· PREFACE THE aim of the present book is twofold : to set forth the leading phases of the histori c so cialism, and to attem pt a criti cism and interpretation of the movement as

HISTORY OF SOCIALISM

THOMAS K IRKUP

FOURTH EDITI ON , REVISED AND ENLARGED

3LONDON

ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK

1 9 09

Ferst Ed ition , published October 1 892

Second Edetion ,J anuary 1 900

Thi'rd Edetion November 1 906

Fowrth Edi tion February 1 909

PREFACE

THE aim of the present book is twofo ld : to set forth theleading phases of the historic socialism ,

and to attempt acriticism and interpretation of the m ovement as a whole .

In this edi tion the changes in the history are concernedchiefly w i th the revival of the International

,which

,since

the Stuttgart Congress in 1 907 , may be regarded as anaccom plished fact .I have made it no part of my plan to dwell on details .

The interest and significance of the history of socialismw ill be found

,not in its details and accidents , but in

the developm ent of i ts cardinal principles, wh ich I h aveendeavoured to trace. Readers desirous of detail mustbe referred to the wri tings of the various socialists, orto works that treat of special phases of the m ovem ent .Ye t I hope that the statem ent of the leading theories issufficiently clear and adequate to enable the reader toform his own judgm ent of the highly controversial m attersinvolved in the history of socialism . I may add that inevery case my account is drawn from an e x tensive studyof the sources. These sources I have given both in the

tex t and in footnotes. For the m ore recent developm entof the subjec t

,however

,the material is derived from such

a multitude of books,pamphlets, period icals, and journals,

as well as from personal inquiry and observation, that i thas not been found practicable to ind icate them .

But the purely h istorical part o f such a work is farfrom being the most d i fficult . The real d iffi culty beginswhen w e attempt to form a clear conception of the m eaning and significance of the socialistic m ovem ent , to ind i

Vi PREFACE

cate i ts place in history , and the issues to which i t istend ing . In the concluding chapters I have made suchan attempt . The good reader who takes the trouble togo so far through my book can accept my contribution toa hard problem for what i t is worth . He may at leastfeel assured that i t is no hasty and ill-considered effortwhich is placed before him . The present volum e grewout of the articles on socialism published in the ninthedi tion of the Encyclop cedia Britannica . The views advocated here were first set forth in my Inquiry into Socialism,

publ ished in 1 8 8 7 . In this ed ition of the History theyhave in som e points recei ved such e xpansion and modification as tim e and repeated

,self-cri tic ism have suggested .

I beg particularly to invite the attentiqpof the reader to

the last two chapters,in which the p esent position of

socialism and i ts relation to som e contemporary questions,

such as those of Empire,are set forth .

To all thoughtful and discerning m en i t should now

be clear that the solution of the , social question is thegreat task which has been laid upon the present epoch inthe history of the world . Socialism grew to be a veryimportant question during the n ineteenth century ; inall probabili ty i t w ill be the suprem e question of thetwentieth . No higher felicity can befall any man thanto have thrown a real light on the greatest problem of

his tim e ; and to have utterly failed is no d isgrace. Insuch a cause it is an honour even to have done efficientwork as a navvy or hodman .

For help wi th the notes on the recent progress of

socialism I wish to express special obligations to Mr.H. W. Lee

,secretary of the Social Democratic Party

,

to Mr. J. R. Macdonald, M .P .,secretary of the Labour

Party, and to Mr. E. R. Pease,secretary of the Fabian

Society .

LONDON,February 1 909.

A HISTORY OF SOCIALI SM

INTRODUCTION

THOUGHmuch has been sa id and written about socialismfor many years

,i t still rema ins a questionable name

which awaken s in the m ind of the reader doubt,per

plexity,and contradiction .

But there can be no question that it is a growingpower throughout the world . I t is hardly an exaggera

t ion to say that the most intelligent and the bestorgan ised working—men of all civi lised countries arepassing over to it. The opinions which are beingaccepted by the foremost of the work ing- classes to-dayw ill in all probabi l ity have the same attract ion fortheir less advanced brethren to -morrow . It is a sub

ject , however, which concerns all classes , and it isforcing to the front a wide group of problems wh ichare every day becoming more urgent .

I n view of this there is only one right and safe course ;we should seek to know the truth about social ism .

The discontent which tends to disturbance and revolu

tion can be removed only by satisfy ing the legitimateneeds and aspirations of those who suffer.

2 H ISTORY OF SOCIALISMWe all know that the prepaganda of socialism hasbeen attended with intemperate and violent language

,

with w i ld op in ions wh ich are often inconsistent withthe firs t principles of soc ial order

,w ith revolutionary

outbreaks leading to bloodshed,desolat ion and long- con

tinned unrest and suspicion . These things are greatlyto be deplored . But we shall be w ise if we regard themas symptoms of wide - spread and deep—seated socialdisease . The best way to cure such disease is to studyand remove the causes of it . N0 physician will have

any success in combating a malady if he content h imself with suppressing its symptoms .For the study of soc ialism two things are essential ;

on the part of the reader—good -w i ll and the openmind . Socialism has at least a most powerful prov is ional cla im on our good -will

,that i t professes to

represent the cause of the sufferers in the world ’s longagony

,of the work ing-classes , of wom en , and of the

down - trodden nat ions and races . If i t can make anysolid contribut ion in such a far-reach ing cause it hasthe strongest right to be heard .

Need we say that no new movement like socialismcan be understood or appreciated without some measureof the Open mind ? In the course of history it hasbeen proved over and over again that established ideasand institutions are not always in the right in everyrespect

,and that novel opinions

,though presen ted in

extravagant and in temperate language,are not always

entirely wrong. Even the m ost prej udiced reader willdo well to consider that a cause wh ich new numbers

INTRODUCTION 3

m ill ions of intelligen t adherents,for wh ich men have

died and gladly suffered im prisonment and privation ofevery kind , may contain elements of truth and of well

justified hope for the future.

Above all things, i t i s essential to remember thatsocialism is not a stereotyped system of dogma. I t isa movem en t which springs out of a vast and onlypartially shapen real ity . I t i s therefore living and ‘

liable to change . It has a h istory on which we canlook back ; but it i s above all things a force of thepresent and the future

,and its influence in the future

for good or evil will depend on how we the men of thepresent relate ourselves to it.On the one hand , it would be a great wrong if we

encouraged vain and delusive expectat ions ; but it wouldbe a wrong even greater

,on the other hand

,if from

whim or prejudice or pessimi sm we did any thing thatmight be an obstacle to truth and progress. In a subj cet so momentous the only right course is to eschewpassion and prej ud ice

,and to follow truth with good

wil l and an open mind .

The word socialism ’ appears to have been first

used in The Poor Man’

s Guardian in 1 833. In

1 835,a society

,which rece ived the grand i loquen t

name of the Association of all Classes of al l Nations,

was founded under the auspices of Robert Owen andthe words socialist and social ism became curren t duringthe discuss ions which arose in connection w i th it .

1 As

Owen and his school had no esteem for the pol it ical

1 IIolyoake , History 0f 00 ~op craiion, vol . i. p. 2 1 0,0d . 1 875 .

H I STORY OF SOCIAL ISM

reform of the t ime,and laid all emphasis on the neces

i sity of social improvement and reconstruction , it is

obvious how the name came to be recognised as suitable and distinctive . The term was soon afterwardsborrowed from England

,as he himself tells us

,by a

distinguished French writer,Reybaud, in h is well

known work the Réf ormateurs m odernes,in which he

discussed the theories of Saint - S imon,Fourier

,and

Owen . Through Reybaud it soon gain ed w ide curreney on the Continent

,and is now the accepted

world - historic name for one of the most rem arkable

movements of the n ineteenth century.

The name was thus first appli ed in England toOwen ’ s theory of social reconstruct ion and in Franceto those also of Saint-S imon and Fourier. The bestusage has always connected it with the views of thesemen

,and with the cognate Opin ions which have s ince

appeared . But the word is u sed with a great varietyof mean ing

,not only in popular speech and by. poli

ticians,but even by economists and learned crit ics of

social ism . There is a growing tendency to regard associalist ic any in terference with property undertakenby societyon behalf of the poor, the l im itation of theprinciple of laissez -faire in favour of the suffering

classes,radical social reform which disturbs the present

system of private property as regulated by free compet it ion . I t is probable enough that the word wil l bepermanently used to express the change in practiceand op in ion indicated by these phrases

,as a general

nam e for the strong reaction that has now set in

INTRODUCTION 5

against the overstra ined ind ividualism and one - s idedfreedom wh ich date from the end of the e ighteen thcentury . The appli cation is neither precise nor accurate ; but it is use and wont that determine the m eaning of words

,and this seems to be the tendency of use

and wont .Even econom ic wri ters d iffer greatly in the meaning

they attach to the word . As socialism has been mostpowerful and most studied on the Continen t

,it may be

interesting to compare the defin itions given by someleading French and Germ an econom ists . The greatGerman economist defines it as including‘ those tendencies which demand a greater regard forthe common weal than consists w i th hum an nature . ’ 1

Adolf Held says that‘ we m ay define as socialistic

every tendency wh ich demands the subordination ofthe individual w ill to the comm unity .

’ 2Jg ri t more

precisely defines it as follows : ‘We call social ism

every doctrine which teaches that the S tate has a rightto corr ect the inequality of wealth wh ich ex ists amongmen

,and to legally establish the balance by tak ing

from those who,

have too m uch in order to give tothose who have not enough

,and that in a permanen t

manner,and not in such and such a particular case

a famine,for instance

,a publ ic calam ity

,etc . ’ 3 Lave

leye explains i t thus : ‘ In the first place,every social

istic doctrine aims at introduc ing greater equal i ty in1Quoted by Adol f I l eld , Sozialismus , Sozia ldemokratie, und soz i'al

I’ol iiilc

, p . 30.

2 I bid . p . 29 .

3 Les or ig ines (in social ismo contemp orain , p . 67.

6 HI STORY OF SOCIALISM

social conditions ; and in the second place, at realisingthose reforms by the law or the State .’ 1 Von Scheel

s imply defines it as the ‘ economic ph ilosophy of theuffering classes .

’ 2

O f all these definitions it can only be said that theymore or less faithfully reflect current opinion as to thenature of socialism . They are either too vague or theyare misleading

,and they quite fail to bring out the clear

and strongly marked characteristics that d istinguish thephenomena to which the name of socialism is properly

applied . To say that sociali sm exacts a greater regardfor the common weal than is compa tible with humannature is to pass sentence on the movement , not to

define it . In all ages of the world,and under all forms

and tendencies of government and of social evolution,

the w i ll of the indiv idual has been subordinated to thewill of society

,often unduly so .

I t is also most misleading to speak as if sociali smmust

(

proceed from the State as we oknow it. The early

socialism proceeded from private effort and experiment.A great deal of the most notorious socialism of thepresent day aims not only at subverting the existingState in every form

,but all the ex ist ing pol itical and

social institutions . The most powerful and most philos0phic , that of Karl Marx , aimed at superseding the

existing Governments by a vast international combinat ion of the workers of all nations

,without distinction of

creed, colour, or nationality .

1 Le socia lism e contemp orain, p . iv .

2 Schonberg’s Handbuch der p ol . Oekonomie, art .

‘ Social ism .

’

INTRODUCTION

S til l more objec tionable,however

,is the tendency no t

unfreq uently shown to ident ify social ism w i th a v iolen tand lawless revolutionary Sp irit . A s sometimes used

,

social ism ’ means noth ing more nor less than the m ostmodern form of the revolutionary sp irit with a suggestion of anarchy and dynam i te . Th is is to confound theessence of the m ovement w ith an acc idental featurem ore or less comm on to all great innovations . Everynew thing of any moment

,whether good or ev il

,has i ts

revolutionary stage,in which i t d isturbs and upsets the

accepted beliefs and institutions . The Protestan tReformation was for more than a century and a half theoccasion of civil and international trouble and bloodshed . The suppression of American slavery could notbe effected w i thout a tremendous c iv i l war . There wasa time when the op inions comprehended under thename of ‘ l iberalism had to fight to the death for tolera

t ion ; and representative government was at one timea revolutionary innovation . The fact that a movement

is revolutionary generally implies only that it is new ,

that it is d isposed to exert itself by strong methods ,and is calculated to make grea t changes . I t i s an

unhappy feature of m ost great changes that they havebeen attended with the exercise of force

,but that is be

cause the powers in possess ion have generally attemptedto suppress them by the exercise of force .

In point of fact social ism is one of the m ost elasticand protean phenomena of h istory , vary ing accord ingto the t im e and circumstances in whic h i t appe ars , andwith the character and opinions and insti tu t ions of the

8 H I STORY OF SOCIALISM

people who adopt i t. Such a movement cannot be

condem ned or approved en bloc. Most of the current

formulae to which i t has been referred f or praise orcensure are totally erroneous and mislead ing. Yet inthe midst of the various theories “that go by the nam eof ‘ socialism ’ there is a kernel of principle that is

common to them all . That principle is of an econom ic

nature,and is most clear and precise .

The central aim of socialism is to terminate the divorceof the workers from the natural sources of subsistenceand of culture. The socialist theory is based on theh istorical assert ion that the course of social evolutionfor centuries has gradual ly been to exclude the producing classes from the possession of land and cap ital

,and

to establish a new subj ection,the subjection of workers

who have noth ing to depend on but precari ous wagelabour. Socialists m aintain that the present system

(in wh ich land and capital are the property of privateindividuals freely struggling for increase of wealth)leads inev i tably to social and economic anarchy

,to the

degradation of the work ing man and his fam ily,to the

growth of vice and idleness among the wealthy classesand their dependants

,to bad and inartistic workman

ship,to insecuri ty

,waste

,and starvation ; and that it i s

tending more and more to separate society into twoclasses

,wealthy mill ionaires confronted with an enor

mous mass of proletarians,the issue out of which must

either be socialism or social ruin . To avoid all theseevi ls and to secure a m ore equ itable d istribution of them eans and appliances of happiness

,socialists propose

INTRODUCTION 9

that land and cap ital,wh ich are the requisites of labour

and the sources of al l weal th and culture,should be

placed under social ownersh ip and con trol .In thus maintaining that society should assume the

m anagement of industry and secure an equitable distribution of its frui ts

,social ists are agreed ; bu t on the

most important points of detail they differ very greatly .

They d iffer as to the form society wil l take in carrying vout the socialist programme

,as to the relat ion of local

bodies to the central government,and whether there i s

to be any central governm ent,or any government at all

in the ordinary sense of the word ; as to the influence ofthe national idea in the society of the future

,etc . They !

differ also as to what should be regarded as an ‘ equ itable ’

system of distribution . The school of Saint - S imonadvocated a social hierarchy

,in wh ich every man should

be placed according to his capacity and rewardedaccord ing to h is works . In the communities of Fourierthe minimum of subsistence was to be guaran teed toeach out of the comm on gain

,the remainder to be

divided between labour,capital

,and talent five

twelfths going to the first,four- twelfths to the second

and three-twelfths to the third . At the revolu tion of1 84 8 Louis Blane proposed that remunerat ion should beequal for all members of h is social workshop s. In the

programm e drawn up by the united Social Dem ocrats ofGermany (Gotha, 1 875) i t was prov ided that all shallenjoy the results of labour accord ing to their reasonablewants

,all of course being bound to work .

It is needless to say also that the theories of socialism

1 0 H I STORY OF SOCIALISM

have been held in connection with the m ost varyingop inions in philosophy and religion . A great deal ofthe historic social ism has been regarded as a necessaryimplicate

,of idealism . The prevai ling socialism of the

day is in large part based on the frankest and most outspoken revolutionary m aterialism . On the other hand ,many social ists hold that their system is a necessary outcome of Christianity, that social ism and Chri stian ity areessential the one to the other ; and i t should be saidthat the ethics of social ism are closely akin to the eth icsof Christian ity, if not identical w i th them .

St ill , it should be insisted that the basis of social ismis economic

,involving a fundamental change in the

relation of labour to land and cap ital—a change wh ichwi ll largely affect production

,and will entirely revolu

tionise the existing system of distribution . But, while

its basis is economic,socialism implies and carries with

it a change in the political , ethical , technical , and

artistic arrangem ents and institutions of society,wh ich

would constitute a revolution greater than has evertaken place in human history,

'

greater than the transition from the ancien t to the mediaeval world

,or from

the latter to the existing order of society .

