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background-color: inherit; text-decoration: none;} + a:visited {color: #000066; background-color: inherit; text-decoration: none;} + a:hover {color: #A8480E; background-color: #CC9;} + </style> + +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of New Worlds For Old, by Herbert George Wells + +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: New Worlds For Old + A Plain Account of Modern Socialism + +Author: Herbert George Wells + +Release Date: November 24, 2009 [EBook #30538] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NEW WORLDS FOR OLD *** + + + + +Produced by Malcolm Farmer, Barbara Tozier and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + +<div id="frontmatter"><a class="pagenum disguise" id="pagei" title="i"> </a> + <p id="half-title">NEW WORLDS FOR OLD<br /> + <span id="half-subtitle">A PLAIN ACCOUNT OF MODERN + SOCIALISM</span></p> + + <div id="frontad"><a class="pagenum disguise" id="pageii" title="ii"> </a> + <p class="heading">BY THE SAME AUTHOR</p> + <ul> + <li class="heading">SHORT STORIES + <ul> + <li>The Plattner Story and others</li> + <li>Tales of Space and Time</li> + <li>The Stolen Bacillus and other Stories</li> + <li>Twelve Stories and a Dream</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li class="heading">ROMANCES + <ul> + <li>The Time Machine</li> + <li>The Island of Dr. Moreau</li> + <li>The War of the Worlds</li> + <li>The Wonderful Visit</li> + <li>The Invisible Man</li> + <li>The First Men in the Moon</li> + <li>The Food of the Gods</li> + <li>The Sea Lady</li> + <li>When the Sleeper Wakes</li> + <li>In the Days of the Comet</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li class="heading">NOVELS + <ul> + <li>Love and Mr. Lewisham</li> + <li>Kipps</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li class="heading">SOCIOLOGICAL AND SOCIALIST ESSAYS + <ul> + <li>Anticipations</li> + <li>Mankind in the Making</li> + <li>A Modern Utopia</li> + <li>The Future in America</li> + </ul> + </li> + </ul> + </div> + + <div id="title_page"><a class="pagenum disguise" id="pageiii" title="iii"> </a> + <h1>NEW WORLDS + FOR OLD</h1> + <p class="second-title">A PLAIN ACCOUNT OF MODERN + SOCIALISM</p> + + <p class="author"><span class="smaller">BY</span><br /> + H. G. WELLS</p> + + <p id="publisher"><span class="pub-city">LONDON</span><br /> + <span class="pub-name">CONSTABLE & COMPANY Ltd.</span><br /> + <span class="pub-date">1912</span></p> + </div> + + <div id="copyright_page"><a class="pagenum disguise" id="pageiv" title="iv"> </a> + <p>Published March 1908.<br /> + Popular Edition Revised<br /> + June 1909. Reprinted<br /> + July 1909, Sept. 1922</p> + </div> +</div> +<div id="intro"><a class="pagenum disguise" id="pagev" title="v"> </a> + <h2>INTRODUCTORY REMARKS</h2> + + <p>“Undiluted Atheism, theft and immorality…. I know of no language sufficiently + potent to express fully my absolute detestation of what I believe to be the most + poisonous doctrine ever put forward, namely Socialism.”</p> + + <p class="signature"><span class="special_name">His Grace the Duke of Rutland.</span></p> + + <p>“Let all parties then unite to defeat this insidious Socialism which is threatening + the country, and take immediate steps to expose and bring it to light. The country + may truly be said to be sleeping over a veritable volcano which the next general + election may precipitate, unless steps are taken at once to bring this nightmare into + the light of day and force it out of its creeping nocturnal habits.”</p> + + <p class="signature"><span class="special_name">Mr. Dudley S. A. Cosby</span> in the <cite>Westminster Review</cite>.</p> + + <p>“Many people think that it is possible to conduct a victorious campaign with the + single watchword ‘Down with Socialism.’ Well, I am not fond of mere negatives. + I do not like fighting an abstract noun. My objection to Anti-Socialism as a platform + is that Socialism means so many different things. On this point I agree with Mr. + Asquith. I will wait before I denounce Socialism till I see what form it takes… + Socialism is not necessarily synonymous with robbery. Correctly used, the word + only signifies a particular view of the proper relation of the State to its citizens, a + tendency to substitute public for private ownership, or to restrict the freedom of + individual enterprise in the interests of the public. But there are some forms of + property which we all admit should be public and not private, and the freedom + of individual enterprise is already limited by a hundred laws. Socialism and + Individualism,—I am not fond of these abstract phrases. There are opposing + principles which enter in various proportions into the constitution of every civilized + society. It is merely a question of degree. One community is more Socialistic than + another. The same community is more Socialistic at one time than at another. + This country is far more Socialistic than it was fifty years ago, and for most of the + changes in that direction the Unionist or Tory Party is responsible.”</p> + + <p class="signature"><span class="special_name">Lord Milner.</span></p> +</div> +<!-- <a class="pagenum disguise" id="pagevi" title="vi"> </a>[Blank Page] --> +<div id="contents"><a class="pagenum cheater" id="pagevii" title="vii"> </a> + <h2>CONTENTS</h2> + <p>Chap. <span class="toc_page">Page</span></p> + <ol> + <li><a href="#chapter_1">THE GOOD WILL IN MAN</a> <a href="#page1" class="toc_page">1</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_2">THE FUNDAMENTAL IDEA OF SOCIALISM</a> <a href="#page22" class="toc_page">22</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_3">THE FIRST MAIN GENERALIZATION OF SOCIALISM</a> <a href="#page28" class="toc_page">28</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_4">THE SECOND MAIN GENERALIZATION OF SOCIALISM</a> <a href="#page58" class="toc_page">58</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_5">THE SPIRIT OF GAIN AND THE SPIRIT OF SERVICE</a> <a href="#page91" class="toc_page">91</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_6">WOULD SOCIALISM DESTROY THE HOME?</a> <a href="#page117" class="toc_page">117</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_7">WOULD MODERN SOCIALISM ABOLISH ALL PROPERTY?</a> <a href="#page140" class="toc_page">140</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_8">THE MIDDLE-CLASS MAN, THE BUSINESS MAN, AND SOCIALISM</a> <a href="#page165" class="toc_page">165</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_9">SOME COMMON OBJECTIONS TO SOCIALISM</a> <a href="#page188" class="toc_page">188</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_10">SOCIALISM A DEVELOPING DOCTRINE</a> <a href="#page221" class="toc_page">221</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_11">REVOLUTIONARY SOCIALISM</a> <a href="#page235" class="toc_page">235</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_12">ADMINISTRATIVE SOCIALISM</a> <a href="#page260" class="toc_page">260</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_13">CONSTRUCTIVE SOCIALISM</a> <a href="#page278" class="toc_page">278</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_14">SOME ARGUMENTS <em lang="la" xml:lang="la">AD HOMINEM</em></a> <a href="#page308" class="toc_page">308</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_15">THE ADVANCEMENT OF SOCIALISM.</a> <a href="#page343" class="toc_page">343</a></li> + </ol> +</div> +<!-- <a class="pagenum disguise" id="pageviii" title="viii"> </a>[Blank Page] --> +<p class="internal_title"><a class="pagenum disguise" id="page1" title="1"> </a>NEW WORLDS FOR OLD</p> +<div id="chapter_1" class="chapter"> + <h2><span class="chapter-number">CHAPTER I</span><br /> + THE GOOD WILL IN MAN</h2> + <h3 id="ch1_s1">§ 1.</h3> + <p><span class="first_word">The</span> present writer has long been deeply interested + in the Socialist movement in Great Britain + and America, and in all those complicated issues + one lumps together as “social questions.” In + the last few years he has gone into it personally + and studied the Socialist movement closely and + intimately at first hand; he has made the acquaintance + of many of its leaders upon both sides of the + Atlantic, joined numerous organizations, attended + and held meetings, experimented in Socialist politics. + From these inquiries he has emerged with + certain very definite conclusions as to the trend and + needs of social development, and these he is now + rendering in this book. He calls himself a Socialist, + but he is by no means a fanatical or uncritical + adherent. To him Socialism presents itself as a + very noble but a very human and fallible system of + <a class="pagenum" id="page2" title="2"> </a>ideas and motives, a system that grows and develops. + He regards its spirit, its intimate substance + as the most hopeful thing in human affairs + at the present time, but he does also find it + shares with all mundane concerns the qualities + of inadequacy and error. It suffers from the + common penalty of noble propositions; it is hampered + by the insufficiency of its supporters and + advocates, and by the superficial tarnish that necessarily + falls in our atmosphere of greed and conflict + darkest upon the brightest things. In spite of these + admissions of failure and unworthiness in himself + and those about him, he remains a Socialist.</p> + + <p>In discussing Socialism with very various sorts + of people he has necessarily had, time after time, + to encounter and frame a reply to a very simple + seeming and a really very difficult question: + “What is Socialism?” It is almost like asking + “What is Christianity?” or demanding to be + shown the atmosphere. It is not to be answered + fully by a formula or an epigram. Again and again + the writer has been asked for some book which + would set out in untechnical language, frankly and + straightforwardly, what Socialism is and what it + is not, and always he has hesitated in his reply. + Many good books there are upon this subject, clear + and well written, but none that seem to tell the whole + story as he knows it; no book that gives not only + the outline but the spirit, answers the main objections, + <a class="pagenum" id="page3" title="3"> </a>clears up the chief ambiguities, covers all the + ground; no book that one can put into the hands of + inquiring youth and say: “There! that will tell + you precisely the broad facts you want to know.” + Some day, no doubt, such a book will come. In + the meanwhile he has ventured to put forth this + temporary substitute, his own account of the faith + that is in him.<a href="#footnote_1" id="fnm1" title="As I pass these proofs..." class="fnmarker">1</a></p> + + <p>Socialism, then, as he understands it, is a great + intellectual process, a development of desires and + ideas that takes the form of a project—a project for + the reshaping of human society upon new and better + lines. That in the ampler proposition is what + Socialism claims to be. This book seeks to expand + and establish that proposition, and to define the + principles upon which the Socialist believes this + reconstruction of society should go. The particulars + and justification of this project and this claim, + it will be the business of this book to discuss just + as plainly as the writer can.</p> + + <h3 id="ch1_s2">§ 2.</h3> + + <p>Now, because the Socialist seeks the reshaping + of human society, it does not follow that he + <a class="pagenum" id="page4" title="4"> </a>denies it to be even now a very wonderful and + admirable spectacle. Nor does he deny that for + many people life is even now a very good thing….</p> + + <p>For his own part, though the writer is neither a + very strong nor a very healthy nor a very successful + person, though he finds much unattainable and + much to regret, yet life presents itself to him more + and more with every year as a spectacle of inexhaustible + interest, of unfolding and intensifying + beauty, and as a splendid field for high attempts + and stimulating desires. Yet none the less is it a + spectacle shot strangely with pain, with mysterious + insufficiencies and cruelties, with pitfalls into anger + and regret, with aspects unaccountably sad. Its + most exalted moments are most fraught for him + with the appeal for endeavour, with the urgency of + unsatisfied wants. These shadows and pains and + instabilities do not, to his sense at least, darken the + whole prospect; it may be indeed that they intensify + its splendours to his perceptions; yet all + these evil and ugly aspects of life come to him with + an effect of challenge, as something not to be + ignored but passionately disputed, as an imperative + call for whatever effort and courage lurks in his + composition. Life and the world are fine, but not + as an abiding place; as an arena—yes, an arena + gorgeously curtained with sea and sky, mountains + and broad prospects, decorated with all the delicate + magnificence of leaf tracery and flower petal and + <a class="pagenum" id="page5" title="5"> </a>feather, soft fur and the shining wonder of living + skin, musical with thunder and the singing of birds; + but an arena nevertheless, an arena which offers no + seats for idle spectators, in which one must will and + do, decide, strike and strike back—and presently + pass away.</p> + + <p>And it needs but a cursory view of history to + realize—though all knowledge of history confirms + the generalization—that this arena is not a confused + and aimless conflict of individuals. Looked + at too closely it may seem to be that—a formless web + of individual hates and loves; but detach oneself + but a little, and the broader forms appear. One + perceives something that goes on, that is constantly + working to make order out of casualty, beauty out + of confusion; justice, kindliness, mercy out of + cruelty and inconsiderate pressure. For our present + purpose it will be sufficient to speak of this force + that struggles and tends to make and do, as Good + Will. More and more evident is it, as one reviews + the ages, that there is this as well as lust, hunger, + avarice, vanity and more or less intelligent fear + to be counted among the motives of mankind. + This Good Will of our race, however arising, + however trivial, however subordinated to individual + ends, however comically inadequate a thing + it may be in this individual case or that, is in + the aggregate an operating will. In spite of all + the confusions and thwartings of life, the halts + <a class="pagenum" id="page6" title="6"> </a>and resiliencies and the counter strokes of fate, + it is manifest that in the long run human life + becomes broader than it was, gentler than it was, + finer and deeper. On the whole—and now-a-days + almost steadily—things <em>get better</em>. There is a + secular amelioration of life, and it is brought about + by Good Will working through the efforts of + men.</p> + + <p>Now this proposition lies quite open to dispute. + There are people who will dispute it and make a + very passable case. One may deny the amelioration, + or one may deny that it is the result of any + Good Will or of anything but quite mechanical + forces. The former is the commoner argument. + The appeal is usually to what has been finest in the + past, and to all that is bad and base in the present. + At once the unsoundest and the most attractive + argument is to be found in the deliberate idealization + of particular ages, the thirteenth century in + England, for example, or the age of the Antonines. + The former is presented with the brightness of a + missal, the latter with all the dignity of a Roman + inscription. One is asked to compare these ages so + delightfully conceived, with a patent medicine + vendor’s advertisement or a Lancashire factory + town, quite ignoring the iniquity of mediæval law + or the slums and hunger and cruelty of Imperial + Rome.</p> + + <p>But quite apart from such unsound comparisons, it + <a class="pagenum" id="page7" title="7"> </a>is, we may admit, possible to make a very excellent + case against our general assertion of progress. One + can instance a great number of things, big and + little, that have been better in past times than they + are now; for example, they dressed more sumptuously + and delightfully in mediæval Venice and Florence + than we do—all, that is, who could afford it; + they made quite unapproachably beautiful marble + figures in Athens in the time of Pericles; there is no + comparison between the brickwork of Verona in + the twelfth century and that of London when Cannon + Street Station was erected; the art of cookery + declined after the splendid period of Roman history + for more than a thousand years; the Gothic architecture + of France and England exceeds in nobility + and quality and aggregated beauty, every subsequent + type of structure. This much, one agrees, is + true, and beyond disputing. The philosophical + thought of Athens again, to come to greater things, + was at its climax, more free, more finely expressed + than that of any epoch since. And the English + of Elizabeth’s time was, we are told by competent + judges, a more gracious and powerful instrument + of speech than in the days of Queen Anne or of + Queen Victoria.</p> + + <p>So one might go on in regard to a vast number + of things, petty and large alike; the list would + seem overwhelming until the countervailing considerations + came into play. But, as a matter of + <a class="pagenum" id="page8" title="8"> </a>fact, there is hardly an age or a race that does not + show us something better done than ever it was + before or since, because at no time has human effort + ceased and absolutely failed. Isolated eminence is + no proof of general elevation. Always in this field + or that, whether it was in the binding of books or + the enamelling of metal, the refinement of language + or the assertion of liberty, particular men have, by + a sort of necessity, grasped at occasion, “found + themselves,” as the saying goes, and done the best + that was in them. So always while man endures, + whatever else betide, one may feel assured at this + or that special thing some men will find a way to + do and get to the crown of endeavour. Such considerations + of decline in particular things from the + standard of the past do not really affect the general + assertion of a continuous accumulating betterment + in the lot of men, do not invalidate the hopes of + those who believe in the power of men to end for + ever many of the evils that now darken the world, + who look to the reservoirs of human possibility as + a supply as yet scarcely touched, who make of all + the splendour and superiorities of the past no more + than a bright promise and suggestion for the + unborn future our every act builds up, into which, + whether we care or no, all our achievements pour.</p> + + <p>Many evils have been overcome, much order and + beauty and scope for living has been evolved since + man was a hairy savage holding scarcely more than + <a class="pagenum" id="page9" title="9"> </a>a brute’s intercourse with his fellows; but even in + the comparatively short perspective of history, one + can scarcely deny a steady process of overcoming + evil. One may sneer at contemporary things; it is + a fashion with that unhappily trained type of mind + which cannot appreciate without invidious comparison, + so poor in praise that it cannot admit worth + without venting a compensatory envy; but of one + permanent result of progress surely every one is + assured. In the matter of thoughtless and instinctive + cruelty—and that is a very fundamental matter—mankind + mends steadily. I wonder and doubt if in + the whole world at any time before this an aged, ill-clad + woman, or a palpable cripple could have moved + among a crowd of low-class children as free from + combined or even isolated insult as such a one would + be to-day, if caught in the rush from a London + Council school. Then, for all our sins, I am sure + the sense of justice is quicker and more nearly universal + than ever before. Certain grave social evils, + too, that once seemed innate in humanity, have + gone, gone so effectually that we cannot now + imagine ourselves subjected to them; the cruelties + and insecurities of private war, the duel, overt + slavery, for example, have altogether ceased; and in + all Western Europe and America chronic local + famines and great pestilences come no more. No + doubt it is still an unsatisfactory world that mars + the roadside with tawdry advertisements of drugs + <a class="pagenum" id="page10" title="10"> </a>and food; but less than two centuries ago, remember, + the place of these boards was taken by gibbets + and crow-pecked, tattered corpses swinging in the + wind, and the heads of dead gentlemen (drawn and + quartered, and their bowels burnt before their eyes) + rotted in the rain on Temple Bar.</p> + + <p>The world is now a better place for a common + man than ever it was before, the spectacle wider and + richer and deeper, and more charged with hope and + promise. Think of the universal things it is so easy + to ignore; of the great and growing multitude, for + example, of those who may travel freely about the + world, who may read freely, think freely, speak + freely! Think of the quite unprecedented numbers + of well-ordered homes and cared-for, wholesome, + questioning children! And it is not only that + we have this increasing sea of mediocre well-being + in which the realities of the future are engendering, + but in the matter of sheer achievement I believe in + my own time. It has been the cry of the irresponsive + man since criticism began, that his own generation + produced nothing; it is a cry that I hate and + deny. When the dross has been cleared away and + comparison becomes possible, I am convinced it + will be admitted that in the aggregate, in philosophy + and significant literature, in architecture, + painting and scientific research, in engineering and + industrial invention, in statecraft, humanity and + valiant deeds, the last thirty years of man’s endeavours + <a class="pagenum" id="page11" title="11"> </a>will bear comparison with any other period + of thirty years whatever in his history.</p> + + <p>And this is the result of effort; things get better + because men mean them to get better and try to + bring betterment about; this progress goes on because + man, in spite of evil temper, blundering and + vanity, in spite of indolence and base desire, does + also respond to Good Will and display Good Will. + You may declare that all the good things in life are + the result of causes over which man has no control, + that in pursuit of an “enlightened self-interest” he + makes things better inadvertently. But think of + any good thing you know! Was it thus it came?</p> + + <h3 id="ch1_s3">§ 3.</h3> + + <p>And yet, let us not disguise it from ourselves, + for all the progress one can claim, life remains + very evil; about the feet of all these glories of our + time lurk darknesses.</p> + + <p>Let me take but one group of facts that cry out + to all of us—and will not cry in vain. I mean the + lives of little children that are going on now—as + the reader sits with this book in his hand. Think, + for instance, of the little children who have been + pursued and tormented and butchered in the Congo + Free State during the last year or so, hands and + feet chopped off, little bodies torn and thrown aside + that rubber might be cheap, the tyres of our cars + run smoothly, and that detestable product of + <a class="pagenum" id="page12" title="12"> </a>political expediency, the King of the Belgians, have + his pleasures. Think too of the fear and violence, + the dirt and stress of the lives of the children + who grow up amidst the lawless internal strife of + the Russian political chaos. Think of the emigrant + ships even now rolling upon the high seas, their + dark, evil-smelling holds crammed with humanity, + and the huddled sick children in them—fleeing from + certain to uncertain wretchedness. Think of the + dreadful tale of childish misery and suffering that + goes on wherever there are not sane factory laws; + how even in so civilized a part of the world as the + United States of America (as Spargo’s <cite>Bitter Cry + of the Children</cite> tells in detail) thousands of little + white children of six and seven, ill fed and often + cruelly handled, toil without hope.</p> + + <p>And in all agricultural lands too, where there is + no sense of education, think of the children dragging + weary feet from the filthy hovels that still + house peasants the whole world over, to work in + the mire and the pitiless winds, scaring birds, + bending down to plant and weed. Even in London + again, think just a little of the real significance of + some facts I have happened upon in the Report of + the Education Committee of the London County + Council for the year 1905.</p> + + <p>The headmaster of one casually selected school + makes a special return upon the quality of the + clothing of his 405 children. He tells of 7.4 per + <a class="pagenum" id="page13" title="13"> </a>cent. of his boys whose clothing was “the scantiest + possible—<em>e.g.</em> one ragged coat buttoned up + and practically nothing found beneath it; and + boots either absent or represented by a mass of + rags tied upon the feet”; of 34.8 per cent. whose + “clothing was insufficient to retain animal heat + and needed urgent remedy”; of 45.9 per cent, + whose clothing was “poor but passable; an old + and perhaps ragged suit, with some attempt at + proper underclothing—usually of flannelette”; thus + leaving only 12.8 per cent. who could, in the + broadest sense, be termed “well clad.”</p> + + <p>Taking want of personal cleanliness as the next + indication of neglect at home, 11 per cent. of the + boys are reported as “very dirty and verminous”; + 34.7 per cent. whose “clothes and body were dirty + but not verminous”; 42.5 per cent, were “passably + clean, for boys,” and only “12 per cent. clean + above the average.”</p> + + <p>Eleven per cent. verminous; think what it means! + Think what the homes must be like from which + these poor little wretches come! Better, perhaps, + than the country cottage where the cesspool drains + into the water supply and the hen-house vermin + invades the home, but surely intolerable beside + our comforts! Give but a moment again to the + significance of the figures I have italicized in the + table that follows, a summarized return for the year + 1906 of the “Ringworm” Nurses who visit the + <a class="pagenum" id="page14" title="14"> </a>London Elementary Schools and inspect the + children for various forms of dirt disease.</p> + + <table summary="Disease in London Elementary Schools, 1906" id="table_1"> + <tr><th>Departments</th><th>Number of children examined.</th><th>Clean.</th><th>Partially cleansed.</th><th>Verminous.</th></tr> + <tr><td class="row_head">Boys</td> <td>34,345</td> <td>32,726</td> <td> 847</td> <td> 1,139</td></tr> + <tr><td class="row_head">Girls</td> <td>36,445</td> <td>22,476</td> <td> 4,426</td> <td> 12,003</td></tr> + <tr><td class="row_head">Infants</td> <td>42,140</td> <td> 6,675</td> <td> 2,661</td> <td><em>29,675</em></td></tr> + <tr><td class="row_head">Mixed</td> <td> 5,855</td> <td> 4,886</td> <td> 298</td> <td> 897</td></tr> + <tr><td class="row_head">Special</td> <td> 977</td> <td> 624</td> <td> 133</td> <td> 296</td></tr> + <tr class="total_row"><td class="row_head_total">Total</td> <td>119,762 </td> <td>67,387</td> <td>8,365</td> <td>44,010</td></tr> + </table> + <p>Does not this speak of dirt and disorder we cannot + suffer to continue, of women ill trained for + motherhood and worked beyond care for cleanliness, + of a vast amount of preventable suffering? + And these figures of filth and bad clothing are + paralleled by others at least equally impressive, + displaying emaciation, under-nutrition, anæmia and + every other painful and wretched consequence of + neglect and insufficiency. These underfed, under-clothed, + undersized children are also the backward + children; they grow up through a darkened, joyless + childhood into a grey, perplexing, hopeless world + that beats them down at last, after servility, after + toil, after crime it may be and despair, to death.</p> + + <p>And while you grasp the offence of these facts, + do not be carried away into supposing that this + age is therefore unprecedentedly evil. Such dirt, + toil, cruelty have always been, have been in larger + <a class="pagenum" id="page15" title="15"> </a>measure. Don’t idealize the primitive cave, the + British hut, the peasant’s cottage, damp and windowless, + the filth-strewn, plague-stricken, mediæval + town. In spite of all these crushed, mangled, + starved, neglected little ones about the feet of this + fine time, in spite of a thousand other disorders + and miseries almost as cruel, the fact remains that + this age has not only more but a larger percentage + of healthy, happy, kindly-treated children than any + age since the world began; that to look back into + the domestic history of other times is to see greater + squalor and more suffering.</p> + + <p>Why! read the tombstones and monuments in + any old English church, those, I mean, that date + from earlier than 1800, and you will see the history + of every family, of even the prosperous county + families, <em>laced</em> with the deaths of infants and children. + Nearly half of them died. Think, too, how + stern was the upbringing. And always before these + days it seemed natural to make all but the children + of the very wealthy and very refined, fear and + work from their earliest years. There comes to us + too, from these days, beautiful furniture, fine literature, + paintings; but there comes too, much + evidence of harsh whippings, dark imprisonments + and hardly a children’s book, hardly the broken + vestige of a toy. Bad as things are, they are better—rest + assured—and yet they are still urgently bad. + The greater evil of the past is no reason for + <a class="pagenum" id="page16" title="16"> </a>contentment with the present. But it is an earnest + for hoping that our efforts, and that Good Will of + which they are a part and outcome, may still go + on bearing fruit in perpetually dwindling misery.</p> + + <h3 id="ch1_s4">§ 4.</h3> + + <p>It seems to me that the whole spirit and quality + of both the evil and the good of our time, and + of the attitude not simply of the Socialist but of + every sane reformer towards these questions, was + summarized in a walk I had a little while ago with + a friend along the Thames Embankment, from + Blackfriars Bridge to Westminster. We had dined + together and we went there because we thought + that with a fitful moon and clouds adrift, on a night + when the air was a crystal air that gladdened and + brightened, that crescent of great buildings and + steely, soft-hurrying water must needs be altogether + beautiful. And indeed it was beautiful; the + mysteries and mounting masses of the buildings to + the right of us, the blurs of this coloured light or + that, blue-white, green-white, amber or warmer + orange, the rich black archings of Waterloo + Bridge, the rippled lights upon the silent-flowing + river, the lattice of girders and the shifting trains of + Charing Cross Bridge—their funnels pouring a + sort of hot-edged moonlight by way of smoke—and + then the sweeping line of lamps, the accelerated + run and diminuendo of the Embankment lamps as + <a class="pagenum" id="page17" title="17"> </a>one came into sight of Westminster. The big + hotels were very fine, huge swelling shapes of dun + dark-grey and brown, huge shapes seamed and + bursting and fenestrated with illumination, tattered + at a thousand windows with light and the indistinct, + glowing suggestions of feasting and pleasure. And + dim and faint above it all and very remote was + the moon’s dead wan face veiled and then displayed.</p> + + <p>But we were dashed by an unanticipated refrain + to this succession of magnificent things, and we did + not cry, as we had meant to cry, how good it was + to be alive! We found something else, something + we had forgotten.</p> + + <p>Along the Embankment, you see, there are iron + seats at regular intervals, seats you cannot lie upon + because iron arm-rests prevent that, and each seat, + one saw by the lamplight, was filled with crouching + and drooping figures. Not a vacant place + remained, not one vacant place. These were the + homeless, and they had come to sleep here. Now + one noted a poor old woman with a shameful + battered straw hat awry over her drowsing face, + now a young clerk staring before him at despair; + now a filthy tramp, and now a bearded, frock-coated, + collarless respectability; I remember particularly + one ghastly long white neck and white + face that lopped backward, choked in some nightmare, + awakened, clutched with a bony hand at the + <a class="pagenum" id="page18" title="18"> </a>bony throat, and sat up and stared angrily as we + passed. The wind had a keen edge that night + even for us who had dined and were well clad. + One crumpled figure coughed and went on coughing—damnably.</p> + + <p>“It’s fine,” said I, trying to keep hold of the + effects to which this line of poor wretches was + but the selvage; “it’s fine! But I can’t stand + <em>this</em>.”</p> + + <p>“It changes all that we expected,” admitted my + friend, after a silence.</p> + + <p>“Must we go on—past them all?”</p> + + <p>“Yes. I think we ought to do that. It’s a + lesson, perhaps—for trying to get too much beauty + out of life as it is—and forgetting. Don’t shirk + it!”</p> + + <p>“Great God!” cried I. “But must life always + be like this? I could die—indeed, I would willingly + jump into this cold and muddy river now, if + by so doing I could stick a stiff dead hand through + all these things—into the future; a dead commanding + hand insisting with a silent irresistible gesture + that this waste and failure of life should cease, and + cease for ever.”</p> + + <p>“But it does cease! Each year its proportion + is a little less.”</p> + + <p>I walked in silence, and my companion talked + by my side.</p> + + <p>“We go on. Here is a good thing done, and + <a class="pagenum" id="page19" title="19"> </a>there is a good thing done. The Good Will in + man——”</p> + + <p>“Not fast enough. It goes so slowly—and in a + little while we too must die——”</p> + + <p>“It can be done,” said my companion.</p> + + <p>“It could be avoided,” said I.</p> + + <p>“It shall be in the days to come. There is food + enough for all, shelter for all, wealth enough for + all. Men need only know it and will it. And yet + we have this!”</p> + + <p>“And so much like this!” said I….</p> + + <p>So we talked and were tormented.</p> + + <p>And I remember how later we found ourselves + on Westminster Bridge, looking back upon the + long sweep of wrinkled black water that reflected + lights and palaces and the flitting glow of steamboats, + and by that time we had talked ourselves + past our despair. We perceived that what was + splendid remained splendid, that what was mysterious + remained insoluble for all our pain and + impatience. But it was clear to us the thing for + us two to go upon was not the good of the present + nor the evil, but the effort and the dream of the + finer order, the fuller life, the banishment of suffering, + to come.</p> + + <p>“We want all the beauty that is here,” said + my friend, “and more also. And none of these + distresses. We are here—we know not whence + nor why—to want that and to struggle to get it, + <a class="pagenum" id="page20" title="20"> </a>you and I and ten thousand others, thinly hidden + from us by these luminous darknesses. We work, + we pass—whither I know not, but out of our knowing. + But we work—we are spurred to work. That + yonder—those people are the spur—for us who + cannot answer to any finer appeal. Each in our + measure must do. And our reward? Our reward + is our faith. Here is my creed to-night. I believe—out + of me and the Good Will in me and my kind + there comes a regenerate world—cleansed of suffering + and sorrow. That is our purpose here—to forward + that. It gives us work for all our lives. + Why should we ask to know more? Our errors—our + sins—to-night they seem to matter very little. + If we stumble and roll in the mud, if we blunder + against each other and hurt one another——”</p> + + <p>“We have to go on,” said my friend, after a + pause.</p> + + <p>We stood for a time in silence.</p> + + <p>One’s own personal problems came and went like + a ripple on the water. Even that whisky dealer’s + advertisement upon the southern bank became + through some fantastic transformation a promise, + an enigmatical promise flashed up the river reach + in letters of fire. London was indeed very beautiful + that night. Without hope she would have + seemed not only as beautiful but as terrible as a + black panther crouching on her prey. Our hope + redeemed her. Beyond her dark and meretricious + <a class="pagenum" id="page21" title="21"> </a>splendours, beyond her throned presence jewelled + with links and points and cressets of fire, crowned + with stars, robed in the night, hiding cruelties, I + caught a moment’s vision of the coming City of + Mankind, of a city more wonderful than all my + dreaming, full of life, full of youth, full of the + spirit of creation….</p> +</div> +<div id="chapter_2" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page22" title="22"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter-number">CHAPTER II</span><br /> + THE FUNDAMENTAL IDEA OF SOCIALISM</h2> + <p><span class="first_word">The</span> fundamental idea upon which Socialism + rests is the same fundamental idea as that upon + which all real scientific work is carried on. It is the + denial that chance impulse and individual will and + happening constitute the only possible methods by + which things may be done in the world. It is an + assertion that things are in their nature orderly, that + things may be computed, may be calculated upon + and foreseen. In the spirit of this belief Science + aims at a systematic knowledge of material things. + “Knowledge is power,” knowledge that is frankly + and truly exchanged—that is the primary assumption + of the <cite>New Atlantis</cite> which created the Royal + Society and the organization of research. The + Socialist has just that same faith in the order, the + knowableness of things and the power of men in + co-operation to overcome chance; but to him, dealing + as he does with the social affairs of men, it takes + the form not of schemes for collective research but + for collective action and the creation of a comprehensive + design for all the social activities of man. + <a class="pagenum" id="page23" title="23"> </a>While Science gathers knowledge, Socialism in an + entirely harmonious spirit criticizes and develops a + general plan of social life. Each seeks to replace + disorder by order.</p> + + <p>Each of these systems of ideas has, of course, its + limits; we know in matters of material science that + no calculated quantity is ever exact, no outline without + a fogging at the edge, no angle without a curve + at the apex; and in social affairs also, there must + needs always be individuality and the unexpected + and incalculable. But these things do not vitiate + the case for a general order, any more than the + different sizes and widths and needs of the human + beings who travel prevent our having our railway + carriages and seats and doors of a generally convenient + size, nor our sending everybody over the + same gauge of rail.</p> + + <p>Now Science has not only this in common with + Socialism that it has grown out of men’s courageous + confidence in the superiority of order to muddle, + but these two great processes of human thought are + further in sympathy in the demand they make upon + men to become less egotistical and isolated. The + main difference of modern scientific research from + that of the middle ages, the secret of its immense + successes, lies in its collective character, in the fact + that every fruitful experiment is published, every + new discovery of relationships explained. In a sense + scientific research is a triumph over natural instinct, + <a class="pagenum" id="page24" title="24"> </a>over that mean instinct that makes men secretive, + that makes a man keep knowledge to himself and + use it slyly to his own advantage. The training of + a scientific man is a training in what an illiterate lout + would despise as a weakness; it is a training in + blabbing, in blurting things out, in telling just as + plainly as possible and as soon as possible what it is + he has found. To “keep shut” and bright-eyed + and to score advantages, that is the wisdom of the + common stuff of humanity still. To science it is a + crime. The noble practice of that noble profession + medicine, for example, is to condemn as a quack + and a rascal every man who uses secret remedies. + And it is one of the most encouraging things for + all who speculate upon human possibility to consider + the multitude of men in the last three centuries + who have been content to live laborious, unprofitable, + and for the most part quite undistinguished + lives in the service of knowledge that has transformed + the world. Some names indeed stand out + by virtue of gigantic or significant achievement, + such names as Bacon, Newton, Volta, Darwin, + Faraday, Joule; but these are but the culminating + peaks of a nearly limitless Oberland of devoted toiling + men, men one could list by the thousand. The + rest have had the smallest meed of fame, small + reward, much toil, much abandonment, of pleasure + for their lot. One thing ennobles them all in common—their + conquest over the meanness of concealment, + <a class="pagenum" id="page25" title="25"> </a>their systematic application of energy to other + than personal ends!</p> + + <p>And that, too, Socialism pre-eminently demands. + It applies to social and economic relationships the + same high rule of frankness and veracity, the same + subordination of purely personal considerations to + a common end that Science demands in the field of + thought and knowledge. Just as Science aims at a + common organized body of knowledge to which all + its servants contribute and in which they share, so + Socialism insists upon its ideal of an organized + social order which every man serves and by which + every man benefits. Their common enemy is the + secret-thinking, self-seeking man. Secrecy, subterfuge + and the private gain; these are the enemies of + Socialism and the adversaries of Science. At times, + I will admit, both Socialist and scientific man forget + this essential sympathy. You will find specialized + scientific investigators who do not realize they are, + in effect, Socialists, and Socialists so dull to the + quality of their own professions, that they gird + against Science, and are secretive in policy. But + such purblind servants of the light cannot alter the + essential correlation of the two systems of ideas.</p> + + <p>Now the Socialist, inspired by this conception of + a possible frank and comprehensive social order to + which mean and narrow ends must be sacrificed, + attacks and criticizes the existing order of things at + a great number of points and in a great variety of + <a class="pagenum" id="page26" title="26"> </a>phraseology. At all points, however, you will find + upon analysis that his criticism amounts to a declaration + that there is wanting a sufficiency of <span class="special_emphasis">Constructive + Design</span>. That in the last resort is what + he always comes to.</p> + + <p>He wants a complete organization for all those + human affairs that are of collective importance. He + says, to take instances almost haphazard, that our + ways of manufacturing a great multitude of necessary + things, of getting and distributing food, of conducting + all sorts of business, of begetting and rearing + children, of permitting diseases to engender and + spread are chaotic and undisciplined, so badly done + that here is enormous hardship, and there enormous + waste, here excess and degeneration, and there + privation and death. He declares that for these + collective purposes, in the satisfaction of these universal + needs, mankind presents the appearance and + follows the methods of a mob when it ought to + follow the method of an army. In place of disorderly + individual effort, each man doing what he + pleases, the Socialist wants organized effort and a + plan. And while the scientific man seeks to make + an orderly map of the half-explored wilderness of + fact, the Socialist seeks to make an orderly plan for + the half-conceived wilderness of human effort.</p> + + <p>That and no other is the essential Socialist idea.</p> + + <p>But do not let this image mislead you. When the + Socialist speaks of a plan, he knows clearly that it + <a class="pagenum" id="page27" title="27"> </a>is impossible to make a plan as an architect makes + a plan, because while the architect deals with dead + stone and timber, the statesman and Socialist deal + with living and striving things. But he seeks to + make a plan as one designs and lays out a garden, + so that sweet and seemly things may grow, wide and + beautiful vistas open and weeds and foulness disappear. + Always a garden plan develops and renews + itself and discovers new possibilities, but what + makes all its graciousness and beauty possible is + the scheme and the persistent intention, the watching + and the waiting, the digging and burning, the + weeder clips and the hoe. That is the sort of plan, + a living plan for things that live and grow, that + the Socialist seeks for social and national life.</p> + + <p>To make all this distincter I will show the planlessness + of certain contemporary things, of two main + sets of human interests in fact, and explain what + inferences a Socialist draws in these matters. You + will then see exactly what is meant when we deny + that this present state of affairs has any constructive + plan, and you will appreciate in the most generalized + form the nature of the constructive plan which + Socialists are making and offering the world.</p> + +</div> +<div id="chapter_3" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page28" title="28"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter-number">CHAPTER III</span><br /> + THE FIRST MAIN GENERALIZATION OF SOCIALISM</h2> + + <h3 id="ch3_s1">§ 1.</h3> + + <p><span class="first_word">The</span> first—the chief aspect of social life in relation + to which the Socialist finds the world now + planless and drifting, and for which he earnestly + propounds the scheme of a better order, is that + whole side of existence which is turned towards children, + their begetting and upbringing, their care and + education. Perpetually the world begins anew, + perpetually death wipes out failure, disease, unteachableness + and all that has served life and accomplished + itself; and to many Socialists, if not to all, + this is the supreme fact in the social scheme. The + whole measure of progress in a generation is the + measure in which the children improve in physical + and mental quality, in social co-ordination, in + opportunity, upon their parents. Nothing else + matters in the way of success if in that way the Good + Will fails.</p> + + <p>Let us now consider how such matters stand in our + world at the present time, and let us examine them + <a class="pagenum" id="page29" title="29"> </a>in the light of the Socialist spirit. I have already + quoted certain facts from the London Education + Committee’s Report, by which you have seen that + by taking a school haphazard—dipping a ladle, as + it were, into the welter of the London population—we + find more than eighty in the hundred of the + London children insufficiently clad, more than half + unwholesomely dirty—eleven per cent. verminous—and + more than half the infants infested with vermin! + The nutrition of these children is equally bad. The + same report shows clearly that differences in clothing + and cleanliness are paralleled with differences + in nutrition that are equally striking.</p> + + <blockquote> + <p>“The 30 boys of the lowest class showed considerable + failure to reach the average weight for their age + of the school; the average shortage per boy for his + age being as much as .7 kilogram. The effect upon + weight was more striking than upon height, as the + average failure in height was one centimetre. The + 141 boys of the next class worked out at exactly the + average. The 49 well-clad boys showed an average + excess per age-weight of .54 kilogram and age-height + of 1.8 centimetres.”</p> + </blockquote> + + <p>And who can doubt the amount of mental and + moral dwarfing that is going on side by side with + this physical shortage?</p> + + <p>Now, it may be argued that this is not a fair + sample of our general population, that these facts + have been culled from a special section of the population, + <a class="pagenum" id="page30" title="30"> </a>that here we are dealing with the congestion + of London slums and altogether exceptional conditions. + This is not so. The school examined was + not from a specially bad district. And it happens + that the entire working-class population of one + typical English town, York, has been exhaustively + studied by Mr. B. S. Rowntree, and here are some + facts from his result that quite confirm the impression + given by the London figures.</p> + + <blockquote> + <p>“It was quite impossible to make a thorough examination + of the physical condition of all the children, + but as they came up to be weighed and measured, they + were classified under the four headings, ‘Very Good,’ + ‘Good,’ ‘Fair,’ or ‘Bad,’ by an investigator whose + training and previous experience in similar work + enabled her to make a reliable, even if rough, classification….</p> + + <p>“‘Bad’ implies that the child bore physical traces + of underfeeding and neglect.</p> + + <p>“The numbers classified under the various heads + were as follows:—</p> + + <table summary="Condition of Children in York, circa 1905" id="table_2"> + <tr><td colspan="5" class="boys">BOYS.</td></tr> + <tr><th> </th> <th>Very Good,<br />per cent.</th> <th>Good,<br />per cent.</th> <th>Fair,<br />per cent.</th> <th class="last_col">Bad,<br />per cent.</th></tr> + <tr><td class="row_head">Section 1 (poorest)</td> <td>2.8</td> <td>14.6</td> <td>31. </td> <td class="last_col">51.6</td></tr> + <tr><td class="row_head">Section 2 (middle)</td> <td>7.4</td> <td>20.1</td> <td>53.7</td> <td class="last_col">18.8</td></tr> + <tr><td class="row_head">Section 3 (highest)</td> <td>27.4</td> <td>33.8</td> <td>27.4</td> <td class="last_col">11.4</td></tr> + <tr><td colspan="5" class="girls">GIRLS.</td></tr> + <tr><td class="row_head">Section 1 (poorest)</td> <td> 2.1</td> <td>14.6</td> <td>31. </td> <td class="last_col">52.3</td></tr> + <tr><td class="row_head">Section 2 (middle)</td> <td> 7.5</td> <td>21.2</td> <td>50.4</td> <td class="last_col">20.9</td></tr> + <tr><td class="row_head">Section 3 (highest)</td> <td>27.2</td> <td>38. </td> <td>23.1</td> <td class="last_col">11.7</td></tr> + </table> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page31" title="31"> </a>“It will be seen that the proportion of children + classed as ‘very good’ in Section 3 is about ten times + as large as in the poorest section, and that <em>more than + half of the children in the poorest section are classed + as ‘bad.’</em></p> + + <p>“These ‘bad’ children presented a pathetic spectacle, + all bore some mark of the hard conditions against + which they were struggling. Puny and feeble bodies, + dirty and often sadly insufficient clothing, sore eyes, in + many cases acutely inflamed through continued want + of attention, filthy heads, cases of hip disease, swollen + glands—all these and other signs told the same tale + of privation and neglect. It will be noticed that the + condition of the children in Section 2 (middle-class + labour) comes about half-way between Sections 1 and + 3. In considering the above table it must of course + be remembered that there was no absolute standard by + which each child could be judged, but the broad comparison + between the different classes is unimpeachable. + The table affords further evidence of serious physical + deterioration amongst the poorest section of the community.”</p> + </blockquote> + + <p>And if York and London will not satisfy, let the + reader take Edinburgh, whose Charity Organization + Society has produced an admirable but infinitely + distressing report of the physical conditions of the + school children there. It gives a summary account + of the homes of fourteen hundred children in one of + the Edinburgh Elementary Schools, selected because + it represented a fair mixture of prosperous and + unprosperous people. I take the first ten entries of + this list just as they come, representing thirty-eight + <a class="pagenum" id="page32" title="32"> </a>children, and they are a fair sample of the whole + list. No amount of writing could make these little + thumbnail sketches of the reality of domestic life + among our population to-day more impressive than + they are, thus barrenly given.</p> + + <blockquote> + <p>“1. A bad home. Woman twice married; second + husband deserted her six or seven years ago and she + now keeps a bad house in which much drinking and + rioting goes on. Daughter on stage sends 10/- a + week, son is out of work. A son is in an institution. + All as filthy as is the house. The food is irregular. + Two children have had free dinners from school this + and last winter, clothes were also given for one each + time. The boy attends regularly. The woman is a + hard drinker, and gets money in undesirable ways. + The eldest child has glands, neck; hair not good but + clean; fleabitten. The second child, adenoids and + tonsils. Housing: five in one room. Evidence from + Police, School Charity, Headmistress, School Officers + and Doctors.</p> + + <p>“2. The drinking capacity of this family cannot + be too much emphasized. The parents can’t agree, + and live apart, the man allowing 7/6 a week when + girl is with mother, and 5/- when she comes to him. + She is verminous and very badly kept. Mother can’t + get charing, as she lives in so bad a neighbourhood, + so means to move; at present she keeps other women’s + babies at 6<em>d.</em> a day each. Elder boy out of work, a + tidy lad, reads in Free Library. One child has died. + Housing: three in one room. House not so very + untidy. Evidence from Police, Church and Officer.</p> + + <p>“3. A miserable family and in very wretched circumstances. + <a class="pagenum" id="page33" title="33"> </a>Father deserts home at intervals, but last + time seemed ‘sent back by providence,’ as the works + in the town he was in were burnt down. Children + starving in his absence; one had pneumonia, and died + since of the effects. The eldest child has adenoids; + the second, urticaria; lice, bad; clothes full of pediculi. + Housing: six in two rooms. Mother hard-working, + does her best, but has chronic bronchitis; + does not keep house over tidy. The two elder boys + are very idle, tiresome fellows, and worry the father + a great deal. They improved and found work during + the year following the visit, in which time the father + got into decent work in the City. The S. P. C. C. branch + had to interfere on behalf of small children. Three + dead since marriage, when parents were at ages 23 + and 20. Food good when there is any. School gave + free dinners and clothes to two. Evidence from Police, + S. P. C. C. branch, School Charity, Parish Sister, Employer, + Headmistress, School Officer and Doctors.</p> + + <p>“4. The father a complete wreck through intemperate + and fast living; speculation first brought him + down. Was later moved to hospital, where he died. + Had worked on railway a little time. Mother hard-working, + works out, home untidy owing to her being + out so much. She pays rent regularly, and does her + best. An elder boy groom, fed and clad by his master, + sends home what he can. Eldest boy does odd jobs, + but seems a wastrel. Parish gave 7/6 after father ill, + and feeds four children now. Winter of visit school + dined five free daily, and clothed three, and previous + winter three had free dinners and two had clothes. A + school-boy earns. The twins are delicate. There are + two lodgers. The eldest child very dirty; the second, + glands; the third, knock-kneed, pigeon chest; very + <a class="pagenum" id="page34" title="34"> </a>feeble, enlarged radices. Three children have died. + Housing: nine in three rooms. Evidence from Police, + Poor Law Officer, Parish Sister, School Charity, Army + Charity, Children’s Employment, School Officer, + Factor, Pawnbroker and Doctors.</p> + + <p>“5. The mother, a nice, clean, tidy woman, doing + pretty well by the children. They kept a little shop + for a time, and she used to do a day’s charing now and + then, but has too many babies now. Parents married + at 21 and 18 respectively; two children dead and + another expected. He reads papers a good deal, gets + them out of trains. This is his first spell of regular + work. Two boys sell papers, and a Mission gives + cheap meal. Food none too plentiful. One child gets + free dinners. The eldest child has glands; impetigo; + thin and badly nourished. The second, glands, hair + lice and nits bad. The third, boils on neck, glands, + thin. The fourth, glands. Housing: eight in two + rooms. They are in two thrift societies. Evidence + from School-master, Police, Parish Sister, Club, Army + Charity, Charity School, Pawnbroker and Doctors.</p> + + <p>“6. Father works in a shop in daytime, and in + a public-house at night. Rather soft; but wife industrious + and energetic and does her best. Children + well fed and regular at school. Two children have + enlarged tonsils. They get no help, and belong to two + thrift societies. One of six children dead in ten years + of married life. Housing: seven in two rooms. + Evidence from Police, Doctors, Society, Church, + Mission, Club, Headmistress, Charity School and + Pawnbrokers.</p> + + <p>“7. A family where parents are much given to + drink; father invalided and being helped by a Sick + <a class="pagenum" id="page35" title="35"> </a>Society, 3/- a week, and Parish 5/- a week. Housing: + five in two rooms. They are in a burying club. + Children fleabitten. Two have died. Food is rather + scanty. Wife <em>very</em> quarrelsome and drunken. The + boys play truant often. Two were given free food and + clothes two winters ago, and this winter one has free + dinners and clothes given. A Mission has given cheap + clothes. Evidence from School-master, Police, Poor + Law Officer, C.O.S. branch, Church, School Charity, + Sick Society, Children’s Employment, Factor, School + Officer, Charity School, Pawnbroker and Doctors.</p> + + <p>“8. Fairly decent family; mother washes out, and + man has very early work. He drinks, and his employment + is somewhat irregular. A son in the country on + a farm, and two dead. They were married at 21 and + 18. The food is erratic, the children getting ‘pieces’ + at dinner-time, or free school dinners; or when + mother comes home, soup with her. The children are + rather neglected, and the police give the parents an + indifferent character. The eldest child has Eustacian + catarrh and nasopharyngitis; glands. The second, + enlarged uvula. Housing: four in two very small + rooms. Evidence from School-master, Police, Parish + Sister, Church, Factor and Doctors.</p> + + <p>“9. Father an old soldier without a pension, who + reads novels. All the small children were found eating + a large meal of ham and eggs and strong tea after + 8 p.m., he in bed at the time. They have lapsed from + thrift society membership. They are extremely filthy + and the man drinks. A Mission sells them meal cheap. + Wife 18 at marriage and one child died. They feed + pretty largely but unhealthily, and eat ‘pieces’ at + lunch-time. At time of visit, though very dirty, they + were tidier than ever found before. The eldest child + <a class="pagenum" id="page36" title="36"> </a>has chronic suppuration and large perforation of ear. + Housing: five in two rooms. Evidence from Police, + Parish Sister, Factor, Soldiers’ Society, Charity School + and Doctors.</p> + + <p>“10. The man a carter, who drank to a certain + extent, and died some months after visit, when a + Charity gave her help. She had an illegitimate child + and two others. He was careless, and both neglected + church-going. No medical evidence. Housing: five + in two rooms. Evidence from Police, two Churches, + Parish Sister, Employer and Charity School.”</p> + </blockquote> + + <h3 id="ch3_s2">§ 2.</h3> + + <p>Now to the Socialist, as to any one who has + caught any tinge of the modern scientific spirit, + these facts present themselves simply as an atrocious + failure of statesmanship. Indeed, a social + system in which the mass of the population is + growing up under these conditions, he scarcely + recognizes as a State, rather it seems to him a + mere preliminary higgledy-piggledy aggregation + of human beings, out of which a State has to be + made. It seems to him that this wretched confusion + of affairs which repeats itself throughout the + country wherever population has gathered, must + be due to more than individual inadequacy; it + must be due to some general and essential failure, + some unsoundness in the broad principles upon + which the whole organization is conducted.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page37" title="37"> </a>What is this general principle of failure beneath + all these particular cases?</p> + + <p>In any given instance this or that reason for the + failure of a child may be given. In one case it + may be the father or mother drinks, in another that + the child is an orphan, neglected by aunt or stepmother, + in another that the mother is an invalid + or a sweated worker too overwrought to do much + for him, or, though a good-hearted soul, she is + careless and dirty or ignorant, or that she is + immoral and reckless, and so on and so on. Our + haphazard sample of ten Scotch cases gives instances + of nearly all these alternatives. And from + these proximate causes one might work back to + more general ones, to the necessity of controlling + the drink traffic, of abolishing sweating, of shortening + women’s hours of labour, of suppressing vice. + But for the present argument it is not necessary + to follow up these special causes. We can make a + wider generalization. For our present analysis it + is sufficient to say that one more general maladjustment + covers every case of neglected or ill-brought-up + children in the world, and that is this, + that with or without a decent excuse, the parent + has not been equal to the task of rearing a civilized + citizen. We have demanded too much from the + parent, materially and morally, and the ten cases + we have quoted are just ten out of ten millions of + the replies to that demand. Of fifty-two children + <a class="pagenum" id="page38" title="38"> </a>born, fourteen are dead; and of the remainder we + can hardly regard more than thirteen as being + tolerably reared.</p> + + <p>Is it not obvious then that, unless we are content + that things should remain as they are, we must + put the relations of parent to child on some securer + and more wholesome footing than they are at the + present time? We demand too much from the + parent, and this being recognized, clearly there are + only two courses open to us. The first is to relieve + the parents by lowering the standard of our + demand; the second is to relieve them by supplementing + their efforts.</p> + + <p>The first course, the Socialist holds, is not only + cruel and unjust to the innocent child, but an + entirely barbaric and retrogressive thing to do. It + is a frank abandonment of all ideas of progress and + world betterment. He puts it aside, therefore, and + turns to the alternative. In doing that he comes + at once into harmony with all the developmental + tendencies of the last hundred years. For a + hundred years there has been going on a process + of supplementing and controlling parental effort.</p> + + <p>A hundred years or so ago, the parent was the + supreme authority in a child’s destiny—short only + of direct murder. Parents were held responsible + for their children’s rearing to God alone; should + they fail, individual good-hearted people might, if + they thought proper, step in, give food, give help—provided + <a class="pagenum" id="page39" title="39"> </a>the parents consented, that is, but it + was not admitted that the community as a whole + was concerned in the matter. Parents (and guardians + in the absence of parents) were allowed to + starve their children, leave them naked, prey upon + their children by making them work in factories or + as chimney-sweeps and the like; the law was silent, + the State acquiesced. Good-hearted parents, on the + other hand, who were unsuccessful in the world’s + affairs, had the torment of seeing their children + go short of food and garments, grow up ignorant + and feeble, their only hope of help the chancy kindliness + of their more prosperous neighbours and the + ill-organized charities left by the benevolent dead.</p> + + <p>Through all the nineteenth century the irresistible + logic of necessity has been forcing people out of + the belief in that state of affairs, has been making + them see the impossibility of leaving things so + absolutely to parental discretion and conscience, + has been forcing them towards a constructive and + organizing, that is to say towards a Socialist attitude. + Essentially the Socialist attitude is this, an + insistence that parentage can no longer be regarded + as an isolated private matter; that the welfare of + the children is of universal importance, and must, + therefore, be finally a matter of collective concern. + The State, which a hundred years ago was utterly + careless of children, is now every year becoming + more and more their Guardian, their Over-Parent.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page40" title="40"> </a>To-day the power of the parents is limited in + ways that would have seemed incredible a hundred + years ago. In the first place they must no longer + unrestrictedly use their very young children to + earn money for them in toil and suffering. A great + mass of labour legislation forbids them. In the + next place their right to inflict punishment or to + hurt wantonly has been limited in many ways. + The private enterprises of charitable organizations + for the prevention of cruelty and neglect has led to + a growing system of law in this direction also. + Nor may a parent now prevent a child getting + some rudiments of an education.</p> + + <p>Between the parent and Heaven now, in addition + to the more or less legalized voluntary interference + of well-disposed private people, there do + appear certain rare functionaries who—while they + interfere not at all between good and competent + parents and their children, do, in certain instances, + save a parental default from its complete fruition. + There are the school attendance officer and the + sanitary inspector. Then there are—in the London + County Council area—the “Ringworm” nurses, + who examine the children systematically and by + means of certain white and red cards of remonstrance + and warning intimidate the parent into + good behaviour or pave the way for a prosecution. + Everywhere there is the factory inspector—and in + certain cases the police. All these functionaries + <a class="pagenum" id="page41" title="41"> </a>and “accessory consciences” have been thrust in + between the supremacy of the parent and the child + within the century.</p> + + <p>So much the Socialist regards as all to the good, + as all in the direction of that great constructive + plan of organized human welfare at which he aims. + And they all amount to a destruction, so much with + this and so much with that, of the independence of + the family, an invasion of the old moral isolation + of parent and child.</p> + + <p>But while a number of people (who haven’t read + the Edinburgh Charity Organization Society’s + Report) are content to regard these interventions + as “going far enough,” the Socialist considers + these things as only the beginning of the organization + of the welfare of the nation’s children. You + will notice that all these laws and regulations at + which we have glanced are in the nature of prohibitions + or compulsions; few have any element + of aid. By virtue of them we have diminished the + power of the inferior sort of parents to do evil by + their child, but we have done little or nothing to + increase and stimulate their powers to do good. + We may prevent them doing some sorts of evil + things to the child; they may not give it poisonous + things, or let it live in morally or physically + contagious places, but we do not insure that they + shall give it wholesome things—better than they + had themselves. We must, if our work is ever + <a class="pagenum" id="page42" title="42"> </a>to reach effectual fruition, go on to the logical + completion of that process of supplementing the + parent that the nineteenth century began.