shillings. Does anyone mean to assert that that credit +which is eagerly purchased by a banker would be refused by a +bricklayer or stonemason? Supposing the London County Council was +empowered to issue its credit in one-pound notes, as well as large +amounts, and supposing it was compulsory that these notes were good +in payment of rates. Is there any question as to their being +acceptable? The plan is so simple and so safe that at first it seems +amazing it should have been so long out of employment."[761] + +"Of course gold will drain off abroad--if the foreigners don't follow +in our footsteps at once. If the demonetised gold is withdrawn--well, +we can have a new currency by nationalising the railways and paying +the shareholders 'in current coin'" (which means in unconvertible +notes), "not in redeemable, interest-bearing bonds. So long as solid +wealth rests behind our issue, our financial policy is sound. Of +course, the railway and other shareholders will want fresh +investments; they won't find them, because no man will pay interest to +usurers when he can monetise his credit at the mere cost of banking +and exchange. They must therefore spend it, and the currency will +never be restricted henceforward. And this national ownership of +exchange can be operated to compel every monopolist to sell his +monopoly to the nation."[762] + +This insane project is called by the writer, "A scientific way to +Socialism."[763] + +Surely science is the most abused word in modern language. The +creation of money by unlimited issues of paper secured by the national +possessions was tried on the grandest scale at the French Revolution. +The "assignats" were secured on the national domains, and their +security seemed absolute to the revolutionaries. The great Mirabeau +had stated on September 27, 1790: "Our assignats are not ordinary +paper money. They are a new creation for which there is no precedent. +What constitutes the value of metal money? Its intrinsic value. Now I +ask you: Does paper which represents the foremost of the possessions +of a nation such as France not possess all the characteristics of +intrinsic and generally accepted value which metal money +possesses?"[764] The "assignats" speedily fell to a discount, although +dealing in them at a discount was made punishable with twenty years' +imprisonment with hard labour,[765] and they fell ultimately to +waste-paper value. A pair of boots worth thirty francs in gold cost +10,000 francs in paper. On paper all were immensely rich. Yet the +masses were starving. Unfortunately people cannot live by consuming +unlimited quantities of credit notes. They can become prosperous +neither by robbing the rich nor by calling a shilling a sovereign, but +only by producing more. Greater wealth means simply increased +consumption, and increased consumption, unless based on increased +production, can only be effected by intrenching upon and diminishing +the national capital, the national reserve store of food, clothing, +tools, &c., and thus causing widespread misery and starvation. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[751] Bebel, _Woman in the Past, Present, and Future_, p. 192. + +[752] Leatham, _Socialism and Character_, p. 90. + +[753] Blatchford, _Merrie England_, p. 100. + +[754] Gronlund, _Co-operative Commonwealth_, p. 103. + +[755] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 157. + +[756] Kautsky, _The Social Revolution_, p. 14. + +[757] Jowett, _The Socialist and the City_, p. 44. + +[758] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 57. + +[759] McLachlan, _The Tyranny of Usury_, p. 1. + +[760] _Ibid._ pp. 10, 17. + +[761] _How to Finance Municipal Enterprises_, pp. 3-5. + +[762] McLachlan, _The Tyranny of Usury_, p. 20. + +[763] _Ibid._ + +[764] _Nouvelle Biographie Générale_, vol. xxxv. p. 39. + +[765] Roscher, _System_, p. 227. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +SOME SOCIALIST VIEWS ON FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION + + +In his thoughtful book on Socialism, Mr. Ramsay Macdonald, M.P., the +Socialist leader, attributes the rise of the Socialist movement in +great Britain to various causes, one of which is "the reaction against +Manchesterism."[766] + +Socialists, generally speaking, are opposed to Free Trade. Neither the +moderate nor the revolutionary sections of British Socialism have a +good word to say for it. The Socialist leaders, looking at the +question of Free Trade and Protection from the worker's point of view, +have arrived with Lecky at the conclusion that the whole Liberal Free +Trade agitation is one of the greatest political impostures which the +world has witnessed,[767] a view which, by the by, was also expressed +by Bismarck.[768] + +Socialists are not under any illusion as to the causes which led to +the introduction of Free Trade into Great Britain, and they sneer at +the humanitarian cant with which its promoters successfully surrounded +it. One of the leading Socialist books states with regard to this +point: "Protection was no longer needed by the manufacturers, who had +supremacy in the world-market, unlimited access to raw material, and a +long start of the rest of the world in the development of machinery +and in industrial organisation. The landlord class, on the other +hand, was absolutely dependent on Protection. The triumph of Free +Trade therefore signifies economically the decay of the old landlord +class pure and simple, and the victory of capitalism. The capitalist +class was originally no fonder of Free Trade than the landlords. It +destroyed in its own interest the woollen manufacture in Ireland, and +it would have throttled the trade of the colonies had it not been for +the successful resistance of Massachusetts and Virginia. It was +Protectionist so long as it suited its purpose to be so. But when +cheap raw material was needed for its looms, and cheap bread for its +workers; when it feared no foreign competitor, and had established +itself securely in India, in North America, in the Pacific; then it +demanded Free Trade."[769] "Protection at home was needless to +manufacturers who beat all their foreign rivals, and whose very +existence was staked on the expansion of their exports. Protection at +home was of advantage to none but to the producers of articles of food +and other raw materials, to the agricultural interest, which, under +the then existing circumstances in England, meant the receivers of +rent, the landed aristocracy."[770] + +The Free Trade manufacturers, who were chiefly interested in cheapness +of production, cared little what became of the workers. "The +individualist devotees of _laisser faire_ used to teach us that when +restrictions were removed, free competition would settle everything. +Prices would go down, and fill the 'consumer' with joy unspeakable; +the fittest would survive, and as for the rest--it was not very clear +what would become of them, and it really didn't matter."[771] + +The doctrines and the boasts of the Free Traders are usually treated +by the Socialists with contempt. "Cobdenites ascribe every known or +imagined improvement in commerce, and the condition of the masses, to +Free Trade. Things are better than they were fifty years ago: Free +Trade was adopted fifty years ago. _Ergo_--there you are. There is not +a word about the development of railways and steamships, about +improved machinery, about telegraphs, the cheap post and telephones, +about education and better facilities of travel."[772] + +The unsoundness of the fundamental doctrine of Free Trade, "Buy in the +cheapest and sell in the dearest market," has frequently been exposed +by Socialists. Mr. Blatchford, for instance, in a book of his of which +more than a million copies have been sold gives prominence to Cobden's +pronouncement in the House of Commons in which he expounded the +celebrated maxim: Buy in the cheapest and sell in the dearest market: +"To buy in the cheapest market and sell in the dearest, what is the +meaning of the maxim? It means that you take the article which you +have in the greatest abundance and with it obtain from others that of +which they have the most to spare; so giving to mankind the means of +enjoying the fullest abundance of earth's goods."[773] Mr. Blatchford +then comments upon Cobden's doctrine as follows: "Let us reduce these +fine phrases to figures. Suppose America can sell us wheat at _30s._ a +quarter, and suppose ours costs _32s. 6d._ a quarter. That is a gain +of 1/15th in the cost of wheat. We get a loaf for _3d._ instead of +having to pay _3-1/4d._ That is all the fine phrases mean. What do we +lose? We lose the beauty and health of our factory towns; we lose +annually some twenty thousand lives in Lancashire alone; we are in +constant danger of great strikes; we are reduced to the meanest shifts +and the most violent acts of piracy and slaughter to 'open up +markets' for our goods; we lose the stamina of our people, and we lose +our agriculture."[774] + +Most Socialists recognise that under the Free Trade _régime_ Great +Britain has sacrificed her safety and her strength to profit. "Did you +ever consider what it involved, this ruin of British agriculture? +Don't you see that if we lose our power to feed ourselves we destroy +the advantages of our insular position?"[775] "Don't you see that the +people who depend on foreigners for their food are at the mercy of any +ambitious statesman who chooses to make war upon them? And don't you +think that is rather a stiff price to pay to get a farthing off the +loaf? No nation can be secure unless it is independent; no nation can +be independent unless it is based upon agriculture."[776] "We must buy +wheat from America with cotton goods; but first of all we must buy raw +cotton with which to make those goods. We are therefore entirely +dependent upon foreigners for our existence."[777] + +"The present national ideal is to become 'The workshop of the world.' +That is to say, the British people are to manufacture goods for sale +to foreign countries, and in return for those goods are to get more +money than they could obtain by developing the resources of their own +country for their own use. My ideal is that each individual should +seek his advantage in co-operation with his fellows, and that the +people should make the best of their own country before attempting to +trade with other people's."[778] "The Free Traders tell me that under +their glorious system of free exchange nations naturally occupy +themselves in those industries which produce the most wealth. Thus, if +Great Britain, by employing a million men in growing corn, can produce +_50,000,000l._ a year, while she can produce _51,000,000l._ by +employing the men in getting coal. Great Britain will 'naturally' +employ those men in getting coal! Sending her coal abroad, Great +Britain can get _1,000,000l._ a year more wealth. What a beautiful +doctrine! Enormous increase in wealth. Foreigners can send us +_51,000,000l._ of corn for our coal, while Great Britain could only +grow _50,000,000l._ Free Trade for ever! It never occurs to the Free +Traders to ask: 'Is it better to have a million men working in the +bowels of the earth, or a million men tilling the surface?"[779] + +"The idea is, that if by making cloth, cutlery, and other goods we can +buy more food than we can produce at home with the same amount of +labour, it pays us to let the land go out of cultivation and make +Britain the 'workshop of the world.' Now, assuming that we can keep +our foreign trade, and assuming that we can get more food by foreign +trade than we could produce by the same amount of work, is it quite +certain that we are making a good bargain when we desert our fields +for our factories? Suppose men can earn more in the big towns than +they could earn in the fields, is the difference all gain? Rents and +prices are higher in the towns; the life is less healthy, less +pleasant. It is a fact that the death-rates in the towns are higher, +that the duration of life is shorter, and that the stamina and +physique of the workers are lowered by town life and by employment in +the factories. And there is another very serious evil attached to the +commercial policy of allowing our British agriculture to decay, and +that is the evil of our dependence upon foreign countries for our +food. The plain and terrible truth is that even if we have a perfect +fleet and keep entire control of the seas, we shall still be exposed +to the risk of almost certain starvation during a European war. As I +have repeatedly pointed out before, we have by sacrificing our +agriculture destroyed our insular position. As an island we may be, +or should be, free from serious danger of invasion. But of what avail +is our vaunted silver shield of the sea if we depend upon other +nations for our food? We are helpless in case of a great war. It is +not necessary to invade England in order to conquer her. Once our +food-supply is stopped, we are shut up like a beleaguered city, to +starve or to surrender. Stop the import of food into England for three +months and we shall be obliged to surrender at discretion. And our +agriculture is to be ruined and the safety and honour of the Empire +are to be endangered that a few landlords, coal-owners, and +moneylenders may wax fat upon the vitals of the nation."[780] "For +over half a century we have been committing industrial suicide. By +laying waste our own land and throwing ourselves upon the mercy of the +foreign food-producers, we have been deliberately sacrificing the +millions and the future to the millionaires and the moment."[781] + +The celebrated cheapness argument of the Free Traders has little +attraction for Socialists. "'Ah,' says the Free Trader, 'but think of +the cheaper grocery and the cheaper boots!' Yes, let us think of them. +What good does it do me, my countrymen, one of the unemployed, to +think of the wealth of the Rothschilds, or the cheap boots and the +cheap bread and the cheap clothes of those who benefit by these +things? I am one of the nation. Are these things that are so good for +the nation good for me? How can these cheap wares do me any good, who +have no money at all? The fact is that Free Trade and cheap goods are +only good for certain individuals. They are good for those who benefit +by them."[782] + +Cheapness means low wages. Cheapness may benefit that strange and +mythical figure the abstract "consumer" of the text-books, but need +not benefit the working man. Very likely it will harm him, because +"Cheap goods mean cheap labour, and cheap labour means low wages. You +have nothing but your labour to sell, and you are told that it will +pay you to sell that cheaply."[783] "All commodities are produced by +labour, therefore to drive commodities down to their cheapest rate +must result in cheap labour."[784] Cheapness may fill those with joy +who have money in their pocket and who do not care how cheap goods are +produced. But incidentally the policy of Free Trade and of _laisser +faire_, the policy of cheapness which benefits the consumer and takes +no notice of the producer, encourages and causes sweating and untold +misery to the workers. "Do you ever consider the lives of the people +who make these marvellously cheap things? And do you ever think what +kind of homes they have; in what kind of districts the homes are +situated; and what becomes of those people when they are too ill, or +too old, or too infirm to earn even four shillings as the price of a +hundred and twelve hours' work?"[785] + +Free Trade may have been beneficial in Cobden's time, when Great +Britain was the chief manufacturing country in the world. But what is +its effect under the changed conditions of the present time, and how +will these changes affect her industries and her workers? "In the +early days of our great trade the commercial school wished Britain to +be the 'workshop of the world,' and for a good while she was the +workshop of the world. But now a change is coming. Other nations have +opened world-workshops, and we have to face competition. France, +Germany, Holland, Belgium, and America are all eager to take our +coveted place as general factory, and China and Japan are changing +swiftly from customers into rival dealers. Is it likely, then, that +we can keep all our foreign trade, or that what we keep will be as +profitable as it is at present?"[786] "Suppose we lost a lump of our +export trade. Suppose the Japanese, Chinese, or Americans capture some +of our markets. Where should we get our food? If we could not sell our +exports, we could not buy imports of food. We are walking on thin ice, +my countrymen. And if competition became keener, what would the +champions of Free Trade do to meet it? They would say: 'We must sell +our manufactures, or you will get no food. To sell our manufactures we +must reduce the price. To reduce the price we must reduce the cost of +production. To reduce the cost of production we must cut down +wages.'"[787] "Free Trade means _laisser faire_ all round, not only in +regard to inanimate commodities, but in respect to that most important +commodity of all--human labour power. Chinese, Japanese, Indians, +negroes are all permitted under complete Free Trade to compete freely +on their lower standard of life against the white man."[788] "A demand +for a general reduction of wages is the end of the fine talk about big +profits, national prosperity, and the 'workshop of the world.' The +British workers are to emulate the thrift of the Japanese, the +Hindoos, and the Chinese, and learn to live on boiled rice and water. +Why? So that they can accept low wages and retain our precious foreign +trade. Yes, that is the latest idea. With brutal frankness the workers +of Britain have been told again and again that, 'If we are to keep our +foreign trade, the British workers must accept the conditions of their +foreign rivals,' and that is the result of our commercial glory! For +that we have sacrificed our agriculture and endangered the safety of +our Empire."[789] + +The assertion of the Free Traders that Free Trade has made Great +Britain prosperous is treated with scorn. "The Free Traders say we, +the nation, are richer under this system than we should be under +Protection. By employing ourselves in those occupations in which we +can produce the cheapest article, we earn the most wealth in money +value.--In money value.--They do not consider the twelve million +underfed, the hundreds of thousands of unemployed. The nation, _we_, +are richer. That is the test. Well, my countrymen, I think it is a +damnable doctrine, and its results are damnable. The Free Traders +boast of our wealth. Are twelve million underfed, a million starving +children, a million paupers, an infantile death-rate of 150 per +1,000--are these signs of wealth? The question is not 'Is the nation +wealthy?' but 'Are the people wealthy?' Judged by this standard, how +poor a nation is this, my countrymen! The Free Traders tell us that we +earn more wealth under Free Trade than we should under Protection. +Again I ask: Who are _we_?"[790] A Socialist weekly lately said: +"Great Britain, I understand, has recovered its prosperity; our +exports are going strong, and our imports have nothing much to +complain about. Prosperity? Why, Great Britain is simply rolling +in--statistics."[791] + +Socialists rightly demand that the effect of British fiscal policy +should be judged not by its effect upon the wealth of the few, but +upon the employment of the many, and they clearly recognise the +destructive effect which Free Trade has upon the national industries. +"Under Free Trade it is possible for a foreign trader to take trade +away from a British trader. If for any reason we lost an important +trade, or several small trades, our unemployed would naturally grow. +The Free Trade theory that the capital and the labour in the lost +trades will find other employment is simply theory. Suppose they +didn't. The Free Trader has no answer except: Look at our enormous +wealth. My countrymen, looking at another man's wealth does not feed +me, clothe me, and house me."[792] "When men are thrown out of work, +by competition, or depression, or any cause, they do not so easily +'transfer their services to some other new employment.' It is easy to +make them do so--on paper. And when they do get a fresh job, is it +always as good as the one lost? Do they not often lose all their +belongings, and get into debt, while looking for that new employment +which the Free Traders talk about so glibly? and do not capitalists +often lose a good deal of capital before they give up the fight for +the trade? Nevertheless, say the Free Traders, we, the nation, are +richer under this system than we should be under Protection. By +employing ourselves in those occupations in which we can produce the +cheapest article, we earn the most wealth in money value."[793] To +this argument the Socialists reply: "Does your moral law say it is +right that men should be thrown on the streets to starve because other +men in other countries produce goods 2-1/2 per cent. cheaper?"[794] + +The statistics of an enormous foreign trade, which Free Traders +triumphantly display for the edification of the masses, give, +according to the Socialists, little consolation to the unemployed and +ill-employed workers. "Figures, be they never so dazzling, and +numbers, be they never so round, will not feed the hungry, house the +homeless, or bring light and warmth into the drear, precarious lives +of the mass of our people. The increase of trade means only an +increase of production, and not necessarily of persons employed or +wages gained. With the rapid concentration of industries and the +perfection of labour-saving devices, production has been enormously +increased without any corresponding increase of employment; in some +cases, with an actual decrease of employment. What the workers are +interested in is not the mere growth of profitable trade, but the +extent to which the industries of their country afford them and their +families a security of livelihood, and the reasonable comforts and +recreations which their labour has more than earned."[795] + +Most Socialists frankly own that Free Trade has been a failure. "In +the House of Commons on March 12th, 1906, Mr. P. Snowden, M.P., said: +'Sixty years of Free Trade had failed to mitigate or palliate to any +considerable extent the grave industrial and social evils which Free +Traders and Protectionists alike were compelled to admit. Sir H. +Campbell-Bannerman had admitted them when he said that 30 per cent. of +our population were on the verge of hunger. He contended that whatever +improvement had been effected in the condition of the people during +the last sixty years was due to other causes than Free Trade."[796] + +During 1907 the complaints among the Socialists about the effect of +Free Trade upon employment have become louder. The fact that British +unemployed workmen furnished an apparently inexhaustible supply of +strike-breakers to Continental employers, that men fought like wild +beasts at the registry offices in order to be allowed to act as +strike-breakers in Hamburg and Antwerp, has shown the great prevalence +of unemployment. Commenting hereon a Socialist monthly said in bitter +irony, under the heading "British Blacklegs": "The intervention in the +Antwerp dock-workers' strike of British workmen as blacklegs is a +striking commentary on the prosperity of the people of this country. +Under Free Trade we have been told--_ad nauseam_--by Liberal +politicians that the British working-man is the most prosperous and +well-fed human being on the face of the earth. He, with wages nearly +double those of the best-paid Continental workman, with all kinds of +provisions infinitely cheaper--thanks to Free Trade--than they can be +procured elsewhere, is indeed 'God's Englishman.' It would be as +unkind as rude to suggest that these honourable politicians had been +lying. The only alternative conclusion to be arrived at is that the +British workman is a most disinterested being, willing to sacrifice +his prosperity and comfort in order to compel the miserably paid +dockers of Antwerp and Hamburg to submit to the conditions against +which they have revolted."[797] The action of Mr. Haldane, the present +Secretary of State for War, in dismissing a large number of workmen +from Woolwich Arsenal and giving a contract for 100,000 horseshoes for +the British Army to an American firm on account of greater cheapness, +prompted the following verses: + + Mr. Haldane was smiling and suave + As his views upon horseshoes he gave; + He will buy from the Yanks + (Who take orders with thanks). + And believes that much money he'll save. + + How thankful we all ought to be + That this most kind and careful M.P. + Thus shows Woolwich men + They will be employed when + They're off to the States--Q.E.D.[798] + +Some Socialists take a very pessimistic view of the economic position +of Great Britain. Mr. Hyndman said that "Great Britain had lost her +commercial and industrial supremacy. The United States now stood +first, Germany second, and Great Britain was forced into third +place."[799] Many years ago some far-seeing Socialists had prophesied +the coming industrial decline of Great Britain. "The notion that +Britain can hold a monopoly of engineering, or of any other trade, +must be given up. Britain cannot; countries that have been almost +wholly agricultural are rapidly becoming manufacturers too."[800] Of +late these pessimistic forecasts have become louder and more frequent. +The progress of industrial countries can be measured, to some extent, +by their output of coal, and "at no distant date Germany will probably +also surpass our output and we will be relegated to third place."[801] +This event will very likely take place about 1910. The statistics +published by the British Board of Trade are deceptive. They leave out +Germany's very large and constantly growing output of lignite, which +amounts to about 60,000,000 tons per annum, and which increases +Germany's coal output, as stated by the Board of Trade, by about 50 +per cent. + +British Socialists have found out that the Free Trade doctrine with +its hypothetical "consumer" for a centre is opposed to science, to +experience, and to common-sense. "The present system of trade is, in +my opinion, opposed entirely to reason and justice. Nearly all our +practical economists of to-day put the consumer first and the producer +last. This is wrong. There can be no just or sane system which does +not first consider the producer and then widely and equitably +regulates the distribution of the things produced."[802] They +recognise that Free Trade has caused ill-balanced production, and +that, through the stagnation and decay of industries, men who ought to +be engaged in production have been forced into more or less +unprofitable and more or less useless employments. "What this country +is rotting for is the want of more and better producers of +necessaries--more and better market-gardeners, fruit-growers, +foresters, general farmers, wool-workers, builders, and useful makers +generally. Instead of which, the present system is giving us more and +more non-producers--more and more shopkeepers, middlemen, commercial +travellers, advertising agents, dealers, and wasters generally. +According to the last census returns, we find that whilst the +agricultural class shows a terrible decline, and the industrial class +has barely kept pace with the population as a whole, on the other hand +the commercial, or selling class, shows an increase of over 42 per +cent. inside ten years."[803] + +Free Trade has been tried and has been found wanting, and a return to +Protection, which is in accordance with the needs of the times and the +spirit of the workers, especially of the trade unionists, is +inevitable. "Capitalist Free Trade is a manifest failure. Trade +unionism is, in its essence, a very sturdy form of Protection, as we +can see, if not here in Great Britain, certainly in America and in +Australia."[804] "Society is constantly changing its form of living: +every day some supposed old truth goes into the limbo of forgotten +things, and, looking around us, those who have eyes to see and ears to +hear may see and hear on all hands the death-knell of the old +Manchester school of political economy."[805] + +The claims of Free Trade and the cheap-food cry are disregarded and +treated with contempt. "Free Traders talk about the folly of +Protection. But Free Trade itself is a form of Protection. It protects +the strong and the cunning against the weaker and the more honest. It +protects the cheap and nasty against the good."[806] The founder of +modern Socialism had stated already in 1847: "What is Free Trade under +the present conditions of society? Freedom of capital."[807] Free +Trade undoubtedly directly protects capital and leaves labour +unprotected. "Your food will cost you more! I am to bow down to the +idol of cheapness. I, one of the unemployed. What is cheapness to me, +who have no money at all?"[808] "Your Manchester school treat all +social and industrial problems from the standpoint of mere animal +subsistence."[809] Declarations such as "The Social-Democratic +Federation stands for universal free trade or free exchange and for +the abolition of all indirect taxation,"[810] and "The only form of +Protection advocated by the Social-Democratic Federation is the +protection of the proletariat against the robbery and exploitation of +the master-class"[811] have not the ring of seriousness about them. + +Only very rarely are utterances in favour of Free Trade to be found in +Socialist writings. However, frequently the demand is made that Tariff +Reform and Socialism must go hand in hand, and doubt is expressed +whether the Tariff Reform agitation is carried on for the benefit of +the manufacturer or for that of the workers. "Mr. Chamberlain is not a +Socialist. His Government will not be a Socialist Government. His plan +would protect only the rich. This fiscal fight is a fight between +capitalists as to who shall make the profits. It is not a fight for +the benefit of the 'nation.' That is what they tell you. The +capitalist who loses his trade through foreign competition is a Tariff +Reformer. He wants Protection. The capitalist who depends on cheap +foreign imports for raw material is a Free Trader. He does not want +his prices raised."[812] "Preferential trade is the proposal of +individual capitalists who desire to make profits out of our Imperial +connections."[813] + +The Fabian organ looks at Free Trade and Protection merely as a +business proposition. "We care nothing for abstract Cobdenite +economics, and are quite willing to welcome Tariff Reform if its +advocates show us that it can be used as a lever for raising the +standards of life and labour. The Labour party is therefore eminently +wise in seeing how far it can be used for their advantage. +Protectionism of the Australian Labour party is the right kind of +Protectionism--Labour-Protectionism: a very different thing from the +Capital-Protectionism which is (with a few exceptions) the +characteristic mark of Tariff Reformers in this country."[814] + +Some revolutionary Socialists are in favour of Free Trade because they +hope that it will bring on a revolution in Great Britain. Their great +leader, Karl Marx, taught sixty years ago, when Free Trade was being +introduced: "The Protective system is nothing but a means of +establishing manufacture upon a large scale in any given country. +Besides this, the Protective system helps to develop free competition +within a nation. Generally speaking, the Protective system in these +days is conservative, while the Free Trade system works destructively. +It breaks up old nationalities and carries the antagonism of +proletariat and bourgeoisie to the uttermost point. In a word, the +Free Trade system hastens the social revolution. In this revolutionary +sense alone I am in favour of Free Trade."[815] Those Socialist +revolutionaries who wish to increase the misery of the people, hoping +that unbearable poverty, owing to increasing unemployment and +consequent want, will at least madden the people and cause a +revolution--they remember that the great French revolutions were also +brought about by unemployment and consequent widespread misery--are +the most determined champions of Free Trade. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[766] Macdonald, _Socialism_, p. 16. + +[767] Lecky, _History of the Eighteenth Century_, quoted in _Fabian +Essays in Socialism_, p. 81. + +[768] Ellis Barker, _Modern Germany_, p. 531. + +[769] _Fabian Essays in Socialism_, pp. 80, 81. + +[770] F. Engels in Marx, _Discourse on Free Trade_, p. 5. + +[771] _Fabian Essays in Socialism_, p. 90. + +[772] Blatchford, _God and My Neighbour_, p. 154. + +[773] Blatchford, _Merrie England_, p. 33. + +[774] Blatchford, _Merrie England_, p. 33. + +[775] _Ibid._ pp. 33, 34. + +[776] _Ibid._ p. 35. + +[777] _Ibid._ p. 34. + +[778] _Ibid._ p. 12. + +[779] Suthers, _My Right to Work_, p. 100. + +[780] Blatchford, _Britain for the British_, pp. 97, 98, and 118. + +[781] Hall, _Land, Labour, and Liberty_, p. 11. + +[782] Suthers, _My Right to Work_, p. 82. + +[783] Blatchford, _Merrie England_, p. 92. + +[784] _Ibid._ p. 97. + +[785] _Ibid._ p. 97. + +[786] Blatchford, _Britain for the British_, p. 100. + +[787] Suthers, _My Right to Work_, p. 103. + +[788] _Justice_, November 23, 1907. + +[789] Blatchford, _Britain for the British_, p. 100. + +[790] Suthers, _My Right to Work_, pp. 102, 103. + +[791] _Clarion_, October 25, 1907. + +[792] Suthers, _My Right to Work_, pp. 96, 97. + +[793] _Ibid._ p. 101. + +[794] _Ibid._ p. 104. + +[795] _Labour Leader_, January 12, 1906. + +[796] _National Union Gleanings_, vol. xxvi. January-June 1906, p. +220. + +[797] _Social-Democrat_, September 1907, pp. 519, 520. + +[798] _Battersea Vanguard_, November 1907, p. 5. + +[799] _Report, 27th Annual Conference Social-Democratic Federation_ +1907, p. 29. + +[800] Mann, _The International Labour Movement_, p. 8. + +[801] Jones, _Mining Royalties_, p. 14. + +[802] Blatchford, _Competition_, p. 9. + +[803] Hall, _Land, Labour, and Liberty_, pp. 9, 10. + +[804] _Justice_, November 23, 1907. + +[805] George Lansbury, _The Principles of the English Poor Law_, p. +16. + +[806] Suthers, _My Right to Work_, p. 104. + +[807] Karl Marx, _A Discourse on Free Trade_, p. 39. + +[808] Suthers, _My Right to Work_, p. 100. + +[809] Blatchford, _Merrie England_, p. 15. + +[810] H. Quelch, _The Social-Democratic Federation_, p. 11. + +[811] _Ibid._ + +[812] Suthers, _My Right to Work_, p. 119. + +[813] J. Ramsay Macdonald, _Labour and the Empire_, p. 97. + +[814] _New Age_, October 10, 1907, p. 369. + +[815] Karl Marx, _A Discourse on Free Trade_, p. 42. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +SOCIALISM AND EDUCATION + + +The attitude of Socialists towards education is a peculiar one. They +see in it apparently less an agency for distributing knowledge and +discovering ability than an instrument for the propagation of +Socialism and an institution for relieving parents of all cost and +responsibility for the maintenance and the bringing up of their +children. Hence most Socialists, in discussing education, consider it +rather from the point of view of those who are desirous of State +relief than from the point of view of those who wish for good +education. + +Among the "Immediate Reforms" demanded by the Social-Democratic +Federation, the following embody its education programme: "Elementary +education to be free, secular, industrial, and compulsory for all +classes. The age of obligatory school attendance to be raised to +sixteen. Unification and systematisation of intermediate and higher +education, both general and technical, and all such education to be +free. Free maintenance for all attending State schools. Abolition of +school rates; the cost of education in all State schools to be borne +by the national Exchequer."[816] An influential Socialist writer +demands: "Education should be fee-less from top to bottom of the +ladder, the universities included."[817] In accordance with the +Socialist views regarding the relation of the sexes, which are +described in Chapter XXV. "Socialism and Woman, the Family and the +Home,"[818] most Socialists demand co-education and identical +education for both sexes. "Under Socialism boys and girls will receive +exactly the same training and exercise in the fundamentals of a +liberal education. Success in examinations of whatever character shall +bring equal reward and distinction. There will be no separation into +boys' classes and girls' classes. The instruction being the same, they +shall receive it at the same time."[819] "Education will be the same +for all and for both sexes. The sexes will be separated only in cases +in which functional differences make it absolutely necessary."[820] + +Socialists see in the schools chiefly a means whereby to abolish +parental responsibilities and to secure "free State maintenance" for +all children. In claiming free State maintenance, Socialists grossly +exaggerate with regard to the number of underfed children. "It is +doubtful if half the children at present attending school are +physically fit to be educated, and medical men of eminence have +unhesitatingly expressed the opinion that the alarming increase of +insanity, which is one of the most terrible characteristics of modern +social life, is largely, if not entirely, due to the attempt to +educate those who are too ill-nourished to stand the mental strain +that even the most elementary school-training involves. As a remedy +for this, the Social-Democratic Federation advocates a complete system +of free State maintenance for all children attending school. This is +an essential corollary of compulsory education. Only complete free +maintenance will meet the requirements of the case."[821] "All +children, destitute or not, should be fed, and fed without charge, at +the expense of the State or municipality. We propose that the regular +school course should include at least one meal a day. Thus only can +we make sure that all the children who need feeding will be fed."[822] +"To cram dates into the poor little skulls of innocent children when +you ought to be cramming dates down their throats is not a right thing +to do, especially when you remember that the most precious thing in +this world is a human life, and when you realise that you are +murdering systematically thousands of children every year because they +cannot get proper food--they cannot even get pure milk in the great +cities of our land. One of our first duties in this nation is to see +that every child has a right to the best and most ample provision for +its physical needs. That should be the primary charge upon the nation. +I am not here to-night to discuss the great question of the State +maintenance of children. Personally I am absolutely in favour of +it."[823] Experience of other nations has taught that the institution +of free meals for necessitous school-children is immediately and very +grossly abused by unscrupulous parents easily able to feed their +children. From Milan, for instance, we learn that "When in 1900 this +service began, meals were given on only 133 days out of a possible 174 +days of school attendance. The outlay was then set down at 98,300 +francs. During the second year, however, free meals were served on 153 +days and cost 149,337 francs. In 1903 the free meals cost the +municipality 247,766 francs and 277,603 in 1904. The outlay will now +exceed 300,000 francs, and the number of pupils who manage to +establish their claim to be fed gratuitously is ever increasing."[824] +British experiments of free feeding on a smaller scale have shown that +"In the large majority of cases the children who are sent to school +hungry are so sent, not by honest and poor parents, but by those who +have an imperfectly developed sense of parental responsibility and are +willing to shuffle out of the duty of providing for their children if +they think anybody else will undertake it for them. These parents are +not in need of assistance--they are perfectly well able to feed their +own children; but if free meals can be had for the asking, they are +not too proud to tell the child to ask. It relieves the mother of the +trouble of preparing a meal for the child, and the money saved can be +used for some more attractive form of personal expenditure."[825] At +Birmingham, for example, numerous applications were made by the +teachers to the relieving officers on behalf of children under their +care, but when inquiries were made into the circumstances of the +parents it was found that many of them were earning over thirty +shillings a week, and in one case the parent was in constant +employment with an average wage of _3l. 17s. 6d._ a week.[826] In +Bolton, where during the winter of 1904-5 a charitable society +provided free meals for children in certain centres of the town, it +was found that the parents of some of the children who were partaking +of the free meals so provided, and even reported as being underfed, +were in receipt of as much as from _2l._ to _3l._ a week.[827] In +Fulham (London) "More than one hundred names were sent to the Boards +of Guardians of children who were adjudged to be underfed and were +receiving meals from public charity. In hardly one of these cases did +the relieving officer consider the complaint well founded. One family +was found by him to be earning an income of _4l. 4s._ a week, and yet +the children were sent to share in the charitable meals."[828] "Some +of the parents who sent their children to the Johanna Street school in +Lambeth said that they did not give their children food before going +to school as they knew that if they did not do so they would receive +it at the school, as the children of other people got food there and +they did not see why theirs should not too."[829] The fact that +Socialists grossly exaggerate in giving the proportion of underfed +school children, and in ascribing the cause of underfeeding solely to +the poverty of parents, is clear to all who have studied the problem +of poverty. Mr. Cyril Jackson, the chief inspector of public +elementary schools, for instance, in summarising the evidence of the +women inspectors appointed to inquire into the age of admission of +infants into elementary schools, says: "The question of underfed +children cannot fail to be touched in the course of such an inquiry. +It is interesting to find a general agreement that it is unsuitable +rather than insufficient feeding that is responsible for sickly +children. Want of sufficient sleep, neglect of personal cleanliness, +badly ventilated homes, are contributory causes of the low physical +standard reached."[830] + +Some Socialists, though only a few, have been honest enough to express +similar views. A Fabian tract, for instance, says: "We have said that +universal free feeding appears to be the only way in which the evil of +improper (as distinct from insufficient) feeding can be removed. At +present many children whose parents get fairly good wages cannot feed +their children properly, either because they do not know what is the +best food to give, or because they have not the time or the skill to +prepare it. Manifestly the case of these will not be met by any system +which feeds only the patently starved and destitute child. But it will +be met both directly and indirectly by a universal system; directly, +because the children, whatever they get at home, will at least get +proper food at school; indirectly, because it will serve to educate +the next generation of mothers in the knowledge of what is the best +and most economical way of providing for their families. This is not +the place to go into the very large question of what is the ideal diet +for a child. All that need be insisted on here is that the provision +should be bought and prepared under expert advice, and that +consideration of cheapness should never be allowed to count as against +the needs of nourishment. Every child should receive at least one +solid meal in the middle of the day, and perhaps a glass of hot milk +on arrival in the morning."[831] + +The "hungry children" argument is a valuable one for purposes of +agitation, and it is used by the Socialists to the fullest extent. The +workers are told: "The children are too ill provided for to be +educated. This is not because the worker is idle or thriftless, but +actually because he is too industrious and produces so much that his +labour as a producer is at a discount. It is objected that to provide +free State maintenance for all the children would be to destroy +parental responsibility. But it is too late in the day to urge this +objection, seeing that the State has taken upon itself the education +of the children and is prepared to undertake, and does undertake, +their maintenance and bringing-up when the parents are so careless of +their responsibilities as to neglect them entirely."[832] "The +old-fashioned prejudice fostered by the capitalists and their +hangers-on that it is degrading to accept anything from the State is +fast dying out"[833]--That workmen who are daily told by their leaders +that it is unreasonable to expect that they should bring up their +children frequently desert their family is natural. Every year many +thousands of wives and children are deserted. At every police station +the names of such men may be seen posted up, and those desertions are +undoubtedly largely due to Socialistic teaching. + +The real object of the Socialists in demanding free maintenance for +the children is not humanity. In making that demand they do not even +think of the welfare of the children, as the following extracts will +prove, which clearly reveal the real object of their demands. "Free +maintenance for children should be accepted by trade unionists as +tending to raise the standard of comfort. All should demand it with +the object of personally benefiting themselves."[834] "In nine cases +out of ten it is the hungry child who breaks the back of the strike. +Let them feel assured that their children's dinner is secure, and they +will continue the struggle to a victorious end."[835] "Free +maintenance for children would be a tax on that surplus wealth which +the capitalists and the aristocracy share between them. To the worker +free maintenance for his children would be equivalent to an additional +income. His standard of living would rise. No doubt the capitalist +would reduce his wages as much as possible, but the worker would then +be able to fight him on more equal terms. His children being well +cared for, he would be able to hold out against the capitalist for an +indefinite period."[836] "We counsel the workers to accept the offer +as a small payment on account of a huge debt, but to accept it with no +more gratitude than is shown by the class which is maintained in +luxury, parents and children alike, by the collective industry of the +workers. By dint of organisation they may be able very soon to exact +payment of a more substantial sum--State maintenance, to wit."[837] + +The doctrines above given have unfortunately been accepted by many +organised workers. A resolution of the Trades Union Congress at +Leeds, in September 1904, asserted: + +"That having regard to the facts (_a_) that twelve millions of the +population are living in actual poverty, or close to the poverty line; +(_b_) that physical deterioration of the people is the inevitable +result of this; (_c_) that it is impossible to teach starving and +underfed children, this Congress urges the Government to introduce, +without further delay, legislation instructing education authorities +to provide at least one free meal a day for children attending +State-supported schools." + +A resolution passed at the Scottish Miners' Conference on December 30, +1904, stated: + +"That this Conference is in favour of State maintenance of children, +but that in the meantime we identify ourselves with the movement in +favour of free meals for school children." + +Resolutions passed by the National Labour Conference on the State +maintenance of children, at the Guildhall, City of London, Friday, +January 20, 1905, declared: + +"That this Conference of delegates from British Labour Organisations, +Socialist and other bodies, declares in favour of State maintenance of +children as a necessary corollary of universal compulsory education +and as a means of partially arresting that physical deterioration of +the industrial population of this country which is now generally +recognised as a grave national danger. As a step towards such State +maintenance this Conference, supporting the decision of the last +Trades Union Congress upon this question, calls upon the Government to +introduce without further delay such legislative measures as will +enable the local authorities to provide meals for children attending +the common schools, to be paid for out of the National Exchequer; and +in support of this demand calls attention to the evidence given by Dr. +Eichholz, the official witness of the Board of Education on the +Committee on Physical Deterioration, in which he stated that the +question of food is at the base of all the evils of child degeneracy, +and that if steps were taken to ensure the proper adequate feeding of +the children the evil will rapidly cease." + +A Socialist has worked out in a widely read book the cost of free +education and State maintenance, which will require a yearly +expenditure of _458,750,000l._, a sum four times as large as the +entire national Budget. This outlay does not deter him. Combining the +State schools with State workshops, he promises that they will yield a +profit of exactly _105,850,000l._ a year.[838] This scheme should +recommend itself to Chancellors of the Exchequer in search of a few +millions. + +Another imaginative Socialist would make the abolition of all existing +languages part of his educational scheme: "Socialism will steadfastly +aim at the adoption of a universal language, be it English or volapuk. +All the modern languages--and for the matter of that, the ancient +also--are but jungles of verbiage which retard, rather than +facilitate, human thought and progress. They have grown up anyhow; but +what we now want is a made language, constructed on scientific +principles, and so easy of comprehension that any intelligent person +can acquire it in a few months."[839] + +Across the educational, as most other, proposals of British Socialists +should be written in large letters, Utopia! + +FOOTNOTES: + +[816] See Appendix. + +[817] Davidson, _Democrat's Address_, p. 5. + +[818] See p. 330. + +[819] Ethel Snowden, _The Woman Socialist_, pp. 39, 40. + +[820] Bebel, _Woman_, p. 218. + +[821] Quelch, _The Social-Democratic Federation_, p. 8. + +[822] Fabian Tract, _After Bread, Education_, No. 120, p. 9. + +[823] Kirtlan, _Socialism for Christians_, p. 8. + +[824] _Free Feeding of School Children_, p. 23. + +[825] Cox, _Socialism_, p. 16. + +[826] _Local Government Board Report_, Cd. 3105, p. 495. + +[827] _Ibid._ p. 506. + +[828] _Times_, March 17, 1906. + +[829] Cox, _Socialism_, pp. 16, 17. + +[830] _Cd._ 2726, p. iii. + +[831] Fabian Tract, _After Bread, Education_, No. 120, p. 14. + +[832] Quelch, _Social-Democratic Federation_, p. 9. + +[833] _Socialism and Trade Unionism_, p. 5. + +[834] _Socialism and Trade Unionism_, p. 5. + +[835] Fabian Tract, _After Bread, Education_, No. 120, p. 11. + +[836] _Socialism and Trade Unionism_, p. 5. + +[837] Watts, _State Maintenance for Children_, p. 4. + +[838] Richardson, _How It Can Be Done_, pp. 50-61. + +[839] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 166. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE ATTITUDE OF SOCIALISTS TOWARDS PROVIDENCE, THRIFT, AND TEMPERANCE + + +Socialism thrives upon the poverty, unhappiness, and misery of the +workers. Starving and desperate men may easily be aroused to +rebellion. Contented men will not become Socialists. Therefore it lies +in the interest of the professional Socialist agitators to maintain +poverty and misery among the masses, and if possible to increase it. +With this object in view, many Socialist agitators oppose all measures +which are likely to turn the propertyless wage-earner--the "wage +slave" as the Socialists like to call him, in order to exasperate +him--into an owner of property, a small capitalist. That might make +him a contented man. Therefore, as we have seen in Chapter XVIII., the +Socialist leaders strenuously oppose "for scientific reasons" the +creation of peasant proprietors. They distinctly encourage +improvidence and oppose, also "for scientific reasons," providence, +thrift, and abstinence among the workers. The philosopher of British +Socialism informs us: "Thrift, the hoarding up of the products of +labour, it is obvious, must be without rhyme or reason, except on a +capitalist basis,"[840] and the Socialists do not wish the workers to +become capitalists. + +Some Socialists were indiscreet enough to confess that they opposed +providence, thrift, and temperance among the workers, as practised +especially by the members of trade unions, co-operative societies, and +friendly societies, because these are likely to elevate the masses +and rob the Socialist leaders of supporters. We read, for instance: +"The so-called thrift and temperance movements are essentially +antagonistic to Socialism."