In the first place,such a change generally assumes

as i ts political complement the most thoroughly democratic organ isation of socie ty . The early socialism of

Owen and Saint -Simon was marked by not a l ittle ofthe autocratic Spirit ; but the tendency of the presen tsocialism i s more and more to ally itself w ith the M ostadvanced democracy . Social ism

,in fact, claim s to be

INTRODUCTION 1 1

the economic complem en t of dem ocracy,main tain ing

tha t w ithout a fundam ental econom ic change poli ti calprivi lege has neither mean ing nor value .In the second place

,soc ialism naturally goes with

an unselfish or al trui st ic system of ethics . The m os tcharacteristic feature of the old societies was the ex

ploitation of the weak by the strong under the system sof slavery

,serfdom

,and wage - labour. Under the

socialistic regime i t is the privilege and duty of thestrong and talented to use their superior force and richerendowments in the service of their fellow-men w i thou tdist inction of class , or nation , or creed . Whatever our

opinion m ay be of the w isdom or practicabil i ty of the irtheories

,history proves that social ists have been ready

to sacrifice w ealth,social position

,and life itself

,for the

cause wh ich they have adopted .

In the third place,social ists maintain that

,under

their system and no other,can the highest excellence

and beauty be real ised in industrial production and inart ; whereas under the present system beauty andthoroughness are alike sacrificed to cheapness

,which i s

a necess ity of successful competition .

Lastly,the socialists refuse to adm i t tha t ind ividual

happiness or freedom or character would be sacri ficedunder the social arrangements they propose . They

believe that under the presen t system a free and har

monious development of individual capaci ty and happ iness i s poss ible only for the privileged m inori ty , and

that socialism alone can open up a fair opportun i ty forall . They bel ieve

,in short

,that there is no opposition


whatever between social ism and individual ity rightlyunderstood

,that these two are complements the one of

the other,that in social ism alone may every individual

have hope of free developm ent and a full realisation of

himself.

Having shown how w ide a social revolution is impliedin the socialistic scheme of reconstruction

,we may new

state (1 ) that the econom ic basis of the prevalentsocialism is a collectivism wh ich excludes private possession of land and cap i tal

,and places them under social

ownership in som e form or other. In the words of

Schaffie,the Alpha and Omega of social ism is the trans

formation of private com peting capital s into a un itedcollective capital .

’ 1 Adolf Wagner ’s more elaboratedefinition of it 2 is entirely in agreem ent with that ofSchaffle . Such a system ,

wh ile insisting on collectivecapital

,is quite consistent with private property in other

form s,and w ith perfect freedom in the use of one’ s own

share in the equitable distribut ion of the produce of theassociated labour. A thorough-going socialism demandsthat th is principle should be appl ied to the capital andproduction of the whole world ; only then can i t attainto supreme and perfect realisation . But a sober-mindedsocial ism w ill admi t that the various intermediatestages in which the principle finds a partial applicationare so far a true and real development of the socialistic

idea.

Even the best defin itions,however

,are only of

1Quintessenz des Socia lismus , p . 1 2 .

“3 Lehrbuch d cr pol . Oekonomie, Grund lcgung, p . 1 74 .

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1 4 H I STORY OF SOC IALISM

siderably modified Germ an legislation . Its influence is

rapidly growing among the lower and also among themost advanced classes in almost every country dominatedby European culture

,following the development of

capital ism,of which it is not merely the negation

,but

in a far wider and more real sense is also the goal .

(3) In its doctrinal aspects socialism is most interesting as a critic ism of the present economic order

,of

what socialists call the capitalistic system,with which

the existing land system is connected . Under thepresent economic order land and cap ital (the materialand instruments w ithout which industry i s impossib le)are the property of a class em ploying a class of wagelabourers handicapped by their exclus ion from land andcapital. Compet ition is the general rule by which theshare of the members of those classes in the fruits ofproduct ion is determined . Against this system criticalsocialism is a reasoned protest ; and it is at issue alsowith the prevailing pol itical econom y

,in so far as i t

assumes or maintains the perm anence or righteousnessof thi s economic order. O f the econom ic opt im ismim plied in the historic doctrine of laissez-faire, s ocial ismis an uncom prom is ing rej ection .

(4 ) Socialism is usually regarded as a phase of thestruggle for the em ancipation of labour

,for the complete

participation of the work ing classes in the material ,intellectual

,and Spiritual inheritance of the human

race . This is certainly the most substantial and m ostprom inent part of the socialist programme

,the working

classes being the most numerous and the worst su fferers

INTRODUCTION 1 5

from the presen t regime. Th is v iew,however

,is ra ther

one - sided , for soc ial ism claim s not less to be in theinterest of the sm all capital ist gradually crushed by thecom pe tition of the larger, and in the interest also of thelarge capitalist , whose pos ition is endangered by thevastness and unwieldiness of his success

,and by the

world-wide economic anarchy from wh ich even thegreatest are not secure . Still

,i t is the deliverance of

the working class that stands in the front of everysocialistic theory ; and, though the initiat ive in socialist

Speculation and ac tion has usually come from m en

belonging to the middle and upper classes,yet i t is to

the workmen that they generally appeal .Whi le recognising the great confusion in the use of

the word ‘ socialism ,

’ we have treated it as properly aphenomenon of the nineteenth century

,beginning in

France w ith Saint - Simon and Fourier,in England w i th

tobert Owen , and mos t powerfully represented a t thepresent day by the school of Karl Marx . As we haveseen

,however

,there are defini tions of the word which

would give it a wider range of mean ing and a moreancient beginn ing

,compared w ith which capital ism is

but of yesterday ; which would , in fac t , m ake i t as oldas human society i tself. In the early stages of hum andevelopmen t

,when the tribe or the village comm unity

was the soc ial unit,the subordination of the ind ividual

to the socie ty in wh ich he dwel t was the rule,and

common property was the prevalen t form . In thedevelopm en t of the idea of property

,espec ial ly as

regards land,three success ive h istorical s tages are


broad ly recogn ised— common property and common

enjoyment of it,common property and private en

joym ent , private property and private enjoyment.The last form did not atta in to full express ion t ill theend of the eighteenth century

,when the principle of

ind i vidual freedom,which was really a reaction against

privi leged restriction,was proclaimed as a positive

axiom of government and of econom i cs . The free

individual struggle for wealth,and. for the social ad

vantages dependent ou wealth,is a com parat ively

recent thing .

At all periods of history the State has reserved toitself the right to interpose in the arrangements of

property—somet imes in favour of the poor, as in thecase of the English poor law

,which may thus be re

garded as a socialistic measure . Moreover, all throughhi story revolts in favour of the rearrangement of

property have been very frequent. From the beginning there have existed misery and discontent

,the con

temp lation of wh ich has called forth schemes of anideal society in the noblest and most sympatheticminds. O f these are the Utopias of Plato and ThomasMore

,advocating a systematic communism . And in

the societies of the Cathol ic Church we have a perm anent example of common property and a comm on

!

enj oyment of it .

How are we to distinguish the socialism of the nineteenth century from these old -world phenomena

,and

especially from the comm unism which has played so

great a part in h istory ? To this q uery i t is not difficult

INTRODUCTION 1 7

to give a clear and precise answer from the sociali stpoint of view . Socialism is a stage in the evolutionof society which could not arrive ti ll the conditionsnecessary to i t had been established . O f these

,one

most essent ial condit ion was the development of the greatindustrialism wh ich

,after a long period of preparat ion

and gradual grow th,began to reach its culminating po in t

with the inventions and techn ical im provements,with

the application of steam and the rise of the factorysystem

,in England towards the end of the eighteenth

century. Under this system industry was organisedinto a vast social Operat ion

,and was thus already so

far socialised but it was a system that was exploitedby the individual owner of the cap ital at his ownpleasure and for h is own behoof. Under the pressureof the competition of the large industry, the smallcapitalist is gradually crushed out

,and the working

producers become wagelabourers organised and drilledin immense factories and workshops . The development of th is system still continues

,and is envelop ing

the whole world . Such i s the industrial revolution .

Parallel with this a revolution in the world of ideas,

equally great and equally necessary to the rise ofsoc ialism

,has taken place . Th is change of though t ,

which made i ts world - historic announcement in theFrench Revolution

,made reason the suprem e j udge ,

and had freedom for its great practical watchword . I twas represented in the economic sphere by the schoolof Adam Sm i th . Soc ial ism was an outcome of i t too ,and fi rst of al l in Sain t-Sim on and h is school pro fessed


to give the positive and constructive correct ive to anegat ive movement which did not see that it wasmerely negat ive and therefore temporary . In other

words,Saint-Simon m ay be said to aim at nothing less

than the completion of the work of Vol taire , Rousseau ,and Adam Sm ith .

Thus social ism professes to be the legitim ate ch ildof two great revolutions

,—of the industrial revolution

which began to establish itself in England towards theend of the eighteenth century

,and of the paral lel revo

lutien in thought which about the same t ime foundmos t prominent expression in France . Robert Owenworked ch iefly under the influence of the form er ;Saint -Simon and Fourier grew up under the latter.The conspiracy

'

of Babeuf,wh ich took place in 1 796,

shortly after the French Revolut ion,is properly to be

regarded as a crude revolutionary commun ism notessentially d ifferent from the rude efforts in commun ismmade in earlier periods of h istory . With Saint-Simonand Owen historic socialism really begins , and is nolonger an isolated fact

,but has had a continuous and

widening developmen t,the succession of social istic

teach ing and propaganda being taken up by one countryafter another throughou t the c iv ili sed world .

We have seen,then

,that the rise of social ism as a

new and reasoned theory of society was relat ive to theindustrial revolution and to the ideas proclaim ed in theFrench Revolution

,prom inen t among wh ich

,besides the

much em phasised idea of freedom and the less easilyrealised ideals of equal ity and fra ternity

,was the con

INTRODUCTION 1 9

l ception of the worth and d ign i ty of labour. Though

Owen was most largely influenced by the former andSaint-Simon and Fourier by the latter

,it is certain tha t

all three were great ly affected by both the new movements . The motive power in Owen ’s career was thephilanthropy and humanitarian ism of the e ighteen thcentury. He had grown up in the midst of the industrial revolution ; he was one of the most successfulp ioneers in the improvement of the cotton m anufacture .

N0 one could be more deeply conscious of the enormous

abuses of the factory sys tem ; and no one better knewthe wonderful services that m ight be rendered bytechni cal improvement if only it were made subord inateto human well~being. In the career of Owen we see

the new spirit of the eighteenth century seek ing tobring the mechani sm of the new industrial sys temunder the direction of a nobler principle

,in wh ich the

good of all should be the great and sole aim .

The posi tion of Saint -Simon was cons iderably different

,yet akin . As Owen had before h is eyes the evil s

of a young but gigant ic industrialism,Sain t - S imon

contemplated the hoary abuses of an idle and privi legedfeudalism

,fearfully shaken no doub t by the Revolution

,

but stil l strong in Europe,and in France

,as elsewhere

,

powerfully revived during the period after Waterloo .

Saint-Simon saw that a new world,an indus trial world

resting on labour,had arisen

,wh i le the old feudal and

theological world - f ainéant courtiers and a c lergy

steeped in ignorance—stil l ruled . Al l thi s array ofparas i tes

,who had no longer any use ful function to


perform for society,Saint-Simon sought to replace by

the industrial ch iefs and scientific leaders as the realwork ing heads of the French people . Only, he ex

pected that these exceptionally gifted men, instead of

exploit ing the l abour of others,should control an in

dustrial France for the general good.

Neither Owen nor Saint - S imon was revolutionaryin the ordinary sense . Owen was most anxious that

the English and other Governments should adopt hisprojects of socialist ic reform . Leading statesmen androyal personages befriended h im . He had no faith in

thepolitical reforms of 1 832 ; he reckoned the politicalside of chartism as of no account , and he preferredsocialistic experiment under autocratic guidance untilthe workmen should be trained to rule themselves .The same autocratic tendency was very pronounced inSaint-Simon and h is school . H is first appeal was to

Louis XVI I I . He wished to supersede the feudal aris

tocracy by a working aristocracy of merit. His schoolclaim to have been the first to warn the Governments

of Europe of the rise of revolutionary social ism . In

short,the early socialism arose during the reaction con

sequent on the wars of the French Revolution , and wasinfluenced by the political tendencies of the time .

The beginning of socialism may be dated from 1 8 1 7,

the year when Owen laid his schem e for a soc ialist iccommunity before the comm ittee of the House of Commons on the poor law

,the year also that the speen

lations of Saint - Sim on defin itely took a social isticdirection . The outlines of the history of socialism are


CHAPTER I I

EARLY FRENCH SOCIAL ISM

SAJNZ-SIMON

THE founders of the early social ism grew up under theinfluence of the too-confident optimism which characterised the early stages of the French Rev olution of1 78 xcessive faith in the ossibilities

of human ro ress and erfectibility ; they knew littleof the true laws of social evolution—in fact

,did not

sufliciently recognise those aspects of l ife which Dar

winism has brought out so clearly . These faults the

early social ists shared with many other th inkers of thetime inwhich they lived.

Comte Henri de Sain t-Simon,the founder of French

socialism ,was born at Paris in 1 760. He belonged to

a younger branch of the fam ily of the celebrated dukeof that name . His educat ion , he tells us, was directedby d ’Alembert. At the age of n ineteen he went asvolunteer to assist the American colonies in theirrevolt against Britain .

From h is youth Saint-Simon felt the promptings ofan eager ambition . His valet had orders to awake h im

EARLY FRENCH. SOCIALISM 23

every morn ing w i th the words,Rem ember

,m onsieu r

le com te , that you have grea t things to do’

; and h isancestor Charlemagne appeared to him in a d ream ,

forc

telling a remarkable future for h im . Am ong h is earlyschemes was one to un i te the Atlantic and the Pac i ficby a canal

,and another to construct a canal from

Mad rid to the sea .

He'

took no part of any importance in the Frenchievolution,

but amassed a l ittle fortune by land specu

la t ion—no t on h is own accoun t,however

,as he said

,

but to facilitate his future projec ts . Accord ingly,when

he was nearly forty years of age he wen t through avaried course of study and experiment

,in order to

enlarge and clarify his V iew of th ings . One of these

experiments was an unhappy m arriage,wh ich after a

year’

s duration was d issolved by the mutual consent ofthe parties . Another result of h is experiments wasthat he

’

found h im self completely impoverished,and

lived in penury for the remainder of h is l ife .

The first of his numerous writings,Lettres al

’

un

Habiiant ole Geneve,appeared in 1 803 ; but h is early

works were mostly scientific and pol i tical . I t was

not t ill 1 8 1 7 that he began,in a treatise entitled

L’

Inrlus lrie,to propound h is socialist ic v iews

,which he

further developed in L’

Organisalear Du Systems

industrial Cate‘chismo ( les I ndustr iels

The last and m ost im portant express ion of h is v iews isthe Noureaa C/Lrislianisme

For many years before his dea th in 1 825 Sain t-Simonhad been reduced to the greates t strai ts . He was


obliged to accept a laborious post for a salary of £40 ayear, to live on the generosity of a former valet, andfinally to soli cit a small pension from hi s family . In

1 823 he attempted su ic ide in despair. I t was not tillvery late in his career that he attached to him self a fewardent disciples.As a thinker Sain t-Simon was entirely deficient in

system , clearness, and consecu tive strength . His writings are largely made up of a few ideas cont inuallyrepeated . But his speculations are always ingeniousand or iginal ; and he has unquestionably exercisedgreat influence on m odel nfl tlrought, both as the historicfounder of French socialism and as suggesting much ofwhat was afterwards elaborated intoCom t ism .

Apart from the details of his socialistic teach ing,

with which we need not concern ourselves,we find that

the ideas of Saint-Simon w ith regard to the reconstruction of society are very simple . His opinions

were conditioned by the French Revolution and by thefeudal and military system stil l prevalent in FranceIn opposition to the des tructive l iberal ism of the

Revolution he insisted on the necessity of a new andpositive reorganisation of society. So far was be from

advocating social revolt that he appealed to LouisXVI I I . to inaugurate the new order of things. Inopposition

,however

,to the feudal and m ili tary system

,

the former aspect of which had been strengthened by,

the Restorat ion,he advocated an arrangement by which

the industrial chiefs should control society. In place

of the Medieeval Church , the spiritual direction of

EARLY FRENCH SOC IALISM 25

society should fall to the men of science . t at Saint

Simon desired,therefore

,was an industrialist S tate

directed by modern science . The m en who are bestfi tted to organise society for productive labour are en

t itled to bear rule in it .The social aim is to produce things useful to life

the final end of social acti v ity i s ‘ the exploitation of

the globe by association .