</p> + + <p>Consider, for instance, the circumstances of + parentage among the large section of the working + classes whose girls and women engage in factory + labour. In many cases the earnings of the woman + are vitally necessary to the solvency of the family + budget, the father’s wages do not nearly cover + the common expenditure. In some cases the + women are unmarried, or the man is an invalid or + out of work. Consider such a woman on the verge + of motherhood. Either she must work in a factory + right up to the birth of her child—and so damage + its health through her strain and fatigue,<a href="#footnote_2" id="fnm2" title="The facts of the case..." class="fnmarker">2</a> or she + must give up her work, lose money and go short + of food and necessities and <em>so</em> damage the coming + citizen. Moreover, after the child is born, either + she must feed it artificially and return to work + (and prosperity) soon, with a very great risk indeed + that the child will die, or she must stay at + home to nourish and tend it—until her landlord + sells her furniture and turns her out!</p> + + <p>Now it does not need that you should be a + <a class="pagenum" id="page43" title="43"> </a>Socialist to see how cruel and ridiculous it is to + have mothers in such a dilemma. But while + people who are not Socialists have no remedy to + suggest, or only immediate and partial remedies, + such, for example, as the forbidding of factory + work to women who are about to be or have + recently been mothers—an expedient which is + bound to produce a plentiful crop of “concealment + of birth” and infanticide convictions—the Socialist + does proffer a general principle to guide the community + in dealing not only with this particular + hardship, but with all the kindred hardships which + form a system with it. He declares that we are + here in the presence of an unsound and harmful + way of regarding parentage; that we treat it as + a <em>private affair</em>, that we are still disposed to assume + that people’s children are almost as much their + private concern as their cats, and as little entitled + to public protection and assistance. The right + view, he maintains, is altogether opposed to this; + parentage is a public service and a public duty; + a good mother is the most precious type of common + individual a community can have, and to let a + woman on the one hand earn a living as we do, + by sewing tennis-balls or making cardboard boxes + or calico, and on the other, not simply not to pay + her, but to impoverish her because she bears and + makes sacrifices to rear children, is the most irrational + aspect of all the evolved and chancy ideas + <a class="pagenum" id="page44" title="44"> </a>and institutions that make up the modern State. + It is as if we believed our civilization existed to + make cheap cotton and tennis-balls instead of fine + human lives.</p> + + <p>The Socialist takes all that the nineteenth century + has done in remedial legislation as a mere + earnest of all that it has still to do. He works for + a consistent application of the principle that England, + for example, tacitly admitted when she opened + her public elementary schools and compelled the + children to come in; the principle that the Community + as a whole is the general Over-Parent of + all its children; that the parents must be made + answerable to the community for the welfare of + their children, for their clear minds and clean + bodies, their eyesight and weight and training; and + that, on the other hand, the parents who do their + duty well are as much entitled to collective provision + for their needs and economic security as a + soldier, a judge or any other sort of public servant.</p> + + <h3 id="ch3_s3">§ 3.</h3> + + <p>Now do not imagine the case for the State + being regarded as the Over-Parent, and for the + financial support of parents is based simply upon + the consideration of neglected, underfed, undereducated + and poverty-blighted children. No doubt + in every one of the great civilized countries of + the world at the present time such children are + <a class="pagenum" id="page45" title="45"> </a>to be counted by the hundred thousand—by the + million; but there is a much stronger case to be + stated in regard to that possibly greater multitude + of parents who are not in default, those common + people, the mass of our huge populations, the + wives of the moderately skilled workers or the + reasonably comfortable employees, of the middling + sort of people, the two, three and four hundred + pounds a year families who toil and deny themselves + for love of their children, and do contrive + to rear them cleanly, passably well grown, decent + minded, taught and intelligent to serve the future. + Consider the enormous unfairness with which we + treat them, the way in which the modern State, + such as it is, trades upon their instincts, their affections, + their sense of duty and self-respect, to get + from them for nothing the greatest social service + in the world.</p> + + <p>For while the least fortunate sort of children have + at any rate the protection of the police and school + inspectors, and the baser sort of parent has all + sorts of public and quasi-public helps and doles, + the families that make the middle mass of our + population are still in the position of the families + of a hundred years ago, and have no help under + heaven against the world. It matters not how + well the home of the skilled artisan’s wife or the + small business man’s wife has been managed—she + may have educated her children marvellously, they + <a class="pagenum" id="page46" title="46"> </a>may be clean, strong, courteous, intelligent—if the + husband gets out of work or suffers from business + ill-luck or trade depression, or chances to be killed + uninsured, down they all go to want. Such insurance + as they are able to make, and it needs a + tremendously heavy premium to secure an insurance + that will not mean a heavy fall of income with + the bread-winner’s death—must needs be in a + private insurance office, and there is no effectual + guarantee for either honesty or solvency in that. + In most of the petty insurance business the thrifty + poor are enormously overcharged and overreached. + Rumour has been busy, and I fear only too justly, + with the financial outlook of some of the Friendly + Societies upon which the scanty security of so + many working-class families depends. Such investments + as the lower and middle-class father + makes of surplus profits and savings must be made + in ignorance of the manœuvres of the big and often + quite ruthless financiers who control the world of + prices. If he builds or trades, he does so as a + small investor, at the highest cost and lowest profit. + Half the big businesses in the world have been + made out of the lost savings of the small investor; + a point to which I shall return later. People + talk as though Socialism proposed to rob the thrifty + industrious man of his savings. He could not + be more systematically robbed of his savings than + he is at the present time. Nowhere beyond the + <a class="pagenum" id="page47" title="47"> </a>limit of the Post Office Savings’ Bank is there + security—not even in the gilt-edged respectability + of Consols, which in the last ten years have fallen + from 114 to under 82. Consider the adventure of + the thrifty well-meaning citizen who used his savings-bank + hoard to buy Consols at the former price, + and now finds himself the poorer for not having + buried his savings in his garden. The middling + sort of man saves for the sake of wife and child; + our State not only fails to protect him from the + adventures of the manipulating financier, but it + deliberately avoids competition with banker, insurance + agent and promoter. In no way can the + middle-class or artisan parent escape the financier’s + power and get real security for his home or his + children’s upbringing.</p> + + <p>Not only is every parent of any but the richest + classes worried and discouraged by the universal insecurity + of outlook in this private adventure world, + but at every turn his efforts to do his best for his + children are discouraged. If he has no children, + he will have all his income to spend on his own + pleasures; he need only live in a little house, he + pays nothing for school, less for doctor, less for all + the needs of life, and he is taxed less; his income + tax is the same, no bigger; his rent, his rates, his + household bills are all less….</p> + + <p>The State will not even help him to a tolerable + home, to wholesome food, to needed fuel for the new + <a class="pagenum" id="page48" title="48"> </a>citizens he is training for it. The State now-a-days + in its slow awakening does show a certain concern + in the housing of the lowest classes, a concern alike + stimulated and supplemented by such fine charities + as Peabody’s for example, but no one stands between + the two-hundred-a-year man and his landlord + in the pitiless struggle to get. For every need of his + children whom he toils to make into good men and + women, he must pay a toll of owner’s profits, he + must trust to the anything but intelligent greed of + private enterprise.</p> + + <p>The State will not even insist that a sufficiency of + comfortable, sanitary homes shall be built for his + class; if he wants the elementary convenience of a + bathroom, he must pay extra toll to the water shareholder; + his gas is as cheap in quality and dear in + price as it can be; his bread and milk, under the + laws of supply and demand, are at the legal minimum + of wholesomeness; the coal trade cheerfully + raises his coal in mid-winter to ruinous prices. He + buys clothes of shoddy and boots of brown paper. + To get any other is nearly impossible for a man with + three hundred pounds a year. His newspapers, which + are supported by advertisers and financiers, in order + to hide the obvious injustice of this one-man-fight + against the allied forces of property, din in his ears + that his one grievance is local taxation, his one + remedy “to keep down the rates”—the “rates” + which do at least repair his roadway, police his + <a class="pagenum" id="page49" title="49"> </a>streets, give him open spaces for his babies and help + to educate his children, and which, moreover, constitute + a burthen he might by a little intelligent political + action shift quite easily from his own shoulders + to the broad support of capital and land.</p> + + <p>If the children of the decent skilled artisan and + middle-class suffer less obviously than the poorer + sort of children, assuredly the parents in wearing + anxiety, in toil and limitation and disappointment, + suffer more. And in less intense and dramatic, but + perhaps even more melancholy ways, the children + of this class do suffer. They do not die so abundantly + in infancy, but they grow up, too many of + them, to shabby and limited lives; in Britain they + are still, as a class, extraordinarily ill educated—many + of them still go to incompetent, understaffed + and ill-equipped private adventure schools—they are + sent into business prematurely, often at fourteen + or fifteen, they become mechanical “respectable” + drudges in processes they do not understand. They + may escape want and squalor for a while, perhaps, + but they cannot escape narrowness and limitation + and a cramped and anxious life. If they get to anything + better than that, it is chiefly through almost + heroic parental effort and sacrifice.</p> + + <p>The plain fact is that the better middle-class + parents serve the State in this matter of child-rearing, + the less is their reward, the less is their security, + the greater their toil and anxiety. Is it any wonder + <a class="pagenum" id="page50" title="50"> </a>then that throughout this more comfortable but more + refined and exacting class, the skilled artisan and + middle-class, there goes on something even more + disastrous, from the point of view of the State, than + the squalor, despair and neglect of the lower levels, + and that is a very evident strike against parentage? + While the very poor continue to have many children + who die or grow up undersized, crippled or half-civilized, + the middle mass, which <em>can</em> contrive with + a struggle and sacrifice to rear fairly well-grown + and well-equipped offspring, which has a conscience + for the well-being and happiness of the young, + manifests a diminishing spirit for parentage, its + families fall to four, to three, to two—and in an increasing + number of instances there are no children + at all.</p> + + <p>With regard to the struggling middle-class and + skilled artisan class parent, even more than to the + lower poor, does the Socialist insist upon the plain + need, if only that our State and nation should continue, + of endowment and help. He deems it not + simply unreasonable but ridiculous that in a world + of limitless resources, of vast expenditure, of unparalleled + luxury, in which two-million-pound + battleships and multi-millionaires are common + objects, the supremely important business of rearing + the bulk of the next generation of the middling sort + of people should be left almost entirely to the + unaided, unguided efforts of impoverished and + <a class="pagenum" id="page51" title="51"> </a>struggling women and men. It seems to him almost + beyond sanity to suppose that so things must or can + continue.</p> + + <h3 id="ch3_s4">§ 4.</h3> + + <p>And what I have said of the middle-class parent + is true with certain modifications of all the classes + above it, except that in a monarchy you reach at + last one State-subsidized family—in the case of + Britain a very healthy and active group, the Royal + family—which is not only State supported, but also + beyond the requirements of any modern Socialist, + State bred. There are enormous handicaps at every + other social level upon efficient parentage, and upon + the training of children for any public and generous + end. Parentage is treated as a private foible, and + those who undertake its solemn responsibilities are + put at every sort of disadvantage against those who + lead sterile lives, who give all their strength and + resources to vanity and socially harmful personal + indulgence. These latter, with an ampler leisure + and ampler means, determine the forms of pleasure + and social usage, they “set the fashion” and bar + pride, distinction or relaxation to the devoted parent. + The typical British aristocrat is not parent bred, but + class bred, a person with a lively sense of social influences + and no social ideas. The one class that is + economically capable of making all that can be made + of its children is demoralized by the very irresponsibility + <a class="pagenum" id="page52" title="52"> </a>of the wealth that creates this opportunity. + This is still more apparent in the American plutocracy, + where perhaps half the women appear to be + artificially sterilized spenders of money upon frivolous + things.</p> + + <p>No doubt there is in the richer strata of the community + a certain proportion of families with a real + tradition of upbringing and service; such English + families as the Cecils, Balfours and Trevelyans, for + example, produce, generation after generation, + public-spirited and highly competent men. But the + family tradition in these cases is an excess of virtue + rather than any necessary consequence of a social + advantage; it is a defiance rather than a necessity of + our economic system. It is natural that such men + as Lord Hugh and Lord Robert Cecil, highly + trained, highly capable, but without that gift of + sympathetic imagination which releases a man from + the subtle mental habituations of his upbringing, + should idealize every family in the world to the likeness + of their own—and find the Socialist’s Over-Parent + of the State not simply a needless but a mischievous + and wicked innovation. They think—they + will, I fear, continue to think—of England as a + world of happy Hatfields, cottage Hatfields, villa + Hatfields, Hatfields over the shop, and Hatfields + behind the farmyard—wickedly and wantonly + assailed and interfered with by a band of weirdly + discontented men. It is a dream that the reader + <a class="pagenum" id="page53" title="53"> </a>must not share. Even in the case of the rich and + really prosperous it is an illusion. In no class at + the present time is there a real inducement to the + effectual rearing of trained and educated citizens; in + every class are difficulties and discouragements.</p> + + <p>This state of affairs, says the Socialist, is chaotic + or indifferent to a sea of wretchedness and failure, + in health, vigour, order and beauty. Such pleasure + as it permits is a gaudy indulgence filched from + children and duty; such beauty—a hectic beauty + stained with injustice; such happiness—a happiness + that can only continue so long as it remains blind + or indifferent to a sea of wretchedness and failure. + Our present system of isolated and unsupported + families keeps the mass of the world beyond all + necessity painful, ugly and squalid. It stands condemned, + and it must end.</p> + + <h3 id="ch3_s5">§ 5.</h3> + + <p>Let me summarize what has been said in this + chapter in a compact proposition, and so complete + the statement of the First Main Generalization of + Socialism.</p> + + <p><em>The ideas of the private individual rights of the + parent and of his isolated responsibility for his children + are harmfully exaggerated in the contemporary + world. We do not sufficiently protect children from + <a class="pagenum" id="page54" title="54"> </a>negligent, incompetent, selfish or wicked parents, + and we do not sufficiently aid and encourage good + parents; parentage is too much a matter of private + adventure, and the individual family is too irresponsible. + As a consequence there is a huge + amount of avoidable privation, suffering and sorrow, + and a large proportion of the generation that + grows up, grows up stunted, limited, badly educated + and incompetent in comparison with the + strength, training and beauty with which a better + social organization could endow it.</em></p> + + <p><em>The Socialist holds that the community as a whole + should be responsible, and every individual in the + community, married or single, parent or childless, + should be responsible for the welfare and upbringing + of every child born into that community. This + responsibility may be entrusted in whole or in part + to parent, teacher or other guardian—but it is not + simply the right but the duty of the State—that is to + say of the organized power and intelligence of the + community—to direct, to inquire, and to intervene + in any default for the child’s welfare.</em></p> + + <p><em>Parentage rightly undertaken is a service as well + as a duty to the world, carrying with it not only + obligations but a claim, the strongest of claims, + upon the whole community. It must be provided + for like any other public service; in any completely + civilized State it must be sustained, rewarded and + controlled. And this is to be done not to supersede + <a class="pagenum" id="page55" title="55"> </a>the love, pride and conscience of the parent, but to + supplement, encourage and maintain it.</em></p> + + <h3 id="ch3_s6">§ 6.</h3> + + <p>This is the first of the twin generalizations upon + which the whole edifice of modern Socialism rests. + Its fellow generalization we must consider in the + chapter immediately to follow.</p> + + <p>But at this point the reader unaccustomed to + social questions will experience a difficulty. He will + naturally think of this much of change we have + broached, as if it was to happen in a world that + otherwise was to remain just as the world is now, + with merchants, landowners, rich and poor and all + the rest of it. You are proposing, he may say, + what is no doubt a highly desirable but which is + also a quite impossible thing. You propose practically + to educate all the young of the country and + to pay at least sufficient to support them and their + mothers in decency—out of what? Where will you + get the money?</p> + + <p>That is a perfectly legitimate question and one + that must be answered fully if our whole project is + not to fall to the ground.</p> + + <p>So we come to the discussion of material means, + of the wherewithal, that is to say to the “Economics” + of Socialism. The reader will see very + speedily that this great social revolution we propose + necessarily involves a revolution in business and + <a class="pagenum" id="page56" title="56"> </a>industry that will be equally far reaching. The two + revolutions are indeed inseparable, two sides of one + wheel, and it is scarcely possible that one could + happen without the other.</p> + + <p>Of course the community supports all its children + now—the only point is that it does not support + them in its collective character as a State “as a + whole.” All the children in the world are supported + by all the people in the world, but very unfairly + and irregularly, through the intervention of that + great multitude of small private proprietors, the + parents. When the parents fail, Charity and the + Parish step in. If the reader will refer to those ten + cases from Edinburgh I have already quoted in + Chapter III., <a href="#ch3_s1">§ 1</a>, he will note that in eight out of + the ten there comes in the eleemosynary element; in + the seventh case especially he will get an inkling of + its waste. A change in the system that diminished + (though it by no means abolished) this separate + dependence of children upon parents, each child + depending upon those “pieces” from its particular + parental feast, need not necessarily diminish the + amount of wheat, or leather, or milk in the world; + the children would still get the bread and milk and + boots, but through different channels and in a different + spirit. They might even get more. The + method of making and distribution will evidently + have to be a different one and run counter to currently + accepted notions; that is all. Not only is it + <a class="pagenum" id="page57" title="57"> </a>true that a change of system need not diminish + the amount of food in the world; it might even + increase it. The Socialist declares that his system + would increase it. He proposes a method of making + and distribution, a change in industrial conditions + and in the conventions of property, that he declares + will not only not diminish but greatly increase the + production of the world, and changes in the administration + that he is equally convinced will insure + a far juster and better use of all that is produced.</p> + + <p>This side of his proposals we will proceed to + consider in our next chapter.</p> + +</div> +<div id="chapter_4" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page58" title="58"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter-number">CHAPTER IV</span><br /> + THE SECOND MAIN GENERALIZATION OF SOCIALISM</h2> + + <h3 id="ch4_s1">§ 1.</h3> + + <p><span class="first_word">We</span> have considered the Socialist criticism of + the present state of affairs in relation to the most + important of all public questions, the question of + the welfare and upbringing of the next generation. + We have stated the general principle of social reconstruction + that emerges from that criticism. We + have now to enter upon the question of ways and + means, the economic question. We have to ask + whether the vision we have conjured up of a whole + population well fed, well clad, well educated—in a + word, well brought-up—is, after all, only an amiable + dream. Is it true that humanity is producing all + that it can produce at the present time, and managing + everything about as well as it can be managed; + that, as a matter of fact, there isn’t enough of food + and care to go round, and hence the unavoidable + anxiety in the life of every one (except in the case + of a small minority of exceptionally secure people), + <a class="pagenum" id="page59" title="59"> </a>and the absolute wretchedness of vast myriads of + the poorer sort?</p> + + <p>The Socialist says, No! He asserts that our + economic system is as chaotic and wasteful as our + system of rearing children—is only another aspect + of the same planlessness—that it does its work with + a needless excess of friction, that it might be far + simpler and almost infinitely more productive than + it is.</p> + + <p>Let us detach ourselves a little from our everyday + habits of thinking in these matters; let us + cease to take customary things for granted, and let + us try and consider how our economic arrangements + would strike a disinterested intelligence that looked + at them freshly for the first time. Let us take some + matter of primary economic importance, such as the + housing of the population, and do our best to criticize + it in this spirit of personal aloofness.</p> + + <p>In order to do that, let us try to detach ourselves + a little from our own personal interest in these + affairs. Imagine a mind ignorant of our history + and traditions, coming from some other sphere, + from some world more civilized, from some other + planet perhaps, to this earth. Would our system of + housing strike it as the very wisest and most practical + possible, would it really seem to be the attainable + maximum of outcome for human exertion, or + would it seem confused, disorderly, wasteful and + bad? The Socialist holds that the latter would + <a class="pagenum" id="page60" title="60"> </a>certainly be the verdict of such an impartial + examination.</p> + + <p>What would our visitor find in such a country as + England, for example? He would find a few thousand + people housed with conspicuous comfort and + sumptuousness, in large, airy and often extremely + beautiful homes equipped with every convenience—except + such as economize labour—and waited on + by many thousands of attendants. He would find + next, several hundreds of thousands in houses + reasonably well built, but for the most part ill + designed and unpleasant to the eye, houses passably + sanitary and convenient, fitted with bathrooms, + with properly equipped kitchens, usually + with a certain space of air and garden about them. + And the rest of our millions he would find crowded + into houses evidently too small for a decent life, + and often dreadfully dirty and insanitary, without + proper space or appliances to cook properly, + wash properly or indeed perform any of the fundamental + operations of a civilized life tolerably well—without, + indeed, even the privacy needed for + common decency. In the towns he would find + most of the houses occupied by people for whose + needs they were obviously not designed, and in + many cases extraordinarily crowded, ramshackle + and unclean; in the country he would be amazed + to find still denser congestion, sometimes a dozen + people in one miserable, tumble-down, outwardly + <a class="pagenum" id="page61" title="61"> </a>picturesque and inwardly abominable two-roomed + cottage, people living up against pigsties and + drawing water from wells they could not help but + contaminate. Think of how the intimate glimpses + from the railway train one gets into people’s + homes upon the outskirts of any of our large towns + would impress him. And being, as we assume, + clear minded and able to trace cause and effect, he + would see all this disorder working out in mortality, + disease, misery and intellectual and moral + failure.</p> + + <p>All this would strike our visitor as a very remarkable + state of affairs for reasonable creatures to + endure, and probably he would not understand at + first that millions of people were content to regard + all this disorder as the permanent lot of humanity. + He would assume that this must be a temporary + state of affairs due to some causes unknown to + him, some great migration, for example. He + would suppose we were all busy putting things + right. He would see on the one hand unemployed + labour and unemployed material; on the other, + great areas of suitable land and the crying need for + more and better homes than the people had, and + it would seem the most natural thing in the world + that the directing intelligence of the community + should set the unemployed people to work with + the unemployed material upon the land to house + the whole population fairly and well. There exists + <a class="pagenum" id="page62" title="62"> </a>all that is needed to house the whole population + admirably, the building material, the room, the + unoccupied hands. Why is it not being done?</p> + + <p>Our answer would be, of course, that he did not + understand our difficulties; the land was not ours + to do as we liked with, it did not belong to the + community but to certain persons, the Owners, + who either refused to let us build upon it or buy it + or have anything to do with it, or demanded money + we could not produce for it; that equally the + material was not ours, but belonged to certain other + Owners, and that, thirdly, the community had insufficient + money or credit to pay the wages and + maintenance and equipment of the workers who + starved and degenerated in our streets—for that + money, too, was privately owned.</p> + + <p>This would puzzle our visitor considerably.</p> + + <p>“Why do you have Owners?” he would ask.</p> + + <p>We might find that difficult to answer.</p> + + <p>“But why do you let the land be owned?” he + would go on. “You don’t let people own the air. + And these bricks and timber you mustn’t touch, + the mortar you need and the gold you need—they + all came out of the ground—they all belonged to + everybody or nobody a little while ago!”</p> + + <p>You would say something indistinct about + Property.</p> + + <p>“But why?”</p> + + <p>“Somebody must own the things.”</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page63" title="63"> </a>“Well, let the State own the things and use + them for the common good. It owns the roads, it + owns the foreshores and the territorial seas—nobody + owns the air!”</p> + + <p>If you entered upon historical explanations with + him, you would soon be in difficulties. You would + find that so recently as the Feudal System—which + was still living, so to speak, yesterday—the King, + who stood for the State, held the land as the + Realm, and the predecessors of the present owners + held under him merely as the administrative + officials who performed all sorts of public services + and had all sorts of privileges thereby. They + have dropped the services and stuck to the land + and the privileges; that is all.</p> + + <p>“I begin to perceive,” our visitor would say as + this became clear; “your world is under the spell + of an exaggerated idea, this preposterous idea + there must be an individual Owner for everything + in the world. Obviously you can’t get on while + you are under the spell of that! So long as you + have this private ownership in everything, there’s + no help for you. You cut up your land and + material in parcels of all sorts and sizes among + this multitude of irresponsible little monarchs; you + let all the material you need get distributed among + another small swarm of Owners, and clearly you + can only get them to work for public ends in the + most roundabout, tedious and wasteful way. Why + <a class="pagenum" id="page64" title="64"> </a>should they? They’re very well satisfied as they + are! But if the community as a whole insisted + that this idea of private Ownership you have in + regard to land and natural things was all nonsense—and + it is all nonsense!—just think what you + might not do with it now that you have all the + new powers and lights that Science has given you. + You might turn all your towns into garden cities, + put an end to overcrowding, abolish smoky + skies——”</p> + + <p>“Hush!” I should have to interrupt; “if you + talk of the things that are clearly possible in the + world to-day, they will say you are an Utopian + dreamer!”</p> + + <p>But at least one thing would have become clear, + the little swarm of Owners and their claims standing + in the way of any bold collective dealing with + housing or any such public concern. The real + work to be done here is to change an idea, that + idea of ownership, to so modify it that it will + cease to obstruct the rational development of life; + and that is what the Socialist seeks to do.</p> + + <h3 id="ch4_s2">§ 2.</h3> + + <p>Now the argument that the civilized housing of + the masses of our population now is impossible + because if you set out to do it you come up against + the veto of the private owner at every stage, can be + applied to almost every general public service. + <a class="pagenum" id="page65" title="65"> </a>Some little while ago I wrote a tract for the Fabian + Society about Boots;<a href="#footnote_3" id="fnm3" title="This Misery of Boots..." class="fnmarker">3</a> and I will not apologize for + repeating here a passage from that. To begin with, + this tract pointed out the badness, unhealthiness + and discomfort of people’s footwear as one saw it + in every poor quarter, and asked why it was that + things were in so disagreeable a state. There + was plenty of leather in the world, plenty of labour.</p> + + <blockquote> + <p>“Here on the one hand—you can see for yourself + in any unfashionable part of Great Britain—are people + badly, uncomfortably, painfully shod in old boots, + rotten boots, sham boots; and on the other great + stretches of land in the world, with unlimited possibilities + of cattle and leather and great numbers of people + who, either through wealth or trade disorder, are doing + no work. And our question is: ‘Why cannot the + latter set to work and make and distribute boots?’</p> + + <p>“Imagine yourself trying to organize something of + this kind of Free Booting expedition and consider the + difficulties you would meet with. You would begin + by looking for a lot of leather. Imagine yourself setting + off to South America, for example, to get leather; + beginning at the very beginning by setting to work to + kill and flay a herd of cattle. You find at once you are + interrupted. Along comes your first obstacle in the + <a class="pagenum" id="page66" title="66"> </a>shape of a man who tells you the cattle and the leather + belong to him. You explain that the leather is wanted + for people who have no decent boots in England. He + says he does not care a rap what you want it for; + before you may take it from him you have to buy him + off; it is his private property, this leather, and the herd + and the land over which the herd ranges. You ask + him how much he wants for his leather, and he tells + you frankly, just as much as he can induce you to give.</p> + + <p>“If he chanced to be a person of exceptional sweetness + of disposition, you might perhaps argue with him. + You might point out to him that this project of giving + people splendid boots was a fine one that would put an + end to much human misery. He might even sympathize + with your generous enthusiasm, but you would, + I think, find him adamantine in his resolve to get just + as much out of you for his leather as you could with + the utmost effort pay.</p> + + <p>“Suppose, now, you said to him: ‘But how did you + come by this land and these herds so that you can + stand between them and the people who have need of + them, exacting this profit?’ He would probably either + embark upon a long rigmarole, or, what is much more + probable, lose his temper and decline to argue. Pursuing + your doubt as to the rightfulness of his property + in these things, you might admit he deserved a certain + reasonable fee for the rough care he had taken of + the land and herds. But cattle breeders are a rude + violent race, and it is doubtful if you would get far + beyond your proposition of a reasonable fee. You + would, in fact, have to buy off this owner of the leather + at a good thumping price—he exacting just as much + as he could get from you—if you wanted to go on with + your project.</p> + + <p>“Well, then you would have to get your leather + <a class="pagenum" id="page67" title="67"> </a>here, and to do that you would have to bring it by + railway and ship to this country. And here again you + would find people without any desire or intention of + helping your project, standing in your course resolved + to make every possible penny out of you on your way + to provide sound boots for every one. You would find + the railway was private property and had an owner or + owners; you would find the ship was private property + with an owner or owners, and that none of these would + be satisfied for a moment with a mere fee adequate to + their services. They too would be resolved to make every + penny of profit out of you. If you made inquiries about + the matter, you would probably find the real owners + of railway and ship were companies of shareholders, + and the profit squeezed out of your poor people’s boots + at this stage went to fill the pockets of old ladies, at + Torquay, spendthrifts in Paris, well-booted gentlemen + in London clubs, all sorts of glossy people….</p> + + <p>“Well, you get the leather to England at last; and + now you want to make it into boots. You take it to a + centre of population, invite workers to come to you, + erect sheds and machinery upon a vacant piece of + ground, and start off in a sort of fury of generous + industry, boot-making…. Do you? There comes + along an owner for that vacant piece of ground, declares + it is his property, demands an enormous sum + for rent. And your workers all round you, you find, + cannot get house room until they too have paid rent—every + inch of the country is somebody’s property, and + a man may not shut his eyes for an hour without the + consent of some owner or other. And the food your + shoe-makers eat, the clothes they wear, have all paid + tribute and profit to land-owners, cart-owners, house-owners, + endless tribute over and above the fair pay + for work that has been done upon them….</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page68" title="68"> </a>“So one might go on. But you begin to see now + one set of reasons at least why every one has not good + comfortable boots. There could be plenty of leather; + and there is certainly plenty of labour and quite enough + intelligence in the world to manage that and a thousand + other desirable things. But this institution of + Private Property in land and naturally produced things, + these obstructive claims that prevent you using ground, + or moving material, and that have to be bought out + at exorbitant prices, stand in the way. All these owners + hang like parasites upon your enterprise at its every + stage; and by the time you get your sound boots well + made in England, you will find them costing about a + pound a pair—high out of reach of the general mass + of people. And you will perhaps not think me fanciful + and extravagant when I confess that when I realize + this and look at poor people’s boots in the street, and + see them cracked and misshapen and altogether nasty, + I seem to see also a lot of little phantom land-owners, + cattle-owners, house-owners, owners of all sorts, swarming + over their pinched and weary feet like leeches, + taking much and giving nothing and being the real + cause of all such miseries.”</p> + </blockquote> + + <h3 id="ch4_s3">§ 3.</h3> + + <p>Our visitor would not only be struck by the + clogging of our social activities through this + system of leaving everything to private enterprise; + he would also be struck by the immense wastefulness. + Everywhere he would see things in duplicate + and triplicate; down the High Street of any + small town he would find three or four butchers—mostly + selling New Zealand mutton and Argentine + <a class="pagenum" id="page69" title="69"> </a>beef as English—five or six grocers, three or four + milk shops, one or two big drapers and three or + four small haberdashers, milliners, and “fancy + shops,” two or three fishmongers, all very poor, all + rather bad, most of them in debt and with their + assistants all insecure and underpaid. He would + find in spite of this wealth of competition that every + one who could contrive it, all the really prosperous + people in fact, bought most of their food and + drapery from big London firms.</p> + + <p>But why should I go on writing fresh arguments + when we have Elihu’s classic tract<a href="#footnote_4" id="fnm4" title="Elihu's tracts are published..." class="fnmarker">4</a> to quote.</p> + + <blockquote> + <p>“Observe how private enterprise supplies the streets + with milk. At 7.30 a milk cart comes lumbering along + and delivers milk at one house and away again. Half-an-hour + later another milk cart arrives and delivers milk, + first on this side of the street and then on that, until + seven houses have been supplied, and then he departs. + During the next three or four hours four other milk + carts put in an appearance at varying intervals, supplying + a house here and another there, until finally, as it + draws towards noon, their task is accomplished and the + street supplied with milk.</p> + + <p>“The time actually occupied by one and another of + these distributors of milk makes in all about an hour + and forty minutes, six men and six horses and carts + being required for the purpose, and these equipages + <a class="pagenum" id="page70" title="70"> </a>rattle along one after the other, all over the district, + through the greater part of the day, in the same erratic + and extraordinary manner.”</p> + </blockquote> + + <h3 id="ch4_s4">§ 4.</h3> + + <p>Our imaginary visitor would probably quite fail + to grasp the reasons why we do not forthwith shake + off this obstructive and harmful idea of Private + Ownership, dispossess our Landowners and so + forth as gently as possible, and set to work upon + collective housing and the rest of it. And so he + would “exit wondering.”</p> + + <p>But that would be only the opening of the real + argument. A competent Anti-Socialist of a more + terrestrial experience would have a great many very + effectual and very sound considerations to advance + in defence of the present system.</p> + + <p>He might urge that our present way of doing + things, though it was sometimes almost as wasteful + as Nature when fresh spawn or pollen germs are + scattered, was in many ways singularly congenial + to the infirmities of humanity. The idea of property + is a spontaneous product of the mortal mind; + children develop it in the nursery, and are passionately + alive to the difference of <em lang="la" xml:lang="la">meum</em> and <em lang="la" xml:lang="la">tuum</em>, and + its extension to land, subterranean products and + wild free things, even if it is under analysis a little + unreasonable, was at least singularly acceptable to + humanity.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page71" title="71"> </a>And there would be admirable soundness in all + this. There can be little or no doubt that the conception + of personal ownership has in the past contributed + elements to human progress that could + have come through no other means. It has allowed + private individuals in odd corners to try experiments + in new methods and new appliances, that + the general intelligence, such as it was, of the + community could not have understood. For all its + faults, our present individualistic order compared + not simply with the communism of primitive tribes, + but even with the personal and largely illiterate + control of the mediæval feudal governments, is a + good efficient working method. I don’t think a + Socialist need quarrel with the facts of history or + human nature. But he would urge that Private + Ownership is only a phase, though no doubt quite + a necessary phase, in human development. The + world has needed Private Ownership just as + (Lester F. Ward declares<a href="#footnote_5" id="fnm5" title="Pure Sociology..." class="fnmarker">5</a>) it once needed slavery + to discipline men and women to agriculture and + habits of industry, and just as it needed autocratic + kings to weld warring tribes into nations and + nations into empires, to build high roads, end + private war and establish the idea of Law, and a + wider than tribal loyalty. But just as Western + Europe has passed out of the phases of slavery + <a class="pagenum" id="page72" title="72"> </a>and of autocracy (which is national slavery) into + constitutionalism, so, he would hold, we are passing + out of the phase of private ownership of land + and material and food. We are doing so not + because we reject it, but because we have worked + it out, because we have learnt its lessons and + can now go on to a higher and finer organization.</p> + + <p>There the Anti-Socialist would join issue with + a lesser advantage. He would have to show not + only that Private Ownership has been serviceable + and justifiable in the past—which many Socialists + admit quite cheerfully—but that it is the crown + and perfection of human methods, which the + Socialists flatly deny. Universal Private Ownership, + an extreme development of the sentiment of + individual autonomy and the limitation of the + State to the merest police functions, were a necessary + outcome of the breakdown of the unprogressive + authoritative Feudal System in alliance with + a dogmatic Church. It reached its maximum in + the eighteenth century, when even some of the + prisons and workhouses were run by private contract, + when people issued a private money, the old + token coinage, and even regiments of soldiers were + raised by private enterprise. It was, the Socialist + alleges, a mere phase of that breaking up of the + old social edifice, a weakening of the old circle of + ideas that had to precede the new constructive + <a class="pagenum" id="page73" title="73"> </a>effort. But with land, with all sorts of property + and all sorts of businesses and public services, + just as with the old isolated private family, the old + separateness and independence is giving way to + a new synthesis. The idea of Private Ownership, + albeit still the ruling idea of our civilization, does + not rule nearly so absolutely as it did. It weakens + and falters before the inexorable demands of social + necessity—manifestly under our eyes.</p> + + <p>The Socialist would be able to appeal to a far + greater number of laws in the nature of limitation + of the owner of property than could be quoted to + show the limitation of the old supremacy of the + head of the family. In the first place he would be + able to point to a constantly increasing interference + with the right of the landowner to do what he liked + with his own, building regulations, intervention to + create allotments and so forth. Then there would + be a vast mass of factory and industrial legislation, + controlling, directing, prohibiting; fencing + machinery, interfering on behalf of health, justice + and public necessity with the owner’s free bargain + with his work-people. His business undertakings + would be under limitations his grandfather never + knew—even harmless adulterations that merely + intensify profit, forbidden him!</p> + + <p>And in the next place and still more significant + is the manifest determination to keep in public + hands many things that would once inevitably + <a class="pagenum" id="page74" title="74"> </a>have become private property. For example, in + the middle Victorian period a water supply, a gas + supply, a railway or tramway was inevitably a + private enterprise, the creation of a new property; + now, this is the exception rather than the rule. + While gas and water and trains were supplied by + speculative owners for profit, electric light and + power, new tramways and light railways are + created in an increasing number of cases by public + bodies who retain them for the public good. Nobody + who travels to London as I do regularly in + the dirty, over-crowded carriages of the infrequent + and unpunctual trains of the South-Eastern Company, + and who then transfers to the cleanly, + speedy, frequent—in a word, “civilized” electric + cars of the London County Council, can fail to + estimate the value and significance of this supersession + of the private owner by the common-weal.</p> + + <p>All these things, the Socialists insist, are but a + beginning. They point to a new phase in social + development, to the appearance of a collective intelligence + and a sense of public service taking over + appliances, powers, enterprises, with a growing + confidence that must end finally in the substitution + of collective for private ownership and enterprise + throughout the whole area of the common + business of life.</p> + + <h3 id="ch4_s5"><a class="pagenum" id="page75" title="75"> </a>§ 5.</h3> + + <p>In relation to quite a number of large public + services it can be shown that even under contemporary + conditions Private Ownership does work + with an enormous waste and inefficiency. Necessarily + it seeks for profit; necessarily it seeks to do + as little as possible for as much as possible. The + prosperity of all Kent is crippled by a “combine” + of two ill-managed and unenterprising railway + companies, with no funds for new developments, + grinding out an uncertain dividend by clipping + expenditure.</p> + + <p>I happen to see this organization pretty closely, + and I can imagine no State enterprise west of + Turkey or Persia presenting even to the passing + eye so deplorable a spectacle of ruin and inefficiency. + The South-Eastern Company’s estate at + Seabrook presents the dreariest spectacle of incompetent + development conceivable; one can see its + failure three miles away; it is a waste with an + embryo slum in one corner protected by an extravagant + sea-wall, already partly shattered, from the + sea.</p> + + <p>To-day (Nov. 4, 1907) the price of the ordinary + South-Eastern stock is 65 and its deferred stock + 31; of the London, Chatham and Dover ordinary + stock 10½; an eloquent testimony to the disheartened + <a class="pagenum" id="page76" title="76"> </a>state of the owners who now cling reluctantly + to this disappointing monopoly. Spite of this + impoverishment of the ordinary shareholder, this + railway system has evidently paid too much profit + in the past for efficiency; the rolling stock is old + and ageing—much of it is by modern standards + abominable—the trains are infrequent, and the + shunting operations at local stations, with insufficient + sidings and insufficient staffs, produce a + chronic dislocation and unpunctuality in the traffic + that is exaggerated by the defects of direction + evident even in the very time-tables. The trains + are not well planned, the connections with branch + lines are often extremely ill managed. The service + is bad to its details. It is the exception rather than + the rule to find a ticket-office in the morning with + change for a five-pound note; and, as a little indication + of the spirit of the whole machine, I discovered + the other day that the conductors upon + the South-Eastern trams at Hythe start their morning + with absolutely no change at all. Recently + the roof of the station at Charing Cross fell in—through + sheer decay…. A whole rich county + now stagnates hopelessly under the grip of this + sample of private enterprise, towns fail to grow, + trade flows sluggishly from point to point. No population + in the world would stand such a management + as it endures at the hands of the South-Eastern + Railway from any responsible public body. + <a class="pagenum" id="page77" title="77"> </a>Out would go the whole board of managers at the + next election. Consider what would have happened + if the London County Council had owned + Charing Cross Station three years ago. But manifestly + there is nothing better to be done under + private ownership conditions. The common shareholders + are scattered and practically powerless, and + their collective aim is, at any expense to the public + welfare, to keep the price of the shares from going + still lower.</p> + + <p>The South-Eastern Railway is only one striking + instance of the general unserviceableness of private + ownership for public services. Nearly all the + British railway companies, in greater or less + degree, present now a similar degenerative process. + Years of profit-sweating, of high dividends, have + left them with old stations, old rolling stock, old + staffs, bad habits and diminishing borrowing + power. Only a few of these corporations make any + attempt to keep pace with invention. It is remarkable + now in an epoch of almost universal progress + how stagnant the British privately owned railways + are. One travels now-a-days if anything with a + decrease of comfort from the 1880 accommodation, + because of the greater overcrowding; and there has + been no general increase of speed, no increase in + smooth running, no increase in immunity from + accident now for quite a number of years. One + travels in a dingy box of a compartment that is too + <a class="pagenum" id="page78" title="78"> </a>ill-lit at night for reading and full of invincible + draughts. In winter the only warmth is too often + an insufficient footwarmer of battered tin, for which + the passengers fight fiercely with their feet. An + observant person cannot fail to be struck—especially + if he is returning from travel upon the + State railways of Switzerland or Germany—by the + shabby-looking porters on so many of our lines—they + represent the standard of good clothing for + the year 1848 or thereabouts—and by the bleak + misery of many of the stations, the universal dirt + that electricity might even now abolish. You dare + not drop a parcel on any British railway cushion + for fear of the cloud of horrible dust you would + raise; you have to put it down softly. Consider, + too, the congested infrequent suburban trains that + ply round any large centre of population, the inefficient + goods and parcel distribution that hangs + up the trade of the local shopman everywhere. Not + only in the arrested standard of comfort, but in the + efficiency of working also are our privately owned + railways a hopeless discredit to private ownership.</p> + + <p>None of them, hampered by their present equipment, + are able to adapt themselves readily to the + new and better mechanism science produces for + them, electric traction, electric lighting and so + forth; and it seems to me highly probable that the + last steam-engines and the last oil lamps in the + world will be found upon the southern railway lines + <a class="pagenum" id="page79" title="79"> </a>of Great Britain. How can they go on borrowing + new capital with their stock at the prices I have + quoted, and how can they do anything without new + capital? The conception of profit-raising that rules + our railways takes rather an altogether different + direction; it takes the form of attempts to procure a + monopoly even of the minor traffic by resisting the + development of light railways, and of keeping the + standard of comfort, decency and cleanliness low. + As for the vast social ameliorations that could + be wrought now, and are urgently needed now, by + redistributing population through enhanced and + cheapened services scientifically planned, and by an + efficient collection and carriage of horticultural and + agricultural produce, these things lie outside the + philosophy of the Private Owner altogether. They + would probably not pay him, and there the matter + ends; that they would pay the community enormously, + does not for one moment enter into his + circle of ideas.</p> + + <p>There can be little doubt that in the next decade + or so the secular decay and lagging of the British + railway services which is inevitable under existing + conditions (in speed, in comfort, they have long + been distanced by continental lines), the probable + increase in accidents due to economically administered + permanent ways and ageing stations and + bridges, and the ever more perceptible check to + British economic development due to this clogging + <a class="pagenum" id="page80" title="80"> </a>of the circulatory system, will be of immense value + to the Socialist propaganda as an object lesson in + private ownership. In Italy the thing has already + passed its inevitable climax, and the State is now + struggling valiantly to put a disorganized, ill-equipped + and undisciplined network of railways, the + legacy of a period of private enterprise, into tolerable + working order.</p> + + <h3 id="ch4_s6">§ 6.</h3> + + <p>In a second great public service there is a perceptible, + a growing recognition of the evil and + danger of allowing profit-seeking Private Ownership + to prevail; and that is the general food supply. A + great quickening of the public imagination in this + matter has occurred through the “boom” of Mr. + Upton Sinclair’s book, <cite>The Jungle</cite>—a book every + student of the elements of Socialism should read. + He accumulated a considerable mass of facts about + the Chicago stockyards, and incorporated them with + his story, and so enabled people to realize what they + might with a little imaginative effort have inferred + before; that the slaughtering of cattle and the preparation + of meat, when it is done wholly and solely + for profit, that is to say when it is done as rapidly + and cheaply as possible, is done <em>horribly</em>; that it + is a business cruel to the beasts, cruel to the workers + and dangerous to the public health. The United + States has long recognized the inadequacy of private + <a class="pagenum" id="page81" title="81"> </a>consciences in this concern, and while all the vast + profits of the business go to the meat packers, the + community has maintained an insufficient supply of + underpaid and, it is said in some cases, bribable + inspectors to look after the public welfare.</p> + + <p>In this country also, slaughtering is a private + enterprise but slightly checked by inspection, and + if we have no Chicago, we probably have all its + mean savings, its dirt and carelessness and filth, + scattered here and there all over the country, a little + in this privately owned slaughter-house, a little in + that. For what inducement has a butcher to spend + money and time in making his slaughter-house + decent, sanitary and humane above the standard of + his fellows? To do that will only make him poor + and insolvent. Anyhow, few of his customers will + come to see their meat butchered, and, as they say + in the South of England, “What the eye don’t see + the heart don’t grieve.”</p> + + <p>Many witnesses concur in declaring that our + common jam, pickle and preserve trade is carried + on under equally filthy conditions. If it is not, it is + a miracle, in view of the inducements the Private + Owner has to cut his expenses, economize on premises + and wages, and buy his fruit as near decay + and his sugar as near dirt as he can. The scandal + of our milk supply is an open one; it is more and + more evident that so long as Private Ownership rules + the milk trade, we can never be sure that at every + <a class="pagenum" id="page82" title="82"> </a>point in the course of the milk from cow to consumer + there will not creep in harmful and dishonest + profit-making elements. The milking is too often + done dirtily from dirty cows and into dirty vessels—why + should a business man fool away his profits in + paying for scrupulous cleanliness when it is almost + impossible to tell at sight whether milk is clean or + dirty?—and there come more or less harmful dilutions + and adulterations and exposures to infection + at every handling, at every chance at profit making. + The unavoidable inefficiency of the private milk + trade reflects itself in infant mortality—we pay our + national tribute to private enterprise in milk, a + tribute of many thousands of babies every year. + We try to reduce this tribute by inspection. But + why should the State pay money for inspection, + upon keeping highly-trained and competent persons + merely to pry and persecute in order that + private incompetent people should reap profits with + something short of a maximum of child murder? + It would be much simpler to set to work directly, + employ and train these private persons, and run the + dairies and milk distribution ourselves.</p> + + <p>There is an equally strong case for a public handling + of bakehouses and the bread supply. Already + the public is put to great and entirely unremunerative + expense in inspecting and checking weights + and hunting down the grosser instances of adulteration, + grubbiness and dirt, and with it all the common + <a class="pagenum" id="page83" title="83"> </a>bakehouse remains for the most part a subterranean + haunt of rats, mice and cockroaches, and the + ordinary baker’s bread is so insipid and unnutritious + that a great number of more prosperous people + now-a-days find it advantageous to health and + pocket alike to bake at home. A considerable + amount of physical degeneration may be connected + with the general poorness of our bread. The plain + fact of the case is that our population will never get + good wholesome bread from the Private Owner’s + bakehouse, until it employs one skilled official to + watch every half-dozen bakers—and another to + watch him; and it seems altogether saner and + cheaper to abolish the Private Owner in this business + also and do the job cleanly, honestly and + straightforwardly in proper buildings with properly + paid labour as a public concern.</p> + + <p>Now, what has been said of the food supply is + still truer of the trade in fuel. Between the consumer + and the collier is a string of private persons + each resolved to squeeze every penny of profit out of + the coal on its way to the cheap and wasteful grate + one finds in the jerry-built homes of the poor. In + addition there is every winter now, whether in + Great Britain or America, a manipulation of the + coal market and a more or less severe coal famine. + Coal is jerked up to unprecedented prices, and the + small consumer, who has no place for storage, who + must buy, if not from day to day, from week to + <a class="pagenum" id="page84" title="84"> </a>week, finds he must draw upon his food fund and + his savings to meet the Private Owner’s raised + demands—or freeze. Every such coal famine reaps + its harvest for death of old people and young children, + and wipes out so many thousands of savings’ + bank accounts and hoarded shillings. Consider the + essential imbecility of allowing the nation’s life and + the nation’s thrift to be preyed upon for profit in + this way! Is it possible to doubt that the civilized + community of the future will have to resume possession + of all its stores of fuel, will keep itself informed + of the fluctuating needs of its population, and will + distribute and sell coal, gas and oil—not for the + maximum profit, but the maximum general + welfare?<a href="#footnote_6" id="fnm6" title="In Dakota, 1906-7..." class="fnmarker">6</a></p> + + <p>Another great branch of trade in which Private + Ownership and private freedom is manifestly antagonistic + to the public welfare is the Drink Traffic. + Here we have a commodity, essentially a drug, its + use readily developing a vice, deleterious at its best, + complex in composition, and particularly susceptible + to adulteration and the enhancement of its + attraction by poisonous ingredients and indeed to + every sort of mischievous secret manipulation. Probably + nothing is more rarely found pure and honest + <a class="pagenum" id="page85" title="85"> </a>than beer or whisky; whisky begins to be blended + and doctored before it leaves the distillery. And we + allow the production and distribution of this drug + of alcoholic drink to be from first to last a source of + private profit. We so contrive it that we put money + prizes upon the propaganda of drink. Is it any + wonder that drink is not only made by adulteration + far more evil than it naturally is, but that it is forced + upon the public in every possible way?</p> + + <p>“He tempts them to drink,” I have heard a + clergyman say of his village publican. But what + else did he think the publican was there for?—to + preach total abstinence? Naturally, inevitably, the + whole of the Trade is a propaganda—not of + drunkenness, but of habitual heavy drinking. The + more successful propagandists, the great brewers + and distillers grow rich just in the proportion that + people consume beer and spirits; they gain honour + and peerages in the measure of their success.</p> + + <p>It is very interesting to the Socialist to trace the + long struggle of the temperance movement against + its initial ideas of freedom, and to see how inevitably + the most reluctant and unlikely people have + been forced to recognize Private Ownership in this + trade and for profit as the ultimate evil. I am + delighted to have to hand an excellent little tract + by “A Ratepayer”: <cite>National Efficiency and the + Drink Traffic</cite>. It has a preface by Mr. Haldane, + and it is as satisfactory a demonstration of the + <a class="pagenum" id="page86" title="86"> </a>absolute necessity of thoroughgoing Socialism in + this particular field as any Socialist could wish. + One encounters the Bishop of Chester, for example, + in its pages talking the purest Socialism, and + making the most luminous admissions of the impossibility + of continued private control, in phrases + that need but a few verbal changes to apply equally + to milk, to meat, to bread, to housing, to book-selling<a href="#footnote_7" id="fnm7" title="For a clear and admirable..." class="fnmarker">7</a>….</p> + + <h3 id="ch4_s7">§ 7.</h3> + + <p>Land and housing, railways, food, drink, coal, + in each of these great general interests there is a + separate strong case for the substitution of collective + control for the Private Ownership methods of + the present time. There is a great and growing + number of people like “A Ratepayer” and Mr. + Haldane, who do not call themselves Socialists but + who are yet strongly tinged with Socialist conceptions; + who are convinced—some in the case of the + land, some in the case of the drink trade or the milk, + that Private Ownership and working for profit must + cease. But they will not admit a general principle, + they argue each case on its merits.</p> + + <p>The Socialist maintains that, albeit the details of + each problem must be studied apart, there does underlie + <a class="pagenum" id="page87" title="87"> </a>all these cases and the whole economic situation + at the present time, one general fact, that through + our whole social system from top to base we find + things under the influence of a misleading idea that + must be changed, and which, until it is changed, + will continue to work out in waste, unserviceableness, + cramped lives and suffering and death. Each + man is for himself, that is this misleading idea, + seeking, perforce, ends discordant with the general + welfare; who serves the community without exacting + pay, goes under; who exacts pay without service + prospers and continues; success is not to do well, + it is to have and to get; failure is not to do ill, it is + to lose and not have; and under these conditions + how can we expect anything but dislocated, unsatisfying + service at every turn?</p> + + <p>The contemporary anti-Socialist moralist and the + social satirist would appeal to the Owner’s sense of + duty; he would declare in a platitudinous tone that + property had its duties as well as its rights, and so + forth. The Socialist, however, looks a little deeper, + and puts the thing differently. He brings both + rights and duties to a keener scrutiny. What + underlies all these social disorders, he alleges, is + one simple thing, a misconception of property; an + unreasonable exaggeration, an accumulated, inherited + exaggeration, of the idea of property. He + says the idea of private property, which is just and + reasonable in relation to intimate personal things, + <a class="pagenum" id="page88" title="88"> </a>to clothes, appliances, books, one’s home or apartments, + the garden one loves or the horse one rides, + has become unreasonably exaggerated until it + obsesses the world; that the freedom we have given + men to claim and own and hold the land upon which + we must live, the fuel we burn, the supplies of food + and metal we require, the railways and ships upon + which our business goes, and to fix what prices they + like to exact for all these services, leads to the impoverishment + and practical enslavement of the mass + of mankind.</p> + + <p>And so he comes to his second main generalization, + which I may perhaps set out in these words:—</p> + + <p><em>The idea of the private ownership of things and + the rights of owners is enormously and mischievously + exaggerated in the contemporary world. The + conception of private property has been extended to + land, to material, to the values and resources + accumulated by past generations, to a vast variety + of things that are properly the inheritance of the + whole race. As a result of this, there is much + obstruction and waste of human energy and a huge + loss of opportunity and freedom for the mass of + mankind; progress is retarded, there is a vast + amount of avoidable wretchedness, cruelty and + injustice.