[841] "The trade co-operator canonises the +bourgeois virtues, but Socialist vices, of 'over-work' and +'thrift.'"[842] "Co-operation, though regarded by the individual +trader as an enemy, does not necessarily enter into conflict with the +capitalist at all. Indeed, so far as it transforms workmen into +shareholders, it forms a bulwark for capitalism, the same as the +creation of small landholders or any other class of small proprietors +would do."[843] "Co-operation, as carried on in England, is an +obstacle and a danger to the Socialist cause. Being capitalist +concerns pure and simple, co-operative societies are subjected to the +same influences as all other capitalistic ventures."[844] "The +friendly societies are the least promising of any of the democratic +movements from the political point of view. The doctrine of 'thrift' +also has been preached very vigorously to them. There is at present +little prospect of the friendly societies identifying themselves with +the general political labour movement of the country."[845] The +Anarchist Congress of 1869 at Marseilles stated very truly: "La +coopération démoralise les ouvriers en faisant des bourgeois."[846] + +Now let us take note of the "scientific" arguments with which British +Socialists oppose providence, thrift, and sobriety among the workers. + +"Under present circumstances, the more frugal, thrifty, and abstemious +working people as a class become, the more cheaply they have to live, +the more cheaply they have to sell their labour power to the +capitalist class, wages being determined by the cost of +subsistence."[847] "Temperance, thrift, industry only serve to make +labour an easier or more valuable prey to capital. If they reduce the +cost of living in any particular, they but reduce the cost of labour +to the capitalist."[848] "If _all_ the workers were very thrifty, +sober, industrious, and abstemious they would be worse off in the +matter of wages than they are now."[849] "The mere cheapening of the +cost of living only tends to reduce wages, and thus cannot advantage +the worker."[850] "If _all_ workers were to become teetotalers and +vegetarians, wages would inevitably fall to the wretched level, +perchance, of Oriental countries like India and China, where thrift in +every form is carried to incredible lengths."[851] "Is it not proved +that the Hindoos and the Chinese, who are the most temperate and the +most thrifty people in the world, are always the worst paid? And don't +you see that if the Lancashire workers would live upon rice and water, +the masters would soon have their wages down to rice and water +point?"[852] + +The foregoing arguments, which are based on the "Iron Law of Wages," +of which a refutation has been given in Chapter IV.,[853] may sound +plausible to the unthinking workman. They may infuriate him and +therefore serve the ends of the Socialist agitator, but they are +utterly false and dishonest, as all Socialist leaders know. Wages +depend partly on the supply and demand for labour, partly on the +productiveness of labour. In machineless countries, such as China and +India, the average worker produces very little, and the supply of +workers is unlimited. Hence their wages are low. If the Socialistic +arguments were right, Chinese and Hindoos could double or treble +their wages by becoming drunkards, and English navvies could earn +_5l._ a week by agreeing among themselves to drink champagne instead +of beer. If the cost of subsistence determined the rate of wages, the +wages for all workers in London ought to be approximately the same. In +reality, however, we find that wages range in London from _3l. 10s._ +to _18s._ per week. The most skilled workers receive the highest, the +least skilled the lowest, wages. It is therefore evident that wages +are determined by the cost of subsistence only in the case of the +least skilled workers, provided an unlimited supply of such workers +and unrestricted competition among them for work drive down their +wages to the bare existence level. + +Providence, thrift, and temperance are habitually attacked by +Socialists not only on "scientific" but also on moral and philosophical +grounds. For instance, Mr. Keir Hardie tells us: "As for thrift, much +which passes for such at present is little different from +soul-destroying parsimony. Men and women starve their years of healthy +activity that they may have enough to keep alive an attenuated old age +scarcely worth preserving."[854] In other words, he advises the workers +to spend all they earn and to become paupers in their old age. A very +influential Socialist writer says: "A man by starving his mind and his +body is able to save money. He borrows books instead of buying them. He +starves his emotional nature by neglecting to go to the theatre, +because to go to the theatre costs money. He doesn't go to concerts +because concerts cost money. He is a teetotaler, not so much because he +wishes to keep his stomach clean and his head clear, but because his +ideal men are teetotalers, grad-grinds, who mortify the flesh in order +to save. And the money is saved with a bad intention. The aim is either +to start independently in business, or else to secure shares in the +undertaking paying the highest dividends compatible with security. The +object of this man is to leave his class behind him, and to live _upon_ +labour rather than _by_ it"[855]--According to this authority it would +be immoral for the rural labourer to save in order to be able to till +his own field and to live in his own cottage; it would be immoral for +the artisan to endeavour to have a workshop and a house of his own; it +would be immoral for the worker to put his savings into a savings-bank +or a friendly society, or some limited company, and to live upon his +savings during his old age. It would almost seem as if from the +Socialist point of view the only moral way of obtaining property was by +plundering the rich. "Waste all you earn and die in the workhouse" is +at present their advice to the worker, and the worker who follows that +advice and who lives from hand to mouth easily becomes a pauper. For +him a short spell of unemployment means starvation and despair. This is +evidently a state of affairs which Socialist agitators favour because +it will increase their following.--Another prominent Socialist writer +says: "Among the many quack remedies for poverty, the most venerable +and the most illusive is thrift or saving. The habit of saving is +always represented by the rich as the highest of social virtues; but it +is one they are careful rarely to practise themselves"[856]--If the +rich are so wasteful, how is it then that the national capital, held by +the rich, as the Socialists tell us, has increased from +_4,000,000,000l._ to _12,000,000,000l._ during the last sixty years, +notwithstanding huge capital losses caused by suffering industries? The +decay of agriculture alone has caused a capital loss which approximates +_2,000,000,000l._ + +The great co-operative movement in England was created by the +celebrated Rochdale Pioneers, the name given to the weavers of +Rochdale who started it. On a rainy night in November 1843, twelve men +met in the back room of a mean inn and commenced the co-operative +movement by organising themselves as "The Rochdale Society of +Equitable Pioneers." They agreed to pay twenty pence a week into a +common fund, but only a few of these twelve men were able to pay their +pence that evening. They began by buying a little tea and sugar at +wholesale prices, which they sold to their members at little more than +cost. In a year their number had grown to twenty-eight, and they had +collected _28l._, with which they rented a little store and stocked it +with _15l._ worth of flour. During the first year they made no profit. +In its second year the society had seventy-four members, _181l._ in +funds, _710l._ of business, and made _22l._ profit, 2-1/2 per cent. of +which was used as a fund for education.[857] + +Gradually but constantly growing, this movement has branched out in +every direction, and the result is that there are now in Great Britain +1,685 co-operative societies with 2,263,562 members. These +co-operative societies are manufacturers, ship owners, bankers, +brokers, factors, merchants, millers, printers, bookbinders, and +shopkeepers of every kind on the largest scale. The rapidly growing +assets of the various undertakings represent a value of about +_50,000,000l._, the combined nominal capital comes to _42,813,348l._, +and the yearly net profits amount to about _11,000,000l._, or to more +than 35 per cent. per annum on the subscribed capital. In 1905 the net +profits amounted to 37.4 per cent., in 1906 to 36.4 per cent. on the +share capital. + +Capitalised at 4 per cent, the co-operative societies represent an +investment value of about _300,000,000l._, or about _100l._ per +co-operator. The societies maintain an army of 107,727 employees. +Their progress during the last decade may be seen at a glance from +the following figures: + +_Total Trade of British Co-operative Societies._ + + 1896 Ł58,729,643 + 1901 88,394,304 + 1906 110,085,826[858] + +Already the income of the co-operative societies is twice as large as +the interest paid on the whole of the deposits in the British +savings-banks. There is no reason why the co-operative movement should +not further grow and increase, and it is to be hoped that it will +further extend in every direction to the benefit of the industrious +and thrifty workers. There ought to be no propertyless workers in +Great Britain. + +The British co-operative societies have proved to the dismay of the +Socialists that working men may improve their position unaided and may +become capitalists. They have proved that thrift and ability create +prosperity, and they have therefore incurred the hatred of the +Socialist agitators. The philosopher of British Socialism complains: +"Co-operation so far from being Socialism is the very antithesis of +Socialism. Trade co-operation is simply a form of industrial +partnership, in which the society of co-operators is in the relation +of capitalist to the outer world. The units of the society may be +equal amongst themselves, but their very existence in this form +presupposes exploitation going on above, below, and around them."[859] +The editor of "Justice" seems to regret that co-operation encourages +and rewards ability and thrift, for he says: "Co-operation is most +valuable to those among the workers who are best off. The artisan +earning a regular weekly wage has not only a better opportunity of +becoming a member of the co-operative society than the more +precariously employed and more poorly paid labourer, but the advantage +to him is greater by reason of his having more money to spend at the +store. In many cases the poorer members have to sell out, and then the +affair becomes simply a joint-stock company of the more fortunate, the +race being once more to the swift, the battle to the strong."[860] +"The ordinary workman can if he likes become a shareholder in the +"co-op." So he may become a shareholder in a railway if he likes; but +this does not make the capitalist domination of our railways less a +fact. In a co-operative store, as elsewhere, the man with _2l._ a week +is worth just twice as much as the man with _1l._ Co-operation as a +factor in social progress has effected nothing, and is absolutely +valueless except to a certain extent as an educational influence."[861] + +Some Socialist writers show their hatred of the co-operative societies +and the co-operators by bitter and almost vicious attacks upon them. +One of them complains: "Instances of successful co-operation _in +production_ have, as yet, been very few, and their moral results +disappointing. Their general tendency has been, not to raise the +workers as a class, but to raise a certain number of prudent--I had +almost said selfish--workmen _out_ of their class, and so to +constitute a _Labour Caste_. Such co-operators employ and exploit +other workmen even more mercilessly than the capitalist employers, and +in struggles between Labour and Capital their sympathies have nearly +always been on the side of the capitalists."[862] Another says: "The +Rochdale Pioneers hire and fleece labourers in the usual manner. +Experience teaches, indeed, that such associations are the hardest +taskmasters. Their interest becomes identified with Capital; and if +ever circumstances should make it easier for the smarter labourers to +start companies of the kind successfully, the creation of a _Labour +Caste_ would be the result. In a general dispute between Labour and +Capital these associations, instead of being a vanguard of Labour, +will go over to the side of Capital. The sons of Rochdale Pioneers, +living in luxury, and imitating the airs and fashions of the wealthy +of all times, point the moral. Where, then, is the gain to the +labouring class? No, instead of advising workmen to save and to invest +their savings in such risky enterprises, it would be much better to +advise them to put their savings into their own flesh and bone."[863] + +The foregoing extracts, and many similar ones which might be given, +display a regrettable hatred of ability, providence, and +thrift--qualities which, it is true, are not easily reconcilable with +the tenets of Socialism. + +The British nation spends on intoxicating drink about _160,000,000l._ +per annum. Out of this enormous sum--a sum much larger than the +national Budget--between _100,000,000l._ and _120,000,000l._ is spent +by the working class alone. Drink is a fearful evil in Great Britain. +The average working man spends every year two months' earnings in +drink, and as there are many moderate drinkers and abstainers, there +must be many who spend three months' earnings and more--that is, +one-quarter of their wages, sometimes one-half, and sometimes more +than one-half, on intoxicants. According to some of the foremost +authorities on social science, and according to some of the most +prominent medical men, drink is chiefly responsible for poverty, +underfeeding, ill-health, and racial degeneration. Nevertheless, the +British Socialists, instead of condemning drunkenness, rather +encourage, or at least excuse, this terrible vice; and again, the +universally discredited Iron Law of Wages is solemnly brought forth to +prove "scientifically" that sobriety and abstinence on the part of +the workers would not benefit the workers but the capitalists. "We are +not prepared to admit that, if all workers were to become teetotalers, +as I am, the _140,000,000l._ now spent on intoxicants would benefit +the workers to any appreciable extent. On the contrary, all economists +tell us that wages always tend towards the minimum subsistence +point--the level at which the wage-slave is willing to subsist and to +reproduce his kind."[864] + +The Iron Law of Wages has been abandoned by all scientists because of +its manifest absurdity. However, supposing the Iron Law of Wages were +true, it would not by any means follow that general abstinence would +lead to a lower rate of wages. Non-abstemious wage-earners live +frequently in the most wretched homes, and are dressed in rags because +they spend all they can spend in drink. If they should become sober, +they would find better houses, better clothing, better furniture as +indispensable as drink is now to them. In reality abstinence, instead +of lowering wages, would probably increase them very considerably in +accordance with the increased productive power of the worker. It is a +general experience that the steady and abstemious worker commands a +higher wage than his more or less drunken, unreliable, and untidy +colleague. + +Socialists are fond of excusing drunkenness by arguing that the worker +gets drunk "because he is physically and mentally exhausted, used up +with the day's work";[865] "because the wretched social condition of +the mass of workers of this country--the long hours, the uncertainty +of work, the insufficient food and clothing, and degrading home-life, +which are their daily portion--makes drunkards."[866] Another +well-known writer states: "If thousands of the workers drink to drown +the cares and sorrows of their dreary, degraded, wretched existence, +they do so at the expense of going without some of the merest +necessaries."[867] This is, unfortunately, only too true. But it is +not true that "Our damnable, infernal, profit-mongering system +manufactures and produces drunkards because huge profits can be made +out of the business for the brewer and the publican."[868] + +The above statements, which excuse drunkenness as something natural +and unavoidable in Great Britain, are untrue. All civilised countries +are based upon the private possession of capital, and in all large +profits can be made by brewers and publicans. Now, if it were true, as +has been stated in the foregoing, that hard work and long hours cause +drunkenness, drunkenness should be greater in the United States, +Germany, and France than in Great Britain, for in these countries and +most others workers work much harder and work much longer hours than +in Great Britain. The British nation should therefore be the most +sober nation, but it is in reality the most drunken nation, a fact +which is known to all who have studied this question. + +The majority of British Socialist leaders apparently desire to keep +the workers drunken, for every suggestion that the worker might +improve his position by greater moderation in drinking is passionately +denounced by them. In a speech Andrew Carnegie mentioned that "he had +employed forty-five thousand men at one time, and his experience was +that the man who drank was good for drinking and for nothing else. He +had nothing to do with the man who drank. He did not believe in the +Submerged Tenth, but what he wanted to do, remembering he was a +working man himself, was to take an honest, sober, well-doing, +hard-working man by the hand and help him if he could. He only wanted +to help those who could help themselves." Commenting on this speech, +one of the Socialist weeklies said: "According to the foregoing, no +drunkard, no matter how chronic, could display a greater specimen of +human demoralisation than does that reported speech of Dr. Andrew +Carnegie depict himself; soulless beyond imagination almost, in spite +of his self-advertised respect and sympathy for the honest, sober +working man." In the same article we read: "Total abstainers are +capable of viler actions than those of certain drunkards, while the +profoundest depth of ignorance and incapacity to think are attributes +of millions of total abstainers."[869] When Mr. John Burns advised the +workmen to help themselves by abstaining from drink and gambling, the +whole Socialist press raged, and he was called a traitor to the cause +and an agent of capitalism. + +Only rarely does a Socialist rebuke drunkenness. In "Socialism for +Christians" we find a passage: "As long as you have a democracy sodden +in drink you will have a democracy under the hoofs of capitalists. +There is no hope for the democracy as long as it is content to grovel +before the great pewter pot which it has made into a god."[870] +However, that passage was not penned by a professional Socialist, but +by a clergyman, an outsider, and an amateur in Socialism. + +While British Socialist leaders try to degrade the masses and to +increase their misery by encouraging them to waste a very large part +of their wages in drink, instead of spending the money on necessary +food and clothing, on sufficient living room and furniture, foreign +Socialists try to elevate their followers and to combat the drinking +evil among them. The foremost Belgian Socialist, who constantly +agitates against drunkenness, wrote: + +"How often have we not found in Socialist pamphlets, or in our +newspapers, statements such as the following: 'Misery produces +alcoholism,' or 'Drink is a consequence of capitalism, and will only +disappear with the capitalistic system itself.' These are comfortable +theories indeed, but they unfortunately come in conflict with the +facts. The labourer must not only regard alcohol as one of the causes +of poverty, demoralisation, and degeneration, but as a canker which +destroys his strength and powers of resistance. We therefore address +to all our comrades this warning: The more earnest you are and the +stricter towards yourself, the greater will be the authority you bring +to bear upon the branding of this evil. Everything which decreases the +consumption of alcohol increases the helping powers of labour +movements, raises the moral tone of the working class, and gives it +fresh strength in its struggle for emancipation. Therefore all +Socialistic societies should break away from out-of-date ideas with +regard to alcoholism, and leave off expecting results from a social +revolution which they themselves can attain to-day. It is our bounden +duty to declare war against alcohol. War to the knife, for it is all +the more dangerous as it dwells in our midst in the guise of +friendship. When addicted to drink, the working class cannot do what +must be done. Alcohol, by its paralysing qualities, naturally leads to +fatigue, negligence, weakness, and impotence. Only those who can rule +themselves are able and worthy to rule the world."[871] + +The German Socialist leaders also endeavour to elevate their followers +by fighting drunkenness. At the Congress at Essen in 1907, a +resolution was unanimously passed by the German Social-Democratic +party in which various recommendations were made to the Government +regarding the diminution of drunkenness, and which concluded with the +words: "The working-class organisations are invited to suppress in +their meeting all compulsion to consume alcoholic liquors, to put a +stop to its sale in schools, in registry offices, and in places where +collections are made for strikers, and to inform children and young +men by word of mouth and by the Press of the danger of alcohol, and to +watch over drinking habits which lead to the abuse of alcohol."[872] A +German Socialist periodical recently wrote: "Workers who drink neglect +their duties towards their family, drink away their wages, bring +disorder into their unions, lose the sympathy of the quiet and +industrious citizens, become the slaves of the public-house, and +damage Socialism. Therefore Socialists should abstain absolutely from +drinking intoxicating drinks. Ordinary capitalism exploits the +proletariat, but does not poison them too in their own persons and in +their posterity. But alcohol does both; it lames the power of a whole +nation and leads to the degeneration of the race, as does opium in +China. The drinker loses his self-respect, his higher aims as a human +being. It must be made a fundamental principle of the German +Social-Democratic party that the proletariat can vanquish capital only +after it has first vanquished drink. The sooner that victory is won, +the sooner the fate of society will be decided."[873] + +Continental Socialist leaders recommend to their followers thrift, +sobriety, and co-operation. British Socialist leaders, who have taken +the whole of their doctrines from the Continent, condemn "on +scientific and moral grounds," thrift, sobriety, and co-operation. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[840] Bax, _Religion of Socialism_, p. 95. + +[841] Bax and Quelch, _A New Catechism_, p. 40. + +[842] Bax, _Religion of Socialism_, p. 94. + +[843] Quelch, _Trade Unionism_, p. 16. + +[844] _Social-Democrat_, April 1907, p. 212. + +[845] Penny, _Political Labour Movement_, p. 11. + +[846] Roscher, _Politik_, p. 575. + +[847] Bax and Quelch, _A New Catechism_, p. 41. + +[848] Quelch, _Economics of Socialism_, p. 16. + +[849] Blatchford, _Britain for the British_, p. 127. + +[850] Quelch, _Economics of Socialism_, p. 16. + +[851] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 107. + +[852] Blatchford, _Britain for the British_, p. 129. + +[853] See p. 53 ff, _ante._ + +[854] Keir Hardie, _Can a Man be a Christian on a Pound a Week?_ p. +13. + +[855] Leatham, _The Class War_, p. 8. + +[856] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 105. + +[857] Bliss, _Encyclopedia of Social Reform_, pp. 358 and 1195. + +[858] _Labour Gazette_, December 1907. + +[859] Bax, _Religion of Socialism_, p. 94. + +[860] Quelch, _Trade Unionism_, p. 10. + +[861] _Ibid._ p. 13 + +[862] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 109. + +[863] Gronlund, _Co-operative Commonwealth_, p. 51. + +[864] Muse, _Poverty and Drunkenness_, p. 3. + +[865] Leatham, _Was Jesus a Socialist?_ p. 11. + +[866] Muse, _Poverty and Drunkenness_, p. 12. + +[867] Glyde, _Britain's Disgrace_, p. 20. + +[868] _Ibid._ p. 20. + +[869] _Forward_, November 16, 1907. + +[870] Kirtlan, _Socialism for Christians_, p. 15. + +[871] Vandervelde, _Drink and Socialism_, pp. 3, 8. + +[872] _Social-Democrat_, October 1907, p. 620. + +[873] _Die Neue Gesellschaft_, November 1907, pp. 332, 337. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +SOCIALIST VIEWS ON LAW AND JUSTICE + + +Most Socialists have a very strong objection to the existing laws. +"Law is only a masked form of brute force."[874] "The laws to-day are +defences of the foolish rich against the ignorant and hungry poor. The +laws to-day, like the laws of the past, make more criminals than they +punish. The laws keep the people ignorant and poor, and the rich idle +and vicious."[875] "The laws were made by ignorant and dishonest men; +they are administered by men ignorant and selfish; they are dishonest +laws, good for neither rich nor poor; evil in their conception, evil +in their enforcement, evil in their results."[876] + +Most Englishmen are proud of the English judges because of their +learning, high character, and integrity. To many Socialists the judges +are the most contemptible and mercenary of men. The philosopher of +British Socialism informs us: "It is an undoubted truth that no judge +can be strictly an honest man. The judge must necessarily be a man of +inferior moral calibre. A judge, by the fact of his being a judge, +proclaims himself a creature on a lower moral level than us ordinary +mortals, and this without any assumption of moral superiority above +the average on our part. He deliberately pledges himself, that is, to +be false to himself. He may any day have to pass sentence on one whom +he believes to be innocent. He lays himself under the obligation of +administering a law which he may know to be bad on any occasion when +called upon, merely because it is a law. He makes this surrender of +humanity and honour for what? For filthy lucre and tawdry notoriety. +Now, I ask, can we conceive a more abjectly contemptible character +than that which acts thus?"[877] + +The cause of the hatred with which the British Socialists contemplate +the law and the judges is obvious: + + They're blocking up the highway; yes, they think to keep us back + By piling barriers of law and falsehood on the track; + We'll break the barriers down, and burn them into cinders black, + As we go marching to liberty.[878] + + Come every honest lad and lass! + Too long we've been kept under + By rusty chains of fraud and fear-- + We'll snap them all asunder! + + That robbers' paction styled the Law + To frighten honest folk, sirs, + We'll set ablaze and fumigate + The country with the smoke, sirs.[879] + +When Jack Cade, whom the Socialists praise as a social reformer, +marched at the head of the insurrectionists into London, one of his +first acts was to burn the stored-up documents of the law, an act +which Shakespeare immortalised in his "Henry VI." in the following +words: + +"Cade: Is not this a lamentable thing, that of the skin of an innocent +lamb should be made parchment? that parchment, being scribbled o'er, +should undo a man?... Away, burn all the records of the realm: my +mouth shall be the parliament of England. + +"John (_aside_): Then we are like to have biting statutes, unless his +teeth be pulled out. + +"Cade: And henceforward all things shall be in common."[880] + +Socialism will abolish the law: "The great act of confiscation will be +the seal of the new era; then, and not till then, will the knell of +Civilisation, with its rights of property and its class-society, be +sounded; then, and not till then, will justice--the justice not of +Civilisation but of Socialism--become the corner-stone of the social +arch."[881] Therefore one of the first acts of Socialist government +will be "the abrogation of 'civil law,' especially that largest +department of it which is concerned with the enforcement of contract +and me recovery of debt."[882] + +Socialists never tire of denouncing the barbarity of the existing law. +According to their religious views given in Chapter XXVI. (see p. +360), man is an irresponsible being. He does not know the difference +between right and wrong, between good and evil. Therefore it is +according to their opinion unjust and cruel to punish criminals. "The +Christian regards the hooligan, the thief, the wanton, and the +drunkard as men and women who have done wrong. But the humanist +regards them as men and women who have been wronged."[883] "Human law, +like divine law, is based upon the false idea that men know what is +right and what is wrong, and have power to choose the right."[884] +"Man becomes that which he is by the action of forces outside +himself."[885] "All human actions are ruled by heredity and +environment. Man is not responsible for his heredity and environment. +Therefore all blame and all punishment are unjust. Blame and +punishment, besides being unjust, are ineffectual."[886] + +"To the Socialist, for every crime committed the State, or the society +in which it is committed, is as much or more responsible than the +individual."[887] "A society that employs the gallows and the 'cat' +pretty much deserves all it gets at the hands of criminals. If the +criminal, when he gets the chance of doing so with impunity, commits +the crime for which the gallows or the lash is reserved, society has +only itself to thank."[888] + +From the foregoing considerations it logically follows that "a +Socialist administration would treat delinquents with the utmost +leniency consistent with the existence of society."[889] "A man of +average sense ought to be able to protect himself against fraud. Theft +only requires the restitution of the stolen property plus an addition, +such as the Roman law provided. The ideal condition of a community is +that the remorse following the commission of a crime should be an +adequate preventive of its commission"[890]--By its attitude towards +crime, Socialism should secure for itself the enthusiastic support of +the criminal classes. By abrogating the enforcement of contract and +the recovery of debt, it should secure for itself the equally +enthusiastic support of all fraudulent debtors. Conspirators and +revolutionaries since the time of Catiline have opened the gaols and +have relied on criminal desperadoes for the realisation of their +ambitions. It is worth noting that most Anarchists also recommend the +abolition of law and the law courts.[891] + +Until the ideal Socialist commonwealth has been firmly established, +and "until the economic change has worked itself out in ethical +change, it is clear that a criminal law must exist. The only question +is whether its basis shall be a mass of anomalous statutes and +precedents or a logical system."[892] Bax decides that the logical +system and the Code Napoléon is to be introduced after the Socialist +revolution.[893] The fact that the people do not know the French laws +apparently does not matter. + +Many Socialists complain that British laws, and American laws too, are +not collected and codified. Hence the citizen does not, and cannot, +know the law. "What is called 'the law' is something that no lawyer +can learn in a lifetime, both on account of the bulk of the Reports, +and because he never can be absolutely certain what is good and what +is bad law. The profession chooses rather than ascertains the +law."[894] Owing to lack of a code of laws, the law is uncertain and +exceedingly costly. Hence the poor man can obtain justice only with +difficulty, if at all. Besides, "The fear of litigation is a weapon +society places in the hands of the rich man to coerce the poor man, +irrespective of the merits of the case, by dangling ruin before +him."[895] There is much justification for these complaints. + +We have seen in former Chapters that Socialism teaches that property +is theft and that rich men are criminals. In the present Chapter we +have learned that criminals are men wronged by society. The Socialist +conception of law and justice should recommend itself to all +criminals, and all criminals should be Socialists. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[874] Bax, _Outlooks from the New Standpoint_, p. 107. + +[875] Blatchford, _Not Guilty_, p. 258. + +[876] _Ibid._ p. 259. + +[877] Bax, _Religion of Socialism_, p. 108. + +[878] _Independent Labour Party Song Book_, p. 17. + +[879] _Social-Democratic Federation Song Book_, p. 19. + +[880] _King Henry VI._, Part II. Act IV. Scenes 2 and 7. + +[881] Bax, _The Ethics of Socialism_, pp. 82, 83. + +[882] _Ibid._ pp. 85, 86. + +[883] Blatchford, _God and My Neighbour_, p. 100. + +[884] Blatchford, _Not Guilty_, p. 19. + +[885] _Ibid._ p. 23. + +[886] Blatchford, _Not Guilty_, p. 251. + +[887] Bax, _Outlooks from the New Standpoint_, p. 146. + +[888] _Ibid._ p. 105. + +[889] Bax, _Ethics of Socialism_, p. 59. + +[890] Bax, _Outlooks from the New Standpoint_, p. 104. + +[891] See Stirner, _Der Einzige und sein Eigentum_; Bakounine, _Dieu +et l'État_; Kropotkine, _Paroles d'un Révolté_, &c. + +[892] Bax, _The Ethics of Socialism_, p. 88. + +[893] _Ibid._ p. 89. + +[894] Gronlund, _Co-operative Commonwealth_, p. 138. + +[895] Bax, _Religion of Socialism_, p. 147. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +SOCIALISM AND WOMAN, THE FAMILY AND THE HOME + + +Men in all classes of society save and endeavour to become owners of +some property, not so much for their own sake as for the sake of their +wives and of their children, whom they wish to leave "provided for." +Married men are notoriously more provident and thrifty than unmarried +ones. Property is the defence of the family. The fundamental aim of +Socialism is the abolition of that private property which is the prop +of the family. Consequently every prudent head of a family is likely +to resist Socialism, and thus there exists a natural and innate +hostility between Socialism and the family. + +Besides, the idea of the family is not easily reconcilable with the +idea of the Socialistic State. The maintenance of the family requires +private capital, and the present capitalistic and individualistic +system of society, the modern State and modern civilisation, are based +upon the family and have sprung from it. The citizen of the modern +civilised State places the interest of his family above the interest +of the community. Socialism wishes to reverse the situation and to +subordinate the interest of the family to the interest of the +community. + +Socialism strives after equality among the citizens. Therefore many +British Socialists are avowed communists, as will be shown in Chapter +XXIX. Now it is clear that a perfect equality among the citizens +cannot be created by abolishing merely the institution of private +property. The man who envied his neighbour for the exclusive +possession of his property may, after the abolition of private +property, envy him for the exclusive possession of a particularly +attractive wife. Therefore most of the great thinkers since Plato who +have mapped out systems for the equalisation of fortunes, have +logically insisted on the community of wives. + +Lastly, the subordination of the private family under the State, the +control of work and food for all by the State, must logically lead +also to State control of the increase of the population. Two thousand +two hundred years ago, when in Athens the idea of the equalisation of +fortunes had come to the front, Aristotle wrote: "Whoever would +regulate the extent of private fortunes must also regulate the +increase of families. If children multiply beyond the means of +supporting them, the intention of the law will be frustrated and +families will be suddenly reduced from opulence to beggary, a +revolution always dangerous to public tranquillity."[896] At the same +time Aristophanes showed in his comedy "Ecclesiazusae" that the +community of goods would necessarily lead to the community of wives. + +The assertion of the opponents of Socialism that Socialism means the +dissolution of the marriage tie and the abolition of the family has +been met with an indignant denial by many Socialists: "Socialism does +not 'threaten the sanctity of the home.' Socialism has no more to do +with the marriage laws than Toryism has."[897] "No party--neither +Socialist nor non-Socialist--has openly identified itself with the +views of its prominent members on this question. The idea that +marriage, as an institution, ought to be abolished has never received +the sanction of any political organisation in Great Britain."[898] "No +Socialist entertains the remotest idea of 'abolishing' the family, +whether by law or otherwise. Only the grossest misrepresentation can +fasten upon them such a purpose; moreover, it takes a fool to imagine +that any form of family can either be created or abolished by +decree."[899] + +The above is confirmed by an official declaration of recent date. At a +meeting of the National Council of the Independent Labour Party, which +took place in London on October 4 and 5, 1907, the following +resolution was adopted: + +"The National Council of the Independent Labour Party repudiates the +attack upon Socialism on the ground that Socialism is opposed to +religion, and declares that the Socialist movement embraces men and +women of all religions and forms of belief, and offers the most +complete freedom in this respect within its ranks. It further +repudiates the charge that Socialism is antagonistic to the family +organisation, and reminds the public that the disintegration of the +family, which has been in progress for some generations, has been +owing to the creation of slums, the employment of children in +factories, the dragging of mothers into workshops and factories, owing +to the economic pressure created by low wages, sweating, and other +operations of capitalism which the anti-Socialist campaign is designed +to support, and which it is the purpose of Socialism to supplant." + +Now let us compare with these emphatic denials addressed to the +general public the deliberate statements of the intellectual leaders +of British and foreign Socialism regarding marriage and the family, +addressed to their followers. + +The celebrated "Manifesto" issued by the founder of modern +international Socialism declares: "On what foundation is the present +family, the bourgeois family, based? On capital, on private gain. The +bourgeois family will vanish as a matter of course when its +complement vanishes. Bourgeois marriage is in reality a system of +wives in common, and thus, at the most, what the Communists might +possibly be reproached with is that they desire to introduce, in +substitution for a hypocritically concealed, an openly legalised, +community of women."[900] The founders of British Socialism state: +"Even now it is necessary that a certain code of morality should be +supposed to exist, and to have some relation to that religion which, +being the creation of another age, has now become a sham. With this +sham, moreover, its accompanying morality is also stupid, and this is +clung to with a determination, or even ferocity, natural enough, since +its aim is the perpetuation of individual property in wealth, in +workman, in wife, in child."[901] + +"Like every other institution of existing society, marriage, as we +know it, is a consequence of private property. The primitive +swag-monger could think of no better method of keeping his swag +together after his death than by making the child of a particular +slave-wife his heir. The chief pre-eminence of the Sultana of the +harem lay in the fact that she acted, so to speak, as the conveyancer +of the estate."[902] The spokesmen of the Social-Democratic Federation +say: "What is the position of Socialism towards the question of +marriage as at present constituted? The existing monogamic relation is +simply the outcome of the institution of private or individual +property. It has developed, in proportion to the accentuation of the +institution of private, as against communal, property. When private +property ceases to be the fulcrum around which the relations between +the sexes turn, any attempt at coercion, moral or material, in these +relations must necessarily become repugnant to the moral sense of the +community."[903] + +The foregoing statements lead to the inevitable conclusion that "The +transformation of the current family form into a freer, more real, and +therefore a higher form, must inevitably follow the economic +revolution which will place the means of production and distribution +under the control of all for the good of all."[904] + +Another authority informs us "Socialism, Communism, or whatever one +chooses to call it, by converting private property into public wealth +and substituting co-operation for competition, will restore society to +its proper condition of a thoroughly healthy organism, and ensure the +material well-being of each member of the community. It will, in fact, +give life its proper basis and its proper environment. Socialism +annihilates family life, for instance. With the abolition of private +property, marriage in its present form must disappear. This is part of +the programme."[905] A distinguished Fabian proclaims: "The Socialist +no more regards the institution of marriage as a permanent thing than +he regards a state of competitive industrialism as a permanent +thing."[906] The leading book of the Fabian Society states: "The +economic independence of women and the supplanting of the head of the +household by the individual as the recognised unit of the State will +materially alter the status of children and the utility of the +institution of the family."[907] The leading periodical of the Fabians +says: "Of all the stupid theories regarding the family, the most +stupid is the belief that it is natural. On the contrary, the +trinitarian family organisation is plainly a work of art, a +deliberate device of man's. Nothing is more plain than the fact that +the hierarchy of the family has been employed, and is still employed, +as a model for the hierarchy of the State and of human society +generally; in other words, as a prop of aristocracy."[908] A leading +member of the Independent Labour Party tells us: "I do not believe it +is desirable to cultivate the family idea as at present understood, +which in the main is designed to teach the children to think more of +their own family than any other; I want to see the broader family life +of society taught in the spirit of the West Country motto, 'One for +all and all for each.'"[909] + +Marriage is, according to many Socialists, not only incompatible with +Socialistic progress, but is also immoral. The philosopher of British +Socialism, going a step further than did Marx in his Manifesto, +endeavours to prove that marriage and prostitution are equally immoral. +"Both legalised monogamic marriage and prostitution are based +essentially on commercial considerations. The one is purchase, the +other hire. The higher and only really moral form of the marriage +relation which transcends both is based neither on sale nor hire. +Prostitution is immoral as implying the taking advantage by the woman +of a monopoly which costs her no labour for the sake of extorting money +from the man. But the condition of legal marriage--maintenance--does +the same."[910] This opinion is shared by the leading American +Socialist writer, who says: "The one has sold her person for money +under cover of marriage, the other has done the same thing outside +marriage."[911] Other Socialists express similar opinions: "The present +marriage system cannot be claimed by anyone as a success. Complete +economic independence of women will, however, solve the question. Under +Communism will and affection will be supreme. Marriage will be +infinitely holier and more permanent than it is to-day."[912] "Mere +legal matrimony and familism could not survive the communalisation of +property, and it may be well so. Marriage as we know it is merely one +of the many unwholesome fungi that grow out of the reeking, rotting +corpus of private property, and it would not be difficult to conceive +of a sexual order infinitely more angelic."[913] + +There is no reason why an "infinitely more angelic sexual order" +should not replace marriage as at present conceived and constituted, +for "Marriage is no more a Christian ethic than it is a Mohammedan +ethic, or a Japanese custom. We have already 'considered' the marriage +laws and altered them. Where, then, is the immorality in demanding a +further consideration? Our notions concerning the relations of men and +women have changed with the changing times, and at each stage we have +reached a more exalted plane of understanding. What right have we to +assume, therefore, that the future does not hold a nobler ideal than +our present one?"[914] + +The direction in which inter-sexual relations should be changed in +order to attain a nobler ideal than the present one is obvious: "What +we need is freedom from the restraints of an artificial existence; +liberty to make the most of our inherent capacity, and human longing +for a higher life will do all the rest."[915] "Socialism will strike +at the root at once of compulsory monogamy and of prostitution by +inaugurating an era of marriage based on free choice and intention, +and characterised by the absence of external coercion. For where the +wish for the maintenance of the marriage relation remains, there +external compulsion is unnecessary; where it is necessary, because the +wish has disappeared, there it is undesirable."[916] "The present +marriage system was based on the general supposition of the economic +dependence of the woman on the man, and the consequent necessity for +his making provision for her which she can legally enforce. This basis +would disappear with the advent of social economic freedom, and no +binding contract would be necessary between the parties as regards +livelihood; while property in children would cease to exist, and every +infant that came into the world would be born into full citizenship +and would enjoy all its advantages, whatever the conduct of its +parents might be. Thus a new development of the family would take +place, on the basis not of a predetermined life-long business +arrangement to be formally and nominally held to, irrespective of +circumstances, but on mutual inclination and affection, an association +terminable at the will of either party. There would be no vestige of +reprobation weighing on the dissolution of one tie and the forming of +another."[917] + +Many Socialists, led by Bax, the philosopher of Socialism in Great +Britain, and by Bebel, the head of the Social-Democratic party in +Germany, take a very broad and a very primitive view with regard to +marital relations and to the greater freedom in these relations in the +Socialistic State of the future: "The whole of our sexual morality (as +such), in so far as it has a rational, as opposed to a mystical, +basis, is nothing but a 'plant' to save the ratepayers' pockets by +fixing the responsibility for the maintenance of children on the +individuals responsible for the procreation of them. To the consistent +Socialist, the sexual relation is, _per se_, morally indifferent +(neither moral nor immoral) like any other bodily function, but it +may easily become immoral _per accidentem_, i.e., from the special +circumstances under which it takes place, and whereby it acquires the +character of an act of injustice or treachery, such as seduction of a +friend's wife or daughter."[918] A very influential Socialist writer +asks: "Is chastity a virtue, and is there such a vice as unchastity?" +and he answers his question by quoting the above statement of +Bax.[919] "If it be asked, Is marriage a failure? the answer of any +impartial person must be--monogamic marriage is a failure--the rest is +silence. We know not what new form of the family the society of the +future, in which men and women will be alike economically free, may +evolve and which may be generally adopted therein. Meanwhile, we ought +to combat by every means within our power the metaphysical dogma of +the inherent sanctity of the monogamic principle. Economic development +on the one side and the free initiative of individuals on the other +will do the rest."[920] + +Bebel thinks, "The satisfying of amatory desires is a law which every +individual must fulfil as a sacred duty towards himself, if his +development is to be healthy and normal, and he must refuse +gratification to no natural impulse. The so-called animal passions +occupy no lower rank than the so-called mental passions. A healthy +manner of life, healthy employment, and a healthy education in the +broadest sense of the word, combined with the natural gratification of +natural and healthy instincts, must be brought within the reach of +all."[921] Freedom of love is to be equal to men and women: "In the +choice of love woman is free just as man is free. She woos and is wooed +and has no other inducement to bind herself than her own free will. +The contract between the two lovers is of a private nature as in +primitive times. The gratification of the sexual impulse is as strictly +the personal affair of the individual as the gratification of every +other natural instinct. No one has to give an account of him or herself +and no third person has the slightest right of intervention."[922] + +A prominent British Socialist shares Bebel's views: "For the +non-childbearing woman the sex-relationship, both as to form and +substance, ought to be a pure question of taste, a simple matter of +agreement between the man and her, in which neither the society nor +the State would have any need to interfere, a free sexual union, a +relation solely of mutual sympathy and affection, its form and +direction varying according to the feelings and wants of the +individuals."[923] The founders of British Socialism agree with the +foregoing opinion. "Under a Socialistic system contracts between +individuals would be free and unenforced by the community. This would +apply to the marriage contract as well as others, and it would become +a matter of simple inclination. Nor would a truly enlightened public +opinion, freed from mere theological views as to chastity, insist on +its permanently binding Nature in the face of any discomfort or +suffering that might come of it."[924] + +"Socialists expect that, under Socialism, the terrible evil of +prostitution will disappear. If it does not, it will be either because +women are still denied political power, or because their votes have +decided that the prostitute must remain. But if, as at present, the +'unfortunate woman' be regarded as a necessity in those days of +advanced thought and increased opportunities, then her status must be +raised. She must not be an acknowledged necessity and a scorned +outcast at the same time, as is the case now. Her position in the +State will be clearly defined. She will be held to be performing a +necessary social service. Whether this idea meets with favour or not, +it is the only fair, the only possible, solution, if the prostitute is +to remain."