’

The contrast between labourand capital , so much emphasised by later social ism ,

i snot present to Saint - Sim on

,but it is assumed that the

industrial chiefs,to whom the control of production is

to be comm itted , shal l rule in the interest of society .

Later on,the cause of the poor receives greater atten

t ion,till in his greatest work

,The New Christianity, i t

becomes the central poin t of h is teaching,and takes the

form of a religion . I t was this religious development

of his teaching that occasioned his final quarrel with

Comte .Previous to the publication of the NOH’

L’CCLM Chris

tianisme Saint - Simon had not concerned h imself withtheology . Here he starts from a belief in God , and his

obj ect in the treatise is to reduce Christiani ty to itssimple and essential elements . He does this by clearing it of the dogmas and other excrescences and defectsthat have gathered round both the Catholic and Protestant forms of it

,.which he subjects to a searching and

ingen ious criticism . The moral doctrine w il l by thenew fai th be cons idered the most important ; the divineelem en t in Christian i ty i s contained in the precept thatmen should ac t towards one ano ther as brethren . The

2 6 H ISTORY OF SOCIALISM

new Christian organisation w ill deduce the tem poralinstitutions as well as the spiritual from the principlethat all m en should act towards one another as brethren .

’

Expressing the sam e idea in modern language,Saint

Simon propounds as the comprehens ive formula of thenew Christianity this precept : ‘ The whole of society

ought to strive towards the ameliorat ion of the moraland physical ex istence of the poores t class ; societyough t to organise itself in the way best adapted forattaining this end .

’

Th is principle became the watchword of the entire school of Saint-S imon ; for them itwas al ike the essence of religion and the programmeof social reform .

During his lifetim e the views of Saint - Simon hadl ittle influence , and he left only a very few devoteddisciples

,who continued to advocate the doctrines of

their m aster,whom they revered as a prophet . An

im portant departure was m ade in 1 828 by Bazard,who

gave a ‘ complete exposition of the Saint—S imon ianfaith ’ in a long course of lectures in the Rue Taranneat Paris . In 1 830 Bazard and Enfantin were acknowledged as the heads of the school ; and the fermentat ion caused by the revolution of July of the same yearbrought the whole movem ent prominently before theattention of France . Early next year the school obtained possession of the Globe through Pierre Leroux ,who had joined the party

,which now num bered some

of the ablest and most promis ing young men of France,

many of the pup i ls of the Ecole Polytechnique havingcaught its enthusiasm . The members formed them

EARLY FRENCH SOCIALI SM 27

selves into an associat ion arranged in thre e grades,and

cons tituting a soc iety or fam ily,wh ich l ived ou t of a

comm on purse in the Rue Monsigny.

Before long,however, d issensions began to arise in

the sec t . Bazard,a man of logical and m ore solid

temperam ent, could no longer work in harmony withEnfantin

,who des ired to establish an arrogan t and

fantastic sacerdotal ism,w ith lax notions as to marriage

and the relations of the sexes . After a t im e Bazardseceded

,and m any of the stronges t supporters fol lowed

his example . A series of extravagant entertainmentsgiven by the society during the w inter of 1 832 reducedi ts financial resources and greatly d iscredi ted i t incharacter. They finally removed to Menilm ontant

,to

a property of Enfantin,where they l ived in a com

munistic society, distinguished by a pecul iar dress .Shortly afterwards the chiefs were tried and condemnedfor proceedings prej udicial to the social order ; and thesect was entirely broken up in 1 832 . Many of i tsmembers became famous as engineers

,economists

,and

men of business. The idea of constructing the Suez

Canal,as carried out by Lesseps

,proceeded from the

school .

In the school of Saint-Simon we find a great advanceboth in the breadth and firmness w i th wh ich the vagueand confused v iews of the master are developed ; andth is progress is due chiefly to Bazard. In the philo

sophy of history they recognise epoch s of two kinds ,

the critical or negative,and the organic or construc ti ve .

The former,in wh ich philosophy is the dom ina ting

28 HISTORY OF SOC IALISM

force, is characterised by war, egotism ,and anarchy ;

the latter, wh ich is controlled by religion , is marked bythe Sp irit of obedience

,devotion

,association . The two

spirits of antagonism and association are the two greatsocial principles

,and on the degree of prevalence of the

two depends the character of an epoch . The spiri t of

association , however , tends more and more to prevailover its opponent

,extending from the family to the

city,from the city to the nation

,and from the nation

to the federation . Th is principle of association is to bethe keynote of the social development of the future .

Hitherto the law of humanity has been the ‘ exploitation of man by man ’ in its three stages—slavery

,

erfdom,the proletariat ; in the future the aim must be

‘ the exploitation of the globe by man associated toman .

’

Under the present system the industrial ch ief stil lexploits the proletariat

,the members of which

,though

nominally free,must accept his terms under pain of

starvation . Th is state of things is consolidated by thelaw of inheritance

,whereby the instruments of produc

tion,wh ich are private property

,and all the attendant

social advantages,are transm itted w ithout regard to

personal merit . The social d isadvantages being alsotransmitted

,misery becomes hered itary . The only

remedy for this is the abolition of the law of inheritance

,and the union of all the instruments of labour in

a social fund,which shall be exploited by association .

Society thus becomes sole proprietor,entrusting to

social groups or social functionaries the management of



on the interpretation ; and it was variously interpretedin the school of Saint-Simon . I t was certainlyi mmoralas held by Enfantin , by whom it was developed into akind of sensual mysticism

,a system of free love with a

religious sanction .

l

The good and bad aspects of the Saint - Simonsocialism are too obvious to require elucidation . The

antagonism between the old economic order and thenew had only begun to declare itself. The exten t andviolence of the disease were not yet apparent : bothdiagnosis and remedy were superficial and prem ature.Such deep -seated organic disorder was not to be conjured away by the waving of a magic wand . The

movement was all too utop ian and extravagant in muchof its activity . The most prom inent port ion of theschool attacked social order in its essential point—thefamily moral ity—adopting the worst features of a fantastic

,arrogant

,and prurient sacerdotalism

,and parad

ing them in the face of Europe . Thus it happened thata school which attracted so m any of the most brilliantand promising young men of France

,wh ich was so

striking and original in its criticism of the ex istingcond it ion of things

,which was so strong in the Spirit of

initiat ive,and was in many ways so noble

,unselfish

,and

aspiring,sank amidst the laughter and ind ignation of

a scandalised society.

1 An excel lent ed it ion of the works o f Saint~Simon and Enfantinwas begun by survivors of the sect in (Paris) 1 865, and new numbers

forty vols. See Reybaud , Etudes sur les rdormatcurs m odernes (7th

ed ition , Paris 1 864) Janet, Saint-Simon et le'

Saint-Simonisme (Paris ,1 878) A . J . Booth , Sa int-Simon and Saint-Simonism (London,

EARLY FRENCH SOCIALISM

FOURIER

Considered as a purely l iterary and speculative product

,the socialism of Fourier was prior to those both

of Owen and Saint -Simon . Fourier’

s firs t work,Theorie

des Quatre Movements,was publ ished as early as 1 808 .

H is system,however , scarcely attracted any attention

and exercised no influence till the movements originatedby Owen and Saint-Simon had begun to decl ine .

The socialism of Fourier is in many respects fundamentally di fferen t from that of Sa int- Sim on ; in thetwo schools

,in fact, we find the two opposing types of

social ism wh ich have continued to prevail ever since .Sain t-S imonism represented the principle of authority

,

of central isation ; wh ile Fourier made all possible provision for l ocal and ind ividual freedom . With SaintS imonism the State is the start ing-point

,the normal

and dominan t power ; in Fourier the like posi tion i sheld by a local body

,correspond ing to the commune

,

wh ich he called the Phalange. In the sys tem of

Fourier the p halange holds the supreme and cen tralplace

,other organ isation in comparison w i th i t being

secondary and subordinate .

The deviser of the p halanr/e, Francois Marie CharlesFourier 1 was a very rem arkable m an . l i e was born a tBesancon in 1 772 , and received from his father

,a pros

Fourier’s complete wo rks (6 vol s ,Paris

,1 840-46 new ed .

The m ost em inent expounder o f Fourierism was V ic to r ( Jons idé rant ,Desl ine'c sociale ; Gatti de Gam lnont

'

s Four ier el sou. syslc‘

m c is an

excel lent summary .


perons draper,an excellent education at the academy

of h is native town . The boy excelled in the studies ofthe school

,and regretfully abandoned them for a busi

ness career,whi ch he followed in various towns of

France . As a comm ercial traveller in Holland andGermany he enlarged his experience of men and things .From h is fa ther Fourier inherited a sum of about

£3000, with wh ich he started bus iness at Lyons, buthe lost all he had in the siege of that city by the

J acobins during the Reign of Terror,was thrown intoprison

,and narrowly escaped the guil lotine . On his

release he j oin ed the arm y for two years,and then

returned to his old way of life.

At a very early age Fourier had his attent ion calledto the defects of the prevalent commercial system .

When only five years old he had been punished for

speaking the truth about certain goods in h i s father’sshop ; and at the age of twenty-seven he had at Marseil les to superintend the destruct ion of an immensequant ity of r ice held for higher prices during a scarc ityof food til l it had become unfit for use . The conv ictiongrew within him that a system wh ich involved suchabuses and immorali ties must be radicall y ev il . Feel ingthat i t was h is m ission to find a remedy for i t

,he spent

h i s life in the discovery,eluc idation

,and propagation of

a better order ; and he brought to his task a self-den ialand singleness of purpose wh ich have seldom beensurpassed . For the last ten years of his life he waitedin his apartments at noon every day for the wealthycap i tal is t who should supply the m eans for the realisa

EARLY FRENCH SOC IALISM 33

tion of his schemes . The tangible success obtained byhis system was very slight . H is works found fewreaders and still fewer dis ciples.It was chieflyafter the decline of the Saint-Simon

movement that he gained a hearing and a little success .A small group of enthusiastic adherents gathered roundhim ; a journal was started for the propagation of h i sviews ; and in 1 832 an attempt was made on lands near

Versailles to establish a p halange, which , however,proved a total failure . In 1 837 Fourier passed away

from a world that showed little inclination to l isten tohis teaching. A singular altruism was in his characterblended with the most sanguine confidence in thepossib i li ties of human progress . Perhaps the weakestpoint in his teaching was that he so greatly underestimated the strength of the unregenerate residuum inhuman nature . His own life was a model of simplicity ,integrity

,kindliness

,and disinterested devotion to what

he deemed the highest aims .The social system of Fourier was

,we need not say

,

the central po int in h i s speculations . But as his socialsystem was moulded and coloured by his peculiar v iewson theology

,cosmogony

,and psychology

,we must give

some account of those aspects of h is teaching. In

theology Fourier incl ined,though not dec idedly

,to what

is called pantheism ; the pantheistic conception of theworld which underlay the Saint-Simon theory of the‘ rehabil itation of the flesh

’

may be said to form thebasis also of the social ethics and arrangements ofFourier. Along with this he held a natural optim ism

3


of the most radical and comprehensive character. Godhas done all things wel l, only man has misunderstoodand thwarted His benevolent purposes . God pervadeseverything as a universal attraction . Whereas Newtondiscovered that the law of attraction governs one movement of the world , Fourier shows that it is uni versal ,ruling the world in all its movements

,which are four

material, organic, intell ectual, and. social . It is the

same law of attraction which pervades all things,from

the cosmic harmony of the stars down to the puny lifeof the minutest insect

,and whi ch would reign also in

the human soul and in human society,if the intentions

of the Creator were understood . In the elucidation ofhis system Fourier’s aim simply is to interpret theintentions of the Creator. He regards his philosophy ,not as ingenious guesses or speculations, but as d iscoveries plain ly traceable from a few first principles ;discoveries in no way doubtful , but the fruit o f clearinsight into the divine law.

The cosmogonyfi qflFourier is the most fantastic part

of a fantastic system . But as he did not consider his

v iews in this department an essential part of h is system,

we need not dwell upon them . He beli eved that theworld is to exist for eighty thousand years

,forty

thousand years of progress being followed by fortythousand years of decline . As yet it has not reachedthe adult stage

,having lasted only seven thousand

years . The present stage of the world is civilisation ,which Fourier uses as a comprehensive term for every

thing artificial and corrupt,the result of perverted

EARLY FRENCH SOCIALISM 36

human institutions , themselves due to the fact that wehave for five thousand years misunderstood the imtent ions of the Creator. The head and front of this misunderstanding consists in our pronouncing passions tobe bad that are Simply natural ; and there is but oneway of redressing it—to give a free and heal thy andcomplete development to our passions.This leads us to tllE PSyCll ‘llf’gL Qfi Fourier. He

recognised twelve radical passibns connected with threepoints of attraction . Five are sensitive (tending toenjoyment)—Sigh t

,hearing

,taste

,smell

,and touch .

Four are affective (tending to groups) —love, friendsh ip,am bition

,and fam ilism or paternity . The mean ing and

function of these are obvious enough . The remaining

three,the alternating , emulatioe, and comp osi te (wh ich

he calls passions rectrices, and which tend to series or toun ity) , are more Special to Fourier. Of t he three the

first is connected with the need of variety ; the secondleads to intrigue and j ealousy ; the third, full of intoxication and abandonment

,is born of the combina

tion of several pleasures of the senses and of the soul

enjoyed simultaneously . The passions of the firs t two

classes are so far controlled by the p assions rectrices,

and especially by the composite passion ; but even the

passions rectrices obviously con tain elements of d iscordand war. All

,however

,are ultimately harm onised by a

great social passion,which Fourier calls Uniteisnze. Out

of the free play of all the passions harmony is evolved,

l ike white ou t of the combination of the colours .The speedy passage from social chaos to universal

36 H I STORY or SOCIAIiISM

harmony contemplated by Fourier can,as we . have seen,

be accomplished only by one method, by giving to thehuman passions their natural development . For thisend

, a complete break with civ i lisat ion must be made .We must have new social arrangements suitable tohum an nature and in harmony with the intentions of

the Creator. These Fourier prov ides in the p halange.

In its normal form the p halange was to consist of four

hundred families or eighteen hundred persons,living on

a square league of land, self-contained and self-sufficingfor the most part

,and combining within itself the means

for the free development of the most varied likingsandcapacities. I t was an institution in which agriculture

,

industry,the appl iances and opportunities of enjoyment

,

and generally of the widest and freest human development

,are combined , the interests of individual freedom

and of common un ion being reconcil ed in a way hithertounknown and unimagined .

Whi le the phalange is the social unit, the individualscomposing it w il l arrange themselves in groups of sevenor nine persons ; from twenty-four to thirty - two groupsform a series

,and these unite to form a phalange—all

according to principles of attraction , of free electiveaffinity . The dwell ing of the p halange was the p halanstere, a vast, beautiful , and commodious structure, wherel ife could be arranged to suit every one

,common or

solitary,according to preference ; but under such con

ditions there would be neither excuse nor motive forthe selfish seclusion , isolat ion , and suspicion so prevalentin civ ilisation .


38 HISTORY OF SOC IAL I SM

phalange a very comfortable m inimum was assured toevery member. Of the remainder, five- twelfths went

to labour,four- twelfths to capital

,and three-twelfths

to talent. In the p halange indi vidual capital existed,and inequality of talent was not only admitted, butinsisted upon and utilised . In the actual distributionthe phalange treated w i th individuals. With regard tothe remuneration of individuals under the head ofcapital no d iffi culty could be felt

,as a normal rate of

interest would be given on the advances made . Individual talent would be rewarded in accordance withthe services rendered in the management of the

p halange, the place of each being determined by election . Labour would be remunerated on a principleentirely different from the present. Hard and common

or necessary work should be best paid ; useful workshould come next

,and pleasant work last of all. In

any case the reward of labour would be so great thatevery one would have the opportunity of becoming acapitalist.

One of the most notable results of the pha lange

treat ing with each member individually is,that the

economi c independence of women would be assured .

Even the child of five woul d have its own share in theproduce .

The system of Fourier may fairly be described asone of the most ingenious and elaborate Utopias everdevised by the human brain . But in many cardinalpoints it has been constructed in complete contradict ionto all that experience and science have taught us of

EARLY FRENCH SOC IAL I SM

human nature and the laws of social evolution . He

particularly underestimates the force of human egotism .

From the beginning progress has consisted essentiallyin the hard and strenuous repression of the beast wi thinthe man , whereas Fourier would give i t free rein . This

applies to his system as a whole,and especially to h i s

theories on marriage . Instead of supplying a suddenpassage from social chaos to universal harm ony

,his

system would,after ent irely subverting such order as

we have,only bring us back to social chaos .

