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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/34979-8.txt b/34979-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1b1ea4a --- /dev/null +++ b/34979-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16154 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Twentieth Century Socialism, by Edmond Kelly + +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: Twentieth Century Socialism + What It Is Not; What It Is: How It May Come + +Author: Edmond Kelly + +Release Date: January 16, 2011 [EBook #34979] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWENTIETH CENTURY SOCIALISM *** + + + + +Produced by Fritz Ohrenschall and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + * * * * * + + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's Note: | + | | + | Inconsistent hyphenation in the original document has | + | been preserved. | + | | + | Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. For | + | a complete list, please see the end of this document. | + | | + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + + * * * * * + + + + +TWENTIETH CENTURY SOCIALISM + + + + +TWENTIETH CENTURY +SOCIALISM + +_WHAT IT IS NOT; WHAT IT IS: +HOW IT MAY COME_ + + +BY +EDMOND KELLY, M.A., F.G.S. + +Late Lecturer on Municipal Government at Columbia University, +in the City of New York + +Author of "Government or Human Evolution," +"Evolution and Effort," etc., etc. + + + + +LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. +FOURTH AVENUE & 30TH STREET, NEW YORK +LONDON, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA +1911 + + + + +Copyright, 1910 + +BY + +LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. + + +First Edition, May, 1910 +Reprinted, November, 1910 +May, 1911 + + +THE SCIENTIFIC PRESS +ROBERT DRUMMOND AND COMPANY +BROOKLYN, N.Y. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +I + +No one whose intellectual parts are in working order believes that the +industrial world will go back to an unorganized individualistic +production and distribution of wealth. No one whose moral sense is +awake desires to see the chief means of production owned and +controlled by a small number of monstrously wealthy men, however great +their ability or good their intentions. Nevertheless, most persons of +moral sense and normal mentality are disturbed when one suggests in so +many words that if industry cannot henceforth be individualistic and +should not be owned and controlled by the Big Few, it will, +apparently, have to be owned and controlled by the Many. This +paradoxical psychology possibly indicates that we queer human beings +do our real thinking and perform our occasional feats of moral +self-examination in lucid intervals, alternating with states of +mind--and conscience--which were better not described in non-technical +language. + +Edmond Kelly was a man whose lucidity was not interrupted. It was a +necessity of his nature to think clearly and coherently. Not less +necessary was it for him to think comprehensively, for his sympathy +was boundless. Every phase of life interested him. He found nothing +but meanness contemptible; and nothing but injustice moved him to +hate. To such a mind the partial view is intolerable. A fact must be +seen from every side and its relations to other facts must be traced +out. From his earliest manhood Mr. Kelly looked upon the struggle for +existence as both evolution and effort. Accepting the Darwinian +explanation of life, he yet could not admit that man is powerless to +control his fate. Physical evolution shades into physiological, and +physiological evolution into psychological. Effort, foresight, and +directed effort are products of evolution, but having been produced, +they become forces in further evolution. In the higher evolution of +man, they have become principal forces. From the moment that Mr. Kelly +grasped this thought his mind was busy with it through all the years +of his exceedingly active life, mastering its implications, examining +it in its social or collective, no less than in its individual aspect, +and forecasting the chief lines of constructive effort by an +enlightened mankind industrially and politically organized for the +most effective coöperation. + +Yet it was not until a few years before his death that Mr. Kelly +became a declared Socialist. The slow advance to his ultimate +conclusions was characteristic. Though his mind moved swiftly, his +intellectual integrity compelled him to examine every position as he +went on. Because of these qualities his books form a series, +consecutive in premisses and argument; a logical sequence +corresponding to their chronological order. Thus, in his early work, +"Evolution and Effort," Mr. Kelly was content to do thoroughly one +particular thing, namely, to demonstrate that the Spencerian +philosophy of evolution could be accepted without committing mankind +to the practical programme of _laissez faire_, upon which Mr. Spencer +himself so strongly insisted. This work Mr. Kelly did so well that +there is no need for anyone to do it over, and it provided a firm +foundation for his further constructive efforts. _The Popular Science +Monthly_, which was then, under the editorship of Professor Edward L. +Youmans, unreservedly committed to Spencerian views, acknowledged that +it was the most telling attack upon what Professor Huxley had called +"administrative nihilism" that had been made in any quarter. The main +ideas of "Evolution and Effort" were elaborated and clinched in the +two large volumes on "Government or Human Evolution," and were +concretely applied to pressing practical questions in the unsigned +book, "A Programme for Workingmen." + +Each of the two volumes on "Government" was devoted, as "Evolution and +Effort" had been, to establishing firmly a specific proposition. When +Mr. Kelly began writing the first volume, which bore the sub-title +"Justice," he was a lecturer in the Faculty of Political Science at +Columbia University and was intensely interested in the movement for +the reform of municipal politics in New York city. Believing that +adequate organization was the chief need, he had founded the City Club +and the subsidiary Good Government Clubs. In the discussions which +this movement called forth, he says: "One fact stood out with +startling conspicuousness. Not one out of a thousand was able to +formulate a clear idea as to the principles upon which he stood; upon +one measure he was an Individualist; upon another, a Collectivist; one +day he was for strong governmental action; the next for liberty of +contract; and of those who presented the claims of expediency and +justice respectively, no one was able to say what justice was." + +It seemed, therefore, to Mr. Kelly that on the theoretical side we +needed first, and above all else, a clear conception of justice as an +end to be attained. For conclusions already arrived at in "Evolution +and Effort" made it impossible for him to believe that justice is +satisfied by merely "rewarding every man according to his +performance." Seeing in evolution possibilities beyond present +attainment, he believed that a way should be found to enable every man +to achieve his potential performance. Thus his notion of justice, +derived from the principle of evolution, became substantially +identical with that which had been set forth two thousand years ago by +Plato in _The Republic_. To quote Mr. Kelly's own words: "Justice may, +then, be described as the effort to eliminate from our social +conditions the effects of the inequalities of Nature upon the +happiness and advancement of man, and particularly to create an +artificial environment which shall serve the individual as well as the +race, and tend to perpetuate noble types rather than those which are +base." + +It was inevitable that with such a conception of justice in mind, a +thinker scientifically so remorseless as Mr. Kelly was, should find +individualistic prejudices shaken before he completed his task. +"Beginning with a strong bias against Socialism of every kind," he was +forced before he reached the end of his first volume to "a reluctant +recognition that by collective action only could the uncorrupted many +be rescued from the corrupt few, and could successful effort be made +to diminish the misery of poverty and crime." + +Having arrived at this conclusion, Mr. Kelly was able to make his +second volume on the respective claims of Individualism and +Collectivism an exposition which, for clearness of insight, acuteness +of philosophical observation, wealth of historical knowledge, and +sanity of judgment, has few equals in the modern literature of social +problems. He demonstrated the inevitable failure of individualism as +an adequate working programme for a complex civilization. He showed +that collectivism must be accepted, whether we like it or not, if we +desire justice; and, more than this, he showed, not speculatively, but +from concrete and experimental data, that a civilized mankind may be +expected to like a reasonable collectivism when it begins to +understand and to adopt it, far better than it has liked +individualism, and for the adequate reason that collectivism will +diminish misery and increase happiness. + +Not even upon the completion of this remarkable volume, however, was +Mr. Kelly quite ready to take the final step of identifying himself +with the Socialist party. So strong was that nature within him which, +without theological implications, we may call the spiritual or +religious, that he would have been glad if he could have seen the +possibility of attaining the ends which Socialism contemplates through +a movement essentially subjective, that is to say, through +developments of the intellectual and moral nature of man which would +impel all human beings, irrespective of class distinctions, to work +together spontaneously and unselfishly, for the creation of a +wholesome environment and essential justice in social relations. It +was this feeling that led him to write the anonymously published, +"Practical Programme for Workingmen," in which essentially socialistic +measures are advocated, but with strong emphasis upon the vital +importance of character and sympathy. + +When a strong-minded man of strict intellectual honesty has thus +advanced, step by step, from one position to another, at every stage +of his progress surveying the whole field of human struggle; +observing it dispassionately, as a scientific evolutionist; observing +it sympathetically, "as one who loves his fellowmen," comes at last to +the socialistic conclusion, and devotes the last weeks of his life to +the preparation of a new statement of socialistic doctrine, the fact +is more significant, as an indication of the way mankind is going, +than are all the cries of "lo here, lo there" that arise from the din +of party discussion. In Mr. Kelly's case the significance was deepened +by all the circumstances of taste and association. Intensely +democratic in his relations to men, Mr. Kelly was in breeding, in +culture, in delicacy of feeling an aristocrat of the purest type. +Educated at Columbia and at Cambridge, his university acquaintance and +his political and professional activities in New York and in Paris had +kept him continually in touch with what the socialist calls "the +capitalist class." In joining the Socialist party he jeopardized +friendships and associations that meant more to him than anything else +save the approval of his own conscience. + +The book now given to the public, written when he knew that his days +were numbered, is, all in all, the most remarkable of his works. All +writers of experience know that it is far easier to write a first +statement of a newly discovered truth, than to restate the chief +principles of a system already partly formulated; a system more or +less vague where it is most vital, more or less unscientific and +impossible where it is most specific. No one knew better than Mr. +Kelly did that while the larger-minded leaders of the Socialist +movement would generously welcome any thought which he had to give, +there would be some of the rank and file who would feel that, in +differing from the accredited writers, he was revealing himself as a +convert not yet quite informed on all tenets of the creed--perhaps +not even quite sound in the faith. A less enthusiastic nature, or one +less resolutely determined to complete his life work as best he could, +would have shrunk from such an undertaking as this book was. That +under the circumstances he could put into it the vigor of thought and +of style, the incisive criticism, the wealth of fact and illustration; +above all, the freshness of view, the practical good sense and the +strong constructive treatment which we find in these pages, is indeed +remarkable. + +How clearly he saw what sort of a book was needed, is best indicated +in his own account of what he desired to do. It should be first of +all, he thought, comprehensive. Socialism has been presented from the +economic standpoint, from the scientific, from the ethical and from +the idealistic. As Mr. Kelly saw it, Socialism is not merely an +economic system, nor merely an idealistic vision. It is a consequence +and product of evolution. "Science has made it constructive," he says, +"and the trusts have made it practical." It is ethical because "the +competitive system must ultimately break upon the solidarity of +mankind," because the survival of the fit is not the whole result of +evolution. The result still to be attained is "the improvement of +all." And Socialism is idealistic because it not only contemplates, +but gives reasonable promise of "a community from which exploitation, +unemployment, poverty and prostitution shall be eliminated." + +But besides making an exposition of Socialism as a whole and in all +its parts, Mr. Kelly aimed to make a book "for non-socialists." With +this purpose in view he has kept closely to concrete statement and +above all has tried to avoid vagueness and loose generalization. He +has described possibilities in terms that all know and understand. +With the precision of the trained legal mind, he seizes the essential +point when he says: "It is not enough to be told that there are a +thousand ways through which Socialism can be attained. We want to see +clearly one way." With the last strength that he had to spend Mr. +Kelly showed one way; and no bewildered wayfarer through our baffling +civilization, however he may hesitate to set his feet upon it, will +venture to say that it is not clear. + + FRANKLIN H. GIDDINGS. + + NEW YORK, April 19, 1910. + + +II + +An immense revolution, a wonderful revolution, is opening in the mind +of the human race; a new driving force is taking hold of the souls of +men--the devotion to the welfare of the whole; a new sense, with all +the intensity of a new-born feeling, is emerging in the consciousness +of men--the sense that one cannot himself be healthy or happy unless +the race is happy and healthy. A hundred theories appearing here and +there, a thousand organizations springing up, a million acts of +individuals everywhere, attest each day the presence and the growing +power of this vast solidarizing movement. + +Among these manifestations throughout the world, the most pronounced +and the most clearly defined is that compact, fiercely vital +organization known as the international Socialist party. Yet the +Socialist party is not the movement, any more than the cresting billow +is the torrent. It is an imperatively necessary element; but the +movement itself is vastly broader and deeper than any manifestation of +it. + +An uncounted multitude in all lands are gradually becoming conscious +of this sweeping tendency and of their own part in it--a multitude as +yet not bearing any specific title. Out of these a considerable number +are fully conscious of the movement, and are willing partakers. These +we might call solidarists, in token of their conviction that the goal +ought to be and will be an economic solidarity. But of even these it +is only a part who are distinctively to be called Socialists, only +those who have perceived two certain mighty facts: first, that men's +mass-relations in the process of making a living are fundamental to +their other relations, to their opinions and motives, and to all +revolutions; and, second, that the chief agency in bringing about +changes in the great affairs of the human race has always been and +continues to be the pressure and clash between enduring masses of men +animated by opposite economic interests. The Socialist is one who sees +these social and historic facts and whose action is guided by such +sight; the non-Socialist solidarist is one who, though animated by the +socializing impulses, has not yet perceived these two most weighty +facts. + +Now Edmond Kelly, as was natural from his antecedents, was for nearly +the whole of his life a non-Socialist solidarist. But, about two years +before his death, being at the height of his powers of insight and +intellect, he attained the clear vision of the "class-struggle," and +no longer had any doubts where he himself belonged in the army of +humanity--he became and remained a comrade--a loyal comrade. + +There is a certain bit of doggerel, said to derive from Oxford, which +tells us that: + + "Every little boy or gal, + Who comes into this world alive, + Is born a little Radical, + Or else a small Conservative." + +And this all-pervading division penetrates even that most radical of +bodies, the Socialist party. That party has its own conservative and +radical wings--its right and its left--and Edmond Kelly is distinctly +of the right. + +One who is inclined by instinct to the one wing, and by logic to the +other, can realize the indispensableness of both--the special +contribution which each makes, and which the other cannot make, to the +common cause. The motive of this note is to appeal to the comrades of +the left not to shut their eyes to the value of this book, not to +forego its special usefulness. For the very attitude of its author, +which may be distasteful to them--his making appeals which they no +longer make, his using forms of speech which they reject, his making +so little use of that which is their main appeal, fit him especially +to influence the minds of that numerous fringe of educated persons who +must evidently be first made "rightists" before they can become +"centrists" or "leftists." It may even be imagined that the difficult +type of working man, he who thinks himself too noble-minded to respond +to class appeal, might begin to rouse himself if he could once be +brought under the charm of this book. + +Aware that he had not long to live, Mr. Kelly hastened to finish the +first draft of the book, and indeed he survived that completion only +two weeks. He knew that considerable editorial work was needed, and +this he entrusted to Mrs. Florence Kelley, author of "Some Ethical +Gains through Legislation" and translator of Marx' "Discourse on Free +Trade," and of Friedrich Engels' work on the "Condition of the +Working Class in England." She undertook and has fulfilled this trust, +and has been aided throughout by the untiring labors of Shaun Kelly, +the author's son. Thus this book of Mr. Kelly's is doubly a memorial +of love--of his for man, and of ours for him. + + RUFUS W. WEEKS. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + INTRODUCTORY NOTES: PAGE + By Professor Franklin H. Giddings v + By Rufus W. Weeks xii + INTRODUCTORY 1 + + +BOOK I + +_WHAT SOCIALISM IS NOT_ + +CHAPTER + + I. SUBJECTIVE OBSTACLES TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF SOCIALISM 18 + Vested Interests 18 + + II. ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 23 + 1. Bourgeois, Revolutionist, and Evolutionist 23 + (_a_) The Bourgeois Point of View 23 + (_b_) The Revolutionist Point of View 24 + (_c_) The Evolutionist Point of View 27 + + III. MISREPRESENTATION AND IGNORANCE 31 + 1. Socialism is not Anarchism 31 + 2. Socialism is not Communism 33 + 3. Socialism will not Suppress Competition 36 + 4. Socialism will not Destroy the Home 40 + 5. Socialism will not Abolish Property 42 + 6. Socialism will not Impair Liberty 46 + 7. Conclusion 51 + + +BOOK II + +_WHAT CAPITALISM IS_ + + EVILS OF CAPITALISM 53 + I. CAPITALISM IS STUPID 57 + 1. Overproduction 57 + 2. Unemployment 66 + 3. Prostitution 79 + 4. Strikes and Lockouts 86 + 5. Adulteration 88 + + II. CAPITALISM IS WASTEFUL 94 + 1. Getting the Market 95 + 2. Cross Freights 96 + + III. CAPITALISM IS DISORDERLY 101 + 1. Anarchy of Production and Distribution 102 + (_a_) Tyranny of the Market 102 + (_b_) Tyranny of the Trust 104 + (_c_) Tyranny of the Trade Union 106 + + IV. PROPERTY AND LIBERTY 112 + 1. Origin of Property 113 + + V. RESULTS OF PROPERTY 131 + 1. The Guilds 135 + 2. Trade Unions 140 + 3. The Unsolved and Insoluble Problems of Trade Unionism 159 + (_a_) The Conflict between the Trust and the Trade + Union 167 + (_b_) Advantage of Trusts over Unions 169 + (_c_) Advantage of Unions over Trusts 171 + + VI. MONEY 176 + + VII. CAN THE EVILS OF CAPITALISM BE ELIMINATED BY COÖPERATION 199 + +BOOK III + +_WHAT SOCIALISM IS_ + + I. ECONOMIC ASPECT OF SOCIALISM 204 + + II. ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION OF THE COÖPERATIVE COMMONWEALTH 235 + 1. How Socialism May Come 239 + 2. Reform and Revolution 243 + 3. Possible Transitional Measures 248 + 4. Farm Colonies 263 + 5. Land 278 + 6. Summary of the Productive Side of Economic Construction 286 + 7. Distribution 288 + 8. Remuneration 303 + 9. Circulating Medium under Socialism 307 + 10. Summary 313 + + III. POLITICAL ASPECT 317 + 1. Education 325 + 2. Churches 328 + 3. Political Construction 329 + + IV. SCIENTIFIC ASPECT 335 + 1. Natural Environment 337 + (_a_) Struggle for Life or Competitive System 337 + (_b_) Coöperative System 342 + 2. Human Environment 349 + 3. Effect of Competitive System on Type 357 + 4. Brief Restatement 360 + 5. Can Human Nature be Changed by Law 364 + 6. Summary 374 + + V. ETHICAL ASPECT 378 + 1. Conflict between Science and Religion 378 + 2. Conflict between Economics and Religion 389 + 3. Socialism Reconciles Religion, Economics, and Science 395 + + VI. SOLIDARITY 402 + + APPENDIX 413 + + INDEX 433 + + + + +TWENTIETH CENTURY SOCIALISM + + + + +INTRODUCTORY + + +My reason for writing this book is that I do not know of any one book +that gives in small compass to the uninformed a comprehensive view of +Socialism. It would be fatal to suggest to one not quite certain +whether he wants to know about Socialism or not, that he should read +the great economic foundation work of Karl Marx.[1] The excellent book +of Emil Vandervelde,[2] which seems to me to contain one of the most +compendious accounts of economic Socialism, is written from the +Belgian and European point of view rather than from the American; it +does not attempt to give either the scientific[3] or the ethical +argument for Socialism, nor does it contain specific answers to the +objections which are most imminent in American minds to-day. The +recent book by Morris Hillquit,[4] deservedly recognized as one of the +leaders of the party in America, an authoritative, clear and admirable +statement of what the Socialist party stands for, seems to be +addressed to the Socialist rather than to the non-Socialist. +Innumerable books and pamphlets by Bernard Shaw, Sidney Webb, John +Spargo, William Morris and others throw light on this enormous +subject. But for years past when asked by the average American what +one book would give him a complete account of Socialism, I have been +at a loss what to recommend. The book that first opened my eyes to the +possibilities of Socialism was "Fabian Tracts"; but I doubt whether +this would appeal to many American readers. An economic mind must be +given the economic argument; a scientific mind the scientific +argument; an idealistic mind, the ideal; an ethical mind, the ethical; +but the average mind must be given all four; for it is in the +convincing concurrence of all four that the argument for Socialism is +unanswerable. + +Another reason for writing this book is the desire to put Socialism +firmly on the solid foundation of fact. It is the progress of science +and the economic development of the last few years that have made +Socialism constructive and practical. Science has made it constructive +and the trusts have made it practical. It no longer rests on the +imagination of poets nor on the discontent of the unemployed. On the +contrary, Science with its demonstration that man is no longer the +mere result of his environment, but can become its master, teaches us +that by constructing our environment with intelligence we can +determine the direction of our own development. The trusts, with +their demonstration of the waste and folly of competition, teach us +that what a few promoters have done for their own benefit the whole +community can do for the benefit of all. + +Again, history has revealed a fact upon which the competitive system +must ultimately break; it may break under the hammer of the new +builder or through the upheaval of a mob; but that it must eventually +break is as certain as that day follows night. This fact is the +solidarity of mankind. Whether it was wise of the Few to share the +government with the Many it is too late now to inquire. The thing has +been done--_alea jacta_. And that the Few should imagine that, after +having put a club in the hands of the Many with which they can, when +they choose, at any election smash to pieces the machinery--political +and industrial--that oppresses them; and having established a system +of education--nay, of compulsory education--through which the Many +_must_ learn during their childhood, how upon attaining majority, they +can use this club most effectually, the Many will refrain from using +it--is one of those delicious inconsequences of the governing class +which throws a ray of humor over an otherwise tragic scene. + +I do not believe it was in the power of the Few to perpetuate their +reign; I think there are evidences of a Power working through +Evolution to which even Herbert Spencer has paid the tribute of a +capital P, which ordained from the beginning that Man should progress +not as his forbears did, through the survival only of the fit, but as +Man has unconsciously for centuries been doing, through the +improvement of all. I think this is the Power that some worship under +the name of Jah and others under the name of God. But this view will +not be insisted upon, for it is not necessary to insist upon it. The +fact of human solidarity will, I think, be demonstrated,[5] and it +will, I hope, at the same time be shown that Socialism is no longer a +theory born of discontent, but a system developed by fact, and as +inevitably so developed as the tiger from the jungle of India, or +cattle from the civilization of man. + +Again, I do not think it is sufficient to demonstrate that Socialism +is sound in theory. We have also to show that it is attainable in +fact. + +The practical American will not be satisfied with being told that +there are a thousand different ways through which Socialism can be +attained. He does not want to be told how many ways there are to +Socialism, but wants to be shown one way along which his imagination +can safely travel. + +What the "bourgeois" wants to know is just how Socialism is going to +work. He cannot conceive of industry without capitalism, any more than +he can conceive of the world without the sun. Some concrete picture +must be presented to his mind that will enable him to understand that +while capital is not only good, but essential, the capitalist is not +only bad, but superfluous. Nothing less than a picture of industry +actually in operation without capitalism will suffice; and this, +therefore, I have attempted to draw. No pretence is made that the +picture is the only possible Socialist state, or that it will ever be +realized in the exact shape in which it is drawn. The only claim to be +made for it is that it furnishes a fair account of an industrial +community from which exploitation, unemployment, poverty and +prostitution are eliminated; that such an industrial community is more +practical because far more economical than our own; and that it is the +goal towards which, if we survive the dangers attending the present +conflict between capital and labor, industrial and ethical evolution +are inevitably driving us. + +Again, there is probably no feature connected with Socialism that it +is more important to demonstrate and define than its economy. It +occurred to me that we possessed in our official reports, and +particularly in the 13th Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor, figures +which would enable us to arrive at a considerable part of this economy +with some mathematical certainty. I pointed out my plan to Mr. J. +Lebovitz, of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., who has a +better talent for statistics than myself, and I cannot but +congratulate myself and my readers upon the results to which, thanks +to his help, we have jointly come. + +It must be admitted that the figures in our possession do not enable +us to estimate the whole economy of Socialism; but they do enable us +to give a tentative estimate of how many hours a workingman would have +to work to produce the things which the average workingman consumes if +no account be taken of profit, rent, interest, and the cost of +distribution. Of course, though profit, interest and rent would be +eliminated in a coöperative commonwealth, we should still be subject +to the cost of distribution and, therefore, the figures we arrive at +are incomplete in the sense that we have to take into account the fact +that they do not include this cost. But there would be economies +exercised in a coöperative commonwealth, such as the economy of +insurance, of advertising, of unnecessary sickness, of strikes and +lockouts, of the cost of pauperism, crime and in some measure that of +dependents, defectives and delinquents, etc., which would probably pay +the cost of distribution. I feel, therefore, that although our figures +are not absolute, they do furnish a starting-point more satisfactory +than has heretofore been obtained. + +The most impelling reason for writing this book is the persistently +false and misleading statements made regarding Socialism by the very +persons whose business it is to be informed on the subject. For years +now the men we elect to office as best fitted to govern us--Presidents +and Presidential candidates, Roosevelt, Taft and Bryan, have in spite +of repeated protests and explanations been guilty of this offence. Mr. +Roosevelt stands too high in the esteem of a large part of our voting +public, and I myself entertain too high an opinion of his ability, for +such charges as those he has made against Socialism to go unanswered. +And in answering them I shall take as my justification the platform of +the Socialist party,[6] which must be carefully read by all who want +to understand what Socialism really is in the United States of +America. It is of course impossible in a platform to give the whole +philosophy of Socialism, but the platform does state with sufficient +precision what Socialists stand for to make it impossible for anyone +who has read it to remain any longer under the false impression +created by ignorance or deliberate misrepresentation. + +I take Mr. Roosevelt's articles in the _Outlook_ as the special object +of my explanations, not only because they express very widespread +fallacies regarding Socialism, but because they emanate from one who +for popularity and reputation casts every other American in the shade; +and also because, for this reason, his utterances not only command the +attention of the foolish--this he easily gets--but should also, in +view of his position, arrest that of those who tend by his +exaggerations to be estranged from him. + +So I have felt it an urgent duty to explain not only what Socialism +is, as Hillquit, Vandervelde, Thompson,[7] and many others have so +ably done, but specifically to point out what it is not: That it is +not Anarchism, but order; not Communism, but justice; that it does not +propose to abolish competition, but to regulate it; nor to abolish +property, but to consecrate it; nor to abolish the home, but to make +the home possible; nor to curtail liberty, but to enlarge it. + +Now if this last is to be done, it is indispensable to have clear +notions as to what liberty is; no intelligent understanding of liberty +is possible unless there is an equally intelligent understanding of +property, which is more closely connected with liberty than is +generally recognized. The necessary relation between property and +liberty has escaped some of our ablest lawyers. Just after James C. +Carter had finished his argument in Paris on the Seal Fishery case and +was preparing a supplementary brief that he had been given permission +to file, he told me that he felt it necessary to study up the +fundamental question of what property was and had been advised to read +Proudhon! I did not know much about Socialism at that time, but did +know enough to explain to him that Proudhon was an anarchistic +communist; and asked him if he thought the court was disposed to +listen to this kind of argument. Mr. Carter was shocked in the +extreme, and lowering his voice, asked, a little shamefacedly, what +Anarchism and Communism were, and were they the same as Socialism. +This led to a discussion of property, of the views held regarding it +by Socialists, Communists and Anarchists respectively; and to the +strange conclusion that the brief which Mr. Carter was preparing in +order to maintain the liberty of the United States to protect seals +as the property of humanity at large was Socialism Simon pure! To his +dismay he found himself on the verge of preaching the very doctrine +which of all doctrines he most abhorred! + +I do not know any standard work on Socialism that enters carefully +into the nature of these things. I attempted it in "Government or +Human Evolution," to which I shall have occasion sometimes to refer. +But this book was addressed to students of Political Science and is +not short or compendious enough for the general public. + +In a word, I have written this book to supply what I believe to be a +crying need--for a compact, simple statement of what Socialism is not, +of what Socialism is, how Socialism may come about, and particularly +distinguishing modern Socialism from the crude ideas that prevailed +before Marx, Darwin and the development of trusts. + +The public imagines to-day that Socialism is Utopian. This is +singularly erroneous. Socialism is the only intelligent, practical +system for providing humanity with the necessaries and comforts of +life with the least waste, the least effort and the least injustice. + +The competitive system under which these things are now produced and +distributed has been condemned by the business men whose opinions the +business world most respects, because it involves infinite labor to a +vast majority of the race and useless cost to all, without, I venture +to add, assuring happiness to any. + +Socialism, on the other hand, presents a simple, obvious and +unanswerable solution of the manifold problems presented by the +competitive system. This solution ought to appeal to business men +because it undertakes to do for the benefit of the nation what our +greatest business men have been engaged for some years in doing for +the benefit of themselves. + +It is not likely that the American public, once it understands the +situation, will refuse to adopt the only practical method of ridding +itself of a wasteful system and a corrupt government just because the +few who profit by it for very obvious reasons do not want them to. All +the public needs is a clear understanding of what Socialism really is; +how it is certain to come eventually; and how it is best that it +should come. + +Many Socialists make the mistake of asking us to look too far ahead. +We are not all equally far-sighted. Some are very near-sighted. In +fact the habit of looking closely at our ledgers and at our looms +tends to make us near-sighted. Socialists too may be wrong in their +forecast centuries ahead. This book therefore makes a distinction +between those things that can be demonstrated and those which, on the +contrary, are still matter for mere speculation. + +It can be demonstrated that a _partial_ substitution of coöperation +for competition in definite doses will put an end to pauperism, +prostitution and in great part to crime. Whether a _wholesale_ +substitution of coöperation for competition will still further promote +human development and happiness is a matter of speculation--as to +which men can legitimately differ. + +The contention made in this book is that a substitution of coöperation +for competition in the dose herein prescribed _must_ put an end to the +three gigantic evils above mentioned, and incidentally confer upon us +a larger and truer measure of liberty and happiness than the world has +ever yet known. + +One word about the language of this book. As it is addressed to +persons not familiar with the Socialist vocabulary, I am going to +abstain to the utmost possible from using this vocabulary. I am not +going to use the words "surplus value" when the more familiar word +"profit" can be used with practically the same advantage. I am going +to avoid the expression "materialist interpretation of history" when +the words "economic interpretation of history" are equally correct and +less likely to mislead. And I am above all going to avoid, wherever I +can, the use of the words "individualism" and "individualists," +because these words have been already used by capitalists to beg the +whole question. Capitalists have quietly appropriated this word to +themselves and Socialists have been foolish enough to permit them to +do it. Capitalism does indeed promote a certain kind of individualism; +but we shall have to discuss later just what is the nature of the +individualism promoted by existing conditions and compare it with the +individualism that will be promoted by Socialism. I think it will +become clear that it is the peculiar province of Socialism to rescue +the vast majority of men from conditions which make the development of +the individual impossible, and to put opportunities of individual +development at the disposal of all; that, indeed, the highest type of +individualism can be realized only in a coöperative commonwealth that +will give to every man not only opportunity for developing his +individual talents, but leisure for doing so--the very leisure of +which the vast majority are deprived under the present system and of +which the few who have it profit little. + +It is not easy to find words to substitute for individualist and +individualism. The word that best describes the individualist is +"egotist." But the use of the word "egotist," for the very reason that +it is the truest word for describing the individualist, would arouse +such protest in the minds of those so designated as perhaps to +prevent this book from being read by the very persons to whom it is +chiefly addressed. + +The word "capitalist" cannot be used for this purpose either, because +by no means all who have capitalistic ideas are capitalists, and some +capitalists are free from capitalistic ideas. + +So instead of the words "individualist," "egotist" and "capitalist," I +am going to use the French word "bourgeois." It seems to convey what +it is intended to convey with least error and most consideration for +capitalistic susceptibilities. It is true that "bourgeois" is a French +word and should be avoided in consequence, but it has been now so +acclimated to our language that many editors print it without +quotation marks. The word "bourgeois" roughly includes all those who +have property or employ labor, or who can be psychologically classed +with these. It includes the small shop-keeper who keeps a clerk, or +perhaps only a servant, and the millionaire who keeps thousands of men +at work in his factories, mines, railroads or other industries. It +includes the large farmer who employs help, but not the small farmer +who employs no help; it includes the lawyer, the broker and the agent +who depend upon the capitalist but are lifted above the hunger line. + +Instead of the word "individualism," I shall use another French +expression which has also become acclimated--that is to say, _laissez +faire_; for _laissez faire_ are words adopted by the bourgeois to +describe the system for which he generally stands. This expression is +peculiarly appropriate to-day, when we hear our business men clamoring +to be "let alone." Indeed were it not for the awkwardness of the +expression "let-alone-ism," this literal translation of _laissez +faire_ would just suit my purpose. + +It is true that the _laissez faire_ of to-day differs from that of the +last century. For there is at present a very wide belief in the +possibility of controlling corporations, and whereas the _laissez +faire_ of the last century went so far as to deny the necessity of +government control, that of to-day very largely admits it. By laissez +faire, therefore, I mean the controlled _laissez faire_ that now +prevails as well as the uncontrolled _laissez faire_ of a century ago, +the essential difference between _laissez faire_ and Socialism being +that the former implies leaving the production and distribution of +everything to private capital whether controlled or uncontrolled by +government; whereas Socialism implies putting production and +distribution of at least the necessaries of life into the hands of +those who actually produce and distribute them without any +intervention or control of private capital whatever. + +I have been careful to take my facts and figures not from Socialist +publications, but from government publications or economists of +admitted authority. I have, too, in every case where it seems +necessary quoted my authority so that there may be no doubt as to the +source from which my facts are drawn. + +In conclusion it must be stated that there are four very different +standpoints from which Socialists start--the economic, the political, +the scientific and the ethical. + +Ethical writers began by disregarding the economic side of Socialism +altogether, and some economic Socialists are therefore disposed to +despise ethical and so-called Christian Socialism; whereas the ethical +view is not only useful, but essential to a complete understanding of +the subject. + +The scientific view of Socialism has been comparatively little +treated, but it is not for that reason the least important. On the +contrary, Herbert Spencer and his school have built a formidable +opposition to Socialism based upon pseudo-scientific grounds. It +becomes, therefore, important to point out the extent to which Herbert +Spencer was wrong and Huxley right in the application of science to +this question. + +My own conviction is that the highest Socialism is that which +reconciles all four views--the economic, the political, the scientific +and the ethical. But as this is a work of exposition rather than of +controversy, I have abstained from insisting upon this view and have, +on the contrary, endeavored to give a fair account of all four +arguments, in the hope that those who are inclined to the economic +view may adopt it for economic reasons; those inclined to the +political view may adopt it for political reasons; those who are +attracted by the scientific view may adopt it for scientific reasons; +and those who are attracted by the ethical view may adopt it for +ethical reasons, leaving it to time to determine whether the strongest +argument for Socialism is not to be found in the fact that it is +recommended by all four. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] "Capital," by Karl Marx. + +[2] "Collectivism and Industrial Revolution," Emil Vandervelde. + +[3] Engels and others have described Marxian or Economic Socialism as +scientific, on the ground that Marx was the first to reduce Socialism +to a science. But the word science has become so inseparably connected +in our minds with chemistry, physics, biology, zoology, and geology, +etc., that it seems wiser to define Marxian Socialism as economic and +to keep the word scientific for that view of Socialism which is built +on the sciences proper and principally on biology. + +[4] "Socialism in Theory and Practice." Macmillan, 1909. + +[5] Book III, Chapter VI. + +[6] See Appendix. + +[7] "The Constructive Program of Socialism," Carl D. Thompson. + + + + +BOOK I + + + + +_WHAT SOCIALISM IS NOT_ + + +Socialism is not a subject which can be put into a nutshell. On the +contrary it resembles rather a lofty mountain which has to be viewed +from every point of the compass in order to be understood. Mont Blanc, +approached from the North or Swiss side, presents the aspect of a +round white dome of snow; approached from the South or Italian side it +presents that of a sharp black peak of rock. Yet these totally +different aspects belong to the same mountain. It takes a mountaineer +about three days to go round Mont Blanc on foot; it takes an ordinary +pedestrian who has to stick to roads about a week. It is probable, +therefore, that the reader new to the subject will take at least a +week to understand Socialism, which is quite as big a subject as Mont +Blanc and considerably more important. He is likely, however, to take +much more than a week if, as happens in most cases, he starts in a +forest of prejudices any one of which is sufficient to obstruct his +view. In the confusion in which the ordinary citizen finds himself, +owing to this forest of prejudices which constitutes the greatest +obstacle to the understanding of Socialism, he may very possibly +wander all his life, and the first duty, therefore, of a book on +Socialism is to take him out of the forest which he cannot himself see +"because of the trees." + +The great enemy to a sound understanding of Socialism used to be +ignorance; to-day, however, there is less ignorance, but a great deal +more confusion; and the confusion arises from two sources: confusion +deliberately created by false denunciations of Socialism, and +confusion unconsciously created by personal interests and prejudice. + +The confusion arising from these two sources may be described as +subjective obstacles to Socialism because they exist within ourselves. +They are to be distinguished from objective obstacles to Socialism +which exist outside of ourselves. For example, if a majority of us +were in favor of adopting Socialism, we should still find many +objective obstacles to it; for example, if we proposed to expropriate +the trusts, we should undoubtedly be enjoined by the courts; we should +find ourselves confronted with federal and State constitutions; we +perhaps would have to amend these constitutions. These difficulties +are outside of us. But before we reach these obstacles, we have to +overcome others that exist within us and are to-day by far the most +formidable. These subjective obstacles reside in our minds and are +created there by vested interests, property, ignorance and +misrepresentation. We are all of us under a spell woven about us by +the economic conditions under which we live. + +For example, the workingman who has saved a few hundred dollars and +goes out West to take up land, thinks that by so doing he will escape +from wage slavery. He does not know that he is not escaping slavery at +all, but only changing masters. Instead of being the slave of an +employer, he becomes the slave of his own farm. And the farm will +prove an even harder taskmaster than a Pittsburg steel mill, for it +will exact of him longer hours during more days of the year and seldom +give him as high a wage. Nevertheless, the fact that he owns the +farm--that the farm is his property--awakens in him the property +instinct that tends to rank him on election day by the side of the +bourgeois. + +So also the store-keeper who, because he owns his stock, buys goods at +a low price and sells them at a high, and makes profit, considers +himself superior to the wage-earner, unmindful of the fact that his +store adds to long hours and low wage the anxieties of the market and +that, thanks to trusts and department stores, he is kept perpetually +on the ragged edge of ruin. + +The clerk, too, whose only ambition is to rise one grade higher than +the one which he occupies, is prevented by the narrowness of his +economic field from appreciating the extent to which he is exploited. +Instead of being bound by class consciousness with his fellow clerks, +he is, on the contrary, in perpetual rivalry with them, and is likely +to be found on election day voting with the owner who exploits them +all. + +And even the wage-earner, the factory hand, who is the most obviously +exploited of all, is in America still so absorbed by his trade union, +by his fight with his employer, that he has not yet learned to +recognize how much stronger he is in this fight on the political than +on the economic field. So he too, instead of recognizing the salvation +offered to him by Socialism as his fellow workingmen in Germany do, +allows himself regularly to be betrayed into voting for one of the +capitalist parties which his employer alternately controls. + +And the darkness in which these men are regarding matters of vital +interest to them is still further darkened by their own ignorance, by +the ignorance of those around them and, I am afraid I must add, by +deliberate misrepresentation. + +Let us begin by extricating ourselves from the forest of prejudice +that makes all clearness of vision impossible and, when we can see +with our eyes, we shall take a rapid walk around this mountain of +Socialism, as all climbers do, if only to choose the best points from +which to climb it. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +SUBJECTIVE OBSTACLES TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF SOCIALISM + + +VESTED INTERESTS + +There is in the archives of the House of Commons a petition filed by +the gardeners of Hammersmith in opposition to a proposed improvement +of the country roads, which would enable gardeners further removed +from London to compete with Hammersmith gardeners on the London +market. They regarded themselves as having a vested right in bad roads +and actually took these so-called rights sufficiently seriously to +petition Parliament not to improve roads which were going to bring +them into competition with gardeners already at a disadvantage by +being further removed from the market than themselves. + +This is an illustration of the extent to which the human mind can be +perverted by personal interest. But there is another illustration of +so-called vested interests much more revolting in its nature and yet +perhaps more justified in fact. When the cholera broke out in Paris, +in 1830, and it was believed to have been brought into the country +through rags, a bill was presented before the French Parliament for +the destruction of all deposits of rags in the city. This was +violently opposed by the rag pickers, who pointed out that these rags +constituted their only source of existence, and they found many +members of the French Parliament to support their view. We, who can +dispassionately consider the situation of these rag pickers, have to +admit that, if they could earn their living in no other way than rag +picking, it would be a mistake for Parliament to deprive them of their +source of living without giving them some other employment. But it +would be worse still were Parliament to allow Paris to be decimated by +cholera because the rag pickers claimed a vested right in pestiferous +rags. + +A similar situation presents itself in the city of New York to-day. +The tenement-house commission has imposed upon tenement-house owners +certain obligations which involve an expenditure of considerable sums +of money, and many of our best citizens are indignant because the +tenement-house law is not always rigidly enforced. Yet all who have +followed the recent rent strike on the East Side, know that the +tenement houses there are in large part owned by men as poor as those +who live in them. The immense congestion in this district brought +about such competition for lodgings that speculators were enabled to +buy tenement houses at their utmost value and to sell them at a still +higher price by persuading the thriftiest of the inhabitants of the +district that, if they purchased these tenement houses and acted as +their own janitors and agents, they could earn more money than was +then being earned. Victims were found who have put all their savings +into these tenement houses, leaving the larger part of the purchase on +mortgage. These new landlords raise the rent in order to make the +houses pay for themselves. These pauper tenement-house owners are in +the same position to-day as the Paris rag pickers of 1830. + +The question of what, if any, compensation should be paid when the +state interferes with vested rights cannot be decided by any general +rule. The demand for compensation by the Hammersmith gardeners was +absurd; but that of the rag pickers was justified; that of poor +tenement-house owners on the East Side seems also to be justified; but +if the state in taking over these unwholesome tenements were to find +one in the hands of a speculator, would compensation be to the same +degree justified? + +So these questions seem to become questions of detail; they cannot be +disposed of by a general rule: "there shall be compensation" or "there +shall not be compensation." Above all things, these so-called general +rules must not be erected into dogmas or "principles" under the +standard of which Socialists are to group themselves and fight one +another. + +It is interesting to consider in connection with this subject the +geographical character of the objections to Socialism as illustrated +by the attitude taken by England and America respectively on the +subject of municipal ownership. + +In England, municipal ownership of gas is the rule rather than the +exception. Indeed Manchester has owned its own gas plant from 1843, +and has furnished the public with gas at 60 cents per thousand cubic +feet, and even at that price[8] made a net profit in 1907-8 of +£57,609, which has been applied to the diminution of rates and +extension of the service. Birmingham, which had to pay an extravagant +price for its gas plant, nevertheless immediately reduced the price of +gas and brought it down from $1.10 under private ownership to 50 cents +to-day. In England, therefore, it is perfectly respectable to approve +of municipal ownership of gas. But inasmuch as water has been until +very lately furnished to London in great part by a private company +chartered by James I. the stock of which has increased in value a +thousand per cent and which counts among its stockholders royalty +itself, anybody until very lately who proposed municipal ownership of +water in London, was regarded as a dangerous anarchist. + +The New York situation is just the reverse. For New York, after having +tried private ownership of water and abandoned it as early as 1850 on +account of the corruption that resulted therefrom, undertook public +ownership of water with such success that no disinterested citizen +to-day wants to go back to the old plan. So a New Yorker can advocate +municipal ownership of water and still be regarded as a perfectly +respectable citizen; but should he venture to favor municipal +ownership of gas he is at once classed with those whose heads are only +fit to be beaten with a club. + +How long are we going to allow our opinions to be manufactured for us +by water companies in London and gas companies in New York? Obviously +we cannot take an impartial and intelligent view of this great +question until we have divested ourselves of the prejudices created by +vested interests. If the propertied class, which is committed to +existing conditions by the fact that it profits by them, is willing to +yield no inch to the rising tide of popular dissatisfaction and the +awakening of popular conscience, it is probable that the revolutionary +wing of the Socialist party will prevail, if only because under these +circumstances the evolutionary wing will not be allowed to prevail. +If, on the other hand, the propertied class become alive not only to +the danger of undue resistance, but also to the reasonableness and +justice of the Socialist ideal, there is no reason why vested +interests, save such as owe their existence to downright robbery and +crime, should materially suffer in the process of Socialist evolution. +If this be true the words "menace of Socialism" will turn out to be +inappropriate and unfounded. Sound Socialism has no menace for any but +evil-doers. + +Having now climbed out of the forest of prejudices created by private +or so-called vested interests, let us next consider the different +points of view created by temperament and economic conditions, from +which the subject of Socialism tends to be regarded. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[8] "Municipal Year Book," 1909, p. 482. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +ECONOMIC CONDITIONS + + +BOURGEOIS, REVOLUTIONIST, AND EVOLUTIONIST + +Every man who is earning a living is profoundly affected by all that +affects his living. If Socialism seems to threaten this living, he +instinctively and often unconsciously repudiates it. From one point of +view, Socialism presents a more formidable aspect than from another. +It takes a very skilled climber to scale Mont Blanc from the Italian +side, whereas from the Swiss side it is simply a matter of endurance. +The same thing is true of Socialism. + +Now there are three distinct and opposing points of view: The +bourgeois point of view, the revolutionist point of view, and the +evolutionist point of view. + + +(_a_) _The Bourgeois Point of View_ + +The bourgeois point of view is that which students of political +science have been in the habit of describing as individualism. But +there are objections to this use of the word individualism, as will +appear later on. + +The bourgeois view is that the production and distribution of the +things we need can best be conducted by allowing every man to choose +and do his own work under the stimulus of need when poor and of +acquisitiveness when rich. This system is well described in the +maxim: "Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost." The +first part of this maxim has in it considerable merit, for it +encourages the self-reliance that has made the prosperity of America. +But the latter part merely expresses a pious wish that is seldom +gratified. The devil does not take the hindmost. The devil leaves them +here to stalk through our highways and streets, a permanent army of +about 500,000 tramps, swelled at all times by thousands and in such +times as these by millions of unemployed.[9] + +The bourgeois view is that of the man who owns or expects to own +property; the bourgeois class represents a small proportion of the +whole population, and is sometimes described as the propertied class. + +But as the propertied class is in control of our schools, colleges and +press, it has hitherto made the opinions of the vast majority. Thus +the bourgeois view is not only that of the propertied class, but also +that of most of those who have no property. It is the view of the man +in the street. + +Lately, however, Socialism has been making inroads into the opinions +of both classes, and this has divided Socialists into two groups +which, though generally found fighting under the same banner, +nevertheless take different views of the subject, which tends to +confuse the uninitiated. These two views are conveniently described as +revolutionist and evolutionist. Let us study the revolutionist point +of view first: + + +(_b_) _The Revolutionist Point of View_ + +Marx rendered a great service by pointing out the extent to which the +non-propertied class is exploited by the propertied class--the +proletariat by the bourgeois--the factory hand by the factory owner. +Marx, however, did not himself confine Socialism to the struggle +between the factory hand and the factory owner. But there has arisen +out of the Marxian philosophy a school which has emphasized the +observation of Marx that the factory hands increased in number while +the factory owners decreased in number, and that this tends to produce +a conflict between the two--a revolution from which the factory hand +must emerge released from the incubus of the factory owner. Two ideas +dominate this school: the class struggle--a struggle practically +confined to the factory worker on the one hand and the factory owner +on the other; and the revolution--the eventual clash between the two. +The triumph of the factory hand is, according to this school, to +result in the complete overturn of the whole social, industrial and +economic fabric of society, the community[10] succeeding to the +individual in the ownership of all land and all sources of +production--all profit now appropriated by the factory owner accruing +to the community and inuring to all the citizens of the state. + +This revolutionist school regards Socialism from the point of view of +a class that has no property--the proletariat--just as the bourgeois +looks at Socialism from the point of view of those who have property. +Both points of view tend to be partial; the bourgeois tends to see +only what is good for himself in existing conditions and all that is +bad for him in Socialism; the revolutionist tends to see all that is +bad for him in existing conditions and only what is good for him in +the proposed new Socialism. This fact tends to make revolutionists +dominate the Socialist party (which is mainly recruited from the +proletariat) and is, therefore, entitled to the most serious +consideration. Private interest is the dominating motive of political +action to-day. It is the avowed motive of the bourgeois. He has, +therefore, no excuse for denouncing this same motive in the +proletariat, all the less as the bourgeois has to admit that his +industrial system produces pauperism, prostitution, and crime; whereas +the proletariat points out that Socialism will put an end to pauperism +and prostitution and in great part also to crime. + +Because revolutionists believe that this change cannot be effected +without a revolution--without a transfer of political power from the +bourgeois to the proletariat--they speak of their movement as +revolutionary, and often say that Socialism must come by revolution +and not by reform. + +But these words must not be allowed to mislead. Although the Socialist +platform says that "adequate relief" cannot be expected from "any +reform of the present order," it nevertheless embraces a series of +reforms entitled "Immediate Demands." This is proof positive that the +Socialist party is not opposed to legislative measures that in the +bourgeois vocabulary are known as reforms, since it advocates them. + +Socialists make a distinction between legislation that tends to +transfer political power from the exploiters to the exploited and +those that do not; the former are termed revolutionary and the latter +are termed mere reforms. The former are what they stand for. But they +do not for that reason remain indifferent to legislation that improves +human conditions. On the contrary, the immediate demands of the +Socialist platform include: + +The scientific reforestation of timber lands and the reclamation of +swamp lands; the land so reclaimed to be permanently retained as a +part of the public domain: + +The enactment of further measures for general education and for the +conservation of health. The Bureau of Education to be made a +department. The creation of a department of public health. The free +administration of justice. + +Obviously, therefore, even revolutionary Socialists advocate certain +reforms; but they will be content with nothing less than the transfer +of political power from those who now use it ill to those who will use +it better. + +Last, but not least, revolution does not in the Socialist vocabulary +involve the idea of violence. It is used in the same sense as we use +the expression "revolution of the planets," "revolution of the +seasons," "revolution of the sun." Undoubtedly there are Socialists +willing to use violence in order to attain their ends just as there +are Fricks willing to use Pinkerton men, and mine owners willing to +use the militia to attain theirs. But the idea of violence has been +expressly repudiated by the leaders of the Socialist party. And the +word "revolution" must not be understood to include it. This question +is studied in fuller detail in Book III, Chapter II. + + +(_c_) _The Evolutionist Point of View_ + +The evolutionist point of view claims to be wider than either of the +foregoing. The evolutionist is not content to study Socialism from the +point of view of any one class. He undertakes to climb out of the +forest of prejudices created by class to a point where he can study +Socialism free from every obstruction. He studies Socialism from the +point of view of the whole Democracy, including the employer, the +employee, and those who neither employ nor are employed; as, for +example, the farmer who farms his own land without the assistance of +any farm hands outside of his own family. From this point of view, he +can denounce the evils of the existing system of production and +distribution--if system it can be called[11]--without the bitterness +that distorts the view of the victims of this system, and can +therefore see perhaps more clearly the methods by which the evils of +the existing system can be eliminated. + +The evolutionist points to history to prove that forcible revolution is +generally attended by great waste of property and life, and is followed +by a reaction that injuriously retards progress. He therefore seeks to +change existing conditions without revolution, by successive reforms. +This class of Socialist is denounced by revolutionists under a variety +of names. He is called a parlor Socialist, an intellectual Socialist, +but perhaps the name that carries with it the most contempt is that of +step-by-step Socialist. He answers, however, that when he finds his +progress arrested by a perpendicular precipice such as we are familiar +with at the top of the Palisades, he refrains from throwing himself--or +advising his neighbors to throw themselves--headlong into the abyss, +but takes the trouble to find a possibly circuitous way round. He will +not consent to sit at the top of the precipice until he grows wings, as +the Roman peasant sat by the Tiber "until it ran dry." The step-by-step +Socialist is content to adopt a winding path which sometimes turns his +back to the place which he wishes to reach, because he holds in his +hand a compass whose unerring needle will bring him eventually to the +desired goal. + +Again, the evolutionist claims to be supported by ethical and +scientific considerations which the revolutionary Socialist regards as +of secondary importance. But for the present it is convenient to +postpone the study of the ethical and the scientific aspects of +Socialism and to content ourselves with stating two principal claims +made by the evolutionist, viz.: + +First: that his view is likely to be clearer than that of either the +bourgeois or the revolutionist, because it is not obstructed by class +interest; + +Second: that his policy is likely to be wise, because it is neither +stationary as that of the bourgeois nor headlong as that of the +revolutionist. + +In conclusion, the revolutionist keeps his eye fixed on the +horizon--perhaps it may even be said that he fixes his eye beyond the +horizon, if that be possible; he looks forward to a state of society +which, because it seems unrealizable to-day most of us are inclined to +regard as visionary; and in presenting to us a commonwealth in which +every personal interest will be vested in the community, he attacks at +once the personal interests of every man who owns property in the +country. Obviously, if all agriculture is to be owned by the +community, every farmer will lose his farm. If all the factories are +to be owned by the community, every factory owner will lose his +factory. If all distribution is to be managed by the community, every +storekeeper will lose his store. The revolutionary Socialist therefore +raises against himself every property owner in the land; and all the +more because there is division in the ranks of revolutionists as +regards compensation, to which I have already referred. (See Vested +Interests, p. 18.) + +The evolutionist on the contrary confines his attention for the +present to existing conditions. He adopts, it is true, as an ultimate +goal the coöperative commonwealth advocated by the revolutionists. It +is indeed the point to which his compass is always directing him. It +constitutes the ideal to which he believes the race will eventually +adapt itself. But in addition to historical fact regarding the cost of +revolution in the past, and in view of certain other scientific facts +which will be dwelt upon later, he recognizes that personal or vested +interests are likely to interfere more than anything else with the +adoption of Socialism as an ultimate goal, and that these interests +therefore no statesman can afford to disregard. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[9] December, 1908. + +[10] I am careful to use the word "community" and not the word +"state," for state ownership is not Socialism. The Prussian State +stands for state ownership, and even Mr. Roosevelt would not +characterize the Prussian Government as Socialistic. + +[11] Book II, Chapter III. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +MISREPRESENTATION AND IGNORANCE + + +Michaelangelo has said that sculpture is the art of chipping off +superfluous stone. The sculptor sees a statue in every block. This is +what Whistler used to call the "divine art of seeing." The sculptor's +task is to remove those parts of the block that hide the statue from +the layman's eye. So the Socialist sees the coöperative commonwealth +imprisoned within the huge, rough, cruel mass that we call modern +civilization, and his task is to remove from the beautiful form he +sees the errors which mask it from the view of the unenlightened. If +we can but remove these errors our task is in great part accomplished; +and the first of these errors is that which confounds Socialism with +Anarchism. + + +§ 1. SOCIALISM IS NOT ANARCHISM + +Nothing is more unjustified than the confusion which exists in +people's minds between Anarchism and Socialism. This confusion is not +altogether unnatural, for Socialism and Anarchism have one great +feature in common--both express discontent with existing conditions. +The remedies, however, propounded by the Anarchists for evil +conditions and those propounded by Socialists are contradictorily +opposite. They are so opposite that the bourgeois turns out to be +more nearly associated with the Anarchist than the Socialist is. + +The theory upon which our present economic and political conditions +are founded is that the less government interferes with the +individual's action, the better. This theory may be said to have taken +its start at the period of the French Revolution, and is generally +connected in the minds of English-speaking people with Adam Smith, the +Manchester School of _laissez faire_, the earlier works of John Stuart +Mill, and all the works of Herbert Spencer. When, however, the +pernicious consequences of allowing every individual to do as he chose +with his own became felt, as for example in the poisoning of rivers by +allowing every factory to pour its waste into them; and in +degeneration of the race through unlimited exploitation of women and +children in factories and mines, governments all over the world have +been obliged as measures of self-defence to enact laws limiting +individual action. The individualism of the beginning of last century +has been gradually leading to the Socialism of to-day, Socialism +being, among other things, an intelligent limitation of the abuse of +property in accordance with a preconceived plan, instead of spasmodic +limitation of the abuse of property forced upon us by the pernicious +consequences thereof, often creating new abuses as bad as those +suppressed.[12] While therefore the Socialist asks that the functions +of government be extended sufficiently to secure to every man the +greatest amount of liberty, and the bourgeois on the contrary demands +that there shall be the least amount of government consistent with +the protection of property and life, the Anarchist asks that there +shall be no government at all. The bourgeois, therefore, is closer to +the Anarchist than the Socialist is--in fact he stands between the +two. + +Socialists and Anarchists then are polar opposites. There is a whole +world between them. Indeed it is impossible to conceive two theories +of government more opposite one to another than that of Socialism, +which demands more government, and that of Anarchism, which demands +the destruction of government altogether. + + +§ 2. SOCIALISM IS NOT COMMUNISM + +Those who derive their information regarding Socialism solely from +books are apt to be puzzled by the word "Communism," because it has at +different times stood for different things. The early Christians were +Communists; so were Plato and Sir Thomas More; so also was Proudhon, +whom Mr. Roosevelt places in the same category with Karl Marx. He does +not seem to be aware that Proudhon and Marx were the protagonists of +conflicting schools and that Marx drove Proudhon--who was a +communistic Anarchist--and his followers out of the Socialist party of +that day. For from Marx' economic doctrine of value was derived a +totally new idea in the movement; this idea is couched in a formula +which has become so familiar to Socialists that it seems incredible +that anyone undertaking to write about Socialism should ignore it; +namely, that the _laboring class is entitled to the full product of +its labor_; that is to say, that it shall securely have exactly what +it earns; no more, no less; that it shall be deprived of it neither by +the capitalist as to-day nor by the thriftless or vicious as under +the Communism of Apostolic times. + +Mr. Roosevelt accuses Socialists of "loose thinking." Is there not a +little loose thinking about this confusion of Socialism and Communism? +Or is it that Mr. Roosevelt is just a century behindhand? Or is it +that he has never read the works of Proudhon and Karl Marx, whom he +groups together as propounding the same kind of Socialism? As a matter +of fact, Proudhon has been so discredited by Marx that few Socialists +think it worth while to read his works; whereas "Capital" is to-day +the Bible of the Socialist movement. + +One word, however, must be added about Communism before dismissing the +subject: There are two kinds of Communists, just as there are two +kinds of Anarchists; those who adopt Communism and Anarchism out of +discontent with the present system; and those who adopt them because +they stand for perfection. With the first category we need not concern +ourselves. Their day is over. With the second there is an important +point to be noted: Such writers as Kropotkin see further than the +average citizen. They look forward to a day when the spirit of mutual +helpfulness which ought to attend the substitution of coöperation for +competition will have entirely changed human nature; when men will +have acquired _habits_ of industry, of justice, and of self-restraint +that seem now incredible to us; they will then as naturally work as +they now naturally shirk; they will as naturally help one another as +they now naturally fight; they will as naturally share with one +another as they now despoil one another. This may seem wildly +impossible to us now; but if we look back to the day when our forbears +lived in hordes, when children bore their mother's name because they +did not know their father's, when no woman could move from her hut +alone without being subject to assault, when self-indulgence prevailed +except in so far as it was checked by fear, we can appreciate the +scorn with which one of them would have listened to a prophet who +should announce that men and women would ultimately mate once for all +and be faithful to one another; children know their fathers and bear +their father's name; women travel from one end of the country to +another with perfect security, and self-restraint cease to be an +imposition and become a habit. If then man has become so profoundly +modified by the progress from the promiscuousness of the horde to the +self-restraint of the family, why should he not be capable of one step +further--from the habits that result from competition to the habits +that would result from coöperation--from mutual hatred to mutual +helpfulness? This is the hope and faith of such writers as Kropotkin. +But it is not yet within the range of practical politics. So the +Socialist party rightly confines its program within practical limits. +There are too many idle and vicious among us to-day; too many products +of human exploitation; too many worn-out men, women, and children; too +much degeneration; too much hypocrisy; too much "looseness of +thought." We must cut our garment to our customer. All that the +Socialist asks to-day is to have what he earns. Morally he is entitled +to it. Can our system of production be so modified as to assure this +to him? This is the problem we have to solve. Socialists say that it +can be so modified, or that it can, at least, be so modified as to put +an end to pauperism, prostitution, and in great part to crime. This is +the practical Socialism of to-day as distinguished from the Communism +of centuries ago or that of centuries ahead. This is what the +Socialist party stands for, and it is by this standard and no other +that the Socialist party must be judged. + +Socialism then does not stand to-day for Communism. On the contrary, +it demands that the workers be assured, as exactly as is humanly +possible, the product of their labor, and not share it with the idle +and vicious on the one hand or be deprived of it by the capitalist on +the other. + +One reason why Communism has been discarded by the Socialist party is +that generations of competition have so molded human nature that it is +extremely probable that production would suffer were it suddenly +eliminated. A man who has accustomed himself to the stimulus of +arsenic cannot be suddenly deprived of arsenic without developing the +symptoms of arsenical poisoning. It will doubtless be indispensable to +maintain competition in the coöperative commonwealth. There is no +longer question then of discarding competition; the question is in +what doses shall it be administered; in doses that produce the +pauperism and prostitution of to-day, or in doses that will furnish +the necessary stimulus for human exertion without pushing that +stimulus to exhaustion and degeneracy? + +This question brings us to our next subject: + + +§ 3. SOCIALISM WILL NOT SUPPRESS COMPETITION + +No modern Socialist maintains that all competition is bad, or that it +would be advisable to eliminate competition altogether from production +and distribution. But it has become the duty of every sane man to +consider whether it may not be possible to eliminate the excessive +competition that gives rise to pauperism, prostitution, and crime. To +answer this question, we must begin by determining what competition +is good and what bad; and if the bad can be eliminated and the good +maintained. + +Competition is a part of the joy of life; healthy children race one +another as they are let out from school; they challenge one another to +wrestle and leap; and when they are tired of emulation, they join +hands and dance. Competition and coöperation are the salt and the +sweet of life; we want the one with our meat and the other with our +pudding; we do not want all salt or all sweet; for too much sweet +cloys the mouth while too much salt embitters it. + +We all unconsciously recognize this by encouraging games and +discouraging gambling. Now what is the difference between games and +gambling? One is a wholesome use of time for the purpose of wholesome +amusement; the other is an unwholesome abuse of time for the purpose +of making money. The one incidentally encourages a beneficial action +of muscle and brain; the other, on the contrary, promotes a +detrimental appetite for unlawful profit. + +We are all perfectly agreed about this so long as we confine ourselves +to games and gambling; but as soon as we extend our argument to +production and distribution we shall at once come into collision with +the bourgeois. Let us therefore be very sure that our premises are +sound and our deduction sure before we confront him. + +Even as regards gambling there are degrees of vice; some would justify +old people who bet only just enough on the issue of a game of piquet +to make it worth while to count the points; whereas all would condemn +a bet that involved the entire fortune, much more the life or death of +a human being. + +Now it may seem extravagant to assert that the competitive system of +production imposes upon the majority a bet involving life or death, +yet statistics demonstrate that mortality is from 35 to 50 per cent +higher with those who lose than with those who win in the game of +life.[13] But it is not extravagant to assert that it imposes upon the +majority a bet involving a thing quite as precious as life--I mean +health. A man who bets his life and loses is free from pain on this +earth at any rate; but the man who bets his health and loses is +committed to a period of misery not only for himself, but for all +those around him so long as breath is in his body. + +The greatest evil that attends the competitive system of production is +that it commits all engaged in it to a game the stake of which is the +life happiness not only of himself, but of all dependent on him. + +If this were a matter of mere sport there is not a man with a spark of +moral sense in him who would not condemn it. He would denounce it as a +gladiatorial show; as belonging to the worst period of the worst +empire known to history. But because it is a matter of production the +bourgeois has for it no word save of justification and praise. He +justifies it by the argument of necessity: "the poor you have with you +always." He praises it because it "makes character." + +If there were indeed no other system of production possible but the +competitive system, the plea of necessity would be justified. But when +we are dealing with a question involving the happiness of the majority +of our fellow creatures, we must be very sure that there is no better +system before the plea can be admitted. And as to those often +misquoted words of Christ, there will undoubtedly under the +coöperative as well as the competitive system always be some +shiftless, some poor. But everything depends on what is meant by the +word "poor." To-day the poor are on the verge of starvation; poverty +means not only misery, but disease and crime. Under a coöperative +system there need be no starvation; no fear of starvation; less +disease; and infinitely less crime! The vast majority of men do not +need the lash to drive them to their work; it is no longer necessary +to keep before us the fear of want, of misery, of starvation; we have +passed that stage; and just as the lash is used by trainers only for +wild beasts, and gentler animals are better trained by the hope of +reward than by the fear of punishment, so humanity has reached a point +of moral development which makes it no longer inferior to the lower +animals--the bourgeois notwithstanding. Better work can be got from a +man by the prospect of increased comfort than by the fear of misery +and unemployment. + +As to the second justification, that the competitive system makes +character; look for a moment at the character of the men who have +succeeded in the competitive mill. Are these the saints of the latter +day? Or are our saints not to be found amongst those who have never +been in the competitive mill--who have resolutely kept out of +it--Florence Nightingale, Father Damien, Rose Hawthorne, the Little +Sisters of the Poor? + +The real problem is not whether we should or can eliminate competition +altogether from the field of production, but whether we should or can +eliminate it to the extent necessary to put an end to the three great +curses of humanity to-day. + + +§ 4. SOCIALISM WILL NOT DESTROY THE HOME + +Mr. Roosevelt in his _Outlook_ editorial[14] said of the "Socialists +who teach their faith as both a creed and a party platform" that "they +are and necessarily must be bitterly hostile to religion and +morality," that they "occupy in relation to morality and especially +domestic morality a position so revolting--and I choose my words +carefully--that it is difficult even to discuss it in a reputable +paper." + +When, however, he undertakes to substantiate this, he is obliged to +admit that he cannot find any traces of it in American writers, and has +to go to France and England for his examples. Had he been better +informed, he would have known that not only is there no trace of +immorality in our American Socialist press, but that there is one +Socialist organ--the Christian Socialist--which has in the most vigorous +terms denounced all those whose writings tend in any way to attack the +fundamental principles of marriage. It is true that Christian Socialists +in Mr. Roosevelt's opinion "deserve scant consideration at the hands of +honest and clean-living men and women"; but he has not explained why. +Nor has he ventured any explanation why Christian Socialists or any +other Socialists should be "necessarily--bitterly hostile to religion +and morality." + +I must postpone to the chapter on the Ethical Aspect of Socialism[15] +the explanation why Socialism, far from being "necessarily bitterly +hostile to religion and morality," as Mr. Roosevelt maintains, is--on +the contrary--the only form of society ever proposed which could make +religion and morality possible. At the present time, it seems +sufficient to point out the obvious fallacy of Mr. Roosevelt's +syllogism. + +Here it is: + +Gabriel Deville wants to destroy the home. + +Gabriel Deville is a Socialist; + +Therefore: All Socialists want to destroy the home. The logic of this +is bad enough, but even the premiss is false. Deville is no longer a +Socialist; and if he does want to destroy the home, no one that I know +of in America wants him back in the fold. + +In exactly the same manner our ex-Presidential logician argues +regarding divorce: + +Herron divorced; + +Herron is a Socialist; + +Therefore: All Socialists divorce. Herron was divorced in 1901. He is +the only leading Socialist who has divorced during twenty years to Mr. +Roosevelt's knowledge or to mine. Whereas, during that time here are +the statistics of divorces for the United States: + +Total number of marriages 1887-1906, 12,832,044 + +Total number of divorces 1887-1906, 945,625 or about one in 12,[16] in +all of which the majority of the men presumably voted for Mr. +Roosevelt. + +Can anyone who knows the family life of Socialists assert that the +divorce rate among them is greater than that of the community in which +they live? + +Again, the pretence that the American home to-day is one which a +capitalist like Mr. Roosevelt can hold up to the admiration of the +world will not stand scrutiny. + +Where there is wealth for leisure, there we find immorality enthroned +as a vice; and where there is no leisure, there we find immorality +imposed as a necessity. Are the filthy tenements and promiscuous +lodgings of the congested districts in our large cities the homes to +which Mr. Roosevelt is fearful that Socialism will put an end?[17] Or +is it the so-called She-towns in New England from which men are driven +because there is no employment in them for any save women and +children?[18] Or the lumber camps to which these men are driven where +there is no employment for women?[19] Or the home of the unemployed to +which the bread-winner has returned day after day for two years now, +seeking employment and finding none--guilty of no crime save that no +man has hired him? Thousands--nay, hundreds of thousands of such +so-called homes are scattered over the face of this land which Mr. +Roosevelt has during seven years administered. + +As a matter of fact, no decent home is possible for the majority of +our fellow citizens so long as they are called upon to support it at +present prices on present wages. All this will, I think, be made clear +in the description of industrial conditions. Suffice it to say here +that these conditions furnish a few luxurious and often licentious +homes for the propertied class and a few comfortable and moral homes +for the aristocracy of the working class, but leave a vast number of +our families so nearly upon the edge of poverty as to drive their +daughters to prostitution and their sons to crime. + + +§ 5. SOCIALISM WILL NOT ABOLISH PROPERTY + +Another charge made by Mr. Roosevelt is that Socialists propose to +abolish property and distribute wealth. It has been repeated by both +Mr. Taft and Mr. Bryan and is still being repeated _ad nauseam_ by the +press. Workingmen so absorbed by the making of bread that they have +no time to discuss questions of government may be excused for being +ignorant on such a point as this; to them ignorance cannot be imputed +as a fault. But that those who set themselves up as the persons best +fitted to govern and educate our country--as indeed the only persons +in the country possessing the knowledge of statesmanship necessary to +handle our governmental affairs and publish our daily press--should +either never have taken the trouble to find out what Socialism is, or, +having taken the trouble, should so traduce it, is a sad commentary +upon our editors and statesmen. + +Just as it has been demonstrated that Socialism is opposed to +Anarchism, so can it be demonstrated that Socialism is opposed to the +distribution of wealth or the abolition of property. Far from +distributing wealth, the essence of Socialism is that it seeks to +concentrate it. Far from wanting to abolish property Socialism seeks +to put it on a throne. The question of property is so important that a +special chapter has been devoted to it. I shall therefore only say +here just enough to remove the error created by the misstatements +current on the subject. + +Property is not only the basis of our present civilization, but must +be the basis of all conceivable civilizations. It may be said that not +only all law, but all government, is founded upon it. Property was +instituted to furnish to every industrious man security as regards +himself, his family, and the means of their support; to protect him +and them from theft, from fraud and evil doing. + +Unfortunately property, like every human institution--even the best of +them[20]--has been abused to serve the selfishness of the crafty; and +there have arisen, therefore, notions and laws regarding property +which have reversed the results which property was instituted to +secure. Instead of making every industrious man secure as regards +himself, his family, and the means of their support, it has actually +deprived the majority of all security regarding these things and, +indeed, put the majority as regards these things at the mercy of a +very few. Not only this, it has created conditions which to-day are +depriving several millions of us not only of all means of support, but +of all opportunity of earning them. + +The bourgeois' excuse for such conditions is that no better can be +devised. Here is the whole issue of Socialism raised; for Socialism +contends that these conditions are totally unnecessary; that it does +not need any imagination or invention to substitute for them a system +that will put an end to such evils as pauperism, prostitution, and, in +great part, crime; that we have but to adopt as a community the +principles already adopted by the men--the makers of the trusts--to +whom the whole business world looks up as infallible on these +subjects; and that this can be accomplished by ridding the institution +of property of the fallacies with which it has been industriously +defaced. Just indeed as the truly religious have during all ages +sought to rescue religion from the crafty who tend to use it for their +own ends--Christ from the Pharisee, Plato from the Sophist, Luther +from the Borgias, so Socialists are now seeking to rescue property +from the few who, under a mistaken theory of happiness, use property +to injure their fellow creatures when these very few can attain +happiness only by so using property as to benefit those they now +injure. + +It must, however, be specifically stated that Socialism does not +involve the concentration of all wealth in the state. No sane +Socialist proposes to vest in the state the things which a man uses, +his personal apparel, his personal furniture, his objects of art, his +musical instruments, his automobile, or even his private yacht. + +There is no intention to suppress private property except so far as it +is used for exploitation. Light is thrown upon this subject in another +paragraph, which indicts the capitalist system for making the +production of the necessaries of our lives the object of their +competitive enterprises and speculations. + +What the Socialist party proposes to do is not to abolish property, +but to abolish the capitalist system, as it expressly states; and it +proposes to do this not only in the interest of the proletariat, but +also in the interest of the capitalist himself, who, to quote the +words of the platform, is "the slave of his wealth rather than its +master." The extent to which this last is true will be discussed in a +subsequent chapter and ought to constitute an impressive argument for +all--even millionaires--who have become the slaves of the very +fortunes they have made. And the moral tendency to restore property to +its original intention by abolishing the capitalist system is +expressly stated in the platform as not an attempt "to substitute +working-class rule for capitalist-class rule, but to free all humanity +from class rule and to realize the international brotherhood of man." +If this be immoral, then a great many of us do not know what morality +is. + +Nor does it propose to vest in the state anything but what it is +indispensable for a state to own in order to rescue the unwealthy +majority from the exploitation of the wealthy few. Nothing is more +false or libelous than the allegation that Socialism proposes to +destroy property, or to deprive a man of the benefit of his talents, +or of the enjoyment of the products of his work. It is the present +industrial system that deprives the majority of the product of their +work. Socialism aims at the opposite of these things. What Socialism +does propose is to preserve wealth by eliminating waste and to ensure +to all men the fullest benefit of their talents and the enjoyment of +the whole product of their work. It does not propose to level down, as +is so often claimed; the necessary effect of Socialism is to level up, +if indeed it levels at all. The extent to which it may be wise to +concentrate wealth in the state, or whether it is necessary to +concentrate it in the state at all, is a question which must be +postponed until we have a clear idea of what Socialism is. + +Meanwhile I venture to suggest one view of Socialism which, although +it does not attempt to define it, may help us as a first effort to get +a correct apprehension of it. + +Socialism is the concentration of just so much wealth in the +community--please note that I do not say "state"--as may be necessary +to secure the liberty and the happiness of every man, woman, and child +consistent with the liberty and the happiness of every other man, +woman, and child. + +We are obviously here brought to the question of what is liberty, and +to the discussion of another error regarding Socialism upon which the +bourgeois is disposed to insist, viz.: Socialism will impair liberty. + + +§ 6. SOCIALISM WILL NOT IMPAIR LIBERTY + +The same thing must be said of liberty as of property: both are such +important subjects that they demand a chapter to themselves. But there +are current errors about liberty which, when removed, will prepare +the mind for the undoubted fact that Socialism, far from impairing +liberty, will greatly enlarge it. + +When negro slavery existed people thought that if slavery were only +abolished, liberty would be secured. It was found, however, that when +negro slavery was abolished there was still another liberty to be +secured--political liberty. + +Now that we have secured the constitutional right and the +constitutional weapon by which political liberty ought to be attained, +we discover that these rights and weapons are useless to us so long as +the immense majority of us are still economic slaves. + +Let us consider for a moment just what is meant by an economic slave. + +An economic slave is a man who is dependent for his living on another +man or class of men and who, because all his waking hours and all his +vitality must be devoted to making a living, has no leisure either to +exercise his political rights or to enjoy himself. + +It may seem exorbitant to say that the "immense majority" of us are +economic slaves, yet a very little consideration will, I think, +convince that we are. + +Workingmen are dependent on their employers under conditions worse +than negro slavery. For a slave owner had an interest in the life of +his slave just as a farmer has an interest in the life of his stock. +He therefore fed his slaves and did not overwork them. Nor was a slave +subject to losing his job. The factory owner, on the contrary, not +being the owner of his factory hands, is free to dismiss them as soon +as they are worn out, and it is to his interest, by speeding up his +machinery, to get the most work out of his hands possible, regardless +whether he is overworking them; for as soon as they show signs of +overwork he has but to dismiss them and employ a younger generation. +Nor can it be said of workingmen that they have leisure for education, +politics, or enjoyment. Now the last census shows that our industrial +population numbers 21,000,000. + +In the second place, the farmer works himself as hard--if not +harder--than the factory owner works his factory hand. He is driven by +the same necessity as the factory owner--the necessity of making +money.[21] There are of course a few large farmers who own enough land +to work it as the factory owner works his factory--by the use of +machinery and men. But these are few, and it is the extraordinary +economy that these men make in working their farms that obliges the +small farmer to work night as well as day to make a bare living out of +his land. Now by the last census the farming population in the United +States numbers 30,000,000. + +And what has been said of the workingman is true of the clerk and +domestic; and what has been said of the small farmer is true of the +small tradesman. Now clerks, domestics, and tradesmen number +30,000,000. Summing up we have: + + Industrial population 21,000,000 + Farmers 30,000,000 + Clerks, domestics and tradesmen 30,000,000 + ---------- + 81,000,000 + +out of a total population of 90,000,000 are economic slaves. + +And of the 9,000,000 that remain, how many are economically free? + +These are in part teachers, physicians, and lawyers. I leave it to +teachers to tell us how much time they can call their own. As to the +rest, it is the dream of a young doctor to get a large practice; and +when his dream is realized, how much leisure does he enjoy? He is at +the mercy of his practice, not only weekdays, but Sundays--days and +nights. He is the slave of his own practice. It is the dream of the +young lawyer to get rich clients and handle big cases. When he gets +them, he discovers that he must have an office that costs between +$30,000 and $50,000 a year to take care of them, and that he must earn +these large sums before there is a penny left for himself. So he too +is the slave of his own office. + +But further than this: Our great business men--amongst them the very +greatest--I have seen with my own eyes slowly sink under the burden of +the very institutions their own genius had created. They too have +become the slaves of their own creations. + +So we are all slaves, the greatest and the least of us, with +exceptions so few that they are hardly worth mentioning. And how do +these exceptions use their leisure? It were better not too closely to +inquire. Too much leisure is as detrimental to happiness and progress +as too much work. The enormous increase of lunacy in late years is a +straw that shows how the stream runs. Because of too much work or too +much leisure the race is marching with fatal speed toward general +prostration of nerve, of body, and of mind. + +Whether then we look at this question from the point of view of human +progress or of human happiness, it seems indispensable that the whole +machinery of production be speeded down a little instead of +continuously up. Now this is what Socialism proposes to do: It +proposes by the substitution of coöperation for competition to make +the same economy for all humanity as trust promoters have made for +themselves. And the economy will be an economy of time. We shall work +as hard while we are working, but we shall work four hours instead of +eight and twelve. And the rest of the time we shall have to ourselves; +we shall be economically free. + +Yet if the reader has in his mind any such idea of Socialism as Mr. +Roosevelt's "state free lunch counter," resulting in an "iron +despotism over all workers compared to which any slave system of the +past would seem beneficent because less utterly hopeless"--he will be +disposed to condemn in advance any economic freedom purchased at such +a price. I beg the reader, therefore, to try to rid his mind of the +prejudice created by such views as Mr. Roosevelt's until he has read +the chapters on the Economy of Socialism and How Socialism May Come. +If in these chapters the errors of Mr. Roosevelt's notions are not +dissipated, then this book will have been written in vain. + +One thing more, however, must be said on this subject. Inexcusable +though Mr. Roosevelt may be in most of his attacks on Socialism, it +must be admitted that the "iron despotism" to which he thinks +Socialism will lead is justified by many Socialist authors, and it is +only very lately that a way has been found for introducing coöperation +without compulsion. Again, Mr. Roosevelt is in good company in making +this charge. It is the great _cheval de bataille_ of every +anti-Socialist. + +In "A Plea for Liberty," edited by Herbert Spencer, the idea of +concentrating wealth in the community is denounced as a "conception of +life or conduct" which would compel men "to rise at morn to the sound +of a state gong, breakfast off state viands, labor by time according +to a state clock, dine at a state table supplied at the state's +expense, and to be regulated as to rest and recreation." + +In fact, Socialism proposes none of these things. But if it did, a +factory hand might very well ask whether such a conception of life or +conduct would be worse than to rise at morn by the sound of a factory +bell, labor by time according to a factory clock, neither breakfast +nor dine at a factory table supplied at the factory's expense, but be +regulated as to rest and recreation by factory rules. When we come to +discuss liberty, we shall be in a position to compare the liberty +enjoyed under Socialism with the liberty enjoyed to-day. + +In the chapter on Property and Liberty, the subject of liberty is +carefully analyzed; no more, therefore, need be said on this subject +except in conclusion to insist that it is the competitive system of +to-day that makes slaves of practically all of us, and that it is the +coöperative system alone that will secure for us the last and greatest +of all the liberties--economic liberty--because it is economic liberty +alone that will enable us to enjoy the other two. + + +§ 7. CONCLUSION + +Having now chipped off some but not all of the errors that prevail, +regarding Socialism, let us sum up what Socialism is not; it will help +us to a study of what Socialism is. + + Socialism is not Anarchism. It is the contradictory opposite of + Anarchism. It believes in regulation, but demands that the + regulation be wise and just. + + Socialism is not Communism. On the contrary it demands that + workingmen be assured as nearly as possible the product of their + labor. + + Socialism does not propose to eliminate competition, but only to + abolish excessive competition that gives rise to pauperism, + prostitution and crime. + + Socialism is not hostile to the home. On the contrary, it seeks + to remove the evils that make the homes of our millions + insupportable. + + Socialism is not immoral. On the contrary, it seeks to make the + Golden Rule practical. + + Socialism does not propose to abolish property or distribute + wealth. It proposes, on the contrary, to consecrate property and + concentrate wealth so that all shall enjoy according to their + deserts the benefits of both. + + Socialism will not impair liberty. On the contrary, it will for + the first time give to humanity economic liberty without which + so-called individual and political liberty are fruitless. It + proposes to regulate production, consecrate property, and + concentrate wealth only to the extent necessary to assure to + every man the maximum of security and the maximum of leisure; + thereby putting an end to pauperism, prostitution, and in great + part, to crime, and furnishing to man environment most conducive + to his advancement and happiness. + + Whether it will accomplish these things can only be determined + by approaching it from the positive side. We shall proceed next + then to answer the question what Capitalism is. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[12] The principal evil attending such laws is that they give rise to +graft. In other words, our political machine actually favors such +laws, because they put a club in the hands of the machine through +which it can not only levy political contributions, but coerce their +victims into support of the machine. + +[13] The death rate in 1900 among occupied males in the professions +was 15.3 per 1000; in clerical and official classes 13.5; mercantile, +12.1; laboring and servant classes 20.2 per 1000 (12th Census U.S.) +Dr. Emmett Holt, writing in the _Journal of the American Medical +Association_, points out the marked contrast between the death rate of +the children of the poor and the children of the rich. See Appendix, +p. 421. + +[14] _Outlook_, March 20, 1909. + +[15] Book III, Chapter V. + +[16] U.S. Census Bulletin 96, p. 7, 12. + +[17] "Poverty," by Robert Hunter. (Macmillan.) + +[18] "Socialism and Social Reform," by R.T. Ely, p. 43. (Crowell.) + +[19] Ibid. + +[20] "Government or Human Evolution," Vol. II, p. 88 _et seq._, by the +author. + +[21] "The American Farmer," A.M. Simons. + + + + +BOOK II + +_WHAT CAPITALISM IS_ + + +Socialism is necessarily twofold: destructive and constructive; +critical and remedial. We shall take the critical or destructive rôle +of Socialism first; setting down the evils in our existing industrial +system which Socialism criticizes and seeks to destroy, and leaving +the remedial or constructive rôle of Socialism where it properly +belongs--to the end. For this reason the present book, which treats of +the evils of the existing industrial system, is entitled "What +Capitalism is." + + +EVILS OF CAPITALISM + +For nearly two centuries men have produced and distributed the things +they needed, upon what is called "the competitive system." That is to +say, every individual is free to choose his particular share in this +work and to make out of his work all that he can, in order with the +money so made to purchase for himself the things that he individually +needs. The farmer undertakes to furnish us with food, the forester +with lumber, the miner with iron. Another set of men run railroads, +steamboats, wagons, etc., to distribute the things produced to those +who are engaged in selling them--by wholesale to the trade, or by +retail to the consumer. Every man engaged in production and +distribution is in a measure competing with every other man engaged in +it, each trying to make out of his particular calling the largest +amount of money possible with the view of being able with the money so +earned to purchase for himself the largest amount of necessaries, +comforts, and luxuries. This so-called competitive system has been +elaborately described by all writers of political economy from de +Quesnay and Adam Smith, the fathers of our present system of political +economy, to the present day; and because it follows the predatory plan +of nature (by which one set of animals lives by devouring another +set), it is claimed by some so-called philosophers to be "natural" and +therefore wise. The most notorious author of this so-called scientific +justification of the competitive system is Herbert Spencer. + +The competitive system, however, has been found to result in great +waste, misery, and disease; and it is to these evil consequences that +the Socialist desires to put an end. He claims that the competitive +system is not wise, not scientific, and above all, not economical, but +is the most wasteful system conceivable. He alleges that the only +intelligent, economic way of producing and distributing the things we +need is by coöperation; and the whole economic issue between Socialism +and our present industrial system is that Socialism stands for +coöperation, and our present system for competition. + +It is by no means a necessary part of Socialist philosophy that +competition be entirely eliminated. On the contrary, it has been +pointed out and will later be further seen that competition has many +useful qualities.[22] Socialism, however, points out that +competition, when allowed full sway in producing and distributing the +necessaries of life, is the direct occasion of the larger part of the +misery in the world, and insists, therefore, that as _regards +production and distribution of the necessaries of life_, competition +be sufficiently eliminated to assure to all men the opportunity to +work, and as nearly as possible the full product of their work. The +limitation in italics is the definite dose to which reference has +already been made.[23] + +One prominent feature of the competitive system is that men do not +work for the purpose of supplying the needs of their fellow creatures. +The Steel Trust does not manufacture steel to satisfy our need for +steel; the farmer does not raise wheat to satisfy our need for bread; +they produce these things simply for the purpose of making money for +themselves in order that with this money they can procure for +themselves the things they need. Socialism claims that the rôle played +by money in the competitive system is unfortunate, because the amount +of money available at any given time is not always properly adjusted. +Sometimes it is so badly adjusted that there is more cotton in one +place than the people in that place can use, and in another more +people who need cotton than there is cotton to give them; so that it +is deliberately proposed to burn cotton for lack of consumers in one +place, while consumers are allowed to suffer for lack of cotton in the +other. So a short time ago thousands were dying of starvation for lack +of wheat in India, while we had such a superabundance of it in America +that we were exporting it every day. But that wheat was not available +for India because it had to be converted into money. + +Socialists allege that this bad situation would never arise if things +were produced for the purpose of satisfying human needs instead of for +making money. + +Let us enumerate some of the most important evils of the competitive +system, which Socialism seeks to correct. These evils briefly are: The +competitive system is stupid because wasteful and disorderly; it is +unnecessarily immoral, unjust and cruel. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[22] See Book I, Chapter III. + +[23] See Book I, Chapter III. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +CAPITALISM IS STUPID + + +§ 1. OVERPRODUCTION + +The first and most glaring evil of the competitive system is that it +is stupid. In support of this I shall call as witnesses captains of +industry whom the business men regard as the greatest authorities in +the world: John D. Rockefeller[24], Henry O. Havemeyer[25], Elbert H. +Gary[26] and others. + +Socialists are accused of being impractical. I shall have failed in +properly presenting the Socialist case if I do not succeed in +demonstrating that the impractical people are the bourgeois, the +Roosevelts, Tafts and Bryans who, though aware of the waste of the +competitive system, insist upon maintaining it; and that the only +practical people are those who, like the Socialists, having perceived +the waste that attends the competitive system, seek to replace it by a +more economic plan. + +No one will, I think, deny that the most practical business men to-day +in America are Rockefeller, Pierpont Morgan, Havemeyer, and the others +who have been engaged in organizing our great trusts. Now the only +object of a trust is to eliminate the unnecessary waste of +competition; and the only difference between the Socialist and the +trust magnate is that the Socialist wants the benefit derived from +reducing competition to be shared by all; whereas Rockefeller, +Pierpont Morgan and the other trust magnates want the profit secured +by the elimination of waste all to themselves. + +I do not suppose there is any man living so prejudiced or so dull as +to deny that, if Socialism could present a system by which all could +be made to profit from the elimination of the waste of the competitive +system in such a manner that the profit of each shall be proportional +to the amount which each contributes, Socialism would be justified. +The only point upon which there can be discussion is whether it is +possible to suggest a workable plan under which the evils of +competition can be eliminated, and the blessings of coöperation take +their place. In other words, is coöperation a practical cure for +competition? It is obviously impossible to decide whether a given +treatment would constitute a cure for a given disease, without a +thorough knowledge of the disease. It is therefore essential that we +should be clear as regards the defects of the competitive system, and +how far these defects are curable and how far incurable. + +The beauty of the competitive system upon which the bourgeois loves to +dwell is that it is automatic; whenever there is overproduction in an +industry prices fall, profits disappear and therefore capital flows +away from it; as soon as overproduction comes to an end prices rise, +profits reappear and capital flows back to it. And the beauty of this +automatic system is the more commended because it closely follows +Nature; and indeed, the system of Nature is beautiful in the extreme. +The sun draws the vapor of pure water from the salt ocean; lifts it +high into the air, wafts it by propitious breezes to the continent; +sheds it in beneficent rain upon the thirsty land, and deposits it in +gigantic reservoirs of ice and snow upon our mountain heights; there +is the supply upon which during hot summers we depend; and the hotter +the summer, and the more therefore we need moisture, the more the snow +and glaciers melt and furnish us with torrents of refreshing streams; +so that at last the vapor that has been drawn by the sun from the +ocean, in obedience to the inevitable law of gravitation, returns to +it in a thousand rivers, after having performed its function of +nutrition and refreshment on the way. + +In the same fashion demand is ever beckoning labor and capital to seek +new fields, tempting them from the low levels of low interest to high +levels of high profit; and supply, increasing through their efforts, +is forever bringing them back, like the force of gravitation, to the +point whence they started; and the cycle is repeated over and over +again, performing its mission of production and distribution on the +way. + +Unfortunately, Nature, though beneficial in the main, does not +accomplish its work without distressing incidents. Breezes are not +always propitious; they sometimes create disastrous havoc; torrents +are sometimes more than refreshing, and summers unduly hot. + +For example, the more abundant a crop is, the more prosperous the +country which grows the crop ought to that extent to be; but it +sometimes happens that, in such case, prices fall so low as to bring +disaster to those who have grown it.[27] + +Nature is not always to be depended on. Occasionally a crop entirely +fails, and when this happens, as lately in India, millions are exposed +to starvation and thousands actually starve. + +Even when Nature is most bountiful the competitive system results in +misfortune. For example, the President of the Boston Chamber of +Commerce in a speech to the Chamber said in 1891: + +"In 1890 we harvested a cotton crop of over eight million +bales--several hundred thousand bales more than the world could +consume. Had the crop of the present year been equally large, it would +have been an _appalling calamity_ to the section of our country that +devotes so large a portion of its labor and capital to the raising of +cotton."[28] + +In 1905 the newspapers announced "the South is proposing to burn +cotton so as to keep up its price."[29] And still more recently the +same suggestion has been made regarding the tobacco crop in Kentucky. + +Again, the competitive system under which every man goes into the +business where he sees most profit, inevitably leads to periods of +overproduction, and overproduction leads to unemployment and misery. + +No political economist denies the obvious fact that whenever an +industry is known to be profitable, capitalists are likely to engage +in this industry--indeed, this is one of the automatic processes which +the Manchester school has put forward as constituting the chief merit +of the system. It is, of course, important for the community at large +that prices should in no one industry become excessive; and obviously +the disposition of capital to rush into industries where profits are +high, does by competition tend to reduce prices, and thus prevent them +from becoming excessive. But economists, especially those of the +Manchester school, have not been willing to recognize that this +disposition of capital to flow into productive enterprises may, though +sometimes beneficial, be also sometimes ruinous; may, indeed, often +result in a devastating deluge. These economists, therefore, it may be +well to confront with a brief history of one or two of our largest +combinations. Let us take as a first example the sugar trust. + +Just before the organization of this trust, overproduction had become +so excessive that of forty refiners in the United States eighteen +became bankrupt. Of the twenty-two that remained, eighteen combined. +Of the refineries belonging to these eighteen, eleven were closed, +leaving seven to do profitably the work which had previously been done +unprofitably by forty. + +The history of the whisky trust shows overproduction to a still more +aggravated degree. Before the organization of the Distilling and +Cattle-Feeding Company, agreements were entered into by the majority +of the distillers; under one of them they agreed to reduce production +to forty per cent of what it at that time was; subsequently they +agreed to reduce still further to twenty-eight per cent; and of eighty +of the principal distillers who organized the Distilling and +Cattle-Feeding Company, the establishments of sixty-eight were closed, +leaving only twelve distilleries operating. + +The same succession of events is found in the history of the American +Steel and Wire Company, and indeed of practically all American trusts. + +This inevitable tendency towards overproduction vitally concerns +workingmen, for it is upon them that the evil consequences of this +process first and most fatally fall. As soon as the process results in +the inevitable reduction of prices to near cost, the manufacturer must +either throw workmen out of employment or reduce wages. Wages +constitute the only elastic element in cost, and it is therefore the +workingman who first pays for the evil working of this system. And not +only does the workingman pay for it, but the employer pays for it +also; for workingmen, to protect their interests, strike, and only the +wealthiest employers can stand the strain of a strike; the rest are +ruined by it. + +Even a reduction of the hours of work or the days of employment in the +week will, if it lasts long enough, ruin the employer, for he has +still to pay the fixed charges of the factory, and if prices get low +enough, and he cannot sell his goods except at a ruinous loss, he ends +by not having means to pay these charges; and this process is +illustrated in the cases just mentioned; for example, eighteen out of +forty sugar refiners became bankrupt; and it was not till the eighteen +were ruined that a combination was possible amongst the rest. + +One method employed by trusts to keep up prices at home is to sell +their excess of goods in foreign markets at prices below cost. + +Mr. Gary, President of the Federal Steel Company, testified before the +Industrial Committee that steel had been recently shipped to Japan at +a price below the domestic price.[30] + +Mr. J.W. Lee, President of the three independent pipe-line +organizations, testified that prior to 1895 "oil for export was sold +below the cost of crude at the refinery."[31] + +Again, at a time when the American trade was paying $28 for steel +rails, the same steel rails were sold in Japan at $20.[32] + +Obviously, the nations who are the victims of this process are not +long going to tolerate it; but this is a relatively small part of the +international complications produced by overproduction. The most +serious consequence of overproduction is that manufacturers, when they +can no longer get a remunerative price for their goods in the home +markets, are inevitably driven to seek it elsewhere. They seek foreign +markets, and failing foreign markets, they seek new markets by +colonization or conquest. + +It is impossible to read the history of the British Empire during the +last 150 years without becoming persuaded that its so-called greed for +conquest inevitably results from the necessity under which English +manufacturers have been to secure markets for their increasing goods. +Either British factories had to close, and British workmen to be +thrown out of employment, or England must, by colonization or +conquest, secure a price outside her own borders for the goods which +competition perpetually tended to make her factories overproduce. + +Indeed, the war through which England compelled China to purchase +Indian opium looks like the greatest of international crimes; yet, +when we understand this so-called crime of England, it turns out to +have been a commercial necessity; for the remunerative prices obtained +by the production of opium in India had so developed this branch of +business that millions of Indians depended for their lives upon it, +and either Chinese must poison themselves with opium, or Indians must +die of hunger. The responsibilities of England were to her subjects +first. The Chinese had to pay the price of this responsibility. + +No better illustration of the wicked despotism that results from +existing industrial conditions could be given than this; it brought +about a condition of things under which England must commit a crime +against China, or millions of her subjects must perish in Hindustan. + +The millions that would starve in India if the opium market were +suddenly closed remind us of the millions who are on the verge of +starvation here in the United States,[33] and have been for two years +past because of inherent and incurable defects in our industrial +system. It is no answer to say that the evil results of overproduction +are promptly remedied by the fluidity of capital to flow towards +profitable and to withdraw from unprofitable manufactures. Every time +such withdrawal takes place a corresponding number of workmen are +thrown out of employment, are subjected to want and anguish of +anxiety. The evil of this system cannot be explained away by pointing +out that the capital withdrawn from one manufacture will soon be +reinvested in another. A cotton-spinner cannot in a week or a month +become a boilermaker. The commercial system which makes it easy for a +capitalist to maintain income at cost of agony to the workingman does +not recommend itself to the political student seeking the +establishment of Justice in economic conditions. For, unfortunately, +labor is not as "fluid" or insensible as capital. The workingman is a +human being with the capacity for pain and anxiety that characterizes +our race; and every time that capital profits by its fluidity to flow +from one industry to another, the lives of men, women, and children +are threatened by want. Even in prosperous times memories of the last +panic and the certainty of a recurring panic keep their hearts haunted +by fear. + +Overproduction is by no means the only cause for these periods of +unemployment. Indeed, the panic of 1907 was not the result of +overproduction, but of overinvestment, or what the French call the +"immobilization of capital." Every nation has two very different uses +for wealth: one for keeping its population alive and comfortable, the +other for developing the resources of the country, e.g., building +roads and railroads, exploiting mines and quarries, etc. If too much +wealth is immobilized in the latter, there is not enough for the +former. The important function of regulating this matter is in the +hands of bankers who make money not only out of the prosperity of +prosperous times, but out of the panic of panic periods. Thus in May, +1907, the bankers, knowing that there had been overinvestment, took +care of themselves by selling securities at top-notch prices, +occasioning what was called the "rich man's panic," because the rich +men of leisure were its victims; so that when the poor man's panic +came in October and stocks tumbled to one-half of May prices, the +bankers were able to reinvest the proceeds of May sales at fifty per +cent profit. One of the consequences of this operation was that in +October, 1907, neither manufacturers nor railroad men could get money +to keep their work going; gangs of five thousand men at a time were +summarily dismissed by railroads, and manufactures shut down. + +Of course, the bankers did not "make the panic," as has been +sometimes ignorantly asserted; they only made money out of it both +ways--out of high prices in May and out of low prices in November. And +this illustrates one of the great defects of the competitive +system--that it puts different sets of men in a position where they +can make individual profit out of the misfortunes of their neighbors; +bankers out of panics; distillers and liquor dealers out of +drunkenness; manufacturers and retailers out of adulteration, and so +down the whole gamut of production and distribution; and this is the +process which the bourgeois approves because it "makes character." + +But the unemployment that is the necessary result of all periods of +depression, whether produced by overproduction or overinvestment, +deserves more than passing mention for its fruits in the shape of +misery, pauperism, prostitution and crime, are menacing and +prejudicial to the race. + + +§ 2. UNEMPLOYMENT + +The subject of Unemployment has just been treated by an expert in a +book[34] hailed by the press as the final word on the subject. All the +theories ever propounded as to the cause of unemployment have been +reviewed in this book, from overproduction, underconsumption, +competition, to "spots on the sun." And the author concludes in favor +of competition.[35] As regards the facts and the explanation of these +facts, there seems to be no essential disagreement between orthodox +economists and Socialists. Both trace unemployment back to +competition. And in addition to the arguments given by Mr. Beveridge +for tracing unemployment to competition, I venture to add that +competition must be decided to be the primary cause, because it is +itself the cause of the other so-called causes occasionally +proposed--overproduction, underconsumption, underemployment, +underpayment--in fact, all except "spots on the sun," which can, I +think, except for purposes of hilarity be definitely abandoned. + +But although we are agreed as to facts, we very much differ as to +emphasis. Mr. Beveridge, and indeed all orthodox economists, pass +lightly over the injustice, the immorality and the agony of +unemployment. He refers to the "cyclical fluctuation" which gives rise +to unemployment as a mere failure of adjustment between demand and +supply. "No doubt," he says, "the adjustment takes time and may +only[36] be accomplished with a certain amount of friction and loss." +Now this "friction and loss," when expressed in money and wealth, seem +to us socialists stupid because avoidable; but when expressed in human +life and misery, they seem so intolerable that we are prepared if +necessary to shatter to bits the whole system that underlies them, in +order to "remould it nearer to the heart's desire." We are relieved +then when we discover that by applying wisdom instead of temper to the +solution of the problem, it is unnecessary to do any shattering, that +we can remould it without violence, and that this is what Socialism +proposes to do. Mr. Beveridge disposes of the Socialist solution in a +sentence: "To abolish the competitive stimulus," he says, "is to +abolish 'either the possibility of, or the principal factor in +material progress.'"[37] But these few words beg the whole question: +Need we abolish the competitive stimulus in the adoption of the +Socialist cure? Can we not confine ourselves to eliminating the +gambling element in it? Can we not diminish the stakes without +abandoning them altogether? Can we not take our arsenic in tonic +instead of in fatal doses? These questions belong to our constructive +chapters at the end of the book. I shall take up here only a few other +points about unemployment which orthodox economists do not +sufficiently emphasize, in order that there may be no doubt as to the +magnitude of this evil and as to the duty upon us to eliminate it if +we can. + +Few things irritate the bourgeois more than to speak of workingmen as +"wage slaves." I have seen college professors lose their temper over +this word so often that they have served to suggest that in using it +we are, as children say, getting "warm." We are very near the Negro we +are looking for in the woodpile. Unemployment will help us in our +search. + +Not only the slave, but the savage, has a great advantage over the +workingman, in that the former is never unemployed and the latter need +never be so unless he chooses. Unemployment then is the peculiar +product of our civilization. It is only under this competitive system +of ours that a strong, hearty, able-bodied man, not only willing, but +burning to work, with plenty of work to be done and with plenty of +food to be eaten, is refused both. Although there are vacant lots in +the heart of our cities and deserted farms within a few miles of them, +the unemployed and the women and children dependent on them are to +starve because owing to the "failure of adjustment between supply and +demand," no one for two years past has been able to make money by +employing them. Why this is so will more fully appear in Book II, +Chapter III. It is only necessary here to point out the forces that +tend to make the wage slave not only more unfortunate, but more +dangerous to the community than the African slave. + +The slave owner has the same interest in the welfare of his slaves as +the cowboy in his cattle. God knows this is not much, but it is +sufficient to keep slaves and cattle in good condition if only for the +purpose of getting work out of the one and high prices out of the +other. The interest that a slave owner has in the health of his slaves +is a continuing one; it lasts during the working years of his slave. +The owner has paid a price or his slave has cost him a certain amount +to raise. The interest of the owner, therefore, is to get the most +work out of the slave during his working years. For this purpose he +lengthens these working years to the utmost possible; and accordingly +feeds and clothes his slave sufficiently and does not overwork him. + +The interest of the factory owner is just the opposite. He has paid +nothing out of his capital for what is called the "free labor" he +employs; and because free labor exacts a high wage and short hours, it +is to the interest of the factory owner to get the greatest work +possible out of his employee, regardless whether his employee is +overworked. It is to his interest, not only to use his employee, but +to use him up; and to this end he speeds up his machinery to the +utmost point in order to force his employees to do the greatest work +possible during the hours of employment, and has recourse to +pacemakers. He does this with perfect security, because he has an +unlimited amount of young labor always at his disposal to replace +employees prematurely worn out from overwork and the diseases that +come from overwork. The factory owner does not adopt these methods out +of hardness of heart, but out of the necessity of the market. If he +pays a workingman high wages for short hours, he must get the greatest +work out of him if he is to compete successfully with other factory +owners in the same line of business. Even the most merciful factory +owners have to overwork their employees in order to sell goods at +prices fixed by the merciless market. This system results in manifold +evils. It creates a class not only of unemployed, but of +unemployables; men who cannot render efficient service because of +disease and of the drunkenness to which overwork tends; for when a +workingman feels his strength begin to wane he has recourse to +stimulants to last his day out, and once the habit of stimulants is +contracted, he loses his appetite for nourishing food and becomes +thereby more and more confirmed in the use of intoxicants. + +We have here, therefore, a perpetual and necessary production of +unemployed and unemployable; the industrial town resembles a gigantic +threshing machine which produces its regular quota of unemployed and +unemployables as certainly as a threshing machine produces chaff. + +This leads to another point to which I wish to attract special +attention. Unemployment is generally regarded as a purely temporary +evil. Indeed, the New York _Times_ took me to task for speaking of it +as a permanent evil.[38] The reason for this widespread error is that +permanent unemployment is a thing to which we have grown accustomed. +Charitable societies are familiar with it and know that it exists all +the time; but it is only when unemployment adopts gigantic proportions +so that the unemployed crowd our parks and streets and even indulge in +public demonstrations, that the public becomes aware of it. And it is +not only the regular operation of the industrial threshing machine +that produces the unemployed and unemployables; it is the character of +certain industries and occupations such as seasonal industries--for +example, carpentering and casual occupations, such as stevedores and +longshoremen. Mr. Beveridge gives a very graphic picture of the +unemployment on the London docks:[39] + +Most of us have heard of the great Dock Strike of 1889, and of the +distinguished men who undertook to settle it. Efforts were made then +to regulate work on the wharves, and while these efforts did improve +the condition of the best of the men, as Mr. Beveridge says, "it is +seldom realized how small a proportion of the total field of dock and +wharf labor is really covered by the reform."[40] + +He attributes the maintenance of evil conditions still prevailing on +the docks to the "separation of the interests of wharfingers, +shipowners, and contractors," to our old enemy--competition. + +To appreciate the evil effects of casual or irregular employment, we +have again but to quote Mr. Beveridge: + +"The knowledge that any man, whatever his experience, however bad his +antecedents, might get a job at the docks, attracted to their +neighborhood a perpetual stream of blackguards, weaklings and failures +from other every occupation. The experience, soon made, that regular +attendance was not necessary to secure selection on days when work +happened to be plentiful, and the daily alternations of hard exercise +and idleness rapidly developed in those who came, if they had it not +before, the greatest irregularity of habits, and physical or moral +incapacity for continuous exertion. The low physique and half-starved +condition of many of the laborers made their work dear at 4d. an +hour."[41] + +Here he falls in with the evil feature of the competitive system which +has been described as gambling with nothing less for stakes than life, +health and happiness: "Finally," concludes Mr. Beveridge, "the door is +opened to abuse of patronage; convivial drinking and even direct +bribery are not unknown as a means of securing employment."[42] + +The form of bribery paid by employees when of the female sex is a +still darker side of this dark subject.[43] + +Another permanent cause of unemployment is underemployment and +underpayment. In many occupations, such as coal mining, +underemployment is averaged over a year so as to cause little +unemployment but much distress; the high wages which the miners are +able to stipulate for through their trade unions are reduced by +diminishing the days of work in the year. In other occupations +underemployment and underpayment reduce employees to a state of +starvation, which of course swells the rank of the unemployables. + +Having seen how the pressure of the market forces factory owners to +overwork their employees and to dismiss all who are not able to earn +the wages they receive; how casual employment creates and keeps alive +a class of labor such as is described by Mr. Beveridge, and as must +perpetually throw employees either upon charity or into the street; +and having seen that this is a result of inherent and constant +conditions of our industrial system, we are not surprised to find +that statistics of unemployment indicate that it exists not only in +periods of industrial depression, as is imagined by the New York +_Times_ and others, but is, on the contrary, a permanent feature. For +example, the September Report of the New York Commissioner of Labor +shows that the average percentage of unemployment during the +prosperous period between 1902 and 1907, was 16.1 per cent. We shall +see later when we endeavor to calculate the amount of our population +affected by unemployment, that 16.1 per cent, being derived entirely +from trade union reports, does not fully represent the whole, because +it is generally admitted that unemployment prevails in much larger +proportion in unorganized labor than in organized.[44] The last United +States Census sets down the number of factory hands at over 7,000,000. +Taking therefore the official figures as representing the minimum of +constant unemployment, 16 per cent of 7,000,000 is 1,120,000, and as +every factory hand has on an average four persons dependent upon him, +this means a total population of 4,480,000, or roughly, four millions +and a half permanently in want in the United States owing to this +unemployment which orthodox economists recognize as a necessary result +of the competitive system. + +But the public takes no account of the fact that our industrial system +regularly reduces a population of 4,500,000 to want. The public only +takes account of the extraordinary unemployment which occasions +disorder and riot in times of panic and industrial depression. Panics +and industrial depressions must not be confounded. We have seen that +industrial depressions are the inevitable result of what Mr. Beveridge +calls "cyclical fluctuations" and recur with abominable regularity. +Quite independent, however, of these regularly recurring industrial +depressions due to the working of the competitive system, there are +financial crises or panics due to similar perturbations in our money +market. Although they differ in many respects from industrial +depressions, nevertheless they have in common with them the inevitable +result of producing unemployment on a large scale. The panic of 1907 +began as a purely financial crisis, but promptly became a lengthy +period of industrial depression. It is not necessary at this point to +discuss the relation between these two. But it is important that mere +scarcity of money in the panic of 1907 produced unemployment more +suddenly and in larger proportions than any other panics that have +preceded it. + +Not only private enterprises such as railroads, but public bodies such +as municipalities, being no longer able to borrow money, had not only +to abandon work already voted, but to put a sudden stop to work +already undertaken. Laborers were dismissed in batches of five +thousand at a time, and every manufacturing and railroad plant was +driven by the impossibility of borrowing money to cutting down +expenses with a view to increasing the efficiency of the plant. Thus +the Pennsylvania Railroad announced that it had so increased the +efficiency of its plant that it was able to dismiss 30,000 men during +the year; the New York Central during 1907 dismissed ten per cent of +the staff upon its main line alone; seventy-six railroads, operating +over 172,000 miles of railroad, report an economy of nearly +$100,000,000, most of which constituted an economy in wages,[45] and +Senator Guggenheim, in an interview published in the _Wall Street +Journal_,[46] said: + +"For the first time in many years the employer is getting from his men +the 100 per cent in efficiency for which he pays. It is a safe +assertion that prior to the panic the efficiency of labor was no +higher than 75 per cent, perhaps not even that." + +Special attention is directed to the foregoing because unemployment is +ceasing to be a merely accidental and periodic phenomenon and is +assuming not only larger, but more permanent proportions. In other +words, the 30,000 men dismissed by the Pennsylvania Railroad were not +dismissed because of a temporary cessation of traffic. They were +dismissed because the Pennsylvania Railroad has succeeded in so +raising the efficiency of their system that they can permanently run +their lines with 30,000 less employees than they could before. + +Let us endeavor to form some idea of the unemployment during the last +two years. The only State that regularly publishes official reports on +this subject is New York. The State of New York derives its +information from such trade unions as report to it; and from these +reports it seems that during 1908, the average unemployment has been +about one-third. + +As has been intimated, an average of one-third of organized labor +reported by trade unions, means a very much larger proportion of +unorganized labor. It is true that Mr. Beveridge disputes this in one +passage,[47] but he himself furnishes the evidence of its truth in +several others; as for example, where he says that "in practice, +therefore, it is found that acute recurrent distress at times of +seasonal depression is confined to the unskilled occupations";[48] and +again, he points out how the lack of intelligence of unorganized and +semi-skilled and unskilled workmen makes it impossible for them to +take account of the fluctuations that produce unemployment. "The +measure of their failure," he says, "is to be found in those periods +of clamant distress which evoke Mansion House Relief Funds."[49] + +In Chapter V, again, he points out the chronic distress of unskilled +men and that unemployment is largely due to lack of organization. It +stands to reason that whereas a factory owner thinks twice before +dismissing a skilled workman he will not hesitate to dismiss an +unskilled workman whom he can replace at any time.[50] + +However much authorities may differ on this in Europe, there can be no +question about it in America. It was impossible to read the daily +papers in October, 1907, without being satisfied that the first men to +suffer were the unorganized and unskilled. Hardly a day passed for +weeks without papers announcing the discharge of workingmen in batches +of thousands at a time. It was only later that factories shut down, +and then for the most part, a day or so in the week. Unfortunately, +because the unskilled workingman is unorganized, it is impossible to +get any information regarding the extent of unemployment in their +ranks; but it can be stated without fear of contradiction, that the +percentage of unemployment is much larger in the ranks of the +unorganized than in those of trade unions. + +The one-third, therefore, as shown by the New York Labor reports, is +below the mark, I will not undertake to say how much. In endeavoring +to make an estimate as to the extent of unemployment throughout the +entire Union, we must remember that the percentage of employment in +New York is likely to be larger than in purely agricultural States. On +the other hand, nowhere is the percentage of unemployment greater than +in the States devoted to mining. The difficulty under which we find +ourselves, therefore, in giving the exact figure of the extent of +unemployment, makes it wise not to increase the one-third reported by +trade unions in New York in consequence of the certainty that this +proportion was far larger in unorganized labor; and on the other hand, +not to decrease it out of the consideration that there were some +States in which the percentage would not be as much as in the State of +New York. Under these circumstances it may be assumed that the +percentage reported by the trade unions to the Labor Department fairly +represents the average unemployment throughout the whole United States +of America. Taking the census figures of over 7,000,000 as that of the +workingmen in the country, one-third of 7,000,000 is 2,333,333; add to +this the number of persons dependent on these workingmen; four to +each, 9,333,333; add this to the first figure and we get a population +of 11,666,666 which for two years has been on the edge of starvation, +and saved from it only through accumulated earnings, help from trade +unions and charity. As the unskilled workingman can hardly ever save +money owing to the low rate of his wages, and as he is not organized +and never receives benefits from a union, it may be said that the +large majority of these have been living for two years on the charity +of their neighbors. + +It is probable, too, that the trade union member has been reduced to +depending upon charity; for the last report on savings banks shows +that $25,000,000 have been withdrawn during the last year, and their +presidents, when interviewed, recognized that this diminution was +caused by the withdrawal of funds by the unemployed. + +It was also due to the withdrawal of funds by the trade unions. In +October, 1907, many trade unions had large sums accumulated which have +been applied during the year to the support of the unemployed. The +Union of Pressmen had $30,000 last October, all of which has gone to +support the unemployed during the year, and this union has suffered +comparatively little, only 20 per cent being now idle. This 20 per +cent is supported by assessments on those who are at work. + +As regards remedies for unemployment, Mr. Beveridge says that "no cure +for industrial fluctuation can be hoped for; the aim must be +palliation." And he dwells at great length upon the palliative +measures to which Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and to a less extent, +France, have recourse; employment bureaus, insurance against +unemployment, and farm colonies, to which last he refers only +incidentally, pointing out that Hollesley Bay had proved for the most +part ineffectual.[51] These palliatives have, however, rendered +comparatively small service. In Germany, where they have all been +applied, unemployment during 1908 reached the rioting stage, at which +it becomes dangerous and commands the attention of our economists, as +in England. The palliative, to which Mr. Beveridge only incidentally +refers, is, to my mind, calculated not only to diminish the evil +immediately, but to serve as an important bridge over which the +unemployed and unemployables may pass into the Promised Land. The +farm colony, however, belongs to the constructive chapter at the end +of the book. + +Another necessary consequence of the competitive system is a form of +unemployment which, because of its importance, deserves consideration +by itself--Prostitution. + + +§ 3. PROSTITUTION + +Prostitution is not an easy or agreeable subject to treat; it will be +disposed of, therefore, in the fewest words possible. The treatment of +it will be summary, not because the subject is unimportant, but +because it is abominable. And if it is true that Socialism would put +an end to it, this alone, for those who can comprehend the horrors +thereof, ought to justify Socialism whatever be the sacrifice +necessary to the realization of it. If our present competitive system +is responsible for the evil to both sexes that results from +prostitution, then the maintenance of this system is, so far as every +one of us by indifference tolerates it, nothing less than crime. + +We must begin by making ourselves clear as to what prostitution is. + +Mere promiscuity of sexual relation does not constitute prostitution, +for many a woman is unfaithful to her husband many times without +losing social consideration, provided only she conduct herself with +sufficient discretion to avoid scandal. + +Nor does intercourse for money constitute prostitution; for then +prostitution would include all those who marry for money. The real +definition of a prostitute is a woman who has intercourse both +promiscuously and for a money reward, promiscuity and gain must be +united. + +Now it will later be made clear that in a Socialist state because +every woman would be furnished an opportunity to work, none would be +driven to prostitution. + +Prostitution is generally the direct result of the disgrace put upon a +woman by loss of virtue. She is turned out of her home and her +legitimate employment. She has then but one recourse. It is sometimes +due to lack of employment; sometimes to the greater facility +prostitution affords for making a livelihood with the least labor. In +all these cases the _primum mobile_ is the making of a livelihood. As +Socialism would remove this _primum mobile_, would assure a livelihood +to every woman upon the single condition of her performing her +allotted work--there would be no motive for prostitution. If she +refused to perform her allotted task she would become a pauper--but a +prostitute never; for a Socialist state, as will be later explained, +would segregate paupers in farm colonies, where they would be +compelled to support themselves, and would not leave them to +demoralize their neighbors by profligacy and prostitution. + +It may be objected that society keeps itself pure by casting out women +of loose character, and that an innocent girl should not be called +upon to work in a factory side by side with one who will deprave her +if she can. An exhaustive answer to this would involve a study of the +special conditions of each State, the laws of each State, the mental +attitude of the people, their tolerance of immorality or their +intolerance of it. It is a problem common to every society. This +exhaustive study it is not the province of this book to undertake; the +subject must be disposed of, therefore, by the following general +considerations: + +In the society of the wealthy to-day we are confronted by the same +problem as would be presented in a coöperative commonwealth in which +prostitution would be rendered impossible by state employment +regardless of morality. In other words, wealth does for the wealthy +class what Socialism would do for the unwealthy; it makes prostitution +improbable if not impossible. And the wealthy manage to solve the +problem of promiscuity--every wealthy society for itself in its own +way. + +In one country the woman who outrages morality is socially ostracized; +in another she is tolerated; in one country divorces are not only +lawful, but fashionable; in others the church forbids divorce but +tolerates the complaisant husband. _All these are problems of sex +which Socialism does not undertake to solve._ Later on the scientific +and ethical aspects of Socialism will, I hope, lead to the conclusion +that Socialism will so raise our ethical standards and habits of mind +that sexual irregularities will tend to diminish. Prostitution, +however, is not a sex, but an economic problem. A woman does not +receive money payment except for economic reasons. If the economic +pressure is removed she may be licentious, but she will not be a +prostitute. Chastity ought to be a purely moral or social question, +not an economic one. The competitive system makes it economic, and of +all the crimes imputable to the competitive system, this is the +greatest, for it directly perverts not only the human body, but the +human soul. Of course, unemployment, in degenerating the body, +ultimately degenerates the soul also, but the latter generation is +more or less remote; the public conscience may be forgiven for not +having discovered or taken account of it. But that we should see women +daily compelled by hunger to sell soul as well as body and should then +shut against them the door of our homes and our hearts, is a crime not +only against them, but against ourselves. We are hardening our hearts +as well as theirs. We are forcing our minds to that obliquity which +sees in Socialism only "pornographic literature" and "pornographic +propaganda" and charges the men who sacrifice their lives to the +putting an end to the conditions that produce prostitution with +"criminal nonsense" and "grave mental or moral shortcoming."[52] + +This evil, like all evils that arise from the competitive system, is +not incidental or occasional, but inherent and necessary. It cannot be +better stated than by Miss Woodbridge, the secretary of the Working +Women's Society, in a report made to the Society on May 6, 1890: + +"It is a known fact that men's wages cannot fall below a limit upon +which they can exist, but woman's wages have no limit, since the paths +of shame are always open to her. The very fact that some of these +women receive partial support from brothers or fathers and are thus +enabled to live upon less than they earn, forces other women who have +no such support either to suffer for necessities or seek other means +of support." + +The extent to which wages are reduced below starvation rates is also +stated as follows: + +"The wages, which are low, we find are often reduced by excessive +fines, the employers placing a value upon time lost that is not given +to service rendered. The salaries of saleswomen range from $2.00 to +$18.00, but the latter sum is only paid in rare instances in cloak and +suit departments. The average salary in the best houses does not +exceed $7.00, and averages $4.00 or $4.50 per week. Cashiers receive +from $6.00 to $15.00, averaging about $9.00. Cash girls receive from +$1.50 to $2.50 per week, though we know of but one store where $2.50 +is paid. In the Broadway stores boys are employed, usually on +commission. The average salary of one large shop for saleswomen and +cash girls is $2.40; another $2.90; another $3.10; but in the latter, +the employees are nearly all men and boys. We find in many stores the +rule to fine from five to thirty cents for a few minutes' tardiness. +In one store all women who earn over $7.00 are fined thirty cents for +ten minutes' tardiness. Cash girls who earn $1.75 per week are fined +ten cents for ten minutes' tardiness." + +It is hardly necessary to comment on a wage to saleswomen varying from +$2.40 to $3.10 a week, and this liable to reduction by fines. It will +be observed too that owners of department stores are compelled by the +pressure of the market to seek this half-supported help. Miss +Woodbridge says: + +"In all the stores the tendency is to secure cheap help. You often see +the advertisement reading thus: 'Young misses, just graduated, wanted +for positions as saleswomen;' which means that being girls with homes +they can afford to work cheaper than those who are self-supporting." +The words "just graduated" constitute a direct appeal to the +educated--that is to say, partially supported--women. + +So a self-respecting young girl who desires to contribute to the +expenses of the home, sets the rate of wages which drives her less +fortunate sister to misery and crime, and thus becomes the unconscious +instrument of her shame. + +If anyone is not satisfied that the conditions above described must +result, unsavory details of a kind to persuade him will be found in +the report of Miss Maud E. Miner, probation officer of city +magistrates' courts, published in the Survey. + +Lastly, temptation would be indirectly as well as directly diminished +by the absence of prostitutes as a class. It has been already +intimated that prostitution committed injustice to _both_ sexes. By +this it was intended to refer to the injustice of exposing our young +men to perpetual temptation furnished by the facilities for +prostitution. The whole question of sexual morality is mainly one of +suggestion. Take eight men accustomed to believe that they cannot +dispense with sexual connection; put them in a crew and remove the +suggestion that they can obtain relief at any time by substituting +therefor the notion of loyalty to the crew or a desire to win a race, +and the desire which before seemed uncontrollable practically +disappears. The moment the race is over, the old suggestion returns, +and the night of a boat race has become proverbial in consequence. The +same is true of men who go on hunting expeditions, yachting cruises, +into lumber camps, etc. Desire becomes dormant or controllable as soon +as facilities for gratifying it disappear; the moment the facility +returns, the suggestion is revived, and desire becomes uncontrollable. + +What, then, would be the consequence if the suggestion were minimized +by the absence of prostitution altogether? + +But this is not all: Men who seduce young girls and married women have +learned to gratify their passions through the facility afforded by +prostitution. If our youths were never afforded the chance of taking +that first step which leads to the _facilis descensus_, they would, +from the fact of never having gratified their passions, be less likely +to undertake to gratify them at the cost of seduction. The suggestion +would be absent; all women would tend to be as sacred to a man as his +sister. The relation of brother and sister is due entirely to the +absence of suggestion; he has learned to regard her with an +unconscious respect which removes the possibility of erotic +suggestion. What actually happens in the small family of to-day could +also happen in the larger family of to-morrow. + +This must not be understood as a contention that Socialism would +destroy immorality. Far from it. All that is claimed is that it might +diminish immorality and that it would put an end to prostitution. This +last is reason enough for it. + +It is impossible to treat of the economic cause of prostitution +without discussing its ethical consequences, because the consequences +react upon the cause. But we are here chiefly concerned with its +economic features; and it is impossible to put too much emphasis upon +the fact that the greatest permanent blot upon our civilization is the +necessary result of a competitive system that leaves a large part of +our women no other means of livelihood. + +Although we have carefully distinguished between the woman who sells +herself to one man for a fortune and the common prostitute who sells +herself to many men for a pittance, the first is often more to blame +than the latter, because the latter is compelled by hunger while the +former often barters her chastity out of sheer love of luxury. The +whole heredity of man may be altered by the elimination through +Socialism of the sordid motive for marriage. Avarice may become +diminished by sexual selection. For although sexual selection is not +to-day found to have the force in animal heredity that Darwin thought, +it is an important factor in human heredity, thanks to the opportunity +for deliberate selection furnished by our institution of marriage. But +this belongs to another chapter. + +From a purely economic point of view, prostitution is to be classed +with unemployment, which burdens the community with the support of a +class that in a coöperative commonwealth would be self-supporting. It +seems hardly necessary to state that the dissipation that attends the +life of a prostitute unfits her for work. And not content with being +idle herself, she causes others to be idle and constitutes a permanent +source of contagion, moral and physical, in our midst. + +This is a necessary consequence of the competitive system. + + +§ 4. STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS + +Another necessary result of a system of production that sets the man +who works with his hands against the man who works with his head, is +the conflict between capital and labor, that expresses itself in +strikes and lockouts. The conflict itself is treated in detail in the +chapter entitled Trusts and Trade Unions. Here we shall confine +ourselves to its wastefulness in time and money. + +The sixteenth Annual Report of the United States Commissioner of +Labor,[53] for 1901, estimates the loss to employees resulting from +strikes and lockouts from January 1, 1881, to December 1, 1900--a +period of twenty years--at $306,683,223, and the loss to employers +during the same time at $142,659,104--together $449,342,327; or +roughly--$450,000,000. It is interesting to note how much less is the +loss to employers who are relatively able to bear it than to employees +who are relatively unable to bear it. But without regard to the +injustice of a system that bears so hardly upon the workingman, no +practical American who desires to see production attended with the +least waste and friction, can look upon such a loss as this without +impatience and humiliation. + +Quite irrespective of the misery that results from unemployment and +the evils that attend it for the whole community--employed as well as +unemployed--too much emphasis cannot be put upon the foolish waste of +human energy that unemployment occasions. There have been for two +years in this country over a million (and probably much more than a +million) able-bodied men willing and anxious to assist in the +production and distribution of the things we need, and who have not +been permitted to do so--the energy of over a million, and probably a +great many more, absolutely wasted. + +I have been amazed at the indifference of our wealthy class, and even +of the philanthropists amongst our wealthy class, at this condition of +the unemployed until a clue to this indifference was furnished by the +naïveté of a few of our captains of industry. + +Here is what one of them, Daniel Guggenheim, president of the American +Smelting and Refining Company, says to the _Wall Street Journal_, +August 10: + +"Every manufacturer in the country has lowered his costs of +production, partly through cheaper prices for raw materials, but +principally on account of the increased efficiency of labor. The +latter is one of the redeeming features of the current depression. + +"For the first time in many years the employer is getting from his men +the 100 per cent in efficiency for which he pays. It is a safe +assertion that prior to the panic the efficiency of labor was no +higher than 75 per cent, perhaps not even that. + +"Another thing--wherever a thousand men are needed, twelve hundred +apply. The result is that the thousand best men are picked; the +others, of necessity, must be turned away. But the thousand work more +conscientiously, knowing that two hundred are waiting to take the +places of the incompetents." + +Here again we have one small class benefited by the misery of +millions of unemployed, and willing to perpetuate this condition of +unemployment in order to profit by it. Of all the waste that attends +the competitive system this waste of human energy is the most unjust, +and the most unjustifiable, unless it can be found that the pauperism +it imposes on the millions and the heartlessness it promotes in the +few, contribute, as the bourgeois tells us, "to make character!" But +if the waste of human energy at the cost of human agony is a matter of +indifference to business men, there is another form of waste which is +likely to appeal to them. We Americans pride ourselves upon our +business efficiency. In the next chapter we will consider the waste of +money that attends the competitive system and how the ablest business +men have set about eliminating it. + + +§ 5. ADULTERATION + +It would seem as though the indifference of the public at large to +such wicked and wasteful things as unemployment, strikes, lockouts and +prostitution, were due to hardness of heart; but if we observe a +similar indifference to adulteration which concerns every individual +to the utmost, we have to recognize that tolerance of the evils of the +competitive system is due not so much to hardness of heart as to +stupidity. For since the dawn of our present civilization, +adulteration has been a constant and abominable evil. As the +Encyclopedia Americana puts it: "Adulteration is coexistent with +trade;"[54] and as the Britannica puts it: "The practice of +adulteration has become an art in which the knowledge of science and +the ingenuity of trade are freely exercised." + +Before industrialism had reached its present development the statutes +enacted against adulteration were severe. They punished it with the +pillory and tumbrel. The following are the words of the statute: + +"If any default shall be found in the bread of a baker in the city, +the first time, let him be drawn upon a hurdle from the Guildhall to +his own house through the great street where there be most people +assembled, and through the great streets which are most dirty, with +the faulty loaf hanging from his neck; if a second time he shall be +found committing the same offence, let him be drawn from the Guildhall +through the great street of Cheepe, in the manner aforesaid, to the +pillory, and let him be put upon the pillory, and remain there at +least one hour in the day; and the third time that such default shall +be found, he shall be drawn, and the oven shall be pulled down, and +the baker made to forswear the trade in the city forever."[55] + +As the Encyclopædia puts it: "All this has given way to the force of +free trade." In other words, freedom of industry has been interpreted +to mean freedom of adulteration, and the Act of 1872 accordingly +punishes adulteration with "a sum not to exceed fifty pounds," and +only provides imprisonment in case of a second offence.[56] + +It is interesting to take up any standard encyclopædia and read the +cold-blooded accounts of the various poisons introduced into our food +and other commodities for the purpose of adulteration. The matter has +been well treated by Mr. W.J. Ghent;[57] and in spite of the fact that +he is a prominent Socialist his book may be read, because in every +case he cites an authority, and his authorities are, for the most +part, reports of State Commissions and Health Departments. + +It is probable that no article enters more universally into +consumption than milk, and of all the articles that we consume, it is +most important that milk should be pure, because it is the food of +infants and children. Yet in spite of all the laws passed for the +prevention of adulteration of milk, "in New York city, during 1902, of +3970 samples of milk taken from dealers for analysis, 2095, or 52.77 +per cent, were found to be adulterated. The arrests in the city under +the inspection acts were 193 in 1899, 460 in 1900, 464 in 1901, and +722 in 1902."[58] + +The experience in Ohio has been just the same as that of New York: + +"The Dairy and Food Department of that State was created in 1886. +After seventeen years of inspections, arrests and prosecutions, +adulterations of milk still continue. 'Out of 1199 samples tested by +the chemists,' says the report for the year ending November 15, 1903, +'about one-fourth were found to be either below the required standard +in solids and butter fats, or adulterated with that base adulterant +known as "formalin" or "formaldehyde."'"[59] + +Mr. A.J. Wedderburn calculates that 15 per cent of all our products +are adulterated; that is to say, $1,125,000,000 per annum.[60] And +this figure does not include adulterations of wine, whisky, beer, +tobacco, drugs or patent medicines. + +Of eleven samples of coffee compounds analyzed by the Pennsylvania +Department in 1897-1898, "six contained no coffee whatever, and none +contained more than 25 per cent. The contents ranged from pea hulls +(65 per cent in one instance) to bran and the husks of cocoa +beans."[61] + +The Ohio Report of 1898, in describing what is called "renovated +butter," says as follows: + +"These factories have agents in all the large markets who buy up the +refuse from the commission men and retailers, taking stale, rancid, +dirty and unsalable butter in various degrees of putrefaction; this +refuse is put through a process of boiling, straining, filtering, and +renovating, and is finally churned with fresh milk, giving it a more +salable appearance. The effect is only temporary, however, as in a few +days the stuff becomes rancid and the odor it gives off is something +frightful. It is usually sold to people having a large trade who will +dispose of it quickly, for if it is not consumed at once it cannot be +used at all without being further renovated."[62] + +After immense agitation we have had recent legislation of a character +to render adulteration difficult; the Federal Food and Drug Act which +went into effect January 1, 1907, since reënacted in thirty of our +States, and I suppose that many of our fellow-citizens think that this +Food and Drug Act is going to some extent to put an end to +adulteration. But is the experience of the entire race during its +entire history to be treated as of no importance in this connection? +Have we not had laws of this kind before, punishing adulteration in +every way--by the pillory and tumbrel as well as by fines and +imprisonment--and has any of them had any permanent effect in putting +an end to adulteration? How many more centuries are to elapse before +we learn the lesson that, so long as you give to one set of men an +irresistible motive for adulteration, no laws--no penalties, light or +severe, will materially check that impulse. If they are severe the +courts will not enforce them; if they are light the trade will +disregard them. + +It is true that the adulteration of the things we eat and drink is +more important than the adulteration of things we wear. Nevertheless +it is a matter of no small importance that there is hardly a thing +that we do wear that is not adulterated in an astonishing degree. An +interesting paper on this subject was read before the Lake Placid +Conference on Home Economics, 1908.[63] The art of adulterating +textiles seems to be taught in our textile schools: "As a student in a +textile school said to a visitor: 'Our teacher is so clever, he can +spin wool and cotton together so they can never be detected;'" and +adulteration appears to be practically authorized under our New York +State law of 1900, which provides that "collars marked 'linen,' 'all +linen,' and 'pure linen,' must contain at least one thickness or ply +of pure linen." It is a common saying that, although the total supply +of wool in the world is only sufficient to meet one-third of the +demand, there is always wool to be had. + +Of course, one principal reason why adulteration prevails is that it +is impossible for the ordinary consumer to detect it. For example, in +order to analyze stockings they must be destroyed. No consumer is +possessed of the technical schooling necessary to distinguish all-wool +or all-silk goods. Indeed it is stated by high authority that such a +thing as all-silk and all-wool is not to be purchased in the market, +though we continually buy articles declared to be all-wool or +all-silk. + +I do not know whether the advocates of the present industrial +condition, on the ground that it "makes character," would go so far as +to approve of adulteration for this reason. It must be admitted, +however, that virtually everybody engaged in manufacture, production, +and distribution is a partner in the deliberate adulteration of things +for the purpose of cheating the public. This has been coexistent with +trade and has become recognized as one of our modern arts. The extent +to which adulteration is organized can be judged by the fact that "no +less than 40,000,000 pounds of fiber made from old rags, called +'shoddy,' are annually made in Yorkshire, at an estimated value of +£8,000,000 sterling, and that all is used for adulterating woolen +cloth."[64] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[24] Industrial Commission Report, Vol. I, p. 794. + +[25] Ibid., p. 101. + +[26] Ibid., p. 982. + +The results of the work of this Commission are well summed up in Ind. +Com. Rep., Vol. I, Pt. I, p. 39, by Professor Jenks; and the waste +eliminated by trusts still more compendiously treated in "Government," +Vol. II, p. 543, by the author. + +[27] See N.Y. _Tribune_, Jan. 1, 1905, p. 2, column 2. Ibid., Jan. 2, +1905, p. 11, column 1. + +[28] "Socialism and Social Reform," by R.T. Ely, p. 134. + +[29] See N.Y. _Tribune_, Jan. 1, 1905, p. 2, column 2. Ibid., Jan. 2, +1905, p. 11, column 1. + +[30] Report of the Industrial Commission, 1900. Vol. I, p. 199. + +[31] Report of the Industrial Commission, Vol. I, 1900, p. 121. + +[32] _Monde Economique_, Feb. 20, 1897. + +[33] July 19, 1909. + +[34] "Unemployment: A Problem of Industry," by W.H. Beveridge and +others. (Longmans.) + +[35] Ibid., p. 61. + +[36] "Unemployment: A Problem of Industry," by W.H. Beveridge and +others. + +[37] Ibid., p. 63. + +[38] N.Y. _Times_, Oct. 2, 1908. + +[39] "Unemployment." W.H. Beveridge, p. 87. + +[40] Ibid., p. 91. + +[41] "Unemployment." W.H. Beveridge, p. 87. + +[42] Ibid., p. 98. See also "Problems of Unemployment in the London +Building Trades." N.B. Dearles (1908, J.M. Dent). Cf. pp. 87-8. + +[43] Book II, Chapter I. + +[44] Mr. Beveridge denies this in one place, p. 21; but himself +produces proof of it later, p. 35. + +[45] _Financial Chronicle_, Sept. 26, 1908. + +[46] August, 1908. + +[47] Beveridge, "Unemployment," p. 21. + +[48] Ibid., p. 35. + +[49] Beveridge, "Unemployment," p. 65. + +[50] The managers of Trusts have pointed out that in order to keep +their highly skilled men, they have to sell often at a loss; and they +give this as the reason for what is called "dumping" their goods into +foreign markets. In other words, in order not to lower prices in +America during periods of depression due to overproduction, they sell +their goods at a loss abroad.--Industrial Commission, Vol. I, p. 282, + +[51] Beveridge, "Unemployment," p. 182. + +[52] Mr. Roosevelt in the _Outlook_, 1909, p. 622. + +[53] P. 24. + +[54] Americana, Vol. I, Subj. Adulteration. + +[55] Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol. I, p. 51. + +[56] An act to amend the laws of adulteration of food, drinks, and +drugs, 1872. + +[57] "Mass and Class," by W.J. Ghent, p. 180-200. + +[58] "The Health Department." A pamphlet published by the City Club +(1903), p. 23. + +[59] Eighteenth Annual Report of the Ohio Dairy and Food Commission +(1903), p. 8. + +[60] Address of Dr. W.C. Mitchell of the Colorado State Board of +Health, before the Portland Pure Food Convention (1902). Journal of +Proceedings of the Sixth Annual Convention of the National Association +of State Dairy and Food Departments, held at Portland, Ore., pp. +378-383. + +[61] "Portland Proceedings," p. 469. + +[62] Ohio Report (1898), p. 10. + +[63] "The Study of Textiles," by Miss Nellie Crooks, Teachers College, +Columbia University, 1908. + +[64] Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol. I, Subj. Adulteration. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +CAPITALISM IS WASTEFUL + + +Under the system of free competition in the beginning and middle of +the last century, every investor who saw a profit in refining oil or +sugar, or making steel, put up a refinery or factory. The aim of every +factory was to manufacture the largest amount possible and sell it at +the highest price possible; and this is what Herbert Spencer[65] and +the Manchester School regard as the ideal system of production. Now +let us see just what happens as a result of this system of unlimited +competition. + + +§ 1. GETTING THE MARKET + +Every manufacturer and refiner has to find purchasers for his product. +This effort to find purchasers is called in the trade, "getting the +market." + +The expression "getting the market" covers all the expenses attending +the bringing of goods to the attention of the public, and they may be +roughly divided into two principal categories--advertising and +commercial travellers. The public little appreciates the enormous cost +which attends the work of finding a purchaser. Mr. Bradley, after a +careful calculation, estimates that "somewhere between the distiller +and the consumer in this country forty millions of dollars are lost; +this goes primarily to the attempt to secure trade."[66] Mr. Dowe[67] +the President of the Commercial Travellers' National League, testifies +that 35,000 salesmen have been thrown out of employment by the +organization of trusts, and 25,000 reduced to two-thirds of their +previous salaries. This would represent a loss of $60,000,000 in +salaries on a basis of $1200 each. He cites, as instances of trusts +that have dismissed salesmen, the baking powder, bicycle, chair, +paper-bag, rubber, tin-plate, steel and rod, sugar, coffee, thread and +type-founders' combinations. Not only do trusts dismiss salesmen, they +substitute for salesmen who, prior to the organization of the trust +had been earning $4000 to $5000 a year, cheaper salesmen who receive +$18 a week. He also estimates that the dismissal of commercial +travellers means a loss to railways of about $250 per day, 240 days in +the year; in all, $25,000,000. The loss to hotels is about as much, +and "many hotels are likely to become bankrupt if any more travellers +are taken off." + + +§ 2. CROSS FREIGHTS + +Another waste attending the competitive system results from "cross +freights," the double freight a refiner sometimes pays for hauling oil +from the well, or sugar from the nearest seaboard and back over +exactly the same ground, when refined, to the customer. So also the +steel manufacturer sometimes pays freight for hauling ore to the coal +mine or coal to the ore, and back, after smelting, to the customer. + +This waste resulting from cross freights is only a small part of a +similar waste that results from competition in the task of +distribution--or retail trade. + +We are all familiar with the amazing results obtained by the national +enterprise known as the Post Office, and how, for the insignificant +sum of two cents, a letter written in New York can be delivered in an +incredibly short space of time in San Francisco, and even perhaps more +incredibly in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. + +Let us consider for a moment the cost of doing this were letters +distributed throughout the country in the same way as our other +commodities, as for example, milk, coal, or bread. It would be +interesting to calculate how many hundred dealers in milk there are in +New York[68] or London, equipped with their own horses, wagons, and +men, each engaged in delivering milk all over the city; add to these +the thousands distributing in like manner bread, and the thousands +distributing coal, and so on with butter, eggs, meat, fish, +vegetables, and all other things that enter into our daily +consumption. + +Every block of houses is served with milk by this large number of milk +dealers instead of by one, as would be the case if the distribution of +milk were in the hands of one agency; so every block is furnished with +butter, eggs, meat, fish, and vegetables by this large number of +dealers in butter, eggs, meat, fish, and vegetables, instead of by +one, and so on, through every article that enters into our daily use. + +Compare with this the economy of time, labor, and expense effected by +the Government Post Office through sorting letters beforehand +according to streets, and confining the distribution in any one street +to a single carrier who distributes the letters with the greatest +economy of time and labor, from door to door. + +No practical business man would be guilty of the stupidity of putting +a hundred men to do the work that could be done just as well by a +single man; and yet, this is exactly the stupidity of which the +competitive system is guilty. Let us consider the unnecessary number +of butcher shops in the city of New York.[69] + +Before methods of communication had attained their present +development, it was necessary that there should be butcher shops in +every block to satisfy the needs of the people in the block. But +to-day, the telephone service permits of ordering meat at a great +distance, and the automobile permits of this meat being rapidly +delivered to the consumer. The best housekeepers residing downtown +to-day go for their meat to a butcher who lives in Harlem. Now there +is no reason why this Harlem butcher should not furnish all the meat +to the island of Manhattan, or indeed to all in Greater New York. But +there is a reason why under our competitive system this should not +take place, and this is the stupidity of butchers in particular and +the stupidity of the community at large. Most butchers believe that +they can make most money by cheating their customers; and the public +at large believe all butchers equally dishonest and therefore deal +with the butcher nearest them. This stupidity is to a great extent +justified. The art of the butcher consists in finding out to which +customers he can sell third-class meat at first-class prices;[70] and +as a rule, he is so successful in doing this that no butcher is ever +known to fail. On the contrary, they all grow rich. This being the +rule, the public is justified in giving up the expectation of being +honestly served, so that it is only the most intelligent housewives +who discover that there are butchers who do not have dishonest +methods. Thus the stupidity of butchers and public tends to encourage +the multiplicity of shops and keeps in the butcher business an +enormously larger number than is necessary. If now we take into +consideration that what is true of butchers is true of almost every +dealer in the articles of food we consume, we shall appreciate how +much waste of human effort there is in this business of distribution. +But all this waste, encouraging stupidity in the customer and +dishonesty in the retailer, is endorsed because it "makes character!" + +Last but not least is the loss of by-products that inevitably results +from manufacturing upon anything less than a gigantic scale. + +The managers of the Standard Oil Trust testify that among the waste +products capable of being utilized in sufficiently large refineries +are gasoline, paraffine, lubricating oil, vaseline, naphtha, aniline +dyes, and no less than two hundred drugs; and that the total value of +these waste products is actually as great as that of the oil +itself.[71] + +Is or is not the contention with which this chapter started, +justified? It was charged that the competitive system is stupid +because wasteful and disorderly, and that it was unnecessarily +immoral, unjust, and cruel. The testimony of men recognized as the +highest authorities has been produced to demonstrate its wastefulness: + +Waste of capital owing to bankruptcy, to working at irregular +efficiency, to frequent change of dimension, to cost of "getting the +market," to cross freights, to anarchy of distribution, to loss of +by-products; + +Waste of human energy in the work of competition; and above all in +unemployment leading to vagrancy and pauperism. + +And we need produce no testimony to prove things so obvious as the +immorality, injustice, and cruelty of overemployment and unemployment +and the necessary results thereof: drunkenness, disease, pauperism, +prostitution, insanity, and crime. + +One word only still needs explanation: It has been stated that this +immorality, injustice, and cruelty are "unnecessary." It is useless to +rail at these things if they are necessary. Nature is often immoral, +unjust and cruel. The survival of the few fit and the corresponding +sacrifice of the many unfit has no justification in morality. Death, +deformity, and disease are often both unjust and cruel. Yet against +these last we are in great part helpless. It is not enough to show +that the competitive system results in evil; we have to demonstrate +that these evils are avoidable; and that our remedy for them will not +involve still greater evils. This belongs to the final chapters on +Socialism; and is referred to here only to assure the reader that it +has not been overlooked. + +Sufficient emphasis, however, has not yet been put upon the lack of +order that characterizes the competitive system. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[65] "A Plea for Liberty," p. 17: + +"Under our existing voluntary coöperation with its free contracts and +its competition, production and distribution need no official +oversight. Demand and supply, and the desire of each man to gain a +living by supplying the needs of his fellows, spontaneously evolve +that wonderful system whereby a great city has its food daily brought +round to all doors or stored at adjacent shops; has clothing for its +citizens everywhere at hand in multitudinous varieties; has its houses +and furniture and fuel ready made or stocked in each locality; and has +mental pabulum from halfpenny papers, hourly hawked round, to weekly +shoals of novels, and less abundant books of instruction, furnished +without stint for small payments. And throughout the kingdom, +production as well as distribution is similarly carried on with the +smallest amount of superintendence which proves efficient; while the +quantities of the numerous commodities required daily in each locality +are adjusted without any other agency than the pursuit of profit." + +[66] Report of the Industrial Commission, pp. 829-831, Vol. I, 1900. + +[67] Ibid., pp. 27-36. + +[68] This work has been in part eliminated by combination. But the +economies resulting therefrom have all gone to the combinations. The +consumer pays just as much as he did before. + +[69] Trow's Business Directory of New York city, 1909, lists about +4000 retail butcher shops in Manhattan and The Bronx. There are about +275 postal stations in the same territory. + +[70] All good housekeepers know this by experience. I know it from the +butchers themselves, who explained it in the course of an effort to +arrange a combination of butchers in Paris. + +[71] Testimony of Mr. Archbold (pp. 570-571) in the Report of the +Industrial Commission, Vol. I, 1900. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +CAPITALISM IS DISORDERLY + + +Nature is both orderly and disorderly. She is orderly, for example, in +the general succession of her seasons, in the average rainfall, the +average sunshine. She is orderly in the regular drawing of water from +the ocean to the hills and the return of water from the hills to the +ocean. But Nature is extremely disorderly in her detail. Some years +rainfall is deficient and men starve because of drouth. Other years +the sunshine is insufficient and men starve because of rain. The +beneficent flow of water from the hills to the ocean is attended by +disorder which is often calamitous; the river swells to a torrent in +one place and spreads out to unwholesome marshes in another. + +The power of man to profit by the order of Nature and to adjust its +disorder is an attribute that makes man almost divine; for this power +exerts as great influence over the soul of man as over the matter of +Nature. Man has demonstrated his control over Nature by protecting +himself against deficiency of water through reservoirs, and against +excess of rain through drainage; he has robbed torrents of their +terrors by dykes, and made them his servants by irrigation; he drains +the swamp and waters the desert. In one respect only has he failed to +exercise as yet sufficient control; namely, the competitive system. +The competitive system is applauded by Herbert Spencer because he +finds it in Nature. But Nature does not proceed only upon the +competitive plan. She furnishes us with the beehive and anthill as +types of coöperation, from which man can not only learn a lesson, but +receive a warning; for the evils that attend the coöperative plan of +the beehive are almost as great as those that attend the competitive +or predatory system.[72] What man then has to do is not blindly to +follow Nature either as respects her competitive system or her +coöperative system; but to do in this direction what he has done in +others--profit by what is good and orderly in Nature and suppress what +is evil and disorderly in it. + + +§ 1. ANARCHY OF PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION + +The intelligent business man has been at work in suppressing the evils +of the competitive system. He has found the waste and disorder +attending unlimited competition so abominable that he has suppressed +competition to the utmost possible by the organization of trusts. It +has been pointed out that the disorder attending our production and +distribution gives rise to anarchy in both these departments of +industry. As long as every man is free to produce exactly what he +chooses--what he thinks will benefit him, there is no rational +relation between supply and demand. + + +(_a_) _Tyranny of the Market_ + +This process is going on in every industry. Capital rushes away from +business where there is no profit to business where there is profit. +The result is that the capitalist generally discovers a demand for an +article too late to profit by it, and does not discover that there is +no demand for an article until he is ruined by the discovery. The +boasted "fluidity of capital" causes it to pour from one industry to +another in obedience to what is called "the market"; and of all the +despotisms that the folly of man has subjected him to, none for +stupidity and pitilessness approaches the market. So long as there was +no large-enough combination of capital to acquire knowledge of the +supply and demand that determines market price or to any extent +control it, no man, however intelligent, could tell when prices were +going to rise and when to fall. And although the older economists +loved to dwell upon the fluidity of labor as well as upon the fluidity +of capital, they failed to take account of the bankruptcy that attends +the one or the appalling conditions that attend the other. For when +the supply of labor is large and factories are running at low +capacity; when men and women are seeking employment, and the demand +for labor is small, the effect of this law is to reduce wages below +the rate necessary to support life; the unemployed are then reduced to +a choice between the almshouse and starvation. + +This evil consequence is a matter over which isolated employers have +little or no control; for the very same cause that reduces wages +reduces also the price of goods. It is because the demand for goods is +small that the manufacturer has to run his factory at a reduced +capacity; and the demand being small, the manufacturer cannot get a +remunerative price for his goods. Now the thing that reduces prices is +competition, and the thing that reduces wages is competition, and the +main source of every financial, commercial, and industrial disaster is +competition. Employer and employee are alike subjected to the +levelling principle. The moment a particular manufacture is found to +be profitable, and therefore able to pay a high rate of wages, new +factories are started and wages reduced by the competition of +workingmen. The flow to this industry, therefore, of both capital and +labor, inevitably reduces not only wages by the direct competition +between workingmen, but also the profit out of which high wages were +originally paid. + +Employer, therefore, and employee are both slaves of the market; the +employer cannot get more than the market price for his goods, and out +of this he has to pay for his raw material, the cost of running the +factory, and the wages of his men. He cannot reduce the price of raw +material nor the cost of running the factory--rent, fuel, etc.; these +too are determined by the market. The only thing he can reduce is +wages: so he is driven to reduce wages or close his factory, for he +cannot long run his factory at a loss. + +And so anarchy of production and anarchy of distribution lead +inevitably, as all anarchy does, to despotism--the despotism of the +market. + + +(_b_) _Tyranny of the Trust_ + +Now trusts are an attempt of capital to escape from the tyranny of the +market, to eliminate the waste of competition and bring order in the +place of disorder by making supply proportionate to demand. The +testimony of John D. Rockefeller before the Industrial Commission is +illuminating on this subject. In answer to Question 9, he says that he +"ascribes the success of the Standard Oil to its consistent policy to +make the _volume of its business large_." To Question 10, he says he +did this "by coöperation, or what is the same thing, combination." But +the necessity of keeping the volume of the business large made it +indispensable to extend the market. He says "Dependent solely upon +local business, we should have failed years ago. We were forced to +extend our market and to seek for export trade." "And so," he says, +"the Standard Oil spared no expense in _forcing_ its products into the +markets of the world." + +The despotism of the market extends over the whole world. It is +impossible for any one nation to organize its industry, or for the +industry of any one nation to organize itself, under a world-wide +competitive system, without taking into consideration the conditions +of the world market. The Standard Oil could not maintain prices in +competition with foreign oil. It had to carry the industrial war into +Europe and Asia, and did this by eliminating competition at home; +putting an end to anarchy of distribution as well as to anarchy of +production; by transforming the whole system through the building of +pipe lines, the use of tank cars and tank steamers, through an +enormous aggregation of capital, and the use of every ingenious +improvement. The Standard Oil succeeded in doing this and "receiving +in return from foreign lands nearly $50,000,000 per year." + +Mr. Rockefeller is an adroit witness, and carefully refrained from +reference to the methods by which competition was crushed as an +indispensable preliminary to what he calls the "enlargement of the +business." Mr. H.O. Havemeyer, President of the Sugar Trust, was more +frank. Here is his testimony on this subject in full: + +_Q._ (By Senator Mallory) "Did I understand you to say--perhaps I may +have misunderstood you a while ago--that it was your policy to make as +much profit out of the consumer as you possibly could?"--_A._ +"Consistent with business methods." + +_Q._ "Consistent with business principles. In other words, your idea +is that your organization, the American Sugar Refining Company, will, +if it can, get the maximum profit out of its business from the +consumer. Now, I also understood you to imply at least that it is the +policy of the American Sugar Refining Company to crush out all +competition if possible."--_A._ "But that is not so; there is no such +testimony. I understand it has been put in that form by one of the +gentlemen here, but it is not the fact. What I said was that it was +the policy of the American Sugar Refining Company to maintain and +protect its trade, _and if it resulted in crushing a competitor it is +no concern of the American Company; if he gets in the press, that is +his affair, not ours_." + +_Q._ "And if anyone interferes with the business, profits, or +competition of the American Sugar Refining Company, it is its policy +to prevent it if possible?"--_A._ "By lowering profits to defy it." + +_Q._ "And if it results in crushing him out?"--_A._ (Interrupting) +"That is his affair." + +_Q._ "Not the affair of the American Sugar Refining Company?"--_A._ +"No." + +_Q._ "Now, suppose in the natural course of events the American Sugar +Refining Company should suppress--we will not use the words 'crush +out'--all competition, all opposition. I understand from your +theory--business principles--that you would then seek to get out of +the public and consumer the largest amount of profit consistent with +your idea of business principles?"--_A._ "Precisely." + +_Q._ "Then, if you had the power to charge or impose prices on the +public, what would be your idea of the limit that the public could +possibly stand?"--_A._ "I think it would stand a quarter of a cent +to-day. I think we could do it for twenty cents a hundred. I think the +country is really damaged by having a number of people in the +business." + +_Q._ "That is not an answer to my question. My question is the limit. +What restraint would you put upon yourselves? What would be your +restraint?"--_A._ "I call that restraint business consideration." + +_Q._ "Would it not be the utmost limit that the consumer would +bear?"--_A._ "Until we had competition we should be in that position, +but whether or not we would exercise it, is quite another matter." + +The very effort of Mr. Havemeyer to disown the "policy of crushing out +competition" followed immediately by his admission that a trust is a +"press" built for that purpose, is indicative of the capitalist's mind +on the subject: At one moment he naïvely admits what a moment before +he emphatically denied. The trust, then, is the organization of an +industry by one or a few men strong enough to suppress competition and +bleed the consumer. + +The tyranny of the market has been suppressed only to substitute +therefor the tyranny of the trust. And this new tyranny has for effect +to enrich the trust magnate at the expense of the whole nation. + +The course of industrial events beginning with the creation of guilds +to suppress the anarchy of the Middle Ages; the tyranny of the guilds; +the revolt against the guild; its suppression; the substitution +therefor of so-called freedom of industry, of contract, of trade; the +disorder or anarchy that ensued; the despotism of the market; the +gradual suppression of all three freedoms in order to escape from the +despotism of the market; and this suppression only preparing the way +for the tyranny of the trust, is not accidental. It is a cycle through +which industry had to pass till mankind found its way of escaping from +the whirlpool. + +We find the same cycle in the political world. The anarchy of the +horde paving the way to the despotism of the tyrant; the despotism of +the tyrant creating a revolt resulting in a new anarchy leading to +another despotism as bad as the last, until staggering between anarchy +and despotism, men slowly evolved a system of popular government. We +shall see later that popular government can never remain popular under +a system of industrial anarchy or industrial despotism, and that our +industrial organization must adopt a system of popular control, if +popular government is ever to become in fact as well as in name, +popular. + +Suffice it to point out that our industrial development following a +law of necessity has so far staggered like a drunken man from anarchy +to despotism and from despotism to anarchy--and that we are not likely +to attain order from despotism until we recognize that the competitive +system, such as we now have, can never attain it; and that it can be +attained only by a deliberate substitution of coöperation for +competition _to the extent necessary_. + + +(_c_) _Tyranny of the Union_ + +Let us now consider another part of the industrial field which seems +destined to be the arena of the next great development--the field of +labor. + +The consumer is not organized as yet; he has not waked up to the +extent to which he is fleeced by the trust. But labor is organized, +driven to organization by the terrible consequences of the freedom of +contract[73] for which he clamored so loud in the Revolutionary +period. A workingman alone, ignorant of the profits earned by the +manufacturer, ignorant of the number of workingmen applying for work, +himself hungry, and with a hungry family to support, is no match for +an employer with sufficient capital at his disposal, a considerable +knowledge of the labor market where he can find men to replace such as +ask for a higher wage than he is willing to pay, and with practically +no reason to fear hunger or even discomfort for himself or for those +who are dear to him. + +Freedom of contract, therefore, meant for the unorganized workingman +at the beginning of the nineteenth century, not freedom, but slavery. +It will be later recorded how inevitably the tyranny of the market and +the greed of capital combined to reduce workingmen to starvation wages +and condemn women and children to degrading labor. One of two things +had to happen: The whole laboring class had to be reduced to a +condition of permanent slavery, or the laboring class had to combine +to put an end to competition between worker and worker that left them +at the mercy of the market. That men reduced to the physical condition +created by the industrialism of a century ago should have had the +intelligence, courage, and self-restraint to combine and act in +concert until they were able to some extent to impose rates of wages +upon the employers, seems to-day hardly less than miraculous, and +ought to serve as a warning to capitalists that they can no longer +dispute the coming political power of such workingmen, or remain +indifferent to it, or even denounce it with _Outlook_ intemperateness. + +Mr. Eliot, President Emeritus of Harvard University, is outraged by +what he regards as the tyranny of the trade union. Has he ever thought +of the tyranny of the trust, or the tyranny of the market from which +both inevitably spring? Has he ever understood that such a competitive +system as ours can only put an end to anarchy by despotism; and can +only shake off despotism at the risk of anarchy? + +But the subject of trusts and trade unions is too large to be treated +as an incident in the discussion of the evils of the competitive +system. I shall content myself, therefore, with summing up briefly the +course of events through which industrial development has passed, for +the light it throws upon the course through which it has still to +pass: + +Anarchy of industrial conditions during the Middle Ages gave rise to +the guild, which for a season substituted order for disorder. + +The order introduced by the guild involved regulation; regulation +involves power; and wherever power is exercised free from efficient +popular control, it must end in tyranny. + +The tyranny of the guild aroused a revolt and the cry of freedom of +trade, freedom of industry, freedom of contract; these three freedoms +under the competitive system reintroduced an era of anarchy--both in +production and distribution--both for the employer and the employee, +subject only to the despotism of the market. + +The employees undertook to put an end to competition between employees +by organizing trade unions. + +The employers undertook to put an end to competition between employers +by organizing trusts. + +So the anarchy which, under the competitive system, must result from +freedom, has given rise to the tyranny of the market, and the effort +to escape the tyranny of the market to two other tyrannies--of the +trust and of the trade union. These two tyrannies stand to-day not +only arrayed against one another, but in the bitterest conflict--in +the courts, in strikes, lockouts, and ultimately on the field of +politics. + +One thing stands out in singular relief from the foregoing sketch, +viz., that it is freedom--of industry, of contract, and of trade--the +battle cry both of the bourgeois employer and the proletarian +employee--that has led to these two tyrannies. + +At the present time I believe that the confusion in the ranks not only +of the employer, but of the employee, as regards this so-called +freedom--a freedom that both are clamoring for but neither have ever +attained--is responsible for the failure of both to understand one +another. And the subject of freedom or liberty will therefore be +discussed in a chapter to itself. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[72] "Government," Vol. I, p. 276. + +[73] Book II, Chapter IV. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +PROPERTY AND LIBERTY + + +The savage in a savage country, free from all constraint of law, +custom, or government, must, I suppose, be admitted to enjoy the +greatest freedom conceivable. He is free to hunt what animals he +chooses; to pick the fruits of the earth; to gather the shells by the +seashore. He is free also to till any part of the land if he knows how +to do it; to sow and harvest it. He is also free to rob his fellow +men; to enslave them; to kill them and, if his tastes so incline, to +eat them. + +But such a savage, while enjoying the greatest freedom conceivable, is +also exposed to the greatest risk conceivable; for example, he is +exposed to the risk of having the animals he hunts taken from him by +one stronger than he; if he tills the ground and reaps the harvest, he +is liable to have that harvest taken from him; and though he is free +to rob, enslave, kill, and eat his fellow men, his fellow men are +equally free to rob, enslave, kill, and eat him. + +The same thing, of course, is true of his domestic relations. He may +capture any female he likes and compel her to serve as his wife; but +he is liable at any time to have his wife taken from him. As regards +his physical and domestic needs, therefore, while he enjoys the +greatest freedom possible, he is exposed to the greatest risk also. + + +§ 1. ORIGIN OF PROPERTY + +It may be said for this order of things, if things can be said to have +order where there is no order, that the strong men would prefer this +system to one under which they would be limited as to the satisfaction +of appetite, passion, and caprice. But the strongest men are liable to +be subdued by a sufficient number of weaker men, as Polyphemus was +subdued by Ulysses and his crew. So the strong men in the community as +well as the weak, early discovered the importance of agreeing to +respect each one the rights of the other in the things which through +their labor they had acquired. Long, then, before there was any system +of written law, our savage ancestors recognized the right of men in +the product of their toil; and this recognition, whether we find it in +the Ten Commandments of the Jews, or the Twelve Tables of the Romans, +or in the customs of more savage races, is nothing more nor less than +the institution of property. + +Although this institution of property involves an abridgment of +freedom--for under the property system nobody is free to rob +another--nevertheless it is an abridgment of freedom by which everyone +except the lazy profits; and it tends to put an end to laziness, +because, under this institution of property, only those who work can +eat. + +It is because the institution of property is an abridgment of freedom +that property and liberty are treated together in this chapter. It is +impossible correctly to understand the one without the other. It will +be seen later that as civilization develops and men are crowded +together in a small space, it becomes indispensable to the convenience +of all that freedom should be further abridged; and that so long as +the freedom of the individual is abridged, not only for the benefit of +his neighbors, but of himself, the abridgment is a good thing and not +a bad. Whereas, when we find freedom being abridged to the +disadvantage of the many and the advantage of a few, then it will turn +out that this abridgment is a bad thing and not a good. + +One feature about the abridgment of freedom it is impossible to +emphasize too much: In nations in which liberty is supposed most to +prevail, the abridgment of freedom is for the most part confined to +matters which involve little or no sacrifice. For example, the average +citizen does not find himself in the slightest degree hampered by the +criminal code; he does not want to kill or rob; it is perfectly clear +to him that the sacrifice he makes of his freedom to kill or rob is of +no importance by the side of the enormous security he receives as +regards those people who might want to kill or rob him. + +Socialism has been much injured by certain fanciful writers who have +suggested various abridgments of human freedom that would be +altogether abominable; as for example, the undue limitation of a man's +liberty to choose his wife, and to choose his occupation. And +opponents of Socialism use these totally discredited suggestions as +weapons with which to fight Socialism; though in fact, modern +Socialism repudiates them altogether. + +The institution of property, in abridging freedom, creates duties; and +in furnishing security, establishes rights. Thus we say that men have +a right of property in the product of their toil; a right to enjoy the +cabins they have built; a right to harvest the grain they have sown. +And the same thing can be said of rights and duties as has been said +about the abridgment of freedom. So long as no man exacts rights of +property in anything more than the result of his labor, so long is he +only asking what is due to him. + +And the institution of property in the product of men's toil is not +only justified by convenience, but is also ordered by religion. It is +only economic expression of the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you +would that they should do unto you;" or "I shall respect your right to +the cabin you have built, as I expect you to respect my right to the +cabin I have built." + +Moreover, even though this were not the rule imposed by religion, it +is a rule imposed by the principle of the survival of the fit. In the +conflict between races, those races in which rights of property were +respected were bound to prevail over those in which these rights were +not respected, because respect for rights of property such as these is +the only condition upon which a race can become prosperous, accumulate +wealth, strength, and all the resources that enable one race +successfully to fight with another. And here we see the first +reconciliation between religion and science. Both teach exactly the +same thing; that is to say, the Golden Rule. + +In one sense the institution of property abridges freedom. In another +sense it enlarges it. For if a man has not only to kill his game, but +to protect it from others, he is a slave to the game he has killed +until he has eaten it. Whereas if the community in which he lives has +adopted the institution of property and respects it, he can leave his +game unprotected, and has leisure therefore for other occupation. It +will be seen ultimately that if the institution of property were +confined to the product of men's toil, the increase of knowledge of +the last few centuries would permit of another enormous enlargement of +freedom, for it would permit of the organization of labor in such a +manner that the work of securing the necessaries of life that now +costs the savage all his time, and the workingman of to-day between +eight and twelve hours of his day, need really only cost him a +comparatively insignificant fraction of it. But the demonstration of +this must be left until later.[74] + +We have seen, therefore, that so long as property is confined to the +product of men's toil, all is well. The freedom of a savage life which +exposed every man to being robbed by every other man is what we call +license. The freedom, on the contrary, under the institution of +property which secures to men the product of their toil, we may call +liberty--liberty being freedom secured by law. + +"Legum omnes servi sumus, ut liberi esse possumus."[75] + +However simple the idea of property of men in the product of their +toil may seem to be, it has in practical life never yet been realized. +There are many reasons for this. + +If a community were to attempt to-day to divide its available land into +tracts of just the size each one could himself cultivate, results would +very soon demonstrate that such a division is a physical impossibility. +Land varies much in fertility, and the amount of labor necessary to +cultivate one acre of land is very different from that necessary to +cultivate another acre of land. Men differ in their ability to +cultivate. One lacks strength; another intelligence--indeed, some lack +intelligence so much that they can never successfully cultivate their +own land, and these naturally become the employees of those who can. +Again, cultivation, of land leaves nothing for a man to do for a part +of the year, and gives him a great deal more than one man can do during +the rest of the year. It is impossible, therefore, to divide up the +available land of any community into parts which will mathematically or +even approximately correspond with the amount of work that each man can +do during the year. Then, too, the men who render great services to the +community seem entitled to larger buildings, better accommodations, +more ease and comfort, more personal service than those who render no +service beyond simply the day's work upon land. We find ourselves +confronted immediately by the enormous difficulty that results from the +inequality of land and the inequality of men, in any attempt to frame a +society which will even approximately assure to every man the product +of his own labor. These are inherent difficulties which no statesman +can disregard. + +These difficulties have been enormously increased by the selfishness, +the intelligence, the violence, and the craft of men, which have been +used to secure to some such large tracts of land that the majority +were left without land altogether. And this system tends to be +perpetuated by the natural and laudable desire of every man to leave +his children after his death as well off as himself, thus creating +laws regarding testacy and intestacy of a character to secure this. +But the satisfaction of this laudable paternal instinct has had a bad +effect upon the community; for, whereas we are all disposed to allow +to every man the property which he has accumulated himself, even +though this accumulation confers upon him larger wealth than his +services warrant, we cannot but feel it improper that his issue, who +may be altogether worthless persons, should be enabled through the +success of their skilful ancestor to lead lives of idleness and even +profligacy from generation to generation. We are all, for example, +outraged to think that because John Jacob Astor over a century ago +had the forethought to invest his earnings in New York real estate, +his descendant, William Waldorf Astor, should to-day, though he has +abjured his American nationality and thereby escapes the payment of +personal taxes, nevertheless receive millions annually arising from +property which has increased in value through the labor of Americans +and not through any labor of his own. + +Thus we find that owing to inherent physical difficulties such as the +inequality of land and the inequality of men, and owing to moral +difficulties some of which are reprehensible, as for example, avarice +and violence; and others commendable, such as intelligence and love of +offspring, notions of property have become altogether different in +fact from what they are in theory. Rights of property are not confined +to the product of men's toil, but cover all those things which a +family has been enabled under the law to accumulate whether by good +deeds or by bad. This has given rise to two well-defined classes--one +very small which owns land, and the other very large which owns no +land. And the fact that the small class owns land and the large one +does not own it, makes the latter dependent upon the former. + +Much the same thing has taken place as regards personal property. +Relatively few men have secured control of the great industries of the +country, and are thereby in a position to dictate who shall work at +these industries, and as to the wages and conditions under which the +work shall be done. + +Economically, therefore, the world can be divided into two sets of +people--a small set that owns the land and controls our industries; +and an enormous number of people dependent upon these; that is to say, +the vast majority can only work at these industries upon the +conditions imposed by a relatively insignificant minority. + +The institution of property, therefore, originally destined to assure +to men the product of their toil, has altogether changed in character, +so that it--on the contrary--puts a very few men in a position where +they can exploit the labor of the rest. + +A study of property and liberty cannot be separated from a study of +government, because the institution of property involves the idea of +law, and of a government to enforce the law. So long as no man seeks +to secure more property than the product of his labor, the amount of +government necessary to enforce the law need be but small--only just +enough to compel the lazy to work and to prevent them from stealing. +But the moment the institution of property is extended to cover more +than the product of labor, government has to be harsh; for as this +perverted notion of property creates a small propertied class and a +large proletariat, it is obvious that the government has to be +bolstered by a powerful organization of law courts, prisons, army, and +police in order to enable a very small minority to coerce a very large +majority. In fact, in our ancient civilizations the propertied class +consisted of either priests, soldiers, or both. In the case of the +priests, it was the domination of superior intelligence over +unintelligent superstition; and in the case of the soldiers, it was +the domination of organized force. Now, if the small propertied class +which controlled the government had governed well, or indeed had +governed without grossly outraging the governed, the whole development +of man might have been different. But it is not in human nature for a +few men possessed of autocratic power to use that power wisely. There +are exceptional periods in the history of the world when autocratic +power has been used wisely; but in the long run the opportunities +furnished by unlimited power to the evil propensities in men are +certain to result in gross injustice. Such is the testimony of +history. + +Now if the few in the exploitation of the many had shown as much +temperance and wisdom as our ranch-men show to their cattle--and this +God knows is not much--the few might have enjoyed their liberty at the +expense of the many for an indefinite period. But they have shown so +little of either that in the State of New York our official Labor +Bulletin publishes that there have been for two years past about +200,000 breadwinners unable to earn the means of subsistence, and this +means--on the generally admitted average of four dependents (aged, +infirm, women, and children) to every breadwinner--a million human +beings on the verge of starvation for no fault of their own. And as +the population of New York is about one-tenth that of the whole +country, it would seem as though in this great, wealthy, prosperous +nation of ours freedom spells for some ten millions of people freedom +only to starve. + +And as these ten millions are not cattle, but men and women with +hearts and brains, armed with a vote and carefully--nay, +compulsorily--educated to use this vote effectually, it does seem a +little foolish to imagine that they will continue indefinitely to +tolerate these conditions, if they can be changed. + +So not only by the unfortunate majority, but also by some of the +fortunate minority who have bowels of compassion, the question is +being asked with insistence whether these conditions may not be +changed and if so how. + +Conspicuous among the evils that have resulted from misgovernment by +the propertied class, are personal slavery and political despotism. +And the history of the world may be summed up as the effort of the +majority to escape from these two evils. + +One reason why men have confused ideas about liberty is that they have +not carefully distinguished the various phases through which this +conflict has passed; for there are three kinds of liberty, all of +which are singularly interwoven one with the other and yet each of +which is distinctly different from the other. + +There is personal liberty; that is, freedom from physical restraint. +In all civilized countries, personal liberty has been, to a large +measure, secured. Slavery, except in some parts of Africa, is +practically unknown, and every individual is protected from arbitrary +arrest west of Russia. + +Next comes political liberty, which in so-called popular governments +we are supposed to enjoy; that is, we are supposed to be no longer +subject to autocratic government; we are supposed each to have a voice +in determining who are to govern us and what are to be the laws under +which we are to be governed. It will be seen later on that this +so-called political liberty is, in fact, enjoyed only by a very few +people in any country of the world, though universal franchise seems +to assure it to all. + +Third and last, there is economic liberty; that is, freedom to earn +one's living. We have seen that the lawless savage enjoys economic +freedom. There is no restraint whatever upon him in procuring those +things which he needs--whether food, clothing, or shelter. We have +also seen that his position was immensely improved by the institution +of property in the product of toil, for under this definition of +property he practically enjoyed security and retained all the freedom +previously enjoyed except the freedom to rob; and he enjoyed thereby a +larger freedom because he did not have to keep perpetual watch over +the things he had hunted or produced. + +But the moment the land was appropriated by a few men so that the +majority could not work on the land except as the wage servants of the +propertied class, then economic liberty came to an end; for no man can +be considered economically free if he depends upon some other man not +only for the means of subsistence, but for opportunity to work in +order to earn the means of subsistence. This economic dependence, due +to the appropriation of land by a class, results in a loss of all the +other liberties; for the franchise is of no value to a man every +waking hour of whose day has to be spent in earning a wage just +sufficient to support himself and his family. A vote can only be +effectually exercised if directed by a political education sufficient +to understand the political problems of the day, and if combined with +other votes in a political organization sufficient to carry out the +collective will of the people. The facility with which the Republican +and Democratic parties have divided the vote of the proletariat is +mainly due, I think, to the fact that the proletariat is too exhausted +by overwork to undertake political organization, though it is +beginning now to understand the necessity for doing so. + +Last, but not least, a man cannot be regarded as enjoying liberty to +any appreciable extent if his actions during all the waking hours of +the day are determined, not by his own free will, but by the factory +bell. + +And although it may be necessary to secure personal and political +liberty before economic liberty can be attained, it is certain that +until economic liberty be attained, neither political nor personal +liberty is effectually enjoyed. This subject will be treated at +greater length when we study the Political Aspect of Socialism.[76] +The point which it is essential to keep clearly in mind now is that +there are two notions of property, one of which is beneficent, and +furnishes a maximum of security and a maximum of liberty; the other of +which is unjust, and furnishes neither security nor liberty except to +the privileged few. The first is the theory that men are entitled to +property in the product of their labor; the second is that men are +entitled to property in things which are not the product of their +labor. + +The most conspicuous of these things is land, which of course is not +the product of any man's labor, but the gift of Nature or God to the +whole race, or in America to Americans--certainly not to the +Englishman, W.W. Astor, for instance. And the appropriation by a few +men of all the tools of production--the factories, water power, steam +power, electric power, and of the great natural monopolies such as +railroads, telegraphs, telephones, tramways, gas, etc., has had just +as bad a result as the appropriation of land, for it has brought about +exactly the same condition--the exploitation of the many by the few. +This is the point which Henry George has overlooked, and it is a +failure to appreciate this fact that principally occasions the +differences between Single Taxers and Socialists. Private ownership of +land by a few was doubtless in its origin an act of spoliation; +whereas private ownership of factories and natural monopolies was the +result of the application of intelligence and labor to the +organization of industry. The latter, therefore, seems relatively +justifiable, whereas the first is not justifiable. But if the effect +of the latter is as bad for the community as that of the former, and +if there can be no escape from this system of exploitation except by +readjusting property in factories as well as property in land, does it +not seem evident that both must equally be faced? + +At this point it may be well to point out that sound Socialism does +not endorse such exaggeration as Proudhon's "La propriété est le +vol"--"Property is theft," though there may be Socialists who do. On +the contrary, the fundamental basis of sound Socialism is the +distinction between property in the product of men's own toil and +property in the product of other men's toil. The one is altogether +just and beneficial; the other is unjust and detrimental. + +Nor does Socialism fail to take into account the undoubted fact that +much land and many factories represent to-day an investment of +accumulated wages; and that to expropriate such land without +compensation would be as unjust an act of spoliation as the seizure of +land by violence or the enclosing of commons by craft. + +On the contrary, Socialism recognizes that the problem of how to +readjust property so as to secure to men the full product of their +toil is of great difficulty and can only be solved by the application +thereto of the highest deliberation and wisdom. It appeals, therefore, +to those who have knowledge and those who have experience, those who +have studied and those who have suffered, convinced that it is by +uniting knowledge and experience and not by disuniting them that the +solution can best be attained. + +We are now in a position to complete what has been said on the subject +of liberty. + +Liberty is defined in all our dictionaries as "freedom from +restraint." + +But it may be truly said that there is no such thing as universal +freedom from restraint. There may be indeed freedom from restraint of +man by man. But we remain under restraint to Nature owing to our +natural needs. That is to say, we are not free to spend our time as we +wish, for our natural needs compel us to devote our time to securing +shelter, clothing, and food. So also there may be partial freedom from +the restraint of Nature; but only upon the condition of restraint of +man by man, a restraint which under existing conditions bestows in +ordinate and generally unhappy leisure upon a few at the expense of +all the rest. We have therefore to recognize two kinds of restraint: + +Natural restraint due to our needs, which makes us slaves to +things--shelter, clothing, and food; + +Human restraint, exercised by one man over another, that puts some men +under restraint to others. + +Again, the kind of freedom from restraint that exists in the savage +state is incompatible with two very precious things--security and +leisure; and there are two kinds of insecurity, corresponding to the +two kinds of restraint just mentioned: + +I. Insecurity that arises from our own needs--food, shelter, clothing, +etc. + +II. Insecurity that arises from the needs of others--theft, slavery, +despotism, etc. + +The first--insecurity arising from our own needs--tends to make us +slaves to things. + +The second--insecurity arising from the needs of others--tends to make +us slaves to people. + +In the savage state or state of Nature, this insecurity is at a +maximum. A savage is a slave to his needs to such an extent that in +any climate save the tropics, he has to devote all his time to +satisfying them. And he is liable to be robbed or reduced to slavery +by men stronger than he. + +It was to rescue himself from this insecurity that man created the +institution of property--of priceless value, it assured to men the +product of their labor and did not encourage one man to exploit the +labor of another. And for the same purpose man instituted law; that +is, the power for enforcing these rules--both also of priceless value +so long as they furnished security and the leisure that results +therefrom. + +It was inevitable, however, that, owing to inequalities of men and of +things, the very system instituted to give security, liberty, and +leisure to all, should end by giving security, liberty, and leisure to +a few at the expense of the many. + +Property, therefore, came to include two very different principles: + + I. That men should securely enjoy the product of their toil. + This is believed by Socialists to be the desirable principle of + property. + + II. That a few should without any toil enjoy the products of the + toil of the majority. This is the principle of property that + actually prevails to-day. + +Now the bourgeois claims that the first or desirable principle of +property is unattainable and that the second is the only practical +system. This is the whole question we have to discuss. + +I think that if we carefully reduce to its simplest terms the effort +of civilization to make men happy it will be found to be this: + +It seeks to rescue men from the two restraints under which they labor +in a savage state: + +Natural restraint due to our needs, i.e., shelter, clothing, food, +etc. + +Human restraint due to the needs of others, i.e., theft, violence, +slavery, despotism, etc. + +In other words, it seeks to secure for men _Liberty_, which, properly +understood, is emancipation from these two restraints. And the +blessings that ought to follow such liberty as this are two-fold: +Security and leisure. So that liberty, security, and leisure may be +described as the Trinity of human happiness; and all the more justly +because just as it is from the First Person of the Holy Trinity that +the other Two emerge, so it is from liberty that we get security and +leisure. + +The real issue between the bourgeois and the Socialist is then reduced +to the following: + +Can security, liberty, and leisure be enjoyed only by a few at the +expense of the many? Or can they be enjoyed equally by all? + +I am glad in this connection to use the word "enjoyed," because this +word assumes--as indeed the whole bourgeois philosophy assumes--that +the few not only have security, liberty, and leisure, but that they +"enjoy" them; whereas I think it can be demonstrated that only the +worthless few have leisure and that they do not enjoy it, and that +neither the industrious nor the worthless have liberty or security at +all. In other words, the few in grasping at these things at the +expense of the many _enjoy_ none of them because of the hard fact of +human solidarity, which will drive them at last to reconsider all +these things. But this belongs to the subject of Solidarity and cannot +therefore be elaborated in this chapter. + +The essential thing to be kept in mind is that the only liberty worth +having is one that will rescue us from _both_ kinds of +restraints--natural and human; that it is quite useless to throw off +human restraint and fall back into the condition of natural slavery +which seems to be the policy of the anarchist; nor is it of any +advantage to escape from natural slavery only to become a prey to +human despotism or exploitation, according to the creed of the +bourgeois. Socialism is the _juste milieu_ between Let-alone-ism on +the one hand and Anarchism on the other. Liberty, to be worth having, +must secure the greatest emancipation from _both_ restraints possible. + +If we apply this notion of liberty to existing conditions, I think we +shall come to the following conclusion: + +From natural slavery created by men's needs it was impossible for the +race to escape, except by the system which actually prevails--of +making the unwealthy majority work for the wealthy few. This results +in pauperism, prostitution, and crime. + +Slavery to Nature in a natural or savage state practically condemns +savages to devote their whole time to procuring the necessaries of +life, and to protecting these things, once procured, from the +spoliation of their neighbors. A great stride in the progress of +humanity was made when savages began each to respect the product, of +the other's toil. And if this system could have prevailed, our late +advance in science and our consequent, control of Nature would secure +us two priceless advantages: one, security from spoilation; the other, +an organization of labor that would reduce the hours every man would +have to spend in procuring the necessaries and comforts of life to a +very small fraction of the working day. The results in leisure that +would accrue under a coöperative system will be explained later;[77] +but at this point it seems only necessary to indicate that if a man +need devote only three or four hours during the working days of his +life to satisfying his needs, he would have most of his waking hours +to devote to social service, literature, art, music, or amusement, to +an understanding of his political and economic problems, and to the +political organization necessary to secure popular control over +government for the first time in the history of the world. Every +reform movement in New York has failed because men who wanted reform +did not have the leisure to give to it; and the reform movement was +therefore left to those who devoted their whole time to it in order to +share the plunder on the day of victory. In other words, every reform +movement if successful resulted in a political machine animated by +selfish motives and therefore as bad as other political machines +similarly animated. When every man has time to protect his business +interests in the government; when these business interests are not +hostile to the general welfare, but coincide with it; and when +politics is the business of every man instead of being as now the +business of a few professional politicians, then for the first time +this world will see a veritable democracy. + +Liberty, security, and leisure seem to me altogether the most +important things that we can attain through a correct understanding of +property. But owing to false notions of property created by the few +who have acquired all the property at the expense of their +fellow-citizens, there have arisen artificial conditions which have +created what may be called artificial slavery; that is to say, +personal dependence, political dependence, and economic dependence. Of +these three the last is the most important because, in consequence of +it, neither personal nor political independence is effectually +enjoyed. That these three forms of dependence are unnecessary and are +due to false notions of property which can be slowly eradicated, is +the belief of the Socialist. It is also his belief that the very +changes that will put an end to these three forms of dependence will +also set up true notions of property instead of false, and thereby +secure the priceless benefits of liberty and security on the one hand +and of leisure on the other. + +In other words, Socialism proposes not to abolish property, but to +reinstate it; to relieve the rich from the insecurity and hatred to +which they are now exposed; to rescue them from slavery to wealth and +_ennui_; to confer upon them the immense consolation of knowing that +what they enjoy is at the expense of no one; that it commits none to +pauperism, prostitution, or crime; that it is earned by social +service, the only service worth doing; that the consideration they +enjoy is due to their own merits and not to inherited or ill-gotten +wealth; and to accomplish this by securing to all men the product of +their toil; by restoring property to the consideration to which it is +entitled; by furnishing to every man the maximum of liberty, security, +and leisure. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[74] Book III, Chapter II. + +[75] Cicero, "Pro Cluentio," sec. 53. + +[76] Book III, Chapter III. + +[77] Book III, Chapter V. Economic Aspect. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE RESULTS OF PROPERTY + + +Not only did Proudhon make a great mistake in condemning all property, +but some Socialists still make the same mistake; for property even in +its worst form has rendered humanity an indispensable service. It is +the cocoon which the human chrysalis has instinctively wound around +itself for protection while it is changing from a lower to a higher +stage of development. + +For example, property even in its worst form--that is, property that +puts one man in a position to exploit the labor of another man--has +encouraged the intelligent and industrious to accumulate wealth; and +the accumulation of wealth makes economic development possible; for if +a man produced no more than was necessary for the support of himself +and his family, there would be no surplus out of which to support +those engaged in the development of national resources--for example, +the building of roads, the building of railroads, the building of +factories, the exploitation of mines. Every progressing nation has got +to have two totally different resources--the resources necessary to +support that part of the population which is engaged in production and +distribution--that is, in keeping the community alive; and the +resources accumulated for supporting those who are developing the +country; for example, the building of roads, etc. Obviously, +therefore, it is indispensable that more be produced every year than +is necessary for the support of those engaged in production and +distribution; enough must be produced to support also those engaged in +building roads, factories, etc. + +Indeed little can be done in developing a country until a certain +amount of commodities has been accumulated for this purpose. Now the +accumulated resources applicable to development form what is called +capital--which, in the hands of a few persons, permits of those few +exploiting the rest; but in the hands of the producers themselves, +will permit of a better development without the evil results of +exploitation. It is alleged by opponents of Socialists that Socialism +proposes to abolish wealth or capital. It is inconceivable that men +supposed to be educated--such as Roosevelt, Taft, Bryan--should be so +ignorant in a matter concerning which it is their peculiar duty to be +informed. No cabinet minister in England, Germany, or France would be +capable of such a mistake.[78] In Europe statesmen take the trouble to +study Socialism and thus avoid making themselves ridiculous by such a +blunder as believing that Socialism proposes to destroy or abolish +wealth. Far from wishing to abolish wealth, Socialism seeks to enhance +it--to consecrate it--to put it beyond the reach of private avarice or +public discontent. How they expect to do this will be explained later. +Meanwhile, it is important to keep clearly in mind the fact that it is +not wealth that Socialists denounce, but the present distribution of +wealth. This explains why well-informed Socialists are the first to +recognize the beneficent rôle which the institution of private +property even in its worst form has played in stimulating +accumulation. + +Here again, whether property was instituted for the deliberate purpose +of stimulating accumulation or not, we see once more evolution +favoring the survival of those nations who did accumulate at the +expense of those who did not. In a conflict between two tribes, it was +the tribe provided with the larger store of good weapons and food that +must eventually prevail over the tribe less well provided with these. +And so evolution has pushed men in the direction of accumulating +wealth because it destroyed those tribes which did not accumulate it +and allowed the survival only of those who did. + +This accumulation of wealth involved two qualities of predominating +importance in human development, the exercise of forethought and +self-restraint. If we compare man with the lower animals we find that +there are no qualities in which he differs more from them than in +these two. Man is capable of deliberate self-restraint. And the +nations most capable of forethought and self-restraint have prevailed +over nations which have been less capable of these. Here again, it may +be incidentally pointed out that in no respect was the institution of +property more important to human development than in the recognition +of the kind of property which a man originally had in his wife and +children; and the more the domestic relations created by this property +required exercise of self-restraint, the more the nations having these +institutions prevailed over those which did not have them. + +The systematic survival first of patriarchal tribes over metronymic +tribes,[79] and secondly, of monogamous tribes over polygamous +tribes, is an unanswerable argument in favor of marriage, of which no +well-informed Socialist fails to take account--Mr. Roosevelt to the +contrary notwithstanding. The Socialist party is to be judged by its +platform and not by extracts of isolated writers who have no more +right to bind the whole Socialist party on the subject of marriage, +than an isolated Republican or Democrat would have to bind the +Republican or Democratic parties respectively. Of course, property of +a man in his wife long ago ceased to exist in civilized countries; it +has played its part in its time, but disappeared before a more humane, +intelligent, and just understanding of the relations of man to his +wife. In the same way, the right of property of one man in the labor +of another will also yield to a more intelligent and wise +understanding of the right of property. + +The institution of property performs one other function in society of +inestimable importance. Early civilizations such as those of Greece +and Rome, dominated by families who claimed descent from the gods, +created an aristocracy of birth which, because it was exclusive, +tended inevitably to become tyrannical. As, however, rights of +property became more and more recognized, the aristocracy found itself +confronted by a population that had accumulated wealth indispensable +to the maintenance of the state. Men too who had accumulated this +wealth had done so by the use of their brains, industry, forethought, +and self-restraint. They constituted a group with which the +aristocracy of birth had first to parley and to which it had +eventually to succumb. It is true that this group of the aristocracy +of wealth, which succeeded the aristocracy of birth, in one sense only +replaced one set of rulers by another. But the transfer of power to +the aristocracy of wealth was almost always effected through the +support of the people, and was almost always attended by some +concession of political control to the people. So that on the whole, +the tendency has been for every transfer of political power from the +aristocracy of birth to the aristocracy of wealth to include some +element of popular representation until slowly through the gradual +substitution of the bourgeoisie for the king, noble, and priest, the +people has secured the priceless boon of the franchise which it has +not yet learned to use.[80] + + +§ 1. THE GUILD + +Now that we have given full credit to the rôle which property has +played in the world, let us consider some of its results. In the first +place, let us eliminate a prevailing error. We frequently read in +Socialist books that the competitive system is the necessary result of +the institution of private property. This is not altogether true: +Obviously, the institution of property has connected with it the +notion that as long as men are protected in the product of their +labor, every man is bound to labor enough to support himself; and if +he does not so labor, he must suffer the natural consequences. Under +this system, every man is at liberty to labor in whatever occupation +he chooses, to produce as much as he can, and to get the best price he +can for what he produces. No attempt will be made here to describe the +abominable consequences of this system prior to the Middle Ages. The +history of the industrial struggle prior to the Middle Ages is still +obscure and complicated. But the Crusades in the eleventh century +withdrew from Europe the most turbulent of its oppressing nobility +and the most servile of its religious subjects. The result was to give +to the less servile craftsmen an opportunity to organize themselves +against the noble and the priest in defence of their common craft. So +we find all over Europe an immense development of guilds or +corporations organized by the respective crafts or industries, +primarily for self-defence, and secondarily, for the organization and +regulation of labor therein. The story of these guilds has been too +often written to make it necessary to repeat it here.[81] I shall +content myself therefore with pointing out that these guilds did for a +season exercise an extraordinarily beneficial effect, not only on +industry, but on government. The guilds were composed not only of +employers, but also employees, and thus stand out in marked contrast +to trade unions. In many respects, however, they were similar to trade +unions. Thus they had benefit funds in case of sickness and death; and +they were animated by a sense of solidarity similar to that which +animates the trade unions. But the fact that the guild included +employer as well as employee gave it also different and important +functions. Every guild at the outset was inspired by a sense of +self-respect as well as of solidarity. It was a matter of pride with +them that the guild should furnish no goods not up to standard. The +guild therefore early established elaborate rules fixing standards and +prices so that no man could charge a high price for a low standard of +goods, nor could he compete with others in the same guild by offering +a high standard of goods for a lower price than that determined by the +guild. The guild protected the public from poor workmanship and the +worker from competition. Moreover, competition was still further +eliminated by the fact that no man could engage in any craft or trade +unless he belonged to the guild organized to defend and protect the +trade; and as the guild became a part of the municipal government and +indeed at certain periods controlled the municipal government +altogether, the guild was in a position to enforce this rule. + +There are many features in the guild system which would be usefully +borrowed in a coöperative commonwealth. But the guild system broke +down because every guild was concerned with its own interests +irrespective of the interests of the whole community. Every guild +therefore became a class corporation which sought to use the guild for +purely selfish purposes. Entrance to the guild was confined to members +of the families of those controlling the guild; and no provision was +made for the thousands and hundreds of thousands who, because they +could not get admission to a guild and could find no work to do upon +the land, were left to wander as vagrants through the streets and +highways with no alternative save to steal or starve. In other words, +the vagrant of the Middle Ages included the unemployed of to-day. +Again, those who controlled the guild sought by limiting the number of +its members to create a privileged society from which they could +derive wealth without labor. Thus the whole business of killing and +selling meat was at one time in Paris confined to twenty persons. +These persons did not themselves engage in the business, but they +sublet their respective monopolies to others, and thus constituted an +idle aristocracy. + +The abuses which attended the guild system became so intolerable that +in 1776, the very year when we in America were setting forth our +political rights in the Declaration of Independence, King Louis XVI +proclaimed the economic rights of the workingmen in France in one of +the most extraordinary documents to be found in history.[82] If we +could get this Republic of America to promulgate and to put into +operation the principles set forth in this decree of an absolute king +in 1776, we should secure all that the Socialist party of to-day +demands; that is to say, the right secured by law to men, not only to +work, but to enjoy the full product of their work. But civilization +had not yet advanced far enough to understand the full import of this +decree, and the guilds were too powerful at that time to permit of its +execution. The Parlement de Paris flatly refused to register the +edict. The king tried to execute the edict notwithstanding the refusal +by the Paris Parlement; but the attempt created such disorder that in +the same year the edict was abrogated. No attempt was made to execute +this decree in the provinces whatever. Meanwhile, however, two forces +were at work that were destined to break up the tyranny of the guilds. +One was the discovery of steam, which put an end to home industry and +subjected workmen to the conditions imposed by the owner of the +factory. The other was the growing upheaval of the Tiers Etat, or +popular branch of the government, which resulted in the French +Revolution. + +The French Revolution has been a good deal too much confined by +historians to the political upheaval of the people against the noble, +the priest, and the king. Attention has not been sufficiently +attracted to the fact that it was at the same time a revolt against +the economic tyranny of the corporation or the guild. The cry of +liberty which ushered in the French Revolution was not confined to +political liberty. It was extended to liberty of industry--liberty of +trade--liberty of contract. In other words, what Rousseau did for +political emancipation with his theory of social contract, de Quesnay +did for economic emancipation with his doctrine of _laissez faire_, a +doctrine which prepared the way for the political economy of Adam +Smith and that of the Manchester School. + +The essential principle preached by de Quesnay and later by Adam Smith +and Herbert Spencer, is that every man must in his efforts to support +himself and accumulate wealth be "let alone!" + +It is of the utmost interest that this policy of _laissez faire_ was +inaugurated under the cry of liberty and is still supported on the +ground of liberty. When we see the evil consequences of this kind of +liberty we shall feel like crying with Madame Roland when she saw the +guillotine doing its grim work on the Place de la Grêve: + + "O liberty, what crimes are committed in thy name!" + +And here we shall appreciate the importance of having clear ideas as +to what liberty is and of therefore being able to distinguish false +notions of liberty from true. + +If leaving to every man absolute liberty as to what he is to produce, +how he is to produce, and what he shall charge for it, would result in +the most orderly and therefore economical system of production and +distribution; if it were to secure to every man work in the first +place, and the product of his work in the second place, then it would +be justified. But if it produces none of these things, but on the +contrary, produces the greatest conceivable disorder and therefore +greatest possible waste; if it not only fails to assure to men the +product of their work, but even fails to give as many as one-third of +those engaged in industry any chance of working at all, as at present, +so that hundreds of thousands and even millions are at this time of +writing not only without work, but actually on the verge of +starvation--and if this system not only causes injustice and misery +to all these millions, but does not even make the few who profit by it +happy--if the tendency is also to make them immoral--if instead of +promoting liberty, it--on the contrary--makes slaves of all, not only +of employees but also of employers, so that neither is free to be +generous or just to the other and both are skirting ruin--the employer +in the shape of bankruptcy, and the employee in the shape of +unemployment; and last but not least, if this system is stupid--of all +the stupid systems conceivable the most stupid--and I have been able +to call as witnesses to this assertion the admittedly ablest business +men now living in America, what shall we shrewd, practical Americans +have to say in defence of it? + +But we have still two important results of the competitive system to +consider--the trade union and the trust; not only for the evils that +attend them, but for the inevitable conflict to which they give rise. +The issue of this conflict is the real political issue of the day. All +the political parties save only one are seeking to ignore it; but they +cannot. It will end by either reforming or destroying them. To this +question too much attention cannot be given, for upon it depends the +survival of civilization itself. + + +§ 2. TRADE UNIONS + +The attempt has already been made to show that the organization of +trade unions and trusts was not due to accident, but was the necessary +and inevitable consequence of the freedom of contract, freedom of +industry, and freedom of trade inaugurated by the French Revolution. +These three so-called freedoms are a sentimental way of describing the +competitive system, and as a matter of fact, not only make real +freedom impossible, but pave the way for despotism--the despotism of +the market in the first place and the despotism of the trade union and +trust, to which the despotism of the market inevitably leads. + +The illusion contained in the words "freedom of contract" is well +demonstrated in the history of the trade union, for if the employee is +to be free to make such contracts as he chooses, he is not only free +as regards the contracts he chooses to make with his employer, but +also as regards the contracts he chooses to make with his fellow +employee. And amongst the contracts that he is free to make with his +fellow employee is the contract not to work for his employer except +under certain agreed conditions. In other words, the trade union is +simply an expression of freedom of contract between employee and +employee. But to what does this freedom of contract between employee +and employee lead? It leads to a suppression of the freedom of +contract, for it is an agreement not to work with the employee except +under conditions imposed by the trade union. Freedom of contract, +therefore, so far as the employee is concerned, under the competitive +system compels employees to abandon freedom of contract. + +This may seem paradoxical until we understand the real significance of +it. Man stands between two alternatives--the unlimited freedom and +insecurity of savagery and the limited freedom and security of +civilization. This has been developed in the chapter on Property and +Liberty and receives interesting confirmation in the history of trade +unions, which has been too often and too well told to make it +necessary to repeat it here. Suffice it to point out that all +historians of the trade union movement record the fact that at the +very time when employers were shouting for freedom of contract they +passed laws denying freedom of contract to workingmen.[83] But the +very effort of the employers to prevent employees from combining with +one another reduced wages to so low a level and brought about so +wicked an exploitation of women and children and such unsanitary +conditions of the whole working population, that a parliament of +employers was as a matter of national defence compelled to restore to +workingmen the right to agree to abandon freedom of contract. + +It may appear to the unsophisticated that for a workingman to endeavor +to escape from the tyranny of the employer by subjecting himself to +the tyranny of the trade union is but a jump from the frying-pan into +the fire. But such a conclusion would display woeful ignorance as to +the whole trend of human development; that is to say, from involuntary +subjection to a power over which we have no control, to voluntary +subjection to a power over which we have control. This is the history +of the development of all popular government. Reactionaries are +disposed to dwell on what they call the tyranny of the majority and +compare it unfavorably with the beneficent despotism of a Henri IV. +They, however, ignore the very material fact that an absolute monarchy +represents an involuntary servitude over which the subject has no +control; whereas the tyranny of a majority represents a voluntary +subjection to authority over which we have control. It may be and +undoubtedly is true that control over government even under popular +forms of government is small and ineffectual; but I hope to make it +clear in the chapter on the Political Aspect of Socialism[84] that the +ineffectualness of our control over government is due to the +competitive system and that under a coöperative system our control +over government would be effectual; and that it is only under a +coöperative commonwealth that the ideal democracy can be realized. + +The development of trade unionism throws also a great light on the +fact of human solidarity. Socialists are often accused of being +theoretical and the bourgeois is disposed to regard human solidarity +as a theory. But in the growth of trade unionism it will be observed +that solidarity presents itself as a rock upon which the competitive +system must ultimately be wrecked. The capitalist class expressed its +wish in the law of 1799, which was a law of oppression; but the +inconvenient fact that women cannot be worked like beasts of burden +under ground without arousing the sympathies even of the capitalist +class; that little children cannot be made to suffer and to starve +without reaching the hearts of the whole nation, and that cholera bred +in unsanitary dwellings will find its way to the doors of the rich, +forced this same capitalist class to abrogate the law of 1799; to +abandon the policy of oppression in consideration of its own best +interests. + +So combinations amongst employees have grown in strength in spite of +all the power of capital--political and industrial. This progress was +inevitable. Given freedom of contract, or in other words, the +competitive system; given some intelligence on the part of some of the +proletariat; and some compassion in the hearts of some employers, and +trade unions had to develop and grow in strength. + +But now that they have developed and grown in strength--now that they +can be said to have reached what seems to be maturity, let us consider +how much good they have done. Let us discuss the unsolved and what I +believe to be the insoluble problems that result from trade unionism. + +Before entering into this subject, let me say that if I do not discuss +here the merits of trade unionism it is not because I am not aware of +them; but rather because in this work on Socialism, which I desire to +make as concise as possible, it is not the merits of trade unionism +which it is important to emphasize, but their demerits. Although the +intelligence, order, and self-restraint displayed in the trade union +movement must be to the eternal credit of the workingman, nevertheless +all his efforts, however intelligent, however orderly, however +sacrificing, have failed to solve the problem of the conflict between +labor and capital. It is obviously wiser for the workingman to seek +salvation where it is to be found than by clinging exclusively to +trade unionism to abandon salvation altogether. Trade unionism, I +cannot emphasize it too much--was and is still a necessary step in the +development and education of the workingman; but it is only a step, +and nothing demonstrates the inadequacy of trade unionism better than +the conditions of unemployment that have existed during the last two +years not only in the United States of America, but almost throughout +the entire civilized world. It must not be supposed, however, that +because trade unions are believed to have created new evils almost as +intolerable as those they were organized to suppress, that trade +unions are to be looked upon with disfavor. On the contrary, the whole +argument of this book proceeds upon the self-evident fact that trade +unions have performed a necessary function and are bound to perform a +necessary function in the community until the trade union realizes its +ideal, but that a realization of this ideal is impossible under the +competitive system. In other words, the attempt will be made not only +to demonstrate that trade unions have, under the competitive system, +failed and must continue to fail to accomplish the work they set out +to do, but that under the coöperative system they can and will attain +their ideal--they can and will perform exactly what they started out +to do. However much, therefore, our argument may demonstrate the +failure of trade unions under existing conditions, it only leads to +the triumph of trade unions under coöperative conditions. What the +trade union has failed to do under competition, it can and will +accomplish under a coöperative commonwealth. + +The argument of this book, therefore, is not to abandon trade unions, +but, on the contrary, to appeal to the unorganized employee to join +the trade union in order to strengthen it industrially; and on the +other hand to appeal to all employees, organized or unorganized, to +combine politically for the purpose of securing by franchise what they +never can accomplish by the strike. + +The moral then to be drawn from the following pages is not that trade +unions have come to an end of their usefulness, but that whereas their +task in the past has been to check exploitation, their rôle in the +future will be to put an end to it altogether. + + +§ 3. THE UNSOLVED AND INSOLUBLE PROBLEMS OF TRADE UNIONISM + +John Mitchell in his book "Organized Labor" has very properly stated +that "the ideal of Trade Unionism is to combine in one organization +_all_ the men employed, or capable of being employed, at a given +trade, and to demand and secure for each and _all_ of them a definite +minimum standard of wages, hours and conditions of work;"[85] and the +principle of Trade Unionism is also well described as "the _absolute +and complete prohibition_ of contracts between employers and +individual men."[86] In other words, the object of the Trade Union is +to put an end to competition between employees in order to substitute +what is called "collective bargaining," which, if complete, would put +the employer at the mercy of the employee, for individual bargaining, +which on the contrary puts the employee at the mercy of the employer. + +The above is stated in other words in the Report of the Industrial +Commission:[87] + +"The union is conceived as a means of bettering the condition of its +members by united action. If this action is to be thoroughly +effective, it must be taken by or on behalf of _all the members of the +craft_. It is by the establishment of an _absolute monopoly of labor +power_ and to ameliorate the conditions under which it is sold and +used." + +Now the inherent and necessary defect of trade unionism under the +competitive system is to be found in the words I have italicized in +the above extract. If the trade union could be a "real monopoly of +labor," it could dictate terms to the employer; but it must not be +forgotten that, with the employer, it would remain subject to the +conditions created by the market. The very fact, however, that all +relations between labor and capital are determined by the conditions +of the market makes it impossible and will always make it impossible +for the trade union to attain its ideal; that is to say, to constitute +an absolute monopoly of labor power, to bind in one organization _all_ +the men employed, to secure the absolute and complete prohibition of +contracts between employers and individual men, to demand and secure +for each and _all_ of them a definite minimum standard of labor, +wages, and conditions of work. This is the crux of the whole question. + +It has taken over a century of organization on the part of the +employer and employee, of conflict between the two, of bankruptcy for +the employer and of misery for the employee, to demonstrate that the +ideal of trade unionism has not been and can never, so long as the +competitive system persists, be attained. The trade unionist will +answer that even though it be impossible to attain the ideal, trade +unions have accomplished much and can accomplish more for the +wage-earning class. To this it may be fairly answered that whatever +trade unions have in fact accomplished has been accomplished only at a +ruinous price--that the price they must continue to pay for this +accomplishment will continue to be ruinous and insufferable until +either by the revolt of the discontented as predicted by Karl Marx, or +by the awakening conscience of the whole community, as has already to +a limited degree taken place, the betterment aimed at by the trade +unionist will be attained and maintained without the payment of the +awful toll now exacted by the competitive system. + +It is probable that both employers and employees, during a century's +struggle, have failed to take proper account of the extent to which +both were hampered by the exigencies of the market. The blindness of +both to this fact was perhaps due to the expansion of trade both in +England and America during most of the century; this expansion being +due to the development of the country in the United States and, in +England, to the conquests of new markets and colonies. So long as +expansion continued, trade unionists could insist upon increasing +wages out of increasing prices, and the success which attended trade +unions in raising wages during a large part of the century, brought +about a false idea that there was no limit to the extent to which +trade unions could by organization increase their share in the profits +of industry. Unfortunately, the era of expansion could not last +forever, and it was not until the lockout of the engineers in +1898-1899 that the British trade unionists began to discover how +narrow were the limits within which they could improve conditions. + +Until 1897 the employees had on an average the best of it. In 1893 no +less than 63 per cent of strikes were decided in favor of the +employees. In 1896 again the proportion of working people involved in +disputes settled in their favor was greater than in any of the +previous years since 1892 with the exception of 1893; and it may be +interesting to note that during this year there was a lower percentage +of unemployed than during any year since 1890.[88] It is not +surprising, therefore, that trade unionists were convinced that there +was no limit to the extent to which they might increase their share in +the profits of industry. In 1897, however, the condition of the steel +industry in England became such that the employers could no longer +comply with the exactions of the trade unionists. In 1895 American +manufacturers for the first time attempted to export their steel to +other lands,[89] and their exports grew to $121,913,548 in 1900 and to +$183,982,182 in 1908.[90] + +In the presence of American as well as German competition, the +pressure of the market was such that the employers felt they must +either break the power of the union or go out of business. They +therefore locked out the engineers in July, 1897, and the lockout +lasted until January, 1898, when the union was obliged to abandon all +its contentions. This lockout is the turning point in the history of +trade unionism in England. Up to that time, the idea that workingmen +could be induced to abandon the parties to which they belong in order +to organize a party of their own was never seriously taken into +consideration at their conventions, and resolutions in favor of +Socialism were overwhelmingly voted down. But as soon as the power of +the engineers--the strongest union in England--was broken in 1897 we +find trade union conventions entertaining the idea of political +organization and resolutions in favor of Socialism receiving careful +consideration. + +The history of trade unionism in America has not as yet resulted in +any such definite climax as this; but what foreign competition has +compelled English employers to do a combination of employers in the +Steel Trust has done for the steel workers in America. In other words, +the trade union has to face one of two alternatives: either foreign +competition is bound ultimately to compel the employer to destroy the +union; or in the absence of foreign competition owing to a high +protective tariff, a combination of employers will do for their own +benefit what competition compelled British employers to do as a +condition of survival. + +If we turn from the history to the nature of trade unions it will be +seen that what has happened must have happened. As has been stated, +all agree that the ideal of trade unionism is to unite all the workers +in one trade so as to substitute collective bargaining for individual +bargaining. Unfortunately by the very nature of things such a +combination is impossible. It is impossible to read any work on trade +unions, whether it emanates from the government, or from employers, or +from employees, without being struck by the fact that trade unions +seek to be comprehensive, to include all the members in the trade on +the one hand, while on the other hand there is a perpetual pressure +upon them to be exclusive. For example, we find locals charging heavy +initiation fees of a character to keep out members, for instance the +longshoremen, the garment workers, glass workers; and it may be +"stated as a general rule that when a union does succeed in +establishing a monopoly against employers it is exceedingly likely to +go on, if it feels strong enough, to establish a monopoly against the +employees."[91] + +It is perfectly true that this tendency is frowned upon by the trade +unionists at large; but the reason for this is that every union which +tries to be exclusive cultivates a crop of non-unionists who +constitute a menace to the union. + +A better illustration of the quandary in which unionists find +themselves between the importance of being comprehensive in the one +hand and the importance of being exclusive on the other, is found in +their attitude towards boy labor. + +Modern conditions have made apprenticeship practically obsolete, and +yet many national organizations endeavor to maintain the practice with +a view to preventing too great a supply of skilled workers in the +trade. The limit generally fixed by national organizations is 1 to 10, +though some, such as pressmen, trunk and bag workers, flint glass +workers, allow 1 to 4. Lithographers allow 1 to 5.[92] "It is +obvious," says the Report of the Industrial Commission, "that the +chief motive which influences the unions in the shaping of their +apprenticeship rules is the desire to maintain their wages, by +diminishing competition within the trades."[93] + +It is true that many unions in controlling apprenticeship are animated +by a much higher purpose; that is to say, to provide that when a boy +undertakes to learn a trade he shall have a chance to learn it. + +John Mitchell in his book[94] claims that the restriction of admission +of apprentices in the United States is negligibly small, and yet +deplores the fact that "the great mass of youths to-day receive little +or no training in their particular trade as a result of the breakdown +of the apprenticeship system." In his opinion the solution to the +problem is not to be found in apprenticeship, but in industrial +schools; yet he deplores the hostility of graduates of trade schools +to trade unions, without apparently recognizing that this hostility is +due to the hostility first evinced by unions to trade schools. But let +us turn from conflicting opinions and look the facts in the face. + +When a unionist approaches the age of forty years, he is confronted by +the fact that he cannot rival in speed and efficiency the work of a +young graduate of an industrial school. He looks forward to the time +when his place will be taken by the graduate of the industrial school. +He is very naturally therefore hostile to the industrial school and +the graduate of the industrial school is for the same reason hostile +to him. And here we come to the real difficulty: When a trade union +fails to include _all_ the members in the trade, it does _not_ +succeed in eliminating competition between workingmen. On the +contrary, it begins by creating two hostile classes of workingmen: +Those within the union and those without--classes which bitterly hate +one another because they are both fighting for the same job. But they +do more than this: They create competition within the trade union +because by insisting upon high wages and short hours they are making +it impossible for the employer to utilize the service of any but the +most efficient. John Mitchell himself points this out. In resisting +the charge that trade unions tend to level down, he says: "If there is +a levelling at all in the trade union world, it is a levelling up and +not a levelling down. The only levelling which the trade union does is +_the elimination of men who are below a certain fixed standard of +efficiency_."[95] He further expresses it in another passage:[96] +"Trade unionism tends to improve workmen not only directly, through an +increase in wages and a reduction in hours, but it attains the same +end in an indirect manner. The general policy of trade unionism, as +has been explained before, is the establishment of a minimum wage, +safeguarding, as a rule, the right of the employer to discharge for +proved inefficiency. The result of this is the gradual creation of a +dead line of a standard of efficiency, to which all who work must +attain. Where there is a minimum wage of four dollars a day, the +workman can no longer choose to do only three dollars' worth of work +and be paid accordingly, but he must earn four dollars, _or else cease +from work_, at least in that particular trade, locality, or +establishment. The consciousness that he may be employed for a varying +wage permits many a man to give way to his natural idleness and +carelessness, whereas the maintenance of a rigid standard causes a +rapid and steady improvement. The minimum wage acts upon the workman, +as the school examination upon the child. If a child falls, by however +small a margin, below the standard set by the school, he fails of +promotion, and the stimulus which is strong in the case of a school +child is infinitely more intense in that of a worker with a family +dependent upon him. The principle of the survival of the fittest +through union regulations works out slowly and unevenly; nevertheless +its general effect is towards a steady and continuous progress of +workingmen to a permanently higher standard of efficiency."[97] + +There is one point upon which the author is silent--yet it is the +point which enormously interests the workingman at large: this is that +while trade unionism guarantees high wages and short hours to the +efficient, it throws out of the trade altogether those workingman who +do not attain a high standard of efficiency or who, having attained +it, fall back from it owing to overwork, sickness, or old age. + +There is, therefore, a perpetual struggle going on in the trade +unions, not only between members and non-members, but even amongst the +members of the union itself, in view of the fact that diminished +efficiency must eventually lead to the weeding out of the inefficient. +In periods of industrial depression such as we have just passed +through it is obvious that the most inefficient are the first to be +dismissed, and being the most inefficient, they are the ones least +able to find employment in other industries. + +Under the title of Unemployment, the extent of this evil has been +pointed out; it must not be lost sight of; it reaches a population of +a million at the best of times and of five millions at such times as +these. + +But the problem raised by the importance of comprehensiveness to +prevent "scabbing" on the one hand and of exclusiveness to maintain +wages on the other, is not confined to such details as initiation fees +and apprenticeship. It covers the whole question of the employment of +boys, women, old men, and half-supported persons, and includes the +"sweating" system. + +The higher the wages exacted by trade unions the more employers are +compelled to have recourse to cheap labor of women and children, and +this labor is all the cheaper because the unionist himself contributes +to the supply; for the unionist supports his wife and children, and +the very fact of the support he gives them permits them to accept a +lower rate of wages than if they were not supported. To understand the +operation of this principle it must be borne in mind that rates of +wages are determined, not by the wishes of the employee or even by the +greed of the employer; they are determined by the market price. +Unionists are not the only persons who object to the labor of women +and boys. There is indeed no divergency of opinion as to the unwisdom +of working boys before their education is complete or their bodies +matured; or the unwisdom of employing women, destined by Nature to +perform other more important functions. No better witness to the +control exercised by the market on this important subject can be found +than a member of the English Ministry, the Right Honorable H.O. +Arnold-Forster, who says: + +"The great cotton industry of Lancashire, the wool and worsted +industry of Yorkshire, and many other industries in a less degree are +at the present time dependent upon child labor. It is interesting to +observe that as lately as the autumn of 1907 a deputation waited upon +the responsible minister to urge upon him the desirability of raising +the age of half-timers from twelve to thirteen. The desirability of +the change was not denied, _but it was not considered possible to give +effect to it_. + +"Those who have any acquaintance with the cotton trade are well aware +that that great industry, employing as it does no less than half a +million persons, is conducted upon the _most minute margins of profit +and loss_. The rate book of the cotton trade, in which wages of every +kind of work are calculated out to the tenth of a penny, is a miracle +of painstaking and intelligent computation. These fine calculations +are absolutely necessary. Both employers and employed know perfectly +well that the trade is, so to speak, _balanced on a knife edge_, and +that any sudden increase of cost, whatever may be its cause, is likely +to upset the balance, and turn the hardly won profit out of which +operators as well as employers obtain their living, into a loss. The +_fierce competition of the world_, especially of those countries in +which child labor and long hours are prevalent, has to be met, and the +persons principally concerned are only too well aware of the +fact."[98] + +Nothing then is better established than that every employer is forced +by the pressure of competition to keep wages down, and that any +employer who either under the compulsion of a trade union or out of +generosity of heart attempts to raise wages one cent above the price +permitted by the market, must expiate his mistake in the bankruptcy +court. + +There is only one way in which this competition can be met--the way +imagined by Karl Marx: a comprehensive organization of trade unions, not +only within one nation, but amongst all nations; in other words, the +famous--and at one time loudly proclaimed as the infamous--International. +The fact that the international plan of organization imagined by Karl +Marx failed, is little argument against it. But the fact that trade +unions do not succeed in securing all the members of a trade in any +nation--that indeed in the United States organized labor includes at +most 2,000,000 members, whereas the working population is over +20,000,000, ought to be a convincing argument that a comprehensive +organization of workers all over the world is still less possible. + +One word must be said in this connection about the sweating system and +its relation to trade unions. It is a current statement that sweating +is confined in America to a few industries, such as tobacco and +garment making. This, however, is a great mistake. Sweating may be +defined as the reduction of wages to starvation or even below +starvation level. It is true that sweating in this country is in large +part due to an ignorant, unorganized, and poverty-stricken class of +immigrants. But sweating is also to be found in a much higher order of +employees. I refer to the sweating of certain factories and department +stores where the rate of wages is determined, not by the cost of +living, but by the price which half-supported women are willing to +take for their week's work. + +In many factories and in practically all the department stores the +wages are below the sum necessary for a working woman to live; and +they are made so at least in part by the fact that the daughters of +well-to-do workingmen, being supported at home, are able and willing +to give their time for a sum less than sufficient to support life. In +some cases this work is rendered in a laudable desire to contribute to +the common expense of the home. In many cases it must be attributed to +vanity and the attractiveness of this kind of work. + +We find, therefore, the workingman put in this singular position: +Through his trade union he secures a high rate of wages; with this +high rate of wages he seeks to establish a decent home; the desire of +a decent home permeates the entire family; the daughters want to +contribute thereto and, because they are partially supported +themselves by the high wages received by the father, they accept a +rate of wages so low that their less fortunate sisters are doomed to +starve. + +So on every side the trade unionist is hoist by his own petard. The +high wage he is in a position to exact is perpetually menaced by the +competition of the women and children of his own family whom his own +high wages put in a position to compete with him. These high wages +throw out of employment all save those of the highest efficiency, and +by permitting the half-supported members of his family to work for low +wages, reduce others who are not half supported below the level of +starvation. + +I shall not insist on other problems which still divide the members of +trade unions, such as what is called "right of trade," or "the +conflict between industrial and craft organization," both of which +occasion loss of employment and division in the ranks of labor, +because these are not insoluble. It is true that they have not yet +been solved, but there is nothing in their very nature that makes a +solution impossible. I do, however, insist upon the problems above +referred to, because they are not only unsolved, but by their very +nature can never be solved. No trade union can ever include _all_ the +men of the trade, because _all_ cannot earn the high standard of wages +set by the union; because the trade never can give employment to all +the men in the trade--at the best of times there are over 3 per cent +unemployed; because by insisting on a high rate for unionists, they +compel the employer to have recourse to the cheaper labor of women and +boys; because the very sense of family responsibility which makes a +unionist support his wife and children is exploited by the employer to +secure the services of these last at half wages; because the existence +of a half-supported population creates and maintains sweated trades; +because the employers, were they Angels of Mercy, cannot, thanks to +the pressure of the market, raise wages or dispense with the cheap +labor of women and boys without either incurring bankruptcy or +shutting down; because either contingency would deprive the unionist +of work and therefore of wages; because both employer and employee are +perpetually being chased round a vicious circle by the devil of +competition which, by keeping down prices and wages, keeps both in +danger of ruin and unemployment. + +The conclusion to which we are driven seems to be that the competitive +system has the same effect upon trade unions as upon the rest of the +industrial field--it sacrifices the many to the few. During these last +two years wages have not been appreciably reduced. The most efficient +have continued to receive the same wages as before. But the price paid +for this advantage has been the reduction of between five and twenty +millions of people to the verge of starvation, a large part of whom +must by the very necessity of things be driven to vagrancy and through +vagrancy to crime.[99] + +What Socialism proposes is to maintain the principle of competition to +the extent necessary to assure most comfort to the most efficient +without exposing the rest to so awful an alternative as unemployment. +And I think it will be seen that the education of the workingman +through the organization, the order, the democracy of trade unions +will play no small part in making Socialism possible, and that it is +probably through the organization of trade unions that a true +democracy will eventually be attained. + + +§ 4. TRUSTS + +Two pictures of trusts have already been borrowed in this book,[100] +one by Mr. Rockefeller, showing the economies they make, and the other +by Mr. Havemeyer, showing the dangers that attend them. Trade unions +start out to include all the men in the industry; this is their ideal; +and it has been shown how far short of it they fall. It is generally +supposed that trusts likewise seek to include all employers in the +industry, but this is a great mistake. Not only does the law forbid +this, but it would be a mistaken policy. A trust that included all the +industry would invite newcomers for blackmailing purposes if for no +other. The last and best policy of the promoter is to include only the +most prosperous and to leave around the trust a fringe of independents +too weak to affect prices but just strong enough to live as a warning +to others. A good collection of independent factories on the verge of +bankruptcy is the finest bulwark a trust can have, for they discourage +the starting of any more. + +How the trusts make prices and keep independents in their wake is well +illustrated by the following extract:[101] "The custom has regularly +been for some years for the Standard Oil Company to announce from day +to day the price which it would pay for crude petroleum and the price +at which it would sell refined petroleum. This price is generally +accepted as the market price, and competitors follow." + +"Likewise, the American Sugar Refining Company first posts the prices +for the day, and is then followed by its competitors, who post theirs. +Generally they take the prices fixed by the American Sugar Refining +Company; but at times, if they have a little surplus stock on hand, or +if it is difficult for them to secure a customer, they will cut the +price perhaps one-sixteenth of a cent per pound. One or two of the +chief competitors seem to be forced to put their prices quite +frequently at one-sixteenth of a cent below that of the American Sugar +Refining Company. In spite of its control over the output it is said +by Mr. Post that the American Sugar Refining Company has not, in his +judgment, unduly restricted the output. It is probable, he thinks, +that had that company not been formed the competitive system would +have ruined many established refineries, so that as many would have +been closed as is now the case, and the output would have been fully +as small, probably even less. Practically all of the witnesses, both +members of the combination and their opponents, concede that while +there is a certain arbitrariness in fixing the prices it has been +exercised in most cases only within comparatively narrow limits, and +then, mainly to meet competition or stifle it." + +Trusts, therefore, do in one sense succeed where trade unions fail; +that is to say, they do succeed in getting all to join them that they +want; whereas the trade unions do not, the essential difference +between the two being that the trust is essentially monopolistic +whereas the trade union is essentially democratic. The one wants to +benefit a few at the expense of the many; the other wants to benefit +all at the expense of none. As the competitive system favors the +policy of the trust and disfavors that of the union, the trust +succeeds where the union fails. + +No one would accuse the organizers of a union of seeking to benefit a +few at the expense of the many, and yet this under the competitive +system is not only what happens but what must happen. On the other +hand, no one imagines that the organizers of a trust have any other +intention: they deliberately set out to eliminate competitors for +their own benefit and they have succeeded in their task to an +altogether unexpected degree. + +It has been claimed, however, for the trusts that whatever may be the +private benefit of their stockholders, they do perform a great public +service. + +Among the public services they were supposed to render it was claimed +that they would pay good wages and furnish steady employment.[102] +Even the labor unions themselves were of this opinion. Their leaders +testified that they did not fear industrial combination and that if +combinations were able by virtue of their savings to increase the +profits of industry, workingmen would be able by pressure to "maintain +or increase their wages quite as readily as before the combinations +were made."[103] Another contention made for trusts was that they +would lower prices. With the view of maintaining this contention, the +trust magnates themselves testified to the enormous economies effected +by combination, for the purpose of persuading us that the consumers +would profit by these economies. Mr. Havemeyer was honest enough, +however, to admit that he would be guided in fixing the price only by +business considerations. But it was believed at that time that +business considerations would be sufficient to keep prices down and +the experience of the Whisky Trust was cited to prove that it was +impossible to maintain prices above a reasonable margin of profit. + +The Whisky Trust was organized in 1887 and after having lowered prices +for the purpose of eliminating competitors, it brought the prices up +to as high a level as had ever been reached before. The result of this +was that at the end of 1888 prices fell, owing to a reorganization of +the trust and to a subsequent raising of prices by the trust in 1891, +only to be followed by a corresponding fall in 1892. And so prices +went on reaching a very high level at the close of 1892, only to fall +back to a low level in 1893; and again to a high level in 1894, only +to go down so low in 1895 as to put the trust into the hands of a +receiver. By this time the Whisky Trust had learned its lesson; it +learned that if it endeavored to put the price of whisky up to an +undue height, new distilleries were started to profit by these high +prices, and the only way of avoiding bankruptcy was to maintain the +price just high enough to return profits to the trust, but not high +enough to encourage outside competition. + +Undoubtedly the opinion generally prevailed at the end of the last +century that increase in price by the trust was not to be feared. But +at that time trusts had not yet acquired the art of handling +independent competitors. To-day the art has been acquired. Owing to +the enormous capital they control and the enormous extent of territory +they cover, they are in a position so to reduce prices in any one spot +where competition becomes dangerous as to crush out the competitor in +that place. They adopted this method recklessly at first, crushing out +all competitors and then raising the price unduly. Now they have +learned to maintain a group of competitors about them and to keep +these competitors alive, keeping prices high so long as competition is +not dangerous and depressing them just enough to crush out competition +when it becomes dangerous. + +The movement of prices since the end of last century is sufficient to +demonstrate that trusts, far from reducing prices, are advancing them. + +It must in all fairness to trusts be admitted that the enormous +increase in the annual output of gold tends to increase prices, and it +is extremely difficult to state just how much of the advance in price +since the end of last century is due to the increased output of gold, +and how much is due to deliberate advance on the part of the trusts. +We have, however, a guide in the relation between increase of wages +and increase of prices. If the advance in prices were due entirely to +increased output of gold, wages ought to increase in the same +proportion. But they do not. + +Of the opinion expressed at the end of the last century that trusts +would improve the condition of workingmen, there is very little left +to-day. + +From almost every point of view, trusts have since 1900 disappointed +expectations. It was claimed and with every show of reason that trusts +would, by their control of the market, be able to adjust supply to +demand and thus avoid the gluts that produce unemployment,[104] and +that although the economies they practised might result in the +shutting down of some factories and the discharge of employees, in the +end the workingmen would gain because their employment would be steady +and because trade unions would have only one employer to bargain with +instead of many.[105] + +How far has experience justified these anticipations? + +Far from diminishing unemployment, the reign of the trusts has +resulted in the most intense and widespread depression that we have +any record of.[106] Far from benefiting the unions, trusts have +crushed unions out of existence. Far from raising wages and shortening +hours, the employees of the Steel Trust in Pittsburg are to-day +working twelve hours at $1.80 a day, and once a fortnight twenty-four +hours in a single shift; whereas miners in the same district because +their union has not yet been crushed by the Coal Trust, are working +only eight hours at $2.36 a day.[107] And the Miners' Union has been +saved from the trust only by what is still regarded by many as the +improper personal intervention of President Roosevelt Oct. 31, 1902. + +The conditions of labor under trust rule cannot be better described +than in the Survey, an investigation published not by Socialists, nor +even by persons inclined towards Socialism, but by believers in and +upholders of the competitive system:[108] + +"With this number, Charities and The Commons completes its +presentation of the findings of the Pittsburg Survey, as to conditions +of life and labor of the wage-earners of the American Steel district. +The gist of the situation, as we find it, is as follows: + +"I. An altogether incredible amount of overwork by everybody, reaching +its extreme in the twelve-hour shift for seven days in the week in +the steel mills and the railway switchyards. + +"II. Low wages for the great majority of the laborers employed by the +mills, not lower than other large cities, but low compared with the +prices--so low as to be inadequate to the maintenance of a normal +American standard of living; wages adjusted to the single man in the +lodging-house, not to the responsible head of a family. + +"III. Still lower wages for women, who receive for example in one of +the metal trades in which the proportion of women is great enough to +be menacing, one-half as much as unorganized men in the same shops and +one-third as much as the men in the union. + +"IV. An absentee capitalism, with bad effects strikingly analogous to +those of absentee landlordism, of which Pittsburg furnishes noteworthy +examples. + +"V. A continuous inflow of immigrants with low standards, attracted by +a wage which is high by the standards of Southeastern Europe, and +which yields a net pecuniary advantage because of abnormally low +expenditures for food and shelter; and inadequate provision for the +contingencies of sickness, accident, and death. + +"VI. The destruction of family life, not in any imaginary or mystical +sense, but by the demands of the day's work and by the very +demonstrable and material method of typhoid fever and industrial +accidents; both preventable, but costing in single years in Pittsburg +considerably more than a thousand lives, and irretrievably shattering +nearly as many homes. + +"VII. Archaic social institutions such as the aldermanic court, the +ward school district, the family garbage disposal, and the +unregenerate charitable institution, still surviving after the +conditions to which they were adapted have disappeared. + +"VIII. The contrast--which does not become blurred by familiarity with +detail, but on the contrary becomes more vivid as the outlines are +filled in--the contrast between the prosperity on the one hand of the +most prosperous of all the communities of our western civilization, +with its vast natural resources, the generous fostering of government, +the human energy, the technical development, the gigantic tonnage of +the mines and mills, the enormous capital of which the bank balances +afford an indication; and, on the other hand, the neglect of life, of +health, of physical vigor, even of the industrial efficiency of the +individual. Certainly no community before in America or Europe has +ever had such a surplus, and never before has a great community +applied what it had so meagerly to the rational purposes of human +life. Not by gifts of libraries, galleries, technical schools, and +parks, but by the cessation of toil one day in seven, and sixteen +hours in the twenty-four, by the increase of wages, by the sparing of +lives, by the prevention of accidents, and by raising the standards of +domestic life, should the surplus come back to the people of the +community in which it is created." + +It would be unfair, however, to the trusts not to recognize that in +spite of the shameful conditions they create for the majority they do +benefit a minority to no small degree. The highly skilled are highly +paid; they are fairly safe from unemployment; they are also furnished +an opportunity of purchasing stock, of which this minority avails +itself. The effect of the trust system on the workingman is very much +like that of the trade union; both benefit the highly skilled and +highly efficient, but at the expense of all the rest. + +Now those who believe in the competitive system regard this as proper; +and that the highly skilled and highly efficient should fare better +than the lazy and vicious is equally a part of the Socialist creed. +All that the Socialist asks is that the punishment for falling short +of the highest skill and the highest efficiency be _not so severe_ as +that described by the Pittsburg Survey; and this not only in the +interest of the victim, but in that of the community of which he forms +an essential part. It is because Socialism proposes a plan for giving +to the efficient what their efficiency earns without committing the +inefficient to a life of degradation, that it is entitled to the +consideration of practical business men. + +The degradation of the majority is not the only evil that results from +the trusts. The rich are accustomed to look upon this evil as +necessary and, therefore, one that they cannot hope to do more than +mitigate by philanthropy. They seem unconscious of the goal to which +this evil is inevitably driving them; and it is to this goal that I +want above all to direct their attention. + + +(_a_) _The Conflict Between the Trust and the Trade Union_ + +It might seem as though the title for this section ought to be the +conflict between capital and labor rather than the conflict between +trusts and trade unions. This, however, is a mistake. So long as labor +and capital were disorganized, there was not much danger in the +conflict between the two. The employer was too strong and he had on +his side in case of disturbance, the police, the militia, and the law. +The moment, however, that labor became organized, it became too +powerful for the police; it became dangerous even to the militia; and +it has in England been strong enough to change the law; and this in +spite of the fact that the organization of the workingman in unions +has compelled the employers to combine in associations and trusts. + +Again, although all violence is injurious to individuals, the violence +to which unorganized workingmen resort in local disputes with their +employers, however injurious to local interests, tends to be +essentially temporary and does not tend to overthrow economic or +social institutions. The effect of organization, however, expresses +itself in the magnitude of the conflicts to which it gives rise; as +for example, the Homestead strike in 1892, the Pullman strike in 1894, +and what was practically equivalent to a civil war in Colorado during +1903. + +It is generally believed that violence is the peculiar weapon of the +workingman. This again is a mistake. Employers have often been the +first to have recourse to violence and under conditions which hardly +seem pardonable. That a striking employee should be enraged at seeing +his place taken by strikebreakers and should be driven by his rage to +violence, is easily understood; but that employers, merely for the +sake of keeping down wages and making more profit, should have +recourse to it seems altogether unjustifiable. It is a matter of +official record that the Carnegie Steel Company opened negotiations +with Robert A. Pinkerton for armed men nineteen days before any strike +occurred.[109] The report also says that there was "no evidence to +show that the slightest damage was done or was attempted to be done to +property on the part of the strikers,"[110] and so far as acts of +violence are concerned, a personal investigation of the Colorado +strike satisfied me that the Employers' Association was just as guilty +as the miners. An impartial account of this struggle is to be found +in the _Political Science Quarterly_[111] published by a board of +which J. Pierpont Morgan is a member, and which cannot be accused +therefore of tenderness to miners or leanings towards Socialism. It is +difficult to justify the action of the mine owners in removing Moyer, +Haywood, and Pettibone under the circumstances described by Judge +McKenna in his dissenting opinion.[112] + +If the trust managers have deliberate recourse to violence and +questionable methods in their conflict with labor which involve merely +a question of more or less profit, is there not excuse for the +workingman who has at stake his very livelihood and that of his wife +and children? + +There are elements, however, in the coming conflict which to my mind +make it clear that notwithstanding the enormous advantages which +capital has over labor, it is labor and not capital that in the end +will triumph. To understand these elements it is indispensable to +consider the character of the advantages which the trusts have over +the trade unions, and the character of the advantages which the unions +have over the trusts. + + +(_b_) _Advantages of Trusts over Unions_ + +So far in America the conflict between trusts and unions has been +confined to the economic field, and in the economic field it must be +admitted that trusts have the advantage. In the first place, as has +already been intimated, the trusts have at stake merely a matter of +more or less profit. The trust can for the purpose of crushing the +union, sacrifice part of its profit without material damage. The +trust in this respect is in an infinitely better condition than the +isolated employer, for whom a strike very often means bankruptcy. This +is not the case with the trust. Its capital is too large and its +operations are conducted over too great an area for any strike to +threaten insolvency.[113] + +Moreover, an isolated employer is far more at the mercy of the +employees than a trust, because a strike very often deprives him of +custom. The orders he cannot fill are filled elsewhere and he may +never recover the custom he has in this manner lost. The trust, +however, can allow a strike to take place in one factory without for +that reason failing to fill all its orders; for it can transfer them +to another of its numerous factories in another place. That this is +regularly done by the trust is a matter of common knowledge. The case +cited by the Industrial Commission[114] is that of the American +Smelting and Refining Company which "continued its business in the +districts where there was no strike, transferring the work as far as +possible." + +In America, at any rate, the trusts have also on their side not only +the police and the militia, but the law. The courts have decided that +in the case of strikes and boycotts the courts can by injunction +commit for contempt and punish by imprisonment those who violate their +orders. These questions have been carried to the highest court and all +further attempts on the part of labor to fight these questions in the +courts are practically certain to be unavailing. The remedy of the +Federation of Labor is not to dispute these decisions in the courts, +but to secure new legislation reversing existing decisions on this +subject. + +The English unions have discovered this and, by the organization of +their Labor party, have wrested from the British Government the trades +dispute law which has settled these questions in their favor. + +So long as unions persist in fighting trusts exclusively on the +economic field and in the law courts, the unions seem bound to suffer +defeat. + +There is one weakness in the armor of the trusts to which attention +has not yet been sufficiently directed. Trusts suffer more from their +victories than from their defeats; for a defeat as to the length of +hours or rate of wages, while it strengthens labor a little, does not +weaken the trust much. But every victory of the trust is the greatest +calamity to which it seems at present exposed; for every victory tends +to shift the arena from the economic field, where the trust is +invincible, to the political field, where labor has every advantage. +This will become clear when we examine the advantages of unions over +trusts. + + +(_c_) _Advantages of Unions over Trusts_ + +The larger the number of workers in every industry, the weaker are +they on the economic field. It has been pointed out that unions tend +to divide labor. They not only separate the labor world into two +bitterly hostile classes--organized and unorganized--but by the high +rate of wages that they demand they tend also to create jealousy +within the trade union between the efficient who can earn these high +wages and the less efficient who cannot. If the working population +were so small that the demand for labor was greater than the supply, +then indeed the unions might control the situation. But experience has +shown that, without accepting the exaggerations of Malthus, there is +always a greater supply of labor than demand. Even in the most +prosperous times between 3 and 4 per cent of the trade unions are +unemployed and, outside the unions, there is a mass of unorganized +labor, a great part of which is either working for wages insufficient +to support life or is not working at all. These things inevitably +produce hostility between the prosperous and highly paid members of +the union and all the rest; and this hostility is a source of weakness +in the economic struggle of capital against labor. The unions, too, +instead of being able to apply their funds to maintain strikes, have +to apply a large part of these funds to the support of unemployed, +whether through sickness or through industrial depression. + +Upon the economic field, therefore, numbers tend to cripple the worker +in his fight against capital. On the political field, on the contrary, +the larger the number of workers, the stronger they are; for every +wage-earning man has his vote, and the vote of every wage-earner +counts as much as that of every capitalist. On the political field +there need be no division in the ranks of labor--organized and +unorganized labor can unite on a platform looking to the political +subjection of their common master. Indeed, if the trusts and employers +were to succeed in the task which they seem to have set +themselves--the destruction of every trade union--they would by so +doing put an end to the principal obstacle which now prevents +workingmen from uniting upon a common platform, for the suppression of +unions would mean two things: it would persuade the defeated unionists +that their only chance of successfully fighting capital was on the +political field; and it would put an end to the hostility between +organized and unorganized labor that is the principal obstacle at this +moment to united action of any kind. Moreover, the workingman could so +frame his political program as to secure the alliance of the whole +exploited class; the small farmer, the domestic, the clerk, and all +those who, out of interest or sympathy, find themselves arrayed +against the exploiting class. + +The discovery that the workingman is no match for his employer on the +economic field having already been made in England, the Labor party +there has no less than 40 members in Parliament, and this small +contingent has been strong enough to obtain the legislation above +referred to. It is the sense of inferiority on the economic field that +has organized the millions who are every year swelling the ranks of +the Socialist party in Europe. + +The shortsightedness of employers in failing to take account of this +fact has its humorous side. The employee was not very long ago +ignorant and incapable of organization--economic or political--and +without any vote on public affairs. It was only upon condition that he +should remain ignorant and incapable of political organization and +without any voice in public affairs that he could continue to suffer +the domination of his employer--such as is described in the Pittsburg +Survey. Yet the employer has given to every employee an equal vote +with himself in public affairs, so that to-day the employees outvote +the employers. Not content with this, and fearful lest the employee +should not be able adequately to use his vote, the employer has +covered the country with school-houses for the purpose of teaching the +employee how to use it. Yet employers proceed upon the assumption that +the intelligent, educated workingman of to-day, armed with a vote and +capable of the organization displayed in his unions, will continue to +endure such conditions as are described in the Pittsburg Survey as +patiently in the future as he has done in the past! + +So trusts continue complacently to crush out unions, oblivious of the +fact that every union crushed drives its members to Populism, +Socialism, Anarchism, pauperism, and crime. + +Of all the folds ready to receive the unfortunates driven out of their +unions by the trusts, which is the one least likely to prove dangerous +to the state? This question does not seem to concern the trusts at +all. They consider all these "isms" as equally vile, impractical, and +obnoxious. Yet, if they would only give to this matter one-half the +attention that they give to their business affairs, they could not +fail to see that every union they crush raises for them a crop of +political enemies who, if they show as much ability in political +organization as they have shown in economic organization--and there is +no reason why they should not--cannot but eventually secure a large +majority in our legislatures. When they have done this; when they have +the writing of a new constitution; when the police, the militia, the +army, and the law courts are on their side, is it not better that this +majority be intelligent and educated, as it might if Socialism were +rightly understood, and not uneducated and violent, as it will +certainly be if Socialism is not rightly understood? The conclusion to +which we seem to be driven is that, so long as labor struggles with +capital on the economic field through strikes, boycotts, and +litigation, it is bound to be beaten; but that every victory of +capital on the economic field shortens its reign; for it drives labor +to abandon the economic field, where it is weak, for the political +field, where it is strong; and that the evidence of constructive +ability and self-restraint exhibited by labor in the organization and +administration of the unions, indicates that that same ability +exercised in the political field will make it invincible there: + + "We are many; they are few." + +If this be so, then capital can no longer afford to disregard or +misrepresent the political aspirations of the army of labor. It may +indeed turn out in the words of the Cumæan Sybil: + + "Via prima salutis + Quâ minime reris Graia pandetur ab urbe." + +Our way of safety may be--not in the defeat of labor--but in its +enlightenment. + +We have before us two alternatives: We can continue to fight labor; to +crush it; to create unemployment one day and wring our hands over it +the next; to arm labor, educate it, and force it to organize an army +of discontent that will eventually outvote capital and, with little or +no preparation for its task, seize the reins of government. Or we can +leave the fighting of labor to the trusts from which the whole public +suffers as well as the workingman, and ourselves join in a +reorganization of political forces that will make the legitimate +demands of the disinherited our own, and at last lay the foundations +of the Democracy that Lincoln through the smoke of the Civil War dimly +foresaw. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[78] Since writing this I see that Jaurès makes exactly the same +observation in _Van Norden's Magazine_, August, 1909. + +[79] The metronymic tribes were tribes in which there was practically +no paternal relation. The mother was the head of the family and the +offspring took her name. This condition of things prevailed for some +time in ancient Egypt. + +[80] This is elaborated in "Government or Human Evolution," Vol. II, +p. 96. + +[81] "Government or Human Evolution," Vol. II, p. 102. + +[82] Translation, see Appendix p. 422. + +[83] Article 414 of the French Penal Code and Law of 1799 of the +British Parliament. + +[84] Book III, Chapter III. + +[85] "Organized Labor." By John Mitchell, p. 4. + +[86] Ibid., p. 3. + +[87] Report of the Industrial Commission, 1901, Vol. XVII, page 1. + +[88] Bulletin of the Dept. of Labor, 1898, pp. 714-717. + +[89] Andrew Carnegie's article on the Steel Industry in the +Encyclopedia Americana, Vol. XIV. + +[90] Statistical Abstract, 1908, p. 445. + +[91] Report of the Industrial Commission, 1901, Vol. XVII, p. 1. + +[92] Report of the Industrial Commission, 1901, Vol. XVII, p. lii. + +[93] Ibid., p. liii, 1901. + +[94] "Organized Labor," Chapter XXX. + +[95] "Organized Labor," p. 240. + +[96] Ibid., p. 163. + +[97] "Organized Labor," p. 163. + +[98] "English Socialism of To-day," pp. 99-100. + +[99] Letter of Police Commissioner Bingham, New York city, N.Y. +_Times_, Jan. 5, 1908. See Appendix, p. 423. + +[100] Book II, Chapter III. + +[101] Report of the Industrial Commission, 1901, Vol. I, p. 18. + +[102] Report of the Industrial Commission, 1901, Vol. I, p. 29. + +[103] Ibid., p. 31. + +[104] "Most members of combinations feel that the tendency is to make +work more permanent under the combination form of doing business, +inasmuch as the combination is better able to adjust the supply of +goods to the demand, and thus to secure regularity in their productive +conditions." Report of the Industrial Commission, Vol. XIII, p. xxxi. + +[105] "Some of the witnesses are of the opinion that the industrial +combinations give to the labor unions a decided advantage, inasmuch as +it enable them to deal with the trade as a whole instead of with +separate manufacturers." Report of the Industrial Commission, Vol. +XIII, p. xxxii. + +[106] Book II, Chapter I, Unemployment. + +[107] Pittsburg Survey, Charities, XXI, p. 1063. + +[108] Charities, XXI, p. 1035. + +[109] Senate Reports, 52d Congress, 2d session, Vol. I, Rept. No. +1280, p. xiv. + +[110] Ibid., p. xiii. + +[111] _Political Science Quarterly_, March, 1908. + +[112] See Appendix, p. 424. + +[113] Many workingmen still believe in the possibility of strikes and +even of a general strike. I do not take account of such strikes, +because they have not yet occurred and labor does not seem organized +upon a sufficiently comprehensive scale to make such strikes possible. + +[114] Report of the Industrial Commission, Vol. XIII, p. xxxi. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +MONEY + + +No attempt will be made in this chapter to enter upon the disputed +questions regarding money, but only to point out undenied and +undeniable facts in connection with its use and abuse. + +Coin, whether gold or silver, is used all over the world as the medium +of exchange. But gold and silver available for the purpose of coin are +limited in amount and totally inadequate to serve as mediums of +exchange without the assistance of other devices. Thus banks of issue +are organized for the purpose of issuing paper money. This money is +upon its face redeemable in coin, but banks of issue, relying upon the +probability that all paper issued will not be redeemed on the same +day, issue far more paper money than they have reserve in coin. In +England, this reserve is notably small. + +Business, too, is conducted largely on credit; that is to say, the +trader buys goods not with coin, but with notes or promises to pay +gold, relying upon the probability that he will sell the goods before +his notes come due and thus be able to meet his notes with the +proceeds derived from the sale of the goods purchased with these +notes. + +Industries, railroad companies, and transportation companies also use +credit for the purpose of building and running their roads and +factories. This credit takes the shape of permanent bonds and +temporary accommodations of the same character as the notes used by +private traders. The total number of bonds outstanding at par amount +to-day in the United States alone to $13,500,000,000.[115] It is +through the ability of railroad companies to issue bonds and credit +notes that they are enabled in prosperous periods to extend their +roads and factories. + +Farmers also borrow largely upon their farms for the purchase of +implements, live stock, improvements, etc. Recent figures of bonded +indebtedness are not to be obtained; but they figure in the billions. + +Again, cash payments are no longer made in coin; they are for the most +part made by check. Checks are not paid in coin; they are cleared +through clearing houses; the banks in every financial center belong to +a clearing house through which they daily settle with one another, +paying only differences of accounts in cash. Thus, in 1906, the total +transactions of fifty-five banks in New York city amounted to over +$103,000,000,000; yet the balances paid in money during the year only +amounted to about $3,000,000,000--a proportion of 3.69. So that +through the clearing-house system instead of exchanging gold to an +amount of $103,000,000,000 the whole business was transacted with only +3.69 per cent thereof in coin. + +The above figures tend to show how small a relation is borne by coin +to the total exchanges of the world. Indeed, although coin is still +the ultimate medium of exchange, commercial and industrial +transactions are conducted for the most part through an enormous +system of credit built upon a comparatively small amount of coin. + +The importance of this is considerable, for it puts those who have +coin and those who handle coin in a position which enables them to +control the industrial and commercial activities of the Nation. This +feature of our money system occasions what are called "financial +crises" as distinguished from commercial crises. Commercial crises and +industrial crises are due to overproduction. Financial crises are +produced for the most part by a breaking down of credit. + +Credit may be broken down in many ways. A breakdown may be due to +inability on the part of those who handle coin to meet their +obligations in coin. It may, however, be due to the unwillingness of +those who have and handle money to put this money at the disposal of +the industrial public. It is sometimes occasioned by both. + +Money is indispensable to the working of the industrial system. It may +be regarded as the blood of the industrial system because no farmer +can operate his farm, no factory owner his factory, no railroad +company its road without money or the equivalent of money--credit. And +if money can be compared with the blood in the human body, the banking +system must be regarded as its heart; the organ that keeps money in +circulation, accommodates circulation to the needs of the body, +furnishes the economic body with as much as at periods of exercise it +needs; and moderates its circulation when at periods of repose the +economic body is less in need of it. It is hardly necessary to point +out the extreme importance under these conditions that the heart of +this system act for the benefit of the system, and have at no time an +interest of its own to act independently of the system or in a manner +hostile to it. Now this is exactly the evil of existing monetary +conditions. Those who have and handle money have an interest of their +own to serve. While it is generally to their interest to use money in +making the community prosperous, it is at certain critical periods to +their interest on the contrary to withhold money. This is the point +upon which emphasis must be put. Let us, with a view to understanding +this, consider into how few hands the control of coin tends to be +concentrated; and how easy it is for these few to serve their own +interests at the expense of the public by withholding coin at moments +of utmost need. + +A very brief study of the movements of coin in the United States will +demonstrate the very few hands in which the control of coin in the +country is vested: + +Every trust, every corporation, every railroad company makes payments to +its stockholders at stated intervals consisting of dividends on stock +and interest on bonds. These amounts are large. In 1905 dividends +amounted to $840,018,022, and interest to $636,287,621--together a +billion and a half.