[925] + +"In a Socialistic State, no woman will be economically dependent upon +any one man, father, brother, or husband. Her living will be assured +to her by the community. Marriage will not make her the more +dependent. If she should have children, she will be salaried, or +otherwise supported, according to the number and the healthiness of +her offspring. If no children are born to her, she will be at liberty +to occupy herself with some other profitable work--not necessarily +household labour, certainly not household labour all the time--for +that will be reduced to a minimum. But she will engage in such useful +work as her special tastes will direct. A free woman, she will thus be +able to give her love freely."[926] "The 'subjection of woman' being +at an end in consequence of her economic emancipation, actions for +breach of promise or seduction, as well as prostitution itself, will +be rendered meaningless. When a woman sues for breach of promise she +is really suing for loss of a lucrative situation. When she plies for +hire on the public street, she does so because the scourge of +starvation is laid on her shoulders. Remove that scourge, and instead +of the hideous commerce between lust and lucre we shall, in all cases, +have the fair exchange of genuine human love for love."[927] "Free as +the wind, the Socialist wife will be bound only by her natural love +for husband and children."[928] + +Men and women being sexually free in the Socialist State of the +future, the law will take cognisance neither of breach of promise, +seduction, prostitution, and desertion of the family, nor of even +graver offences against the present code of morality. The philosopher +of British Socialism informs us: "Society is directly concerned--(1) +with the production of offspring, (2) with the care that things +sexually offensive to the majority shall not be obtruded on public +notice, or obscenity on 'young persons.' Beyond this, all sexual +actions (of course excluding criminal violence or fraud) are matters +of purely individual concern." + +"Offences connected with sexual matters, from rape downwards, may be +viewed from two or three different sides, and are complicated in ways +which render the subject difficult of discussion in a work intended +for promiscuous circulation. Here, as in the last case--viz. of theft +or robbery--we must be careful in considering such offences to +eliminate the element of brutality or personal injury, which may +sometimes accompany the crime referred to, from the offence itself. +For the rest I confine myself to remarking that this class also, +though not so obviously as the last, springs from an instinct +legitimate in itself but which has been suppressed or distorted. The +opinions of most, even enlightened, people on such matters are, +however, so largely coloured by the unconscious survival in their +minds of sentiment derived from old theological and theosophical views +of the universe, that they are not of much value. This is partly the +reason why the ordinary good-natured bourgeois, who can complacently +pass on by the other side after casting a careless look on the most +fiendish and organised cruelty in satisfaction of the economic +craving--gain--is galvanised into a frenzy of indignation at some +sporadic case of real or supposed ill-usage perpetrated in +satisfaction of some bizarre form of the animal craving--lust. Until +people can be got to discuss this subject in the white light of +physiological and pathological investigation rather than the dim +religious gloom of semi-mystical emotion, but little progress will be +effected towards a due appreciation of the character of the offences +referred to. It is a curious circumstance, as illustrating the change +of men's view of offences, that an ordinary indecent assault, which in +the Middle Ages--in Chaucer's time, for instance--would evidently have +been regarded as a species of rude joke, should now be deemed one of +the most serious of crimes."[929] + +"When a sexual act, from whatever cause, is not, and cannot be, +productive of offspring, the feeling of the majority has no _locus +standi_ in the matter. Not only is it properly outside the sphere of +coercion, but it does not concern morality at all. It is a question +simply of individual taste. The latter may be good or bad, but this is +an ćsthetic, and not directly a moral or social question."[930] "No +social and secular argument readily presents itself against the act +for which the brilliant and wretched Wilde is to-day the associate of +felons. In view of the exclamations of bated horror over this offence, +and the tacit assumption that it stands second only to murder in its +enormity, it may be worth while to point out that, tested by a +non-theological ethic, it is not quite certain that such practices are +immoral at all."[931] "It has been well said that there are few laws +so futile as those that profess to seek out and punish acts--normal or +abnormal--done in secret and by mutual consent between adult persons. +There are also few laws more unjust when the acts thus branded by law +are the natural outcome of inborn disposition and not directly +injurious to the community at large. The Moltke-Harden case brings +these considerations clearly before us afresh, and compels us to ask +ourselves whether it would not be possible to amend our laws in the +direction not only of social purity and sincerity but of reason and +humanity."[932] + +The "social purity" of Socialism would be the purity of Sodom and +Gomorrah. It would be unrestricted bestiality. + +The majority of Socialists who have seriously considered the marriage +problem in the Socialist State of the future--Marx, Lassalle, +Rodbertus, and others, consider only the economic problems--have +pronounced themselves in favour of free love in some form or the +other. In this the conclusions of the Socialists agree with those of +the Anarchists.[933] Indeed, "collective" marriage and other +abominations have been freely practised during a long time in the +Socialist colonies of North America, such as Oneida and +Wallingsford.[934] Some Socialist thinkers, such as Saint-Simon and +Enfantin, following the footstep of Plato, condemn marriage for life +and recommend the organisation of procreation by the State. Others, +such as Fourier, favour polygamy and polyandry. Others, such as +Bellamy[935] and Kautsky,[936] believe that the people will remain +attached to marriage as at present constituted. Others again find +consolation in the fact that "despite the marital customs of the East, +there is in the average human animal a strong monogamous +instinct."[937] Anton Menger compares free love with free competition, +and therefore objects to it[938] for the same reason for which +Aristophanes objected to it in his "Ecclesiazusae" 2200 years ago. He +thinks that free love would benefit the young, strong and +good-looking, and believes that the doctrine of free love owes its +rise to hatred of Christianity among Socialists,[939] monogamous +marriage being a Christian institution. + +Socialists propose to break all the bonds which at present connect +woman with her husband and her children, and to put her into an +artificial and unnatural position calculated to unsex her. "For the +first time since the world began, woman will in every respect be the +equal of man. She will be the guardian of her own honour, and marriage +will assume an entirely novel character. All unions will be unions of +affection and esteem, and children, as of old, will primarily be the +children of the mother. Her right to select the father of her own +children is absolute. In such a society all children will be equally +'legitimate,' and the Seventh Commandment will become practically +obsolete, because the economic circumstances in which it was +formulated will have passed away. She will be the complete arbiter of +her own destiny. Her unsullied conscience will be the foundation of a +purer morality than is at present even conceivable."[940] The +principles expressed in the foregoing recall to one's mind the decree +of the French Convention, dated June 28, 1793, which runs as follows: +"La nation se charge de l'éducation physique et morale des enfants +abandonnés. Désormais ils seront désignés sous le seul nom +d'orphelins. Aucune autre qualification ne sera permise"; and the +principle of the French Code, "La récherche de la paternité est +interdite," will become a principle of British law. The State will +have to become the protector of the husbandless mothers and the +fatherless children. + +"Woman stands to gain much from the growth of a Socialist State. Among +the free communistic services the right of the wife to maintenance +during the period of maternity will quickly find a place."[941] "For +every child born, the State will make provision. Either the mother +will be paid so much per child so long as it lives and thrives, as her +wages for important work done for society in bearing and rearing it" +(it should be noted that children will belong no more to their parents +but to "society," that childbearing will be "work" paid for by +"wages," and that the breeding of children will become as much a +business on the part of independent women as is now the breeding of +cats and dogs for profit), "or her absolute independence of her +husband will be secured in some other way. The State doctor (a woman +for this office) will prescribe and care for the child from the moment +of its birth, and State nurses will be in attendance to see that the +mother is in need of nothing for her own and the child's +well-being."[942] "Socialism will simply be the scientific development +of those natural tendencies which augment the happiness or improve the +comfort of the people. It is conceivable that every child shall come +under the care of the administrative assembly. The right of the child +is not interwoven with parental responsibility. They are separate +considerations. Only a madman will hold that in the event of its +parents being unmindful of their duties a helpless little one should +be allowed to suffer. The fact of its being is the child's title to +whatever provision society is able to make for it."[943] "Socialism +therefore teaches men to expect a communal watchfulness over infant +life. If parents refuse, or are unable, to meet the requirements of +the case, the State will supply the deficiency."[944] "A State that +truly represents its members will legislate generously for those who +announce frankly and without cant that they have no desire for the +care of children."[945] + +In the Socialist State of the future, people could therefore get rid +of new-born babes far more easily than they now can of puppies and +kittens. The institution round the corner would be the general +foster-mother. Hordes of fatherless and motherless children would +throng the State nurseries. The words "father" and "mother" would lose +their meaning. However, we are told that "Socialism would begin by +making sure that there should not be a single untaught, unloved, +hungry child in the kingdom."[946] Love would evidently also be +"organised" by the authorities. + +Some Socialists fear that, under a _régime_ of free love and free +State maintenance for mothers and children, life will become a riot, +that husbands will constantly change wives and wives husbands, and +that, owing to the absence of all responsibility on the part of the +parents for their offspring, over-population and consequent +pauperisation will take place. Therefore some Socialists think that "A +time will come when the patriot will consider it to be his duty, not +to kill as many enemies as possible in time of war, but to restrict +his family as far as possible in time of peace."[947] Socialist +daydreamers seem to be unaware that the best preventive against +over-population lies in the duty of parents to bring up and educate +their children, a duty which they wish to abolish. + +As Aristotle pointed out 2200 years ago, the all-regulating State +would also have to regulate the increase of population. "If the State +is to guarantee wages, it is bound in self-protection to provide that +no person shall be born without its consent. The State is to sanction +the number of births; all others are immoral, because anti-social. As +national wealth increased, a larger number of births would be allowed, +or a larger sum would be expended on such as were allowed. An +unsanctioned birth would receive no recognition from the State, and in +times of over-population it might be needful to punish, positively or +negatively, both father and mother. As such births may be due to +ignorance or inefficiency of some check system, it would be the duty +of the State to scientifically investigate the whole system of checks, +and to spread among its citizens a thorough knowledge of such as were +harmless and efficient in practice."[948] + +The State would control procreation. Intending couples would +apparently have to take out a procreation licence, which would be +granted only to those able to pass a searching examination. "Marriage +between the mentally weak will not be allowed. Imbeciles, lunatics, +and those with dangerous and ineradicable criminal tendencies will not +be permitted to reproduce their species at all."[949] + +Unfortunately the writer fails to specify how unauthorised +reproduction of the species would be prevented, and how contravention +of the procreation laws would be punished. These details are furnished +by another writer. "All those actually certified as degenerates must +be prevented from procreating. Society has not only a right but a duty +to protect itself against such by-products, and it can only do this by +State control of marriage."[950] "Marriage without a satisfactory +medical certificate should be subjected to a penalty which would be in +effect prohibitive. In certain cases asexualisation and sterilisation +should be applicable under special safeguards and conditions."[951] + +Free love has apparently its limitations and its dangers. The +procreation inspector might make an irreparable mistake. + +There are, of course, Socialists who think that the family ought to be +preserved, and who oppose State nurseries. One of them writes: "The +State, in its own interests, will do everything it can to develop +individuality in its children. The barrack school and State +nursery--never much more than the Utopian dreams of amiable +people--are condemned by up-to-date psychologists. The personal touch +and affection of the mother, the surroundings and ethics of a small +community, the sense of continuity which comes to the maturing child's +mind from a personal organisation like the family, are all invaluable +to a State which must take as much care of its citizens of to-morrow +as it does of its citizens of to-day."[952] Mr. Macdonald's views on +Socialism are hardly orthodox, and he has been denounced by +thorough-going Socialists as an agent of the bourgeoisie. + +As women may be the strongest opponents to the dissolution of the +family, Socialists addressing themselves to women try to persuade them +that they are forced into matrimony by necessity, that marriage is a +degradation to them and to their children, and that Socialism will +elevate them and make them free and happy. "The average young woman of +the working class, who is not herself employed in some well-paid +occupation, has nothing but marriage to which to look forward. She +gives herself and all she has or is in exchange for such board as her +husband's means permit."[953] "For the sake of bread and shelter she +marries and becomes the unpaid cook and housekeeper of a husband and +the mother of his children."[954] "Woman has been degraded, the mother +has been kept down; so the children have been born with slavish +instincts, ready to creep for any favour, and only just awakening to +the need for self-assertion and independence of action."[955] +Socialism will change all that, for "Socialism means freedom for +women, just as it does for men."[956] + +What is the Socialistic conception of "freedom for women"? What are +its privileges and its advantages? "In considering the position of the +woman Socialist, one great central fact must be borne constantly in +mind. What she will be, what she will do, how she will live--all will +depend upon one great fact, the greatest fact in Socialism--a fact +which constitutes Socialism--namely, that she will be economically +free."[957] "The new order will make husband and wife equals simply by +enabling the wife to earn her living by fitting employment."[958] "A +living will be assured to every woman."[959] "In the new community +woman is entirely independent, a free being, the equal of man. Her +education is the same as that of man except where the difference of +sex makes a deviation from this rule and special treatment absolutely +unavoidable. She works under exactly the same conditions as a +man."[960] "Under a Socialist _régime_ every profession will be open +to women as to men."[961] "Socialism means enfranchising them, giving +them the vote, so that they can lift their voice alongside with men's +voice and fight with the same weapon for a better, happier +life."[962] "It is only by removing the disabilities and restraints +imposed upon woman, and permitting her to enter freely into +competition with men in every sphere of human activity, that her true +position and function in the economy of life will ultimately be +ascertained."[963] "Socialism alone offers woman complete economic +emancipation, with all that that implies. It provides her with +suitable work, and it pays her exactly as men are paid. It educates +her as men are educated, and protects her in pregnancy with tender +regard; and, in so doing, Socialism will raise the whole level of +society to a height of moral grandeur never yet attained and hardly +ever dreamed of by the most optimist of poets and philosophers."[964] + +Apparently Socialists will elevate downtrodden woman by compelling her +to work for a living, and it is doubtful, as will be seen in Chapter +XXXVI., whether she will be allowed to select her task or whether she +will have to work under a system of forced labour. She will be given +that freedom and liberty which is now called licence by the abolition +of all the laws of morality. In the words of an exceedingly +straightforward Socialist, "Independence for women will mean a heavy +sacrifice for them, for it will mean for them compulsory work."[965] +In return for such work they will be given full sexual license and the +vote. + +There is another aspect to be taken note of with regard to the +emancipation of woman. Many Socialists, in giving to woman equality +with man as a wage-earner and voter, wish to unsex her completely. +They wish to deprive her of those privileges which she possesses at +present owing to her sex. The philosopher of British Socialism informs +us: "The law nowadays makes no distinction of persons between men. +True; but it makes distinctions between men and women, and where law +draws no distinction, practice does. 'Benefit of clergy' is superseded +by 'benefit of sex.'"[966] "The tendency of the bourgeoisie world, as +expressed in its legislation and sentiment, has been towards a +factitious exaltation of the woman at the expense of the man--in other +words, the cry for 'equality between the sexes' has in the course of +its realisation become a sham, masking a _de facto_ inequality. The +inequality in question presses, as usual, heaviest upon the working +man, whose wife, to all intents and purposes, now has him completely +in her power. If dissolute or drunken, she can sell up his goods or +break up his home at pleasure and still compel him to keep her and +live with her to her life's end. There is no law to protect him. On +the other hand, let him but raise a finger in a moment of exasperation +against this precious representative of the sacred principle of +'womanhood,' and straightway he is consigned to the treadmill for his +six months amid the jubilation of the 'Daily Telegraph' and its +kindred, who pronounce him a brute and sing pćans over the power of +the 'law' to protect the innocent and helpless female. Thus does +bourgeois society offer sacrifice to the idol 'equality between the +sexes.' For the law jealously guards the earnings or property of the +wife from possible spoliation. She on any colourable pretext can +obtain magisterial separation and protection."[967] Bax concludes that +if the law is right in flogging men it should flog women too, for "the +brutality and cowardice of the proceeding is no greater in the one +case than in the other."[968] + +The abolition of the marriage tie may mean that general barracks will +take the place of private houses. Is the home worth preserving? Most +Socialists think it is not. "It may be doubted after all whether it +is necessary to regard 'the home' in the sense in which the phrase is +here used as the final and immutable form of social organisation. +Humanity does not stand or fall by the arrangement whereby families +take their food in segregated cubicles."[969] "The entire preparation +of food will be undertaken by society in the future. The private +kitchen will disappear."[970] "Instead of a hundred kitchens and fires +and cooks, we shall have one. Instead of a hundred meals to prepare, +we shall have one. Instead of a hundred homes being made to reek of +unsavoury dishes, or the detestable odour of bad cooking, the +offensive effluvia will be confined to one building. Under Socialism +domestic duties will be reduced to a minimum."[971] "We set up one +great kitchen, one general dining-hall, and one pleasant +tea-garden."[972] Only a few Socialists are in favour of individual +houses, believing that "Each house should be self-contained."[973] + +The proposals of British Socialists regarding woman, the family, the +home, and marriage are not new. They were tried in the French +Revolution, and the consequences of the experiments recommended by the +philosophers of the Revolution were as follows: + +"The legislation of the Revolution diminished the paternal authority +and converted the family into a republic. Marriage became a contract +which could be broken at will by either party, a contract which +allowed of short notice and which could be concluded for any space of +time. People married for a year, sometimes only for a month. They +married for fun or for profit, and marriages were dissolved and others +contracted if it paid to do so."[974] The French police reports tell +us: "The depravity of morals is extremely great, and the new +generation is growing up in a state of disorder which promises to have +the most unfortunate and most far-reaching consequences to future +generations. Sodomy and Sapphic love flourish with the same +shamelessness as prostitution, and the progress of all these vices is +terrifying."[975] From another source we learn: "Society has become +terribly depraved; fornication, adultery, incest, and murder by poison +or violence are the fruits of philosophism. Things are as bad in the +villages as in Paris. Justices of the peace report that immorality has +spread to such an extent that many communes will soon no longer be +inhabitable by decent people."[976] This is the new and the better +world towards which Socialism is steering. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[896] Aristotle, _Politics_, Book ii. Chapter v. + +[897] Blatchford, _What is this Socialism?_ p. 2. + +[898] Russell Williams, _The Difficulties of Socialism_, p. 13. + +[899] Kautsky, _The Socialist Republic_, p. 23. + +[900] Marx and Engels, _Manifesto of the Communist Party_, pp. 19, 20. + +[901] Morris and Bax, _Socialism: Its Growth and Outcome_, p. 9. + +[902] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 164. + +[903] Bax and Quelch, _A New Catechism of Socialism_, p. 39. + +[904] Bax, _The Religion of Socialism_, p. 145. + +[905] Oscar Wilde, "The Soul of Man under Socialism," _Fortnightly +Review_, February 1891. + +[906] Wells, "Socialism and the Middle Classes," _Fortnightly Review_, +November 1906. + +[907] _Fabian Essays in Socialism_, p. 200. + +[908] A.R. Orage in the _New Age_, November 21, 1907. + +[909] Lansbury, _The Principles of the English Poor Law_, p. 10. + +[910] Bax, _Outlooks from the New Standpoint_, p. 160. + +[911] Gronlund, _Co-operative Commonwealth_, p. 151. + +[912] Benson, _Woman, the Communist_, p. 16. + +[913] Davidson, _Gospel of the Poor_, p. 149. + +[914] Russell Williams, _The Difficulties of Socialism_, pp. 14, 15. + +[915] _Ibid._ p. 15. + +[916] Bax, _Outlooks from the New Standpoint_, pp. 159, 160. + +[917] Morris and Bax, _Socialism; Its Growth and Outcome_, p. 199. + +[918] Bax, _Outlooks from the New Standpoint_, pp. 114, 115. + +[919] Leatham, _Socialism and Character_, p. 30. + +[920] Bax, _Outlooks from the New Standpoint_, p. 160. + +[921] Bebel, _Woman_, pp. 44, 86. + +[922] Bebel, _Woman in the Past, Present, and Future_, pp. 229, 230. + +[923] Karl Pearson, _The Ethic of Free Thought_, p. 108. + +[924] Morris and Bax, _Manifesto of the Socialistic League_, p. 100. + +[925] Ethel Snowden, _The Woman Socialist_, p. 56. + +[926] _Ibid._ pp. 59, 60. + +[927] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 165. + +[928] Ethel Snowden, _The Woman Socialist_, p. 61, + +[929] Bax, _The Ethics of Socialism_, p. 62. + +[930] _Ibid._ p. 126. + +[931] Leatham, _Socialism and Character_, p. 24. + +[932] "The Moltke-Harden Case" in the _New Age_, November 14, 1907. + +[933] For details on this subject see Bebel, _Woman_; Meslier, _Le +Testament_, 1864, ii. 226; Dezamy, _Code de la Communauté_, 1842, p. +266; Godwin, _Enquiry concerning Political Justice_, ii. 507; Owen, +_The Marriage System_, 1838, p. 66; Owen, _Manifesto_, 1840, p. 56; +Owen, _What is Socialism?_ 1841, p. 40; Morris, _News from Nowhere_, +1899, p. 90; Tucker, _Instead of a Book_, 1897, p. 15; Grave, _Société +Future_, ch. xii.; Charles Albert, _L'Amour Libre_, 1899, p. 191, &c. + +[934] See Nordhoff, _Communistic Societies_, 1875, p. 275; Noyes, +_History of American Socialism_, 1870, p. 623; Hinds, _American +Communities_, 1902, p. 196. + +[935] _Looking Backward_, ch. xxiv. + +[936] _Erfurter Programm_, 1892, p. 145. + +[937] Leatham, _Socialism and Character_, p. 32 + +[938] Menger, _L'État Socialists_, 1904, p. 187. + +[939] _Ibid._ p. 188. + +[940] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, pp. 164, 166. + +[941] Benson, _Woman the Communist_, p. 15. + +[942] Ethel Snowden, _The Woman Socialist_, pp. 48, 49. + +[943] Russell Williams, _The Difficulties of Socialism_, p. 9. + +[944] Russell Williams, _The Difficulties of Socialism_, p. 10. + +[945] _New Age_, Letter to Editor, November 14, 1907. + +[946] Blatchford, _What is this Socialism?_ p. 7. + +[947] A. Menger, _Volkspolitik_, p. 51. + +[948] Karl Pearson, _Socialism and Sex_, pp. 12, 108. + +[949] Ethel Snowden, _The Woman Socialist_, p. 49. + +[950] Victor Fisher, _The Babies' Tribute_, p. 14. + +[951] Victor Fisher, _The Babies' Tribute_, p. 15. + +[952] Macdonald, _Socialism_, p. 98. + +[953] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, p. 64. + +[954] Ethel Snowden, _The Woman Socialist_, p. 13. + +[955] _Ibid._ p. 42. + +[956] _Independent Labour Party Leaflet_, No. 5. + +[957] Ethel Snowden, _The Woman Socialist_, p. 37. + +[958] Gronlund, _Co-operative Commonwealth_, p. 148. + +[959] Ethel Snowden, _The Woman Socialist_, p. 57. + +[960] Bebel, _Woman_, p. 229. + +[961] Ethel Snowden, _The Woman Socialist_, p. 86. + +[962] _What Socialism means for Women_, p. 1. + +[963] Keir Hardie, _Citizenship of Women_, p. 6. + +[964] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 113. + +[965] Menger, _L'État Socialiste_, p. 191. + +[966] Bax, _Ethics of Socialism_, p. 66. + +[967] Bax, _Religion of Socialism_, p. 116. + +[968] _Ibid._ p. 117. + +[969] _After Bread, Education_, p. 10. + +[970] Bebel, _Woman_, p. 227. + +[971] Ethel Snowden, _The Woman Socialist_, p. 70. + +[972] Blatchford, _Merrie England_, p. 49. + +[973] Jowett, _The Socialist and the City_, p. 60. + +[974] Vandal, _L'Avénement de Bonaparte_. + +[975] _Rapports de police publiés par Schmidt_, iii. p. 389. + +[976] Roussel, _Un Evéque assermenté_, p. 298. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE SOCIALIST ATTITUDE TOWARDS CHRISTIANITY AND RELIGION + + +What is the attitude of Socialism towards Christianity and religion? + +A clerical apologist of Socialism informs us that "Socialism is +founded on the doctrine of the Fatherhood of God and brotherhood of +man."[977] Another reverend gentleman states: "Socialism in the first +place means combination, bringing together men for the building up of +a sacred, holy life on this earth. It means the building up together +of the different elements of human life. It is, in the grand words of +the New Testament, which we were told Socialists did not believe in, +'No man liveth unto himself, and no man dieth unto himself.'"[978] A +third clergyman tells us that "The ethics of Socialism are identical +with the ethics of Christianity."[979] + +Some British Socialist leaders explain that Socialists are good +Christians, and that Socialism attacks only the Church and professed +Christians, but not religion. "Much of what is regarded as +anti-Christian Socialist doctrine is only an attack upon the Churches +and professed Christians, and, so far from being anti-Christian, is, +as a matter of fact, inspired by the ethics of Christ's +teaching."[980] Other British Socialist leaders say that Socialism, +not being a religious doctrine, has no concern with religion and does +not meddle with it. "A charge against Socialists is that they are +Atheists whose aim is to destroy all religion and all morality. This +is not true. It is true that many Socialists are Agnostics, and some +are Atheists. But Atheism is no more a part of Socialism than it is a +part of Toryism, or of Radicalism, or of Liberalism."[981] "Socialism +has no more to do with a man's religion than it has with the colour of +his hair. Socialism deals with secular things, not with ultimate +beliefs."[982] + +It is quite true that "there is at present no consensus of Socialist +opinion on religious questions,"[983] but it is hardly honest on the +part of Socialist leaders to assert that Socialism has nothing to do +with religion. The leading journal of the Fabian Society frankly +confesses: "There is the argument that Socialism has nothing whatever +to do with subjects such as religion and marriage. But if Socialism is +a theory of the State, nothing human is alien to it. It may be true +that no one of the specific theories of religion or marriage so far +put forward by Socialists has any claim to be regarded as the +Socialist view; but there is all the difference in the world between +such an admission and the denial that Socialism has any concern with +the questions at all."[984] + +Some Socialists proclaim that Socialism will carry out the will of +Christ upon earth. Mr. Keir Hardie, for instance, says: "Christ laid +down no elaborate system of either economics or theology. No great +teacher ever did. His heart beat in sympathy with the great human +heart of the race. His words are simple and not to be misunderstood +when taken to mean what they say. His prayer--Thy kingdom come, Thy +will be done on earth as it is in Heaven--was surely meant to be taken +literally Are our opponents prepared to assert that in Heaven there +will be factories working women and children for starvation wages; +coal-mines and private property in land, dividing the population of +Heaven into two classes, one revelling in riches and luxury, +destructive of soul and body, the other grovelling in poverty, also +destructive of all that is best in life? If not, how can they +consistently support the system which inevitably produces that state +of things upon earth?"[985] + +Other Socialists frankly confess that Socialism is absolutely +incompatible with Christianity and all other religions; that Socialism +can succeed only if religion be abolished, and that therefore religion +must be abolished. The philosopher of British Socialism states: +"Socialism utterly despises the 'other world' with all its stage +properties--that is, the present objects of religion. It brings +back religion from heaven to earth."[986] "As to the ethical +teaching of Christ, with its one-sided, introspective, and +individualistic character, we venture to assert that no one +acquainted with the theory of modern scientific Socialism can for one +moment call it Socialistic. Socialism has no sympathy with the morbid, +eternally-revolving-in-upon-itself transcendent morality of the Gospel +discourses. This morality sets up a forced, to the vast majority +impossible, standard of 'personal holiness' which, when realised, +has seldom resulted in anything but (1) an apotheosised priggism, +_e.g._ the Puritan type, or (2) in an epileptic hysteria, _e.g._ +the Catholic saint type."[987] Mr. Blatchford states: "I have +been asked why I have 'gone out of my way to attack religion.' +In reply I beg to say that I am working for Socialism when I +attack a religion which is hindering Socialism, that we must pull down +before we can build up, and that I hope to do a little building, if only +on the foundation. I oppose the Christian religion because I do not +think the Christian religion is beneficial to mankind, and because I +think it an obstacle in the way of humanism."[988] Another very +influential writer says: "Personally I feel called upon to attack +Christianity as I would any other harmful delusion. I do not believe in +the theology of Jesus any more than I do in his sociology. It is no use +pretending that Socialism will not profoundly revolutionise religion. +The change in the economic basis of society is the more important thing +to strive for; but if the triumph of the Socialist ideal does not crush +supernatural religion, then we shall still have a gigantic fabric of +falsity and convention upon which to wage war. Happily Christianity +becomes less and less of a power every day. So far, indeed, from +Christianity being able to support Socialism, it goes hard with +Christianity to stand by itself. As a support to Socialism it would +surely prove a broken reed."[989] + +A Socialist poet proclaims: + + The name of Christ has been the sovereign curse, + The opium drug that kept us slaves to wrong, + Fooled with a dream, we bowed to worse and worse. + "In heaven," we said, "He will confound the strong." + O hateful treason that has tricked too long! + + Had we poor down-trod millions never dreamed + Your dream of that hereafter for our woe, + Had the great powers that rule, no Father seemed, + But Law relentless, long and long ago + Had we risen and said, "We will not suffer so!" + + "O Christ, O You who found the drug of heaven, + To keep consoled an earth that grew to hell, + That else to cleanse and cure its sores had striven, + We curse That name!"[990] + +There is an eminently practical reason for the hostility of Socialists +to Christianity. Religious people are not likely to become Socialists. +"Christianity is like a set of manacles fastened upon the minds of +those who believe in it. It is vain for us to look for aid from the +Church and Christianity. It might be supposed that a hungry Christian +would rebel against his hunger as readily as a hungry Atheist. But it +is not the case."[991] + +The belief in a life after death also is incompatible with Socialism, +and must therefore be combated: "We are compelled to abandon the +belief in immortality. He who is given to meditating on his latter end +and for whom the question of a post-physical future life for himself +as an individual is of primary importance, is, generally speaking, +indifferent where not positively hostile to social ideals."[992] "The +moment this belief in an after-death existence is erected into a +dogma, the moment it comes to be looked upon as an article of faith, +which it is a duty to hold, or at least which it is the evidence of an +ignoble disposition of mind not to hold, then it becomes an enemy to +be combated."[993] + +The practical teachings of Christ are directly opposed to the +practical teachings of Socialism: "Jesus said, 'Blessed are the poor.' +Socialism recognises that wealth is a good thing, and it exists for +the purpose of securing a better share of it for the 'blessed' poor. +Socialism declares that all ought to work; but Jesus did no manual +work after he was thirty years of age, and he encouraged his disciples +to leave their occupations, to wander about and to beg, and this last +feature of discipleship has in all ages been well maintained. +Socialism incites the workers of all countries to unite for the +prosecution of the class war; but Jesus approved of obedience, +contentment, and humility of spirit."[994] + +Socialism has no use for Christianity. "To-day we have to settle down +to our primers and our programmes, our Blue-books and our social +experiments, just as if Jesus had never lived, or perhaps all the more +because he lived. We get no assistance from Him. His followers are our +enemies in every country which owns His influence--and the worst +enemies of all because ever professing friendship."[995] + +Christianity is, according to Socialists, an outworn creed. "As Marx +says, 'The religious world is but the reflex of the real world. +Christianity, like all religions, is but an expression of material +conditions, a direct outcome of social relations, the unsubstantial +image of a world reflected in the muddy pool of human intellect. Jesus +varies with the ages. Redeemer of Roman slave; War-God of Crusader; +General Overseer of Manufacturing Capitalist."[996] Besides, +Socialists resent "the continual reference of ideal perfection to a +semi-mythical Syrian of the first century when they see higher types +even in some now walking this upper earth, but in vulgar flesh and +blood and without the atmosphere of nineteen centuries to lend +enchantment to them."[997] + +Lastly, Christianity has been a failure: "The success of Christianity +as a moral force has been solely upon isolated individuals. In its +effects on societies at large it has signally and necessarily +failed."[998] "Holiness! Your religion does not make it. Its ethics +are too weak, its theories too unsound, its transcendentalism is too +thin. There ought to be no such thing as poverty in the world. The +earth is bounteous: the ingenuity of man is great. He who defends the +claims of the individual, or of a class, against the rights of the +human race is a criminal. A hungry man, an idle man, an ignorant man, +a destitute or degraded woman, a beggar or pauper child, is a +reproach to society and a witness against existing religion and +civilisation. In such a world as this, friend Christian, a man has no +business reading the Bible, singing hymns, and attending divine +worship. He has not time. All the strength and pluck and wit he +possesses are needed in the work of real religion, of real salvation. +The rest is all 'dreams out of the ivory gate and visions before +midnight.'"[999] "In a really humane and civilised nation there should +be and need be no such thing as poverty, ignorance, crime, idleness, +war, slavery, hate, envy, pride, greed, gluttony, vice. But this is +not a humane and civilised nation, and never will be while it accepts +Christianity as its religion."[1000] + +Our belief in God also must be abandoned, but if we continue believing +in God it follows that man is not responsible for his actions, that he +cannot do wrong: "Man is what God made him; could only act as God +enabled him or constructed him to act. If God is responsible for man's +existence, God is responsible for man's act. Therefore man cannot sin +against God."[1001] "If God is all-knowing, He knew before He made man +what man would do. If God is all-powerful, He need not have made man +at all, or He could have made a man who would be strong enough to +resist temptation. Or He could have made a man who was incapable of +evil. If God had never made man, then man could never have succumbed +to temptation. God made man of His own divine choice and made him to +His own divine desire. How then could God blame man for anything man +did? Man might justly say to God: 'I did not ask to be created. You +knew when You made me how I should act. If You wish me to act +otherwise, why did You not make me different? I was fore-ordained by +You to be and to do what I am and have done. Is it my fault that You +fore-ordained me to be and to do thus?' The actions of a man's will +are as mathematically fixed at his birth as are the motions of a +planet in its orbit. God, who made the man and the planet, is +responsible for the actions of both."[1002] + +"Divine law says that certain acts are good and that certain acts are +evil; and that God will reward those who do well and will punish those +who do ill. And we are told that God will so act because God is just. +But I claim that God cannot justly punish those who disobey, nor +reward those who obey His laws. If God created all things, He must +have created the evil as well as the good. Who, then, is responsible +for good and evil? Only God, for he made them. He who creates all is +responsible for all. God created all: God is responsible for all. He +who creates nothing is responsible for nothing. Man created nothing: +man is responsible for nothing. Therefore man is not responsible for +his nature, nor for the acts prompted by that nature. Therefore God +cannot justly punish man for his acts. Therefore the Divine law, with +its code of rewards and punishments, is not a just law and cannot have +emanated from a just God."[1003] + +"I do not pretend to say whether there is, or is not, _a_ God, but I +deny that there is a loving Heavenly Father who answers prayer. I deny +the existence of Free Will and possibility of man's sinning against +God. I deny that Christ is necessary to man's salvation from Hell or +from Sin. I do not assert or deny the immortality of the soul. I know +nothing about the soul, and no man is, or ever was, able to tell me +more than I know."[1004] "I do seriously mean that no man can, under +any circumstances, be justly blamed for anything he may say or do. +That is one of my deepest convictions."[1005] + +Mr. Blatchford's philosophy excuses, and therefore encourages, every +action based upon a bad impulse, every vice and every crime, and his +creed should find the unqualified approval of habitual criminals and +loafers. + +Views similar to those of Mr. Blatchford are expressed by many other +Socialists. We read, for instance: "It was pleasant to believe that a +benevolent hand was guiding the steps of society; overruling all evil +appearances for good; and making poverty here the earnest of a great +blessedness and reward hereafter. It was pleasant to lose the sense of +worldly inequality in the contemplation of our equality before God. +But utilitarian questioning and scientific answering turned all this +tranquil optimism into the blackest pessimism. Nature was shown to us +as 'red in tooth and claw': if the guiding hand were indeed +benevolent, then it could not be omnipotent, so that our trust in it +was broken: if it were omnipotent, it could not be benevolent; so that +our love in it turned to fear and hatred."[1006] + + As long as childhood pines in City slum; + As long as Landlords steal their racking rent; + As long as Love and Faith to gold succumb; + As long as human life in war is spent; + While false religion teaches men to pray + To a false Tyrant, whom they misname God; + Whose "Holy Will" is--so they glibly say-- + The poor should suffer 'neath His chast'ning rod; + As long as men do buy and sell the soil, + And thereby make their fellow men their slaves; + While selfishness exacts its cruel spoil; + While yet the poor are ground into their graves; + Until these crying wrongs are made to cease + Nowhere upon this earth can there be peace.[1007] + +Although the Socialists have declared war against the Christian +religion and the Christian Churches, they freely quote the Scriptures +and the Fathers if it suits their purpose, and shamelessly misuse the +name of Christ. In support of their maxim "Property is theft," they +quote St. Jerome's saying: "Opulence is always the result of theft: +if not by the actual possessor, then by his predecessors."[1008] They +quote Christ in support of their demand for the abolition of private +property, marriage and the family. "Christ abolished all private +property, and with it the State. He abolished all distinctions of +race, rank, sex, and intellect. He made the first last and the last +first, acknowledging only devoted _service_ as true greatness; the +only law, the Law of Love. In His sweeping condemnation of egoism in +every form it seems doubtful if He did not even lay iconoclastic hands +on marriage and the family, as they existed and exist. In the +resurrection they neither marry nor give in marriage, but are as the +angels in heaven. Woman (to His mother), what have I to do with thee? +Whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in heaven the same +is My brother, and sister, and mother."[1009] They use the name of +Christ for electioneering purposes. At a West Ham election, for +instance, the electors received leaflets which stated "If you vote for +the Municipal Alliance you vote against God. If Christ were in +Plaistow Ward, Christ would vote for Coe."[1010] + +Professor Schäffle, perhaps the most fair-minded and moderate +scientist who ever criticised Socialism, was perfectly right in +stating: "Socialism of the present day is out-and-out irreligious, and +hostile to the Church. It says that the Church is only a police +institution for upholding capital, and that it deceives the common +people with a 'cheque payable in heaven,' that the Church deserves to +perish."[1011] The above words were written with regard to German +Socialism, and British Socialism is far more irreligious, violent, and +revolutionary than is the German variety. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[977] Rev. E.T. Russell in _Forward_, November 23, 1907. + +[978] Rev. L. Jenkyns Jones in _Forward_, November 16, 1907. + +[979] Rev. Frank Ballard in _Socialism: A Cancerous Growth_, p. 19. + +[980] Macdonald, _Socialism_, p. 99. + +[981] Blatchford, _Real Socialism_, p. 4. + +[982] Macdonald, _Socialism_, p. 101. + +[983] _New Age_, October 10, 1907. + +[984] _Ibid._ p. 10. + +[985] Keir Hardie, _Can a Man be a Christian on a Pound a Week?_ p. +18. + +[986] Bax, _Religion of Socialism_, p. 52. + +[987] _Ibid._ p. 97. + +[988] Blatchford, _God and My Neighbour_, p. 189. + +[989] Leatham, _Was Jesus a Socialist?_ p. 14. + +[990] Francis Adams, _The Mass of Christ_, p. 12. + +[991] Leatham, _Was Jesus a Socialist?_ p. 14. + +[992] Bax, _Ethics of Socialism_, pp. 192, 193. + +[993] _Ibid._ pp. 196, 197. + +[994] Leatham, _Was Jesus a Socialist?_ p. 6. + +[995] Leatham, _Was Jesus a Socialist?_ p. 16. + +[996] _Socialist Standard_, December 1, 1907. + +[997] Bax, _The Religion of Socialism_, p. 90. + +[998] _Ibid._ p. 98. + +[999] Blatchford, _God and My Neighbour_, p. 194. + +[1000] _Ibid._ p. 197. + +[1001] _Ibid._ p. 124. + +[1002] Blatchford, _God and My Neighbour_, pp. 135, 136. + +[1003] Blatchford, _Not Guilty_, pp. 11, 12. + +[1004] Blatchford, _God and My Neighbour_, p. 122. + +[1005] _Ibid._ p. 137. + +[1006] _Fabian Essays in Socialism_, p. 27. + +[1007] _The Deadly Parallel_, October 1907. + +[1008] Wheatley, _How the Miners are Robbed_, p. 13. + +[1009] Davidson, _Gospel of the Poor_, p. 149. + +[1010] _Times, Municipal Socialism_, p. 42. + +[1011] Schäffle, _Quintessence of Socialism_, p. 116. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE RELIGION OF SOCIALISM + + +We have seen in Chapter XXVI. that Socialism makes war upon +Christianity and upon religion, that it strives to eradicate religion +out of the people's hearts. Now the question arises: How do Socialists +propose to fill the void? What do they intend to put into the place of +that religion which they wish to destroy? + +"Socialism involves a change which would be almost a revolution in the +moral and religious attitude of the majority of mankind."[1012] +"Religion will share the fate of the State. It will not be +'abolished,' God will not be dethroned, religion will not be 'torn out +of the people's hearts.' Religion will disappear by itself without any +violent attack."[1013] "The establishment of society on a Socialistic +basis would imply the definitive abandonment of all theological cults, +since the notion of a transcendent god or semi-divine prophet is but +the counterpart and analogue of the transcendent governing class. So +soon as we are rid of the desire of one section of society to enslave +another, the dogmas of an effete creed will lose their interest. As +the religion of slave industry was Paganism; as the religion of +serfage was Catholic Christianity, or Sacerdotalism; as the religion +of Capitalism is Protestant Christianity or Biblical dogma, so the +religion of collective and co-operative industry is Humanism, which is +only another name for Socialism."[1014] "The religion of the future +is to be the religion of the common life. It will have for its ideal +the complete organic unity of the whole human race. And this religion +will be a political religion. It will be a religion which will seek to +realise its ideal in our industrial and social affairs by the +application and use of political methods. The popular conception of +politics as something apart from religion is a cunning device of the +devil to serve his own ends; just in the same way as the popular +impression that politics is something apart from bread and butter, and +shorter hours, and better homes, and better industrial conditions. +There can be no separation between politics and religion. The religion +of the future will be an application of the moral truths of religion +through politics to our industrial and social conditions."[1015] + +To root out the very memory of Christianity, Socialists would abolish +the Sunday. "We would surrender once and for all this chimerical +notion of one day of universal rest and institute three days a week, +or, if necessary, more, as days of partial rest, _i.e._ on which +different sections of the community would be freed from labour in +turn."[1016] + +This proposal, like so many Socialist proposals, reminds us of the +French Revolution, which also simultaneously abolished the Christian +religion and changed the calendar. The month was divided into three +periods of ten days. The tenth day, the "_decadi_," replaced +Sunday.[1017] The people were compelled to rest on _decadi_ and to +work on Sunday. Peasants who on Sundays did not bring their vegetables +to market were prosecuted.[1018] Policemen who on _decadi_ heard +suspicious noises broke by force into houses to find out whether +people were "desecrating" _decadi_ by work, and the people +complained, "Where is the liberty you promised us when we may not even +dance on any day we like?"[1019] + +The French Revolutionaries destroyed the statues and pictures in the +churches. British Socialists at present only propose to replace the +effigies of Christ and the saints by Socialist heroes: "Let the +painters, sculptors, poets, and musicians do honour to the heroes of +humanity, the apostles of science and progress, as they have +heretofore lavished their taste and skill and imagination on a +conventional Jesus, an ideal Madonna and imaginary saints, and Gospel +scenes; let statues arise to Bruno, Vanini, Servetus; let the +historian and the biographer recount with loving wealth of detail +their struggles, controversies, flights, imprisonments, and +martyrdoms; let poets and painters cast the halo of romantic art +around Caxton, Galileo, William the Silent, Milton, Harry Vane, and +great masterful Cromwell; let hymns be sung to Copernicus, Newton, +Harvey, to Massaniello, Danton, Garibaldi, Delescluze, to Grace +Darling, Sister Dora and Father Damien."[1020] + +"To the Socialist, Marx has said the last word that need be said on +the subject of the relation of Socialism and religion. 'The religious +reflex of the real world can only finally vanish when the practical +relations of everyday life offer to man none but perfectly +intelligible and reasonable relations with regard to his fellow men.' +Material conditions rule. 'The English Established Church will more +readily pardon an attack on thirty-eight of its thirty-nine articles +than on one-thirty-ninth of its income.' This is as true to-day as +when written in 1867."[1021] Among the "Immediate Reforms" demanded by +the Social-Democratic Federation is, of course, "the disestablishment +and disendowment of all State churches."