</em></p> + + <p><em>The Socialist holds that the community as a whole + should be inalienably the owner and administrator + of the land, of raw materials, of values and resources + <a class="pagenum" id="page89" title="89"> </a>accumulated from the past, and that private property + must be of a terminable nature, reverting to + the community, and subject to the general welfare.</em></p> + + <p>This is the second of the twin generalizations + upon which the edifice of modern Socialism rests. + Like the first, and like the practical side of all sound + religious teaching, it is a specific application of one + general rule of conduct, and that is the subordination + of the individual motive to the happiness and + welfare of the species.</p> + + <h3 id="ch4_s8">§ 8.</h3> + + <p>But now the reader unaccustomed to Socialist + discussion will begin to see the crude form of the + answer to the question raised by the previous + chapter; he will see the resources from which the + enlargement of human life we there contemplated is + to be derived, and realize the economic methods to + be pursued. Collective ownership is the necessary + corollary of collective responsibility. There are to + be no private land owners, no private bankers and + lenders of money, no private insurance adventurers, + no private railway owners nor shipping owners, no + private mine owners, oil kings, silver kings, coal + and wheat forestallers or the like. All this realm of + property is to be resumed by the State, is to be + State-owned and State-managed, and the vast + <a class="pagenum" id="page90" title="90"> </a>revenues that are now devoted to private ends will + go steadily to feed, maintain and educate a new and + better generation, to promote research and advance + science, to build new houses, develop fresh + resources, plant, plan, beautify and reconstruct the + world.</p> + +</div> +<div id="chapter_5" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page91" title="91"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter-number">CHAPTER V</span><br /> + THE SPIRIT OF GAIN AND THE SPIRIT OF SERVICE</h2> + <h3 id="ch5_s1">§ 1.</h3> + + <p><span class="first_word">We</span> have stated now how the constructive plan + of Socialism aims to replace the accepted ideas + about two almost fundamental human relations by + broader and less fiercely egotistical conceptions; + how it denies a man “property” rights over his + wife and children, leaving, however, all his other + relations with them intact, how it would insure and + protect their welfare, and how it asserts that a vast + range of inanimate things also which are now held + as private property must be regarded as the inalienable + possession of the whole community. This + change in the circle of ideas (as the Herbartians + put it) is the essence of the Socialist project.</p> + + <p>It means no little change. It means a general + change in the spirit of living; it means a change + from the spirit of gain (which now necessarily rules + our lives) to the spirit of service.</p> + + <p>I have tried to show in the preceding chapter that + Socialism seeks to make life less squalid and cruel, + <a class="pagenum" id="page92" title="92"> </a>less degrading and dwarfing for the children that + are born into it, and I have tried also to make + clear that realization of, and revolt against, the + bad management and waste and muddle which + result from our present economic system. I want + now to point out that Socialism seeks to ennoble + the intimate personal life, by checking and discouraging + passions that at present run rampant, + and by giving wider scope for passions that are + now thwarted and subdued. The Socialist declares + that life is now needlessly dishonest, base and + mean, because our present social organization, such + as it is, makes an altogether too powerful appeal + to some of the very meanest elements in our nature.</p> + + <p>Not perhaps to the lowest. There can be no + disputing that our present civilization does discourage + much of the innate bestiality of man; that + it helps people to a measure of continence, cleanliness + and mutual toleration; that it does much to + suppress brute violence, the spirit of lawlessness, + cruelty and wanton destruction. But on the other + hand it does also check and cripple generosity and + frank truthfulness, any disinterested creative passion, + the love of beauty, the passion for truth and + research, and it stimulates avarice, parsimony, + overreaching, usury, falsehood and secrecy, by + making money-getting its criterion of intercourse.</p> + + <p>Whether we like it or not, we who live in this + world to-day find we must either devote a considerable + <a class="pagenum" id="page93" title="93"> </a>amount of our attention to getting and + keeping money, and shape our activities—or, if you + will, distort them—with a constant reference to that + process, or we must accept futility. Whatever + powers men want to exercise, whatever service they + wish to do, it is a preliminary condition for most + of them that they must, by earning something or + selling something, achieve opportunity. If they + cannot turn their gift into some saleable thing or + get some propertied man to “patronize” them, + they cannot exercise these gifts. The gift for getting + is the supreme gift—all others bow before it.</p> + + <p>Now this is not a thing that comes naturally + out of the quality of man; it is the result of a + blind and complex social growth, of this set of + ideas working against that, and of these influences + modifying those. The idea of property has run + wild and become a choking universal weed. It + is not the natural master-passion of a wholesome + man to want constantly to own. People talk of + Socialism as being a proposal “against human + nature,” and they would have us believe that this + life of anxiety, of parsimony and speculation, of + mercenary considerations and forced toil we all + lead, is the complete and final expression of the + social possibilities of the human soul. But, indeed, + it is only quite abnormal people, people of a + narrow, limited, specialized intelligence, Rockefellers, + Morgans and the like, people neither great + <a class="pagenum" id="page94" title="94"> </a>nor beautiful, mere financial monomaniacs, who + can keep themselves devoted to and concentrated + upon gain. To the majority of capable good + human stuff, buying and selling, saving and investing, + insuring oneself and managing property, + is a mass of uncongenial, irrational and tiresome + procedure, conflicting with the general trend of + instinct and the finer interests of life. The great + mass of men and women, indeed, find the whole + process so against nature, that in spite of all the + miseries of poverty, all the slavery of the economic + disadvantage, they cannot urge themselves to this + irksome cunning game of besting the world, they + remain poor. Most, in a sort of despair, make no + effort; many resort to that floundering endeavour + to get by accident, gambling; many achieve a + precarious and unsatisfactory gathering of possessions, + a few houses, a claim on a field, a few + hundred pounds in some investment as incalculable + as a kite in a gale; just a small minority have and + get—for the most part either inheritors of riches or + energetic people who, through a real dulness toward + the better and nobler aspects of life, can give themselves + almost entirely to grabbing and accumulation. + To such as these, all common men who are + not Socialists do in effect conspire to give the + world.</p> + + <p>The Anti-Socialist argues that out of this evil + of encouraged and stimulated avarice comes good, + <a class="pagenum" id="page95" title="95"> </a>and that this peculiar meanly greedy type that + predominates in the individualist world to-day, the + Rockefeller-Harriman type, “creates” great businesses, + exploits the possibilities of nature, gives + mankind railways, power, commodities. As a + matter of fact, a modern intelligent community is + quite capable of doing all these things infinitely + better for itself, and the beneficent influence of + commerce may easily become, and does easily become, + the basis of a cant. Exploitation by private + persons is no doubt a necessary condition to + economic development in an illiterate community + of low intelligence, just as flint implements marked + a necessary phase in the social development of mankind; + but to-day the avaricious getter, like some + obsolescent organ in the body, consumes strength + and threatens health. And to-day he is far more + mischievous than ever he was before, because of + the weakened hold of the old religious organization + upon his imagination. For the most part the great + fortunes of the modern world have been built up + by proceedings either not socially beneficial, or in + some cases positively harmful. Consider some of + the commoner methods of growing rich. There + is first the selling of rubbish for money, exemplified + by the great patent medicine fortunes and the + fortunes achieved by the debasement of journalism, + the sale of prize-competition magazines and + the like; next there is forestalling, the making of + <a class="pagenum" id="page96" title="96"> </a>“corners” in such commodities as corn, nitrates, + borax and the like; then there is the capture of what + Americans call “franchises,” securing at low terms + by expedients that usually will not bear examination, + the right to run some profitable public service + for private profit which would be better done in + public hands—the various private enterprises for + urban traffic, for example; then there are the various + more or less complex financial operations, + watering stock, “reconstructing,” “shaking out” + the ordinary shareholder, which transfer the savings + of the common struggling person to the + financial magnate. All the activities in this list + are more or less anti-social, yet it is by practising + them that the great successes of recent years have + been achieved. Fortunes of a second rank have + no doubt been made by building up manufactures + and industries of various types by persons who + have known how to buy labour cheap, organize it + well and sell its produce dear, but even in these + cases the social advantage of the new product is + often largely discounted by the labour conditions. + It is impossible, indeed, directly one faces current + facts, to keep up the argument of the public good + achieved by men under the incentive of gain and + the necessity of that incentive to progress and + economic development.</p> + + <p>Now not only is it true that the subordination of + our affairs to this spirit of gain placed our world in + <a class="pagenum" id="page97" title="97"> </a>the hands of a peculiar, acquisitive, uncreative, + wary type of person, and that the mass of people + hate serving the spirit of gain and are forced to do + so through the obsession of the whole community + by this idea of Private Ownership, but it is also + true that even now the real driving force that + gets the world along is not that spirit at all, but + the spirit of service. Even to-day it would be + impossible for the world to get along if the mass + of its population was really specialized for gain. + A world of Rockefellers, Morgans and Rothschilds + would perish miserably after a vigorous campaign + of mutual skinning; it is only because the common + run of men is better than these profit-hunters that + any real and human things are achieved.</p> + + <p>Let us go into this aspect of the question a little + more fully, because it is one that appears to be + least clearly grasped by those who discuss Socialism + to-day.</p> + + <h3 id="ch5_s2">§ 2.</h3> + + <p>This fact must be insisted upon, that most of + the work of the world and all the good work is + done to-day for some other motive than gain; + that profit-seeking not only is not the moving + power of the world but that it cannot be, that it + runs counter to the doing of effectual work in every + department of life.</p> + + <p>It is hard to know how to set about proving a + <a class="pagenum" id="page98" title="98"> </a>fact that is to the writer’s perception so universally + obvious. One can only appeal to the intelligent + reader to use his own personal observation upon + the people about him. Everywhere he will see the + property-owner doing nothing, the profit-seeker + busy with unproductive efforts, with the writing of + advertisements, the misrepresentation of goods, + the concoction of a plausible prospectus and the + extraction of profits from the toil of others, while + the real necessary work of the world—I don’t mean + the labour and toil only, but the intelligent direction, + the real planning and designing and inquiry, + the management and the evolution of ideas and + methods, is in the enormous majority of cases done + by salaried individuals working either for a fixed + wage and the hope of increments having no proportional + relation to the work done, or for a wage + varying within definite limits. All the engineering + design, all architecture, all our public services,—the + exquisite work of our museum control, for + example,—all the big wholesale and retail businesses, + almost all big industrial concerns, mines, + estates, all these things are really in the hands + of salaried or quasi-salaried persons <em>now</em>—just as + they would be under Socialism. They are only + possible now because all these managers, officials, + employees are as a class unreasonably honest and + loyal, are interested in their work and anxious to + do it well, and do not seek <em>profits</em> in every transaction + <a class="pagenum" id="page99" title="99"> </a>they handle. Give them even a small measure + of security and they are content with interesting + work; they are glad to set aside the urgent + perpetual search for personal gain that Individualists + have persuaded themselves is the ruling motive + of mankind, they are glad to set these aside + altogether and, as the phrase goes, “get something + done.” And this is true all up and down + the social scale. A bricklayer is no good unless + he can be interested in laying bricks. One knows + whenever a domestic servant becomes mercenary, + when she ceases to take, as people say, “a pride + in her work,” and thinks only of “tips” and + getting, she becomes impossible. Does a signalman + every time he pulls over a lever, or a groom + galloping a horse, think of his wages,—or want to?</p> + + <p>I will confess I find it hard to write with any + patience and civility of this argument that humanity + will not work except for greed or need of money + and only in proportion to the getting. It is so + patently absurd. I suppose the reasonable Anti-Socialist + will hardly maintain it seriously with + that crudity. He will qualify. He will say that + although it may be true that good work is always + done for the interest of the doing or in the spirit + of service, yet in order to get and keep people at + work, and to keep the standard high through + periods of indolence and distraction, there must be + the dread of dismissal and the stimulating eye of + <a class="pagenum" id="page100" title="100"> </a>the owner. That certainly puts the case a good + deal less basely and much more plausibly.</p> + + <p>There is, perhaps, this much truth in that, that + most people do need a certain stimulus to exertion + and a certain standard of achievement to do + their best, but to say that this is provided by private + ownership and can only be provided by private + ownership is an altogether different thing. Is the + British Telephone Service, for example, kept as + efficient as it is—which isn’t very much, by the + bye, in the way of efficiency—by the protests of + the shareholders or of the subscribers? Does the + grocer’s errand-boy loiter any less than his brother + who carries the Post Office telegrams? In the + matter of the public milk supply, again, would + not an intelligently critical public anxious for its + milk good and early be a far more formidable + master than a speculative proprietor in the back + room of a creamery? And when one comes to + large business organizations managed by officials + and owned by dispersed shareholders, the contrast + is all to the advantage of the community.</p> + + <p>No! the only proper virtues in work, the virtues + that must be relied upon, and developed and rewarded + in the civilized State we Socialists are seeking + to bring about, are the spirit of service and + the passion for doing well, the honourable competition + not to get but to <em>do</em>. By sweating and + debasing urgency, we get meagrely done what we + <a class="pagenum" id="page101" title="101"> </a>might get handsomely done by the Good Will of + emancipated mankind. For all who really make, + who really do, the imperative of gain is the inconvenience, + the enemy. Every artist, every scientific + investigator, every organizer, every good workman, + knows that. Every good architect knows + that this is so and can tell of time after time when + he has sacrificed manifest profit and taken a loss + to get a thing done as he wanted it done, right and + well; every good doctor, too, has turned from + profit and high fees to the moving and interesting + case, to the demands of knowledge and the public + health; every teacher worth his or her salt can + witness to the perpetual struggle between business + advantage and right teaching; every writer has + faced the alternative of his æsthetic duty and the + search for beauty on one hand and the “saleable” + on the other. All this is as true of ordinary making + as of special creative work. Every plumber + capable of his business hates to have to paint his + leadwork; every carpenter knows the disgust of + turning out unfinished “cheap” work, however + well it pays him; every tolerable cook can feel + shame for an unsatisfying dish, and none the less + shame because by making it materials are saved + and economies achieved.</p> + + <p>And yet, with all these facts clear as day before + any observant person, <em>we are content to live on in + an economic system that raises every man who + <a class="pagenum" id="page102" title="102"> </a>subordinates these wholesome prides and desires + to watchful, incessant getting, over the heads of + every other type of character</em>; that in effect gives + all the power and influence in our State to successful + getters; that subordinates art, direction, wisdom + and labour to these inferior narrow men, these + men who clutch and keep.</p> + + <p>Our social system, based on Private Ownership, + encourages and glorifies this spirit of gain, and + cripples and thwarts the spirit of service. You + need but have your eyes once opened to its influence, + and thereafter you will never cease to see + how the needs and imperatives of property taint the + honour and dignity of human life. Just where life + should flower most freely into splendour, this chill, + malign obsession most nips and cripples. The + law that makes getting and keeping an imperative + necessity poisons and destroys the freedom of men + and women in love, in art and in every concern + in which spiritual or physical beauty should be the + inspiring and determining factor. Behind all the + handsome professions of romantic natures the gaunt + facts of monetary necessity remain the rulers of + life. Every youth who must sell his art and + capacity for gain, every girl who must sell herself + for money, is one more sacrifice to the Minotaur of + Private Ownership—before the Theseus of Socialism + comes.</p> + + <p>Opponents of Socialism, ignoring all these things + <a class="pagenum" id="page103" title="103"> </a>and inventing with that profusion which is so + remarkable a trait of the anti-Socialist campaign, + are wont to declare that we, whose first and last + thought is the honour and betterment of life, seek + to destroy all beauty and freedom in love, accuse + us of aiming at some “human stud farm.” The + reader will measure the justice of that by the next + chapter, but here I would say that just as the + private ownership of all that is necessary to humanity, + except the air and sunlight and a few things + that it has been difficult to appropriate, debases + work and all the common services of life, so also + it taints and thwarts the emotions, and degrades + the intimate physical and emotional existence of an + innumerable multitude of people.</p> + + <p>All this amounts to a huge impoverishment of + life, a loss of beauty and discrimination of rich and + subtle values. Human existence to-day is a mere + tantalizing intimation of what it might be. It is + frostbitten and dwarfed from palace to slum. It + is not only that a great mass of our population is + deprived of space, beauty and pleasure, but that + a large proportion of such space, beauty and + pleasure as there are in the world must necessarily + have a meretricious taint and be in the nature of + things bought and made for pay.</p> + + <h3 id="ch5_s3"><a class="pagenum" id="page104" title="104"> </a>§ 3.</h3> + + <p>If there is one profession more than another in + which devotion is implied and assumed, it is that + of the doctor. It happens that on the morning when + this chapter was drafted, I came upon the paragraph + that follows; it seemed to me to supply just one + striking concrete instance of how life is degraded by + our present system, and to offer me a convenient text + for a word or so more upon this question between + gain and service. It is a little vague in its reference + to Mr. Tompkins “of Birmingham,” and I + should not be surprised if it were a considerable + exaggeration of what really happened. But it is + true enough to life in this, that it is a common + practice, a necessity with doctors in poor neighbourhoods + to insist inexorably upon a fee before + attendance.</p> + + <blockquote> + <p>“A case of medical inhumanity is reported from Birmingham. + A poor man named Tompkins was taken + seriously ill early on Christmas morning, and although + snow was falling and the atmosphere was terribly raw, + his wife left the house in search of a doctor. The nearest + practitioner declined to leave the house without being + paid his fee; a second imposed the same condition, and + the woman then went to the police station. As the + horse ambulance was out, they could not help her, and + she tried other doctors. In all the poor woman called + on eight, and the only one who did not decline to get up + <a class="pagenum" id="page105" title="105"> </a>without his fee was down with influenza. Eventually + a local chemist was persuaded to see the man, and he + ordered his removal to the hospital.”</p> + </blockquote> + + <p>That is the story. You note the charge of “inhumanity” + in the very first line, and in much subsequent + press comment there was the same note. + Apparently every one expects a doctor to be ready + at any point in the day or night to attend anybody + for nothing. Most Socialists are disposed to agree + with the spirit of that expectation. A practising + doctor should be in lifelong perpetual war against + pain and disease, just as a campaigning soldier is + continually alert and serving. But existing conditions + will not permit that. Existing conditions require + the doctor to get his fee at any cost; if he goes about + doing work for nothing, they punish him with + shabbiness and incapacitating need, they forbid his + marriage or doom his wife and children to poverty + and unhappiness. A doctor <em>must</em> make money + whatever else he does or does not do; he <em>must</em> + secure his fees. He is a private adventurer, competing + in a crowded market for gain, and keeping + his energies perforce for those who can pay best for + them. To expect him to behave like a public + servant whose income and outlook are secure, or + like a priest whose church will never let him want + or starve, is ridiculous. If you put him on a footing + with the greengrocer and coal merchant, you + must expect him to behave like a tradesman. Why + <a class="pagenum" id="page106" title="106"> </a>should the press blame the poor doctor of a poor + neighbourhood because a moneyless man goes + short of medical attendance, when it does not for + one moment blame Mr. J. D. Rockefeller because a + poor man goes short of oil, or the Duke of Devonshire + because tramps need lodgings in Eastbourne? + One never reads this sort of paragraph:—</p> + + <blockquote> + <p>“A case of commercial inhumanity is reported from + Birmingham. A poor man named Tompkins was seriously + hungry early on Christmas morning, and although + snow was falling and the atmosphere was terribly raw, + his wife left the house in search of food. The nearest + grocer declined to supply provisions without being paid + his price; a second imposed the same condition, and + the woman then went to the police station. As that is + not a soup-kitchen, they could not help her, and she + tried other grocers and bread-shops. In all the poor + woman called on eight, and the only one who did not + decline to supply food without payment was for some + reason bankrupt and out of stock. Eventually a local + overseer was persuaded to see the man, and he ordered + his removal to the workhouse, where, after considerable + hardship, he was partly appeased with skilly.”</p> + </blockquote> + + <p>I, myself, have known an overworked, financially + worried doctor at his bedroom window call out, + “Have you brought the fee?” and have pitied and + understood his ugly alternatives. “Once I began + that sort of thing,” he explained to me a little apologetically, + “they’d none of them pay—none.”</p> + + <p>The Socialist’s remedy for this squalid state of + affairs is plain and simple. Medicine is a public + <a class="pagenum" id="page107" title="107"> </a>service, an honourable devotion; it should no more + be a matter of profit-making than the food-supply + service or the house-supply service—or salvation. + It should be a part of the organization of a civilized + State to have a Public Health service of well-paid, + highly-educated men distributed over the + country and closely correlated with public research + departments and a reserve of specialists, who would + be as ready and eager to face dangers and to sacrifice + themselves for honour and social necessity as + soldiers or sailors. I believe every honourable man + in the medical profession under forty now would + rather it were so. It is, indeed, a transition from + private enterprise to public organization that is + already beginning. We have the first intimation + of the change in the appearance of the medical + officer of health, underpaid, overworked and powerless + though he is at the present time. It cannot be + long before the manifest absurdity of our present + conditions begins a process of socialization of the + medical profession entirely analogous to that which + has changed three-fourths of the teachers in Great + Britain from private adventurers to public servants + in the last forty years.</p> + + <p>And that is the aim of Socialism all along the + line; to convert one public service after another from + a chaotic profit-scramble of proprietors amidst a + mass of sweated employees into a secure and disciplined + service, in which every man will work for + <a class="pagenum" id="page108" title="108"> </a>honour, promotion, achievement and the commonweal.</p> + + <p>I write a “secure and disciplined service,” and I + intend by that not simply an exterior but an interior + discipline. Let us have done with this unnatural + theory that men may submit unreservedly to the + guidance of “self-interest.” Self-interest never + took a man or a community to any other end than + damnation. For all services there is necessary a + code of honour and devotion which a man must set + up for himself and obey, to which he must subordinate + a number of his impulses. The must is + seconded by an internal imperative. Men and + women <em>want</em> to have a code of honour. In the army, + for example, there is among the officers particularly, + a tradition of courage, cleanliness and good form, + more imperative than any law; in the little band of + men who have given the world all that we mean by + science, the little host of volunteers and underpaid + workers who have achieved the triumphs of + research, there is a tradition of self-abnegation and + of an immense, painstaking, self-forgetful veracity. + These traditions work. They add something to the + worth of every man who comes under them.</p> + + <p>Every writer, again, knows clearly the difference + between gain-seeking and doing good work, and few + there are who have not at times done something, as + they say, “to please themselves.” Then in the + studio, for all the non-moral protests of Bohemia, + <a class="pagenum" id="page109" title="109"> </a>there is a tradition, an admirable tradition, of disregard + for mercenary imperatives, a scorn of shams + and plagiarism that triumphs again and again over + economic laws. The public services of the coming + civilization will demand, and will develop, a far + completer discipline and tradition of honour. + Against the development and persistence of all such + honourable codes now, against every attempt at + personal nobility, at a new chivalry, at sincere + artistry, our present individualist system wages pitiless + warfare, says in effect, “Fools you are! Look + at Rockefeller! Look at Pierpont Morgan! Get + money! All your sacrifices only go to their enrichment. + You cannot serve humanity however much + you seek to do so. They block your way, enormously + receptive of all you give. All the increment + of human achievement goes to them—they own it + <em lang="la" xml:lang="la">a priori</em>…. Get money! Money is freedom to do, + to keep, to rule. Do you care nothing for your + wives and children? Are you content to breed servants + and dependants for the children of these men? + Make things beautiful, make things abundant, make + life glorious! Fools! if you work and sacrifice + yourselves and do not <em>get</em>, they will possess. Your + sons shall be the loan-monger’s employees, your + daughters handmaidens to the millionaire. Or, if + you cannot face that, go childless, and let your life-work + gild the palace of the millionaire’s still more + acquisitive descendants!”</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page110" title="110"> </a>Who can ignore the base scramble for money + under these alternatives?</p> + + <h3 id="ch5_s4">§ 4.</h3> + + <p>Let me here insert a very brief paragraph to + point out one particular thing, and that is that + Socialism does not propose to “abolish competition”—as + many hasty and foolish antagonists declare. If + the reader has gone through what has preceded this + he will know that this is not so. Socialism trusts + to competition, looks to competition for the service + and improvement of the world. And in order that + competition between man and man may have free + play, Socialism seeks to abolish one particular form + of competition, the competition to get and hold + property—even to marry property, that degrades our + present world. But it would leave men free to + compete for fame, for service, for salaries, for position + and authority, for leisure, for love and honour.</p> + + <h3 id="ch5_s5">§ 5.</h3> + + <p>And now let me take up certain difficulties the + student of Socialism encounters. He comes thus + far perhaps with the Socialist argument, and then + his imagination gets to work trying to picture a + world in which a moiety of the population, perhaps + even the larger moiety, is employed by the State, + and in which the whole population is educated by + the State and insured of a decent and comfortable + <a class="pagenum" id="page111" title="111"> </a>care and subsistence during youth and old age. He + then begins to think of how all this vast organization + is to be managed, and with that his real difficulties + begin.</p> + + <p>Now I for one am prepared to take these difficulties + very seriously, as the latter part of this book + will show. I will even go so far as to say that, to + my mind, the contemporary Socialist controversialist + meets all this system of objections far too + cavalierly. These difficulties are real difficulties + for the convinced Socialist as for the inquirer; + they open up problems that have still to be + solved before the equipment of Socialism is complete. + “How will you Socialists get the right + men in the right place for the work that has to be + done? How will you arrange promotion? How will + you determine” (I put the argument in its crudest + form) “who is to engage in historical research in + the Bodleian, and who is to go out seaward in + November and catch mackerel?” Such “posers”—they + have a thousand variants—convey the spirit + of the living resistance to Socialism; they explain + why every rational man is not an enraptured + Socialist at the present time.</p> + + <p>Throughout the rest of this book I hope that the + reader will be able to see growing together in this + aspect and then in that, in this and that suggestion, + the complex solution of this complex system of difficulties. + My object in raising them now is not to + <a class="pagenum" id="page112" title="112"> </a>dispose of them, but to give them the fullest recognition—and + to ask the student to read on. In all + these matters the world is imperfect now, and it will + still be imperfect under Socialism—though, I firmly + believe, with an infinitely lesser and altogether + nobler imperfection.</p> + + <p>But I do want to point out here that though these + are reasonable and, to all undogmatic men, most + helpful criticisms of the Socialist design, they are + no sort of justification for things as they are. All + the difficulties that the ordinary exposition of + Socialism seems to leave unsolved are at least + equally not solved now. Only rarely does the right + man seem to struggle to his place of adequate + opportunity. Men and women get their chance in + various ways; some of implacable temper and versatile + gifts thrust themselves to the position they + need for the exercise of their powers; others display + an astonishing facility in securing honours and + occasions they can then only waste; others, outside + their specific gift, are the creatures of luck or the + victims of modesty, tactlessness or incapacity. Most + of the large businesses of the world now are in + the hands of private proprietors and managed + either directly by an owner or by directors + or managers acting for directors. The quality + of promotion or the recognition of capacity varies + very much in these great concerns, but they + are on the whole probably inferior to the public + <a class="pagenum" id="page113" title="113"> </a>services. Even where the administration is keenest + it must be remembered it is not seeking the men who + work the machine best, but the men who can work + it cheapest and with the maximum of profit. It is + pure romancing to represent the ordinary business + magnate as being in perpetual search for capacity + among the members of his staff. He wants them + to get along and not make trouble.</p> + + <p>Among the smaller businesses that still, I suppose, + constitute the bulk of the world’s economic + body, capacity is enormously hampered. I was + once an apprentice in a chemist’s shop, and also + once in a draper’s—two of my brothers have + been shop assistants, and so I am still able to + talk understandingly with clerks and employees, + and I know that in all that world all sorts of minor + considerations obstruct the very beginnings of + efficient selection. Every shop is riddled with + jealousies, “sucking up to the gov’nor” is the + universal crime, and among the women in many + callings promotion is too often tainted by still baser + suspicions. No doubt in a badly criticized public + service there is such a thing as “sucking up to” + the head of the department, but at its worst it is + not nearly so bad as things may be in a small + private concern under a petty autocrat.</p> + + <p>In America it is said that the public services are + inferior in personal quality to the staffs of the great + private business organizations. My own impression + <a class="pagenum" id="page114" title="114"> </a>is that, considering the salaries paid, they are, + so far as Federal concerns go, immeasurably + superior. In State and municipal affairs, American + conditions offer no satisfactory criterion; the + Americans are, for reasons I have discussed elsewhere,<a href="#footnote_8" id="fnm8" title="The Future in America..." class="fnmarker">8</a> + a “State-blind” people concentrated upon + private getting; they have been negligent of public + concerns, and the public appointments have been + left to the peculiarly ruffianly type of politician their + unfortunate Constitution and their individualist traditions + have evolved. In England, too, public + servants are systematically undersalaried, so that + the big businesses have merely to pay reasonably + well to secure the pick of the national capacity. + Moreover, it must be remembered by the reader that + the public services do not advertise, and that the + private businesses do; so that while there is the + fullest ventilation of any defects in our military or + naval organization, there is a very considerable + check upon the discussion of individualist incapacity. + An editor will rush into print with the + flimsiest imputations upon the breech of a new + field-gun or the housing of the militia at Aldershot, + but he thinks twice before he proclaims that the + preserved fruits that pay his proprietor a tribute of + some hundreds a year are an unwholesome embalmment + of decay. On the whole it is probable that in + <a class="pagenum" id="page115" title="115"> </a>spite of scandalously bad pay and of the embarrassment + of party considerations, the British Navy, Post + Office, and Civil Service generally, and the educational + work and much of the transit and building + work of the London County Council and of many + of the greater English and Scotch municipalities, + are as well managed as any private businesses in + the world.</p> + + <p>On the other hand, one must admit there are + political and social conditions that can carry the + quality of the State service almost as low as the + lowest type of private enterprise. It is little marvel + that under the typical eighteenth century monarchy, + when the way to ship, regiment and the apostolic + succession alike lay through the ante-chamber of + the king’s mistress, there was begotten that absolute + repudiation of State Control to which Herbert + Spencer was destined at last to give the complete + expression, that irrational, passionate belief that + whatever else is right the State is necessarily incompetent + and wrong….</p> + + <p>The gist of this matter seems to be that where you + have honourable political institutions, free speech + and a general high level of intelligence and education, + you will have an efficient criticism of men and + their work and powers, and you will get a wholesome + system of public promotion and many right + men in the right place. The higher the collective + intelligence, that is to say, the higher is the + <a class="pagenum" id="page116" title="116"> </a>collective possibility. Under Socialist institutions + which will give education and a sense of personal + security to every one, this necessity of criticism is + likely to be most freely, frankly and disinterestedly + provided. But it is well to keep in mind the entire + dependence of Socialism upon a high level of intelligence, + education and freedom. Socialist institutions, + as I understand them, are only possible in + a civilized State, in a State in which the whole + population can read, write, discuss, participate and + in a considerable measure understand. Education + must precede the Socialist State. Socialism, modern + Socialism that is to say, such as I am now concerned + with, is essentially an exposition of and training in + certain general ideas; it is impossible in an illiterate + community, a basely selfish community, or in a + community without the capacity to use the machinery + and the apparatus of civilization. At the best, + and it is a poor best, a stupid, illiterate population + can but mock Socialism with a sort of bureaucratic + tyranny; for a barbaric population too large and + various for the folk-meeting, there is nothing but + monarchy and the ownership of the king; for a + savage tribe, tradition and the undocumented will of + the strongest males. Socialism, I will admit, presupposes + intelligence, and demands as fundamental + necessities schools, organized science, literature and + a sense of the State.</p> + +</div> +<div id="chapter_6" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page117" title="117"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter-number">CHAPTER VI</span><br /> + WOULD SOCIALISM DESTROY THE HOME?</h2> + + <h3 id="ch6_s1">§ 1.</h3> + + <p><span class="first_word">For</span> reasons that will become clearer when we + tell something of the early history and development + of Socialism, the Socialist propositions with + regard to the family lie open to certain grave misconceptions. + People are told—and told quite + honestly and believingly—that Socialism will + destroy the home, will substitute a sort of human + stud farm for that warm and intimate nest of + human life, will bring up our children in incubators + and crèches and—Institutions generally.</p> + + <p>But before we come to what modern Socialists + do desire in these matters, it may be well to consider + something of the present reality of the home + people are so concerned about. The reader must + not idealize. He must not shut his eyes to facts, + dream, as Lord Hugh Cecil and Lord Robert Cecil—those + admirable champions of a bad cause—probably + do, of a beautiful world of homes, + orderly, virtuous, each a little human fastness, + <a class="pagenum" id="page118" title="118"> </a>each with its porch and creeper, each with its books + and harmonium, its hymn-singing on Sunday + night, its dear mother who makes such wonderful + cakes, its strong and happy father—and then say, + “These wicked Socialists want to destroy all this.” + Because, in the first place, such homes are being + destroyed and made impossible now by the very + causes against which Socialism fights, and because + in this world at the present time very few homes + are at all like this ideal. In reality every poor + home is haunted by the spectre of irregular employment + and undermined by untrustworthy insurance, + it must shelter in insanitary dwellings and + its children eat adulterated food because none other + can be got. And that, I am sorry to say, it is only + too easy to prove, by a second appeal to a document + of which I have already made use.</p> + + <p>One hears at times still of the austere, virtuous, + kindly, poor Scotch home, one has a vision of + the “Cottar’s Saturday night.” “Perish all other + dreams,” one cries, “rather than that such goodness + and simplicity should end.” But now let us + look at the average poor Scotch home, and compare + it with our dream.</p> + + <p>Here is the reality.</p> + + <p>These entries come from the recently published + Edinburgh Charity Organization Society’s report + upon the homes of about fourteen hundred school-children, + that is to say, about eight hundred Scotch + <a class="pagenum" id="page119" title="119"> </a>homes. Remember they are <em>sample homes</em>. They + are, as I have already suggested by quoting + authorities for London and York—and as any + district visitor will recognize—little worse and little + better than the bulk of poor people’s homes in + Scotland and England at the present time. I am + just going to copy down—not a selection, mind—but + a series of consecutive entries taken haphazard + from this implacable list. My last quotation was + from cases 1, 2, 3 and so on; I’ve now thrust + my fingers among the pages and come upon numbers + 191 and 192, etc. Here they are, one after + the other, just as they come in the list:—</p> + + <blockquote> + <p>“191. A widow and child lodging with a married son. + Three grown-up people and three children occupy one + room and bed-closet. The widow leads a wandering life, + and is intemperate. The house is thoroughly bad and + insanitary. The child is pallid and delicate looking, and + receives little attention, for the mother is usually out + working. He plays in the streets. Five children are + dead. Boy has glands and is fleabitten. Evidence from + Police, School Officer and Employer.</p> + + <p>“192. A miserable home. Father dead. Mother and + eldest son careless and indifferent. Of the five children, + the two eldest are grown up. The elder girl is working, + and she is of a better type and might do well under + better circumstances; she looks overworked. The + mother is supposed to char; she gets parish relief, and + one child earns out of school hours. Four children are + dead. The children at school are dirty and ragged. + The mother could get work if she did not drink. The + <a class="pagenum" id="page120" title="120"> </a>children at school get free dinners and clothing, and the + family is favourably reported on by the Church. The + second child impetigo; neck glands; body dirty. The + third, glands; dirty and fleabitten. Housing: six in two + small rooms. Evidence from Parish Sister, Parish + Council, School Charity, Police, Teacher, Children’s + Employment and School Officer.</p> + + <p>“193. A widow, apparently respectable and well-doing, + but may drink. She must in any case have a struggle + to maintain her family, though she has much help from + Parish, Church, etc. She works out. The children at + school are fed, and altogether a large amount of charity + must be received, as two Churches have interested + themselves in the matter. Three children dead. + Housing: three in two tiny rooms. Evidence from + Church, Parish Council, School Charity, Police, Parish + Sister, Teacher, Insurance and Factor.</p> + + <p>“194. The father drinks, and, to a certain extent, the + mother; but the home is tidy and clean, and the rent is + regularly paid. Indeed, there is no sign of poverty. + There is a daughter who has got into trouble. Only + two children out of nine are alive. The father comes + from the country and seems intelligent enough, but he + appears to have degenerated. They go to a mission, + it is believed for what they can get from it. Housing: + four in two rooms. Evidence from Club, Church, Factor + and Police.</p> + + <p>“195. The husband is intemperate. The mother is + quiet, but it is feared that she drinks also. She seems + to have lost control of her little boy of seven. The + parents married very young, and the first child was born + before the marriage. The man’s work is not regular, + and probably things are not improving with him. Still, + <a class="pagenum" id="page121" title="121"> </a>the house is fairly comfortable, and they pay club money + regularly, and have a good police report. One child has + died. Housing: five in two rooms. Evidence from + Parish Sister, Police, Club, Employer, School-mistress + and Factor.</p> + + <p>“196. A filthy, dirty house. The most elementary + notions of cleanliness seem disregarded. The father’s + earnings are not large, and the house is insanitary, but + more might be made of things if there were sobriety + and thrift. There does not, however, appear to be <em>great</em> + drunkenness, and five small children must be difficult + to bring up on the money coming in. There are two + women in the house. The eldest child dirty and fleabitten. + Housing: seven in two rooms. Evidence from + Police, Club, Employer, School-mistress and School + Officer.</p> + + <p>“197. The parents are thoroughly drunken and dissolute. + They have sunk almost to the lowest depths of + social degradation. There is no furniture in the house, + and the five children are neglected and starved. One + boy earns a trifle out of school hours. All accounts + agree as to the character of the father and mother, + though they have not been in the hands of the police. + Second child has rickets, bronchitis, slight glands and + is bow-legged. Two children have died. Housing: + seven in two rooms. Evidence from Police, Parish + Sister, Employer and School-mistress.</p> + + <p>“198. This house is fairly comfortable, and there is no + evidence of drink, but the surroundings have a bad and + depressing effect on the parents. The children are sent + to school very untidy and dirty, and are certainly underfed. + The father’s wages are very small, and only one + boy is working; there are six altogether. The mother + <a class="pagenum" id="page122" title="122"> </a>chars occasionally. Food and clothing is given to school-children. + The man is in a saving club. The eldest child + fleabitten; body unwashed. The second, glands; fleabitten + and dirty; cretinoid; much undergrown. Two + have died. Housing: seven in two rooms. Evidence + from School Charity, Factor, Police and School-mistress.</p> + + <p>“199. The house was fairly comfortable and the man + appeared to be intelligent and the wife hard-working, + but the police reports are very bad; there are several + convictions against the former. He has consequently + been idle, and the burden of the family has rested on the + wife. There are six children, two of them are working + and earning a little, but a large amount of charity from + school, church and private generosity keeps the family + going. The children are fearfully verminous. There is + a suggestion that some baby farming is done, so many + are about. Eldest child anæmic; glands; head badly + crusted; lice very bad. Second child, numerous glands; + head covered with crusts; lice very bad. Four have + died. Housing: eight in two rooms. Evidence from + Police, Teacher, Church, Parish Sister and Factor.</p> + + <p>“200. The home is wretched and practically without + furniture. The parents were married at ages 17 + and 18. One child died, and their mode of life + has been reckless, if not worse. The present means of + subsistence cannot be ascertained, as the man is idle; + however, he recently joined the Salvation Army and + signed the pledge. The child at school is helped with + food and clothes. The girl very badly bitten; lice and + fleas, hair nits. Housing: four in one room. Evidence + from Church, School Charity, Co-operative, Employer, + Parish Sister, Police and School-mistress.”</p> + </blockquote> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page123" title="123"> </a>Total of children still living, 39.</p> + + <p>Total of children dead, 27.</p> + + <p>Need I go on? They are all after this fashion, + eight hundred of them.</p> + + <p>And if you turn from the congested town to the + wholesome, simple country, here is the sort of + home you have. This passage is a cutting from the + <cite>Daily News</cite> of Jan. 1, 1907; and its assertions have + never been contradicted. It fills one with only the + mildest enthusiasm for the return of our degenerate + townsmen “back to the land.” I came upon it as + I read that morning’s paper after drafting this + chapter.</p> + + <blockquote> + <p>“Our attention has been called to a sordid Herefordshire + tragedy recently revealed at an inquest on a child + aged one year and nine months, who died in Weobly + Workhouse of pneumonia. She entered the institution + emaciated to half the proper weight of her age and with + a broken arm—till then undiscovered—that the doctors + found to be of about three weeks’ standing. Her mother + was shown to be in an advanced stage of consumption; + one child had died at the age of seven months, and seven + now remain. The father, whose work consists in tending + eighty-nine head of cattle and ten pigs, is in receipt + of eleven shillings a week, three pints of skim milk a + day, and a cottage that has been condemned by the + sanitary inspector and described as having no bedroom + windows. We are not surprised to learn that the coroner, + before taking the verdict, asked the house surgeon, + who gave evidence, whether he could say that death + ‘was accelerated by anything.’ Our wonder is that + <a class="pagenum" id="page124" title="124"> </a>the reply was in the negative. The cottage is in the + possession of the farmer who employs the man, but his + landlord is said to be liable for repairs. That landlord + is a clergyman of the Church of England, a J.P., a preserver + of game, and owner of three or four thousand + acres of land.”</p> + </blockquote> + + <p>And here, again, is the <cite>Times</cite>, by no means a + Socialist organ, generalizing from official statements:—</p> + + <blockquote> + <p>“Houses unfit for human habitation, rooms destitute + of light and ventilation, overcrowding in rural cottages, + contaminated water supplies, accumulations of every + description of filth and refuse, a total absence of drainage, + a reign of unbelievable dirt in milk-shops and + slaughter-houses, a total neglect of bye-laws, and an + inadequate supervision by officials who are frequently + incompetent; such, in a general way, is the picture that + is commonly presented in the reports of inquiries in + certain rural districts made by medical officers of the + Local Government Board.”</p> + </blockquote> + + <p>And even of such homes as this there is an insufficiency. + In 1891-95, more than a quarter of + the deaths in London occurred in workhouses and + other charitable institutions.<a href="#footnote_9" id="fnm9" title="Studies Scientific and Social..." class="fnmarker">9</a> Now suppose the + modern Socialist did want to destroy the home; + suppose that some Socialists have in the past really + wanted to do so, remember that that is the reality + they wanted to destroy.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page125" title="125"> </a>But does the modern Socialist want to destroy + the home? Rather, I hold, he wants to save it + from a destruction that is even now going on, to—I + won’t say restore it, because I have very grave + doubts if the world has ever yet held a high percentage + of good homes, but raise it to the level + of its better realizations of happiness and security. + And it is not only I say this, but all my fellow + Socialists say it too. Read, for example, that + admirable paper, “Economic and Social Justice,” + in Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace’s <cite>Studies Scientific + and Social</cite>, and you will have the clearest statement + of the attitude of a representative modern Socialist + to this question.</p> + + <h3 id="ch6_s2">§ 2.</h3> + + <p>The reader must get quite out of his head the + idea that the present system maintains the home and + social purity.</p> + + <p>In London at the present time there are thousands + of prostitutes; in Paris, in Berlin, in every + great city of Europe or America, thousands; in + the whole of Christendom there cannot be less than + a million of these ultimate instances of our civilization. + They are the logical extremity of a civilization + based on cash payments. Each of these + women represents a smashed and ruined home and + <a class="pagenum" id="page126" title="126"> </a>wasted possibilities of honour, service and love, + each one is so much sheer waste. For the food + they consume, their clothing, their lodging, they + render back nothing to the community as a whole, + and only a gross, dishonouring satisfaction to their + casual employers. And don’t imagine they are inferior + women, that there has been any selection of + the unfit in their sterilization; they are, one may + see for oneself, well above the average in physical + vigour, in spirit and beauty. Few of them have + come freely to their trade, the most unnatural in + the world; few of them have anything but shame + and loathing for their life; and most of them must + needs face their calling fortified by drink and + drugs. For virtuous people do not begin to understand + the things they endure. But it <em>pays</em> to be a + prostitute, it does not pay to be a mother and a + home-maker, and the gist of the present system of + individual property is that a thing <em>must pay</em> to + exist…. So much for one aspect of our present + system of a “world of homes.”</p> + + <p>Consider next the great army of employed men + and women, shop assistants, clerks, and so forth, + living in, milliners, typists, teachers, servants who + have practically no prospect whatever of marrying + and experiencing those domestic blisses the Socialist + is supposed to want to rob them of. They are + involuntary monks and nuns, celibate not from any + high or religious motive, but through economic + <a class="pagenum" id="page127" title="127"> </a>hardship. Consider all that amount of pent-up, + thwarted or perverted emotional possibility, the + sheer irrational waste of life implied….</p> + + <p>We have glanced at the reality of the family + among the poor; what is it among the rich? Does + the wealthy mother of the upper middle-class or + upper class really sit among her teeming children, + teaching them in an atmosphere of love and + domestic exaltation? As a matter of fact she is a + conspicuously devoted woman if she gives them + an hour a day—the rest of the time they spend + with nurse or governess, and when they are ten + or eleven off they go to board at the preparatory + school. Whenever I find among my press-cuttings + some particularly scathing denunciation of + Socialists as home-destroyers, as people who want + to snatch the tender child from the weeping mother + to immure it in some terrible wholesale institution, + I am apt to walk out into my garden, from which + three boarding-schools for little children of the + prosperous classes are visible, and rub my eyes + and renew that sight and marvel at my kind….</p> + + <p>Consider now, with these things in mind, the + real drift of the first main Socialist proposition, and + compare its tendency with these contemporary conditions. + Socialism regards parentage under proper + safeguards and good auspices as “not only a duty + but a service” to the State; that is to say it proposes + to pay for good parentage—in other words to + <a class="pagenum" id="page128" title="128"> </a><em>endow the home</em>. Socialism comes not to destroy + but to save.</p> + + <p>And how will the endowment be done? Very + probably it will be found that the most convenient + and best method of doing this will be to subsidize + the mother—who is, or should be, the principal + person concerned in this affair—for her children; + to assist her, not as a charity, but as a right in the + period before the birth of her anticipated child, and + afterwards to provide her with support for that child + so long as it is kept clean in a tolerable home, in + good health, well taught and properly clad. It will + say to the sound mothering woman, Not type-writing, + nor shirt-sewing, nor charing is your business—these + children are. Neglect them, ill-treat them, + prove incompetent, and your mother-right will + cease and we shall take them away from you and + do what we can for them; love them, serve them + and, through them, the State, and you will serve + yourself. Is that destroying the home? Is it not + rather the rescue of the home from economic + destruction?</p> + + <p>Certain restrictions, it is true, upon our present + way of doing things would follow almost necessarily + from the adoption of these methods. It is + manifest that no intelligent State would willingly + endow the homes of hopelessly diseased parents, + of imbecile fathers or mothers, of obstinately + criminal persons or people incapable of education. + <a class="pagenum" id="page129" title="129"> </a>It is evident, too, that the State would not tolerate + chance fatherhood, that it would insist very + emphatically upon marriage and the purity of the + home, much more emphatically than we do now. + Such a case as the one numbered 197, a beautiful + instance of the sweet, old-fashioned, homely, simple + life of the poor we Socialists are supposed to be + vainly endeavouring to undermine—would certainly + be dealt with in a drastic and conclusive spirit….</p> + + <h3 id="ch6_s3">§ 3.</h3> + + <p>So far Socialism goes toward regenerating the + family and sustaining the home. But let there + be no ambiguity on one point. It will be manifest + that while it would reinvigorate and confirm the + home, it does quite decidedly tend to destroy what + has hitherto been the most typical form of the + family throughout the world, that is to say the + family which is in effect the private property of the + father, the patriarchal family. The tradition of the + family in which we are still living, we must remember, + has developed from a former state in which + man owned the wife or child as completely as he + owned horse or hut. He was the family’s irresponsible + owner. Socialism seeks to make him and his + wife its jointly responsible heads. Until quite + recently the husband might beat his wife and put + all sorts of physical constraint upon her; he might + starve her or turn her out of doors; her property was + <a class="pagenum" id="page130" title="130"> </a>his; her earnings were his; her children were his. + Under certain circumstances it was generally recognized + he might kill her. To-day we live in a world + that has faltered from the rigours of this position, + but which still clings to its sentimental consequences. + The wife now-a-days is a sort of pampered + and protected half-property. If she leaves + her husband for another man, it is regarded not as + a public offence on her part, but as a sort of + mitigated theft on the part of the latter, entitling + the former to damages. Politically she doesn’t + exist; the husband sees to all that. But on the + other hand he mustn’t drive her by physical force, + but only by the moral pressure of disagreeable behaviour. + Nor has he the same large powers of + violence over her children that once he had. He + may beat—within limits. He may dictate their + education so far as his religious eccentricities go, + and be generous or meagre with the supplies. He + may use his “authority” as a vague power far on + into their adult life, if he is a forcible character. + But it is at its best a shorn splendour he retains. + He has ceased to be an autocrat and become a constitutional + monarch; the State, sustained by the + growing reasonableness of the world, intervenes + more and more between him and the wife and + children who were once powerless in his hands.</p> + + <p>The Socialist would end that old legal predominance + altogether. The woman, he declares, must be + <a class="pagenum" id="page131" title="131"> </a>as important and responsible a citizen in the State + as the man. She must cease to be in any sense or + degree private property. The man must desist + from tyrannizing in the nursery and do his proper + work in the world. So far, therefore, as the family + is a name for a private property in a group of + related human beings vesting in one of them, the + Head of the Family, Socialism repudiates it altogether + as unjust and uncivilized; but so far as + the family is a grouping of children with their + parents, with the support and consent and approval + of the whole community, Socialism advocates it, + would make it for the first time, so far as a very + large moiety of our population is concerned, a + possible and efficient thing.</p> + + <p>Moreover, as the present writer has pointed out + elsewhere,<a href="#footnote_10" id="fnm10" title="Socialism and the Family..." class="fnmarker">10</a> this putting of the home upon a public + basis destroys its autonomy. Just as the Socialist + and all who have the cause of civilization at heart + would substitute for the inefficient, wasteful, irresponsible, + unqualified “private adventure school” + that did such infinite injury to middle-class education + in Great Britain during the Victorian period + a public school, publicly and richly endowed and + responsible and controlled, so the Socialist would + put an end to the uncivilized go-as-you-please of + the private adventure family. “Socialism in fact + is the State family. The old family of the private + <a class="pagenum" id="page132" title="132"> </a>individual must vanish before it just as the old + water-works of private enterprise or the old gas + company.”<a href="#footnote_11" id="fnm11" title="Socialism and the Family..." class="fnmarker">11</a> To any one not idiotic nor blind with + a passionate desire to lie about Socialism, the meaning + of this passage is perfectly plain. Socialism + seeks to broaden the basis of the family and to + make the once irresponsible parent responsible to + the State for its welfare. Socialism creates parental + responsibility.</p> + + <h3 id="ch6_s4">§ 4.</h3> + + <p>And here we may give a few words to certain + questions that are in reality outside the scope of + Socialists altogether, special questions involving + the most subtle ethical and psychological decisions. + Upon them Socialists are as widely divergent as + people who are not Socialists, and Socialism as a + whole presents nothing but an open mind. They + are questions that would be equally open to discussion + in relation to an Individualist State or to any + sort of State. Certain religious organizations have + given clear and imperative answers to some or all + of these questions, and so far as the reader is a + member of such an organization, he may rest + assured that Socialism, as an authoritative whole, + has nothing to say for or against his convictions. + This cannot be made too plain by Socialists, nor + <a class="pagenum" id="page133" title="133"> </a>too frequently repeated by them. A very large part + of the so-called arguments against them arise out + of deliberate misrepresentations and misconceptions + of some alleged Socialist position in these indifferent + matters.</p> + + <p>I refer more particularly to the numerous problems + in private morality and social organization + arising from sexual conduct. May a man love one + woman only in his life, or more, and may a woman + love only one man? Should marriage be an irrevocable + life union or not? Is sterile physical love + possible, permissible, moral, honourable or intolerable? + Upon all these matters individual Socialists, + like most other people, have their doubts and convictions, + but it is no more just to saddle all Socialism + with their private utterances and actions upon these + issues than it would be to declare that the Roman + Catholic Communion is hostile to beauty because + worshippers coming and going have knocked the + noses off the figures on the bronze doors of the + Church of San Zeno at Verona, or that Christianity + involves the cultivation of private vermin, because + of the condition of Saint Thomas à Beckett’s hair + shirt.<a href="#footnote_12" id="fnm12" title="The haircloth encased..." class="fnmarker">12</a> To argue in that way is to give up one’s + birthright as a reasonable being.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page134" title="134"> </a>Upon certain points modern Socialism is emphatic; + women and children must not be dealt with + as private property, women must be citizens equally + with men, children must not be casually born, their + parents must be known and worthy; that is to say + there must be deliberation in begetting children, + marriage under conditions. And there Socialism + stops.</p> + + <p>Socialism has not even worked out what are the + reasonable conditions of a State marriage contract, + and it would be ridiculous to pretend it had. This + is not a defect in Socialism particularly, but a defect + in human knowledge. At countless points in the + tangle of questions involved, the facts are not clearly + known. Socialism does not present any theory + whatever about the duration of marriage, whether, + as among the Roman Catholics, it should be absolutely + for life, or, as some hold, for ever; or, as among + <a class="pagenum" id="page135" title="135"> </a>the various divorce-permitting Protestant bodies, + until this or that eventuality; or even, as Mr. George + Meredith suggested some years ago, for a term of + ten years. In these matters Socialism does not decide, + and it is quite reasonable to argue that Socialism + need not decide. Socialism maintains an attitude + of neutrality. And the practical effect of an attitude + of neutrality is to leave these things as they + are at present. The State is not urgently concerned + with these questions. So long as a marriage contract + provides for the health and sanity of the contracting + parties, and for their proper behaviour so + far as their offspring is concerned, and for so long + as their offspring need it, the demands of the community, + as the guardian of the children, are satisfied. + That certainly would be the minimum marriage, + the State marriage, and I, for my own part, + would exact nothing more <em>in the legal contract</em>. + But a number of more representative Socialists than + I are for a legally compulsory life marriage. Some—but + they are mostly of the older, less definite, + Social Democratic teaching—are for a looser tie. + Let us clearly understand that we are here talking + of the legal marriage only—the State’s share. We + are not talking of what people will do, but of how + much they are to be made to do. A vast amount + of stupid confusion arises from forgetting that. + What was needed more than that minimum I have + specified would be provided, I believe—it always + <a class="pagenum" id="page136" title="136"> </a>has been provided hitherto, even to excess—by + custom, religion, social influence, public opinion.