[116] Most of this is paid in New York and produces a +regular flow of money from the great corporations to the New York banks. + +The great life insurance companies have their principal offices in New +York and there flow daily into the coffers of these companies millions +of dollars of premiums, amounting in the year to nearly half a billion +($492,676,987 in 1908). During the last half century, 1859-1908, the +income from premiums reached the enormous total of $7,870,892,759.[117] +All these go into the hands of New York banks and trust companies. + +These moneys are, in the ordinary course of business, returned to the +industrial public in the shape of accommodations to banks, loans to +farmers, factories, railroad companies, etc.; and if these enormous +sums that go into the hands of the Wall Street Group are not returned +to the industrial system, the industrial system must perish just as +the body must perish if its vital functions are not furnished with +blood. But as has been stated, it is to the interest of the Group to +keep the industrial system prosperous and, therefore, in prosperous +times this amount gets back to the country again, the Group receiving +a profit on taking in these moneys and on the paying out of them. One +thing, however, is certain--that the Group can by withholding money +make money scarce. It can by releasing money make it plentiful. The +power given to the Group by this order of things is incalculable. If +the Group desires to issue securities, it has an interest in making +money plentiful. If the Group desires to purchase securities cheaply, +it has an interest in making money scarce. The Group is therefore in a +position where it can serve its own interests whatever be the +direction these interests take. + +A banker once described to me the situation as follows: + +"The bulk of business is conducted with credit. An enormous credit +system is built upon a relatively small amount of gold. The bankers +control the gold; by controlling the gold they control credit; by +controlling credit they control business. + +"This credit and gold system can be compared to an enormous system of +reservoirs and irrigation works, the sluices of which are all opened +and closed by electricity. It takes a very minute amount of +electricity to open and close the sluices; but the man who has control +of that small amount of electricity has the whole irrigation system at +his mercy. By pressing a button he can furnish water to one region and +take it away from another; and if water has been largely used--as in +the case of overinvestment--he can, by withholding water altogether, +put the whole population of the land irrigated by the system on its +knees." + +Let us select as a concrete illustration of the workings of this +system the events of 1907: + +The year prior to the October panic of 1907 was the most prosperous +year the country had ever seen. The balance of trade in our favor was +$446,000,000[118]; that is to say, Europe owed us $446,000,000 on the +year's transactions; the value of our crop exceeded that of the +previous year by over $480,000,000; the net earnings of our railroads +exceeded those of the previous year by over $260,000,000; the deposits +in our banks exceeded those of the previous year by over $880,000,000; +the cash held by our banks exceeded that held in the previous year by +over $100,000,000; and the Treasury of the United States was bulging +with ingots of gold. Nevertheless, the bankers knew that there had +been overinvestment. In fifteen years the banks had invested in stocks +and bonds no less than $437,000,000. In three years the trust +companies had invested no less than $643,000,000 in these +securities.[119] + +Moreover, immense sums had been loaned by trust companies and cash +reserves had fallen from nearly 18 per cent in 1897 to a little over +11 per cent in 1907.[120] The Wall Street Group knew that there had +been overinvestment. As one of them said, "We are being overwhelmed by +our own prosperity." The breeze was blowing too strong and we were +carrying too much sail. The Wall Street Group, however, knowing that a +crisis was at hand and determined to realize the fullest possible +price for stocks, began selling securities in January, 1907, giving +rise to what has been termed "the rich man's panic," which climaxed +in March.[121] Securities fell in consequence of this selling on an +average of about 40 points. This tended to cripple all weak financial +institutions which were no longer able to sell securities with a view +to meeting obligations except at a loss. But this weakness did not +express itself until October. + +The first to suffer was the brokerage firm of Otto Heinze & Company, +well-known speculators, particularly in copper stocks. The next to +fall were Charles W. Morse and E.R. Thomas, also speculators and +directors of the Mercantile National Bank, and others. All banks +controlled by these men at once showed weakness. But the panic did not +reach its climax until the Knickerbocker Trust Company became +involved. To understand the situation of the Knickerbocker Trust +Company, a word must be said regarding trust companies and their +relations to banks. + +Banks in the city of New York are required by law to keep a reserve of +15 per cent of their deposits in coin. Trust companies, not being +subject to the banking law in this respect, are not called upon to +maintain this reserve. They have, therefore, an advantage over banks +because they can invest the whole of their deposits instead of keeping +a part of them uninvested in coin. The natural hostility that would +arise between trust companies and banks owing to this difference was +eliminated in almost every case because trust companies were +controlled by the banks. The Knickerbocker Trust Company, however, +formed a notable exception to this rule. + +Owing to the genius of its President, Charles T. Barney, the +Knickerbocker Trust Company had increased its deposits to over eighty +millions in 1907. Mr. Barney did not belong to the Wall Street Group +in the sense of the word that he acted independently of it, and his +extraordinary enterprise and ability aroused the jealousy of the +Group. In 1907, the institution having 8,000 depositors with total +deposits of $80,000,000, became an independent power which was not to +be tolerated by the Group. Under these conditions, it could not be +expected that the Group would make any extraordinary effort to save +the Knickerbocker Trust Company. It was to the interest of the Group +that the Knickerbocker Trust Company should cease to remain an +independent financial power. + +Everybody knew that the Knickerbocker Trust Company, though +temporarily embarrassed, was perfectly sound. The receivers, appointed +when its doors closed, so stated and subsequent events have proved +that the receivers were right. No one doubts the ability of the Group +to save the Knickerbocker Trust Company if it had chosen to do so. But +the Group had in its hands an instrument by means of which the ruin of +Mr. Barney could be effected: The clearing house has never admitted +trust companies to membership, because trust companies were not under +the obligation to maintain the 15 per cent reserve above referred to. +This matter had come up frequently for discussion and the clearing +house had insisted that all trust companies applying for membership to +the clearing house should keep a reserve at of least 10 per cent. This +the trust companies declined to do; but they nevertheless profited by +the clearing-house system by employing banks that were members of the +Clearing House Association to do their clearing for them--a dangerous +situation that proved the ruin of Mr. Barney. The Bank of Commerce was +the clearing-house agent of the Knickerbocker Trust Company; and the +Bank of Commerce was controlled by the Wall Street Group. Under these +conditions, the Knickerbocker Trust Company was at the mercy of the +Wall Street Group. + +The Bank of Commerce publicly announced its refusal to clear any +longer for the Knickerbocker Trust Company on the 21st of +October.[122] Mr. Charles T. Barney was told that no help would be +given to the Knickerbocker Trust Company unless he resigned. +Understanding this to mean that help would be given if he did resign, +he resigned; but help was withheld; the Knickerbocker Trust Company +was allowed to go into the hands of receivers, and Mr. Barney +committed suicide. + +Mr. Barney's corporation was not the only one upon which the Group had +its eye. The Group is interested in the General Electric Company, the +largest electrical company in America. The only serious rival of the +General Electric Company in the country is the Westinghouse Company. +Westinghouse was doing a larger business than he had capital for. "He +was overwhelmed by his own prosperity." All Westinghouse needed at +that time was money in order to protect his business. This money was +refused to him. + +The Group is also interested in the railroads of the country and +indeed controls them. It is one of the bad features of our railroad +system that it almost everywhere controls steamship lines and thus +prevents the public from having the benefit of cheaper water rates by +exacting the same rates on steamboats as upon land. Morse with the +supposed backing of the Knickerbocker Trust had organized a system of +steamship companies which were running independently of the railroads +and threatening their monopoly of freight rates. It was necessary +that these steamship lines should be controlled by the various +railroad systems with which these lines competed, and Morse's +steamship company was forced into the hands of a receiver. + +But there was another corporation of still more importance to the +Group--the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company. + +The Steel Trust had never been able to purchase this company, and this +company was in a measure indispensable to them. The Tennessee Coal and +Iron Company had the extraordinary advantage of owning inter-bedded +coal and iron; that is to say, coal and iron in the same spot. It was +thus relieved of the necessity of transporting coal several hundred +miles to iron ore or iron ore several hundred miles to coal. This +enabled the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company to fix a price for steel +independently of the Steel Trust. + +As has been explained, although trusts seek to have weak independent +concerns in existence if only to prevent strong independent concerns +from being organized, they cannot afford to have an independent +concern competing with them which is able to fix prices lower than +their own. For this reason, the Wall Street Group availed itself of +the panic to get control of the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company. + +Upon the testimony of Oakleigh Thorne, President of the Trust Company +of America, and George W. Perkins of the firm of J.P. Morgan & +Company, who is a member of the Finance Board of the United States +Steel Corporation, before the Senate Committee on January 19, +1909,[123] it appears that a syndicate had been organized for the +purpose of acquiring the stock of the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company. +Mr. Oakleigh Thorne was a member of this syndicate, and the Trust +Company of America, of which he was president, had loaned on November +1, 1907, $482,700 to this syndicate against the stock of the Tennessee +Coal and Iron Company as collateral. It seems that the Trust Company +called this loan and that although the stock of the Tennessee Coal and +Iron Company was a dividend-paying stock and quoted at 119, the +syndicate found it impossible to borrow money upon it. The only +condition upon which they could borrow money was selling out to the +Steel Trust. + +The Steel Trust gave in exchange for the Tennessee Coal and Iron +Company stock at 119 its own second mortgage bonds, quoted on the +market at that time at 82, and as soon as this exchange was effected +the syndicate was furnished with all the money it needed. Wall Street +loaned to the syndicate against steel second mortgage bonds the +amounts which had previously been refused upon the Tennessee Coal and +Iron Company stock. In other words, the Wall Street Group by refusing +to loan money to the syndicate against the Tennessee Coal and Iron +Company stock, compelled the syndicate to sell this stock to the Steel +Trust by agreeing to loan to the syndicate against Steel Trust second +mortgage bonds at 82 what they refused to loan to the same syndicate +on Tennessee Coal and Iron Company stock at 119. + +The New York _Times_ says on this subject:[124] + +"What inquiring Senators want to know is, How was it possible for a +small group of bankers to get together and, merely by agreement, force +out one security by giving preference to another less valuable? This +power is regarded as highly dangerous to all classes of securities, +placing them entirely at the mercy of the Wall Street Group." + +The power of the Wall Street Group to which the _Times_ objects is in +times of panic reinforced by no less a power than the United States +Government. The United States differs from other countries in not +having a government bank for receiving government deposits and +distributing them in the ordinary course of banking business. The +result is that the receipts of the government accumulate in the United +States Treasury, and this tends to increase stringency in periods of +panic. It has become, therefore, a rule of the government to step in +on such occasions and deposit with its national banks a sufficient +amount to relieve stringency. It will be readily seen that this +intervention of the Secretary of the Treasury, while indispensable to +the public welfare, constitutes a great resource to the Wall Street +Group. For the Group can, by withholding cash at periods of +stringency, practically compel the government to come to the relief of +the market when, for purposes of its own the Group decides to withhold +funds. And as the Group includes the best-informed persons regarding +the finances of the country, it is to the Group that the Secretary of +the Treasury naturally goes for advice on these occasions. The Wall +Street Group therefore occupies a position which permits it to call +upon the government for funds when it desires to hoard its own funds +for its own purposes. + +Thus we find Secretary Cortelyou in daily conference with the Wall +Street Group at this period; and after the Knickerbocker Trust Company +closed its doors on the 22d of October and receivers had been +appointed for the three Westinghouse firms on the 23d, Secretary +Cortelyou deposited $25,000,000 in the New York banks indicated by the +Group. This was just sufficient to prevent ruin but not sufficient to +relieve stringency. On November 4th, Judge Gary and Mr. Frick went to +see the President and explained to him that the purchase of the +Tennessee Coal and Iron Company stock by the Steel Trust was necessary +"in order to stop the panic."[125] The President on the same day wrote +a letter to the Attorney-General, subsequently communicated to the +Senate, in which he explained that in view of the fact that such a +purchase would tend "to stop the panic" and that it would not give the +Steel Trust more than 60 per cent. of the Steel industry, he did "not +feel it a public duty to interpose any objection." + +The purchase of the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company having been +effected, the United States Government was once more called upon by +the Group and on November 17, the President and Secretary Cortelyou +announced the issue of 2 per cent Panama bonds for an amount of +$50,000,000, and 3 per cent on certificate indebtedness to an amount +of $100,000,000. By this time, however, the Group had decided that +there was no necessity to maintain panic conditions, and the issue of +these bonds was arrested, so that only one-half of the Panama bonds +and only $15,000,000 of the Treasury certificates were allotted. + +It has been intimated that the Wall Street Group during the whole of +this panic was in possession of funds which it purposely withheld. +This intimation seems justified by the events which immediately +followed the purchase of the Tennessee Coal and Iron stock by the +Steel Trust. In November newspapers informed us that our bankers were +engaged in "buying gold" in Europe, and during November no less than +$63,000,000 were imported and in December a further $44,000,000 were +imported; together--over $100,000,000. It is a somewhat singular +thing that the public does not seem to have asked for information as +to what was meant by this singular expression "buying gold." + +The machinery through which gold was brought over to America in +November and December was the following: Our farmers had already +produced crops and sold them to Europe; the 1907 cotton crop began to +move in August--a large part of it was in Europe before the panic. Our +wheat crop, though late, was already partly in Europe and on its way +there. Those who had produced and sold these crops had drawn against +their shipments. These drafts are called "cotton bills"--"wheat +bills." Certain bankers with connections abroad make it their special +business to buy these bills and present them for payment in Europe at +a minute profit called "exchange." But these bankers could not, during +the panic, borrow money as usual to buy these bills; and they did not +dare to use the money of their depositors for this purpose when they +were under imminent danger of a run. So these bills became a drug on +the market; they could be got for four cents in the pound cheaper than +in average years; and at this price, and at an exceptional profit, the +Wall Street Group went into the market and bought them up, presented +them for payment and got all the money from Europe that was wanted. +This is the process that was called "buying gold." But _who had gold +with which to buy these bills? Who had been hoarding gold?_ + +What do these facts disclose? They disclose that at the time when the +Wall Street Group refused help to the Knickerbocker Trust it had at +its disposal the gold in the United States Treasury--did not Cortelyou +actually put this gold at its disposal?--the credit of the United +States Government--did not Cortelyou at its bidding issue all the +bonds he was told to issue?--and enough money of its own at the proper +moment to purchase cotton and wheat bills at panic prices, so that +every ship that in November and December sailed from Europe to New +York came laden with gold? + +No one can, I think, deny the power of the Group after a fair +consideration of these incidents. Let us see how this power was +exercised as regards the city of New York. + +The Comptroller in a report published in November, 1907 (pages 5 and +6) showed that the city had not only voted, but appropriated over +$195,000,000 for, public works, much of which was urgently needed by +the city and some of which ought to have been completed four years +before. Yet this city of four million inhabitants, whose property is +underassessed at $7,000,000,000, was not able to employ its thousands +of unemployed at this urgently needed public work because, as +Comptroller Metz stated at a crowded meeting, Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan +would not give the money to do it with, _and the city could get it +from no one else_.[126] + +Morgan allowed the city in October to issue $30,000,000 of its bonds +at 6 per cent, but refused to permit any further issue until the last +day of January. On January 29th, according to the New York _Sun_,[127] +Mr. Morgan relented, and the Mayor of the city, the Comptroller, the +Deputy Comptroller, the Corporation Counsel, and the City Chamberlain +were summoned to Mr. Morgan's library. There at last the imperial +consent was given; the richest city in America was allowed by Mr. +Morgan to issue its own bonds, but not in an amount large enough to +permit of any public works. So the unemployed were left to tramp +sleeplessly through our streets. + +The Wall Street Group found another important element of profit in the +fall of securities during the panic. It has been said that securities +fell on an average 40 points when the Group sold securities between +January and March, 1907. Mr. James H. Brookmire estimates that they +fell another 16 points during the panic. The Group seemed informed as +to the exact moment at which securities had reached the bottom price; +that is, they knew the moment when the panic was intended to come to +an end. I was fortunate enough to be informed by a member of the Group +at the right moment. I purchased Northern Pacific stock upon the +advice given and, in the course of the year, made 50 per cent profit +thereupon. The Group that sold between January and March, 1907, was in +a position to buy back stock at less than one-half what they sold it +for and, if they chose to realize at the present time, it would make +an additional 50 per cent. In other words, it was in a position to +make over 100 per cent upon the whole transaction. When we keep in +mind the enormous figures which the operations of the Group attain, +the amount of profit realized upon this amount alone can be imagined. + +I do not wish to be understood as pretending that the facts marshalled +in the foregoing pages constitute conclusive proofs that the Group +either made money by the panic, or withheld cash and credit for the +purpose of making money. It is possible that the sales of stock +between January and March and the repurchase of stock in November were +effected solely with a view to the public welfare; it is possible that +the Knickerbocker Trust Company was allowed to go to the wall solely +through error in judgment; it is possible that the Steel Trust +reluctantly purchased the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company as Messrs. +Gary and Frick explained to the President--solely for the purpose of +"stopping the panic." But practical business men are not accustomed to +concluding in this fashion. When the keenest appetites of humanity are +whetted to the utmost and opportunities are extended for the +satisfaction of these appetites, we generally conclude that these +opportunities are not refused through pure asceticism; at least not by +the Wall Street Group. + +When Mrs. Forrest brought action against her husband, Edwin Forrest, +the actor, it was proved that the defendant had been seen visiting a +house of ill fame; after he entered, a third story front room was lit; +the room remained lit for about an hour; the light was extinguished at +the end of this period, and a few moments thereafter Mr. Forrest was +seen leaving the house. His counsel maintained that this was not +conclusive evidence against him; that his profession obliged him to +study human nature in every rank of life at close quarters, and that +it had not been proved that he visited this house for any other +purpose. Charles O'Conor in responding to this part of the defendant's +argument, said: "I can see the defendant walking up the steps of this +house of ill fame; I can see him enter and ushered into a room full of +human nature exclusively of the female sex ready and willing to be +studied at close quarters; I can see him select the one which he +believed to be able to furnish the best opportunities for this +purpose; I can see the two mount the stairs to the third story front +and light the gas; and I can see them together there devote an hour to +meditation and prayer." The jury was satisfied with the evidence and +rendered a verdict for divorce in favor of Mrs. Forrest. + +Whatever be the opinion, however, as to whether or not the Wall Street +Group withheld funds to effect its purpose during the panic; or +whether it made money out of the panic, one thing is perfectly +certain--it was in a position where it could have withheld money; it +was in a position where it could have made money out of the panic. The +question the community has to decide is whether it is willing to leave +this power and this temptation to any group of bankers--either to the +saints now in control of Wall Street, or possibly to their less worthy +successors. + +In one of the standard English works on Money,[128] George Clare +points out the exorbitant power of the Secretary of our Treasury: + +"The New York Market is in fact at the mercy of an autocrat who, +having full power to loose or bind large masses of currency at his +absolute discretion, decides for himself whether and when money shall +be cheap, and whether and when it shall be dear." + +This autocratic power is to-day at the disposal of the Wall Street +Group--not owing to any improper influence of the Group; not through +any improper conduct of the Treasury; but as a necessary result of +existing conditions. And if Mr. Clare is right in criticising the +wisdom of granting to the Treasury the autocratic power it now enjoys, +how much more dangerous is it to grant this autocratic power not to an +official who can be removed, but to a group of financiers who cannot +be removed? For the power exerted by the Wall Street Group includes +not only all the resources of the Treasury, but all the resources of +the entire country. It holds the life blood of our economic system in +its hands and, because it controls this life blood, it controls +politics, education, morals, and religion. And this group of men was +not elected to the position it now enjoys by the majority of our +citizens; it has usurped the position by virtue of its control over +silver and gold. + +The fact, however, that the use of silver and gold as our sole medium +of exchange gives men control of the most essential things in our +life, whom we never elected to that office and who at critical times +have a personal interest to serve in opposition to that of the public +welfare, is not the only evil connected with their use: + +Silver and gold do not furnish us with constant standards of values. +At various periods in the history of our civilization, gold and silver +have been discovered in enormous quantities, and the effect of the +discoveries and the putting of the gold and silver on the market has +been and must be of a character to seriously affect the interests of +all. When the amount of gold and silver in circulation is increased, +prices go up, but wages do not correspondingly rise; and the +wage-earner is unconsciously robbed. He goes on receiving the same +amount in gold or silver for his work, but the purchasing power of the +wage he receives diminishes. Again, when contraction takes place, as +for example when silver was demonetized in 1893, a great wrong was +done to the farmers who had borrowed money upon their farms; for by +demonetizing silver, gold increased correspondingly in value and the +farmer was called upon to pay his mortgages with money worth far more +than it was prior to the demonetization of silver. + +One thing, however, we want to bear in mind, that although farmers +suffer by the demonetization of silver and wage-earners suffer by the +demonetization of silver, and no change in the amount of silver and +gold used as currency takes place without somebody suffering, the +financiers and all those who handle money are in a position so to +conduct their affairs as to profit by these changes. Meanwhile the +rest of the community are in such a position that they have not the +knowledge and even if they had the knowledge, would probably not have +the ability, to do anything but lose by them. + +The average citizen has no knowledge on these subjects whatever, and +is therefore at the mercy of financial heretics. He was misled by the +greenback craze in the 80's, by the silver craze in the 90's, and is +subject to further delusions so long as coin remains the medium of +exchange and coin is controlled by a few individuals whose only +interest in it is to make out of it the largest fortune possible. + +It must not be imagined that an attempt has been made to furnish +anything like an exhaustive account of the opportunities which +financiers have for profiting at the expense of the public. To do so +would require a volume as large as this one devoted entirely to this +subject. + +For example, at this very time of writing,[129] the papers inform us +that Mr. Morgan is hurrying back from Europe to settle the question +whether a dividend is to be paid on the common stock of the United +States Steel Company. It is known that Mr. Morgan received a very +large block of this stock as his compensation for promoting the trust. +If he still has enough of this stock to make the payment of a dividend +of importance to him, or if he wants to sell at a high price, he will +be naturally influenced by this motive to declare a dividend. If, on +the other hand, he who best of all knows how prosperous the Company +is, desires to purchase more of this stock at a low price, he will be +tempted not to declare a dividend. The stock will fall and he will be +able to make a large profit by purchasing. + +In this manner directors are always able, if they choose, to make +money on the declaration of doubtful dividends; and this can be done +without its being possible to impute any blame to them, for a +declaration of a dividend is always a matter of judgment. It is wise +to put aside a certain part of the profits as a reserve to meet hard +times, and just how much shall be put aside as a reserve and how much +shall be paid out for dividends are matters on which it is very +difficult for the best-intentioned men to agree. The directors, +however, who control the company can make up their minds beforehand +whether they will declare a dividend or not. If they propose to pass a +dividend, they can sell as much as the market permits and buy back +later at reduced prices. If they decide to declare a dividend, they +can buy as much as the market permits and sell later at advanced +prices. + +Again, there seems to be no standard of morality amongst bankers as +regards the profits they make. In the ordinary walks of life, a man is +expected to be able to explain what the services are for which he +receives any considerable sum of money. This, however, does not seem +to be the case with bankers. In 1893, the United States Congress +appointed a committee to investigate the rumor that over a million +dollars had been remitted to J.P. Morgan & Company, Winslow Lanier & +Company and J. & W. Seligman for the purpose of corrupting Congress. +Messrs. Morgan, Lanier and Seligman were obliged to admit that a sum +of $1,200,000 had been divided among them, "apparently for the use of +their names and for nothing else." When asked if it had been remitted +for the purpose of corrupting Congress, they denied it; when asked if +they were still in possession of this sum, they admitted they were; +when asked what the services were for which they had received this +sum, they naïvely stated that they did not know.[130] Such an +admission made by a lawyer would be ground for having him disbarred. + +The very moral or immoral attitude that permits of bankers receiving +enormous sums of money without being able to explain why these moneys +were paid to them, pervades the whole financial atmosphere. + +The directors of our large corporations corrupt our legislatures; they +endow universities and pervert our education; they support the +churches and prevent them from preaching the doctrines of Christ; they +determine elections so as to secure legislators whom they can control. +They are masters, not only of our whole system of production and +distribution, but of our government and our laws. And this democracy +which in theory is a government of the people, by the people, and for +the people, turns out to be a government of the people, by financiers, +for financiers. + +Nor does it seem possible to put an end to this condition of things so +long as our system of production and distribution is competitive; for +gold and silver have proved to be altogether the best mediums of +exchange, and some medium of exchange we must have in order to carry +on trade so long as that trade is left to individual initiative as at +present. + +The whole community pays tribute to those who have gold and silver and +those who handle it, and these last have a personal interest contrary +to the interest of the public at moments of the greatest emergency. +Competitive conditions have subjected the whole currency of the +country to the control of a few men who thereby are masters of our +commerce, our manufactures, our exports, our politics, our religion. +In view of the fact that this small group practically governs the +country in matters of legislation, and by virtue of a sort of class +solidarity between the judges and the possessing class, governs the +courts also, the men who determine the making and executing of our +laws should, in a democracy such as ours, be elected by the people. +But they are not elected by the people and they are not removable by +the people. They are irremovable usurpers; they are created by +economic conditions and, as long as these economic conditions last, +they will continue to enjoy the power they now exercise. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[115] An article by Charles A. Conant in the _Atlantic Monthly_, Jan., +1908. + +[116] _Atlantic Monthly_, Charles A. Conant, Jan., 1908, p. 101. + +[117] Insurance Year Book: Life and Casualty sections, 1909, p. 236-7. + +[118] Statistical abstract of the U.S., 1908. + +[119] "Monetary and Banking Systems." By Maurice L. Muhleman, formerly +U.S. Deputy Assistant Treasurer at New York. + +[120] Ibid. + +[121] According to computations made by Mr. James H. Brookmire on +quotations of twenty representative railroad stocks, these reached at +the highest point in 1906, 138. In March, these securities had gone +down to 98. + +[122] N.Y. _Press_, Oct. 22, 1907. + +[123] See N.Y. _Times_, Jan. 30, 1909. + +[124] N.Y. _Times_, February 1, 1909. + +[125] The N.Y. _Times_, Jan. 7, 1909. + +[126] N.Y. _Sun_, Jan. 17, 1908. + +[127] Ibid., Jan. 30, 1908. + +[128] "A Money Market Primer," by George Clare. Recommended by the +Council of the Institute of Bankers. Revised edition, London, 1896, p. +123. + +[129] July 16, 1909. + +[130] House Reports, 52d Congress, 2d Session, v. 3, No. 2615, p. 5. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +CAN THE EVILS OF CAPITALISM BE ELIMINATED BY COÖPERATION? + + +One of our ablest captains of industry has lately collected articles +and addresses on this subject in a book entitled, "Problems of the +Day." If we were to eliminate from this book the errors under which +Mr. Carnegie labors as to what Socialism is, we could make of it an +admirable piece of Socialist propaganda. For Mr. Carnegie, although +denouncing Socialism in every page, believes in giving the workingman +an interest in the factory, and carries his belief in this system so +far that he actually looks forward to the day when labor will reach +"an equality with the millionaire as his partner in business."[131] He +cites as an example of what could be done in this direction the Filene +stores of Boston, the capital stock of which he says is held +"exclusively by employees." Now this is exactly the system which +modern Socialism wants to bring into existence. Because, therefore, +Mr. Carnegie does not belong to the Platonic School of Socialism which +suggests the breaking-up of the home and is denounced by all practical +Socialists of to-day; and because he disapproves of the abolition of +wealth, as do all practical Socialists of to-day, he deserves to +occupy a front rank in our Socialist army for having put his finger +upon the real evil--competition; and for having pointed the way to +the real solution--the substitution, of coöperation for competition +all through our industrial system. + +One thing, however, Mr. Carnegie has failed to appreciate: namely, +that when all our industries are organized on the principle of the +Filene stores--when, as Mr. Carnegie explains, the capital stock of +every industry and department store is held exclusively by employees, +the worker will not be the partner of the millionaire--he will have +superseded him. I am afraid this is not what Mr. Carnegie wants, at +least not in his day. But when he really wants this as much as in his +book he seems to want it, Mr. Carnegie will be qualified to be a +member of the Socialist party. + +There is an important distinction to be made between coöperation and +coöperatives, because coöperatives may be divided into two very +different classes: capitalistic coöperatives and socialistic +coöperatives. + +The capitalistic coöperatives are either the efforts of capitalists to +secure the fidelity of employees by giving them a minute share in the +profits of the business, or the efforts of employees to benefit +themselves by eliminating capitalists without eliminating capitalism; +in other words, the fact that such coöperatives undertake to produce +or distribute commodities under the competitive _régime_, converts +them into capitalists. + +In marked contrast to these are the coöperative stores of Belgium, +organized in part to improve the condition of those engaged in them, +but also with the view of putting an end to capitalism altogether. +These are performing a work of inestimable value to Socialism and the +Socialist party in Belgium, while materially helping those who belong +to them, they at the same time hold up as the standard aimed at, not +the mere material improvement of themselves, but the ultimate triumph +of an ideal. + +The field for coöperation is so vast that it cannot be traversed in +the scope of this work. I shall close this subject therefore with the +suggestion that all coöperatives--even the capitalistic--are good and +useful, for they tend to educate. It is true that they may also +occasion evil; as for example, the Steel Trust when it encourages +employees to purchase stock, while it discourages and destroys +trade-union organization, and thereby creates an aristocracy of labor +which tends to prevent the sense of solidarity in labor ranks that +Marxians regard as essential to the triumph of the Socialist cause. + +But the evil it does is probably compensated by the good. Incidentally +it furnishes us Socialists with a triumphant answer to Mr. Carnegie: +Here in his city of Pittsburg which he built up with his genius, is +the principle of coöperation adopted which he regards as the solution +of all our ills; yet it is this very Pittsburg that to-day furnishes +to the whole world the most abominable picture of exploitation ever +presented.[132] We Socialists are indeed fortunate that this picture +has been drawn not by ourselves, but by those who are to-day the most +intelligently opposing us. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[131] "Problems of the Day," by Andrew Carnegie, p. 76. + +[132] The Pittsburg Survey, published by the Russell Sage Foundation. + + + + +BOOK III + +_WHAT SOCIALISM IS_ + + +Socialism is too vast a subject to be brought within the four corners +of any one definition. It is as impossible for a definition to convey +an idea of Socialism as for an empty theater to convey the comedies, +the idylls, and the tragedies nightly enacted on its boards. A +definition can at best barely give the mechanism of Socialism; it +cannot furnish a picture of the effect of that mechanism in +eliminating misery, in promoting progress, in making character. This +must be painted on a canvas--and on a large canvas--and on many +canvases--for, as has been already urged, Socialism is not a simple +thing; it is a highly complex thing; and it is only when we have +grasped _all_ that Socialism will effect--when we have studied its +economic results, its political results, its scientific results, and +its ethical results--that we can appreciate this new Gospel of the +Poor. + +Socialism not only derives strength from each of these results, it +unites the divergencies between economics and politics, and solves the +conflict between science and religion. So that these four great +departments of human thought, instead of being independent or actually +in conflict with one another, find themselves in Socialism united in +one great harmonious whole. + +Just as Christianity derived its strength from the discontent of the +oppressed, so Socialism has pushed its first roots in the misery of +the proletariat. But we do not judge of a flower exclusively from its +roots. So must we not judge Socialism exclusively from that part of it +which at present flourishes in dark tenements and in the misery of the +unemployed. It is our fault that the tenements are dark, that the +unemployed suffer. It will be our fault if Socialism remains the +Gospel of the Poor when we can make of it the final Gospel of the +whole human race. + +For humanity has nearly finished the first great phase of its +existence; it has played the rôle of the worm long enough; already is +it cribbed, cabined, and confined by silk threads of its own weaving +that for a hundred years the cocoon has been accumulating about it, +repressing here, regulating there, till it is stifling under +limitations created by itself. But the very pressure of these +limitations has been developing new functions in us--a conscience +restive under false standards, a capacity for wider sympathies--the +wings of the grub, destined to burst the chrysalis of worn-out +prejudices, regulations, legislations, and despotisms; to spread out +into new spaces where there shall be development and happiness. + +Whether these hopes are well founded or not is the subject of our +inquiry, beginning first with Economics--the roots of our flower; +proceeding then to Politics--its stem; next to Science--its structure, +and lastly to Morality and Religion--its blossom and its fruit. And if +I group Morality and Religion, it is because these have both from the +beginning of years and not always hand in hand, been groping after the +same thing--Happiness. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE ECONOMIC ASPECT OF SOCIALISM + + +Let us begin by considering how large a part of our population is now +devoting its entire time to the work of competition, as distinguished +from that which is devoting its time to the task of production. + +It is obvious that all who are devoting their time to the work of +competition would, in a coöperative commonwealth, be free to give +their entire time to production; and the time they gave to production +would be so much taken away from the time which those now engaged in +production have to give to it. For example, the United States to-day +keeps alive, according to the census of 1900, over 76,000,000 men, +women, and children; of these the working population is estimated at a +little over 29,000,000, of which, however, many are not engaged in +production or distribution; as for example, actors, clergymen, +lawyers, soldiers; and although some others, such as journalists, +physicians, and surgeons, are not occupied in production and +distribution, they nevertheless are so necessary to every community +that they may be regarded as a part of the working population. The +percentage excluded, however, by excluding those not engaged in +production and distribution, is so small that it is not worth while +taking them into account; and for purposes of easy calculation we +should, therefore, consider the whole population in round +figures--75,000,000, of which 30,000,000 are engaged in production +and distribution, the remaining 45,000,000 consisting of the aged, +sick, women, and children who cannot work and in fact, all who by +wealth or disability are deprived of the necessity of working. Now if, +of the 30,000,000 who do the work of production, it is found that +15,000,000, or one-half, are engaged in work that results from the +competitive character of our industrial system, it is clear that in a +Socialist community in which there is no competition, these 15,000,000 +would be applied to the work of production; and therefore every man +would have to work only one-half the number of hours he now works in +order to keep the community alive. + +Let us see if we can form any idea how many are engaged in the +wasteful work of competition, and how many, therefore, would in a +Socialist society be set free to relieve the labor of those engaged in +production. + +It is conceded that of every one hundred men who start a new business +ninety become insolvent. This means that for every ten fit and able to +conduct a new business ninety engage in new business who are unable to +earn their bread at it. In a coöperative commonwealth the exact number +of men necessary to conduct business in any given place could be +mathematically determined; and the ninety unsuccessful men who are now +engaged in futile efforts to destroy the business of the ten +successful men would be employed in production to their own advantage +and to the relief of those already engaged therein. + +The wastefulness, however, of the present plan is not confined to the +circumstance that many are engaged in attempting to do what can better +be done by a few, but is increased by the fact that in the conflict +between the successful and the unsuccessful a vast horde of men are +employed by competition, who would be thrown out of employment and +therefore be serviceable for production in case competition were +avoided. Amongst the men so employed are commercial travellers; these +men occasion waste to the community, not only because instead of +themselves producing they are living on the production of others, but +because they constitute a large part of the passenger traffic of the +country. The railroads are put to the expense of carrying these +travellers all over the United States that they may each have an +opportunity in every corner of the United States of decrying the goods +of one another. And this throws a side light on the evils of our +present plan, for the railroads have an interest in encouraging this +work. If they did not have this horde of commercial travellers to +carry about the country, many of them might not be able to pay +interest on their bonds. The testimony taken by the Industrial +Commission furnishes admirable instances of the waste attending +competitive production and the corresponding economy that would attend +a Socialist system. Mr. Edson Bradley, President of the American +Spirits Manufacturing Company, testifies that in the whisky business +"somewhere between the distiller and the consumer in this country, +$40,000,000 is lost. This goes primarily to the attempt to secure +trade."[133] Now the whole capital invested in liquors and beverages +is, according to the last census, $660,000,000, whereas the total +manufactures amount to about $12,686,000,000. It will be seen, +therefore, that the capital invested in liquors and beverages is about +one-twentieth of that invested in other manufactures. If, therefore, +$40,000,000 are lost in getting the trade in the liquor business, it +may be inferred that twenty times this amount--that is to say, +$800,000,000--are lost in getting the trade by all the manufactures in +the country. This represents only the expense of advertising in +manufactures; it does not cover the advertising done by the whole +retail trade, the department stores, insurance companies--life +insurance, fire insurance, title insurance--real estate agents, quack +medicines, and that vast body of population known as middlemen, who +raise the price of commodities to the consumer and whose services +would be eliminated in a coöperative commonwealth. + +This latter class of advertising is very much larger than that of the +manufacturer, because it is the peculiar function of the retailer to +sell--to get the market--and the burden of advertising falls heavier +upon him. If $800,000,000 therefore represents the cost to the +manufacturer of getting the market, it is probable that the total cost +of getting the market by the whole community does not fall short of +twice this sum. + +The advertiser practically pays the whole cost of printing and +publishing the innumerable newspapers and magazines of this country. +The one cent paid for such a paper as the _American_ does not cover +the cost of the paper alone; it is the advertisements that pay +handsomely for all the rest. + +Advertising would be unnecessary in a coöperative system, where +practically everything would be furnished by a single industry. As the +Reverend E. Ellis Carr says,[134] the United States Government does +not find it necessary to advertise postage stamps. The Standard Oil no +longer advertises oil. Those of us who are old enough remember how, +prior to the organization of the oil trust, our fences were placarded +by the rival claims of a dozen different oils: Pratt's Astral oil, +etc., in letters of huge and ungainly size. + +The only advertising necessary would be that of private enterprises +started in such industries as did not give satisfaction to the public, +and these, it is to be hoped, would be relatively small. + +Mr. Dowe, President of the Commercial Travellers' National League, +testified[135] that "35,000 salesmen had been thrown out of employment +by the organization of trusts and 25,000 reduced to two-thirds of +their previous salaries.... The Baking Powder Trust has replaced men +at $4000 to $5000 a year by others at $18 a week.... The displacement +of travelling men represents also large loss to railways, amounting, +on the estimate that each traveller spends $2.50 a day for 240 days, +to $27,000,000, while the loss to hotels would be at least as much as +to railways." Adding up these losses, we reach the following result: + + 35,000 salesmen at an average compensation + (including commissions) of $3000 each a year $105,000,000 + Loss in railroad travelling 27,000,000 + Loss in hotel expenses 27,000,000 + ------------ + Together $159,000,000 + +In the few industries, therefore, in which competition has been +diminished by the trust system, an economy of $159,000,000 was +estimated to have been already effected in the employment of salesmen +alone. And this was ten years ago. These figures enable us to +appreciate the enormous economy that would result from an elimination +of competition from our industries. An economy that constitutes a loss +to commercial travellers, railroads, and hotels under the competitive +system would constitute a pure gain to a Socialist community; for it +would mean so much more labor for production. Our present system then +encourages useless expenditure, whereas Socialism would eliminate it. + +Another important economy would be made in the running of public +enterprises, through the absence of the necessity of collecting +revenue therefrom. In municipal tramways, for example, one-half the +force could be dispensed with, for the functions of the conductor are +practically confined to collecting fares. A similar economy would be +practised on railroads; in telegrams; no stamps would be required for +postage; no costly corps of clerks for bookkeeping. + +Under our system gas is furnished to our cities by gas companies, each +one of which tears up the streets at great detriment to public +convenience and health, to lay its mains for the mere purpose of +competing with existing companies, with the result of forcing a +consolidation which tends to make gas dearer instead of cheaper to the +consumer. Professor Ely estimates[136] that the consolidation of gas +companies in Baltimore has cost eighteen millions, of which ten +millions represent pure loss. + +Much the same thing is true of railroads. Professor Ely quotes a +railroad manager who states that if the railways of the United States +were managed as a unit instead of by competing companies, such +management would effect an economy of two hundred million dollars a +year; he cites, as an instance of useless paralleling of roads, the +numerous railroads which connect New York with Chicago. He estimates +that these lines cost two hundred million dollars, and that the +maintenance of the useless lines involves perpetual loss. To-day, when +railroads have doubled in length and traffic, the possible economy may +well be estimated at twice this amount. He is obliged, however, to +admit that the paralleling of railroads results in considerable +accommodation, when parallel lines pass through different places and +occasion some advantage in the time-table. With many lines in the +United States this, however, is not the case. The Colorado Midland +parallels the Denver and Rio Grande, passing through virtually the +same places, and as both are subjected to the necessity of connecting +and forwarding passengers to lines at their extremities, both are +obliged to run trains at the same hours. There is in this case no +advantage either to the time-table or to new places. + +Nor does the competition of parallel roads always furnish better +accommodation to the public. Between Chicago and Denver one line is +able easily to run trains from place to place in twenty-four hours; +but for the purpose of avoiding a freight war with competing lines, it +has entered into an arrangement with them under which it agrees not to +run passenger trains in less than thirty-six hours. The public, +therefore, instead of gaining, loses an advantage of twelve hours, +thereby learning at no small inconvenience that competition does not +always compete. + +What is true of the railroads and gas companies is also true of +telegraph business. The Western Union was capitalized at one hundred +million dollars. It is estimated that the cost of laying the lines +actually used by the Western Union was not more than twenty millions; +eighty million dollars, therefore, have been wasted by the existing +system, which encourages private companies to construct lines with the +result of compelling other companies to buy them up. Professor Ely +adds that "it cost England nearly as much to make the telegraph a part +of the postoffice as it did all the other countries of Europe put +together, because in these the telegraph has been from the beginning +a part of the postoffice, and the wastes of competition had been +avoided."[137] + +Another most wasteful feature attending our present system is the +expense of distributing goods; for example, the articles which enter +most into our daily life, milk, bread, butter, eggs, meat, fish, and +vegetables. Compare the method of distributing these things with that +for distributing letters adopted by the postoffice. The fact that the +government is the only instrumentality through which letters are +distributed permits it to effect economy in time, labor, and expense +by sorting the letters beforehand according to streets and confining +the distribution in any one street to a single carrier, who +distributes the letters door by door. + +This is the economical system for distributing all things in regular +use that would be adopted by the Socialist plan. Compare this now with +the plan necessitated by the competitive system. Every block is served +with milk by a number of milk dealers instead of by one;[138] every +block is furnished with bread by a very large number of dealers +instead of by one; every block is furnished with meat by a very large +number of dealers instead of by one; and so on through every article +which enters into our daily use. + +Not only is there great waste of labor in the business of producing +and distributing the necessaries of life under the competitive system, +but the system itself creates a large class of business that absorbs +much of the wealth of the community and employs a very large number of +its members. For example, under a socialist system there would no +longer be any necessity or advantage in insurance, whether against +death or fire, or accident, or hail, or defective title, or any other +danger. The reason of this is obvious: we insure against pecuniary +loss arising out of these accidents because otherwise the whole loss +will fall upon ourselves. In a Socialist society some of occasions for +loss would not exist at all, and those that did exist would fall upon +the entire people and would consequently be inappreciable by any one +member of it. For example, a man insures his life so that his children +will not be reduced to poverty by his death; but in the Socialist +society the widow and the child are provided for, being all of them +members and all sharers in its income. Death in such a case would +practically not constitute a loss to the state financially, because +the number of deaths of the very old and the very young--the +unproductive members of the community--is far greater than that of its +productive members. + +Insurance companies are beginning to understand the importance of +keeping their policy holders in good health. The Metropolitan Life +Insurance Company is to-day maintaining nurses for this purpose. + +Another business that would be eliminated in a Socialist state is the +entire business done by brokers; not only Wall Street brokers, but +real estate brokers, mining brokers, and brokers of every description, +in so far as they are engaged in competition. The abolition of Wall +Street would carry with it the abolition of gambling in stocks which +is a necessary feature thereof. No law has yet been devised, though +the attempt has often been made, that would, so long as the +competitive system endures, put a stop to gambling in stocks. A law +which would successfully stop gambling in stocks would stop legitimate +dealing in stocks also. But the immoral element involved in "puts" and +"calls" is only an exaggeration of the immoral element involved in all +industrial transactions built upon the principle of private profit. +For although business can be conducted in such a way as only to +furnish to those engaged in it a fair remuneration, it perpetually +furnishes a temptation to contrive so that it shall furnish a large +rather than a fair return. In fact, the whole struggle of business +consists in endeavoring to secure the largest return of profit for the +least expenditure of labor. The man who succeeds in getting the +largest return for the least expenditure is the successful business +man; and no man does this with more security than the next class to +which attention may be called, whose occupation would come to an end +in the Socialist state; namely, the bankers. + +It would take too long to enter here into an accurate and fair +estimate of the service rendered by the banker and the reward he +obtains for it. Most writers who favor Socialism undervalue the +functions of the banker. They are so impressed by the enormous incomes +which bankers make that they do not appreciate the great services they +render; and although, in a Socialist state, the banker _qua_ banker +would tend to disappear, the man who to-day does the work of a banker +would, it is hoped, do the same work for the state. So that although +the business of banking would disappear, the best form of government +would be that in which individuals who have been discovered to be best +fitted for the onerous and difficult duties of finance would be those +to whom these duties would be intrusted. Whether the man best fitted +to do this difficult work would be intrusted with it under the +Socialist plan is a doubt raised as an objection to Socialism which +will be considered later.[139] + +Another large class of intelligent men, now engaged in carrying on the +quarrels which result from the competitive system, would be left +without an occupation under the Socialist plan; namely, the lawyers. +With them, the hatred and vindictiveness which arise from litigation +would in a Socialist society, in great part, disappear also. For +lawyers constitute the class whose business it is to conduct these +quarrels, and, alas! also to inflame them. When we consider that in +New York city alone there are nearly ten thousand practising lawyers, +and add to these the clerks, stenographers, bookkeepers, and +office-boys employed by each of them, those employed in the courts, +the sheriff's office, the county clerk's office, marshals, deputy +sheriffs, and others; and take into account that most of these men are +engaged in fighting, we cannot but be struck by the enormous advantage +to the community of a system which would practically eliminate this +class altogether. + +I must not be understood to mean, however, that there would be no +necessity for courts under the Socialist plan. Even though crimes +against property were eliminated by Socialism, there would still be a +temptation to commit crime, owing to sexual jealousy and in a certain +degree to intemperance and idleness. It cannot be doubted that +intemperance and idleness would tend to diminish with the +disappearance of the misery that reduces men to the physical condition +that engenders these vices, but there would still, doubtless, be some +intemperance and some idleness; there would certainly remain unhappy +marriages; and as every man is to remain possessed of a small amount +of property there would be minute questions of property sometimes +involved. But it is hardly conceivable that such questions could +involve any system of justice more elaborate than that of the justice +of the peace, and possibly a single court of appeal. The diminution of +competition would so simplify the law that no question would be likely +to arise that the parties to the litigation could not themselves +explain. How little litigation would be likely under a Socialist +_régime_ may be judged by comparing the litigation to which the +administration of the postoffice gives rise with the interminable +lawsuits which result from the administration of railroads.[140] +Moreover, it is to be hoped that a Socialist community would at last +have leisure to study criminology and to understand that the criminal +has to be treated as a sick man rather than a wicked one. The whole +system of criminal procedure would be changed, and the type now known +as the criminal lawyer would disappear. The existing system, under +which every prosecuting officer considers his reputation involved in +securing the punishment of every accused person brought before the +court,[141] necessarily gives rise to a corresponding class of lawyer +who regards his reputation as well as his fee involved in opposing the +efforts of the prosecuting officer by any means, however +unjustifiable. Of course, to the extent to which the competitive +system was left standing, there would have to be lawyers to protect +competitive interests. But these lawyers would be supported by the +competitive system. + +If, now, we consider that the large number of men liberated by the +substitution of Socialism for our present form of government would not +only diminish the labor of those now engaged in production, but that +it constitutes the part of our population engaged in fanning the flame +of hatred in the minds of men, the advantage to a community of having +this perpetual source of trouble removed will be obvious. But we are +not concerned so much now with the reduction of hatred under the +Socialist plan as with its economy. + +Let us next pass to the consideration of the wastefulness involved in +the field of production itself: + +In 1894 horses in the West became so valueless that they were left +unbranded by their owners, lest the branding of them involve the +payment of taxes thereupon. Cattle, on the other hand, have of late +risen in value; the price of them fell so low some time ago as to +involve the ruin of all those largely engaged in raising them; but +to-day everyone is rushing back into this business. This state of +things furnishes a fair opportunity of judging how imperfectly +informed the producer is as to the needs of the community. _He is only +informed that the community is overstocked with an article by being +ruined in the course of producing it._ This plan is not only +productive of misery to a large number of individuals in every +community, but is necessarily an extremely wasteful one. The object of +every community ought to be to produce the things it needs, not the +things it does not need. The present system, on the contrary, obliges +the community to be continually producing the things it does not need +as the only means by which it can arrive at a knowledge of what it +does need. + +For under the existing system, overproduction occasions a surplusage +of things in themselves valuable, but the exchange value of which has +been diminished by their abundance. And the producer cannot afford to +keep this surplusage, because he has fixed charges to pay. He has to +sell his crop at a loss because he must have money to pay rent, or +interest on mortgage, or salaries, or for his own support during the +year. It is this pressure he is under to sell which impoverishes him. +And its consequences are far-reaching; for as the price of raw cotton +goes down, cotton manufacturers are encouraged to buy, and to increase +the output of their factories; and so overproduction of raw material +tends to result in overproduction of manufactured goods. + +In a Socialist society the industry or good harvest of one year would +have for effect a diminution of labor the next; or greater comfort or +luxury next year for the same labor; no man's labor would be lost, and +the bountifulness of Nature would be a blessing and not, as now, a +misfortune. + +The efforts to prevent the overproduction of cotton in the South gave +rise to a convention in 1892, regarding which Professor Ely quotes a +telegram from Memphis, January 8, as follows: + +"That the farmers of the South are in earnest in their endeavors to +solve the serious problems of overproduction of cotton is evinced by +the enthusiastic meeting of delegates to the convention of the +Mississippi Valley Cotton Growers' Association, which was called to +order in this city this morning."[142] + +And again the speech of the President of the Boston Chamber of +Commerce: + +"In 1890 we harvested a cotton crop of over eight million +bales--several hundred thousand bales more than the world could +consume. Had the crops of the present year been equally large, it +would have been an appalling calamity to the section of our country +that devotes so large a portion of its labor and capital to the +raising of cotton."[143] + +Nothing could better illustrate the evil of our present system and the +benefits of Socialism than such a state of things as is described in +the speech already quoted from the President of the Boston Chamber of +Commerce.[144] If in a Socialist Society more bales of cotton were +produced in any given year than the community or the world could +consume, the community would store away the unused cotton and modify +its agriculture in a manner to bring the cotton crop into proper +relation to existing needs. But such an event could not be an +"appalling calamity"; it could not be anything but a benefit; so much +more wealth for the community; so much less labor for its citizens. +And what is true of the cotton crop is equally true of all other +crops. Overproduction is impossible in a coöperative community, for +all the overproduction of one year would mean less work in that +particular kind of production the next. Every citizen in the community +would profit by so-called overproduction instead of, as now, suffering +from it. + +Overproduction is closely allied to invention, which, as is well +known, has been a source of despair to workingmen; for improvements in +machinery almost always throw large numbers of them out of employment. +In India, as has been described, the destruction of hand-loom weavers +by machinery brought about a misery hardly paralleled in the history +of war; "the bones of the cotton-weavers are bleaching on the plains +of India." Yet invention, far from bringing distress to the +workingmen, as under our system it must, would in a coöperative +commonwealth prove an unqualified advantage. For every invention that +increases the efficiency of human labor diminishes the amount of time +that must be spent in labor to obtain the same result. In a +coöperative state the saving of labor is a benefit to every individual +in the community, whereas under the competitive system the saving of +labor is of immediate benefit to the owner of the patent alone, and +means immediate distress to the laborers it particularly affects. + +A standard objection to Socialism is that it would remove all stimulus +to invention. This I believe to be a profound mistake. + +In the first place, inventors are not always urged to invention by the +prospect of financial reward. The great discoveries of humanity, at +the basis of all our practical advances, were made by men who neither +sought nor obtained a reward therefor. It was not with the view of +making money that Newton discovered and propounded the laws of +gravity, or Ohm the laws of electrical resistance. Nor do inventors +to-day reap the reward of their inventions. Capitalists often have an +interest in suppressing inventions; for inventions generally involve +the expensive transformation of existing plants. For example, Mr. +Babbage[145] describes how a patent for welding gun-barrels by +machinery had long been unused because of the cheapness of hand labor; +but as soon as a strike forced up wages recourse was had to the +patent, which until then had been neglected. + +Capitalists often prefer to dispense with an improvement rather than +go to the expense which improvements generally occasion. This was the +unwritten motive for the opposition of England to the construction of +the Suez Canal, and was believed by M. DeLesseps to be the motive of +their opposition to the Panama Canal.[146] Again, no one who has had +personal acquaintance with inventors can believe that their +discoveries are to any material extent the result of financial motive. +It would be difficult to imagine the conditions under which Edison and +Maxim would not invent. They cannot help inventing; they are as much +under a necessity to invent as a hen to lay eggs. Undoubtedly there +are certain environments which favor the production and utilization of +inventing types, and others that disfavor the production and +utilization of such types. And undoubtedly a motive for invention is a +part of the environment which does contribute to invention; but would +such a motive be wanting in a Socialist society? I think it can be +shown that it would not only be present, but would be a stronger +motive in the Socialist society than in our own; for under our own the +reward which an inventor receives for an invention is a patent, and a +patent is, as all lawyers will testify, merely a subject for +litigation. In other words, every man who invents a useful thing has +to overcome the objections of the patent office; the objections of +infringers; the objections of owners of machines which would be +superseded, all three obstacles of no small order. And not until they +are all overcome, if indeed, they are, is the patent likely to be a +source of income to the inventor. Under the Socialist order, however, +every man is interested in increasing the productiveness of society to +diminish the hours of labor; and nothing, moreover, would be easier +than for a Socialist Society exceptionally to reward invention by +diminishing the hours of labor due to it by the inventor. + +If an inventor by any one invention shortened the hours of labor in an +aggregate amount equivalent to a lifetime of his own work for the +community, he ought to be relieved of the necessity of himself doing +further work. If the invention were clearly due to inventive skill and +not to accident, it would be to the interest of the industry in which +he was engaged to furnish him with a laboratory where he could +experiment with a view to further invention, as the General Electric +Company does for its inventors and Mr. Westinghouse for his. There is +not one inventor in a hundred but would laboriously avail of such an +opportunity; for the delight of an inventor is to invent. So inventors +would constitute one of the Honor group of the community. They would +receive during their lives the consideration due to their +inventiveness and industry. At present the enormous majority of +inventors die poor and unknown. Of all the inventors in America only +three that I know of are rich, Westinghouse, Bell, and Edison. +Practically all the rest have been victims of their own inventive +faculty. Who knows the name of the inventor of the slot machine so +much in vogue to-day? His name was Percival Everitt, and he died a +pauper in the street. + +But we need not have recourse to argument to demonstrate that +pecuniary reward is not necessary to stimulate invention. There is one +profession in which a germ of self-respect has established the rule +that no discovery or invention shall receive pecuniary reward--the +medical profession. No doctor who wants to keep or earn a standing +patents a medicine or surgical instrument. Those who do so are at once +ostracized. Medicine or surgical inventions are deemed by +self-respecting doctors too important to the community for the +inventor to limit their use by patent. + +If this idea of social service to-day animates the medical profession, +why should it not ultimately animate other professions, other +industries, other occupations? Why should it not animate them all? + +Another profession has furnished the elements for all invention and has +never asked a pecuniary reward--I mean the teachers. If, for example, we +take such a subject as electricity, it will be found that all the +fundamental discoveries that enable the modern use of electricity are +due entirely to the researches of men who, out of sheer love of the +work, added research to the occupations for which they were paid. Sir +Isaac Newton was the first to discover the use of glass as a +non-conductor of electricity. Galvani and Volta, who gave their +names--one to Galvanic, and the other to Voltaic electricity--were +professors in Italy. The action of the electric current on a compass +needle was discovered by Professor H.O. Oersted in Copenhagen; and the +nature of electro-motive force, current strength and resistance, were +determined by Professor G.S. Ohm in Holland. But the greatest +discoveries of all were made by Faraday, who refused a title in order to +remain a professor all the days of his life. Is it possible that with +the record of these men before us, we can maintain the theory that gain +is the only stimulus to invention? If we think a little, we shall see +how essentially childish this notion is. + +There are three principal motives for invention: + +The desire to make money is one, but my experience of inventors has +persuaded me that it is the least, and is only perceptible in +inventors of the smallest caliber. + +The faculty of invention is itself the determining motive. A man who +has a faculty _must_ exercise that faculty or suffer. The artist +_must_ paint; the sculptor _must_ sculpt; the musician _must_ make +music; the poet _must_ make rhymes. Lowell said that when he had no +time to state a proposition carefully in prose, he stated it in rhyme. + +No one who has worked with inventors would be guilty of the error that +inventors need the stimulus of money reward. The mind of the inventor +teems with inventions as a herring at spawning season teems with +spawn. And as the herring must relieve herself of her spawn so must +the inventor relieve himself of his inventions. One great inventor of +the present day was in 1883 so fertile that the company who had +secured his exclusive services paid him to go to Europe and stop +inventing in order to avoid the ruinous expense of taking out his +patents. The inventor is driven by two forces: a function that insists +upon being exercised, and the pleasure which this exercise occasions. +Every man who can do a thing well loves doing that thing. To-day when +athletics bring notoriety it is very natural to conclude that men row +to get this notoriety. But in the old days when there was little or no +notoriety, men who could row, rowed for the pleasure of it; men who +could box, boxed for the pleasure of it. So to-day because a few +inventors--a very few--have become wealthy, the conclusion is drawn +that inventors invent only to make money. It is a pardonable fallacy, +but one that it takes very little intellectual effort to explode. + +A man gifted with curiosity and imagination will forget altogether the +needs of the body in his effort to attain his end. Inventors are +notoriously improvident. Bernard Palissy not only forgot to eat, but +to furnish food to his wife and children. Nay, he not only starved +himself and them, but burned his furniture to the last chair in his +desperate efforts to get the glaze he was in search of. A chemist will +forget mealtime and bedtime in his laboratory. There is no force in +the world more compelling than the force of an idea; none to which the +body is under a more complete subjection. An inventor in pursuit of a +solution needs no more stimulus than a stag in the rutting season in +pursuit of his doe. The theory that he does, and that it is the +stimulus of money that he needs, is that of the amateur who has never +seen an inventor at work, or of the bookkeeper who reduces +everything--body, mind, soul, and heart--to dollars and cents. + +An inventor may have been compelled to abandon research by the +necessity of making money or by the difficulty of finding it. Many an +one has been crushed by just such difficulties as these; and indeed it +may justly be said that more inventions are lost to us by the money +difficulty than are secured to us by the stimulus of a money reward. + +A third motive is the desire for consideration which is at the bottom +of many other desires--at the bottom even of the desire for money +itself. For if we analyze the desire for money we shall perceive that +it includes two very different motives: the motive of prudence--the +desire to secure the comforts and luxuries of life; and the motive of +ambition, or the desire for the consideration of others. Now the +former is the first in time, for a man must begin by securing the +material things of life. But once these are secured the motive that +keeps men making money is desire for consideration. And this desire, +though evil when excessive, is in moderation one of the greatest of +human virtues; for it sets men upon deserving the affection of their +neighbors and promotes unselfishness and self-sacrifice. One of the +curses of the competitive system is that the desire for +consideration, which in its essence is a virtue, is converted by our +money system into a vice, because money is the chief instrument in +securing consideration.[147] More will have to be said on this subject +later. Here we may content ourselves with noting that in a Socialist +society consideration will be secured not meretriciously through +money, but deservedly through service. The inventor who shortens hours +of labor for the community will belong to the Honor Roll. He will +secure this recognition not after having forced his invention on the +capitalist and fought its merits through the courts, created +unemployment for his fellows, and crushed competition out of the field +his patent covers--but directly from the industry he has benefited, +without the waste that attends the establishing of patent rights +to-day. The inventor under Socialism will have a stronger stimulus +than he has to-day; for the chances of securing livelihood and +consideration are certainly not more than one in a hundred, whereas +under Socialism they will be a hundred to one. There will not be the +opposition of invested capital to overcome; nor the hostility of his +fellow-workman; nor the villainy of the infringer. If his invention +can reduce the hours of labor or otherwise benefit the community, it +will be hailed with delight and honor. And so even though he need no +stimulus he will under Socialism have it; for his reward will be +prompt and secure. + +Moreover, as Professor Ely has pointed out, the tendency of invention +in a Socialist state would be to replace work which now involves +drudgery by machinery that would tend to lessen or eliminate it. + +If it were conceivable that a law could be made or enforced requiring +that millionaires, and none but millionaires, were to serve as +stokers, there is no doubt that all the ingenuity in the land would at +once be put to making the work of stoking less detestable than it now +is; if necessary, naval architecture would be so reformed from top to +bottom, as to reduce the work of stoking to that pressure of a finger +upon a button which is the only physical work imposed by modern +conditions upon the millionaire to-day. + +The improvements due to invention would in a Socialist society differ, +perhaps, in character but not in quantity, for invention obeys the +particular stimulus which gives rise to it. Thus Karl Marx points +out[148] that mechanical traction was not introduced into mines until +a law forbade the use of women and children there, and the "half-time +system stimulated the invention of the piecing-machine," thereby +replacing child labor in woolen-yarn manufacture. Again, immense +improvements have been made in charging and drawing gas retorts, owing +to labor troubles, and there is no doubt that all arduous work would +soon be made less arduous if we all had to take a turn at it. + +The objection that Socialism, would destroy the stimulus to invention +has been treated at what may seem disproportionate length on account +of its extreme importance. For it is owing to human inventiveness that +production to-day tends to outstrip consumption. Of all the +speculations upon the possible advantages of a new social order those +which concern themselves with the shortening of the average working +day are the most fascinating, yet the most dangerous. They are +fascinating because, of the many afflictions of the present order it +is the excessive workday that we feel most, for it is that which robs +so many of us or our need of personal life; and we know that any +reduction of the hours of labor would mean an immediate increase in +the quantity, and an ultimate increase in the quality, of our life. +But they are dangerous speculations because they probe to the very +heart of that wonderfully complicated economic process which we call +Capitalism. To make any scientific estimate of the social labor time +required to produce the commodities socially necessary for our health +and happiness would require an elaborate and intimate investigation of +the most secret details of industry, trade, and transportation, such +as there is little likelihood of ever being made. Nevertheless, it is +possible, in the light of some data already at our command, to get a +suggestive glimpse into the probabilities of the situation. + +The 13th Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor is an exhaustive study +of the actual time required to produce some 600 different commodities, +ranging all the way from apple trees to loaves of bread and shingles. +The principal object of this Report was to compare the cost of +production by hand with the cost of production by machine; and it has +demonstrated the enormous progress that has been made in the art of +production by the substitution of machine for hand labor. For example, +before the introduction of machine labor it took about sixty-three +hours and a half to produce thirty bushels of barley; whereas to-day, +with the use of machinery, the same amount can be produced in two +hours and forty-two minutes (p. 24-5). The Report, in estimating the +cost of producing, includes breaking the ground, sowing and covering +seed and pulverizing topsoil, hauling water and fuel for engine, +reaping, threshing, measuring, sacking and hauling to the granary (p. +432-3). + +Having these figures it would seem to be a very simple matter to +ascertain the total time required to produce the various commodities +consumed by the average workingman's family. It would seem as though +all we had to do was to make out a list of these commodities, get the +time cost of each from the Report and add these together to get the +total. Unfortunately, however, the Report does not cover all the items +which would have to be included in this list of necessaries; and to +make an estimate from a single commodity or from two or three +commodities would be a little dangerous, because some of the +commodities have much higher time values than others and would +therefore introduce many elements of uncertainty. + +But we may approach the question from another standpoint. The Report +does furnish the time value of ten of the principal crops and of +bituminous coal. Let us, then, restate the problem in the following +form: + +_Assuming social ownership of land (including bituminous coal lands) +and modern machinery, how many hours' labor per day would be required +to produce enough of the principal crops to sell at farm or mine for a +sum sufficient to buy the necessaries of existence for the average +family?_ + +The first step, obviously, is to determine what constitutes the +necessaries of existence for the average American family. Here again +we may resort to official statistics. In the year 1900-01 the U.S. +Bureau of Labor entered upon an investigation of the income and +expenditure of the average American family. Agents were sent out all +over the country to collect data at first hand. These agents got +reports from some 25,440 families, and the figures are tabulated and +summarized in the 18th Annual Report of this Bureau.[149] + +These 25,000 families had the necessaries of existence, we know, +simply because they managed to live, survive, and reproduce. Their +average income was $749.50; their average expenditure, $699.24, thus +representing a saving of $50 a year. But many of these families had +boarders, many had grown-up children or wife at work, many had +lodgers, so that the income was artificially increased or diminished +by these factors. There were, however, 11,156 families among these +which the report designates as "normal"; these were distinguished by +the following characteristics: a husband at work; a wife at home; not +more than five children--none over 14 years of age; no dependents, +boarders, lodgers, or servants (p. 18). Good units, you see, from a +statistical standpoint. Now, the average income of these normal +families was $650.98; the average expenditure $617.80.[150] + +Here, then, we have over 10,000 families, of five persons each, who +manage to live on $617.80 a year, without resorting to crime or +charity. That they live in straitened conditions is undoubtedly true, +but they are by no means submerged, for in their coöperation with the +agents of the Bureau of Labor they all displayed qualities of +intelligence which are not to be found among the submerged. In short, +they were average self-respecting American workingmen's families. + +But let us assume that $617.80 is inadequate; let us provide a margin +of safety by allowing $800 as the minimum for procuring the +necessaries of existence.[151] Below is a table showing time cost per +unit (bushels or pounds) of ten principal crops and of bituminous +coal. This is derived from the tables on pages 24-25 of the 13th +Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor, which are assumed to be +accurate. + + ------------+-------------+--------------+---------+----------- + | | Time Cost. | | Time Cost + Commodity. | Quantity. +--------------+ Unit. | in + | | Hrs. | Min. | | Minutes. + ------------+-------------+------+-------+---------+----------- + Barley | 30 bush. | 2 | 42.8 | 1 bush. | 5.427 + Wheat | 40 " | 6 | 17.4 | 1 " | 9.435 + Hay | 2 tons | 15 | 30.5 | 1 ton | 465.25 + Oats | 40 bush. | 7 | 5.8 | 1 bush. | 10.645 + Rice | 60 " | 17 | 2.5 | 1 " | 17.042 + Rye | 25 " | 25 | 10 | 1 " | 60.40 + Corn | 80 " | 42 | 38.1 | 1 " | 31.97 + Potatoes | 220 " | 38 | ... | 1 " | 10.364 + Tobacco | 2,750 lbs. | 606 | 5.1 | 1 lb. | 13.22 + Cotton | 1,000 " | 78 | 42 | 1 " | 4.72 + Bit. Coal | 200 tons | 379 | 36 | 1 ton | 113.88 + ------------+-------------+------+-------+---------+----------- + +Having the time cost per unit of each of these commodities, let us now +ascertain the time cost of the total crops of these produced in the +United States. This is exhibited in the table on the next page, which +is derived from the figures given in the Year Book of the Department +of Agriculture, 1907, p. 668. These, too, are assumed to be accurate. + +We see from this table that the total time cost of these principal +crops, if produced with modern machinery on a large scale, would be +185,759,513,000 minutes, and that the money value of these +commodities, sold at farm or mine, is $3,214,510,707. + +If, then, it would require 185,759,513,000 minutes' labor to produce +$3,214,510,707 worth of commodities, how much labor would be required +to produce $800 worth of these commodities? This is a problem in +simple proportion: + +$800: $3,214,510,707:: _x_ minutes: 185,759,513,000 minutes. Working +this out we find that _x_ equals 46,230 minutes or 770 hours and 30 +minutes. Estimating 300 working days to the year, this would seem to +indicate that a social work-day of 2-½ hours should be sufficient to +procure the necessaries of existence, valuing these at $800. + + ----------+-----------+--------------+---------+--------+----------- + | Average |Average Total |Time | |Total Time + | Annual |Value on Farm |Cost in | | Cost in + Commodity.| Production| Dec. 1, |Minutes. | Unit. |Thousand + | 1898-1907.| 1898-1907. | | |Minutes. + ----------+-----------+--------------+---------+--------+----------- + | Millions | | | | + Barley | 117 bush.| $53,872,896| 5.427 | 1 bush.| 633,959 + Wheat | 642 " | 444,206,221| 9.435 | 1 " | 6,057,270 + Hay | 59 tons | 524,124,456| 465.25 | 1 ton | 27,449,750 + Oats | 841 bush.| 265,595,639| 10.645 | 1 bush.| 8,952,445 + Rice | 18 " | 14,594,913| 17.042 | 1 " | 305,756 + Rye | 29 " | 16,527,099| 60.40 | 1 " | 1,751,600 + Corn |2,309 " | 953,158,114| 31.977 | 1 " | 73,834,893 + Potatoes | 255 " | 134,236,563| 10.364 | 1 " | 2,642,820 + Tobacco | 743 lbs. | 59,548,881| 13.22 | 1 lb. | 9,822,460 + Cotton |5,233 " | 457,787,442| 4.72 | 1 " | 24,699,760 + Bit. Coal | 260 tons | 290,858,483| 113.88 | 1 ton | 29,608,800 + | +--------------| | +----------- + | |$3,214,510,707| | |185,759,513 + ----------+-----------+--------------+---------+--------+----------- + +Before accepting the above conclusion, however, it will be necessary +to make proper allowances for some important factors. First, the +figures quoted from the Report do not include time spent on +bookkeeping, upkeep, and repair of machinery, the time cost of the raw +material, of the machinery, etc. All these items are certainly +important, but we may safely assume that, taken together, they would +probably not increase the total by fifty per cent. If, then, we allow +an additional 1-¼ hours for these items, thus making the work-day +3-¾ hours, we shall be well within reason. + +Second, it is to be inferred that the ten crops for which the 13th +Annual Report furnishes the time value were produced under unusually +favorable conditions, if not actually on "bonanza" farms. It is true +that the introduction (p. 12) affirms, in a blanket clause, "that the +effort was made to ascertain, not the quantity of work that could be +done under the most favorable conditions, but what was being +accomplished steadily in everyday work"; nevertheless, in the absence +of more specific information as to the actual conditions under which +the units under discussion were farmed, we cannot ignore the doubt +that arises in our minds. We may, however, offset this by two other +factors which were quite conservative in our estimate: (1) In adopting +the sum of $800 as a measure of the necessaries of existence, we have, +as already shown, allowed nearly a third over and above the sum +($617.80) actually ascertained to be requisite in the years 1900-1901. +(2) The figures in the 13th Annual Report are based upon +investigations made from fifteen to twenty years ago, between 1890-95. +The steady improvement in agricultural machinery which has been made +since then would undoubtedly reduce the present time cost of these +commodities very materially. It is not unreasonable, then, to urge +that these factors counterbalance each other; but in order to be on +the safe side let us add another quarter of an hour, thus making the +probable work-day consist of a round four hours. + +We seem, then, to have warrant for believing that if agricultural +production were socialized to-day a 1200-hour work-year would suffice +to produce the necessaries, and an 1800-hour year, many of the +luxuries, of existence for the community. This, arranged to suit the +exigencies of agricultural production, might mean a twelve-hour +workday for four or six summer months, as the case may be. + +Does this seem Utopian? Granted: all speculations of this sort must +seem Utopian. And yet, if we look back a few centuries, we shall find, +according to no less an authority than Thorold Rogers ("Six Centuries +of Work and Wages"), that the English workman, during the fifteenth +century and the first part of the sixteenth, lived, and lived well, on +the product of an eight-hour-day. Is it, then, so fantastic to suppose +that modern machinery, under a socialized system of production, could +cut this day in two? + +The objection may be raised that this estimate is one-sided because it +is based on figures for agricultural production only, whereas +industrial production is really the more important half of the modern +economic process; and that therefore the generalization could not +apply to the whole economic process in a coöperative commonwealth. + +It is true, as already pointed out, that we do not have comprehensive +data for all, or nearly all, the industrial products in actual use in +the average household. But we have posited, hypothetically, a +socialized agricultural community producing a quantity of goods which +it can sell at the farm for an average $800 per family; this $800 +sufficing, when brought to the village store or forwarded to the city, +to buy the necessaries of existence for the family _at retail_. Now it +is well known that under present conditions the retail price of any +manufactured article comprises about one-third for actual cost of +production, one-third for manufacturer's profits and accounting costs, +and one-third for selling costs. In other words, every such article, +when it reaches the ultimate consumer, is weighted down with a load of +barnacles of trade-profits of innumerable middlemen, rents, dividends, +cost of advertising, and other trade-getting devices, etc., etc. Part +of this cost of distribution is undoubtedly legitimate and could not +be dispensed with under any organization of society, no matter how +scientific. The man engaged in producing the necessaries of life will +always have to support the man engaged in transporting and +distributing them, and the man engaged in manufacturing and repairing +the machinery and other instruments of production necessary thereto. +But it is impossible to believe that this auxiliary corps will ever, +in a rational system of production, consume two-thirds of the ultimate +retail value of most goods, as it does to-day. + +It would seem, therefore, that if the industrial community organized +itself in the same fashion as our hypothetical agricultural community, +the exchange value of its products, whether stated in terms of social +labor, time, or money, or any other standard of value, would actually +be lower than our estimate assumes. By how much our four-hour work-day +would be reduced we have no means of determining, but it could hardly +be increased. + +Probably, therefore, four hours will constitute the average daily +labor in a coöperative commonwealth, and these ought to be sufficient +to give to every citizen not only the necessaries and comforts now +enjoyed by the middle class, but some of the luxuries enjoyed only by +the millionaire. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[133] Report of the Industrial Commission, Vol. I, p. 829. + +[134] _Christian Socialist._ + +[135] Report of the Industrial Commission, Vol. I, Part I, p. 222. + +[136] "Socialism and Social Reform," p. 121. + +[137] "Socialism and Social Reform," p. 120. + +[138] It is stated that the retailing of milk in New York is +practically confined to six companies. But the price of milk has not +been reduced accordingly. The economies resulting from this +combination have swelled the profits of these companies. The consumers +gain nothing from it. And this is what is taking place with all trust +articles. + +[139] Book III, Chapter III. + +[140] This is more true of railroads in the United States than in +England, probably because competing roads have not been tolerated in +England to the same extent as in our country. + +[141] The Thaw case furnishes an unfortunate illustration of this +tendency. + +[142] Ely, "Socialism and Social Reform," p. 134. + +[143] Ely, "Socialism and Social Reform," p. 134. + +[144] Book II, Chapter I. This subject has been discussed in detail in +"Government or Human Evolution," Book II, Chapter II, p. 273, _et +seq._, by the author. + +[145] "Economy of Manufacture." Babbage (London, 1832), p. 246. + +[146] M. DeLesseps has stated that it cost England £100,000,000 to +change its shipping so as to fit it for passage through the Suez +Canal, and this expense applies more or less to change of machinery +due to invention in every factory. + +[147] Book III, Chapter II. + +[148] "Capital," Part IV, Chapter XV. + +[149] Issued by the Government Printing Office in 1904, entitled, +"Cost of Living and Retail Prices of Food." + +[150] "Cost of Living and Retail Prices of Food," pp. 18, 90-102, +516-93. + +[151] "The Standard of Living Among Workingmen's Families in New York +City," by Robert Coit Chapin, Ph.B., Charities Publication Committee, +1909, p. 178, _et seq._ + + + + +CHAPTER II + +ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION OF THE COÖPERATIVE COMMONWEALTH + + +Few things deterred me from a study of Socialism more than the +prevailing error that it necessarily would subject us all to the +tyranny of a state which would, because it owned all the sources of +production, be able to dictate to every one of us the kind of work we +should do and the hours during which we should do it. It must be +admitted that this is the Socialism described by many authorities, +amongst them Schäffle, in a book still widely read, entitled the +"Quintessence of Socialism." But this book loses some of its authority +when we remember that Schäffle followed it with another, entitled "Why +Socialism is Impossible"; and assuredly the state Socialism described +by Schäffle is extremely unattractive to the bourgeois mind. + +It is not so unattractive to the workingman, because he now has these +things determined for him by his employer without having any security +of employment. State Socialism, therefore, has no terrors for him. On +the contrary, as the workingman expects that the Socialist society +will be controlled by workingmen, he expects to that extent to be his +own master; that is, he will control the society that controls him. + +State Socialism, therefore, is the form probably most in vogue amongst +workingmen. They have not before their minds the history of previous +revolutions which have for the most part only substituted one set of +masters for another. They cannot be expected, therefore, to appreciate +the profound change that comes over men when put into positions of +power, the temptations to which they are exposed, and the errors which +even the best intentioned are likely to commit. + +I do not mean to condemn state Socialism; for state Socialism +veritably controlled by the people would probably furnish better +government than that which we are now given at the hands of +capitalists. But I shall not attempt to describe the economic +structure that would prevail under state Socialism, because it has +been already described; whereas I do not think that there has been any +effort made to describe a coöperative commonwealth in which the state +would have very little more power than that enjoyed by the government +in England or Germany to-day. + +The difficulty of assigning tasks and of determining wages which makes +Socialism impracticable to the bourgeois mind is a pure fiction, +encouraged, I admit, by many Socialist writers who imagine that +Socialism can only come by a sudden and violent transfer of political +power from the capitalist to the proletariat, called revolution. As +will more fully appear in the next chapter, the Political Aspect of +Socialism, such a revolution is by no means necessary; for the +coöperative commonwealth, as I understand it, need not be introduced +by any sudden transfer of political power whatever. + +In one sense, indeed, Socialism has in part come. The _laissez faire_ +school had barely announced their doctrine and proceeded to legislate +in accordance therewith, before the abominable consequences of the +_laissez faire_ doctrine became so obvious that steps had at once to +be taken to put an end to it. So the idea that a man could do what he +liked with his own, which resulted in working women in mines to an +extent which reduced them to the condition of the lower animals, the +use of children in factories to a degree imperilling the future of the +race, the reduction of men to starvation wages, the pollution of +rivers by factory products, the spread of cholera by unwholesome +dwellings--all gave rise to a series of legislative acts which limited +the right of a man to exploit women and children, compelled landlords +to maintain sanitary dwellings, and prevented the pollution of waters +by factory products altogether. All this legislation was an +unconscious tribute to that solidarity of the human race which is at +the root of Socialism. + +Nor was this all. The state and city could so obviously perform +certain functions better and cheaper than private corporations that +enterprise after enterprise was slowly taken from individuals and +assumed by the state. The postoffice was the foremost of these. The +municipalization of gas, water, and trams, the nationalization of +railroads, telegraphs, and telephones, have been pursued as purely +economic measures rendered necessary by considerations of social +welfare. + +Indeed, England has been rushing towards Socialism with such rapidity +that increasing rates gave the capitalists an excuse for frightening +the public with threats of bankruptcy, and occasioned the reaction in +municipal progress through which the country is now passing. But the +forces behind Socialism are so overwhelming that they convert its very +enemies into its unconscious prophets, priests, and promoters. + +Mr. Roosevelt, who has so lately entered the lists against Socialism, +is with the exception perhaps of Pierpont Morgan and Rockefeller, the +greatest practical Socialist in America. When Mr. Roosevelt called +together the Governors of the States to consider what steps, if any, +could be taken to prevent the shameful waste of our national resources +by capitalistic enterprise, and when Mr. J.J. Hill in a remarkable +summary counted up the awful loss to humanity involved in this waste, +neither appears to have been aware that they were demonstrating to the +world not only that Socialism was good, but that it was indispensable. +When Rockefeller brought together the distillers of oil into a single +deliberately planned body, eliminating the waste of individual +competition, he does not seem to have been aware that he was +demonstrating the amazing advantage of eliminating competition and +slowly preparing an industry for nationalization. When Mr. Morgan did +the same thing for the Steel Trust, and the Coal Trust, and when he +tried to do the same thing for the railroads until checked by a +blundering government,[152] he, too, was unaware that he was +demonstrating the failure of the very capitalistic system for which he +stands. So the idol they themselves set up for worship they are +engaged in smashing all to pieces; and they none of them see the humor +of it. + +When a horse refuses to return to his stable and balks when brought to +its door, a simple device overcomes his resistance: His head is turned +away from the door and he allows himself to be shoved without +opposition hind end foremost into the stable which he declines to +enter in the more usual way. + +Roosevelt, Rockefeller, and Pierpont Morgan are just like this balky +horse. They loudly proclaim that under no consideration whatever will +they proceed front side forward, and yet in the middle of these +protestations they are going hind side forward faster than perhaps is +prudent. The difference between Socialists and Messrs. Roosevelt, +Rockefeller, and Pierpont Morgan is that Socialists consider it more +dignified to move front side forward; more intelligent to see plainly +where they are going, and proceed deliberately of their own motion +instead of being pushed there backward by forces they pretend to +ignore. + + +§ 1. HOW SOCIALISM MAY COME + +The many theories proposed as to how Socialism may come, can be +generally classified into two: that it will come by revolution and +that it will come by successive reforms. + +The so-called Marxian school calls itself revolutionary, and +undoubtedly many members of this school are revolutionary, and have +the idea that Socialism will come by revolution--by violence--while +among the more thoughtful, this word is used to mean that Socialism +will constitute revolution because it will transfer power from the +exploiting class to the exploited class.[153] Others have confused +ideas of the meaning of the word revolution in which the element of +violence and that of the transfer of political power are more or less +mixed. Socialism, of course, involves a transfer of political power, +and since such a transfer is revolutionary, Socialism may be properly +called revolutionary, though its coming may not be attended by +violence. Many authors believe that Socialism will come by the use of +extra political methods--not by successive reforms introduced by +parliamentary methods, but by a general strike, or the conversion of +the army, or adroit use of the conditions produced by war (as in +Russia after the Japanese War). + +Some, again, believe that Socialism may come by the development of a +secret society which will secure the support of a sufficient number of +those in the possession of our military stores and military places to +permit of a conquest of political power by force. To those it may be +suggested that the days for the success of secret societies are over. +Capitalistic society possesses machinery in the shape of the press and +the secret service which would make the success of a secret society +impossible. The slightest indiscretion of one of its members under +feminine influence or that of drink would be sufficient to break up +the entire plan. + +The capitalists are in possession of the army, the navy, the police, +the militia, and above all, the weapons with which to arm all these. +Recourse to bullets seems unnecessary and dangerous when our enemy has +the bullets and we have not, all the more when the work can be equally +well done with infinitely less disorder and agony if we only have +recourse to the ballots which we have and they have not. + +When a sufficient number of men are persuaded that Socialism is the +best solution of our present economic evils, they can get what they +want the day they choose to use the ballot for that purpose; whereas +recourse to violence would lead not only to immediate disaster, but to +an indefinite postponing of the desired result. For a very large part +of our population which would, then, as now, be in doubt as to the +wisdom of adopting Socialism, would certainly be driven by violence +into the capitalistic fold and a period of capitalistic reaction would +result. This has been observed in so many revolutions in the past that +it is unnecessary to insist upon it here. + +This must not be interpreted, however, as intending to eliminate +violence as a possible factor in the coming of Socialism. Had Haywood +been convicted it would have created an indignation so profound that +a very widespread and dangerous uprising might have taken place, and +although it would have been quelled, still, it is probable that such +an uprising might have led to Socialistic legislation. It is as +impossible to state beforehand how large a part violence will play in +the coming of Socialism as to state how much contributed to remedial +legislation in Ireland--the violence of 1798 and the 60's, or how much +the parliamentary tactics of Parnell. + +Socialistic legislation is of two very different kinds, and these must +be carefully distinguished. Bismarck inaugurated Socialistic +legislation such as national insurance, intended, by taking away part +of the grievance of the workingmen, to diminish their discontent and +their reason for espousing Socialism. + +Indeed, since the beginning of the nineteenth century legislation more +or less Socialistic has been enacted in every civilized country in the +world, partly owing to the _bona fide_ desire on the part of +legislators to put an end to evils that shocked their moral sense, but +perhaps far more by legislators who thought to satisfy Cerberus with a +sop. Socialistic legislation, therefore, enacted by capitalistic +legislators for the purpose of appeasing popular discontent, does +little towards promoting Socialism. Some Socialist writers claim that +it does nothing to this end, but this view is extreme and I think +incorrect. For example, it would be impossible for Socialism to come +without violence had not the nations of the world been slowly +conferring the franchise upon the class in whose interests and through +whom Socialism will come. Socialistic legislation of a character to +put the political weapon in the hands of the people, through which +they can secure the transfer of political power from those who now +enjoy it to themselves, is of the utmost value. Indeed, it is of so +much value that those Marxian Socialists who protest against all +compromise with capitalistic parties must have forgotten that it is +through the capitalistic parties, and through compromises of +Socialists with capitalistic parties, that these measures of political +reform have been enacted. In Belgium to-day the Socialists are +combining with the Radicals to wrest universal franchise from the +Catholics. + +Again, Socialistic legislation which improves the condition of the +working class, though it takes away a part of their grievance and +does, to that extent, diminish the incentive to Socialism, +nevertheless strengthens the workingmen, raises their standard of +living and of thought, and gives them the very education and equipment +they need in order to become Socialists. + +Nevertheless Socialistic legislation obtained from capitalistic +legislators can never effect the final transfer of political power +from the exploiting to the exploited class without which no Socialist +commonwealth can be secured. Here, therefore, we see the elements +which confuse this question of revolution and reform. The Marxian +Socialists in Germany have seen Socialistic legislation enacted year +after year and have seen it, by diminishing evils, tend to diminish +enthusiasm for revolution. Moreover, revolutionary German Socialists, +conscious that they have to destroy the existing political machinery +represented by the Emperor, the nobles and the church; conscious too, +that the farmer class is essentially capitalistic in its temper and +thought, and despairing therefore of getting a parliamentary majority, +naturally look to extra political methods as the only ones at their +disposal. + + +§ 2. REFORM AND REVOLUTION + +There is great and regrettable confusion as regards the words reform +and revolution. The Socialist party calls itself revolutionary, and as +revolution is connected in the minds of most people with violence, the +popular impression is that the Socialist party stands for violence. +This is a profound mistake. The whole subject has been well treated by +Kautsky, an authoritative leader of the Socialist party; and he +distinctly disavows violence. Revolution to him is a "transfer of +political power from one class to another." The French Revolution +transferred political power from the king, the noble, and the church +to the bourgeois. The Socialist revolution is to transfer political +power from the bourgeois to the proletariat. + +Here a word of caution must be said: Socialist literature is written +for the most part by the proletariat for the proletariat; and it is +natural that it should abound in just such phrases as these. Not that +the phrase is wrong or incorrect; rather is it incomplete. To-day, in +France the Republic is largely supported by the nobles of yesterday; +so also will the proletarian government of the Socialist revolution be +largely supported by the bourgeois of to-day. + +The word revolution, therefore, is used here not to convey the idea of +violence, but rather in the sense of the revolution of the planets, or +of the seasons. It is as it were the closing of one cycle and the +beginning of another. There is, of course, a great difference of +opinion as to how this revolution is to be effected--whether by +parliamentary methods or extra-parliamentary methods such as strikes. +Into this subject, however, this book, being addressed to +non-Socialists rather than to Socialists, will not enter. It is purely +a question of tactics and may be said to have been solved in America +for the present by the very existence of a Socialist party which puts +up candidates at every election wherever feasible in order to do what +can be done in the direction of Socialism by constitutional methods. + +There is, however, another use of the word revolution concerning which +it is of the utmost importance to be clear. Socialists often say that +"Socialism must come by revolution and not by reform." What is exactly +the meaning of this sentence? What is the difference between reform +and revolution? + +Reformers proceed upon the assumption that the competitive system is +good and that capitalists can be entrusted with the task of reforming +it so to eliminate its admitted evils. The revolutionary Socialist on +the contrary says that the competitive system is bad and that the +capitalist cannot be entrusted with the task of putting an end to it. +So he decries mere reform and insists upon nothing less than +revolution, the transfer of political power from the capitalist to the +people at large. There is thus between the reformer and the +revolutionary Socialist a difference of principle; the one upholding +the competitive system and the other denouncing it. + +But there is also another difference of hardly less importance between +the reformer and the revolutionary Socialist--a difference of method. +A bourgeois reformer has no preconceived plan of reform. He hits at +every evil like an Irishman at a fair--as he sees it. Governor Hughes, +who belongs to this class, thought in 1908 that race track gambling +was the greatest evil of existing conditions and devoted the entire +session of the legislature to an anti-race track gambling bill which +he triumphantly passed, only to see it nullified at the first +opportunity by the courts. In 1909 he thought that a primary election +bill was the most important reform; but this primary election bill +failed to pass. The legislature, very much under his guidance, spent +two years in passing a useless anti-race track gambling bill and +refusing to pass a primary bill, although during these two years at +least 200,000 men have been seeking employment and not finding it, and +a population therefore of about a million[154] in New York State alone +has been on the verge of starvation in consequence. + +The most striking feature of the bourgeois reformer is his lack of +sense of proportion; but there is a reason for it. Unemployment is not +a popular subject with the class to which Governor Hughes belongs. As +an evil it is too merciless; as a resource it is too unavowable.[155] +So it is impossible to get any legislature in any State in this Union +effectively to consider the subject of unemployment. + +The Socialist, on the contrary, has a definite preconceived plan of +legislative enactment. While the reformer, however well-intentioned +and intelligent, is hacking away at random at the jungle of evils in +which the competitive system encompasses him, and hardly ever +attaining any substantial progress, the Socialist has his course +directed for him by the polar star. He regards such bills as anti-race +track gambling as a waste of time. Race-track gambling is a necessary +and poisonous fruit of the competitive system. It is useless to attack +the fruit and leave the tree standing. The only legislation, +therefore, that interests the Socialist looks towards putting an end +or a check to the competitive system that results in the exploitation +of the Many by the Few. And of all the evils the one that has stood +out most startling and appalling during the last two years is the evil +of unemployment. + +The immediate demands of the Socialist party published at the end of +the Socialist platform,[156] indicate the character of measures which +the Socialists urge. In one sense these are reforms, many of which +Governor Hughes favors, but they all tend towards one definite +end--the limitation and ultimate suppression of the competitive system +with the exploitation of the Many by the Few. In one sense, therefore, +Socialists are reformers, but revolutionary reformers; all their +reforms look towards the transfer of political power from the Few who +exploit political power for their individual benefit, to the Many who +will utilize political power for the benefit of all. + +Having indicated the difference between reform and revolution, let us +consider how far the Socialist is justified in saying that the +competitive system is so bad that it cannot be improved--that it must +be replaced altogether. + +When a wagon is thoroughly worn out, it is useless to repair it; for +if one part is strengthened it throws the strain upon a neighboring +part which breaks down; and if that part is strengthened it throws the +strain upon another which again breaks down. It is possible by +intelligently renewing various parts of the wagon upon a preconceived +plan, eventually to replace the broken-down wagon by an entirely new +one; but the difficulty of doing this is extreme, and the wagon when +so reconstructed, being composed of parts of different ages, must +again give way at its most worn part. So experience indicates that it +is better to throw a fairly used-up wagon on the junk heap and build a +new one in its place. + +Reform measures such as we have had under former administrations +resemble an effort to patch up a worn-out wagon; for a reform measure +directed at one evil is found to produce other evils very apt to be as +great, if not greater than those that the measure is trying to +suppress. Not many years ago a society for the suppression of vice +made a crusade in New York upon vicious resorts. Such resorts are +abominable; they should not exist in an orderly community. But +attacking these resorts, without attacking the conditions that created +them, only distributed the evil all over the city, involving a +pernicious contact with unperverted youth. + +Again, the difficulty of reconciling Sunday closing of barrooms with +furnishing _bona fide_ travellers at hotels with refreshments was +solved in New York by the Raines law, which defined a hotel by +establishing a minimum of bedrooms. The result was that to almost +every barroom there is attached this minimum of bedrooms to permit of +the sale of liquor on Sunday; and this effort to secure Sunday closing +has resulted in converting the barroom into a house of prostitution. + +Again, legislation for putting an end to the awful congestion and +filth of the New York city tenements has by imposing upon the landlord +expensive repairs, raised rents, so that, although the tenement +dweller is little benefited because of evasion of the law, his rent +has been uniformly raised. + +In the chapters on the Scientific and Ethical Aspects of Socialism, an +effort will be made to show why the competitive system is essentially +bad and must remain bad so long as acquisitiveness is deliberately +made the dominating motive of human activity; and how by modifying +economic conditions we can secure all the benefits of a tempered +acquisitiveness without the appalling results of an acquisitiveness +that knows no bounds. This argument belongs, however, to the +constructive argument for Socialism, and we have not yet completed the +destructive argument against existing conditions. For there are two +further illustrations furnished by recent efforts to curb competition +which not only tend to demonstrate the hopelessness of the task, but +throw light upon existing conditions and impending dangers. I refer to +the rate law and legislation tending to control monopolies--to the +inevitable tyrannies of the trust and the trade unions and the +irreconcilable conflict between the two. + + +§ 3. POSSIBLE TRANSITIONAL MEASURES + +I shall describe the coöperative commonwealth on the theory that it is +to come gradually, not because I consider this the only way for +Socialism to come, but one of the possible ways and the one most +intelligible to the bourgeois mind. + +Morris Hillquit and John Spargo have given good sketches of the +Socialist state.[157] I shall adhere closely to their views, +emphasizing and detailing them; and I am the more glad to adopt this +plan because both are members of the National Executive Committee of +the Socialist party and will not be accused of taking the bourgeois +view of Socialism; whereas because I have been a bourgeois, I am +likely to be accused of this. + +Mr. Spargo begins by repudiating the idea of the Socialist state as a +"great bureaucracy" and declares the Socialist ideal to be a "form of +social organization in which every individual will enjoy the greatest +possible amount of freedom for self-development and expression; and in +which social authority will be reduced to the minimum necessary for +the preservation and insurance of that right to all individuals." + +The rights of the individual Mr. Spargo summarizes as follows: + +"There must be perfect freedom of movement, including the right to +withdraw from the domain of the government, to migrate at will to +other territories; immunity from arrest, except for infringing others' +rights, with compensation for improper arrest; respect of the privacy +of domicile and correspondence; full liberty of dress, subject to +decency; freedom of utterance, whether by speech or publication, +subject only to the protection of others from insult, injury, or +interference with their equal liberties. Absolute freedom of the +individual in all that pertains to art, science, philosophy, and +religion, and their teaching, or propaganda, is essential. The state +can rightly have nothing to do with these matters; they belong to the +personal life alone. Art, science, philosophy, and religion cannot be +protected by any authority, nor is such protection needed." + +On the other hand, he summarizes the functions of the state as +follows: + +"The state has the right and the power to _organize_ and _control_ the +economic system, comprehending in that term the production and +distribution of all social wealth wherever private enterprise is +dangerous to the social well-being, or is inefficient; the defence of +the community from invasion, from fire, flood, famine, or disease; the +relations with other states, such as trade agreements, boundary +treaties, and the like; the maintenance of order, including the +judicial and police systems in all their branches; and public +education in all its departments." + +The state, according to Mr. Spargo, is not to _own_ all sources of +production (this is state Socialism); but is to have the right and +power to _organize_ and _control_ the economic system. There is +between these two statements all that distinguishes the crude +Socialism of the nineteenth century from the practical Socialism of +to-day. This is emphasized by Mr. Spargo when he states that +"Socialism by no means involves the suppression of all private +property and industry"; and the further recognition that the +"Socialist state will not be static"; that is to say, it will not once +for all decide that certain industries must be socialized and certain +other industries be left to individual initiative. + +The dominant factor that will determine these things is the public +welfare. When private property in a particular thing is found +injurious to public welfare, it will be taken over by the state for +the purpose of being socialized, as will hereafter be explained. When +it is deemed that private property in a public industry is injurious +to public welfare, this industry will be socialized. When, on the +contrary, it is found that by socializing an industry the advance of +that industry tends to be paralyzed, private initiative will be +encouraged to enter into that industry. Indeed, the economic structure +of the commonwealth will be such that inefficiency in a socialized +industry will automatically give rise to the competition of private +initiative therein. + +I have used the expression "socialized industry." It is above all +things important that we should be clear as to what these words mean; +for it is the socialization of industry which is the modern substitute +for the Socialist state. We cannot understand this better than by +taking a concrete example. + +Let us assume that the public has become convinced that a few +individuals have already too long grown inordinately rich out of the +refining and distribution of oil, and that the time has come for this +industry to be socialized. The old theory was that the state would +expropriate this industry and become the employer of all engaged in +it. It is argued in favor of such a system that if the state can be +entrusted with the distribution of letters, it can also be entrusted +with the distribution of oil; and this is undoubtedly true. But if +this same argument is applied to all industries it will expose the +state to two great dangers: the state will be overburdened by the +multiplicity and vastness of these tasks; and the state will become +despotic. And because this task is greater than any one set of men can +properly perform; even though the intentions of the members of the +government be the best possible, errors of judgment and errors of +detail will involve the state in injustice and discontent. + +This difficulty can be met by not putting all these functions upon the +state, but by so providing that the men shown in the past best able to +handle a particular industry should continue to handle it. The +socialization of the Standard Oil industry would simply mean the +elimination of capitalistic control and exploitation. In taking over +the oil industry, the state would doubtless adopt the method already +adopted in taking over railroads, etc. A board would be appointed to +take expert testimony as to the valuation of the industry, to +determine the real value of every share. It would be called upon to +value every stockholding with a view to determining to what +compensation each stockholder was entitled; because a distinction +will have to be made between various classes of stockholders. Some +stockholders have purchased their stock out of the economies of an +industrious lifetime. They depend upon the dividends from such stock +to support their old age. To cut down the income they derive from this +stock might not only work an injustice, but work an injury to the +commonwealth; for if these stockholders had not sufficient income to +support themselves, they would become a burden on the state. Other +stockholders would be found to have sufficient wealth to support a +considerable reduction in the valuation of their stock without +hardship. Others again would have such enormous wealth, that, having +much more income than they can possibly spend, the reduction of their +income would mean no hardship save that of depriving them of _power_ +for the most part exerted at the present time injuriously to the +commonwealth. + +Experts, therefore, appointed by the state to make estimates with a +view to the transfer of an industry from private to social ownership +will have two distinct functions to perform: the function that boards +of experts in similar cases perform to-day, to estimate the actual +value of the property; and to estimate the wealth of the respective +stockholders and classify stockholders according to wealth with the +view of effecting the transfer from private to social ownership +without injustice to the individual or injury to the commonwealth. It +is probable that compensation to stockholders will consist of +annuities rather than lump sums. The advantage of compensation by +annuity rather than by cash payment is considerable. As the state is +taking over industries it will be more difficult for individuals to +find investment for lump sums than to-day. As the state is looking +forward to taking over industries to a sufficient extent to eliminate +pure capitalism[158] altogether, it is to be hoped that future +generations will not feel the need of capital of their own and will be +all the more ready to enter into the coöperative scheme of industry +if, having no capital, they have to work each in his own industry +under the new and prosperous conditions which coöperative production +ought by that time to have brought about. + +Cases will undoubtedly be found where wealthy parents have worthless +or defective children and grandchildren. Again, some parents have so +contributed to the development of industry of the nation, as in the +case of Mr. John D. Rockefeller and Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan, that it +may seem proper that the compensation given in the shape of an annuity +to them should not end abruptly at their death; but that a part of it +should be continued to their offspring. This question is one of +conscience as well as of social welfare; and in view of the enormous +importance of it to the wealthy of to-day, it is a pity that they +confine themselves to denouncing Socialism, and by so doing, leave the +elaboration of the Socialist program to a party of discontented which +is likely to deal with them when the day of expropriation arrives, not +only without mercy, but without justice. + +To judge of the difficulty of determining the questions likely to +arise, let us consider for a moment the case of Mr. Rockefeller. + +Mr. John D. Rockefeller has testified over and over again that for +many years he has had nothing to do with the management of the +Standard Oil, and yet he draws from the Standard Oil an income so +enormous that, not being able to spend more than a fraction of it, he +has invested the balance in railroad shares and thus become master of +a large part of our railroad system. I myself believe after a careful +study of the organization and development of the Standard Oil that Mr. +Rockefeller has amassed his fortune strictly in conformity with law. +He has, it is true, deliberately lied at certain critical periods. But +lying is not a crime, and is not actionable except under specified +conditions. Mr. Rockefeller then is not a criminal. He simply presents +a case where, having rendered an immense service to the community, he +has received as a remuneration for that service wealth that surpasses +the dreams of avarice. + +If Mr. Rockefeller's holdings in the Standard Oil were expropriated by +the state without one dollar of remuneration, Mr. Rockefeller would +still be in possession of a far larger income derived from his +railroad holdings than he and all his family could possibly spend. It +is probable, therefore, that in such cases as those of Mr. +Rockefeller, J. Pierpont Morgan, and others of their class, the state +would make a valuation of all their wealth, leave them what it is +proper they should have, and expropriate the rest. Even though there +were left to multi-millionaires more income than they could possibly +spend, the surplus expropriated by the state out of each of their +swollen fortunes would leave to every industry a large fund which +could be applied to increasing wages, improving conditions, and +reducing prices. If, for example, it turned out that the income Mr. +Rockefeller derives from his railroad shares is more than he can spend +and that, therefore, there were no reason why he should continue to +own any shares in the Standard Oil whatever, the dividends accruing +from the shares now held by Mr. Rockefeller in the Standard Oil would +be applicable to improving the conditions of those who work for the +Standard Oil. It is probable that Mr. Rockefeller owns about one-half +of the shares in the Standard Oil. All the dividends now paid to Mr. +Rockefeller would in such case be applicable to these things. Such a +solution would permit of the division of the enormous dividends which +are being paid to-day to Mr. Rockefeller amongst the working body of +the Standard Oil. + +As to compensation, there is considerable disagreement in the +Socialist party, and many Socialists would not admit the principle of +compensation at all. In France, it is probable that these last +constitute, if not a majority, at any rate a very large minority of +the party; but in America I think it can be said that the Socialist +party stands for compensation. In support of this contention I cannot +do better than quote a passage from the article of Mr. Steffens in +_Everybody's Magazine_, Oct., 1908.[159] + +This passage is extremely illuminating because we find in it the +opinions of two men thoroughly representative of the two wings of the +Socialist party: Eugene Debs, who is what Mr. Roosevelt would call "an +extreme Socialist"; that is to say, he looks at Socialism from the +revolutionary point of view; he regards the issue as between the +capitalist on the one side and the proletariat on the other; he is an +ardent exponent of the class struggle theory; his sympathies are +exclusively marshalled on the side of the poor, and his first impulse, +therefore, on being questioned on this subject, is to express an +opinion contrary to compensation. And yet his ideas on this subject +are not so rooted but that they can at once be corrected when he is +reminded by Victor Berger of the evils likely to result from +expropriation without compensation. + +To those unfamiliar with the personnel of the Socialist party, it is +important to say a word regarding Victor Berger. He is the editor of +the _Social Democratic Herald_, published in Milwaukee; but he is far +more than this. He is the recognized leader of the Socialist party in +Wisconsin, the only State in which Socialism has succeeded in electing +members to the municipal council and to the State legislature. No one +who reads his editorials can fail to recognize that he is not only an +economist, but a scholar. He is regularly elected to the National +Executive Committee of the Socialist party at the head of the poll; +and although I must not be understood to imply that there are no other +men in the party of as great weight as Mr. Victor Berger, I think it +may be stated without fear of contradiction that he to-day has more +personal influence in the party than any other one man. The ease with +which he brought the Presidential nominee around to his view on the +subject of compensation is a measure of his influence. I think that +upon the subject of compensation the opinion of Victor Berger is +likely to prevail.[160] + +The socialization of industry does not mean any change in the +personnel of the industry whatever. Every man drawing salary or wages +from the Standard Oil will go on drawing salary or wages as before. +The industry will be handed over to those who actually maintain and +work at it. These men will run the industry in very much the same way +as did the guilds in the Middle Ages, subject to the payment of +annuities to old stockholders determined by the court. + +There would, however, be some notable distinctions, between the +medieval guild and the guild under a coöperative commonwealth. + +The latter would not constitute a complete monopoly; on the contrary, +independent refiners would continue to refine and distribute oil, +maintaining a wholesome competition of a character to prevent the oil +guild from becoming perfunctory and inefficient. This competition +would tend to avert the evils that attended the close monopoly of the +medieval guild, practically all of which can be traced to the +completeness of their monopoly. + +Again the state would not _own_ the oil industry; it would reserve the +right to _control_ it. No direct control need be exercised providing +the industry were wisely administered; but if the industry had +recourse to devices for crushing out competition to which the trusts +to-day habitually resort, the state would exercise this direct control +by appointing one or more members to the governing board of the +industry. The oil guild would, therefore, be kept upon its good +behavior, both by the competition of the independent refineries and by +the danger of state intervention. + +When the public became convinced that the time had come for the +socialization of the steel industry, exactly the same process would be +adopted. In this case, the function of those who had to value +stockholdings would be facilitated. It has never been revealed how +much J. Pierpont Morgan got in common stock for his rôle in the +organization of the Steel Trust; but it is known that the amount of +stock taken by him on that occasion was enormous. It would be +interesting to calculate the number of hours of work he personally +spent in promoting this trust and to compare these hours with the +amount of stock which he received as a price of this service. Such a +method might facilitate the work of those who had to value the stock +and determine the amount to which he was entitled for the service he +rendered. + +The socialization of industry, therefore, will be seen to be a +process in which, once started, the state need have little further to +do. It will practically consist of a transfer of the industry from the +hands of the capitalist to the hands of those actually engaged +therein. It will involve the valuation of every stockholding in such a +fashion that the capitalist will during his life receive in some cases +all, though in other cases less than he has heretofore received; so +that the excessive income now enjoyed by the capitalist will be +applicable to improving the conditions of those engaged in the +industry; it will also be applicable to the reduction of cost to the +consumer. And this process applied to every trusted industry will have +for immediate effect gradually to improve the condition of the +workingmen. When applied to them all, not only will the workers +receive an increased wage, but the wage they receive will have its +purchasing power increased by the lowering of prices in all +industries. Obviously this system is not going immediately to put the +luxuries now enjoyed by the multi-millionaire at the disposal of every +workingman; but it will increase them as the annuitants die, so that +with the disappearance of the first generation of multi-millionaires, +the conditions of labor will be still further improved; and with the +disappearance of the second generation, to whom doubtless some +annuities will also be given, the workingman will receive all the +benefits now given to the capitalist. + +Inasmuch as the wage-earners now receive on an average a little less +than one-half of the whole profits of the industry, from this +socialization of industry alone the laborer's will ultimately have +their compensation doubled by increase of wage and decrease of prices. + +By "worker" is not meant what we now call workingmen alone. It includes +all engaged in industry through the work of their hands or their heads. +It is a common error into which Mr. Roosevelt has fallen that Socialism +proposes to improve the condition of the one at the expense of the +other; that it is a doctrine of Socialists that "all wealth is produced +by _manual_ workers."[161] No such foolish proposition has ever been +propounded by any Socialist however "extreme."[162] Socialists recognize +the enormous rôle played by brain in the organization and administration +of industry. What Socialism seeks to do is to eliminate the idle +stockholder--not the industrious manager. If Mr. Roosevelt would cast +his comprehensive eye around the class to which he belongs, he will +observe that it is composed in great part of idle stockholders who +contribute nothing whatever to the work of the industries which furnish +their dividends. And because these stockholders are idle, he will find +that they tend also to be "thriftless and vicious," and that he is +denouncing his own class when he characterizes as "morally base" the +proposition that "the thriftless and the vicious, who could or would put +in but little, should be entitled to take out the earnings of the +intelligent, the foresighted, and the industrious." He is very hard on +them; he says this is living by "theft or by charity" and that this +means "in each case degradation, a rapid lowering of self-respect and +self-reliance."[163] If a Socialist were to use this language of the +idle stockholders, he would be characterized as intemperate. I would not +myself go so far as Mr. Roosevelt. There are many idle stockholders who, +_because they are unconscious of living "by theft or by charity,"_ have +preserved a social conscience that sets them to righting the wrongs of +the many. Mr. Roosevelt himself, indeed, belongs to this very class. If +he ever takes the trouble to understand Socialism, he will see that it +proposes to put an end to the class that is idle and tends to be +"thriftless and vicious"; that in other words, in this as in every other +point on which Mr. Roosevelt attacks us, Socialism stands for the very +opposite of what Mr. Roosevelt thinks. It proposes to take our +industries out of the control of the idle and hand them over to the +industrious, whether their industry be of the hand or of the head. + +The result of such transfer will be to leave every man doing the work +which he is already doing; to improve his condition; to keep alive the +competition necessary to prevent inefficiency or perfunctoriness and +make character; to diminish the stakes of the game, so that the worker +shall not lose health and happiness as now, but shall secure more or +less of the luxuries of life. And industry will be so organized that +no man who wants to work shall be without work; and no one who does +not want to work shall be allowed to be idle. + +Having explained what is meant by the socialization of industry, and +pointed out how small the rôle of the state need be in the +socialization of industry at large, we may next proceed to consider +certain industries in which the state does, to-day, in other countries +and would in a coöperative commonwealth certainly play the dominant +rôle. In the first place, the state would own all natural monopolies. +By the word "state" must not be understood the Government at +Washington alone. Certain monopolies are national monopolies and would +therefore be owned by the national Government at Washington; for +example, railroads, telegraphs, national forests, national waterways, +etc. But it is the local authorities that would take over such local +monopolies as tramways, electric works, gas works, and all those +things that are essentially municipal in their nature. The wisdom of +this transfer of natural monopolies from private to public ownership +it is not necessary to discuss. The enormous advantages that have +attended this transfer in countries where it has been conscientiously +tried leave no room for discussion except by those who have a personal +interest in it, and to those this book is not addressed. Moreover, +this subject will be treated in the next chapter. + +There are, however, certain industries which, because they are +intimately connected with public hygiene, it seems indispensable that +the municipality should take over. I refer to such industries as +packing houses, butcher shops, pharmacies, and the production and +distribution of milk, ice, and bread. + +The recklessness with which we allow ice companies to distribute ice +collected from ponds into which the drainage of a large population +filters and from the head waters of such rivers as the Hudson, which +receives all the sewage of Albany, Schenectady, and Troy, seems +incredible, were we not already familiar with the recklessness which +hands over all our industries to a competitive system so fierce in its +operation that adulteration is its necessary consequence. + +Many of the bakeshops which furnish us with our bread baffle +description, and on the poisons which are introduced into our milk I +have already dilated. Wherever the temptation to adulterate is +considerable and the consequence of adulteration to public health +great, the community should not accept the risk that arises from +competition except within the narrowest possible limits. For this +reason, it will doubtless be wise for a coöperative commonwealth to +own and run packing houses, butcher shops, pharmacies, bakeries, and +to produce and distribute milk and ice. + +As regards ice, it is amazing that the municipal authorities should +not have undertaken this task before--especially in view of the +raising of the price of ice for the poor by the Ice Trust. Every city +has to supply its citizens with water, and as they are in control of +pure water, it should be as much the function of the city to furnish +pure ice as pure water. They have reservoirs free from pollution from +which ice could be cut; and nothing but the political influence of the +Ice Trust on the one hand, and the stupid indifference of the consumer +on the other, has permitted this business to remain in private +hands.[164] + +The enormous profits made by the Meat Trust would permit not only of +sanitary handling of this industry, but proper compensation to all +engaged therein, and a notable reduction in the price of meat. + +The fact that the baking industry is not trusted will make the taking +over of this industry by the state a more difficult undertaking, but +not for that reason an impossible one. + +Competition is not necessarily to be eliminated in the taking over of +these industries. It is quite possible that the state might not +furnish good bread, and it ought, therefore, to be permissible for any +individual to enter into this business. The competition will be +limited because, inasmuch as the state will charge for its bread very +little above cost price, few will be induced to enter into this +business out of the desire for making money. The only motive that will +induce citizens to enter into the business will be that of furnishing +bread to their taste. Moreover, such industries would have to comply +strictly with hygienic conditions, and they would be not so numerous +as to make inspection as difficult, ineffectual, or expensive as +to-day. + +The production and distribution of milk suggests a function of the +state to which sufficient importance cannot be attached. I mean the +creation of farm colonies. On this single point I am not supported by +the authority of the Socialist party. In other words, farm colonies +have never been suggested as a part of the Socialist program; but this +seems to be due to an oversight, for there does not seem to be in the +Socialist party, as far as I can judge of it, any opposition to the +idea. And the rôle of the farm colony seems to me of such importance +that it is hardly possible to give too much attention to it. + + +§ 4. FARM COLONIES + +The first farm colony was established in Holland. The system has since +taken root all through Europe, but has reached its finest development +in the Canton of Berne, in Switzerland. It proceeds upon the principle +that while it is difficult to make money out of farm land, it is easy +to get nourishment from it, and that the most obvious remedy for idle +labor is to apply it to idle land. + +In Switzerland it is also recognized that idle labor is divided into +two distinct classes--the unemployed and the unemployable--and the +unemployable must be again classified into those unable to work +through physical defect and those unable to work through moral +defect; that is to say, those who are morally willing and physically +unable and those physically able and morally unwilling. There are +therefore in Switzerland two different kinds of farm colonies: forced +colonies which deal with the tramp, the drunkard, and the +misdemeanant--all those persons upon whom discipline has to be +exercised; and free colonies for those physically disabled or who are +out of employment through causes over which they have no control. + +It is in the poorest countries in Europe that farm colonies have +reached their highest development. Switzerland has been driven to +organize farm colonies by the fact that she is too poor to disregard +the burden of the unemployed and unemployables. It is in the richest +countries, England, France, and America, that the farm colony system +has been most neglected. The farm colony plan is the cheapest as well +as the best way of solving the problem of pauperism, deserving or +undeserving. This question has been fully treated elsewhere[165] and +it is only referred to here in sufficient detail to explain why it is +believed that the farm colony system will form an essential feature of +every Socialistic community. For although there will be an enormous +diminution in the number of those unwilling or unable to work (for the +reason that under a coöperative commonwealth no one need be overworked +and, therefore, no one need be reduced to the physical exhaustion +which is the prime cause of pauperism), and although there will be +fewer drunkards because drunkenness, also, is largely due to overwork, +nevertheless, until the coöperative commonwealth has been in operation +several generations, that part of the population that is unwilling or +unable to work will have to be provided for. And even later there +will certainly be some part of the population that will require +discipline as regards work. The farm colony system, more and more +indispensable in our existing civilization, will perform an important +rôle in the gradual transformation of society from the competitive to +the coöperative form. It probably presents to-day one of the most +perfect pieces of constructive Socialistic work in which legislators +can engage. For it has the extraordinary advantage of satisfying an +immediate necessity of the competitive system and at the same time +realizing some fundamental principles of Socialism; for example, that +every man and woman is entitled to work; that the aged are entitled to +support; and that the state should own enough land to assure both +these things. + +The fact that our railroads are now awakening to the necessity of +handling the tramp proves the necessity of the system, and the fact +that in Switzerland the forced colonies have been made to pay their +own expenses indicates its economy. Indeed, no proposed legislation +illustrates so well the power driving us towards Socialism as the +history of attempts at legislation in this direction in New York +State. + +Twelve years ago a farm colony bill was drawn by a committee appointed +by the charitable societies in New York; but it did not secure at +Albany a moment's serious attention. We were told by our legislators +that poverty is not a crime. When we answered that our bill did not +make it a crime more than the penal code, but only purposed to +substitute for the expensive and degenerating system of the misnamed +workhouse, inexpensive and regenerating work on a state farm, and that +the plan had operated effectually in Holland and Belgium for over a +hundred years, we were told that the plan might do in Holland, but +would not do here. So in the archives of the French senate may still +be read the report made by Thiers, when appointed by Louis Philippe on +a committee to investigate the first railroad ever built, which +concludes as follows: "Railroads may serve a purpose in England, but +they are not suited to France." + +A similar bill, improved by borrowing from late experience in +Switzerland, drawn by a similar committee (to which was added the +Commissioner of Charities, Mr. Hebberd) was presented at Albany at the +session of 1909, and although not passed, was sufficiently well +received to encourage the hope that it will pass at the session of +1910. It had the support of the great railroads in New York state; for +the railroads have discovered that the tramp is an intolerable +nuisance.[166] Colonel Pangborn of the Baltimore & Ohio has lately +estimated that the damage occasioned by tramps to railroads in the +United States amounts in a single year to twenty-five million +dollars.[167] For the tramp in America does not tramp; he rides on +railroads; he sets fire to freight cars and freight stations; he +obstructs the lines, wrecks trains, and is a fruitful cause of action +for damages. The measure, therefore, which was thrown out by the +Assembly when proposed from motives of humanity, may be passed as a +measure of self-defence, and self-defence thus constitutes an element +of the power always at work on the side of progress that neither +ignorance nor interest will be able to resist. + +The reason for believing that the farm colony will perform an +important function not only during the period which must elapse before +the coöperative commonwealth, but also after the coöperative +commonwealth has been attained, is that work on land seems to be the +only work to which the unemployed and unemployables can be suitably +put. + +Every day we seem to be increasing our capacity to make land +productive. We not only make new discoveries, but profit by those of +more ancient civilizations than our own. It has long been known that +in the East they subject grain to the same system of replanting that +truck gardeners do early vegetables.[168] + +Dr. Fesca informs us that in Japan rice is treated in the same way: +"It is allowed first to germinate; then it is sown in special warm +corners, well inundated with water and protected from the birds by +strings drawn over the ground. Thirty-five to fifty-five days later, +the young plants, now fully developed and possessed of a thick network +of rootlets, are replanted in the open ground. In this way the +Japanese obtain from twenty to thirty-two bushels of dressed rice to +the acre in the poor provinces, forty bushels in the better ones, and +from sixty to sixty-seven bushels in the best lands. The average, in +six rice-growing States of North America, is at the same time only +nine and a half bushels."[169] + +Agriculturists are familiar with the results obtained by Major +Hallett's growing what he called "pedigree cereals"; that is to say, +by using as seed only the best ears in his crop; and by giving to +each grain sufficient space he obtained sometimes as much as 2500 +grains for one grain planted. Even better results were obtained by +Grandeau.[170] + +We are only beginning to know how much can be produced out of an acre +of ground. One thing, however, is certain: where labor is cheap and +land limited as in the case of our unemployed, there is no method +known by which labor can produce better results than by putting it to +what is called "intensive culture"; and as the secrets of intensive +culture become more known, it becomes clear that if the state would +only take the trouble to set aside a certain amount of land for the +purpose, it could without further expense than that of the first +installation make able-bodied unemployed and unemployables +self-supporting. + +This is not a question of fertility; it is simply a question of space. +Unfertile land is made fertile by intensive culture. It has been said +that the Paris gardener defies the soil and the climate. Every truck +gardener there stipulates in renting land that he "may carry away his +soil down to a certain depth, when he quits his tenancy."[171] In +other words, soil is now a manufacture; we are no longer confined to +fertile areas; we can make any area fertile by the application to it +of industry and intelligence. + +Municipalities can contribute enormously to the fertility of the land +around them. A district near Paris, called Genevilliers, was a few +years ago a desert tract of sand. The city poured over this tract the +sewage of the city after a filtration that deprived it of its +offensive features. This tract has become of fabulous fertility; but +the municipality having failed to buy this land before this operation, +the increased value of the land has accrued to the persons who +happened to be the owners of it; whereas if the city had begun by +purchasing the land at the price at which it could have been purchased +before this operation, it would have had here a tract of enormous +value that, by the farm colony system, would have greatly contributed +to relieve the city of the burden of pauperism. + +It would seem as though the art of using manure were practically +unknown in this country by the farmers. The results that can be +obtained in this way are given in the Farmer's Bulletin, No. 242, +where an intelligent use of manure resulted in crops of 6.7 tons of +hay for every acre of cultivation;[172] and this not by the +application of any extraordinary science, but simply by recognizing +the obvious fact that manure must be spread daily and not allowed to +lose most of its value from being piled into heaps, where it burns and +degenerates.[173] + +The farm colony must be so organized that it furnishes work summer and +winter. As its name implies, the colony is not confined to work on +land. Many skilled workmen would lose their skill if they were put to +farm work. Swiss colonies, therefore, have a few industries +established in each colony to which skilled workmen are put. This +occupies unskilled inmates during the winter months when the weather +is too inclement for out of door work, and also teaches them. +Moreover, in a self-supporting farm colony there is work which can be +done by the aged and the infirm, teaming, taking care of animals, +plucking fruits and vegetables, preparing them for preserving, and all +the small jobs that attend large housekeeping. + +The farm colony plan will in part relieve the state of the expense of +old-age pensions. Every industry will provide pensions for its own +workers and thus the state will be relieved by the guilds; but there +will always be some aged left unsupported by such private industries +as will continue to exist by the side of the guilds. Of these it may +be expedient to relieve some in their own homes; but many will find in +the free farm colony an abiding place more congenial to themselves +than the almshouse, and far less expensive to the state. It will be +more congenial because there will be no more disgrace attending a free +farm colony than any other state employment, and because it will be +organized so as to render its work as agreeable as possible. It will +never be so attractive as work outside the colony because it will be +subject to the kind of regulations that attend all big institutions, +so there is little fear of these colonies becoming larger than is good +for the community. But it will be a home rather than an almshouse, and +it will be less expensive to the state because of the work which even +the aged can do. + +The farm colony furnishes a system by means of which the state can +compel the unwilling, able-bodied tramp and pauper to earn his own +livelihood; where it can afford work to the unemployed without cost to +the state; and can utilize to the utmost possible the services of +those who are not able-bodied. + +It must not be imagined that discipline of a harsh character is +necessary. There are in every one of these colonies in Europe dark +cells, where a man who will not work, or will not obey rules, is +confined and kept on bread and water until he consents to work and to +obey rules; and the very fact of the existence of these cells, and of +this system, has been found sufficient to secure good work and +obedience to rules without using the dark cells except under +exceptional circumstances. The director of one of the Dutch colonies +told me that he did not use the dark cell once a year. + +There is no reason why the farm colony system should not be extended +to the treatment of all crime except that we have prisons, prison +managers, and a prison administration which stand in the way of +radical prison reform; and the general stupidity which prefers the +ills we have to the blessings which, obvious as they are, we have not +imagination enough to comprehend. The folly of keeping an enormous +population of criminals idle, within four walls, at an enormous +expense to the community, when we could keep them busy to their great +advantage, physical, intellectual, and moral, without a penny of cost +to the community, is one of those things which future generations will +find it difficult to believe.[174] + +In the coöperative commonwealth there will be no prisons, no +penitentiaries, no almshouses, no tramps, no unemployed. There will be +farm colonies of various grades, from those that have no discipline +beyond that necessary to secure the observance of rules necessary to +all institutional life, through those that have just enough discipline +to keep lazy men at work, to those that have sufficient discipline to +keep even criminals at work. For although it is obvious that under a +coöperative commonwealth in which there is no necessity for +exhausting any individual, no necessity for alcoholism or stimulation, +no anxiety regarding the means of existence; where there is throughout +a high standard of living, ease for the mind and abundance for the +body, the production of the natural criminal ought to be immensely +diminished, yet the occasional criminal will have to be provided for. + +For further study of the farm colony system as it has been developed +in Switzerland, and as it might be applied in the United States under +existing conditions, the reader is referred to "The Elimination of the +Tramp."[175] It is hoped, however, that enough has been said regarding +these colonies to enable us to consider the immense rôle which an +intelligent classification of farm colonies would play, not only under +existing conditions, but in the future coöperative commonwealth. + +A single farm colony for dealing with tramps as proposed in the bill +now before the Assembly of New York State would render an +indispensable service by taking off the streets and highways the +vagrants who, because they are now confounded with the unemployed, +tend to confuse the mind of the public on this all-important subject. +But although such a colony, organized under the same conditions as the +forced labor colony in Switzerland, would render this service without +cost to the state beyond that of first installation, its usefulness in +the problem of production at large would be extremely small. It would +attain its purpose if it were self-supporting. But if this tramp +colony proves a success, the same system could be applied not only to +take care of all our dependent and criminal classes, but to play an +important rôle in the production of the necessaries of life. + +There ought to be three distinct classes of colonies: + +The criminal farm colony surrounded by walls where the strictest +discipline would be enforced, and within which the inmates would be +confined to intensive cultivation, handicrafts, and some form of +machine industry. + +The forced labor colony for misdemeanants and able-bodied vagrants and +paupers where larger liberty would be enjoyed; and + +The free labor colony where there would be no regulation except that +indispensable in all institutions. + +Perhaps to these should be added probationary colonies as described in +the "Elimination of the Tramp," p. 59, for those as to whose +willingness to work there is doubt. These would furnish the "test" so +much sought by English Poor Law Guardians. From these probationary +colonies the inmates would be graduated down to the forced labor +colony, or up to the free. So also criminals would be prepared for +social life by passing through the forced labor colony, and inmates of +the forced labor colony prepared for social life by passing through +the free labor colony. + +In a coöperative commonwealth free labor would have no objection to +industrial work conducted within these colonies, because the less work +there is to be done in any given industry, the less hours would the +workers in that industry have to give to it. So that every industry +carried on in the colony would by so much diminish the amount of goods +produced outside by that industry, and to that extent relieve the free +labor engaged therein. This great objection to penal labor being +removed, the state will have an advantage in distributing the +industries throughout its colonies according to geographical +conditions. + +The criminal colonies will naturally be more industrial in their +character than the agricultural, because they will have to be +operated within prison walls. They will nevertheless include truck +gardening and horticulture.[176] Penal colonies, therefore, will group +themselves around great water power, which will be retained by the +state and not dissipated by the gift of franchises to private +corporations.[177] + +Misdemeanants and tramps will preferably be set to work on large farms +which, because of their size and remoteness from towns, will render +escape difficult. The methods adopted in Switzerland for making escape +difficult if not impossible, are fully described in the "Elimination +of the Tramp."[178] + +As in these colonies there is more or less work to be done all the +year round, it would be indispensable to build in connection with them +factories which could be operated during the winter months, the state +being careful to limit the factories to the production of things +already socialized, so as not to compete injuriously with private +industry. + +Free labor colonies ought to be located near large centers of +population, not only because of the character of the things they will +produce, for example, milk, vegetables, and fruits, which need a +market at the door, but also because it is in these great centers that +pauperism and unemployment express themselves in largest figures and +in greatest variation. In these colonies inmates will remain the +shortest terms, and it is important, therefore, to have them in +proximity to places where the inmates are likely to live in order to +avoid the heavy expense of transportation. + +Free labor colonies will be engaged in the production of milk for two +reasons: The hygienic importance of milk is so great that it should as +much as possible be removed from the competitive field. It is +important that milk should be produced as near as possible to the town +where it is to be consumed. It is wiser, therefore, to assign the +production of milk to the free labor colony, near the city, than to +the penal or forced labor colony that would be comparatively remote. +But it must not be imagined that the production of milk can be +confided exclusively to such inexpert labor as that of the inmates of +free labor colonies. The production of milk can only be entrusted to +careful experts receiving a relatively high rate of wages. Free labor +colonies, therefore, will have to be provided with a corps of men and +women trained in the production of milk and dairy products. + +It may be suggested that the fact that dairy products must be +entrusted to trained experts is a reason for not associating the +production of milk with free labor colonies. This objection disappears +when account is taken of the fact that dairy farms should have +connected with them such subsidiary products as chickens and pigs. +Skimmed milk is of the greatest value in these subsidiary productions; +so also is the garbage that would accumulate in such an institution as +a farm colony. The care of pigs and poultry can be confided to +defectives such as we are likely to find in a free labor colony. It +furnishes work all the year round; it enriches the soil rather than +impoverishes it. + +Free labor colonies, therefore, will be engaged in the production of +milk, pigs, poultry, vegetables, fruits, and flowers. They will be +furnished with grain by the forced labor colonies in the States where +grain can be cultivated on a large scale; and by distributing +industries among the three classes of colonies and arranging for +exchange of products, the whole colony system ought not only to be +self-supporting, but to produce more than the colonies can themselves +consume. The disposition made of these products will be studied in +connection with the problem of distribution. + +Under such a plan, no pauperism or even poverty will be tolerated in +the towns. As soon as a man, woman, or family is incapable of +self-support in the competitive field, or because of sickness or +accident in the coöperative field, they will be taken out of the town +where their presence is an expense and a nuisance not only to +themselves, but to the community, to a free farm colony where health +can be restored and defectives put to the best use possible. + +Farm colonies in the Rocky Mountain region where sheep and cattle can +be fed on public land for nine or ten months in the year, and fed by +hand during the remaining two or three months, will furnish cattle and +sheep to municipal packing-houses that will distribute meat with the +economy of the postoffice system from door to door. + +State farm colonies in the grain-growing districts will furnish grain +to all the other colonies and wheat to municipal bakeries that will +distribute bread with the economy of the postoffice system from door +to door. + +Free labor colonies adjoining cities will produce milk, butter, and +dairy products, pork and pork products, chickens, eggs, vegetables, +fruits, and flowers and distribute them with the economy of the +postoffice system from door to door. + +State factories distributed amongst penal colonies in accordance with +the geographical conditions that will make them most efficient, will +furnish garments, shoes, hats, etc., to the other colonies at the +cheapest possible price. + +By the side of these productions, there will be maintained exactly the +same system of private ownership that exists to-day with all the +virtues that emulation produces free from the fatal consequences that +make failure result in misery, pauperism, prostitution, vagrancy, and +crime. For so long as the individual prospers in his private +enterprise, he will be encouraged to maintain it; whereas the moment +he fails, he will come within the state system under which the private +individual having proved his inability to support himself and his +family under the competitive plan, will be shown how to support +himself and his family by state institutions that will have reduced +this task to a science. + +That the state will occasionally fail in this task is to be expected. +But what is the worst consequence that can result from failure? +Nothing more than the maintenance of the competitive system in every +field of industry where the state fails. If the state fails to furnish +good bread, private initiative will take the baking of bread from the +state and will keep it until the state succeeds in furnishing bread to +the taste of the public. If the state fails in furnishing garments, +private initiative will keep garment making in its hands except in so +far as the state makes garments for the inmates of its own +institutions. + +Many problems connected with this system of production will occur to +the mind of the intelligent reader. These problems, however, will be +found to belong more strictly to the question of distribution and +government control--two subjects that cannot be intelligently +discussed until the question of private property in land has been +answered. + + +§ 5. LAND + +Socialism was formerly defined as including state ownership of land. +This idea is to-day, however, abandoned in favor of a much more +intelligent system: + +One principal difference between the Socialist and the Single Taxer is +that the Single Taxer is opposed to state ownership of all land; and +it is probable that the Single Taxer is more wise in this respect than +the state Socialist. In the first place, the state Socialist who wants +all land to be owned by the state ignores some very fundamental facts +in human nature: He ignores the fact that humanity has for generations +cultivated the instinct of ownership in land. There is nothing dearer +in life to the French peasant than the strip of land barely sufficient +to support life, and he will cling to that strip of land until some +accident has torn it from him and reduced him to the condition of a +pauper. Out of this instinct of ownership springs the extraordinary +industry of the farmer--an industry which is not excelled or equalled +in any but sweated trades. + +The life of the peasant or small farmer is one of hardship that leaves +no moment for leisure, and of monotony that populates our lunatic +asylums.[179] Not only is the life of the farmer one of the hardest, +but it is also one of the least secure. The failure of a single crop, +the loss of a single horse, disease in a chicken yard, a violent +hail-storm--any of these may oblige a farmer to put that first small +mortgage on his farm which is the beginning of his ruin. Nevertheless, +the farmer sticks to his farm and labors on it from the rising of the +sun, through the glare of noon and up to the last ray in the west, +because the land is his own and he has for it the kind of affection +that a mother has for her child--an affection that makes no sacrifice +too great. It would seem unwise to deprive the farmer of the +satisfaction of ownership and the community of the industry and +productivity which this sense of ownership results in. + +There is no conceivable advantage in depriving the farmer of the +ownership of his farm. The farmer now pays taxes on his land. The +right of the state to exact a tax puts the state in the position of a +landlord except that the state calls the tribute it levies on the farm +a "tax," whereas the owner calls this tribute "rent." Of course there +is a great difference between the tax levied by the state and the rent +paid by the farmer to the private owner, because the one is light and +the other heavy. This is the material difference which must not be +lost sight of in the discussion of the subject. Every farmer expects +to pay taxes to the state and all he asks is that the tax be not an +onerous one. It can be rendered less onerous in the coöperative +commonwealth than to-day because a coöperative commonwealth will not +exact payment of taxes in money, but will content itself with payment +in produce. Instead of the state taking over the land and depriving +the farmer of ownership, and exacting rent, the coöperative +commonwealth will leave the ownership in the farmer and exact a tax in +produce; and so long as this tax is paid, the farmer will remain the +undisputed owner of his land, and will continue to give it that hourly +care without which the best results can hardly be obtained. + +There is nothing in modern Socialism, therefore, to frighten the +farmer. He cannot but benefit by it, for his taxes will be levied in +produce instead of in cash; and it is the conversion of farm produce +into cash which is the farmer's main difficulty to-day, as was seen +when money was discussed. + +The title of a farmer under a coöperative commonwealth will be much +like that of the peasant in the Island of Jersey, who generally +purchases his land on condition of paying a certain amount to the +owner per annum. These Jersey titles are just as secure as freeholds +in England or in this country, subject of course to the payment of the +rent charged. + +The tax in produce, however, which the farmer is to pay the state will +be far more just and fair. Land will be classified according to +productivity, and the farmer will never be called upon to furnish the +state with a larger proportion of his crop than he can afford. On the +other hand, farmers will not be allowed to keep the ownership of land +which they do not use. If it is to the benefit of the community that +land be drained, the owner will be called upon to drain it within a +definite period. If he does not drain it within that period, the state +will take his undrained land from him. Nor will the farmer be allowed +to cut down timber where the maintenance of the timber is deemed +important to the commonwealth.[180] He will be taught forestry and the +propagation of deer, and shown how to produce as much income out of +his timber as he would out of the land when cleared. Above all, he +will be relieved from the exorbitant prices which he now pays the +trust for every article which he does not himself produce. The state +will undertake the task of distribution, so that he can receive as the +farmer in South Australia does to-day--a part payment in cash for all +produce he delivers at the nearest railroad, and a subsequent payment +when his goods have been sold through the instrumentality of the +state. But this last belongs to Distribution. + +Prices will not be lowered by the competition of farm colonies. On the +contrary, they will be maintained by the prices asked by farm +colonies. Farm-colony prices will allow every efficient farmer a +substantial living, and the farmer will have the benefit of the +example and advice furnished him by the nearest farm colony, which +will be a model farm. + +It may be objected that under this system the farmer will not have +sufficient motive for adopting modern methods. There are undoubtedly +farmers who are averse to the adoption of modern methods; but there +are also thousands of farmers eager to know modern methods. Rev. J.D. +Detrich, who produced 6.7 tons of hay for every acre in cultivation on +his farm[181] was so pestered by neighbors who called to study his +methods that he was obliged to remove to an adjoining State. +Recalcitrant farmers will slowly be compelled to adopt modern methods +by the fixing of prices that will make modern methods indispensable to +prosperity. + +In every way, therefore, the farmer will be benefited by the +introduction of Socialism. He will keep the title of ownership in his +farm that is dear to him; he will pay his taxes in produce instead of +in cash; he will have the benefit of education and advice at his door; +and he will be relieved of the exorbitant prices now demanded by the +trusts, and of that greatest of all his anxieties, the conversion of +his produce into cash. + +As regards city land, the problem is a very different one, because the +treatment of city land is an essential part of the whole municipal +problem. + +Practically all municipal problems may be reduced to one--namely, +crowding. As long as farmers live half a mile apart as they do on a +standard 160-acre farm in the West, sewage and garbage are matters of +individual rather than social interest. Provided the farmer does not +pollute springs and water courses, he may dispose of his sewage and +garbage as he chooses; but the moment men and women are crowded into +cities on the vertical as well as on the horizontal plane, the +disposal of sewage and garbage becomes of vital importance to the +whole community. + +So also the maintenance of roads is a comparatively simple problem in +the country, where traffic is light; whereas in the city, where +traffic is great, the pavement of the streets presents problems not +only of resistance, but of noise. The droppings of horses on the +country road can be neglected; whereas those of horses passing a +thousand per hour in a crowded city street create a dust injurious to +health, and give rise to the problem of street cleaning. + +Again, where land is plentiful compared with population, the rent +charged for land is small and often negligible; whereas where land is +scarce compared with the population, as in the island of Manhattan, +the rent becomes prohibitive for all except the wealthy, and +workingmen are reduced to the alternative between living near their +work in unwholesome tenements and living far from their work in less +unwholesome conditions. And this scarcity of land gives rise to many +problems of congested districts, of tuberculosis, sanitation, +transportation, and of rent. + +If we look back on the whole history of our civilization, we shall see +an unconscious struggle always going on between private interest and +public spirit. The one tends to divide cities into two districts, one +composed of the palaces of the rich, the other of the slums of the +poor, and seeks to convert every problem of municipal government into +means of increasing private wealth. The other, on the contrary, we +find manifested in the "Age of Faith" building cathedrals; in the Age +of Beauty or Renaissance, building public squares and gardens; and in +recent years taking such services as transportation out of the hands +of private individuals and vesting them in the city. This struggle +between public and private interest has been, up to the present time, +unconscious or fitful. The Socialist asks that it should become +conscious and progressive; that is all. + +Let us take a few concrete instances: It was not until dark alleys +were found to facilitate the work of criminals that municipalities +were driven to light the streets; it was not until a district of +Birmingham had become a menace to public welfare because its filth +engendered both disease and crime that the municipality was driven to +put an end to it; it was not until cholera began its ravages that +municipalities were driven to provide clean dwellings; it was not +until the evils attending imperfect transportation became intolerable +that New York was driven to build subways; it was not until fires +devastated the city that New York organized its fire department; it +was not until the filth of the streets was intolerable that the city +took the cleaning of streets out of the hands of private contractors. +Up to the present time municipal activities have been forced into +existence by the growth of the evils to a point where they could no +longer be endured. + +Over a century ago it was said that municipalities were "sores upon +the body politic," and this phrase has been solemnly quoted ever since +as a sort of slogan of despair; whereas the municipality might be and +ought to be, if intelligently administered, the mainspring of all our +great national activities. The Socialist asks that, instead of waiting +for evils to become intolerable before we attempt to cope with them +and then adopting measures which, because they come late, are +inadequate, we should take up municipal administration as a +housekeeper takes hold of the administration of her house, adopting +measures which we must inevitably in the end adopt before the evils +become intolerable, and before the city becomes so over-built as to +make the difficulty of coping with these evils insurmountable. + +This is the spirit in which a citizen should approach the question of +city land; and if we do approach it in this spirit, the problem of how +to put an end to the evils arising from private ownership of land is +in many respects similar to those which present themselves in our +effort to put an end to the evils of private ownership of stock. + +For example, some land will be in the hands of men who have +contributed absolutely nothing to its value. They have inherited it, +and upon the rent which conditions have enabled them to exact they +have lived lives of uselessness if not of profligacy. One has abjured +his American nationality to avoid the payment of the personal tax, and +applies the sums which he receives, thanks to the industry of the +community in New York, to the publishing of a conservative newspaper +in London opposed to every effort permanently to improve the +conditions of humanity there. Some land will be in the hands of men +and women who have invested it in the economies of a laborious life +and for whom it represents an old-age pension. Between these two, +there is every degree of merit. + +The problem of compensation in taking over of city land will prove as +complicated as in the socialization of industries, and very much the +same principles will apply. Every city presents problems of its own, +and it is difficult, therefore, to lay down general principles +applicable to all cities. But one point seems clear: We shall have to +live in our cities while we are transforming them, and this means that +the transformation will have to be slow. If the state undertakes to +transform the slums into habitable tenements, the present families of +the slums must be accommodated somewhere while the transformation +takes place. + +Rebuilding our cities to accommodate them to the changed conditions of +a coöperative commonwealth, will be little more than doing on a large +scale what Birmingham did on a small scale when it converted its slums +into Corporation Street. If it is to be done well, it must be preceded +with the deliberate preparation indispensable to the success of every +large undertaking. + +The Single Taxers are right when they claim that the enhancement of +the value of land due to the industry of the many ought not to be +appropriated by the idle few. The "unearned increment" should accrue +to the whole community and not to a few landowners. As, therefore, the +enhancement of the value of land due to crowding is a peculiar feature +of the city, and distinguishes it from the country, it seems +indispensable that city land should eventually be owned by the city; +by the mass of citizens who labor and dwell therein. + +Another thing seems clear, namely, that a city cannot be transformed +to suit the needs of a coöperative commonwealth so long as the city is +owned by a few individuals who, by virtue of their ownership, have a +right to resist the transformation. + +The ownership in city land is, therefore, totally different from +ownership in farmland. In the latter case, there is no necessity for +suppressing private ownership; whereas in the city, such suppression +seems indispensable. It may be added that the beautiful parts of every +city are due to state ownership. The Place des Vosges was built by +Henry IV; the Place Vendôme was built by Louis XIV; the Place de la +Concorde was built by Louis XV; the Champs Elysées and the Arc de +l'Etoile were built by the two Napoleons. Practically all the great +monuments of Paris were built by the state. Her streets were planned +by the state, and the height of her private buildings regulated by the +state. The same thing is true of London and Vienna. It is in our +American cities alone that private initiative being allowed full sway, +our buildings look like ill-assorted books in a neglected library; +that we are committed to interminable streets and avenues which pass +what monuments we have but lead up to none. In a word, our cities are +committed to conditions so inartistic that the task of making them +beautiful seems impossible short of destroying and rebuilding them +altogether. + + +§ 6. SUMMARY OF PRODUCTIVE SIDE OF ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION + +It will be seen that modern Socialism does not propose to interfere +with the private ownership of the farmer in his farm, and that the +production of agricultural and dairy products will remain much in the +same hands as at present, except that the state will have farm +colonies to standardize production; to weed out those farmers who, +because of their incapacity, are unable to produce what the land is +capable of producing; and to furnish work not only for unsuccessful +farmers, but for all who cannot earn a living in socialized industries +or under competitive conditions. Such a condition of things will +involve no redistribution of tasks. It will leave every man working in +the industry in which he is; it will leave those who are engaged in +competition still engaged in competition where it is not productive of +injurious result. It will raise wages in all socialized industries, +and raise the purchasing power of these industries by reducing prices; +it will, therefore, raise the standard of life for the workingman, +secure for him clean and wholesome habitations, and a possibility of +maintaining a home in the best sense of the word, where our present +civilization makes such a home impossible. By farm colonies it will +make the exploitation of men, women, and children impossible. Children +will not work at all until they have reached the fullest education of +which they are capable; women will not be allowed in industrial work +as long as they are bearing and rearing children; and men need never +receive a sweated wage when they have state institutions where they +can in exchange for their work, have board, lodging, and as much wage +as they can in addition earn. There will be no criminal class, for no +man need be driven to crime by want; and by the abolition of the +criminal class and the criminal environment, it is probable that crime +resulting from economic causes will tend to disappear. Nor will a +woman be driven by need to prostitution. Every industry will provide +compensation for its own superannuated and defectives, and the state +will have but few for whom to furnish old-age pensions. The community +will be relieved, therefore, of the enormous burden of vagrancy, +pauperism, prostitution, and crime; and all this without interfering +with any competitive industry capable of supporting its workers up to +the standard of life created by socialized industry, and without any +such convulsion as will throw upon the state the dangerous problem of +assigning tasks. + +We have heretofore considered only the problem of production; we have +still to consider that of distribution. + + +§ 7. DISTRIBUTION. + +At the present time anarchy reigns over production and distribution. +This anarchy has been in great part already replaced in the field of +manufacture by the trust. By combination, or as Mr. Rockefeller says, +"by coöperation" (Book II, Chapter III), all those engaged in the +manufacture of the same thing have eliminated competition so as to +obtain the advantages of production on a large scale. The coöperative +commonwealth will avail itself of the work already done by the trust, +and as has been already shown, will leave all these trusted industries +in the hands of those actually engaged in the work thereof. + +In the field of agricultural production, however, little has been done +to diminish the anarchy of distribution.[182] + +The anarchy which now characterizes distribution must be considered +under two heads: competition in the field of transportation, and +competition in the field of retail trade. America is unique among the +nations of the world for insisting upon railroads being run on the +competitive system. In Europe franchises are given to railroads with a +view to public welfare and the distinct policy of avoiding +competition. Capitals are adopted as railroad centers and franchises +so granted as to furnish a system of main lines radiating from these +centers in such a manner as to compete with one another the least +possible. In America we have proceeded upon the plan that railroads +are to compete just as traders do, and that it is by competition that +rates are to be kept down. Railroads competing with one another +between the same places are run at a social loss, the community is +better served by one railroad run in the interests of the country than +by two between the same points run in the interests of private +individuals. + +As regards transportation then there seems to be no room for +competition whatever. The state should own all systems of +transportation with a view to bringing the produce of the country and +of the factory to the consumer at the lowest possible cost to the +community. + +Let us consider how a coöperative community will deal with competition +in the retail trade. + +There is no reason why the private retailer conducting a business for +his own account should not continue to exist side by side with a +system of state distribution. There are reasons of propinquity and +convenience that enable the small retailer to live to-day next door to +the big department store. In the same way, the private retailer can +perfectly well continue to live by the side of the state distributing +system. Nevertheless, some parts of retail trade will be taken over +absolutely, for example, milk, for hygienic reasons. And other +departments will be so completely in the hands of the state that so +long as the state furnishes a good quality it will be improbable that +private enterprise will find it useful to interfere; as for example, +the baking of bread. + +As regards all those things which are likely to remain in the hands of +individual enterprise, as, for example, things in which taste plays an +important rôle--garments, hats, wallpaper, furniture, musical +instruments, other instruments of pleasure such as athletic goods, +bicycles, automobiles, steam launches, photographic apparatus--the +retailing of these is likely to remain as much a matter of private +enterprise as the production of them. + +As regards the necessaries of life the consumer should be able to get +them at the lowest possible price. All things of a hygienic character, +which it is of the utmost importance that the consumer should have of +the purest quality, the state will undertake not only to transport, +but to distribute in state stores. It is of course conceivable that in +some towns the state store will not be conducted to the satisfaction +of its citizens, and private enterprise will therefore run a store in +that place better than the state. In such case, private enterprise +ought to be encouraged in its competition. But inasmuch as good state +management will be in a coöperative commonwealth a matter of the +greatest importance, it is not likely that the citizen will long +endure bad administration. This belongs more to the political aspect +of Socialism than to the economic, and will be studied there. We shall +therefore now pass to a brief consideration of just how this system of +distribution will work. + +The state, having control of transportation, will adopt the method now +prevailing in South Australia, and will pay the manufacturer and the +farmer in cash at least 50 per cent--if not more--of the value of his +goods at the railroad station. These will then be transported by the +state in conformity with the needs of the various villages, towns and +cities to stores of its own. These will be run upon the coöperative +plan; the goods sold at only a small margin above cost, this margin +being kept to meet the expense of distribution; and the profits--if +any--will be distributed at the end of the year amongst customers on +the coöperative plan. + +It is obvious, however, that if the state is to distribute in the most +economical manner, it must have some control over production. It must +not be called upon to transport and distribute more of any one thing +than the public wants; nor must it be caught without enough to satisfy +the needs of the consumer. This makes it indispensable to study the +problem of control at the same time with the problem of distribution. + +No function of the state will probably be more important in a +coöperative commonwealth than that of controlling the production of +those things which, because they are necessaries or have hygienic +importance, a coöperative commonwealth should itself control, +transport, and distribute. + +The problem of control is not as difficult as it might at first seem. +We know perfectly well to-day how much wheat, corn, beef, mutton, +etc., are actually consumed by our population. All we have to do to +determine this amount for ourselves is to take, for example, the +amount of wheat produced in the country, and the amount exported, +subtract the exports from the product and determine the amount +consumed in this country. The same thing can be done practically with +every staple product. The state, therefore, can determine every year +in advance how much of every staple product _must_ be produced for +the needs of the country. It will, of course, add to the amount +actually needed a margin to provide for poor crops and other +accidents. + +Let us consider how this control will be exercised as regards farm and +dairy products. It has been already suggested that land should be +classified according to geographical conditions, exposure, and soil. +The productivity of the farm colonies will of course be known by the +state. Every private farm will have its productivity roughly +determined and every farmer will be expected to produce a minimum +amount. Of the amount he produces, a part will be taken as taxes to +furnish the government with the means to pay for administration. The +rest will be paid for partly in gold and partly in orders on the state +stores. The object of this system of payment is the following: + +It has been explained that taxes will be paid in produce. This payment +therefore needs no further comment. A minimum product ascribed to +every farm will be paid for with orders on the state store. This +represents the amount which the farmer _must_ produce to keep his +farm. It also represents the amount which the state _must_ have to +supply its citizens with food. All over and above this amount will be +paid for in orders on the public store, or in cash, as the farmer +shall elect; or, if the farmer chooses to dispose of this part to +private traders he will be at liberty to do so. By this method the +community will be furnished with produce belonging to three different +categories: produce in the shape of a tax for which the farmer +receives no compensation, this being practically the rent he pays the +state for his land; second, the minimum produce for which the farmer +receives equivalent orders on the public store, this category being +the produce upon which the community depends for its sustenance. + +The order upon the public store need differ in no way from the +greenback of to-day except that, instead of entitling the holder to a +dollar's worth of gold, it will entitle him to a dollar's worth of +goods in the public store. Thus if wheat can be produced in a +coöperative commonwealth at 50 cents per bushel, as seems likely,[183] +the farmer will receive for every two bushels an order for one dollar +on the public store. + +The third category which represents the surplus above what the farmer +is required to produce in order to keep his farm, will constitute a +surplus of production applicable to exchange for luxuries and foreign +goods. This exchange can be made directly by the farmer or by private +banks and private merchants, or by the state. + +Let us consider the control the state must exercise over, and the rôle +it must play in, the distribution of products of socialized industries +such as oil, sugar, steel, iron, leather, etc. The amount of iron and +steel required by the nation in the course of a year is not as +constant a quantity as the amount of wheat. It is, however, +sufficiently constant to make it possible to establish a minimum. The +state will begin by requiring socialized industries to furnish this +minimum and determine the price to be paid for it, thus creating a +stock on hand which can be accumulated so as to diminish the amount +needed in subsequent years and furnish a reserve which can be called +upon in case of extraordinary need. The state, having established the +minimum of steel, sugar, oil, etc., which it needs, will require of +the socialized industries to produce this minimum. It will also +require them to produce, in addition, an amount necessary to +contribute their share to the maintenance of the government. Every +associated industry, therefore, will furnish at regular intervals the +result of its manufacture in three categories similar to those already +explained--a part for taxes; a minimum already referred to that will +be paid for in orders on the public stores, and a surplus of which it +can dispose either to the state or directly to foreign bankers and +merchants. In this way, every associated industry will so adjust its +manufacture as to produce these three categories; the proceeds of the +surplus will be applicable in the first place to the support of +workers through accidents, illness, and during old age; and the rest +will be divided as profits amongst those engaged for example in the +steel industry. These profits will be applicable to the purchase of +luxuries either produced at home or produced abroad. + +Under this system the coöperative commonwealth will have goods to +exchange with foreign countries and will to this extent be a merchant +as regards all those things which it holds in excess of the needs of +the community, and as regards that surplus which it may purchase from +the farmer and the socialized industries. This leaves room for a +system of private banks and private enterprises in international +trade; for the farmer and the socialized industries will be free to +trade their surplus through the government or through private +individuals as they may consider most to their profit. + +The distributive stores will present very much the same aspect as our +department stores of to-day except that, though they may be even more +gigantic in size, they are not likely to be as diverse; for a large +proportion of the things now dealt in by department stores will +doubtless remain in the hands of private industry. The essential duty +of the state will be to provide its citizens with necessaries, not +luxuries pertaining to taste and pleasure. + +The state store will be divided into two departments, retail and +wholesale; not that a different price need necessarily be charged in +the retail than in the wholesale department, but because the machinery +for furnishing builders with bricks is different from that for +furnishing housewives with groceries. The state stores will also have +a system for the regular delivery from door to door of such +necessaries of life as are daily or at stated intervals consumed, +e.g., milk, bread, coal, ice, meat, vegetables, and fruit, thereby +applying postoffice economies to the distribution of these things. + +The labor of distribution will be diminished by the slow +transformation of city dwellings into gigantic apartment houses so +constructed as to give the fullest supply of light and air to every +room; and these apartment houses will have a distributing system of +their own to the relief of the state. + +As regards alcoholic drinks, the state will undoubtedly undertake the +production of these with a view to taking this industry as far as +possible out of private hands. It will not be necessary, however, to +take it entirely out of private hands provided all private production +is subjected to vigorous control. But the distribution of alcoholic +liquors will probably be monopolized by the state on the Gothenburg +plan with, perhaps, the important feature which characterizes the +Public House Trust in England; that is, the persons in charge will +receive a salary and an additional commission upon the sale of +non-alcoholic drinks, but no commission on the sale of alcoholic +drinks; and this with a view to giving the persons in charge an +interest in selling non-alcoholic drinks. Under these circumstances, +there will be no temptation to encourage drunkenness and the rule of +not giving alcoholic drinks to persons already under the influence of +liquor will be complied with. + +It will be possible under such a general system for the state to serve +as a medium for an exchange of labor that will greatly enhance the +pleasure of life. Under existing conditions, the factory works summer +as well as winter despite the fact that temperature makes work during +the summer irksome and dangerous to health and life; and at the very +time that the population is debilitated by being called upon to work +in factories during the heat of June, July, and August, the farmer is +in despair because he cannot find help to take in his harvest. Once +industries are associated so that they have a definite knowledge of +how much they have to produce, there is no reason why they should not +so adjust the work of the factory as to keep it open during the eight +cool months of the year, leaving the factory hands free to help the +farmer in the country during the four hot months. The same thing holds +good with the farmer who, during the short cold days of winter, has +little to do on the farm and can, therefore, to his advantage as well +as to the advantage of the community, devote those months to factory +work. There need be nothing compulsory about this exchange, for +socialized industry is master of its own time and can distribute its +work throughout the year as it chooses. But the fact that the state is +possessed of the knowledge how much is to be produced by every factory +and how much by every farmer--how many men are needed in the winter in +every factory and how many men in the summer on every farm, will +enable the state to serve as a medium through which the factory hand +can arrange to work on the farm during the summer and the farmer can +arrange to work in the factory in the winter, if they respectively +desire to do so. + +It does not follow that the farmer is to be compelled to work long +hours in the summer in the field and also in the factory during the +winter; or the factory hand to give up his holiday in order to work on +the farm during the summer. It has been shown that all the necessaries +of life can probably be produced, even at the present time, by the +adults in the community though they work no more than two hours and a +half a day. If this be so, it would be easy so to adjust the work as +to enable those who desire it to work more hours in the day and become +entitled to so much longer vacation. The foregoing is only intended to +show that in addition to the vacation which can be thus enjoyed, the +farmer can relieve the monotonous existence of the farm during the +winter months by work in the factory, and the factory hand can escape +from factory conditions during the summer to his own advantage and to +the advantage of the community at large. + +Another object we have in view is to put an end to the anarchy which +exists in all that part of our industry which has not been +concentrated into trusts--the anarchy under which some things are +produced in greater quantities than are needed, and some things needed +are not produced in sufficient quantities--under which no producer can +tell whether he is producing enough of a thing until the time for +profiting by the knowledge has passed; no producer can tell whether he +is producing too much of a thing until he is injured and even ruined +by the discovery. It is, I think, obvious that all these objects are +obtained by concentrating industry after the fashion of trusts in the +hands of the men actually engaged in the process of production; by +producing things not to make profit but to satisfy needs; and in the +quantities which we know to be needed and not in quantities determined +by the desire of the producer to make large profits cheeked only by +the bankruptcy that attends production in larger quantities than the +market will take. + +Thus, the state orders thirty million tons of iron ore because we know +that this amount of iron ore has served the needs of the country +during a period of great activity, and will furnish not only all we +can use ourselves in that year, but all that we can dispose of abroad. +These thirty million tons represent then the maximum that we can +usefully manufacture; and we can safely order thirty million tons +because the state is not under the necessity to sell this iron to get +gold with which to pay wages, rent, coal, and the running expenses of +the factory. In a coöperative commonwealth there will be no rent to +pay. The coal will be paid for in exactly the same way as the iron, by +the issue of store orders. + +The workers will get as nearly as possible the exact product of their +work. There will be no capitalist who will take from them what the +capitalist now takes, that is, about one-half of their earnings. Nor +will those doing a low order of work receive as much as those doing a +high order of work; every man will be paid according to his capacity; +for we begin by assuming that the distribution of work according to +capacity to-day is not far wrong, and so every man engaged in the +steel industry will continue to receive the same wages as he received +before with a certain prospect of an additional wage in the shape of +profit, representing the difference in wage between the new conditions +and the old. + +Overwork will be impossible in the iron trade, because a sufficient +number will be employed to prevent overwork. And unemployment will be +impossible because if, at any period, it turns out that more iron is +being produced than the community can use, the excess men employed in +the previous year will be set to work by the state in some other +industry. + +The effect of such a discovery will be to diminish the number of hours +required all round. It must not be forgotten how little work need +actually be done to produce the things we need. Under these +circumstances, we need hardly consider the question of overwork, for +all will enjoy ample leisure. The hours of labor will not diminish in +a great degree in the first year that an industry is taken over, for +during the transition period, experience must be given time to +demonstrate the extent to which hours of labor can be reduced. + +And as regards unemployment, even though there be no industry in +which, for instance, the surplus workers of the iron trade can be +usefully employed, there will always be farm colonies where their +labor can be self-supporting. + +Another beneficial consequence of this system is that if, as is +likely, it turns out that thirty million tons of iron are more than we +can use, the state will not be obliged to dump the excess upon +European markets as do now the trusts,[184] thereby incurring a heavy +loss to the home industry and arousing the animosity of the European +industry affected thereby. + +Again, no financial panic can hurt the iron industry. The bankers may +gamble to their heart's desire. If they withhold gold the worst they +can do is to injure those engaged in competitive industry. No +withholding of gold can affect an industry which produces for use and +not for profit and receives weekly the wages of its employees in a +currency which, because it is not gold or based upon gold and not, +therefore, within the control of the banker or the financier, escapes +entirely the evil effects of financial operations. Nor can such an +industry be affected by what are called "industrial panics"; for +industrial panics are the result of overproduction--of the anarchy +that exists under the competitive system. These panics may affect +competitive industries, but cannot affect guild industries built on +yearly state orders for definite amounts calculated beforehand from +the known needs of the community, and not left as now to the anarchy +and accidents of the market. + +Neither financial nor industrial panics can ever have the terrible +consequences in a coöperative commonwealth that they have under +existing conditions, because in a coöperative commonwealth all the +necessaries and most of the comforts of life will be produced upon the +coöperative plan, and therefore, a financial or industrial panic can +only affect that part of industry which proceeds under the competitive +system and as regards, for the most part, luxuries and not necessaries +of life. + +Obviously, the system of store orders cannot be applied upon the first +transfer of an industry from the hands of the capitalist to those of +the guild. For a time gold will have to be used until the +transformation from capitalism to coöperation has been sufficiently +extended to put the state in a position to open public stores. There +need, however, be no anxiety as to the state not being in possession +of enough gold to handle this part of the business, because it will +obviously be the first duty of the coöperative commonwealth to +expropriate the mines and put itself in possession of the gold +necessary to carry on financial operations with the guilds until such +time as the public stores can be usefully opened. Moreover, in taking +over the gold mines, the state will also take over the iron mines; +and iron ore will be furnished to the iron guild under conditions that +will make the necessity of the use of gold far smaller than it would +be if the iron ore remained in private hands and had to be paid for in +gold. The state will only have to pay gold representing the labor cost +of extracting the ore, and will not have to pay miners' profits. + +Under this system, there is no temptation to mine more ore or to cut +down more forests than is absolutely necessary for the needs of the +community. When every member in the community is educated to +understand that waste means more work for himself and that the saving +of waste means less work for himself, every man in the community will +have a direct personal interest in discouraging waste and promoting +economy. + +Obviously, too, industry will be conducted at its maximum efficiency. +Instead of being slaves of the market, we shall become its master. We +shall have only so many factories running as are necessary to produce +the things we need. Every factory will be running at maximum capacity, +at maximum efficiency. + +It will be observed that it is proposed to pay the same price for pig +iron after taking over the industry as was paid under competitive +conditions at the time of the transfer. The objection may be made that +this is obviously improper; that it is not fair to the workers in +other industries to pay what is known to be an excessive price to the +workers in pig iron. To this it may be answered that it will always be +better to apply a regular rule than to leave questions of this kind to +arbitrary administrative action. Besides, the rule that on taking over +a new industry the price paid for the production of the first year +shall be the price ruling at that time, will eventually put all +industries upon the same footing. At the excessive prices now ruling, +the workers will during the first year get a larger proportion than +they will ultimately be entitled to; but the larger proportion they +will get this year will be needed to face the initial expenses of a +higher standard of life. + +But here comes the most serious objection that can be made to this +plan. It has been said that these prices will have to be revised; that +if those manufacturing cotton thread believe themselves to be +receiving less for the work they accomplish in their industry than +those engaged in making pig iron, they will insist on revision; if so, +there will be continual altercations between industries as to the +price to be paid for their goods and as to the share in this price +that each is to receive; and the problem arises, who is to settle +these innumerable questions? + +This difficulty is the one that tends to make communists of us. It +would be easy to wave away this difficulty by providing that the total +profits be divided equally amongst all the members of the community. +Humanity, however, is not prepared for such a system. Generations of +selfishness have so determined the minds of those who are likely to +have to decide these questions in a coöperative commonwealth, that the +idea of paying the man at the head of the iron guild the same wages as +the man who puddles, will seem too preposterous to be entertained. +Whether man will ever develop to a point of unselfishness that will +enable him to entertain this idea is a matter of speculation. Suffice +it to recognize that if Socialism is to come within one hundred years, +and if we take into account the attitude of the public mind as it is +to-day, and the slowness with which the public mind changes in matters +so radical as these, we shall have to recognize that Communism is +still beyond the range of practical politics; and we shall have to +face the problem how the questions of the price of goods and the +remuneration of the individual are to be solved. + + +§ 8. REMUNERATION + +It has been pointed out that the proportion at present received by the +various grades of workers in an industry, from the man who manages the +whole industry to those who do the least skilled work, will at first +be maintained. It may be that the salaries paid to managers at present +rates may seem so exorbitant[185]--so out of all proportion to those +paid to others--that there will be an outcry against it, leading to a +diminution of these salaries. For present high salaries to managers +are due to the extraordinary difficulty of handling industry under +competitive conditions--difficulties that will in great part disappear +when coöperative conditions are substituted for competitive +conditions. With the exception of these highest salaries, probably the +wisest rule will be to maintain at first the proportion that exists at +the time when the industry is taken over. Taking over these industries +will at once raise the salaries of all because they will receive the +share of the profits which now comes to the capitalist, after the +deduction of sums paid to annuitants. Nevertheless, it cannot be +expected that the proportion now existing will be indefinitely +maintained. + +The cost of management under competitive conditions is far higher than +it would be under coöperative. A railroad man once pointed out to me +that the coöperative system is impossible because it would be +impossible for the government to find men capable of handling +railroads at the price habitually paid by the government for such +services. He pointed out that genius is necessary to handle +railroads,--the genius of such men as J.J. Hill and the late E.H. +Harriman. When, however, it was explained to him that the reason why +it was necessary to have such men as Harriman and Hill run our +railroads was the competition between them, and when he was asked +whether it would be necessary to have such men if our railroads were +run as our postoffice is run, he admitted that under such conditions +nine-tenths of the difficulty of management would be eliminated. + +Obviously, therefore, the enormous salaries paid to men at the head of +trusts, life insurance companies, and railroad systems, would no +longer be earned, and of course they would no longer be paid. + +What is true regarding the heads of these industries is true +throughout a large part of the administration. It would need less of +the faculty which characterizes the larger carnivora and more of the +faculties which characterize the beaver and the ant. For these humbler +services lower wages would be paid. This does not mean, however, that +there will not be in the state room for men of the constructive +ability of Harriman and Hill; but these men will not be the servants +of our industries, they will be the servants of our state; and the +genius that is now absorbed by business, will, in a coöperative +commonwealth, be more usefully employed in the larger fields of +politics. + +After this slight digression, let us return to the question how far +the remuneration will be subject to revision. + +It may be that the lower grades will not be subject to revision at +all; that all the iron ore we need can be produced by working four +hours a day during eight months of the year, and that the rate of +wages earned upon the old scale increased by the profits to which +workers will be entitled will, without changing the proportion, +furnish a standard of comfort such as to-day it is difficult to +foresee. It is probable, however, that workingmen who are to-day +members of the Socialist party will not agree with this prognosis, but +will insist that in a coöperative commonwealth the whole scheme of +remuneration will have to be revised. If this be so, it is useless to +deny that the revision of this rate of wages will be a matter of +difficulty and that the difficulties arising will tend to be +perpetual. + +Obviously, there must be some plan devised under which these matters +will be better adjusted than by a government board, as has been +suggested by certain Socialists. Mr. Hillquit[186] quotes with +approval the words of Kautsky that government in a coöperative +commonwealth will change in character, and that the state will no +longer govern, but administer, and this is to a large degree true. But +if the administration is to determine what every man is to receive as +compensation for the work he does, it is clear that matters of such +vital importance cannot be referred to the arbitrary action of a board +of administrators. + +It seems to me that it will be indispensable to submit these matters +to an industrial parliament in which every industry will be +represented. And as the determination of these questions will be a +matter of the greatest importance to every individual, it is probable +that these parliaments will have to be bicameral for the same reason +that our government is bicameral; for the same difficulty will present +itself. New York insists upon having its large population represented +in Congress. Rhode Island, on the other hand, in spite of its small +size, insists upon having its state sovereignty represented; so New +York is given a representation in proportion to its population in the +Lower House and Rhode Island is given equal representation in the +Upper House. Exactly the same situation will present itself it regard +to industries: Certain industries will be enormous and will want to be +represented in proportion to their size; for example, the steel +industry. Others will be much smaller but perhaps of much greater +importance; for example, the engineers. They will want to be fairly +represented in spite of their small size and I see no way of adjusting +this other than by adopting an industrial parliament of two chambers, +in one of which representation will be according to numbers, while in +the other every industry will be equally represented irrespective of +size. This may seem a cumbersome system, but it will take no more time +than the administration of the trade union takes to-day, and will not +be half as costly; for the trade union of to-day has to accumulate +funds to provide for unemployment, old age, sickness, and strikes. +Strikes and unemployment it will not be necessary to provide against +and the others will be provided for by every guild for their own +members. The question, therefore, of the adjustment of price and wages +will occupy far less time than is now occupied by federations of trade +unions. + +It is probable that the conclusions to which the industrial parliament +will come will not be final. It will be deemed wise to refer them for +execution to the general government. This matter, however, belongs to +the chapter on the political aspect of Socialism. + + +§ 9. CIRCULATING MEDIUM UNDER SOCIALISM + +It may not be clear at first sight why it is proposed to substitute store +checks for greenbacks or gold. Early Socialist writers--particularly +Rodbertus--attached much importance to the elimination of gold and the +substitution therefor of what they called "labor checks"; a currency +representing time spent in labor. Modern Socialist writers have been +disposed to cast aside all efforts to substitute this kind of currency +for gold. Mr. Hillquit quotes Kautsky[187] with approval on this +subject: + +"'Money,' says Kautsky, 'is the simplest means known up to the present +time which makes it possible in as complicated a mechanism as that of +the modern productive process, with its tremendous far-reaching +division of labor, to secure the circulation of products and their +distribution to the individual members of society. It is the means +which makes it possible for each one to satisfy his necessities +according to his individual inclination (to be sure within the bounds +of his economic power). As a means to such circulation, money will be +found indispensable until something better is discovered.'"[188] + +Upon this point I find myself at variance with modern Socialists. In +Book II, Chapter VI, on Money, I have endeavored to show how the use +of gold for currency puts those who own and handle gold in a position +practically to control the entire country. If I have failed in proving +this, there will be no occasion for substituting anything for gold. +But if I have failed, it is, I think, my fault; or perhaps Socialist +writers on this subject have not had, and do not possess, the intimate +knowledge of financial affairs indispensable to an understanding of +this subject. If Mr. Kautsky had practiced law in America, and had had +American financiers for his clients, he would not, I think, have +failed to understand that money is still more to-day what it always +has been since the beginning of the civilized world--the "root of all +evil." By money, I mean not currency, which is indispensable, but the +use of precious metals as the sole fundamental medium of exchange; +because the amount of such precious metals being limited, the few, who +under competitive conditions contrive to get control of these metals, +become by virtue of this control masters not only of our economic, but +of our political conditions. + +Mr. Hillquit says[189] that the principal economic classes and +interest groups are represented by separate and well-defined political +parties; and that the "only exception seems to be presented by the +money-lending group of capitalists, who, as a rule, do not form +parties of their own. This, however, may perhaps be accounted for by +the function of money capital, which can become operative only in +connection with the other forms of capitalistic ownership, but has no +independent productive existence." + +It is misleading to endeavor to draw conclusions from political groups +which characterize politics in Germany and France, and there is, I +think, a better reason why the great "money-lending group of +capitalists" or financiers do not form parties of their own. + +Mr. Hillquit is doubtless right in saying that the "Republican party +is substantially the party of the modern capitalists," "while the +Democratic party is largely the party of the middle class"; +nevertheless, in America, as in Europe, the so-called interests and +capitalists belong to no one party, because they must and do control +both. And it is because Socialist writers do not seem to be aware of +the extent to which they do control politics, that comparatively +little interest is taken by these writers in questions of currency. + +No one who lived in Europe during the Boer war is ignorant of the +immense desire of both France and Germany to intervene on behalf of +the Boers, and they certainly would have intervened not only because +it afforded them a good opportunity to crush England, which one of +them openly and the other less openly desired to do, but because such +a war would have been popular with the masses in both countries. One +thing alone prevented this: Financiers in France and Germany were +heavily interested in African gold mines and it was their influence +that turned the scale against the crushing of England at that time. + +In America, the revelations of the life insurance investigation told +all the world what Wall Street previously knew: that big corporations +contribute to both Republican and Democratic parties and practically +control the action of the Democratic side of our legislatures as well +as the Republican. Nothing could have been more transparent than the +influence of financiers in the decision whether Cannon and the rules +that make Cannon supreme in Congress were to be maintained. The Wall +Street Group, which had a lobby in Washington, appealed to the +Republican majority not to disorganize their party by fighting against +Cannon personally, promising that the Republican party would alter the +rules that gave him his present autocratic power; and when in +compliance with this promise, Cannon was reëlected and the rules came +up, the same lobby secured enough Democratic votes to maintain the +rules in spite of the adverse votes of the insurgent Republicans, the +argument then used being that the tariff bill could not be passed +unless the rules were maintained. + +Again, after Taft had, on three separate occasions, solemnly promised +the people, if he were elected, a revision downward of the tariff, the +same lobby secured a revision of the tariff upwards. We are assured by +Messrs. Aldrich and Payne that the revision is a revision downward. +How, then, will they explain the extraordinary haste with which ships +sought to reach this port before the new tariff came into effect?[190] +Were these ships hurrying to port in order to escape the payment of a +low tariff? It may be answered that although the tariff was raised as +regards certain articles, it was lowered as regards others. To this I +have but to quote the _Reviews of Reviews_ for September, 1909, and +the articles entitled, "The Payne-Aldrich Tariff," which follow in +subsequent numbers. The _Review of Reviews_ is quoted rather than +other periodicals because it is recognized as a supporter of the +so-called Roosevelt policies and, therefore, cannot be accused of +Socialistic tendencies. It is seldom that the Interests have gone so +far as to elect a presidential candidate on a definite promise and +deliberately, as soon as the candidate was elected, to violate their +promise. But the Interests have at this moment such control over our +politics that they can even do this; and it seems very doubtful +whether this treachery will ever be materially punished. + +If, as I believe, it is important that the competitive system be +allowed to survive in the coöperative commonwealth, it is obvious that +it can only be tolerated on the condition that the community be safe +from such political control as this. And for this reason it seems to +me essential that the use of gold as currency be limited; and that as +regards the exchange of all the necessaries of our existence, we +should have a currency that entirely escapes the control of the +financier. This is the reason why I have insisted on the use of store +checks which are just as convenient and secure as our present +greenbacks. + +There seems to be no other way of eliminating the undemocratic +autocracy of the financier than by some such system as the one above +described; that is to say, the issue by the state of orders on the +public stores to the extent of the goods in the public stores, which +may in their general appearance differ but little from the greenback +of to-day: Instead of reading "Good for $1.00 gold currency," they +will read "Good for $1.00 at the public stores." This public store +currency will eliminate the use of gold and silver throughout the +socialized industries and as regards all agricultural products except +a very small portion. Every socialized industry and every farmer will +furnish to the state the bulk of his produce--that is, the minimum +exacted by the state--in exchange for this kind of currency.[191] It +is only the surplus--the amount produced by the farmer and factory +above the minimum established by the state--that the farmer and the +factory will be at liberty to sell for gold instead of exchanging for +public store notes; and of this surplus the farmer and factory will be +free to sell as much as they choose for public store notes, so that +gold and silver will constitute a small part of the medium of +exchange. This system will have the following advantages: + +It will practically eliminate the present control of political and +economic conditions by financiers. So long as the currency used in +exchanging necessaries and comforts is rescued from the control of +financiers, it is a matter of comparative indifference whether the +financiers control the currency used in the manufacture and +distribution of luxuries, for such control will have practically no +effect upon the things necessary to human existence. + +It will give to the state the use of the gold coin which is now +accumulated in its treasury for the redemption of its notes; and the +state will use this large gold fund for the purchase of the products +of other nations.[192] + +Let us see how this proposed system of store notes will work in a +given manufacture: + +The state will order the steel guild to manufacture thirty million +tons of pig iron (the amount produced in 1907 was a little over +twenty-six millions); and will allot to the steel guild for the supply +of steel six hundred and sixty million dollars in store notes, this +being calculated at the rate of $20 a ton. (The price in 1907 was a +little over $22.) These $660,000,000 will be paid to the steel guild +in the following manner: + +Every week a number of store orders will be issued to the amount of +the wages of the week and of the fixed charges. At stipulated periods +the steel guild will furnish the state pig iron so that the state will +never have advanced to the guild store orders amounting to more than +the value of the pig iron in the store, an exception of course being +made for the first few weeks that the industry proceeds upon this +basis. Upon the delivery of pig iron at these stated periods, the +state will deliver the difference between the weekly amounts already +paid and the price of the pig iron delivered. If deliveries of pig +iron can be made once a month, this will enable a repartition of a +part of the profits so that the workers will not have to wait until +the end of the year before they receive their profits, the final +dividend being paid at the expiration of each year. + +Such an order as the above will serve the following purposes and have +the following consequences: the steel guild will have a definite order +for a definite amount of pig iron to manufacture. It will know exactly +how many men it will need to manufacture this pig iron. It will employ +a few more men than those employed in 1910. The state will issue to +the steel guild weekly the amount of store notes necessary to pay the +wages upon the same scale as in 1910. Men engaged in the Steel Trust +at the moment of transference will continue to work and receive the +same rate of wages; but they will be entitled to their share of the +profits after the amounts due annuitants and the amounts necessary to +create a fund for old age and sickness have been deducted. Obviously, +this first order of thirty million tons is far larger than the country +uses, because a large part of the product of 1907 was exported. The +amount thus exported will be at the disposal of the state either to +export, or exchange for foreign products, or to set aside as a reserve +upon which the state can draw in case of deficit. + + +§ 10. SUMMARY + +Let us now consider the purposes we have in view in this proposed +economic organization of the coöperative commonwealth and how far we +attain these purposes: + +The main object of a coöperative commonwealth is to give to all +workers as nearly as possible the exact product of their work. It may +be interesting to note that this is the ideal that Mr. Roosevelt +himself proposes, and he objects to Socialism because he thinks +Socialism will on the contrary allow the "thriftless and the vicious" +to profit. These words describe not a coöperative commonwealth, but +existing conditions. For example, such a degenerate as Harry Thaw, who +would, I suppose, according to Mr. Roosevelt be classified as one of +the "thriftless and vicious," obtains his income from the profit +created by others who work for it; whereas those who work, instead of +getting the full product of their work, are obliged to see that nearly +if not altogether one-half of it goes to the support of the idle, +among them this young man. These are the exact conditions to which +Socialism proposes to put an end, and, therefore, I point out that the +principal object that Socialism has in view is to do exactly the thing +that Mr. Roosevelt wants to see done--to undo the very things to which +Mr. Roosevelt objects. + +Another principal object of this proposed organization is to prevent +overwork and unemployment, that necessarily lead to drunkenness, +pauperism, prostitution, and crime. + +A third thing which this system of organization proposes to do is to +preserve the resources of the country; and here again we find +ourselves realizing the ideal of Mr. Roosevelt. The single idea of a +lumberman is to sell lumber--not to preserve it; the idea of a coal +miner is to sell coal--not to preserve it; the idea of an iron miner +is to sell ore--not to preserve it. In a coöperative commonwealth +there is no desire to make profit out of these things. The one object +in view is to use our lumber, coal, and ore to the best advantage and +with the least waste. + +Another object we have in view is to produce with the greatest +economy, with the greatest efficiency. We do not want forty refiners +engaged in refining sugar where seven will suffice.[193] We want all +our factories while they are working, to be working at their best +efficiency, not on half time or with only one-half the engines going. +We also want the things we need to be produced in such a way as to +take advantage of every waste product--a thing that can only be done +when industry is concentrated in the hands of a single guild instead +of being distributed as it tended to be (before the organization of +trusts) in the hands of many competing manufacturers. + +This system of production and distribution would maintain the present +check upon overpopulation which Mr. Huxley regarded as the principal +objection to Socialism;[194] for under this plan, although every +member of the community would be assured a comfortable income, his +comforts would be limited by the number of children he brought into +the world. Experience shows that the prudence of the middle class +to-day constitutes a check upon overpopulation; that, in other words, +overpopulation is to be feared, not in the middle class, but in those, +such as the extremely poor, who are under no prudential check.[195] + +The imprudent in such a coöperative commonwealth as is above +described, have always before them the prospect of the state farm with +its different degrees of unattractiveness. If, therefore, to-day +workingmen look upon the almshouse with abhorrence, it does not seem +unreasonable to suppose that the workers in a coöperative +commonwealth, accustomed to a far higher standard of living than the +workingman of to-day, would be deterred as much by the prospect of +committal to a farm colony as a self-respecting worker to-day is +deterred by the prospect of the almshouse. + +But there is another point of view from which the question of +overpopulation must be considered: The increasing independence of +women in America has already served to diminish the increase of +population to the extent which our sociologists regard as alarming. +The population of the United States is increasing chiefly through +immigration and the increase of immigrants. Here, as elsewhere, it is +the extremely poor that propagate. Indeed, as women become more and +more independent economically, as they certainly would in a +coöperative commonwealth, there seems to be more danger of +underpopulation than overpopulation. But here the state can no doubt +exert a very important influence; for if there seems danger of +underpopulation it might increase its tax upon the industries of the +state and apply the tax to the support of children so as to relieve +parents at the expense of the entire state, of the cost of educating +children, thereby removing all economic motive for underpopulation. + +I think, moreover, that since Mr. Huxley's day the whole opinion as to +overpopulation has changed. There is not a shadow left of the fears of +Malthus; for the extraordinary results published in the 13th Annual +Report of the Bureau of Labor show that productivity is likely to +increase rather than diminish in a coöperative commonwealth, in view +of the fact that all those now engaged in pure competition and +therefore a burden on the community, will be put to the work of +production, thereby increasing the productivity of the nation +relatively to its numbers. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[152] See Northern Securities Case, 193 U.S. + +[153] Kautsky, "The Social Revolution." + +[154] Upon every breadwinner there are on an average four persons +dependent--the aged, women, and children; 200,000 unemployed is +therefore equivalent to 1,000,000 in want. + +[155] See Book II, Chapter I, Unemployment. + +[156] See Appendix, p. 412. + +[157] "Socialism." By John Spargo, p. 217. + +"Socialism in Theory and Practice." By Morris Hillquit, Chapters V and +VI. + +[158] By "pure capitalism" is meant the ownership of industry +entitling the owner to dividends although the owner contributes +nothing to the industry in the way of personal service. + +[159] See Appendix, p. 428. + +[160] _Saturday Evening Post_, May 8, 1909. + +[161] _Outlook_, March 20, 1909, p. 622. + +[162] Ibid., p. 619. + +[163] Ibid., p. 623. + +[164] On the very day of writing of the above, the N.Y. _Times_ of +June 25, 1909, states that the United States Postoffice Department has +installed a complete ice-making plant which has made such economy that +the Government is considering the building of an ice-plant for all its +departments. Private dealers charge at the rate of $7.65 a ton for +ice, whereas the Postoffice Department now furnishes ice at a cost of +65 cents a ton. + +[165] "The Elimination of the Tramp," by Edmond Kelly. (G.P. Putnam's +Sons.) + +[166] See Appendix, p. 429. + +[167] _Charities and the Commons_, p. 342, June, 1907. + +[168] Eugène Simon, "La cité chinoise" (translated into English); +Toubeau, "La répartition métrique des impôts," 2 vols., Paris +(Guillaumin), 1880, quoted by Kropotkin in "Fields, Factories and +Workshops," p. 239. See Evolution and Effort, p. 168. + +[169] Dr. M. Fesca, "Beiträge zur Kenntniss der japanesischen +Landwirthschaft," Part II, p. 33 (Berlin, 1893). The economy in seeds +is also considerable. While in Italy 250 kilogrammes to the hectare +are sown, and 160 kilogrammes in South Carolina the Japanese use only +sixty kilogrammes for the same area. Semler, "Tropische Agrikultur," +Bd. III, pp. 20-28. Quoted by Prince Kropotkin in "Fields, Factories +and Workshops," p. 239. + +[170] L. Grandeau, "Etudes Agronomiques," 3d series, 1887-8, p. 43. +Quoted by Kropotkin, Ibid., 101. + +[171] See Ponce, "La Culture maraiche," 1869. Barrel's "Dictionnaire +d'Agriculture." Quoted by Kropotkin, Ibid., p. 64. + +[172] Very little land in New York State produces more than from two +to three tons an acre, and most of it does not produce so much. + +[173] It is impossible in this book to give to the question of soil +fertility the scope which it needs in order to convince a layman of +the almost unlimited extent to which good soil can be manufactured and +made fertile. Those who are anxious to satisfy themselves on this +subject are urged to read the books above quoted. + +[174] "The Elimination of the Tramp," p. 51. + +[175] Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons. + +[176] See "Elimination of the Tramp," p. 45. + +[177] See _Hampton's Magazine_ for May and June, 1909. + +[178] See p. 58. + +[179] The occupation that furnishes most inmates to our asylums is +farming. + +[180] This limitation on property has already been enacted in the +State of New York (Chap. 463, Laws of 1909), and bills of similar +import have been introduced into the legislatures of California, +Maine, and Pennsylvania. In Maine a hypothetical question as to the +constitutionality of such legislation was submitted to the supreme +court, which reported favorably (19 Lawyers' Reports annotated [U.S.] +422). + +[181] Farmers' Bulletin, No. 242. + +[182] Something has been done in connection with the milk supply. Thus +the milk producers of Boston have organized a union and have agreed to +a price with the Milk Contractors' Association. But although this +effort at combination has cheapened milk for large consumers such as +hotels, large restaurants, and even small stores, pint customers pay +just as much in Boston as elsewhere; that is, 8 cents a quart. +(Industrial Commission Report, Vol. VI, p. 409.) + +[183] See 13th Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor of U.S., p. 25, +where the cost of producing wheat under the best conditions is +approximately 30 cents per bushel. + +[184] Book II, Chapter II. + +[185] For example, it is generally believed that the President of the +Steel Trust gets over $100,000 a year. Before the insurance +investigation presidents of life insurance companies got similar +salaries. Railroad presidents are also paid at similar rates. + +[186] "Socialism in Theory and Practice," p. 133. + +[187] "Socialism in Theory and Practice," p. 119. + +[188] Karl Kautsky, "The Social Revolution," p. 129. + +[189] "Socialism in Theory and Practice," p. 164. + +[190] See any daily newspaper between March 16, 1909, when the bill +was introduced in the House, and Aug. 6, 1909, when the law went into +effect. + +[191] Obviously, until all the industries are socialized, a part of +this minimum will have to be paid in gold. When, however, all the +industries are socialized, the whole of the minimum will be paid in +store checks. + +[192] See Appendix, p. 431. + +[193] Book II, Chapter I. + +[194] I am not aware that Mr. Huxley has ever suggested any other +objection to Socialism than this; but I may be mistaken. + +[195] "Government," Vol. I, p. 339. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +POLITICAL ASPECT OF SOCIALISM + + +The importance of the political aspect of Socialism depends upon the +kind of Socialism selected for study. In Fourier's system, the social +side altogether predominates--the political side is relatively +unimportant. In state Socialism, on the other hand, the political side +is the most important and the social side is subsidiary. In modern +Socialism, the government takes an intermediary position; the +functions of the state under modern Socialism would be in some +respects less extended than in such a government as that of Prussia; +while in other respects it would be more extended; but in no +department would it assume the excessive power and interference +generally associated with Socialism in the public mind. + +It cannot be too emphatically repeated that modern Socialism discards +the idea of a common home or even of a common table except to the +extent that a common table is sometimes found convenient in our own +day. To just the same extent the coöperative commonwealth discards the +idea of state ownership of industry and state ownership of land except +within the limits set forth in the previous chapter. + +The two great political objections to Socialism are: that it would +give to the government a power destructive of individual liberty; and +that the corruption in our existing government demonstrates the +unwisdom of increasing the scope of its operations. + +On the first of these objections it is not necessary to dwell; for it +is obvious that the moment state Socialism is abandoned, this +objection falls to the ground. The state no longer has the onerous and +probably impossible function of assigning tasks; the state no longer +controls the hours of labor; the state no longer interferes in the +private life of the individual any more than to-day. The relations of +the government are not so much with the individual as with +conglomerations of individuals in the respective industries; and even +here, the government does no more than indicate the amount of a given +thing that must be produced and the rate at which the thing so +produced is to exchange with the other necessaries of life. It has +been suggested that just as in France where commercial cases are +brought before purely commercial courts and thus separated from civil +and criminal cases, so all things pertaining to production and +distribution might be determined by an industrial parliament that +would determine such matters as the amount of a given thing to be +produced and the rate at which this thing is to exchange with other +necessaries, subject to the approval of Congress. + +Such a system would have the great advantage of referring business +matters to business men who would bring no other than business +considerations to the solution of them. It would relieve Congress of +the necessity of discussing commercial details with which its members +are generally unfamiliar, and it would above all prevent that +sacrifice of business interests to purely political considerations +which often occurs to-day. + +There will be an important rôle to be played in determining the amount +of the various necessaries of life which the socialized industries +will be called upon to produce, in distributing these products, +exchanging surplus products with foreign markets, and distributing the +proceeds of these exchanges. All this work is of a purely business +character and should be confided to business men, who have shown +themselves by their practical success in business fields most fitted +therefor. It would seem wiser to refer these matters to a parliament +composed of the representatives of associated industries, of +agricultural producers, and of distributing bodies. It would be the +duty of such a parliament to appoint its own executive and cabinet, +and it may be advisable to associate with the representatives of +agriculture and industry in such a parliament, representatives +selected by the citizens at large, so as to minimize the possibility +of combinations between powerful groups of industries for the purpose +of determining questions of public interest to their particular +advantage. + +No attempt will be made here to work out the details of such a system, +the object of this book being rather to indicate the possibility of +doing these things than to point out the particular method by which +they should be done. + +The objection that the corruption in our existing government +demonstrates the unwisdom of increasing the scope of its operations +seems at first sight a formidable one. If our government is as corrupt +as our "yellow journals" make it out to be, it seems folly to extend +its functions and give it larger opportunities for the exercise of +this corruption and for the demoralization of the community which this +corruption tends to produce. There are, however, many reasons for +believing that the less government has to do, the more corrupt it is; +and the more it has to do, the less corrupt it is. + +For example, the Board of Aldermen in the city of New York was once +the governing body of the city. It was a body to which men of +importance belonged because its functions were important. When +corruption crept into the Board of Aldermen the legislature was +persuaded more and more to abridge its powers, and Tweed availed +himself of this disposition to take practically all the powers of +government out of the hands of the board and concentrate it in a small +body of men called "supervisors," to which he took care that he and +the members of his ring should belong. Some time after the Tweed ring +was broken up the Board of Aldermen retained the right of confirming +the appointments of the mayor; but this power too was taken from it by +ex-President--then Assemblyman--Roosevelt in 1884, and from that year +the Board of Aldermen became little more than a franchise-bestowing +corporation. The board has consequently become so corrupt that the +title of Alderman, which used to be a title of honor, is in New York a +title of disgrace. If we compare the Board of Aldermen to the board +which corresponds to it in London, we shall find a totally different +state of things. In London it is the County Council that governs the +municipality, and accordingly we find on it men who stand first in the +ranks of the business world. + +But there is another consideration of vastly more importance than +this. New York citizens continue to complain year after year of the +low order of men selected by its citizens, not only to the Board of +Aldermen, but to all elective offices, including the State Assembly +and the Senate. Yet they do not stop to inquire the reason for this, +though it is obvious. What stake have the majority of New York +citizens in the government of the city? The vast majority are not +interested in the tax rates, for they do not pay taxes, or do not +think they do. The majority are not interested in an efficient fire +department, because they do not own property likely to be destroyed by +fire and, indeed, it is said that it is members of this very majority +that start most of the fires in New York. They are not interested in +clean streets, for foul though our streets be, they are not as foul as +the unwholesome tenements. They are not interested in an efficient +police. They are not interested in a board of education, because all +they want to get out of school for their children is reading, writing, +and arithmetic--enough to get a job. It is difficult to see in what +respect the large majority of our citizens are interested in good +government at all. + +What then are they interested in? They are interested in bad +government. They want to get a brother or a cousin on the police +force; and they want the police to be complaisant to a brother or a +cousin in a liquor saloon. The retailer does not want to be disturbed +in his encroachments on the sidewalk. The building trade does not want +to be annoyed by a too conscientious building department. The German +wants his beer on Sunday and barrooms want to do business on Sunday. +The peddler wants to violate street ordinances and stand his cart in +the already too crowded streets. Churches want to receive per capita +contributions to their asylums and have long made efforts to secure +per capita contributions to their schools. The gambler wants to keep +open his gambling den; and the people want the gambler to be +undisturbed. The business man, the corporation, and the criminal want +to be "let alone"; and those dregs of the population too low to be +able to use the vote, want to sell it for a pittance on election day. +These are the conditions under which distinguished citizens and +committees of one hundred expect to secure good government! And we go +on ineffectually organizing municipal leagues, good government clubs, +and citizens' unions to this hopeless end. It is not reasonable to +suppose that in a government determined by the majority we can expect +the government to be good when the majority does not want the +government good, but wants it bad. + +Occasionally the government in New York gets so bad that it outrages +even our outrageous majority, and the overthrow of bad government is +regarded as a triumph for reform. But no reform movement has ever +lasted more than one administration. The public has emphatically +assured us, over and over again, that it does not want reform +administration, and indeed it may be said that some of these reform +administrations have been just as bad as those they were intended to +reform. + +Municipal politicians want good laws, if at all, in order to use them +for the purpose of levying blackmail, and the community is willing to +pay the blackmail so long as it is not too extortionate. Business men +find it cheaper to pay blackmail and be allowed to do what they want. +And the same is true all the way down the line until we get to the +criminal class, which has the biggest stake in bad government of all. + +Yet the strange anomaly of existing conditions is that while the +majority of the citizens of New York have shown year after year for a +century that they want bad government and mean to have it, these +citizens are not bad men, but want to be good. It is the folly of our +economic conditions that makes them want bad government, and no more +pitiable sight was ever presented to gods and men than this city of +New York, or indeed any other of our great cities, full of citizens +animated with the best intentions, forced by economic conditions to be +bad. It has not yet seemed to dawn upon the reformers of the present +day that, if they want to have good government, the majority of the +citizens must be interested in the government being good; and not, on +the contrary, interested in its being bad as at this present time. + +There are two ways of accomplishing this. One way has been pointed +out; to put an end to the competitive system that sets every man at +the throat or pocket of his neighbor. The other is to enlarge the +functions of the government sufficiently to make it important to every +citizen that the government be good; then only will public spirit +become stronger than private interest. + +This conflict between public spirit and private interest is not a +matter about which there can be any longer any doubt. When a group was +engaged in organizing the City Club, we were told not once but a dozen +times by a dozen different men of high standing in the community, that +the whole question of good government to them resolved itself into +this: "Can I by contributing money or time to reform sufficiently +reduce taxes to make it worth my while to give my time and my money to +this thing; or is it not better for me to use my money in purchasing +protection from the organization that now controls the city and devote +my time to my own private affairs?" To these men the question of good +government was simply a question of tax rate, and these citizens are +the ones least touched by political conditions. When we come to +citizens whose business puts them continually in contact with +political conditions, we find the contrast between public spirit and +private interest still more marked; in the corporations that want +franchises, in the builders who want their plans approved, and in the +citizens already described who have an interest in keeping on good +terms with the powers that be. + +If now we remove the temptation on the one hand and give a motive for +good government on the other, is it not reasonable to suppose that we +are more likely to obtain good government than now? + +Temptation can be removed in many ways. Altogether the greatest motive +for corruption is that furnished by the eagerness of corporations to +secure franchises. Indeed the city was at one time governed by the +owners of our city transportation system. The temptation to violate +building laws would be removed if it were the city who built and not +the private individual. The temptation to vote for a corrupt police +force would be removed if the city instead of private barrooms sold +alcoholic drinks. The temptation to vote for corruptible milk +inspectors would be removed if the city instead of private dealers +supplied milk. In a word, if the city were to undertake the tasks +heretofore suggested, practically all temptation for graft would be +eliminated. + +The same process would not only eliminate temptation for graft, but +would give the citizens a stake in good government. If the city +distributed milk the citizen would be interested in having pure milk +at a low price; if the city owned tramways, the citizen would be +interested in having transportation effective and cheap; if the city +manufactured gas and electric light, the citizen would be interested +in having good heat and light at proper prices; and so at last the +dream of the reformer that all citizens of the same city regard +themselves as stockholders in the same corporation, would cease to be +a dream and would be realized. They would have the same interest in +the gas plant, electric plant, ice plant, milk plant, transportation +plant of their city as a stockholder to-day has in the dividends which +these respective industries accord him, though the dividends would not +be paid in gold, but in wholesome service at cheap prices. Then only +would the conflict between public spirit and private interest come to +an end, for a man would find it more to his interest that the +government be carried on honestly and efficiently than he does now to +secure a government that is dishonest and inefficient. In a word, as +Mr. Mill said that the cure for the abuse of liberty is more liberty, +so the cure for the abuse of government is more government. This must +not be understood as a relapse in favor of state Socialism. It cannot +be too often repeated that it would be as great an error to confide +too much to the state as, at present, it is an error to confide too +little to it. The solution is to be found in taking the middle course: +_medio tutissimus ibis_. Give to the government the work it is fitted +to do and no more. What work it is fitted to do and what work it is +not fitted to do has already been explained.[196] + +Amongst the tasks for which it is fitted is the work of Education: + + +§ 1. EDUCATION + +There is no reason why the present system of education should be much +changed in a coöperative commonwealth. In its nature it would remain +very much the same and would only be extended in time; that is, all +children who show themselves capable of profiting by education will +have the opportunity of extending their education as far as their +abilities justify. Education need by no means be confined to the +state. There is no reason why the existing universities should not +continue their work of education even though they be maintained by +Rockefellers and Carnegies, and throw all their weight in support of +the competitive system against the coöperative. Socialism stands for +light, and if at any period in its development it turns out that the +community is not fitted for the phase of Socialism which it has +attempted, it may be important to correct the perfunctoriness of +official administration by a larger dose of private initiative; and in +such case let privately endowed schools and universities be there to +preach this doctrine. + +Nor need there be any objection to sectarian schools. Once the human +mind is freed from the shackles of economic servitude, it can be +trusted to choose its religion, whether educated by sectarian schools +or not. + +The essential difference between the educational system in a +coöperative commonwealth and under existing conditions will be that, +inasmuch as child labor in competitive industries will be absolutely +forbidden, no child will be deprived of education by economic +conditions. Every child, therefore, will have an equal opportunity for +mental development. + +And the fact that the hours of work will be shorter will give to every +human being leisure throughout his his entire life in which to develop +talents of which no trace may be observable during attendance at +school or university. The coöperative commonwealth, therefore, without +changing the existing forms of education, will furnish to every man, +woman, and child an opportunity for educational development during the +whole of life instead of confining it as now to the very first few +years of it. + +It is important to note that, under this system, every industry will +be free to work as few hours as it chooses, subject only to the +condition of working long enough to pay taxes, to furnish the minimum +required by the state, and to create a fund to provide for sickness, +accident, and old age. + +Citizens in this respect will divide themselves into different +categories: + +Some will want to work the least possible and devote the rest of their +time to idleness or pleasure. Others will want to work at the +particular industries in which they are engaged the least possible and +devote the rest of their time to such things as will more interest +them--to literature, art, music, or even to some other industry--even +to industries competing with the state. Others, instead of working the +short hours required in a coöperative commonwealth, will prefer to +work long hours so as to have a longer vacation than that enjoyed by +the majority; others, on the contrary, will prefer to work long hours +at the industry to which they belong, not with a view to earning a +longer vacation, but for the purpose of earning more wages applicable +to the increase of their comforts, luxuries, and amusements. + +It would not be difficult for every industry to take account of these +various contingencies: A certain number of hours those engaged in a +particular industry will have to work, but they will be far shorter +than the hours of to-day. Those who volunteer to work longer hours +will be allowed to work longer hours. The work of the factory will +naturally be divided into two shifts: the one, a morning shift; and +the other, an afternoon shift, so that one shift can put in all their +work in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Who shall work in +each shift will be determined primarily by choice and, wherever choice +cannot be resorted to, by lot. + +Such a condition of things as the foregoing would give to every +industry the greatest opportunity for transfer from one industry to +another. One who desired to exchange steel working for garment making, +could work during the morning shift at the steel trade and during the +afternoon shift at the garment trade; and when he had become +proficient in the garment trade, he would be able to abandon the steel +trade altogether and devote all his working hours to garment making. + +Still more important, the system would give an opportunity to every +man to develop his peculiar talents, however late in life. It is well +known that men of genius often show no trace of their genius at +school. It is impossible to calculate how much human ability is lost +to the race by the fact that, not being observable in the few school +years during which children are subject to observation, it is crushed +out altogether in the competitive mill. The fact that the number of +hours we have to work in a coöperative commonwealth would be small, +would give to every man the rest of the day in which to develop his +undeveloped talents. + + +§ 2. CHURCHES + +There is no reason why churches should not be supported in a +coöperative commonwealth under exactly the same conditions as to-day. +It is probable, however, that there will be a tendency to modify +public worship so as to render it less subject to obvious objections +than to-day. + +At the present time, children animated with a desire to preach are +encouraged to join the ministry; and it sometimes happens that men of +vast business and political experience are made by the convention of +respectability to sit every Sabbath Day under a boy in the pulpit +reading crude theological essays. Few men are equipped in a manner +usefully to instruct or advise their fellow creatures in matters so +intimate as those of religion until they have attained years which, +while they unfit them for the hard work of industrial life, do by +accumulated experience peculiarly fit them for the work of the pulpit. + +The divinity school and the divinity student will tend to diminish and +our pulpits will be filled by men who have shown themselves during +fifty or sixty years of active work in the community to be best fitted +to fill them. And these men, having at that age earned a retiring +pension, will not be at the expense of the community nor will they be +required by economic conditions as at present, to preach doctrines as +to the truth of which some are in doubt and others absolutely +disbelieve. + + +§ 3. POLITICAL CONSTRUCTION + +Let us see now whether we can come to some conclusion regarding the +political construction of government under a coöperative commonwealth. +The idea prevails that Socialism involves an extreme centralization of +government. This, however, is quite contrary to modern notions of +Socialism. Indeed, in one sense of the word, Socialism upon the plan +already proposed would deprive the federal government of much of its +power. Nor do I see any reason why our present federal form of +government should be materially changed. For example, the present +state governments would be maintained with practically all the rights +they now enjoy, and the federal government would continue to operate +with less than the enumerated powers given it by our present +constitution. For example, instead of having as at present the right +to regulate commerce, to coin money, and to make patent laws, these +powers would be delegated to the industrial parliament subject only to +the approval of Congress. And although the title of all such +properties as railroads, mines, etc., would be vested in the United +States, the effectual control and administration of these properties +would be left to the industrial parliament, so that real power as +regards these matters would be exercised not by the federal +government, but by the industrial parliament, elected not upon the +geographical basis of Congress, but by the industries respectively +wheresoever situated, as explained in the previous chapter.[197] + +It would be well to give the right of appeal to Congress because the +industrial parliament would consist of producers and each would have +an interest in securing for his industry the largest price possible. +It may be feared that a few powerful industries might, by the number +of votes they control in the chamber elected proportionately to +numbers, secure for itself privileges not fair to other industries. +This power would be restrained by the fact that the other chamber, +elected according to industries, not numbers, would exercise a +wholesome check upon any such attempt, and an appeal to Congress may +therefore not be necessary. Nevertheless, Congress would represent the +whole mass of the nation and would be, as it were, the consumers' +parliament in its relation to the industrial parliament. And it would +seem proper to give to Congress the right to reconsider and discuss +all new departures in connection with the business of the country, not +only out of consideration of the rights of consumers, but also for the +dignity of Congress. + +What under these circumstances would be the special functions of +Congress? Congress would continue to exercise the powers it now +exercises as regards collecting taxes, establishing rules of +naturalization, providing for the punishment of counterfeiting, +establishing postoffices and postroads, organizing federal courts, +punishing piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and +offences against the law of nations, declaring war, and providing for +and maintaining the army, navy, and militia. + +The States would enjoy all the rights they now enjoy as regards the +federal government; but the cities would enjoy much larger powers of +government than they now do. There seems to be no reason why the +question whether the city of New York should own its own subway should +be referred to farmers sitting in Albany, who have no interest and +little, if any, knowledge of the needs and resources of the city of +New York. It is probable, therefore, that on the whole the effect of +Socialism would be to decentralize rather than to centralize. + +The parties in a coöperative commonwealth would probably be determined +by the main issue between coöperation and competition, and we find +here a reason for leaving to Congress the last word as regards the +decisions of the industrial parliament. For the latter would be a +parliament of coöperative industries and disposed, in protecting these +industries, to perpetually invade the territory of competition. So +long as humanity needs the stimulus of competition, it is essential +that this element be fairly represented in the political organization +of the state. All measures tending to restrain competition ought +therefore to be subject to the approval of the whole nation +represented in Congress. + +One principal bourgeois objection to Socialism is that, under +competitive conditions the men best fitted to run an enterprise are +those to whom business enterprises are to-day confided upon the +principle of the survival of the fittest; whereas under a coöperative +commonwealth, the selection of those who are to manage industries must +be left to the doubtful intrigues of politics. This objection cannot +be seriously taken into consideration. There is probably nothing more +difficult for the bourgeois to understand than the difference that +would exist between the politics of a coöperative and those of a +competitive commonwealth. In the latter, the field of politics is +inevitably a cesspool of corruption, because every business man has +something to lose or gain through politics. The tariff law just +enacted presents one of the most recent illustrations of this. Not +only so, but the men appointed to office and elected to Congress in +our competitive commonwealth are selected by business interests, and +not appointed because of special fitness for the task. + +In a coöperative commonwealth this situation would be reversed. When +all our comforts in life and the necessaries of existence are +furnished by our municipalities and our guilds, the management of +these municipalities and guilds will be of the utmost importance to +every one of us. Our citizens, instead of being interested in bad +government, will become interested in good government, in good +management and in good administration. Here the public will benefit by +the power of recall which, though it may work very imperfectly under +competitive, ought to work well under coöperative conditions. For +every man is interested in his municipal bakery furnishing good bread, +his municipal gas plant furnishing good gas; and citizens will be so +deeply interested in matters that touch them as nearly as this that +they will not be influenced by political cabals to put in a bad man as +superintendent of the municipal bakery, or to replace a good one by a +bad one for purely political reasons. + +One reason why our politics are bad to-day is that hardly any of us +have time to give to making them good even if we wanted them good. The +workingman who works ten or more hours in the factory and travels two +or more hours to reach his work in the morning and return home when +his work is done, can hardly have much vitality left to attend to +politics. Indeed, the complaint of the trade unions is that he has not +vitality enough left to attend to matters so important to him as those +of his own trade union. But when the workingman in the first place is +thoroughly trained by an education that will last not less than +eighteen years--when he is not called upon to work more than four or +five hours a day, he will have the knowledge necessary to understand +his political needs, and the leisure to organize political movements +when necessary to remove a bad administrator and put a good +administrator in his place. + +Indeed, popular government is impossible under capitalism for the +reasons just stated; those of us who want good government have not the +time to secure it. Popular government is only possible when the people +are sufficiently educated to understand their rights and have leisure +enough to organize with a view to enforcing them. + +In the foregoing two chapters entitled, respectively, The Economic +Construction of the Coöperative Commonwealth, and The Political Aspect +of Socialism, I have endeavored to draw a picture of a coöperative +commonwealth in which capitalism is eliminated from the production and +distribution of all the necessaries and many of the comforts of life; +leaving, however, full play to the existing competitive system as +regards the luxuries, some of its comforts, and even as regards +necessaries wherever the coöperative commonwealth fails to do its work +up to the standard of taste of the community. + +This picture has been drawn not because it is possible at this time to +forecast exactly what this economic and political construction will +be, but because many persons find it impossible to form to themselves +any idea how things can be produced and distributed without the help +of capitalism. No more is claimed for these chapters than that they +do present a scheme by means of which necessaries and many comforts +can be produced and distributed without the evils of capitalism, of +unemployment, of pauperism, of prostitution, and of economic crime. + +Obviously, the two foregoing chapters suggest a thousand questions to +an inquiring mind, but I hope that the missing details cannot be +classed amongst those details which Gladstone characterized as +organic. In other words, I hope that they present a picture giving +sufficient details to make it clear that Socialism, as regards the +production and distribution of the necessaries and most of the +comforts of life, is not only beneficial, but practical and +economical; that, in a word, it puts an end to the waste and the +anarchy which jointly characterize the capitalistic system of to-day. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[196] Book III, Chapter II. + +[197] Book III, Chapter II. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +SCIENTIFIC ASPECT OF SOCIALISM + + +Herbert Spencer has contributed more than any other modern writer to +emphasize the effect of environment upon life, whether vegetable, +animal, or human; yet, singularly enough, in applying his scientific +conclusions to sociology, he entirely failed to take account of the +essential difference which exists between natural environment and +human environment; between the effect of evolution upon life prior to +the advent of man, and its effect upon life subsequent to the advent +of man. He applied to human development the laws of evolution which he +found working prior to man, though man has reversed the natural +process of development so that evolution, under the environment +created by man, is taking and must continue to take a direction +entirely opposite to that which it took under the dominion of Nature +alone. Into what errors Mr. Spencer was led by his failure to +recognize the difference between human and animal evolution may be +gathered from the fact that he denounced governmental effort to +prevent disease as "sanitary dictation";[198] he denounced also +municipal ownership of gas and water, the building by the state of +houses for the poor, free libraries, free local museums, free +education, and generally all that he includes in the expression +"coercive philanthropy."[199] + +He assumed that the predatory system which he saw prevailing in the +domain of Nature must prevail also in the domain of Man; and thus +became an apostle of _laissez faire_ and of the competitive system. As +such he advocated the utmost limitation of state interference and +opposed the Socialistic trend of modern legislation on the ground that +man is, as it were, doomed to perfection by the principles of +evolution, and that any effort of his to modify evolution can only +result in retarding it. He was led by the analogy between society and +organism into the theory that human institutions must be allowed to +grow as organisms _grow_, and that efforts on the part of man to +construct his own institutions produce more evil than good. + +Mr. Huxley demolished the whole sociological structure which Herbert +Spencer built up on these errors in three essays, to which the reader +is referred.[200] The subject is also fully treated in the first +volume of "Government or Human Evolution."[201] The effort will be +made here to condense the argument and conclusions therein drawn by a +short study of environment--natural and human--with a view to +demonstrating the control which man has acquired over his environment +and thereby over his ultimate destiny. This leads to a study of the +effect of the competitive and coöperative systems on type +respectively, how far society is a growth and how far a construction, +and how far human nature can be modified by the conscious, deliberate +purpose of Man; all this to demonstrate that human happiness can be +best attained by substituting coöperation for competition to the +extent necessary to put an end to the evils resulting from the +competition of to-day, without for that reason eliminating wholesome +competition altogether. + +There are two kinds of environment: the environment we find in Nature, +and the environment made by Man. + +We shall study first the environment of Nature, and begin by +distinguishing therein two systems: the competitive, or so-called +struggle for life; and the coöperative or community system; confining +ourselves to facts observed in Nature prior to or outside of the +intervention of Man. + + +§ 1. THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT + +(_a_) _The Struggle for Life, or the Competitive System_ + +Beasts of the field are necessary products of their environment. + +The study of the crust of the earth reveals that upon the central mass +there have been laid layer upon layer of sand, clay, and limestone by +successive seas, which have successively rested on now buried +continents. Nearly every layer contains fragments of shell, scale, or +bone belonging to the beasts that have succeeded to one another upon +the earth during millions of years. + +These layers of sand, clay, and limestone are the leaves of a gigantic +book, the earliest of which are burned by fire, the next scarred by +it, and the most recent illustrated by pictures so vivid that we can +read the story there of the development of Man from the lowest of all +forms of life. + +The rocks are charts painted by the hand of Nature herself. + +In these charts we read the story of Evolution. We learn the geography +of the world millions of years before the age of history; we know +that this land upon which we live has not only once, but often been +sunk beneath a deep sea; that during the earliest period of which +there is any record unburned, there was no living thing more highly +organized than a crab; not a fish nor any animal possessing the +backbone that distinguishes the vertebrates to which Man belongs from +the invertebrates to which belong the lowest kinds of living thing. We +know that later the whole face of the world was changed, and then +followed a warm period called Carboniferous, and that just before and +during this Carboniferous period there slowly developed fish +possessing the backbone that marks one of the great strides in animal +development. But at this time we see no trace of the four-footed +mammalia which immediately preceded Man. + +In the marshes in which forests grew and died during the Carboniferous +period, there were piled, one upon another, layers of vegetation that +hardened into coal; this coal sank slowly beneath a deepening sea. In +this so-called cretaceous sea were deposited, in its deepest parts, +huge masses of chalk accumulated from countless shells; and upon its +shores crept four-footed things resembling fish, as the seal and the +sea-lion resemble them to-day, closely allied to them and clearly +developed from them, as if fish stranded upon the shallows had used +their fins for motion upon the banks, and out of fins made legs. And +from the gigantic lizards of the cretaceous period we find in the +overlying tertiary beds the infinite variety of four-legged animals +which people our continents to-day. + +All this knowledge, full of profound interest to the student of Man, +comes from a study of the earth--Geology. + +And next comes Zoölogy, telling how this amazing development of life +from lower to higher forms proceeded. For centuries Man studied the +living things on the earth, and added fact to fact till at last, a few +years ago, Darwin, Wallace, and others demonstrated the law according +to which this development takes place, the law of Evolution. + +Briefly it is this: + +All living things prior to the advent of Man tended to adapt +themselves to their environment by the process known as the survival +of the fit. Only those animals fit to survive, survived; all the rest +perished. When there was a change of environment, as, for example, of +climate, only those individuals survived that were capable of adapting +themselves to this change. + +The process by which animals adapt themselves to changes of +environment is as follows: + +There is in every new generation of animals an infinite variety; some +differ enough from the rest to be called "sports." These differences +are transmitted to future generations by heredity. Men have used these +differences to create types of animals suited to their purpose. Thus +by putting stallions built for speed to mares similarly built, Man has +produced the race-horse. On the contrary, by putting stallions built +for drawing loads to mares similarly built, Man has produced the +cart-horse. + +Before the advent of man this selection of types was made by the +environment or by Nature, as the environment used to be called. Hence +the expression, natural selection, is used to describe the process by +which Nature or environment selects certain types for survival at the +expense of the rest; the process by which animals that live in the +desert gradually adapt themselves to endure great heat; and those that +live near the Poles gradually adapt themselves to endure great cold. + +The environment or Nature uses in this process of selection a very +cruel but effectual device: A great many more living things are born +into the world than the world can support. In the lower forms of life +Nature is wastefully fertile; thousands of herrings' eggs are laid for +one herring that grows to maturity. This amazing fertility of Nature +results in a struggle for life which condemns the enormous majority of +living things born into the world to an early death, but has the +singular advantage of allowing only the types most fitted to the +environment to survive. And this process of natural selection acting +in an environment favorable to development from a lower to a higher +type has gradually caused the lowest forms of life, which consist of a +mere sac of so-called protoplasm, to develop organs especially adapted +to accomplish specific things: a mouth to take in food; a stomach to +digest it; bowels to assimilate it; a system of circulation--arms and +legs; a nervous system; a brain; ears; a nose; eyes; until at last, in +the order of creation as demonstrated in the great Book of the Rocks, +and as confirmed by zoölogy and other sciences, Man has evolved out of +the original protoplasmic sac. + +Who created the first protoplasmic sac; why this cruel system was +invented by which life was ordered to pass through millions of +sacrificed and suffering bodies before it could emerge into the least +imperfect form; why Man to-day must suffer still in the progress which +he is destined to make from his present to a still higher form--these +are queries which it is not given us yet to answer. But that this +process has taken place at the cost of great agony and during millions +of years, is a fact which no man who has studied the face of Nature +can deny. + +If we want to learn the art of happiness--for in spite of the process +just described there is nevertheless an art of happiness--we must +understand the processes of Nature. It is only by understanding the +processes of Nature that we can ever hope to modify them. + +And it is here that we come to the first great lesson we have to learn +from a study of Evolution: + +Man has already modified the processes of Nature in the past, and he +can doubtless still further modify them in the time to come. + +But before we undertake to study how far Man has modified, and may +still modify, the cruel process of natural selection, there is another +process observable in Nature to which we must direct our most earnest +attention. + +It is a common error to suppose that because Man has developed from a +lower form of life through a process of struggle for survival that +favors a few types at the expense of millions of other forms condemned +by this struggle to suffering and death, therefore it is only by this +same struggle that Man can hope to attain a higher form of +development. This is the error that approves the competitive system +and the resulting classification of men into a few rich and many poor. +It is because the question as to the merits and demerits of the +competitive system rests upon the principles of evolution, that it is +indispensable for all who want to understand the competitive system +also to understand the principles of evolution. For those who deny the +force of competition altogether are as wrong as the millionaires who +base their argument in favor of the competitive system upon the law of +evolution. + +We cannot neglect the argument drawn from the struggle for life +involved in natural selection. Until we have shown that there is +something better than this struggle that can be put in its place, we +have left to the millionaires the vantage-ground, from which they can +quiet the conscience of the world. Thousands of our fellow-creatures +who are separated from us by the accident of wealth would come to our +side were they not sincerely convinced that poverty, pauperism, and +crime are necessary evils, belonging to the cosmic principles of +evolution through which Man has attained his existing dominion, and +through which he may hope, though not without infinite patience and +agony, ultimately to reach a still higher station. + +This error must be removed, and it can only be removed by sober +argument. Temper will not do it; nor indignation; nor vituperation; +nor hate. The plain facts, if properly marshalled, are sufficient to +prove the error of the notion that competition is a necessary evil, +and that society cannot exist without unlimited competition, and the +poverty, pauperism, and crime that result therefrom. The first of +these facts is that by the side of the competitive system just +described, there is in Nature also a coöperative system almost as +highly developed as the competitive system and destined eventually +almost to take its place. + + +(_b_) _The Coöperative System_ + +We have seen that the struggle for life has had for effect to permit +only those forms of life to survive that adapted themselves to the +environment, and that when the environment was favorable to +development, this tendency of the fit to survive at the expense of the +less fit caused an evolution from lower to higher forms of life. The +effect of this tendency in the higher forms of life has been to create +two opposite types--the carnivores, who became more skilful in +tracking game, and more powerful in destroying it; and the +herbivores, the natural prey of the carnivores, who became more swift +in escaping their pursuers. Now the herbivores, conscious of their +weakness, early developed the instinct to herd for the purpose of +common defence. The fierce carnivore, on the contrary, is prevented by +his natural ferocity from herding. He tends to become solitary. Lions +and tigers are solitary animals; whereas sheep, goats, horses, and +cattle herd. This tendency to herd tends to develop in proportion as +an animal is weak; so that it is in insects that we find the herding +instinct most perfectly developed, and certain colonies of ants and +bees present a picture of coöperation to which the attention of +millionaires cannot be too strenuously directed. + +Let it be said at the outset that these colonies are not offered as +models for us to imitate. On the contrary there are many features in +these colonies which we ought diligently to avoid. But just as there +are features in the competitive system that are good and some that are +atrociously bad, so there are features in the colony system that are +bad and some that are altogether good. It will later on appear that +_the essential privilege of Man is to be able to choose the good of +both and eschew the bad_. + +A beehive is a city of bees built by the entire community for its +common use. This community consists for the most part of barren +females who do all the hard work, and are therefore commonly called +the workers; they build the comb, and add to it as the community +enlarges; they attend on the queen bee--the only fertile female +allowed to survive; they feed her, and act the part of midwife to her +when she lays her eggs; they see to the hatching of the eggs, and by +crowding about them provide them with the necessary temperature; when +the eggs are hatched, the workers feed the young ones differently so +as to produce a few fertile females to play the rôle of queen should +the throne become vacant, a large number of males to be utilized when +the nuptial hour arrives, and a larger number still of barren females +to continue the work of the community; the workers collect honey from +the flowers in the summer and store it away for common use during the +cold season; they determine which of the fertile females is to be +impregnated and become their queen; she is liberated on her +wedding-day, and in a summer flight, pursued by the males, conceives. +Then she returns to the comb, and is let loose upon the other fertile +females in the comb, and watched as she stings her possible rivals to +death one by one. Few males return from the nuptial flight; one only +of them weds, and he perishes in the act; the others perish without +wedding, or if they have strength to return to the comb, are +despatched by the workers watching at the entrance to perform the +execution. + +It is impossible to conceive a more complete system of coöperation or +communism than this, or one which so little conforms to our notions of +justice or welfare. Indeed, it is probable that from a human point of +view the tiger in the jungle attains a greater measure of happiness +than any member of a bee community; for the workers seem to labor +without reward; of the males only one weds, and he perishes in the +act; and the queen herself is kept a close prisoner during her entire +existence, save only during the brief ecstasy of the nuptial flight. + +The lesson to be learned from insect communities seems then to be, not +that coöperation in a natural environment results in the maximum of +happiness, but merely that coöperation is as much a part of Nature's +plan as competition, and that therefore the coöperative system is as +available to man as the competitive. The problem before man is how to +take the best of both systems, and eliminate the bad. + +But there is a further lesson to be drawn from the singular customs +that prevail in the hive and in the ants' nest: + +In both, the entire energies of all seem concentrated upon two +problems--the support of the community, and its perpetuation; and as +these two problems are identically the same as those by which men are +confronted, the systems adopted to solve them cannot but be of +absorbing interest to Man. + +Nature or environment follows two diverging lines in animal +development. Along one line she seeks the perfection of the +individual; along the other the perfection of the community. But the +ideal of perfection presented by Nature is not Justice or Morality; it +is _perpetuation_, for perpetuation is the prize offered to the most +fit types in the struggle for survival. And there are obviously two +ways in which types can succeed in this struggle--one by individual +excellence, and another by sexual jealousy. And this sexual jealousy +must be eliminated from a community if its members are to live in +permanent harmony together. The scheme adopted by Nature in the +beehive to eliminate sexual jealousy is radical and cruel, but +effectual. + +Obviously, the community system proceeds with reckless disregard of +the individual; the destruction of all the fertile females save the +single queen and of all the male sex; the singular fact that the sting +cannot be used save at the cost of the life of the individual using +it; the enforced chastity of the workers--all prove that Nature's plan +for securing the welfare of the community is to sacrifice thereto the +happiness and the lives of the individuals that constitute it. + +Obviously, Man must find some better solution of this problem than +ants and bees. How Man has at various periods attempted to solve it we +shall study later. But before leaving natural environment, we have a +lesson to learn from the moral qualities which the two lines of +divergence have respectively developed--the qualities of the solitary +carnivore and those of the communistic bee. + +We may be helped by observing the habits of herding animals that are +neither so fierce as the lion nor so servile as the ant. For although +it has of late been the fashion to justify our existing capitalistic +system by exaggerating the extent to which competition exists in +Nature, careful study reveals that though competition does prevail +between different species, it is the exception rather than the rule +between individuals of the same species. Nature has proceeded along +two lines of development: one of mutual struggle, and another of +mutual aid. Thus we find even carnivora, such as the hyena and the +wolf, herding for the purpose of the chase; even foxes and bears have +been seen to herd; eagles, kites, and pelicans notoriously associate +to this end. Practically all herbivora herd more or less permanently, +the permanence of the herd depending apparently upon the mildness or +the ferocity of the sexual instinct. In the case of the elk, the stag, +the bull, and the horse, that fight for the female, and prevent the +weak from perpetuating the race, the herd breaks up into groups during +the rutting season; whereas, in the case of apes and monkeys that +herd, the herd remains permanent. + +Too little is known about the sexual relations of such animals as herd +permanently for any certain conclusions to be drawn from them, but it +can be said without fear of contradiction that Nature has succeeded +best through the combination of strength, selfishness, and ferocity +on the one hand, and that of intelligence, altruism,[202] and +servility on the other; for it is the lion and the tiger that dominate +the jungles of Asia; in Africa and South America it is the white ant. + +These considerations lead us to conclusions of great importance, for +they enable us to trace the development of certain habits or instincts, +which, when we find them developed in Man, become lifted into virtues or +vices according to their nature and intensity. Thus solitude imposes +upon solitary animals habits of selfishness and self-reliance; the tiger +has no one to look to but himself for the satisfaction of the two great +animal needs--food and self-perpetuation; he is the Ishmaelite of the +animal kingdom; his hand is against everyone and everyone's hand is +against him. Whereas, community life imposes upon the ant habits of +docility and altruism; she works not for herself, but for her neighbors; +she is a natural slave, but a slave to a useful end--the common weal of +all. + +To sum up: Natural environment has operated on animal life through the +principle of evolution or survival of the fittest in such a manner as +to develop physical organs and instinctive habits, both of which seem +to be necessary results. These physical organs and instinctive habits +depend for their nature and excellence upon two parallel systems: + +According to one, the struggle for life has taken place not only +between one species and another, but also between individuals of the +same species; this has resulted in individual excellence, as in the +case of the lion and the tiger; and has developed habits of +selfishness, self-reliance and ferocity. According to the other, the +struggle for life has taken place mainly between one group and +another, and hardly at all between individuals of the same group, but +both the lives and the happiness of the individual are recklessly +sacrificed to it; this has resulted in collective excellence at the +expense of the individual; and has developed habits of docility and +altruism. + +In the former, or competitive system, there is the greatest individual +freedom of action and the greatest individual satisfaction of animal +propensities, but there is the greatest individual risk, the few +survive at the expense of the many, and there is little or no social +satisfaction. + +In the latter, or coöperative system, there is less individual +freedom, less satisfaction of animal propensities (indeed, sexual +appetite is left unsatisfied for all except one individual of each +sex, and at the expense of personal liberty for the female and for the +male of life itself), but there is least individual risk for the +workers, and most social satisfaction. + +Intermediate systems partake of both the competitive and coöperative +plan, none of the intermediate systems, however, leading to supremacy, +and some of them resulting in degeneracy. + +Such are the results of the unconscious action of natural environment +on living things. + +We are now in a position to study the actual and possible results of +the conscious action of an artificial environment on Man. + + +§ 2. HUMAN ENVIRONMENT + +Before studying the possible effects upon Man of an artificial +environment, consciously and deliberately created by him with the +definite purpose of attaining the maximum of human perfection and +happiness, we must be clear as to the actual effects upon man of the +artificial environment in which he finds himself. And first we must +give its full value to the fact that the environment in which we live +is in great part artificial, that it is the product not of Nature +only, but also of Art. + +We have seen that the lower animals, prior to the advent of Man, were +the necessary product of the natural environment. We have now to study +how Man has modified the face of the world, as regards them and +himself, by the application thereto of Art. + +The most obvious and striking change effected by Art on human life is +in relation to climate. + +There is geologic evidence that the forefathers of Man in what is +called the Miocene Period, while not so intellectual as Man, were of a +far higher type than any living ape; the head, for example, indicates +a superior structure.[203] Now, the Miocene Period was exceptionally +warm. The bones of the so-called troglodytes are found in the caves of +the Dordogne with other vegetable and animal remains that indicate a +tropical temperature. This was followed by the glacial epoch, which +substituted for tropical conditions those now existing in the Arctic +zone. The troglodyte had to choose between the alternatives; he had to +flee to the tropics before the cold wave from the North, or to resist +the cold by recourse to Art. It is probable that he did both; some +did the one, and the rest the other; some fled to the tropics and +degenerated there into the existing anthropoid apes; the rest invented +weapons with which to slay fur-bearing animals, to strip them of their +skins, and convert the skins into clothing; used the shelter furnished +by natural caves, and eventually discovered the way to produce a +flame. This last Promethean gift was probably the first of the great +human inventions. When Man discovered how to produce and utilize fire +he became superior to climate. + +This discovery produced an amazing consequence; for it seems certain +that our race made its first strides towards civilization in tropical +countries; but that progress in the Arts, by enabling Man to inhabit +colder and more bracing climates, permitted an increase in his power +to resist not only climate, but all the other natural conditions +hostile to his improvement; and so we find the Northern races +gradually subduing those of the South, and demonstrating the great +rule _that man's progress is secured, not by yielding to natural +environment, but by resisting it_. + +The key to human progress in the past, and the probable key to human +progress in the future, is the faculty of Man to resist Nature; and +this faculty is twofold. Intelligence is the more obvious of the two +elements. But intelligence is not sufficient of itself. Intelligence +must be coupled with the power of self-restraint. For although +intelligence is the light which can guide men toward perfection, it is +useless unless accompanied by the willingness and power to follow the +light. + +What avails it to the millionaire to know that he can by the +intelligent use of his millions alleviate the misery of the poor, if +he lacks the willingness and power to apply this knowledge? + +What avails it to us to know that by substituting coöperation for +competition in the production of the necessaries of life, poverty can +be annihilated, if we have not the willingness and the power to effect +the substitution? + +What avails it to a drunkard to know that drink is the cause of his +misery, if he has not the power to refuse it? + +In man's struggle with climate, intelligence seems to play the +principal rôle, but there is also a spirit of resistance, in strong +contrast with submission that characterizes the lower animals. In +other arenas the power of self-control plays a still more conspicuous +part. There is probably no institution in which man differs more from +the lower animals than in that of marriage; and none more +characterized by self-control. If we compare the promiscuous +intercourse that prevails between the sexes in troops of apes, with +the fidelity that characterizes the highest types of marriage in our +most highly civilized communities, we cannot but be struck, not only +with the enormous gap between the two, but with the dominant rôle +played in development from the lower to the higher type by the power +of self-control. The passionate propensity that condemns the fiercer +carnivora to solitude, and reduces even the docile bee to a wholesale +massacre of one of the two sexes, has been so controlled in our +civilization that we find men and women not only living in the closest +proximity without violating the marriage vow, but even consecrating +themselves to life-long chastity out of respect for a religious +scruple. + +Man has attained this result through the training of children by +parents in the family, of youth by masters in schools, and of adults +each by himself in the world at large. + +Perhaps the most precious result of the institution of marriage is +the education furnished by the family which results from marriage. In +Greek life this education was the kernel of Greek religion. Every +family worshipped its own gods, and these gods were the shades of its +ancestors. Almost every duty in life resolved itself into a duty to +these shades; the duty to marry was but to ensure offspring who would +continue to minister to the deceased; the duty of chastity, and indeed +of morality in general, resolved itself into a duty to keep inviolable +the sacred flame upon the hearth. + +The two virtues peculiarly stimulated by Greek religion were courage +in man and chastity in woman; these singularly correspond to the +qualities that characterize solitary carnivora--ferocity in the male +and compulsory fidelity in the female. They are the virtues that +attend individualism, and individualism so impregnated Greek +civilization that it prevented the Greek cities from ever combining +into a Greek nation, and ultimately left them a prey to the invader. +And those two individualistic virtues--courage and chastity--became +still more emphasized under the Roman rule in the soldier and the +vestal. + +Christianity introduced a new element into civilized life; Christ +deprecated exhibitions of courage by inculcating humility; He tempered +the fierce demand for fidelity by bidding "him who was without sin +cast the first stone at her." The virtue He taught above all was the +virtue of Love; not love in the sense of natural affection, but love +in the sense of sacrifice; not love confined to the family, but love +extended from the family to the neighbor: "Love your neighbor as +yourself." And so under the dispensation of Christ all men, being the +children of a common Father, became as brothers one to another; the +early Christians carrying out this theory into practical life, +abandoned the acquisition of private wealth and brought all their +earnings into a common stock, giving to everyone according to his +need. + +Unfortunately, the prosperity of the Church under Constantine +converted it into a political machine as unconscionable in its +methods, and as effectual in results, as the so-called rings which +govern many cities to-day. The Church forgot the virtues which it was +instituted to teach; and our Western civilization has ever since been +distracting us by encouraging the fighting virtues of the Roman +soldier on the one hand, and the altogether inconsistent humility of +the Christian saint on the other. + +But men and women cannot live close to one another for centuries, +without having social virtues forced upon them; and while the +competitive system which prevails in our industrial and international +relations has stimulated the fighting qualities in us, the teaching of +Christ has preserved in our hearts ideas of happiness which have more +or less unconsciously created a tendency to replace competition by +coöperation wherever possible. + +The joint effect of Roman and Christian rules of conduct has been to +substitute for the qualities that we observe in Nature--the lust and +ferocity of the carnivore and the servility of the ant--new qualities +altogether different, and in some respects almost opposite. For lust +has been replaced by a conception of the conjugal relation which +converts marriage into a sacrament; ferocity has yielded to the +courage of the medieval knight and the modern gentleman; servility +tends to disappear and be replaced by respect for laws; and fear has +been lifted by religion into reverence--"The fear of God is the +beginning of wisdom." + +The fact that these virtues are held up to us as desirable and that we +are trained to conform thereto, is of dominating importance in +considering the character of human environment; and were there nothing +in human institutions to render the universal practice of these +virtues impossible, we should assuredly enjoy the happiness that must +result therefrom. + +Unfortunately there are two reasons why we cannot practice these +virtues though we would: + +We are divided into nations, each striving against all the rest to +secure for its citizens the largest possible share of the good things +of this world. Every nation is composed of individuals or families, +each engaged in a similar strife. + +The first, the international conflict, gives rise to a peculiar virtue +called patriotism, which, in so far as it teaches a man to love the +country to which he belongs, and the people amongst whom he lives, is +altogether good, but in so far as it teaches him to hate and +occasionally slay those of other nations is altogether bad. + +The second, the intranational conflict, gives rise to a quality which, +though not recognized as a virtue, should, if measured by the rewards it +receives, be assuredly regarded as the greatest of all--acquisitiveness; +for the fortunate few who possess this quality gather unto themselves +all the good things in the world at the expense of all the rest. + +Let us briefly study each of these formidable obstacles to virtue and +happiness: + +As regards the international conflict, the world is so large, and is +peopled by races of men so different, that it would be quite +impossible to include them all under the same government. The Red +Indian is incapable of adopting our civilization; he would rather die. +The Chinese has a conception of government so different from ours that +he has no word in his language for patriotism. The Oriental, who has +occupied the Danubian provinces for five centuries, is still so +foreign to us that he cannot live amongst Christians except either as +a conqueror in Turkey or a subject in Hindoostan. + +So long as these differences exist, there must be separate nations; +and the smoke of international conflict must occasionally burst into a +flame. + +Nevertheless, even to-day human effort can do much to diminish +occasions for war; witness the Tribunal of The Hague and the daily +multiplying treaties of arbitration; witness, too, the gradual +extension of solidarity between workingmen beyond national frontiers +and the growing disposition to organize regardless of them. + +As regards the intranational conflict--between individuals belonging +to the same country--there is much more to be said, for although the +total elimination of occasions of conflict between citizens of the +same nation may still be far off, there is serious reason to believe +that a partial elimination of them is immediately possible, and may +constitute the most practical of all political programs, and the most +vital of all religious faiths. Indeed, a thorough understanding of the +problem presented by this intranational conflict is so indispensable +to its prosperous solution, that upon this understanding may be said +to depend the question whether our civilization is to degenerate. + +The intranational conflict is mainly concerned with the acquisition of +wealth; and because this conflict has so far inordinately enriched a +few and impoverished the mass, it is the fashion for us to rail +against wealth. + +But wealth is the necessary product of civilization, and like manure, +it is a benefaction when lightly distributed over the right place, +though a pest when heavily concentrated in the wrong. The wealthier a +community is the happier it ought to be. It is not wealth itself +which constitutes our grievance, but the method of its distribution. + +Now the unequal distribution of wealth is mainly due to the system of +private property under which the few who have the gift of money-making +acquire large fortunes, while the many are left in comparative poverty +and even want. + +Under this system, every man, instead of working for all, is working +only for himself, and he who has most acquisitiveness becomes master +of those who have less, society being by this single quality divided +into a series of classes or castes, at the top of which are a few +millionaires, and at the bottom the large contingent that after a life +of misery end their lives in the almshouse, the prison, or the lunatic +asylum--a contingent that has been determined by carefully prepared +statistics to constitute one-fifth of the entire population in the +richest country in the world.[204] + +Private property has played an essential rôle in the slow +enfranchisement of the people. But just as the cocoon serves an +essential purpose in protecting the worm during its slow development, +but becomes a prison which the butterfly discards when it attains its +final freedom, so private property may turn out to have already served +its purpose if we can demonstrate ourselves so far developed as to be +fit to cast it aside. + +Let us recall what rôle private property plays in our human +environment to-day: + +It is the great stimulus which sets each one of us to work for +himself, and by working for himself to accumulate wealth that +contributes to the maintenance of all the rest. It furnishes (in +theory) a method under which the man who works most effectually gets +the highest reward. + +Now, as it is essential in every community that every man should +contribute to the maintenance of all, and as justice seems to demand +that the workers should be rewarded according to results, it is +claimed that private property solves the problem of production in a +manner both effectual and just. + +The competitive system, however, and the false notion of property to +which the competitive system gives rise by setting every man to work +for himself regardless of all the rest, prevents men from proceeding +upon the far more economical plan of coöperation. + + +§ 3. THE EFFECT OF THE COMPETITIVE SYSTEM ON TYPE + +We have seen that under the law of evolution type tends to adapt +itself to environment. It must so adapt itself or perish. There is no +escape from this iron law. If the climate change from warm to cold, +animals must put on blubber or fur; if the climate change from cold to +hot, they must throw off blubber or fur. Those who adapt themselves to +the change survive; those who do not adapt themselves die. + +So also, if in a given community the individual can secure the +necessaries of life only on the condition of outdoing his neighbor, it +is those who most successfully outdo their neighbors who prevail; +those who are outdone sink deeper and deeper into poverty and +ultimately join the irreclaimable fifth. + +The effect, then, of the competitive system on type is to stimulate +the qualities that go to make up acquisitiveness; selfishness and all +the necessary results of selfishness--avarice, greed, envy, injustice, +hardness of heart. + +It would be by no means fair to maintain that no man can be successful +in business who is not cursed with all these vices. On the contrary, +some of our greatest philanthropists have been successful business +men. But philanthropy sometimes results from the blessed principle of +reaction, under which vice, when it gets bad enough, creates a +revulsion against evil. Reaction, however, is the eddy in the stream; +and it is the stream and not the eddy that in the end counts. + +The main, the essential, the inevitable result of private property is +to promote selfishness, for the competitive system creates an +artificial environment to which the human type must tend to conform. +This artificial environment not only promotes selfishness at large, +but tends to degrade every institution which man has invented in his +effort to advance. Among these institutions, the two which have sprung +from the noblest instincts in man, and ought most to tend to his +improvement, are Marriage and the Church. Yet both are demoralized by +the competitive system. + +In the state of nature, animals tend to improve through sexual +selection. By sexual selection is meant the fight between males for +the female, the result of which is that the strongest males are the +ones that perpetuate the type. + +In the artificial environment produced by private property, a very +different process is at work. Marriage tends to be determined by +wealth rather than fitness; and the wealthy tend to have few children +or none; whereas it is found that in the unwealthy classes, the +poorest have the most children. Well-to-do people protect themselves +and their families from poverty by prudence, whereas, those who +despair of escaping from poverty have no reason for refusing +themselves what is often almost their only satisfaction; and the +result is that while the houses of the rich tend to be desolate +through childlessness, those of the poor are crowded with the +offspring of despair. + +The religious conception of Marriage that it is a sacrament has become +practically obsolete; particularly in this so among the rich, whose +daughters are annually offered for sale in the market of Mayfair as +shamelessly as not long ago were Circassian girls in that of +Istamboul. + +The effect of private property on the Church is no less deplorable. It +costs money to maintain a church; and the more splendidly a church is +maintained the more money it costs. The priest has to live; bishops +indeed have to live in a certain state. The Church, then, must have +money. In some countries the Church secures money from the government, +and is driven thereby into the questionable field of politics; in +others, every individual church is thrown upon its own resources, and +has either to make its services attractive by ritual, or to depend for +its supplies upon one or two of the wealthy members of its +congregation. It is not surprising, then, that under this subjection +to wealth, Christians have abandoned the teaching of Christ, and +forgotten that in early days they sold all and gave to the poor, +contributed their earnings to a common stock, and resisted not evil +but overcame evil with good. + +Yet the Church has rendered, and is still rendering, a priceless +service to man. Falter though she may, she has preserved for us the +Gospel of Christ. + +The blame rests not with the Church, but with the artificial +environment which man has himself created, and to which he alone can +put an end--the environment that appeals to the selfishness of man, +and having made man selfish, insolently asserts that in no other +environment can he be otherwise. + +Man will be what his environment makes him. + +If the environment stimulates selfishness, man will be selfish. If it +stimulates unselfishness, he will be unselfish. + +But man can by art so alter his environment that it will elicit the +noble in man, instead of the base. + +Let us now sum up the difference between human and natural evolution, +and arrive at some conclusion regarding the part man has played, and +may still play, in his own advancement. + + +§ 4. BRIEF RESTATEMENT + +Before the advent of man animal life prospered or degenerated +according as the natural environment was favorable to progress or +degeneration. The process of evolution was necessarily unconscious and +undeliberate. + +With the advent of man a new force appeared upon the face of the +world, the power to modify the environment so as to make it serve +human needs, and accord with human intention. + +Before the advent of man, selection was exercised by Nature or the +natural environment; since the advent of man it is man who has +selected and not Nature; animals dangerous and useless to man have +almost disappeared except in museums; and only those that are useful +to him are allowed to survive. + +Climate is no longer paramount; man by the use of tools, clothing, +architecture, and other arts, contrives to-day to live in climates +which were once fatal to him. + +By increase of knowledge man has acquired a control of the forces of +Nature, which makes him now a master where he was once a slave. + +By increase of self-restraint--and self-restraint involves the +subjection of natural instincts--man has developed qualities which +permit of social existence unknown in any other race. + +Without having lost the self-reliance that characterizes the solitary +carnivora, he has, by resisting Nature--by such artificial +institutions as that of marriage, and the education which results from +family relations--developed all the social virtues. Ferocity has been +tempered; lust has been reduced to subjection; in the place of the one +we now see courage; in the place of the other chastity; craft is +growing into wisdom; fear into reverence. He has substituted for the +standard of Nature the standard of Morality, and the substitution of +the standard of Morality for the standard of Nature has permitted men +and women to live in the same community safe from the ferocity that +drives the larger carnivora to solitude, and from the massacre and +mutilation which characterize such natural communities as those of +bees. + +When from this point of view we compare man with the lower animals, so +immense is his progress that we are tempted to believe perfection +within the reach of his attainment. + +Two things, however, suffice to keep alive evil in man: + +While at almost every point he has so moulded his own environment as +to eliminate the vices that characterize the rest of the animal +kingdom, in two respects the predatory system still prevails: + +The international conflict keeps nations in perpetual competition with +one another, and this periodically forces them to war; and the +intranational conflict keeps individuals in perpetual conflict with +one another, and stimulates all the vices which most interfere with +human happiness. + +The international conflict seems doomed to continue so long as man +remains separated by racial antipathies and commercial interests. +Efforts are being made to diminish occasions for war to the utmost +possible, by bringing all races to recognize and aim at the same +social ideal. But there would still remain ample occasion for war so +long as men are kept in competition by conflicting commercial +interests. The task first in importance and time, therefore, seems to +be to eliminate as much as is advisable the commercial and industrial +conflict, which has been already pointed out to be the great +intranational obstacle to human perfection and happiness. + +Now the intranational conflict has been seen to result from our +industrial system. This, as at present organized, is an artificial +creation of man; indispensable though it may have been to the gradual +evolution of the race, it has always acted, and must always act to +keep alive in man the very quality--selfishness--the elimination of +which is most essential to the happiness of a community, and the +absence of which particularly characterizes natural communities such +as those ants and bees. + +While, then, man has resisted and in great part subdued Nature in the +physical world by science, and in a world which he has himself +created--the moral world--by self-restraint, he has added to this +artificial environment two institutions which tend to counterbalance +the advantages already secured. These are national governments that +create international conflict, and an industrial system that creates +intranational conflict; and we are confronted with the problem whether +these two hothouses of crime, hatred, selfishness and vice, can be +dispensed with. + +Science affords us the encouraging hope that they can. It points out +that man has already suppressed many of the most merciless effects of +the natural environment; that by virtue of the power through which he +can in great part create and certainly modify his own environment, he +may still further push on the work of civilization if he will but +recognize that the real enemy to human happiness is hatred and the +real friend to it solidarity; and if he will return to the Gospel of +Christ, which economic conditions have so far compelled him to +disregard. + +Before closing the study of evolution it is proper to point out that +we are now in a position to dispose of the contention that, because +natural evolution proceeds upon the principle of the survival of the +fittest, therefore human evolution must proceed upon the same lines. +This is the argument that millionaires and individualists set up +against those who believe in the possibility of diminishing human +misery by reducing the occasions for human conflict. + +It is totally false. + +Man has demonstrated his ability to resist Nature and to progress +along lines that are diametrically opposed to those of natural +evolution. The whole fabric of human civilization is an answer to the +millionaire's argument. The natural principle of the survival of the +fittest is no longer at work. Man has put an end to it. The lion and +the tiger no longer reign in the jungle nor the white ant in the +Pampas. Man, alone, determines which animals shall live and which +shall disappear. The weak in our own race no longer perish; mercy +comes to their rescue. The strong are no longer the only ones to +perpetuate the type; marriage protects the weak husband in his marital +rights as well as the strong. Climate no longer determines survival; +man has made himself master of climate, and indeed works most +effectually to-day in latitudes which at an earlier stage were peopled +only by savages. + +At every point where man touches Nature he has reversed the natural +process. + +The unfit no longer perish, the fit no longer alone survive. Man is no +longer the necessary result of the natural environment: _he makes his +own environment_; and if he be wise enough he can so modify it as to +modify himself with it. When, if ever, he so modifies it as to +eliminate those elements in it which stimulate vice, then he will have +realized the word of the Gospel, "Ye are Gods." + + +§ 5. CAN HUMAN NATURE BE CHANGED BY LAW? + +It is currently urged and has become a sort of maxim that human nature +cannot be changed by law. Not only is this quoted by the bourgeois in +his argument against the Socialist, but even Henry George has fallen +into this error. Indeed, it is this error that prevented Henry George +from adopting Socialism and left him the distinguished founder of an +inadequate philosophy. For the most superficial knowledge of history +will suffice to demonstrate its untruth. Human nature has already been +profoundly changed by law; by the institution of marriage, by +education, by property. This has already been sufficiently discussed +to make it unnecessary further to comment on it.