Yet his works are full of suggestion and instruction,

and will long repay the study of the social econom ist .His criticism s of the ex isting system

,of its waste

,

anarchy,and immorality

,are ingenious

,search ing

,and !

often most convincing. In his positive proposals,too

,

are to be found some of the most sagacious and farreaching forecasts of the future landmarks of humanprogress. Most noteworthy are the guarantees hedevised for individual and local freedom . The p halange

was on the one hand large enough to secure al l thebenefits of a scientific industry and of a varied comm onlife ; on the other it prov ides against the evil s of centralisation

,of State despotism

,of false patriotism and

national j ealousy . Fourier has forecast the part to be

played in the social and pol it ical developmen t of thefuture by the local body

,whether we call i t commune

,

parish , or mun icipality . The fact that he has given i ta fantastic name

,and surrounded it with many fantastic

conditions, should not hinder u s from recognising hisgreat sagacity and original i ty .

HI STORY OF SOC IAL I SM

The freedom of the individual and of the minorityis, moreover, protected against the poss ible tyranny of

the phalangc by the existence, under reasonable l im itsand under social control

,of individual capi tal . This

indiv idual capital,further

,is perfectly mobi le ; that is,

the possessor of it,if he thinks fit to m igrate or go

on travel,m ay remove his capital , and find a w elcome

for h is labour,talent

,and investments in any part of

the world . Such arrangements of Fourier may suggesta much - needed lesson to many of the contemporaryadherents of scientific socialism .

’

While,therefore

,we believe that Fourier’s system

was as a whole entirely utopian,he has with great

sagacity drawn the outl ines of much of our poli ticaland social progress ; and while we bel ieve that the fulldevelopment of human passions as recommended byhim would soon reduce us to social chaos, a time may

come in our ethical and rat ional growth when a -widening freedom may be permitted and exercised

,not by

casting off moral law,but by the perfect assimilation

of it.

CHAPTER III

FRENCH SOCIALISM or 1 848

THE year 1 830 was an important era in the history ofsocial ism . During the fermentation of that tim e theactiv i ty of the Saint-Simon school came to a crisi s

,and

the theories‘ of Fourier had an opportun ity of tak ingpractical shape . But by far the greatest resul t forsocialism of the revolutionary period of 1 830 was thed finite establ ishment of the contrast between the l

two countries that held the foremost place 1 11 the modernindustrial

,social

,and political movement . Hi therto

the men who were afterwards destined consciously toconstitute those two classes had fought s ide by sideagainst feudal ism and the reaction . Through therestricted franch i se introduced at this period in the twocountries just mentioned the middle class had becomethe ruling power.Excluded from pol itical priv ileges and pressed by the

weigh t of adverse economic cond itions,the prole tariat

now appeared as the revolutionary party . The firstsym ptom in France of the al tered state of th ings wasthe outbreak at Lyons in 1 831 , when the starving

42 HISTORY OF SOC IAL ISM

workmen rose to arms with the device,Live working

,

or die fighting.

’ Chartism was a larger phase of thesame movement in England . The theories of Saint

Simon and Fourier had met with acceptance chiefly orentirely among the educated classes. Social ism nowdirectly appealed to

‘

the working men .

In this chapter our concern is with the development

.of the new form of socialism in France . Paris , which

had so long been the centre of revolutionary activity,was now

,and particularly during the latter half of the

reign of the bourgeois K ing, Lou is Phil ippe, the seat ofsocialistic fermentation . In 1 839 Louis Blane published his Organisation d

’

tb travail,and Cabet his Voyage

en I carie. In 1 840 Proudhon brought out his book onproperty . Paris was the school to which youthful

innovators went to learn the lesson of revolution . Atthis period she counted among her visitors Lassalle, thefounder of the Social Democracy of Germany ; Karl

Marx , the chief of scientific international socialism ;

and Bakunin,the apostle of anarchism .

The socialistic speculation associated with the three

men last mentioned was to have a farreaching influence ; but it did not attain to full development till alater period . The socialistic activity of Louis Blanc andProudhon culminated during the revolution of 1 848 ,and exercised considerable influence on the course ofevents in Paris at that time.

FRENCH SOC IAL ISM OF 1 848 43

LOUIS BLANC

The socialism of Sa int- S imon and Fourier was,as

we have seen,largely imag inative and Utopian

,and

had only a very remote connection with the practicalli fe of their time . With Loui s Blane the movementcame into real contact with the national history ofFrance . In Lou is Blanc’s teaching the most conspicuous feature was that he dem anded the dem ocraticorganisation of the State as preparatory to social reorganisation . His system ,

therefore,had a positive

and pract ical basis,in so far as it allied itself to a

dominant tendency in the ex isting State .It is unnecessary here to recapitulate in detai l the

life of Louis Blanc . He was born in 1 8 1 1 at Madrid,where his father was in spector-general of finance underJoseph during his uncertain tenure of the Spanish

throne . At an early age he attained to eminence as aj ournalist in Paris

,and in 1 839 establ ished the Revue

da p rogrés, in which he first brought out his celebrated work on Socialism

,the Organisation da travail.

I t was soon published in book form,and found a wide

popularity among the workm en of France,who were

captivated by the brilliancy of the style,the fervid

eloquence with wh ich it exposed existing abuses,and

the simplicity and democratic fi tness of the schemes fo1

the regeneration of society which it advocated .

The greater part of the book is taken up wi th

unsparing demmg ii tions of the evils of competi t ion ,

44 H I STORY OF SOC IAL ISM

which , as common to Louis Blane with other social ists ,need not detain us. More interesting are the practicalmeasures for their removal

,proposed in h is treatise . 1

Like the social ists that preceded h im,L . Blane cannot

accept the v iews which teach a necessary antagonismbetween soul and body ; we must aim at the harmon ious development of both sides of our nature . Theformula of progress is double in its un ity : moral andmaterial am eliorat ion of the lot of all by the free cc

operatiow'i

of all,and their fraternal association .

2 He

saw,however

,that social reform could not be attained

without pol itical reform . The first is the end, the

second is the m eans . It was not enough to discover thetrue methods for inaugurating the principle of association and for organising labour in accordance with therules of reason

,j ust ice

,and humanity. It was necessary

to have political power on the side of social reform,

pol itical power rest ing on the Chambers,on the

tribunals,and on “ the army : not to take it as an

instrum ent was to meet it as an obstacle .For these reasons he wished to see the State con

stituted on a thoroughly dem ocrat ic basis,as the first

cond it ion of success. The emancipation of tlie proletarians was a question so difficult that i t would requirethe whole force of the State for i ts solution . What

is wanting to the working class are the instruments oflabour ; the function of Government is to furnish them.

If we had to define what we consider the State to be,

1 Organisation oln travai l . Fifth edition . 1 848 .

2 Preface to fi fth edition,Organisation d lt travai l .



L. B lane takes very h igh ground .

‘ Genius,

’ he said,

should assert its legitimate empire,not by the amount

of the tribute which it will levy on society,but by the

greatness of the services which it wil l render. ’ This isno mere flourish of eloquence ; it is to be the principle

of remuneration in his association . Society could not,

even if it would,repay the genius of a Newton ; Newton

had his j ust recompense in the joy of discovering thelaws by which worlds are governed . Exceptional en

dowments must find development and a fi tting rewardin the exceptional services they render to society.

L. Blane therefore believed in a h ierarchy accordingto capacity ; remuneration according to capacity headmitted in the earlier editions of his work

,but only

provisional ly and as a concession to prevalent anti- socialopinion . In the edition of 1 848 , the year when h istheories attained for a time to historic importance

,he

had withdrawn this concession .

‘ Though the false andanti-social education given to the present generationmakes it diffi cult to find any other motive of emulationand encouragement than a higher salary

,the wages will

be equal,as the ideas and character of men wil l be

changed by an absolutely new education ’ 1 Privatecapitalists would be invited to j oin the associations

,

and would under fixed conditions receive interest fortheir advances ; -but as the collective capital increased ,

the opportunities for so placing ind iv idual cap ital wouldsurely d iminish . The tyranny of capital'would

,in fact,

receive a mortal wound .

1 Organisation da travai l , p . 1 03.

FRENCH SOC IAL I SM OF 1 848 47

The revolution of 1 848 was an im portant stage inthe development of democracy . In ancient and also inmediaeval times the democracy was associated with cityl ife ; the citizens personally appeared and Spoke and

voted in the Assemblies . The modern democracy hasgrown in large States, extending over wide territories ,and the citizen can exercise political power only throughelected representatives. Hence the im portance of thefranchise in modern politics . The evolution of the

modern democracy has gone through a long successionof phases

,beginning with the early growth of the

English Parl iament, and continued in the struggles ofthe Dutch again st the Spaniards

,in the Englis h Revolu

tions of 1 642 and 1 688 , in the American Revolution of1 776, and the French Revolution of 1 789. In the early

struggles,however, the mass of the people had no very

great share . It was hardly t ill 1 848 that the workingclass made its entrance on the stage of history—inEurope at least .

The revolutionary disturbances of 1 848 affected nearlythe whole of western and central Europe. It was a risingof the peeples against antiquated poli tical forms andinstitutions against the arrangements of the Treaty ofVienna , whereby Europe was partitioned according tothe convenience of ruling houses ; against irresponsibleGovernments , which took no account of the wishes of

their subj ects .In France , the country with wh ich we are now

specially concerned,the revolution was a revolt of the

people against a representative monarchy w ith a very

48 H ISTORY OF SOC IAL I SM

restricted franchise . I t was not a deeply - plannedrising

,and

,indeed

,was a surprise to those who wished

it and accom plished i t. Yet it marked a most important stage in the progress of the world

,for

,as a

result of i t, men for the first time saw the legislature ofa great country established on principles of universalsuffrage

,and the cause of the work ing men recognised

as a supreme duty of government.Louis B lane was the most prominent actor in what

may be called the social-dem ocratic side of the FrenchRevolution of 1 848 . Through his influence with the

working classes,and as representing the ir feelings and

aspirations, he obtained a place in the ProvisionalGovernment . He was supported there by others “ like

mindedl

with himself, including one working man ,Whose appearance in such a capacity was also a notableevent in modern history. But though circumstances

were so far favourable,he did not accompl ish much. It

cannot be said that his plans obtained a fair hearing ora fair trial . He was present in the Provisional Government as the pioneer of a new cause whose time had not

yet come .

The schemes for social reconstruction which he con

templated were certainly not . carried out in the national

workshop s of that year. From the report of the Commission of Inquiry into t he subj ect

,subsequently

inst ituted by the French Governm ent,and from the

History of the NationalWorkshop s, written by theirdirector

,Emile Thomas

,i t is perfectly clear that the

national workshops were simply a travesty of the pro

FRENCH SOC IALI SM O F 1 848 49

posals of Lou is Blane, established expressly to discred i tthem . They were a means of finding work for the mo tleyproletariat thrown out of employm ent during the period

of revolutionary disturbance,and those men were put

to unproductive labour ; whereas , of course, Lou i s B lanecontem plated noth ing but productive work

,and the

m en he proposed inviting to join h is associations wereto give guarantees of character. It was intended

,too

,

by h i s opponents that the mob of workmen whom theyemployed in the so-called national workshop s would beready to ass ist their masters in the event of a strugglewith the socialis t party .

A number of private associations of a kind sim ilarto those proposed by Louis Blane were indeed subsidised by the Government . But of the whole sum

voted for this end,which am ounted to only

the greater part was applied to purposes qui te foreignfrom the grant. It was not the intention of the movingspirits of the Government that they should succeed .

Moreover,the months following the revolution of

February were a period of industrial stagnation andinsecurity

,when any project of trade

,either on the old

or on the new lines,had little prospect of success .

Under these circumstances,the fact that a few of the

associations did prosper very fairly may be acceptedas proof that the scheme of Lou is Blane had in it theelements of v itality . The h istory of the whole m atte rfully j ust ifies the exclamation of Lassalle that ‘ ly ing i sa European power. ’ 1 I t has been the subj ec t of endless

l Lassal le,Di ef ranzos ischen N ationa lwer l ‘

sti'

itten run 1 848 .


misrepresentation by writers who have taken no painsto verify the facts .

As one of the leaders during th is diffi cult crisis,Louis

Blane had neither personal force nor enduring politicalinfluence sufficient to secure any solid success for h iscause. He was an amiable

,genial

,and eloquent

enthusiast,but without weight enough to be a controller

of men on a wide scale . The Labour Conferences at theLuxembourg

,over which he presided

,ended also

,as his

opponents desired,without any tangible result .

The Assembly,elected on the principle of universal

suffrage,which met in May

,showed that the peasantry

and the mass of the French people were not in accordwith the working classes of Paris and of the industrialcentres . It did not approve of the social-democraticactiv ity urged by a section of the Provisional Government. The national workshops also were closed

,and the

proletariat of Paris rose in armed insurrect ion,which

was overthrown by Cavaignac in the sanguinary days ofJune . Louis Blane was in no way responsible for therevolt

,wh ich can be called socialis tic only in the sense

that the proletariat was engaged in it,the class of which

social ism claims to be the special champ ion.

FRENCH SOC IAL ISM OF 1 848 5 1

P1 2OUDHON

Pierre Joseph Proudhon was born in 1 809 at Besancon ,France

,the native place also of the social ist Fourier.

His origin was of the humblest, his father being a

brewer ’s cooper,and the boy herded cows and d id

such other work as came in his way . But he was no tentirely self- educated ; at six teen he entered the collegeof h is native place

,though his family was so poor tha t

he could not procure the necessary books,and had

to borrow them from his mates in order to copy thelessons . There i s a story of the young Proudhon

returning hom e laden with prizes , but to find thatthere was no dinner for him .

At nineteen he became a working compositor,and

was afterwards promoted to be a corrector for the press,

reading proofs of ecclesiastical works,and thereby

acquiring a considerable knowledge of theology . In

this way he also came to learn Hebrew,and to compare

it with Greek , Latin , and French . It was the first

proof of his intellectual audacity that on the strengthof this he wrote an Essai de gramntaire generate. AsProudhon knew nothing whatever of the true principlesof philology

,his treatise was of no value .

In 1 838 he obtained the p ension Saaral, a bursary of1 500 francs a year for three years

,for the encourage

ment of young m en of promise; which was in the giftof the Academy of Besaneon . Ne x t year he wrote atreatise On the Uti lity of K

eep ing the Sunday, wh ich


contained the germs of hi s revolutionary ideas. Aboutthi s t ime he went to Paris

,where he lived a poor,

ascetic,and studi ous life, making acquaintance, how

ever,with the socialistic ideas which were then

fermenting in the capital .In 1 840 he publ ished his first work

, Qu’

est-ce gue la

p rop riété (What is Property ?) H is famous answerto this question

,La p rop rie

‘te

'

e’

est te vol (Property i s

theft) , naturally did not please the academy of Besan

con,and there was some talk of withdrawing his

pension ; but he held it for the regular period .

1

For his thi rd memoir on property,wh ich took the

shape of a letter to the Fourierist,M . Considérant, he

was tried at Besancon , but was acqui tted. In 1 846 he

published his greatest work, the Systeme des contradic

tions e’

conom iques, ou philosophie de la m isere. For some

tim e Proudhon carried on a small printing“ establi sh

ment at Besancon , but without success ; and afterwardsheld a post as a kind of manager with a commercial firmat Lyons . In 1 847 he left this employment, and finally

settled in Paris,where he was now becoming celebrated

as a leader ‘

of innovation .

He regretted the sudden _outbreak of the revolution

of February,because it found the social reformers

unprepared ; but he threw himself with ardour intothe conflict of opinion

,and soon gained a national

1 A complete edition of Proudhon’

s works, including his posthum ous writings, was published at Paris , 1 875 . See P . J . Proudho n,

sa vie et sa corresp ondanee, by Sainte-Beuve (Paris , an adm ir

able work , unhappily not completed ; also Revue des Deuce Mondes,

J an . 1 866 and Feb. 1 873.



and,though he uttered all manner of wild paradox and

vehement invective against the dominant ideas andinstitut ions

,he was remarkably

‘

free from feelings of

personal hate . In all that he said and did he wasthe son of the people

,who had not been broken to

the usual social and academic d iscipline ; hence hisroughness

,his. one- sidedness

,and his exaggerations . But

he is always vigorous,and often brilliant and original .