</p> + + <p>For it may not be altogether superfluous to remind + the reader how little of our present moral code is + ruled by law. We have in England, it is true, + certain laws prescribing the conditions of the marriage + contract, penalties of a quite ferocious kind + to prevent bigamy, and a few quite trivial disabilities + put upon those illegitimately born. But there is + no legal compulsion upon any one to marry now, + and far less legal restriction upon irregular and + careless parentage than would be put in any scientifically + organized Socialism. Do let us get it out + of our heads that monogamy is enforced by law at + the present time. It is not. You are only forbidden + to enter into normal marriage with more than one + person. If a man of means chooses to have as + many concubines as King Solomon and live with + them all openly, the law (I am speaking of Great + Britain) will do nothing to prevent him. If he + chooses to go through any sort of nuptial ceremony, + provided it does not simulate a legal marriage, with + some or all of them he may. And to any one who + evades the legal marriage bond, there is a vast range + of betrayal and baseness as open as anything can be. + “Free Love” is open to any one who chooses to + practise it to-day. The real controlling force in + these matters is social influence, public opinion, a + sort of conscience and feeling for the judgment of + <a class="pagenum" id="page137" title="137"> </a>others that is part of the normal human equipment. + And the same motives and considerations that keep + people’s lives pure and discreet now, will be all the + more freely in operation under Socialism, when + money will count for less and reputation for more + than they do now. Modern Socialism is a project to + change the organization of living and the circle of + human ideas; but it is no sort of scheme to attempt + the impossible, to change human nature and to + destroy the social sensitiveness of man.</p> + + <p>I do not deny the intense human interest of these + open questions, the imperative need there is to get + the truth, whether one considers it to be one’s own + truth or the universal truth, upon them. But my + point is that they are to be discussed apart from + Socialist theory, and that anyhow they have + nothing to do with Socialist politics. It is no + doubt interesting to discuss the benefits of vaccination + and the justice and policy of its public + compulsion, to debate whether one should eat meat + or confine oneself to a vegetable dietary, whether + the overhead or the slot system is preferable for + tramway traction, whether steamboats are needed + on the Thames in winter, and whether it is wiser + to use metal or paper for money; but none of + these things have anything to do with the principles + of Socialism. Nor need we decide whether + Whistler, Raphael or Carpaccio has left us the + most satisfying beauty, or which was the greater + <a class="pagenum" id="page138" title="138"> </a>musician, Wagner, Scarlatti or Beethoven, nor pronounce + on the Bacon-Shakespeare controversy in + any prescribed way, because we accept Socialism.</p> + + <p>Coming to graver matters there are ardent theologians + who would create an absolute antagonism + between Socialism and Christianity, who would tie + up Socialism with some extraordinary doctrine of + Predestination, or deny the possibility of a Christian + being a Socialist or a Socialist being a Christian. + But these are matters on different planes. In a + sense Socialism is a religion; to me it is a religion, + in the sense, that is, that it gives a work to do that + is not self-seeking, that it determines one in a thousand + indecisions, that it supplies that imperative + craving of so many human souls, a devotion. But + I do not see why a believer in any of the accepted + creeds of Christianity, from the Apostles’ Creed upward, + should not also whole-heartedly give himself + to this great work of social reconstruction. To believe + in a real and personal Heaven is surely not to + deny earth with its tragedy, its sorrows, its splendid + possibilities. It is simply to believe a little more + concretely than I do, that is all. To assert the + brotherhood of man under God seems to me to lead + logically to a repudiation of the severities of Private + Ownership—that is to Socialism. When the rich + young man was told to give up his property to follow + Christ, when the disciples were told to leave + father and mother, it seems to me ridiculous to + <a class="pagenum" id="page139" title="139"> </a>present Christianity as opposed to the self-abnegation + of the two main generalizations of Socialism—that + relating to property in things, and that relating + to property in persons. It is true that the + Church of Rome has taken the deplorable step of + forbidding Socialism (or at least <em>Socialismus</em>) to its + adherents; but there is no need for Socialists to commit + a reciprocal stupidity. Let us Socialists at any + rate keep our intellectual partitions up. The Church + that now quarrels with Socialism once quarrelled + with astronomy and geology, and astronomers and + geologists went on with their own business. Both + religion and astronomy are still alive and in the + same world together. And the Vatican observatory, + by the bye, is honourably distinguished for its + excellent stellar photographs. Perhaps, after all, + the Church does not mean by <em>Socialismus</em> Socialism + as it is understood in English; perhaps it simply + means the dogmatically anti-Christian Socialism + of the Continental type.</p> + + <p>I am not advocating indifference to any interest + I have here set aside as irrelevant to Socialism. + Men have discussed and will, I hope, continue to + discuss such questions as I have instanced with + passionate zeal; but Socialism need not be entangled + by their decisions. We can go on our road to + Socialism, we can get to Socialism, to the Civilized + State, whichever answer is given to any of these + questions, great or small.</p> + +</div> +<div id="chapter_7" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page140" title="140"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter-number">CHAPTER VII</span><br /> + WOULD MODERN SOCIALISM ABOLISH ALL PROPERTY?</h2> + + <h3 id="ch7_s1">§ 1.</h3> + + <p><span class="first_word">Having</span> in the previous chapter cleared up + a considerable mass of misconception and possibility + of misrepresentation about the attitude of + Socialism to the home, let us now devote a little + more attention to the current theory of property and + say just exactly where Modern Socialism stands + in that matter.</p> + + <p>The plain fact of the case is that the Socialist, + whether he wanted to or no, would no more be able + to abolish personal property altogether than he + would be able to abolish the human liver. The + extension of one’s personality to things outside + oneself is indeed as natural and instinctive a thing + as eating. But because the liver is necessary and + inevitable, there is no reason why it should be + enlarged to uncomfortable proportions, and because + eating is an unconquerable instinct there is no + excuse for repletion. The position of the modern + <a class="pagenum" id="page141" title="141"> </a>Socialist is that the contemporary idea of personal + property is enormously exaggerated and improperly + extended to things that ought not to be “private”; + not that it is not a socially most useful and desirable + idea within its legitimate range.</p> + + <p>There can be no doubt that many of those older + writers who were “Socialists before Socialism,” + Plato, for instance, and Sir Thomas More, did very + roundly abolish private property altogether. They + were extreme Communists, and so were many of the + earlier Socialists; in More’s Utopia, doors might not + be fastened, they stood open; one hadn’t even a + private room. These earlier writers wished to insist + upon the need of self-abnegation in the ideal State, + and to startle and confound, they insisted overmuch. + The early Christians, one gathers, were + almost completely communistic, and that interesting + experiment in Christian Socialism (of a rather unorthodox + type of Christianity), the American Oneida + community, was successfully communistic in every + respect for many years. But the modern Socialist is + not a communist; the modern Socialist, making his + scheme of social reconstruction for the whole world + and for every type of character, recognizes the entire + impracticability of such dreams, recognizing, too, + it may be, the sacrifice of human personality and + distinction such ideals involve.</p> + + <p>The word “property,” one must remember, is a + slightly evasive word. Absolute property hardly + <a class="pagenum" id="page142" title="142"> </a>exists—absolute, that is to say, in the sense of + unlimited right of disposal; almost all property is + incomplete and relative. A man, under our present + laws, has no absolute property even in his own life; + he is restrained from suicide and punished if he + attempt it. He may not go offensively filthy nor + indecently clad; there are limits to his free use of + his body. The owner of a house, of land, of a + factory is subject to all sorts of limitations, building + regulations for example, and so is the owner of + horse or dog. Nor again is any property exempt + from taxation. Even now property is a limited + thing, and it is well to bear that much in mind. It + can be defined as something one may do “what + one likes with,” subject only to this or that specific + restriction, and at any time, it would seem, the State + is at least legally entitled to increase the quantity + and modify the nature of the restriction. The + extremest private property is limited to a certain + sanity and humanity in its use.</p> + + <p>In that sense every adult now-a-days has private + property in his or her own person, in clothes, in + such personal implements as hand-tools, as a bicycle, + as a cricket-bat or golf-sticks. In quite the same + sense would he have it under Socialism so far as + these selfsame things go. The sense of property in + such things is almost instinctive; my little boys of + five and three have the keenest sense of <em>mine</em> and + (almost, if not quite so vividly) <em>thine</em> in the matter + <a class="pagenum" id="page143" title="143"> </a>of toys and garments. The disposition of modern + Socialism is certainly no more to override these + natural tendencies than it is to fly in the face of + human nature in regard to the home. The disposition + of modern Socialism is indeed far more in the + direction of confirming and insuring this natural + property. And again modern Socialism has no + designs upon the money in a man’s pocket. It is + quite true that the earlier and extreme Socialist + theorists did in their communism find no use for + money, but I do not think there are any representative + Socialists now who do not agree that the State + must pay and receive in money, that money is indispensable + to human freedom. The featurelessness + of money, its universal convertibility, gives + human beings a latitude of choice and self-expression + in its spending that is inconceivable without + its use.</p> + + <p>All such property Socialism will ungrudgingly + sustain, and it will equally sustain property in + books and objects of æsthetic satisfaction, in furnishing, + in the apartments or dwelling-house a man + or woman occupies and in their household implements. + It will sustain far more property than the + average working-class man has to-day. Nor will it + prevent savings or accumulations, if men do not + choose to expend their earnings—nor need it interfere + with lending. How far it will permit or countenance + usury is another question altogether. There + <a class="pagenum" id="page144" title="144"> </a>will no doubt remain, after all the work-a-day + needs of the world have been met by a scientific + public organization of the general property in + Nature, a great number of businesses and enterprises + and new and doubtful experiments outside + the range of legitimate State activity. In these, + interested and prosperous people will embark their + surplus money as shareholders in a limited liability + company, making partnership profits or losses in + an entirely proper manner. But whether there + should be debentures and mortgages or preference + shares, or suchlike manipulatory distinctions, or + interest in any shape or form, I am inclined to + doubt. A money-lender should share risk as well + as profit—that is surely the moral law in lending + that forbids usury; he should not be allowed to + bleed a failing business with his inexorable percentage + and so eat up the ordinary shareholder or + partner any more than the landlord should be + allowed to eat up the failing tenant for rent. That + was once the teaching of Christianity, and I do not + know enough of the history or spiritual development + of the Catholic Church to tell when she became + what she now appears to be—the champion + of the rent-exacting landlord and the usurer against + Socialism. It is the present teaching of Socialism. + If usury obtains at all under the Socialist State, if + inexorable repayments are to be made in certain + cases, it will, I conceive, be a State monopoly. The + <a class="pagenum" id="page145" title="145"> </a>State will be the sole banker for every hoard and + every enterprise, just as it will be the universal landlord + and the universal fire and accident and old age + insurance office. In money matters as in public + service and administration, it will stand for the + species, the permanent thing behind every individual + accident and adventure.</p> + + <p>Posthumous property, that is to say the power + to bequeath and the right to inherit things, will also + persist in a mitigated state under Socialism. There + is no reason whatever why it should not do so. There + is a strong natural sentiment in favour of the institution + of heirlooms, for example; one feels a son + might well own—though he should certainly not + sell—the intimate things his father desires to leave + him. The pride of descent is an honourable one, the + love for one’s blood, and I hope that a thousand + years from now some descendant will still treasure + an obsolete weapon here, a picture there, or a piece + of faint and faded needlework from our days and + the days before our own. One may hate inherited + privileges and still respect a family tree.</p> + + <p>Widows and widowers again have clearly a kind + of natural property in the goods they have shared + with the dead; in the home, in the garden close, in + the musical instruments and books and pleasant + home-like things. Now, in nine cases out of ten, + we do in effect bundle the widow out; she remains + nominally owner of the former home, but she has + <a class="pagenum" id="page146" title="146"> </a>to let it furnished or sell it, to go and live in a boarding-house + or an exiguous flat.</p> + + <p>Even perhaps a proportion of accumulated money + may reasonably go to friend or kin. It is a question + of public utility; Socialism has done with + absolute propositions in all such things, and views + these problems now as questions of detail, matters + for fine discriminations. We want to be quit of + pedantry. All that property which is an enlargement + of personality, the modern Socialist seeks to + preserve; it is that exaggerated property that gives + power over the food and needs of one’s fellow-creatures, + property and inheritance in land, in industrial + machinery, in the homes of others and in + the usurer’s grip upon others, that he seeks to + destroy. The more doctrinaire Socialists will tell + you they do not object to property for use and consumption, + but only to property in “the means of + production,” but I do not choose to resort to over-precise + definitions. The general intention is clear + enough, the particular instance requires particular + application. But it is just because we modern + Socialists want every one to have play for choice + and individual expression in all these realities of + property that we object to this monstrous property + of a comparatively small body of individuals expropriating + the world.</p> + + <h3 id="ch7_s2"><a class="pagenum" id="page147" title="147"> </a>§ 2.</h3> + + <p>I am inclined to think—but here I speak beyond + the text of contemporary Socialist literature—that + in certain directions Socialism, while + destroying property, will introduce a compensatory + element by creating rights. For example, Socialism + will certainly destroy all private property in + land and in natural material and accumulated industrial + resources; it will be the universal landlord + and the universal capitalist, but that does not mean + that we shall all be the State’s tenants-at-will. + There can be little doubt that the Socialist State + will recognize the rights of the improving occupier + and the beneficial hirer. It is manifestly in accordance + both with justice and public policy that a man + who takes a piece of land and creates a value on it—by + making a vineyard, let us say—is entitled to + security of tenure, is to be dispossessed only in + exceptional circumstances and with ample atonement. + If a man who takes an agricultural or + horticultural holding comes to feel that there he will + toil and there later he will rest upon his labours, + I do not think a rational Socialism will war against + this passion for the vine and fig-tree. If it absolutely + refuses the idea of freehold, it will certainly + not repudiate leasehold. I think the State may + prove a far more generous and sentimental landlord + in many things than any private person.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page148" title="148"> </a>In another correlated direction, too, Socialism is + quite reconcilable with a finer quality of property + than our landowner-ridden Britain allows to any + but the smallest minority. I mean property in the + house one occupies…. If I may indulge in a quite + unauthorized speculation, I am inclined to think + there may be two collateral methods of home-building + in the future. For many people always there + will need to be houses to which they may come and + go for longer and shorter tenancies and which they + will in no manner own. Now-a-days such people + are housed in the exploits of the jerry-builder—all + England is unsightly with their meagre pretentious + villas and miserable cottages and tenement + houses. Such homes in the Socialist future will + certainly be supplied by the local authority, but + they will be fair, decent houses by good architects, + fitted to be clean and lit, airy and convenient, the + homes of civilized people, sightly things altogether + in a generous and orderly world. But in addition + there will be the prosperous private person with a + taste that way, building himself a home as a lease-holder + under the public landlord. For him, too, + there will be a considerable measure of property, + a measure of property that might even extend to a + right, if not of bequest, then at any rate of indicating + a preference among his possible successors in + the occupying tenancy….</p> + + <p>Then there is a whole field of proprietary sensations + <a class="pagenum" id="page149" title="149"> </a>in relation to official duties and responsibility. + Men who have done good work in any field are + not to be lightly torn from it. A medical officer + of health who has done well in his district, a teacher + who has taught a generation of a town, a man who + has made a public garden, have a moral lien upon + their work for all their lives. They do not get it + under our present conditions. I know that it will + be quite easy to say all this is a question of administration + and detail. It is. But it is, nevertheless, + important to state it clearly here, to make it evident + that the coming of Socialism involves no destruction + of this sort of identification of a man with + the thing he does; this identification that is so + natural and desirable—that this living and legitimate + sense of property will if anything be + encouraged and its claims strengthened under + Socialism. To-day that particularly living sort of + property-sense is often altogether disregarded. + Every day one hears of men who have worked up + departments in businesses, men who have created + values for employers, men who have put their lives + into an industrial machine, being flung aside because + their usefulness is over, or out of personal + pique, or to make way for favourites, for the + employer’s son or cousin or what not, without any + sort of appeal or compensation. Ownership is + autocracy; at the best it is latent injustice in all + such matters of employment.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page150" title="150"> </a>Then again, consider the case of the artist and + the inventor who are too often forced by poverty + now to sell their early inventions for the barest + immediate subsistence. Speculators secure these + initial efforts—sometimes to find them worthless, + sometimes to discover in them the sources of enormous + wealth. In no matter is it more difficult to + estimate value than in the case of creative work; + few geniuses are immediately recognized, and the + history of art, literature and invention is full of + Chattertons and Savages who perished before + recognition came, and of Dickenses who sold themselves + unwisely. Consider the immense social + benefit if the creator even now possessed an inalienable + right to share in the appreciation of his + work. Under Socialism it would for all his life + be his—and the world’s, and controllable by him. + He would be free to add, to modify, to repeat.</p> + + <p>In all these respects modern Socialism tends to + create and confirm property and rights, the property + of the user, the rights of the creator. It is + quite other property it tends to destroy; the property, + the claim, of the creditor, the mortgagee, the + landlord, and usurer, the forestaller, gambling + speculator, monopolizer and absentee…. In very + truth Socialism would destroy no property at all, + but only that sham property that, like some wizard-cast + illusion, robs us all.</p> + + <h3 id="ch7_s3"><a class="pagenum" id="page151" title="151"> </a>§ 3.</h3> + + <p>And now we are discussing the Socialist attitude + towards property, it may be well to consider + a little group of objections that are often made in + anti-Socialist tracts. I refer more particularly to + a certain hard case, the hard case of the Savings + of the Virtuous Small Man.</p> + + <p>The reader, if he is at all familiar with this + branch of controversial literature, probably knows + how that distressing case is put. One is presented + with a poor man of inconceivable industry, goodness + and virtue; he has worked, he has saved; at + last, for the security of his old age, he holds a + few shares in a business, a “bit of land” or—perhaps + through a building society—house property. + Would we—the Anti-Socialist chokes with + emotion—so alter the world as to rob him of <em>that</em>? + … The Anti-Socialist gathers himself together + with an effort and goes on to a still more touching + thought … the widow!<a href="#footnote_13" id="fnm13" title="The ethical case for slavery..." class="fnmarker">13</a></p> + + <p>Well, I think there are assurances in the previous + section to disabuse the reader’s mind a little in + this matter. This solicitude for the Saving Small + Man and for the widow and orphan seems to me + <a class="pagenum" id="page152" title="152"> </a>one of the least honest of all the anti-Socialist + arguments. The man “who has saved a few + pounds,” the poor widow woman and her children + clinging to some scrap of freehold are thrust forward + to defend the harvest of the landlord and the + financier. Let us look at the facts of the case and + see how this present economic system of ours really + does treat the “stocking” of the poor.</p> + + <p>In the first place it does not guarantee to the + small investor any security for his little hoard at all. + He comes into the world of investment ill-informed, + credulous or only unintelligently suspicious—and + he is as a class continually and systematically + deprived of his little accumulations. One great + financial operation after another in the modern + world, as any well-informed person can witness, + eats up the small investor. Some huge, vastly + respectable-looking enterprise is floated with a + capital of so many scores or hundreds of thousands, + divided into so many thousands of ordinary shares, + so many five or six per cent. preference, so much + debentures. It begins its career with a flourish of + prosperity, the ordinary shares for a few years pay + seven, eight, ten per cent. The Virtuous Small + Man provides for his widow and his old age by + buying this estimable security. Its price clambers + to a premium, and so it passes slowly and steadily + from its first speculative holder into the hands of + the investing public. Then comes a slow, quiet, + <a class="pagenum" id="page153" title="153"> </a>downward movement, a check at the interim + dividend, a rapid contraction. Consider such a + case as that of the great British Electric Traction + Company which began with ordinary shares at ten, + which clambered above twenty-one (21⅞), which is + now (October 1907) fluctuating about two. Its six + per cent, preference shares have moved between + fourteen and five and a half. Its ordinary shares + represent a total capital of £1,333,010, and its + preference £1,614,370; so that here in this one + concern we have a phantom appearance and disappearance + of over two million pounds’ worth of + value and a real disappearance of perhaps half that + amount. It requires only a very slight knowledge + of the world to convince one that the bulk of that + sum was contributed by the modest investments + of mediocre and small people out of touch with the + real conditions of the world of finance.</p> + + <p>These little investors, it is said, are the bitter + champions of private finance against the municipalities + and Socialists. One wonders why.</p> + + <p>One could find a score of parallels and worse instances + representing in the end many scores of + millions of pounds taken from the investing public + in the last few years. I will, however, content + myself with one sober quotation from the New + York <cite>Journal of Commerce</cite>, which the reader will + admit is not likely to be a willing witness for + Socialism. Commenting on the testimony of the + <a class="pagenum" id="page154" title="154"> </a>principal witness, Mr. Harriman, of the Illinois + Central Railroad, before the Inter-State Commerce + Commission (March 1907), it says:—</p> + + <blockquote> + <p>“On his own admission he was one of a ‘combine’ + of four who got possession of the Chicago and Alton + Railroad, and immediately issued bonds for $40,000,000, + out of the proceeds of which they paid themselves a + dividend of 30 per cent, on the stock they held, besides + taking the bonds at 65 and subsequently selling them + at 90 or more, some of them to life insurance companies + with which Mr. Harriman had some kind of relation. + There were no earnings or surplus out of which the + dividend could be paid, but the books of the company + were juggled by transferring some $12,000,000 expended + for betterments to capital account as a sort of bookkeeping + basis for the performance.</p> + + <p>“Besides this, the Chicago and Alton Railroad was + transformed into a ‘railway,’ and a capitalization of + a little under $40,000,000 was swollen to nearly + $123,000,000 to cover an actual expenditure in improvements + of $22,500,000. In the process there was an + injection of about $60,600,000 of ‘water’ into the + stock held by the four, some of which was sold to the + Union Pacific, of which Mr. Harriman was president, + and more was ‘unloaded’ upon the Rock Island. Mr. + Harriman refused to tell how much he made out of that + operation.</p> + + <p>“It shows how some of our enormous fortunes are + made, as well as what motives and purposes sometimes + prevail in the use of the power entrusted to the directors + and officers of corporations. It is a simple and elementary + principle that all values are created by the productive + activity of capital, labour and ability in industrial + operations of one kind and another. No wealth + <a class="pagenum" id="page155" title="155"> </a>comes out of nothing, but all must be produced and distributed, + and what one gets by indirection another loses + or fails to get. The personal profit of these speculative + operations in which the capital, credit and power of + corporations are used by those entrusted with their + direction come out of the general body of stockholders + whose interests are sacrificed, or out of the public investors + who are lured and deceived, or out of shippers + who are overtaxed for the service for which railroads + are chartered, or out of all these in varying proportions. + In other words they are the fruits of robbery.”</p> + </blockquote> + + <p>So that you see it is not only untrue that + Socialism would rob a poor man of his virtuously + acquired “bit of property,” but the direct contrary + is the truth, that the present system, non-Socialism, + is now constantly <em>butchering thrift</em>! Simple people + believe the great financiers win and lose money to + each other. They are not—to put it plainly—such + fools. They use the public, and the public goes + on being used, as a perpetual source of freshly + accumulated wealth. I know one case of a man + of fifty who serves in a shop, a most industrious, + competent man, who has been saving and investing + money all his life in what he had every reason to + believe were safe and sober businesses; he has been + denying himself pleasures, cramping his life to + put by about a third of his wages every year since + he was two-and-twenty, and to-day he has not got + his keep for a couple of years, and his only security + against disablement and old age is his subscription + <a class="pagenum" id="page156" title="156"> </a>to a Friendly Society, a society which I have + a very strong suspicion is no better off than most + other Friendly Societies—and that is by no means + well off, and by no means confident of the future.</p> + + <p>It is possible to argue that the small man ought + to take more pains about his investments, but, as + a matter of fact, investing money securely and + profitably is a special occupation of extraordinary + complexity, and the common man with a few + hundred pounds has no more chance in that market + than he would have under water in Sydney Harbour + amidst a shoal of sharks. It may be said that + he is greedy, wants too much interest, but that is + nonsense. One of the crudest gulfs into which + small savings have gone in the case of the British + public has been the trap of Consols, which pay at + the present price less than three per cent. Servants + and working men with Post Office Savings’ Bank + accounts were urged, tempted and assisted to invest + in this solemn security—even when it stood at + 114. Those who did so have now (November 1907) + lost almost a third of their money.</p> + + <p>It is scarcely too much to say that a very large + proportion of our modern great properties, tramway + systems, railways, gas-works, bread companies, + have been created for their present owners + the debenture holders and mortgagers, the great + capitalists, by the unintentional altruism of that + voluntary martyr, the Saving Small Man.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page157" title="157"> </a>Of course the habitual saver can insure with an + insurance company for his old age and against + all sorts of misadventures, and because of the + Government interference with “private enterprise” + in that sort of business, be reasonably secure; but + under Socialism he would be able to do that with + absolute security in the State Insurance Office—if + the universal old age pension did not satisfy him. + That, however, is beside our present discussion. I + am writing now only of the sort of property that + Socialism would destroy, and to show how little + benefit or safety it brings to the small owner now. + The unthinking rich prate “thrift” to the poor, + and grow richer by a half-judicious, half-unconscious + absorption of the resultant savings; that, + in brief, is the grim humour of our present financial + method.</p> + + <p>It is not only in relation to investments that this + absorption of small parcels of savings goes on. + In every town the intelligent and sympathetic + observer may see, vivid before the eyes of all who + are not blind by use and wont, the slow subsidence + of petty accumulations, The lodging-house and + the small retail shop are, as it were, social + “destructors”; all over the country they are converting + hopeful, enterprising, ill-advised people + with a few score or hundreds of pounds, slowly, + inevitably into broken-hearted failures. It is, to + my mind, the crudest aspect of our economic + <a class="pagenum" id="page158" title="158"> </a>struggle. In the little High Street of Sandgate, + over which my house looks, I should say between + a quarter and a third of the shops are such downward + channels from decency to despair; they are + sanctioned, inevitable citizen breakers. Now it is + a couple of old servants opening a “fancy” shop + or a tobacco shop, now it is a young couple plunging + into the haberdashery, now it is a new butcher + or a new fishmonger or a grocer. This perpetual + procession of bankruptcies has made me lately shun + that pleasant-looking street, that in my unthinking + days I walked through cheerfully enough. The + doomed victims have a way of coming to the doors + at first and looking out politely and hopefully. + There is a rich and lucrative business done by + certain wholesale firms in starting the small dealer + in almost every branch of retail trade; they fit + up his shop, stock him, take his one or two hundred + pounds and give him credit for forty or fifty. The + rest of his story is an impossible struggle to pay + rent and get that debt down. Things go on for a + time quite bravely. I go furtively and examine the + goods in the window, with a dim hope that this + time something really will come off; I learn reluctantly + from my wife that they are no better than any + one else’s, and rather dearer than those of the one + or two solid and persistent shops that do the steady + business of the place. Perhaps I see the new + people going to church once or twice very respectably, + <a class="pagenum" id="page159" title="159"> </a>as I set out for a Sunday walk, and if they + are a young couple the husband usually wears a + silk hat. Presently the stock in the window begins + to deteriorate in quantity and quality, and + then I know that credit is tightening. The proprietor + no longer comes to the door, and his first + bright confidence is gone. He regards one now + through the darkling panes with a gloomy animosity. + He suspects one all too truly of dealing + with the “Stores.” … Then suddenly he has + gone; the savings are gone, and the shop—like a + hungry maw—waits for a new victim. There is + the simple common tragedy of the little shop; the + landlord of the house has <em>his</em> money all right, the + ground landlord has, of course, every penny of + his money, the kindly wholesalers are well out of + it, and the young couple or the old people, as the + case may be, are looking for work or the nearest + casual ward—just as though there was no such + virtue as thrift in the world.</p> + + <p>The particular function of the British lodging-house—though + the science of economics is silent on + this point—is to use up the last strength of the + trusty old servant and the plucky widow. These + people will invest from two or three hundred to a + thousand pounds in order to gain a bare subsistence + by toiling for boarders and lodgers. It is their + idea of a safe investment. They can see it all the + time. All over England this process goes on. The + <a class="pagenum" id="page160" title="160"> </a>curious inquirer may see every phase for himself by + simply looking for rooms among the apartment + houses of such a region as Camden Town, London; + he will realize more and more surely as he goes + about that none of these people gain money, none + of them ever recover the capital they sink, they are + happy if they die before their inevitable financial + extinction. It is so habitual with people to think + of classes as stable, of a butcher or a baker as a + man who keeps a shop of a certain sort at a certain + level throughout a long and indeterminate life, that + it may seem incredible to many readers that those + two typically thrifty classes, the lodging-letting + householder and the small retailer, are maintained + by a steady supply of failing individuals; the fact + remains that it is so. Their little savings are no + good to them, investments and business beginnings + mock them alike: steadily, relentlessly our competitive + system eats them up.</p> + + <p>It is said that no class of people in the community + is more hostile to Socialism and Socialistic + legislation than these small owners and petty investors, + these small ratepayers. They do not + understand. Rent they consider in the nature of + things like hunger and thirst; the economic process + that dooms the weak enterprise to ruin is beyond + the scope of their intelligence; but the rate-collector + who calls and calls again for money, for + more money, to educate “other people’s children,” + <a class="pagenum" id="page161" title="161"> </a>to “keep paupers in luxury,” to “waste upon + roads and light and trams,” seems the agent of an + unendurable wrong. So the poor creatures go out + pallidly angry to vote down that hated thing municipal + enterprise, and to make still more scope for + that big finance that crushes them in the wine-press + of its exploitation. It is a wretched and tragic + antagonism, for which every intelligent Socialist + must needs have sympathy, which he must meet + with patience—and lucid explanations. If the + public authority took rent there would be no need + of rates; that is the more obvious proposition. But + the ampler one is the cruelty, the absurdity and the + social injury of the constant consumption of unprotected + savings which is an essential part of our + present system.</p> + + <p>It is a doctrinaire and old-fashioned Socialism + that quarrels with the little hoard; the quarrel of + modern Socialism is with the landowner and the + great capitalist who devour it.</p> + + <h3 id="ch7_s4">§ 4.</h3> + + <p>While we are discussing the true attitude of + modern Socialism to property, it will be well to + explain quite clearly the secular change of opinion + that is going on in the Socialist ranks in regard to + the process of expropriation. Even in the case of + those sorts of property that Socialism repudiates, + property in land, natural productions, inherited + <a class="pagenum" id="page162" title="162"> </a>business capital and the like, Socialism has become + humanized and rational from its first extreme and + harsh positions.</p> + + <p>The earlier Socialism was fierce and unjust to + owners. “Property is Robbery,” said Proudhon, + and right down to the nineties Socialism kept too + much of the spirit of that proposition. The property + owner was to be promptly and entirely deprived of + his goods, and to think himself lucky he was not + lynched forthwith as an abominable rascal. The + first Basis of the Fabian Society, framed so lately + as 1884, seems to repudiate “compensation,” even + a partial compensation of property owners, though + in its practical proposals the Fabian Society has + always admitted compensatory arrangements. The + exact words of the Basis are “without compensation + though not without such relief to expropriated + individuals as may seem fit to the community.” + The wording is pretty evidently the result of a + compromise between modern views and older teachings. + If the Fabian Society were rewriting its + Basis now I doubt if any section would insist even + upon that eviscerated “without compensation.”</p> + + <p>Now property is not robbery. It may be a mistake, + it may be unjust and socially disadvantageous + to recognize private property in these great common + interests, but every one concerned, and the majority + of the property owners certainly, held and hold in + good faith, and do their best by the light they have. + <a class="pagenum" id="page163" title="163"> </a>We live to-day in a vast tradition of relationships + in which the rightfulness of that kind of private + property is assumed, and suddenly, instantly, to + deny and abolish it would be—I write this as a + convinced and thorough Socialist—quite the most + dreadful catastrophe human society could experience. + For what sort of provisional government + should we have in that confusion?</p> + + <p>Expropriation must be a gradual process, a process + of economic and political readjustment, accompanied + at every step by an explanatory educational + advance. There is no reason why a cultivated property + owner should not welcome and hasten its + coming. Modern Socialism is prepared to compensate + him, not perhaps “fully” but reasonably, + for his renunciations and to avail itself of his help, + to relieve him of his administrative duties, his + excess of responsibility for estate and business. It + does not grudge him a compensating annuity nor + terminating rights of user. It has no intention of + obliterating him nor the things he cares for. It + wants not only to socialize his possessions, but to + socialize his achievement in culture and all that + leisure has taught him of the possibilities of life. + It wants all men to become as fine as he. Its enemy + is not the rich man but the aggressive rich man, the + usurer, the sweater, the giant plunderer, who are + developing the latent evil of riches. It repudiates + altogether the conception of a bitter class-war + <a class="pagenum" id="page164" title="164"> </a>between those who Have and those who Have + Not.</p> + + <p>But this new tolerant spirit in method involves + no weakening of the ultimate conception. Modern + Socialism sets itself absolutely against the creation + of new private property out of land, or rights or + concessions not yet assigned. All new great monopolistic + enterprises in transit, building and cultivation, + for example, must from the first be under + public ownership. And the chief work of social + statesmanship, the secular process of government, + must be the steady, orderly resumption by the + community, without violence and without delay, of + the land, of the apparatus of transit, of communication, + of food distribution and of all the great common + services of mankind, and the care and training + of a new generation in their collective use and in + more civilized conceptions of living.</p> + +</div> +<div id="chapter_8" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page165" title="165"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter-number">CHAPTER VIII</span><br /> + THE MIDDLE-CLASS MAN, THE BUSINESS MAN, AND SOCIALISM</h2> + + <h3 id="ch8_s1">§ 1.</h3> + + <p><span class="first_word">Let</span> me insert here a few remarks upon a question + that arises naturally out of the preceding discussion, + and that is the future of that miscellaneous + section of the community known as the middle class. + It is one that I happen to know with a peculiar + intimacy.</p> + + <p>For a century or more the grinding out of the + middle class has been going on. I began to find + it interesting—altogether too interesting indeed, + when I was still only a little boy. My father was + one of that multitude of small shopkeepers which + has been caught between the “Stores” and such-like + big distributors above and the rising rates + below, and from the knickerbocker stage onward I + was acutely aware of the question hanging over us. + “This isn’t going on,” was the proposition. + “This shop in which our capital is invested will + never return it. Nobody seems to understand what + <a class="pagenum" id="page166" title="166"> </a>is happening, and there is nobody to advise or help + us. What are we going to do?”</p> + + <p>Except that people are beginning to understand + a little now what it all means, exactly the same + question hangs over many hundreds of thousands + of households to-day, not only over the hundreds of + small shopkeepers, but of small professional men, + of people living upon small parcels of investments, + of clerks who find themselves growing old and their + value depreciated by the competition of a new, better-educated + generation, of private school-masters, + of boarding-and lodging-house keepers and the + like. They are all vaguely aware of something + more than personal failure, of a drift and process + which is against all their kind, of the need of + “doing something” for themselves and their children, + something different from just sticking to the + shop or the “situation”—and they don’t know + what to do! What ought they to do?</p> + + <p>Well, first, before one answers that, let us ask + what it is exactly that is grinding the middle class + in this way. Is it a process we can stop? Can we + direct the millstones? If we can, ought we to do + so? And if we cannot, or decide that it isn’t worth + while, then what can we do to mitigate this cruelty + of slowly impoverishing and taxing out of existence + a class that was once the backbone of the community? + It is not mere humanity dictates this + much, it is a question that affects the State as a + <a class="pagenum" id="page167" title="167"> </a>whole. It must be extremely bad for the spirit of + the nation and for our national future that its + middle mass should be in a state of increasing financial + worry and stress, irritated, depressed, and + broken in courage. One effect is manifest in our + British politics now. Each fresh election turns + upon expenditure more evidently than the last, and + the promise to reduce taxation or lower the rates + overrides more and more certainly any other consideration. + What are Empire or Education to men + who feel themselves drifting helplessly into debt? + What chance has any constructive scheme with an + electorate of men who are being slowly submerged + in an economic bog?</p> + + <p>The process that has brought the middle class + into these troubles is a complex one, but the essential + thing about it seems to be this, that there is a + <em>change of scale</em> going on in most human affairs, a + substitution of big organizations for detached individual + effort almost everywhere. A hundred and + fifty years ago or so the only very rich people in the + community were a handful of great landowners and + a few bankers; the rest of the world’s business was + being done by small prosperous independent men. + The labourers were often very poor and wretched, + ill clad, bootless, badly housed and short of food, + but there was nevertheless a great deal of middle-class + comfort and prosperity. The country was + covered with flourishing farmers, every country + <a class="pagenum" id="page168" title="168"> </a>town was a little world in itself, with busy tradespeople + and professional men; manufacturing was + still done mainly by small people employing a few + hands, master and apprentice working together; in + every town you found a private school or so, an + independent doctor and the like, doing well in a + mediocre, comfortable fashion. All the carrying + trade was in the hands of small independent + carriers; the shipping was held by hundreds of + small shipowners. And London itself was only a + larger country town. It was, in effect, a middle-class + world ruled over by aristocrats; the millstones + had as yet scarcely stirred.</p> + + <p>Then machinery came into the lives of men, and + steam power, and there began that change of scale + which is going on still to-day, making an ever-widening + separation of master and man and an ever-enlarging + organization of industry and social + method. Its most striking manifestation was at + first the substitution of organized manufacture in + factories for the half-domestic hand-industrialism + of the earlier period; the growth of the fortunes of + some of the merchants and manufacturers to dimensions + comparable with the wealth of the great landowners, + and the sinking of the rest of their class + towards the status of wage-earners. The development + of joint-stock enterprise arose concurrently + with this to create a new sort of partnership capable + of handling far greater concerns than any single + <a class="pagenum" id="page169" title="169"> </a>wealthy person, as wealth was measured by the old + scale, could do. There followed a great development + of transit, culminating for a time in the + coming of the railways and steamships, which abolished + the isolation of the old towns and brought + men at the remotest quarters of the earth into business + competition. Big towns of the modern type, + with half-a-million inhabitants or more, grew up + rapidly all over Europe and America. For the + European big towns are as modern as New York, + and the East End and south side of London scarcely + older than Chicago. Shopkeeping, like manufactures, + began to concentrate in large establishments, + and big wholesale distribution to replace + individual buying and selling. As the need for + public education under the changing conditions of + life grew more and more urgent, the individual enterprise + of this school-master and that gave place to + the organized effort of such giant societies as (in + Britain) the old National School Society and the + British School Society, and at last to State education. + And one after another the old prosperous + middle-class callings fell under the stress of the new + development.</p> + + <p>The process still goes on, and there can be little + doubt of the ultimate issue. The old small manufacturers + are either ruined or driven into sweating + and the slums; the old coaching innkeeper and common + carrier have been impoverished or altogether + <a class="pagenum" id="page170" title="170"> </a>superseded by the railways and big carrier companies; + the once flourishing shopkeeper lives to-day + on the mere remnants of the trade that great distributing + stores or the branches of great companies + have left him. Tea companies, provision-dealing + companies, tobacconist companies, make the position + of the old-established private shop unstable + and the chances of the new beginner hopeless. Railways + and tramways take the custom more and more + effectually past the door of the small draper and outfitter + to the well-stocked establishments at the centre + of things; telephone and telegraph assist that shopping + at the centre more and more. The small + “middle-class” school-master finds himself beaten + by revived endowed schools and by new public + endowments; the small doctor, the local dentist, + find Harley Street always nearer to them and practitioners + in motor-cars from the great centres playing + havoc with their practices. And while the + small men are more and more distressed, the great + organizations of trade, of production, of public + science, continue to grow and coalesce, until at last + they grow into national or even world trusts, or into + publicly-owned monopolies. In America slaughtering + and selling meat has grown into a trust, steel + and iron are trustified, mineral oil is all gathered + into a few hands. All through the trades and professions + and sciences and all over the world the big eats + up the small, the new enlarged scale replaces the old.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page171" title="171"> </a>And this is equally true, though it is only now + beginning to be recognized, of the securities of that + other section of the middle class, the section which + lives upon invested money. There, too, big eats little. + There, too, the small man is more and more manifestly + at the mercy of the large organization. It was + a pleasant illusion of the Victorian time that one put + one’s hundred pounds or thousand pounds “into + something,” beside the rich man’s tens of thousands, + and drew one’s secure and satisfying dividends. + The intelligent reader of Mr. Lawson’s + <cite>Frenzied Finance</cite> or of the bankruptcy proceedings + of Mr. Hooley realizes this idyll is scarcely true to + nature. Through the seas and shallows of investment + flow great tides and depressions, on which the + big fortunes ride to harbour while the little accumulations, + capsized and swamped, quiver down to + the bottom. It becomes more and more true that + the small man saves his money for the rich man’s + pocket. Only by drastic State intervention is a + certain measure of safety secured for insurance, and + in America recently we have had the spectacle of + the people’s insurance-money used as a till by the + rich financiers.</p> + + <p>And when the middle-class man turns in his + desperation from the advance of the big competitor + who is consuming him, as a big codfish eats its little + brother, to the State, he meets a tax-paper; he sees + as the State’s most immediate aspect the rate-collector + <a class="pagenum" id="page172" title="172"> </a>and inexorable demands. The burthen of + taxation certainly falls upon him, and it falls upon + him because he is collectively the weakest class that + possesses any property to be taxed. Below him are + classes either too poor to tax or too politically + effective to stand taxation. Above him is the class + which owns a large part of the property in the + world; but it also owns the newspapers and periodicals + that are necessary for an adequate discussion + of social justice, and it finds it cheaper to pay a + voluntary tax to the hoardings at election time than + to take over the small man’s burdens. He rolls + about between these two parties, antagonized first + to one and then the other, and altogether helpless + and ineffectual. So the millstones grind, and so it + would seem they will continue to grind until there + is nothing between them; until organized property + in the hands of the few on the one hand and the + proletariat on the other grind face to face. So, + at least, Karl Marx taught in <cite>Das Kapital</cite>.</p> + + <p>But when one says the middle class will disappear, + one means that it will disappear as a class. + Its individuals and its children will survive, and the + whole process is not nearly so fatalistic as the + Marxists would have us believe. The new great + organizations that are replacing the little private + enterprises of the world before machinery are not + all private property. There are alternatives in the + matter of handling a great business. To the exact + <a class="pagenum" id="page173" title="173"> </a>nature of these alternatives the middle-class mind + needs to direct itself if it is to exert any control whatever + over its future. Take the case of the butcher. + It is manifestly written on the scroll of destiny that + the little private slaughter-house, the little independent + butcher’s shop, buying and selling locally, + must disappear. The meat will all be slaughtered + at some great, conveniently organized centre, and + distributed thence to shops that will necessarily be + mere agencies for distributing meat. Now, this + great slaughtering and distributing business may + either be owned by one or a group of owners working + it for profit—in which case it will be necessary + for the State to employ an unremunerative army of + inspectors to see that the business is kept decently + clean and honest—or it may be run by the public + authority. In the former case the present-day + butcher or his son will be a slaughterman or shopkeeper + employed by the private owners; in the latter + case by the public authority. This is equally true + of a milk-seller, of a small manufacturer, of a + builder, of a hundred and one other trades. They + are bound to be incorporated in a larger organization; + they are bound to become salaried men where + formerly they were independent men, and it is no + good struggling against that. It is doubtful, indeed, + whether from the standpoint of welfare it + would be worth the middle-class man’s while to + struggle against that. But in the case of very many + <a class="pagenum" id="page174" title="174"> </a>great public services—meat, milk, bread, transit, + housing and land administration, education and + research, and the public health—it is still an open + question whether the big organization is to be + publicly owned, publicly controlled, and constantly + refreshed by public scrutiny and comment, or + whether it is to be privately owned, and conducted + solely for the profit of a small group of very rich + owners. The alternatives are Plutocracy or Socialism, + and between these the middle-class man + remains weakly undecided and ineffectual, lending + no weight to and getting small consideration therefore + from either side. He remains so because he + has not grasped the real nature of his problem, + because he clings in the face of overwhelming fate + to the belief that in some way the wheels of change + may be arrested and his present method of living + preserved.</p> + + <p>I think, if he could shake himself free from that + impossible conservatism he would realize that his + interests lie with the interests of the intelligent working-class + man—that is to say, in the direction of + Socialism rather than in the direction of capitalistic + competition; that the best use he can make of such + educational and social advantages as still remain + for him is to become the willing leader instead of + the panic-fierce antagonist of the Socialist movement. + His place, I hold, is to forward the development + of that State and municipal machinery the + <a class="pagenum" id="page175" title="175"> </a>Socialist foreshadows, and to secure for himself and + his sons and daughters an adequate position and + voice in the administration. Instead of struggling + to diminish that burthen of public expenditure + which educates and houses, conveys and protects + him and his children, he ought rather to increase + it joyfully, while at the same time working manfully + to transfer its pressure to the broad shoulders of + those very rich people who have hitherto evaded + their legitimate share of it. The other course is to + continue his present policy of obstinate resistance to + the extension of public property and public services. + In which case these things will necessarily become + that basis of monopolistic property on which the + coming plutocracy will establish itself. The middle-class + man will be taxed and competed out of independence + just the same, and he will become a + salaried officer just the same, but with a different + sort of master and under different social conditions + according as one or other of these alternatives + prevails.</p> + + <p>Which is the better master—the democratic State + or a “combine” of millionaires? Which will give + the best social atmosphere for one’s children to + breathe—a Plutocracy or a Socialism? That is the + real question to which the middle-class man should + address himself.</p> + + <p>No doubt to many minds a Plutocracy presents + many attractions. In the works of Thomas Love + <a class="pagenum" id="page176" title="176"> </a>Peacock, and still more clearly in the works of Mr. + W. H. Mallock, you will find an agreeable rendering + of that conception. The bulk of the people will + be organized out of sight in a state of industrious + and productive congestion, and a wealthy, leisurely, + and refined minority will live in spacious homes, + with excellent museums, libraries, and all the equipments + of culture; will go to town, concentrate in + Paris, London, and Rome, and travel about the + world. It is to these large, luxurious, powerful lives + that the idealist naturally turns. Their motor-cars, + their aeroplanes, their steam yachts will awaken + terror and respect in every corner of the globe. + Their handsome doings will fill the papers. They + will patronize the arts and literature, while at the + same time mellowing them by eliminating that too + urgent insistence upon contemporary fact which + makes so much of what is done to-day harsh and + displeasing. The middle-class tradition will be + continued by a class of stewards, tenants, managers, + and foremen, secretaries and the like, respected and + respectful. The writer, the artist, will lead lives of + comfortable dependence, a link between class and + class, the lowest of the rich man’s guests, the + highest of his servants. As for the masses, they + will be fed with a sort of careless vigour and considerable + economy from the Chicago stockyards, + and by agricultural produce trusts, big breweries, + fresh-water companies, and the like; they will be + <a class="pagenum" id="page177" title="177"> </a>organized industrially and carefully controlled. + Their spiritual needs will be provided for by + churches endowed by the wealthy, their physical + distresses alleviated by the hope of getting charitable + aid, their lives made bright and adventurous + by the crumbs of sport that fall from the rich man’s + table. They will crowd to see the motor-car races, + the aeroplane competitions. It will be a world + rich in contrasts and not without its gleam of pure + adventure. Every bright young fellow of capacity + will have the hope of catching the eye of some + powerful personage, of being advanced to some + high position of trust, of even ending his days as a + partner, a subordinate assistant plutocrat. Or he + may win a quite agreeable position by literary or + artistic merit. A pretty girl, a clever woman of the + middle class would have before her even more brilliant + and romantic possibilities.</p> + + <p>There can be no denying the promises of colour + and eventfulness a Plutocracy holds out, and though + they do not attract me, I can quite understand their + appeal to the more ductile and appreciative mind of + Mr. Mallock. But there are countervailing considerations. + There is, it is said, a tendency in + Plutocracies either to become unprogressive, unenterprising + and stagnantly autocratic, or to develop + states of stress and discontent, and so drift towards + Cæsarism. The latter was the fate of the Roman + Republic, and may perhaps be the destiny of the + <a class="pagenum" id="page178" title="178"> </a>budding young Plutocracy of America. But the + developing British Plutocracy, like the Carthaginian, + will be largely Semitic in blood, and like the + Carthaginian may resist these insurgent tendencies.</p> + + <p>So much for the Plutocratic possibility. If the + middle-class man on any account does not like that + outlook, he can turn in the other direction; and + then he will find fine promises indeed, but much + more uncertainty than towards Plutocracy. Plutocracies + the world has seen before, but a democratic + civilization organized upon the lines laid down by + modern Socialists would be a new beginning in the + world’s history. It is not a thing that will come + about by itself; it will have to be the outcome of a + sustained moral and intellectual effort in the community. + If there is not that effort, if things go on + as they are going now, the coming of a Plutocracy + is inevitable. That effort, I am convinced, cannot + be successfully made by the lower-class man alone; + from him, unaided and unguided, there is nothing + to be expected but wild convulsive attempts at social + upheaval, which, whether they succeed (as the French + Revolution did) or fail (as did the insurrectionary + outbreaks of the Republic in Rome), lead ultimately + to a Napoleon or a Cæsar. But our contemporary + civilization is unprecedented in the fact that the + whole population now reads, and that intelligence + and free discussion saturate the whole mass. Only + time can show what possibilities of understanding, + <a class="pagenum" id="page179" title="179"> </a>leadership, and political action lie in our new + generation of the better-educated middle class. + Will it presently begin to define a line for itself? + Will it remain disorganized and passive, or will it + become intelligent and decisive between these millstones + of the organized property and the organizing + State, between Plutocracy and Socialism, whose + opposition is the supreme social and political fact in + the world at the present time?</p> + + <h3 id="ch8_s2">§ 2.</h3> + + <p>Perhaps, also, it may be helpful here to insert + a view of the contemporary possibilities of Socialism + from a rather different angle, a view that + follows on to the matter of the previous section, but + appeals to a different section of the Middle Class. + It is a quotation from the <cite>Magazine of Commerce</cite> + for September 1907, and leads to an explanation by + the present writer.</p> + + <blockquote> + <p>“The recent return of Mr. Grayson, a Socialist, as + member of Parliament for the Colne Valley, has brought + prominently before the public mind the question of + Socialism. Mr. Pete Curran’s success at Jarrow a + month or so ago, and the large number of Labour + members returned at the last General Election, caused + more or less desultory comment on Socialism as a + possible feature of practical politics in the remote + future; but Mr. Grayson can certainly claim that his + achievement at Colne Valley brought the question of + Socialism in to the very forefront at one bound. It + <a class="pagenum" id="page180" title="180"> </a>is difficult to ignore Socialism, to dismiss it as a mere + fad and fancy of a few hare-brained enthusiasts, after + Mr. Grayson’s success. The verdict of Colne Valley + may be the verdict of many another constituency + where the so-called working-class electors are numerically + predominant. When we consider that the manual + worker represents the majority of the electorate of the + country, this contingency does not appear to be so very + remote, provided that the leaders of Socialism can + organize their resources and canvass the working-men + on a wide and carefully-planned scale. In this respect + the Colne Valley result may very well give them the + lead and stimulus they have been waiting for. It must + be borne in mind, too, that the forward section of the + Labour Party is avowedly Socialist in its sympathies, + and a definite start may therefore be said to have been + made towards capturing the machinery of Government + in the Cause of Socialism.</p> + + <p>“How will Socialism affect the business world? This + is a question which many thoughtful business men + must have already put to themselves. For reply we + must go to the leaders of Socialism, and discover what + their policy actually is. The common impression that + Socialism spells barefaced confiscation is too superficial + to be seriously adduced as an argument against + Socialism. The leaders of the Cause include some of + the cleverest men of the day—men who have a more + rational basis for their policy than that of simply robbing + Peter to pay Paul. The suggestion that Socialism + means a compulsory ‘share out’ may be rightly + dismissed as an idle scare. The most bitter opponent + of Socialism must at least admit that there is a stronger + argument to be met than that implied by the parrot-cry + of ‘spoliation.’ Socialism has, at any rate, so far advanced + as to be allowed the ordinary courtesies of + <a class="pagenum" id="page181" title="181"> </a>debate. We may oppose it tooth and nail, but we + must confront argument with argument and not with + abuse.