[205] It does not, +however, seem sufficient to point out the profound modification of +human nature by law in the past in order to persuade the bourgeois +that humanity can still further be modified by law in the future; for +a thousand instances can be quoted of efforts to change human nature +by law that have failed, and it is argued very illogically that +because in many instances they have failed, they must always fail. +Then, too, there remains in the minds of all influenced by Herbert +Spencer, the profound error that society is an organism and must be +allowed to grow; whereas on the contrary, a very little study +demonstrates that society differs from an organism in essential +points.[206] + +No society can exist without some law of association. The law may be a +natural one, as in the case of myxomycetes; or it may be an artificial +one, as in the case of the United States constitution; or it may be +both, as indeed is the case in every human society. + +This law of association is called "government." Strictly speaking, in +a political sense government means only that law of association which +is promulgated and enforced by the supreme power of the state; but +human society is controlled by a double system of laws--one written, +whether in judicial decisions or in express statute, and the other not +written, because it resides in the mass of the citizens under +conditions which baffle description. This last is imperfectly rendered +in the English word "custom," is more definitely expressed in the +French word _moeurs_, and is admirably conveyed by Horace in the words + + Quid leges sine moribus + Vanae proficiunt? + +The essential characteristic of custom is that, however controlling it +may be in fact, it does not enjoy the sanction of legislative +enactment or executive decree; indeed, it often arises out of +opposition to law; as where in the Western states game laws remain +unenforced, because public opinion supports the ranchman's defence of +necessity; and sometimes again where, though a law be in itself +proper, a community declines to avail itself of the law, as in the +custom that discredited divorce in the early Roman Republic. + +Now, the importance of this moral or sometimes immoral sense that +makes custom independently of law, must not be underestimated--for it +is in many respects superior to law for evil or for good; and it +differs from law in the essential fact that it grows almost +imperceptibly, whereas law, in the strict sense of the word, is the +result of judicial decision or legislative enactment--both acts of +deliberation--or so purporting to be. The question naturally arises +then whether, in so far as society develops along the line of custom, +it does not follow the process of growth rather than that of +construction. + +It is impossible to deny that custom and public opinion are in a +continual state of change; the varying fortunes of political parties +sufficiently testify to this; but how far these variations are in +civilized communities due to unconscious growth and how far to +conscious effort it is not easy to determine. Suffice it to point out +that, while opposing forces such as egotism and philanthropy, do +continually tend to mould opinion under conditions that baffle +inquiry, there are conscious forces at work which are quite as +powerful and could be made more so. Chief amongst these is education; +and in the word "education" are included not our schools and +universities alone, but all the educating influences of the day--the +press, the stage, music, literature, and art. That all these are +engaged in moulding public opinion--some in bringing popular +government into contempt, some in relaxing public morals, some in +holding up low ideals, some in indulging luxurious tastes, while they +could be doing just the opposite of all these things--there is no +doubt. + +The existence of these things is mentioned here because failure to +mention them would have left the discussion incomplete. Enough has +been said to indicate that there are great forces at work in society +which to-day escape the control of government, and that it is not easy +to say how far they operate after the haphazard fashion of Nature and +how far subject to the deliberate purpose of man. Whatever be the +conclusion, it is certain that so far as they are left to Nature's +guidance they will result in Nature's handiwork; whereas so far as +they are controlled by human wisdom they will bear the fruits of that +wisdom. + +In conclusion, therefore, associations of individuals are +characterized in primitive forms of life by unconsciousness; but as +the individuals develop, these associations seem to become deliberate +rather than unconscious, until in man they not only seem deliberate +but are so. + +The history of human society shows that when it has been allowed to +grow unconsciously the development has been in the same direction as +under the predatory system of Nature; that is to say, institutions +have been moulded to benefit individuals presenting the combination of +strength and craft best fitted to survive in the artificial +environment which the strong and crafty created to that end. When +conditions produced by this system of growth under the spur of egotism +were replaced by one of construction under the guidance of wisdom, +there was progress. + +Society is controlled by two forces: one which it consciously set up +for itself, called "government"; one which is unconsciously operating +through the silent struggle of natural and non-natural motives in the +individual lives of every one of us. The latter to a great extent +escapes the control of government; but in so far as society does +consciously create its own institutions, it ought to be engaged in the +process of construction and in the conscious effort towards +self-improvement. To this extent society is not an organism, and _à +fortiori_ government is not an organism either. + +Society, then, is not an organism. + +It differs from an organism in the following essential particulars: + +The units of an organism have no individual existence; they are parts +essential to the whole and exist for the sake of the whole. + +The units of a society have an individual existence; and, in the case +of human society, do not exist for the sake of the society, but +society for the sake of the individual. + +Not only have the units of a society each an individual existence, but +they have each an individual will, an independent consciousness, and, +all except Materialists will add, an individual soul. The units of an +organism are conspicuously without any of these essential attributes. + +But society, though not itself an organism, is an association of +organisms. And although human society seems to resemble a machine more +than an organism, the legislator cannot for a moment afford to forget +that the parts of his machine are not inanimate inorganic matter, but +organic living beings, endowed with the faculties of consciousness and +will--and above all alive to pleasure and sensitive to pain. Nor can +he afford to forget that the efficacy of all laws depends ultimately +upon the consent of those upon whom they are to operate; and that +therefore no law can be effectual that is not supported by public +opinion. Now, public opinion is the result of all the forces acting in +the social field, unconscious as well as conscious; so that while the +aim of the legislator should be to replace unconscious growth so far +as is possible by conscious construction, he commits a fatal error if +he fails to recognize that men and women are to-day actuated as to +nine-tenths of their thoughts and deeds by habit, and many--perhaps +the majority of them--incapable of conscious deliberate self-restraint +at all. Legislation therefore that seeks suddenly to exact of the +public a greater capacity for self-restraint than it is capable of, +cannot but prove ineffectual; and ineffectual legislation is bad, +because it tends to bring legislation into contempt. Prohibition +furnishes a good illustration of this principle: in those States in +which Prohibition is supported by public opinion it operates +advantageously; where it is not so supported it operates only as an +instrument of blackmail. Obviously Prohibition has diminished crime +and improved social conditions in some States, whereas every attempt +to force it or anything approaching to it upon the city of New York +has resulted in the corruption of the police engaged in enforcing it, +or in prompt punishment for the political party responsible for its +enactment. The helplessness of mere laws to eradicate defects of +temperament is one of the facts which tend to support the theory of +_laissez faire_; but the argument that because under certain +conditions legislation is inadequate, therefore legislation is always +inadequate, is too obviously illogical to need refutation. It could +hardly have received a moment's consideration had it not been +bolstered by pseudo-scientific conclusions drawn from an alleged +identity between society and organisms. But even if society were an +organism, this argument would still be incorrect; just as incorrect as +though it were contended that because under certain conditions +medicine is inadequate, medicines must always be avoided. Were society +as subtle and difficult to treat as the human bodies of which it is +composed, it would still be the duty of the legislator to study the +one, just as the physician studies the other, with a view to +determining the limits as well as the extent of his resources. + +But society is not an organism; on the contrary, the more human and +civilized it is, the less it conforms to unconscious growth and the +more it yields to intelligent purpose. That it is composed of +organisms, however, sets a limit to the wisdom of interference which +it is of paramount importance that we should carefully define. + +These limits seem roughly to be marked out by two essential factors: +one is the purpose of legislation--or justice, the other is the +obstacles to legislation--or national character. Government in aiming +at justice has to recognize defects of character. The justice which +can be attained in one community could not be attempted in another; +that which could be attained in one community in one stage of its +development, it would have been folly to attempt at an earlier one. +The approach to perfection in social conditions depends essentially +upon the approach to perfection attained by the individuals of which +the society is composed. + +How nearly a government can attain perfection depends, then, upon the +individual character of those subject to it; and how nearly the +individual character can attain perfection depends to a great extent +upon the government to which it is subjected. These two factors cannot +be treated apart; one is a function of the other. Just as a physician +has in treating a patient to consider the hygienic conditions which +surround him, and the peculiarities of constitution which may make a +sudden change of these conditions injurious, so a legislator in +framing laws for a community and thus changing the conditions of its +environment, has to consider the temperament of the community and its +fitness to undergo the proposed change. This is one of the limits that +Nature puts to legislation, and it is upon a just apprehension of it +that the wisdom of legislation depends. + +Although the extent to which legislation can modify nature depends +largely upon the individuals who compose the community, there are, +nevertheless, certain rules that can be laid down applicable by and +large, to the whole community. + +When a trainer desires to subdue a wild beast, the first thing he does +is to diminish his rations. So long as the carnivorous passions of the +lion are kept whetted all attempt to control him fails. Or to use a +more homely illustration, when we want to break a high-spirited colt, +his supply of oats is lowered. To give such an animal an unlimited +amount of oats and then to seek to control him with a powerful harness +would be a mistake. If the harness left him free to move at all, he +would kick the harness to pieces. Every trainer knows that if a horse +is refractory, the first thing to be done to give him habits of +docility is to reduce his rations of grain and to feed him on a less +stimulating diet. + +This simple and universally admitted principle is, however, singularly +neglected in our social and political institutions. These proceed upon +the opposite plan; that is to say, they whet the appetite of man to +the utmost by offering the largest rewards to the most crafty, the +most greedy, the most dishonest, and the most merciless of men, and +then legislatures, for the most part elected by these very men, are +expected to control their craft, greed, dishonesty, and +mercilessness. + +Thus while the competitive system, by making money the main object of +human existence, drives men to gambling and crime, we maintain an +elaborate system of police courts, penitentiaries, and prisons for +suppressing these things, although the experience of all recorded +history demonstrates that these methods are totally ineffectual. By +overworking our wage-earners, we give them an insatiable thirst for +drink; we entrust the sale of liquor to private individuals; we give +these last the keenest motive for forcing the sale of liquor on a +community alas, too eager to buy it, and then we attempt by the +license system to control drunkenness. We leave our currency, which is +the lifeblood of our industrial system, in the hands of men entitled +under our law to consider this currency a mere method of increasing +their private wealth; we offer to these men monopolies of +transportation, of water, of gas, from which they can make gigantic +fortunes and through which they can control our politics, and then we +expect the very legislatures they control, the very legislators they +elect, and the very officers they appoint, to control them. Obviously, +if we begin by putting our legislature into the hands of the men whose +interest it is to use that legislature to exploit us, we ought not to +be surprised if the laws enacted by these legislatures fail to "change +human nature." + +If, however, these appetites were never awakened, or if they were only +sufficiently tolerated to produce healthy activity; if the +"brotherhood of man" ceased to be a formula and became a fact; if men +were educated from the cradle to believe that coöperation resulted in +more economy, liberty, and happiness than competition; if coöperative +habits were created so that men instinctively coöperated with one +another instead of fighting with one another, can it be doubted that +the laws enacted to produce this change in our human conditions would +have a profound effect upon human nature? + +The natural environment has produced the lion, the tiger, and the ape. +The artificial or human environment has produced man. But man is still +a competitive animal. The next step that we have to take is still +further so to modify our artificial environment as to make him a +coöperative animal; to suppress the excessive competition that to-day +promotes hatred, leaving enough to spur activity; to introduce enough +coöperation to create habits of mutual helpfulness, yet not so much as +to suppress individual initiative. + +This effort does not involve any sudden revolution in our development; +it is only an intelligent continuation of the process already begun. +We have diminished the ferocity of the carnivora in men; we have still +further to diminish it without impairing courage. If we keep in mind +that the object of political effort should be to diminish unhappiness +and increase happiness, we shall conclude that this can best be done +by continuing to develop along this line; by eliminating the eagerness +created by the competitive system that makes success indispensable, +not only to luxury and comfort, but to health and life; and that by +modifying our institutions in the direction indicated in the foregoing +pages, we shall not only secure a larger measure of happiness, but we +shall so modify type as to change habits and change ideals. + +In a word, Science teaches us that we are and must be creatures of our +own environment. History teaches us that we have moulded and can mould +our own environment. By this inestimable power, man can determine the +development of the human type. By maintaining existing conditions, we +shall continue to produce the type of grasping millionaires that the +community at large in its heart abhors. Whereas, by modifying the +environment by the substitution of coöperation for competition in the +measure above described, we shall create a type that humanity has set +up in all its poetry, music, and art, as the type to be desired, +respected, and loved. + + +§ 6. SUMMARY + +In conclusion let us briefly summarize the scientific argument for +Socialism free from the explanations with which in a first +presentation of this subject it was necessary to encumber the text. + +Evolution prior to the advent of man was an unconscious and therefore +indeliberate adaptation of function to environment through the +survival of the fittest and the corresponding destruction of the less +fit. Herbert Spencer and his school have been misled by this fact into +a glorification of the competitive system which seemed to them the +most conspicuous factor in the improvement of type. This school +altogether fails to take account of two facts of the utmost +importance: + +Development under purely natural conditions--prior to the advent of +man--by no means proceeded alone along competitive lines. It also +proceeded along coöperative lines, so that while the lion, the tiger, +and the ape are the prevailing types in certain regions, in others the +prevailing type is the white ant. + +The other equally important fact is that whereas evolution under +purely natural conditions--before the advent of man--was unconscious, +indeliberate, and merciless, since the advent of man it has become +conscious, deliberate, and merciful, to such an extent that in almost +every essential particular, development has reversed the process that +preceded the advent of man. Before the advent of man, animals were not +only the victims of the forces of nature, but also their necessary +result. Only those animals survived that were able to adapt themselves +to changes of environment. The rest perished. And they adapted +themselves to changes of environment mainly by developing new organs +to that end. For example, the camel develops pads under its feet to +protect them from the burning sands, and a reservoir in its alimentary +canal to furnish water during its wanderings in the desert; the +hairless hide of the tropical elephant becomes covered with thick +curly wool when found in the Arctic zone. + +When, however, man appears upon the face of the earth, all this order +changes. The survival of animals in the world is no longer determined +by changes of climate or changes of environment; the survival of the +fittest is no longer determined by Nature. It is determined by Art--by +Man. The animals beneficial to man survive; the animals detrimental to +man perish. Again, man is no longer the victim of the forces of +Nature; he has become in great part master of them. The flame that +raged uncontrollably over the forest and plain, man now puts under his +kettle to make his tea; the torrent that devastated the valleys, man +now dikes and distributes in irrigating ditches, transforming deserts +into green fields. The fitful flash of the lightning in the heavens +man conducts along a little wire and converts into the steady glow of +the incandescent lamp. Nor does man any longer adapt function to +environment. The Esquimau of the Arctic regions has not developed a +thick curly fur; he has clothed himself in the furs of other animals; +the Arab of the desert has not developed pads under his feet or a +reservoir in his alimentary canal; he rides and loads water on the +back of the camel already so provided. Man is no longer the necessary +result of natural environment; he makes his own environment. Wherever +he goes, he makes a climate of his own. In the tropics, he builds +houses to protect himself from the heat, and creates an artificial +cold by punkahs, electric fans, and the manufacture of ice. In winter, +he creates another climate by building houses to protect himself from +the cold, heating them with a furnace and lighting them with gas and +electricity. Most important of all, by the control of man over +environment, he can determine not only his own destiny, but also the +destiny of generations to come. He can by preserving the competitive +conditions that exist, go on developing the base type that is now the +necessary result of these conditions--the type that seeks happiness +regardless of the happiness of others, such as our oil kings and +railroad kings, steel kings and other so-called captains of industry. +By substituting coöperation for competition, he can, on the contrary, +develop a noble type that seeks happiness through the happiness of +others, such as the settlement worker and the Little Sister of the +Poor, with, however, this amazing difference: that whereas to-day +those who rejoice in social service for its own sake are for the most +part humble and obscure, and those who use social service for their +own advancement are wealthy and illustrious, in a coöperative +commonwealth the genius that now goes into competitive business will +be drawn into the service of the coöperative commonwealth. The present +alliance between ability and craft will be broken up and a new +partnership encouraged between ability, wisdom, and unselfishness. + +The fact that all life must adapt itself to environment has been felt +from the earliest dawn of civilization. Plato stated it in the +Republic. If justice is to be attained, according to Plato it can only +be attained under a just form of government. The whole history of man +since the days of Plato has demonstrated that every change in the +condition of man can be traced as the direct result of change of +environment--economic, political, ethical, and religious. The +demonstration that this not only is so but must be so was left to +science. And the contribution of science to Socialism is the +demonstration of the fact that man can create his own environment--can +take those elements in competition which are good and eliminate those +which are bad--can take those elements in coöperation which are good +and eliminate those which are bad; and by thus constructing his +environment through wisdom and art, determine whether the type +perpetuated by this environment is to be noble or base. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[198] "Principles of Sociology," p. 414. + +[199] "Government or Human Evolution," Vol. II, p. 181. + +[200] "Essays on Evolution and Ethics," "Essays on Science and +Morals," and "Struggle for Existence in Human Society." + +[201] "Government or Human Evolution," Vol. I, p. 239. + +[202] The word "altruism" is used instead of the more familiar word +"unselfishness" to avoid the criticism of those who contend that there +is no such thing as unselfishness. It is true that we are all selfish +in the sense that we are all seeking happiness for ourselves; but +selfishness can be defined as the search for happiness regardless of +the happiness of others, and altruism as the search for happiness +through the happiness of others. + +[203] Lyell, Sir Charles, "Principles of Geology," 1872, Vol. I, +Chapter X, p. 201. + +[204] This conclusion is arrived at by Charles Booth in a statistical +work which commands the approval of all authorities of whatever shade +of political opinion. + +[205] Book III, Chapter V. + +[206] "Introduction to the Study of Sociology." Herbert Spencer, +Chapter III. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +ETHICAL ASPECT OF SOCIALISM + + +The ethical aspect of Socialism is a practical continuation of the +argument of the last chapter, and brings us to the crowning glory of +Socialism: that it alone can and does reconcile the conflict between +science, economics, and religion. + + +§ 1. THE CONFLICT BETWEEN SCIENCE AND RELIGION + +Science produces convictions founded on fact. Religion imposes +convictions founded on faith. If Religion confines itself to matters +of faith--to the supernatural--it need not come into conflict with +Science. But when it trespasses on the realms of Science--when it +begins to deal with matters of fact--it creates a conflict with +Science in which Science must in the end be victorious. Thus when the +Church ventured to make it a matter of faith that the sun revolves +around the earth, it might secure the recantation of Galileo, but it +had in the end to yield before the demonstrations of astronomy. + +This element of conflict between the church and the state is +disappearing and is bound entirely to disappear. The church is more +and more confining itself to supernatural matters which are properly +within the domain of faith. So long as it does this, it need not clash +with Science. + +There is, however, another occasion of conflict between Science and +Religion more modern than the former and more real: The doctrine of +evolution in attacking the theory of special creation needed at one +time to attack the existence of God; and as interpreted by Herbert +Spencer and his school, gave rise to the doctrine that "because, on +the whole, animals and plants have advanced in perfection of +organization by means of the struggle for existence and the consequent +'survival of the fittest,' therefore men in society, men as ethical +beings, must look to the same process to help them towards +perfection."[207] + +This notion, which Huxley describes as the fallacy that at that time +pervaded the so-called "ethics of evolution," raised an issue not only +with the church, but with the fundamental principles of religion. For +if, in fact, the blind process of evolution proceeding through the +survival of the fittest and the destruction of the unfit, was the only +process to which man could look for his development, then there is no +need of a God, and what is far more important, there is no need for +either human responsibility or human effort. Now the church, however +much its sects may differ in other matters, has always been united in +teaching not only the existence of a God, but the responsibility of +man to God, and a duty of man to make the effort necessary to comply +with his commandments. It is to the pages of Huxley that we must turn +to see this Spencerian fallacy refuted. + +Huxley pointed out that a gardener in growing things beautiful and +useful to man proceeded in violation of the principles of evolution. +The characteristic feature of what he calls the "cosmic process," that +is to say, evolution _prior_ to the advent of man, "is the intense +and unceasing competition of the struggle for existence." The +characteristic of evolution since the advent of man is "_the +elimination of that struggle_ by the removal of the conditions which +give rise to it."[208] + +The immense importance of these considerations is that they +demonstrate no less important a fact than that Man is to-day the +selecting agent and not Nature; and Man, by replacing evolution by Art +converts things which in the domain of Nature are not edible, such as +kale, into things which under Art become edible, such as cabbage. + +But let us now take up the story as told by Huxley: + +"Let us now imagine that some _administrative authority, as far +superior in power and intelligence to men, as men are to their cattle, +is set over the colony, charged to deal with its human elements_ in +such a manner as to assure the victory of the settlement over the +antagonistic influences of the state of nature in which it is set +down. He would proceed in the same fashion as that in which the +gardener dealt with his garden. In the first place, he would, as far +as possible, put a _stop to the influence of external competition_ by +thoroughly extirpating and excluding the native rivals, whether men, +beasts, or plants. And our administrator would select his human +agents, with a view to his ideal of a successful colony, just as the +gardener selects his plants with a view to his ideal of useful or +beautiful products. + +"In the second place, in order that no struggle for the means of +existence between these human agents should weaken the efficiency of +the corporate whole in the battle with the state of nature, he would +make arrangements by which each would be provided with those means; +and would be relieved from the fear of being deprived of them by his +stronger or more cunning fellows. Laws, sanctioned by the combined +force of the colony, would restrain the self-assertion of each man +within the limits required for the maintenance of peace. In other +words, the cosmic struggle for existence, as between man and man, +would be rigorously suppressed; and _selection, by its means, would be +as completely excluded as it is from the garden_. + +"At the same time, the obstacles to the full development of the +capacities of the colonists by other conditions of the state of nature +than those already mentioned, would be removed by the creation of +artificial conditions of existence of a more favorable character. +Protection against extremes of heat and cold would be afforded by +houses and clothing; drainage and irrigation works would antagonize +the effects of excessive rain and excessive drought; roads, bridges, +canals, carriages, and ships would overcome the natural obstacles to +locomotion and transport; mechanical engines would supplement the +natural strength of men and of their draught animals; hygienic +precautions would check, or remove the natural causes of disease. With +every step of this progress in civilization, the colonists would +become more and more independent of the state of nature; more and +more, their lives would be conditioned by a state of art. In order to +attain his ends, the administrator would have to avail himself of the +courage, industry, and coöperative intelligence of the settlers; and +it is plain that the interest of the community would be best served by +increasing the proportion of persons who possess such qualities, and +diminishing that of persons devoid of them. In other words, by +_selection directed towards an ideal_. + +"Thus the administrator might look to the establishment of an earthly +paradise, a true garden of Eden, in which all things should work +together towards the well-being of the gardeners; within which the +cosmic process, the coarse struggle for existence of the state of +nature, should he abolished; in which that state should be replaced by a +state of art; where every plant and every lower animal should be adapted +to human wants, and would perish if human supervision and protection +were withdrawn; where men themselves should have been selected with a +view to their efficiency as organs for the performance of the functions +of a perfected society. And this ideal polity would have been brought +about, not by gradually adjusting the men to the conditions around them, +but by creating artificial conditions for them; not by allowing the free +play of the struggle for existence, but by excluding that struggle; and +by substituting selection directed towards the administrator's ideal for +the selection it exercises."[209] + +And this is not confined to physical things, but is extended to moral. +"_Social progress_," he says, "_means a checking of the cosmic process +at every step and the substitution for it of another, which may be +called the ethical process_; the end of which is not the survival of +those who may happen to be the fittest, in respect of the whole of the +conditions which obtain, but of those who are ethically the +best."[210] And this leads to the final conclusion: + +"As I have already urged, the practice of that which is ethically +best--what we call goodness or virtue--involves a course of conduct +which, in all respects, is opposed to that which leads to success in +the cosmic struggle for existence. In place of ruthless self-assertion +it demands self-restraint; in place of thrusting aside, or treading +down all competitors, it requires that the individual shall not merely +respect, but shall help his fellows; its influence is directed, _not +so much to the survival of the fittest, as to the fitting of as many +as possible to survive_. It repudiates the gladiatorial theory of +existence. It demands that each man who enters into the enjoyment of +the advantages of a polity shall be mindful of his debt to those who +have laboriously constructed it; and shall take heed that no act of +his weakens the fabric in which he has been permitted to live."[211] + +Further on, he repeats: + +"Let us understand, once for all, that the ethical progress of society +depends, not on imitating the cosmic process, still less in running +away from it, but in combating it."[212] + +And later on: + +"I see no limit to the extent to which intelligence and will, guided +by sound principles of investigation, and organized in a common +effort, may modify the conditions of existence, for a period longer +than that now covered by history. _And much may be done to change the +nature of man himself._ The intelligence which has converted the +brother of the wolf into the faithful guardian of the flock ought to +be able to do something towards curbing the instincts of savagery in +civilized men."[213] + +And in a note Huxley emphasizes the extent to which human nature has +been already modified by pointing to the fact that sexual instinct has +been suppressed between near relations.[214] + +Huxley's demonstrations that the happiness of man can only be attained +by the limitation of competition, by deliberate institutions to that +effect, and by conscious efforts to create an environment that will +tend to develop the ethical qualities of men, put an end to the last +serious occasion for conflict between Science and Religion; for it +results in the same theories of human responsibility, and the same +appeals to human effort, that it has been the rôle of the church to +preach from the beginning. + +I have quoted from "Evolution and Ethics" because to my mind this +essay and its prolegomena make Huxley the founder of Scientific and +Ethical Socialism. It is true that he himself repudiates this. To him +Socialism is impossible because of what he describes as "the mighty +instinct of reproduction."[215] He points out that we cannot apply to +superfluous or defective human beings the system of extirpation which +gardeners apply to superfluous and defective vegetables and weeds. + +I have already answered the objection to Socialism on the ground of +overproduction.[216] But Huxley never had presented to him the modern +idea of Socialism herein described. He speaks of the "elimination of +competition." It never occurred to him that the evils of competition +could be eliminated without eliminating competition. Candor, however, +compels me to admit that I do not think any presentation of the most +modern form of Socialism would at all have converted Professor Huxley. +There were two subjects upon which he could not speak without getting +into a temper: Gladstone and Socialism. + +When I met him, I was not myself a Socialist. Indeed, I did not become +a Socialist until after Huxley died. My impressions, therefore, of him +were not affected by a prejudice in favor of Socialism. On the +contrary, I still regarded Socialism as impractical; I still believed +it to be absurd. It was only after months of labor in attempting to +utilize the "considerable fragments of a constructive creed"[217] +which Professor Ritchie found in Professor Huxley's pages, that I was +driven to a study of the Socialism to which I was utterly opposed, and +found in it the only solution to the contradictions which blurred even +the lucid pages of Huxley's works. And the contradictions in Huxley +are not difficult to find. Nothing could be more pessimistic than what +seems to be the climax of his argument in "Evolution and Ethics": + +"The theory of evolution encourages no millennial anticipations. If, +for millions of years, our globe has taken the upward road, yet, some +time, the summit will be reached and the downward route will be +commenced. The most daring imagination will hardly venture upon the +suggestion that the power and the intelligence of man can ever arrest +the procession of the great year."[218] + +And yet, on the very next page, he closes this essay with a note of +the serenest optimism: + +"So far, we all may strive in one faith towards one hope."[219] And +the keynote of his attitude towards this subject is to be found in a +passage in which he "thinks it unjust to require a crossing-sweeper in +Piccadilly to tell you the road to Highgate; he has earned his copper +if he had done all he professes to do and cleaned up your immediate +path"; and a little later where he "shudderingly objects to the +responsibility of attempting to set right a world out of joint." + +Now Socialists have the audacity to maintain that it is not beyond the +intelligence of the crossing-sweeper of Piccadilly to know and tell +the road to Highgate, and that the time has come when no one has a +right to "shudderingly object to the responsibility of attempting to +set right a world out of joint." + +Huxley builded better than he knew; and in spite of his detestation of +Socialism it was he who built its strongest and most enduring +foundation; for unanswerable as may be the economic argument in favor +of Socialism, it might take centuries to prevail if there were not an +equally strong scientific and ethical argument for it. + +The moment that Huxley recognizes that it is by the "elimination of +competition," or shall we say the "limitation of competition," by +substituting human selection for natural selection, and directing +selection towards an ideal that man is to progress and develop, he has +recognized the scientific basis of Socialism; and when he points out +that Science teaches self-restraint, human responsibility, human +effort, not so much the "survival of the fittest" as fitting as many +as possible to survive, he has reconciled Science and Religion. + +It is probable that one of the reasons why Huxley took a pessimistic +view of the future was that he despaired of finding a solution to the +economic struggle. I cannot forget the melancholy with which he said +one day: "I am informed that England keeps its control of the market +of cotton goods by a difference in cost of production of a farthing +per yard. How long can this last?" But Huxley only gave a part of the +scientific argument for Socialism. For the other part we have to turn +from the pages of Huxley to those of Karl Marx. + +One of the most important services Karl Marx rendered humanity was the +demonstration of the predominating influence of economics in the +development of man, in the determining of our custom, character, and +conduct. + +The economic conception of history is described by F. Engels as +follows: + +"The materialist conception of history starts from the principle that +production, and next to production the exchange of its products, is +the basis of every social system; that in every society arising in +history the allotment of products, and with it the division of society +into classes or ranks, depends upon what is produced, how it is +produced, and how when produced it is exchanged. Accordingly the +ultimate causes of all social changes and political revolutions are +not to be looked for in the heads of men, in their growing insight +into eternal truth and justice, but in changes of the methods of +production and exchange; they are to be looked for not in the +philosophy, but in the economy of the epoch in question."[220] + +Before elaborating this conception of history, it may be well to point +out one or two elements of confusion in the terms in which it is +stated. It is described as the "materialist conception of history," +and for this reason many people imagine that the admission of this +theory means the exclusion of the ideal. This is a profound error due +to a misunderstanding of the use of the word "materialist." This word +does not necessarily imply that the only proper conception of history +is a materialistic one in the sense that it excludes the operation of +ideals; but only that material conditions have played a predominating +rôle in determining ideas. + +The admission, however, must be made that this explanation is by no +means admitted by all Socialist writers. Indeed the very language used +by Engels is inconsistent with it. He says "they are not to be looked +for in the philosophy, but in the economy of the epoch in question." +If, however, Mr. Engels were alive to-day and were challenged as to +whether in fact he meant by this phrase to exclude philosophy +altogether, I think he would answer in the negative. What he meant to +say, I think, was that the ultimate causes of all social changes and +political revolutions are to be looked for in the economy of the epoch +rather than in its philosophy. And this, I think, with some limitation +is true, for the philosophy of every period is to a large extent +determined by its economic conditions. + +To this general statement there are, however, notable exceptions. Some +men either by the adequacy of their means or the smallness of their +needs, are lifted entirely above economic conditions, so that they can +reason abstractly without regard to economic conditions. This probably +is true of almost every philosopher that has made his mark. It is +impossible to read the words of Christ, of Plato, Aristotle, St. +Thomas Aquinas, Carlyle, Emerson, and Tolstoi without being impressed +by the fact that they soared far above all economic considerations. + +On the other hand, economic conditions had a controlling influence on +the whole philosophy of Ruskin. His first contact with life was while +travelling with his father, who sold sherry to wealthy county +families, and approached their mansions by way of the butler's pantry. +This impregnated Ruskin with a cult for aristocracy. It made it +impossible for him to consider popular government without impatience. + +Economic conditions too had put their mark so ineffaceably on the mind +of Huxley that although in his criticism of Herbert Spencer he +destroyed the principal philosophic bulwark of capitalism, he could +not talk on Socialism without irritation. + +Thus although men as great as Ruskin and Huxley were unable to rise +above the slavery of the economic conditions in which their minds had +been formed, others are so constituted as to be able to discuss ethics +without any regard to economic conditions whatever. There is, however, +no doubt as to the dominating influence of economic conditions in +determining the average mental attitude. + +Man had two dominating appetites--for food and for perpetuation; and +of these, because that for perpetuation is fitful whereas that for +food is continuous, the latter is the more determining of the two. +There is hardly an act in a man's life which is not determined by the +needs of food in the first place and the search for food in the +second. This is admitted by all sociologists. + +A right understanding of economics is therefore of the utmost +importance to the conscious development of man. Unfortunately +economists themselves have been until very lately just as narrow in +their disregard of science and religion as science and religion have +been narrow in their disregard of economics. Let us consider as +briefly as the subject permits the inconsistencies which result from +this narrowness in regard to religion and economics. + + +§ 2. CONFLICT BETWEEN ECONOMICS AND RELIGION + +It is said that by the side of every poison in Nature there grows its +antidote; that for every bean of St. Ignatius there is a bean of +Calabar; and that a man poisoned by the one has only to stretch his +hand out to the other. + +So also in our social system may the two influences be at work, at +odds with each other; whereas, did we but know enough, they might not +only serve to counteract one another, but even become a priceless +boon to humanity, as indeed the beans of St. Ignatius and Calabar have +been made to yield up drugs as useful as nux vomica and eserine. + +Religion and economics start by assumptions that are glaringly +inconsistent. + +Religion proceeds upon the assumption that man has morality in him and +will, sometimes, act morally even contrary to his material interests. + +Economics proceed upon the assumption that man has no morality in him +and will never act morally if morality be contrary to his material +interests. + +Modern economists have somewhat modified this last view, but I am not +criticising modern Political Economy, which is already lowering its +flag to new doctrine; I am criticising the doctrine of _laissez +faire_, which still constitutes the backbone of our existing economics +and will continue to deform our economic ideas until that backbone is +relegated to museums by the side of the Ichthyosaurus and the +Iguanodon. + +Is the assumption that economic science is uninfluenced by morality +true or false? Undoubtedly an economic science can be and has been +constructed which does ignore morality and, dealing with man not as he +really is but stripped of his morality, or as he is termed by some +economic writers, "economic man," and still more naïvely by others the +"average sensual man," has laid down the laws which _for such a man_ +govern the production, distribution, and accumulation of wealth. In +the development of this science it has been found necessary to define +wealth, and here we come upon the first hard substance against which +economists have broken their heads. For obviously wealth is to the +"economic" or "average sensual" man a totally different thing to what +it is to a Diogenes, a Cato, or to a Sister of Charity. To the latter +wealth or well-being as opposed to illth or ill-being, consists mainly +in the opportunity to be helpful to our fellow-creatures, whereas to +the average sensual man wealth means money or the things that +represent money, produce, bonds, and shares of stock. Now all +economists are not "average sensual" men; it is doubtful whether to +those who know the Dean of Modern Economists, Mr. Alfred Marshall, he +can be described as a sensual man at all; and so there are few +subjects upon which economists have differed so much as upon the +definition of wealth. The extremists confine wealth to material things +that have an exchange value; but the absurdity of such a definition is +slowly making itself recognized; thus it has been forced upon some +that skill is wealth; and upon others that honesty too is wealth; for +the money value of honesty is now put into dollars and cents by surety +companies. And so very slowly but surely economists are beginning to +recognize that man is a moral as well as a sensual animal, and that +his morality cannot be disregarded even by economics. + +Then, too, what is wealth in one country is not wealth in another; +thus we are told that the food of John the Baptist was "locusts and +wild honey," and in certain parts of Africa locusts are still a +marketable article of food; so snails are wealth in France though not +in England; and human flesh which is not wealth in Europe is still +wealth in some parts of Africa. Wealth then depends upon two factors: +intrinsic and extrinsic; the first including qualities of the thing +itself, the second depending upon human demand; so that a painting by +Tintoretto is wealth to a community that loves art, but an encumbrance +to one that does not love it; and absinthe, that is regarded as a +valuable asset in France, is excluded by Belgium as poison. + +Here again we come up against the morality of man; will he continue to +poison himself with absinthe or will he abstain? Upon this ethical +decision will depend the question whether the immense stock of +absinthe now on the French market is wealth or not. And so we are led +insensibly to a question of still wider importance: Is wealth money or +is it happiness? If it is money then economists are right; if it is +happiness then they are wrong. And yet it is as clear as the sun on a +cloudless day that what man wants is happiness, and that if he has +been set all these centuries on seeking money it is because money is +believed by him to be practically the only medium through which he can +attain happiness. Here is repeated the old story of the captive beaver +in the attic gathering sticks to make a dam when the water pitcher was +upset. The object for making dams had disappeared, but the +dam-building instinct survived. We have grown so accustomed to labor +for money that we have lost sight of the real object of our efforts; +and we have to think a long time before we recognize that money in +itself is of no importance to us whatever; and that the only thing of +real importance is that for which money is sought--happiness. Now what +happiness consists of depends upon the mentality of any given +community. The tree-dwelling savage's idea of happiness is plenty of +nuts and fine weather; the Englishman's idea is plenty of land and a +seat in Parliament; the American's idea is millions of money; and the +tree-dwelling savage is probably as near the truth as either of the +other two. + +Obviously there is an ideal of happiness quite different from this; an +ideal that recognizes the solidarity of the race and recognizes that +no one man can be securely happy unless his neighbors are happy also; +an ideal built on the plan of mutual helpfulness--of coöperation +instead of competition. But here the lip of the economist will curl +and he will, if he deigns to express himself at all, denounce such a +proposition as "impractical." But why does he do this? Because he has +been educated to believe that economics deal only with the "average +sensual man," and that wealth consists exclusively of "material things +that have an exchange value." If, then, it turns out that both these +assumptions are false, is it not time for him to revise his +philosophy? + +It is not unnatural that starting with false definitions of man and of +wealth, economists should arrive at a false conclusion regarding the +so-called beauties of our industrial system, and of such time-honored +though immoral maxims as "competition is the soul of trade" and +"_caveat emptor_." + +And now after this rapid glance at economic philosophy and the +"average sensual man," let us turn to Religion and see how Religion +regards man. + +It seems inconceivable that the same civilization should include two +bodies of men living in apparent harmony and yet holding such opposite +and inconsistent views on man as economists on the one hand and +theologians on the other. To these last, man has no economic needs; +this world does not count; it is merely a place of probation, +mitigated sometimes, it is true, by ecclesiastical pomp and episcopal +palaces; but serving for the most part as a mere preparation for a +future existence which will satisfy the aspirations of the human +soul--the only thing that does count, in this world or the next. So +while to the economist man is all hog, to the theologian he is all +soul; and between the two the Devil secures the vast majority. +One-fifth of the population in London is admittedly foredoomed to die +in a penitentiary, an almshouse, or a lunatic asylum; and the vast +multitude of wage earners are kept out on the ragged edge of the +strike on one hand and unemployment on the other, with no better +prospect before them than a destitute old age. + +Were there no churches in the land, were there no charity in man, no +pity, the economists would be comprehensible; but with our churches +still crowded; with charitable societies as thick as universities; +with pity in their own hearts giving every day the lie to the economic +enormities they profess and teach, what are we going to say of these +men? And were there no economists in the chair, no stock exchange, no +factory, no strikes, no unemployed; did our theologians' stomachs +never themselves clamor for food, or their bodies cry out for shelter +and heat, they too would be excusable. But with our tenements steeped +in misery; with misery pitilessly leading to crime, vice, disease; +with the demands of the body brought home to every one of them a +thousand times a day, is it not time for theologians at last to +remember that men have bodies as well as souls? + +Consider then these two sets of teachers, one professing a philosophy +built on the assumption that man is all body and no soul, the other +built on the contrary assumption that man is all soul, meeting daily +at dinner parties and discussing the agony of the workingman with +complacency and "philosophic calm"! + +Yet if we look at the world as it is, so full of evil and yet so +easily set right, we will not delve at the roots of plants and say: +"Life is all mud;" nor point to their leaves and say: "Life is all +flower and fruit." Life is made up of root and flower; man is made up +of body and soul. The economy and the religion that heed this will +alone be true. Let economics be enlightened by religion and let +religion be enlightened by economics; let the economist learn that the +soul of man is more than raiment and the priest that the needs of the +body come in order of time before the needs of the soul; let the +economist learn the laws of mutual helpfulness and the priest the laws +of the production and the distribution of well-being; and there will +spring into existence a new religion and a new political economy that +will preach the same thing--the solidarity of man--that what man wants +in this world is not money, but happiness--and that he can prepare +himself best for the next world of which he knows nothing by making +his neighbor as well as himself wholesome as well as happy, in this +world of which he to-day alas, knows too much of its misery and too +little of its play. + + +§ 3. SOCIALISM RECONCILES RELIGION, ECONOMICS, AND SCIENCE + +Let us now consider the Scientific and Ethical aspects of Socialism +from a slightly different angle than that which closed the preceding +chapter. + +In what Huxley calls the "cosmic process"--the process of evolution +prior to the advent of Man--the development or degeneration of animal +or vegetable life is determined by the environment. If the environment +is favorable to development, there is development; if it is +unfavorable, there is degeneration. The question, therefore, whether +animal or vegetable life is to develop or degenerate is left to the +caprice of environment. The process through which this caprice is +exercised is the survival of the fittest, and this includes two +processes: the utmost propagation on the one hand, and the utmost +competition on the other. With all the cruelty that this system +involves, it would be idle to call such a process moral; nor would it +be reasonable to call it immoral. The cosmic process is non-moral. It +ignores justice because justice is a conception of either God or Man, +and is not found in Nature outside of God or Man at all. + +If now we turn from the cosmic process to that employed by the +gardener in converting wild land into a garden for the purpose of +producing things beautiful or useful to man, we find that the gardener +reverses the cosmic process. He does not tolerate utmost propagation +or even propagation at all except to the extent necessary to furnish +him beautiful or useful things. He limits propagation; and as to +utmost competition, he eliminates competition altogether. And it is +only by limiting propagation and eliminating competition that the +gardener keeps his garden beautiful and useful. The moment he stops +applying to his garden patch the art which limits propagation and +eliminates competition, that moment the garden tends to return to a +state of Nature; to + + "an unweeded garden, + That grows to seed; things rank, and gross in nature, + Possess in merely."[221] + +It must also be observed that in the garden patch selection is not +exercised by the environment, though it is limited by the +environment; selection is exercised by the gardener who, within the +limits permitted by the environment, replaces Nature. It is no longer +Nature that selects, but Man. + +Let us now turn from the civilized garden to the civilized community. +Here, too, we find the cosmic process in some respects reversed; in +other respects, allowed to run riot. It is reversed in the sense of +the word that prudence created by the ownership of property limits the +propagation of the educated; but it remains unreversed by the fact +that despair created by absence of property leaves propagation +unchecked in the uneducated. So that if it be admitted that it would +be better for type that the educated should propagate than the +uneducated, the human type is tending to degenerate owing to the fact +that there is unlimited propagation of the least desirable types; +whereas there is limited propagation of the more desirable. + +When we turn to competition, we find it almost unrestrained. Indeed, +it was the deliberate policy of the government and of political +economists a century ago to let it proceed absolutely without +restraint. Such was the doctrine of _laissez faire_ and such is the +doctrine which to-day is expressed by business men in the request to +be "let alone." But the experience of the past one hundred years has +demonstrated that humanity cannot afford to let competition go +unrestrained; that it leads to such fatal consequences that all--even +the most educated and carefully nurtured--are exposed to the contagion +of disease engendered by unrestrained competition; witness the cholera +scare and the hygienic laws to which this cholera scare gave +rise.[222] Competition has been controlled in various manners: by laws +such as factory acts, child labor acts, women labor acts; second, by +trade unions which the community and the law have had to protect in +order to keep workingmen from the danger of having to work for less +than starvation wages; and last of all, by trusts, which discovered +that competition involves a waste which, could it be saved, would roll +up enormous dividends to stockholders. But trusts have occasioned +evils against which to-day the whole nation is crying out. So that the +cry now abroad is to control monopolies, trusts, and corporations; and +if the efforts to control corporations have not already sufficiently +demonstrated that such laws are bound to result in more blackmail than +control, no reasonable man can doubt that they must in the end so +result in view of the fact that the prizes offered by business attract +first-class talent to business whereas the smaller prizes offered by +politics or the government can only draw to it second-or third-rate +ability. + +I trust it has been shown that the confusion that results from the +competitive system is due to false notions of property; that property +as an institution is, and must always be, essential to the economic +structure of the state in the sense that the original and beneficial +purpose of property is to secure to men as nearly as possible the full +product of their toil. This is the ideal distinctly expressed by Mr. +Roosevelt, and is the ideal of every mind that has distinct notions +about property at all. + +Our social structure, therefore, should be so organized as to assure +to men the full product of their toil by the adoption of some such +system as has been described in the chapter on the Economic +Construction of the Coöperative Commonwealth. + +In such a social structure, competition would be limited so that we +should reserve its stimulus and eliminate its sting, and propagation +would be limited not only by prudence, but by the economic +independence of women, who ought to have most to say on the subject. +In such a social structure, we should for the first time have an +environment that would discourage vice and encourage virtue. And here +comes, as I have already said, the crowning glory of Socialism that +reconciles religion, economics, and science. + +For the Church teaches: "Man is born in sin; his passions are sinful; +unaided by God he is their slave. If, however, he chooses to make the +effort necessary to secure the aid of God, he can master his passions +and earn salvation. But although the Grace of God will secure to him +some happiness in this world, this world is a place of unhappiness and +purgation; the reward of the faithful is not in this world, but in the +world to come." + +The Economist teaches: "Man is born in sin; his passions are sinful; +in matters so practical as bread and butter we must not allow +ourselves to be deluded by the promises of the Church, as to the +fulfilment of which no evidence has ever been furnished. A practical +system of economics then must be built on the undoubted fact that the +'average man' is 'sensual' and will always act in accordance with what +he believes to be his material interest. It must be founded on human +selfishness; let every man be driven by selfishness to make wealth +primarily for himself and incidentally for the community at large. +This is the only practical system for the accumulation of wealth." + +Science says: "Man is born with passions, but are these passions +sinful? They are sinful when uncontrolled, because they may then act +injuriously to the neighbor. When controlled they act beneficially to +the neighbor. The problem is not how to suppress passion, but how to +control it. Man must indeed obey his greater inclination; but Man has +the power to mould his own environment; to make his own habits; to +make his own inclination; Man therefore is master--not slave. There is +too in evolution a power which from the creation to this day has +persistently worked toward progress, justice, and happiness; but we +are still ignorant as to what this power is except in so far as we see +it working in Man. In Man we can see and study the working of this +power. And we find it in Man's capacity to mould his own environment +by resisting Nature instead of yielding to it. And so science teaches +to-day--not the gospel of evolution alone--but also the gospel of +effort and Art." + +In Nature we observe two systems of social existence: one competitive, +one coöperative. Both are attended by evils; both by advantages. Man +can frame his social and economic conditions so as to eliminate the +evils and secure the advantages of both. This is Socialism. + +Socialism leaves the church free to proceed along the lines of its +faith; but it furnishes the church with the inestimable advantage of +creating economic conditions that make the practice of religion for +the first time possible. To-day economic conditions by ignoring the +soul of Man and appealing only to his appetites make the practice of +the Golden Rule impossible. + +Economic conditions can be so changed that they appeal to the soul of +man without ignoring his appetites. It may be that the earth is a +place of preparation for another life. But it is not for that reason +necessarily a place of misery and injustice. Socialism by eliminating +misery and injustice will make this preparation easier. The +environment of Socialism will tend to improve not only the +individual, but also the type. It may be that the grace of God will +help man to be noble and just. Let the church continue to teach this. +But let science be heard also in the positive proof it furnishes that +man will and must be what the environment makes him; that if we +continue to tolerate economic conditions that appeal to his +selfishness, he will and must remain selfish; whereas if wiser +economic conditions appeal to his unselfishness he will and must tend +to be unselfish. + +And so in Socialism and in Socialism alone, do we find reconciled the +ethics of the church, the needs of economics, and the demands of +science. + +The new church will continue to teach social service; the new +economics will permit of social service; and the new science will make +of social service an environment out of which the new type of man will +be evolved that will justify the words of Christ: "Hath it not been +said in your law 'Ye are Gods'?" + +FOOTNOTES: + +[207] "Evolution and Ethics," by T.H. Huxley, p. 80. + +[208] "Evolution and Ethics," p. 13. + +[209] "Evolution and Ethics," p. 20. + +[210] Ibid., p. 81. + +[211] "Evolution and Ethics," p. 81. + +[212] Ibid., p. 83. + +[213] Ibid., p. 85. + +[214] Ibid., p. 116. + +[215] "Evolution and Ethics," p. 20. + +[216] Book II, Chapter I. + +[217] "Government or Human Evolution," Vol. I, p. 16. + +[218] "Evolution and Ethics," p. 85. + +[219] Ibid., p. 86. + +[220] "Modern Socialism," by R.C.K. Ensor. + +[221] Of course, I must not be understood to mean that nothing +beautiful or useful grows in Nature outside of the art of the +gardener. On the contrary, we know that in the Tropics Nature +furnishes not only beautiful things, but enough of useful things to +make the art of the gardener unnecessary. The lesson to be drawn from +the garden patch is that, if the best result in the shape of beautiful +and useful things is to be obtained from a limited surface, Art must +be applied to that surface; Nature cannot be depended upon. + +[222] Book III, Chapter II. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +SOLIDARITY + + +I think it was Miss Martineau who said that if her generation was +better than that which preceded her, the betterment was due to the +teachings of Carlyle; and much though we may differ with John Ruskin +in matters of detail, no one will dispute the apostolic fervor with +which he endeavored to push on the work of Thomas Carlyle. It is a +significant fact, therefore, that both Thomas Carlyle and John Ruskin +had nothing but abuse to give to political economy. Nevertheless, I +think we all must agree that this hostile attitude was due to a +misconception of the scope of political economy, a misconception due +in great part to its name; for the words "political economy" seem to +indicate that it deals with the economy of the state, and that it +becomes the duty of its teachers to show us not only what the rules +regarding the production and distribution of goods are, but what they +ought to be. + +In fact, however, although economists do discuss how--if at all--the +system of production and distribution of goods can be improved, they +have always regarded it as their principal function to describe +accurately what the rules that govern production and distribution +really are, rather than what they ought to be. And as existing +industrial conditions are extremely complicated, those who have thrown +light upon them are highly to be honored. And although they have +contributed nothing to the solution of such problems as unemployment, +pauperism, and the conflict of labor and capital, it may be as +unreasonable to complain of this as to quarrel with the +"crossing-sweeper of Piccadilly" because he is unable "to tell you the +road to Highgate." + +Again, political economy has encountered a great deal of unmerited +abuse because critics have confounded authors with their subject, and +have held economists responsible for the industrial conditions they +describe; whereas, these economists have earned our sincerest thanks +for demonstrating that the competitive system offers no solution for +the conflict between capital and labor, or the problem of unemployment +and all the other problems as those of pauperism, prostitution, and +economic crime which result therefrom. + +Mr. Ruskin is certainly wrong when he denounces political economy as +the "science of getting rich," and when he adds that "persons who +follow its precepts" do actually become rich; "all persons who disobey +them become poor"; for our ablest political economists have always +been and still are relatively poor men, and our richest millionaire is +a past master of the rules in the game which it is his particular +business to play; but he is not concerned with a science which does no +more than study wealth under the competitive system and demonstrate +how inevitably a few grow rich and the rest grow poor under it. + +Let us then abandon hostility to a science without which to-day we +could not see clearly the workings of the existing system, and on the +contrary, avail ourselves of all its teachings, recognizing that a +study of what industrial conditions to-day are must precede the study +of what they could and should be. + +The study of political economy is necessary to a study of "social +economy." Political economy admittedly deals with the average sensual +man, and having determined the rules that determine the actions of the +average sensual man, it becomes now the problem of social economy to +deal with the average moral man. And the moral man must not be +regarded as opposed to the sensual. The moral man includes the +sensual, but adds affection, sympathy, and all that makes happiness to +the sensual man who may, through absence of affection and sympathy, +fail to attain the happiness of which he is in search. Under this +definition, while political economy deals with the attainment of +wealth, social economy deals with the attainment of happiness; and as +man must eat before he can pursue happiness, social economy must +concern itself with the acquisition of wealth to satisfy physical +needs before it concerns itself with the attainment of justice to +satisfy moral needs. An attempt has been made in this book to present +the social and economic structure which would best attain happiness. +Would such a system at the same time attain justice?[223] + +To arrive at a correct notion of justice, we have to refer once more +to the difference between what Huxley calls the "cosmic +process"--that is to say, the process of the environment of Nature +before the advent of Man--and the ethical process, or the process of +the artificial environment created by Man. For there is one +difference, and a most essential difference, between them to which +attention has not yet been directed: namely, that in communities such +as those of the bee and ant, the individual is sacrificed to the +community; whereas the effort of Man is or should be to so organize +his community that it will serve the happiness of the individual. For +example, we would not tolerate a community upon the plan we see +practised by the bees, under which only one male out of a whole hive +is permitted to propagate and all the rest of the males on attaining +maturity are caused to die; only one female of the whole hive is +allowed to be fertile and to propagate, all the rest being subject to +the dreary round of keeping the fertile bee a prisoner, of feeding +her, of rearing, feeding and caring for the young in the hive, and +incidentally destroying any males who may return to the hive from the +nuptial flight. We have to recognize that the great obstacle to +happiness in community life is sexual instinct, of which Socialists of +the type of Edward Bellamy have for the most part failed to take +account. + +Reference has been made to the various devices adopted by different +races of animals and by Man at different periods and at different +places to solve the problem of sexual instinct,[224] and it has been, +I think, demonstrated by Professor Giddings, that of all the systems +proposed none can compare with our present institution of +marriage.[225] The mere fact that the marriage system has survived in +the conflict with races that have adopted other systems ought to +furnish an argument in favor of its superiority. In the struggle +between races of Man, those races the institutions of which require +most self-restraint have invariably overwhelmed those races whose +institutions require less self-restraint. For example, the tribes that +lived without any regulation of sexual instinct and in which children +took the name of their mother because the name of their father was not +and could not be known, disappeared in the conflict with tribes which +insisted upon some restraint to sexual appetite, such as the +patriarchal system. Again, the patriarchal system which tolerated +polygamy has everywhere been destroyed when it came into conflict with +monogamous races, such as our own, which involve still further +restraint in the sexual relation. + +It would seem, therefore, as though the monogamous marriage were the +keystone of our present civilization, for upon it has been built the +family, and the education and self-restraint which family life +involves.[226] There is too no function of the family more important +than that it serves as a model of what the state ought to be as +distinguished from what the state actually is; that is to say, a +government which should have equal concern for every member of the +community, and not one which as at present surfeits some and starves +others. + +It is the growing idea that a properly constituted state must do this +for the protection not only of the many, but of the few that probably +give the most continuous aid to Socialism. As Mr. Edwin Björkman +expressed it: "We are beginning to grasp the futility of planning the +welfare of any one human being apart from the rest of his kind. We are +coming to think of ourselves, at last, as links in a chain so firmly +bound together that when the devil grabs the hindmost the wrench is +felt by the top-most--felt in the very marrow of his bones."[227] + +And so while the institution of marriage has removed an obstacle to +solidarity in community life, public health has proved its ally. Mr. +Björkman has made an estimate of the enormous cost of unnecessary +sickness. But the protection of public health is furnishing us a far +better argument in favor of solidarity and Socialism than the mere +cost of neglecting it. In Cuba our sanitary engineers have practically +got rid of yellow fever, not only for that community, but for our own. +Recent discoveries tracing malaria to the mosquito are leading to the +destruction of this insect. Smallpox and cholera have practically been +stamped out, and efforts are now being made to do the same with +typhoid and tuberculosis. + +Now one feature characterizes all these efforts. They cannot be made +by one man for himself; they have to be made by whole communities for +whole communities and they will eventually have to be made by the +whole world for the whole world. The same thing is true of vagrancy, +pauperism, and crime. No individual or group of individuals can handle +this problem; it must be handled by every community, and through the +further extension of extradition treaties by all countries for the +whole world. + +Again, reference has been often made in this book to the necessity +under which governments, openly professing the policy of _laissez +faire_, have found themselves to enact laws totally inconsistent with +this doctrine. Such, laws ought to be sufficient evidence that the +days of _laissez faire_ are gone forever; and that this theory, +universally proclaimed a century ago as the only sound theory of +government, has to-day given way before the recognition that no +wealth can compensate a man for the misery of his neighbors; and that +even if, abandoning all ideals and all ethics, we confine ourselves to +the problem how to make men materially happy, we can only do so by +adjusting our institutions so that no man will be allowed to become or +to remain a pauper or criminal. + +I am not discussing here matters of theory, but matters of fact. + +Theoretically, the development of man might have taken a totally +different direction. The master minds of the period (such as that, for +example, of Mr. W.H. Mallock) might have so organized the able as to +constitute an aristocracy strong enough to keep the rest of the +community in a state of ignorant servitude, so that while Mr. Mallock +was enjoying the necessary leisure to discuss the "New Republic" amid +the luxury of his English country home, all the work of the world +would be accomplished by human automata with no desires beyond that of +the immediate gratification of their appetites. Unfortunately, +however, Mr. Mallock has come too late upon the scene. Some years +before he was born, the die was cast. Workingmen were given a voice in +public affairs and have been educated, so that they constitute a power +with which government has to reckon. Here is a fact against which it +is useless for millionaires to break their heads. No one can ignore +the power exercised by such men as Bebel in Germany, Jaurès and Guesde +in France, Vandervelde in Belgium, Keir Hardie and MacDonald in +England, Gompers and John Mitchell in America. These men are all +engaged in organizing the workingmen's vote with extraordinary +efficacy in Europe, and with extraordinary inefficacy in the United +States. But the days of Gompers and Mitchell are drawing to a close, +and in this country as well as in Europe, Organized Labor will grow +to understand the inevitable truth that it is only by political action +and with the Socialist program that it can defeat the power of +capital. So that whether Mr. Mallock be right or not, the day of +aristocracy is over and the day of solidarity has dawned. The question +for us to decide is whether we should recognize this fact and modify +our institutions to conform to the new era, or whether we should +continue to ignore the fact until we break our heads against it. + +The point which Mr. Mallock and his school have failed to understand +is that the very greed which creates aristocracy unfits the aristocrat +for the coöperation indispensable to its survival. This condemns him, +as it does all the highest types of carnivora, created by the +competitive system to isolation. For it is out of the jealousy and +struggles of the aristocrats with one another that the people are at +last getting to their own. It was because the king, the noble, and the +church could not agree in the division of spoils that their perpetual +altercations left room for the organization of the Communes in France +at the end of the eleventh century. It was because the church, the +noble and the king would not give a fair share of the honors and +spoils of the state to the wealthy bourgeoisie, that the bourgeois was +obliged to associate himself with the people in 1789; it was because +of the conflict between the Whigs and the Tories that the franchise +was gradually extended to the workingmen in England; and it is because +the Republicans can put no limit to their greed that workingmen in +America will find themselves eventually compelled to organize +politically their at present disunited multitudes. It is, therefore, +extremely improbable that, even if Mr. Mallock had lived in an earlier +age, he could have prevented the inevitable progress of the great +principle of solidarity which has determined the direction of human +development ever since it began to differ from that of other animals. + +If now we run through all the differences between the natural +environment and the environment created by Man, we shall see that they +practically all proceed upon the theory that men must develop no +longer as individuals but as a unit. All our customs and laws proceed +upon the theory of liberty and justice; and upon that theory is based +the original principle of property that assures to all men the product +of their toil. Now if all men are to be assured the product of their +toil, there must be an end to the system which puts a few millionaires +at one end of the social scale and millions of paupers at the other. + +Again, for centuries the so-called struggle for life has ceased to be +a struggle for life, but has become a struggle for wealth, power, and +consideration. It is no longer only the fit that survive; the unfit +also survive; and if the unfit are to survive, we all have a common +interest in taking the necessary steps to prevent the unfit from +proving too heavy a burden upon the community. + +Again, all isolating vices such as lust, ferocity, craft, fear, and +selfishness--vices which characterize the carnivora and condemn them +to lives of isolation--are being tempered by the necessities of common +life--by the fundamental fact of the solidarity of Man. Thus, lust is +tempered and in part replaced by love and mercy; ferocity is tempered +and in part replaced by courage and patience; fear is tempered and in +part replaced by respect and reverence; selfishness is tempered and in +part replaced by unselfishness. + +And all this advantage which humanity has attained over the lower +animals is due to its ability to mould its own environment, and +deliberately undertake the task of justice; namely, to "eliminate from +our social conditions the effects of the inequalities of Nature upon +the happiness and advancement of Man, and particularly to create an +artificial environment which shall serve the individual as well as the +race, and tend to perpetuate noble types rather than those which are +base." + +It is true that so far our efforts to attain justice have lamentably +failed; but they have failed mainly because we have not yet +sufficiently limited the scope of competition. The day we limit +competition as suggested in the chapter on the Economic Structure of +Socialism,[228] that day we shall have removed the lion from our path. +And as stated in the Preface, the development of Man will then proceed +upon the theory that all are perfectible and that it is through the +improvement of all that every individual will attain his best freedom, +his best happiness, and the fullest opportunities for promoting the +happiness of all around him. + +This is the ideal to attain which the environment described in the +Chapter on the Economic Construction of the Coöperative Commonwealth +has been conceived. It is the ideal which furnishes the most +economical method of production and distribution and, therefore, the +most leisure and liberty; that creates the environment fitted to +perpetuate the noble rather than the base type; to promote virtue and +discourage vice and, in a word, creates conditions under which we can +practise the morality preached by every religion, whether it be that +of Moses, of Mohammed, or of Christ. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[223] In a previous attempt to define justice, I have found it +necessary to devote to this subject an entire volume, and I do not +believe that the subject can be sufficiently discussed in less than +such a volume. The definition with which I concluded that book has +been adopted by Mr. Lester F. Ward in his book on Applied Sociology. I +believe that all other definitions of justice are defective mainly +because other definitions such as those of Herbert Spencer in his book +entitled "Justice" confound justice with liberty. In other words, his +definition of justice is a definition of liberty, whereas justice is +more than liberty. Or perhaps it would be more correct to say that +liberty is one of the elements of justice. + +[224] See "Government or Human Evolution," Vol. II, p. 181. + +[225] See "Principles of Sociology," pp. 414-415. + +[226] See "Justice," p. 127, by the author. + +[227] The Unnecessary Curse of Sickness, _World's Work_, July, 1909. + +[228] See Book III, Chapter II. + + + + +APPENDIX + + +I + +SOCIALIST PARTY NATIONAL PLATFORM + +ADOPTED AT THE NATIONAL CONVENTION ASSEMBLED AT CHICAGO, MAY, 1908 + +Human life depends upon food, clothing, and shelter. Only with these +assured are freedom, culture and higher human development possible. To +produce food, clothing and shelter, land and machinery are needed. +Land alone does not satisfy human needs. Human labor creates machinery +and applies it to the land for the production of raw materials and +food. Whoever has the control of land and machinery controls human +labor, and with it human life and liberty. + +To-day the machinery and land used for industrial purposes are owned +by a rapidly decreasing minority. So long as machinery is simple and +easily handled by one man, its owner cannot dominate the sources of +life of others. But when machinery becomes more complex and expensive, +and requires for its effective operation the organized effort of many +workers, its influence reaches over wide circles of life. The owners +of such machinery become the dominant class. + + +POWER GOES WITH CONCENTRATION + +In proportion as the number of such machine owners, compared to all +other classes, decreases, their power in the nation and in the world +increases. They bring ever larger masses of working people under their +control, reducing them to the point where muscle and brain are their +only productive property. Millions of formerly self-employing workers +thus become the helpless wage slaves of the industrial masters. + +As the economic power of the ruling class grows, it becomes less +useful in the life of the nation. All the useful work of the nation +falls upon the shoulders of the class whose only property is its +manual and mental labor power--the wage workers--or of the class who +have but little land and little effective machinery outside of their +labor power--the small traders and small farmers. The ruling minority +is steadily becoming useless and parasitic. + + +STRUGGLE BETWEEN CLASSES + +A bitter struggle over the division of the products of labor is waged +between the exploiting propertied classes on the one hand, and the +exploited propertyless class on the other. In this struggle the +wage-working class cannot expect adequate relief from any reform of +the present order at the hands of the dominant class. + +The wage workers are, therefore, the most determined and +irreconcilable antagonists of the ruling class. They suffer most from +the curse of class rule. The fact that a few capitalists are permitted +to control all the country's industrial resources and social tools for +their individual profit, and to make the production of the necessaries +of life the object of competitive private enterprise and speculation, +is at the bottom of all the social evils of our time. + + +ANARCHY OF CAPITALIST PRODUCTION + +In spite of the organization of trusts, pools and combinations, the +capitalists are powerless to regulate production for social ends. +Industries are largely conducted in a planless manner. Through periods +of feverish activity the strength and health of the workers are +mercilessly used up, and during periods of enforced idleness the +workers are frequently reduced to starvation. + +The climaxes of this system of production are the regularly recurring +industrial depressions and crises which paralyze the nation every +fifteen or twenty years. + +The capitalist class, in its mad race for profits, is bound to +exploit the workers to the very limit of their endurance and to +sacrifice their physical, moral and mental welfare to its own +insatiable greed. Capitalism keeps the masses of workingmen in +poverty, destitution, physical exhaustion and ignorance. It drags +their wives from their homes to the mill and factory. It snatches +their children from the playgrounds and schools and grinds their +slender bodies and unformed minds into cold dollars. It disfigures, +maims, and kills hundreds of thousands of workingmen annually in +mines, on railroads and in factories. It drives millions of workers +into the ranks of the unemployed and forces large numbers of them into +beggary, vagrancy and all forms of crime and vice. + + +HOW THE RULING CLASS CONTROLS + +To maintain their rule over their fellow men, the capitalists must +keep in their pay all organs of the public powers, public mind and +public conscience. They control the dominant parties and, through +them, the elected public officials. They select the executives, bribe +the legislatures, and corrupt the courts of justice. They own and +censor the press. They dominate the educational institutions. They own +the nation politically and intellectually just as they own it +industrially. + + +SOCIALISM WILL FREE ALL CLASSES + +The struggle between wage workers and capitalists grows ever fiercer, +and has now become the only vital issue before the American people. +The wage-working class, therefore, has the most direct interest in +abolishing the capitalist system. But in abolishing the present system +the workingmen will free not only their own class, but also all other +classes of modern society: the small farmer who is to-day exploited by +large capital more indirectly but not less effectively than is the +wage laborer; the small manufacturer and trader, who is engaged in a +desperate and losing struggle for economic independence in the face of +the all-conquering power of concentrated capital; and even the +capitalist himself, who is the slave of his wealth rather than its +master. The struggle of the working class against the capitalist +class, while it is a class struggle, is thus at the same time a +struggle for the abolition of all classes and class privileges. + + +PRIVATE OWNERSHIP THE BASIS OF CLASS RULE + +The private ownership of the land and means of production used for +exploitation is the rock upon which class rule is built; political +government is its indispensable instrument. The wage workers cannot be +freed from exploitation without conquering the political power and +substituting collective for private ownership of the land and means of +production used for exploitation. + +The basis for such transformation is rapidly developing within present +capitalist society. The factory system, with its complex machinery and +minute division of labor, is rapidly destroying all vestiges of +individual production in manufacture. Modern production is already +very largely a collective and social process. The great trusts and +monopolies which have sprung up in recent years have organized the +work and management of the principal industries on a national scale, +and have fitted them for collective use and operation. + +The Socialist Party is primarily an economic and political movement. +It is not concerned with matters of religious belief. + + +FREEDOM THROUGH SOLIDARITY + +In the struggle for freedom the interests of all modern workers are +identical. The struggle is not only national, but international. It +embraces the world and will be carried to ultimate victory by the +united workers of the world. + +To unite the workers of the nation and their allies and sympathizers +of all other classes to this end, is the mission of the Socialist +Party. In this battle for freedom the Socialist Party does not strive +to substitute working-class rule for capitalist-class rule, but by +working-class victory to free all humanity from class rule and to +realize the international brotherhood of man. + + +THE SOCIALIST PLATFORM + +The Socialist Party, in national convention assembled, again declares +itself as the party of the working class, and appeals for the support +of all workers of the United States and of all citizens who sympathize +with the great and just cause of labor. + +We are at this moment in the midst of one of those industrial +breakdowns that periodically paralyze the life of the nation. The +much-boasted era of our national prosperity has been followed by one +of general misery. Factories, mills and mines are closed. Millions of +men, ready, willing and able to provide the nation with all the +necessaries and comforts of life are forced into idleness and +starvation. Within recent times the trusts and monopolies have +attained an enormous and menacing development. They have acquired the +power to dictate the terms upon which we shall be allowed to live. The +trusts fix the prices of our bread, meat and sugar, of our coal, oil +and clothing, of our raw material and machinery, of all the +necessities of life. + + +CAPITALISM TAKES THE OFFENSIVE + +The present desperate condition of the workers has been made the +opportunity for a renewed onslaught on organized labor. The highest +courts of the country have within the last year rendered decision +after decision depriving the workers of rights which they had won by +generations of struggle. + +The attempt to destroy the Western Federation of Miners, although +defeated by the solidarity of organized labor and the Socialist +movement, revealed the existence of a far-reaching and unscrupulous +conspiracy by the ruling class against the organizations of labor. + +In their efforts to take the lives of the leaders of the miners the +conspirators violated State laws and the federal constitution in a +manner seldom equalled even in a country so completely dominated by +the profit-seeking class as is the United States. + + +CAPITALIST REFORM FUTILE + +The Congress of the United States has shown its contempt for the +interests of labor as plainly and unmistakably as have the other +branches of government. The laws for which the labor organizations +have continually petitioned have failed to pass. Laws ostensibly +enacted for the benefit of labor have been distorted against labor. + +The working class of the United States cannot expect any remedy for +its wrongs from the present ruling class or from the dominant +parties. So long as a small number of individuals are permitted to +control the sources of the nation's wealth for their private profit in +competition with each other and for the exploitation of their fellow +men, industrial depressions are bound to occur at certain intervals. +No currency reforms or other legislative measures proposed by +capitalist reformers can avail against these fatal results of utter +anarchy in production. + +Individual competition leads inevitably to combinations and trusts. No +amount of government regulation, or of publicity, or of restrictive +legislation will arrest the natural course of modern industrial +development. + +While our courts, legislatures and executive offices remain in the +hands of the ruling classes and their agents, the government will be +used in the interest of these classes as against the toilers. + + +OLD PARTIES REPRESENT CLASS RULE + +Political parties are but the expression of economic class interests. +The Republican, the Democratic, and the so-called 'Independence' +parties and all parties other than the Socialist Party, are financed, +directed and controlled by the representatives of different groups of +the ruling class. + +In the maintenance of class government both the Democratic and +Republican parties have been equally guilty. The Republican party has +had control of the national government and has been directly and +actively responsible for these wrongs. The Democratic party, while +saved from direct responsibility by its political impotence, has shown +itself equally subservient to the aims of the capitalist class +whenever and wherever it has been in power. The old chattel-slave-owning +aristocracy of the South, which was the backbone of the Democratic +party, has been supplanted by a child-slave plutocracy. In the great +cities of our country the Democratic party is allied with the criminal +element of the slums as the Republican party is allied with the +predatory criminals of the palace in maintaining the interests of the +possessing class. + + +TEMPORARY MEASURES DEMANDED + +The various "reform" movements and parties which have sprung up within +recent years are but the clumsy expression of widespread popular +discontent. They are not based on an intelligent understanding of the +historical development of civilization and of the economic and +political needs of our time. They are bound to perish, as the numerous +middle-class reform movements of the past have perished. + +As measures calculated to strengthen the working class in its fight +for the realization of this ultimate aim, and to increase its power of +resistance against capitalist oppression, we advocate and pledge +ourselves and our elected officers to the following program: + + +GENERAL DEMANDS + +1. The immediate government relief for the unemployed workers, by +building schools, by reforesting of cut-over and waste lands, by +reclamation of arid tracts, and the building of canals, and by +extending all other useful public works. All persons employed on such +works shall be employed directly by the government under an eight-hour +workday and at the prevailing union wages. The government shall also +loan money to States and municipalities without interest for the +purpose of carrying on public works. It shall contribute to the funds +of labor organizations for the purpose of assisting their unemployed +members, and shall take such other measures within its power as will +lessen the widespread misery of the workers caused by the misrule of +the capitalist class. + +2. The collective ownership of railroads, telegraphs, telephones, +steamship lines and all other means of social transportation and +communication and all land.[229] + +3. The collective ownership of all industries which are organized on a +national scale and in which competition has virtually ceased to exist. + +4. The extension of the public domain to include mines, quarries, oil +wells, forests and water power. + +5. That occupancy and use of land be the sole title to possession. The +scientific reforestation of timber lands and the reclamation of swamp +lands. The land so reforested or reclaimed to be permanently retained +as a part of the public domain. + +6. The absolute freedom of press, speech and assemblage. + + +INDUSTRIAL DEMANDS + +7. The improvement of the industrial conditions of the workers: + +(_a_) By shortening the workday in keeping with the increased +productiveness of machinery. + +(_b_) By securing to every worker a rest period of not less than a day +and a half in each week. + +(_c_) By securing a more effective inspection of workshops and +factories. + +(_d_) By forbidding the employment of children under sixteen years of +age. + +(_e_) By forbidding the interstate transportation of the products of +child labor, of convict labor and of all uninspected factories. + +(_f_) By abolishing official charity and substituting in its place +compulsory insurance against unemployment, illness, accidents, +invalidism, old age, and death. + + +POLITICAL DEMANDS + +8. The extension of inheritance taxes, graduated in proportion to the +amount of the bequests and to nearness of kin. + +9. A graduated income tax. + +10. Unrestricted and equal suffrage for men and women, and we pledge +ourselves to engage in an active campaign in that direction. + +11. The initiative and referendum, proportional representation and the +right of recall. + +12. The abolition of the Senate. + +13. The abolition of the power usurped by the Supreme Court of the +United States to pass upon the constitutionality of legislation +enacted by Congress. National laws to be repealed or abrogated only by +act of Congress or by a referendum of the whole people. + +14. That the constitution be made amendable by majority vote. + +15. The enactment of further measures for general education and for +the conservation of health. The Bureau of Education to be made a +department. The creation of a Department of Public Health. + +16. The separation of the present Bureau of Labor from the Department +of Commerce and Labor, and the establishment of a Department of Labor. + +17. That all judges be elected by the people for short terms, and that +the power to issue injunctions shall be curbed by immediate +legislation. + +18. The free administration of justice. + +Such measures of relief as we may be able to force from capitalism are +but a preparation of the workers to seize the whole powers of +government, in order that they may thereby lay hold of the whole +system of industry, and thus come to their rightful inheritance. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[229] By a referendum vote of the entire membership of the Socialist +party in 1909 these three words, "and all land," were stricken out of +the Socialist platform. + + + + +II + +DR. L. EMMETT HOLT + + +All who practice medicine among children and who study the question of +infant mortality statistically are struck with the marked contrast +between the death rate of the children of the poor and those of the +rich. Clay estimates that in England in the aristocratic families the +mortality of the first year is 10 per cent; in the middle class, 21 +per cent; in the laboring classes, 32 per cent. This difference in the +infant mortality of the various classes is most striking in the case +of acute intestinal disease. Halle states that of 170 deaths from this +cause investigated in Graz in 1903 and 1904 there were 161 among the +poor, 9 among the well-to-do, and none among the rich. It may not be +true in adult life, but _in infancy money may purchase not only +health, it may purchase life_, since it puts at the disposal of the +infant the utmost resources of science, the best advice, the best food +and the best surroundings for the individual child. To relieve, or +even greatly to diminish, infant mortality these basal conditions of +modern city life--poverty and ignorance--must be attacked. + + _Journal American Medical Association_, Feb. 26, 1910. + + + + +III + +EXTRACTS FROM EDICT OF LOUIS XVI, 1776, ABOLISHING THE GUILDS[230] + + +Louis, etc. We owe it to our subjects to assure them the full and +complete enjoyment of their rights; we owe that protection especially +to that class of men who, possessing nothing but their labor and +industry, above all others have the need and right of employing to the +limit of their capacity their sole resources for subsistence. + +We have viewed with pain the multiplied blows which have been struck +at this natural and common right of ancient institutions, blows which +neither time, nor opinion, nor even the acts emanating from the +authority, which seems to have sanctioned them, have been able to make +legitimate. + +[After describing the vicious effects of the guild monopoly, it +continues:] + +... Some persons ... contend that the right of labor is a royal right, +one that the Prince could sell and that the subjects ought to +purchase. We hasten to place beside this another maxim: + +God, by giving to men needs and making them dependent upon the +resources of labor, has made the right of labor the property of all +men, and that property is primary, the most sacred and most +imprescriptable of all. + +We regard it as one of the first obligations of our justice, and as an +act in every way worthy of our beneficence, to emancipate our subjects +from all their restraints which have been laid upon that inalienable +right of humanity. Wherefore, we will to abolish the arbitrary +institutions which do not permit the indigent to live by their labor; +which exclude the sex whose weakness implies greatest needs and fewest +resources ... which stifle emulation and industry and make useless the +talents of those whom circumstances exclude from admission into the +guild; which deprive the state and art of all the advantages which +foreigners might furnish.... + +FOOTNOTES: + +[230] Translation taken from "Turgot and the Six Edicts," by R.P. +Shepherd, 1903, pp. 182, 186-7. + + + + +IV + +POLICE COMMISSIONER BINGHAM + + +Declaring that "law-breaking is the easiest and the most lucrative +business in New York for the work involved," Police Commissioner +Bingham yesterday forwarded his annual report to Mayor McClellan. + +After stating that law-breaking in the city is an easy and lucrative +business, the Commissioner continued: + +"Its profits for slight effort are enormous and law-breaking has been +able to intrench itself behind such a rampart of legislation and +highly paid lawyers that the forces of law and order are placed in the +astonishing position of being actually on the defensive against the +law-breakers. Law-breakers and their highly paid lawyers frequently +fool even the courts into giving them protection against the police on +the grounds of illegal interference, or oppression. + +"The howl of innocence is never so loud as when raised by crooks, and +this includes not only the actual criminals, but their friends and +protectors, crooked politicians. How otherwise is it possible for +prizefights to be held in New York city, in spite of the earnest +efforts of the police to prevent them? How otherwise is it possible +for places positively known by the police to be gambling resorts to be +conducted, and to obtain injunctions restraining the police from +interfering with them? + +"The foregoing is far from saying that the police force of New York is +incompetent, or not able to cope with the situation. The police force +is competent, short-handed though it is. Its activity and efficiency +are proved by the very resistance given it by law-breakers, for the +better the work done by the police, the more stubborn is the +resistance they meet with from law-breakers." + +As an example of what the police have to cope with the Commissioner +mentions the recent Sunday-closing incident, where a court decision +was handed down, and enforced, and the Aldermen straightway amended +the law. He then asks: "How then can the police execute the law, when +there seems to be so much doubt as to what the law really is?" + +Gen. Bingham continues: + +"These points are necessary in order that scheming politicians may be +deprived of any possibility of summarily getting rid of an honest +commissioner and in order that the honest men of the police force may +be encouraged. The men of the force to-day are not quite sure who is +their real boss--the 'machine' or the police commissioner. If once +satisfied that it is the commissioner, with a long term and only +removable on publication of charges, they will obey him." + +Legislation requiring persons who sell any sort of dangerous weapons +to record the date and hour of the sale, and report it, with the name +and address of the buyer, to the police, is suggested, as well as a +daily report from pawnbrokers, giving the date, hour, and other +particulars of their transactions. This, the Commissioner says, is the +custom in other large cities. + +The following figures of arrests, etc., in the last year are given in +the report: + + ARRESTS MADE + + By uniformed force 192,680 + Detective Bureau 11,416 + ------- + Total 204,096 + +These figures refer to the Boroughs of Manhattan, The Bronx, and +Richmond. + + N.Y. _Times_, Jan. 5, 1908. + + + + +V + +PETTIBONE v. NICHOLS + + +_Dissenting opinion_ of Mr. Justice MCKENNA: + +I am constrained to dissent from the opinion and judgment of the +court. The principle announced, as I understand it, is that "a Circuit +Court of the United States, when asked upon _habeas corpus_ to +discharge a person held in actual custody by a State for trial in one +of its courts under an indictment charging a crime against its laws, +cannot properly take into account the methods whereby the State +obtained such custody." In other words, and to illuminate the +principle by the light of the facts in this case (facts, I mean, as +alleged, and which we must assume to be true for the purpose of our +discussion), that the officers of one State may falsely represent that +a person was personally present in the State and committed a crime +there, and had fled from its justice, may arrest such person and take +him from another State, the officers of the latter knowing of false +accusation and conniving in and aiding its purpose, thereby depriving +him of an opportunity to appeal to the courts, and that such person +cannot invoke the rights guaranteed to him by the Constitution and +statutes of the United States in the State to which he is taken. And +this, it is said, is supported by the cases of _Ker_ v. _Illinois_, +119 U.S. 436, and _Mahon_ v. _Justice_, 127 U.S. 700. These cases, +extreme as they are, do not justify, in my judgment, the conclusion +deduced from them. In neither case was the State the actor in the +wrongs that brought within its confines the accused person. In the +case at bar, the States, through their officers, are the offenders. +They, by an illegal exertion of power, deprived the accused of a +constitutional right. The distinction is important to be observed. It +finds expression in _Mahon_ v. _Justice_. But it does not need +emphasizing. Kidnapping is a crime, pure and simple. It is difficult +to accomplish; hazardous at every step. All of the officers of the law +are supposed to be on guard against it. All of the officers of the law +may be invoked against it. But how is it when the law becomes the +kidnapper, when the officers of the law, using its forms and exerting +its power, become abductors? This is not a distinction without a +difference--another form of the crime of kidnapping, distinguished +only from that committed by an individual by circumstances. If a State +may say to one within her borders and upon whom her process is served, +I will not inquire how you came here; I must execute my laws and remit +you to proceedings against those who have wronged you, may she so +plead against her own offences? May she claim that by mere physical +presence within her borders, an accused person is within her +jurisdiction denuded of his constitutional rights, though he has been +brought there by her violence? And constitutional rights the accused +in this case certainly did have, and valuable ones. The foundation of +extradition between the States is that the accused should be a +fugitive from justice from the demanding State, and he may challenge +the fact by _habeas corpus_ immediately upon his arrest. If he refute +the fact he cannot be removed. _Hyatt_ v. _Corkran_, 188 U.S. 691. +And the right to resist removal is not a right of asylum. To call it +so in the State where the accused is is misleading. It is the right to +be free from molestation. It is the right of personal liberty in its +most complete sense. And this right was vindicated in _Hyatt_ v. +_Corkran_, and the fiction of a constructive presence in a State and a +constructive flight from a constructive presence rejected. This +decision illustrates at once the value of the right and the value of +the means to enforce the right. It is to be hoped that our criminal +jurisprudence will not need for its efficient administration the +destruction of either the right or the means to enforce it. The +decision in the case at bar, as I view it, brings us perilously near +both results. Is this exaggeration? What are the facts in the case at +bar as alleged in the petition, and which it is conceded must be +assumed to be true? The complaint, which was the foundation of the +extradition proceedings, charged against the accused the crime of +murder on the thirtieth of December, 1905, at Caldwell, in the county +of Canyon, State of Idaho, by killing one Frank Steunenberg, by +throwing an explosive bomb at and against his person. The accused +avers in his petition that he had not been "in the State of Idaho, in +any way, shape or form, for a period of more than ten years" prior to +the acts of which he complained, and that the Governor of Idaho knew +accused had not been in the State the day the murder was committed, +"nor at any time near that day." A conspiracy is alleged between the +Governor of the State of Idaho and his advisers, and that the Governor +of the State of Colorado took part in the conspiracy, the purpose of +which was "to avoid the Constitution of the United States and the act +of Congress made in pursuance thereof, and to prevent the accused from +asserting his constitutional right under cl. 2, sec. 2, of art. IV, of +the Constitution of the United States and the act made pursuant +thereof." The manner in which the alleged conspiracy had been executed +was set out in detail. It was in effect that the agent of the State of +Idaho arrived in Denver, Thursday, February 15, 1906, but it was +agreed between him and the officers of Colorado that the arrest of the +accused should not be made until some time in the night of Saturday, +after business hours--after the courts had closed and judges and +lawyers had departed to their homes; that the arrest should be kept a +secret and the body of the accused should be clandestinely hurried +out of the State of Colorado with all possible speed, without the +knowledge of his friends or his counsel; that he was at the usual +place of business during Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, but no +attempt was made to arrest him until 11.30 o'clock P.M. Saturday, when +his house was surrounded and he was arrested. Moyer was arrested under +the same circumstances at 8.45, and he and accused "thrown into the +county jail of the city and county of Denver." It is further alleged +that, in pursuance of the conspiracy, between the hours of five and +six o'clock on Sunday morning, February 18, the officers of the State +and "certain armed guards, being a part of the forces of the militia +of the State of Colorado," provided a special train for the purpose of +forcibly removing him from the State of Colorado, and between said +hours he was forcibly placed on said train and removed with all +possible speed to the State of Idaho; that prior to his removal and at +all times after his incarceration in the jail at Denver he requested +to be allowed to communicate with his friends and his counsel and his +family, and the privilege was absolutely denied him. The train, it is +alleged, made no stop at any considerable station, but proceeded at +great and unusual speed; and that he was accompanied by and surrounded +with armed guards, members of the State militia of Colorado, under the +orders and directions of the adjutant general of the State. + +I submit that the facts in this case are different in kind and +transcend in consequences those in the cases of _Ker_ v. _Illinois_ +and _Mahon_ v. _Justice_, and differ from and transcend them as the +power of a State transcends the power of an individual. No individual +or individuals could have accomplished what the the power of the two +States accomplished; no individual or individuals could have commanded +the means and success; could have made two arrests of prominent +citizens by invading their homes; could have commanded the resources +of jails, armed guards and special trains; could have successfully +timed all acts to prevent inquiry and judicial interference. + +The accused, as soon as he could have done so, submitted his rights to +the consideration of the courts. He could not have done so in +Colorado, he could not have done so on the way from Colorado. At the +first instant that the State of Idaho relaxed its restraining power he +invoked the aid of _habeas corpus_ successively of the Supreme Court +of the State and of the Circuit Court of the United States. He should +not have been dismissed from the court, and the action of the Circuit +Court in so doing should be reversed. + + + + +VI + +EUGENE v. DEBS + + +"Yes," said Debs. "The trusts are wiping out the competitive system. +They are a stage in the process of evolution: the individual; the +firm; the corporation; the trust; and so, finally, the commonwealth. +By killing competition and training men to work together, trusts are +preparing for the coöperative stage of industry: Socialism." + +"Then you would keep the trusts we have and welcome others?" I asked. + +"Of course," he answered, and Berger nodded approval. + +"They do harm now," I suggested. + +"Yes," said Debs, but Berger boomed: "No; not the trusts. Private +owners of the trusts do harm, yes; but not the trusts." + +"Well, but how would you deal with the harm?" + +"Remove 'em," snapped Berger, and Debs explained: "We would have the +government take the trusts and remove the men who own or control them: +the Morgans and Rockefellers, who exploit; and the stockholders who +draw unearned dividends from them." + +"Would you pay for or just take them?" + +Berger seemed to have anticipated this question. He was on his feet, +and he uttered a warning for Debs--in vain. + +"Take them," Debs answered. + +"No," cried Berger, and, running around to Debs, he stood menacingly +over him. "No, you wouldn't," he declared. "Not if I was there. And +you shall not say it for the party. It is my party as much as it is +your party, and I answer that we would offer to pay." + +It was a tense but an illuminating moment. The difference is typical +and temperamental; and not only as between these two opposite +individualities, but among Socialists generally. Debs, the +revolutionist, argued gently that, since the system under which +private monopolies had grown up was unjust, there should be no +compromise with it. Berger, the evolutionist, replied angrily that it +was not alone a matter of justice, but of "tactic"; and that tactics +were settled by authority of the party. + +"We (Socialists) are the inheritors of a civilization," he proclaimed, +"and all that is good in it--art, music, institutions, buildings, +public works, character, the sense of right and wrong--not one of +these shall be lost. And violence, like that, would lose us much." +Berger cited the Civil War: "All men can see now that it was coming +years before 1861. Some tried to avert it then by proposing to pay for +the slaves. The fanatics on both sides refused. We all know the +result: slavery was abolished. But how? Instead of a peaceful +evolution and an outlay of, say, a billion, it was abolished by a war +which cost us nearly ten billion dollars and a million lives. We ought +to learn from history, so I say we will offer compensation; because it +seems just to present-day thought and will prove the easiest, cheapest +way in the end. And anyhow," he concluded, "and besites, the party, it +has decited that we shall offer to pay." + +From the article by Mr. Steffens, _Eugene V. Debs_, in _Everybody's +Magazine_, Oct., 1908. + + + + +VII + +TRAMPS AND VAGRANTS + + +Tramps, professional and amateur, and trespassers of both sexes and +all ages, are simply swarming over the railroads east of the +Mississippi River, forming a very serious problem for both railroads +and State Governments, according to reports which O.F. Lewis has +received from most of the great roads of the East, and recently +published in _Charities_ and _The Commons_. Mr. Lewis finds from these +reports that the railroad tramp and trespasser evil is on the +increase, with roads and States through which they pass unable to +check it, and one road, the New York Central, declares that half of +the loss and damage claims currently paid by railroads may be ascribed +to robberies committed by tramps and trespassers. Much of this +increase in trampdom is ascribed to the effects of the panic and the +hard times, which threw thousands of men out of employment. + +"Most of the railroads," says Mr. Lewis, in summing up the replies +received to the questions he sent out, "report a very noticeable +increase in vagrancy on their lines. The Central Vermont says 75 per +cent, the Chicago & Eastern Illinois 50 per cent, the Great Northern +200 per cent. Great increases are reported by the Delaware, Lackawanna +& Western, the New York Central, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia & Reading, +and many others. The Northern Pacific reports more vagrants travelling +than ever before. + +"A decrease is reported on the Central of New Jersey, the Cumberland +Valley, Chicago, Indiana & Southern, and on the Missouri Pacific. +Emphasizing the increase on the Pennsylvania, President McCrea states +that four times as many arrests were made for illegal train riding in +June, 1908, as in June, 1907. + +"Stealing foodstuffs, stealing rides, stealing handcars, threatening +and injuring trainmen, placing obstructions on tracks, stoning freight +crews, setting air brakes, and robbing ticket offices, are typical +offences." + +As bearing on the question of, literally, "Who pays the freight?" the +following is from the New York Central's report: + +"We are required by law to charge all of the costs arising out of the +operation of the railroad to operating expenses, which constitute the +loss of the services rendered. Among these expenses are loss and +damage due to the effects of trespassing and the acts of trespassers. +Inasmuch as the definition of a reasonable rate has been stated to +include the cost of the service and a reasonable return upon the value +of the property employed, it inevitably follows that our charge to the +public includes these elements of cost. It may, therefore, be said +that in the end the public pays, but we would prefer to eliminate this +source of cost as far as practicable." + +Many railroads ascribe the increased number of vagrants to "hard +times," resulting in the reduction in the number of men employed +throughout the country. + +The report is frequent that more "honest out-of-works" are stealing +rides and trespassing. President McCrea reports that "not many of the +illegal train riders are vagrants, but men out of employment." The +Southern Pacific reports that "the type of trespasser is as a whole +better." + +With striking frequency the railroads report the majority of illegal +train riders to be young men and boys. The ages "18 to 25" are often +mentioned. The Central Railroad of New Jersey says they can be +considered as the coming generation of tramps. + +Answering the question, "Do you believe in a State constabulary to +coöperate with the railway police in prosecuting vagrants?" +twenty-three railroads replied "yes," five replied "no," and sixteen +either had not considered the matter thoroughly or made no reply. The +State constabulary is favored mainly by trunk lines that are troubled +by vagrants. + + N.Y. _Times_, Feb. 14, 1909. + + + + +VIII + +PUBLIC STORE NOTES + + +The last report of the Director of the Mint (as quoted in _Statistical +Abstract of the United States_, 1908, p. 714) gives the stock of gold +in the United States as nearly $1,600,000,000 and amount of silver as +almost $700,000,000--in all, $2,300,000,000. Of course, all this coin +will never be at the disposal of the State; some of it will remain as +now in private hands. But all the coin now held by the Government as +reserves to secure greenbacks issued will be gradually released by the +substitution of store notes for greenbacks. This substitution cannot +be honestly effected except in proportion to the amount of produce +which goes into the public stores. There are at the present moment a +little over $1,000,000,000 of greenbacks issued by the United States +Government redeemable in coin. If in any given year the produce +acquired by the state amounts to--say, $100,000,000, the state can +withdraw greenbacks to the amount of $100,000,000 and substitute +therefor public store notes for $100,000,000, and so on, until there +have been substituted public store notes for all the greenbacks in +circulation. + +As regards the remaining $1,300,000,000, some of this, of course, will +remain in private hands; and if it were the policy of the government +to increase its supply of gold for the purchase of foreign goods, it +could levy taxes paid by those engaged in private industry in gold +instead of in produce. If, on the other hand, the private banking +system operated satisfactorily, the state could leave the whole of +$1,300,000,000 in the hands of private bankers and through its +ownership of mines, would still have the whole gold and silver +production in the United States for the purchase of foreign goods. + +As the amount of gold and silver produced in the United States +amounted in 1907 to over $90,000,000 of gold and over $37,000,000 of +silver, it will be seen that the state would have at its disposal some +$127,000,000 in gold and silver which it could use in the purchase of +foreign goods against which it could issue public store notes. In +other words, gold and silver will be confined to the amount used in +the competitive system and that required for the settlement of foreign +exchanges. + + + + +INDEX + + +A + +Accidents, 165, 166, 326, 420 + adulteration, 66, 88-93 + advertising, cost of, 5, 95, 207-208, 233 + +Africa, 121, 309, 391 + +Agriculture, 29, 218 + Year Book of the Department of, 230 + +Albany, 261, 265 + +alcoholism, 272 + +America, 16, 137, 140 + business men in, 58 + land in, 123 + municipal ownership in, 20 + prosperity of, 24 + Republic of, 138 + Socialism in, 149 + sweating in, 156 + trade unionism in, 149 + workingman in, 409 + +American-- + ---- cities, 286 + ---- export of wheat, 55 + ---- Farmer, 48 + ---- Federation of Labor, 171 + ---- Medical Association, 421 + ---- nationality, 118, 284 + ---- Smelting and Refining Company, 87, 170 + ---- Socialist press, 40 + ---- Steel District, 164 + ---- Steel and Wire Company, 62 + ---- Sugar Refining Company, 106 + ---- view of Socialism, 1 + ---- workingmen's families, 229 + +Anarchism, 7, 31, 33-34, 43, 51, 127, 174 + +anarchists, 21, 31-34 + Communistic, 33 + +anarchy, 108, 110, 300 + ---- of distribution, 99, 102-110 + ---- of production, 102-110, 414-415 + ---- of the Middle Ages, 107 + +apprenticeship, 150 + ---- rules, 151 + +Archbold, 99 + +art, 31, 45, 128, 328, 429 + adulteration an, 88, 93 + +Asia, 105 + +Astor, John Jacob, 117 + William Waldorf, 118, 123 + + +B + +Babbage, Economy of Manufacture, 219 + +Bankers, Institute of, 193 + +Barrel, Dictionnaire d'Agriculture, 268 + +Bebel, August, 408 + +Belgian view of Socialism, 1 + +Belgium, 392 + coöperative stores in, 200 + farm colonies in, 78 + universal franchise in, 242 + +Bell, Alexander Graham, 221 + +Bellamy, Edward, 405 + +Berger, Victor, 255-256 + +Berger, Victor, views on compensation, 428-429 + +Berne, Canton of, 263 + +Beveridge, W.H., 66, 71-73, 75-76, 78 + +Bingham, Theodore, Police Commissioner of New York city, 158, 423, 424 + +Birmingham, 285 + ---- converted its slum into Corporation Street, 283 + municipal ownership of gas in, 20 + +Bismarck, 241 + +Björkman, Edwin, 406-407 + +Boer War, 309 + +Booth, Charles, 356 + +Boston, Chamber of Commerce of, 60, 218 + ---- Milk Contractors' Association, 288 + +bourgeois, 4, 11, 23, 25-26, 29, 32, 37, 39, 44, 46, 58, 66, 111 + ---- needs concrete statement, 4 + characterization of, 11 + ---- controls schools, colleges, and press, 24, 42-43, 68 + +Bradley, Edson, 206 + +British-- + ---- Empire, 63 + ---- employers, 148 + ---- government, 171 + ---- opium war in China, 63 + ---- Parliament, 142 + ---- trade unionists, 148 + +Brookmire, James H., 182, 191 + +Bryan, Wm. J., 6, 42, 57, 132 + +Bureau of Labor, 5, 227-228, 230, 293, 421 + +business men slaves of their own creations, 49 + + +C + +California, 280 + +Canal, 419 + +Canal, Panama, 220 + Suez, 220 + +Cannon, Joseph, 309 + +capital, 58-61, 102-105, 109, 132, 144, 165, 167, 172, 226, 409 + ---- by Karl Marx, 1, 34 + fluidity of, 64-65, 103 + waste of, 99 + +capitalist, 4, 10-11, 33, 36, 60, 102, 107, 109, 200, 219, 308, 414-415 + ---- class, 418 + ---- society, 414 + +Carlyle, Thomas, 388, 402 + +Carnegie, Andrew, 148, 199, 201, 325 + Problems of the Day, by, 199 + +Carnegie Steel Company, 168 + +Carter, James C., 7 + +Census (U.S.), 41, 48, 73, 77, 204 + +Central Railroad of Vermont, 430 + ---- of New Jersey, 430 + +Chamber of Commerce (Boston), 60, 218 + +Chapin, Robert Coit, 229 + +Charities, 164, 229 + ---- and the Commons, 266, 429 + Commissioner of, 266 + +charity, 72, 77, 78, 420 + +Chicago, 209-210, 413, 430 + +children, 34-35, 65, 68 109, 117, 120, 143, 154, 321, 325, 328, 415, 421 + death rate of, 38 + exploitation of, 42 + employment of, 42, 154, 157-158, 420 + property in, 133 + +China, 63 + +Chinese, 64, 354 + +cholera, 18, 19, 143 + +Christian Socialism, 12 + +Christian Socialist, 40, 207 + +churches, 328-330 + +circulating medium, 307-313 + +citizens, 25, 42, 218, 320, 327 + +citizens' union, 322-324 + +City Club, 90, 323 + +civil war, 168, 175, 429 + +civilization, 31, 85, 88, 113, 119, 126, 134, 138, 140-141 + property the basis of every conceivable, 43 + unemployment a peculiar product of our, 68 + +Clare, George, 193 + +class, 118, 144, 152, 416, 422 + bourgeois, 24, 26, 137 + capitalist, 143 + criminal, 322 + ---- consciousness, 16 + dominant, 412 + exploited, 26 + ---- interest, 29, 418 + laboring, 33, 109 + propertied, 24, 68, 120, 122, 414 + ---- rule, 45, 416 + ruling, 414-418 + ---- struggle, 25, 414 + wage-earning, 147, 415 + +Clearing House, 177 + ---- Association, 183 + +coal, 417 + ---- trust, 164, 238 + +Collectivism and Revolution, 1 + +colleges, controlled by propertied class, 68 + +colony, farm, 263-277, 380 + agricultural, 273 + penal, 274, 276 + +Colorado, 426-427 + ---- Midland railroad, 210 + ---- miners' strike, 168 + ---- State Board of Health, 90 + +Columbia University, 92 + +combination, 96, 99, 104, 143, 149-150, 160, 163-164, 319, 414, 419 + +commerce, 329 + ---- chamber of, 60, 218 + +Commerce and Labor, U.S. Department of, 421 + +Commercial Travelers' National League, 208 + ---- crises, 178, 414 + +Commonwealth, 5, 10, 30-31, 36, 80, 137, 143, 145, 252, 256, 300, 305, + 317, 325-329, 426 + +Communism, 33, 36, 51, 302 + ---- of Apostolic times, 34 + Socialism is not, 7 + +Communist, 7, 302 + Sir Thomas More a, 33 + +community, 25, 29, 116, 123, 131, 144, 147, 218, 319, 323, 326, 329, 410 + +compensation, 19-20, 29, 123, 251-253, 255-256, 285, 429 + +competition, 7, 9, 18-19, 34-38, 51, 58, 61, 63, 71, 94, 99-103, + 106-107, 151-152, 155, 157, 158, 262, 409, 419 + foreign, 149 + ---- primary cause of unemployment, 66-67 + +competitive system, 8, 37-39, 51, 53, 56-57, 60-66, 72-74, 79, 82, 86, + 88, 99, 101-102, 105, 110, 134, 140-142, 144-147, 153, 160, 323, + 426, 432 + +Comptroller of the City of New York, 190 + +compulsory education, 3, 120 + +Conant, Charles A., 177, 179 + +conflict, 115, 121, 140, 144 + ---- between capital and labor, 5, 86 + ---- between economics and religion, 389 + ---- between races, 115 + ---- between science and religion, 378-395 + ---- between tribes, 133 + +conflict between trusts and trade unions, 176 + international, 354 + +congested districts, 19, 42, 283 + +Congress (U.S.) 168, 197, 308-309, 318, 329-332, 417, 420, 426 + +Constitution, 329, 365, 417, 421 + federal, 15 + ---- of the United States, 365, 425-426 + State, 15 + +Constructive Program of Socialism, 7 + +consumer, 92-93, 96-97, 105-107 + +Consumers' parliament, 330 + +contract, freedom of, 94, 107, 109-110, 144 + +coöperation, 9, 34-35, 50-51, 54, 58, 94, 102, 104, 108, 199-201, 409 + +coöperative system, 39, 51, 128, 342-347 + ---- stores in Belgium, 200 + +corporations, 72, 320-321, 323-324, 426 + +Cortelyou, George, 187-189 + +cost, 62, 87, 155 + ---- of advertising, 5, 95 + ---- of crime, 5 + ---- of crude oil, 63 + ---- of distribution, 5 + ---- of getting the market, 99 + ---- of letter distribution, 96 + ---- of living, 156, 228-229 + ---- of revolutions, 30 + +cotton, 55, 92, 155 + ---- industries of Lancashire, 153 + proposal to burn, 60 + ---- weavers of India, 218 + +country, 29, 35, 43, 65, 77, 112, 118, 120, 121, 131-132, 156, 330, 417 + +County Council (London), 320 + +courts, 15, 92, 110, 119, 155, 415-428 + +credit, 178 + +crime, 9, 22, 26, 35, 39, 42, 44, 52, 63, 66, 83, 99, 128, 130, 158, + 415, 424-426 + +crises, 178, 414 + +cross freights, 96, 99-100 + +Cuba, 407 + +Cumberland, 430 + +custom, 13, 112, 113, 366 + +cyclical fluctuations, 67, 73 + + +D + +Dairy and Food Commission of Ohio, 90 + ---- products, 275 + +Damien, Father, 39 + +Darwin, Charles, 8, 85 + +Dearles, N.B., 72 + +death, 37-38, 99, 136, 212, 421 + +Debs, Eugene V., 255, 428-429 + +Declaration of Independence, 137 + +defectives and delinquents, 5 + +degeneracy, 36 + +Delaware, 430 + +democracy, 28, 129, 143, 158, 175 + +Denver, 210, 426-427 + +depression, 66, 76, 87, 414 + industrial, 73, 153, 418 + +Detrich, J., 281 + +disease, 39, 54, 58, 69-70, 99 + +distribution, 23, 28-29, 36-37, 54-55, 59, 66, 87, 93-94, 97 + anarchy of, 99, 102 + cost of, 5, 10, 288, 318, 411 + +divorce, 40, 81 + +Dowe, President Commercial Travelers' League, 95 + +drunkenness, 70, 79, 99 + +Dutch farm colonies, 271 + + +E + +economic conditions, 23-30, 64, 322, 329 + points of view created by, 22 + +economic interpretation of history, 10 + ---- liberty, 51-52 + ---- socialism, 1, 13, 14 + ---- tyranny, 138 + +Economists, 61, 66, 73, 103, 403 + orthodox, 68 + +economy, 48, 50 + ---- of Manufacture, 219 + ---- of Socialism, 5 + +education, 144, 154, 158, 325-328 + Board of, 321 + ---- of workingmen, 48, 144 + U.S. Department of, 27, 421 + +Elimination of the Tramp, 264, 271-272 + +Eliot, Charles W., 109 + +Ely, Richard T., 42, 60, 209, 210, 217, 225 + +employers-- + loss to, from strikes, 86 + +Employers' Association in Colorado, 168 + +Encyclopedia Americana, 88, 148 + ---- Britannica, 93 + +Engels, Friedrich, 1, 387 + +engineer's lockout, 148-149 + +England, 40, 63, 78, 132, 147-148, 176, 193, 210, 220, 236-237, 264, + 309, 409, 421 + Labor party in, 171 + municipal ownership in, 20 + Public House Trust in, 295 + +English-- + manufacturers, 63 + ministry, 154 + ---- Poor Law Guardians, 273 + ---- Socialism of To-day, 155 + ---- unions, 171 + +Ensor, R.C.K., Modern Socialism, 387 + +Ethical argument for Socialism, 12, 13, 29 + ---- Aspect of Socialism, 378-410 + +Ethical standards, 81 + +Europe, 76, 105, 132, 135-136, 166, 173, 181, 188, 196, 210, 223, 263, + 289, 309, 408-409 + +Evolution, 3, 5 + ---- and Effort, 267 + ---- and Ethics, 336, 379-385 + Socialist, 22 + +evolutionist, 23-24, 27-30, 429 + +exploitation, 4, 35, 45, 416 + ---- of women and children, 32 + +export of wheat, 55 + ---- of oil, 63, 104 + + +F + +Fabian Tracts, 2 + +factory, 29, 32, 48, 80, 103-104, 123-124, 132, 138, 156, 220, 327, 415-417 + ---- hand 16, 25, 47, 50, 73 + independent, 159 + ---- inspection, 420 + ---- owners, 25, 29, 47-48, 69-70 + +fallacies regarding Socialism, 6 + +family, 28, 35, 42, 44, 109, 118, 122, 131, 134, 137, 153, 157, 421, 427 + +Faraday, 222 + +farm, 29 + colony, 78-80, 263-277 + deserted, 68 + ---- hands, 28 + ownership of, 16 + +farmer, 15, 28-29, 48, 55, 177-178, 415 + +Farmers' Bulletin, 269, 281 + +farming population, 48 + +Federal Steel Company, 62 + +Federation of Labor, 171 + +Fesca, Dr. M., Beiträge zur Kenntniss der japanesischen + Landwirthschaft, 267 + +Fields, Factories and Workshops (Kropotkin), 267 + +Filene Store, 199-200 + +financial crises, 178, 299 + +fines (for adulteration), 88-93 + +food, 98 + ---- adulteration, 89-93 + +Food and Drugs Act, 91 + +forests, 27 + +Forster, Rt. Hon. H.O. Arnold, 154 + +Fourier, 317 + +France, 40, 78, 132, 137, 243, 264, 266, 308-309, 318, 392, 409 + +franchise, 135, 145 + +free trade, 69 + +freedom, 109, 116, 121, 124 + law an abridgment of, 113-114 + ---- of contract, 11, 140-141 + ---- of industry, 111 + economic, 50, 125 + +French Parliament, 18-19 + ---- peasant, 278 + ---- penal code, 142 + ---- Revolution, 32, 138, 140, 243 + +Frick, Henry, 27, 188, 191 + +funds, 172, + benefit, 136 + Mansion House Relief, 76 + savings bank, 78 + trade union, 78 + + +G + +Galvani, 222 + +gambling, 38, 68, 72, 423 + +gardeners (Paris), 268 + ---- Hammersmith, 18-20 + +Gary, Elbert H., 57-62, 188, 191 + +gas, 123, 324 + ---- in Birmingham, 20 + ---- in Manchester, 20 + ---- in New York, 21 + +General Electric Company, 184, 221 + +Genevilliers, 268 + +George, Henry, 123, 364 + +German (the), 321 + ---- competition, 148 + +Germany, 236, 242, 308-309, 408 + cabinet minister in, 132 + palliative measures in, 78 + workingmen in, 16 + +Ghent, W.J., 89 + +Giddings, Professor Franklin H., 405 + +Gladstone, 334, 384 + +Gompers, Samuel, 408 + +Gothenburg system, 295 + +government, 32-33, 43, 102, 121, 128-129, 135-136, 150, 218, 315, + 317-320, 336, 416-418, 431 + ---- control, 12, 72 + good, 321-324 + ---- postoffice, 97 + ---- printing office, 228 + publications of U.S., 12, 228 + the Prussian, 25 + +Grandeau, L., Etudes agronomiques, 268 + +Guesde, Jules, 408 + +Guggenheim, Senator, 74 + Daniel, 87 + +guilds, 135, 140 + tyranny of, 135-140 + + +H + +Hague Tribunal, 355 + +Hallet, Major, 267 + +Hammersmith, 18-20 + +Hardie, Keir, 408 + +Harriman, 304 + +Havemeyer, H.O., 57, 105, 107, 159, 161 + +Haywood, 169, 240 + +health, 414, 421 + Colorado State Board of, 90 + conservation of, 27, 38, 72 + Department of, 27 + +Hebberd, Mr., Commissioner of Charities of New York city, 266 + +Henri IV, 142 + +Hill, James J., 238, 304 + +Hillquit, Morris, 2, 7, 248, 305, 307 + +Hindustan, 64, 355 + +history, 28, 387 + +Holland, 222 + farm colonies in, 262, 265 + +Hollesley Bay, 78 + +Holt, Dr. L. Emmett, 38, 421 + +home, 7, 40-42, 51, 83, 105, 156, 157, 415 + common, 317 + ---- Economics, Conference on, 92 + ---- industry, 138 + +horde, 34, 35, 107 + +hours of labor, 62, 69, 128, 145, 152, 153, 220, 318, 326, 328, 419 + excessive, 70 + four hours' workday, 50 + ---- of farmer, 15 + +House of Commons, 18 + +House report, 52d Congress, 2d + session, 197 + +Hudson river, 261 + +Hughes, Charles F., 244-245 + +Hunter, Robert, 42 + +Huxley, Thomas, 13, 315-316, 379-380, 382-386, 388, 395, 404 + + +I + +Ice Trust, 262 + +Idaho, 426-427 + +Illinois, 425, 427, 430 + +immediate demands, 26, 27, 246 + +immobilization of capital, 65 + +imprisonment for adulteration, 89-93 + +India, 218 + starvation in, 55, 60 + tiger developed in, 4 + +Indian opium forced upon China, 63 + +Indiana, 430 + +individualism, 10, 23, 32 + +Industrial Commission, 57, 62-63, 76, 95, 99, 104-107, 146, 150-151, + 159, 161-164, 170, 206-208, 288 + +industrial conditions, 42, 64, 76, 93 + ---- depression, 153, 414 + ---- Parliament, 318 + ---- population, 48 + ---- schools, 151 + ---- system, 26, 46, 52, 73 + +industrialism, 88 + +industries, 118, 318, 326-327, 414, 416 + captain of, 87 + collective ownership of, 419 + seasonal, 71 + socialized, 319 + +industry, 65, 102-105, 107, 123, 134, 138-140, 148, 155, 159, 317, 421-422 + +insurance, 5, 78, 179, 303, 420 + German national, 241 + ---- Year Book, 179 + +International, the, 155 + ---- complications, 63 + ---- conflict, 354 + ---- crime, 63 + +interest, 59, 69 + personal, 29-30 + private, 26 + vested, 15, 17, 19, 20, 22-30 + +intranational conflict, 354 + +invention, 44, 219, 222-224 + +inventor, 219, 220-224 + +investor, 94 + +Ireland, 241 + +Italy, 22, 267 + + +J + +James I of England, 21 + +Japan, 62-63, 239, 267 + +Jaurès, 132, 408 + +Jersey, Island of, 280 + +justice, 27, 34, 64, 411-429 + + +K + +Kautsky, Karl, 239, 243, 307-308 + +Kentucky, 60 + +Knickerbocker Trust Company, 182-184, 189, 191 + +Kropotkin, 34, 135, 267-268 + + +L + +labor, 36, 50-51, 75, 80, 86, 104, 113-114, 116-117, 119, 123, 131, + 135, 144, 147, 154, 157, 414-422 + ---- Bulletin, 120 + Bureau of, 421 + child, 109 + Commerce and, 421 + Department of, 421 + fluidity of, 103 + ---- market, 109 + ---- members of Parliament, 173 + ---- not so fluid as capital, 64 + ---- of women, 109 + young, 69 + +laborers, 72, 74 + +_Laissez-faire_, 11, 32, 139, 407 + +Lancashire, 154 + +land, 15, 24, 27, 29, 42, 48, 59, 112, 116, 118, 122-124, 148, 269, + 278, 317, 412-414, 416, 420 + +law, 43, 91-92, 108, 112-113, 119, 121, 126, 137, 159, 322, 324, 410, + 417, 420, 423, 425, 430 + ---- of 1799 of British Parliament, 142 + relation of custom to, 13 + +Lebovitz, J., 5 + +legislation, 26, 424 + +leisure, 48-49, 52, 65, 125-130, 325, 411 + +Lesseps de, 220 + +Lewis, Orlando F., 429-430 + +liberty, 7, 32, 46-47, 50, 52, 110, 130, 139, 317, 325, 409, 412, 426 + A Plea for, 50, 94 + +life, 28, 33, 37-38, 50, 67-72 + +Lincoln, 175 + +lockout, 5, 86-88, 110, 148 + +London, 18, 21, 71, 219, 284, 286, 320, 394 + +Louis XIV, 137, 422 + +Lowell, James Russell, 223 + +lumber, 53 + camps, 42 + +lunacy, 49, 278 + +Lyell, Sir Charles, 349 + + +M + +McCrea, President, 430 + +MacDonald, J. Ramsay, 408 + +McKenna, Judge, 169, 424 + +machine, political, 129 + +machinery, 69, 218, 414-420 + +Maine, 280 + +Mallock, 408-409 + +Malthus, 172, 316 + +Manchester, 20 + ---- school, 32, 60, 139 + +Manhattan, 97-98, 282, 424 + +Mansion House Relief Fund, 76 + +Manufacture, Economy of, 219 + +market, 16, 18, 64, 93, 103-105, 109-110, 141, 146, 148, 158 + foreign, 62, 63, 76, 319 + getting the, 95-96 + ---- price, 154, 159 + the London, 18 + tyranny of the, 102-103 + +marriage, 40, 85, 134, 351-353, 358-359 + +Marshall, Alfred, 391 + +Martineau, Harriet, 402 + +Marx, Karl, 1, 8, 25, 33-34, 147, 155-156, 226, 386 + +Marxian school, 25, 201, 239 + ---- doctrine of value, 33 + ---- socialism, 1 + ---- socialist, 242 + +Mass and Class, 89 + +Maxim, 220 + +meat, 137, 417 + ---- distribution, 97 + ---- Trust, 262 + +Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, 212 + +Metz, Hermann, Comptroller of New York city, 190 + +Middle Ages, 107, 110, 135, 138 + +militia, 27, 427 + +milk, 96-97, 324 + ---- adulteration, 90 + ---- Contractors' Association, 288 + trust, 211 + +Mill, John Stuart, 32, 325 + +Miner, Maud E., probation officer, 83 + +mineowners, 27 + +miners, 65 131, 415, 417 + ---- union, 164 + Western Federation of, 417 + +misrepresentation, 6, 15-16 + +Mississippi, 429 + +Mitchell, Dr. W.C., 90-91 + +Mitchell, John, 146, 151-152, 408 + +Modern Socialism, R.C.K. Ensor, 387 + +Monde Economique, 63 + +Monetary and Banking system, by Maurice L. Muhleman, 181 + +money, 37, 53-55, 66-68, 77-79, 81, 86, 176-198, 323, 419 + ---- market, 74 + ---- Market Primer, by George Clare, 193 + +monopoly, 260, 416, 422, 428 + ---- of guilds, 256 + +monopolies, 123, 137, 146, 150 + +morality, 40, 45, 81-84 + +More, Sir Thomas, 33 + +Morgan, J. Pierpont, 169, 185, 195-196, 237-239, 254, 257, 428 + elimination of waste by, 58 + organization of steel and coal trusts by, 238 + share of, in New York city finances, Oct., 1908, 190 + +Morris, William, 2 + +mortality, 38 + infant, 419 + +Moyer, 169 + +Muhleman, Maurice L., 181 + +municipalities, 74 + +municipal ownership, 20-21 + +Municipal Year Book, 20 + + +N + +nation, 63, 65, 105, 107, 114, 131, 133, 412-418 + +National Association of State Food and Dairy Departments, 91 + +National Executive Committee, 248, 256 + +necessaries of life, 128, 417 + +Negro slavery, 46 + +New England, 42 + +New York Central railroad, 74, 429-430 + +New York city, 19-22, 177, 179, 190, 209, 214, 283-284, 320-322 + Aldermen in, 247 + butcher shops in, 97 + reform in, 128 + Trow's directory of, 97 + +New York State, 245, 265, 269, 272 + ---- Department of Labor, 73,74 + +Newton, Isaac, 219, 222 + +Nightingale, Florence, 39 + +Northern Pacific, 191, 430 + +Northern Securities Case, 238 + + +O + +occupations, 71-72, 75, 114-115, 278 + +Oersted, 222 + +Ohio Dairy and Food Department, 90 + +Ohm, 219, 222 + +oil, 63, 94, 96, 105, 417 + Pratts' Astral, 207 + Standard, 99, 104, 207 + +opium, 63-64 + ---- war in China, 63 + +organization, 115, 147-148, 157 + industrial, 107 + international, 156 + ---- of labor, 127, 145 + ---- of trade unions, 159 + political, 122, 128 + +Organized Labor, by John Mitchell, 73-75, 115, 145-146, 151-153, 409, 417 + +Outlook the, 6, 40, 82, 109, 259 + +overinvestment, 65-66 + +overproduction, 57-66, 218 + +overwork, 48, 69-70, 72, 122, 164 + +ownership, 20-21, 416 + collective, 419 + ---- of land, 24, 121, 280 + State, 317 + State, not Socialism, 25 + + +P + +pacemakers, 69 + +Palissy, Bernard, 223 + +palliative measures, 78 + +Panama bonds, 188 + ---- canal, 220 + +Pangborn, Col., 266 + +panic, 63, 65, 73-75, 87, 181-194, 299 + +Paris, 7, 18, 98, 137, 138, 286 + +Parliament, 173 + Industrial, 319 + +parlor Socialists, 28 + +Parnell, 241 + +party, 416-419 + capitalistic, 16 + Democratic, 122, 134, 308 + dominant, 415 + Labor, in England, 171 + Republican, 122, 134, 309, 418 + Socialist, 2, 21, 26-27, 34-36, 45, 134, 200, 248, 414, 418, 428-429 + +pauper, 80 + +pauperism, 9, 22, 26, 35-36, 44, 52, 66, 99, 128, 130 + +penal colonies, 274 + +Pennsylvania, 74-75, 91, 280, 430 + +Pettibone vs. Collins, 424 + +Philadelphia, 430 + +philanthropists, 87 + +philosophy of Socialism, 6, 54 + +Pinkerton, Robert A., 168 + +pipe-line, 63, 105 + +Pittsburg, 15, 164-165, 167, 173, 201 + Survey, 164, 167, 173-174, 201 + +platform, Socialist, 6, 26-27, 45, 134, 413, 421 + +Plato, 33, 44, 388 + +Platonic school of Socialism, 199 + +Plea for Liberty, 50, 94 + +political-- + ---- action, 26, 110, 409 + ---- contributions, 32 + ---- control, 135 + ---- issue, 140 + ---- liberty, 47, 52, 121 + ---- parties, 140 + ---- power, 26-27 + ---- Science Quarterly, 169 + ---- students, 23 + +politics, 48, 110, 129 + +Ponce, La Culture Maraiche, 268 + +Poor Law guardians, 273 + +popular government, 107, 142 + +population, 65, 131, 134, 142, 153, 156-158, 323 + +Populism, 174 + +Portland Proceedings, 90-91 + +postoffice, 262 + ---- economies, 96-97 + +Poverty, by Robert Hunter, 42 + +press, 66, 415, 420 + propertied class in control of, 42-43 + +price, 42, 50, 58-63, 65-66, 69, 76, 87, 94, 98, 103-104, 106, + 134-135, 147-148, 158-160, 228, 324, 417 + +Principles of Sociology, 335-405 + +Problems of the Day, by Andrew Carnegie, 199 + +problems, solution of, 151 + economic, 128 + +Problems of Unemployment, 72 + +production, 12, 23, 25, 28, 33, 35-38, 45, 49, 52-54, 59, 66, 86, + 93-94, 104, 110, 123, 131-132, 139 + anarchy of, 318, 413, 414, 416, 418 + +products, 33, 36, 46, 51, 55, 99, 105, 113, 116-117, 119, 121, + 123-124, 126, 128, 135, 137, 139, 314-319 + +profit, 5, 10, 16, 25, 37, 58-60, 65, 94, 102, 104-106, 108, 148, 155, + 414, 423 + +proletariat, 25-26, 45, 119, 122 + +property, 7, 15-16, 24-25, 28-29, 32-33, 42-46, 112, 131-175, 414, 422 + ---- and Liberty, 54, 112-130 + +prostitution, 4, 9, 26, 35-36, 44, 66, 79, 86, 88, 99, 128, 130 + +Proudhon, 7, 33-34, 124, 131 + +Prussia, 317 + +Prussian Government, 25 + +public domain, 27 + +Public House Trust, 295 + +public ownership, 20-21, 27, 106 + +Pullman, 168 + + +Q + +de Quesnay, 54 + +Quintessence of Socialism, 235 + + +R + +race, 32, 65-66, 91, 115, 128, 327, 411 + for profits, 415 + +rags sold as woollen cloth, 93 + ---- pickers of Paris, 18-20 + +railroads, 53, 65, 73-95, 123, 131, 215, 303, 329, 415, 419, 429-431 + +reclamation, 27, 101 + +reforestation, 27 + +reform, 26-28, 71, 127, 129, 243, 414, 418-419 + +relief, 26, 76 + +remedies, 31, 78 + +remuneration, 303-306 + +republic, 243 + +revolution, 25-28, 243 + +revolutionary period, 108 + ---- Socialists, 27, 29 + +revolutionist, 23-26, 30, 228 + +Rhode Island, 306 + +Ritchie, Professor, 385 + +Rockefeller, 57-58, 104, 159, 237-239, 253-255, 288, 325 + +Rocky mountains, 96, 276 + +Rodbertus, 307 + +Rogers, Thorold, 233 + +Roosevelt, Theodore, 6, 25, 33-34, 40-42, 50, 82, 132, 134, 237-239, + 255, 259-260, 320, 398 + +Rousseau, 138 + +royalty, 21 + +Ruskin, John, 402-403 + +Russia, 121, 239 + + +S + +salaries, 82, 303-306 + +San Francisco, 96 + +savings Banks, 42, 65, 78 + +Schäffle, 235 + +Schenectady, 261 + +school, 153, 165, 321, 326, 328, 409, 415, 419 + divinity, 329 + industrial, 151 + Manchester, 20, 32, 60, 139 + Marxian, 25 + trade, 151 + +Science, 1, 88, 115, 128, 421 + ---- and Morals, 336 + +Scientific aspect of Socialism, 335-377 + +Seligman, J. & W., 196 + +semi-skilled workers, 75 + +Semler, Tropische Agrikultur, 267 + +Shaw, Bernard, 2 + +sickness, 5, 136, 153, 172, 326, 406-407 + +Simon, A.M., The American Farmer, 48 + +Simon Eugène, La Cité Chinoise, 267 + +single tax, 123, 278, 285 + +slave, 15, 45, 47, 49, 51, 104, 115, 125, 140, 415, 429 + +slaveowner, 69 + +slavery, 15, 109, 120, 125, 127, 128-130 + +Smith, Adam, 32, 54, 139 + +Social Revolution (Kautsky), 239 + +Socialism and Social Reform, 42, 60, 209, 211, 217-218 + +Socialism in Theory and Practice, 248, 305, 307-308 + +socialization of industries, 34 + +South, farmers of the, 217 + +South Australia, 290 + +South Carolina, 267 + +Southern Pacific, 430 + +Spargo, John, 2, 248-250 + +Spencer, Herbert, 3, 13, 32, 54, 94, 101, 137, 336, 365, 388, 404 + +standard of living, 165, 229 + +standard of wages, 157 + +Standard Oil, 99, 104-105, 152, 159, 207, 251, 253-256 + +starvation, 103, 120, 139, 156, 158, 414, 417 + +State, 45-46, 80, 91, 134, 325, 409, 424-431 + agricultural, 77 + ---- commissions, 89 + ---- constabulary, 431 + ---- Government, 329 + ---- laws, 417 + mining, 77 + New York, 75, 280 + ---- ownership not Socialism, 25 + Prussian, 25 + ---- Socialism, 235, 317-318 + ---- Socialist, 27 + ---- viands, 50 + +Statistical Abstract of the United States, 148, 181, 431 + +statistics, 5, 38, 73 + +steel, 94, 327-328 + ---- industry, 148 + ---- rails, 63 + ---- trust, 55, 149, 164, 185-186, 201, 238, 257, 303 + U.S.,--Corporation, 185 + +Steffens, Lincoln, 255, 429 + +step by step socialist, 28 + +stockholders, 21, 252, 324 + +stocks, 85, 160 + +store, 11, 29, 82, 156, 431 + +strike, 62, 71, 86-88, 145, 148, 168 + +struggle, 147, 153, 415 + class, 25 + ---- for Existence in Human Society, 336 + ---- for life, 337, 410 + +study of Sociology, 365 + +Suez canal, 220 + +sugar trust, 61, 95 + +Survey, 164, 167, 173-174, 201 + +swamplands, 27, 101, 180, 420 + +sweated trades, 158 + +sweating system, 154, 156 + +Switzerland, 263, 266, 272 + farm colonies in, 78, 269 + +system, 28, 34, 44, 409, 421 + apprenticeship, 151 + ---- of production, 35, 414 + capitalist, 45 + competitive, 37, 39, 54, 66, 86, 98, 99, 145, 323, 325 + coöperative, 128 + factory, 416 + Fourier's, 317 + + +T + +Taft, President, 1, 6, 42, 132 + +taxes, 323, 326, 420 + personal, 118 + single, 123 + ---- rate, 320 + +teachers, 49 + ---- college, 92 + +tenements, 19, 41, 247, 321 + +Tennessee Coal and Iron Company, 185-186, 188, 191 + +textiles, 92 + ---- schools, 92 + +Thompson, Carl D., 7 + +tobacco, 156 + adulteration of, 91 + ---- crop in Kentucky, 60 + +Tolstoi, 388 + +Toubeau, La répartition métrique des impôts, 267 + +trade, 63, 88, 92, 93, 95 + export, 105-106, 111, 137, 145, 149, 151-155, 321, 328 + +trade unions, 16, 72-77, 86, 110, 136, 140-159, 167-174 + organization of, 159-160 + +tramps, 24, 264, 271-272, 273-274, 430 + +Troy, 261 + +trust companies, 182 + +Trust Company of America, 185 + +trusts, 15, 16, 76, 86, 104, 107, 110, 140, 142, 159, 175, 418 + expropriation of, 15 + development of, 58 + Standard Oil, 99 + steel, 149, 303 + +Turgot, 422 + +Tweed, 320 + +Tyranny, 142 + economic, 138 + ---- of the guilds, 138 + ---- of the market, 102-104, 107, 109 + ---- of the trade union, 108-110 + ---- of the trusts, 104, 109 + + +U + +underconsumption, 66, 67 + +underemployment, 66, 67, 72 + +underpayment, 67, 72 + +unemployable, 70-72, 78, 87 + +unemployed, 24, 42, 66-79, 103, 107, 148, 157, 245, 415 + +unemployment, 4, 39, 60, 65, 79, 81, 86, 88-89, 140, 144, 153, 164, 245 + +unions, 108, 159-160, 169-175 + +United States, 7, 61, 64, 144, 147, 151, 177, 179, 187-188, 193, 204, + 206, 209, 215, 266, 272, 416-417 + ---- Bureau of Labor, 228, 293 + ---- Census, 41, 48, 73, 77, 204 + ---- Congress, 168, 197, 308-309, 318, 329-330, 417, 420, 426 + ---- Constitution, 15, 365, 417, 426 + ---- Department of Agriculture, 230 + ---- Department, of Labor, 148, 230 + divorce in, 40-41 + ---- postoffice, 96-97, 262 + +United States, Secretary of the Treasury of, 187, 189 + statistical abstract of, 148, 181, 431 + statutes of, 424-425 + ---- Treasury, 181, 187-188 + +unorganized labor, 73, 75, 77, 109, 145 + +unskilled labor, 75-77 + + +V + +value, 125-126 + Marx' theory of, 33 + surplus, 10 + +Vandervelde, Emil, 1, 7, 408 + +Vermont, 430 + +vested interests, 15, 18-22, 30 + +vice, 40, 362, 410-411, 415 + +Vienna, 286 + +violence, 27, 67, 117-118, 124, 168-169, 425, 429 + +Volta, 222 + + +W + +wages, 69-70, 103-104, 109, 118, 124, 142, 145,147,151-158, 165 + miners', 82-83 + ---- earners', 16 + ---- servants', 122 + ---- slave, 68 + ---- slavery, 68-69 + union, 419 + +Wall Street, 179-192, 212 + +war, 168, 175, 429 + +Ward, Lester F., 404 + +Washington, 5, 260, 309 + +waste, 96, 102, 139, 301 + ---- lands, 419 + ---- of capital, 99 + +waste of life and property in revolution, 28 + +water, 20, 21, 101, 123, 419 + +wealth, 42-43, 45-46, 50, 52, 65, 67, 115, 117, 130-131, 134-135, 137, + 410, 415, 418 + +Webb, Sidney, 2 + +Western Federation of Miners, 417 + +Western Union, 210 + +Westinghouse Company, 184, 187, 221 + +wheat, 55, 293 + +whiskey, adulteration of, 91 + Trust, 61, 161-162 + +Why Socialism is Impossible, 235 + +Winslow, Lanier & Company, 196 + +Wisconsin, 256 + +women, 35, 46, 65, 68, 80-86, 120, 142-143, 154, 157-158, 165, 245, + 265, 275 + exploitation of, 32 + suffrage for, 420 + +Woodbridge, Alice, 82 + +working class, 42-45, 414-416, 419 + +workingmen, 15, 47-48, 51, 62, 64, 68, 70, 75, 77, 86, 103, 108, 109, + 116, 137-138, 142, 144, 149, 151-154 + standard of living of, 229 + + +Y + +Year Book of the Department of Agriculture, 230 + Insurance, 179 + Municipal, 20 + +Yorkshire, 154 + + * * * * * + + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + | Typographical errors corrected in text: | + | | + | Page xiv: distaseful replaced with distasteful | + | Page 14: Socalism replaced with Socialism | + | Page 19: landords replaced with landlords | + | Page 88: similiar replaced with similar | + | Page 163: advancng replaced with advancing | + | Page 164: presention replaced with presentation | + | Page 180: noney replaced with money | + | Page 205: conoeded replaced with conceded | + | Page 226: pulverzing replaced with pulverizing | + | Page 229: expediture replaced with expenditure | + | Page 285: cooperative replaced with coöperative | + | Page 290: cooperative replaced with coöperative | + | Page 292: catagories replaced with categories | + | Page 295: Gothenberg replaced with Gothenburg | + | Page 312: "six hundred and and sixty million dollars" | + | replaced with | + | "six hundred and sixty million dollars" | + | Page 312: "will be paid to be steel guild" replaced with | + | "will be paid to the steel guild" | + | Page 327: primarly replaced with primarily | + | Page 336: subsituting replaced with substituting | + | Page 351: cooperative replaced with coöperative | + | Page 362: self-straint replaced with self-restraint | + | Page 371: "If the the harness left" replaced with | + | "If the harness left" | + | Page 407: communites replaced with communities | + | Page 409: canivora replaced with carnivora | + | Page 433: Barral replaced with Barrel | + | Page 435: captial replaced with capital | + | Page 437: Beitrage replaced with Beiträge | + | Page 438: ecomonic replaced with economic | + | Page 440: Kautzky replaced with Kautsky | + | Page 443: Unemplovment replaced with Unemployment | + | Page 443: Tharold replaced with Thorold | + | Page 444: Kautzky replaced with Kautsky | + | | + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + + * * * * * + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Twentieth Century Socialism, by Edmond Kelly + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWENTIETH CENTURY SOCIALISM *** + +***** This file should be named 34979-8.txt or 34979-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/9/7/34979/ + +Produced by Fritz Ohrenschall 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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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: Twentieth Century Socialism + What It Is Not; What It Is: How It May Come + +Author: Edmond Kelly + +Release Date: January 16, 2011 [EBook #34979] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWENTIETH CENTURY SOCIALISM *** + + + + +Produced by Fritz Ohrenschall and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> + +<div class="tr"> +<p class="cen" style="font-weight: bold;">Transcriber's Note:</p> +<br /> +<p class="noin">Inconsistent hyphenation in the original document has been preserved.</p> +<p class="noin" style="text-align: left;">Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. +For a complete list, please see the <span style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="#TN">end of this document</a>.</span></p> +</div> + +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h2>TWENTIETH CENTURY SOCIALISM</h2> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> + +<h1>TWENTIETH CENTURY<br /> +SOCIALISM</h1> + +<br /> + +<h3><i>WHAT IT IS NOT; WHAT IT IS:<br /> +HOW IT MAY COME</i></h3> + +<br /> +<br /> + +<h4>BY</h4> +<h3>EDMOND KELLY, M.A., F.G.S.</h3> + +<p class="cen">Late Lecturer on Municipal Government at Columbia University,<br /> +in the City of New York</p> + +<p class="cen">Author of "Government or Human Evolution,"<br /> +"Evolution and Effort," etc., etc.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h4>LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.<br /> +FOURTH AVENUE & 30TH STREET, NEW YORK<br /> +LONDON, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA<br /> +1911</h4> + +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h5>Copyright, 1910<br /> +BY<br /> +LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.</h5> + +<br /> + +<h5>First Edition, May, 1910<br /> +Reprinted, November, 1910<br /> +May, 1911</h5> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h6>THE SCIENTIFIC PRESS<br /> +ROBERT DRUMMOND AND COMPANY<br /> +BROOKLYN, N.Y.</h6> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>INTRODUCTION</h3> + +<br /> + +<h4>I</h4> + +<p>No one whose intellectual parts are in working order believes that the +industrial world will go back to an unorganized individualistic +production and distribution of wealth. No one whose moral sense is +awake desires to see the chief means of production owned and +controlled by a small number of monstrously wealthy men, however great +their ability or good their intentions. Nevertheless, most persons of +moral sense and normal mentality are disturbed when one suggests in so +many words that if industry cannot henceforth be individualistic and +should not be owned and controlled by the Big Few, it will, +apparently, have to be owned and controlled by the Many. This +paradoxical psychology possibly indicates that we queer human beings +do our real thinking and perform our occasional feats of moral +self-examination in lucid intervals, alternating with states of +mind—and conscience—which were better not described in non-technical +language.</p> + +<p>Edmond Kelly was a man whose lucidity was not interrupted. It was a +necessity of his nature to think clearly and coherently. Not less +necessary was it for him to think comprehensively, for his sympathy +was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span>boundless. Every phase of life interested him. He found nothing +but meanness contemptible; and nothing but injustice moved him to +hate. To such a mind the partial view is intolerable. A fact must be +seen from every side and its relations to other facts must be traced +out. From his earliest manhood Mr. Kelly looked upon the struggle for +existence as both evolution and effort. Accepting the Darwinian +explanation of life, he yet could not admit that man is powerless to +control his fate. Physical evolution shades into physiological, and +physiological evolution into psychological. Effort, foresight, and +directed effort are products of evolution, but having been produced, +they become forces in further evolution. In the higher evolution of +man, they have become principal forces. From the moment that Mr. Kelly +grasped this thought his mind was busy with it through all the years +of his exceedingly active life, mastering its implications, examining +it in its social or collective, no less than in its individual aspect, +and forecasting the chief lines of constructive effort by an +enlightened mankind industrially and politically organized for the +most effective coöperation.</p> + +<p>Yet it was not until a few years before his death that Mr. Kelly +became a declared Socialist. The slow advance to his ultimate +conclusions was characteristic. Though his mind moved swiftly, his +intellectual integrity compelled him to examine every position as he +went on. Because of these qualities his books form a series, +consecutive in premisses and argument; a logical sequence +corresponding to their chronological order. Thus, in his early work, +"Evolution and Effort," Mr. Kelly was content to do thoroughly one +particular thing, namely, to demonstrate that the Spencerian +philosophy of evolution could be accepted without committing mankind +to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span>the practical programme of <i>laissez faire</i>, upon which Mr. Spencer +himself so strongly insisted. This work Mr. Kelly did so well that +there is no need for anyone to do it over, and it provided a firm +foundation for his further constructive efforts. <i>The Popular Science +Monthly</i>, which was then, under the editorship of Professor Edward L. +Youmans, unreservedly committed to Spencerian views, acknowledged that +it was the most telling attack upon what Professor Huxley had called +"administrative nihilism" that had been made in any quarter. The main +ideas of "Evolution and Effort" were elaborated and clinched in the +two large volumes on "Government or Human Evolution," and were +concretely applied to pressing practical questions in the unsigned +book, "A Programme for Workingmen."</p> + +<p>Each of the two volumes on "Government" was devoted, as "Evolution and +Effort" had been, to establishing firmly a specific proposition. When +Mr. Kelly began writing the first volume, which bore the sub-title +"Justice," he was a lecturer in the Faculty of Political Science at +Columbia University and was intensely interested in the movement for +the reform of municipal politics in New York city. Believing that +adequate organization was the chief need, he had founded the City Club +and the subsidiary Good Government Clubs. In the discussions which +this movement called forth, he says: "One fact stood out with +startling conspicuousness. Not one out of a thousand was able to +formulate a clear idea as to the principles upon which he stood; upon +one measure he was an Individualist; upon another, a Collectivist; one +day he was for strong governmental action; the next for liberty of +contract; and of those who presented the claims of expediency and +justice respectively, no one was able to say what justice was."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span>It seemed, therefore, to Mr. Kelly that on the theoretical side we +needed first, and above all else, a clear conception of justice as an +end to be attained. For conclusions already arrived at in "Evolution +and Effort" made it impossible for him to believe that justice is +satisfied by merely "rewarding every man according to his +performance." Seeing in evolution possibilities beyond present +attainment, he believed that a way should be found to enable every man +to achieve his potential performance. Thus his notion of justice, +derived from the principle of evolution, became substantially +identical with that which had been set forth two thousand years ago by +Plato in <i>The Republic</i>. To quote Mr. Kelly's own words: "Justice may, +then, be described as the effort to eliminate from our social +conditions the effects of the inequalities of Nature upon the +happiness and advancement of man, and particularly to create an +artificial environment which shall serve the individual as well as the +race, and tend to perpetuate noble types rather than those which are +base."</p> + +<p>It was inevitable that with such a conception of justice in mind, a +thinker scientifically so remorseless as Mr. Kelly was, should find +individualistic prejudices shaken before he completed his task. +"Beginning with a strong bias against Socialism of every kind," he was +forced before he reached the end of his first volume to "a reluctant +recognition that by collective action only could the uncorrupted many +be rescued from the corrupt few, and could successful effort be made +to diminish the misery of poverty and crime."</p> + +<p>Having arrived at this conclusion, Mr. Kelly was able to make his +second volume on the respective claims of Individualism and +Collectivism an exposition which, for clearness of insight, acuteness +of philosophical <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[ix]</a></span>observation, wealth of historical knowledge, and +sanity of judgment, has few equals in the modern literature of social +problems. He demonstrated the inevitable failure of individualism as +an adequate working programme for a complex civilization. He showed +that collectivism must be accepted, whether we like it or not, if we +desire justice; and, more than this, he showed, not speculatively, but +from concrete and experimental data, that a civilized mankind may be +expected to like a reasonable collectivism when it begins to +understand and to adopt it, far better than it has liked +individualism, and for the adequate reason that collectivism will +diminish misery and increase happiness.</p> + +<p>Not even upon the completion of this remarkable volume, however, was +Mr. Kelly quite ready to take the final step of identifying himself +with the Socialist party. So strong was that nature within him which, +without theological implications, we may call the spiritual or +religious, that he would have been glad if he could have seen the +possibility of attaining the ends which Socialism contemplates through +a movement essentially subjective, that is to say, through +developments of the intellectual and moral nature of man which would +impel all human beings, irrespective of class distinctions, to work +together spontaneously and unselfishly, for the creation of a +wholesome environment and essential justice in social relations. It +was this feeling that led him to write the anonymously published, +"Practical Programme for Workingmen," in which essentially socialistic +measures are advocated, but with strong emphasis upon the vital +importance of character and sympathy.</p> + +<p>When a strong-minded man of strict intellectual honesty has thus +advanced, step by step, from one position to another, at every stage +of his progress <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[x]</a></span>surveying the whole field of human struggle; +observing it dispassionately, as a scientific evolutionist; observing +it sympathetically, "as one who loves his fellowmen," comes at last to +the socialistic conclusion, and devotes the last weeks of his life to +the preparation of a new statement of socialistic doctrine, the fact +is more significant, as an indication of the way mankind is going, +than are all the cries of "lo here, lo there" that arise from the din +of party discussion. In Mr. Kelly's case the significance was deepened +by all the circumstances of taste and association. Intensely +democratic in his relations to men, Mr. Kelly was in breeding, in +culture, in delicacy of feeling an aristocrat of the purest type. +Educated at Columbia and at Cambridge, his university acquaintance and +his political and professional activities in New York and in Paris had +kept him continually in touch with what the socialist calls "the +capitalist class." In joining the Socialist party he jeopardized +friendships and associations that meant more to him than anything else +save the approval of his own conscience.</p> + +<p>The book now given to the public, written when he knew that his days +were numbered, is, all in all, the most remarkable of his works. All +writers of experience know that it is far easier to write a first +statement of a newly discovered truth, than to restate the chief +principles of a system already partly formulated; a system more or +less vague where it is most vital, more or less unscientific and +impossible where it is most specific. No one knew better than Mr. +Kelly did that while the larger-minded leaders of the Socialist +movement would generously welcome any thought which he had to give, +there would be some of the rank and file who would feel that, in +differing from the accredited writers, he was revealing himself as a +convert not yet quite informed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[xi]</a></span>on all tenets of the creed—perhaps +not even quite sound in the faith. A less enthusiastic nature, or one +less resolutely determined to complete his life work as best he could, +would have shrunk from such an undertaking as this book was. That +under the circumstances he could put into it the vigor of thought and +of style, the incisive criticism, the wealth of fact and illustration; +above all, the freshness of view, the practical good sense and the +strong constructive treatment which we find in these pages, is indeed +remarkable.</p> + +<p>How clearly he saw what sort of a book was needed, is best indicated +in his own account of what he desired to do. It should be first of +all, he thought, comprehensive. Socialism has been presented from the +economic standpoint, from the scientific, from the ethical and from +the idealistic. As Mr. Kelly saw it, Socialism is not merely an +economic system, nor merely an idealistic vision. It is a consequence +and product of evolution. "Science has made it constructive," he says, +"and the trusts have made it practical." It is ethical because "the +competitive system must ultimately break upon the solidarity of +mankind," because the survival of the fit is not the whole result of +evolution. The result still to be attained is "the improvement of +all." And Socialism is idealistic because it not only contemplates, +but gives reasonable promise of "a community from which exploitation, +unemployment, poverty and prostitution shall be eliminated."</p> + +<p>But besides making an exposition of Socialism as a whole and in all +its parts, Mr. Kelly aimed to make a book "for non-socialists." With +this purpose in view he has kept closely to concrete statement and +above all has tried to avoid vagueness and loose generalization. He +has described possibilities in terms that all know and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[xii]</a></span>understand. +With the precision of the trained legal mind, he seizes the essential +point when he says: "It is not enough to be told that there are a +thousand ways through which Socialism can be attained. We want to see +clearly one way." With the last strength that he had to spend Mr. +Kelly showed one way; and no bewildered wayfarer through our baffling +civilization, however he may hesitate to set his feet upon it, will +venture to say that it is not clear.</p> + +<p class="right sc">Franklin H. Giddings.</p> + +<p><span class="sc">New York</span>, April 19, 1910.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> + +<h4>II</h4> + +<p>An immense revolution, a wonderful revolution, is opening in the mind +of the human race; a new driving force is taking hold of the souls of +men—the devotion to the welfare of the whole; a new sense, with all +the intensity of a new-born feeling, is emerging in the consciousness +of men—the sense that one cannot himself be healthy or happy unless +the race is happy and healthy. A hundred theories appearing here and +there, a thousand organizations springing up, a million acts of +individuals everywhere, attest each day the presence and the growing +power of this vast solidarizing movement.</p> + +<p>Among these manifestations throughout the world, the most pronounced +and the most clearly defined is that compact, fiercely vital +organization known as the international Socialist party. Yet the +Socialist party is not the movement, any more than the cresting billow +is the torrent. It is an imperatively necessary element; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[xiii]</a></span>but the +movement itself is vastly broader and deeper than any manifestation of +it.</p> + +<p>An uncounted multitude in all lands are gradually becoming conscious +of this sweeping tendency and of their own part in it—a multitude as +yet not bearing any specific title. Out of these a considerable number +are fully conscious of the movement, and are willing partakers. These +we might call solidarists, in token of their conviction that the goal +ought to be and will be an economic solidarity. But of even these it +is only a part who are distinctively to be called Socialists, only +those who have perceived two certain mighty facts: first, that men's +mass-relations in the process of making a living are fundamental to +their other relations, to their opinions and motives, and to all +revolutions; and, second, that the chief agency in bringing about +changes in the great affairs of the human race has always been and +continues to be the pressure and clash between enduring masses of men +animated by opposite economic interests. The Socialist is one who sees +these social and historic facts and whose action is guided by such +sight; the non-Socialist solidarist is one who, though animated by the +socializing impulses, has not yet perceived these two most weighty +facts.</p> + +<p>Now Edmond Kelly, as was natural from his antecedents, was for nearly +the whole of his life a non-Socialist solidarist. But, about two years +before his death, being at the height of his powers of insight and +intellect, he attained the clear vision of the "class-struggle," and +no longer had any doubts where he himself belonged in the army of +humanity—he became and remained a comrade—a loyal comrade.</p> + +<p>There is a certain bit of doggerel, said to derive from Oxford, which +tells us that:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Every little boy or gal,<br /></span><span class='pn'><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[xiv]</a></span> +<span class="i0">Who comes into this world alive,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Is born a little Radical,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or else a small Conservative."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>And this all-pervading division penetrates even that most radical of +bodies, the Socialist party. That party has its own conservative and +radical wings—its right and its left—and Edmond Kelly is distinctly +of the right.</p> + +<p>One who is inclined by instinct to the one wing, and by logic to the +other, can realize the indispensableness of both—the special +contribution which each makes, and which the other cannot make, to the +common cause. The motive of this note is to appeal to the comrades of +the left not to shut their eyes to the value of this book, not to +forego its special usefulness. For the very attitude of its author, +which may be distasteful to them—his making appeals which they no +longer make, his using forms of speech which they reject, his making +so little use of that which is their main appeal, fit him especially +to influence the minds of that numerous fringe of educated persons who +must evidently be first made "rightists" before they can become +"centrists" or "leftists." It may even be imagined that the difficult +type of working man, he who thinks himself too noble-minded to respond +to class appeal, might begin to rouse himself if he could once be +brought under the charm of this book.</p> + +<p>Aware that he had not long to live, Mr. Kelly hastened to finish the +first draft of the book, and indeed he survived that completion only +two weeks. He knew that considerable editorial work was needed, and +this he entrusted to Mrs. Florence Kelley, author of "Some Ethical +Gains through Legislation" and translator of Marx' "Discourse on Free +Trade," and of Friedrich Engels' <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[xv]</a></span>work on the "Condition of the +Working Class in England." She undertook and has fulfilled this trust, +and has been aided throughout by the untiring labors of Shaun Kelly, +the author's son. Thus this book of Mr. Kelly's is doubly a memorial +of love—of his for man, and of ours for him.</p> + +<p class="right sc">Rufus W. Weeks.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">[xvi]</a></span><br /> +<a name="toc" id="toc"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xvii" id="Page_xvii">[xvii]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CONTENTS</h3> +<br /> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="70%" summary="Table of Contents"> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdlsc"><a href="#INTRODUCTION">Introductory Notes</a>:</td> + <td class="tdr" style="font-size: 80%;">PAGE</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr" width="8%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="74%">By Professor Franklin H. Giddings</td> + <td class="tdr" width="18%"><a href="#Page_v">v</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">By Rufus W. Weeks</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_xii">xii</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdlsc"><a href="#INTRODUCTORY">Introductory</a></td> + <td class="tdr">1</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="3" class="tdc1"><a href="#BOOK_I">BOOK I</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="3" class="tdc1"><i>WHAT SOCIALISM IS NOT</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr" style="font-size: 80%;">CHAPTER</td> + <td colspan="2"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">I.</td> + <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#BK_I_CHAPTER_I">Subjective Obstacles to the Understanding of Socialism</a></td> + <td class="tdr">18</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Vested Interests</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_18">18</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">II.</td> + <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#BK_I_CHAPTER_II">Economic Conditions</a></td> + <td class="tdr">23</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">1. Bourgeois, Revolutionist, and Evolutionist</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_23">23</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdlp">(<i>a</i>) The Bourgeois Point of View</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_23">23</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdlp">(<i>b</i>) The Revolutionist Point of View</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdlp">(<i>c</i>) The Evolutionist Point of View</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">III.</td> + <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#BK_I_CHAPTER_III">Misrepresentation and Ignorance</a></td> + <td class="tdr">31</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">1. Socialism is not Anarchism</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_31">31</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">2. Socialism is not Communism</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_33">33</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">3. Socialism will not Suppress Competition</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">4. Socialism will not Destroy the Home</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">5. Socialism will not Abolish Property</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_42">42</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">6. Socialism will not Impair Liberty</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_46">46</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">7. Conclusion</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="3" class="tdc1"><a href="#BOOK_II">BOOK II</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="3" class="tdc1"><i>WHAT CAPITALISM IS</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#Page_53">Evils of Capitalism</a></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_53">53</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">I.</td> + <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#BK_II_CHAPTER_I">Capitalism Is Stupid</a></td> + <td class="tdr">57</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">1. Overproduction</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_57">57</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">2. Unemployment</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_66">66</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xviii" id="Page_xviii">[xviii]</a></span>3. Prostitution</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_79">79</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">4. Strikes and Lockouts</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_86">86</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">5. Adulteration</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_88">88</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">II.</td> + <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#BK_II_CHAPTER_II">Capitalism is Wasteful</a></td> + <td class="tdr">94</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">1. Getting the Market</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_95">95</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">2. Cross Freights</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">III.</td> + <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#BK_II_CHAPTER_III">Capitalism is Disorderly</a></td> + <td class="tdr">101</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">1. Anarchy of Production and Distribution</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_102">102</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdlp">(<i>a</i>) Tyranny of the Market</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_102">102</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdlp">(<i>b</i>) Tyranny of the Trust</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdlp">(<i>c</i>) Tyranny of the Trade Union</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_106">106</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">IV.</td> + <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#BK_II_CHAPTER_IV">Property and Liberty</a></td> + <td class="tdr">112</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">1. Origin of Property</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">V.</td> + <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#BK_II_CHAPTER_V">Results of Property</a></td> + <td class="tdr">131</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">1. The Guilds</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_135">135</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">2. Trade Unions</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_140">140</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">3. The Unsolved and Insoluble Problems of Trade Unionism</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_159">159</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdlp">(<i>a</i>) The Conflict between the Trust and the Trade Union</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_167">167</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdlp">(<i>b</i>) Advantage of Trusts over Unions</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_169">169</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdlp">(<i>c</i>) Advantage of Unions over Trusts</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_171">171</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">VI.</td> + <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#BK_II_CHAPTER_VI">Money</a></td> + <td class="tdr">176</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">VII.</td> + <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#BK_II_CHAPTER_VII">Can the Evils of Capitalism be Eliminated by Coöperation</a></td> + <td class="tdr">199</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="3" class="tdc1"><a href="#BOOK_III">BOOK III</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="3" class="tdc1"><i>WHAT SOCIALISM IS</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">I.</td> + <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#BK_III_CHAPTER_I">Economic Aspect of Socialism</a></td> + <td class="tdr">204</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">II.</td> + <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#BK_III_CHAPTER_II">Economic Construction of the Coöperative Commonwealth</a></td> + <td class="tdr">235</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">1. How Socialism May Come</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_239">239</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">2. Reform and Revolution</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_243">243</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">3. Possible Transitional Measures</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_248">248</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">4. Farm Colonies</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_263">263</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">5. Land</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_278">278</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xix" id="Page_xix">[xix]</a></span>6. Summary of the Productive Side of Economic Construction</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_286">286</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">7. Distribution</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_288">288</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">8. Remuneration</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_303">303</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">9. Circulating Medium under Socialism</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_307">307</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">10. Summary</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_313">313</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">III.</td> + <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#BK_III_CHAPTER_III">Political Aspect</a></td> + <td class="tdr">317</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">1. Education</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_325">325</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">2. Churches</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_328">328</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">3. Political Construction</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_329">329</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">IV.</td> + <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#BK_III_CHAPTER_IV">Scientific Aspect</a></td> + <td class="tdr">335</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">1. Natural Environment</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_337">337</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdlp">(<i>a</i>) Struggle for Life or Competitive System</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_337">337</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdlp">(<i>b</i>) Coöperative System</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_342">342</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">2. Human Environment</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_349">349</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">3. Effect of Competitive System on Type</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_357">357</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">4. Brief Restatement</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_360">360</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">5. Can Human Nature be Changed by Law</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_364">364</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">6. Summary</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_374">374</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">V.</td> + <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#BK_III_CHAPTER_V">Ethical Aspect</a></td> + <td class="tdr">378</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">1. Conflict between Science and Religion</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_378">378</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">2. Conflict between Economics and Religion</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_389">389</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdl">3. Socialism Reconciles Religion, Economics, and Science</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_395">395</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">VI.</td> + <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#BK_III_CHAPTER_VI">Solidarity</a></td> + <td class="tdr">402</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#APPENDIX">Appendix</a></td> + <td class="tdr">413</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#INDEX">Index</a></td> + <td class="tdr">433</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="INTRODUCTORY" id="INTRODUCTORY"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span><br /> + +<h2>TWENTIETH CENTURY SOCIALISM</h2> + +<br /> +<br /> +<hr style="width: 20%;" /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h3>INTRODUCTORY<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> +<br /> + +<p>My reason for writing this book is that I do not know of any one book +that gives in small compass to the uninformed a comprehensive view of +Socialism. It would be fatal to suggest to one not quite certain +whether he wants to know about Socialism or not, that he should read +the great economic foundation work of Karl Marx.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> The excellent book +of Emil Vandervelde,<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> which seems to me to contain one of the most +compendious accounts of economic Socialism, is written from the +Belgian and European point of view rather than from the American; it +does not attempt to give either the scientific<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> or the ethical +argument for Socialism, nor does it contain <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span>specific answers to the +objections which are most imminent in American minds to-day. The +recent book by Morris Hillquit,<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> deservedly recognized as one of the +leaders of the party in America, an authoritative, clear and admirable +statement of what the Socialist party stands for, seems to be +addressed to the Socialist rather than to the non-Socialist. +Innumerable books and pamphlets by Bernard Shaw, Sidney Webb, John +Spargo, William Morris and others throw light on this enormous +subject. But for years past when asked by the average American what +one book would give him a complete account of Socialism, I have been +at a loss what to recommend. The book that first opened my eyes to the +possibilities of Socialism was "Fabian Tracts"; but I doubt whether +this would appeal to many American readers. An economic mind must be +given the economic argument; a scientific mind the scientific +argument; an idealistic mind, the ideal; an ethical mind, the ethical; +but the average mind must be given all four; for it is in the +convincing concurrence of all four that the argument for Socialism is +unanswerable.</p> + +<p>Another reason for writing this book is the desire to put Socialism +firmly on the solid foundation of fact. It is the progress of science +and the economic development of the last few years that have made +Socialism constructive and practical. Science has made it constructive +and the trusts have made it practical. It no longer rests on the +imagination of poets nor on the discontent of the unemployed. On the +contrary, Science with its demonstration that man is no longer the +mere result of his environment, but can become its master, teaches us +that by constructing our environment with intelligence we can +determine the direction of our own <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span>development. The trusts, with +their demonstration of the waste and folly of competition, teach us +that what a few promoters have done for their own benefit the whole +community can do for the benefit of all.</p> + +<p>Again, history has revealed a fact upon which the competitive system +must ultimately break; it may break under the hammer of the new +builder or through the upheaval of a mob; but that it must eventually +break is as certain as that day follows night. This fact is the +solidarity of mankind. Whether it was wise of the Few to share the +government with the Many it is too late now to inquire. The thing has +been done—<i>alea jacta</i>. And that the Few should imagine that, after +having put a club in the hands of the Many with which they can, when +they choose, at any election smash to pieces the machinery—political +and industrial—that oppresses them; and having established a system +of education—nay, of compulsory education—through which the Many +<i>must</i> learn during their childhood, how upon attaining majority, they +can use this club most effectually, the Many will refrain from using +it—is one of those delicious inconsequences of the governing class +which throws a ray of humor over an otherwise tragic scene.</p> + +<p>I do not believe it was in the power of the Few to perpetuate their +reign; I think there are evidences of a Power working through +Evolution to which even Herbert Spencer has paid the tribute of a +capital P, which ordained from the beginning that Man should progress +not as his forbears did, through the survival only of the fit, but as +Man has unconsciously for centuries been doing, through the +improvement of all. I think this is the Power that some worship under +the name of Jah and others under the name of God. But this view will +not be insisted upon, for it is not necessary to insist <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span>upon it. The +fact of human solidarity will, I think, be demonstrated,<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> and it +will, I hope, at the same time be shown that Socialism is no longer a +theory born of discontent, but a system developed by fact, and as +inevitably so developed as the tiger from the jungle of India, or +cattle from the civilization of man.</p> + +<p>Again, I do not think it is sufficient to demonstrate that Socialism +is sound in theory. We have also to show that it is attainable in +fact.</p> + +<p>The practical American will not be satisfied with being told that +there are a thousand different ways through which Socialism can be +attained. He does not want to be told how many ways there are to +Socialism, but wants to be shown one way along which his imagination +can safely travel.</p> + +<p>What the "bourgeois" wants to know is just how Socialism is going to +work. He cannot conceive of industry without capitalism, any more than +he can conceive of the world without the sun. Some concrete picture +must be presented to his mind that will enable him to understand that +while capital is not only good, but essential, the capitalist is not +only bad, but superfluous. Nothing less than a picture of industry +actually in operation without capitalism will suffice; and this, +therefore, I have attempted to draw. No pretence is made that the +picture is the only possible Socialist state, or that it will ever be +realized in the exact shape in which it is drawn. The only claim to be +made for it is that it furnishes a fair account of an industrial +community from which exploitation, unemployment, poverty and +prostitution are eliminated; that such an industrial community is more +practical because far more economical than our own; and that it is the +goal towards which, if we survive <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span>the dangers attending the present +conflict between capital and labor, industrial and ethical evolution +are inevitably driving us.</p> + +<p>Again, there is probably no feature connected with Socialism that it +is more important to demonstrate and define than its economy. It +occurred to me that we possessed in our official reports, and +particularly in the 13th Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor, figures +which would enable us to arrive at a considerable part of this economy +with some mathematical certainty. I pointed out my plan to Mr. J. +Lebovitz, of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., who has a +better talent for statistics than myself, and I cannot but +congratulate myself and my readers upon the results to which, thanks +to his help, we have jointly come.</p> + +<p>It must be admitted that the figures in our possession do not enable +us to estimate the whole economy of Socialism; but they do enable us +to give a tentative estimate of how many hours a workingman would have +to work to produce the things which the average workingman consumes if +no account be taken of profit, rent, interest, and the cost of +distribution. Of course, though profit, interest and rent would be +eliminated in a coöperative commonwealth, we should still be subject +to the cost of distribution and, therefore, the figures we arrive at +are incomplete in the sense that we have to take into account the fact +that they do not include this cost. But there would be economies +exercised in a coöperative commonwealth, such as the economy of +insurance, of advertising, of unnecessary sickness, of strikes and +lockouts, of the cost of pauperism, crime and in some measure that of +dependents, defectives and delinquents, etc., which would probably pay +the cost of distribution. I feel, therefore, that although our figures +are not absolute, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>they do furnish a starting-point more satisfactory +than has heretofore been obtained.</p> + +<p>The most impelling reason for writing this book is the persistently +false and misleading statements made regarding Socialism by the very +persons whose business it is to be informed on the subject. For years +now the men we elect to office as best fitted to govern us—Presidents +and Presidential candidates, Roosevelt, Taft and Bryan, have in spite +of repeated protests and explanations been guilty of this offence. Mr. +Roosevelt stands too high in the esteem of a large part of our voting +public, and I myself entertain too high an opinion of his ability, for +such charges as those he has made against Socialism to go unanswered. +And in answering them I shall take as my justification the platform of +the Socialist party,<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> which must be carefully read by all who want +to understand what Socialism really is in the United States of +America. It is of course impossible in a platform to give the whole +philosophy of Socialism, but the platform does state with sufficient +precision what Socialists stand for to make it impossible for anyone +who has read it to remain any longer under the false impression +created by ignorance or deliberate misrepresentation.</p> + +<p>I take Mr. Roosevelt's articles in the <i>Outlook</i> as the special object +of my explanations, not only because they express very widespread +fallacies regarding Socialism, but because they emanate from one who +for popularity and reputation casts every other American in the shade; +and also because, for this reason, his utterances not only command the +attention of the foolish—this he easily gets—but should also, in +view of his position, arrest that of those who tend by his +exaggerations to be estranged from him.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>So I have felt it an urgent duty to explain not only what Socialism +is, as Hillquit, Vandervelde, Thompson,<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> and many others have so +ably done, but specifically to point out what it is not: That it is +not Anarchism, but order; not Communism, but justice; that it does not +propose to abolish competition, but to regulate it; nor to abolish +property, but to consecrate it; nor to abolish the home, but to make +the home possible; nor to curtail liberty, but to enlarge it.</p> + +<p>Now if this last is to be done, it is indispensable to have clear +notions as to what liberty is; no intelligent understanding of liberty +is possible unless there is an equally intelligent understanding of +property, which is more closely connected with liberty than is +generally recognized. The necessary relation between property and +liberty has escaped some of our ablest lawyers. Just after James C. +Carter had finished his argument in Paris on the Seal Fishery case and +was preparing a supplementary brief that he had been given permission +to file, he told me that he felt it necessary to study up the +fundamental question of what property was and had been advised to read +Proudhon! I did not know much about Socialism at that time, but did +know enough to explain to him that Proudhon was an anarchistic +communist; and asked him if he thought the court was disposed to +listen to this kind of argument. Mr. Carter was shocked in the +extreme, and lowering his voice, asked, a little shamefacedly, what +Anarchism and Communism were, and were they the same as Socialism. +This led to a discussion of property, of the views held regarding it +by Socialists, Communists and Anarchists respectively; and to the +strange conclusion that the brief which Mr. Carter was preparing in +order to maintain the liberty <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span>of the United States to protect seals +as the property of humanity at large was Socialism Simon pure! To his +dismay he found himself on the verge of preaching the very doctrine +which of all doctrines he most abhorred!</p> + +<p>I do not know any standard work on Socialism that enters carefully +into the nature of these things. I attempted it in "Government or +Human Evolution," to which I shall have occasion sometimes to refer. +But this book was addressed to students of Political Science and is +not short or compendious enough for the general public.</p> + +<p>In a word, I have written this book to supply what I believe to be a +crying need—for a compact, simple statement of what Socialism is not, +of what Socialism is, how Socialism may come about, and particularly +distinguishing modern Socialism from the crude ideas that prevailed +before Marx, Darwin and the development of trusts.</p> + +<p>The public imagines to-day that Socialism is Utopian. This is +singularly erroneous. Socialism is the only intelligent, practical +system for providing humanity with the necessaries and comforts of +life with the least waste, the least effort and the least injustice.</p> + +<p>The competitive system under which these things are now produced and +distributed has been condemned by the business men whose opinions the +business world most respects, because it involves infinite labor to a +vast majority of the race and useless cost to all, without, I venture +to add, assuring happiness to any.</p> + +<p>Socialism, on the other hand, presents a simple, obvious and +unanswerable solution of the manifold problems presented by the +competitive system. This solution ought to appeal to business men +because it undertakes to do for the benefit of the nation what our +greatest <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>business men have been engaged for some years in doing for +the benefit of themselves.</p> + +<p>It is not likely that the American public, once it understands the +situation, will refuse to adopt the only practical method of ridding +itself of a wasteful system and a corrupt government just because the +few who profit by it for very obvious reasons do not want them to. All +the public needs is a clear understanding of what Socialism really is; +how it is certain to come eventually; and how it is best that it +should come.</p> + +<p>Many Socialists make the mistake of asking us to look too far ahead. +We are not all equally far-sighted. Some are very near-sighted. In +fact the habit of looking closely at our ledgers and at our looms +tends to make us near-sighted. Socialists too may be wrong in their +forecast centuries ahead. This book therefore makes a distinction +between those things that can be demonstrated and those which, on the +contrary, are still matter for mere speculation.</p> + +<p>It can be demonstrated that a <i>partial</i> substitution of coöperation +for competition in definite doses will put an end to pauperism, +prostitution and in great part to crime. Whether a <i>wholesale</i> +substitution of coöperation for competition will still further promote +human development and happiness is a matter of speculation—as to +which men can legitimately differ.</p> + +<p>The contention made in this book is that a substitution of coöperation +for competition in the dose herein prescribed <i>must</i> put an end to the +three gigantic evils above mentioned, and incidentally confer upon us +a larger and truer measure of liberty and happiness than the world has +ever yet known.</p> + +<p>One word about the language of this book. As it is addressed to +persons not familiar with the Socialist <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>vocabulary, I am going to +abstain to the utmost possible from using this vocabulary. I am not +going to use the words "surplus value" when the more familiar word +"profit" can be used with practically the same advantage. I am going +to avoid the expression "materialist interpretation of history" when +the words "economic interpretation of history" are equally correct and +less likely to mislead. And I am above all going to avoid, wherever I +can, the use of the words "individualism" and "individualists," +because these words have been already used by capitalists to beg the +whole question. Capitalists have quietly appropriated this word to +themselves and Socialists have been foolish enough to permit them to +do it. Capitalism does indeed promote a certain kind of individualism; +but we shall have to discuss later just what is the nature of the +individualism promoted by existing conditions and compare it with the +individualism that will be promoted by Socialism. I think it will +become clear that it is the peculiar province of Socialism to rescue +the vast majority of men from conditions which make the development of +the individual impossible, and to put opportunities of individual +development at the disposal of all; that, indeed, the highest type of +individualism can be realized only in a coöperative commonwealth that +will give to every man not only opportunity for developing his +individual talents, but leisure for doing so—the very leisure of +which the vast majority are deprived under the present system and of +which the few who have it profit little.</p> + +<p>It is not easy to find words to substitute for individualist and +individualism. The word that best describes the individualist is +"egotist." But the use of the word "egotist," for the very reason that +it is the truest word for describing the individualist, would arouse +such <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>protest in the minds of those so designated as perhaps to +prevent this book from being read by the very persons to whom it is +chiefly addressed.</p> + +<p>The word "capitalist" cannot be used for this purpose either, because +by no means all who have capitalistic ideas are capitalists, and some +capitalists are free from capitalistic ideas.</p> + +<p>So instead of the words "individualist," "egotist" and "capitalist," I +am going to use the French word "bourgeois." It seems to convey what +it is intended to convey with least error and most consideration for +capitalistic susceptibilities. It is true that "bourgeois" is a French +word and should be avoided in consequence, but it has been now so +acclimated to our language that many editors print it without +quotation marks. The word "bourgeois" roughly includes all those who +have property or employ labor, or who can be psychologically classed +with these. It includes the small shop-keeper who keeps a clerk, or +perhaps only a servant, and the millionaire who keeps thousands of men +at work in his factories, mines, railroads or other industries. It +includes the large farmer who employs help, but not the small farmer +who employs no help; it includes the lawyer, the broker and the agent +who depend upon the capitalist but are lifted above the hunger line.</p> + +<p>Instead of the word "individualism," I shall use another French +expression which has also become acclimated—that is to say, <i>laissez +faire</i>; for <i>laissez faire</i> are words adopted by the bourgeois to +describe the system for which he generally stands. This expression is +peculiarly appropriate to-day, when we hear our business men clamoring +to be "let alone." Indeed were it not for the awkwardness of the +expression <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>"let-alone-ism," this literal translation of <i>laissez +faire</i> would just suit my purpose.</p> + +<p>It is true that the <i>laissez faire</i> of to-day differs from that of the +last century. For there is at present a very wide belief in the +possibility of controlling corporations, and whereas the <i>laissez +faire</i> of the last century went so far as to deny the necessity of +government control, that of to-day very largely admits it. By laissez +faire, therefore, I mean the controlled <i>laissez faire</i> that now +prevails as well as the uncontrolled <i>laissez faire</i> of a century ago, +the essential difference between <i>laissez faire</i> and Socialism being +that the former implies leaving the production and distribution of +everything to private capital whether controlled or uncontrolled by +government; whereas Socialism implies putting production and +distribution of at least the necessaries of life into the hands of +those who actually produce and distribute them without any +intervention or control of private capital whatever.</p> + +<p>I have been careful to take my facts and figures not from Socialist +publications, but from government publications or economists of +admitted authority. I have, too, in every case where it seems +necessary quoted my authority so that there may be no doubt as to the +source from which my facts are drawn.</p> + +<p>In conclusion it must be stated that there are four very different +standpoints from which Socialists start—the economic, the political, +the scientific and the ethical.</p> + +<p>Ethical writers began by disregarding the economic side of Socialism +altogether, and some economic Socialists are therefore disposed to +despise ethical and so-called Christian Socialism; whereas the ethical +view is not only useful, but essential to a complete understanding of +the subject.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>The scientific view of Socialism has been comparatively little +treated, but it is not for that reason the least important. On the +contrary, Herbert Spencer and his school have built a formidable +opposition to Socialism based upon pseudo-scientific grounds. It +becomes, therefore, important to point out the extent to which Herbert +Spencer was wrong and Huxley right in the application of science to +this question.</p> + +<p>My own conviction is that the highest Socialism is that which +reconciles all four views—the economic, the political, the scientific +and the ethical. But as this is a work of exposition rather than of +controversy, I have abstained from insisting upon this view and have, +on the contrary, endeavored to give a fair account of all four +arguments, in the hope that those who are inclined to the economic +view may adopt it for economic reasons; those inclined to the +political view may adopt it for political reasons; those who are +attracted by the scientific view may adopt it for scientific reasons; +and those who are attracted by the ethical view may adopt it for +ethical reasons, leaving it to time to determine whether the strongest +argument for Socialism is not to be found in the fact that it is +recommended by all four.</p> + +<br /> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +<br /> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> "Capital," by Karl Marx.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> "Collectivism and Industrial Revolution," Emil +Vandervelde.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Engels and others have described Marxian or Economic +Socialism as scientific, on the ground that Marx was the first to +reduce Socialism to a science. But the word science has become so +inseparably connected in our minds with chemistry, physics, biology, +zoology, and geology, etc., that it seems wiser to define Marxian +Socialism as economic and to keep the word scientific for that view of +Socialism which is built on the sciences proper and principally on +biology.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> "Socialism in Theory and Practice." Macmillan, 1909.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Book III, Chapter VI.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> See Appendix.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> "The Constructive Program of Socialism," Carl D. +Thompson.</p></div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="BOOK_I" id="BOOK_I"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span><br /> + +<h2>BOOK I</h2> + +<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h2><i>WHAT SOCIALISM IS NOT</i></h2> +<br /> + +<p>Socialism is not a subject which can be put into a nutshell. On the +contrary it resembles rather a lofty mountain which has to be viewed +from every point of the compass in order to be understood. Mont Blanc, +approached from the North or Swiss side, presents the aspect of a +round white dome of snow; approached from the South or Italian side it +presents that of a sharp black peak of rock. Yet these totally +different aspects belong to the same mountain. It takes a mountaineer +about three days to go round Mont Blanc on foot; it takes an ordinary +pedestrian who has to stick to roads about a week. It is probable, +therefore, that the reader new to the subject will take at least a +week to understand Socialism, which is quite as big a subject as Mont +Blanc and considerably more important. He is likely, however, to take +much more than a week if, as happens in most cases, he starts in a +forest of prejudices any one of which is sufficient to obstruct his +view. In the confusion in which the ordinary citizen finds himself, +owing to this forest of prejudices which constitutes the greatest +obstacle to the understanding of Socialism, he may very possibly +wander all his life, and the first duty, therefore, of a book <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>on +Socialism is to take him out of the forest which he cannot himself see +"because of the trees."</p> + +<p>The great enemy to a sound understanding of Socialism used to be +ignorance; to-day, however, there is less ignorance, but a great deal +more confusion; and the confusion arises from two sources: confusion +deliberately created by false denunciations of Socialism, and +confusion unconsciously created by personal interests and prejudice.</p> + +<p>The confusion arising from these two sources may be described as +subjective obstacles to Socialism because they exist within ourselves. +They are to be distinguished from objective obstacles to Socialism +which exist outside of ourselves. For example, if a majority of us +were in favor of adopting Socialism, we should still find many +objective obstacles to it; for example, if we proposed to expropriate +the trusts, we should undoubtedly be enjoined by the courts; we should +find ourselves confronted with federal and State constitutions; we +perhaps would have to amend these constitutions. These difficulties +are outside of us. But before we reach these obstacles, we have to +overcome others that exist within us and are to-day by far the most +formidable. These subjective obstacles reside in our minds and are +created there by vested interests, property, ignorance and +misrepresentation. We are all of us under a spell woven about us by +the economic conditions under which we live.</p> + +<p>For example, the workingman who has saved a few hundred dollars and +goes out West to take up land, thinks that by so doing he will escape +from wage slavery. He does not know that he is not escaping slavery at +all, but only changing masters. Instead of being the slave of an +employer, he becomes the slave of his own farm. And the farm will +prove an even harder taskmaster <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>than a Pittsburg steel mill, for it +will exact of him longer hours during more days of the year and seldom +give him as high a wage. Nevertheless, the fact that he owns the +farm—that the farm is his property—awakens in him the property +instinct that tends to rank him on election day by the side of the +bourgeois.</p> + +<p>So also the store-keeper who, because he owns his stock, buys goods at +a low price and sells them at a high, and makes profit, considers +himself superior to the wage-earner, unmindful of the fact that his +store adds to long hours and low wage the anxieties of the market and +that, thanks to trusts and department stores, he is kept perpetually +on the ragged edge of ruin.</p> + +<p>The clerk, too, whose only ambition is to rise one grade higher than +the one which he occupies, is prevented by the narrowness of his +economic field from appreciating the extent to which he is exploited. +Instead of being bound by class consciousness with his fellow clerks, +he is, on the contrary, in perpetual rivalry with them, and is likely +to be found on election day voting with the owner who exploits them +all.</p> + +<p>And even the wage-earner, the factory hand, who is the most obviously +exploited of all, is in America still so absorbed by his trade union, +by his fight with his employer, that he has not yet learned to +recognize how much stronger he is in this fight on the political than +on the economic field. So he too, instead of recognizing the salvation +offered to him by Socialism as his fellow workingmen in Germany do, +allows himself regularly to be betrayed into voting for one of the +capitalist parties which his employer alternately controls.</p> + +<p>And the darkness in which these men are regarding matters of vital +interest to them is still further darkened by their own ignorance, by +the ignorance of those around <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>them and, I am afraid I must add, by +deliberate misrepresentation.</p> + +<p>Let us begin by extricating ourselves from the forest of prejudice +that makes all clearness of vision impossible and, when we can see +with our eyes, we shall take a rapid walk around this mountain of +Socialism, as all climbers do, if only to choose the best points from +which to climb it.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="BK_I_CHAPTER_I" id="BK_I_CHAPTER_I"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER I</h3> + +<h3>SUBJECTIVE OBSTACLES TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF SOCIALISM<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> +<br /> + +<h4 class="sc">Vested Interests</h4> + +<p>There is in the archives of the House of Commons a petition filed by +the gardeners of Hammersmith in opposition to a proposed improvement +of the country roads, which would enable gardeners further removed +from London to compete with Hammersmith gardeners on the London +market. They regarded themselves as having a vested right in bad roads +and actually took these so-called rights sufficiently seriously to +petition Parliament not to improve roads which were going to bring +them into competition with gardeners already at a disadvantage by +being further removed from the market than themselves.</p> + +<p>This is an illustration of the extent to which the human mind can be +perverted by personal interest. But there is another illustration of +so-called vested interests much more revolting in its nature and yet +perhaps more justified in fact. When the cholera broke out in Paris, +in 1830, and it was believed to have been brought into the country +through rags, a bill was presented before the French Parliament for +the destruction of all deposits of rags in the city. This was +violently opposed by the rag pickers, who pointed out that these rags +constituted their only source of existence, and they found many +members <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>of the French Parliament to support their view. We, who can +dispassionately consider the situation of these rag pickers, have to +admit that, if they could earn their living in no other way than rag +picking, it would be a mistake for Parliament to deprive them of their +source of living without giving them some other employment. But it +would be worse still were Parliament to allow Paris to be decimated by +cholera because the rag pickers claimed a vested right in pestiferous +rags.</p> + +<p>A similar situation presents itself in the city of New York to-day. +The tenement-house commission has imposed upon tenement-house owners +certain obligations which involve an expenditure of considerable sums +of money, and many of our best citizens are indignant because the +tenement-house law is not always rigidly enforced. Yet all who have +followed the recent rent strike on the East Side, know that the +tenement houses there are in large part owned by men as poor as those +who live in them. The immense congestion in this district brought +about such competition for lodgings that speculators were enabled to +buy tenement houses at their utmost value and to sell them at a still +higher price by persuading the thriftiest of the inhabitants of the +district that, if they purchased these tenement houses and acted as +their own janitors and agents, they could earn more money than was +then being earned. Victims were found who have put all their savings +into these tenement houses, leaving the larger part of the purchase on +mortgage. These new landlords raise the rent in order to make the +houses pay for themselves. These pauper tenement-house owners are in +the same position to-day as the Paris rag pickers of 1830.</p> + +<p>The question of what, if any, compensation should be paid when the +state interferes with vested rights cannot <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>be decided by any general +rule. The demand for compensation by the Hammersmith gardeners was +absurd; but that of the rag pickers was justified; that of poor +tenement-house owners on the East Side seems also to be justified; but +if the state in taking over these unwholesome tenements were to find +one in the hands of a speculator, would compensation be to the same +degree justified?</p> + +<p>So these questions seem to become questions of detail; they cannot be +disposed of by a general rule: "there shall be compensation" or "there +shall not be compensation." Above all things, these so-called general +rules must not be erected into dogmas or "principles" under the +standard of which Socialists are to group themselves and fight one +another.</p> + +<p>It is interesting to consider in connection with this subject the +geographical character of the objections to Socialism as illustrated +by the attitude taken by England and America respectively on the +subject of municipal ownership.</p> + +<p>In England, municipal ownership of gas is the rule rather than the +exception. Indeed Manchester has owned its own gas plant from 1843, +and has furnished the public with gas at 60 cents per thousand cubic +feet, and even at that price<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> made a net profit in 1907-8 of +£57,609, which has been applied to the diminution of rates and +extension of the service. Birmingham, which had to pay an extravagant +price for its gas plant, nevertheless immediately reduced the price of +gas and brought it down from $1.10 under private ownership to 50 cents +to-day. In England, therefore, it is perfectly respectable to approve +of municipal ownership of gas. But inasmuch as water has been until +very lately <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>furnished to London in great part by a private company +chartered by James I. the stock of which has increased in value a +thousand per cent and which counts among its stockholders royalty +itself, anybody until very lately who proposed municipal ownership of +water in London, was regarded as a dangerous anarchist.</p> + +<p>The New York situation is just the reverse. For New York, after having +tried private ownership of water and abandoned it as early as 1850 on +account of the corruption that resulted therefrom, undertook public +ownership of water with such success that no disinterested citizen +to-day wants to go back to the old plan. So a New Yorker can advocate +municipal ownership of water and still be regarded as a perfectly +respectable citizen; but should he venture to favor municipal +ownership of gas he is at once classed with those whose heads are only +fit to be beaten with a club.</p> + +<p>How long are we going to allow our opinions to be manufactured for us +by water companies in London and gas companies in New York? Obviously +we cannot take an impartial and intelligent view of this great +question until we have divested ourselves of the prejudices created by +vested interests. If the propertied class, which is committed to +existing conditions by the fact that it profits by them, is willing to +yield no inch to the rising tide of popular dissatisfaction and the +awakening of popular conscience, it is probable that the revolutionary +wing of the Socialist party will prevail, if only because under these +circumstances the evolutionary wing will not be allowed to prevail. +If, on the other hand, the propertied class become alive not only to +the danger of undue resistance, but also to the reasonableness and +justice of the Socialist ideal, there is no reason why vested +interests, save such as owe their existence to downright <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>robbery and +crime, should materially suffer in the process of Socialist evolution. +If this be true the words "menace of Socialism" will turn out to be +inappropriate and unfounded. Sound Socialism has no menace for any but +evil-doers.</p> + +<p>Having now climbed out of the forest of prejudices created by private +or so-called vested interests, let us next consider the different +points of view created by temperament and economic conditions, from +which the subject of Socialism tends to be regarded.</p> + +<br /> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +<br /> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> "Municipal Year Book," 1909, p. 482.</p></div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="BK_I_CHAPTER_II" id="BK_I_CHAPTER_II"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER II</h3> + +<h3>ECONOMIC CONDITIONS<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> +<br /> + +<h4 class="sc">Bourgeois, Revolutionist, and Evolutionist</h4> + +<p>Every man who is earning a living is profoundly affected by all that +affects his living. If Socialism seems to threaten this living, he +instinctively and often unconsciously repudiates it. From one point of +view, Socialism presents a more formidable aspect than from another. +It takes a very skilled climber to scale Mont Blanc from the Italian +side, whereas from the Swiss side it is simply a matter of endurance. +The same thing is true of Socialism.</p> + +<p>Now there are three distinct and opposing points of view: The +bourgeois point of view, the revolutionist point of view, and the +evolutionist point of view.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4><i>(a) The Bourgeois Point of View</i></h4> + +<p>The bourgeois point of view is that which students of political +science have been in the habit of describing as individualism. But +there are objections to this use of the word individualism, as will +appear later on.</p> + +<p>The bourgeois view is that the production and distribution of the +things we need can best be conducted by allowing every man to choose +and do his own work under the stimulus of need when poor and of +acquisitiveness when rich. This system is well described in the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>maxim: "Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost." The +first part of this maxim has in it considerable merit, for it +encourages the self-reliance that has made the prosperity of America. +But the latter part merely expresses a pious wish that is seldom +gratified. The devil does not take the hindmost. The devil leaves them +here to stalk through our highways and streets, a permanent army of +about 500,000 tramps, swelled at all times by thousands and in such +times as these by millions of unemployed.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> + +<p>The bourgeois view is that of the man who owns or expects to own +property; the bourgeois class represents a small proportion of the +whole population, and is sometimes described as the propertied class.</p> + +<p>But as the propertied class is in control of our schools, colleges and +press, it has hitherto made the opinions of the vast majority. Thus +the bourgeois view is not only that of the propertied class, but also +that of most of those who have no property. It is the view of the man +in the street.</p> + +<p>Lately, however, Socialism has been making inroads into the opinions +of both classes, and this has divided Socialists into two groups +which, though generally found fighting under the same banner, +nevertheless take different views of the subject, which tends to +confuse the uninitiated. These two views are conveniently described as +revolutionist and evolutionist. Let us study the revolutionist point +of view first:</p> + +<br /> + +<h4><i>(b) The Revolutionist Point of View</i></h4> + +<p>Marx rendered a great service by pointing out the extent to which the +non-propertied class is exploited by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>the propertied class—the +proletariat by the bourgeois—the factory hand by the factory owner. +Marx, however, did not himself confine Socialism to the struggle +between the factory hand and the factory owner. But there has arisen +out of the Marxian philosophy a school which has emphasized the +observation of Marx that the factory hands increased in number while +the factory owners decreased in number, and that this tends to produce +a conflict between the two—a revolution from which the factory hand +must emerge released from the incubus of the factory owner. Two ideas +dominate this school: the class struggle—a struggle practically +confined to the factory worker on the one hand and the factory owner +on the other; and the revolution—the eventual clash between the two. +The triumph of the factory hand is, according to this school, to +result in the complete overturn of the whole social, industrial and +economic fabric of society, the community<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> succeeding to the +individual in the ownership of all land and all sources of +production—all profit now appropriated by the factory owner accruing +to the community and inuring to all the citizens of the state.</p> + +<p>This revolutionist school regards Socialism from the point of view of +a class that has no property—the proletariat—just as the bourgeois +looks at Socialism from the point of view of those who have property. +Both points of view tend to be partial; the bourgeois tends to see +only what is good for himself in existing conditions and all that is +bad for him in Socialism; the revolutionist tends to see all that is +bad for him in existing conditions <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>and only what is good for him in +the proposed new Socialism. This fact tends to make revolutionists +dominate the Socialist party (which is mainly recruited from the +proletariat) and is, therefore, entitled to the most serious +consideration. Private interest is the dominating motive of political +action to-day. It is the avowed motive of the bourgeois. He has, +therefore, no excuse for denouncing this same motive in the +proletariat, all the less as the bourgeois has to admit that his +industrial system produces pauperism, prostitution, and crime; whereas +the proletariat points out that Socialism will put an end to pauperism +and prostitution and in great part also to crime.</p> + +<p>Because revolutionists believe that this change cannot be effected +without a revolution—without a transfer of political power from the +bourgeois to the proletariat—they speak of their movement as +revolutionary, and often say that Socialism must come by revolution +and not by reform.</p> + +<p>But these words must not be allowed to mislead. Although the Socialist +platform says that "adequate relief" cannot be expected from "any +reform of the present order," it nevertheless embraces a series of +reforms entitled "Immediate Demands." This is proof positive that the +Socialist party is not opposed to legislative measures that in the +bourgeois vocabulary are known as reforms, since it advocates them.</p> + +<p>Socialists make a distinction between legislation that tends to +transfer political power from the exploiters to the exploited and +those that do not; the former are termed revolutionary and the latter +are termed mere reforms. The former are what they stand for. But they +do not for that reason remain indifferent to legislation that improves +human conditions. On the contrary, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>the immediate demands of the +Socialist platform include:</p> + +<p>The scientific reforestation of timber lands and the reclamation of +swamp lands; the land so reclaimed to be permanently retained as a +part of the public domain:</p> + +<p>The enactment of further measures for general education and for the +conservation of health. The Bureau of Education to be made a +department. The creation of a department of public health. The free +administration of justice.</p> + +<p>Obviously, therefore, even revolutionary Socialists advocate certain +reforms; but they will be content with nothing less than the transfer +of political power from those who now use it ill to those who will use +it better.</p> + +<p>Last, but not least, revolution does not in the Socialist vocabulary +involve the idea of violence. It is used in the same sense as we use +the expression "revolution of the planets," "revolution of the +seasons," "revolution of the sun." Undoubtedly there are Socialists +willing to use violence in order to attain their ends just as there +are Fricks willing to use Pinkerton men, and mine owners willing to +use the militia to attain theirs. But the idea of violence has been +expressly repudiated by the leaders of the Socialist party. And the +word "revolution" must not be understood to include it. This question +is studied in fuller detail in Book III, Chapter II.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4><i>(c) The Evolutionist Point of View</i></h4> + +<p>The evolutionist point of view claims to be wider than either of the +foregoing. The evolutionist is not content to study Socialism from the +point of view of any one class. He undertakes to climb out of the +forest of prejudices <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>created by class to a point where he can study +Socialism free from every obstruction. He studies Socialism from the +point of view of the whole Democracy, including the employer, the +employee, and those who neither employ nor are employed; as, for +example, the farmer who farms his own land without the assistance of +any farm hands outside of his own family. From this point of view, he +can denounce the evils of the existing system of production and +distribution—if system it can be called<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a>—without the bitterness +that distorts the view of the victims of this system, and can +therefore see perhaps more clearly the methods by which the evils of +the existing system can be eliminated.</p> + +<p>The evolutionist points to history to prove that forcible revolution is +generally attended by great waste of property and life, and is followed +by a reaction that injuriously retards progress. He therefore seeks to +change existing conditions without revolution, by successive reforms. +This class of Socialist is denounced by revolutionists under a variety +of names. He is called a parlor Socialist, an intellectual Socialist, +but perhaps the name that carries with it the most contempt is that of +step-by-step Socialist. He answers, however, that when he finds his +progress arrested by a perpendicular precipice such as we are familiar +with at the top of the Palisades, he refrains from throwing himself—or +advising his neighbors to throw themselves—headlong into the abyss, +but takes the trouble to find a possibly circuitous way round. He will +not consent to sit at the top of the precipice until he grows wings, as +the Roman peasant sat by the Tiber "until it ran dry." The step-by-step +Socialist is content to adopt a winding path which sometimes turns his +back to the place which he wishes to reach, because he holds <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>in his +hand a compass whose unerring needle will bring him eventually to the +desired goal.</p> + +<p>Again, the evolutionist claims to be supported by ethical and +scientific considerations which the revolutionary Socialist regards as +of secondary importance. But for the present it is convenient to +postpone the study of the ethical and the scientific aspects of +Socialism and to content ourselves with stating two principal claims +made by the evolutionist, viz.:</p> + +<p>First: that his view is likely to be clearer than that of either the +bourgeois or the revolutionist, because it is not obstructed by class +interest;</p> + +<p>Second: that his policy is likely to be wise, because it is neither +stationary as that of the bourgeois nor headlong as that of the +revolutionist.</p> + +<p>In conclusion, the revolutionist keeps his eye fixed on the +horizon—perhaps it may even be said that he fixes his eye beyond the +horizon, if that be possible; he looks forward to a state of society +which, because it seems unrealizable to-day most of us are inclined to +regard as visionary; and in presenting to us a commonwealth in which +every personal interest will be vested in the community, he attacks at +once the personal interests of every man who owns property in the +country. Obviously, if all agriculture is to be owned by the +community, every farmer will lose his farm. If all the factories are +to be owned by the community, every factory owner will lose his +factory. If all distribution is to be managed by the community, every +storekeeper will lose his store. The revolutionary Socialist therefore +raises against himself every property owner in the land; and all the +more because there is division in the ranks of revolutionists as +regards compensation, to which I have already referred. (See Vested +Interests, p. 18.)</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>The evolutionist on the contrary confines his attention for the +present to existing conditions. He adopts, it is true, as an ultimate +goal the coöperative commonwealth advocated by the revolutionists. It +is indeed the point to which his compass is always directing him. It +constitutes the ideal to which he believes the race will eventually +adapt itself. But in addition to historical fact regarding the cost of +revolution in the past, and in view of certain other scientific facts +which will be dwelt upon later, he recognizes that personal or vested +interests are likely to interfere more than anything else with the +adoption of Socialism as an ultimate goal, and that these interests +therefore no statesman can afford to disregard.</p> + +<br /> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +<br /> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> December, 1908.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> I am careful to use the word "community" and not the +word "state," for state ownership is not Socialism. The Prussian State +stands for state ownership, and even Mr. Roosevelt would not +characterize the Prussian Government as Socialistic.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Book II, Chapter III.</p></div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="BK_I_CHAPTER_III" id="BK_I_CHAPTER_III"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER III<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>MISREPRESENTATION AND IGNORANCE</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Michaelangelo has said that sculpture is the art of chipping off +superfluous stone. The sculptor sees a statue in every block. This is +what Whistler used to call the "divine art of seeing." The sculptor's +task is to remove those parts of the block that hide the statue from +the layman's eye. So the Socialist sees the coöperative commonwealth +imprisoned within the huge, rough, cruel mass that we call modern +civilization, and his task is to remove from the beautiful form he +sees the errors which mask it from the view of the unenlightened. If +we can but remove these errors our task is in great part accomplished; +and the first of these errors is that which confounds Socialism with +Anarchism.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>§ 1. <span class="sc">Socialism is not Anarchism</span></h4> + +<p>Nothing is more unjustified than the confusion which exists in +people's minds between Anarchism and Socialism. This confusion is not +altogether unnatural, for Socialism and Anarchism have one great +feature in common—both express discontent with existing conditions. +The remedies, however, propounded by the Anarchists for evil +conditions and those propounded by Socialists are contradictorily +opposite. They are so opposite that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>the bourgeois turns out to be +more nearly associated with the Anarchist than the Socialist is.</p> + +<p>The theory upon which our present economic and political conditions +are founded is that the less government interferes with the +individual's action, the better. This theory may be said to have taken +its start at the period of the French Revolution, and is generally +connected in the minds of English-speaking people with Adam Smith, the +Manchester School of <i>laissez faire</i>, the earlier works of John Stuart +Mill, and all the works of Herbert Spencer. When, however, the +pernicious consequences of allowing every individual to do as he chose +with his own became felt, as for example in the poisoning of rivers by +allowing every factory to pour its waste into them; and in +degeneration of the race through unlimited exploitation of women and +children in factories and mines, governments all over the world have +been obliged as measures of self-defence to enact laws limiting +individual action. The individualism of the beginning of last century +has been gradually leading to the Socialism of to-day, Socialism +being, among other things, an intelligent limitation of the abuse of +property in accordance with a preconceived plan, instead of spasmodic +limitation of the abuse of property forced upon us by the pernicious +consequences thereof, often creating new abuses as bad as those +suppressed.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> While therefore the Socialist asks that the functions +of government be extended sufficiently to secure to every man the +greatest amount of liberty, and the bourgeois on the contrary demands +that there <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>shall be the least amount of government consistent with +the protection of property and life, the Anarchist asks that there +shall be no government at all. The bourgeois, therefore, is closer to +the Anarchist than the Socialist is—in fact he stands between the +two.</p> + +<p>Socialists and Anarchists then are polar opposites. There is a whole +world between them. Indeed it is impossible to conceive two theories +of government more opposite one to another than that of Socialism, +which demands more government, and that of Anarchism, which demands +the destruction of government altogether.</p> + +<br /> +<h4>§ 2. <span class="sc">Socialism is not Communism</span></h4> + +<p>Those who derive their information regarding Socialism solely from +books are apt to be puzzled by the word "Communism," because it has at +different times stood for different things. The early Christians were +Communists; so were Plato and Sir Thomas More; so also was Proudhon, +whom Mr. Roosevelt places in the same category with Karl Marx. He does +not seem to be aware that Proudhon and Marx were the protagonists of +conflicting schools and that Marx drove Proudhon—who was a +communistic Anarchist—and his followers out of the Socialist party of +that day. For from Marx' economic doctrine of value was derived a +totally new idea in the movement; this idea is couched in a formula +which has become so familiar to Socialists that it seems incredible +that anyone undertaking to write about Socialism should ignore it; +namely, that the <i>laboring class is entitled to the full product of +its labor</i>; that is to say, that it shall securely have exactly what +it earns; no more, no less; that it shall be deprived of it neither by +the capitalist as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>to-day nor by the thriftless or vicious as under +the Communism of Apostolic times.</p> + +<p>Mr. Roosevelt accuses Socialists of "loose thinking." Is there not a +little loose thinking about this confusion of Socialism and Communism? +Or is it that Mr. Roosevelt is just a century behindhand? Or is it +that he has never read the works of Proudhon and Karl Marx, whom he +groups together as propounding the same kind of Socialism? As a matter +of fact, Proudhon has been so discredited by Marx that few Socialists +think it worth while to read his works; whereas "Capital" is to-day +the Bible of the Socialist movement.</p> + +<p>One word, however, must be added about Communism before dismissing the +subject: There are two kinds of Communists, just as there are two +kinds of Anarchists; those who adopt Communism and Anarchism out of +discontent with the present system; and those who adopt them because +they stand for perfection. With the first category we need not concern +ourselves. Their day is over. With the second there is an important +point to be noted: Such writers as Kropotkin see further than the +average citizen. They look forward to a day when the spirit of mutual +helpfulness which ought to attend the substitution of coöperation for +competition will have entirely changed human nature; when men will +have acquired <i>habits</i> of industry, of justice, and of self-restraint +that seem now incredible to us; they will then as naturally work as +they now naturally shirk; they will as naturally help one another as +they now naturally fight; they will as naturally share with one +another as they now despoil one another. This may seem wildly +impossible to us now; but if we look back to the day when our forbears +lived in hordes, when children bore their mother's name because they +did not know their father's, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>when no woman could move from her hut +alone without being subject to assault, when self-indulgence prevailed +except in so far as it was checked by fear, we can appreciate the +scorn with which one of them would have listened to a prophet who +should announce that men and women would ultimately mate once for all +and be faithful to one another; children know their fathers and bear +their father's name; women travel from one end of the country to +another with perfect security, and self-restraint cease to be an +imposition and become a habit. If then man has become so profoundly +modified by the progress from the promiscuousness of the horde to the +self-restraint of the family, why should he not be capable of one step +further—from the habits that result from competition to the habits +that would result from coöperation—from mutual hatred to mutual +helpfulness? This is the hope and faith of such writers as Kropotkin. +But it is not yet within the range of practical politics. So the +Socialist party rightly confines its program within practical limits. +There are too many idle and vicious among us to-day; too many products +of human exploitation; too many worn-out men, women, and children; too +much degeneration; too much hypocrisy; too much "looseness of +thought." We must cut our garment to our customer. All that the +Socialist asks to-day is to have what he earns. Morally he is entitled +to it. Can our system of production be so modified as to assure this +to him? This is the problem we have to solve. Socialists say that it +can be so modified, or that it can, at least, be so modified as to put +an end to pauperism, prostitution, and in great part to crime. This is +the practical Socialism of to-day as distinguished from the Communism +of centuries ago or that of centuries ahead. This is what the +Socialist party stands for, and it is by this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>standard and no other +that the Socialist party must be judged.</p> + +<p>Socialism then does not stand to-day for Communism. On the contrary, +it demands that the workers be assured, as exactly as is humanly +possible, the product of their labor, and not share it with the idle +and vicious on the one hand or be deprived of it by the capitalist on +the other.</p> + +<p>One reason why Communism has been discarded by the Socialist party is +that generations of competition have so molded human nature that it is +extremely probable that production would suffer were it suddenly +eliminated. A man who has accustomed himself to the stimulus of +arsenic cannot be suddenly deprived of arsenic without developing the +symptoms of arsenical poisoning. It will doubtless be indispensable to +maintain competition in the coöperative commonwealth. There is no +longer question then of discarding competition; the question is in +what doses shall it be administered; in doses that produce the +pauperism and prostitution of to-day, or in doses that will furnish +the necessary stimulus for human exertion without pushing that +stimulus to exhaustion and degeneracy?</p> + +<p>This question brings us to our next subject:</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>§ 3. <span class="sc">Socialism will not Suppress Competition</span></h4> + +<p>No modern Socialist maintains that all competition is bad, or that it +would be advisable to eliminate competition altogether from production +and distribution. But it has become the duty of every sane man to +consider whether it may not be possible to eliminate the excessive +competition that gives rise to pauperism, prostitution, and crime. To +answer this question, we must begin by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>determining what competition +is good and what bad; and if the bad can be eliminated and the good +maintained.</p> + +<p>Competition is a part of the joy of life; healthy children race one +another as they are let out from school; they challenge one another to +wrestle and leap; and when they are tired of emulation, they join +hands and dance. Competition and coöperation are the salt and the +sweet of life; we want the one with our meat and the other with our +pudding; we do not want all salt or all sweet; for too much sweet +cloys the mouth while too much salt embitters it.</p> + +<p>We all unconsciously recognize this by encouraging games and +discouraging gambling. Now what is the difference between games and +gambling? One is a wholesome use of time for the purpose of wholesome +amusement; the other is an unwholesome abuse of time for the purpose +of making money. The one incidentally encourages a beneficial action +of muscle and brain; the other, on the contrary, promotes a +detrimental appetite for unlawful profit.</p> + +<p>We are all perfectly agreed about this so long as we confine ourselves +to games and gambling; but as soon as we extend our argument to +production and distribution we shall at once come into collision with +the bourgeois. Let us therefore be very sure that our premises are +sound and our deduction sure before we confront him.</p> + +<p>Even as regards gambling there are degrees of vice; some would justify +old people who bet only just enough on the issue of a game of piquet +to make it worth while to count the points; whereas all would condemn +a bet that involved the entire fortune, much more the life or death of +a human being.</p> + +<p>Now it may seem extravagant to assert that the competitive system of +production imposes upon the majority <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>a bet involving life or death, +yet statistics demonstrate that mortality is from 35 to 50 per cent +higher with those who lose than with those who win in the game of +life.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> But it is not extravagant to assert that it imposes upon the +majority a bet involving a thing quite as precious as life—I mean +health. A man who bets his life and loses is free from pain on this +earth at any rate; but the man who bets his health and loses is +committed to a period of misery not only for himself, but for all +those around him so long as breath is in his body.</p> + +<p>The greatest evil that attends the competitive system of production is +that it commits all engaged in it to a game the stake of which is the +life happiness not only of himself, but of all dependent on him.</p> + +<p>If this were a matter of mere sport there is not a man with a spark of +moral sense in him who would not condemn it. He would denounce it as a +gladiatorial show; as belonging to the worst period of the worst +empire known to history. But because it is a matter of production the +bourgeois has for it no word save of justification and praise. He +justifies it by the argument of necessity: "the poor you have with you +always." He praises it because it "makes character."</p> + +<p>If there were indeed no other system of production possible but the +competitive system, the plea of necessity would be justified. But when +we are dealing with a question involving the happiness of the majority +of our <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>fellow creatures, we must be very sure that there is no better +system before the plea can be admitted. And as to those often +misquoted words of Christ, there will undoubtedly under the +coöperative as well as the competitive system always be some +shiftless, some poor. But everything depends on what is meant by the +word "poor." To-day the poor are on the verge of starvation; poverty +means not only misery, but disease and crime. Under a coöperative +system there need be no starvation; no fear of starvation; less +disease; and infinitely less crime! The vast majority of men do not +need the lash to drive them to their work; it is no longer necessary +to keep before us the fear of want, of misery, of starvation; we have +passed that stage; and just as the lash is used by trainers only for +wild beasts, and gentler animals are better trained by the hope of +reward than by the fear of punishment, so humanity has reached a point +of moral development which makes it no longer inferior to the lower +animals—the bourgeois notwithstanding. Better work can be got from a +man by the prospect of increased comfort than by the fear of misery +and unemployment.</p> + +<p>As to the second justification, that the competitive system makes +character; look for a moment at the character of the men who have +succeeded in the competitive mill. Are these the saints of the latter +day? Or are our saints not to be found amongst those who have never +been in the competitive mill—who have resolutely kept out of +it—Florence Nightingale, Father Damien, Rose Hawthorne, the Little +Sisters of the Poor?</p> + +<p>The real problem is not whether we should or can eliminate competition +altogether from the field of production, but whether we should or can +eliminate it to the extent necessary to put an end to the three great +curses of humanity to-day.</p> + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span><br /> +<h4>§ 4. <span class="sc">Socialism Will not Destroy the Home</span></h4> + +<p>Mr. Roosevelt in his <i>Outlook</i> editorial<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> said of the "Socialists +who teach their faith as both a creed and a party platform" that "they +are and necessarily must be bitterly hostile to religion and +morality," that they "occupy in relation to morality and especially +domestic morality a position so revolting—and I choose my words +carefully—that it is difficult even to discuss it in a reputable +paper."</p> + +<p>When, however, he undertakes to substantiate this, he is obliged to +admit that he cannot find any traces of it in American writers, and has +to go to France and England for his examples. Had he been better +informed, he would have known that not only is there no trace of +immorality in our American Socialist press, but that there is one +Socialist organ—the Christian Socialist—which has in the most +vigorous terms denounced all those whose writings tend in any way to +attack the fundamental principles of marriage. It is true that +Christian Socialists in Mr. Roosevelt's opinion "deserve scant +consideration at the hands of honest and clean-living men and women"; +but he has not explained why. Nor has he ventured any explanation why +Christian Socialists or any other Socialists should be +"necessarily—bitterly hostile to religion and morality."</p> + +<p>I must postpone to the chapter on the Ethical Aspect of Socialism<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> +the explanation why Socialism, far from being "necessarily bitterly +hostile to religion and morality," as Mr. Roosevelt maintains, is—on +the contrary—the only form of society ever proposed which could make +religion and morality possible. At the present time, it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>seems +sufficient to point out the obvious fallacy of Mr. Roosevelt's +syllogism.</p> + +<p>Here it is:</p> + +<p>Gabriel Deville wants to destroy the home.</p> + +<p>Gabriel Deville is a Socialist;</p> + +<p>Therefore: All Socialists want to destroy the home. The logic of this +is bad enough, but even the premiss is false. Deville is no longer a +Socialist; and if he does want to destroy the home, no one that I know +of in America wants him back in the fold.</p> + +<p>In exactly the same manner our ex-Presidential logician argues +regarding divorce:</p> + +<p>Herron divorced;</p> + +<p>Herron is a Socialist;</p> + +<p>Therefore: All Socialists divorce. Herron was divorced in 1901. He is +the only leading Socialist who has divorced during twenty years to Mr. +Roosevelt's knowledge or to mine. Whereas, during that time here are +the statistics of divorces for the United States:</p> + +<p>Total number of marriages 1887-1906, 12,832,044</p> + +<p>Total number of divorces 1887-1906, 945,625 or about one in 12,<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> in +all of which the majority of the men presumably voted for Mr. +Roosevelt.</p> + +<p>Can anyone who knows the family life of Socialists assert that the +divorce rate among them is greater than that of the community in which +they live?</p> + +<p>Again, the pretence that the American home to-day is one which a +capitalist like Mr. Roosevelt can hold up to the admiration of the +world will not stand scrutiny.</p> + +<p>Where there is wealth for leisure, there we find immorality enthroned +as a vice; and where there is no leisure, there we find immorality +imposed as a necessity. Are the filthy tenements and promiscuous +lodgings of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>the congested districts in our large cities the homes to +which Mr. Roosevelt is fearful that Socialism will put an end?<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> Or +is it the so-called She-towns in New England from which men are driven +because there is no employment in them for any save women and +children?<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> Or the lumber camps to which these men are driven where +there is no employment for women?<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> Or the home of the unemployed to +which the bread-winner has returned day after day for two years now, +seeking employment and finding none—guilty of no crime save that no +man has hired him? Thousands—nay, hundreds of thousands of such +so-called homes are scattered over the face of this land which Mr. +Roosevelt has during seven years administered.</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact, no decent home is possible for the majority of +our fellow citizens so long as they are called upon to support it at +present prices on present wages. All this will, I think, be made clear +in the description of industrial conditions. Suffice it to say here +that these conditions furnish a few luxurious and often licentious +homes for the propertied class and a few comfortable and moral homes +for the aristocracy of the working class, but leave a vast number of +our families so nearly upon the edge of poverty as to drive their +daughters to prostitution and their sons to crime.</p> + +<br /> +<h4>§ 5. <span class="sc">Socialism Will not Abolish Property</span></h4> + +<p>Another charge made by Mr. Roosevelt is that Socialists propose to +abolish property and distribute wealth. It has been repeated by both +Mr. Taft and Mr. Bryan and is still being repeated <i>ad nauseam</i> by the +press. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>Workingmen so absorbed by the making of bread that they have +no time to discuss questions of government may be excused for being +ignorant on such a point as this; to them ignorance cannot be imputed +as a fault. But that those who set themselves up as the persons best +fitted to govern and educate our country—as indeed the only persons +in the country possessing the knowledge of statesmanship necessary to +handle our governmental affairs and publish our daily press—should +either never have taken the trouble to find out what Socialism is, or, +having taken the trouble, should so traduce it, is a sad commentary +upon our editors and statesmen.</p> + +<p>Just as it has been demonstrated that Socialism is opposed to +Anarchism, so can it be demonstrated that Socialism is opposed to the +distribution of wealth or the abolition of property. Far from +distributing wealth, the essence of Socialism is that it seeks to +concentrate it. Far from wanting to abolish property Socialism seeks +to put it on a throne. The question of property is so important that a +special chapter has been devoted to it. I shall therefore only say +here just enough to remove the error created by the misstatements +current on the subject.</p> + +<p>Property is not only the basis of our present civilization, but must +be the basis of all conceivable civilizations. It may be said that not +only all law, but all government, is founded upon it. Property was +instituted to furnish to every industrious man security as regards +himself, his family, and the means of their support; to protect him +and them from theft, from fraud and evil doing.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately property, like every human institution—even the best of +them<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a>—has been abused to serve <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>the selfishness of the crafty; and +there have arisen, therefore, notions and laws regarding property +which have reversed the results which property was instituted to +secure. Instead of making every industrious man secure as regards +himself, his family, and the means of their support, it has actually +deprived the majority of all security regarding these things and, +indeed, put the majority as regards these things at the mercy of a +very few. Not only this, it has created conditions which to-day are +depriving several millions of us not only of all means of support, but +of all opportunity of earning them.</p> + +<p>The bourgeois' excuse for such conditions is that no better can be +devised. Here is the whole issue of Socialism raised; for Socialism +contends that these conditions are totally unnecessary; that it does +not need any imagination or invention to substitute for them a system +that will put an end to such evils as pauperism, prostitution, and, in +great part, crime; that we have but to adopt as a community the +principles already adopted by the men—the makers of the trusts—to +whom the whole business world looks up as infallible on these +subjects; and that this can be accomplished by ridding the institution +of property of the fallacies with which it has been industriously +defaced. Just indeed as the truly religious have during all ages +sought to rescue religion from the crafty who tend to use it for their +own ends—Christ from the Pharisee, Plato from the Sophist, Luther +from the Borgias, so Socialists are now seeking to rescue property +from the few who, under a mistaken theory of happiness, use property +to injure their fellow creatures when these very few can attain +happiness only by so using property as to benefit those they now +injure.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>It must, however, be specifically stated that Socialism does not +involve the concentration of all wealth in the state. No sane +Socialist proposes to vest in the state the things which a man uses, +his personal apparel, his personal furniture, his objects of art, his +musical instruments, his automobile, or even his private yacht.</p> + +<p>There is no intention to suppress private property except so far as it +is used for exploitation. Light is thrown upon this subject in another +paragraph, which indicts the capitalist system for making the +production of the necessaries of our lives the object of their +competitive enterprises and speculations.</p> + +<p>What the Socialist party proposes to do is not to abolish property, +but to abolish the capitalist system, as it expressly states; and it +proposes to do this not only in the interest of the proletariat, but +also in the interest of the capitalist himself, who, to quote the +words of the platform, is "the slave of his wealth rather than its +master." The extent to which this last is true will be discussed in a +subsequent chapter and ought to constitute an impressive argument for +all—even millionaires—who have become the slaves of the very +fortunes they have made. And the moral tendency to restore property to +its original intention by abolishing the capitalist system is +expressly stated in the platform as not an attempt "to substitute +working-class rule for capitalist-class rule, but to free all humanity +from class rule and to realize the international brotherhood of man." +If this be immoral, then a great many of us do not know what morality +is.</p> + +<p>Nor does it propose to vest in the state anything but what it is +indispensable for a state to own in order to rescue the unwealthy +majority from the exploitation of the wealthy few. Nothing is more +false or libelous than the allegation that Socialism proposes to +destroy <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>property, or to deprive a man of the benefit of his talents, +or of the enjoyment of the products of his work. It is the present +industrial system that deprives the majority of the product of their +work. Socialism aims at the opposite of these things. What Socialism +does propose is to preserve wealth by eliminating waste and to ensure +to all men the fullest benefit of their talents and the enjoyment of +the whole product of their work. It does not propose to level down, as +is so often claimed; the necessary effect of Socialism is to level up, +if indeed it levels at all. The extent to which it may be wise to +concentrate wealth in the state, or whether it is necessary to +concentrate it in the state at all, is a question which must be +postponed until we have a clear idea of what Socialism is.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile I venture to suggest one view of Socialism which, although +it does not attempt to define it, may help us as a first effort to get +a correct apprehension of it.</p> + +<p>Socialism is the concentration of just so much wealth in the +community—please note that I do not say "state"—as may be necessary +to secure the liberty and the happiness of every man, woman, and child +consistent with the liberty and the happiness of every other man, +woman, and child.</p> + +<p>We are obviously here brought to the question of what is liberty, and +to the discussion of another error regarding Socialism upon which the +bourgeois is disposed to insist, viz.: Socialism will impair liberty.</p> + +<br /> +<h4>§ 6. <span class="sc">Socialism Will not Impair Liberty</span></h4> + +<p>The same thing must be said of liberty as of property: both are such +important subjects that they demand a chapter to themselves. But there +are current errors <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>about liberty which, when removed, will prepare +the mind for the undoubted fact that Socialism, far from impairing +liberty, will greatly enlarge it.</p> + +<p>When negro slavery existed people thought that if slavery were only +abolished, liberty would be secured. It was found, however, that when +negro slavery was abolished there was still another liberty to be +secured—political liberty.</p> + +<p>Now that we have secured the constitutional right and the +constitutional weapon by which political liberty ought to be attained, +we discover that these rights and weapons are useless to us so long as +the immense majority of us are still economic slaves.</p> + +<p>Let us consider for a moment just what is meant by an economic slave.</p> + +<p>An economic slave is a man who is dependent for his living on another +man or class of men and who, because all his waking hours and all his +vitality must be devoted to making a living, has no leisure either to +exercise his political rights or to enjoy himself.</p> + +<p>It may seem exorbitant to say that the "immense majority" of us are +economic slaves, yet a very little consideration will, I think, +convince that we are.</p> + +<p>Workingmen are dependent on their employers under conditions worse +than negro slavery. For a slave owner had an interest in the life of +his slave just as a farmer has an interest in the life of his stock. +He therefore fed his slaves and did not overwork them. Nor was a slave +subject to losing his job. The factory owner, on the contrary, not +being the owner of his factory hands, is free to dismiss them as soon +as they are worn out, and it is to his interest, by speeding up his +machinery, to get the most work out of his hands possible, regardless +whether he is overworking them; for as soon as they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>show signs of +overwork he has but to dismiss them and employ a younger generation. +Nor can it be said of workingmen that they have leisure for education, +politics, or enjoyment. Now the last census shows that our industrial +population numbers 21,000,000.</p> + +<p>In the second place, the farmer works himself as hard—if not +harder—than the factory owner works his factory hand. He is driven by +the same necessity as the factory owner—the necessity of making +money.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> There are of course a few large farmers who own enough land +to work it as the factory owner works his factory—by the use of +machinery and men. But these are few, and it is the extraordinary +economy that these men make in working their farms that obliges the +small farmer to work night as well as day to make a bare living out of +his land. Now by the last census the farming population in the United +States numbers 30,000,000.</p> + +<p>And what has been said of the workingman is true of the clerk and +domestic; and what has been said of the small farmer is true of the +small tradesman. Now clerks, domestics, and tradesmen number +30,000,000. Summing up we have:</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" width="45%" summary="number of workingmen"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="85%">Industrial population</td> + <td class="tdr" width="15%">21,000,000</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Farmers</td> + <td class="tdr">30,000,000</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Clerks, domestics and tradesmen</td> + <td class="tdr bb">30,000,000</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdr bt">81,000,000</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="noin">out of a total population of 90,000,000 are economic slaves.</p> + +<p>And of the 9,000,000 that remain, how many are economically free?</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>These are in part teachers, physicians, and lawyers. I leave it to +teachers to tell us how much time they can call their own. As to the +rest, it is the dream of a young doctor to get a large practice; and +when his dream is realized, how much leisure does he enjoy? He is at +the mercy of his practice, not only weekdays, but Sundays—days and +nights. He is the slave of his own practice. It is the dream of the +young lawyer to get rich clients and handle big cases. When he gets +them, he discovers that he must have an office that costs between +$30,000 and $50,000 a year to take care of them, and that he must earn +these large sums before there is a penny left for himself. So he too +is the slave of his own office.</p> + +<p>But further than this: Our great business men—amongst them the very +greatest—I have seen with my own eyes slowly sink under the burden of +the very institutions their own genius had created. They too have +become the slaves of their own creations.</p> + +<p>So we are all slaves, the greatest and the least of us, with +exceptions so few that they are hardly worth mentioning. And how do +these exceptions use their leisure? It were better not too closely to +inquire. Too much leisure is as detrimental to happiness and progress +as too much work. The enormous increase of lunacy in late years is a +straw that shows how the stream runs. Because of too much work or too +much leisure the race is marching with fatal speed toward general +prostration of nerve, of body, and of mind.</p> + +<p>Whether then we look at this question from the point of view of human +progress or of human happiness, it seems indispensable that the whole +machinery of production be speeded down a little instead of +continuously up. Now this is what Socialism proposes to do: It +proposes by the substitution of coöperation for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>competition to make +the same economy for all humanity as trust promoters have made for +themselves. And the economy will be an economy of time. We shall work +as hard while we are working, but we shall work four hours instead of +eight and twelve. And the rest of the time we shall have to ourselves; +we shall be economically free.</p> + +<p>Yet if the reader has in his mind any such idea of Socialism as Mr. +Roosevelt's "state free lunch counter," resulting in an "iron +despotism over all workers compared to which any slave system of the +past would seem beneficent because less utterly hopeless"—he will be +disposed to condemn in advance any economic freedom purchased at such +a price. I beg the reader, therefore, to try to rid his mind of the +prejudice created by such views as Mr. Roosevelt's until he has read +the chapters on the Economy of Socialism and How Socialism May Come. +If in these chapters the errors of Mr. Roosevelt's notions are not +dissipated, then this book will have been written in vain.</p> + +<p>One thing more, however, must be said on this subject. Inexcusable +though Mr. Roosevelt may be in most of his attacks on Socialism, it +must be admitted that the "iron despotism" to which he thinks +Socialism will lead is justified by many Socialist authors, and it is +only very lately that a way has been found for introducing coöperation +without compulsion. Again, Mr. Roosevelt is in good company in making +this charge. It is the great <i>cheval de bataille</i> of every +anti-Socialist.</p> + +<p>In "A Plea for Liberty," edited by Herbert Spencer, the idea of +concentrating wealth in the community is denounced as a "conception of +life or conduct" which would compel men "to rise at morn to the sound +of a state gong, breakfast off state viands, labor by time <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>according +to a state clock, dine at a state table supplied at the state's +expense, and to be regulated as to rest and recreation."</p> + +<p>In fact, Socialism proposes none of these things. But if it did, a +factory hand might very well ask whether such a conception of life or +conduct would be worse than to rise at morn by the sound of a factory +bell, labor by time according to a factory clock, neither breakfast +nor dine at a factory table supplied at the factory's expense, but be +regulated as to rest and recreation by factory rules. When we come to +discuss liberty, we shall be in a position to compare the liberty +enjoyed under Socialism with the liberty enjoyed to-day.</p> + +<p>In the chapter on Property and Liberty, the subject of liberty is +carefully analyzed; no more, therefore, need be said on this subject +except in conclusion to insist that it is the competitive system of +to-day that makes slaves of practically all of us, and that it is the +coöperative system alone that will secure for us the last and greatest +of all the liberties—economic liberty—because it is economic liberty +alone that will enable us to enjoy the other two.</p> + +<br /> +<h4>§ 7. <span class="sc">Conclusion</span></h4> + +<p>Having now chipped off some but not all of the errors that prevail, +regarding Socialism, let us sum up what Socialism is not; it will help +us to a study of what Socialism is.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Socialism is not Anarchism. It is the contradictory opposite of +Anarchism. It believes in regulation, but demands that the +regulation be wise and just.</p> + +<p>Socialism is not Communism. On the contrary it demands that +workingmen be assured as nearly as possible the product of their +labor.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>Socialism does not propose to eliminate competition, but only to +abolish excessive competition that gives rise to pauperism, +prostitution and crime.</p> + +<p>Socialism is not hostile to the home. On the contrary, it seeks +to remove the evils that make the homes of our millions +insupportable.</p> + +<p>Socialism is not immoral. On the contrary, it seeks to make the +Golden Rule practical.</p> + +<p>Socialism does not propose to abolish property or distribute +wealth. It proposes, on the contrary, to consecrate property and +concentrate wealth so that all shall enjoy according to their +deserts the benefits of both.</p> + +<p>Socialism will not impair liberty. On the contrary, it will for +the first time give to humanity economic liberty without which +so-called individual and political liberty are fruitless. It +proposes to regulate production, consecrate property, and +concentrate wealth only to the extent necessary to assure to +every man the maximum of security and the maximum of leisure; +thereby putting an end to pauperism, prostitution, and in great +part, to crime, and furnishing to man environment most conducive +to his advancement and happiness.</p> + +<p>Whether it will accomplish these things can only be determined +by approaching it from the positive side. We shall proceed next +then to answer the question what Capitalism is.</p></div> + +<br /> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +<br /> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> The principal evil attending such laws is that they give +rise to graft. In other words, our political machine actually favors +such laws, because they put a club in the hands of the machine through +which it can not only levy political contributions, but coerce their +victims into support of the machine.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> The death rate in 1900 among occupied males in the +professions was 15.3 per 1000; in clerical and official classes 13.5; +mercantile, 12.1; laboring and servant classes 20.2 per 1000 (12th +Census U.S.) Dr. Emmett Holt, writing in the <i>Journal of the American +Medical Association</i>, points out the marked contrast between the death +rate of the children of the poor and the children of the rich. See +Appendix, p. 421.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> <i>Outlook</i>, March 20, 1909.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Book III, Chapter V.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> U.S. Census Bulletin 96, p. 7, 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> "Poverty," by Robert Hunter. (Macmillan.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> "Socialism and Social Reform," by R.T. Ely, p. 43. +(Crowell.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Ibid.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> "Government or Human Evolution," Vol. II, p. 88 <i>et +seq.</i>, by the author.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> "The American Farmer," A.M. Simons.</p></div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="BOOK_II" id="BOOK_II"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>BOOK II<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3><i>WHAT CAPITALISM IS</i></h3> +<br /> + +<p>Socialism is necessarily twofold: destructive and constructive; +critical and remedial. We shall take the critical or destructive rôle +of Socialism first; setting down the evils in our existing industrial +system which Socialism criticizes and seeks to destroy, and leaving +the remedial or constructive rôle of Socialism where it properly +belongs—to the end. For this reason the present book, which treats of +the evils of the existing industrial system, is entitled "What +Capitalism is."</p> + +<br /> + +<h4 class="sc">Evils of Capitalism</h4> + +<p>For nearly two centuries men have produced and distributed the things +they needed, upon what is called "the competitive system." That is to +say, every individual is free to choose his particular share in this +work and to make out of his work all that he can, in order with the +money so made to purchase for himself the things that he individually +needs. The farmer undertakes to furnish us with food, the forester +with lumber, the miner with iron. Another set of men run railroads, +steamboats, wagons, etc., to distribute the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>things produced to those +who are engaged in selling them—by wholesale to the trade, or by +retail to the consumer. Every man engaged in production and +distribution is in a measure competing with every other man engaged in +it, each trying to make out of his particular calling the largest +amount of money possible with the view of being able with the money so +earned to purchase for himself the largest amount of necessaries, +comforts, and luxuries. This so-called competitive system has been +elaborately described by all writers of political economy from de +Quesnay and Adam Smith, the fathers of our present system of political +economy, to the present day; and because it follows the predatory plan +of nature (by which one set of animals lives by devouring another +set), it is claimed by some so-called philosophers to be "natural" and +therefore wise. The most notorious author of this so-called scientific +justification of the competitive system is Herbert Spencer.</p> + +<p>The competitive system, however, has been found to result in great +waste, misery, and disease; and it is to these evil consequences that +the Socialist desires to put an end. He claims that the competitive +system is not wise, not scientific, and above all, not economical, but +is the most wasteful system conceivable. He alleges that the only +intelligent, economic way of producing and distributing the things we +need is by coöperation; and the whole economic issue between Socialism +and our present industrial system is that Socialism stands for +coöperation, and our present system for competition.</p> + +<p>It is by no means a necessary part of Socialist philosophy that +competition be entirely eliminated. On the contrary, it has been +pointed out and will later be further seen that competition has many +useful qualities.<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>Socialism, however, points out that +competition, when allowed full sway in producing and distributing the +necessaries of life, is the direct occasion of the larger part of the +misery in the world, and insists, therefore, that as <i>regards +production and distribution of the necessaries of life</i>, competition +be sufficiently eliminated to assure to all men the opportunity to +work, and as nearly as possible the full product of their work. The +limitation in italics is the definite dose to which reference has +already been made.<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></p> + +<p>One prominent feature of the competitive system is that men do not +work for the purpose of supplying the needs of their fellow creatures. +The Steel Trust does not manufacture steel to satisfy our need for +steel; the farmer does not raise wheat to satisfy our need for bread; +they produce these things simply for the purpose of making money for +themselves in order that with this money they can procure for +themselves the things they need. Socialism claims that the rôle played +by money in the competitive system is unfortunate, because the amount +of money available at any given time is not always properly adjusted. +Sometimes it is so badly adjusted that there is more cotton in one +place than the people in that place can use, and in another more +people who need cotton than there is cotton to give them; so that it +is deliberately proposed to burn cotton for lack of consumers in one +place, while consumers are allowed to suffer for lack of cotton in the +other. So a short time ago thousands were dying of starvation for lack +of wheat in India, while we had such a superabundance of it in America +that we were exporting it every day. But that wheat was not available +for India because it had to be converted into money.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>Socialists allege that this bad situation would never arise if things +were produced for the purpose of satisfying human needs instead of for +making money.</p> + +<p>Let us enumerate some of the most important evils of the competitive +system, which Socialism seeks to correct. These evils briefly are: The +competitive system is stupid because wasteful and disorderly; it is +unnecessarily immoral, unjust and cruel.</p> + +<br /> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +<br /> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> See Book I, Chapter III.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> See Book I, Chapter III.</p></div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="BK_II_CHAPTER_I" id="BK_II_CHAPTER_I"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER I<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>CAPITALISM IS STUPID</h3> +<br /> + +<h4>§ 1. <span class="sc">Overproduction</span></h4> + +<p>The first and most glaring evil of the competitive system is that it +is stupid. In support of this I shall call as witnesses captains of +industry whom the business men regard as the greatest authorities in +the world: John D. Rockefeller<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a>, Henry O. Havemeyer<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a>, Elbert H. +Gary<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> and others.</p> + +<p>Socialists are accused of being impractical. I shall have failed in +properly presenting the Socialist case if I do not succeed in +demonstrating that the impractical people are the bourgeois, the +Roosevelts, Tafts and Bryans who, though aware of the waste of the +competitive system, insist upon maintaining it; and that the only +practical people are those who, like the Socialists, having perceived +the waste that attends the competitive system, seek to replace it by a +more economic plan.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>No one will, I think, deny that the most practical business men to-day +in America are Rockefeller, Pierpont Morgan, Havemeyer, and the others +who have been engaged in organizing our great trusts. Now the only +object of a trust is to eliminate the unnecessary waste of +competition; and the only difference between the Socialist and the +trust magnate is that the Socialist wants the benefit derived from +reducing competition to be shared by all; whereas Rockefeller, +Pierpont Morgan and the other trust magnates want the profit secured +by the elimination of waste all to themselves.</p> + +<p>I do not suppose there is any man living so prejudiced or so dull as +to deny that, if Socialism could present a system by which all could +be made to profit from the elimination of the waste of the competitive +system in such a manner that the profit of each shall be proportional +to the amount which each contributes, Socialism would be justified. +The only point upon which there can be discussion is whether it is +possible to suggest a workable plan under which the evils of +competition can be eliminated, and the blessings of coöperation take +their place. In other words, is coöperation a practical cure for +competition? It is obviously impossible to decide whether a given +treatment would constitute a cure for a given disease, without a +thorough knowledge of the disease. It is therefore essential that we +should be clear as regards the defects of the competitive system, and +how far these defects are curable and how far incurable.</p> + +<p>The beauty of the competitive system upon which the bourgeois loves to +dwell is that it is automatic; whenever there is overproduction in an +industry prices fall, profits disappear and therefore capital flows +away <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>from it; as soon as overproduction comes to an end prices rise, +profits reappear and capital flows back to it. And the beauty of this +automatic system is the more commended because it closely follows +Nature; and indeed, the system of Nature is beautiful in the extreme. +The sun draws the vapor of pure water from the salt ocean; lifts it +high into the air, wafts it by propitious breezes to the continent; +sheds it in beneficent rain upon the thirsty land, and deposits it in +gigantic reservoirs of ice and snow upon our mountain heights; there +is the supply upon which during hot summers we depend; and the hotter +the summer, and the more therefore we need moisture, the more the snow +and glaciers melt and furnish us with torrents of refreshing streams; +so that at last the vapor that has been drawn by the sun from the +ocean, in obedience to the inevitable law of gravitation, returns to +it in a thousand rivers, after having performed its function of +nutrition and refreshment on the way.</p> + +<p>In the same fashion demand is ever beckoning labor and capital to seek +new fields, tempting them from the low levels of low interest to high +levels of high profit; and supply, increasing through their efforts, +is forever bringing them back, like the force of gravitation, to the +point whence they started; and the cycle is repeated over and over +again, performing its mission of production and distribution on the +way.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately, Nature, though beneficial in the main, does not +accomplish its work without distressing incidents. Breezes are not +always propitious; they sometimes create disastrous havoc; torrents +are sometimes more than refreshing, and summers unduly hot.</p> + +<p>For example, the more abundant a crop is, the more prosperous the +country which grows the crop ought <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>to that extent to be; but it +sometimes happens that, in such case, prices fall so low as to bring +disaster to those who have grown it.<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p> + +<p>Nature is not always to be depended on. Occasionally a crop entirely +fails, and when this happens, as lately in India, millions are exposed +to starvation and thousands actually starve.</p> + +<p>Even when Nature is most bountiful the competitive system results in +misfortune. For example, the President of the Boston Chamber of +Commerce in a speech to the Chamber said in 1891:</p> + +<p>"In 1890 we harvested a cotton crop of over eight million +bales—several hundred thousand bales more than the world could +consume. Had the crop of the present year been equally large, it would +have been an <i>appalling calamity</i> to the section of our country that +devotes so large a portion of its labor and capital to the raising of +cotton."<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p> + +<p>In 1905 the newspapers announced "the South is proposing to burn +cotton so as to keep up its price."<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> And still more recently the +same suggestion has been made regarding the tobacco crop in Kentucky.</p> + +<p>Again, the competitive system under which every man goes into the +business where he sees most profit, inevitably leads to periods of +overproduction, and overproduction leads to unemployment and misery.</p> + +<p>No political economist denies the obvious fact that whenever an +industry is known to be profitable, capitalists are likely to engage +in this industry—indeed, this is one of the automatic processes which +the Manchester <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>school has put forward as constituting the chief merit +of the system. It is, of course, important for the community at large +that prices should in no one industry become excessive; and obviously +the disposition of capital to rush into industries where profits are +high, does by competition tend to reduce prices, and thus prevent them +from becoming excessive. But economists, especially those of the +Manchester school, have not been willing to recognize that this +disposition of capital to flow into productive enterprises may, though +sometimes beneficial, be also sometimes ruinous; may, indeed, often +result in a devastating deluge. These economists, therefore, it may be +well to confront with a brief history of one or two of our largest +combinations. Let us take as a first example the sugar trust.</p> + +<p>Just before the organization of this trust, overproduction had become +so excessive that of forty refiners in the United States eighteen +became bankrupt. Of the twenty-two that remained, eighteen combined. +Of the refineries belonging to these eighteen, eleven were closed, +leaving seven to do profitably the work which had previously been done +unprofitably by forty.</p> + +<p>The history of the whisky trust shows overproduction to a still more +aggravated degree. Before the organization of the Distilling and +Cattle-Feeding Company, agreements were entered into by the majority +of the distillers; under one of them they agreed to reduce production +to forty per cent of what it at that time was; subsequently they +agreed to reduce still further to twenty-eight per cent; and of eighty +of the principal distillers who organized the Distilling and +Cattle-Feeding Company, the establishments of sixty-eight were closed, +leaving only twelve distilleries operating.</p> + +<p>The same succession of events is found in the history <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>of the American +Steel and Wire Company, and indeed of practically all American trusts.</p> + +<p>This inevitable tendency towards overproduction vitally concerns +workingmen, for it is upon them that the evil consequences of this +process first and most fatally fall. As soon as the process results in +the inevitable reduction of prices to near cost, the manufacturer must +either throw workmen out of employment or reduce wages. Wages +constitute the only elastic element in cost, and it is therefore the +workingman who first pays for the evil working of this system. And not +only does the workingman pay for it, but the employer pays for it +also; for workingmen, to protect their interests, strike, and only the +wealthiest employers can stand the strain of a strike; the rest are +ruined by it.</p> + +<p>Even a reduction of the hours of work or the days of employment in the +week will, if it lasts long enough, ruin the employer, for he has +still to pay the fixed charges of the factory, and if prices get low +enough, and he cannot sell his goods except at a ruinous loss, he ends +by not having means to pay these charges; and this process is +illustrated in the cases just mentioned; for example, eighteen out of +forty sugar refiners became bankrupt; and it was not till the eighteen +were ruined that a combination was possible amongst the rest.</p> + +<p>One method employed by trusts to keep up prices at home is to sell +their excess of goods in foreign markets at prices below cost.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gary, President of the Federal Steel Company, testified before the +Industrial Committee that steel had been recently shipped to Japan at +a price below the domestic price.<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p> + +<p>Mr. J.W. Lee, President of the three independent <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>pipe-line +organizations, testified that prior to 1895 "oil for export was sold +below the cost of crude at the refinery."<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></p> + +<p>Again, at a time when the American trade was paying $28 for steel +rails, the same steel rails were sold in Japan at $20.<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></p> + +<p>Obviously, the nations who are the victims of this process are not +long going to tolerate it; but this is a relatively small part of the +international complications produced by overproduction. The most +serious consequence of overproduction is that manufacturers, when they +can no longer get a remunerative price for their goods in the home +markets, are inevitably driven to seek it elsewhere. They seek foreign +markets, and failing foreign markets, they seek new markets by +colonization or conquest.</p> + +<p>It is impossible to read the history of the British Empire during the +last 150 years without becoming persuaded that its so-called greed for +conquest inevitably results from the necessity under which English +manufacturers have been to secure markets for their increasing goods. +Either British factories had to close, and British workmen to be +thrown out of employment, or England must, by colonization or +conquest, secure a price outside her own borders for the goods which +competition perpetually tended to make her factories overproduce.</p> + +<p>Indeed, the war through which England compelled China to purchase +Indian opium looks like the greatest of international crimes; yet, +when we understand this so-called crime of England, it turns out to +have been a commercial necessity; for the remunerative prices obtained +by the production of opium in India had so <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>developed this branch of +business that millions of Indians depended for their lives upon it, +and either Chinese must poison themselves with opium, or Indians must +die of hunger. The responsibilities of England were to her subjects +first. The Chinese had to pay the price of this responsibility.</p> + +<p>No better illustration of the wicked despotism that results from +existing industrial conditions could be given than this; it brought +about a condition of things under which England must commit a crime +against China, or millions of her subjects must perish in Hindustan.</p> + +<p>The millions that would starve in India if the opium market were +suddenly closed remind us of the millions who are on the verge of +starvation here in the United States,<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> and have been for two years +past because of inherent and incurable defects in our industrial +system. It is no answer to say that the evil results of overproduction +are promptly remedied by the fluidity of capital to flow towards +profitable and to withdraw from unprofitable manufactures. Every time +such withdrawal takes place a corresponding number of workmen are +thrown out of employment, are subjected to want and anguish of +anxiety. The evil of this system cannot be explained away by pointing +out that the capital withdrawn from one manufacture will soon be +reinvested in another. A cotton-spinner cannot in a week or a month +become a boilermaker. The commercial system which makes it easy for a +capitalist to maintain income at cost of agony to the workingman does +not recommend itself to the political student seeking the +establishment of Justice in economic conditions. For, unfortunately, +labor is not as "fluid" or insensible as capital. The workingman is a +human being with the capacity for pain and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>anxiety that characterizes +our race; and every time that capital profits by its fluidity to flow +from one industry to another, the lives of men, women, and children +are threatened by want. Even in prosperous times memories of the last +panic and the certainty of a recurring panic keep their hearts haunted +by fear.</p> + +<p>Overproduction is by no means the only cause for these periods of +unemployment. Indeed, the panic of 1907 was not the result of +overproduction, but of overinvestment, or what the French call the +"immobilization of capital." Every nation has two very different uses +for wealth: one for keeping its population alive and comfortable, the +other for developing the resources of the country, e.g., building +roads and railroads, exploiting mines and quarries, etc. If too much +wealth is immobilized in the latter, there is not enough for the +former. The important function of regulating this matter is in the +hands of bankers who make money not only out of the prosperity of +prosperous times, but out of the panic of panic periods. Thus in May, +1907, the bankers, knowing that there had been overinvestment, took +care of themselves by selling securities at top-notch prices, +occasioning what was called the "rich man's panic," because the rich +men of leisure were its victims; so that when the poor man's panic +came in October and stocks tumbled to one-half of May prices, the +bankers were able to reinvest the proceeds of May sales at fifty per +cent profit. One of the consequences of this operation was that in +October, 1907, neither manufacturers nor railroad men could get money +to keep their work going; gangs of five thousand men at a time were +summarily dismissed by railroads, and manufactures shut down.</p> + +<p>Of course, the bankers did not "make the panic," as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>has been +sometimes ignorantly asserted; they only made money out of it both +ways—out of high prices in May and out of low prices in November. And +this illustrates one of the great defects of the competitive +system—that it puts different sets of men in a position where they +can make individual profit out of the misfortunes of their neighbors; +bankers out of panics; distillers and liquor dealers out of +drunkenness; manufacturers and retailers out of adulteration, and so +down the whole gamut of production and distribution; and this is the +process which the bourgeois approves because it "makes character."</p> + +<p>But the unemployment that is the necessary result of all periods of +depression, whether produced by overproduction or overinvestment, +deserves more than passing mention for its fruits in the shape of +misery, pauperism, prostitution and crime, are menacing and +prejudicial to the race.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4 class="sc">§ 2. Unemployment</h4> + +<p>The subject of Unemployment has just been treated by an expert in a +book<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> hailed by the press as the final word on the subject. All the +theories ever propounded as to the cause of unemployment have been +reviewed in this book, from overproduction, underconsumption, +competition, to "spots on the sun." And the author concludes in favor +of competition.<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> As regards the facts and the explanation of these +facts, there seems to be no essential disagreement between orthodox +economists and Socialists. Both trace unemployment back to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span>competition. And in addition to the arguments given by Mr. Beveridge +for tracing unemployment to competition, I venture to add that +competition must be decided to be the primary cause, because it is +itself the cause of the other so-called causes occasionally +proposed—overproduction, underconsumption, underemployment, +underpayment—in fact, all except "spots on the sun," which can, I +think, except for purposes of hilarity be definitely abandoned.</p> + +<p>But although we are agreed as to facts, we very much differ as to +emphasis. Mr. Beveridge, and indeed all orthodox economists, pass +lightly over the injustice, the immorality and the agony of +unemployment. He refers to the "cyclical fluctuation" which gives rise +to unemployment as a mere failure of adjustment between demand and +supply. "No doubt," he says, "the adjustment takes time and may +only<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> be accomplished with a certain amount of friction and loss." +Now this "friction and loss," when expressed in money and wealth, seem +to us socialists stupid because avoidable; but when expressed in human +life and misery, they seem so intolerable that we are prepared if +necessary to shatter to bits the whole system that underlies them, in +order to "remould it nearer to the heart's desire." We are relieved +then when we discover that by applying wisdom instead of temper to the +solution of the problem, it is unnecessary to do any shattering, that +we can remould it without violence, and that this is what Socialism +proposes to do. Mr. Beveridge disposes of the Socialist solution in a +sentence: "To abolish the competitive stimulus," he says, "is to +abolish 'either the possibility of, or the principal factor in +material progress.'"<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>But these few words beg the whole question: +Need we abolish the competitive stimulus in the adoption of the +Socialist cure? Can we not confine ourselves to eliminating the +gambling element in it? Can we not diminish the stakes without +abandoning them altogether? Can we not take our arsenic in tonic +instead of in fatal doses? These questions belong to our constructive +chapters at the end of the book. I shall take up here only a few other +points about unemployment which orthodox economists do not +sufficiently emphasize, in order that there may be no doubt as to the +magnitude of this evil and as to the duty upon us to eliminate it if +we can.</p> + +<p>Few things irritate the bourgeois more than to speak of workingmen as +"wage slaves." I have seen college professors lose their temper over +this word so often that they have served to suggest that in using it +we are, as children say, getting "warm." We are very near the Negro we +are looking for in the woodpile. Unemployment will help us in our +search.</p> + +<p>Not only the slave, but the savage, has a great advantage over the +workingman, in that the former is never unemployed and the latter need +never be so unless he chooses. Unemployment then is the peculiar +product of our civilization. It is only under this competitive system +of ours that a strong, hearty, able-bodied man, not only willing, but +burning to work, with plenty of work to be done and with plenty of +food to be eaten, is refused both. Although there are vacant lots in +the heart of our cities and deserted farms within a few miles of them, +the unemployed and the women and children dependent on them are to +starve because owing to the "failure of adjustment between supply and +demand," no one for two years past has been able to make money by +employing them. Why this is so will more fully <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>appear in Book II, +Chapter III. It is only necessary here to point out the forces that +tend to make the wage slave not only more unfortunate, but more +dangerous to the community than the African slave.</p> + +<p>The slave owner has the same interest in the welfare of his slaves as +the cowboy in his cattle. God knows this is not much, but it is +sufficient to keep slaves and cattle in good condition if only for the +purpose of getting work out of the one and high prices out of the +other. The interest that a slave owner has in the health of his slaves +is a continuing one; it lasts during the working years of his slave. +The owner has paid a price or his slave has cost him a certain amount +to raise. The interest of the owner, therefore, is to get the most +work out of the slave during his working years. For this purpose he +lengthens these working years to the utmost possible; and accordingly +feeds and clothes his slave sufficiently and does not overwork him.</p> + +<p>The interest of the factory owner is just the opposite. He has paid +nothing out of his capital for what is called the "free labor" he +employs; and because free labor exacts a high wage and short hours, it +is to the interest of the factory owner to get the greatest work +possible out of his employee, regardless whether his employee is +overworked. It is to his interest, not only to use his employee, but +to use him up; and to this end he speeds up his machinery to the +utmost point in order to force his employees to do the greatest work +possible during the hours of employment, and has recourse to +pacemakers. He does this with perfect security, because he has an +unlimited amount of young labor always at his disposal to replace +employees prematurely worn out from overwork and the diseases that +come from overwork. The factory owner does not adopt these methods out +of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>hardness of heart, but out of the necessity of the market. If he +pays a workingman high wages for short hours, he must get the greatest +work out of him if he is to compete successfully with other factory +owners in the same line of business. Even the most merciful factory +owners have to overwork their employees in order to sell goods at +prices fixed by the merciless market. This system results in manifold +evils. It creates a class not only of unemployed, but of +unemployables; men who cannot render efficient service because of +disease and of the drunkenness to which overwork tends; for when a +workingman feels his strength begin to wane he has recourse to +stimulants to last his day out, and once the habit of stimulants is +contracted, he loses his appetite for nourishing food and becomes +thereby more and more confirmed in the use of intoxicants.</p> + +<p>We have here, therefore, a perpetual and necessary production of +unemployed and unemployable; the industrial town resembles a gigantic +threshing machine which produces its regular quota of unemployed and +unemployables as certainly as a threshing machine produces chaff.</p> + +<p>This leads to another point to which I wish to attract special +attention. Unemployment is generally regarded as a purely temporary +evil. Indeed, the New York <i>Times</i> took me to task for speaking of it +as a permanent evil.<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> The reason for this widespread error is that +permanent unemployment is a thing to which we have grown accustomed. +Charitable societies are familiar with it and know that it exists all +the time; but it is only when unemployment adopts gigantic proportions +so that the unemployed crowd our parks and streets and even indulge in +public demonstrations, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span>that the public becomes aware of it. And it is +not only the regular operation of the industrial threshing machine +that produces the unemployed and unemployables; it is the character of +certain industries and occupations such as seasonal industries—for +example, carpentering and casual occupations, such as stevedores and +longshoremen. Mr. Beveridge gives a very graphic picture of the +unemployment on the London docks:<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a></p> + +<p>Most of us have heard of the great Dock Strike of 1889, and of the +distinguished men who undertook to settle it. Efforts were made then +to regulate work on the wharves, and while these efforts did improve +the condition of the best of the men, as Mr. Beveridge says, "it is +seldom realized how small a proportion of the total field of dock and +wharf labor is really covered by the reform."<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a></p> + +<p>He attributes the maintenance of evil conditions still prevailing on +the docks to the "separation of the interests of wharfingers, +shipowners, and contractors," to our old enemy—competition.</p> + +<p>To appreciate the evil effects of casual or irregular employment, we +have again but to quote Mr. Beveridge:</p> + +<p>"The knowledge that any man, whatever his experience, however bad his +antecedents, might get a job at the docks, attracted to their +neighborhood a perpetual stream of blackguards, weaklings and failures +from other every occupation. The experience, soon made, that regular +attendance was not necessary to secure selection on days when work +happened to be plentiful, and the daily alternations of hard exercise +and idleness rapidly developed in those who came, if they had it not +before, the greatest irregularity of habits, and physical or moral +incapacity for continuous exertion. The low physique <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>and half-starved +condition of many of the laborers made their work dear at 4d. an +hour."<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a></p> + +<p>Here he falls in with the evil feature of the competitive system which +has been described as gambling with nothing less for stakes than life, +health and happiness: "Finally," concludes Mr. Beveridge, "the door is +opened to abuse of patronage; convivial drinking and even direct +bribery are not unknown as a means of securing employment."<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></p> + +<p>The form of bribery paid by employees when of the female sex is a +still darker side of this dark subject.<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a></p> + +<p>Another permanent cause of unemployment is underemployment and +underpayment. In many occupations, such as coal mining, +underemployment is averaged over a year so as to cause little +unemployment but much distress; the high wages which the miners are +able to stipulate for through their trade unions are reduced by +diminishing the days of work in the year. In other occupations +underemployment and underpayment reduce employees to a state of +starvation, which of course swells the rank of the unemployables.</p> + +<p>Having seen how the pressure of the market forces factory owners to +overwork their employees and to dismiss all who are not able to earn +the wages they receive; how casual employment creates and keeps alive +a class of labor such as is described by Mr. Beveridge, and as must +perpetually throw employees either upon charity or into the street; +and having seen that this is a result of inherent and constant +conditions of our industrial <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>system, we are not surprised to find +that statistics of unemployment indicate that it exists not only in +periods of industrial depression, as is imagined by the New York +<i>Times</i> and others, but is, on the contrary, a permanent feature. For +example, the September Report of the New York Commissioner of Labor +shows that the average percentage of unemployment during the +prosperous period between 1902 and 1907, was 16.1 per cent. We shall +see later when we endeavor to calculate the amount of our population +affected by unemployment, that 16.1 per cent, being derived entirely +from trade union reports, does not fully represent the whole, because +it is generally admitted that unemployment prevails in much larger +proportion in unorganized labor than in organized.<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> The last United +States Census sets down the number of factory hands at over 7,000,000. +Taking therefore the official figures as representing the minimum of +constant unemployment, 16 per cent of 7,000,000 is 1,120,000, and as +every factory hand has on an average four persons dependent upon him, +this means a total population of 4,480,000, or roughly, four millions +and a half permanently in want in the United States owing to this +unemployment which orthodox economists recognize as a necessary result +of the competitive system.