[1022] + +British Socialists, like the French Revolutionaries, have issued +numerous travesties of the Christian church service. The following are +extracts from a widely read "Socialist Ritual." + + +"A CATECHISM FOR THE MOB + +"Q. What is thy name? A. Wageworker.--Q. Who are thy parents? A. My +father was called Wageworker--my mother's name is Poverty.--Q. Where +wast thou born? A. In a garret under the roof of a tenement house +which my father and his comrades built.--Q. What is thy religion? A. +The Religion of Capital.--Q. What duties does thy religion lay upon +thee with regard to society? A. To increase the national wealth--first +through my toil, and next through my savings, as soon as I can make +any.--Q. What does thy religion order thee to do with thy savings? A. +To entrust them to the banks and such other institutions that have +been established by philanthropic financiers, to the end that they may +loan them out to themselves. We are commanded to place our earnings at +all times at the disposal of our masters." + + +"A LITANY + +for the use of the respectable classes. Edited by Edward Carpenter. + +"O God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy upon us, miserable +sinners.--Remember not, Lord, our offences, nor the offences of our +forefathers, neither take thou vengeance of our sins. Spare us, good +Lord; spare us whom thou hast brought into honour and good position +through the precious blood of the toiling masses, and be not angry +with us for ever: Spare us, good Lord.--From all evil and mischief, +from the crafts and assaults of the thief and the burglar, from +poverty and the everlasting damnation of the workhouse: Good Lord, +deliver us.--From bad trade and bogus dividends, from shady and +unprofitable investments, from all unsuccessful speculation and +losses, whether on the turf or in the City: Good Lord, deliver us." + + +"THE CAPITALIST'S TEN COMMANDMENTS + +"I am Capital, thy Master, that brought thee out of the Land of +Liberty into a State of Slavery. Thou shalt not become thine own +Master, nor have any other Masters but me. Thou shalt commit murder +for my sake only. Thou shalt give thy daughters in prostitution and +thy wife in adultery to me." + + +THE LATEST DECALOGUE + + Thou shalt have one God only, who + Would be at the expense of two? + No graven images may be + Worshipped, except the currency. + Swear not at all, as for thy curse + Thine enemy is none the worse. + At Church on Sunday to attend + Will serve to keep the world thy friend.[1023] + +The foregoing representative statements and extracts clearly prove +that the teachings of Socialism, far from being in harmony with +Christianity, are incompatible and directly hostile not only to +Christianity but to all religion. The philosopher of British Socialism +has very truly said, "Socialism has been well described as a new +conception of the world, presenting itself in industry as co-operative +Communism, in politics as international Republicanism, in religion as +atheistic Humanism, by which is meant the recognition of social +progress as our being's highest end and aim."[1024] As there is very +little difference between "atheistic Humanism" and Atheism pure and +simple, Socialists have really no right to complain if their +opponents, relying on Bax's high authority, reproach them with being +Atheists. The excerpts given above show that the religion of Socialism +is a political and economic one. Its character and principles may be +found in the publications of the Labour Church Union and of the +Socialist Sunday School Union. The prospectus of the Labour Church +Union contains the following declaration of principles: + +"(1) That the Labour Church exists to give expression to the religion +of the Labour movement. (2) That the religion of the Labour movement +is not theological, but respects each individual's personal +convictions upon this question. (3) That the religion of the Labour +movement seeks the realisation of universal well-being by the +establishment of Socialism--a Commonwealth founded upon justice and +love. (4) The religion of the Labour movement declares that +improvement of social conditions and the development of personal +character are both essential to emancipation from social and moral +bondage, and to that end insists upon the duty of studying the +economic and moral forces of society." + +It will be noticed that the words Christianity, God, morality, virtue, +&c., do not occur in the foregoing statement. + +Now let us study the details of the Socialist religion. These details +are taken from a statement of the aims, methods, &c. of the Socialist +Sunday Schools, published for the enlightenment of the public by the +Glasgow and District Socialist Sunday School Union, the principal +Socialist Sunday School Union of Great Britain. In that official +publication we read: "Socialism, which the children are taught, is an +idealism. It has been described as 'the highest flight of the ideal +into the realm of the practical.' It is a faith--a faith based on the +divine brotherhood and sisterhood of humanity--irrespective of class, +colour, or creed. It is a religion--a religion greater than creeds or +dogmas. It is a religion of love! Its followers and disciples are +lovers of mankind! Its worship is service to humanity! Socialism has +absorbed not only all the essential spiritual elements contained in +the Christ teaching, but it has also, as Christianity itself has done +before it, absorbed all the highest altruistic teaching of the ages. +But Socialism has done something more--it has struck a new note, +deep-sounding, far-reaching, and its vibrations are stirring in the +hearts of the nations! Socialism has proclaimed its tenets, declaring +the only possible ways and means whereby the sacred rites of the +religion of love can be observed, and without which there can be no +realisation of the divine sentiment--'the brotherhood of man.' + +"The Church, the State, and the people alike, in so far as they +sanction and sanctify unrighteous social conditions, are equally guilty +of breaking the very first laws of brotherhood, and thereby of +violating the pure and holy religion of love. When the Sun of Social +Justice--Socialism--has arisen in its full glory, all the artificial +and unnatural causes of evil and error will have been rooted out from +the pathway of human progress. The sons and daughters of men may then, +without mockery, stand before the great throne of love and worship the +beauty and the wonder and the glory of the earth, sky, and sea, as +brothers and sisters in one holy unity, and be more worthy to fathom +the deeper mystery. Thus Socialism, or the law of the religion of love, +unfalteringly maintains: That private property in land is public +robbery. It is public robbery because, the land being the source of all +the necessaries of life, it should belong equally to all, by birthright +of our common inheritance in the brotherhood of the world. 'Let them +know that the earth from which they were created is the common +property of all men, and that therefore the fruits of the earth belong +indiscriminately to all. Those who make private property of the gift of +God, pretend in vain to be innocent, for they are the murderers of +those who die daily for want of it.' Such is the terrible and +unassailable dictum of one of the great founders of the early Christian +Church, Saint Gregory I. Private property in capital--whether in money, +railways, mines, factories, machinery, tools, &c.--is public robbery. +It is public robbery because it creates and divides the human family +into classes. Classes of rich and idle people who claim and hold all +these things as by right--and classes of hirelings who are thus forced +to pay for the use of them--as rent in land, interest in capital, +profit on labour. This means that the hireling classes require to give +all the work of their hands and brains in order to secure a small share +of the things which they need to live, and which they themselves have +produced out of Nature's ample store. And this at once hinders the +possibility of any unity of brotherhood or sisterhood and breaks the +law of love."[1025] + +It will be noticed that in this lengthy statement God is mentioned +only for party purposes, and that the chief aim of the "religion of +love" is to sow hatred and to incite to plunder. + +The Labour Church Union and the Socialist Sunday Schools use the same +form of the Socialist Ten Commandments, which are as follows: + +"Love your schoolfellows, who will be your fellow-workers in life. +Love learning, which is the food of the mind, and be grateful to your +teacher as to your parents. Make every day holy by good and useful +deeds and kindly actions. Honour good men, be courteous to all, bow +down to none. Do not hate or speak evil of anyone, do not be +revengeful, but stand up for your rights and resist oppression. Do not +be cowardly, be a friend to the weak and love justice. Remember that +all the good things of the earth are produced by labour. Whoever +enjoys them without working for them is stealing the bread of the +workers. Observe and think in order to discover the truth. Do not +believe what is contrary to reason, and never deceive yourself or +others. Do not think that he who loves his own country must hate and +despise other nations, or wish for war, which is a remnant of +barbarism. Look forward to the day when all men will be free citizens +of one fatherland and live together as brothers, in peace and +righteousness. Socialism is the hope of the world." + +Here also the words Christianity and God do not occur. + +We are officially told that "Socialist Sunday Schools are intended to +serve as a means of teaching economic causes of present-day social +evils and of implanting a love of goodness in the child mind."[1026] + +The following extracts from the "Red Catechism" serve to show how +"love of goodness" is inculcated in the Socialist Sunday Schools: + +"Q. Is there any difference in the teachings at Socialist Sunday +schools and other Sunday schools? A. Yes.--Q. What is taught in +Christian schools? A. Christian morals and capitalist teachings.--Q. +What is meant by the term 'employing men for profit'? A. Capitalists, +when they pay wages, make the workers produce three or four times the +amount they pay them. The extra which the men produce over their wages +is called profit.--Q. What evidence is there that the workers earn a +great amount and get very little? A. The national amount of wealth +produced every year is two thousand millions and the amount paid out +in wages is only five hundred millions, showing that the poor are poor +because they are robbed.--Q. Who creates all wealth? A. The working +class.--Q. Who creates all poverty? A. Our capitalist society.--Q. Who +are the workers? A. Men who work for wages.--Q. What class of men get +into Parliament? A. The capitalist and aristocratic class?--Q. How is +that? A. Because the workers are opposed by men interested in keeping +them poor.--Q. How many children are there in London who go to school +insufficiently fed and clothed? A. It is stated as many as 100,000; a +number equal to the population of a small county.--Q. To what class do +these poor starving children belong? A. The working class.--Q. Is it +not the working class which creates all wealth? A. Yes.--Q. Do the +rich trouble about the poor children of London who are ill-fed and +clothed? A. No.--Q. What is a pauper? A. One who lives upon others, +while being able to work?--Q. Are the rich class able to work? A. Yes; +because they are well cared for when young and grow up strong?--Q. Do +they work? A. No; they consider it menial and beneath them.--Q. Then +they are paupers? A. Yes.--Q. Do the rich and their children live at +the expense of those who work? A. Yes.--Q. What does machinery enable +the workers to do? A. To produce wealth quicker.--Q. Do the workers +benefit by machinery? A. No. On the contrary. It generally reduces +their wages and throws them out of work.--Q. Why is that? A. Because +the machinery is controlled by the capitalist class.--Q. What is a +wage-slave? A. A person who works for a wage and gives all he earns to +a capitalist.--Q. What proportion does a wage-slave receive of what he +earns? A. On the average about a fourth. The slave and serf always had +food, clothing, and shelter. The wage-slave, when he is out of work, +must now starve or go into the workhouse and be made miserable, or +commit suicide.--Q. What is the remedy for wage-slavery? A. +Socialism.--Q. Who pays the rent? A. Father and mother.--Q. Who +demands the rent? A. The landlord.--Q. Can you say how much the +landlord takes from the wages of father, generally for rent? A. Yes; a +fourth.--Q. That is sheer robbery, is it not? A. Yes; but working men +cannot help it.--Q. Why is that? A. Because the landlord class have a +monopoly of land and houses, and workmen have no land and are too poor +to build for themselves."[1027] + +With this mendacious stuff the "Religion of Love" systematically +poisons the innocent minds of little children. The religion of +Socialism is indeed a political religion, as Mr. Snowden, M.P., has +stated. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1012] Ball, _The Moral Aspects of Socialism_, p. 23. + +[1013] Bebel, _Woman_, p. 213. + +[1014] Bax, _Religion of Socialism_, p. 81. + +[1015] Snowden, _The Christ that Is to be_, pp. 6, 7. + +[1016] Bax, _Religion of Socialism_, pp. 58, 59. + +[1017] Mignet, _Revolution Française_, ch. viii. + +[1018] Sciout, iii. 176. + +[1019] Sciout, iv. 386. + +[1020] Leatham, _Was Jesus a Socialist?_ p. 16. + +[1021] _Socialist Standard_, December 1, 1907. + +[1022] See Appendix. + +[1023] _A Socialists' Ritual_, pp. 7-16. + +[1024] Bax, _Religion of Socialism_, p. 81. + +[1025] Glasier, _Socialist Sunday Schools_, p. 9. + +[1026] Glasier, _Socialist Sunday Schools_, p. 10. + +[1027] Hazell, _The Red Catechism_, pp. 3-10. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +CHRISTIAN SOCIALISM + + +The position of the Christian Churches and of Christian ministers +towards Socialism is one of considerable difficulty. Socialism and +Christianity are two words which are not easily reconcilable. Chapters +XXVI. and XXVII. show that the attitude of British Socialists, not +only towards Christianity but towards all religion, is in the main a +hostile one. Their attitude is only logical. Socialists see in +religious men and in religious corporations obstacles to their +revolutionary and predatory progress. However, as many Socialists have +declared that the teachings of Christ and of Socialism are identical, +some large-hearted Christian ministers have tried to reconcile +Christianity and Socialism. Working under the banner of Christian +Socialism, these are rather trying to exercise practical Christianity +than to assist the Socialist agitation, as may be seen from their +programmes given in the Appendix. + +Many Christian Socialist ministers are pious and worthy men whose +actions are wise and moderate. Others have adopted an attitude of +hysterical enthusiasm and admiration towards Socialism. Whilst the +former have only a few adherents, some of the latter have rapidly +secured for themselves a considerable Socialist following, and if one +takes note of their views, one cannot help doubting whether their +motives are entirely disinterested. The following utterances, for +instance, one would expect from the mouth of a Soudanese dervish or +an Indian fakir, but not from the pen of a Christian minister: + +"Socialism is the Greatest Movement for Justice and Brotherhood that +this old Planet has ever known. Socialism is the Greatest Passion for +the Release and Freedom of the Human Soul that this world has ever +felt. Socialism is the Greatest Urge of the Average Man to stand +erect, independent, and free, without a Master and without a slave, +that the human race has ever experienced. + +"The Spirit of the Lord of Life within me, burning as a fierce flame +in my bones, saith 'Speak unto the people these words': There is only +one Sacred Thing beneath the stars--Human Life. Human Life is the +Incarnation of the Desire of the Lord of Life. Behold! He awaits the +Full Expression, the Complete Emancipation, the Perfect Freedom of +that Human Life, as Life, in all its undisclosed majestic meanings. +And it doth not yet appear what it shall be! The Average Man at your +side in the street, next door--the average woman, any woman, the +child, any child--Behold here is the Sacred One. Love, Worship, and +Bless in the name of the Lord of Life. 'Inasmuch as ye have done it +unto one of the least of these, ye have done it unto Me.' No +artificial, conventional, social, or financial dignity can make that +Human One worthy; no present degradation or humiliation can finally +obscure that Radiant One. 'I see through your sham tinsel and title; I +see through the dirt and despair to the Human One shining there,' +saith the Living Truth. 'The worship that passeth these Darlings of My +Heart and leaveth them--that worship I am against,' saith the Lord of +Life. O stand erect now, just where you are, just as you read these +words. Thou hast no Superior! Thou art very Beautiful! Thou art the +Freedom Incarnate, whose Heart-beat shall dissolve all slaveries and +Injustice. I Love thee, O Thou Human One. There is only one Sacred +Thing beneath the stars--Human Life. Whatever hurts, harms, makes +cheap, blights, hinders, enslaves, subordinates, or profits off Human +Life is Wrong tho' demanded by ten thousand priests, tho' framed in a +thousand laws, tho' hoary with ten thousand years. Whatever hurts the +Son of man--that--that is the Blasphemy. Whatever helps, releases, +emancipates, makes free, glorifies, makes sacred, enlarges, enricheth +Human Life, that is the Right and Good, tho' persecuted by private +interests; that is the Truth, tho' withstood by dead men's creeds. +Whatever emancipates the average man--that--that is the coming of the +Lord. The Fundamental fact of Life is Bread. Man doth not--cannot live +by Bread alone. But man cannot live without Bread. In the eating of +Bread, behold the Divine Democracy of Human Life. The necessity of +eating Bread--there is the Universal Sacrament--all are present--all +partake. Behold, the Supper of the Lord is--just Bread--our common +Daily Bread. Why is this Bread Sacred? Not in itself. No! Why, then? +It is the food of the Sacred Ones--the Human Ones. It is the Food of +the Incarnation of the Lord of Life. And the first Basic Sacred +Ceremony of Man is--Labour in securing that Bread--the Fact of +Bread-Getting. If that is not Just, True, Right, Good, a +Blessing--then nothing is. All else is measured here. You cannot build +a Sacred Ceremony in the superstructure of Human Life if the Basis in +Bread-getting is a Lie, a Fraud, a Cheat, a Theft, a Slavery, a +Service to the Gain-god--Mammon, a Gamble with Human Flesh. Nay, +verily! 'I will not hear your prayers, your chants, your liturgies, +your praises; My soul hateth even your solemn meeting,' said the Lord +of Life, if thou wilt not see Me in these Human Ones as they struggle +for Bread, if thou wilt not make thy Bread-getting Just, and Holy, and +Good, and True. + +"And now, O Capitalism, Thou art doomed! I am against thee, saith the +Spirit. O Capitalism, I have weighed thee in My balances--thou art +found wanting. O Capitalism, thou hast gambled with the Land that I +gave to all for Bread. O Capitalism, thou hast gambled with the great +machines that are for the bread-getting of the people. O Capitalism, +thou hast made Human need an asset of thy gains. Thy Purse is filled +with Bloody Coin. Thy Store-Houses burst where the many Hunger. The +Little Ones cry in the streets whilst thou hidest thy Plunder. I am +against thee, O Capitalism, I am against thee! Thou hast gambled with +the very Bodies and Souls of men in thy Mad Mammonism. Thy fierce +Profit-Hunger Hath rejoiced in the Hunger of Man. I am against thee, O +Capitalism! + +"Behold! the Day Dawns! I see Justice arise. I see the Land redeemed! +I see the Titans of Iron, the machinery of shops, used for man! I see +the Toilers go forth to their labours and return with the product of +their toil! I see Capitalism lie prone! I see Mammonism fallen! I see +the Profit of the Many Arise! I see Freedom! I see Brotherhood! I see +the Socialist Age! I see the Commonwealth of Man! 'Tis the coming of +the Lord of Life."[1028] + +Much of the foregoing is printed in half-inch letters. At the end of +these wild utterances we read in letters an inch tall: "Rally, Rally, +Rally! Great Social Crusade! Rally, Rally, Rally!"--which unpleasantly +reminds one of the shouting butcher's insistent cry, "Buy, Buy, Buy!" +to be heard in crowded thoroughfares on Saturday nights. + +The moderate Christian Socialists cannot help opposing the most +important item in the Socialist programme. For example, "The Christian +Social Union asserts that it has not the slightest sympathy with +confiscation." In fact, "the whole question of expropriation is +tacitly ignored in the literature of Christian Socialism."[1029] "The +Christian who believes in the words: 'Take heed, and keep yourselves +from all covetousness, for a man's life consisteth not in the +abundance of the things which he possesseth,' cannot easily be a +Socialist, and a Christian minister cannot easily approve of the +spoliation of the Church."[1030] Professor Flint stated quite +correctly: "What is called Christian Socialism will always be found to +be unchristian in so far as it is socialistic, or unsocialistic in so +far as it is truly and fully Christian."[1031] + +Christian Socialist leaders urge Socialists to join the Christian +Socialist movement. "Every Socialist who understands how deeply +religion has been concerned in every movement that has ever won the +enthusiasm of men, every Socialist who realises how enormous is the +work before him, must welcome the assistance of this ancient and +imperishable organ of love and justice. And every Christian who +rejoices in the singular growth of religious zeal in recent years must +long to see all that huge force given to the service of the Humanity +which Jesus Christ has taken up into the Godhead. For the man that +loves much is a Socialist, and the man that loves most is a saint, and +every man that truly loves the brotherhood is in a state of +salvation."[1032] These words seem rather perfunctory and laboured. + +By far the largest number of Socialists regard the Christian Socialist +movement with suspicion and dislike. The philosopher of British +Socialism, Mr. Bax, for instance, wrote contemptuously: "The leaders +of the Guild of St. Matthew wish to accomplish vast changes through 'a +clarified Christianity'?--a Christianity which shall consist +apparently of the skins of dead dogmas stuffed with adulterated +Socialist ethics." A leading Socialist weekly wrote of the early +Christian Socialists: "Whether their labours were largely beneficial +depends on the way one looks at these things. We have no doubt that +for the capitalist class these labours were eminently beneficial, and +that is why Maurice and his friends are held in such great esteem by +them. For the working class, however, their labours spelt slavery, and +ought always to be remembered when similar attempts to 'Christianise' +Socialism are made by the 'servants' of the Church. Here, as in many +other things, the motto of the worker must be 'I fear the Greeks, even +when they come with gifts.'"[1033] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1028] _The Social Crusade to Herald the Message of Truth and Freedom +to this Age, conducted by Rev. J. Stitt Wilson, M.A._, November 1907. + +[1029] Woodworth, _Christian Socialism in England_, p. 161. + +[1030] _Church and Socialism_, p. 39. + +[1031] Flint, _Socialism_, p. 441. + +[1032] Dearmer, _Socialism and Christianity_, pp. 22, 23. + +[1033] _Justice_, October 19, 1907. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +SOCIALISM AND COMMUNISM + + +Socialism is not a simple but a complex movement. It contains a +powerful strain both of Communism and of Anarchism. In fact one might +almost divide all Socialists into two classes: Communist Socialists +and Anarchist Socialists. A study of the history of Socialism, +Communism, and Anarchism shows that all three movements have much in +common. It shows instances of Socialistic parties branching out and +having Communist and Anarchist offshoots, and shows instances of +Anarchist and Communist groups combining under the red banner of +Socialism. + +Owing to its intimate historical and sentimental connection with +Communism and Anarchism, Socialism is hostile to the State, and many +Socialists desire its downfall: "The expropriation of all the private +proprietors of the means of production being effected, society starts +on a new basis. The conditions of existence and of human life are +changed. The State Organisation gradually loses its foundation. The +State expires with the expiration of a ruling class, just as religion +expires when the belief in supernatural beings or supernatural +reasoning powers ceases to exist."[1034] "The first act wherein the +State appears as the real representative of the whole body social--the +seizure of the means of production in the name of society--is also its +last independent act as State. The interference of the State in social +relations becomes superfluous in one domain after another and falls of +itself into desuetude. The place of a government over persons is taken +by the administration of things and the conduct of the processes of +production. The State is not 'abolished,' it dies out."[1035] "The +representatives of the State will have disappeared along with the State +itself--ministers, parliaments, standing armies, police and +_gens-d'armes_, law courts, lawyers and public prosecutors, prisons, +rates, taxes and excises--the entire political apparatus. The great and +yet so petty parliamentary struggles have given place to administrative +colleges and administrative delegations, whose function it is to settle +the best methods of production and distribution."[1036] "The +Co-operative Commonwealth will incorporate the whole people into +society. The whole people does not want, or need, any government at +all. It simply wants administration--good administration,"[1037] + +The arguments contained in the foregoing extracts are exceedingly +shallow. The various authorities quoted tell us in more or less +involved language that the State disappears because "governments" will +be replaced by "administrations." Unconvincing verbiage apart, the +only change which would take place would be a change of name. +Countries would be ruled by Socialist governments instead of by +non-Socialist ones. The State could disappear only with the +disappearance of nations and of frontiers, with the advent of the +"Brotherhood of Man." The first Socialist State might of course +proclaim the Brotherhood of Man in accordance with the precedent set +by the French Revolution, but other nations might feel as little +inclined to join it as during the time when bloodthirsty demagogues +ruled France in the name of Liberty, Fraternity, and Equality, with +the liberal assistance of the rifle and the guillotine. + +What is Communism? John Stuart Mill tells us: "The assailants of the +principle of individual property may be divided into two +classes--those whose scheme implies absolute equality in the +distribution of the physical means of life and enjoyment, and those +who admit inequality, but grounded on some principle, or supposed +principle, of justice or general expediency, and not, like so many of +the existing social inequalities, dependent on accident alone. The +characteristic name for the former economical system is +Communism."[1038] "Palgrave's Dictionary of Political Economy" says: +"Communism is the theory which teaches that the labour and the income +of society should be distributed equally among all its members by some +constituted authority."[1039] + +Let us now take note of some Socialist views on Communism. "Laurence +Gronlund, whose 'Co-operative Commonwealth' has been styled the New +Testament of Socialism (as the 'Capital' is its Old Testament), has +tried to distinguish between Socialism and Communism by describing +Communism as meaning 'each according to his needs,' and Socialism 'each +according to his deeds.'"[1040] "As soon as the principle of equality +is applied to Socialism, Socialism becomes 'Communism.'"[1041] +"Socialism and Communism are very generally confounded, but they are +quite distinct economic systems. Socialists seek only to control the +instruments of production--Land and Capital; Communists leave nothing +to the individual which he can call his own. St. Paul was a Socialist, +Christ a Communist."[1042] + +Many so-called Socialists are in reality avowed Communists who look +forward to the introduction of Communism more than to the advent of +Socialism. They see in Socialism merely an intermediate stage towards +their final goal. "If the millennial haven of Communism is to be +reached by mankind generally, it must be through the disciplinary +portal of Socialism."[1043] "Communism, the final goal of Socialism, +is a form of Social Economy very closely akin to the principles set +forth in the Sermon on the Mount."[1044] "Socialism and freedom 'gang +thegither.' Socialism implies the inherent equality of all human +beings. It does not assume that all are alike, but only that all are +equal."[1045] "Between complete Socialism and Communism there is no +difference whatever in my mind. Communism is, in fact, the completion +of Socialism; when that ceases to be militant and becomes triumphant +it will be Communism."[1046] "The vision of freedom is an +ever-expanding conception of life and its possibilities. The slave +dreams of emancipation, the emancipated workman of citizenship; the +enfranchised citizen of Socialism; the Socialist of Communism."[1047] + +Some Socialists champion Communism because Communism, the equality of +all, is "natural," whilst individualism is "unnatural": "Capitalistic +individualism has no prototype in Nature and is therefore unnatural. +But some opponent will say, 'It is here, and therefore it must be a +natural product.' The answer is simple. It is here, but it is one of +Nature's failures. We have seen how, low down in the organic scale, +Nature makes many failures in order to achieve one success. Sometimes +even millions perish in order that one of high type may survive. +Nature always accomplishes her purposes in the end. We know that her +aim is Communism, for some of the higher species have already reached +it, and all are tending towards it."[1048] The assertion, "We know" +(who are we?) "that Nature's aim is Communism," can hardly be called a +sufficient scientific proof of the foregoing proposition. Other +Socialists assert that Communism is in accordance with the Bible: +"Christ's teaching is often said to be Socialistic. It is not +Socialistic, but it is Communistic, and Communism is the most advanced +form of the policy generally known as Socialism."[1049] + +A Socialist Bible student and very prolific writer says: "Can anything +be conceived more diametrically opposed to the principle laid down by +Christ than the present system, based as it is on the principle of +competition? 'You are all brothers,' says Christ, and if all are +brothers, then it needs no philosopher to tell us that all should work +together for the common good."[1050] In support of this doctrine that +Communism is in accordance with the Bible, the said writer quotes Acts +iv. 32-35, "And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart +and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things +which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. +Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were +possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the +things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles' feet: and +distribution was made unto every man according as he had need."[1051] +The Socialist can quote Scripture for his purpose--and misquote it +too. Therefore the pious Socialist writer leaves out the lines which +follow: "But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold +a possession, and kept back part of the price."[1052] Will there be no +Ananiases in the Socialist Commonwealth? Besides, the early Christian +Communism was voluntary and dictated only by charity. It certainly was +not enjoined as a religious duty.[1053] Lastly, the first Christian +experiment in Communism proved immediately a failure, probably because +there were many Ananiases, and because Communism is opposed to human +nature and leads to poverty and strife, not to prosperity and peace. +Hence, St. Paul founded no more Communist settlements, but collected +everywhere for the "poor saints at Jerusalem" in order to relieve them +in their "deep poverty," as may be seen in Romans xv. 26-27, 1 +Corinthians xvi. 1-3, 2 Corinthians viii. and ix. To misquote +Scripture in support of Socialist Communism with an attitude of deep +piety is not only in bad taste, but also dishonest. It is cant and +hypocrisy. + +Another prolific Socialist writer, under the title "Was Jesus a +Socialist?" tells us that Socialism "claims complete equality of +rewards for all members of society, not on any theologico-metaphysical +ground, such as the Christian abstract principle of brotherhood, but +because it sees men to have on the whole the same natural endowments, +and the same natural needs."[1054] Have they? Considered merely as +two-legged animals requiring only food, warmth, and shelter, men have +not even the same physical needs. + +It is very difficult to make out a good case in favour of Communism, +an equal reward for all, a doctrine which will be attractive only to +the lowest rank of workers, the lazy, and the inefficient. Therefore +Socialist Communists endeavour to make Communism appear more palatable +to the active and the efficient by the lavish use of poetry and +hyperbole. For instance, we learn: "He who makes the canvas is as +useful as he that paints the picture. He who cleanses the sewer and +prevents disease is as useful as the physician who cures the malady +after it has been contracted."[1055] To learn painting or medicine +requires at least ten years' study; sewer-cleaning requires no study. +The offer of equal rewards for an hour's work at painting, at +amputating in a hospital, and at cleaning sewers must be very +attractive to sewermen. Will it prove equally attractive to surgeons +and painters? Socialism is to be world-wide. Will the highly skilled +British trade unionist agree to work side by side with unskilled +Chinamen and for equal wages? + + In youth, as I lay dreaming, + I saw a country fair. + Where Plenty sheds its blessing down, + And all have equal share. + There Poverty's sad features + Are never, never, seen; + And each soul in the Brotherhood + Scorns cunning arts or mean.[1056] + +I think skilled workers will hardly hail with enthusiasm the day of +liberty and equality and of sewermen's wages all round, poetry +notwithstanding. + +Other Socialists try to recommend Communism by a ridiculous and +dishonest play upon words: "He who declares himself an enemy of +Communism declares himself an enemy of common interest, an enemy of +society and mankind. Whoever wishes to annihilate Communism will have +to destroy the common roads, the schools, he will have to destroy the +public gardens and parks, he will have to abolish the public baths, +the theatres, the waterworks, all the public buildings; he will have +to destroy the railroads, the telegraphs, the post-office. For all +these belong to Communism."[1057] It would be as logical to say, "He +who opposes Socialism will have to destroy the Royal Society, and all +clubs, for all these are social institutions." The Social-Democratic +Federation says about Communism: "Has there not always been the +aggregation of wealth in the hands of a few in all stages of human +society?--Certainly there has been a tendency to such concentration +throughout history. In what did tribal society differ from civilised +society?--Briefly, it differed in that its underlying principle was +that of social solidarity and Communism. We may instance such examples +as survived in the village communities of India before the +establishment of British institutions; in the Russian Mir, in its +older form; in the Arab tribal organisation and the Javan village +communities."[1058] That "primitive Communism" of "tribal society," +the organisation of savages and semi-savages, of the decadent and of +the unfit, Socialists wish to foist upon a highly cultured nation. The +above arguments, penned by the philosopher of British Socialism and +the editor of "Justice" in recommendation of Communism, suffice to +condemn it. + +We have a survival of ancient Communism in the Russian Mir, and to the +Mir is the great backwardness of Russian agriculture chiefly to be +attributed.[1059] The Russian peasants, recognising the disadvantages +of the Communist Mir, are gradually abandoning it and converting +common into individual properties. Nevertheless some Socialists have +the hardihood to ascribe the universal disappearance of ancient +Communism to the tyranny of man, not to the logic of facts and the +action of Nature which replaces inefficient by efficient +organisations. "There have been attempts in all ages to introduce some +system of holding things in common in order to alleviate and soften +the hard struggle with Nature for food, clothing, and shelter. This +voluntary Communism rendered the workers too independent for the +governing classes, and the jealousy of Church and State invariably +destroyed it as the Russian village communes are now being destroyed +by the Government."[1060] + +Another Socialist quotes with approval the pronouncement of Gregory +the Great "Let them know that the earth from which they spring, and of +which they are formed, belongs to all men in common, and that +therefore the fruits which the earth brings forth must belong, without +distinction, to all."[1061] China suffers from over-population and is +very poor. Would the writer give to the Chinese a share of Great +Britain's wealth since "the earth and its fruits belong without +distinction to all?" + +Mr. Keir Hardie, M.P., who has apparently a somewhat elementary +knowledge of ancient history, and who seems to rely for information on +a primer such as "Little Willie's First History Book," recommends +Communism because "In Sparta there were not only common lands, but +also a common table, whilst dogs and horses were practically common +property also. Sparta, which kept its Communism almost to the end, was +also the Republic from which came the immortal heroes who made the +pass of Thermopylae one of the great inspirations of the world."[1062] +The Spartans were barbarians among the Greeks. Spartan Communism was +founded on slavery and on the virtual community of women. +Slave-murder, child-murder, rape, and theft were legally enjoined, and +that is the community which Mr. Keir Hardie bids us consider as our +model. Mr. Keir Hardie concludes: "We have seen how mankind when left +free has always, and in all parts of the world, naturally turned to +Communism. [Has it? When, and where?] That it will do so again is the +most likely forecast of the future which can be made, and the great +industrial organisations, the Trade Unions, the Co-operative Movement, +the Friendly Orders, the Socialist organisations and the Labour party +are each and all developing the feeling of solidarity and of mutual +aid which will make the inauguration of Communism a comparatively easy +task as the natural successor to State Socialism."[1063] + +The ideas of Socialists with regard to Communism are incredibly +confused. For instance, we find in the same book the following +contradictory statements describing Socialism: "Socialism is the +common holding of the means of production and exchange, and _the +holding of them for the equal benefit of all_"[1064] (the italics are +in the original), and "To distribute the gifts of Nature justly +according to the labour done by each in the collective search for +them. This desire is Socialism."[1065] These absolutely contradictory +statements, telling us that Socialism is both individualistic and that +it is also Communistic, are taken from the fundamental book of the +Fabian Society, the most scientific body of Socialists, and they have +been reprinted again and again down to the edition bearing the imprint +"43rd Thousand." + +Socialism is eternally between the horns of a dilemma. It promises to +make all men happy. If it rewards men by results, the inefficient and +the lazy will be dissatisfied. If it rewards all men alike +(Communism), the efficient, able, and energetic will be dissatisfied. +Reward by result will, in the absence of self-regulating commercial +demand and supply, require an autocratic and absolute authority which +arbitrarily apportions the unequal rewards of labour. It would be the +tyranny of the few over the many, and would mean the abolition of +democracy. Communism, equal rewards for all, would lead to the tyranny +of the many over the few, and would stifle all motives to excel. Well +might the Fabians ask: "Since we are too dishonest for Communism +without taxation or compulsory labour, and too insubordinate to +tolerate task work under personal compulsion, how can we order the +transition so as to introduce just distribution without Communism and +maintain the incentive to labour without mastership?"[1066] +Unfortunately for the Socialists, that question is unanswerable. It is +likely always to remain so, and the impossibility of answering it +makes Socialism impossible. However, since Socialists wish to array +the masses against the classes, the poor against the rich, they +naturally incline, for tactical reasons rather than from honest +conviction, to Communism, the worst of all tyrannies, and the most +retrograde and inefficient of economic organisations. + +"Communism in proposing the appropriation of the results of the +unequally productive labour for a uniformly equal distribution +according to needs, seeks to establish a universal and monstrous +appropriation by one set of persons of the surplus value belonging to +others. Socialism would, in short, do to a far greater degree the very +thing with which to-day it so indignantly and bitterly reproaches +capitalism."[1067] Whilst Mr. Keir Hardie and his numerous followers +enthusiastically support a free Communism in which "the rule of life +will be--From each according to his ability, to each according to his +needs,"[1068] "the Fabian Society resolutely opposes all pretensions +to hamper the Socialisation of industry with equal wages, equal hours +of labour, equal official status, or equal authority for everyone. +Such conditions are not only impracticable, but incompatible with the +equality of subordination to the common interest which is fundamental +in modern Socialism."[1069] + +The Communistic idea is not yet dead. The short-sightedness and folly +of mankind is such that Communism, in spite of a record of more than +2,000 years of universal failure, is still a power to be reckoned +with. Visionaries like Saint-Simon and Owen, and madmen like Fourier, +are still able to lead the people astray. + +Fourier taught that Communism would alter not only man but the +physical world as well. The duration of the human race on earth would +be 80,000 years, divided into two periods of ascending and two of +descending vibrations. Lions would be taught to draw waggons, as a +symbol of the victory of man over Nature. Human life would on an +average last 144 years. The aurora borealis, which now rarely appears +in northern regions, would become permanently visible and be fixed at +the Pole. It would give out, not only light, as at present, but also +heat. It would decompose the sea water by the creation of citric +boreal acid and convert it into a kind of lemonade which would +dispense with the necessity of provisioning ships with fresh water. +Oranges would grow in Siberia and tame whales would pull becalmed +sailing-ships. The full indulgence of human nature in all its passions +would produce happiness and virtue. Society would harmoniously be +organised in groups (phalanxes) of 1,600 persons to inhabit a large +palace called a phalanstery. If England would introduce these +phalanxes, her labour would become so productive that she could pay +off her national debt in six months by the sale of hens' eggs. Labour +would be organised and occupation be changed every two hours. Workers +would be taken in carriages to and from their work, and agricultural +labourers would work under tents so as to be protected against the +rain. The relations between the sexes would be of the freest. All +should freely satisfy all their passions, and all passions would +naturally combine in one grand harmony. The world would become a huge +Republic which would be governed from Constantinople, and French would +be the universal language.[1070] + +Notwithstanding the evident insanity of Fourier's proposals, and the +almost equally extravagant proposals of Owen, more than a hundred +phalansteries and other Communistic settlements were founded in Great +Britain and elsewhere, especially in the United States. Their failure +was universal and their immorality was very great.[1071] "The trouble +with all the Fourierite communities was that they were fanciful and +theoretical schemes, not simple and natural growths. They had little +definite religious spirit to hold them together. They had little +business headship. At the least discouragement and misfortune they +melted away. Only religious communism, the facts seem to prove, can be +successful."[1072] Only the communism of the convent and of the +monastery, the equality of all based on a fervent religious belief, on +a firm discipline, on an equal and absolute poverty, and on the almost +insurmountable difficulty of re-entering the world, has hitherto +proved practicable from the time of the Essenes to the present day. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1034] Bebel, _Woman_, p. 178. + +[1035] Engels, _Socialism: Utopian and Scientific_, pp. 76, 77. + +[1036] Bebel, _Woman_, p. 212. + +[1037] Gronlund, _Co-operative Commonwealth_, p. 123 + +[1038] Mill, _Political Economy_, Book iii. ch. i. par. 2. + +[1039] _Palgrave's Dictionary of Political Economy_, vol. i. p. 297. + +[1040] Leatham, _Socialism and Character_, p. 89. + +[1041] Menger, _L'État Socialiste_, p. 35. + +[1042] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 93. + +[1043] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 94. + +[1044] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, p. 36. + +[1045] _Ibid._ p. 9. + +[1046] Morris, _Communism_, pp. 11, 12. + +[1047] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, p. 77. + +[1048] Connell, _Socialism and the Survival of the Fittest_, p. 19. + +[1049] Blatchford, _Real Socialism_, p. 5. + +[1050] Ward, _Are All Men Brothers?_ p. 19. + +[1051] Ward, _All Things in Common_, p. 5. + +[1052] Acts v. 1, 2. + +[1053] Acts v. 4. + +[1054] Leatham, _Was Jesus a Socialist?_ p. 5. + +[1055] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 159. + +[1056] _Clarion Song Book_, p. 27. + +[1057] Sorge, _Socialism and the Workers_, p. 8 + +[1058] Bax and Quelch, _A New Catechism of Socialism_, pp. 20, 21. + +[1059] See Simkhowitsch, _Die Feldgemeinschaft_, 1898; Haxthausen, +_Studien_, &c. + +[1060] Benson, _Socialism_, p. 4. + +[1061] Ward, _All Things in Common_, p. 1. + +[1062] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, p. 17. + +[1063] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, pp. 96, 97. + +[1064] _Fabian Essays in Socialism_, p. 212. + +[1065] _Ibid._ p. 4. + +[1066] B. Shaw, _The Impossibilities of Anarchism_, p. 17. + +[1067] Schäffle, _The Impossibility of Social Democracy_, p. 60. + +[1068] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, p. 89. + +[1069] _Report on Fabian Policy and Resolutions_, p. 7. + +[1070] See Fourier, _Oeuvres_; Pellarin, _Fourier_; Sargant, _Social +Innovators_. + +[1071] See Noyes, _History of American Socialism_; Nordhoff, +_Communistic Societies of the United States_. + +[1072] Bliss, _Encyclopedia of Social Reform_, p. 319. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +SOCIALISM AND ANARCHISM + + +Socialism is, on the whole, hostile to the State. All Socialists hate +the State as at present constituted, because it protects the property +which they wish to seize. However, many Socialists hate not only the +State in its present form. They have become doubtful whether private +capital or the State is the greater evil. They long for liberty, and +would not welcome the restraint of any State, and least of all that of +the absolute, all-regulating, and constantly interfering Socialistic +State. Hence many Socialists have become Anarchists. Socialists may be +divided into two classes--Communists and Anarchists--and Prince +Kropotkin, the foremost Anarchist leader living, described the two +Socialistic sections as follows: "A section of Socialists believes +that it is impossible to attain Socialism without sacrificing personal +liberty on the altar of the State. Another section, to which we +belong, believes, on the contrary, that it is only by the abolition of +the State, by the conquest of perfect liberty by the individual, by +free agreement, association, and absolute free federation, that we can +reach Communism."[1073] Many Socialists, seeing the enemy rather in +the State than in private capital, express their passionate hatred of +the State: "The State at present is simply a huge machine for robbing +and slave-driving the poor by brute force."[1074] "The Parliament ever +cries for more money, more money for the service of the State. Just +heavens! Of what service is the State? Of very little service to +honest, industrious men,"[1075] The philosopher of British Socialism +frankly confesses himself a revolutionary Anarchist: "As an +international revolutionist I have always been strongly sympathetic +with all movements for local autonomy as most directly tending to +destroy the modern 'nation' or centralised bureaucratic State."[1076] +"It is quite true that Socialism will have to take over the accursed +legacy of existing national frontiers from the bourgeois world-order; +but Socialism will take it over merely with the view of killing it off +and burying it at the earliest possible moment. The modern nation or +centralised State is a hideous monstrosity, the offspring of +capitalism in its various phases; in its present shape the outcome of +the developed capitalism of the great industry. We quite admit that in +form it may, and probably will, survive the earlier stage of +Socialism, but its ultimate disappearance is none the less certain. +The sentiment of the national patriotism will then, let us hope, be +reduced to its last expression--the holding of annual dinners, or some +harmless festivity of this sort, such as is affected by the natives of +certain English counties resident in the metropolis. The Nationalist +movement, therefore, is an old Radical 'plank' which clearly no longer +belongs to us as Socialists."[1077] + +The Socialist-Anarchist hates State government in every form. To him a +Social-Democratic State is quite as hateful as any other form of +government: "The State is the evil, the inveterate foe of labour--be +the Government Autocratic, Bureaucratic, or Social-Democratic. For +what, after all, is our vaunted nose-counting, majority-ridden +Democracy but an expansion of the old-time tyranny of monarch and +oligarch, inasmuch as the Governmentalist, whatever his stripe, is +doomed to act on the two root principles of statecraft--force and +fraud? And, obviously, so long as that is so, his particular profession +of political faith is almost a matter of indifference."[1078] "What +was, what is the State, wherever it exists, but a community of human +beings barbarically held together by a well-drilled gang of +magistrates, soldiers, policemen, gaolers, and hangmen?"[1079] Mr. +Blatchford, who is apparently never quite sure in his mind whether he +is a Socialist, a Communist, or an Anarchist, gives voice to his +Anarchist sentiments in the words: "Rightly or wrongly, I am opposed to +godship, kingship, lordship, priestship. Rightly or wrongly, I am +opposed to imperialism, militarism, and conquest. Rightly or wrongly, I +am for universal brotherhood and universal freedom."