</p> + + <p>“Despite much excellent literature which is read + widely by cultured people, very little is known by the + general public of the principles which modern British + Socialists have adopted as their guiding rules. Few + business men care to study the subject. We have + therefore addressed a letter to the chief leaders of the + Cause, with the purpose of ascertaining the effect + which Socialism would have on our business habits. + Our object was to discover how far Socialism might + disturb or improve business; whether it would altogether + subvert present methods, or whether it could + be applied without injury to these methods. To put + the matter very plainly, we wished to learn whether + we should carry on our business much as we do now, + giving free play to individual effort and individual + fortune-building.</p> + + <p>“The reply of Mr. Wells is as follows:—</p> + + <blockquote> + <p class="salutation">“‘My Dear Sir,</p> + + <p>“‘I wish very much I could reply at adequate + length to your very admirably framed question. + The constant stream of abuse and of almost imbecile + misrepresentations of Socialism in the Press has + no doubt served to distort the idea of our movement + in the minds of a large proportion of busy men, + and filled them with an unfounded dread of social + insecurity. If it were possible to allay that by an + epigrammatic programme, “Socialism in a Nutshell,” + so to speak, I would do my best. But the + <a class="pagenum" id="page182" title="182"> </a>economic and trading system of a modern State is + not only a vast and complex tangle of organizations, + but at present an uncharted tangle, and necessarily + the methods of transition from the limited + individualism of our present condition to the scientifically-organized + State, which is the Socialist ideal, + must be gradual, tentative and various.</p> + + <p>“‘To build up a body of social and economic + science, to develop a class of trained administrators, + to rearrange local government areas, to educate the + whole community in the “sense of the State” are + necessary parts of the Socialist scheme. You must + try and induce your readers to recognize that when + Socialism finds such supporters as Sir Oliver Lodge + and Professor Karl Pearson, as William Morris + (who revolutionized the furniture trade), as Granville + Barker (who is revolutionizing the London + stage), as Mr. George Cadbury and Mr. Fels + (whose names are not unknown in the world of + advertisement), as Mr. Allan (of the Allan Line), as + Mr. George Bernard Shaw and Mrs. Shaw, Mr. + and Mrs. Sidney Webb and Sir Sidney Olivier (the + present Governor of Jamaica)—all of them fairly + comfortable and independent people, practically + acquainted with the business of investment and + affairs generally and quite alive to the present relations + of property to the civilized life—the suggestion + that it is a raid of the ignorant “Have-nots” + on the possessions of the wise and good “Haves” + <a class="pagenum" id="page183" title="183"> </a>cannot be a very intelligent one nor addressed to + very intelligent people. Essentially Socialism is + the scientifically-organized State as distinguished + from the haphazard, wasteful, blundering, child-sweating + State of the eighteenth century. It is + the systematization of present tendency. Necessarily + its methods of transition will be progressively + scientific and humane.</p> + + <p>“‘So far as your specific questions go, I do not + think there could possibly be anything in the nature + of “compulsory profit-sharing” if a Socialist + Government came into office. There is at present + a compulsory profit-sharing in the form of an income-tax, + but that tax does not appeal to the + Socialist as a particularly scientific one. The + advent of a strongly-Socialist Government would + mean no immediate revolutionary changes at all. + There would be, no doubt, a vigorous acceleration + of the educational movement to increase the economic + value and productivity of the average citizen + of the next generation, and legislation upon the + lines laid down by the principle of the “minimum + wage” to check the waste of our national resources + by destructive employment. Also a systematic + shifting of the burthen of taxation from enterprise + to rent would begin. But nothing convulsive would + occur.’”</p> + + <p>“‘The means of transit and communication of the + country (both internal and external), and especially + <a class="pagenum" id="page184" title="184"> </a>the railways and canals (which are now rapidly falling + into inefficiency through the exhaustion of their + capital upon excessive dividends in the past), would + probably be transferred from competitive private to + organized public control—a transfer that would + certainly be enormously stimulating to business + generally. There would be no “robbery,” the + former shareholders would become stock or annuity + holders. Nor would there be any financial convulsion + due to the raising of the “enormous sum” + necessary to effect this purchase. The country + would simply create stock, while at the same time + taking over assets to balance the new liability.</p> + + <p>“‘A Socialist Government would certainly also + acquire the coal mines and the coal trade, and + relieve industry from the inconveniences due to the + manipulation of the supply of this vitally important + factor, and it would accelerate the obvious tendency + of the present time to bring the milk trade, the + drink trade, slaughtering, local traffic, lighting and + power supply into public hands. But none of this + is the destruction of property, but only its organization + and standardization. Such a State organization + of public services is, I submit, enough to keep + a Socialist Government busy for some few years, + and makes not only for social progress, but social + stability.</p> + + <p>“‘And does an honest and capable business man + stand to lose or gain by the coming of such a + <a class="pagenum" id="page185" title="185"> </a>Socialist Government? I submit that, on the + whole, he stands to gain. Let me put down + the essential points in his outlook as I conceive + them.</p> + + <p>“‘Under a Socialist Government such as is quite + possible in England at the present time:—</p> + + <p>“‘He will be restricted from methods of production + and sale that are socially mischievous.</p> + + <p>“‘He will pay higher wages.</p> + + <p>“‘He will pay a larger proportion of his rate-rent + outgoings to the State and Municipality, and less to + the landlord. Ultimately he will pay it all to the + State or Municipality, and as a voter help to determine + how it shall be spent, and the landlord will + become a Government stock-holder. Practically + he will get his rent returned to him in public + services.</p> + + <p>“‘He will speedily begin to get better-educated, + better-fed and better-trained workers, so that he + will get money value for the higher wages he + pays.</p> + + <p>“‘He will get a regular, safe, cheap supply of + power and material. He will get cheaper and more + efficient internal and external transit.</p> + + <p>“‘He will be under an organized scientific State, + which will naturally pursue a vigorous scientific + collective policy in support of the national trade.</p> + + <p>“‘He will be less of an adventurer and more of a + citizen….’”</p> + </blockquote> + </blockquote> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page186" title="186"> </a>So I wrote to the <cite>Magazine of Commerce</cite>, and that + for the energetic man who is conducting a real and + socially useful business is the outlook. Socialism + is not the coming of chaos and repudiation, it is the + coming of order and justice. For confusion and + accident and waste, the Socialist seeks to substitute + design and collective economy. That too is the individual + aim of every good business man who is not + a mere advertising cheat or financial adventurer. To + the sound-minded, clear-headed man of affairs, Socialism + appeals just as it appeals to the scientific man, + to the engineer, to the artist, because it is the same + reality, the large scale aspect of the same constructive + motive, that stirs in himself.</p> + + <h3 id="ch8_s3">§ 3.</h3> + + <p>Let me finally quote the chairman of one of the + most enterprising and enlightened business organizations + of our time to show that in claiming the + better type of business man for modern Socialism + I am making no vain boast. Sir John Brunner may + not call himself a Socialist, but this is very probably + due to the fact that he gets his ideas of Socialism + from the misquotations of its interested adversaries. + This that follows from the <cite>Manchester + Guardian</cite> is pure Socialism.</p> + + <blockquote> + <p>Speaking at the annual meeting of Brunner, Mond and + Co., Ltd., in Liverpool (1907), the chairman, Sir John + Brunner, M.P., made a remarkable pronouncement on + <a class="pagenum" id="page187" title="187"> </a>the subject of the collective ownership of canals. He + said:—</p> + + <p>“I have been one of a Royal Commission visiting the + North of France, Belgium, and Northern Germany, and + our duty has been to examine what those three countries + have done in the improvement of their canals and their + waterways. We have been very deeply impressed by + what we have seen, and I can tell you to-day, speaking + as a man of business to men of business, that the fact + that in these three countries there is communal effort—that + is to say, that the State in money and in credit for the + benefit of the national trade—has brought to those three + countries enormous, almost incalculable, benefits; and + I think that any man, any intelligent man, who studies + this matter as I have studied it for a great many years, + will come the conclusion, as I have come very clearly + and decidedly, that the old policy which we have adopted + for generations of leaving all public works to private + enterprise—the old policy, so called, of <em lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">laissez faire</em>—is + played out completely, and I am of opinion, very firmly, + that, if we mean to hold our own in matters of trade, + we must learn to follow the example that has been set + us not only by France, Belgium, and Germany, but by + the United States and by every one of the Colonies of + our Empire. Everywhere do you find that trade is + helped by the effort of the community, by the force of + the State, and I shall be very heartily pleased if those + who hear me will think the matter over and decide for + themselves whether or not we as business people—preeminently + the business people of the world—are to + maintain the old policy of leaving everything to private + enterprise, or whether we are to act together for the + good of all in this important matter of the national + trade.”</p> + </blockquote> + +</div> +<div id="chapter_9" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page188" title="188"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter-number">CHAPTER IX</span><br /> + SOME COMMON OBJECTIONS TO SOCIALISM</h2> + + <h3 id="ch9_s1">§ 1.</h3> + + <p><span class="first_word">In</span> the preceding eight chapters I have sought + to give as plain and full an account of the great + generalizations of Socialism as I can, and to make + it clear exactly what these generalizations convey, + and how far they go in this direction and that. + Before we go on to a brief historical and anticipatory + account of the actual Socialist movement, it + may be worth while to take up and consider compactly + the chief objections that are urged against + the general propositions of Socialism in popular + discussion.</p> + + <p>Now a very large proportion of these arise out + of the commonest vice of the human mind, its + disposition to see everything as “yes” or “no,” + as “black” or “white,” its impatience, its incapacity + for a fine discrimination of intermediate + shades.<a href="#footnote_14" id="fnm14" title="See 'Scepticism of the Instrument,'..." class="fnmarker">14</a> The queer old scholastic logic still prevails + <a class="pagenum" id="page189" title="189"> </a>remarkably in our modern world; you find + Mr. Mallock, for example, going about arranging + his syllogisms, extracting his opponent’s “self-contradictions,” + and disposing of Socialism with + stupendous self-satisfaction in all the magazines. + He disposes of Socialism quite in the spirit of the + young mediæval scholar returning home to prove + beyond dispute that “my cat has ten tails” and, + given a yard’s start, that a tortoise can always keep + ahead of a running man. The essential fallacy is + always to declare that either a thing is A or it is + not A; either a thing is green or it is not green; + either a thing is heavy or it is not heavy. Unthinking + people, and some who ought to know better, + fall into that trap. They dismiss from their minds + the fact that there is a tinge of green in nearly + every object in the world, and that there is no such + thing as pure green, unless it be just one line or + so in the long series of the spectrum; they forget + that the lightest thing has weight and that the + heaviest thing can be lifted. The rest of the process + is simple and has no relation whatever to the + realities of life. They agree to some hard and + fast impossible definition of Socialism, permit the + exponent to extract absurdities therefrom as a conjurer + gets rabbits from a hat, and retire with a + conviction that on the whole it is well to have had + this disturbing matter settled once for all.</p> + + <p>For example, the Anti-Socialist declares that + <a class="pagenum" id="page190" title="190"> </a>Socialism “abolishes property.” He makes believe + there is a hard absolute thing called “property” + which must either be or not be, which is + now, and which will not be under Socialism. To + any person with a philosophical education this is a + ridiculous mental process, but it seems perfectly + rational to an untrained mind—and that is the usual + case with the Anti-Socialist. Having achieved this + initial absurdity, he then asks in a tone of bitter + protest whether a man may not sleep in his own + bed, and is he to do nothing if he finds a coal-heaver + already in possession when he retires? + This is the method of Mr. G. R. Sims, that delightful + writer, who from altitudes of exhaustive misunderstanding + tells the working-man that under + Socialism he will have—I forget his exact formula, + but it is a sort of refrain—no money of his own, no + home of his own, no wife of his own, no hair of + his own! It is effective nonsense in its way—but + nonsense nevertheless. In my preceding chapters + I hope I have made it clear that “property” + even to-day is a very qualified and uncertain + thing, a natural vague instinct capable of perversion + and morbid exaggeration and needing control, + and that Socialism seeks simply to give it a + sharper, juster and rationally limited form in relation + to the common-weal.</p> + + <p>Or again, the opponent has it that Socialism + “abolishes the family”—and with it, of course, + <a class="pagenum" id="page191" title="191"> </a>“every sacred and tender association,” etc., etc. + To that also I have given a chapter.</p> + + <p>I do not think much Anti-Socialism is dishonest + in these matters. The tricks of deliberate falsification, + forgery and falsehood that discredit a few + Conservative candidates and speakers in the north + of England and smirch the reputations of one or two + London papers, are due to a quite exceptional streak + of baseness in what is on the whole a straightforward + opposition to Socialism. Anti-Socialism, as its name + implies, is no alternative doctrine; it is a mental + resistance, not a mental force. For the most part + one is dealing with sheer intellectual incapacity; + with people, muddle-headed perhaps, but quite + well-meaning, who are really unable to grasp the + quantitative element in things. They think with + a simple flat certitude that if, for example, a doctor + says quinine is good for a case it means that he + wishes to put every ounce of quinine that can be + procured into his patient, to focus all the quinine + in the world upon him; or that if a woman says + she likes dancing, that thereby she declares her + intention to dance until she drops. They are dear + lumpish souls who like things “straightforward” + as they say—all or nothing. They think qualifications + or any quantitative treatment “quibbling,” + to be loudly scorned, bawled down and set aside.</p> + + <p>In controversy the temptations for a hot and + generous temperament, eager for victory, to misstate + <a class="pagenum" id="page192" title="192"> </a>and overstate the antagonist’s position are + enormous, and the sensible Socialist must allow + for them unless he is to find discussion intolerable. + The reader of the preceding chapters should know + exactly how Socialism stands to the family relations, + the things it urges, the things it regards with + impartiality or patient toleration, the things it + leaves alone. The preceding chapters merely summarize + a literature that has been accessible for + years. Yet it is extraordinary how few antagonists + of Socialism seem able even to approach these + questions in a rational manner. One admirably + typical critic of a pamphlet in which I propounded + exactly the same opinions as are here set out in + the third chapter, found great comfort in the expression + “brood mares.” He took hold of my + phrase, “State family,” and ran wild with it. He + declared it to be my intention that women were no + longer to be wives but “brood mares” for the + State. Nothing would convince him that this was + a glaring untruth. His mind was essentially + equestrian; “human stud farm” was another of + his expressions.<a href="#footnote_15" id="fnm15" title="What makes the expression..." class="fnmarker">15</a> Ridicule and argument failed to + touch him; I believe he would have gone to the + <a class="pagenum" id="page193" title="193"> </a>stake to justify his faith that Socialists want to put + woman in the Government <em>haras</em>. His thick-headedness + had, indeed, a touch of the heroic.</p> + + <p>Then a certain Father Phelan of St. Louis, no + doubt in a state of mental exaltation as honest as + it was indiscriminating, told the world through the + columns of an American magazine that I wanted + to tear the babe from the mother’s breast and + thrust it into an “Institution.” He said worse + things than that—but I set them aside as pulpit + eloquence. Some readers, no doubt, knew better + and laughed, but many were quite sincerely + shocked, and resolved after that to give Socialism + a very wide berth indeed. <em lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Honi soit qui mal y + pense</em>; the revolting ideas that disgusted them + were not mine, they came from some hot dark + reservoir of evil thoughts that years of chastity + and discipline seem to have left intact in Father + Phelan’s soul.</p> + + <p>The error in all these cases is the error of overstatement, + of getting into a condition of confused + intellectual excitement, and because a critic declares + your window curtains too blue, saying, therefore, + and usually with passion, that he wants the whole + universe, sky and sea included, painted bright + orange. The inquirer into the question of Socialism + will find that an almost incurable disease of these + controversies. Again and again he will meet with + it. If after that critic’s little proposition about your + <a class="pagenum" id="page194" title="194"> </a>window curtains he chances to say that on the + whole he thinks an orange sky would be unpleasant, + the common practice is to accuse him of + not “sticking to his guns.”</p> + + <p>My friends, Mr. G. K. Chesterton and Mr. Max + Beerbohm, those brilliant ornaments of our age, + when they chance to write about Socialism, confess + this universal failing—albeit in a very different + quality and measure. They are not, it is true, distressed + by that unwashed coal-heaver who haunts + the now private bed of the common Anti-Socialist, + nor have they any horrid vision of the fathers of + the community being approved by a select committee + of the County Council—no doubt wrapped + in horse-cloths and led out by their grooms—such + as troubles the spurred and quivering soul of that + equestrian—I forget his name—the “brood-mare” + gentleman who denounced me in the <cite>Pall Mall + Gazette</cite>; but their souls fly out in a passion of protest + against the hints of discipline and order the + advancement of Socialism reveals. Mr. G. K. + Chesterton mocks valiantly and passionately, I + know, against an oppressive and obstinately recurrent + anticipation of himself in Socialist hands, hair + clipped, meals of a strictly hygienic description at + regular hours, a fine for laughing—not that he + would want to laugh—and austere exercises in + several of the more metallic virtues daily. Mr. + Max Beerbohm’s conception is rather in the nature + <a class="pagenum" id="page195" title="195"> </a>of a nightmare, a hopeless, horrid, frozen flight + from the pursuit of Mr. Sidney Webb and myself, + both of us short, inelegant men indeed, but for all + that terribly resolute, indefatigable, incessant, to + capture him, to drag him off to a mechanical Utopia + and there to take his thumb-mark and his name, + number him distinctly in indelible ink, dress him + in an unbecoming uniform, and let him loose (under + inspection) in a world of neat round lakes of blue + lime water and vistas of white sanitary tiling….</p> + + <p>The method of reasoning in all these cases is the + same; it is to assume that whatever the Socialist + postulates as desirable is wanted without limit or + qualification, to imagine whatever proposal is + chosen for the controversy is to be carried out by + uncontrolled monomaniacs, and so to make a + picture of the Socialist dream. This picture is + presented to the simple-minded person in doubt + with “This is Socialism. Surely! SURELY! + you don’t want this!”</p> + + <p>And occasionally the poor, simple-minded person + really is overcome by these imagined terrors. He + turns back to our dingy realities again, to the good + old grimy world he knows, thanking God beyond + measure that he will never live to see the hateful + day when one baby out of every four ceases to + die in our manufacturing towns, when lives of + sordid care are banished altogether from the earth, + and when the “sense of humour” and the cult of + <a class="pagenum" id="page196" title="196"> </a>Mark Tapley which flourishes so among these + things will be in danger of perishing from disuse….</p> + + <p>But the reader sees now what Socialism is in its + essentials, the tempered magnificence of the constructive + scheme to which it asks him to devote his + life. It is a laborious, immense project to make + the world a world of social justice, of opportunity + and full living, to abolish waste, to abolish the + lavish unpremeditated cruelty of our present social + order. Do not let the wit or perversity of the + adversary or, what is often a far worse influence, + the zeal and overstatement of the headlong advocate, + do not let the manifest personal deficiencies + of this spokesman or that, distract you from the + living heart in Socialism, its broad generosity of + conception, its immense claim in kinship and direction + upon your Good Will.</p> + + <h3 id="ch9_s2">§ 2.</h3> + + <p>For the convenience of those readers who are + in the position of inquirers, I had designed at this + point a section which was to contain a list of the + chief objections to Socialism—other than mere + misrepresentations—which are current now-a-days. + I had meant at first to answer each one fully and + gravely, to clear them all up exhaustively and + finally before proceeding. But I find now upon + jotting them down, that they are for the most part + <a class="pagenum" id="page197" title="197"> </a>already anticipated by the preceding chapters, and + so I will note them here, very compactly indeed, + and make but the briefest comment upon each.</p> + + <p>There is first the assertion, which effectually bars + a great number of people from further inquiry into + Socialist teaching, that <em>Socialism is contrary to + Christianity</em>. I would urge that this is the absolute + inversion of the truth. Christianity involves, I am + convinced, a practical Socialism if it is honestly + carried out. This is not only my conviction, but + the reader, if he is a Nonconformist, can find it set + out at length by Dr. Clifford in a Fabian tract, + <cite>Socialism and the Teaching of Christ</cite>; and, if a + Churchman, by the Rev. Stewart Headlam in + another, <cite>Christian Socialism</cite>. He will find a longer + and fuller discussion of this question in the Rev. + R. J. Campbell’s <cite>Christianity and Social Order</cite>. + In the list of members of such a Socialist Society as + the Fabian Society will be found the names of + clergy of the principal Christian denominations, + excepting only the Roman Catholic Church. It is + said, indeed, that a good Catholic of the Roman + Communion cannot also be any sort of Socialist. + Even this very general persuasion may not be + correct. I believe the papal prohibition was originally + aimed entirely at a specific form of Socialism, + the Socialism of Marx, Engels and Bebel, which is, + I must admit, unfortunately strongly anti-Christian + in tone, as is the Socialism of the British Social + <a class="pagenum" id="page198" title="198"> </a>Democratic Federation to this day. It is true that + many leaders of the Socialist party have also been + Secularists, and that they have mingled their theological + prejudices with their political work. This + is the case not only in Germany and America, but + in Great Britain, where Mr. Robert Blatchford of + the <cite>Clarion</cite>, for example, has also carried on a campaign + against doctrinal Christianity. But this + association of Secularism and Socialism is only the + inevitable throwing together of two sets of ideas + because they have this in common, that they run + counter to generally received opinions; there is no + other connection. Many prominent Secularists, + like Charles Bradlaugh and Mr. J. M. Robertson, + are as emphatically anti-Socialist as the Pope. + Secularists and Socialists get thrown together and + classed together just as early Christians and + criminals and rebels against the Emperor were no + doubt thrown together in the Roman gaols. They + had this much in common, that they were in conflict + with what most people considered to be right. + It is a confusion that needs constant explaining + away. It is to me a most lamentable association + of two entirely separate thought processes, one + constructive socially and the other destructive intellectually, + and I have already, in Chapter VI., <a href="#ch6_s4">§ 4</a>, + done my best to disavow it.</p> + + <p><em>Socialism is pure Materialism, it seeks only + physical well-being</em>,—just as much as nursing + <a class="pagenum" id="page199" title="199"> </a>lepers for pity and the love of God is pure + materialism that seeks only physical well-being.</p> + + <p><em>Socialism advocates Free Love.</em> This objection + I have also disposed of in Chapter VI., <a href="#ch6_s2">§§ 2</a> and <a href="#ch6_s4">4</a>.</p> + + <p><em>Socialism renders love impossible, and reduces + humanity to the condition of a stud farm.</em> This, + too, has been already dealt with; see Chapter + III., <a href="#ch3_s2">§§ 2</a> and <a href="#ch3_s5">5</a>, and Chapter VI., <a href="#ch6_s2">§§ 2</a>, <a href="#ch6_s3">3</a>, and <a href="#ch6_s4">4</a>. + These two objections generally occur together in + the same anti-Socialist speech or tract.</p> + + <p><em>Socialism would destroy parental responsibility.</em> + This absurd perversion is altogether disposed of in + Chapter VI., <a href="#ch6_s3">§ 3</a>. It is a direct inversion of current + Socialist teaching.</p> + + <h3 id="ch9_s3">§ 3.</h3> + + <p><em>Socialism would open the way to vast public + corruption.</em> This is flatly opposed to the experience + of America, where local administration has + been as little Socialistic and as corrupt as anywhere + in the world. Obviously in order that a + public official should be bribed, there must be some + wealthy person outside the system to bribe him and + with an interest in bribing him. When you have + a weak administration with feeble powers and + resources and strong unscrupulous private corporations + seeking to override the law and public welfare, + the possibilities of bribing are at the highest + point. In a community given over to the pursuit + <a class="pagenum" id="page200" title="200"> </a>of gain, powerful private enterprises will resort to + corruption to get and protract franchises, to evade + penalties, to postpone expropriation, and they will + do it systematically and successfully. And even + where there is partial public enterprise and a competition + among contractors, there will certainly be, + at least, attempts at corruption to get contracts. + But where the whole process is in public hands, + where can the bribery creep in; who is going to + find the money for the bribes, and why?</p> + + <p>It is urged that in another direction there is + likely to be a corruption of public life due to the + organized voting of the <em>employés</em> in this branch + of the public service or that, seeking some advantage + for their own service. This is Lord Avebury’s + bogey.<a href="#footnote_16" id="fnm16" title="On Municipal and National Trading..." class="fnmarker">16</a> Frankly, such voting by services + is highly probable. The tramway men or the milk-service + men may think they are getting too long + hours or too low pay in comparison with the + teachers or men on the ocean liners, and the thing + may affect elections. That is only human nature, + and the point to bear in mind is that this sort of + thing goes on to-day, and goes on with a vigour + out of all proportion to the mild possibilities of a + Socialist <em lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">régime</em>. The landowners of Great Britain, + for example, are organized in the most formidable + manner against the general interests of the community, + <a class="pagenum" id="page201" title="201"> </a>and constantly subordinate the interests of + the common-weal to their conception of justice to + their class; the big railways are equally potent, and + so are the legal profession and the brewers. But + to-day these political interventions of great organized + services athwart the path of statesmanship are + sustained by enormous financial resources. The + State <em>employés</em> under Socialism will be in the position + of employing one another and paying one + another; the teacher, for example, will be educating + the sons of the tramway men up to the requirements + of the public paymaster, and travelling in + the trams to and from his work; there will be close + mutual observation and criticism, therefore, and a + strong community of spirit, and that will put very + definite limits indeed upon the possibly evil influence + of class and service interests in politics.</p> + + <p><em>Socialism would destroy Incentive and Efficiency.</em> + This is dealt with in <a href="#chapter_5">Chapter V</a>. on the Spirit of + Gain and the Spirit of Service.</p> + + <p><em>Socialism is economically unsound.</em> The student + of Socialism who studies—and every student of + Socialism should study very carefully—the literature + directed against Socialism, will encounter a + number of rather confused and frequently very + confusing arguments running upon “business” or + “economic” lines. In nearly all of these the root + error is a misconception of the nature and aim of + Socialist claims. Sometimes this misconception is + <a class="pagenum" id="page202" title="202"> </a>stated and manifest, often it is subtly implied, and + then it presents the greatest difficulties to the inexpert + dialectician. I find, for instance, Mr. W. H. + Lever, in an article on Socialism and Business in + the <cite>Magazine of Commerce</cite> for October 1907, assuming + that there will be no increase in the total + wealth of the community under Socialism, whereas, + as my fourth chapter shows, Socialist proposals + in the matter of property aim directly at the cessation + of the waste occasioned by competition through + the duplication and multiplication of material and + organizations (see for example the quotation from + Elihu, p. 69), and at the removal of the obstructive + claims of private ownership (see p. 65) from the + path of production. If Socialism does not increase + the total wealth of the community, Socialism is + impossible.</p> + + <p>Having made this assumption, however, Mr. + Lever next assumes that all contemporary business + is productive of honest, needed commodities, and + that its public utility and its profitable conduct + measure one another. But this ignores the manifest + fact that success in business now-a-days is far more + often won by the mere salesmanship of mediocre + or inferior or short-weight goods than it is by + producing exceptional value, and the Kentish railways, + for example, are a standing contrast of the + conflict between public service and private profit-seeking. + But having committed himself to these + <a class="pagenum" id="page203" title="203"> </a>two entirely unsound assumptions, it is easy for + Mr. Lever to show that since Socialism will give no + more wealth, and since what he calls Labour, + Capital and the Employer (<em>i. e.</em> Labour, Plant and + Management) are necessary to production and must + be maintained out of the total product, there will + be little more, practically, for the Labourer under + Socialist conditions than under the existing <em lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">régime</em>. + Going on further to assume that the Owner is + always enterprising and intelligent and public-spirited, + and the State stupid (which is a quite unjustifiable + assumption), he shows their share may + even be less. But the whole case for the Socialist + proposals, the student must bear in mind, rests + upon the recognition that private management of + our collective concerns means chaotic and socially + wasteful management—however efficient it may be + in individual cases for competitive purposes—and + that the systematic abolition of the parasitic Owner + from our economic process implies the replacement + of confusion by order and an immense increase in + the efficiency of that economic process. Socialism + is economy. If the student of Socialism does not + bear this in mind, if once he allows the assumption + to creep in that Socialism is not so much a proposal + to change, concentrate and organize the economic + process, as one to distribute the existing wealth of + the country in some new manner, he will find there + is a bad case for Socialism.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page204" title="204"> </a>It is an amusing and I think a fair comment on + the arguments of Mr. Lever that a year or so ago + he was actually concerned—no doubt in the interests + of the public as well as his own—in organizing the + production and distribution of soap so as to economize + the waste and avoid the public disservice due + to the extreme competition of the soap dealers. + He wanted to do in the soap industry just exactly + what Socialism wants to do in the case of all public + services, that is to say he wanted to give it the + economic advantages of a Great Combine. In + some directions the saving to the soap interest + would have been immense; all the vast expenditure + upon newspaper advertisements, for example, all + the waste upon competing travellers would have + been saved. Whether the public would have benefited + greatly or not is beside the present question; + Mr. Lever and other great soap proprietors would + certainly have benefited enormously. They would + have benefited by working as a collective interest + instead of as independent private owners. But in + this little experiment in what was really a sort of + voluntary Socialism for particular ends, Mr. Lever + reckoned without another great system of private + adventurers, the halfpenny newspaper proprietors, + who had hitherto been drawing large sums from + soap advertisement, and who had in fact been so + far parasitic on the public soap supply. One + group of these papers at once began a campaign + <a class="pagenum" id="page205" title="205"> </a>against the “Soap Trust,” a campaign almost as + noisy and untruthful as the anti-Socialist campaign. + They accused Mr. Lever of nearly every sort of + cheating that can be done by a soap seller, and + anticipated every sort of oppression a private + monopolist can practise. In the end they paid + unprecedented damages for libel, but they stopped + Mr. Lever’s intelligent and desirable endeavours to + replace the waste and disorder of our existing soap + supply by a simple and more efficient organization. + Mr. Lever cannot have forgotten these facts; they + were surely in the back of his mind when he wrote + his “Socialism and Business” paper, and it is a + curious instance of the unconscious limitations one + may encounter in a mind of exceptional ability that + he could not bring them forward and apply them to + the problem in hand.</p> + + <p><em>Socialism is unbusinesslike.</em> See Chapter VIII., <a href="#ch8_s2">§§ 2</a> and <a href="#ch8_s3">3</a>.</p> + + <h3 id="ch9_s4">§ 4.</h3> + + <p><em>Socialism would destroy freedom.</em> This is a + more considerable difficulty. To begin with it + may be necessary to remind the reader that absolute + freedom is an impossibility. As I have written + in my <cite>Modern Utopia</cite>:—</p> + + <blockquote> + <p>“The idea of individual liberty is one that has grown + in importance and grows with every development of + modern thought. To the classical Utopists freedom + <a class="pagenum" id="page206" title="206"> </a>was relatively trivial. Clearly they considered virtue + and happiness as entirely separable from liberty, and + as being altogether more important things. But the + modern view, with its deepening insistence upon individuality + and upon the significance of its uniqueness, + steadily intensifies the value of freedom, until at last + we begin to see liberty as the very substance of life, + that indeed it is life, and that only the dead things, the + choiceless things live in absolute obedience to law. To + have free play for one’s individuality is, in the modern + view, the subjective triumph of existence, as survival + in creative work and offspring is its objective triumph. + But for all men, since man is a social creature, the play + of will must fall short of absolute freedom. Perfect + human liberty is possible only to a despot who is absolutely + and universally obeyed. Then to will would be + to command and achieve, and within the limits of + natural law we could at any moment do exactly as it + pleased us to do. All other liberty is a compromise + between our own freedom of will and the wills of those + with whom we come in contact. In an organized state + each one of us has a more or less elaborate code of what + he may do to others and to himself, and what others may + do to him. He limits others by his rights and is limited + by the rights of others, and by considerations affecting + the welfare of the community as a whole.</p> + + <p>“Individual liberty in a community is not, as mathematicians + would say, always of the same sign. To + ignore this is the essential fallacy of the cult called Individualism. + But in truth, a general prohibition in a State + may increase the sum of liberty, and a general permission + may diminish it. It does not follow, as these people + would have us believe, that a man is more free where + there is least law, and more restricted where there + is most law. A socialism or a communism is not + <a class="pagenum" id="page207" title="207"> </a>necessarily a slavery, and there is no freedom under + anarchy….</p> + + <p>“It follows, therefore, in a modern Utopia, which + finds the final hope of the world in the evolving interplay + of unique individualities, that the State will have effectually + chipped away just all those spendthrift liberties + that waste liberty, and not one liberty more, and so + have attained the maximum general freedom.”…</p> + </blockquote> + + <p>That is the gist of the Socialist’s answer to this + accusation. He asks what freedom is there to-day + for the vast majority of mankind? They are + free to do nothing but work for a bare subsistence + all their lives, they may not go freely about the + earth even, but are prosecuted for trespassing upon + the health-giving breast of our universal mother. + Consider the clerks and girls who hurry to their + work of a morning across Brooklyn Bridge in New + York, or Hungerford Bridge in London; go and + see them, study their faces. They are free, with a + freedom Socialism would destroy. Consider the + poor painted girls who pursue bread with nameless + indignities through our streets at night. They + are free by the current standard. And the poor + half-starved wretches struggling with the impossible + stint of oakum in a casual ward, they too + are free! The nimble footman is free, the crushed + porter between the trucks is free, the woman in the + mill, the child in the mine. Ask them! They + will tell you how free they are. They have happened + to choose these ways of living—that is all. + <a class="pagenum" id="page208" title="208"> </a>No doubt the piquancy of the life attracts them in + many such cases.</p> + + <p>Let us be frank; a form of Socialism might conceivably + exist without much freedom, with hardly + more freedom than that of a British worker to-day. + A State Socialism tyrannized over by officials who + might be almost as bad at times as uncontrolled + small employers, is so far possible that in Germany + it is practically half-existent now. A bureaucratic + Socialism might conceivably be a state of affairs + scarcely less detestable than our own. I will not + deny there is a clear necessity of certain addenda + to the wider formulæ of Socialism if we are to be + safeguarded effectually from the official. We need + free speech, free discussion, free publication, as + essentials for a wholesome Socialist State. How + they may be maintained I shall discuss in a later + chapter. But these admissions do not justify the + present system. Socialism, though it failed to give + us freedom, would not destroy anything that we + have in this way. We want freedom now, and + we have it not. We speak of freedom of speech, + but to-day, in innumerable positions, Socialist + <em>employés</em> who declared their opinions openly + would be dismissed. Then again in religious questions + there is an immense amount of intolerance + and suppression of social and religious discussion + to-day, especially in our English villages. As for + freedom of action, most of us, from fourteen to the + <a class="pagenum" id="page209" title="209"> </a>grave, are chased from even the leisure to require + freedom by the necessity of earning a living….</p> + + <p>Socialism, as I have stated it thus far, and as it + is commonly stated, would give economic liberty to + men and women alike, it would save them from the + cruel urgency of need, and so far it would enormously + enlarge freedom, but it does not guarantee + them political or intellectual liberty. That I frankly + admit, and accept as one of the incompletenesses + of contemporary Socialism. I conceive, therefore, + as I shall explain at length in a later chapter, that + it is necessary to supplement such Socialism as is + currently received by certain new propositions. But + to admit that Socialism does not guarantee freedom, + is not to admit that Socialism will destroy it. It is + possible, given certain conditions, for men to be + nearly absolutely free in speech, in movement, in + conduct; enormously free, that is, as compared with + our present conditions, in a Socialist State established + upon the two great propositions I have + formulated in <a href="#chapter_3">Chapters III</a>. and <a href="#chapter_4">IV</a>. So that the + statement that Socialism will destroy freedom is a + baseless one of no value as a general argument + against the Socialist idea.</p> + + <h3 id="ch9_s5">§ 5.</h3> + + <p><em>Socialism would reduce life to one monotonous + dead level!</em> This in a world in which the + majority of people live in cheap cottages, villa + <a class="pagenum" id="page210" title="210"> </a>residences and tenement houses, read halfpenny + newspapers and wear ready-made clothes!</p> + + <p><em>Socialism would destroy Art, Invention and Literature.</em> + I do not know why this objection is made, + unless it be that the objectors suppose that artists + will not create, inventors will not think, and no one + write or sing except to please a wealthy patron. + Without his opulent smile, where would they be? + Well, do not let us be ungrateful; the arts owe + much to patronage. Go to Venice, go to Florence, + and you will find a glorious harvest of pictures and + architecture, sown and reaped by a mercantile plutocracy. + But then in Rome, in Athens, you will find + an equal accumulation made under very different + conditions. Reach a certain phase of civilization, + a certain leisure and wealth, and art will out, however + the wealth may be distributed. In certain + sumptuous directions art flourishes now, and would + certainly flourish less in a Socialist State; in the + gear of ostentatious luxury, in private furniture of + all sorts, in palace building, in the exquisite confections + of costly feminine adornment, in the + luxurious binding of books, in the cooking of larks, + in the distinguished portraiture of undistinguished + persons, in the various refinements of prostitution, + in the subtle accommodations of mystic theology, + in jewellery. It is quite conceivable that in such + departments Socialism will discourage and limit + æsthetic and intellectual effort. But no mercantile + <a class="pagenum" id="page211" title="211"> </a>plutocracy could ever have produced a Gothic + cathedral, a folk-lore, a gracious natural type of + cottage or beautiful clothing for the common people, + and no mercantile plutocracy will ever tolerate a + literature of power. If the coming of Socialism + destroys arts, it will also create arts; the architecture + of private palaces will give place to an architecture + of beautiful common homes, cottages and colleges, + and to a splendid development of public buildings, + the Sargents of Socialism will paint famous people + instead of millionaires’ wives, poetry and popular + romantic literature will revive. For my own part + I have no doubt where the balance of advantage + lies.</p> + + <p>It seems reasonable to look to the literary and + artistic people themselves for a little guidance in + this matter. Well, we had in the nineteenth century + an absolute revolt of artists against Individualism. + The proportion of open and declared Socialists + among the great writers, artists, playwrights, + critics, of the Victorian period was out of all proportion + to the number of Socialists in the general + population. Wilde in his <cite>Soul of Man under + Socialism</cite>, Ruskin in many volumes of imperishable + prose, Morris in all his later life, have witnessed to + the unending protest of the artistic spirit against + the rule of gain. Some of these writers are not, + perhaps, to be regarded as orthodox Socialists in + the modern sense, but their disgust with and + <a class="pagenum" id="page212" title="212"> </a>contempt for Individualist competition is entirely in + the vein of our teaching.</p> + + <p>Even this Individualistic country of ours, after + the shameful shock of the Great Exhibition of 1851, + decided that it could no longer leave art to private + enterprise, and organized that systematic government + Art Teaching that has, in spite of its many + defects, revolutionized the æsthetic quality of this + country. And so far as research and invention go, + one may very reasonably appeal to such an authority + on the other side, as the late Mr. Beit, of + Wernher Beit & Co. The outcome of his experience + as an individualist financier was to convince + him that the only way to raise the standard of + technical science in England, and therewith of + economic enterprise, was by the endowment of + public teaching, and the huge “London Charlottenburg” + rises—out of his conviction. Even + Messrs. Rockefeller and Carnegie admit the failure + of Individualism in this matter by pouring money + into public universities and public libraries. All + these heads of the commercial process confess by + such acts just exactly what this objection of the + inexperienced denies, that is to say the power of + the State to develop art, invention and knowledge; + the necessity that this duty should be done if not + by, then at any rate through, the State.</p> + + <p>Socialism may very seriously change the direction + of intellectual and æsthetic endeavour; that one + <a class="pagenum" id="page213" title="213"> </a>admits. But there is no reason whatever for supposing + it will not, and there are countless reasons + for supposing that it will, enormously increase the + opportunities and encouragements for æsthetic and + intellectual endeavour.</p> + + <h3 id="ch9_s6">§ 6.</h3> + + <p><em>Socialism would arrest the survival of the Fittest.</em> + Here is an objection from quite a new quarter. + It is the stock objection of the science student. + Hitherto we have considered religious and æsthetic + difficulties, but this is the difficulty of the mind that + realizes clearly the nature of the biological process, + the secular change in every species under the influence + of its environment, and is most concerned + with that. Species, it is said, change—and the + student of the elements of science is too apt to conclude + that this change is always ascent in the scale + of being—by the killing off of the individuals out + of harmony with the circumstances under which the + species is living. This is not quite true. The + truer statement is that species change because, + allowing for chance and individual exceptions, only + those individuals survive to reproduce themselves + who are fairly well adjusted to the conditions of + life; so that in each generation there is only a small + proportion of births out of harmony with these conditions. + This sounds very like the previous proposition, + but it differs in this that the accent is + <a class="pagenum" id="page214" title="214"> </a>shifted from the “killing” to the suppression of + births, that is the really important fact. In any + case, then, the believer in evolution holds that + the qualities encouraged by the environment increase + in the species and the qualities discouraged + diminish. The qualities that have survival value + are not always what we human beings consider + admirable—that is a consideration many science + students fail to grasp. The remarkable habits of + all the degenerating crustacea, for example, the + appetite of the vulture, the unpleasing personality + of the common hyæna, all that less charming side + of Mother Nature that her scandalized children may + read of in Cobbold’s <cite>Human Parasites</cite>, are the + result of survival under the pressure of environment, + just as much as the human eye or the wing of an + eagle. Let the objector therefore ask himself what + sort of “fittest” are surviving now.</p> + + <p>The plain answer is that under our present conditions + the <em>Breeding-Getter</em> wins, the man who can + hold and keep and reproduce his kind. People + with the instinct of owning stronger than any other + instinct float out upon the top of our seething mass, + and flourish there. Aggressive, intensely acquisitive, + reproductive people—the ignoble sort of Jew is + the very type of it—are the people who will prevail + in a social system based on private property and + mercantile competition. No creative power, no + nobility, no courage can battle against them. And + <a class="pagenum" id="page215" title="215"> </a>below—in the slums and factories, what will be + going on? The survival of a race of stunted toilers, + with great resisting power to infection, contagion + and fatigue, omnivorous as rats….</p> + + <p>Don’t imagine that the high infantile death rate + of our manufacturing centres spares the fine big + children. It does not. Here is the effectual answer + to that. It is taken from the Report of the Education + Committee of the London County Council for + the year 1905, and it is part of an account of an + inquiry conducted by the headmaster of one school + in a poor neighbourhood.</p> + + <blockquote> + <p>“The object of the inquiry was to discover the causes + of variation in the physical condition of children within + the limits of this single school. Each of the 405 boys + was carefully weighed and measured without boots, a + note was made of the condition of the teeth, and a + general estimate of the personal cleanliness and sufficiency + of clothing as a basis for determining the home + conditions of neglect or otherwise from external evidence. + The teacher of each class added an estimate of + mental capacity.” (Here follow tabular arrangements + of results, and height and weight charts.)</p> + + <p>“… It may be noted in the heights and weights + for each age that the curve is not a continuous line of + growth, but that at some ages it springs nearer to, and + at others sinks further from, the normal. The greatest + effect upon the life capital of the population is produced + by the infantile mortality, which in some years actually + kills off during the first year one in five of all children + born; the question naturally arises what is its effect + upon the survivors—do the weakly ones get killed off + <a class="pagenum" id="page216" title="216"> </a>and only the strong muddle through, or does the adverse + environment which slaughters one in five have a maiming + effect upon those left?… When the infantile mortality + for the parish in which the school is situate was + charted above the physique curve, an absolute correspondence + is to be observed. The children born in a + year when infantile mortality is low show an increased + physique, rising nearest to the normal in the extraordinary + good year 1892; and those born in the years of + high mortality show a decreased physique…. It appears + certain, therefore, that in years of high infantile + mortality the conditions, to which one in five or six of + the children born are sacrificed, have a maiming effect + upon the other four or five.”</p> + </blockquote> + + <p><em>The fine big children are born in periods of low + infantile mortality</em>, that is the essential point.</p> + + <p>So that anyhow, since the fittest under present + conditions is manifestly the ratlike, the survival of + the fittest that is going on now is one that it is highly + desirable to stop as soon as possible, and so far + Socialism <em>will</em> arrest the survival of the fittest. But + that does not mean that it will stop the development + of the species altogether. It will merely shift the + incident of selection and rejection to a new set of + qualities. I think I have already hinted (Chapter + VI., <a href="#ch6_s2">§ 2</a>) that a State that undertakes to sustain all + the children born into it will do its best to secure + good births. That implies a distinct bar to the marriage + and reproduction of the halt and the blind, the + bearers of transmissible diseases and the like. And + women being economically independent will have + <a class="pagenum" id="page217" title="217"> </a>a far freer choice in wedlock than they have now. + Now they must in practice marry men who can more + or less keep them, they must subordinate every other + consideration to that. Under Socialism they will + certainly look less to a man’s means and acquisitive + gifts, and more to the finer qualities of his personality. + They will prefer prominent men, able men, + fine, vigorous and attractive persons. There will, + indeed, be far more freedom of choice on either side + than under the sordid conditions of the present time. + I submit that such a free choice is far more likely + to produce a secular increase in the beauty, the + intellectual and physical activity and the capacity + of the race, than our present haphazard mercenariness.</p> + + <p>The science student will be interested to read in + this connection <cite>The Ethic of Free Thought</cite> (A. + & C. Black, 1888), <cite>Socialism in Theory and Practice</cite> + (1884), and <cite>The Chances of Death, and other + Studies in Evolution</cite> (Arnold, 1897), by Karl Pearson. + Professor Pearson is not in all respects to + be taken as an authoritative exponent of Modern + Socialism, and he is associated with no Socialist + organization, but his treatment of the biological + aspect is that of a specialist and a master.</p> + + <h3 id="ch9_s7"><a class="pagenum" id="page218" title="218"> </a>§ 7.</h3> + + <p><em>Socialism is against Human Nature.</em> This + objection I have left until last because, firstly, it is + absolutely true, and secondly, it leads naturally to + the newer ideas that have already peeped out once + or twice in my earlier chapters and which will now + ride up to a predominance in what follows, and + particularly the idea that an educational process and + a moral discipline are not only a necessary part, + but the most fundamental part of any complete + Socialist scheme. Socialism is against Human + Nature. That is true, and it is equally true of + everything else; capitalism is against human + nature, competition is against human nature, + cruelty, kindness, religion and doubt, monogamy, + polygamy, celibacy, decency, indecency, piety and + sin are all against human nature. The present + system in particular is against human nature, or + what is the policeman for, the soldier, the debt-collector, + the judge, the hangman? What means + the glass along my neighbour’s wall? Human + nature is against human nature. For human nature + is in a perpetual conflict; it is the Ishmael of the + universe, against everything, and with everything + against it; and within, no more and no less than a + perpetual battleground of passion, desire, cowardice, + indolence and good will. So that our initial + proposition as it stands at the head of this section, + <a class="pagenum" id="page219" title="219"> </a>is, as an argument against Socialism, just worth + nothing at all.</p> + + <p>None the less valuable is it as a reminder of the + essential constructive task of which the two primary + generalizations of Socialism we have so far been + developing are but the outward and visible forms. + There is no untutored naturalness in Socialism, no + uneducated blind force on our side. Socialism is + made of struggling Good Will, made out of a conflict + of wills. I have tried to let it become apparent + that while I do firmly believe not only in the + splendour and nobility of the Socialist dream but + in its ultimate practicality, I do also recognize + quite clearly that with people just as they are + now, with their prejudices, their ignorances, their + misapprehensions, their unchecked vanities and + greeds and jealousies, their crude and misguided + instincts, their irrational traditions, no Socialist + State can exist, no better State can exist, than + the one we have now with all its squalor and + cruelty. Every change in human institutions must + happen concurrently with a change of ideas. Upon + this plastic, uncertain, teachable thing Human + Nature, within us and without, we have, if we really + contemplate Socialism as our achievement, to impose + guiding ideas and guiding habits, we have to + co-ordinate all the Good Will that is active or latent + in our world in one constructive plan. To-day the + spirit of humanity is lost to itself, divided, dispersed + <a class="pagenum" id="page220" title="220"> </a>and hidden in little narrow distorted circles of + thought. These divided, misshapen circles of + thought are not “human nature,” but human nature + has fallen into these forms and has to be released. + Our fundamental business is to develop the human + spirit. It is in the enlargement and enrichment of + the average circle of thought that the essential work + and method of Socialism is to be found.</p> +</div> +<div id="chapter_10" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page221" title="221"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter-number">CHAPTER X</span><br /> + SOCIALISM A DEVELOPING DOCTRINE</h2> + + <h3 id="ch10_s1">§ 1.</h3> + + <p><span class="first_word">So</span> far we have been discussing the broad elementary + propositions of Modern Socialism. As we + have dealt with them, they amount to little more + than a sketch of the foundation for a great scheme of + social reconstruction. It would be a poor service + to Socialism to pretend that this scheme is complete. + From this point onward one enters upon a + series of less unanimous utterances and more questionable + suggestions. Concerning much of what + follows, Socialism has as yet not elaborated its + teaching. It has to do so, it is doing so, but huge + labours lie before its servants. Before it can achieve + any full measure of realization, it has to overcome + problems at present but half solved, problems at + present scarcely touched, the dark unsettling suggestion + of problems that still await formulation. + The Anti-Socialist is freely welcome to all these + admissions. No doubt they will afford grounds for + <a class="pagenum" id="page222" title="222"> </a>some cheap transitory triumph. They affect our + great generalizations not at all; they detract nothing + from the fact that Socialism presents the most inspiring, + creative scheme that ever came into the + chaos of human affairs. The fact that it is not + cut and dried, that it lives and grows, that every + honest adherent adds not only to its forces but to + its thought and spirit, is itself inspiration.</p> + + <p>The new adherent to Socialism in particular must + bear this in mind, that Socialism is no garment made + and finished that we can reasonably ask the world + to wear forthwith. It is not that its essentials remain + in doubt, it is not that it does not stand for things + supremely true, but that its proper method and its + proper expedients have still to be established. Over + and above the propaganda of its main constructive + ideas and the political work for their more obvious + and practical application, an immense amount of + intellectual work remains to be done for Socialism. + The battle for Socialism is to be fought not simply + at the polls and in the market-place, but at the + writing-desk and in the study. To many questions, + the attitude of Socialism to-day is one of confessed + inquiring imperfection.<a href="#footnote_17" id="fnm17" title="The student will find..." class="fnmarker">17</a> It would indeed be very + remarkable if a proposition for changes so vast and + <a class="pagenum" id="page223" title="223"> </a>comprehensive as Socialism advances was in any + different state at this present time.</p> + + <p>It is so recently as 1833 that the world first heard + the word Socialism.<a href="#footnote_18" id="fnm18" title="It was probably first used..." class="fnmarker">18</a> It appeared then, with the + vaguest implications and the most fluctuating definition, + as a general term for a disconnected series of + protests against the extreme theories of Individualism + and Individualist Political Economy; against + the cruel, race-destroying industrial spirit that then + dominated the world. Of these protests the sociological + suggestions and experiments of Robert + Owen were most prominent in the English community, + and he it is, more than any other single + person, whom we must regard as the father of + Socialism. But in France ideas essentially similar + were appearing about such movements and personalities + as those of Saint Simon, Proudhon and + Fourier. They were part of a vast system of questionings + and repudiations, political doubts, social + doubts, hesitating inquiries and experiments.</p> + + <p>It is only to be expected that early Socialism + should now appear as not only an extremely imperfect + but a very inconsistent system of proposals. Its + value lay not so much in its plans as in its hopeful + and confident denials. It had hold of one great + truth; it moved one great amendment to the conception + of practical equality the French Revolution + <a class="pagenum" id="page224" title="224"> </a>had formulated, and that was its clear indication of + the evil of unrestricted private property and of the + necessary antagonism of the interests of the individual + to the common-weal, of “Wealth against + Commonwealth,” that went with that. While most + men had to go propertyless in a world that was + privately owned, the assertion of equality was an + empty lie. For the rest, primordial Socialism was + entirely sketchy and experimental. It was wild as + the talk of school-boys. It disregarded the most + obvious needs. It did not provide for any principle + of government, or for the maintenance of collective + thought and social determination, it offered + no safeguards and guarantees for even the most + elementary privacies and freedoms; it was extraordinarily + non-constructive. It was extreme in its + proposed abolition of the home, and it flatly ignored + the huge process of transition needed for a change + so profound and universal.</p> + + <p>The early Socialism was immediately millennial. + It had no patience. The idea was to be + made into a definite project forthwith; Fourier + drew up his compact scheme, arranged how many + people should live in each <em>phalange</em> and so forth, + and all that remained to do, he thought, was to + sow <em>phalanges</em> as one scatters poppy seed. With + him it was to be Socialism by contagion, with + many of his still hastier contemporaries it was to + be Socialism by proclamation. All the evils of + <a class="pagenum" id="page225" title="225"> </a>society were to crumble to ruins like the Walls of + Jericho at the first onset of the Great Idea.</p> + + <p>Our present generation is less buoyant perhaps, + but wiser. However young you may be as a + reformer, you know you must face certain facts + those early Socialists ignored. Whatever sort of + community you dream of, you realize that it has + to be made of the sort of people you meet every day + or of the children growing up under their influence. + The damping words of the old philosopher to the + ardent Social reformer of seventeen were really the + quintessence of our criticism of revolutionary Socialism: + “Will your aunts join us, my dear? No! + Well—is the grocer on our side? And the family + solicitor? We shall have to provide for them all, + you know, unless you suggest a lethal chamber.”</p> + + <p>For a generation Socialism, in the exaltation of + its self-discovery, failed to measure these primary + obstacles, failed to recognize the real necessity, the + quality of the task of making these people understand. + To this day the majority of Socialists still + fail to grasp completely the Herbartian truth, the + fact that every human soul moves within its <em>circle + of ideas</em>, resisting enlargement, incapable indeed + if once it is adult of any extensive enlargement, + and that all effectual human progress can be + achieved only through such enlargement. Only + ideas cognate to a circle of ideas are assimilated or + assimilable; ideas too alien, though you shout + <a class="pagenum" id="page226" title="226"> </a>them in the ear, thrust them in the face, remain + foreign and incomprehensible.</p> + + <p>The early Socialists, arriving at last at their + Great Idea, after toilsome questionings, after debates, + disputations, studies, trials, <em>saw</em>, and instantly + couldn’t understand those others who did + not see; they failed altogether to realize the leaps + they had made, the brilliant omissions they had + achieved, the difficulties they had evaded to get to + this magnificent conception. I suppose such impatience + is as natural and understandable as it is + unfortunate. None of us escape it. Much of this + early Socialism is as unreal as mathematics, has + much the same relation to truth as the abstract + absolute process of calculation has to concrete individual + things; much of it more than justifies + altogether that “black or white” method of + criticism of which I wrote in the preceding chapter. + They were as downright and unconsidering, as + little capable of the reasoned middle attitude. + Proudhon, perceiving that the world was obsessed + by a misconception of the scope of property whereby + the many were enslaved to the few, went off at + a tangent to the announcement that “Property is + Robbery,” an exaggeration that, as I have already + shown, still haunts Socialist discussion. The ultimate + factor of all human affairs, the psychological + factor, was disregarded. Like the classic mathematical + problem, early Socialism was always + “neglecting the weight of the elephant”—or some + <a class="pagenum" id="page227" title="227"> </a>other—from the practical point of view—equally + essential factor. This was, perhaps, an unavoidable + stage. It is probable that by no other means + than such exaggeration and partial statement could + Socialism have got itself begun. The world of + 1830 was fatally wrong in its ideas of property; + early Socialism rose up and gave those ideas a + flat, extreme, outrageous contradiction. After + that analysis and discussion became possible.