</p> + +<p>But the public takes no account of the fact that our industrial system +regularly reduces a population of 4,500,000 to want. The public only +takes account of the extraordinary unemployment which occasions +disorder and riot in times of panic and industrial depression. Panics +and industrial depressions must not be confounded. We have seen that +industrial depressions are the inevitable result of what Mr. Beveridge +calls "cyclical <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>fluctuations" and recur with abominable regularity. +Quite independent, however, of these regularly recurring industrial +depressions due to the working of the competitive system, there are +financial crises or panics due to similar perturbations in our money +market. Although they differ in many respects from industrial +depressions, nevertheless they have in common with them the inevitable +result of producing unemployment on a large scale. The panic of 1907 +began as a purely financial crisis, but promptly became a lengthy +period of industrial depression. It is not necessary at this point to +discuss the relation between these two. But it is important that mere +scarcity of money in the panic of 1907 produced unemployment more +suddenly and in larger proportions than any other panics that have +preceded it.</p> + +<p>Not only private enterprises such as railroads, but public bodies such +as municipalities, being no longer able to borrow money, had not only +to abandon work already voted, but to put a sudden stop to work +already undertaken. Laborers were dismissed in batches of five +thousand at a time, and every manufacturing and railroad plant was +driven by the impossibility of borrowing money to cutting down +expenses with a view to increasing the efficiency of the plant. Thus +the Pennsylvania Railroad announced that it had so increased the +efficiency of its plant that it was able to dismiss 30,000 men during +the year; the New York Central during 1907 dismissed ten per cent of +the staff upon its main line alone; seventy-six railroads, operating +over 172,000 miles of railroad, report an economy of nearly +$100,000,000, most of which constituted an economy in wages,<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> and +Senator Guggenheim, in an interview published in the <i>Wall Street +Journal</i>,<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> said:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>"For the first time in many years the employer is getting from his men +the 100 per cent in efficiency for which he pays. It is a safe +assertion that prior to the panic the efficiency of labor was no +higher than 75 per cent, perhaps not even that."</p> + +<p>Special attention is directed to the foregoing because unemployment is +ceasing to be a merely accidental and periodic phenomenon and is +assuming not only larger, but more permanent proportions. In other +words, the 30,000 men dismissed by the Pennsylvania Railroad were not +dismissed because of a temporary cessation of traffic. They were +dismissed because the Pennsylvania Railroad has succeeded in so +raising the efficiency of their system that they can permanently run +their lines with 30,000 less employees than they could before.</p> + +<p>Let us endeavor to form some idea of the unemployment during the last +two years. The only State that regularly publishes official reports on +this subject is New York. The State of New York derives its +information from such trade unions as report to it; and from these +reports it seems that during 1908, the average unemployment has been +about one-third.</p> + +<p>As has been intimated, an average of one-third of organized labor +reported by trade unions, means a very much larger proportion of +unorganized labor. It is true that Mr. Beveridge disputes this in one +passage,<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> but he himself furnishes the evidence of its truth in +several others; as for example, where he says that "in practice, +therefore, it is found that acute recurrent distress at times of +seasonal depression is confined to the unskilled occupations";<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> and +again, he points out how the lack of intelligence of unorganized and +semi-skilled and unskilled workmen makes it impossible for them to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>take account of the fluctuations that produce unemployment. "The +measure of their failure," he says, "is to be found in those periods +of clamant distress which evoke Mansion House Relief Funds."<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a></p> + +<p>In Chapter V, again, he points out the chronic distress of unskilled +men and that unemployment is largely due to lack of organization. It +stands to reason that whereas a factory owner thinks twice before +dismissing a skilled workman he will not hesitate to dismiss an +unskilled workman whom he can replace at any time.<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a></p> + +<p>However much authorities may differ on this in Europe, there can be no +question about it in America. It was impossible to read the daily +papers in October, 1907, without being satisfied that the first men to +suffer were the unorganized and unskilled. Hardly a day passed for +weeks without papers announcing the discharge of workingmen in batches +of thousands at a time. It was only later that factories shut down, +and then for the most part, a day or so in the week. Unfortunately, +because the unskilled workingman is unorganized, it is impossible to +get any information regarding the extent of unemployment in their +ranks; but it can be stated without fear of contradiction, that the +percentage of unemployment is much larger in the ranks of the +unorganized than in those of trade unions.</p> + +<p>The one-third, therefore, as shown by the New York <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>Labor reports, is +below the mark, I will not undertake to say how much. In endeavoring +to make an estimate as to the extent of unemployment throughout the +entire Union, we must remember that the percentage of employment in +New York is likely to be larger than in purely agricultural States. On +the other hand, nowhere is the percentage of unemployment greater than +in the States devoted to mining. The difficulty under which we find +ourselves, therefore, in giving the exact figure of the extent of +unemployment, makes it wise not to increase the one-third reported by +trade unions in New York in consequence of the certainty that this +proportion was far larger in unorganized labor; and on the other hand, +not to decrease it out of the consideration that there were some +States in which the percentage would not be as much as in the State of +New York. Under these circumstances it may be assumed that the +percentage reported by the trade unions to the Labor Department fairly +represents the average unemployment throughout the whole United States +of America. Taking the census figures of over 7,000,000 as that of the +workingmen in the country, one-third of 7,000,000 is 2,333,333; add to +this the number of persons dependent on these workingmen; four to +each, 9,333,333; add this to the first figure and we get a population +of 11,666,666 which for two years has been on the edge of starvation, +and saved from it only through accumulated earnings, help from trade +unions and charity. As the unskilled workingman can hardly ever save +money owing to the low rate of his wages, and as he is not organized +and never receives benefits from a union, it may be said that the +large majority of these have been living for two years on the charity +of their neighbors.</p> + +<p>It is probable, too, that the trade union member has <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span>been reduced to +depending upon charity; for the last report on savings banks shows +that $25,000,000 have been withdrawn during the last year, and their +presidents, when interviewed, recognized that this diminution was +caused by the withdrawal of funds by the unemployed.</p> + +<p>It was also due to the withdrawal of funds by the trade unions. In +October, 1907, many trade unions had large sums accumulated which have +been applied during the year to the support of the unemployed. The +Union of Pressmen had $30,000 last October, all of which has gone to +support the unemployed during the year, and this union has suffered +comparatively little, only 20 per cent being now idle. This 20 per +cent is supported by assessments on those who are at work.</p> + +<p>As regards remedies for unemployment, Mr. Beveridge says that "no cure +for industrial fluctuation can be hoped for; the aim must be +palliation." And he dwells at great length upon the palliative +measures to which Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and to a less extent, +France, have recourse; employment bureaus, insurance against +unemployment, and farm colonies, to which last he refers only +incidentally, pointing out that Hollesley Bay had proved for the most +part ineffectual.<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> These palliatives have, however, rendered +comparatively small service. In Germany, where they have all been +applied, unemployment during 1908 reached the rioting stage, at which +it becomes dangerous and commands the attention of our economists, as +in England. The palliative, to which Mr. Beveridge only incidentally +refers, is, to my mind, calculated not only to diminish the evil +immediately, but to serve as an important bridge over which the +unemployed and unemployables may pass into the Promised <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>Land. The +farm colony, however, belongs to the constructive chapter at the end +of the book.</p> + +<p>Another necessary consequence of the competitive system is a form of +unemployment which, because of its importance, deserves consideration +by itself—Prostitution.</p> + +<br /> +<h4>§ 3. <span class="sc">Prostitution</span></h4> + +<p>Prostitution is not an easy or agreeable subject to treat; it will be +disposed of, therefore, in the fewest words possible. The treatment of +it will be summary, not because the subject is unimportant, but +because it is abominable. And if it is true that Socialism would put +an end to it, this alone, for those who can comprehend the horrors +thereof, ought to justify Socialism whatever be the sacrifice +necessary to the realization of it. If our present competitive system +is responsible for the evil to both sexes that results from +prostitution, then the maintenance of this system is, so far as every +one of us by indifference tolerates it, nothing less than crime.</p> + +<p>We must begin by making ourselves clear as to what prostitution is.</p> + +<p>Mere promiscuity of sexual relation does not constitute prostitution, +for many a woman is unfaithful to her husband many times without +losing social consideration, provided only she conduct herself with +sufficient discretion to avoid scandal.</p> + +<p>Nor does intercourse for money constitute prostitution; for then +prostitution would include all those who marry for money. The real +definition of a prostitute is a woman who has intercourse both +promiscuously and for a money reward, promiscuity and gain must be +united.</p> + +<p>Now it will later be made clear that in a Socialist state <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>because +every woman would be furnished an opportunity to work, none would be +driven to prostitution.</p> + +<p>Prostitution is generally the direct result of the disgrace put upon a +woman by loss of virtue. She is turned out of her home and her +legitimate employment. She has then but one recourse. It is sometimes +due to lack of employment; sometimes to the greater facility +prostitution affords for making a livelihood with the least labor. In +all these cases the <i>primum mobile</i> is the making of a livelihood. As +Socialism would remove this <i>primum mobile</i>, would assure a livelihood +to every woman upon the single condition of her performing her +allotted work—there would be no motive for prostitution. If she +refused to perform her allotted task she would become a pauper—but a +prostitute never; for a Socialist state, as will be later explained, +would segregate paupers in farm colonies, where they would be +compelled to support themselves, and would not leave them to +demoralize their neighbors by profligacy and prostitution.</p> + +<p>It may be objected that society keeps itself pure by casting out women +of loose character, and that an innocent girl should not be called +upon to work in a factory side by side with one who will deprave her +if she can. An exhaustive answer to this would involve a study of the +special conditions of each State, the laws of each State, the mental +attitude of the people, their tolerance of immorality or their +intolerance of it. It is a problem common to every society. This +exhaustive study it is not the province of this book to undertake; the +subject must be disposed of, therefore, by the following general +considerations:</p> + +<p>In the society of the wealthy to-day we are confronted by the same +problem as would be presented in a coöperative commonwealth in which +prostitution would be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>rendered impossible by state employment +regardless of morality. In other words, wealth does for the wealthy +class what Socialism would do for the unwealthy; it makes prostitution +improbable if not impossible. And the wealthy manage to solve the +problem of promiscuity—every wealthy society for itself in its own +way.</p> + +<p>In one country the woman who outrages morality is socially ostracized; +in another she is tolerated; in one country divorces are not only +lawful, but fashionable; in others the church forbids divorce but +tolerates the complaisant husband. <i>All these are problems of sex +which Socialism does not undertake to solve.</i> Later on the scientific +and ethical aspects of Socialism will, I hope, lead to the conclusion +that Socialism will so raise our ethical standards and habits of mind +that sexual irregularities will tend to diminish. Prostitution, +however, is not a sex, but an economic problem. A woman does not +receive money payment except for economic reasons. If the economic +pressure is removed she may be licentious, but she will not be a +prostitute. Chastity ought to be a purely moral or social question, +not an economic one. The competitive system makes it economic, and of +all the crimes imputable to the competitive system, this is the +greatest, for it directly perverts not only the human body, but the +human soul. Of course, unemployment, in degenerating the body, +ultimately degenerates the soul also, but the latter generation is +more or less remote; the public conscience may be forgiven for not +having discovered or taken account of it. But that we should see women +daily compelled by hunger to sell soul as well as body and should then +shut against them the door of our homes and our hearts, is a crime not +only against them, but against ourselves. We are hardening our hearts +as well as theirs. We are forcing our minds to that obliquity which +sees <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>in Socialism only "pornographic literature" and "pornographic +propaganda" and charges the men who sacrifice their lives to the +putting an end to the conditions that produce prostitution with +"criminal nonsense" and "grave mental or moral shortcoming."<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></p> + +<p>This evil, like all evils that arise from the competitive system, is +not incidental or occasional, but inherent and necessary. It cannot be +better stated than by Miss Woodbridge, the secretary of the Working +Women's Society, in a report made to the Society on May 6, 1890:</p> + +<p>"It is a known fact that men's wages cannot fall below a limit upon +which they can exist, but woman's wages have no limit, since the paths +of shame are always open to her. The very fact that some of these +women receive partial support from brothers or fathers and are thus +enabled to live upon less than they earn, forces other women who have +no such support either to suffer for necessities or seek other means +of support."</p> + +<p>The extent to which wages are reduced below starvation rates is also +stated as follows:</p> + +<p>"The wages, which are low, we find are often reduced by excessive +fines, the employers placing a value upon time lost that is not given +to service rendered. The salaries of saleswomen range from $2.00 to +$18.00, but the latter sum is only paid in rare instances in cloak and +suit departments. The average salary in the best houses does not +exceed $7.00, and averages $4.00 or $4.50 per week. Cashiers receive +from $6.00 to $15.00, averaging about $9.00. Cash girls receive from +$1.50 to $2.50 per week, though we know of but one store where $2.50 +is paid. In the Broadway stores boys are employed, usually on +commission. The average salary of one large shop for saleswomen and +cash girls is $2.40; another <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>$2.90; another $3.10; but in the latter, +the employees are nearly all men and boys. We find in many stores the +rule to fine from five to thirty cents for a few minutes' tardiness. +In one store all women who earn over $7.00 are fined thirty cents for +ten minutes' tardiness. Cash girls who earn $1.75 per week are fined +ten cents for ten minutes' tardiness."</p> + +<p>It is hardly necessary to comment on a wage to saleswomen varying from +$2.40 to $3.10 a week, and this liable to reduction by fines. It will +be observed too that owners of department stores are compelled by the +pressure of the market to seek this half-supported help. Miss +Woodbridge says:</p> + +<p>"In all the stores the tendency is to secure cheap help. You often see +the advertisement reading thus: 'Young misses, just graduated, wanted +for positions as saleswomen;' which means that being girls with homes +they can afford to work cheaper than those who are self-supporting." +The words "just graduated" constitute a direct appeal to the +educated—that is to say, partially supported—women.</p> + +<p>So a self-respecting young girl who desires to contribute to the +expenses of the home, sets the rate of wages which drives her less +fortunate sister to misery and crime, and thus becomes the unconscious +instrument of her shame.</p> + +<p>If anyone is not satisfied that the conditions above described must +result, unsavory details of a kind to persuade him will be found in +the report of Miss Maud E. Miner, probation officer of city +magistrates' courts, published in the Survey.</p> + +<p>Lastly, temptation would be indirectly as well as directly diminished +by the absence of prostitutes as a class. It has been already +intimated that prostitution committed injustice to <i>both</i> sexes. By +this it was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>intended to refer to the injustice of exposing our young +men to perpetual temptation furnished by the facilities for +prostitution. The whole question of sexual morality is mainly one of +suggestion. Take eight men accustomed to believe that they cannot +dispense with sexual connection; put them in a crew and remove the +suggestion that they can obtain relief at any time by substituting +therefor the notion of loyalty to the crew or a desire to win a race, +and the desire which before seemed uncontrollable practically +disappears. The moment the race is over, the old suggestion returns, +and the night of a boat race has become proverbial in consequence. The +same is true of men who go on hunting expeditions, yachting cruises, +into lumber camps, etc. Desire becomes dormant or controllable as soon +as facilities for gratifying it disappear; the moment the facility +returns, the suggestion is revived, and desire becomes uncontrollable.</p> + +<p>What, then, would be the consequence if the suggestion were minimized +by the absence of prostitution altogether?</p> + +<p>But this is not all: Men who seduce young girls and married women have +learned to gratify their passions through the facility afforded by +prostitution. If our youths were never afforded the chance of taking +that first step which leads to the <i>facilis descensus</i>, they would, +from the fact of never having gratified their passions, be less likely +to undertake to gratify them at the cost of seduction. The suggestion +would be absent; all women would tend to be as sacred to a man as his +sister. The relation of brother and sister is due entirely to the +absence of suggestion; he has learned to regard her with an +unconscious respect which removes the possibility of erotic +suggestion. What actually happens in the small family of to-day could +also happen in the larger family of to-morrow.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span>This must not be understood as a contention that Socialism would +destroy immorality. Far from it. All that is claimed is that it might +diminish immorality and that it would put an end to prostitution. This +last is reason enough for it.</p> + +<p>It is impossible to treat of the economic cause of prostitution +without discussing its ethical consequences, because the consequences +react upon the cause. But we are here chiefly concerned with its +economic features; and it is impossible to put too much emphasis upon +the fact that the greatest permanent blot upon our civilization is the +necessary result of a competitive system that leaves a large part of +our women no other means of livelihood.</p> + +<p>Although we have carefully distinguished between the woman who sells +herself to one man for a fortune and the common prostitute who sells +herself to many men for a pittance, the first is often more to blame +than the latter, because the latter is compelled by hunger while the +former often barters her chastity out of sheer love of luxury. The +whole heredity of man may be altered by the elimination through +Socialism of the sordid motive for marriage. Avarice may become +diminished by sexual selection. For although sexual selection is not +to-day found to have the force in animal heredity that Darwin thought, +it is an important factor in human heredity, thanks to the opportunity +for deliberate selection furnished by our institution of marriage. But +this belongs to another chapter.</p> + +<p>From a purely economic point of view, prostitution is to be classed +with unemployment, which burdens the community with the support of a +class that in a coöperative commonwealth would be self-supporting. It +seems hardly necessary to state that the dissipation that attends <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>the +life of a prostitute unfits her for work. And not content with being +idle herself, she causes others to be idle and constitutes a permanent +source of contagion, moral and physical, in our midst.</p> + +<p>This is a necessary consequence of the competitive system.</p> + +<br /> +<h4>§ 4. <span class="sc">Strikes and Lockouts</span></h4> + +<p>Another necessary result of a system of production that sets the man +who works with his hands against the man who works with his head, is +the conflict between capital and labor, that expresses itself in +strikes and lockouts. The conflict itself is treated in detail in the +chapter entitled Trusts and Trade Unions. Here we shall confine +ourselves to its wastefulness in time and money.</p> + +<p>The sixteenth Annual Report of the United States Commissioner of +Labor,<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> for 1901, estimates the loss to employees resulting from +strikes and lockouts from January 1, 1881, to December 1, 1900—a +period of twenty years—at $306,683,223, and the loss to employers +during the same time at $142,659,104—together $449,342,327; or +roughly—$450,000,000. It is interesting to note how much less is the +loss to employers who are relatively able to bear it than to employees +who are relatively unable to bear it. But without regard to the +injustice of a system that bears so hardly upon the workingman, no +practical American who desires to see production attended with the +least waste and friction, can look upon such a loss as this without +impatience and humiliation.</p> + +<p>Quite irrespective of the misery that results from unemployment and +the evils that attend it for the whole <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>community—employed as well as +unemployed—too much emphasis cannot be put upon the foolish waste of +human energy that unemployment occasions. There have been for two +years in this country over a million (and probably much more than a +million) able-bodied men willing and anxious to assist in the +production and distribution of the things we need, and who have not +been permitted to do so—the energy of over a million, and probably a +great many more, absolutely wasted.</p> + +<p>I have been amazed at the indifference of our wealthy class, and even +of the philanthropists amongst our wealthy class, at this condition of +the unemployed until a clue to this indifference was furnished by the +naïveté of a few of our captains of industry.</p> + +<p>Here is what one of them, Daniel Guggenheim, president of the American +Smelting and Refining Company, says to the <i>Wall Street Journal</i>, +August 10:</p> + +<p>"Every manufacturer in the country has lowered his costs of +production, partly through cheaper prices for raw materials, but +principally on account of the increased efficiency of labor. The +latter is one of the redeeming features of the current depression.</p> + +<p>"For the first time in many years the employer is getting from his men +the 100 per cent in efficiency for which he pays. It is a safe +assertion that prior to the panic the efficiency of labor was no +higher than 75 per cent, perhaps not even that.</p> + +<p>"Another thing—wherever a thousand men are needed, twelve hundred +apply. The result is that the thousand best men are picked; the +others, of necessity, must be turned away. But the thousand work more +conscientiously, knowing that two hundred are waiting to take the +places of the incompetents."</p> + +<p>Here again we have one small class benefited by the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>misery of +millions of unemployed, and willing to perpetuate this condition of +unemployment in order to profit by it. Of all the waste that attends +the competitive system this waste of human energy is the most unjust, +and the most unjustifiable, unless it can be found that the pauperism +it imposes on the millions and the heartlessness it promotes in the +few, contribute, as the bourgeois tells us, "to make character!" But +if the waste of human energy at the cost of human agony is a matter of +indifference to business men, there is another form of waste which is +likely to appeal to them. We Americans pride ourselves upon our +business efficiency. In the next chapter we will consider the waste of +money that attends the competitive system and how the ablest business +men have set about eliminating it.</p> + +<br /> +<h4>§ 5. <span class="sc">Adulteration</span></h4> + +<p>It would seem as though the indifference of the public at large to +such wicked and wasteful things as unemployment, strikes, lockouts and +prostitution, were due to hardness of heart; but if we observe a +similar indifference to adulteration which concerns every individual +to the utmost, we have to recognize that tolerance of the evils of the +competitive system is due not so much to hardness of heart as to +stupidity. For since the dawn of our present civilization, +adulteration has been a constant and abominable evil. As the +Encyclopedia Americana puts it: "Adulteration is coexistent with +trade;"<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> and as the Britannica puts it: "The practice of +adulteration has become an art in which the knowledge of science and +the ingenuity of trade are freely exercised."</p> + +<p>Before industrialism had reached its present <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>development the statutes +enacted against adulteration were severe. They punished it with the +pillory and tumbrel. The following are the words of the statute:</p> + +<p>"If any default shall be found in the bread of a baker in the city, +the first time, let him be drawn upon a hurdle from the Guildhall to +his own house through the great street where there be most people +assembled, and through the great streets which are most dirty, with +the faulty loaf hanging from his neck; if a second time he shall be +found committing the same offence, let him be drawn from the Guildhall +through the great street of Cheepe, in the manner aforesaid, to the +pillory, and let him be put upon the pillory, and remain there at +least one hour in the day; and the third time that such default shall +be found, he shall be drawn, and the oven shall be pulled down, and +the baker made to forswear the trade in the city forever."<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a></p> + +<p>As the Encyclopædia puts it: "All this has given way to the force of +free trade." In other words, freedom of industry has been interpreted +to mean freedom of adulteration, and the Act of 1872 accordingly +punishes adulteration with "a sum not to exceed fifty pounds," and +only provides imprisonment in case of a second offence.<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a></p> + +<p>It is interesting to take up any standard encyclopædia and read the +cold-blooded accounts of the various poisons introduced into our food +and other commodities for the purpose of adulteration. The matter has +been well treated by Mr. W.J. Ghent;<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> and in spite of the fact that +he is a prominent Socialist his book may be read, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>because in every +case he cites an authority, and his authorities are, for the most +part, reports of State Commissions and Health Departments.</p> + +<p>It is probable that no article enters more universally into +consumption than milk, and of all the articles that we consume, it is +most important that milk should be pure, because it is the food of +infants and children. Yet in spite of all the laws passed for the +prevention of adulteration of milk, "in New York city, during 1902, of +3970 samples of milk taken from dealers for analysis, 2095, or 52.77 +per cent, were found to be adulterated. The arrests in the city under +the inspection acts were 193 in 1899, 460 in 1900, 464 in 1901, and +722 in 1902."<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a></p> + +<p>The experience in Ohio has been just the same as that of New York:</p> + +<p>"The Dairy and Food Department of that State was created in 1886. +After seventeen years of inspections, arrests and prosecutions, +adulterations of milk still continue. 'Out of 1199 samples tested by +the chemists,' says the report for the year ending November 15, 1903, +'about one-fourth were found to be either below the required standard +in solids and butter fats, or adulterated with that base adulterant +known as "formalin" or "formaldehyde."'"<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a></p> + +<p>Mr. A.J. Wedderburn calculates that 15 per cent of all our products +are adulterated; that is to say, $1,125,000,000 per annum.<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> And +this figure does not include <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>adulterations of wine, whisky, beer, +tobacco, drugs or patent medicines.</p> + +<p>Of eleven samples of coffee compounds analyzed by the Pennsylvania +Department in 1897-1898, "six contained no coffee whatever, and none +contained more than 25 per cent. The contents ranged from pea hulls +(65 per cent in one instance) to bran and the husks of cocoa +beans."<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a></p> + +<p>The Ohio Report of 1898, in describing what is called "renovated +butter," says as follows:</p> + +<p>"These factories have agents in all the large markets who buy up the +refuse from the commission men and retailers, taking stale, rancid, +dirty and unsalable butter in various degrees of putrefaction; this +refuse is put through a process of boiling, straining, filtering, and +renovating, and is finally churned with fresh milk, giving it a more +salable appearance. The effect is only temporary, however, as in a few +days the stuff becomes rancid and the odor it gives off is something +frightful. It is usually sold to people having a large trade who will +dispose of it quickly, for if it is not consumed at once it cannot be +used at all without being further renovated."<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a></p> + +<p>After immense agitation we have had recent legislation of a character +to render adulteration difficult; the Federal Food and Drug Act which +went into effect January 1, 1907, since reënacted in thirty of our +States, and I suppose that many of our fellow-citizens think that this +Food and Drug Act is going to some extent to put an end to +adulteration. But is the experience of the entire race during its +entire history to be treated as of no importance <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>in this connection? +Have we not had laws of this kind before, punishing adulteration in +every way—by the pillory and tumbrel as well as by fines and +imprisonment—and has any of them had any permanent effect in putting +an end to adulteration? How many more centuries are to elapse before +we learn the lesson that, so long as you give to one set of men an +irresistible motive for adulteration, no laws—no penalties, light or +severe, will materially check that impulse. If they are severe the +courts will not enforce them; if they are light the trade will +disregard them.</p> + +<p>It is true that the adulteration of the things we eat and drink is +more important than the adulteration of things we wear. Nevertheless +it is a matter of no small importance that there is hardly a thing +that we do wear that is not adulterated in an astonishing degree. An +interesting paper on this subject was read before the Lake Placid +Conference on Home Economics, 1908.<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> The art of adulterating +textiles seems to be taught in our textile schools: "As a student in a +textile school said to a visitor: 'Our teacher is so clever, he can +spin wool and cotton together so they can never be detected;'" and +adulteration appears to be practically authorized under our New York +State law of 1900, which provides that "collars marked 'linen,' 'all +linen,' and 'pure linen,' must contain at least one thickness or ply +of pure linen." It is a common saying that, although the total supply +of wool in the world is only sufficient to meet one-third of the +demand, there is always wool to be had.</p> + +<p>Of course, one principal reason why adulteration prevails is that it +is impossible for the ordinary consumer to detect it. For example, in +order to analyze stockings <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>they must be destroyed. No consumer is +possessed of the technical schooling necessary to distinguish all-wool +or all-silk goods. Indeed it is stated by high authority that such a +thing as all-silk and all-wool is not to be purchased in the market, +though we continually buy articles declared to be all-wool or +all-silk.</p> + +<p>I do not know whether the advocates of the present industrial +condition, on the ground that it "makes character," would go so far as +to approve of adulteration for this reason. It must be admitted, +however, that virtually everybody engaged in manufacture, production, +and distribution is a partner in the deliberate adulteration of things +for the purpose of cheating the public. This has been coexistent with +trade and has become recognized as one of our modern arts. The extent +to which adulteration is organized can be judged by the fact that "no +less than 40,000,000 pounds of fiber made from old rags, called +'shoddy,' are annually made in Yorkshire, at an estimated value of +£8,000,000 sterling, and that all is used for adulterating woolen +cloth."<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a></p> + +<br /> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +<br /> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Industrial Commission Report, Vol. I, p. 794.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> Ibid., p. 101.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Ibid., p. 982.</p> + +<p class="noin">The results of the work of this Commission are well summed up in Ind. +Com. Rep., Vol. I, Pt. I, p. 39, by Professor Jenks; and the waste +eliminated by trusts still more compendiously treated in "Government," +Vol. II, p. 543, by the author.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> See N.Y. <i>Tribune</i>, Jan. 1, 1905, p. 2, column 2. Ibid., +Jan. 2, 1905, p. 11, column 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> "Socialism and Social Reform," by R.T. Ely, p. 134.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> See N.Y. <i>Tribune</i>, Jan. 1, 1905, p. 2, column 2. Ibid., +Jan. 2, 1905, p. 11, column 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Report of the Industrial Commission, 1900. Vol. I, p. +199.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> Report of the Industrial Commission, Vol. I, 1900, p. +121.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> <i>Monde Economique</i>, Feb. 20, 1897.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> July 19, 1909.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> "Unemployment: A Problem of Industry," by W.H. Beveridge +and others. (Longmans.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> Ibid., p. 61.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> "Unemployment: A Problem of Industry," by W.H. Beveridge +and others.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> Ibid., p. 63.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> N.Y. <i>Times</i>, Oct. 2, 1908.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> "Unemployment." W.H. Beveridge, p. 87.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> Ibid., p. 91.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> "Unemployment." W.H. Beveridge, p. 87.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> Ibid., p. 98. See also "Problems of Unemployment in the +London Building Trades." N.B. Dearles (1908, J.M. Dent). Cf. pp. +87-8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> Book II, Chapter I.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> Mr. Beveridge denies this in one place, p. 21; but +himself produces proof of it later, p. 35.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> <i>Financial Chronicle</i>, Sept. 26, 1908.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> August, 1908.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> Beveridge, "Unemployment," p. 21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> Ibid., p. 35.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> Beveridge, "Unemployment," p. 65.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> The managers of Trusts have pointed out that in order to +keep their highly skilled men, they have to sell often at a loss; and +they give this as the reason for what is called "dumping" their goods +into foreign markets. In other words, in order not to lower prices in +America during periods of depression due to overproduction, they sell +their goods at a loss abroad.—Industrial Commission, Vol. I, p. 282,</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> Beveridge, "Unemployment," p. 182.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> Mr. Roosevelt in the <i>Outlook</i>, 1909, p. 622.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> P. 24.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> Americana, Vol. I, Subj. Adulteration.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol. I, p. 51.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> An act to amend the laws of adulteration of food, +drinks, and drugs, 1872.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> "Mass and Class," by W.J. Ghent, p. 180-200.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> "The Health Department." A pamphlet published by the +City Club (1903), p. 23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> Eighteenth Annual Report of the Ohio Dairy and Food +Commission (1903), p. 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> Address of Dr. W.C. Mitchell of the Colorado State Board +of Health, before the Portland Pure Food Convention (1902). Journal of +Proceedings of the Sixth Annual Convention of the National Association +of State Dairy and Food Departments, held at Portland, Ore., pp. +378-383.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> "Portland Proceedings," p. 469.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> Ohio Report (1898), p. 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> "The Study of Textiles," by Miss Nellie Crooks, Teachers +College, Columbia University, 1908.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol. I, Subj. Adulteration.</p></div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="BK_II_CHAPTER_II" id="BK_II_CHAPTER_II"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER II<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>CAPITALISM IS WASTEFUL</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Under the system of free competition in the beginning and middle of +the last century, every investor who saw a profit in refining oil or +sugar, or making steel, put up a refinery or factory. The aim of every +factory was to manufacture the largest amount possible and sell it at +the highest price possible; and this is what Herbert Spencer<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a> and +the Manchester School regard as the ideal system of production. Now +let us see just what happens as a result of this system of unlimited +competition.</p> + +<br /> +<h4><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>§ 1. <span class="sc">Getting the Market</span></h4> + +<p>Every manufacturer and refiner has to find purchasers for his product. +This effort to find purchasers is called in the trade, "getting the +market."</p> + +<p>The expression "getting the market" covers all the expenses attending +the bringing of goods to the attention of the public, and they may be +roughly divided into two principal categories—advertising and +commercial travellers. The public little appreciates the enormous cost +which attends the work of finding a purchaser. Mr. Bradley, after a +careful calculation, estimates that "somewhere between the distiller +and the consumer in this country forty millions of dollars are lost; +this goes primarily to the attempt to secure trade."<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> Mr. Dowe<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> +the President of the Commercial Travellers' National League, testifies +that 35,000 salesmen have been thrown out of employment by the +organization of trusts, and 25,000 reduced to two-thirds of their +previous salaries. This would represent a loss of $60,000,000 in +salaries on a basis of $1200 each. He cites, as instances of trusts +that have dismissed salesmen, the baking powder, bicycle, chair, +paper-bag, rubber, tin-plate, steel and rod, sugar, coffee, thread and +type-founders' combinations. Not only do trusts dismiss salesmen, they +substitute for salesmen who, prior to the organization of the trust +had been earning $4000 to $5000 a year, cheaper salesmen who receive +$18 a week. He also estimates that the dismissal of commercial +travellers means a loss to railways of about $250 per day, 240 days in +the year; in all, $25,000,000. The loss to hotels is about as much, +and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>"many hotels are likely to become bankrupt if any more travellers +are taken off."</p> + +<br /> +<h4>§ 2. <span class="sc">Cross Freights</span></h4> + +<p>Another waste attending the competitive system results from "cross +freights," the double freight a refiner sometimes pays for hauling oil +from the well, or sugar from the nearest seaboard and back over +exactly the same ground, when refined, to the customer. So also the +steel manufacturer sometimes pays freight for hauling ore to the coal +mine or coal to the ore, and back, after smelting, to the customer.</p> + +<p>This waste resulting from cross freights is only a small part of a +similar waste that results from competition in the task of +distribution—or retail trade.</p> + +<p>We are all familiar with the amazing results obtained by the national +enterprise known as the Post Office, and how, for the insignificant +sum of two cents, a letter written in New York can be delivered in an +incredibly short space of time in San Francisco, and even perhaps more +incredibly in the heart of the Rocky Mountains.</p> + +<p>Let us consider for a moment the cost of doing this were letters +distributed throughout the country in the same way as our other +commodities, as for example, milk, coal, or bread. It would be +interesting to calculate how many hundred dealers in milk there are in +New York<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> or London, equipped with their own horses, wagons, and +men, each engaged in delivering milk all over the city; add to these +the thousands distributing in like manner bread, and the thousands +distributing coal, and so on <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>with butter, eggs, meat, fish, +vegetables, and all other things that enter into our daily +consumption.</p> + +<p>Every block of houses is served with milk by this large number of milk +dealers instead of by one, as would be the case if the distribution of +milk were in the hands of one agency; so every block is furnished with +butter, eggs, meat, fish, and vegetables by this large number of +dealers in butter, eggs, meat, fish, and vegetables, instead of by +one, and so on, through every article that enters into our daily use.</p> + +<p>Compare with this the economy of time, labor, and expense effected by +the Government Post Office through sorting letters beforehand +according to streets, and confining the distribution in any one street +to a single carrier who distributes the letters with the greatest +economy of time and labor, from door to door.</p> + +<p>No practical business man would be guilty of the stupidity of putting +a hundred men to do the work that could be done just as well by a +single man; and yet, this is exactly the stupidity of which the +competitive system is guilty. Let us consider the unnecessary number +of butcher shops in the city of New York.<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a></p> + +<p>Before methods of communication had attained their present +development, it was necessary that there should be butcher shops in +every block to satisfy the needs of the people in the block. But +to-day, the telephone service permits of ordering meat at a great +distance, and the automobile permits of this meat being rapidly +delivered to the consumer. The best housekeepers residing downtown +to-day go for their meat to a butcher who lives in Harlem. Now there +is no reason why this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>Harlem butcher should not furnish all the meat +to the island of Manhattan, or indeed to all in Greater New York. But +there is a reason why under our competitive system this should not +take place, and this is the stupidity of butchers in particular and +the stupidity of the community at large. Most butchers believe that +they can make most money by cheating their customers; and the public +at large believe all butchers equally dishonest and therefore deal +with the butcher nearest them. This stupidity is to a great extent +justified. The art of the butcher consists in finding out to which +customers he can sell third-class meat at first-class prices;<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> and +as a rule, he is so successful in doing this that no butcher is ever +known to fail. On the contrary, they all grow rich. This being the +rule, the public is justified in giving up the expectation of being +honestly served, so that it is only the most intelligent housewives +who discover that there are butchers who do not have dishonest +methods. Thus the stupidity of butchers and public tends to encourage +the multiplicity of shops and keeps in the butcher business an +enormously larger number than is necessary. If now we take into +consideration that what is true of butchers is true of almost every +dealer in the articles of food we consume, we shall appreciate how +much waste of human effort there is in this business of distribution. +But all this waste, encouraging stupidity in the customer and +dishonesty in the retailer, is endorsed because it "makes character!"</p> + +<p>Last but not least is the loss of by-products that inevitably results +from manufacturing upon anything less than a gigantic scale.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span>The managers of the Standard Oil Trust testify that among the waste +products capable of being utilized in sufficiently large refineries +are gasoline, paraffine, lubricating oil, vaseline, naphtha, aniline +dyes, and no less than two hundred drugs; and that the total value of +these waste products is actually as great as that of the oil +itself.<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a></p> + +<p>Is or is not the contention with which this chapter started, +justified? It was charged that the competitive system is stupid +because wasteful and disorderly, and that it was unnecessarily +immoral, unjust, and cruel. The testimony of men recognized as the +highest authorities has been produced to demonstrate its wastefulness:</p> + +<p>Waste of capital owing to bankruptcy, to working at irregular +efficiency, to frequent change of dimension, to cost of "getting the +market," to cross freights, to anarchy of distribution, to loss of +by-products;</p> + +<p>Waste of human energy in the work of competition; and above all in +unemployment leading to vagrancy and pauperism.</p> + +<p>And we need produce no testimony to prove things so obvious as the +immorality, injustice, and cruelty of overemployment and unemployment +and the necessary results thereof: drunkenness, disease, pauperism, +prostitution, insanity, and crime.</p> + +<p>One word only still needs explanation: It has been stated that this +immorality, injustice, and cruelty are "unnecessary." It is useless to +rail at these things if they are necessary. Nature is often immoral, +unjust and cruel. The survival of the few fit and the corresponding +sacrifice of the many unfit has no justification in morality. Death, +deformity, and disease are often both unjust and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>cruel. Yet against +these last we are in great part helpless. It is not enough to show +that the competitive system results in evil; we have to demonstrate +that these evils are avoidable; and that our remedy for them will not +involve still greater evils. This belongs to the final chapters on +Socialism; and is referred to here only to assure the reader that it +has not been overlooked.</p> + +<p>Sufficient emphasis, however, has not yet been put upon the lack of +order that characterizes the competitive system.</p> + +<br /> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +<br /> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> "A Plea for Liberty," p. 17:</p> + +<p class="noin">"Under our existing voluntary coöperation with its free contracts and +its competition, production and distribution need no official +oversight. Demand and supply, and the desire of each man to gain a +living by supplying the needs of his fellows, spontaneously evolve +that wonderful system whereby a great city has its food daily brought +round to all doors or stored at adjacent shops; has clothing for its +citizens everywhere at hand in multitudinous varieties; has its houses +and furniture and fuel ready made or stocked in each locality; and has +mental pabulum from halfpenny papers, hourly hawked round, to weekly +shoals of novels, and less abundant books of instruction, furnished +without stint for small payments. And throughout the kingdom, +production as well as distribution is similarly carried on with the +smallest amount of superintendence which proves efficient; while the +quantities of the numerous commodities required daily in each locality +are adjusted without any other agency than the pursuit of profit."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> Report of the Industrial Commission, pp. 829-831, Vol. +I, 1900.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> Ibid., pp. 27-36.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> This work has been in part eliminated by combination. +But the economies resulting therefrom have all gone to the +combinations. The consumer pays just as much as he did before.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> Trow's Business Directory of New York city, 1909, lists +about 4000 retail butcher shops in Manhattan and The Bronx. There are +about 275 postal stations in the same territory.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> All good housekeepers know this by experience. I know it +from the butchers themselves, who explained it in the course of an +effort to arrange a combination of butchers in Paris.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> Testimony of Mr. Archbold (pp. 570-571) in the Report of +the Industrial Commission, Vol. I, 1900.</p></div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="BK_II_CHAPTER_III" id="BK_II_CHAPTER_III"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER III<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>CAPITALISM IS DISORDERLY</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Nature is both orderly and disorderly. She is orderly, for example, in +the general succession of her seasons, in the average rainfall, the +average sunshine. She is orderly in the regular drawing of water from +the ocean to the hills and the return of water from the hills to the +ocean. But Nature is extremely disorderly in her detail. Some years +rainfall is deficient and men starve because of drouth. Other years +the sunshine is insufficient and men starve because of rain. The +beneficent flow of water from the hills to the ocean is attended by +disorder which is often calamitous; the river swells to a torrent in +one place and spreads out to unwholesome marshes in another.</p> + +<p>The power of man to profit by the order of Nature and to adjust its +disorder is an attribute that makes man almost divine; for this power +exerts as great influence over the soul of man as over the matter of +Nature. Man has demonstrated his control over Nature by protecting +himself against deficiency of water through reservoirs, and against +excess of rain through drainage; he has robbed torrents of their +terrors by dykes, and made them his servants by irrigation; he drains +the swamp and waters the desert. In one respect only has he failed to +exercise as yet sufficient control; namely, the competitive system. +The competitive system is applauded by Herbert Spencer because he +finds it in Nature. But Nature <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span>does not proceed only upon the +competitive plan. She furnishes us with the beehive and anthill as +types of coöperation, from which man can not only learn a lesson, but +receive a warning; for the evils that attend the coöperative plan of +the beehive are almost as great as those that attend the competitive +or predatory system.<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a> What man then has to do is not blindly to +follow Nature either as respects her competitive system or her +coöperative system; but to do in this direction what he has done in +others—profit by what is good and orderly in Nature and suppress what +is evil and disorderly in it.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>§ 1. <span class="sc">Anarchy of Production and Distribution</span></h4> + +<p>The intelligent business man has been at work in suppressing the evils +of the competitive system. He has found the waste and disorder +attending unlimited competition so abominable that he has suppressed +competition to the utmost possible by the organization of trusts. It +has been pointed out that the disorder attending our production and +distribution gives rise to anarchy in both these departments of +industry. As long as every man is free to produce exactly what he +chooses—what he thinks will benefit him, there is no rational +relation between supply and demand.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4><i>(a) Tyranny of the Market</i></h4> + +<p>This process is going on in every industry. Capital rushes away from +business where there is no profit to business where there is profit. +The result is that the capitalist generally discovers a demand for an +article too late to profit by it, and does not discover that there <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>is +no demand for an article until he is ruined by the discovery. The +boasted "fluidity of capital" causes it to pour from one industry to +another in obedience to what is called "the market"; and of all the +despotisms that the folly of man has subjected him to, none for +stupidity and pitilessness approaches the market. So long as there was +no large-enough combination of capital to acquire knowledge of the +supply and demand that determines market price or to any extent +control it, no man, however intelligent, could tell when prices were +going to rise and when to fall. And although the older economists +loved to dwell upon the fluidity of labor as well as upon the fluidity +of capital, they failed to take account of the bankruptcy that attends +the one or the appalling conditions that attend the other. For when +the supply of labor is large and factories are running at low +capacity; when men and women are seeking employment, and the demand +for labor is small, the effect of this law is to reduce wages below +the rate necessary to support life; the unemployed are then reduced to +a choice between the almshouse and starvation.</p> + +<p>This evil consequence is a matter over which isolated employers have +little or no control; for the very same cause that reduces wages +reduces also the price of goods. It is because the demand for goods is +small that the manufacturer has to run his factory at a reduced +capacity; and the demand being small, the manufacturer cannot get a +remunerative price for his goods. Now the thing that reduces prices is +competition, and the thing that reduces wages is competition, and the +main source of every financial, commercial, and industrial disaster is +competition. Employer and employee are alike subjected to the +levelling principle. The moment a particular manufacture is found to +be profitable, and therefore <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>able to pay a high rate of wages, new +factories are started and wages reduced by the competition of +workingmen. The flow to this industry, therefore, of both capital and +labor, inevitably reduces not only wages by the direct competition +between workingmen, but also the profit out of which high wages were +originally paid.</p> + +<p>Employer, therefore, and employee are both slaves of the market; the +employer cannot get more than the market price for his goods, and out +of this he has to pay for his raw material, the cost of running the +factory, and the wages of his men. He cannot reduce the price of raw +material nor the cost of running the factory—rent, fuel, etc.; these +too are determined by the market. The only thing he can reduce is +wages: so he is driven to reduce wages or close his factory, for he +cannot long run his factory at a loss.</p> + +<p>And so anarchy of production and anarchy of distribution lead +inevitably, as all anarchy does, to despotism—the despotism of the +market.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4><i>(b) Tyranny of the Trust</i></h4> + +<p>Now trusts are an attempt of capital to escape from the tyranny of the +market, to eliminate the waste of competition and bring order in the +place of disorder by making supply proportionate to demand. The +testimony of John D. Rockefeller before the Industrial Commission is +illuminating on this subject. In answer to Question 9, he says that he +"ascribes the success of the Standard Oil to its consistent policy to +make the <i>volume of its business large</i>." To Question 10, he says he +did this "by coöperation, or what is the same thing, combination." But +the necessity of keeping the volume of the business large made it +indispensable to extend the market. He <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>says "Dependent solely upon +local business, we should have failed years ago. We were forced to +extend our market and to seek for export trade." "And so," he says, +"the Standard Oil spared no expense in <i>forcing</i> its products into the +markets of the world."</p> + +<p>The despotism of the market extends over the whole world. It is +impossible for any one nation to organize its industry, or for the +industry of any one nation to organize itself, under a world-wide +competitive system, without taking into consideration the conditions +of the world market. The Standard Oil could not maintain prices in +competition with foreign oil. It had to carry the industrial war into +Europe and Asia, and did this by eliminating competition at home; +putting an end to anarchy of distribution as well as to anarchy of +production; by transforming the whole system through the building of +pipe lines, the use of tank cars and tank steamers, through an +enormous aggregation of capital, and the use of every ingenious +improvement. The Standard Oil succeeded in doing this and "receiving +in return from foreign lands nearly $50,000,000 per year."</p> + +<p>Mr. Rockefeller is an adroit witness, and carefully refrained from +reference to the methods by which competition was crushed as an +indispensable preliminary to what he calls the "enlargement of the +business." Mr. H.O. Havemeyer, President of the Sugar Trust, was more +frank. Here is his testimony on this subject in full:</p> + +<p><i>Q.</i> (By Senator Mallory) "Did I understand you to say—perhaps I may +have misunderstood you a while ago—that it was your policy to make as +much profit out of the consumer as you possibly could?"—<i>A.</i> +"Consistent with business methods."</p> + +<p><i>Q.</i> "Consistent with business principles. In other <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>words, your idea +is that your organization, the American Sugar Refining Company, will, +if it can, get the maximum profit out of its business from the +consumer. Now, I also understood you to imply at least that it is the +policy of the American Sugar Refining Company to crush out all +competition if possible."—<i>A.</i> "But that is not so; there is no such +testimony. I understand it has been put in that form by one of the +gentlemen here, but it is not the fact. What I said was that it was +the policy of the American Sugar Refining Company to maintain and +protect its trade, <i>and if it resulted in crushing a competitor it is +no concern of the American Company; if he gets in the press, that is +his affair, not ours</i>."</p> + +<p><i>Q.</i> "And if anyone interferes with the business, profits, or +competition of the American Sugar Refining Company, it is its policy +to prevent it if possible?"—<i>A.</i> "By lowering profits to defy it."</p> + +<p><i>Q.</i> "And if it results in crushing him out?"—<i>A.</i> (Interrupting) +"That is his affair."</p> + +<p><i>Q.</i> "Not the affair of the American Sugar Refining Company?"—<i>A.</i> +"No."</p> + +<p><i>Q.</i> "Now, suppose in the natural course of events the American Sugar +Refining Company should suppress—we will not use the words 'crush +out'—all competition, all opposition. I understand from your +theory—business principles—that you would then seek to get out of +the public and consumer the largest amount of profit consistent with +your idea of business principles?"—<i>A.</i> "Precisely."</p> + +<p><i>Q.</i> "Then, if you had the power to charge or impose prices on the +public, what would be your idea of the limit that the public could +possibly stand?"—<i>A.</i> "I think it would stand a quarter of a cent +to-day. I think we could do it for twenty cents a hundred. I think the +country <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span>is really damaged by having a number of people in the +business."</p> + +<p><i>Q.</i> "That is not an answer to my question. My question is the limit. +What restraint would you put upon yourselves? What would be your +restraint?"—<i>A.</i> "I call that restraint business consideration."</p> + +<p><i>Q.</i> "Would it not be the utmost limit that the consumer would +bear?"—<i>A.</i> "Until we had competition we should be in that position, +but whether or not we would exercise it, is quite another matter."</p> + +<p>The very effort of Mr. Havemeyer to disown the "policy of crushing out +competition" followed immediately by his admission that a trust is a +"press" built for that purpose, is indicative of the capitalist's mind +on the subject: At one moment he naïvely admits what a moment before +he emphatically denied. The trust, then, is the organization of an +industry by one or a few men strong enough to suppress competition and +bleed the consumer.</p> + +<p>The tyranny of the market has been suppressed only to substitute +therefor the tyranny of the trust. And this new tyranny has for effect +to enrich the trust magnate at the expense of the whole nation.</p> + +<p>The course of industrial events beginning with the creation of guilds +to suppress the anarchy of the Middle Ages; the tyranny of the guilds; +the revolt against the guild; its suppression; the substitution +therefor of so-called freedom of industry, of contract, of trade; the +disorder or anarchy that ensued; the despotism of the market; the +gradual suppression of all three freedoms in order to escape from the +despotism of the market; and this suppression only preparing the way +for the tyranny of the trust, is not accidental. It is a cycle through +which industry had to pass till mankind found its way of escaping from +the whirlpool.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span>We find the same cycle in the political world. The anarchy of the +horde paving the way to the despotism of the tyrant; the despotism of +the tyrant creating a revolt resulting in a new anarchy leading to +another despotism as bad as the last, until staggering between anarchy +and despotism, men slowly evolved a system of popular government. We +shall see later that popular government can never remain popular under +a system of industrial anarchy or industrial despotism, and that our +industrial organization must adopt a system of popular control, if +popular government is ever to become in fact as well as in name, +popular.</p> + +<p>Suffice it to point out that our industrial development following a +law of necessity has so far staggered like a drunken man from anarchy +to despotism and from despotism to anarchy—and that we are not likely +to attain order from despotism until we recognize that the competitive +system, such as we now have, can never attain it; and that it can be +attained only by a deliberate substitution of coöperation for +competition <i>to the extent necessary</i>.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4><i>(c) Tyranny of the Union</i></h4> + +<p>Let us now consider another part of the industrial field which seems +destined to be the arena of the next great development—the field of +labor.</p> + +<p>The consumer is not organized as yet; he has not waked up to the +extent to which he is fleeced by the trust. But labor is organized, +driven to organization by the terrible consequences of the freedom of +contract<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> for which he clamored so loud in the Revolutionary +period. A workingman alone, ignorant of the profits earned by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>the +manufacturer, ignorant of the number of workingmen applying for work, +himself hungry, and with a hungry family to support, is no match for +an employer with sufficient capital at his disposal, a considerable +knowledge of the labor market where he can find men to replace such as +ask for a higher wage than he is willing to pay, and with practically +no reason to fear hunger or even discomfort for himself or for those +who are dear to him.</p> + +<p>Freedom of contract, therefore, meant for the unorganized workingman +at the beginning of the nineteenth century, not freedom, but slavery. +It will be later recorded how inevitably the tyranny of the market and +the greed of capital combined to reduce workingmen to starvation wages +and condemn women and children to degrading labor. One of two things +had to happen: The whole laboring class had to be reduced to a +condition of permanent slavery, or the laboring class had to combine +to put an end to competition between worker and worker that left them +at the mercy of the market. That men reduced to the physical condition +created by the industrialism of a century ago should have had the +intelligence, courage, and self-restraint to combine and act in +concert until they were able to some extent to impose rates of wages +upon the employers, seems to-day hardly less than miraculous, and +ought to serve as a warning to capitalists that they can no longer +dispute the coming political power of such workingmen, or remain +indifferent to it, or even denounce it with <i>Outlook</i> intemperateness.</p> + +<p>Mr. Eliot, President Emeritus of Harvard University, is outraged by +what he regards as the tyranny of the trade union. Has he ever thought +of the tyranny of the trust, or the tyranny of the market from which +both inevitably spring? Has he ever understood that such a competitive +system as ours can only put an end to anarchy by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>despotism; and can +only shake off despotism at the risk of anarchy?</p> + +<p>But the subject of trusts and trade unions is too large to be treated +as an incident in the discussion of the evils of the competitive +system. I shall content myself, therefore, with summing up briefly the +course of events through which industrial development has passed, for +the light it throws upon the course through which it has still to +pass:</p> + +<p>Anarchy of industrial conditions during the Middle Ages gave rise to +the guild, which for a season substituted order for disorder.</p> + +<p>The order introduced by the guild involved regulation; regulation +involves power; and wherever power is exercised free from efficient +popular control, it must end in tyranny.</p> + +<p>The tyranny of the guild aroused a revolt and the cry of freedom of +trade, freedom of industry, freedom of contract; these three freedoms +under the competitive system reintroduced an era of anarchy—both in +production and distribution—both for the employer and the employee, +subject only to the despotism of the market.</p> + +<p>The employees undertook to put an end to competition between employees +by organizing trade unions.</p> + +<p>The employers undertook to put an end to competition between employers +by organizing trusts.</p> + +<p>So the anarchy which, under the competitive system, must result from +freedom, has given rise to the tyranny of the market, and the effort +to escape the tyranny of the market to two other tyrannies—of the +trust and of the trade union. These two tyrannies stand to-day not +only arrayed against one another, but in the bitterest conflict—in +the courts, in strikes, lockouts, and ultimately on the field of +politics.</p> + +<p>One thing stands out in singular relief from the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>foregoing sketch, +viz., that it is freedom—of industry, of contract, and of trade—the +battle cry both of the bourgeois employer and the proletarian +employee—that has led to these two tyrannies.</p> + +<p>At the present time I believe that the confusion in the ranks not only +of the employer, but of the employee, as regards this so-called +freedom—a freedom that both are clamoring for but neither have ever +attained—is responsible for the failure of both to understand one +another. And the subject of freedom or liberty will therefore be +discussed in a chapter to itself.</p> + +<br /> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +<br /> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> "Government," Vol. I, p. 276.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> Book II, Chapter IV.</p></div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="BK_II_CHAPTER_IV" id="BK_II_CHAPTER_IV"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER IV<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>PROPERTY AND LIBERTY</h3> +<br /> + +<p>The savage in a savage country, free from all constraint of law, +custom, or government, must, I suppose, be admitted to enjoy the +greatest freedom conceivable. He is free to hunt what animals he +chooses; to pick the fruits of the earth; to gather the shells by the +seashore. He is free also to till any part of the land if he knows how +to do it; to sow and harvest it. He is also free to rob his fellow +men; to enslave them; to kill them and, if his tastes so incline, to +eat them.</p> + +<p>But such a savage, while enjoying the greatest freedom conceivable, is +also exposed to the greatest risk conceivable; for example, he is +exposed to the risk of having the animals he hunts taken from him by +one stronger than he; if he tills the ground and reaps the harvest, he +is liable to have that harvest taken from him; and though he is free +to rob, enslave, kill, and eat his fellow men, his fellow men are +equally free to rob, enslave, kill, and eat him.</p> + +<p>The same thing, of course, is true of his domestic relations. He may +capture any female he likes and compel her to serve as his wife; but +he is liable at any time to have his wife taken from him. As regards +his physical and domestic needs, therefore, while he enjoys the +greatest freedom possible, he is exposed to the greatest risk also.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>§ 1. <span class="sc">Origin of Property</span></h4> + +<p>It may be said for this order of things, if things can be said to have +order where there is no order, that the strong men would prefer this +system to one under which they would be limited as to the satisfaction +of appetite, passion, and caprice. But the strongest men are liable to +be subdued by a sufficient number of weaker men, as Polyphemus was +subdued by Ulysses and his crew. So the strong men in the community as +well as the weak, early discovered the importance of agreeing to +respect each one the rights of the other in the things which through +their labor they had acquired. Long, then, before there was any system +of written law, our savage ancestors recognized the right of men in +the product of their toil; and this recognition, whether we find it in +the Ten Commandments of the Jews, or the Twelve Tables of the Romans, +or in the customs of more savage races, is nothing more nor less than +the institution of property.</p> + +<p>Although this institution of property involves an abridgment of +freedom—for under the property system nobody is free to rob +another—nevertheless it is an abridgment of freedom by which everyone +except the lazy profits; and it tends to put an end to laziness, +because, under this institution of property, only those who work can +eat.</p> + +<p>It is because the institution of property is an abridgment of freedom +that property and liberty are treated together in this chapter. It is +impossible correctly to understand the one without the other. It will +be seen later that as civilization develops and men are crowded +together in a small space, it becomes indispensable to the convenience +of all that freedom should be further abridged; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>and that so long as +the freedom of the individual is abridged, not only for the benefit of +his neighbors, but of himself, the abridgment is a good thing and not +a bad. Whereas, when we find freedom being abridged to the +disadvantage of the many and the advantage of a few, then it will turn +out that this abridgment is a bad thing and not a good.</p> + +<p>One feature about the abridgment of freedom it is impossible to +emphasize too much: In nations in which liberty is supposed most to +prevail, the abridgment of freedom is for the most part confined to +matters which involve little or no sacrifice. For example, the average +citizen does not find himself in the slightest degree hampered by the +criminal code; he does not want to kill or rob; it is perfectly clear +to him that the sacrifice he makes of his freedom to kill or rob is of +no importance by the side of the enormous security he receives as +regards those people who might want to kill or rob him.</p> + +<p>Socialism has been much injured by certain fanciful writers who have +suggested various abridgments of human freedom that would be +altogether abominable; as for example, the undue limitation of a man's +liberty to choose his wife, and to choose his occupation. And +opponents of Socialism use these totally discredited suggestions as +weapons with which to fight Socialism; though in fact, modern +Socialism repudiates them altogether.</p> + +<p>The institution of property, in abridging freedom, creates duties; and +in furnishing security, establishes rights. Thus we say that men have +a right of property in the product of their toil; a right to enjoy the +cabins they have built; a right to harvest the grain they have sown. +And the same thing can be said of rights and duties as has been said +about the abridgment of freedom. So long as no man exacts rights of +property in anything <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>more than the result of his labor, so long is he +only asking what is due to him.</p> + +<p>And the institution of property in the product of men's toil is not +only justified by convenience, but is also ordered by religion. It is +only economic expression of the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you +would that they should do unto you;" or "I shall respect your right to +the cabin you have built, as I expect you to respect my right to the +cabin I have built."</p> + +<p>Moreover, even though this were not the rule imposed by religion, it +is a rule imposed by the principle of the survival of the fit. In the +conflict between races, those races in which rights of property were +respected were bound to prevail over those in which these rights were +not respected, because respect for rights of property such as these is +the only condition upon which a race can become prosperous, accumulate +wealth, strength, and all the resources that enable one race +successfully to fight with another. And here we see the first +reconciliation between religion and science. Both teach exactly the +same thing; that is to say, the Golden Rule.</p> + +<p>In one sense the institution of property abridges freedom. In another +sense it enlarges it. For if a man has not only to kill his game, but +to protect it from others, he is a slave to the game he has killed +until he has eaten it. Whereas if the community in which he lives has +adopted the institution of property and respects it, he can leave his +game unprotected, and has leisure therefore for other occupation. It +will be seen ultimately that if the institution of property were +confined to the product of men's toil, the increase of knowledge of +the last few centuries would permit of another enormous enlargement of +freedom, for it would permit of the organization of labor in such a +manner that the work of securing the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>necessaries of life that now +costs the savage all his time, and the workingman of to-day between +eight and twelve hours of his day, need really only cost him a +comparatively insignificant fraction of it. But the demonstration of +this must be left until later.<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a></p> + +<p>We have seen, therefore, that so long as property is confined to the +product of men's toil, all is well. The freedom of a savage life which +exposed every man to being robbed by every other man is what we call +license. The freedom, on the contrary, under the institution of +property which secures to men the product of their toil, we may call +liberty—liberty being freedom secured by law.</p> + +<p>"Legum omnes servi sumus, ut liberi esse possumus."<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a></p> + +<p>However simple the idea of property of men in the product of their +toil may seem to be, it has in practical life never yet been realized. +There are many reasons for this.</p> + +<p>If a community were to attempt to-day to divide its available land into +tracts of just the size each one could himself cultivate, results would +very soon demonstrate that such a division is a physical impossibility. +Land varies much in fertility, and the amount of labor necessary to +cultivate one acre of land is very different from that necessary to +cultivate another acre of land. Men differ in their ability to +cultivate. One lacks strength; another intelligence—indeed, some lack +intelligence so much that they can never successfully cultivate their +own land, and these naturally become the employees of those who can. +Again, cultivation, of land leaves nothing for a man to do for a part +of the year, and gives him a great deal more than one man can do during +the rest of the year. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span>It is impossible, therefore, to divide up the +available land of any community into parts which will mathematically or +even approximately correspond with the amount of work that each man can +do during the year. Then, too, the men who render great services to the +community seem entitled to larger buildings, better accommodations, +more ease and comfort, more personal service than those who render no +service beyond simply the day's work upon land. We find ourselves +confronted immediately by the enormous difficulty that results from the +inequality of land and the inequality of men, in any attempt to frame a +society which will even approximately assure to every man the product +of his own labor. These are inherent difficulties which no statesman +can disregard.</p> + +<p>These difficulties have been enormously increased by the selfishness, +the intelligence, the violence, and the craft of men, which have been +used to secure to some such large tracts of land that the majority +were left without land altogether. And this system tends to be +perpetuated by the natural and laudable desire of every man to leave +his children after his death as well off as himself, thus creating +laws regarding testacy and intestacy of a character to secure this. +But the satisfaction of this laudable paternal instinct has had a bad +effect upon the community; for, whereas we are all disposed to allow +to every man the property which he has accumulated himself, even +though this accumulation confers upon him larger wealth than his +services warrant, we cannot but feel it improper that his issue, who +may be altogether worthless persons, should be enabled through the +success of their skilful ancestor to lead lives of idleness and even +profligacy from generation to generation. We are all, for example, +outraged to think that because John Jacob Astor over a century ago +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>had the forethought to invest his earnings in New York real estate, +his descendant, William Waldorf Astor, should to-day, though he has +abjured his American nationality and thereby escapes the payment of +personal taxes, nevertheless receive millions annually arising from +property which has increased in value through the labor of Americans +and not through any labor of his own.</p> + +<p>Thus we find that owing to inherent physical difficulties such as the +inequality of land and the inequality of men, and owing to moral +difficulties some of which are reprehensible, as for example, avarice +and violence; and others commendable, such as intelligence and love of +offspring, notions of property have become altogether different in +fact from what they are in theory. Rights of property are not confined +to the product of men's toil, but cover all those things which a +family has been enabled under the law to accumulate whether by good +deeds or by bad. This has given rise to two well-defined classes—one +very small which owns land, and the other very large which owns no +land. And the fact that the small class owns land and the large one +does not own it, makes the latter dependent upon the former.</p> + +<p>Much the same thing has taken place as regards personal property. +Relatively few men have secured control of the great industries of the +country, and are thereby in a position to dictate who shall work at +these industries, and as to the wages and conditions under which the +work shall be done.</p> + +<p>Economically, therefore, the world can be divided into two sets of +people—a small set that owns the land and controls our industries; +and an enormous number of people dependent upon these; that is to say, +the vast majority can only work at these industries upon the +conditions imposed by a relatively insignificant minority.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span>The institution of property, therefore, originally destined to assure +to men the product of their toil, has altogether changed in character, +so that it—on the contrary—puts a very few men in a position where +they can exploit the labor of the rest.</p> + +<p>A study of property and liberty cannot be separated from a study of +government, because the institution of property involves the idea of +law, and of a government to enforce the law. So long as no man seeks +to secure more property than the product of his labor, the amount of +government necessary to enforce the law need be but small—only just +enough to compel the lazy to work and to prevent them from stealing. +But the moment the institution of property is extended to cover more +than the product of labor, government has to be harsh; for as this +perverted notion of property creates a small propertied class and a +large proletariat, it is obvious that the government has to be +bolstered by a powerful organization of law courts, prisons, army, and +police in order to enable a very small minority to coerce a very large +majority. In fact, in our ancient civilizations the propertied class +consisted of either priests, soldiers, or both. In the case of the +priests, it was the domination of superior intelligence over +unintelligent superstition; and in the case of the soldiers, it was +the domination of organized force. Now, if the small propertied class +which controlled the government had governed well, or indeed had +governed without grossly outraging the governed, the whole development +of man might have been different. But it is not in human nature for a +few men possessed of autocratic power to use that power wisely. There +are exceptional periods in the history of the world when autocratic +power has been used wisely; but in the long run the opportunities +furnished by unlimited power to the evil <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>propensities in men are +certain to result in gross injustice. Such is the testimony of +history.</p> + +<p>Now if the few in the exploitation of the many had shown as much +temperance and wisdom as our ranch-men show to their cattle—and this +God knows is not much—the few might have enjoyed their liberty at the +expense of the many for an indefinite period. But they have shown so +little of either that in the State of New York our official Labor +Bulletin publishes that there have been for two years past about +200,000 breadwinners unable to earn the means of subsistence, and this +means—on the generally admitted average of four dependents (aged, +infirm, women, and children) to every breadwinner—a million human +beings on the verge of starvation for no fault of their own. And as +the population of New York is about one-tenth that of the whole +country, it would seem as though in this great, wealthy, prosperous +nation of ours freedom spells for some ten millions of people freedom +only to starve.</p> + +<p>And as these ten millions are not cattle, but men and women with +hearts and brains, armed with a vote and carefully—nay, +compulsorily—educated to use this vote effectually, it does seem a +little foolish to imagine that they will continue indefinitely to +tolerate these conditions, if they can be changed.</p> + +<p>So not only by the unfortunate majority, but also by some of the +fortunate minority who have bowels of compassion, the question is +being asked with insistence whether these conditions may not be +changed and if so how.</p> + +<p>Conspicuous among the evils that have resulted from misgovernment by +the propertied class, are personal slavery and political despotism. +And the history of the world may be summed up as the effort of the +majority to escape from these two evils.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>One reason why men have confused ideas about liberty is that they have +not carefully distinguished the various phases through which this +conflict has passed; for there are three kinds of liberty, all of +which are singularly interwoven one with the other and yet each of +which is distinctly different from the other.</p> + +<p>There is personal liberty; that is, freedom from physical restraint. +In all civilized countries, personal liberty has been, to a large +measure, secured. Slavery, except in some parts of Africa, is +practically unknown, and every individual is protected from arbitrary +arrest west of Russia.</p> + +<p>Next comes political liberty, which in so-called popular governments +we are supposed to enjoy; that is, we are supposed to be no longer +subject to autocratic government; we are supposed each to have a voice +in determining who are to govern us and what are to be the laws under +which we are to be governed. It will be seen later on that this +so-called political liberty is, in fact, enjoyed only by a very few +people in any country of the world, though universal franchise seems +to assure it to all.</p> + +<p>Third and last, there is economic liberty; that is, freedom to earn +one's living. We have seen that the lawless savage enjoys economic +freedom. There is no restraint whatever upon him in procuring those +things which he needs—whether food, clothing, or shelter. We have +also seen that his position was immensely improved by the institution +of property in the product of toil, for under this definition of +property he practically enjoyed security and retained all the freedom +previously enjoyed except the freedom to rob; and he enjoyed thereby a +larger freedom because he did not have to keep perpetual watch over +the things he had hunted or produced.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>But the moment the land was appropriated by a few men so that the +majority could not work on the land except as the wage servants of the +propertied class, then economic liberty came to an end; for no man can +be considered economically free if he depends upon some other man not +only for the means of subsistence, but for opportunity to work in +order to earn the means of subsistence. This economic dependence, due +to the appropriation of land by a class, results in a loss of all the +other liberties; for the franchise is of no value to a man every +waking hour of whose day has to be spent in earning a wage just +sufficient to support himself and his family. A vote can only be +effectually exercised if directed by a political education sufficient +to understand the political problems of the day, and if combined with +other votes in a political organization sufficient to carry out the +collective will of the people. The facility with which the Republican +and Democratic parties have divided the vote of the proletariat is +mainly due, I think, to the fact that the proletariat is too exhausted +by overwork to undertake political organization, though it is +beginning now to understand the necessity for doing so.</p> + +<p>Last, but not least, a man cannot be regarded as enjoying liberty to +any appreciable extent if his actions during all the waking hours of +the day are determined, not by his own free will, but by the factory +bell.</p> + +<p>And although it may be necessary to secure personal and political +liberty before economic liberty can be attained, it is certain that +until economic liberty be attained, neither political nor personal +liberty is effectually enjoyed. This subject will be treated at +greater length when we study the Political Aspect of Socialism.<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a> +The point which it is essential to keep clearly in mind now is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span>that +there are two notions of property, one of which is beneficent, and +furnishes a maximum of security and a maximum of liberty; the other of +which is unjust, and furnishes neither security nor liberty except to +the privileged few. The first is the theory that men are entitled to +property in the product of their labor; the second is that men are +entitled to property in things which are not the product of their +labor.</p> + +<p>The most conspicuous of these things is land, which of course is not +the product of any man's labor, but the gift of Nature or God to the +whole race, or in America to Americans—certainly not to the +Englishman, W.W. Astor, for instance. And the appropriation by a few +men of all the tools of production—the factories, water power, steam +power, electric power, and of the great natural monopolies such as +railroads, telegraphs, telephones, tramways, gas, etc., has had just +as bad a result as the appropriation of land, for it has brought about +exactly the same condition—the exploitation of the many by the few. +This is the point which Henry George has overlooked, and it is a +failure to appreciate this fact that principally occasions the +differences between Single Taxers and Socialists. Private ownership of +land by a few was doubtless in its origin an act of spoliation; +whereas private ownership of factories and natural monopolies was the +result of the application of intelligence and labor to the +organization of industry. The latter, therefore, seems relatively +justifiable, whereas the first is not justifiable. But if the effect +of the latter is as bad for the community as that of the former, and +if there can be no escape from this system of exploitation except by +readjusting property in factories as well as property in land, does it +not seem evident that both must equally be faced?</p> + +<p>At this point it may be well to point out that sound <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>Socialism does +not endorse such exaggeration as Proudhon's "La propriété est le +vol"—"Property is theft," though there may be Socialists who do. On +the contrary, the fundamental basis of sound Socialism is the +distinction between property in the product of men's own toil and +property in the product of other men's toil. The one is altogether +just and beneficial; the other is unjust and detrimental.</p> + +<p>Nor does Socialism fail to take into account the undoubted fact that +much land and many factories represent to-day an investment of +accumulated wages; and that to expropriate such land without +compensation would be as unjust an act of spoliation as the seizure of +land by violence or the enclosing of commons by craft.</p> + +<p>On the contrary, Socialism recognizes that the problem of how to +readjust property so as to secure to men the full product of their +toil is of great difficulty and can only be solved by the application +thereto of the highest deliberation and wisdom. It appeals, therefore, +to those who have knowledge and those who have experience, those who +have studied and those who have suffered, convinced that it is by +uniting knowledge and experience and not by disuniting them that the +solution can best be attained.</p> + +<p>We are now in a position to complete what has been said on the subject +of liberty.</p> + +<p>Liberty is defined in all our dictionaries as "freedom from +restraint."</p> + +<p>But it may be truly said that there is no such thing as universal +freedom from restraint. There may be indeed freedom from restraint of +man by man. But we remain under restraint to Nature owing to our +natural needs. That is to say, we are not free to spend our time as we +wish, for our natural needs compel us to devote our time <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>to securing +shelter, clothing, and food. So also there may be partial freedom from +the restraint of Nature; but only upon the condition of restraint of +man by man, a restraint which under existing conditions bestows in +ordinate and generally unhappy leisure upon a few at the expense of +all the rest. We have therefore to recognize two kinds of restraint:</p> + +<p>Natural restraint due to our needs, which makes us slaves to +things—shelter, clothing, and food;</p> + +<p>Human restraint, exercised by one man over another, that puts some men +under restraint to others.</p> + +<p>Again, the kind of freedom from restraint that exists in the savage +state is incompatible with two very precious things—security and +leisure; and there are two kinds of insecurity, corresponding to the +two kinds of restraint just mentioned:</p> + +<p>I. Insecurity that arises from our own needs—food, shelter, clothing, +etc.</p> + +<p>II. Insecurity that arises from the needs of others—theft, slavery, +despotism, etc.</p> + +<p>The first—insecurity arising from our own needs—tends to make us +slaves to things.</p> + +<p>The second—insecurity arising from the needs of others—tends to make +us slaves to people.</p> + +<p>In the savage state or state of Nature, this insecurity is at a +maximum. A savage is a slave to his needs to such an extent that in +any climate save the tropics, he has to devote all his time to +satisfying them. And he is liable to be robbed or reduced to slavery +by men stronger than he.</p> + +<p>It was to rescue himself from this insecurity that man created the +institution of property—of priceless value, it assured to men the +product of their labor and did not encourage one man to exploit the +labor of another. And <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>for the same purpose man instituted law; that +is, the power for enforcing these rules—both also of priceless value +so long as they furnished security and the leisure that results +therefrom.</p> + +<p>It was inevitable, however, that, owing to inequalities of men and of +things, the very system instituted to give security, liberty, and +leisure to all, should end by giving security, liberty, and leisure to +a few at the expense of the many.</p> + +<p>Property, therefore, came to include two very different principles:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I. That men should securely enjoy the product of their toil. +This is believed by Socialists to be the desirable principle of +property.</p> + +<p>II. That a few should without any toil enjoy the products of the +toil of the majority. This is the principle of property that +actually prevails to-day.</p></div> + +<p>Now the bourgeois claims that the first or desirable principle of +property is unattainable and that the second is the only practical +system. This is the whole question we have to discuss.</p> + +<p>I think that if we carefully reduce to its simplest terms the effort +of civilization to make men happy it will be found to be this:</p> + +<p>It seeks to rescue men from the two restraints under which they labor +in a savage state:</p> + +<p>Natural restraint due to our needs, i.e., shelter, clothing, food, +etc.</p> + +<p>Human restraint due to the needs of others, i.e., theft, violence, +slavery, despotism, etc.</p> + +<p>In other words, it seeks to secure for men <i>Liberty</i>, which, properly +understood, is emancipation from these two restraints. And the +blessings that ought to follow such liberty as this are two-fold: +Security and leisure. So <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>that liberty, security, and leisure may be +described as the Trinity of human happiness; and all the more justly +because just as it is from the First Person of the Holy Trinity that +the other Two emerge, so it is from liberty that we get security and +leisure.</p> + +<p>The real issue between the bourgeois and the Socialist is then reduced +to the following:</p> + +<p>Can security, liberty, and leisure be enjoyed only by a few at the +expense of the many? Or can they be enjoyed equally by all?</p> + +<p>I am glad in this connection to use the word "enjoyed," because this +word assumes—as indeed the whole bourgeois philosophy assumes—that +the few not only have security, liberty, and leisure, but that they +"enjoy" them; whereas I think it can be demonstrated that only the +worthless few have leisure and that they do not enjoy it, and that +neither the industrious nor the worthless have liberty or security at +all. In other words, the few in grasping at these things at the +expense of the many <i>enjoy</i> none of them because of the hard fact of +human solidarity, which will drive them at last to reconsider all +these things. But this belongs to the subject of Solidarity and cannot +therefore be elaborated in this chapter.</p> + +<p>The essential thing to be kept in mind is that the only liberty worth +having is one that will rescue us from <i>both</i> kinds of +restraints—natural and human; that it is quite useless to throw off +human restraint and fall back into the condition of natural slavery +which seems to be the policy of the anarchist; nor is it of any +advantage to escape from natural slavery only to become a prey to human +despotism or exploitation, according to the creed of the bourgeois. +Socialism is the <i>juste milieu</i> between Let-alone-ism on the one hand +and Anarchism on the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>other. Liberty, to be worth having, must secure +the greatest emancipation from <i>both</i> restraints possible.</p> + +<p>If we apply this notion of liberty to existing conditions, I think we +shall come to the following conclusion:</p> + +<p>From natural slavery created by men's needs it was impossible for the +race to escape, except by the system which actually prevails—of +making the unwealthy majority work for the wealthy few. This results +in pauperism, prostitution, and crime.</p> + +<p>Slavery to Nature in a natural or savage state practically condemns +savages to devote their whole time to procuring the necessaries of +life, and to protecting these things, once procured, from the +spoliation of their neighbors. A great stride in the progress of +humanity was made when savages began each to respect the product, of +the other's toil. And if this system could have prevailed, our late +advance in science and our consequent, control of Nature would secure +us two priceless advantages: one, security from spoilation; the other, +an organization of labor that would reduce the hours every man would +have to spend in procuring the necessaries and comforts of life to a +very small fraction of the working day. The results in leisure that +would accrue under a coöperative system will be explained later;<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> +but at this point it seems only necessary to indicate that if a man +need devote only three or four hours during the working days of his +life to satisfying his needs, he would have most of his waking hours +to devote to social service, literature, art, music, or amusement, to +an understanding of his political and economic problems, and to the +political organization necessary to secure popular control over +government for the first time in the history of the world. Every +reform movement in New York has failed because <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>men who wanted reform +did not have the leisure to give to it; and the reform movement was +therefore left to those who devoted their whole time to it in order to +share the plunder on the day of victory. In other words, every reform +movement if successful resulted in a political machine animated by +selfish motives and therefore as bad as other political machines +similarly animated. When every man has time to protect his business +interests in the government; when these business interests are not +hostile to the general welfare, but coincide with it; and when +politics is the business of every man instead of being as now the +business of a few professional politicians, then for the first time +this world will see a veritable democracy.</p> + +<p>Liberty, security, and leisure seem to me altogether the most +important things that we can attain through a correct understanding of +property. But owing to false notions of property created by the few +who have acquired all the property at the expense of their +fellow-citizens, there have arisen artificial conditions which have +created what may be called artificial slavery; that is to say, +personal dependence, political dependence, and economic dependence. Of +these three the last is the most important because, in consequence of +it, neither personal nor political independence is effectually +enjoyed. That these three forms of dependence are unnecessary and are +due to false notions of property which can be slowly eradicated, is +the belief of the Socialist. It is also his belief that the very +changes that will put an end to these three forms of dependence will +also set up true notions of property instead of false, and thereby +secure the priceless benefits of liberty and security on the one hand +and of leisure on the other.</p> + +<p>In other words, Socialism proposes not to abolish <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>property, but to +reinstate it; to relieve the rich from the insecurity and hatred to +which they are now exposed; to rescue them from slavery to wealth and +<i>ennui</i>; to confer upon them the immense consolation of knowing that +what they enjoy is at the expense of no one; that it commits none to +pauperism, prostitution, or crime; that it is earned by social +service, the only service worth doing; that the consideration they +enjoy is due to their own merits and not to inherited or ill-gotten +wealth; and to accomplish this by securing to all men the product of +their toil; by restoring property to the consideration to which it is +entitled; by furnishing to every man the maximum of liberty, security, +and leisure.</p> + +<br /> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +<br /> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> Book III, Chapter II.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> Cicero, "Pro Cluentio," sec. 53.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> Book III, Chapter III.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> Book III, Chapter V. Economic Aspect.</p></div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="BK_II_CHAPTER_V" id="BK_II_CHAPTER_V"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER V<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>THE RESULTS OF PROPERTY</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Not only did Proudhon make a great mistake in condemning all property, +but some Socialists still make the same mistake; for property even in +its worst form has rendered humanity an indispensable service. It is +the cocoon which the human chrysalis has instinctively wound around +itself for protection while it is changing from a lower to a higher +stage of development.</p> + +<p>For example, property even in its worst form—that is, property that +puts one man in a position to exploit the labor of another man—has +encouraged the intelligent and industrious to accumulate wealth; and +the accumulation of wealth makes economic development possible; for if +a man produced no more than was necessary for the support of himself +and his family, there would be no surplus out of which to support +those engaged in the development of national resources—for example, +the building of roads, the building of railroads, the building of +factories, the exploitation of mines. Every progressing nation has got +to have two totally different resources—the resources necessary to +support that part of the population which is engaged in production and +distribution—that is, in keeping the community alive; and the +resources accumulated for supporting those who are developing the +country; for example, the building of roads, etc. Obviously, +therefore, it is indispensable that more be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span>produced every year than +is necessary for the support of those engaged in production and +distribution; enough must be produced to support also those engaged in +building roads, factories, etc.</p> + +<p>Indeed little can be done in developing a country until a certain +amount of commodities has been accumulated for this purpose. Now the +accumulated resources applicable to development form what is called +capital—which, in the hands of a few persons, permits of those few +exploiting the rest; but in the hands of the producers themselves, +will permit of a better development without the evil results of +exploitation. It is alleged by opponents of Socialists that Socialism +proposes to abolish wealth or capital. It is inconceivable that men +supposed to be educated—such as Roosevelt, Taft, Bryan—should be so +ignorant in a matter concerning which it is their peculiar duty to be +informed. No cabinet minister in England, Germany, or France would be +capable of such a mistake.<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> In Europe statesmen take the trouble to +study Socialism and thus avoid making themselves ridiculous by such a +blunder as believing that Socialism proposes to destroy or abolish +wealth. Far from wishing to abolish wealth, Socialism seeks to enhance +it—to consecrate it—to put it beyond the reach of private avarice or +public discontent. How they expect to do this will be explained later. +Meanwhile, it is important to keep clearly in mind the fact that it is +not wealth that Socialists denounce, but the present distribution of +wealth. This explains why well-informed Socialists are the first to +recognize the beneficent rôle which the institution of private +property even in its worst form has played in stimulating +accumulation.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span>Here again, whether property was instituted for the deliberate purpose +of stimulating accumulation or not, we see once more evolution +favoring the survival of those nations who did accumulate at the +expense of those who did not. In a conflict between two tribes, it was +the tribe provided with the larger store of good weapons and food that +must eventually prevail over the tribe less well provided with these. +And so evolution has pushed men in the direction of accumulating +wealth because it destroyed those tribes which did not accumulate it +and allowed the survival only of those who did.</p> + +<p>This accumulation of wealth involved two qualities of predominating +importance in human development, the exercise of forethought and +self-restraint. If we compare man with the lower animals we find that +there are no qualities in which he differs more from them than in +these two. Man is capable of deliberate self-restraint. And the +nations most capable of forethought and self-restraint have prevailed +over nations which have been less capable of these. Here again, it may +be incidentally pointed out that in no respect was the institution of +property more important to human development than in the recognition +of the kind of property which a man originally had in his wife and +children; and the more the domestic relations created by this property +required exercise of self-restraint, the more the nations having these +institutions prevailed over those which did not have them.</p> + +<p>The systematic survival first of patriarchal tribes over metronymic +tribes,<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> and secondly, of monogamous tribes <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>over polygamous +tribes, is an unanswerable argument in favor of marriage, of which no +well-informed Socialist fails to take account—Mr. Roosevelt to the +contrary notwithstanding. The Socialist party is to be judged by its +platform and not by extracts of isolated writers who have no more +right to bind the whole Socialist party on the subject of marriage, +than an isolated Republican or Democrat would have to bind the +Republican or Democratic parties respectively. Of course, property of +a man in his wife long ago ceased to exist in civilized countries; it +has played its part in its time, but disappeared before a more humane, +intelligent, and just understanding of the relations of man to his +wife. In the same way, the right of property of one man in the labor +of another will also yield to a more intelligent and wise +understanding of the right of property.</p> + +<p>The institution of property performs one other function in society of +inestimable importance. Early civilizations such as those of Greece +and Rome, dominated by families who claimed descent from the gods, +created an aristocracy of birth which, because it was exclusive, +tended inevitably to become tyrannical. As, however, rights of +property became more and more recognized, the aristocracy found itself +confronted by a population that had accumulated wealth indispensable +to the maintenance of the state. Men too who had accumulated this +wealth had done so by the use of their brains, industry, forethought, +and self-restraint. They constituted a group with which the +aristocracy of birth had first to parley and to which it had +eventually to succumb. It is true that this group of the aristocracy +of wealth, which succeeded the aristocracy of birth, in one sense only +replaced one set of rulers by another. But the transfer of power to +the aristocracy of wealth was almost always <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span>effected through the +support of the people, and was almost always attended by some +concession of political control to the people. So that on the whole, +the tendency has been for every transfer of political power from the +aristocracy of birth to the aristocracy of wealth to include some +element of popular representation until slowly through the gradual +substitution of the bourgeoisie for the king, noble, and priest, the +people has secured the priceless boon of the franchise which it has +not yet learned to use.<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a></p> + +<br /> + +<h4>§ 1. <span class="sc">The Guild</span></h4> + +<p>Now that we have given full credit to the rôle which property has +played in the world, let us consider some of its results. In the first +place, let us eliminate a prevailing error. We frequently read in +Socialist books that the competitive system is the necessary result of +the institution of private property. This is not altogether true: +Obviously, the institution of property has connected with it the +notion that as long as men are protected in the product of their +labor, every man is bound to labor enough to support himself; and if +he does not so labor, he must suffer the natural consequences. Under +this system, every man is at liberty to labor in whatever occupation +he chooses, to produce as much as he can, and to get the best price he +can for what he produces. No attempt will be made here to describe the +abominable consequences of this system prior to the Middle Ages. The +history of the industrial struggle prior to the Middle Ages is still +obscure and complicated. But the Crusades in the eleventh century +withdrew from Europe the most <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span>turbulent of its oppressing nobility +and the most servile of its religious subjects. The result was to give +to the less servile craftsmen an opportunity to organize themselves +against the noble and the priest in defence of their common craft. So +we find all over Europe an immense development of guilds or +corporations organized by the respective crafts or industries, +primarily for self-defence, and secondarily, for the organization and +regulation of labor therein. The story of these guilds has been too +often written to make it necessary to repeat it here.<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> I shall +content myself therefore with pointing out that these guilds did for a +season exercise an extraordinarily beneficial effect, not only on +industry, but on government. The guilds were composed not only of +employers, but also employees, and thus stand out in marked contrast +to trade unions. In many respects, however, they were similar to trade +unions. Thus they had benefit funds in case of sickness and death; and +they were animated by a sense of solidarity similar to that which +animates the trade unions. But the fact that the guild included +employer as well as employee gave it also different and important +functions. Every guild at the outset was inspired by a sense of +self-respect as well as of solidarity. It was a matter of pride with +them that the guild should furnish no goods not up to standard. The +guild therefore early established elaborate rules fixing standards and +prices so that no man could charge a high price for a low standard of +goods, nor could he compete with others in the same guild by offering +a high standard of goods for a lower price than that determined by the +guild. The guild protected the public from poor workmanship and the +worker from competition. Moreover, competition was still further +eliminated by the fact that no man could <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span>engage in any craft or trade +unless he belonged to the guild organized to defend and protect the +trade; and as the guild became a part of the municipal government and +indeed at certain periods controlled the municipal government +altogether, the guild was in a position to enforce this rule.</p> + +<p>There are many features in the guild system which would be usefully +borrowed in a coöperative commonwealth. But the guild system broke +down because every guild was concerned with its own interests +irrespective of the interests of the whole community. Every guild +therefore became a class corporation which sought to use the guild for +purely selfish purposes. Entrance to the guild was confined to members +of the families of those controlling the guild; and no provision was +made for the thousands and hundreds of thousands who, because they +could not get admission to a guild and could find no work to do upon +the land, were left to wander as vagrants through the streets and +highways with no alternative save to steal or starve. In other words, +the vagrant of the Middle Ages included the unemployed of to-day. +Again, those who controlled the guild sought by limiting the number of +its members to create a privileged society from which they could +derive wealth without labor. Thus the whole business of killing and +selling meat was at one time in Paris confined to twenty persons. +These persons did not themselves engage in the business, but they +sublet their respective monopolies to others, and thus constituted an +idle aristocracy.</p> + +<p>The abuses which attended the guild system became so intolerable that +in 1776, the very year when we in America were setting forth our +political rights in the Declaration of Independence, King Louis XVI +proclaimed the economic rights of the workingmen in France <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span>in one of +the most extraordinary documents to be found in history.<a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> If we +could get this Republic of America to promulgate and to put into +operation the principles set forth in this decree of an absolute king +in 1776, we should secure all that the Socialist party of to-day +demands; that is to say, the right secured by law to men, not only to +work, but to enjoy the full product of their work. But civilization +had not yet advanced far enough to understand the full import of this +decree, and the guilds were too powerful at that time to permit of its +execution. The Parlement de Paris flatly refused to register the +edict. The king tried to execute the edict notwithstanding the refusal +by the Paris Parlement; but the attempt created such disorder that in +the same year the edict was abrogated. No attempt was made to execute +this decree in the provinces whatever. Meanwhile, however, two forces +were at work that were destined to break up the tyranny of the guilds. +One was the discovery of steam, which put an end to home industry and +subjected workmen to the conditions imposed by the owner of the +factory. The other was the growing upheaval of the Tiers Etat, or +popular branch of the government, which resulted in the French +Revolution.</p> + +<p>The French Revolution has been a good deal too much confined by +historians to the political upheaval of the people against the noble, +the priest, and the king. Attention has not been sufficiently +attracted to the fact that it was at the same time a revolt against +the economic tyranny of the corporation or the guild. The cry of +liberty which ushered in the French Revolution was not confined to +political liberty. It was extended to liberty of industry—liberty of +trade—liberty of contract. In other words, what Rousseau did for +political emancipation with his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>theory of social contract, de Quesnay +did for economic emancipation with his doctrine of <i>laissez faire</i>, a +doctrine which prepared the way for the political economy of Adam +Smith and that of the Manchester School.</p> + +<p>The essential principle preached by de Quesnay and later by Adam Smith +and Herbert Spencer, is that every man must in his efforts to support +himself and accumulate wealth be "let alone!"</p> + +<p>It is of the utmost interest that this policy of <i>laissez faire</i> was +inaugurated under the cry of liberty and is still supported on the +ground of liberty. When we see the evil consequences of this kind of +liberty we shall feel like crying with Madame Roland when she saw the +guillotine doing its grim work on the Place de la Grêve:</p> + +<p class="cen">"O liberty, what crimes are committed in thy name!"</p> + +<p>And here we shall appreciate the importance of having clear ideas as +to what liberty is and of therefore being able to distinguish false +notions of liberty from true.</p> + +<p>If leaving to every man absolute liberty as to what he is to produce, +how he is to produce, and what he shall charge for it, would result in +the most orderly and therefore economical system of production and +distribution; if it were to secure to every man work in the first +place, and the product of his work in the second place, then it would +be justified. But if it produces none of these things, but on the +contrary, produces the greatest conceivable disorder and therefore +greatest possible waste; if it not only fails to assure to men the +product of their work, but even fails to give as many as one-third of +those engaged in industry any chance of working at all, as at present, +so that hundreds of thousands and even millions are at this time of +writing not only without work, but actually on the verge of +starvation—and if this system <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>not only causes injustice and misery +to all these millions, but does not even make the few who profit by it +happy—if the tendency is also to make them immoral—if instead of +promoting liberty, it—on the contrary—makes slaves of all, not only +of employees but also of employers, so that neither is free to be +generous or just to the other and both are skirting ruin—the employer +in the shape of bankruptcy, and the employee in the shape of +unemployment; and last but not least, if this system is stupid—of all +the stupid systems conceivable the most stupid—and I have been able +to call as witnesses to this assertion the admittedly ablest business +men now living in America, what shall we shrewd, practical Americans +have to say in defence of it?</p> + +<p>But we have still two important results of the competitive system to +consider—the trade union and the trust; not only for the evils that +attend them, but for the inevitable conflict to which they give rise. +The issue of this conflict is the real political issue of the day. All +the political parties save only one are seeking to ignore it; but they +cannot. It will end by either reforming or destroying them. To this +question too much attention cannot be given, for upon it depends the +survival of civilization itself.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>§ 2. <span class="sc">Trade Unions</span></h4> + +<p>The attempt has already been made to show that the organization of +trade unions and trusts was not due to accident, but was the necessary +and inevitable consequence of the freedom of contract, freedom of +industry, and freedom of trade inaugurated by the French Revolution. +These three so-called freedoms are a sentimental way of describing the +competitive system, and as a matter of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>fact, not only make real +freedom impossible, but pave the way for despotism—the despotism of +the market in the first place and the despotism of the trade union and +trust, to which the despotism of the market inevitably leads.</p> + +<p>The illusion contained in the words "freedom of contract" is well +demonstrated in the history of the trade union, for if the employee is +to be free to make such contracts as he chooses, he is not only free +as regards the contracts he chooses to make with his employer, but +also as regards the contracts he chooses to make with his fellow +employee. And amongst the contracts that he is free to make with his +fellow employee is the contract not to work for his employer except +under certain agreed conditions. In other words, the trade union is +simply an expression of freedom of contract between employee and +employee. But to what does this freedom of contract between employee +and employee lead? It leads to a suppression of the freedom of +contract, for it is an agreement not to work with the employee except +under conditions imposed by the trade union. Freedom of contract, +therefore, so far as the employee is concerned, under the competitive +system compels employees to abandon freedom of contract.</p> + +<p>This may seem paradoxical until we understand the real significance of +it. Man stands between two alternatives—the unlimited freedom and +insecurity of savagery and the limited freedom and security of +civilization. This has been developed in the chapter on Property and +Liberty and receives interesting confirmation in the history of trade +unions, which has been too often and too well told to make it +necessary to repeat it here. Suffice it to point out that all +historians of the trade union movement record the fact that at the +very time when employers were shouting for freedom of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span>contract they +passed laws denying freedom of contract to workingmen.<a name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a> But the +very effort of the employers to prevent employees from combining with +one another reduced wages to so low a level and brought about so +wicked an exploitation of women and children and such unsanitary +conditions of the whole working population, that a parliament of +employers was as a matter of national defence compelled to restore to +workingmen the right to agree to abandon freedom of contract.</p> + +<p>It may appear to the unsophisticated that for a workingman to endeavor +to escape from the tyranny of the employer by subjecting himself to +the tyranny of the trade union is but a jump from the frying-pan into +the fire. But such a conclusion would display woeful ignorance as to +the whole trend of human development; that is to say, from involuntary +subjection to a power over which we have no control, to voluntary +subjection to a power over which we have control. This is the history +of the development of all popular government. Reactionaries are +disposed to dwell on what they call the tyranny of the majority and +compare it unfavorably with the beneficent despotism of a Henri IV. +They, however, ignore the very material fact that an absolute monarchy +represents an involuntary servitude over which the subject has no +control; whereas the tyranny of a majority represents a voluntary +subjection to authority over which we have control. It may be and +undoubtedly is true that control over government even under popular +forms of government is small and ineffectual; but I hope to make it +clear in the chapter on the Political Aspect of Socialism<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> that the +ineffectualness of our control over government is due <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span>to the +competitive system and that under a coöperative system our control +over government would be effectual; and that it is only under a +coöperative commonwealth that the ideal democracy can be realized.</p> + +<p>The development of trade unionism throws also a great light on the +fact of human solidarity. Socialists are often accused of being +theoretical and the bourgeois is disposed to regard human solidarity +as a theory. But in the growth of trade unionism it will be observed +that solidarity presents itself as a rock upon which the competitive +system must ultimately be wrecked. The capitalist class expressed its +wish in the law of 1799, which was a law of oppression; but the +inconvenient fact that women cannot be worked like beasts of burden +under ground without arousing the sympathies even of the capitalist +class; that little children cannot be made to suffer and to starve +without reaching the hearts of the whole nation, and that cholera bred +in unsanitary dwellings will find its way to the doors of the rich, +forced this same capitalist class to abrogate the law of 1799; to +abandon the policy of oppression in consideration of its own best +interests.</p> + +<p>So combinations amongst employees have grown in strength in spite of +all the power of capital—political and industrial. This progress was +inevitable. Given freedom of contract, or in other words, the +competitive system; given some intelligence on the part of some of the +proletariat; and some compassion in the hearts of some employers, and +trade unions had to develop and grow in strength.</p> + +<p>But now that they have developed and grown in strength—now that they +can be said to have reached what seems to be maturity, let us consider +how much good they have done. Let us discuss the unsolved and what I +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>believe to be the insoluble problems that result from trade unionism.</p> + +<p>Before entering into this subject, let me say that if I do not discuss +here the merits of trade unionism it is not because I am not aware of +them; but rather because in this work on Socialism, which I desire to +make as concise as possible, it is not the merits of trade unionism +which it is important to emphasize, but their demerits. Although the +intelligence, order, and self-restraint displayed in the trade union +movement must be to the eternal credit of the workingman, nevertheless +all his efforts, however intelligent, however orderly, however +sacrificing, have failed to solve the problem of the conflict between +labor and capital. It is obviously wiser for the workingman to seek +salvation where it is to be found than by clinging exclusively to +trade unionism to abandon salvation altogether. Trade unionism, I +cannot emphasize it too much—was and is still a necessary step in the +development and education of the workingman; but it is only a step, +and nothing demonstrates the inadequacy of trade unionism better than +the conditions of unemployment that have existed during the last two +years not only in the United States of America, but almost throughout +the entire civilized world. It must not be supposed, however, that +because trade unions are believed to have created new evils almost as +intolerable as those they were organized to suppress, that trade +unions are to be looked upon with disfavor. On the contrary, the whole +argument of this book proceeds upon the self-evident fact that trade +unions have performed a necessary function and are bound to perform a +necessary function in the community until the trade union realizes its +ideal, but that a realization of this ideal is impossible under the +competitive system. In other words, the attempt will be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span>made not only +to demonstrate that trade unions have, under the competitive system, +failed and must continue to fail to accomplish the work they set out +to do, but that under the coöperative system they can and will attain +their ideal—they can and will perform exactly what they started out +to do. However much, therefore, our argument may demonstrate the +failure of trade unions under existing conditions, it only leads to +the triumph of trade unions under coöperative conditions. What the +trade union has failed to do under competition, it can and will +accomplish under a coöperative commonwealth.</p> + +<p>The argument of this book, therefore, is not to abandon trade unions, +but, on the contrary, to appeal to the unorganized employee to join +the trade union in order to strengthen it industrially; and on the +other hand to appeal to all employees, organized or unorganized, to +combine politically for the purpose of securing by franchise what they +never can accomplish by the strike.</p> + +<p>The moral then to be drawn from the following pages is not that trade +unions have come to an end of their usefulness, but that whereas their +task in the past has been to check exploitation, their rôle in the +future will be to put an end to it altogether.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>§ 3. <span class="sc">The Unsolved and Insoluble Problems of Trade Unionism</span></h4> + +<p>John Mitchell in his book "Organized Labor" has very properly stated +that "the ideal of Trade Unionism is to combine in one organization +<i>all</i> the men employed, or capable of being employed, at a given +trade, and to demand and secure for each and <i>all</i> of them a definite +minimum standard of wages, hours and conditions of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span>work;"<a name="FNanchor_85_85" id="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a> and the +principle of Trade Unionism is also well described as "the <i>absolute +and complete prohibition</i> of contracts between employers and +individual men."<a name="FNanchor_86_86" id="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a> In other words, the object of the Trade Union is +to put an end to competition between employees in order to substitute +what is called "collective bargaining," which, if complete, would put +the employer at the mercy of the employee, for individual bargaining, +which on the contrary puts the employee at the mercy of the employer.</p> + +<p>The above is stated in other words in the Report of the Industrial +Commission:<a name="FNanchor_87_87" id="FNanchor_87_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a></p> + +<p>"The union is conceived as a means of bettering the condition of its +members by united action. If this action is to be thoroughly +effective, it must be taken by or on behalf of <i>all the members of the +craft</i>. It is by the establishment of an <i>absolute monopoly of labor +power</i> and to ameliorate the conditions under which it is sold and +used."</p> + +<p>Now the inherent and necessary defect of trade unionism under the +competitive system is to be found in the words I have italicized in +the above extract. If the trade union could be a "real monopoly of +labor," it could dictate terms to the employer; but it must not be +forgotten that, with the employer, it would remain subject to the +conditions created by the market. The very fact, however, that all +relations between labor and capital are determined by the conditions +of the market makes it impossible and will always make it impossible +for the trade union to attain its ideal; that is to say, to constitute +an absolute monopoly of labor power, to bind in one organization <i>all</i> +the men employed, to secure the absolute and complete prohibition of +contracts between <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span>employers and individual men, to demand and secure +for each and <i>all</i> of them a definite minimum standard of labor, +wages, and conditions of work. This is the crux of the whole question.</p> + +<p>It has taken over a century of organization on the part of the +employer and employee, of conflict between the two, of bankruptcy for +the employer and of misery for the employee, to demonstrate that the +ideal of trade unionism has not been and can never, so long as the +competitive system persists, be attained. The trade unionist will +answer that even though it be impossible to attain the ideal, trade +unions have accomplished much and can accomplish more for the +wage-earning class. To this it may be fairly answered that whatever +trade unions have in fact accomplished has been accomplished only at a +ruinous price—that the price they must continue to pay for this +accomplishment will continue to be ruinous and insufferable until +either by the revolt of the discontented as predicted by Karl Marx, or +by the awakening conscience of the whole community, as has already to +a limited degree taken place, the betterment aimed at by the trade +unionist will be attained and maintained without the payment of the +awful toll now exacted by the competitive system.</p> + +<p>It is probable that both employers and employees, during a century's +struggle, have failed to take proper account of the extent to which +both were hampered by the exigencies of the market. The blindness of +both to this fact was perhaps due to the expansion of trade both in +England and America during most of the century; this expansion being +due to the development of the country in the United States and, in +England, to the conquests of new markets and colonies. So long as +expansion continued, trade unionists could insist upon <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span>increasing +wages out of increasing prices, and the success which attended trade +unions in raising wages during a large part of the century, brought +about a false idea that there was no limit to the extent to which +trade unions could by organization increase their share in the profits +of industry. Unfortunately, the era of expansion could not last +forever, and it was not until the lockout of the engineers in +1898-1899 that the British trade unionists began to discover how +narrow were the limits within which they could improve conditions.</p> + +<p>Until 1897 the employees had on an average the best of it. In 1893 no +less than 63 per cent of strikes were decided in favor of the +employees. In 1896 again the proportion of working people involved in +disputes settled in their favor was greater than in any of the +previous years since 1892 with the exception of 1893; and it may be +interesting to note that during this year there was a lower percentage +of unemployed than during any year since 1890.<a name="FNanchor_88_88" id="FNanchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a> It is not +surprising, therefore, that trade unionists were convinced that there +was no limit to the extent to which they might increase their share in +the profits of industry. In 1897, however, the condition of the steel +industry in England became such that the employers could no longer +comply with the exactions of the trade unionists. In 1895 American +manufacturers for the first time attempted to export their steel to +other lands,<a name="FNanchor_89_89" id="FNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a> and their exports grew to $121,913,548 in 1900 and to +$183,982,182 in 1908.<a name="FNanchor_90_90" id="FNanchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a></p> + +<p>In the presence of American as well as German <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span>competition, the +pressure of the market was such that the employers felt they must +either break the power of the union or go out of business. They +therefore locked out the engineers in July, 1897, and the lockout +lasted until January, 1898, when the union was obliged to abandon all +its contentions. This lockout is the turning point in the history of +trade unionism in England. Up to that time, the idea that workingmen +could be induced to abandon the parties to which they belong in order +to organize a party of their own was never seriously taken into +consideration at their conventions, and resolutions in favor of +Socialism were overwhelmingly voted down. But as soon as the power of +the engineers—the strongest union in England—was broken in 1897 we +find trade union conventions entertaining the idea of political +organization and resolutions in favor of Socialism receiving careful +consideration.</p> + +<p>The history of trade unionism in America has not as yet resulted in +any such definite climax as this; but what foreign competition has +compelled English employers to do a combination of employers in the +Steel Trust has done for the steel workers in America. In other words, +the trade union has to face one of two alternatives: either foreign +competition is bound ultimately to compel the employer to destroy the +union; or in the absence of foreign competition owing to a high +protective tariff, a combination of employers will do for their own +benefit what competition compelled British employers to do as a +condition of survival.</p> + +<p>If we turn from the history to the nature of trade unions it will be +seen that what has happened must have happened. As has been stated, +all agree that the ideal of trade unionism is to unite all the workers +in one trade so as to substitute collective bargaining for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span>individual +bargaining. Unfortunately by the very nature of things such a +combination is impossible. It is impossible to read any work on trade +unions, whether it emanates from the government, or from employers, or +from employees, without being struck by the fact that trade unions +seek to be comprehensive, to include all the members in the trade on +the one hand, while on the other hand there is a perpetual pressure +upon them to be exclusive. For example, we find locals charging heavy +initiation fees of a character to keep out members, for instance the +longshoremen, the garment workers, glass workers; and it may be +"stated as a general rule that when a union does succeed in +establishing a monopoly against employers it is exceedingly likely to +go on, if it feels strong enough, to establish a monopoly against the +employees."<a name="FNanchor_91_91" id="FNanchor_91_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a></p> + +<p>It is perfectly true that this tendency is frowned upon by the trade +unionists at large; but the reason for this is that every union which +tries to be exclusive cultivates a crop of non-unionists who +constitute a menace to the union.</p> + +<p>A better illustration of the quandary in which unionists find +themselves between the importance of being comprehensive in the one +hand and the importance of being exclusive on the other, is found in +their attitude towards boy labor.</p> + +<p>Modern conditions have made apprenticeship practically obsolete, and +yet many national organizations endeavor to maintain the practice with +a view to preventing too great a supply of skilled workers in the +trade. The limit generally fixed by national organizations is 1 to 10, +though some, such as pressmen, trunk and bag workers, flint glass +workers, allow 1 to 4. Lithographers <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span>allow 1 to 5.<a name="FNanchor_92_92" id="FNanchor_92_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a> "It is +obvious," says the Report of the Industrial Commission, "that the +chief motive which influences the unions in the shaping of their +apprenticeship rules is the desire to maintain their wages, by +diminishing competition within the trades."<a name="FNanchor_93_93" id="FNanchor_93_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a></p> + +<p>It is true that many unions in controlling apprenticeship are animated +by a much higher purpose; that is to say, to provide that when a boy +undertakes to learn a trade he shall have a chance to learn it.</p> + +<p>John Mitchell in his book<a name="FNanchor_94_94" id="FNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a> claims that the restriction of admission +of apprentices in the United States is negligibly small, and yet +deplores the fact that "the great mass of youths to-day receive little +or no training in their particular trade as a result of the breakdown +of the apprenticeship system." In his opinion the solution to the +problem is not to be found in apprenticeship, but in industrial +schools; yet he deplores the hostility of graduates of trade schools +to trade unions, without apparently recognizing that this hostility is +due to the hostility first evinced by unions to trade schools. But let +us turn from conflicting opinions and look the facts in the face.</p> + +<p>When a unionist approaches the age of forty years, he is confronted by +the fact that he cannot rival in speed and efficiency the work of a +young graduate of an industrial school. He looks forward to the time +when his place will be taken by the graduate of the industrial school. +He is very naturally therefore hostile to the industrial school and +the graduate of the industrial school is for the same reason hostile +to him. And here we come to the real difficulty: When a trade union +fails to include <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span><i>all</i> the members in the trade, it does <i>not</i> +succeed in eliminating competition between workingmen. On the +contrary, it begins by creating two hostile classes of workingmen: +Those within the union and those without—classes which bitterly hate +one another because they are both fighting for the same job. But they +do more than this: They create competition within the trade union +because by insisting upon high wages and short hours they are making +it impossible for the employer to utilize the service of any but the +most efficient. John Mitchell himself points this out. In resisting +the charge that trade unions tend to level down, he says: "If there is +a levelling at all in the trade union world, it is a levelling up and +not a levelling down. The only levelling which the trade union does is +<i>the elimination of men who are below a certain fixed standard of +efficiency</i>."<a name="FNanchor_95_95" id="FNanchor_95_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a> He further expresses it in another passage:<a name="FNanchor_96_96" id="FNanchor_96_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a> +"Trade unionism tends to improve workmen not only directly, through an +increase in wages and a reduction in hours, but it attains the same +end in an indirect manner. The general policy of trade unionism, as +has been explained before, is the establishment of a minimum wage, +safeguarding, as a rule, the right of the employer to discharge for +proved inefficiency. The result of this is the gradual creation of a +dead line of a standard of efficiency, to which all who work must +attain. Where there is a minimum wage of four dollars a day, the +workman can no longer choose to do only three dollars' worth of work +and be paid accordingly, but he must earn four dollars, <i>or else cease +from work</i>, at least in that particular trade, locality, or +establishment. The consciousness that he may be employed for a varying +wage permits many a man to give way to his natural idleness and +carelessness, whereas the maintenance of a rigid standard <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span>causes a +rapid and steady improvement. The minimum wage acts upon the workman, +as the school examination upon the child. If a child falls, by however +small a margin, below the standard set by the school, he fails of +promotion, and the stimulus which is strong in the case of a school +child is infinitely more intense in that of a worker with a family +dependent upon him. The principle of the survival of the fittest +through union regulations works out slowly and unevenly; nevertheless +its general effect is towards a steady and continuous progress of +workingmen to a permanently higher standard of efficiency."<a name="FNanchor_97_97" id="FNanchor_97_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a></p> + +<p>There is one point upon which the author is silent—yet it is the +point which enormously interests the workingman at large: this is that +while trade unionism guarantees high wages and short hours to the +efficient, it throws out of the trade altogether those workingman who +do not attain a high standard of efficiency or who, having attained +it, fall back from it owing to overwork, sickness, or old age.</p> + +<p>There is, therefore, a perpetual struggle going on in the trade +unions, not only between members and non-members, but even amongst the +members of the union itself, in view of the fact that diminished +efficiency must eventually lead to the weeding out of the inefficient. +In periods of industrial depression such as we have just passed +through it is obvious that the most inefficient are the first to be +dismissed, and being the most inefficient, they are the ones least +able to find employment in other industries.</p> + +<p>Under the title of Unemployment, the extent of this evil has been +pointed out; it must not be lost sight of; it reaches a population of +a million at the best of times and of five millions at such times as +these.</p> + +<p>But the problem raised by the importance of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span>comprehensiveness to +prevent "scabbing" on the one hand and of exclusiveness to maintain +wages on the other, is not confined to such details as initiation fees +and apprenticeship. It covers the whole question of the employment of +boys, women, old men, and half-supported persons, and includes the +"sweating" system.</p> + +<p>The higher the wages exacted by trade unions the more employers are +compelled to have recourse to cheap labor of women and children, and +this labor is all the cheaper because the unionist himself contributes +to the supply; for the unionist supports his wife and children, and +the very fact of the support he gives them permits them to accept a +lower rate of wages than if they were not supported. To understand the +operation of this principle it must be borne in mind that rates of +wages are determined, not by the wishes of the employee or even by the +greed of the employer; they are determined by the market price. +Unionists are not the only persons who object to the labor of women +and boys. There is indeed no divergency of opinion as to the unwisdom +of working boys before their education is complete or their bodies +matured; or the unwisdom of employing women, destined by Nature to +perform other more important functions. No better witness to the +control exercised by the market on this important subject can be found +than a member of the English Ministry, the Right Honorable H.O. +Arnold-Forster, who says:</p> + +<p>"The great cotton industry of Lancashire, the wool and worsted +industry of Yorkshire, and many other industries in a less degree are +at the present time dependent upon child labor. It is interesting to +observe that as lately as the autumn of 1907 a deputation waited upon +the responsible minister to urge upon him the desirability of raising +the age of half-timers from twelve to thirteen. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span>The desirability of +the change was not denied, <i>but it was not considered possible to give +effect to it</i>.</p> + +<p>"Those who have any acquaintance with the cotton trade are well aware +that that great industry, employing as it does no less than half a +million persons, is conducted upon the <i>most minute margins of profit +and loss</i>. The rate book of the cotton trade, in which wages of every +kind of work are calculated out to the tenth of a penny, is a miracle +of painstaking and intelligent computation. These fine calculations +are absolutely necessary. Both employers and employed know perfectly +well that the trade is, so to speak, <i>balanced on a knife edge</i>, and +that any sudden increase of cost, whatever may be its cause, is likely +to upset the balance, and turn the hardly won profit out of which +operators as well as employers obtain their living, into a loss. The +<i>fierce competition of the world</i>, especially of those countries in +which child labor and long hours are prevalent, has to be met, and the +persons principally concerned are only too well aware of the +fact."<a name="FNanchor_98_98" id="FNanchor_98_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a></p> + +<p>Nothing then is better established than that every employer is forced +by the pressure of competition to keep wages down, and that any +employer who either under the compulsion of a trade union or out of +generosity of heart attempts to raise wages one cent above the price +permitted by the market, must expiate his mistake in the bankruptcy +court.</p> + +<p>There is only one way in which this competition can be met—the way +imagined by Karl Marx: a comprehensive organization of trade unions, not +only within one nation, but amongst all nations; in other words, the +famous—and at one time loudly proclaimed as the infamous—International. +The fact that the international <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span>plan of organization imagined by Karl +Marx failed, is little argument against it. But the fact that trade +unions do not succeed in securing all the members of a trade in any +nation—that indeed in the United States organized labor includes at +most 2,000,000 members, whereas the working population is over +20,000,000, ought to be a convincing argument that a comprehensive +organization of workers all over the world is still less possible.</p> + +<p>One word must be said in this connection about the sweating system and +its relation to trade unions. It is a current statement that sweating +is confined in America to a few industries, such as tobacco and +garment making. This, however, is a great mistake. Sweating may be +defined as the reduction of wages to starvation or even below +starvation level. It is true that sweating in this country is in large +part due to an ignorant, unorganized, and poverty-stricken class of +immigrants. But sweating is also to be found in a much higher order of +employees. I refer to the sweating of certain factories and department +stores where the rate of wages is determined, not by the cost of +living, but by the price which half-supported women are willing to +take for their week's work.</p> + +<p>In many factories and in practically all the department stores the +wages are below the sum necessary for a working woman to live; and +they are made so at least in part by the fact that the daughters of +well-to-do workingmen, being supported at home, are able and willing +to give their time for a sum less than sufficient to support life. In +some cases this work is rendered in a laudable desire to contribute to +the common expense of the home. In many cases it must be attributed to +vanity and the attractiveness of this kind of work.</p> + +<p>We find, therefore, the workingman put in this singular position: +Through his trade union he secures a high rate <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span>of wages; with this +high rate of wages he seeks to establish a decent home; the desire of +a decent home permeates the entire family; the daughters want to +contribute thereto and, because they are partially supported +themselves by the high wages received by the father, they accept a +rate of wages so low that their less fortunate sisters are doomed to +starve.</p> + +<p>So on every side the trade unionist is hoist by his own petard. The +high wage he is in a position to exact is perpetually menaced by the +competition of the women and children of his own family whom his own +high wages put in a position to compete with him. These high wages +throw out of employment all save those of the highest efficiency, and +by permitting the half-supported members of his family to work for low +wages, reduce others who are not half supported below the level of +starvation.</p> + +<p>I shall not insist on other problems which still divide the members of +trade unions, such as what is called "right of trade," or "the +conflict between industrial and craft organization," both of which +occasion loss of employment and division in the ranks of labor, +because these are not insoluble. It is true that they have not yet +been solved, but there is nothing in their very nature that makes a +solution impossible. I do, however, insist upon the problems above +referred to, because they are not only unsolved, but by their very +nature can never be solved. No trade union can ever include <i>all</i> the +men of the trade, because <i>all</i> cannot earn the high standard of wages +set by the union; because the trade never can give employment to all +the men in the trade—at the best of times there are over 3 per cent +unemployed; because by insisting on a high rate for unionists, they +compel the employer to have recourse to the cheaper labor of women and +boys; because the very sense of family responsibility <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span>which makes a +unionist support his wife and children is exploited by the employer to +secure the services of these last at half wages; because the existence +of a half-supported population creates and maintains sweated trades; +because the employers, were they Angels of Mercy, cannot, thanks to +the pressure of the market, raise wages or dispense with the cheap +labor of women and boys without either incurring bankruptcy or +shutting down; because either contingency would deprive the unionist +of work and therefore of wages; because both employer and employee are +perpetually being chased round a vicious circle by the devil of +competition which, by keeping down prices and wages, keeps both in +danger of ruin and unemployment.</p> + +<p>The conclusion to which we are driven seems to be that the competitive +system has the same effect upon trade unions as upon the rest of the +industrial field—it sacrifices the many to the few. During these last +two years wages have not been appreciably reduced. The most efficient +have continued to receive the same wages as before. But the price paid +for this advantage has been the reduction of between five and twenty +millions of people to the verge of starvation, a large part of whom +must by the very necessity of things be driven to vagrancy and through +vagrancy to crime.<a name="FNanchor_99_99" id="FNanchor_99_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a></p> + +<p>What Socialism proposes is to maintain the principle of competition to +the extent necessary to assure most comfort to the most efficient +without exposing the rest to so awful an alternative as unemployment. +And I think it will be seen that the education of the workingman +through the organization, the order, the democracy of trade unions +will play no small part in making Socialism <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span>possible, and that it is +probably through the organization of trade unions that a true +democracy will eventually be attained.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>§ 4. <span class="sc">Trusts</span></h4> + +<p>Two pictures of trusts have already been borrowed in this book,<a name="FNanchor_100_100" id="FNanchor_100_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a> +one by Mr. Rockefeller, showing the economies they make, and the other +by Mr. Havemeyer, showing the dangers that attend them. Trade unions +start out to include all the men in the industry; this is their ideal; +and it has been shown how far short of it they fall. It is generally +supposed that trusts likewise seek to include all employers in the +industry, but this is a great mistake. Not only does the law forbid +this, but it would be a mistaken policy. A trust that included all the +industry would invite newcomers for blackmailing purposes if for no +other. The last and best policy of the promoter is to include only the +most prosperous and to leave around the trust a fringe of independents +too weak to affect prices but just strong enough to live as a warning +to others. A good collection of independent factories on the verge of +bankruptcy is the finest bulwark a trust can have, for they discourage +the starting of any more.</p> + +<p>How the trusts make prices and keep independents in their wake is well +illustrated by the following extract:<a name="FNanchor_101_101" id="FNanchor_101_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a> "The custom has regularly +been for some years for the Standard Oil Company to announce from day +to day the price which it would pay for crude petroleum and the price +at which it would sell refined petroleum. This price is generally +accepted as the market price, and competitors follow."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span>"Likewise, the American Sugar Refining Company first posts the prices +for the day, and is then followed by its competitors, who post theirs. +Generally they take the prices fixed by the American Sugar Refining +Company; but at times, if they have a little surplus stock on hand, or +if it is difficult for them to secure a customer, they will cut the +price perhaps one-sixteenth of a cent per pound. One or two of the +chief competitors seem to be forced to put their prices quite +frequently at one-sixteenth of a cent below that of the American Sugar +Refining Company. In spite of its control over the output it is said +by Mr. Post that the American Sugar Refining Company has not, in his +judgment, unduly restricted the output. It is probable, he thinks, +that had that company not been formed the competitive system would +have ruined many established refineries, so that as many would have +been closed as is now the case, and the output would have been fully +as small, probably even less. Practically all of the witnesses, both +members of the combination and their opponents, concede that while +there is a certain arbitrariness in fixing the prices it has been +exercised in most cases only within comparatively narrow limits, and +then, mainly to meet competition or stifle it."</p> + +<p>Trusts, therefore, do in one sense succeed where trade unions fail; +that is to say, they do succeed in getting all to join them that they +want; whereas the trade unions do not, the essential difference +between the two being that the trust is essentially monopolistic +whereas the trade union is essentially democratic. The one wants to +benefit a few at the expense of the many; the other wants to benefit +all at the expense of none. As the competitive system favors the +policy of the trust and disfavors that of the union, the trust +succeeds where the union fails.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span>No one would accuse the organizers of a union of seeking to benefit a +few at the expense of the many, and yet this under the competitive +system is not only what happens but what must happen. On the other +hand, no one imagines that the organizers of a trust have any other +intention: they deliberately set out to eliminate competitors for +their own benefit and they have succeeded in their task to an +altogether unexpected degree.</p> + +<p>It has been claimed, however, for the trusts that whatever may be the +private benefit of their stockholders, they do perform a great public +service.</p> + +<p>Among the public services they were supposed to render it was claimed +that they would pay good wages and furnish steady employment.<a name="FNanchor_102_102" id="FNanchor_102_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a> +Even the labor unions themselves were of this opinion. Their leaders +testified that they did not fear industrial combination and that if +combinations were able by virtue of their savings to increase the +profits of industry, workingmen would be able by pressure to "maintain +or increase their wages quite as readily as before the combinations +were made."<a name="FNanchor_103_103" id="FNanchor_103_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_103_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a> Another contention made for trusts was that they +would lower prices. With the view of maintaining this contention, the +trust magnates themselves testified to the enormous economies effected +by combination, for the purpose of persuading us that the consumers +would profit by these economies. Mr. Havemeyer was honest enough, +however, to admit that he would be guided in fixing the price only by +business considerations. But it was believed at that time that +business considerations would be sufficient to keep prices down and +the experience of the Whisky Trust was cited to prove that it was +impossible to maintain prices above a reasonable margin of profit.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>The Whisky Trust was organized in 1887 and after having lowered prices +for the purpose of eliminating competitors, it brought the prices up +to as high a level as had ever been reached before. The result of this +was that at the end of 1888 prices fell, owing to a reorganization of +the trust and to a subsequent raising of prices by the trust in 1891, +only to be followed by a corresponding fall in 1892. And so prices +went on reaching a very high level at the close of 1892, only to fall +back to a low level in 1893; and again to a high level in 1894, only +to go down so low in 1895 as to put the trust into the hands of a +receiver. By this time the Whisky Trust had learned its lesson; it +learned that if it endeavored to put the price of whisky up to an +undue height, new distilleries were started to profit by these high +prices, and the only way of avoiding bankruptcy was to maintain the +price just high enough to return profits to the trust, but not high +enough to encourage outside competition.</p> + +<p>Undoubtedly the opinion generally prevailed at the end of the last +century that increase in price by the trust was not to be feared. But +at that time trusts had not yet acquired the art of handling +independent competitors. To-day the art has been acquired. Owing to +the enormous capital they control and the enormous extent of territory +they cover, they are in a position so to reduce prices in any one spot +where competition becomes dangerous as to crush out the competitor in +that place. They adopted this method recklessly at first, crushing out +all competitors and then raising the price unduly. Now they have +learned to maintain a group of competitors about them and to keep +these competitors alive, keeping prices high so long as competition is +not dangerous and depressing them just enough to crush out competition +when it becomes dangerous.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span>The movement of prices since the end of last century is sufficient to +demonstrate that trusts, far from reducing prices, are advancing them.</p> + +<p>It must in all fairness to trusts be admitted that the enormous +increase in the annual output of gold tends to increase prices, and it +is extremely difficult to state just how much of the advance in price +since the end of last century is due to the increased output of gold, +and how much is due to deliberate advance on the part of the trusts. +We have, however, a guide in the relation between increase of wages +and increase of prices. If the advance in prices were due entirely to +increased output of gold, wages ought to increase in the same +proportion. But they do not.</p> + +<p>Of the opinion expressed at the end of the last century that trusts +would improve the condition of workingmen, there is very little left +to-day.</p> + +<p>From almost every point of view, trusts have since 1900 disappointed +expectations. It was claimed and with every show of reason that trusts +would, by their control of the market, be able to adjust supply to +demand and thus avoid the gluts that produce unemployment,<a name="FNanchor_104_104" id="FNanchor_104_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_104_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a> and +that although the economies they practised might result in the +shutting down of some factories and the discharge of employees, in the +end the workingmen would gain because their employment would be steady +and because trade unions would have only one employer to bargain with +instead of many.<a name="FNanchor_105_105" id="FNanchor_105_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_105_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span>How far has experience justified these anticipations?</p> + +<p>Far from diminishing unemployment, the reign of the trusts has +resulted in the most intense and widespread depression that we have +any record of.<a name="FNanchor_106_106" id="FNanchor_106_106"></a><a href="#Footnote_106_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a> Far from benefiting the unions, trusts have +crushed unions out of existence. Far from raising wages and shortening +hours, the employees of the Steel Trust in Pittsburg are to-day +working twelve hours at $1.80 a day, and once a fortnight twenty-four +hours in a single shift; whereas miners in the same district because +their union has not yet been crushed by the Coal Trust, are working +only eight hours at $2.36 a day.<a name="FNanchor_107_107" id="FNanchor_107_107"></a><a href="#Footnote_107_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a> And the Miners' Union has been +saved from the trust only by what is still regarded by many as the +improper personal intervention of President Roosevelt Oct. 31, 1902.</p> + +<p>The conditions of labor under trust rule cannot be better described +than in the Survey, an investigation published not by Socialists, nor +even by persons inclined towards Socialism, but by believers in and +upholders of the competitive system:<a name="FNanchor_108_108" id="FNanchor_108_108"></a><a href="#Footnote_108_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a></p> + +<p>"With this number, Charities and The Commons completes its +presentation of the findings of the Pittsburg Survey, as to conditions +of life and labor of the wage-earners of the American Steel district. +The gist of the situation, as we find it, is as follows:</p> + +<p>"I. An altogether incredible amount of overwork by everybody, reaching +its extreme in the twelve-hour <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span>shift for seven days in the week in +the steel mills and the railway switchyards.</p> + +<p>"II. Low wages for the great majority of the laborers employed by the +mills, not lower than other large cities, but low compared with the +prices—so low as to be inadequate to the maintenance of a normal +American standard of living; wages adjusted to the single man in the +lodging-house, not to the responsible head of a family.</p> + +<p>"III. Still lower wages for women, who receive for example in one of +the metal trades in which the proportion of women is great enough to +be menacing, one-half as much as unorganized men in the same shops and +one-third as much as the men in the union.</p> + +<p>"IV. An absentee capitalism, with bad effects strikingly analogous to +those of absentee landlordism, of which Pittsburg furnishes noteworthy +examples.</p> + +<p>"V. A continuous inflow of immigrants with low standards, attracted by +a wage which is high by the standards of Southeastern Europe, and +which yields a net pecuniary advantage because of abnormally low +expenditures for food and shelter; and inadequate provision for the +contingencies of sickness, accident, and death.</p> + +<p>"VI. The destruction of family life, not in any imaginary or mystical +sense, but by the demands of the day's work and by the very +demonstrable and material method of typhoid fever and industrial +accidents; both preventable, but costing in single years in Pittsburg +considerably more than a thousand lives, and irretrievably shattering +nearly as many homes.</p> + +<p>"VII. Archaic social institutions such as the aldermanic court, the +ward school district, the family garbage disposal, and the +unregenerate charitable institution, still surviving after the +conditions to which they were adapted have disappeared.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span>"VIII. The contrast—which does not become blurred by familiarity with +detail, but on the contrary becomes more vivid as the outlines are +filled in—the contrast between the prosperity on the one hand of the +most prosperous of all the communities of our western civilization, +with its vast natural resources, the generous fostering of government, +the human energy, the technical development, the gigantic tonnage of +the mines and mills, the enormous capital of which the bank balances +afford an indication; and, on the other hand, the neglect of life, of +health, of physical vigor, even of the industrial efficiency of the +individual. Certainly no community before in America or Europe has +ever had such a surplus, and never before has a great community +applied what it had so meagerly to the rational purposes of human +life. Not by gifts of libraries, galleries, technical schools, and +parks, but by the cessation of toil one day in seven, and sixteen +hours in the twenty-four, by the increase of wages, by the sparing of +lives, by the prevention of accidents, and by raising the standards of +domestic life, should the surplus come back to the people of the +community in which it is created."</p> + +<p>It would be unfair, however, to the trusts not to recognize that in +spite of the shameful conditions they create for the majority they do +benefit a minority to no small degree. The highly skilled are highly +paid; they are fairly safe from unemployment; they are also furnished +an opportunity of purchasing stock, of which this minority avails +itself. The effect of the trust system on the workingman is very much +like that of the trade union; both benefit the highly skilled and +highly efficient, but at the expense of all the rest.</p> + +<p>Now those who believe in the competitive system regard this as proper; +and that the highly skilled and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span>highly efficient should fare better +than the lazy and vicious is equally a part of the Socialist creed. +All that the Socialist asks is that the punishment for falling short +of the highest skill and the highest efficiency be <i>not so severe</i> as +that described by the Pittsburg Survey; and this not only in the +interest of the victim, but in that of the community of which he forms +an essential part. It is because Socialism proposes a plan for giving +to the efficient what their efficiency earns without committing the +inefficient to a life of degradation, that it is entitled to the +consideration of practical business men.</p> + +<p>The degradation of the majority is not the only evil that results from +the trusts. The rich are accustomed to look upon this evil as +necessary and, therefore, one that they cannot hope to do more than +mitigate by philanthropy. They seem unconscious of the goal to which +this evil is inevitably driving them; and it is to this goal that I +want above all to direct their attention.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4><i>(a) The Conflict Between the Trust and the Trade Union</i></h4> + +<p>It might seem as though the title for this section ought to be the +conflict between capital and labor rather than the conflict between +trusts and trade unions. This, however, is a mistake. So long as labor +and capital were disorganized, there was not much danger in the +conflict between the two. The employer was too strong and he had on +his side in case of disturbance, the police, the militia, and the law. +The moment, however, that labor became organized, it became too +powerful for the police; it became dangerous even to the militia; and +it has in England been strong enough to change the law; and this in +spite of the fact that the organization of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span>workingman in unions +has compelled the employers to combine in associations and trusts.</p> + +<p>Again, although all violence is injurious to individuals, the violence +to which unorganized workingmen resort in local disputes with their +employers, however injurious to local interests, tends to be +essentially temporary and does not tend to overthrow economic or +social institutions. The effect of organization, however, expresses +itself in the magnitude of the conflicts to which it gives rise; as +for example, the Homestead strike in 1892, the Pullman strike in 1894, +and what was practically equivalent to a civil war in Colorado during +1903.</p> + +<p>It is generally believed that violence is the peculiar weapon of the +workingman. This again is a mistake. Employers have often been the +first to have recourse to violence and under conditions which hardly +seem pardonable. That a striking employee should be enraged at seeing +his place taken by strikebreakers and should be driven by his rage to +violence, is easily understood; but that employers, merely for the +sake of keeping down wages and making more profit, should have +recourse to it seems altogether unjustifiable. It is a matter of +official record that the Carnegie Steel Company opened negotiations +with Robert A. Pinkerton for armed men nineteen days before any strike +occurred.<a name="FNanchor_109_109" id="FNanchor_109_109"></a><a href="#Footnote_109_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a> The report also says that there was "no evidence to +show that the slightest damage was done or was attempted to be done to +property on the part of the strikers,"<a name="FNanchor_110_110" id="FNanchor_110_110"></a><a href="#Footnote_110_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a> and so far as acts of +violence are concerned, a personal investigation of the Colorado +strike satisfied me that the Employers' Association was just as guilty +as the miners. An impartial account of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span>this struggle is to be found +in the <i>Political Science Quarterly</i><a name="FNanchor_111_111" id="FNanchor_111_111"></a><a href="#Footnote_111_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a> published by a board of +which J. Pierpont Morgan is a member, and which cannot be accused +therefore of tenderness to miners or leanings towards Socialism. It is +difficult to justify the action of the mine owners in removing Moyer, +Haywood, and Pettibone under the circumstances described by Judge +McKenna in his dissenting opinion.<a name="FNanchor_112_112" id="FNanchor_112_112"></a><a href="#Footnote_112_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a></p> + +<p>If the trust managers have deliberate recourse to violence and +questionable methods in their conflict with labor which involve merely +a question of more or less profit, is there not excuse for the +workingman who has at stake his very livelihood and that of his wife +and children?</p> + +<p>There are elements, however, in the coming conflict which to my mind +make it clear that notwithstanding the enormous advantages which +capital has over labor, it is labor and not capital that in the end +will triumph. To understand these elements it is indispensable to +consider the character of the advantages which the trusts have over +the trade unions, and the character of the advantages which the unions +have over the trusts.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4><i>(b) Advantages of Trusts over Unions</i></h4> + +<p>So far in America the conflict between trusts and unions has been +confined to the economic field, and in the economic field it must be +admitted that trusts have the advantage. In the first place, as has +already been intimated, the trusts have at stake merely a matter of +more or less profit. The trust can for the purpose of crushing the +union, sacrifice part of its profit without material <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span>damage. The +trust in this respect is in an infinitely better condition than the +isolated employer, for whom a strike very often means bankruptcy. This +is not the case with the trust. Its capital is too large and its +operations are conducted over too great an area for any strike to +threaten insolvency.<a name="FNanchor_113_113" id="FNanchor_113_113"></a><a href="#Footnote_113_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a></p> + +<p>Moreover, an isolated employer is far more at the mercy of the +employees than a trust, because a strike very often deprives him of +custom. The orders he cannot fill are filled elsewhere and he may +never recover the custom he has in this manner lost. The trust, +however, can allow a strike to take place in one factory without for +that reason failing to fill all its orders; for it can transfer them +to another of its numerous factories in another place. That this is +regularly done by the trust is a matter of common knowledge. The case +cited by the Industrial Commission<a name="FNanchor_114_114" id="FNanchor_114_114"></a><a href="#Footnote_114_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a> is that of the American +Smelting and Refining Company which "continued its business in the +districts where there was no strike, transferring the work as far as +possible."</p> + +<p>In America, at any rate, the trusts have also on their side not only +the police and the militia, but the law. The courts have decided that +in the case of strikes and boycotts the courts can by injunction +commit for contempt and punish by imprisonment those who violate their +orders. These questions have been carried to the highest court and all +further attempts on the part of labor to fight these questions in the +courts are practically certain to be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span>unavailing. The remedy of the +Federation of Labor is not to dispute these decisions in the courts, +but to secure new legislation reversing existing decisions on this +subject.</p> + +<p>The English unions have discovered this and, by the organization of +their Labor party, have wrested from the British Government the trades +dispute law which has settled these questions in their favor.</p> + +<p>So long as unions persist in fighting trusts exclusively on the +economic field and in the law courts, the unions seem bound to suffer +defeat.</p> + +<p>There is one weakness in the armor of the trusts to which attention +has not yet been sufficiently directed. Trusts suffer more from their +victories than from their defeats; for a defeat as to the length of +hours or rate of wages, while it strengthens labor a little, does not +weaken the trust much. But every victory of the trust is the greatest +calamity to which it seems at present exposed; for every victory tends +to shift the arena from the economic field, where the trust is +invincible, to the political field, where labor has every advantage. +This will become clear when we examine the advantages of unions over +trusts.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4><i>(c) Advantages of Unions over Trusts</i></h4> + +<p>The larger the number of workers in every industry, the weaker are +they on the economic field. It has been pointed out that unions tend +to divide labor. They not only separate the labor world into two +bitterly hostile classes—organized and unorganized—but by the high +rate of wages that they demand they tend also to create jealousy +within the trade union between the efficient who can earn these high +wages and the less efficient who cannot. If the working population +were so small that the demand <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span>for labor was greater than the supply, +then indeed the unions might control the situation. But experience has +shown that, without accepting the exaggerations of Malthus, there is +always a greater supply of labor than demand. Even in the most +prosperous times between 3 and 4 per cent of the trade unions are +unemployed and, outside the unions, there is a mass of unorganized +labor, a great part of which is either working for wages insufficient +to support life or is not working at all. These things inevitably +produce hostility between the prosperous and highly paid members of +the union and all the rest; and this hostility is a source of weakness +in the economic struggle of capital against labor. The unions, too, +instead of being able to apply their funds to maintain strikes, have +to apply a large part of these funds to the support of unemployed, +whether through sickness or through industrial depression.</p> + +<p>Upon the economic field, therefore, numbers tend to cripple the worker +in his fight against capital. On the political field, on the contrary, +the larger the number of workers, the stronger they are; for every +wage-earning man has his vote, and the vote of every wage-earner +counts as much as that of every capitalist. On the political field +there need be no division in the ranks of labor—organized and +unorganized labor can unite on a platform looking to the political +subjection of their common master. Indeed, if the trusts and employers +were to succeed in the task which they seem to have set +themselves—the destruction of every trade union—they would by so +doing put an end to the principal obstacle which now prevents +workingmen from uniting upon a common platform, for the suppression of +unions would mean two things: it would persuade the defeated unionists +that their only chance of successfully fighting capital was on <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span>the +political field; and it would put an end to the hostility between +organized and unorganized labor that is the principal obstacle at this +moment to united action of any kind. Moreover, the workingman could so +frame his political program as to secure the alliance of the whole +exploited class; the small farmer, the domestic, the clerk, and all +those who, out of interest or sympathy, find themselves arrayed +against the exploiting class.</p> + +<p>The discovery that the workingman is no match for his employer on the +economic field having already been made in England, the Labor party +there has no less than 40 members in Parliament, and this small +contingent has been strong enough to obtain the legislation above +referred to. It is the sense of inferiority on the economic field that +has organized the millions who are every year swelling the ranks of +the Socialist party in Europe.</p> + +<p>The shortsightedness of employers in failing to take account of this +fact has its humorous side. The employee was not very long ago +ignorant and incapable of organization—economic or political—and +without any vote on public affairs. It was only upon condition that he +should remain ignorant and incapable of political organization and +without any voice in public affairs that he could continue to suffer +the domination of his employer—such as is described in the Pittsburg +Survey. Yet the employer has given to every employee an equal vote +with himself in public affairs, so that to-day the employees outvote +the employers. Not content with this, and fearful lest the employee +should not be able adequately to use his vote, the employer has +covered the country with school-houses for the purpose of teaching the +employee how to use it. Yet employers proceed upon the assumption that +the intelligent, educated workingman of to-day, armed with a vote and +capable of the organization <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span>displayed in his unions, will continue to +endure such conditions as are described in the Pittsburg Survey as +patiently in the future as he has done in the past!</p> + +<p>So trusts continue complacently to crush out unions, oblivious of the +fact that every union crushed drives its members to Populism, +Socialism, Anarchism, pauperism, and crime.</p> + +<p>Of all the folds ready to receive the unfortunates driven out of their +unions by the trusts, which is the one least likely to prove dangerous +to the state? This question does not seem to concern the trusts at +all. They consider all these "isms" as equally vile, impractical, and +obnoxious. Yet, if they would only give to this matter one-half the +attention that they give to their business affairs, they could not +fail to see that every union they crush raises for them a crop of +political enemies who, if they show as much ability in political +organization as they have shown in economic organization—and there is +no reason why they should not—cannot but eventually secure a large +majority in our legislatures. When they have done this; when they have +the writing of a new constitution; when the police, the militia, the +army, and the law courts are on their side, is it not better that this +majority be intelligent and educated, as it might if Socialism were +rightly understood, and not uneducated and violent, as it will +certainly be if Socialism is not rightly understood? The conclusion to +which we seem to be driven is that, so long as labor struggles with +capital on the economic field through strikes, boycotts, and +litigation, it is bound to be beaten; but that every victory of +capital on the economic field shortens its reign; for it drives labor +to abandon the economic field, where it is weak, for the political +field, where it is strong; and that the evidence of constructive +ability and self-restraint exhibited by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span>labor in the organization and +administration of the unions, indicates that that same ability +exercised in the political field will make it invincible there:</p> + +<p class="cen">"We are many; they are few." +</p> + +<p>If this be so, then capital can no longer afford to disregard or +misrepresent the political aspirations of the army of labor. It may +indeed turn out in the words of the Cumæan Sybil:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i8">"Via prima salutis<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Quâ minime reris Graia pandetur ab urbe."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noin">Our way of safety may be—not in the defeat of labor—but in its +enlightenment.</p> + +<p>We have before us two alternatives: We can continue to fight labor; to +crush it; to create unemployment one day and wring our hands over it +the next; to arm labor, educate it, and force it to organize an army +of discontent that will eventually outvote capital and, with little or +no preparation for its task, seize the reins of government. Or we can +leave the fighting of labor to the trusts from which the whole public +suffers as well as the workingman, and ourselves join in a +reorganization of political forces that will make the legitimate +demands of the disinherited our own, and at last lay the foundations +of the Democracy that Lincoln through the smoke of the Civil War dimly +foresaw.</p> + +<br /> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +<br /> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> Since writing this I see that Jaurès makes exactly the +same observation in <i>Van Norden's Magazine</i>, August, 1909.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> The metronymic tribes were tribes in which there was +practically no paternal relation. The mother was the head of the +family and the offspring took her name. This condition of things +prevailed for some time in ancient Egypt.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> This is elaborated in "Government or Human Evolution," +Vol. II, p. 96.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> "Government or Human Evolution," Vol. II, p. 102.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> Translation, see Appendix p. 422.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> Article 414 of the French Penal Code and Law of 1799 of +the British Parliament.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> Book III, Chapter III.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> "Organized Labor." By John Mitchell, p. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> Ibid., p. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_87_87" id="Footnote_87_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> Report of the Industrial Commission, 1901, Vol. XVII, +page 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_88_88" id="Footnote_88_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> Bulletin of the Dept. of Labor, 1898, pp. 714-717.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_89_89" id="Footnote_89_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> Andrew Carnegie's article on the Steel Industry in the +Encyclopedia Americana, Vol. XIV.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_90_90" id="Footnote_90_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> Statistical Abstract, 1908, p. 445.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_91_91" id="Footnote_91_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> Report of the Industrial Commission, 1901, Vol. XVII, p. +1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_92_92" id="Footnote_92_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_92"><span class="label">[92]</span></a> Report of the Industrial Commission, 1901, Vol. XVII, p. +lii.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_93_93" id="Footnote_93_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_93"><span class="label">[93]</span></a> Ibid., p. liii, 1901.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_94_94" id="Footnote_94_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> "Organized Labor," Chapter XXX.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_95_95" id="Footnote_95_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> "Organized Labor," p. 240.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_96_96" id="Footnote_96_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> Ibid., p. 163.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_97_97" id="Footnote_97_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_97"><span class="label">[97]</span></a> "Organized Labor," p. 163.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_98_98" id="Footnote_98_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_98"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> "English Socialism of To-day," pp. 99-100.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_99_99" id="Footnote_99_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99_99"><span class="label">[99]</span></a> Letter of Police Commissioner Bingham, New York city, +N.Y. <i>Times</i>, Jan. 5, 1908. See Appendix, p. 423.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_100_100" id="Footnote_100_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100_100"><span class="label">[100]</span></a> Book II, Chapter III.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_101_101" id="Footnote_101_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101_101"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> Report of the Industrial Commission, 1901, Vol. I, p. +18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_102_102" id="Footnote_102_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102_102"><span class="label">[102]</span></a> Report of the Industrial Commission, 1901, Vol. I, p. +29.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_103_103" id="Footnote_103_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_103_103"><span class="label">[103]</span></a> Ibid., p. 31.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_104_104" id="Footnote_104_104"></a><a href="#FNanchor_104_104"><span class="label">[104]</span></a> "Most members of combinations feel that the tendency is +to make work more permanent under the combination form of doing +business, inasmuch as the combination is better able to adjust the +supply of goods to the demand, and thus to secure regularity in their +productive conditions." Report of the Industrial Commission, Vol. +XIII, p. xxxi.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_105_105" id="Footnote_105_105"></a><a href="#FNanchor_105_105"><span class="label">[105]</span></a> "Some of the witnesses are of the opinion that the +industrial combinations give to the labor unions a decided advantage, +inasmuch as it enable them to deal with the trade as a whole instead +of with separate manufacturers." Report of the Industrial Commission, +Vol. XIII, p. xxxii.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_106_106" id="Footnote_106_106"></a><a href="#FNanchor_106_106"><span class="label">[106]</span></a> Book II, Chapter I, Unemployment.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_107_107" id="Footnote_107_107"></a><a href="#FNanchor_107_107"><span class="label">[107]</span></a> Pittsburg Survey, Charities, XXI, p. 1063.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_108_108" id="Footnote_108_108"></a><a href="#FNanchor_108_108"><span class="label">[108]</span></a> Charities, XXI, p. 1035.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_109_109" id="Footnote_109_109"></a><a href="#FNanchor_109_109"><span class="label">[109]</span></a> Senate Reports, 52d Congress, 2d session, Vol. I, Rept. +No. 1280, p. xiv.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_110_110" id="Footnote_110_110"></a><a href="#FNanchor_110_110"><span class="label">[110]</span></a> Ibid., p. xiii.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_111_111" id="Footnote_111_111"></a><a href="#FNanchor_111_111"><span class="label">[111]</span></a> <i>Political Science Quarterly</i>, March, 1908.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_112_112" id="Footnote_112_112"></a><a href="#FNanchor_112_112"><span class="label">[112]</span></a> See Appendix, p. 424.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_113_113" id="Footnote_113_113"></a><a href="#FNanchor_113_113"><span class="label">[113]</span></a> Many workingmen still believe in the possibility of +strikes and even of a general strike. I do not take account of such +strikes, because they have not yet occurred and labor does not seem +organized upon a sufficiently comprehensive scale to make such strikes +possible.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_114_114" id="Footnote_114_114"></a><a href="#FNanchor_114_114"><span class="label">[114]</span></a> Report of the Industrial Commission, Vol. XIII, p. +xxxi.</p></div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="BK_II_CHAPTER_VI" id="BK_II_CHAPTER_VI"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER VI<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>MONEY</h3> +<br /> + +<p>No attempt will be made in this chapter to enter upon the disputed +questions regarding money, but only to point out undenied and +undeniable facts in connection with its use and abuse.</p> + +<p>Coin, whether gold or silver, is used all over the world as the medium +of exchange. But gold and silver available for the purpose of coin are +limited in amount and totally inadequate to serve as mediums of +exchange without the assistance of other devices. Thus banks of issue +are organized for the purpose of issuing paper money. This money is +upon its face redeemable in coin, but banks of issue, relying upon the +probability that all paper issued will not be redeemed on the same +day, issue far more paper money than they have reserve in coin. In +England, this reserve is notably small.</p> + +<p>Business, too, is conducted largely on credit; that is to say, the +trader buys goods not with coin, but with notes or promises to pay +gold, relying upon the probability that he will sell the goods before +his notes come due and thus be able to meet his notes with the +proceeds derived from the sale of the goods purchased with these +notes.</p> + +<p>Industries, railroad companies, and transportation companies also use +credit for the purpose of building and running their roads and +factories. This credit takes the shape of permanent bonds and +temporary <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>accommodations of the same character as the notes used by +private traders. The total number of bonds outstanding at par amount +to-day in the United States alone to $13,500,000,000.<a name="FNanchor_115_115" id="FNanchor_115_115"></a><a href="#Footnote_115_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a> It is +through the ability of railroad companies to issue bonds and credit +notes that they are enabled in prosperous periods to extend their +roads and factories.</p> + +<p>Farmers also borrow largely upon their farms for the purchase of +implements, live stock, improvements, etc. Recent figures of bonded +indebtedness are not to be obtained; but they figure in the billions.</p> + +<p>Again, cash payments are no longer made in coin; they are for the most +part made by check. Checks are not paid in coin; they are cleared +through clearing houses; the banks in every financial center belong to +a clearing house through which they daily settle with one another, +paying only differences of accounts in cash. Thus, in 1906, the total +transactions of fifty-five banks in New York city amounted to over +$103,000,000,000; yet the balances paid in money during the year only +amounted to about $3,000,000,000—a proportion of 3.69. So that +through the clearing-house system instead of exchanging gold to an +amount of $103,000,000,000 the whole business was transacted with only +3.69 per cent thereof in coin.</p> + +<p>The above figures tend to show how small a relation is borne by coin +to the total exchanges of the world. Indeed, although coin is still +the ultimate medium of exchange, commercial and industrial +transactions are conducted for the most part through an enormous +system of credit built upon a comparatively small amount of coin.</p> + +<p>The importance of this is considerable, for it puts those who have +coin and those who handle coin in a position <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span>which enables them to +control the industrial and commercial activities of the Nation. This +feature of our money system occasions what are called "financial +crises" as distinguished from commercial crises. Commercial crises and +industrial crises are due to overproduction. Financial crises are +produced for the most part by a breaking down of credit.</p> + +<p>Credit may be broken down in many ways. A breakdown may be due to +inability on the part of those who handle coin to meet their +obligations in coin. It may, however, be due to the unwillingness of +those who have and handle money to put this money at the disposal of +the industrial public. It is sometimes occasioned by both.</p> + +<p>Money is indispensable to the working of the industrial system. It may +be regarded as the blood of the industrial system because no farmer +can operate his farm, no factory owner his factory, no railroad +company its road without money or the equivalent of money—credit. And +if money can be compared with the blood in the human body, the banking +system must be regarded as its heart; the organ that keeps money in +circulation, accommodates circulation to the needs of the body, +furnishes the economic body with as much as at periods of exercise it +needs; and moderates its circulation when at periods of repose the +economic body is less in need of it. It is hardly necessary to point +out the extreme importance under these conditions that the heart of +this system act for the benefit of the system, and have at no time an +interest of its own to act independently of the system or in a manner +hostile to it. Now this is exactly the evil of existing monetary +conditions. Those who have and handle money have an interest of their +own to serve. While it is generally to their interest to use money in +making the community prosperous, it is at certain critical periods to +their interest <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span>on the contrary to withhold money. This is the point +upon which emphasis must be put. Let us, with a view to understanding +this, consider into how few hands the control of coin tends to be +concentrated; and how easy it is for these few to serve their own +interests at the expense of the public by withholding coin at moments +of utmost need.</p> + +<p>A very brief study of the movements of coin in the United States will +demonstrate the very few hands in which the control of coin in the +country is vested:</p> + +<p>Every trust, every corporation, every railroad company makes payments to +its stockholders at stated intervals consisting of dividends on stock +and interest on bonds. These amounts are large. In 1905 dividends +amounted to $840,018,022, and interest to $636,287,621—together a +billion and a half.<a name="FNanchor_116_116" id="FNanchor_116_116"></a><a href="#Footnote_116_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a> Most of this is paid in New York and produces a +regular flow of money from the great corporations to the New York banks.</p> + +<p>The great life insurance companies have their principal offices in New +York and there flow daily into the coffers of these companies millions +of dollars of premiums, amounting in the year to nearly half a billion +($492,676,987 in 1908). During the last half century, 1859-1908, the +income from premiums reached the enormous total of $7,870,892,759.<a name="FNanchor_117_117" id="FNanchor_117_117"></a><a href="#Footnote_117_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a> +All these go into the hands of New York banks and trust companies.</p> + +<p>These moneys are, in the ordinary course of business, returned to the +industrial public in the shape of accommodations to banks, loans to +farmers, factories, railroad companies, etc.; and if these enormous +sums that go into the hands of the Wall Street Group are not returned +to the industrial system, the industrial system must <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span>perish just as +the body must perish if its vital functions are not furnished with +blood. But as has been stated, it is to the interest of the Group to +keep the industrial system prosperous and, therefore, in prosperous +times this amount gets back to the country again, the Group receiving +a profit on taking in these moneys and on the paying out of them. One +thing, however, is certain—that the Group can by withholding money +make money scarce. It can by releasing money make it plentiful. The +power given to the Group by this order of things is incalculable. If +the Group desires to issue securities, it has an interest in making +money plentiful. If the Group desires to purchase securities cheaply, +it has an interest in making money scarce. The Group is therefore in a +position where it can serve its own interests whatever be the +direction these interests take.</p> + +<p>A banker once described to me the situation as follows:</p> + +<p>"The bulk of business is conducted with credit. An enormous credit +system is built upon a relatively small amount of gold. The bankers +control the gold; by controlling the gold they control credit; by +controlling credit they control business.</p> + +<p>"This credit and gold system can be compared to an enormous system of +reservoirs and irrigation works, the sluices of which are all opened +and closed by electricity. It takes a very minute amount of +electricity to open and close the sluices; but the man who has control +of that small amount of electricity has the whole irrigation system at +his mercy. By pressing a button he can furnish water to one region and +take it away from another; and if water has been largely used—as in +the case of overinvestment—he can, by withholding water altogether, +put the whole population of the land irrigated by the system on its +knees."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span>Let us select as a concrete illustration of the workings of this +system the events of 1907:</p> + +<p>The year prior to the October panic of 1907 was the most prosperous +year the country had ever seen. The balance of trade in our favor was +$446,000,000<a name="FNanchor_118_118" id="FNanchor_118_118"></a><a href="#Footnote_118_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a>; that is to say, Europe owed us $446,000,000 on the +year's transactions; the value of our crop exceeded that of the +previous year by over $480,000,000; the net earnings of our railroads +exceeded those of the previous year by over $260,000,000; the deposits +in our banks exceeded those of the previous year by over $880,000,000; +the cash held by our banks exceeded that held in the previous year by +over $100,000,000; and the Treasury of the United States was bulging +with ingots of gold. Nevertheless, the bankers knew that there had +been overinvestment. In fifteen years the banks had invested in stocks +and bonds no less than $437,000,000. In three years the trust +companies had invested no less than $643,000,000 in these +securities.<a name="FNanchor_119_119" id="FNanchor_119_119"></a><a href="#Footnote_119_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a></p> + +<p>Moreover, immense sums had been loaned by trust companies and cash +reserves had fallen from nearly 18 per cent in 1897 to a little over +11 per cent in 1907.<a name="FNanchor_120_120" id="FNanchor_120_120"></a><a href="#Footnote_120_120" class="fnanchor">[120]</a> The Wall Street Group knew that there had +been overinvestment. As one of them said, "We are being overwhelmed by +our own prosperity." The breeze was blowing too strong and we were +carrying too much sail. The Wall Street Group, however, knowing that a +crisis was at hand and determined to realize the fullest possible +price for stocks, began selling securities in January, 1907, giving +rise to what has been termed "the rich man's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span>panic," which climaxed +in March.<a name="FNanchor_121_121" id="FNanchor_121_121"></a><a href="#Footnote_121_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a> Securities fell in consequence of this selling on an +average of about 40 points. This tended to cripple all weak financial +institutions which were no longer able to sell securities with a view +to meeting obligations except at a loss. But this weakness did not +express itself until October.</p> + +<p>The first to suffer was the brokerage firm of Otto Heinze & Company, +well-known speculators, particularly in copper stocks. The next to +fall were Charles W. Morse and E.R. Thomas, also speculators and +directors of the Mercantile National Bank, and others. All banks +controlled by these men at once showed weakness. But the panic did not +reach its climax until the Knickerbocker Trust Company became +involved. To understand the situation of the Knickerbocker Trust +Company, a word must be said regarding trust companies and their +relations to banks.</p> + +<p>Banks in the city of New York are required by law to keep a reserve of +15 per cent of their deposits in coin. Trust companies, not being +subject to the banking law in this respect, are not called upon to +maintain this reserve. They have, therefore, an advantage over banks +because they can invest the whole of their deposits instead of keeping +a part of them uninvested in coin. The natural hostility that would +arise between trust companies and banks owing to this difference was +eliminated in almost every case because trust companies were +controlled by the banks. The Knickerbocker Trust Company, however, +formed a notable exception to this rule.</p> + +<p>Owing to the genius of its President, Charles T. Barney, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span>the +Knickerbocker Trust Company had increased its deposits to over eighty +millions in 1907. Mr. Barney did not belong to the Wall Street Group +in the sense of the word that he acted independently of it, and his +extraordinary enterprise and ability aroused the jealousy of the +Group. In 1907, the institution having 8,000 depositors with total +deposits of $80,000,000, became an independent power which was not to +be tolerated by the Group. Under these conditions, it could not be +expected that the Group would make any extraordinary effort to save +the Knickerbocker Trust Company. It was to the interest of the Group +that the Knickerbocker Trust Company should cease to remain an +independent financial power.</p> + +<p>Everybody knew that the Knickerbocker Trust Company, though +temporarily embarrassed, was perfectly sound. The receivers, appointed +when its doors closed, so stated and subsequent events have proved +that the receivers were right. No one doubts the ability of the Group +to save the Knickerbocker Trust Company if it had chosen to do so. But +the Group had in its hands an instrument by means of which the ruin of +Mr. Barney could be effected: The clearing house has never admitted +trust companies to membership, because trust companies were not under +the obligation to maintain the 15 per cent reserve above referred to. +This matter had come up frequently for discussion and the clearing +house had insisted that all trust companies applying for membership to +the clearing house should keep a reserve at of least 10 per cent. This +the trust companies declined to do; but they nevertheless profited by +the clearing-house system by employing banks that were members of the +Clearing House Association to do their clearing for them—a dangerous +situation that proved the ruin of Mr. Barney. The Bank of Commerce was +the clearing-house <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span>agent of the Knickerbocker Trust Company; and the +Bank of Commerce was controlled by the Wall Street Group. Under these +conditions, the Knickerbocker Trust Company was at the mercy of the +Wall Street Group.</p> + +<p>The Bank of Commerce publicly announced its refusal to clear any +longer for the Knickerbocker Trust Company on the 21st of +October.<a name="FNanchor_122_122" id="FNanchor_122_122"></a><a href="#Footnote_122_122" class="fnanchor">[122]</a> Mr. Charles T. Barney was told that no help would be +given to the Knickerbocker Trust Company unless he resigned. +Understanding this to mean that help would be given if he did resign, +he resigned; but help was withheld; the Knickerbocker Trust Company +was allowed to go into the hands of receivers, and Mr. Barney +committed suicide.</p> + +<p>Mr. Barney's corporation was not the only one upon which the Group had +its eye. The Group is interested in the General Electric Company, the +largest electrical company in America. The only serious rival of the +General Electric Company in the country is the Westinghouse Company. +Westinghouse was doing a larger business than he had capital for. "He +was overwhelmed by his own prosperity." All Westinghouse needed at +that time was money in order to protect his business. This money was +refused to him.</p> + +<p>The Group is also interested in the railroads of the country and +indeed controls them. It is one of the bad features of our railroad +system that it almost everywhere controls steamship lines and thus +prevents the public from having the benefit of cheaper water rates by +exacting the same rates on steamboats as upon land. Morse with the +supposed backing of the Knickerbocker Trust had organized a system of +steamship companies which were running independently of the railroads +and threatening their monopoly of freight rates. It was necessary +that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span>these steamship lines should be controlled by the various +railroad systems with which these lines competed, and Morse's +steamship company was forced into the hands of a receiver.</p> + +<p>But there was another corporation of still more importance to the +Group—the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company.</p> + +<p>The Steel Trust had never been able to purchase this company, and this +company was in a measure indispensable to them. The Tennessee Coal and +Iron Company had the extraordinary advantage of owning inter-bedded +coal and iron; that is to say, coal and iron in the same spot. It was +thus relieved of the necessity of transporting coal several hundred +miles to iron ore or iron ore several hundred miles to coal. This +enabled the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company to fix a price for steel +independently of the Steel Trust.</p> + +<p>As has been explained, although trusts seek to have weak independent +concerns in existence if only to prevent strong independent concerns +from being organized, they cannot afford to have an independent +concern competing with them which is able to fix prices lower than +their own. For this reason, the Wall Street Group availed itself of +the panic to get control of the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company.</p> + +<p>Upon the testimony of Oakleigh Thorne, President of the Trust Company +of America, and George W. Perkins of the firm of J.P. Morgan & +Company, who is a member of the Finance Board of the United States +Steel Corporation, before the Senate Committee on January 19, +1909,<a name="FNanchor_123_123" id="FNanchor_123_123"></a><a href="#Footnote_123_123" class="fnanchor">[123]</a> it appears that a syndicate had been organized for the +purpose of acquiring the stock of the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company. +Mr. Oakleigh Thorne was a member <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span>of this syndicate, and the Trust +Company of America, of which he was president, had loaned on November +1, 1907, $482,700 to this syndicate against the stock of the Tennessee +Coal and Iron Company as collateral. It seems that the Trust Company +called this loan and that although the stock of the Tennessee Coal and +Iron Company was a dividend-paying stock and quoted at 119, the +syndicate found it impossible to borrow money upon it. The only +condition upon which they could borrow money was selling out to the +Steel Trust.</p> + +<p>The Steel Trust gave in exchange for the Tennessee Coal and Iron +Company stock at 119 its own second mortgage bonds, quoted on the +market at that time at 82, and as soon as this exchange was effected +the syndicate was furnished with all the money it needed. Wall Street +loaned to the syndicate against steel second mortgage bonds the +amounts which had previously been refused upon the Tennessee Coal and +Iron Company stock. In other words, the Wall Street Group by refusing +to loan money to the syndicate against the Tennessee Coal and Iron +Company stock, compelled the syndicate to sell this stock to the Steel +Trust by agreeing to loan to the syndicate against Steel Trust second +mortgage bonds at 82 what they refused to loan to the same syndicate +on Tennessee Coal and Iron Company stock at 119.</p> + +<p>The New York <i>Times</i> says on this subject:<a name="FNanchor_124_124" id="FNanchor_124_124"></a><a href="#Footnote_124_124" class="fnanchor">[124]</a></p> + +<p>"What inquiring Senators want to know is, How was it possible for a +small group of bankers to get together and, merely by agreement, force +out one security by giving preference to another less valuable? This +power is regarded as highly dangerous to all classes of securities, +placing them entirely at the mercy of the Wall Street Group."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span>The power of the Wall Street Group to which the <i>Times</i> objects is in +times of panic reinforced by no less a power than the United States +Government. The United States differs from other countries in not +having a government bank for receiving government deposits and +distributing them in the ordinary course of banking business. The +result is that the receipts of the government accumulate in the United +States Treasury, and this tends to increase stringency in periods of +panic. It has become, therefore, a rule of the government to step in +on such occasions and deposit with its national banks a sufficient +amount to relieve stringency. It will be readily seen that this +intervention of the Secretary of the Treasury, while indispensable to +the public welfare, constitutes a great resource to the Wall Street +Group. For the Group can, by withholding cash at periods of +stringency, practically compel the government to come to the relief of +the market when, for purposes of its own the Group decides to withhold +funds. And as the Group includes the best-informed persons regarding +the finances of the country, it is to the Group that the Secretary of +the Treasury naturally goes for advice on these occasions. The Wall +Street Group therefore occupies a position which permits it to call +upon the government for funds when it desires to hoard its own funds +for its own purposes.</p> + +<p>Thus we find Secretary Cortelyou in daily conference with the Wall +Street Group at this period; and after the Knickerbocker Trust Company +closed its doors on the 22d of October and receivers had been +appointed for the three Westinghouse firms on the 23d, Secretary +Cortelyou deposited $25,000,000 in the New York banks indicated by the +Group. This was just sufficient to prevent ruin but not sufficient to +relieve stringency. On November <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span>4th, Judge Gary and Mr. Frick went to +see the President and explained to him that the purchase of the +Tennessee Coal and Iron Company stock by the Steel Trust was necessary +"in order to stop the panic."<a name="FNanchor_125_125" id="FNanchor_125_125"></a><a href="#Footnote_125_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a> The President on the same day wrote +a letter to the Attorney-General, subsequently communicated to the +Senate, in which he explained that in view of the fact that such a +purchase would tend "to stop the panic" and that it would not give the +Steel Trust more than 60 per cent. of the Steel industry, he did "not +feel it a public duty to interpose any objection."</p> + +<p>The purchase of the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company having been +effected, the United States Government was once more called upon by +the Group and on November 17, the President and Secretary Cortelyou +announced the issue of 2 per cent Panama bonds for an amount of +$50,000,000, and 3 per cent on certificate indebtedness to an amount +of $100,000,000. By this time, however, the Group had decided that +there was no necessity to maintain panic conditions, and the issue of +these bonds was arrested, so that only one-half of the Panama bonds +and only $15,000,000 of the Treasury certificates were allotted.</p> + +<p>It has been intimated that the Wall Street Group during the whole of +this panic was in possession of funds which it purposely withheld. +This intimation seems justified by the events which immediately +followed the purchase of the Tennessee Coal and Iron stock by the +Steel Trust. In November newspapers informed us that our bankers were +engaged in "buying gold" in Europe, and during November no less than +$63,000,000 were imported and in December a further $44,000,000 were +imported; together—over $100,000,000. It is a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span>somewhat singular +thing that the public does not seem to have asked for information as +to what was meant by this singular expression "buying gold."</p> + +<p>The machinery through which gold was brought over to America in +November and December was the following: Our farmers had already +produced crops and sold them to Europe; the 1907 cotton crop began to +move in August—a large part of it was in Europe before the panic. Our +wheat crop, though late, was already partly in Europe and on its way +there. Those who had produced and sold these crops had drawn against +their shipments. These drafts are called "cotton bills"—"wheat +bills." Certain bankers with connections abroad make it their special +business to buy these bills and present them for payment in Europe at +a minute profit called "exchange." But these bankers could not, during +the panic, borrow money as usual to buy these bills; and they did not +dare to use the money of their depositors for this purpose when they +were under imminent danger of a run. So these bills became a drug on +the market; they could be got for four cents in the pound cheaper than +in average years; and at this price, and at an exceptional profit, the +Wall Street Group went into the market and bought them up, presented +them for payment and got all the money from Europe that was wanted. +This is the process that was called "buying gold." But <i>who had gold +with which to buy these bills? Who had been hoarding gold?</i></p> + +<p>What do these facts disclose? They disclose that at the time when the +Wall Street Group refused help to the Knickerbocker Trust it had at +its disposal the gold in the United States Treasury—did not Cortelyou +actually put this gold at its disposal?—the credit of the United +States Government—did not Cortelyou at its bidding <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span>issue all the +bonds he was told to issue?—and enough money of its own at the proper +moment to purchase cotton and wheat bills at panic prices, so that +every ship that in November and December sailed from Europe to New +York came laden with gold?</p> + +<p>No one can, I think, deny the power of the Group after a fair +consideration of these incidents. Let us see how this power was +exercised as regards the city of New York.</p> + +<p>The Comptroller in a report published in November, 1907 (pages 5 and +6) showed that the city had not only voted, but appropriated over +$195,000,000 for, public works, much of which was urgently needed by +the city and some of which ought to have been completed four years +before. Yet this city of four million inhabitants, whose property is +underassessed at $7,000,000,000, was not able to employ its thousands +of unemployed at this urgently needed public work because, as +Comptroller Metz stated at a crowded meeting, Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan +would not give the money to do it with, <i>and the city could get it +from no one else</i>.<a name="FNanchor_126_126" id="FNanchor_126_126"></a><a href="#Footnote_126_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a></p> + +<p>Morgan allowed the city in October to issue $30,000,000 of its bonds +at 6 per cent, but refused to permit any further issue until the last +day of January. On January 29th, according to the New York <i>Sun</i>,<a name="FNanchor_127_127" id="FNanchor_127_127"></a><a href="#Footnote_127_127" class="fnanchor">[127]</a> +Mr. Morgan relented, and the Mayor of the city, the Comptroller, the +Deputy Comptroller, the Corporation Counsel, and the City Chamberlain +were summoned to Mr. Morgan's library. There at last the imperial +consent was given; the richest city in America was allowed by Mr. +Morgan to issue its own bonds, but not in an amount large enough to +permit of any public works. So the unemployed were left to tramp +sleeplessly through our streets.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span>The Wall Street Group found another important element of profit in the +fall of securities during the panic. It has been said that securities +fell on an average 40 points when the Group sold securities between +January and March, 1907. Mr. James H. Brookmire estimates that they +fell another 16 points during the panic. The Group seemed informed as +to the exact moment at which securities had reached the bottom price; +that is, they knew the moment when the panic was intended to come to +an end. I was fortunate enough to be informed by a member of the Group +at the right moment. I purchased Northern Pacific stock upon the +advice given and, in the course of the year, made 50 per cent profit +thereupon. The Group that sold between January and March, 1907, was in +a position to buy back stock at less than one-half what they sold it +for and, if they chose to realize at the present time, it would make +an additional 50 per cent. In other words, it was in a position to +make over 100 per cent upon the whole transaction. When we keep in +mind the enormous figures which the operations of the Group attain, +the amount of profit realized upon this amount alone can be imagined.</p> + +<p>I do not wish to be understood as pretending that the facts marshalled +in the foregoing pages constitute conclusive proofs that the Group +either made money by the panic, or withheld cash and credit for the +purpose of making money. It is possible that the sales of stock +between January and March and the repurchase of stock in November were +effected solely with a view to the public welfare; it is possible that +the Knickerbocker Trust Company was allowed to go to the wall solely +through error in judgment; it is possible that the Steel Trust +reluctantly purchased the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company as Messrs. +Gary and Frick explained to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span>President—solely for the purpose of +"stopping the panic." But practical business men are not accustomed to +concluding in this fashion. When the keenest appetites of humanity are +whetted to the utmost and opportunities are extended for the +satisfaction of these appetites, we generally conclude that these +opportunities are not refused through pure asceticism; at least not by +the Wall Street Group.</p> + +<p>When Mrs. Forrest brought action against her husband, Edwin Forrest, +the actor, it was proved that the defendant had been seen visiting a +house of ill fame; after he entered, a third story front room was lit; +the room remained lit for about an hour; the light was extinguished at +the end of this period, and a few moments thereafter Mr. Forrest was +seen leaving the house. His counsel maintained that this was not +conclusive evidence against him; that his profession obliged him to +study human nature in every rank of life at close quarters, and that +it had not been proved that he visited this house for any other +purpose. Charles O'Conor in responding to this part of the defendant's +argument, said: "I can see the defendant walking up the steps of this +house of ill fame; I can see him enter and ushered into a room full of +human nature exclusively of the female sex ready and willing to be +studied at close quarters; I can see him select the one which he +believed to be able to furnish the best opportunities for this +purpose; I can see the two mount the stairs to the third story front +and light the gas; and I can see them together there devote an hour to +meditation and prayer." The jury was satisfied with the evidence and +rendered a verdict for divorce in favor of Mrs. Forrest.</p> + +<p>Whatever be the opinion, however, as to whether or not the Wall Street +Group withheld funds to effect its <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span>purpose during the panic; or +whether it made money out of the panic, one thing is perfectly +certain—it was in a position where it could have withheld money; it +was in a position where it could have made money out of the panic. The +question the community has to decide is whether it is willing to leave +this power and this temptation to any group of bankers—either to the +saints now in control of Wall Street, or possibly to their less worthy +successors.</p> + +<p>In one of the standard English works on Money,<a name="FNanchor_128_128" id="FNanchor_128_128"></a><a href="#Footnote_128_128" class="fnanchor">[128]</a> George Clare +points out the exorbitant power of the Secretary of our Treasury:</p> + +<p>"The New York Market is in fact at the mercy of an autocrat who, +having full power to loose or bind large masses of currency at his +absolute discretion, decides for himself whether and when money shall +be cheap, and whether and when it shall be dear."</p> + +<p>This autocratic power is to-day at the disposal of the Wall Street +Group—not owing to any improper influence of the Group; not through +any improper conduct of the Treasury; but as a necessary result of +existing conditions. And if Mr. Clare is right in criticising the +wisdom of granting to the Treasury the autocratic power it now enjoys, +how much more dangerous is it to grant this autocratic power not to an +official who can be removed, but to a group of financiers who cannot +be removed? For the power exerted by the Wall Street Group includes +not only all the resources of the Treasury, but all the resources of +the entire country. It holds the life blood of our economic system in +its hands and, because it controls this life blood, it controls +politics, education, morals, and religion. And this group of men was +not elected <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span>to the position it now enjoys by the majority of our +citizens; it has usurped the position by virtue of its control over +silver and gold.</p> + +<p>The fact, however, that the use of silver and gold as our sole medium +of exchange gives men control of the most essential things in our +life, whom we never elected to that office and who at critical times +have a personal interest to serve in opposition to that of the public +welfare, is not the only evil connected with their use:</p> + +<p>Silver and gold do not furnish us with constant standards of values. +At various periods in the history of our civilization, gold and silver +have been discovered in enormous quantities, and the effect of the +discoveries and the putting of the gold and silver on the market has +been and must be of a character to seriously affect the interests of +all. When the amount of gold and silver in circulation is increased, +prices go up, but wages do not correspondingly rise; and the +wage-earner is unconsciously robbed. He goes on receiving the same +amount in gold or silver for his work, but the purchasing power of the +wage he receives diminishes. Again, when contraction takes place, as +for example when silver was demonetized in 1893, a great wrong was +done to the farmers who had borrowed money upon their farms; for by +demonetizing silver, gold increased correspondingly in value and the +farmer was called upon to pay his mortgages with money worth far more +than it was prior to the demonetization of silver.</p> + +<p>One thing, however, we want to bear in mind, that although farmers +suffer by the demonetization of silver and wage-earners suffer by the +demonetization of silver, and no change in the amount of silver and +gold used as currency takes place without somebody suffering, the +financiers and all those who handle money are in a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span>position so to +conduct their affairs as to profit by these changes. Meanwhile the +rest of the community are in such a position that they have not the +knowledge and even if they had the knowledge, would probably not have +the ability, to do anything but lose by them.</p> + +<p>The average citizen has no knowledge on these subjects whatever, and +is therefore at the mercy of financial heretics. He was misled by the +greenback craze in the 80's, by the silver craze in the 90's, and is +subject to further delusions so long as coin remains the medium of +exchange and coin is controlled by a few individuals whose only +interest in it is to make out of it the largest fortune possible.</p> + +<p>It must not be imagined that an attempt has been made to furnish +anything like an exhaustive account of the opportunities which +financiers have for profiting at the expense of the public. To do so +would require a volume as large as this one devoted entirely to this +subject.</p> + +<p>For example, at this very time of writing,<a name="FNanchor_129_129" id="FNanchor_129_129"></a><a href="#Footnote_129_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a> the papers inform us +that Mr. Morgan is hurrying back from Europe to settle the question +whether a dividend is to be paid on the common stock of the United +States Steel Company. It is known that Mr. Morgan received a very +large block of this stock as his compensation for promoting the trust. +If he still has enough of this stock to make the payment of a dividend +of importance to him, or if he wants to sell at a high price, he will +be naturally influenced by this motive to declare a dividend. If, on +the other hand, he who best of all knows how prosperous the Company +is, desires to purchase more of this stock at a low price, he will be +tempted not to declare a dividend. The stock will fall and he will be +able to make a large profit by purchasing.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span>In this manner directors are always able, if they choose, to make +money on the declaration of doubtful dividends; and this can be done +without its being possible to impute any blame to them, for a +declaration of a dividend is always a matter of judgment. It is wise +to put aside a certain part of the profits as a reserve to meet hard +times, and just how much shall be put aside as a reserve and how much +shall be paid out for dividends are matters on which it is very +difficult for the best-intentioned men to agree. The directors, +however, who control the company can make up their minds beforehand +whether they will declare a dividend or not. If they propose to pass a +dividend, they can sell as much as the market permits and buy back +later at reduced prices. If they decide to declare a dividend, they +can buy as much as the market permits and sell later at advanced +prices.</p> + +<p>Again, there seems to be no standard of morality amongst bankers as +regards the profits they make. In the ordinary walks of life, a man is +expected to be able to explain what the services are for which he +receives any considerable sum of money. This, however, does not seem +to be the case with bankers. In 1893, the United States Congress +appointed a committee to investigate the rumor that over a million +dollars had been remitted to J.P. Morgan & Company, Winslow Lanier & +Company and J. & W. Seligman for the purpose of corrupting Congress. +Messrs. Morgan, Lanier and Seligman were obliged to admit that a sum +of $1,200,000 had been divided among them, "apparently for the use of +their names and for nothing else." When asked if it had been remitted +for the purpose of corrupting Congress, they denied it; when asked if +they were still in possession of this sum, they admitted they were; +when asked what the services were for which they had received this +sum, they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>naïvely stated that they did not know.<a name="FNanchor_130_130" id="FNanchor_130_130"></a><a href="#Footnote_130_130" class="fnanchor">[130]</a> Such an +admission made by a lawyer would be ground for having him disbarred.</p> + +<p>The very moral or immoral attitude that permits of bankers receiving +enormous sums of money without being able to explain why these moneys +were paid to them, pervades the whole financial atmosphere.</p> + +<p>The directors of our large corporations corrupt our legislatures; they +endow universities and pervert our education; they support the +churches and prevent them from preaching the doctrines of Christ; they +determine elections so as to secure legislators whom they can control. +They are masters, not only of our whole system of production and +distribution, but of our government and our laws. And this democracy +which in theory is a government of the people, by the people, and for +the people, turns out to be a government of the people, by financiers, +for financiers.</p> + +<p>Nor does it seem possible to put an end to this condition of things so +long as our system of production and distribution is competitive; for +gold and silver have proved to be altogether the best mediums of +exchange, and some medium of exchange we must have in order to carry +on trade so long as that trade is left to individual initiative as at +present.</p> + +<p>The whole community pays tribute to those who have gold and silver and +those who handle it, and these last have a personal interest contrary +to the interest of the public at moments of the greatest emergency. +Competitive conditions have subjected the whole currency of the +country to the control of a few men who thereby are masters of our +commerce, our manufactures, our exports, our politics, our religion. +In view of the fact <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span>that this small group practically governs the +country in matters of legislation, and by virtue of a sort of class +solidarity between the judges and the possessing class, governs the +courts also, the men who determine the making and executing of our +laws should, in a democracy such as ours, be elected by the people. +But they are not elected by the people and they are not removable by +the people. They are irremovable usurpers; they are created by +economic conditions and, as long as these economic conditions last, +they will continue to enjoy the power they now exercise.</p> + +<br /> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +<br /> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_115_115" id="Footnote_115_115"></a><a href="#FNanchor_115_115"><span class="label">[115]</span></a> An article by Charles A. Conant in the <i>Atlantic +Monthly</i>, Jan., 1908.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_116_116" id="Footnote_116_116"></a><a href="#FNanchor_116_116"><span class="label">[116]</span></a> <i>Atlantic Monthly</i>, Charles A. Conant, Jan., 1908, p. +101.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_117_117" id="Footnote_117_117"></a><a href="#FNanchor_117_117"><span class="label">[117]</span></a> Insurance Year Book: Life and Casualty sections, 1909, +p. 236-7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_118_118" id="Footnote_118_118"></a><a href="#FNanchor_118_118"><span class="label">[118]</span></a> Statistical abstract of the U.S., 1908.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_119_119" id="Footnote_119_119"></a><a href="#FNanchor_119_119"><span class="label">[119]</span></a> "Monetary and Banking Systems." By Maurice L. Muhleman, +formerly U.S. Deputy Assistant Treasurer at New York.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_120_120" id="Footnote_120_120"></a><a href="#FNanchor_120_120"><span class="label">[120]</span></a> Ibid.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_121_121" id="Footnote_121_121"></a><a href="#FNanchor_121_121"><span class="label">[121]</span></a> According to computations made by Mr. James H. +Brookmire on quotations of twenty representative railroad stocks, +these reached at the highest point in 1906, 138. In March, these +securities had gone down to 98.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_122_122" id="Footnote_122_122"></a><a href="#FNanchor_122_122"><span class="label">[122]</span></a> N.Y. <i>Press</i>, Oct. 22, 1907.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_123_123" id="Footnote_123_123"></a><a href="#FNanchor_123_123"><span class="label">[123]</span></a> See N.Y. <i>Times</i>, Jan. 30, 1909.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_124_124" id="Footnote_124_124"></a><a href="#FNanchor_124_124"><span class="label">[124]</span></a> N.Y. <i>Times</i>, February 1, 1909.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_125_125" id="Footnote_125_125"></a><a href="#FNanchor_125_125"><span class="label">[125]</span></a> The N.Y. <i>Times</i>, Jan. 7, 1909.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_126_126" id="Footnote_126_126"></a><a href="#FNanchor_126_126"><span class="label">[126]</span></a> N.Y. <i>Sun</i>, Jan. 17, 1908.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_127_127" id="Footnote_127_127"></a><a href="#FNanchor_127_127"><span class="label">[127]</span></a> Ibid., Jan. 30, 1908.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_128_128" id="Footnote_128_128"></a><a href="#FNanchor_128_128"><span class="label">[128]</span></a> "A Money Market Primer," by George Clare. Recommended +by the Council of the Institute of Bankers. Revised edition, London, +1896, p. 123.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_129_129" id="Footnote_129_129"></a><a href="#FNanchor_129_129"><span class="label">[129]</span></a> July 16, 1909.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_130_130" id="Footnote_130_130"></a><a href="#FNanchor_130_130"><span class="label">[130]</span></a> House Reports, 52d Congress, 2d Session, v. 3, No. +2615, p. 5.</p></div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="BK_II_CHAPTER_VII" id="BK_II_CHAPTER_VII"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER VII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>CAN THE EVILS OF CAPITALISM BE ELIMINATED BY COÖPERATION?</h3> +<br /> + +<p>One of our ablest captains of industry has lately collected articles +and addresses on this subject in a book entitled, "Problems of the +Day." If we were to eliminate from this book the errors under which +Mr. Carnegie labors as to what Socialism is, we could make of it an +admirable piece of Socialist propaganda. For Mr. Carnegie, although +denouncing Socialism in every page, believes in giving the workingman +an interest in the factory, and carries his belief in this system so +far that he actually looks forward to the day when labor will reach +"an equality with the millionaire as his partner in business."<a name="FNanchor_131_131" id="FNanchor_131_131"></a><a href="#Footnote_131_131" class="fnanchor">[131]</a> He +cites as an example of what could be done in this direction the Filene +stores of Boston, the capital stock of which he says is held +"exclusively by employees." Now this is exactly the system which +modern Socialism wants to bring into existence. Because, therefore, +Mr. Carnegie does not belong to the Platonic School of Socialism which +suggests the breaking-up of the home and is denounced by all practical +Socialists of to-day; and because he disapproves of the abolition of +wealth, as do all practical Socialists of to-day, he deserves to +occupy a front rank in our Socialist army for having put his finger +upon the real evil—competition; and for having pointed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span>the way to +the real solution—the substitution, of coöperation for competition +all through our industrial system.</p> + +<p>One thing, however, Mr. Carnegie has failed to appreciate: namely, +that when all our industries are organized on the principle of the +Filene stores—when, as Mr. Carnegie explains, the capital stock of +every industry and department store is held exclusively by employees, +the worker will not be the partner of the millionaire—he will have +superseded him. I am afraid this is not what Mr. Carnegie wants, at +least not in his day. But when he really wants this as much as in his +book he seems to want it, Mr. Carnegie will be qualified to be a +member of the Socialist party.</p> + +<p>There is an important distinction to be made between coöperation and +coöperatives, because coöperatives may be divided into two very +different classes: capitalistic coöperatives and socialistic +coöperatives.</p> + +<p>The capitalistic coöperatives are either the efforts of capitalists to +secure the fidelity of employees by giving them a minute share in the +profits of the business, or the efforts of employees to benefit +themselves by eliminating capitalists without eliminating capitalism; +in other words, the fact that such coöperatives undertake to produce +or distribute commodities under the competitive <i>régime</i>, converts +them into capitalists.</p> + +<p>In marked contrast to these are the coöperative stores of Belgium, +organized in part to improve the condition of those engaged in them, +but also with the view of putting an end to capitalism altogether. +These are performing a work of inestimable value to Socialism and the +Socialist party in Belgium, while materially helping those who belong +to them, they at the same time hold up as the standard aimed at, not +the mere material improvement of themselves, but the ultimate triumph +of an ideal.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span>The field for coöperation is so vast that it cannot be traversed in +the scope of this work. I shall close this subject therefore with the +suggestion that all coöperatives—even the capitalistic—are good and +useful, for they tend to educate. It is true that they may also +occasion evil; as for example, the Steel Trust when it encourages +employees to purchase stock, while it discourages and destroys +trade-union organization, and thereby creates an aristocracy of labor +which tends to prevent the sense of solidarity in labor ranks that +Marxians regard as essential to the triumph of the Socialist cause.</p> + +<p>But the evil it does is probably compensated by the good. Incidentally +it furnishes us Socialists with a triumphant answer to Mr. Carnegie: +Here in his city of Pittsburg which he built up with his genius, is +the principle of coöperation adopted which he regards as the solution +of all our ills; yet it is this very Pittsburg that to-day furnishes +to the whole world the most abominable picture of exploitation ever +presented.<a name="FNanchor_132_132" id="FNanchor_132_132"></a><a href="#Footnote_132_132" class="fnanchor">[132]</a> We Socialists are indeed fortunate that this picture +has been drawn not by ourselves, but by those who are to-day the most +intelligently opposing us.</p> + +<br /> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +<br /> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_131_131" id="Footnote_131_131"></a><a href="#FNanchor_131_131"><span class="label">[131]</span></a> "Problems of the Day," by Andrew Carnegie, p. 76.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_132_132" id="Footnote_132_132"></a><a href="#FNanchor_132_132"><span class="label">[132]</span></a> The Pittsburg Survey, published by the Russell Sage +Foundation.</p></div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="BOOK_III" id="BOOK_III"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>BOOK III<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3><i>WHAT SOCIALISM IS</i></h3> +<br /> + +<p>Socialism is too vast a subject to be brought within the four corners +of any one definition. It is as impossible for a definition to convey +an idea of Socialism as for an empty theater to convey the comedies, +the idylls, and the tragedies nightly enacted on its boards. A +definition can at best barely give the mechanism of Socialism; it +cannot furnish a picture of the effect of that mechanism in +eliminating misery, in promoting progress, in making character. This +must be painted on a canvas—and on a large canvas—and on many +canvases—for, as has been already urged, Socialism is not a simple +thing; it is a highly complex thing; and it is only when we have +grasped <i>all</i> that Socialism will effect—when we have studied its +economic results, its political results, its scientific results, and +its ethical results—that we can appreciate this new Gospel of the +Poor.</p> + +<p>Socialism not only derives strength from each of these results, it +unites the divergencies between economics and politics, and solves the +conflict between science and religion. So that these four great +departments of human thought, instead of being independent or actually +in conflict with one another, find themselves in Socialism united in +one great harmonious whole.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span>Just as Christianity derived its strength from the discontent of the +oppressed, so Socialism has pushed its first roots in the misery of +the proletariat. But we do not judge of a flower exclusively from its +roots. So must we not judge Socialism exclusively from that part of it +which at present flourishes in dark tenements and in the misery of the +unemployed. It is our fault that the tenements are dark, that the +unemployed suffer. It will be our fault if Socialism remains the +Gospel of the Poor when we can make of it the final Gospel of the +whole human race.</p> + +<p>For humanity has nearly finished the first great phase of its +existence; it has played the rôle of the worm long enough; already is +it cribbed, cabined, and confined by silk threads of its own weaving +that for a hundred years the cocoon has been accumulating about it, +repressing here, regulating there, till it is stifling under +limitations created by itself. But the very pressure of these +limitations has been developing new functions in us—a conscience +restive under false standards, a capacity for wider sympathies—the +wings of the grub, destined to burst the chrysalis of worn-out +prejudices, regulations, legislations, and despotisms; to spread out +into new spaces where there shall be development and happiness.</p> + +<p>Whether these hopes are well founded or not is the subject of our +inquiry, beginning first with Economics—the roots of our flower; +proceeding then to Politics—its stem; next to Science—its structure, +and lastly to Morality and Religion—its blossom and its fruit. And if +I group Morality and Religion, it is because these have both from the +beginning of years and not always hand in hand, been groping after the +same thing—Happiness.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="BK_III_CHAPTER_I" id="BK_III_CHAPTER_I"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER I<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>THE ECONOMIC ASPECT OF SOCIALISM</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Let us begin by considering how large a part of our population is now +devoting its entire time to the work of competition, as distinguished +from that which is devoting its time to the task of production.</p> + +<p>It is obvious that all who are devoting their time to the work of +competition would, in a coöperative commonwealth, be free to give +their entire time to production; and the time they gave to production +would be so much taken away from the time which those now engaged in +production have to give to it. For example, the United States to-day +keeps alive, according to the census of 1900, over 76,000,000 men, +women, and children; of these the working population is estimated at a +little over 29,000,000, of which, however, many are not engaged in +production or distribution; as for example, actors, clergymen, +lawyers, soldiers; and although some others, such as journalists, +physicians, and surgeons, are not occupied in production and +distribution, they nevertheless are so necessary to every community +that they may be regarded as a part of the working population. The +percentage excluded, however, by excluding those not engaged in +production and distribution, is so small that it is not worth while +taking them into account; and for purposes of easy calculation we +should, therefore, consider the whole population in round +figures—75,000,000, of which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span>30,000,000 are engaged in production +and distribution, the remaining 45,000,000 consisting of the aged, +sick, women, and children who cannot work and in fact, all who by +wealth or disability are deprived of the necessity of working. Now if, +of the 30,000,000 who do the work of production, it is found that +15,000,000, or one-half, are engaged in work that results from the +competitive character of our industrial system, it is clear that in a +Socialist community in which there is no competition, these 15,000,000 +would be applied to the work of production; and therefore every man +would have to work only one-half the number of hours he now works in +order to keep the community alive.</p> + +<p>Let us see if we can form any idea how many are engaged in the +wasteful work of competition, and how many, therefore, would in a +Socialist society be set free to relieve the labor of those engaged in +production.</p> + +<p>It is conceded that of every one hundred men who start a new business +ninety become insolvent. This means that for every ten fit and able to +conduct a new business ninety engage in new business who are unable to +earn their bread at it. In a coöperative commonwealth the exact number +of men necessary to conduct business in any given place could be +mathematically determined; and the ninety unsuccessful men who are now +engaged in futile efforts to destroy the business of the ten +successful men would be employed in production to their own advantage +and to the relief of those already engaged therein.</p> + +<p>The wastefulness, however, of the present plan is not confined to the +circumstance that many are engaged in attempting to do what can better +be done by a few, but is increased by the fact that in the conflict +between the successful and the unsuccessful a vast horde of men <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span>are +employed by competition, who would be thrown out of employment and +therefore be serviceable for production in case competition were +avoided. Amongst the men so employed are commercial travellers; these +men occasion waste to the community, not only because instead of +themselves producing they are living on the production of others, but +because they constitute a large part of the passenger traffic of the +country. The railroads are put to the expense of carrying these +travellers all over the United States that they may each have an +opportunity in every corner of the United States of decrying the goods +of one another. And this throws a side light on the evils of our +present plan, for the railroads have an interest in encouraging this +work. If they did not have this horde of commercial travellers to +carry about the country, many of them might not be able to pay +interest on their bonds. The testimony taken by the Industrial +Commission furnishes admirable instances of the waste attending +competitive production and the corresponding economy that would attend +a Socialist system. Mr. Edson Bradley, President of the American +Spirits Manufacturing Company, testifies that in the whisky business +"somewhere between the distiller and the consumer in this country, +$40,000,000 is lost. This goes primarily to the attempt to secure +trade."<a name="FNanchor_133_133" id="FNanchor_133_133"></a><a href="#Footnote_133_133" class="fnanchor">[133]</a> Now the whole capital invested in liquors and beverages +is, according to the last census, $660,000,000, whereas the total +manufactures amount to about $12,686,000,000. It will be seen, +therefore, that the capital invested in liquors and beverages is about +one-twentieth of that invested in other manufactures. If, therefore, +$40,000,000 are lost in getting the trade in the liquor business, it +may be inferred that twenty times this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>amount—that is to say, +$800,000,000—are lost in getting the trade by all the manufactures in +the country. This represents only the expense of advertising in +manufactures; it does not cover the advertising done by the whole +retail trade, the department stores, insurance companies—life +insurance, fire insurance, title insurance—real estate agents, quack +medicines, and that vast body of population known as middlemen, who +raise the price of commodities to the consumer and whose services +would be eliminated in a coöperative commonwealth.</p> + +<p>This latter class of advertising is very much larger than that of the +manufacturer, because it is the peculiar function of the retailer to +sell—to get the market—and the burden of advertising falls heavier +upon him. If $800,000,000 therefore represents the cost to the +manufacturer of getting the market, it is probable that the total cost +of getting the market by the whole community does not fall short of +twice this sum.</p> + +<p>The advertiser practically pays the whole cost of printing and +publishing the innumerable newspapers and magazines of this country. +The one cent paid for such a paper as the <i>American</i> does not cover +the cost of the paper alone; it is the advertisements that pay +handsomely for all the rest.</p> + +<p>Advertising would be unnecessary in a coöperative system, where +practically everything would be furnished by a single industry. As the +Reverend E. Ellis Carr says,<a name="FNanchor_134_134" id="FNanchor_134_134"></a><a href="#Footnote_134_134" class="fnanchor">[134]</a> the United States Government does +not find it necessary to advertise postage stamps. The Standard Oil no +longer advertises oil. Those of us who are old enough remember how, +prior to the organization of the oil trust, our fences were placarded +by the rival claims of a dozen different oils: Pratt's Astral oil, +etc., in letters of huge and ungainly size.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span>The only advertising necessary would be that of private enterprises +started in such industries as did not give satisfaction to the public, +and these, it is to be hoped, would be relatively small.</p> + +<p>Mr. Dowe, President of the Commercial Travellers' National League, +testified<a name="FNanchor_135_135" id="FNanchor_135_135"></a><a href="#Footnote_135_135" class="fnanchor">[135]</a> that "35,000 salesmen had been thrown out of employment +by the organization of trusts and 25,000 reduced to two-thirds of +their previous salaries.... The Baking Powder Trust has replaced men +at $4000 to $5000 a year by others at $18 a week.... The displacement +of travelling men represents also large loss to railways, amounting, +on the estimate that each traveller spends $2.50 a day for 240 days, +to $27,000,000, while the loss to hotels would be at least as much as +to railways." Adding up these losses, we reach the following result:</p> + +<div class="centered" style="padding-top: .5em; padding-bottom: .5em;"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" width="60%" summary="losses"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="85%">35,000 salesmen at an average compensation<br /> + (including commissions) of $3000 each a year</td> + <td class="tdr" width="15%" style="vertical-align: bottom;">$105,000,000</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Loss in railroad travelling</td> + <td class="tdr">27,000,000</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Loss in hotel expenses</td> + <td class="tdr bb">27,000,000</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 5%;">Together</td> + <td class="tdr bt">$159,000,000</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p>In the few industries, therefore, in which competition has been +diminished by the trust system, an economy of $159,000,000 was +estimated to have been already effected in the employment of salesmen +alone. And this was ten years ago. These figures enable us to +appreciate the enormous economy that would result from an elimination +of competition from our industries. An economy that constitutes a loss +to commercial travellers, railroads, and hotels under the competitive +system would constitute a pure gain to a Socialist community; for it +would mean so <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span>much more labor for production. Our present system then +encourages useless expenditure, whereas Socialism would eliminate it.</p> + +<p>Another important economy would be made in the running of public +enterprises, through the absence of the necessity of collecting +revenue therefrom. In municipal tramways, for example, one-half the +force could be dispensed with, for the functions of the conductor are +practically confined to collecting fares. A similar economy would be +practised on railroads; in telegrams; no stamps would be required for +postage; no costly corps of clerks for bookkeeping.</p> + +<p>Under our system gas is furnished to our cities by gas companies, each +one of which tears up the streets at great detriment to public +convenience and health, to lay its mains for the mere purpose of +competing with existing companies, with the result of forcing a +consolidation which tends to make gas dearer instead of cheaper to the +consumer. Professor Ely estimates<a name="FNanchor_136_136" id="FNanchor_136_136"></a><a href="#Footnote_136_136" class="fnanchor">[136]</a> that the consolidation of gas +companies in Baltimore has cost eighteen millions, of which ten +millions represent pure loss.</p> + +<p>Much the same thing is true of railroads. Professor Ely quotes a +railroad manager who states that if the railways of the United States +were managed as a unit instead of by competing companies, such +management would effect an economy of two hundred million dollars a +year; he cites, as an instance of useless paralleling of roads, the +numerous railroads which connect New York with Chicago. He estimates +that these lines cost two hundred million dollars, and that the +maintenance of the useless lines involves perpetual loss. To-day, when +railroads have doubled in length and traffic, the possible economy may +well be estimated at twice this amount. He is obliged, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span>however, to +admit that the paralleling of railroads results in considerable +accommodation, when parallel lines pass through different places and +occasion some advantage in the time-table. With many lines in the +United States this, however, is not the case. The Colorado Midland +parallels the Denver and Rio Grande, passing through virtually the +same places, and as both are subjected to the necessity of connecting +and forwarding passengers to lines at their extremities, both are +obliged to run trains at the same hours. There is in this case no +advantage either to the time-table or to new places.</p> + +<p>Nor does the competition of parallel roads always furnish better +accommodation to the public. Between Chicago and Denver one line is +able easily to run trains from place to place in twenty-four hours; +but for the purpose of avoiding a freight war with competing lines, it +has entered into an arrangement with them under which it agrees not to +run passenger trains in less than thirty-six hours. The public, +therefore, instead of gaining, loses an advantage of twelve hours, +thereby learning at no small inconvenience that competition does not +always compete.</p> + +<p>What is true of the railroads and gas companies is also true of +telegraph business. The Western Union was capitalized at one hundred +million dollars. It is estimated that the cost of laying the lines +actually used by the Western Union was not more than twenty millions; +eighty million dollars, therefore, have been wasted by the existing +system, which encourages private companies to construct lines with the +result of compelling other companies to buy them up. Professor Ely +adds that "it cost England nearly as much to make the telegraph a part +of the postoffice as it did all the other countries of Europe put +together, because in these the telegraph has <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span>been from the beginning +a part of the postoffice, and the wastes of competition had been +avoided."<a name="FNanchor_137_137" id="FNanchor_137_137"></a><a href="#Footnote_137_137" class="fnanchor">[137]</a></p> + +<p>Another most wasteful feature attending our present system is the +expense of distributing goods; for example, the articles which enter +most into our daily life, milk, bread, butter, eggs, meat, fish, and +vegetables. Compare the method of distributing these things with that +for distributing letters adopted by the postoffice. The fact that the +government is the only instrumentality through which letters are +distributed permits it to effect economy in time, labor, and expense +by sorting the letters beforehand according to streets and confining +the distribution in any one street to a single carrier, who +distributes the letters door by door.</p> + +<p>This is the economical system for distributing all things in regular +use that would be adopted by the Socialist plan. Compare this now with +the plan necessitated by the competitive system. Every block is served +with milk by a number of milk dealers instead of by one;<a name="FNanchor_138_138" id="FNanchor_138_138"></a><a href="#Footnote_138_138" class="fnanchor">[138]</a> every +block is furnished with bread by a very large number of dealers +instead of by one; every block is furnished with meat by a very large +number of dealers instead of by one; and so on through every article +which enters into our daily use.</p> + +<p>Not only is there great waste of labor in the business of producing +and distributing the necessaries of life under the competitive system, +but the system itself creates a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span>large class of business that absorbs +much of the wealth of the community and employs a very large number of +its members. For example, under a socialist system there would no +longer be any necessity or advantage in insurance, whether against +death or fire, or accident, or hail, or defective title, or any other +danger. The reason of this is obvious: we insure against pecuniary +loss arising out of these accidents because otherwise the whole loss +will fall upon ourselves. In a Socialist society some of occasions for +loss would not exist at all, and those that did exist would fall upon +the entire people and would consequently be inappreciable by any one +member of it. For example, a man insures his life so that his children +will not be reduced to poverty by his death; but in the Socialist +society the widow and the child are provided for, being all of them +members and all sharers in its income. Death in such a case would +practically not constitute a loss to the state financially, because +the number of deaths of the very old and the very young—the +unproductive members of the community—is far greater than that of its +productive members.</p> + +<p>Insurance companies are beginning to understand the importance of +keeping their policy holders in good health. The Metropolitan Life +Insurance Company is to-day maintaining nurses for this purpose.</p> + +<p>Another business that would be eliminated in a Socialist state is the +entire business done by brokers; not only Wall Street brokers, but +real estate brokers, mining brokers, and brokers of every description, +in so far as they are engaged in competition. The abolition of Wall +Street would carry with it the abolition of gambling in stocks which +is a necessary feature thereof. No law has yet been devised, though +the attempt has often been made, that would, so long as the +competitive system <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span>endures, put a stop to gambling in stocks. A law +which would successfully stop gambling in stocks would stop legitimate +dealing in stocks also. But the immoral element involved in "puts" and +"calls" is only an exaggeration of the immoral element involved in all +industrial transactions built upon the principle of private profit. +For although business can be conducted in such a way as only to +furnish to those engaged in it a fair remuneration, it perpetually +furnishes a temptation to contrive so that it shall furnish a large +rather than a fair return. In fact, the whole struggle of business +consists in endeavoring to secure the largest return of profit for the +least expenditure of labor. The man who succeeds in getting the +largest return for the least expenditure is the successful business +man; and no man does this with more security than the next class to +which attention may be called, whose occupation would come to an end +in the Socialist state; namely, the bankers.</p> + +<p>It would take too long to enter here into an accurate and fair +estimate of the service rendered by the banker and the reward he +obtains for it. Most writers who favor Socialism undervalue the +functions of the banker. They are so impressed by the enormous incomes +which bankers make that they do not appreciate the great services they +render; and although, in a Socialist state, the banker <i>qua</i> banker +would tend to disappear, the man who to-day does the work of a banker +would, it is hoped, do the same work for the state. So that although +the business of banking would disappear, the best form of government +would be that in which individuals who have been discovered to be best +fitted for the onerous and difficult duties of finance would be those +to whom these duties would be intrusted. Whether the man best fitted +to do this difficult work would be intrusted with it under the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span>Socialist plan is a doubt raised as an objection to Socialism which +will be considered later.<a name="FNanchor_139_139" id="FNanchor_139_139"></a><a href="#Footnote_139_139" class="fnanchor">[139]</a></p> + +<p>Another large class of intelligent men, now engaged in carrying on the +quarrels which result from the competitive system, would be left +without an occupation under the Socialist plan; namely, the lawyers. +With them, the hatred and vindictiveness which arise from litigation +would in a Socialist society, in great part, disappear also. For +lawyers constitute the class whose business it is to conduct these +quarrels, and, alas! also to inflame them. When we consider that in +New York city alone there are nearly ten thousand practising lawyers, +and add to these the clerks, stenographers, bookkeepers, and +office-boys employed by each of them, those employed in the courts, +the sheriff's office, the county clerk's office, marshals, deputy +sheriffs, and others; and take into account that most of these men are +engaged in fighting, we cannot but be struck by the enormous advantage +to the community of a system which would practically eliminate this +class altogether.</p> + +<p>I must not be understood to mean, however, that there would be no +necessity for courts under the Socialist plan. Even though crimes +against property were eliminated by Socialism, there would still be a +temptation to commit crime, owing to sexual jealousy and in a certain +degree to intemperance and idleness. It cannot be doubted that +intemperance and idleness would tend to diminish with the +disappearance of the misery that reduces men to the physical condition +that engenders these vices, but there would still, doubtless, be some +intemperance and some idleness; there would certainly remain unhappy +marriages; and as every man is to remain possessed of a small amount +of property there would be minute questions <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span>of property sometimes +involved. But it is hardly conceivable that such questions could +involve any system of justice more elaborate than that of the justice +of the peace, and possibly a single court of appeal. The diminution of +competition would so simplify the law that no question would be likely +to arise that the parties to the litigation could not themselves +explain. How little litigation would be likely under a Socialist +<i>régime</i> may be judged by comparing the litigation to which the +administration of the postoffice gives rise with the interminable +lawsuits which result from the administration of railroads.<a name="FNanchor_140_140" id="FNanchor_140_140"></a><a href="#Footnote_140_140" class="fnanchor">[140]</a> +Moreover, it is to be hoped that a Socialist community would at last +have leisure to study criminology and to understand that the criminal +has to be treated as a sick man rather than a wicked one. The whole +system of criminal procedure would be changed, and the type now known +as the criminal lawyer would disappear. The existing system, under +which every prosecuting officer considers his reputation involved in +securing the punishment of every accused person brought before the +court,<a name="FNanchor_141_141" id="FNanchor_141_141"></a><a href="#Footnote_141_141" class="fnanchor">[141]</a> necessarily gives rise to a corresponding class of lawyer +who regards his reputation as well as his fee involved in opposing the +efforts of the prosecuting officer by any means, however +unjustifiable. Of course, to the extent to which the competitive +system was left standing, there would have to be lawyers to protect +competitive interests. But these lawyers would be supported by the +competitive system.</p> + +<p>If, now, we consider that the large number of men <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span>liberated by the +substitution of Socialism for our present form of government would not +only diminish the labor of those now engaged in production, but that +it constitutes the part of our population engaged in fanning the flame +of hatred in the minds of men, the advantage to a community of having +this perpetual source of trouble removed will be obvious. But we are +not concerned so much now with the reduction of hatred under the +Socialist plan as with its economy.</p> + +<p>Let us next pass to the consideration of the wastefulness involved in +the field of production itself:</p> + +<p>In 1894 horses in the West became so valueless that they were left +unbranded by their owners, lest the branding of them involve the +payment of taxes thereupon. Cattle, on the other hand, have of late +risen in value; the price of them fell so low some time ago as to +involve the ruin of all those largely engaged in raising them; but +to-day everyone is rushing back into this business. This state of +things furnishes a fair opportunity of judging how imperfectly +informed the producer is as to the needs of the community. <i>He is only +informed that the community is overstocked with an article by being +ruined in the course of producing it.</i> This plan is not only +productive of misery to a large number of individuals in every +community, but is necessarily an extremely wasteful one. The object of +every community ought to be to produce the things it needs, not the +things it does not need. The present system, on the contrary, obliges +the community to be continually producing the things it does not need +as the only means by which it can arrive at a knowledge of what it +does need.</p> + +<p>For under the existing system, overproduction occasions a surplusage +of things in themselves valuable, but the exchange value of which has +been diminished by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span>their abundance. And the producer cannot afford to +keep this surplusage, because he has fixed charges to pay. He has to +sell his crop at a loss because he must have money to pay rent, or +interest on mortgage, or salaries, or for his own support during the +year. It is this pressure he is under to sell which impoverishes him. +And its consequences are far-reaching; for as the price of raw cotton +goes down, cotton manufacturers are encouraged to buy, and to increase +the output of their factories; and so overproduction of raw material +tends to result in overproduction of manufactured goods.</p> + +<p>In a Socialist society the industry or good harvest of one year would +have for effect a diminution of labor the next; or greater comfort or +luxury next year for the same labor; no man's labor would be lost, and +the bountifulness of Nature would be a blessing and not, as now, a +misfortune.</p> + +<p>The efforts to prevent the overproduction of cotton in the South gave +rise to a convention in 1892, regarding which Professor Ely quotes a +telegram from Memphis, January 8, as follows:</p> + +<p>"That the farmers of the South are in earnest in their endeavors to +solve the serious problems of overproduction of cotton is evinced by +the enthusiastic meeting of delegates to the convention of the +Mississippi Valley Cotton Growers' Association, which was called to +order in this city this morning."<a name="FNanchor_142_142" id="FNanchor_142_142"></a><a href="#Footnote_142_142" class="fnanchor">[142]</a></p> + +<p>And again the speech of the President of the Boston Chamber of +Commerce:</p> + +<p>"In 1890 we harvested a cotton crop of over eight million +bales—several hundred thousand bales more than the world could +consume. Had the crops of the present year been equally large, it +would have been an appalling <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span>calamity to the section of our country +that devotes so large a portion of its labor and capital to the +raising of cotton."<a name="FNanchor_143_143" id="FNanchor_143_143"></a><a href="#Footnote_143_143" class="fnanchor">[143]</a></p> + +<p>Nothing could better illustrate the evil of our present system and the +benefits of Socialism than such a state of things as is described in +the speech already quoted from the President of the Boston Chamber of +Commerce.<a name="FNanchor_144_144" id="FNanchor_144_144"></a><a href="#Footnote_144_144" class="fnanchor">[144]</a> If in a Socialist Society more bales of cotton were +produced in any given year than the community or the world could +consume, the community would store away the unused cotton and modify +its agriculture in a manner to bring the cotton crop into proper +relation to existing needs. But such an event could not be an +"appalling calamity"; it could not be anything but a benefit; so much +more wealth for the community; so much less labor for its citizens. +And what is true of the cotton crop is equally true of all other +crops. Overproduction is impossible in a coöperative community, for +all the overproduction of one year would mean less work in that +particular kind of production the next. Every citizen in the community +would profit by so-called overproduction instead of, as now, suffering +from it.</p> + +<p>Overproduction is closely allied to invention, which, as is well +known, has been a source of despair to workingmen; for improvements in +machinery almost always throw large numbers of them out of employment. +In India, as has been described, the destruction of hand-loom weavers +by machinery brought about a misery hardly paralleled in the history +of war; "the bones of the cotton-weavers are bleaching on the plains +of India." <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span>Yet invention, far from bringing distress to the +workingmen, as under our system it must, would in a coöperative +commonwealth prove an unqualified advantage. For every invention that +increases the efficiency of human labor diminishes the amount of time +that must be spent in labor to obtain the same result. In a +coöperative state the saving of labor is a benefit to every individual +in the community, whereas under the competitive system the saving of +labor is of immediate benefit to the owner of the patent alone, and +means immediate distress to the laborers it particularly affects.</p> + +<p>A standard objection to Socialism is that it would remove all stimulus +to invention. This I believe to be a profound mistake.</p> + +<p>In the first place, inventors are not always urged to invention by the +prospect of financial reward. The great discoveries of humanity, at +the basis of all our practical advances, were made by men who neither +sought nor obtained a reward therefor. It was not with the view of +making money that Newton discovered and propounded the laws of +gravity, or Ohm the laws of electrical resistance. Nor do inventors +to-day reap the reward of their inventions. Capitalists often have an +interest in suppressing inventions; for inventions generally involve +the expensive transformation of existing plants. For example, Mr. +Babbage<a name="FNanchor_145_145" id="FNanchor_145_145"></a><a href="#Footnote_145_145" class="fnanchor">[145]</a> describes how a patent for welding gun-barrels by +machinery had long been unused because of the cheapness of hand labor; +but as soon as a strike forced up wages recourse was had to the +patent, which until then had been neglected.</p> + +<p>Capitalists often prefer to dispense with an improvement rather than +go to the expense which improvements generally occasion. This was the +unwritten motive for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span>the opposition of England to the construction of +the Suez Canal, and was believed by M. DeLesseps to be the motive of +their opposition to the Panama Canal.<a name="FNanchor_146_146" id="FNanchor_146_146"></a><a href="#Footnote_146_146" class="fnanchor">[146]</a> Again, no one who has had +personal acquaintance with inventors can believe that their +discoveries are to any material extent the result of financial motive. +It would be difficult to imagine the conditions under which Edison and +Maxim would not invent. They cannot help inventing; they are as much +under a necessity to invent as a hen to lay eggs. Undoubtedly there +are certain environments which favor the production and utilization of +inventing types, and others that disfavor the production and +utilization of such types. And undoubtedly a motive for invention is a +part of the environment which does contribute to invention; but would +such a motive be wanting in a Socialist society? I think it can be +shown that it would not only be present, but would be a stronger +motive in the Socialist society than in our own; for under our own the +reward which an inventor receives for an invention is a patent, and a +patent is, as all lawyers will testify, merely a subject for +litigation. In other words, every man who invents a useful thing has +to overcome the objections of the patent office; the objections of +infringers; the objections of owners of machines which would be +superseded, all three obstacles of no small order. And not until they +are all overcome, if indeed, they are, is the patent likely to be a +source of income to the inventor. Under the Socialist order, however, +every man is interested in increasing the productiveness of society to +diminish the hours of labor; and nothing, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span>moreover, would be easier +than for a Socialist Society exceptionally to reward invention by +diminishing the hours of labor due to it by the inventor.</p> + +<p>If an inventor by any one invention shortened the hours of labor in an +aggregate amount equivalent to a lifetime of his own work for the +community, he ought to be relieved of the necessity of himself doing +further work. If the invention were clearly due to inventive skill and +not to accident, it would be to the interest of the industry in which +he was engaged to furnish him with a laboratory where he could +experiment with a view to further invention, as the General Electric +Company does for its inventors and Mr. Westinghouse for his. There is +not one inventor in a hundred but would laboriously avail of such an +opportunity; for the delight of an inventor is to invent. So inventors +would constitute one of the Honor group of the community. They would +receive during their lives the consideration due to their +inventiveness and industry. At present the enormous majority of +inventors die poor and unknown. Of all the inventors in America only +three that I know of are rich, Westinghouse, Bell, and Edison. +Practically all the rest have been victims of their own inventive +faculty. Who knows the name of the inventor of the slot machine so +much in vogue to-day? His name was Percival Everitt, and he died a +pauper in the street.</p> + +<p>But we need not have recourse to argument to demonstrate that +pecuniary reward is not necessary to stimulate invention. There is one +profession in which a germ of self-respect has established the rule +that no discovery or invention shall receive pecuniary reward—the +medical profession. No doctor who wants to keep or earn a standing +patents a medicine or surgical instrument. Those who do so are at once +ostracized. Medicine or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span>surgical inventions are deemed by +self-respecting doctors too important to the community for the +inventor to limit their use by patent.</p> + +<p>If this idea of social service to-day animates the medical profession, +why should it not ultimately animate other professions, other +industries, other occupations? Why should it not animate them all?</p> + +<p>Another profession has furnished the elements for all invention and has +never asked a pecuniary reward—I mean the teachers. If, for example, we +take such a subject as electricity, it will be found that all the +fundamental discoveries that enable the modern use of electricity are +due entirely to the researches of men who, out of sheer love of the +work, added research to the occupations for which they were paid. Sir +Isaac Newton was the first to discover the use of glass as a +non-conductor of electricity. Galvani and Volta, who gave their +names—one to Galvanic, and the other to Voltaic electricity—were +professors in Italy. The action of the electric current on a compass +needle was discovered by Professor H.O. Oersted in Copenhagen; and the +nature of electro-motive force, current strength and resistance, were +determined by Professor G.S. Ohm in Holland. But the greatest +discoveries of all were made by Faraday, who refused a title in order to +remain a professor all the days of his life. Is it possible that with +the record of these men before us, we can maintain the theory that gain +is the only stimulus to invention? If we think a little, we shall see +how essentially childish this notion is.</p> + +<p>There are three principal motives for invention:</p> + +<p>The desire to make money is one, but my experience of inventors has +persuaded me that it is the least, and is only perceptible in +inventors of the smallest caliber.</p> + +<p>The faculty of invention is itself the determining <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span>motive. A man who +has a faculty <i>must</i> exercise that faculty or suffer. The artist +<i>must</i> paint; the sculptor <i>must</i> sculpt; the musician <i>must</i> make +music; the poet <i>must</i> make rhymes. Lowell said that when he had no +time to state a proposition carefully in prose, he stated it in rhyme.</p> + +<p>No one who has worked with inventors would be guilty of the error that +inventors need the stimulus of money reward. The mind of the inventor +teems with inventions as a herring at spawning season teems with +spawn. And as the herring must relieve herself of her spawn so must +the inventor relieve himself of his inventions. One great inventor of +the present day was in 1883 so fertile that the company who had +secured his exclusive services paid him to go to Europe and stop +inventing in order to avoid the ruinous expense of taking out his +patents. The inventor is driven by two forces: a function that insists +upon being exercised, and the pleasure which this exercise occasions. +Every man who can do a thing well loves doing that thing. To-day when +athletics bring notoriety it is very natural to conclude that men row +to get this notoriety. But in the old days when there was little or no +notoriety, men who could row, rowed for the pleasure of it; men who +could box, boxed for the pleasure of it. So to-day because a few +inventors—a very few—have become wealthy, the conclusion is drawn +that inventors invent only to make money. It is a pardonable fallacy, +but one that it takes very little intellectual effort to explode.</p> + +<p>A man gifted with curiosity and imagination will forget altogether the +needs of the body in his effort to attain his end. Inventors are +notoriously improvident. Bernard Palissy not only forgot to eat, but +to furnish food to his wife and children. Nay, he not only starved +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span>himself and them, but burned his furniture to the last chair in his +desperate efforts to get the glaze he was in search of. A chemist will +forget mealtime and bedtime in his laboratory. There is no force in +the world more compelling than the force of an idea; none to which the +body is under a more complete subjection. An inventor in pursuit of a +solution needs no more stimulus than a stag in the rutting season in +pursuit of his doe. The theory that he does, and that it is the +stimulus of money that he needs, is that of the amateur who has never +seen an inventor at work, or of the bookkeeper who reduces +everything—body, mind, soul, and heart—to dollars and cents.</p> + +<p>An inventor may have been compelled to abandon research by the +necessity of making money or by the difficulty of finding it. Many an +one has been crushed by just such difficulties as these; and indeed it +may justly be said that more inventions are lost to us by the money +difficulty than are secured to us by the stimulus of a money reward.</p> + +<p>A third motive is the desire for consideration which is at the bottom +of many other desires—at the bottom even of the desire for money +itself. For if we analyze the desire for money we shall perceive that +it includes two very different motives: the motive of prudence—the +desire to secure the comforts and luxuries of life; and the motive of +ambition, or the desire for the consideration of others. Now the +former is the first in time, for a man must begin by securing the +material things of life. But once these are secured the motive that +keeps men making money is desire for consideration. And this desire, +though evil when excessive, is in moderation one of the greatest of +human virtues; for it sets men upon deserving the affection of their +neighbors and promotes unselfishness and self-sacrifice. One of the +curses of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span>competitive system is that the desire for +consideration, which in its essence is a virtue, is converted by our +money system into a vice, because money is the chief instrument in +securing consideration.<a name="FNanchor_147_147" id="FNanchor_147_147"></a><a href="#Footnote_147_147" class="fnanchor">[147]</a> More will have to be said on this subject +later. Here we may content ourselves with noting that in a Socialist +society consideration will be secured not meretriciously through +money, but deservedly through service. The inventor who shortens hours +of labor for the community will belong to the Honor Roll. He will +secure this recognition not after having forced his invention on the +capitalist and fought its merits through the courts, created +unemployment for his fellows, and crushed competition out of the field +his patent covers—but directly from the industry he has benefited, +without the waste that attends the establishing of patent rights +to-day. The inventor under Socialism will have a stronger stimulus +than he has to-day; for the chances of securing livelihood and +consideration are certainly not more than one in a hundred, whereas +under Socialism they will be a hundred to one. There will not be the +opposition of invested capital to overcome; nor the hostility of his +fellow-workman; nor the villainy of the infringer. If his invention +can reduce the hours of labor or otherwise benefit the community, it +will be hailed with delight and honor. And so even though he need no +stimulus he will under Socialism have it; for his reward will be +prompt and secure.</p> + +<p>Moreover, as Professor Ely has pointed out, the tendency of invention +in a Socialist state would be to replace work which now involves +drudgery by machinery that would tend to lessen or eliminate it.</p> + +<p>If it were conceivable that a law could be made or enforced requiring +that millionaires, and none but <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span>millionaires, were to serve as +stokers, there is no doubt that all the ingenuity in the land would at +once be put to making the work of stoking less detestable than it now +is; if necessary, naval architecture would be so reformed from top to +bottom, as to reduce the work of stoking to that pressure of a finger +upon a button which is the only physical work imposed by modern +conditions upon the millionaire to-day.</p> + +<p>The improvements due to invention would in a Socialist society differ, +perhaps, in character but not in quantity, for invention obeys the +particular stimulus which gives rise to it. Thus Karl Marx points +out<a name="FNanchor_148_148" id="FNanchor_148_148"></a><a href="#Footnote_148_148" class="fnanchor">[148]</a> that mechanical traction was not introduced into mines until +a law forbade the use of women and children there, and the "half-time +system stimulated the invention of the piecing-machine," thereby +replacing child labor in woolen-yarn manufacture. Again, immense +improvements have been made in charging and drawing gas retorts, owing +to labor troubles, and there is no doubt that all arduous work would +soon be made less arduous if we all had to take a turn at it.</p> + +<p>The objection that Socialism, would destroy the stimulus to invention +has been treated at what may seem disproportionate length on account +of its extreme importance. For it is owing to human inventiveness that +production to-day tends to outstrip consumption. Of all the +speculations upon the possible advantages of a new social order those +which concern themselves with the shortening of the average working +day are the most fascinating, yet the most dangerous. They are +fascinating because, of the many afflictions of the present order it +is the excessive workday that we feel most, for it is that which robs +so many of us or our need of personal <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span>life; and we know that any +reduction of the hours of labor would mean an immediate increase in +the quantity, and an ultimate increase in the quality, of our life. +But they are dangerous speculations because they probe to the very +heart of that wonderfully complicated economic process which we call +Capitalism. To make any scientific estimate of the social labor time +required to produce the commodities socially necessary for our health +and happiness would require an elaborate and intimate investigation of +the most secret details of industry, trade, and transportation, such +as there is little likelihood of ever being made. Nevertheless, it is +possible, in the light of some data already at our command, to get a +suggestive glimpse into the probabilities of the situation.</p> + +<p>The 13th Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor is an exhaustive study +of the actual time required to produce some 600 different commodities, +ranging all the way from apple trees to loaves of bread and shingles. +The principal object of this Report was to compare the cost of +production by hand with the cost of production by machine; and it has +demonstrated the enormous progress that has been made in the art of +production by the substitution of machine for hand labor. For example, +before the introduction of machine labor it took about sixty-three +hours and a half to produce thirty bushels of barley; whereas to-day, +with the use of machinery, the same amount can be produced in two +hours and forty-two minutes (p. 24-5). The Report, in estimating the +cost of producing, includes breaking the ground, sowing and covering +seed and pulverizing topsoil, hauling water and fuel for engine, +reaping, threshing, measuring, sacking and hauling to the granary (p. +432-3).</p> + +<p>Having these figures it would seem to be a very simple matter to +ascertain the total time required to produce <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span>the various commodities +consumed by the average workingman's family. It would seem as though +all we had to do was to make out a list of these commodities, get the +time cost of each from the Report and add these together to get the +total. Unfortunately, however, the Report does not cover all the items +which would have to be included in this list of necessaries; and to +make an estimate from a single commodity or from two or three +commodities would be a little dangerous, because some of the +commodities have much higher time values than others and would +therefore introduce many elements of uncertainty.</p> + +<p>But we may approach the question from another standpoint. The Report +does furnish the time value of ten of the principal crops and of +bituminous coal. Let us, then, restate the problem in the following +form:</p> + +<p><i>Assuming social ownership of land (including bituminous coal lands) +and modern machinery, how many hours' labor per day would be required +to produce enough of the principal crops to sell at farm or mine for a +sum sufficient to buy the necessaries of existence for the average +family?</i></p> + +<p>The first step, obviously, is to determine what constitutes the +necessaries of existence for the average American family. Here again +we may resort to official statistics. In the year 1900-01 the U.S. +Bureau of Labor entered upon an investigation of the income and +expenditure of the average American family. Agents were sent out all +over the country to collect data at first hand. These agents got +reports from some 25,440 families, and the figures are tabulated and +summarized in the 18th Annual Report of this Bureau.<a name="FNanchor_149_149" id="FNanchor_149_149"></a><a href="#Footnote_149_149" class="fnanchor">[149]</a></p> + +<p>These 25,000 families had the necessaries of existence, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span>we know, +simply because they managed to live, survive, and reproduce. Their +average income was $749.50; their average expenditure, $699.24, thus +representing a saving of $50 a year. But many of these families had +boarders, many had grown-up children or wife at work, many had +lodgers, so that the income was artificially increased or diminished +by these factors. There were, however, 11,156 families among these +which the report designates as "normal"; these were distinguished by +the following characteristics: a husband at work; a wife at home; not +more than five children—none over 14 years of age; no dependents, +boarders, lodgers, or servants (p. 18). Good units, you see, from a +statistical standpoint. Now, the average income of these normal +families was $650.98; the average expenditure $617.80.<a name="FNanchor_150_150" id="FNanchor_150_150"></a><a href="#Footnote_150_150" class="fnanchor">[150]</a></p> + +<p>Here, then, we have over 10,000 families, of five persons each, who +manage to live on $617.80 a year, without resorting to crime or +charity. That they live in straitened conditions is undoubtedly true, +but they are by no means submerged, for in their coöperation with the +agents of the Bureau of Labor they all displayed qualities of +intelligence which are not to be found among the submerged. In short, +they were average self-respecting American workingmen's families.</p> + +<p>But let us assume that $617.80 is inadequate; let us provide a margin +of safety by allowing $800 as the minimum for procuring the +necessaries of existence.<a name="FNanchor_151_151" id="FNanchor_151_151"></a><a href="#Footnote_151_151" class="fnanchor">[151]</a> Below is a table showing time cost per +unit (bushels or pounds) of ten principal crops and of bituminous +coal. This is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span>derived from the tables on pages 24-25 of the 13th +Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor, which are assumed to be +accurate.</p> + +<br /> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="65%" summary="Table 1" style="border: solid 1pt black;"> + <tr> + <td class="tdc vac bbox" rowspan="2">Commodity.</td> + <td class="tdc vac bbox" rowspan="2">Quantity.</td> + <td class="tdc bbox" colspan="2">Time Cost.</td> + <td class="tdc vac bbox" rowspan="2">Unit.</td> + <td class="tdc vac bbox" rowspan="2">Time Cost in Minutes.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc bbox">Hrs.</td> + <td class="tdc bbox">Min.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdllrtp" width="30%">Barley</td> + <td class="tdllrtp2" width="16%"> 30 bush.</td> + <td class="tdrlrtp" width="11%">2</td> + <td class="tdrlrtp" width="11%">42.8</td> + <td class="tdllrtp2" width="16%">1 bush.</td> + <td class="tdrlrtp" width="16%">5.427</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdllrp">Wheat</td> + <td class="tdllrp2"> 40 "</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">6</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">17.4</td> + <td class="tdllrp2">1 "</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">9.435</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdllrp">Hay</td> + <td class="tdllrp2"> 2 tons </td> + <td class="tdrlrp">15</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">30.5</td> + <td class="tdllrp2">1 ton</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">465.25</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdllrp">Oats</td> + <td class="tdllrp2"> 40 bush.</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">7</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">5.8</td> + <td class="tdllrp2">1 bush.</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">10.645</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdllrp">Rice</td> + <td class="tdllrp2"> 60 "</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">17</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">2.5</td> + <td class="tdllrp2">1 "</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">17.042</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdllrp">Rye</td> + <td class="tdllrp2"> 25 "</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">25</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">10</td> + <td class="tdllrp2">1 "</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">60.40</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdllrp">Corn</td> + <td class="tdllrp2"> 80 "</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">42</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">38.1</td> + <td class="tdllrp2">1 "</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">31.97</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdllrp">Potatoes</td> + <td class="tdllrp2"> 220 "</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">38</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">—</td> + <td class="tdllrp2">1 " </td> + <td class="tdrlrp">10.364</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdllrp">Tobacco</td> + <td class="tdllrp2">2,750 lbs.</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">606</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">5.1</td> + <td class="tdllrp2">1 lb.</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">13.22</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdllrp">Cotton</td> + <td class="tdllrp2">1,000 "</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">78</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">42</td> + <td class="tdllrp2">1 "</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">4.72</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdllrbp">Bit. Coal</td> + <td class="tdllrbp2"> 200 tons</td> + <td class="tdrlrbp">379</td> + <td class="tdrlrbp">36</td> + <td class="tdllrbp2">1 ton</td> + <td class="tdrlrbp">113.88</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<br /> + +<p>Having the time cost per unit of each of these commodities, let us now +ascertain the time cost of the total crops of these produced in the +United States. This is exhibited in the table on the next page, which +is derived from the figures given in the Year Book of the Department +of Agriculture, 1907, p. 668. These, too, are assumed to be accurate.</p> + +<p>We see from this table that the total time cost of these principal +crops, if produced with modern machinery on a large scale, would be +185,759,513,000 minutes, and that the money value of these +commodities, sold at farm or mine, is $3,214,510,707.</p> + +<p>If, then, it would require 185,759,513,000 minutes' labor to produce +$3,214,510,707 worth of commodities, how much labor would be required +to produce $800 worth of these commodities? This is a problem in +simple proportion:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span>$800: $3,214,510,707:: <i>x</i> minutes: 185,759,513,000 minutes. Working +this out we find that <i>x</i> equals 46,230 minutes or 770 hours and 30 +minutes. Estimating 300 working days to the year, this would seem to +indicate that a social work-day of 2-½ hours should be sufficient to +procure the necessaries of existence, valuing these at $800.</p> + +<br /> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="70%" summary="table 2" style="border: solid 1pt black;"> + <tr> + <td class="tdc bbox" width="20%">Commodity.</td> + <td class="tdc bbox" width="16%">Average Annual Production 1898-1907.</td> + <td class="tdc bbox" width="16%">Average Total Value on Farm Dec. 1, 1898-1907.</td> + <td class="tdc bbox" width="16%">Time Cost in Minutes.</td> + <td class="tdc bbox" width="16%">Unit.</td> + <td class="tdc bbox" width="16%">Total Time Cost in Thousand Minutes.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdllrtp"> </td> + <td class="tdclrtp">Millions</td> + <td class="tdrlrtp3"> </td> + <td class="tdrlrtp"> </td> + <td class="tdrlrtp"> </td> + <td class="tdrlrtp"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdllrp">Barley</td> + <td class="tdllrp2"> 117 bush.</td> + <td class="tdrlrp3">$53,872,896</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">5.427</td> + <td class="tdllrp2">1 bush.</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">633,959</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdllrp">Wheat</td> + <td class="tdllrp2"> 642 </td> + <td class="tdrlrp3">444,206,221</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">9.435</td> + <td class="tdllrp2">1 "</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">6,057,270</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdllrp">Hay</td> + <td class="tdllrp2"> 59 tons</td> + <td class="tdrlrp3">524,124,456</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">465.25</td> + <td class="tdllrp2">1 ton</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">27,449,750</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdllrp">Oats</td> + <td class="tdllrp2"> 841 bush.</td> + <td class="tdrlrp3">265,595,639</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">10.645</td> + <td class="tdllrp2">1 bush.</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">8,952,445</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdllrp">Rice</td> + <td class="tdllrp2"> 18 "</td> + <td class="tdrlrp3">14,594,913</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">17.042</td> + <td class="tdllrp2">1 "</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">305,756</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdllrp">Rye</td> + <td class="tdllrp2"> 29 "</td> + <td class="tdrlrp3">16,527,099</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">60.40</td> + <td class="tdllrp2">1 "</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">1,751,600</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdllrp">Corn</td> + <td class="tdllrp2">2,309 "</td> + <td class="tdrlrp3">953,158,114</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">31.977</td> + <td class="tdllrp2">1 "</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">73,834,893</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdllrp">Potatoes</td> + <td class="tdllrp2"> 255 "</td> + <td class="tdrlrp3">134,236,563</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">10.364</td> + <td class="tdllrp2">1 "</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">2,642,820</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdllrp">Tobacco</td> + <td class="tdllrp2"> 743 lbs.</td> + <td class="tdrlrp3">59,548,881</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">13.22</td> + <td class="tdllrp2">1 lb.</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">9,822,460</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdllrp">Cotton</td> + <td class="tdllrp2">5,233 "</td> + <td class="tdrlrp3">457,787,442</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">4.72</td> + <td class="tdllrp2">1 "</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">24,699,760</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdllrp">Bit. Coal</td> + <td class="tdllrp2"> 260 tons</td> + <td class="tdrlrp3 bb">290,858,483</td> + <td class="tdrlrp">113.88</td> + <td class="tdllrp2">1 ton</td> + <td class="tdrlrp bb">29,608,800</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdllrbp"> </td> + <td class="tdllrbp2"> </td> + <td class="tdrlrbp3 bt">$3,214,510,707</td> + <td class="tdrlrbp"> </td> + <td class="tdllrbp2"> </td> + <td class="tdrlrbp bt">185,759,513</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<br /> + +<p>Before accepting the above conclusion, however, it will be necessary +to make proper allowances for some important factors. First, the +figures quoted from the Report do not include time spent on +bookkeeping, upkeep, and repair of machinery, the time cost of the raw +material, of the machinery, etc. All these items are certainly +important, but we may safely assume that, taken together, they would +probably not increase the total by fifty per cent. If, then, we allow +an additional 1-¼ hours for these items, thus making the work-day +3-¾ hours, we shall be well within reason.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span>Second, it is to be inferred that the ten crops for which the 13th +Annual Report furnishes the time value were produced under unusually +favorable conditions, if not actually on "bonanza" farms. It is true +that the introduction (p. 12) affirms, in a blanket clause, "that the +effort was made to ascertain, not the quantity of work that could be +done under the most favorable conditions, but what was being +accomplished steadily in everyday work"; nevertheless, in the absence +of more specific information as to the actual conditions under which +the units under discussion were farmed, we cannot ignore the doubt +that arises in our minds. We may, however, offset this by two other +factors which were quite conservative in our estimate: (1) In adopting +the sum of $800 as a measure of the necessaries of existence, we have, +as already shown, allowed nearly a third over and above the sum +($617.80) actually ascertained to be requisite in the years 1900-1901. +(2) The figures in the 13th Annual Report are based upon +investigations made from fifteen to twenty years ago, between 1890-95. +The steady improvement in agricultural machinery which has been made +since then would undoubtedly reduce the present time cost of these +commodities very materially. It is not unreasonable, then, to urge +that these factors counterbalance each other; but in order to be on +the safe side let us add another quarter of an hour, thus making the +probable work-day consist of a round four hours.</p> + +<p>We seem, then, to have warrant for believing that if agricultural +production were socialized to-day a 1200-hour work-year would suffice +to produce the necessaries, and an 1800-hour year, many of the +luxuries, of existence for the community. This, arranged to suit the +exigencies of agricultural production, might mean a twelve-hour +workday for four or six summer months, as the case may be.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span>Does this seem Utopian? Granted: all speculations of this sort must +seem Utopian. And yet, if we look back a few centuries, we shall find, +according to no less an authority than Thorold Rogers ("Six Centuries +of Work and Wages"), that the English workman, during the fifteenth +century and the first part of the sixteenth, lived, and lived well, on +the product of an eight-hour-day. Is it, then, so fantastic to suppose +that modern machinery, under a socialized system of production, could +cut this day in two?</p> + +<p>The objection may be raised that this estimate is one-sided because it +is based on figures for agricultural production only, whereas +industrial production is really the more important half of the modern +economic process; and that therefore the generalization could not +apply to the whole economic process in a coöperative commonwealth.</p> + +<p>It is true, as already pointed out, that we do not have comprehensive +data for all, or nearly all, the industrial products in actual use in +the average household. But we have posited, hypothetically, a +socialized agricultural community producing a quantity of goods which +it can sell at the farm for an average $800 per family; this $800 +sufficing, when brought to the village store or forwarded to the city, +to buy the necessaries of existence for the family <i>at retail</i>. Now it +is well known that under present conditions the retail price of any +manufactured article comprises about one-third for actual cost of +production, one-third for manufacturer's profits and accounting costs, +and one-third for selling costs. In other words, every such article, +when it reaches the ultimate consumer, is weighted down with a load of +barnacles of trade-profits of innumerable middlemen, rents, dividends, +cost of advertising, and other trade-getting devices, etc., etc. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span>Part +of this cost of distribution is undoubtedly legitimate and could not +be dispensed with under any organization of society, no matter how +scientific. The man engaged in producing the necessaries of life will +always have to support the man engaged in transporting and +distributing them, and the man engaged in manufacturing and repairing +the machinery and other instruments of production necessary thereto. +But it is impossible to believe that this auxiliary corps will ever, +in a rational system of production, consume two-thirds of the ultimate +retail value of most goods, as it does to-day.</p> + +<p>It would seem, therefore, that if the industrial community organized +itself in the same fashion as our hypothetical agricultural community, +the exchange value of its products, whether stated in terms of social +labor, time, or money, or any other standard of value, would actually +be lower than our estimate assumes. By how much our four-hour work-day +would be reduced we have no means of determining, but it could hardly +be increased.</p> + +<p>Probably, therefore, four hours will constitute the average daily +labor in a coöperative commonwealth, and these ought to be sufficient +to give to every citizen not only the necessaries and comforts now +enjoyed by the middle class, but some of the luxuries enjoyed only by +the millionaire.</p> + +<br /> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +<br /> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_133_133" id="Footnote_133_133"></a><a href="#FNanchor_133_133"><span class="label">[133]</span></a> Report of the Industrial Commission, Vol. I, p. 829.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_134_134" id="Footnote_134_134"></a><a href="#FNanchor_134_134"><span class="label">[134]</span></a> <i>Christian Socialist.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_135_135" id="Footnote_135_135"></a><a href="#FNanchor_135_135"><span class="label">[135]</span></a> Report of the Industrial Commission, Vol. I, Part I, p. +222.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_136_136" id="Footnote_136_136"></a><a href="#FNanchor_136_136"><span class="label">[136]</span></a> "Socialism and Social Reform," p. 121.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_137_137" id="Footnote_137_137"></a><a href="#FNanchor_137_137"><span class="label">[137]</span></a> "Socialism and Social Reform," p. 120.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_138_138" id="Footnote_138_138"></a><a href="#FNanchor_138_138"><span class="label">[138]</span></a> It is stated that the retailing of milk in New York is +practically confined to six companies. But the price of milk has not +been reduced accordingly. The economies resulting from this +combination have swelled the profits of these companies. The consumers +gain nothing from it. And this is what is taking place with all trust +articles.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_139_139" id="Footnote_139_139"></a><a href="#FNanchor_139_139"><span class="label">[139]</span></a> Book III, Chapter III.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_140_140" id="Footnote_140_140"></a><a href="#FNanchor_140_140"><span class="label">[140]</span></a> This is more true of railroads in the United States +than in England, probably because competing roads have not been +tolerated in England to the same extent as in our country.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_141_141" id="Footnote_141_141"></a><a href="#FNanchor_141_141"><span class="label">[141]</span></a> The Thaw case furnishes an unfortunate illustration of +this tendency.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_142_142" id="Footnote_142_142"></a><a href="#FNanchor_142_142"><span class="label">[142]</span></a> Ely, "Socialism and Social Reform," p. 134.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_143_143" id="Footnote_143_143"></a><a href="#FNanchor_143_143"><span class="label">[143]</span></a> Ely, "Socialism and Social Reform," p. 134.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_144_144" id="Footnote_144_144"></a><a href="#FNanchor_144_144"><span class="label">[144]</span></a> Book II, Chapter I. This subject has been discussed in +detail in "Government or Human Evolution," Book II, Chapter II, p. +273, <i>et seq.</i>, by the author.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_145_145" id="Footnote_145_145"></a><a href="#FNanchor_145_145"><span class="label">[145]</span></a> "Economy of Manufacture." Babbage (London, 1832), p. +246.