[1080] + +Another influential Socialist writer exclaims: "What is freedom but +the unfettered use of all the powers which God for use has +given?"[1081]--a sentiment which is heartily endorsed by all +Anarchists. However, the unfettered use of all powers means that the +will of the individual, not the will of society, is the supreme law. +It means the denial of the supremacy of society, the State, +government. Similar sentiments are expressed with greater energy and +greater fulness by many Socialist writers. Mr. Davidson, for instance, +says: "In the new order every man (woman, of course, included) will be +his own legislator. In the state of ultimate and universal freedom to +which we aspire, when the greatest of all tyrants, poverty, is slain +and plenty sits on the throne which the lean monster has so long +usurped--it may well be that there shall be no necessity for any law +except that which the purified conscience of every individual man and +woman will readily supply. Then will have come the true Golden Age, +the millennium of Christian Anarchism."[1082] + +The claims, programme, and aims of Socialism and Anarchism are +curiously alike. Prince Kropotkin, the leading exponent of Anarchism, +writes: "Anarchy appears as a constituent part of the new philosophy, +and that is why Anarchists come in contact on so many points with the +greatest thinkers and poets of the present day. In fact, it is certain +that in proportion as the human mind frees itself from ideas +inculcated by minorities of priests, military chiefs, and judges, all +striving to establish their domination, and of scientists paid to +perpetuate it, a conception of society arises, in Which conception +there is no longer room for those dominating minorities. A society +entering into possession of the social capital accumulated by the +labour of preceding generations, organises itself so as to make use of +this capital in the interests of all, and constitutes itself without +reconstituting the power of the ruling minorities. Acknowledging as a +fact the equal rights of all its members to the treasures accumulated +in the past, it no longer recognises a division between exploited and +exploiters, governed and governors, dominated and dominators, and it +seeks to establish a certain harmonious compatibility in its midst not +by subjecting all its members to an authority that is fictitiously +supposed to represent society, not by trying to establish uniformity, +but by urging all men to develop free initiative, free action, free +association."[1083] + +There is little difference between the Anarchism of Proudhon, +Bakounin, and Kropotkin, and the Socialism of many British Socialists. +The economic doctrines of Socialism and Anarchism are practically +identical. Socialism has taken the most important doctrines from +Proudhon,[1084] and, owing to the similarity of their views and aims, +Socialists and Anarchists are commingling and fraternising. Anarchists +see in Socialists a wing of the great Anarchist army of destruction, +and Socialists see in Anarchists associates and friends and partners +in the revolution and general pillage which both movements equally +strongly desire to bring about. Therefore a leading Fabian Socialist +tells us: "Kropotkin is really an advocate of free Democracy, and I +venture to suggest that he describes himself as an Anarchist rather +from the point of view of the Russian recoiling from a despotism +compared to which Democracy seems to be no government at all, than +from the point of view of the American or Englishman who is free +enough already to begin grumbling over Democracy as 'the tyranny of +the majority' and 'the coming slavery.'"[1085] If Kropotkin is a +"Democrat," then Ravachol, Vaillant, Henry, Pallas, and Bresci were +also merely Democrats. + +British Anarchists are closely watching the British Socialist Labour +movement, which they wish to lead into Anarchist channels. Thus we +learn from an Anarchist monthly: "The question of the position to be +taken in relation to the labour movement is certainly one of the +greatest importance to Anarchists. It does not suffice for us to form +groups for propaganda and for revolutionary action. We must convert as +far as possible the mass of the workers, because without them we can +neither overthrow the existing society nor reconstitute a new one. And +since to rise from the submissive state in which the great majority of +the proletarians now vegetate to a conception of Anarchism and a desire +for its realisation, is required an evolution which generally is not +passed through under the sole influence of the propaganda; since the +lessons derived from the facts of daily life are more efficacious than +all doctrinaire preaching, it is for us to take an active part in the +life of the masses and to use all the means which circumstances permit +to gradually awaken the spirit of revolt, and to show by these facts +the path which leads to emancipation. Amongst these means the Labour +movement stands first, and we should be wrong to neglect it. In this +movement we find numbers of workers who struggle for the amelioration +of their conditions. They may be mistaken as to the aim they have in +view and as to the means of attaining it, and in our view they +generally are. But at least they no longer resign themselves to +oppression nor regard it as just--they hope and they struggle. We can +more easily arouse in them that feeling of solidarity towards their +exploited fellow-workers and of hatred against exploitation, which must +lead to a definitive struggle for the abolition of all domination of +man over man."[1086] Anarchists therefore constantly try to influence +the British Socialist Labour movement. When, for instance, in the +autumn of 1907 the possibility of a railway strike was being discussed, +Anarchists did their best to bring about a revolutionary struggle: "The +railway crisis must have shown very clearly that if the men had but the +will, they have the power to bring about at any time a revolutionary +situation in the struggle of labour against capital. Some day they will +have to do this, for the conditions of the conflict will leave them no +choice. They will perhaps learn also that the glorification of a man +like Bell--whose fooling of their cause is his method of +advertisement--means putting powers into one man's hands that no man +ought to possess. Nothing could be more absurd than the prolongation of +this 'crisis' which has been done so that one man might have the centre +of the stage, while hundreds of thousands of men toil on in suspense. +Bell is everything: the workers are mere cyphers. Yet this man is +mistrusted by many; and everyone knows how on occasion he can join the +feast of the directors and be one of them. And if generalship were +needed, what an ass this would be to attempt to lead the men to +victory! Successful strikes are never made by the farcical tactics of a +Bell. Recognition, forsooth! They'll recognise you when you strike. +Workers, watch your leaders!"[1087] + +In view of the connection existing between British Socialism and +Anarchism, it is but natural that Socialists have become the +apologists of Anarchism. "The vulgar notion that Anarchism is a +synonym for disorder is as nearly as possible the reverse of the +truth. It is Governments and Laws that do all the mischief. They +produce the very evils they pretend to remedy."[1088] "Verily the +State is the evil. Back to the land. Back to the simple life. Away +with Governments, palavers, Dumas, and Courts of Law. Long live the +Commune."[1089] + +Anarchists contend that the "Social Revolution" for which most +Socialists strive will become an Anarchist revolution: "If the workers +succeed by revolt in destroying the mutual insurance society of +landlords, bankers, priests, judges, and soldiers; if the people +become masters of their destiny for a few months, and lay hands on the +riches they have created and which belong to them by right--will they +really begin to reconstitute that blood-sucker, the State[1090]?" "On +the day when ancient institutions splinter into fragments before the +axe of the proletariat, voices will be heard shouting: Bread for all! +Lodging for all! Right for all to the comforts of life! And these +voices will be heeded. The people will say to themselves: Let us +begin by satisfying our thirst for the life, the joy, the liberty we +have never known. And when all have tasted happiness we will set to +work; the work of demolishing the last vestiges of middle-class rule, +with its account-book morality, its philosophy of debit and credit, +its institutions of mine and thine. 'While we throw down we shall be +building' as Proudhon said, 'we shall build in the name of Communism +and of Anarchy."[1091] Anarchists are authorities on revolutions. Very +likely Prince Kropotkin's view is right. + +There are two kinds of Anarchists: Philosophic Anarchists who +propagate their views by speech and pen, and Anarchists of action who +propagate their views by dynamite and dagger, and the former are +responsible for the crimes of the latter. Many British Socialists +defend not only philosophic Anarchism, but also that form of Anarchism +which finds its expression in murder. + +Leading British Socialists refer, for instance, to the four +Anarchists, Spies, Fischer, Engel, and Parsons, the heroes of the +Chicago bomb outrage, who were responsible for the death of six +policemen and for the wounding of about sixty, and who were hanged in +November 1886 in Chicago, as "martyrs,"[1092] and British Socialists +are urged to follow the glorious footsteps of the Chicago Anarchists: + + Then on to revolution, boys! Keep Freedom's highway broad. + The path where Spies and Parsons fell--as fearlessly they trod; + And though we fall as they fell--millions follow on the road, + To carry the Red Flag to victory.[1093] + +The sympathy which British Socialists feel for the Chicago Anarchists +arises from the similarity of their aims. The programme of the +American Anarchists was, according to the Pittsburg proclamation, as +follows: + +(1) Destruction of the existing class rule, by all means, _i.e._ by +energetic, relentless, revolutionary, and international action. (2) +Establishment of a free Society based upon co-operative organisation +of production. (3) Free exchange of equivalent products by and between +the productive organisations without commerce and profit-mongery. (4) +Organisation of education on a secular, scientific, and equal basis +for both sexes. (5) Equal rights for all without distinction of sex or +race. (6) Regulation of all public affairs by free contracts between +the autonomous (independent) communes and associations resting on a +federalists basis.[1094] + +The attitude of many leading British Socialists towards the murdering +of monarchs and statesmen may be gauged from the following extracts: +"On the occasion of the assassination of any potentate or statesman, +the public opinion of the possessing class and its organs is lashed up +to a white heat of artificial fury and indignation against the +perpetrator, while they have nothing but approbation for the +functionary--military or civil--who puts to death a fellow-creature in +the course of what they are pleased to call his duty. Evidently force +and bloodshed, when contrary to the interests of the possessing class, +is a monstrous crime, but when it is in their favour it becomes a duty +and a necessity."[1095] "We believe the 'potting' of the 'heads' of +States to be a foolish and reprehensible policy, but the matter does +not concern us as Socialists. We have our own quarrel with the +Anarchists, both as to principles and tactics, but that is no reason +why, as certain persons seem to think, we should put on sackcloth and +ashes, and dissolve ourselves in tears because, say, M. Carnot or the +head of any other State has been assassinated by Anarchists. What is +Carnot to us or we to Carnot, that we should weep for him? We do not +specially desire the death of political personages, while we often +regret their slaying on grounds of expediency, if on no others. But at +the same time Socialists have no sentimental tears to waste over the +heads of States and their misfortunes. To the Socialist the head of a +State, as such, is simply a figure-head to whose fate he is +indifferent--a ninepin representing the current political and social +order."[1096] + + We're low, we're low, we're very very low. + And yet when the trumpets ring. + The thrust of a poor man's arm will go + Through the heart of the proudest king.[1097] + +The "Socialist Annual" contains in its calendar pages numerous items +under the heading "For the Working Class to Remember," which is +filled with Socialist dates such as "birth of Mr. Blatchford," and +with the records of the most conspicuous Anarchist, Nihilist, and +Revolutionary crimes. Details regarding the deeds of Orsini and +Louise Michel, Jack Cade and Wat Tyler, the execution of Louis XVI. +and Marie Antoinette, the assassination of Presidents Lincoln, +McKinley, and Carnot, the attempt on King Alfonso, and other facts +are there recorded--"for the working class to remember." Earlier or +later the Socialist-Communist-Anarchist agitation in Great Britain +may, and very likely will, lead to Anarchist outrages. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1073] Prince Kropotkin, _Anarchism_, p. 16. + +[1074] B. Shaw, _The Impossibilities of Anarchism_, p. 24. + +[1075] Davidson, _The Democrat's Address_, p. 15. + +[1076] Bax, _Paris Commune_, p. 35. + +[1077] Bax, _Essays in Socialism_, pp. 98, 99. + +[1078] Davidson, _Christ, State, and Commune_, pp. 16, 17. + +[1079] _Ibid._ p. 6. + +[1080] Blatchford, _God and My Neighbour_, p. 195. + +[1081] Thompson, _That Blessed Word Liberty_, p. 13. + +[1082] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 172. + +[1083] Kropotkin, _Anarchism_, p. 8. + +[1084] Brockhaus, _Konversations Lexikon_, vol. i. p. 578. + +[1085] Shaw, _The Impossibilities of Anarchism_, p. 26. + +[1086] _Freedom_, November 1907. + +[1087] _Freedom_, November 1907. + +[1088] Davidson, _Christ, State, and Commune_, p. 22. + +[1089] _Ibid._ p. 31. + +[1090] Kropotkin, _Anarchism_, p. 19. + +[1091] Kropotkin, _The Wage System_, p. 15. + +[1092] See Leatham, _Lives of the Chicago Martyrs_. + +[1093] _Social-Democratic Federation Song Book_, p. 35. + +[1094] Bliss, _Encyclopedia of Social Reform_, p. 63. + +[1095] Bax and Quelch, _A New Catechism of Socialism_, p. 31. + +[1096] Bax, _A Short History of the Paris Commune_, p. 78. + +[1097] _Independent Labour Party Song Book_, p. 33. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +SOCIALISM AND REVOLUTION + + +The "Socialist Catechism" contains the following passage: "Q. How are +forms of government changed so as to readjust them to the economical +changes in the forms of production which have been silently evolving +in the body of society? A. By means of revolution.--Q. Give an +instance of this? A. The French Revolution of 1789."[1098] + +Many British Socialists are revolutionaries. They hope to introduce +Socialism into Great Britain by revolutionary means. They have studied +the French revolutions, and have become pupils of the French +revolutionary leaders. "Socialism is essentially revolutionary, +politically and economically, as it aims at the complete overthrow of +existing economic and political conditions. We should organise and be +prepared for what might be described as a revolutionary outbreak. The +economic changes which are taking place, and the corresponding changes +in other conditions, are bringing about a revolutionary transformation +in human society, and what we have to do is to help on this +development, and to prepare the way for it."[1099] "We Socialists are +not reformers; we are revolutionists. We Socialists do not propose to +change forms. We care nothing for forms. We want a change of the +inside of the mechanism of society; let the form take care of +itself."[1100] British Socialism was founded by revolutionary +Communists. Marx was a revolutionary. "For a number of years the late +William Morris, the greatest man whom the Socialist movement has yet +claimed in this country, held and openly preached this doctrine of +cataclysmic upheaval and sudden overthrow of the ruling +classes."[1101] That idea has been revived by modern British +Socialists, many of whom believe that "The only effective way to +induce the ruling class to attempt to palliate the evils of their +system is to organise the workers for the overthrow of that +system."[1102] "In the International Socialist movement we are at last +in the presence of a force which is gathering unto itself the rebel +spirits of all lands and uniting them into a mighty host to do battle, +not for the triumph of a sect, or of a race, but for the overthrow of +a system which has filled the world with want and woe. 'Workers of the +world, unite!' wrote Karl Marx; 'you have a world to win and nothing +to lose but your chains.' And they are uniting under the crimson +banner of a world-embracing principle which knows nor sect, nor creed, +nor race, and which offers new life and hope to all created +beings--the glorious gospel of Socialism."[1103] + +In many respects the French Revolution has served as a model to +British Socialists of the Anarchist-Revolutionary type. They have +adopted its outward emblems, its songs, and its most effective +catch-phrases: "Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity was the brave and +splendid legend inscribed on the blood-red banners of the French +Revolutionists. And in strange ways the oppressed and hunger-maddened +people sought to realise their ideal. It is still the battle-cry of +the English Socialists--indeed, of the world-wide Socialist +movement."[1104] In the Socialist song-books a translation of the +"Marseillaise" is to be found, which is sung at Socialist gatherings: + + Shall hateful tyrants, mischief-breeding, + With hireling hosts, a ruffian band, + Affright and desolate the land, + While Peace and Liberty lie bleeding? + To arms! to arms, ye brave! + The avenging sword unsheathe! + March on! March on! all hearts resolved + On Liberty or death.[1105] + +In the eyes of many British Socialists the French Revolution was not +sufficiently democratic, not sufficiently radical, not sufficiently +violent. We are told that the French revolutionaries were soft-hearted +men, and that our sympathy with their innocent victims, such as Queen +Marie Antoinette, is quite uncalled for. "The Revolution was in its +conception, its inception, and its results a middle-class revolution. +The revolution was inaugurated by the Parliament of Paris--a +pettifogging legal assembly. Marie Antoinette was but one fine useless +woman among the millions, and she personified the heedless prodigal +selfishness of autocracy. We of the Socialist movement, who are full +of the idea of social service, of making a full return to society for +the bread we eat, the clothes we wear out, and the house-room we +occupy, how can we be expected to think so much of the suffering of +one idle extravagant woman and so little of the age-long privation and +torture of the hard-working useful mothers and sisters of France? The +crimes of ignorant, passionate democracy, of which Burke and Carlyle +have made so much, are as a drop in the ocean by comparison with the +deliberate enormities perpetrated by enlightened cold-blooded +autocracy, from Herod to Nicholas. The democracy has always been +pitiful, extremely pitiful. Even the September massacres, carried out +by the lowest of the low in an enraged and degraded and +terror-stricken populace, are brightened by golden patches of clemency +and love such as the annals of class punishment nowhere reveal."[1106] + +The outbreak of the Paris Commune of 1871, having been less a +"middle-class" revolution, is considered by Socialists with greater +approval than the French Revolution of 1789. The philosopher of +British Socialism writes: "The Commune of Paris is the one event which +Socialists throughout the world have agreed with single accord to +celebrate. Every 18th of March witnesses thousands of gatherings +throughout the civilised world to commemorate the (alas! only +temporary) victory of organised Socialist aspiration over the forces +of property and privilege in 1871."[1107] Another leading Socialist +writer says: "Year by year as the 18th of March comes round, it is the +custom with Socialists to commemorate the proclamation of the Commune +of Paris. As a Socialist I am a friend of the Commune."[1108] + +What was the Paris Commune, and what did it do? In the words of an +impartial publication, "The Communard chiefs were revolutionaries of +every sect, who, disagreeing on governmental and economic principles, +were united in their vague but perpetual hostility to the existing +order of things. History has rarely known a more unpatriotic crime +than that of the insurrection of the Commune."[1109] "The Commune was +an insurrection which initiated a series of terrible outrages by the +murder of the two generals Lecomte and Thomas.... The incapacity and +mutual hatred of their chiefs rendered all organisation and durable +resistance impossible.... The Communists were committing the most +horrible excesses: the Archbishop of Paris, President Bonjean, +priests, magistrates, journalists, and private individuals, whom they +had seized as hostages, were shot in batches in prisons, and a scheme +of destruction was ruthlessly carried into effect by men and women +with cases of petroleum. The Hôtel de Ville, the Palais de Justice, +the Tuileries, the Ministry of Finance, the Palace of the Legion of +Honour, that of the Council of State, part of the Rue de Rivoli, &c., +were ravaged by the flames; barrels of gunpowder were placed in Notre +Dame and the Pantheon ready to blow up the buildings, and the whole +city would have been involved in ruin if the national troops had not +gained a last and crowning victory."[1110] + +Socialists have nothing but praise for the Communards, who killed and +burned, desecrated the churches and devastated the town. They speak +with enthusiasm of the leaders of that outbreak as of heroes who +fought for the "Brotherhood of Man," and they exalt them above the +saints of early Christianity. The philosopher of British Socialism +exclaims: "Limitless courage and contempt of death was displayed in +defence of an ideal, the colossal proportions of which dwarf +everything in history, and which alone suffices to redeem the +sordidness of the nineteenth century. Here was a heroism in the face +of which the much-belauded Christian martyrs cut a very poor +figure."[1111] "It was in the Commune that we saw manifested as never +before the strong compelling force of a secular altruism. Without hope +of heaven and without fear of hell, men lived and died for the idea of +a brotherhood of self-governing and self-respecting men and +women."[1112] + +Even the murderous Paris Commune was too moderate for the taste of +many British Socialists, who favour sterner measures. The philosopher +of British Socialism informs us; "The Commune had one special fault, +that of a fatuous moderation in all its doings. Probably never since +history began have any body of men allowed themselves and theirs to be +treated as lambs in the slaughterhouse with more lamb-like forbearance +and absence of retaliation than the Commune and its adherents; we have +seen this illustrated by the incredible fact that up to the last, amid +all the slaughterings of Communists, the vast majority of the hostages +and prisoners in its hands remained unscathed."[1113] "One of the most +unfortunate characteristics of the leaders of the Commune was their +sensitiveness to bourgeois public opinion. The first thing for the +leader of a revolutionary movement to learn is a healthy contempt for +the official public opinion of the 'civilised world.' He must +resolutely harden his heart against its 'thrills of horror,' its +'indignation,' its 'abomination,' and its 'detestation,' and he must +learn to smile at all the names it will liberally shower upon him and +his cause."[1114] + +Whilst the revolutionary criminals who ruled by murder and arson were +heroes and martyrs, the defenders of law and order were criminals +according to British Socialists: "The thirst of the well-to-do classes +for the blood of the Communards was insatiable. The latter were tried +and shot in batches."[1115] "The Communards, desperate as they were, +only faintly imitated the wholesale savagery of the regular +troops."[1116] Peaceful M. Thiers, being at the head of the +government, was "probably the cleverest, most hypocritical, and most +unscrupulous villain that ever denied the pages of history."[1117] + +Although Socialists pose as democrats, they do not believe in majority +government.[1118] Being aware that they will hardly be able to gain +over the majority of the people to their revolutionary and visionary +plans, they may, like the Paris Commune, try to force Socialism upon +an unwilling majority. Therefore the attempt of the Parisian +Socialists to overrule France is not condemned but regretted by the +British Socialists: "The revolt was open to the objection that may be +urged against most insurrections. It was an attempt to impose the will +of a minority on a large majority of the people. The Socialists in the +Commune must have realised at times that the people of France were not +prepared for even the small instalments of Socialism which they sought +to introduce. The revolutionists may have thought to impose their +policy upon France by a mere _coup de main_."[1119] + +The attitude of Socialists makes it appear possible that the +revolutionary outbreak of 1871 will not be the last. The next +revolutionary attempt may conceivably take place in Great Britain. +"One man with an idea in his head is in danger of being considered a +madman; two men with the same idea in common may be foolish, but can +hardly be mad; ten men sharing an idea begin to act; a hundred draw +attention as fanatics, a thousand and society begins to tremble, a +hundred thousand and there is war abroad."[1120] "Whilst our backers +at the polls are counted by tens, we must continue to crawl and drudge +and lecture as best we can. When they are counted by hundreds, we can +permeate and trim and compromise. When they rise to tens of thousands, +we shall take the field as an independent party. Give us hundreds of +thousands, as you can if you try hard enough, and we will ride the +whirlwind and direct the storm."[1121] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1098] Joynes, _A Socialist Catechism_, p. 13. + +[1099] Bax and Quelch, _A New Catechism of Socialism_, p. 37. + +[1100] De Leon, _Reform or Revolution_, p. 3. + +[1101] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, p. 23. + +[1102] _Socialist Standard_, October 1, 1907. + +[1103] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, p. 86. + +[1104] Ethel Snowden, _The Woman Socialist_, p. 10. + +[1105] _Independent Labour Party Song Book_, p. 20. + +[1106] Leatham, _French Revolution_, pp. 13, 14. + +[1107] Bax, _Paris Commune_, Preface. + +[1108] Leatham, _The Commune of Paris_, p. 3. + +[1109] _Encyclopćdia Britannica_, vol. xxviii. p. 480. + +[1110] _Encyclopćdia Britannica_, vol. xviii. p. 294. + +[1111] Bax, _Paris Commune_, p. 59. + +[1112] Leatham, _The Commune of Paris_, p. 18. + +[1113] Bax, _Paris Commune_, p. 74. + +[1114] _Ibid._ p. 88. + +[1115] Leatham, _The Commune of Paris_, p. 13. + +[1116] _Ibid._ p. 19. + +[1117] Bax, _Paris Commune_, p. 86. + +[1118] See Chapters XV. and XXX. _ante._ + +[1119] Leatham, _The Commune of Paris_, p. 15. + +[1120] Morris, _Art, Labour, and Socialism_, p. 24. + +[1121] Shaw, _The Fabian Society and its Early History_, p. 28. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +STATE SOCIALISM + + +Most Socialist agitators in Great Britain oppose and condemn State +Socialism for two reasons: firstly, because, owing to their Communist +and Anarchist leanings, they oppose and hate the State as such, as has +been shown in the Chapters on "Socialism and Communism," "Socialism +and Anarchism," "Socialism and Revolution"; secondly, because with the +introduction of State Socialism their occupation would be gone. +Socialist agitators do not wish others to govern the State. They wish +to govern it themselves. The welfare of the masses is to them +apparently only a secondary consideration. Hence most British +Socialist agitators condemn the State Socialism of Germany, though it +has greatly benefited the masses, and perhaps because it has greatly +benefited the masses. They also condemn the British Post Office, +although, being not overburdened with scruples, they praise it to the +skies as a Socialistic model institution when it happens to suit them. +In fact, most Socialist leaders condemn all existing Government +institutions, ostensibly because they are capitalistic enterprises +which are run at a "profit," and because they "exploit" their workers. +It would of course be fatal to the Socialist agitators had they to +preach the gospel of envy and hatred, of destruction and pillage, to +the contented. + +"The State of to-day, nationally and locally, is only the agent of the +possessing class."[1122] "Mere nationalisation or mere municipalisation +of any industry is not Socialism or Collectivism; it may be only the +substitution of corporate for private administration; the social idea +and purpose with which Collectivism is concerned may be completely +absent."[1123] "Mere Statification, as we may term it, does not mean +Socialism. The State of to-day is mainly an agent of the possessing +classes, and industrial or commercial undertakings run to-day by +Governmental bodies are largely run in the interests of these classes. +Their aim in all cases is to show a profit, in the same way as ordinary +capitalistic enterprises. This profit accrues to the possessing classes +in the form of relief of imperial or local taxation, mainly paid by +them, interests on loans, &c. In other words, these industrial +undertakings are run for profit and not for use, and their employees +are little, if at all, better off than those of private +employers."[1124] "The modern State is but the organisation which +capitalist society gives itself in order to maintain the external +conditions of capitalist production against the attacks both of the +workmen and of individual capitalists. The modern State, whatever its +form, is essentially a capitalist machine."[1125] "State administration +is very far from being the same as a Socialistic administration, as is +sometimes erroneously supposed. The State administration is just as +much a system of capitalistic exploitation as if the institutions in +question were in the hands of private undertakers."[1126] "A +bureaucracy--that is, a body of permanent officials, entrenched in +Government departments, according to whose piping ministers themselves +have willingly or unwillingly to dance--is totally incompatible with +the very elementary conditions of Socialistic administration."[1127] +"Bismarckian State control is brusque and baneful, and is certainly +not the desire of the true Socialist."[1128] + +"State ownership, State tyranny, State interference exist to-day. We +have to bear them now; we have to submit to them now; we have to pay +for them now. The people, as such, own nothing. And the Socialists +demand that the people shall own everything. Not the 'State,' the +'People.' So great is the difference between the word 'State' and the +word 'people.'"[1129] "Do you propose that all these means of +production which are now owned by individuals, by this class, as you +say, should be made the property of the Government, like the Post +Office and the telegraph system are in this country, and the railways +as well in some others, or that they should be owned by municipal +bodies, as waterworks, tramways, gasworks, and so on, are in many +cases already?--No. Socialism does not mean mere Governmental +ownership or management. The State of to-day, nationally or locally, +is only the agent of the possessing class; the Post Office and the +other State-owned businesses are run for profit just as other +businesses are; and the Government, as the agent of the possessing +class, has, in the interests of its employers, to treat the employees +just as other employees are treated. The organised democratic society +contemplated by Socialists is a very different thing from the class +State of to-day. When society is organised for the control of its own +business, and has acquired the possession of its own means of +production, its officers will not be the agents of a class, and +production will be carried on for the use of all and not for the +profit of a few."[1130] "The Post Office to-day is an organised +sweating-den. The Government get the largest possible amount of work +for the lowest possible wages. That is capitalist wage-slavery under +Government control."[1131] "The country postman has to walk excessive +distances for miserable wages in order that the profit on the Post +Office may be filched from the employees and from the public by the +Chancellor of the Exchequer."[1132] + +The Fabians, on the other hand, advocate State Socialism, but they are +a small minority. "The Socialism advocated by the Fabian Society is +State Socialism exclusively."[1133] Some Socialists would welcome +State Socialism in the hope that it would prepare the way for free +Communism. Mr. Keir Hardie, for instance, says: "State Socialism with +all its drawbacks, and these I frankly admit, will prepare the way for +free Communism, in which the rule, not merely the law of the State, +but the rule of life will be--From each according to his ability, to +each according to his needs."[1134] + +"Socialists only believe in the fraternal State. Paternal State +Socialism all Socialists unanimously oppose."[1135] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1122] Bax and Quelch, _A New Catechism of Socialism_, p. 8. + +[1123] Ball, _The Moral Aspects of Socialism_, p. 9. + +[1124] Bax, _Essays in Socialism_, p. 7. + +[1125] Engels, _Development of Socialism from Utopia to Science_, p. +71. + +[1126] Bebel, _Woman_, pp. 198, 199. + +[1127] Bax, _Essays in Socialism_, p. 9. + +[1128] Ben Tillett, _Trades Unionism and Socialism_, p. 14. + +[1129] _Clarion_, October 18, 1907. + +[1130] Bax and Quelch, _A New Catechism of Socialism_, pp. 8, 9. + +[1131] Hyndman, _Social-Democracy_, p. 22. + +[1132] _Fabian Election Manifesto_, 1892, p. 3. + +[1133] _Report on Fabian Policy_, 1896, p. 5. + +[1134] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, p. 89. + +[1135] Bliss, _Encyclopedia of Social Reform_, p. 1262. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +THE SOCIALIST ORGANISATIONS: THEIR MUTUAL RELATIONS AND THEIR POLICY + + +The Social-Democratic Federation is the most honest and +straightforward of the various Socialist organisations. Its aims are +revolutionary, as the following statement proves: + +"The Social-Democratic Federation is a militant Socialist organisation +whose members--men and women--belong almost entirely to the working +classes. Its object is the realisation of Socialism--the emancipation +of the working class from its present subjection to the capitalist +class. The means by which it seeks to attain that end are: agitation, +education, and the organisation of the working class into a +class-conscious political party--that is, a party clearly conscious of +the present position of the workers as a subject class, in consequence +of all the means of production being owned and controlled by another +class, and clearly conscious of its duty and mission to free them from +that position by the conquest of all the powers of the State, and by +making all the means of production collective common property, to be +used for the benefit of all instead of for the profit of a class. To +this end the Social-Democratic Federation proclaims and preaches the +class war."[1136] + +"According to the report for the year ending March 1907 it has 186 +branches and affiliated societies. One of its members sits in +Parliament as a member of the Labour party, and about 120 are members +of various local bodies. Its gross income and expenditure through, out +the country is estimated at _15,500l._ It has a weekly paper, +'Justice,' and a monthly magazine, 'The Social-Democrat.'[1137] "In +its own estimation "Justice" is "the most respected of Socialist +newspapers."[1138] + +The various Socialist organisations do not love each other. The Fabian +Society caustically remarks: "The Federation runs a newspaper called +'Justice' which has not hitherto been worth a penny to any man whose +pence are so scarce as a labourer's, and which has made repeated +attacks on the ordinary working-class organisations without whose +co-operation Socialists can at present do nothing except cry in the +wilderness. The branches are expected to sell this paper at their +meetings."[1139] "The Social-Democratic Federation is virtually the +oldest Socialist society and is certainly the most conservative. It +was founded as the Democratic Federation about 1880, and adopted its +present name in 1884. Mr. H.M. Hyndman, its most prominent member, +imported its doctrines--which were of German origin--and the S.D.F. +(as it is familiarly called) has ever since endeavoured to maintain an +unshaken faith in all the teachings of Karl Marx. In fact, the S.D.F. +changes its doctrines not with the times, but a dozen years or so +after; so that it is always rather out of touch with the actualities +of politics and attracts the type of mind that prefers clear-cut +principles to practical political progress."[1140] + +Other Socialist organisations which are less straightforward than the +Social-Democratic Federation hide their identity and object under +misleading titles. The Independent Labour Party, for instance, is a +purely Socialist party notwithstanding its name. "Its object is, an +Industrial Commonwealth founded upon the Socialisation of land and +capital. Its methods are the education of the community in the +principles of Socialism; the industrial and political organisation of +the workers; the independent representation of Socialist principles on +all elective bodies."[1141] "No one will find much difference in the +programmes of the Social-Democratic Federation and the Independent +Labour Party."[1142] "The Independent Labour Party, commonly called +the I.L.P., which must be carefully distinguished from the Labour +party, is much the largest, and politically the most important, +Socialist organisation. It was founded at Bradford in 1892, by Mr. +Keir Hardie, M.P., and others, and it has from the first advocated +Socialism of the English type and endeavoured to work in harmony with +trade unionists. The Labour party is mainly due to its initiative, and +through its members in trade unions it largely controls the policy of +the party. In August 1907 it had over 700 branches, of which 155 had +been formed in the preceding six months. Its operations have recently +expanded with extraordinary rapidity, its central office expenditure +for the years ending February 28 having been _955l._ in 1905, +_1,817l._ in 1906, and _3,552l._ in 1907. It does a very large +business in the publication and sale of pamphlets and books, and has a +weekly paper, "The Labour Leader." At the general election of 1906, +eighteen of its members were returned to Parliament, all belonging to +the Labour party, and two more have since been elected, one for the +Labour party, and one, Mr. Victor Grayson, as an independent +Socialist. Over five hundred of its members sit on town councils and +other local bodies. The total membership is estimated at 40,000, and +its income and expenditure at perhaps _100,000l._"[1143] "The +Independent Labour Party was formed in January 1893. As years have +passed the Independent Labour Party has steadily strengthened its +programme, until it is to-day entirely Socialist, but it has not quite +got rid of the strain of opportunism, at elections its independence +being more in evidence in its name than in its conduct."[1144] + +Wishing to secure Socialist and non-Socialist adherents, and +masquerading as a Liberal Labour party, the attitude of the +Independent Labour Party is not a straightforward one. One of its +competitors states: "The Independent Labour Party has continued its +policy of bargain-making with capitalist politicians. The leaders at +times call themselves Socialists, and at other times protest against +frightening their supporters by introducing the word into resolutions. +At the general election, Mr. Ramsay Macdonald at Leicester, and Mr. +James Parker at Halifax, were amongst the candidates who entered into +compacts with the Liberals. At the Amsterdam International Congress +they voted for a resolution extolling the 'tried and victorious policy +based on the class war,' and on their return to England referred to +the class war as a 'shibboleth' and as a 'reactionary and Whiggish +precept, certain to lead the movement away from the real aims of +Socialism.'"[1145] + +The Fabian Society is the least open and the least straightforward +Socialist organisation. Ostensibly it adopted its curious name because +"for the right moment you must wait, as Fabius did most patiently when +warring against Hannibal, though many censured his delays; but when +the time comes you must strike hard as Fabius did, or your waiting +will be in vain, and fruitless."[1146] In reality the misleading title +was probably adopted because the Fabian Society habitually and on +principle sails under a false flag, wishing not to arouse suspicion as +to its objects. + +The object of the small but powerful Fabian Society is a peculiar one: +"Founded on a small scale in 1884 and actually the oldest of the three +great Socialist organisations, the Fabian Society has never aimed at a +large membership or endeavoured to become a political party. Its work +has been mainly educational, its endeavour to translate the principles +of Socialism into practical politics suited to English conditions. +From the first it refused to accept Marxian teaching. The Fabian +Society is not a political body, in that it allows its members +complete freedom to adopt any method of carrying out the principles +they profess. Hence its members in Parliament belong to the Liberal or +the Labour party, and they sit as Progressives on London local bodies. +The Society is mainly middle-class, and the majority of its members +belong to London, where fortnightly meetings are held for the +discussion of Socialism. Its great force lies in the ability of many +of its members, some of whom, Mr. Bernard Shaw, the dramatist; Mr. +Sidney Webb, the political writer; Sir Sydney Olivier, now Governor of +Jamaica, have belonged to it from the start; whilst others, such as +Mr. H.G. Wells and the Rev. R.J. Campbell, are more recent recruits. +Recently it has greatly increased its membership, now nearly 2,000, +and has formed substantial branches in the Universities and in many +large towns. Eleven of its members sit in Parliament."[1147] + +"The chief object to which the Society devotes its resources is the +education of the people in political, economic, and social subjects. +To effect this purpose it must in the first place educate itself by +the discussion of those problems which from time to time appear ripe +for solution. Its members therefore undertake the study of such +problems, and lay the results before the Society, where they are +considered from various points of view. Finally the conclusions +adopted and generally approved by the members are published, usually +in penny tracts, and by this means made available for the information +of all. The Society further endeavours to promote social amelioration +by the dissemination of information about existing institutions, in +order that better use may be made of the powers already possessed by +local administrative authorities, now too often neglectful of their +obligations. The same ends are sought to be attained by means of +circulating libraries supplied to Working-men's Clubs, Co-operative +Societies, Trade Unions, and similar bodies, and by the publication of +lists of best books on social and political subjects. The Society also +at times engages trained lecturers to give courses of lectures during +the winter months on social politics to working-class and other +organisations. The members of the Society who control its policy are +Socialists; that is to say, are committed to the theory of the +probable direction of economic evolution which is now often called +Collectivism."[1148] + +"The object of the Fabian Society is to persuade the English people to +make their political constitution thoroughly democratic, and so to +socialise their industries as to make the livelihood of the people +entirely independent of private Capitalism. The Fabian Society +endeavours to pursue its Socialist and Democratic objects with complete +singleness of aim. For example: It has no distinctive opinions on the +Marriage Question, Religion, Art, abstract Economics, historic +Evolution, Currency, or any other subject than its own special business +of practical Democracy and Socialism. It brings all the pressure and +persuasion in its power to bear on existing forces, caring nothing by +what name any party calls itself, or what principles, Socialist or +other, it professes, but having regard solely to the tendency of its +actions supporting those which make for Socialism and Democracy and +opposing those which are reactionary. It does not propose that the +practical steps towards Social Democracy should be carried out by +itself, or by any other specially organised society or party. It does +not ask the English people to join the Fabian Society. The Fabian +Society does not claim to be the people of England, or even the +Socialist party, and therefore does not seek direct political +representation by putting forward Fabian candidates at elections. But +it loses no opportunity of influencing elections and inducing +constituencies to select Socialists as their candidates."[1149] + +"The Fabian Society, far from holding aloof from other bodies, urges +its members to lose no opportunity of joining them and permeating them +with Fabian ideas as far as possible."[1150] "The typical Fabian is an +uncompromising Socialist and Democrat; but he holds aloof from no +association that can possibly be induced to push in his direction. +Instead of wasting time in forming new sects, he tries to inoculate +with his Socialism the existing organisations--the political clubs, +the caucuses, the trade unions, the Press, the co-operative societies, +and the rival party leaders."[1151] + +Whilst the other Socialist organisations rely chiefly on direct +driving force, the Fabian Society relies chiefly on subtle, indirect +action and on intrigue. One of its most prominent men boasted: "In +1888 it only cost us twenty-eight postcards, written by twenty-eight +members, to convince the newly-born 'Star' newspaper that London was +aflame with Fabian Socialism."[1152] "Our policy has been to try to +induce some of these regular papers to give a column or two to +Socialism, calling it by what name they please. And I have no +hesitation in saying that the effect of this policy as shown in the +'Manchester Sunday Chronicle,' the 'Star,' the London 'Daily +Chronicle,' and other more exclusively working-class papers, notably +the 'Clarion,' has done more for the cause than all the time and money +that has been wasted on 'Justice' since the 'Star' was founded. Our +mission is to Socialise the Press as we hope to Socialise Parliament +and the other estates of the realm, not to run the Press +ourselves."[1153] + +Owing to these peculiar methods, by which they secured the support of +many people who did not know they were Socialists, the Fabians have +been very successful in their policy: "In 1888 we had not been found +out even by the 'Star.' The Liberal party was too much preoccupied +over Mr. O'Brien's breeches and the Parnell Commission, with its +dramatic climax in the suicide of the forger Pigott, to suspect that +the liveliness of the extreme left of the Radical wing in London meant +anything but the usual humbug about working-class interests. We urged +our members to join the Liberal and Radical Associations of their +districts, or if they preferred it, the Conservative Associations. We +told them to become members of the nearest Radical club and +co-operative store and to get delegated to the Metropolitan Radical +Federation and the Liberal and Radical Union if possible. On these +bodies we made speeches and moved resolutions, or better still, got +the Parliamentary candidate for the constituency to move them, and +secured reports and encouraging little articles for him in the 'Star.' +We permeated the party organisations and pulled all the wires we +could lay our hands on with our utmost adroitness and energy; and we +succeeded so far that in 1888 we gained the solid advantage of a +Progressive majority, full of ideas that would never have come into +their heads had not the Fabian put them there, on the first London +County Council. The generalship of this movement was undertaken +chiefly by Sidney Webb, who played such bewildering conjuring tricks +with the Liberal thimbles and the Fabian peas that to this day both +the Liberals and the sectarian Socialists stand aghast at him."[1154] +Fabians rely for their success chiefly on their artfulness. "Always +remember that, even if you cannot convert a man to Socialism, you may +get his vote all the same."[1155] + +Fabian middle-class Socialism differs from the democratic Socialism of +the larger Socialist organisations which appeal to the working class: +"The Socialism advocated by the Fabian Society is State Socialism +exclusively."[1156] "We have never advanced the smallest pretensions +to represent the working classes of this country."[1157] Therefore the +Fabians are very cordially hated by the Democratic Socialists. The +Social-Democratic Federation blames them for their "cynical +opportunism."[1158] Another organisation declares: "The Fabian Society +poses as a Socialist organisation, for we are told that this Society +'consists of Socialists.' It is indeed composed of middle-class men +who naturally deny the class struggle, profess to believe in +permeating the capitalist class with Socialism, and hold that the +tendency of society is towards government by the expert-Fabianism +therefore tends towards the rule of the bureaucrats or that section +of the educated middle-class. The Fabians are the cult of the civil +service and are Socialists neither in name nor in fact."[1159] + +Let us now consider the genesis and character of the great Labour +party. + +Formerly Socialists and trade unionists marched and fought apart. +However, "On the 27th February, 1900, a joint Socialist and Trade +Union Conference met in the Memorial Hall, London. One hundred and +seventeen delegates were present representing sixty-seven Trade +Unions, seven representing the Independent Labour Party, four the +Social-Democratic Federation, one the Fabian Society. The result was +the formation of the Labour Representation Committee,"[1160] +simultaneously representing trade unions and Socialists. "At the +General Election of 1906, the Labour Representation Committee ran +fifty candidates for Parliament and returned thirty. That year its +name was changed to the Labour Party."[1161] The Labour party +therefore unites trade unionists and Socialists. The Fabian Society +and the Independent Labour party have joined it. Only the +Social-Democratic Federation has so far kept aloof from it. + +The Labour party, being chiefly composed of trade unionists, is fond +of posing as a non-Socialist party. It is true that "Mr. Keir Hardie, +the Labour leader, said they did not want Toryism, Liberalism, or +Socialism, only Labourism, but the same Keir Hardie sits as a delegate +on the International Socialist Bureau."[1162] "Many of the Labour +members in Parliament are avowed Socialists. The working-class +movement already is largely a Socialist movement, and is in continual +process of becoming more so. With the speculative side of Socialism +the average man with us has but small concern; it is its common-sense +which appeals to him. By inherited instinct we are all Communists at +heart."