</p> + + <p>The early Socialist literature teems with rash, + suggestive schemes. It has the fertility, the confusion, + the hopefulness, the promise of glowing + youth. It is a quarry of ideas, a mine of crude + expedients, a fountain of emotions. The abolition + of money, the substitution of Labour Notes, the + possibility, justice and advantage of equalizing + upon a time-basis the remuneration of the worker, + the relation of the new community to the old family, + a hundred such topics were ventilated—were not so + much ventilated as tossed about in an impassioned + gale.</p> + + <p>Much of this earlier Socialist literature was like + Cabet’s book, actually Utopian in form; a still + larger proportion was Utopian in spirit; its appeal + was imaginative, and it aimed to be a plan of a + new state as definite and detailed as the plan for + the building of a house. It has been the fashion + with a number of later Socialist writers and + speakers, mind-struck with that blessed word + “evolution,” confusing “scientific,” a popular + <a class="pagenum" id="page228" title="228"> </a>epithet to which they aspired, with “unimaginative,” + to sneer at the Utopian method, to make a + sort of ideal of a leaden practicality, but it does + not follow because the Utopias produced and the + experiments attempted were in many aspects unreasonable + and absurd that the method itself is an + unsound one. At a certain phase of every creative + effort you must cease to study the thing that is, + and plan the thing that is not. The early Socialisms + were only premature plans and hasty working + models that failed to work.</p> + + <p>And it must be remembered when we consider + Socialism’s early extravagancies, that any idea or + system of ideas which challenges the existing + system is necessarily, in relation to that system, + outcast. Mediocre men go soberly on the highroads, + but saints and scoundrels meet in the gaols. + If A and B rebel against the Government, they are + apt, although they rebel for widely different + reasons, to be classed together; they are apt indeed + to be thrown together and tempted to sink even + quite essential differences in making common cause + against the enemy. So that from its very beginning + Socialism was mixed up—to this day it + remains mixed up—with other movements of revolt + and criticism, with which it has no very natural + connection. There is, for example, the unfortunate + entanglement between the Socialist theory and + that repudiation of any but subjective sexual limitations + <a class="pagenum" id="page229" title="229"> </a>which is called “free love,” and there is + that still more unfortunate association of its rebellion + against orthodox economic theories, with + rebellion against this or that system of religious + teaching. Several of the early Socialist communities, + again, rebelled against ordinary clothing, and + their women made short hair and bloomers the + outward and visible associations of the communistic + idea. In Holyoake’s <cite>History of Co-operation</cite> it is + stated that one early experiment was known to its + neighbours as “the grass-eating Atheists of Ham + Common.” I have done my very best (in Chapter + VIII., <a href="#ch8_s2">§ 2</a>) to clear the exposition of Socialism + from these entanglements, but it is well to recognize + that these are no corruptions of its teaching, + but an inevitable birth-infection that has still to be + completely overcome.</p> + + <h3 id="ch10_s2">§ 2.</h3> + + <p>The comprehensively constructive spirit of + modern Socialism is very much to seek in these + childhood phases that came before Marx. These + early projects were for the most part developed by + literary men (and by one philosophic business + man, Owen) to whose circle of ideas the conception + of State organization and administration was + foreign. They took peace and order for granted—they + left out the school-master, the judge and + the policeman, as the amateur architect of the + <a class="pagenum" id="page230" title="230"> </a>anecdote left out the staircase. They set out to + contrive a better industrial organization, or a better + social atmosphere within the present scheme of + things. They wished to reform what they understood, + and what was outside their circle of ideas + they took for granted, as they took the sky and + sea. Not only was their literature Utopian literature, + about little islands of things begun over again + from the beginning, but their activities tended in + the direction of Utopian experiments equally limited + and isolated. Here again a just critic will differ + from many contemporary Socialists in their depreciation + of this sort of work. Owen’s experiments + in socialized production were of enormous educational + and scientific value. They were, to use a + mining expert’s term, “hand specimens” of human + welfare of the utmost value to promoters. They + made factory legislation possible; they initiated + the now immense co-operative movement; they + stirred commonplace imaginations as only achievement + can stir them; they set going a process of + amelioration in industrial conditions that will never, + I believe, cease again until the Socialist state is + attained.</p> + + <p>But apart from Owen and the general advertisement + given to Socialist ideas, it must be admitted + that a great majority of Socialist communities have, + by every material standard, failed rather than succeeded. + Some went visibly insolvent and to pieces, + <a class="pagenum" id="page231" title="231"> </a>others were changed by prosperity. Some were + wrecked by the sudden lapse of the treasurer into + an extreme individualism. Essentially Socialism + is a project for the species, but these communities + made it a system of relationships within a little + group; to the world without they had necessarily + to turn a competitive face, to buy and sell and + advertise on the lines of the system as it is. If + they failed, they failed; if they succeeded they + presently found themselves landlords, employers, + no more and no less than a corporate individualism. + I have described elsewhere<a href="#footnote_19" id="fnm19" title="The Future in America..." class="fnmarker">19</a> the fate of the celebrated + Oneida community of New York State, and + how it is now converted into an aggressive, wealthy, + fighting corporation of the most modern type, + employing immigrant labour.</p> + + <p>Professed and conscious Socialism in its earliest + stages, then, was an altogether extreme proposition, + it was at once imperfect and over-emphatic, + and it was confused with many quite irrelevant and + inconsistent novelties with regard to diet, dress, + medicine and religion. Its first manifest, acknowledged + and labelled fruits were a series of futile + “communities”—Noyes’ <cite>History of American + Socialisms</cite> gives their simple history of births and + of fatal infantile ailments—Brook Farm, Fourierite + “Phalanges” and the like. But correlated with + these extreme efforts, drawing ideas and inspiration + <a class="pagenum" id="page232" title="232"> </a>from them, was the great philanthropic movement + for the amelioration of industrialism, that was, I + insist, for all its absence of a definite Socialist label + in many cases, an equally legitimate factor in the + making of the great conception of modern Socialism. + Socialism may be the child of the French + Revolution, but it certainly has one aristocratic + Tory grandparent. There can be little dispute of + the close connection of Lord Shaftesbury’s Factory + Acts, that commencement of constructive statesmanship + in industrialism, with the work of Owen. The + whole Victorian period marks a steady development + of social organization out of the cruel economic + anarchy of its commencement; the beginnings of + public education, adulteration acts and similar + checks upon the extremities of private enterprise, + the great successful experiments of co-operative + consumers’ associations and the development of + what has now become a quasi-official representation + of labour in the State through the Trade Unions. + Two great writers, Carlyle and Ruskin, the latter a + professed Socialist, spent their powers in a relentless + campaign against the harsh theories of the + liberty of property, the gloomy superstitions of political + economy that barred the way to any effectual + constructive scheme. An enormous work was done + throughout the whole Victorian period by Socialists + and Socialistic writers, in criticizing and modifying + the average circle of ideas, in bringing conceptions + <a class="pagenum" id="page233" title="233"> </a>that had once seemed weird, outcast and altogether + fantastic, more and more within the range of acceptable + practicality.</p> + + <p>The first early Socialisms were most various and + eccentric upon the question of government and + control. They had no essential political teaching. + Many, but by no means all, were inspired by the + democratic idealism of the first French Revolution. + They believed in a mystical something that was + wiser and better than any individual,—the People, + the Common Man. But that was by no means the + case with all of them. The Noyes community was + a sort of Theocratic autocracy; the Saint Simonian + tendency was aristocratic. The English Socialism + that in the middle Victorian period developed partly + out of the suggestions of Owen’s beginnings and + partly as an independent fresh outpouring of the + struggling Good Will in man, that English Socialism + that found a voice in Ruskin and in Maurice + and Kingsley and the Christian Socialists, was + certainly not democratic. It kept much of what was + best in the “public spirit” of contemporary English + life, and it implied if it did not postulate a + “governing class.” Benevolent and even generous + in conception, its exponents betray all too often + the ties of social habituations, the limited circle of + ideas of English upper and upper middle-class life, + easy and cultivated, well served and distinctly, + most unmistakably, authoritative.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page234" title="234"> </a>While the experimental Utopian Socialisms gave + a sort of variegated and conflicting pattern of a + reorganized industrialism and (incidentally to that) + a new heaven and earth, the benevolent Socialism, + Socialistic Liberalism and Socialistic philanthropy + of the middle Victorian period, really went very + little further in effect than a projected amelioration + and moralization of the relations of rich and poor. + It needed the impact of an entirely new type of + mind before Socialism began to perceive its own + significance as an ordered scheme for the entire + reconstruction of the world, began to realize the + gigantic breadth of its implications.</p> + +</div> +<div id="chapter_11" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page235" title="235"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter-number">CHAPTER XI</span><br /> + REVOLUTIONARY SOCIALISM</h2> + + <h3 id="ch11_s1">§ 1.</h3> + + <p><span class="first_word">It</span> was Karl Marx who brought the second great + influx of suggestion into the intellectual process + of Socialism. Before his time there does not + seem to have been any clear view of economic + relationships as having laws of development, as + having interactions that began and went on and + led towards new things. But Marx had vision. + He had—as Darwin and the evolutionists had, as + most men with a scientific training, and many + educated men without that advantage now have—a + sense of secular change. Instead of being content + with the accepted picture of the world as a + scene where men went on producing and distributing + wealth and growing rich or poor, it might be + for endless ages, he made an appeal to history and + historical analogies, and for the first time viewed + our age of individualist industrial development, + not as a possibly permanent condition of humanity, + but as something unstable and in motion, as an + <a class="pagenum" id="page236" title="236"> </a>economic process, that is to say, with a beginning, + a middle, and as he saw it, an almost inevitable + end.</p> + + <p>The last thing men contrive to discern in every + question is the familiar obvious, and it came as a + great and shattering discovery to the economic and + sociological thought of the latter half of the nineteenth + century that there was going on not simply + a production but an immense concentration of + wealth, a differentiation of a special wealthy class + of landholder and capitalist, a diminution of small + property owners and the development of a great and + growing class of landless, nearly propertyless men, + the <em>proletariat</em>. Marx showed—he showed so + clearly that to-day it is recognized by every intelligent + man—that <em>given a continuance of our industrial + and commercial system</em>, of uncontrolled gain + seeking, that is, given a continuance of our present + spirit and ideas of property, there must necessarily + come a time when the owner and the proletarian + will stand face to face, with nothing—if we except + a middle class of educated professionals dependent + on the wealthy, who are after all no more than the + upper stratum of the proletariat—to mask or mitigate + their opposition. We shall have two classes, + the class-conscious worker and the class-conscious + owner, and they will be at war. And with a broad + intellectual sweep he flung the light of this conception + upon the whole contemporary history of + <a class="pagenum" id="page237" title="237"> </a>mankind. <cite>Das Kapital</cite> was no sketch of Utopias, + had no limitation to the conditions or possibilities + of this country or that. “Here,” he says, in the + widest way, “is what is going on all over the + world. So long as practically untrammelled private + property, such as you conceive it to-day, endures, + this must go on. The worker gravitates steadily + everywhere to a bare subsistence, the rest of the + proceeds of his labour swell the power of the + owners. So it will go on while gain and getting + are the rule of your system, until accumulated tensions + between class and class smash this present + social organization and inaugurate a new age.”</p> + + <p>In considering the thought and work of Karl + Marx, the reader must bear in mind the epoch in + which that work commenced. The intellectual + world was then under the sway of an organized + mass of ideas known as the Science of Political + Economy, a mass of ideas that has now not so + much been examined and refuted as slipped away + imperceptibly from its hold upon the minds of + men. In the beginning, in the hands of Adam + Smith—whose richly suggestive book is now all + too little read—political economy was a broad-minded + and sane inquiry into the statecraft of trade + based upon current assumptions of private ownership + and personal motives, but from him it passed + to men of perhaps, in some cases, quite equal intellectual + energy but inferior vision and range. The + <a class="pagenum" id="page238" title="238"> </a>history of Political Economy is indeed one of the + most striking instances of the mischief wrought by + intellectual minds devoid of vision, in the entire + history of human thought. Special definition, + technicality, are the stigmata of second-rate intellectual + men; they cannot work with the universal + tool, they cannot appeal to the general mind. They + must abstract and separate. On such men fell the + giant’s robe of Adam Smith, and they wore it after + their manner. Their arid atmospheres are intolerant + of clouds, an outline that is not harsh is abominable + to them. They criticized their master’s + vagueness and must needs mend it. They sought + to give political economy a precision and conviction + such a subject will not stand. They took such + words as “<em>value</em>,” an incurably and necessarily + vague word, “<em>rent</em>,” the name of the specific relation + of landlord and tenant, and “<em>capital</em>,” and + sought to define them with relentless exactness and + use them with inevitable effect. So doing they + departed more and more from reality. They developed + a literature more abundant, more difficult and + less real than all the exercises of the schoolmen + put together. To use common words in uncommon + meanings is to sow a jungle of misunderstanding. + It was only to be expected that the bulk of this + economic literature resolves upon analysis into a + ponderous, intricate, often astonishingly able and + foolish wrangling about terminology.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page239" title="239"> </a>Now in the early Victorian period in which Marx + planned his theorizing, political economy ruled the + educated world. Ruskin had still to attack the + primary assumptions of that tyrannous and dogmatic + edifice. The duller sort of educated people + talked of the “immutable laws of political + economy” in the blankest ignorance that the basis + of everything in this so-called science was a plastic + human convention. Humane impulses were + checked, creative effort tried and condemned by + these mystical formulæ. Political economy traded + on the splendid achievements of physics and + chemistry and pretended to an inexorable authority. + Only a man of supreme intelligence and power, a + man resolved to give his lifetime to the task, could + afford in those days to combat the pretensions of + the political economist; to deny that his categories + presented scientific truth, and to cast that jargon + aside. As for Marx, he saw fit to accept the verbal + instruments of his time (albeit he bent them not a + little in use), to accommodate himself to their + spirit and to split and re-classify and re-define them + at his need. So that he has become already difficult + to follow, and his more specialized exponents + among Socialists use terms that arouse no echoes in + the contemporary mind. The days when Socialism + need present its theories in terms of a science whose + fundamental propositions it repudiates, are at an + end. One hears less and less of “surplus value” + <a class="pagenum" id="page240" title="240"> </a>now, as one hears less and less of McCulloch’s Law + of Wages. It may crop up in the inquiries of some + intelligent mechanic seeking knowledge among the + obsolescent accumulations of a public library, or it + may for a moment be touched upon by some veteran + teacher. But the time when social and economic + science had to choose between debatable and inexpressive + technicalities on the one hand or the + stigma of empiricism on the other, is altogether + past.</p> + + <p>The language a man uses, however, is of far less + importance than the thing he has to say, and it + detracts little from the cardinal importance of Marx + that his books will presently demand restatement in + contemporary phraseology, and revision in the light + of contemporary facts. He opened out Socialism. It + is easy to quibble about Marx, and say he didn’t see + this or that, to produce this eddy in a backwater or + that as a triumphant refutation of his general theory. + One may quibble about the greatness of Marx as + one may quibble about the greatness of Darwin; he + remains great and cardinal. He first saw and + enabled the world to see capitalistic production as a + world process, passing by necessity through certain + stages of social development, and unless some + change of law and spirit came to modify it, moving + towards an inevitable destiny. His followers are + too apt to regard that as an absolutely inevitable + destiny, but the fault lies not at his door. He + <a class="pagenum" id="page241" title="241"> </a>saw it as Socialism. It did not appear to him + as it does to many that there is a possible alternative + to Socialism, that the process may give + us, not a triumph for the revolting proletariat, but + their defeat, and the establishment of a plutocratic + aristocracy culminating in imperialism and ending + in social disintegration. From his study, from the + studious rotunda of the British Museum Reading-room + he made his prophecy of the growing class + consciousness of the workers, of the inevitable class + war, of the revolution and the millennium that was + to follow it. He gathered his facts, elaborated his + deductions and waited for the dawn.</p> + + <p>So far as his broad generalization of economic + development goes, events have wonderfully confirmed + Marx. The development of Trusts, the concentration + of property that America in particular + displays, he foretold. Given that men keep to the + unmodified ideas of private property and individualism, + and it seems absolutely true that so the world + must go. And in the American <cite>Appeal to Reason</cite>, + for example, which goes out weekly from Kansas + to a quarter of a million of subscribers, one may, + if one chooses, see the developing class consciousness + of the workers, and the promise—and when + strikers take to rifles and explosives as they do in + Pennsylvania and Colorado, something more than + the promise—of the class war….</p> + + <p>But the modern Socialist considers that this + <a class="pagenum" id="page242" title="242"> </a>generalization is a little too confident and comprehensive; + he perceives that a change in custom, law + or public opinion may delay, arrest or invert the + economic process, and that Socialism may arrive + after all not by a social convulsion, but by the + gradual and detailed concession of its propositions. + The Marxist presents dramatically what after all + may come methodically and unromantically, a revolution + as orderly and quiet as the precession of the + equinoxes. There may be a concentration of capital + and a relative impoverishment of the general working + mass of people, for example, and yet a general + advance in the world’s prosperity and a growing + sense of social duty in the owners of capital and land + may do much to mask this antagonism of class + interests and ameliorate its miseries. Moreover, + this antagonism itself may in the end find adequate + expression through temperate discussion, and the + class war come disguised beyond recognition, with + hates mitigated by charity and swords beaten into + pens, a mere constructive conference between two + classes of fairly well-intentioned albeit perhaps still + biassed men and women.</p> + + <h3 id="ch11_s2">§ 2.</h3> + + <p>The circle of ideas in which Marx moved was + that of a student deeply tinged with the idealism + of the renascent French Revolution. His life was + the life of a recluse from affairs—an invalid’s life; + <a class="pagenum" id="page243" title="243"> </a>a large part of it was spent round and about the + British Museum Reading-room, and his conceptions + of Socialism and the social process have at once the + spacious vistas given by the historical habit and the + abstract quality that comes with a divorce from + practical experience of human government. Only + in England and in the eighties did the expanding + propositions of Socialism come under the influence + of men essentially administrative. As a consequence + Marx, and still more the early Marxists, were and + are negligent of the necessities of government and + crude in their notions of class action. He saw the + economic process with a perfect lucidity, practically + he foretold the consolidation of the Trusts, and his + statement of the necessary development of an + entirely propertyless working-class with an intensifying + class consciousness is a magnificent generalization. + He saw clearly up to that opposition of the + many and the few, and then his vision failed because + his experience and interests failed. There was to + be a class war, and numbers schooled to discipline + by industrial organization were to win.</p> + + <p>After that the teaching weakens in conviction. + The proletariat was to win in the class war; then + classes would be abolished, property in the means + of production and distribution would be abolished, + all men would work reasonably—and the millennium + would be with us.</p> + + <p>The constructive part of the Marxist programme + <a class="pagenum" id="page244" title="244"> </a>was too slight. It has no psychology. Contrasted, + indeed, with the splendid destructive criticisms that + preceded it, it seems indeed trivial. It diagnoses a + disease admirably, and then suggests rather an incantation + than a plausible remedy. And as a consequence + Marxist Socialism appeals only very + feebly to the man of public affairs or business or + social experience. It does not attract teachers or + medical men or engineers. It arouses such men to + a sense of social instability but it offers no remedy. + They do not believe in the mystical wisdom of the + People. They find no satisfactory promise of a + millennium in anything Marx foretold.</p> + + <p>To the labouring man, however, accustomed to + take direction and government as he takes air and + sky, these difficulties of the administrative and constructive + mind do not occur. His imagination + raises no questioning in that picture of the proletariat + triumphant after a class war and quietly + coming to its own. It does not occur to him for + an instant to ask “how?”</p> + + <p>Question the common Marxist upon these difficulties + and he will relapse magnificently into the + doctrine of <em lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">laissez faire</em>. “That will be all right,” + he will tell you.</p> + + <p>“How?”</p> + + <p>“We’ll take over the Trusts and run them.”…</p> + + <p>It is part of the inconveniences attending all + powerful new movements of the human mind that + <a class="pagenum" id="page245" title="245"> </a>the disciple bolts with the teacher, overstates him, + underlines him, and it is no more than a tribute to + the potency of Marx that he should have paralyzed + the critical faculty in a number of very able men. + To them Marx is a final form of truth. They talk + with bated breath of a “classic Socialism,” to + which no man may add one jot or one tittle, to + which they are as uncritically pledged as extreme + Bible Christians are bound to the letter of the + “Word.”…</p> + + <p>The peculiar evil of the Marxist teaching is this, + that it carries the conception of a necessary economic + development to the pitch of fatalism, it + declares with all the solemnity of popular + “science” that Socialism <em>must</em> prevail. Such a + fatalism is morally bad for the adherent; it releases + him from the inspiring sense of uncertain victory, + it leads him to believe the stars in their courses will + do his job for him. The common Marxist is apt to + be sterile of effort, therefore, and intolerant—preaching + predestination and salvation without works.</p> + + <p>By a circuitous route, indeed, the Marxist reaches + a moral position curiously analogous to that of the + disciple of Herbert Spencer. Since all improvement + will arrive by leaving things alone, the worse + things get, the better; for so much the nearer one + comes to the final exasperation, to the class war and + the Triumph of the Proletariat. This certainty of + victory in the nature of things makes the Marxists + <a class="pagenum" id="page246" title="246"> </a>difficult in politics, pedantic sticklers for the letter + of the teaching, obstinate opponents of what they + call “Palliatives”—of any instalment system of + reform. They wait until they can make the whole + journey in one stride, and would, in the meanwhile, + have no one set forth upon the way. In America + the Marxist fatalism has found a sort of supreme + simplification in the gospel of Mr. H. G. Wilshire. + The Trusts, one learns, are to consolidate all the + industry in the country, own all the property. Then + when they own everything, the Nation will take + them over. “Let the Nation own the Trusts!” The + Nation in the form of a public, reading capitalistic + newspapers, inured to capitalistic methods, represented + and ruled by capital-controlled politicians, + will suddenly take over the Trusts and begin a new + system….</p> + + <p>It would be quite charmingly easy—if it were only + in the remotest degree credible.</p> + + <h3 id="ch11_s3">§ 3.</h3> + + <p>The Marxist teaching tends to an unreasonable + fatalism. Its conception of the world after the + class war is over is equally antagonistic to intelligent + constructive effort. It faces that Future, utters + the word “democracy,” and veils its eyes.</p> + + <p>The conception of democracy to which the + Marxist adheres is that same mystical democracy + that was evolved at the first French Revolution; + <a class="pagenum" id="page247" title="247"> </a>it will sanction no analysis of the popular wisdom. + It postulates a sort of spirit hidden as it were in the + masses and only revealed by a universal suffrage + of all adults—or, according to some Social Democratic + Federation authorities who do not believe in + women, all adult males—at the ballot box. Even + a large proportion of the adults will not do—it must + be all. The mysterious spirit that thus peers out + and vanishes again at each election is the People, + not any particular person, but the quintessence, and + it is supposed to be infallible; it is supposed to be + not only morally but intellectually omniscient. It + will not even countenance the individuality of + elected persons, they are to be mere tools, <em>delegates</em>, + from this diffused, intangible Oracle, the Ultimate + Wisdom….</p> + + <p>Well, it may seem ungracious to sneer at the grotesque + formulation of an idea profoundly wise, at + the hurried, wrong, arithmetical method of rendering + that collective spirit a community undoubtedly + can and sometimes does possess—I myself am the + profoundest believer in democracy, in a democracy + awake intellectually, conscious and self-disciplined—but + so long as this mystic faith in the crowd, this + vague, emotional, uncritical way of evading the + immense difficulties of organizing just government + and a collective will prevails, so long must the + Socialist project remain not simply an impracticable + but, in an illiterate, badly-organized community, + <a class="pagenum" id="page248" title="248"> </a>even a dangerous suggestion. I as a Socialist am + not blind to these possibilities, and it is foolish because + a man is in many ways on one’s side that one + should not call attention to his careless handling of + a loaded gun. Social-Democracy may conceivably + become a force that in the sheer power of untutored + faith may destroy government and not replace it. + I do not know how far that is not already the case + in Russia. I do not know how far this may not ultimately + be the case in the United States of America.</p> + + <p>The Marxist teaching, great as was its advance on + the dispersed chaotic Socialism that preceded it, was + defective in other directions as well as in its innocence + of any scheme of State organization. About + women and children, for example, it was ill-informed; + its founders do not seem to have been inspired + either by educational necessities or philoprogenitive + passion. No biologist—indeed no scientific + mind at all—seems to have tempered its severely + “economic” tendencies. It so over-accentuates the + economic side of life that at moments one might + imagine it dealt solely with some world of purely + “productive” immortals, who were never born + and never aged, but only warred for ever in a + developing industrial process.</p> + + <p>Now reproduction and not production is the more + central fact of social life. Women and children and + education are things in the background of the + Marxist proposal—like a man’s dog, or his private + <a class="pagenum" id="page249" title="249"> </a>reading, or his pet rabbits. They are in the foreground + of modern Socialism. The Social Democrat’s + doctrines go little further in this direction than + the Liberalism that founded the United States, + which ignored women, children and niggers, and + made the political unit the adult white man. They + were blind to the supreme importance of making the + next generation better than the present as the aim + and effort of the whole community. Herr Bebel’s + book, <cite>Woman</cite>, is an ample statement of the evils + of woman’s lot under the existing <em lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">régime</em>, but the + few pages upon the Future of Woman with which + he concludes are eloquent of the jejune insufficiency + of the Marxist outlook in this direction. Marriage, + which modern Socialism tends more and more to + sustain, was to vanish—at least as a law-made + bond; women were to count as men so far as the + State is concerned….</p> + + <p>This disregard of the primary importance of + births and upbringing in human affairs and this + advocacy of mystical democracy alike contribute to + blind the Marxist to the necessity of an educational + process and of social discipline and to the more + than personal importance of marriage in the Socialist + scheme. He can say with a light and confident + heart to untrained, ignorant, groping souls: + “Destroy the Government; expropriate the rich, + establish manhood suffrage, elect delegates strictly + pledged—and you will be happy!”</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page250" title="250"> </a>A few modern Marxists stipulate in addition for a + Referendum, by which the acts of the elected delegates + can be further checked by referring disputed + matters to a general vote of all the adults in the + community….</p> + + <h3 id="ch11_s4">§ 4.</h3> + + <p>My memory, as I write these things of Marxism, + carries me to the dusky largeness of a great + meeting in Queen’s Hall, and I see again the + back of Mr. Hyndman’s head moving quickly, as + he receives and answers questions. It was really + one of the strangest and most interesting meetings + I have ever attended. It was a great rally of the + Social Democratic Federation, and the place—floor, + galleries and platform—was thick but by no means + overcrowded with dingy, earnest people. There + was a great display of red badges and red ties, and + many white faces, and I was struck by the presence + of girls and women with babies. It was more like + the Socialist meetings of the popular novel than any + I had ever seen before. In the chair that night was + Lady Warwick, that remarkable intruder into the + class conflict, a blond lady, rather expensively + dressed, so far as I could judge, about whom the + atmosphere of class consciousness seemed to thicken. + Her fair hair, her floriferous hat, told out against + the dim multitudinous values of the gathering unquenchably; + there were moments when one might + <a class="pagenum" id="page251" title="251"> </a>have fancied it was simply a gathering of village + tradespeople about the lady patroness, and at the + end of the proceedings, after the red flag had been + waved, after the “Red Flag” had been sung by a + choir and damply echoed by the audience, some + one moved a vote of thanks to the Countess in + terms of familiar respect that completed the illusion.</p> + + <p>Mr. Hyndman’s lecture was entitled “In the + Rapids of Revolution,” and he had been explaining + how inevitable the whole process was, how + Russia drove ahead, and Germany and France and + America, to the foretold crisis and the foretold + millennium. But incidentally he also made a + spirited exhortation for effort, for agitation, and he + taunted England for lagging in the schemes of + fate. Some one amidst the dim multitude discovered + an inconsistency in that.</p> + + <p>Now the questions were being handed in, written + on strips of paper, and at last that listener’s difficulty + cropped up.</p> + + <p>“What’s this?” said Mr. Hyndman; unfolded + the slip and read out: “Why trouble to agitate or + work if the Trusts are going to do it all for us?”</p> + + <p>The veteran leader of the Social Democratic + Federation paused only for a moment.</p> + + <p>“Well, we’ve got to get <em>ready</em> for it, you know,” + he said, rustling briskly with the folds of the question + to follow—and with these words, it seemed to + me, that fatalistic Marxism crumbled down to dust.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page252" title="252"> </a>We <em>have</em> got to get ready for it. Indeed, we have + to make it—by education and intention and set + resolve. Socialism is to be attained not by fate, + but by will.</p> + + <h3 id="ch11_s5">§ 5.</h3> + + <p>And here, as a sort of Eastern European gloss + upon Marxist Socialism, as an extreme and + indeed ultimate statement of this marriage of + mystical democracy to Socialism, we may say a + word of Anarchism. Anarchism carries the + administrative <em lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">laissez faire</em> of Marx to its logical + extremity. “If the common, untutored man is + right anyhow—why these ballot boxes; why these + intermediaries in the shape of law and representative?”</p> + + <p>That is the perfectly logical outcome of ignoring + administration and reconstruction. The extreme + Social-Democrat and the extreme Individualist meet + in a doctrine of non-resistance to the forces of + Evolution—which in this connection they deify with + a capital letter. Organization, control, design, the + disciplined will, these are evil, they declare—<em>the</em> + evil of life. So you come at the end of the process, + if you are active-minded, to the bomb as the instrument + of man’s release to unimpeded virtue, and + if you are pacific in disposition to the Tolstoyan + attitude of passive resistance to all rule and + property.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page253" title="253"> </a>Anarchism, then, is as it were a final perversion + of the Socialist stream, a last meandering of + Socialist thought, released from vitalizing association + with an active creative experience. Anarchism + comes when the Socialist repudiation of property + is dropped into the circles of thought of men + habitually ruled and habitually irresponsible, men + limited in action and temperamentally adverse to + the toil, to the vexatious rebuffs and insufficiencies, + the dusty effort, fatigue, and friction of the practical + pursuit of a complex ideal. So that it most + flourishes eastwardly, where men, it would seem, + are least energetic and constructive, and it explodes + or dies on American soil.</p> + + <p>Anarchism, with its knife and bomb, is a miscarriage + of Socialism, an acephalous birth from + that fruitful mother. It is an unnatural offspring, + opposed in nature to its parent, for always from + the beginning the constructive spirit, the ordering + and organizing spirit has been strong among + Socialists. It was by a fallacy, an oversight, that + <em lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">laissez faire</em> in politics crept into a movement that + was before all things an organized denial of <em lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">laissez + faire</em> in economic and social life….</p> + + <p>I write this of the Anarchism that is opposed to + contemporary Socialism, the political Anarchism. + But there is also another sort of Anarchism, which + the student of these schools of thought must keep + clear in his mind from this, the Anarchism of + <a class="pagenum" id="page254" title="254"> </a>Tolstoy and that other brand of William Morris, + neither of which waves any flag of black, nor + counsels violence; they present that conception of + untrammelled and spontaneous rightness and goodness + which is, indeed, I hazard, the moral ideal of + all rightly-thinking men. It is worth while to define + very clearly the relation of this second sort of + Anarchism, the nobler Anarchism, to the toiling + constructive Socialism which many of us now make + our practical guide in life’s activities, to say just + where they touch and where they are apart.</p> + + <p>Now the ultimate ideal of human intercourse is + surely not Socialism at all, but a way of life that + is not litigious and not based upon jealously-guarded + rights, which is free from property, free + from jealousy, and “above the law.” There, + there shall not be “marriage or giving in marriage.” + The whole mass of Christian teaching + points to such an ideal; Paul and Christ turn + again and again to the ideal of a world of “just + men made perfect,” in which right and beauty + come by instinct, in which just laws and regulations + are unnecessary and unjust ones impossible. + “Turn your attention,” says my friend, the Rev. + Stewart Headlam, in his admirable tract on Christian + Socialism—</p> + + <blockquote> + <p>“Turn your attention to that series of teachings of + Christ’s which we call parables—comparisons, that is to + say, between what Christ saw going on in the every-day + <a class="pagenum" id="page255" title="255"> </a>world around Him and the Kingdom of Heaven. If + by the Kingdom of Heaven in these parables is meant + a place up in the clouds, or merely a state in which + people will be after death, then I challenge you to get + any kind of meaning out of them whatever. But if by + the Kingdom of Heaven is meant (as it is clear from + other parts of Christ’s teaching is the case) the righteous + society to be established upon earth, then they all have + a plain and beautiful meaning; a meaning well summed + up in that saying so often quoted against us by the + sceptic and the atheist, ‘Seek ye first the Kingdom of + God and His righteousness, and all these things shall + be added unto you;’ or, in other words, ‘Live,’ Christ + said, ‘all of you together, not each of you by himself; + live as members of the righteous society which I have + come to found upon earth, and then you will be clothed + as beautifully as the Eastern lily and fed as surely as the + birds.’”</p> + </blockquote> + + <p>And the Rev. R. J. Campbell, who comes to + Socialism by way of Nonconformity, is equally convincing + in support of this assertion that the “Kingdom + of Heaven” was and is a terrestrial ideal.</p> + + <p>This is not simply the Christian ideal of society, + it is the ideal of every right-thinking man, of every + man with a full sense of beauty. You will find + it rendered in two imperishably beautiful Utopias + of our own time, both, I glory to write, by Englishmen, + the <cite>News from Nowhere</cite> of William Morris, + and Hudson’s exquisite <cite>Crystal Age</cite>. Both these + present practically Anarchist States, both assume + idealized human beings, beings finer, simpler, + <a class="pagenum" id="page256" title="256"> </a>nobler than the heated, limited and striving poor + souls who thrust and suffer among the stresses of + this present life. And the present writer, too—I + must mention him here to guard against a confusion + in the future—when a little while ago he + imagined humanity exalted morally and intellectually + by the brush of a comet’s tail,<a href="#footnote_20" id="fnm20" title="In the Days of the Comet..." class="fnmarker">20</a> was forced by + the logic of his premises and even against his first + intention to present not a Socialist State but a + glorious anarchism as the outcome of that rejuvenescence + of the world.</p> + + <p>But the business of Socialism lies at a lower level + and concerns immediate things; our material is + the world as it is, full of unjust laws, bad traditions, + bad habits, inherited diseases and weaknesses, + germs and poisons, filths and envies. We are not + dealing with magnificent creatures such as one + sees in ideal paintings and splendid sculpture, so + beautiful they may face the world naked and unashamed; + we are dealing with hot-eared, ill-kempt + people, who are liable to indigestion, baldness, + corpulence and fluctuating tempers; who wear top-hats + and bowler hats or hats kept on by hat-pins + (and so with all the other necessary clothing); who + are pitiful and weak and vain and touchy almost + <a class="pagenum" id="page257" title="257"> </a>beyond measure, and very naughty and intemperate; + who have, alas! to be bound over to be in any + degree faithful and just to one another. To strip + such people suddenly of law and restraint would + be as dreadful and ugly as stripping the clothes + from their poor bodies….</p> + + <p>That Anarchist world, I admit, is our dream; + we do believe—well, I, at any rate, believe this + present world, this planet, will some day bear a + race beyond our most exalted and temerarious + dreams, a race begotten of our wills and the substance + of our bodies, a race, so I have said it, + “who will stand upon the earth as one stands upon + a footstool, and laugh and reach out their hands + amidst the stars,” but the way to that is through + education and discipline and law. Socialism is the + preparation for that higher Anarchism; painfully, + laboriously we mean to destroy false ideas of property + and self, eliminate unjust laws and poisonous + and hateful suggestions and prejudices, create a + system of social right-dealing and a tradition of + right-feeling and action. Socialism is the school-room + of true and noble Anarchism, wherein by + training and restraint we shall make free men.</p> + + <p>There is a graceful and all too little known fable + by Mr. Max Beerbohm, <cite>The Happy Hypocrite</cite>, + which gives, I think, not only the relation of + Socialism to philosophic Anarchism, but of all discipline + to all idealism. It is the story of a beautiful + <a class="pagenum" id="page258" title="258"> </a>mask that was worn by a man in love, until he + tired even of that much of deceit and, a little + desperately, threw it aside—to find his own face + beneath changed to the likeness of the self he had + desired. So would we veil the greed, the suspicion + of the self-seeking scramble of to-day under institutions + and laws that will cry “duty and service” + in the ears and eyes of all mankind, keep down + the evil so long and so effectually that at last law + will be habit, and greed and self-seeking cease for + ever, from being the ruling impulse of the world. + Socialism is the mask that will mould the world to + that better Anarchism of good men’s dreams….</p> + + <p>But these are long views, glimpses beyond the + Socialist horizon. The people who would set up + Anarchism to-day are people without human experience + or any tempering of humour, only one shade + less impossible than the odd one-sided queer beings + one meets, ridiculously inaccessible to laughter, + who, caricaturing their Nietzsche and misunderstanding + their Shaw, invite one to set up consciously + with them in the business of being Overmen, to + rule a world full of our betters, by fraud and + force. It is a foolish teaching saved only from + being horrible by being utterly ludicrous. For + us the best is faith and humility, truth and service, + our utmost glory is to have seen the vision and + to have failed—not altogether…. For ourselves + and such as we are, let us not “deal in + <a class="pagenum" id="page259" title="259"> </a>pride,” let us be glad to learn a little of this spirit + of service, to achieve a little humility, to give ourselves + to the making of Socialism and the civilized + State without presumption—as children who are + glad they may help in a work greater than themselves + and the toys that have heretofore engaged + them.</p> + +</div> +<div id="chapter_12" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page260" title="260"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter-number">CHAPTER XII</span><br /> + ADMINISTRATIVE SOCIALISM</h2> + + <h3 id="ch12_s1">§ 1.</h3> + + <p><span class="first_word">Marx</span> gave to Socialism a theory of world-wide + social development, and rescued it altogether from + the eccentric and localized associations of its earliest + phases; he brought it so near to reality that it + could appear as a force in politics, embodied first + as the International Association of Working Men, + and then as the Social Democratic movement of the + continent of Europe that commands to-day over a + third of the entire poll of German voters. So much + Marx did for Socialism. But if he broadened its + application to the world, he narrowed its range to + only the economic aspect of life. He arrested for + a time the discussion of its biological and moral + aspects altogether. He left it an incomplete doctrine + of merely economic reconstruction supplemented + by mystical democracy, and both its mysticism + and incompleteness, while they offered no + difficulties to a labouring man ignorant of affairs, + <a class="pagenum" id="page261" title="261"> </a>rendered it unsubstantial and unattractive to people + who had any real knowledge of administration.</p> + + <p>It was left chiefly to the little group of English + people who founded the Fabian Society to supply + a third system of ideas to the amplifying conception + of Socialism, to convert Revolutionary Socialism + into Administrative Socialism.</p> + + <p>This new development was essentially the outcome + of the reaction of its broad suggestions of + economic reconstruction upon the circle of thought + of one or two young officials of genius, and of one + or two persons upon the fringe of that politic-social + stratum of Society, the English “governing class.” + I make this statement, I may say, in the loosest + possible spirit. The reaction is one that was not + confined to England, it was to some extent inevitable + wherever the new movement in thought became + accessible to intelligent administrators and officials. + But in the peculiar atmosphere of British public life, + with its remarkable blend of individual initiative + and a lively sense of the State, this reaction has + had the freest development. There was, indeed, + Fabianism before the Fabian Society; it would + be ingratitude to some of the most fruitful social + work of the middle Victorian period to ignore the + way in which it has contributed in suggestion and + justification to the Socialist synthesis. The city of + Birmingham, for example, developed the most + extensive process of municipalization as the mere + <a class="pagenum" id="page262" title="262"> </a>common-sense of local patriotism. But the movement + was without formulæ and correlation until + the Fabians came.</p> + + <p>That unorganized, unpaid public service of + public-spirited aristocratic and wealthy financial + and business people, the “governing class,” which + dominated the British Empire throughout the nineteenth + century, has, through the absence of definite + class boundaries in England and the readiness of + each class to take its tone from the class above, that + “Snobbishness” which is so often heedlessly dismissed + as altogether evil, given a unique quality to + British thought upon public questions and to + British conceptions of Socialism. It has made the + British mind as a whole “administrative.” As compared + with the American mind, for example, the + British is State-conscious, the American State-blind. + The American is no doubt intensely patriotic, but the + nation and the State to which his patriotism points + is something overhead and comprehensive like the + sky, like a flag hoisted; something, indeed, that not + only does not but must not interfere with his ordinary + business occupations. To have public spirit, + to be aware of the State as a whole and to have + an administrative feeling towards it, is necessarily + to be accessible to constructive ideas—that is to + say, to Socialistic ideas. In the history of thought + in Victorian Great Britain, one sees a constant + conflict of this administrative disposition with the + <a class="pagenum" id="page263" title="263"> </a>individualistic commercialism of the aggressively + trading and manufacturing class, the class that in + America reigns unchallenged to this day. In the + latter country Individualism reigns unchallenged, + it is assumed; in the former it has fought an uphill + fight against the traditions of Church and State + and has never absolutely prevailed. The political + economists and Herbert Spencer were its prophets, + and they never at any time held the public mind in + any invincible grip. Since the eighties that grip + has weakened more and more. Socialistic thought + and legislation, therefore, was going on in Great + Britain through all the Victorian period. Nevertheless, + it was the Fabian Society that, in the + eighties and through the intellectual impetus of at + most four or five personalities, really brought this + obstinately administrative spirit in British affairs + into relation with Socialism as such.</p> + + <p>The dominant intelligence of this group was Mr. + Sidney Webb, and as I think of him thus coming + after Marx to develop the third phase of Socialism, + I am struck by the contrast with the big-bearded + Socialist leaders of the earlier school and this small, + active, unpretending figure with the finely-shaped + head, the little imperial under the lip, the glasses, + the slightly lisping, insinuating voice. He emerged + as a Colonial Office clerk of conspicuous energy and + capacity, and he was already the leader and “idea + factory” of the Fabian Society when he married + <a class="pagenum" id="page264" title="264"> </a>Miss Beatrice Potter, the daughter of a Conservative + Member of Parliament, a girl friend of Herbert + Spencer, and already a brilliant student of sociological + questions. Both he and she are devotees + to social service, living laborious, ordered, austere, + incessant lives, making the employment of secretaries + their one extravagance, and alternations + between research and affairs their change of occupation. + A new type of personality altogether they + were in the Socialist movement, which had hitherto + been richer in eloquence than discipline. And + during the past twenty years of the work of the + Fabian Society through their influence, one dominant + question has prevailed. Assuming the truth + of the two main generalizations of Socialism, taking + that statement of intention for granted, <em>how is the + thing to be done</em>? They put aside the glib assurances + of the revolutionary Socialists that everything + would be all right when the People came to their + own; and so earned for themselves the undying + resentment of all those who believe the world is + to be effectually mended by a liberal use of chest + notes and red flags. They insisted that the administrative + and economic methods of the future must + be a secular development of existing institutions, + and inaugurated a process of study—which has long + passed beyond the range of the Fabian Society, + broadening out with the organized work of the + New University of London, with its special School + <a class="pagenum" id="page265" title="265"> </a>of Economics and Political Science and of a growing + volume of university study in England and + America—to the end that this “<em>how?</em>” should be + answered….</p> + + <p>The broad lines of the process of transition from + the present state of affairs to the Socialist state of + the future as they are developed by administrative + Socialism lie along the following lines.</p> + + <ol> + <li><p>The peaceful and systematic taking over from + private enterprise, by purchase or otherwise, + whether by the national or by the municipal authorities + as may be most convenient, of the great + common services of land control, mining, transit, + food supply, the drink trade, lighting, force supply + and the like.</p></li> + <li><p>Systematic expropriation of private owners by + death-duties and increased taxation.</p></li> + <li><p>The building up of a great scientifically + organized administrative machinery to carry on + these enlarging public functions.</p></li> + <li><p>A steady increase and expansion of public + education, research, museums, libraries and all such + public services. The systematic promotion of + measures for raising the school-leaving age, for the + public feeding of school children, for the provision + of public baths, parks, playgrounds and the like.</p></li> + <li><p>The systematic creation of a great service of + public health to take over the disorganized confusion + of hospitals and other charities, sanitary + <a class="pagenum" id="page266" title="266"> </a>authorities, officers of health and private enterprise + medical men.</p></li> + <li><p>The recognition of the claim of every citizen + to welfare by measures for the support of mothers + and children and by the establishment of old-age + pensions.</p></li> + <li><p>The systematic raising of the minimum + standard of life by factory and other labour legislation, + and particularly by the establishment of a + legal minimum wage….</p></li> + </ol> + + <p>These are the broad forms of the Fabian Socialist’s + answer to the question of <em>how</em>, with which the + revolutionary Socialists were confronted. The + diligent student of Socialism will find all these proposals + worked out to a very practicable-looking + pitch indeed in that Bible of Administrative Socialism, + the collected tracts of the Fabian Society,<a href="#footnote_21" id="fnm21" title="Fabian Tracts..." class="fnmarker">21</a> and + to that volume I must refer him. The theory of the + minimum standard and the minimum wage is + explained, moreover, with the utmost lucidity in + that Socialist classic, <cite>Industrial Democracy</cite>, by + Sidney and Beatrice Webb. It is a theory that + must needs be mastered by every intelligent Socialist, + but it is well to bear in mind that the method + of the minimum wage is no integral part of the + general Socialist proposition, and that it still lies + open to discussion and modification.</p> + + <h3 id="ch12_s2"><a class="pagenum" id="page267" title="267"> </a>§ 2.</h3> + + <p>Every movement has the defects of its virtues, + and it is not, perhaps, very remarkable that + the Fabian Society of the eighties and nineties, + having introduced the conception of the historical + continuity of institutions into the Propaganda of + Socialism, did certainly for a time greatly over-accentuate + that conception and draw away attention + from aspects that may be ultimately more + essential.</p> + + <p>Beginning with the proposition that the institutions + and formulæ of the future must necessarily be + developed from those of the present, that one cannot + start <em lang="la" xml:lang="la">de novo</em> even after a revolution; one may + easily end in an attitude of excessive conservatism + towards existing machinery. In spite of the + presence of such fine and original intelligences as + Mr. (now Sir) Sydney Olivier and Mr. Graham + Wallas in the Fabian counsels, there can be no + denial that for the first twenty years of its career, + Mr. Webb was the prevailing Fabian. Now his is a + mind legal as well as creative, and at times his legal + side quite overcomes his constructive element; he + is extraordinarily fertile in expedients and skilful + in adaptation, and with a real horror of open destruction. + This statement by no means exhausts him, + but it does to a large extent convey the qualities + that were uppermost in the earlier years, at any rate, + <a class="pagenum" id="page268" title="268"> </a>of his influence. His insistence upon continuity + pervaded the Society, was re-echoed and intensified + by others, and developed into something like a + mania for achieving Socialism without the overt + change of any existing ruling body. His impetus + carried this reaction against the crude democratic + idea to its extremest opposite. Then arose Webbites + to caricature Webb. From saying that the + unorganized people cannot achieve Socialism, they + passed to the implication that organization alone, + without popular support, might achieve Socialism. + Socialism was to arrive as it were insidiously.</p> + + <p>To some minds this new proposal had the charm + of a school-boy’s first dark-lantern. Socialism + ceased to be an open revolution, and became a plot. + Functions were to be shifted, quietly, unostentatiously, + from the representative to the official he + appointed; a bureaucracy was to slip into power + through the mechanical difficulties of an administration + by debating representatives; and since + these officials would by the nature of their positions + constitute a scientific bureaucracy, and since Socialism + is essentially scientific government as distinguished + from haphazard government, they would + necessarily run the country on the lines of a pretty + distinctly undemocratic Socialism.</p> + + <p>The process went even further than secretiveness + in its reaction from the large rhetorical forms of + revolutionary Socialism. There arose even a repudiation + <a class="pagenum" id="page269" title="269"> </a>of “principles” of action, and a type of + worker which proclaimed itself “Opportunist-Socialist.” + It was another instance of Socialism + losing sight of itself, it was a process quite parallel + at the other extreme with the self-contradiction of + the Anarchist-Socialist. Socialism as distinguished + from mere Liberalism, for example, is an organized + plan for social reconstruction, while Liberalism + relies upon certain vague “principles”; Socialism + declares that good intentions and doing what comes + first to hand will not suffice. Now Opportunism is + essentially benevolent adventure and the doing of + first-hand things.</p> + + <p>This conception of indifference to the forms of + government, of accepting whatever governing + bodies existed and using them to create officials + and “<em>get something done</em>,” was at once immediately + fruitful in many directions, and presently + productive of many very grave difficulties in the + path of advancing Socialism. Webb himself + devoted immense industry and capacity to the + London County Council—it is impossible to measure + the share he has had in securing such great + public utilities as water supply, traction and electric + supply, for example, from complete exploitation by + private profit seekers, but certainly it is a huge one—and + throughout England and presently in + America, there went on a collateral activity of + Fabian Socialists. They worked like a ferment in + <a class="pagenum" id="page270" title="270"> </a>municipal politics, encouraging and developing + local pride and local enterprise in public works. + In the case of large public bodies, working in suitable + areas and commanding the services of men of + high quality, striking advances in Social organization + were made, but in the case of smaller bodies in + unsuitable districts and with no attractions for + people of gifts and training, the influence of + Fabianism did on the whole produce effects that + have tended to discredit Socialism. Aggressive, + ignorant and untrained men and women, usually + neither inspired by Socialist faith nor clearly defining + themselves as Socialists, persons too often + of wavering purpose and doubtful honesty, got + themselves elected in a state of enthusiasm to + undertake public functions and challenge private + enterprise under conditions that doomed them to + waste and failure. This was the case in endless + parish councils and urban districts; it was also the + case in many London boroughs. It has to be + admitted by Socialists with infinite regret that the + common borough-council Socialist is too often a + lamentable misrepresentative of the Socialist idea.</p> + + <p>The creation of the London Borough Councils + found English Socialism unprepared. They were + bodies doomed by their nature to incapacity and + waste. They represented neither natural communities + nor any practicable administrative unit + of area. Their creation was the result of quite silly + <a class="pagenum" id="page271" title="271"> </a>political considerations. The slowness with which + Socialists have realized that for the larger duties + that they wish to have done collectively, a new + scheme of administration is necessary; that bodies + created to sweep the streets and admirably adapted + to that duty may be conspicuously not adapted to + supply electric power or interfere with transit, is + accountable for much disheartening bungling. + Instead of taking a clear line from the outset, and + denouncing these glorified vestries as useless, impossible + and entirely unscientific organs, too many + Socialists tried to claim Bumble as their friend and + use him as their tool. And Bumble turned out + to be a very bad friend and a very poor tool….</p> + + <p>In all these matters the real question at issue is + one between the emergency and the implement. + One may illustrate by a simple comparison. Suppose + there is a need to dig a hole and that there + is no spade available, a Fabian with Mr. Webb’s + gifts becomes invaluable. He seizes upon a broken + old cricket-bat, let us say, uses it with admirable + wit and skill, and presto! there is the hole made + and the moral taught that one need not always wait + for spades before digging holes. It is a lesson that + Socialism stood in need of, and which henceforth + it will always bear in mind. But suppose we want + to dig a dozen holes, it may be worth while to + spend a little time in going to beg, borrow or buy + a spade. If we have to dig holes indefinitely, day + <a class="pagenum" id="page272" title="272"> </a>after day, it will be sheer foolishness sticking to the + bat. It will be worth while then not simply to get + a spade, but to get just the right sort of spade in + size and form that the soil requires, to get the + proper means of sharpening and repairing the + spade, to insure a proper supply. Or to point the + comparison, the reconstruction of our legislative + and local government machinery is a necessary + preliminary to Socialization in many directions. + Mr. Webb has very effectually admitted that, is + in fact himself leading us away from that by taking + up the study of local government as his principal + occupation, but the typical “Webbite” of the + Fabian Society, who is very much to Webb what + the Marxist is to Marx, entranced by his leader’s + skill, still clings to a caricature distortion of this + earlier Fabian ideal. He dreams of the most foxy + and wonderful digging by means of box-lids, table-spoons, + dish-covers—anything but spades designed + and made for the job in hand—just as he dreams + of an extensive expropriation of landlords by a + legislature that includes the present unreformed + House of Lords….</p> + + <h3 id="ch12_s3">§ 3.</h3> + + <p>It was only at the very end of the nineteenth + century that the Fabian Socialist movement was + at all quickened to the need of political reconstruction + as extensive as the economic changes it + <a class="pagenum" id="page273" title="273"> </a>advocated, and it is still far from a complete apprehension + of the importance of the political problem. + To begin with, Mr. and Mrs. Webb, having completed + their work on Labour Regulation, took up + the study of local government and commenced that + colossal task that still engages them, their book + upon <cite>English Local Government</cite>, of which there + has as yet appeared (1907) only one volume out of + seven. (Immense as this service is, it is only one + part of conjoint activities that will ultimately give + constructive social conceptions an enormous armoury + of scientifically arranged fact.)</p> + + <p>As the outcome of certain private experiences, + the moral of which was pointed by discussion with + Mr. and Mrs. Webb, the present writer in 1902 put + before the Fabian Society a paper on Administrative + Areas,<a href="#footnote_22" id="fnm22" title="See Appendix to..." class="fnmarker">22</a> in which he showed clearly that the + character and efficiency and possibilities of a + governing body depend almost entirely upon + the suitability to its particular function of the + size and quality of the constituency it represents + and the area it administers. This may be stated + with something approaching scientific confidence. + A local governing body for too small an area or + elected upon an unsound franchise <em>cannot</em> be efficient. + But obviously before you can transfer property + from private to collective control you must have + <a class="pagenum" id="page274" title="274"> </a>something in the way of a governing institution + which has a reasonably good chance of developing + into an efficient controlling body. The leading conception + of this Administrative Area paper appeared + subsequently running through a series of tracts, <cite>The + New Heptarchy Series</cite>, in which one finds it applied + first to this group of administrative problems + and then to that.