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_146_146" id="Footnote_146_146"></a><a href="#FNanchor_146_146"><span class="label">[146]</span></a> M. DeLesseps has stated that it cost England +£100,000,000 to change its shipping so as to fit it for passage +through the Suez Canal, and this expense applies more or less to +change of machinery due to invention in every factory.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_147_147" id="Footnote_147_147"></a><a href="#FNanchor_147_147"><span class="label">[147]</span></a> Book III, Chapter II.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_148_148" id="Footnote_148_148"></a><a href="#FNanchor_148_148"><span class="label">[148]</span></a> "Capital," Part IV, Chapter XV.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_149_149" id="Footnote_149_149"></a><a href="#FNanchor_149_149"><span class="label">[149]</span></a> Issued by the Government Printing Office in 1904, +entitled, "Cost of Living and Retail Prices of Food."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_150_150" id="Footnote_150_150"></a><a href="#FNanchor_150_150"><span class="label">[150]</span></a> "Cost of Living and Retail Prices of Food," pp. 18, +90-102, 516-93.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_151_151" id="Footnote_151_151"></a><a href="#FNanchor_151_151"><span class="label">[151]</span></a> "The Standard of Living Among Workingmen's Families in +New York City," by Robert Coit Chapin, Ph.B., Charities Publication +Committee, 1909, p. 178, <i>et seq.</i></p></div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="BK_III_CHAPTER_II" id="BK_III_CHAPTER_II"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER II<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION OF THE COÖPERATIVE COMMONWEALTH</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Few things deterred me from a study of Socialism more than the +prevailing error that it necessarily would subject us all to the +tyranny of a state which would, because it owned all the sources of +production, be able to dictate to every one of us the kind of work we +should do and the hours during which we should do it. It must be +admitted that this is the Socialism described by many authorities, +amongst them Schäffle, in a book still widely read, entitled the +"Quintessence of Socialism." But this book loses some of its authority +when we remember that Schäffle followed it with another, entitled "Why +Socialism is Impossible"; and assuredly the state Socialism described +by Schäffle is extremely unattractive to the bourgeois mind.</p> + +<p>It is not so unattractive to the workingman, because he now has these +things determined for him by his employer without having any security +of employment. State Socialism, therefore, has no terrors for him. On +the contrary, as the workingman expects that the Socialist society +will be controlled by workingmen, he expects to that extent to be his +own master; that is, he will control the society that controls him.</p> + +<p>State Socialism, therefore, is the form probably most in vogue amongst +workingmen. They have not before <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span>their minds the history of previous +revolutions which have for the most part only substituted one set of +masters for another. They cannot be expected, therefore, to appreciate +the profound change that comes over men when put into positions of +power, the temptations to which they are exposed, and the errors which +even the best intentioned are likely to commit.</p> + +<p>I do not mean to condemn state Socialism; for state Socialism +veritably controlled by the people would probably furnish better +government than that which we are now given at the hands of +capitalists. But I shall not attempt to describe the economic +structure that would prevail under state Socialism, because it has +been already described; whereas I do not think that there has been any +effort made to describe a coöperative commonwealth in which the state +would have very little more power than that enjoyed by the government +in England or Germany to-day.</p> + +<p>The difficulty of assigning tasks and of determining wages which makes +Socialism impracticable to the bourgeois mind is a pure fiction, +encouraged, I admit, by many Socialist writers who imagine that +Socialism can only come by a sudden and violent transfer of political +power from the capitalist to the proletariat, called revolution. As +will more fully appear in the next chapter, the Political Aspect of +Socialism, such a revolution is by no means necessary; for the +coöperative commonwealth, as I understand it, need not be introduced +by any sudden transfer of political power whatever.</p> + +<p>In one sense, indeed, Socialism has in part come. The <i>laissez faire</i> +school had barely announced their doctrine and proceeded to legislate +in accordance therewith, before the abominable consequences of the +<i>laissez faire</i> doctrine became so obvious that steps had at once to +be taken to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span>put an end to it. So the idea that a man could do what he +liked with his own, which resulted in working women in mines to an +extent which reduced them to the condition of the lower animals, the +use of children in factories to a degree imperilling the future of the +race, the reduction of men to starvation wages, the pollution of +rivers by factory products, the spread of cholera by unwholesome +dwellings—all gave rise to a series of legislative acts which limited +the right of a man to exploit women and children, compelled landlords +to maintain sanitary dwellings, and prevented the pollution of waters +by factory products altogether. All this legislation was an +unconscious tribute to that solidarity of the human race which is at +the root of Socialism.</p> + +<p>Nor was this all. The state and city could so obviously perform +certain functions better and cheaper than private corporations that +enterprise after enterprise was slowly taken from individuals and +assumed by the state. The postoffice was the foremost of these. The +municipalization of gas, water, and trams, the nationalization of +railroads, telegraphs, and telephones, have been pursued as purely +economic measures rendered necessary by considerations of social +welfare.</p> + +<p>Indeed, England has been rushing towards Socialism with such rapidity +that increasing rates gave the capitalists an excuse for frightening +the public with threats of bankruptcy, and occasioned the reaction in +municipal progress through which the country is now passing. But the +forces behind Socialism are so overwhelming that they convert its very +enemies into its unconscious prophets, priests, and promoters.</p> + +<p>Mr. Roosevelt, who has so lately entered the lists against Socialism, +is with the exception perhaps of Pierpont Morgan and Rockefeller, the +greatest practical <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span>Socialist in America. When Mr. Roosevelt called +together the Governors of the States to consider what steps, if any, +could be taken to prevent the shameful waste of our national resources +by capitalistic enterprise, and when Mr. J.J. Hill in a remarkable +summary counted up the awful loss to humanity involved in this waste, +neither appears to have been aware that they were demonstrating to the +world not only that Socialism was good, but that it was indispensable. +When Rockefeller brought together the distillers of oil into a single +deliberately planned body, eliminating the waste of individual +competition, he does not seem to have been aware that he was +demonstrating the amazing advantage of eliminating competition and +slowly preparing an industry for nationalization. When Mr. Morgan did +the same thing for the Steel Trust, and the Coal Trust, and when he +tried to do the same thing for the railroads until checked by a +blundering government,<a name="FNanchor_152_152" id="FNanchor_152_152"></a><a href="#Footnote_152_152" class="fnanchor">[152]</a> he, too, was unaware that he was +demonstrating the failure of the very capitalistic system for which he +stands. So the idol they themselves set up for worship they are +engaged in smashing all to pieces; and they none of them see the humor +of it.</p> + +<p>When a horse refuses to return to his stable and balks when brought to +its door, a simple device overcomes his resistance: His head is turned +away from the door and he allows himself to be shoved without +opposition hind end foremost into the stable which he declines to +enter in the more usual way.</p> + +<p>Roosevelt, Rockefeller, and Pierpont Morgan are just like this balky +horse. They loudly proclaim that under no consideration whatever will +they proceed front side forward, and yet in the middle of these +protestations they are going hind side forward faster than perhaps is +prudent. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span>The difference between Socialists and Messrs. Roosevelt, +Rockefeller, and Pierpont Morgan is that Socialists consider it more +dignified to move front side forward; more intelligent to see plainly +where they are going, and proceed deliberately of their own motion +instead of being pushed there backward by forces they pretend to +ignore.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>§ 1. <span class="sc">How Socialism May Come</span></h4> + +<p>The many theories proposed as to how Socialism may come, can be +generally classified into two: that it will come by revolution and +that it will come by successive reforms.</p> + +<p>The so-called Marxian school calls itself revolutionary, and +undoubtedly many members of this school are revolutionary, and have +the idea that Socialism will come by revolution—by violence—while +among the more thoughtful, this word is used to mean that Socialism +will constitute revolution because it will transfer power from the +exploiting class to the exploited class.<a name="FNanchor_153_153" id="FNanchor_153_153"></a><a href="#Footnote_153_153" class="fnanchor">[153]</a> Others have confused +ideas of the meaning of the word revolution in which the element of +violence and that of the transfer of political power are more or less +mixed. Socialism, of course, involves a transfer of political power, +and since such a transfer is revolutionary, Socialism may be properly +called revolutionary, though its coming may not be attended by +violence. Many authors believe that Socialism will come by the use of +extra political methods—not by successive reforms introduced by +parliamentary methods, but by a general strike, or the conversion of +the army, or adroit use of the conditions produced by war (as in +Russia after the Japanese War).</p> + +<p>Some, again, believe that Socialism may come by the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span>development of a +secret society which will secure the support of a sufficient number of +those in the possession of our military stores and military places to +permit of a conquest of political power by force. To those it may be +suggested that the days for the success of secret societies are over. +Capitalistic society possesses machinery in the shape of the press and +the secret service which would make the success of a secret society +impossible. The slightest indiscretion of one of its members under +feminine influence or that of drink would be sufficient to break up +the entire plan.</p> + +<p>The capitalists are in possession of the army, the navy, the police, +the militia, and above all, the weapons with which to arm all these. +Recourse to bullets seems unnecessary and dangerous when our enemy has +the bullets and we have not, all the more when the work can be equally +well done with infinitely less disorder and agony if we only have +recourse to the ballots which we have and they have not.</p> + +<p>When a sufficient number of men are persuaded that Socialism is the +best solution of our present economic evils, they can get what they +want the day they choose to use the ballot for that purpose; whereas +recourse to violence would lead not only to immediate disaster, but to +an indefinite postponing of the desired result. For a very large part +of our population which would, then, as now, be in doubt as to the +wisdom of adopting Socialism, would certainly be driven by violence +into the capitalistic fold and a period of capitalistic reaction would +result. This has been observed in so many revolutions in the past that +it is unnecessary to insist upon it here.</p> + +<p>This must not be interpreted, however, as intending to eliminate +violence as a possible factor in the coming of Socialism. Had Haywood +been convicted it would have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span>created an indignation so profound that +a very widespread and dangerous uprising might have taken place, and +although it would have been quelled, still, it is probable that such +an uprising might have led to Socialistic legislation. It is as +impossible to state beforehand how large a part violence will play in +the coming of Socialism as to state how much contributed to remedial +legislation in Ireland—the violence of 1798 and the 60's, or how much +the parliamentary tactics of Parnell.</p> + +<p>Socialistic legislation is of two very different kinds, and these must +be carefully distinguished. Bismarck inaugurated Socialistic +legislation such as national insurance, intended, by taking away part +of the grievance of the workingmen, to diminish their discontent and +their reason for espousing Socialism.</p> + +<p>Indeed, since the beginning of the nineteenth century legislation more +or less Socialistic has been enacted in every civilized country in the +world, partly owing to the <i>bona fide</i> desire on the part of +legislators to put an end to evils that shocked their moral sense, but +perhaps far more by legislators who thought to satisfy Cerberus with a +sop. Socialistic legislation, therefore, enacted by capitalistic +legislators for the purpose of appeasing popular discontent, does +little towards promoting Socialism. Some Socialist writers claim that +it does nothing to this end, but this view is extreme and I think +incorrect. For example, it would be impossible for Socialism to come +without violence had not the nations of the world been slowly +conferring the franchise upon the class in whose interests and through +whom Socialism will come. Socialistic legislation of a character to +put the political weapon in the hands of the people, through which +they can secure the transfer of political power from those who now +enjoy it to themselves, is of the utmost value. Indeed, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span>it is of so +much value that those Marxian Socialists who protest against all +compromise with capitalistic parties must have forgotten that it is +through the capitalistic parties, and through compromises of +Socialists with capitalistic parties, that these measures of political +reform have been enacted. In Belgium to-day the Socialists are +combining with the Radicals to wrest universal franchise from the +Catholics.</p> + +<p>Again, Socialistic legislation which improves the condition of the +working class, though it takes away a part of their grievance and +does, to that extent, diminish the incentive to Socialism, +nevertheless strengthens the workingmen, raises their standard of +living and of thought, and gives them the very education and equipment +they need in order to become Socialists.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless Socialistic legislation obtained from capitalistic +legislators can never effect the final transfer of political power +from the exploiting to the exploited class without which no Socialist +commonwealth can be secured. Here, therefore, we see the elements +which confuse this question of revolution and reform. The Marxian +Socialists in Germany have seen Socialistic legislation enacted year +after year and have seen it, by diminishing evils, tend to diminish +enthusiasm for revolution. Moreover, revolutionary German Socialists, +conscious that they have to destroy the existing political machinery +represented by the Emperor, the nobles and the church; conscious too, +that the farmer class is essentially capitalistic in its temper and +thought, and despairing therefore of getting a parliamentary majority, +naturally look to extra political methods as the only ones at their +disposal.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span>§ 2. <span class="sc">Reform and Revolution</span></h4> + +<p>There is great and regrettable confusion as regards the words reform +and revolution. The Socialist party calls itself revolutionary, and as +revolution is connected in the minds of most people with violence, the +popular impression is that the Socialist party stands for violence. +This is a profound mistake. The whole subject has been well treated by +Kautsky, an authoritative leader of the Socialist party; and he +distinctly disavows violence. Revolution to him is a "transfer of +political power from one class to another." The French Revolution +transferred political power from the king, the noble, and the church +to the bourgeois. The Socialist revolution is to transfer political +power from the bourgeois to the proletariat.</p> + +<p>Here a word of caution must be said: Socialist literature is written +for the most part by the proletariat for the proletariat; and it is +natural that it should abound in just such phrases as these. Not that +the phrase is wrong or incorrect; rather is it incomplete. To-day, in +France the Republic is largely supported by the nobles of yesterday; +so also will the proletarian government of the Socialist revolution be +largely supported by the bourgeois of to-day.</p> + +<p>The word revolution, therefore, is used here not to convey the idea of +violence, but rather in the sense of the revolution of the planets, or +of the seasons. It is as it were the closing of one cycle and the +beginning of another. There is, of course, a great difference of +opinion as to how this revolution is to be effected—whether by +parliamentary methods or extra-parliamentary methods such as strikes. +Into this subject, however, this book, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span>being addressed to +non-Socialists rather than to Socialists, will not enter. It is purely +a question of tactics and may be said to have been solved in America +for the present by the very existence of a Socialist party which puts +up candidates at every election wherever feasible in order to do what +can be done in the direction of Socialism by constitutional methods.</p> + +<p>There is, however, another use of the word revolution concerning which +it is of the utmost importance to be clear. Socialists often say that +"Socialism must come by revolution and not by reform." What is exactly +the meaning of this sentence? What is the difference between reform +and revolution?</p> + +<p>Reformers proceed upon the assumption that the competitive system is +good and that capitalists can be entrusted with the task of reforming +it so to eliminate its admitted evils. The revolutionary Socialist on +the contrary says that the competitive system is bad and that the +capitalist cannot be entrusted with the task of putting an end to it. +So he decries mere reform and insists upon nothing less than +revolution, the transfer of political power from the capitalist to the +people at large. There is thus between the reformer and the +revolutionary Socialist a difference of principle; the one upholding +the competitive system and the other denouncing it.</p> + +<p>But there is also another difference of hardly less importance between +the reformer and the revolutionary Socialist—a difference of method. +A bourgeois reformer has no preconceived plan of reform. He hits at +every evil like an Irishman at a fair—as he sees it. Governor Hughes, +who belongs to this class, thought in 1908 that race track gambling +was the greatest evil of existing conditions and devoted the entire +session of the legislature to an anti-race track gambling bill which +he triumphantly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span>passed, only to see it nullified at the first +opportunity by the courts. In 1909 he thought that a primary election +bill was the most important reform; but this primary election bill +failed to pass. The legislature, very much under his guidance, spent +two years in passing a useless anti-race track gambling bill and +refusing to pass a primary bill, although during these two years at +least 200,000 men have been seeking employment and not finding it, and +a population therefore of about a million<a name="FNanchor_154_154" id="FNanchor_154_154"></a><a href="#Footnote_154_154" class="fnanchor">[154]</a> in New York State alone +has been on the verge of starvation in consequence.</p> + +<p>The most striking feature of the bourgeois reformer is his lack of +sense of proportion; but there is a reason for it. Unemployment is not +a popular subject with the class to which Governor Hughes belongs. As +an evil it is too merciless; as a resource it is too unavowable.<a name="FNanchor_155_155" id="FNanchor_155_155"></a><a href="#Footnote_155_155" class="fnanchor">[155]</a> +So it is impossible to get any legislature in any State in this Union +effectively to consider the subject of unemployment.</p> + +<p>The Socialist, on the contrary, has a definite preconceived plan of +legislative enactment. While the reformer, however well-intentioned +and intelligent, is hacking away at random at the jungle of evils in +which the competitive system encompasses him, and hardly ever +attaining any substantial progress, the Socialist has his course +directed for him by the polar star. He regards such bills as anti-race +track gambling as a waste of time. Race-track gambling is a necessary +and poisonous fruit of the competitive system. It is useless to attack +the fruit and leave the tree standing. The only legislation, +therefore, that interests the Socialist looks towards putting an end +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span>or a check to the competitive system that results in the exploitation +of the Many by the Few. And of all the evils the one that has stood +out most startling and appalling during the last two years is the evil +of unemployment.</p> + +<p>The immediate demands of the Socialist party published at the end of +the Socialist platform,<a name="FNanchor_156_156" id="FNanchor_156_156"></a><a href="#Footnote_156_156" class="fnanchor">[156]</a> indicate the character of measures which +the Socialists urge. In one sense these are reforms, many of which +Governor Hughes favors, but they all tend towards one definite +end—the limitation and ultimate suppression of the competitive system +with the exploitation of the Many by the Few. In one sense, therefore, +Socialists are reformers, but revolutionary reformers; all their +reforms look towards the transfer of political power from the Few who +exploit political power for their individual benefit, to the Many who +will utilize political power for the benefit of all.</p> + +<p>Having indicated the difference between reform and revolution, let us +consider how far the Socialist is justified in saying that the +competitive system is so bad that it cannot be improved—that it must +be replaced altogether.</p> + +<p>When a wagon is thoroughly worn out, it is useless to repair it; for +if one part is strengthened it throws the strain upon a neighboring +part which breaks down; and if that part is strengthened it throws the +strain upon another which again breaks down. It is possible by +intelligently renewing various parts of the wagon upon a preconceived +plan, eventually to replace the broken-down wagon by an entirely new +one; but the difficulty of doing this is extreme, and the wagon when +so reconstructed, being composed of parts of different ages, must +again give way at its most worn part. So experience indicates that it +is better to throw a fairly used-up wagon on the junk heap and build a +new one in its place.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span>Reform measures such as we have had under former administrations +resemble an effort to patch up a worn-out wagon; for a reform measure +directed at one evil is found to produce other evils very apt to be as +great, if not greater than those that the measure is trying to +suppress. Not many years ago a society for the suppression of vice +made a crusade in New York upon vicious resorts. Such resorts are +abominable; they should not exist in an orderly community. But +attacking these resorts, without attacking the conditions that created +them, only distributed the evil all over the city, involving a +pernicious contact with unperverted youth.</p> + +<p>Again, the difficulty of reconciling Sunday closing of barrooms with +furnishing <i>bona fide</i> travellers at hotels with refreshments was +solved in New York by the Raines law, which defined a hotel by +establishing a minimum of bedrooms. The result was that to almost +every barroom there is attached this minimum of bedrooms to permit of +the sale of liquor on Sunday; and this effort to secure Sunday closing +has resulted in converting the barroom into a house of prostitution.</p> + +<p>Again, legislation for putting an end to the awful congestion and +filth of the New York city tenements has by imposing upon the landlord +expensive repairs, raised rents, so that, although the tenement +dweller is little benefited because of evasion of the law, his rent +has been uniformly raised.</p> + +<p>In the chapters on the Scientific and Ethical Aspects of Socialism, an +effort will be made to show why the competitive system is essentially +bad and must remain bad so long as acquisitiveness is deliberately +made the dominating motive of human activity; and how by modifying +economic conditions we can secure all the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span>benefits of a tempered +acquisitiveness without the appalling results of an acquisitiveness +that knows no bounds. This argument belongs, however, to the +constructive argument for Socialism, and we have not yet completed the +destructive argument against existing conditions. For there are two +further illustrations furnished by recent efforts to curb competition +which not only tend to demonstrate the hopelessness of the task, but +throw light upon existing conditions and impending dangers. I refer to +the rate law and legislation tending to control monopolies—to the +inevitable tyrannies of the trust and the trade unions and the +irreconcilable conflict between the two.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>§ 3. <span class="sc">Possible Transitional Measures</span></h4> + +<p>I shall describe the coöperative commonwealth on the theory that it is +to come gradually, not because I consider this the only way for +Socialism to come, but one of the possible ways and the one most +intelligible to the bourgeois mind.</p> + +<p>Morris Hillquit and John Spargo have given good sketches of the +Socialist state.<a name="FNanchor_157_157" id="FNanchor_157_157"></a><a href="#Footnote_157_157" class="fnanchor">[157]</a> I shall adhere closely to their views, +emphasizing and detailing them; and I am the more glad to adopt this +plan because both are members of the National Executive Committee of +the Socialist party and will not be accused of taking the bourgeois +view of Socialism; whereas because I have been a bourgeois, I am +likely to be accused of this.</p> + +<p>Mr. Spargo begins by repudiating the idea of the Socialist state as a +"great bureaucracy" and declares <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span>the Socialist ideal to be a "form of +social organization in which every individual will enjoy the greatest +possible amount of freedom for self-development and expression; and in +which social authority will be reduced to the minimum necessary for +the preservation and insurance of that right to all individuals."</p> + +<p>The rights of the individual Mr. Spargo summarizes as follows:</p> + +<p>"There must be perfect freedom of movement, including the right to +withdraw from the domain of the government, to migrate at will to +other territories; immunity from arrest, except for infringing others' +rights, with compensation for improper arrest; respect of the privacy +of domicile and correspondence; full liberty of dress, subject to +decency; freedom of utterance, whether by speech or publication, +subject only to the protection of others from insult, injury, or +interference with their equal liberties. Absolute freedom of the +individual in all that pertains to art, science, philosophy, and +religion, and their teaching, or propaganda, is essential. The state +can rightly have nothing to do with these matters; they belong to the +personal life alone. Art, science, philosophy, and religion cannot be +protected by any authority, nor is such protection needed."</p> + +<p>On the other hand, he summarizes the functions of the state as +follows:</p> + +<p>"The state has the right and the power to <i>organize</i> and <i>control</i> the +economic system, comprehending in that term the production and +distribution of all social wealth wherever private enterprise is +dangerous to the social well-being, or is inefficient; the defence of +the community from invasion, from fire, flood, famine, or disease; the +relations with other states, such as trade agreements, boundary +treaties, and the like; the maintenance of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span>order, including the +judicial and police systems in all their branches; and public +education in all its departments."</p> + +<p>The state, according to Mr. Spargo, is not to <i>own</i> all sources of +production (this is state Socialism); but is to have the right and +power to <i>organize</i> and <i>control</i> the economic system. There is +between these two statements all that distinguishes the crude +Socialism of the nineteenth century from the practical Socialism of +to-day. This is emphasized by Mr. Spargo when he states that +"Socialism by no means involves the suppression of all private +property and industry"; and the further recognition that the +"Socialist state will not be static"; that is to say, it will not once +for all decide that certain industries must be socialized and certain +other industries be left to individual initiative.</p> + +<p>The dominant factor that will determine these things is the public +welfare. When private property in a particular thing is found +injurious to public welfare, it will be taken over by the state for +the purpose of being socialized, as will hereafter be explained. When +it is deemed that private property in a public industry is injurious +to public welfare, this industry will be socialized. When, on the +contrary, it is found that by socializing an industry the advance of +that industry tends to be paralyzed, private initiative will be +encouraged to enter into that industry. Indeed, the economic structure +of the commonwealth will be such that inefficiency in a socialized +industry will automatically give rise to the competition of private +initiative therein.</p> + +<p>I have used the expression "socialized industry." It is above all +things important that we should be clear as to what these words mean; +for it is the socialization of industry which is the modern substitute +for the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span>Socialist state. We cannot understand this better than by +taking a concrete example.</p> + +<p>Let us assume that the public has become convinced that a few +individuals have already too long grown inordinately rich out of the +refining and distribution of oil, and that the time has come for this +industry to be socialized. The old theory was that the state would +expropriate this industry and become the employer of all engaged in +it. It is argued in favor of such a system that if the state can be +entrusted with the distribution of letters, it can also be entrusted +with the distribution of oil; and this is undoubtedly true. But if +this same argument is applied to all industries it will expose the +state to two great dangers: the state will be overburdened by the +multiplicity and vastness of these tasks; and the state will become +despotic. And because this task is greater than any one set of men can +properly perform; even though the intentions of the members of the +government be the best possible, errors of judgment and errors of +detail will involve the state in injustice and discontent.</p> + +<p>This difficulty can be met by not putting all these functions upon the +state, but by so providing that the men shown in the past best able to +handle a particular industry should continue to handle it. The +socialization of the Standard Oil industry would simply mean the +elimination of capitalistic control and exploitation. In taking over +the oil industry, the state would doubtless adopt the method already +adopted in taking over railroads, etc. A board would be appointed to +take expert testimony as to the valuation of the industry, to +determine the real value of every share. It would be called upon to +value every stockholding with a view to determining to what +compensation each stockholder was entitled; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span>because a distinction +will have to be made between various classes of stockholders. Some +stockholders have purchased their stock out of the economies of an +industrious lifetime. They depend upon the dividends from such stock +to support their old age. To cut down the income they derive from this +stock might not only work an injustice, but work an injury to the +commonwealth; for if these stockholders had not sufficient income to +support themselves, they would become a burden on the state. Other +stockholders would be found to have sufficient wealth to support a +considerable reduction in the valuation of their stock without +hardship. Others again would have such enormous wealth, that, having +much more income than they can possibly spend, the reduction of their +income would mean no hardship save that of depriving them of <i>power</i> +for the most part exerted at the present time injuriously to the +commonwealth.</p> + +<p>Experts, therefore, appointed by the state to make estimates with a +view to the transfer of an industry from private to social ownership +will have two distinct functions to perform: the function that boards +of experts in similar cases perform to-day, to estimate the actual +value of the property; and to estimate the wealth of the respective +stockholders and classify stockholders according to wealth with the +view of effecting the transfer from private to social ownership +without injustice to the individual or injury to the commonwealth. It +is probable that compensation to stockholders will consist of +annuities rather than lump sums. The advantage of compensation by +annuity rather than by cash payment is considerable. As the state is +taking over industries it will be more difficult for individuals to +find investment for lump sums than to-day. As the state is looking +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span>forward to taking over industries to a sufficient extent to eliminate +pure capitalism<a name="FNanchor_158_158" id="FNanchor_158_158"></a><a href="#Footnote_158_158" class="fnanchor">[158]</a> altogether, it is to be hoped that future +generations will not feel the need of capital of their own and will be +all the more ready to enter into the coöperative scheme of industry +if, having no capital, they have to work each in his own industry +under the new and prosperous conditions which coöperative production +ought by that time to have brought about.</p> + +<p>Cases will undoubtedly be found where wealthy parents have worthless +or defective children and grandchildren. Again, some parents have so +contributed to the development of industry of the nation, as in the +case of Mr. John D. Rockefeller and Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan, that it +may seem proper that the compensation given in the shape of an annuity +to them should not end abruptly at their death; but that a part of it +should be continued to their offspring. This question is one of +conscience as well as of social welfare; and in view of the enormous +importance of it to the wealthy of to-day, it is a pity that they +confine themselves to denouncing Socialism, and by so doing, leave the +elaboration of the Socialist program to a party of discontented which +is likely to deal with them when the day of expropriation arrives, not +only without mercy, but without justice.</p> + +<p>To judge of the difficulty of determining the questions likely to +arise, let us consider for a moment the case of Mr. Rockefeller.</p> + +<p>Mr. John D. Rockefeller has testified over and over again that for +many years he has had nothing to do with the management of the +Standard Oil, and yet he draws from the Standard Oil an income so +enormous that, not being <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span>able to spend more than a fraction of it, he +has invested the balance in railroad shares and thus become master of +a large part of our railroad system. I myself believe after a careful +study of the organization and development of the Standard Oil that Mr. +Rockefeller has amassed his fortune strictly in conformity with law. +He has, it is true, deliberately lied at certain critical periods. But +lying is not a crime, and is not actionable except under specified +conditions. Mr. Rockefeller then is not a criminal. He simply presents +a case where, having rendered an immense service to the community, he +has received as a remuneration for that service wealth that surpasses +the dreams of avarice.</p> + +<p>If Mr. Rockefeller's holdings in the Standard Oil were expropriated by +the state without one dollar of remuneration, Mr. Rockefeller would +still be in possession of a far larger income derived from his +railroad holdings than he and all his family could possibly spend. It +is probable, therefore, that in such cases as those of Mr. +Rockefeller, J. Pierpont Morgan, and others of their class, the state +would make a valuation of all their wealth, leave them what it is +proper they should have, and expropriate the rest. Even though there +were left to multi-millionaires more income than they could possibly +spend, the surplus expropriated by the state out of each of their +swollen fortunes would leave to every industry a large fund which +could be applied to increasing wages, improving conditions, and +reducing prices. If, for example, it turned out that the income Mr. +Rockefeller derives from his railroad shares is more than he can spend +and that, therefore, there were no reason why he should continue to +own any shares in the Standard Oil whatever, the dividends accruing +from the shares now held by Mr. Rockefeller in the Standard Oil would +be applicable to improving <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span>the conditions of those who work for the +Standard Oil. It is probable that Mr. Rockefeller owns about one-half +of the shares in the Standard Oil. All the dividends now paid to Mr. +Rockefeller would in such case be applicable to these things. Such a +solution would permit of the division of the enormous dividends which +are being paid to-day to Mr. Rockefeller amongst the working body of +the Standard Oil.</p> + +<p>As to compensation, there is considerable disagreement in the +Socialist party, and many Socialists would not admit the principle of +compensation at all. In France, it is probable that these last +constitute, if not a majority, at any rate a very large minority of +the party; but in America I think it can be said that the Socialist +party stands for compensation. In support of this contention I cannot +do better than quote a passage from the article of Mr. Steffens in +<i>Everybody's Magazine</i>, Oct., 1908.<a name="FNanchor_159_159" id="FNanchor_159_159"></a><a href="#Footnote_159_159" class="fnanchor">[159]</a></p> + +<p>This passage is extremely illuminating because we find in it the +opinions of two men thoroughly representative of the two wings of the +Socialist party: Eugene Debs, who is what Mr. Roosevelt would call "an +extreme Socialist"; that is to say, he looks at Socialism from the +revolutionary point of view; he regards the issue as between the +capitalist on the one side and the proletariat on the other; he is an +ardent exponent of the class struggle theory; his sympathies are +exclusively marshalled on the side of the poor, and his first impulse, +therefore, on being questioned on this subject, is to express an +opinion contrary to compensation. And yet his ideas on this subject +are not so rooted but that they can at once be corrected when he is +reminded by Victor Berger of the evils likely to result from +expropriation without compensation.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span>To those unfamiliar with the personnel of the Socialist party, it is +important to say a word regarding Victor Berger. He is the editor of +the <i>Social Democratic Herald</i>, published in Milwaukee; but he is far +more than this. He is the recognized leader of the Socialist party in +Wisconsin, the only State in which Socialism has succeeded in electing +members to the municipal council and to the State legislature. No one +who reads his editorials can fail to recognize that he is not only an +economist, but a scholar. He is regularly elected to the National +Executive Committee of the Socialist party at the head of the poll; +and although I must not be understood to imply that there are no other +men in the party of as great weight as Mr. Victor Berger, I think it +may be stated without fear of contradiction that he to-day has more +personal influence in the party than any other one man. The ease with +which he brought the Presidential nominee around to his view on the +subject of compensation is a measure of his influence. I think that +upon the subject of compensation the opinion of Victor Berger is +likely to prevail.<a name="FNanchor_160_160" id="FNanchor_160_160"></a><a href="#Footnote_160_160" class="fnanchor">[160]</a></p> + +<p>The socialization of industry does not mean any change in the +personnel of the industry whatever. Every man drawing salary or wages +from the Standard Oil will go on drawing salary or wages as before. +The industry will be handed over to those who actually maintain and +work at it. These men will run the industry in very much the same way +as did the guilds in the Middle Ages, subject to the payment of +annuities to old stockholders determined by the court.</p> + +<p>There would, however, be some notable distinctions, between the +medieval guild and the guild under a coöperative commonwealth.</p> + +<p>The latter would not constitute a complete monopoly; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span>on the contrary, +independent refiners would continue to refine and distribute oil, +maintaining a wholesome competition of a character to prevent the oil +guild from becoming perfunctory and inefficient. This competition +would tend to avert the evils that attended the close monopoly of the +medieval guild, practically all of which can be traced to the +completeness of their monopoly.</p> + +<p>Again the state would not <i>own</i> the oil industry; it would reserve the +right to <i>control</i> it. No direct control need be exercised providing +the industry were wisely administered; but if the industry had +recourse to devices for crushing out competition to which the trusts +to-day habitually resort, the state would exercise this direct control +by appointing one or more members to the governing board of the +industry. The oil guild would, therefore, be kept upon its good +behavior, both by the competition of the independent refineries and by +the danger of state intervention.</p> + +<p>When the public became convinced that the time had come for the +socialization of the steel industry, exactly the same process would be +adopted. In this case, the function of those who had to value +stockholdings would be facilitated. It has never been revealed how +much J. Pierpont Morgan got in common stock for his rôle in the +organization of the Steel Trust; but it is known that the amount of +stock taken by him on that occasion was enormous. It would be +interesting to calculate the number of hours of work he personally +spent in promoting this trust and to compare these hours with the +amount of stock which he received as a price of this service. Such a +method might facilitate the work of those who had to value the stock +and determine the amount to which he was entitled for the service he +rendered.</p> + +<p>The socialization of industry, therefore, will be seen to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span>be a +process in which, once started, the state need have little further to +do. It will practically consist of a transfer of the industry from the +hands of the capitalist to the hands of those actually engaged +therein. It will involve the valuation of every stockholding in such a +fashion that the capitalist will during his life receive in some cases +all, though in other cases less than he has heretofore received; so +that the excessive income now enjoyed by the capitalist will be +applicable to improving the conditions of those engaged in the +industry; it will also be applicable to the reduction of cost to the +consumer. And this process applied to every trusted industry will have +for immediate effect gradually to improve the condition of the +workingmen. When applied to them all, not only will the workers +receive an increased wage, but the wage they receive will have its +purchasing power increased by the lowering of prices in all +industries. Obviously this system is not going immediately to put the +luxuries now enjoyed by the multi-millionaire at the disposal of every +workingman; but it will increase them as the annuitants die, so that +with the disappearance of the first generation of multi-millionaires, +the conditions of labor will be still further improved; and with the +disappearance of the second generation, to whom doubtless some +annuities will also be given, the workingman will receive all the +benefits now given to the capitalist.</p> + +<p>Inasmuch as the wage-earners now receive on an average a little less +than one-half of the whole profits of the industry, from this +socialization of industry alone the laborer's will ultimately have +their compensation doubled by increase of wage and decrease of prices.</p> + +<p>By "worker" is not meant what we now call workingmen alone. It includes +all engaged in industry through the work of their hands or their heads. +It is a common <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span>error into which Mr. Roosevelt has fallen that Socialism +proposes to improve the condition of the one at the expense of the +other; that it is a doctrine of Socialists that "all wealth is produced +by <i>manual</i> workers."<a name="FNanchor_161_161" id="FNanchor_161_161"></a><a href="#Footnote_161_161" class="fnanchor">[161]</a> No such foolish proposition has ever been +propounded by any Socialist however "extreme."<a name="FNanchor_162_162" id="FNanchor_162_162"></a><a href="#Footnote_162_162" class="fnanchor">[162]</a> Socialists recognize +the enormous rôle played by brain in the organization and administration +of industry. What Socialism seeks to do is to eliminate the idle +stockholder—not the industrious manager. If Mr. Roosevelt would cast +his comprehensive eye around the class to which he belongs, he will +observe that it is composed in great part of idle stockholders who +contribute nothing whatever to the work of the industries which furnish +their dividends. And because these stockholders are idle, he will find +that they tend also to be "thriftless and vicious," and that he is +denouncing his own class when he characterizes as "morally base" the +proposition that "the thriftless and the vicious, who could or would put +in but little, should be entitled to take out the earnings of the +intelligent, the foresighted, and the industrious." He is very hard on +them; he says this is living by "theft or by charity" and that this +means "in each case degradation, a rapid lowering of self-respect and +self-reliance."<a name="FNanchor_163_163" id="FNanchor_163_163"></a><a href="#Footnote_163_163" class="fnanchor">[163]</a> If a Socialist were to use this language of the +idle stockholders, he would be characterized as intemperate. I would not +myself go so far as Mr. Roosevelt. There are many idle stockholders who, +<i>because they are unconscious of living "by theft or by charity,"</i> have +preserved a social conscience that sets them to righting the wrongs of +the many. Mr. Roosevelt himself, indeed, belongs to this very class. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span>If +he ever takes the trouble to understand Socialism, he will see that it +proposes to put an end to the class that is idle and tends to be +"thriftless and vicious"; that in other words, in this as in every other +point on which Mr. Roosevelt attacks us, Socialism stands for the very +opposite of what Mr. Roosevelt thinks. It proposes to take our +industries out of the control of the idle and hand them over to the +industrious, whether their industry be of the hand or of the head.</p> + +<p>The result of such transfer will be to leave every man doing the work +which he is already doing; to improve his condition; to keep alive the +competition necessary to prevent inefficiency or perfunctoriness and +make character; to diminish the stakes of the game, so that the worker +shall not lose health and happiness as now, but shall secure more or +less of the luxuries of life. And industry will be so organized that +no man who wants to work shall be without work; and no one who does +not want to work shall be allowed to be idle.</p> + +<p>Having explained what is meant by the socialization of industry, and +pointed out how small the rôle of the state need be in the +socialization of industry at large, we may next proceed to consider +certain industries in which the state does, to-day, in other countries +and would in a coöperative commonwealth certainly play the dominant +rôle. In the first place, the state would own all natural monopolies. +By the word "state" must not be understood the Government at +Washington alone. Certain monopolies are national monopolies and would +therefore be owned by the national Government at Washington; for +example, railroads, telegraphs, national forests, national waterways, +etc. But it is the local authorities that would take over such local +monopolies as tramways, electric works, gas works, and all those +things that are <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span>essentially municipal in their nature. The wisdom of +this transfer of natural monopolies from private to public ownership +it is not necessary to discuss. The enormous advantages that have +attended this transfer in countries where it has been conscientiously +tried leave no room for discussion except by those who have a personal +interest in it, and to those this book is not addressed. Moreover, +this subject will be treated in the next chapter.</p> + +<p>There are, however, certain industries which, because they are +intimately connected with public hygiene, it seems indispensable that +the municipality should take over. I refer to such industries as +packing houses, butcher shops, pharmacies, and the production and +distribution of milk, ice, and bread.</p> + +<p>The recklessness with which we allow ice companies to distribute ice +collected from ponds into which the drainage of a large population +filters and from the head waters of such rivers as the Hudson, which +receives all the sewage of Albany, Schenectady, and Troy, seems +incredible, were we not already familiar with the recklessness which +hands over all our industries to a competitive system so fierce in its +operation that adulteration is its necessary consequence.</p> + +<p>Many of the bakeshops which furnish us with our bread baffle +description, and on the poisons which are introduced into our milk I +have already dilated. Wherever the temptation to adulterate is +considerable and the consequence of adulteration to public health +great, the community should not accept the risk that arises from +competition except within the narrowest possible limits. For this +reason, it will doubtless be wise for a coöperative commonwealth to +own and run packing houses, butcher shops, pharmacies, bakeries, and +to produce and distribute milk and ice.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span>As regards ice, it is amazing that the municipal authorities should +not have undertaken this task before—especially in view of the +raising of the price of ice for the poor by the Ice Trust. Every city +has to supply its citizens with water, and as they are in control of +pure water, it should be as much the function of the city to furnish +pure ice as pure water. They have reservoirs free from pollution from +which ice could be cut; and nothing but the political influence of the +Ice Trust on the one hand, and the stupid indifference of the consumer +on the other, has permitted this business to remain in private +hands.<a name="FNanchor_164_164" id="FNanchor_164_164"></a><a href="#Footnote_164_164" class="fnanchor">[164]</a></p> + +<p>The enormous profits made by the Meat Trust would permit not only of +sanitary handling of this industry, but proper compensation to all +engaged therein, and a notable reduction in the price of meat.</p> + +<p>The fact that the baking industry is not trusted will make the taking +over of this industry by the state a more difficult undertaking, but +not for that reason an impossible one.</p> + +<p>Competition is not necessarily to be eliminated in the taking over of +these industries. It is quite possible that the state might not +furnish good bread, and it ought, therefore, to be permissible for any +individual to enter into this business. The competition will be +limited because, inasmuch as the state will charge for its bread very +little above cost price, few will be induced to enter <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span>into this +business out of the desire for making money. The only motive that will +induce citizens to enter into the business will be that of furnishing +bread to their taste. Moreover, such industries would have to comply +strictly with hygienic conditions, and they would be not so numerous +as to make inspection as difficult, ineffectual, or expensive as +to-day.</p> + +<p>The production and distribution of milk suggests a function of the +state to which sufficient importance cannot be attached. I mean the +creation of farm colonies. On this single point I am not supported by +the authority of the Socialist party. In other words, farm colonies +have never been suggested as a part of the Socialist program; but this +seems to be due to an oversight, for there does not seem to be in the +Socialist party, as far as I can judge of it, any opposition to the +idea. And the rôle of the farm colony seems to me of such importance +that it is hardly possible to give too much attention to it.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>§ 4. <span class="sc">Farm Colonies</span></h4> + +<p>The first farm colony was established in Holland. The system has since +taken root all through Europe, but has reached its finest development +in the Canton of Berne, in Switzerland. It proceeds upon the principle +that while it is difficult to make money out of farm land, it is easy +to get nourishment from it, and that the most obvious remedy for idle +labor is to apply it to idle land.</p> + +<p>In Switzerland it is also recognized that idle labor is divided into +two distinct classes—the unemployed and the unemployable—and the +unemployable must be again classified into those unable to work +through physical defect and those unable to work through moral +defect; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span>that is to say, those who are morally willing and physically +unable and those physically able and morally unwilling. There are +therefore in Switzerland two different kinds of farm colonies: forced +colonies which deal with the tramp, the drunkard, and the +misdemeanant—all those persons upon whom discipline has to be +exercised; and free colonies for those physically disabled or who are +out of employment through causes over which they have no control.</p> + +<p>It is in the poorest countries in Europe that farm colonies have +reached their highest development. Switzerland has been driven to +organize farm colonies by the fact that she is too poor to disregard +the burden of the unemployed and unemployables. It is in the richest +countries, England, France, and America, that the farm colony system +has been most neglected. The farm colony plan is the cheapest as well +as the best way of solving the problem of pauperism, deserving or +undeserving. This question has been fully treated elsewhere<a name="FNanchor_165_165" id="FNanchor_165_165"></a><a href="#Footnote_165_165" class="fnanchor">[165]</a> and +it is only referred to here in sufficient detail to explain why it is +believed that the farm colony system will form an essential feature of +every Socialistic community. For although there will be an enormous +diminution in the number of those unwilling or unable to work (for the +reason that under a coöperative commonwealth no one need be overworked +and, therefore, no one need be reduced to the physical exhaustion +which is the prime cause of pauperism), and although there will be +fewer drunkards because drunkenness, also, is largely due to overwork, +nevertheless, until the coöperative commonwealth has been in operation +several generations, that part of the population that is unwilling or +unable to work <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span>will have to be provided for. And even later there +will certainly be some part of the population that will require +discipline as regards work. The farm colony system, more and more +indispensable in our existing civilization, will perform an important +rôle in the gradual transformation of society from the competitive to +the coöperative form. It probably presents to-day one of the most +perfect pieces of constructive Socialistic work in which legislators +can engage. For it has the extraordinary advantage of satisfying an +immediate necessity of the competitive system and at the same time +realizing some fundamental principles of Socialism; for example, that +every man and woman is entitled to work; that the aged are entitled to +support; and that the state should own enough land to assure both +these things.</p> + +<p>The fact that our railroads are now awakening to the necessity of +handling the tramp proves the necessity of the system, and the fact +that in Switzerland the forced colonies have been made to pay their +own expenses indicates its economy. Indeed, no proposed legislation +illustrates so well the power driving us towards Socialism as the +history of attempts at legislation in this direction in New York +State.</p> + +<p>Twelve years ago a farm colony bill was drawn by a committee appointed +by the charitable societies in New York; but it did not secure at +Albany a moment's serious attention. We were told by our legislators +that poverty is not a crime. When we answered that our bill did not +make it a crime more than the penal code, but only purposed to +substitute for the expensive and degenerating system of the misnamed +workhouse, inexpensive and regenerating work on a state farm, and that +the plan had operated effectually in Holland and Belgium for over a +hundred years, we were told that the plan might do in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span>Holland, but +would not do here. So in the archives of the French senate may still +be read the report made by Thiers, when appointed by Louis Philippe on +a committee to investigate the first railroad ever built, which +concludes as follows: "Railroads may serve a purpose in England, but +they are not suited to France."</p> + +<p>A similar bill, improved by borrowing from late experience in +Switzerland, drawn by a similar committee (to which was added the +Commissioner of Charities, Mr. Hebberd) was presented at Albany at the +session of 1909, and although not passed, was sufficiently well +received to encourage the hope that it will pass at the session of +1910. It had the support of the great railroads in New York state; for +the railroads have discovered that the tramp is an intolerable +nuisance.<a name="FNanchor_166_166" id="FNanchor_166_166"></a><a href="#Footnote_166_166" class="fnanchor">[166]</a> Colonel Pangborn of the Baltimore & Ohio has lately +estimated that the damage occasioned by tramps to railroads in the +United States amounts in a single year to twenty-five million +dollars.<a name="FNanchor_167_167" id="FNanchor_167_167"></a><a href="#Footnote_167_167" class="fnanchor">[167]</a> For the tramp in America does not tramp; he rides on +railroads; he sets fire to freight cars and freight stations; he +obstructs the lines, wrecks trains, and is a fruitful cause of action +for damages. The measure, therefore, which was thrown out by the +Assembly when proposed from motives of humanity, may be passed as a +measure of self-defence, and self-defence thus constitutes an element +of the power always at work on the side of progress that neither +ignorance nor interest will be able to resist.</p> + +<p>The reason for believing that the farm colony will perform an +important function not only during the period which must elapse before +the coöperative commonwealth, but also after the coöperative +commonwealth has been attained, is that work on land seems to be the +only work <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span>to which the unemployed and unemployables can be suitably +put.</p> + +<p>Every day we seem to be increasing our capacity to make land +productive. We not only make new discoveries, but profit by those of +more ancient civilizations than our own. It has long been known that +in the East they subject grain to the same system of replanting that +truck gardeners do early vegetables.<a name="FNanchor_168_168" id="FNanchor_168_168"></a><a href="#Footnote_168_168" class="fnanchor">[168]</a></p> + +<p>Dr. Fesca informs us that in Japan rice is treated in the same way: +"It is allowed first to germinate; then it is sown in special warm +corners, well inundated with water and protected from the birds by +strings drawn over the ground. Thirty-five to fifty-five days later, +the young plants, now fully developed and possessed of a thick network +of rootlets, are replanted in the open ground. In this way the +Japanese obtain from twenty to thirty-two bushels of dressed rice to +the acre in the poor provinces, forty bushels in the better ones, and +from sixty to sixty-seven bushels in the best lands. The average, in +six rice-growing States of North America, is at the same time only +nine and a half bushels."<a name="FNanchor_169_169" id="FNanchor_169_169"></a><a href="#Footnote_169_169" class="fnanchor">[169]</a></p> + +<p>Agriculturists are familiar with the results obtained by Major +Hallett's growing what he called "pedigree cereals"; that is to say, +by using as seed only the best <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span>ears in his crop; and by giving to +each grain sufficient space he obtained sometimes as much as 2500 +grains for one grain planted. Even better results were obtained by +Grandeau.<a name="FNanchor_170_170" id="FNanchor_170_170"></a><a href="#Footnote_170_170" class="fnanchor">[170]</a></p> + +<p>We are only beginning to know how much can be produced out of an acre +of ground. One thing, however, is certain: where labor is cheap and +land limited as in the case of our unemployed, there is no method +known by which labor can produce better results than by putting it to +what is called "intensive culture"; and as the secrets of intensive +culture become more known, it becomes clear that if the state would +only take the trouble to set aside a certain amount of land for the +purpose, it could without further expense than that of the first +installation make able-bodied unemployed and unemployables +self-supporting.</p> + +<p>This is not a question of fertility; it is simply a question of space. +Unfertile land is made fertile by intensive culture. It has been said +that the Paris gardener defies the soil and the climate. Every truck +gardener there stipulates in renting land that he "may carry away his +soil down to a certain depth, when he quits his tenancy."<a name="FNanchor_171_171" id="FNanchor_171_171"></a><a href="#Footnote_171_171" class="fnanchor">[171]</a> In +other words, soil is now a manufacture; we are no longer confined to +fertile areas; we can make any area fertile by the application to it +of industry and intelligence.</p> + +<p>Municipalities can contribute enormously to the fertility of the land +around them. A district near Paris, called Genevilliers, was a few +years ago a desert tract of sand. The city poured over this tract the +sewage of the city after a filtration that deprived it of its +offensive features. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span>This tract has become of fabulous fertility; but +the municipality having failed to buy this land before this operation, +the increased value of the land has accrued to the persons who +happened to be the owners of it; whereas if the city had begun by +purchasing the land at the price at which it could have been purchased +before this operation, it would have had here a tract of enormous +value that, by the farm colony system, would have greatly contributed +to relieve the city of the burden of pauperism.</p> + +<p>It would seem as though the art of using manure were practically +unknown in this country by the farmers. The results that can be +obtained in this way are given in the Farmer's Bulletin, No. 242, +where an intelligent use of manure resulted in crops of 6.7 tons of +hay for every acre of cultivation;<a name="FNanchor_172_172" id="FNanchor_172_172"></a><a href="#Footnote_172_172" class="fnanchor">[172]</a> and this not by the +application of any extraordinary science, but simply by recognizing +the obvious fact that manure must be spread daily and not allowed to +lose most of its value from being piled into heaps, where it burns and +degenerates.<a name="FNanchor_173_173" id="FNanchor_173_173"></a><a href="#Footnote_173_173" class="fnanchor">[173]</a></p> + +<p>The farm colony must be so organized that it furnishes work summer and +winter. As its name implies, the colony is not confined to work on +land. Many skilled workmen would lose their skill if they were put to +farm work. Swiss colonies, therefore, have a few industries +established in each colony to which skilled workmen are put. This +occupies unskilled inmates during the winter <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span>months when the weather +is too inclement for out of door work, and also teaches them. +Moreover, in a self-supporting farm colony there is work which can be +done by the aged and the infirm, teaming, taking care of animals, +plucking fruits and vegetables, preparing them for preserving, and all +the small jobs that attend large housekeeping.</p> + +<p>The farm colony plan will in part relieve the state of the expense of +old-age pensions. Every industry will provide pensions for its own +workers and thus the state will be relieved by the guilds; but there +will always be some aged left unsupported by such private industries +as will continue to exist by the side of the guilds. Of these it may +be expedient to relieve some in their own homes; but many will find in +the free farm colony an abiding place more congenial to themselves +than the almshouse, and far less expensive to the state. It will be +more congenial because there will be no more disgrace attending a free +farm colony than any other state employment, and because it will be +organized so as to render its work as agreeable as possible. It will +never be so attractive as work outside the colony because it will be +subject to the kind of regulations that attend all big institutions, +so there is little fear of these colonies becoming larger than is good +for the community. But it will be a home rather than an almshouse, and +it will be less expensive to the state because of the work which even +the aged can do.</p> + +<p>The farm colony furnishes a system by means of which the state can +compel the unwilling, able-bodied tramp and pauper to earn his own +livelihood; where it can afford work to the unemployed without cost to +the state; and can utilize to the utmost possible the services of +those who are not able-bodied.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span>It must not be imagined that discipline of a harsh character is +necessary. There are in every one of these colonies in Europe dark +cells, where a man who will not work, or will not obey rules, is +confined and kept on bread and water until he consents to work and to +obey rules; and the very fact of the existence of these cells, and of +this system, has been found sufficient to secure good work and +obedience to rules without using the dark cells except under +exceptional circumstances. The director of one of the Dutch colonies +told me that he did not use the dark cell once a year.</p> + +<p>There is no reason why the farm colony system should not be extended +to the treatment of all crime except that we have prisons, prison +managers, and a prison administration which stand in the way of +radical prison reform; and the general stupidity which prefers the +ills we have to the blessings which, obvious as they are, we have not +imagination enough to comprehend. The folly of keeping an enormous +population of criminals idle, within four walls, at an enormous +expense to the community, when we could keep them busy to their great +advantage, physical, intellectual, and moral, without a penny of cost +to the community, is one of those things which future generations will +find it difficult to believe.<a name="FNanchor_174_174" id="FNanchor_174_174"></a><a href="#Footnote_174_174" class="fnanchor">[174]</a></p> + +<p>In the coöperative commonwealth there will be no prisons, no +penitentiaries, no almshouses, no tramps, no unemployed. There will be +farm colonies of various grades, from those that have no discipline +beyond that necessary to secure the observance of rules necessary to +all institutional life, through those that have just enough discipline +to keep lazy men at work, to those that have sufficient discipline to +keep even criminals at work. For although it is obvious that under a +coöperative <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span>commonwealth in which there is no necessity for +exhausting any individual, no necessity for alcoholism or stimulation, +no anxiety regarding the means of existence; where there is throughout +a high standard of living, ease for the mind and abundance for the +body, the production of the natural criminal ought to be immensely +diminished, yet the occasional criminal will have to be provided for.</p> + +<p>For further study of the farm colony system as it has been developed +in Switzerland, and as it might be applied in the United States under +existing conditions, the reader is referred to "The Elimination of the +Tramp."<a name="FNanchor_175_175" id="FNanchor_175_175"></a><a href="#Footnote_175_175" class="fnanchor">[175]</a> It is hoped, however, that enough has been said regarding +these colonies to enable us to consider the immense rôle which an +intelligent classification of farm colonies would play, not only under +existing conditions, but in the future coöperative commonwealth.</p> + +<p>A single farm colony for dealing with tramps as proposed in the bill +now before the Assembly of New York State would render an +indispensable service by taking off the streets and highways the +vagrants who, because they are now confounded with the unemployed, +tend to confuse the mind of the public on this all-important subject. +But although such a colony, organized under the same conditions as the +forced labor colony in Switzerland, would render this service without +cost to the state beyond that of first installation, its usefulness in +the problem of production at large would be extremely small. It would +attain its purpose if it were self-supporting. But if this tramp +colony proves a success, the same system could be applied not only to +take care of all our dependent and criminal classes, but to play an +important rôle in the production of the necessaries of life.</p> + +<p>There ought to be three distinct classes of colonies:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span>The criminal farm colony surrounded by walls where the strictest +discipline would be enforced, and within which the inmates would be +confined to intensive cultivation, handicrafts, and some form of +machine industry.</p> + +<p>The forced labor colony for misdemeanants and able-bodied vagrants and +paupers where larger liberty would be enjoyed; and</p> + +<p>The free labor colony where there would be no regulation except that +indispensable in all institutions.</p> + +<p>Perhaps to these should be added probationary colonies as described in +the "Elimination of the Tramp," p. 59, for those as to whose +willingness to work there is doubt. These would furnish the "test" so +much sought by English Poor Law Guardians. From these probationary +colonies the inmates would be graduated down to the forced labor +colony, or up to the free. So also criminals would be prepared for +social life by passing through the forced labor colony, and inmates of +the forced labor colony prepared for social life by passing through +the free labor colony.</p> + +<p>In a coöperative commonwealth free labor would have no objection to +industrial work conducted within these colonies, because the less work +there is to be done in any given industry, the less hours would the +workers in that industry have to give to it. So that every industry +carried on in the colony would by so much diminish the amount of goods +produced outside by that industry, and to that extent relieve the free +labor engaged therein. This great objection to penal labor being +removed, the state will have an advantage in distributing the +industries throughout its colonies according to geographical +conditions.</p> + +<p>The criminal colonies will naturally be more industrial in their +character than the agricultural, because they will <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span>have to be +operated within prison walls. They will nevertheless include truck +gardening and horticulture.<a name="FNanchor_176_176" id="FNanchor_176_176"></a><a href="#Footnote_176_176" class="fnanchor">[176]</a> Penal colonies, therefore, will group +themselves around great water power, which will be retained by the +state and not dissipated by the gift of franchises to private +corporations.<a name="FNanchor_177_177" id="FNanchor_177_177"></a><a href="#Footnote_177_177" class="fnanchor">[177]</a></p> + +<p>Misdemeanants and tramps will preferably be set to work on large farms +which, because of their size and remoteness from towns, will render +escape difficult. The methods adopted in Switzerland for making escape +difficult if not impossible, are fully described in the "Elimination +of the Tramp."<a name="FNanchor_178_178" id="FNanchor_178_178"></a><a href="#Footnote_178_178" class="fnanchor">[178]</a></p> + +<p>As in these colonies there is more or less work to be done all the +year round, it would be indispensable to build in connection with them +factories which could be operated during the winter months, the state +being careful to limit the factories to the production of things +already socialized, so as not to compete injuriously with private +industry.</p> + +<p>Free labor colonies ought to be located near large centers of +population, not only because of the character of the things they will +produce, for example, milk, vegetables, and fruits, which need a +market at the door, but also because it is in these great centers that +pauperism and unemployment express themselves in largest figures and +in greatest variation. In these colonies inmates will remain the +shortest terms, and it is important, therefore, to have them in +proximity to places where the inmates are likely to live in order to +avoid the heavy expense of transportation.</p> + +<p>Free labor colonies will be engaged in the production <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span>of milk for two +reasons: The hygienic importance of milk is so great that it should as +much as possible be removed from the competitive field. It is +important that milk should be produced as near as possible to the town +where it is to be consumed. It is wiser, therefore, to assign the +production of milk to the free labor colony, near the city, than to +the penal or forced labor colony that would be comparatively remote. +But it must not be imagined that the production of milk can be +confided exclusively to such inexpert labor as that of the inmates of +free labor colonies. The production of milk can only be entrusted to +careful experts receiving a relatively high rate of wages. Free labor +colonies, therefore, will have to be provided with a corps of men and +women trained in the production of milk and dairy products.</p> + +<p>It may be suggested that the fact that dairy products must be +entrusted to trained experts is a reason for not associating the +production of milk with free labor colonies. This objection disappears +when account is taken of the fact that dairy farms should have +connected with them such subsidiary products as chickens and pigs. +Skimmed milk is of the greatest value in these subsidiary productions; +so also is the garbage that would accumulate in such an institution as +a farm colony. The care of pigs and poultry can be confided to +defectives such as we are likely to find in a free labor colony. It +furnishes work all the year round; it enriches the soil rather than +impoverishes it.</p> + +<p>Free labor colonies, therefore, will be engaged in the production of +milk, pigs, poultry, vegetables, fruits, and flowers. They will be +furnished with grain by the forced labor colonies in the States where +grain can be cultivated on a large scale; and by distributing +industries among the three classes of colonies and arranging for +exchange of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span>products, the whole colony system ought not only to be +self-supporting, but to produce more than the colonies can themselves +consume. The disposition made of these products will be studied in +connection with the problem of distribution.</p> + +<p>Under such a plan, no pauperism or even poverty will be tolerated in +the towns. As soon as a man, woman, or family is incapable of +self-support in the competitive field, or because of sickness or +accident in the coöperative field, they will be taken out of the town +where their presence is an expense and a nuisance not only to +themselves, but to the community, to a free farm colony where health +can be restored and defectives put to the best use possible.</p> + +<p>Farm colonies in the Rocky Mountain region where sheep and cattle can +be fed on public land for nine or ten months in the year, and fed by +hand during the remaining two or three months, will furnish cattle and +sheep to municipal packing-houses that will distribute meat with the +economy of the postoffice system from door to door.</p> + +<p>State farm colonies in the grain-growing districts will furnish grain +to all the other colonies and wheat to municipal bakeries that will +distribute bread with the economy of the postoffice system from door +to door.</p> + +<p>Free labor colonies adjoining cities will produce milk, butter, and +dairy products, pork and pork products, chickens, eggs, vegetables, +fruits, and flowers and distribute them with the economy of the +postoffice system from door to door.</p> + +<p>State factories distributed amongst penal colonies in accordance with +the geographical conditions that will make them most efficient, will +furnish garments, shoes, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span>hats, etc., to the other colonies at the +cheapest possible price.</p> + +<p>By the side of these productions, there will be maintained exactly the +same system of private ownership that exists to-day with all the +virtues that emulation produces free from the fatal consequences that +make failure result in misery, pauperism, prostitution, vagrancy, and +crime. For so long as the individual prospers in his private +enterprise, he will be encouraged to maintain it; whereas the moment +he fails, he will come within the state system under which the private +individual having proved his inability to support himself and his +family under the competitive plan, will be shown how to support +himself and his family by state institutions that will have reduced +this task to a science.</p> + +<p>That the state will occasionally fail in this task is to be expected. +But what is the worst consequence that can result from failure? +Nothing more than the maintenance of the competitive system in every +field of industry where the state fails. If the state fails to furnish +good bread, private initiative will take the baking of bread from the +state and will keep it until the state succeeds in furnishing bread to +the taste of the public. If the state fails in furnishing garments, +private initiative will keep garment making in its hands except in so +far as the state makes garments for the inmates of its own +institutions.</p> + +<p>Many problems connected with this system of production will occur to +the mind of the intelligent reader. These problems, however, will be +found to belong more strictly to the question of distribution and +government control—two subjects that cannot be intelligently +discussed until the question of private property in land has been +answered.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span>§ 5. <span class="sc">Land</span></h4> + +<p>Socialism was formerly defined as including state ownership of land. +This idea is to-day, however, abandoned in favor of a much more +intelligent system:</p> + +<p>One principal difference between the Socialist and the Single Taxer is +that the Single Taxer is opposed to state ownership of all land; and +it is probable that the Single Taxer is more wise in this respect than +the state Socialist. In the first place, the state Socialist who wants +all land to be owned by the state ignores some very fundamental facts +in human nature: He ignores the fact that humanity has for generations +cultivated the instinct of ownership in land. There is nothing dearer +in life to the French peasant than the strip of land barely sufficient +to support life, and he will cling to that strip of land until some +accident has torn it from him and reduced him to the condition of a +pauper. Out of this instinct of ownership springs the extraordinary +industry of the farmer—an industry which is not excelled or equalled +in any but sweated trades.</p> + +<p>The life of the peasant or small farmer is one of hardship that leaves +no moment for leisure, and of monotony that populates our lunatic +asylums.<a name="FNanchor_179_179" id="FNanchor_179_179"></a><a href="#Footnote_179_179" class="fnanchor">[179]</a> Not only is the life of the farmer one of the hardest, +but it is also one of the least secure. The failure of a single crop, +the loss of a single horse, disease in a chicken yard, a violent +hail-storm—any of these may oblige a farmer to put that first small +mortgage on his farm which is the beginning of his ruin. Nevertheless, +the farmer sticks to his farm and labors on it from the rising of the +sun, through the glare <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span>of noon and up to the last ray in the west, +because the land is his own and he has for it the kind of affection +that a mother has for her child—an affection that makes no sacrifice +too great. It would seem unwise to deprive the farmer of the +satisfaction of ownership and the community of the industry and +productivity which this sense of ownership results in.</p> + +<p>There is no conceivable advantage in depriving the farmer of the +ownership of his farm. The farmer now pays taxes on his land. The +right of the state to exact a tax puts the state in the position of a +landlord except that the state calls the tribute it levies on the farm +a "tax," whereas the owner calls this tribute "rent." Of course there +is a great difference between the tax levied by the state and the rent +paid by the farmer to the private owner, because the one is light and +the other heavy. This is the material difference which must not be +lost sight of in the discussion of the subject. Every farmer expects +to pay taxes to the state and all he asks is that the tax be not an +onerous one. It can be rendered less onerous in the coöperative +commonwealth than to-day because a coöperative commonwealth will not +exact payment of taxes in money, but will content itself with payment +in produce. Instead of the state taking over the land and depriving +the farmer of ownership, and exacting rent, the coöperative +commonwealth will leave the ownership in the farmer and exact a tax in +produce; and so long as this tax is paid, the farmer will remain the +undisputed owner of his land, and will continue to give it that hourly +care without which the best results can hardly be obtained.</p> + +<p>There is nothing in modern Socialism, therefore, to frighten the +farmer. He cannot but benefit by it, for his taxes will be levied in +produce instead of in cash; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span>and it is the conversion of farm produce +into cash which is the farmer's main difficulty to-day, as was seen +when money was discussed.</p> + +<p>The title of a farmer under a coöperative commonwealth will be much +like that of the peasant in the Island of Jersey, who generally +purchases his land on condition of paying a certain amount to the +owner per annum. These Jersey titles are just as secure as freeholds +in England or in this country, subject of course to the payment of the +rent charged.</p> + +<p>The tax in produce, however, which the farmer is to pay the state will +be far more just and fair. Land will be classified according to +productivity, and the farmer will never be called upon to furnish the +state with a larger proportion of his crop than he can afford. On the +other hand, farmers will not be allowed to keep the ownership of land +which they do not use. If it is to the benefit of the community that +land be drained, the owner will be called upon to drain it within a +definite period. If he does not drain it within that period, the state +will take his undrained land from him. Nor will the farmer be allowed +to cut down timber where the maintenance of the timber is deemed +important to the commonwealth.<a name="FNanchor_180_180" id="FNanchor_180_180"></a><a href="#Footnote_180_180" class="fnanchor">[180]</a> He will be taught forestry and the +propagation of deer, and shown how to produce as much income out of +his timber as he would out of the land when cleared. Above all, he +will be relieved from the exorbitant prices which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span>he now pays the +trust for every article which he does not himself produce. The state +will undertake the task of distribution, so that he can receive as the +farmer in South Australia does to-day—a part payment in cash for all +produce he delivers at the nearest railroad, and a subsequent payment +when his goods have been sold through the instrumentality of the +state. But this last belongs to Distribution.</p> + +<p>Prices will not be lowered by the competition of farm colonies. On the +contrary, they will be maintained by the prices asked by farm +colonies. Farm-colony prices will allow every efficient farmer a +substantial living, and the farmer will have the benefit of the +example and advice furnished him by the nearest farm colony, which +will be a model farm.</p> + +<p>It may be objected that under this system the farmer will not have +sufficient motive for adopting modern methods. There are undoubtedly +farmers who are averse to the adoption of modern methods; but there +are also thousands of farmers eager to know modern methods. Rev. J.D. +Detrich, who produced 6.7 tons of hay for every acre in cultivation on +his farm<a name="FNanchor_181_181" id="FNanchor_181_181"></a><a href="#Footnote_181_181" class="fnanchor">[181]</a> was so pestered by neighbors who called to study his +methods that he was obliged to remove to an adjoining State. +Recalcitrant farmers will slowly be compelled to adopt modern methods +by the fixing of prices that will make modern methods indispensable to +prosperity.</p> + +<p>In every way, therefore, the farmer will be benefited by the +introduction of Socialism. He will keep the title of ownership in his +farm that is dear to him; he will pay his taxes in produce instead of +in cash; he will have the benefit of education and advice at his door; +and he will be relieved of the exorbitant prices now demanded by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span>the +trusts, and of that greatest of all his anxieties, the conversion of +his produce into cash.</p> + +<p>As regards city land, the problem is a very different one, because the +treatment of city land is an essential part of the whole municipal +problem.</p> + +<p>Practically all municipal problems may be reduced to one—namely, +crowding. As long as farmers live half a mile apart as they do on a +standard 160-acre farm in the West, sewage and garbage are matters of +individual rather than social interest. Provided the farmer does not +pollute springs and water courses, he may dispose of his sewage and +garbage as he chooses; but the moment men and women are crowded into +cities on the vertical as well as on the horizontal plane, the +disposal of sewage and garbage becomes of vital importance to the +whole community.</p> + +<p>So also the maintenance of roads is a comparatively simple problem in +the country, where traffic is light; whereas in the city, where +traffic is great, the pavement of the streets presents problems not +only of resistance, but of noise. The droppings of horses on the +country road can be neglected; whereas those of horses passing a +thousand per hour in a crowded city street create a dust injurious to +health, and give rise to the problem of street cleaning.</p> + +<p>Again, where land is plentiful compared with population, the rent +charged for land is small and often negligible; whereas where land is +scarce compared with the population, as in the island of Manhattan, +the rent becomes prohibitive for all except the wealthy, and +workingmen are reduced to the alternative between living near their +work in unwholesome tenements and living far from their work in less +unwholesome conditions. And this scarcity of land gives rise to many +problems of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span>congested districts, of tuberculosis, sanitation, +transportation, and of rent.</p> + +<p>If we look back on the whole history of our civilization, we shall see +an unconscious struggle always going on between private interest and +public spirit. The one tends to divide cities into two districts, one +composed of the palaces of the rich, the other of the slums of the +poor, and seeks to convert every problem of municipal government into +means of increasing private wealth. The other, on the contrary, we +find manifested in the "Age of Faith" building cathedrals; in the Age +of Beauty or Renaissance, building public squares and gardens; and in +recent years taking such services as transportation out of the hands +of private individuals and vesting them in the city. This struggle +between public and private interest has been, up to the present time, +unconscious or fitful. The Socialist asks that it should become +conscious and progressive; that is all.</p> + +<p>Let us take a few concrete instances: It was not until dark alleys +were found to facilitate the work of criminals that municipalities +were driven to light the streets; it was not until a district of +Birmingham had become a menace to public welfare because its filth +engendered both disease and crime that the municipality was driven to +put an end to it; it was not until cholera began its ravages that +municipalities were driven to provide clean dwellings; it was not +until the evils attending imperfect transportation became intolerable +that New York was driven to build subways; it was not until fires +devastated the city that New York organized its fire department; it +was not until the filth of the streets was intolerable that the city +took the cleaning of streets out of the hands of private contractors. +Up to the present time municipal activities have been forced into +existence by the growth <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span>of the evils to a point where they could no +longer be endured.</p> + +<p>Over a century ago it was said that municipalities were "sores upon +the body politic," and this phrase has been solemnly quoted ever since +as a sort of slogan of despair; whereas the municipality might be and +ought to be, if intelligently administered, the mainspring of all our +great national activities. The Socialist asks that, instead of waiting +for evils to become intolerable before we attempt to cope with them +and then adopting measures which, because they come late, are +inadequate, we should take up municipal administration as a +housekeeper takes hold of the administration of her house, adopting +measures which we must inevitably in the end adopt before the evils +become intolerable, and before the city becomes so over-built as to +make the difficulty of coping with these evils insurmountable.</p> + +<p>This is the spirit in which a citizen should approach the question of +city land; and if we do approach it in this spirit, the problem of how +to put an end to the evils arising from private ownership of land is +in many respects similar to those which present themselves in our +effort to put an end to the evils of private ownership of stock.</p> + +<p>For example, some land will be in the hands of men who have +contributed absolutely nothing to its value. They have inherited it, +and upon the rent which conditions have enabled them to exact they +have lived lives of uselessness if not of profligacy. One has abjured +his American nationality to avoid the payment of the personal tax, and +applies the sums which he receives, thanks to the industry of the +community in New York, to the publishing of a conservative newspaper +in London opposed to every effort permanently to improve the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span>conditions of humanity there. Some land will be in the hands of men +and women who have invested it in the economies of a laborious life +and for whom it represents an old-age pension. Between these two, +there is every degree of merit.</p> + +<p>The problem of compensation in taking over of city land will prove as +complicated as in the socialization of industries, and very much the +same principles will apply. Every city presents problems of its own, +and it is difficult, therefore, to lay down general principles +applicable to all cities. But one point seems clear: We shall have to +live in our cities while we are transforming them, and this means that +the transformation will have to be slow. If the state undertakes to +transform the slums into habitable tenements, the present families of +the slums must be accommodated somewhere while the transformation +takes place.</p> + +<p>Rebuilding our cities to accommodate them to the changed conditions of +a coöperative commonwealth, will be little more than doing on a large +scale what Birmingham did on a small scale when it converted its slums +into Corporation Street. If it is to be done well, it must be preceded +with the deliberate preparation indispensable to the success of every +large undertaking.</p> + +<p>The Single Taxers are right when they claim that the enhancement of +the value of land due to the industry of the many ought not to be +appropriated by the idle few. The "unearned increment" should accrue +to the whole community and not to a few landowners. As, therefore, the +enhancement of the value of land due to crowding is a peculiar feature +of the city, and distinguishes it from the country, it seems +indispensable that city land should eventually be owned by the city; +by the mass of citizens who labor and dwell therein.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span>Another thing seems clear, namely, that a city cannot be transformed +to suit the needs of a coöperative commonwealth so long as the city is +owned by a few individuals who, by virtue of their ownership, have a +right to resist the transformation.</p> + +<p>The ownership in city land is, therefore, totally different from +ownership in farmland. In the latter case, there is no necessity for +suppressing private ownership; whereas in the city, such suppression +seems indispensable. It may be added that the beautiful parts of every +city are due to state ownership. The Place des Vosges was built by +Henry IV; the Place Vendôme was built by Louis XIV; the Place de la +Concorde was built by Louis XV; the Champs Elysées and the Arc de +l'Etoile were built by the two Napoleons. Practically all the great +monuments of Paris were built by the state. Her streets were planned +by the state, and the height of her private buildings regulated by the +state. The same thing is true of London and Vienna. It is in our +American cities alone that private initiative being allowed full sway, +our buildings look like ill-assorted books in a neglected library; +that we are committed to interminable streets and avenues which pass +what monuments we have but lead up to none. In a word, our cities are +committed to conditions so inartistic that the task of making them +beautiful seems impossible short of destroying and rebuilding them +altogether.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>§ 6. <span class="sc">Summary of Productive Side of Economic Construction</span></h4> + +<p>It will be seen that modern Socialism does not propose to interfere +with the private ownership of the farmer in his farm, and that the +production of agricultural and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span>dairy products will remain much in the +same hands as at present, except that the state will have farm +colonies to standardize production; to weed out those farmers who, +because of their incapacity, are unable to produce what the land is +capable of producing; and to furnish work not only for unsuccessful +farmers, but for all who cannot earn a living in socialized industries +or under competitive conditions. Such a condition of things will +involve no redistribution of tasks. It will leave every man working in +the industry in which he is; it will leave those who are engaged in +competition still engaged in competition where it is not productive of +injurious result. It will raise wages in all socialized industries, +and raise the purchasing power of these industries by reducing prices; +it will, therefore, raise the standard of life for the workingman, +secure for him clean and wholesome habitations, and a possibility of +maintaining a home in the best sense of the word, where our present +civilization makes such a home impossible. By farm colonies it will +make the exploitation of men, women, and children impossible. Children +will not work at all until they have reached the fullest education of +which they are capable; women will not be allowed in industrial work +as long as they are bearing and rearing children; and men need never +receive a sweated wage when they have state institutions where they +can in exchange for their work, have board, lodging, and as much wage +as they can in addition earn. There will be no criminal class, for no +man need be driven to crime by want; and by the abolition of the +criminal class and the criminal environment, it is probable that crime +resulting from economic causes will tend to disappear. Nor will a +woman be driven by need to prostitution. Every industry will provide +compensation for its own superannuated and defectives, and the state +will have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span>but few for whom to furnish old-age pensions. The community +will be relieved, therefore, of the enormous burden of vagrancy, +pauperism, prostitution, and crime; and all this without interfering +with any competitive industry capable of supporting its workers up to +the standard of life created by socialized industry, and without any +such convulsion as will throw upon the state the dangerous problem of +assigning tasks.</p> + +<p>We have heretofore considered only the problem of production; we have +still to consider that of distribution.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>§ 7. <span class="sc">Distribution.</span></h4> + +<p>At the present time anarchy reigns over production and distribution. +This anarchy has been in great part already replaced in the field of +manufacture by the trust. By combination, or as Mr. Rockefeller says, +"by coöperation" (Book II, Chapter III), all those engaged in the +manufacture of the same thing have eliminated competition so as to +obtain the advantages of production on a large scale. The coöperative +commonwealth will avail itself of the work already done by the trust, +and as has been already shown, will leave all these trusted industries +in the hands of those actually engaged in the work thereof.</p> + +<p>In the field of agricultural production, however, little has been done +to diminish the anarchy of distribution.<a name="FNanchor_182_182" id="FNanchor_182_182"></a><a href="#Footnote_182_182" class="fnanchor">[182]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span>The anarchy which now characterizes distribution must be considered +under two heads: competition in the field of transportation, and +competition in the field of retail trade. America is unique among the +nations of the world for insisting upon railroads being run on the +competitive system. In Europe franchises are given to railroads with a +view to public welfare and the distinct policy of avoiding +competition. Capitals are adopted as railroad centers and franchises +so granted as to furnish a system of main lines radiating from these +centers in such a manner as to compete with one another the least +possible. In America we have proceeded upon the plan that railroads +are to compete just as traders do, and that it is by competition that +rates are to be kept down. Railroads competing with one another +between the same places are run at a social loss, the community is +better served by one railroad run in the interests of the country than +by two between the same points run in the interests of private +individuals.</p> + +<p>As regards transportation then there seems to be no room for +competition whatever. The state should own all systems of +transportation with a view to bringing the produce of the country and +of the factory to the consumer at the lowest possible cost to the +community.</p> + +<p>Let us consider how a coöperative community will deal with competition +in the retail trade.</p> + +<p>There is no reason why the private retailer conducting a business for +his own account should not continue to exist side by side with a +system of state distribution. There are reasons of propinquity and +convenience that enable the small retailer to live to-day next door to +the big department store. In the same way, the private retailer can +perfectly well continue to live by the side of the state distributing +system. Nevertheless, some parts <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span>of retail trade will be taken over +absolutely, for example, milk, for hygienic reasons. And other +departments will be so completely in the hands of the state that so +long as the state furnishes a good quality it will be improbable that +private enterprise will find it useful to interfere; as for example, +the baking of bread.</p> + +<p>As regards all those things which are likely to remain in the hands of +individual enterprise, as, for example, things in which taste plays an +important rôle—garments, hats, wallpaper, furniture, musical +instruments, other instruments of pleasure such as athletic goods, +bicycles, automobiles, steam launches, photographic apparatus—the +retailing of these is likely to remain as much a matter of private +enterprise as the production of them.</p> + +<p>As regards the necessaries of life the consumer should be able to get +them at the lowest possible price. All things of a hygienic character, +which it is of the utmost importance that the consumer should have of +the purest quality, the state will undertake not only to transport, +but to distribute in state stores. It is of course conceivable that in +some towns the state store will not be conducted to the satisfaction +of its citizens, and private enterprise will therefore run a store in +that place better than the state. In such case, private enterprise +ought to be encouraged in its competition. But inasmuch as good state +management will be in a coöperative commonwealth a matter of the +greatest importance, it is not likely that the citizen will long +endure bad administration. This belongs more to the political aspect +of Socialism than to the economic, and will be studied there. We shall +therefore now pass to a brief consideration of just how this system of +distribution will work.</p> + +<p>The state, having control of transportation, will adopt the method now +prevailing in South Australia, and will <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span>pay the manufacturer and the +farmer in cash at least 50 per cent—if not more—of the value of his +goods at the railroad station. These will then be transported by the +state in conformity with the needs of the various villages, towns and +cities to stores of its own. These will be run upon the coöperative +plan; the goods sold at only a small margin above cost, this margin +being kept to meet the expense of distribution; and the profits—if +any—will be distributed at the end of the year amongst customers on +the coöperative plan.</p> + +<p>It is obvious, however, that if the state is to distribute in the most +economical manner, it must have some control over production. It must +not be called upon to transport and distribute more of any one thing +than the public wants; nor must it be caught without enough to satisfy +the needs of the consumer. This makes it indispensable to study the +problem of control at the same time with the problem of distribution.</p> + +<p>No function of the state will probably be more important in a +coöperative commonwealth than that of controlling the production of +those things which, because they are necessaries or have hygienic +importance, a coöperative commonwealth should itself control, +transport, and distribute.</p> + +<p>The problem of control is not as difficult as it might at first seem. +We know perfectly well to-day how much wheat, corn, beef, mutton, +etc., are actually consumed by our population. All we have to do to +determine this amount for ourselves is to take, for example, the +amount of wheat produced in the country, and the amount exported, +subtract the exports from the product and determine the amount +consumed in this country. The same thing can be done practically with +every staple product. The state, therefore, can determine every year +in advance <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span>how much of every staple product <i>must</i> be produced for +the needs of the country. It will, of course, add to the amount +actually needed a margin to provide for poor crops and other +accidents.</p> + +<p>Let us consider how this control will be exercised as regards farm and +dairy products. It has been already suggested that land should be +classified according to geographical conditions, exposure, and soil. +The productivity of the farm colonies will of course be known by the +state. Every private farm will have its productivity roughly +determined and every farmer will be expected to produce a minimum +amount. Of the amount he produces, a part will be taken as taxes to +furnish the government with the means to pay for administration. The +rest will be paid for partly in gold and partly in orders on the state +stores. The object of this system of payment is the following:</p> + +<p>It has been explained that taxes will be paid in produce. This payment +therefore needs no further comment. A minimum product ascribed to +every farm will be paid for with orders on the state store. This +represents the amount which the farmer <i>must</i> produce to keep his +farm. It also represents the amount which the state <i>must</i> have to +supply its citizens with food. All over and above this amount will be +paid for in orders on the public store, or in cash, as the farmer +shall elect; or, if the farmer chooses to dispose of this part to +private traders he will be at liberty to do so. By this method the +community will be furnished with produce belonging to three different +categories: produce in the shape of a tax for which the farmer +receives no compensation, this being practically the rent he pays the +state for his land; second, the minimum produce for which the farmer +receives equivalent orders on the public store, this category being +the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span>produce upon which the community depends for its sustenance.</p> + +<p>The order upon the public store need differ in no way from the +greenback of to-day except that, instead of entitling the holder to a +dollar's worth of gold, it will entitle him to a dollar's worth of +goods in the public store. Thus if wheat can be produced in a +coöperative commonwealth at 50 cents per bushel, as seems likely,<a name="FNanchor_183_183" id="FNanchor_183_183"></a><a href="#Footnote_183_183" class="fnanchor">[183]</a> +the farmer will receive for every two bushels an order for one dollar +on the public store.</p> + +<p>The third category which represents the surplus above what the farmer +is required to produce in order to keep his farm, will constitute a +surplus of production applicable to exchange for luxuries and foreign +goods. This exchange can be made directly by the farmer or by private +banks and private merchants, or by the state.</p> + +<p>Let us consider the control the state must exercise over, and the rôle +it must play in, the distribution of products of socialized industries +such as oil, sugar, steel, iron, leather, etc. The amount of iron and +steel required by the nation in the course of a year is not as +constant a quantity as the amount of wheat. It is, however, +sufficiently constant to make it possible to establish a minimum. The +state will begin by requiring socialized industries to furnish this +minimum and determine the price to be paid for it, thus creating a +stock on hand which can be accumulated so as to diminish the amount +needed in subsequent years and furnish a reserve which can be called +upon in case of extraordinary need. The state, having established the +minimum of steel, sugar, oil, etc., which it needs, will require of +the socialized industries <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span>to produce this minimum. It will also +require them to produce, in addition, an amount necessary to +contribute their share to the maintenance of the government. Every +associated industry, therefore, will furnish at regular intervals the +result of its manufacture in three categories similar to those already +explained—a part for taxes; a minimum already referred to that will +be paid for in orders on the public stores, and a surplus of which it +can dispose either to the state or directly to foreign bankers and +merchants. In this way, every associated industry will so adjust its +manufacture as to produce these three categories; the proceeds of the +surplus will be applicable in the first place to the support of +workers through accidents, illness, and during old age; and the rest +will be divided as profits amongst those engaged for example in the +steel industry. These profits will be applicable to the purchase of +luxuries either produced at home or produced abroad.</p> + +<p>Under this system the coöperative commonwealth will have goods to +exchange with foreign countries and will to this extent be a merchant +as regards all those things which it holds in excess of the needs of +the community, and as regards that surplus which it may purchase from +the farmer and the socialized industries. This leaves room for a +system of private banks and private enterprises in international +trade; for the farmer and the socialized industries will be free to +trade their surplus through the government or through private +individuals as they may consider most to their profit.</p> + +<p>The distributive stores will present very much the same aspect as our +department stores of to-day except that, though they may be even more +gigantic in size, they are not likely to be as diverse; for a large +proportion of the things now dealt in by department stores will +doubtless <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span>remain in the hands of private industry. The essential duty +of the state will be to provide its citizens with necessaries, not +luxuries pertaining to taste and pleasure.</p> + +<p>The state store will be divided into two departments, retail and +wholesale; not that a different price need necessarily be charged in +the retail than in the wholesale department, but because the machinery +for furnishing builders with bricks is different from that for +furnishing housewives with groceries. The state stores will also have +a system for the regular delivery from door to door of such +necessaries of life as are daily or at stated intervals consumed, +e.g., milk, bread, coal, ice, meat, vegetables, and fruit, thereby +applying postoffice economies to the distribution of these things.</p> + +<p>The labor of distribution will be diminished by the slow +transformation of city dwellings into gigantic apartment houses so +constructed as to give the fullest supply of light and air to every +room; and these apartment houses will have a distributing system of +their own to the relief of the state.</p> + +<p>As regards alcoholic drinks, the state will undoubtedly undertake the +production of these with a view to taking this industry as far as +possible out of private hands. It will not be necessary, however, to +take it entirely out of private hands provided all private production +is subjected to vigorous control. But the distribution of alcoholic +liquors will probably be monopolized by the state on the Gothenburg +plan with, perhaps, the important feature which characterizes the +Public House Trust in England; that is, the persons in charge will +receive a salary and an additional commission upon the sale of +non-alcoholic drinks, but no commission on the sale of alcoholic +drinks; and this with a view to giving the persons in charge an +interest in selling non-alcoholic <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span>drinks. Under these circumstances, +there will be no temptation to encourage drunkenness and the rule of +not giving alcoholic drinks to persons already under the influence of +liquor will be complied with.</p> + +<p>It will be possible under such a general system for the state to serve +as a medium for an exchange of labor that will greatly enhance the +pleasure of life. Under existing conditions, the factory works summer +as well as winter despite the fact that temperature makes work during +the summer irksome and dangerous to health and life; and at the very +time that the population is debilitated by being called upon to work +in factories during the heat of June, July, and August, the farmer is +in despair because he cannot find help to take in his harvest. Once +industries are associated so that they have a definite knowledge of +how much they have to produce, there is no reason why they should not +so adjust the work of the factory as to keep it open during the eight +cool months of the year, leaving the factory hands free to help the +farmer in the country during the four hot months. The same thing holds +good with the farmer who, during the short cold days of winter, has +little to do on the farm and can, therefore, to his advantage as well +as to the advantage of the community, devote those months to factory +work. There need be nothing compulsory about this exchange, for +socialized industry is master of its own time and can distribute its +work throughout the year as it chooses. But the fact that the state is +possessed of the knowledge how much is to be produced by every factory +and how much by every farmer—how many men are needed in the winter in +every factory and how many men in the summer on every farm, will +enable the state to serve as a medium through which the factory hand +can arrange to work on the farm during the summer <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span>and the farmer can +arrange to work in the factory in the winter, if they respectively +desire to do so.</p> + +<p>It does not follow that the farmer is to be compelled to work long +hours in the summer in the field and also in the factory during the +winter; or the factory hand to give up his holiday in order to work on +the farm during the summer. It has been shown that all the necessaries +of life can probably be produced, even at the present time, by the +adults in the community though they work no more than two hours and a +half a day. If this be so, it would be easy so to adjust the work as +to enable those who desire it to work more hours in the day and become +entitled to so much longer vacation. The foregoing is only intended to +show that in addition to the vacation which can be thus enjoyed, the +farmer can relieve the monotonous existence of the farm during the +winter months by work in the factory, and the factory hand can escape +from factory conditions during the summer to his own advantage and to +the advantage of the community at large.</p> + +<p>Another object we have in view is to put an end to the anarchy which +exists in all that part of our industry which has not been +concentrated into trusts—the anarchy under which some things are +produced in greater quantities than are needed, and some things needed +are not produced in sufficient quantities—under which no producer can +tell whether he is producing enough of a thing until the time for +profiting by the knowledge has passed; no producer can tell whether he +is producing too much of a thing until he is injured and even ruined +by the discovery. It is, I think, obvious that all these objects are +obtained by concentrating industry after the fashion of trusts in the +hands of the men actually engaged in the process of production; by +producing things not to make profit but <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span>to satisfy needs; and in the +quantities which we know to be needed and not in quantities determined +by the desire of the producer to make large profits cheeked only by +the bankruptcy that attends production in larger quantities than the +market will take.</p> + +<p>Thus, the state orders thirty million tons of iron ore because we know +that this amount of iron ore has served the needs of the country +during a period of great activity, and will furnish not only all we +can use ourselves in that year, but all that we can dispose of abroad. +These thirty million tons represent then the maximum that we can +usefully manufacture; and we can safely order thirty million tons +because the state is not under the necessity to sell this iron to get +gold with which to pay wages, rent, coal, and the running expenses of +the factory. In a coöperative commonwealth there will be no rent to +pay. The coal will be paid for in exactly the same way as the iron, by +the issue of store orders.</p> + +<p>The workers will get as nearly as possible the exact product of their +work. There will be no capitalist who will take from them what the +capitalist now takes, that is, about one-half of their earnings. Nor +will those doing a low order of work receive as much as those doing a +high order of work; every man will be paid according to his capacity; +for we begin by assuming that the distribution of work according to +capacity to-day is not far wrong, and so every man engaged in the +steel industry will continue to receive the same wages as he received +before with a certain prospect of an additional wage in the shape of +profit, representing the difference in wage between the new conditions +and the old.</p> + +<p>Overwork will be impossible in the iron trade, because a sufficient +number will be employed to prevent overwork. And unemployment will be +impossible because if, at any <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span>period, it turns out that more iron is +being produced than the community can use, the excess men employed in +the previous year will be set to work by the state in some other +industry.</p> + +<p>The effect of such a discovery will be to diminish the number of hours +required all round. It must not be forgotten how little work need +actually be done to produce the things we need. Under these +circumstances, we need hardly consider the question of overwork, for +all will enjoy ample leisure. The hours of labor will not diminish in +a great degree in the first year that an industry is taken over, for +during the transition period, experience must be given time to +demonstrate the extent to which hours of labor can be reduced.</p> + +<p>And as regards unemployment, even though there be no industry in +which, for instance, the surplus workers of the iron trade can be +usefully employed, there will always be farm colonies where their +labor can be self-supporting.</p> + +<p>Another beneficial consequence of this system is that if, as is +likely, it turns out that thirty million tons of iron are more than we +can use, the state will not be obliged to dump the excess upon +European markets as do now the trusts,<a name="FNanchor_184_184" id="FNanchor_184_184"></a><a href="#Footnote_184_184" class="fnanchor">[184]</a> thereby incurring a heavy +loss to the home industry and arousing the animosity of the European +industry affected thereby.</p> + +<p>Again, no financial panic can hurt the iron industry. The bankers may +gamble to their heart's desire. If they withhold gold the worst they +can do is to injure those engaged in competitive industry. No +withholding of gold can affect an industry which produces for use and +not for profit and receives weekly the wages of its employees in a +currency which, because it is not gold or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span>based upon gold and not, +therefore, within the control of the banker or the financier, escapes +entirely the evil effects of financial operations. Nor can such an +industry be affected by what are called "industrial panics"; for +industrial panics are the result of overproduction—of the anarchy +that exists under the competitive system. These panics may affect +competitive industries, but cannot affect guild industries built on +yearly state orders for definite amounts calculated beforehand from +the known needs of the community, and not left as now to the anarchy +and accidents of the market.</p> + +<p>Neither financial nor industrial panics can ever have the terrible +consequences in a coöperative commonwealth that they have under +existing conditions, because in a coöperative commonwealth all the +necessaries and most of the comforts of life will be produced upon the +coöperative plan, and therefore, a financial or industrial panic can +only affect that part of industry which proceeds under the competitive +system and as regards, for the most part, luxuries and not necessaries +of life.</p> + +<p>Obviously, the system of store orders cannot be applied upon the first +transfer of an industry from the hands of the capitalist to those of +the guild. For a time gold will have to be used until the +transformation from capitalism to coöperation has been sufficiently +extended to put the state in a position to open public stores. There +need, however, be no anxiety as to the state not being in possession +of enough gold to handle this part of the business, because it will +obviously be the first duty of the coöperative commonwealth to +expropriate the mines and put itself in possession of the gold +necessary to carry on financial operations with the guilds until such +time as the public stores can be usefully opened. Moreover, in taking +over the gold mines, the state will also take over <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span>the iron mines; +and iron ore will be furnished to the iron guild under conditions that +will make the necessity of the use of gold far smaller than it would +be if the iron ore remained in private hands and had to be paid for in +gold. The state will only have to pay gold representing the labor cost +of extracting the ore, and will not have to pay miners' profits.</p> + +<p>Under this system, there is no temptation to mine more ore or to cut +down more forests than is absolutely necessary for the needs of the +community. When every member in the community is educated to +understand that waste means more work for himself and that the saving +of waste means less work for himself, every man in the community will +have a direct personal interest in discouraging waste and promoting +economy.</p> + +<p>Obviously, too, industry will be conducted at its maximum efficiency. +Instead of being slaves of the market, we shall become its master. We +shall have only so many factories running as are necessary to produce +the things we need. Every factory will be running at maximum capacity, +at maximum efficiency.</p> + +<p>It will be observed that it is proposed to pay the same price for pig +iron after taking over the industry as was paid under competitive +conditions at the time of the transfer. The objection may be made that +this is obviously improper; that it is not fair to the workers in +other industries to pay what is known to be an excessive price to the +workers in pig iron. To this it may be answered that it will always be +better to apply a regular rule than to leave questions of this kind to +arbitrary administrative action. Besides, the rule that on taking over +a new industry the price paid for the production of the first year +shall be the price ruling at that time, will eventually put all +industries upon the same footing. At <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span>the excessive prices now ruling, +the workers will during the first year get a larger proportion than +they will ultimately be entitled to; but the larger proportion they +will get this year will be needed to face the initial expenses of a +higher standard of life.</p> + +<p>But here comes the most serious objection that can be made to this +plan. It has been said that these prices will have to be revised; that +if those manufacturing cotton thread believe themselves to be +receiving less for the work they accomplish in their industry than +those engaged in making pig iron, they will insist on revision; if so, +there will be continual altercations between industries as to the +price to be paid for their goods and as to the share in this price +that each is to receive; and the problem arises, who is to settle +these innumerable questions?</p> + +<p>This difficulty is the one that tends to make communists of us. It +would be easy to wave away this difficulty by providing that the total +profits be divided equally amongst all the members of the community. +Humanity, however, is not prepared for such a system. Generations of +selfishness have so determined the minds of those who are likely to +have to decide these questions in a coöperative commonwealth, that the +idea of paying the man at the head of the iron guild the same wages as +the man who puddles, will seem too preposterous to be entertained. +Whether man will ever develop to a point of unselfishness that will +enable him to entertain this idea is a matter of speculation. Suffice +it to recognize that if Socialism is to come within one hundred years, +and if we take into account the attitude of the public mind as it is +to-day, and the slowness with which the public mind changes in matters +so radical as these, we shall have to recognize that Communism is +still beyond the range of practical <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span>politics; and we shall have to +face the problem how the questions of the price of goods and the +remuneration of the individual are to be solved.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>§ 8. <span class="sc">Remuneration</span></h4> + +<p>It has been pointed out that the proportion at present received by the +various grades of workers in an industry, from the man who manages the +whole industry to those who do the least skilled work, will at first +be maintained. It may be that the salaries paid to managers at present +rates may seem so exorbitant<a name="FNanchor_185_185" id="FNanchor_185_185"></a><a href="#Footnote_185_185" class="fnanchor">[185]</a>—so out of all proportion to those +paid to others—that there will be an outcry against it, leading to a +diminution of these salaries. For present high salaries to managers +are due to the extraordinary difficulty of handling industry under +competitive conditions—difficulties that will in great part disappear +when coöperative conditions are substituted for competitive +conditions. With the exception of these highest salaries, probably the +wisest rule will be to maintain at first the proportion that exists at +the time when the industry is taken over. Taking over these industries +will at once raise the salaries of all because they will receive the +share of the profits which now comes to the capitalist, after the +deduction of sums paid to annuitants. Nevertheless, it cannot be +expected that the proportion now existing will be indefinitely +maintained.</p> + +<p>The cost of management under competitive conditions is far higher than +it would be under coöperative. A railroad man once pointed out to me +that the coöperative <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span>system is impossible because it would be +impossible for the government to find men capable of handling +railroads at the price habitually paid by the government for such +services. He pointed out that genius is necessary to handle +railroads,—the genius of such men as J.J. Hill and the late E.H. +Harriman. When, however, it was explained to him that the reason why +it was necessary to have such men as Harriman and Hill run our +railroads was the competition between them, and when he was asked +whether it would be necessary to have such men if our railroads were +run as our postoffice is run, he admitted that under such conditions +nine-tenths of the difficulty of management would be eliminated.</p> + +<p>Obviously, therefore, the enormous salaries paid to men at the head of +trusts, life insurance companies, and railroad systems, would no +longer be earned, and of course they would no longer be paid.</p> + +<p>What is true regarding the heads of these industries is true +throughout a large part of the administration. It would need less of +the faculty which characterizes the larger carnivora and more of the +faculties which characterize the beaver and the ant. For these humbler +services lower wages would be paid. This does not mean, however, that +there will not be in the state room for men of the constructive +ability of Harriman and Hill; but these men will not be the servants +of our industries, they will be the servants of our state; and the +genius that is now absorbed by business, will, in a coöperative +commonwealth, be more usefully employed in the larger fields of +politics.</p> + +<p>After this slight digression, let us return to the question how far +the remuneration will be subject to revision.</p> + +<p>It may be that the lower grades will not be subject to revision at +all; that all the iron ore we need can be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span>produced by working four +hours a day during eight months of the year, and that the rate of +wages earned upon the old scale increased by the profits to which +workers will be entitled will, without changing the proportion, +furnish a standard of comfort such as to-day it is difficult to +foresee. It is probable, however, that workingmen who are to-day +members of the Socialist party will not agree with this prognosis, but +will insist that in a coöperative commonwealth the whole scheme of +remuneration will have to be revised. If this be so, it is useless to +deny that the revision of this rate of wages will be a matter of +difficulty and that the difficulties arising will tend to be +perpetual.</p> + +<p>Obviously, there must be some plan devised under which these matters +will be better adjusted than by a government board, as has been +suggested by certain Socialists. Mr. Hillquit<a name="FNanchor_186_186" id="FNanchor_186_186"></a><a href="#Footnote_186_186" class="fnanchor">[186]</a> quotes with +approval the words of Kautsky that government in a coöperative +commonwealth will change in character, and that the state will no +longer govern, but administer, and this is to a large degree true. But +if the administration is to determine what every man is to receive as +compensation for the work he does, it is clear that matters of such +vital importance cannot be referred to the arbitrary action of a board +of administrators.</p> + +<p>It seems to me that it will be indispensable to submit these matters +to an industrial parliament in which every industry will be +represented. And as the determination of these questions will be a +matter of the greatest importance to every individual, it is probable +that these parliaments will have to be bicameral for the same reason +that our government is bicameral; for the same difficulty will present +itself. New York insists upon <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span>having its large population represented +in Congress. Rhode Island, on the other hand, in spite of its small +size, insists upon having its state sovereignty represented; so New +York is given a representation in proportion to its population in the +Lower House and Rhode Island is given equal representation in the +Upper House. Exactly the same situation will present itself it regard +to industries: Certain industries will be enormous and will want to be +represented in proportion to their size; for example, the steel +industry. Others will be much smaller but perhaps of much greater +importance; for example, the engineers. They will want to be fairly +represented in spite of their small size and I see no way of adjusting +this other than by adopting an industrial parliament of two chambers, +in one of which representation will be according to numbers, while in +the other every industry will be equally represented irrespective of +size. This may seem a cumbersome system, but it will take no more time +than the administration of the trade union takes to-day, and will not +be half as costly; for the trade union of to-day has to accumulate +funds to provide for unemployment, old age, sickness, and strikes. +Strikes and unemployment it will not be necessary to provide against +and the others will be provided for by every guild for their own +members. The question, therefore, of the adjustment of price and wages +will occupy far less time than is now occupied by federations of trade +unions.</p> + +<p>It is probable that the conclusions to which the industrial parliament +will come will not be final. It will be deemed wise to refer them for +execution to the general government. This matter, however, belongs to +the chapter on the political aspect of Socialism.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span>§ 9. <span class="sc">Circulating Medium under Socialism</span></h4> + +<p>It may not be clear at first sight why it is proposed to substitute store +checks for greenbacks or gold. Early Socialist writers—particularly +Rodbertus—attached much importance to the elimination of gold and the +substitution therefor of what they called "labor checks"; a currency +representing time spent in labor. Modern Socialist writers have been +disposed to cast aside all efforts to substitute this kind of currency +for gold. Mr. Hillquit quotes Kautsky<a name="FNanchor_187_187" id="FNanchor_187_187"></a><a href="#Footnote_187_187" class="fnanchor">[187]</a> with approval on this +subject:</p> + +<p>"'Money,' says Kautsky, 'is the simplest means known up to the present +time which makes it possible in as complicated a mechanism as that of +the modern productive process, with its tremendous far-reaching +division of labor, to secure the circulation of products and their +distribution to the individual members of society. It is the means +which makes it possible for each one to satisfy his necessities +according to his individual inclination (to be sure within the bounds +of his economic power). As a means to such circulation, money will be +found indispensable until something better is discovered.'"<a name="FNanchor_188_188" id="FNanchor_188_188"></a><a href="#Footnote_188_188" class="fnanchor">[188]</a></p> + +<p>Upon this point I find myself at variance with modern Socialists. In +Book II, Chapter VI, on Money, I have endeavored to show how the use +of gold for currency puts those who own and handle gold in a position +practically to control the entire country. If I have failed in proving +this, there will be no occasion for substituting anything for gold. +But if I have failed, it is, I think, my fault; or perhaps Socialist +writers on this subject have not had, and do not possess, the intimate +knowledge of financial <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span>affairs indispensable to an understanding of +this subject. If Mr. Kautsky had practiced law in America, and had had +American financiers for his clients, he would not, I think, have +failed to understand that money is still more to-day what it always +has been since the beginning of the civilized world—the "root of all +evil." By money, I mean not currency, which is indispensable, but the +use of precious metals as the sole fundamental medium of exchange; +because the amount of such precious metals being limited, the few, who +under competitive conditions contrive to get control of these metals, +become by virtue of this control masters not only of our economic, but +of our political conditions.</p> + +<p>Mr. Hillquit says<a name="FNanchor_189_189" id="FNanchor_189_189"></a><a href="#Footnote_189_189" class="fnanchor">[189]</a> that the principal economic classes and +interest groups are represented by separate and well-defined political +parties; and that the "only exception seems to be presented by the +money-lending group of capitalists, who, as a rule, do not form +parties of their own. This, however, may perhaps be accounted for by +the function of money capital, which can become operative only in +connection with the other forms of capitalistic ownership, but has no +independent productive existence."</p> + +<p>It is misleading to endeavor to draw conclusions from political groups +which characterize politics in Germany and France, and there is, I +think, a better reason why the great "money-lending group of +capitalists" or financiers do not form parties of their own.</p> + +<p>Mr. Hillquit is doubtless right in saying that the "Republican party +is substantially the party of the modern capitalists," "while the +Democratic party is largely the party of the middle class"; +nevertheless, in America, as in Europe, the so-called interests and +capitalists belong to no one party, because they must and do control +both. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span>And it is because Socialist writers do not seem to be aware of +the extent to which they do control politics, that comparatively +little interest is taken by these writers in questions of currency.</p> + +<p>No one who lived in Europe during the Boer war is ignorant of the +immense desire of both France and Germany to intervene on behalf of +the Boers, and they certainly would have intervened not only because +it afforded them a good opportunity to crush England, which one of +them openly and the other less openly desired to do, but because such +a war would have been popular with the masses in both countries. One +thing alone prevented this: Financiers in France and Germany were +heavily interested in African gold mines and it was their influence +that turned the scale against the crushing of England at that time.</p> + +<p>In America, the revelations of the life insurance investigation told +all the world what Wall Street previously knew: that big corporations +contribute to both Republican and Democratic parties and practically +control the action of the Democratic side of our legislatures as well +as the Republican. Nothing could have been more transparent than the +influence of financiers in the decision whether Cannon and the rules +that make Cannon supreme in Congress were to be maintained. The Wall +Street Group, which had a lobby in Washington, appealed to the +Republican majority not to disorganize their party by fighting against +Cannon personally, promising that the Republican party would alter the +rules that gave him his present autocratic power; and when in +compliance with this promise, Cannon was reëlected and the rules came +up, the same lobby secured enough Democratic votes to maintain the +rules in spite of the adverse votes of the insurgent Republicans, the +argument then used <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span>being that the tariff bill could not be passed +unless the rules were maintained.</p> + +<p>Again, after Taft had, on three separate occasions, solemnly promised +the people, if he were elected, a revision downward of the tariff, the +same lobby secured a revision of the tariff upwards. We are assured by +Messrs. Aldrich and Payne that the revision is a revision downward. +How, then, will they explain the extraordinary haste with which ships +sought to reach this port before the new tariff came into effect?<a name="FNanchor_190_190" id="FNanchor_190_190"></a><a href="#Footnote_190_190" class="fnanchor">[190]</a> +Were these ships hurrying to port in order to escape the payment of a +low tariff? It may be answered that although the tariff was raised as +regards certain articles, it was lowered as regards others. To this I +have but to quote the <i>Reviews of Reviews</i> for September, 1909, and +the articles entitled, "The Payne-Aldrich Tariff," which follow in +subsequent numbers. The <i>Review of Reviews</i> is quoted rather than +other periodicals because it is recognized as a supporter of the +so-called Roosevelt policies and, therefore, cannot be accused of +Socialistic tendencies. It is seldom that the Interests have gone so +far as to elect a presidential candidate on a definite promise and +deliberately, as soon as the candidate was elected, to violate their +promise. But the Interests have at this moment such control over our +politics that they can even do this; and it seems very doubtful +whether this treachery will ever be materially punished.</p> + +<p>If, as I believe, it is important that the competitive system be +allowed to survive in the coöperative commonwealth, it is obvious that +it can only be tolerated on the condition that the community be safe +from such political <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span>control as this. And for this reason it seems to +me essential that the use of gold as currency be limited; and that as +regards the exchange of all the necessaries of our existence, we +should have a currency that entirely escapes the control of the +financier. This is the reason why I have insisted on the use of store +checks which are just as convenient and secure as our present +greenbacks.</p> + +<p>There seems to be no other way of eliminating the undemocratic +autocracy of the financier than by some such system as the one above +described; that is to say, the issue by the state of orders on the +public stores to the extent of the goods in the public stores, which +may in their general appearance differ but little from the greenback +of to-day: Instead of reading "Good for $1.00 gold currency," they +will read "Good for $1.00 at the public stores." This public store +currency will eliminate the use of gold and silver throughout the +socialized industries and as regards all agricultural products except +a very small portion. Every socialized industry and every farmer will +furnish to the state the bulk of his produce—that is, the minimum +exacted by the state—in exchange for this kind of currency.<a name="FNanchor_191_191" id="FNanchor_191_191"></a><a href="#Footnote_191_191" class="fnanchor">[191]</a> It +is only the surplus—the amount produced by the farmer and factory +above the minimum established by the state—that the farmer and the +factory will be at liberty to sell for gold instead of exchanging for +public store notes; and of this surplus the farmer and factory will be +free to sell as much as they choose for public store notes, so that +gold and silver will constitute a small part of the medium of +exchange. This system will have the following advantages:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span>It will practically eliminate the present control of political and +economic conditions by financiers. So long as the currency used in +exchanging necessaries and comforts is rescued from the control of +financiers, it is a matter of comparative indifference whether the +financiers control the currency used in the manufacture and +distribution of luxuries, for such control will have practically no +effect upon the things necessary to human existence.</p> + +<p>It will give to the state the use of the gold coin which is now +accumulated in its treasury for the redemption of its notes; and the +state will use this large gold fund for the purchase of the products +of other nations.<a name="FNanchor_192_192" id="FNanchor_192_192"></a><a href="#Footnote_192_192" class="fnanchor">[192]</a></p> + +<p>Let us see how this proposed system of store notes will work in a +given manufacture:</p> + +<p>The state will order the steel guild to manufacture thirty million +tons of pig iron (the amount produced in 1907 was a little over +twenty-six millions); and will allot to the steel guild for the supply +of steel six hundred and sixty million dollars in store notes, this +being calculated at the rate of $20 a ton. (The price in 1907 was a +little over $22.) These $660,000,000 will be paid to the steel guild +in the following manner:</p> + +<p>Every week a number of store orders will be issued to the amount of +the wages of the week and of the fixed charges. At stipulated periods +the steel guild will furnish the state pig iron so that the state will +never have advanced to the guild store orders amounting to more than +the value of the pig iron in the store, an exception of course being +made for the first few weeks that the industry proceeds upon this +basis. Upon the delivery of pig iron at these stated periods, the +state will deliver the difference between the weekly amounts already +paid and the price of the pig iron delivered. If deliveries of pig +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span>iron can be made once a month, this will enable a repartition of a +part of the profits so that the workers will not have to wait until +the end of the year before they receive their profits, the final +dividend being paid at the expiration of each year.</p> + +<p>Such an order as the above will serve the following purposes and have +the following consequences: the steel guild will have a definite order +for a definite amount of pig iron to manufacture. It will know exactly +how many men it will need to manufacture this pig iron. It will employ +a few more men than those employed in 1910. The state will issue to +the steel guild weekly the amount of store notes necessary to pay the +wages upon the same scale as in 1910. Men engaged in the Steel Trust +at the moment of transference will continue to work and receive the +same rate of wages; but they will be entitled to their share of the +profits after the amounts due annuitants and the amounts necessary to +create a fund for old age and sickness have been deducted. Obviously, +this first order of thirty million tons is far larger than the country +uses, because a large part of the product of 1907 was exported. The +amount thus exported will be at the disposal of the state either to +export, or exchange for foreign products, or to set aside as a reserve +upon which the state can draw in case of deficit.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>§ 10. <span class="sc">Summary</span></h4> + +<p>Let us now consider the purposes we have in view in this proposed +economic organization of the coöperative commonwealth and how far we +attain these purposes:</p> + +<p>The main object of a coöperative commonwealth is to give to all +workers as nearly as possible the exact product of their work. It may +be interesting to note that this is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span>the ideal that Mr. Roosevelt +himself proposes, and he objects to Socialism because he thinks +Socialism will on the contrary allow the "thriftless and the vicious" +to profit. These words describe not a coöperative commonwealth, but +existing conditions. For example, such a degenerate as Harry Thaw, who +would, I suppose, according to Mr. Roosevelt be classified as one of +the "thriftless and vicious," obtains his income from the profit +created by others who work for it; whereas those who work, instead of +getting the full product of their work, are obliged to see that nearly +if not altogether one-half of it goes to the support of the idle, +among them this young man. These are the exact conditions to which +Socialism proposes to put an end, and, therefore, I point out that the +principal object that Socialism has in view is to do exactly the thing +that Mr. Roosevelt wants to see done—to undo the very things to which +Mr. Roosevelt objects.</p> + +<p>Another principal object of this proposed organization is to prevent +overwork and unemployment, that necessarily lead to drunkenness, +pauperism, prostitution, and crime.</p> + +<p>A third thing which this system of organization proposes to do is to +preserve the resources of the country; and here again we find +ourselves realizing the ideal of Mr. Roosevelt. The single idea of a +lumberman is to sell lumber—not to preserve it; the idea of a coal +miner is to sell coal—not to preserve it; the idea of an iron miner +is to sell ore—not to preserve it. In a coöperative commonwealth +there is no desire to make profit out of these things. The one object +in view is to use our lumber, coal, and ore to the best advantage and +with the least waste.</p> + +<p>Another object we have in view is to produce with the greatest +economy, with the greatest efficiency. We do <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span>not want forty refiners +engaged in refining sugar where seven will suffice.<a name="FNanchor_193_193" id="FNanchor_193_193"></a><a href="#Footnote_193_193" class="fnanchor">[193]</a> We want all +our factories while they are working, to be working at their best +efficiency, not on half time or with only one-half the engines going. +We also want the things we need to be produced in such a way as to +take advantage of every waste product—a thing that can only be done +when industry is concentrated in the hands of a single guild instead +of being distributed as it tended to be (before the organization of +trusts) in the hands of many competing manufacturers.</p> + +<p>This system of production and distribution would maintain the present +check upon overpopulation which Mr. Huxley regarded as the principal +objection to Socialism;<a name="FNanchor_194_194" id="FNanchor_194_194"></a><a href="#Footnote_194_194" class="fnanchor">[194]</a> for under this plan, although every +member of the community would be assured a comfortable income, his +comforts would be limited by the number of children he brought into +the world. Experience shows that the prudence of the middle class +to-day constitutes a check upon overpopulation; that, in other words, +overpopulation is to be feared, not in the middle class, but in those, +such as the extremely poor, who are under no prudential check.<a name="FNanchor_195_195" id="FNanchor_195_195"></a><a href="#Footnote_195_195" class="fnanchor">[195]</a></p> + +<p>The imprudent in such a coöperative commonwealth as is above +described, have always before them the prospect of the state farm with +its different degrees of unattractiveness. If, therefore, to-day +workingmen look upon the almshouse with abhorrence, it does not seem +unreasonable to suppose that the workers in a coöperative +commonwealth, accustomed to a far higher standard of living than the +workingman of to-day, would be deterred <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span>as much by the prospect of +committal to a farm colony as a self-respecting worker to-day is +deterred by the prospect of the almshouse.</p> + +<p>But there is another point of view from which the question of +overpopulation must be considered: The increasing independence of +women in America has already served to diminish the increase of +population to the extent which our sociologists regard as alarming. +The population of the United States is increasing chiefly through +immigration and the increase of immigrants. Here, as elsewhere, it is +the extremely poor that propagate. Indeed, as women become more and +more independent economically, as they certainly would in a +coöperative commonwealth, there seems to be more danger of +underpopulation than overpopulation. But here the state can no doubt +exert a very important influence; for if there seems danger of +underpopulation it might increase its tax upon the industries of the +state and apply the tax to the support of children so as to relieve +parents at the expense of the entire state, of the cost of educating +children, thereby removing all economic motive for underpopulation.</p> + +<p>I think, moreover, that since Mr. Huxley's day the whole opinion as to +overpopulation has changed. There is not a shadow left of the fears of +Malthus; for the extraordinary results published in the 13th Annual +Report of the Bureau of Labor show that productivity is likely to +increase rather than diminish in a coöperative commonwealth, in view +of the fact that all those now engaged in pure competition and +therefore a burden on the community, will be put to the work of +production, thereby increasing the productivity of the nation +relatively to its numbers.</p> + +<br /> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +<br /> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_152_152" id="Footnote_152_152"></a><a href="#FNanchor_152_152"><span class="label">[152]</span></a> See Northern Securities Case, 193 U.S.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_153_153" id="Footnote_153_153"></a><a href="#FNanchor_153_153"><span class="label">[153]</span></a> Kautsky, "The Social Revolution."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_154_154" id="Footnote_154_154"></a><a href="#FNanchor_154_154"><span class="label">[154]</span></a> Upon every breadwinner there are on an average four +persons dependent—the aged, women, and children; 200,000 unemployed +is therefore equivalent to 1,000,000 in want.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_155_155" id="Footnote_155_155"></a><a href="#FNanchor_155_155"><span class="label">[155]</span></a> See Book II, Chapter I, Unemployment.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_156_156" id="Footnote_156_156"></a><a href="#FNanchor_156_156"><span class="label">[156]</span></a> See Appendix, p. 412.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_157_157" id="Footnote_157_157"></a><a href="#FNanchor_157_157"><span class="label">[157]</span></a> "Socialism." By John Spargo, p. 217.</p> + +<p class="noin">"Socialism in Theory and Practice." By Morris Hillquit, Chapters V and +VI.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_158_158" id="Footnote_158_158"></a><a href="#FNanchor_158_158"><span class="label">[158]</span></a> By "pure capitalism" is meant the ownership of industry +entitling the owner to dividends although the owner contributes +nothing to the industry in the way of personal service.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_159_159" id="Footnote_159_159"></a><a href="#FNanchor_159_159"><span class="label">[159]</span></a> See Appendix, p. 428.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_160_160" id="Footnote_160_160"></a><a href="#FNanchor_160_160"><span class="label">[160]</span></a> <i>Saturday Evening Post</i>, May 8, 1909.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_161_161" id="Footnote_161_161"></a><a href="#FNanchor_161_161"><span class="label">[161]</span></a> <i>Outlook</i>, March 20, 1909, p. 622.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_162_162" id="Footnote_162_162"></a><a href="#FNanchor_162_162"><span class="label">[162]</span></a> Ibid., p. 619.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_163_163" id="Footnote_163_163"></a><a href="#FNanchor_163_163"><span class="label">[163]</span></a> Ibid., p. 623.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_164_164" id="Footnote_164_164"></a><a href="#FNanchor_164_164"><span class="label">[164]</span></a> On the very day of writing of the above, the N.Y. +<i>Times</i> of June 25, 1909, states that the United States Postoffice +Department has installed a complete ice-making plant which has made +such economy that the Government is considering the building of an +ice-plant for all its departments. Private dealers charge at the rate +of $7.65 a ton for ice, whereas the Postoffice Department now +furnishes ice at a cost of 65 cents a ton.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_165_165" id="Footnote_165_165"></a><a href="#FNanchor_165_165"><span class="label">[165]</span></a> "The Elimination of the Tramp," by Edmond Kelly. (G.P. +Putnam's Sons.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_166_166" id="Footnote_166_166"></a><a href="#FNanchor_166_166"><span class="label">[166]</span></a> See Appendix, p. 429.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_167_167" id="Footnote_167_167"></a><a href="#FNanchor_167_167"><span class="label">[167]</span></a> <i>Charities and the Commons</i>, p. 342, June, 1907.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_168_168" id="Footnote_168_168"></a><a href="#FNanchor_168_168"><span class="label">[168]</span></a> Eugène Simon, "La cité chinoise" (translated into +English); Toubeau, "La répartition métrique des impôts," 2 vols., +Paris (Guillaumin), 1880, quoted by Kropotkin in "Fields, Factories +and Workshops," p. 239. See Evolution and Effort, p. 168.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_169_169" id="Footnote_169_169"></a><a href="#FNanchor_169_169"><span class="label">[169]</span></a> Dr. M. Fesca, "Beiträge zur Kenntniss der japanesischen +Landwirthschaft," Part II, p. 33 (Berlin, 1893). The economy in seeds +is also considerable. While in Italy 250 kilogrammes to the hectare +are sown, and 160 kilogrammes in South Carolina the Japanese use only +sixty kilogrammes for the same area. Semler, "Tropische Agrikultur," +Bd. III, pp. 20-28. Quoted by Prince Kropotkin in "Fields, Factories +and Workshops," p. 239.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_170_170" id="Footnote_170_170"></a><a href="#FNanchor_170_170"><span class="label">[170]</span></a> L. Grandeau, "Etudes Agronomiques," 3d series, 1887-8, +p. 43. Quoted by Kropotkin, Ibid., 101.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_171_171" id="Footnote_171_171"></a><a href="#FNanchor_171_171"><span class="label">[171]</span></a> See Ponce, "La Culture maraiche," 1869. Barrel's +"Dictionnaire d'Agriculture." Quoted by Kropotkin, Ibid., p. 64.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_172_172" id="Footnote_172_172"></a><a href="#FNanchor_172_172"><span class="label">[172]</span></a> Very little land in New York State produces more than +from two to three tons an acre, and most of it does not produce so +much.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_173_173" id="Footnote_173_173"></a><a href="#FNanchor_173_173"><span class="label">[173]</span></a> It is impossible in this book to give to the question +of soil fertility the scope which it needs in order to convince a +layman of the almost unlimited extent to which good soil can be +manufactured and made fertile. Those who are anxious to satisfy +themselves on this subject are urged to read the books above quoted.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_174_174" id="Footnote_174_174"></a><a href="#FNanchor_174_174"><span class="label">[174]</span></a> "The Elimination of the Tramp," p. 51.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_175_175" id="Footnote_175_175"></a><a href="#FNanchor_175_175"><span class="label">[175]</span></a> Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_176_176" id="Footnote_176_176"></a><a href="#FNanchor_176_176"><span class="label">[176]</span></a> See "Elimination of the Tramp," p. 45.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_177_177" id="Footnote_177_177"></a><a href="#FNanchor_177_177"><span class="label">[177]</span></a> See <i>Hampton's Magazine</i> for May and June, 1909.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_178_178" id="Footnote_178_178"></a><a href="#FNanchor_178_178"><span class="label">[178]</span></a> See p. 58.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_179_179" id="Footnote_179_179"></a><a href="#FNanchor_179_179"><span class="label">[179]</span></a> The occupation that furnishes most inmates to our +asylums is farming.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_180_180" id="Footnote_180_180"></a><a href="#FNanchor_180_180"><span class="label">[180]</span></a> This limitation on property has already been enacted in +the State of New York (Chap. 463, Laws of 1909), and bills of similar +import have been introduced into the legislatures of California, +Maine, and Pennsylvania. In Maine a hypothetical question as to the +constitutionality of such legislation was submitted to the supreme +court, which reported favorably (19 Lawyers' Reports annotated [U.S.] +422).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_181_181" id="Footnote_181_181"></a><a href="#FNanchor_181_181"><span class="label">[181]</span></a> Farmers' Bulletin, No. 242.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_182_182" id="Footnote_182_182"></a><a href="#FNanchor_182_182"><span class="label">[182]</span></a> Something has been done in connection with the milk +supply. Thus the milk producers of Boston have organized a union and +have agreed to a price with the Milk Contractors' Association. But +although this effort at combination has cheapened milk for large +consumers such as hotels, large restaurants, and even small stores, +pint customers pay just as much in Boston as elsewhere; that is, 8 +cents a quart. (Industrial Commission Report, Vol. VI, p. 409.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_183_183" id="Footnote_183_183"></a><a href="#FNanchor_183_183"><span class="label">[183]</span></a> See 13th Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor of U.S., +p. 25, where the cost of producing wheat under the best conditions is +approximately 30 cents per bushel.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_184_184" id="Footnote_184_184"></a><a href="#FNanchor_184_184"><span class="label">[184]</span></a> Book II, Chapter II.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_185_185" id="Footnote_185_185"></a><a href="#FNanchor_185_185"><span class="label">[185]</span></a> For example, it is generally believed that the +President of the Steel Trust gets over $100,000 a year. Before the +insurance investigation presidents of life insurance companies got +similar salaries. Railroad presidents are also paid at similar rates.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_186_186" id="Footnote_186_186"></a><a href="#FNanchor_186_186"><span class="label">[186]</span></a> "Socialism in Theory and Practice," p. 133.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_187_187" id="Footnote_187_187"></a><a href="#FNanchor_187_187"><span class="label">[187]</span></a> "Socialism in Theory and Practice," p. 119.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_188_188" id="Footnote_188_188"></a><a href="#FNanchor_188_188"><span class="label">[188]</span></a> Karl Kautsky, "The Social Revolution," p. 129.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_189_189" id="Footnote_189_189"></a><a href="#FNanchor_189_189"><span class="label">[189]</span></a> "Socialism in Theory and Practice," p. 164.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_190_190" id="Footnote_190_190"></a><a href="#FNanchor_190_190"><span class="label">[190]</span></a> See any daily newspaper between March 16, 1909, when +the bill was introduced in the House, and Aug. 6, 1909, when the law +went into effect.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_191_191" id="Footnote_191_191"></a><a href="#FNanchor_191_191"><span class="label">[191]</span></a> Obviously, until all the industries are socialized, a +part of this minimum will have to be paid in gold. When, however, all +the industries are socialized, the whole of the minimum will be paid +in store checks.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_192_192" id="Footnote_192_192"></a><a href="#FNanchor_192_192"><span class="label">[192]</span></a> See Appendix, p. 431.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_193_193" id="Footnote_193_193"></a><a href="#FNanchor_193_193"><span class="label">[193]</span></a> Book II, Chapter I.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_194_194" id="Footnote_194_194"></a><a href="#FNanchor_194_194"><span class="label">[194]</span></a> I am not aware that Mr. Huxley has ever suggested any +other objection to Socialism than this; but I may be mistaken.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_195_195" id="Footnote_195_195"></a><a href="#FNanchor_195_195"><span class="label">[195]</span></a> "Government," Vol. I, p. 339.</p></div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="BK_III_CHAPTER_III" id="BK_III_CHAPTER_III"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER III<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>POLITICAL ASPECT OF SOCIALISM</h3> +<br /> + +<p>The importance of the political aspect of Socialism depends upon the +kind of Socialism selected for study. In Fourier's system, the social +side altogether predominates—the political side is relatively +unimportant. In state Socialism, on the other hand, the political side +is the most important and the social side is subsidiary. In modern +Socialism, the government takes an intermediary position; the +functions of the state under modern Socialism would be in some +respects less extended than in such a government as that of Prussia; +while in other respects it would be more extended; but in no +department would it assume the excessive power and interference +generally associated with Socialism in the public mind.</p> + +<p>It cannot be too emphatically repeated that modern Socialism discards +the idea of a common home or even of a common table except to the +extent that a common table is sometimes found convenient in our own +day. To just the same extent the coöperative commonwealth discards the +idea of state ownership of industry and state ownership of land except +within the limits set forth in the previous chapter.</p> + +<p>The two great political objections to Socialism are: that it would +give to the government a power destructive of individual liberty; and +that the corruption in our <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span>existing government demonstrates the +unwisdom of increasing the scope of its operations.</p> + +<p>On the first of these objections it is not necessary to dwell; for it +is obvious that the moment state Socialism is abandoned, this +objection falls to the ground. The state no longer has the onerous and +probably impossible function of assigning tasks; the state no longer +controls the hours of labor; the state no longer interferes in the +private life of the individual any more than to-day. The relations of +the government are not so much with the individual as with +conglomerations of individuals in the respective industries; and even +here, the government does no more than indicate the amount of a given +thing that must be produced and the rate at which the thing so +produced is to exchange with the other necessaries of life. It has +been suggested that just as in France where commercial cases are +brought before purely commercial courts and thus separated from civil +and criminal cases, so all things pertaining to production and +distribution might be determined by an industrial parliament that +would determine such matters as the amount of a given thing to be +produced and the rate at which this thing is to exchange with other +necessaries, subject to the approval of Congress.</p> + +<p>Such a system would have the great advantage of referring business +matters to business men who would bring no other than business +considerations to the solution of them. It would relieve Congress of +the necessity of discussing commercial details with which its members +are generally unfamiliar, and it would above all prevent that +sacrifice of business interests to purely political considerations +which often occurs to-day.</p> + +<p>There will be an important rôle to be played in determining the amount +of the various necessaries of life <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[319]</a></span>which the socialized industries +will be called upon to produce, in distributing these products, +exchanging surplus products with foreign markets, and distributing the +proceeds of these exchanges. All this work is of a purely business +character and should be confided to business men, who have shown +themselves by their practical success in business fields most fitted +therefor. It would seem wiser to refer these matters to a parliament +composed of the representatives of associated industries, of +agricultural producers, and of distributing bodies. It would be the +duty of such a parliament to appoint its own executive and cabinet, +and it may be advisable to associate with the representatives of +agriculture and industry in such a parliament, representatives +selected by the citizens at large, so as to minimize the possibility +of combinations between powerful groups of industries for the purpose +of determining questions of public interest to their particular +advantage.</p> + +<p>No attempt will be made here to work out the details of such a system, +the object of this book being rather to indicate the possibility of +doing these things than to point out the particular method by which +they should be done.</p> + +<p>The objection that the corruption in our existing government +demonstrates the unwisdom of increasing the scope of its operations +seems at first sight a formidable one. If our government is as corrupt +as our "yellow journals" make it out to be, it seems folly to extend +its functions and give it larger opportunities for the exercise of +this corruption and for the demoralization of the community which this +corruption tends to produce. There are, however, many reasons for +believing that the less government has to do, the more corrupt it is; +and the more it has to do, the less corrupt it is.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[320]</a></span>For example, the Board of Aldermen in the city of New York was once +the governing body of the city. It was a body to which men of +importance belonged because its functions were important. When +corruption crept into the Board of Aldermen the legislature was +persuaded more and more to abridge its powers, and Tweed availed +himself of this disposition to take practically all the powers of +government out of the hands of the board and concentrate it in a small +body of men called "supervisors," to which he took care that he and +the members of his ring should belong. Some time after the Tweed ring +was broken up the Board of Aldermen retained the right of confirming +the appointments of the mayor; but this power too was taken from it by +ex-President—then Assemblyman—Roosevelt in 1884, and from that year +the Board of Aldermen became little more than a franchise-bestowing +corporation. The board has consequently become so corrupt that the +title of Alderman, which used to be a title of honor, is in New York a +title of disgrace. If we compare the Board of Aldermen to the board +which corresponds to it in London, we shall find a totally different +state of things. In London it is the County Council that governs the +municipality, and accordingly we find on it men who stand first in the +ranks of the business world.</p> + +<p>But there is another consideration of vastly more importance than +this. New York citizens continue to complain year after year of the +low order of men selected by its citizens, not only to the Board of +Aldermen, but to all elective offices, including the State Assembly +and the Senate. Yet they do not stop to inquire the reason for this, +though it is obvious. What stake have the majority of New York +citizens in the government of the city? The vast majority are not +interested in the tax rates, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[321]</a></span>for they do not pay taxes, or do not +think they do. The majority are not interested in an efficient fire +department, because they do not own property likely to be destroyed by +fire and, indeed, it is said that it is members of this very majority +that start most of the fires in New York. They are not interested in +clean streets, for foul though our streets be, they are not as foul as +the unwholesome tenements. They are not interested in an efficient +police. They are not interested in a board of education, because all +they want to get out of school for their children is reading, writing, +and arithmetic—enough to get a job. It is difficult to see in what +respect the large majority of our citizens are interested in good +government at all.</p> + +<p>What then are they interested in? They are interested in bad +government. They want to get a brother or a cousin on the police +force; and they want the police to be complaisant to a brother or a +cousin in a liquor saloon. The retailer does not want to be disturbed +in his encroachments on the sidewalk. The building trade does not want +to be annoyed by a too conscientious building department. The German +wants his beer on Sunday and barrooms want to do business on Sunday. +The peddler wants to violate street ordinances and stand his cart in +the already too crowded streets. Churches want to receive per capita +contributions to their asylums and have long made efforts to secure +per capita contributions to their schools. The gambler wants to keep +open his gambling den; and the people want the gambler to be +undisturbed. The business man, the corporation, and the criminal want +to be "let alone"; and those dregs of the population too low to be +able to use the vote, want to sell it for a pittance on election day. +These are the conditions under which distinguished citizens and +committees of one hundred expect to secure good <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[322]</a></span>government! And we go +on ineffectually organizing municipal leagues, good government clubs, +and citizens' unions to this hopeless end. It is not reasonable to +suppose that in a government determined by the majority we can expect +the government to be good when the majority does not want the +government good, but wants it bad.</p> + +<p>Occasionally the government in New York gets so bad that it outrages +even our outrageous majority, and the overthrow of bad government is +regarded as a triumph for reform. But no reform movement has ever +lasted more than one administration. The public has emphatically +assured us, over and over again, that it does not want reform +administration, and indeed it may be said that some of these reform +administrations have been just as bad as those they were intended to +reform.</p> + +<p>Municipal politicians want good laws, if at all, in order to use them +for the purpose of levying blackmail, and the community is willing to +pay the blackmail so long as it is not too extortionate. Business men +find it cheaper to pay blackmail and be allowed to do what they want. +And the same is true all the way down the line until we get to the +criminal class, which has the biggest stake in bad government of all.</p> + +<p>Yet the strange anomaly of existing conditions is that while the +majority of the citizens of New York have shown year after year for a +century that they want bad government and mean to have it, these +citizens are not bad men, but want to be good. It is the folly of our +economic conditions that makes them want bad government, and no more +pitiable sight was ever presented to gods and men than this city of +New York, or indeed any other of our great cities, full of citizens +animated with the best intentions, forced by economic conditions to be +bad. It has not yet seemed to dawn upon the reformers <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[323]</a></span>of the present +day that, if they want to have good government, the majority of the +citizens must be interested in the government being good; and not, on +the contrary, interested in its being bad as at this present time.</p> + +<p>There are two ways of accomplishing this. One way has been pointed +out; to put an end to the competitive system that sets every man at +the throat or pocket of his neighbor. The other is to enlarge the +functions of the government sufficiently to make it important to every +citizen that the government be good; then only will public spirit +become stronger than private interest.</p> + +<p>This conflict between public spirit and private interest is not a +matter about which there can be any longer any doubt. When a group was +engaged in organizing the City Club, we were told not once but a dozen +times by a dozen different men of high standing in the community, that +the whole question of good government to them resolved itself into +this: "Can I by contributing money or time to reform sufficiently +reduce taxes to make it worth my while to give my time and my money to +this thing; or is it not better for me to use my money in purchasing +protection from the organization that now controls the city and devote +my time to my own private affairs?" To these men the question of good +government was simply a question of tax rate, and these citizens are +the ones least touched by political conditions. When we come to +citizens whose business puts them continually in contact with +political conditions, we find the contrast between public spirit and +private interest still more marked; in the corporations that want +franchises, in the builders who want their plans approved, and in the +citizens already described who have an interest in keeping on good +terms with the powers that be.</p> + +<p>If now we remove the temptation on the one hand and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[324]</a></span>give a motive for +good government on the other, is it not reasonable to suppose that we +are more likely to obtain good government than now?</p> + +<p>Temptation can be removed in many ways. Altogether the greatest motive +for corruption is that furnished by the eagerness of corporations to +secure franchises. Indeed the city was at one time governed by the +owners of our city transportation system. The temptation to violate +building laws would be removed if it were the city who built and not +the private individual. The temptation to vote for a corrupt police +force would be removed if the city instead of private barrooms sold +alcoholic drinks. The temptation to vote for corruptible milk +inspectors would be removed if the city instead of private dealers +supplied milk. In a word, if the city were to undertake the tasks +heretofore suggested, practically all temptation for graft would be +eliminated.</p> + +<p>The same process would not only eliminate temptation for graft, but +would give the citizens a stake in good government. If the city +distributed milk the citizen would be interested in having pure milk +at a low price; if the city owned tramways, the citizen would be +interested in having transportation effective and cheap; if the city +manufactured gas and electric light, the citizen would be interested +in having good heat and light at proper prices; and so at last the +dream of the reformer that all citizens of the same city regard +themselves as stockholders in the same corporation, would cease to be +a dream and would be realized. They would have the same interest in +the gas plant, electric plant, ice plant, milk plant, transportation +plant of their city as a stockholder to-day has in the dividends which +these respective industries accord him, though the dividends would not +be paid in gold, but in wholesome service at cheap prices. Then only +would <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[325]</a></span>the conflict between public spirit and private interest come to +an end, for a man would find it more to his interest that the +government be carried on honestly and efficiently than he does now to +secure a government that is dishonest and inefficient. In a word, as +Mr. Mill said that the cure for the abuse of liberty is more liberty, +so the cure for the abuse of government is more government. This must +not be understood as a relapse in favor of state Socialism. It cannot +be too often repeated that it would be as great an error to confide +too much to the state as, at present, it is an error to confide too +little to it. The solution is to be found in taking the middle course: +<i>medio tutissimus ibis</i>. Give to the government the work it is fitted +to do and no more. What work it is fitted to do and what work it is +not fitted to do has already been explained.<a name="FNanchor_196_196" id="FNanchor_196_196"></a><a href="#Footnote_196_196" class="fnanchor">[196]</a></p> + +<p>Amongst the tasks for which it is fitted is the work of Education:</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>§ 1. <span class="sc">Education</span></h4> + +<p>There is no reason why the present system of education should be much +changed in a coöperative commonwealth. In its nature it would remain +very much the same and would only be extended in time; that is, all +children who show themselves capable of profiting by education will +have the opportunity of extending their education as far as their +abilities justify. Education need by no means be confined to the +state. There is no reason why the existing universities should not +continue their work of education even though they be maintained by +Rockefellers and Carnegies, and throw all their weight in support of +the competitive system against the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[326]</a></span>coöperative. Socialism stands for +light, and if at any period in its development it turns out that the +community is not fitted for the phase of Socialism which it has +attempted, it may be important to correct the perfunctoriness of +official administration by a larger dose of private initiative; and in +such case let privately endowed schools and universities be there to +preach this doctrine.</p> + +<p>Nor need there be any objection to sectarian schools. Once the human +mind is freed from the shackles of economic servitude, it can be +trusted to choose its religion, whether educated by sectarian schools +or not.</p> + +<p>The essential difference between the educational system in a +coöperative commonwealth and under existing conditions will be that, +inasmuch as child labor in competitive industries will be absolutely +forbidden, no child will be deprived of education by economic +conditions. Every child, therefore, will have an equal opportunity for +mental development.</p> + +<p>And the fact that the hours of work will be shorter will give to every +human being leisure throughout his his entire life in which to develop +talents of which no trace may be observable during attendance at +school or university. The coöperative commonwealth, therefore, without +changing the existing forms of education, will furnish to every man, +woman, and child an opportunity for educational development during the +whole of life instead of confining it as now to the very first few +years of it.</p> + +<p>It is important to note that, under this system, every industry will +be free to work as few hours as it chooses, subject only to the +condition of working long enough to pay taxes, to furnish the minimum +required by the state, and to create a fund to provide for sickness, +accident, and old age.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[327]</a></span>Citizens in this respect will divide themselves into different +categories:</p> + +<p>Some will want to work the least possible and devote the rest of their +time to idleness or pleasure. Others will want to work at the +particular industries in which they are engaged the least possible and +devote the rest of their time to such things as will more interest +them—to literature, art, music, or even to some other industry—even +to industries competing with the state. Others, instead of working the +short hours required in a coöperative commonwealth, will prefer to +work long hours so as to have a longer vacation than that enjoyed by +the majority; others, on the contrary, will prefer to work long hours +at the industry to which they belong, not with a view to earning a +longer vacation, but for the purpose of earning more wages applicable +to the increase of their comforts, luxuries, and amusements.</p> + +<p>It would not be difficult for every industry to take account of these +various contingencies: A certain number of hours those engaged in a +particular industry will have to work, but they will be far shorter +than the hours of to-day. Those who volunteer to work longer hours +will be allowed to work longer hours. The work of the factory will +naturally be divided into two shifts: the one, a morning shift; and +the other, an afternoon shift, so that one shift can put in all their +work in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Who shall work in +each shift will be determined primarily by choice and, wherever choice +cannot be resorted to, by lot.</p> + +<p>Such a condition of things as the foregoing would give to every +industry the greatest opportunity for transfer from one industry to +another. One who desired to exchange steel working for garment making, +could work during the morning shift at the steel trade and during the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[328]</a></span>afternoon shift at the garment trade; and when he had become +proficient in the garment trade, he would be able to abandon the steel +trade altogether and devote all his working hours to garment making.</p> + +<p>Still more important, the system would give an opportunity to every +man to develop his peculiar talents, however late in life. It is well +known that men of genius often show no trace of their genius at +school. It is impossible to calculate how much human ability is lost +to the race by the fact that, not being observable in the few school +years during which children are subject to observation, it is crushed +out altogether in the competitive mill. The fact that the number of +hours we have to work in a coöperative commonwealth would be small, +would give to every man the rest of the day in which to develop his +undeveloped talents.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>§ 2. <span class="sc">Churches</span></h4> + +<p>There is no reason why churches should not be supported in a +coöperative commonwealth under exactly the same conditions as to-day. +It is probable, however, that there will be a tendency to modify +public worship so as to render it less subject to obvious objections +than to-day.</p> + +<p>At the present time, children animated with a desire to preach are +encouraged to join the ministry; and it sometimes happens that men of +vast business and political experience are made by the convention of +respectability to sit every Sabbath Day under a boy in the pulpit +reading crude theological essays. Few men are equipped in a manner +usefully to instruct or advise their fellow creatures in matters so +intimate as those of religion until they have attained years which, +while they unfit them for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[329]</a></span>the hard work of industrial life, do by +accumulated experience peculiarly fit them for the work of the pulpit.</p> + +<p>The divinity school and the divinity student will tend to diminish and +our pulpits will be filled by men who have shown themselves during +fifty or sixty years of active work in the community to be best fitted +to fill them. And these men, having at that age earned a retiring +pension, will not be at the expense of the community nor will they be +required by economic conditions as at present, to preach doctrines as +to the truth of which some are in doubt and others absolutely +disbelieve.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>§ 3. <span class="sc">Political Construction</span></h4> + +<p>Let us see now whether we can come to some conclusion regarding the +political construction of government under a coöperative commonwealth. +The idea prevails that Socialism involves an extreme centralization of +government. This, however, is quite contrary to modern notions of +Socialism. Indeed, in one sense of the word, Socialism upon the plan +already proposed would deprive the federal government of much of its +power. Nor do I see any reason why our present federal form of +government should be materially changed. For example, the present +state governments would be maintained with practically all the rights +they now enjoy, and the federal government would continue to operate +with less than the enumerated powers given it by our present +constitution. For example, instead of having as at present the right +to regulate commerce, to coin money, and to make patent laws, these +powers would be delegated to the industrial parliament subject only to +the approval of Congress. And although the title of all such +properties as railroads, mines, etc., would be vested in the United +States, the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[330]</a></span>effectual control and administration of these properties +would be left to the industrial parliament, so that real power as +regards these matters would be exercised not by the federal +government, but by the industrial parliament, elected not upon the +geographical basis of Congress, but by the industries respectively +wheresoever situated, as explained in the previous chapter.<a name="FNanchor_197_197" id="FNanchor_197_197"></a><a href="#Footnote_197_197" class="fnanchor">[197]</a></p> + +<p>It would be well to give the right of appeal to Congress because the +industrial parliament would consist of producers and each would have +an interest in securing for his industry the largest price possible. +It may be feared that a few powerful industries might, by the number +of votes they control in the chamber elected proportionately to +numbers, secure for itself privileges not fair to other industries. +This power would be restrained by the fact that the other chamber, +elected according to industries, not numbers, would exercise a +wholesome check upon any such attempt, and an appeal to Congress may +therefore not be necessary. Nevertheless, Congress would represent the +whole mass of the nation and would be, as it were, the consumers' +parliament in its relation to the industrial parliament. And it would +seem proper to give to Congress the right to reconsider and discuss +all new departures in connection with the business of the country, not +only out of consideration of the rights of consumers, but also for the +dignity of Congress.</p> + +<p>What under these circumstances would be the special functions of +Congress? Congress would continue to exercise the powers it now +exercises as regards collecting taxes, establishing rules of +naturalization, providing for the punishment of counterfeiting, +establishing postoffices and postroads, organizing federal courts, +punishing piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and +offences <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[331]</a></span>against the law of nations, declaring war, and providing for +and maintaining the army, navy, and militia.</p> + +<p>The States would enjoy all the rights they now enjoy as regards the +federal government; but the cities would enjoy much larger powers of +government than they now do. There seems to be no reason why the +question whether the city of New York should own its own subway should +be referred to farmers sitting in Albany, who have no interest and +little, if any, knowledge of the needs and resources of the city of +New York. It is probable, therefore, that on the whole the effect of +Socialism would be to decentralize rather than to centralize.</p> + +<p>The parties in a coöperative commonwealth would probably be determined +by the main issue between coöperation and competition, and we find +here a reason for leaving to Congress the last word as regards the +decisions of the industrial parliament. For the latter would be a +parliament of coöperative industries and disposed, in protecting these +industries, to perpetually invade the territory of competition. So +long as humanity needs the stimulus of competition, it is essential +that this element be fairly represented in the political organization +of the state. All measures tending to restrain competition ought +therefore to be subject to the approval of the whole nation +represented in Congress.</p> + +<p>One principal bourgeois objection to Socialism is that, under +competitive conditions the men best fitted to run an enterprise are +those to whom business enterprises are to-day confided upon the +principle of the survival of the fittest; whereas under a coöperative +commonwealth, the selection of those who are to manage industries must +be left to the doubtful intrigues of politics. This objection cannot +be seriously taken into consideration. There is probably nothing more +difficult for the bourgeois to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[332]</a></span>understand than the difference that +would exist between the politics of a coöperative and those of a +competitive commonwealth. In the latter, the field of politics is +inevitably a cesspool of corruption, because every business man has +something to lose or gain through politics. The tariff law just +enacted presents one of the most recent illustrations of this. Not +only so, but the men appointed to office and elected to Congress in +our competitive commonwealth are selected by business interests, and +not appointed because of special fitness for the task.</p> + +<p>In a coöperative commonwealth this situation would be reversed. When +all our comforts in life and the necessaries of existence are +furnished by our municipalities and our guilds, the management of +these municipalities and guilds will be of the utmost importance to +every one of us. Our citizens, instead of being interested in bad +government, will become interested in good government, in good +management and in good administration. Here the public will benefit by +the power of recall which, though it may work very imperfectly under +competitive, ought to work well under coöperative conditions. For +every man is interested in his municipal bakery furnishing good bread, +his municipal gas plant furnishing good gas; and citizens will be so +deeply interested in matters that touch them as nearly as this that +they will not be influenced by political cabals to put in a bad man as +superintendent of the municipal bakery, or to replace a good one by a +bad one for purely political reasons.</p> + +<p>One reason why our politics are bad to-day is that hardly any of us +have time to give to making them good even if we wanted them good. The +workingman who works ten or more hours in the factory and travels two +or more hours to reach his work in the morning and return home when +his work is done, can hardly have much <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[333]</a></span>vitality left to attend to +politics. Indeed, the complaint of the trade unions is that he has not +vitality enough left to attend to matters so important to him as those +of his own trade union. But when the workingman in the first place is +thoroughly trained by an education that will last not less than +eighteen years—when he is not called upon to work more than four or +five hours a day, he will have the knowledge necessary to understand +his political needs, and the leisure to organize political movements +when necessary to remove a bad administrator and put a good +administrator in his place.</p> + +<p>Indeed, popular government is impossible under capitalism for the +reasons just stated; those of us who want good government have not the +time to secure it. Popular government is only possible when the people +are sufficiently educated to understand their rights and have leisure +enough to organize with a view to enforcing them.</p> + +<p>In the foregoing two chapters entitled, respectively, The Economic +Construction of the Coöperative Commonwealth, and The Political Aspect +of Socialism, I have endeavored to draw a picture of a coöperative +commonwealth in which capitalism is eliminated from the production and +distribution of all the necessaries and many of the comforts of life; +leaving, however, full play to the existing competitive system as +regards the luxuries, some of its comforts, and even as regards +necessaries wherever the coöperative commonwealth fails to do its work +up to the standard of taste of the community.</p> + +<p>This picture has been drawn not because it is possible at this time to +forecast exactly what this economic and political construction will +be, but because many persons find it impossible to form to themselves +any idea how things can be produced and distributed without the help +of capitalism. No more is claimed for these chapters <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[334]</a></span>than that they +do present a scheme by means of which necessaries and many comforts +can be produced and distributed without the evils of capitalism, of +unemployment, of pauperism, of prostitution, and of economic crime.</p> + +<p>Obviously, the two foregoing chapters suggest a thousand questions to +an inquiring mind, but I hope that the missing details cannot be +classed amongst those details which Gladstone characterized as +organic. In other words, I hope that they present a picture giving +sufficient details to make it clear that Socialism, as regards the +production and distribution of the necessaries and most of the +comforts of life, is not only beneficial, but practical and +economical; that, in a word, it puts an end to the waste and the +anarchy which jointly characterize the capitalistic system of to-day.</p> + +<br /> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +<br /> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_196_196" id="Footnote_196_196"></a><a href="#FNanchor_196_196"><span class="label">[196]</span></a> Book III, Chapter II.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_197_197" id="Footnote_197_197"></a><a href="#FNanchor_197_197"><span class="label">[197]</span></a> Book III, Chapter II.</p></div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="BK_III_CHAPTER_IV" id="BK_III_CHAPTER_IV"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[335]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER IV<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>SCIENTIFIC ASPECT OF SOCIALISM</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Herbert Spencer has contributed more than any other modern writer to +emphasize the effect of environment upon life, whether vegetable, +animal, or human; yet, singularly enough, in applying his scientific +conclusions to sociology, he entirely failed to take account of the +essential difference which exists between natural environment and +human environment; between the effect of evolution upon life prior to +the advent of man, and its effect upon life subsequent to the advent +of man. He applied to human development the laws of evolution which he +found working prior to man, though man has reversed the natural +process of development so that evolution, under the environment +created by man, is taking and must continue to take a direction +entirely opposite to that which it took under the dominion of Nature +alone. Into what errors Mr. Spencer was led by his failure to +recognize the difference between human and animal evolution may be +gathered from the fact that he denounced governmental effort to +prevent disease as "sanitary dictation";<a name="FNanchor_198_198" id="FNanchor_198_198"></a><a href="#Footnote_198_198" class="fnanchor">[198]</a> he denounced also +municipal ownership of gas and water, the building by the state of +houses for the poor, free libraries, free local museums, free +education, and generally all that he includes in the expression +"coercive philanthropy."<a name="FNanchor_199_199" id="FNanchor_199_199"></a><a href="#Footnote_199_199" class="fnanchor">[199]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[336]</a></span>He assumed that the predatory system which he saw prevailing in the +domain of Nature must prevail also in the domain of Man; and thus +became an apostle of <i>laissez faire</i> and of the competitive system. As +such he advocated the utmost limitation of state interference and +opposed the Socialistic trend of modern legislation on the ground that +man is, as it were, doomed to perfection by the principles of +evolution, and that any effort of his to modify evolution can only +result in retarding it. He was led by the analogy between society and +organism into the theory that human institutions must be allowed to +grow as organisms <i>grow</i>, and that efforts on the part of man to +construct his own institutions produce more evil than good.</p> + +<p>Mr. Huxley demolished the whole sociological structure which Herbert +Spencer built up on these errors in three essays, to which the reader +is referred.<a name="FNanchor_200_200" id="FNanchor_200_200"></a><a href="#Footnote_200_200" class="fnanchor">[200]</a> The subject is also fully treated in the first +volume of "Government or Human Evolution."<a name="FNanchor_201_201" id="FNanchor_201_201"></a><a href="#Footnote_201_201" class="fnanchor">[201]</a> The effort will be +made here to condense the argument and conclusions therein drawn by a +short study of environment—natural and human—with a view to +demonstrating the control which man has acquired over his environment +and thereby over his ultimate destiny. This leads to a study of the +effect of the competitive and coöperative systems on type +respectively, how far society is a growth and how far a construction, +and how far human nature can be modified by the conscious, deliberate +purpose of Man; all this to demonstrate that human happiness can be +best attained by substituting coöperation for competition to the +extent necessary to put an end to the evils resulting from the +competition of to-day, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[337]</a></span>without for that reason eliminating wholesome +competition altogether.</p> + +<p>There are two kinds of environment: the environment we find in Nature, +and the environment made by Man.</p> + +<p>We shall study first the environment of Nature, and begin by +distinguishing therein two systems: the competitive, or so-called +struggle for life; and the coöperative or community system; confining +ourselves to facts observed in Nature prior to or outside of the +intervention of Man.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>§ 1. <span class="sc">The Natural Environment</span></h4> + +<h4><i>(a) The Struggle for Life, or the Competitive System</i></h4> + +<p>Beasts of the field are necessary products of their environment.</p> + +<p>The study of the crust of the earth reveals that upon the central mass +there have been laid layer upon layer of sand, clay, and limestone by +successive seas, which have successively rested on now buried +continents. Nearly every layer contains fragments of shell, scale, or +bone belonging to the beasts that have succeeded to one another upon +the earth during millions of years.</p> + +<p>These layers of sand, clay, and limestone are the leaves of a gigantic +book, the earliest of which are burned by fire, the next scarred by +it, and the most recent illustrated by pictures so vivid that we can +read the story there of the development of Man from the lowest of all +forms of life.</p> + +<p>The rocks are charts painted by the hand of Nature herself.</p> + +<p>In these charts we read the story of Evolution. We learn the geography +of the world millions of years before <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[338]</a></span>the age of history; we know +that this land upon which we live has not only once, but often been +sunk beneath a deep sea; that during the earliest period of which +there is any record unburned, there was no living thing more highly +organized than a crab; not a fish nor any animal possessing the +backbone that distinguishes the vertebrates to which Man belongs from +the invertebrates to which belong the lowest kinds of living thing. We +know that later the whole face of the world was changed, and then +followed a warm period called Carboniferous, and that just before and +during this Carboniferous period there slowly developed fish +possessing the backbone that marks one of the great strides in animal +development. But at this time we see no trace of the four-footed +mammalia which immediately preceded Man.</p> + +<p>In the marshes in which forests grew and died during the Carboniferous +period, there were piled, one upon another, layers of vegetation that +hardened into coal; this coal sank slowly beneath a deepening sea. In +this so-called cretaceous sea were deposited, in its deepest parts, +huge masses of chalk accumulated from countless shells; and upon its +shores crept four-footed things resembling fish, as the seal and the +sea-lion resemble them to-day, closely allied to them and clearly +developed from them, as if fish stranded upon the shallows had used +their fins for motion upon the banks, and out of fins made legs. And +from the gigantic lizards of the cretaceous period we find in the +overlying tertiary beds the infinite variety of four-legged animals +which people our continents to-day.</p> + +<p>All this knowledge, full of profound interest to the student of Man, +comes from a study of the earth—Geology.</p> + +<p>And next comes Zoölogy, telling how this amazing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[339]</a></span>development of life +from lower to higher forms proceeded. For centuries Man studied the +living things on the earth, and added fact to fact till at last, a few +years ago, Darwin, Wallace, and others demonstrated the law according +to which this development takes place, the law of Evolution.</p> + +<p>Briefly it is this:</p> + +<p>All living things prior to the advent of Man tended to adapt +themselves to their environment by the process known as the survival +of the fit. Only those animals fit to survive, survived; all the rest +perished. When there was a change of environment, as, for example, of +climate, only those individuals survived that were capable of adapting +themselves to this change.</p> + +<p>The process by which animals adapt themselves to changes of +environment is as follows:</p> + +<p>There is in every new generation of animals an infinite variety; some +differ enough from the rest to be called "sports." These differences +are transmitted to future generations by heredity. Men have used these +differences to create types of animals suited to their purpose. Thus +by putting stallions built for speed to mares similarly built, Man has +produced the race-horse. On the contrary, by putting stallions built +for drawing loads to mares similarly built, Man has produced the +cart-horse.</p> + +<p>Before the advent of man this selection of types was made by the +environment or by Nature, as the environment used to be called. Hence +the expression, natural selection, is used to describe the process by +which Nature or environment selects certain types for survival at the +expense of the rest; the process by which animals that live in the +desert gradually adapt themselves to endure great heat; and those that +live near the Poles gradually adapt themselves to endure great cold.</p> + +<p>The environment or Nature uses in this process of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[340]</a></span>selection a very +cruel but effectual device: A great many more living things are born +into the world than the world can support. In the lower forms of life +Nature is wastefully fertile; thousands of herrings' eggs are laid for +one herring that grows to maturity. This amazing fertility of Nature +results in a struggle for life which condemns the enormous majority of +living things born into the world to an early death, but has the +singular advantage of allowing only the types most fitted to the +environment to survive. And this process of natural selection acting +in an environment favorable to development from a lower to a higher +type has gradually caused the lowest forms of life, which consist of a +mere sac of so-called protoplasm, to develop organs especially adapted +to accomplish specific things: a mouth to take in food; a stomach to +digest it; bowels to assimilate it; a system of circulation—arms and +legs; a nervous system; a brain; ears; a nose; eyes; until at last, in +the order of creation as demonstrated in the great Book of the Rocks, +and as confirmed by zoölogy and other sciences, Man has evolved out of +the original protoplasmic sac.</p> + +<p>Who created the first protoplasmic sac; why this cruel system was +invented by which life was ordered to pass through millions of +sacrificed and suffering bodies before it could emerge into the least +imperfect form; why Man to-day must suffer still in the progress which +he is destined to make from his present to a still higher form—these +are queries which it is not given us yet to answer. But that this +process has taken place at the cost of great agony and during millions +of years, is a fact which no man who has studied the face of Nature +can deny.</p> + +<p>If we want to learn the art of happiness—for in spite of the process +just described there is nevertheless an art <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[341]</a></span>of happiness—we must +understand the processes of Nature. It is only by understanding the +processes of Nature that we can ever hope to modify them.</p> + +<p>And it is here that we come to the first great lesson we have to learn +from a study of Evolution:</p> + +<p>Man has already modified the processes of Nature in the past, and he +can doubtless still further modify them in the time to come.</p> + +<p>But before we undertake to study how far Man has modified, and may +still modify, the cruel process of natural selection, there is another +process observable in Nature to which we must direct our most earnest +attention.</p> + +<p>It is a common error to suppose that because Man has developed from a +lower form of life through a process of struggle for survival that +favors a few types at the expense of millions of other forms condemned +by this struggle to suffering and death, therefore it is only by this +same struggle that Man can hope to attain a higher form of +development. This is the error that approves the competitive system +and the resulting classification of men into a few rich and many poor. +It is because the question as to the merits and demerits of the +competitive system rests upon the principles of evolution, that it is +indispensable for all who want to understand the competitive system +also to understand the principles of evolution. For those who deny the +force of competition altogether are as wrong as the millionaires who +base their argument in favor of the competitive system upon the law of +evolution.</p> + +<p>We cannot neglect the argument drawn from the struggle for life +involved in natural selection. Until we have shown that there is +something better than this struggle that can be put in its place, we +have left to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[342]</a></span>millionaires the vantage-ground, from which they can +quiet the conscience of the world. Thousands of our fellow-creatures +who are separated from us by the accident of wealth would come to our +side were they not sincerely convinced that poverty, pauperism, and +crime are necessary evils, belonging to the cosmic principles of +evolution through which Man has attained his existing dominion, and +through which he may hope, though not without infinite patience and +agony, ultimately to reach a still higher station.</p> + +<p>This error must be removed, and it can only be removed by sober +argument. Temper will not do it; nor indignation; nor vituperation; +nor hate. The plain facts, if properly marshalled, are sufficient to +prove the error of the notion that competition is a necessary evil, +and that society cannot exist without unlimited competition, and the +poverty, pauperism, and crime that result therefrom. The first of +these facts is that by the side of the competitive system just +described, there is in Nature also a coöperative system almost as +highly developed as the competitive system and destined eventually +almost to take its place.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4><i>(b) The Coöperative System</i></h4> + +<p>We have seen that the struggle for life has had for effect to permit +only those forms of life to survive that adapted themselves to the +environment, and that when the environment was favorable to +development, this tendency of the fit to survive at the expense of the +less fit caused an evolution from lower to higher forms of life. The +effect of this tendency in the higher forms of life has been to create +two opposite types—the carnivores, who became more skilful in +tracking game, and more <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[343]</a></span>powerful in destroying it; and the +herbivores, the natural prey of the carnivores, who became more swift +in escaping their pursuers. Now the herbivores, conscious of their +weakness, early developed the instinct to herd for the purpose of +common defence. The fierce carnivore, on the contrary, is prevented by +his natural ferocity from herding. He tends to become solitary. Lions +and tigers are solitary animals; whereas sheep, goats, horses, and +cattle herd. This tendency to herd tends to develop in proportion as +an animal is weak; so that it is in insects that we find the herding +instinct most perfectly developed, and certain colonies of ants and +bees present a picture of coöperation to which the attention of +millionaires cannot be too strenuously directed.</p> + +<p>Let it be said at the outset that these colonies are not offered as +models for us to imitate. On the contrary there are many features in +these colonies which we ought diligently to avoid. But just as there +are features in the competitive system that are good and some that are +atrociously bad, so there are features in the colony system that are +bad and some that are altogether good. It will later on appear that +<i>the essential privilege of Man is to be able to choose the good of +both and eschew the bad</i>.</p> + +<p>A beehive is a city of bees built by the entire community for its +common use. This community consists for the most part of barren +females who do all the hard work, and are therefore commonly called +the workers; they build the comb, and add to it as the community +enlarges; they attend on the queen bee—the only fertile female +allowed to survive; they feed her, and act the part of midwife to her +when she lays her eggs; they see to the hatching of the eggs, and by +crowding about them provide them with the necessary temperature; when +the eggs are hatched, the workers feed the young ones <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[344]</a></span>differently so +as to produce a few fertile females to play the rôle of queen should +the throne become vacant, a large number of males to be utilized when +the nuptial hour arrives, and a larger number still of barren females +to continue the work of the community; the workers collect honey from +the flowers in the summer and store it away for common use during the +cold season; they determine which of the fertile females is to be +impregnated and become their queen; she is liberated on her +wedding-day, and in a summer flight, pursued by the males, conceives. +Then she returns to the comb, and is let loose upon the other fertile +females in the comb, and watched as she stings her possible rivals to +death one by one. Few males return from the nuptial flight; one only +of them weds, and he perishes in the act; the others perish without +wedding, or if they have strength to return to the comb, are +despatched by the workers watching at the entrance to perform the +execution.</p> + +<p>It is impossible to conceive a more complete system of coöperation or +communism than this, or one which so little conforms to our notions of +justice or welfare. Indeed, it is probable that from a human point of +view the tiger in the jungle attains a greater measure of happiness +than any member of a bee community; for the workers seem to labor +without reward; of the males only one weds, and he perishes in the +act; and the queen herself is kept a close prisoner during her entire +existence, save only during the brief ecstasy of the nuptial flight.</p> + +<p>The lesson to be learned from insect communities seems then to be, not +that coöperation in a natural environment results in the maximum of +happiness, but merely that coöperation is as much a part of Nature's +plan as competition, and that therefore the coöperative system is as +available to man as the competitive. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[345]</a></span>problem before man is how to +take the best of both systems, and eliminate the bad.</p> + +<p>But there is a further lesson to be drawn from the singular customs +that prevail in the hive and in the ants' nest:</p> + +<p>In both, the entire energies of all seem concentrated upon two +problems—the support of the community, and its perpetuation; and as +these two problems are identically the same as those by which men are +confronted, the systems adopted to solve them cannot but be of +absorbing interest to Man.</p> + +<p>Nature or environment follows two diverging lines in animal +development. Along one line she seeks the perfection of the +individual; along the other the perfection of the community. But the +ideal of perfection presented by Nature is not Justice or Morality; it +is <i>perpetuation</i>, for perpetuation is the prize offered to the most +fit types in the struggle for survival. And there are obviously two +ways in which types can succeed in this struggle—one by individual +excellence, and another by sexual jealousy. And this sexual jealousy +must be eliminated from a community if its members are to live in +permanent harmony together. The scheme adopted by Nature in the +beehive to eliminate sexual jealousy is radical and cruel, but +effectual.</p> + +<p>Obviously, the community system proceeds with reckless disregard of +the individual; the destruction of all the fertile females save the +single queen and of all the male sex; the singular fact that the sting +cannot be used save at the cost of the life of the individual using +it; the enforced chastity of the workers—all prove that Nature's plan +for securing the welfare of the community is to sacrifice thereto the +happiness and the lives of the individuals that constitute it.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[346]</a></span>Obviously, Man must find some better solution of this problem than +ants and bees. How Man has at various periods attempted to solve it we +shall study later. But before leaving natural environment, we have a +lesson to learn from the moral qualities which the two lines of +divergence have respectively developed—the qualities of the solitary +carnivore and those of the communistic bee.</p> + +<p>We may be helped by observing the habits of herding animals that are +neither so fierce as the lion nor so servile as the ant. For although +it has of late been the fashion to justify our existing capitalistic +system by exaggerating the extent to which competition exists in +Nature, careful study reveals that though competition does prevail +between different species, it is the exception rather than the rule +between individuals of the same species. Nature has proceeded along +two lines of development: one of mutual struggle, and another of +mutual aid. Thus we find even carnivora, such as the hyena and the +wolf, herding for the purpose of the chase; even foxes and bears have +been seen to herd; eagles, kites, and pelicans notoriously associate +to this end. Practically all herbivora herd more or less permanently, +the permanence of the herd depending apparently upon the mildness or +the ferocity of the sexual instinct. In the case of the elk, the stag, +the bull, and the horse, that fight for the female, and prevent the +weak from perpetuating the race, the herd breaks up into groups during +the rutting season; whereas, in the case of apes and monkeys that +herd, the herd remains permanent.</p> + +<p>Too little is known about the sexual relations of such animals as herd +permanently for any certain conclusions to be drawn from them, but it +can be said without fear of contradiction that Nature has succeeded +best through the combination of strength, selfishness, and ferocity +on <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[347]</a></span>the one hand, and that of intelligence, altruism,<a name="FNanchor_202_202" id="FNanchor_202_202"></a><a href="#Footnote_202_202" class="fnanchor">[202]</a> and +servility on the other; for it is the lion and the tiger that dominate +the jungles of Asia; in Africa and South America it is the white ant.</p> + +<p>These considerations lead us to conclusions of great importance, for +they enable us to trace the development of certain habits or instincts, +which, when we find them developed in Man, become lifted into virtues or +vices according to their nature and intensity. Thus solitude imposes +upon solitary animals habits of selfishness and self-reliance; the tiger +has no one to look to but himself for the satisfaction of the two great +animal needs—food and self-perpetuation; he is the Ishmaelite of the +animal kingdom; his hand is against everyone and everyone's hand is +against him. Whereas, community life imposes upon the ant habits of +docility and altruism; she works not for herself, but for her neighbors; +she is a natural slave, but a slave to a useful end—the common weal of +all.</p> + +<p>To sum up: Natural environment has operated on animal life through the +principle of evolution or survival of the fittest in such a manner as +to develop physical organs and instinctive habits, both of which seem +to be necessary results. These physical organs and instinctive habits +depend for their nature and excellence upon two parallel systems:</p> + +<p>According to one, the struggle for life has taken place <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[348]</a></span>not only +between one species and another, but also between individuals of the +same species; this has resulted in individual excellence, as in the +case of the lion and the tiger; and has developed habits of +selfishness, self-reliance and ferocity. According to the other, the +struggle for life has taken place mainly between one group and +another, and hardly at all between individuals of the same group, but +both the lives and the happiness of the individual are recklessly +sacrificed to it; this has resulted in collective excellence at the +expense of the individual; and has developed habits of docility and +altruism.</p> + +<p>In the former, or competitive system, there is the greatest individual +freedom of action and the greatest individual satisfaction of animal +propensities, but there is the greatest individual risk, the few +survive at the expense of the many, and there is little or no social +satisfaction.</p> + +<p>In the latter, or coöperative system, there is less individual +freedom, less satisfaction of animal propensities (indeed, sexual +appetite is left unsatisfied for all except one individual of each +sex, and at the expense of personal liberty for the female and for the +male of life itself), but there is least individual risk for the +workers, and most social satisfaction.</p> + +<p>Intermediate systems partake of both the competitive and coöperative +plan, none of the intermediate systems, however, leading to supremacy, +and some of them resulting in degeneracy.</p> + +<p>Such are the results of the unconscious action of natural environment +on living things.</p> + +<p>We are now in a position to study the actual and possible results of +the conscious action of an artificial environment on Man.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[349]</a></span>§ 2. <span class="sc">Human Environment</span></h4> + +<p>Before studying the possible effects upon Man of an artificial +environment, consciously and deliberately created by him with the +definite purpose of attaining the maximum of human perfection and +happiness, we must be clear as to the actual effects upon man of the +artificial environment in which he finds himself. And first we must +give its full value to the fact that the environment in which we live +is in great part artificial, that it is the product not of Nature +only, but also of Art.</p> + +<p>We have seen that the lower animals, prior to the advent of Man, were +the necessary product of the natural environment. We have now to study +how Man has modified the face of the world, as regards them and +himself, by the application thereto of Art.</p> + +<p>The most obvious and striking change effected by Art on human life is +in relation to climate.</p> + +<p>There is geologic evidence that the forefathers of Man in what is +called the Miocene Period, while not so intellectual as Man, were of a +far higher type than any living ape; the head, for example, indicates +a superior structure.<a name="FNanchor_203_203" id="FNanchor_203_203"></a><a href="#Footnote_203_203" class="fnanchor">[203]</a> Now, the Miocene Period was exceptionally +warm. The bones of the so-called troglodytes are found in the caves of +the Dordogne with other vegetable and animal remains that indicate a +tropical temperature. This was followed by the glacial epoch, which +substituted for tropical conditions those now existing in the Arctic +zone. The troglodyte had to choose between the alternatives; he had to +flee to the tropics before the cold wave from the North, or to resist +the cold by recourse to Art. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[350]</a></span>It is probable that he did both; some +did the one, and the rest the other; some fled to the tropics and +degenerated there into the existing anthropoid apes; the rest invented +weapons with which to slay fur-bearing animals, to strip them of their +skins, and convert the skins into clothing; used the shelter furnished +by natural caves, and eventually discovered the way to produce a +flame. This last Promethean gift was probably the first of the great +human inventions. When Man discovered how to produce and utilize fire +he became superior to climate.</p> + +<p>This discovery produced an amazing consequence; for it seems certain +that our race made its first strides towards civilization in tropical +countries; but that progress in the Arts, by enabling Man to inhabit +colder and more bracing climates, permitted an increase in his power +to resist not only climate, but all the other natural conditions +hostile to his improvement; and so we find the Northern races +gradually subduing those of the South, and demonstrating the great +rule <i>that man's progress is secured, not by yielding to natural +environment, but by resisting it</i>.</p> + +<p>The key to human progress in the past, and the probable key to human +progress in the future, is the faculty of Man to resist Nature; and +this faculty is twofold. Intelligence is the more obvious of the two +elements. But intelligence is not sufficient of itself. Intelligence +must be coupled with the power of self-restraint. For although +intelligence is the light which can guide men toward perfection, it is +useless unless accompanied by the willingness and power to follow the +light.</p> + +<p>What avails it to the millionaire to know that he can by the +intelligent use of his millions alleviate the misery of the poor, if +he lacks the willingness and power to apply this knowledge?</p> + +<p>What avails it to us to know that by substituting <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[351]</a></span>coöperation for +competition in the production of the necessaries of life, poverty can +be annihilated, if we have not the willingness and the power to effect +the substitution?</p> + +<p>What avails it to a drunkard to know that drink is the cause of his +misery, if he has not the power to refuse it?</p> + +<p>In man's struggle with climate, intelligence seems to play the +principal rôle, but there is also a spirit of resistance, in strong +contrast with submission that characterizes the lower animals. In +other arenas the power of self-control plays a still more conspicuous +part. There is probably no institution in which man differs more from +the lower animals than in that of marriage; and none more +characterized by self-control. If we compare the promiscuous +intercourse that prevails between the sexes in troops of apes, with +the fidelity that characterizes the highest types of marriage in our +most highly civilized communities, we cannot but be struck, not only +with the enormous gap between the two, but with the dominant rôle +played in development from the lower to the higher type by the power +of self-control. The passionate propensity that condemns the fiercer +carnivora to solitude, and reduces even the docile bee to a wholesale +massacre of one of the two sexes, has been so controlled in our +civilization that we find men and women not only living in the closest +proximity without violating the marriage vow, but even consecrating +themselves to life-long chastity out of respect for a religious +scruple.</p> + +<p>Man has attained this result through the training of children by +parents in the family, of youth by masters in schools, and of adults +each by himself in the world at large.</p> + +<p>Perhaps the most precious result of the institution of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[352]</a></span>marriage is +the education furnished by the family which results from marriage. In +Greek life this education was the kernel of Greek religion. Every +family worshipped its own gods, and these gods were the shades of its +ancestors. Almost every duty in life resolved itself into a duty to +these shades; the duty to marry was but to ensure offspring who would +continue to minister to the deceased; the duty of chastity, and indeed +of morality in general, resolved itself into a duty to keep inviolable +the sacred flame upon the hearth.</p> + +<p>The two virtues peculiarly stimulated by Greek religion were courage +in man and chastity in woman; these singularly correspond to the +qualities that characterize solitary carnivora—ferocity in the male +and compulsory fidelity in the female. They are the virtues that +attend individualism, and individualism so impregnated Greek +civilization that it prevented the Greek cities from ever combining +into a Greek nation, and ultimately left them a prey to the invader. +And those two individualistic virtues—courage and chastity—became +still more emphasized under the Roman rule in the soldier and the +vestal.</p> + +<p>Christianity introduced a new element into civilized life; Christ +deprecated exhibitions of courage by inculcating humility; He tempered +the fierce demand for fidelity by bidding "him who was without sin +cast the first stone at her." The virtue He taught above all was the +virtue of Love; not love in the sense of natural affection, but love +in the sense of sacrifice; not love confined to the family, but love +extended from the family to the neighbor: "Love your neighbor as +yourself." And so under the dispensation of Christ all men, being the +children of a common Father, became as brothers one to another; the +early Christians carrying out this theory <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[353]</a></span>into practical life, +abandoned the acquisition of private wealth and brought all their +earnings into a common stock, giving to everyone according to his +need.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately, the prosperity of the Church under Constantine +converted it into a political machine as unconscionable in its +methods, and as effectual in results, as the so-called rings which +govern many cities to-day. The Church forgot the virtues which it was +instituted to teach; and our Western civilization has ever since been +distracting us by encouraging the fighting virtues of the Roman +soldier on the one hand, and the altogether inconsistent humility of +the Christian saint on the other.</p> + +<p>But men and women cannot live close to one another for centuries, +without having social virtues forced upon them; and while the +competitive system which prevails in our industrial and international +relations has stimulated the fighting qualities in us, the teaching of +Christ has preserved in our hearts ideas of happiness which have more +or less unconsciously created a tendency to replace competition by +coöperation wherever possible.</p> + +<p>The joint effect of Roman and Christian rules of conduct has been to +substitute for the qualities that we observe in Nature—the lust and +ferocity of the carnivore and the servility of the ant—new qualities +altogether different, and in some respects almost opposite. For lust +has been replaced by a conception of the conjugal relation which +converts marriage into a sacrament; ferocity has yielded to the +courage of the medieval knight and the modern gentleman; servility +tends to disappear and be replaced by respect for laws; and fear has +been lifted by religion into reverence—"The fear of God is the +beginning of wisdom."</p> + +<p>The fact that these virtues are held up to us as desirable and that we +are trained to conform thereto, is of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[354]</a></span>dominating importance in +considering the character of human environment; and were there nothing +in human institutions to render the universal practice of these +virtues impossible, we should assuredly enjoy the happiness that must +result therefrom.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately there are two reasons why we cannot practice these +virtues though we would:</p> + +<p>We are divided into nations, each striving against all the rest to +secure for its citizens the largest possible share of the good things +of this world. Every nation is composed of individuals or families, +each engaged in a similar strife.</p> + +<p>The first, the international conflict, gives rise to a peculiar virtue +called patriotism, which, in so far as it teaches a man to love the +country to which he belongs, and the people amongst whom he lives, is +altogether good, but in so far as it teaches him to hate and +occasionally slay those of other nations is altogether bad.</p> + +<p>The second, the intranational conflict, gives rise to a quality which, +though not recognized as a virtue, should, if measured by the rewards it +receives, be assuredly regarded as the greatest of all—acquisitiveness; +for the fortunate few who possess this quality gather unto themselves +all the good things in the world at the expense of all the rest.</p> + +<p>Let us briefly study each of these formidable obstacles to virtue and +happiness:</p> + +<p>As regards the international conflict, the world is so large, and is +peopled by races of men so different, that it would be quite +impossible to include them all under the same government. The Red +Indian is incapable of adopting our civilization; he would rather die. +The Chinese has a conception of government so different from ours that +he has no word in his language for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[355]</a></span>patriotism. The Oriental, who has +occupied the Danubian provinces for five centuries, is still so +foreign to us that he cannot live amongst Christians except either as +a conqueror in Turkey or a subject in Hindoostan.</p> + +<p>So long as these differences exist, there must be separate nations; +and the smoke of international conflict must occasionally burst into a +flame.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, even to-day human effort can do much to diminish +occasions for war; witness the Tribunal of The Hague and the daily +multiplying treaties of arbitration; witness, too, the gradual +extension of solidarity between workingmen beyond national frontiers +and the growing disposition to organize regardless of them.</p> + +<p>As regards the intranational conflict—between individuals belonging +to the same country—there is much more to be said, for although the +total elimination of occasions of conflict between citizens of the +same nation may still be far off, there is serious reason to believe +that a partial elimination of them is immediately possible, and may +constitute the most practical of all political programs, and the most +vital of all religious faiths. Indeed, a thorough understanding of the +problem presented by this intranational conflict is so indispensable +to its prosperous solution, that upon this understanding may be said +to depend the question whether our civilization is to degenerate.</p> + +<p>The intranational conflict is mainly concerned with the acquisition of +wealth; and because this conflict has so far inordinately enriched a +few and impoverished the mass, it is the fashion for us to rail +against wealth.</p> + +<p>But wealth is the necessary product of civilization, and like manure, +it is a benefaction when lightly distributed over the right place, +though a pest when heavily concentrated in the wrong. The wealthier a +community is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[356]</a></span>the happier it ought to be. It is not wealth itself +which constitutes our grievance, but the method of its distribution.</p> + +<p>Now the unequal distribution of wealth is mainly due to the system of +private property under which the few who have the gift of money-making +acquire large fortunes, while the many are left in comparative poverty +and even want.</p> + +<p>Under this system, every man, instead of working for all, is working +only for himself, and he who has most acquisitiveness becomes master +of those who have less, society being by this single quality divided +into a series of classes or castes, at the top of which are a few +millionaires, and at the bottom the large contingent that after a life +of misery end their lives in the almshouse, the prison, or the lunatic +asylum—a contingent that has been determined by carefully prepared +statistics to constitute one-fifth of the entire population in the +richest country in the world.<a name="FNanchor_204_204" id="FNanchor_204_204"></a><a href="#Footnote_204_204" class="fnanchor">[204]</a></p> + +<p>Private property has played an essential rôle in the slow +enfranchisement of the people. But just as the cocoon serves an +essential purpose in protecting the worm during its slow development, +but becomes a prison which the butterfly discards when it attains its +final freedom, so private property may turn out to have already served +its purpose if we can demonstrate ourselves so far developed as to be +fit to cast it aside.</p> + +<p>Let us recall what rôle private property plays in our human +environment to-day:</p> + +<p>It is the great stimulus which sets each one of us to work for +himself, and by working for himself to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[357]</a></span>accumulate wealth that +contributes to the maintenance of all the rest. It furnishes (in +theory) a method under which the man who works most effectually gets +the highest reward.</p> + +<p>Now, as it is essential in every community that every man should +contribute to the maintenance of all, and as justice seems to demand +that the workers should be rewarded according to results, it is +claimed that private property solves the problem of production in a +manner both effectual and just.</p> + +<p>The competitive system, however, and the false notion of property to +which the competitive system gives rise by setting every man to work +for himself regardless of all the rest, prevents men from proceeding +upon the far more economical plan of coöperation.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>§ 3. <span class="sc">The Effect of the Competitive System on Type</span></h4> + +<p>We have seen that under the law of evolution type tends to adapt +itself to environment. It must so adapt itself or perish. There is no +escape from this iron law. If the climate change from warm to cold, +animals must put on blubber or fur; if the climate change from cold to +hot, they must throw off blubber or fur. Those who adapt themselves to +the change survive; those who do not adapt themselves die.</p> + +<p>So also, if in a given community the individual can secure the +necessaries of life only on the condition of outdoing his neighbor, it +is those who most successfully outdo their neighbors who prevail; +those who are outdone sink deeper and deeper into poverty and +ultimately join the irreclaimable fifth.</p> + +<p>The effect, then, of the competitive system on type is to stimulate +the qualities that go to make up <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[358]</a></span>acquisitiveness; selfishness and all +the necessary results of selfishness—avarice, greed, envy, injustice, +hardness of heart.</p> + +<p>It would be by no means fair to maintain that no man can be successful +in business who is not cursed with all these vices. On the contrary, +some of our greatest philanthropists have been successful business +men. But philanthropy sometimes results from the blessed principle of +reaction, under which vice, when it gets bad enough, creates a +revulsion against evil. Reaction, however, is the eddy in the stream; +and it is the stream and not the eddy that in the end counts.</p> + +<p>The main, the essential, the inevitable result of private property is +to promote selfishness, for the competitive system creates an +artificial environment to which the human type must tend to conform. +This artificial environment not only promotes selfishness at large, +but tends to degrade every institution which man has invented in his +effort to advance. Among these institutions, the two which have sprung +from the noblest instincts in man, and ought most to tend to his +improvement, are Marriage and the Church. Yet both are demoralized by +the competitive system.</p> + +<p>In the state of nature, animals tend to improve through sexual +selection. By sexual selection is meant the fight between males for +the female, the result of which is that the strongest males are the +ones that perpetuate the type.</p> + +<p>In the artificial environment produced by private property, a very +different process is at work. Marriage tends to be determined by +wealth rather than fitness; and the wealthy tend to have few children +or none; whereas it is found that in the unwealthy classes, the +poorest have the most children. Well-to-do people <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[359]</a></span>protect themselves +and their families from poverty by prudence, whereas, those who +despair of escaping from poverty have no reason for refusing +themselves what is often almost their only satisfaction; and the +result is that while the houses of the rich tend to be desolate +through childlessness, those of the poor are crowded with the +offspring of despair.</p> + +<p>The religious conception of Marriage that it is a sacrament has become +practically obsolete; particularly in this so among the rich, whose +daughters are annually offered for sale in the market of Mayfair as +shamelessly as not long ago were Circassian girls in that of +Istamboul.</p> + +<p>The effect of private property on the Church is no less deplorable. It +costs money to maintain a church; and the more splendidly a church is +maintained the more money it costs. The priest has to live; bishops +indeed have to live in a certain state. The Church, then, must have +money. In some countries the Church secures money from the government, +and is driven thereby into the questionable field of politics; in +others, every individual church is thrown upon its own resources, and +has either to make its services attractive by ritual, or to depend for +its supplies upon one or two of the wealthy members of its +congregation. It is not surprising, then, that under this subjection +to wealth, Christians have abandoned the teaching of Christ, and +forgotten that in early days they sold all and gave to the poor, +contributed their earnings to a common stock, and resisted not evil +but overcame evil with good.</p> + +<p>Yet the Church has rendered, and is still rendering, a priceless +service to man. Falter though she may, she has preserved for us the +Gospel of Christ.</p> + +<p>The blame rests not with the Church, but with the artificial +environment which man has himself created, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[360]</a></span>and to which he alone can +put an end—the environment that appeals to the selfishness of man, +and having made man selfish, insolently asserts that in no other +environment can he be otherwise.</p> + +<p>Man will be what his environment makes him.</p> + +<p>If the environment stimulates selfishness, man will be selfish. If it +stimulates unselfishness, he will be unselfish.</p> + +<p>But man can by art so alter his environment that it will elicit the +noble in man, instead of the base.</p> + +<p>Let us now sum up the difference between human and natural evolution, +and arrive at some conclusion regarding the part man has played, and +may still play, in his own advancement.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>§ 4. <span class="sc">Brief Restatement</span></h4> + +<p>Before the advent of man animal life prospered or degenerated +according as the natural environment was favorable to progress or +degeneration. The process of evolution was necessarily unconscious and +undeliberate.</p> + +<p>With the advent of man a new force appeared upon the face of the +world, the power to modify the environment so as to make it serve +human needs, and accord with human intention.</p> + +<p>Before the advent of man, selection was exercised by Nature or the +natural environment; since the advent of man it is man who has +selected and not Nature; animals dangerous and useless to man have +almost disappeared except in museums; and only those that are useful +to him are allowed to survive.</p> + +<p>Climate is no longer paramount; man by the use of tools, clothing, +architecture, and other arts, contrives to-day to live in climates +which were once fatal to him.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[361]</a></span>By increase of knowledge man has acquired a control of the forces of +Nature, which makes him now a master where he was once a slave.</p> + +<p>By increase of self-restraint—and self-restraint involves the +subjection of natural instincts—man has developed qualities which +permit of social existence unknown in any other race.</p> + +<p>Without having lost the self-reliance that characterizes the solitary +carnivora, he has, by resisting Nature—by such artificial +institutions as that of marriage, and the education which results from +family relations—developed all the social virtues. Ferocity has been +tempered; lust has been reduced to subjection; in the place of the one +we now see courage; in the place of the other chastity; craft is +growing into wisdom; fear into reverence. He has substituted for the +standard of Nature the standard of Morality, and the substitution of +the standard of Morality for the standard of Nature has permitted men +and women to live in the same community safe from the ferocity that +drives the larger carnivora to solitude, and from the massacre and +mutilation which characterize such natural communities as those of +bees.</p> + +<p>When from this point of view we compare man with the lower animals, so +immense is his progress that we are tempted to believe perfection +within the reach of his attainment.</p> + +<p>Two things, however, suffice to keep alive evil in man:</p> + +<p>While at almost every point he has so moulded his own environment as +to eliminate the vices that characterize the rest of the animal +kingdom, in two respects the predatory system still prevails:</p> + +<p>The international conflict keeps nations in perpetual competition with +one another, and this periodically forces them to war; and the +intranational conflict keeps <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[362]</a></span>individuals in perpetual conflict with +one another, and stimulates all the vices which most interfere with +human happiness.</p> + +<p>The international conflict seems doomed to continue so long as man +remains separated by racial antipathies and commercial interests. +Efforts are being made to diminish occasions for war to the utmost +possible, by bringing all races to recognize and aim at the same +social ideal. But there would still remain ample occasion for war so +long as men are kept in competition by conflicting commercial +interests. The task first in importance and time, therefore, seems to +be to eliminate as much as is advisable the commercial and industrial +conflict, which has been already pointed out to be the great +intranational obstacle to human perfection and happiness.</p> + +<p>Now the intranational conflict has been seen to result from our +industrial system. This, as at present organized, is an artificial +creation of man; indispensable though it may have been to the gradual +evolution of the race, it has always acted, and must always act to +keep alive in man the very quality—selfishness—the elimination of +which is most essential to the happiness of a community, and the +absence of which particularly characterizes natural communities such +as those ants and bees.</p> + +<p>While, then, man has resisted and in great part subdued Nature in the +physical world by science, and in a world which he has himself +created—the moral world—by self-restraint, he has added to this +artificial environment two institutions which tend to counterbalance +the advantages already secured. These are national governments that +create international conflict, and an industrial system that creates +intranational conflict; and we are confronted with the problem whether +these two hothouses of crime, hatred, selfishness and vice, can be +dispensed with.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[363]</a></span>Science affords us the encouraging hope that they can. It points out +that man has already suppressed many of the most merciless effects of +the natural environment; that by virtue of the power through which he +can in great part create and certainly modify his own environment, he +may still further push on the work of civilization if he will but +recognize that the real enemy to human happiness is hatred and the +real friend to it solidarity; and if he will return to the Gospel of +Christ, which economic conditions have so far compelled him to +disregard.</p> + +<p>Before closing the study of evolution it is proper to point out that +we are now in a position to dispose of the contention that, because +natural evolution proceeds upon the principle of the survival of the +fittest, therefore human evolution must proceed upon the same lines. +This is the argument that millionaires and individualists set up +against those who believe in the possibility of diminishing human +misery by reducing the occasions for human conflict.</p> + +<p>It is totally false.</p> + +<p>Man has demonstrated his ability to resist Nature and to progress +along lines that are diametrically opposed to those of natural +evolution. The whole fabric of human civilization is an answer to the +millionaire's argument. The natural principle of the survival of the +fittest is no longer at work. Man has put an end to it. The lion and +the tiger no longer reign in the jungle nor the white ant in the +Pampas. Man, alone, determines which animals shall live and which +shall disappear. The weak in our own race no longer perish; mercy +comes to their rescue. The strong are no longer the only ones to +perpetuate the type; marriage protects the weak husband in his marital +rights as well as the strong. Climate no longer determines survival; +man has made himself master of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[364]</a></span>climate, and indeed works most +effectually to-day in latitudes which at an earlier stage were peopled +only by savages.</p> + +<p>At every point where man touches Nature he has reversed the natural +process.</p> + +<p>The unfit no longer perish, the fit no longer alone survive. Man is no +longer the necessary result of the natural environment: <i>he makes his +own environment</i>; and if he be wise enough he can so modify it as to +modify himself with it. When, if ever, he so modifies it as to +eliminate those elements in it which stimulate vice, then he will have +realized the word of the Gospel, "Ye are Gods."</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>§ 5. <span class="sc">Can Human Nature Be Changed by Law?</span></h4> + +<p>It is currently urged and has become a sort of maxim that human nature +cannot be changed by law. Not only is this quoted by the bourgeois in +his argument against the Socialist, but even Henry George has fallen +into this error. Indeed, it is this error that prevented Henry George +from adopting Socialism and left him the distinguished founder of an +inadequate philosophy. For the most superficial knowledge of history +will suffice to demonstrate its untruth. Human nature has already been +profoundly changed by law; by the institution of marriage, by +education, by property. This has already been sufficiently discussed +to make it unnecessary further to comment on it.<a name="FNanchor_205_205" id="FNanchor_205_205"></a><a href="#Footnote_205_205" class="fnanchor">[205]</a> It does not, +however, seem sufficient to point out the profound modification of +human nature by law in the past in order to persuade the bourgeois +that humanity can still further be modified by law in the future; for +a thousand instances can be quoted of efforts <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[365]</a></span>to change human nature +by law that have failed, and it is argued very illogically that +because in many instances they have failed, they must always fail. +Then, too, there remains in the minds of all influenced by Herbert +Spencer, the profound error that society is an organism and must be +allowed to grow; whereas on the contrary, a very little study +demonstrates that society differs from an organism in essential +points.<a name="FNanchor_206_206" id="FNanchor_206_206"></a><a href="#Footnote_206_206" class="fnanchor">[206]</a></p> + +<p>No society can exist without some law of association. The law may be a +natural one, as in the case of myxomycetes; or it may be an artificial +one, as in the case of the United States constitution; or it may be +both, as indeed is the case in every human society.</p> + +<p>This law of association is called "government." Strictly speaking, in +a political sense government means only that law of association which +is promulgated and enforced by the supreme power of the state; but +human society is controlled by a double system of laws—one written, +whether in judicial decisions or in express statute, and the other not +written, because it resides in the mass of the citizens under +conditions which baffle description. This last is imperfectly rendered +in the English word "custom," is more definitely expressed in the +French word <i>moeurs</i>, and is admirably conveyed by Horace in the words</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Quid leges sine moribus<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Vanae proficiunt?<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The essential characteristic of custom is that, however controlling it +may be in fact, it does not enjoy the sanction of legislative +enactment or executive decree; indeed, it often arises out of +opposition to law; as where in the Western states game laws remain +unenforced, because <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[366]</a></span>public opinion supports the ranchman's defence of +necessity; and sometimes again where, though a law be in itself +proper, a community declines to avail itself of the law, as in the +custom that discredited divorce in the early Roman Republic.</p> + +<p>Now, the importance of this moral or sometimes immoral sense that +makes custom independently of law, must not be underestimated—for it +is in many respects superior to law for evil or for good; and it +differs from law in the essential fact that it grows almost +imperceptibly, whereas law, in the strict sense of the word, is the +result of judicial decision or legislative enactment—both acts of +deliberation—or so purporting to be. The question naturally arises +then whether, in so far as society develops along the line of custom, +it does not follow the process of growth rather than that of +construction.</p> + +<p>It is impossible to deny that custom and public opinion are in a +continual state of change; the varying fortunes of political parties +sufficiently testify to this; but how far these variations are in +civilized communities due to unconscious growth and how far to +conscious effort it is not easy to determine. Suffice it to point out +that, while opposing forces such as egotism and philanthropy, do +continually tend to mould opinion under conditions that baffle +inquiry, there are conscious forces at work which are quite as +powerful and could be made more so. Chief amongst these is education; +and in the word "education" are included not our schools and +universities alone, but all the educating influences of the day—the +press, the stage, music, literature, and art. That all these are +engaged in moulding public opinion—some in bringing popular +government into contempt, some in relaxing public morals, some in +holding up low ideals, some in indulging luxurious tastes, while they +could be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[367]</a></span>doing just the opposite of all these things—there is no +doubt.</p> + +<p>The existence of these things is mentioned here because failure to +mention them would have left the discussion incomplete. Enough has +been said to indicate that there are great forces at work in society +which to-day escape the control of government, and that it is not easy +to say how far they operate after the haphazard fashion of Nature and +how far subject to the deliberate purpose of man. Whatever be the +conclusion, it is certain that so far as they are left to Nature's +guidance they will result in Nature's handiwork; whereas so far as +they are controlled by human wisdom they will bear the fruits of that +wisdom.</p> + +<p>In conclusion, therefore, associations of individuals are +characterized in primitive forms of life by unconsciousness; but as +the individuals develop, these associations seem to become deliberate +rather than unconscious, until in man they not only seem deliberate +but are so.</p> + +<p>The history of human society shows that when it has been allowed to +grow unconsciously the development has been in the same direction as +under the predatory system of Nature; that is to say, institutions +have been moulded to benefit individuals presenting the combination of +strength and craft best fitted to survive in the artificial +environment which the strong and crafty created to that end. When +conditions produced by this system of growth under the spur of egotism +were replaced by one of construction under the guidance of wisdom, +there was progress.</p> + +<p>Society is controlled by two forces: one which it consciously set up +for itself, called "government"; one which is unconsciously operating +through the silent struggle of natural and non-natural motives in the +individual lives <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[368]</a></span>of every one of us. The latter to a great extent +escapes the control of government; but in so far as society does +consciously create its own institutions, it ought to be engaged in the +process of construction and in the conscious effort towards +self-improvement. To this extent society is not an organism, and <i>à +fortiori</i> government is not an organism either.</p> + +<p>Society, then, is not an organism.</p> + +<p>It differs from an organism in the following essential particulars:</p> + +<p>The units of an organism have no individual existence; they are parts +essential to the whole and exist for the sake of the whole.</p> + +<p>The units of a society have an individual existence; and, in the case +of human society, do not exist for the sake of the society, but +society for the sake of the individual.</p> + +<p>Not only have the units of a society each an individual existence, but +they have each an individual will, an independent consciousness, and, +all except Materialists will add, an individual soul. The units of an +organism are conspicuously without any of these essential attributes.</p> + +<p>But society, though not itself an organism, is an association of +organisms. And although human society seems to resemble a machine more +than an organism, the legislator cannot for a moment afford to forget +that the parts of his machine are not inanimate inorganic matter, but +organic living beings, endowed with the faculties of consciousness and +will—and above all alive to pleasure and sensitive to pain. Nor can +he afford to forget that the efficacy of all laws depends ultimately +upon the consent of those upon whom they are to operate; and that +therefore no law can be effectual that is not supported <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[369]</a></span>by public +opinion. Now, public opinion is the result of all the forces acting in +the social field, unconscious as well as conscious; so that while the +aim of the legislator should be to replace unconscious growth so far +as is possible by conscious construction, he commits a fatal error if +he fails to recognize that men and women are to-day actuated as to +nine-tenths of their thoughts and deeds by habit, and many—perhaps +the majority of them—incapable of conscious deliberate self-restraint +at all. Legislation therefore that seeks suddenly to exact of the +public a greater capacity for self-restraint than it is capable of, +cannot but prove ineffectual; and ineffectual legislation is bad, +because it tends to bring legislation into contempt. Prohibition +furnishes a good illustration of this principle: in those States in +which Prohibition is supported by public opinion it operates +advantageously; where it is not so supported it operates only as an +instrument of blackmail. Obviously Prohibition has diminished crime +and improved social conditions in some States, whereas every attempt +to force it or anything approaching to it upon the city of New York +has resulted in the corruption of the police engaged in enforcing it, +or in prompt punishment for the political party responsible for its +enactment. The helplessness of mere laws to eradicate defects of +temperament is one of the facts which tend to support the theory of +<i>laissez faire</i>; but the argument that because under certain +conditions legislation is inadequate, therefore legislation is always +inadequate, is too obviously illogical to need refutation. It could +hardly have received a moment's consideration had it not been +bolstered by pseudo-scientific conclusions drawn from an alleged +identity between society and organisms. But even if society were an +organism, this argument would still be incorrect; just as incorrect as +though it were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[370]</a></span>contended that because under certain conditions +medicine is inadequate, medicines must always be avoided. Were society +as subtle and difficult to treat as the human bodies of which it is +composed, it would still be the duty of the legislator to study the +one, just as the physician studies the other, with a view to +determining the limits as well as the extent of his resources.</p> + +<p>But society is not an organism; on the contrary, the more human and +civilized it is, the less it conforms to unconscious growth and the +more it yields to intelligent purpose. That it is composed of +organisms, however, sets a limit to the wisdom of interference which +it is of paramount importance that we should carefully define.</p> + +<p>These limits seem roughly to be marked out by two essential factors: +one is the purpose of legislation—or justice, the other is the +obstacles to legislation—or national character. Government in aiming +at justice has to recognize defects of character. The justice which +can be attained in one community could not be attempted in another; +that which could be attained in one community in one stage of its +development, it would have been folly to attempt at an earlier one. +The approach to perfection in social conditions depends essentially +upon the approach to perfection attained by the individuals of which +the society is composed.</p> + +<p>How nearly a government can attain perfection depends, then, upon the +individual character of those subject to it; and how nearly the +individual character can attain perfection depends to a great extent +upon the government to which it is subjected. These two factors cannot +be treated apart; one is a function of the other. Just as a physician +has in treating a patient to consider the hygienic conditions which +surround him, and the peculiarities of constitution which may make a +sudden <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[371]</a></span>change of these conditions injurious, so a legislator in +framing laws for a community and thus changing the conditions of its +environment, has to consider the temperament of the community and its +fitness to undergo the proposed change. This is one of the limits that +Nature puts to legislation, and it is upon a just apprehension of it +that the wisdom of legislation depends.</p> + +<p>Although the extent to which legislation can modify nature depends +largely upon the individuals who compose the community, there are, +nevertheless, certain rules that can be laid down applicable by and +large, to the whole community.</p> + +<p>When a trainer desires to subdue a wild beast, the first thing he does +is to diminish his rations. So long as the carnivorous passions of the +lion are kept whetted all attempt to control him fails. Or to use a +more homely illustration, when we want to break a high-spirited colt, +his supply of oats is lowered. To give such an animal an unlimited +amount of oats and then to seek to control him with a powerful harness +would be a mistake. If the harness left him free to move at all, he +would kick the harness to pieces. Every trainer knows that if a horse +is refractory, the first thing to be done to give him habits of +docility is to reduce his rations of grain and to feed him on a less +stimulating diet.</p> + +<p>This simple and universally admitted principle is, however, singularly +neglected in our social and political institutions. These proceed upon +the opposite plan; that is to say, they whet the appetite of man to +the utmost by offering the largest rewards to the most crafty, the +most greedy, the most dishonest, and the most merciless of men, and +then legislatures, for the most part elected by these very men, are +expected to control their craft, greed, dishonesty, and +mercilessness.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[372]</a></span>Thus while the competitive system, by making money the main object of +human existence, drives men to gambling and crime, we maintain an +elaborate system of police courts, penitentiaries, and prisons for +suppressing these things, although the experience of all recorded +history demonstrates that these methods are totally ineffectual. By +overworking our wage-earners, we give them an insatiable thirst for +drink; we entrust the sale of liquor to private individuals; we give +these last the keenest motive for forcing the sale of liquor on a +community alas, too eager to buy it, and then we attempt by the +license system to control drunkenness. We leave our currency, which is +the lifeblood of our industrial system, in the hands of men entitled +under our law to consider this currency a mere method of increasing +their private wealth; we offer to these men monopolies of +transportation, of water, of gas, from which they can make gigantic +fortunes and through which they can control our politics, and then we +expect the very legislatures they control, the very legislators they +elect, and the very officers they appoint, to control them. Obviously, +if we begin by putting our legislature into the hands of the men whose +interest it is to use that legislature to exploit us, we ought not to +be surprised if the laws enacted by these legislatures fail to "change +human nature."</p> + +<p>If, however, these appetites were never awakened, or if they were only +sufficiently tolerated to produce healthy activity; if the +"brotherhood of man" ceased to be a formula and became a fact; if men +were educated from the cradle to believe that coöperation resulted in +more economy, liberty, and happiness than competition; if coöperative +habits were created so that men instinctively coöperated with one +another instead of fighting with one another, can it be doubted that +the laws enacted to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[373]</a></span>produce this change in our human conditions would +have a profound effect upon human nature?</p> + +<p>The natural environment has produced the lion, the tiger, and the ape. +The artificial or human environment has produced man. But man is still +a competitive animal. The next step that we have to take is still +further so to modify our artificial environment as to make him a +coöperative animal; to suppress the excessive competition that to-day +promotes hatred, leaving enough to spur activity; to introduce enough +coöperation to create habits of mutual helpfulness, yet not so much as +to suppress individual initiative.</p> + +<p>This effort does not involve any sudden revolution in our development; +it is only an intelligent continuation of the process already begun. +We have diminished the ferocity of the carnivora in men; we have still +further to diminish it without impairing courage. If we keep in mind +that the object of political effort should be to diminish unhappiness +and increase happiness, we shall conclude that this can best be done +by continuing to develop along this line; by eliminating the eagerness +created by the competitive system that makes success indispensable, +not only to luxury and comfort, but to health and life; and that by +modifying our institutions in the direction indicated in the foregoing +pages, we shall not only secure a larger measure of happiness, but we +shall so modify type as to change habits and change ideals.</p> + +<p>In a word, Science teaches us that we are and must be creatures of our +own environment. History teaches us that we have moulded and can mould +our own environment. By this inestimable power, man can determine the +development of the human type. By maintaining existing conditions, we +shall continue to produce <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[374]</a></span>the type of grasping millionaires that the +community at large in its heart abhors. Whereas, by modifying the +environment by the substitution of coöperation for competition in the +measure above described, we shall create a type that humanity has set +up in all its poetry, music, and art, as the type to be desired, +respected, and loved.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>§ 6. <span class="sc">Summary</span></h4> + +<p>In conclusion let us briefly summarize the scientific argument for +Socialism free from the explanations with which in a first +presentation of this subject it was necessary to encumber the text.</p> + +<p>Evolution prior to the advent of man was an unconscious and therefore +indeliberate adaptation of function to environment through the +survival of the fittest and the corresponding destruction of the less +fit. Herbert Spencer and his school have been misled by this fact into +a glorification of the competitive system which seemed to them the +most conspicuous factor in the improvement of type. This school +altogether fails to take account of two facts of the utmost +importance:</p> + +<p>Development under purely natural conditions—prior to the advent of +man—by no means proceeded alone along competitive lines. It also +proceeded along coöperative lines, so that while the lion, the tiger, +and the ape are the prevailing types in certain regions, in others the +prevailing type is the white ant.</p> + +<p>The other equally important fact is that whereas evolution under +purely natural conditions—before the advent of man—was unconscious, +indeliberate, and merciless, since the advent of man it has become +conscious, deliberate, and merciful, to such an extent that in almost +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[375]</a></span>every essential particular, development has reversed the process that +preceded the advent of man. Before the advent of man, animals were not +only the victims of the forces of nature, but also their necessary +result. Only those animals survived that were able to adapt themselves +to changes of environment. The rest perished. And they adapted +themselves to changes of environment mainly by developing new organs +to that end. For example, the camel develops pads under its feet to +protect them from the burning sands, and a reservoir in its alimentary +canal to furnish water during its wanderings in the desert; the +hairless hide of the tropical elephant becomes covered with thick +curly wool when found in the Arctic zone.</p> + +<p>When, however, man appears upon the face of the earth, all this order +changes. The survival of animals in the world is no longer determined +by changes of climate or changes of environment; the survival of the +fittest is no longer determined by Nature. It is determined by Art—by +Man. The animals beneficial to man survive; the animals detrimental to +man perish. Again, man is no longer the victim of the forces of +Nature; he has become in great part master of them. The flame that +raged uncontrollably over the forest and plain, man now puts under his +kettle to make his tea; the torrent that devastated the valleys, man +now dikes and distributes in irrigating ditches, transforming deserts +into green fields. The fitful flash of the lightning in the heavens +man conducts along a little wire and converts into the steady glow of +the incandescent lamp. Nor does man any longer adapt function to +environment. The Esquimau of the Arctic regions has not developed a +thick curly fur; he has clothed himself in the furs of other animals; +the Arab of the desert has not developed pads under his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[376]</a></span>feet or a +reservoir in his alimentary canal; he rides and loads water on the +back of the camel already so provided. Man is no longer the necessary +result of natural environment; he makes his own environment. Wherever +he goes, he makes a climate of his own. In the tropics, he builds +houses to protect himself from the heat, and creates an artificial +cold by punkahs, electric fans, and the manufacture of ice. In winter, +he creates another climate by building houses to protect himself from +the cold, heating them with a furnace and lighting them with gas and +electricity. Most important of all, by the control of man over +environment, he can determine not only his own destiny, but also the +destiny of generations to come. He can by preserving the competitive +conditions that exist, go on developing the base type that is now the +necessary result of these conditions—the type that seeks happiness +regardless of the happiness of others, such as our oil kings and +railroad kings, steel kings and other so-called captains of industry. +By substituting coöperation for competition, he can, on the contrary, +develop a noble type that seeks happiness through the happiness of +others, such as the settlement worker and the Little Sister of the +Poor, with, however, this amazing difference: that whereas to-day +those who rejoice in social service for its own sake are for the most +part humble and obscure, and those who use social service for their +own advancement are wealthy and illustrious, in a coöperative +commonwealth the genius that now goes into competitive business will +be drawn into the service of the coöperative commonwealth. The present +alliance between ability and craft will be broken up and a new +partnership encouraged between ability, wisdom, and unselfishness.</p> + +<p>The fact that all life must adapt itself to environment has been felt +from the earliest dawn of civilization. Plato <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[377]</a></span>stated it in the +Republic. If justice is to be attained, according to Plato it can only +be attained under a just form of government. The whole history of man +since the days of Plato has demonstrated that every change in the +condition of man can be traced as the direct result of change of +environment—economic, political, ethical, and religious. The +demonstration that this not only is so but must be so was left to +science. And the contribution of science to Socialism is the +demonstration of the fact that man can create his own environment—can +take those elements in competition which are good and eliminate those +which are bad—can take those elements in coöperation which are good +and eliminate those which are bad; and by thus constructing his +environment through wisdom and art, determine whether the type +perpetuated by this environment is to be noble or base.</p> + +<br /> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +<br /> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_198_198" id="Footnote_198_198"></a><a href="#FNanchor_198_198"><span class="label">[198]</span></a> "Principles of Sociology," p. 414.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_199_199" id="Footnote_199_199"></a><a href="#FNanchor_199_199"><span class="label">[199]</span></a> "Government or Human Evolution," Vol. II, p. 181.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_200_200" id="Footnote_200_200"></a><a href="#FNanchor_200_200"><span class="label">[200]</span></a> "Essays on Evolution and Ethics," "Essays on Science +and Morals," and "Struggle for Existence in Human Society."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_201_201" id="Footnote_201_201"></a><a href="#FNanchor_201_201"><span class="label">[201]</span></a> "Government or Human Evolution," Vol. I, p. 239.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_202_202" id="Footnote_202_202"></a><a href="#FNanchor_202_202"><span class="label">[202]</span></a> The word "altruism" is used instead of the more +familiar word "unselfishness" to avoid the criticism of those who +contend that there is no such thing as unselfishness. It is true that +we are all selfish in the sense that we are all seeking happiness for +ourselves; but selfishness can be defined as the search for happiness +regardless of the happiness of others, and altruism as the search for +happiness through the happiness of others.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_203_203" id="Footnote_203_203"></a><a href="#FNanchor_203_203"><span class="label">[203]</span></a> Lyell, Sir Charles, "Principles of Geology," 1872, Vol. +I, Chapter X, p. 201.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_204_204" id="Footnote_204_204"></a><a href="#FNanchor_204_204"><span class="label">[204]</span></a> This conclusion is arrived at by Charles Booth in a +statistical work which commands the approval of all authorities of +whatever shade of political opinion.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_205_205" id="Footnote_205_205"></a><a href="#FNanchor_205_205"><span class="label">[205]</span></a> Book III, Chapter V.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_206_206" id="Footnote_206_206"></a><a href="#FNanchor_206_206"><span class="label">[206]</span></a> "Introduction to the Study of Sociology." Herbert +Spencer, Chapter III.</p></div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="BK_III_CHAPTER_V" id="BK_III_CHAPTER_V"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[378]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER V<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>ETHICAL ASPECT OF SOCIALISM</h3> +<br /> + +<p>The ethical aspect of Socialism is a practical continuation of the +argument of the last chapter, and brings us to the crowning glory of +Socialism: that it alone can and does reconcile the conflict between +science, economics, and religion.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>§ 1. <span class="sc">The Conflict between Science and Religion</span></h4> + +<p>Science produces convictions founded on fact. Religion imposes +convictions founded on faith. If Religion confines itself to matters +of faith—to the supernatural—it need not come into conflict with +Science. But when it trespasses on the realms of Science—when it +begins to deal with matters of fact—it creates a conflict with +Science in which Science must in the end be victorious. Thus when the +Church ventured to make it a matter of faith that the sun revolves +around the earth, it might secure the recantation of Galileo, but it +had in the end to yield before the demonstrations of astronomy.</p> + +<p>This element of conflict between the church and the state is +disappearing and is bound entirely to disappear. The church is more +and more confining itself to supernatural matters which are properly +within the domain of faith. So long as it does this, it need not clash +with Science.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[379]</a></span>There is, however, another occasion of conflict between Science and +Religion more modern than the former and more real: The doctrine of +evolution in attacking the theory of special creation needed at one +time to attack the existence of God; and as interpreted by Herbert +Spencer and his school, gave rise to the doctrine that "because, on +the whole, animals and plants have advanced in perfection of +organization by means of the struggle for existence and the consequent +'survival of the fittest,' therefore men in society, men as ethical +beings, must look to the same process to help them towards +perfection."<a name="FNanchor_207_207" id="FNanchor_207_207"></a><a href="#Footnote_207_207" class="fnanchor">[207]</a></p> + +<p>This notion, which Huxley describes as the fallacy that at that time +pervaded the so-called "ethics of evolution," raised an issue not only +with the church, but with the fundamental principles of religion. For +if, in fact, the blind process of evolution proceeding through the +survival of the fittest and the destruction of the unfit, was the only +process to which man could look for his development, then there is no +need of a God, and what is far more important, there is no need for +either human responsibility or human effort. Now the church, however +much its sects may differ in other matters, has always been united in +teaching not only the existence of a God, but the responsibility of +man to God, and a duty of man to make the effort necessary to comply +with his commandments. It is to the pages of Huxley that we must turn +to see this Spencerian fallacy refuted.</p> + +<p>Huxley pointed out that a gardener in growing things beautiful and +useful to man proceeded in violation of the principles of evolution. +The characteristic feature of what he calls the "cosmic process," that +is to say, evolution <i>prior</i> to the advent of man, "is the intense +and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[380]</a></span>unceasing competition of the struggle for existence." The +characteristic of evolution since the advent of man is "<i>the +elimination of that struggle</i> by the removal of the conditions which +give rise to it."<a name="FNanchor_208_208" id="FNanchor_208_208"></a><a href="#Footnote_208_208" class="fnanchor">[208]</a></p> + +<p>The immense importance of these considerations is that they +demonstrate no less important a fact than that Man is to-day the +selecting agent and not Nature; and Man, by replacing evolution by Art +converts things which in the domain of Nature are not edible, such as +kale, into things which under Art become edible, such as cabbage.</p> + +<p>But let us now take up the story as told by Huxley:</p> + +<p>"Let us now imagine that some <i>administrative authority, as far +superior in power and intelligence to men, as men are to their cattle, +is set over the colony, charged to deal with its human elements</i> in +such a manner as to assure the victory of the settlement over the +antagonistic influences of the state of nature in which it is set +down. He would proceed in the same fashion as that in which the +gardener dealt with his garden. In the first place, he would, as far +as possible, put a <i>stop to the influence of external competition</i> by +thoroughly extirpating and excluding the native rivals, whether men, +beasts, or plants. And our administrator would select his human +agents, with a view to his ideal of a successful colony, just as the +gardener selects his plants with a view to his ideal of useful or +beautiful products.</p> + +<p>"In the second place, in order that no struggle for the means of +existence between these human agents should weaken the efficiency of +the corporate whole in the battle with the state of nature, he would +make arrangements by which each would be provided with those means; +and would be relieved from the fear of being deprived of them by his +stronger or more cunning fellows. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[381]</a></span>Laws, sanctioned by the combined +force of the colony, would restrain the self-assertion of each man +within the limits required for the maintenance of peace. In other +words, the cosmic struggle for existence, as between man and man, +would be rigorously suppressed; and <i>selection, by its means, would be +as completely excluded as it is from the garden</i>.</p> + +<p>"At the same time, the obstacles to the full development of the +capacities of the colonists by other conditions of the state of nature +than those already mentioned, would be removed by the creation of +artificial conditions of existence of a more favorable character. +Protection against extremes of heat and cold would be afforded by +houses and clothing; drainage and irrigation works would antagonize +the effects of excessive rain and excessive drought; roads, bridges, +canals, carriages, and ships would overcome the natural obstacles to +locomotion and transport; mechanical engines would supplement the +natural strength of men and of their draught animals; hygienic +precautions would check, or remove the natural causes of disease. With +every step of this progress in civilization, the colonists would +become more and more independent of the state of nature; more and +more, their lives would be conditioned by a state of art. In order to +attain his ends, the administrator would have to avail himself of the +courage, industry, and coöperative intelligence of the settlers; and +it is plain that the interest of the community would be best served by +increasing the proportion of persons who possess such qualities, and +diminishing that of persons devoid of them. In other words, by +<i>selection directed towards an ideal</i>.</p> + +<p>"Thus the administrator might look to the establishment of an earthly +paradise, a true garden of Eden, in which all things should work +together towards the well-being of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[382]</a></span>the gardeners; within which the +cosmic process, the coarse struggle for existence of the state of +nature, should he abolished; in which that state should be replaced by a +state of art; where every plant and every lower animal should be adapted +to human wants, and would perish if human supervision and protection +were withdrawn; where men themselves should have been selected with a +view to their efficiency as organs for the performance of the functions +of a perfected society. And this ideal polity would have been brought +about, not by gradually adjusting the men to the conditions around them, +but by creating artificial conditions for them; not by allowing the free +play of the struggle for existence, but by excluding that struggle; and +by substituting selection directed towards the administrator's ideal for +the selection it exercises."<a name="FNanchor_209_209" id="FNanchor_209_209"></a><a href="#Footnote_209_209" class="fnanchor">[209]</a></p> + +<p>And this is not confined to physical things, but is extended to moral. +"<i>Social progress</i>," he says, "<i>means a checking of the cosmic process +at every step and the substitution for it of another, which may be +called the ethical process</i>; the end of which is not the survival of +those who may happen to be the fittest, in respect of the whole of the +conditions which obtain, but of those who are ethically the +best."<a name="FNanchor_210_210" id="FNanchor_210_210"></a><a href="#Footnote_210_210" class="fnanchor">[210]</a> And this leads to the final conclusion:</p> + +<p>"As I have already urged, the practice of that which is ethically +best—what we call goodness or virtue—involves a course of conduct +which, in all respects, is opposed to that which leads to success in +the cosmic struggle for existence. In place of ruthless self-assertion +it demands self-restraint; in place of thrusting aside, or treading +down all competitors, it requires that the individual shall not merely +respect, but shall help his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[383]</a></span>fellows; its influence is directed, <i>not +so much to the survival of the fittest, as to the fitting of as many +as possible to survive</i>. It repudiates the gladiatorial theory of +existence. It demands that each man who enters into the enjoyment of +the advantages of a polity shall be mindful of his debt to those who +have laboriously constructed it; and shall take heed that no act of +his weakens the fabric in which he has been permitted to live."<a name="FNanchor_211_211" id="FNanchor_211_211"></a><a href="#Footnote_211_211" class="fnanchor">[211]</a></p> + +<p>Further on, he repeats:</p> + +<p>"Let us understand, once for all, that the ethical progress of society +depends, not on imitating the cosmic process, still less in running +away from it, but in combating it."<a name="FNanchor_212_212" id="FNanchor_212_212"></a><a href="#Footnote_212_212" class="fnanchor">[212]</a></p> + +<p>And later on:</p> + +<p>"I see no limit to the extent to which intelligence and will, guided +by sound principles of investigation, and organized in a common +effort, may modify the conditions of existence, for a period longer +than that now covered by history. <i>And much may be done to change the +nature of man himself.</i> The intelligence which has converted the +brother of the wolf into the faithful guardian of the flock ought to +be able to do something towards curbing the instincts of savagery in +civilized men."<a name="FNanchor_213_213" id="FNanchor_213_213"></a><a href="#Footnote_213_213" class="fnanchor">[213]</a></p> + +<p>And in a note Huxley emphasizes the extent to which human nature has +been already modified by pointing to the fact that sexual instinct has +been suppressed between near relations.<a name="FNanchor_214_214" id="FNanchor_214_214"></a><a href="#Footnote_214_214" class="fnanchor">[214]</a></p> + +<p>Huxley's demonstrations that the happiness of man can only be attained +by the limitation of competition, by deliberate institutions to that +effect, and by conscious efforts to create an environment that will +tend to develop the ethical qualities of men, put an end to the last +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[384]</a></span>serious occasion for conflict between Science and Religion; for it +results in the same theories of human responsibility, and the same +appeals to human effort, that it has been the rôle of the church to +preach from the beginning.</p> + +<p>I have quoted from "Evolution and Ethics" because to my mind this +essay and its prolegomena make Huxley the founder of Scientific and +Ethical Socialism. It is true that he himself repudiates this. To him +Socialism is impossible because of what he describes as "the mighty +instinct of reproduction."<a name="FNanchor_215_215" id="FNanchor_215_215"></a><a href="#Footnote_215_215" class="fnanchor">[215]</a> He points out that we cannot apply to +superfluous or defective human beings the system of extirpation which +gardeners apply to superfluous and defective vegetables and weeds.</p> + +<p>I have already answered the objection to Socialism on the ground of +overproduction.<a name="FNanchor_216_216" id="FNanchor_216_216"></a><a href="#Footnote_216_216" class="fnanchor">[216]</a> But Huxley never had presented to him the modern +idea of Socialism herein described. He speaks of the "elimination of +competition." It never occurred to him that the evils of competition +could be eliminated without eliminating competition. Candor, however, +compels me to admit that I do not think any presentation of the most +modern form of Socialism would at all have converted Professor Huxley. +There were two subjects upon which he could not speak without getting +into a temper: Gladstone and Socialism.</p> + +<p>When I met him, I was not myself a Socialist. Indeed, I did not become +a Socialist until after Huxley died. My impressions, therefore, of him +were not affected by a prejudice in favor of Socialism. On the +contrary, I still regarded Socialism as impractical; I still believed +it to be absurd. It was only after months of labor in attempting to +utilize the "considerable fragments of a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[385]</a></span>constructive creed"<a name="FNanchor_217_217" id="FNanchor_217_217"></a><a href="#Footnote_217_217" class="fnanchor">[217]</a> +which Professor Ritchie found in Professor Huxley's pages, that I was +driven to a study of the Socialism to which I was utterly opposed, and +found in it the only solution to the contradictions which blurred even +the lucid pages of Huxley's works. And the contradictions in Huxley +are not difficult to find. Nothing could be more pessimistic than what +seems to be the climax of his argument in "Evolution and Ethics":</p> + +<p>"The theory of evolution encourages no millennial anticipations. If, +for millions of years, our globe has taken the upward road, yet, some +time, the summit will be reached and the downward route will be +commenced. The most daring imagination will hardly venture upon the +suggestion that the power and the intelligence of man can ever arrest +the procession of the great year."<a name="FNanchor_218_218" id="FNanchor_218_218"></a><a href="#Footnote_218_218" class="fnanchor">[218]</a></p> + +<p>And yet, on the very next page, he closes this essay with a note of +the serenest optimism:</p> + +<p>"So far, we all may strive in one faith towards one hope."<a name="FNanchor_219_219" id="FNanchor_219_219"></a><a href="#Footnote_219_219" class="fnanchor">[219]</a> And +the keynote of his attitude towards this subject is to be found in a +passage in which he "thinks it unjust to require a crossing-sweeper in +Piccadilly to tell you the road to Highgate; he has earned his copper +if he had done all he professes to do and cleaned up your immediate +path"; and a little later where he "shudderingly objects to the +responsibility of attempting to set right a world out of joint."</p> + +<p>Now Socialists have the audacity to maintain that it is not beyond the +intelligence of the crossing-sweeper of Piccadilly to know and tell +the road to Highgate, and that the time has come when no one has a +right <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[386]</a></span>to "shudderingly object to the responsibility of attempting to +set right a world out of joint."</p> + +<p>Huxley builded better than he knew; and in spite of his detestation of +Socialism it was he who built its strongest and most enduring +foundation; for unanswerable as may be the economic argument in favor +of Socialism, it might take centuries to prevail if there were not an +equally strong scientific and ethical argument for it.</p> + +<p>The moment that Huxley recognizes that it is by the "elimination of +competition," or shall we say the "limitation of competition," by +substituting human selection for natural selection, and directing +selection towards an ideal that man is to progress and develop, he has +recognized the scientific basis of Socialism; and when he points out +that Science teaches self-restraint, human responsibility, human +effort, not so much the "survival of the fittest" as fitting as many +as possible to survive, he has reconciled Science and Religion.</p> + +<p>It is probable that one of the reasons why Huxley took a pessimistic +view of the future was that he despaired of finding a solution to the +economic struggle. I cannot forget the melancholy with which he said +one day: "I am informed that England keeps its control of the market +of cotton goods by a difference in cost of production of a farthing +per yard. How long can this last?" But Huxley only gave a part of the +scientific argument for Socialism. For the other part we have to turn +from the pages of Huxley to those of Karl Marx.</p> + +<p>One of the most important services Karl Marx rendered humanity was the +demonstration of the predominating influence of economics in the +development of man, in the determining of our custom, character, and +conduct.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[387]</a></span>The economic conception of history is described by F. Engels as +follows:</p> + +<p>"The materialist conception of history starts from the principle that +production, and next to production the exchange of its products, is +the basis of every social system; that in every society arising in +history the allotment of products, and with it the division of society +into classes or ranks, depends upon what is produced, how it is +produced, and how when produced it is exchanged. Accordingly the +ultimate causes of all social changes and political revolutions are +not to be looked for in the heads of men, in their growing insight +into eternal truth and justice, but in changes of the methods of +production and exchange; they are to be looked for not in the +philosophy, but in the economy of the epoch in question."<a name="FNanchor_220_220" id="FNanchor_220_220"></a><a href="#Footnote_220_220" class="fnanchor">[220]</a></p> + +<p>Before elaborating this conception of history, it may be well to point +out one or two elements of confusion in the terms in which it is +stated. It is described as the "materialist conception of history," +and for this reason many people imagine that the admission of this +theory means the exclusion of the ideal. This is a profound error due +to a misunderstanding of the use of the word "materialist." This word +does not necessarily imply that the only proper conception of history +is a materialistic one in the sense that it excludes the operation of +ideals; but only that material conditions have played a predominating +rôle in determining ideas.</p> + +<p>The admission, however, must be made that this explanation is by no +means admitted by all Socialist writers. Indeed the very language used +by Engels is inconsistent with it. He says "they are not to be looked +for in the philosophy, but in the economy of the epoch in question." +If, however, Mr. Engels were alive to-day <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[388]</a></span>and were challenged as to +whether in fact he meant by this phrase to exclude philosophy +altogether, I think he would answer in the negative. What he meant to +say, I think, was that the ultimate causes of all social changes and +political revolutions are to be looked for in the economy of the epoch +rather than in its philosophy. And this, I think, with some limitation +is true, for the philosophy of every period is to a large extent +determined by its economic conditions.</p> + +<p>To this general statement there are, however, notable exceptions. Some +men either by the adequacy of their means or the smallness of their +needs, are lifted entirely above economic conditions, so that they can +reason abstractly without regard to economic conditions. This probably +is true of almost every philosopher that has made his mark. It is +impossible to read the words of Christ, of Plato, Aristotle, St. +Thomas Aquinas, Carlyle, Emerson, and Tolstoi without being impressed +by the fact that they soared far above all economic considerations.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, economic conditions had a controlling influence on +the whole philosophy of Ruskin. His first contact with life was while +travelling with his father, who sold sherry to wealthy county +families, and approached their mansions by way of the butler's pantry. +This impregnated Ruskin with a cult for aristocracy. It made it +impossible for him to consider popular government without impatience.</p> + +<p>Economic conditions too had put their mark so ineffaceably on the mind +of Huxley that although in his criticism of Herbert Spencer he +destroyed the principal philosophic bulwark of capitalism, he could +not talk on Socialism without irritation.</p> + +<p>Thus although men as great as Ruskin and Huxley <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[389]</a></span>were unable to rise +above the slavery of the economic conditions in which their minds had +been formed, others are so constituted as to be able to discuss ethics +without any regard to economic conditions whatever. There is, however, +no doubt as to the dominating influence of economic conditions in +determining the average mental attitude.</p> + +<p>Man had two dominating appetites—for food and for perpetuation; and +of these, because that for perpetuation is fitful whereas that for +food is continuous, the latter is the more determining of the two. +There is hardly an act in a man's life which is not determined by the +needs of food in the first place and the search for food in the +second. This is admitted by all sociologists.</p> + +<p>A right understanding of economics is therefore of the utmost +importance to the conscious development of man. Unfortunately +economists themselves have been until very lately just as narrow in +their disregard of science and religion as science and religion have +been narrow in their disregard of economics. Let us consider as +briefly as the subject permits the inconsistencies which result from +this narrowness in regard to religion and economics.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>§ 2. <span class="sc">Conflict between Economics and Religion</span></h4> + +<p>It is said that by the side of every poison in Nature there grows its +antidote; that for every bean of St. Ignatius there is a bean of +Calabar; and that a man poisoned by the one has only to stretch his +hand out to the other.</p> + +<p>So also in our social system may the two influences be at work, at +odds with each other; whereas, did we but know enough, they might not +only serve to counteract <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[390]</a></span>one another, but even become a priceless +boon to humanity, as indeed the beans of St. Ignatius and Calabar have +been made to yield up drugs as useful as nux vomica and eserine.</p> + +<p>Religion and economics start by assumptions that are glaringly +inconsistent.</p> + +<p>Religion proceeds upon the assumption that man has morality in him and +will, sometimes, act morally even contrary to his material interests.</p> + +<p>Economics proceed upon the assumption that man has no morality in him +and will never act morally if morality be contrary to his material +interests.</p> + +<p>Modern economists have somewhat modified this last view, but I am not +criticising modern Political Economy, which is already lowering its +flag to new doctrine; I am criticising the doctrine of <i>laissez +faire</i>, which still constitutes the backbone of our existing economics +and will continue to deform our economic ideas until that backbone is +relegated to museums by the side of the Ichthyosaurus and the +Iguanodon.</p> + +<p>Is the assumption that economic science is uninfluenced by morality +true or false? Undoubtedly an economic science can be and has been +constructed which does ignore morality and, dealing with man not as he +really is but stripped of his morality, or as he is termed by some +economic writers, "economic man," and still more naïvely by others the +"average sensual man," has laid down the laws which <i>for such a man</i> +govern the production, distribution, and accumulation of wealth. In +the development of this science it has been found necessary to define +wealth, and here we come upon the first hard substance against which +economists have broken their heads. For obviously wealth is to the +"economic" or "average sensual" man a totally different thing to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[391]</a></span>what +it is to a Diogenes, a Cato, or to a Sister of Charity. To the latter +wealth or well-being as opposed to illth or ill-being, consists mainly +in the opportunity to be helpful to our fellow-creatures, whereas to +the average sensual man wealth means money or the things that +represent money, produce, bonds, and shares of stock. Now all +economists are not "average sensual" men; it is doubtful whether to +those who know the Dean of Modern Economists, Mr. Alfred Marshall, he +can be described as a sensual man at all; and so there are few +subjects upon which economists have differed so much as upon the +definition of wealth. The extremists confine wealth to material things +that have an exchange value; but the absurdity of such a definition is +slowly making itself recognized; thus it has been forced upon some +that skill is wealth; and upon others that honesty too is wealth; for +the money value of honesty is now put into dollars and cents by surety +companies. And so very slowly but surely economists are beginning to +recognize that man is a moral as well as a sensual animal, and that +his morality cannot be disregarded even by economics.</p> + +<p>Then, too, what is wealth in one country is not wealth in another; +thus we are told that the food of John the Baptist was "locusts and +wild honey," and in certain parts of Africa locusts are still a +marketable article of food; so snails are wealth in France though not +in England; and human flesh which is not wealth in Europe is still +wealth in some parts of Africa. Wealth then depends upon two factors: +intrinsic and extrinsic; the first including qualities of the thing +itself, the second depending upon human demand; so that a painting by +Tintoretto is wealth to a community that loves art, but an encumbrance +to one that does not love it; and absinthe, that is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[392]</a></span>regarded as a +valuable asset in France, is excluded by Belgium as poison.</p> + +<p>Here again we come up against the morality of man; will he continue to +poison himself with absinthe or will he abstain? Upon this ethical +decision will depend the question whether the immense stock of +absinthe now on the French market is wealth or not. And so we are led +insensibly to a question of still wider importance: Is wealth money or +is it happiness? If it is money then economists are right; if it is +happiness then they are wrong. And yet it is as clear as the sun on a +cloudless day that what man wants is happiness, and that if he has +been set all these centuries on seeking money it is because money is +believed by him to be practically the only medium through which he can +attain happiness. Here is repeated the old story of the captive beaver +in the attic gathering sticks to make a dam when the water pitcher was +upset. The object for making dams had disappeared, but the +dam-building instinct survived. We have grown so accustomed to labor +for money that we have lost sight of the real object of our efforts; +and we have to think a long time before we recognize that money in +itself is of no importance to us whatever; and that the only thing of +real importance is that for which money is sought—happiness. Now what +happiness consists of depends upon the mentality of any given +community. The tree-dwelling savage's idea of happiness is plenty of +nuts and fine weather; the Englishman's idea is plenty of land and a +seat in Parliament; the American's idea is millions of money; and the +tree-dwelling savage is probably as near the truth as either of the +other two.</p> + +<p>Obviously there is an ideal of happiness quite different from this; an +ideal that recognizes the solidarity of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[393]</a></span>race and recognizes that +no one man can be securely happy unless his neighbors are happy also; +an ideal built on the plan of mutual helpfulness—of coöperation +instead of competition. But here the lip of the economist will curl +and he will, if he deigns to express himself at all, denounce such a +proposition as "impractical." But why does he do this? Because he has +been educated to believe that economics deal only with the "average +sensual man," and that wealth consists exclusively of "material things +that have an exchange value." If, then, it turns out that both these +assumptions are false, is it not time for him to revise his +philosophy?</p> + +<p>It is not unnatural that starting with false definitions of man and of +wealth, economists should arrive at a false conclusion regarding the +so-called beauties of our industrial system, and of such time-honored +though immoral maxims as "competition is the soul of trade" and +"<i>caveat emptor</i>."</p> + +<p>And now after this rapid glance at economic philosophy and the +"average sensual man," let us turn to Religion and see how Religion +regards man.</p> + +<p>It seems inconceivable that the same civilization should include two +bodies of men living in apparent harmony and yet holding such opposite +and inconsistent views on man as economists on the one hand and +theologians on the other. To these last, man has no economic needs; +this world does not count; it is merely a place of probation, +mitigated sometimes, it is true, by ecclesiastical pomp and episcopal +palaces; but serving for the most part as a mere preparation for a +future existence which will satisfy the aspirations of the human +soul—the only thing that does count, in this world or the next. So +while to the economist man is all hog, to the theologian he is all +soul; and between the two the Devil secures <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[394]</a></span>the vast majority. +One-fifth of the population in London is admittedly foredoomed to die +in a penitentiary, an almshouse, or a lunatic asylum; and the vast +multitude of wage earners are kept out on the ragged edge of the +strike on one hand and unemployment on the other, with no better +prospect before them than a destitute old age.</p> + +<p>Were there no churches in the land, were there no charity in man, no +pity, the economists would be comprehensible; but with our churches +still crowded; with charitable societies as thick as universities; +with pity in their own hearts giving every day the lie to the economic +enormities they profess and teach, what are we going to say of these +men? And were there no economists in the chair, no stock exchange, no +factory, no strikes, no unemployed; did our theologians' stomachs +never themselves clamor for food, or their bodies cry out for shelter +and heat, they too would be excusable. But with our tenements steeped +in misery; with misery pitilessly leading to crime, vice, disease; +with the demands of the body brought home to every one of them a +thousand times a day, is it not time for theologians at last to +remember that men have bodies as well as souls?</p> + +<p>Consider then these two sets of teachers, one professing a philosophy +built on the assumption that man is all body and no soul, the other +built on the contrary assumption that man is all soul, meeting daily +at dinner parties and discussing the agony of the workingman with +complacency and "philosophic calm"!</p> + +<p>Yet if we look at the world as it is, so full of evil and yet so +easily set right, we will not delve at the roots of plants and say: +"Life is all mud;" nor point to their leaves and say: "Life is all +flower and fruit." Life is made up of root and flower; man is made up +of body <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[395]</a></span>and soul. The economy and the religion that heed this will +alone be true. Let economics be enlightened by religion and let +religion be enlightened by economics; let the economist learn that the +soul of man is more than raiment and the priest that the needs of the +body come in order of time before the needs of the soul; let the +economist learn the laws of mutual helpfulness and the priest the laws +of the production and the distribution of well-being; and there will +spring into existence a new religion and a new political economy that +will preach the same thing—the solidarity of man—that what man wants +in this world is not money, but happiness—and that he can prepare +himself best for the next world of which he knows nothing by making +his neighbor as well as himself wholesome as well as happy, in this +world of which he to-day alas, knows too much of its misery and too +little of its play.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>§ 3. <span class="sc">Socialism Reconciles Religion, Economics, and Science</span></h4> + +<p>Let us now consider the Scientific and Ethical aspects of Socialism +from a slightly different angle than that which closed the preceding +chapter.</p> + +<p>In what Huxley calls the "cosmic process"—the process of evolution +prior to the advent of Man—the development or degeneration of animal +or vegetable life is determined by the environment. If the environment +is favorable to development, there is development; if it is +unfavorable, there is degeneration. The question, therefore, whether +animal or vegetable life is to develop or degenerate is left to the +caprice of environment. The process through which this caprice is +exercised is the survival of the fittest, and this includes two +processes: the utmost propagation on the one hand, and the utmost +competition <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[396]</a></span>on the other. With all the cruelty that this system +involves, it would be idle to call such a process moral; nor would it +be reasonable to call it immoral. The cosmic process is non-moral. It +ignores justice because justice is a conception of either God or Man, +and is not found in Nature outside of God or Man at all.</p> + +<p>If now we turn from the cosmic process to that employed by the +gardener in converting wild land into a garden for the purpose of +producing things beautiful or useful to man, we find that the gardener +reverses the cosmic process. He does not tolerate utmost propagation +or even propagation at all except to the extent necessary to furnish +him beautiful or useful things. He limits propagation; and as to +utmost competition, he eliminates competition altogether. And it is +only by limiting propagation and eliminating competition that the +gardener keeps his garden beautiful and useful. The moment he stops +applying to his garden patch the art which limits propagation and +eliminates competition, that moment the garden tends to return to a +state of Nature; to</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">"an unweeded garden,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That grows to seed; things rank, and gross in nature,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Possess in merely."<a name="FNanchor_221_221" id="FNanchor_221_221"></a><a href="#Footnote_221_221" class="fnanchor">[221]</a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>It must also be observed that in the garden patch selection is not +exercised by the environment, though it is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[397]</a></span>limited by the +environment; selection is exercised by the gardener who, within the +limits permitted by the environment, replaces Nature. It is no longer +Nature that selects, but Man.</p> + +<p>Let us now turn from the civilized garden to the civilized community. +Here, too, we find the cosmic process in some respects reversed; in +other respects, allowed to run riot. It is reversed in the sense of +the word that prudence created by the ownership of property limits the +propagation of the educated; but it remains unreversed by the fact +that despair created by absence of property leaves propagation +unchecked in the uneducated. So that if it be admitted that it would +be better for type that the educated should propagate than the +uneducated, the human type is tending to degenerate owing to the fact +that there is unlimited propagation of the least desirable types; +whereas there is limited propagation of the more desirable.</p> + +<p>When we turn to competition, we find it almost unrestrained. Indeed, +it was the deliberate policy of the government and of political +economists a century ago to let it proceed absolutely without +restraint. Such was the doctrine of <i>laissez faire</i> and such is the +doctrine which to-day is expressed by business men in the request to +be "let alone." But the experience of the past one hundred years has +demonstrated that humanity cannot afford to let competition go +unrestrained; that it leads to such fatal consequences that all—even +the most educated and carefully nurtured—are exposed to the contagion +of disease engendered by unrestrained competition; witness the cholera +scare and the hygienic laws to which this cholera scare gave +rise.<a name="FNanchor_222_222" id="FNanchor_222_222"></a><a href="#Footnote_222_222" class="fnanchor">[222]</a> Competition has been controlled in various manners: by laws +such as factory acts, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[398]</a></span>child labor acts, women labor acts; second, by +trade unions which the community and the law have had to protect in +order to keep workingmen from the danger of having to work for less +than starvation wages; and last of all, by trusts, which discovered +that competition involves a waste which, could it be saved, would roll +up enormous dividends to stockholders. But trusts have occasioned +evils against which to-day the whole nation is crying out. So that the +cry now abroad is to control monopolies, trusts, and corporations; and +if the efforts to control corporations have not already sufficiently +demonstrated that such laws are bound to result in more blackmail than +control, no reasonable man can doubt that they must in the end so +result in view of the fact that the prizes offered by business attract +first-class talent to business whereas the smaller prizes offered by +politics or the government can only draw to it second-or third-rate +ability.</p> + +<p>I trust it has been shown that the confusion that results from the +competitive system is due to false notions of property; that property +as an institution is, and must always be, essential to the economic +structure of the state in the sense that the original and beneficial +purpose of property is to secure to men as nearly as possible the full +product of their toil. This is the ideal distinctly expressed by Mr. +Roosevelt, and is the ideal of every mind that has distinct notions +about property at all.</p> + +<p>Our social structure, therefore, should be so organized as to assure +to men the full product of their toil by the adoption of some such +system as has been described in the chapter on the Economic +Construction of the Coöperative Commonwealth.</p> + +<p>In such a social structure, competition would be limited <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[399]</a></span>so that we +should reserve its stimulus and eliminate its sting, and propagation +would be limited not only by prudence, but by the economic +independence of women, who ought to have most to say on the subject. +In such a social structure, we should for the first time have an +environment that would discourage vice and encourage virtue. And here +comes, as I have already said, the crowning glory of Socialism that +reconciles religion, economics, and science.