It would obviously be impossible to reduce the i deasof such an irregular thinker to systematic form . In

later years Proudhon himself confessed that ‘ the greatpart of his publications formed only a work of dissection and ventilation

,so to speak

,by means of which he

slowly m akes his way towards a superior conception ofpolitical and economic laws . ’ Yet the groundwork ofhis teaching is clear and firm no one could insist withgreater emphasis on the demonstrative character ofeconomic principles as understood by h im self. He

strongly believed in the absolute truth of a few m oralideas

,with which it was the aim of his teaching to

mould and suffuse political economy . O f these fundam ental ideas

, j ifi ce,lillerty, and equality were the

ch ief. What he desiderated, for instance , in an idealsociety was the most perfect equal ity of remuneration .

It was his princ iple that service pays servi ce,that a

day ’s labour balances a day ’s labour—in other words,that the duration of labour is the j ust measure of value .He did not shrink from any of the consequences ofthis theory

,for he would give the same remuneration

to the worst mason as to a Ph id ias ; but he looks for

FRENCH SOC IAL I SM OF 1 848 55

ward also to a period in human developm en t when thepresent inequality in the talen t and capac ity of menwould be reduced to an inappreciable minimum .

From the great principle of service as the equivalentof service he derived his axiom that property is theright of aubaine. The aubain was a stranger notnaturali sed ; and the right of aubaine was the right invirtue of which the Sovereign claimed the goods of sucha stranger who had died in his territory . Property is

a right of the same nature, with a l ike power of appro

priation in the form of ren t,interest

,etc. I t reaps

without labour,consumes w ithout producing

,and enj oys

without exertion .

Proudhon’

s aim ,therefore

,was to realise a science of

society resting on prin c iples of justice,liberty

,and

equality thus understood ;‘ a sc ience

,absolu te

,rigor

ous,based on the nature of man and of his facul ties ,

and on their mutual relations ; a science which wehave not to invent

,but to discover. ’ But he saw

clearly that such ideas,with their necessary aecom

paniments , could be realised only through a long andlaborious process of social transformation . As we havesaid

,he strongly detested the prurient imm orali ty of

the schools of Saint-Simon and Fourier. He attackedthem not less bitterly for think ing that society couldbe changed off- hand by a ready -made and completescheme of reform . I t was ‘ the most accursed lie

,

’

he

said,

‘ tha t could be offered to mankind .

’

In social change he d is tinguishes between the transitiou and the perfection or achievem ent. W i th regard


to the transition he advocated the progressive abolitionof the right of aubaine

,by reducing interest

,rent

etc . For the goal he professed only to give the generalprinciples ; he had no ready-made scheme

,no Utopia.

The posi tive organisation of the new society in itsdetails was a labour that would require _fifty Montes

quieus. The organisation he desired was one onve principles

,a free association wh ich would

take account of the division of labour,and which

would maintain the personality both of the man andthe citizen .

“With his strong and fervid feeling for

human d ignity and liberty,Proudhon could not have

tolerated any theory of social change that did not givefull scope for the free developm ent of m an. Connectedwith th is was his famous paradox of anarchy, as thegoal of the free developm ent of society, by which hemeant that through the ethical progress of men government should become unnecessary. Each man should

be a law to h im self. ‘ Government of man by man

in every form,

’ he says,‘ is oppression . The highest

perfection of society is found in the un ion of order andanarchy.

’

Proudhon’

s theory of property as the right of aubaineis substantially the same as the theory of capital heldby Marx and most of the later social ists . Propertyand capital are defined and treated as the power ofexploiting the labour of other men

,of claiming the

results of labour without giving an equivalent . Proudhon ’s famous paradox, Property i s theft,

’ is merely a

trenchant expression of this general principle . As

FRENCH SOC IAL I SM OF 1 8 48 57

slavery i s as sass ina tion inasm uch as i t des troys al l tha ti s valuable and desirable in human personal ity

,so

property i s theft inasm uch as i t appropriates the valueproduced by the labour of others in the form of rent

,

interest,or profi t w ithout rendering an equivalent .

For property Proudhon would substi tute individualpossession

,the right of occupation being equal for all

men .

With the bloodshed of the days of June Frenchsocialism ceased for a time

[to be a considerable force ;and Paris , too, for a tim e lost its place as the greatcentre of innovat ion . The rising removed the most

enterprising leaders of the workm en and quelled thesp iri t of the remainder

,while the false prosperity of

the Second Empire relieved their most urgen t grievances. Under Napoleon III . there was consequentlycomparative quietness in France. Even the Inter

national had very l ittl e influence on French soil,

though French w orkingmen had an important share inoriginating i t.

CHAPTER IV

EARLY ENGLISH SOCIALI SM

COMPARED with the paralle l movement in France theearly socialism of England had an uneventful historyIn order to appreciate the significance of Robert

Owen’

s work it is necessary to recall some of the mostimportant features of the social condi tion of the countryin his time . The English worker had no fixed interestin the soil . He had no voice either in local or nationalgovernment . He had little education or none at all .

His dwelling was wretched in the extreme. The

right even of combination was denied him til l 1 824 .

The wages of the agricultural labourer were miserablylow .

The workman ’s share in the benefi ts of the industrialrevolution was doubtful . Great num bers of his classwere reduced to utter poverty and ruin by thegreat changes consequent on the introduction ofmachinery the tendency to readjustm ent was slow

and continually disturbed by fresh change. The hoursof work were mercilessly long. He had to compete

again st the labour of women,and of ch ildren brought

frequently at the age of five or six from the work

EARLY ENGL I SH SOC IAL I SM 59

houses. These ch i ldren had to work the same longhours as the adults

,and they were some tim es very

cruelly treated by the overseers . Desti tute as they sooften w ere of parental protection and oversight

,with

both sexes huddled together under immoral andinsanitary cond it ions

,i t was only natural that they

should fall into the worst habits,and that their off

spring should to such a lamentable degree be vicious,

improvident,and physically degenerate .

In a country where the labourers had neithereducation nor political or social rights

,and where the

peasantry were practically land less serfs,the old

Engl ish poor law was only a doubtful part of an evilsystem. All these perm anen t causes of misch ief wereaggravated by special causes connected with the cessation of the NapoleonicWars

,which are well known .

I t was in such circumstances,when Engl ish pauperism

had become a grave nat ional question,that Owen first

brought forward his scheme of socialism .

Robert Owen,phi lan thropist

,and founder of Eng

li sh socialism , was born at the village of New town ,Montgom eryshirc , North Wales , in H is father

1 Of R. Owen’

s num erous works in exposition of his system,the

most im portant are the New View of Society ; the Rep ort communicated to the Comm ittee on the Poor Law ; the B ook of the New

Moral lVor lcl and Revolution in the M ind an dPractice of the Human

Ra ce. See Lif e of Robert Owen written by h imself , London,1 857, and

Threading my lVay, Twenty-seven Years of Autobiography, by Robert

Dale Owen, his son , London , 1 874 . There are also L ives o f Owen byA. J . Booth (London, W. L. Sargant (London,

and

F. Podmore (London, For works of a more general charactersee G . J . Holyoake

, History of Co-op eration in England , Lo ndon,1 875

Adol f Held ,Zwei Bueher zur soeia lcn GcschichteEnglam ls , Leipsic , 1 88 1 .


had a small business in Newtown as saddler and irbnmonger

,and there young Owen rece ived all h i s school

education,which term inated at the age of n ine. At

ten he went to Stam ford,where he served in a

draper’ s shop “

for three or four years,and

,after a

short experience of work in a London shop,removed to

Manchester.

H is success at Manchester was very rapid. When .

only nineteen years of age he became manager of acotton -mill, in which five hundred people were employed

,and by h is administrative intelligence

,energy

,

industry,and steadiness

,soon m ade it one of the best

establishments of the kind in Great Britain . In thi sfactory Owen used the first bags of American SeaIsland cotton ever imported into the country ; i t wasthe first cotton obtained from the Southern States of

America . Owen also made remarkable im provement

in the quality of the cotton spun . Indeed there is no

reason to doubt that at this early age he was the first

cotton - spinner in England,a posi tion ent irely due to

his own capacity and knowledge of the trade,as he had

found the m i ll in no well-ordered condit ion and wasleft to organise it entirely on h is own responsibi lity .

Owen had become manager and one of the partnersof the Chorlton Twist Company at Manchester

,when

he made his first acquaintance w i th the scene of h isfuture ph ilanthropic efforts at New Lanark . During avisit to Glasgow he had fallen in love w ith the daugh terof the proprietor of the New Lanark mills

,Mr. Dale .

Owen induced h is partners to purchase New Lanark ;


62 HISTORY or socmmsii

education of the young,to wh ich he devoted special

attention . He was the founder of infant schools in

Great Britain ; and, though he was anticipated byContinental reformers , he seems to have been led toinstitute them by his own views of what education

ought to be, and wi thout hint from abroad .

In all these plans Owen obtained the m ost gratifyingsuccess . Though at first regarded with suspicion as astranger

,he soon won the confidence of his people.

The mills continued to prosper comm ercially,but it is

needless to say that some of Owen’s schemes involved

considerable expense,which was displeasing to hi s

partners . Wearied at last of the restrictions im posed

on him by men who wished to conduct the business onthe ordinary principles

,Owen , in 1 8 1 3, formed a new

firm,whose members

,content with 5 per cent

'

of return

for their capital,would be ready to give freer scope to

his ph ilanthropy. In this firm Jeremy Bentham andthe well-known Quaker, Wil l iam Allen , were partners .In the same year Owen first appeared as an author

of essays,in which he expounded the principles on which

his system of educational philanthropy was based .

From an early age he had lost all belief in the prevailing forms of religion , and had thought out a creedfor himself

,wh ich he considered an entirely new and

original discovery . The ch ief points in this philosophywere that man ’s character is made not by h im but for

him ; that it has been formed by circumstances overwhich he had no control that he is not a proper sub

ject either of praise or blam e—these principles leading


up to the practical conclus ion that the great secret inthe right formation of man ’s character is to place himunder the proper influences

,physical

,m oral

,and

social,from his earl iest years . These principles

,of

the irresponsibility of man and of the effect of earlyinfluences

,are the keynote of Owen ’s whole system of

education and social amelioration . As we have said,

they are embodied

i ’

in his first work, A New View of

Society or, Essays on the Pr incip le of the Formation ofthe Human Character , the first of these essays (there

are four in all) being published in 1 8 1 3. It is needless

to say that Owen’ s new views theoretically belong to a

very old system of ph i losophy,and that h is original i ty

is to be found only in his benevolent applicat ion of

them .

For the next few years Owen’s work at New Lanark

( continued to have a national and even a Europeansignificance . His schemes for the education of hisworkpeople attained to someth ing l ike completion onthe opening of the institut ion at New Lanark in 1 8 1 6.

He was a zealous supporter of the factory legislationresul ting in the Act of 1 8 1 9, which , however, greatlydisappointed him . He had interviews and communica

tions with the leading members of Government,i11

cluding the Premier,Lord Liverpool

,and with many of

the rulers and lead ing statesmen of the Continen t .New Lanark itself became a much-frequented place ofpilgrimage for social reform ers

,statesm en

,and royal

personages,amongst whom was Nicholas , afterwards

Emperor of Russia . According to the unan imous testi


mony of all who visited it,the results achieved by Owen

were s ingularly good . The manners of the ch ildren ,brought up under his system

,were beautifully graceful ,

genial,and unconstrained ; health , plenty, and content

ment prevailed ; drunkenness was almost unknown, andillegitimacy was extremely rare . The most perfect

goOd- feeling subsisted between Owen and his work

people ; al l the operations of the m ill proceeded withthe utmost smoothness and regularity ; and the businessstill enj oyed great prosperity.

Hitherto Owen ’ s work had been that of a philan

thropist, whose great distinction was the originalityand unwearying unselfishness of his methods. Hisfirst departure in socialism took place in 1 8 1 7, and was

embodied in a report comm un i cated to the Comm itteeof the House of Commons on the Poor Law . The

general misery and stagnation of trade consequent onthe termination of the great war were engrossing theattention of the country . After clearly trac ing thespecial causes connected with the war wh ich had ledto such a deplorable state of th ings

,Owen pointed out

that the perm anent cause of distress was to be fouhdin the competition of human labour with m achinery ,

and that the only effective remedy was the unitedaction of men

,and the subordination of machinery .

His proposals for the treatment of pauperism w ere

based on these principles.

He recommended that communit ies of about twelvehundred persons should be settled on spaces of landof from 1 000 to 1 500 acres, all living in one large bu ild

EARLY ENGL ISH SOC IAL ISM 65

ing in the form of a square,w ith publ ic k itchen and

mess-rooms. Each family should have its own privateapartments

,and the entire care of the ch i ldren t ill the

age of three,after which they should be brough t up by

the community, their parents hav ing access to them atmeals and all o ther proper times . These communitiesmight be established by indiv iduals , by parishes , bycounties

,or by the State ; in every case there should be

effective supervis ion by duly qualified persons . Work ,

and the enj oyment of its results,should be in common .

The size of his commun ity was no doubt partlysuggested by his vil lage of New Lanark and he soonproceeded to advocate such a schem e as the bes t formfor the reorganisation of society in general. In itsfully developed form—and it cannot be said to havechanged much during Owen ’s lifetime—it was asfollows. He considered an associat ion of from 500 to3000 as the fit number for a good working community .

Wh ile mainly agricultural,i t should possess all the

best machinery,should offer every variety of employ

ment,and should

,as far as possible

,be self-contained .

In other words,his communit ies were intended to be self

dependent units,which should provide the best educa

tion and th e constant exercise of unselfish intell igence,

should unite the advantages of town and country life,

and should correct the monotonous activity of the factorywith the freest variety of occupation

,while util ising all

the latest improvem ents in industrial technique . ‘ Asthese townsh ips

,

’ as he also called them,

‘ should in .

crease in num ber,unions of them federatively united


shall be formed in circles of tens,hundreds

, and

thousands,

’ til l they should embrace the whole world inone great republic with a common interest.

H is plans for the cure of pauperism were receivedwith great favour. The Times and the Morning Post,

and many of the leadi ng men of the country,counte

nanced them ; one of his most steadfast friends wasthe Duke of Kent

,father of Queen Victori a. He had

indeed ga ined the ear of the country,and had the

prospect before him of a great'

career as a social

reformer,when he went out of h is way at a large

meeting in London to declare his hostility to all the

received forms of religion . After this defiance to thereligious sentiment of the country

, Owen’ s theories were

in the popul ar mind associated with infidelity,and were

henceforward suspected and d iscredited .

Owen’s own confidence

,however

,remained unshaken

,

and he was anxious that his scheme for establishing acommunity should be tested. At last

,in 1 825

,such an

experiment was attempted under the direction of hisdisciple

,Abram Combe

,at O rbiston

,near Glasgow ; and

in the same year Owen himself commenced another atNew Harmony

,in Indiana

,America. After a trial of

about two years both failed com pletely. Neither ofthem was a pauper experiment ; but it must be saidthat the members were of the most motley description

,

many worthy people of the highest aims being mi xedwith vagrants

,adventurers

,and crotchety wrong

headed enthusiasts.After

'

a long period of friction with William Allen


and some of his other partners , Owen resigned allconnection w ith New Lanark in 1 828 . On h is returnfrom America he made London the centre of h isactivity. Most of h is means hav ing been sunk in the

New Harmony experim en t , he was no longer a flourishing capi talist

,but the head of a vigorous propaganda

,in

wh ich socialism and secularism were com bined . One

of the most interesting features of the movemen t atthis period was the establishment in 1 832 of an

equitable labour exchange system,in which exchange

was effected by m eans of labour notes,the usual means

of exchange and the usual middlemen being al ikesuperseded . The word socialism ’

first became current

in the di scussions of the Association of all C lasses of allNations

,formed by Owen in 1 835 .

During these years also his secularistic teach inggained such influence among the working classes as togive occas ion

,in 1 839

,for the statement in theWest

minster Review that h is principles were the actual creedof a great portion of them . His views on marriage

,

wh ich were certain ly lax,gave j ust ground for offence

At this period some more commun istic experim en tswere made

,of which the most important were that a t

Balabine, in the county of Clare , Ireland ,and that at

Tytherly,in Hampsh ire . It i s adm i tted that the former ,

wh ich was establ ished in 1 839, was a remarkable success for three and a half years

,t il l th e proprietor

,who

had granted the use of the land,hav ing ru ined himsel f

by gambling, was obl iged to sell out . Tytherly,begun

in 1 839,was an absolute failure . By 1 846 the only


perm anent result of Owen’ s agitation , so zealously

carried on by public meetings,pamphlets

,periodicals

,

and occasional treat ises,was the cc -operative move

ment,and for the tim e even that seemed to have

utterly col lapsed . In his later years Owen became

a firm believer in spiritualism . He died in 1 858 athis native town at the age of eighty- seven .