<a href="#footnote_23" id="fnm23" title="1. Municipalization by Provinces..." class="fnmarker">23</a> These tracts are remarkable if + only because they present the first systematic recognition + on the part of any organized Socialist body + of the fact that a scientific reconstruction of the + methods of government constitutes not simply an + incidental but a necessary part of the complete + Socialist scheme, the first recognition of the widening + scope of the Socialist design that makes it + again a deliberately constructive project.<a href="#footnote_24" id="fnm24" title="This generalization..." class="fnmarker">24</a></p> + + <p>It is only an initial recognition, a mere first raid + into a great and largely unexplored province of study. + This province is in the broadest terms, social psychology. + A huge amount of thought, discussion, + experiment, is to be done in this field—needs imperatively + <a class="pagenum" id="page275" title="275"> </a>to be done before the process of the + socialization of economic life can go very far beyond + its present attainments. Except for these first admissions, + Socialism has concerned itself only with + the material reorganization of Society and its social + consequences, with economic changes and the + reaction of these changes on administrative work; + it has either accepted existing intellectual conditions + and political institutions as beyond its control or + assumed that they will obediently modify as economic + and administrative necessity dictates. Declare + the Social revolution, we were told in a note of + cheery optimism by the Marxist apostles, and + political institutions will come like flowers in May! + Achieve your expropriation, said the early Fabians, + get your network of skilled experts spread over the + country, and your political forms, your public + opinion, your collective soul will not trouble you.</p> + + <p>The student of history knows better. These confident + claims ignore the psychological factors in + government and human association; they disregard + a jungle of difficulties that lie directly in our + way. Socialists have to face the facts; firstly, + that the political and intellectual institutions of the + present time belong to the present condition of + things, and that the intellectual methods, machinery + and political institutions of the better future must + almost inevitably be of a very different type; + secondly, that such institutions will not come about + <a class="pagenum" id="page276" title="276"> </a>of themselves—which indeed is the old superstition + of <em lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">laissez faire</em> in a new form—but must be thought + out, planned and organized just as completely as + economic socialization has had to be planned and + organized; and thirdly, that so far Socialism has + evolved scarcely any generalizations even, that may + be made the basis of new intellectual and governmental—as + distinguished from administrative—methods. + It has preached collective ownership and + collective control, and it has only begun to recognize + that this implies the necessity of a collective + will and new means and methods altogether for the + collective mind.</p> + + <p>The administrative Socialism which Mr. Webb + and the Fabian Society developed upon a modification + of the broad generalizations of the Marx phase, + is as it were no more than the first courses above + those foundations of Socialism. It supplies us with + a conception of methods of transition and with a + vision of a great and disciplined organization of + officials, a scientific bureaucracy appointed by representative + bodies of diminishing activity and + importance, and coming to be at last the real working + control of the Socialist State. But it says + nothing of what is above the officials, what drives + the officials. It is a palace without living rooms, + with nothing but offices; a machine, as yet unprovided + with a motor. No doubt we must have that + organization of officials if we mean to bring about a + Socialist State, but the mind recoils with something + <a class="pagenum" id="page277" title="277"> </a>like terror from the conception of a State run and + ruled by officials, terminating in officials, with an + official as its highest expression. One has a vision + of a community with blue-books instead of a literature, + and inspectors instead of a conscience. The + mystical democracy of the Marxist, though manifestly + impossible, had in it something attractive, + something humanly and desperately pugnacious + and generous, something indeed heroic; the bureaucracy + of the Webbite, though far more attainable, + is infinitely less inspiring. But that may be because + the inspiring elements remain to be stated + rather than that these practical constructive projects + are in their nature, and incurably, hard and + narrow. Instead of a gorgeous flare in the darkness, + we have the first cold onset of daylight heralding + the sun. If the letter of the teaching of Mr. + and Mrs. Webb is bureaucracy, that is certainly + not the spirit of their lives.</p> + + <p>The earlier Socialists gave Socialism substance, + <em lang="la" xml:lang="la">rudis indigestaque moles</em>, but noble stuff; Administrative + Socialism gave it a physical structure and + nerves, defined its organs and determined its functions; + it remains for the Socialist of to-day to + realize in this shaping body of the civilized State + of the future the breath of life already unconfessedly + there, to state in clear terms the reality for which + our plans are made, by which alone they can be + realized, that is to say, <em>the collective mind of + humanity, the soul and moral being of mankind</em>.</p> + +</div> +<div id="chapter_13" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page278" title="278"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter-number">CHAPTER XIII</span><br /> + CONSTRUCTIVE SOCIALISM</h2> + + <h3 id="ch13_s1">§ 1.</h3> + + <p><span class="first_word">Such</span> a group of ideas and motives as Socialism, + fundamentally true as it is to the needs of life, and + arising as it does from the inevitable suggestion of + very widely dispersed evils and insufficiencies, does + not spring from any one source, nor develop along + any single line. It appears as a smouldering fire + appears, first here, then there, first in one form of + expression and then another, now under this name + and now under that.</p> + + <p>The manifest new possibilities created by the progress + of applied science, the inevitable change of + scale and of the size and conception of a community + that arises out of them, <em>necessitate</em> at least the + material form of Socialism—that is to say, the replacement + of individual action by public organization, + in spite of a hundred vested interests. The + age that regarded Herbert Spencer as its greatest + philosopher, for example, was urged nevertheless, + unwillingly and protestingly but effectually, + <a class="pagenum" id="page279" title="279"> </a>through phase after phase of more and more co-ordinated + voluntary effort, until at last it had to + undertake a complete system of organized free + public primary education. There the moving finger + of change halts not a moment; already it is going + on to secondary education, to schemes for a complete + public educational organization from reformatory + school up to professorial chair. The practical + logic of the case is invincible.</p> + + <p>So, too, the public organization of scientific research + goes on steadily against all prejudices and + social theories, and, in a very different field, the + plain inconveniences of a private control of traffic + in America and England alike, force the affected + property owners whose businesses are hampered + and damaged towards the realization that freedom + of private property, in these services at least, is evil + and must end. As the proofs of these pages pass + through my hands comes the news of Mr. Lloyd + George’s settlement of the dispute between railway + directors and <em>employés</em> by the establishment of a + method of compulsory arbitration. Then, again, + the movement for public sanitation and hygiene + spreads and broadens, and the natural alarm of + even the most conservative at the falling birth-rate + and the stationary infantile death-rate is evidently + ripening for an advance towards public control and + care even in the relation of child to parent, the + most intimate of all personal affairs.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page280" title="280"> </a>Inevitably all such movements must coalesce—their + spirit is one, the spirit of construction—and + inevitably their coalescence will take the form of a + wide and generous restatement of Socialism. Nothing + but a broader understanding of the broadening + propositions of Socialism is needed for that + recognition now.</p> + + <p>Socialism, indeed, does not simply look, it appeals + to the constructive professions at the present + time, to the medical man, the engineer, the architect, + the scientific agriculturist.</p> + + <p>Each of these sorts of men, in just so far as he + is concerned with the reality of his profession, in + just so far as he is worthy of his profession, must + resent the considerations of private profit, of base + economies, that constantly limit and spoil his + work and services in the interests of a dividend or + of some financial manœuvre. So far they have + been antagonized towards Socialism by the errors + of its adherents, by the impression quite wantonly + created, that Socialism meant either mob rule or the + rule of pedantic, unsympathetic officials. They + have heard too much of democracy, too much of + bureaucracy, and not enough of construction. They + have felt that on the whole the financial exploiter, + detestable master as he often is, was better than the + rule of either clamour on the one hand or red tape + on the other. But, as I have been seeking to suggest, + mob rule and official rule do not exhaust the + <a class="pagenum" id="page281" title="281"> </a>possible alternatives. Neither ignorant democracy + nor narrow bureaucracy can be the destined rulers + of a Socialist State. The only conceivable rule in + a Socialist civilization is through the operation of + a collective mind that must be by its nature constructive + and enterprising, because only through the + creation of such a mind can Socialism be brought + about. A Socialist State cannot exist without that + mind existing also, and a collective mind can + scarcely appear without some form of Socialism + giving it a material body. Now it is only under + an intelligent collective mind that any of the dreams + of these constructive professions can attain an + effective realization. Where will the private profit + in a universal sanitation, for example, be found, in + the abolition of diseases, in the planned control of + the public health, in the abolition of children’s + deaths? What thought of private gain will ever + scrap our obsolescent railroads and our stagnating + industrial monopolies for new clean methods? So + long as they pay a dividend they will keep on upon + their present lines. The modern architect knows, + the engineer knows we might build ourselves perfectly + clean, smokeless magnificent cities to-day, + as full of pure water as ancient Rome, as full of + pure air as the Engadine, if private ownership did + not block the way. Who can doubt it who understands + what a doctor, or an electrical engineer, or + a real architect understands? Surely all the best + <a class="pagenum" id="page282" title="282"> </a>men in these professions are eager to get to work + on the immense possibilities of life, possibilities + of things cleared up, of things made anew, + that their training has enabled them to visualize! + What stands in their way, stands in our way; social + disorganization, individualist self-seeking, narrowness + of outlook, self-conceit, ignorance.</p> + + <p>With that conception they must surely turn in + the end, as we Socialists turn, to the most creative + profession of all, to that great calling which with + each generation renews the world’s “circle of + ideas,” the Teachers!</p> + + <p>The whole trend and purpose of this book from + the outset has been to insist upon <em>the mental quality + of Socialism</em>, to maintain that it is a business of + conventions about property and plans of reorganization, + that is to say, of changes and expansions + of the ideas of men, changes and expansions of their + spirit of action and their habitual circles of ideas. + Unless you can change men’s minds you cannot + effect Socialism, and when you have made clear + and universal certain broad understandings, Socialism + becomes a mere matter of science and devices + and applied intelligence. That is the constructive + Socialist’s position. Logically, therefore, he declares + the teacher master of the situation. Ultimately + the Socialist movement <em>is</em> teaching, and the + most important people in the world from the Socialist’s + point of view are those who teach—I mean + <a class="pagenum" id="page283" title="283"> </a>of course not simply those who teach in schools, + but those who teach in pulpits, in books, in the + press, in universities and lecture-theatres, in parliaments + and councils, in discussions and associations + and experiments of every sort, and, last in my list + but most important of all, those mothers and + motherly women who teach little children in their + earliest years. Every one, too, who enunciates a + new and valid idea, or works out a new contrivance, + is a teacher in this sense.</p> + + <p>And these Teachers collectively, perpetually + renew the collective mind. In the measure that in + each successive generation they apprehend Socialism + and transmit its spirit, is Socialism nearer its + goal.</p> + + <h3 id="ch13_s2">§ 2.</h3> + + <p>At the present time in America and all the + western European countries, there is a collective + mind, a public opinion made up of the most adventitious + and interesting elements. It is not even a + national or a racial thing, it is curiously international, + curiously responsive to thought from + every quarter; a something, vague here, clear there, + here diffused, there concentrated. It demands the + closest attention from Socialists this something, this + something which is so hard to define and so impossible + to deny—civilized feeling, the thought of our + age, the mind of the world. It has organs, it has + <a class="pagenum" id="page284" title="284"> </a>media, yet it is as hard to locate as the soul of a + man. We know that somewhere in the brain and + body of a man lives his Self; that you must preserve + that brain entire, aërate it, nourish it lest it die and + his whole being die, and yet you cannot say it is + in this cell—or in that. So with an equal mystery + of diffusion the mind of mankind exists. No man, + no organization, no authority, can be more than a + part of it. Twice at least have there been attempts + of parts to be the whole; the Catholic Church and + the Chinese Academy have each in varying measure + sought to play the part of a collective mind for all + humanity and failed. All individual achievement, + fine books, splendid poems, great discoveries, new + generalizations, lives of thought, are no more than + flashes in this huge moral and intellectual being + which grows now self-conscious and purposeful, + just as a child grows out of its early self-ignorance + to an elusive, indefinable, indisputable sense of + itself. This collective mind has to be filled and + nourished with the Socialist purpose, to receive and + assimilate our great idea. That is the true work of + Socialism.</p> + + <p>Consider the organs and media of the collective + mind as one finds them in England or America + now, how hazardous they are and accidental! At + the basis of this strange thought-process is the intelligence + of the common man, once illiterate and + accessible only to the crude, inarticulate influences + <a class="pagenum" id="page285" title="285"> </a>of talk and rumour, now rapidly becoming educated, + or at any rate educated to the level of a reader + and writer, and responding more and more to literary + influences. The great mass of the population + is indeed at the present time like clay which has + hitherto been a mere deadening influence underneath, + but which this educational process, like some + drying and heating influence upon that clay, is + rendering resonant, capable of, in a dim answering + way, <em>ringing</em> to the appeals made upon it. Reaching + through this mass, appealing to it in various + degrees at various levels and to various ends, there + are a number of systems of organizations of unknown + value and power. Its response, such as it + is, robbed by multitudinousness of any personality + or articulation, is a broad emotional impulse.</p> + + <p>Above this fundamental mass is the growing + moiety which has a conscious thought-process, of a + sort. Its fundamental ideas, its preconceptions, are + begotten of a mixture of social traditions learnt at + home and in school and from the suggestions of + contemporary customs and affairs. But it reads + and listens more or less. And scattered through + this, here and there, are people really learning, + really increasing and accumulating knowledge, + really thinking and conversing—the active mind-cells, + as it were, of the world. Their ideas are conveyed + into the mass much as impulses are conveyed + into an imperfectly innervated tissue, they are + <a class="pagenum" id="page286" title="286"> </a>conveyed by books and pamphlets, by lecturing, by + magazine articles and newspaper articles, by the + agency of the pulpit, by organized propaganda, by + political display and campaigns. The gross effect + is considerable, but it is just as well that the + Socialist should look a little closely at the economic + processes that underlie these intellectual activities + at the present time. Except for the universities and + much of the public educational organization, except + for a few pulpits endowed for good under conditions + that limit freedom of thought and expression, + except for certain needy and impecunious propagandas, + the whole of this apparatus of public + thought and discussion to-day has been created and + is sustained by commercial necessity.</p> + + <p>For example, consider what is I suppose by far + the most important vehicle of ideas at the present + time, which for a huge majority of adults is the sole + vehicle of ideas, the newspaper. It is universal because + it is cheap, and it is cheap because the cost of + production is paid for by the advertisements of + private enterprise. The newspaper is to a very + large extent parasitic upon competition; its criticism, + its discussion, its correspondence, are, from + the business point of view, written on the backs of + puffs of competing tobaccos, soaps, medicines and + the like. No newspaper could pay upon its sales + alone, and the same thing is true of most popular + magazines and weekly publications. It is highly + <a class="pagenum" id="page287" title="287"> </a>probable that whatever checks public advertisement + in other directions, the prohibition of bill-posting + upon hoardings, for example, the protection of + scenery, railway carriages and architecture from the + advertiser, stimulates the production of attractive + literature. Necessarily what is published in newspapers + and magazines must be acceptable to advertising + businesses and not too openly contrary to + their interests. With that limitation the newspapers + provide a singularly free and various arena for discussion + at the present time. It must, however, be + obvious that to advance towards Socialism is, if not + to undermine the newspaper altogether, at least to + change very profoundly this material vehicle of + popular thought….</p> + + <p>The newspaper disseminates ideas. So, too, does + the book and the pamphlet, and so far as these latter + are concerned, their distribution does not at present + rest in the same degree upon their value as vehicles + of advertisement. They are saleable things unaided. + The average book of to-day at its nominal + price of six shillings pays in itself and supports its + producers. So in a lesser degree does the sixpenny + pamphlet, but neither book nor pamphlet reach so + wide a public as the halfpenny and penny press. + The methods and media of the book trade have + grown up, no man designing them; they change, and + no one is able to foretell the effect of their changes. + At present there is a great movement to cheapen new + <a class="pagenum" id="page288" title="288"> </a>books, and it would seem the cheapening is partly + to be made up for in enhanced sales and partly by + an increased use of new books for advertisement. + Many people consider this cheapening of new books + as being detrimental to the interests of all but the + most vulgarly popular authors. They believe it will + increase the difficulty of new writers, and hopelessly + impoverish just the finest element in our literary + life, those original and exceptional minds who demand + educated appreciation and do not appeal to + the man in the street. This may or may not be + true; the aspect of interest to Socialists is that here + is a process going on which is likely to produce the + most far-reaching results upon the collective mind, + upon that thought-process of the whole community + which is necessary for the progressive organization + of Society. It is a process which is likely to spread + one type of writer far and wide, which may silence + or demoralize another, which may vulgarize and + debase discussion, and which will certainly make + literature far more dependent than it is at present + upon the goodwill of advertising firms. Yet as + Socialists they have no ideas whatever in this + matter; their project of activities ignores it altogether….</p> + + <p>Books and newspapers constitute two among the + chief mental organs of a modern community, but + almost, if not equally important is that great apparatus + for the dissemination of ideas made up of the + <a class="pagenum" id="page289" title="289"> </a>pulpits and lecture halls of a thousand sects and + societies. Towards all these things Socialism has + hitherto maintained an absurd attitude of <em lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">laissez + faire</em>….</p> + + <p>So far I have looked at the collective mind as a + thought process only, but it has much graver and + more immediate functions in a democratic State. + It has, one must remember, to <em>will</em> social order and + development. In every country the machinery for + determining and expressing this will is complex. + The common method in the modern western State + is through the voting of a numerous electorate, + which tends, it would seem, to become more and + more the entire manhood, if not the entire adult + population of the country. It is a curious but perhaps + inevitable method. Practically thought has + to percolate down to the common man through all + those strange and accidental channels, newspapers + which are advertisement sheets, books which may be + boycotted in a “Book War,” pulpits pledged to + doctrine and lecture halls kept open by rich people’s + subscriptions; it has to reach him, to mingle itself + with generalized emotional forces in the heat of + mysteriously subsidized election campaigns, and + then return as a collective determination. For the + Statesman and the Socialist there could hardly be + any study more important, one might think, than + the science of these processes and methods. Yet + the world has still to produce even the rudimentary + <a class="pagenum" id="page290" title="290"> </a>generalizations of this needed science of collective + psychology.</p> + + <h3 id="ch13_s3">§ 3.</h3> + + <p>Now, I ask the reader to consider very carefully + how the Socialist movement, using that expression + now in its wider sense, stands to this very + vague and very real outcome of social evolution, + the Collective Mind; what it is really aspiring to do + in that Collective Mind.</p> + + <p>One has to recognize that this mind is at present + a mind in a state of confusion, full of warring suggestions + and warring impulses. It is like a very + disturbed human mind, it is without a clear aim, it + does not know except in the vaguest terms what it + wants to do, it has impulses, it has fancies, it begins + and forgets. In addition it is afflicted with a division + within itself that is strictly analogous to that + strange mental disorder, which is known to psychologists + as multiple personality. It has no clear + conception of the whole of itself, it goes about forgetting + its proper name and address. Part of it + thinks of itself as one great being, as, let us say, + Germany; another thinks of itself as Catholicism, + another as the White Race, or Judæa. At times one + might deem the whole confusion not so much a + mind as incurable dementia, a chaos of mental elements, + haunted by invincible and mutually incoherent + fixed ideas. This you will remember is the + <a class="pagenum" id="page291" title="291"> </a>gist of that melancholy torso of irony, Flaubert’s + <cite>Bouvard et Pécuchet</cite>.</p> + + <p>In its essence the Socialist movement amounts to + this; it is an attempt in this warring chaos of a + collective mind to pull itself together, to develop + and establish a governing idea of itself. It is like + a man saying to himself resolutely, “What am I? + What am I doing with myself? Where am I drifting?” + and making an answer, hesitating at first, + crude at first, and presently clear and lucid.</p> + + <p>The Socialist movement is from this point of + view, no less than the development of the collective + self-consciousness of humanity. Necessarily, therefore, + it must be international as well as outspoken, + making no truce with prejudices against race and + colour. These national and racial collective consciousnesses + of to-day are things as vague, as fluctuating + as mists or clouds, they melt, dissolve into + one another, they coalesce, they split. No clear + isolated national mind can ever maintain itself + under modern conditions; even the mind of Japan + now comes into the common melting-pot of thought. + We Socialists take up to-day the assertion the early + Christians were the first to make, that mankind is + of one household and one substance; the Samaritan + who stoops to the wounded stranger by the wayside + our brother rather than that Levite….</p> + + <p>In a very different sense indeed the Socialist + propaganda must be <em>the germ of the collective self-consciousness + <a class="pagenum" id="page292" title="292"> </a>of mankind in the coming time</em>. If + the purpose of Socialism is to prevail, its scattered + writings, its dispersed, indistinct and confused utterances + must increase in height and breadth and + range, increase in power and service, gather to + themselves every means of expression, grow into + an ordered system of thought, art, literature and + will. The Socialist Propaganda of to-day must + beget the whole Public Opinion of to-morrow or + fail, the Socialists must play the part of a little + leaven to leaven the whole world. If they do not + leaven it then they are altogether defeated….</p> + + <h3 id="ch13_s4">§ 4.</h3> + + <p>Now, this conception of Socialism as being ultimately + a moral and intellectual synthesis of mankind + from which fresh growth may come, sets a fresh + test of value upon all the activities of the Socialist—and + opens up altogether new departments for + research. Let us face the peculiar difficulty of the + Socialist position. We propose to destroy the competitive + capitalistic system that owns and sustains + our present newspapers, gives and leaves money to + universities, endows fresh pulpits, publishes, advertises, + and buys books; we have to ask, as reasonable + creatures, what new media we propose to give in + the place of these accidental and unsatisfactory + methods of distributing and exchanging thought. + It would almost seem as though current Socialism + breathes public opinion as the Middle Ages breathed + <a class="pagenum" id="page293" title="293"> </a>air, without realizing that it existed, that it might + be vitiated or withheld. And so we are beyond the + range of prepared and digested Socialist proposals + here altogether. It is still open to the Anti-Socialist + to allege that Socialism may incidentally destroy + itself by choking the channels of its own thinking, + and the Socialist has still to reply in vague general + terms.</p> + + <p><em>We must insure the continuity of the collective + mind</em>; that is manifestly a primary necessity for + Socialism. The attempt to realize the Marxist idea + of a democratic Socialism without that, might easily + fail into the abortive birth of an acephalous monster, + the secular development of administrative Socialism + give the world over to a bureaucratic mandarinate, + self-satisfied, interfering and unteachable, with + whom wisdom would die. And yet we Socialists + can produce in our plans no absolute bar to these + possibilities. Here I can suggest only in the most + general terms methods and certain principles. They + need to be laid down as vitally necessary to Socialism, + and so far they have not been so laid down. + They have still to be incorporated in the Socialist + creed. They are essentially principles of that Liberalism + out of whose generous aspirations Socialism + sprang, but they are principles that even to-day, + unhappily, do not figure in the fundamental professions + of any Socialist body.</p> + + <p>The first of these is the principle of <em>freedom of + speech</em>; the second, <em>freedom of writing</em>; and the + <a class="pagenum" id="page294" title="294"> </a>third, <em>universality of information</em>. In the civilized + State every one must be free to know, knowledge + must be patent and at hand, and any one must be + free to discuss, write, suggest and persuade. These + freedoms must be guarded as sacred things. It is + not in the untutored nature of man to respect any of + these freedoms; it is not in the bureaucratic habit + of mind. Indeed, the desire to suppress opinions + adverse to our own is almost instinctive in human + nature. It is an instinct we have to conquer. Fair + play in discussion is sustained by a cultivated + respect, by a correction of natural instinct; men + need to be <em>trained</em> to be jealous of obscurantism, of + unfair argument, of authoritative interference with + opinion when that opinion is against them. In England + such a jealousy does already largely exist, it + has been cultivated with us since the seventeenth + century at least; America, it seemed to me during + my short visit to the States, has somewhat retrograded + from its former British standard in this + respect, there is a crude majority tyranny in the + matter of publication, an un-English disposition to + boycott libraries, books, authors and publications + upon petty issues, a growing disposition to discriminate + in the mails against unpopular views. + These interferences with open statement and discussion + are decivilizing forces.</p> + + <p>Given a clear public understanding of these necessities + as primary, then one may point out that the + <a class="pagenum" id="page295" title="295"> </a>next necessity for the mental existence of a Socialist + State is an extension and cheapening of the impartial + universal distributing activity of the public post + so that it becomes not only the means of correspondence, + but also of distributing books and newspapers, + pamphlets and every form of printed matter. The + post-office must become bookseller and newsagent. + In France this is already the case with the press, + and newspapers are handed in not by the newsboy + but by the public mail. In England Messrs. Smith + and Mudie, and so forth, may censor what they like + among periodicals or books. The remedy is more + toilsome and vexatious than the injury. Neither + England nor America has any security against finding + its public supply of magazines or literature suddenly + choked by the manœuvres of some blackmailing + Book or News Trust squalidly “fighting” + author or publisher for an increase in its proportion + of profits, or interested in financial exploitations + liable to exposure. Neither country is secure + against the complete control of its channels of + thought by some successful monopolistic adventurer….</p> + + <p>The Socialist State will not for a moment permit + such risks as these; it must certainly be a ubiquitous + newsvendor and bookseller; the ordinary newsvendor + and bookseller must become an impartial + State official, working for a sure and comfortable + salary instead of for precarious profits. And this + <a class="pagenum" id="page296" title="296"> </a>amplification of the book and news post and the + book and news trades will need to be not simply a + municipal but a State service of the widest range.</p> + + <p>Distribution, however, is only the beginning of + the problem. There is the more difficult issue of + getting books and papers printed and published. + And here we come to an intricate puzzle in reconciling + the indisputable need for untrammelled individual + expression on the one hand with public + ownership on the other, and also with the difficult + riddle how authors may be supported under Socialist + conditions. It is not within the design of this + book to do more than indicate a possible solution. + These are problems the Socialist has still to work out. + At present authors with business shrewdness and the + ability to be interesting get an income from the sale + of their books, and it seems possible that they might + continue to be paid in that way under Socialism. + It is difficult outside the field of specialist work + (which under any social system has to be endowed + in relation to colleges and universities) to + find any other just way of discriminating between + the author who ought to get a living from writing, + and the author who has no reasonable claim to do + so. But under Socialism, in addition to the private + publisher or altogether replacing him, there will + have to be some sort of public publisher.</p> + + <p>Here again difficulties arise. It is difficult to + see how, if there is only one general State publishing + <a class="pagenum" id="page297" title="297"> </a>department, a sort of censorship can be altogether + avoided, and even if, for example, one insists + upon the right of every one who cares to pay for + it to have matter printed, bound and issued by + the public presses and binders, it still leaves a + disagreeable possibility of uniformity haunting the + mind. But the whole trend of administrative + Socialism is towards a conception of great local + governments, of land, elementary education, omnibus-transit, + power distribution and the like, vesting + in the hands of municipalities as great as mediæval + principalities; and it seems possible to look to these + great bodies and to the municipal patriotism and + inter-municipal rivalries that will develop about + them, for just that spirited and competitive publishing + that is desirable, just as one looks now to their + rivalries as a stimulus for art and architecture and + public dignity and display.<a href="#footnote_25" id="fnm25" title="I visited Liverpool..." class="fnmarker">25</a> Already, as I have + pointed out in a previous chapter (Chapter IX., + <a href="#ch9_s5">§ 5</a>), the decorative arts had to be rescued from the + degrading influence of private enterprise; no one + wants to go back now to the early Victorian state + of affairs, and so it is reasonable to hope that out + of the municipal art and technical schools, which + teach printing, binding and the like, public presses, + <a class="pagenum" id="page298" title="298"> </a>public binderies and all the machinery of book production + may be developed in a natural and convenient + manner. So, too, the municipalities might + publish, seek out, maintain and honour writers and + sell the books they produced, against each other all + over the world. It would be a matter of pride for + authors still unrecognized to go forth to the world + with the arms of some great city on their covers, + and it would be a matter of pride for any city to + have its arms upon work become classic and + immortal. So at least one method of competition + is possible in this matter….</p> + + <p>This, however, is but one passing suggestion + out of many possibilities. But in all these issues + of the intellectual life, it is manifest that public + ownership must be so contrived, and can be so + contrived as to avoid centralization and a control + without alternatives. Moreover, whatever public + publishing is done, it must be left open to any one + to set up as an independent publisher or printer, + and to sell and advertise through the impartial + public book and news distributing organization.</p> + + <p>I lay some stress upon this matter of book issuing + because I think it is a remarkable and regrettable + thing about contemporary Socialist discussion + that it does not seem to be in the least alive to the + great public disadvantage of leaving this vitally + important service to private gain getting. Municipal + coal, municipal milk, municipal house owning, + <a class="pagenum" id="page299" title="299"> </a>the Socialists seem prepared for, and even municipal + theatres, but municipal publication they still + do not take into consideration. They leave the + capitalist free to contrive the control of their book + supply and to check and determine all the provender + of their minds….</p> + + <p>The problem of the press is perhaps to be solved + by some parallel combination of individual enterprise + and public resources. All sorts of things may + happen to the newspaper of to-day even in the + near future, it cannot but be felt that in its present + form it is an extremely transitory phenomenon, that + it no longer embodies and rules public thought as + it did in the middle and later Victorian period, and + that a separation of public discussion from the news + sheet is already in progress. Both in England and + America the popular magazine seems taking over + an increasing share of the public thinking. The + newspaper appears to be in the opening throes of + a period of fundamental change.</p> + + <p>But I will not go into the future of the newspaper + here. All these suggestions are merely + thrown out in the most tentative way to indicate + the nature of the field for study that lies open for + any intelligent worker to cultivate, and that Socialists + have so far been too busy to consider….</p> + + <p>The same truth that controls must be divided and + a competition at least for honour and repute kept + alive under Socialism, needs also to be applied to + <a class="pagenum" id="page300" title="300"> </a>schools and colleges, and all the vast machinery of + research. It is imperative that there should be + overlapping and competing organizations. An + educated and prosperous community such as we + postulate for the Socialist State will necessarily + be more alert for interest and intellectual + quality than our present “driven” multitude; its + ampler leisure, its wider horizons, will keep it + critical and exacting of what claims its attention. + The rivalries of institutions and municipalities will + be part of the drama of life. Under Socialism, + with the extension of the educational process it contemplates, + universities and colleges must become + the most prominent of facts; nearly every one will + have that feeling for some such place which now + one finds in a Trinity man for Trinity; the sort + of feeling that sent the last thoughts of Cecil + Rhodes back to Oriel. Everywhere, balanced + against the Town Hall or the Parliament House, + will be the great university buildings and art + museums, the lecture halls open to all comers, the + great noiseless libraries, the book exhibitions and + book and pamphlet stores, keenly criticized, keenly + used, will teem with unhurrying, incessant, creative + activities.</p> + + <p>And all this immense publicly sustained organization + will be doing greatly and finely what now + our scattered line of Socialist propagandists is + doing under every disadvantage, that is to say it + <a class="pagenum" id="page301" title="301"> </a>will be developing and sustaining the social self-consciousness, + the collective sense of the State.</p> + + <h3 id="ch13_s5">§ 5.</h3> + + <p>I am naturally preoccupied with the Mind of + that Civilized State we seek to make; because my + work lies in this department. But while the writer, + the publisher and printer, the bookseller and + librarian, and teacher and preacher must chiefly + direct himself to developing this great organized + mind and intention in the world, other sorts of + men will be concerned with parallel aspects of the + Socialist synthesis. The medical worker or the + medical investigator will be building up the body + of a new generation, the Body of the Civilized + State, and he will be doing all he can not simply + as an individual, but as a citizen, to <em>organize</em> his + services of cure and prevention, of hygiene and + selection. And the specialized man of science—he + will be concerned with his own special synthesis, + the Knowledge of the Civilized State, whether he + measure crystals or stain microtome sections or + count stars. A great and growing multitude of + men will be working out the Apparatus of the + Civilized State; the students of transit and housing, + the engineers in their incessantly increasing variety, + the miners and geologists estimating the world’s + resources in metals and minerals, the mechanical + inventors perpetually economizing force. The + <a class="pagenum" id="page302" title="302"> </a>scientific agriculturist, again, will be studying the + food supply of the world as a whole, and how it + may be increased and distributed and economized. + And to the student of law comes the task of rephrasing + his intricate and often quite beautiful science in + relation to the new social assumptions we have laid + down. All these and a hundred other aspects are + integral to the wide project of Constructive Socialism + as it shapes itself now.</p> + + <p>And to the man or woman who looks at these + issues not as one specialized in relation to some + constructive calling but as a common citizen, a + mere human being eager to make and do from the + standpoint of personal liberty and personal affections, + the appeal of this great constructive project + is equally strong. You want security and liberty! + Here it is, safe from the greed of trust and landlord; + here is investment with absolute assurance + and trading with absolute justice; this is the only + safe way to build your own house in perfect + security, to make your own garden safe for yourself + and for your children’s children, the only way + in which you can link a hundred million kindred + wills in loyal co-operation with your own, and + that is to do it not for yourself alone and for your + children alone, but for all the world—all the world + doing it also for you—to join yourself to this + great making of a permanent well-being for mankind.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page303" title="303"> </a>And here, finally, let me set out a sort of programme + of Constructive Socialism, as it seems to + be shaping itself in the minds of contemporary + Socialists out of the Fabianism of the eighties and + nineties, in order that the reader may be able + to measure this fuller and completer proposition + against the earlier Administrative Socialism whose + propositions are set out in Chapter XI., <a href="#ch11_s1">§ 1</a>. All + those are incorporated in this that follows—there is + no contradiction whatever between them, but there + is amplification; new elements are taken into consideration, + once disregarded difficulties have been + faced and partially resolved.</p> + + <p>First, then, the Constructive Socialist has to do + whatever lies in his power towards <em>the enrichment + of the Socialist idea</em>. He has to give whatever + gifts he has as artist, as writer, as maker of any + sort to increasing and refining the conception of + civilized life. He has to embody and make real + the State and the City. And the Socialist idea, + constantly restated, refreshed and elaborated, has + to be made a part of the common circle of ideas; + has to be grasped and felt and assimilated by the + whole mass of mankind, has to be made the basis + of each individual’s private morality. That mental + work is the primary, most essential function of + Constructive Socialism.</p> + + <p>And next, Constructive Socialism has in every + country to direct its energies and attention to + <a class="pagenum" id="page304" title="304"> </a><em>political reform</em>, to the scientific reconstruction of + our representative and administrative machinery so + as to give power and real expression to the developing + collective mind of the community, and to remove + the obstructions to Socialization that are inevitable + where institutions stand for “interests” or have + fallen under the sway of aggressive private property + or of narrowly organized classes. Governing + and representative bodies, advisory and investigatory + organizations of a liberal and responsive + type have to be built up, bodies that shall be really + capable of the immense administrative duties the + secular abolition of the great bulk of private ownership + will devolve upon them.</p> + + <p>Thirdly, the constructive Socialist sets himself + to forward <em>the resumption of the land by the community</em>, + by increased control, by taxation, by death + duties, by purchase and by partially compensated + confiscation as circumstances may render advisable, + and so to make the municipality the sole landlord in + the reorganized world.</p> + + <p>And meanwhile the constructive Socialist goes on + also with the work of <em>socializing the main public + services</em>, by transferring them steadily from private + enterprise to municipal and State control, by working + steadily for such transfers and by opposing + every party and every organization that does not + set its face resolutely against the private exploitation + of new needs and services.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page305" title="305"> </a>There are four distinct systems of public + service which could very conveniently be organized + under collective ownership and control + now, and each can be attacked independently + of the others. There is first the need of public + educational machinery, and by education I + mean not simply elementary education, but the + equally vital need for great colleges not only + to teach and study technical arts and useful + sciences, but also to enlarge learning and + sustain philosophical and literary work. A + civilized community is impossible without great + public libraries, public museums, public art + schools, without public honour and support for + contemporary thought and literature, and all + these things the constructive Socialist may + forward at a hundred points.</p> + + <p>Then next there is the need and opportunity + of organizing the whole community in relation + to health, the collective development of hospitals, + medical aid, public sanitation, child + welfare, into one great loyal and efficient public + service. This, too, may be pushed forward + either as part of the general Socialist movement + or independently as a thing in itself by + those who may find the whole Socialist proposition + unacceptable or inconvenient.</p> + + <p>A third system of interests upon which practical + work may be done at the present time + <a class="pagenum" id="page306" title="306"> </a>lies in the complex interdependent developments + of transit and housing, questions that + lock up inextricably with the problem of re-planning + our local government areas. Here, + too, the whole world is beginning to realize + more and more clearly that private enterprise + is wasteful and socially disastrous, that collective + control, collective management, and so + on to collective enterprise and ownership of + building-land, houses, railways, tramways and + omnibuses, give the only way of escape from + an endless drifting entanglement and congestion + of our mobile modern population.</p> + + <p>The fourth department of economic activity + in which collectivism is developing, and in + which the constructive Socialist will find enormous + scope for work, is in connection with the + more generalized forms of public trading, and + especially with the production, handling and + supply of food and minerals. When the lagging + enterprise of agriculture needs to be supplemented + by endowed educational machinery, + agricultural colleges and the like; when the + feeble intellectual initiative of the private adventure + miner and manufacturer necessitates a + London “Charlottenburg,” it must be manifest + that State initiative has altogether out-distanced + the possibilities of private effort, and that the + next step to the public authority instructing + <a class="pagenum" id="page307" title="307"> </a>men how to farm, prepare food, run dairies, + manage mines and distribute minerals, is to cut + out the pedagogic middleman and undertake + the work itself. The State education of the + expert for private consumption (such as we + see at the Royal School of Mines) is surely too + ridiculous a sacrifice of the community to private + property to continue at that. The further + inevitable line of advance is the transfer from + private to public hands by purchase, by competing + organizations or what not, of all those + great services, just as rapidly as the increasing + capacity and experience of the public authority + permits.</p> + + <p>This briefly is the work and method of Constructive + Socialism to-day. Under one or other + head it can utilize almost every sort of capacity + and every type of opportunity. It refuses no one + who will serve it. It is no narrow doctrinaire cult. + It does not seek the best of an argument, but the + best of a world. Its worst enemies are those + foolish and litigious advocates who antagonize and + estrange every development of human Good Will + that does not pay tribute to their vanity in open + acquiescence. Its most loyal servants, its most + effectual helpers on the side of art, invention and + public organization and political reconstruction, + may be men who will never adopt the Socialist name.</p> + +</div> +<div id="chapter_14" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page308" title="308"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter-number">CHAPTER XIV</span><br /> + SOME ARGUMENTS <em lang="la" xml:lang="la">AD HOMINEM</em></h2> + + <h3 id="ch14_s1">§ 1.</h3> + + <p><span class="first_word">Before</span> I conclude this compact exposition of + modern Socialism, it is reasonable that the reader + should ask for some little help in figuring to himself + this new world at which we Socialists aim.</p> + + <p>“I see the justice of much of the Socialist position,” + he will say, “and the soundness of many + of your generalizations. But it still seems to remain—generalizations; + and I feel the need of getting + it into my mind as something concrete and real. + What will the world be <em>like</em> when its state is really + a Socialist one? That’s my difficulty.”</p> + + <p>The full answer to that would be another book. + I myself have tried to render my own personal + dream in a book called <cite>A Modern Utopia</cite>,<a href="#footnote_26" id="fnm26" title="Chapman & Hall." class="fnmarker">26</a> but that + has not been so widely read as I could have wished, + it does not appeal strongly enough, perhaps, to the + practical every-day side of life, and here I may do + my best to give very briefly some intimation of a + few of the differences that would strike a contemporary + <a class="pagenum" id="page309" title="309"> </a>if he or she could be transferred to the + new order we are trying to evolve.</p> + + <p>It would be a world and a life in no fundamental + respect different from the world of to-day, made + up of the same creatures as ourselves, as limited + in capacity if not in outlook, as hasty, as quick + to take offence, as egotistical essentially, as hungry + for attention, as easily discouraged—they would + indeed be better educated and better trained, less + goaded and less exasperated, with ampler opportunities + for their finer impulses and smaller scope + for rage and secrecy, but they would still be + human. At bottom it would still be a struggle for + individual ends, albeit ennobled individual ends; + for self-gratification and self-realization against + external difficulty and internal weakness. Self-gratification + would be sought more keenly in self-development + and self-realization in service, but + that is a change of tone and not of nature. + We shall still be individuals. You might, indeed, + were you suddenly flung into it, fail to + note altogether for a long time the widest of the + differences between the Socialist State and our + present one—the absence of that worrying urgency + to earn, that sense of constant economic insecurity, + which afflicts all but the very careless or the very + prosperous to-day. Painful things being absent + are forgotten. On the same principle certain common + objects of our daily life you might not miss + <a class="pagenum" id="page310" title="310"> </a>at all. There would be no slums, no hundreds of + miles of insanitary, ignoble homes, no ugly health-destroying + cheap factories. If you were not in the + habit of walking among slums and factories you + would scarcely notice that. Din and stress would + be enormously gone. But you would remark + simply a change in the atmosphere about you and + in your own contentment that would be as difficult + to analyze as the calm of a Sunday morning in + sunshine in a pleasant country.</p> + + <p>Let me put my conception of the Socialist world + to a number of typical readers, as it were, so that + they may see clearly just what difference in circumstances + there would be for them if we Socialists + could have our way now. Let me suppose them + as far as possible exactly what they are now save + for these differences.</p> + + <p>Then first let us take a sample case and suppose + yourself to be an elementary teacher. So far as + your work went you would be very much as you + are to-day; you would have a finer and more beautiful + school-room perhaps, better supplied with + apparatus and diagrams; you would have cleaner + and healthier, that is to say brighter and more + responsive children, and you would have smaller + and more manageable classes. Schools will be + very important things in the Socialist State, and + you will find outside your class-room a much + ampler building with open corridors, a library, a + <a class="pagenum" id="page311" title="311"> </a>bath, refectory for the children’s midday meal, and + gymnasium, and beyond the playground a garden. + You will be an enlisted member of a public service, + free under reasonable conditions to resign, liable + under extreme circumstances to dismissal for misconduct, + but entitled until you do so to a minimum + salary, a maintenance allowance, that is, and to + employment. You will have had a general education + from the State up to the age of sixteen or + seventeen, and then three or four years of sound + technical training, so that you will know your work + from top to bottom. You will have applied for + your present position in the service, whatever it + is, and have been accepted, much as you apply and + are accepted for positions now, by the school + managers, and you will have done so because it + attracted you and they will have accepted you because + your qualifications seemed adequate to them. + You will draw a salary attached to the position, + over and above that minimum maintenance salary + to which I have already alluded. You will be + working just as keenly as you are now, and better + because of the better training you have had, and + because of shorter hours and more invigorating + conditions, and you will be working for much the + same ends, that is to say for promotion to a larger + salary and wider opportunities and for the interest + and sake of the work. In your leisure you may + be studying, writing, or doing some work of + <a class="pagenum" id="page312" title="312"> </a>supererogation for the school or the State—because + <em>under Socialist conditions it cannot be too clearly + understood that all the reasons the contemporary + Trade Unionist finds against extra work and unpaid + work will have disappeared</em>! You will not + in a Socialist State make life harder for others by + working keenly and doing much if you are so + disposed. You will be free to give yourself + generously to your work. You will have no + anxiety about sickness or old age, the State, the + universal Friendly Society, will hold you secure + against that; but if you like to provide extra luxury + and dignity for your declining years, if you think + you will be amused to collect prints or books, or + travel then, or run a rose garden or grow chrysanthemums, + the State will be quite ready for you to + pay it an insurance premium in order that you + may receive in due course an extra annuity to serve + that end you contemplate.</p> + + <p>You will probably live as a tenant in a house + which may either stand alone or be part of a terrace + or collegiate building, but instead of having a + private landlord, exacting of rent and reluctant of + repairs, your house landlord will very probably be, + and your ground landlord will certainly be, the + municipality, the great Birmingham or London or + Hampshire or Glasgow or such-like municipality; + and your house will be built solidly and prettily + instead of being jerry-built and mean-looking, and + <a class="pagenum" id="page313" title="313"> </a>it will have bathroom, electric light, electrically + equipped kitchen and so forth, as every modern + civilized house might have and should have now. + If your taste runs to a little close garden of your + own, you will probably find plenty of houses with + one; if that is not so, and you want it badly, you + will get other people of like tastes to petition the + municipality to provide some, and if that will not + do, you will put yourself up as a candidate for the + parish or municipal council to bring this about. + You will pay very much the sort of rent you pay + now, but you will not pay it to a private landlord + to spend as he likes at Monte Carlo or upon foreign + missions or in financing “Moderate” bill-posting + or what not, but to the municipality, and you will + pay no rates at all. The rent will do under Socialism + what the rates do now. You cannot grasp + too clearly that <em>Socialism will abolish rates</em> absolutely. + Rates for public purposes are necessary to-day + because the landowners of the world evade the + public obligations that should, in common sense, + go with the rent.</p> + + <p>Light, heating, water and so on will either be + covered by the rent or charged for separately, and + they will be supplied just as near cost-price as + possible. I don’t think you will buy coals, because + I think that in a few years’ time it will be possible + to heat every house adequately by electricity; but + if I am wrong in that, then you will buy your coals + <a class="pagenum" id="page314" title="314"> </a>just as you do now, except that you will have an + honest coal merchant, the Public Coal Service, a + merchant not greedy for profit nor short in the + weight, calculating and foreseeing your needs, not + that it may profit by them but in order to serve + them, storing coal against a demand and so never + raising the price in winter.</p> + + <p>I am assuming you are going to be a house + occupier, but if you are a single man, you will probably + live in pleasant apartments in an hotel or + college and dine in a club, and perhaps keep no + more than a couple of rooms, one for sleep and one + for study and privacy of your own. But if you are + a married man, then I must enlarge a little further + upon your domestic details, because you will probably + want a “home of your own.”…</p> + + <h3 id="ch14_s2">§ 2.</h3> + + <p>Now, just how a married couple lives in the + Socialist State will depend very much, as indeed + it does now, on the individual relations and individual + taste and proclivities of the two people most + concerned. Many couples are childless now, and + indisposed for home and children, and such people + will also be found in the Socialist State, and in their + case the wife will probably have an occupation and + be a teacher, a medical practitioner, a government + clerk or official, an artist, a milliner, and earn her + own living. In which case they will share apartments, + <a class="pagenum" id="page315" title="315"> </a>perhaps, and dine in a club and go about + together very much as a childless couple of journalists + or artists or theatrical people do in London + to-day. But of course if either of them chooses to + idle more or less and live on the earnings of the + other, that will be a matter quite between themselves. + No one will ask who pays their rent and + their bills; that will be for their own private + arrangement.</p> + + <p>But if they are not childless people, but have + children, things will be on a rather different footing. + Then they will probably have a home all to + themselves, and that will be the wife’s chief affair; + only incidentally will she attend to any other occupation. + You will remember that the State is to + be a sort of universal Friendly Society supplying + good medical advice and so forth, and so soon as + a woman is likely to become a mother, her medical + adviser, man or woman as the case may be, will + report this to the proper officials and her special + income as a prospective mother in the State will + begin. Then, when her child is born, there will + begin an allowance for its support, and these payments + will continue monthly or quarterly, and will + be larger or smaller according first to the well-being + of the child, and secondly to the need the State may + have for children—so long as the children are in + their mother’s care. All this money for maternity + will be the wife’s independent income, and normally + <a class="pagenum" id="page316" title="316"> </a>she will be the house ruler—just as she is now in + most well-contrived households. Her personality + will make the home atmosphere; that is the woman’s + gift and privilege, and she will be able to do it with + a free hand. I suppose that for the husband’s cost + in the household the present custom of cultivated + people of independent means will continue, and he + will pay over to his wife his share of the household + expenses….</p> + + <p>After the revenue in the domestic budget under + Socialism one must consider the expenditure. I + have already given an idea how the rent and rates, + lighting and water are to be dealt with under Socialist + conditions. For the rest, the housewife will be + dealing on very similar lines to those she goes upon + at present. She will buy what she wants and pay + cash for it. The milkman will come in the morning + and leave his “book” at the end of the week, + but instead of coming from Mr. Watertap Jones’ + or the Twenty-per-cent. Dairy Company, he will + come from the Municipal Dairy; he will have no + interest in giving short measure, and all the science + in the State will be behind him in keeping the milk + clean and pure. If he is unpunctual or trying in + any way, the lady will complain just as she does + now, but to his official superiors instead of his + employer; and if that does not do, she and her + aggrieved neighbours (all voters, you will understand) + will put the thing to their representative in + <a class="pagenum" id="page317" title="317"> </a>the parish or municipal council. Then she will buy + her meat and grocery and so on, not in one of a + number of inefficient little shops with badly assorted + goods under unknown brands as she does now if she + lives in a minor neighbourhood, but in a branch + of a big, well-organized business like Lipton’s or + Whiteley’s or Harrod’s. She may have to go to it + on a municipal electric car, for which she will probably + pay a fare just as she does now, unless, perhaps, + her house rent includes a season ticket. The + store will not belong to Mr. Lipton or Mr. Whiteley + or Mr. Harrod, but to the public—that will be the + chief difference—and if she does not like her service + she will be able to criticize and remedy it, just as + one can now criticize and remedy any inefficiency + in one’s local post-office. If she does not like the + brands of goods supplied she will be able to insist + upon others. There will be brands, too, different + from the household names of to-day in the goods + she will buy. The county arms of Devon will be + on the butter paper, Hereford and Kent will guarantee + her cider, Hampshire and Wiltshire answer + for her bacon—just as now already Australia brands + her wines and New Zealand protects her from deception + (and insures clean, decent slaughtering) in the + matter of Canterbury lamb. I rather like to think + of the red dagger of London on the wholesome + bottled ales of her great (municipalized) breweries, + and Maidstone or Rochester, let us say, boasting a + <a class="pagenum" id="page318" title="318"> </a>special reputation for jam or pickles. Good honest + food all of it will be, made by honest unsweated + women and men, with the pride of broad vales and + uplands, counties, principalities and great cities + behind it. Each county and municipality will be + competing freely against its fellows, not in price but + quality, the cheeses of Cheshire against the cheeses + of France and Switzerland, the beer of Munich + against the Kentish brew; bread from the bakeries + of London and Paris, biscuits from Reading town, + chocolates from Switzerland and Bourneville, side + by side with butter from the meadows of Denmark + and Russia.</p> + + <p>Then, when the provisions have been bought, + she will go perhaps to the other departments of the + great store and buy or order the fine linen and cotton + of the Manchester men, the delicate woollens of the + Bradford city looms, the silks of London or Mercia, + Northampton or American boots, and so forth, just + as she does now in any of the great stores. But, + as I say, all these goods will be honest goods, made + to wear as well as look well, and the shopman will + have no “premiums” to tempt him to force rubbish + upon her instead of worthy makes by specious + “introduction.”</p> + + <p>But suppose she wants a hat or a dress made. + Then, probably, for all that the world is under Socialism + she will have to go to private enterprise; a + matter of taste and individuality such as dress cannot + <a class="pagenum" id="page319" title="319"> </a>be managed in a wholesale way. She will probably + find in the same building as the big department + store, a number of little establishments, of + Madame This, of Mrs. That, some perhaps with + windows displaying a costume or so or a hat or + so, and here she will choose her particular artiste + and contrive the thing with her. I am inclined to + think the dressmaker or milliner will charge a fee + according to her skill and reputation for designing + and cutting and so on, and that the customer will + pay the store separately for material and the municipal + workshop for the making under the artiste’s + direction. I don’t think, that is, that the milliner + or dressmaker will make a trading profit, but only + an artiste’s fee.</p> + + <p>And if the lady wants to buy books, music, artistic + bric-a-brac, or what not, she will find the big store + displaying and selling all these things on commission + for the municipal or private producers all over + the world….</p> + + <p>So much for the financial and economic position + of an ordinary woman in a Socialist State. But + management and economies are but the basal substance + of a woman’s life. She will be free not + merely financially; the systematic development of + the social organisation and of the mechanism of life + will be constantly releasing her more and more from + the irksome duties and drudgeries that have consumed + so much of the energies of her sex in the + <a class="pagenum" id="page320" title="320"> </a>past. She will be a citizen, and free as a man to + read for herself, think for herself and seek expression. + Under the law, in politics and all the affairs + of life she will be the equal of a man. No one will + control her movements or limit her actions or stand + over her to make decisions for her. All these things + are implicit in the fundamental generalization of + Socialism, which denies property in human beings.