</p> + +<p>For the Church teaches: "Man is born in sin; his passions are sinful; +unaided by God he is their slave. If, however, he chooses to make the +effort necessary to secure the aid of God, he can master his passions +and earn salvation. But although the Grace of God will secure to him +some happiness in this world, this world is a place of unhappiness and +purgation; the reward of the faithful is not in this world, but in the +world to come."</p> + +<p>The Economist teaches: "Man is born in sin; his passions are sinful; +in matters so practical as bread and butter we must not allow +ourselves to be deluded by the promises of the Church, as to the +fulfilment of which no evidence has ever been furnished. A practical +system of economics then must be built on the undoubted fact that the +'average man' is 'sensual' and will always act in accordance with what +he believes to be his material interest. It must be founded on human +selfishness; let every man be driven by selfishness to make wealth +primarily for himself and incidentally for the community at large. +This is the only practical system for the accumulation of wealth."</p> + +<p>Science says: "Man is born with passions, but are these passions +sinful? They are sinful when uncontrolled, because they may then act +injuriously to the neighbor. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[400]</a></span>When controlled they act beneficially to +the neighbor. The problem is not how to suppress passion, but how to +control it. Man must indeed obey his greater inclination; but Man has +the power to mould his own environment; to make his own habits; to +make his own inclination; Man therefore is master—not slave. There is +too in evolution a power which from the creation to this day has +persistently worked toward progress, justice, and happiness; but we +are still ignorant as to what this power is except in so far as we see +it working in Man. In Man we can see and study the working of this +power. And we find it in Man's capacity to mould his own environment +by resisting Nature instead of yielding to it. And so science teaches +to-day—not the gospel of evolution alone—but also the gospel of +effort and Art."</p> + +<p>In Nature we observe two systems of social existence: one competitive, +one coöperative. Both are attended by evils; both by advantages. Man +can frame his social and economic conditions so as to eliminate the +evils and secure the advantages of both. This is Socialism.</p> + +<p>Socialism leaves the church free to proceed along the lines of its +faith; but it furnishes the church with the inestimable advantage of +creating economic conditions that make the practice of religion for +the first time possible. To-day economic conditions by ignoring the +soul of Man and appealing only to his appetites make the practice of +the Golden Rule impossible.</p> + +<p>Economic conditions can be so changed that they appeal to the soul of +man without ignoring his appetites. It may be that the earth is a +place of preparation for another life. But it is not for that reason +necessarily a place of misery and injustice. Socialism by eliminating +misery and injustice will make this preparation easier. The +environment of Socialism will tend to improve not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[401]</a></span>only the +individual, but also the type. It may be that the grace of God will +help man to be noble and just. Let the church continue to teach this. +But let science be heard also in the positive proof it furnishes that +man will and must be what the environment makes him; that if we +continue to tolerate economic conditions that appeal to his +selfishness, he will and must remain selfish; whereas if wiser +economic conditions appeal to his unselfishness he will and must tend +to be unselfish.</p> + +<p>And so in Socialism and in Socialism alone, do we find reconciled the +ethics of the church, the needs of economics, and the demands of +science.</p> + +<p>The new church will continue to teach social service; the new +economics will permit of social service; and the new science will make +of social service an environment out of which the new type of man will +be evolved that will justify the words of Christ: "Hath it not been +said in your law 'Ye are Gods'?"</p> + +<br /> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +<br /> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_207_207" id="Footnote_207_207"></a><a href="#FNanchor_207_207"><span class="label">[207]</span></a> "Evolution and Ethics," by T.H. Huxley, p. 80.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_208_208" id="Footnote_208_208"></a><a href="#FNanchor_208_208"><span class="label">[208]</span></a> "Evolution and Ethics," p. 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_209_209" id="Footnote_209_209"></a><a href="#FNanchor_209_209"><span class="label">[209]</span></a> "Evolution and Ethics," p. 20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_210_210" id="Footnote_210_210"></a><a href="#FNanchor_210_210"><span class="label">[210]</span></a> Ibid., p. 81.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_211_211" id="Footnote_211_211"></a><a href="#FNanchor_211_211"><span class="label">[211]</span></a> "Evolution and Ethics," p. 81.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_212_212" id="Footnote_212_212"></a><a href="#FNanchor_212_212"><span class="label">[212]</span></a> Ibid., p. 83.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_213_213" id="Footnote_213_213"></a><a href="#FNanchor_213_213"><span class="label">[213]</span></a> Ibid., p. 85.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_214_214" id="Footnote_214_214"></a><a href="#FNanchor_214_214"><span class="label">[214]</span></a> Ibid., p. 116.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_215_215" id="Footnote_215_215"></a><a href="#FNanchor_215_215"><span class="label">[215]</span></a> "Evolution and Ethics," p. 20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_216_216" id="Footnote_216_216"></a><a href="#FNanchor_216_216"><span class="label">[216]</span></a> Book II, Chapter I.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_217_217" id="Footnote_217_217"></a><a href="#FNanchor_217_217"><span class="label">[217]</span></a> "Government or Human Evolution," Vol. I, p. 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_218_218" id="Footnote_218_218"></a><a href="#FNanchor_218_218"><span class="label">[218]</span></a> "Evolution and Ethics," p. 85.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_219_219" id="Footnote_219_219"></a><a href="#FNanchor_219_219"><span class="label">[219]</span></a> Ibid., p. 86.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_220_220" id="Footnote_220_220"></a><a href="#FNanchor_220_220"><span class="label">[220]</span></a> "Modern Socialism," by R.C.K. Ensor.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_221_221" id="Footnote_221_221"></a><a href="#FNanchor_221_221"><span class="label">[221]</span></a> Of course, I must not be understood to mean that +nothing beautiful or useful grows in Nature outside of the art of the +gardener. On the contrary, we know that in the Tropics Nature +furnishes not only beautiful things, but enough of useful things to +make the art of the gardener unnecessary. The lesson to be drawn from +the garden patch is that, if the best result in the shape of beautiful +and useful things is to be obtained from a limited surface, Art must +be applied to that surface; Nature cannot be depended upon.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_222_222" id="Footnote_222_222"></a><a href="#FNanchor_222_222"><span class="label">[222]</span></a> Book III, Chapter II.</p></div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="BK_III_CHAPTER_VI" id="BK_III_CHAPTER_VI"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[402]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER VI<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>SOLIDARITY</h3> +<br /> + +<p>I think it was Miss Martineau who said that if her generation was +better than that which preceded her, the betterment was due to the +teachings of Carlyle; and much though we may differ with John Ruskin +in matters of detail, no one will dispute the apostolic fervor with +which he endeavored to push on the work of Thomas Carlyle. It is a +significant fact, therefore, that both Thomas Carlyle and John Ruskin +had nothing but abuse to give to political economy. Nevertheless, I +think we all must agree that this hostile attitude was due to a +misconception of the scope of political economy, a misconception due +in great part to its name; for the words "political economy" seem to +indicate that it deals with the economy of the state, and that it +becomes the duty of its teachers to show us not only what the rules +regarding the production and distribution of goods are, but what they +ought to be.</p> + +<p>In fact, however, although economists do discuss how—if at all—the +system of production and distribution of goods can be improved, they +have always regarded it as their principal function to describe +accurately what the rules that govern production and distribution +really are, rather than what they ought to be. And as existing +industrial conditions are extremely complicated, those who have thrown +light upon them are highly to be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[403]</a></span>honored. And although they have +contributed nothing to the solution of such problems as unemployment, +pauperism, and the conflict of labor and capital, it may be as +unreasonable to complain of this as to quarrel with the +"crossing-sweeper of Piccadilly" because he is unable "to tell you the +road to Highgate."</p> + +<p>Again, political economy has encountered a great deal of unmerited +abuse because critics have confounded authors with their subject, and +have held economists responsible for the industrial conditions they +describe; whereas, these economists have earned our sincerest thanks +for demonstrating that the competitive system offers no solution for +the conflict between capital and labor, or the problem of unemployment +and all the other problems as those of pauperism, prostitution, and +economic crime which result therefrom.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ruskin is certainly wrong when he denounces political economy as +the "science of getting rich," and when he adds that "persons who +follow its precepts" do actually become rich; "all persons who disobey +them become poor"; for our ablest political economists have always +been and still are relatively poor men, and our richest millionaire is +a past master of the rules in the game which it is his particular +business to play; but he is not concerned with a science which does no +more than study wealth under the competitive system and demonstrate +how inevitably a few grow rich and the rest grow poor under it.</p> + +<p>Let us then abandon hostility to a science without which to-day we +could not see clearly the workings of the existing system, and on the +contrary, avail ourselves of all its teachings, recognizing that a +study of what industrial conditions to-day are must precede the study +of what they could and should be.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[404]</a></span>The study of political economy is necessary to a study of "social +economy." Political economy admittedly deals with the average sensual +man, and having determined the rules that determine the actions of the +average sensual man, it becomes now the problem of social economy to +deal with the average moral man. And the moral man must not be +regarded as opposed to the sensual. The moral man includes the +sensual, but adds affection, sympathy, and all that makes happiness to +the sensual man who may, through absence of affection and sympathy, +fail to attain the happiness of which he is in search. Under this +definition, while political economy deals with the attainment of +wealth, social economy deals with the attainment of happiness; and as +man must eat before he can pursue happiness, social economy must +concern itself with the acquisition of wealth to satisfy physical +needs before it concerns itself with the attainment of justice to +satisfy moral needs. An attempt has been made in this book to present +the social and economic structure which would best attain happiness. +Would such a system at the same time attain justice?<a name="FNanchor_223_223" id="FNanchor_223_223"></a><a href="#Footnote_223_223" class="fnanchor">[223]</a></p> + +<p>To arrive at a correct notion of justice, we have to refer once more +to the difference between what Huxley <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[405]</a></span>calls the "cosmic +process"—that is to say, the process of the environment of Nature +before the advent of Man—and the ethical process, or the process of +the artificial environment created by Man. For there is one +difference, and a most essential difference, between them to which +attention has not yet been directed: namely, that in communities such +as those of the bee and ant, the individual is sacrificed to the +community; whereas the effort of Man is or should be to so organize +his community that it will serve the happiness of the individual. For +example, we would not tolerate a community upon the plan we see +practised by the bees, under which only one male out of a whole hive +is permitted to propagate and all the rest of the males on attaining +maturity are caused to die; only one female of the whole hive is +allowed to be fertile and to propagate, all the rest being subject to +the dreary round of keeping the fertile bee a prisoner, of feeding +her, of rearing, feeding and caring for the young in the hive, and +incidentally destroying any males who may return to the hive from the +nuptial flight. We have to recognize that the great obstacle to +happiness in community life is sexual instinct, of which Socialists of +the type of Edward Bellamy have for the most part failed to take +account.</p> + +<p>Reference has been made to the various devices adopted by different +races of animals and by Man at different periods and at different +places to solve the problem of sexual instinct,<a name="FNanchor_224_224" id="FNanchor_224_224"></a><a href="#Footnote_224_224" class="fnanchor">[224]</a> and it has been, +I think, demonstrated by Professor Giddings, that of all the systems +proposed none can compare with our present institution of +marriage.<a name="FNanchor_225_225" id="FNanchor_225_225"></a><a href="#Footnote_225_225" class="fnanchor">[225]</a> The mere fact that the marriage system has survived in +the conflict with races that have adopted other <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[406]</a></span>systems ought to +furnish an argument in favor of its superiority. In the struggle +between races of Man, those races the institutions of which require +most self-restraint have invariably overwhelmed those races whose +institutions require less self-restraint. For example, the tribes that +lived without any regulation of sexual instinct and in which children +took the name of their mother because the name of their father was not +and could not be known, disappeared in the conflict with tribes which +insisted upon some restraint to sexual appetite, such as the +patriarchal system. Again, the patriarchal system which tolerated +polygamy has everywhere been destroyed when it came into conflict with +monogamous races, such as our own, which involve still further +restraint in the sexual relation.</p> + +<p>It would seem, therefore, as though the monogamous marriage were the +keystone of our present civilization, for upon it has been built the +family, and the education and self-restraint which family life +involves.<a name="FNanchor_226_226" id="FNanchor_226_226"></a><a href="#Footnote_226_226" class="fnanchor">[226]</a> There is too no function of the family more important +than that it serves as a model of what the state ought to be as +distinguished from what the state actually is; that is to say, a +government which should have equal concern for every member of the +community, and not one which as at present surfeits some and starves +others.</p> + +<p>It is the growing idea that a properly constituted state must do this +for the protection not only of the many, but of the few that probably +give the most continuous aid to Socialism. As Mr. Edwin Björkman +expressed it: "We are beginning to grasp the futility of planning the +welfare of any one human being apart from the rest of his kind. We are +coming to think of ourselves, at last, as links in a chain so firmly +bound together that when the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[407]</a></span>devil grabs the hindmost the wrench is +felt by the top-most—felt in the very marrow of his bones."<a name="FNanchor_227_227" id="FNanchor_227_227"></a><a href="#Footnote_227_227" class="fnanchor">[227]</a></p> + +<p>And so while the institution of marriage has removed an obstacle to +solidarity in community life, public health has proved its ally. Mr. +Björkman has made an estimate of the enormous cost of unnecessary +sickness. But the protection of public health is furnishing us a far +better argument in favor of solidarity and Socialism than the mere +cost of neglecting it. In Cuba our sanitary engineers have practically +got rid of yellow fever, not only for that community, but for our own. +Recent discoveries tracing malaria to the mosquito are leading to the +destruction of this insect. Smallpox and cholera have practically been +stamped out, and efforts are now being made to do the same with +typhoid and tuberculosis.</p> + +<p>Now one feature characterizes all these efforts. They cannot be made +by one man for himself; they have to be made by whole communities for +whole communities and they will eventually have to be made by the +whole world for the whole world. The same thing is true of vagrancy, +pauperism, and crime. No individual or group of individuals can handle +this problem; it must be handled by every community, and through the +further extension of extradition treaties by all countries for the +whole world.</p> + +<p>Again, reference has been often made in this book to the necessity +under which governments, openly professing the policy of <i>laissez +faire</i>, have found themselves to enact laws totally inconsistent with +this doctrine. Such, laws ought to be sufficient evidence that the +days of <i>laissez faire</i> are gone forever; and that this theory, +universally proclaimed a century ago as the only sound theory of +government, has to-day given way before the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[408]</a></span>recognition that no +wealth can compensate a man for the misery of his neighbors; and that +even if, abandoning all ideals and all ethics, we confine ourselves to +the problem how to make men materially happy, we can only do so by +adjusting our institutions so that no man will be allowed to become or +to remain a pauper or criminal.</p> + +<p>I am not discussing here matters of theory, but matters of fact.</p> + +<p>Theoretically, the development of man might have taken a totally +different direction. The master minds of the period (such as that, for +example, of Mr. W.H. Mallock) might have so organized the able as to +constitute an aristocracy strong enough to keep the rest of the +community in a state of ignorant servitude, so that while Mr. Mallock +was enjoying the necessary leisure to discuss the "New Republic" amid +the luxury of his English country home, all the work of the world +would be accomplished by human automata with no desires beyond that of +the immediate gratification of their appetites. Unfortunately, +however, Mr. Mallock has come too late upon the scene. Some years +before he was born, the die was cast. Workingmen were given a voice in +public affairs and have been educated, so that they constitute a power +with which government has to reckon. Here is a fact against which it +is useless for millionaires to break their heads. No one can ignore +the power exercised by such men as Bebel in Germany, Jaurès and Guesde +in France, Vandervelde in Belgium, Keir Hardie and MacDonald in +England, Gompers and John Mitchell in America. These men are all +engaged in organizing the workingmen's vote with extraordinary +efficacy in Europe, and with extraordinary inefficacy in the United +States. But the days of Gompers and Mitchell are drawing to a close, +and in this country as well <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[409]</a></span>as in Europe, Organized Labor will grow +to understand the inevitable truth that it is only by political action +and with the Socialist program that it can defeat the power of +capital. So that whether Mr. Mallock be right or not, the day of +aristocracy is over and the day of solidarity has dawned. The question +for us to decide is whether we should recognize this fact and modify +our institutions to conform to the new era, or whether we should +continue to ignore the fact until we break our heads against it.</p> + +<p>The point which Mr. Mallock and his school have failed to understand +is that the very greed which creates aristocracy unfits the aristocrat +for the coöperation indispensable to its survival. This condemns him, +as it does all the highest types of carnivora, created by the +competitive system to isolation. For it is out of the jealousy and +struggles of the aristocrats with one another that the people are at +last getting to their own. It was because the king, the noble, and the +church could not agree in the division of spoils that their perpetual +altercations left room for the organization of the Communes in France +at the end of the eleventh century. It was because the church, the +noble and the king would not give a fair share of the honors and +spoils of the state to the wealthy bourgeoisie, that the bourgeois was +obliged to associate himself with the people in 1789; it was because +of the conflict between the Whigs and the Tories that the franchise +was gradually extended to the workingmen in England; and it is because +the Republicans can put no limit to their greed that workingmen in +America will find themselves eventually compelled to organize +politically their at present disunited multitudes. It is, therefore, +extremely improbable that, even if Mr. Mallock had lived in an earlier +age, he could have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[410]</a></span>prevented the inevitable progress of the great +principle of solidarity which has determined the direction of human +development ever since it began to differ from that of other animals.</p> + +<p>If now we run through all the differences between the natural +environment and the environment created by Man, we shall see that they +practically all proceed upon the theory that men must develop no +longer as individuals but as a unit. All our customs and laws proceed +upon the theory of liberty and justice; and upon that theory is based +the original principle of property that assures to all men the product +of their toil. Now if all men are to be assured the product of their +toil, there must be an end to the system which puts a few millionaires +at one end of the social scale and millions of paupers at the other.</p> + +<p>Again, for centuries the so-called struggle for life has ceased to be +a struggle for life, but has become a struggle for wealth, power, and +consideration. It is no longer only the fit that survive; the unfit +also survive; and if the unfit are to survive, we all have a common +interest in taking the necessary steps to prevent the unfit from +proving too heavy a burden upon the community.</p> + +<p>Again, all isolating vices such as lust, ferocity, craft, fear, and +selfishness—vices which characterize the carnivora and condemn them +to lives of isolation—are being tempered by the necessities of common +life—by the fundamental fact of the solidarity of Man. Thus, lust is +tempered and in part replaced by love and mercy; ferocity is tempered +and in part replaced by courage and patience; fear is tempered and in +part replaced by respect and reverence; selfishness is tempered and in +part replaced by unselfishness.</p> + +<p>And all this advantage which humanity has attained <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[411]</a></span>over the lower +animals is due to its ability to mould its own environment, and +deliberately undertake the task of justice; namely, to "eliminate from +our social conditions the effects of the inequalities of Nature upon +the happiness and advancement of Man, and particularly to create an +artificial environment which shall serve the individual as well as the +race, and tend to perpetuate noble types rather than those which are +base."</p> + +<p>It is true that so far our efforts to attain justice have lamentably +failed; but they have failed mainly because we have not yet +sufficiently limited the scope of competition. The day we limit +competition as suggested in the chapter on the Economic Structure of +Socialism,<a name="FNanchor_228_228" id="FNanchor_228_228"></a><a href="#Footnote_228_228" class="fnanchor">[228]</a> that day we shall have removed the lion from our path. +And as stated in the Preface, the development of Man will then proceed +upon the theory that all are perfectible and that it is through the +improvement of all that every individual will attain his best freedom, +his best happiness, and the fullest opportunities for promoting the +happiness of all around him.</p> + +<p>This is the ideal to attain which the environment described in the +Chapter on the Economic Construction of the Coöperative Commonwealth +has been conceived. It is the ideal which furnishes the most +economical method of production and distribution and, therefore, the +most leisure and liberty; that creates the environment fitted to +perpetuate the noble rather than the base type; to promote virtue and +discourage vice and, in a word, creates conditions under which we can +practise the morality preached by every religion, whether it be that +of Moses, of Mohammed, or of Christ.</p> + +<br /> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +<br /> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_223_223" id="Footnote_223_223"></a><a href="#FNanchor_223_223"><span class="label">[223]</span></a> In a previous attempt to define justice, I have found +it necessary to devote to this subject an entire volume, and I do not +believe that the subject can be sufficiently discussed in less than +such a volume. The definition with which I concluded that book has +been adopted by Mr. Lester F. Ward in his book on Applied Sociology. I +believe that all other definitions of justice are defective mainly +because other definitions such as those of Herbert Spencer in his book +entitled "Justice" confound justice with liberty. In other words, his +definition of justice is a definition of liberty, whereas justice is +more than liberty. Or perhaps it would be more correct to say that +liberty is one of the elements of justice.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_224_224" id="Footnote_224_224"></a><a href="#FNanchor_224_224"><span class="label">[224]</span></a> See "Government or Human Evolution," Vol. II, p. 181.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_225_225" id="Footnote_225_225"></a><a href="#FNanchor_225_225"><span class="label">[225]</span></a> See "Principles of Sociology," pp. 414-415.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_226_226" id="Footnote_226_226"></a><a href="#FNanchor_226_226"><span class="label">[226]</span></a> See "Justice," p. 127, by the author.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_227_227" id="Footnote_227_227"></a><a href="#FNanchor_227_227"><span class="label">[227]</span></a> The Unnecessary Curse of Sickness, <i>World's Work</i>, +July, 1909.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_228_228" id="Footnote_228_228"></a><a href="#FNanchor_228_228"><span class="label">[228]</span></a> See Book III, Chapter II.</p></div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[412]</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[413]</a></span><br /> + +<h3><a name="APPENDIX" id="APPENDIX"></a>APPENDIX</h3> + +<br /> +<br /> + +<h3>I</h3> + +<h3>SOCIALIST PARTY NATIONAL PLATFORM<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h4><span class="sc">Adopted at the National Convention Assembled at Chicago, May, +1908</span></h4> + +<br /> + +<p>Human life depends upon food, clothing, and shelter. Only with these +assured are freedom, culture and higher human development possible. To +produce food, clothing and shelter, land and machinery are needed. +Land alone does not satisfy human needs. Human labor creates machinery +and applies it to the land for the production of raw materials and +food. Whoever has the control of land and machinery controls human +labor, and with it human life and liberty.</p> + +<p>To-day the machinery and land used for industrial purposes are owned +by a rapidly decreasing minority. So long as machinery is simple and +easily handled by one man, its owner cannot dominate the sources of +life of others. But when machinery becomes more complex and expensive, +and requires for its effective operation the organized effort of many +workers, its influence reaches over wide circles of life. The owners +of such machinery become the dominant class.</p> + +<br /> +<h4 class="sc">Power Goes with Concentration</h4> + +<p>In proportion as the number of such machine owners, compared to all +other classes, decreases, their power in the nation and in the world +increases. They bring ever larger masses of working people under their +control, reducing them to the point where muscle and brain are their +only productive <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[414]</a></span>property. Millions of formerly self-employing workers +thus become the helpless wage slaves of the industrial masters.</p> + +<p>As the economic power of the ruling class grows, it becomes less +useful in the life of the nation. All the useful work of the nation +falls upon the shoulders of the class whose only property is its +manual and mental labor power—the wage workers—or of the class who +have but little land and little effective machinery outside of their +labor power—the small traders and small farmers. The ruling minority +is steadily becoming useless and parasitic.</p> + +<br /> +<h4 class="sc">Struggle between Classes</h4> + +<p>A bitter struggle over the division of the products of labor is waged +between the exploiting propertied classes on the one hand, and the +exploited propertyless class on the other. In this struggle the +wage-working class cannot expect adequate relief from any reform of +the present order at the hands of the dominant class.</p> + +<p>The wage workers are, therefore, the most determined and +irreconcilable antagonists of the ruling class. They suffer most from +the curse of class rule. The fact that a few capitalists are permitted +to control all the country's industrial resources and social tools for +their individual profit, and to make the production of the necessaries +of life the object of competitive private enterprise and speculation, +is at the bottom of all the social evils of our time.</p> + +<br /> +<h4 class="sc">Anarchy of Capitalist Production</h4> + +<p>In spite of the organization of trusts, pools and combinations, the +capitalists are powerless to regulate production for social ends. +Industries are largely conducted in a planless manner. Through periods +of feverish activity the strength and health of the workers are +mercilessly used up, and during periods of enforced idleness the +workers are frequently reduced to starvation.</p> + +<p>The climaxes of this system of production are the regularly recurring +industrial depressions and crises which paralyze the nation every +fifteen or twenty years.</p> + +<p>The capitalist class, in its mad race for profits, is bound to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[415]</a></span>exploit the workers to the very limit of their endurance and to +sacrifice their physical, moral and mental welfare to its own +insatiable greed. Capitalism keeps the masses of workingmen in +poverty, destitution, physical exhaustion and ignorance. It drags +their wives from their homes to the mill and factory. It snatches +their children from the playgrounds and schools and grinds their +slender bodies and unformed minds into cold dollars. It disfigures, +maims, and kills hundreds of thousands of workingmen annually in +mines, on railroads and in factories. It drives millions of workers +into the ranks of the unemployed and forces large numbers of them into +beggary, vagrancy and all forms of crime and vice.</p> + +<br /> +<h4 class="sc">How the Ruling Class Controls</h4> + +<p>To maintain their rule over their fellow men, the capitalists must +keep in their pay all organs of the public powers, public mind and +public conscience. They control the dominant parties and, through +them, the elected public officials. They select the executives, bribe +the legislatures, and corrupt the courts of justice. They own and +censor the press. They dominate the educational institutions. They own +the nation politically and intellectually just as they own it +industrially.</p> + +<br /> +<h4 class="sc">Socialism Will Free All Classes</h4> + +<p>The struggle between wage workers and capitalists grows ever fiercer, +and has now become the only vital issue before the American people. +The wage-working class, therefore, has the most direct interest in +abolishing the capitalist system. But in abolishing the present system +the workingmen will free not only their own class, but also all other +classes of modern society: the small farmer who is to-day exploited by +large capital more indirectly but not less effectively than is the +wage laborer; the small manufacturer and trader, who is engaged in a +desperate and losing struggle for economic independence in the face of +the all-conquering power of concentrated capital; and even the +capitalist himself, who is the slave of his wealth rather than its +master. The struggle of the working class against the capitalist +class, while it is a class struggle, is thus at the same time a +struggle for the abolition of all classes and class privileges.</p> + +<br /> +<h4 class="sc">Private Ownership the Basis of Class Rule<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[416]</a></span></h4> + +<p>The private ownership of the land and means of production used for +exploitation is the rock upon which class rule is built; political +government is its indispensable instrument. The wage workers cannot be +freed from exploitation without conquering the political power and +substituting collective for private ownership of the land and means of +production used for exploitation.</p> + +<p>The basis for such transformation is rapidly developing within present +capitalist society. The factory system, with its complex machinery and +minute division of labor, is rapidly destroying all vestiges of +individual production in manufacture. Modern production is already +very largely a collective and social process. The great trusts and +monopolies which have sprung up in recent years have organized the +work and management of the principal industries on a national scale, +and have fitted them for collective use and operation.</p> + +<p>The Socialist Party is primarily an economic and political movement. +It is not concerned with matters of religious belief.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4 class="sc">Freedom through Solidarity</h4> + +<p>In the struggle for freedom the interests of all modern workers are +identical. The struggle is not only national, but international. It +embraces the world and will be carried to ultimate victory by the +united workers of the world.</p> + +<p>To unite the workers of the nation and their allies and sympathizers +of all other classes to this end, is the mission of the Socialist +Party. In this battle for freedom the Socialist Party does not strive +to substitute working-class rule for capitalist-class rule, but by +working-class victory to free all humanity from class rule and to +realize the international brotherhood of man.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>THE SOCIALIST PLATFORM</h4> + +<p>The Socialist Party, in national convention assembled, again declares +itself as the party of the working class, and appeals for the support +of all workers of the United States and of all citizens who sympathize +with the great and just cause of labor.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[417]</a></span>We are at this moment in the midst of one of those industrial +breakdowns that periodically paralyze the life of the nation. The +much-boasted era of our national prosperity has been followed by one +of general misery. Factories, mills and mines are closed. Millions of +men, ready, willing and able to provide the nation with all the +necessaries and comforts of life are forced into idleness and +starvation. Within recent times the trusts and monopolies have +attained an enormous and menacing development. They have acquired the +power to dictate the terms upon which we shall be allowed to live. The +trusts fix the prices of our bread, meat and sugar, of our coal, oil +and clothing, of our raw material and machinery, of all the +necessities of life.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4 class="sc">Capitalism Takes the Offensive</h4> + +<p>The present desperate condition of the workers has been made the +opportunity for a renewed onslaught on organized labor. The highest +courts of the country have within the last year rendered decision +after decision depriving the workers of rights which they had won by +generations of struggle.</p> + +<p>The attempt to destroy the Western Federation of Miners, although +defeated by the solidarity of organized labor and the Socialist +movement, revealed the existence of a far-reaching and unscrupulous +conspiracy by the ruling class against the organizations of labor.</p> + +<p>In their efforts to take the lives of the leaders of the miners the +conspirators violated State laws and the federal constitution in a +manner seldom equalled even in a country so completely dominated by +the profit-seeking class as is the United States.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4 class="sc">Capitalist Reform Futile</h4> + +<p>The Congress of the United States has shown its contempt for the +interests of labor as plainly and unmistakably as have the other +branches of government. The laws for which the labor organizations +have continually petitioned have failed to pass. Laws ostensibly +enacted for the benefit of labor have been distorted against labor.</p> + +<p>The working class of the United States cannot expect any remedy for +its wrongs from the present ruling class or from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[418]</a></span>the dominant +parties. So long as a small number of individuals are permitted to +control the sources of the nation's wealth for their private profit in +competition with each other and for the exploitation of their fellow +men, industrial depressions are bound to occur at certain intervals. +No currency reforms or other legislative measures proposed by +capitalist reformers can avail against these fatal results of utter +anarchy in production.</p> + +<p>Individual competition leads inevitably to combinations and trusts. No +amount of government regulation, or of publicity, or of restrictive +legislation will arrest the natural course of modern industrial +development.</p> + +<p>While our courts, legislatures and executive offices remain in the +hands of the ruling classes and their agents, the government will be +used in the interest of these classes as against the toilers.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4 class="sc">Old Parties Represent Class Rule</h4> + +<p>Political parties are but the expression of economic class interests. +The Republican, the Democratic, and the so-called 'Independence' +parties and all parties other than the Socialist Party, are financed, +directed and controlled by the representatives of different groups of +the ruling class.</p> + +<p>In the maintenance of class government both the Democratic and +Republican parties have been equally guilty. The Republican party has +had control of the national government and has been directly and +actively responsible for these wrongs. The Democratic party, while +saved from direct responsibility by its political impotence, has shown +itself equally subservient to the aims of the capitalist class +whenever and wherever it has been in power. The old chattel-slave-owning +aristocracy of the South, which was the backbone of the Democratic +party, has been supplanted by a child-slave plutocracy. In the great +cities of our country the Democratic party is allied with the criminal +element of the slums as the Republican party is allied with the +predatory criminals of the palace in maintaining the interests of the +possessing class.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4 class="sc"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[419]</a></span>Temporary Measures Demanded</h4> + +<p>The various "reform" movements and parties which have sprung up within +recent years are but the clumsy expression of widespread popular +discontent. They are not based on an intelligent understanding of the +historical development of civilization and of the economic and +political needs of our time. They are bound to perish, as the numerous +middle-class reform movements of the past have perished.</p> + +<p>As measures calculated to strengthen the working class in its fight +for the realization of this ultimate aim, and to increase its power of +resistance against capitalist oppression, we advocate and pledge +ourselves and our elected officers to the following program:</p> + +<br /> + +<h4 class="sc">General Demands</h4> + +<p>1. The immediate government relief for the unemployed workers, by +building schools, by reforesting of cut-over and waste lands, by +reclamation of arid tracts, and the building of canals, and by +extending all other useful public works. All persons employed on such +works shall be employed directly by the government under an eight-hour +workday and at the prevailing union wages. The government shall also +loan money to States and municipalities without interest for the +purpose of carrying on public works. It shall contribute to the funds +of labor organizations for the purpose of assisting their unemployed +members, and shall take such other measures within its power as will +lessen the widespread misery of the workers caused by the misrule of +the capitalist class.</p> + +<p>2. The collective ownership of railroads, telegraphs, telephones, +steamship lines and all other means of social transportation and +communication and all land.<a name="FNanchor_229_229" id="FNanchor_229_229"></a><a href="#Footnote_229_229" class="fnanchor">[229]</a></p> + +<p>3. The collective ownership of all industries which are organized on a +national scale and in which competition has virtually ceased to exist.</p> + +<p>4. The extension of the public domain to include mines, quarries, oil +wells, forests and water power.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[420]</a></span>5. That occupancy and use of land be the sole title to possession. The +scientific reforestation of timber lands and the reclamation of swamp +lands. The land so reforested or reclaimed to be permanently retained +as a part of the public domain.</p> + +<p>6. The absolute freedom of press, speech and assemblage.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4 class="sc">Industrial Demands</h4> + +<p>7. The improvement of the industrial conditions of the workers:</p> + +<p>(<i>a</i>) By shortening the workday in keeping with the increased +productiveness of machinery.</p> + +<p>(<i>b</i>) By securing to every worker a rest period of not less than a day +and a half in each week.</p> + +<p>(<i>c</i>) By securing a more effective inspection of workshops and +factories.</p> + +<p>(<i>d</i>) By forbidding the employment of children under sixteen years of +age.</p> + +<p>(<i>e</i>) By forbidding the interstate transportation of the products of +child labor, of convict labor and of all uninspected factories.</p> + +<p>(<i>f</i>) By abolishing official charity and substituting in its place +compulsory insurance against unemployment, illness, accidents, +invalidism, old age, and death.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4 class="sc">Political Demands</h4> + +<p>8. The extension of inheritance taxes, graduated in proportion to the +amount of the bequests and to nearness of kin.</p> + +<p>9. A graduated income tax.</p> + +<p>10. Unrestricted and equal suffrage for men and women, and we pledge +ourselves to engage in an active campaign in that direction.</p> + +<p>11. The initiative and referendum, proportional representation and the +right of recall.</p> + +<p>12. The abolition of the Senate.</p> + +<p>13. The abolition of the power usurped by the Supreme Court of the +United States to pass upon the constitutionality of legislation +enacted by Congress. National laws to be repealed or abrogated only by +act of Congress or by a referendum of the whole people.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[421]</a></span>14. That the constitution be made amendable by majority vote.</p> + +<p>15. The enactment of further measures for general education and for +the conservation of health. The Bureau of Education to be made a +department. The creation of a Department of Public Health.</p> + +<p>16. The separation of the present Bureau of Labor from the Department +of Commerce and Labor, and the establishment of a Department of Labor.</p> + +<p>17. That all judges be elected by the people for short terms, and that +the power to issue injunctions shall be curbed by immediate +legislation.</p> + +<p>18. The free administration of justice.</p> + +<p>Such measures of relief as we may be able to force from capitalism are +but a preparation of the workers to seize the whole powers of +government, in order that they may thereby lay hold of the whole +system of industry, and thus come to their rightful inheritance.</p> + +<br /> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +<br /> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_229_229" id="Footnote_229_229"></a><a href="#FNanchor_229_229"><span class="label">[229]</span></a> By a referendum vote of the entire membership of the +Socialist party in 1909 these three words, "and all land," were +stricken out of the Socialist platform.</p></div> + +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>II</h3> + +<h3>DR. L. EMMETT HOLT</h3> +<br /> + +<p>All who practice medicine among children and who study the question of +infant mortality statistically are struck with the marked contrast +between the death rate of the children of the poor and those of the +rich. Clay estimates that in England in the aristocratic families the +mortality of the first year is 10 per cent; in the middle class, 21 +per cent; in the laboring classes, 32 per cent. This difference in the +infant mortality of the various classes is most striking in the case +of acute intestinal disease. Halle states that of 170 deaths from this +cause investigated in Graz in 1903 and 1904 there were 161 among the +poor, 9 among the well-to-do, and none among the rich. It may not be +true in adult life, but <i>in infancy money may purchase not only +health, it may purchase life</i>, since it puts at the disposal of the +infant the utmost resources of science, the best advice, the best food +and the best surroundings for the individual child. To relieve, or +even greatly to diminish, infant mortality these basal conditions of +modern city life—poverty and ignorance—must be attacked.</p> + +<p class="right"><i>Journal American Medical Association</i>, Feb. 26, 1910.</p> + +<br /> +<hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[422]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>III</h3> + +<h3>EXTRACTS FROM EDICT OF LOUIS XVI, 1776, ABOLISHING THE GUILDS<a name="FNanchor_230_230" id="FNanchor_230_230"></a><a href="#Footnote_230_230" class="fnanchor">[230]</a></h3> +<br /> + +<p>Louis, etc. We owe it to our subjects to assure them the full and +complete enjoyment of their rights; we owe that protection especially +to that class of men who, possessing nothing but their labor and +industry, above all others have the need and right of employing to the +limit of their capacity their sole resources for subsistence.</p> + +<p>We have viewed with pain the multiplied blows which have been struck +at this natural and common right of ancient institutions, blows which +neither time, nor opinion, nor even the acts emanating from the +authority, which seems to have sanctioned them, have been able to make +legitimate.</p> + +<p>[After describing the vicious effects of the guild monopoly, it +continues:]</p> + +<p>... Some persons ... contend that the right of labor is a royal right, +one that the Prince could sell and that the subjects ought to +purchase. We hasten to place beside this another maxim:</p> + +<p>God, by giving to men needs and making them dependent upon the +resources of labor, has made the right of labor the property of all +men, and that property is primary, the most sacred and most +imprescriptable of all.</p> + +<p>We regard it as one of the first obligations of our justice, and as an +act in every way worthy of our beneficence, to emancipate our subjects +from all their restraints which have been laid upon that inalienable +right of humanity. Wherefore, we will to abolish the arbitrary +institutions which do not permit the indigent to live by their labor; +which exclude the sex whose weakness implies greatest needs and fewest +resources ... which stifle emulation and industry and make useless the +talents of those whom circumstances exclude from admission into the +guild; which deprive the state and art of all the advantages which +foreigners might furnish....</p> + +<br /> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +<br /> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_230_230" id="Footnote_230_230"></a><a href="#FNanchor_230_230"><span class="label">[230]</span></a> Translation taken from "Turgot and the Six Edicts," by +R.P. Shepherd, 1903, pp. 182, 186-7.</p></div> + +<br /> +<hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[423]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>IV</h3> + +<h3>POLICE COMMISSIONER BINGHAM</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Declaring that "law-breaking is the easiest and the most lucrative +business in New York for the work involved," Police Commissioner +Bingham yesterday forwarded his annual report to Mayor McClellan.</p> + +<p>After stating that law-breaking in the city is an easy and lucrative +business, the Commissioner continued:</p> + +<p>"Its profits for slight effort are enormous and law-breaking has been +able to intrench itself behind such a rampart of legislation and +highly paid lawyers that the forces of law and order are placed in the +astonishing position of being actually on the defensive against the +law-breakers. Law-breakers and their highly paid lawyers frequently +fool even the courts into giving them protection against the police on +the grounds of illegal interference, or oppression.</p> + +<p>"The howl of innocence is never so loud as when raised by crooks, and +this includes not only the actual criminals, but their friends and +protectors, crooked politicians. How otherwise is it possible for +prizefights to be held in New York city, in spite of the earnest +efforts of the police to prevent them? How otherwise is it possible +for places positively known by the police to be gambling resorts to be +conducted, and to obtain injunctions restraining the police from +interfering with them?</p> + +<p>"The foregoing is far from saying that the police force of New York is +incompetent, or not able to cope with the situation. The police force +is competent, short-handed though it is. Its activity and efficiency +are proved by the very resistance given it by law-breakers, for the +better the work done by the police, the more stubborn is the +resistance they meet with from law-breakers."</p> + +<p>As an example of what the police have to cope with the Commissioner +mentions the recent Sunday-closing incident, where a court decision +was handed down, and enforced, and the Aldermen straightway amended +the law. He then asks: "How then can the police execute the law, when +there seems to be so much doubt as to what the law really is?"</p> + +<p>Gen. Bingham continues:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[424]</a></span>"These points are necessary in order that scheming politicians may be +deprived of any possibility of summarily getting rid of an honest +commissioner and in order that the honest men of the police force may +be encouraged. The men of the force to-day are not quite sure who is +their real boss—the 'machine' or the police commissioner. If once +satisfied that it is the commissioner, with a long term and only +removable on publication of charges, they will obey him."</p> + +<p>Legislation requiring persons who sell any sort of dangerous weapons +to record the date and hour of the sale, and report it, with the name +and address of the buyer, to the police, is suggested, as well as a +daily report from pawnbrokers, giving the date, hour, and other +particulars of their transactions. This, the Commissioner says, is the +custom in other large cities.</p> + +<p>The following figures of arrests, etc., in the last year are given in +the report:</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="50%" summary="Arrests"> + <tr> + <td class="tdcsc">Arrests Made</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="88%">By uniformed force</td> + <td class="tdr" width="12%">192,680</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Detective Bureau</td> + <td class="tdr bb">11,416</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 5%;">Total</td> + <td class="tdr bt">204,096</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p>These figures refer to the Boroughs of Manhattan, The Bronx, and +Richmond.</p> + +<p class="right">N.Y. <i>Times</i>, Jan. 5, 1908.</p> + +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>V</h3> + +<h3>PETTIBONE v. NICHOLS</h3> +<br /> + +<p class="noin"><i>Dissenting opinion</i> of Mr. Justice <span class="sc">McKenna</span>:</p> + +<p>I am constrained to dissent from the opinion and judgment of the +court. The principle announced, as I understand it, is that "a Circuit +Court of the United States, when asked upon <i>habeas corpus</i> to +discharge a person held in actual custody by a State for trial in one +of its courts under an indictment charging a crime against its laws, +cannot properly take into account the methods whereby the State +obtained such custody." In other words, and to illuminate the +principle by the light of the facts in this case (facts, I mean, as +alleged, and which we must <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[425]</a></span>assume to be true for the purpose of our +discussion), that the officers of one State may falsely represent that +a person was personally present in the State and committed a crime +there, and had fled from its justice, may arrest such person and take +him from another State, the officers of the latter knowing of false +accusation and conniving in and aiding its purpose, thereby depriving +him of an opportunity to appeal to the courts, and that such person +cannot invoke the rights guaranteed to him by the Constitution and +statutes of the United States in the State to which he is taken. And +this, it is said, is supported by the cases of <i>Ker</i> v. <i>Illinois</i>, +119 U.S. 436, and <i>Mahon</i> v. <i>Justice</i>, 127 U.S. 700. These cases, +extreme as they are, do not justify, in my judgment, the conclusion +deduced from them. In neither case was the State the actor in the +wrongs that brought within its confines the accused person. In the +case at bar, the States, through their officers, are the offenders. +They, by an illegal exertion of power, deprived the accused of a +constitutional right. The distinction is important to be observed. It +finds expression in <i>Mahon</i> v. <i>Justice</i>. But it does not need +emphasizing. Kidnapping is a crime, pure and simple. It is difficult +to accomplish; hazardous at every step. All of the officers of the law +are supposed to be on guard against it. All of the officers of the law +may be invoked against it. But how is it when the law becomes the +kidnapper, when the officers of the law, using its forms and exerting +its power, become abductors? This is not a distinction without a +difference—another form of the crime of kidnapping, distinguished +only from that committed by an individual by circumstances. If a State +may say to one within her borders and upon whom her process is served, +I will not inquire how you came here; I must execute my laws and remit +you to proceedings against those who have wronged you, may she so +plead against her own offences? May she claim that by mere physical +presence within her borders, an accused person is within her +jurisdiction denuded of his constitutional rights, though he has been +brought there by her violence? And constitutional rights the accused +in this case certainly did have, and valuable ones. The foundation of +extradition between the States is that the accused should be a +fugitive from justice from the demanding State, and he may challenge +the fact by <i>habeas corpus</i> immediately upon his arrest. If he refute +the fact he cannot be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[426]</a></span>removed. <i>Hyatt</i> v. <i>Corkran</i>, 188 U.S. 691. +And the right to resist removal is not a right of asylum. To call it +so in the State where the accused is is misleading. It is the right to +be free from molestation. It is the right of personal liberty in its +most complete sense. And this right was vindicated in <i>Hyatt</i> v. +<i>Corkran</i>, and the fiction of a constructive presence in a State and a +constructive flight from a constructive presence rejected. This +decision illustrates at once the value of the right and the value of +the means to enforce the right. It is to be hoped that our criminal +jurisprudence will not need for its efficient administration the +destruction of either the right or the means to enforce it. The +decision in the case at bar, as I view it, brings us perilously near +both results. Is this exaggeration? What are the facts in the case at +bar as alleged in the petition, and which it is conceded must be +assumed to be true? The complaint, which was the foundation of the +extradition proceedings, charged against the accused the crime of +murder on the thirtieth of December, 1905, at Caldwell, in the county +of Canyon, State of Idaho, by killing one Frank Steunenberg, by +throwing an explosive bomb at and against his person. The accused +avers in his petition that he had not been "in the State of Idaho, in +any way, shape or form, for a period of more than ten years" prior to +the acts of which he complained, and that the Governor of Idaho knew +accused had not been in the State the day the murder was committed, +"nor at any time near that day." A conspiracy is alleged between the +Governor of the State of Idaho and his advisers, and that the Governor +of the State of Colorado took part in the conspiracy, the purpose of +which was "to avoid the Constitution of the United States and the act +of Congress made in pursuance thereof, and to prevent the accused from +asserting his constitutional right under cl. 2, sec. 2, of art. IV, of +the Constitution of the United States and the act made pursuant +thereof." The manner in which the alleged conspiracy had been executed +was set out in detail. It was in effect that the agent of the State of +Idaho arrived in Denver, Thursday, February 15, 1906, but it was +agreed between him and the officers of Colorado that the arrest of the +accused should not be made until some time in the night of Saturday, +after business hours—after the courts had closed and judges and +lawyers had departed to their homes; that the arrest should be kept a +secret and the body of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[427]</a></span>accused should be clandestinely hurried +out of the State of Colorado with all possible speed, without the +knowledge of his friends or his counsel; that he was at the usual +place of business during Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, but no +attempt was made to arrest him until 11.30 o'clock <span class="sc">P.M.</span> +Saturday, when his house was surrounded and he was arrested. Moyer was +arrested under the same circumstances at 8.45, and he and accused +"thrown into the county jail of the city and county of Denver." It is +further alleged that, in pursuance of the conspiracy, between the +hours of five and six o'clock on Sunday morning, February 18, the +officers of the State and "certain armed guards, being a part of the +forces of the militia of the State of Colorado," provided a special +train for the purpose of forcibly removing him from the State of +Colorado, and between said hours he was forcibly placed on said train +and removed with all possible speed to the State of Idaho; that prior +to his removal and at all times after his incarceration in the jail at +Denver he requested to be allowed to communicate with his friends and +his counsel and his family, and the privilege was absolutely denied +him. The train, it is alleged, made no stop at any considerable +station, but proceeded at great and unusual speed; and that he was +accompanied by and surrounded with armed guards, members of the State +militia of Colorado, under the orders and directions of the adjutant +general of the State.</p> + +<p>I submit that the facts in this case are different in kind and +transcend in consequences those in the cases of <i>Ker</i> v. <i>Illinois</i> +and <i>Mahon</i> v. <i>Justice</i>, and differ from and transcend them as the +power of a State transcends the power of an individual. No individual +or individuals could have accomplished what the the power of the two +States accomplished; no individual or individuals could have commanded +the means and success; could have made two arrests of prominent +citizens by invading their homes; could have commanded the resources +of jails, armed guards and special trains; could have successfully +timed all acts to prevent inquiry and judicial interference.</p> + +<p>The accused, as soon as he could have done so, submitted his rights to +the consideration of the courts. He could not have done so in +Colorado, he could not have done so on the way from Colorado. At the +first instant that the State of Idaho relaxed its restraining power he +invoked the aid of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[428]</a></span><i>habeas corpus</i> successively of the Supreme Court +of the State and of the Circuit Court of the United States. He should +not have been dismissed from the court, and the action of the Circuit +Court in so doing should be reversed.</p> + +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>VI</h3> + +<h3>EUGENE v. DEBS</h3> +<br /> + +<p>"Yes," said Debs. "The trusts are wiping out the competitive system. +They are a stage in the process of evolution: the individual; the +firm; the corporation; the trust; and so, finally, the commonwealth. +By killing competition and training men to work together, trusts are +preparing for the coöperative stage of industry: Socialism."</p> + +<p>"Then you would keep the trusts we have and welcome others?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Of course," he answered, and Berger nodded approval.</p> + +<p>"They do harm now," I suggested.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Debs, but Berger boomed: "No; not the trusts. Private +owners of the trusts do harm, yes; but not the trusts."</p> + +<p>"Well, but how would you deal with the harm?"</p> + +<p>"Remove 'em," snapped Berger, and Debs explained: "We would have the +government take the trusts and remove the men who own or control them: +the Morgans and Rockefellers, who exploit; and the stockholders who +draw unearned dividends from them."</p> + +<p>"Would you pay for or just take them?"</p> + +<p>Berger seemed to have anticipated this question. He was on his feet, +and he uttered a warning for Debs—in vain.</p> + +<p>"Take them," Debs answered.</p> + +<p>"No," cried Berger, and, running around to Debs, he stood menacingly +over him. "No, you wouldn't," he declared. "Not if I was there. And +you shall not say it for the party. It is my party as much as it is +your party, and I answer that we would offer to pay."</p> + +<p>It was a tense but an illuminating moment. The difference is typical +and temperamental; and not only as between these two opposite +individualities, but among Socialists generally. Debs, the +revolutionist, argued gently that, since the system under which +private monopolies had grown up was unjust, there <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">[429]</a></span>should be no +compromise with it. Berger, the evolutionist, replied angrily that it +was not alone a matter of justice, but of "tactic"; and that tactics +were settled by authority of the party.</p> + +<p>"We (Socialists) are the inheritors of a civilization," he proclaimed, +"and all that is good in it—art, music, institutions, buildings, +public works, character, the sense of right and wrong—not one of +these shall be lost. And violence, like that, would lose us much." +Berger cited the Civil War: "All men can see now that it was coming +years before 1861. Some tried to avert it then by proposing to pay for +the slaves. The fanatics on both sides refused. We all know the +result: slavery was abolished. But how? Instead of a peaceful +evolution and an outlay of, say, a billion, it was abolished by a war +which cost us nearly ten billion dollars and a million lives. We ought +to learn from history, so I say we will offer compensation; because it +seems just to present-day thought and will prove the easiest, cheapest +way in the end. And anyhow," he concluded, "and besites, the party, it +has decited that we shall offer to pay."</p> + +<p>From the article by Mr. Steffens, <i>Eugene V. Debs</i>, in <i>Everybody's +Magazine</i>, Oct., 1908.</p> + +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>VII</h3> + +<h3>TRAMPS AND VAGRANTS</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Tramps, professional and amateur, and trespassers of both sexes and +all ages, are simply swarming over the railroads east of the +Mississippi River, forming a very serious problem for both railroads +and State Governments, according to reports which O.F. Lewis has +received from most of the great roads of the East, and recently +published in <i>Charities</i> and <i>The Commons</i>. Mr. Lewis finds from these +reports that the railroad tramp and trespasser evil is on the +increase, with roads and States through which they pass unable to +check it, and one road, the New York Central, declares that half of +the loss and damage claims currently paid by railroads may be ascribed +to robberies committed by tramps and trespassers. Much of this +increase in trampdom is ascribed to the effects of the panic and the +hard times, which threw thousands of men out of employment.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">[430]</a></span>"Most of the railroads," says Mr. Lewis, in summing up the replies +received to the questions he sent out, "report a very noticeable +increase in vagrancy on their lines. The Central Vermont says 75 per +cent, the Chicago & Eastern Illinois 50 per cent, the Great Northern +200 per cent. Great increases are reported by the Delaware, Lackawanna +& Western, the New York Central, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia & Reading, +and many others. The Northern Pacific reports more vagrants travelling +than ever before.</p> + +<p>"A decrease is reported on the Central of New Jersey, the Cumberland +Valley, Chicago, Indiana & Southern, and on the Missouri Pacific. +Emphasizing the increase on the Pennsylvania, President McCrea states +that four times as many arrests were made for illegal train riding in +June, 1908, as in June, 1907.</p> + +<p>"Stealing foodstuffs, stealing rides, stealing handcars, threatening +and injuring trainmen, placing obstructions on tracks, stoning freight +crews, setting air brakes, and robbing ticket offices, are typical +offences."</p> + +<p>As bearing on the question of, literally, "Who pays the freight?" the +following is from the New York Central's report:</p> + +<p>"We are required by law to charge all of the costs arising out of the +operation of the railroad to operating expenses, which constitute the +loss of the services rendered. Among these expenses are loss and +damage due to the effects of trespassing and the acts of trespassers. +Inasmuch as the definition of a reasonable rate has been stated to +include the cost of the service and a reasonable return upon the value +of the property employed, it inevitably follows that our charge to the +public includes these elements of cost. It may, therefore, be said +that in the end the public pays, but we would prefer to eliminate this +source of cost as far as practicable."</p> + +<p>Many railroads ascribe the increased number of vagrants to "hard +times," resulting in the reduction in the number of men employed +throughout the country.</p> + +<p>The report is frequent that more "honest out-of-works" are stealing +rides and trespassing. President McCrea reports that "not many of the +illegal train riders are vagrants, but men out of employment." The +Southern Pacific reports that "the type of trespasser is as a whole +better."</p> + +<p>With striking frequency the railroads report the majority <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">[431]</a></span>of illegal +train riders to be young men and boys. The ages "18 to 25" are often +mentioned. The Central Railroad of New Jersey says they can be +considered as the coming generation of tramps.</p> + +<p>Answering the question, "Do you believe in a State constabulary to +coöperate with the railway police in prosecuting vagrants?" +twenty-three railroads replied "yes," five replied "no," and sixteen +either had not considered the matter thoroughly or made no reply. The +State constabulary is favored mainly by trunk lines that are troubled +by vagrants.</p> + +<p class="right">N.Y. <i>Times</i>, Feb. 14, 1909.</p> + +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>VIII</h3> + +<h3>PUBLIC STORE NOTES</h3> +<br /> + +<p>The last report of the Director of the Mint (as quoted in <i>Statistical +Abstract of the United States</i>, 1908, p. 714) gives the stock of gold +in the United States as nearly $1,600,000,000 and amount of silver as +almost $700,000,000—in all, $2,300,000,000. Of course, all this coin +will never be at the disposal of the State; some of it will remain as +now in private hands. But all the coin now held by the Government as +reserves to secure greenbacks issued will be gradually released by the +substitution of store notes for greenbacks. This substitution cannot +be honestly effected except in proportion to the amount of produce +which goes into the public stores. There are at the present moment a +little over $1,000,000,000 of greenbacks issued by the United States +Government redeemable in coin. If in any given year the produce +acquired by the state amounts to—say, $100,000,000, the state can +withdraw greenbacks to the amount of $100,000,000 and substitute +therefor public store notes for $100,000,000, and so on, until there +have been substituted public store notes for all the greenbacks in +circulation.</p> + +<p>As regards the remaining $1,300,000,000, some of this, of course, will +remain in private hands; and if it were the policy of the government +to increase its supply of gold for the purchase of foreign goods, it +could levy taxes paid by those engaged in private industry in gold +instead of in produce. If, on the other hand, the private banking +system operated satisfactorily, the state could leave the whole of +$1,300,000,000 in the hands <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">[432]</a></span>of private bankers and through its +ownership of mines, would still have the whole gold and silver +production in the United States for the purchase of foreign goods.</p> + +<p>As the amount of gold and silver produced in the United States +amounted in 1907 to over $90,000,000 of gold and over $37,000,000 of +silver, it will be seen that the state would have at its disposal some +$127,000,000 in gold and silver which it could use in the purchase of +foreign goods against which it could issue public store notes. In +other words, gold and silver will be confined to the amount used in +the competitive system and that required for the settlement of foreign +exchanges.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">[433]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>INDEX<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> +<br /> + +<div class="block2"> + +<ul><li>A</li> + +<li>Accidents, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>adulteration, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88-93</a></li> + <li>advertising, cost of, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207-208</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Africa, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a></li> + +<li>Agriculture, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>Year Book of the Department of, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Albany, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li> + +<li>alcoholism, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></li> + +<li>America, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>business men in, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li> + <li>land in, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> + <li>municipal ownership in, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + <li>prosperity of, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> + <li>Republic of, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> + <li>Socialism in, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> + <li>sweating in, <a href="#Page_156">156</a></li> + <li>trade unionism in, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> + <li>workingman in, <a href="#Page_409">409</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>American— + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— cities, <a href="#Page_286">286</a></li> + <li>—— export of wheat, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> + <li>—— Farmer, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> + <li>—— Federation of Labor, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> + <li>—— Medical Association, <a href="#Page_421">421</a></li> + <li>—— nationality, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a></li> + <li>—— Smelting and Refining Company, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> + <li>—— Socialist press, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li> + <li>—— Steel District, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> + <li>—— Steel and Wire Company, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> + <li>—— Sugar Refining Company, <a href="#Page_106">106</a></li> + <li>—— view of Socialism, <a href="#Page_1">1</a></li> + <li>—— workingmen's families, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Anarchism, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33-34</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a></li> + +<li>anarchists, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31-34</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>Communistic, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>anarchy, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— of distribution, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102-110</a></li> + <li>—— of production, <a href="#Page_102">102-110</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414-415</a></li> + <li>—— of the Middle Ages, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>apprenticeship, <a href="#Page_150">150</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— rules, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Archbold, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> + +<li>art, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>adulteration an, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Asia, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li> + +<li>Astor, John Jacob, <a href="#Page_117">117</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>William Waldorf, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> + </ul> +<br /></li> + + +<li>B<br /><br /></li> + +<li>Babbage, Economy of Manufacture, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> + +<li>Bankers, Institute of, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> + +<li>Barrel, Dictionnaire d'Agriculture, <a href="#Page_268">268</a></li> + +<li>Bebel, August, <a href="#Page_408">408</a></li> + +<li>Belgian view of Socialism, <a href="#Page_1">1</a></li> + +<li>Belgium, <a href="#Page_392">392</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>coöperative stores in, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li> + <li>farm colonies in, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> + <li>universal franchise in, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Bell, Alexander Graham, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> + +<li>Bellamy, Edward, <a href="#Page_405">405</a></li> + +<li>Berger, Victor, <a href="#Page_255">255-256</a></li> + +<li>Berger, Victor, views on compensation, <a href="#Page_428">428-429</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">[434]</a></span></li> + +<li>Berne, Canton of, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li> + +<li>Beveridge, W.H., <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71-73</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75-76</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> + +<li>Bingham, Theodore, Police Commissioner of New York city, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>, <a href="#Page_424">424</a></li> + +<li>Birmingham, <a href="#Page_285">285</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— converted its slum into Corporation Street, <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li> + <li>municipal ownership of gas in, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Bismarck, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li> + +<li>Björkman, Edwin, <a href="#Page_406">406-407</a></li> + +<li>Boer War, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></li> + +<li>Booth, Charles, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></li> + +<li>Boston, Chamber of Commerce of, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— Milk Contractors' Association, <a href="#Page_288">288</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>bourgeois, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25-26</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— needs concrete statement, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li> + <li>characterization of, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li> + <li>—— controls schools, colleges, and press, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42-43</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Bradley, Edson, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li> + +<li>British— + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— Empire, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> + <li>—— employers, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> + <li>—— government, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> + <li>—— opium war in China, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> + <li>—— Parliament, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li> + <li>—— trade unionists, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Brookmire, James H., <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> + +<li>Bryan, Wm. J., <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> + +<li>Bureau of Labor, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227-228</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_421">421</a></li> + +<li>business men slaves of their own creations, <a href="#Page_49">49</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>C<br /><br /></li> + +<li>California, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li> + +<li>Canal, <a href="#Page_419">419</a></li> + +<li>Canal, Panama, <a href="#Page_220">220</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>Suez, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Cannon, Joseph, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></li> + +<li>capital, <a href="#Page_58">58-61</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102-105</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— by Karl Marx, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li> + <li>fluidity of, <a href="#Page_64">64-65</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> + <li>waste of, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>capitalist, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10-11</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414-415</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— class, <a href="#Page_418">418</a></li> + <li>—— society, <a href="#Page_414">414</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Carlyle, Thomas, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a></li> + +<li>Carnegie, Andrew, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>Problems of the Day, by, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Carnegie Steel Company, <a href="#Page_168">168</a></li> + +<li>Carter, James C., <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> + +<li>Census (U.S.), <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li> + +<li>Central Railroad of Vermont, <a href="#Page_430">430</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— of New Jersey, <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Chamber of Commerce (Boston), <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> + +<li>Chapin, Robert Coit, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li> + +<li>Charities, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— and the Commons, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li> + <li>Commissioner of, <a href="#Page_266">266</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>charity, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li> + +<li>Chicago, <a href="#Page_209">209-210</a>, <a href="#Page_413">413</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li> + +<li>children, <a href="#Page_34">34-35</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a> 109, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>, <a href="#Page_421">421</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>death rate of, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> + <li>exploitation of, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> + <li>employment of, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157-158</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li> + <li>property in, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>China, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> + +<li>Chinese, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_354">354</a></li> + +<li>cholera, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></li> + +<li>Christian Socialism, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> + +<li>Christian Socialist, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li> + +<li>churches, <a href="#Page_328">328-330</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">[435]</a></span></li> + +<li>circulating medium, <a href="#Page_307">307-313</a></li> + +<li>citizens, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li> + +<li>citizens' union, <a href="#Page_322">322-324</a></li> + +<li>City Club, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a></li> + +<li>civil war, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li> + +<li>civilization, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140-141</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>property the basis of every conceivable, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li> + <li>unemployment a peculiar product of our, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Clare, George, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> + +<li>class, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_416">416</a>, <a href="#Page_422">422</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>bourgeois, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> + <li>capitalist, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></li> + <li>criminal, <a href="#Page_322">322</a></li> + <li>—— consciousness, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li> + <li>dominant, <a href="#Page_412">412</a></li> + <li>exploited, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> + <li>—— interest, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a></li> + <li>laboring, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> + <li>propertied, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a></li> + <li>—— rule, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_416">416</a></li> + <li>ruling, <a href="#Page_414">414-418</a></li> + <li>—— struggle, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a></li> + <li>wage-earning, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_415">415</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Clearing House, <a href="#Page_177">177</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— Association, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>coal, <a href="#Page_417">417</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— trust, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Collectivism and Revolution, <a href="#Page_1">1</a></li> + +<li>colleges, controlled by propertied class, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> + +<li>colony, farm, <a href="#Page_263">263-277</a>, <a href="#Page_380">380</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>agricultural, <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li> + <li>penal, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Colorado, <a href="#Page_426">426-427</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— Midland railroad, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + <li>—— miners' strike, <a href="#Page_168">168</a></li> + <li>—— State Board of Health, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Columbia University, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li> + +<li>combination, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149-150</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163-164</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a></li> + +<li>commerce, <a href="#Page_329">329</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— chamber of, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Commerce and Labor, U.S. Department of, <a href="#Page_421">421</a></li> + +<li>Commercial Travelers' National League, <a href="#Page_208">208</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— crises, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Commonwealth, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30-31</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325-329</a>, <a href="#Page_426">426</a></li> + +<li>Communism, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— of Apostolic times, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li> + <li>Socialism is not, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Communist, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>Sir Thomas More a, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>community, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_410">410</a></li> + +<li>compensation, <a href="#Page_19">19-20</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251-253</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255-256</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li> + +<li>competition, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18-19</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34-38</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99-103</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106-107</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151-152</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>foreign, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> + <li>—— primary cause of unemployment, <a href="#Page_66">66-67</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>competitive system, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37-39</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56-57</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60-66</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72-74</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101-102</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140-142</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144-147</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_426">426</a>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a></li> + +<li>Comptroller of the City of New York, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> + +<li>compulsory education, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li> + +<li>Conant, Charles A., <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a></li> + +<li>conflict, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— between capital and labor, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> + <li>—— between economics and religion, <a href="#Page_389">389</a></li> + <li>—— between races, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> + <li>—— between science and religion, <a href="#Page_378">378-395</a></li> + <li>—— between tribes, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>conflict between trusts and trade unions, <a href="#Page_176">176</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">[436]</a></span> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>international, <a href="#Page_354">354</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>congested districts, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li> + +<li>Congress (U.S.) <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308-309</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329-332</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_426">426</a></li> + +<li>Constitution, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a>, <a href="#Page_421">421</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>federal, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> + <li>—— of the United States, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>, <a href="#Page_425">425-426</a></li> + <li>State, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Constructive Program of Socialism, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> + +<li>consumer, <a href="#Page_92">92-93</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96-97</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105-107</a></li> + +<li>Consumers' parliament, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> + +<li>contract, freedom of, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109-110</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> + +<li>coöperation, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34-35</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50-51</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199-201</a>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a></li> + +<li>coöperative system, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342-347</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— stores in Belgium, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>corporations, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320-321</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323-324</a>, <a href="#Page_426">426</a></li> + +<li>Cortelyou, George, <a href="#Page_187">187-189</a></li> + +<li>cost, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— of advertising, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li> + <li>—— of crime, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li> + <li>—— of crude oil, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> + <li>—— of distribution, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li> + <li>—— of getting the market, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> + <li>—— of letter distribution, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> + <li>—— of living, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228-229</a></li> + <li>—— of revolutions, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>cotton, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— industries of Lancashire, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> + <li>proposal to burn, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> + <li>—— weavers of India, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>country, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131-132</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a></li> + +<li>County Council (London), <a href="#Page_320">320</a></li> + +<li>courts, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_415">415-428</a></li> + +<li>credit, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></li> + +<li>crime, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>, <a href="#Page_424">424-426</a></li> + +<li>crises, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a></li> + +<li>cross freights, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99-100</a></li> + +<li>Cuba, <a href="#Page_407">407</a></li> + +<li>Cumberland, <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li> + +<li>custom, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366</a></li> + +<li>cyclical fluctuations, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>D<br /><br /></li> + +<li>Dairy and Food Commission of Ohio, <a href="#Page_90">90</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— products, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Damien, Father, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> + +<li>Darwin, Charles, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> + +<li>Dearles, N.B., <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> + +<li>death, <a href="#Page_37">37-38</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_421">421</a></li> + +<li>Debs, Eugene V., <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428-429</a></li> + +<li>Declaration of Independence, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> + +<li>defectives and delinquents, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li> + +<li>degeneracy, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></li> + +<li>Delaware, <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li> + +<li>democracy, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> + +<li>Denver, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_426">426-427</a></li> + +<li>depression, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>industrial, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Detrich, J., <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li> + +<li>disease, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69-70</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> + +<li>distribution, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28-29</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36-37</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54-55</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93-94</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>anarchy of, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> + <li>cost of, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_411">411</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>divorce, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> + +<li>Dowe, President Commercial Travelers' League, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li> + +<li>drunkenness, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> + +<li>Dutch farm colonies, <a href="#Page_271">271</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>E<br /><br /></li> + +<li>economic conditions, <a href="#Page_23">23-30</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>points of view created by, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>economic interpretation of history, <a href="#Page_10">10</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">[437]</a></span> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— liberty, <a href="#Page_51">51-52</a></li> + <li>—— socialism, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li> + <li>—— tyranny, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Economists, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_403">403</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>orthodox, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>economy, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— of Manufacture, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> + <li>—— of Socialism, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>education, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325-328</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>Board of, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></li> + <li>—— of workingmen, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> + <li>U.S. Department of, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_421">421</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Elimination of the Tramp, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271-272</a></li> + +<li>Eliot, Charles W., <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> + +<li>Ely, Richard T., <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> + +<li>employers— + <ul class="nest"> + <li>loss to, from strikes, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Employers' Association in Colorado, <a href="#Page_168">168</a></li> + +<li>Encyclopedia Americana, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— Britannica, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Engels, Friedrich, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li> + +<li>engineer's lockout, <a href="#Page_148">148-149</a></li> + +<li>England, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147-148</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236-237</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>, <a href="#Page_421">421</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>Labor party in, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> + <li>municipal ownership in, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + <li>Public House Trust in, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>English— + <ul class="nest"> + <li>manufacturers, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> + <li>ministry, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> + <li>—— Poor Law Guardians, <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li> + <li>—— Socialism of To-day, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li> + <li>—— unions, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Ensor, R.C.K., Modern Socialism, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li> + +<li>Ethical argument for Socialism, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— Aspect of Socialism, <a href="#Page_378">378-410</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Ethical standards, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> + +<li>Europe, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135-136</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_408">408-409</a></li> + +<li>Evolution, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— and Effort, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> + <li>—— and Ethics, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379-385</a></li> + <li>Socialist, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>evolutionist, <a href="#Page_23">23-24</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27-30</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li> + +<li>exploitation, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_416">416</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— of women and children, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>export of wheat, <a href="#Page_55">55</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— of oil, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> + </ul> +<br /></li> + + +<li>F<br /><br /></li> + +<li>Fabian Tracts, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> + +<li>factory, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103-104</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123-124</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_415">415-417</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— hand <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> + <li>independent, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> + <li>—— inspection, <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li> + <li>—— owners, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47-48</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69-70</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>fallacies regarding Socialism, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></li> + +<li>family, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_421">421</a>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a></li> + +<li>Faraday, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> + +<li>farm, <a href="#Page_29">29</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>colony, <a href="#Page_78">78-80</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263-277</a></li> + <li>deserted, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> + <li>—— hands, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> + <li>ownership of, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>farmer, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28-29</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177-178</a>, <a href="#Page_415">415</a></li> + +<li>Farmers' Bulletin, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li> + +<li>farming population, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> + +<li>Federal Steel Company, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> + +<li>Federation of Labor, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> + +<li>Fesca, Dr. M., Beiträge zur Kenntniss der japanesischen Landwirthschaft, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> + +<li>Fields, Factories and Workshops (Kropotkin), <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> + +<li>Filene Store, <a href="#Page_199">199-200</a></li> + +<li>financial crises, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">[438]</a></span></li> + +<li>fines (for adulteration), <a href="#Page_88">88-93</a></li> + +<li>food, <a href="#Page_98">98</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— adulteration, <a href="#Page_89">89-93</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Food and Drugs Act, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> + +<li>forests, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> + +<li>Forster, Rt. Hon. H.O. Arnold, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> + +<li>Fourier, <a href="#Page_317">317</a></li> + +<li>France, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308-309</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_392">392</a>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a></li> + +<li>franchise, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> + +<li>free trade, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> + +<li>freedom, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>law an abridgment of, <a href="#Page_113">113-114</a></li> + <li>—— of contract, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140-141</a></li> + <li>—— of industry, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li> + <li>economic, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>French Parliament, <a href="#Page_18">18-19</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— peasant, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li> + <li>—— penal code, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li> + <li>—— Revolution, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Frick, Henry, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> + +<li>funds, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, + <ul class="nest"> + <li>benefit, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> + <li>Mansion House Relief, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> + <li>savings bank, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> + <li>trade union, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> + </ul> +<br /></li> + + +<li>G<br /><br /></li> + +<li>Galvani, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> + +<li>gambling, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a></li> + +<li>gardeners (Paris), <a href="#Page_268">268</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— Hammersmith, <a href="#Page_18">18-20</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Gary, Elbert H., <a href="#Page_57">57-62</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> + +<li>gas, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— in Birmingham, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + <li>—— in Manchester, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + <li>—— in New York, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>General Electric Company, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> + +<li>Genevilliers, <a href="#Page_268">268</a></li> + +<li>George, Henry, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li> + +<li>German (the), <a href="#Page_321">321</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— competition, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Germany, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308-309</a>, <a href="#Page_408">408</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>cabinet minister in, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> + <li>palliative measures in, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> + <li>workingmen in, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Ghent, W.J., <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> + +<li>Giddings, Professor Franklin H., <a href="#Page_405">405</a></li> + +<li>Gladstone, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a></li> + +<li>Gompers, Samuel, <a href="#Page_408">408</a></li> + +<li>Gothenburg system, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li> + +<li>government, <a href="#Page_32">32-33</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128-129</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135-136</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317-320</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_416">416-418</a>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— control, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> + <li>good, <a href="#Page_321">321-324</a></li> + <li>—— postoffice, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> + <li>—— printing office, <a href="#Page_228">228</a></li> + <li>publications of U.S., <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a></li> + <li>the Prussian, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Grandeau, L., Etudes agronomiques, <a href="#Page_268">268</a></li> + +<li>Guesde, Jules, <a href="#Page_408">408</a></li> + +<li>Guggenheim, Senator, <a href="#Page_74">74</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>Daniel, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>guilds, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>tyranny of, <a href="#Page_135">135-140</a></li> + </ul> +<br /></li> + + +<li>H<br /><br /></li> + +<li>Hague Tribunal, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li> + +<li>Hallet, Major, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> + +<li>Hammersmith, <a href="#Page_18">18-20</a></li> + +<li>Hardie, Keir, <a href="#Page_408">408</a></li> + +<li>Harriman, <a href="#Page_304">304</a></li> + +<li>Havemeyer, H.O., <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> + +<li>Haywood, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li> + +<li>health, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>, <a href="#Page_421">421</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>Colorado State Board of, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> + <li>conservation of, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> + <li>Department of, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Hebberd, Mr., Commissioner of Charities of New York city, <a href="#Page_266">266</a></li> + +<li>Henri IV, <a href="#Page_142">142</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">[439]</a></span></li> + +<li>Hill, James J., <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a></li> + +<li>Hillquit, Morris, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li> + +<li>Hindustan, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li> + +<li>history, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li> + +<li>Holland, <a href="#Page_222">222</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>farm colonies in, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Hollesley Bay, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> + +<li>Holt, Dr. L. Emmett, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_421">421</a></li> + +<li>home, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40-42</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_415">415</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>common, <a href="#Page_317">317</a></li> + <li>—— Economics, Conference on, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li> + <li>—— industry, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>horde, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> + +<li>hours of labor, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>excessive, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> + <li>four hours' workday, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> + <li>—— of farmer, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>House of Commons, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> + +<li>House report, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>d Congress, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>d + <ul class="nest"> + <li>session, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Hudson river, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li> + +<li>Hughes, Charles F., <a href="#Page_244">244-245</a></li> + +<li>Hunter, Robert, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> + +<li>Huxley, Thomas, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315-316</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379-380</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382-386</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>, <a href="#Page_404">404</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>I<br /><br /></li> + +<li>Ice Trust, <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li> + +<li>Idaho, <a href="#Page_426">426-427</a></li> + +<li>Illinois, <a href="#Page_425">425</a>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li> + +<li>immediate demands, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li> + +<li>immobilization of capital, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> + +<li>imprisonment for adulteration, <a href="#Page_89">89-93</a></li> + +<li>India, <a href="#Page_218">218</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>starvation in, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> + <li>tiger developed in, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Indian opium forced upon China, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> + +<li>Indiana, <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li> + +<li>individualism, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> + +<li>Industrial Commission, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62-63</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104-107</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150-151</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161-164</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206-208</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a></li> + +<li>industrial conditions, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— depression, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a></li> + <li>—— Parliament, <a href="#Page_318">318</a></li> + <li>—— population, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> + <li>—— schools, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + <li>—— system, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>industrialism, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li> + +<li>industries, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326-327</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>, <a href="#Page_416">416</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>captain of, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> + <li>collective ownership of, <a href="#Page_419">419</a></li> + <li>seasonal, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> + <li>socialized, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>industry, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102-105</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138-140</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_421">421-422</a></li> + +<li>insurance, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>German national, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li> + <li>—— Year Book, <a href="#Page_179">179</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>International, the, <a href="#Page_155">155</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— complications, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> + <li>—— conflict, <a href="#Page_354">354</a></li> + <li>—— crime, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>interest, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>personal, <a href="#Page_29">29-30</a></li> + <li>private, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> + <li>vested, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22-30</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>intranational conflict, <a href="#Page_354">354</a></li> + +<li>invention, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222-224</a></li> + +<li>inventor, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220-224</a></li> + +<li>investor, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> + +<li>Ireland, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li> + +<li>Italy, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>J<br /><br /></li> + +<li>James I of England, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> + +<li>Japan, <a href="#Page_62">62-63</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> + +<li>Jaurès, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_408">408</a></li> + +<li>Jersey, Island of, <a href="#Page_280">280</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">[440]</a></span></li> + +<li>justice, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_411">411-429</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>K<br /><br /></li> + +<li>Kautsky, Karl, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307-308</a></li> + +<li>Kentucky, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> + +<li>Knickerbocker Trust Company, <a href="#Page_182">182-184</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> + +<li>Kropotkin, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267-268</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>L<br /><br /></li> + +<li>labor, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50-51</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113-114</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116-117</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414-422</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— Bulletin, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li> + <li>Bureau of, <a href="#Page_421">421</a></li> + <li>child, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> + <li>Commerce and, <a href="#Page_421">421</a></li> + <li>Department of, <a href="#Page_421">421</a></li> + <li>fluidity of, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> + <li>—— market, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> + <li>—— members of Parliament, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></li> + <li>—— not so fluid as capital, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> + <li>—— of women, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> + <li>young, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>laborers, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> + +<li><i>Laissez-faire</i>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_407">407</a></li> + +<li>Lancashire, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> + +<li>land, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122-124</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_412">412-414</a>, <a href="#Page_416">416</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li> + +<li>law, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91-92</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112-113</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_410">410</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>, <a href="#Page_425">425</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— of 1799 of British Parliament, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li> + <li>relation of custom to, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Lebovitz, J., <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li> + +<li>legislation, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_424">424</a></li> + +<li>leisure, <a href="#Page_48">48-49</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125-130</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_411">411</a></li> + +<li>Lesseps de, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> + +<li>Lewis, Orlando F., <a href="#Page_429">429-430</a></li> + +<li>liberty, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46-47</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>, <a href="#Page_426">426</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>A Plea for, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>life, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37-38</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67-72</a></li> + +<li>Lincoln, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> + +<li>lockout, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86-88</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> + +<li>London, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a></li> + +<li>Louis XIV, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_422">422</a></li> + +<li>Lowell, James Russell, <a href="#Page_223">223</a></li> + +<li>lumber, <a href="#Page_53">53</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>camps, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>lunacy, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li> + +<li>Lyell, Sir Charles, <a href="#Page_349">349</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>M<br /><br /></li> + +<li>McCrea, President, <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li> + +<li>MacDonald, J. Ramsay, <a href="#Page_408">408</a></li> + +<li>McKenna, Judge, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_424">424</a></li> + +<li>machine, political, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> + +<li>machinery, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414-420</a></li> + +<li>Maine, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li> + +<li>Mallock, <a href="#Page_408">408-409</a></li> + +<li>Malthus, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a></li> + +<li>Manchester, <a href="#Page_20">20</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— school, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Manhattan, <a href="#Page_97">97-98</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_424">424</a></li> + +<li>Mansion House Relief Fund, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> + +<li>Manufacture, Economy of, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> + +<li>market, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103-105</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109-110</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>foreign, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li> + <li>getting the, <a href="#Page_95">95-96</a></li> + <li>—— price, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> + <li>the London, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> + <li>tyranny of the, <a href="#Page_102">102-103</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>marriage, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351-353</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358-359</a></li> + +<li>Marshall, Alfred, <a href="#Page_391">391</a></li> + +<li>Martineau, Harriet, <a href="#Page_402">402</a></li> + +<li>Marx, Karl, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33-34</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155-156</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a></li> + +<li>Marxian school, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441">[441]</a></span> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— doctrine of value, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> + <li>—— socialism, <a href="#Page_1">1</a></li> + <li>—— socialist, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Mass and Class, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> + +<li>Maxim, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> + +<li>meat, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— distribution, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> + <li>—— Trust, <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li> + +<li>Metz, Hermann, Comptroller of New York city, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> + +<li>Middle Ages, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> + +<li>militia, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a></li> + +<li>milk, <a href="#Page_96">96-97</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— adulteration, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> + <li>—— Contractors' Association, <a href="#Page_288">288</a></li> + <li>trust, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Mill, John Stuart, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li> + +<li>Miner, Maud E., probation officer, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> + +<li>mineowners, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> + +<li>miners, <a href="#Page_65">65</a> 131, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— union, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> + <li>Western Federation of, <a href="#Page_417">417</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>misrepresentation, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15-16</a></li> + +<li>Mississippi, <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li> + +<li>Mitchell, Dr. W.C., <a href="#Page_90">90-91</a></li> + +<li>Mitchell, John, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151-152</a>, <a href="#Page_408">408</a></li> + +<li>Modern Socialism, R.C.K. Ensor, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li> + +<li>Monde Economique, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> + +<li>Monetary and Banking system, by Maurice L. Muhleman, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> + +<li>money, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53-55</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66-68</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77-79</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176-198</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— market, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> + <li>—— Market Primer, by George Clare, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>monopoly, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_416">416</a>, <a href="#Page_422">422</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— of guilds, <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>monopolies, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> + +<li>morality, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81-84</a></li> + +<li>More, Sir Thomas, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> + +<li>Morgan, J. Pierpont, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195-196</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237-239</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>elimination of waste by, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li> + <li>organization of steel and coal trusts by, <a href="#Page_238">238</a></li> + <li>share of, in New York city finances, Oct., 1908, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Morris, William, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> + +<li>mortality, <a href="#Page_38">38</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>infant, <a href="#Page_419">419</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Moyer, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> + +<li>Muhleman, Maurice L., <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> + +<li>municipalities, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> + +<li>municipal ownership, <a href="#Page_20">20-21</a></li> + +<li>Municipal Year Book, <a href="#Page_20">20</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>N<br /><br /></li> + +<li>nation, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_412">412-418</a></li> + +<li>National Association of State Food and Dairy Departments, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> + +<li>National Executive Committee, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li> + +<li>necessaries of life, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a></li> + +<li>Negro slavery, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> + +<li>New England, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> + +<li>New York Central railroad, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429-430</a></li> + +<li>New York city, <a href="#Page_19">19-22</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283-284</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320-322</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>Aldermen in, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> + <li>butcher shops in, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> + <li>reform in, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> + <li>Trow's directory of, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>New York State, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— Department of Labor, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>,74</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Newton, Isaac, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> + +<li>Nightingale, Florence, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> + +<li>Northern Pacific, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li> + +<li>Northern Securities Case, <a href="#Page_238">238</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>O<br /><br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">[442]</a></span></li> + +<li>occupations, <a href="#Page_71">71-72</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114-115</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li> + +<li>Oersted, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> + +<li>Ohio Dairy and Food Department, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> + +<li>Ohm, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> + +<li>oil, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>Pratts' Astral, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li> + <li>Standard, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>opium, <a href="#Page_63">63-64</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— war in China, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>organization, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147-148</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>industrial, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> + <li>international, <a href="#Page_156">156</a></li> + <li>—— of labor, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> + <li>—— of trade unions, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> + <li>political, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Organized Labor, by John Mitchell, <a href="#Page_73">73-75</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145-146</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151-153</a>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a></li> + +<li>Outlook the, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li> + +<li>overinvestment, <a href="#Page_65">65-66</a></li> + +<li>overproduction, <a href="#Page_57">57-66</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> + +<li>overwork, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69-70</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> + +<li>ownership, <a href="#Page_20">20-21</a>, <a href="#Page_416">416</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>collective, <a href="#Page_419">419</a></li> + <li>—— of land, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li> + <li>State, <a href="#Page_317">317</a></li> + <li>State, not Socialism, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> + </ul> +<br /></li> + + +<li>P<br /><br /></li> + +<li>pacemakers, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> + +<li>Palissy, Bernard, <a href="#Page_223">223</a></li> + +<li>palliative measures, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> + +<li>Panama bonds, <a href="#Page_188">188</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— canal, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Pangborn, Col., <a href="#Page_266">266</a></li> + +<li>panic, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73-75</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181-194</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li> + +<li>Paris, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a></li> + +<li>Parliament, <a href="#Page_173">173</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>Industrial, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>parlor Socialists, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> + +<li>Parnell, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li> + +<li>party, <a href="#Page_416">416-419</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>capitalistic, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li> + <li>Democratic, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a></li> + <li>dominant, <a href="#Page_415">415</a></li> + <li>Labor, in England, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> + <li>Republican, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a></li> + <li>Socialist, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26-27</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34-36</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428-429</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>pauper, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> + +<li>pauperism, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35-36</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> + +<li>penal colonies, <a href="#Page_274">274</a></li> + +<li>Pennsylvania, <a href="#Page_74">74-75</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li> + +<li>Pettibone vs. Collins, <a href="#Page_424">424</a></li> + +<li>Philadelphia, <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li> + +<li>philanthropists, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> + +<li>philosophy of Socialism, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> + +<li>Pinkerton, Robert A., <a href="#Page_168">168</a></li> + +<li>pipe-line, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li> + +<li>Pittsburg, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164-165</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>Survey, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173-174</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>platform, Socialist, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26-27</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_413">413</a>, <a href="#Page_421">421</a></li> + +<li>Plato, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a></li> + +<li>Platonic school of Socialism, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> + +<li>Plea for Liberty, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> + +<li>political— + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— action, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a></li> + <li>—— contributions, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> + <li>—— control, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> + <li>—— issue, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li> + <li>—— liberty, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> + <li>—— parties, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li> + <li>—— power, <a href="#Page_26">26-27</a></li> + <li>—— Science Quarterly, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> + <li>—— students, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>politics, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> + +<li>Ponce, La Culture Maraiche, <a href="#Page_268">268</a></li> + +<li>Poor Law guardians, <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li> + +<li>popular government, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_443" id="Page_443">[443]</a></span></li> + +<li>population, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156-158</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a></li> + +<li>Populism, <a href="#Page_174">174</a></li> + +<li>Portland Proceedings, <a href="#Page_90">90-91</a></li> + +<li>postoffice, <a href="#Page_262">262</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— economies, <a href="#Page_96">96-97</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Poverty, by Robert Hunter, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> + +<li>press, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>propertied class in control of, <a href="#Page_42">42-43</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>price, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58-63</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65-66</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103-104</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134-135</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147-148</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158-160</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a></li> + +<li>Principles of Sociology, <a href="#Page_335">335-405</a></li> + +<li>Problems of the Day, by Andrew Carnegie, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> + +<li>problems, solution of, <a href="#Page_151">151</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>economic, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Problems of Unemployment, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> + +<li>production, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35-38</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52-54</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93-94</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131-132</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>anarchy of, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_413">413</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>, <a href="#Page_416">416</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>products, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116-117</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123-124</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314-319</a></li> + +<li>profit, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58-60</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104-106</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a></li> + +<li>proletariat, <a href="#Page_25">25-26</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + +<li>property, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15-16</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24-25</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28-29</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32-33</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42-46</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131-175</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>, <a href="#Page_422">422</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— and Liberty, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112-130</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>prostitution, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35-36</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> + +<li>Proudhon, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33-34</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> + +<li>Prussia, <a href="#Page_317">317</a></li> + +<li>Prussian Government, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> + +<li>public domain, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> + +<li>Public House Trust, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li> + +<li>public ownership, <a href="#Page_20">20-21</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a></li> + +<li>Pullman, <a href="#Page_168">168</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>Q<br /><br /></li> + +<li>de Quesnay, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> + +<li>Quintessence of Socialism, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>R<br /><br /></li> + +<li>race, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65-66</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_411">411</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>for profits, <a href="#Page_415">415</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>rags sold as woollen cloth, <a href="#Page_93">93</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— pickers of Paris, <a href="#Page_18">18-20</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>railroads, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73-95</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429-431</a></li> + +<li>reclamation, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> + +<li>reforestation, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> + +<li>reform, <a href="#Page_26">26-28</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418-419</a></li> + +<li>relief, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> + +<li>remedies, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> + +<li>remuneration, <a href="#Page_303">303-306</a></li> + +<li>republic, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li> + +<li>revolution, <a href="#Page_25">25-28</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li> + +<li>revolutionary period, <a href="#Page_108">108</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— Socialists, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>revolutionist, <a href="#Page_23">23-26</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a></li> + +<li>Rhode Island, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li> + +<li>Ritchie, Professor, <a href="#Page_385">385</a></li> + +<li>Rockefeller, <a href="#Page_57">57-58</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237-239</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253-255</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li> + +<li>Rocky mountains, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a></li> + +<li>Rodbertus, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li> + +<li>Rogers, Thorold, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> + +<li>Roosevelt, Theodore, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33-34</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40-42</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237-239</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259-260</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_398">398</a></li> + +<li>Rousseau, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> + +<li>royalty, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> + +<li>Ruskin, John, <a href="#Page_402">402-403</a></li> + +<li>Russia, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>S<br /><br /></li> + +<li>salaries, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303-306</a></li> + +<li>San Francisco, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> + +<li>savings Banks, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_444" id="Page_444">[444]</a></span></li> + +<li>Schäffle, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> + +<li>Schenectady, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li> + +<li>school, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>divinity, <a href="#Page_329">329</a></li> + <li>industrial, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + <li>Manchester, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> + <li>Marxian, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> + <li>trade, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Science, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_421">421</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— and Morals, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Scientific aspect of Socialism, <a href="#Page_335">335-377</a></li> + +<li>Seligman, J. & W., <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + +<li>semi-skilled workers, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> + +<li>Semler, Tropische Agrikultur, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> + +<li>Shaw, Bernard, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> + +<li>sickness, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_406">406-407</a></li> + +<li>Simon, A.M., The American Farmer, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> + +<li>Simon Eugène, La Cité Chinoise, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> + +<li>single tax, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></li> + +<li>slave, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li> + +<li>slaveowner, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> + +<li>slavery, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128-130</a></li> + +<li>Smith, Adam, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> + +<li>Social Revolution (Kautsky), <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> + +<li>Socialism and Social Reform, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217-218</a></li> + +<li>Socialism in Theory and Practice, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307-308</a></li> + +<li>socialization of industries, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li> + +<li>South, farmers of the, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li> + +<li>South Australia, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li> + +<li>South Carolina, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> + +<li>Southern Pacific, <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li> + +<li>Spargo, John, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248-250</a></li> + +<li>Spencer, Herbert, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>, <a href="#Page_404">404</a></li> + +<li>standard of living, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li> + +<li>standard of wages, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></li> + +<li>Standard Oil, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104-105</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253-256</a></li> + +<li>starvation, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a></li> + +<li>State, <a href="#Page_45">45-46</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>, <a href="#Page_424">424-431</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>agricultural, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> + <li>—— commissions, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> + <li>—— constabulary, <a href="#Page_431">431</a></li> + <li>—— Government, <a href="#Page_329">329</a></li> + <li>—— laws, <a href="#Page_417">417</a></li> + <li>mining, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> + <li>New York, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li> + <li>—— ownership not Socialism, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> + <li>Prussian, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> + <li>—— Socialism, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317-318</a></li> + <li>—— Socialist, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> + <li>—— viands, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Statistical Abstract of the United States, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a></li> + +<li>statistics, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> + +<li>steel, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327-328</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— industry, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> + <li>—— rails, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> + <li>—— trust, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185-186</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></li> + <li>U.S.,—Corporation, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Steffens, Lincoln, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li> + +<li>step by step socialist, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> + +<li>stockholders, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a></li> + +<li>stocks, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> + +<li>store, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a></li> + +<li>strike, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86-88</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a></li> + +<li>struggle, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_415">415</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>class, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> + <li>—— for Existence in Human Society, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li> + <li>—— for life, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_410">410</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>study of Sociology, <a href="#Page_365">365</a></li> + +<li>Suez canal, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> + +<li>sugar trust, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li> + +<li>Survey, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173-174</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> + +<li>swamplands, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li> + +<li>sweated trades, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> + +<li>sweating system, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_445" id="Page_445">[445]</a></span></li> + +<li>Switzerland, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>farm colonies in, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>system, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>, <a href="#Page_421">421</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>apprenticeship, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + <li>—— of production, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a></li> + <li>capitalist, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> + <li>competitive, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li> + <li>coöperative, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> + <li>factory, <a href="#Page_416">416</a></li> + <li>Fourier's, <a href="#Page_317">317</a></li> + </ul> +<br /></li> + + +<li>T<br /><br /></li> + +<li>Taft, President, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> + +<li>taxes, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>personal, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> + <li>single, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> + <li>—— rate, <a href="#Page_320">320</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>teachers, <a href="#Page_49">49</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— college, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>tenements, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></li> + +<li>Tennessee Coal and Iron Company, <a href="#Page_185">185-186</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> + +<li>textiles, <a href="#Page_92">92</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— schools, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Thompson, Carl D., <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> + +<li>tobacco, <a href="#Page_156">156</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>adulteration of, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> + <li>—— crop in Kentucky, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Tolstoi, <a href="#Page_388">388</a></li> + +<li>Toubeau, La répartition métrique des impôts, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> + +<li>trade, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>export, <a href="#Page_105">105-106</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151-155</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>trade unions, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72-77</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140-159</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167-174</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>organization of, <a href="#Page_159">159-160</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>tramps, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271-272</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273-274</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li> + +<li>Troy, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li> + +<li>trust companies, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + +<li>Trust Company of America, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> + +<li>trusts, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>expropriation of, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> + <li>development of, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li> + <li>Standard Oil, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> + <li>steel, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Turgot, <a href="#Page_422">422</a></li> + +<li>Tweed, <a href="#Page_320">320</a></li> + +<li>Tyranny, <a href="#Page_142">142</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>economic, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> + <li>—— of the guilds, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> + <li>—— of the market, <a href="#Page_102">102-104</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> + <li>—— of the trade union, <a href="#Page_108">108-110</a></li> + <li>—— of the trusts, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> + </ul> +<br /></li> + + +<li>U<br /><br /></li> + +<li>underconsumption, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> + +<li>underemployment, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> + +<li>underpayment, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> + +<li>unemployable, <a href="#Page_70">70-72</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> + +<li>unemployed, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66-79</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_415">415</a></li> + +<li>unemployment, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88-89</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a></li> + +<li>unions, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159-160</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169-175</a></li> + +<li>United States, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187-188</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_416">416-417</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— Bureau of Labor, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li> + <li>—— Census, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li> + <li>—— Congress, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308-309</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329-330</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_426">426</a></li> + <li>—— Constitution, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a>, <a href="#Page_426">426</a></li> + <li>—— Department of Agriculture, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> + <li>—— Department, of Labor, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> + <li>divorce in, <a href="#Page_40">40-41</a></li> + <li>—— postoffice, <a href="#Page_96">96-97</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>United States, Secretary of the Treasury of, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_446" id="Page_446">[446]</a></span> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>statistical abstract of, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a></li> + <li>statutes of, <a href="#Page_424">424-425</a></li> + <li>—— Treasury, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187-188</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>unorganized labor, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> + +<li>unskilled labor, <a href="#Page_75">75-77</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>V<br /><br /></li> + +<li>value, <a href="#Page_125">125-126</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>Marx' theory of, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> + <li>surplus, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Vandervelde, Emil, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_408">408</a></li> + +<li>Vermont, <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li> + +<li>vested interests, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18-22</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> + +<li>vice, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>, <a href="#Page_410">410-411</a>, <a href="#Page_415">415</a></li> + +<li>Vienna, <a href="#Page_286">286</a></li> + +<li>violence, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117-118</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168-169</a>, <a href="#Page_425">425</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li> + +<li>Volta, <a href="#Page_222">222</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>W<br /><br /></li> + +<li>wages, <a href="#Page_69">69-70</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103-104</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>,147,151-158, <a href="#Page_165">165</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>miners', <a href="#Page_82">82-83</a></li> + <li>—— earners', <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li> + <li>—— servants', <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + <li>—— slave, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> + <li>—— slavery, <a href="#Page_68">68-69</a></li> + <li>union, <a href="#Page_419">419</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Wall Street, <a href="#Page_179">179-192</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li> + +<li>war, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li> + +<li>Ward, Lester F., <a href="#Page_404">404</a></li> + +<li>Washington, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></li> + +<li>waste, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>—— lands, <a href="#Page_419">419</a></li> + <li>—— of capital, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>waste of life and property in revolution, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> + +<li>water, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a></li> + +<li>wealth, <a href="#Page_42">42-43</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45-46</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130-131</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134-135</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_410">410</a>, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a></li> + +<li>Webb, Sidney, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> + +<li>Western Federation of Miners, <a href="#Page_417">417</a></li> + +<li>Western Union, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + +<li>Westinghouse Company, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> + +<li>wheat, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li> + +<li>whiskey, adulteration of, <a href="#Page_91">91</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>Trust, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161-162</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Why Socialism is Impossible, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> + +<li>Winslow, Lanier & Company, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + +<li>Wisconsin, <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li> + +<li>women, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80-86</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142-143</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157-158</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>exploitation of, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> + <li>suffrage for, <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Woodbridge, Alice, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li> + +<li>working class, <a href="#Page_42">42-45</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414-416</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a></li> + +<li>workingmen, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47-48</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137-138</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151-154</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>standard of living of, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li> + </ul> +<br /></li> + + +<li>Y<br /><br /></li> + +<li>Year Book of the Department of Agriculture, <a href="#Page_230">230</a> + <ul class="nest"> + <li>Insurance, <a href="#Page_179">179</a></li> + <li>Municipal, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li>Yorkshire, 154</li> +</ul> + +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<div class="tr"> +<p class="cen"><a name="TN" id="TN"></a>Typographical errors corrected in text:</p> +<br /> +Page xiv: distaseful replaced with distasteful<br /> +Page 14: Socalism replaced with Socialism<br /> +Page 19: landords replaced with landlords<br /> +Page 88: similiar replaced with similar<br /> +Page 163: advancng replaced with advancing<br /> +Page 164: presention replaced with presentation<br /> +Page 180: noney replaced with money<br /> +Page 205: conoeded replaced with conceded<br /> +Page 226: pulverzing replaced with pulverizing<br /> +Page 229: expediture replaced with expenditure<br /> +Page 285: cooperative replaced with coöperative<br /> +Page 290: cooperative replaced with coöperative<br /> +Page 292: catagories replaced with categories<br /> +Page 295: Gothenberg replaced with Gothenburg<br /> +Page 312: "six hundred and and sixty million dollars" replaced with "six hundred and sixty million dollars"<br /> +Page 312: "will be paid to be steel guild" replaced with "will be paid to the steel guild"<br /> +Page 327: primarly replaced with primarily<br /> +Page 336: subsituting replaced with substituting<br /> +Page 351: cooperative replaced with coöperative<br /> +Page 362: self-straint replaced with self-restraint<br /> +Page 371: "If the the harness left" replaced with "If the harness left"<br /> +Page 407: communites replaced with communities<br /> +Page 409: canivora replaced with carnivora<br /> +Page 433: Barral replaced with Barrel<br /> +Page 435: captial replaced with capital<br /> +Page 437: Beitrage replaced with Beiträge<br /> +Page 438: ecomonic replaced with economic<br /> +Page 440: Kautzky replaced with Kautsky<br /> +Page 443: Unemplovment replaced with Unemployment<br /> +Page 443: Tharold replaced with Thorold<br /> +Page 444: Kautzky replaced with Kautsky<br /> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> + + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Twentieth Century Socialism, by Edmond Kelly + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWENTIETH CENTURY SOCIALISM *** + +***** This file should be named 34979-h.htm or 34979-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/9/7/34979/ + +Produced by Fritz Ohrenschall 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 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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: Twentieth Century Socialism + What It Is Not; What It Is: How It May Come + +Author: Edmond Kelly + +Release Date: January 16, 2011 [EBook #34979] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWENTIETH CENTURY SOCIALISM *** + + + + +Produced by Fritz Ohrenschall and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + * * * * * + + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's Note: | + | | + | Inconsistent hyphenation in the original document has | + | been preserved. | + | | + | Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. For | + | a complete list, please see the end of this document. | + | | + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + + * * * * * + + + + +TWENTIETH CENTURY SOCIALISM + + + + +TWENTIETH CENTURY +SOCIALISM + +_WHAT IT IS NOT; WHAT IT IS: +HOW IT MAY COME_ + + +BY +EDMOND KELLY, M.A., F.G.S. + +Late Lecturer on Municipal Government at Columbia University, +in the City of New York + +Author of "Government or Human Evolution," +"Evolution and Effort," etc., etc. + + + + +LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. +FOURTH AVENUE & 30TH STREET, NEW YORK +LONDON, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA +1911 + + + + +Copyright, 1910 + +BY + +LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. + + +First Edition, May, 1910 +Reprinted, November, 1910 +May, 1911 + + +THE SCIENTIFIC PRESS +ROBERT DRUMMOND AND COMPANY +BROOKLYN, N.Y. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +I + +No one whose intellectual parts are in working order believes that the +industrial world will go back to an unorganized individualistic +production and distribution of wealth. No one whose moral sense is +awake desires to see the chief means of production owned and +controlled by a small number of monstrously wealthy men, however great +their ability or good their intentions. Nevertheless, most persons of +moral sense and normal mentality are disturbed when one suggests in so +many words that if industry cannot henceforth be individualistic and +should not be owned and controlled by the Big Few, it will, +apparently, have to be owned and controlled by the Many. This +paradoxical psychology possibly indicates that we queer human beings +do our real thinking and perform our occasional feats of moral +self-examination in lucid intervals, alternating with states of +mind--and conscience--which were better not described in non-technical +language. + +Edmond Kelly was a man whose lucidity was not interrupted. It was a +necessity of his nature to think clearly and coherently. Not less +necessary was it for him to think comprehensively, for his sympathy +was boundless. Every phase of life interested him. He found nothing +but meanness contemptible; and nothing but injustice moved him to +hate. To such a mind the partial view is intolerable. A fact must be +seen from every side and its relations to other facts must be traced +out. From his earliest manhood Mr. Kelly looked upon the struggle for +existence as both evolution and effort. Accepting the Darwinian +explanation of life, he yet could not admit that man is powerless to +control his fate. Physical evolution shades into physiological, and +physiological evolution into psychological. Effort, foresight, and +directed effort are products of evolution, but having been produced, +they become forces in further evolution. In the higher evolution of +man, they have become principal forces. From the moment that Mr. Kelly +grasped this thought his mind was busy with it through all the years +of his exceedingly active life, mastering its implications, examining +it in its social or collective, no less than in its individual aspect, +and forecasting the chief lines of constructive effort by an +enlightened mankind industrially and politically organized for the +most effective cooperation. + +Yet it was not until a few years before his death that Mr. Kelly +became a declared Socialist. The slow advance to his ultimate +conclusions was characteristic. Though his mind moved swiftly, his +intellectual integrity compelled him to examine every position as he +went on. Because of these qualities his books form a series, +consecutive in premisses and argument; a logical sequence +corresponding to their chronological order. Thus, in his early work, +"Evolution and Effort," Mr. Kelly was content to do thoroughly one +particular thing, namely, to demonstrate that the Spencerian +philosophy of evolution could be accepted without committing mankind +to the practical programme of _laissez faire_, upon which Mr. Spencer +himself so strongly insisted. This work Mr. Kelly did so well that +there is no need for anyone to do it over, and it provided a firm +foundation for his further constructive efforts. _The Popular Science +Monthly_, which was then, under the editorship of Professor Edward L. +Youmans, unreservedly committed to Spencerian views, acknowledged that +it was the most telling attack upon what Professor Huxley had called +"administrative nihilism" that had been made in any quarter. The main +ideas of "Evolution and Effort" were elaborated and clinched in the +two large volumes on "Government or Human Evolution," and were +concretely applied to pressing practical questions in the unsigned +book, "A Programme for Workingmen." + +Each of the two volumes on "Government" was devoted, as "Evolution and +Effort" had been, to establishing firmly a specific proposition. When +Mr. Kelly began writing the first volume, which bore the sub-title +"Justice," he was a lecturer in the Faculty of Political Science at +Columbia University and was intensely interested in the movement for +the reform of municipal politics in New York city. Believing that +adequate organization was the chief need, he had founded the City Club +and the subsidiary Good Government Clubs. In the discussions which +this movement called forth, he says: "One fact stood out with +startling conspicuousness. Not one out of a thousand was able to +formulate a clear idea as to the principles upon which he stood; upon +one measure he was an Individualist; upon another, a Collectivist; one +day he was for strong governmental action; the next for liberty of +contract; and of those who presented the claims of expediency and +justice respectively, no one was able to say what justice was." + +It seemed, therefore, to Mr. Kelly that on the theoretical side we +needed first, and above all else, a clear conception of justice as an +end to be attained. For conclusions already arrived at in "Evolution +and Effort" made it impossible for him to believe that justice is +satisfied by merely "rewarding every man according to his +performance." Seeing in evolution possibilities beyond present +attainment, he believed that a way should be found to enable every man +to achieve his potential performance. Thus his notion of justice, +derived from the principle of evolution, became substantially +identical with that which had been set forth two thousand years ago by +Plato in _The Republic_. To quote Mr. Kelly's own words: "Justice may, +then, be described as the effort to eliminate from our social +conditions the effects of the inequalities of Nature upon the +happiness and advancement of man, and particularly to create an +artificial environment which shall serve the individual as well as the +race, and tend to perpetuate noble types rather than those which are +base." + +It was inevitable that with such a conception of justice in mind, a +thinker scientifically so remorseless as Mr. Kelly was, should find +individualistic prejudices shaken before he completed his task. +"Beginning with a strong bias against Socialism of every kind," he was +forced before he reached the end of his first volume to "a reluctant +recognition that by collective action only could the uncorrupted many +be rescued from the corrupt few, and could successful effort be made +to diminish the misery of poverty and crime." + +Having arrived at this conclusion, Mr. Kelly was able to make his +second volume on the respective claims of Individualism and +Collectivism an exposition which, for clearness of insight, acuteness +of philosophical observation, wealth of historical knowledge, and +sanity of judgment, has few equals in the modern literature of social +problems. He demonstrated the inevitable failure of individualism as +an adequate working programme for a complex civilization. He showed +that collectivism must be accepted, whether we like it or not, if we +desire justice; and, more than this, he showed, not speculatively, but +from concrete and experimental data, that a civilized mankind may be +expected to like a reasonable collectivism when it begins to +understand and to adopt it, far better than it has liked +individualism, and for the adequate reason that collectivism will +diminish misery and increase happiness. + +Not even upon the completion of this remarkable volume, however, was +Mr. Kelly quite ready to take the final step of identifying himself +with the Socialist party. So strong was that nature within him which, +without theological implications, we may call the spiritual or +religious, that he would have been glad if he could have seen the +possibility of attaining the ends which Socialism contemplates through +a movement essentially subjective, that is to say, through +developments of the intellectual and moral nature of man which would +impel all human beings, irrespective of class distinctions, to work +together spontaneously and unselfishly, for the creation of a +wholesome environment and essential justice in social relations. It +was this feeling that led him to write the anonymously published, +"Practical Programme for Workingmen," in which essentially socialistic +measures are advocated, but with strong emphasis upon the vital +importance of character and sympathy. + +When a strong-minded man of strict intellectual honesty has thus +advanced, step by step, from one position to another, at every stage +of his progress surveying the whole field of human struggle; +observing it dispassionately, as a scientific evolutionist; observing +it sympathetically, "as one who loves his fellowmen," comes at last to +the socialistic conclusion, and devotes the last weeks of his life to +the preparation of a new statement of socialistic doctrine, the fact +is more significant, as an indication of the way mankind is going, +than are all the cries of "lo here, lo there" that arise from the din +of party discussion. In Mr. Kelly's case the significance was deepened +by all the circumstances of taste and association. Intensely +democratic in his relations to men, Mr. Kelly was in breeding, in +culture, in delicacy of feeling an aristocrat of the purest type. +Educated at Columbia and at Cambridge, his university acquaintance and +his political and professional activities in New York and in Paris had +kept him continually in touch with what the socialist calls "the +capitalist class." In joining the Socialist party he jeopardized +friendships and associations that meant more to him than anything else +save the approval of his own conscience. + +The book now given to the public, written when he knew that his days +were numbered, is, all in all, the most remarkable of his works. All +writers of experience know that it is far easier to write a first +statement of a newly discovered truth, than to restate the chief +principles of a system already partly formulated; a system more or +less vague where it is most vital, more or less unscientific and +impossible where it is most specific. No one knew better than Mr. +Kelly did that while the larger-minded leaders of the Socialist +movement would generously welcome any thought which he had to give, +there would be some of the rank and file who would feel that, in +differing from the accredited writers, he was revealing himself as a +convert not yet quite informed on all tenets of the creed--perhaps +not even quite sound in the faith. A less enthusiastic nature, or one +less resolutely determined to complete his life work as best he could, +would have shrunk from such an undertaking as this book was. That +under the circumstances he could put into it the vigor of thought and +of style, the incisive criticism, the wealth of fact and illustration; +above all, the freshness of view, the practical good sense and the +strong constructive treatment which we find in these pages, is indeed +remarkable. + +How clearly he saw what sort of a book was needed, is best indicated +in his own account of what he desired to do. It should be first of +all, he thought, comprehensive. Socialism has been presented from the +economic standpoint, from the scientific, from the ethical and from +the idealistic. As Mr. Kelly saw it, Socialism is not merely an +economic system, nor merely an idealistic vision. It is a consequence +and product of evolution. "Science has made it constructive," he says, +"and the trusts have made it practical." It is ethical because "the +competitive system must ultimately break upon the solidarity of +mankind," because the survival of the fit is not the whole result of +evolution. The result still to be attained is "the improvement of +all." And Socialism is idealistic because it not only contemplates, +but gives reasonable promise of "a community from which exploitation, +unemployment, poverty and prostitution shall be eliminated." + +But besides making an exposition of Socialism as a whole and in all +its parts, Mr. Kelly aimed to make a book "for non-socialists." With +this purpose in view he has kept closely to concrete statement and +above all has tried to avoid vagueness and loose generalization. He +has described possibilities in terms that all know and understand. +With the precision of the trained legal mind, he seizes the essential +point when he says: "It is not enough to be told that there are a +thousand ways through which Socialism can be attained. We want to see +clearly one way." With the last strength that he had to spend Mr. +Kelly showed one way; and no bewildered wayfarer through our baffling +civilization, however he may hesitate to set his feet upon it, will +venture to say that it is not clear. + + FRANKLIN H. GIDDINGS. + + NEW YORK, April 19, 1910. + + +II + +An immense revolution, a wonderful revolution, is opening in the mind +of the human race; a new driving force is taking hold of the souls of +men--the devotion to the welfare of the whole; a new sense, with all +the intensity of a new-born feeling, is emerging in the consciousness +of men--the sense that one cannot himself be healthy or happy unless +the race is happy and healthy. A hundred theories appearing here and +there, a thousand organizations springing up, a million acts of +individuals everywhere, attest each day the presence and the growing +power of this vast solidarizing movement. + +Among these manifestations throughout the world, the most pronounced +and the most clearly defined is that compact, fiercely vital +organization known as the international Socialist party. Yet the +Socialist party is not the movement, any more than the cresting billow +is the torrent. It is an imperatively necessary element; but the +movement itself is vastly broader and deeper than any manifestation of +it. + +An uncounted multitude in all lands are gradually becoming conscious +of this sweeping tendency and of their own part in it--a multitude as +yet not bearing any specific title. Out of these a considerable number +are fully conscious of the movement, and are willing partakers. These +we might call solidarists, in token of their conviction that the goal +ought to be and will be an economic solidarity. But of even these it +is only a part who are distinctively to be called Socialists, only +those who have perceived two certain mighty facts: first, that men's +mass-relations in the process of making a living are fundamental to +their other relations, to their opinions and motives, and to all +revolutions; and, second, that the chief agency in bringing about +changes in the great affairs of the human race has always been and +continues to be the pressure and clash between enduring masses of men +animated by opposite economic interests. The Socialist is one who sees +these social and historic facts and whose action is guided by such +sight; the non-Socialist solidarist is one who, though animated by the +socializing impulses, has not yet perceived these two most weighty +facts. + +Now Edmond Kelly, as was natural from his antecedents, was for nearly +the whole of his life a non-Socialist solidarist. But, about two years +before his death, being at the height of his powers of insight and +intellect, he attained the clear vision of the "class-struggle," and +no longer had any doubts where he himself belonged in the army of +humanity--he became and remained a comrade--a loyal comrade. + +There is a certain bit of doggerel, said to derive from Oxford, which +tells us that: + + "Every little boy or gal, + Who comes into this world alive, + Is born a little Radical, + Or else a small Conservative." + +And this all-pervading division penetrates even that most radical of +bodies, the Socialist party. That party has its own conservative and +radical wings--its right and its left--and Edmond Kelly is distinctly +of the right. + +One who is inclined by instinct to the one wing, and by logic to the +other, can realize the indispensableness of both--the special +contribution which each makes, and which the other cannot make, to the +common cause. The motive of this note is to appeal to the comrades of +the left not to shut their eyes to the value of this book, not to +forego its special usefulness. For the very attitude of its author, +which may be distasteful to them--his making appeals which they no +longer make, his using forms of speech which they reject, his making +so little use of that which is their main appeal, fit him especially +to influence the minds of that numerous fringe of educated persons who +must evidently be first made "rightists" before they can become +"centrists" or "leftists." It may even be imagined that the difficult +type of working man, he who thinks himself too noble-minded to respond +to class appeal, might begin to rouse himself if he could once be +brought under the charm of this book. + +Aware that he had not long to live, Mr. Kelly hastened to finish the +first draft of the book, and indeed he survived that completion only +two weeks. He knew that considerable editorial work was needed, and +this he entrusted to Mrs. Florence Kelley, author of "Some Ethical +Gains through Legislation" and translator of Marx' "Discourse on Free +Trade," and of Friedrich Engels' work on the "Condition of the +Working Class in England." She undertook and has fulfilled this trust, +and has been aided throughout by the untiring labors of Shaun Kelly, +the author's son. Thus this book of Mr. Kelly's is doubly a memorial +of love--of his for man, and of ours for him. + + RUFUS W. WEEKS. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + INTRODUCTORY NOTES: PAGE + By Professor Franklin H. Giddings v + By Rufus W. Weeks xii + INTRODUCTORY 1 + + +BOOK I + +_WHAT SOCIALISM IS NOT_ + +CHAPTER + + I. SUBJECTIVE OBSTACLES TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF SOCIALISM 18 + Vested Interests 18 + + II. ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 23 + 1. Bourgeois, Revolutionist, and Evolutionist 23 + (_a_) The Bourgeois Point of View 23 + (_b_) The Revolutionist Point of View 24 + (_c_) The Evolutionist Point of View 27 + + III. MISREPRESENTATION AND IGNORANCE 31 + 1. Socialism is not Anarchism 31 + 2. Socialism is not Communism 33 + 3. Socialism will not Suppress Competition 36 + 4. Socialism will not Destroy the Home 40 + 5. Socialism will not Abolish Property 42 + 6. Socialism will not Impair Liberty 46 + 7. Conclusion 51 + + +BOOK II + +_WHAT CAPITALISM IS_ + + EVILS OF CAPITALISM 53 + I. CAPITALISM IS STUPID 57 + 1. Overproduction 57 + 2. Unemployment 66 + 3. Prostitution 79 + 4. Strikes and Lockouts 86 + 5. Adulteration 88 + + II. CAPITALISM IS WASTEFUL 94 + 1. Getting the Market 95 + 2. Cross Freights 96 + + III. CAPITALISM IS DISORDERLY 101 + 1. Anarchy of Production and Distribution 102 + (_a_) Tyranny of the Market 102 + (_b_) Tyranny of the Trust 104 + (_c_) Tyranny of the Trade Union 106 + + IV. PROPERTY AND LIBERTY 112 + 1. Origin of Property 113 + + V. RESULTS OF PROPERTY 131 + 1. The Guilds 135 + 2. Trade Unions 140 + 3. The Unsolved and Insoluble Problems of Trade Unionism 159 + (_a_) The Conflict between the Trust and the Trade + Union 167 + (_b_) Advantage of Trusts over Unions 169 + (_c_) Advantage of Unions over Trusts 171 + + VI. MONEY 176 + + VII. CAN THE EVILS OF CAPITALISM BE ELIMINATED BY COOPERATION 199 + +BOOK III + +_WHAT SOCIALISM IS_ + + I. ECONOMIC ASPECT OF SOCIALISM 204 + + II. ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION OF THE COOPERATIVE COMMONWEALTH 235 + 1. How Socialism May Come 239 + 2. Reform and Revolution 243 + 3. Possible Transitional Measures 248 + 4. Farm Colonies 263 + 5. Land 278 + 6. Summary of the Productive Side of Economic Construction 286 + 7. Distribution 288 + 8. Remuneration 303 + 9. Circulating Medium under Socialism 307 + 10. Summary 313 + + III. POLITICAL ASPECT 317 + 1. Education 325 + 2. Churches 328 + 3. Political Construction 329 + + IV. SCIENTIFIC ASPECT 335 + 1. Natural Environment 337 + (_a_) Struggle for Life or Competitive System 337 + (_b_) Cooperative System 342 + 2. Human Environment 349 + 3. Effect of Competitive System on Type 357 + 4. Brief Restatement 360 + 5. Can Human Nature be Changed by Law 364 + 6. Summary 374 + + V. ETHICAL ASPECT 378 + 1. Conflict between Science and Religion 378 + 2. Conflict between Economics and Religion 389 + 3. Socialism Reconciles Religion, Economics, and Science 395 + + VI. SOLIDARITY 402 + + APPENDIX 413 + + INDEX 433 + + + + +TWENTIETH CENTURY SOCIALISM + + + + +INTRODUCTORY + + +My reason for writing this book is that I do not know of any one book +that gives in small compass to the uninformed a comprehensive view of +Socialism. It would be fatal to suggest to one not quite certain +whether he wants to know about Socialism or not, that he should read +the great economic foundation work of Karl Marx.[1] The excellent book +of Emil Vandervelde,[2] which seems to me to contain one of the most +compendious accounts of economic Socialism, is written from the +Belgian and European point of view rather than from the American; it +does not attempt to give either the scientific[3] or the ethical +argument for Socialism, nor does it contain specific answers to the +objections which are most imminent in American minds to-day. The +recent book by Morris Hillquit,[4] deservedly recognized as one of the +leaders of the party in America, an authoritative, clear and admirable +statement of what the Socialist party stands for, seems to be +addressed to the Socialist rather than to the non-Socialist. +Innumerable books and pamphlets by Bernard Shaw, Sidney Webb, John +Spargo, William Morris and others throw light on this enormous +subject. But for years past when asked by the average American what +one book would give him a complete account of Socialism, I have been +at a loss what to recommend. The book that first opened my eyes to the +possibilities of Socialism was "Fabian Tracts"; but I doubt whether +this would appeal to many American readers. An economic mind must be +given the economic argument; a scientific mind the scientific +argument; an idealistic mind, the ideal; an ethical mind, the ethical; +but the average mind must be given all four; for it is in the +convincing concurrence of all four that the argument for Socialism is +unanswerable. + +Another reason for writing this book is the desire to put Socialism +firmly on the solid foundation of fact. It is the progress of science +and the economic development of the last few years that have made +Socialism constructive and practical. Science has made it constructive +and the trusts have made it practical. It no longer rests on the +imagination of poets nor on the discontent of the unemployed. On the +contrary, Science with its demonstration that man is no longer the +mere result of his environment, but can become its master, teaches us +that by constructing our environment with intelligence we can +determine the direction of our own development. The trusts, with +their demonstration of the waste and folly of competition, teach us +that what a few promoters have done for their own benefit the whole +community can do for the benefit of all. + +Again, history has revealed a fact upon which the competitive system +must ultimately break; it may break under the hammer of the new +builder or through the upheaval of a mob; but that it must eventually +break is as certain as that day follows night. This fact is the +solidarity of mankind. Whether it was wise of the Few to share the +government with the Many it is too late now to inquire. The thing has +been done--_alea jacta_. And that the Few should imagine that, after +having put a club in the hands of the Many with which they can, when +they choose, at any election smash to pieces the machinery--political +and industrial--that oppresses them; and having established a system +of education--nay, of compulsory education--through which the Many +_must_ learn during their childhood, how upon attaining majority, they +can use this club most effectually, the Many will refrain from using +it--is one of those delicious inconsequences of the governing class +which throws a ray of humor over an otherwise tragic scene. + +I do not believe it was in the power of the Few to perpetuate their +reign; I think there are evidences of a Power working through +Evolution to which even Herbert Spencer has paid the tribute of a +capital P, which ordained from the beginning that Man should progress +not as his forbears did, through the survival only of the fit, but as +Man has unconsciously for centuries been doing, through the +improvement of all. I think this is the Power that some worship under +the name of Jah and others under the name of God. But this view will +not be insisted upon, for it is not necessary to insist upon it. The +fact of human solidarity will, I think, be demonstrated,[5] and it +will, I hope, at the same time be shown that Socialism is no longer a +theory born of discontent, but a system developed by fact, and as +inevitably so developed as the tiger from the jungle of India, or +cattle from the civilization of man. + +Again, I do not think it is sufficient to demonstrate that Socialism +is sound in theory. We have also to show that it is attainable in +fact. + +The practical American will not be satisfied with being told that +there are a thousand different ways through which Socialism can be +attained. He does not want to be told how many ways there are to +Socialism, but wants to be shown one way along which his imagination +can safely travel. + +What the "bourgeois" wants to know is just how Socialism is going to +work. He cannot conceive of industry without capitalism, any more than +he can conceive of the world without the sun. Some concrete picture +must be presented to his mind that will enable him to understand that +while capital is not only good, but essential, the capitalist is not +only bad, but superfluous. Nothing less than a picture of industry +actually in operation without capitalism will suffice; and this, +therefore, I have attempted to draw. No pretence is made that the +picture is the only possible Socialist state, or that it will ever be +realized in the exact shape in which it is drawn. The only claim to be +made for it is that it furnishes a fair account of an industrial +community from which exploitation, unemployment, poverty and +prostitution are eliminated; that such an industrial community is more +practical because far more economical than our own; and that it is the +goal towards which, if we survive the dangers attending the present +conflict between capital and labor, industrial and ethical evolution +are inevitably driving us. + +Again, there is probably no feature connected with Socialism that it +is more important to demonstrate and define than its economy. It +occurred to me that we possessed in our official reports, and +particularly in the 13th Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor, figures +which would enable us to arrive at a considerable part of this economy +with some mathematical certainty. I pointed out my plan to Mr. J. +Lebovitz, of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., who has a +better talent for statistics than myself, and I cannot but +congratulate myself and my readers upon the results to which, thanks +to his help, we have jointly come. + +It must be admitted that the figures in our possession do not enable +us to estimate the whole economy of Socialism; but they do enable us +to give a tentative estimate of how many hours a workingman would have +to work to produce the things which the average workingman consumes if +no account be taken of profit, rent, interest, and the cost of +distribution. Of course, though profit, interest and rent would be +eliminated in a cooperative commonwealth, we should still be subject +to the cost of distribution and, therefore, the figures we arrive at +are incomplete in the sense that we have to take into account the fact +that they do not include this cost. But there would be economies +exercised in a cooperative commonwealth, such as the economy of +insurance, of advertising, of unnecessary sickness, of strikes and +lockouts, of the cost of pauperism, crime and in some measure that of +dependents, defectives and delinquents, etc., which would probably pay +the cost of distribution. I feel, therefore, that although our figures +are not absolute, they do furnish a starting-point more satisfactory +than has heretofore been obtained. + +The most impelling reason for writing this book is the persistently +false and misleading statements made regarding Socialism by the very +persons whose business it is to be informed on the subject. For years +now the men we elect to office as best fitted to govern us--Presidents +and Presidential candidates, Roosevelt, Taft and Bryan, have in spite +of repeated protests and explanations been guilty of this offence. Mr. +Roosevelt stands too high in the esteem of a large part of our voting +public, and I myself entertain too high an opinion of his ability, for +such charges as those he has made against Socialism to go unanswered. +And in answering them I shall take as my justification the platform of +the Socialist party,[6] which must be carefully read by all who want +to understand what Socialism really is in the United States of +America. It is of course impossible in a platform to give the whole +philosophy of Socialism, but the platform does state with sufficient +precision what Socialists stand for to make it impossible for anyone +who has read it to remain any longer under the false impression +created by ignorance or deliberate misrepresentation. + +I take Mr. Roosevelt's articles in the _Outlook_ as the special object +of my explanations, not only because they express very widespread +fallacies regarding Socialism, but because they emanate from one who +for popularity and reputation casts every other American in the shade; +and also because, for this reason, his utterances not only command the +attention of the foolish--this he easily gets--but should also, in +view of his position, arrest that of those who tend by his +exaggerations to be estranged from him. + +So I have felt it an urgent duty to explain not only what Socialism +is, as Hillquit, Vandervelde, Thompson,[7] and many others have so +ably done, but specifically to point out what it is not: That it is +not Anarchism, but order; not Communism, but justice; that it does not +propose to abolish competition, but to regulate it; nor to abolish +property, but to consecrate it; nor to abolish the home, but to make +the home possible; nor to curtail liberty, but to enlarge it. + +Now if this last is to be done, it is indispensable to have clear +notions as to what liberty is; no intelligent understanding of liberty +is possible unless there is an equally intelligent understanding of +property, which is more closely connected with liberty than is +generally recognized. The necessary relation between property and +liberty has escaped some of our ablest lawyers. Just after James C. +Carter had finished his argument in Paris on the Seal Fishery case and +was preparing a supplementary brief that he had been given permission +to file, he told me that he felt it necessary to study up the +fundamental question of what property was and had been advised to read +Proudhon! I did not know much about Socialism at that time, but did +know enough to explain to him that Proudhon was an anarchistic +communist; and asked him if he thought the court was disposed to +listen to this kind of argument. Mr. Carter was shocked in the +extreme, and lowering his voice, asked, a little shamefacedly, what +Anarchism and Communism were, and were they the same as Socialism. +This led to a discussion of property, of the views held regarding it +by Socialists, Communists and Anarchists respectively; and to the +strange conclusion that the brief which Mr. Carter was preparing in +order to maintain the liberty of the United States to protect seals +as the property of humanity at large was Socialism Simon pure! To his +dismay he found himself on the verge of preaching the very doctrine +which of all doctrines he most abhorred! + +I do not know any standard work on Socialism that enters carefully +into the nature of these things. I attempted it in "Government or +Human Evolution," to which I shall have occasion sometimes to refer. +But this book was addressed to students of Political Science and is +not short or compendious enough for the general public. + +In a word, I have written this book to supply what I believe to be a +crying need--for a compact, simple statement of what Socialism is not, +of what Socialism is, how Socialism may come about, and particularly +distinguishing modern Socialism from the crude ideas that prevailed +before Marx, Darwin and the development of trusts. + +The public imagines to-day that Socialism is Utopian. This is +singularly erroneous. Socialism is the only intelligent, practical +system for providing humanity with the necessaries and comforts of +life with the least waste, the least effort and the least injustice. + +The competitive system under which these things are now produced and +distributed has been condemned by the business men whose opinions the +business world most respects, because it involves infinite labor to a +vast majority of the race and useless cost to all, without, I venture +to add, assuring happiness to any. + +Socialism, on the other hand, presents a simple, obvious and +unanswerable solution of the manifold problems presented by the +competitive system. This solution ought to appeal to business men +because it undertakes to do for the benefit of the nation what our +greatest business men have been engaged for some years in doing for +the benefit of themselves. + +It is not likely that the American public, once it understands the +situation, will refuse to adopt the only practical method of ridding +itself of a wasteful system and a corrupt government just because the +few who profit by it for very obvious reasons do not want them to. All +the public needs is a clear understanding of what Socialism really is; +how it is certain to come eventually; and how it is best that it +should come. + +Many Socialists make the mistake of asking us to look too far ahead. +We are not all equally far-sighted. Some are very near-sighted. In +fact the habit of looking closely at our ledgers and at our looms +tends to make us near-sighted. Socialists too may be wrong in their +forecast centuries ahead. This book therefore makes a distinction +between those things that can be demonstrated and those which, on the +contrary, are still matter for mere speculation. + +It can be demonstrated that a _partial_ substitution of cooperation +for competition in definite doses will put an end to pauperism, +prostitution and in great part to crime. Whether a _wholesale_ +substitution of cooperation for competition will still further promote +human development and happiness is a matter of speculation--as to +which men can legitimately differ. + +The contention made in this book is that a substitution of cooperation +for competition in the dose herein prescribed _must_ put an end to the +three gigantic evils above mentioned, and incidentally confer upon us +a larger and truer measure of liberty and happiness than the world has +ever yet known. + +One word about the language of this book. As it is addressed to +persons not familiar with the Socialist vocabulary, I am going to +abstain to the utmost possible from using this vocabulary. I am not +going to use the words "surplus value" when the more familiar word +"profit" can be used with practically the same advantage. I am going +to avoid the expression "materialist interpretation of history" when +the words "economic interpretation of history" are equally correct and +less likely to mislead. And I am above all going to avoid, wherever I +can, the use of the words "individualism" and "individualists," +because these words have been already used by capitalists to beg the +whole question. Capitalists have quietly appropriated this word to +themselves and Socialists have been foolish enough to permit them to +do it. Capitalism does indeed promote a certain kind of individualism; +but we shall have to discuss later just what is the nature of the +individualism promoted by existing conditions and compare it with the +individualism that will be promoted by Socialism. I think it will +become clear that it is the peculiar province of Socialism to rescue +the vast majority of men from conditions which make the development of +the individual impossible, and to put opportunities of individual +development at the disposal of all; that, indeed, the highest type of +individualism can be realized only in a cooperative commonwealth that +will give to every man not only opportunity for developing his +individual talents, but leisure for doing so--the very leisure of +which the vast majority are deprived under the present system and of +which the few who have it profit little. + +It is not easy to find words to substitute for individualist and +individualism. The word that best describes the individualist is +"egotist." But the use of the word "egotist," for the very reason that +it is the truest word for describing the individualist, would arouse +such protest in the minds of those so designated as perhaps to +prevent this book from being read by the very persons to whom it is +chiefly addressed. + +The word "capitalist" cannot be used for this purpose either, because +by no means all who have capitalistic ideas are capitalists, and some +capitalists are free from capitalistic ideas. + +So instead of the words "individualist," "egotist" and "capitalist," I +am going to use the French word "bourgeois." It seems to convey what +it is intended to convey with least error and most consideration for +capitalistic susceptibilities. It is true that "bourgeois" is a French +word and should be avoided in consequence, but it has been now so +acclimated to our language that many editors print it without +quotation marks. The word "bourgeois" roughly includes all those who +have property or employ labor, or who can be psychologically classed +with these. It includes the small shop-keeper who keeps a clerk, or +perhaps only a servant, and the millionaire who keeps thousands of men +at work in his factories, mines, railroads or other industries. It +includes the large farmer who employs help, but not the small farmer +who employs no help; it includes the lawyer, the broker and the agent +who depend upon the capitalist but are lifted above the hunger line. + +Instead of the word "individualism," I shall use another French +expression which has also become acclimated--that is to say, _laissez +faire_; for _laissez faire_ are words adopted by the bourgeois to +describe the system for which he generally stands. This expression is +peculiarly appropriate to-day, when we hear our business men clamoring +to be "let alone." Indeed were it not for the awkwardness of the +expression "let-alone-ism," this literal translation of _laissez +faire_ would just suit my purpose. + +It is true that the _laissez faire_ of to-day differs from that of the +last century. For there is at present a very wide belief in the +possibility of controlling corporations, and whereas the _laissez +faire_ of the last century went so far as to deny the necessity of +government control, that of to-day very largely admits it. By laissez +faire, therefore, I mean the controlled _laissez faire_ that now +prevails as well as the uncontrolled _laissez faire_ of a century ago, +the essential difference between _laissez faire_ and Socialism being +that the former implies leaving the production and distribution of +everything to private capital whether controlled or uncontrolled by +government; whereas Socialism implies putting production and +distribution of at least the necessaries of life into the hands of +those who actually produce and distribute them without any +intervention or control of private capital whatever. + +I have been careful to take my facts and figures not from Socialist +publications, but from government publications or economists of +admitted authority. I have, too, in every case where it seems +necessary quoted my authority so that there may be no doubt as to the +source from which my facts are drawn. + +In conclusion it must be stated that there are four very different +standpoints from which Socialists start--the economic, the political, +the scientific and the ethical. + +Ethical writers began by disregarding the economic side of Socialism +altogether, and some economic Socialists are therefore disposed to +despise ethical and so-called Christian Socialism; whereas the ethical +view is not only useful, but essential to a complete understanding of +the subject. + +The scientific view of Socialism has been comparatively little +treated, but it is not for that reason the least important. On the +contrary, Herbert Spencer and his school have built a formidable +opposition to Socialism based upon pseudo-scientific grounds. It +becomes, therefore, important to point out the extent to which Herbert +Spencer was wrong and Huxley right in the application of science to +this question. + +My own conviction is that the highest Socialism is that which +reconciles all four views--the economic, the political, the scientific +and the ethical. But as this is a work of exposition rather than of +controversy, I have abstained from insisting upon this view and have, +on the contrary, endeavored to give a fair account of all four +arguments, in the hope that those who are inclined to the economic +view may adopt it for economic reasons; those inclined to the +political view may adopt it for political reasons; those who are +attracted by the scientific view may adopt it for scientific reasons; +and those who are attracted by the ethical view may adopt it for +ethical reasons, leaving it to time to determine whether the strongest +argument for Socialism is not to be found in the fact that it is +recommended by all four. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] "Capital," by Karl Marx. + +[2] "Collectivism and Industrial Revolution," Emil Vandervelde. + +[3] Engels and others have described Marxian or Economic Socialism as +scientific, on the ground that Marx was the first to reduce Socialism +to a science. But the word science has become so inseparably connected +in our minds with chemistry, physics, biology, zoology, and geology, +etc., that it seems wiser to define Marxian Socialism as economic and +to keep the word scientific for that view of Socialism which is built +on the sciences proper and principally on biology. + +[4] "Socialism in Theory and Practice." Macmillan, 1909. + +[5] Book III, Chapter VI. + +[6] See Appendix. + +[7] "The Constructive Program of Socialism," Carl D. Thompson. + + + + +BOOK I + + + + +_WHAT SOCIALISM IS NOT_ + + +Socialism is not a subject which can be put into a nutshell. On the +contrary it resembles rather a lofty mountain which has to be viewed +from every point of the compass in order to be understood. Mont Blanc, +approached from the North or Swiss side, presents the aspect of a +round white dome of snow; approached from the South or Italian side it +presents that of a sharp black peak of rock. Yet these totally +different aspects belong to the same mountain. It takes a mountaineer +about three days to go round Mont Blanc on foot; it takes an ordinary +pedestrian who has to stick to roads about a week. It is probable, +therefore, that the reader new to the subject will take at least a +week to understand Socialism, which is quite as big a subject as Mont +Blanc and considerably more important. He is likely, however, to take +much more than a week if, as happens in most cases, he starts in a +forest of prejudices any one of which is sufficient to obstruct his +view. In the confusion in which the ordinary citizen finds himself, +owing to this forest of prejudices which constitutes the greatest +obstacle to the understanding of Socialism, he may very possibly +wander all his life, and the first duty, therefore, of a book on +Socialism is to take him out of the forest which he cannot himself see +"because of the trees." + +The great enemy to a sound understanding of Socialism used to be +ignorance; to-day, however, there is less ignorance, but a great deal +more confusion; and the confusion arises from two sources: confusion +deliberately created by false denunciations of Socialism, and +confusion unconsciously created by personal interests and prejudice. + +The confusion arising from these two sources may be described as +subjective obstacles to Socialism because they exist within ourselves. +They are to be distinguished from objective obstacles to Socialism +which exist outside of ourselves. For example, if a majority of us +were in favor of adopting Socialism, we should still find many +objective obstacles to it; for example, if we proposed to expropriate +the trusts, we should undoubtedly be enjoined by the courts; we should +find ourselves confronted with federal and State constitutions; we +perhaps would have to amend these constitutions. These difficulties +are outside of us. But before we reach these obstacles, we have to +overcome others that exist within us and are to-day by far the most +formidable. These subjective obstacles reside in our minds and are +created there by vested interests, property, ignorance and +misrepresentation. We are all of us under a spell woven about us by +the economic conditions under which we live. + +For example, the workingman who has saved a few hundred dollars and +goes out West to take up land, thinks that by so doing he will escape +from wage slavery. He does not know that he is not escaping slavery at +all, but only changing masters. Instead of being the slave of an +employer, he becomes the slave of his own farm. And the farm will +prove an even harder taskmaster than a Pittsburg steel mill, for it +will exact of him longer hours during more days of the year and seldom +give him as high a wage. Nevertheless, the fact that he owns the +farm--that the farm is his property--awakens in him the property +instinct that tends to rank him on election day by the side of the +bourgeois. + +So also the store-keeper who, because he owns his stock, buys goods at +a low price and sells them at a high, and makes profit, considers +himself superior to the wage-earner, unmindful of the fact that his +store adds to long hours and low wage the anxieties of the market and +that, thanks to trusts and department stores, he is kept perpetually +on the ragged edge of ruin. + +The clerk, too, whose only ambition is to rise one grade higher than +the one which he occupies, is prevented by the narrowness of his +economic field from appreciating the extent to which he is exploited. +Instead of being bound by class consciousness with his fellow clerks, +he is, on the contrary, in perpetual rivalry with them, and is likely +to be found on election day voting with the owner who exploits them +all. + +And even the wage-earner, the factory hand, who is the most obviously +exploited of all, is in America still so absorbed by his trade union, +by his fight with his employer, that he has not yet learned to +recognize how much stronger he is in this fight on the political than +on the economic field. So he too, instead of recognizing the salvation +offered to him by Socialism as his fellow workingmen in Germany do, +allows himself regularly to be betrayed into voting for one of the +capitalist parties which his employer alternately controls. + +And the darkness in which these men are regarding matters of vital +interest to them is still further darkened by their own ignorance, by +the ignorance of those around them and, I am afraid I must add, by +deliberate misrepresentation. + +Let us begin by extricating ourselves from the forest of prejudice +that makes all clearness of vision impossible and, when we can see +with our eyes, we shall take a rapid walk around this mountain of +Socialism, as all climbers do, if only to choose the best points from +which to climb it. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +SUBJECTIVE OBSTACLES TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF SOCIALISM + + +VESTED INTERESTS + +There is in the archives of the House of Commons a petition filed by +the gardeners of Hammersmith in opposition to a proposed improvement +of the country roads, which would enable gardeners further removed +from London to compete with Hammersmith gardeners on the London +market. They regarded themselves as having a vested right in bad roads +and actually took these so-called rights sufficiently seriously to +petition Parliament not to improve roads which were going to bring +them into competition with gardeners already at a disadvantage by +being further removed from the market than themselves. + +This is an illustration of the extent to which the human mind can be +perverted by personal interest. But there is another illustration of +so-called vested interests much more revolting in its nature and yet +perhaps more justified in fact. When the cholera broke out in Paris, +in 1830, and it was believed to have been brought into the country +through rags, a bill was presented before the French Parliament for +the destruction of all deposits of rags in the city. This was +violently opposed by the rag pickers, who pointed out that these rags +constituted their only source of existence, and they found many +members of the French Parliament to support their view. We, who can +dispassionately consider the situation of these rag pickers, have to +admit that, if they could earn their living in no other way than rag +picking, it would be a mistake for Parliament to deprive them of their +source of living without giving them some other employment. But it +would be worse still were Parliament to allow Paris to be decimated by +cholera because the rag pickers claimed a vested right in pestiferous +rags. + +A similar situation presents itself in the city of New York to-day. +The tenement-house commission has imposed upon tenement-house owners +certain obligations which involve an expenditure of considerable sums +of money, and many of our best citizens are indignant because the +tenement-house law is not always rigidly enforced. Yet all who have +followed the recent rent strike on the East Side, know that the +tenement houses there are in large part owned by men as poor as those +who live in them. The immense congestion in this district brought +about such competition for lodgings that speculators were enabled to +buy tenement houses at their utmost value and to sell them at a still +higher price by persuading the thriftiest of the inhabitants of the +district that, if they purchased these tenement houses and acted as +their own janitors and agents, they could earn more money than was +then being earned. Victims were found who have put all their savings +into these tenement houses, leaving the larger part of the purchase on +mortgage. These new landlords raise the rent in order to make the +houses pay for themselves. These pauper tenement-house owners are in +the same position to-day as the Paris rag pickers of 1830. + +The question of what, if any, compensation should be paid when the +state interferes with vested rights cannot be decided by any general +rule. The demand for compensation by the Hammersmith gardeners was +absurd; but that of the rag pickers was justified; that of poor +tenement-house owners on the East Side seems also to be justified; but +if the state in taking over these unwholesome tenements were to find +one in the hands of a speculator, would compensation be to the same +degree justified? + +So these questions seem to become questions of detail; they cannot be +disposed of by a general rule: "there shall be compensation" or "there +shall not be compensation." Above all things, these so-called general +rules must not be erected into dogmas or "principles" under the +standard of which Socialists are to group themselves and fight one +another. + +It is interesting to consider in connection with this subject the +geographical character of the objections to Socialism as illustrated +by the attitude taken by England and America respectively on the +subject of municipal ownership. + +In England, municipal ownership of gas is the rule rather than the +exception. Indeed Manchester has owned its own gas plant from 1843, +and has furnished the public with gas at 60 cents per thousand cubic +feet, and even at that price[8] made a net profit in 1907-8 of +L57,609, which has been applied to the diminution of rates and +extension of the service. Birmingham, which had to pay an extravagant +price for its gas plant, nevertheless immediately reduced the price of +gas and brought it down from $1.10 under private ownership to 50 cents +to-day. In England, therefore, it is perfectly respectable to approve +of municipal ownership of gas. But inasmuch as water has been until +very lately furnished to London in great part by a private company +chartered by James I. the stock of which has increased in value a +thousand per cent and which counts among its stockholders royalty +itself, anybody until very lately who proposed municipal ownership of +water in London, was regarded as a dangerous anarchist. + +The New York situation is just the reverse. For New York, after having +tried private ownership of water and abandoned it as early as 1850 on +account of the corruption that resulted therefrom, undertook public +ownership of water with such success that no disinterested citizen +to-day wants to go back to the old plan. So a New Yorker can advocate +municipal ownership of water and still be regarded as a perfectly +respectable citizen; but should he venture to favor municipal +ownership of gas he is at once classed with those whose heads are only +fit to be beaten with a club. + +How long are we going to allow our opinions to be manufactured for us +by water companies in London and gas companies in New York? Obviously +we cannot take an impartial and intelligent view of this great +question until we have divested ourselves of the prejudices created by +vested interests. If the propertied class, which is committed to +existing conditions by the fact that it profits by them, is willing to +yield no inch to the rising tide of popular dissatisfaction and the +awakening of popular conscience, it is probable that the revolutionary +wing of the Socialist party will prevail, if only because under these +circumstances the evolutionary wing will not be allowed to prevail. +If, on the other hand, the propertied class become alive not only to +the danger of undue resistance, but also to the reasonableness and +justice of the Socialist ideal, there is no reason why vested +interests, save such as owe their existence to downright robbery and +crime, should materially suffer in the process of Socialist evolution. +If this be true the words "menace of Socialism" will turn out to be +inappropriate and unfounded. Sound Socialism has no menace for any but +evil-doers. + +Having now climbed out of the forest of prejudices created by private +or so-called vested interests, let us next consider the different +points of view created by temperament and economic conditions, from +which the subject of Socialism tends to be regarded. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[8] "Municipal Year Book," 1909, p. 482. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +ECONOMIC CONDITIONS + + +BOURGEOIS, REVOLUTIONIST, AND EVOLUTIONIST + +Every man who is earning a living is profoundly affected by all that +affects his living. If Socialism seems to threaten this living, he +instinctively and often unconsciously repudiates it. From one point of +view, Socialism presents a more formidable aspect than from another. +It takes a very skilled climber to scale Mont Blanc from the Italian +side, whereas from the Swiss side it is simply a matter of endurance. +The same thing is true of Socialism. + +Now there are three distinct and opposing points of view: The +bourgeois point of view, the revolutionist point of view, and the +evolutionist point of view. + + +(_a_) _The Bourgeois Point of View_ + +The bourgeois point of view is that which students of political +science have been in the habit of describing as individualism. But +there are objections to this use of the word individualism, as will +appear later on. + +The bourgeois view is that the production and distribution of the +things we need can best be conducted by allowing every man to choose +and do his own work under the stimulus of need when poor and of +acquisitiveness when rich. This system is well described in the +maxim: "Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost." The +first part of this maxim has in it considerable merit, for it +encourages the self-reliance that has made the prosperity of America. +But the latter part merely expresses a pious wish that is seldom +gratified. The devil does not take the hindmost. The devil leaves them +here to stalk through our highways and streets, a permanent army of +about 500,000 tramps, swelled at all times by thousands and in such +times as these by millions of unemployed.[9] + +The bourgeois view is that of the man who owns or expects to own +property; the bourgeois class represents a small proportion of the +whole population, and is sometimes described as the propertied class. + +But as the propertied class is in control of our schools, colleges and +press, it has hitherto made the opinions of the vast majority. Thus +the bourgeois view is not only that of the propertied class, but also +that of most of those who have no property. It is the view of the man +in the street. + +Lately, however, Socialism has been making inroads into the opinions +of both classes, and this has divided Socialists into two groups +which, though generally found fighting under the same banner, +nevertheless take different views of the subject, which tends to +confuse the uninitiated. These two views are conveniently described as +revolutionist and evolutionist. Let us study the revolutionist point +of view first: + + +(_b_) _The Revolutionist Point of View_ + +Marx rendered a great service by pointing out the extent to which the +non-propertied class is exploited by the propertied class--the +proletariat by the bourgeois--the factory hand by the factory owner. +Marx, however, did not himself confine Socialism to the struggle +between the factory hand and the factory owner. But there has arisen +out of the Marxian philosophy a school which has emphasized the +observation of Marx that the factory hands increased in number while +the factory owners decreased in number, and that this tends to produce +a conflict between the two--a revolution from which the factory hand +must emerge released from the incubus of the factory owner. Two ideas +dominate this school: the class struggle--a struggle practically +confined to the factory worker on the one hand and the factory owner +on the other; and the revolution--the eventual clash between the two. +The triumph of the factory hand is, according to this school, to +result in the complete overturn of the whole social, industrial and +economic fabric of society, the community[10] succeeding to the +individual in the ownership of all land and all sources of +production--all profit now appropriated by the factory owner accruing +to the community and inuring to all the citizens of the state. + +This revolutionist school regards Socialism from the point of view of +a class that has no property--the proletariat--just as the bourgeois +looks at Socialism from the point of view of those who have property. +Both points of view tend to be partial; the bourgeois tends to see +only what is good for himself in existing conditions and all that is +bad for him in Socialism; the revolutionist tends to see all that is +bad for him in existing conditions and only what is good for him in +the proposed new Socialism. This fact tends to make revolutionists +dominate the Socialist party (which is mainly recruited from the +proletariat) and is, therefore, entitled to the most serious +consideration. Private interest is the dominating motive of political +action to-day. It is the avowed motive of the bourgeois. He has, +therefore, no excuse for denouncing this same motive in the +proletariat, all the less as the bourgeois has to admit that his +industrial system produces pauperism, prostitution, and crime; whereas +the proletariat points out that Socialism will put an end to pauperism +and prostitution and in great part also to crime. + +Because revolutionists believe that this change cannot be effected +without a revolution--without a transfer of political power from the +bourgeois to the proletariat--they speak of their movement as +revolutionary, and often say that Socialism must come by revolution +and not by reform. + +But these words must not be allowed to mislead. Although the Socialist +platform says that "adequate relief" cannot be expected from "any +reform of the present order," it nevertheless embraces a series of +reforms entitled "Immediate Demands." This is proof positive that the +Socialist party is not opposed to legislative measures that in the +bourgeois vocabulary are known as reforms, since it advocates them. + +Socialists make a distinction between legislation that tends to +transfer political power from the exploiters to the exploited and +those that do not; the former are termed revolutionary and the latter +are termed mere reforms. The former are what they stand for. But they +do not for that reason remain indifferent to legislation that improves +human conditions. On the contrary, the immediate demands of the +Socialist platform include: + +The scientific reforestation of timber lands and the reclamation of +swamp lands; the land so reclaimed to be permanently retained as a +part of the public domain: + +The enactment of further measures for general education and for the +conservation of health. The Bureau of Education to be made a +department. The creation of a department of public health. The free +administration of justice. + +Obviously, therefore, even revolutionary Socialists advocate certain +reforms; but they will be content with nothing less than the transfer +of political power from those who now use it ill to those who will use +it better. + +Last, but not least, revolution does not in the Socialist vocabulary +involve the idea of violence. It is used in the same sense as we use +the expression "revolution of the planets," "revolution of the +seasons," "revolution of the sun." Undoubtedly there are Socialists +willing to use violence in order to attain their ends just as there +are Fricks willing to use Pinkerton men, and mine owners willing to +use the militia to attain theirs. But the idea of violence has been +expressly repudiated by the leaders of the Socialist party. And the +word "revolution" must not be understood to include it. This question +is studied in fuller detail in Book III, Chapter II. + + +(_c_) _The Evolutionist Point of View_ + +The evolutionist point of view claims to be wider than either of the +foregoing. The evolutionist is not content to study Socialism from the +point of view of any one class. He undertakes to climb out of the +forest of prejudices created by class to a point where he can study +Socialism free from every obstruction. He studies Socialism from the +point of view of the whole Democracy, including the employer, the +employee, and those who neither employ nor are employed; as, for +example, the farmer who farms his own land without the assistance of +any farm hands outside of his own family. From this point of view, he +can denounce the evils of the existing system of production and +distribution--if system it can be called[11]--without the bitterness +that distorts the view of the victims of this system, and can +therefore see perhaps more clearly the methods by which the evils of +the existing system can be eliminated. + +The evolutionist points to history to prove that forcible revolution is +generally attended by great waste of property and life, and is followed +by a reaction that injuriously retards progress. He therefore seeks to +change existing conditions without revolution, by successive reforms. +This class of Socialist is denounced by revolutionists under a variety +of names. He is called a parlor Socialist, an intellectual Socialist, +but perhaps the name that carries with it the most contempt is that of +step-by-step Socialist. He answers, however, that when he finds his +progress arrested by a perpendicular precipice such as we are familiar +with at the top of the Palisades, he refrains from throwing himself--or +advising his neighbors to throw themselves--headlong into the abyss, +but takes the trouble to find a possibly circuitous way round. He will +not consent to sit at the top of the precipice until he grows wings, as +the Roman peasant sat by the Tiber "until it ran dry." The step-by-step +Socialist is content to adopt a winding path which sometimes turns his +back to the place which he wishes to reach, because he holds in his +hand a compass whose unerring needle will bring him eventually to the +desired goal. + +Again, the evolutionist claims to be supported by ethical and +scientific considerations which the revolutionary Socialist regards as +of secondary importance. But for the present it is convenient to +postpone the study of the ethical and the scientific aspects of +Socialism and to content ourselves with stating two principal claims +made by the evolutionist, viz.: + +First: that his view is likely to be clearer than that of either the +bourgeois or the revolutionist, because it is not obstructed by class +interest; + +Second: that his policy is likely to be wise, because it is neither +stationary as that of the bourgeois nor headlong as that of the +revolutionist. + +In conclusion, the revolutionist keeps his eye fixed on the +horizon--perhaps it may even be said that he fixes his eye beyond the +horizon, if that be possible; he looks forward to a state of society +which, because it seems unrealizable to-day most of us are inclined to +regard as visionary; and in presenting to us a commonwealth in which +every personal interest will be vested in the community, he attacks at +once the personal interests of every man who owns property in the +country. Obviously, if all agriculture is to be owned by the +community, every farmer will lose his farm. If all the factories are +to be owned by the community, every factory owner will lose his +factory. If all distribution is to be managed by the community, every +storekeeper will lose his store. The revolutionary Socialist therefore +raises against himself every property owner in the land; and all the +more because there is division in the ranks of revolutionists as +regards compensation, to which I have already referred. (See Vested +Interests, p. 18.) + +The evolutionist on the contrary confines his attention for the +present to existing conditions. He adopts, it is true, as an ultimate +goal the cooperative commonwealth advocated by the revolutionists. It +is indeed the point to which his compass is always directing him. It +constitutes the ideal to which he believes the race will eventually +adapt itself. But in addition to historical fact regarding the cost of +revolution in the past, and in view of certain other scientific facts +which will be dwelt upon later, he recognizes that personal or vested +interests are likely to interfere more than anything else with the +adoption of Socialism as an ultimate goal, and that these interests +therefore no statesman can afford to disregard. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[9] December, 1908. + +[10] I am careful to use the word "community" and not the word +"state," for state ownership is not Socialism. The Prussian State +stands for state ownership, and even Mr. Roosevelt would not +characterize the Prussian Government as Socialistic. + +[11] Book II, Chapter III. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +MISREPRESENTATION AND IGNORANCE + + +Michaelangelo has said that sculpture is the art of chipping off +superfluous stone. The sculptor sees a statue in every block. This is +what Whistler used to call the "divine art of seeing." The sculptor's +task is to remove those parts of the block that hide the statue from +the layman's eye. So the Socialist sees the cooperative commonwealth +imprisoned within the huge, rough, cruel mass that we call modern +civilization, and his task is to remove from the beautiful form he +sees the errors which mask it from the view of the unenlightened. If +we can but remove these errors our task is in great part accomplished; +and the first of these errors is that which confounds Socialism with +Anarchism. + + +Sec. 1. SOCIALISM IS NOT ANARCHISM + +Nothing is more unjustified than the confusion which exists in +people's minds between Anarchism and Socialism. This confusion is not +altogether unnatural, for Socialism and Anarchism have one great +feature in common--both express discontent with existing conditions. +The remedies, however, propounded by the Anarchists for evil +conditions and those propounded by Socialists are contradictorily +opposite. They are so opposite that the bourgeois turns out to be +more nearly associated with the Anarchist than the Socialist is. + +The theory upon which our present economic and political conditions +are founded is that the less government interferes with the +individual's action, the better. This theory may be said to have taken +its start at the period of the French Revolution, and is generally +connected in the minds of English-speaking people with Adam Smith, the +Manchester School of _laissez faire_, the earlier works of John Stuart +Mill, and all the works of Herbert Spencer. When, however, the +pernicious consequences of allowing every individual to do as he chose +with his own became felt, as for example in the poisoning of rivers by +allowing every factory to pour its waste into them; and in +degeneration of the race through unlimited exploitation of women and +children in factories and mines, governments all over the world have +been obliged as measures of self-defence to enact laws limiting +individual action. The individualism of the beginning of last century +has been gradually leading to the Socialism of to-day, Socialism +being, among other things, an intelligent limitation of the abuse of +property in accordance with a preconceived plan, instead of spasmodic +limitation of the abuse of property forced upon us by the pernicious +consequences thereof, often creating new abuses as bad as those +suppressed.[12] While therefore the Socialist asks that the functions +of government be extended sufficiently to secure to every man the +greatest amount of liberty, and the bourgeois on the contrary demands +that there shall be the least amount of government consistent with +the protection of property and life, the Anarchist asks that there +shall be no government at all. The bourgeois, therefore, is closer to +the Anarchist than the Socialist is--in fact he stands between the +two. + +Socialists and Anarchists then are polar opposites. There is a whole +world between them. Indeed it is impossible to conceive two theories +of government more opposite one to another than that of Socialism, +which demands more government, and that of Anarchism, which demands +the destruction of government altogether. + + +Sec. 2. SOCIALISM IS NOT COMMUNISM + +Those who derive their information regarding Socialism solely from +books are apt to be puzzled by the word "Communism," because it has at +different times stood for different things. The early Christians were +Communists; so were Plato and Sir Thomas More; so also was Proudhon, +whom Mr. Roosevelt places in the same category with Karl Marx. He does +not seem to be aware that Proudhon and Marx were the protagonists of +conflicting schools and that Marx drove Proudhon--who was a +communistic Anarchist--and his followers out of the Socialist party of +that day. For from Marx' economic doctrine of value was derived a +totally new idea in the movement; this idea is couched in a formula +which has become so familiar to Socialists that it seems incredible +that anyone undertaking to write about Socialism should ignore it; +namely, that the _laboring class is entitled to the full product of +its labor_; that is to say, that it shall securely have exactly what +it earns; no more, no less; that it shall be deprived of it neither by +the capitalist as to-day nor by the thriftless or vicious as under +the Communism of Apostolic times. + +Mr. Roosevelt accuses Socialists of "loose thinking." Is there not a +little loose thinking about this confusion of Socialism and Communism? +Or is it that Mr. Roosevelt is just a century behindhand? Or is it +that he has never read the works of Proudhon and Karl Marx, whom he +groups together as propounding the same kind of Socialism? As a matter +of fact, Proudhon has been so discredited by Marx that few Socialists +think it worth while to read his works; whereas "Capital" is to-day +the Bible of the Socialist movement. + +One word, however, must be added about Communism before dismissing the +subject: There are two kinds of Communists, just as there are two +kinds of Anarchists; those who adopt Communism and Anarchism out of +discontent with the present system; and those who adopt them because +they stand for perfection. With the first category we need not concern +ourselves. Their day is over. With the second there is an important +point to be noted: Such writers as Kropotkin see further than the +average citizen. They look forward to a day when the spirit of mutual +helpfulness which ought to attend the substitution of cooperation for +competition will have entirely changed human nature; when men will +have acquired _habits_ of industry, of justice, and of self-restraint +that seem now incredible to us; they will then as naturally work as +they now naturally shirk; they will as naturally help one another as +they now naturally fight; they will as naturally share with one +another as they now despoil one another. This may seem wildly +impossible to us now; but if we look back to the day when our forbears +lived in hordes, when children bore their mother's name because they +did not know their father's, when no woman could move from her hut +alone without being subject to assault, when self-indulgence prevailed +except in so far as it was checked by fear, we can appreciate the +scorn with which one of them would have listened to a prophet who +should announce that men and women would ultimately mate once for all +and be faithful to one another; children know their fathers and bear +their father's name; women travel from one end of the country to +another with perfect security, and self-restraint cease to be an +imposition and become a habit. If then man has become so profoundly +modified by the progress from the promiscuousness of the horde to the +self-restraint of the family, why should he not be capable of one step +further--from the habits that result from competition to the habits +that would result from cooperation--from mutual hatred to mutual +helpfulness? This is the hope and faith of such writers as Kropotkin. +But it is not yet within the range of practical politics. So the +Socialist party rightly confines its program within practical limits. +There are too many idle and vicious among us to-day; too many products +of human exploitation; too many worn-out men, women, and children; too +much degeneration; too much hypocrisy; too much "looseness of +thought." We must cut our garment to our customer. All that the +Socialist asks to-day is to have what he earns. Morally he is entitled +to it. Can our system of production be so modified as to assure this +to him? This is the problem we have to solve. Socialists say that it +can be so modified, or that it can, at least, be so modified as to put +an end to pauperism, prostitution, and in great part to crime. This is +the practical Socialism of to-day as distinguished from the Communism +of centuries ago or that of centuries ahead. This is what the +Socialist party stands for, and it is by this standard and no other +that the Socialist party must be judged. + +Socialism then does not stand to-day for Communism. On the contrary, +it demands that the workers be assured, as exactly as is humanly +possible, the product of their labor, and not share it with the idle +and vicious on the one hand or be deprived of it by the capitalist on +the other. + +One reason why Communism has been discarded by the Socialist party is +that generations of competition have so molded human nature that it is +extremely probable that production would suffer were it suddenly +eliminated. A man who has accustomed himself to the stimulus of +arsenic cannot be suddenly deprived of arsenic without developing the +symptoms of arsenical poisoning. It will doubtless be indispensable to +maintain competition in the cooperative commonwealth. There is no +longer question then of discarding competition; the question is in +what doses shall it be administered; in doses that produce the +pauperism and prostitution of to-day, or in doses that will furnish +the necessary stimulus for human exertion without pushing that +stimulus to exhaustion and degeneracy? + +This question brings us to our next subject: + + +Sec. 3. SOCIALISM WILL NOT SUPPRESS COMPETITION + +No modern Socialist maintains that all competition is bad, or that it +would be advisable to eliminate competition altogether from production +and distribution. But it has become the duty of every sane man to +consider whether it may not be possible to eliminate the excessive +competition that gives rise to pauperism, prostitution, and crime. To +answer this question, we must begin by determining what competition +is good and what bad; and if the bad can be eliminated and the good +maintained. + +Competition is a part of the joy of life; healthy children race one +another as they are let out from school; they challenge one another to +wrestle and leap; and when they are tired of emulation, they join +hands and dance. Competition and cooperation are the salt and the +sweet of life; we want the one with our meat and the other with our +pudding; we do not want all salt or all sweet; for too much sweet +cloys the mouth while too much salt embitters it. + +We all unconsciously recognize this by encouraging games and +discouraging gambling. Now what is the difference between games and +gambling? One is a wholesome use of time for the purpose of wholesome +amusement; the other is an unwholesome abuse of time for the purpose +of making money. The one incidentally encourages a beneficial action +of muscle and brain; the other, on the contrary, promotes a +detrimental appetite for unlawful profit. + +We are all perfectly agreed about this so long as we confine ourselves +to games and gambling; but as soon as we extend our argument to +production and distribution we shall at once come into collision with +the bourgeois. Let us therefore be very sure that our premises are +sound and our deduction sure before we confront him. + +Even as regards gambling there are degrees of vice; some would justify +old people who bet only just enough on the issue of a game of piquet +to make it worth while to count the points; whereas all would condemn +a bet that involved the entire fortune, much more the life or death of +a human being. + +Now it may seem extravagant to assert that the competitive system of +production imposes upon the majority a bet involving life or death, +yet statistics demonstrate that mortality is from 35 to 50 per cent +higher with those who lose than with those who win in the game of +life.[13] But it is not extravagant to assert that it imposes upon the +majority a bet involving a thing quite as precious as life--I mean +health. A man who bets his life and loses is free from pain on this +earth at any rate; but the man who bets his health and loses is +committed to a period of misery not only for himself, but for all +those around him so long as breath is in his body. + +The greatest evil that attends the competitive system of production is +that it commits all engaged in it to a game the stake of which is the +life happiness not only of himself, but of all dependent on him. + +If this were a matter of mere sport there is not a man with a spark of +moral sense in him who would not condemn it. He would denounce it as a +gladiatorial show; as belonging to the worst period of the worst +empire known to history. But because it is a matter of production the +bourgeois has for it no word save of justification and praise. He +justifies it by the argument of necessity: "the poor you have with you +always." He praises it because it "makes character." + +If there were indeed no other system of production possible but the +competitive system, the plea of necessity would be justified. But when +we are dealing with a question involving the happiness of the majority +of our fellow creatures, we must be very sure that there is no better +system before the plea can be admitted. And as to those often +misquoted words of Christ, there will undoubtedly under the +cooperative as well as the competitive system always be some +shiftless, some poor. But everything depends on what is meant by the +word "poor." To-day the poor are on the verge of starvation; poverty +means not only misery, but disease and crime. Under a cooperative +system there need be no starvation; no fear of starvation; less +disease; and infinitely less crime! The vast majority of men do not +need the lash to drive them to their work; it is no longer necessary +to keep before us the fear of want, of misery, of starvation; we have +passed that stage; and just as the lash is used by trainers only for +wild beasts, and gentler animals are better trained by the hope of +reward than by the fear of punishment, so humanity has reached a point +of moral development which makes it no longer inferior to the lower +animals--the bourgeois notwithstanding. Better work can be got from a +man by the prospect of increased comfort than by the fear of misery +and unemployment. + +As to the second justification, that the competitive system makes +character; look for a moment at the character of the men who have +succeeded in the competitive mill. Are these the saints of the latter +day? Or are our saints not to be found amongst those who have never +been in the competitive mill--who have resolutely kept out of +it--Florence Nightingale, Father Damien, Rose Hawthorne, the Little +Sisters of the Poor? + +The real problem is not whether we should or can eliminate competition +altogether from the field of production, but whether we should or can +eliminate it to the extent necessary to put an end to the three great +curses of humanity to-day. + + +Sec. 4. SOCIALISM WILL NOT DESTROY THE HOME + +Mr. Roosevelt in his _Outlook_ editorial[14] said of the "Socialists +who teach their faith as both a creed and a party platform" that "they +are and necessarily must be bitterly hostile to religion and +morality," that they "occupy in relation to morality and especially +domestic morality a position so revolting--and I choose my words +carefully--that it is difficult even to discuss it in a reputable +paper." + +When, however, he undertakes to substantiate this, he is obliged to +admit that he cannot find any traces of it in American writers, and has +to go to France and England for his examples. Had he been better +informed, he would have known that not only is there no trace of +immorality in our American Socialist press, but that there is one +Socialist organ--the Christian Socialist--which has in the most vigorous +terms denounced all those whose writings tend in any way to attack the +fundamental principles of marriage. It is true that Christian Socialists +in Mr. Roosevelt's opinion "deserve scant consideration at the hands of +honest and clean-living men and women"; but he has not explained why. +Nor has he ventured any explanation why Christian Socialists or any +other Socialists should be "necessarily--bitterly hostile to religion +and morality." + +I must postpone to the chapter on the Ethical Aspect of Socialism[15] +the explanation why Socialism, far from being "necessarily bitterly +hostile to religion and morality," as Mr. Roosevelt maintains, is--on +the contrary--the only form of society ever proposed which could make +religion and morality possible. At the present time, it seems +sufficient to point out the obvious fallacy of Mr. Roosevelt's +syllogism. + +Here it is: + +Gabriel Deville wants to destroy the home. + +Gabriel Deville is a Socialist; + +Therefore: All Socialists want to destroy the home. The logic of this +is bad enough, but even the premiss is false. Deville is no longer a +Socialist; and if he does want to destroy the home, no one that I know +of in America wants him back in the fold. + +In exactly the same manner our ex-Presidential logician argues +regarding divorce: + +Herron divorced; + +Herron is a Socialist; + +Therefore: All Socialists divorce. Herron was divorced in 1901. He is +the only leading Socialist who has divorced during twenty years to Mr. +Roosevelt's knowledge or to mine. Whereas, during that time here are +the statistics of divorces for the United States: + +Total number of marriages 1887-1906, 12,832,044 + +Total number of divorces 1887-1906, 945,625 or about one in 12,[16] in +all of which the majority of the men presumably voted for Mr. +Roosevelt. + +Can anyone who knows the family life of Socialists assert that the +divorce rate among them is greater than that of the community in which +they live? + +Again, the pretence that the American home to-day is one which a +capitalist like Mr. Roosevelt can hold up to the admiration of the +world will not stand scrutiny. + +Where there is wealth for leisure, there we find immorality enthroned +as a vice; and where there is no leisure, there we find immorality +imposed as a necessity. Are the filthy tenements and promiscuous +lodgings of the congested districts in our large cities the homes to +which Mr. Roosevelt is fearful that Socialism will put an end?[17] Or +is it the so-called She-towns in New England from which men are driven +because there is no employment in them for any save women and +children?[18] Or the lumber camps to which these men are driven where +there is no employment for women?[19] Or the home of the unemployed to +which the bread-winner has returned day after day for two years now, +seeking employment and finding none--guilty of no crime save that no +man has hired him? Thousands--nay, hundreds of thousands of such +so-called homes are scattered over the face of this land which Mr. +Roosevelt has during seven years administered. + +As a matter of fact, no decent home is possible for the majority of +our fellow citizens so long as they are called upon to support it at +present prices on present wages. All this will, I think, be made clear +in the description of industrial conditions. Suffice it to say here +that these conditions furnish a few luxurious and often licentious +homes for the propertied class and a few comfortable and moral homes +for the aristocracy of the working class, but leave a vast number of +our families so nearly upon the edge of poverty as to drive their +daughters to prostitution and their sons to crime. + + +Sec. 5. SOCIALISM WILL NOT ABOLISH PROPERTY + +Another charge made by Mr. Roosevelt is that Socialists propose to +abolish property and distribute wealth. It has been repeated by both +Mr. Taft and Mr. Bryan and is still being repeated _ad nauseam_ by the +press. Workingmen so absorbed by the making of bread that they have +no time to discuss questions of government may be excused for being +ignorant on such a point as this; to them ignorance cannot be imputed +as a fault. But that those who set themselves up as the persons best +fitted to govern and educate our country--as indeed the only persons +in the country possessing the knowledge of statesmanship necessary to +handle our governmental affairs and publish our daily press--should +either never have taken the trouble to find out what Socialism is, or, +having taken the trouble, should so traduce it, is a sad commentary +upon our editors and statesmen. + +Just as it has been demonstrated that Socialism is opposed to +Anarchism, so can it be demonstrated that Socialism is opposed to the +distribution of wealth or the abolition of property. Far from +distributing wealth, the essence of Socialism is that it seeks to +concentrate it. Far from wanting to abolish property Socialism seeks +to put it on a throne. The question of property is so important that a +special chapter has been devoted to it. I shall therefore only say +here just enough to remove the error created by the misstatements +current on the subject. + +Property is not only the basis of our present civilization, but must +be the basis of all conceivable civilizations. It may be said that not +only all law, but all government, is founded upon it. Property was +instituted to furnish to every industrious man security as regards +himself, his family, and the means of their support; to protect him +and them from theft, from fraud and evil doing. + +Unfortunately property, like every human institution--even the best of +them[20]--has been abused to serve the selfishness of the crafty; and +there have arisen, therefore, notions and laws regarding property +which have reversed the results which property was instituted to +secure. Instead of making every industrious man secure as regards +himself, his family, and the means of their support, it has actually +deprived the majority of all security regarding these things and, +indeed, put the majority as regards these things at the mercy of a +very few. Not only this, it has created conditions which to-day are +depriving several millions of us not only of all means of support, but +of all opportunity of earning them. + +The bourgeois' excuse for such conditions is that no better can be +devised. Here is the whole issue of Socialism raised; for Socialism +contends that these conditions are totally unnecessary; that it does +not need any imagination or invention to substitute for them a system +that will put an end to such evils as pauperism, prostitution, and, in +great part, crime; that we have but to adopt as a community the +principles already adopted by the men--the makers of the trusts--to +whom the whole business world looks up as infallible on these +subjects; and that this can be accomplished by ridding the institution +of property of the fallacies with which it has been industriously +defaced. Just indeed as the truly religious have during all ages +sought to rescue religion from the crafty who tend to use it for their +own ends--Christ from the Pharisee, Plato from the Sophist, Luther +from the Borgias, so Socialists are now seeking to rescue property +from the few who, under a mistaken theory of happiness, use property +to injure their fellow creatures when these very few can attain +happiness only by so using property as to benefit those they now +injure. + +It must, however, be specifically stated that Socialism does not +involve the concentration of all wealth in the state. No sane +Socialist proposes to vest in the state the things which a man uses, +his personal apparel, his personal furniture, his objects of art, his +musical instruments, his automobile, or even his private yacht. + +There is no intention to suppress private property except so far as it +is used for exploitation. Light is thrown upon this subject in another +paragraph, which indicts the capitalist system for making the +production of the necessaries of our lives the object of their +competitive enterprises and speculations. + +What the Socialist party proposes to do is not to abolish property, +but to abolish the capitalist system, as it expressly states; and it +proposes to do this not only in the interest of the proletariat, but +also in the interest of the capitalist himself, who, to quote the +words of the platform, is "the slave of his wealth rather than its +master." The extent to which this last is true will be discussed in a +subsequent chapter and ought to constitute an impressive argument for +all--even millionaires--who have become the slaves of the very +fortunes they have made. And the moral tendency to restore property to +its original intention by abolishing the capitalist system is +expressly stated in the platform as not an attempt "to substitute +working-class rule for capitalist-class rule, but to free all humanity +from class rule and to realize the international brotherhood of man." +If this be immoral, then a great many of us do not know what morality +is. + +Nor does it propose to vest in the state anything but what it is +indispensable for a state to own in order to rescue the unwealthy +majority from the exploitation of the wealthy few. Nothing is more +false or libelous than the allegation that Socialism proposes to +destroy property, or to deprive a man of the benefit of his talents, +or of the enjoyment of the products of his work. It is the present +industrial system that deprives the majority of the product of their +work. Socialism aims at the opposite of these things. What Socialism +does propose is to preserve wealth by eliminating waste and to ensure +to all men the fullest benefit of their talents and the enjoyment of +the whole product of their work. It does not propose to level down, as +is so often claimed; the necessary effect of Socialism is to level up, +if indeed it levels at all. The extent to which it may be wise to +concentrate wealth in the state, or whether it is necessary to +concentrate it in the state at all, is a question which must be +postponed until we have a clear idea of what Socialism is. + +Meanwhile I venture to suggest one view of Socialism which, although +it does not attempt to define it, may help us as a first effort to get +a correct apprehension of it. + +Socialism is the concentration of just so much wealth in the +community--please note that I do not say "state"--as may be necessary +to secure the liberty and the happiness of every man, woman, and child +consistent with the liberty and the happiness of every other man, +woman, and child. + +We are obviously here brought to the question of what is liberty, and +to the discussion of another error regarding Socialism upon which the +bourgeois is disposed to insist, viz.: Socialism will impair liberty. + + +Sec. 6. SOCIALISM WILL NOT IMPAIR LIBERTY + +The same thing must be said of liberty as of property: both are such +important subjects that they demand a chapter to themselves. But there +are current errors about liberty which, when removed, will prepare +the mind for the undoubted fact that Socialism, far from impairing +liberty, will greatly enlarge it. + +When negro slavery existed people thought that if slavery were only +abolished, liberty would be secured. It was found, however, that when +negro slavery was abolished there was still another liberty to be +secured--political liberty. + +Now that we have secured the constitutional right and the +constitutional weapon by which political liberty ought to be attained, +we discover that these rights and weapons are useless to us so long as +the immense majority of us are still economic slaves. + +Let us consider for a moment just what is meant by an economic slave. + +An economic slave is a man who is dependent for his living on another +man or class of men and who, because all his waking hours and all his +vitality must be devoted to making a living, has no leisure either to +exercise his political rights or to enjoy himself. + +It may seem exorbitant to say that the "immense majority" of us are +economic slaves, yet a very little consideration will, I think, +convince that we are. + +Workingmen are dependent on their employers under conditions worse +than negro slavery. For a slave owner had an interest in the life of +his slave just as a farmer has an interest in the life of his stock. +He therefore fed his slaves and did not overwork them. Nor was a slave +subject to losing his job. The factory owner, on the contrary, not +being the owner of his factory hands, is free to dismiss them as soon +as they are worn out, and it is to his interest, by speeding up his +machinery, to get the most work out of his hands possible, regardless +whether he is overworking them; for as soon as they show signs of +overwork he has but to dismiss them and employ a younger generation. +Nor can it be said of workingmen that they have leisure for education, +politics, or enjoyment. Now the last census shows that our industrial +population numbers 21,000,000. + +In the second place, the farmer works himself as hard--if not +harder--than the factory owner works his factory hand. He is driven by +the same necessity as the factory owner--the necessity of making +money.[21] There are of course a few large farmers who own enough land +to work it as the factory owner works his factory--by the use of +machinery and men. But these are few, and it is the extraordinary +economy that these men make in working their farms that obliges the +small farmer to work night as well as day to make a bare living out of +his land. Now by the last census the farming population in the United +States numbers 30,000,000. + +And what has been said of the workingman is true of the clerk and +domestic; and what has been said of the small farmer is true of the +small tradesman. Now clerks, domestics, and tradesmen number +30,000,000. Summing up we have: + + Industrial population 21,000,000 + Farmers 30,000,000 + Clerks, domestics and tradesmen 30,000,000 + ---------- + 81,000,000 + +out of a total population of 90,000,000 are economic slaves. + +And of the 9,000,000 that remain, how many are economically free? + +These are in part teachers, physicians, and lawyers. I leave it to +teachers to tell us how much time they can call their own. As to the +rest, it is the dream of a young doctor to get a large practice; and +when his dream is realized, how much leisure does he enjoy? He is at +the mercy of his practice, not only weekdays, but Sundays--days and +nights. He is the slave of his own practice. It is the dream of the +young lawyer to get rich clients and handle big cases. When he gets +them, he discovers that he must have an office that costs between +$30,000 and $50,000 a year to take care of them, and that he must earn +these large sums before there is a penny left for himself. So he too +is the slave of his own office. + +But further than this: Our great business men--amongst them the very +greatest--I have seen with my own eyes slowly sink under the burden of +the very institutions their own genius had created. They too have +become the slaves of their own creations. + +So we are all slaves, the greatest and the least of us, with +exceptions so few that they are hardly worth mentioning. And how do +these exceptions use their leisure? It were better not too closely to +inquire. Too much leisure is as detrimental to happiness and progress +as too much work. The enormous increase of lunacy in late years is a +straw that shows how the stream runs. Because of too much work or too +much leisure the race is marching with fatal speed toward general +prostration of nerve, of body, and of mind. + +Whether then we look at this question from the point of view of human +progress or of human happiness, it seems indispensable that the whole +machinery of production be speeded down a little instead of +continuously up. Now this is what Socialism proposes to do: It +proposes by the substitution of cooperation for competition to make +the same economy for all humanity as trust promoters have made for +themselves. And the economy will be an economy of time. We shall work +as hard while we are working, but we shall work four hours instead of +eight and twelve. And the rest of the time we shall have to ourselves; +we shall be economically free. + +Yet if the reader has in his mind any such idea of Socialism as Mr. +Roosevelt's "state free lunch counter," resulting in an "iron +despotism over all workers compared to which any slave system of the +past would seem beneficent because less utterly hopeless"--he will be +disposed to condemn in advance any economic freedom purchased at such +a price. I beg the reader, therefore, to try to rid his mind of the +prejudice created by such views as Mr. Roosevelt's until he has read +the chapters on the Economy of Socialism and How Socialism May Come. +If in these chapters the errors of Mr. Roosevelt's notions are not +dissipated, then this book will have been written in vain. + +One thing more, however, must be said on this subject. Inexcusable +though Mr. Roosevelt may be in most of his attacks on Socialism, it +must be admitted that the "iron despotism" to which he thinks +Socialism will lead is justified by many Socialist authors, and it is +only very lately that a way has been found for introducing cooperation +without compulsion. Again, Mr. Roosevelt is in good company in making +this charge. It is the great _cheval de bataille_ of every +anti-Socialist. + +In "A Plea for Liberty," edited by Herbert Spencer, the idea of +concentrating wealth in the community is denounced as a "conception of +life or conduct" which would compel men "to rise at morn to the sound +of a state gong, breakfast off state viands, labor by time according +to a state clock, dine at a state table supplied at the state's +expense, and to be regulated as to rest and recreation." + +In fact, Socialism proposes none of these things. But if it did, a +factory hand might very well ask whether such a conception of life or +conduct would be worse than to rise at morn by the sound of a factory +bell, labor by time according to a factory clock, neither breakfast +nor dine at a factory table supplied at the factory's expense, but be +regulated as to rest and recreation by factory rules. When we come to +discuss liberty, we shall be in a position to compare the liberty +enjoyed under Socialism with the liberty enjoyed to-day. + +In the chapter on Property and Liberty, the subject of liberty is +carefully analyzed; no more, therefore, need be said on this subject +except in conclusion to insist that it is the competitive system of +to-day that makes slaves of practically all of us, and that it is the +cooperative system alone that will secure for us the last and greatest +of all the liberties--economic liberty--because it is economic liberty +alone that will enable us to enjoy the other two. + + +Sec. 7. CONCLUSION + +Having now chipped off some but not all of the errors that prevail, +regarding Socialism, let us sum up what Socialism is not; it will help +us to a study of what Socialism is. + + Socialism is not Anarchism. It is the contradictory opposite of + Anarchism. It believes in regulation, but demands that the + regulation be wise and just. + + Socialism is not Communism. On the contrary it demands that + workingmen be assured as nearly as possible the product of their + labor. + + Socialism does not propose to eliminate competition, but only to + abolish excessive competition that gives rise to pauperism, + prostitution and crime. + + Socialism is not hostile to the home. On the contrary, it seeks + to remove the evils that make the homes of our millions + insupportable. + + Socialism is not immoral. On the contrary, it seeks to make the + Golden Rule practical. + + Socialism does not propose to abolish property or distribute + wealth. It proposes, on the contrary, to consecrate property and + concentrate wealth so that all shall enjoy according to their + deserts the benefits of both. + + Socialism will not impair liberty. On the contrary, it will for + the first time give to humanity economic liberty without which + so-called individual and political liberty are fruitless. It + proposes to regulate production, consecrate property, and + concentrate wealth only to the extent necessary to assure to + every man the maximum of security and the maximum of leisure; + thereby putting an end to pauperism, prostitution, and in great + part, to crime, and furnishing to man environment most conducive + to his advancement and happiness. + + Whether it will accomplish these things can only be determined + by approaching it from the positive side. We shall proceed next + then to answer the question what Capitalism is. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[12] The principal evil attending such laws is that they give rise to +graft. In other words, our political machine actually favors such +laws, because they put a club in the hands of the machine through +which it can not only levy political contributions, but coerce their +victims into support of the machine. + +[13] The death rate in 1900 among occupied males in the professions +was 15.3 per 1000; in clerical and official classes 13.5; mercantile, +12.1; laboring and servant classes 20.2 per 1000 (12th Census U.S.) +Dr. Emmett Holt, writing in the _Journal of the American Medical +Association_, points out the marked contrast between the death rate of +the children of the poor and the children of the rich. See Appendix, +p. 421. + +[14] _Outlook_, March 20, 1909. + +[15] Book III, Chapter V. + +[16] U.S. Census Bulletin 96, p. 7, 12. + +[17] "Poverty," by Robert Hunter. (Macmillan.) + +[18] "Socialism and Social Reform," by R.T. Ely, p. 43. (Crowell.) + +[19] Ibid. + +[20] "Government or Human Evolution," Vol. II, p. 88 _et seq._, by the +author. + +[21] "The American Farmer," A.M. Simons. + + + + +BOOK II + +_WHAT CAPITALISM IS_ + + +Socialism is necessarily twofold: destructive and constructive; +critical and remedial. We shall take the critical or destructive role +of Socialism first; setting down the evils in our existing industrial +system which Socialism criticizes and seeks to destroy, and leaving +the remedial or constructive role of Socialism where it properly +belongs--to the end. For this reason the present book, which treats of +the evils of the existing industrial system, is entitled "What +Capitalism is." + + +EVILS OF CAPITALISM + +For nearly two centuries men have produced and distributed the things +they needed, upon what is called "the competitive system." That is to +say, every individual is free to choose his particular share in this +work and to make out of his work all that he can, in order with the +money so made to purchase for himself the things that he individually +needs. The farmer undertakes to furnish us with food, the forester +with lumber, the miner with iron. Another set of men run railroads, +steamboats, wagons, etc., to distribute the things produced to those +who are engaged in selling them--by wholesale to the trade, or by +retail to the consumer. Every man engaged in production and +distribution is in a measure competing with every other man engaged in +it, each trying to make out of his particular calling the largest +amount of money possible with the view of being able with the money so +earned to purchase for himself the largest amount of necessaries, +comforts, and luxuries. This so-called competitive system has been +elaborately described by all writers of political economy from de +Quesnay and Adam Smith, the fathers of our present system of political +economy, to the present day; and because it follows the predatory plan +of nature (by which one set of animals lives by devouring another +set), it is claimed by some so-called philosophers to be "natural" and +therefore wise. The most notorious author of this so-called scientific +justification of the competitive system is Herbert Spencer. + +The competitive system, however, has been found to result in great +waste, misery, and disease; and it is to these evil consequences that +the Socialist desires to put an end. He claims that the competitive +system is not wise, not scientific, and above all, not economical, but +is the most wasteful system conceivable. He alleges that the only +intelligent, economic way of producing and distributing the things we +need is by cooperation; and the whole economic issue between Socialism +and our present industrial system is that Socialism stands for +cooperation, and our present system for competition. + +It is by no means a necessary part of Socialist philosophy that +competition be entirely eliminated. On the contrary, it has been +pointed out and will later be further seen that competition has many +useful qualities.[22] Socialism, however, points out that +competition, when allowed full sway in producing and distributing the +necessaries of life, is the direct occasion of the larger part of the +misery in the world, and insists, therefore, that as _regards +production and distribution of the necessaries of life_, competition +be sufficiently eliminated to assure to all men the opportunity to +work, and as nearly as possible the full product of their work. The +limitation in italics is the definite dose to which reference has +already been made.[23] + +One prominent feature of the competitive system is that men do not +work for the purpose of supplying the needs of their fellow creatures. +The Steel Trust does not manufacture steel to satisfy our need for +steel; the farmer does not raise wheat to satisfy our need for bread; +they produce these things simply for the purpose of making money for +themselves in order that with this money they can procure for +themselves the things they need. Socialism claims that the role played +by money in the competitive system is unfortunate, because the amount +of money available at any given time is not always properly adjusted. +Sometimes it is so badly adjusted that there is more cotton in one +place than the people in that place can use, and in another more +people who need cotton than there is cotton to give them; so that it +is deliberately proposed to burn cotton for lack of consumers in one +place, while consumers are allowed to suffer for lack of cotton in the +other. So a short time ago thousands were dying of starvation for lack +of wheat in India, while we had such a superabundance of it in America +that we were exporting it every day. But that wheat was not available +for India because it had to be converted into money. + +Socialists allege that this bad situation would never arise if things +were produced for the purpose of satisfying human needs instead of for +making money. + +Let us enumerate some of the most important evils of the competitive +system, which Socialism seeks to correct. These evils briefly are: The +competitive system is stupid because wasteful and disorderly; it is +unnecessarily immoral, unjust and cruel. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[22] See Book I, Chapter III. + +[23] See Book I, Chapter III. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +CAPITALISM IS STUPID + + +Sec. 1. OVERPRODUCTION + +The first and most glaring evil of the competitive system is that it +is stupid. In support of this I shall call as witnesses captains of +industry whom the business men regard as the greatest authorities in +the world: John D. Rockefeller[24], Henry O. Havemeyer[25], Elbert H. +Gary[26] and others. + +Socialists are accused of being impractical. I shall have failed in +properly presenting the Socialist case if I do not succeed in +demonstrating that the impractical people are the bourgeois, the +Roosevelts, Tafts and Bryans who, though aware of the waste of the +competitive system, insist upon maintaining it; and that the only +practical people are those who, like the Socialists, having perceived +the waste that attends the competitive system, seek to replace it by a +more economic plan. + +No one will, I think, deny that the most practical business men to-day +in America are Rockefeller, Pierpont Morgan, Havemeyer, and the others +who have been engaged in organizing our great trusts. Now the only +object of a trust is to eliminate the unnecessary waste of +competition; and the only difference between the Socialist and the +trust magnate is that the Socialist wants the benefit derived from +reducing competition to be shared by all; whereas Rockefeller, +Pierpont Morgan and the other trust magnates want the profit secured +by the elimination of waste all to themselves. + +I do not suppose there is any man living so prejudiced or so dull as +to deny that, if Socialism could present a system by which all could +be made to profit from the elimination of the waste of the competitive +system in such a manner that the profit of each shall be proportional +to the amount which each contributes, Socialism would be justified. +The only point upon which there can be discussion is whether it is +possible to suggest a workable plan under which the evils of +competition can be eliminated, and the blessings of cooperation take +their place. In other words, is cooperation a practical cure for +competition? It is obviously impossible to decide whether a given +treatment would constitute a cure for a given disease, without a +thorough knowledge of the disease. It is therefore essential that we +should be clear as regards the defects of the competitive system, and +how far these defects are curable and how far incurable. + +The beauty of the competitive system upon which the bourgeois loves to +dwell is that it is automatic; whenever there is overproduction in an +industry prices fall, profits disappear and therefore capital flows +away from it; as soon as overproduction comes to an end prices rise, +profits reappear and capital flows back to it. And the beauty of this +automatic system is the more commended because it closely follows +Nature; and indeed, the system of Nature is beautiful in the extreme. +The sun draws the vapor of pure water from the salt ocean; lifts it +high into the air, wafts it by propitious breezes to the continent; +sheds it in beneficent rain upon the thirsty land, and deposits it in +gigantic reservoirs of ice and snow upon our mountain heights; there +is the supply upon which during hot summers we depend; and the hotter +the summer, and the more therefore we need moisture, the more the snow +and glaciers melt and furnish us with torrents of refreshing streams; +so that at last the vapor that has been drawn by the sun from the +ocean, in obedience to the inevitable law of gravitation, returns to +it in a thousand rivers, after having performed its function of +nutrition and refreshment on the way. + +In the same fashion demand is ever beckoning labor and capital to seek +new fields, tempting them from the low levels of low interest to high +levels of high profit; and supply, increasing through their efforts, +is forever bringing them back, like the force of gravitation, to the +point whence they started; and the cycle is repeated over and over +again, performing its mission of production and distribution on the +way. + +Unfortunately, Nature, though beneficial in the main, does not +accomplish its work without distressing incidents. Breezes are not +always propitious; they sometimes create disastrous havoc; torrents +are sometimes more than refreshing, and summers unduly hot. + +For example, the more abundant a crop is, the more prosperous the +country which grows the crop ought to that extent to be; but it +sometimes happens that, in such case, prices fall so low as to bring +disaster to those who have grown it.[27] + +Nature is not always to be depended on. Occasionally a crop entirely +fails, and when this happens, as lately in India, millions are exposed +to starvation and thousands actually starve. + +Even when Nature is most bountiful the competitive system results in +misfortune. For example, the President of the Boston Chamber of +Commerce in a speech to the Chamber said in 1891: + +"In 1890 we harvested a cotton crop of over eight million +bales--several hundred thousand bales more than the world could +consume. Had the crop of the present year been equally large, it would +have been an _appalling calamity_ to the section of our country that +devotes so large a portion of its labor and capital to the raising of +cotton."[28] + +In 1905 the newspapers announced "the South is proposing to burn +cotton so as to keep up its price."[29] And still more recently the +same suggestion has been made regarding the tobacco crop in Kentucky. + +Again, the competitive system under which every man goes into the +business where he sees most profit, inevitably leads to periods of +overproduction, and overproduction leads to unemployment and misery. + +No political economist denies the obvious fact that whenever an +industry is known to be profitable, capitalists are likely to engage +in this industry--indeed, this is one of the automatic processes which +the Manchester school has put forward as constituting the chief merit +of the system. It is, of course, important for the community at large +that prices should in no one industry become excessive; and obviously +the disposition of capital to rush into industries where profits are +high, does by competition tend to reduce prices, and thus prevent them +from becoming excessive. But economists, especially those of the +Manchester school, have not been willing to recognize that this +disposition of capital to flow into productive enterprises may, though +sometimes beneficial, be also sometimes ruinous; may, indeed, often +result in a devastating deluge. These economists, therefore, it may be +well to confront with a brief history of one or two of our largest +combinations. Let us take as a first example the sugar trust. + +Just before the organization of this trust, overproduction had become +so excessive that of forty refiners in the United States eighteen +became bankrupt. Of the twenty-two that remained, eighteen combined. +Of the refineries belonging to these eighteen, eleven were closed, +leaving seven to do profitably the work which had previously been done +unprofitably by forty. + +The history of the whisky trust shows overproduction to a still more +aggravated degree. Before the organization of the Distilling and +Cattle-Feeding Company, agreements were entered into by the majority +of the distillers; under one of them they agreed to reduce production +to forty per cent of what it at that time was; subsequently they +agreed to reduce still further to twenty-eight per cent; and of eighty +of the principal distillers who organized the Distilling and +Cattle-Feeding Company, the establishments of sixty-eight were closed, +leaving only twelve distilleries operating. + +The same succession of events is found in the history of the American +Steel and Wire Company, and indeed of practically all American trusts. + +This inevitable tendency towards overproduction vitally concerns +workingmen, for it is upon them that the evil consequences of this +process first and most fatally fall. As soon as the process results in +the inevitable reduction of prices to near cost, the manufacturer must +either throw workmen out of employment or reduce wages. Wages +constitute the only elastic element in cost, and it is therefore the +workingman who first pays for the evil working of this system. And not +only does the workingman pay for it, but the employer pays for it +also; for workingmen, to protect their interests, strike, and only the +wealthiest employers can stand the strain of a strike; the rest are +ruined by it. + +Even a reduction of the hours of work or the days of employment in the +week will, if it lasts long enough, ruin the employer, for he has +still to pay the fixed charges of the factory, and if prices get low +enough, and he cannot sell his goods except at a ruinous loss, he ends +by not having means to pay these charges; and this process is +illustrated in the cases just mentioned; for example, eighteen out of +forty sugar refiners became bankrupt; and it was not till the eighteen +were ruined that a combination was possible amongst the rest. + +One method employed by trusts to keep up prices at home is to sell +their excess of goods in foreign markets at prices below cost. + +Mr. Gary, President of the Federal Steel Company, testified before the +Industrial Committee that steel had been recently shipped to Japan at +a price below the domestic price.[30] + +Mr. J.W. Lee, President of the three independent pipe-line +organizations, testified that prior to 1895 "oil for export was sold +below the cost of crude at the refinery."[31] + +Again, at a time when the American trade was paying $28 for steel +rails, the same steel rails were sold in Japan at $20.[32] + +Obviously, the nations who are the victims of this process are not +long going to tolerate it; but this is a relatively small part of the +international complications produced by overproduction. The most +serious consequence of overproduction is that manufacturers, when they +can no longer get a remunerative price for their goods in the home +markets, are inevitably driven to seek it elsewhere. They seek foreign +markets, and failing foreign markets, they seek new markets by +colonization or conquest. + +It is impossible to read the history of the British Empire during the +last 150 years without becoming persuaded that its so-called greed for +conquest inevitably results from the necessity under which English +manufacturers have been to secure markets for their increasing goods. +Either British factories had to close, and British workmen to be +thrown out of employment, or England must, by colonization or +conquest, secure a price outside her own borders for the goods which +competition perpetually tended to make her factories overproduce. + +Indeed, the war through which England compelled China to purchase +Indian opium looks like the greatest of international crimes; yet, +when we understand this so-called crime of England, it turns out to +have been a commercial necessity; for the remunerative prices obtained +by the production of opium in India had so developed this branch of +business that millions of Indians depended for their lives upon it, +and either Chinese must poison themselves with opium, or Indians must +die of hunger. The responsibilities of England were to her subjects +first. The Chinese had to pay the price of this responsibility. + +No better illustration of the wicked despotism that results from +existing industrial conditions could be given than this; it brought +about a condition of things under which England must commit a crime +against China, or millions of her subjects must perish in Hindustan. + +The millions that would starve in India if the opium market were +suddenly closed remind us of the millions who are on the verge of +starvation here in the United States,[33] and have been for two years +past because of inherent and incurable defects in our industrial +system. It is no answer to say that the evil results of overproduction +are promptly remedied by the fluidity of capital to flow towards +profitable and to withdraw from unprofitable manufactures. Every time +such withdrawal takes place a corresponding number of workmen are +thrown out of employment, are subjected to want and anguish of +anxiety. The evil of this system cannot be explained away by pointing +out that the capital withdrawn from one manufacture will soon be +reinvested in another. A cotton-spinner cannot in a week or a month +become a boilermaker. The commercial system which makes it easy for a +capitalist to maintain income at cost of agony to the workingman does +not recommend itself to the political student seeking the +establishment of Justice in economic conditions. For, unfortunately, +labor is not as "fluid" or insensible as capital. The workingman is a +human being with the capacity for pain and anxiety that characterizes +our race; and every time that capital profits by its fluidity to flow +from one industry to another, the lives of men, women, and children +are threatened by want. Even in prosperous times memories of the last +panic and the certainty of a recurring panic keep their hearts haunted +by fear. + +Overproduction is by no means the only cause for these periods of +unemployment. Indeed, the panic of 1907 was not the result of +overproduction, but of overinvestment, or what the French call the +"immobilization of capital." Every nation has two very different uses +for wealth: one for keeping its population alive and comfortable, the +other for developing the resources of the country, e.g., building +roads and railroads, exploiting mines and quarries, etc. If too much +wealth is immobilized in the latter, there is not enough for the +former. The important function of regulating this matter is in the +hands of bankers who make money not only out of the prosperity of +prosperous times, but out of the panic of panic periods. Thus in May, +1907, the bankers, knowing that there had been overinvestment, took +care of themselves by selling securities at top-notch prices, +occasioning what was called the "rich man's panic," because the rich +men of leisure were its victims; so that when the poor man's panic +came in October and stocks tumbled to one-half of May prices, the +bankers were able to reinvest the proceeds of May sales at fifty per +cent profit. One of the consequences of this operation was that in +October, 1907, neither manufacturers nor railroad men could get money +to keep their work going; gangs of five thousand men at a time were +summarily dismissed by railroads, and manufactures shut down. + +Of course, the bankers did not "make the panic," as has been +sometimes ignorantly asserted; they only made money out of it both +ways--out of high prices in May and out of low prices in November. And +this illustrates one of the great defects of the competitive +system--that it puts different sets of men in a position where they +can make individual profit out of the misfortunes of their neighbors; +bankers out of panics; distillers and liquor dealers out of +drunkenness; manufacturers and retailers out of adulteration, and so +down the whole gamut of production and distribution; and this is the +process which the bourgeois approves because it "makes character." + +But the unemployment that is the necessary result of all periods of +depression, whether produced by overproduction or overinvestment, +deserves more than passing mention for its fruits in the shape of +misery, pauperism, prostitution and crime, are menacing and +prejudicial to the race. + + +Sec. 2. UNEMPLOYMENT + +The subject of Unemployment has just been treated by an expert in a +book[34] hailed by the press as the final word on the subject. All the +theories ever propounded as to the cause of unemployment have been +reviewed in this book, from overproduction, underconsumption, +competition, to "spots on the sun." And the author concludes in favor +of competition.[35] As regards the facts and the explanation of these +facts, there seems to be no essential disagreement between orthodox +economists and Socialists. Both trace unemployment back to +competition. And in addition to the arguments given by Mr. Beveridge +for tracing unemployment to competition, I venture to add that +competition must be decided to be the primary cause, because it is +itself the cause of the other so-called causes occasionally +proposed--overproduction, underconsumption, underemployment, +underpayment--in fact, all except "spots on the sun," which can, I +think, except for purposes of hilarity be definitely abandoned. + +But although we are agreed as to facts, we very much differ as to +emphasis. Mr. Beveridge, and indeed all orthodox economists, pass +lightly over the injustice, the immorality and the agony of +unemployment. He refers to the "cyclical fluctuation" which gives rise +to unemployment as a mere failure of adjustment between demand and +supply. "No doubt," he says, "the adjustment takes time and may +only[36] be accomplished with a certain amount of friction and loss." +Now this "friction and loss," when expressed in money and wealth, seem +to us socialists stupid because avoidable; but when expressed in human +life and misery, they seem so intolerable that we are prepared if +necessary to shatter to bits the whole system that underlies them, in +order to "remould it nearer to the heart's desire." We are relieved +then when we discover that by applying wisdom instead of temper to the +solution of the problem, it is unnecessary to do any shattering, that +we can remould it without violence, and that this is what Socialism +proposes to do. Mr. Beveridge disposes of the Socialist solution in a +sentence: "To abolish the competitive stimulus," he says, "is to +abolish 'either the possibility of, or the principal factor in +material progress.'"[37] But these few words beg the whole question: +Need we abolish the competitive stimulus in the adoption of the +Socialist cure? Can we not confine ourselves to eliminating the +gambling element in it? Can we not diminish the stakes without +abandoning them altogether? Can we not take our arsenic in tonic +instead of in fatal doses? These questions belong to our constructive +chapters at the end of the book. I shall take up here only a few other +points about unemployment which orthodox economists do not +sufficiently emphasize, in order that there may be no doubt as to the +magnitude of this evil and as to the duty upon us to eliminate it if +we can. + +Few things irritate the bourgeois more than to speak of workingmen as +"wage slaves." I have seen college professors lose their temper over +this word so often that they have served to suggest that in using it +we are, as children say, getting "warm." We are very near the Negro we +are looking for in the woodpile. Unemployment will help us in our +search. + +Not only the slave, but the savage, has a great advantage over the +workingman, in that the former is never unemployed and the latter need +never be so unless he chooses. Unemployment then is the peculiar +product of our civilization. It is only under this competitive system +of ours that a strong, hearty, able-bodied man, not only willing, but +burning to work, with plenty of work to be done and with plenty of +food to be eaten, is refused both. Although there are vacant lots in +the heart of our cities and deserted farms within a few miles of them, +the unemployed and the women and children dependent on them are to +starve because owing to the "failure of adjustment between supply and +demand," no one for two years past has been able to make money by +employing them. Why this is so will more fully appear in Book II, +Chapter III. It is only necessary here to point out the forces that +tend to make the wage slave not only more unfortunate, but more +dangerous to the community than the African slave. + +The slave owner has the same interest in the welfare of his slaves as +the cowboy in his cattle. God knows this is not much, but it is +sufficient to keep slaves and cattle in good condition if only for the +purpose of getting work out of the one and high prices out of the +other. The interest that a slave owner has in the health of his slaves +is a continuing one; it lasts during the working years of his slave. +The owner has paid a price or his slave has cost him a certain amount +to raise. The interest of the owner, therefore, is to get the most +work out of the slave during his working years. For this purpose he +lengthens these working years to the utmost possible; and accordingly +feeds and clothes his slave sufficiently and does not overwork him. + +The interest of the factory owner is just the opposite. He has paid +nothing out of his capital for what is called the "free labor" he +employs; and because free labor exacts a high wage and short hours, it +is to the interest of the factory owner to get the greatest work +possible out of his employee, regardless whether his employee is +overworked. It is to his interest, not only to use his employee, but +to use him up; and to this end he speeds up his machinery to the +utmost point in order to force his employees to do the greatest work +possible during the hours of employment, and has recourse to +pacemakers. He does this with perfect security, because he has an +unlimited amount of young labor always at his disposal to replace +employees prematurely worn out from overwork and the diseases that +come from overwork. The factory owner does not adopt these methods out +of hardness of heart, but out of the necessity of the market. If he +pays a workingman high wages for short hours, he must get the greatest +work out of him if he is to compete successfully with other factory +owners in the same line of business. Even the most merciful factory +owners have to overwork their employees in order to sell goods at +prices fixed by the merciless market. This system results in manifold +evils. It creates a class not only of unemployed, but of +unemployables; men who cannot render efficient service because of +disease and of the drunkenness to which overwork tends; for when a +workingman feels his strength begin to wane he has recourse to +stimulants to last his day out, and once the habit of stimulants is +contracted, he loses his appetite for nourishing food and becomes +thereby more and more confirmed in the use of intoxicants. + +We have here, therefore, a perpetual and necessary production of +unemployed and unemployable; the industrial town resembles a gigantic +threshing machine which produces its regular quota of unemployed and +unemployables as certainly as a threshing machine produces chaff. + +This leads to another point to which I wish to attract special +attention. Unemployment is generally regarded as a purely temporary +evil. Indeed, the New York _Times_ took me to task for speaking of it +as a permanent evil.[38] The reason for this widespread error is that +permanent unemployment is a thing to which we have grown accustomed. +Charitable societies are familiar with it and know that it exists all +the time; but it is only when unemployment adopts gigantic proportions +so that the unemployed crowd our parks and streets and even indulge in +public demonstrations, that the public becomes aware of it. And it is +not only the regular operation of the industrial threshing machine +that produces the unemployed and unemployables; it is the character of +certain industries and occupations such as seasonal industries--for +example, carpentering and casual occupations, such as stevedores and +longshoremen. Mr. Beveridge gives a very graphic picture of the +unemployment on the London docks:[39] + +Most of us have heard of the great Dock Strike of 1889, and of the +distinguished men who undertook to settle it. Efforts were made then +to regulate work on the wharves, and while these efforts did improve +the condition of the best of the men, as Mr. Beveridge says, "it is +seldom realized how small a proportion of the total field of dock and +wharf labor is really covered by the reform."[40] + +He attributes the maintenance of evil conditions still prevailing on +the docks to the "separation of the interests of wharfingers, +shipowners, and contractors," to our old enemy--competition. + +To appreciate the evil effects of casual or irregular employment, we +have again but to quote Mr. Beveridge: + +"The knowledge that any man, whatever his experience, however bad his +antecedents, might get a job at the docks, attracted to their +neighborhood a perpetual stream of blackguards, weaklings and failures +from other every occupation. The experience, soon made, that regular +attendance was not necessary to secure selection on days when work +happened to be plentiful, and the daily alternations of hard exercise +and idleness rapidly developed in those who came, if they had it not +before, the greatest irregularity of habits, and physical or moral +incapacity for continuous exertion. The low physique and half-starved +condition of many of the laborers made their work dear at 4d. an +hour."[41] + +Here he falls in with the evil feature of the competitive system which +has been described as gambling with nothing less for stakes than life, +health and happiness: "Finally," concludes Mr. Beveridge, "the door is +opened to abuse of patronage; convivial drinking and even direct +bribery are not unknown as a means of securing employment."[42] + +The form of bribery paid by employees when of the female sex is a +still darker side of this dark subject.[43] + +Another permanent cause of unemployment is underemployment and +underpayment. In many occupations, such as coal mining, +underemployment is averaged over a year so as to cause little +unemployment but much distress; the high wages which the miners are +able to stipulate for through their trade unions are reduced by +diminishing the days of work in the year. In other occupations +underemployment and underpayment reduce employees to a state of +starvation, which of course swells the rank of the unemployables. + +Having seen how the pressure of the market forces factory owners to +overwork their employees and to dismiss all who are not able to earn +the wages they receive; how casual employment creates and keeps alive +a class of labor such as is described by Mr. Beveridge, and as must +perpetually throw employees either upon charity or into the street; +and having seen that this is a result of inherent and constant +conditions of our industrial system, we are not surprised to find +that statistics of unemployment indicate that it exists not only in +periods of industrial depression, as is imagined by the New York +_Times_ and others, but is, on the contrary, a permanent feature. For +example, the September Report of the New York Commissioner of Labor +shows that the average percentage of unemployment during the +prosperous period between 1902 and 1907, was 16.1 per cent. We shall +see later when we endeavor to calculate the amount of our population +affected by unemployment, that 16.1 per cent, being derived entirely +from trade union reports, does not fully represent the whole, because +it is generally admitted that unemployment prevails in much larger +proportion in unorganized labor than in organized.[44] The last United +States Census sets down the number of factory hands at over 7,000,000. +Taking therefore the official figures as representing the minimum of +constant unemployment, 16 per cent of 7,000,000 is 1,120,000, and as +every factory hand has on an average four persons dependent upon him, +this means a total population of 4,480,000, or roughly, four millions +and a half permanently in want in the United States owing to this +unemployment which orthodox economists recognize as a necessary result +of the competitive system. + +But the public takes no account of the fact that our industrial system +regularly reduces a population of 4,500,000 to want. The public only +takes account of the extraordinary unemployment which occasions +disorder and riot in times of panic and industrial depression. Panics +and industrial depressions must not be confounded. We have seen that +industrial depressions are the inevitable result of what Mr. Beveridge +calls "cyclical fluctuations" and recur with abominable regularity. +Quite independent, however, of these regularly recurring industrial +depressions due to the working of the competitive system, there are +financial crises or panics due to similar perturbations in our money +market. Although they differ in many respects from industrial +depressions, nevertheless they have in common with them the inevitable +result of producing unemployment on a large scale. The panic of 1907 +began as a purely financial crisis, but promptly became a lengthy +period of industrial depression. It is not necessary at this point to +discuss the relation between these two. But it is important that mere +scarcity of money in the panic of 1907 produced unemployment more +suddenly and in larger proportions than any other panics that have +preceded it. + +Not only private enterprises such as railroads, but public bodies such +as municipalities, being no longer able to borrow money, had not only +to abandon work already voted, but to put a sudden stop to work +already undertaken. Laborers were dismissed in batches of five +thousand at a time, and every manufacturing and railroad plant was +driven by the impossibility of borrowing money to cutting down +expenses with a view to increasing the efficiency of the plant. Thus +the Pennsylvania Railroad announced that it had so increased the +efficiency of its plant that it was able to dismiss 30,000 men during +the year; the New York Central during 1907 dismissed ten per cent of +the staff upon its main line alone; seventy-six railroads, operating +over 172,000 miles of railroad, report an economy of nearly +$100,000,000, most of which constituted an economy in wages,[45] and +Senator Guggenheim, in an interview published in the _Wall Street +Journal_,[46] said: + +"For the first time in many years the employer is getting from his men +the 100 per cent in efficiency for which he pays. It is a safe +assertion that prior to the panic the efficiency of labor was no +higher than 75 per cent, perhaps not even that." + +Special attention is directed to the foregoing because unemployment is +ceasing to be a merely accidental and periodic phenomenon and is +assuming not only larger, but more permanent proportions. In other +words, the 30,000 men dismissed by the Pennsylvania Railroad were not +dismissed because of a temporary cessation of traffic. They were +dismissed because the Pennsylvania Railroad has succeeded in so +raising the efficiency of their system that they can permanently run +their lines with 30,000 less employees than they could before. + +Let us endeavor to form some idea of the unemployment during the last +two years. The only State that regularly publishes official reports on +this subject is New York. The State of New York derives its +information from such trade unions as report to it; and from these +reports it seems that during 1908, the average unemployment has been +about one-third. + +As has been intimated, an average of one-third of organized labor +reported by trade unions, means a very much larger proportion of +unorganized labor. It is true that Mr. Beveridge disputes this in one +passage,[47] but he himself furnishes the evidence of its truth in +several others; as for example, where he says that "in practice, +therefore, it is found that acute recurrent distress at times of +seasonal depression is confined to the unskilled occupations";[48] and +again, he points out how the lack of intelligence of unorganized and +semi-skilled and unskilled workmen makes it impossible for them to +take account of the fluctuations that produce unemployment. "The +measure of their failure," he says, "is to be found in those periods +of clamant distress which evoke Mansion House Relief Funds."[49] + +In Chapter V, again, he points out the chronic distress of unskilled +men and that unemployment is largely due to lack of organization. It +stands to reason that whereas a factory owner thinks twice before +dismissing a skilled workman he will not hesitate to dismiss an +unskilled workman whom he can replace at any time.[50] + +However much authorities may differ on this in Europe, there can be no +question about it in America. It was impossible to read the daily +papers in October, 1907, without being satisfied that the first men to +suffer were the unorganized and unskilled. Hardly a day passed for +weeks without papers announcing the discharge of workingmen in batches +of thousands at a time. It was only later that factories shut down, +and then for the most part, a day or so in the week. Unfortunately, +because the unskilled workingman is unorganized, it is impossible to +get any information regarding the extent of unemployment in their +ranks; but it can be stated without fear of contradiction, that the +percentage of unemployment is much larger in the ranks of the +unorganized than in those of trade unions. + +The one-third, therefore, as shown by the New York Labor reports, is +below the mark, I will not undertake to say how much. In endeavoring +to make an estimate as to the extent of unemployment throughout the +entire Union, we must remember that the percentage of employment in +New York is likely to be larger than in purely agricultural States. On +the other hand, nowhere is the percentage of unemployment greater than +in the States devoted to mining. The difficulty under which we find +ourselves, therefore, in giving the exact figure of the extent of +unemployment, makes it wise not to increase the one-third reported by +trade unions in New York in consequence of the certainty that this +proportion was far larger in unorganized labor; and on the other hand, +not to decrease it out of the consideration that there were some +States in which the percentage would not be as much as in the State of +New York. Under these circumstances it may be assumed that the +percentage reported by the trade unions to the Labor Department fairly +represents the average unemployment throughout the whole United States +of America. Taking the census figures of over 7,000,000 as that of the +workingmen in the country, one-third of 7,000,000 is 2,333,333; add to +this the number of persons dependent on these workingmen; four to +each, 9,333,333; add this to the first figure and we get a population +of 11,666,666 which for two years has been on the edge of starvation, +and saved from it only through accumulated earnings, help from trade +unions and charity. As the unskilled workingman can hardly ever save +money owing to the low rate of his wages, and as he is not organized +and never receives benefits from a union, it may be said that the +large majority of these have been living for two years on the charity +of their neighbors. + +It is probable, too, that the trade union member has been reduced to +depending upon charity; for the last report on savings banks shows +that $25,000,000 have been withdrawn during the last year, and their +presidents, when interviewed, recognized that this diminution was +caused by the withdrawal of funds by the unemployed. + +It was also due to the withdrawal of funds by the trade unions. In +October, 1907, many trade unions had large sums accumulated which have +been applied during the year to the support of the unemployed. The +Union of Pressmen had $30,000 last October, all of which has gone to +support the unemployed during the year, and this union has suffered +comparatively little, only 20 per cent being now idle. This 20 per +cent is supported by assessments on those who are at work. + +As regards remedies for unemployment, Mr. Beveridge says that "no cure +for industrial fluctuation can be hoped for; the aim must be +palliation." And he dwells at great length upon the palliative +measures to which Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and to a less extent, +France, have recourse; employment bureaus, insurance against +unemployment, and farm colonies, to which last he refers only +incidentally, pointing out that Hollesley Bay had proved for the most +part ineffectual.[51] These palliatives have, however, rendered +comparatively small service. In Germany, where they have all been +applied, unemployment during 1908 reached the rioting stage, at which +it becomes dangerous and commands the attention of our economists, as +in England. The palliative, to which Mr. Beveridge only incidentally +refers, is, to my mind, calculated not only to diminish the evil +immediately, but to serve as an important bridge over which the +unemployed and unemployables may pass into the Promised Land. The +farm colony, however, belongs to the constructive chapter at the end +of the book. + +Another necessary consequence of the competitive system is a form of +unemployment which, because of its importance, deserves consideration +by itself--Prostitution. + + +Sec. 3. PROSTITUTION + +Prostitution is not an easy or agreeable subject to treat; it will be +disposed of, therefore, in the fewest words possible. The treatment of +it will be summary, not because the subject is unimportant, but +because it is abominable. And if it is true that Socialism would put +an end to it, this alone, for those who can comprehend the horrors +thereof, ought to justify Socialism whatever be the sacrifice +necessary to the realization of it. If our present competitive system +is responsible for the evil to both sexes that results from +prostitution, then the maintenance of this system is, so far as every +one of us by indifference tolerates it, nothing less than crime. + +We must begin by making ourselves clear as to what prostitution is. + +Mere promiscuity of sexual relation does not constitute prostitution, +for many a woman is unfaithful to her husband many times without +losing social consideration, provided only she conduct herself with +sufficient discretion to avoid scandal. + +Nor does intercourse for money constitute prostitution; for then +prostitution would include all those who marry for money. The real +definition of a prostitute is a woman who has intercourse both +promiscuously and for a money reward, promiscuity and gain must be +united. + +Now it will later be made clear that in a Socialist state because +every woman would be furnished an opportunity to work, none would be +driven to prostitution. + +Prostitution is generally the direct result of the disgrace put upon a +woman by loss of virtue. She is turned out of her home and her +legitimate employment. She has then but one recourse. It is sometimes +due to lack of employment; sometimes to the greater facility +prostitution affords for making a livelihood with the least labor. In +all these cases the _primum mobile_ is the making of a livelihood. As +Socialism would remove this _primum mobile_, would assure a livelihood +to every woman upon the single condition of her performing her +allotted work--there would be no motive for prostitution. If she +refused to perform her allotted task she would become a pauper--but a +prostitute never; for a Socialist state, as will be later explained, +would segregate paupers in farm colonies, where they would be +compelled to support themselves, and would not leave them to +demoralize their neighbors by profligacy and prostitution. + +It may be objected that society keeps itself pure by casting out women +of loose character, and that an innocent girl should not be called +upon to work in a factory side by side with one who will deprave her +if she can. An exhaustive answer to this would involve a study of the +special conditions of each State, the laws of each State, the mental +attitude of the people, their tolerance of immorality or their +intolerance of it. It is a problem common to every society. This +exhaustive study it is not the province of this book to undertake; the +subject must be disposed of, therefore, by the following general +considerations: + +In the society of the wealthy to-day we are confronted by the same +problem as would be presented in a cooperative commonwealth in which +prostitution would be rendered impossible by state employment +regardless of morality. In other words, wealth does for the wealthy +class what Socialism would do for the unwealthy; it makes prostitution +improbable if not impossible. And the wealthy manage to solve the +problem of promiscuity--every wealthy society for itself in its own +way. + +In one country the woman who outrages morality is socially ostracized; +in another she is tolerated; in one country divorces are not only +lawful, but fashionable; in others the church forbids divorce but +tolerates the complaisant husband. _All these are problems of sex +which Socialism does not undertake to solve._ Later on the scientific +and ethical aspects of Socialism will, I hope, lead to the conclusion +that Socialism will so raise our ethical standards and habits of mind +that sexual irregularities will tend to diminish. Prostitution, +however, is not a sex, but an economic problem. A woman does not +receive money payment except for economic reasons. If the economic +pressure is removed she may be licentious, but she will not be a +prostitute. Chastity ought to be a purely moral or social question, +not an economic one. The competitive system makes it economic, and of +all the crimes imputable to the competitive system, this is the +greatest, for it directly perverts not only the human body, but the +human soul. Of course, unemployment, in degenerating the body, +ultimately degenerates the soul also, but the latter generation is +more or less remote; the public conscience may be forgiven for not +having discovered or taken account of it. But that we should see women +daily compelled by hunger to sell soul as well as body and should then +shut against them the door of our homes and our hearts, is a crime not +only against them, but against ourselves. We are hardening our hearts +as well as theirs. We are forcing our minds to that obliquity which +sees in Socialism only "pornographic literature" and "pornographic +propaganda" and charges the men who sacrifice their lives to the +putting an end to the conditions that produce prostitution with +"criminal nonsense" and "grave mental or moral shortcoming."[52] + +This evil, like all evils that arise from the competitive system, is +not incidental or occasional, but inherent and necessary. It cannot be +better stated than by Miss Woodbridge, the secretary of the Working +Women's Society, in a report made to the Society on May 6, 1890: + +"It is a known fact that men's wages cannot fall below a limit upon +which they can exist, but woman's wages have no limit, since the paths +of shame are always open to her. The very fact that some of these +women receive partial support from brothers or fathers and are thus +enabled to live upon less than they earn, forces other women who have +no such support either to suffer for necessities or seek other means +of support." + +The extent to which wages are reduced below starvation rates is also +stated as follows: + +"The wages, which are low, we find are often reduced by excessive +fines, the employers placing a value upon time lost that is not given +to service rendered. The salaries of saleswomen range from $2.00 to +$18.00, but the latter sum is only paid in rare instances in cloak and +suit departments. The average salary in the best houses does not +exceed $7.00, and averages $4.00 or $4.50 per week. Cashiers receive +from $6.00 to $15.00, averaging about $9.00. Cash girls receive from +$1.50 to $2.50 per week, though we know of but one store where $2.50 +is paid. In the Broadway stores boys are employed, usually on +commission. The average salary of one large shop for saleswomen and +cash girls is $2.40; another $2.90; another $3.10; but in the latter, +the employees are nearly all men and boys. We find in many stores the +rule to fine from five to thirty cents for a few minutes' tardiness. +In one store all women who earn over $7.00 are fined thirty cents for +ten minutes' tardiness. Cash girls who earn $1.75 per week are fined +ten cents for ten minutes' tardiness." + +It is hardly necessary to comment on a wage to saleswomen varying from +$2.40 to $3.10 a week, and this liable to reduction by fines. It will +be observed too that owners of department stores are compelled by the +pressure of the market to seek this half-supported help. Miss +Woodbridge says: + +"In all the stores the tendency is to secure cheap help. You often see +the advertisement reading thus: 'Young misses, just graduated, wanted +for positions as saleswomen;' which means that being girls with homes +they can afford to work cheaper than those who are self-supporting." +The words "just graduated" constitute a direct appeal to the +educated--that is to say, partially supported--women. + +So a self-respecting young girl who desires to contribute to the +expenses of the home, sets the rate of wages which drives her less +fortunate sister to misery and crime, and thus becomes the unconscious +instrument of her shame. + +If anyone is not satisfied that the conditions above described must +result, unsavory details of a kind to persuade him will be found in +the report of Miss Maud E. Miner, probation officer of city +magistrates' courts, published in the Survey. + +Lastly, temptation would be indirectly as well as directly diminished +by the absence of prostitutes as a class. It has been already +intimated that prostitution committed injustice to _both_ sexes. By +this it was intended to refer to the injustice of exposing our young +men to perpetual temptation furnished by the facilities for +prostitution. The whole question of sexual morality is mainly one of +suggestion. Take eight men accustomed to believe that they cannot +dispense with sexual connection; put them in a crew and remove the +suggestion that they can obtain relief at any time by substituting +therefor the notion of loyalty to the crew or a desire to win a race, +and the desire which before seemed uncontrollable practically +disappears. The moment the race is over, the old suggestion returns, +and the night of a boat race has become proverbial in consequence. The +same is true of men who go on hunting expeditions, yachting cruises, +into lumber camps, etc. Desire becomes dormant or controllable as soon +as facilities for gratifying it disappear; the moment the facility +returns, the suggestion is revived, and desire becomes uncontrollable. + +What, then, would be the consequence if the suggestion were minimized +by the absence of prostitution altogether? + +But this is not all: Men who seduce young girls and married women have +learned to gratify their passions through the facility afforded by +prostitution. If our youths were never afforded the chance of taking +that first step which leads to the _facilis descensus_, they would, +from the fact of never having gratified their passions, be less likely +to undertake to gratify them at the cost of seduction. The suggestion +would be absent; all women would tend to be as sacred to a man as his +sister. The relation of brother and sister is due entirely to the +absence of suggestion; he has learned to regard her with an +unconscious respect which removes the possibility of erotic +suggestion. What actually happens in the small family of to-day could +also happen in the larger family of to-morrow. + +This must not be understood as a contention that Socialism would +destroy immorality. Far from it. All that is claimed is that it might +diminish immorality and that it would put an end to prostitution. This +last is reason enough for it. + +It is impossible to treat of the economic cause of prostitution +without discussing its ethical consequences, because the consequences +react upon the cause. But we are here chiefly concerned with its +economic features; and it is impossible to put too much emphasis upon +the fact that the greatest permanent blot upon our civilization is the +necessary result of a competitive system that leaves a large part of +our women no other means of livelihood. + +Although we have carefully distinguished between the woman who sells +herself to one man for a fortune and the common prostitute who sells +herself to many men for a pittance, the first is often more to blame +than the latter, because the latter is compelled by hunger while the +former often barters her chastity out of sheer love of luxury. The +whole heredity of man may be altered by the elimination through +Socialism of the sordid motive for marriage. Avarice may become +diminished by sexual selection. For although sexual selection is not +to-day found to have the force in animal heredity that Darwin thought, +it is an important factor in human heredity, thanks to the opportunity +for deliberate selection furnished by our institution of marriage. But +this belongs to another chapter. + +From a purely economic point of view, prostitution is to be classed +with unemployment, which burdens the community with the support of a +class that in a cooperative commonwealth would be self-supporting. It +seems hardly necessary to state that the dissipation that attends the +life of a prostitute unfits her for work. And not content with being +idle herself, she causes others to be idle and constitutes a permanent +source of contagion, moral and physical, in our midst. + +This is a necessary consequence of the competitive system. + + +Sec. 4. STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS + +Another necessary result of a system of production that sets the man +who works with his hands against the man who works with his head, is +the conflict between capital and labor, that expresses itself in +strikes and lockouts. The conflict itself is treated in detail in the +chapter entitled Trusts and Trade Unions. Here we shall confine +ourselves to its wastefulness in time and money. + +The sixteenth Annual Report of the United States Commissioner of +Labor,[53] for 1901, estimates the loss to employees resulting from +strikes and lockouts from January 1, 1881, to December 1, 1900--a +period of twenty years--at $306,683,223, and the loss to employers +during the same time at $142,659,104--together $449,342,327; or +roughly--$450,000,000. It is interesting to note how much less is the +loss to employers who are relatively able to bear it than to employees +who are relatively unable to bear it. But without regard to the +injustice of a system that bears so hardly upon the workingman, no +practical American who desires to see production attended with the +least waste and friction, can look upon such a loss as this without +impatience and humiliation. + +Quite irrespective of the misery that results from unemployment and +the evils that attend it for the whole community--employed as well as +unemployed--too much emphasis cannot be put upon the foolish waste of +human energy that unemployment occasions. There have been for two +years in this country over a million (and probably much more than a +million) able-bodied men willing and anxious to assist in the +production and distribution of the things we need, and who have not +been permitted to do so--the energy of over a million, and probably a +great many more, absolutely wasted. + +I have been amazed at the indifference of our wealthy class, and even +of the philanthropists amongst our wealthy class, at this condition of +the unemployed until a clue to this indifference was furnished by the +naivete of a few of our captains of industry. + +Here is what one of them, Daniel Guggenheim, president of the American +Smelting and Refining Company, says to the _Wall Street Journal_, +August 10: + +"Every manufacturer in the country has lowered his costs of +production, partly through cheaper prices for raw materials, but +principally on account of the increased efficiency of labor. The +latter is one of the redeeming features of the current depression. + +"For the first time in many years the employer is getting from his men +the 100 per cent in efficiency for which he pays. It is a safe +assertion that prior to the panic the efficiency of labor was no +higher than 75 per cent, perhaps not even that. + +"Another thing--wherever a thousand men are needed, twelve hundred +apply. The result is that the thousand best men are picked; the +others, of necessity, must be turned away. But the thousand work more +conscientiously, knowing that two hundred are waiting to take the +places of the incompetents." + +Here again we have one small class benefited by the misery of +millions of unemployed, and willing to perpetuate this condition of +unemployment in order to profit by it. Of all the waste that attends +the competitive system this waste of human energy is the most unjust, +and the most unjustifiable, unless it can be found that the pauperism +it imposes on the millions and the heartlessness it promotes in the +few, contribute, as the bourgeois tells us, "to make character!" But +if the waste of human energy at the cost of human agony is a matter of +indifference to business men, there is another form of waste which is +likely to appeal to them. We Americans pride ourselves upon our +business efficiency. In the next chapter we will consider the waste of +money that attends the competitive system and how the ablest business +men have set about eliminating it. + + +Sec. 5. ADULTERATION + +It would seem as though the indifference of the public at large to +such wicked and wasteful things as unemployment, strikes, lockouts and +prostitution, were due to hardness of heart; but if we observe a +similar indifference to adulteration which concerns every individual +to the utmost, we have to recognize that tolerance of the evils of the +competitive system is due not so much to hardness of heart as to +stupidity. For since the dawn of our present civilization, +adulteration has been a constant and abominable evil. As the +Encyclopedia Americana puts it: "Adulteration is coexistent with +trade;"[54] and as the Britannica puts it: "The practice of +adulteration has become an art in which the knowledge of science and +the ingenuity of trade are freely exercised." + +Before industrialism had reached its present development the statutes +enacted against adulteration were severe. They punished it with the +pillory and tumbrel. The following are the words of the statute: + +"If any default shall be found in the bread of a baker in the city, +the first time, let him be drawn upon a hurdle from the Guildhall to +his own house through the great street where there be most people +assembled, and through the great streets which are most dirty, with +the faulty loaf hanging from his neck; if a second time he shall be +found committing the same offence, let him be drawn from the Guildhall +through the great street of Cheepe, in the manner aforesaid, to the +pillory, and let him be put upon the pillory, and remain there at +least one hour in the day; and the third time that such default shall +be found, he shall be drawn, and the oven shall be pulled down, and +the baker made to forswear the trade in the city forever."