The w of Owen’ s failure in establishing his

communit ies are obvious enough . Apart from thedifficulties inherent in social ism

,he inj ured the social

cause by going ou t of his way to attack the historicreligions and the accepted views on marriage

,by his

ted iousness,quixotry

,and over-confidence, by refusing

to see that for the mass of men measures of transition

from an old to a new system must be adopted. If he

had been truer to his earlier methods and retained theautocratic gu idance of his experiments , the chances ofsuccess would have been greater. Above all

, Owen hadtoo great faith in human nature

,and he did not under

stand the laws of social evolut ion . His great doctrineof the influence of circumstances in the formation ofcharacter was only a very crude way of expressing thelaw of social continu ity so much em phasi sed by recentsocialism . He thought that he could break the chain ofcontinuity

,and as by magic create a new set of cir

cum stances,which would forthwith produce a new

generation of rational and unselfi sh men . The timewas too strong for him

,and the current of English

history swept past h im .

Even a very brief account of Owen , however, would



tion—one of the most needed and most beneficialreforms of the century ; and he was the real founder of

the co- operative“

movement. In general education , insanitary reform

,and in his sound and humanitarian

views of common life,

’

he was far in advance of his

t ime . w ,also

,he did the great service of

calling attention to the advantages which m ight be

obtained in the social development of the future fromthe reorganisat ion of the commune

,or self-governing

local group of workers.Still , he had many serious faults ; al l that was

quixot ic,crude

,and superficial in his views became

more prominent in his later years,and by the extra

vagance of his advocacy of them he did vital inj ury tothe cause he had at heart . In his personal character hewas

’

without reproach— frank,benevolent

,and straight

forward to a fault ; and he pursued the altru isticschemes in which he spent all h i s means w ith moreearnestness than most men devote to the accumulationof a fortune .

In England the reform of 1 832 had the same effectas the revolution of July ( 1 830) in France it brought

the m iddle class into power,and by the exclusion of the

workm en emphas ised their existence as a separate class.The discontent of the workmen now found expressionin Chart ism . As is obv ious from the contents of theCharter

,Chartism was most prominently a demand

for political reform ; but both in its origin and in itsultimate aim the movement was more essentially

economic . As regards the study of social ism,the

EARLY ENGL I SH SOC IAL I SM 7 1

interest of this movement l ies greatly in the fact thatin its organs the doctrine of surplus value

,

’ afterwardselaborated by Marx as the bas is of h is system

,is broadly

and emphatically enunciated . Wh ile the worker produces all the wealth

,he i s obliged to content himself

with the meagre share necessary to support his ex istence, and the surplus goes to the cap ital ist , who , withthe king

,the priests

,lords

,esquires

,and gentlemen

,

l ives upon the labour of the working man (Poor Man’

s

Guardian,

After the downfall of Owenism began the Christiansocialist movement in England (1 848 of wh ich theleaders were Maurice

,

-Kingsley,and Mr. Ludlow . The

abortive Chartist dem onstration of April 1 848 excitedin Maurice and his friend s the deepest sympathy w i ththe sufferings of the Engl ish working class—a feel ingwhich was intensified by the revelations regardingLondon Labour and the London Poor ’

published in theMorning Chronicle in 1 849. Mr. Ludlow,

who had inFrance become acquainted w i th the theories of Fourier

,

was the economist of the movement,and i t was with

him that the idea originated of starting cc -Operative

associations .

In Politics f or the Peop le, in the Christian Socialist, inthe pulpit and on the platform

,and in Yeast and Alton

Locke, well-known novels of Kingsley, the representa

tives of the movement exposed the ev ils of the com petitive system

,carried on an unsparing warfare aga inst

the Manchester School,and maintained that soc

'

al ism,

rightly understoodjwas only Christianity appl ied to


social reform . Their labours in insisting on ethical

and spiritual principles as the true bonds of society,in

promoting associations,and in diffusing a knowledge of

cc -operation,were largely beneficial . In the north of

England they j oined hands with the cc -operative move

ment inaugurated by the Rochdale pioneers in 1 844

under the influence of Owenism . Productive cc

operation made very little progress,but cc -operative

distribution soon proved a great success.

C HAPTER V

FERD I NAND LASSALLE

I . LIFE

IN 1 852 the twofold socialist movement in Franceand England had come to an end

,leavi ng no visible

result of any importance . From that date the most

prominen t leaders of socialism have been German andRussian .

Germ an soc ial ists also played a part in the revolutionof 1 848 and in the years that preceded i t ; but as thework that m akes their names really historical was notperformed ti l l a later period

,we have postponed the

consideration of it t ill now,when we can treat it as

a whole . The most conspicuous ch iefs of G erman'

soc ial

ism have been Karl Marx,Friedrich Engels

,Lassalle

,

and Rodbertus. O f these , Lassalle 1 was the firs t tom ake h is mark in history as the originator of the Social V

Democratic movement in G ermany .

Ferd inand Lassalle was born at Breslau in 1 8 25 .

1 The most im portant works o f Lassal le are m entioned in the

text. See G eorg Brandes , Ferd inand Lassa l le ; Franz M ehring , D ie

Dcuts che Social -( lemokral ic, ihre Gesch ichte und ihre Lchrc ; IV. H .

Dawson,German. Social ism am l Ferd inand Lassal le .


Like Karl Marx,the chief of international socialism

,

he was of Jewish extraction . H i s father, a prosperousmerchant in Breslau

,intended Ferdinand for a business

career,and with this view sent him to the comm ercial

school at Leipsic ; but the boy , having no l iking forthat kind of life

,got himself transferred to the univer

sity, first at Breslau,and afterwards at Berlin . His

favourite studies were philology and ph i losophy ; hebecame an ardent Hegelian

,and in politics was one of

the most advanced . Hav ing completed his universitystudies in 1 845

,he began to write a work on Heracleitus

from the Hegelian point of v iew ; but it was soon

interrupted by more stirring interests, and did not see

the l ight for many years .From the Rhine country

,where he settled for a time

,

he went to Paris,and made the acquaintance of his

great compatriot Heine,who conceived for h im the

deepest sympathy and admiration . In the letter of

introduction to Varnhagen von Ense,which the poet

gave Lassalle when he returned to Berlin,there is a

striking portrait of the future agi tator. Heine speaks

of his friend Lassalle as a young man of the mostremarkable endowments

,in whom the widest know

ledge,the greatest acuteness

,and the richest gifts of

expression are combined with an energy and practicalability which excite h i s astonishment ; but adds , in hishalf-mocking way

,that he is a genuine son of the new

era,without even the pretence of modesty or self-denial ,

who will assert and enjoy himself in the world of realities. At Berl in

,Lassalle becam e a favourite in some

FERDINAND LASSALLE 75

of the most dis tinguished c ircles ; even the veteranHumboldt was fascinated by him

,and used to call h im

theWunderkind .

Here it was also,early in 1 846

,that he met the lady

w i th whom his life was to be associated in so striking away

,the Countess Hatzfeldt. She had been separated

from her husband for many years,and was at feud w ith

him on questions of property and the custody of the irchil dren . With characteristic energy Lassalle adoptedthe cause of the countess

,whom he believed to have

been outrageously wronged, made a special study of law ,

and,after bringing the case before thirty - six tribunals ,

reduced the powerful count to a compromise on termsmost favourable to his cl ient.The process

,wh ich lasted eigh t years

,gave rise to

not a little scandal,especially that of the Oassetten

geschichte. Th is ‘ affair of the casket ’ arose out of an

attempt by the countess’

s friends to get possess ion of abond for a large l ife-annuity settled by the count onhis mistress

,a Baroness Meyendorf

,to the prej ud ice

of the countess and her ch ildren . At the instigationof Lassalle

,two of his comrades succeeded in carry ing

off a casket,wh ich was supposed to contain the docu

ment in question (but which really contained herj ewels) , from the baroness

’s room at a hotel in Cologne .

They were prosecuted for theft, one of them beingcondemned to si x months ’ imprisonm ent . Lassalleh im self was accused of moral complici ty

,but was

acquitted on appeal .

H is intimate relations w ith the countess,wh ich con


tinued till the end,certainly did not tend to improve

Lassalle ’s position in German society. Rightly orwrongly, people had an unfavourable impression of him ,

as of an adventurer. Here we can but say that heclaimed to act from the noblest motives ; in the indi

vidual lot and suffering of the countess he saw thesocial misery of the t ime reflected

,and h is assertion of

her cause was a moral insurrection again st it . Whilethe case was pending

,he gave the countess a share of

his allowance from his father ; and after it was won ,he received according to agreem ent

,from the now

ample resources of the lady,an annual income of four

thousand thalers Added to his own privatemeans

,this sum placed the finances of Lassalle on a

sure footing for the rest of his l ife . His conduct was amixture of chivalry and business

,which every one must

j udge for himself. It was certainly not in accordancewith the conventionalities

,but for these Lassal le never

entertained much respect .In 1 848 Lassalle attached himself to the group of

men,Karl Marx

,Engels

,Frei ligrath

,and others

,who

in the Rhine country represented the socialistic andextreme democrat ic side of the revolution

,and whose

organ was the New Rhenish Gazette. But the activity

of Lassall e was only local and subordinate . He was,

however,condemned to s ix months ’ imprisonment for

resisting the authorities at Dusseldorf. On that occa

sion Lassal le prepared the first of those Speeches

which made so great an impression on the m en of

h is time ; but it was not delivered . It contains the



In the course of the Hatzfeldt suit Lassalle hadacquired no little knowledge of law

,wh ich proved

serviceable to him in the great work, System of Acquired

Rights, published in 1 861 . The book professes to be,

and in a great measure is,an application of the

historical method to legal ideas and institutions ; butit is largely dominated also by abstract concept ions

,

wh ich are not really drawn from history,but read into

it . The results of his investigat ion are sufficientlyrevolut ionary in the legal sphere they go even fartherthan his socialistic writings in the economic andpolitical . But w ith one important exception he madeno attempt to base his socialistic agitation on h isSystem of Acquired Rights it simply remained a learnedwork .

H itherto Lassalle had been known only as the authorof two learned works

,and as connected with one of the

most extraordinary lawsu its of the nineteenth century,

which had become a widespread scandal . Now beganthe brief act ivity wh ich was to give him an historicalsignificance. His revolutionary activity in 1 848 , thoughonly a short phase in his career

,was not an accident ;

it represented a permanent feature of h is character. In

h im the student and the man of action were combinedin a notable manner

,but the craving for effective

action was eminently strong. The revolut ionary andthe active elements in h is strangely mixed nature hadfor want of an bpportunity been for many years in

A rare opportun ity had at last come for asserting


his old convictions . In the struggle between thePruss ian Government and the Oppos i t ion he saw anopportunity for vindicating a great cause

,that of the

working men,wh ich would outflank the Liberalism of

the midd le classes,and might command the sympathy

and respect of the Government . But his pol it icalprogramme was entirely subordinate to the social

,that

of bettering the condition of the work ing classes ; andhe believed that as their champion he might have suchinfluence in the Prussian State as to determ ine it onentering on a great career of social ameli oration .

The soc ial activity of Lassalle dates from the year1 862 . It was a time of new life in Germany . The

forces destined to transform the Germany of Hegel intothe Germany of Bismarck were preparing . The time

for the restoration and unification of the Fatherlandunder the leadership of Prussia had come. The nationthat had so long been foremost in ph ilosophy andtheory was to take a lead ing place in the practicalwalks of national l ife

,in war and politics

,and in the

modern methods of industry . The man who died as firstGerm an Emperor of the new order ascended the throneof Prussia in 1 86 1 . Bismarck

,whose mission it was to

take the chief part in this great transformation,entered

on the scene as Chief Minister of Prussia in the autumnof 1 862. The Progressist party

,that phase of German

Liberal ism wh ich was to offer such bitter’

oppos it ionboth to Bismarck and Lassalle

,came into ex istence in

1 86 1 .

For accomplish ing this world -h i storic change thel


decisive factor was the Prussian army. The new rulers

of Prussia clearly saw that for the success of their plans

everything would depend on the efficiency of the army .

But on the question of its reorganisation they cam einto conflict with the Liberals

,who

,fail ing to compre

hend the policy of B ismarck,refused h im the supplies

necessary for realising ideals dear to every Germanpatriot.

In the controversy so b itterly waged between thePrussian monarchy and the Liberals

,Lassalle intervened .

As m ight be expected,he was not a man to be bound by

the formulas of Prussian Liberalism , and in a lecture ,On the Nature of a Consti tution,

delivered early in 1 862,

he expounded views entirely at variance with them .

In this lecture his aim was to show that a constitutionis not a theory or a document written on paper ; i t isthe expression of the strongest pol itical forces of thetime . The king

,the nobility

,the middle class

,the

working class,all these are forces in the polity of

Prussia ; but the strongest of all is the k ing, who possesses in the army a means of political power, which

is organised,excellently disciplined

,always at hand

,

and always ready to march . The army i s the basis ofl the actual working constitution of Prussia. In the

struggle against a Government resting on such a basis,

verbal protests and compromises were of no avail .In a second lecture,What Next ? Lassalle proceeded

to maintain that there was only one method foreffectually resist ing the Government , to proclaim the

facts of the pol itical situation as they were,and then

FERDINAND LASSALLE 8 1

to retire from the Chamber. By remaining they onlygave a false appearance of legality to the doings of theGovernment . If they withdrew i t must y ield , as inthe present state of political Opinion in Pruss ia and incivilised Europe no Government could exist in defianceof the wishes of the people .

In a pamphlet subsequently published under thetitl e of .Might and Right, Lassalle defended himselfagainst the accusation that in these lectures he hadsubordinated the claims of Right to those of Force .He had

,he said

,not been expressing his own views of

what ought to be ; he had simply been elucidating factsin an historical way, he had only been explaining thereal nature of the situation . He now went on to

declare that no one in the Prussian State had any rightto speak of Right but the old and genuine democracyIt had always cleaved to the Right

,degrading itself by

no compromise w ith power. With the democracy aloneis Right

,and with it alone wil l be Might .

We need not say that these utterances of Lassallehad no influence on the march of events . The rulers

pushed on the reorganising of the army with suppliesobtained without the consent of the Prussian Chambers

,

the Liberal members protesting in vain til l the greatvictory over Austria in 1 866 furnished an ample justification for the policy of Bismarck.

But their publication marked an important crisis inhis own career

,for they did not recommend him to the

favourable consideration of the G erman Liberals w i thwhom he had previously endeavoured to ac t . He and

6


they never had much sympathy for one another. Theywere fettered by formulas as well as wanting in energyand initiative . 0 11 the other hand

,his adventurous

career ; his temperament, which disposed him to rebelagainst the convent ionalities and formulas generally ;h is loyalty to the extreme democracy of 1 848

,all brought

him into disharmony with the current Liberalism of histime. They gave him no tokens of their confidence

,

and he chose a path of his own .

A more decisive step in a new direction was taken in1 862 by his lecture

,TheWorking -Men

’

s Programme On

the sp ecial Connection of the PresentEp och of Historywith

the I dea of the_Working Class. The gist of this lecture

was to show that we are now entering on a new era ofhistory

,of wh ich the working class are the makers and

representatives . I t is a masterly performance,lucid in

style,and scientific in method of treatment. Yet this

did not save its author from the attentions of thePrussian police . Lassalle was brought to trial on thecharge of exciting the poor against the rich

,and in

spite of an able defence,published under the title of

Science and theWorkers,he was condemned to four

months’ imprisonment. But he appealed,and on the

second hearing of the case made such an impression on

the j udges that the sentence was commuted into a fineof £1 5 .

Such proceedings naturally brought Lassalle intoprominence as the exponent of a new way of thinkingon social and pol itical subj ects. A section of theworking men were

,like himself

,discontented with the

FERD INAND LASSALLE 83

curren t Germ an Liberal ism . The old democracy of

1 848 was beginning to awake from the apathy andlass itude consequent on the failures of that troubledperiod . Men im bued w i th the traditions and asp irations of such a t im e could not be satisfi ed w ith thehalf-hearted programme of the Progressists

,who would

no t decide on adopt ing un iversal suffrage as part oftheir policy

,yet w ished to ut i lise the workmen for

their own ends . A Liberalism wh ich had not thecourage to be frankly democratic, could only be atemporary and unsatisfactory phase of political develop

ment .