[1163] + +"The Labour party, which now has thirty-one members in the House of +Commons, is not purely Socialist, but twenty-three or twenty-four of +its M.P.s, and nearly all its elected executive, are Socialists. It +has no official programme; but in view of its membership its policy is +and must be Socialist. This is not because the majority rules. It is +because the Socialist section has a policy and the non-Socialist +section approves of that policy so far as it can be translated into +Bills or resolutions to be laid before Parliament. There is no +anti-Socialism in the Labour party. There is far more difference +between sections of Liberals or Conservatives than there is between +Socialist and non-Socialist Labour men. All these bodies are working +more or less together for the same great ends."[1164] The connection +between organised Labour and organised Socialism is further +illustrated by the important letters printed on pages 141-143 of this +book. + +The demands and semi-official programme of the Labour party are +practically identical with those of avowed Socialists, as may be seen +from the following statement of its Secretary: + +"We are in favour of the special taxation of land values, of a minimum +income-tax on earned incomes, and a super-tax on a graded scale on all +incomes over, say, _1,000l._ This is described as robbing the rich. +That does not express either the purpose or the spirit of the Labour +party however. We call it--securing for the public values created by +the public. Our critics, if they are to have any effect on intelligent +public opinion, must understand this cardinal point in our creed, this +axiom in our programme-making. We do not regard taxation as a taking +by the State of property which belongs to other people, but the +appropriation of property which ought to belong to itself. This theory +of taxation goes very far, and its full application involves the +complete destruction of parasitic classes. It can only be applied +slowly, but as people get clearly to understand that socially-created +values should be socially-owned values, many of our most recondite +problems, like overcrowding, waste-lands, high rating, will be in a +fair way to settlement."[1165] + +The foregoing shows that the Labour party, like the most predatory +Socialist, wishes to tax all private capital out of existence. "The +Labour party is not as yet a purely Socialist organisation, because +any attempt to make it such would disrupt it."[1166] However, its rank +and file are rapidly being permeated with Socialism. + +The following table shows the composition of the Labour party and its +numerical strength and growth: + +"GROWTH OF THE LABOUR PARTY + + Trades Union Socialist + Membership Membership Total + 1900-1 353,070 22,861 375,931 + 1901-2 455,450 13,861 169,311 + 1902-3 847,315 13,835 861,150 + 1903-4 956,025 13,775 969,800 + 1904-5 885,270 14,730 900,000 + 1905-6 904,496 16,784 921,280 + 1906-7 975,182 20,885 *998,338 + +*This total includes 2,271 co-operators"[1167] + +Apparently only one-fiftieth of the members of the Labour party are +Socialists, but in reality their proportion is very much larger, +because only a few working men with Socialistic leanings have actually +joined a Socialist party. "When the daily Press states that out of a +million affiliated members of the Labour party there are only 17,000 +Socialists, its readers naturally inquire, 'How then is it that there +are at least twenty Socialists among its thirty M.P.s?' The reply is +that as the trade union candidates were elected by the ballot of the +members of their respective societies, it must be supposed that those +candidates with Socialist views were the most acceptable to the +majority of members. This situation was strikingly reflected in the +results of the election of 1906. The votes cast for declared +Socialists account for 232,378, or 70 per cent. of the total Labour +Representation Committee poll of 331,280, whilst of the whole Labour +poll, comprising that of the L.R.C., Scottish workers, miners, trades +union group, and Socialists, the votes for declared Socialists +accounted for 274,631 out of 530,643, or nearly 52 per cent."[1168] +"The Labour party is not a Socialist party yet, but those who possess +an ear for the great changes now taking place in the depths of the +nation will understand that the Labour party is going to be a +Socialist party one day."[1169] + +It seems likely that the more or less Socialist Labour party in +Parliament will soon absorb practically the whole trade union group. +"Of the eighteen miners' representatives in the House of Commons +fifteen are in the trade union group. In October 1907, at the +Conference of the Federated Miners' Associations, a resolution was +adopted declaring that the time had come for joining the Labour party +and ordering a ballot of the whole Federation area to be taken. It is +practically a foregone conclusion that the proposal will be carried, +in which case the fifteen miners' representatives now sitting on the +Ministerial benches will cross the House and practically double the +effective power of the Labour party as against the Government. The +trade union group will then practically cease to exist. The railway +servants have decided that all their candidates at the next election +must join the Labour party. Therefore Richard Bell must sign the +constitution of the Labour party or retire in favour of someone who +will. Of the remaining seven members of the group W.C. Steadman is the +only recognised leader of trade unionism."[1170] + +Apart from the larger Socialist parties described in the foregoing, +there are two smaller organisations composed of revolutionary +Socialists of the most violent type, whose Socialism is a misnomer for +Anarchism. They are "The Socialist Party of Great Britain" domiciled +in London, and "The Socialist Labour Party" (an American importation), +domiciled in Edinburgh. Their programmes, as those of the other +Socialist organisations, will be found in the Appendix. + +The numerous Socialistic organisations mentioned in this Chapter +oppose and fight one another. Many Socialists recommend that a united +Socialist party should be formed, but it is clear to all who are +acquainted with the inner history of British Socialism that "the vital +differences that exist among Socialist parties as to tactics--as to +the way to attain Socialism--cannot be glossed over by a few +expressions of brotherly love."[1171] The Socialists are divided among +themselves, and the rivalry and enmity between some of the sections is +deep-seated and bitter. Nominally they differ with regard to the +policy to be pursued, but in reality their differences seem to be +rather of a personal nature. Socialist leaders, though they have the +words "democracy," "freedom," "liberty," and "love" constantly on +their lips, are apt to be very autocratic as soon as their sphere of +political influence is threatened by competition, and as soon as their +private property, their political capital which they have created, is +threatened with "socialisation." The men who so glibly recommend the +world-wide brotherhood of man, and the socialisation and co-operation +of the world, cannot even co-operate among themselves although they +pursue the identical immediate aim: the plunder of the well-to-do. It +is an old experience that revolutionaries always end in cutting one +another's throats. + +Some Socialist groups have been formed owing to very peculiar and very +unsavoury circumstances. A comparatively innocent though +psychologically highly interesting and characteristic Socialist new +formation has recently occurred in that ally of the Socialists, the +Women's Social and Political Union. "In September 1907 a bombshell was +thrown into the camp of the Women's Social and Political Union by the +extraordinary action of Mrs. Pankhurst, who, as 'the founder,' +announced that she had discharged the Executive Committee of the +Union."[1172] In the words of an opponent: "Mrs. Pankhurst tore up the +constitution, robbed the branches and members of all control over the +National Committee, abolished the annual conference, and elected +herself and a few personal friends as an autocratic permanent +committee answerable to no one in the world and to sit at her +pleasure."[1173] The consequence of this personal squabble among +leaders for supremacy was of course the splitting up of the party, and +the aggrieved ladies formed a new party, the "Women's Freedom League." + +Socialists never tire of declaiming against competition, and of +praising co-operation. At present there are two "competitive" Women's +Freedom societies. If they continue pushing the identical article of +agitation, all custom will go to the larger party. Therefore we may +expect that, unless the breach is healed, the two parties will agree +to differ "on the basic principles of women's freedom" and will +recommend slightly different political mixtures. + +The example of France, Germany, and other countries shows that the +jealousy and envy of leaders and party tyranny is nowhere greater than +among Socialists. It will not be easy for British Socialists to found +a united party, especially as it is more difficult to create unity +among individualistic Englishmen, who are by their nature impatient of +restraint, than among Frenchmen and Germans, who are more used to +co-operation and who through their military training have learned the +necessity of discipline and the duty of obedience. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1136] Quelch, _The Social-Democratic Federation_, p. 3. + +[1137] _Reformers' Year Book_, 1908, pp. 74, 75. + +[1138] _Annual Report, Social-Democratic Federation Conference 1906_, +p. 2. + +[1139] Shaw, _The Fabian Society_, p. 23. + +[1140] The Secretary of the Fabian Society in _Daily Mail Year Book_, +1908, p. 72. + +[1141] _Reformers' Year Book_, 1906, p. 73. + +[1142] _Report of the Twenty-sixth Annual Conference, +Social-Democratic Federation, 1906_, p. 1. + +[1143] _Reformers' Year Book, 1908_, p. 73; _Daily Mail Year Book, +1908_, p. 72. + +[1144] _Annual Report, Social-Democratic Federation Conference, 1906_, +p. 3. + +[1145] _Manifesto of the Socialist Party of Great Britain_, p. 2. + +[1146] _Capital and Land_, Motto. + +[1147] Secretary of Fabian Society in _Daily Mail Year Book, 1908_, p. +72. + +[1148] Official Circular: _The Fabian Society_. + +[1149] _Report on Fabian Policy_, 1896, p. 3. + +[1150] _Ibid._ p. 4. + +[1151] _Scottish Leader_, September 4, 1890, reprinted by Fabian +Society and issued in form of a leaflet. + +[1152] Shaw, _The Fabian Society_, p. 26. + +[1153] _Ibid._ p. 24. + +[1154] Shaw, _The Fabian Society_, pp. 18, 19. + +[1155] _How to Lose and How to Win an Election_, p. 1. + +[1156] _Report on Fabian Policy_, 1896, p. 5. + +[1157] Shaw, _The Fabian Society_, p. 23. + +[1158] _Annual Report, Social-Democratic Federation Conference, 1906_, +p. 2. + +[1159] _Manifesto, Socialist Party of Great Britain_, p. 11. + +[1160] Macdonald, _Socialism_, p. 52. + +[1161] _Ibid._ p. 53. + +[1162] _Manifesto, Socialist Party of Great Britain_, p. 13. + +[1163] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, pp. 33, 34. + +[1164] Secretary, Fabian Society, in _Daily Mail Year Book_, 1908, p. +73. + +[1165] R. Macdonald, M.P., in _Daily Mail Year Book_, 1908, p. 109. + +[1166] _Manifesto, Socialist Party of Great Britain_, p. 3. + +[1167] _Reformers' Year Book_, 1908, p. 8. + +[1168] _Reformers' Year Book_, 1907, p. 51. + +[1169] _Social-Democrat_, October 1907, p. 607. + +[1170] _Reformers' Year Book_, 1908, p. 23. + +[1171] _Socialist_, December 1907. + +[1172] _Independent Labour Party Year Book_, 1908, p. 28. + +[1173] _Forward_, November 23, 1907. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +THE GROWTH AND DANGER OF BRITISH SOCIALISM + + +Up to a recent date the Socialists in Great Britain had neither power +nor influence. Whilst Germany, France, and other countries had large +Socialist parties, British Socialism was practically unrepresented in +Parliament. Many Englishmen thought that the free British democracies +did not offer a soil favourable to the growth of Socialism, whilst +many Socialist leaders believed that England possessed ideal +conditions for effecting a social revolution because no other country +contains, proportionally, so large a propertyless proletariat as +England.[1174] In view of the large number of propertyless people in +Great Britain and the nervous restlessness of the race since it has +become a race of town-dwellers we cannot wonder at the rapid growth of +British Socialism, and we must look forward to its further increase. + +The following most interesting table gives a picture of the growth of +the Socialist vote in the three most Socialistic countries on the +Continent of Europe, and in Great Britain. It shows that Socialism has +apparently passed the zenith on the Continent of Europe, but that it +has not yet reached maturity in Great Britain. + + "GERMANY + Members of + Votes Parliament + 1867 30,000 8 + 1878 437,158 9 + 1887 763,123 11 + 1890 1,427,298 35 + 1893 1,876,738 44 + 1896 2,107,076 57 + 1903 3,010,472 81 + 1907 3,258,968 43 + + GREAT BRITAIN + Members of + Votes Parliament + + 1895 46,000 0 + 1900* 65,000 2 + 1906* 335,000 30 + + FRANCE + Members of + Votes Parliament + + 1887 47,000 19 + 1889 120,000 9 + 1893 440,000 49 + 1898 790,000 50 + 1902 805,000 48 + 1906 896,000 52 + + BELGIUM + Members of + Votes Parliament + + 1894 320,000 32 + 1900 344,000 33 + 1902 467,000 34 + 1904 463,967 28 + 1906 469,094 30 + + *This is the vote of the Labour party candidates, + not all of whom were Socialists."[1175] + +A glance at the above table shows that the Socialist vote in Great +Britain is as yet insignificant by comparison with other countries, +and it seems likely to increase very greatly. More than a third of the +Australian House of Representatives and Senate consists of Socialists. +May not proportionately as large a Socialist party arise in Great +Britain, especially as no political party can outbid the Socialists? +The Socialist danger is probably greater in Great Britain than it is +in France, Germany, or Belgium. In those countries a vast body of +freehold peasants exists who are absolutely opposed to revolutionary +schemes. Besides, owing to the fact that the majority of Continental +workers have a substantial stake in the country, either in the form of +land, houses, or other property, Continental Socialism is +comparatively moderate, whilst it is violent, Anarchistic, and +revolutionary in Great Britain, where the majority of workers possess +far less property than the majority of French, German, and Belgian +workers. The German Socialists, since Germany's unity, have gone the +way of Lassalle, the patriot Socialist. "They have ceased to denounce +the churches. From a necessary evil or a mere stop-gap, the present +State has become to them gradually, and perhaps unconsciously, their +own State."[1176] It is true that the Socialist vote is ten times +larger in Germany than in Great Britain. Nevertheless the danger of +Socialist troubles of the very gravest kind is perhaps greater in +England than in Germany, especially as unemployment is far greater in +Great Britain than in Germany.[1177] It seems that Great Britain will +pass through bad industrial times, and it should not be forgotten that +the French Revolutions of 1789 and of 1848 were made by unemployed +workmen upon whom Socialist and Communistic doctrines had taken a firm +hold; that the distress caused by the siege of Paris led to the rising +of the Commune in 1871; that between 1837 and 1848 the Chartist +movement in Great Britain rose and declined in almost exact +correspondence with the variations in the economic distress of the +people. + +The present aspect of Great Britain resembles the aspect of +pre-Revolution France, owing to the unequal distribution of property. +"Almost three-quarters of the soil of France belonged to the nobility +and the clergy, or to 350,000 people. The whole of the rest of the +nation possessed less than one-third of the soil."[1178] The absence +of a sturdy property-owning lower middle-class, the disappearance of +the yeomen, is a source of instability and weakness to Great Britain. +Vast numbers of British workers live from hand to mouth. They are +being inflamed by Socialist agitators against the wealthy, and they +are being promised an equal share in the whole wealth of the nation. +In case of very acute distress, either through purely economic causes +or through a war with a strong naval power, which might lead to +starvation in a country which is absolutely dependent on foreign +countries for its food, a revolutionary outbreak in the overgrown +towns of Great Britain seems by no means impossible. The revolutionary +centre of the world may conceivably move from Paris to London. + +The Socialists in Great Britain may not always remain a chaotic +multitude led by rival agitators who fight and intrigue against one +another. Socialists believe: "So soon as Socialism becomes popular, +great statesmen and philosophers will arise and take their stand boldly +with the people in their fight for industrial freedom."[1179] There are +more than 2,000,000 trade unionists in Great Britain, and Socialism is +spreading rapidly among them. "Already the working-class movement is +largely a Socialistic movement and is in continual process of becoming +more so."[1180] The political character of the trade unionists is +changing owing to the influence of Socialism and of the new unions. +"The differences between the 'old' and 'new' unions are becoming more +and more accentuated. The former adhere to the 'No politics' cry, +_i.e._ no working-class politics, and still pin their faith to the +Liberal or even Tory party; while the latter, like their Continental +comrades, understand that their emancipation can only be achieved by +means of political action as a class."[1181] "It is not possible for +the working-class movement to dissociate itself from the Socialists, or +from Socialism, because Socialism, however vaguely the fact may yet be +recognised, is as essentially the political expression of that movement +as Toryism was the political expression of landlordism and Liberalism +is that of the bourgeoisie. In other words, there can be no +working-class movement as such without Socialism."[1182] "It is true +that the present Parliamentary Labour party is committed to +independence on 'Labour questions only,' but no one has yet defined +what is a 'Labour question,' and still less has anyone attempted to +show what political questions are not labour questions."[1183] The +letters printed on pages 141-143 of this book show that Socialism and +Labour are commingling. + +Socialism and Socialist influence have grown far more rapidly in Great +Britain than is generally known. Their growth can be gauged not so +much by the result of the General Election of 1906, and of some +startling by-election results, as by the reports of the Socialist +societies, and especially by the sale of their literature. Therefore +the following facts indicating the growth of British Socialism should +prove to be of considerable interest. + +The Independent Labour Party reported at its yearly meeting held at +Derby on April 1 and 2, 1907: + +"No department of our activities has been more encouraging in its work +this year than that of literature. Last year our literature sales +amounted to _1,200l._, which was _600l._ more than the previous twelve +months. This year they amount to _2,830l._, or _1,600l._ more than +last year. The sales of books and pamphlets are nearly double that of +last year. This is a magnificent result. Many branches have +established literature stalls in the markets or public streets of +their towns, and have met with much success. The fruits of this +propaganda are certain, and will be reaped sooner or later by the +branches concerned. The income is larger than has been the case in any +former year, and amounts to the sum of _6,064l. 12s._, as against +_1,884l. 7s. 9d._ for last year. The excess of assets over liabilities +amounts to _3,729l. 2s. 5d._, as against _1,511l._ last year. The +financial position of the party is thus becoming increasingly solid +and stable."[1184] + +Since the time when that report was given, the Independent Labour +Party has continued its rapid growth, as may be seen from the +following "Facts of Progress" recently published by that party. "At +the time of the Fifteenth Annual Conference of the Independent Labour +Party, held at Derby at Easter 1907, there were then in existence 545 +branches of the party. Now (November 1907), there are 709 branches. +Gain in seven months, 164 branches. There are few Parliamentary +constituencies in the United Kingdom without branches, and it is hoped +before the present year to make even these omissions good. There are +now six branches of the Independent Labour Party in Ireland, and more +to follow. The Independent Labour Party has now 845 of its members on +local governing bodies, endeavouring to put into operation locally the +principles for which the party stands. During the summer nearly 2,000 +meetings have been held each week throughout the country. Twenty-two +special organisers have been at work for this last six months."[1185] + +The latest reports of the other Socialist Societies give a picture of +a similarly great activity, and of a similarly rapid growth. + +It is true that the funds of the Socialist organisations are +comparatively small, but it must not be forgotten that "1,000 men who +subscribe _1d._ are stronger in the poll than one man who subscribes +_1,000l._"[1186] Besides, the Independent Labour Party has since 1893 +spent more than _250,000l._ for purposes of propaganda. That is a +large sum to be spent in agitation. Furthermore, it is significant +that many Socialist pamphlets and books have been sold in more than a +hundred thousand copies, and a few even in more than a million +copies. The Socialist periodicals have a considerable circulation. +"The circulation of the 'Clarion' alone is 74,000."[1187] + +The danger of British Socialism lies not only in its rapid increase +among the workers, but also in the fact that it is making converts +among the large class of people who possess no settled conviction of +their own, and who are easily carried away by a plausible catch-phrase. +The persons who count are the multitude of loose thinkers who are +drifting towards Socialism without knowing it. "Politicians who have no +suspicion that they are Socialists are advocating further instalments +of Socialism with a recklessness of indirect results which scandalises +the conscious Social-Democrat."[1188] "Year by year more legislation is +proposed of which the effect is to draw upon the earnings of the +efficient for the benefit of the inefficient. Year by year Parliament +makes life harder for those whose labour benefits the State and easier +for those who are a drag upon it."[1189] "There is in fact no definite +and declared Socialist party in the present House of Commons, and yet +what may be called the spirit of Socialism pervades the whole House to +a greater extent than in any previous Parliament."[1190] For instance, +Mr. Rutherford, M.P., in an anti-Socialistic speech brought forward a +"Democratic Tory Programme" which, in the words of a Socialist +periodical, was "cribbed almost bodily from the Socialist programme. He +advocated among other reforms-nationalisation of the railways, State +provision of work for the unemployed, payment of Members, manhood and +womanhood suffrage, the suppression of adulteration, town planning on +the German system, crime to be treated as a disease, compulsory closing +of slums, taxation of site values, and State powers to purchase any +site at the price on the rate-book, a national system of insurance +against accident and sickness, feeding and clothing poor children, free +opening of secondary schools and universities."[1191] In giving +prominence to this "anti-Socialist" speech the "Labour Leader" +sarcastically remarked: "The items do not, of course, take us quite as +far as we Socialists would go; but they are fairly good to be going on +with. Ours is to once again cordially welcome Mr. Rutherford as +champion against Socialism."[1192] + +A further danger consists in this, that many Socialists in Parliament +and out of it like to sail under a false flag, in accordance with the +tactics usually employed by the Fabian Society (see _ante_, Chapter +XXXIII). Socialist publications inform us: "Among Socialists who stood +and were elected as official Liberals are P. Alden, Clement Edwards, +and L.G. Chiozza Money."[1193] "Many Liberals, like Mr. Chiozza Money, +Mr. Masterman, Mr. J.M. Robertson, not to speak of the Liberal-Labour +group, are committed to Socialist or semi-Socialist legislation. Many +Liberal newspapers, we cannot fairly deny, are avowedly on the side of +Socialism. The Liberal rank and file are also in the majority of +instances quite favourable to the general principles of +municipalisation and Labour legislation. Above all, as has so often +been predicted by us, the two political camps of landlordism and +capitalism are bound to combine together against Socialism, and they +can only do so effectively under the Imperialist, Tariff Reform, +anti-Land Reform, and anti-Municipalisation flags. The Liberal party +cannot attempt single-handed to withstand us."[1194] Socialism often +poses as Liberalism and is accepted as such by the unwary. + +A further danger of British Socialism lies in the fact that it leads +to the deterioration of the national character. "The strength of every +community must finally depend on the character of the individuals who +compose it. If they are self-reliant, energetic, and dutiful, the +community will be strong; if, on the contrary, they have been taught +to rely upon others rather than on themselves, to take life easily and +to avoid unpleasant duties, then the community will be weak. Teach men +that they owe no duty to their families, no duty to their country, and +that their only responsibility is to humanity at large, and they will +quickly begin to think and act as if they had no responsibility to +anyone but themselves."[1195] "Many workmen are being ruined morally +and materially by Socialistic doctrines, because directly a man +becomes imbued with the idea that he is not receiving full recompense +for his labours he thinks himself justified in doing as little as he +can for his employer. The consequence is that his labour, which is to +him his stock-in-trade, depreciates in value and when business +slackens down he is one of the first to get the 'sack.'"[1196] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1174] See Karl Marx, _Capital_; Yorke, _Secret History of the +International_; Stegmann und Hugo, _Handbuch_, p. 177; Kautsky, +_Social Revolution_. + +[1175] Macdonald, _Socialism_, pp. 125, 126. + +[1176] _Encyclopćdia Britannica_, vol. xxxii. p. 666. + +[1177] Ellis Barker, _Modern Germany_, p. 546. + +[1178] Block, _Dictionnaire Général_, vol. ii. p. 822. + +[1179] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, p. 8. + +[1180] _Ibid._ p. 34. + +[1181] Aveling, _Working-Class Movement in England_, p. 40. + +[1182] _The Socialist Annual_, 1907, p. 38. + +[1183] _Ibid._ p. 39. + +[1184] _Independent Labour Party Annual Report Conference_, pp. 10, +12, 9. + +[1185] _Labour Leader_, November 29, 1907. + +[1186] _Reformers' Year Book_, 1906, p. 80. + +[1187] _Clarion_, December 20, 1907. + +[1188] _Fabian Essays in Socialism_, p. 188. + +[1189] Lord Balfour of Burleigh in the _Times_, October 3, 1907. + +[1190] Cox, _Socialism_, p. 7. + +[1191] _Labour Leader_, October 18, 1907. + +[1192] _Ibid._ + +[1193] _Reformers' Year Book_, 1907, p. 58. + +[1194] _Labour Leader_, October 11, 1907. + +[1195] Cox, _Socialism_, p. 20. + +[1196] Daw, _Socialism Unmasked_, p. 7. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +HOW THE PROGRESS OF SOCIALISM MAY BE CHECKED + + +What can be done to check the growth of Socialism? Some most +interesting statistics supplied by the German Social-Democratic party +will furnish the best reply to that question. An analysis of the +electorate of Magdeburg and Bremen, two typical commercial and +industrial towns, gave the following result: + + +COMPOSITION OF ELECTORATE + + Magdeburg Bremen + Numbers Per cent. Numbers Per cent. + 1. Capitalists 4,491 = 8.08 5,085 = 8.34 + 2. High officials 559 = 1.06 197 = 0.32 + 3. Medium officials 2,304 = 4.35 615 = 1.01 + 4. Lower officials 4,364 = 7.75 3,567 = 5.85 + 5. Professional men 1,422 = 2.55 1,047 = 1.72 + 6. Newer middle-class 3,924 = 7.06 4,882 = 8.01 + 7. Independent artisans 3,704 = 6.67 5,196 = 8.53 + 8. Bakers and grocers 932 = 1.57 1,124 = 1.84 + 9. Older middle-class 2,787 = 5.01 4,074 = 6.68 +10. Clerks and bookkeepers 3,121 = 5.62 5,247 = 8.61 +11. Working men in State and + municipal employment 1,424 = 2.55 1,415 = 2.32 +12. Working men in privateer + employment 26,423 = 47.73 28,573 = 46.77 + ------ ----- ------ ----- + 55,563 = 100 60,962 = 100[1197] + +Commenting upon the foregoing table, a German Socialist periodical +wrote: "An analytical comparison of the electorate of Hamburg and +Bremen reveals an extraordinary similarity in its social composition. +It shows that the workers form hardly a majority of the population. +They can be victorious only when they march hand in hand with +professional men, the lower officials, and the newer middle-class. +However, not all working men are Socialists. At the last election +3,000 working men in Magdeburg, and 2,500 working men in Bremen, voted +against Social-Democracy. The patriotic anti-Socialist working-men's +associations are rapidly increasing their membership. A thousand +workmen, one-third of the whole occupied at the Krupp-Gruson Works in +Magdeburg, have joined the anti-Socialist working-men's associations. +The 'working-men's associations for fighting Social-Democracy' have +grown in a surprising fashion."[1198] + +The lower middle-class forms the strongest bulwark against the +progress of Socialism, and Socialists know it. The philosopher of +British Socialism, for instance, wrote: "The proletariat proper, the +class which bears the future Socialist world in its womb, by no means +at present everywhere outweighs, numerically, all other classes. On +the contrary, so far as I am aware, this is only the case in Great +Britain and some of the North American States, and even in these +countries the majority is not large. The bulk of the non-proletarian +sections of the democracy are by no means proletarian or +Social-Democratic, even in their instincts, let alone Socialistic in +their convictions. The predominating, or at all events most +influential, elements in the non-proletarian democracy are what, for +brevity, I have rather loosely termed the clerk and the shopkeeping +class: in other words, they who are, or hope to become, small +capitalists, the small middle-class. This last section of the 'people' +or the democracy is, as such, the most formidable, because the most +subtle, enemy with which the Socialist movement has to contend. The +aim of the small capitalist, and of him who hopes to become one, is +security and free play under the most advantageous conditions for his +small capital to operate. On this account the little bourgeois, the +small middle-class in its various sections, is the great obstacle +which will have to be suppressed before we can hope to see even the +inauguration of a consciously Socialist policy. It must be destroyed +or materially crippled as a class before real progress can be +made."[1199] + +Whilst many Socialists wish to destroy the lower middle-class, others, +especially the Fabians, endeavour to convert it to Socialism, and to +set it on against the wealthy. They argue: "The commercial clerk with +his reading, his writing, his arithmetic, and his shorthand is a +proletarian, and a very miserable proletarian, only needing to be +awakened from his poor little superstition of shabby gentility to take +his vote from the Tories and hand it over to us. The small tradesmen +and ratepayers who are now allying themselves with the Duke of +Westminster in a desperate and unavailing struggle--against the rising +rates entailed by the eight hours day and standard wages for all +public servants, besides great extensions of corporate activity in +providing accommodation and education at the public expense, must +sooner or later see that their interest lies in making common cause +with the workers to throw the burden of taxation directly on to +unearned incomes."[1200] "It only needs one evening's intelligent +discussion of this monstrous state of affairs to make a beginning of a +really sensible and independent organisation of the middle classes for +their own defence and for their escape from between the two millstones +of organised Labour and organised Plutocracy, which are at present +grinding the last penny in the pound out of them."[1201] It is +estimated that there are in England 500,000 clerks.[1202] With the +object of permeating this large section of the middle class with +Socialism, a new monthly paper, the "Clerk," has recently been started +under Fabian auspices. + +Socialism is undermining the lower middle-class, and it is +unconsciously being assisted in this policy by short-sighted +anti-capitalistic Parliamentary legislation, which, as usual, hits +hardest the smaller capitalists. If Great Britain wishes to erect a dam +against the rising tide of Socialism, she must strengthen the lower +middle-class in town and country by well-devised legislation, and she +should before all re-create her peasantry. Great Britain should +encourage the accumulation of small capitals by encouraging thrift. At +present thrift is discouraged by the difficulty which small savers +experience in obtaining satisfactory investments. The low interest of +2-3/4 per cent. paid by the British savings-banks--Continental +savings-banks give 4 per cent.--is quite inadequate; and the British +Company Laws are so bad and sound investments so scarce that the small +investor who wants a higher return than 2-3/4 per cent. is almost +certain to lose his money if he buys stocks or shares. Leasehold +investments are very unsatisfactory, because the object bought +automatically reverts to the landlord, and small freehold properties +are as a rule unobtainable under the present system of land-holding. +Therefore the first and most important step to encourage thrift should +be to enable the small saver to invest his savings profitably and +securely in land and houses where it is under his own control. +Co-operation also should be encouraged. Co-operative banking, which is +highly developed in Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, but almost +unknown in Great Britain, would at the same time greatly benefit the +small investor and the small _bonâ-fide_ borrower. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1197] _Die Neue Gesellschaft_, September 1907, p. 325. + +[1198] _Die Neue Gesellschaft_, September 1907, pp. 325, 326. + +[1199] Bax, _Essays in Socialism_, pp. 40, 41. + +[1200] Shaw, _The Fabian Society_, p. 26. + +[1201] _New Age_, November 1907, p. 23. + +[1202] _Clerk_, January 1908. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +IS SOCIALISM POSSIBLE?--A GLANCE INTO THE SOCIALIST STATE OF THE +FUTURE + + +The realisation of Socialism, the creation of a Socialistic +commonwealth in which private property does not exist, seems +impossible. Socialists entirely leave out of their calculations two +elementary factors: + + +NATURE, AND HUMAN NATURE + +A State devoid of private property is an unthinkable proposition. +Private property is not a fortuitous creation, but a natural growth. +It is founded not merely upon law, but upon immemorial custom which +owes its rise to a fundamental human instinct, an instinct which has +been a characteristic of the human race in all countries, and which is +as old as humanity itself. The instinct of acquisition, of +accumulation, and of property is common to all men from Central Africa +to the poles. It is equally strongly developed in the most civilised +nations and among savages. + +However, supposing that the instinct of acquisition, of accumulation, +and of property, which is found not only among all races of mankind +but even among the higher animals, could be overcome, would human +nature allow of the creation of a co-operative commonwealth based on +voluntary co-operation, not on compulsion? Could the brotherhood of +man be made a reality, and would men co-operate without strife in that +mutual friendship and good-fellowship which one finds but rarely, +even among those who are connected by the closest ties of affection +and blood relationship, unless self-interest acts as the determining +factor? Did not Plato found his ideal commonwealth upon perfectly wise +and virtuous men? "Does not Socialist society presuppose extraordinary +human beings, real angels, as regards unselfishness and gentleness, +joy of work and intelligence? Is not the Social Revolution, with the +present brutal and egoistical race of men, bound to become the signal +for desolating struggles for the booty or for general idleness in +which it would go to ruin?"[1203] + +"Who is more ready to tilt against society than the average Socialist? +And if the individuals in it are so deeply imbued with a double dose +of original sin as not to be able to handle any part of distribution +and exchange, it follows that you cannot trust the individual."[1204] +"In a social State you must consider two things--man and his +surroundings. You often forget man, because you think it easier to +alter his surroundings. The real question is: Can you produce men fit +for the new social State?"[1205] + +"Socialism postulates an intelligent democracy."[1206] "The +proletariat will require high intelligence, strong discipline, perfect +organisation of its great masses. We may expect that it will only +succeed when it will have developed these qualities in the highest +degree."[1207] "Socialists demand a higher morality than any now to be +found."[1208] "It is incumbent upon Socialism to recognise the +existence of an intellectual motive, and it must place that motive +above the economic, because without it the economic struggle would be +devoid of any constructive value; it would be a mere tug-of-war; it +would never bring us to Socialism. It would lead to a scramble for the +spoils and mutual throat-cutting."[1209] "If 'each for all and all for +each' be nothing more than a text for a banner or a motto for a wall; +if its truth has not captured the hearts and minds of men and women in +that new society, we shall be an official-ridden people with our eye +on the best posts in the State for ourselves or our sons; and we shall +be as pitiable in our spiritual deformity as we are in our economic +bondage."[1210] "Socialism demands more than that we should merely +import Socialistic institutions into our midst. It insists on a moral +regeneration of society of the most complete and searching kind in +order to make a lasting foundation for the political and social +changes we many of us long to see."[1211] "Convey it in what spirit we +may, an appeal to class interest is an appeal to personal interest. +Socialist propaganda carried on as a class war suggests none of those +ideals of moral citizenship with which Socialist literature abounds, +'each for all and all for each,' 'service to the community is the sole +right of property' and so on. It is an appeal to individualism" [which +seems to be a euphemism for envy and cupidity], "and results in +getting men to accept Socialist formulć without becoming +Socialists."[1212] + +Unfortunately there is nothing ideal and elevating in the Socialist +teachings, as the previous chapters show. Socialism appeals to all the +passions and to all the vices, such as hatred, jealousy, envy, +cupidity. It encourages, or at least excuses, wastefulness, +improvidence, profligacy, and drunkenness. Its aim is plunder. + +The voluntary co-operation of all for the benefit of all presupposes +the existence of wise, virtuous, and unselfish citizens. Do the +people in England, or in any other country, possess these high +qualities, or are these qualities likely to be created by the +teachings of the Socialists? A distinguished Socialist despairingly +exclaimed: "That spirit which animated the apostles, prophets, +martyrs, is alive in Japan to-day. Is it alive in us as a nation? If +not, if we have replaced it to any extent by some selfish opposite, by +any such diabolically careless sentiment as 'after me the deluge,' +then we as a nation have lost our soul, sold it for mere individual +prosperity, sold it in some poor cases for not even that, for mere +liquid refreshment, and we are on the down grade."[1213] Another +Socialist wrote: "We are all of us great-great-grandchildren of the +beasts. We carry the bestial attributes in our blood, some more, some +less. Who amongst us is so pure and exalted that he has never been +conscious of the bestial taint?"[1214] "Descendants of barbarians and +beasts, we have not yet conquered the greed and folly of our bestial +and barbarous inheritance. Our nature is an unweeded garden. Our +hereditary soil is rank."[1215] + +The Socialists themselves acknowledge that Socialism presupposes a +nation composed of ideal individuals, industrious, gentle, mutually +helpful, unselfish, forbearing, and wise. They also acknowledge that +men are the descendants of barbarians and beasts. Do Socialist +agitators really believe that they can convert the descendants of +barbarians and beasts into ideal beings by constantly preaching to +them the gospel of hatred, envy, selfishness, self-indulgence, and +plunder, and by even encouraging them to continue poisoning themselves +and their descendants by over-indulgence in alcoholic drink?[1216] +Surely "the defective natures of citizens will show themselves in the +bad acting of whatever social structure they are arranged into. There +is no political alchemy by which you can get golden conduct out of +leaden instincts."[1217] + +It is clear to most thinking Socialists that human nature, as at +present constituted, will make the realisation of Socialism +impossible. How do Socialists, then, propose to meet the difficulty? +Very simply. By bold assertions and prophecies. That which all +religions and all philosophers have been unable to accomplish during +3,000 years, Socialists will effect as by the touch of a magician's +wand. "Socialism will change human nature. The opportunity makes the +man. Socialism will take away the desire for accumulating riches. +Under such conditions the possession of riches will be a superfluous +burden which no sane man will wish to bear."[1218] "As soon as high +purpose, intense human attachments, are the springs of action and +resolve, discipline will come into our movement to crush out base +selfishness, vanity, and personal ambition,"[1219] This is very nice, +but how are "high purpose" and "intense human attachment" to be made +the "springs of action"? Unfortunately the writer keeps the secret to +himself. + +The philosopher of British Socialism states: "Socialism only calls for +enlightened selfishness. But the fact that this selfishness is +enlightened and recognises that it can serve itself by serving the +common interest will completely change its character, so that it will +cease to be the narrow selfishness of to-day, which so often defeats +its own ends. Selfishness passing through the refining fire of +economic change ceases to be selfishness and becomes Socialism."[1220] +If selfishness ceases to be selfishness and becomes Socialism, then it +changes merely its name, and Socialism and selfishness are identical, +which is quite correct. Other Socialist leaders prophesy: "May we not +assume that under these conditions a new type of mankind will evolve +which will surpass the highest type which culture has produced up till +now? An overman, if you please, not as an exception, but as the +rule."[1221] + +"Selfishness will become public spirit."[1222] "The desire to serve +the common life, to advance its welfare, will be the highest ambition +of the individual."[1223] "Just as the nightingale sings in the +evening shades, or the lark trills in the summer sky, so man in +natural surroundings" [does Socialism create "natural" surroundings or +unnatural ones?] "will seek to gratify his higher nature. Socialism +will create a condition of things favourable to the development of the +higher type of individuality."[1224] "This is the religious aspect of +labour. It is dignified, ennobling. That is the divine ideal, the +aspect concerning labour which God intended should be realised. Just +think of it! The ordinary working man as divinely taught and inspired +as the prophets and seers of old, and having the capacity to +understand the sublimest truths and the profoundest philosophy +concerning human life and the eternal destinies."[1225] + +The statements given above, with their superlatives, their laboured +philosophy, their lyrics, hysterics, and prophecies, are singularly +unconvincing. The manner in which the simple question, "How do you +propose to fit actual human nature into your scheme?" is answered by +the Socialists, proves that they find that question unanswerable. +History teaches us that revolutions based on plunder, euphemistically +called confiscation, expropriation, or socialisation, have indeed +altered human nature, but they have altered it for the worse. All +revolutions have hitherto caused a fearful depravation of manners and +led to the most hideous crimes--and will a Socialistic revolution +prove an exception? Why should it be an exception? Are its teachings +such as make it seem likely that a Socialistic revolution will prove +an exception? An attempt to establish the Socialist Commonwealth would +undoubtedly lead, not to a revolution, but to a series of revolutions, +to Anarchism and to civil war. The tragedy of the great French +Revolution might be acted over again. + +Now let us look into some practical questions which the Socialist +State of the future will have to settle. Let us, for instance, +inquire: + + +HOW WILL LABOUR BE REMUNERATED? + +Many Socialists think that different workers should get different +wages: "The citizens shall be consciously public functionaries, and +their labours shall be rewarded according to results."[1226] +"Socialism does not propose that everyone shall have an equal share of +the product of collective labour."[1227] How, then, is the amount of +the unequal wages to be calculated? Some Socialists, following Marx, +propose to determine wages by means of labour-time. "Ascertain the +time taken to produce two commodities and we know their relative +exchange value. And this quality tallies with market valuations. So +far as creating value is concerned, then, one man creates as much +value as another, and on the basis of equal labour-time equal value, +Socialists rest their argument of social equality."[1228] "The working +time which the making of an article requires is the only scale by +which its social value can be measured. Ten minutes of social work in +one branch are exchangeable for ten minutes of social work in another. +It will be easy to calculate how much social working time each single +product requires."[1229] A hunter hunts all day and shoots a deer. A +fisher fishes all day and catches a sprat. Will the hunter exchange +his deer for the sprat, on the principle of equal labour-time? Will +highly skilled workers be satisfied to receive the same wages as the +most unskilled labourers? Will equal labour-time pay for all not lead +to universal dawdling, shrinkage in production, and consequent +starvation? Would workers not strive to get the maximum pay for the +minimum work? To prevent dawdling, could it be ascertained how long it +should take to repair a machine, paint a picture, amputate a leg, +plough an acre? + +It is manifestly impossible to pay men of varying capacity and +productive power equal labour-time wages. Therefore many Socialists, +especially the Fabians, maintain: "The principle of inequality of +payment must be recognised. It is a necessary consequence of +inequality of ability."[1230] "Every man should receive from the +Commonwealth a fair equivalent in payments or services for the +payments or services which the Commonwealth receives from him. It is +not possible to say exactly how much each citizen has contributed to +the wealth of the State, and absolute economic justice is therefore +impossible."[1231] The question now arises how is the "fair equivalent +for services rendered" to be determined? Many Socialists teach the +doctrine that "the labourer is entitled to the entire product of his +labour."[1232] Should the labourer be given an equivalent to the +product of his labour _minus_ various necessary expenditures? Could +the value of the labour of an individual be calculated at all in the +complicated processes of modern industry? What is the value produced +by a day's labour of a ploughman, a railway porter, a postman, a +book-keeper, a policeman, a machine-minder? Mr. Bax very sensibly +argues: "What does each man produce of himself as an individual? Show +me how much cotton any given factory operative has produced in the +course of a year? I don't mean the amount of wages the capitalist has +given him for the exploitation of his labour power during that +period--but the actual product of his labour in the manufactured +article. You could not do so, because his labour, like all modern +labour, is associated; and the work of the individual producer is +completely and indissolubly merged in that of the group (factory, +mill) to which he belongs, which is again inseparable from that of the +machinery employed in the process and from that of other +groups."[1233] + +It is impossible to calculate the exact value of service to the +community by work in a factory or a field as soon as the wages system +based on demand and supply has ceased to exist. Besides, differential +pay will be impossible, because none will be satisfied with the pay +received, except those who receive the highest pay. Therefore the same +Fabian Society which in other writings, such as those quoted in the +foregoing, advocates unequal payment, concludes: "Inequality of pay +would be odious; the impossibility of estimating the separate value of +each man's labour with any really valid result, the friction which +would arise, the jealousies which would be provoked, the inevitable +discontent, favouritism, and jobbery that would prevail: all these +things will drive the Communal Council into the right path--equal +remuneration of all workers."[1234] The Fabians, like so many other +Socialists, cannot apparently quite make up their mind whether to +plunge into the Scylla of equal pay or into the Charybdis of unequal +pay. Therefore they plunge alternately into the one or the other. + +Many Socialists are in favour of equal pay: "The credits granted to +the citizens will be equal in all cases, without reference to skill, +intelligence, or the nature of the service performed."[1235] "The +labours of the bus driver or the mangler will be appraised just as +highly as those of the Prime Minister, with this difference perchance, +that if it can be clearly shown by statistics that buscraft uses up +the life energy of a man more rapidly than statecraft, four hours of +busmanship shall count, say, as five of statesmanship."[1236] Equal +wages should logically be followed by equal treatment for all. "An +anti-Socialist will say, 'How will you sail a ship in a Socialist +condition?' How? Why, with a captain and mates and sailing-master and +engineer (if it be a steamer) and A.B.s and stokers, and so on, and so +on. Only there will be no first and second and third class among the +passengers, the sailors and stokers will be as well fed and lodged as +the captain or passengers, and the captain and the stoker will have +the same pay."[1237] + +So confused are the minds even of the leading Socialists with regard +to the important question of the remuneration of labour that Mr. +William Morris, one of the founders of British Socialism, in a poem +first recommends individualistic Socialism and pay according to +results: + + _For that which the worker winneth shall then be his indeed_, + Nor shall half be reaped for nothing by him that sowed no seed. + +Two lines later in the same poem he recommends Communism and equal pay +for all, regardless of the work done: + + _Then all Mine and Thine shall be Ours_, and no more + shall any man crave + For riches that serve for nothing but to fetter a + friend for a slave.