[55] + +As the Encyclopaedia puts it: "All this has given way to the force of +free trade." In other words, freedom of industry has been interpreted +to mean freedom of adulteration, and the Act of 1872 accordingly +punishes adulteration with "a sum not to exceed fifty pounds," and +only provides imprisonment in case of a second offence.[56] + +It is interesting to take up any standard encyclopaedia and read the +cold-blooded accounts of the various poisons introduced into our food +and other commodities for the purpose of adulteration. The matter has +been well treated by Mr. W.J. Ghent;[57] and in spite of the fact that +he is a prominent Socialist his book may be read, because in every +case he cites an authority, and his authorities are, for the most +part, reports of State Commissions and Health Departments. + +It is probable that no article enters more universally into +consumption than milk, and of all the articles that we consume, it is +most important that milk should be pure, because it is the food of +infants and children. Yet in spite of all the laws passed for the +prevention of adulteration of milk, "in New York city, during 1902, of +3970 samples of milk taken from dealers for analysis, 2095, or 52.77 +per cent, were found to be adulterated. The arrests in the city under +the inspection acts were 193 in 1899, 460 in 1900, 464 in 1901, and +722 in 1902."[58] + +The experience in Ohio has been just the same as that of New York: + +"The Dairy and Food Department of that State was created in 1886. +After seventeen years of inspections, arrests and prosecutions, +adulterations of milk still continue. 'Out of 1199 samples tested by +the chemists,' says the report for the year ending November 15, 1903, +'about one-fourth were found to be either below the required standard +in solids and butter fats, or adulterated with that base adulterant +known as "formalin" or "formaldehyde."'"[59] + +Mr. A.J. Wedderburn calculates that 15 per cent of all our products +are adulterated; that is to say, $1,125,000,000 per annum.[60] And +this figure does not include adulterations of wine, whisky, beer, +tobacco, drugs or patent medicines. + +Of eleven samples of coffee compounds analyzed by the Pennsylvania +Department in 1897-1898, "six contained no coffee whatever, and none +contained more than 25 per cent. The contents ranged from pea hulls +(65 per cent in one instance) to bran and the husks of cocoa +beans."[61] + +The Ohio Report of 1898, in describing what is called "renovated +butter," says as follows: + +"These factories have agents in all the large markets who buy up the +refuse from the commission men and retailers, taking stale, rancid, +dirty and unsalable butter in various degrees of putrefaction; this +refuse is put through a process of boiling, straining, filtering, and +renovating, and is finally churned with fresh milk, giving it a more +salable appearance. The effect is only temporary, however, as in a few +days the stuff becomes rancid and the odor it gives off is something +frightful. It is usually sold to people having a large trade who will +dispose of it quickly, for if it is not consumed at once it cannot be +used at all without being further renovated."[62] + +After immense agitation we have had recent legislation of a character +to render adulteration difficult; the Federal Food and Drug Act which +went into effect January 1, 1907, since reenacted in thirty of our +States, and I suppose that many of our fellow-citizens think that this +Food and Drug Act is going to some extent to put an end to +adulteration. But is the experience of the entire race during its +entire history to be treated as of no importance in this connection? +Have we not had laws of this kind before, punishing adulteration in +every way--by the pillory and tumbrel as well as by fines and +imprisonment--and has any of them had any permanent effect in putting +an end to adulteration? How many more centuries are to elapse before +we learn the lesson that, so long as you give to one set of men an +irresistible motive for adulteration, no laws--no penalties, light or +severe, will materially check that impulse. If they are severe the +courts will not enforce them; if they are light the trade will +disregard them. + +It is true that the adulteration of the things we eat and drink is +more important than the adulteration of things we wear. Nevertheless +it is a matter of no small importance that there is hardly a thing +that we do wear that is not adulterated in an astonishing degree. An +interesting paper on this subject was read before the Lake Placid +Conference on Home Economics, 1908.[63] The art of adulterating +textiles seems to be taught in our textile schools: "As a student in a +textile school said to a visitor: 'Our teacher is so clever, he can +spin wool and cotton together so they can never be detected;'" and +adulteration appears to be practically authorized under our New York +State law of 1900, which provides that "collars marked 'linen,' 'all +linen,' and 'pure linen,' must contain at least one thickness or ply +of pure linen." It is a common saying that, although the total supply +of wool in the world is only sufficient to meet one-third of the +demand, there is always wool to be had. + +Of course, one principal reason why adulteration prevails is that it +is impossible for the ordinary consumer to detect it. For example, in +order to analyze stockings they must be destroyed. No consumer is +possessed of the technical schooling necessary to distinguish all-wool +or all-silk goods. Indeed it is stated by high authority that such a +thing as all-silk and all-wool is not to be purchased in the market, +though we continually buy articles declared to be all-wool or +all-silk. + +I do not know whether the advocates of the present industrial +condition, on the ground that it "makes character," would go so far as +to approve of adulteration for this reason. It must be admitted, +however, that virtually everybody engaged in manufacture, production, +and distribution is a partner in the deliberate adulteration of things +for the purpose of cheating the public. This has been coexistent with +trade and has become recognized as one of our modern arts. The extent +to which adulteration is organized can be judged by the fact that "no +less than 40,000,000 pounds of fiber made from old rags, called +'shoddy,' are annually made in Yorkshire, at an estimated value of +L8,000,000 sterling, and that all is used for adulterating woolen +cloth."[64] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[24] Industrial Commission Report, Vol. I, p. 794. + +[25] Ibid., p. 101. + +[26] Ibid., p. 982. + +The results of the work of this Commission are well summed up in Ind. +Com. Rep., Vol. I, Pt. I, p. 39, by Professor Jenks; and the waste +eliminated by trusts still more compendiously treated in "Government," +Vol. II, p. 543, by the author. + +[27] See N.Y. _Tribune_, Jan. 1, 1905, p. 2, column 2. Ibid., Jan. 2, +1905, p. 11, column 1. + +[28] "Socialism and Social Reform," by R.T. Ely, p. 134. + +[29] See N.Y. _Tribune_, Jan. 1, 1905, p. 2, column 2. Ibid., Jan. 2, +1905, p. 11, column 1. + +[30] Report of the Industrial Commission, 1900. Vol. I, p. 199. + +[31] Report of the Industrial Commission, Vol. I, 1900, p. 121. + +[32] _Monde Economique_, Feb. 20, 1897. + +[33] July 19, 1909. + +[34] "Unemployment: A Problem of Industry," by W.H. Beveridge and +others. (Longmans.) + +[35] Ibid., p. 61. + +[36] "Unemployment: A Problem of Industry," by W.H. Beveridge and +others. + +[37] Ibid., p. 63. + +[38] N.Y. _Times_, Oct. 2, 1908. + +[39] "Unemployment." W.H. Beveridge, p. 87. + +[40] Ibid., p. 91. + +[41] "Unemployment." W.H. Beveridge, p. 87. + +[42] Ibid., p. 98. See also "Problems of Unemployment in the London +Building Trades." N.B. Dearles (1908, J.M. Dent). Cf. pp. 87-8. + +[43] Book II, Chapter I. + +[44] Mr. Beveridge denies this in one place, p. 21; but himself +produces proof of it later, p. 35. + +[45] _Financial Chronicle_, Sept. 26, 1908. + +[46] August, 1908. + +[47] Beveridge, "Unemployment," p. 21. + +[48] Ibid., p. 35. + +[49] Beveridge, "Unemployment," p. 65. + +[50] The managers of Trusts have pointed out that in order to keep +their highly skilled men, they have to sell often at a loss; and they +give this as the reason for what is called "dumping" their goods into +foreign markets. In other words, in order not to lower prices in +America during periods of depression due to overproduction, they sell +their goods at a loss abroad.--Industrial Commission, Vol. I, p. 282, + +[51] Beveridge, "Unemployment," p. 182. + +[52] Mr. Roosevelt in the _Outlook_, 1909, p. 622. + +[53] P. 24. + +[54] Americana, Vol. I, Subj. Adulteration. + +[55] Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. I, p. 51. + +[56] An act to amend the laws of adulteration of food, drinks, and +drugs, 1872. + +[57] "Mass and Class," by W.J. Ghent, p. 180-200. + +[58] "The Health Department." A pamphlet published by the City Club +(1903), p. 23. + +[59] Eighteenth Annual Report of the Ohio Dairy and Food Commission +(1903), p. 8. + +[60] Address of Dr. W.C. Mitchell of the Colorado State Board of +Health, before the Portland Pure Food Convention (1902). Journal of +Proceedings of the Sixth Annual Convention of the National Association +of State Dairy and Food Departments, held at Portland, Ore., pp. +378-383. + +[61] "Portland Proceedings," p. 469. + +[62] Ohio Report (1898), p. 10. + +[63] "The Study of Textiles," by Miss Nellie Crooks, Teachers College, +Columbia University, 1908. + +[64] Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. I, Subj. Adulteration. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +CAPITALISM IS WASTEFUL + + +Under the system of free competition in the beginning and middle of +the last century, every investor who saw a profit in refining oil or +sugar, or making steel, put up a refinery or factory. The aim of every +factory was to manufacture the largest amount possible and sell it at +the highest price possible; and this is what Herbert Spencer[65] and +the Manchester School regard as the ideal system of production. Now +let us see just what happens as a result of this system of unlimited +competition. + + +Sec. 1. GETTING THE MARKET + +Every manufacturer and refiner has to find purchasers for his product. +This effort to find purchasers is called in the trade, "getting the +market." + +The expression "getting the market" covers all the expenses attending +the bringing of goods to the attention of the public, and they may be +roughly divided into two principal categories--advertising and +commercial travellers. The public little appreciates the enormous cost +which attends the work of finding a purchaser. Mr. Bradley, after a +careful calculation, estimates that "somewhere between the distiller +and the consumer in this country forty millions of dollars are lost; +this goes primarily to the attempt to secure trade."[66] Mr. Dowe[67] +the President of the Commercial Travellers' National League, testifies +that 35,000 salesmen have been thrown out of employment by the +organization of trusts, and 25,000 reduced to two-thirds of their +previous salaries. This would represent a loss of $60,000,000 in +salaries on a basis of $1200 each. He cites, as instances of trusts +that have dismissed salesmen, the baking powder, bicycle, chair, +paper-bag, rubber, tin-plate, steel and rod, sugar, coffee, thread and +type-founders' combinations. Not only do trusts dismiss salesmen, they +substitute for salesmen who, prior to the organization of the trust +had been earning $4000 to $5000 a year, cheaper salesmen who receive +$18 a week. He also estimates that the dismissal of commercial +travellers means a loss to railways of about $250 per day, 240 days in +the year; in all, $25,000,000. The loss to hotels is about as much, +and "many hotels are likely to become bankrupt if any more travellers +are taken off." + + +Sec. 2. CROSS FREIGHTS + +Another waste attending the competitive system results from "cross +freights," the double freight a refiner sometimes pays for hauling oil +from the well, or sugar from the nearest seaboard and back over +exactly the same ground, when refined, to the customer. So also the +steel manufacturer sometimes pays freight for hauling ore to the coal +mine or coal to the ore, and back, after smelting, to the customer. + +This waste resulting from cross freights is only a small part of a +similar waste that results from competition in the task of +distribution--or retail trade. + +We are all familiar with the amazing results obtained by the national +enterprise known as the Post Office, and how, for the insignificant +sum of two cents, a letter written in New York can be delivered in an +incredibly short space of time in San Francisco, and even perhaps more +incredibly in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. + +Let us consider for a moment the cost of doing this were letters +distributed throughout the country in the same way as our other +commodities, as for example, milk, coal, or bread. It would be +interesting to calculate how many hundred dealers in milk there are in +New York[68] or London, equipped with their own horses, wagons, and +men, each engaged in delivering milk all over the city; add to these +the thousands distributing in like manner bread, and the thousands +distributing coal, and so on with butter, eggs, meat, fish, +vegetables, and all other things that enter into our daily +consumption. + +Every block of houses is served with milk by this large number of milk +dealers instead of by one, as would be the case if the distribution of +milk were in the hands of one agency; so every block is furnished with +butter, eggs, meat, fish, and vegetables by this large number of +dealers in butter, eggs, meat, fish, and vegetables, instead of by +one, and so on, through every article that enters into our daily use. + +Compare with this the economy of time, labor, and expense effected by +the Government Post Office through sorting letters beforehand +according to streets, and confining the distribution in any one street +to a single carrier who distributes the letters with the greatest +economy of time and labor, from door to door. + +No practical business man would be guilty of the stupidity of putting +a hundred men to do the work that could be done just as well by a +single man; and yet, this is exactly the stupidity of which the +competitive system is guilty. Let us consider the unnecessary number +of butcher shops in the city of New York.[69] + +Before methods of communication had attained their present +development, it was necessary that there should be butcher shops in +every block to satisfy the needs of the people in the block. But +to-day, the telephone service permits of ordering meat at a great +distance, and the automobile permits of this meat being rapidly +delivered to the consumer. The best housekeepers residing downtown +to-day go for their meat to a butcher who lives in Harlem. Now there +is no reason why this Harlem butcher should not furnish all the meat +to the island of Manhattan, or indeed to all in Greater New York. But +there is a reason why under our competitive system this should not +take place, and this is the stupidity of butchers in particular and +the stupidity of the community at large. Most butchers believe that +they can make most money by cheating their customers; and the public +at large believe all butchers equally dishonest and therefore deal +with the butcher nearest them. This stupidity is to a great extent +justified. The art of the butcher consists in finding out to which +customers he can sell third-class meat at first-class prices;[70] and +as a rule, he is so successful in doing this that no butcher is ever +known to fail. On the contrary, they all grow rich. This being the +rule, the public is justified in giving up the expectation of being +honestly served, so that it is only the most intelligent housewives +who discover that there are butchers who do not have dishonest +methods. Thus the stupidity of butchers and public tends to encourage +the multiplicity of shops and keeps in the butcher business an +enormously larger number than is necessary. If now we take into +consideration that what is true of butchers is true of almost every +dealer in the articles of food we consume, we shall appreciate how +much waste of human effort there is in this business of distribution. +But all this waste, encouraging stupidity in the customer and +dishonesty in the retailer, is endorsed because it "makes character!" + +Last but not least is the loss of by-products that inevitably results +from manufacturing upon anything less than a gigantic scale. + +The managers of the Standard Oil Trust testify that among the waste +products capable of being utilized in sufficiently large refineries +are gasoline, paraffine, lubricating oil, vaseline, naphtha, aniline +dyes, and no less than two hundred drugs; and that the total value of +these waste products is actually as great as that of the oil +itself.[71] + +Is or is not the contention with which this chapter started, +justified? It was charged that the competitive system is stupid +because wasteful and disorderly, and that it was unnecessarily +immoral, unjust, and cruel. The testimony of men recognized as the +highest authorities has been produced to demonstrate its wastefulness: + +Waste of capital owing to bankruptcy, to working at irregular +efficiency, to frequent change of dimension, to cost of "getting the +market," to cross freights, to anarchy of distribution, to loss of +by-products; + +Waste of human energy in the work of competition; and above all in +unemployment leading to vagrancy and pauperism. + +And we need produce no testimony to prove things so obvious as the +immorality, injustice, and cruelty of overemployment and unemployment +and the necessary results thereof: drunkenness, disease, pauperism, +prostitution, insanity, and crime. + +One word only still needs explanation: It has been stated that this +immorality, injustice, and cruelty are "unnecessary." It is useless to +rail at these things if they are necessary. Nature is often immoral, +unjust and cruel. The survival of the few fit and the corresponding +sacrifice of the many unfit has no justification in morality. Death, +deformity, and disease are often both unjust and cruel. Yet against +these last we are in great part helpless. It is not enough to show +that the competitive system results in evil; we have to demonstrate +that these evils are avoidable; and that our remedy for them will not +involve still greater evils. This belongs to the final chapters on +Socialism; and is referred to here only to assure the reader that it +has not been overlooked. + +Sufficient emphasis, however, has not yet been put upon the lack of +order that characterizes the competitive system. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[65] "A Plea for Liberty," p. 17: + +"Under our existing voluntary cooperation with its free contracts and +its competition, production and distribution need no official +oversight. Demand and supply, and the desire of each man to gain a +living by supplying the needs of his fellows, spontaneously evolve +that wonderful system whereby a great city has its food daily brought +round to all doors or stored at adjacent shops; has clothing for its +citizens everywhere at hand in multitudinous varieties; has its houses +and furniture and fuel ready made or stocked in each locality; and has +mental pabulum from halfpenny papers, hourly hawked round, to weekly +shoals of novels, and less abundant books of instruction, furnished +without stint for small payments. And throughout the kingdom, +production as well as distribution is similarly carried on with the +smallest amount of superintendence which proves efficient; while the +quantities of the numerous commodities required daily in each locality +are adjusted without any other agency than the pursuit of profit." + +[66] Report of the Industrial Commission, pp. 829-831, Vol. I, 1900. + +[67] Ibid., pp. 27-36. + +[68] This work has been in part eliminated by combination. But the +economies resulting therefrom have all gone to the combinations. The +consumer pays just as much as he did before. + +[69] Trow's Business Directory of New York city, 1909, lists about +4000 retail butcher shops in Manhattan and The Bronx. There are about +275 postal stations in the same territory. + +[70] All good housekeepers know this by experience. I know it from the +butchers themselves, who explained it in the course of an effort to +arrange a combination of butchers in Paris. + +[71] Testimony of Mr. Archbold (pp. 570-571) in the Report of the +Industrial Commission, Vol. I, 1900. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +CAPITALISM IS DISORDERLY + + +Nature is both orderly and disorderly. She is orderly, for example, in +the general succession of her seasons, in the average rainfall, the +average sunshine. She is orderly in the regular drawing of water from +the ocean to the hills and the return of water from the hills to the +ocean. But Nature is extremely disorderly in her detail. Some years +rainfall is deficient and men starve because of drouth. Other years +the sunshine is insufficient and men starve because of rain. The +beneficent flow of water from the hills to the ocean is attended by +disorder which is often calamitous; the river swells to a torrent in +one place and spreads out to unwholesome marshes in another. + +The power of man to profit by the order of Nature and to adjust its +disorder is an attribute that makes man almost divine; for this power +exerts as great influence over the soul of man as over the matter of +Nature. Man has demonstrated his control over Nature by protecting +himself against deficiency of water through reservoirs, and against +excess of rain through drainage; he has robbed torrents of their +terrors by dykes, and made them his servants by irrigation; he drains +the swamp and waters the desert. In one respect only has he failed to +exercise as yet sufficient control; namely, the competitive system. +The competitive system is applauded by Herbert Spencer because he +finds it in Nature. But Nature does not proceed only upon the +competitive plan. She furnishes us with the beehive and anthill as +types of cooperation, from which man can not only learn a lesson, but +receive a warning; for the evils that attend the cooperative plan of +the beehive are almost as great as those that attend the competitive +or predatory system.[72] What man then has to do is not blindly to +follow Nature either as respects her competitive system or her +cooperative system; but to do in this direction what he has done in +others--profit by what is good and orderly in Nature and suppress what +is evil and disorderly in it. + + +Sec. 1. ANARCHY OF PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION + +The intelligent business man has been at work in suppressing the evils +of the competitive system. He has found the waste and disorder +attending unlimited competition so abominable that he has suppressed +competition to the utmost possible by the organization of trusts. It +has been pointed out that the disorder attending our production and +distribution gives rise to anarchy in both these departments of +industry. As long as every man is free to produce exactly what he +chooses--what he thinks will benefit him, there is no rational +relation between supply and demand. + + +(_a_) _Tyranny of the Market_ + +This process is going on in every industry. Capital rushes away from +business where there is no profit to business where there is profit. +The result is that the capitalist generally discovers a demand for an +article too late to profit by it, and does not discover that there is +no demand for an article until he is ruined by the discovery. The +boasted "fluidity of capital" causes it to pour from one industry to +another in obedience to what is called "the market"; and of all the +despotisms that the folly of man has subjected him to, none for +stupidity and pitilessness approaches the market. So long as there was +no large-enough combination of capital to acquire knowledge of the +supply and demand that determines market price or to any extent +control it, no man, however intelligent, could tell when prices were +going to rise and when to fall. And although the older economists +loved to dwell upon the fluidity of labor as well as upon the fluidity +of capital, they failed to take account of the bankruptcy that attends +the one or the appalling conditions that attend the other. For when +the supply of labor is large and factories are running at low +capacity; when men and women are seeking employment, and the demand +for labor is small, the effect of this law is to reduce wages below +the rate necessary to support life; the unemployed are then reduced to +a choice between the almshouse and starvation. + +This evil consequence is a matter over which isolated employers have +little or no control; for the very same cause that reduces wages +reduces also the price of goods. It is because the demand for goods is +small that the manufacturer has to run his factory at a reduced +capacity; and the demand being small, the manufacturer cannot get a +remunerative price for his goods. Now the thing that reduces prices is +competition, and the thing that reduces wages is competition, and the +main source of every financial, commercial, and industrial disaster is +competition. Employer and employee are alike subjected to the +levelling principle. The moment a particular manufacture is found to +be profitable, and therefore able to pay a high rate of wages, new +factories are started and wages reduced by the competition of +workingmen. The flow to this industry, therefore, of both capital and +labor, inevitably reduces not only wages by the direct competition +between workingmen, but also the profit out of which high wages were +originally paid. + +Employer, therefore, and employee are both slaves of the market; the +employer cannot get more than the market price for his goods, and out +of this he has to pay for his raw material, the cost of running the +factory, and the wages of his men. He cannot reduce the price of raw +material nor the cost of running the factory--rent, fuel, etc.; these +too are determined by the market. The only thing he can reduce is +wages: so he is driven to reduce wages or close his factory, for he +cannot long run his factory at a loss. + +And so anarchy of production and anarchy of distribution lead +inevitably, as all anarchy does, to despotism--the despotism of the +market. + + +(_b_) _Tyranny of the Trust_ + +Now trusts are an attempt of capital to escape from the tyranny of the +market, to eliminate the waste of competition and bring order in the +place of disorder by making supply proportionate to demand. The +testimony of John D. Rockefeller before the Industrial Commission is +illuminating on this subject. In answer to Question 9, he says that he +"ascribes the success of the Standard Oil to its consistent policy to +make the _volume of its business large_." To Question 10, he says he +did this "by cooperation, or what is the same thing, combination." But +the necessity of keeping the volume of the business large made it +indispensable to extend the market. He says "Dependent solely upon +local business, we should have failed years ago. We were forced to +extend our market and to seek for export trade." "And so," he says, +"the Standard Oil spared no expense in _forcing_ its products into the +markets of the world." + +The despotism of the market extends over the whole world. It is +impossible for any one nation to organize its industry, or for the +industry of any one nation to organize itself, under a world-wide +competitive system, without taking into consideration the conditions +of the world market. The Standard Oil could not maintain prices in +competition with foreign oil. It had to carry the industrial war into +Europe and Asia, and did this by eliminating competition at home; +putting an end to anarchy of distribution as well as to anarchy of +production; by transforming the whole system through the building of +pipe lines, the use of tank cars and tank steamers, through an +enormous aggregation of capital, and the use of every ingenious +improvement. The Standard Oil succeeded in doing this and "receiving +in return from foreign lands nearly $50,000,000 per year." + +Mr. Rockefeller is an adroit witness, and carefully refrained from +reference to the methods by which competition was crushed as an +indispensable preliminary to what he calls the "enlargement of the +business." Mr. H.O. Havemeyer, President of the Sugar Trust, was more +frank. Here is his testimony on this subject in full: + +_Q._ (By Senator Mallory) "Did I understand you to say--perhaps I may +have misunderstood you a while ago--that it was your policy to make as +much profit out of the consumer as you possibly could?"--_A._ +"Consistent with business methods." + +_Q._ "Consistent with business principles. In other words, your idea +is that your organization, the American Sugar Refining Company, will, +if it can, get the maximum profit out of its business from the +consumer. Now, I also understood you to imply at least that it is the +policy of the American Sugar Refining Company to crush out all +competition if possible."--_A._ "But that is not so; there is no such +testimony. I understand it has been put in that form by one of the +gentlemen here, but it is not the fact. What I said was that it was +the policy of the American Sugar Refining Company to maintain and +protect its trade, _and if it resulted in crushing a competitor it is +no concern of the American Company; if he gets in the press, that is +his affair, not ours_." + +_Q._ "And if anyone interferes with the business, profits, or +competition of the American Sugar Refining Company, it is its policy +to prevent it if possible?"--_A._ "By lowering profits to defy it." + +_Q._ "And if it results in crushing him out?"--_A._ (Interrupting) +"That is his affair." + +_Q._ "Not the affair of the American Sugar Refining Company?"--_A._ +"No." + +_Q._ "Now, suppose in the natural course of events the American Sugar +Refining Company should suppress--we will not use the words 'crush +out'--all competition, all opposition. I understand from your +theory--business principles--that you would then seek to get out of +the public and consumer the largest amount of profit consistent with +your idea of business principles?"--_A._ "Precisely." + +_Q._ "Then, if you had the power to charge or impose prices on the +public, what would be your idea of the limit that the public could +possibly stand?"--_A._ "I think it would stand a quarter of a cent +to-day. I think we could do it for twenty cents a hundred. I think the +country is really damaged by having a number of people in the +business." + +_Q._ "That is not an answer to my question. My question is the limit. +What restraint would you put upon yourselves? What would be your +restraint?"--_A._ "I call that restraint business consideration." + +_Q._ "Would it not be the utmost limit that the consumer would +bear?"--_A._ "Until we had competition we should be in that position, +but whether or not we would exercise it, is quite another matter." + +The very effort of Mr. Havemeyer to disown the "policy of crushing out +competition" followed immediately by his admission that a trust is a +"press" built for that purpose, is indicative of the capitalist's mind +on the subject: At one moment he naively admits what a moment before +he emphatically denied. The trust, then, is the organization of an +industry by one or a few men strong enough to suppress competition and +bleed the consumer. + +The tyranny of the market has been suppressed only to substitute +therefor the tyranny of the trust. And this new tyranny has for effect +to enrich the trust magnate at the expense of the whole nation. + +The course of industrial events beginning with the creation of guilds +to suppress the anarchy of the Middle Ages; the tyranny of the guilds; +the revolt against the guild; its suppression; the substitution +therefor of so-called freedom of industry, of contract, of trade; the +disorder or anarchy that ensued; the despotism of the market; the +gradual suppression of all three freedoms in order to escape from the +despotism of the market; and this suppression only preparing the way +for the tyranny of the trust, is not accidental. It is a cycle through +which industry had to pass till mankind found its way of escaping from +the whirlpool. + +We find the same cycle in the political world. The anarchy of the +horde paving the way to the despotism of the tyrant; the despotism of +the tyrant creating a revolt resulting in a new anarchy leading to +another despotism as bad as the last, until staggering between anarchy +and despotism, men slowly evolved a system of popular government. We +shall see later that popular government can never remain popular under +a system of industrial anarchy or industrial despotism, and that our +industrial organization must adopt a system of popular control, if +popular government is ever to become in fact as well as in name, +popular. + +Suffice it to point out that our industrial development following a +law of necessity has so far staggered like a drunken man from anarchy +to despotism and from despotism to anarchy--and that we are not likely +to attain order from despotism until we recognize that the competitive +system, such as we now have, can never attain it; and that it can be +attained only by a deliberate substitution of cooperation for +competition _to the extent necessary_. + + +(_c_) _Tyranny of the Union_ + +Let us now consider another part of the industrial field which seems +destined to be the arena of the next great development--the field of +labor. + +The consumer is not organized as yet; he has not waked up to the +extent to which he is fleeced by the trust. But labor is organized, +driven to organization by the terrible consequences of the freedom of +contract[73] for which he clamored so loud in the Revolutionary +period. A workingman alone, ignorant of the profits earned by the +manufacturer, ignorant of the number of workingmen applying for work, +himself hungry, and with a hungry family to support, is no match for +an employer with sufficient capital at his disposal, a considerable +knowledge of the labor market where he can find men to replace such as +ask for a higher wage than he is willing to pay, and with practically +no reason to fear hunger or even discomfort for himself or for those +who are dear to him. + +Freedom of contract, therefore, meant for the unorganized workingman +at the beginning of the nineteenth century, not freedom, but slavery. +It will be later recorded how inevitably the tyranny of the market and +the greed of capital combined to reduce workingmen to starvation wages +and condemn women and children to degrading labor. One of two things +had to happen: The whole laboring class had to be reduced to a +condition of permanent slavery, or the laboring class had to combine +to put an end to competition between worker and worker that left them +at the mercy of the market. That men reduced to the physical condition +created by the industrialism of a century ago should have had the +intelligence, courage, and self-restraint to combine and act in +concert until they were able to some extent to impose rates of wages +upon the employers, seems to-day hardly less than miraculous, and +ought to serve as a warning to capitalists that they can no longer +dispute the coming political power of such workingmen, or remain +indifferent to it, or even denounce it with _Outlook_ intemperateness. + +Mr. Eliot, President Emeritus of Harvard University, is outraged by +what he regards as the tyranny of the trade union. Has he ever thought +of the tyranny of the trust, or the tyranny of the market from which +both inevitably spring? Has he ever understood that such a competitive +system as ours can only put an end to anarchy by despotism; and can +only shake off despotism at the risk of anarchy? + +But the subject of trusts and trade unions is too large to be treated +as an incident in the discussion of the evils of the competitive +system. I shall content myself, therefore, with summing up briefly the +course of events through which industrial development has passed, for +the light it throws upon the course through which it has still to +pass: + +Anarchy of industrial conditions during the Middle Ages gave rise to +the guild, which for a season substituted order for disorder. + +The order introduced by the guild involved regulation; regulation +involves power; and wherever power is exercised free from efficient +popular control, it must end in tyranny. + +The tyranny of the guild aroused a revolt and the cry of freedom of +trade, freedom of industry, freedom of contract; these three freedoms +under the competitive system reintroduced an era of anarchy--both in +production and distribution--both for the employer and the employee, +subject only to the despotism of the market. + +The employees undertook to put an end to competition between employees +by organizing trade unions. + +The employers undertook to put an end to competition between employers +by organizing trusts. + +So the anarchy which, under the competitive system, must result from +freedom, has given rise to the tyranny of the market, and the effort +to escape the tyranny of the market to two other tyrannies--of the +trust and of the trade union. These two tyrannies stand to-day not +only arrayed against one another, but in the bitterest conflict--in +the courts, in strikes, lockouts, and ultimately on the field of +politics. + +One thing stands out in singular relief from the foregoing sketch, +viz., that it is freedom--of industry, of contract, and of trade--the +battle cry both of the bourgeois employer and the proletarian +employee--that has led to these two tyrannies. + +At the present time I believe that the confusion in the ranks not only +of the employer, but of the employee, as regards this so-called +freedom--a freedom that both are clamoring for but neither have ever +attained--is responsible for the failure of both to understand one +another. And the subject of freedom or liberty will therefore be +discussed in a chapter to itself. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[72] "Government," Vol. I, p. 276. + +[73] Book II, Chapter IV. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +PROPERTY AND LIBERTY + + +The savage in a savage country, free from all constraint of law, +custom, or government, must, I suppose, be admitted to enjoy the +greatest freedom conceivable. He is free to hunt what animals he +chooses; to pick the fruits of the earth; to gather the shells by the +seashore. He is free also to till any part of the land if he knows how +to do it; to sow and harvest it. He is also free to rob his fellow +men; to enslave them; to kill them and, if his tastes so incline, to +eat them. + +But such a savage, while enjoying the greatest freedom conceivable, is +also exposed to the greatest risk conceivable; for example, he is +exposed to the risk of having the animals he hunts taken from him by +one stronger than he; if he tills the ground and reaps the harvest, he +is liable to have that harvest taken from him; and though he is free +to rob, enslave, kill, and eat his fellow men, his fellow men are +equally free to rob, enslave, kill, and eat him. + +The same thing, of course, is true of his domestic relations. He may +capture any female he likes and compel her to serve as his wife; but +he is liable at any time to have his wife taken from him. As regards +his physical and domestic needs, therefore, while he enjoys the +greatest freedom possible, he is exposed to the greatest risk also. + + +Sec. 1. ORIGIN OF PROPERTY + +It may be said for this order of things, if things can be said to have +order where there is no order, that the strong men would prefer this +system to one under which they would be limited as to the satisfaction +of appetite, passion, and caprice. But the strongest men are liable to +be subdued by a sufficient number of weaker men, as Polyphemus was +subdued by Ulysses and his crew. So the strong men in the community as +well as the weak, early discovered the importance of agreeing to +respect each one the rights of the other in the things which through +their labor they had acquired. Long, then, before there was any system +of written law, our savage ancestors recognized the right of men in +the product of their toil; and this recognition, whether we find it in +the Ten Commandments of the Jews, or the Twelve Tables of the Romans, +or in the customs of more savage races, is nothing more nor less than +the institution of property. + +Although this institution of property involves an abridgment of +freedom--for under the property system nobody is free to rob +another--nevertheless it is an abridgment of freedom by which everyone +except the lazy profits; and it tends to put an end to laziness, +because, under this institution of property, only those who work can +eat. + +It is because the institution of property is an abridgment of freedom +that property and liberty are treated together in this chapter. It is +impossible correctly to understand the one without the other. It will +be seen later that as civilization develops and men are crowded +together in a small space, it becomes indispensable to the convenience +of all that freedom should be further abridged; and that so long as +the freedom of the individual is abridged, not only for the benefit of +his neighbors, but of himself, the abridgment is a good thing and not +a bad. Whereas, when we find freedom being abridged to the +disadvantage of the many and the advantage of a few, then it will turn +out that this abridgment is a bad thing and not a good. + +One feature about the abridgment of freedom it is impossible to +emphasize too much: In nations in which liberty is supposed most to +prevail, the abridgment of freedom is for the most part confined to +matters which involve little or no sacrifice. For example, the average +citizen does not find himself in the slightest degree hampered by the +criminal code; he does not want to kill or rob; it is perfectly clear +to him that the sacrifice he makes of his freedom to kill or rob is of +no importance by the side of the enormous security he receives as +regards those people who might want to kill or rob him. + +Socialism has been much injured by certain fanciful writers who have +suggested various abridgments of human freedom that would be +altogether abominable; as for example, the undue limitation of a man's +liberty to choose his wife, and to choose his occupation. And +opponents of Socialism use these totally discredited suggestions as +weapons with which to fight Socialism; though in fact, modern +Socialism repudiates them altogether. + +The institution of property, in abridging freedom, creates duties; and +in furnishing security, establishes rights. Thus we say that men have +a right of property in the product of their toil; a right to enjoy the +cabins they have built; a right to harvest the grain they have sown. +And the same thing can be said of rights and duties as has been said +about the abridgment of freedom. So long as no man exacts rights of +property in anything more than the result of his labor, so long is he +only asking what is due to him. + +And the institution of property in the product of men's toil is not +only justified by convenience, but is also ordered by religion. It is +only economic expression of the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you +would that they should do unto you;" or "I shall respect your right to +the cabin you have built, as I expect you to respect my right to the +cabin I have built." + +Moreover, even though this were not the rule imposed by religion, it +is a rule imposed by the principle of the survival of the fit. In the +conflict between races, those races in which rights of property were +respected were bound to prevail over those in which these rights were +not respected, because respect for rights of property such as these is +the only condition upon which a race can become prosperous, accumulate +wealth, strength, and all the resources that enable one race +successfully to fight with another. And here we see the first +reconciliation between religion and science. Both teach exactly the +same thing; that is to say, the Golden Rule. + +In one sense the institution of property abridges freedom. In another +sense it enlarges it. For if a man has not only to kill his game, but +to protect it from others, he is a slave to the game he has killed +until he has eaten it. Whereas if the community in which he lives has +adopted the institution of property and respects it, he can leave his +game unprotected, and has leisure therefore for other occupation. It +will be seen ultimately that if the institution of property were +confined to the product of men's toil, the increase of knowledge of +the last few centuries would permit of another enormous enlargement of +freedom, for it would permit of the organization of labor in such a +manner that the work of securing the necessaries of life that now +costs the savage all his time, and the workingman of to-day between +eight and twelve hours of his day, need really only cost him a +comparatively insignificant fraction of it. But the demonstration of +this must be left until later.[74] + +We have seen, therefore, that so long as property is confined to the +product of men's toil, all is well. The freedom of a savage life which +exposed every man to being robbed by every other man is what we call +license. The freedom, on the contrary, under the institution of +property which secures to men the product of their toil, we may call +liberty--liberty being freedom secured by law. + +"Legum omnes servi sumus, ut liberi esse possumus."[75] + +However simple the idea of property of men in the product of their +toil may seem to be, it has in practical life never yet been realized. +There are many reasons for this. + +If a community were to attempt to-day to divide its available land into +tracts of just the size each one could himself cultivate, results would +very soon demonstrate that such a division is a physical impossibility. +Land varies much in fertility, and the amount of labor necessary to +cultivate one acre of land is very different from that necessary to +cultivate another acre of land. Men differ in their ability to +cultivate. One lacks strength; another intelligence--indeed, some lack +intelligence so much that they can never successfully cultivate their +own land, and these naturally become the employees of those who can. +Again, cultivation, of land leaves nothing for a man to do for a part +of the year, and gives him a great deal more than one man can do during +the rest of the year. It is impossible, therefore, to divide up the +available land of any community into parts which will mathematically or +even approximately correspond with the amount of work that each man can +do during the year. Then, too, the men who render great services to the +community seem entitled to larger buildings, better accommodations, +more ease and comfort, more personal service than those who render no +service beyond simply the day's work upon land. We find ourselves +confronted immediately by the enormous difficulty that results from the +inequality of land and the inequality of men, in any attempt to frame a +society which will even approximately assure to every man the product +of his own labor. These are inherent difficulties which no statesman +can disregard. + +These difficulties have been enormously increased by the selfishness, +the intelligence, the violence, and the craft of men, which have been +used to secure to some such large tracts of land that the majority +were left without land altogether. And this system tends to be +perpetuated by the natural and laudable desire of every man to leave +his children after his death as well off as himself, thus creating +laws regarding testacy and intestacy of a character to secure this. +But the satisfaction of this laudable paternal instinct has had a bad +effect upon the community; for, whereas we are all disposed to allow +to every man the property which he has accumulated himself, even +though this accumulation confers upon him larger wealth than his +services warrant, we cannot but feel it improper that his issue, who +may be altogether worthless persons, should be enabled through the +success of their skilful ancestor to lead lives of idleness and even +profligacy from generation to generation. We are all, for example, +outraged to think that because John Jacob Astor over a century ago +had the forethought to invest his earnings in New York real estate, +his descendant, William Waldorf Astor, should to-day, though he has +abjured his American nationality and thereby escapes the payment of +personal taxes, nevertheless receive millions annually arising from +property which has increased in value through the labor of Americans +and not through any labor of his own. + +Thus we find that owing to inherent physical difficulties such as the +inequality of land and the inequality of men, and owing to moral +difficulties some of which are reprehensible, as for example, avarice +and violence; and others commendable, such as intelligence and love of +offspring, notions of property have become altogether different in +fact from what they are in theory. Rights of property are not confined +to the product of men's toil, but cover all those things which a +family has been enabled under the law to accumulate whether by good +deeds or by bad. This has given rise to two well-defined classes--one +very small which owns land, and the other very large which owns no +land. And the fact that the small class owns land and the large one +does not own it, makes the latter dependent upon the former. + +Much the same thing has taken place as regards personal property. +Relatively few men have secured control of the great industries of the +country, and are thereby in a position to dictate who shall work at +these industries, and as to the wages and conditions under which the +work shall be done. + +Economically, therefore, the world can be divided into two sets of +people--a small set that owns the land and controls our industries; +and an enormous number of people dependent upon these; that is to say, +the vast majority can only work at these industries upon the +conditions imposed by a relatively insignificant minority. + +The institution of property, therefore, originally destined to assure +to men the product of their toil, has altogether changed in character, +so that it--on the contrary--puts a very few men in a position where +they can exploit the labor of the rest. + +A study of property and liberty cannot be separated from a study of +government, because the institution of property involves the idea of +law, and of a government to enforce the law. So long as no man seeks +to secure more property than the product of his labor, the amount of +government necessary to enforce the law need be but small--only just +enough to compel the lazy to work and to prevent them from stealing. +But the moment the institution of property is extended to cover more +than the product of labor, government has to be harsh; for as this +perverted notion of property creates a small propertied class and a +large proletariat, it is obvious that the government has to be +bolstered by a powerful organization of law courts, prisons, army, and +police in order to enable a very small minority to coerce a very large +majority. In fact, in our ancient civilizations the propertied class +consisted of either priests, soldiers, or both. In the case of the +priests, it was the domination of superior intelligence over +unintelligent superstition; and in the case of the soldiers, it was +the domination of organized force. Now, if the small propertied class +which controlled the government had governed well, or indeed had +governed without grossly outraging the governed, the whole development +of man might have been different. But it is not in human nature for a +few men possessed of autocratic power to use that power wisely. There +are exceptional periods in the history of the world when autocratic +power has been used wisely; but in the long run the opportunities +furnished by unlimited power to the evil propensities in men are +certain to result in gross injustice. Such is the testimony of +history. + +Now if the few in the exploitation of the many had shown as much +temperance and wisdom as our ranch-men show to their cattle--and this +God knows is not much--the few might have enjoyed their liberty at the +expense of the many for an indefinite period. But they have shown so +little of either that in the State of New York our official Labor +Bulletin publishes that there have been for two years past about +200,000 breadwinners unable to earn the means of subsistence, and this +means--on the generally admitted average of four dependents (aged, +infirm, women, and children) to every breadwinner--a million human +beings on the verge of starvation for no fault of their own. And as +the population of New York is about one-tenth that of the whole +country, it would seem as though in this great, wealthy, prosperous +nation of ours freedom spells for some ten millions of people freedom +only to starve. + +And as these ten millions are not cattle, but men and women with +hearts and brains, armed with a vote and carefully--nay, +compulsorily--educated to use this vote effectually, it does seem a +little foolish to imagine that they will continue indefinitely to +tolerate these conditions, if they can be changed. + +So not only by the unfortunate majority, but also by some of the +fortunate minority who have bowels of compassion, the question is +being asked with insistence whether these conditions may not be +changed and if so how. + +Conspicuous among the evils that have resulted from misgovernment by +the propertied class, are personal slavery and political despotism. +And the history of the world may be summed up as the effort of the +majority to escape from these two evils. + +One reason why men have confused ideas about liberty is that they have +not carefully distinguished the various phases through which this +conflict has passed; for there are three kinds of liberty, all of +which are singularly interwoven one with the other and yet each of +which is distinctly different from the other. + +There is personal liberty; that is, freedom from physical restraint. +In all civilized countries, personal liberty has been, to a large +measure, secured. Slavery, except in some parts of Africa, is +practically unknown, and every individual is protected from arbitrary +arrest west of Russia. + +Next comes political liberty, which in so-called popular governments +we are supposed to enjoy; that is, we are supposed to be no longer +subject to autocratic government; we are supposed each to have a voice +in determining who are to govern us and what are to be the laws under +which we are to be governed. It will be seen later on that this +so-called political liberty is, in fact, enjoyed only by a very few +people in any country of the world, though universal franchise seems +to assure it to all. + +Third and last, there is economic liberty; that is, freedom to earn +one's living. We have seen that the lawless savage enjoys economic +freedom. There is no restraint whatever upon him in procuring those +things which he needs--whether food, clothing, or shelter. We have +also seen that his position was immensely improved by the institution +of property in the product of toil, for under this definition of +property he practically enjoyed security and retained all the freedom +previously enjoyed except the freedom to rob; and he enjoyed thereby a +larger freedom because he did not have to keep perpetual watch over +the things he had hunted or produced. + +But the moment the land was appropriated by a few men so that the +majority could not work on the land except as the wage servants of the +propertied class, then economic liberty came to an end; for no man can +be considered economically free if he depends upon some other man not +only for the means of subsistence, but for opportunity to work in +order to earn the means of subsistence. This economic dependence, due +to the appropriation of land by a class, results in a loss of all the +other liberties; for the franchise is of no value to a man every +waking hour of whose day has to be spent in earning a wage just +sufficient to support himself and his family. A vote can only be +effectually exercised if directed by a political education sufficient +to understand the political problems of the day, and if combined with +other votes in a political organization sufficient to carry out the +collective will of the people. The facility with which the Republican +and Democratic parties have divided the vote of the proletariat is +mainly due, I think, to the fact that the proletariat is too exhausted +by overwork to undertake political organization, though it is +beginning now to understand the necessity for doing so. + +Last, but not least, a man cannot be regarded as enjoying liberty to +any appreciable extent if his actions during all the waking hours of +the day are determined, not by his own free will, but by the factory +bell. + +And although it may be necessary to secure personal and political +liberty before economic liberty can be attained, it is certain that +until economic liberty be attained, neither political nor personal +liberty is effectually enjoyed. This subject will be treated at +greater length when we study the Political Aspect of Socialism.[76] +The point which it is essential to keep clearly in mind now is that +there are two notions of property, one of which is beneficent, and +furnishes a maximum of security and a maximum of liberty; the other of +which is unjust, and furnishes neither security nor liberty except to +the privileged few. The first is the theory that men are entitled to +property in the product of their labor; the second is that men are +entitled to property in things which are not the product of their +labor. + +The most conspicuous of these things is land, which of course is not +the product of any man's labor, but the gift of Nature or God to the +whole race, or in America to Americans--certainly not to the +Englishman, W.W. Astor, for instance. And the appropriation by a few +men of all the tools of production--the factories, water power, steam +power, electric power, and of the great natural monopolies such as +railroads, telegraphs, telephones, tramways, gas, etc., has had just +as bad a result as the appropriation of land, for it has brought about +exactly the same condition--the exploitation of the many by the few. +This is the point which Henry George has overlooked, and it is a +failure to appreciate this fact that principally occasions the +differences between Single Taxers and Socialists. Private ownership of +land by a few was doubtless in its origin an act of spoliation; +whereas private ownership of factories and natural monopolies was the +result of the application of intelligence and labor to the +organization of industry. The latter, therefore, seems relatively +justifiable, whereas the first is not justifiable. But if the effect +of the latter is as bad for the community as that of the former, and +if there can be no escape from this system of exploitation except by +readjusting property in factories as well as property in land, does it +not seem evident that both must equally be faced? + +At this point it may be well to point out that sound Socialism does +not endorse such exaggeration as Proudhon's "La propriete est le +vol"--"Property is theft," though there may be Socialists who do. On +the contrary, the fundamental basis of sound Socialism is the +distinction between property in the product of men's own toil and +property in the product of other men's toil. The one is altogether +just and beneficial; the other is unjust and detrimental. + +Nor does Socialism fail to take into account the undoubted fact that +much land and many factories represent to-day an investment of +accumulated wages; and that to expropriate such land without +compensation would be as unjust an act of spoliation as the seizure of +land by violence or the enclosing of commons by craft. + +On the contrary, Socialism recognizes that the problem of how to +readjust property so as to secure to men the full product of their +toil is of great difficulty and can only be solved by the application +thereto of the highest deliberation and wisdom. It appeals, therefore, +to those who have knowledge and those who have experience, those who +have studied and those who have suffered, convinced that it is by +uniting knowledge and experience and not by disuniting them that the +solution can best be attained. + +We are now in a position to complete what has been said on the subject +of liberty. + +Liberty is defined in all our dictionaries as "freedom from +restraint." + +But it may be truly said that there is no such thing as universal +freedom from restraint. There may be indeed freedom from restraint of +man by man. But we remain under restraint to Nature owing to our +natural needs. That is to say, we are not free to spend our time as we +wish, for our natural needs compel us to devote our time to securing +shelter, clothing, and food. So also there may be partial freedom from +the restraint of Nature; but only upon the condition of restraint of +man by man, a restraint which under existing conditions bestows in +ordinate and generally unhappy leisure upon a few at the expense of +all the rest. We have therefore to recognize two kinds of restraint: + +Natural restraint due to our needs, which makes us slaves to +things--shelter, clothing, and food; + +Human restraint, exercised by one man over another, that puts some men +under restraint to others. + +Again, the kind of freedom from restraint that exists in the savage +state is incompatible with two very precious things--security and +leisure; and there are two kinds of insecurity, corresponding to the +two kinds of restraint just mentioned: + +I. Insecurity that arises from our own needs--food, shelter, clothing, +etc. + +II. Insecurity that arises from the needs of others--theft, slavery, +despotism, etc. + +The first--insecurity arising from our own needs--tends to make us +slaves to things. + +The second--insecurity arising from the needs of others--tends to make +us slaves to people. + +In the savage state or state of Nature, this insecurity is at a +maximum. A savage is a slave to his needs to such an extent that in +any climate save the tropics, he has to devote all his time to +satisfying them. And he is liable to be robbed or reduced to slavery +by men stronger than he. + +It was to rescue himself from this insecurity that man created the +institution of property--of priceless value, it assured to men the +product of their labor and did not encourage one man to exploit the +labor of another. And for the same purpose man instituted law; that +is, the power for enforcing these rules--both also of priceless value +so long as they furnished security and the leisure that results +therefrom. + +It was inevitable, however, that, owing to inequalities of men and of +things, the very system instituted to give security, liberty, and +leisure to all, should end by giving security, liberty, and leisure to +a few at the expense of the many. + +Property, therefore, came to include two very different principles: + + I. That men should securely enjoy the product of their toil. + This is believed by Socialists to be the desirable principle of + property. + + II. That a few should without any toil enjoy the products of the + toil of the majority. This is the principle of property that + actually prevails to-day. + +Now the bourgeois claims that the first or desirable principle of +property is unattainable and that the second is the only practical +system. This is the whole question we have to discuss. + +I think that if we carefully reduce to its simplest terms the effort +of civilization to make men happy it will be found to be this: + +It seeks to rescue men from the two restraints under which they labor +in a savage state: + +Natural restraint due to our needs, i.e., shelter, clothing, food, +etc. + +Human restraint due to the needs of others, i.e., theft, violence, +slavery, despotism, etc. + +In other words, it seeks to secure for men _Liberty_, which, properly +understood, is emancipation from these two restraints. And the +blessings that ought to follow such liberty as this are two-fold: +Security and leisure. So that liberty, security, and leisure may be +described as the Trinity of human happiness; and all the more justly +because just as it is from the First Person of the Holy Trinity that +the other Two emerge, so it is from liberty that we get security and +leisure. + +The real issue between the bourgeois and the Socialist is then reduced +to the following: + +Can security, liberty, and leisure be enjoyed only by a few at the +expense of the many? Or can they be enjoyed equally by all? + +I am glad in this connection to use the word "enjoyed," because this +word assumes--as indeed the whole bourgeois philosophy assumes--that +the few not only have security, liberty, and leisure, but that they +"enjoy" them; whereas I think it can be demonstrated that only the +worthless few have leisure and that they do not enjoy it, and that +neither the industrious nor the worthless have liberty or security at +all. In other words, the few in grasping at these things at the +expense of the many _enjoy_ none of them because of the hard fact of +human solidarity, which will drive them at last to reconsider all +these things. But this belongs to the subject of Solidarity and cannot +therefore be elaborated in this chapter. + +The essential thing to be kept in mind is that the only liberty worth +having is one that will rescue us from _both_ kinds of +restraints--natural and human; that it is quite useless to throw off +human restraint and fall back into the condition of natural slavery +which seems to be the policy of the anarchist; nor is it of any +advantage to escape from natural slavery only to become a prey to +human despotism or exploitation, according to the creed of the +bourgeois. Socialism is the _juste milieu_ between Let-alone-ism on +the one hand and Anarchism on the other. Liberty, to be worth having, +must secure the greatest emancipation from _both_ restraints possible. + +If we apply this notion of liberty to existing conditions, I think we +shall come to the following conclusion: + +From natural slavery created by men's needs it was impossible for the +race to escape, except by the system which actually prevails--of +making the unwealthy majority work for the wealthy few. This results +in pauperism, prostitution, and crime. + +Slavery to Nature in a natural or savage state practically condemns +savages to devote their whole time to procuring the necessaries of +life, and to protecting these things, once procured, from the +spoliation of their neighbors. A great stride in the progress of +humanity was made when savages began each to respect the product, of +the other's toil. And if this system could have prevailed, our late +advance in science and our consequent, control of Nature would secure +us two priceless advantages: one, security from spoilation; the other, +an organization of labor that would reduce the hours every man would +have to spend in procuring the necessaries and comforts of life to a +very small fraction of the working day. The results in leisure that +would accrue under a cooperative system will be explained later;[77] +but at this point it seems only necessary to indicate that if a man +need devote only three or four hours during the working days of his +life to satisfying his needs, he would have most of his waking hours +to devote to social service, literature, art, music, or amusement, to +an understanding of his political and economic problems, and to the +political organization necessary to secure popular control over +government for the first time in the history of the world. Every +reform movement in New York has failed because men who wanted reform +did not have the leisure to give to it; and the reform movement was +therefore left to those who devoted their whole time to it in order to +share the plunder on the day of victory. In other words, every reform +movement if successful resulted in a political machine animated by +selfish motives and therefore as bad as other political machines +similarly animated. When every man has time to protect his business +interests in the government; when these business interests are not +hostile to the general welfare, but coincide with it; and when +politics is the business of every man instead of being as now the +business of a few professional politicians, then for the first time +this world will see a veritable democracy. + +Liberty, security, and leisure seem to me altogether the most +important things that we can attain through a correct understanding of +property. But owing to false notions of property created by the few +who have acquired all the property at the expense of their +fellow-citizens, there have arisen artificial conditions which have +created what may be called artificial slavery; that is to say, +personal dependence, political dependence, and economic dependence. Of +these three the last is the most important because, in consequence of +it, neither personal nor political independence is effectually +enjoyed. That these three forms of dependence are unnecessary and are +due to false notions of property which can be slowly eradicated, is +the belief of the Socialist. It is also his belief that the very +changes that will put an end to these three forms of dependence will +also set up true notions of property instead of false, and thereby +secure the priceless benefits of liberty and security on the one hand +and of leisure on the other. + +In other words, Socialism proposes not to abolish property, but to +reinstate it; to relieve the rich from the insecurity and hatred to +which they are now exposed; to rescue them from slavery to wealth and +_ennui_; to confer upon them the immense consolation of knowing that +what they enjoy is at the expense of no one; that it commits none to +pauperism, prostitution, or crime; that it is earned by social +service, the only service worth doing; that the consideration they +enjoy is due to their own merits and not to inherited or ill-gotten +wealth; and to accomplish this by securing to all men the product of +their toil; by restoring property to the consideration to which it is +entitled; by furnishing to every man the maximum of liberty, security, +and leisure. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[74] Book III, Chapter II. + +[75] Cicero, "Pro Cluentio," sec. 53. + +[76] Book III, Chapter III. + +[77] Book III, Chapter V. Economic Aspect. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE RESULTS OF PROPERTY + + +Not only did Proudhon make a great mistake in condemning all property, +but some Socialists still make the same mistake; for property even in +its worst form has rendered humanity an indispensable service. It is +the cocoon which the human chrysalis has instinctively wound around +itself for protection while it is changing from a lower to a higher +stage of development. + +For example, property even in its worst form--that is, property that +puts one man in a position to exploit the labor of another man--has +encouraged the intelligent and industrious to accumulate wealth; and +the accumulation of wealth makes economic development possible; for if +a man produced no more than was necessary for the support of himself +and his family, there would be no surplus out of which to support +those engaged in the development of national resources--for example, +the building of roads, the building of railroads, the building of +factories, the exploitation of mines. Every progressing nation has got +to have two totally different resources--the resources necessary to +support that part of the population which is engaged in production and +distribution--that is, in keeping the community alive; and the +resources accumulated for supporting those who are developing the +country; for example, the building of roads, etc. Obviously, +therefore, it is indispensable that more be produced every year than +is necessary for the support of those engaged in production and +distribution; enough must be produced to support also those engaged in +building roads, factories, etc. + +Indeed little can be done in developing a country until a certain +amount of commodities has been accumulated for this purpose. Now the +accumulated resources applicable to development form what is called +capital--which, in the hands of a few persons, permits of those few +exploiting the rest; but in the hands of the producers themselves, +will permit of a better development without the evil results of +exploitation. It is alleged by opponents of Socialists that Socialism +proposes to abolish wealth or capital. It is inconceivable that men +supposed to be educated--such as Roosevelt, Taft, Bryan--should be so +ignorant in a matter concerning which it is their peculiar duty to be +informed. No cabinet minister in England, Germany, or France would be +capable of such a mistake.[78] In Europe statesmen take the trouble to +study Socialism and thus avoid making themselves ridiculous by such a +blunder as believing that Socialism proposes to destroy or abolish +wealth. Far from wishing to abolish wealth, Socialism seeks to enhance +it--to consecrate it--to put it beyond the reach of private avarice or +public discontent. How they expect to do this will be explained later. +Meanwhile, it is important to keep clearly in mind the fact that it is +not wealth that Socialists denounce, but the present distribution of +wealth. This explains why well-informed Socialists are the first to +recognize the beneficent role which the institution of private +property even in its worst form has played in stimulating +accumulation. + +Here again, whether property was instituted for the deliberate purpose +of stimulating accumulation or not, we see once more evolution +favoring the survival of those nations who did accumulate at the +expense of those who did not. In a conflict between two tribes, it was +the tribe provided with the larger store of good weapons and food that +must eventually prevail over the tribe less well provided with these. +And so evolution has pushed men in the direction of accumulating +wealth because it destroyed those tribes which did not accumulate it +and allowed the survival only of those who did. + +This accumulation of wealth involved two qualities of predominating +importance in human development, the exercise of forethought and +self-restraint. If we compare man with the lower animals we find that +there are no qualities in which he differs more from them than in +these two. Man is capable of deliberate self-restraint. And the +nations most capable of forethought and self-restraint have prevailed +over nations which have been less capable of these. Here again, it may +be incidentally pointed out that in no respect was the institution of +property more important to human development than in the recognition +of the kind of property which a man originally had in his wife and +children; and the more the domestic relations created by this property +required exercise of self-restraint, the more the nations having these +institutions prevailed over those which did not have them. + +The systematic survival first of patriarchal tribes over metronymic +tribes,[79] and secondly, of monogamous tribes over polygamous +tribes, is an unanswerable argument in favor of marriage, of which no +well-informed Socialist fails to take account--Mr. Roosevelt to the +contrary notwithstanding. The Socialist party is to be judged by its +platform and not by extracts of isolated writers who have no more +right to bind the whole Socialist party on the subject of marriage, +than an isolated Republican or Democrat would have to bind the +Republican or Democratic parties respectively. Of course, property of +a man in his wife long ago ceased to exist in civilized countries; it +has played its part in its time, but disappeared before a more humane, +intelligent, and just understanding of the relations of man to his +wife. In the same way, the right of property of one man in the labor +of another will also yield to a more intelligent and wise +understanding of the right of property. + +The institution of property performs one other function in society of +inestimable importance. Early civilizations such as those of Greece +and Rome, dominated by families who claimed descent from the gods, +created an aristocracy of birth which, because it was exclusive, +tended inevitably to become tyrannical. As, however, rights of +property became more and more recognized, the aristocracy found itself +confronted by a population that had accumulated wealth indispensable +to the maintenance of the state. Men too who had accumulated this +wealth had done so by the use of their brains, industry, forethought, +and self-restraint. They constituted a group with which the +aristocracy of birth had first to parley and to which it had +eventually to succumb. It is true that this group of the aristocracy +of wealth, which succeeded the aristocracy of birth, in one sense only +replaced one set of rulers by another. But the transfer of power to +the aristocracy of wealth was almost always effected through the +support of the people, and was almost always attended by some +concession of political control to the people. So that on the whole, +the tendency has been for every transfer of political power from the +aristocracy of birth to the aristocracy of wealth to include some +element of popular representation until slowly through the gradual +substitution of the bourgeoisie for the king, noble, and priest, the +people has secured the priceless boon of the franchise which it has +not yet learned to use.[80] + + +Sec. 1. THE GUILD + +Now that we have given full credit to the role which property has +played in the world, let us consider some of its results. In the first +place, let us eliminate a prevailing error. We frequently read in +Socialist books that the competitive system is the necessary result of +the institution of private property. This is not altogether true: +Obviously, the institution of property has connected with it the +notion that as long as men are protected in the product of their +labor, every man is bound to labor enough to support himself; and if +he does not so labor, he must suffer the natural consequences. Under +this system, every man is at liberty to labor in whatever occupation +he chooses, to produce as much as he can, and to get the best price he +can for what he produces. No attempt will be made here to describe the +abominable consequences of this system prior to the Middle Ages. The +history of the industrial struggle prior to the Middle Ages is still +obscure and complicated. But the Crusades in the eleventh century +withdrew from Europe the most turbulent of its oppressing nobility +and the most servile of its religious subjects. The result was to give +to the less servile craftsmen an opportunity to organize themselves +against the noble and the priest in defence of their common craft. So +we find all over Europe an immense development of guilds or +corporations organized by the respective crafts or industries, +primarily for self-defence, and secondarily, for the organization and +regulation of labor therein. The story of these guilds has been too +often written to make it necessary to repeat it here.[81] I shall +content myself therefore with pointing out that these guilds did for a +season exercise an extraordinarily beneficial effect, not only on +industry, but on government. The guilds were composed not only of +employers, but also employees, and thus stand out in marked contrast +to trade unions. In many respects, however, they were similar to trade +unions. Thus they had benefit funds in case of sickness and death; and +they were animated by a sense of solidarity similar to that which +animates the trade unions. But the fact that the guild included +employer as well as employee gave it also different and important +functions. Every guild at the outset was inspired by a sense of +self-respect as well as of solidarity. It was a matter of pride with +them that the guild should furnish no goods not up to standard. The +guild therefore early established elaborate rules fixing standards and +prices so that no man could charge a high price for a low standard of +goods, nor could he compete with others in the same guild by offering +a high standard of goods for a lower price than that determined by the +guild. The guild protected the public from poor workmanship and the +worker from competition. Moreover, competition was still further +eliminated by the fact that no man could engage in any craft or trade +unless he belonged to the guild organized to defend and protect the +trade; and as the guild became a part of the municipal government and +indeed at certain periods controlled the municipal government +altogether, the guild was in a position to enforce this rule. + +There are many features in the guild system which would be usefully +borrowed in a cooperative commonwealth. But the guild system broke +down because every guild was concerned with its own interests +irrespective of the interests of the whole community. Every guild +therefore became a class corporation which sought to use the guild for +purely selfish purposes. Entrance to the guild was confined to members +of the families of those controlling the guild; and no provision was +made for the thousands and hundreds of thousands who, because they +could not get admission to a guild and could find no work to do upon +the land, were left to wander as vagrants through the streets and +highways with no alternative save to steal or starve. In other words, +the vagrant of the Middle Ages included the unemployed of to-day. +Again, those who controlled the guild sought by limiting the number of +its members to create a privileged society from which they could +derive wealth without labor. Thus the whole business of killing and +selling meat was at one time in Paris confined to twenty persons. +These persons did not themselves engage in the business, but they +sublet their respective monopolies to others, and thus constituted an +idle aristocracy. + +The abuses which attended the guild system became so intolerable that +in 1776, the very year when we in America were setting forth our +political rights in the Declaration of Independence, King Louis XVI +proclaimed the economic rights of the workingmen in France in one of +the most extraordinary documents to be found in history.[82] If we +could get this Republic of America to promulgate and to put into +operation the principles set forth in this decree of an absolute king +in 1776, we should secure all that the Socialist party of to-day +demands; that is to say, the right secured by law to men, not only to +work, but to enjoy the full product of their work. But civilization +had not yet advanced far enough to understand the full import of this +decree, and the guilds were too powerful at that time to permit of its +execution. The Parlement de Paris flatly refused to register the +edict. The king tried to execute the edict notwithstanding the refusal +by the Paris Parlement; but the attempt created such disorder that in +the same year the edict was abrogated. No attempt was made to execute +this decree in the provinces whatever. Meanwhile, however, two forces +were at work that were destined to break up the tyranny of the guilds. +One was the discovery of steam, which put an end to home industry and +subjected workmen to the conditions imposed by the owner of the +factory. The other was the growing upheaval of the Tiers Etat, or +popular branch of the government, which resulted in the French +Revolution. + +The French Revolution has been a good deal too much confined by +historians to the political upheaval of the people against the noble, +the priest, and the king. Attention has not been sufficiently +attracted to the fact that it was at the same time a revolt against +the economic tyranny of the corporation or the guild. The cry of +liberty which ushered in the French Revolution was not confined to +political liberty. It was extended to liberty of industry--liberty of +trade--liberty of contract. In other words, what Rousseau did for +political emancipation with his theory of social contract, de Quesnay +did for economic emancipation with his doctrine of _laissez faire_, a +doctrine which prepared the way for the political economy of Adam +Smith and that of the Manchester School. + +The essential principle preached by de Quesnay and later by Adam Smith +and Herbert Spencer, is that every man must in his efforts to support +himself and accumulate wealth be "let alone!" + +It is of the utmost interest that this policy of _laissez faire_ was +inaugurated under the cry of liberty and is still supported on the +ground of liberty. When we see the evil consequences of this kind of +liberty we shall feel like crying with Madame Roland when she saw the +guillotine doing its grim work on the Place de la Greve: + + "O liberty, what crimes are committed in thy name!" + +And here we shall appreciate the importance of having clear ideas as +to what liberty is and of therefore being able to distinguish false +notions of liberty from true. + +If leaving to every man absolute liberty as to what he is to produce, +how he is to produce, and what he shall charge for it, would result in +the most orderly and therefore economical system of production and +distribution; if it were to secure to every man work in the first +place, and the product of his work in the second place, then it would +be justified. But if it produces none of these things, but on the +contrary, produces the greatest conceivable disorder and therefore +greatest possible waste; if it not only fails to assure to men the +product of their work, but even fails to give as many as one-third of +those engaged in industry any chance of working at all, as at present, +so that hundreds of thousands and even millions are at this time of +writing not only without work, but actually on the verge of +starvation--and if this system not only causes injustice and misery +to all these millions, but does not even make the few who profit by it +happy--if the tendency is also to make them immoral--if instead of +promoting liberty, it--on the contrary--makes slaves of all, not only +of employees but also of employers, so that neither is free to be +generous or just to the other and both are skirting ruin--the employer +in the shape of bankruptcy, and the employee in the shape of +unemployment; and last but not least, if this system is stupid--of all +the stupid systems conceivable the most stupid--and I have been able +to call as witnesses to this assertion the admittedly ablest business +men now living in America, what shall we shrewd, practical Americans +have to say in defence of it? + +But we have still two important results of the competitive system to +consider--the trade union and the trust; not only for the evils that +attend them, but for the inevitable conflict to which they give rise. +The issue of this conflict is the real political issue of the day. All +the political parties save only one are seeking to ignore it; but they +cannot. It will end by either reforming or destroying them. To this +question too much attention cannot be given, for upon it depends the +survival of civilization itself. + + +Sec. 2. TRADE UNIONS + +The attempt has already been made to show that the organization of +trade unions and trusts was not due to accident, but was the necessary +and inevitable consequence of the freedom of contract, freedom of +industry, and freedom of trade inaugurated by the French Revolution. +These three so-called freedoms are a sentimental way of describing the +competitive system, and as a matter of fact, not only make real +freedom impossible, but pave the way for despotism--the despotism of +the market in the first place and the despotism of the trade union and +trust, to which the despotism of the market inevitably leads. + +The illusion contained in the words "freedom of contract" is well +demonstrated in the history of the trade union, for if the employee is +to be free to make such contracts as he chooses, he is not only free +as regards the contracts he chooses to make with his employer, but +also as regards the contracts he chooses to make with his fellow +employee. And amongst the contracts that he is free to make with his +fellow employee is the contract not to work for his employer except +under certain agreed conditions. In other words, the trade union is +simply an expression of freedom of contract between employee and +employee. But to what does this freedom of contract between employee +and employee lead? It leads to a suppression of the freedom of +contract, for it is an agreement not to work with the employee except +under conditions imposed by the trade union. Freedom of contract, +therefore, so far as the employee is concerned, under the competitive +system compels employees to abandon freedom of contract. + +This may seem paradoxical until we understand the real significance of +it. Man stands between two alternatives--the unlimited freedom and +insecurity of savagery and the limited freedom and security of +civilization. This has been developed in the chapter on Property and +Liberty and receives interesting confirmation in the history of trade +unions, which has been too often and too well told to make it +necessary to repeat it here. Suffice it to point out that all +historians of the trade union movement record the fact that at the +very time when employers were shouting for freedom of contract they +passed laws denying freedom of contract to workingmen.[83] But the +very effort of the employers to prevent employees from combining with +one another reduced wages to so low a level and brought about so +wicked an exploitation of women and children and such unsanitary +conditions of the whole working population, that a parliament of +employers was as a matter of national defence compelled to restore to +workingmen the right to agree to abandon freedom of contract. + +It may appear to the unsophisticated that for a workingman to endeavor +to escape from the tyranny of the employer by subjecting himself to +the tyranny of the trade union is but a jump from the frying-pan into +the fire. But such a conclusion would display woeful ignorance as to +the whole trend of human development; that is to say, from involuntary +subjection to a power over which we have no control, to voluntary +subjection to a power over which we have control. This is the history +of the development of all popular government. Reactionaries are +disposed to dwell on what they call the tyranny of the majority and +compare it unfavorably with the beneficent despotism of a Henri IV. +They, however, ignore the very material fact that an absolute monarchy +represents an involuntary servitude over which the subject has no +control; whereas the tyranny of a majority represents a voluntary +subjection to authority over which we have control. It may be and +undoubtedly is true that control over government even under popular +forms of government is small and ineffectual; but I hope to make it +clear in the chapter on the Political Aspect of Socialism[84] that the +ineffectualness of our control over government is due to the +competitive system and that under a cooperative system our control +over government would be effectual; and that it is only under a +cooperative commonwealth that the ideal democracy can be realized. + +The development of trade unionism throws also a great light on the +fact of human solidarity. Socialists are often accused of being +theoretical and the bourgeois is disposed to regard human solidarity +as a theory. But in the growth of trade unionism it will be observed +that solidarity presents itself as a rock upon which the competitive +system must ultimately be wrecked. The capitalist class expressed its +wish in the law of 1799, which was a law of oppression; but the +inconvenient fact that women cannot be worked like beasts of burden +under ground without arousing the sympathies even of the capitalist +class; that little children cannot be made to suffer and to starve +without reaching the hearts of the whole nation, and that cholera bred +in unsanitary dwellings will find its way to the doors of the rich, +forced this same capitalist class to abrogate the law of 1799; to +abandon the policy of oppression in consideration of its own best +interests. + +So combinations amongst employees have grown in strength in spite of +all the power of capital--political and industrial. This progress was +inevitable. Given freedom of contract, or in other words, the +competitive system; given some intelligence on the part of some of the +proletariat; and some compassion in the hearts of some employers, and +trade unions had to develop and grow in strength. + +But now that they have developed and grown in strength--now that they +can be said to have reached what seems to be maturity, let us consider +how much good they have done. Let us discuss the unsolved and what I +believe to be the insoluble problems that result from trade unionism. + +Before entering into this subject, let me say that if I do not discuss +here the merits of trade unionism it is not because I am not aware of +them; but rather because in this work on Socialism, which I desire to +make as concise as possible, it is not the merits of trade unionism +which it is important to emphasize, but their demerits. Although the +intelligence, order, and self-restraint displayed in the trade union +movement must be to the eternal credit of the workingman, nevertheless +all his efforts, however intelligent, however orderly, however +sacrificing, have failed to solve the problem of the conflict between +labor and capital. It is obviously wiser for the workingman to seek +salvation where it is to be found than by clinging exclusively to +trade unionism to abandon salvation altogether. Trade unionism, I +cannot emphasize it too much--was and is still a necessary step in the +development and education of the workingman; but it is only a step, +and nothing demonstrates the inadequacy of trade unionism better than +the conditions of unemployment that have existed during the last two +years not only in the United States of America, but almost throughout +the entire civilized world. It must not be supposed, however, that +because trade unions are believed to have created new evils almost as +intolerable as those they were organized to suppress, that trade +unions are to be looked upon with disfavor. On the contrary, the whole +argument of this book proceeds upon the self-evident fact that trade +unions have performed a necessary function and are bound to perform a +necessary function in the community until the trade union realizes its +ideal, but that a realization of this ideal is impossible under the +competitive system. In other words, the attempt will be made not only +to demonstrate that trade unions have, under the competitive system, +failed and must continue to fail to accomplish the work they set out +to do, but that under the cooperative system they can and will attain +their ideal--they can and will perform exactly what they started out +to do. However much, therefore, our argument may demonstrate the +failure of trade unions under existing conditions, it only leads to +the triumph of trade unions under cooperative conditions. What the +trade union has failed to do under competition, it can and will +accomplish under a cooperative commonwealth. + +The argument of this book, therefore, is not to abandon trade unions, +but, on the contrary, to appeal to the unorganized employee to join +the trade union in order to strengthen it industrially; and on the +other hand to appeal to all employees, organized or unorganized, to +combine politically for the purpose of securing by franchise what they +never can accomplish by the strike. + +The moral then to be drawn from the following pages is not that trade +unions have come to an end of their usefulness, but that whereas their +task in the past has been to check exploitation, their role in the +future will be to put an end to it altogether. + + +Sec. 3. THE UNSOLVED AND INSOLUBLE PROBLEMS OF TRADE UNIONISM + +John Mitchell in his book "Organized Labor" has very properly stated +that "the ideal of Trade Unionism is to combine in one organization +_all_ the men employed, or capable of being employed, at a given +trade, and to demand and secure for each and _all_ of them a definite +minimum standard of wages, hours and conditions of work;"[85] and the +principle of Trade Unionism is also well described as "the _absolute +and complete prohibition_ of contracts between employers and +individual men."[86] In other words, the object of the Trade Union is +to put an end to competition between employees in order to substitute +what is called "collective bargaining," which, if complete, would put +the employer at the mercy of the employee, for individual bargaining, +which on the contrary puts the employee at the mercy of the employer. + +The above is stated in other words in the Report of the Industrial +Commission:[87] + +"The union is conceived as a means of bettering the condition of its +members by united action. If this action is to be thoroughly +effective, it must be taken by or on behalf of _all the members of the +craft_. It is by the establishment of an _absolute monopoly of labor +power_ and to ameliorate the conditions under which it is sold and +used." + +Now the inherent and necessary defect of trade unionism under the +competitive system is to be found in the words I have italicized in +the above extract. If the trade union could be a "real monopoly of +labor," it could dictate terms to the employer; but it must not be +forgotten that, with the employer, it would remain subject to the +conditions created by the market. The very fact, however, that all +relations between labor and capital are determined by the conditions +of the market makes it impossible and will always make it impossible +for the trade union to attain its ideal; that is to say, to constitute +an absolute monopoly of labor power, to bind in one organization _all_ +the men employed, to secure the absolute and complete prohibition of +contracts between employers and individual men, to demand and secure +for each and _all_ of them a definite minimum standard of labor, +wages, and conditions of work. This is the crux of the whole question. + +It has taken over a century of organization on the part of the +employer and employee, of conflict between the two, of bankruptcy for +the employer and of misery for the employee, to demonstrate that the +ideal of trade unionism has not been and can never, so long as the +competitive system persists, be attained. The trade unionist will +answer that even though it be impossible to attain the ideal, trade +unions have accomplished much and can accomplish more for the +wage-earning class. To this it may be fairly answered that whatever +trade unions have in fact accomplished has been accomplished only at a +ruinous price--that the price they must continue to pay for this +accomplishment will continue to be ruinous and insufferable until +either by the revolt of the discontented as predicted by Karl Marx, or +by the awakening conscience of the whole community, as has already to +a limited degree taken place, the betterment aimed at by the trade +unionist will be attained and maintained without the payment of the +awful toll now exacted by the competitive system. + +It is probable that both employers and employees, during a century's +struggle, have failed to take proper account of the extent to which +both were hampered by the exigencies of the market. The blindness of +both to this fact was perhaps due to the expansion of trade both in +England and America during most of the century; this expansion being +due to the development of the country in the United States and, in +England, to the conquests of new markets and colonies. So long as +expansion continued, trade unionists could insist upon increasing +wages out of increasing prices, and the success which attended trade +unions in raising wages during a large part of the century, brought +about a false idea that there was no limit to the extent to which +trade unions could by organization increase their share in the profits +of industry. Unfortunately, the era of expansion could not last +forever, and it was not until the lockout of the engineers in +1898-1899 that the British trade unionists began to discover how +narrow were the limits within which they could improve conditions. + +Until 1897 the employees had on an average the best of it. In 1893 no +less than 63 per cent of strikes were decided in favor of the +employees. In 1896 again the proportion of working people involved in +disputes settled in their favor was greater than in any of the +previous years since 1892 with the exception of 1893; and it may be +interesting to note that during this year there was a lower percentage +of unemployed than during any year since 1890.[88] It is not +surprising, therefore, that trade unionists were convinced that there +was no limit to the extent to which they might increase their share in +the profits of industry. In 1897, however, the condition of the steel +industry in England became such that the employers could no longer +comply with the exactions of the trade unionists. In 1895 American +manufacturers for the first time attempted to export their steel to +other lands,[89] and their exports grew to $121,913,548 in 1900 and to +$183,982,182 in 1908.[90] + +In the presence of American as well as German competition, the +pressure of the market was such that the employers felt they must +either break the power of the union or go out of business. They +therefore locked out the engineers in July, 1897, and the lockout +lasted until January, 1898, when the union was obliged to abandon all +its contentions. This lockout is the turning point in the history of +trade unionism in England. Up to that time, the idea that workingmen +could be induced to abandon the parties to which they belong in order +to organize a party of their own was never seriously taken into +consideration at their conventions, and resolutions in favor of +Socialism were overwhelmingly voted down. But as soon as the power of +the engineers--the strongest union in England--was broken in 1897 we +find trade union conventions entertaining the idea of political +organization and resolutions in favor of Socialism receiving careful +consideration. + +The history of trade unionism in America has not as yet resulted in +any such definite climax as this; but what foreign competition has +compelled English employers to do a combination of employers in the +Steel Trust has done for the steel workers in America. In other words, +the trade union has to face one of two alternatives: either foreign +competition is bound ultimately to compel the employer to destroy the +union; or in the absence of foreign competition owing to a high +protective tariff, a combination of employers will do for their own +benefit what competition compelled British employers to do as a +condition of survival. + +If we turn from the history to the nature of trade unions it will be +seen that what has happened must have happened. As has been stated, +all agree that the ideal of trade unionism is to unite all the workers +in one trade so as to substitute collective bargaining for individual +bargaining. Unfortunately by the very nature of things such a +combination is impossible. It is impossible to read any work on trade +unions, whether it emanates from the government, or from employers, or +from employees, without being struck by the fact that trade unions +seek to be comprehensive, to include all the members in the trade on +the one hand, while on the other hand there is a perpetual pressure +upon them to be exclusive. For example, we find locals charging heavy +initiation fees of a character to keep out members, for instance the +longshoremen, the garment workers, glass workers; and it may be +"stated as a general rule that when a union does succeed in +establishing a monopoly against employers it is exceedingly likely to +go on, if it feels strong enough, to establish a monopoly against the +employees."[91] + +It is perfectly true that this tendency is frowned upon by the trade +unionists at large; but the reason for this is that every union which +tries to be exclusive cultivates a crop of non-unionists who +constitute a menace to the union. + +A better illustration of the quandary in which unionists find +themselves between the importance of being comprehensive in the one +hand and the importance of being exclusive on the other, is found in +their attitude towards boy labor. + +Modern conditions have made apprenticeship practically obsolete, and +yet many national organizations endeavor to maintain the practice with +a view to preventing too great a supply of skilled workers in the +trade. The limit generally fixed by national organizations is 1 to 10, +though some, such as pressmen, trunk and bag workers, flint glass +workers, allow 1 to 4. Lithographers allow 1 to 5.[92] "It is +obvious," says the Report of the Industrial Commission, "that the +chief motive which influences the unions in the shaping of their +apprenticeship rules is the desire to maintain their wages, by +diminishing competition within the trades."[93] + +It is true that many unions in controlling apprenticeship are animated +by a much higher purpose; that is to say, to provide that when a boy +undertakes to learn a trade he shall have a chance to learn it. + +John Mitchell in his book[94] claims that the restriction of admission +of apprentices in the United States is negligibly small, and yet +deplores the fact that "the great mass of youths to-day receive little +or no training in their particular trade as a result of the breakdown +of the apprenticeship system." In his opinion the solution to the +problem is not to be found in apprenticeship, but in industrial +schools; yet he deplores the hostility of graduates of trade schools +to trade unions, without apparently recognizing that this hostility is +due to the hostility first evinced by unions to trade schools. But let +us turn from conflicting opinions and look the facts in the face. + +When a unionist approaches the age of forty years, he is confronted by +the fact that he cannot rival in speed and efficiency the work of a +young graduate of an industrial school. He looks forward to the time +when his place will be taken by the graduate of the industrial school. +He is very naturally therefore hostile to the industrial school and +the graduate of the industrial school is for the same reason hostile +to him. And here we come to the real difficulty: When a trade union +fails to include _all_ the members in the trade, it does _not_ +succeed in eliminating competition between workingmen. On the +contrary, it begins by creating two hostile classes of workingmen: +Those within the union and those without--classes which bitterly hate +one another because they are both fighting for the same job. But they +do more than this: They create competition within the trade union +because by insisting upon high wages and short hours they are making +it impossible for the employer to utilize the service of any but the +most efficient. John Mitchell himself points this out. In resisting +the charge that trade unions tend to level down, he says: "If there is +a levelling at all in the trade union world, it is a levelling up and +not a levelling down. The only levelling which the trade union does is +_the elimination of men who are below a certain fixed standard of +efficiency_."[95] He further expresses it in another passage:[96] +"Trade unionism tends to improve workmen not only directly, through an +increase in wages and a reduction in hours, but it attains the same +end in an indirect manner. The general policy of trade unionism, as +has been explained before, is the establishment of a minimum wage, +safeguarding, as a rule, the right of the employer to discharge for +proved inefficiency. The result of this is the gradual creation of a +dead line of a standard of efficiency, to which all who work must +attain. Where there is a minimum wage of four dollars a day, the +workman can no longer choose to do only three dollars' worth of work +and be paid accordingly, but he must earn four dollars, _or else cease +from work_, at least in that particular trade, locality, or +establishment. The consciousness that he may be employed for a varying +wage permits many a man to give way to his natural idleness and +carelessness, whereas the maintenance of a rigid standard causes a +rapid and steady improvement. The minimum wage acts upon the workman, +as the school examination upon the child. If a child falls, by however +small a margin, below the standard set by the school, he fails of +promotion, and the stimulus which is strong in the case of a school +child is infinitely more intense in that of a worker with a family +dependent upon him. The principle of the survival of the fittest +through union regulations works out slowly and unevenly; nevertheless +its general effect is towards a steady and continuous progress of +workingmen to a permanently higher standard of efficiency."[97] + +There is one point upon which the author is silent--yet it is the +point which enormously interests the workingman at large: this is that +while trade unionism guarantees high wages and short hours to the +efficient, it throws out of the trade altogether those workingman who +do not attain a high standard of efficiency or who, having attained +it, fall back from it owing to overwork, sickness, or old age. + +There is, therefore, a perpetual struggle going on in the trade +unions, not only between members and non-members, but even amongst the +members of the union itself, in view of the fact that diminished +efficiency must eventually lead to the weeding out of the inefficient. +In periods of industrial depression such as we have just passed +through it is obvious that the most inefficient are the first to be +dismissed, and being the most inefficient, they are the ones least +able to find employment in other industries. + +Under the title of Unemployment, the extent of this evil has been +pointed out; it must not be lost sight of; it reaches a population of +a million at the best of times and of five millions at such times as +these. + +But the problem raised by the importance of comprehensiveness to +prevent "scabbing" on the one hand and of exclusiveness to maintain +wages on the other, is not confined to such details as initiation fees +and apprenticeship. It covers the whole question of the employment of +boys, women, old men, and half-supported persons, and includes the +"sweating" system. + +The higher the wages exacted by trade unions the more employers are +compelled to have recourse to cheap labor of women and children, and +this labor is all the cheaper because the unionist himself contributes +to the supply; for the unionist supports his wife and children, and +the very fact of the support he gives them permits them to accept a +lower rate of wages than if they were not supported. To understand the +operation of this principle it must be borne in mind that rates of +wages are determined, not by the wishes of the employee or even by the +greed of the employer; they are determined by the market price. +Unionists are not the only persons who object to the labor of women +and boys. There is indeed no divergency of opinion as to the unwisdom +of working boys before their education is complete or their bodies +matured; or the unwisdom of employing women, destined by Nature to +perform other more important functions. No better witness to the +control exercised by the market on this important subject can be found +than a member of the English Ministry, the Right Honorable H.O. +Arnold-Forster, who says: + +"The great cotton industry of Lancashire, the wool and worsted +industry of Yorkshire, and many other industries in a less degree are +at the present time dependent upon child labor. It is interesting to +observe that as lately as the autumn of 1907 a deputation waited upon +the responsible minister to urge upon him the desirability of raising +the age of half-timers from twelve to thirteen. The desirability of +the change was not denied, _but it was not considered possible to give +effect to it_. + +"Those who have any acquaintance with the cotton trade are well aware +that that great industry, employing as it does no less than half a +million persons, is conducted upon the _most minute margins of profit +and loss_. The rate book of the cotton trade, in which wages of every +kind of work are calculated out to the tenth of a penny, is a miracle +of painstaking and intelligent computation. These fine calculations +are absolutely necessary. Both employers and employed know perfectly +well that the trade is, so to speak, _balanced on a knife edge_, and +that any sudden increase of cost, whatever may be its cause, is likely +to upset the balance, and turn the hardly won profit out of which +operators as well as employers obtain their living, into a loss. The +_fierce competition of the world_, especially of those countries in +which child labor and long hours are prevalent, has to be met, and the +persons principally concerned are only too well aware of the +fact."[98] + +Nothing then is better established than that every employer is forced +by the pressure of competition to keep wages down, and that any +employer who either under the compulsion of a trade union or out of +generosity of heart attempts to raise wages one cent above the price +permitted by the market, must expiate his mistake in the bankruptcy +court. + +There is only one way in which this competition can be met--the way +imagined by Karl Marx: a comprehensive organization of trade unions, not +only within one nation, but amongst all nations; in other words, the +famous--and at one time loudly proclaimed as the infamous--International. +The fact that the international plan of organization imagined by Karl +Marx failed, is little argument against it. But the fact that trade +unions do not succeed in securing all the members of a trade in any +nation--that indeed in the United States organized labor includes at +most 2,000,000 members, whereas the working population is over +20,000,000, ought to be a convincing argument that a comprehensive +organization of workers all over the world is still less possible. + +One word must be said in this connection about the sweating system and +its relation to trade unions. It is a current statement that sweating +is confined in America to a few industries, such as tobacco and +garment making. This, however, is a great mistake. Sweating may be +defined as the reduction of wages to starvation or even below +starvation level. It is true that sweating in this country is in large +part due to an ignorant, unorganized, and poverty-stricken class of +immigrants. But sweating is also to be found in a much higher order of +employees. I refer to the sweating of certain factories and department +stores where the rate of wages is determined, not by the cost of +living, but by the price which half-supported women are willing to +take for their week's work. + +In many factories and in practically all the department stores the +wages are below the sum necessary for a working woman to live; and +they are made so at least in part by the fact that the daughters of +well-to-do workingmen, being supported at home, are able and willing +to give their time for a sum less than sufficient to support life. In +some cases this work is rendered in a laudable desire to contribute to +the common expense of the home. In many cases it must be attributed to +vanity and the attractiveness of this kind of work. + +We find, therefore, the workingman put in this singular position: +Through his trade union he secures a high rate of wages; with this +high rate of wages he seeks to establish a decent home; the desire of +a decent home permeates the entire family; the daughters want to +contribute thereto and, because they are partially supported +themselves by the high wages received by the father, they accept a +rate of wages so low that their less fortunate sisters are doomed to +starve. + +So on every side the trade unionist is hoist by his own petard. The +high wage he is in a position to exact is perpetually menaced by the +competition of the women and children of his own family whom his own +high wages put in a position to compete with him. These high wages +throw out of employment all save those of the highest efficiency, and +by permitting the half-supported members of his family to work for low +wages, reduce others who are not half supported below the level of +starvation. + +I shall not insist on other problems which still divide the members of +trade unions, such as what is called "right of trade," or "the +conflict between industrial and craft organization," both of which +occasion loss of employment and division in the ranks of labor, +because these are not insoluble. It is true that they have not yet +been solved, but there is nothing in their very nature that makes a +solution impossible. I do, however, insist upon the problems above +referred to, because they are not only unsolved, but by their very +nature can never be solved. No trade union can ever include _all_ the +men of the trade, because _all_ cannot earn the high standard of wages +set by the union; because the trade never can give employment to all +the men in the trade--at the best of times there are over 3 per cent +unemployed; because by insisting on a high rate for unionists, they +compel the employer to have recourse to the cheaper labor of women and +boys; because the very sense of family responsibility which makes a +unionist support his wife and children is exploited by the employer to +secure the services of these last at half wages; because the existence +of a half-supported population creates and maintains sweated trades; +because the employers, were they Angels of Mercy, cannot, thanks to +the pressure of the market, raise wages or dispense with the cheap +labor of women and boys without either incurring bankruptcy or +shutting down; because either contingency would deprive the unionist +of work and therefore of wages; because both employer and employee are +perpetually being chased round a vicious circle by the devil of +competition which, by keeping down prices and wages, keeps both in +danger of ruin and unemployment. + +The conclusion to which we are driven seems to be that the competitive +system has the same effect upon trade unions as upon the rest of the +industrial field--it sacrifices the many to the few. During these last +two years wages have not been appreciably reduced. The most efficient +have continued to receive the same wages as before. But the price paid +for this advantage has been the reduction of between five and twenty +millions of people to the verge of starvation, a large part of whom +must by the very necessity of things be driven to vagrancy and through +vagrancy to crime.[99] + +What Socialism proposes is to maintain the principle of competition to +the extent necessary to assure most comfort to the most efficient +without exposing the rest to so awful an alternative as unemployment. +And I think it will be seen that the education of the workingman +through the organization, the order, the democracy of trade unions +will play no small part in making Socialism possible, and that it is +probably through the organization of trade unions that a true +democracy will eventually be attained. + + +Sec. 4. TRUSTS + +Two pictures of trusts have already been borrowed in this book,[100] +one by Mr. Rockefeller, showing the economies they make, and the other +by Mr. Havemeyer, showing the dangers that attend them. Trade unions +start out to include all the men in the industry; this is their ideal; +and it has been shown how far short of it they fall. It is generally +supposed that trusts likewise seek to include all employers in the +industry, but this is a great mistake. Not only does the law forbid +this, but it would be a mistaken policy. A trust that included all the +industry would invite newcomers for blackmailing purposes if for no +other. The last and best policy of the promoter is to include only the +most prosperous and to leave around the trust a fringe of independents +too weak to affect prices but just strong enough to live as a warning +to others. A good collection of independent factories on the verge of +bankruptcy is the finest bulwark a trust can have, for they discourage +the starting of any more. + +How the trusts make prices and keep independents in their wake is well +illustrated by the following extract:[101] "The custom has regularly +been for some years for the Standard Oil Company to announce from day +to day the price which it would pay for crude petroleum and the price +at which it would sell refined petroleum. This price is generally +accepted as the market price, and competitors follow." + +"Likewise, the American Sugar Refining Company first posts the prices +for the day, and is then followed by its competitors, who post theirs. +Generally they take the prices fixed by the American Sugar Refining +Company; but at times, if they have a little surplus stock on hand, or +if it is difficult for them to secure a customer, they will cut the +price perhaps one-sixteenth of a cent per pound. One or two of the +chief competitors seem to be forced to put their prices quite +frequently at one-sixteenth of a cent below that of the American Sugar +Refining Company. In spite of its control over the output it is said +by Mr. Post that the American Sugar Refining Company has not, in his +judgment, unduly restricted the output. It is probable, he thinks, +that had that company not been formed the competitive system would +have ruined many established refineries, so that as many would have +been closed as is now the case, and the output would have been fully +as small, probably even less. Practically all of the witnesses, both +members of the combination and their opponents, concede that while +there is a certain arbitrariness in fixing the prices it has been +exercised in most cases only within comparatively narrow limits, and +then, mainly to meet competition or stifle it." + +Trusts, therefore, do in one sense succeed where trade unions fail; +that is to say, they do succeed in getting all to join them that they +want; whereas the trade unions do not, the essential difference +between the two being that the trust is essentially monopolistic +whereas the trade union is essentially democratic. The one wants to +benefit a few at the expense of the many; the other wants to benefit +all at the expense of none. As the competitive system favors the +policy of the trust and disfavors that of the union, the trust +succeeds where the union fails. + +No one would accuse the organizers of a union of seeking to benefit a +few at the expense of the many, and yet this under the competitive +system is not only what happens but what must happen. On the other +hand, no one imagines that the organizers of a trust have any other +intention: they deliberately set out to eliminate competitors for +their own benefit and they have succeeded in their task to an +altogether unexpected degree. + +It has been claimed, however, for the trusts that whatever may be the +private benefit of their stockholders, they do perform a great public +service. + +Among the public services they were supposed to render it was claimed +that they would pay good wages and furnish steady employment.[102] +Even the labor unions themselves were of this opinion. Their leaders +testified that they did not fear industrial combination and that if +combinations were able by virtue of their savings to increase the +profits of industry, workingmen would be able by pressure to "maintain +or increase their wages quite as readily as before the combinations +were made."[103] Another contention made for trusts was that they +would lower prices. With the view of maintaining this contention, the +trust magnates themselves testified to the enormous economies effected +by combination, for the purpose of persuading us that the consumers +would profit by these economies. Mr. Havemeyer was honest enough, +however, to admit that he would be guided in fixing the price only by +business considerations. But it was believed at that time that +business considerations would be sufficient to keep prices down and +the experience of the Whisky Trust was cited to prove that it was +impossible to maintain prices above a reasonable margin of profit. + +The Whisky Trust was organized in 1887 and after having lowered prices +for the purpose of eliminating competitors, it brought the prices up +to as high a level as had ever been reached before. The result of this +was that at the end of 1888 prices fell, owing to a reorganization of +the trust and to a subsequent raising of prices by the trust in 1891, +only to be followed by a corresponding fall in 1892. And so prices +went on reaching a very high level at the close of 1892, only to fall +back to a low level in 1893; and again to a high level in 1894, only +to go down so low in 1895 as to put the trust into the hands of a +receiver. By this time the Whisky Trust had learned its lesson; it +learned that if it endeavored to put the price of whisky up to an +undue height, new distilleries were started to profit by these high +prices, and the only way of avoiding bankruptcy was to maintain the +price just high enough to return profits to the trust, but not high +enough to encourage outside competition. + +Undoubtedly the opinion generally prevailed at the end of the last +century that increase in price by the trust was not to be feared. But +at that time trusts had not yet acquired the art of handling +independent competitors. To-day the art has been acquired. Owing to +the enormous capital they control and the enormous extent of territory +they cover, they are in a position so to reduce prices in any one spot +where competition becomes dangerous as to crush out the competitor in +that place. They adopted this method recklessly at first, crushing out +all competitors and then raising the price unduly. Now they have +learned to maintain a group of competitors about them and to keep +these competitors alive, keeping prices high so long as competition is +not dangerous and depressing them just enough to crush out competition +when it becomes dangerous. + +The movement of prices since the end of last century is sufficient to +demonstrate that trusts, far from reducing prices, are advancing them. + +It must in all fairness to trusts be admitted that the enormous +increase in the annual output of gold tends to increase prices, and it +is extremely difficult to state just how much of the advance in price +since the end of last century is due to the increased output of gold, +and how much is due to deliberate advance on the part of the trusts. +We have, however, a guide in the relation between increase of wages +and increase of prices. If the advance in prices were due entirely to +increased output of gold, wages ought to increase in the same +proportion. But they do not. + +Of the opinion expressed at the end of the last century that trusts +would improve the condition of workingmen, there is very little left +to-day. + +From almost every point of view, trusts have since 1900 disappointed +expectations. It was claimed and with every show of reason that trusts +would, by their control of the market, be able to adjust supply to +demand and thus avoid the gluts that produce unemployment,[104] and +that although the economies they practised might result in the +shutting down of some factories and the discharge of employees, in the +end the workingmen would gain because their employment would be steady +and because trade unions would have only one employer to bargain with +instead of many.[105] + +How far has experience justified these anticipations? + +Far from diminishing unemployment, the reign of the trusts has +resulted in the most intense and widespread depression that we have +any record of.[106] Far from benefiting the unions, trusts have +crushed unions out of existence. Far from raising wages and shortening +hours, the employees of the Steel Trust in Pittsburg are to-day +working twelve hours at $1.80 a day, and once a fortnight twenty-four +hours in a single shift; whereas miners in the same district because +their union has not yet been crushed by the Coal Trust, are working +only eight hours at $2.36 a day.[107] And the Miners' Union has been +saved from the trust only by what is still regarded by many as the +improper personal intervention of President Roosevelt Oct. 31, 1902. + +The conditions of labor under trust rule cannot be better described +than in the Survey, an investigation published not by Socialists, nor +even by persons inclined towards Socialism, but by believers in and +upholders of the competitive system:[108] + +"With this number, Charities and The Commons completes its +presentation of the findings of the Pittsburg Survey, as to conditions +of life and labor of the wage-earners of the American Steel district. +The gist of the situation, as we find it, is as follows: + +"I. An altogether incredible amount of overwork by everybody, reaching +its extreme in the twelve-hour shift for seven days in the week in +the steel mills and the railway switchyards. + +"II. Low wages for the great majority of the laborers employed by the +mills, not lower than other large cities, but low compared with the +prices--so low as to be inadequate to the maintenance of a normal +American standard of living; wages adjusted to the single man in the +lodging-house, not to the responsible head of a family. + +"III. Still lower wages for women, who receive for example in one of +the metal trades in which the proportion of women is great enough to +be menacing, one-half as much as unorganized men in the same shops and +one-third as much as the men in the union. + +"IV. An absentee capitalism, with bad effects strikingly analogous to +those of absentee landlordism, of which Pittsburg furnishes noteworthy +examples. + +"V. A continuous inflow of immigrants with low standards, attracted by +a wage which is high by the standards of Southeastern Europe, and +which yields a net pecuniary advantage because of abnormally low +expenditures for food and shelter; and inadequate provision for the +contingencies of sickness, accident, and death. + +"VI. The destruction of family life, not in any imaginary or mystical +sense, but by the demands of the day's work and by the very +demonstrable and material method of typhoid fever and industrial +accidents; both preventable, but costing in single years in Pittsburg +considerably more than a thousand lives, and irretrievably shattering +nearly as many homes. + +"VII. Archaic social institutions such as the aldermanic court, the +ward school district, the family garbage disposal, and the +unregenerate charitable institution, still surviving after the +conditions to which they were adapted have disappeared. + +"VIII. The contrast--which does not become blurred by familiarity with +detail, but on the contrary becomes more vivid as the outlines are +filled in--the contrast between the prosperity on the one hand of the +most prosperous of all the communities of our western civilization, +with its vast natural resources, the generous fostering of government, +the human energy, the technical development, the gigantic tonnage of +the mines and mills, the enormous capital of which the bank balances +afford an indication; and, on the other hand, the neglect of life, of +health, of physical vigor, even of the industrial efficiency of the +individual. Certainly no community before in America or Europe has +ever had such a surplus, and never before has a great community +applied what it had so meagerly to the rational purposes of human +life. Not by gifts of libraries, galleries, technical schools, and +parks, but by the cessation of toil one day in seven, and sixteen +hours in the twenty-four, by the increase of wages, by the sparing of +lives, by the prevention of accidents, and by raising the standards of +domestic life, should the surplus come back to the people of the +community in which it is created." + +It would be unfair, however, to the trusts not to recognize that in +spite of the shameful conditions they create for the majority they do +benefit a minority to no small degree. The highly skilled are highly +paid; they are fairly safe from unemployment; they are also furnished +an opportunity of purchasing stock, of which this minority avails +itself. The effect of the trust system on the workingman is very much +like that of the trade union; both benefit the highly skilled and +highly efficient, but at the expense of all the rest. + +Now those who believe in the competitive system regard this as proper; +and that the highly skilled and highly efficient should fare better +than the lazy and vicious is equally a part of the Socialist creed. +All that the Socialist asks is that the punishment for falling short +of the highest skill and the highest efficiency be _not so severe_ as +that described by the Pittsburg Survey; and this not only in the +interest of the victim, but in that of the community of which he forms +an essential part. It is because Socialism proposes a plan for giving +to the efficient what their efficiency earns without committing the +inefficient to a life of degradation, that it is entitled to the +consideration of practical business men. + +The degradation of the majority is not the only evil that results from +the trusts. The rich are accustomed to look upon this evil as +necessary and, therefore, one that they cannot hope to do more than +mitigate by philanthropy. They seem unconscious of the goal to which +this evil is inevitably driving them; and it is to this goal that I +want above all to direct their attention. + + +(_a_) _The Conflict Between the Trust and the Trade Union_ + +It might seem as though the title for this section ought to be the +conflict between capital and labor rather than the conflict between +trusts and trade unions. This, however, is a mistake. So long as labor +and capital were disorganized, there was not much danger in the +conflict between the two. The employer was too strong and he had on +his side in case of disturbance, the police, the militia, and the law. +The moment, however, that labor became organized, it became too +powerful for the police; it became dangerous even to the militia; and +it has in England been strong enough to change the law; and this in +spite of the fact that the organization of the workingman in unions +has compelled the employers to combine in associations and trusts. + +Again, although all violence is injurious to individuals, the violence +to which unorganized workingmen resort in local disputes with their +employers, however injurious to local interests, tends to be +essentially temporary and does not tend to overthrow economic or +social institutions. The effect of organization, however, expresses +itself in the magnitude of the conflicts to which it gives rise; as +for example, the Homestead strike in 1892, the Pullman strike in 1894, +and what was practically equivalent to a civil war in Colorado during +1903. + +It is generally believed that violence is the peculiar weapon of the +workingman. This again is a mistake. Employers have often been the +first to have recourse to violence and under conditions which hardly +seem pardonable. That a striking employee should be enraged at seeing +his place taken by strikebreakers and should be driven by his rage to +violence, is easily understood; but that employers, merely for the +sake of keeping down wages and making more profit, should have +recourse to it seems altogether unjustifiable. It is a matter of +official record that the Carnegie Steel Company opened negotiations +with Robert A. Pinkerton for armed men nineteen days before any strike +occurred.[109] The report also says that there was "no evidence to +show that the slightest damage was done or was attempted to be done to +property on the part of the strikers,"[110] and so far as acts of +violence are concerned, a personal investigation of the Colorado +strike satisfied me that the Employers' Association was just as guilty +as the miners. An impartial account of this struggle is to be found +in the _Political Science Quarterly_[111] published by a board of +which J. Pierpont Morgan is a member, and which cannot be accused +therefore of tenderness to miners or leanings towards Socialism. It is +difficult to justify the action of the mine owners in removing Moyer, +Haywood, and Pettibone under the circumstances described by Judge +McKenna in his dissenting opinion.[112] + +If the trust managers have deliberate recourse to violence and +questionable methods in their conflict with labor which involve merely +a question of more or less profit, is there not excuse for the +workingman who has at stake his very livelihood and that of his wife +and children? + +There are elements, however, in the coming conflict which to my mind +make it clear that notwithstanding the enormous advantages which +capital has over labor, it is labor and not capital that in the end +will triumph. To understand these elements it is indispensable to +consider the character of the advantages which the trusts have over +the trade unions, and the character of the advantages which the unions +have over the trusts. + + +(_b_) _Advantages of Trusts over Unions_ + +So far in America the conflict between trusts and unions has been +confined to the economic field, and in the economic field it must be +admitted that trusts have the advantage. In the first place, as has +already been intimated, the trusts have at stake merely a matter of +more or less profit. The trust can for the purpose of crushing the +union, sacrifice part of its profit without material damage. The +trust in this respect is in an infinitely better condition than the +isolated employer, for whom a strike very often means bankruptcy. This +is not the case with the trust. Its capital is too large and its +operations are conducted over too great an area for any strike to +threaten insolvency.[113] + +Moreover, an isolated employer is far more at the mercy of the +employees than a trust, because a strike very often deprives him of +custom. The orders he cannot fill are filled elsewhere and he may +never recover the custom he has in this manner lost. The trust, +however, can allow a strike to take place in one factory without for +that reason failing to fill all its orders; for it can transfer them +to another of its numerous factories in another place. That this is +regularly done by the trust is a matter of common knowledge. The case +cited by the Industrial Commission[114] is that of the American +Smelting and Refining Company which "continued its business in the +districts where there was no strike, transferring the work as far as +possible." + +In America, at any rate, the trusts have also on their side not only +the police and the militia, but the law. The courts have decided that +in the case of strikes and boycotts the courts can by injunction +commit for contempt and punish by imprisonment those who violate their +orders. These questions have been carried to the highest court and all +further attempts on the part of labor to fight these questions in the +courts are practically certain to be unavailing. The remedy of the +Federation of Labor is not to dispute these decisions in the courts, +but to secure new legislation reversing existing decisions on this +subject. + +The English unions have discovered this and, by the organization of +their Labor party, have wrested from the British Government the trades +dispute law which has settled these questions in their favor. + +So long as unions persist in fighting trusts exclusively on the +economic field and in the law courts, the unions seem bound to suffer +defeat. + +There is one weakness in the armor of the trusts to which attention +has not yet been sufficiently directed. Trusts suffer more from their +victories than from their defeats; for a defeat as to the length of +hours or rate of wages, while it strengthens labor a little, does not +weaken the trust much. But every victory of the trust is the greatest +calamity to which it seems at present exposed; for every victory tends +to shift the arena from the economic field, where the trust is +invincible, to the political field, where labor has every advantage. +This will become clear when we examine the advantages of unions over +trusts. + + +(_c_) _Advantages of Unions over Trusts_ + +The larger the number of workers in every industry, the weaker are +they on the economic field. It has been pointed out that unions tend +to divide labor. They not only separate the labor world into two +bitterly hostile classes--organized and unorganized--but by the high +rate of wages that they demand they tend also to create jealousy +within the trade union between the efficient who can earn these high +wages and the less efficient who cannot. If the working population +were so small that the demand for labor was greater than the supply, +then indeed the unions might control the situation. But experience has +shown that, without accepting the exaggerations of Malthus, there is +always a greater supply of labor than demand. Even in the most +prosperous times between 3 and 4 per cent of the trade unions are +unemployed and, outside the unions, there is a mass of unorganized +labor, a great part of which is either working for wages insufficient +to support life or is not working at all. These things inevitably +produce hostility between the prosperous and highly paid members of +the union and all the rest; and this hostility is a source of weakness +in the economic struggle of capital against labor. The unions, too, +instead of being able to apply their funds to maintain strikes, have +to apply a large part of these funds to the support of unemployed, +whether through sickness or through industrial depression. + +Upon the economic field, therefore, numbers tend to cripple the worker +in his fight against capital. On the political field, on the contrary, +the larger the number of workers, the stronger they are; for every +wage-earning man has his vote, and the vote of every wage-earner +counts as much as that of every capitalist. On the political field +there need be no division in the ranks of labor--organized and +unorganized labor can unite on a platform looking to the political +subjection of their common master. Indeed, if the trusts and employers +were to succeed in the task which they seem to have set +themselves--the destruction of every trade union--they would by so +doing put an end to the principal obstacle which now prevents +workingmen from uniting upon a common platform, for the suppression of +unions would mean two things: it would persuade the defeated unionists +that their only chance of successfully fighting capital was on the +political field; and it would put an end to the hostility between +organized and unorganized labor that is the principal obstacle at this +moment to united action of any kind. Moreover, the workingman could so +frame his political program as to secure the alliance of the whole +exploited class; the small farmer, the domestic, the clerk, and all +those who, out of interest or sympathy, find themselves arrayed +against the exploiting class. + +The discovery that the workingman is no match for his employer on the +economic field having already been made in England, the Labor party +there has no less than 40 members in Parliament, and this small +contingent has been strong enough to obtain the legislation above +referred to. It is the sense of inferiority on the economic field that +has organized the millions who are every year swelling the ranks of +the Socialist party in Europe. + +The shortsightedness of employers in failing to take account of this +fact has its humorous side. The employee was not very long ago +ignorant and incapable of organization--economic or political--and +without any vote on public affairs. It was only upon condition that he +should remain ignorant and incapable of political organization and +without any voice in public affairs that he could continue to suffer +the domination of his employer--such as is described in the Pittsburg +Survey. Yet the employer has given to every employee an equal vote +with himself in public affairs, so that to-day the employees outvote +the employers. Not content with this, and fearful lest the employee +should not be able adequately to use his vote, the employer has +covered the country with school-houses for the purpose of teaching the +employee how to use it. Yet employers proceed upon the assumption that +the intelligent, educated workingman of to-day, armed with a vote and +capable of the organization displayed in his unions, will continue to +endure such conditions as are described in the Pittsburg Survey as +patiently in the future as he has done in the past! + +So trusts continue complacently to crush out unions, oblivious of the +fact that every union crushed drives its members to Populism, +Socialism, Anarchism, pauperism, and crime. + +Of all the folds ready to receive the unfortunates driven out of their +unions by the trusts, which is the one least likely to prove dangerous +to the state? This question does not seem to concern the trusts at +all. They consider all these "isms" as equally vile, impractical, and +obnoxious. Yet, if they would only give to this matter one-half the +attention that they give to their business affairs, they could not +fail to see that every union they crush raises for them a crop of +political enemies who, if they show as much ability in political +organization as they have shown in economic organization--and there is +no reason why they should not--cannot but eventually secure a large +majority in our legislatures. When they have done this; when they have +the writing of a new constitution; when the police, the militia, the +army, and the law courts are on their side, is it not better that this +majority be intelligent and educated, as it might if Socialism were +rightly understood, and not uneducated and violent, as it will +certainly be if Socialism is not rightly understood? The conclusion to +which we seem to be driven is that, so long as labor struggles with +capital on the economic field through strikes, boycotts, and +litigation, it is bound to be beaten; but that every victory of +capital on the economic field shortens its reign; for it drives labor +to abandon the economic field, where it is weak, for the political +field, where it is strong; and that the evidence of constructive +ability and self-restraint exhibited by labor in the organization and +administration of the unions, indicates that that same ability +exercised in the political field will make it invincible there: + + "We are many; they are few." + +If this be so, then capital can no longer afford to disregard or +misrepresent the political aspirations of the army of labor. It may +indeed turn out in the words of the Cumaean Sybil: + + "Via prima salutis + Qua minime reris Graia pandetur ab urbe." + +Our way of safety may be--not in the defeat of labor--but in its +enlightenment. + +We have before us two alternatives: We can continue to fight labor; to +crush it; to create unemployment one day and wring our hands over it +the next; to arm labor, educate it, and force it to organize an army +of discontent that will eventually outvote capital and, with little or +no preparation for its task, seize the reins of government. Or we can +leave the fighting of labor to the trusts from which the whole public +suffers as well as the workingman, and ourselves join in a +reorganization of political forces that will make the legitimate +demands of the disinherited our own, and at last lay the foundations +of the Democracy that Lincoln through the smoke of the Civil War dimly +foresaw. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[78] Since writing this I see that Jaures makes exactly the same +observation in _Van Norden's Magazine_, August, 1909. + +[79] The metronymic tribes were tribes in which there was practically +no paternal relation. The mother was the head of the family and the +offspring took her name. This condition of things prevailed for some +time in ancient Egypt. + +[80] This is elaborated in "Government or Human Evolution," Vol. II, +p. 96. + +[81] "Government or Human Evolution," Vol. II, p. 102. + +[82] Translation, see Appendix p. 422. + +[83] Article 414 of the French Penal Code and Law of 1799 of the +British Parliament. + +[84] Book III, Chapter III. + +[85] "Organized Labor." By John Mitchell, p. 4. + +[86] Ibid., p. 3. + +[87] Report of the Industrial Commission, 1901, Vol. XVII, page 1. + +[88] Bulletin of the Dept. of Labor, 1898, pp. 714-717. + +[89] Andrew Carnegie's article on the Steel Industry in the +Encyclopedia Americana, Vol. XIV. + +[90] Statistical Abstract, 1908, p. 445. + +[91] Report of the Industrial Commission, 1901, Vol. XVII, p. 1. + +[92] Report of the Industrial Commission, 1901, Vol. XVII, p. lii. + +[93] Ibid., p. liii, 1901. + +[94] "Organized Labor," Chapter XXX. + +[95] "Organized Labor," p. 240. + +[96] Ibid., p. 163. + +[97] "Organized Labor," p. 163. + +[98] "English Socialism of To-day," pp. 99-100. + +[99] Letter of Police Commissioner Bingham, New York city, N.Y. +_Times_, Jan. 5, 1908. See Appendix, p. 423. + +[100] Book II, Chapter III. + +[101] Report of the Industrial Commission, 1901, Vol. I, p. 18. + +[102] Report of the Industrial Commission, 1901, Vol. I, p. 29. + +[103] Ibid., p. 31. + +[104] "Most members of combinations feel that the tendency is to make +work more permanent under the combination form of doing business, +inasmuch as the combination is better able to adjust the supply of +goods to the demand, and thus to secure regularity in their productive +conditions." Report of the Industrial Commission, Vol. XIII, p. xxxi. + +[105] "Some of the witnesses are of the opinion that the industrial +combinations give to the labor unions a decided advantage, inasmuch as +it enable them to deal with the trade as a whole instead of with +separate manufacturers." Report of the Industrial Commission, Vol. +XIII, p. xxxii. + +[106] Book II, Chapter I, Unemployment. + +[107] Pittsburg Survey, Charities, XXI, p. 1063. + +[108] Charities, XXI, p. 1035. + +[109] Senate Reports, 52d Congress, 2d session, Vol. I, Rept. No. +1280, p. xiv. + +[110] Ibid., p. xiii. + +[111] _Political Science Quarterly_, March, 1908. + +[112] See Appendix, p. 424. + +[113] Many workingmen still believe in the possibility of strikes and +even of a general strike. I do not take account of such strikes, +because they have not yet occurred and labor does not seem organized +upon a sufficiently comprehensive scale to make such strikes possible. + +[114] Report of the Industrial Commission, Vol. XIII, p. xxxi. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +MONEY + + +No attempt will be made in this chapter to enter upon the disputed +questions regarding money, but only to point out undenied and +undeniable facts in connection with its use and abuse. + +Coin, whether gold or silver, is used all over the world as the medium +of exchange. But gold and silver available for the purpose of coin are +limited in amount and totally inadequate to serve as mediums of +exchange without the assistance of other devices. Thus banks of issue +are organized for the purpose of issuing paper money. This money is +upon its face redeemable in coin, but banks of issue, relying upon the +probability that all paper issued will not be redeemed on the same +day, issue far more paper money than they have reserve in coin. In +England, this reserve is notably small. + +Business, too, is conducted largely on credit; that is to say, the +trader buys goods not with coin, but with notes or promises to pay +gold, relying upon the probability that he will sell the goods before +his notes come due and thus be able to meet his notes with the +proceeds derived from the sale of the goods purchased with these +notes. + +Industries, railroad companies, and transportation companies also use +credit for the purpose of building and running their roads and +factories. This credit takes the shape of permanent bonds and +temporary accommodations of the same character as the notes used by +private traders. The total number of bonds outstanding at par amount +to-day in the United States alone to $13,500,000,000.[115] It is +through the ability of railroad companies to issue bonds and credit +notes that they are enabled in prosperous periods to extend their +roads and factories. + +Farmers also borrow largely upon their farms for the purchase of +implements, live stock, improvements, etc. Recent figures of bonded +indebtedness are not to be obtained; but they figure in the billions. + +Again, cash payments are no longer made in coin; they are for the most +part made by check. Checks are not paid in coin; they are cleared +through clearing houses; the banks in every financial center belong to +a clearing house through which they daily settle with one another, +paying only differences of accounts in cash. Thus, in 1906, the total +transactions of fifty-five banks in New York city amounted to over +$103,000,000,000; yet the balances paid in money during the year only +amounted to about $3,000,000,000--a proportion of 3.69. So that +through the clearing-house system instead of exchanging gold to an +amount of $103,000,000,000 the whole business was transacted with only +3.69 per cent thereof in coin. + +The above figures tend to show how small a relation is borne by coin +to the total exchanges of the world. Indeed, although coin is still +the ultimate medium of exchange, commercial and industrial +transactions are conducted for the most part through an enormous +system of credit built upon a comparatively small amount of coin. + +The importance of this is considerable, for it puts those who have +coin and those who handle coin in a position which enables them to +control the industrial and commercial activities of the Nation. This +feature of our money system occasions what are called "financial +crises" as distinguished from commercial crises. Commercial crises and +industrial crises are due to overproduction. Financial crises are +produced for the most part by a breaking down of credit. + +Credit may be broken down in many ways. A breakdown may be due to +inability on the part of those who handle coin to meet their +obligations in coin. It may, however, be due to the unwillingness of +those who have and handle money to put this money at the disposal of +the industrial public. It is sometimes occasioned by both. + +Money is indispensable to the working of the industrial system. It may +be regarded as the blood of the industrial system because no farmer +can operate his farm, no factory owner his factory, no railroad +company its road without money or the equivalent of money--credit. And +if money can be compared with the blood in the human body, the banking +system must be regarded as its heart; the organ that keeps money in +circulation, accommodates circulation to the needs of the body, +furnishes the economic body with as much as at periods of exercise it +needs; and moderates its circulation when at periods of repose the +economic body is less in need of it. It is hardly necessary to point +out the extreme importance under these conditions that the heart of +this system act for the benefit of the system, and have at no time an +interest of its own to act independently of the system or in a manner +hostile to it. Now this is exactly the evil of existing monetary +conditions. Those who have and handle money have an interest of their +own to serve. While it is generally to their interest to use money in +making the community prosperous, it is at certain critical periods to +their interest on the contrary to withhold money. This is the point +upon which emphasis must be put. Let us, with a view to understanding +this, consider into how few hands the control of coin tends to be +concentrated; and how easy it is for these few to serve their own +interests at the expense of the public by withholding coin at moments +of utmost need. + +A very brief study of the movements of coin in the United States will +demonstrate the very few hands in which the control of coin in the +country is vested: + +Every trust, every corporation, every railroad company makes payments to +its stockholders at stated intervals consisting of dividends on stock +and interest on bonds. These amounts are large. In 1905 dividends +amounted to $840,018,022, and interest to $636,287,621--together a +billion and a half.[116] Most of this is paid in New York and produces a +regular flow of money from the great corporations to the New York banks. + +The great life insurance companies have their principal offices in New +York and there flow daily into the coffers of these companies millions +of dollars of premiums, amounting in the year to nearly half a billion +($492,676,987 in 1908). During the last half century, 1859-1908, the +income from premiums reached the enormous total of $7,870,892,759.[117] +All these go into the hands of New York banks and trust companies. + +These moneys are, in the ordinary course of business, returned to the +industrial public in the shape of accommodations to banks, loans to +farmers, factories, railroad companies, etc.; and if these enormous +sums that go into the hands of the Wall Street Group are not returned +to the industrial system, the industrial system must perish just as +the body must perish if its vital functions are not furnished with +blood. But as has been stated, it is to the interest of the Group to +keep the industrial system prosperous and, therefore, in prosperous +times this amount gets back to the country again, the Group receiving +a profit on taking in these moneys and on the paying out of them. One +thing, however, is certain--that the Group can by withholding money +make money scarce. It can by releasing money make it plentiful. The +power given to the Group by this order of things is incalculable. If +the Group desires to issue securities, it has an interest in making +money plentiful. If the Group desires to purchase securities cheaply, +it has an interest in making money scarce. The Group is therefore in a +position where it can serve its own interests whatever be the +direction these interests take. + +A banker once described to me the situation as follows: + +"The bulk of business is conducted with credit. An enormous credit +system is built upon a relatively small amount of gold. The bankers +control the gold; by controlling the gold they control credit; by +controlling credit they control business. + +"This credit and gold system can be compared to an enormous system of +reservoirs and irrigation works, the sluices of which are all opened +and closed by electricity. It takes a very minute amount of +electricity to open and close the sluices; but the man who has control +of that small amount of electricity has the whole irrigation system at +his mercy. By pressing a button he can furnish water to one region and +take it away from another; and if water has been largely used--as in +the case of overinvestment--he can, by withholding water altogether, +put the whole population of the land irrigated by the system on its +knees." + +Let us select as a concrete illustration of the workings of this +system the events of 1907: + +The year prior to the October panic of 1907 was the most prosperous +year the country had ever seen. The balance of trade in our favor was +$446,000,000[118]; that is to say, Europe owed us $446,000,000 on the +year's transactions; the value of our crop exceeded that of the +previous year by over $480,000,000; the net earnings of our railroads +exceeded those of the previous year by over $260,000,000; the deposits +in our banks exceeded those of the previous year by over $880,000,000; +the cash held by our banks exceeded that held in the previous year by +over $100,000,000; and the Treasury of the United States was bulging +with ingots of gold. Nevertheless, the bankers knew that there had +been overinvestment. In fifteen years the banks had invested in stocks +and bonds no less than $437,000,000. In three years the trust +companies had invested no less than $643,000,000 in these +securities.[119] + +Moreover, immense sums had been loaned by trust companies and cash +reserves had fallen from nearly 18 per cent in 1897 to a little over +11 per cent in 1907.[120] The Wall Street Group knew that there had +been overinvestment. As one of them said, "We are being overwhelmed by +our own prosperity." The breeze was blowing too strong and we were +carrying too much sail. The Wall Street Group, however, knowing that a +crisis was at hand and determined to realize the fullest possible +price for stocks, began selling securities in January, 1907, giving +rise to what has been termed "the rich man's panic," which climaxed +in March.[121] Securities fell in consequence of this selling on an +average of about 40 points. This tended to cripple all weak financial +institutions which were no longer able to sell securities with a view +to meeting obligations except at a loss. But this weakness did not +express itself until October. + +The first to suffer was the brokerage firm of Otto Heinze & Company, +well-known speculators, particularly in copper stocks. The next to +fall were Charles W. Morse and E.R. Thomas, also speculators and +directors of the Mercantile National Bank, and others. All banks +controlled by these men at once showed weakness. But the panic did not +reach its climax until the Knickerbocker Trust Company became +involved. To understand the situation of the Knickerbocker Trust +Company, a word must be said regarding trust companies and their +relations to banks. + +Banks in the city of New York are required by law to keep a reserve of +15 per cent of their deposits in coin. Trust companies, not being +subject to the banking law in this respect, are not called upon to +maintain this reserve. They have, therefore, an advantage over banks +because they can invest the whole of their deposits instead of keeping +a part of them uninvested in coin. The natural hostility that would +arise between trust companies and banks owing to this difference was +eliminated in almost every case because trust companies were +controlled by the banks. The Knickerbocker Trust Company, however, +formed a notable exception to this rule. + +Owing to the genius of its President, Charles T. Barney, the +Knickerbocker Trust Company had increased its deposits to over eighty +millions in 1907. Mr. Barney did not belong to the Wall Street Group +in the sense of the word that he acted independently of it, and his +extraordinary enterprise and ability aroused the jealousy of the +Group. In 1907, the institution having 8,000 depositors with total +deposits of $80,000,000, became an independent power which was not to +be tolerated by the Group. Under these conditions, it could not be +expected that the Group would make any extraordinary effort to save +the Knickerbocker Trust Company. It was to the interest of the Group +that the Knickerbocker Trust Company should cease to remain an +independent financial power. + +Everybody knew that the Knickerbocker Trust Company, though +temporarily embarrassed, was perfectly sound. The receivers, appointed +when its doors closed, so stated and subsequent events have proved +that the receivers were right. No one doubts the ability of the Group +to save the Knickerbocker Trust Company if it had chosen to do so. But +the Group had in its hands an instrument by means of which the ruin of +Mr. Barney could be effected: The clearing house has never admitted +trust companies to membership, because trust companies were not under +the obligation to maintain the 15 per cent reserve above referred to. +This matter had come up frequently for discussion and the clearing +house had insisted that all trust companies applying for membership to +the clearing house should keep a reserve at of least 10 per cent. This +the trust companies declined to do; but they nevertheless profited by +the clearing-house system by employing banks that were members of the +Clearing House Association to do their clearing for them--a dangerous +situation that proved the ruin of Mr. Barney. The Bank of Commerce was +the clearing-house agent of the Knickerbocker Trust Company; and the +Bank of Commerce was controlled by the Wall Street Group. Under these +conditions, the Knickerbocker Trust Company was at the mercy of the +Wall Street Group. + +The Bank of Commerce publicly announced its refusal to clear any +longer for the Knickerbocker Trust Company on the 21st of +October.[122] Mr. Charles T. Barney was told that no help would be +given to the Knickerbocker Trust Company unless he resigned. +Understanding this to mean that help would be given if he did resign, +he resigned; but help was withheld; the Knickerbocker Trust Company +was allowed to go into the hands of receivers, and Mr. Barney +committed suicide. + +Mr. Barney's corporation was not the only one upon which the Group had +its eye. The Group is interested in the General Electric Company, the +largest electrical company in America. The only serious rival of the +General Electric Company in the country is the Westinghouse Company. +Westinghouse was doing a larger business than he had capital for. "He +was overwhelmed by his own prosperity." All Westinghouse needed at +that time was money in order to protect his business. This money was +refused to him. + +The Group is also interested in the railroads of the country and +indeed controls them. It is one of the bad features of our railroad +system that it almost everywhere controls steamship lines and thus +prevents the public from having the benefit of cheaper water rates by +exacting the same rates on steamboats as upon land. Morse with the +supposed backing of the Knickerbocker Trust had organized a system of +steamship companies which were running independently of the railroads +and threatening their monopoly of freight rates. It was necessary +that these steamship lines should be controlled by the various +railroad systems with which these lines competed, and Morse's +steamship company was forced into the hands of a receiver. + +But there was another corporation of still more importance to the +Group--the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company. + +The Steel Trust had never been able to purchase this company, and this +company was in a measure indispensable to them. The Tennessee Coal and +Iron Company had the extraordinary advantage of owning inter-bedded +coal and iron; that is to say, coal and iron in the same spot. It was +thus relieved of the necessity of transporting coal several hundred +miles to iron ore or iron ore several hundred miles to coal. This +enabled the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company to fix a price for steel +independently of the Steel Trust. + +As has been explained, although trusts seek to have weak independent +concerns in existence if only to prevent strong independent concerns +from being organized, they cannot afford to have an independent +concern competing with them which is able to fix prices lower than +their own. For this reason, the Wall Street Group availed itself of +the panic to get control of the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company. + +Upon the testimony of Oakleigh Thorne, President of the Trust Company +of America, and George W. Perkins of the firm of J.P. Morgan & +Company, who is a member of the Finance Board of the United States +Steel Corporation, before the Senate Committee on January 19, +1909,[123] it appears that a syndicate had been organized for the +purpose of acquiring the stock of the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company. +Mr. Oakleigh Thorne was a member of this syndicate, and the Trust +Company of America, of which he was president, had loaned on November +1, 1907, $482,700 to this syndicate against the stock of the Tennessee +Coal and Iron Company as collateral. It seems that the Trust Company +called this loan and that although the stock of the Tennessee Coal and +Iron Company was a dividend-paying stock and quoted at 119, the +syndicate found it impossible to borrow money upon it. The only +condition upon which they could borrow money was selling out to the +Steel Trust. + +The Steel Trust gave in exchange for the Tennessee Coal and Iron +Company stock at 119 its own second mortgage bonds, quoted on the +market at that time at 82, and as soon as this exchange was effected +the syndicate was furnished with all the money it needed. Wall Street +loaned to the syndicate against steel second mortgage bonds the +amounts which had previously been refused upon the Tennessee Coal and +Iron Company stock. In other words, the Wall Street Group by refusing +to loan money to the syndicate against the Tennessee Coal and Iron +Company stock, compelled the syndicate to sell this stock to the Steel +Trust by agreeing to loan to the syndicate against Steel Trust second +mortgage bonds at 82 what they refused to loan to the same syndicate +on Tennessee Coal and Iron Company stock at 119. + +The New York _Times_ says on this subject:[124] + +"What inquiring Senators want to know is, How was it possible for a +small group of bankers to get together and, merely by agreement, force +out one security by giving preference to another less valuable? This +power is regarded as highly dangerous to all classes of securities, +placing them entirely at the mercy of the Wall Street Group." + +The power of the Wall Street Group to which the _Times_ objects is in +times of panic reinforced by no less a power than the United States +Government. The United States differs from other countries in not +having a government bank for receiving government deposits and +distributing them in the ordinary course of banking business. The +result is that the receipts of the government accumulate in the United +States Treasury, and this tends to increase stringency in periods of +panic. It has become, therefore, a rule of the government to step in +on such occasions and deposit with its national banks a sufficient +amount to relieve stringency. It will be readily seen that this +intervention of the Secretary of the Treasury, while indispensable to +the public welfare, constitutes a great resource to the Wall Street +Group. For the Group can, by withholding cash at periods of +stringency, practically compel the government to come to the relief of +the market when, for purposes of its own the Group decides to withhold +funds. And as the Group includes the best-informed persons regarding +the finances of the country, it is to the Group that the Secretary of +the Treasury naturally goes for advice on these occasions. The Wall +Street Group therefore occupies a position which permits it to call +upon the government for funds when it desires to hoard its own funds +for its own purposes. + +Thus we find Secretary Cortelyou in daily conference with the Wall +Street Group at this period; and after the Knickerbocker Trust Company +closed its doors on the 22d of October and receivers had been +appointed for the three Westinghouse firms on the 23d, Secretary +Cortelyou deposited $25,000,000 in the New York banks indicated by the +Group. This was just sufficient to prevent ruin but not sufficient to +relieve stringency. On November 4th, Judge Gary and Mr. Frick went to +see the President and explained to him that the purchase of the +Tennessee Coal and Iron Company stock by the Steel Trust was necessary +"in order to stop the panic."[125] The President on the same day wrote +a letter to the Attorney-General, subsequently communicated to the +Senate, in which he explained that in view of the fact that such a +purchase would tend "to stop the panic" and that it would not give the +Steel Trust more than 60 per cent. of the Steel industry, he did "not +feel it a public duty to interpose any objection." + +The purchase of the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company having been +effected, the United States Government was once more called upon by +the Group and on November 17, the President and Secretary Cortelyou +announced the issue of 2 per cent Panama bonds for an amount of +$50,000,000, and 3 per cent on certificate indebtedness to an amount +of $100,000,000. By this time, however, the Group had decided that +there was no necessity to maintain panic conditions, and the issue of +these bonds was arrested, so that only one-half of the Panama bonds +and only $15,000,000 of the Treasury certificates were allotted. + +It has been intimated that the Wall Street Group during the whole of +this panic was in possession of funds which it purposely withheld. +This intimation seems justified by the events which immediately +followed the purchase of the Tennessee Coal and Iron stock by the +Steel Trust. In November newspapers informed us that our bankers were +engaged in "buying gold" in Europe, and during November no less than +$63,000,000 were imported and in December a further $44,000,000 were +imported; together--over $100,000,000. It is a somewhat singular +thing that the public does not seem to have asked for information as +to what was meant by this singular expression "buying gold." + +The machinery through which gold was brought over to America in +November and December was the following: Our farmers had already +produced crops and sold them to Europe; the 1907 cotton crop began to +move in August--a large part of it was in Europe before the panic. Our +wheat crop, though late, was already partly in Europe and on its way +there. Those who had produced and sold these crops had drawn against +their shipments. These drafts are called "cotton bills"--"wheat +bills." Certain bankers with connections abroad make it their special +business to buy these bills and present them for payment in Europe at +a minute profit called "exchange." But these bankers could not, during +the panic, borrow money as usual to buy these bills; and they did not +dare to use the money of their depositors for this purpose when they +were under imminent danger of a run. So these bills became a drug on +the market; they could be got for four cents in the pound cheaper than +in average years; and at this price, and at an exceptional profit, the +Wall Street Group went into the market and bought them up, presented +them for payment and got all the money from Europe that was wanted. +This is the process that was called "buying gold." But _who had gold +with which to buy these bills? Who had been hoarding gold?_ + +What do these facts disclose? They disclose that at the time when the +Wall Street Group refused help to the Knickerbocker Trust it had at +its disposal the gold in the United States Treasury--did not Cortelyou +actually put this gold at its disposal?--the credit of the United +States Government--did not Cortelyou at its bidding issue all the +bonds he was told to issue?--and enough money of its own at the proper +moment to purchase cotton and wheat bills at panic prices, so that +every ship that in November and December sailed from Europe to New +York came laden with gold? + +No one can, I think, deny the power of the Group after a fair +consideration of these incidents. Let us see how this power was +exercised as regards the city of New York. + +The Comptroller in a report published in November, 1907 (pages 5 and +6) showed that the city had not only voted, but appropriated over +$195,000,000 for, public works, much of which was urgently needed by +the city and some of which ought to have been completed four years +before. Yet this city of four million inhabitants, whose property is +underassessed at $7,000,000,000, was not able to employ its thousands +of unemployed at this urgently needed public work because, as +Comptroller Metz stated at a crowded meeting, Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan +would not give the money to do it with, _and the city could get it +from no one else_.[126] + +Morgan allowed the city in October to issue $30,000,000 of its bonds +at 6 per cent, but refused to permit any further issue until the last +day of January. On January 29th, according to the New York _Sun_,[127] +Mr. Morgan relented, and the Mayor of the city, the Comptroller, the +Deputy Comptroller, the Corporation Counsel, and the City Chamberlain +were summoned to Mr. Morgan's library. There at last the imperial +consent was given; the richest city in America was allowed by Mr. +Morgan to issue its own bonds, but not in an amount large enough to +permit of any public works. So the unemployed were left to tramp +sleeplessly through our streets. + +The Wall Street Group found another important element of profit in the +fall of securities during the panic. It has been said that securities +fell on an average 40 points when the Group sold securities between +January and March, 1907. Mr. James H. Brookmire estimates that they +fell another 16 points during the panic. The Group seemed informed as +to the exact moment at which securities had reached the bottom price; +that is, they knew the moment when the panic was intended to come to +an end. I was fortunate enough to be informed by a member of the Group +at the right moment. I purchased Northern Pacific stock upon the +advice given and, in the course of the year, made 50 per cent profit +thereupon. The Group that sold between January and March, 1907, was in +a position to buy back stock at less than one-half what they sold it +for and, if they chose to realize at the present time, it would make +an additional 50 per cent. In other words, it was in a position to +make over 100 per cent upon the whole transaction. When we keep in +mind the enormous figures which the operations of the Group attain, +the amount of profit realized upon this amount alone can be imagined. + +I do not wish to be understood as pretending that the facts marshalled +in the foregoing pages constitute conclusive proofs that the Group +either made money by the panic, or withheld cash and credit for the +purpose of making money. It is possible that the sales of stock +between January and March and the repurchase of stock in November were +effected solely with a view to the public welfare; it is possible that +the Knickerbocker Trust Company was allowed to go to the wall solely +through error in judgment; it is possible that the Steel Trust +reluctantly purchased the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company as Messrs. +Gary and Frick explained to the President--solely for the purpose of +"stopping the panic." But practical business men are not accustomed to +concluding in this fashion. When the keenest appetites of humanity are +whetted to the utmost and opportunities are extended for the +satisfaction of these appetites, we generally conclude that these +opportunities are not refused through pure asceticism; at least not by +the Wall Street Group. + +When Mrs. Forrest brought action against her husband, Edwin Forrest, +the actor, it was proved that the defendant had been seen visiting a +house of ill fame; after he entered, a third story front room was lit; +the room remained lit for about an hour; the light was extinguished at +the end of this period, and a few moments thereafter Mr. Forrest was +seen leaving the house. His counsel maintained that this was not +conclusive evidence against him; that his profession obliged him to +study human nature in every rank of life at close quarters, and that +it had not been proved that he visited this house for any other +purpose. Charles O'Conor in responding to this part of the defendant's +argument, said: "I can see the defendant walking up the steps of this +house of ill fame; I can see him enter and ushered into a room full of +human nature exclusively of the female sex ready and willing to be +studied at close quarters; I can see him select the one which he +believed to be able to furnish the best opportunities for this +purpose; I can see the two mount the stairs to the third story front +and light the gas; and I can see them together there devote an hour to +meditation and prayer." The jury was satisfied with the evidence and +rendered a verdict for divorce in favor of Mrs. Forrest. + +Whatever be the opinion, however, as to whether or not the Wall Street +Group withheld funds to effect its purpose during the panic; or +whether it made money out of the panic, one thing is perfectly +certain--it was in a position where it could have withheld money; it +was in a position where it could have made money out of the panic. The +question the community has to decide is whether it is willing to leave +this power and this temptation to any group of bankers--either to the +saints now in control of Wall Street, or possibly to their less worthy +successors. + +In one of the standard English works on Money,[128] George Clare +points out the exorbitant power of the Secretary of our Treasury: + +"The New York Market is in fact at the mercy of an autocrat who, +having full power to loose or bind large masses of currency at his +absolute discretion, decides for himself whether and when money shall +be cheap, and whether and when it shall be dear." + +This autocratic power is to-day at the disposal of the Wall Street +Group--not owing to any improper influence of the Group; not through +any improper conduct of the Treasury; but as a necessary result of +existing conditions. And if Mr. Clare is right in criticising the +wisdom of granting to the Treasury the autocratic power it now enjoys, +how much more dangerous is it to grant this autocratic power not to an +official who can be removed, but to a group of financiers who cannot +be removed? For the power exerted by the Wall Street Group includes +not only all the resources of the Treasury, but all the resources of +the entire country. It holds the life blood of our economic system in +its hands and, because it controls this life blood, it controls +politics, education, morals, and religion. And this group of men was +not elected to the position it now enjoys by the majority of our +citizens; it has usurped the position by virtue of its control over +silver and gold. + +The fact, however, that the use of silver and gold as our sole medium +of exchange gives men control of the most essential things in our +life, whom we never elected to that office and who at critical times +have a personal interest to serve in opposition to that of the public +welfare, is not the only evil connected with their use: + +Silver and gold do not furnish us with constant standards of values. +At various periods in the history of our civilization, gold and silver +have been discovered in enormous quantities, and the effect of the +discoveries and the putting of the gold and silver on the market has +been and must be of a character to seriously affect the interests of +all. When the amount of gold and silver in circulation is increased, +prices go up, but wages do not correspondingly rise; and the +wage-earner is unconsciously robbed. He goes on receiving the same +amount in gold or silver for his work, but the purchasing power of the +wage he receives diminishes. Again, when contraction takes place, as +for example when silver was demonetized in 1893, a great wrong was +done to the farmers who had borrowed money upon their farms; for by +demonetizing silver, gold increased correspondingly in value and the +farmer was called upon to pay his mortgages with money worth far more +than it was prior to the demonetization of silver. + +One thing, however, we want to bear in mind, that although farmers +suffer by the demonetization of silver and wage-earners suffer by the +demonetization of silver, and no change in the amount of silver and +gold used as currency takes place without somebody suffering, the +financiers and all those who handle money are in a position so to +conduct their affairs as to profit by these changes. Meanwhile the +rest of the community are in such a position that they have not the +knowledge and even if they had the knowledge, would probably not have +the ability, to do anything but lose by them. + +The average citizen has no knowledge on these subjects whatever, and +is therefore at the mercy of financial heretics. He was misled by the +greenback craze in the 80's, by the silver craze in the 90's, and is +subject to further delusions so long as coin remains the medium of +exchange and coin is controlled by a few individuals whose only +interest in it is to make out of it the largest fortune possible. + +It must not be imagined that an attempt has been made to furnish +anything like an exhaustive account of the opportunities which +financiers have for profiting at the expense of the public. To do so +would require a volume as large as this one devoted entirely to this +subject. + +For example, at this very time of writing,[129] the papers inform us +that Mr. Morgan is hurrying back from Europe to settle the question +whether a dividend is to be paid on the common stock of the United +States Steel Company. It is known that Mr. Morgan received a very +large block of this stock as his compensation for promoting the trust. +If he still has enough of this stock to make the payment of a dividend +of importance to him, or if he wants to sell at a high price, he will +be naturally influenced by this motive to declare a dividend. If, on +the other hand, he who best of all knows how prosperous the Company +is, desires to purchase more of this stock at a low price, he will be +tempted not to declare a dividend. The stock will fall and he will be +able to make a large profit by purchasing. + +In this manner directors are always able, if they choose, to make +money on the declaration of doubtful dividends; and this can be done +without its being possible to impute any blame to them, for a +declaration of a dividend is always a matter of judgment. It is wise +to put aside a certain part of the profits as a reserve to meet hard +times, and just how much shall be put aside as a reserve and how much +shall be paid out for dividends are matters on which it is very +difficult for the best-intentioned men to agree. The directors, +however, who control the company can make up their minds beforehand +whether they will declare a dividend or not. If they propose to pass a +dividend, they can sell as much as the market permits and buy back +later at reduced prices. If they decide to declare a dividend, they +can buy as much as the market permits and sell later at advanced +prices. + +Again, there seems to be no standard of morality amongst bankers as +regards the profits they make. In the ordinary walks of life, a man is +expected to be able to explain what the services are for which he +receives any considerable sum of money. This, however, does not seem +to be the case with bankers. In 1893, the United States Congress +appointed a committee to investigate the rumor that over a million +dollars had been remitted to J.P. Morgan & Company, Winslow Lanier & +Company and J. & W. Seligman for the purpose of corrupting Congress. +Messrs. Morgan, Lanier and Seligman were obliged to admit that a sum +of $1,200,000 had been divided among them, "apparently for the use of +their names and for nothing else." When asked if it had been remitted +for the purpose of corrupting Congress, they denied it; when asked if +they were still in possession of this sum, they admitted they were; +when asked what the services were for which they had received this +sum, they naively stated that they did not know.[130] Such an +admission made by a lawyer would be ground for having him disbarred. + +The very moral or immoral attitude that permits of bankers receiving +enormous sums of money without being able to explain why these moneys +were paid to them, pervades the whole financial atmosphere. + +The directors of our large corporations corrupt our legislatures; they +endow universities and pervert our education; they support the +churches and prevent them from preaching the doctrines of Christ; they +determine elections so as to secure legislators whom they can control. +They are masters, not only of our whole system of production and +distribution, but of our government and our laws. And this democracy +which in theory is a government of the people, by the people, and for +the people, turns out to be a government of the people, by financiers, +for financiers. + +Nor does it seem possible to put an end to this condition of things so +long as our system of production and distribution is competitive; for +gold and silver have proved to be altogether the best mediums of +exchange, and some medium of exchange we must have in order to carry +on trade so long as that trade is left to individual initiative as at +present. + +The whole community pays tribute to those who have gold and silver and +those who handle it, and these last have a personal interest contrary +to the interest of the public at moments of the greatest emergency. +Competitive conditions have subjected the whole currency of the +country to the control of a few men who thereby are masters of our +commerce, our manufactures, our exports, our politics, our religion. +In view of the fact that this small group practically governs the +country in matters of legislation, and by virtue of a sort of class +solidarity between the judges and the possessing class, governs the +courts also, the men who determine the making and executing of our +laws should, in a democracy such as ours, be elected by the people. +But they are not elected by the people and they are not removable by +the people. They are irremovable usurpers; they are created by +economic conditions and, as long as these economic conditions last, +they will continue to enjoy the power they now exercise. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[115] An article by Charles A. Conant in the _Atlantic Monthly_, Jan., +1908. + +[116] _Atlantic Monthly_, Charles A. Conant, Jan., 1908, p. 101. + +[117] Insurance Year Book: Life and Casualty sections, 1909, p. 236-7. + +[118] Statistical abstract of the U.S., 1908. + +[119] "Monetary and Banking Systems." By Maurice L. Muhleman, formerly +U.S. Deputy Assistant Treasurer at New York. + +[120] Ibid. + +[121] According to computations made by Mr. James H. Brookmire on +quotations of twenty representative railroad stocks, these reached at +the highest point in 1906, 138. In March, these securities had gone +down to 98. + +[122] N.Y. _Press_, Oct. 22, 1907. + +[123] See N.Y. _Times_, Jan. 30, 1909. + +[124] N.Y. _Times_, February 1, 1909. + +[125] The N.Y. _Times_, Jan. 7, 1909. + +[126] N.Y. _Sun_, Jan. 17, 1908. + +[127] Ibid., Jan. 30, 1908. + +[128] "A Money Market Primer," by George Clare. Recommended by the +Council of the Institute of Bankers. Revised edition, London, 1896, p. +123. + +[129] July 16, 1909. + +[130] House Reports, 52d Congress, 2d Session, v. 3, No. 2615, p. 5. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +CAN THE EVILS OF CAPITALISM BE ELIMINATED BY COOPERATION? + + +One of our ablest captains of industry has lately collected articles +and addresses on this subject in a book entitled, "Problems of the +Day." If we were to eliminate from this book the errors under which +Mr. Carnegie labors as to what Socialism is, we could make of it an +admirable piece of Socialist propaganda. For Mr. Carnegie, although +denouncing Socialism in every page, believes in giving the workingman +an interest in the factory, and carries his belief in this system so +far that he actually looks forward to the day when labor will reach +"an equality with the millionaire as his partner in business."[131] He +cites as an example of what could be done in this direction the Filene +stores of Boston, the capital stock of which he says is held +"exclusively by employees." Now this is exactly the system which +modern Socialism wants to bring into existence. Because, therefore, +Mr. Carnegie does not belong to the Platonic School of Socialism which +suggests the breaking-up of the home and is denounced by all practical +Socialists of to-day; and because he disapproves of the abolition of +wealth, as do all practical Socialists of to-day, he deserves to +occupy a front rank in our Socialist army for having put his finger +upon the real evil--competition; and for having pointed the way to +the real solution--the substitution, of cooperation for competition +all through our industrial system. + +One thing, however, Mr. Carnegie has failed to appreciate: namely, +that when all our industries are organized on the principle of the +Filene stores--when, as Mr. Carnegie explains, the capital stock of +every industry and department store is held exclusively by employees, +the worker will not be the partner of the millionaire--he will have +superseded him. I am afraid this is not what Mr. Carnegie wants, at +least not in his day. But when he really wants this as much as in his +book he seems to want it, Mr. Carnegie will be qualified to be a +member of the Socialist party. + +There is an important distinction to be made between cooperation and +cooperatives, because cooperatives may be divided into two very +different classes: capitalistic cooperatives and socialistic +cooperatives. + +The capitalistic cooperatives are either the efforts of capitalists to +secure the fidelity of employees by giving them a minute share in the +profits of the business, or the efforts of employees to benefit +themselves by eliminating capitalists without eliminating capitalism; +in other words, the fact that such cooperatives undertake to produce +or distribute commodities under the competitive _regime_, converts +them into capitalists. + +In marked contrast to these are the cooperative stores of Belgium, +organized in part to improve the condition of those engaged in them, +but also with the view of putting an end to capitalism altogether. +These are performing a work of inestimable value to Socialism and the +Socialist party in Belgium, while materially helping those who belong +to them, they at the same time hold up as the standard aimed at, not +the mere material improvement of themselves, but the ultimate triumph +of an ideal. + +The field for cooperation is so vast that it cannot be traversed in +the scope of this work. I shall close this subject therefore with the +suggestion that all cooperatives--even the capitalistic--are good and +useful, for they tend to educate. It is true that they may also +occasion evil; as for example, the Steel Trust when it encourages +employees to purchase stock, while it discourages and destroys +trade-union organization, and thereby creates an aristocracy of labor +which tends to prevent the sense of solidarity in labor ranks that +Marxians regard as essential to the triumph of the Socialist cause. + +But the evil it does is probably compensated by the good. Incidentally +it furnishes us Socialists with a triumphant answer to Mr. Carnegie: +Here in his city of Pittsburg which he built up with his genius, is +the principle of cooperation adopted which he regards as the solution +of all our ills; yet it is this very Pittsburg that to-day furnishes +to the whole world the most abominable picture of exploitation ever +presented.[132] We Socialists are indeed fortunate that this picture +has been drawn not by ourselves, but by those who are to-day the most +intelligently opposing us. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[131] "Problems of the Day," by Andrew Carnegie, p. 76. + +[132] The Pittsburg Survey, published by the Russell Sage Foundation. + + + + +BOOK III + +_WHAT SOCIALISM IS_ + + +Socialism is too vast a subject to be brought within the four corners +of any one definition. It is as impossible for a definition to convey +an idea of Socialism as for an empty theater to convey the comedies, +the idylls, and the tragedies nightly enacted on its boards. A +definition can at best barely give the mechanism of Socialism; it +cannot furnish a picture of the effect of that mechanism in +eliminating misery, in promoting progress, in making character. This +must be painted on a canvas--and on a large canvas--and on many +canvases--for, as has been already urged, Socialism is not a simple +thing; it is a highly complex thing; and it is only when we have +grasped _all_ that Socialism will effect--when we have studied its +economic results, its political results, its scientific results, and +its ethical results--that we can appreciate this new Gospel of the +Poor. + +Socialism not only derives strength from each of these results, it +unites the divergencies between economics and politics, and solves the +conflict between science and religion. So that these four great +departments of human thought, instead of being independent or actually +in conflict with one another, find themselves in Socialism united in +one great harmonious whole. + +Just as Christianity derived its strength from the discontent of the +oppressed, so Socialism has pushed its first roots in the misery of +the proletariat. But we do not judge of a flower exclusively from its +roots. So must we not judge Socialism exclusively from that part of it +which at present flourishes in dark tenements and in the misery of the +unemployed. It is our fault that the tenements are dark, that the +unemployed suffer. It will be our fault if Socialism remains the +Gospel of the Poor when we can make of it the final Gospel of the +whole human race. + +For humanity has nearly finished the first great phase of its +existence; it has played the role of the worm long enough; already is +it cribbed, cabined, and confined by silk threads of its own weaving +that for a hundred years the cocoon has been accumulating about it, +repressing here, regulating there, till it is stifling under +limitations created by itself. But the very pressure of these +limitations has been developing new functions in us--a conscience +restive under false standards, a capacity for wider sympathies--the +wings of the grub, destined to burst the chrysalis of worn-out +prejudices, regulations, legislations, and despotisms; to spread out +into new spaces where there shall be development and happiness. + +Whether these hopes are well founded or not is the subject of our +inquiry, beginning first with Economics--the roots of our flower; +proceeding then to Politics--its stem; next to Science--its structure, +and lastly to Morality and Religion--its blossom and its fruit. And if +I group Morality and Religion, it is because these have both from the +beginning of years and not always hand in hand, been groping after the +same thing--Happiness. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE ECONOMIC ASPECT OF SOCIALISM + + +Let us begin by considering how large a part of our population is now +devoting its entire time to the work of competition, as distinguished +from that which is devoting its time to the task of production. + +It is obvious that all who are devoting their time to the work of +competition would, in a cooperative commonwealth, be free to give +their entire time to production; and the time they gave to production +would be so much taken away from the time which those now engaged in +production have to give to it. For example, the United States to-day +keeps alive, according to the census of 1900, over 76,000,000 men, +women, and children; of these the working population is estimated at a +little over 29,000,000, of which, however, many are not engaged in +production or distribution; as for example, actors, clergymen, +lawyers, soldiers; and although some others, such as journalists, +physicians, and surgeons, are not occupied in production and +distribution, they nevertheless are so necessary to every community +that they may be regarded as a part of the working population. The +percentage excluded, however, by excluding those not engaged in +production and distribution, is so small that it is not worth while +taking them into account; and for purposes of easy calculation we +should, therefore, consider the whole population in round +figures--75,000,000, of which 30,000,000 are engaged in production +and distribution, the remaining 45,000,000 consisting of the aged, +sick, women, and children who cannot work and in fact, all who by +wealth or disability are deprived of the necessity of working. Now if, +of the 30,000,000 who do the work of production, it is found that +15,000,000, or one-half, are engaged in work that results from the +competitive character of our industrial system, it is clear that in a +Socialist community in which there is no competition, these 15,000,000 +would be applied to the work of production; and therefore every man +would have to work only one-half the number of hours he now works in +order to keep the community alive. + +Let us see if we can form any idea how many are engaged in the +wasteful work of competition, and how many, therefore, would in a +Socialist society be set free to relieve the labor of those engaged in +production. + +It is conceded that of every one hundred men who start a new business +ninety become insolvent. This means that for every ten fit and able to +conduct a new business ninety engage in new business who are unable to +earn their bread at it. In a cooperative commonwealth the exact number +of men necessary to conduct business in any given place could be +mathematically determined; and the ninety unsuccessful men who are now +engaged in futile efforts to destroy the business of the ten +successful men would be employed in production to their own advantage +and to the relief of those already engaged therein. + +The wastefulness, however, of the present plan is not confined to the +circumstance that many are engaged in attempting to do what can better +be done by a few, but is increased by the fact that in the conflict +between the successful and the unsuccessful a vast horde of men are +employed by competition, who would be thrown out of employment and +therefore be serviceable for production in case competition were +avoided. Amongst the men so employed are commercial travellers; these +men occasion waste to the community, not only because instead of +themselves producing they are living on the production of others, but +because they constitute a large part of the passenger traffic of the +country. The railroads are put to the expense of carrying these +travellers all over the United States that they may each have an +opportunity in every corner of the United States of decrying the goods +of one another. And this throws a side light on the evils of our +present plan, for the railroads have an interest in encouraging this +work. If they did not have this horde of commercial travellers to +carry about the country, many of them might not be able to pay +interest on their bonds. The testimony taken by the Industrial +Commission furnishes admirable instances of the waste attending +competitive production and the corresponding economy that would attend +a Socialist system. Mr. Edson Bradley, President of the American +Spirits Manufacturing Company, testifies that in the whisky business +"somewhere between the distiller and the consumer in this country, +$40,000,000 is lost. This goes primarily to the attempt to secure +trade."[133] Now the whole capital invested in liquors and beverages +is, according to the last census, $660,000,000, whereas the total +manufactures amount to about $12,686,000,000. It will be seen, +therefore, that the capital invested in liquors and beverages is about +one-twentieth of that invested in other manufactures. If, therefore, +$40,000,000 are lost in getting the trade in the liquor business, it +may be inferred that twenty times this amount--that is to say, +$800,000,000--are lost in getting the trade by all the manufactures in +the country. This represents only the expense of advertising in +manufactures; it does not cover the advertising done by the whole +retail trade, the department stores, insurance companies--life +insurance, fire insurance, title insurance--real estate agents, quack +medicines, and that vast body of population known as middlemen, who +raise the price of commodities to the consumer and whose services +would be eliminated in a cooperative commonwealth. + +This latter class of advertising is very much larger than that of the +manufacturer, because it is the peculiar function of the retailer to +sell--to get the market--and the burden of advertising falls heavier +upon him. If $800,000,000 therefore represents the cost to the +manufacturer of getting the market, it is probable that the total cost +of getting the market by the whole community does not fall short of +twice this sum. + +The advertiser practically pays the whole cost of printing and +publishing the innumerable newspapers and magazines of this country. +The one cent paid for such a paper as the _American_ does not cover +the cost of the paper alone; it is the advertisements that pay +handsomely for all the rest. + +Advertising would be unnecessary in a cooperative system, where +practically everything would be furnished by a single industry. As the +Reverend E. Ellis Carr says,[134] the United States Government does +not find it necessary to advertise postage stamps. The Standard Oil no +longer advertises oil. Those of us who are old enough remember how, +prior to the organization of the oil trust, our fences were placarded +by the rival claims of a dozen different oils: Pratt's Astral oil, +etc., in letters of huge and ungainly size. + +The only advertising necessary would be that of private enterprises +started in such industries as did not give satisfaction to the public, +and these, it is to be hoped, would be relatively small. + +Mr. Dowe, President of the Commercial Travellers' National League, +testified[135] that "35,000 salesmen had been thrown out of employment +by the organization of trusts and 25,000 reduced to two-thirds of +their previous salaries.... The Baking Powder Trust has replaced men +at $4000 to $5000 a year by others at $18 a week.... The displacement +of travelling men represents also large loss to railways, amounting, +on the estimate that each traveller spends $2.50 a day for 240 days, +to $27,000,000, while the loss to hotels would be at least as much as +to railways." Adding up these losses, we reach the following result: + + 35,000 salesmen at an average compensation + (including commissions) of $3000 each a year $105,000,000 + Loss in railroad travelling 27,000,000 + Loss in hotel expenses 27,000,000 + ------------ + Together $159,000,000 + +In the few industries, therefore, in which competition has been +diminished by the trust system, an economy of $159,000,000 was +estimated to have been already effected in the employment of salesmen +alone. And this was ten years ago. These figures enable us to +appreciate the enormous economy that would result from an elimination +of competition from our industries. An economy that constitutes a loss +to commercial travellers, railroads, and hotels under the competitive +system would constitute a pure gain to a Socialist community; for it +would mean so much more labor for production. Our present system then +encourages useless expenditure, whereas Socialism would eliminate it. + +Another important economy would be made in the running of public +enterprises, through the absence of the necessity of collecting +revenue therefrom. In municipal tramways, for example, one-half the +force could be dispensed with, for the functions of the conductor are +practically confined to collecting fares. A similar economy would be +practised on railroads; in telegrams; no stamps would be required for +postage; no costly corps of clerks for bookkeeping. + +Under our system gas is furnished to our cities by gas companies, each +one of which tears up the streets at great detriment to public +convenience and health, to lay its mains for the mere purpose of +competing with existing companies, with the result of forcing a +consolidation which tends to make gas dearer instead of cheaper to the +consumer. Professor Ely estimates[136] that the consolidation of gas +companies in Baltimore has cost eighteen millions, of which ten +millions represent pure loss. + +Much the same thing is true of railroads. Professor Ely quotes a +railroad manager who states that if the railways of the United States +were managed as a unit instead of by competing companies, such +management would effect an economy of two hundred million dollars a +year; he cites, as an instance of useless paralleling of roads, the +numerous railroads which connect New York with Chicago. He estimates +that these lines cost two hundred million dollars, and that the +maintenance of the useless lines involves perpetual loss. To-day, when +railroads have doubled in length and traffic, the possible economy may +well be estimated at twice this amount. He is obliged, however, to +admit that the paralleling of railroads results in considerable +accommodation, when parallel lines pass through different places and +occasion some advantage in the time-table. With many lines in the +United States this, however, is not the case. The Colorado Midland +parallels the Denver and Rio Grande, passing through virtually the +same places, and as both are subjected to the necessity of connecting +and forwarding passengers to lines at their extremities, both are +obliged to run trains at the same hours. There is in this case no +advantage either to the time-table or to new places. + +Nor does the competition of parallel roads always furnish better +accommodation to the public. Between Chicago and Denver one line is +able easily to run trains from place to place in twenty-four hours; +but for the purpose of avoiding a freight war with competing lines, it +has entered into an arrangement with them under which it agrees not to +run passenger trains in less than thirty-six hours. The public, +therefore, instead of gaining, loses an advantage of twelve hours, +thereby learning at no small inconvenience that competition does not +always compete. + +What is true of the railroads and gas companies is also true of +telegraph business. The Western Union was capitalized at one hundred +million dollars. It is estimated that the cost of laying the lines +actually used by the Western Union was not more than twenty millions; +eighty million dollars, therefore, have been wasted by the existing +system, which encourages private companies to construct lines with the +result of compelling other companies to buy them up. Professor Ely +adds that "it cost England nearly as much to make the telegraph a part +of the postoffice as it did all the other countries of Europe put +together, because in these the telegraph has been from the beginning +a part of the postoffice, and the wastes of competition had been +avoided."[137] + +Another most wasteful feature attending our present system is the +expense of distributing goods; for example, the articles which enter +most into our daily life, milk, bread, butter, eggs, meat, fish, and +vegetables. Compare the method of distributing these things with that +for distributing letters adopted by the postoffice. The fact that the +government is the only instrumentality through which letters are +distributed permits it to effect economy in time, labor, and expense +by sorting the letters beforehand according to streets and confining +the distribution in any one street to a single carrier, who +distributes the letters door by door. + +This is the economical system for distributing all things in regular +use that would be adopted by the Socialist plan. Compare this now with +the plan necessitated by the competitive system. Every block is served +with milk by a number of milk dealers instead of by one;[138] every +block is furnished with bread by a very large number of dealers +instead of by one; every block is furnished with meat by a very large +number of dealers instead of by one; and so on through every article +which enters into our daily use. + +Not only is there great waste of labor in the business of producing +and distributing the necessaries of life under the competitive system, +but the system itself creates a large class of business that absorbs +much of the wealth of the community and employs a very large number of +its members. For example, under a socialist system there would no +longer be any necessity or advantage in insurance, whether against +death or fire, or accident, or hail, or defective title, or any other +danger. The reason of this is obvious: we insure against pecuniary +loss arising out of these accidents because otherwise the whole loss +will fall upon ourselves. In a Socialist society some of occasions for +loss would not exist at all, and those that did exist would fall upon +the entire people and would consequently be inappreciable by any one +member of it. For example, a man insures his life so that his children +will not be reduced to poverty by his death; but in the Socialist +society the widow and the child are provided for, being all of them +members and all sharers in its income. Death in such a case would +practically not constitute a loss to the state financially, because +the number of deaths of the very old and the very young--the +unproductive members of the community--is far greater than that of its +productive members. + +Insurance companies are beginning to understand the importance of +keeping their policy holders in good health. The Metropolitan Life +Insurance Company is to-day maintaining nurses for this purpose. + +Another business that would be eliminated in a Socialist state is the +entire business done by brokers; not only Wall Street brokers, but +real estate brokers, mining brokers, and brokers of every description, +in so far as they are engaged in competition. The abolition of Wall +Street would carry with it the abolition of gambling in stocks which +is a necessary feature thereof. No law has yet been devised, though +the attempt has often been made, that would, so long as the +competitive system endures, put a stop to gambling in stocks. A law +which would successfully stop gambling in stocks would stop legitimate +dealing in stocks also. But the immoral element involved in "puts" and +"calls" is only an exaggeration of the immoral element involved in all +industrial transactions built upon the principle of private profit. +For although business can be conducted in such a way as only to +furnish to those engaged in it a fair remuneration, it perpetually +furnishes a temptation to contrive so that it shall furnish a large +rather than a fair return. In fact, the whole struggle of business +consists in endeavoring to secure the largest return of profit for the +least expenditure of labor. The man who succeeds in getting the +largest return for the least expenditure is the successful business +man; and no man does this with more security than the next class to +which attention may be called, whose occupation would come to an end +in the Socialist state; namely, the bankers. + +It would take too long to enter here into an accurate and fair +estimate of the service rendered by the banker and the reward he +obtains for it. Most writers who favor Socialism undervalue the +functions of the banker. They are so impressed by the enormous incomes +which bankers make that they do not appreciate the great services they +render; and although, in a Socialist state, the banker _qua_ banker +would tend to disappear, the man who to-day does the work of a banker +would, it is hoped, do the same work for the state. So that although +the business of banking would disappear, the best form of government +would be that in which individuals who have been discovered to be best +fitted for the onerous and difficult duties of finance would be those +to whom these duties would be intrusted. Whether the man best fitted +to do this difficult work would be intrusted with it under the +Socialist plan is a doubt raised as an objection to Socialism which +will be considered later.[139] + +Another large class of intelligent men, now engaged in carrying on the +quarrels which result from the competitive system, would be left +without an occupation under the Socialist plan; namely, the lawyers. +With them, the hatred and vindictiveness which arise from litigation +would in a Socialist society, in great part, disappear also. For +lawyers constitute the class whose business it is to conduct these +quarrels, and, alas! also to inflame them. When we consider that in +New York city alone there are nearly ten thousand practising lawyers, +and add to these the clerks, stenographers, bookkeepers, and +office-boys employed by each of them, those employed in the courts, +the sheriff's office, the county clerk's office, marshals, deputy +sheriffs, and others; and take into account that most of these men are +engaged in fighting, we cannot but be struck by the enormous advantage +to the community of a system which would practically eliminate this +class altogether. + +I must not be understood to mean, however, that there would be no +necessity for courts under the Socialist plan. Even though crimes +against property were eliminated by Socialism, there would still be a +temptation to commit crime, owing to sexual jealousy and in a certain +degree to intemperance and idleness. It cannot be doubted that +intemperance and idleness would tend to diminish with the +disappearance of the misery that reduces men to the physical condition +that engenders these vices, but there would still, doubtless, be some +intemperance and some idleness; there would certainly remain unhappy +marriages; and as every man is to remain possessed of a small amount +of property there would be minute questions of property sometimes +involved. But it is hardly conceivable that such questions could +involve any system of justice more elaborate than that of the justice +of the peace, and possibly a single court of appeal. The diminution of +competition would so simplify the law that no question would be likely +to arise that the parties to the litigation could not themselves +explain. How little litigation would be likely under a Socialist +_regime_ may be judged by comparing the litigation to which the +administration of the postoffice gives rise with the interminable +lawsuits which result from the administration of railroads.[140] +Moreover, it is to be hoped that a Socialist community would at last +have leisure to study criminology and to understand that the criminal +has to be treated as a sick man rather than a wicked one. The whole +system of criminal procedure would be changed, and the type now known +as the criminal lawyer would disappear. The existing system, under +which every prosecuting officer considers his reputation involved in +securing the punishment of every accused person brought before the +court,[141] necessarily gives rise to a corresponding class of lawyer +who regards his reputation as well as his fee involved in opposing the +efforts of the prosecuting officer by any means, however +unjustifiable. Of course, to the extent to which the competitive +system was left standing, there would have to be lawyers to protect +competitive interests. But these lawyers would be supported by the +competitive system. + +If, now, we consider that the large number of men liberated by the +substitution of Socialism for our present form of government would not +only diminish the labor of those now engaged in production, but that +it constitutes the part of our population engaged in fanning the flame +of hatred in the minds of men, the advantage to a community of having +this perpetual source of trouble removed will be obvious. But we are +not concerned so much now with the reduction of hatred under the +Socialist plan as with its economy. + +Let us next pass to the consideration of the wastefulness involved in +the field of production itself: + +In 1894 horses in the West became so valueless that they were left +unbranded by their owners, lest the branding of them involve the +payment of taxes thereupon. Cattle, on the other hand, have of late +risen in value; the price of them fell so low some time ago as to +involve the ruin of all those largely engaged in raising them; but +to-day everyone is rushing back into this business. This state of +things furnishes a fair opportunity of judging how imperfectly +informed the producer is as to the needs of the community. _He is only +informed that the community is overstocked with an article by being +ruined in the course of producing it._ This plan is not only +productive of misery to a large number of individuals in every +community, but is necessarily an extremely wasteful one. The object of +every community ought to be to produce the things it needs, not the +things it does not need. The present system, on the contrary, obliges +the community to be continually producing the things it does not need +as the only means by which it can arrive at a knowledge of what it +does need. + +For under the existing system, overproduction occasions a surplusage +of things in themselves valuable, but the exchange value of which has +been diminished by their abundance. And the producer cannot afford to +keep this surplusage, because he has fixed charges to pay. He has to +sell his crop at a loss because he must have money to pay rent, or +interest on mortgage, or salaries, or for his own support during the +year. It is this pressure he is under to sell which impoverishes him. +And its consequences are far-reaching; for as the price of raw cotton +goes down, cotton manufacturers are encouraged to buy, and to increase +the output of their factories; and so overproduction of raw material +tends to result in overproduction of manufactured goods. + +In a Socialist society the industry or good harvest of one year would +have for effect a diminution of labor the next; or greater comfort or +luxury next year for the same labor; no man's labor would be lost, and +the bountifulness of Nature would be a blessing and not, as now, a +misfortune. + +The efforts to prevent the overproduction of cotton in the South gave +rise to a convention in 1892, regarding which Professor Ely quotes a +telegram from Memphis, January 8, as follows: + +"That the farmers of the South are in earnest in their endeavors to +solve the serious problems of overproduction of cotton is evinced by +the enthusiastic meeting of delegates to the convention of the +Mississippi Valley Cotton Growers' Association, which was called to +order in this city this morning."[142] + +And again the speech of the President of the Boston Chamber of +Commerce: + +"In 1890 we harvested a cotton crop of over eight million +bales--several hundred thousand bales more than the world could +consume. Had the crops of the present year been equally large, it +would have been an appalling calamity to the section of our country +that devotes so large a portion of its labor and capital to the +raising of cotton."[143] + +Nothing could better illustrate the evil of our present system and the +benefits of Socialism than such a state of things as is described in +the speech already quoted from the President of the Boston Chamber of +Commerce.[144] If in a Socialist Society more bales of cotton were +produced in any given year than the community or the world could +consume, the community would store away the unused cotton and modify +its agriculture in a manner to bring the cotton crop into proper +relation to existing needs. But such an event could not be an +"appalling calamity"; it could not be anything but a benefit; so much +more wealth for the community; so much less labor for its citizens. +And what is true of the cotton crop is equally true of all other +crops. Overproduction is impossible in a cooperative community, for +all the overproduction of one year would mean less work in that +particular kind of production the next. Every citizen in the community +would profit by so-called overproduction instead of, as now, suffering +from it. + +Overproduction is closely allied to invention, which, as is well +known, has been a source of despair to workingmen; for improvements in +machinery almost always throw large numbers of them out of employment. +In India, as has been described, the destruction of hand-loom weavers +by machinery brought about a misery hardly paralleled in the history +of war; "the bones of the cotton-weavers are bleaching on the plains +of India." Yet invention, far from bringing distress to the +workingmen, as under our system it must, would in a cooperative +commonwealth prove an unqualified advantage. For every invention that +increases the efficiency of human labor diminishes the amount of time +that must be spent in labor to obtain the same result. In a +cooperative state the saving of labor is a benefit to every individual +in the community, whereas under the competitive system the saving of +labor is of immediate benefit to the owner of the patent alone, and +means immediate distress to the laborers it particularly affects. + +A standard objection to Socialism is that it would remove all stimulus +to invention. This I believe to be a profound mistake. + +In the first place, inventors are not always urged to invention by the +prospect of financial reward. The great discoveries of humanity, at +the basis of all our practical advances, were made by men who neither +sought nor obtained a reward therefor. It was not with the view of +making money that Newton discovered and propounded the laws of +gravity, or Ohm the laws of electrical resistance. Nor do inventors +to-day reap the reward of their inventions. Capitalists often have an +interest in suppressing inventions; for inventions generally involve +the expensive transformation of existing plants. For example, Mr. +Babbage[145] describes how a patent for welding gun-barrels by +machinery had long been unused because of the cheapness of hand labor; +but as soon as a strike forced up wages recourse was had to the +patent, which until then had been neglected. + +Capitalists often prefer to dispense with an improvement rather than +go to the expense which improvements generally occasion. This was the +unwritten motive for the opposition of England to the construction of +the Suez Canal, and was believed by M. DeLesseps to be the motive of +their opposition to the Panama Canal.[146] Again, no one who has had +personal acquaintance with inventors can believe that their +discoveries are to any material extent the result of financial motive. +It would be difficult to imagine the conditions under which Edison and +Maxim would not invent. They cannot help inventing; they are as much +under a necessity to invent as a hen to lay eggs. Undoubtedly there +are certain environments which favor the production and utilization of +inventing types, and others that disfavor the production and +utilization of such types. And undoubtedly a motive for invention is a +part of the environment which does contribute to invention; but would +such a motive be wanting in a Socialist society? I think it can be +shown that it would not only be present, but would be a stronger +motive in the Socialist society than in our own; for under our own the +reward which an inventor receives for an invention is a patent, and a +patent is, as all lawyers will testify, merely a subject for +litigation. In other words, every man who invents a useful thing has +to overcome the objections of the patent office; the objections of +infringers; the objections of owners of machines which would be +superseded, all three obstacles of no small order. And not until they +are all overcome, if indeed, they are, is the patent likely to be a +source of income to the inventor. Under the Socialist order, however, +every man is interested in increasing the productiveness of society to +diminish the hours of labor; and nothing, moreover, would be easier +than for a Socialist Society exceptionally to reward invention by +diminishing the hours of labor due to it by the inventor. + +If an inventor by any one invention shortened the hours of labor in an +aggregate amount equivalent to a lifetime of his own work for the +community, he ought to be relieved of the necessity of himself doing +further work. If the invention were clearly due to inventive skill and +not to accident, it would be to the interest of the industry in which +he was engaged to furnish him with a laboratory where he could +experiment with a view to further invention, as the General Electric +Company does for its inventors and Mr. Westinghouse for his. There is +not one inventor in a hundred but would laboriously avail of such an +opportunity; for the delight of an inventor is to invent. So inventors +would constitute one of the Honor group of the community. They would +receive during their lives the consideration due to their +inventiveness and industry. At present the enormous majority of +inventors die poor and unknown. Of all the inventors in America only +three that I know of are rich, Westinghouse, Bell, and Edison. +Practically all the rest have been victims of their own inventive +faculty. Who knows the name of the inventor of the slot machine so +much in vogue to-day? His name was Percival Everitt, and he died a +pauper in the street. + +But we need not have recourse to argument to demonstrate that +pecuniary reward is not necessary to stimulate invention. There is one +profession in which a germ of self-respect has established the rule +that no discovery or invention shall receive pecuniary reward--the +medical profession. No doctor who wants to keep or earn a standing +patents a medicine or surgical instrument. Those who do so are at once +ostracized. Medicine or surgical inventions are deemed by +self-respecting doctors too important to the community for the +inventor to limit their use by patent. + +If this idea of social service to-day animates the medical profession, +why should it not ultimately animate other professions, other +industries, other occupations? Why should it not animate them all? + +Another profession has furnished the elements for all invention and has +never asked a pecuniary reward--I mean the teachers. If, for example, we +take such a subject as electricity, it will be found that all the +fundamental discoveries that enable the modern use of electricity are +due entirely to the researches of men who, out of sheer love of the +work, added research to the occupations for which they were paid. Sir +Isaac Newton was the first to discover the use of glass as a +non-conductor of electricity. Galvani and Volta, who gave their +names--one to Galvanic, and the other to Voltaic electricity--were +professors in Italy. The action of the electric current on a compass +needle was discovered by Professor H.O. Oersted in Copenhagen; and the +nature of electro-motive force, current strength and resistance, were +determined by Professor G.S. Ohm in Holland. But the greatest +discoveries of all were made by Faraday, who refused a title in order to +remain a professor all the days of his life. Is it possible that with +the record of these men before us, we can maintain the theory that gain +is the only stimulus to invention? If we think a little, we shall see +how essentially childish this notion is. + +There are three principal motives for invention: + +The desire to make money is one, but my experience of inventors has +persuaded me that it is the least, and is only perceptible in +inventors of the smallest caliber. + +The faculty of invention is itself the determining motive. A man who +has a faculty _must_ exercise that faculty or suffer. The artist +_must_ paint; the sculptor _must_ sculpt; the musician _must_ make +music; the poet _must_ make rhymes. Lowell said that when he had no +time to state a proposition carefully in prose, he stated it in rhyme. + +No one who has worked with inventors would be guilty of the error that +inventors need the stimulus of money reward. The mind of the inventor +teems with inventions as a herring at spawning season teems with +spawn. And as the herring must relieve herself of her spawn so must +the inventor relieve himself of his inventions. One great inventor of +the present day was in 1883 so fertile that the company who had +secured his exclusive services paid him to go to Europe and stop +inventing in order to avoid the ruinous expense of taking out his +patents. The inventor is driven by two forces: a function that insists +upon being exercised, and the pleasure which this exercise occasions. +Every man who can do a thing well loves doing that thing. To-day when +athletics bring notoriety it is very natural to conclude that men row +to get this notoriety. But in the old days when there was little or no +notoriety, men who could row, rowed for the pleasure of it; men who +could box, boxed for the pleasure of it. So to-day because a few +inventors--a very few--have become wealthy, the conclusion is drawn +that inventors invent only to make money. It is a pardonable fallacy, +but one that it takes very little intellectual effort to explode. + +A man gifted with curiosity and imagination will forget altogether the +needs of the body in his effort to attain his end. Inventors are +notoriously improvident. Bernard Palissy not only forgot to eat, but +to furnish food to his wife and children. Nay, he not only starved +himself and them, but burned his furniture to the last chair in his +desperate efforts to get the glaze he was in search of. A chemist will +forget mealtime and bedtime in his laboratory. There is no force in +the world more compelling than the force of an idea; none to which the +body is under a more complete subjection. An inventor in pursuit of a +solution needs no more stimulus than a stag in the rutting season in +pursuit of his doe. The theory that he does, and that it is the +stimulus of money that he needs, is that of the amateur who has never +seen an inventor at work, or of the bookkeeper who reduces +everything--body, mind, soul, and heart--to dollars and cents. + +An inventor may have been compelled to abandon research by the +necessity of making money or by the difficulty of finding it. Many an +one has been crushed by just such difficulties as these; and indeed it +may justly be said that more inventions are lost to us by the money +difficulty than are secured to us by the stimulus of a money reward. + +A third motive is the desire for consideration which is at the bottom +of many other desires--at the bottom even of the desire for money +itself. For if we analyze the desire for money we shall perceive that +it includes two very different motives: the motive of prudence--the +desire to secure the comforts and luxuries of life; and the motive of +ambition, or the desire for the consideration of others. Now the +former is the first in time, for a man must begin by securing the +material things of life. But once these are secured the motive that +keeps men making money is desire for consideration. And this desire, +though evil when excessive, is in moderation one of the greatest of +human virtues; for it sets men upon deserving the affection of their +neighbors and promotes unselfishness and self-sacrifice. One of the +curses of the competitive system is that the desire for +consideration, which in its essence is a virtue, is converted by our +money system into a vice, because money is the chief instrument in +securing consideration.[147] More will have to be said on this subject +later. Here we may content ourselves with noting that in a Socialist +society consideration will be secured not meretriciously through +money, but deservedly through service. The inventor who shortens hours +of labor for the community will belong to the Honor Roll. He will +secure this recognition not after having forced his invention on the +capitalist and fought its merits through the courts, created +unemployment for his fellows, and crushed competition out of the field +his patent covers--but directly from the industry he has benefited, +without the waste that attends the establishing of patent rights +to-day. The inventor under Socialism will have a stronger stimulus +than he has to-day; for the chances of securing livelihood and +consideration are certainly not more than one in a hundred, whereas +under Socialism they will be a hundred to one. There will not be the +opposition of invested capital to overcome; nor the hostility of his +fellow-workman; nor the villainy of the infringer. If his invention +can reduce the hours of labor or otherwise benefit the community, it +will be hailed with delight and honor. And so even though he need no +stimulus he will under Socialism have it; for his reward will be +prompt and secure. + +Moreover, as Professor Ely has pointed out, the tendency of invention +in a Socialist state would be to replace work which now involves +drudgery by machinery that would tend to lessen or eliminate it. + +If it were conceivable that a law could be made or enforced requiring +that millionaires, and none but millionaires, were to serve as +stokers, there is no doubt that all the ingenuity in the land would at +once be put to making the work of stoking less detestable than it now +is; if necessary, naval architecture would be so reformed from top to +bottom, as to reduce the work of stoking to that pressure of a finger +upon a button which is the only physical work imposed by modern +conditions upon the millionaire to-day. + +The improvements due to invention would in a Socialist society differ, +perhaps, in character but not in quantity, for invention obeys the +particular stimulus which gives rise to it. Thus Karl Marx points +out[148] that mechanical traction was not introduced into mines until +a law forbade the use of women and children there, and the "half-time +system stimulated the invention of the piecing-machine," thereby +replacing child labor in woolen-yarn manufacture. Again, immense +improvements have been made in charging and drawing gas retorts, owing +to labor troubles, and there is no doubt that all arduous work would +soon be made less arduous if we all had to take a turn at it. + +The objection that Socialism, would destroy the stimulus to invention +has been treated at what may seem disproportionate length on account +of its extreme importance. For it is owing to human inventiveness that +production to-day tends to outstrip consumption. Of all the +speculations upon the possible advantages of a new social order those +which concern themselves with the shortening of the average working +day are the most fascinating, yet the most dangerous. They are +fascinating because, of the many afflictions of the present order it +is the excessive workday that we feel most, for it is that which robs +so many of us or our need of personal life; and we know that any +reduction of the hours of labor would mean an immediate increase in +the quantity, and an ultimate increase in the quality, of our life. +But they are dangerous speculations because they probe to the very +heart of that wonderfully complicated economic process which we call +Capitalism. To make any scientific estimate of the social labor time +required to produce the commodities socially necessary for our health +and happiness would require an elaborate and intimate investigation of +the most secret details of industry, trade, and transportation, such +as there is little likelihood of ever being made. Nevertheless, it is +possible, in the light of some data already at our command, to get a +suggestive glimpse into the probabilities of the situation. + +The 13th Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor is an exhaustive study +of the actual time required to produce some 600 different commodities, +ranging all the way from apple trees to loaves of bread and shingles. +The principal object of this Report was to compare the cost of +production by hand with the cost of production by machine; and it has +demonstrated the enormous progress that has been made in the art of +production by the substitution of machine for hand labor. For example, +before the introduction of machine labor it took about sixty-three +hours and a half to produce thirty bushels of barley; whereas to-day, +with the use of machinery, the same amount can be produced in two +hours and forty-two minutes (p. 24-5). The Report, in estimating the +cost of producing, includes breaking the ground, sowing and covering +seed and pulverizing topsoil, hauling water and fuel for engine, +reaping, threshing, measuring, sacking and hauling to the granary (p. +432-3). + +Having these figures it would seem to be a very simple matter to +ascertain the total time required to produce the various commodities +consumed by the average workingman's family. It would seem as though +all we had to do was to make out a list of these commodities, get the +time cost of each from the Report and add these together to get the +total. Unfortunately, however, the Report does not cover all the items +which would have to be included in this list of necessaries; and to +make an estimate from a single commodity or from two or three +commodities would be a little dangerous, because some of the +commodities have much higher time values than others and would +therefore introduce many elements of uncertainty. + +But we may approach the question from another standpoint. The Report +does furnish the time value of ten of the principal crops and of +bituminous coal. Let us, then, restate the problem in the following +form: + +_Assuming social ownership of land (including bituminous coal lands) +and modern machinery, how many hours' labor per day would be required +to produce enough of the principal crops to sell at farm or mine for a +sum sufficient to buy the necessaries of existence for the average +family?_ + +The first step, obviously, is to determine what constitutes the +necessaries of existence for the average American family. Here again +we may resort to official statistics. In the year 1900-01 the U.S. +Bureau of Labor entered upon an investigation of the income and +expenditure of the average American family. Agents were sent out all +over the country to collect data at first hand. These agents got +reports from some 25,440 families, and the figures are tabulated and +summarized in the 18th Annual Report of this Bureau.[149] + +These 25,000 families had the necessaries of existence, we know, +simply because they managed to live, survive, and reproduce. Their +average income was $749.50; their average expenditure, $699.24, thus +representing a saving of $50 a year. But many of these families had +boarders, many had grown-up children or wife at work, many had +lodgers, so that the income was artificially increased or diminished +by these factors. There were, however, 11,156 families among these +which the report designates as "normal"; these were distinguished by +the following characteristics: a husband at work; a wife at home; not +more than five children--none over 14 years of age; no dependents, +boarders, lodgers, or servants (p. 18). Good units, you see, from a +statistical standpoint. Now, the average income of these normal +families was $650.98; the average expenditure $617.80.[150] + +Here, then, we have over 10,000 families, of five persons each, who +manage to live on $617.80 a year, without resorting to crime or +charity. That they live in straitened conditions is undoubtedly true, +but they are by no means submerged, for in their cooperation with the +agents of the Bureau of Labor they all displayed qualities of +intelligence which are not to be found among the submerged. In short, +they were average self-respecting American workingmen's families. + +But let us assume that $617.80 is inadequate; let us provide a margin +of safety by allowing $800 as the minimum for procuring the +necessaries of existence.[151] Below is a table showing time cost per +unit (bushels or pounds) of ten principal crops and of bituminous +coal. This is derived from the tables on pages 24-25 of the 13th +Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor, which are assumed to be +accurate. + + ------------+-------------+--------------+---------+----------- + | | Time Cost. | | Time Cost + Commodity. | Quantity. +--------------+ Unit. | in + | | Hrs. | Min. | | Minutes. + ------------+-------------+------+-------+---------+----------- + Barley | 30 bush. | 2 | 42.8 | 1 bush. | 5.427 + Wheat | 40 " | 6 | 17.4 | 1 " | 9.435 + Hay | 2 tons | 15 | 30.5 | 1 ton | 465.25 + Oats | 40 bush. | 7 | 5.8 | 1 bush. | 10.645 + Rice | 60 " | 17 | 2.5 | 1 " | 17.042 + Rye | 25 " | 25 | 10 | 1 " | 60.40 + Corn | 80 " | 42 | 38.1 | 1 " | 31.97 + Potatoes | 220 " | 38 | ... | 1 " | 10.364 + Tobacco | 2,750 lbs. | 606 | 5.1 | 1 lb. | 13.22 + Cotton | 1,000 " | 78 | 42 | 1 " | 4.72 + Bit. Coal | 200 tons | 379 | 36 | 1 ton | 113.88 + ------------+-------------+------+-------+---------+----------- + +Having the time cost per unit of each of these commodities, let us now +ascertain the time cost of the total crops of these produced in the +United States. This is exhibited in the table on the next page, which +is derived from the figures given in the Year Book of the Department +of Agriculture, 1907, p. 668. These, too, are assumed to be accurate. + +We see from this table that the total time cost of these principal +crops, if produced with modern machinery on a large scale, would be +185,759,513,000 minutes, and that the money value of these +commodities, sold at farm or mine, is $3,214,510,707. + +If, then, it would require 185,759,513,000 minutes' labor to produce +$3,214,510,707 worth of commodities, how much labor would be required +to produce $800 worth of these commodities? This is a problem in +simple proportion: + +$800: $3,214,510,707:: _x_ minutes: 185,759,513,000 minutes. Working +this out we find that _x_ equals 46,230 minutes or 770 hours and 30 +minutes. Estimating 300 working days to the year, this would seem to +indicate that a social work-day of 2-1/2 hours should be sufficient to +procure the necessaries of existence, valuing these at $800. + + ----------+-----------+--------------+---------+--------+----------- + | Average |Average Total |Time | |Total Time + | Annual |Value on Farm |Cost in | | Cost in + Commodity.| Production| Dec. 1, |Minutes. | Unit. |Thousand + | 1898-1907.| 1898-1907. | | |Minutes. + ----------+-----------+--------------+---------+--------+----------- + | Millions | | | | + Barley | 117 bush.| $53,872,896| 5.427 | 1 bush.| 633,959 + Wheat | 642 " | 444,206,221| 9.435 | 1 " | 6,057,270 + Hay | 59 tons | 524,124,456| 465.25 | 1 ton | 27,449,750 + Oats | 841 bush.| 265,595,639| 10.645 | 1 bush.| 8,952,445 + Rice | 18 " | 14,594,913| 17.042 | 1 " | 305,756 + Rye | 29 " | 16,527,099| 60.40 | 1 " | 1,751,600 + Corn |2,309 " | 953,158,114| 31.977 | 1 " | 73,834,893 + Potatoes | 255 " | 134,236,563| 10.364 | 1 " | 2,642,820 + Tobacco | 743 lbs. | 59,548,881| 13.22 | 1 lb. | 9,822,460 + Cotton |5,233 " | 457,787,442| 4.72 | 1 " | 24,699,760 + Bit. Coal | 260 tons | 290,858,483| 113.88 | 1 ton | 29,608,800 + | +--------------| | +----------- + | |$3,214,510,707| | |185,759,513 + ----------+-----------+--------------+---------+--------+----------- + +Before accepting the above conclusion, however, it will be necessary +to make proper allowances for some important factors. First, the +figures quoted from the Report do not include time spent on +bookkeeping, upkeep, and repair of machinery, the time cost of the raw +material, of the machinery, etc. All these items are certainly +important, but we may safely assume that, taken together, they would +probably not increase the total by fifty per cent. If, then, we allow +an additional 1-1/4 hours for these items, thus making the work-day +3-3/4 hours, we shall be well within reason. + +Second, it is to be inferred that the ten crops for which the 13th +Annual Report furnishes the time value were produced under unusually +favorable conditions, if not actually on "bonanza" farms. It is true +that the introduction (p. 12) affirms, in a blanket clause, "that the +effort was made to ascertain, not the quantity of work that could be +done under the most favorable conditions, but what was being +accomplished steadily in everyday work"; nevertheless, in the absence +of more specific information as to the actual conditions under which +the units under discussion were farmed, we cannot ignore the doubt +that arises in our minds. We may, however, offset this by two other +factors which were quite conservative in our estimate: (1) In adopting +the sum of $800 as a measure of the necessaries of existence, we have, +as already shown, allowed nearly a third over and above the sum +($617.80) actually ascertained to be requisite in the years 1900-1901. +(2) The figures in the 13th Annual Report are based upon +investigations made from fifteen to twenty years ago, between 1890-95. +The steady improvement in agricultural machinery which has been made +since then would undoubtedly reduce the present time cost of these +commodities very materially. It is not unreasonable, then, to urge +that these factors counterbalance each other; but in order to be on +the safe side let us add another quarter of an hour, thus making the +probable work-day consist of a round four hours. + +We seem, then, to have warrant for believing that if agricultural +production were socialized to-day a 1200-hour work-year would suffice +to produce the necessaries, and an 1800-hour year, many of the +luxuries, of existence for the community. This, arranged to suit the +exigencies of agricultural production, might mean a twelve-hour +workday for four or six summer months, as the case may be. + +Does this seem Utopian? Granted: all speculations of this sort must +seem Utopian. And yet, if we look back a few centuries, we shall find, +according to no less an authority than Thorold Rogers ("Six Centuries +of Work and Wages"), that the English workman, during the fifteenth +century and the first part of the sixteenth, lived, and lived well, on +the product of an eight-hour-day. Is it, then, so fantastic to suppose +that modern machinery, under a socialized system of production, could +cut this day in two? + +The objection may be raised that this estimate is one-sided because it +is based on figures for agricultural production only, whereas +industrial production is really the more important half of the modern +economic process; and that therefore the generalization could not +apply to the whole economic process in a cooperative commonwealth. + +It is true, as already pointed out, that we do not have comprehensive +data for all, or nearly all, the industrial products in actual use in +the average household. But we have posited, hypothetically, a +socialized agricultural community producing a quantity of goods which +it can sell at the farm for an average $800 per family; this $800 +sufficing, when brought to the village store or forwarded to the city, +to buy the necessaries of existence for the family _at retail_. Now it +is well known that under present conditions the retail price of any +manufactured article comprises about one-third for actual cost of +production, one-third for manufacturer's profits and accounting costs, +and one-third for selling costs. In other words, every such article, +when it reaches the ultimate consumer, is weighted down with a load of +barnacles of trade-profits of innumerable middlemen, rents, dividends, +cost of advertising, and other trade-getting devices, etc., etc. Part +of this cost of distribution is undoubtedly legitimate and could not +be dispensed with under any organization of society, no matter how +scientific. The man engaged in producing the necessaries of life will +always have to support the man engaged in transporting and +distributing them, and the man engaged in manufacturing and repairing +the machinery and other instruments of production necessary thereto. +But it is impossible to believe that this auxiliary corps will ever, +in a rational system of production, consume two-thirds of the ultimate +retail value of most goods, as it does to-day. + +It would seem, therefore, that if the industrial community organized +itself in the same fashion as our hypothetical agricultural community, +the exchange value of its products, whether stated in terms of social +labor, time, or money, or any other standard of value, would actually +be lower than our estimate assumes. By how much our four-hour work-day +would be reduced we have no means of determining, but it could hardly +be increased. + +Probably, therefore, four hours will constitute the average daily +labor in a cooperative commonwealth, and these ought to be sufficient +to give to every citizen not only the necessaries and comforts now +enjoyed by the middle class, but some of the luxuries enjoyed only by +the millionaire. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[133] Report of the Industrial Commission, Vol. I, p. 829. + +[134] _Christian Socialist._ + +[135] Report of the Industrial Commission, Vol. I, Part I, p. 222. + +[136] "Socialism and Social Reform," p. 121. + +[137] "Socialism and Social Reform," p. 120. + +[138] It is stated that the retailing of milk in New York is +practically confined to six companies. But the price of milk has not +been reduced accordingly. The economies resulting from this +combination have swelled the profits of these companies. The consumers +gain nothing from it. And this is what is taking place with all trust +articles. + +[139] Book III, Chapter III. + +[140] This is more true of railroads in the United States than in +England, probably because competing roads have not been tolerated in +England to the same extent as in our country. + +[141] The Thaw case furnishes an unfortunate illustration of this +tendency. + +[142] Ely, "Socialism and Social Reform," p. 134. + +[143] Ely, "Socialism and Social Reform," p. 134. + +[144] Book II, Chapter I. This subject has been discussed in detail in +"Government or Human Evolution," Book II, Chapter II, p. 273, _et +seq._, by the author. + +[145] "Economy of Manufacture." Babbage (London, 1832), p. 246. + +[146] M. DeLesseps has stated that it cost England L100,000,000 to +change its shipping so as to fit it for passage through the Suez +Canal, and this expense applies more or less to change of machinery +due to invention in every factory. + +[147] Book III, Chapter II. + +[148] "Capital," Part IV, Chapter XV. + +[149] Issued by the Government Printing Office in 1904, entitled, +"Cost of Living and Retail Prices of Food." + +[150] "Cost of Living and Retail Prices of Food," pp. 18, 90-102, +516-93. + +[151] "The Standard of Living Among Workingmen's Families in New York +City," by Robert Coit Chapin, Ph.B., Charities Publication Committee, +1909, p. 178, _et seq._ + + + + +CHAPTER II + +ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION OF THE COOPERATIVE COMMONWEALTH + + +Few things deterred me from a study of Socialism more than the +prevailing error that it necessarily would subject us all to the +tyranny of a state which would, because it owned all the sources of +production, be able to dictate to every one of us the kind of work we +should do and the hours during which we should do it. It must be +admitted that this is the Socialism described by many authorities, +amongst them Schaeffle, in a book still widely read, entitled the +"Quintessence of Socialism." But this book loses some of its authority +when we remember that Schaeffle followed it with another, entitled "Why +Socialism is Impossible"; and assuredly the state Socialism described +by Schaeffle is extremely unattractive to the bourgeois mind. + +It is not so unattractive to the workingman, because he now has these +things determined for him by his employer without having any security +of employment. State Socialism, therefore, has no terrors for him. On +the contrary, as the workingman expects that the Socialist society +will be controlled by workingmen, he expects to that extent to be his +own master; that is, he will control the society that controls him. + +State Socialism, therefore, is the form probably most in vogue amongst +workingmen. They have not before their minds the history of previous +revolutions which have for the most part only substituted one set of +masters for another. They cannot be expected, therefore, to appreciate +the profound change that comes over men when put into positions of +power, the temptations to which they are exposed, and the errors which +even the best intentioned are likely to commit. + +I do not mean to condemn state Socialism; for state Socialism +veritably controlled by the people would probably furnish better +government than that which we are now given at the hands of +capitalists. But I shall not attempt to describe the economic +structure that would prevail under state Socialism, because it has +been already described; whereas I do not think that there has been any +effort made to describe a cooperative commonwealth in which the state +would have very little more power than that enjoyed by the government +in England or Germany to-day. + +The difficulty of assigning tasks and of determining wages which makes +Socialism impracticable to the bourgeois mind is a pure fiction, +encouraged, I admit, by many Socialist writers who imagine that +Socialism can only come by a sudden and violent transfer of political +power from the capitalist to the proletariat, called revolution. As +will more fully appear in the next chapter, the Political Aspect of +Socialism, such a revolution is by no means necessary; for the +cooperative commonwealth, as I understand it, need not be introduced +by any sudden transfer of political power whatever. + +In one sense, indeed, Socialism has in part come. The _laissez faire_ +school had barely announced their doctrine and proceeded to legislate +in accordance therewith, before the abominable consequences of the +_laissez faire_ doctrine became so obvious that steps had at once to +be taken to put an end to it. So the idea that a man could do what he +liked with his own, which resulted in working women in mines to an +extent which reduced them to the condition of the lower animals, the +use of children in factories to a degree imperilling the future of the +race, the reduction of men to starvation wages, the pollution of +rivers by factory products, the spread of cholera by unwholesome +dwellings--all gave rise to a series of legislative acts which limited +the right of a man to exploit women and children, compelled landlords +to maintain sanitary dwellings, and prevented the pollution of waters +by factory products altogether. All this legislation was an +unconscious tribute to that solidarity of the human race which is at +the root of Socialism. + +Nor was this all. The state and city could so obviously perform +certain functions better and cheaper than private corporations that +enterprise after enterprise was slowly taken from individuals and +assumed by the state. The postoffice was the foremost of these. The +municipalization of gas, water, and trams, the nationalization of +railroads, telegraphs, and telephones, have been pursued as purely +economic measures rendered necessary by considerations of social +welfare. + +Indeed, England has been rushing towards Socialism with such rapidity +that increasing rates gave the capitalists an excuse for frightening +the public with threats of bankruptcy, and occasioned the reaction in +municipal progress through which the country is now passing. But the +forces behind Socialism are so overwhelming that they convert its very +enemies into its unconscious prophets, priests, and promoters. + +Mr. Roosevelt, who has so lately entered the lists against Socialism, +is with the exception perhaps of Pierpont Morgan and Rockefeller, the +greatest practical Socialist in America. When Mr. Roosevelt called +together the Governors of the States to consider what steps, if any, +could be taken to prevent the shameful waste of our national resources +by capitalistic enterprise, and when Mr. J.J. Hill in a remarkable +summary counted up the awful loss to humanity involved in this waste, +neither appears to have been aware that they were demonstrating to the +world not only that Socialism was good, but that it was indispensable. +When Rockefeller brought together the distillers of oil into a single +deliberately planned body, eliminating the waste of individual +competition, he does not seem to have been aware that he was +demonstrating the amazing advantage of eliminating competition and +slowly preparing an industry for nationalization. When Mr. Morgan did +the same thing for the Steel Trust, and the Coal Trust, and when he +tried to do the same thing for the railroads until checked by a +blundering government,[152] he, too, was unaware that he was +demonstrating the failure of the very capitalistic system for which he +stands. So the idol they themselves set up for worship they are +engaged in smashing all to pieces; and they none of them see the humor +of it. + +When a horse refuses to return to his stable and balks when brought to +its door, a simple device overcomes his resistance: His head is turned +away from the door and he allows himself to be shoved without +opposition hind end foremost into the stable which he declines to +enter in the more usual way. + +Roosevelt, Rockefeller, and Pierpont Morgan are just like this balky +horse. They loudly proclaim that under no consideration whatever will +they proceed front side forward, and yet in the middle of these +protestations they are going hind side forward faster than perhaps is +prudent. The difference between Socialists and Messrs. Roosevelt, +Rockefeller, and Pierpont Morgan is that Socialists consider it more +dignified to move front side forward; more intelligent to see plainly +where they are going, and proceed deliberately of their own motion +instead of being pushed there backward by forces they pretend to +ignore. + + +Sec. 1. HOW SOCIALISM MAY COME + +The many theories proposed as to how Socialism may come, can be +generally classified into two: that it will come by revolution and +that it will come by successive reforms. + +The so-called Marxian school calls itself revolutionary, and +undoubtedly many members of this school are revolutionary, and have +the idea that Socialism will come by revolution--by violence--while +among the more thoughtful, this word is used to mean that Socialism +will constitute revolution because it will transfer power from the +exploiting class to the exploited class.[153] Others have confused +ideas of the meaning of the word revolution in which the element of +violence and that of the transfer of political power are more or less +mixed. Socialism, of course, involves a transfer of political power, +and since such a transfer is revolutionary, Socialism may be properly +called revolutionary, though its coming may not be attended by +violence. Many authors believe that Socialism will come by the use of +extra political methods--not by successive reforms introduced by +parliamentary methods, but by a general strike, or the conversion of +the army, or adroit use of the conditions produced by war (as in +Russia after the Japanese War). + +Some, again, believe that Socialism may come by the development of a +secret society which will secure the support of a sufficient number of +those in the possession of our military stores and military places to +permit of a conquest of political power by force. To those it may be +suggested that the days for the success of secret societies are over. +Capitalistic society possesses machinery in the shape of the press and +the secret service which would make the success of a secret society +impossible. The slightest indiscretion of one of its members under +feminine influence or that of drink would be sufficient to break up +the entire plan. + +The capitalists are in possession of the army, the navy, the police, +the militia, and above all, the weapons with which to arm all these. +Recourse to bullets seems unnecessary and dangerous when our enemy has +the bullets and we have not, all the more when the work can be equally +well done with infinitely less disorder and agony if we only have +recourse to the ballots which we have and they have not. + +When a sufficient number of men are persuaded that Socialism is the +best solution of our present economic evils, they can get what they +want the day they choose to use the ballot for that purpose; whereas +recourse to violence would lead not only to immediate disaster, but to +an indefinite postponing of the desired result. For a very large part +of our population which would, then, as now, be in doubt as to the +wisdom of adopting Socialism, would certainly be driven by violence +into the capitalistic fold and a period of capitalistic reaction would +result. This has been observed in so many revolutions in the past that +it is unnecessary to insist upon it here. + +This must not be interpreted, however, as intending to eliminate +violence as a possible factor in the coming of Socialism. Had Haywood +been convicted it would have created an indignation so profound that +a very widespread and dangerous uprising might have taken place, and +although it would have been quelled, still, it is probable that such +an uprising might have led to Socialistic legislation. It is as +impossible to state beforehand how large a part violence will play in +the coming of Socialism as to state how much contributed to remedial +legislation in Ireland--the violence of 1798 and the 60's, or how much +the parliamentary tactics of Parnell. + +Socialistic legislation is of two very different kinds, and these must +be carefully distinguished. Bismarck inaugurated Socialistic +legislation such as national insurance, intended, by taking away part +of the grievance of the workingmen, to diminish their discontent and +their reason for espousing Socialism. + +Indeed, since the beginning of the nineteenth century legislation more +or less Socialistic has been enacted in every civilized country in the +world, partly owing to the _bona fide_ desire on the part of +legislators to put an end to evils that shocked their moral sense, but +perhaps far more by legislators who thought to satisfy Cerberus with a +sop. Socialistic legislation, therefore, enacted by capitalistic +legislators for the purpose of appeasing popular discontent, does +little towards promoting Socialism. Some Socialist writers claim that +it does nothing to this end, but this view is extreme and I think +incorrect. For example, it would be impossible for Socialism to come +without violence had not the nations of the world been slowly +conferring the franchise upon the class in whose interests and through +whom Socialism will come. Socialistic legislation of a character to +put the political weapon in the hands of the people, through which +they can secure the transfer of political power from those who now +enjoy it to themselves, is of the utmost value. Indeed, it is of so +much value that those Marxian Socialists who protest against all +compromise with capitalistic parties must have forgotten that it is +through the capitalistic parties, and through compromises of +Socialists with capitalistic parties, that these measures of political +reform have been enacted. In Belgium to-day the Socialists are +combining with the Radicals to wrest universal franchise from the +Catholics. + +Again, Socialistic legislation which improves the condition of the +working class, though it takes away a part of their grievance and +does, to that extent, diminish the incentive to Socialism, +nevertheless strengthens the workingmen, raises their standard of +living and of thought, and gives them the very education and equipment +they need in order to become Socialists. + +Nevertheless Socialistic legislation obtained from capitalistic +legislators can never effect the final transfer of political power +from the exploiting to the exploited class without which no Socialist +commonwealth can be secured. Here, therefore, we see the elements +which confuse this question of revolution and reform. The Marxian +Socialists in Germany have seen Socialistic legislation enacted year +after year and have seen it, by diminishing evils, tend to diminish +enthusiasm for revolution. Moreover, revolutionary German Socialists, +conscious that they have to destroy the existing political machinery +represented by the Emperor, the nobles and the church; conscious too, +that the farmer class is essentially capitalistic in its temper and +thought, and despairing therefore of getting a parliamentary majority, +naturally look to extra political methods as the only ones at their +disposal. + + +Sec. 2. REFORM AND REVOLUTION + +There is great and regrettable confusion as regards the words reform +and revolution. The Socialist party calls itself revolutionary, and as +revolution is connected in the minds of most people with violence, the +popular impression is that the Socialist party stands for violence. +This is a profound mistake. The whole subject has been well treated by +Kautsky, an authoritative leader of the Socialist party; and he +distinctly disavows violence. Revolution to him is a "transfer of +political power from one class to another." The French Revolution +transferred political power from the king, the noble, and the church +to the bourgeois. The Socialist revolution is to transfer political +power from the bourgeois to the proletariat. + +Here a word of caution must be said: Socialist literature is written +for the most part by the proletariat for the proletariat; and it is +natural that it should abound in just such phrases as these. Not that +the phrase is wrong or incorrect; rather is it incomplete. To-day, in +France the Republic is largely supported by the nobles of yesterday; +so also will the proletarian government of the Socialist revolution be +largely supported by the bourgeois of to-day. + +The word revolution, therefore, is used here not to convey the idea of +violence, but rather in the sense of the revolution of the planets, or +of the seasons. It is as it were the closing of one cycle and the +beginning of another. There is, of course, a great difference of +opinion as to how this revolution is to be effected--whether by +parliamentary methods or extra-parliamentary methods such as strikes. +Into this subject, however, this book, being addressed to +non-Socialists rather than to Socialists, will not enter. It is purely +a question of tactics and may be said to have been solved in America +for the present by the very existence of a Socialist party which puts +up candidates at every election wherever feasible in order to do what +can be done in the direction of Socialism by constitutional methods. + +There is, however, another use of the word revolution concerning which +it is of the utmost importance to be clear. Socialists often say that +"Socialism must come by revolution and not by reform." What is exactly +the meaning of this sentence? What is the difference between reform +and revolution? + +Reformers proceed upon the assumption that the competitive system is +good and that capitalists can be entrusted with the task of reforming +it so to eliminate its admitted evils. The revolutionary Socialist on +the contrary says that the competitive system is bad and that the +capitalist cannot be entrusted with the task of putting an end to it. +So he decries mere reform and insists upon nothing less than +revolution, the transfer of political power from the capitalist to the +people at large. There is thus between the reformer and the +revolutionary Socialist a difference of principle; the one upholding +the competitive system and the other denouncing it. + +But there is also another difference of hardly less importance between +the reformer and the revolutionary Socialist--a difference of method. +A bourgeois reformer has no preconceived plan of reform. He hits at +every evil like an Irishman at a fair--as he sees it. Governor Hughes, +who belongs to this class, thought in 1908 that race track gambling +was the greatest evil of existing conditions and devoted the entire +session of the legislature to an anti-race track gambling bill which +he triumphantly passed, only to see it nullified at the first +opportunity by the courts. In 1909 he thought that a primary election +bill was the most important reform; but this primary election bill +failed to pass. The legislature, very much under his guidance, spent +two years in passing a useless anti-race track gambling bill and +refusing to pass a primary bill, although during these two years at +least 200,000 men have been seeking employment and not finding it, and +a population therefore of about a million[154] in New York State alone +has been on the verge of starvation in consequence. + +The most striking feature of the bourgeois reformer is his lack of +sense of proportion; but there is a reason for it. Unemployment is not +a popular subject with the class to which Governor Hughes belongs. As +an evil it is too merciless; as a resource it is too unavowable.[155] +So it is impossible to get any legislature in any State in this Union +effectively to consider the subject of unemployment. + +The Socialist, on the contrary, has a definite preconceived plan of +legislative enactment. While the reformer, however well-intentioned +and intelligent, is hacking away at random at the jungle of evils in +which the competitive system encompasses him, and hardly ever +attaining any substantial progress, the Socialist has his course +directed for him by the polar star. He regards such bills as anti-race +track gambling as a waste of time. Race-track gambling is a necessary +and poisonous fruit of the competitive system. It is useless to attack +the fruit and leave the tree standing. The only legislation, +therefore, that interests the Socialist looks towards putting an end +or a check to the competitive system that results in the exploitation +of the Many by the Few. And of all the evils the one that has stood +out most startling and appalling during the last two years is the evil +of unemployment. + +The immediate demands of the Socialist party published at the end of +the Socialist platform,[156] indicate the character of measures which +the Socialists urge. In one sense these are reforms, many of which +Governor Hughes favors, but they all tend towards one definite +end--the limitation and ultimate suppression of the competitive system +with the exploitation of the Many by the Few. In one sense, therefore, +Socialists are reformers, but revolutionary reformers; all their +reforms look towards the transfer of political power from the Few who +exploit political power for their individual benefit, to the Many who +will utilize political power for the benefit of all. + +Having indicated the difference between reform and revolution, let us +consider how far the Socialist is justified in saying that the +competitive system is so bad that it cannot be improved--that it must +be replaced altogether. + +When a wagon is thoroughly worn out, it is useless to repair it; for +if one part is strengthened it throws the strain upon a neighboring +part which breaks down; and if that part is strengthened it throws the +strain upon another which again breaks down. It is possible by +intelligently renewing various parts of the wagon upon a preconceived +plan, eventually to replace the broken-down wagon by an entirely new +one; but the difficulty of doing this is extreme, and the wagon when +so reconstructed, being composed of parts of different ages, must +again give way at its most worn part. So experience indicates that it +is better to throw a fairly used-up wagon on the junk heap and build a +new one in its place. + +Reform measures such as we have had under former administrations +resemble an effort to patch up a worn-out wagon; for a reform measure +directed at one evil is found to produce other evils very apt to be as +great, if not greater than those that the measure is trying to +suppress. Not many years ago a society for the suppression of vice +made a crusade in New York upon vicious resorts. Such resorts are +abominable; they should not exist in an orderly community. But +attacking these resorts, without attacking the conditions that created +them, only distributed the evil all over the city, involving a +pernicious contact with unperverted youth. + +Again, the difficulty of reconciling Sunday closing of barrooms with +furnishing _bona fide_ travellers at hotels with refreshments was +solved in New York by the Raines law, which defined a hotel by +establishing a minimum of bedrooms. The result was that to almost +every barroom there is attached this minimum of bedrooms to permit of +the sale of liquor on Sunday; and this effort to secure Sunday closing +has resulted in converting the barroom into a house of prostitution. + +Again, legislation for putting an end to the awful congestion and +filth of the New York city tenements has by imposing upon the landlord +expensive repairs, raised rents, so that, although the tenement +dweller is little benefited because of evasion of the law, his rent +has been uniformly raised. + +In the chapters on the Scientific and Ethical Aspects of Socialism, an +effort will be made to show why the competitive system is essentially +bad and must remain bad so long as acquisitiveness is deliberately +made the dominating motive of human activity; and how by modifying +economic conditions we can secure all the benefits of a tempered +acquisitiveness without the appalling results of an acquisitiveness +that knows no bounds. This argument belongs, however, to the +constructive argument for Socialism, and we have not yet completed the +destructive argument against existing conditions. For there are two +further illustrations furnished by recent efforts to curb competition +which not only tend to demonstrate the hopelessness of the task, but +throw light upon existing conditions and impending dangers. I refer to +the rate law and legislation tending to control monopolies--to the +inevitable tyrannies of the trust and the trade unions and the +irreconcilable conflict between the two. + + +Sec. 3. POSSIBLE TRANSITIONAL MEASURES + +I shall describe the cooperative commonwealth on the theory that it is +to come gradually, not because I consider this the only way for +Socialism to come, but one of the possible ways and the one most +intelligible to the bourgeois mind. + +Morris Hillquit and John Spargo have given good sketches of the +Socialist state.[157] I shall adhere closely to their views, +emphasizing and detailing them; and I am the more glad to adopt this +plan because both are members of the National Executive Committee of +the Socialist party and will not be accused of taking the bourgeois +view of Socialism; whereas because I have been a bourgeois, I am +likely to be accused of this. + +Mr. Spargo begins by repudiating the idea of the Socialist state as a +"great bureaucracy" and declares the Socialist ideal to be a "form of +social organization in which every individual will enjoy the greatest +possible amount of freedom for self-development and expression; and in +which social authority will be reduced to the minimum necessary for +the preservation and insurance of that right to all individuals." + +The rights of the individual Mr. Spargo summarizes as follows: + +"There must be perfect freedom of movement, including the right to +withdraw from the domain of the government, to migrate at will to +other territories; immunity from arrest, except for infringing others' +rights, with compensation for improper arrest; respect of the privacy +of domicile and correspondence; full liberty of dress, subject to +decency; freedom of utterance, whether by speech or publication, +subject only to the protection of others from insult, injury, or +interference with their equal liberties. Absolute freedom of the +individual in all that pertains to art, science, philosophy, and +religion, and their teaching, or propaganda, is essential. The state +can rightly have nothing to do with these matters; they belong to the +personal life alone. Art, science, philosophy, and religion cannot be +protected by any authority, nor is such protection needed." + +On the other hand, he summarizes the functions of the state as +follows: + +"The state has the right and the power to _organize_ and _control_ the +economic system, comprehending in that term the production and +distribution of all social wealth wherever private enterprise is +dangerous to the social well-being, or is inefficient; the defence of +the community from invasion, from fire, flood, famine, or disease; the +relations with other states, such as trade agreements, boundary +treaties, and the like; the maintenance of order, including the +judicial and police systems in all their branches; and public +education in all its departments." + +The state, according to Mr. Spargo, is not to _own_ all sources of +production (this is state Socialism); but is to have the right and +power to _organize_ and _control_ the economic system. There is +between these two statements all that distinguishes the crude +Socialism of the nineteenth century from the practical Socialism of +to-day. This is emphasized by Mr. Spargo when he states that +"Socialism by no means involves the suppression of all private +property and industry"; and the further recognition that the +"Socialist state will not be static"; that is to say, it will not once +for all decide that certain industries must be socialized and certain +other industries be left to individual initiative. + +The dominant factor that will determine these things is the public +welfare. When private property in a particular thing is found +injurious to public welfare, it will be taken over by the state for +the purpose of being socialized, as will hereafter be explained. When +it is deemed that private property in a public industry is injurious +to public welfare, this industry will be socialized. When, on the +contrary, it is found that by socializing an industry the advance of +that industry tends to be paralyzed, private initiative will be +encouraged to enter into that industry. Indeed, the economic structure +of the commonwealth will be such that inefficiency in a socialized +industry will automatically give rise to the competition of private +initiative therein. + +I have used the expression "socialized industry." It is above all +things important that we should be clear as to what these words mean; +for it is the socialization of industry which is the modern substitute +for the Socialist state. We cannot understand this better than by +taking a concrete example. + +Let us assume that the public has become convinced that a few +individuals have already too long grown inordinately rich out of the +refining and distribution of oil, and that the time has come for this +industry to be socialized. The old theory was that the state would +expropriate this industry and become the employer of all engaged in +it. It is argued in favor of such a system that if the state can be +entrusted with the distribution of letters, it can also be entrusted +with the distribution of oil; and this is undoubtedly true. But if +this same argument is applied to all industries it will expose the +state to two great dangers: the state will be overburdened by the +multiplicity and vastness of these tasks; and the state will become +despotic. And because this task is greater than any one set of men can +properly perform; even though the intentions of the members of the +government be the best possible, errors of judgment and errors of +detail will involve the state in injustice and discontent. + +This difficulty can be met by not putting all these functions upon the +state, but by so providing that the men shown in the past best able to +handle a particular industry should continue to handle it. The +socialization of the Standard Oil industry would simply mean the +elimination of capitalistic control and exploitation. In taking over +the oil industry, the state would doubtless adopt the method already +adopted in taking over railroads, etc. A board would be appointed to +take expert testimony as to the valuation of the industry, to +determine the real value of every share. It would be called upon to +value every stockholding with a view to determining to what +compensation each stockholder was entitled; because a distinction +will have to be made between various classes of stockholders. Some +stockholders have purchased their stock out of the economies of an +industrious lifetime. They depend upon the dividends from such stock +to support their old age. To cut down the income they derive from this +stock might not only work an injustice, but work an injury to the +commonwealth; for if these stockholders had not sufficient income to +support themselves, they would become a burden on the state. Other +stockholders would be found to have sufficient wealth to support a +considerable reduction in the valuation of their stock without +hardship. Others again would have such enormous wealth, that, having +much more income than they can possibly spend, the reduction of their +income would mean no hardship save that of depriving them of _power_ +for the most part exerted at the present time injuriously to the +commonwealth. + +Experts, therefore, appointed by the state to make estimates with a +view to the transfer of an industry from private to social ownership +will have two distinct functions to perform: the function that boards +of experts in similar cases perform to-day, to estimate the actual +value of the property; and to estimate the wealth of the respective +stockholders and classify stockholders according to wealth with the +view of effecting the transfer from private to social ownership +without injustice to the individual or injury to the commonwealth. It +is probable that compensation to stockholders will consist of +annuities rather than lump sums. The advantage of compensation by +annuity rather than by cash payment is considerable. As the state is +taking over industries it will be more difficult for individuals to +find investment for lump sums than to-day. As the state is looking +forward to taking over industries to a sufficient extent to eliminate +pure capitalism[158] altogether, it is to be hoped that future +generations will not feel the need of capital of their own and will be +all the more ready to enter into the cooperative scheme of industry +if, having no capital, they have to work each in his own industry +under the new and prosperous conditions which cooperative production +ought by that time to have brought about. + +Cases will undoubtedly be found where wealthy parents have worthless +or defective children and grandchildren. Again, some parents have so +contributed to the development of industry of the nation, as in the +case of Mr. John D. Rockefeller and Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan, that it +may seem proper that the compensation given in the shape of an annuity +to them should not end abruptly at their death; but that a part of it +should be continued to their offspring. This question is one of +conscience as well as of social welfare; and in view of the enormous +importance of it to the wealthy of to-day, it is a pity that they +confine themselves to denouncing Socialism, and by so doing, leave the +elaboration of the Socialist program to a party of discontented which +is likely to deal with them when the day of expropriation arrives, not +only without mercy, but without justice. + +To judge of the difficulty of determining the questions likely to +arise, let us consider for a moment the case of Mr. Rockefeller. + +Mr. John D. Rockefeller has testified over and over again that for +many years he has had nothing to do with the management of the +Standard Oil, and yet he draws from the Standard Oil an income so +enormous that, not being able to spend more than a fraction of it, he +has invested the balance in railroad shares and thus become master of +a large part of our railroad system. I myself believe after a careful +study of the organization and development of the Standard Oil that Mr. +Rockefeller has amassed his fortune strictly in conformity with law. +He has, it is true, deliberately lied at certain critical periods. But +lying is not a crime, and is not actionable except under specified +conditions. Mr. Rockefeller then is not a criminal. He simply presents +a case where, having rendered an immense service to the community, he +has received as a remuneration for that service wealth that surpasses +the dreams of avarice. + +If Mr. Rockefeller's holdings in the Standard Oil were expropriated by +the state without one dollar of remuneration, Mr. Rockefeller would +still be in possession of a far larger income derived from his +railroad holdings than he and all his family could possibly spend. It +is probable, therefore, that in such cases as those of Mr. +Rockefeller, J. Pierpont Morgan, and others of their class, the state +would make a valuation of all their wealth, leave them what it is +proper they should have, and expropriate the rest. Even though there +were left to multi-millionaires more income than they could possibly +spend, the surplus expropriated by the state out of each of their +swollen fortunes would leave to every industry a large fund which +could be applied to increasing wages, improving conditions, and +reducing prices. If, for example, it turned out that the income Mr. +Rockefeller derives from his railroad shares is more than he can spend +and that, therefore, there were no reason why he should continue to +own any shares in the Standard Oil whatever, the dividends accruing +from the shares now held by Mr. Rockefeller in the Standard Oil would +be applicable to improving the conditions of those who work for the +Standard Oil. It is probable that Mr. Rockefeller owns about one-half +of the shares in the Standard Oil. All the dividends now paid to Mr. +Rockefeller would in such case be applicable to these things. Such a +solution would permit of the division of the enormous dividends which +are being paid to-day to Mr. Rockefeller amongst the working body of +the Standard Oil. + +As to compensation, there is considerable disagreement in the +Socialist party, and many Socialists would not admit the principle of +compensation at all. In France, it is probable that these last +constitute, if not a majority, at any rate a very large minority of +the party; but in America I think it can be said that the Socialist +party stands for compensation. In support of this contention I cannot +do better than quote a passage from the article of Mr. Steffens in +_Everybody's Magazine_, Oct., 1908.[159] + +This passage is extremely illuminating because we find in it the +opinions of two men thoroughly representative of the two wings of the +Socialist party: Eugene Debs, who is what Mr. Roosevelt would call "an +extreme Socialist"; that is to say, he looks at Socialism from the +revolutionary point of view; he regards the issue as between the +capitalist on the one side and the proletariat on the other; he is an +ardent exponent of the class struggle theory; his sympathies are +exclusively marshalled on the side of the poor, and his first impulse, +therefore, on being questioned on this subject, is to express an +opinion contrary to compensation. And yet his ideas on this subject +are not so rooted but that they can at once be corrected when he is +reminded by Victor Berger of the evils likely to result from +expropriation without compensation. + +To those unfamiliar with the personnel of the Socialist party, it is +important to say a word regarding Victor Berger. He is the editor of +the _Social Democratic Herald_, published in Milwaukee; but he is far +more than this. He is the recognized leader of the Socialist party in +Wisconsin, the only State in which Socialism has succeeded in electing +members to the municipal council and to the State legislature. No one +who reads his editorials can fail to recognize that he is not only an +economist, but a scholar. He is regularly elected to the National +Executive Committee of the Socialist party at the head of the poll; +and although I must not be understood to imply that there are no other +men in the party of as great weight as Mr. Victor Berger, I think it +may be stated without fear of contradiction that he to-day has more +personal influence in the party than any other one man. The ease with +which he brought the Presidential nominee around to his view on the +subject of compensation is a measure of his influence. I think that +upon the subject of compensation the opinion of Victor Berger is +likely to prevail.[160] + +The socialization of industry does not mean any change in the +personnel of the industry whatever. Every man drawing salary or wages +from the Standard Oil will go on drawing salary or wages as before. +The industry will be handed over to those who actually maintain and +work at it. These men will run the industry in very much the same way +as did the guilds in the Middle Ages, subject to the payment of +annuities to old stockholders determined by the court. + +There would, however, be some notable distinctions, between the +medieval guild and the guild under a cooperative commonwealth. + +The latter would not constitute a complete monopoly; on the contrary, +independent refiners would continue to refine and distribute oil, +maintaining a wholesome competition of a character to prevent the oil +guild from becoming perfunctory and inefficient. This competition +would tend to avert the evils that attended the close monopoly of the +medieval guild, practically all of which can be traced to the +completeness of their monopoly. + +Again the state would not _own_ the oil industry; it would reserve the +right to _control_ it. No direct control need be exercised providing +the industry were wisely administered; but if the industry had +recourse to devices for crushing out competition to which the trusts +to-day habitually resort, the state would exercise this direct control +by appointing one or more members to the governing board of the +industry. The oil guild would, therefore, be kept upon its good +behavior, both by the competition of the independent refineries and by +the danger of state intervention. + +When the public became convinced that the time had come for the +socialization of the steel industry, exactly the same process would be +adopted. In this case, the function of those who had to value +stockholdings would be facilitated. It has never been revealed how +much J. Pierpont Morgan got in common stock for his role in the +organization of the Steel Trust; but it is known that the amount of +stock taken by him on that occasion was enormous. It would be +interesting to calculate the number of hours of work he personally +spent in promoting this trust and to compare these hours with the +amount of stock which he received as a price of this service. Such a +method might facilitate the work of those who had to value the stock +and determine the amount to which he was entitled for the service he +rendered. + +The socialization of industry, therefore, will be seen to be a +process in which, once started, the state need have little further to +do. It will practically consist of a transfer of the industry from the +hands of the capitalist to the hands of those actually engaged +therein. It will involve the valuation of every stockholding in such a +fashion that the capitalist will during his life receive in some cases +all, though in other cases less than he has heretofore received; so +that the excessive income now enjoyed by the capitalist will be +applicable to improving the conditions of those engaged in the +industry; it will also be applicable to the reduction of cost to the +consumer. And this process applied to every trusted industry will have +for immediate effect gradually to improve the condition of the +workingmen. When applied to them all, not only will the workers +receive an increased wage, but the wage they receive will have its +purchasing power increased by the lowering of prices in all +industries. Obviously this system is not going immediately to put the +luxuries now enjoyed by the multi-millionaire at the disposal of every +workingman; but it will increase them as the annuitants die, so that +with the disappearance of the first generation of multi-millionaires, +the conditions of labor will be still further improved; and with the +disappearance of the second generation, to whom doubtless some +annuities will also be given, the workingman will receive all the +benefits now given to the capitalist. + +Inasmuch as the wage-earners now receive on an average a little less +than one-half of the whole profits of the industry, from this +socialization of industry alone the laborer's will ultimately have +their compensation doubled by increase of wage and decrease of prices. + +By "worker" is not meant what we now call workingmen alone. It includes +all engaged in industry through the work of their hands or their heads. +It is a common error into which Mr. Roosevelt has fallen that Socialism +proposes to improve the condition of the one at the expense of the +other; that it is a doctrine of Socialists that "all wealth is produced +by _manual_ workers."[161] No such foolish proposition has ever been +propounded by any Socialist however "extreme."[162] Socialists recognize +the enormous role played by brain in the organization and administration +of industry. What Socialism seeks to do is to eliminate the idle +stockholder--not the industrious manager. If Mr. Roosevelt would cast +his comprehensive eye around the class to which he belongs, he will +observe that it is composed in great part of idle stockholders who +contribute nothing whatever to the work of the industries which furnish +their dividends. And because these stockholders are idle, he will find +that they tend also to be "thriftless and vicious," and that he is +denouncing his own class when he characterizes as "morally base" the +proposition that "the thriftless and the vicious, who could or would put +in but little, should be entitled to take out the earnings of the +intelligent, the foresighted, and the industrious." He is very hard on +them; he says this is living by "theft or by charity" and that this +means "in each case degradation, a rapid lowering of self-respect and +self-reliance."[163] If a Socialist were to use this language of the +idle stockholders, he would be characterized as intemperate. I would not +myself go so far as Mr. Roosevelt. There are many idle stockholders who, +_because they are unconscious of living "by theft or by charity,"_ have +preserved a social conscience that sets them to righting the wrongs of +the many. Mr. Roosevelt himself, indeed, belongs to this very class. If +he ever takes the trouble to understand Socialism, he will see that it +proposes to put an end to the class that is idle and tends to be +"thriftless and vicious"; that in other words, in this as in every other +point on which Mr. Roosevelt attacks us, Socialism stands for the very +opposite of what Mr. Roosevelt thinks. It proposes to take our +industries out of the control of the idle and hand them over to the +industrious, whether their industry be of the hand or of the head. + +The result of such transfer will be to leave every man doing the work +which he is already doing; to improve his condition; to keep alive the +competition necessary to prevent inefficiency or perfunctoriness and +make character; to diminish the stakes of the game, so that the worker +shall not lose health and happiness as now, but shall secure more or +less of the luxuries of life. And industry will be so organized that +no man who wants to work shall be without work; and no one who does +not want to work shall be allowed to be idle. + +Having explained what is meant by the socialization of industry, and +pointed out how small the role of the state need be in the +socialization of industry at large, we may next proceed to consider +certain industries in which the state does, to-day, in other countries +and would in a cooperative commonwealth certainly play the dominant +role. In the first place, the state would own all natural monopolies. +By the word "state" must not be understood the Government at +Washington alone. Certain monopolies are national monopolies and would +therefore be owned by the national Government at Washington; for +example, railroads, telegraphs, national forests, national waterways, +etc. But it is the local authorities that would take over such local +monopolies as tramways, electric works, gas works, and all those +things that are essentially municipal in their nature. The wisdom of +this transfer of natural monopolies from private to public ownership +it is not necessary to discuss. The enormous advantages that have +attended this transfer in countries where it has been conscientiously +tried leave no room for discussion except by those who have a personal +interest in it, and to those this book is not addressed. Moreover, +this subject will be treated in the next chapter. + +There are, however, certain industries which, because they are +intimately connected with public hygiene, it seems indispensable that +the municipality should take over. I refer to such industries as +packing houses, butcher shops, pharmacies, and the production and +distribution of milk, ice, and bread. + +The recklessness with which we allow ice companies to distribute ice +collected from ponds into which the drainage of a large population +filters and from the head waters of such rivers as the Hudson, which +receives all the sewage of Albany, Schenectady, and Troy, seems +incredible, were we not already familiar with the recklessness which +hands over all our industries to a competitive system so fierce in its +operation that adulteration is its necessary consequence. + +Many of the bakeshops which furnish us with our bread baffle +description, and on the poisons which are introduced into our milk I +have already dilated. Wherever the temptation to adulterate is +considerable and the consequence of adulteration to public health +great, the community should not accept the risk that arises from +competition except within the narrowest possible limits. For this +reason, it will doubtless be wise for a cooperative commonwealth to +own and run packing houses, butcher shops, pharmacies, bakeries, and +to produce and distribute milk and ice. + +As regards ice, it is amazing that the municipal authorities should +not have undertaken this task before--especially in view of the +raising of the price of ice for the poor by the Ice Trust. Every city +has to supply its citizens with water, and as they are in control of +pure water, it should be as much the function of the city to furnish +pure ice as pure water. They have reservoirs free from pollution from +which ice could be cut; and nothing but the political influence of the +Ice Trust on the one hand, and the stupid indifference of the consumer +on the other, has permitted this business to remain in private +hands.[164] + +The enormous profits made by the Meat Trust would permit not only of +sanitary handling of this industry, but proper compensation to all +engaged therein, and a notable reduction in the price of meat. + +The fact that the baking industry is not trusted will make the taking +over of this industry by the state a more difficult undertaking, but +not for that reason an impossible one. + +Competition is not necessarily to be eliminated in the taking over of +these industries. It is quite possible that the state might not +furnish good bread, and it ought, therefore, to be permissible for any +individual to enter into this business. The competition will be +limited because, inasmuch as the state will charge for its bread very +little above cost price, few will be induced to enter into this +business out of the desire for making money. The only motive that will +induce citizens to enter into the business will be that of furnishing +bread to their taste. Moreover, such industries would have to comply +strictly with hygienic conditions, and they would be not so numerous +as to make inspection as difficult, ineffectual, or expensive as +to-day. + +The production and distribution of milk suggests a function of the +state to which sufficient importance cannot be attached. I mean the +creation of farm colonies. On this single point I am not supported by +the authority of the Socialist party. In other words, farm colonies +have never been suggested as a part of the Socialist program; but this +seems to be due to an oversight, for there does not seem to be in the +Socialist party, as far as I can judge of it, any opposition to the +idea. And the role of the farm colony seems to me of such importance +that it is hardly possible to give too much attention to it. + + +Sec. 4. FARM COLONIES + +The first farm colony was established in Holland. The system has since +taken root all through Europe, but has reached its finest development +in the Canton of Berne, in Switzerland. It proceeds upon the principle +that while it is difficult to make money out of farm land, it is easy +to get nourishment from it, and that the most obvious remedy for idle +labor is to apply it to idle land. + +In Switzerland it is also recognized that idle labor is divided into +two distinct classes--the unemployed and the unemployable--and the +unemployable must be again classified into those unable to work +through physical defect and those unable to work through moral +defect; that is to say, those who are morally willing and physically +unable and those physically able and morally unwilling. There are +therefore in Switzerland two different kinds of farm colonies: forced +colonies which deal with the tramp, the drunkard, and the +misdemeanant--all those persons upon whom discipline has to be +exercised; and free colonies for those physically disabled or who are +out of employment through causes over which they have no control. + +It is in the poorest countries in Europe that farm colonies have +reached their highest development. Switzerland has been driven to +organize farm colonies by the fact that she is too poor to disregard +the burden of the unemployed and unemployables. It is in the richest +countries, England, France, and America, that the farm colony system +has been most neglected. The farm colony plan is the cheapest as well +as the best way of solving the problem of pauperism, deserving or +undeserving. This question has been fully treated elsewhere[165] and +it is only referred to here in sufficient detail to explain why it is +believed that the farm colony system will form an essential feature of +every Socialistic community. For although there will be an enormous +diminution in the number of those unwilling or unable to work (for the +reason that under a cooperative commonwealth no one need be overworked +and, therefore, no one need be reduced to the physical exhaustion +which is the prime cause of pauperism), and although there will be +fewer drunkards because drunkenness, also, is largely due to overwork, +nevertheless, until the cooperative commonwealth has been in operation +several generations, that part of the population that is unwilling or +unable to work will have to be provided for. And even later there +will certainly be some part of the population that will require +discipline as regards work. The farm colony system, more and more +indispensable in our existing civilization, will perform an important +role in the gradual transformation of society from the competitive to +the cooperative form. It probably presents to-day one of the most +perfect pieces of constructive Socialistic work in which legislators +can engage. For it has the extraordinary advantage of satisfying an +immediate necessity of the competitive system and at the same time +realizing some fundamental principles of Socialism; for example, that +every man and woman is entitled to work; that the aged are entitled to +support; and that the state should own enough land to assure both +these things. + +The fact that our railroads are now awakening to the necessity of +handling the tramp proves the necessity of the system, and the fact +that in Switzerland the forced colonies have been made to pay their +own expenses indicates its economy. Indeed, no proposed legislation +illustrates so well the power driving us towards Socialism as the +history of attempts at legislation in this direction in New York +State. + +Twelve years ago a farm colony bill was drawn by a committee appointed +by the charitable societies in New York; but it did not secure at +Albany a moment's serious attention. We were told by our legislators +that poverty is not a crime. When we answered that our bill did not +make it a crime more than the penal code, but only purposed to +substitute for the expensive and degenerating system of the misnamed +workhouse, inexpensive and regenerating work on a state farm, and that +the plan had operated effectually in Holland and Belgium for over a +hundred years, we were told that the plan might do in Holland, but +would not do here. So in the archives of the French senate may still +be read the report made by Thiers, when appointed by Louis Philippe on +a committee to investigate the first railroad ever built, which +concludes as follows: "Railroads may serve a purpose in England, but +they are not suited to France." + +A similar bill, improved by borrowing from late experience in +Switzerland, drawn by a similar committee (to which was added the +Commissioner of Charities, Mr. Hebberd) was presented at Albany at the +session of 1909, and although not passed, was sufficiently well +received to encourage the hope that it will pass at the session of +1910. It had the support of the great railroads in New York state; for +the railroads have discovered that the tramp is an intolerable +nuisance.[166] Colonel Pangborn of the Baltimore & Ohio has lately +estimated that the damage occasioned by tramps to railroads in the +United States amounts in a single year to twenty-five million +dollars.[167] For the tramp in America does not tramp; he rides on +railroads; he sets fire to freight cars and freight stations; he +obstructs the lines, wrecks trains, and is a fruitful cause of action +for damages. The measure, therefore, which was thrown out by the +Assembly when proposed from motives of humanity, may be passed as a +measure of self-defence, and self-defence thus constitutes an element +of the power always at work on the side of progress that neither +ignorance nor interest will be able to resist. + +The reason for believing that the farm colony will perform an +important function not only during the period which must elapse before +the cooperative commonwealth, but also after the cooperative +commonwealth has been attained, is that work on land seems to be the +only work to which the unemployed and unemployables can be suitably +put. + +Every day we seem to be increasing our capacity to make land +productive. We not only make new discoveries, but profit by those of +more ancient civilizations than our own. It has long been known that +in the East they subject grain to the same system of replanting that +truck gardeners do early vegetables.[168] + +Dr. Fesca informs us that in Japan rice is treated in the same way: +"It is allowed first to germinate; then it is sown in special warm +corners, well inundated with water and protected from the birds by +strings drawn over the ground. Thirty-five to fifty-five days later, +the young plants, now fully developed and possessed of a thick network +of rootlets, are replanted in the open ground. In this way the +Japanese obtain from twenty to thirty-two bushels of dressed rice to +the acre in the poor provinces, forty bushels in the better ones, and +from sixty to sixty-seven bushels in the best lands. The average, in +six rice-growing States of North America, is at the same time only +nine and a half bushels."[169] + +Agriculturists are familiar with the results obtained by Major +Hallett's growing what he called "pedigree cereals"; that is to say, +by using as seed only the best ears in his crop; and by giving to +each grain sufficient space he obtained sometimes as much as 2500 +grains for one grain planted. Even better results were obtained by +Grandeau.[170] + +We are only beginning to know how much can be produced out of an acre +of ground. One thing, however, is certain: where labor is cheap and +land limited as in the case of our unemployed, there is no method +known by which labor can produce better results than by putting it to +what is called "intensive culture"; and as the secrets of intensive +culture become more known, it becomes clear that if the state would +only take the trouble to set aside a certain amount of land for the +purpose, it could without further expense than that of the first +installation make able-bodied unemployed and unemployables +self-supporting. + +This is not a question of fertility; it is simply a question of space. +Unfertile land is made fertile by intensive culture. It has been said +that the Paris gardener defies the soil and the climate. Every truck +gardener there stipulates in renting land that he "may carry away his +soil down to a certain depth, when he quits his tenancy."[171] In +other words, soil is now a manufacture; we are no longer confined to +fertile areas; we can make any area fertile by the application to it +of industry and intelligence. + +Municipalities can contribute enormously to the fertility of the land +around them. A district near Paris, called Genevilliers, was a few +years ago a desert tract of sand. The city poured over this tract the +sewage of the city after a filtration that deprived it of its +offensive features. This tract has become of fabulous fertility; but +the municipality having failed to buy this land before this operation, +the increased value of the land has accrued to the persons who +happened to be the owners of it; whereas if the city had begun by +purchasing the land at the price at which it could have been purchased +before this operation, it would have had here a tract of enormous +value that, by the farm colony system, would have greatly contributed +to relieve the city of the burden of pauperism. + +It would seem as though the art of using manure were practically +unknown in this country by the farmers. The results that can be +obtained in this way are given in the Farmer's Bulletin, No. 242, +where an intelligent use of manure resulted in crops of 6.7 tons of +hay for every acre of cultivation;[172] and this not by the +application of any extraordinary science, but simply by recognizing +the obvious fact that manure must be spread daily and not allowed to +lose most of its value from being piled into heaps, where it burns and +degenerates.[173] + +The farm colony must be so organized that it furnishes work summer and +winter. As its name implies, the colony is not confined to work on +land. Many skilled workmen would lose their skill if they were put to +farm work. Swiss colonies, therefore, have a few industries +established in each colony to which skilled workmen are put. This +occupies unskilled inmates during the winter months when the weather +is too inclement for out of door work, and also teaches them. +Moreover, in a self-supporting farm colony there is work which can be +done by the aged and the infirm, teaming, taking care of animals, +plucking fruits and vegetables, preparing them for preserving, and all +the small jobs that attend large housekeeping. + +The farm colony plan will in part relieve the state of the expense of +old-age pensions. Every industry will provide pensions for its own +workers and thus the state will be relieved by the guilds; but there +will always be some aged left unsupported by such private industries +as will continue to exist by the side of the guilds. Of these it may +be expedient to relieve some in their own homes; but many will find in +the free farm colony an abiding place more congenial to themselves +than the almshouse, and far less expensive to the state. It will be +more congenial because there will be no more disgrace attending a free +farm colony than any other state employment, and because it will be +organized so as to render its work as agreeable as possible. It will +never be so attractive as work outside the colony because it will be +subject to the kind of regulations that attend all big institutions, +so there is little fear of these colonies becoming larger than is good +for the community. But it will be a home rather than an almshouse, and +it will be less expensive to the state because of the work which even +the aged can do. + +The farm colony furnishes a system by means of which the state can +compel the unwilling, able-bodied tramp and pauper to earn his own +livelihood; where it can afford work to the unemployed without cost to +the state; and can utilize to the utmost possible the services of +those who are not able-bodied. + +It must not be imagined that discipline of a harsh character is +necessary. There are in every one of these colonies in Europe dark +cells, where a man who will not work, or will not obey rules, is +confined and kept on bread and water until he consents to work and to +obey rules; and the very fact of the existence of these cells, and of +this system, has been found sufficient to secure good work and +obedience to rules without using the dark cells except under +exceptional circumstances. The director of one of the Dutch colonies +told me that he did not use the dark cell once a year. + +There is no reason why the farm colony system should not be extended +to the treatment of all crime except that we have prisons, prison +managers, and a prison administration which stand in the way of +radical prison reform; and the general stupidity which prefers the +ills we have to the blessings which, obvious as they are, we have not +imagination enough to comprehend. The folly of keeping an enormous +population of criminals idle, within four walls, at an enormous +expense to the community, when we could keep them busy to their great +advantage, physical, intellectual, and moral, without a penny of cost +to the community, is one of those things which future generations will +find it difficult to believe.