Th is discontent found expression a t Leipsic,where a

body of workmen,d ispleased w ith the Progressists , ye t

undecided as to any -clear line of policy,had formed a

Central Committee for the calling together of a Working Men ’s Congress . Wi th Lassalle

,they had common

ground in the ir d iscontent wi th the Progressists,and

to him in 1 863 they appl ied , in the hope that he m igh tsuggest a defin ite l ine of ac tion . Lassalle replied in an

Op en Letter,w i th a political and social - economic pro

gramme,which , for lucid ity and comprehensiveness of

statem ent,left nothing to be desired . In theWorking

Men’

s Programme, Lassalle had drawn the rough outl ines of a new historic period

,in wh ich the interests of

labour should be paramount ; in the Op en Letter he

expounds the pol i tical,soc ial

,and econom ic pr inciples

wh ich should gu ide the work ing men in inaugurat ingthe new era . The Op en Letter has well been called theCharter of Germ an Social ism . I t was the firs t his toric


act in a new stage of social development . We neednot say that it marked the definite rupture of Lassallew ith G erman Liberal ism .

In the Op en Letter the guiding principles of theSocial Democratic agitation of Lassalle are given withabsolute clearness and decision : that the working m en

should form an indepbndent political party—one,how

ever,in which the political programme should be

ent irely subordinated to the great social end of improving the cond ition of their class ; that the schemesof Schulze -Deli tzsch 1 for this end were inadequate ;that the Operation of the iron law of wages preventedany real improvement under the existing conditions ;that productive associat ions

,by wh ich the workmen

should secure the full product of their labour, should

be established by the State , founded on universalsuffrage

, and therefore truly representative of the

people . T he Leipsic Comm ittee accepted the policythus sketched , and invited him to address them in

person . After hearing h im the meeting voted in hisfavour by a majority of 1 300 against 7.

A subsequent appearance at Frankfort-on- th e-Main

was even more flattering to Lassalle . In that as inmost other towns of G erm any the workmen weregenerally disposed to support Schulze and the Pro

1 Sehulze -Delitzsch was born in 1 808 at Del itzsch , in PrussianSaxony , whence the second part of his nam e, to d istinguish him

from the many other people in Germ any who bear the fam iliar nam e

of Schul ze. It was h is great m erit that he founded the co-operativem ovem ent in Germany on principles of sel f-help . He was a leadingm ember of the Progressist party .


86 H I STORY OF 800 1ALISM

H itherto Lassalle had been an isolated individualexpressing on h i s own responsib ility an opinion on thetopics of the day . He was elected President, for five

years,of the newly founded Association

,and was there

fore the head of a new movement. He had crossed theRubicon

,not without hesitation and misgiving.

In the summer of 1 863 little was accomplished.

The membership of the Associat ion grew but slowly,and

,according to h is wont

,Lassalle ret ired to the baths

to recru it his health . In the autum n he renewed h isagitation by a ‘ review ’ of his forces on the Rhine

,

where the workmen were most enthus iastic in hisfavour. But the severest crisis of his agitation befellduring the winter of 1 863-4 . At this period his labourswere almost more than human ; he wrote his Bastiat

Schulze,

1 a considerable treatise,in about three months

,

defended himself before the courts both of Berlin andthe Rh ine in elaborate speeches , conducted the affairsof his Association in all their troublesome details, andoften before stormy and hosti le audiences gave a success ion of addresses

,the aim of wh ich was the conquest of

Berlin .

Lassalle’s Bastiat—Schulze,h is largest economic work

,

bears all the marks of the haste and feverishness of the

t ime that gave i t birth . It contains passages in theworst poss ible taste ; the coarseness and scurril i ty ofhis treatment of Schulze are absolutely unjustifiable .The book consists of barren and unprofitable con tro

1 Bastiat was the populariser in France of the orthodox Pol iticalEconom y . Lassal le accused Schul ze of being a m ere echo of Bastiat

’

s

superficial views, and therefore cal led him Bastiat- Schul ze .


versy, interspersed w i th ph i losoph ic statem ents of h iseconomic posit ion , and even they are often crude , confused

,and exaggerated . Controversy i s usually the

most unsatisfactory department of literature,and of

the various forms of controversy that of Lassal le is theleas t to be desired

,consist ing as i t so largely did of

supercili ous verbal and captious obj ection . The book

as a whole is far below the level of theWorking Men’

s

Programm e and the Op en Letter .

After all these labours little wonder that we find himwriting

,on the 1 4 th of February :

‘ I am tired to death ,and strong as my constitution is

,i t is shak ing to the

core. My excitement is so great that I can no longersleep at night ; I toss about on my bed t il l five o

’

clock,

and rise up with aching head,and entirely exhausted .

I am overworked,overtasked

,and overtired in the

frightfullest degree ; the mad effort, bes ide my otherlabours

,to finish the Rastiat-Schulze in three months ,

the profound and painful disappointment,the cankering

inner disgust,caused by the indifference and apathy of

the working class taken as a whole—all has been toomuch even for m e.

’

Clearly the great agitator needed rest,and he decided

to seek i t,as usual

,at the baths. But before he retired ,

he desired once more to refresh his weary soul in thesympathetic enthusiasm which he anticipated from h i sdevo ted adherents on the Rhine . Accordingly

,0 11 the

8 th May 1 864 , Lassalle departed for the ‘ glorious re

view of his army ’ in the Rhine country .

‘ He spoke,

’

Mehring tells . us,

‘ on May 1 4 th at Sol ingen , on the


1 5th at Barmen,on the l 6th at Cologne

,on the 1 8th

at Wermelskirchen .

’ His journey was like a royal

progress or a triumphal procession,except that the j oy

of the people was perfectly spontaneous . Thousandsof workmen received him with acclamations ; crowdspressed upon him to shake hands with him

,to exchange

friendly greetings with him .

On the 22nd May, the first anniversary festival of

the Universal Association,held at Ronsdorf

,the enthu

siasm reached its climax . O ld and young, men andwomen

,went forth to meet him as he approached the

town ; and he entered it through triumphal arches,under a deluge of flowers thrown from the hands ofworking girls

,amidst j ubilation indescribable . Writing

to the Countess of Hatzfeldt about this time of the

impression made on his mind by his reception on theRhine

,Lassalle says

,

‘ I had the feeling that suchscenes must have been witnessed at the founding of

new religions. ’

The speech of Lassalle at Ronsdorf corresponded incharacter with the enthusiasm and exaltation of such atime and such an audience . The King of Prussia hadrecently listened with favour to the grievances of adeputation of Silesian weavers

,and promised to help

them out of his own purse . Von Ketteler, Bishop of

Mainz,had published a short treatise

,in which he

expressed his agreement with Lassalle ’s criticism of theexisting economic system . As his manner was

,Lassalle

did not under- estimate the value of those expressionsof opinion .

‘We have compelled ,’ he declared , ‘ the


workmen,the people

,the bi shops

,the k ing

,to bear

testimony to the truth of our principles . ’

I t would be easy to rid icule the enthusiasm forLassal le entertained by those workmen on the l lhine

,

but it will be more profitable if we pause for a momentto realise the world-historic pathos of the scene . Forthe first time for many centuries we see the work ingmen of Germany aroused from their hereditary degradation

,apathy

,and hopelessness . Change after change

had passed in the higher Sphere of pol itics . One con

queror after another had traversed these Rhine coun tries ,but

,whoever lost or won

,i t was the working man who

had to pay w i th hi s sweat and toi l and sorrow . He

was the anvil on which the hammer of those iron timeshad fallen without mercy and without intermission .

His doom i t was to drudge,to be fleeced, to be drilled

and marched off to fight battles in which he had nointerest. Brief and fitful gleams of a w ild and desperatehope had visi ted these poor people before

,only to go

out again in utter darkness ; but now in a sky wh ichhad so long been black and dull wi th monotonousm isery

,the rays were discern ibl e of approaching dawn ,

a shining ligh t which would grow into a more perfectday. For in the process of history the time had comewhen the suffering which had so long been dum b shouldfind a vo ice that would be heard over the world , shouldfind an organisation that would compel the atten tion ofrulers and all men .

Such a cause can be most e ffectually furthered by

wise and sane leadersh ip ; yet it i s also wel l when i t is

90 H ISTORY OF SOC IAL ISM

not too dependent on the guidance of those who seek tocontrol it . The career of Lassal le always had its unpleasant features . He liked the passing effect too well .He was too fond of display and pleasure . In muchthat he did there is a note of exaggeration , borderingon insincerity. As his agitation proceeded , this featureof his character becomes more marked . Some of his

’

addresses to the workmen remind us too forcibly of the

bulletins of the fir st Napoleon . He was not always

careful to have the firm ground of fact and realitybeneath . his feet. Many of his cr itics speak of thefailure of his agitation ; with no good reason , considering how short a time it had continued , hardly morethan a year. Lassalle himself was greatly d isappointedwith the comparatively little success he had attained.

He had not the pat ience to wait till the sure operationof truth and fact and the justice of the cause he foughtfor should bring him the reward it m erited . On all

these grounds we cannot consider the event which sounworthily closed hi s life as an accident ; i t was themelancholy outcome of the weaker elements in his

strangely mixed character.Wh ile posing as the spokesm an of the poor, Lassalle

was a man of decidedly fashionable and luxurioushabits . His suppers were well known as among them ost exquisite in Berlin . I t was the most piquant

feature of h is l ife that he,one of the gilded youth , a

connoisseur in wines,and a learned man to boot

,had

become agitator and the champion of the workers . In

one of the l iterary and fashionable circles of Berlin he


had met a young lady , a Fraulein von Dbnniges , for

whom he at once fel t a passion wh ich was ardentlyreciprocated. He met her again on the Rigi

,in the

summer of 1 864 , when they resolved to marry. She

was a young lady of twenty,decidedly unconventional

and original in character. I t would appear from herown confession that she had not always respected the

sacred German morality .

But she had for father a Bavarian d iplomatist thenresident in Geneva

,who was angry beyond all bounds

when he heard of the preposed match,and would have

absolutely nothing to do with Lassalle . The lady wasimprisoned in her own room

,and soon

,apparently under

the influence of very questionable pressure,renounced

Lassall e in favour of another adm irer,a Wallachian

,

Count von Racowitza. Lassal le,who had resorted to

every available means to gain h is end,was now mad

w i th rage,and sent a challenge both to the lady ’

s fatherand her betrothed

,which was accepted by the latter.

At the Carouge,a suburb of Geneva

,the meeting took

place on the morning of August 28 , 1 864 . Lassallewas mortally wounded

,and d ied on the 31 st of the

same month . In spite of such a foolish ending , h isfuneral was that of a m artyr, and by m any of hi s adherents he has since been regarded with feel ings almostof rel igious devotion .

How the career of Lassalle m ight have shaped itselfin the new Germ any under the system of un i versalsu ffrage which was adopted only three years after his

death,is an interesting subj ec t of speculation . l le


could not have rem ained inactive,and he certainly

would not have been hindered by doctrinaire scruplesfrom playing an effective part

,even though it were

by some kind of allianceWi th the Government. Hisambit ion and his energy were alike boundless . In theheyday of his passion for Fraule in v on Donniges his

dream was to be installed as the President of theGerman Republic with her elevated by his side. As itwas

,his position at his death was rapidly becoming

difficult and even untenable ; he was involved in a netof prosecutions which were fast closing round him .

He would soon have had no alternative but ex ile or aprolonged imprisonment .Lassalle was undoubted ly a man of the most extra

ordinary endowments . The reader of his works feelsthat he' i s in the presence of a mind of a very h igh order.Both in his works and in his life we find an except ionalcombination of gifts

,philosophic power

,eloquence, en

thusiasm ,practical energy

,a dominating force of will.

Born of a cosm opol itan race,which has produced so

many men little trammelled by the conventionalism ofthe

'

old European societies,he was to a remarkable

degree original and free from social prejudice ; was oneof the men in whom the spirit of daring initiative is toa remarkable decree active . He had in fact a revolu

tionary temperament, discipl ined by the study ofGerman philosophy

,by the sense of the greatness of

Prussia’s h istoric mission,and by a considerable measure

of practical insight,for in this he was not by any means

wanting. In Marx we see the sam e temperament , only



adequate to the occasion—Bismarck and Lassalle. The

former represented a historic cause,which was ready

for action,the regeneration and un ification of Germany

to be accom plished by the Prussian army . The cause

which Lassalle brought to the front was at a verydifferent stage of progress . The working men

,its pro

meters and representatives,and Lassalle

,i ts champ ion

,

had not attained to anyth ing like clearness either as tothe end to be gained or the m eans for accompli shingit . It was only at the crudest and most confusedinitial stage.


I I. THEORIES or LASSALLE

The socialistic position of Lassalle may generally bedescribed as simil ar to that of Rodbertus and Karl Marx .

He admits his indebtedness to both of those writers,

but at the same time he cannot be regarded as a d iscipleof either of them . Lassalle himself was a thinker ofgreat original power ; he had his own way of conce iv ingand expressing the historic sociali sm .

Lassalle supplies the key to his general posi tion inthe preface to his Bastiat—Schulze, when , quoting fromh is System of Acquired Rights, he says : In social

m atters the world i s confronted with the question,

whether now when property in the direct u tilisation ofanother man no longer ex ists

,such property in his in

direct explo itation should continue—that is,whether

the free realisation and development of our labour-forceshould be the exclusive private property of the pos

sessor of cap ital , and whether the employer as such , andapart from the remuneration of his intellectual labour

,

should be permitted to appropriate the result of othermen ’s labours. 1 This sentence

,he says

,contains the

programm e of a national -econom ic work,wh ich he ih

tended to write under the title, Outlines of a Scientifi c

National Economy. In this sentence also,we need no t

say, the fundamental posi tion of social ism is implied .

He was about to carry out his proj ect when the Leips ic

Bastiat-Schulze, p . iii. , Berl in 1 878 .


Central Committee brought the question before him ina practical form . The agitation broke out and left him

no leisure for such a work . But he had often lamentedthat the exposition of the theory had not preceded thepract ical agitation

,and that a scientific basis had not

been provided for it."

The Bastiat-Schulze was itself a controversial work,

written to meet the needs of the hour . Lassalle hasnever given a full and system at ic expos ition of hissocialistic theory . Al l his social—econom ic writingswere published as the crises of his agitation seemed todemand. But

,as he h imself says

,they compensate

by the l ife and incisiveness of the polemical form of

treatment for what they lose in systematic value . Wemay add that it is often a scientific gain

,for in the

career of Lassalle we see socialism confronted with fact,

and thereby to a large extent saved from the absoluteness

,abstractness

,and deficient sense of reality which

detract so much from the value of the works of Marxand Rodbertus. The excessive lo ve of system so charac

teristic of German theorists may be as remote from

historic reality and possibility as the utopian schemesof French socialists. It is

,however

,also a natural

result of Lassalle’s mode of presentation that he is no talways consistent with himself either on practical or

theoretical questions,especially in his attitude towards

the Prussian State.

On the whole,we can most clearly and comprehen

sively bring out the views of Lassalle if we follow theorder in wh ich they are presented in his three leading



produce a corresponding political change . The newmach inery

,the large industry

,the d iv ision of labour

,

cheap goods,and the world-market—these were all

parts of an organic whole . Production in mass madecheap goods poss ible ; the cheapening of commoditiescalled forth a w ider market

,and the wider market led

to a still larger production .

The rulers of the industrial world , the cap italists ,became the rulers also of the pol itical ; the FrenchRevolution was merely a proclamat ion of a mighty factwhich had already established i tself in the most ad

vanced portions of Europe . Bu t the m arvellous eu

thusiasm of the Revolution was kindl ed by the factthat its champions at the time represented the cause ofhumanity . Before long

,how ever

,it became manifest

that the new rulers fough t for the interests . of a class ,Cthe bourgeoisie ; and another class, that of the proletariat

,or unpropertied workers

,began to define i tself

in opposition to them . Like the ir predecessors,the

bourgeoisie wielded the legal and poli t ical power fortheir own selfish ends . They made wealth the testand basis of poli t ical and soc ial right ; they establisheda restricted franch ise ; shackled the free expression of

opinion by cau tions and taxes on newspapers,and threw

the burden of taxation on the w orking classes .We have seen that the developm en t of the middle

class was a slow and gradual process,the compl ex

result of a complex m ass of forces . Considering thatthe special them e of theWorking Men

’

s P rogramme is

the historical function of the work ing class,it i s cer

FERD INAND LASSALLE 99

tainly a most serious defect of Lassalle’

s exposition thathe says so little of the causes wh ich have cond i tionedthe development of the work ing class as the represen tatives of a new era . Their appearance on the pages ofLassalle as the supporters of a great role is far too sudden .