[1238] + +The above extracts show that confusion reigns in the Socialist camp +regarding the settlement of the Wage Question. + +Wage-earners are not philanthropists. Highly skilled men will not be +content with wages equal to those of unskilled labour, not even in the +name of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. In the absence of a free +demand and supply, which automatically graduates wages in accordance +with the social value of the work done, its attractiveness or +unattractiveness, &c., it cannot scientifically, though it can perhaps +autocratically, be determined how wages should be graduated. When it +comes to the fixing of differential wages in the Socialist State of +the future, quarrels will immediately arise, which will lead to strife +and rebellion, for all workers will use arguments such as the +following ones recently put forward by Mr. Smillie, President of the +Lanarkshire Miners' County Union. In reply to the reproach that +miners, by unduly high wages, increased the cost of coal to the poor, +Mr. Smillie answered: "Miners are being blamed in some quarters for +the high price of coal. Their wages at present range from _6s. 6d._ to +_8s._ per day, or from _30s._ to _2l. 5s._ per week when broken time +is taken into consideration. Will anyone grudge an income of this kind +to a worker whose labour is of a most uncomfortable and exhausting +nature, and who takes his life in his hand from the moment he steps +into the cage until he reaches the surface again? The miner recognises +that high-priced coal means pinching and suffering in the homes of the +poor, and he has real sympathy for this class, but he argues that the +true value of coal must include a reasonable sustenance for those who +risk their lives in its production."[1239] If miners claim higher +wages than other workers because their work is uncomfortable and +dangerous, railway workers, sailors, and many others will raise the +same claims; fishers and butchers will claim higher wages because +their work is disgusting; factory workers because their work is +sedentary and monotonous; waiters because it is menial; postmen +because they have to walk; drivers because they have to sit still; +washerwomen because they have to stand; farm labourers because they +have to work in the cold; bakers because they have to work in the +heat, &c. All workers would of course demand the maximum pay, and who +could adjudicate on all the rival claims? The Wages Question seems +likely to prove insoluble. + + +HOW WILL LABOUR BE ORGANISED AND DIRECTED? + +We are told: "Labour will be organised on principles of perfect +freedom. Everyone decides for himself in which branch he desires to be +employed. If a superfluity of workmen occur in one branch and a +deficiency in another, it will be the duty of the executive to arrange +matters and readjust the inequality."[1240] In accordance with the +variations in demand and supply and the rise and decay of industries, +the introduction of labour-saving machinery, &c., labour requires +continual redistribution. That redistribution is at present +automatically effected largely through the rise and fall of wages. A +rise in the wages of industries which require more labour, and a +decline in the wages of industries which require less labour, cause +labour to turn from shrinking to growing industries. When wages are no +longer fixed with reference to commercial demand and supply, how will +the periodical and necessary redistribution of labour be effected? +Some Socialist leaders think: "As the workers, of course, will not be +drafted into the different branches of production under military +compulsion, irrespective of their wishes, it may well turn out that +some will have a superfluity of labour, while others will suffer from +scarcity. The necessary equilibrium could then be restored by reducing +the wages in those industries where the applicants are too many and by +raising them in those where the applicants are too few, till each +branch has just the number of workers which it requires. It could be +restored also by other means; for instance, by the shortening of the +hours of labour in those industries that are short of workers. With +all that, however, the general rate of wages throughout the working +class will be influenced no longer by supply and demand, but by the +quantity of available products. A general fall of wages in consequence +of over-production will be impossible."[1241] In other words, the +beautiful schemes of remuneration independent of the laws of supply +and demand discussed in the foregoing would immediately break down. In +order to redistribute labour, workers would either have to be +compelled by direct force to work in those trades which required +additional labour, or their wages or hours of work would arbitrarily +be altered in order to effect the necessary changes by economic +pressure--that is, by reducing their food. In other words, commercial +demand and supply would break down the Utopian regulations of the +Socialist Commonwealth as soon as they had been framed. + +While some Socialists wish to distribute and redistribute labour by +arbitrarily changing wages and hours of labour, some of the more +logical and scientific Socialist leaders are frankly in favour of +compulsory labour: "We already see official salaries regulated, not +according to the state of the labour market, but by consideration of +the cost of living. This principle we seek to extend to the whole +industrial world. Instead of converting every man into an independent +producer, working when he likes and as he likes, we aim at enrolling +every able-bodied person directly in the service of the community for +such duties and under such kind of organisation, local or national, as +may be suitable to his capacity and social function. If a man wants +freedom to work or not to work, just as he likes, he had better +emigrate to Robinson Crusoe's island or else become a millionaire. To +suppose that the industrial affairs of a complicated industrial State +can be run without strict subordination and discipline, without +obedience to orders, and without definite allowances for maintenance, +is to dream, not of Socialism but of Anarchism."[1242] "Everyone +should have a legal right to an opportunity of earning his living in +the society in which he has been born; but no one should or could have +the right to ask that he shall be employed at the particular job which +suits his peculiar taste and temperament. Each of us must be prepared +to do the work which society wants doing, or take the consequences of +refusal."[1243] And what consequences would refusal to do the allotted +work at the allotted pay entail? Either dismissal, which would mean +starvation--for the State, as the sole employer, would control all +employment and all the food--or bodily chastisement, or imprisonment. +There could be no strike on the part of dissatisfied workers, for the +State--that is, the officials--holding all the wealth, would be able +to starve them out in a week. + +Socialists admit: "Mankind is as lazy as it dares to be."[1244] "In +the average man there is a strong tendency to mere idleness and +aimlessness which, but for the compulsions and temptations of +existing circumstances, might run to great lengths. The trouble is +that, while the average man is willing to work occasionally where his +choice is free, he considers his lot a hard one if necessity compels +him to continue regularly at a given task. He is willing to work at +almost anything save that at which he is asked to work. It is a common +thing to hear even good workmen profess a dislike to their +trade."[1245] + +How will shirking and idling be prevented in the Socialist +Commonwealth when men are no longer compelled by economic necessity +and free competition to do their best? + +The leading American exponent of Socialism prophesies that workers +will work no longer in order to live in comfort, but that they will +henceforth see in work a semi-religious duty, which they perform owing +to their strong sense of beneficence: "In the New Commonwealth the +butcher will be conscious and satisfied that 'the essential thing is +not that he shall have a living, but that meat shall be supplied.' The +work of the citizen will be the willing performance of social office. +He will be a worker whose best efforts, best ardour, and highest aims +will be drawn out by his sense of the beneficence of his work, even +though it be such a coarse routine of manual labour as machinery +should soon remove altogether from human hands. He will be habituated +to regard his wages, not as a _quid pro quo_, but as the provision +made by society to enable him to carry out his labour."[1246] Will the +"sense of beneficence" induce men who are not satisfied with the +condition and remuneration of labour to transport milk and other +provisions during the night so that the townspeople may have them +early in the morning? Will men be induced by their sense of duty to +clean the sewers? To ask these questions is to answer them. Bebel +puts the question, "What becomes of the difference between the +industrious and the idle, the intelligent and the stupid?" and +answers, "There will be no such difference, because that which we +associate with these conceptions will have ceased to exist."[1247] "If +there is one vice more certain than another to be unpopular in a +Socialist community, it is laziness. The man who shirked would find +his mates making his position intolerable even before he suffered the +doom of expulsion."[1248] Arguments such as the above should really +not be placed before grown-up people. They are only fit for the +nursery. + +The tendency towards lazing and idling, the desire to make money +without exertion, is strongly developed in Great Britain. "The essence +of gambling is the craving to obtain something from others without +giving an equivalent."[1249] Perhaps in no country is betting and +gambling in every form so much in evidence as it is in Great Britain. +Betting on the turf, missing-word competitions, limerick competitions, +&c., draw every year many millions of pounds from the pockets of +millions of British workers. How then can the natural tendency of men +to loaf and idle and to live rather by their wits than by their work, +which is strong in all men, be overcome in the Socialist State of the +future? The fundamental book of the Fabian Society, the most +scientific Socialist body in Great Britain, tells us: "A very small +share of the profits arising from associated labour acts as a +tremendous stimulus to each individual producer,"[1250] and it +suggests, as do many Socialist writers, that the workers will do their +best because they know that the more they produce the greater will be +their individual share in the general production. Great Britain has +12,000,000 workers. Therefore a worker will make as his own share an +extra sovereign if by extra exertion he succeeds in producing an +extra _12,000,000l._ worth of goods, a feat the accomplishment of +which will require several thousand years. That is a "tremendous +stimulus" to the individual producer! Can any argument be more foolish +than the foregoing one? + +An influential Socialist writer tells us: "The credits granted to the +citizens will be equal in all cases, without reference to skill, +intelligence, or the nature of the service performed; but no credits +will be given to the able-bodied shirkers, who will thus be starved +into doing their share of the world's work without other +compulsion."[1251] Other Socialist writers have put forth similar +views. This is a cheerful outlook for the free citizens of the free +Socialist Commonwealth. The workers will become "wage-slaves" in the +fullest sense of the term. They will have to submit to forced labour, +arbitrary wages, and arbitrary hours of labour, and those who do not +produce as much as the official overseers require--and they may have a +private grudge against some unfortunate worker who does his best--will +be starved until they work harder. The lot of savages ruled by the +knout, the kourbash, and the sjambok will be preferable to the lot of +men ruled by starvation in the free Socialist Commonwealth of the +future. The former have at least some liberty, while the latter will +be kept by officials, who will distribute food and force them to work +by rewards of food alternated by starvation, like performing dogs and +apes. + +To carry on the business of the country the Socialist Government would +have to drop the principle of perfect freedom and to rely on coercion, +and it would be justified in doing so. If, as Mr. Blatchford has +repeatedly told us, "man has no right to himself because he did not +make himself," if man belongs not to himself and his family, but to +"society," it logically follows that society may compel him to work, +apportioning to him his task and his pay, without reference to his +wishes. Society being represented by its officials, elected or +appointed, these officials would absolutely dispose of the people. +Great Britain would be ruled like a gigantic convict prison. + +The spirit in which even moderate Socialists already contemplate the +freedom of the individual may be seen from an address on Sweated +Labour which Mr. Ramsay Macdonald, M.P., delivered in Glasgow in +autumn 1907. He said: "There was no use tinkering with the problem. +Personally, he was not in favour of home work at all. To eliminate it +might seem a cold-blooded way of dealing with sweating, but it was the +only way that would give definite and final results. He would, +however, proceed carefully and scientifically. Home work had got +extremes, but one section was much riper for treatment than the other, +and he would begin with the worst. The first difficulty was to find +out the sweated workers. It was certain that a great percentage +escaped detection by sanitary inspectors. Now his proposal was that, +instead of the sanitary inspectors hunting for the home worker, the +home worker should hunt for the inspector; and this he sought to +accomplish under the Bill introduced last session, by making it +necessary for the home worker to take out a licence and by making it +obligatory on the employer to keep an absolutely complete list of his +workers. The factory inspector must have right of access, and a +certificate must be obtained from him for a separate licence. The +casual home-worker would be discouraged." In other words, factory +inspectors should apparently be authorised to break without a search +warrant into private houses. They should certainly be empowered to +prosecute a working man if he defended the privacy of his house by +refusing the inspector admittance. That measure would abolish the +sanctity of the home. The "Right to Work," which the Socialists so +loudly champion, would be taken from the home-worker, and one cannot +help asking: Is that high-handed measure devised for the benefit of +the sweated or for that of the highly paid workers, represented by Mr. +Macdonald, who wish to abolish the competition of underpaid +home-workers? Sweated labour can be abolished and must be abolished, +and it can be abolished, as I may show in another book, without +destroying the home. If Mr. Macdonald should have his way, the +Socialist principle, "Property is robbery," will have to be +supplemented with the principle "Liberty is tyranny." + +The unchecked absolutism of a Socialist State will hardly be palatable +to Socialist workers who have been told that Socialism means freedom, +and these see the only solution in the establishment of Anarchism: +"The damnable idea of being marshalled and drilled or numbered and +docketed like any other merchandise in a state of glorified capitalism +is not the Socialist's ideal, but its antithesis, no matter what the +capitalists and their protagonists, the pseudo-Socialists, choose to +name it. We don't want to be driven to the gate of the municipal or +other factory to hustle and elbow our fellows out of the way so that +we may catch the official's eye in the mad and sordid scramble for +mere belly food, for a mere animal subsistence. With the advent of +Socialism, the whole of the capitalist State and its superstructure +will collapse, with its cant of living wages, its Brotherhoods of Man, +and the rest of its nauseous humbug."[1252] "If the worker continues +to be paid in wages, he necessarily will remain the slave or the +subordinate of the one to whom he is forced to sell his labour force; +be the buyer a private individual or the State--it would still be an +odious tyranny."[1253] "Socialism will entail compulsory service on +all able-bodied members of the community, or rather the State. For +that is what we shall have; the State with its hosts of +functionaries, its big pots and its little pots, and its never-ending +officialism and petty tyrannies. Organisation must either be +compulsory or free. If compulsory, you have the military spirit with +all its attendant evils; if free, you have the Anarchist spirit with +all the advantages that arise when the fetters that hinder individual +initiative and development are removed."[1254] + +The foregoing should suffice to show that the Socialist State could +organise work only by relying on forced labour and by creating the +most unbearable despotism which the world has seen, or by "organising" +the chaos of Anarchism, and it is difficult to say which of the two +would be the more hideous solution. + + +HOW WILL THE SOCIALIST STATE BE GOVERNED? + +Socialists tell us rather vaguely: "Socialism means the elevation of +the struggle for existence from the material to the intellectual +plane. Socialism will raise the struggle for existence into a sphere +where competition shall be emulation, where the treasures are +boundless and eternal, and where the abundant wealth of one does not +cause the poverty of another."[1255] "State employment, when the State +itself is only an organised democracy and class distinctions cease, +means not slavery, but freedom."[1256] "Freedom and equality will then +be no longer empty and cheap phrases, but will have a meaning; when +all men are really free and equal, they will honour and advance one +another."[1257] "In Socialistic administrations there are no +employers, no superiors, no oppression; all are equals and enjoy equal +rights."[1258] "Under Socialism all the work of the nation would be +managed by the nation."[1259] "Under Socialism the State, as we have +known the State in the past, will have disappeared; for under +Socialism there will be no classes, but all the people will form one +class, and the Government and organisation will be democratic, each +individual having an equal voice in directing the affairs of the +common life."[1260] "The State will no longer be the bureaucratic +State of to-day, but a democratic State assisted directly by the whole +people."[1261] "All adult members of the commune, without distinction +of sex, take part in the necessary elections, and determine to what +persons the conduct of affairs shall be entrusted. There is no such +thing as a hierarchical system."[1262] "Appointments will be made from +below. In the Post Office Department, for example, the letter carriers +will elect their immediate superiors; these, we will say, the +post-masters; and these, in their turn, the Post-Master +General."[1263] + +In other and plainer words, the Socialist State would, according to +the authorities quoted, be ruled by the same system by which it is +ruled at present, although elections might be more numerous, and +although the suffrage might be given a wider basis. Now if the system +of government remains the same as it is at present, is there any +reason for anticipating better results than those obtained at present? +Will the elected administrators no longer place personal and party +interests above national ones? And will not the infinitely greater +range of administrative functions make it more difficult to exercise +control and to allocate responsibilities, and thus make +irresponsibility, favouritism, dishonesty, and the evasion of +punishment more easy and more frequent? Is a larger number of voters +likely to pick out abler administrators than a small one? Does not the +elective system, according to the Socialists themselves, cause the +scum to rise to the top, and result in the election of plausible +windbags?[1264] Are the people's votes never won by any other means +than the testimony of results? Will there no longer be the fascination +of eloquence, the attraction of boundless promises, the glamour of +prejudice, the tie of party, the pressure put by an Association upon +its members? If amateurs show now little ability in administering a +few comparatively simple things, is it likely that results will be +better when they have to administer everything? Will not amateur +government prove an absolute failure? + +Most thinking Socialists clearly foresee that the Socialist State of +the future could not possibly be administered by amateurs; that it +would have to be administered by experts, by permanent officials; that +Socialism would mean the death-knell of elected governors, and +therefore of democracy, as may be seen in Chapter XV. of this book. +The philosopher of British Socialism tells us: "Socialism aims at the +supersession of democracy, as of every other form of government. The +will of the majority of an ideal democracy, a social democracy, must, +as regards its special expressions, be subordinate to the general +moral canon of a Socialist Commonwealth. That in affairs of +management, of tactics, of administration, or in decisions requiring +special knowledge, authority, in its nature dictatorial, is necessary, +all must admit. There must be a controlling, an authoritative voice in +direction; so much must be clear, one would think, to all practical or +reasonable persons when once stated. The real point to determine is +the nature and limits of that amount of dictatorial power which, we +must admit, is essential in any organised community of which we can at +present conceive. _Social Democracy_, while it means all _for_ the +people, does not mean the impossible absurdity that everything should +be directly regulated _by_ the people, _i.e._ by a direct popular +vote."[1265] These views seem irrefutable, and it follows that not +only for economic reasons, but for political reasons as well, the +establishment of the Socialist State will lead to the establishment of +a "dictatorial authority." + +If Socialism be introduced, the fall of democracy and the +establishment of absolutism cannot possibly be avoided. Democratic +States are ruled by public opinion. The voice of an individual does +not carry very far. Therefore public opinion can be formed only by +means of an independent Press. An independent Press is the strongest, +one might almost say the only, guarantee of national liberty. As long +as there are numerous independent papers owned by private people, +papers which represent all shades of opinion, everyone who has +something to say can always freely express his opinion in one set of +papers or the other. A striking speech is read the next day by the +whole nation; a striking injustice to a single individual, or a +Government blunder, may be taken up by the whole nation. The +disappearance of private property will necessarily mean the +disappearance of the free Press, and therefore of public opinion. All +newspapers would be owned, edited, and printed by the Government, and +is any Government likely to assist a hostile opposition by printing +its views, and to assist in bringing about a revolution, probably +accompanied by bloodshed and its own destruction? Such a thing has +never been. Such a thing will never be. People might be dissatisfied +and be ill-treated by the Socialist Government; they might be starved +to death or shot by the thousand; there might be risings and +rebellions and civil war in some parts of the country; the fleet might +be defeated and the colonies lost--yet not a word need appear in the +Socialist Government Press. + +Some Socialists are childish enough to argue: "Though the printing +press will be a collective institution, it will be available to all. +Anyone, whatever unpopular opinions he may entertain, however hostile +to the administrators he may be, will be entitled to have anything +decent printed, provided he is ready to pay for the work done, or to +guarantee, or induce his friends to guarantee, that the cost will be +defrayed."[1266] "It would always be open to individuals or to groups +of individuals to publish anything they pleased on covering the cost +of publication. With the comparative affluence which would be enjoyed +by each member of the community, anyone who really cared to reach the +public ear would be able to do so by diminishing his expenditure in +other directions."[1267] + +The Government would certainly neither print, nor circulate through +its post-office and newsagents, matter which it would consider to be +dangerous to its existence or seditious. The assertion that a private +individual in the Socialist Commonwealth might at his own expense +circulate his views throughout the country--there would be no more +millionaires but only wage-earners--is like asserting that a +bricklayer might with his savings pay off the British National Debt. + +Lacking an independent public opinion, elections could be managed by +the officials through the official Press in their own interest; +elections would become a sham, and would no doubt soon fall into +disuse. The official class would become a caste of hereditary rulers +governing millions of serfs. + +The foregoing makes it clear that in political as in economic matters +the Socialist State must fall a prey to the most complete absolutism +which the world has known, an absolutism which probably, through a +series of revolutions and civil wars, would at last end in anarchy. At +present a dissatisfied worker can change his employer, he can get +justice in the Law Courts, and in extreme cases he can put his +grievances before the nation. In the Socialist State there would be +only one authority--the all-controlling and all-powerful State, or +rather an all-controlling and all-powerful bureaucracy. The nation +would be composed of two classes: permanent officials possessing +absolute power, and ordinary citizens possessing neither power nor +right; overseers and workers; slave-drivers and slaves; and the only +way of escaping the tyranny of the State--for absolute and unchecked +power has always led, and will always lead, to tyranny--would be by +committing suicide. As in Rome under the rule of Nero and Caligula, +suicide would be the only way to liberty. + +A leading Socialist wrote with unconscious humour: "The Utopist needs +no knowledge of facts. Indeed such a knowledge is a hindrance. For him +the laws of social evolution do not exist. He is a law unto himself; +and his men are not the wayward, spasmodic, irregular organisms of +daily life, but automata obeying the strings he pulls. In a word, he +creates, he does not construct. He makes alike his materials and the +laws within which they work, adapting them all to an ideal end. In +describing a new Jerusalem the only limits to its perfection are the +limits of the writer's imagination.... Humanity will rise to heights +undreamed of now; and the most exquisite Utopias, as sung by the poet +and idealist, shall to our children seem but dim and broken lights +compared with their perfect day. All that we need are Courage, +Prudence, and Faith. Faith above all."[1268] Every reader of this book +will no doubt heartily agree with the latter remark. Socialists are +wise to appeal rather to blind faith than to plain common-sense. + +The philosopher of British Socialism tells us: "Socialism is the great +modern protest against _un_reality, against the delusive shams which +now masquerade as verities."[1269] Another Socialist leader asserts: +"Socialism is a scientific scheme of national government entirely +wise, just, and practical."[1270] A third leader affirms: "Socialism +is neither more nor less than the science of Sociology."[1271] The +"Socialist Catechism" asks: "How may Socialists reply to the taunt +that their scheme is impracticable? By quoting the opinion of John +Stuart Mill that the difficulties of Socialism are greatly overrated; +and they should declare that, so far from being an impracticable +Utopian scheme, it is the necessary and inevitable result of the +historical evolution of society."[1272] + +Socialism stands condemned, not so much by the criticism of its +opponents as by the doctrines and proposals of its leaders, and these +are the men who aspire to rule the universe and who claim: "We mean +the establishment of a political power in place of the present +class-State, which shall have for its conscious and definite aim the +common ownership and control of the _whole_ of the world's industry, +exchange, &c."[1273] + +I think the readers of the foregoing pages will be inclined to believe +that Socialism is methodised insanity. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1203] Kautsky, _Social Revolution_, p. 41. + +[1204] Socialism, _For and Against_, p. 7. + +[1205] Clemenceau, in Jaurčs' _Practical Socialism_, p. 11. + +[1206] Snowden, _The Individual under Socialism_, p. 12. + +[1207] Kautsky, _The Social Revolution_, p. 42. + +[1208] Blatchford, _Real Socialism_, p. 5. + +[1209] Macdonald, _Socialism and Society_, p. 126. + +[1210] Ethel Snowden, _The Woman Socialist_, p. 7. + +[1211] Ford, _Woman and Socialism_, p. 2. + +[1212] Macdonald, _Socialism and Society_, pp. 122, 123. + +[1213] Sir Oliver Lodge, _Public Service_ v. _Private Expenditure_, p. +11. + +[1214] Blatchford, _Not Guilty_, p. 37. + +[1215] _Ibid._ p. 251. + +[1216] See _ante_, Chapter XXIII. + +[1217] Herbert Spencer, _The Man versus the State_, p. 43. + +[1218] Snowden, _The Individual under Socialism_, p. 9. + +[1219] Ben Tillett, _Trades Unionism and Socialism_, p. 14. + +[1220] Bax and Quelch, _A New Catechism_, p. 30. + +[1221] Kautsky, _The Social Revolution_, p. 43. + +[1222] Joynes, _The Socialist Catechism_, p. 14. + +[1223] Snowden, _The Individual under Socialism_, p. 11. + +[1224] _Ibid._ p. 18. + +[1225] Ward, _Religion and Labour_, pp. 7, 8. + +[1226] Gronlund, _Co-operative Commonwealth_, p. 77. + +[1227] Kautsky, _The Social Republic_, p. 32. + +[1228] Hazell, _Summary Marx's Capital_, p. 6. + +[1229] Bebel, _Woman in the Past, Present, and the Future_, p. 193. + +[1230] Sir Oliver Lodge, _Public Service versus Private Expenditure_, +p. 10. + +[1231] _New Age_, November 21, 1907. + +[1232] See _ante_, p. 61 ff. + +[1233] Bax, _Outlooks from the New Standpoint_, p. 81. + +[1234] _Fabian Essays in Socialism_, pp. 163, 164. + +[1235] Leatham, _Socialism and Character_, p. 91. + +[1236] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 170. + +[1237] Morris, _Communism_, pp. 14, 15. + +[1238] _Independent Labour Party Song Book_, p. 40. + +[1239] _Forward_, October 12, 1907. + +[1240] Bebel, _Woman in the Past, Present, and Future_, pp. 183, 184. + +[1241] Kautsky, _The Social Revolution_, pp. 16, 17. + +[1242] Sidney Webb, _Socialism True and False_, pp. 17, 18. + +[1243] _Socialism and Labour Policy_, p. 7. + +[1244] _The Economics of Direct Employment_, p. 6. + +[1245] Leatham, _Socialism and Character_, pp. 102, 103. + +[1246] Gronlund, _Co-operative Commonwealth_, p. 169. + +[1247] Bebel, _Woman_, p. 194. + +[1248] _Fabian Essays in Socialism_, p. 167. + +[1249] Ward, _The Ideal City_, p. 7. + +[1250] _Fabian Essays in Socialism_, p. 167. + +[1251] Leatham, _Socialism and Character_, p. 91. + +[1252] _Socialist_, December 1907. + +[1253] Kropotkin, _Anarchism, its Philosophy and Ideal_, p. 15. + +[1254] _Freedom_, October 1907. + +[1255] Snowden, _The Individual under Socialism_, p. 1. + +[1256] Hyndman, _Socialism and Slavery_, p. 10. + +[1257] Sorge, _Socialism and the Worker_, p. 14. + +[1258] Bebel, _Woman_, p. 199. + +[1259] Blatchford, _Real Socialism_, p. 14. + +[1260] Snowden, _The Individual under Socialism_, p. 12. + +[1261] Jaurčs, _Practical Socialism_, p. 6. + +[1262] Bebel, _Woman_, p. 181. + +[1263] Gronlund, _Co-operative Commonwealth_, p. 126. + +[1264] Thompson, _Hail Referendum_, pp. 3, 4. + +[1265] Bax, _Essays in Socialism_, pp. 75, 76. + +[1266] Gronlund, _Co-operative Commonwealth_, p. 135. + +[1267] _Fabian Essays in Socialism_, p. 159. + +[1268] _Fabian Essays in Socialism_, pp. 149, 169. + +[1269] Bax, _Religion of Socialism_, p. ix. + +[1270] Blatchford, _Merrie England_, p. 100. + +[1271] Hyndman, _Socialism and Slavery_, Preface. + +[1272] Joynes, _The Socialist Catechism_. + +[1273] Bax and Quelch, _A New Catechism_, p. 9. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +CONCLUSION + + +The leading Socialists claim that Socialism is at the same time a +scientific doctrine and a practical policy. A perusal of this book +should suffice to prove that it is neither the one nor the other. On +its scientific side it consists of twenty catch-phrases which are very +effective for propaganda purposes, but which are contrary to general +experience and to common-sense. On its practical side it consists of a +number of fantastic proposals which are likewise contrary to general +experience and to common-sense. + +Socialism has two faces. The one which is turned towards the cultured +and towards the non-Socialists of the middle class constantly asserts +that Socialism is a scientific and perfect system of well-ordered +government and co-operation, which will evolve order and harmony out +of the chaos of individualism and of competition, and which will raise +men to the highest level of perfection. The other, which is turned +towards the masses, and which is by far the more important, is purely +predatory in character. It appeals to all the passions of the +multitude. It denounces law, religion, charity, thrift, temperance, +and all existing institutions. It preaches envy, hatred, greed, +selfishness, violence, civil war, and general plunder. It sets class +against class, and creates among its supporters a frame of mind which +makes not for harmony, order, and co-operation, but for disorder, +revolution, and anarchy. + +The followers of Socialism do not see in it a science. "With the +speculative side of Socialism the average man has but a small concern; +it is its common-sense which appeals to him. By inherited instinct we +are all communists at heart."[1274] The attraction of Socialism to the +masses lies in its promise of the spoliation of the rich and of the +general division of their wealth. It is true that Socialists +habitually and very emphatically protest that Socialism is not a +system of robbery and of general division. It is true that Socialists +merely propose that all private property should be transferred to the +State by expropriation--which is a euphemism for confiscation--and +that the State should manage it for the general good of the masses. +However, that is a distinction without a difference. Property is +valuable because of the income which it yields. Therefore it comes for +all practicable purposes to the same, whether the Socialist leaders +propose dividing all the private property or all the income derived +from that property. A prominent Socialist writer has asked: "Is not +honesty--the sense of right of possession in the fruits of our +labour--the very basis of Socialism?"[1275] Regretfully one must +answer that question with a very emphatic "No." + +Socialism is not a system of organisation and of national +co-operation, but merely a plan of spoliation and of general division. +That may clearly be seen from the fact that the Socialist leaders have +not the slightest desire to create a Socialistic model commonwealth, +and thus demonstrate the practical value of their highly speculative +doctrines, in a new country where Socialism could be introduced +peacefully, easily, and without a revolution, where co-operation and +exchange would be comparatively simple because wants are simple, the +commodities produced are few, and the opposition of vested interests +would be _nil_. In spite of all these great advantages, the Socialist +leaders prefer introducing Socialism into old countries where the +confiscation of the existing property seems a shorter way to wealth +than work, and where confiscation will have the most satisfactory +results to the despoilers. + +We have seen that the various Socialistic organisations agree on +hardly one point in their constructive policy. However, they +absolutely agree in their main purpose--spoliation. On that point +there is absolute unanimity among all the British Socialists, and they +condemn State Socialism (see Chapter XXXII.) because State Socialism +would not mean confiscation and general division. Besides, it would +not enable the Socialist leaders to overturn the State and to seize +the reins of Government. British Socialism is purely destructive in +character, and if Socialism should ever be established in Great +Britain it would lead not to national co-operation, but to civil war +among the various Socialistic sections for the spoils, and to a series +of sanguinary _coups d'état_ similar to those which arose out of the +great French Revolution. + +The "scientific" proposal of transferring all private property to the +State, and of using that property for the common good, merely +circumscribes the word and act of confiscation and of general +division. Therefore we may say that Socialism has no scientific basis, +unless we choose to call science a collection of fallacies expressed +in involved terms so as to deceive the simple. Karl Marx was not a +scientist but a professional demagogue and revolutionist, and his +merit from the Socialists' point of view consists only in this, that +he elaborated a formula of roundabout spoliation and general division, +which he took from his Anarchist predecessors, and gave it a much +needed, though rather transparent, cloak of scientific respectability. + +Socialism is, in the first place, a business proposition. Therefore, +if it were practical, it should appeal particularly to business men. +However, it is noteworthy that the loudest champions of British +Socialism are not business men, of whom but few are to be found in the +Socialist ranks, but pushing writers in search of self-advertisement, +whose special domain is the highly spiced and the sensational, writers +who, knowing that many people mistake eccentricity for genius and +paradoxical absurdity for brilliancy, have discarded common-sense, let +their imaginations run riot, and outbid one another for notoriety. + +The complaints of the Socialists about the unequal distribution of +wealth are as old as is humanity itself. Since the earliest times +demagogues have endeavoured to obtain a following by working upon the +misery, envy, short-sightedness, and passions of the poor, by +promising them equality and boundless wealth to be obtained by the +simple process of seizing and dividing up the property of the +well-to-do. The identical arguments and proposals which are now put +forward in the name of Marx, and of modern "scientific" Socialism, as +something new and original may be found throughout literature since +the very dawn of history.[1276] However, history teaches us that, +although countless Socialistic experiments have been made, all +attempts at enriching the poor by spoliation and at creating an +artificial equality among men have proved a failure. They have +invariably ended in national ruin, and have left the masses poorer and +more miserable than ever. The reason of this universal failure is +obvious. Man cannot reconstruct Nature. He may violate, but cannot +alter, the laws of Nature. Inequality rules throughout Nature, and it +seems as little possible to equalise the fortunes, as it is to +equalise the bodily and mental powers, of men. We all are the slaves +of Nature. The inequality of natural gifts and the division of labour +are the principal causes of the division of men into classes and of +the unequal distribution of wealth. Nature is only governed by obeying +her. We can certainly diminish poverty, but we cannot, for any length +of time, maintain an artificial equality among naturally unequal men. + +The first duty of the State, as of the individual, is +self-preservation. British Socialism, being by those teachings which +it addresses to its supporters a revolutionary doctrine in the worst +sense of the term, and therefore a purely destructive factor, must +unconditionally be resisted and combated. However, at the same time +all that can be done must be done to alleviate the distress of the +British masses, which is undoubtedly very great, and which makes them +exceedingly receptive to the revolutionary doctrines of Socialism. As +it would require too much space to deal with the social problem in +Great Britain in its entirety, only a few of the most important points +can be touched upon. + +The greatest scourge of the British worker is no doubt irregular and +ill-paid employment. The first step to improve his position is +therefore to improve employment. Hence the most urgent reform is the +revision of Great Britain's economic policy. Great Britain's present +economic policy, Free Trade, was based upon the supposition that Great +Britain, as Cobden prophesied, was, and always would remain, the +workshop of the world; that other countries were compelled to buy +British manufactures because British manufactures were as necessary to +them as foreign foodstuffs are now to Great Britain. In 1846, when +Free Trade was introduced, there was some reason for that supposition. +Before the advent of electricity manufacturing was based exclusively +upon coal. Great Britain's absolute predominance in manufacturing for +the markets of the whole world immediately before the introduction of +Free Trade may therefore best be seen from the following table: + +PRODUCTION OF COAL IN 1845[1277] + + Quantity produced. Percentage of + Tons world's production + Great Britain 31,500,000 64.2 + Belgium 4,960,077 10.1 + United States 4,400,000 8.9 + France 4,141,617 8.4 + Prussian States 3,500,000 7.0 + Austrian States 659,340 1.4 + ---------- ---- + 49,161,034 100 + +The above table shows that Great Britain produced two-thirds of the +world's coal, and the coal of most other countries was supposed to be +unsuitable for manufacturing purposes. However, Great Britain produced +not only two-thirds of the world's coal, but she produced likewise +two-thirds of the world's iron, she consumed two-thirds of the world's +cotton, and she possessed two-thirds of the world's shipping. Her +railway mileage was greater than that of the whole Continent of +Europe.[1278] + +Times have changed. Great Britain is no longer the workshop of the +world. British manufactures are no longer indispensable to foreign +countries. In the present age of steel, the production of steel is the +best index of a nation's manufacturing eminence, and how greatly +conditions have changed, and are still changing, to England's +disadvantage may be seen from the following figures: + +OUTPUT OF STEEL + + United States. Germany. Great Britain. + Tons Tons Tons + 1890 4,277,000 2,127,000 3,679,000 + 1906 23,246,000 11,135,000 6,462,000 + +Great Britain, which formerly produced nine-tenths of the world's +steel, produces now little more than one-tenth of the world's steel. + +As Great Britain has to buy vast quantities of food and raw material +from foreign countries, she must sell to foreign countries vast +quantities of manufactured goods. However, market after market is +being closed to her industries by ever-rising tariff walls, and the +profits from her exports have been greatly diminished through foreign +competition. Her home market has been reduced through the decay of her +agriculture and the shrinkage of her agricultural population, and it +is systematically spoiled by combinations of foreign manufacturers. +Foreign syndicates determine not only the price of British wheat and +meat, but of British iron and other manufactures too, and they +endeavour to ruin the British industries completely. Great Britain, +far from being the world's manufacturer, has become the world's +dumping ground. From the richest country in the world she is rapidly +becoming one of the poorer countries of the world. Her industries are +suffering, and the result is bad times, low wages, irregular +employment, unemployment, poverty, and distress. It is noteworthy +that, on an average, unemployment among the skilled workers in +free-trade Great Britain is always five times greater than it is in +protectionist Germany;[1279] that British emigration per million is +eleven times larger than German emigration; that German savings-banks +deposits are four times larger than British savings-banks deposits, +and that the former increase ten times faster than the latter.[1280] + +What can be done to improve the position of the British workers? +Emigration on the largest scale has proved a palliative, but no +remedy. During the last twenty years almost five million people have +left Great Britain. Yet the labour market is as over-stocked, and +unemployment and poverty are as great, as ever. Besides, the United +States and the British colonies may not always be able to absorb the +vast and ever-growing numbers of British unemployed workers. +Employment and wages depend upon the prosperity of industries, and the +prosperity of industries depends on a sufficiency of markets. The +British industries have not a sufficiency of markets. Therefore the +British population suffers from irregular employment, unemployment, +and consequent want and misery; and want and misery among the British +masses are likely to continue increasing and ever increasing until +Great Britain adapts her economic policy to the altered circumstances +of the time, protects the industries by which her workers live, and +secures a sufficient outlet for their productions by preferential +arrangements with the self-governing Dominions. Under the shelter of +Protection at home and with the aid of preferential arrangements +throughout the empire, Great Britain will be able vastly to extend her +manufacturing industries. Great Britain has unrivalled facilities for +manufacturing. Whilst the manufacturing centres of the United States, +Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Italy, and other countries +lie far inland near their coalfields, Great Britain has the unique +advantage of being able to manufacture on the seashore, where coal, +iron, great manufacturing towns, and excellent harbours lie in close +proximity. The potentialities of the British industries under fair +conditions and under the wise care of a fostering Government are +boundless. + +Under the shelter of Protection the rural industries of Great Britain +may be revived, especially if the British peasantry be re-created. A +hundred years ago the great agricultural authority, Arthur Young, +wrote: "The magic of property turns sand into gold. Give a man a bleak +rock, and he will turn it into a garden. Give him a nine years' lease +of a garden, and he will convert it into a desert." Since the time +when these words were written most European countries have created a +freehold peasantry by buying out the landed proprietors and settling +the rural labourers on the land, and Great Britain will be wise in +following their example. + +The tripartite question of Fiscal Protection for the home market, of +an Imperial Customs Union, and of Imperial Federation is not a party +question. It is a question of life or death for Great Britain. It may +soon become a question of prosperity or starvation for the masses. +Great Britain stands at the parting of the ways. She must either +protect and re-create her industries, federate with her colonies, and +make the British Empire a reality, or sink into insignificance, and +history knows no instance of a great nation becoming a small one +without the most intense suffering to the masses of the people. Great +Britain must either adopt that constructive and protective national +policy which the greatest statesmen and Empire builders of modern +times--Richelieu, Cromwell, Colbert, Lord Chatham, George Washington, +Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, Stein, and Bismarck--have +pursued, or she will share the fate of the great commercial world +empires of the past, from Phoenicia to the Netherlands. She must +either follow the policy of Mr. Chamberlain, build up the Empire and +make it strong and prosperous, or that of revolutionary demagogues, +who will wreck the Empire and drag Great Britain through plunder and +ruin to destruction and anarchy. + +The experience of other industrial nations allows us to conclude that +a wisely framed protective tariff will save the British industries and +improve employment and wages. But better wages alone will not improve +the position of the workers. A large part of the British working class +must alter their personal habits, and especially their drinking +habits. At present every rise in wages leads immediately to a great +increase in the Drink Bill, and therefore benefits rather the brewer +than the worker. "The strongest answer to the theory that poverty +causes drink is the statistical fact that as wages rise general +drunkenness follows, insanity increases, and criminal disorders due to +drink keep pace with all three. Wherever one seeks for information +dispassionately, one sees that drink does cause poverty to a greater +extent, overwhelmingly so, than that poverty causes drink. Poverty is +due to intemperance in varying degrees from twenty-five to fifty-one +per cent, of cases and areas investigated."[1281] "The Committee on +Physical Deterioration in 1904 declared that if the drink question +were removed three-fourths of the difficulty with regard to poverty +and deterioration would disappear with it."[1282] The drinking section +of the working class spends _18l. 15s. 4d._ per family on drink,[1283] +a sum much larger than that spent on rent. "There are two great causes +of physical deterioration--these are dirt and drink. The former is +responsible for nearly every form of disease. The latter is the direct +cause of the vast number of defects."[1284] "The most urgently needed +public health reform of the present day is not so much one of +environment as one of personal life."[1285] + +Many British workmen are incredibly wasteful. When one visits +public-houses and working-men's clubs, when one goes to racecourses, +football or other matches, and music-halls, the British workers seem +to be the richest in the world. When one looks at their homes, their +clothes, and especially their savings, they seem to be the poorest in +the world. British working men drink, waste, and gamble to a much +greater extent than foreign working men. Therefore not only the higher +paid American workers, but also the lower paid French, German, and +Swiss workers, are better housed, better clothed, and better fed--and +are therefore better off and healthier--than British workers.[1286] +Besides, as their savings are much larger they are better able to +stand a short spell of ill-luck or of bad times. Whether a working man +is prosperous or poor, happy or unhappy, depends--under fair +conditions of employment, which Protection should create--perhaps more +on his personal habits and on those of his wife than on the actual +amount he receives in wages. Social reform, to be effective, must be +assisted in the home. The worker must aid the social reformer. Outside +assistance alone will little benefit wasteful and improvident men who +refuse to help themselves. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1274] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, pp. 33, 34. + +[1275] Leatham, _Socialism and Character_, p. 96. + +[1276] See Mencius' Works in Legge's _Chinese Classics_; Euripides, +_The Suppliants_; Aristotle, _Politics_, vii. 5; Aristophanes, +_Ecclesiazusae_ and _Plutus_; Plutarch, _Tiberius Gracchus_, 9; +Livius, ii. 32; Sallust, _Catiline's Conspiracy_, 20, 23, 37-39; +Virgil, _Georgics_, i. 125; Tibullus, i. 3, 35 Propertius, ii. 13, +iii. 5, 11; Seneca, _Epistles_, 90, &c. + +[1277] Taylor, _Statistics of Coal_, p. xxi. + +[1278] See _Encyclopćdia Britannica_, 8th edition, 1853-1860, +articles: Cotton, Iron, Railways; Meyer, _Konversations Lexikon_, +1839-1855, article: Grossbritannien; Porter, _Progress of the Nation_, +1847; MacCulloch, _British Empire_, 1846; MacCulloch, _Dictionary of +Commerce_, 1847; Macgregor, _Commercial Statistics_, 1844-1850, &c. + +[1279] See _Board of Trade Labour Gazette_ and _Reichs Arbeitsblatt_. + +[1280] Ellis Barker, _Modern Germany_, 546 ff. + +[1281] Burns, _Labour and Drink_, pp. 15, 18. + +[1282] Newman, _The Health of the State_, p. 189. + +[1283] Whittaker, _Drink Problem_, p. 10. + +[1284] McMillan, _The Child and the State_, p. 4. + +[1285] Newman, _Health of the State_, p. 194. + +[1286] See _Reports of the Mosely Industrial Commission to the United +States_; _The Brassworkers of Berlin and of Birmingham_; _The +Gainsborough Commission, Life and Labour in Germany_; Horsfall, _The +Improvement of the Dwellings--The Example of Germany_; Marr, _Housing +Conditions in Manchester_; _City of Birmingham, Report of the Housing +Committee_; Steele, _The Working Classes in France_; Rowntree and +Sherwell, _The Temperance Problem_; Rowntree, _Poverty_; the +publication of Charles Booth, &c. + + + + +APPENDIX + +OFFICIAL PROGRAMMES OF THE SOCIALISTIC ORGANISATIONS + + +SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC FEDERATION + + _Programme and Rules as revised previous to the Annual + Conference held at the Labour Institute, Bradford, Easter + 1906_ + +_Object._--The Social-Democratic Federation is a part of the +International Social-Democracy. It believes:-- + +1. That the emancipation of the working class can only be achieved +through the socialisation of the means of production, distribution, +and exchange, and their subsequent control by the organised community +in the interests of the whole people. + +2. That, as the proletariat is the last class to achieve freedom, its +emancipation will mean the emancipation of the whole of mankind, +without distinction of race, nationality, creed, or sex. + +3. That this emancipation can only be the work of the working class +itself,[1287] organised nationally and internationally into a distinct +political party, consciously striving after the realisation of its +ideals: and, finally, + +4. That, in order to ensure greater material and moral facilities for +the working class to organise itself and to carry on the class war, +the following reforms must immediately be carried through:-- + + +IMMEDIATE REFORMS + +_Political._--Abolition of the Monarchy. + +Democratisation of the Governmental machinery, viz. Abolition of the +House of Lords, Payment of Members of Legislative and Administrative +bodies. Payment of Official Expenses of Elections out of the Public +Funds, Adult Suffrage, Proportional Representation, Triennial +Parliaments, Second Ballot, Initiative, and Referendum. Foreigners to +be granted rights of citizenship after two years' residence in the +country, without any fees. Canvassing to be made illegal. All +elections to take place on one day, such day to be made a legal +holiday and all premises licensed for the sale of intoxicating liquors +to be closed. + +Legislation by the people in such wise that no legislative proposal +shall become law until ratified by the majority of the people. + +Legislative and Administrative independence for all parts of the +Empire. + +_Financial and Fiscal._--Repudiation of the National Debt. + +Abolition of all indirect taxation and the institution of a cumulative +tax on all incomes and inheritances exceeding _300l._ + +_Administrative._--Extension of the principle of Local +Self-Government. + +Systematisation and co-ordination of the local administrative bodies. + +Election of all administrators and administrative bodies by Equal +Direct Adult Suffrage. + +_Educational._--Elementary education to be free, secular, industrial, +and compulsory for all classes. The age of obligatory school +attendance to be raised to 16. + +Unification and systematisation of intermediate and higher education, +both general and technical, and all such education to be free. + +State Maintenance for all attending State schools. + +Abolition of school rates; the cost of education in all State schools +to be borne by the National Exchequer. + +_Public Monopolies and Services._--Nationalisation of the land and the +organisation of labour in agriculture and industry under public +ownership and control on co-operative principles. + +Nationalisation of the Trusts. + +Nationalisation of Railways, Docks, and Canals, and all great means of +transit. + +Public ownership and control of Gas, Electric Light, and Water +supplies, as well as of Tramway, Omnibus, and other locomotive +services. + +Public ownership and control of the food and coal supply. + +The establishment of State and municipal banks and pawnshops and +public restaurants. + +Public ownership and control of the lifeboat service. + +Public ownership and control of hospitals, dispensaries, cemeteries, +and crematoria. + +Public ownership and control of the drink traffic. + +_Labour._--A legislative eight-hour working day, or 48 hours per week, +to be the maximum for all trades and industries. Imprisonment to be +inflicted on employers for any infringement of the law. + +Absolute freedom of combination for all workers, with legal guarantee +against any action, private or public, which tends to curtail or +infringe it. + +No child to be employed in any trade or occupation until 16 years of +age, and imprisonment to be inflicted on employers, parents, and +guardians who infringe this law. + +Public provision of useful work at not less than trade union rates of +wages for the unemployed. + +Free State Insurance against sickness and accident, and free and +adequate State pensions or provision for aged and disabled workers. +Public assistance not to entail any forfeiture of political rights. + +The legislative enactment of a minimum wage of _30s._ for all workers. +Equal pay for both sexes for the performance of equal work. + +_Social._--Abolition of the present workhouse system, and reformed +administration of the Poor Law on a basis of national co-operation. + +Compulsory construction by public bodies of healthy dwellings for the +people; such dwellings to be let at rents to cover the cost of +construction and maintenance alone, and not to cover the cost of the +land. + +The administration of justice and legal advice to be free to all; +justice to be administered by judges chosen by the people; appeal in +criminal cases; compensation for those innocently accused, condemned, +and imprisoned; abolition of imprisonment for contempt of court in +relation to non-payment of debt in the case of workers earning less +than _2l._ per week; abolition of capital punishment. + +_Miscellaneous._--The disestablishment and disendowment of all State +Churches. + +The abolition of standing armies, and the establishment of national +citizen forces. The people to decide on peace and war. + +The establishment of international courts of arbitration. + +The abolition of courts-martial; all offences against discipline to be +transferred to the jurisdiction of civil courts. + + +INDEPENDENT LABOUR PARTY + +_Constitution and Rules. 1907-8_ + +_Object._--An Industrial Commonwealth founded upon the Socialisation +of Land and Capital. + +_Methods._--The education of the community in the principles of +Socialism. + +The Industrial and Political Organisation of the Workers. + +The Independent Representation of Socialist Principles on all elective +bodies. + +_Programme._--The true object of industry being the production of the +requirements of life, the responsibility should rest with the +community collectively, therefore: + +The land, being the storehouse of all the necessaries of life, should +be declared and treated as public property. + +The capital necessary for industrial operations should be owned and +used collectively. + +Work, and wealth resulting therefrom, should be equitably distributed +over the population. + +As a means to this end, we demand the enactment of the following +measures: + +1. A maximum of 48 hours working week, with the retention of all +existing holidays, and Labour Day, May 1, secured by law. + +2. The provision of work to all capable adult applicants at recognised +trade union rates, with a statutory minimum of sixpence per hour. + +In order to remuneratively employ the applicants, Parish, District, +Borough, and County Councils to be invested with powers to: + + (_a_) Organise and undertake such industries as they may + consider desirable. + + (_b_) Compulsorily acquire land; purchase, erect, or + manufacture buildings, stock, or other articles for + carrying on such industries. + + (_c_) Levy rates on the rental values of the district, and + borrow money on the security of such rates for any of the + above purposes. + +3. State pensions for every person over 50 years of age, and adequate +provision for all widows, orphans, sick, and disabled workers. + +4. Free secular, moral, primary, secondary, and university education, +with free maintenance while at school or university. + +5. The raising of the age of child labour, with a view to its ultimate +extinction. + +6. Municipalisation and public control of the drink traffic. + +7. Municipalisation and public control of all Hospitals and +Infirmaries. + +8. Abolition of indirect taxation and the gradual transference of all +public burdens on to unearned incomes with a view to their ultimate +extinction. + +The Independent Labour Party is in favour of adult suffrage, with full +political rights and privileges for women, and the immediate extension +of the franchise to women on the same terms as granted to men; also +triennial Parliaments and second ballot. + + +THE LABOUR PARTY + +has no official programme. A semi-official programme, contained in a +statement of its Secretary, Mr. Ramsay Macdonald, M.P., will be found +on page 425 of this book. + + +THE FABIAN SOCIETY + +_Basis._--The Fabian Society consists of Socialists. + +It therefore aims at the reorganisation of Society by the emancipation +of Land and Industrial Capital from individual and class ownership, +and the vesting of them in the community for the general benefit. In +this way only can the natural and acquired advantages of the country +be equitably shared by the whole people. + +The Society accordingly works for the extinction of private property +in Land and of the consequent individual appropriation, in the form of +Rent, of the price paid for permission to use the earth, as well as +for the advantages of superior soils and sites. + +The Society, further, works for the transfer to the community of the +administration of such industrial Capital as can conveniently be +managed socially. For, owing to the monopoly of the means of +production in the past, industrial inventions and the transformation +of surplus income into Capital have mainly enriched the proprietary +class, the worker being now dependent on that class for leave to earn +a living. + +If these measures be carried out, without compensation (though not +without such relief to expropriated individuals as may seem fit to the +community), Rent and Interest will be added to the reward of labour, +the idle class now living on the labour of others will necessarily +disappear, and practical equality of opportunity will be maintained by +the spontaneous action of economic forces with much less interference +with personal liberty than the present system entails. + +For the attainment of these ends the Fabian Society looks to the +spread of Socialist opinions, and the social and political changes +consequent thereon, including the establishment of equal citizenship +for men and women. It seeks to achieve these ends by the general +dissemination of knowledge as to the relation between the individual +and Society in its economic, ethical, and political aspects. + + +THE SOCIALIST PARTY OF GREAT BRITAIN + +_Object._--The establishment of a system of society based upon the +common ownership and democratic control of the means and instruments +for producing and distributing wealth by and in the interest of the +whole community. + +DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES + +The Socialist Party of Great Britain holds that society as at present +constituted is based upon the ownership of the means of living (_i.e._ +land, factories, railways, &c.) by the capitalist or master class, and +the consequent enslavement of the working class, by whose labour alone +wealth is produced. + +That in society, therefore, there is an antagonism of interests, +manifesting itself as a class struggle, between those who possess but +do not produce, and those who produce but do not possess. + +That this antagonism can be abolished only by the emancipation of the +working class from the domination of the master class, by the +conversion into the common property of society of the means of +production and distribution, and their democratic control by the whole +people. + +That as in the order of social evolution the working class is the last +class to achieve its freedom, the emancipation of the working class +will involve the emancipation of all mankind, without distinction of +race or sex. + +That this emancipation must be the work of the working class itself. + +That as the machinery of government, including the armed forces of the +nation, exists only to conserve the monopoly by the capitalist class +of the wealth taken from the workers, the working class must organise +consciously and politically for the conquest of the powers of +government, national and local, in order that this machinery, +including these forces, may be converted from an instrument of +oppression into the agent of emancipation, and the overthrow of +privilege, aristocratic and plutocratic. + +That as all political parties are but the expression of class +interests, and as the interest of the working class is diametrically +opposed to the interests of all sections of the master class, the +party seeking working-class emancipation must be hostile to every +other party. + +The Socialist Party of Great Britain, therefore, enters the field of +political action determined to wage war against all other political +parties, whether alleged labour or avowedly capitalist, and calls upon +the members of the working class of this country to muster under its +banner to the end that a speedy termination may be wrought to the +system which deprives them of the fruits of their labour, and that +poverty may give place to comfort, privilege to equality, and slavery +to freedom. + + +PLATFORM OF THE SOCIALIST LABOUR PARTY + +The Socialist Labour Party is a political organisation seeking to +establish political and social freedom for all, and seeing in the +conquest by the Socialist Working Class of all the governmental and +administrative powers of the nation the means to the attainment of +that end. + +It affirms its belief that political and social freedom are not two +separate and unrelated ideas, but are two sides of the one great +principle, each being incomplete without the other. + +The course of society politically has been from warring but democratic +tribes within each nation to a united government under an absolutely +undemocratic monarchy. Within this monarchy again developed revolts +against its power, revolts at first seeking to limit its prerogatives +only, then demanding the inclusion of certain classes in the +governing power, then demanding the right of the subject to criticise +and control the power of the monarch, and finally, in the most +advanced countries this movement culminated in the total abolition of +the monarchical institution, and the transformation of the subject +into the citizen. + +In industry a corresponding development has taken place. The +independent producer, owning his own tools and knowing no master, has +given way before the more effective productive powers of huge capital, +concentrated in the hands of the great capitalist. The latter, +recognising no rights in his workers, ruled as an absolute monarch in +his factory. But within the realm of capital developed a revolt +against the power of the capitalist. This revolt, taking the form of +trade unionism, has pursued in the industrial field the same line of +development as the movement for political freedom has pursued in the +sphere of national government. It first contented itself with protests +against excessive exactions, against all undue stretchings of the +power of the capitalist; then its efforts broadened out to demands for +restrictions upon the absolute character of such power, _i.e._, by +claiming for trade unions the right to make rules for the workers in +the workshop; then it sought to still further curb the capitalist's +power by shortening the working day, and so limiting the period during +which the toiler may be exploited. Finally, it seeks by Boards of +Arbitration to establish an equivalent in the industrial world for +that compromise in the political world by which, in constitutional +countries, the monarch retains his position by granting a parliament +to divide with him the duties of governing, and so hides while +securing his power. And as in the political history of the race the +logical development of progress was found in the abolition of the +institution of monarchy, and not in its mere restriction, so in +industrial history the culminating point to which all efforts must at +last converge lies in the abolition of the capitalist class, and not +in the mere restriction of its powers. + +The Socialist Labour Party, recognising these two phases of human +development, unites them in its programme, and seeks to give them a +concrete embodiment by its demand for a Socialist Republic. + +It recognises in all past history a preparation for this achievement, +and in the industrial tendencies of to-day it hails the workings out +of those laws of human progress which bring that object within our +reach. + +The concentration of capital in the form of trusts at the same time as +it simplifies the task we propose that society shall undertake, viz. +the dispossession of the capitalist class, and the administration of +all land and instruments of industry as social property, of which all +shah be co-heirs and owners. + +As to-day the organised power of the State theoretically guarantees to +every individual his political rights, so in the Socialist Republic +the power and productive forces of organised society will stand +between every individual and want, guaranteeing that right to life +without which all other rights are but mockery. + +Short of the complete dispossession of the capitalist class which this +implies there is no hope for the workers. + +SPEED THE DAY. + + +THE CHRISTIAN SOCIAL UNION + +The Union consists of members of the Church of England who have the +following objects at heart:-- + +1. To claim for the Christian law the ultimate authority to rule +social practice. + +2. To study in common how to apply the moral truths and principles of +Christianity to the social and economic difficulties of the present +time. + +3. To present Christ in practical life as the living Master and King, +the enemy of wrong and selfishness, the power of righteousness and +love. + + +THE CHURCH SOCIALIST LEAGUE + +_Principles._--The Church has a mission to the whole of human life, +Social and Individual, Material and Spiritual. + +2. The Church can best fulfil its social mission by acting together in +its corporate capacity. + +3. To this end the members of the League accept the principles of +Socialism. + +_Object._--To secure the corporate action of the Church on these +principles. + +_Method._--1. To cultivate by the regular use of prayer and sacraments +the life of brotherhood. + +2. Members undertake to help each other in fulfilling the object of +the League by speaking and lecturing and in other ways. + +3. Members shall co-operate as far as possible to secure the +consideration of social questions at their various Ruridecanal and +Diocesan Conferences and the election of Socialists on these and other +representative bodies. + +4. Members shall work for the disestablishment of the patron and the +substitution of the Church in each parish in conjunction with the +Church in the diocese in the patron's place. + +5. To secure the representation of the wage-earning classes upon all +the representative bodies of the Church. + + +GUILD OF ST. MATTHEW + +_Objects._--1. To get rid, by every possible means, of the existing +prejudices, especially on the part of "Secularists," against the +Church, her sacraments and her doctrines: and to endeavour to "justify +God to the people." + +2. To promote frequent and reverent worship in the Holy Communion, and +a better observance of the teaching of the Church of England as set +forth in the Book of Common Prayer. + +3. To promote the study of social and political questions in the light +of the Incarnation. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1287] This paragraph is not to be understood as debarring individual +members of the possessing classes from participating in the work of the +movement. + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY + +OF BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, PERIODICALS, REPORTS, AND PAPERS QUOTED IN THIS +VOLUME + + +_Abolition of Poor Law Guardians._ Fabian Society. London. 1906. + +ADAMS, FRANCIS: "_The Mass of Christ._" Labour Press Society. + Manchester. + +_The Advance of Socialism._ (Leaflet.) Independent Labour Party. + London. 1907. + +_After Bread--Education._ Fabian Society. London. 1905. + +_Allotments, and How to Get Them._ Fabian Society. London. 1894. + +_An Appeal to Soldiers._ (Leaflet.) 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Independent + Labour Party. London. + +WIDDUP, J.R.: _What Political Economy Teaches._ Twentieth Century + Press. London. + +WILDE, OSCAR: _The Soul of Man under Socialism, in "Fortnightly + Review" February 1891._ London. + +WILLIAMS, T.R.: _The Difficulties of Socialism._ Independent Labour + Party. London. + +_Will Socialism Benefit the English People?_ (Debate.) Twentieth + Century Press. London. 1907. + +WILSON, Rev. J. STITT: _The Social Crusade._ (Periodical.) Bradford. + +WOODWORTH: _Christian Socialism in England._ Swan Sonnenschein & Co. + London. 1903. + +_The Workers' Burden._ (Leaflet.) Independent Labour Party. London. + + + + +ANALYTICAL INDEX + + NOTE.--_The abbreviation "f." following a page number + signifies "and following page"; "ff." "and following pages."_ + + +ABSOLUTISM, Socialism makes for, 460 ff. + +ABSTINENCE, Co-operation, and Thrift denounced by Socialists, 131 ff., + 311 ff. + +ADMINISTRATION, Imperial, Socialist views regarding, 179 f. + National, Socialist views regarding, 213 f. + +ADULT suffrage demanded, 213 + +ADULTERATION, cause of, 84 f. + +AGITATORS, Socialistic, appeal to passions, 10, 446, 470 + Socialist wish to govern themselves, 411 + +AGRICULTURE, Socialist views on, 261 ff., 288 ff. + +AIMS and policy of Socialists, 92 ff. + +ALCOHOLIC DRINK, expenditure of British workers on, 166, 319, 479 + +ALLOTMENTS, 262 ff. + +ANANIAS, the story of, 385 + +ANARCHISM and Socialism, similarity of views and aims of, and connection + between them, 81, 90, 118, 328, 381 f., 394 ff. + +ANARCHISTS, Chicago, and Socialists, 401 f. + +ANGLO-FRENCH agreements, views of Socialists on, 188 + +ANTWERP DOCK strike, 295 + +APPROPRIATION without adequate compensation is theft, 102 + +ARBITRATION, international, Socialists on, 188, 190 f. + +ARMED nation, why many Socialists are in favour of, 193 ff. + +ARMIES, standing, are to be dissolved, 194 ff. + +ARMY reform of Mr. Haldane, condemned by Socialists, 197 ff. + Socialist propaganda to undermine discipline and cause revolt in, 200 ff. + Socialist proposals regarding the, 192 ff. + +ASSIGNATS, history of the, 283 f. + +ATHEISM, Socialism and, 354 ff. + + +BANKS and banking, Socialist views on, 258 f., 278 ff. + +BARRICADES, Socialist views on, 258 f., 278 ff. + +BARTER, international, proposed by Socialists, 279 + +BENEFICENCE, sense of, relied on by Socialists as principal motive in + men, 458 f. + +BETTING, expenditure of working men on, 166 + +BLACKLEGS, British, in Antwerp and Hamburg, 295 f. + +BREMEN, Socialism in, 440 + +BRITISH EMPIRE--_see_ Empire, British + +BROTHERHOOD OF MAN promised and proclaimed by Socialists, 25 f., + 185 ff., 370, 382, 444 + +BUDGET, national, Socialist proposals regarding, 160 ff. + + +CADE, JACK, 326 f. + +CAPITAL is theft, 81 f., 102, 370 + national growth of, owing to savings of capitalists, 64 f. + private, cannot leave the country, 153 f. + is immoral, 80 ff. + is not to be tolerated, 152 ff. + why its constant increase is necessary, 45 + +CAPITALISTS and landowners are thieves, 38, 102, 370 f. + and workers, division of national income between, 40 ff., 75 ff. + relations between, 30 ff., 75 ff. + are the managers and trustees of the national wealth, 35 + employ labour only at a profit, 33 + exploit the poor, 31, 75 ff. + greatest, were originally working men, 60 + live in idleness, 30, 75 ff. + maintain the workers, not the workers the capitalists, 168 + private, are responsible for commercial crises, 67 ff. + are responsible for unemployment, 65 ff., 125 f. + useless and unnecessary, 155, 168 + benefit from unemployment, 69 f. + have no rights and no claims to consideration, 154 + their disappearance would be a blessing, 155, 168 + usefulness of, 64 f., 168, 315 + +CARNEGIE, ANDREW, on drink, 321 f. + +CATECHISM for the mob, 367 + the Red, 372 ff. + +CHEAPNESS, Socialist views on, 290 ff. + +CHICAGO Anarchists and Socialists, 401 f. + +CHILDREN, free maintenance of, demanded, 138 + free meals for--_see_ Free Maintenance + production of, to be regulated by the State, 347 f. + will belong not to parents but to society, 345 f. + will belong to parents, 348 + +CHRIST, name of, used for electioneering purposes, 363 + +CHRISTIAN Socialism, 375 ff. + programmes of, 490 f. + +CHRISTIANITY and religion, Socialist attitude towards, 354 ff. + +CIVILISATION, Socialist views on, 11 ff. + +"CLARION," circulation of, 437 + +CLASS war doctrine, the, 72 ff. + disproved, 79 + +CLASSES of society, are there only two? 72 ff. + +CLERGY, Socialist views on the, 13 + +COAL, production of, in 1845, 475 + +COBDEN, Socialists on, 287 + +CODE NAPOLÉON, 329, 344 + +COIN--_see_ Money + +COMMANDMENTS, the capitalists' ten, 368 + the Socialist ten, 371 f. + +COMMONS, House of, Socialist views on the, 209 ff. + +COMMUNE of Paris, Socialists and the insurrection of the, 407 ff. + +COMMUNISM and Socialism, 381 ff. + early Christian, 386 + in Sparta, 389 + of Fourier, 392 f. + Socialist recommendations of, 21, 381 ff. + why it is impossible, 393 + +COMMUNIST manifesto quoted, 77 f., 92, 103, 107, 112, 183 f., 332 f., 405 + +COMMUNITY of women, 331 ff. + +COMPENSATION has no place in Socialist ethics, 100 f. + or no compensation in expropriating private property? 95 ff., 149 f. + +COMPETITION and co-operation, 82 ff., 312 ff., 444 ff., 470 + +COMPLAINTS, the, of Socialists, 30 ff. + +COMPULSORY labour, necessity of, in Socialist commonwealth, 455 ff. + +CONFISCATION, plans of, 95 ff. + probable result of, 168 f., 251 f., 254 + +CONTRACT, freedom of, useless to workers, 33 + +CO-OPERATION and competition, 82 ff., 312 ff., 444 ff., 470 + cannot benefit British worker, 31 + greatly benefits British worker, 315 ff. + is opposed by Socialists, 84, 131 ff., 311 ff. + thrift and abstinence denounced by Socialists, 131 ff., 311 ff. + +CO-OPERATIVE societies, record and statistics of the British, 315 ff. + +COURTS-MARTIAL, Socialist agitation against, 201 f. + +CRIME--_see_ Justice, Theft + +CRIMES, sexual, Socialist views on, 340 ff. + +CRISES caused by private capitalists, 67 ff. + could they be prevented by Socialists? 70 f., 124 f. + +CROWN, the--_see_ also Monarchy + is unfit to administer the Empire, 179 + +CURRENCY--_see_ Money + + +DEBT, Local, huge increase and danger of, 246 ff. + Local, will it be repudiated? 248 + National, repudiation of, 110, 156 ff. + +DEMONETISATION of gold and silver--see Money + +DESERTION of family, frequency of, 307 + +DISARMAMENT, Socialists and, 189 ff. + +DISTRIBUTION, alteration of, will abolish misery, 65 ff. + is more important than production, 65 ff. + disproved, 70 f. + +DIVISION, general, of existing property disclaimed, 93 + is the principal aim of Socialists, 471 f. + +DOCTRINES, fundamental, of Socialism, 50 ff. + +DOWNING STREET, Socialist views regarding government from, 179 f. + +DRINK, expenditure of workers on, 166, 319, 479 + +DRUNKENNESS, condemned and combated by foreign Socialists, 322 ff. + excused and encouraged by British Socialists, 319 ff. + +DUTIES--_see_ Budget + + +ECONOMIC policy of Great Britain, 474 ff. + +EDUCATION, Socialist views and proposals on, 302 ff. + +EMIGRATION, 476 f. + +EMPIRE, British, federation of, opposed by Socialists, 173 f. + federation of, is necessary, 478 + German Socialists' views on the, 181 f. + has been a failure, 179 + Socialists and the, 170 ff. + +EMPLOYERS and capitalists benefit from unemployment, 69 f. + and workers' interests are opposed, 77 + identical, 79 + are useless, 168 + +ENGLAND--_see_ Great Britain + +ENTERPRISE, Governmental and municipal, inefficiency and wastefulness + of, 85 ff., 251 ff. + municipal, 240 ff. + is undertaken regardless of cost and profit, 252 ff. + +EQUALITY of all races proclaimed by Socialists, 185 ff. + +ESPERANTO, why studied by Socialists, 188 + +ESTATE Duty--_see_ Budget + +EXPENDITURE, local, 246 + +EXPROPRIATION of private property without compensation, 95 ff., 149 f. + + +FABIAN SOCIETY, details regarding, 94, 418 ff. + programme of, 486 f. + +FAMILY, desertion of, very frequent, 307 + Karl Marx on, 332 + Socialism and the, 330 ff. + +FATALISM of Socialists, 327 f., 360 f. + +FEDERATION, Imperial, opposed by Socialists, 173 f. + why necessary, 478 + +FEEDING of school-children--_see_ Free Maintenance + +FISCAL policy, Socialist views on, 285 ff. + reform, why it is necessary, 474 ff. + +FOOD--_see_ Agriculture and Protection + +FORCED labour, necessity of, in Socialist Commonwealth, 455 ff. + +FOREIGN policy, Socialist views on, 183 ff. + +FOURIER, Communism of, 392 f. + +FRANCE, aspect of, before the Revolution, 433 + +FRANCHISE and suffrage in Great Britain and other countries, 213 + +FREEDOM of contract useless to workers, 33 + +FREE love, 330 ff. + maintenance for children, 138, 303 ff. + trade and protection, Karl Marx on, 300 + Socialist views on, 285 ff. + why it must be abandoned, 474 ff. + +FRONTIERS are to be abolished, 184 ff. + + +GAMBLING spirit in Englishmen, 459 + +GERMAN and British Socialism compared, 88, 236, 432 f. + Socialists' patriotic and imperial attitude, 181 f., 190 f., 205, 433 + views on colonial policy, 181 f, 190 f. + Great Britain, 181 f., 190 f. + +GERMANY, composition of electorate in, 440 + +GLASGOW, vast Socialist plans regarding, 252 + +GOD--_see_ Religion + +GOLD and silver money are to be abolished, 21, 258 f., 278 ff. + +GOVERNMENT--_see also_ Administration + complaints about, 11 f., 394 ff., 411 ff. + of Socialist State, 463 ff. + +GREAT BRITAIN, aspect of, resembles pre-Revolution France, 433 + changed economic position of, 475 ff. + dangerous position of, 484 f. + German Socialists' views on, 181 f., 190 f. + +GRIEVANCES of Socialists, 30 ff. + +GRONLAND advises Socialists to appeal to the passions, 10 + + +HALDANE, Mr., and Woolwich Arsenal dismissals, 296 + +HAMBURG DOCK strike, 295 + +HISTORY, all, is untrue, 91 + +HOME--_see_ Family + +HOME RULE, Socialists and, 180 + +HOUSE OF COMMONS, Socialist views on the, 209 ff. + +HOUSE OF LORDS, Socialist views on the, 211 + to be abolished, 109, 110, 216 i. + +HUMAN nature and Socialism, 444 ff. + +HUNGRY children--_see_ Free Maintenance + + +IDLING, how it is to be prevented, 457 ff. + +IMMORALITY, sexual, Socialist views regarding, 336 ff. + +IMPERIAL federation opposed by Socialists, 173 f. + +INCOME, national, how divided between capitalists and workers, 40 ff., + 75 ff. + of workers and capitalists compared, 40 ff, 75 ff. + +INCOME-TAX--_see_ Budget + +INCREASING misery, law of, 56 ff. + disproved, 57 f. + +INDEBTEDNES, local, 246 ff. + +INDEPENDENT LABOUR PARTY, details regarding, 417 f., 435 f. + programme of, 485 f. + +INDIA, Socialist views and aims regarding, 174 ff. + +INHERITANCE, right of, 103 ff., 108 + +INTEMPERANCE--_see_ Drink, Drunkenness, Temperance + +INTEREST, profit and rent are theft, 38, 80 ff., 102, 371, 374 + Socialist objections to, 38, 80, 258 f., 280 f. + +INTERNATIONAL Arbitration, Socialists on, 188, 190 f. + relations, Socialist views on, 183 ff., 469 + +INTOXICATING drink--_see_ Drink, Drunkenness, Temperance + +IRON law of wages, 53 ff., 245, 312 f., 319 f. + disproved, 54 ff., 313 f., 320 + + +JUDGES, English, Socialists on, 325 f. + +JUSTICE and Law, Socialist Views regarding, 100 f., 114, 325 ff., 396 f. + + +KEIR HARDIE resembles John the Baptist, 28 + + +LABOUR CHURCH, the, and its teaching, 369 + fewer hours of, promised by Socialists, 117 f. + forced, would be necessary in Socialist commonwealth, 455 ff. + is the only source of wealth, 50 ff. + disproved, 52 + organisation of, in Socialist commonwealth, 455 ff. + Party, details regarding, 424 ff. + informal programme of, 425 f. + representation committee, details regarding, 424 + remuneration of, in Socialist commonwealth, 450 ff. + sweated, proposals regarding, 461 + time theory, 450 f. + +LABOURER is entitled to entire product of labour, 38, 61, 451 + absurdity of demand, 62 ff., 451 ff. + receives only from one-third to one-fifth of his rightful wage, 30, + 43, 48 f. + +LABOURERS, rural, 266 f. + +LAND--_see_ also Agriculture + and Landlords and Socialists, 145 ff. + belongs to all, 102 f., 145 ff. + individual men have no right to, 102 f., 145 ff. + is to be had rent free from Socialist State, 146 + is not to be had rent free from Socialist State, 146 f. + is to be seized without compensation to owners, 95 ff., 149 f., 486 + property in, is robbery, 38, 102, 145 ff., 370 + +LAND settlement policy of Socialists, 262 ff. + +LAND Tax--_see_ Budget + +LANDOWNERS and capitalists are thieves, 38, 102 + +LAW and Justice, Socialist views regarding, 100 f., 114, 325 ff., 396 f. + iron, of wages, 53 ff., 245, 312 f., 319 f. + disproved, 54 ff., 313 t, 320 + of increasing misery, 56 ff. + disproved, 57 f. + +LAZINESS, how it is to be prevented, 457 ff. + +LIBERAL PARTY, Socialist dissatisfaction with, 233 ff. + views of and attitude towards the, 226 ff. + +LITERATURE, Socialist, increase of sales of, 435 ff. + +LOAFERS and tramps, ideal conditions for, to be created by Socialists, 254 + +LOCAL expenditure, 245 f. + Government, Socialist views and proposals regarding, 166, 240 ff. + indebtedness, 246 ff. + +LONDON, fantastic schemes regarding, 249 ff. + +LORDS, abolition of the House of, demanded, 109, 110, 216 f. + House of, views of Socialists on the, 211 + +LOVE, free, 330 ff. + + +MAGDEBURG, Socialism in, 440 + +MAINTENANCE, free, for children, demanded, 138, 303 ff. + why demanded, 138, 308 + +MAN, brotherhood of, promised and proclaimed by Socialists, 25 f., + 185 ff., 370, 382, 444 + has no right to himself, 102 + is not responsible for his actions, 327 f. + +MAN, nature of, and Socialism, 444 ff. + +MARRIAGE--_see also_ Family, Women + is akin to prostitution, 335 f. + +MARX and Engels, Communists' manifesto quoted, 77 f., 92, 103, 107 f., + 112, 183 f., 332 f., 405 + +MARX, KARL, appreciation of, 89 + on Christianity and religion, 359, 366 + on Free Trade and Protection, 300 + on women and the family, 332 f. + political programme of, 107 f. + unmerited praise of, 88 f. + was not a scientist, but a demagogue and a revolutionary, 472 + +MEALS, free, for school children--_see_ Free Maintenance + +MEMBERS of Parliament, payment of, advocated, 213, 216 + +MIDDLE CLASS, importance of strengthening the, 441 ff. + Socialistic attempt to permeate the, 442 f. + +MIDDLEMAN, promised suppression of, by Socialists is illusory, 241 f. + +MILITARY LAW, Socialist agitation against, 201 f. + +MILLIONAIRES are criminals, 81 + +MINES and minerals to be taken over without compensation, 149 + +MIR, the, 388 + +MIRABEAU on paper money, 283 f. + +MISERY, law of, increasing, 56 ff. + disproved, 57 f. + +MONARCHY, abolition of, 109, 110, 207 f. + Socialism and the, 207 f. + +MONEY, abolition of gold and silver proposed, 21, 258, 278 ff. + consequences of, 279 f. + banks and banking, Socialist views on, 258 f., 278 ff. + +MORALITY, sexual. Socialist views regarding, 336 ff. + +MUNICIPAL and national enterprise, inefficiency and wastefulness of, + 85 ff., 251 ff. + enterprise, 240 ff. + enterprises are undertaken regardless of cost and profit, 252 ff. + Socialism, 240 ff. + + +NATIONAL budget, Socialist views regarding, 160 ff. + debt, repudiation of, 110, 156 ff. + enterprise, inefficiency and wastefulness of, 85 ff., 251 ff. + income, how divided between capitalists and workers, 40 ff., 75 ff. + +NATIONALISATION of land--_see_ Land + +NATURE, human, and Socialism, 444 ff. + + +OFFENCES, sexual, Socialist views on, 340 ff. + +OLD-AGE pensions, Socialist plans regarding, 19, 122 f. + +OPINION, public, under Socialism, 466 f. + +ORGANISATION of work proposed by Socialists, 17, 70 f., 124 I, 455 ff, + fallacies regarding, 70 f., 85 ff., 124 f., 241 f. + +ORGANISATIONS, Socialist, and their policy, 415 ff. + +OVER-PRODUCTION, complaints as to, 66 f. + are not justified, 70 f. + can it be prevented by Socialists? 70 f., 124 f. + is not the cause of crises and unemployment, but ill-balanced + production, 70 f. + +OVERWORK, complaints of, 16 + + +PAPER money, unlimited issues of, proposed, 258 f., 278 ff. + consequences of, 279 f. + +PARIS Commune, Socialists and the insurrection of the, 407 ff. + +PARLIAMENT, Socialism and, 209 ff. + Socialist spirit in, 437 f. + unofficial Socialists in, 438 + +PARLIAMENTARY Government to be abolished, 218 ff. + +PARTIES, Socialist attitude towards the, 225 ff. + the Socialist and their policy, 415 ff. + +PASSIONS, Socialists appeal to the, 10, 446, 470 + +PATRIOTISM, Socialism is destructive of, 114, 186 f., 202 ff. + +PAUPERISM and distress, growth of, under Socialist régime, 242 f. + +PAYMENT of Members of Parliament advocated, 213, 216 + +PEACE conference, 189 ff. + +PEASANT proprietors are everywhere hostile to Socialism, 263 + Socialists object to, 262 ff. + +PEASANTRY, importance of re-creating the, 443 + +PENSIONS to workers, 19, 122 + +POLICY, agricultural, of Socialists--_see_ Agriculture + and aims of Socialists, 92 ff. + fiscal, of Socialists--_see_ Free Trade and Protection + foreign, of Socialists--_see_ Foreign Policy + +POPLAR, 243 + +POSTAGE, Socialist proposals regarding, 166 f. + +POST OFFICE, British, praised by Socialists, 21 + condemned by Socialists, 411, 413 + fallacies regarding business aptitude of, 85 ff. + servants, Socialist proposals regarding, 166 f. + +POVERTY and drink and gambling, 166, 319, 479 f. + extravagant Socialist estimates of, 165, 242, 302 f. + complaints about, 16, 33, 165 + of the poor is caused by wealth of the rich, 30, 34 ff., 161 + disproved, 35, 159 + +PRESS, the, under Socialism, 466 f. + +PRIVATE trader to be abolished, 242 ff. + +PRODUCTION, ill-balanced, causes crises and unemployment, 70 f. + is carried on for the profit of a class, 36 + is less important than distribution, 65 ff. + is more important than distribution, 71 + +PROFIT, what it is and why it is necessary, 39, 45 + interest and rent are theft, 38, 80 ff., 102, 371, 374 + the working at a, objected to, 33, 38 ff., 252 ff. + sharing in Socialist commonwealth, 459 + +PROGRAMME, political, of Karl Marx, 107 f. + +PROGRAMMES of Socialism, 92, 107 ff., 481 ff. + +PROPERTY--_see also_ Capital, Land, Mines + instinct of, is as old as humanity, 444 + +"PROPERTY is theft," 81 f., 102, 370 f. + +PROPERTY, private, general division of, disclaimed, 93 + is the real object of Socialism, 471 ff. + private, is immoral, 80 ff. + is to be acquired without compensation, 95 ff., 149 f., 486 + ought to be abolished, 82, 92 + Socialist plans regarding, 95 ff., 149 f. + right to, denned by Socialists, 80, 96 ff., 102, 145 + +PROSTITUTION, 339 ff. + is akin to marriage, 335 f. + +PROTECTION, why it must be adopted, 474 ff. + and Free Trade, Karl Marx on, 300 + Socialist views on, 285 ff. + +PROUDHON quoted, 81, 90 + +PROVIDENCE--_see_ Thrift + +PUBLIC opinion under Socialism, 466 f. + + +RAILWAY rates, preferential to foreigners denounced, 269 ff. + +RAILWAYS and shipping, Socialist views on, 269 ff. + nationalisation of, demanded, 271 f. + seems too speculative an undertaking, 277 + should be run free of charge to all, 272 ff. + wastefulness and inefficiency of, 269 ff. + +RATES, alarming increase of, 245 f. + increase of, means increase of rent, 243, 245 + +RED CATECHISM, the, 372 ff. + +REFERENDUM demanded by Socialists, 217 ff. + opposed by Socialists, 220 + +REFORM, fiscal, why it is necessary, 474 ff. + social, the true, 480 + +RELIGION and Christianity, Socialist attitude towards, 354 ff. + Socialism is a, 26, 364 ff. + Socialist views on present, 13, 354 ff. + the, of Socialism, 364 ff. + +RENT, interest and profit are theft, 38, 80 ff., 102, 371, 374 + +REVOLUTION, French, parallels furnished to Socialist proposals by the, + 168 f., 283 f, 352 f., 365 f. + aspect of France before the, 433 + Socialists and, 404 ff. + +REVOLUTIONARY aims and plans of Socialists, 77 ff., 112 ff., 183 ff., + 200 ff., 394 ff., 403, 404 ff., 410, 470 ff. + +REVOLUTIONS always cause depravity of morals, 450 + +RICH, the, are the managers and trustees of the national wealth, 35 + are thieves, 80, 102, 370 f. + cause poverty of the poor, 30, 34 ff., 161 + disproved, 35, 159 + +RICHES of the rich are the cause of poverty, 30, 34 ff., 161 + disproved, 35, 159 + +RIGHT to work, sinister aim of Socialists in proclaiming, 128 f. + disregarded by Socialists, 461 + +RIGHTS of individual defined, 102 + +ROBBERY encouraged by Socialists, 82, 114 + +ROCHDALE Pioneers, history of the, 315 f. + +RURAL labourers, 266 f. + + +SAVING--_see_ Thrift + +SAVINGS, contemplated confiscation of, 157 ff. + +SAVINGS banks deposits, 46 + +SELFISHNESS and Socialism, 444 ff. + +SEXUAL crimes. Socialist views on, 340 ff. + offences and crimes, 340 ff. + +SMALL holdings, 262 ff. + +SOCIAL-Democratic Federation, details regarding, 415 ff. + programme of, 481 ff. + +SOCIALISM and Anarchism, similarity of views and aims of, and connection + between, 81, 90, 118, 328, 381 f., 394 ff. + and Christianity and religion, 354 ff. + and Communism, 381 ff. + and education, 302 ff. + and Free Trade and Protection, 285 ff. + and law and justice, 325 ff. + and the monarchy, 207 f. + and Parliament, 209 ff. + and revolution, 395 ff., 404 ff. + appeals to passions, 10, 446, 470 + British and German compared, 88, 206 + Christian, 375 ff. + definitions of, I ff., 390, 469 + flourishes on dissatisfaction and misery, 131 + fundamental doctrines of, 50 ff. + growth and danger of, 431 ff. + is a religion, 2, 26 ff., 364 ff. + is a science, 1, 2, 3, 87 + is based, not on science, but on deception, 91 + is destructive of patriotism, 114, 186 f., 202 ff. + is it possible? 444 ff. + is merely a plan of spoliation and of general division, 471 f. + is not a science, 87, 89 f., 470 ff. + means absolutism, 460 ff. + municipal, 240 ff. + disregards cost and profit, 252 ff. + presupposes perfect men, 444 ff. + principal demand of, 92 + programme of, 92 ff. + progress of, how it may be checked, 440 ff. + promises to alter human nature, 448 f. + to abolish war, 186 f., 189 + to make all races equal, 185 ff. + why it is impossible, 390 f., 444 ff. + +SOCIALIST and Anarchist doctrines compared, 81, 90 f. + Labour Party, details regarding, 428 + programme of, 488 ff. + literature, increase of sales of, 435 ff. + organisations, the, and their policy, 415 ff. + Party of Great Britain, details regarding, 428 + programme of, 487 f. + spirit in Parliament, 437 f. + State, how will it be governed? 463 ff. + of the future, 5 f., 17 ff., 444 ff. + -enterprise, will it be more efficient than private enterprise? 85 ff. + Sunday schools, 369 ff. + +SOCIALISTS, aims and policy of, 92 ff. + and Chicago Anarchists, 401 f. + and land and landlords, 145 ff. + and revolution, 395 ff., 404 ff. + and rural labourers, 266 f. + and terrorist outrages, 402 f. + and the Empire, 170 ff. + and the two Parties, 225 ff. + and the working masses, 115 ff. + and Trade Unionists, official connection between, 141 ff., 434 f. + relations between, 131 ff., 424 ff., 434 f. + are antagonistic to providence, thrift, and temperance, 312 ff. + are hostile to the Empire, 170 ff. + to their own country, 114, 186 f. + assert that all history is garbled, 91 + assert that man has no right to himself, 102 + condemn imperial administration, 179 f. + national administration, 213 f., 394 ff., 411 ff. + State Socialism, 411 ff. + consist of two classes, revolutionaries and visionaries, 183 + demand free maintenance for children, 138 + Government purchase of all British railways and shipping, 271 ff. + denounce co-operation, thrift, and abstinence, 131 ff. + desire the destruction of the State, 381 f., 394 ff., 411 ff. + different aims, proposals, and views of, 6 f. + disregard right to work, 461 + encourage theft, 82 + excuse and encourage drunkenness, 319 ff., + grievances of the, 30 ff. + numbers of, in various countries, 432 + on Free Trade and Protection, 285 ff. + oppose co-operation, 84, 312 + promise brotherhood of man, 25 f., 185 ff., 370, 382, 444 + equal wages for all, 22 + gratis amusements, 22 + baths, 250 + clothing, 21 + concerts, 250 + food, 21 + fuel, 21 + libraries, 250 + lodging, 21 + travel and transport on railways and tramways, 22, 250, 272 S. + on ships, 275 f. + wash-houses, 250 + working men's clubs, 250 + to transform the world into a paradise, 19 ff. + propose issuing paper money in unlimited quantities, 258 f., 278 ff. + revolutionary aims and plans of, 77 ff., 112 ff., 183 ff., 200 ff., + 394 ff., 403, 404 ff., 410 + try to destroy discipline in the army and so cause it to revolt, 200 ff. + unofficial in Parliament, 438 + wish for an international language, 188 + to abolish parliamentary government, 218 ff., + the army, 192 ff. + the existing languages, 310 + the monarchy, 109, 110, 207 f. + to capture or abolish Parliament, 209 ff. + to conquer Parliament, 238 f. + to dissolve the army, 192 ff. + German, on Peace Conferences, disarmament, and international + arbitration, 190 f. + patriotic and imperial attitude of, 181 f., 190 f., 205, 433 + views of, on colonial policy, 181 f., 190 f. + regarding Great Britain, 181 f., 190 f. + +SOCIETY, Socialist views on, 10 ff. + +SPARTA, Communism in, 389 + +SPENCER, Herbert, 447 f. + +SPOLIATION, plans of, 95 if., 149 f. + probable result of, 168 f., 251 f., 254 + +STAMP duties, proposals regarding, 166 f. + +STATE enterprise usually inefficient, 85 ff., 251 ff. + Socialism, Socialist attitude towards, 411 ff. + Socialist, of the future, 5 f., 17 ff., 444 ff. + how will it be governed? 463 ff. + Socialists are hostile to the, and desire its destruction, 381 f., + 394 ff., 411 ff. + +STOCKS, Municipal, are no longer first-class investments, 258 + +STUTTGART, International Socialist Congress at, 90, 177 + +SUFFRAGE, adult, demanded, 213 + and franchise in Great Britain and other countries, 213 + reform demanded, 213 f. + +SUNDAY, will it be abolished? 365 + schools, Socialist, 369 ff. + +SURPLUS-VALUE doctrine, 58 ff., 244 f. + disproved, 59 f. + +SWEATED labour proposals of Socialists, 461 + + +TARIFF reform, Socialist views on, 285 ff. + +TAXATION, indirect, condemned by Socialists, 165 f. + leading Socialist principle of, 255 + local--_see_ Rates + national--_see_ Budget + +TAXING private property out of existence, plans for, 99 f., 149, 153, + 160 ff., 244 f., 255 + +TEMPERANCE condemned by British Socialists, 319 ff. + praised and encouraged by foreign Socialists, 322 ff. + providence, and thrift are antagonistic to Socialism, 131 ff., 312 ff. + Socialistic views on, 131 ff., 311 ff. + +TEN COMMANDMENTS, the capitalists', 368 + the Socialist, 371 f. + +TERRORIST outrages. Socialist views on, 402 f. + +THEFT encouraged by Socialists, 82, 114 + +THRIFT denounced by Socialists, 131 ff., 155, 311 ff. + is immoral, 314 f. + is theft, 155 + providence, and temperance are antagonistic to Socialism, 131 ff., + 312 ff. + Socialist views on, 131 ff., 311 ff. + +TRADE Unionists and Socialists, official connection between, 141 ff., + 434 f. + relations between, 131 ff., 424 ff., 434 f. + Unions and unemployed problem, 127 ff. + have become Socialistic, 141 ff., 434 f., 471 + secretaries are to administer the Empire, 179 + +TRADER, private, to be abolished, 242 ff. + +TRAMPS and loafers, ideal conditions for, to be created by Socialists, 254 + + +UNDERFEEDING--_see_ Free Maintenance + +UNEMPLOYED, the, 37, 474 ff. + and agriculture, 266 + +UNEMPLOYMENT benefits employers, 69 f. + could it be prevented by Socialists? 124 f. + is due to private capital, 65 ff., 125 f. + disproved, 126 f. + real causes of, 70 f., 124 ff., 474 ff. + sinister aims of Socialists regarding, 128 f. + Socialist plans regarding, 123 ff. + views on, 67 ff., 123 ff. + +USURY--_see_ Interest + + +VOTES for women, 222 ff. + + +WAGES, amount and purchasing-power of, depends on production, 120 f. + are to be abolished, 6, 21 + are not to be abolished, 22, 278, 386 f., 450 ff. + are to be equal for all, 22, 278, 386 f., 450 ff. + are not to be equal for all, 390, 450 ff. + different views of Socialists regarding, 6, 450 ff. + factors determining amount of, 54 ff., 313 f. + great increase of, in Socialist State promised by Socialists, 118 ff. + doubted by German Socialists, 120 + iron law of, 53 ff., 245, 312 f., 319 f. + disproved, 54 ff., 313 f., 320 + rise in, 57 f. + +WAR will be abolished by Socialists, 186 f., 189 + +WEALTH creates poverty, 30, 34 ff., 161 + disproved, 35, 159 + is a crime, 80 ff. + labour is the only source of, 50 ff. + disproved, 52 + love of, will disappear, 23, 448 + various sources of, 52 + why unequally distributed, 473 + +WEST HAM, 243, 363 + +WOMAN, the family, and the home. Socialism and, 330 ff. + will be given the vote, 222 ff., 349 + will be made equal to man, 349 f. + will be made free, 349 + will have to work for a living, 349 f. + will her privileges be abolished? 350 f. + will receive wages for childbearing, 345 + +WOMEN, community of, 331 + Karl Marx on, 332 f. + +WOMEN'S Freedom League, 429 + Social and Political Union, 429 + split in, 429 + suffrage. Socialist views on, 222 ff. + +WOOLWICH Arsenal dismissals, 296. + +WORK, fewer hours of, promised by Socialists, 117 f. + is a curse, 115 + organisation of, in Socialist Commonwealth, 455 ff. + remuneration of, in Socialist Commonwealth, 450 ff. + Socialist views regarding, 115 ff. + +WORKERS and capitalists, division of national income between, 40 ff., + 75 ft. + relations between, 30 ff. + are entitled to entire produce of their labour, 38, 61 ff., 451 + absurdity of demand, 62 ff., 451 ff. + are most prosperous where capitalists are richest, 35, 159 + are swindled out of their earnings, 34 + become capitalists every day, 60 + British, are slaves, 15, 18, 31 f. + how to improve conditions of, 474 ff. + cannot acquire capital, 31 ff. + expenditure of, on betting, 166, 479 f. + on drink, 106, 319, 479 f. + miserable state of, 13 ff. + possess absolutely nothing, 33 + poverty of, 16, 33, 165 + receive only from one-third to one-fifth of their rightful wages, + 30, 43, 48 f. + value of property owned by, 46 + +WORKING masses and Socialists, 115 ff. + + +PRINTED BY +SPOTTISWOODE AND C. LTD., NEW-STREET SQUARE +LONDON + + + + + * * * * * + + + + + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + | Typographical errors corrected in text: | + | | + | Page 84: reponsible replaced with responsible | + | Page 89: Britian replaced with Britain | + | Page 103: repected replaced with respected | + | Page 108: furthur replaced with further | + | Page 112: Social-Democrary replaced with Social-Democracy | + | Page 157: MacLachlan replaced with McLachlan | + | Page 167: interefere replaced with interfere | + | Page 178: self-goverment replaced with self-government | + | Page 212: parasities replaced with parasites | + | Page 217: 'which will be be made' replaced with | + | 'which will be made' | + | Page 260: Parliamentry replaced with Parliamentary | + | Page 279: Co-opervative replaced with Co-operative | + | Page 280: irreligous replaced with irreligious | + | Page 290: beleagured replaced with beleaguered | + | Page 322: democrary replaced with democracy | + | Page 328: L'Etat replaced with L'État | + | Page 334: (fn 905) Fornightly replaced with Fortnightly | + | Page 337: marrige replace with marriage | + | Page 350: L'Etat replaced with L'État | + | Page 406: Parlement replaced with Parliament | + | Page 425: indentical replaced with identical | + | Page 446: enconomic replaced with economic | + | Page 419: Progessives replaced with Progressives | + | | + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRITISH SOCIALISM*** + + +******* This file should be named 28361-8.txt or 28361-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/8/3/6/28361 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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