[174] + +In the cooperative commonwealth there will be no prisons, no +penitentiaries, no almshouses, no tramps, no unemployed. There will be +farm colonies of various grades, from those that have no discipline +beyond that necessary to secure the observance of rules necessary to +all institutional life, through those that have just enough discipline +to keep lazy men at work, to those that have sufficient discipline to +keep even criminals at work. For although it is obvious that under a +cooperative commonwealth in which there is no necessity for +exhausting any individual, no necessity for alcoholism or stimulation, +no anxiety regarding the means of existence; where there is throughout +a high standard of living, ease for the mind and abundance for the +body, the production of the natural criminal ought to be immensely +diminished, yet the occasional criminal will have to be provided for. + +For further study of the farm colony system as it has been developed +in Switzerland, and as it might be applied in the United States under +existing conditions, the reader is referred to "The Elimination of the +Tramp."[175] It is hoped, however, that enough has been said regarding +these colonies to enable us to consider the immense role which an +intelligent classification of farm colonies would play, not only under +existing conditions, but in the future cooperative commonwealth. + +A single farm colony for dealing with tramps as proposed in the bill +now before the Assembly of New York State would render an +indispensable service by taking off the streets and highways the +vagrants who, because they are now confounded with the unemployed, +tend to confuse the mind of the public on this all-important subject. +But although such a colony, organized under the same conditions as the +forced labor colony in Switzerland, would render this service without +cost to the state beyond that of first installation, its usefulness in +the problem of production at large would be extremely small. It would +attain its purpose if it were self-supporting. But if this tramp +colony proves a success, the same system could be applied not only to +take care of all our dependent and criminal classes, but to play an +important role in the production of the necessaries of life. + +There ought to be three distinct classes of colonies: + +The criminal farm colony surrounded by walls where the strictest +discipline would be enforced, and within which the inmates would be +confined to intensive cultivation, handicrafts, and some form of +machine industry. + +The forced labor colony for misdemeanants and able-bodied vagrants and +paupers where larger liberty would be enjoyed; and + +The free labor colony where there would be no regulation except that +indispensable in all institutions. + +Perhaps to these should be added probationary colonies as described in +the "Elimination of the Tramp," p. 59, for those as to whose +willingness to work there is doubt. These would furnish the "test" so +much sought by English Poor Law Guardians. From these probationary +colonies the inmates would be graduated down to the forced labor +colony, or up to the free. So also criminals would be prepared for +social life by passing through the forced labor colony, and inmates of +the forced labor colony prepared for social life by passing through +the free labor colony. + +In a cooperative commonwealth free labor would have no objection to +industrial work conducted within these colonies, because the less work +there is to be done in any given industry, the less hours would the +workers in that industry have to give to it. So that every industry +carried on in the colony would by so much diminish the amount of goods +produced outside by that industry, and to that extent relieve the free +labor engaged therein. This great objection to penal labor being +removed, the state will have an advantage in distributing the +industries throughout its colonies according to geographical +conditions. + +The criminal colonies will naturally be more industrial in their +character than the agricultural, because they will have to be +operated within prison walls. They will nevertheless include truck +gardening and horticulture.[176] Penal colonies, therefore, will group +themselves around great water power, which will be retained by the +state and not dissipated by the gift of franchises to private +corporations.[177] + +Misdemeanants and tramps will preferably be set to work on large farms +which, because of their size and remoteness from towns, will render +escape difficult. The methods adopted in Switzerland for making escape +difficult if not impossible, are fully described in the "Elimination +of the Tramp."[178] + +As in these colonies there is more or less work to be done all the +year round, it would be indispensable to build in connection with them +factories which could be operated during the winter months, the state +being careful to limit the factories to the production of things +already socialized, so as not to compete injuriously with private +industry. + +Free labor colonies ought to be located near large centers of +population, not only because of the character of the things they will +produce, for example, milk, vegetables, and fruits, which need a +market at the door, but also because it is in these great centers that +pauperism and unemployment express themselves in largest figures and +in greatest variation. In these colonies inmates will remain the +shortest terms, and it is important, therefore, to have them in +proximity to places where the inmates are likely to live in order to +avoid the heavy expense of transportation. + +Free labor colonies will be engaged in the production of milk for two +reasons: The hygienic importance of milk is so great that it should as +much as possible be removed from the competitive field. It is +important that milk should be produced as near as possible to the town +where it is to be consumed. It is wiser, therefore, to assign the +production of milk to the free labor colony, near the city, than to +the penal or forced labor colony that would be comparatively remote. +But it must not be imagined that the production of milk can be +confided exclusively to such inexpert labor as that of the inmates of +free labor colonies. The production of milk can only be entrusted to +careful experts receiving a relatively high rate of wages. Free labor +colonies, therefore, will have to be provided with a corps of men and +women trained in the production of milk and dairy products. + +It may be suggested that the fact that dairy products must be +entrusted to trained experts is a reason for not associating the +production of milk with free labor colonies. This objection disappears +when account is taken of the fact that dairy farms should have +connected with them such subsidiary products as chickens and pigs. +Skimmed milk is of the greatest value in these subsidiary productions; +so also is the garbage that would accumulate in such an institution as +a farm colony. The care of pigs and poultry can be confided to +defectives such as we are likely to find in a free labor colony. It +furnishes work all the year round; it enriches the soil rather than +impoverishes it. + +Free labor colonies, therefore, will be engaged in the production of +milk, pigs, poultry, vegetables, fruits, and flowers. They will be +furnished with grain by the forced labor colonies in the States where +grain can be cultivated on a large scale; and by distributing +industries among the three classes of colonies and arranging for +exchange of products, the whole colony system ought not only to be +self-supporting, but to produce more than the colonies can themselves +consume. The disposition made of these products will be studied in +connection with the problem of distribution. + +Under such a plan, no pauperism or even poverty will be tolerated in +the towns. As soon as a man, woman, or family is incapable of +self-support in the competitive field, or because of sickness or +accident in the cooperative field, they will be taken out of the town +where their presence is an expense and a nuisance not only to +themselves, but to the community, to a free farm colony where health +can be restored and defectives put to the best use possible. + +Farm colonies in the Rocky Mountain region where sheep and cattle can +be fed on public land for nine or ten months in the year, and fed by +hand during the remaining two or three months, will furnish cattle and +sheep to municipal packing-houses that will distribute meat with the +economy of the postoffice system from door to door. + +State farm colonies in the grain-growing districts will furnish grain +to all the other colonies and wheat to municipal bakeries that will +distribute bread with the economy of the postoffice system from door +to door. + +Free labor colonies adjoining cities will produce milk, butter, and +dairy products, pork and pork products, chickens, eggs, vegetables, +fruits, and flowers and distribute them with the economy of the +postoffice system from door to door. + +State factories distributed amongst penal colonies in accordance with +the geographical conditions that will make them most efficient, will +furnish garments, shoes, hats, etc., to the other colonies at the +cheapest possible price. + +By the side of these productions, there will be maintained exactly the +same system of private ownership that exists to-day with all the +virtues that emulation produces free from the fatal consequences that +make failure result in misery, pauperism, prostitution, vagrancy, and +crime. For so long as the individual prospers in his private +enterprise, he will be encouraged to maintain it; whereas the moment +he fails, he will come within the state system under which the private +individual having proved his inability to support himself and his +family under the competitive plan, will be shown how to support +himself and his family by state institutions that will have reduced +this task to a science. + +That the state will occasionally fail in this task is to be expected. +But what is the worst consequence that can result from failure? +Nothing more than the maintenance of the competitive system in every +field of industry where the state fails. If the state fails to furnish +good bread, private initiative will take the baking of bread from the +state and will keep it until the state succeeds in furnishing bread to +the taste of the public. If the state fails in furnishing garments, +private initiative will keep garment making in its hands except in so +far as the state makes garments for the inmates of its own +institutions. + +Many problems connected with this system of production will occur to +the mind of the intelligent reader. These problems, however, will be +found to belong more strictly to the question of distribution and +government control--two subjects that cannot be intelligently +discussed until the question of private property in land has been +answered. + + +Sec. 5. LAND + +Socialism was formerly defined as including state ownership of land. +This idea is to-day, however, abandoned in favor of a much more +intelligent system: + +One principal difference between the Socialist and the Single Taxer is +that the Single Taxer is opposed to state ownership of all land; and +it is probable that the Single Taxer is more wise in this respect than +the state Socialist. In the first place, the state Socialist who wants +all land to be owned by the state ignores some very fundamental facts +in human nature: He ignores the fact that humanity has for generations +cultivated the instinct of ownership in land. There is nothing dearer +in life to the French peasant than the strip of land barely sufficient +to support life, and he will cling to that strip of land until some +accident has torn it from him and reduced him to the condition of a +pauper. Out of this instinct of ownership springs the extraordinary +industry of the farmer--an industry which is not excelled or equalled +in any but sweated trades. + +The life of the peasant or small farmer is one of hardship that leaves +no moment for leisure, and of monotony that populates our lunatic +asylums.[179] Not only is the life of the farmer one of the hardest, +but it is also one of the least secure. The failure of a single crop, +the loss of a single horse, disease in a chicken yard, a violent +hail-storm--any of these may oblige a farmer to put that first small +mortgage on his farm which is the beginning of his ruin. Nevertheless, +the farmer sticks to his farm and labors on it from the rising of the +sun, through the glare of noon and up to the last ray in the west, +because the land is his own and he has for it the kind of affection +that a mother has for her child--an affection that makes no sacrifice +too great. It would seem unwise to deprive the farmer of the +satisfaction of ownership and the community of the industry and +productivity which this sense of ownership results in. + +There is no conceivable advantage in depriving the farmer of the +ownership of his farm. The farmer now pays taxes on his land. The +right of the state to exact a tax puts the state in the position of a +landlord except that the state calls the tribute it levies on the farm +a "tax," whereas the owner calls this tribute "rent." Of course there +is a great difference between the tax levied by the state and the rent +paid by the farmer to the private owner, because the one is light and +the other heavy. This is the material difference which must not be +lost sight of in the discussion of the subject. Every farmer expects +to pay taxes to the state and all he asks is that the tax be not an +onerous one. It can be rendered less onerous in the cooperative +commonwealth than to-day because a cooperative commonwealth will not +exact payment of taxes in money, but will content itself with payment +in produce. Instead of the state taking over the land and depriving +the farmer of ownership, and exacting rent, the cooperative +commonwealth will leave the ownership in the farmer and exact a tax in +produce; and so long as this tax is paid, the farmer will remain the +undisputed owner of his land, and will continue to give it that hourly +care without which the best results can hardly be obtained. + +There is nothing in modern Socialism, therefore, to frighten the +farmer. He cannot but benefit by it, for his taxes will be levied in +produce instead of in cash; and it is the conversion of farm produce +into cash which is the farmer's main difficulty to-day, as was seen +when money was discussed. + +The title of a farmer under a cooperative commonwealth will be much +like that of the peasant in the Island of Jersey, who generally +purchases his land on condition of paying a certain amount to the +owner per annum. These Jersey titles are just as secure as freeholds +in England or in this country, subject of course to the payment of the +rent charged. + +The tax in produce, however, which the farmer is to pay the state will +be far more just and fair. Land will be classified according to +productivity, and the farmer will never be called upon to furnish the +state with a larger proportion of his crop than he can afford. On the +other hand, farmers will not be allowed to keep the ownership of land +which they do not use. If it is to the benefit of the community that +land be drained, the owner will be called upon to drain it within a +definite period. If he does not drain it within that period, the state +will take his undrained land from him. Nor will the farmer be allowed +to cut down timber where the maintenance of the timber is deemed +important to the commonwealth.[180] He will be taught forestry and the +propagation of deer, and shown how to produce as much income out of +his timber as he would out of the land when cleared. Above all, he +will be relieved from the exorbitant prices which he now pays the +trust for every article which he does not himself produce. The state +will undertake the task of distribution, so that he can receive as the +farmer in South Australia does to-day--a part payment in cash for all +produce he delivers at the nearest railroad, and a subsequent payment +when his goods have been sold through the instrumentality of the +state. But this last belongs to Distribution. + +Prices will not be lowered by the competition of farm colonies. On the +contrary, they will be maintained by the prices asked by farm +colonies. Farm-colony prices will allow every efficient farmer a +substantial living, and the farmer will have the benefit of the +example and advice furnished him by the nearest farm colony, which +will be a model farm. + +It may be objected that under this system the farmer will not have +sufficient motive for adopting modern methods. There are undoubtedly +farmers who are averse to the adoption of modern methods; but there +are also thousands of farmers eager to know modern methods. Rev. J.D. +Detrich, who produced 6.7 tons of hay for every acre in cultivation on +his farm[181] was so pestered by neighbors who called to study his +methods that he was obliged to remove to an adjoining State. +Recalcitrant farmers will slowly be compelled to adopt modern methods +by the fixing of prices that will make modern methods indispensable to +prosperity. + +In every way, therefore, the farmer will be benefited by the +introduction of Socialism. He will keep the title of ownership in his +farm that is dear to him; he will pay his taxes in produce instead of +in cash; he will have the benefit of education and advice at his door; +and he will be relieved of the exorbitant prices now demanded by the +trusts, and of that greatest of all his anxieties, the conversion of +his produce into cash. + +As regards city land, the problem is a very different one, because the +treatment of city land is an essential part of the whole municipal +problem. + +Practically all municipal problems may be reduced to one--namely, +crowding. As long as farmers live half a mile apart as they do on a +standard 160-acre farm in the West, sewage and garbage are matters of +individual rather than social interest. Provided the farmer does not +pollute springs and water courses, he may dispose of his sewage and +garbage as he chooses; but the moment men and women are crowded into +cities on the vertical as well as on the horizontal plane, the +disposal of sewage and garbage becomes of vital importance to the +whole community. + +So also the maintenance of roads is a comparatively simple problem in +the country, where traffic is light; whereas in the city, where +traffic is great, the pavement of the streets presents problems not +only of resistance, but of noise. The droppings of horses on the +country road can be neglected; whereas those of horses passing a +thousand per hour in a crowded city street create a dust injurious to +health, and give rise to the problem of street cleaning. + +Again, where land is plentiful compared with population, the rent +charged for land is small and often negligible; whereas where land is +scarce compared with the population, as in the island of Manhattan, +the rent becomes prohibitive for all except the wealthy, and +workingmen are reduced to the alternative between living near their +work in unwholesome tenements and living far from their work in less +unwholesome conditions. And this scarcity of land gives rise to many +problems of congested districts, of tuberculosis, sanitation, +transportation, and of rent. + +If we look back on the whole history of our civilization, we shall see +an unconscious struggle always going on between private interest and +public spirit. The one tends to divide cities into two districts, one +composed of the palaces of the rich, the other of the slums of the +poor, and seeks to convert every problem of municipal government into +means of increasing private wealth. The other, on the contrary, we +find manifested in the "Age of Faith" building cathedrals; in the Age +of Beauty or Renaissance, building public squares and gardens; and in +recent years taking such services as transportation out of the hands +of private individuals and vesting them in the city. This struggle +between public and private interest has been, up to the present time, +unconscious or fitful. The Socialist asks that it should become +conscious and progressive; that is all. + +Let us take a few concrete instances: It was not until dark alleys +were found to facilitate the work of criminals that municipalities +were driven to light the streets; it was not until a district of +Birmingham had become a menace to public welfare because its filth +engendered both disease and crime that the municipality was driven to +put an end to it; it was not until cholera began its ravages that +municipalities were driven to provide clean dwellings; it was not +until the evils attending imperfect transportation became intolerable +that New York was driven to build subways; it was not until fires +devastated the city that New York organized its fire department; it +was not until the filth of the streets was intolerable that the city +took the cleaning of streets out of the hands of private contractors. +Up to the present time municipal activities have been forced into +existence by the growth of the evils to a point where they could no +longer be endured. + +Over a century ago it was said that municipalities were "sores upon +the body politic," and this phrase has been solemnly quoted ever since +as a sort of slogan of despair; whereas the municipality might be and +ought to be, if intelligently administered, the mainspring of all our +great national activities. The Socialist asks that, instead of waiting +for evils to become intolerable before we attempt to cope with them +and then adopting measures which, because they come late, are +inadequate, we should take up municipal administration as a +housekeeper takes hold of the administration of her house, adopting +measures which we must inevitably in the end adopt before the evils +become intolerable, and before the city becomes so over-built as to +make the difficulty of coping with these evils insurmountable. + +This is the spirit in which a citizen should approach the question of +city land; and if we do approach it in this spirit, the problem of how +to put an end to the evils arising from private ownership of land is +in many respects similar to those which present themselves in our +effort to put an end to the evils of private ownership of stock. + +For example, some land will be in the hands of men who have +contributed absolutely nothing to its value. They have inherited it, +and upon the rent which conditions have enabled them to exact they +have lived lives of uselessness if not of profligacy. One has abjured +his American nationality to avoid the payment of the personal tax, and +applies the sums which he receives, thanks to the industry of the +community in New York, to the publishing of a conservative newspaper +in London opposed to every effort permanently to improve the +conditions of humanity there. Some land will be in the hands of men +and women who have invested it in the economies of a laborious life +and for whom it represents an old-age pension. Between these two, +there is every degree of merit. + +The problem of compensation in taking over of city land will prove as +complicated as in the socialization of industries, and very much the +same principles will apply. Every city presents problems of its own, +and it is difficult, therefore, to lay down general principles +applicable to all cities. But one point seems clear: We shall have to +live in our cities while we are transforming them, and this means that +the transformation will have to be slow. If the state undertakes to +transform the slums into habitable tenements, the present families of +the slums must be accommodated somewhere while the transformation +takes place. + +Rebuilding our cities to accommodate them to the changed conditions of +a cooperative commonwealth, will be little more than doing on a large +scale what Birmingham did on a small scale when it converted its slums +into Corporation Street. If it is to be done well, it must be preceded +with the deliberate preparation indispensable to the success of every +large undertaking. + +The Single Taxers are right when they claim that the enhancement of +the value of land due to the industry of the many ought not to be +appropriated by the idle few. The "unearned increment" should accrue +to the whole community and not to a few landowners. As, therefore, the +enhancement of the value of land due to crowding is a peculiar feature +of the city, and distinguishes it from the country, it seems +indispensable that city land should eventually be owned by the city; +by the mass of citizens who labor and dwell therein. + +Another thing seems clear, namely, that a city cannot be transformed +to suit the needs of a cooperative commonwealth so long as the city is +owned by a few individuals who, by virtue of their ownership, have a +right to resist the transformation. + +The ownership in city land is, therefore, totally different from +ownership in farmland. In the latter case, there is no necessity for +suppressing private ownership; whereas in the city, such suppression +seems indispensable. It may be added that the beautiful parts of every +city are due to state ownership. The Place des Vosges was built by +Henry IV; the Place Vendome was built by Louis XIV; the Place de la +Concorde was built by Louis XV; the Champs Elysees and the Arc de +l'Etoile were built by the two Napoleons. Practically all the great +monuments of Paris were built by the state. Her streets were planned +by the state, and the height of her private buildings regulated by the +state. The same thing is true of London and Vienna. It is in our +American cities alone that private initiative being allowed full sway, +our buildings look like ill-assorted books in a neglected library; +that we are committed to interminable streets and avenues which pass +what monuments we have but lead up to none. In a word, our cities are +committed to conditions so inartistic that the task of making them +beautiful seems impossible short of destroying and rebuilding them +altogether. + + +Sec. 6. SUMMARY OF PRODUCTIVE SIDE OF ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION + +It will be seen that modern Socialism does not propose to interfere +with the private ownership of the farmer in his farm, and that the +production of agricultural and dairy products will remain much in the +same hands as at present, except that the state will have farm +colonies to standardize production; to weed out those farmers who, +because of their incapacity, are unable to produce what the land is +capable of producing; and to furnish work not only for unsuccessful +farmers, but for all who cannot earn a living in socialized industries +or under competitive conditions. Such a condition of things will +involve no redistribution of tasks. It will leave every man working in +the industry in which he is; it will leave those who are engaged in +competition still engaged in competition where it is not productive of +injurious result. It will raise wages in all socialized industries, +and raise the purchasing power of these industries by reducing prices; +it will, therefore, raise the standard of life for the workingman, +secure for him clean and wholesome habitations, and a possibility of +maintaining a home in the best sense of the word, where our present +civilization makes such a home impossible. By farm colonies it will +make the exploitation of men, women, and children impossible. Children +will not work at all until they have reached the fullest education of +which they are capable; women will not be allowed in industrial work +as long as they are bearing and rearing children; and men need never +receive a sweated wage when they have state institutions where they +can in exchange for their work, have board, lodging, and as much wage +as they can in addition earn. There will be no criminal class, for no +man need be driven to crime by want; and by the abolition of the +criminal class and the criminal environment, it is probable that crime +resulting from economic causes will tend to disappear. Nor will a +woman be driven by need to prostitution. Every industry will provide +compensation for its own superannuated and defectives, and the state +will have but few for whom to furnish old-age pensions. The community +will be relieved, therefore, of the enormous burden of vagrancy, +pauperism, prostitution, and crime; and all this without interfering +with any competitive industry capable of supporting its workers up to +the standard of life created by socialized industry, and without any +such convulsion as will throw upon the state the dangerous problem of +assigning tasks. + +We have heretofore considered only the problem of production; we have +still to consider that of distribution. + + +Sec. 7. DISTRIBUTION. + +At the present time anarchy reigns over production and distribution. +This anarchy has been in great part already replaced in the field of +manufacture by the trust. By combination, or as Mr. Rockefeller says, +"by cooperation" (Book II, Chapter III), all those engaged in the +manufacture of the same thing have eliminated competition so as to +obtain the advantages of production on a large scale. The cooperative +commonwealth will avail itself of the work already done by the trust, +and as has been already shown, will leave all these trusted industries +in the hands of those actually engaged in the work thereof. + +In the field of agricultural production, however, little has been done +to diminish the anarchy of distribution.[182] + +The anarchy which now characterizes distribution must be considered +under two heads: competition in the field of transportation, and +competition in the field of retail trade. America is unique among the +nations of the world for insisting upon railroads being run on the +competitive system. In Europe franchises are given to railroads with a +view to public welfare and the distinct policy of avoiding +competition. Capitals are adopted as railroad centers and franchises +so granted as to furnish a system of main lines radiating from these +centers in such a manner as to compete with one another the least +possible. In America we have proceeded upon the plan that railroads +are to compete just as traders do, and that it is by competition that +rates are to be kept down. Railroads competing with one another +between the same places are run at a social loss, the community is +better served by one railroad run in the interests of the country than +by two between the same points run in the interests of private +individuals. + +As regards transportation then there seems to be no room for +competition whatever. The state should own all systems of +transportation with a view to bringing the produce of the country and +of the factory to the consumer at the lowest possible cost to the +community. + +Let us consider how a cooperative community will deal with competition +in the retail trade. + +There is no reason why the private retailer conducting a business for +his own account should not continue to exist side by side with a +system of state distribution. There are reasons of propinquity and +convenience that enable the small retailer to live to-day next door to +the big department store. In the same way, the private retailer can +perfectly well continue to live by the side of the state distributing +system. Nevertheless, some parts of retail trade will be taken over +absolutely, for example, milk, for hygienic reasons. And other +departments will be so completely in the hands of the state that so +long as the state furnishes a good quality it will be improbable that +private enterprise will find it useful to interfere; as for example, +the baking of bread. + +As regards all those things which are likely to remain in the hands of +individual enterprise, as, for example, things in which taste plays an +important role--garments, hats, wallpaper, furniture, musical +instruments, other instruments of pleasure such as athletic goods, +bicycles, automobiles, steam launches, photographic apparatus--the +retailing of these is likely to remain as much a matter of private +enterprise as the production of them. + +As regards the necessaries of life the consumer should be able to get +them at the lowest possible price. All things of a hygienic character, +which it is of the utmost importance that the consumer should have of +the purest quality, the state will undertake not only to transport, +but to distribute in state stores. It is of course conceivable that in +some towns the state store will not be conducted to the satisfaction +of its citizens, and private enterprise will therefore run a store in +that place better than the state. In such case, private enterprise +ought to be encouraged in its competition. But inasmuch as good state +management will be in a cooperative commonwealth a matter of the +greatest importance, it is not likely that the citizen will long +endure bad administration. This belongs more to the political aspect +of Socialism than to the economic, and will be studied there. We shall +therefore now pass to a brief consideration of just how this system of +distribution will work. + +The state, having control of transportation, will adopt the method now +prevailing in South Australia, and will pay the manufacturer and the +farmer in cash at least 50 per cent--if not more--of the value of his +goods at the railroad station. These will then be transported by the +state in conformity with the needs of the various villages, towns and +cities to stores of its own. These will be run upon the cooperative +plan; the goods sold at only a small margin above cost, this margin +being kept to meet the expense of distribution; and the profits--if +any--will be distributed at the end of the year amongst customers on +the cooperative plan. + +It is obvious, however, that if the state is to distribute in the most +economical manner, it must have some control over production. It must +not be called upon to transport and distribute more of any one thing +than the public wants; nor must it be caught without enough to satisfy +the needs of the consumer. This makes it indispensable to study the +problem of control at the same time with the problem of distribution. + +No function of the state will probably be more important in a +cooperative commonwealth than that of controlling the production of +those things which, because they are necessaries or have hygienic +importance, a cooperative commonwealth should itself control, +transport, and distribute. + +The problem of control is not as difficult as it might at first seem. +We know perfectly well to-day how much wheat, corn, beef, mutton, +etc., are actually consumed by our population. All we have to do to +determine this amount for ourselves is to take, for example, the +amount of wheat produced in the country, and the amount exported, +subtract the exports from the product and determine the amount +consumed in this country. The same thing can be done practically with +every staple product. The state, therefore, can determine every year +in advance how much of every staple product _must_ be produced for +the needs of the country. It will, of course, add to the amount +actually needed a margin to provide for poor crops and other +accidents. + +Let us consider how this control will be exercised as regards farm and +dairy products. It has been already suggested that land should be +classified according to geographical conditions, exposure, and soil. +The productivity of the farm colonies will of course be known by the +state. Every private farm will have its productivity roughly +determined and every farmer will be expected to produce a minimum +amount. Of the amount he produces, a part will be taken as taxes to +furnish the government with the means to pay for administration. The +rest will be paid for partly in gold and partly in orders on the state +stores. The object of this system of payment is the following: + +It has been explained that taxes will be paid in produce. This payment +therefore needs no further comment. A minimum product ascribed to +every farm will be paid for with orders on the state store. This +represents the amount which the farmer _must_ produce to keep his +farm. It also represents the amount which the state _must_ have to +supply its citizens with food. All over and above this amount will be +paid for in orders on the public store, or in cash, as the farmer +shall elect; or, if the farmer chooses to dispose of this part to +private traders he will be at liberty to do so. By this method the +community will be furnished with produce belonging to three different +categories: produce in the shape of a tax for which the farmer +receives no compensation, this being practically the rent he pays the +state for his land; second, the minimum produce for which the farmer +receives equivalent orders on the public store, this category being +the produce upon which the community depends for its sustenance. + +The order upon the public store need differ in no way from the +greenback of to-day except that, instead of entitling the holder to a +dollar's worth of gold, it will entitle him to a dollar's worth of +goods in the public store. Thus if wheat can be produced in a +cooperative commonwealth at 50 cents per bushel, as seems likely,[183] +the farmer will receive for every two bushels an order for one dollar +on the public store. + +The third category which represents the surplus above what the farmer +is required to produce in order to keep his farm, will constitute a +surplus of production applicable to exchange for luxuries and foreign +goods. This exchange can be made directly by the farmer or by private +banks and private merchants, or by the state. + +Let us consider the control the state must exercise over, and the role +it must play in, the distribution of products of socialized industries +such as oil, sugar, steel, iron, leather, etc. The amount of iron and +steel required by the nation in the course of a year is not as +constant a quantity as the amount of wheat. It is, however, +sufficiently constant to make it possible to establish a minimum. The +state will begin by requiring socialized industries to furnish this +minimum and determine the price to be paid for it, thus creating a +stock on hand which can be accumulated so as to diminish the amount +needed in subsequent years and furnish a reserve which can be called +upon in case of extraordinary need. The state, having established the +minimum of steel, sugar, oil, etc., which it needs, will require of +the socialized industries to produce this minimum. It will also +require them to produce, in addition, an amount necessary to +contribute their share to the maintenance of the government. Every +associated industry, therefore, will furnish at regular intervals the +result of its manufacture in three categories similar to those already +explained--a part for taxes; a minimum already referred to that will +be paid for in orders on the public stores, and a surplus of which it +can dispose either to the state or directly to foreign bankers and +merchants. In this way, every associated industry will so adjust its +manufacture as to produce these three categories; the proceeds of the +surplus will be applicable in the first place to the support of +workers through accidents, illness, and during old age; and the rest +will be divided as profits amongst those engaged for example in the +steel industry. These profits will be applicable to the purchase of +luxuries either produced at home or produced abroad. + +Under this system the cooperative commonwealth will have goods to +exchange with foreign countries and will to this extent be a merchant +as regards all those things which it holds in excess of the needs of +the community, and as regards that surplus which it may purchase from +the farmer and the socialized industries. This leaves room for a +system of private banks and private enterprises in international +trade; for the farmer and the socialized industries will be free to +trade their surplus through the government or through private +individuals as they may consider most to their profit. + +The distributive stores will present very much the same aspect as our +department stores of to-day except that, though they may be even more +gigantic in size, they are not likely to be as diverse; for a large +proportion of the things now dealt in by department stores will +doubtless remain in the hands of private industry. The essential duty +of the state will be to provide its citizens with necessaries, not +luxuries pertaining to taste and pleasure. + +The state store will be divided into two departments, retail and +wholesale; not that a different price need necessarily be charged in +the retail than in the wholesale department, but because the machinery +for furnishing builders with bricks is different from that for +furnishing housewives with groceries. The state stores will also have +a system for the regular delivery from door to door of such +necessaries of life as are daily or at stated intervals consumed, +e.g., milk, bread, coal, ice, meat, vegetables, and fruit, thereby +applying postoffice economies to the distribution of these things. + +The labor of distribution will be diminished by the slow +transformation of city dwellings into gigantic apartment houses so +constructed as to give the fullest supply of light and air to every +room; and these apartment houses will have a distributing system of +their own to the relief of the state. + +As regards alcoholic drinks, the state will undoubtedly undertake the +production of these with a view to taking this industry as far as +possible out of private hands. It will not be necessary, however, to +take it entirely out of private hands provided all private production +is subjected to vigorous control. But the distribution of alcoholic +liquors will probably be monopolized by the state on the Gothenburg +plan with, perhaps, the important feature which characterizes the +Public House Trust in England; that is, the persons in charge will +receive a salary and an additional commission upon the sale of +non-alcoholic drinks, but no commission on the sale of alcoholic +drinks; and this with a view to giving the persons in charge an +interest in selling non-alcoholic drinks. Under these circumstances, +there will be no temptation to encourage drunkenness and the rule of +not giving alcoholic drinks to persons already under the influence of +liquor will be complied with. + +It will be possible under such a general system for the state to serve +as a medium for an exchange of labor that will greatly enhance the +pleasure of life. Under existing conditions, the factory works summer +as well as winter despite the fact that temperature makes work during +the summer irksome and dangerous to health and life; and at the very +time that the population is debilitated by being called upon to work +in factories during the heat of June, July, and August, the farmer is +in despair because he cannot find help to take in his harvest. Once +industries are associated so that they have a definite knowledge of +how much they have to produce, there is no reason why they should not +so adjust the work of the factory as to keep it open during the eight +cool months of the year, leaving the factory hands free to help the +farmer in the country during the four hot months. The same thing holds +good with the farmer who, during the short cold days of winter, has +little to do on the farm and can, therefore, to his advantage as well +as to the advantage of the community, devote those months to factory +work. There need be nothing compulsory about this exchange, for +socialized industry is master of its own time and can distribute its +work throughout the year as it chooses. But the fact that the state is +possessed of the knowledge how much is to be produced by every factory +and how much by every farmer--how many men are needed in the winter in +every factory and how many men in the summer on every farm, will +enable the state to serve as a medium through which the factory hand +can arrange to work on the farm during the summer and the farmer can +arrange to work in the factory in the winter, if they respectively +desire to do so. + +It does not follow that the farmer is to be compelled to work long +hours in the summer in the field and also in the factory during the +winter; or the factory hand to give up his holiday in order to work on +the farm during the summer. It has been shown that all the necessaries +of life can probably be produced, even at the present time, by the +adults in the community though they work no more than two hours and a +half a day. If this be so, it would be easy so to adjust the work as +to enable those who desire it to work more hours in the day and become +entitled to so much longer vacation. The foregoing is only intended to +show that in addition to the vacation which can be thus enjoyed, the +farmer can relieve the monotonous existence of the farm during the +winter months by work in the factory, and the factory hand can escape +from factory conditions during the summer to his own advantage and to +the advantage of the community at large. + +Another object we have in view is to put an end to the anarchy which +exists in all that part of our industry which has not been +concentrated into trusts--the anarchy under which some things are +produced in greater quantities than are needed, and some things needed +are not produced in sufficient quantities--under which no producer can +tell whether he is producing enough of a thing until the time for +profiting by the knowledge has passed; no producer can tell whether he +is producing too much of a thing until he is injured and even ruined +by the discovery. It is, I think, obvious that all these objects are +obtained by concentrating industry after the fashion of trusts in the +hands of the men actually engaged in the process of production; by +producing things not to make profit but to satisfy needs; and in the +quantities which we know to be needed and not in quantities determined +by the desire of the producer to make large profits cheeked only by +the bankruptcy that attends production in larger quantities than the +market will take. + +Thus, the state orders thirty million tons of iron ore because we know +that this amount of iron ore has served the needs of the country +during a period of great activity, and will furnish not only all we +can use ourselves in that year, but all that we can dispose of abroad. +These thirty million tons represent then the maximum that we can +usefully manufacture; and we can safely order thirty million tons +because the state is not under the necessity to sell this iron to get +gold with which to pay wages, rent, coal, and the running expenses of +the factory. In a cooperative commonwealth there will be no rent to +pay. The coal will be paid for in exactly the same way as the iron, by +the issue of store orders. + +The workers will get as nearly as possible the exact product of their +work. There will be no capitalist who will take from them what the +capitalist now takes, that is, about one-half of their earnings. Nor +will those doing a low order of work receive as much as those doing a +high order of work; every man will be paid according to his capacity; +for we begin by assuming that the distribution of work according to +capacity to-day is not far wrong, and so every man engaged in the +steel industry will continue to receive the same wages as he received +before with a certain prospect of an additional wage in the shape of +profit, representing the difference in wage between the new conditions +and the old. + +Overwork will be impossible in the iron trade, because a sufficient +number will be employed to prevent overwork. And unemployment will be +impossible because if, at any period, it turns out that more iron is +being produced than the community can use, the excess men employed in +the previous year will be set to work by the state in some other +industry. + +The effect of such a discovery will be to diminish the number of hours +required all round. It must not be forgotten how little work need +actually be done to produce the things we need. Under these +circumstances, we need hardly consider the question of overwork, for +all will enjoy ample leisure. The hours of labor will not diminish in +a great degree in the first year that an industry is taken over, for +during the transition period, experience must be given time to +demonstrate the extent to which hours of labor can be reduced. + +And as regards unemployment, even though there be no industry in +which, for instance, the surplus workers of the iron trade can be +usefully employed, there will always be farm colonies where their +labor can be self-supporting. + +Another beneficial consequence of this system is that if, as is +likely, it turns out that thirty million tons of iron are more than we +can use, the state will not be obliged to dump the excess upon +European markets as do now the trusts,[184] thereby incurring a heavy +loss to the home industry and arousing the animosity of the European +industry affected thereby. + +Again, no financial panic can hurt the iron industry. The bankers may +gamble to their heart's desire. If they withhold gold the worst they +can do is to injure those engaged in competitive industry. No +withholding of gold can affect an industry which produces for use and +not for profit and receives weekly the wages of its employees in a +currency which, because it is not gold or based upon gold and not, +therefore, within the control of the banker or the financier, escapes +entirely the evil effects of financial operations. Nor can such an +industry be affected by what are called "industrial panics"; for +industrial panics are the result of overproduction--of the anarchy +that exists under the competitive system. These panics may affect +competitive industries, but cannot affect guild industries built on +yearly state orders for definite amounts calculated beforehand from +the known needs of the community, and not left as now to the anarchy +and accidents of the market. + +Neither financial nor industrial panics can ever have the terrible +consequences in a cooperative commonwealth that they have under +existing conditions, because in a cooperative commonwealth all the +necessaries and most of the comforts of life will be produced upon the +cooperative plan, and therefore, a financial or industrial panic can +only affect that part of industry which proceeds under the competitive +system and as regards, for the most part, luxuries and not necessaries +of life. + +Obviously, the system of store orders cannot be applied upon the first +transfer of an industry from the hands of the capitalist to those of +the guild. For a time gold will have to be used until the +transformation from capitalism to cooperation has been sufficiently +extended to put the state in a position to open public stores. There +need, however, be no anxiety as to the state not being in possession +of enough gold to handle this part of the business, because it will +obviously be the first duty of the cooperative commonwealth to +expropriate the mines and put itself in possession of the gold +necessary to carry on financial operations with the guilds until such +time as the public stores can be usefully opened. Moreover, in taking +over the gold mines, the state will also take over the iron mines; +and iron ore will be furnished to the iron guild under conditions that +will make the necessity of the use of gold far smaller than it would +be if the iron ore remained in private hands and had to be paid for in +gold. The state will only have to pay gold representing the labor cost +of extracting the ore, and will not have to pay miners' profits. + +Under this system, there is no temptation to mine more ore or to cut +down more forests than is absolutely necessary for the needs of the +community. When every member in the community is educated to +understand that waste means more work for himself and that the saving +of waste means less work for himself, every man in the community will +have a direct personal interest in discouraging waste and promoting +economy. + +Obviously, too, industry will be conducted at its maximum efficiency. +Instead of being slaves of the market, we shall become its master. We +shall have only so many factories running as are necessary to produce +the things we need. Every factory will be running at maximum capacity, +at maximum efficiency. + +It will be observed that it is proposed to pay the same price for pig +iron after taking over the industry as was paid under competitive +conditions at the time of the transfer. The objection may be made that +this is obviously improper; that it is not fair to the workers in +other industries to pay what is known to be an excessive price to the +workers in pig iron. To this it may be answered that it will always be +better to apply a regular rule than to leave questions of this kind to +arbitrary administrative action. Besides, the rule that on taking over +a new industry the price paid for the production of the first year +shall be the price ruling at that time, will eventually put all +industries upon the same footing. At the excessive prices now ruling, +the workers will during the first year get a larger proportion than +they will ultimately be entitled to; but the larger proportion they +will get this year will be needed to face the initial expenses of a +higher standard of life. + +But here comes the most serious objection that can be made to this +plan. It has been said that these prices will have to be revised; that +if those manufacturing cotton thread believe themselves to be +receiving less for the work they accomplish in their industry than +those engaged in making pig iron, they will insist on revision; if so, +there will be continual altercations between industries as to the +price to be paid for their goods and as to the share in this price +that each is to receive; and the problem arises, who is to settle +these innumerable questions? + +This difficulty is the one that tends to make communists of us. It +would be easy to wave away this difficulty by providing that the total +profits be divided equally amongst all the members of the community. +Humanity, however, is not prepared for such a system. Generations of +selfishness have so determined the minds of those who are likely to +have to decide these questions in a cooperative commonwealth, that the +idea of paying the man at the head of the iron guild the same wages as +the man who puddles, will seem too preposterous to be entertained. +Whether man will ever develop to a point of unselfishness that will +enable him to entertain this idea is a matter of speculation. Suffice +it to recognize that if Socialism is to come within one hundred years, +and if we take into account the attitude of the public mind as it is +to-day, and the slowness with which the public mind changes in matters +so radical as these, we shall have to recognize that Communism is +still beyond the range of practical politics; and we shall have to +face the problem how the questions of the price of goods and the +remuneration of the individual are to be solved. + + +Sec. 8. REMUNERATION + +It has been pointed out that the proportion at present received by the +various grades of workers in an industry, from the man who manages the +whole industry to those who do the least skilled work, will at first +be maintained. It may be that the salaries paid to managers at present +rates may seem so exorbitant[185]--so out of all proportion to those +paid to others--that there will be an outcry against it, leading to a +diminution of these salaries. For present high salaries to managers +are due to the extraordinary difficulty of handling industry under +competitive conditions--difficulties that will in great part disappear +when cooperative conditions are substituted for competitive +conditions. With the exception of these highest salaries, probably the +wisest rule will be to maintain at first the proportion that exists at +the time when the industry is taken over. Taking over these industries +will at once raise the salaries of all because they will receive the +share of the profits which now comes to the capitalist, after the +deduction of sums paid to annuitants. Nevertheless, it cannot be +expected that the proportion now existing will be indefinitely +maintained. + +The cost of management under competitive conditions is far higher than +it would be under cooperative. A railroad man once pointed out to me +that the cooperative system is impossible because it would be +impossible for the government to find men capable of handling +railroads at the price habitually paid by the government for such +services. He pointed out that genius is necessary to handle +railroads,--the genius of such men as J.J. Hill and the late E.H. +Harriman. When, however, it was explained to him that the reason why +it was necessary to have such men as Harriman and Hill run our +railroads was the competition between them, and when he was asked +whether it would be necessary to have such men if our railroads were +run as our postoffice is run, he admitted that under such conditions +nine-tenths of the difficulty of management would be eliminated. + +Obviously, therefore, the enormous salaries paid to men at the head of +trusts, life insurance companies, and railroad systems, would no +longer be earned, and of course they would no longer be paid. + +What is true regarding the heads of these industries is true +throughout a large part of the administration. It would need less of +the faculty which characterizes the larger carnivora and more of the +faculties which characterize the beaver and the ant. For these humbler +services lower wages would be paid. This does not mean, however, that +there will not be in the state room for men of the constructive +ability of Harriman and Hill; but these men will not be the servants +of our industries, they will be the servants of our state; and the +genius that is now absorbed by business, will, in a cooperative +commonwealth, be more usefully employed in the larger fields of +politics. + +After this slight digression, let us return to the question how far +the remuneration will be subject to revision. + +It may be that the lower grades will not be subject to revision at +all; that all the iron ore we need can be produced by working four +hours a day during eight months of the year, and that the rate of +wages earned upon the old scale increased by the profits to which +workers will be entitled will, without changing the proportion, +furnish a standard of comfort such as to-day it is difficult to +foresee. It is probable, however, that workingmen who are to-day +members of the Socialist party will not agree with this prognosis, but +will insist that in a cooperative commonwealth the whole scheme of +remuneration will have to be revised. If this be so, it is useless to +deny that the revision of this rate of wages will be a matter of +difficulty and that the difficulties arising will tend to be +perpetual. + +Obviously, there must be some plan devised under which these matters +will be better adjusted than by a government board, as has been +suggested by certain Socialists. Mr. Hillquit[186] quotes with +approval the words of Kautsky that government in a cooperative +commonwealth will change in character, and that the state will no +longer govern, but administer, and this is to a large degree true. But +if the administration is to determine what every man is to receive as +compensation for the work he does, it is clear that matters of such +vital importance cannot be referred to the arbitrary action of a board +of administrators. + +It seems to me that it will be indispensable to submit these matters +to an industrial parliament in which every industry will be +represented. And as the determination of these questions will be a +matter of the greatest importance to every individual, it is probable +that these parliaments will have to be bicameral for the same reason +that our government is bicameral; for the same difficulty will present +itself. New York insists upon having its large population represented +in Congress. Rhode Island, on the other hand, in spite of its small +size, insists upon having its state sovereignty represented; so New +York is given a representation in proportion to its population in the +Lower House and Rhode Island is given equal representation in the +Upper House. Exactly the same situation will present itself it regard +to industries: Certain industries will be enormous and will want to be +represented in proportion to their size; for example, the steel +industry. Others will be much smaller but perhaps of much greater +importance; for example, the engineers. They will want to be fairly +represented in spite of their small size and I see no way of adjusting +this other than by adopting an industrial parliament of two chambers, +in one of which representation will be according to numbers, while in +the other every industry will be equally represented irrespective of +size. This may seem a cumbersome system, but it will take no more time +than the administration of the trade union takes to-day, and will not +be half as costly; for the trade union of to-day has to accumulate +funds to provide for unemployment, old age, sickness, and strikes. +Strikes and unemployment it will not be necessary to provide against +and the others will be provided for by every guild for their own +members. The question, therefore, of the adjustment of price and wages +will occupy far less time than is now occupied by federations of trade +unions. + +It is probable that the conclusions to which the industrial parliament +will come will not be final. It will be deemed wise to refer them for +execution to the general government. This matter, however, belongs to +the chapter on the political aspect of Socialism. + + +Sec. 9. CIRCULATING MEDIUM UNDER SOCIALISM + +It may not be clear at first sight why it is proposed to substitute store +checks for greenbacks or gold. Early Socialist writers--particularly +Rodbertus--attached much importance to the elimination of gold and the +substitution therefor of what they called "labor checks"; a currency +representing time spent in labor. Modern Socialist writers have been +disposed to cast aside all efforts to substitute this kind of currency +for gold. Mr. Hillquit quotes Kautsky[187] with approval on this +subject: + +"'Money,' says Kautsky, 'is the simplest means known up to the present +time which makes it possible in as complicated a mechanism as that of +the modern productive process, with its tremendous far-reaching +division of labor, to secure the circulation of products and their +distribution to the individual members of society. It is the means +which makes it possible for each one to satisfy his necessities +according to his individual inclination (to be sure within the bounds +of his economic power). As a means to such circulation, money will be +found indispensable until something better is discovered.'"[188] + +Upon this point I find myself at variance with modern Socialists. In +Book II, Chapter VI, on Money, I have endeavored to show how the use +of gold for currency puts those who own and handle gold in a position +practically to control the entire country. If I have failed in proving +this, there will be no occasion for substituting anything for gold. +But if I have failed, it is, I think, my fault; or perhaps Socialist +writers on this subject have not had, and do not possess, the intimate +knowledge of financial affairs indispensable to an understanding of +this subject. If Mr. Kautsky had practiced law in America, and had had +American financiers for his clients, he would not, I think, have +failed to understand that money is still more to-day what it always +has been since the beginning of the civilized world--the "root of all +evil." By money, I mean not currency, which is indispensable, but the +use of precious metals as the sole fundamental medium of exchange; +because the amount of such precious metals being limited, the few, who +under competitive conditions contrive to get control of these metals, +become by virtue of this control masters not only of our economic, but +of our political conditions. + +Mr. Hillquit says[189] that the principal economic classes and +interest groups are represented by separate and well-defined political +parties; and that the "only exception seems to be presented by the +money-lending group of capitalists, who, as a rule, do not form +parties of their own. This, however, may perhaps be accounted for by +the function of money capital, which can become operative only in +connection with the other forms of capitalistic ownership, but has no +independent productive existence." + +It is misleading to endeavor to draw conclusions from political groups +which characterize politics in Germany and France, and there is, I +think, a better reason why the great "money-lending group of +capitalists" or financiers do not form parties of their own. + +Mr. Hillquit is doubtless right in saying that the "Republican party +is substantially the party of the modern capitalists," "while the +Democratic party is largely the party of the middle class"; +nevertheless, in America, as in Europe, the so-called interests and +capitalists belong to no one party, because they must and do control +both. And it is because Socialist writers do not seem to be aware of +the extent to which they do control politics, that comparatively +little interest is taken by these writers in questions of currency. + +No one who lived in Europe during the Boer war is ignorant of the +immense desire of both France and Germany to intervene on behalf of +the Boers, and they certainly would have intervened not only because +it afforded them a good opportunity to crush England, which one of +them openly and the other less openly desired to do, but because such +a war would have been popular with the masses in both countries. One +thing alone prevented this: Financiers in France and Germany were +heavily interested in African gold mines and it was their influence +that turned the scale against the crushing of England at that time. + +In America, the revelations of the life insurance investigation told +all the world what Wall Street previously knew: that big corporations +contribute to both Republican and Democratic parties and practically +control the action of the Democratic side of our legislatures as well +as the Republican. Nothing could have been more transparent than the +influence of financiers in the decision whether Cannon and the rules +that make Cannon supreme in Congress were to be maintained. The Wall +Street Group, which had a lobby in Washington, appealed to the +Republican majority not to disorganize their party by fighting against +Cannon personally, promising that the Republican party would alter the +rules that gave him his present autocratic power; and when in +compliance with this promise, Cannon was reelected and the rules came +up, the same lobby secured enough Democratic votes to maintain the +rules in spite of the adverse votes of the insurgent Republicans, the +argument then used being that the tariff bill could not be passed +unless the rules were maintained. + +Again, after Taft had, on three separate occasions, solemnly promised +the people, if he were elected, a revision downward of the tariff, the +same lobby secured a revision of the tariff upwards. We are assured by +Messrs. Aldrich and Payne that the revision is a revision downward. +How, then, will they explain the extraordinary haste with which ships +sought to reach this port before the new tariff came into effect?[190] +Were these ships hurrying to port in order to escape the payment of a +low tariff? It may be answered that although the tariff was raised as +regards certain articles, it was lowered as regards others. To this I +have but to quote the _Reviews of Reviews_ for September, 1909, and +the articles entitled, "The Payne-Aldrich Tariff," which follow in +subsequent numbers. The _Review of Reviews_ is quoted rather than +other periodicals because it is recognized as a supporter of the +so-called Roosevelt policies and, therefore, cannot be accused of +Socialistic tendencies. It is seldom that the Interests have gone so +far as to elect a presidential candidate on a definite promise and +deliberately, as soon as the candidate was elected, to violate their +promise. But the Interests have at this moment such control over our +politics that they can even do this; and it seems very doubtful +whether this treachery will ever be materially punished. + +If, as I believe, it is important that the competitive system be +allowed to survive in the cooperative commonwealth, it is obvious that +it can only be tolerated on the condition that the community be safe +from such political control as this. And for this reason it seems to +me essential that the use of gold as currency be limited; and that as +regards the exchange of all the necessaries of our existence, we +should have a currency that entirely escapes the control of the +financier. This is the reason why I have insisted on the use of store +checks which are just as convenient and secure as our present +greenbacks. + +There seems to be no other way of eliminating the undemocratic +autocracy of the financier than by some such system as the one above +described; that is to say, the issue by the state of orders on the +public stores to the extent of the goods in the public stores, which +may in their general appearance differ but little from the greenback +of to-day: Instead of reading "Good for $1.00 gold currency," they +will read "Good for $1.00 at the public stores." This public store +currency will eliminate the use of gold and silver throughout the +socialized industries and as regards all agricultural products except +a very small portion. Every socialized industry and every farmer will +furnish to the state the bulk of his produce--that is, the minimum +exacted by the state--in exchange for this kind of currency.[191] It +is only the surplus--the amount produced by the farmer and factory +above the minimum established by the state--that the farmer and the +factory will be at liberty to sell for gold instead of exchanging for +public store notes; and of this surplus the farmer and factory will be +free to sell as much as they choose for public store notes, so that +gold and silver will constitute a small part of the medium of +exchange. This system will have the following advantages: + +It will practically eliminate the present control of political and +economic conditions by financiers. So long as the currency used in +exchanging necessaries and comforts is rescued from the control of +financiers, it is a matter of comparative indifference whether the +financiers control the currency used in the manufacture and +distribution of luxuries, for such control will have practically no +effect upon the things necessary to human existence. + +It will give to the state the use of the gold coin which is now +accumulated in its treasury for the redemption of its notes; and the +state will use this large gold fund for the purchase of the products +of other nations.[192] + +Let us see how this proposed system of store notes will work in a +given manufacture: + +The state will order the steel guild to manufacture thirty million +tons of pig iron (the amount produced in 1907 was a little over +twenty-six millions); and will allot to the steel guild for the supply +of steel six hundred and sixty million dollars in store notes, this +being calculated at the rate of $20 a ton. (The price in 1907 was a +little over $22.) These $660,000,000 will be paid to the steel guild +in the following manner: + +Every week a number of store orders will be issued to the amount of +the wages of the week and of the fixed charges. At stipulated periods +the steel guild will furnish the state pig iron so that the state will +never have advanced to the guild store orders amounting to more than +the value of the pig iron in the store, an exception of course being +made for the first few weeks that the industry proceeds upon this +basis. Upon the delivery of pig iron at these stated periods, the +state will deliver the difference between the weekly amounts already +paid and the price of the pig iron delivered. If deliveries of pig +iron can be made once a month, this will enable a repartition of a +part of the profits so that the workers will not have to wait until +the end of the year before they receive their profits, the final +dividend being paid at the expiration of each year. + +Such an order as the above will serve the following purposes and have +the following consequences: the steel guild will have a definite order +for a definite amount of pig iron to manufacture. It will know exactly +how many men it will need to manufacture this pig iron. It will employ +a few more men than those employed in 1910. The state will issue to +the steel guild weekly the amount of store notes necessary to pay the +wages upon the same scale as in 1910. Men engaged in the Steel Trust +at the moment of transference will continue to work and receive the +same rate of wages; but they will be entitled to their share of the +profits after the amounts due annuitants and the amounts necessary to +create a fund for old age and sickness have been deducted. Obviously, +this first order of thirty million tons is far larger than the country +uses, because a large part of the product of 1907 was exported. The +amount thus exported will be at the disposal of the state either to +export, or exchange for foreign products, or to set aside as a reserve +upon which the state can draw in case of deficit. + + +Sec. 10. SUMMARY + +Let us now consider the purposes we have in view in this proposed +economic organization of the cooperative commonwealth and how far we +attain these purposes: + +The main object of a cooperative commonwealth is to give to all +workers as nearly as possible the exact product of their work. It may +be interesting to note that this is the ideal that Mr. Roosevelt +himself proposes, and he objects to Socialism because he thinks +Socialism will on the contrary allow the "thriftless and the vicious" +to profit. These words describe not a cooperative commonwealth, but +existing conditions. For example, such a degenerate as Harry Thaw, who +would, I suppose, according to Mr. Roosevelt be classified as one of +the "thriftless and vicious," obtains his income from the profit +created by others who work for it; whereas those who work, instead of +getting the full product of their work, are obliged to see that nearly +if not altogether one-half of it goes to the support of the idle, +among them this young man. These are the exact conditions to which +Socialism proposes to put an end, and, therefore, I point out that the +principal object that Socialism has in view is to do exactly the thing +that Mr. Roosevelt wants to see done--to undo the very things to which +Mr. Roosevelt objects. + +Another principal object of this proposed organization is to prevent +overwork and unemployment, that necessarily lead to drunkenness, +pauperism, prostitution, and crime. + +A third thing which this system of organization proposes to do is to +preserve the resources of the country; and here again we find +ourselves realizing the ideal of Mr. Roosevelt. The single idea of a +lumberman is to sell lumber--not to preserve it; the idea of a coal +miner is to sell coal--not to preserve it; the idea of an iron miner +is to sell ore--not to preserve it. In a cooperative commonwealth +there is no desire to make profit out of these things. The one object +in view is to use our lumber, coal, and ore to the best advantage and +with the least waste. + +Another object we have in view is to produce with the greatest +economy, with the greatest efficiency. We do not want forty refiners +engaged in refining sugar where seven will suffice.[193] We want all +our factories while they are working, to be working at their best +efficiency, not on half time or with only one-half the engines going. +We also want the things we need to be produced in such a way as to +take advantage of every waste product--a thing that can only be done +when industry is concentrated in the hands of a single guild instead +of being distributed as it tended to be (before the organization of +trusts) in the hands of many competing manufacturers. + +This system of production and distribution would maintain the present +check upon overpopulation which Mr. Huxley regarded as the principal +objection to Socialism;[194] for under this plan, although every +member of the community would be assured a comfortable income, his +comforts would be limited by the number of children he brought into +the world. Experience shows that the prudence of the middle class +to-day constitutes a check upon overpopulation; that, in other words, +overpopulation is to be feared, not in the middle class, but in those, +such as the extremely poor, who are under no prudential check.[195] + +The imprudent in such a cooperative commonwealth as is above +described, have always before them the prospect of the state farm with +its different degrees of unattractiveness. If, therefore, to-day +workingmen look upon the almshouse with abhorrence, it does not seem +unreasonable to suppose that the workers in a cooperative +commonwealth, accustomed to a far higher standard of living than the +workingman of to-day, would be deterred as much by the prospect of +committal to a farm colony as a self-respecting worker to-day is +deterred by the prospect of the almshouse. + +But there is another point of view from which the question of +overpopulation must be considered: The increasing independence of +women in America has already served to diminish the increase of +population to the extent which our sociologists regard as alarming. +The population of the United States is increasing chiefly through +immigration and the increase of immigrants. Here, as elsewhere, it is +the extremely poor that propagate. Indeed, as women become more and +more independent economically, as they certainly would in a +cooperative commonwealth, there seems to be more danger of +underpopulation than overpopulation. But here the state can no doubt +exert a very important influence; for if there seems danger of +underpopulation it might increase its tax upon the industries of the +state and apply the tax to the support of children so as to relieve +parents at the expense of the entire state, of the cost of educating +children, thereby removing all economic motive for underpopulation. + +I think, moreover, that since Mr. Huxley's day the whole opinion as to +overpopulation has changed. There is not a shadow left of the fears of +Malthus; for the extraordinary results published in the 13th Annual +Report of the Bureau of Labor show that productivity is likely to +increase rather than diminish in a cooperative commonwealth, in view +of the fact that all those now engaged in pure competition and +therefore a burden on the community, will be put to the work of +production, thereby increasing the productivity of the nation +relatively to its numbers. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[152] See Northern Securities Case, 193 U.S. + +[153] Kautsky, "The Social Revolution." + +[154] Upon every breadwinner there are on an average four persons +dependent--the aged, women, and children; 200,000 unemployed is +therefore equivalent to 1,000,000 in want. + +[155] See Book II, Chapter I, Unemployment. + +[156] See Appendix, p. 412. + +[157] "Socialism." By John Spargo, p. 217. + +"Socialism in Theory and Practice." By Morris Hillquit, Chapters V and +VI. + +[158] By "pure capitalism" is meant the ownership of industry +entitling the owner to dividends although the owner contributes +nothing to the industry in the way of personal service. + +[159] See Appendix, p. 428. + +[160] _Saturday Evening Post_, May 8, 1909. + +[161] _Outlook_, March 20, 1909, p. 622. + +[162] Ibid., p. 619. + +[163] Ibid., p. 623. + +[164] On the very day of writing of the above, the N.Y. _Times_ of +June 25, 1909, states that the United States Postoffice Department has +installed a complete ice-making plant which has made such economy that +the Government is considering the building of an ice-plant for all its +departments. Private dealers charge at the rate of $7.65 a ton for +ice, whereas the Postoffice Department now furnishes ice at a cost of +65 cents a ton. + +[165] "The Elimination of the Tramp," by Edmond Kelly. (G.P. Putnam's +Sons.) + +[166] See Appendix, p. 429. + +[167] _Charities and the Commons_, p. 342, June, 1907. + +[168] Eugene Simon, "La cite chinoise" (translated into English); +Toubeau, "La repartition metrique des impots," 2 vols., Paris +(Guillaumin), 1880, quoted by Kropotkin in "Fields, Factories and +Workshops," p. 239. See Evolution and Effort, p. 168. + +[169] Dr. M. Fesca, "Beitraege zur Kenntniss der japanesischen +Landwirthschaft," Part II, p. 33 (Berlin, 1893). The economy in seeds +is also considerable. While in Italy 250 kilogrammes to the hectare +are sown, and 160 kilogrammes in South Carolina the Japanese use only +sixty kilogrammes for the same area. Semler, "Tropische Agrikultur," +Bd. III, pp. 20-28. Quoted by Prince Kropotkin in "Fields, Factories +and Workshops," p. 239. + +[170] L. Grandeau, "Etudes Agronomiques," 3d series, 1887-8, p. 43. +Quoted by Kropotkin, Ibid., 101. + +[171] See Ponce, "La Culture maraiche," 1869. Barrel's "Dictionnaire +d'Agriculture." Quoted by Kropotkin, Ibid., p. 64. + +[172] Very little land in New York State produces more than from two +to three tons an acre, and most of it does not produce so much. + +[173] It is impossible in this book to give to the question of soil +fertility the scope which it needs in order to convince a layman of +the almost unlimited extent to which good soil can be manufactured and +made fertile. Those who are anxious to satisfy themselves on this +subject are urged to read the books above quoted. + +[174] "The Elimination of the Tramp," p. 51. + +[175] Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons. + +[176] See "Elimination of the Tramp," p. 45. + +[177] See _Hampton's Magazine_ for May and June, 1909. + +[178] See p. 58. + +[179] The occupation that furnishes most inmates to our asylums is +farming. + +[180] This limitation on property has already been enacted in the +State of New York (Chap. 463, Laws of 1909), and bills of similar +import have been introduced into the legislatures of California, +Maine, and Pennsylvania. In Maine a hypothetical question as to the +constitutionality of such legislation was submitted to the supreme +court, which reported favorably (19 Lawyers' Reports annotated [U.S.] +422). + +[181] Farmers' Bulletin, No. 242. + +[182] Something has been done in connection with the milk supply. Thus +the milk producers of Boston have organized a union and have agreed to +a price with the Milk Contractors' Association. But although this +effort at combination has cheapened milk for large consumers such as +hotels, large restaurants, and even small stores, pint customers pay +just as much in Boston as elsewhere; that is, 8 cents a quart. +(Industrial Commission Report, Vol. VI, p. 409.) + +[183] See 13th Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor of U.S., p. 25, +where the cost of producing wheat under the best conditions is +approximately 30 cents per bushel. + +[184] Book II, Chapter II. + +[185] For example, it is generally believed that the President of the +Steel Trust gets over $100,000 a year. Before the insurance +investigation presidents of life insurance companies got similar +salaries. Railroad presidents are also paid at similar rates. + +[186] "Socialism in Theory and Practice," p. 133. + +[187] "Socialism in Theory and Practice," p. 119. + +[188] Karl Kautsky, "The Social Revolution," p. 129. + +[189] "Socialism in Theory and Practice," p. 164. + +[190] See any daily newspaper between March 16, 1909, when the bill +was introduced in the House, and Aug. 6, 1909, when the law went into +effect. + +[191] Obviously, until all the industries are socialized, a part of +this minimum will have to be paid in gold. When, however, all the +industries are socialized, the whole of the minimum will be paid in +store checks. + +[192] See Appendix, p. 431. + +[193] Book II, Chapter I. + +[194] I am not aware that Mr. Huxley has ever suggested any other +objection to Socialism than this; but I may be mistaken. + +[195] "Government," Vol. I, p. 339. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +POLITICAL ASPECT OF SOCIALISM + + +The importance of the political aspect of Socialism depends upon the +kind of Socialism selected for study. In Fourier's system, the social +side altogether predominates--the political side is relatively +unimportant. In state Socialism, on the other hand, the political side +is the most important and the social side is subsidiary. In modern +Socialism, the government takes an intermediary position; the +functions of the state under modern Socialism would be in some +respects less extended than in such a government as that of Prussia; +while in other respects it would be more extended; but in no +department would it assume the excessive power and interference +generally associated with Socialism in the public mind. + +It cannot be too emphatically repeated that modern Socialism discards +the idea of a common home or even of a common table except to the +extent that a common table is sometimes found convenient in our own +day. To just the same extent the cooperative commonwealth discards the +idea of state ownership of industry and state ownership of land except +within the limits set forth in the previous chapter. + +The two great political objections to Socialism are: that it would +give to the government a power destructive of individual liberty; and +that the corruption in our existing government demonstrates the +unwisdom of increasing the scope of its operations. + +On the first of these objections it is not necessary to dwell; for it +is obvious that the moment state Socialism is abandoned, this +objection falls to the ground. The state no longer has the onerous and +probably impossible function of assigning tasks; the state no longer +controls the hours of labor; the state no longer interferes in the +private life of the individual any more than to-day. The relations of +the government are not so much with the individual as with +conglomerations of individuals in the respective industries; and even +here, the government does no more than indicate the amount of a given +thing that must be produced and the rate at which the thing so +produced is to exchange with the other necessaries of life. It has +been suggested that just as in France where commercial cases are +brought before purely commercial courts and thus separated from civil +and criminal cases, so all things pertaining to production and +distribution might be determined by an industrial parliament that +would determine such matters as the amount of a given thing to be +produced and the rate at which this thing is to exchange with other +necessaries, subject to the approval of Congress. + +Such a system would have the great advantage of referring business +matters to business men who would bring no other than business +considerations to the solution of them. It would relieve Congress of +the necessity of discussing commercial details with which its members +are generally unfamiliar, and it would above all prevent that +sacrifice of business interests to purely political considerations +which often occurs to-day. + +There will be an important role to be played in determining the amount +of the various necessaries of life which the socialized industries +will be called upon to produce, in distributing these products, +exchanging surplus products with foreign markets, and distributing the +proceeds of these exchanges. All this work is of a purely business +character and should be confided to business men, who have shown +themselves by their practical success in business fields most fitted +therefor. It would seem wiser to refer these matters to a parliament +composed of the representatives of associated industries, of +agricultural producers, and of distributing bodies. It would be the +duty of such a parliament to appoint its own executive and cabinet, +and it may be advisable to associate with the representatives of +agriculture and industry in such a parliament, representatives +selected by the citizens at large, so as to minimize the possibility +of combinations between powerful groups of industries for the purpose +of determining questions of public interest to their particular +advantage. + +No attempt will be made here to work out the details of such a system, +the object of this book being rather to indicate the possibility of +doing these things than to point out the particular method by which +they should be done. + +The objection that the corruption in our existing government +demonstrates the unwisdom of increasing the scope of its operations +seems at first sight a formidable one. If our government is as corrupt +as our "yellow journals" make it out to be, it seems folly to extend +its functions and give it larger opportunities for the exercise of +this corruption and for the demoralization of the community which this +corruption tends to produce. There are, however, many reasons for +believing that the less government has to do, the more corrupt it is; +and the more it has to do, the less corrupt it is. + +For example, the Board of Aldermen in the city of New York was once +the governing body of the city. It was a body to which men of +importance belonged because its functions were important. When +corruption crept into the Board of Aldermen the legislature was +persuaded more and more to abridge its powers, and Tweed availed +himself of this disposition to take practically all the powers of +government out of the hands of the board and concentrate it in a small +body of men called "supervisors," to which he took care that he and +the members of his ring should belong. Some time after the Tweed ring +was broken up the Board of Aldermen retained the right of confirming +the appointments of the mayor; but this power too was taken from it by +ex-President--then Assemblyman--Roosevelt in 1884, and from that year +the Board of Aldermen became little more than a franchise-bestowing +corporation. The board has consequently become so corrupt that the +title of Alderman, which used to be a title of honor, is in New York a +title of disgrace. If we compare the Board of Aldermen to the board +which corresponds to it in London, we shall find a totally different +state of things. In London it is the County Council that governs the +municipality, and accordingly we find on it men who stand first in the +ranks of the business world. + +But there is another consideration of vastly more importance than +this. New York citizens continue to complain year after year of the +low order of men selected by its citizens, not only to the Board of +Aldermen, but to all elective offices, including the State Assembly +and the Senate. Yet they do not stop to inquire the reason for this, +though it is obvious. What stake have the majority of New York +citizens in the government of the city? The vast majority are not +interested in the tax rates, for they do not pay taxes, or do not +think they do. The majority are not interested in an efficient fire +department, because they do not own property likely to be destroyed by +fire and, indeed, it is said that it is members of this very majority +that start most of the fires in New York. They are not interested in +clean streets, for foul though our streets be, they are not as foul as +the unwholesome tenements. They are not interested in an efficient +police. They are not interested in a board of education, because all +they want to get out of school for their children is reading, writing, +and arithmetic--enough to get a job. It is difficult to see in what +respect the large majority of our citizens are interested in good +government at all. + +What then are they interested in? They are interested in bad +government. They want to get a brother or a cousin on the police +force; and they want the police to be complaisant to a brother or a +cousin in a liquor saloon. The retailer does not want to be disturbed +in his encroachments on the sidewalk. The building trade does not want +to be annoyed by a too conscientious building department. The German +wants his beer on Sunday and barrooms want to do business on Sunday. +The peddler wants to violate street ordinances and stand his cart in +the already too crowded streets. Churches want to receive per capita +contributions to their asylums and have long made efforts to secure +per capita contributions to their schools. The gambler wants to keep +open his gambling den; and the people want the gambler to be +undisturbed. The business man, the corporation, and the criminal want +to be "let alone"; and those dregs of the population too low to be +able to use the vote, want to sell it for a pittance on election day. +These are the conditions under which distinguished citizens and +committees of one hundred expect to secure good government! And we go +on ineffectually organizing municipal leagues, good government clubs, +and citizens' unions to this hopeless end. It is not reasonable to +suppose that in a government determined by the majority we can expect +the government to be good when the majority does not want the +government good, but wants it bad. + +Occasionally the government in New York gets so bad that it outrages +even our outrageous majority, and the overthrow of bad government is +regarded as a triumph for reform. But no reform movement has ever +lasted more than one administration. The public has emphatically +assured us, over and over again, that it does not want reform +administration, and indeed it may be said that some of these reform +administrations have been just as bad as those they were intended to +reform. + +Municipal politicians want good laws, if at all, in order to use them +for the purpose of levying blackmail, and the community is willing to +pay the blackmail so long as it is not too extortionate. Business men +find it cheaper to pay blackmail and be allowed to do what they want. +And the same is true all the way down the line until we get to the +criminal class, which has the biggest stake in bad government of all. + +Yet the strange anomaly of existing conditions is that while the +majority of the citizens of New York have shown year after year for a +century that they want bad government and mean to have it, these +citizens are not bad men, but want to be good. It is the folly of our +economic conditions that makes them want bad government, and no more +pitiable sight was ever presented to gods and men than this city of +New York, or indeed any other of our great cities, full of citizens +animated with the best intentions, forced by economic conditions to be +bad. It has not yet seemed to dawn upon the reformers of the present +day that, if they want to have good government, the majority of the +citizens must be interested in the government being good; and not, on +the contrary, interested in its being bad as at this present time. + +There are two ways of accomplishing this. One way has been pointed +out; to put an end to the competitive system that sets every man at +the throat or pocket of his neighbor. The other is to enlarge the +functions of the government sufficiently to make it important to every +citizen that the government be good; then only will public spirit +become stronger than private interest. + +This conflict between public spirit and private interest is not a +matter about which there can be any longer any doubt. When a group was +engaged in organizing the City Club, we were told not once but a dozen +times by a dozen different men of high standing in the community, that +the whole question of good government to them resolved itself into +this: "Can I by contributing money or time to reform sufficiently +reduce taxes to make it worth my while to give my time and my money to +this thing; or is it not better for me to use my money in purchasing +protection from the organization that now controls the city and devote +my time to my own private affairs?" To these men the question of good +government was simply a question of tax rate, and these citizens are +the ones least touched by political conditions. When we come to +citizens whose business puts them continually in contact with +political conditions, we find the contrast between public spirit and +private interest still more marked; in the corporations that want +franchises, in the builders who want their plans approved, and in the +citizens already described who have an interest in keeping on good +terms with the powers that be. + +If now we remove the temptation on the one hand and give a motive for +good government on the other, is it not reasonable to suppose that we +are more likely to obtain good government than now? + +Temptation can be removed in many ways. Altogether the greatest motive +for corruption is that furnished by the eagerness of corporations to +secure franchises. Indeed the city was at one time governed by the +owners of our city transportation system. The temptation to violate +building laws would be removed if it were the city who built and not +the private individual. The temptation to vote for a corrupt police +force would be removed if the city instead of private barrooms sold +alcoholic drinks. The temptation to vote for corruptible milk +inspectors would be removed if the city instead of private dealers +supplied milk. In a word, if the city were to undertake the tasks +heretofore suggested, practically all temptation for graft would be +eliminated. + +The same process would not only eliminate temptation for graft, but +would give the citizens a stake in good government. If the city +distributed milk the citizen would be interested in having pure milk +at a low price; if the city owned tramways, the citizen would be +interested in having transportation effective and cheap; if the city +manufactured gas and electric light, the citizen would be interested +in having good heat and light at proper prices; and so at last the +dream of the reformer that all citizens of the same city regard +themselves as stockholders in the same corporation, would cease to be +a dream and would be realized. They would have the same interest in +the gas plant, electric plant, ice plant, milk plant, transportation +plant of their city as a stockholder to-day has in the dividends which +these respective industries accord him, though the dividends would not +be paid in gold, but in wholesome service at cheap prices. Then only +would the conflict between public spirit and private interest come to +an end, for a man would find it more to his interest that the +government be carried on honestly and efficiently than he does now to +secure a government that is dishonest and inefficient. In a word, as +Mr. Mill said that the cure for the abuse of liberty is more liberty, +so the cure for the abuse of government is more government. This must +not be understood as a relapse in favor of state Socialism. It cannot +be too often repeated that it would be as great an error to confide +too much to the state as, at present, it is an error to confide too +little to it. The solution is to be found in taking the middle course: +_medio tutissimus ibis_. Give to the government the work it is fitted +to do and no more. What work it is fitted to do and what work it is +not fitted to do has already been explained.[196] + +Amongst the tasks for which it is fitted is the work of Education: + + +Sec. 1. EDUCATION + +There is no reason why the present system of education should be much +changed in a cooperative commonwealth. In its nature it would remain +very much the same and would only be extended in time; that is, all +children who show themselves capable of profiting by education will +have the opportunity of extending their education as far as their +abilities justify. Education need by no means be confined to the +state. There is no reason why the existing universities should not +continue their work of education even though they be maintained by +Rockefellers and Carnegies, and throw all their weight in support of +the competitive system against the cooperative. Socialism stands for +light, and if at any period in its development it turns out that the +community is not fitted for the phase of Socialism which it has +attempted, it may be important to correct the perfunctoriness of +official administration by a larger dose of private initiative; and in +such case let privately endowed schools and universities be there to +preach this doctrine. + +Nor need there be any objection to sectarian schools. Once the human +mind is freed from the shackles of economic servitude, it can be +trusted to choose its religion, whether educated by sectarian schools +or not. + +The essential difference between the educational system in a +cooperative commonwealth and under existing conditions will be that, +inasmuch as child labor in competitive industries will be absolutely +forbidden, no child will be deprived of education by economic +conditions. Every child, therefore, will have an equal opportunity for +mental development. + +And the fact that the hours of work will be shorter will give to every +human being leisure throughout his his entire life in which to develop +talents of which no trace may be observable during attendance at +school or university. The cooperative commonwealth, therefore, without +changing the existing forms of education, will furnish to every man, +woman, and child an opportunity for educational development during the +whole of life instead of confining it as now to the very first few +years of it. + +It is important to note that, under this system, every industry will +be free to work as few hours as it chooses, subject only to the +condition of working long enough to pay taxes, to furnish the minimum +required by the state, and to create a fund to provide for sickness, +accident, and old age. + +Citizens in this respect will divide themselves into different +categories: + +Some will want to work the least possible and devote the rest of their +time to idleness or pleasure. Others will want to work at the +particular industries in which they are engaged the least possible and +devote the rest of their time to such things as will more interest +them--to literature, art, music, or even to some other industry--even +to industries competing with the state. Others, instead of working the +short hours required in a cooperative commonwealth, will prefer to +work long hours so as to have a longer vacation than that enjoyed by +the majority; others, on the contrary, will prefer to work long hours +at the industry to which they belong, not with a view to earning a +longer vacation, but for the purpose of earning more wages applicable +to the increase of their comforts, luxuries, and amusements. + +It would not be difficult for every industry to take account of these +various contingencies: A certain number of hours those engaged in a +particular industry will have to work, but they will be far shorter +than the hours of to-day. Those who volunteer to work longer hours +will be allowed to work longer hours. The work of the factory will +naturally be divided into two shifts: the one, a morning shift; and +the other, an afternoon shift, so that one shift can put in all their +work in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Who shall work in +each shift will be determined primarily by choice and, wherever choice +cannot be resorted to, by lot. + +Such a condition of things as the foregoing would give to every +industry the greatest opportunity for transfer from one industry to +another. One who desired to exchange steel working for garment making, +could work during the morning shift at the steel trade and during the +afternoon shift at the garment trade; and when he had become +proficient in the garment trade, he would be able to abandon the steel +trade altogether and devote all his working hours to garment making. + +Still more important, the system would give an opportunity to every +man to develop his peculiar talents, however late in life. It is well +known that men of genius often show no trace of their genius at +school. It is impossible to calculate how much human ability is lost +to the race by the fact that, not being observable in the few school +years during which children are subject to observation, it is crushed +out altogether in the competitive mill. The fact that the number of +hours we have to work in a cooperative commonwealth would be small, +would give to every man the rest of the day in which to develop his +undeveloped talents. + + +Sec. 2. CHURCHES + +There is no reason why churches should not be supported in a +cooperative commonwealth under exactly the same conditions as to-day. +It is probable, however, that there will be a tendency to modify +public worship so as to render it less subject to obvious objections +than to-day. + +At the present time, children animated with a desire to preach are +encouraged to join the ministry; and it sometimes happens that men of +vast business and political experience are made by the convention of +respectability to sit every Sabbath Day under a boy in the pulpit +reading crude theological essays. Few men are equipped in a manner +usefully to instruct or advise their fellow creatures in matters so +intimate as those of religion until they have attained years which, +while they unfit them for the hard work of industrial life, do by +accumulated experience peculiarly fit them for the work of the pulpit. + +The divinity school and the divinity student will tend to diminish and +our pulpits will be filled by men who have shown themselves during +fifty or sixty years of active work in the community to be best fitted +to fill them. And these men, having at that age earned a retiring +pension, will not be at the expense of the community nor will they be +required by economic conditions as at present, to preach doctrines as +to the truth of which some are in doubt and others absolutely +disbelieve. + + +Sec. 3. POLITICAL CONSTRUCTION + +Let us see now whether we can come to some conclusion regarding the +political construction of government under a cooperative commonwealth. +The idea prevails that Socialism involves an extreme centralization of +government. This, however, is quite contrary to modern notions of +Socialism. Indeed, in one sense of the word, Socialism upon the plan +already proposed would deprive the federal government of much of its +power. Nor do I see any reason why our present federal form of +government should be materially changed. For example, the present +state governments would be maintained with practically all the rights +they now enjoy, and the federal government would continue to operate +with less than the enumerated powers given it by our present +constitution. For example, instead of having as at present the right +to regulate commerce, to coin money, and to make patent laws, these +powers would be delegated to the industrial parliament subject only to +the approval of Congress. And although the title of all such +properties as railroads, mines, etc., would be vested in the United +States, the effectual control and administration of these properties +would be left to the industrial parliament, so that real power as +regards these matters would be exercised not by the federal +government, but by the industrial parliament, elected not upon the +geographical basis of Congress, but by the industries respectively +wheresoever situated, as explained in the previous chapter.[197] + +It would be well to give the right of appeal to Congress because the +industrial parliament would consist of producers and each would have +an interest in securing for his industry the largest price possible. +It may be feared that a few powerful industries might, by the number +of votes they control in the chamber elected proportionately to +numbers, secure for itself privileges not fair to other industries. +This power would be restrained by the fact that the other chamber, +elected according to industries, not numbers, would exercise a +wholesome check upon any such attempt, and an appeal to Congress may +therefore not be necessary. Nevertheless, Congress would represent the +whole mass of the nation and would be, as it were, the consumers' +parliament in its relation to the industrial parliament. And it would +seem proper to give to Congress the right to reconsider and discuss +all new departures in connection with the business of the country, not +only out of consideration of the rights of consumers, but also for the +dignity of Congress. + +What under these circumstances would be the special functions of +Congress? Congress would continue to exercise the powers it now +exercises as regards collecting taxes, establishing rules of +naturalization, providing for the punishment of counterfeiting, +establishing postoffices and postroads, organizing federal courts, +punishing piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and +offences against the law of nations, declaring war, and providing for +and maintaining the army, navy, and militia. + +The States would enjoy all the rights they now enjoy as regards the +federal government; but the cities would enjoy much larger powers of +government than they now do. There seems to be no reason why the +question whether the city of New York should own its own subway should +be referred to farmers sitting in Albany, who have no interest and +little, if any, knowledge of the needs and resources of the city of +New York. It is probable, therefore, that on the whole the effect of +Socialism would be to decentralize rather than to centralize. + +The parties in a cooperative commonwealth would probably be determined +by the main issue between cooperation and competition, and we find +here a reason for leaving to Congress the last word as regards the +decisions of the industrial parliament. For the latter would be a +parliament of cooperative industries and disposed, in protecting these +industries, to perpetually invade the territory of competition. So +long as humanity needs the stimulus of competition, it is essential +that this element be fairly represented in the political organization +of the state. All measures tending to restrain competition ought +therefore to be subject to the approval of the whole nation +represented in Congress. + +One principal bourgeois objection to Socialism is that, under +competitive conditions the men best fitted to run an enterprise are +those to whom business enterprises are to-day confided upon the +principle of the survival of the fittest; whereas under a cooperative +commonwealth, the selection of those who are to manage industries must +be left to the doubtful intrigues of politics. This objection cannot +be seriously taken into consideration. There is probably nothing more +difficult for the bourgeois to understand than the difference that +would exist between the politics of a cooperative and those of a +competitive commonwealth. In the latter, the field of politics is +inevitably a cesspool of corruption, because every business man has +something to lose or gain through politics. The tariff law just +enacted presents one of the most recent illustrations of this. Not +only so, but the men appointed to office and elected to Congress in +our competitive commonwealth are selected by business interests, and +not appointed because of special fitness for the task. + +In a cooperative commonwealth this situation would be reversed. When +all our comforts in life and the necessaries of existence are +furnished by our municipalities and our guilds, the management of +these municipalities and guilds will be of the utmost importance to +every one of us. Our citizens, instead of being interested in bad +government, will become interested in good government, in good +management and in good administration. Here the public will benefit by +the power of recall which, though it may work very imperfectly under +competitive, ought to work well under cooperative conditions. For +every man is interested in his municipal bakery furnishing good bread, +his municipal gas plant furnishing good gas; and citizens will be so +deeply interested in matters that touch them as nearly as this that +they will not be influenced by political cabals to put in a bad man as +superintendent of the municipal bakery, or to replace a good one by a +bad one for purely political reasons. + +One reason why our politics are bad to-day is that hardly any of us +have time to give to making them good even if we wanted them good. The +workingman who works ten or more hours in the factory and travels two +or more hours to reach his work in the morning and return home when +his work is done, can hardly have much vitality left to attend to +politics. Indeed, the complaint of the trade unions is that he has not +vitality enough left to attend to matters so important to him as those +of his own trade union. But when the workingman in the first place is +thoroughly trained by an education that will last not less than +eighteen years--when he is not called upon to work more than four or +five hours a day, he will have the knowledge necessary to understand +his political needs, and the leisure to organize political movements +when necessary to remove a bad administrator and put a good +administrator in his place. + +Indeed, popular government is impossible under capitalism for the +reasons just stated; those of us who want good government have not the +time to secure it. Popular government is only possible when the people +are sufficiently educated to understand their rights and have leisure +enough to organize with a view to enforcing them. + +In the foregoing two chapters entitled, respectively, The Economic +Construction of the Cooperative Commonwealth, and The Political Aspect +of Socialism, I have endeavored to draw a picture of a cooperative +commonwealth in which capitalism is eliminated from the production and +distribution of all the necessaries and many of the comforts of life; +leaving, however, full play to the existing competitive system as +regards the luxuries, some of its comforts, and even as regards +necessaries wherever the cooperative commonwealth fails to do its work +up to the standard of taste of the community. + +This picture has been drawn not because it is possible at this time to +forecast exactly what this economic and political construction will +be, but because many persons find it impossible to form to themselves +any idea how things can be produced and distributed without the help +of capitalism. No more is claimed for these chapters than that they +do present a scheme by means of which necessaries and many comforts +can be produced and distributed without the evils of capitalism, of +unemployment, of pauperism, of prostitution, and of economic crime. + +Obviously, the two foregoing chapters suggest a thousand questions to +an inquiring mind, but I hope that the missing details cannot be +classed amongst those details which Gladstone characterized as +organic. In other words, I hope that they present a picture giving +sufficient details to make it clear that Socialism, as regards the +production and distribution of the necessaries and most of the +comforts of life, is not only beneficial, but practical and +economical; that, in a word, it puts an end to the waste and the +anarchy which jointly characterize the capitalistic system of to-day. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[196] Book III, Chapter II. + +[197] Book III, Chapter II. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +SCIENTIFIC ASPECT OF SOCIALISM + + +Herbert Spencer has contributed more than any other modern writer to +emphasize the effect of environment upon life, whether vegetable, +animal, or human; yet, singularly enough, in applying his scientific +conclusions to sociology, he entirely failed to take account of the +essential difference which exists between natural environment and +human environment; between the effect of evolution upon life prior to +the advent of man, and its effect upon life subsequent to the advent +of man. He applied to human development the laws of evolution which he +found working prior to man, though man has reversed the natural +process of development so that evolution, under the environment +created by man, is taking and must continue to take a direction +entirely opposite to that which it took under the dominion of Nature +alone. Into what errors Mr. Spencer was led by his failure to +recognize the difference between human and animal evolution may be +gathered from the fact that he denounced governmental effort to +prevent disease as "sanitary dictation";[198] he denounced also +municipal ownership of gas and water, the building by the state of +houses for the poor, free libraries, free local museums, free +education, and generally all that he includes in the expression +"coercive philanthropy."[199] + +He assumed that the predatory system which he saw prevailing in the +domain of Nature must prevail also in the domain of Man; and thus +became an apostle of _laissez faire_ and of the competitive system. As +such he advocated the utmost limitation of state interference and +opposed the Socialistic trend of modern legislation on the ground that +man is, as it were, doomed to perfection by the principles of +evolution, and that any effort of his to modify evolution can only +result in retarding it. He was led by the analogy between society and +organism into the theory that human institutions must be allowed to +grow as organisms _grow_, and that efforts on the part of man to +construct his own institutions produce more evil than good. + +Mr. Huxley demolished the whole sociological structure which Herbert +Spencer built up on these errors in three essays, to which the reader +is referred.[200] The subject is also fully treated in the first +volume of "Government or Human Evolution."[201] The effort will be +made here to condense the argument and conclusions therein drawn by a +short study of environment--natural and human--with a view to +demonstrating the control which man has acquired over his environment +and thereby over his ultimate destiny. This leads to a study of the +effect of the competitive and cooperative systems on type +respectively, how far society is a growth and how far a construction, +and how far human nature can be modified by the conscious, deliberate +purpose of Man; all this to demonstrate that human happiness can be +best attained by substituting cooperation for competition to the +extent necessary to put an end to the evils resulting from the +competition of to-day, without for that reason eliminating wholesome +competition altogether. + +There are two kinds of environment: the environment we find in Nature, +and the environment made by Man. + +We shall study first the environment of Nature, and begin by +distinguishing therein two systems: the competitive, or so-called +struggle for life; and the cooperative or community system; confining +ourselves to facts observed in Nature prior to or outside of the +intervention of Man. + + +Sec. 1. THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT + +(_a_) _The Struggle for Life, or the Competitive System_ + +Beasts of the field are necessary products of their environment. + +The study of the crust of the earth reveals that upon the central mass +there have been laid layer upon layer of sand, clay, and limestone by +successive seas, which have successively rested on now buried +continents. Nearly every layer contains fragments of shell, scale, or +bone belonging to the beasts that have succeeded to one another upon +the earth during millions of years. + +These layers of sand, clay, and limestone are the leaves of a gigantic +book, the earliest of which are burned by fire, the next scarred by +it, and the most recent illustrated by pictures so vivid that we can +read the story there of the development of Man from the lowest of all +forms of life. + +The rocks are charts painted by the hand of Nature herself. + +In these charts we read the story of Evolution. We learn the geography +of the world millions of years before the age of history; we know +that this land upon which we live has not only once, but often been +sunk beneath a deep sea; that during the earliest period of which +there is any record unburned, there was no living thing more highly +organized than a crab; not a fish nor any animal possessing the +backbone that distinguishes the vertebrates to which Man belongs from +the invertebrates to which belong the lowest kinds of living thing. We +know that later the whole face of the world was changed, and then +followed a warm period called Carboniferous, and that just before and +during this Carboniferous period there slowly developed fish +possessing the backbone that marks one of the great strides in animal +development. But at this time we see no trace of the four-footed +mammalia which immediately preceded Man. + +In the marshes in which forests grew and died during the Carboniferous +period, there were piled, one upon another, layers of vegetation that +hardened into coal; this coal sank slowly beneath a deepening sea. In +this so-called cretaceous sea were deposited, in its deepest parts, +huge masses of chalk accumulated from countless shells; and upon its +shores crept four-footed things resembling fish, as the seal and the +sea-lion resemble them to-day, closely allied to them and clearly +developed from them, as if fish stranded upon the shallows had used +their fins for motion upon the banks, and out of fins made legs. And +from the gigantic lizards of the cretaceous period we find in the +overlying tertiary beds the infinite variety of four-legged animals +which people our continents to-day. + +All this knowledge, full of profound interest to the student of Man, +comes from a study of the earth--Geology. + +And next comes Zoology, telling how this amazing development of life +from lower to higher forms proceeded. For centuries Man studied the +living things on the earth, and added fact to fact till at last, a few +years ago, Darwin, Wallace, and others demonstrated the law according +to which this development takes place, the law of Evolution. + +Briefly it is this: + +All living things prior to the advent of Man tended to adapt +themselves to their environment by the process known as the survival +of the fit. Only those animals fit to survive, survived; all the rest +perished. When there was a change of environment, as, for example, of +climate, only those individuals survived that were capable of adapting +themselves to this change. + +The process by which animals adapt themselves to changes of +environment is as follows: + +There is in every new generation of animals an infinite variety; some +differ enough from the rest to be called "sports." These differences +are transmitted to future generations by heredity. Men have used these +differences to create types of animals suited to their purpose. Thus +by putting stallions built for speed to mares similarly built, Man has +produced the race-horse. On the contrary, by putting stallions built +for drawing loads to mares similarly built, Man has produced the +cart-horse. + +Before the advent of man this selection of types was made by the +environment or by Nature, as the environment used to be called. Hence +the expression, natural selection, is used to describe the process by +which Nature or environment selects certain types for survival at the +expense of the rest; the process by which animals that live in the +desert gradually adapt themselves to endure great heat; and those that +live near the Poles gradually adapt themselves to endure great cold. + +The environment or Nature uses in this process of selection a very +cruel but effectual device: A great many more living things are born +into the world than the world can support. In the lower forms of life +Nature is wastefully fertile; thousands of herrings' eggs are laid for +one herring that grows to maturity. This amazing fertility of Nature +results in a struggle for life which condemns the enormous majority of +living things born into the world to an early death, but has the +singular advantage of allowing only the types most fitted to the +environment to survive. And this process of natural selection acting +in an environment favorable to development from a lower to a higher +type has gradually caused the lowest forms of life, which consist of a +mere sac of so-called protoplasm, to develop organs especially adapted +to accomplish specific things: a mouth to take in food; a stomach to +digest it; bowels to assimilate it; a system of circulation--arms and +legs; a nervous system; a brain; ears; a nose; eyes; until at last, in +the order of creation as demonstrated in the great Book of the Rocks, +and as confirmed by zoology and other sciences, Man has evolved out of +the original protoplasmic sac. + +Who created the first protoplasmic sac; why this cruel system was +invented by which life was ordered to pass through millions of +sacrificed and suffering bodies before it could emerge into the least +imperfect form; why Man to-day must suffer still in the progress which +he is destined to make from his present to a still higher form--these +are queries which it is not given us yet to answer. But that this +process has taken place at the cost of great agony and during millions +of years, is a fact which no man who has studied the face of Nature +can deny. + +If we want to learn the art of happiness--for in spite of the process +just described there is nevertheless an art of happiness--we must +understand the processes of Nature. It is only by understanding the +processes of Nature that we can ever hope to modify them. + +And it is here that we come to the first great lesson we have to learn +from a study of Evolution: + +Man has already modified the processes of Nature in the past, and he +can doubtless still further modify them in the time to come. + +But before we undertake to study how far Man has modified, and may +still modify, the cruel process of natural selection, there is another +process observable in Nature to which we must direct our most earnest +attention. + +It is a common error to suppose that because Man has developed from a +lower form of life through a process of struggle for survival that +favors a few types at the expense of millions of other forms condemned +by this struggle to suffering and death, therefore it is only by this +same struggle that Man can hope to attain a higher form of +development. This is the error that approves the competitive system +and the resulting classification of men into a few rich and many poor. +It is because the question as to the merits and demerits of the +competitive system rests upon the principles of evolution, that it is +indispensable for all who want to understand the competitive system +also to understand the principles of evolution. For those who deny the +force of competition altogether are as wrong as the millionaires who +base their argument in favor of the competitive system upon the law of +evolution. + +We cannot neglect the argument drawn from the struggle for life +involved in natural selection. Until we have shown that there is +something better than this struggle that can be put in its place, we +have left to the millionaires the vantage-ground, from which they can +quiet the conscience of the world. Thousands of our fellow-creatures +who are separated from us by the accident of wealth would come to our +side were they not sincerely convinced that poverty, pauperism, and +crime are necessary evils, belonging to the cosmic principles of +evolution through which Man has attained his existing dominion, and +through which he may hope, though not without infinite patience and +agony, ultimately to reach a still higher station. + +This error must be removed, and it can only be removed by sober +argument. Temper will not do it; nor indignation; nor vituperation; +nor hate. The plain facts, if properly marshalled, are sufficient to +prove the error of the notion that competition is a necessary evil, +and that society cannot exist without unlimited competition, and the +poverty, pauperism, and crime that result therefrom. The first of +these facts is that by the side of the competitive system just +described, there is in Nature also a cooperative system almost as +highly developed as the competitive system and destined eventually +almost to take its place. + + +(_b_) _The Cooperative System_ + +We have seen that the struggle for life has had for effect to permit +only those forms of life to survive that adapted themselves to the +environment, and that when the environment was favorable to +development, this tendency of the fit to survive at the expense of the +less fit caused an evolution from lower to higher forms of life. The +effect of this tendency in the higher forms of life has been to create +two opposite types--the carnivores, who became more skilful in +tracking game, and more powerful in destroying it; and the +herbivores, the natural prey of the carnivores, who became more swift +in escaping their pursuers. Now the herbivores, conscious of their +weakness, early developed the instinct to herd for the purpose of +common defence. The fierce carnivore, on the contrary, is prevented by +his natural ferocity from herding. He tends to become solitary. Lions +and tigers are solitary animals; whereas sheep, goats, horses, and +cattle herd. This tendency to herd tends to develop in proportion as +an animal is weak; so that it is in insects that we find the herding +instinct most perfectly developed, and certain colonies of ants and +bees present a picture of cooperation to which the attention of +millionaires cannot be too strenuously directed. + +Let it be said at the outset that these colonies are not offered as +models for us to imitate. On the contrary there are many features in +these colonies which we ought diligently to avoid. But just as there +are features in the competitive system that are good and some that are +atrociously bad, so there are features in the colony system that are +bad and some that are altogether good. It will later on appear that +_the essential privilege of Man is to be able to choose the good of +both and eschew the bad_. + +A beehive is a city of bees built by the entire community for its +common use. This community consists for the most part of barren +females who do all the hard work, and are therefore commonly called +the workers; they build the comb, and add to it as the community +enlarges; they attend on the queen bee--the only fertile female +allowed to survive; they feed her, and act the part of midwife to her +when she lays her eggs; they see to the hatching of the eggs, and by +crowding about them provide them with the necessary temperature; when +the eggs are hatched, the workers feed the young ones differently so +as to produce a few fertile females to play the role of queen should +the throne become vacant, a large number of males to be utilized when +the nuptial hour arrives, and a larger number still of barren females +to continue the work of the community; the workers collect honey from +the flowers in the summer and store it away for common use during the +cold season; they determine which of the fertile females is to be +impregnated and become their queen; she is liberated on her +wedding-day, and in a summer flight, pursued by the males, conceives. +Then she returns to the comb, and is let loose upon the other fertile +females in the comb, and watched as she stings her possible rivals to +death one by one. Few males return from the nuptial flight; one only +of them weds, and he perishes in the act; the others perish without +wedding, or if they have strength to return to the comb, are +despatched by the workers watching at the entrance to perform the +execution. + +It is impossible to conceive a more complete system of cooperation or +communism than this, or one which so little conforms to our notions of +justice or welfare. Indeed, it is probable that from a human point of +view the tiger in the jungle attains a greater measure of happiness +than any member of a bee community; for the workers seem to labor +without reward; of the males only one weds, and he perishes in the +act; and the queen herself is kept a close prisoner during her entire +existence, save only during the brief ecstasy of the nuptial flight. + +The lesson to be learned from insect communities seems then to be, not +that cooperation in a natural environment results in the maximum of +happiness, but merely that cooperation is as much a part of Nature's +plan as competition, and that therefore the cooperative system is as +available to man as the competitive. The problem before man is how to +take the best of both systems, and eliminate the bad. + +But there is a further lesson to be drawn from the singular customs +that prevail in the hive and in the ants' nest: + +In both, the entire energies of all seem concentrated upon two +problems--the support of the community, and its perpetuation; and as +these two problems are identically the same as those by which men are +confronted, the systems adopted to solve them cannot but be of +absorbing interest to Man. + +Nature or environment follows two diverging lines in animal +development. Along one line she seeks the perfection of the +individual; along the other the perfection of the community. But the +ideal of perfection presented by Nature is not Justice or Morality; it +is _perpetuation_, for perpetuation is the prize offered to the most +fit types in the struggle for survival. And there are obviously two +ways in which types can succeed in this struggle--one by individual +excellence, and another by sexual jealousy. And this sexual jealousy +must be eliminated from a community if its members are to live in +permanent harmony together. The scheme adopted by Nature in the +beehive to eliminate sexual jealousy is radical and cruel, but +effectual. + +Obviously, the community system proceeds with reckless disregard of +the individual; the destruction of all the fertile females save the +single queen and of all the male sex; the singular fact that the sting +cannot be used save at the cost of the life of the individual using +it; the enforced chastity of the workers--all prove that Nature's plan +for securing the welfare of the community is to sacrifice thereto the +happiness and the lives of the individuals that constitute it. + +Obviously, Man must find some better solution of this problem than +ants and bees. How Man has at various periods attempted to solve it we +shall study later. But before leaving natural environment, we have a +lesson to learn from the moral qualities which the two lines of +divergence have respectively developed--the qualities of the solitary +carnivore and those of the communistic bee. + +We may be helped by observing the habits of herding animals that are +neither so fierce as the lion nor so servile as the ant. For although +it has of late been the fashion to justify our existing capitalistic +system by exaggerating the extent to which competition exists in +Nature, careful study reveals that though competition does prevail +between different species, it is the exception rather than the rule +between individuals of the same species. Nature has proceeded along +two lines of development: one of mutual struggle, and another of +mutual aid. Thus we find even carnivora, such as the hyena and the +wolf, herding for the purpose of the chase; even foxes and bears have +been seen to herd; eagles, kites, and pelicans notoriously associate +to this end. Practically all herbivora herd more or less permanently, +the permanence of the herd depending apparently upon the mildness or +the ferocity of the sexual instinct. In the case of the elk, the stag, +the bull, and the horse, that fight for the female, and prevent the +weak from perpetuating the race, the herd breaks up into groups during +the rutting season; whereas, in the case of apes and monkeys that +herd, the herd remains permanent. + +Too little is known about the sexual relations of such animals as herd +permanently for any certain conclusions to be drawn from them, but it +can be said without fear of contradiction that Nature has succeeded +best through the combination of strength, selfishness, and ferocity +on the one hand, and that of intelligence, altruism,[202] and +servility on the other; for it is the lion and the tiger that dominate +the jungles of Asia; in Africa and South America it is the white ant. + +These considerations lead us to conclusions of great importance, for +they enable us to trace the development of certain habits or instincts, +which, when we find them developed in Man, become lifted into virtues or +vices according to their nature and intensity. Thus solitude imposes +upon solitary animals habits of selfishness and self-reliance; the tiger +has no one to look to but himself for the satisfaction of the two great +animal needs--food and self-perpetuation; he is the Ishmaelite of the +animal kingdom; his hand is against everyone and everyone's hand is +against him. Whereas, community life imposes upon the ant habits of +docility and altruism; she works not for herself, but for her neighbors; +she is a natural slave, but a slave to a useful end--the common weal of +all. + +To sum up: Natural environment has operated on animal life through the +principle of evolution or survival of the fittest in such a manner as +to develop physical organs and instinctive habits, both of which seem +to be necessary results. These physical organs and instinctive habits +depend for their nature and excellence upon two parallel systems: + +According to one, the struggle for life has taken place not only +between one species and another, but also between individuals of the +same species; this has resulted in individual excellence, as in the +case of the lion and the tiger; and has developed habits of +selfishness, self-reliance and ferocity. According to the other, the +struggle for life has taken place mainly between one group and +another, and hardly at all between individuals of the same group, but +both the lives and the happiness of the individual are recklessly +sacrificed to it; this has resulted in collective excellence at the +expense of the individual; and has developed habits of docility and +altruism. + +In the former, or competitive system, there is the greatest individual +freedom of action and the greatest individual satisfaction of animal +propensities, but there is the greatest individual risk, the few +survive at the expense of the many, and there is little or no social +satisfaction. + +In the latter, or cooperative system, there is less individual +freedom, less satisfaction of animal propensities (indeed, sexual +appetite is left unsatisfied for all except one individual of each +sex, and at the expense of personal liberty for the female and for the +male of life itself), but there is least individual risk for the +workers, and most social satisfaction. + +Intermediate systems partake of both the competitive and cooperative +plan, none of the intermediate systems, however, leading to supremacy, +and some of them resulting in degeneracy. + +Such are the results of the unconscious action of natural environment +on living things. + +We are now in a position to study the actual and possible results of +the conscious action of an artificial environment on Man. + + +Sec. 2. HUMAN ENVIRONMENT + +Before studying the possible effects upon Man of an artificial +environment, consciously and deliberately created by him with the +definite purpose of attaining the maximum of human perfection and +happiness, we must be clear as to the actual effects upon man of the +artificial environment in which he finds himself. And first we must +give its full value to the fact that the environment in which we live +is in great part artificial, that it is the product not of Nature +only, but also of Art. + +We have seen that the lower animals, prior to the advent of Man, were +the necessary product of the natural environment. We have now to study +how Man has modified the face of the world, as regards them and +himself, by the application thereto of Art. + +The most obvious and striking change effected by Art on human life is +in relation to climate. + +There is geologic evidence that the forefathers of Man in what is +called the Miocene Period, while not so intellectual as Man, were of a +far higher type than any living ape; the head, for example, indicates +a superior structure.[203] Now, the Miocene Period was exceptionally +warm. The bones of the so-called troglodytes are found in the caves of +the Dordogne with other vegetable and animal remains that indicate a +tropical temperature. This was followed by the glacial epoch, which +substituted for tropical conditions those now existing in the Arctic +zone. The troglodyte had to choose between the alternatives; he had to +flee to the tropics before the cold wave from the North, or to resist +the cold by recourse to Art. It is probable that he did both; some +did the one, and the rest the other; some fled to the tropics and +degenerated there into the existing anthropoid apes; the rest invented +weapons with which to slay fur-bearing animals, to strip them of their +skins, and convert the skins into clothing; used the shelter furnished +by natural caves, and eventually discovered the way to produce a +flame. This last Promethean gift was probably the first of the great +human inventions. When Man discovered how to produce and utilize fire +he became superior to climate. + +This discovery produced an amazing consequence; for it seems certain +that our race made its first strides towards civilization in tropical +countries; but that progress in the Arts, by enabling Man to inhabit +colder and more bracing climates, permitted an increase in his power +to resist not only climate, but all the other natural conditions +hostile to his improvement; and so we find the Northern races +gradually subduing those of the South, and demonstrating the great +rule _that man's progress is secured, not by yielding to natural +environment, but by resisting it_. + +The key to human progress in the past, and the probable key to human +progress in the future, is the faculty of Man to resist Nature; and +this faculty is twofold. Intelligence is the more obvious of the two +elements. But intelligence is not sufficient of itself. Intelligence +must be coupled with the power of self-restraint. For although +intelligence is the light which can guide men toward perfection, it is +useless unless accompanied by the willingness and power to follow the +light. + +What avails it to the millionaire to know that he can by the +intelligent use of his millions alleviate the misery of the poor, if +he lacks the willingness and power to apply this knowledge? + +What avails it to us to know that by substituting cooperation for +competition in the production of the necessaries of life, poverty can +be annihilated, if we have not the willingness and the power to effect +the substitution? + +What avails it to a drunkard to know that drink is the cause of his +misery, if he has not the power to refuse it? + +In man's struggle with climate, intelligence seems to play the +principal role, but there is also a spirit of resistance, in strong +contrast with submission that characterizes the lower animals. In +other arenas the power of self-control plays a still more conspicuous +part. There is probably no institution in which man differs more from +the lower animals than in that of marriage; and none more +characterized by self-control. If we compare the promiscuous +intercourse that prevails between the sexes in troops of apes, with +the fidelity that characterizes the highest types of marriage in our +most highly civilized communities, we cannot but be struck, not only +with the enormous gap between the two, but with the dominant role +played in development from the lower to the higher type by the power +of self-control. The passionate propensity that condemns the fiercer +carnivora to solitude, and reduces even the docile bee to a wholesale +massacre of one of the two sexes, has been so controlled in our +civilization that we find men and women not only living in the closest +proximity without violating the marriage vow, but even consecrating +themselves to life-long chastity out of respect for a religious +scruple. + +Man has attained this result through the training of children by +parents in the family, of youth by masters in schools, and of adults +each by himself in the world at large. + +Perhaps the most precious result of the institution of marriage is +the education furnished by the family which results from marriage. In +Greek life this education was the kernel of Greek religion. Every +family worshipped its own gods, and these gods were the shades of its +ancestors. Almost every duty in life resolved itself into a duty to +these shades; the duty to marry was but to ensure offspring who would +continue to minister to the deceased; the duty of chastity, and indeed +of morality in general, resolved itself into a duty to keep inviolable +the sacred flame upon the hearth. + +The two virtues peculiarly stimulated by Greek religion were courage +in man and chastity in woman; these singularly correspond to the +qualities that characterize solitary carnivora--ferocity in the male +and compulsory fidelity in the female. They are the virtues that +attend individualism, and individualism so impregnated Greek +civilization that it prevented the Greek cities from ever combining +into a Greek nation, and ultimately left them a prey to the invader. +And those two individualistic virtues--courage and chastity--became +still more emphasized under the Roman rule in the soldier and the +vestal. + +Christianity introduced a new element into civilized life; Christ +deprecated exhibitions of courage by inculcating humility; He tempered +the fierce demand for fidelity by bidding "him who was without sin +cast the first stone at her." The virtue He taught above all was the +virtue of Love; not love in the sense of natural affection, but love +in the sense of sacrifice; not love confined to the family, but love +extended from the family to the neighbor: "Love your neighbor as +yourself." And so under the dispensation of Christ all men, being the +children of a common Father, became as brothers one to another; the +early Christians carrying out this theory into practical life, +abandoned the acquisition of private wealth and brought all their +earnings into a common stock, giving to everyone according to his +need. + +Unfortunately, the prosperity of the Church under Constantine +converted it into a political machine as unconscionable in its +methods, and as effectual in results, as the so-called rings which +govern many cities to-day. The Church forgot the virtues which it was +instituted to teach; and our Western civilization has ever since been +distracting us by encouraging the fighting virtues of the Roman +soldier on the one hand, and the altogether inconsistent humility of +the Christian saint on the other. + +But men and women cannot live close to one another for centuries, +without having social virtues forced upon them; and while the +competitive system which prevails in our industrial and international +relations has stimulated the fighting qualities in us, the teaching of +Christ has preserved in our hearts ideas of happiness which have more +or less unconsciously created a tendency to replace competition by +cooperation wherever possible. + +The joint effect of Roman and Christian rules of conduct has been to +substitute for the qualities that we observe in Nature--the lust and +ferocity of the carnivore and the servility of the ant--new qualities +altogether different, and in some respects almost opposite. For lust +has been replaced by a conception of the conjugal relation which +converts marriage into a sacrament; ferocity has yielded to the +courage of the medieval knight and the modern gentleman; servility +tends to disappear and be replaced by respect for laws; and fear has +been lifted by religion into reverence--"The fear of God is the +beginning of wisdom." + +The fact that these virtues are held up to us as desirable and that we +are trained to conform thereto, is of dominating importance in +considering the character of human environment; and were there nothing +in human institutions to render the universal practice of these +virtues impossible, we should assuredly enjoy the happiness that must +result therefrom. + +Unfortunately there are two reasons why we cannot practice these +virtues though we would: + +We are divided into nations, each striving against all the rest to +secure for its citizens the largest possible share of the good things +of this world. Every nation is composed of individuals or families, +each engaged in a similar strife. + +The first, the international conflict, gives rise to a peculiar virtue +called patriotism, which, in so far as it teaches a man to love the +country to which he belongs, and the people amongst whom he lives, is +altogether good, but in so far as it teaches him to hate and +occasionally slay those of other nations is altogether bad. + +The second, the intranational conflict, gives rise to a quality which, +though not recognized as a virtue, should, if measured by the rewards it +receives, be assuredly regarded as the greatest of all--acquisitiveness; +for the fortunate few who possess this quality gather unto themselves +all the good things in the world at the expense of all the rest. + +Let us briefly study each of these formidable obstacles to virtue and +happiness: + +As regards the international conflict, the world is so large, and is +peopled by races of men so different, that it would be quite +impossible to include them all under the same government. The Red +Indian is incapable of adopting our civilization; he would rather die. +The Chinese has a conception of government so different from ours that +he has no word in his language for patriotism. The Oriental, who has +occupied the Danubian provinces for five centuries, is still so +foreign to us that he cannot live amongst Christians except either as +a conqueror in Turkey or a subject in Hindoostan. + +So long as these differences exist, there must be separate nations; +and the smoke of international conflict must occasionally burst into a +flame. + +Nevertheless, even to-day human effort can do much to diminish +occasions for war; witness the Tribunal of The Hague and the daily +multiplying treaties of arbitration; witness, too, the gradual +extension of solidarity between workingmen beyond national frontiers +and the growing disposition to organize regardless of them. + +As regards the intranational conflict--between individuals belonging +to the same country--there is much more to be said, for although the +total elimination of occasions of conflict between citizens of the +same nation may still be far off, there is serious reason to believe +that a partial elimination of them is immediately possible, and may +constitute the most practical of all political programs, and the most +vital of all religious faiths. Indeed, a thorough understanding of the +problem presented by this intranational conflict is so indispensable +to its prosperous solution, that upon this understanding may be said +to depend the question whether our civilization is to degenerate. + +The intranational conflict is mainly concerned with the acquisition of +wealth; and because this conflict has so far inordinately enriched a +few and impoverished the mass, it is the fashion for us to rail +against wealth. + +But wealth is the necessary product of civilization, and like manure, +it is a benefaction when lightly distributed over the right place, +though a pest when heavily concentrated in the wrong. The wealthier a +community is the happier it ought to be. It is not wealth itself +which constitutes our grievance, but the method of its distribution. + +Now the unequal distribution of wealth is mainly due to the system of +private property under which the few who have the gift of money-making +acquire large fortunes, while the many are left in comparative poverty +and even want. + +Under this system, every man, instead of working for all, is working +only for himself, and he who has most acquisitiveness becomes master +of those who have less, society being by this single quality divided +into a series of classes or castes, at the top of which are a few +millionaires, and at the bottom the large contingent that after a life +of misery end their lives in the almshouse, the prison, or the lunatic +asylum--a contingent that has been determined by carefully prepared +statistics to constitute one-fifth of the entire population in the +richest country in the world.[204] + +Private property has played an essential role in the slow +enfranchisement of the people. But just as the cocoon serves an +essential purpose in protecting the worm during its slow development, +but becomes a prison which the butterfly discards when it attains its +final freedom, so private property may turn out to have already served +its purpose if we can demonstrate ourselves so far developed as to be +fit to cast it aside. + +Let us recall what role private property plays in our human +environment to-day: + +It is the great stimulus which sets each one of us to work for +himself, and by working for himself to accumulate wealth that +contributes to the maintenance of all the rest. It furnishes (in +theory) a method under which the man who works most effectually gets +the highest reward. + +Now, as it is essential in every community that every man should +contribute to the maintenance of all, and as justice seems to demand +that the workers should be rewarded according to results, it is +claimed that private property solves the problem of production in a +manner both effectual and just. + +The competitive system, however, and the false notion of property to +which the competitive system gives rise by setting every man to work +for himself regardless of all the rest, prevents men from proceeding +upon the far more economical plan of cooperation. + + +Sec. 3. THE EFFECT OF THE COMPETITIVE SYSTEM ON TYPE + +We have seen that under the law of evolution type tends to adapt +itself to environment. It must so adapt itself or perish. There is no +escape from this iron law. If the climate change from warm to cold, +animals must put on blubber or fur; if the climate change from cold to +hot, they must throw off blubber or fur. Those who adapt themselves to +the change survive; those who do not adapt themselves die. + +So also, if in a given community the individual can secure the +necessaries of life only on the condition of outdoing his neighbor, it +is those who most successfully outdo their neighbors who prevail; +those who are outdone sink deeper and deeper into poverty and +ultimately join the irreclaimable fifth. + +The effect, then, of the competitive system on type is to stimulate +the qualities that go to make up acquisitiveness; selfishness and all +the necessary results of selfishness--avarice, greed, envy, injustice, +hardness of heart. + +It would be by no means fair to maintain that no man can be successful +in business who is not cursed with all these vices. On the contrary, +some of our greatest philanthropists have been successful business +men. But philanthropy sometimes results from the blessed principle of +reaction, under which vice, when it gets bad enough, creates a +revulsion against evil. Reaction, however, is the eddy in the stream; +and it is the stream and not the eddy that in the end counts. + +The main, the essential, the inevitable result of private property is +to promote selfishness, for the competitive system creates an +artificial environment to which the human type must tend to conform. +This artificial environment not only promotes selfishness at large, +but tends to degrade every institution which man has invented in his +effort to advance. Among these institutions, the two which have sprung +from the noblest instincts in man, and ought most to tend to his +improvement, are Marriage and the Church. Yet both are demoralized by +the competitive system. + +In the state of nature, animals tend to improve through sexual +selection. By sexual selection is meant the fight between males for +the female, the result of which is that the strongest males are the +ones that perpetuate the type. + +In the artificial environment produced by private property, a very +different process is at work. Marriage tends to be determined by +wealth rather than fitness; and the wealthy tend to have few children +or none; whereas it is found that in the unwealthy classes, the +poorest have the most children. Well-to-do people protect themselves +and their families from poverty by prudence, whereas, those who +despair of escaping from poverty have no reason for refusing +themselves what is often almost their only satisfaction; and the +result is that while the houses of the rich tend to be desolate +through childlessness, those of the poor are crowded with the +offspring of despair. + +The religious conception of Marriage that it is a sacrament has become +practically obsolete; particularly in this so among the rich, whose +daughters are annually offered for sale in the market of Mayfair as +shamelessly as not long ago were Circassian girls in that of +Istamboul. + +The effect of private property on the Church is no less deplorable. It +costs money to maintain a church; and the more splendidly a church is +maintained the more money it costs. The priest has to live; bishops +indeed have to live in a certain state. The Church, then, must have +money. In some countries the Church secures money from the government, +and is driven thereby into the questionable field of politics; in +others, every individual church is thrown upon its own resources, and +has either to make its services attractive by ritual, or to depend for +its supplies upon one or two of the wealthy members of its +congregation. It is not surprising, then, that under this subjection +to wealth, Christians have abandoned the teaching of Christ, and +forgotten that in early days they sold all and gave to the poor, +contributed their earnings to a common stock, and resisted not evil +but overcame evil with good. + +Yet the Church has rendered, and is still rendering, a priceless +service to man. Falter though she may, she has preserved for us the +Gospel of Christ. + +The blame rests not with the Church, but with the artificial +environment which man has himself created, and to which he alone can +put an end--the environment that appeals to the selfishness of man, +and having made man selfish, insolently asserts that in no other +environment can he be otherwise. + +Man will be what his environment makes him. + +If the environment stimulates selfishness, man will be selfish. If it +stimulates unselfishness, he will be unselfish. + +But man can by art so alter his environment that it will elicit the +noble in man, instead of the base. + +Let us now sum up the difference between human and natural evolution, +and arrive at some conclusion regarding the part man has played, and +may still play, in his own advancement. + + +Sec. 4. BRIEF RESTATEMENT + +Before the advent of man animal life prospered or degenerated +according as the natural environment was favorable to progress or +degeneration. The process of evolution was necessarily unconscious and +undeliberate. + +With the advent of man a new force appeared upon the face of the +world, the power to modify the environment so as to make it serve +human needs, and accord with human intention. + +Before the advent of man, selection was exercised by Nature or the +natural environment; since the advent of man it is man who has +selected and not Nature; animals dangerous and useless to man have +almost disappeared except in museums; and only those that are useful +to him are allowed to survive. + +Climate is no longer paramount; man by the use of tools, clothing, +architecture, and other arts, contrives to-day to live in climates +which were once fatal to him. + +By increase of knowledge man has acquired a control of the forces of +Nature, which makes him now a master where he was once a slave. + +By increase of self-restraint--and self-restraint involves the +subjection of natural instincts--man has developed qualities which +permit of social existence unknown in any other race. + +Without having lost the self-reliance that characterizes the solitary +carnivora, he has, by resisting Nature--by such artificial +institutions as that of marriage, and the education which results from +family relations--developed all the social virtues. Ferocity has been +tempered; lust has been reduced to subjection; in the place of the one +we now see courage; in the place of the other chastity; craft is +growing into wisdom; fear into reverence. He has substituted for the +standard of Nature the standard of Morality, and the substitution of +the standard of Morality for the standard of Nature has permitted men +and women to live in the same community safe from the ferocity that +drives the larger carnivora to solitude, and from the massacre and +mutilation which characterize such natural communities as those of +bees. + +When from this point of view we compare man with the lower animals, so +immense is his progress that we are tempted to believe perfection +within the reach of his attainment. + +Two things, however, suffice to keep alive evil in man: + +While at almost every point he has so moulded his own environment as +to eliminate the vices that characterize the rest of the animal +kingdom, in two respects the predatory system still prevails: + +The international conflict keeps nations in perpetual competition with +one another, and this periodically forces them to war; and the +intranational conflict keeps individuals in perpetual conflict with +one another, and stimulates all the vices which most interfere with +human happiness. + +The international conflict seems doomed to continue so long as man +remains separated by racial antipathies and commercial interests. +Efforts are being made to diminish occasions for war to the utmost +possible, by bringing all races to recognize and aim at the same +social ideal. But there would still remain ample occasion for war so +long as men are kept in competition by conflicting commercial +interests. The task first in importance and time, therefore, seems to +be to eliminate as much as is advisable the commercial and industrial +conflict, which has been already pointed out to be the great +intranational obstacle to human perfection and happiness. + +Now the intranational conflict has been seen to result from our +industrial system. This, as at present organized, is an artificial +creation of man; indispensable though it may have been to the gradual +evolution of the race, it has always acted, and must always act to +keep alive in man the very quality--selfishness--the elimination of +which is most essential to the happiness of a community, and the +absence of which particularly characterizes natural communities such +as those ants and bees. + +While, then, man has resisted and in great part subdued Nature in the +physical world by science, and in a world which he has himself +created--the moral world--by self-restraint, he has added to this +artificial environment two institutions which tend to counterbalance +the advantages already secured. These are national governments that +create international conflict, and an industrial system that creates +intranational conflict; and we are confronted with the problem whether +these two hothouses of crime, hatred, selfishness and vice, can be +dispensed with. + +Science affords us the encouraging hope that they can. It points out +that man has already suppressed many of the most merciless effects of +the natural environment; that by virtue of the power through which he +can in great part create and certainly modify his own environment, he +may still further push on the work of civilization if he will but +recognize that the real enemy to human happiness is hatred and the +real friend to it solidarity; and if he will return to the Gospel of +Christ, which economic conditions have so far compelled him to +disregard. + +Before closing the study of evolution it is proper to point out that +we are now in a position to dispose of the contention that, because +natural evolution proceeds upon the principle of the survival of the +fittest, therefore human evolution must proceed upon the same lines. +This is the argument that millionaires and individualists set up +against those who believe in the possibility of diminishing human +misery by reducing the occasions for human conflict. + +It is totally false. + +Man has demonstrated his ability to resist Nature and to progress +along lines that are diametrically opposed to those of natural +evolution. The whole fabric of human civilization is an answer to the +millionaire's argument. The natural principle of the survival of the +fittest is no longer at work. Man has put an end to it. The lion and +the tiger no longer reign in the jungle nor the white ant in the +Pampas. Man, alone, determines which animals shall live and which +shall disappear. The weak in our own race no longer perish; mercy +comes to their rescue. The strong are no longer the only ones to +perpetuate the type; marriage protects the weak husband in his marital +rights as well as the strong. Climate no longer determines survival; +man has made himself master of climate, and indeed works most +effectually to-day in latitudes which at an earlier stage were peopled +only by savages. + +At every point where man touches Nature he has reversed the natural +process. + +The unfit no longer perish, the fit no longer alone survive. Man is no +longer the necessary result of the natural environment: _he makes his +own environment_; and if he be wise enough he can so modify it as to +modify himself with it. When, if ever, he so modifies it as to +eliminate those elements in it which stimulate vice, then he will have +realized the word of the Gospel, "Ye are Gods." + + +Sec. 5. CAN HUMAN NATURE BE CHANGED BY LAW? + +It is currently urged and has become a sort of maxim that human nature +cannot be changed by law. Not only is this quoted by the bourgeois in +his argument against the Socialist, but even Henry George has fallen +into this error. Indeed, it is this error that prevented Henry George +from adopting Socialism and left him the distinguished founder of an +inadequate philosophy. For the most superficial knowledge of history +will suffice to demonstrate its untruth. Human nature has already been +profoundly changed by law; by the institution of marriage, by +education, by property. This has already been sufficiently discussed +to make it unnecessary further to comment on it.[205] It does not, +however, seem sufficient to point out the profound modification of +human nature by law in the past in order to persuade the bourgeois +that humanity can still further be modified by law in the future; for +a thousand instances can be quoted of efforts to change human nature +by law that have failed, and it is argued very illogically that +because in many instances they have failed, they must always fail. +Then, too, there remains in the minds of all influenced by Herbert +Spencer, the profound error that society is an organism and must be +allowed to grow; whereas on the contrary, a very little study +demonstrates that society differs from an organism in essential +points.[206] + +No society can exist without some law of association. The law may be a +natural one, as in the case of myxomycetes; or it may be an artificial +one, as in the case of the United States constitution; or it may be +both, as indeed is the case in every human society. + +This law of association is called "government." Strictly speaking, in +a political sense government means only that law of association which +is promulgated and enforced by the supreme power of the state; but +human society is controlled by a double system of laws--one written, +whether in judicial decisions or in express statute, and the other not +written, because it resides in the mass of the citizens under +conditions which baffle description. This last is imperfectly rendered +in the English word "custom," is more definitely expressed in the +French word _moeurs_, and is admirably conveyed by Horace in the words + + Quid leges sine moribus + Vanae proficiunt? + +The essential characteristic of custom is that, however controlling it +may be in fact, it does not enjoy the sanction of legislative +enactment or executive decree; indeed, it often arises out of +opposition to law; as where in the Western states game laws remain +unenforced, because public opinion supports the ranchman's defence of +necessity; and sometimes again where, though a law be in itself +proper, a community declines to avail itself of the law, as in the +custom that discredited divorce in the early Roman Republic. + +Now, the importance of this moral or sometimes immoral sense that +makes custom independently of law, must not be underestimated--for it +is in many respects superior to law for evil or for good; and it +differs from law in the essential fact that it grows almost +imperceptibly, whereas law, in the strict sense of the word, is the +result of judicial decision or legislative enactment--both acts of +deliberation--or so purporting to be. The question naturally arises +then whether, in so far as society develops along the line of custom, +it does not follow the process of growth rather than that of +construction. + +It is impossible to deny that custom and public opinion are in a +continual state of change; the varying fortunes of political parties +sufficiently testify to this; but how far these variations are in +civilized communities due to unconscious growth and how far to +conscious effort it is not easy to determine. Suffice it to point out +that, while opposing forces such as egotism and philanthropy, do +continually tend to mould opinion under conditions that baffle +inquiry, there are conscious forces at work which are quite as +powerful and could be made more so. Chief amongst these is education; +and in the word "education" are included not our schools and +universities alone, but all the educating influences of the day--the +press, the stage, music, literature, and art. That all these are +engaged in moulding public opinion--some in bringing popular +government into contempt, some in relaxing public morals, some in +holding up low ideals, some in indulging luxurious tastes, while they +could be doing just the opposite of all these things--there is no +doubt. + +The existence of these things is mentioned here because failure to +mention them would have left the discussion incomplete. Enough has +been said to indicate that there are great forces at work in society +which to-day escape the control of government, and that it is not easy +to say how far they operate after the haphazard fashion of Nature and +how far subject to the deliberate purpose of man. Whatever be the +conclusion, it is certain that so far as they are left to Nature's +guidance they will result in Nature's handiwork; whereas so far as +they are controlled by human wisdom they will bear the fruits of that +wisdom. + +In conclusion, therefore, associations of individuals are +characterized in primitive forms of life by unconsciousness; but as +the individuals develop, these associations seem to become deliberate +rather than unconscious, until in man they not only seem deliberate +but are so. + +The history of human society shows that when it has been allowed to +grow unconsciously the development has been in the same direction as +under the predatory system of Nature; that is to say, institutions +have been moulded to benefit individuals presenting the combination of +strength and craft best fitted to survive in the artificial +environment which the strong and crafty created to that end. When +conditions produced by this system of growth under the spur of egotism +were replaced by one of construction under the guidance of wisdom, +there was progress. + +Society is controlled by two forces: one which it consciously set up +for itself, called "government"; one which is unconsciously operating +through the silent struggle of natural and non-natural motives in the +individual lives of every one of us. The latter to a great extent +escapes the control of government; but in so far as society does +consciously create its own institutions, it ought to be engaged in the +process of construction and in the conscious effort towards +self-improvement. To this extent society is not an organism, and _a +fortiori_ government is not an organism either. + +Society, then, is not an organism. + +It differs from an organism in the following essential particulars: + +The units of an organism have no individual existence; they are parts +essential to the whole and exist for the sake of the whole. + +The units of a society have an individual existence; and, in the case +of human society, do not exist for the sake of the society, but +society for the sake of the individual. + +Not only have the units of a society each an individual existence, but +they have each an individual will, an independent consciousness, and, +all except Materialists will add, an individual soul. The units of an +organism are conspicuously without any of these essential attributes. + +But society, though not itself an organism, is an association of +organisms. And although human society seems to resemble a machine more +than an organism, the legislator cannot for a moment afford to forget +that the parts of his machine are not inanimate inorganic matter, but +organic living beings, endowed with the faculties of consciousness and +will--and above all alive to pleasure and sensitive to pain. Nor can +he afford to forget that the efficacy of all laws depends ultimately +upon the consent of those upon whom they are to operate; and that +therefore no law can be effectual that is not supported by public +opinion. Now, public opinion is the result of all the forces acting in +the social field, unconscious as well as conscious; so that while the +aim of the legislator should be to replace unconscious growth so far +as is possible by conscious construction, he commits a fatal error if +he fails to recognize that men and women are to-day actuated as to +nine-tenths of their thoughts and deeds by habit, and many--perhaps +the majority of them--incapable of conscious deliberate self-restraint +at all. Legislation therefore that seeks suddenly to exact of the +public a greater capacity for self-restraint than it is capable of, +cannot but prove ineffectual; and ineffectual legislation is bad, +because it tends to bring legislation into contempt. Prohibition +furnishes a good illustration of this principle: in those States in +which Prohibition is supported by public opinion it operates +advantageously; where it is not so supported it operates only as an +instrument of blackmail. Obviously Prohibition has diminished crime +and improved social conditions in some States, whereas every attempt +to force it or anything approaching to it upon the city of New York +has resulted in the corruption of the police engaged in enforcing it, +or in prompt punishment for the political party responsible for its +enactment. The helplessness of mere laws to eradicate defects of +temperament is one of the facts which tend to support the theory of +_laissez faire_; but the argument that because under certain +conditions legislation is inadequate, therefore legislation is always +inadequate, is too obviously illogical to need refutation. It could +hardly have received a moment's consideration had it not been +bolstered by pseudo-scientific conclusions drawn from an alleged +identity between society and organisms. But even if society were an +organism, this argument would still be incorrect; just as incorrect as +though it were contended that because under certain conditions +medicine is inadequate, medicines must always be avoided. Were society +as subtle and difficult to treat as the human bodies of which it is +composed, it would still be the duty of the legislator to study the +one, just as the physician studies the other, with a view to +determining the limits as well as the extent of his resources. + +But society is not an organism; on the contrary, the more human and +civilized it is, the less it conforms to unconscious growth and the +more it yields to intelligent purpose. That it is composed of +organisms, however, sets a limit to the wisdom of interference which +it is of paramount importance that we should carefully define. + +These limits seem roughly to be marked out by two essential factors: +one is the purpose of legislation--or justice, the other is the +obstacles to legislation--or national character. Government in aiming +at justice has to recognize defects of character. The justice which +can be attained in one community could not be attempted in another; +that which could be attained in one community in one stage of its +development, it would have been folly to attempt at an earlier one. +The approach to perfection in social conditions depends essentially +upon the approach to perfection attained by the individuals of which +the society is composed. + +How nearly a government can attain perfection depends, then, upon the +individual character of those subject to it; and how nearly the +individual character can attain perfection depends to a great extent +upon the government to which it is subjected. These two factors cannot +be treated apart; one is a function of the other. Just as a physician +has in treating a patient to consider the hygienic conditions which +surround him, and the peculiarities of constitution which may make a +sudden change of these conditions injurious, so a legislator in +framing laws for a community and thus changing the conditions of its +environment, has to consider the temperament of the community and its +fitness to undergo the proposed change. This is one of the limits that +Nature puts to legislation, and it is upon a just apprehension of it +that the wisdom of legislation depends. + +Although the extent to which legislation can modify nature depends +largely upon the individuals who compose the community, there are, +nevertheless, certain rules that can be laid down applicable by and +large, to the whole community. + +When a trainer desires to subdue a wild beast, the first thing he does +is to diminish his rations. So long as the carnivorous passions of the +lion are kept whetted all attempt to control him fails. Or to use a +more homely illustration, when we want to break a high-spirited colt, +his supply of oats is lowered. To give such an animal an unlimited +amount of oats and then to seek to control him with a powerful harness +would be a mistake. If the harness left him free to move at all, he +would kick the harness to pieces. Every trainer knows that if a horse +is refractory, the first thing to be done to give him habits of +docility is to reduce his rations of grain and to feed him on a less +stimulating diet. + +This simple and universally admitted principle is, however, singularly +neglected in our social and political institutions. These proceed upon +the opposite plan; that is to say, they whet the appetite of man to +the utmost by offering the largest rewards to the most crafty, the +most greedy, the most dishonest, and the most merciless of men, and +then legislatures, for the most part elected by these very men, are +expected to control their craft, greed, dishonesty, and +mercilessness. + +Thus while the competitive system, by making money the main object of +human existence, drives men to gambling and crime, we maintain an +elaborate system of police courts, penitentiaries, and prisons for +suppressing these things, although the experience of all recorded +history demonstrates that these methods are totally ineffectual. By +overworking our wage-earners, we give them an insatiable thirst for +drink; we entrust the sale of liquor to private individuals; we give +these last the keenest motive for forcing the sale of liquor on a +community alas, too eager to buy it, and then we attempt by the +license system to control drunkenness. We leave our currency, which is +the lifeblood of our industrial system, in the hands of men entitled +under our law to consider this currency a mere method of increasing +their private wealth; we offer to these men monopolies of +transportation, of water, of gas, from which they can make gigantic +fortunes and through which they can control our politics, and then we +expect the very legislatures they control, the very legislators they +elect, and the very officers they appoint, to control them. Obviously, +if we begin by putting our legislature into the hands of the men whose +interest it is to use that legislature to exploit us, we ought not to +be surprised if the laws enacted by these legislatures fail to "change +human nature." + +If, however, these appetites were never awakened, or if they were only +sufficiently tolerated to produce healthy activity; if the +"brotherhood of man" ceased to be a formula and became a fact; if men +were educated from the cradle to believe that cooperation resulted in +more economy, liberty, and happiness than competition; if cooperative +habits were created so that men instinctively cooperated with one +another instead of fighting with one another, can it be doubted that +the laws enacted to produce this change in our human conditions would +have a profound effect upon human nature? + +The natural environment has produced the lion, the tiger, and the ape. +The artificial or human environment has produced man. But man is still +a competitive animal. The next step that we have to take is still +further so to modify our artificial environment as to make him a +cooperative animal; to suppress the excessive competition that to-day +promotes hatred, leaving enough to spur activity; to introduce enough +cooperation to create habits of mutual helpfulness, yet not so much as +to suppress individual initiative. + +This effort does not involve any sudden revolution in our development; +it is only an intelligent continuation of the process already begun. +We have diminished the ferocity of the carnivora in men; we have still +further to diminish it without impairing courage. If we keep in mind +that the object of political effort should be to diminish unhappiness +and increase happiness, we shall conclude that this can best be done +by continuing to develop along this line; by eliminating the eagerness +created by the competitive system that makes success indispensable, +not only to luxury and comfort, but to health and life; and that by +modifying our institutions in the direction indicated in the foregoing +pages, we shall not only secure a larger measure of happiness, but we +shall so modify type as to change habits and change ideals. + +In a word, Science teaches us that we are and must be creatures of our +own environment. History teaches us that we have moulded and can mould +our own environment. By this inestimable power, man can determine the +development of the human type. By maintaining existing conditions, we +shall continue to produce the type of grasping millionaires that the +community at large in its heart abhors. Whereas, by modifying the +environment by the substitution of cooperation for competition in the +measure above described, we shall create a type that humanity has set +up in all its poetry, music, and art, as the type to be desired, +respected, and loved. + + +Sec. 6. SUMMARY + +In conclusion let us briefly summarize the scientific argument for +Socialism free from the explanations with which in a first +presentation of this subject it was necessary to encumber the text. + +Evolution prior to the advent of man was an unconscious and therefore +indeliberate adaptation of function to environment through the +survival of the fittest and the corresponding destruction of the less +fit. Herbert Spencer and his school have been misled by this fact into +a glorification of the competitive system which seemed to them the +most conspicuous factor in the improvement of type. This school +altogether fails to take account of two facts of the utmost +importance: + +Development under purely natural conditions--prior to the advent of +man--by no means proceeded alone along competitive lines. It also +proceeded along cooperative lines, so that while the lion, the tiger, +and the ape are the prevailing types in certain regions, in others the +prevailing type is the white ant. + +The other equally important fact is that whereas evolution under +purely natural conditions--before the advent of man--was unconscious, +indeliberate, and merciless, since the advent of man it has become +conscious, deliberate, and merciful, to such an extent that in almost +every essential particular, development has reversed the process that +preceded the advent of man. Before the advent of man, animals were not +only the victims of the forces of nature, but also their necessary +result. Only those animals survived that were able to adapt themselves +to changes of environment. The rest perished. And they adapted +themselves to changes of environment mainly by developing new organs +to that end. For example, the camel develops pads under its feet to +protect them from the burning sands, and a reservoir in its alimentary +canal to furnish water during its wanderings in the desert; the +hairless hide of the tropical elephant becomes covered with thick +curly wool when found in the Arctic zone. + +When, however, man appears upon the face of the earth, all this order +changes. The survival of animals in the world is no longer determined +by changes of climate or changes of environment; the survival of the +fittest is no longer determined by Nature. It is determined by Art--by +Man. The animals beneficial to man survive; the animals detrimental to +man perish. Again, man is no longer the victim of the forces of +Nature; he has become in great part master of them. The flame that +raged uncontrollably over the forest and plain, man now puts under his +kettle to make his tea; the torrent that devastated the valleys, man +now dikes and distributes in irrigating ditches, transforming deserts +into green fields. The fitful flash of the lightning in the heavens +man conducts along a little wire and converts into the steady glow of +the incandescent lamp. Nor does man any longer adapt function to +environment. The Esquimau of the Arctic regions has not developed a +thick curly fur; he has clothed himself in the furs of other animals; +the Arab of the desert has not developed pads under his feet or a +reservoir in his alimentary canal; he rides and loads water on the +back of the camel already so provided. Man is no longer the necessary +result of natural environment; he makes his own environment. Wherever +he goes, he makes a climate of his own. In the tropics, he builds +houses to protect himself from the heat, and creates an artificial +cold by punkahs, electric fans, and the manufacture of ice. In winter, +he creates another climate by building houses to protect himself from +the cold, heating them with a furnace and lighting them with gas and +electricity. Most important of all, by the control of man over +environment, he can determine not only his own destiny, but also the +destiny of generations to come. He can by preserving the competitive +conditions that exist, go on developing the base type that is now the +necessary result of these conditions--the type that seeks happiness +regardless of the happiness of others, such as our oil kings and +railroad kings, steel kings and other so-called captains of industry. +By substituting cooperation for competition, he can, on the contrary, +develop a noble type that seeks happiness through the happiness of +others, such as the settlement worker and the Little Sister of the +Poor, with, however, this amazing difference: that whereas to-day +those who rejoice in social service for its own sake are for the most +part humble and obscure, and those who use social service for their +own advancement are wealthy and illustrious, in a cooperative +commonwealth the genius that now goes into competitive business will +be drawn into the service of the cooperative commonwealth. The present +alliance between ability and craft will be broken up and a new +partnership encouraged between ability, wisdom, and unselfishness. + +The fact that all life must adapt itself to environment has been felt +from the earliest dawn of civilization. Plato stated it in the +Republic. If justice is to be attained, according to Plato it can only +be attained under a just form of government. The whole history of man +since the days of Plato has demonstrated that every change in the +condition of man can be traced as the direct result of change of +environment--economic, political, ethical, and religious. The +demonstration that this not only is so but must be so was left to +science. And the contribution of science to Socialism is the +demonstration of the fact that man can create his own environment--can +take those elements in competition which are good and eliminate those +which are bad--can take those elements in cooperation which are good +and eliminate those which are bad; and by thus constructing his +environment through wisdom and art, determine whether the type +perpetuated by this environment is to be noble or base. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[198] "Principles of Sociology," p. 414. + +[199] "Government or Human Evolution," Vol. II, p. 181. + +[200] "Essays on Evolution and Ethics," "Essays on Science and +Morals," and "Struggle for Existence in Human Society." + +[201] "Government or Human Evolution," Vol. I, p. 239. + +[202] The word "altruism" is used instead of the more familiar word +"unselfishness" to avoid the criticism of those who contend that there +is no such thing as unselfishness. It is true that we are all selfish +in the sense that we are all seeking happiness for ourselves; but +selfishness can be defined as the search for happiness regardless of +the happiness of others, and altruism as the search for happiness +through the happiness of others. + +[203] Lyell, Sir Charles, "Principles of Geology," 1872, Vol. I, +Chapter X, p. 201. + +[204] This conclusion is arrived at by Charles Booth in a statistical +work which commands the approval of all authorities of whatever shade +of political opinion. + +[205] Book III, Chapter V. + +[206] "Introduction to the Study of Sociology." Herbert Spencer, +Chapter III. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +ETHICAL ASPECT OF SOCIALISM + + +The ethical aspect of Socialism is a practical continuation of the +argument of the last chapter, and brings us to the crowning glory of +Socialism: that it alone can and does reconcile the conflict between +science, economics, and religion. + + +Sec. 1. THE CONFLICT BETWEEN SCIENCE AND RELIGION + +Science produces convictions founded on fact. Religion imposes +convictions founded on faith. If Religion confines itself to matters +of faith--to the supernatural--it need not come into conflict with +Science. But when it trespasses on the realms of Science--when it +begins to deal with matters of fact--it creates a conflict with +Science in which Science must in the end be victorious. Thus when the +Church ventured to make it a matter of faith that the sun revolves +around the earth, it might secure the recantation of Galileo, but it +had in the end to yield before the demonstrations of astronomy. + +This element of conflict between the church and the state is +disappearing and is bound entirely to disappear. The church is more +and more confining itself to supernatural matters which are properly +within the domain of faith. So long as it does this, it need not clash +with Science. + +There is, however, another occasion of conflict between Science and +Religion more modern than the former and more real: The doctrine of +evolution in attacking the theory of special creation needed at one +time to attack the existence of God; and as interpreted by Herbert +Spencer and his school, gave rise to the doctrine that "because, on +the whole, animals and plants have advanced in perfection of +organization by means of the struggle for existence and the consequent +'survival of the fittest,' therefore men in society, men as ethical +beings, must look to the same process to help them towards +perfection."[207] + +This notion, which Huxley describes as the fallacy that at that time +pervaded the so-called "ethics of evolution," raised an issue not only +with the church, but with the fundamental principles of religion. For +if, in fact, the blind process of evolution proceeding through the +survival of the fittest and the destruction of the unfit, was the only +process to which man could look for his development, then there is no +need of a God, and what is far more important, there is no need for +either human responsibility or human effort. Now the church, however +much its sects may differ in other matters, has always been united in +teaching not only the existence of a God, but the responsibility of +man to God, and a duty of man to make the effort necessary to comply +with his commandments. It is to the pages of Huxley that we must turn +to see this Spencerian fallacy refuted. + +Huxley pointed out that a gardener in growing things beautiful and +useful to man proceeded in violation of the principles of evolution. +The characteristic feature of what he calls the "cosmic process," that +is to say, evolution _prior_ to the advent of man, "is the intense +and unceasing competition of the struggle for existence." The +characteristic of evolution since the advent of man is "_the +elimination of that struggle_ by the removal of the conditions which +give rise to it."[208] + +The immense importance of these considerations is that they +demonstrate no less important a fact than that Man is to-day the +selecting agent and not Nature; and Man, by replacing evolution by Art +converts things which in the domain of Nature are not edible, such as +kale, into things which under Art become edible, such as cabbage. + +But let us now take up the story as told by Huxley: + +"Let us now imagine that some _administrative authority, as far +superior in power and intelligence to men, as men are to their cattle, +is set over the colony, charged to deal with its human elements_ in +such a manner as to assure the victory of the settlement over the +antagonistic influences of the state of nature in which it is set +down. He would proceed in the same fashion as that in which the +gardener dealt with his garden. In the first place, he would, as far +as possible, put a _stop to the influence of external competition_ by +thoroughly extirpating and excluding the native rivals, whether men, +beasts, or plants. And our administrator would select his human +agents, with a view to his ideal of a successful colony, just as the +gardener selects his plants with a view to his ideal of useful or +beautiful products. + +"In the second place, in order that no struggle for the means of +existence between these human agents should weaken the efficiency of +the corporate whole in the battle with the state of nature, he would +make arrangements by which each would be provided with those means; +and would be relieved from the fear of being deprived of them by his +stronger or more cunning fellows. Laws, sanctioned by the combined +force of the colony, would restrain the self-assertion of each man +within the limits required for the maintenance of peace. In other +words, the cosmic struggle for existence, as between man and man, +would be rigorously suppressed; and _selection, by its means, would be +as completely excluded as it is from the garden_. + +"At the same time, the obstacles to the full development of the +capacities of the colonists by other conditions of the state of nature +than those already mentioned, would be removed by the creation of +artificial conditions of existence of a more favorable character. +Protection against extremes of heat and cold would be afforded by +houses and clothing; drainage and irrigation works would antagonize +the effects of excessive rain and excessive drought; roads, bridges, +canals, carriages, and ships would overcome the natural obstacles to +locomotion and transport; mechanical engines would supplement the +natural strength of men and of their draught animals; hygienic +precautions would check, or remove the natural causes of disease. With +every step of this progress in civilization, the colonists would +become more and more independent of the state of nature; more and +more, their lives would be conditioned by a state of art. In order to +attain his ends, the administrator would have to avail himself of the +courage, industry, and cooperative intelligence of the settlers; and +it is plain that the interest of the community would be best served by +increasing the proportion of persons who possess such qualities, and +diminishing that of persons devoid of them. In other words, by +_selection directed towards an ideal_. + +"Thus the administrator might look to the establishment of an earthly +paradise, a true garden of Eden, in which all things should work +together towards the well-being of the gardeners; within which the +cosmic process, the coarse struggle for existence of the state of +nature, should he abolished; in which that state should be replaced by a +state of art; where every plant and every lower animal should be adapted +to human wants, and would perish if human supervision and protection +were withdrawn; where men themselves should have been selected with a +view to their efficiency as organs for the performance of the functions +of a perfected society. And this ideal polity would have been brought +about, not by gradually adjusting the men to the conditions around them, +but by creating artificial conditions for them; not by allowing the free +play of the struggle for existence, but by excluding that struggle; and +by substituting selection directed towards the administrator's ideal for +the selection it exercises."[209] + +And this is not confined to physical things, but is extended to moral. +"_Social progress_," he says, "_means a checking of the cosmic process +at every step and the substitution for it of another, which may be +called the ethical process_; the end of which is not the survival of +those who may happen to be the fittest, in respect of the whole of the +conditions which obtain, but of those who are ethically the +best."[210] And this leads to the final conclusion: + +"As I have already urged, the practice of that which is ethically +best--what we call goodness or virtue--involves a course of conduct +which, in all respects, is opposed to that which leads to success in +the cosmic struggle for existence. In place of ruthless self-assertion +it demands self-restraint; in place of thrusting aside, or treading +down all competitors, it requires that the individual shall not merely +respect, but shall help his fellows; its influence is directed, _not +so much to the survival of the fittest, as to the fitting of as many +as possible to survive_. It repudiates the gladiatorial theory of +existence. It demands that each man who enters into the enjoyment of +the advantages of a polity shall be mindful of his debt to those who +have laboriously constructed it; and shall take heed that no act of +his weakens the fabric in which he has been permitted to live."[211] + +Further on, he repeats: + +"Let us understand, once for all, that the ethical progress of society +depends, not on imitating the cosmic process, still less in running +away from it, but in combating it."[212] + +And later on: + +"I see no limit to the extent to which intelligence and will, guided +by sound principles of investigation, and organized in a common +effort, may modify the conditions of existence, for a period longer +than that now covered by history. _And much may be done to change the +nature of man himself._ The intelligence which has converted the +brother of the wolf into the faithful guardian of the flock ought to +be able to do something towards curbing the instincts of savagery in +civilized men."[213] + +And in a note Huxley emphasizes the extent to which human nature has +been already modified by pointing to the fact that sexual instinct has +been suppressed between near relations.[214] + +Huxley's demonstrations that the happiness of man can only be attained +by the limitation of competition, by deliberate institutions to that +effect, and by conscious efforts to create an environment that will +tend to develop the ethical qualities of men, put an end to the last +serious occasion for conflict between Science and Religion; for it +results in the same theories of human responsibility, and the same +appeals to human effort, that it has been the role of the church to +preach from the beginning. + +I have quoted from "Evolution and Ethics" because to my mind this +essay and its prolegomena make Huxley the founder of Scientific and +Ethical Socialism. It is true that he himself repudiates this. To him +Socialism is impossible because of what he describes as "the mighty +instinct of reproduction."[215] He points out that we cannot apply to +superfluous or defective human beings the system of extirpation which +gardeners apply to superfluous and defective vegetables and weeds. + +I have already answered the objection to Socialism on the ground of +overproduction.[216] But Huxley never had presented to him the modern +idea of Socialism herein described. He speaks of the "elimination of +competition." It never occurred to him that the evils of competition +could be eliminated without eliminating competition. Candor, however, +compels me to admit that I do not think any presentation of the most +modern form of Socialism would at all have converted Professor Huxley. +There were two subjects upon which he could not speak without getting +into a temper: Gladstone and Socialism. + +When I met him, I was not myself a Socialist. Indeed, I did not become +a Socialist until after Huxley died. My impressions, therefore, of him +were not affected by a prejudice in favor of Socialism. On the +contrary, I still regarded Socialism as impractical; I still believed +it to be absurd. It was only after months of labor in attempting to +utilize the "considerable fragments of a constructive creed"[217] +which Professor Ritchie found in Professor Huxley's pages, that I was +driven to a study of the Socialism to which I was utterly opposed, and +found in it the only solution to the contradictions which blurred even +the lucid pages of Huxley's works. And the contradictions in Huxley +are not difficult to find. Nothing could be more pessimistic than what +seems to be the climax of his argument in "Evolution and Ethics": + +"The theory of evolution encourages no millennial anticipations. If, +for millions of years, our globe has taken the upward road, yet, some +time, the summit will be reached and the downward route will be +commenced. The most daring imagination will hardly venture upon the +suggestion that the power and the intelligence of man can ever arrest +the procession of the great year."[218] + +And yet, on the very next page, he closes this essay with a note of +the serenest optimism: + +"So far, we all may strive in one faith towards one hope."[219] And +the keynote of his attitude towards this subject is to be found in a +passage in which he "thinks it unjust to require a crossing-sweeper in +Piccadilly to tell you the road to Highgate; he has earned his copper +if he had done all he professes to do and cleaned up your immediate +path"; and a little later where he "shudderingly objects to the +responsibility of attempting to set right a world out of joint." + +Now Socialists have the audacity to maintain that it is not beyond the +intelligence of the crossing-sweeper of Piccadilly to know and tell +the road to Highgate, and that the time has come when no one has a +right to "shudderingly object to the responsibility of attempting to +set right a world out of joint." + +Huxley builded better than he knew; and in spite of his detestation of +Socialism it was he who built its strongest and most enduring +foundation; for unanswerable as may be the economic argument in favor +of Socialism, it might take centuries to prevail if there were not an +equally strong scientific and ethical argument for it. + +The moment that Huxley recognizes that it is by the "elimination of +competition," or shall we say the "limitation of competition," by +substituting human selection for natural selection, and directing +selection towards an ideal that man is to progress and develop, he has +recognized the scientific basis of Socialism; and when he points out +that Science teaches self-restraint, human responsibility, human +effort, not so much the "survival of the fittest" as fitting as many +as possible to survive, he has reconciled Science and Religion. + +It is probable that one of the reasons why Huxley took a pessimistic +view of the future was that he despaired of finding a solution to the +economic struggle. I cannot forget the melancholy with which he said +one day: "I am informed that England keeps its control of the market +of cotton goods by a difference in cost of production of a farthing +per yard. How long can this last?" But Huxley only gave a part of the +scientific argument for Socialism. For the other part we have to turn +from the pages of Huxley to those of Karl Marx. + +One of the most important services Karl Marx rendered humanity was the +demonstration of the predominating influence of economics in the +development of man, in the determining of our custom, character, and +conduct. + +The economic conception of history is described by F. Engels as +follows: + +"The materialist conception of history starts from the principle that +production, and next to production the exchange of its products, is +the basis of every social system; that in every society arising in +history the allotment of products, and with it the division of society +into classes or ranks, depends upon what is produced, how it is +produced, and how when produced it is exchanged. Accordingly the +ultimate causes of all social changes and political revolutions are +not to be looked for in the heads of men, in their growing insight +into eternal truth and justice, but in changes of the methods of +production and exchange; they are to be looked for not in the +philosophy, but in the economy of the epoch in question."[220] + +Before elaborating this conception of history, it may be well to point +out one or two elements of confusion in the terms in which it is +stated. It is described as the "materialist conception of history," +and for this reason many people imagine that the admission of this +theory means the exclusion of the ideal. This is a profound error due +to a misunderstanding of the use of the word "materialist." This word +does not necessarily imply that the only proper conception of history +is a materialistic one in the sense that it excludes the operation of +ideals; but only that material conditions have played a predominating +role in determining ideas. + +The admission, however, must be made that this explanation is by no +means admitted by all Socialist writers. Indeed the very language used +by Engels is inconsistent with it. He says "they are not to be looked +for in the philosophy, but in the economy of the epoch in question." +If, however, Mr. Engels were alive to-day and were challenged as to +whether in fact he meant by this phrase to exclude philosophy +altogether, I think he would answer in the negative. What he meant to +say, I think, was that the ultimate causes of all social changes and +political revolutions are to be looked for in the economy of the epoch +rather than in its philosophy. And this, I think, with some limitation +is true, for the philosophy of every period is to a large extent +determined by its economic conditions. + +To this general statement there are, however, notable exceptions. Some +men either by the adequacy of their means or the smallness of their +needs, are lifted entirely above economic conditions, so that they can +reason abstractly without regard to economic conditions. This probably +is true of almost every philosopher that has made his mark. It is +impossible to read the words of Christ, of Plato, Aristotle, St. +Thomas Aquinas, Carlyle, Emerson, and Tolstoi without being impressed +by the fact that they soared far above all economic considerations. + +On the other hand, economic conditions had a controlling influence on +the whole philosophy of Ruskin. His first contact with life was while +travelling with his father, who sold sherry to wealthy county +families, and approached their mansions by way of the butler's pantry. +This impregnated Ruskin with a cult for aristocracy. It made it +impossible for him to consider popular government without impatience. + +Economic conditions too had put their mark so ineffaceably on the mind +of Huxley that although in his criticism of Herbert Spencer he +destroyed the principal philosophic bulwark of capitalism, he could +not talk on Socialism without irritation. + +Thus although men as great as Ruskin and Huxley were unable to rise +above the slavery of the economic conditions in which their minds had +been formed, others are so constituted as to be able to discuss ethics +without any regard to economic conditions whatever. There is, however, +no doubt as to the dominating influence of economic conditions in +determining the average mental attitude. + +Man had two dominating appetites--for food and for perpetuation; and +of these, because that for perpetuation is fitful whereas that for +food is continuous, the latter is the more determining of the two. +There is hardly an act in a man's life which is not determined by the +needs of food in the first place and the search for food in the +second. This is admitted by all sociologists. + +A right understanding of economics is therefore of the utmost +importance to the conscious development of man. Unfortunately +economists themselves have been until very lately just as narrow in +their disregard of science and religion as science and religion have +been narrow in their disregard of economics. Let us consider as +briefly as the subject permits the inconsistencies which result from +this narrowness in regard to religion and economics. + + +Sec. 2. CONFLICT BETWEEN ECONOMICS AND RELIGION + +It is said that by the side of every poison in Nature there grows its +antidote; that for every bean of St. Ignatius there is a bean of +Calabar; and that a man poisoned by the one has only to stretch his +hand out to the other. + +So also in our social system may the two influences be at work, at +odds with each other; whereas, did we but know enough, they might not +only serve to counteract one another, but even become a priceless +boon to humanity, as indeed the beans of St. Ignatius and Calabar have +been made to yield up drugs as useful as nux vomica and eserine. + +Religion and economics start by assumptions that are glaringly +inconsistent. + +Religion proceeds upon the assumption that man has morality in him and +will, sometimes, act morally even contrary to his material interests. + +Economics proceed upon the assumption that man has no morality in him +and will never act morally if morality be contrary to his material +interests. + +Modern economists have somewhat modified this last view, but I am not +criticising modern Political Economy, which is already lowering its +flag to new doctrine; I am criticising the doctrine of _laissez +faire_, which still constitutes the backbone of our existing economics +and will continue to deform our economic ideas until that backbone is +relegated to museums by the side of the Ichthyosaurus and the +Iguanodon. + +Is the assumption that economic science is uninfluenced by morality +true or false? Undoubtedly an economic science can be and has been +constructed which does ignore morality and, dealing with man not as he +really is but stripped of his morality, or as he is termed by some +economic writers, "economic man," and still more naively by others the +"average sensual man," has laid down the laws which _for such a man_ +govern the production, distribution, and accumulation of wealth. In +the development of this science it has been found necessary to define +wealth, and here we come upon the first hard substance against which +economists have broken their heads. For obviously wealth is to the +"economic" or "average sensual" man a totally different thing to what +it is to a Diogenes, a Cato, or to a Sister of Charity. To the latter +wealth or well-being as opposed to illth or ill-being, consists mainly +in the opportunity to be helpful to our fellow-creatures, whereas to +the average sensual man wealth means money or the things that +represent money, produce, bonds, and shares of stock. Now all +economists are not "average sensual" men; it is doubtful whether to +those who know the Dean of Modern Economists, Mr. Alfred Marshall, he +can be described as a sensual man at all; and so there are few +subjects upon which economists have differed so much as upon the +definition of wealth. The extremists confine wealth to material things +that have an exchange value; but the absurdity of such a definition is +slowly making itself recognized; thus it has been forced upon some +that skill is wealth; and upon others that honesty too is wealth; for +the money value of honesty is now put into dollars and cents by surety +companies. And so very slowly but surely economists are beginning to +recognize that man is a moral as well as a sensual animal, and that +his morality cannot be disregarded even by economics. + +Then, too, what is wealth in one country is not wealth in another; +thus we are told that the food of John the Baptist was "locusts and +wild honey," and in certain parts of Africa locusts are still a +marketable article of food; so snails are wealth in France though not +in England; and human flesh which is not wealth in Europe is still +wealth in some parts of Africa. Wealth then depends upon two factors: +intrinsic and extrinsic; the first including qualities of the thing +itself, the second depending upon human demand; so that a painting by +Tintoretto is wealth to a community that loves art, but an encumbrance +to one that does not love it; and absinthe, that is regarded as a +valuable asset in France, is excluded by Belgium as poison. + +Here again we come up against the morality of man; will he continue to +poison himself with absinthe or will he abstain? Upon this ethical +decision will depend the question whether the immense stock of +absinthe now on the French market is wealth or not. And so we are led +insensibly to a question of still wider importance: Is wealth money or +is it happiness? If it is money then economists are right; if it is +happiness then they are wrong. And yet it is as clear as the sun on a +cloudless day that what man wants is happiness, and that if he has +been set all these centuries on seeking money it is because money is +believed by him to be practically the only medium through which he can +attain happiness. Here is repeated the old story of the captive beaver +in the attic gathering sticks to make a dam when the water pitcher was +upset. The object for making dams had disappeared, but the +dam-building instinct survived. We have grown so accustomed to labor +for money that we have lost sight of the real object of our efforts; +and we have to think a long time before we recognize that money in +itself is of no importance to us whatever; and that the only thing of +real importance is that for which money is sought--happiness. Now what +happiness consists of depends upon the mentality of any given +community. The tree-dwelling savage's idea of happiness is plenty of +nuts and fine weather; the Englishman's idea is plenty of land and a +seat in Parliament; the American's idea is millions of money; and the +tree-dwelling savage is probably as near the truth as either of the +other two. + +Obviously there is an ideal of happiness quite different from this; an +ideal that recognizes the solidarity of the race and recognizes that +no one man can be securely happy unless his neighbors are happy also; +an ideal built on the plan of mutual helpfulness--of cooperation +instead of competition. But here the lip of the economist will curl +and he will, if he deigns to express himself at all, denounce such a +proposition as "impractical." But why does he do this? Because he has +been educated to believe that economics deal only with the "average +sensual man," and that wealth consists exclusively of "material things +that have an exchange value." If, then, it turns out that both these +assumptions are false, is it not time for him to revise his +philosophy? + +It is not unnatural that starting with false definitions of man and of +wealth, economists should arrive at a false conclusion regarding the +so-called beauties of our industrial system, and of such time-honored +though immoral maxims as "competition is the soul of trade" and +"_caveat emptor_." + +And now after this rapid glance at economic philosophy and the +"average sensual man," let us turn to Religion and see how Religion +regards man. + +It seems inconceivable that the same civilization should include two +bodies of men living in apparent harmony and yet holding such opposite +and inconsistent views on man as economists on the one hand and +theologians on the other. To these last, man has no economic needs; +this world does not count; it is merely a place of probation, +mitigated sometimes, it is true, by ecclesiastical pomp and episcopal +palaces; but serving for the most part as a mere preparation for a +future existence which will satisfy the aspirations of the human +soul--the only thing that does count, in this world or the next. So +while to the economist man is all hog, to the theologian he is all +soul; and between the two the Devil secures the vast majority. +One-fifth of the population in London is admittedly foredoomed to die +in a penitentiary, an almshouse, or a lunatic asylum; and the vast +multitude of wage earners are kept out on the ragged edge of the +strike on one hand and unemployment on the other, with no better +prospect before them than a destitute old age. + +Were there no churches in the land, were there no charity in man, no +pity, the economists would be comprehensible; but with our churches +still crowded; with charitable societies as thick as universities; +with pity in their own hearts giving every day the lie to the economic +enormities they profess and teach, what are we going to say of these +men? And were there no economists in the chair, no stock exchange, no +factory, no strikes, no unemployed; did our theologians' stomachs +never themselves clamor for food, or their bodies cry out for shelter +and heat, they too would be excusable. But with our tenements steeped +in misery; with misery pitilessly leading to crime, vice, disease; +with the demands of the body brought home to every one of them a +thousand times a day, is it not time for theologians at last to +remember that men have bodies as well as souls? + +Consider then these two sets of teachers, one professing a philosophy +built on the assumption that man is all body and no soul, the other +built on the contrary assumption that man is all soul, meeting daily +at dinner parties and discussing the agony of the workingman with +complacency and "philosophic calm"! + +Yet if we look at the world as it is, so full of evil and yet so +easily set right, we will not delve at the roots of plants and say: +"Life is all mud;" nor point to their leaves and say: "Life is all +flower and fruit." Life is made up of root and flower; man is made up +of body and soul. The economy and the religion that heed this will +alone be true. Let economics be enlightened by religion and let +religion be enlightened by economics; let the economist learn that the +soul of man is more than raiment and the priest that the needs of the +body come in order of time before the needs of the soul; let the +economist learn the laws of mutual helpfulness and the priest the laws +of the production and the distribution of well-being; and there will +spring into existence a new religion and a new political economy that +will preach the same thing--the solidarity of man--that what man wants +in this world is not money, but happiness--and that he can prepare +himself best for the next world of which he knows nothing by making +his neighbor as well as himself wholesome as well as happy, in this +world of which he to-day alas, knows too much of its misery and too +little of its play. + + +Sec. 3. SOCIALISM RECONCILES RELIGION, ECONOMICS, AND SCIENCE + +Let us now consider the Scientific and Ethical aspects of Socialism +from a slightly different angle than that which closed the preceding +chapter. + +In what Huxley calls the "cosmic process"--the process of evolution +prior to the advent of Man--the development or degeneration of animal +or vegetable life is determined by the environment. If the environment +is favorable to development, there is development; if it is +unfavorable, there is degeneration. The question, therefore, whether +animal or vegetable life is to develop or degenerate is left to the +caprice of environment. The process through which this caprice is +exercised is the survival of the fittest, and this includes two +processes: the utmost propagation on the one hand, and the utmost +competition on the other. With all the cruelty that this system +involves, it would be idle to call such a process moral; nor would it +be reasonable to call it immoral. The cosmic process is non-moral. It +ignores justice because justice is a conception of either God or Man, +and is not found in Nature outside of God or Man at all. + +If now we turn from the cosmic process to that employed by the +gardener in converting wild land into a garden for the purpose of +producing things beautiful or useful to man, we find that the gardener +reverses the cosmic process. He does not tolerate utmost propagation +or even propagation at all except to the extent necessary to furnish +him beautiful or useful things. He limits propagation; and as to +utmost competition, he eliminates competition altogether. And it is +only by limiting propagation and eliminating competition that the +gardener keeps his garden beautiful and useful. The moment he stops +applying to his garden patch the art which limits propagation and +eliminates competition, that moment the garden tends to return to a +state of Nature; to + + "an unweeded garden, + That grows to seed; things rank, and gross in nature, + Possess in merely."[221] + +It must also be observed that in the garden patch selection is not +exercised by the environment, though it is limited by the +environment; selection is exercised by the gardener who, within the +limits permitted by the environment, replaces Nature. It is no longer +Nature that selects, but Man. + +Let us now turn from the civilized garden to the civilized community. +Here, too, we find the cosmic process in some respects reversed; in +other respects, allowed to run riot. It is reversed in the sense of +the word that prudence created by the ownership of property limits the +propagation of the educated; but it remains unreversed by the fact +that despair created by absence of property leaves propagation +unchecked in the uneducated. So that if it be admitted that it would +be better for type that the educated should propagate than the +uneducated, the human type is tending to degenerate owing to the fact +that there is unlimited propagation of the least desirable types; +whereas there is limited propagation of the more desirable. + +When we turn to competition, we find it almost unrestrained. Indeed, +it was the deliberate policy of the government and of political +economists a century ago to let it proceed absolutely without +restraint. Such was the doctrine of _laissez faire_ and such is the +doctrine which to-day is expressed by business men in the request to +be "let alone." But the experience of the past one hundred years has +demonstrated that humanity cannot afford to let competition go +unrestrained; that it leads to such fatal consequences that all--even +the most educated and carefully nurtured--are exposed to the contagion +of disease engendered by unrestrained competition; witness the cholera +scare and the hygienic laws to which this cholera scare gave +rise.[222] Competition has been controlled in various manners: by laws +such as factory acts, child labor acts, women labor acts; second, by +trade unions which the community and the law have had to protect in +order to keep workingmen from the danger of having to work for less +than starvation wages; and last of all, by trusts, which discovered +that competition involves a waste which, could it be saved, would roll +up enormous dividends to stockholders. But trusts have occasioned +evils against which to-day the whole nation is crying out. So that the +cry now abroad is to control monopolies, trusts, and corporations; and +if the efforts to control corporations have not already sufficiently +demonstrated that such laws are bound to result in more blackmail than +control, no reasonable man can doubt that they must in the end so +result in view of the fact that the prizes offered by business attract +first-class talent to business whereas the smaller prizes offered by +politics or the government can only draw to it second-or third-rate +ability. + +I trust it has been shown that the confusion that results from the +competitive system is due to false notions of property; that property +as an institution is, and must always be, essential to the economic +structure of the state in the sense that the original and beneficial +purpose of property is to secure to men as nearly as possible the full +product of their toil. This is the ideal distinctly expressed by Mr. +Roosevelt, and is the ideal of every mind that has distinct notions +about property at all. + +Our social structure, therefore, should be so organized as to assure +to men the full product of their toil by the adoption of some such +system as has been described in the chapter on the Economic +Construction of the Cooperative Commonwealth. + +In such a social structure, competition would be limited so that we +should reserve its stimulus and eliminate its sting, and propagation +would be limited not only by prudence, but by the economic +independence of women, who ought to have most to say on the subject. +In such a social structure, we should for the first time have an +environment that would discourage vice and encourage virtue. And here +comes, as I have already said, the crowning glory of Socialism that +reconciles religion, economics, and science. + +For the Church teaches: "Man is born in sin; his passions are sinful; +unaided by God he is their slave. If, however, he chooses to make the +effort necessary to secure the aid of God, he can master his passions +and earn salvation. But although the Grace of God will secure to him +some happiness in this world, this world is a place of unhappiness and +purgation; the reward of the faithful is not in this world, but in the +world to come." + +The Economist teaches: "Man is born in sin; his passions are sinful; +in matters so practical as bread and butter we must not allow +ourselves to be deluded by the promises of the Church, as to the +fulfilment of which no evidence has ever been furnished. A practical +system of economics then must be built on the undoubted fact that the +'average man' is 'sensual' and will always act in accordance with what +he believes to be his material interest. It must be founded on human +selfishness; let every man be driven by selfishness to make wealth +primarily for himself and incidentally for the community at large. +This is the only practical system for the accumulation of wealth." + +Science says: "Man is born with passions, but are these passions +sinful? They are sinful when uncontrolled, because they may then act +injuriously to the neighbor. When controlled they act beneficially to +the neighbor. The problem is not how to suppress passion, but how to +control it. Man must indeed obey his greater inclination; but Man has +the power to mould his own environment; to make his own habits; to +make his own inclination; Man therefore is master--not slave. There is +too in evolution a power which from the creation to this day has +persistently worked toward progress, justice, and happiness; but we +are still ignorant as to what this power is except in so far as we see +it working in Man. In Man we can see and study the working of this +power. And we find it in Man's capacity to mould his own environment +by resisting Nature instead of yielding to it. And so science teaches +to-day--not the gospel of evolution alone--but also the gospel of +effort and Art." + +In Nature we observe two systems of social existence: one competitive, +one cooperative. Both are attended by evils; both by advantages. Man +can frame his social and economic conditions so as to eliminate the +evils and secure the advantages of both. This is Socialism. + +Socialism leaves the church free to proceed along the lines of its +faith; but it furnishes the church with the inestimable advantage of +creating economic conditions that make the practice of religion for +the first time possible. To-day economic conditions by ignoring the +soul of Man and appealing only to his appetites make the practice of +the Golden Rule impossible. + +Economic conditions can be so changed that they appeal to the soul of +man without ignoring his appetites. It may be that the earth is a +place of preparation for another life. But it is not for that reason +necessarily a place of misery and injustice. Socialism by eliminating +misery and injustice will make this preparation easier. The +environment of Socialism will tend to improve not only the +individual, but also the type. It may be that the grace of God will +help man to be noble and just. Let the church continue to teach this. +But let science be heard also in the positive proof it furnishes that +man will and must be what the environment makes him; that if we +continue to tolerate economic conditions that appeal to his +selfishness, he will and must remain selfish; whereas if wiser +economic conditions appeal to his unselfishness he will and must tend +to be unselfish. + +And so in Socialism and in Socialism alone, do we find reconciled the +ethics of the church, the needs of economics, and the demands of +science. + +The new church will continue to teach social service; the new +economics will permit of social service; and the new science will make +of social service an environment out of which the new type of man will +be evolved that will justify the words of Christ: "Hath it not been +said in your law 'Ye are Gods'?" + +FOOTNOTES: + +[207] "Evolution and Ethics," by T.H. Huxley, p. 80. + +[208] "Evolution and Ethics," p. 13. + +[209] "Evolution and Ethics," p. 20. + +[210] Ibid., p. 81. + +[211] "Evolution and Ethics," p. 81. + +[212] Ibid., p. 83. + +[213] Ibid., p. 85. + +[214] Ibid., p. 116. + +[215] "Evolution and Ethics," p. 20. + +[216] Book II, Chapter I. + +[217] "Government or Human Evolution," Vol. I, p. 16. + +[218] "Evolution and Ethics," p. 85. + +[219] Ibid., p. 86. + +[220] "Modern Socialism," by R.C.K. Ensor. + +[221] Of course, I must not be understood to mean that nothing +beautiful or useful grows in Nature outside of the art of the +gardener. On the contrary, we know that in the Tropics Nature +furnishes not only beautiful things, but enough of useful things to +make the art of the gardener unnecessary. The lesson to be drawn from +the garden patch is that, if the best result in the shape of beautiful +and useful things is to be obtained from a limited surface, Art must +be applied to that surface; Nature cannot be depended upon. + +[222] Book III, Chapter II. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +SOLIDARITY + + +I think it was Miss Martineau who said that if her generation was +better than that which preceded her, the betterment was due to the +teachings of Carlyle; and much though we may differ with John Ruskin +in matters of detail, no one will dispute the apostolic fervor with +which he endeavored to push on the work of Thomas Carlyle. It is a +significant fact, therefore, that both Thomas Carlyle and John Ruskin +had nothing but abuse to give to political economy. Nevertheless, I +think we all must agree that this hostile attitude was due to a +misconception of the scope of political economy, a misconception due +in great part to its name; for the words "political economy" seem to +indicate that it deals with the economy of the state, and that it +becomes the duty of its teachers to show us not only what the rules +regarding the production and distribution of goods are, but what they +ought to be. + +In fact, however, although economists do discuss how--if at all--the +system of production and distribution of goods can be improved, they +have always regarded it as their principal function to describe +accurately what the rules that govern production and distribution +really are, rather than what they ought to be. And as existing +industrial conditions are extremely complicated, those who have thrown +light upon them are highly to be honored. And although they have +contributed nothing to the solution of such problems as unemployment, +pauperism, and the conflict of labor and capital, it may be as +unreasonable to complain of this as to quarrel with the +"crossing-sweeper of Piccadilly" because he is unable "to tell you the +road to Highgate." + +Again, political economy has encountered a great deal of unmerited +abuse because critics have confounded authors with their subject, and +have held economists responsible for the industrial conditions they +describe; whereas, these economists have earned our sincerest thanks +for demonstrating that the competitive system offers no solution for +the conflict between capital and labor, or the problem of unemployment +and all the other problems as those of pauperism, prostitution, and +economic crime which result therefrom. + +Mr. Ruskin is certainly wrong when he denounces political economy as +the "science of getting rich," and when he adds that "persons who +follow its precepts" do actually become rich; "all persons who disobey +them become poor"; for our ablest political economists have always +been and still are relatively poor men, and our richest millionaire is +a past master of the rules in the game which it is his particular +business to play; but he is not concerned with a science which does no +more than study wealth under the competitive system and demonstrate +how inevitably a few grow rich and the rest grow poor under it. + +Let us then abandon hostility to a science without which to-day we +could not see clearly the workings of the existing system, and on the +contrary, avail ourselves of all its teachings, recognizing that a +study of what industrial conditions to-day are must precede the study +of what they could and should be. + +The study of political economy is necessary to a study of "social +economy." Political economy admittedly deals with the average sensual +man, and having determined the rules that determine the actions of the +average sensual man, it becomes now the problem of social economy to +deal with the average moral man. And the moral man must not be +regarded as opposed to the sensual. The moral man includes the +sensual, but adds affection, sympathy, and all that makes happiness to +the sensual man who may, through absence of affection and sympathy, +fail to attain the happiness of which he is in search. Under this +definition, while political economy deals with the attainment of +wealth, social economy deals with the attainment of happiness; and as +man must eat before he can pursue happiness, social economy must +concern itself with the acquisition of wealth to satisfy physical +needs before it concerns itself with the attainment of justice to +satisfy moral needs. An attempt has been made in this book to present +the social and economic structure which would best attain happiness. +Would such a system at the same time attain justice?[223] + +To arrive at a correct notion of justice, we have to refer once more +to the difference between what Huxley calls the "cosmic +process"--that is to say, the process of the environment of Nature +before the advent of Man--and the ethical process, or the process of +the artificial environment created by Man. For there is one +difference, and a most essential difference, between them to which +attention has not yet been directed: namely, that in communities such +as those of the bee and ant, the individual is sacrificed to the +community; whereas the effort of Man is or should be to so organize +his community that it will serve the happiness of the individual. For +example, we would not tolerate a community upon the plan we see +practised by the bees, under which only one male out of a whole hive +is permitted to propagate and all the rest of the males on attaining +maturity are caused to die; only one female of the whole hive is +allowed to be fertile and to propagate, all the rest being subject to +the dreary round of keeping the fertile bee a prisoner, of feeding +her, of rearing, feeding and caring for the young in the hive, and +incidentally destroying any males who may return to the hive from the +nuptial flight. We have to recognize that the great obstacle to +happiness in community life is sexual instinct, of which Socialists of +the type of Edward Bellamy have for the most part failed to take +account. + +Reference has been made to the various devices adopted by different +races of animals and by Man at different periods and at different +places to solve the problem of sexual instinct,[224] and it has been, +I think, demonstrated by Professor Giddings, that of all the systems +proposed none can compare with our present institution of +marriage.[225] The mere fact that the marriage system has survived in +the conflict with races that have adopted other systems ought to +furnish an argument in favor of its superiority. In the struggle +between races of Man, those races the institutions of which require +most self-restraint have invariably overwhelmed those races whose +institutions require less self-restraint. For example, the tribes that +lived without any regulation of sexual instinct and in which children +took the name of their mother because the name of their father was not +and could not be known, disappeared in the conflict with tribes which +insisted upon some restraint to sexual appetite, such as the +patriarchal system. Again, the patriarchal system which tolerated +polygamy has everywhere been destroyed when it came into conflict with +monogamous races, such as our own, which involve still further +restraint in the sexual relation. + +It would seem, therefore, as though the monogamous marriage were the +keystone of our present civilization, for upon it has been built the +family, and the education and self-restraint which family life +involves.[226] There is too no function of the family more important +than that it serves as a model of what the state ought to be as +distinguished from what the state actually is; that is to say, a +government which should have equal concern for every member of the +community, and not one which as at present surfeits some and starves +others. + +It is the growing idea that a properly constituted state must do this +for the protection not only of the many, but of the few that probably +give the most continuous aid to Socialism. As Mr. Edwin Bjoerkman +expressed it: "We are beginning to grasp the futility of planning the +welfare of any one human being apart from the rest of his kind. We are +coming to think of ourselves, at last, as links in a chain so firmly +bound together that when the devil grabs the hindmost the wrench is +felt by the top-most--felt in the very marrow of his bones."[227] + +And so while the institution of marriage has removed an obstacle to +solidarity in community life, public health has proved its ally. Mr. +Bjoerkman has made an estimate of the enormous cost of unnecessary +sickness. But the protection of public health is furnishing us a far +better argument in favor of solidarity and Socialism than the mere +cost of neglecting it. In Cuba our sanitary engineers have practically +got rid of yellow fever, not only for that community, but for our own. +Recent discoveries tracing malaria to the mosquito are leading to the +destruction of this insect. Smallpox and cholera have practically been +stamped out, and efforts are now being made to do the same with +typhoid and tuberculosis. + +Now one feature characterizes all these efforts. They cannot be made +by one man for himself; they have to be made by whole communities for +whole communities and they will eventually have to be made by the +whole world for the whole world. The same thing is true of vagrancy, +pauperism, and crime. No individual or group of individuals can handle +this problem; it must be handled by every community, and through the +further extension of extradition treaties by all countries for the +whole world. + +Again, reference has been often made in this book to the necessity +under which governments, openly professing the policy of _laissez +faire_, have found themselves to enact laws totally inconsistent with +this doctrine. Such, laws ought to be sufficient evidence that the +days of _laissez faire_ are gone forever; and that this theory, +universally proclaimed a century ago as the only sound theory of +government, has to-day given way before the recognition that no +wealth can compensate a man for the misery of his neighbors; and that +even if, abandoning all ideals and all ethics, we confine ourselves to +the problem how to make men materially happy, we can only do so by +adjusting our institutions so that no man will be allowed to become or +to remain a pauper or criminal. + +I am not discussing here matters of theory, but matters of fact. + +Theoretically, the development of man might have taken a totally +different direction. The master minds of the period (such as that, for +example, of Mr. W.H. Mallock) might have so organized the able as to +constitute an aristocracy strong enough to keep the rest of the +community in a state of ignorant servitude, so that while Mr. Mallock +was enjoying the necessary leisure to discuss the "New Republic" amid +the luxury of his English country home, all the work of the world +would be accomplished by human automata with no desires beyond that of +the immediate gratification of their appetites. Unfortunately, +however, Mr. Mallock has come too late upon the scene. Some years +before he was born, the die was cast. Workingmen were given a voice in +public affairs and have been educated, so that they constitute a power +with which government has to reckon. Here is a fact against which it +is useless for millionaires to break their heads. No one can ignore +the power exercised by such men as Bebel in Germany, Jaures and Guesde +in France, Vandervelde in Belgium, Keir Hardie and MacDonald in +England, Gompers and John Mitchell in America. These men are all +engaged in organizing the workingmen's vote with extraordinary +efficacy in Europe, and with extraordinary inefficacy in the United +States. But the days of Gompers and Mitchell are drawing to a close, +and in this country as well as in Europe, Organized Labor will grow +to understand the inevitable truth that it is only by political action +and with the Socialist program that it can defeat the power of +capital. So that whether Mr. Mallock be right or not, the day of +aristocracy is over and the day of solidarity has dawned. The question +for us to decide is whether we should recognize this fact and modify +our institutions to conform to the new era, or whether we should +continue to ignore the fact until we break our heads against it. + +The point which Mr. Mallock and his school have failed to understand +is that the very greed which creates aristocracy unfits the aristocrat +for the cooperation indispensable to its survival. This condemns him, +as it does all the highest types of carnivora, created by the +competitive system to isolation. For it is out of the jealousy and +struggles of the aristocrats with one another that the people are at +last getting to their own. It was because the king, the noble, and the +church could not agree in the division of spoils that their perpetual +altercations left room for the organization of the Communes in France +at the end of the eleventh century. It was because the church, the +noble and the king would not give a fair share of the honors and +spoils of the state to the wealthy bourgeoisie, that the bourgeois was +obliged to associate himself with the people in 1789; it was because +of the conflict between the Whigs and the Tories that the franchise +was gradually extended to the workingmen in England; and it is because +the Republicans can put no limit to their greed that workingmen in +America will find themselves eventually compelled to organize +politically their at present disunited multitudes. It is, therefore, +extremely improbable that, even if Mr. Mallock had lived in an earlier +age, he could have prevented the inevitable progress of the great +principle of solidarity which has determined the direction of human +development ever since it began to differ from that of other animals. + +If now we run through all the differences between the natural +environment and the environment created by Man, we shall see that they +practically all proceed upon the theory that men must develop no +longer as individuals but as a unit. All our customs and laws proceed +upon the theory of liberty and justice; and upon that theory is based +the original principle of property that assures to all men the product +of their toil. Now if all men are to be assured the product of their +toil, there must be an end to the system which puts a few millionaires +at one end of the social scale and millions of paupers at the other. + +Again, for centuries the so-called struggle for life has ceased to be +a struggle for life, but has become a struggle for wealth, power, and +consideration. It is no longer only the fit that survive; the unfit +also survive; and if the unfit are to survive, we all have a common +interest in taking the necessary steps to prevent the unfit from +proving too heavy a burden upon the community. + +Again, all isolating vices such as lust, ferocity, craft, fear, and +selfishness--vices which characterize the carnivora and condemn them +to lives of isolation--are being tempered by the necessities of common +life--by the fundamental fact of the solidarity of Man. Thus, lust is +tempered and in part replaced by love and mercy; ferocity is tempered +and in part replaced by courage and patience; fear is tempered and in +part replaced by respect and reverence; selfishness is tempered and in +part replaced by unselfishness. + +And all this advantage which humanity has attained over the lower +animals is due to its ability to mould its own environment, and +deliberately undertake the task of justice; namely, to "eliminate from +our social conditions the effects of the inequalities of Nature upon +the happiness and advancement of Man, and particularly to create an +artificial environment which shall serve the individual as well as the +race, and tend to perpetuate noble types rather than those which are +base." + +It is true that so far our efforts to attain justice have lamentably +failed; but they have failed mainly because we have not yet +sufficiently limited the scope of competition. The day we limit +competition as suggested in the chapter on the Economic Structure of +Socialism,[228] that day we shall have removed the lion from our path. +And as stated in the Preface, the development of Man will then proceed +upon the theory that all are perfectible and that it is through the +improvement of all that every individual will attain his best freedom, +his best happiness, and the fullest opportunities for promoting the +happiness of all around him. + +This is the ideal to attain which the environment described in the +Chapter on the Economic Construction of the Cooperative Commonwealth +has been conceived. It is the ideal which furnishes the most +economical method of production and distribution and, therefore, the +most leisure and liberty; that creates the environment fitted to +perpetuate the noble rather than the base type; to promote virtue and +discourage vice and, in a word, creates conditions under which we can +practise the morality preached by every religion, whether it be that +of Moses, of Mohammed, or of Christ. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[223] In a previous attempt to define justice, I have found it +necessary to devote to this subject an entire volume, and I do not +believe that the subject can be sufficiently discussed in less than +such a volume. The definition with which I concluded that book has +been adopted by Mr. Lester F. Ward in his book on Applied Sociology. I +believe that all other definitions of justice are defective mainly +because other definitions such as those of Herbert Spencer in his book +entitled "Justice" confound justice with liberty. In other words, his +definition of justice is a definition of liberty, whereas justice is +more than liberty. Or perhaps it would be more correct to say that +liberty is one of the elements of justice. + +[224] See "Government or Human Evolution," Vol. II, p. 181. + +[225] See "Principles of Sociology," pp. 414-415. + +[226] See "Justice," p. 127, by the author. + +[227] The Unnecessary Curse of Sickness, _World's Work_, July, 1909. + +[228] See Book III, Chapter II. + + + + +APPENDIX + + +I + +SOCIALIST PARTY NATIONAL PLATFORM + +ADOPTED AT THE NATIONAL CONVENTION ASSEMBLED AT CHICAGO, MAY, 1908 + +Human life depends upon food, clothing, and shelter. Only with these +assured are freedom, culture and higher human development possible. To +produce food, clothing and shelter, land and machinery are needed. +Land alone does not satisfy human needs. Human labor creates machinery +and applies it to the land for the production of raw materials and +food. Whoever has the control of land and machinery controls human +labor, and with it human life and liberty. + +To-day the machinery and land used for industrial purposes are owned +by a rapidly decreasing minority. So long as machinery is simple and +easily handled by one man, its owner cannot dominate the sources of +life of others. But when machinery becomes more complex and expensive, +and requires for its effective operation the organized effort of many +workers, its influence reaches over wide circles of life. The owners +of such machinery become the dominant class. + + +POWER GOES WITH CONCENTRATION + +In proportion as the number of such machine owners, compared to all +other classes, decreases, their power in the nation and in the world +increases. They bring ever larger masses of working people under their +control, reducing them to the point where muscle and brain are their +only productive property. Millions of formerly self-employing workers +thus become the helpless wage slaves of the industrial masters. + +As the economic power of the ruling class grows, it becomes less +useful in the life of the nation. All the useful work of the nation +falls upon the shoulders of the class whose only property is its +manual and mental labor power--the wage workers--or of the class who +have but little land and little effective machinery outside of their +labor power--the small traders and small farmers. The ruling minority +is steadily becoming useless and parasitic. + + +STRUGGLE BETWEEN CLASSES + +A bitter struggle over the division of the products of labor is waged +between the exploiting propertied classes on the one hand, and the +exploited propertyless class on the other. In this struggle the +wage-working class cannot expect adequate relief from any reform of +the present order at the hands of the dominant class. + +The wage workers are, therefore, the most determined and +irreconcilable antagonists of the ruling class. They suffer most from +the curse of class rule. The fact that a few capitalists are permitted +to control all the country's industrial resources and social tools for +their individual profit, and to make the production of the necessaries +of life the object of competitive private enterprise and speculation, +is at the bottom of all the social evils of our time. + + +ANARCHY OF CAPITALIST PRODUCTION + +In spite of the organization of trusts, pools and combinations, the +capitalists are powerless to regulate production for social ends. +Industries are largely conducted in a planless manner. Through periods +of feverish activity the strength and health of the workers are +mercilessly used up, and during periods of enforced idleness the +workers are frequently reduced to starvation. + +The climaxes of this system of production are the regularly recurring +industrial depressions and crises which paralyze the nation every +fifteen or twenty years. + +The capitalist class, in its mad race for profits, is bound to +exploit the workers to the very limit of their endurance and to +sacrifice their physical, moral and mental welfare to its own +insatiable greed. Capitalism keeps the masses of workingmen in +poverty, destitution, physical exhaustion and ignorance. It drags +their wives from their homes to the mill and factory. It snatches +their children from the playgrounds and schools and grinds their +slender bodies and unformed minds into cold dollars. It disfigures, +maims, and kills hundreds of thousands of workingmen annually in +mines, on railroads and in factories. It drives millions of workers +into the ranks of the unemployed and forces large numbers of them into +beggary, vagrancy and all forms of crime and vice. + + +HOW THE RULING CLASS CONTROLS + +To maintain their rule over their fellow men, the capitalists must +keep in their pay all organs of the public powers, public mind and +public conscience. They control the dominant parties and, through +them, the elected public officials. They select the executives, bribe +the legislatures, and corrupt the courts of justice. They own and +censor the press. They dominate the educational institutions. They own +the nation politically and intellectually just as they own it +industrially. + + +SOCIALISM WILL FREE ALL CLASSES + +The struggle between wage workers and capitalists grows ever fiercer, +and has now become the only vital issue before the American people. +The wage-working class, therefore, has the most direct interest in +abolishing the capitalist system. But in abolishing the present system +the workingmen will free not only their own class, but also all other +classes of modern society: the small farmer who is to-day exploited by +large capital more indirectly but not less effectively than is the +wage laborer; the small manufacturer and trader, who is engaged in a +desperate and losing struggle for economic independence in the face of +the all-conquering power of concentrated capital; and even the +capitalist himself, who is the slave of his wealth rather than its +master. The struggle of the working class against the capitalist +class, while it is a class struggle, is thus at the same time a +struggle for the abolition of all classes and class privileges. + + +PRIVATE OWNERSHIP THE BASIS OF CLASS RULE + +The private ownership of the land and means of production used for +exploitation is the rock upon which class rule is built; political +government is its indispensable instrument. The wage workers cannot be +freed from exploitation without conquering the political power and +substituting collective for private ownership of the land and means of +production used for exploitation. + +The basis for such transformation is rapidly developing within present +capitalist society. The factory system, with its complex machinery and +minute division of labor, is rapidly destroying all vestiges of +individual production in manufacture. Modern production is already +very largely a collective and social process. The great trusts and +monopolies which have sprung up in recent years have organized the +work and management of the principal industries on a national scale, +and have fitted them for collective use and operation. + +The Socialist Party is primarily an economic and political movement. +It is not concerned with matters of religious belief. + + +FREEDOM THROUGH SOLIDARITY + +In the struggle for freedom the interests of all modern workers are +identical. The struggle is not only national, but international. It +embraces the world and will be carried to ultimate victory by the +united workers of the world. + +To unite the workers of the nation and their allies and sympathizers +of all other classes to this end, is the mission of the Socialist +Party. In this battle for freedom the Socialist Party does not strive +to substitute working-class rule for capitalist-class rule, but by +working-class victory to free all humanity from class rule and to +realize the international brotherhood of man. + + +THE SOCIALIST PLATFORM + +The Socialist Party, in national convention assembled, again declares +itself as the party of the working class, and appeals for the support +of all workers of the United States and of all citizens who sympathize +with the great and just cause of labor. + +We are at this moment in the midst of one of those industrial +breakdowns that periodically paralyze the life of the nation. The +much-boasted era of our national prosperity has been followed by one +of general misery. Factories, mills and mines are closed. Millions of +men, ready, willing and able to provide the nation with all the +necessaries and comforts of life are forced into idleness and +starvation. Within recent times the trusts and monopolies have +attained an enormous and menacing development. They have acquired the +power to dictate the terms upon which we shall be allowed to live. The +trusts fix the prices of our bread, meat and sugar, of our coal, oil +and clothing, of our raw material and machinery, of all the +necessities of life. + + +CAPITALISM TAKES THE OFFENSIVE + +The present desperate condition of the workers has been made the +opportunity for a renewed onslaught on organized labor. The highest +courts of the country have within the last year rendered decision +after decision depriving the workers of rights which they had won by +generations of struggle. + +The attempt to destroy the Western Federation of Miners, although +defeated by the solidarity of organized labor and the Socialist +movement, revealed the existence of a far-reaching and unscrupulous +conspiracy by the ruling class against the organizations of labor. + +In their efforts to take the lives of the leaders of the miners the +conspirators violated State laws and the federal constitution in a +manner seldom equalled even in a country so completely dominated by +the profit-seeking class as is the United States. + + +CAPITALIST REFORM FUTILE + +The Congress of the United States has shown its contempt for the +interests of labor as plainly and unmistakably as have the other +branches of government. The laws for which the labor organizations +have continually petitioned have failed to pass. Laws ostensibly +enacted for the benefit of labor have been distorted against labor. + +The working class of the United States cannot expect any remedy for +its wrongs from the present ruling class or from the dominant +parties. So long as a small number of individuals are permitted to +control the sources of the nation's wealth for their private profit in +competition with each other and for the exploitation of their fellow +men, industrial depressions are bound to occur at certain intervals. +No currency reforms or other legislative measures proposed by +capitalist reformers can avail against these fatal results of utter +anarchy in production. + +Individual competition leads inevitably to combinations and trusts. No +amount of government regulation, or of publicity, or of restrictive +legislation will arrest the natural course of modern industrial +development. + +While our courts, legislatures and executive offices remain in the +hands of the ruling classes and their agents, the government will be +used in the interest of these classes as against the toilers. + + +OLD PARTIES REPRESENT CLASS RULE + +Political parties are but the expression of economic class interests. +The Republican, the Democratic, and the so-called 'Independence' +parties and all parties other than the Socialist Party, are financed, +directed and controlled by the representatives of different groups of +the ruling class. + +In the maintenance of class government both the Democratic and +Republican parties have been equally guilty. The Republican party has +had control of the national government and has been directly and +actively responsible for these wrongs. The Democratic party, while +saved from direct responsibility by its political impotence, has shown +itself equally subservient to the aims of the capitalist class +whenever and wherever it has been in power. The old chattel-slave-owning +aristocracy of the South, which was the backbone of the Democratic +party, has been supplanted by a child-slave plutocracy. In the great +cities of our country the Democratic party is allied with the criminal +element of the slums as the Republican party is allied with the +predatory criminals of the palace in maintaining the interests of the +possessing class. + + +TEMPORARY MEASURES DEMANDED + +The various "reform" movements and parties which have sprung up within +recent years are but the clumsy expression of widespread popular +discontent. They are not based on an intelligent understanding of the +historical development of civilization and of the economic and +political needs of our time. They are bound to perish, as the numerous +middle-class reform movements of the past have perished. + +As measures calculated to strengthen the working class in its fight +for the realization of this ultimate aim, and to increase its power of +resistance against capitalist oppression, we advocate and pledge +ourselves and our elected officers to the following program: + + +GENERAL DEMANDS + +1. The immediate government relief for the unemployed workers, by +building schools, by reforesting of cut-over and waste lands, by +reclamation of arid tracts, and the building of canals, and by +extending all other useful public works. All persons employed on such +works shall be employed directly by the government under an eight-hour +workday and at the prevailing union wages. The government shall also +loan money to States and municipalities without interest for the +purpose of carrying on public works. It shall contribute to the funds +of labor organizations for the purpose of assisting their unemployed +members, and shall take such other measures within its power as will +lessen the widespread misery of the workers caused by the misrule of +the capitalist class. + +2. The collective ownership of railroads, telegraphs, telephones, +steamship lines and all other means of social transportation and +communication and all land.[229] + +3. The collective ownership of all industries which are organized on a +national scale and in which competition has virtually ceased to exist. + +4. The extension of the public domain to include mines, quarries, oil +wells, forests and water power. + +5. That occupancy and use of land be the sole title to possession. The +scientific reforestation of timber lands and the reclamation of swamp +lands. The land so reforested or reclaimed to be permanently retained +as a part of the public domain. + +6. The absolute freedom of press, speech and assemblage. + + +INDUSTRIAL DEMANDS + +7. The improvement of the industrial conditions of the workers: + +(_a_) By shortening the workday in keeping with the increased +productiveness of machinery. + +(_b_) By securing to every worker a rest period of not less than a day +and a half in each week. + +(_c_) By securing a more effective inspection of workshops and +factories. + +(_d_) By forbidding the employment of children under sixteen years of +age. + +(_e_) By forbidding the interstate transportation of the products of +child labor, of convict labor and of all uninspected factories. + +(_f_) By abolishing official charity and substituting in its place +compulsory insurance against unemployment, illness, accidents, +invalidism, old age, and death. + + +POLITICAL DEMANDS + +8. The extension of inheritance taxes, graduated in proportion to the +amount of the bequests and to nearness of kin. + +9. A graduated income tax. + +10. Unrestricted and equal suffrage for men and women, and we pledge +ourselves to engage in an active campaign in that direction. + +11. The initiative and referendum, proportional representation and the +right of recall. + +12. The abolition of the Senate. + +13. The abolition of the power usurped by the Supreme Court of the +United States to pass upon the constitutionality of legislation +enacted by Congress. National laws to be repealed or abrogated only by +act of Congress or by a referendum of the whole people. + +14. That the constitution be made amendable by majority vote. + +15. The enactment of further measures for general education and for +the conservation of health. The Bureau of Education to be made a +department. The creation of a Department of Public Health. + +16. The separation of the present Bureau of Labor from the Department +of Commerce and Labor, and the establishment of a Department of Labor. + +17. That all judges be elected by the people for short terms, and that +the power to issue injunctions shall be curbed by immediate +legislation. + +18. The free administration of justice. + +Such measures of relief as we may be able to force from capitalism are +but a preparation of the workers to seize the whole powers of +government, in order that they may thereby lay hold of the whole +system of industry, and thus come to their rightful inheritance. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[229] By a referendum vote of the entire membership of the Socialist +party in 1909 these three words, "and all land," were stricken out of +the Socialist platform. + + + + +II + +DR. L. EMMETT HOLT + + +All who practice medicine among children and who study the question of +infant mortality statistically are struck with the marked contrast +between the death rate of the children of the poor and those of the +rich. Clay estimates that in England in the aristocratic families the +mortality of the first year is 10 per cent; in the middle class, 21 +per cent; in the laboring classes, 32 per cent. This difference in the +infant mortality of the various classes is most striking in the case +of acute intestinal disease. Halle states that of 170 deaths from this +cause investigated in Graz in 1903 and 1904 there were 161 among the +poor, 9 among the well-to-do, and none among the rich. It may not be +true in adult life, but _in infancy money may purchase not only +health, it may purchase life_, since it puts at the disposal of the +infant the utmost resources of science, the best advice, the best food +and the best surroundings for the individual child. To relieve, or +even greatly to diminish, infant mortality these basal conditions of +modern city life--poverty and ignorance--must be attacked. + + _Journal American Medical Association_, Feb. 26, 1910. + + + + +III + +EXTRACTS FROM EDICT OF LOUIS XVI, 1776, ABOLISHING THE GUILDS[230] + + +Louis, etc. We owe it to our subjects to assure them the full and +complete enjoyment of their rights; we owe that protection especially +to that class of men who, possessing nothing but their labor and +industry, above all others have the need and right of employing to the +limit of their capacity their sole resources for subsistence. + +We have viewed with pain the multiplied blows which have been struck +at this natural and common right of ancient institutions, blows which +neither time, nor opinion, nor even the acts emanating from the +authority, which seems to have sanctioned them, have been able to make +legitimate. + +[After describing the vicious effects of the guild monopoly, it +continues:] + +... Some persons ... contend that the right of labor is a royal right, +one that the Prince could sell and that the subjects ought to +purchase. We hasten to place beside this another maxim: + +God, by giving to men needs and making them dependent upon the +resources of labor, has made the right of labor the property of all +men, and that property is primary, the most sacred and most +imprescriptable of all. + +We regard it as one of the first obligations of our justice, and as an +act in every way worthy of our beneficence, to emancipate our subjects +from all their restraints which have been laid upon that inalienable +right of humanity. Wherefore, we will to abolish the arbitrary +institutions which do not permit the indigent to live by their labor; +which exclude the sex whose weakness implies greatest needs and fewest +resources ... which stifle emulation and industry and make useless the +talents of those whom circumstances exclude from admission into the +guild; which deprive the state and art of all the advantages which +foreigners might furnish.... + +FOOTNOTES: + +[230] Translation taken from "Turgot and the Six Edicts," by R.P. +Shepherd, 1903, pp. 182, 186-7. + + + + +IV + +POLICE COMMISSIONER BINGHAM + + +Declaring that "law-breaking is the easiest and the most lucrative +business in New York for the work involved," Police Commissioner +Bingham yesterday forwarded his annual report to Mayor McClellan. + +After stating that law-breaking in the city is an easy and lucrative +business, the Commissioner continued: + +"Its profits for slight effort are enormous and law-breaking has been +able to intrench itself behind such a rampart of legislation and +highly paid lawyers that the forces of law and order are placed in the +astonishing position of being actually on the defensive against the +law-breakers. Law-breakers and their highly paid lawyers frequently +fool even the courts into giving them protection against the police on +the grounds of illegal interference, or oppression. + +"The howl of innocence is never so loud as when raised by crooks, and +this includes not only the actual criminals, but their friends and +protectors, crooked politicians. How otherwise is it possible for +prizefights to be held in New York city, in spite of the earnest +efforts of the police to prevent them? How otherwise is it possible +for places positively known by the police to be gambling resorts to be +conducted, and to obtain injunctions restraining the police from +interfering with them? + +"The foregoing is far from saying that the police force of New York is +incompetent, or not able to cope with the situation. The police force +is competent, short-handed though it is. Its activity and efficiency +are proved by the very resistance given it by law-breakers, for the +better the work done by the police, the more stubborn is the +resistance they meet with from law-breakers." + +As an example of what the police have to cope with the Commissioner +mentions the recent Sunday-closing incident, where a court decision +was handed down, and enforced, and the Aldermen straightway amended +the law. He then asks: "How then can the police execute the law, when +there seems to be so much doubt as to what the law really is?" + +Gen. Bingham continues: + +"These points are necessary in order that scheming politicians may be +deprived of any possibility of summarily getting rid of an honest +commissioner and in order that the honest men of the police force may +be encouraged. The men of the force to-day are not quite sure who is +their real boss--the 'machine' or the police commissioner. If once +satisfied that it is the commissioner, with a long term and only +removable on publication of charges, they will obey him." + +Legislation requiring persons who sell any sort of dangerous weapons +to record the date and hour of the sale, and report it, with the name +and address of the buyer, to the police, is suggested, as well as a +daily report from pawnbrokers, giving the date, hour, and other +particulars of their transactions. This, the Commissioner says, is the +custom in other large cities. + +The following figures of arrests, etc., in the last year are given in +the report: + + ARRESTS MADE + + By uniformed force 192,680 + Detective Bureau 11,416 + ------- + Total 204,096 + +These figures refer to the Boroughs of Manhattan, The Bronx, and +Richmond. + + N.Y. _Times_, Jan. 5, 1908. + + + + +V + +PETTIBONE v. NICHOLS + + +_Dissenting opinion_ of Mr. Justice MCKENNA: + +I am constrained to dissent from the opinion and judgment of the +court. The principle announced, as I understand it, is that "a Circuit +Court of the United States, when asked upon _habeas corpus_ to +discharge a person held in actual custody by a State for trial in one +of its courts under an indictment charging a crime against its laws, +cannot properly take into account the methods whereby the State +obtained such custody." In other words, and to illuminate the +principle by the light of the facts in this case (facts, I mean, as +alleged, and which we must assume to be true for the purpose of our +discussion), that the officers of one State may falsely represent that +a person was personally present in the State and committed a crime +there, and had fled from its justice, may arrest such person and take +him from another State, the officers of the latter knowing of false +accusation and conniving in and aiding its purpose, thereby depriving +him of an opportunity to appeal to the courts, and that such person +cannot invoke the rights guaranteed to him by the Constitution and +statutes of the United States in the State to which he is taken. And +this, it is said, is supported by the cases of _Ker_ v. _Illinois_, +119 U.S. 436, and _Mahon_ v. _Justice_, 127 U.S. 700. These cases, +extreme as they are, do not justify, in my judgment, the conclusion +deduced from them. In neither case was the State the actor in the +wrongs that brought within its confines the accused person. In the +case at bar, the States, through their officers, are the offenders. +They, by an illegal exertion of power, deprived the accused of a +constitutional right. The distinction is important to be observed. It +finds expression in _Mahon_ v. _Justice_. But it does not need +emphasizing. Kidnapping is a crime, pure and simple. It is difficult +to accomplish; hazardous at every step. All of the officers of the law +are supposed to be on guard against it. All of the officers of the law +may be invoked against it. But how is it when the law becomes the +kidnapper, when the officers of the law, using its forms and exerting +its power, become abductors? This is not a distinction without a +difference--another form of the crime of kidnapping, distinguished +only from that committed by an individual by circumstances. If a State +may say to one within her borders and upon whom her process is served, +I will not inquire how you came here; I must execute my laws and remit +you to proceedings against those who have wronged you, may she so +plead against her own offences? May she claim that by mere physical +presence within her borders, an accused person is within her +jurisdiction denuded of his constitutional rights, though he has been +brought there by her violence? And constitutional rights the accused +in this case certainly did have, and valuable ones. The foundation of +extradition between the States is that the accused should be a +fugitive from justice from the demanding State, and he may challenge +the fact by _habeas corpus_ immediately upon his arrest. If he refute +the fact he cannot be removed. _Hyatt_ v. _Corkran_, 188 U.S. 691. +And the right to resist removal is not a right of asylum. To call it +so in the State where the accused is is misleading. It is the right to +be free from molestation. It is the right of personal liberty in its +most complete sense. And this right was vindicated in _Hyatt_ v. +_Corkran_, and the fiction of a constructive presence in a State and a +constructive flight from a constructive presence rejected. This +decision illustrates at once the value of the right and the value of +the means to enforce the right. It is to be hoped that our criminal +jurisprudence will not need for its efficient administration the +destruction of either the right or the means to enforce it. The +decision in the case at bar, as I view it, brings us perilously near +both results. Is this exaggeration? What are the facts in the case at +bar as alleged in the petition, and which it is conceded must be +assumed to be true? The complaint, which was the foundation of the +extradition proceedings, charged against the accused the crime of +murder on the thirtieth of December, 1905, at Caldwell, in the county +of Canyon, State of Idaho, by killing one Frank Steunenberg, by +throwing an explosive bomb at and against his person. The accused +avers in his petition that he had not been "in the State of Idaho, in +any way, shape or form, for a period of more than ten years" prior to +the acts of which he complained, and that the Governor of Idaho knew +accused had not been in the State the day the murder was committed, +"nor at any time near that day." A conspiracy is alleged between the +Governor of the State of Idaho and his advisers, and that the Governor +of the State of Colorado took part in the conspiracy, the purpose of +which was "to avoid the Constitution of the United States and the act +of Congress made in pursuance thereof, and to prevent the accused from +asserting his constitutional right under cl. 2, sec. 2, of art. IV, of +the Constitution of the United States and the act made pursuant +thereof." The manner in which the alleged conspiracy had been executed +was set out in detail. It was in effect that the agent of the State of +Idaho arrived in Denver, Thursday, February 15, 1906, but it was +agreed between him and the officers of Colorado that the arrest of the +accused should not be made until some time in the night of Saturday, +after business hours--after the courts had closed and judges and +lawyers had departed to their homes; that the arrest should be kept a +secret and the body of the accused should be clandestinely hurried +out of the State of Colorado with all possible speed, without the +knowledge of his friends or his counsel; that he was at the usual +place of business during Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, but no +attempt was made to arrest him until 11.30 o'clock P.M. Saturday, when +his house was surrounded and he was arrested. Moyer was arrested under +the same circumstances at 8.45, and he and accused "thrown into the +county jail of the city and county of Denver." It is further alleged +that, in pursuance of the conspiracy, between the hours of five and +six o'clock on Sunday morning, February 18, the officers of the State +and "certain armed guards, being a part of the forces of the militia +of the State of Colorado," provided a special train for the purpose of +forcibly removing him from the State of Colorado, and between said +hours he was forcibly placed on said train and removed with all +possible speed to the State of Idaho; that prior to his removal and at +all times after his incarceration in the jail at Denver he requested +to be allowed to communicate with his friends and his counsel and his +family, and the privilege was absolutely denied him. The train, it is +alleged, made no stop at any considerable station, but proceeded at +great and unusual speed; and that he was accompanied by and surrounded +with armed guards, members of the State militia of Colorado, under the +orders and directions of the adjutant general of the State. + +I submit that the facts in this case are different in kind and +transcend in consequences those in the cases of _Ker_ v. _Illinois_ +and _Mahon_ v. _Justice_, and differ from and transcend them as the +power of a State transcends the power of an individual. No individual +or individuals could have accomplished what the the power of the two +States accomplished; no individual or individuals could have commanded +the means and success; could have made two arrests of prominent +citizens by invading their homes; could have commanded the resources +of jails, armed guards and special trains; could have successfully +timed all acts to prevent inquiry and judicial interference. + +The accused, as soon as he could have done so, submitted his rights to +the consideration of the courts. He could not have done so in +Colorado, he could not have done so on the way from Colorado. At the +first instant that the State of Idaho relaxed its restraining power he +invoked the aid of _habeas corpus_ successively of the Supreme Court +of the State and of the Circuit Court of the United States. He should +not have been dismissed from the court, and the action of the Circuit +Court in so doing should be reversed. + + + + +VI + +EUGENE v. DEBS + + +"Yes," said Debs. "The trusts are wiping out the competitive system. +They are a stage in the process of evolution: the individual; the +firm; the corporation; the trust; and so, finally, the commonwealth. +By killing competition and training men to work together, trusts are +preparing for the cooperative stage of industry: Socialism." + +"Then you would keep the trusts we have and welcome others?" I asked. + +"Of course," he answered, and Berger nodded approval. + +"They do harm now," I suggested. + +"Yes," said Debs, but Berger boomed: "No; not the trusts. Private +owners of the trusts do harm, yes; but not the trusts." + +"Well, but how would you deal with the harm?" + +"Remove 'em," snapped Berger, and Debs explained: "We would have the +government take the trusts and remove the men who own or control them: +the Morgans and Rockefellers, who exploit; and the stockholders who +draw unearned dividends from them." + +"Would you pay for or just take them?" + +Berger seemed to have anticipated this question. He was on his feet, +and he uttered a warning for Debs--in vain. + +"Take them," Debs answered. + +"No," cried Berger, and, running around to Debs, he stood menacingly +over him. "No, you wouldn't," he declared. "Not if I was there. And +you shall not say it for the party. It is my party as much as it is +your party, and I answer that we would offer to pay." + +It was a tense but an illuminating moment. The difference is typical +and temperamental; and not only as between these two opposite +individualities, but among Socialists generally. Debs, the +revolutionist, argued gently that, since the system under which +private monopolies had grown up was unjust, there should be no +compromise with it. Berger, the evolutionist, replied angrily that it +was not alone a matter of justice, but of "tactic"; and that tactics +were settled by authority of the party. + +"We (Socialists) are the inheritors of a civilization," he proclaimed, +"and all that is good in it--art, music, institutions, buildings, +public works, character, the sense of right and wrong--not one of +these shall be lost. And violence, like that, would lose us much." +Berger cited the Civil War: "All men can see now that it was coming +years before 1861. Some tried to avert it then by proposing to pay for +the slaves. The fanatics on both sides refused. We all know the +result: slavery was abolished. But how? Instead of a peaceful +evolution and an outlay of, say, a billion, it was abolished by a war +which cost us nearly ten billion dollars and a million lives. We ought +to learn from history, so I say we will offer compensation; because it +seems just to present-day thought and will prove the easiest, cheapest +way in the end. And anyhow," he concluded, "and besites, the party, it +has decited that we shall offer to pay." + +From the article by Mr. Steffens, _Eugene V. Debs_, in _Everybody's +Magazine_, Oct., 1908. + + + + +VII + +TRAMPS AND VAGRANTS + + +Tramps, professional and amateur, and trespassers of both sexes and +all ages, are simply swarming over the railroads east of the +Mississippi River, forming a very serious problem for both railroads +and State Governments, according to reports which O.F. Lewis has +received from most of the great roads of the East, and recently +published in _Charities_ and _The Commons_. Mr. Lewis finds from these +reports that the railroad tramp and trespasser evil is on the +increase, with roads and States through which they pass unable to +check it, and one road, the New York Central, declares that half of +the loss and damage claims currently paid by railroads may be ascribed +to robberies committed by tramps and trespassers. Much of this +increase in trampdom is ascribed to the effects of the panic and the +hard times, which threw thousands of men out of employment. + +"Most of the railroads," says Mr. Lewis, in summing up the replies +received to the questions he sent out, "report a very noticeable +increase in vagrancy on their lines. The Central Vermont says 75 per +cent, the Chicago & Eastern Illinois 50 per cent, the Great Northern +200 per cent. Great increases are reported by the Delaware, Lackawanna +& Western, the New York Central, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia & Reading, +and many others. The Northern Pacific reports more vagrants travelling +than ever before. + +"A decrease is reported on the Central of New Jersey, the Cumberland +Valley, Chicago, Indiana & Southern, and on the Missouri Pacific. +Emphasizing the increase on the Pennsylvania, President McCrea states +that four times as many arrests were made for illegal train riding in +June, 1908, as in June, 1907. + +"Stealing foodstuffs, stealing rides, stealing handcars, threatening +and injuring trainmen, placing obstructions on tracks, stoning freight +crews, setting air brakes, and robbing ticket offices, are typical +offences." + +As bearing on the question of, literally, "Who pays the freight?" the +following is from the New York Central's report: + +"We are required by law to charge all of the costs arising out of the +operation of the railroad to operating expenses, which constitute the +loss of the services rendered. Among these expenses are loss and +damage due to the effects of trespassing and the acts of trespassers. +Inasmuch as the definition of a reasonable rate has been stated to +include the cost of the service and a reasonable return upon the value +of the property employed, it inevitably follows that our charge to the +public includes these elements of cost. It may, therefore, be said +that in the end the public pays, but we would prefer to eliminate this +source of cost as far as practicable." + +Many railroads ascribe the increased number of vagrants to "hard +times," resulting in the reduction in the number of men employed +throughout the country. + +The report is frequent that more "honest out-of-works" are stealing +rides and trespassing. President McCrea reports that "not many of the +illegal train riders are vagrants, but men out of employment." The +Southern Pacific reports that "the type of trespasser is as a whole +better." + +With striking frequency the railroads report the majority of illegal +train riders to be young men and boys. The ages "18 to 25" are often +mentioned. The Central Railroad of New Jersey says they can be +considered as the coming generation of tramps. + +Answering the question, "Do you believe in a State constabulary to +cooperate with the railway police in prosecuting vagrants?" +twenty-three railroads replied "yes," five replied "no," and sixteen +either had not considered the matter thoroughly or made no reply. The +State constabulary is favored mainly by trunk lines that are troubled +by vagrants. + + N.Y. _Times_, Feb. 14, 1909. + + + + +VIII + +PUBLIC STORE NOTES + + +The last report of the Director of the Mint (as quoted in _Statistical +Abstract of the United States_, 1908, p. 714) gives the stock of gold +in the United States as nearly $1,600,000,000 and amount of silver as +almost $700,000,000--in all, $2,300,000,000. Of course, all this coin +will never be at the disposal of the State; some of it will remain as +now in private hands. But all the coin now held by the Government as +reserves to secure greenbacks issued will be gradually released by the +substitution of store notes for greenbacks. This substitution cannot +be honestly effected except in proportion to the amount of produce +which goes into the public stores. There are at the present moment a +little over $1,000,000,000 of greenbacks issued by the United States +Government redeemable in coin. If in any given year the produce +acquired by the state amounts to--say, $100,000,000, the state can +withdraw greenbacks to the amount of $100,000,000 and substitute +therefor public store notes for $100,000,000, and so on, until there +have been substituted public store notes for all the greenbacks in +circulation. + +As regards the remaining $1,300,000,000, some of this, of course, will +remain in private hands; and if it were the policy of the government +to increase its supply of gold for the purchase of foreign goods, it +could levy taxes paid by those engaged in private industry in gold +instead of in produce. If, on the other hand, the private banking +system operated satisfactorily, the state could leave the whole of +$1,300,000,000 in the hands of private bankers and through its +ownership of mines, would still have the whole gold and silver +production in the United States for the purchase of foreign goods. + +As the amount of gold and silver produced in the United States +amounted in 1907 to over $90,000,000 of gold and over $37,000,000 of +silver, it will be seen that the state would have at its disposal some +$127,000,000 in gold and silver which it could use in the purchase of +foreign goods against which it could issue public store notes. In +other words, gold and silver will be confined to the amount used in +the competitive system and that required for the settlement of foreign +exchanges. + + + + +INDEX + + +A + +Accidents, 165, 166, 326, 420 + adulteration, 66, 88-93 + advertising, cost of, 5, 95, 207-208, 233 + +Africa, 121, 309, 391 + +Agriculture, 29, 218 + Year Book of the Department of, 230 + +Albany, 261, 265 + +alcoholism, 272 + +America, 16, 137, 140 + business men in, 58 + land in, 123 + municipal ownership in, 20 + prosperity of, 24 + Republic of, 138 + Socialism in, 149 + sweating in, 156 + trade unionism in, 149 + workingman in, 409 + +American-- + ---- cities, 286 + ---- export of wheat, 55 + ---- Farmer, 48 + ---- Federation of Labor, 171 + ---- Medical Association, 421 + ---- nationality, 118, 284 + ---- Smelting and Refining Company, 87, 170 + ---- Socialist press, 40 + ---- Steel District, 164 + ---- Steel and Wire Company, 62 + ---- Sugar Refining Company, 106 + ---- view of Socialism, 1 + ---- workingmen's families, 229 + +Anarchism, 7, 31, 33-34, 43, 51, 127, 174 + +anarchists, 21, 31-34 + Communistic, 33 + +anarchy, 108, 110, 300 + ---- of distribution, 99, 102-110 + ---- of production, 102-110, 414-415 + ---- of the Middle Ages, 107 + +apprenticeship, 150 + ---- rules, 151 + +Archbold, 99 + +art, 31, 45, 128, 328, 429 + adulteration an, 88, 93 + +Asia, 105 + +Astor, John Jacob, 117 + William Waldorf, 118, 123 + + +B + +Babbage, Economy of Manufacture, 219 + +Bankers, Institute of, 193 + +Barrel, Dictionnaire d'Agriculture, 268 + +Bebel, August, 408 + +Belgian view of Socialism, 1 + +Belgium, 392 + cooperative stores in, 200 + farm colonies in, 78 + universal franchise in, 242 + +Bell, Alexander Graham, 221 + +Bellamy, Edward, 405 + +Berger, Victor, 255-256 + +Berger, Victor, views on compensation, 428-429 + +Berne, Canton of, 263 + +Beveridge, W.H., 66, 71-73, 75-76, 78 + +Bingham, Theodore, Police Commissioner of New York city, 158, 423, 424 + +Birmingham, 285 + ---- converted its slum into Corporation Street, 283 + municipal ownership of gas in, 20 + +Bismarck, 241 + +Bjoerkman, Edwin, 406-407 + +Boer War, 309 + +Booth, Charles, 356 + +Boston, Chamber of Commerce of, 60, 218 + ---- Milk Contractors' Association, 288 + +bourgeois, 4, 11, 23, 25-26, 29, 32, 37, 39, 44, 46, 58, 66, 111 + ---- needs concrete statement, 4 + characterization of, 11 + ---- controls schools, colleges, and press, 24, 42-43, 68 + +Bradley, Edson, 206 + +British-- + ---- Empire, 63 + ---- employers, 148 + ---- government, 171 + ---- opium war in China, 63 + ---- Parliament, 142 + ---- trade unionists, 148 + +Brookmire, James H., 182, 191 + +Bryan, Wm. J., 6, 42, 57, 132 + +Bureau of Labor, 5, 227-228, 230, 293, 421 + +business men slaves of their own creations, 49 + + +C + +California, 280 + +Canal, 419 + +Canal, Panama, 220 + Suez, 220 + +Cannon, Joseph, 309 + +capital, 58-61, 102-105, 109, 132, 144, 165, 167, 172, 226, 409 + ---- by Karl Marx, 1, 34 + fluidity of, 64-65, 103 + waste of, 99 + +capitalist, 4, 10-11, 33, 36, 60, 102, 107, 109, 200, 219, 308, 414-415 + ---- class, 418 + ---- society, 414 + +Carlyle, Thomas, 388, 402 + +Carnegie, Andrew, 148, 199, 201, 325 + Problems of the Day, by, 199 + +Carnegie Steel Company, 168 + +Carter, James C., 7 + +Census (U.S.), 41, 48, 73, 77, 204 + +Central Railroad of Vermont, 430 + ---- of New Jersey, 430 + +Chamber of Commerce (Boston), 60, 218 + +Chapin, Robert Coit, 229 + +Charities, 164, 229 + ---- and the Commons, 266, 429 + Commissioner of, 266 + +charity, 72, 77, 78, 420 + +Chicago, 209-210, 413, 430 + +children, 34-35, 65, 68 109, 117, 120, 143, 154, 321, 325, 328, 415, 421 + death rate of, 38 + exploitation of, 42 + employment of, 42, 154, 157-158, 420 + property in, 133 + +China, 63 + +Chinese, 64, 354 + +cholera, 18, 19, 143 + +Christian Socialism, 12 + +Christian Socialist, 40, 207 + +churches, 328-330 + +circulating medium, 307-313 + +citizens, 25, 42, 218, 320, 327 + +citizens' union, 322-324 + +City Club, 90, 323 + +civil war, 168, 175, 429 + +civilization, 31, 85, 88, 113, 119, 126, 134, 138, 140-141 + property the basis of every conceivable, 43 + unemployment a peculiar product of our, 68 + +Clare, George, 193 + +class, 118, 144, 152, 416, 422 + bourgeois, 24, 26, 137 + capitalist, 143 + criminal, 322 + ---- consciousness, 16 + dominant, 412 + exploited, 26 + ---- interest, 29, 418 + laboring, 33, 109 + propertied, 24, 68, 120, 122, 414 + ---- rule, 45, 416 + ruling, 414-418 + ---- struggle, 25, 414 + wage-earning, 147, 415 + +Clearing House, 177 + ---- Association, 183 + +coal, 417 + ---- trust, 164, 238 + +Collectivism and Revolution, 1 + +colleges, controlled by propertied class, 68 + +colony, farm, 263-277, 380 + agricultural, 273 + penal, 274, 276 + +Colorado, 426-427 + ---- Midland railroad, 210 + ---- miners' strike, 168 + ---- State Board of Health, 90 + +Columbia University, 92 + +combination, 96, 99, 104, 143, 149-150, 160, 163-164, 319, 414, 419 + +commerce, 329 + ---- chamber of, 60, 218 + +Commerce and Labor, U.S. Department of, 421 + +Commercial Travelers' National League, 208 + ---- crises, 178, 414 + +Commonwealth, 5, 10, 30-31, 36, 80, 137, 143, 145, 252, 256, 300, 305, + 317, 325-329, 426 + +Communism, 33, 36, 51, 302 + ---- of Apostolic times, 34 + Socialism is not, 7 + +Communist, 7, 302 + Sir Thomas More a, 33 + +community, 25, 29, 116, 123, 131, 144, 147, 218, 319, 323, 326, 329, 410 + +compensation, 19-20, 29, 123, 251-253, 255-256, 285, 429 + +competition, 7, 9, 18-19, 34-38, 51, 58, 61, 63, 71, 94, 99-103, + 106-107, 151-152, 155, 157, 158, 262, 409, 419 + foreign, 149 + ---- primary cause of unemployment, 66-67 + +competitive system, 8, 37-39, 51, 53, 56-57, 60-66, 72-74, 79, 82, 86, + 88, 99, 101-102, 105, 110, 134, 140-142, 144-147, 153, 160, 323, + 426, 432 + +Comptroller of the City of New York, 190 + +compulsory education, 3, 120 + +Conant, Charles A., 177, 179 + +conflict, 115, 121, 140, 144 + ---- between capital and labor, 5, 86 + ---- between economics and religion, 389 + ---- between races, 115 + ---- between science and religion, 378-395 + ---- between tribes, 133 + +conflict between trusts and trade unions, 176 + international, 354 + +congested districts, 19, 42, 283 + +Congress (U.S.) 168, 197, 308-309, 318, 329-332, 417, 420, 426 + +Constitution, 329, 365, 417, 421 + federal, 15 + ---- of the United States, 365, 425-426 + State, 15 + +Constructive Program of Socialism, 7 + +consumer, 92-93, 96-97, 105-107 + +Consumers' parliament, 330 + +contract, freedom of, 94, 107, 109-110, 144 + +cooperation, 9, 34-35, 50-51, 54, 58, 94, 102, 104, 108, 199-201, 409 + +cooperative system, 39, 51, 128, 342-347 + ---- stores in Belgium, 200 + +corporations, 72, 320-321, 323-324, 426 + +Cortelyou, George, 187-189 + +cost, 62, 87, 155 + ---- of advertising, 5, 95 + ---- of crime, 5 + ---- of crude oil, 63 + ---- of distribution, 5 + ---- of getting the market, 99 + ---- of letter distribution, 96 + ---- of living, 156, 228-229 + ---- of revolutions, 30 + +cotton, 55, 92, 155 + ---- industries of Lancashire, 153 + proposal to burn, 60 + ---- weavers of India, 218 + +country, 29, 35, 43, 65, 77, 112, 118, 120, 121, 131-132, 156, 330, 417 + +County Council (London), 320 + +courts, 15, 92, 110, 119, 155, 415-428 + +credit, 178 + +crime, 9, 22, 26, 35, 39, 42, 44, 52, 63, 66, 83, 99, 128, 130, 158, + 415, 424-426 + +crises, 178, 414 + +cross freights, 96, 99-100 + +Cuba, 407 + +Cumberland, 430 + +custom, 13, 112, 113, 366 + +cyclical fluctuations, 67, 73 + + +D + +Dairy and Food Commission of Ohio, 90 + ---- products, 275 + +Damien, Father, 39 + +Darwin, Charles, 8, 85 + +Dearles, N.B., 72 + +death, 37-38, 99, 136, 212, 421 + +Debs, Eugene V., 255, 428-429 + +Declaration of Independence, 137 + +defectives and delinquents, 5 + +degeneracy, 36 + +Delaware, 430 + +democracy, 28, 129, 143, 158, 175 + +Denver, 210, 426-427 + +depression, 66, 76, 87, 414 + industrial, 73, 153, 418 + +Detrich, J., 281 + +disease, 39, 54, 58, 69-70, 99 + +distribution, 23, 28-29, 36-37, 54-55, 59, 66, 87, 93-94, 97 + anarchy of, 99, 102 + cost of, 5, 10, 288, 318, 411 + +divorce, 40, 81 + +Dowe, President Commercial Travelers' League, 95 + +drunkenness, 70, 79, 99 + +Dutch farm colonies, 271 + + +E + +economic conditions, 23-30, 64, 322, 329 + points of view created by, 22 + +economic interpretation of history, 10 + ---- liberty, 51-52 + ---- socialism, 1, 13, 14 + ---- tyranny, 138 + +Economists, 61, 66, 73, 103, 403 + orthodox, 68 + +economy, 48, 50 + ---- of Manufacture, 219 + ---- of Socialism, 5 + +education, 144, 154, 158, 325-328 + Board of, 321 + ---- of workingmen, 48, 144 + U.S. Department of, 27, 421 + +Elimination of the Tramp, 264, 271-272 + +Eliot, Charles W., 109 + +Ely, Richard T., 42, 60, 209, 210, 217, 225 + +employers-- + loss to, from strikes, 86 + +Employers' Association in Colorado, 168 + +Encyclopedia Americana, 88, 148 + ---- Britannica, 93 + +Engels, Friedrich, 1, 387 + +engineer's lockout, 148-149 + +England, 40, 63, 78, 132, 147-148, 176, 193, 210, 220, 236-237, 264, + 309, 409, 421 + Labor party in, 171 + municipal ownership in, 20 + Public House Trust in, 295 + +English-- + manufacturers, 63 + ministry, 154 + ---- Poor Law Guardians, 273 + ---- Socialism of To-day, 155 + ---- unions, 171 + +Ensor, R.C.K., Modern Socialism, 387 + +Ethical argument for Socialism, 12, 13, 29 + ---- Aspect of Socialism, 378-410 + +Ethical standards, 81 + +Europe, 76, 105, 132, 135-136, 166, 173, 181, 188, 196, 210, 223, 263, + 289, 309, 408-409 + +Evolution, 3, 5 + ---- and Effort, 267 + ---- and Ethics, 336, 379-385 + Socialist, 22 + +evolutionist, 23-24, 27-30, 429 + +exploitation, 4, 35, 45, 416 + ---- of women and children, 32 + +export of wheat, 55 + ---- of oil, 63, 104 + + +F + +Fabian Tracts, 2 + +factory, 29, 32, 48, 80, 103-104, 123-124, 132, 138, 156, 220, 327, 415-417 + ---- hand 16, 25, 47, 50, 73 + independent, 159 + ---- inspection, 420 + ---- owners, 25, 29, 47-48, 69-70 + +fallacies regarding Socialism, 6 + +family, 28, 35, 42, 44, 109, 118, 122, 131, 134, 137, 153, 157, 421, 427 + +Faraday, 222 + +farm, 29 + colony, 78-80, 263-277 + deserted, 68 + ---- hands, 28 + ownership of, 16 + +farmer, 15, 28-29, 48, 55, 177-178, 415 + +Farmers' Bulletin, 269, 281 + +farming population, 48 + +Federal Steel Company, 62 + +Federation of Labor, 171 + +Fesca, Dr. M., Beitraege zur Kenntniss der japanesischen + Landwirthschaft, 267 + +Fields, Factories and Workshops (Kropotkin), 267 + +Filene Store, 199-200 + +financial crises, 178, 299 + +fines (for adulteration), 88-93 + +food, 98 + ---- adulteration, 89-93 + +Food and Drugs Act, 91 + +forests, 27 + +Forster, Rt. Hon. H.O. Arnold, 154 + +Fourier, 317 + +France, 40, 78, 132, 137, 243, 264, 266, 308-309, 318, 392, 409 + +franchise, 135, 145 + +free trade, 69 + +freedom, 109, 116, 121, 124 + law an abridgment of, 113-114 + ---- of contract, 11, 140-141 + ---- of industry, 111 + economic, 50, 125 + +French Parliament, 18-19 + ---- peasant, 278 + ---- penal code, 142 + ---- Revolution, 32, 138, 140, 243 + +Frick, Henry, 27, 188, 191 + +funds, 172, + benefit, 136 + Mansion House Relief, 76 + savings bank, 78 + trade union, 78 + + +G + +Galvani, 222 + +gambling, 38, 68, 72, 423 + +gardeners (Paris), 268 + ---- Hammersmith, 18-20 + +Gary, Elbert H., 57-62, 188, 191 + +gas, 123, 324 + ---- in Birmingham, 20 + ---- in Manchester, 20 + ---- in New York, 21 + +General Electric Company, 184, 221 + +Genevilliers, 268 + +George, Henry, 123, 364 + +German (the), 321 + ---- competition, 148 + +Germany, 236, 242, 308-309, 408 + cabinet minister in, 132 + palliative measures in, 78 + workingmen in, 16 + +Ghent, W.J., 89 + +Giddings, Professor Franklin H., 405 + +Gladstone, 334, 384 + +Gompers, Samuel, 408 + +Gothenburg system, 295 + +government, 32-33, 43, 102, 121, 128-129, 135-136, 150, 218, 315, + 317-320, 336, 416-418, 431 + ---- control, 12, 72 + good, 321-324 + ---- postoffice, 97 + ---- printing office, 228 + publications of U.S., 12, 228 + the Prussian, 25 + +Grandeau, L., Etudes agronomiques, 268 + +Guesde, Jules, 408 + +Guggenheim, Senator, 74 + Daniel, 87 + +guilds, 135, 140 + tyranny of, 135-140 + + +H + +Hague Tribunal, 355 + +Hallet, Major, 267 + +Hammersmith, 18-20 + +Hardie, Keir, 408 + +Harriman, 304 + +Havemeyer, H.O., 57, 105, 107, 159, 161 + +Haywood, 169, 240 + +health, 414, 421 + Colorado State Board of, 90 + conservation of, 27, 38, 72 + Department of, 27 + +Hebberd, Mr., Commissioner of Charities of New York city, 266 + +Henri IV, 142 + +Hill, James J., 238, 304 + +Hillquit, Morris, 2, 7, 248, 305, 307 + +Hindustan, 64, 355 + +history, 28, 387 + +Holland, 222 + farm colonies in, 262, 265 + +Hollesley Bay, 78 + +Holt, Dr. L. Emmett, 38, 421 + +home, 7, 40-42, 51, 83, 105, 156, 157, 415 + common, 317 + ---- Economics, Conference on, 92 + ---- industry, 138 + +horde, 34, 35, 107 + +hours of labor, 62, 69, 128, 145, 152, 153, 220, 318, 326, 328, 419 + excessive, 70 + four hours' workday, 50 + ---- of farmer, 15 + +House of Commons, 18 + +House report, 52d Congress, 2d + session, 197 + +Hudson river, 261 + +Hughes, Charles F., 244-245 + +Hunter, Robert, 42 + +Huxley, Thomas, 13, 315-316, 379-380, 382-386, 388, 395, 404 + + +I + +Ice Trust, 262 + +Idaho, 426-427 + +Illinois, 425, 427, 430 + +immediate demands, 26, 27, 246 + +immobilization of capital, 65 + +imprisonment for adulteration, 89-93 + +India, 218 + starvation in, 55, 60 + tiger developed in, 4 + +Indian opium forced upon China, 63 + +Indiana, 430 + +individualism, 10, 23, 32 + +Industrial Commission, 57, 62-63, 76, 95, 99, 104-107, 146, 150-151, + 159, 161-164, 170, 206-208, 288 + +industrial conditions, 42, 64, 76, 93 + ---- depression, 153, 414 + ---- Parliament, 318 + ---- population, 48 + ---- schools, 151 + ---- system, 26, 46, 52, 73 + +industrialism, 88 + +industries, 118, 318, 326-327, 414, 416 + captain of, 87 + collective ownership of, 419 + seasonal, 71 + socialized, 319 + +industry, 65, 102-105, 107, 123, 134, 138-140, 148, 155, 159, 317, 421-422 + +insurance, 5, 78, 179, 303, 420 + German national, 241 + ---- Year Book, 179 + +International, the, 155 + ---- complications, 63 + ---- conflict, 354 + ---- crime, 63 + +interest, 59, 69 + personal, 29-30 + private, 26 + vested, 15, 17, 19, 20, 22-30 + +intranational conflict, 354 + +invention, 44, 219, 222-224 + +inventor, 219, 220-224 + +investor, 94 + +Ireland, 241 + +Italy, 22, 267 + + +J + +James I of England, 21 + +Japan, 62-63, 239, 267 + +Jaures, 132, 408 + +Jersey, Island of, 280 + +justice, 27, 34, 64, 411-429 + + +K + +Kautsky, Karl, 239, 243, 307-308 + +Kentucky, 60 + +Knickerbocker Trust Company, 182-184, 189, 191 + +Kropotkin, 34, 135, 267-268 + + +L + +labor, 36, 50-51, 75, 80, 86, 104, 113-114, 116-117, 119, 123, 131, + 135, 144, 147, 154, 157, 414-422 + ---- Bulletin, 120 + Bureau of, 421 + child, 109 + Commerce and, 421 + Department of, 421 + fluidity of, 103 + ---- market, 109 + ---- members of Parliament, 173 + ---- not so fluid as capital, 64 + ---- of women, 109 + young, 69 + +laborers, 72, 74 + +_Laissez-faire_, 11, 32, 139, 407 + +Lancashire, 154 + +land, 15, 24, 27, 29, 42, 48, 59, 112, 116, 118, 122-124, 148, 269, + 278, 317, 412-414, 416, 420 + +law, 43, 91-92, 108, 112-113, 119, 121, 126, 137, 159, 322, 324, 410, + 417, 420, 423, 425, 430 + ---- of 1799 of British Parliament, 142 + relation of custom to, 13 + +Lebovitz, J., 5 + +legislation, 26, 424 + +leisure, 48-49, 52, 65, 125-130, 325, 411 + +Lesseps de, 220 + +Lewis, Orlando F., 429-430 + +liberty, 7, 32, 46-47, 50, 52, 110, 130, 139, 317, 325, 409, 412, 426 + A Plea for, 50, 94 + +life, 28, 33, 37-38, 50, 67-72 + +Lincoln, 175 + +lockout, 5, 86-88, 110, 148 + +London, 18, 21, 71, 219, 284, 286, 320, 394 + +Louis XIV, 137, 422 + +Lowell, James Russell, 223 + +lumber, 53 + camps, 42 + +lunacy, 49, 278 + +Lyell, Sir Charles, 349 + + +M + +McCrea, President, 430 + +MacDonald, J. Ramsay, 408 + +McKenna, Judge, 169, 424 + +machine, political, 129 + +machinery, 69, 218, 414-420 + +Maine, 280 + +Mallock, 408-409 + +Malthus, 172, 316 + +Manchester, 20 + ---- school, 32, 60, 139 + +Manhattan, 97-98, 282, 424 + +Mansion House Relief Fund, 76 + +Manufacture, Economy of, 219 + +market, 16, 18, 64, 93, 103-105, 109-110, 141, 146, 148, 158 + foreign, 62, 63, 76, 319 + getting the, 95-96 + ---- price, 154, 159 + the London, 18 + tyranny of the, 102-103 + +marriage, 40, 85, 134, 351-353, 358-359 + +Marshall, Alfred, 391 + +Martineau, Harriet, 402 + +Marx, Karl, 1, 8, 25, 33-34, 147, 155-156, 226, 386 + +Marxian school, 25, 201, 239 + ---- doctrine of value, 33 + ---- socialism, 1 + ---- socialist, 242 + +Mass and Class, 89 + +Maxim, 220 + +meat, 137, 417 + ---- distribution, 97 + ---- Trust, 262 + +Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, 212 + +Metz, Hermann, Comptroller of New York city, 190 + +Middle Ages, 107, 110, 135, 138 + +militia, 27, 427 + +milk, 96-97, 324 + ---- adulteration, 90 + ---- Contractors' Association, 288 + trust, 211 + +Mill, John Stuart, 32, 325 + +Miner, Maud E., probation officer, 83 + +mineowners, 27 + +miners, 65 131, 415, 417 + ---- union, 164 + Western Federation of, 417 + +misrepresentation, 6, 15-16 + +Mississippi, 429 + +Mitchell, Dr. W.C., 90-91 + +Mitchell, John, 146, 151-152, 408 + +Modern Socialism, R.C.K. Ensor, 387 + +Monde Economique, 63 + +Monetary and Banking system, by Maurice L. Muhleman, 181 + +money, 37, 53-55, 66-68, 77-79, 81, 86, 176-198, 323, 419 + ---- market, 74 + ---- Market Primer, by George Clare, 193 + +monopoly, 260, 416, 422, 428 + ---- of guilds, 256 + +monopolies, 123, 137, 146, 150 + +morality, 40, 45, 81-84 + +More, Sir Thomas, 33 + +Morgan, J. Pierpont, 169, 185, 195-196, 237-239, 254, 257, 428 + elimination of waste by, 58 + organization of steel and coal trusts by, 238 + share of, in New York city finances, Oct., 1908, 190 + +Morris, William, 2 + +mortality, 38 + infant, 419 + +Moyer, 169 + +Muhleman, Maurice L., 181 + +municipalities, 74 + +municipal ownership, 20-21 + +Municipal Year Book, 20 + + +N + +nation, 63, 65, 105, 107, 114, 131, 133, 412-418 + +National Association of State Food and Dairy Departments, 91 + +National Executive Committee, 248, 256 + +necessaries of life, 128, 417 + +Negro slavery, 46 + +New England, 42 + +New York Central railroad, 74, 429-430 + +New York city, 19-22, 177, 179, 190, 209, 214, 283-284, 320-322 + Aldermen in, 247 + butcher shops in, 97 + reform in, 128 + Trow's directory of, 97 + +New York State, 245, 265, 269, 272 + ---- Department of Labor, 73,74 + +Newton, Isaac, 219, 222 + +Nightingale, Florence, 39 + +Northern Pacific, 191, 430 + +Northern Securities Case, 238 + + +O + +occupations, 71-72, 75, 114-115, 278 + +Oersted, 222 + +Ohio Dairy and Food Department, 90 + +Ohm, 219, 222 + +oil, 63, 94, 96, 105, 417 + Pratts' Astral, 207 + Standard, 99, 104, 207 + +opium, 63-64 + ---- war in China, 63 + +organization, 115, 147-148, 157 + industrial, 107 + international, 156 + ---- of labor, 127, 145 + ---- of trade unions, 159 + political, 122, 128 + +Organized Labor, by John Mitchell, 73-75, 115, 145-146, 151-153, 409, 417 + +Outlook the, 6, 40, 82, 109, 259 + +overinvestment, 65-66 + +overproduction, 57-66, 218 + +overwork, 48, 69-70, 72, 122, 164 + +ownership, 20-21, 416 + collective, 419 + ---- of land, 24, 121, 280 + State, 317 + State, not Socialism, 25 + + +P + +pacemakers, 69 + +Palissy, Bernard, 223 + +palliative measures, 78 + +Panama bonds, 188 + ---- canal, 220 + +Pangborn, Col., 266 + +panic, 63, 65, 73-75, 87, 181-194, 299 + +Paris, 7, 18, 98, 137, 138, 286 + +Parliament, 173 + Industrial, 319 + +parlor Socialists, 28 + +Parnell, 241 + +party, 416-419 + capitalistic, 16 + Democratic, 122, 134, 308 + dominant, 415 + Labor, in England, 171 + Republican, 122, 134, 309, 418 + Socialist, 2, 21, 26-27, 34-36, 45, 134, 200, 248, 414, 418, 428-429 + +pauper, 80 + +pauperism, 9, 22, 26, 35-36, 44, 52, 66, 99, 128, 130 + +penal colonies, 274 + +Pennsylvania, 74-75, 91, 280, 430 + +Pettibone vs. Collins, 424 + +Philadelphia, 430 + +philanthropists, 87 + +philosophy of Socialism, 6, 54 + +Pinkerton, Robert A., 168 + +pipe-line, 63, 105 + +Pittsburg, 15, 164-165, 167, 173, 201 + Survey, 164, 167, 173-174, 201 + +platform, Socialist, 6, 26-27, 45, 134, 413, 421 + +Plato, 33, 44, 388 + +Platonic school of Socialism, 199 + +Plea for Liberty, 50, 94 + +political-- + ---- action, 26, 110, 409 + ---- contributions, 32 + ---- control, 135 + ---- issue, 140 + ---- liberty, 47, 52, 121 + ---- parties, 140 + ---- power, 26-27 + ---- Science Quarterly, 169 + ---- students, 23 + +politics, 48, 110, 129 + +Ponce, La Culture Maraiche, 268 + +Poor Law guardians, 273 + +popular government, 107, 142 + +population, 65, 131, 134, 142, 153, 156-158, 323 + +Populism, 174 + +Portland Proceedings, 90-91 + +postoffice, 262 + ---- economies, 96-97 + +Poverty, by Robert Hunter, 42 + +press, 66, 415, 420 + propertied class in control of, 42-43 + +price, 42, 50, 58-63, 65-66, 69, 76, 87, 94, 98, 103-104, 106, + 134-135, 147-148, 158-160, 228, 324, 417 + +Principles of Sociology, 335-405 + +Problems of the Day, by Andrew Carnegie, 199 + +problems, solution of, 151 + economic, 128 + +Problems of Unemployment, 72 + +production, 12, 23, 25, 28, 33, 35-38, 45, 49, 52-54, 59, 66, 86, + 93-94, 104, 110, 123, 131-132, 139 + anarchy of, 318, 413, 414, 416, 418 + +products, 33, 36, 46, 51, 55, 99, 105, 113, 116-117, 119, 121, + 123-124, 126, 128, 135, 137, 139, 314-319 + +profit, 5, 10, 16, 25, 37, 58-60, 65, 94, 102, 104-106, 108, 148, 155, + 414, 423 + +proletariat, 25-26, 45, 119, 122 + +property, 7, 15-16, 24-25, 28-29, 32-33, 42-46, 112, 131-175, 414, 422 + ---- and Liberty, 54, 112-130 + +prostitution, 4, 9, 26, 35-36, 44, 66, 79, 86, 88, 99, 128, 130 + +Proudhon, 7, 33-34, 124, 131 + +Prussia, 317 + +Prussian Government, 25 + +public domain, 27 + +Public House Trust, 295 + +public ownership, 20-21, 27, 106 + +Pullman, 168 + + +Q + +de Quesnay, 54 + +Quintessence of Socialism, 235 + + +R + +race, 32, 65-66, 91, 115, 128, 327, 411 + for profits, 415 + +rags sold as woollen cloth, 93 + ---- pickers of Paris, 18-20 + +railroads, 53, 65, 73-95, 123, 131, 215, 303, 329, 415, 419, 429-431 + +reclamation, 27, 101 + +reforestation, 27 + +reform, 26-28, 71, 127, 129, 243, 414, 418-419 + +relief, 26, 76 + +remedies, 31, 78 + +remuneration, 303-306 + +republic, 243 + +revolution, 25-28, 243 + +revolutionary period, 108 + ---- Socialists, 27, 29 + +revolutionist, 23-26, 30, 228 + +Rhode Island, 306 + +Ritchie, Professor, 385 + +Rockefeller, 57-58, 104, 159, 237-239, 253-255, 288, 325 + +Rocky mountains, 96, 276 + +Rodbertus, 307 + +Rogers, Thorold, 233 + +Roosevelt, Theodore, 6, 25, 33-34, 40-42, 50, 82, 132, 134, 237-239, + 255, 259-260, 320, 398 + +Rousseau, 138 + +royalty, 21 + +Ruskin, John, 402-403 + +Russia, 121, 239 + + +S + +salaries, 82, 303-306 + +San Francisco, 96 + +savings Banks, 42, 65, 78 + +Schaeffle, 235 + +Schenectady, 261 + +school, 153, 165, 321, 326, 328, 409, 415, 419 + divinity, 329 + industrial, 151 + Manchester, 20, 32, 60, 139 + Marxian, 25 + trade, 151 + +Science, 1, 88, 115, 128, 421 + ---- and Morals, 336 + +Scientific aspect of Socialism, 335-377 + +Seligman, J. & W., 196 + +semi-skilled workers, 75 + +Semler, Tropische Agrikultur, 267 + +Shaw, Bernard, 2 + +sickness, 5, 136, 153, 172, 326, 406-407 + +Simon, A.M., The American Farmer, 48 + +Simon Eugene, La Cite Chinoise, 267 + +single tax, 123, 278, 285 + +slave, 15, 45, 47, 49, 51, 104, 115, 125, 140, 415, 429 + +slaveowner, 69 + +slavery, 15, 109, 120, 125, 127, 128-130 + +Smith, Adam, 32, 54, 139 + +Social Revolution (Kautsky), 239 + +Socialism and Social Reform, 42, 60, 209, 211, 217-218 + +Socialism in Theory and Practice, 248, 305, 307-308 + +socialization of industries, 34 + +South, farmers of the, 217 + +South Australia, 290 + +South Carolina, 267 + +Southern Pacific, 430 + +Spargo, John, 2, 248-250 + +Spencer, Herbert, 3, 13, 32, 54, 94, 101, 137, 336, 365, 388, 404 + +standard of living, 165, 229 + +standard of wages, 157 + +Standard Oil, 99, 104-105, 152, 159, 207, 251, 253-256 + +starvation, 103, 120, 139, 156, 158, 414, 417 + +State, 45-46, 80, 91, 134, 325, 409, 424-431 + agricultural, 77 + ---- commissions, 89 + ---- constabulary, 431 + ---- Government, 329 + ---- laws, 417 + mining, 77 + New York, 75, 280 + ---- ownership not Socialism, 25 + Prussian, 25 + ---- Socialism, 235, 317-318 + ---- Socialist, 27 + ---- viands, 50 + +Statistical Abstract of the United States, 148, 181, 431 + +statistics, 5, 38, 73 + +steel, 94, 327-328 + ---- industry, 148 + ---- rails, 63 + ---- trust, 55, 149, 164, 185-186, 201, 238, 257, 303 + U.S.,--Corporation, 185 + +Steffens, Lincoln, 255, 429 + +step by step socialist, 28 + +stockholders, 21, 252, 324 + +stocks, 85, 160 + +store, 11, 29, 82, 156, 431 + +strike, 62, 71, 86-88, 145, 148, 168 + +struggle, 147, 153, 415 + class, 25 + ---- for Existence in Human Society, 336 + ---- for life, 337, 410 + +study of Sociology, 365 + +Suez canal, 220 + +sugar trust, 61, 95 + +Survey, 164, 167, 173-174, 201 + +swamplands, 27, 101, 180, 420 + +sweated trades, 158 + +sweating system, 154, 156 + +Switzerland, 263, 266, 272 + farm colonies in, 78, 269 + +system, 28, 34, 44, 409, 421 + apprenticeship, 151 + ---- of production, 35, 414 + capitalist, 45 + competitive, 37, 39, 54, 66, 86, 98, 99, 145, 323, 325 + cooperative, 128 + factory, 416 + Fourier's, 317 + + +T + +Taft, President, 1, 6, 42, 132 + +taxes, 323, 326, 420 + personal, 118 + single, 123 + ---- rate, 320 + +teachers, 49 + ---- college, 92 + +tenements, 19, 41, 247, 321 + +Tennessee Coal and Iron Company, 185-186, 188, 191 + +textiles, 92 + ---- schools, 92 + +Thompson, Carl D., 7 + +tobacco, 156 + adulteration of, 91 + ---- crop in Kentucky, 60 + +Tolstoi, 388 + +Toubeau, La repartition metrique des impots, 267 + +trade, 63, 88, 92, 93, 95 + export, 105-106, 111, 137, 145, 149, 151-155, 321, 328 + +trade unions, 16, 72-77, 86, 110, 136, 140-159, 167-174 + organization of, 159-160 + +tramps, 24, 264, 271-272, 273-274, 430 + +Troy, 261 + +trust companies, 182 + +Trust Company of America, 185 + +trusts, 15, 16, 76, 86, 104, 107, 110, 140, 142, 159, 175, 418 + expropriation of, 15 + development of, 58 + Standard Oil, 99 + steel, 149, 303 + +Turgot, 422 + +Tweed, 320 + +Tyranny, 142 + economic, 138 + ---- of the guilds, 138 + ---- of the market, 102-104, 107, 109 + ---- of the trade union, 108-110 + ---- of the trusts, 104, 109 + + +U + +underconsumption, 66, 67 + +underemployment, 66, 67, 72 + +underpayment, 67, 72 + +unemployable, 70-72, 78, 87 + +unemployed, 24, 42, 66-79, 103, 107, 148, 157, 245, 415 + +unemployment, 4, 39, 60, 65, 79, 81, 86, 88-89, 140, 144, 153, 164, 245 + +unions, 108, 159-160, 169-175 + +United States, 7, 61, 64, 144, 147, 151, 177, 179, 187-188, 193, 204, + 206, 209, 215, 266, 272, 416-417 + ---- Bureau of Labor, 228, 293 + ---- Census, 41, 48, 73, 77, 204 + ---- Congress, 168, 197, 308-309, 318, 329-330, 417, 420, 426 + ---- Constitution, 15, 365, 417, 426 + ---- Department of Agriculture, 230 + ---- Department, of Labor, 148, 230 + divorce in, 40-41 + ---- postoffice, 96-97, 262 + +United States, Secretary of the Treasury of, 187, 189 + statistical abstract of, 148, 181, 431 + statutes of, 424-425 + ---- Treasury, 181, 187-188 + +unorganized labor, 73, 75, 77, 109, 145 + +unskilled labor, 75-77 + + +V + +value, 125-126 + Marx' theory of, 33 + surplus, 10 + +Vandervelde, Emil, 1, 7, 408 + +Vermont, 430 + +vested interests, 15, 18-22, 30 + +vice, 40, 362, 410-411, 415 + +Vienna, 286 + +violence, 27, 67, 117-118, 124, 168-169, 425, 429 + +Volta, 222 + + +W + +wages, 69-70, 103-104, 109, 118, 124, 142, 145,147,151-158, 165 + miners', 82-83 + ---- earners', 16 + ---- servants', 122 + ---- slave, 68 + ---- slavery, 68-69 + union, 419 + +Wall Street, 179-192, 212 + +war, 168, 175, 429 + +Ward, Lester F., 404 + +Washington, 5, 260, 309 + +waste, 96, 102, 139, 301 + ---- lands, 419 + ---- of capital, 99 + +waste of life and property in revolution, 28 + +water, 20, 21, 101, 123, 419 + +wealth, 42-43, 45-46, 50, 52, 65, 67, 115, 117, 130-131, 134-135, 137, + 410, 415, 418 + +Webb, Sidney, 2 + +Western Federation of Miners, 417 + +Western Union, 210 + +Westinghouse Company, 184, 187, 221 + +wheat, 55, 293 + +whiskey, adulteration of, 91 + Trust, 61, 161-162 + +Why Socialism is Impossible, 235 + +Winslow, Lanier & Company, 196 + +Wisconsin, 256 + +women, 35, 46, 65, 68, 80-86, 120, 142-143, 154, 157-158, 165, 245, + 265, 275 + exploitation of, 32 + suffrage for, 420 + +Woodbridge, Alice, 82 + +working class, 42-45, 414-416, 419 + +workingmen, 15, 47-48, 51, 62, 64, 68, 70, 75, 77, 86, 103, 108, 109, + 116, 137-138, 142, 144, 149, 151-154 + standard of living of, 229 + + +Y + +Year Book of the Department of Agriculture, 230 + Insurance, 179 + Municipal, 20 + +Yorkshire, 154 + + * * * * * + + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + | Typographical errors corrected in text: | + | | + | Page xiv: distaseful replaced with distasteful | + | Page 14: Socalism replaced with Socialism | + | Page 19: landords replaced with landlords | + | Page 88: similiar replaced with similar | + | Page 163: advancng replaced with advancing | + | Page 164: presention replaced with presentation | + | Page 180: noney replaced with money | + | Page 205: conoeded replaced with conceded | + | Page 226: pulverzing replaced with pulverizing | + | Page 229: expediture replaced with expenditure | + | Page 285: cooperative replaced with cooperative | + | Page 290: cooperative replaced with cooperative | + | Page 292: catagories replaced with categories | + | Page 295: Gothenberg replaced with Gothenburg | + | Page 312: "six hundred and and sixty million dollars" | + | replaced with | + | "six hundred and sixty million dollars" | + | Page 312: "will be paid to be steel guild" replaced with | + | "will be paid to the steel guild" | + | Page 327: primarly replaced with primarily | + | Page 336: subsituting replaced with substituting | + | Page 351: cooperative replaced with cooperative | + | Page 362: self-straint replaced with self-restraint | + | Page 371: "If the the harness left" replaced with | + | "If the harness left" | + | Page 407: communites replaced with communities | + | Page 409: canivora replaced with carnivora | + | Page 433: Barral replaced with Barrel | + | Page 435: captial replaced with capital | + | Page 437: Beitrage replaced with Beitraege | + | Page 438: ecomonic replaced with economic | + | Page 440: Kautzky replaced with Kautsky | + | Page 443: Unemplovment replaced with Unemployment | + | Page 443: Tharold replaced with Thorold | + | Page 444: Kautzky replaced with Kautsky | + | | + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + + * * * * * + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Twentieth Century Socialism, by Edmond Kelly + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWENTIETH CENTURY SOCIALISM *** + +***** This file should be named 34979.txt or 34979.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/9/7/34979/ + +Produced by Fritz Ohrenschall 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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