</p> + + <h3 id="ch14_s3">§ 3.</h3> + + <p>Perhaps now the reader will be able to figure + a little better the common texture of the life of a + teacher or a housewife under Socialism. And incidentally + I have glanced at the position a clever + milliner or dressmaker would probably have under + the altered conditions. The great mass of the + <em>employés</em> in the distributing trade would obviously + be living a sort of clarified, dignified version of their + present existence, freed from their worst anxieties, + the terror of the “swap,” the hopeless approach of + old age, and from the sweated food and accommodation + of the living-in system. Under Socialism the + “living-in” system would be incredible. Their + conditions of life would approximate to those of the + teacher. Like him they would be enrolled a part + of a great public service, and like him entitled to a + minimum wage, and over and above that they would + draw salaries commensurate with the positions + their energy and ability had won. The prosperous + <a class="pagenum" id="page321" title="321"> </a>merchant of to-day would find himself somewhere + high in the hierarchy of the distributing service. If, + for example, you are a tea merchant or a provision + broker, then probably if you like that calling, you + would be handling the same kind of goods, not for + profit but efficiency, “shipping into the Midlands” + from Liverpool, let us say, much as you do now. + You would be keener on quality and less keen on + deals; that is all. You would not be trying to + “skin” a business rival, but very probably you + would be just as keen to beat the London distributers + and distinguish yourself in that way. And + you would get a pretty good salary; modern Socialism + does not propose to maintain any dead-level + to the detriment of able men. Modern Socialism + has cleared itself of that jealous hatred of prosperity + that was once a part of class-war Socialism. You + would be, you see, far more than you are now, one + of the pillars of your town’s prosperity—and the + Town Hall would be a place worth sitting in….</p> + + <p>So far as the rank and file of the distributing + service is concerned the chief differences would be a + better education, security for a minimum living, an + assured old age, shorter hours, more private freedom + and more opportunity. Since the whole business + would be public and the customer would be + one’s indirect master through the polling booth, + promotion would be far more by merit than it is + now in private businesses, where irrelevant personal + <a class="pagenum" id="page322" title="322"> </a>considerations are often overpowering, and it would + be open to any one to apply for a transfer to some + fresh position if he or she found insufficient scope in + the old one. The staff of the stores will certainly + “live out,” and their homes and way of living will + be closely parallel to that of the two people I have + sketched in §§ 1 and 2.</p> + + <p>In the various municipal and State Transit Services, + the condition of affairs would be even closer + to a broadened and liberalized version of things as + they are. The conductors and drivers will no doubt + wear uniforms for convenience of recognition, but + a uniform will carry with it no association with the + idea of a livery as it does at the present time. Mostly + this service will be run by young men, and each + one, like the private of the democratic French Army, + will feel that he has a marshal’s <em lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">batôn</em> in his knapsack. + He will have had a good education; he will + have short hours of duty and leisure for self-improvement + or other pursuits, and if he remains a + conductor or driver all his life he will have only + his own unpretending qualities to thank for that. + He will probably remain a conductor if he likes + to remain a conductor, and go elsewhere if he does + not. He is not obliged to take that <em lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">batôn</em> out and + bother with it if he has quiet tastes.</p> + + <p>The great organized industries, mining, cotton, + iron, building and the like, would differ chiefly in + the permanence of employment and the systematic + <a class="pagenum" id="page323" title="323"> </a>evasion of the social hardship caused now-a-days by + new inventions and economies in method. There + will exist throughout the world an organized economic + survey, which will continually prepare and + revise estimates of the need of iron, coal, cloth and + so forth in the coming months; the blind speculative + production of our own times is due merely to the + dark ignorance in which we work in these matters, + and with such a survey, employment will lose much + of the cruel intermittence it now displays. The + men in these great productive services, quite equally + with teachers and railwaymen, will be permanently + employed. They will be no more taken on and + turned off by the day or week than we should take + on or turn off an extra policeman, or depend for our + defence upon soldiers casually engaged upon the + battlefield at sixpence an hour. And if by adopting + some ingenious device we dispense suddenly + with the labour of hundreds of men, the Socialist + State will send them, not into the casual wards and + colonies as our State does, to become a social + burthen there, but into the technical schools to train + for some fresh use of their energies. Taken all + round, of course, these men, even the least enterprising + or able, will be better off than they are now, + with a fuller share of the product of their industry. + Many will no doubt remain as they are, rather + through want of ambition than want of push, because + under Socialism life will be tolerable for a + <a class="pagenum" id="page324" title="324"> </a>poor man. A man who chooses to do commonplace + work and spend his leisure upon chess or billiards, + or in gossip or eccentric studies, or amusing but ineffectual + art, will remain a poor man indeed, but + not be made a wretched one. Sheer toil of a + mechanical sort there is little need of in the world + now, it could be speedily dispensed with at a thousand + points were human patience not cheaper than + good machinery, but there will still remain ten thousand + undistinguished sorts of work for unambitious + men….</p> + + <p>If you are a farmer or any sort of horticulturist, + a fruit or flower grower, let us say, or a seedsman, + you will probably find yourself still farming under + Socialism—that is to say, renting land and getting + what you can out of it. Your rent will be fixed + just as it is to-day by what people will give. But + your landlord will be the Municipality or the + County, and the rent you pay will largely come back + to you in repairs, in the guiding reports and advice + of the Agricultural Department, in improved roads, + in subventions to a good electric car service to take + your produce to market; in aids and education for + your children. You will probably have a greater + fixity of tenure and a clearer ownership in improvements + than you have to-day. I am inclined to think + that your dairying and milking and so forth will + be done for you wholesale in big public dairies and + mills because of the economy of that; you will send + <a class="pagenum" id="page325" title="325"> </a>up the crude produce and sell it, perhaps, to the + county association to brand and distribute. It is + probable you will sell your crops standing, and the + public authority will organize the harvesting and + bring out an army of workers from the towns to + gather your fruit, hops and corn. You will need, + therefore, only a small permanent staff of labourers, + and these are much more likely to be partners with + you in the enterprise than wage workers needing + to be watched and driven.</p> + + <p>In your leisure you will shoot, perhaps, or hunt, + if your tastes incline that way—it is quite likely + that scattered among the farms of the future countryside + will be the cottages and homes of all sorts of + people with open-air tastes who will share their + sports with you. One need not dread the disappearance + of sport with the disappearance of the great + house…. In the dead winter-time you will probably + like to run into the nearest big town with + your wife and family, stay in an hotel for a few + weeks to talk to people in your clubs, see what + plays there are in the municipal theatres and so + forth. And you will no doubt travel also in your + holidays. All the world will know something of + the pleasures and freedom of travel, of wandering + and the enjoyment of unfamiliar atmospheres, of + mountains and deserts and remote cities and deep + forests, and the customs of alien peoples.</p> + + <h3 id="ch14_s4"><a class="pagenum" id="page326" title="326"> </a>§4.</h3> + + <p>A medical man or woman, or a dentist or any + such skilled professional, like the secondary + school-master, will cease to be a private adventurer + under Socialism, concerned chiefly with the taking + of a showy house and the use of a showy conveyance; + he or she will become part of one of the + greatest of all the public services in the coming + time, the service of public health. Either he—I + use this pronoun and imply its feminine—will be + on the staff of one of the main hospitals (which will + not be charities, but amply endowed public institutions), + or he will be a part of a district staff, working + in conjunction with a nursing organization, a + cottage hospital, an isolation hospital and so forth, + or he will be an advising specialist, or mainly + engaged in research or teaching and training a new + generation in the profession.</p> + + <p>He must not judge his life and position quite by + the lives and position of publicly endowed investigators + and medical officers of health to-day. At + present, because of the jealousy of the private owner + who has, as he says, to “find the funds,” almost + all public employment is badly paid relatively to + privately earned incomes. The same thing is true + of all scientific investigators and of most public + officials. The state of things to which Socialism + points is a world that will necessarily be harmonious + <a class="pagenum" id="page327" title="327"> </a>with these constructive conceptions and free + from these jealousies. Whitehall and South Kensington + have much to fear from the wanton columns + of a vulgarized capitalistic press and from the greedy + intrigues of syndicated capital, but nothing from a + sane constructive Socialism. To the public official, + therefore, of the present time, the Socialist has + merely to say that he will probably be better paid, + relatively, than he is now, and in the matter of his + house rents and domestic marketing, <em lang="la" xml:lang="la">vide supra</em>….</p> + + <p>But now, suppose you are an artist—and I use + the word to cover all sorts of art, literary, dramatic + and musical, as well as painting, sculpture, design + and architecture—you want before all things freedom + for personal expression, and you probably have + an idea that this is the last thing you will get in + the Socialist State. But, indeed, you will get far + more than you do now. You will begin as a student, + no doubt, in your local Municipal Art Schools, and + there you will win prizes and scholarships and get + some glorious years of youth and work in Italy or + Paris, or Germany or London, or Boston or New + York, or wherever the great teachers and workers + of your art gather thickest; and then you will compete, + perhaps, for some public work, and have something + printed or published or reproduced and sold + for you by your school or city; or get a loan from + your home municipality for material—if your + material costs money—and set to work making that + <a class="pagenum" id="page328" title="328"> </a>into some saleable beautiful thing. If you are at + all distinguished in quality, you will have a competition + among public authorities from the beginning, + to act as sponsors and dealers for your work; + benevolent dealers they will be, and content with a + commission. And if you make things that make + many people interested and happy, you may by that + fortunate gift of yours, grow to be as rich and magnificent + a person as any one in the Socialist State. + But if you do not please people at all, either the + connoisseurs of the municipal art collection or + private associations of art patrons or the popular + buyer, well, then your lot will be no harder than the + lot of any unsuccessful artist now; you will have to + do something else for a time and win leisure to + try again.</p> + + <p>Theatrical productions will be run on a sort of + improvement upon contemporary methods, but there + will be no cornering of talent possible, no wild + advertisement of favoured stars upon strictly commercial + lines, no Theatrical Trust. The theatres will + be municipal buildings, every theatre-going voter + will be keen to see them comfortable and fine; they + will, perhaps, be run in some cases by a public + repertoire company and in another by a lessee, and + this latter may be financed by his own private + savings or by subscribers or partners, or by a loan + from the public bank as the case may be. This + latter method of exploitation by a lessee will probably + <a class="pagenum" id="page329" title="329"> </a>also work best in the public Music Halls, but + it is quite equally possible that these may be controlled + by managers under partly elected and partly + appointed public committees. In some cases the + theatrical lessee might be a kind of stage society + organized for the production of particular types of + play. The spectators will pay for admission, of + course, as they do now, but to the municipal box + offices; and I suppose the lessee or the author and + artists will divide up the surplus after the rent of the + theatre has been deducted for the municipal treasury. + In every town of any importance there will be many + theatres, music halls and the like, perhaps under + competing committees. In all these matters, as + every intelligent person understands, one has to + maintain variety of method, a choice of avenues, + freedom from autocracies; and since the Socialist + community will contain a great number of intelligent + persons with leisure and opportunity for artistic + appreciation, there is little chance of this important + principle being forgotten, much less than there is + in this world where a group of dealers can often + make an absolute corner in this artistic market or + that. You will not, under Socialism, see Sarah + Bernhardt playing in a tent as she had to do in + America, because all the theatres have been closed + against her through some mean dispute with a Trust + about the sharing of profits….</p> + + <p>And if it is not too sudden a transition, it seems + <a class="pagenum" id="page330" title="330"> </a>most convenient in a Socialist State to leave religious + worship entirely to the care of private people; + to let them subscribe among themselves, subject, + of course, to a reasonable statute of mortmain, to + lease land, and build and endow and maintain + churches and chapels, altars and holy places and + meeting-houses, priests and devout ceremonies. This + will be the more easily done since the heavy social + burthens that oppress religious bodies at the present + time will be altogether lifted from them; they will + have no poor to support, no schools, no hospitals, + no nursing sisters, the advance of civilization will + have taken over these duties of education and + humanity that Christianity first taught us to realize. + So, too, there seems no objection and no obstacle in + Socialism to religious houses, to nunneries, monasteries + and the like, so far as these institutions are + compatible with personal freedom and the public + health, but of course factory laws and building laws + will run through all these places, and the common + laws and limitations of contract override their vows, + if their devotees repent. So that you see Socialism + will touch nothing living of religion, and if you are + a religious minister, you will be very much as you + are at the present time, but with lightened parochial + duties. If you are an earnest woman and want to + nurse the sick and comfort the afflicted, you will + need only, in addition to your religious profession, + to qualify as a nurse or medical practitioner. There + <a class="pagenum" id="page331" title="331"> </a>will still be ample need of you. Socialism will not + make an end of human trouble, either of the body + or of the soul, albeit it will put these things into + such comfort and safety as it may.</p> + + <h3 id="ch14_s5">§ 5.</h3> + + <p>And now let me address a section to those + particular social types whose method of living + seems most threatened by the development of an + organized civilization, who find it impossible to + imagine lives at all like their own in the Socialist + State….</p> + + <p>But first it may be well to remind them again of + something I have already done my best to make + clear, that the modern Socialist contemplates no + swift change of conditions from those under which + we live, to Socialism. There will be no wonderful + Monday morning when the old order will give place + to the new. Year by year the great change has to + be brought about, now by this socialization of a + service, now by an alteration in the incidence of + taxation, now by a new device of public trading, + now by an extension of education. This problem + at the utmost is a problem of adaptation, and for + most of those who would have no standing under + the revised conceptions of social intercourse, it is + no more than to ask whether it is wise they should + prepare their sons or daughters to follow in their + <a class="pagenum" id="page332" title="332"> </a>footsteps or consent to regard their callings as a + terminating function.</p> + + <p>So far as many professions and callings go, this + matter may be dismissed in a few words. Under + Socialism, while the particular trade or profession + might not exist, there would probably be ample + scope in the public machine for the socially more + profitable employment of the same energies. A + family solicitor, such as we know now, would have + a poor time in a Socialist State, but the same qualities + of watchful discretion would be needed at a + hundred new angles and friction surfaces of the + State organization. In the same way the private + shopkeeper, as I have already explained, would be + replaced by the department managers and buyers of + the public stores, the rent collector, the estate bailiff—one + might make long lists of social types who + would undergo a parallel transformation.</p> + + <p>But suppose now you are a servant, I mean a + well-trained, expert, prosperous servant; would the + world have no equivalent of you under the new + order? I think probably it would. With a difference, + there will be room for a vast body of servants + in the Socialist State. But I think there + will be very few servants to private people, and + that the “menial” conception of a servant will + have vanished in an entirely educated community. + The domestic work of the ordinary home, one may + prophesy confidently, will be very much reduced + <a class="pagenum" id="page333" title="333"> </a>in the near future whether we move toward Socialism + or no; all the dirt of coal, all the disagreeableness + attendant upon lamps and candles, most of the + heavy work of cooking will be obviated by electric + lighting and heating, and much of the bedroom + service dispensed with through the construction of + properly equipped bath-dressing-rooms. In addition, + it is highly probable that there will be a considerable + extension of the club idea; ordinary + people will dine more freely in public places, and + conveniences for their doing so will increase. The + single-handed servant will have disappeared, and + if you are one of that class you must console yourself + by thinking that under Socialism you would + have been educated up to seventeen or eighteen + and then equipped for some more interesting occupation. + But there will remain much need of + occasional help of a more skilled sort, in cleaning + out the house thoroughly every now and then, + probably with the help of mechanisms, in recovering + and repairing furniture, and in all this sort of + “helping” which will be done as between one + social equal and another, many people who are + now, through lack of opportunity and education, + servants, will no doubt be employed. But where + the better type of service will be found will probably + be in the clubs and associated homes, where + pleasant-mannered, highly-paid, skilful people will + see to the ease and comfort of a considerable + <a class="pagenum" id="page334" title="334"> </a><em>clientèle</em> without either offence or servility. There + still remains, no doubt, a number of valets, footmen, + maids and so on, who under Socialism would + not be servants at all, but something far better, + more interesting and more productive socially.</p> + + <p>But this writing of servants brings me now to + another possibility, and that is that perhaps you + are, dear reader, one of that small number of fortunate + people, rich and well placed in the world, who + even under existing conditions seem to possess all + that life can offer a human being. You live beautifully + in a great London house, waited upon by + companies of servants, you have country seats with + parks about them and fine gardens, you can travel + luxuriously to any part of the civilized world and + live sumptuously there. All things are done for + you, all ways are made smooth for you. A skilled + maid or valet saves you even the petty care of your + person; skilled physicians, wonderful specialists + intervene at any threat of illness or discomfort; you + keep ten years younger in appearance than your + poorer contemporaries and twice as splendid. And + above all you have an immense sense of downward + perspectives, of being special and apart and + above the common herd of mankind.</p> + + <p>Now frankly Socialism will be incompatible with + this patrician style. You must contemplate the + end of all that. You may still be healthy, refined, + free, beautifully clothed and housed; but you will + <a class="pagenum" id="page335" title="335"> </a>not have either the space or the service or the sense + of superiority you enjoy now, under Socialism. + You would have to take your place among the + multitude again. Only a moiety of your property + will remain to your sort of person if any revolution + is achieved. The rents upon which you + live, the investments that yield the income that + makes the employment of that army of butlers and + footmen, estate workers and underlings possible, + that buys your dresses, your jewels, your motorcars, + your splendid furnishings and equipments, + will for the most part be public property, yielding + revenue to some national or municipal treasury. + You will have to give up much of that. There is + no way out of it, your way to Socialism is through + “the needle’s eye.” From your rare class and + from your class alone does Socialism require a real + material sacrifice. You must indeed give up much + coarse pride. There is no help for it, you must + face that if you face Socialism at all. You must + come down to a simpler and, in many material + aspects, less distinguished way of living.</p> + + <p>This is so clearly evident that to any one who + believes self-seeking is the ruling motive, the only + possible motive in mankind, it seems incredible + that your class ever will do anything than oppose + to the last the advancement of Socialism. You + will fight for what you have, and the Have-nots + will fight to take it away. Therefore it is that the + <a class="pagenum" id="page336" title="336"> </a>Socialists of the Social Democratic Federation + preach a class war; to my mind a lurid, violent + and distasteful prospect. We shall have to get + out of the miseries and disorder of to-day, they + think, if not by way of chateau-burning and + tumbrils, at least by a mitigated equivalent of + that. But I am not of that opinion. I have a + lurking belief that you are not altogether eaten + up by the claims of your own magnificence. While + there are no doubt a number of people in + your class who would fight like rats in a corner + against, let us say, the feeding of poor people’s + starving children or the recovery of the land by + the State to which it once belonged, I believe there + is enough of nobility in your class as a whole to + considerably damp their resistance. Because you + have silver mirrors and silver hairbrushes, it does + not follow that you have not a conscience. I am + no believer in the theory that to be a <em lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">sans-culotte</em> + is to be morally impeccable, or that a man loses + his soul because he possesses thirty pairs of + trousers beautifully folded by a valet. I cherish + the belief that your very refinement will turn—I + have seen it in one or two fine minds visibly turning—against + the social conditions that made it + possible. All this space, all this splendour has its + traceable connection with the insufficiencies and + miseries from which you are so remote. Once that + realization comes to you the world changes. In + <a class="pagenum" id="page337" title="337"> </a>certain lights, correlated with that, your magnificence + can look, you will discover—forgive the + word!—a little <em>vulgar</em>….</p> + + <p>Once you have seen that you will continue to see + it. The <em lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">nouveau riche</em> of the new Plutocratic + type comes thrusting among you, demonstrating + that sometimes quite obtrusively. You begin by + feeling sorry for his servants and then apologetic + to your own. You cannot “go it” as the rich + Americans and the rich South Africans, or prosperous + book-makers or rich music-hall proprietors, + “go it,” their silver and ivory and diamonds throw + light on your own. And among other things you + discover you are not nearly so dependent on the + numerous men in livery, the spaces and enrichments, + for your pride and comfort, as these upstart + people.</p> + + <p>I trust also to the appeal of the intervening + spaces. You cannot so entirely close your world + in from the greater world without that, in transit + at least, the other aspects do not intrude. Every + time you leave Charing Cross for the Continent, + for example, there are all those horrible slums on + either side of the line. These things <em>are</em>, you + know, a part of your system, part of you; they are + the reverse of that splendid fabric and no separate + thing, the wide rich tapestry of your lives comes + through on the other side, stitch for stitch in + stunted bodies, in children’s deaths, in privation + <a class="pagenum" id="page338" title="338"> </a>and anger. Your grandmothers did not realize + that. You do. You <em>know</em>. In that recognition + and a certain nobility I find in you, I put my hope, + much more than in any dreadful memories of 1789 + and those vindictive pikes. Your class is a + strangely mixed assembly of new and old, of base + and fine. But through it all, in Great Britain and + Western Europe generally, soaks a tradition truly + aristocratic, a tradition that transcends property; + you are aware, and at times uneasily aware, of + duty and a sort of honour. You cannot bilk cabmen + nor cheat at cards; there is something in + your making forbids that as strongly as an instinct. + But what if it is made clear to you (and + it is being made clear to you) that the wealth you + have is, all unwittingly on your part, the outcome + of a colossal—if unpremeditated—social bilking?</p> + + <p>Moreover, though Socialism does ask you to + abandon much space and service, it offers you certain + austere yet not altogether inadequate compensations. + If you will cease to have that admirable + house in Mayfair and the park in Kent and + the moorlands and the Welsh castle, yet you will + have another ownership of a finer kind to replace + those things. For all London will be yours, a + city to serve indeed, and a sense of fellowship + that is, if you could but realize it, better than + respect. The common people will not be common + under Socialism. That is a very important thing + <a class="pagenum" id="page339" title="339"> </a>for you to remember. But better than those + thoughts is this, that you will own yourself too, + more than you do now. All that state, all that + prominence of yours—do you never feel how it + stands between you and life?</p> + + <p>So I appeal from your wealth to your nobility, + to help us to impoverish your class a little relatively + and make all the world infinitely richer by that + impoverishment. And I am sure that to some of + you I shall not appeal in vain….</p> + + <h3 id="ch14_s6">§ 6.</h3> + + <p>And lastly, perhaps you are chiefly a patriot and + you are concerned for the flag and country with + which your emotions have interwoven. You find + that the Socialist talks constantly of internationalism + and the World State, and that presents itself + to your imagination as a very vague and colourless + substitute for a warm and living reality of England + or “these States” or the Empire. Well, your + patriotism will have suffered a change, but I do not + think it need starve under Socialist conditions. It + may be that war will have ceased, but the comparison + and competition and pride of communities + will not have ceased. Philadelphia and Chicago, + Boston and New York are at peace, in all probability + for ever at peace, so far as guns and slaughter + go, but each perpetually criticizes, goads and tries + to outshine the other. And the civic pride and + <a class="pagenum" id="page340" title="340"> </a>rivalry of to-day will be nothing to that pride and + rivalry when every man’s business is the city and + the city’s honour and well-being is his own. You + will have, therefore, first this civic patriotism, your + ancient pride in your city, a city which will be like + the city of the ancient Athenian’s, or the mediæval + Italian’s, the centre of a system of territories and the + property and chief interest of its citizens. I, for + instance, should love and serve, even as I love to-day, + my London and my Cinque Ports, these Home + Counties about London, the great lap of the + Thames valley and the Weald and Downland, my + own country in which all my life has been spent; + for you the city may be Ulster or Northumbria, or + Wales or East or West Belgium, or Finland or + Burgundy, or Berne or Berlin, or Venetia, Pekin, + Calcutta, Queensland or San Francisco. And keeping + the immediate peace between these vigorous + giant municipal states and holding them together + there will still be in many cases the old national or + Imperial government and the old flag, a means of + joint action between associated and kindred municipalities + with a common language and a common history + and a common temper and race. The nation + and the national government will be the custodian + of the national literature and the common law, the + controller and perhaps the vehicle of intermunicipal + and international trade, and an intermediary between + its municipal governments and that great + <a class="pagenum" id="page341" title="341"> </a>Congress to which all things are making, that permanent + international Congress which will be necessary + to insure the peace of the world.</p> + + <p>That, at least, is my own dream of the order that + may emerge from the confusion of distrusts and + tentatives and dangerous absurdities, those reactions + of fear and old traditional attitudes and racial + misconceptions which one speaks of as international + relations to-day. For I do not believe that war is a + necessary condition to human existence and progress, + that it is anything more than a confusion we + inherit from the less organized phases of social + development. I think but a little advancement in + general intelligence will make it an impossible + thing.</p> + + <p>But suppose after all that I am wrong in my + estimate in this matter, and that war will still be + possible in a Socialist or partly Socialist world; + suppose that the Socialist State in which I am + imagining you to live is threatened by some military + power. Then I don’t think the military power + that threatens it need threaten very long. Because + consider, here will be a State organized for collective + action as never a State has been organized + before, a State in which every man and woman will + be a willing and conscious citizen saturated with the + spirit of service, in which scientific research will be + at a maximum of vigour and efficiency. What individualist + or autocratic militarism will stand a + <a class="pagenum" id="page342" title="342"> </a>chance against it? It goes quite without saying + from the essential principles of Socialism that <em>if + war is necessary</em> then every citizen will, as a matter + of course, take his part in that war. It is mere want + of intellectual grasp that has made a few working-class + Socialists in England and France oppose military + service. Universal military service, given the + need for it, is innate in the Socialist idea, just as + it is blankly antagonistic to the “private individual” + ideas of Eighteenth-Century Liberalism. + It is innate in the Socialist idea, but equally innate + in that is the conception of establishing and maintaining + for ever a universal peace.</p> +</div> +<div id="chapter_15" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page343" title="343"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter-number">CHAPTER XV</span><br /> + THE ADVANCEMENT OF SOCIALISM</h2> + + <h3 id="ch15_s1">§ 1.</h3> + + <p><span class="first_word">And</span> here my brief exposition of the ideals of + Modern Socialism may fitly end.</p> + + <p>I have done my best to set out soberly and plainly + this great idea of deliberately making a real civilization + by the control and subordination of the + instinct of property, and the systematic development + of a state of consciousness out of the achievements + and squalor, out of the fine forces and wasted + opportunities of to-day. I may have an unconscious + bias perhaps, but so far as I have been able + I have been just and frank, concealing nothing of + the doubts and difficulties of Socialism, nothing of + the divergencies of opinion among its supporters, + nothing of the generous demands it makes upon + the social conscience, the Good Will in man. Its + supporters are divergent upon a hundred points, + but upon its fundamental generalizations they are + all absolutely agreed, and some day the whole + world will be agreed. Their common purport is + <a class="pagenum" id="page344" title="344"> </a>the resumption by the community of all property + that is not justly and obviously personal, and the + substitution of the spirit of service for the spirit + of gain in all human affairs.</p> + + <p>It must be clear to the reader who has followed + my explanations continuously, that the present + advancement of Socialism must lie now along three + several lines.</p> + + <blockquote> + <p>FIRST, and most important, is the primary + intellectual process, the elaboration, criticism, + discussion, enrichment and enlargement of the + project of Socialism. This includes all sorts + of sociological and economic research, the + critical literature of Socialism, and every possible + way—the drama, poetry, painting, music—of + expressing and refining its spirit, its attitudes + and conceptions. It includes, too, all + sorts of experiments in living and association. + In its widest sense it includes all science, + literature and invention.</p> + + <p>SECONDLY, comes the propaganda; the + publication, distribution, repetition, discussion + and explanation of this growing body of ideas, + until this conception of a real civilized State + as being in the making, becomes the common + intellectual property of all intelligent people in + the world; until the laws and social injustices + that now seem, to the ordinary man, + <a class="pagenum" id="page345" title="345"> </a>as much parts of life as the east wind and + influenza, will seem irrational, unnatural and + absurd. This educational task is at the present + time the main work that the mass of Socialists + have before them. Most other possibilities + wait upon that enlargement of the general + circle of ideas. It is a work that every one + can help forward in some measure, by talk and + discussion, by the distribution of literature, by + writing and speaking in public, by subscribing + to propagandist organizations.</p> + + <p>And THIRDLY, there is the actual changing + of practical things in the direction of the + coming Socialized State, the actual socialization, + bit by bit and more and more completely, + of the land, of the means of production, of + education and child welfare, of insurance and + the food supply, the realization, in fact, of + that great design which the intellectual process + of Socialism is continually making more + beautiful, attractive and worthy. Now this + third group of activities is necessarily various + and divergent, and at every point the conscious + and confessed Socialist will find himself + co-operating with partial or unintentional + Socialists, with statesmen and officials, with + opportunist philanthropists, with trade unionists, + with religious bodies and religious + teachers, with educationists, with scientific and + <a class="pagenum" id="page346" title="346"> </a>medical specialists, with every sort of public-spirited + person. He should never lose an + opportunity of explaining to such people how + necessarily they are Socialists, but he should + never hesitate to work with them because they + refuse the label. For in the house of Socialism + as in the house of God, there are many + mansions.</p> + + </blockquote> + <p>These are the three main channels for Socialist + effort, thought, propaganda and practical social and + political effort, and between them they afford opportunity + for almost every type of intelligent human + being. One may bring leisure, labour, gifts, + money, reputation, influence to the service of + Socialism; there is ample use for them all. There + is work to be done for this idea, from taking tickets + at a doorway and lending a drawing-room for a + meeting, to facing death, impoverishment and + sorrow for its sake.</p> + + <h3 id="ch15_s2">§ 2.</h3> + + <p>Socialism is a moral and intellectual process, + let me in conclusion reiterate that. Only + secondarily and incidentally does it sway the world + of politics. It is not a political movement; it + may engender political movements, but it can never + become a political movement; any political body, + any organization whatever, that professes to stand + for Socialism, makes an altogether too presumptuous + <a class="pagenum" id="page347" title="347"> </a>claim. The whole is greater than the part, the + will than the instrument. There can be no official + nor pontifical Socialism; the theory lives and + grows. It springs out of the common sanity of + mankind. Constructive Socialism shapes into a + great system of developments to be forwarded, + points to a great number of systems of activity + amidst which its adherents may choose their field + for work. Parties and societies may come or go, + parties and organizations and names may be used + and abandoned; constructive Socialism lives and + remains.</p> + + <p>There is a constantly recurring necessity to insist + on the difference between two things, the larger and + the lesser, the greater being the Socialist movement, + the lesser the various organizations that come + and go. There is this necessity because there is + a sort of natural antagonism between the thinker + and writer who stand by the scheme and seek to + develop and expound it, and the politician who + attempts to realize it. They are allies, but allies + who often pull against each other, whom a little + heat and thoughtlessness may precipitate into a + wasteful conflict. The former is, perhaps, too apt + to resent the expenditure of force in those conflicts + of cliques and personal ambition that inevitably + arise among men comparatively untrained for + politics, those squabbles and intrigues, reservations + and insincerities that precede the birth of a tradition + of discipline; the latter is equally prone to + <a class="pagenum" id="page348" title="348"> </a>think literature too broad-minded for daily life, and + to associate all those aspects of the Socialist project + which do not immediately win votes, with fads, + kid gloves, “gentlemanliness,” rose-water and + such-like contemptible things. These squabbles of + the engineer and the navigating officer must not + be allowed to confuse the mind of the student of + Socialism. They are quarrels of the mess-room, + quarrels on board the ship and within limits, they + have nothing to do with the general direction of + Socialism. Like all indisciplines they hinder but + they do not contradict the movement. Socialism, + the politicians declare, can only be realized through + politics. Socialism, I would answer, can never be + narrowed down to politics. Your parties and + groups may serve Socialism, but they can never + be Socialism. Scientific progress, medical organization, + the advancement of educational method, + artistic production and literature are all aspects of + Socialism, they are all interests and developments + that lie apart from anything one may call—except + by sheer violence to language—politics.</p> + + <p>And since Socialism is an intellectual as well as + a moral thing, it will never tolerate in its adherents + the abnegation of individual thought and intention. + It demands devotion to an idea, not devotion to a + leader. No addicted follower of so-and-so or of + so-and-so can be a good Socialist any more than + he can be a good scientific investigator. So far + <a class="pagenum" id="page349" title="349"> </a>Socialism has produced no great leaders at all. + Lassalle alone of all its prominent names was of + that romantic type of personality which men follow + with enthusiasm. The others, Owen, Saint Simon, + and Fourier, Proudhon, Marx, and Engels, Bebel, + Webb, J. S. Mill, Jaurès, contributed to a process + they never seized hold upon, never made their + own, they gave enrichment and enlargement and + the movement passed on; passes on gathering as + it goes. Kingsley, Morris, Ruskin—none are too + great to serve this idea, and none so great they + may control it or stand alone for it. So it will + continue. Socialism under a great leader, or as + a powerfully organized party would be the end + of Socialism. No doubt it might also be its + partial triumph; but the reality of the movement + would need to take to itself another name; to call + itself “constructive civilization” or some such + synonym, in order to continue its undying work. + Socialism no doubt will inspire great leaders in + the future, and supply great parties with ideas; in + itself it will still be greater than all such things.</p> + + <h3 id="ch15_s3">§ 3.</h3> + + <p>But here, perhaps, before the finish, since the + business of this book is explanation, it may be well + to define a little the relation of Socialism to the + political party that is most closely identified with it + in the popular mind. This is the Labour Party. + <a class="pagenum" id="page350" title="350"> </a>There can be no doubt of the practical association of + aim and interest of the various Labour parties + throughout modern civilized communities with the + Socialist movement. The Social democrats of Germany + are the Labour Party of that country, and + wherever the old conception of Socialism prevails, + those “class war” ideas of the Marxist that have + been superseded in English Socialism for nearly a + quarter of a century, there essentially the Socialist + movement will take the form of a revolutionary + attack upon the owning and governing sections of + the community. But in Great Britain and America + the Labour movement has never as a whole been + revolutionary or insurrectionary in spirit, and in + these countries Socialism has been affected from its + very beginnings by constructive ideas. It has never + starkly antagonized Labour on the one hand, and + the other necessary elements in a civilized State on + the other; it has never—I speak of the movement + as a whole and not of individual utterances—contemplated + a community made up wholly of + “Labour” and emotionally democratic, such as + the Marxist teaching suggests. The present labouring + classes stand to gain enormously in education, + dignity, leisure, efficiency and opportunity by the + development of a Socialist State, and just in so far + as they become intelligent will they become Socialist; + but we all, all of us of Good Will, we and our + children, of nearly every section of the community + <a class="pagenum" id="page351" title="351"> </a>stand also to gain and have also our interest in this + development. Great as the Labour movement is, + the Socialist movement remains something greater. + The one is the movement of a class, the other a + movement of the best elements in every class.</p> + + <p>None the less it remains true that under existing + political conditions it is to the Labour Party that + the Socialist must look for the mass and emotion + and driving force of political Socialism. Among the + wage workers of the modern civilized community + Socialists are to be counted now by the hundred + thousand, and in those classes alone does an intelligent + self-interest march clearly and continuously in + the direction of constructive civilization. In the + other classes the Socialists are dispersed and miscellaneous + in training and spirit, hampered by + personal and social associations, presenting an + enormous variety of aspects and incapable, it would + seem, of co-operation except in relation to the main + Socialist body, the Labour mass. Through that, + and in relation and service to that, they must, it + would seem, spend their political activities (I am + writing now only of political activities) if they + are not to be spent very largely to waste. The two + other traditional parties in British politics are no + doubt undergoing remarkable changes and internal + disruptions, and the constructive spirit of the time + is at work within them; but it does not seem that + either is likely to develop anything nearly so definitely + <a class="pagenum" id="page352" title="352"> </a>a Socialist programme as the Labour Party. + The old Conservative Party, in spite of its fine + aristocratic traditions, tends more and more to become + the party of the adventurous Plutocracy, of + the aggressive <em lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">nouveau riche</em>, inclines more and + more towards the inviting financial possibilities of + modern “Imperialism” and “Tariff Reform.” + The old Liberal Party strains between these two + antagonists and its own warring and conflicting + traditions of Whiggery and Radicalism. There + can be no denying the great quantity of “Good + Will” and constructive intention that finds a place + in its very miscellaneous ranks, but the strong + strain of obstinate and irreconcilable individualism + is equally indisputable.</p> + + <p>But the official Liberal attitude is one thing, and + a very unsubstantial and transitory thing, and the + great mass of Good Will and broad thinking in the + ranks of Liberalism and the middle class quite + another. Socialists are to be found not only in + every class, but in every party. There can be no + “Socialist” party as such. That is the misleading + suggestion of irresponsible and destructive adventurers. + It is impossible to estimate what forces of + political synthesis may be at work at the present + time, or what ruptures and coalitions may not occur + in the course of a few years. These things belong + to the drama of politics. They do not affect the + fact that the chief Interest in the community on the + <a class="pagenum" id="page353" title="353"> </a>side of Socialism is Labour; through intelligent + Labour it is that Socialism becomes a political + force and possibility, and it is to the Labour Party + that the Socialist who wishes to engage in active + political work may best give his means and time + and energy and ability.</p> + + <p>I write “political work,” and once more I would + repeat that it is to the field of electioneering and + parliamentary politics under present conditions + that this section refers. The ultimate purpose of + Socialism can rely upon no class because it aims + to reconstitute all classes. In a Socialist State + there will be no class doomed to mere “labour,” + no class privileged to rule and decide. For every + child there will be fair opportunity and education + and scope to the limit of its possibilities. To the + best there will be given difficulty and responsibility, + honour and particular rewards, but to all + security and reasonable work and a tolerable life. + The interests and class traditions upon which our + party distinctions of to-day rely must necessarily + undergo progressive modification with every step + we take towards the realization of the Socialist ideal.</p> + + <h3 id="ch15_s4">§ 4.</h3> + + <p>So this general account of Socialism concludes. + I have tried to put it as what it is, as + the imperfect and still growing development of the + social idea, of the collective Good Will in man. + <a class="pagenum" id="page354" title="354"> </a>I have tried to indicate its relation to politics, to + religion, to art and literature, to the widest problems + of life. Its broad generalizations are simple + and I believe acceptable to all clear-thinking minds. + And in a way they do greatly simplify life. Once + they have been understood they render impossible + a thousand confusions and errors of thought and + practice. They are in the completest sense of the + word, illumination.</p> + + <p>But Socialism is no panacea, no magic “Open + Sesame” to the millennium. Socialism lights up + certain once hopeless evils in human affairs and + shows the path by which escape is possible, but it + leaves that path rugged and difficult. Socialism is + hope, but it is not assurance. Throughout this + book I have tried to keep that before the reader.</p> + + <p>Directly one accepts those great generalizations + one passes on to a jungle of incurably intricate problems, + through which man has to make his way + or fail, the riddles and inconsistencies of human + character, the puzzles of collective action, the power + and decay of traditions, the perpetually recurring + tasks and problems of education. To have become + a Socialist is to have learnt something, to have + made an intellectual and a moral step, to have discovered + a general purpose in life and a new meaning + in duty and brotherhood. But to have become + a Socialist is not, as many suppose, to have become + generally wise. Rather in realizing the nature of + <a class="pagenum" id="page355" title="355"> </a>the task that could be done, one realizes also one’s + insufficiencies, one’s want of knowledge, one’s need + of force and training. Here and in this manner, + says Socialism, a palace and safety and great happiness + may be made for mankind. But it seems to + me the Socialist as he turns his hand and way of + living towards that common end knows little of + the nature of his task if he does so with any but + a lively sense of his individual weakness and the + need of charity for all that he achieves.</p> + + <p>In that spirit, and with no presumption of + finality, this little book of explanations is given to + the world.</p> + +</div> +<div id="endmatter"> + <p>THE END</p> + <a class="pagenum disguise" id="page356" title="356"> </a> + + <p><span class="special_name">Richard Clay & Sons, Limited</span>,<br /> + BRUNSWICK STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.E.,<br /> + AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.</p> +</div> +<div id="footnotes"> + <h2>Footnotes</h2> + <ol> + <li id="footnote_1"> + As I pass these proofs I am reminded that Mr. J. R. + MacDonald has in the press <cite>Socialism</cite> (Jacks, Edinburgh)—a + general account of the movement. From Mr. Kirkup’s <cite>An + Enquiry into Socialism</cite> and from <cite>Fabian Essays</cite> (the Fabian + Society, London) a good idea of the general Socialist position + may also be obtained. + <a href="#fnm1" title="Return to marker 1" class="returnFN">Return</a> + </li> + <li id="footnote_2"> + The facts of the case are put very clearly, and quite + invincibly, by Miss Margaret Macmillan in <cite>Infant Mortality</cite>. + See also <cite>The Babies’ Tribute to the Modern Moloch</cite>, by F. + Victor Fisher. (Twentieth Century Press, 1<em>d.</em>) These are + small polemical tracts. The case is treated fully, authoritatively + and without bias in <cite>Infant Mortality</cite> by Dr. G. Newman. + <a href="#fnm2" title="Return to marker 2" class="returnFN">Return</a> + </li> + <li id="footnote_3"> + <cite>This Misery of Boots.</cite> It is intended as an introductory + tract explaining the central idea of Socialism for propaganda + purposes, and it is published by the Fabian Society, of + 3 Clement’s Inn, London, at 3<em>d.</em> That, together with my tract + <cite>Socialism and the Family</cite> (A. C. Fifield, 44 Fleet Street, + London, 6<em>d.</em>), gives the whole broad outline of the Socialist + attitude. + <a href="#fnm3" title="Return to marker 3" class="returnFN">Return</a> + </li> + <li id="footnote_4"> + Elihu’s tracts are published by the Independent Labour + Party at one penny each. The best are: <cite>Whose Dog Art + Thou?</cite> <cite>A Nation of Slaves</cite>; <cite>Milk and Postage Stamps</cite>; + <cite>A Corner in Flesh and Blood</cite>; and <cite>Simple Division</cite>. + <a href="#fnm4" title="Return to marker 4" class="returnFN">Return</a> + </li> + <li id="footnote_5"> + <cite>Pure Sociology</cite>, p. 271-2, by Lester F. Ward. (The Macmillan + Company, New York.) + <a href="#fnm5" title="Return to marker 5" class="returnFN">Return</a> + </li> + <li id="footnote_6"> + In Dakota, 1906-7, private enterprise led to a particularly + severe coal famine in the bitterest weather, and the shortage + was felt so severely that the population rose and attacked and + stopped passing coal-trains. + <a href="#fnm6" title="Return to marker 6" class="returnFN">Return</a> + </li> + <li id="footnote_7"> + For a clear and admirable account of the Socialist attitude + to the temperance question, see the tract on <cite>Municipal Drink + Traffic</cite> published by the Fabian Society; price one penny. + <a href="#fnm7" title="Return to marker 7" class="returnFN">Return</a> + </li> + <li id="footnote_8"> + <cite>The Future in America</cite>, Ch. IX. (Chapman & Hall, + 1906.) + <a href="#fnm8" title="Return to marker 8" class="returnFN">Return</a> + </li> + <li id="footnote_9"> + <cite>Studies Scientific and Social</cite>, Vol. II., Ch. XXIV.; by Dr. + Alfred Russel Wallace. (Macmillan & Co., 1900.) + <a href="#fnm9" title="Return to marker 9" class="returnFN">Return</a> + </li> + <li id="footnote_10"> + <cite>Socialism and the Family.</cite> (A. C. Fifield. 6<em>d.</em>) + <a href="#fnm10" title="Return to marker 10" class="returnFN">Return</a> + </li> + <li id="footnote_11"> + <cite>Socialism and the Family.</cite> + <a href="#fnm11" title="Return to marker 11" class="returnFN">Return</a> + </li> + <li id="footnote_12"> + “The haircloth encased the whole body down to the knees; + the hair drawers, as well as the rest of the dress, being covered + on the outside with white linen so as to escape observation; + and the whole so fastened together as to admit of being readily + taken off for his daily scourgings, of which yesterday’s portion + was still apparent in the stripes on his body. Such austerity + had hitherto been unknown to English saints, and the marvel + was increased by the sight—to our notions so revolting—of the + innumerable vermin with which the haircloth abounded—boiling + over with them, as one account describes it, like water in a + simmering cauldron. At the dreadful sight all the enthusiasm + of the previous night revived with double ardour. They looked + at each other in silent wonder, then exclaimed, ‘See, see what a + true monk he was, and we knew it not!’ and burst into alternate + fits of weeping and laughter, between the sorrow of having lost + such a head, and the joy of having found such a saint.” (<cite>Historical + Memorials of Canterbury</cite>, by the Rev. Arthur Penrhyn + Stanley, D.D.) + <a href="#fnm12" title="Return to marker 12" class="returnFN">Return</a> + </li> + <li id="footnote_13"> + “The ethical case for slavery in the Southern States of + America,” my friend Mr. Graham Wallas reminds me, “was + largely argued on the instance of the widow ‘with a few strong + slaves.’” + <a href="#fnm13" title="Return to marker 13" class="returnFN">Return</a> + </li> + <li id="footnote_14"> + See “Scepticism of the Instrument,” the Appendix to + <cite>A Modern Utopia</cite>. (Chapman & Hall.) + <a href="#fnm14" title="Return to marker 14" class="returnFN">Return</a> + </li> + <li id="footnote_15"> + What makes the expression particularly inappropriate in + my case is the fact that in my <cite>Mankind in the Making</cite> there is + a clearly-reasoned chapter (Ch. II.) which has never been + answered, in which I discuss and, I think, conclusively dispose + of Mr. Francis Galton’s ideas of Eugenics and deliberate + stirpiculture. + <a href="#fnm15" title="Return to marker 15" class="returnFN">Return</a> + </li> + <li id="footnote_16"> + <cite>On Municipal and National Trading</cite>, by Lord Avebury. + (Macmillan & Co., 1907.) + <a href="#fnm16" title="Return to marker 16" class="returnFN">Return</a> + </li> + <li id="footnote_17"> + The student will find very clear, informing, and suggestive + reading in Kirkup’s <cite>History of Socialism</cite> (A. & C. Black, 1906). + It is a fine, impartial account of these developments, which may + well be used as a corrective (or confirmation) of this book. + <a href="#fnm17" title="Return to marker 17" class="returnFN">Return</a> + </li> + <li id="footnote_18"> + It was probably first used in the <cite>Poor Man’s Guardian</cite> in that + year. See <cite>The Life of Francis Place</cite>, by Graham Wallas, p. 353. + <a href="#fnm18" title="Return to marker 18" class="returnFN">Return</a> + </li> + <li id="footnote_19"> + <cite>The Future in America.</cite> (Chapman & Hall, 1906.) + <a href="#fnm19" title="Return to marker 19" class="returnFN">Return</a> + </li> + <li id="footnote_20"> + <cite>In the Days of the Comet.</cite> (Macmillan & Co., 1906.) Anti-Socialist + speakers and writers are in the habit of quoting + passages of a review from the <cite>Times Literary Supplement</cite>, + published during the heat of the “Book War,” and promptly + controverted, as though they were quotations from this book. + <a href="#fnm20" title="Return to marker 20" class="returnFN">Return</a> + </li> + <li id="footnote_21"> + <cite>Fabian Tracts.</cite> (Fabian Society, 5<em>s.</em>) + <a href="#fnm21" title="Return to marker 21" class="returnFN">Return</a> + </li> + <li id="footnote_22"> + See Appendix to <cite>Mankind in the Making</cite>. (Chapman and + Hall, 1905.) + <a href="#fnm22" title="Return to marker 22" class="returnFN">Return</a> + </li> + <li id="footnote_23"> + 1. <cite>Municipalization by Provinces.</cite> 2. <cite>On the Reform of + Municipal Service.</cite> 3. <cite>Public Control of Electric Power and + Transit.</cite> 4. <cite>The Revival of Agriculture: a National Policy + for Great Britain.</cite> 5. <cite>The Abolition of Poor Law Guardians.</cite> + Others to follow. (Fabian Society, 1905-6.) + <a href="#fnm23" title="Return to marker 23" class="returnFN">Return</a> + </li> + <li id="footnote_24"> + This generalization is a sweeping one, and would need, were + one attempting to give more than a very broad impression of + the sequence of Socialist ideas, considerable modification. Such + earlier tracts as <cite>The New Reform Bill</cite>, <cite>Facts for Londoners</cite>, + <cite>Facts for Bristol</cite>, dealt mainly with the question of machinery. + <a href="#fnm24" title="Return to marker 24" class="returnFN">Return</a> + </li> + <li id="footnote_25"> + I visited Liverpool and Manchester the other day for the + first time in my life, and was delighted to find how the inferiority + of the local art galleries to those of Glasgow rankled in people’s + minds. + <a href="#fnm25" title="Return to marker 25" class="returnFN">Return</a> + </li> + <li id="footnote_26"> + Chapman & Hall. + <a href="#fnm26" title="Return to marker 26" class="returnFN">Return</a> + </li> + + + </ol> +</div> +<div id="rearads"> + <div id="rearad_1" class="rearadpage"><a class="pagenum disguise" id="page357" title="357"> </a> + <p class="ad_style_1">SYNDICALISM</p> + <p class="ad_style_2">A CRITICAL EXAMINATION</p> + <p class="ad_style_3">BY</p> + <p class="ad_style_4">J. RAMSAY MACDONALD. M.P.</p> + <p class="ad_style_5">Cloth, 1s. net.</p> + <p class="ad_style_6">A clear and concise explanation of what Syndicalism means, + with a Critical Examination of its Aims and Principles</p> + + <p class="ad_style_2">CONTENTS</p> + <ol> + <li>Trade Unionism, Socialism, and Syndicalism</li> + <li>Political Action and the General Strike</li> + <li>The Philosophy of Sorel</li> + <li>The Programme of Direct Action</li> + <li>Syndicalism in Europe and America</li> + <li>Syndicalism in Great Britain</li> + <li>An Examination of Syndicalist Principles</li> + <li>The Programme of Syndicalism</li> + <li>Conclusion</li> + </ol> + + <p class="ad_style_7">“Mr. Ramsay Macdonald has done a genuine service in writing this + little book.”—<cite>Westminster Gazette</cite>.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_7">“A lucid and accurate account of the ideas behind a movement + which is much talked about, but little understood.”—<cite>Daily Chronicle</cite>.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_7">“A clever and creditable piece of work.”—<cite>Western Morning News</cite>.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_7">“Tells everything that need be known in regard to Syndicalism.”—<cite>Yorkshire + Observer</cite>.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_8">London: CONSTABLE & COMPANY Ltd.</p> + </div> + <div id="rearad_2" class="rearadpage"><a class="pagenum disguise" id="page358" title="358"> </a> + <p class="ad_style_1">A HISTORY OF LABOUR + REPRESENTATION</p> + <p class="ad_style_4">By A. W. HUMPHREY</p> + + <p class="ad_style_2">With an Introduction by GILBERT SLATER, Principal of + Ruskin College, Oxford</p> + + <p class="ad_style_5">Crown 8vo, 2s. 6d. net.</p> + + <p>The objects of this book are to present a record of the movement + for labour representation in the United Kingdom from + its first beginning in 1857 to the end of 1911, and the arguments + for and against class representation. Professor Gilbert Slater + in his introduction writes: “Mr. Humphrey has earned the + gratitude of students by the striking and straightforward + narrative he has put together.”</p> + + <p class="ad_style_7">“A clear business-like and detailed history of the rise of the labour + representation.”—<cite>Times</cite>.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_7">“A well-studied and interesting account.”—<cite>Scotsman</cite>.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_7">“Mr. Humphrey has earned the gratitude of all earnest students of + sociology.”—<cite>Western Mail.</cite>.</p> + + + <p class="ad_style_1a">THE CHILD AND THE PARENT</p> + + <p class="ad_style_4">By DOUGLAS PEPLER</p> + + <p class="ad_style_5">Crown 8vo, 2s. 6d. net.</p> + + <p>A small volume containing the history of the provision of + meals to the children of poor parents, and an account of + children’s care committees, their work and organization, with + particular reference to the place of the voluntary worker and + the duties of an official.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_7">“The history of the origin and work of the Care Committee is dealt + with by Mr. Douglas Pepler in an interesting way, and he writes + suggestively of the great problems with which its workers are brought + into contact.”—<cite>Nation</cite>.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_7">“It would be impossible to put the conditions of the problem in + clearer or better words.”—<cite>Evening News</cite>.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_8">London: CONSTABLE & COMPANY Ltd.</p> + + </div> + <div id="rearad_3" class="rearadpage"><a class="pagenum disguise" id="page359" title="359"> </a> + <p class="ad_style_1">THE TASK OF SOCIAL HYGIENE</p> + + <p class="ad_style_4">By HAVELOCK ELLIS</p> + + <p class="ad_style_2">Author of “The World of Dreams,” “The Soul of Spain,” etc.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_5">Large Crown 8vo, 8s. 6d. net.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_2">CONTENTS</p> + + <p>Introduction—The Changing Status of Women—The + New Aspect of the Woman’s Movement—The Emancipation + of Women in relation to Romantic Love—The Significance + of a Falling Birth-rate—Eugenics and Love—Religion and + the Child—The Problem of Sexual Hygiene—Immorality + and Law—The War against War—The Problem of an + International Language—Individualism and Socialism—Index.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_7">“A singularly powerful book.”—<cite>Daily Graphic</cite>.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_7">“The work of one who thinks of, and fearlessly looks to, the + future.”—<cite>The Times</cite>.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_7">“Should be read by our legislators, philanthropists, and + reformers.”—<cite>Daily News</cite>.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_7">“Those who like to have their thoughts stimulated will find his book + delightful.”—<cite>Observer</cite>.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_7">“A most interesting and suggestive book.”—<cite>Scotsman</cite>.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_1a">RATIONALISM</p> + + <p class="ad_style_4">By Rt. Hon. J. M. ROBERTSON. M.P.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_5">Cloth - 1s. net.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_2">CONTENTS</p> + + <p>The Term—The Practical Position—The Religious + Challenge—The Philosophical Challenge—The Skeptical + Religious Challenge—The Meaning of Reason—The Test + of Truth—Ultimate Problems—Ideals.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_8">London: CONSTABLE & COMPANY Ltd.</p> + </div> + <div id="rearad_4" class="rearadpage"><a class="pagenum disguise" id="page360" title="360"> </a> + <p class="ad_style_1">MAN AND SUPERMAN</p> + + <p class="ad_style_2">A COMEDY AND A PHILOSOPHY</p> + + <p class="ad_style_3">BY</p> + + <p class="ad_style_4">BERNARD SHAW</p> + + <p class="ad_style_5">Paper, 6d.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_7">“Of extraordinary brilliance and suggestiveness.”—<cite>Vanity + Fair</cite>.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_7">“From first to last it is a royal feast of witticisms.”—<cite>Yorkshire + Daily Observer</cite>.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_7">“This is his masterpiece.”—<cite>Saturday Review</cite>.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_1a">JOHN BULL’S OTHER + ISLAND</p> + + <p class="ad_style_3">BY</p> + + <p class="ad_style_4">BERNARD SHAW</p> + + <p class="ad_style_5">New Edition in Paper, with a new Preface, 6d.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_7">“The cleverest play Mr. Shaw has written.”—<cite>Evening + Standard</cite>.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_7">“John Bull’s ‘Other Island’ is so far the author’s + masterpiece.”—<cite>Glasgow Herald</cite>.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_7">“One of the choicest and most stimulating of all the + author’s plays.”—<cite>Yorkshire Post</cite>.</p> + + <p class="ad_style_8">London: CONSTABLE & COMPANY Ltd.</p> + + </div> +</div> +<div id="closing_line"> </div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's New Worlds For Old, by Herbert George Wells + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NEW WORLDS FOR OLD *** + +***** This file should be named 30538-h.htm or 30538-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/5/3/30538/ + +Produced by Malcolm Farmer, Barbara Tozier and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +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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