On the 24 th of February 1 848 , he says , broke thefirst dawn of a new h istorical period . On that day inFrance a revolut ion broke out, which called a workmanin to the Provisional Government ; wh ich declared theaim of the State to be the improvement of the lot of

the working class ; and which proclaimed direct anduniversal suffrage

,whereby every citizen who had

attained the age of twenty-one should,without regard

to property,have an equal share in al l pol i tical activity .

The working class were therefore dest ined to be therulers and m akers of a new society . Bu t the rule ofthe working class had th is enormous difference fromother forms of class rule

,that it adm its of no special

privilege.We are al l workers

,in so far as we have the w i l l in

any way to make ourselves useful to the hum an society .

The working class is therefore iden tical with the wholehuman race . I ts cause is in truth the cause of entirehuman i ty

,its freedom i s the freedom of human i ty i tsel f

,

i ts rule is the rule of all .The formal means of real ising th is is d irect un iversal

suffrage , which is no magic wand , bu t wh ich at leas tcan rectify i ts own m istakes . I t i s the lance wh ichheals the wounds i tself has made . Under un iversal

!suffrage the legislature is the true m irror of the peoplq

1 00 H ISTORY OF SOC IAL I SM

tha t has chosen it,reflecting its defects

,bu t i ts progress

also,for which i t affords unl im ited expression and

development .The people must therefore always regard direct

un iversal suffrage as its ind ispensable pol i tical weapon,

as the most fundamental and weightiest of i ts demands .And we need not fear that they will abuse their power !

for wh ile the position and interests of the old priv ilegedclasses became inconsistent with the general progressof hum anity

,the mass of the people must know that

their interests can be advanced only by promo ting thegood of their whole class . Even a very moderate senseof their own welfare must teach them that each indi

v idual can separately do very little to improve hiscondition . They can prevail only by union . Thus

their personal interest,instead of being opposed to the

movem ent of history,coincides with the development

of the whole people and i s in harmony w i th freedom,

culture,and the highest ideas of our tim e .

This masterly tr eatise of Lassalle concludes w i th anappeal to the working class

,in wh ich we see the great

agitator reach the h igh level of a pure and nobleeloquence. Having shown at l ength that the work lngclass are called to be the creators and representativesof a new historical era

,he proceeds : ‘ From what we

have said there follows for all who belong to the working class the duty of an entirely new bearing.

Nothing is more su ited to stamp on a class a worthyand deeply

’

m oral impress than the consciousness that

it i s cal led to be the ruling class,that i t is appointed


1 02 H I STORY OF SOC IAL I SM

with Nature,with the misery

,ignorance

,poverty

,weak

ness , and unfreedom in which the human race wasoriginally placed .

1 The progressive victory over thisweakness

,that is the development of the freedom

which history'

depicts .

In th is struggle,if the individual had been left t o

him self,he coul d have made no progress . The State it

is wh ich has the function to accomplish this development of freedom

,this developmen t of the human race

in the way of freedom . The duty of the State is to

enable the individual to reach a sum of culture,power

,

and freedom,which for indiv iduals would be absolutely

unattainable. The aim of the S tate is to bring humannature to positive unfold ing and progressive development- in other words

,to real ise the chief end of man

it is the education and developm ent of the hum an racein the way of freedom .

The State should be the complement of the in

dividual . I t must be ready to offer a helping hand ,wherever and whenever individuals are unable torealise the happiness

,freedom

,and culture which befit

a human being.

Save the S tate,that primitive vestal fire of culture,

from the modern barbarians,he exclaim s on another

occasion .

To these pol itical conceptions Lassalle is true throughout . I t certainly is a nobler and more rational ideal ofthe State than the once prevalent Manchester theory .

When we descend from theory to practice all obviouslyI SeeWorking Men

’

s Programme.


depends on what kind of State we have got,and on the

circumstances and cond itions under wh ich i t i s called

upon to act.

Tha t the S tate should,through its various organs

,

support and develop ind ividual effort,call ing i t forth

,

rendering i t hopeful and effectual,never weaken ing the

springs of it,but stimulating and com pleting it

,is a

po s ition which m ost th inkers would now accept . Andmost w i ll adm i t with regret that the existing State istoo much a great tax ing and fighting machine . Thefield of inqu iry here opened up is a wide and tem ptingone

,on w hich we cannot now enter. We are at present

concerned w ith the fact that the State help contemplated by Lassalle was meant not only to leave theindiv idual free

,bu t to further him in the free real isa

tion of him self.The I ron l aw ofWages may w ell be described as

the key to Lassal le ’s social - economic position . I t holds

the same prominent place in h is system of th inking asthe theory of surplus value does in that of Marx .

Both,it may be added , are only d ifferent aspects of the

same fact . Lassalle insists ch iefly on the small shareof the produce of labour wh ich goes to the labourer ;Marx traces the h istory of the share

,called surplus

value,which goes to the capital ist.

Lassalle’ s mos t careful statem ent of the Iron Law,to

wh ich he frequently recurs in subsequent writings,i s

contained in h i s Op en l etter (p .

‘ The Iron Eco

nom ic Law,which

,in ex isting c ircumstances

,under

the law o f supply and demand for labour,determ ines

104 H I STORY OF SOC IAL I SM

the wage,is th is : that the average wage always

rem ains reduced to the necessary prov ision which,

according to the custom ary standard'

of l iv ing,i s re

quired for subsistence and for propagation . Th i s isthe po int abo ut which the real wage cont inually osc il

lates , w ithout ever being able long to rise above it orto fal l below it . It cannot permanently r i se above th isaverage level

,because in consequence of the easier and

better condition of the workers there would be anincrease of marriages and births am ong them ,

an in

crease of the work ing population and thereby of thesupply of labour

,wh ich would bring the wage down to

its previous level or even below it. On the other

hand,the wage canno t perm anently fall below this

necessary subsistence, because then occur emigration ,abstinence from marriage

,and

,lastly

,a d im inution of

the num ber of workmen caused by their m isery,which

lessens the supply of labour,and therefore once more

raises the wage to its previous rate . ’

On a nearer cons idera tion,Lassalle goes on to say

,

the-

effect of the Iron Law is as follows‘ From the produce of labour so much is taken and

distributed among the workm en as is requ ired for theirsubsistence .

‘ The en tire surplus of product ion falls to thecap ital ist . It is therefore a result of the Iron Lawthat the workman is necessarily excluded from the

benefits of an increasing production,from the increased

productivity of his own labour. ’ 1

1 See Op en Letter .


1 06 HISTORY OF SOC IAL I SM

On the other hand, it may also be rationally maintained that in so far as education and organisation prevail among the workmen

,in so far does capitalism

,with

all its conditions and impl icates,tend to be superseded .

Trade Unions,Co - operative Societies

,Factory Legisla

tion,are all forms of the social control of economic

processes,inconsistent with compet itive econom ics .

The more they gain ground,the more does cap i talism

tend to break up and disappear. From this higher pointof v iew

,we may fairly contend that considerations wh ich

have been urged as destructive of Lassalle’ s argumentare really symptoms of the decline of cap i talism . The

Iron Law is an inev itable result of the historical conditions contemplated by Lassalle . These cond it ionshave changed

,but the change means that cap i tal ism is

passing away. We are thus thrown back on the widerquestion

,whether capitalism is disappearing , a question

which it would at present be prem ature to discuss .In any case the posit ion of Lassalle i s perfectly clear.

He accepted the orthodox poli tical economy in orderto show that the inevitable operation of its laws left‘no hope for the working class ; and that no remedycould be found except by abol ish ing the cond itions in

wh ich those laws have their val idity—in other words,

5by abolishing the present relation s of labour andcapital altogether. The great aim of his agitation wasto bring forward a schem e which would strike at

'

the

root of the evil . The remedy for the ev il condit ion ofthings connected with the I ron Law of Wages is tosecure the workmen the full produce of their labour, by


com bin ing the funct ions of workmen and capitaliststhrough the establ ishment of productive associations .The distinct ion between labourer and capitali st isthereby abolished . The workman becomes producer

,

and for remuneration receives the entire produce of

his labour.The associat ions founded by Schulze - Del itzsch

,

Lassalle went on to argue,would effect no substantial

improvemen t in the condition of the working class .The unions for the supply of credit and raw m aterialsdo not benefit the working class as such

,but only

the sm all hand-workers . But hand - labour is an

antiquated form of industry,which is destined to

succumb before the large industry equ ipped w i thm achinery and an adequate capital . To provide thehand-workers with the means of continuing their obsolete trades is only to prolong the agony of an assureddefea t .

The consumers’

unions,or co- opera tive stores as we

cal l them in England,also fai l

,because they do not

help the workm an at the point where he needs it most,

as producers . Before the seller,as before the policem an

,

all men are equal ; the only th ing the seller cares for isthat his custom ers are able to pay . In d iscussing theIron Law

,we saw that the workman must be helped

as producer—that is,in securing a better share of his

product . The consumers ’ unions may indeed give arestricted and temporary relief. So long as the unionsinclude only a l im ited number of workmen

,they afford

rel ief by cheapen ing the m eans of subsistence,inasm uch

1 08 H I STORY OF SOC IAL ISM

as they do not lower the general rate of wages . But inproportion as the un ions embrace the entire workingclass and thereby cause a general cheapen ing of themeans of subsistence

,the Iron Law of Wages will take

effect. For the average wage is only the express ion inmoney of the customary means of subsistence . The

average wage wi l l fall in proportion to the generalcheapen ing of the means of subsistence

,and all the

pains taken by the workmen in founding and conducting the consum ers ’ un ions w i ll be labour lost . Theyw il l only enable the workm an to subs ist on a smallerwage .

The only effectual way to im prove the condition ofthe working class is through the free individual associat ion of the workers

,by i ts applicat ion and extens ion

to the great industry . The work ing class must be itsown capitalist.

But when the workmen on the one hand contemplatethe enormous sums requ ired for rai lways and factories

,

and on the other hand consider the emptiness of theirown pockets

,they may naturally ask where they are to

obtain the capital needed for the great industry ? TheState alone can furnish it ; and the State ought to furnish i t

,because it is

,and always has been

,the duty of

the State to promote and facilitate the great progressivemovemen ts of c ivilisation . P roductive association with

State credit was the plan of Lassalle . 1

The State had already in numerous instances guaranteed its credit for industrial undertak ings by which

1 See Open Letter , passim .


1 1 0 H I STORY OF SOC IAL I SM

appease the wounded van i ty of royal mistresses,to satisfy

the lust of conquest of princes,to open up markets

for the middle classes ; yet when the deliverance ofhumanity is concerned the money cannot be procured !Further

,as he takes care to explain

,Lassalle did not

propose his scheme of productive associations as the

solution of the social question . The solution of the

social quest ion would demand generations . He pro

posed his scheme as the means of transition,as the

easiest and mildest means of transi t ion .

’ It was the

germ,the organic principle of an incessant develop

ment. Lassalle has indicated,though only in vague

outl ine,how such an organic development of productive

associations should proceed . They would begin inpopulous cen tres

,in cases where the nature of the in

dustry, and the voluntary incl ination of the workmen toassociation

,would facilitate their formation . Industries

,

which are mutually dependent and work into eachother ’s hands

,would be un ited by a credit union ; and

there would further be an insurance union,embracing

the d ifferent associations,which would reduce their

losses to a minimum . The risks would be greatlylessened as a speculative industry constantly tendingto anarchy

,and all the evils of competition would be

superseded by an organised industry ; over-productionw ould give place to production in advance . In thisway the associations would grow unti l they em bracedthe entire industry of the country . And the generalapplicat ion of the princ iple would give an enormous

1 See Bastiat-Schulze, p . 1 89 .

FERDINAND LASSALLE 1 1 1

advantage in internat ional competit ion to the countryadopt ing it

,for i t would be rational

,systematic

,and in

every way more effect ive and economical .

The goal of the whole development, as conceived byLassalle

,was a eolleetirism of the same type as that

contemplated by Marx and Rodbertus.

‘ Division oflabour

,

’ he says,

‘ is really common labour,social

combinat ion for production . Th is,the real nature

of product ion,needs only to be expl icitly recogni sed .

In the total production,therefore

,i t is merely requi site

to abol ish individual portions of cap ital,and to conduct

the labour of society,wh ich is already common

,w i th the

common capital of society, and to d istribute the resul t

of production am ong al l who have contribu ted to it,in

proport ion to their perform ance . ’ 1

In the controversial work against Schulze-Del i tz sch,

Lassalle has at greater length expounded his generalpos ition in Opposition to the indiv iduali st theories ofhis opponents . He contends that progress has not proceeded from the individual ; i t has always proceededfrom the commun ity. In th is connection he sums upbriefly the h istory of social developm ent .The ent ire ancient world

,and also the whole m ed iaeval

period down to the French Revolution of 1 789, sough thum an solidarity and community in bondage or sub

jection .

The French Revolution of 1 789 , and the h istoricalperiod control led by i t

,righ tly incensed at th is sub

jec tion,sought freedom in the dissolution of all sol idarity

[fastiat-Sc/cu lze , p . 1 88 .


and community . Thereby,how ever

,i t gained

,not

freedom,bu t l icense . Because freedom without com

munity is l icense .The new

,the present period

,seeks solidarity in

freedom .

1 He then proceeds in h is theory of conj unctures

to prove that,instead of each man being economically

respons ible for what he has done,each man is really

responsible for what he has not done . The economic

fate of the individual is determ ined by c ircumstancesover wh ich he has no control

,or very l ittle . What does

Lassalle mean by a eonj unetnre ? We can best under

stand it by reference to a great economic crisis wh ichhas occurred s ince his time . No better example of aconj uncture can be found than in the recent h istory ofBrit ish agriculture. In 1 876, agriculture, stil l the mostimportan t industry of the country

,began to be seriously

threatened by Am erican com petit ion . The crisis causedby the low prices due to th is competi t ion was greatlyaggravated by bad seasons

,such as that of 1 879 . The

farmers,obliged to pay rent out of cap ital

,were many of

them ruined . In consequence of the d im in ished appli

cation of cap ital to land the opportun i ties of labourwere great ly lessened . Rents could no longer be paidas form erly . All three classes d irectly concerned inEnglish agriculture suffered fearfully

,without any

special individual responsibility in the matter. In

Ireland,where the difficulty

,great in i tself

,was inten

sified by the national idea, an economic crisis grew intoa great pol i tical and imperial crisis . In the eyes of the

1 Bastiat-Schulze, p . 1 8 .


1 1 4 HISTORY OF SOC IAL ISM

(3) Free competition .

(4 ) The instruments of labour, the property ofa special class

,who after paying

(5) A class of free labourers in accordance withthe Iron Law of Wages

,pocket the surplus value.

Property consists not in the fruit of one ’s ownlabour , but in the appropriat ion of that of others .Eigenthum ist Fremdthnm geworden .

1

In th is way capital has become an independent,

active,and self-generat ing power which oppresses its

producer . Moneymakes money . The labour of the past,

appropriated and capitalised,crushes the labour of the

present. The dead captures the l iving.

’ The instru

ment of labour,which has become independent

,and has

exchanged roles w ith the workmen , wh ich has degradedthe living workmen to a dead instrument of labour

,and

has developed itself, the dead instrument of labour , intothe living organ of production—that is cap ital.

’ 2 In

such highly metaphorical language does Lassalle sum uphis history of capital . We have already commented onthat aspect of it

,the Iron Law of Wages

,wh ich Lassalle

has most emphasised. The whole subj ect is much morecomprehensively treated in the Kap ital of Karl Marx ;therefore we need not dwell upon it further at present .I t w ill not be wrong, however, to say a word here

about the use of the word capital,as current in the

school of socialists to which Lassalle and Marx belong.

It is not applied by them in its purely econom ic sense,as wealth ut ili sed for further product ion : i t is used as

Bastiat-Schn lze, p . 1 86 .2 I bid .

, p . 1 81 .

FERDINAND LASSALLE

the name of the social and econom ic system in wh ichthe owners of capital are the dominant power . Withthem it is the economic factor as opera ting under theexisting legal and social conditions , with all these conditions clinging to it . It would be much better tores trict the word to i ts proper econom ic use

,and employ

the new w ord capitalism as a fairly accurate nam e forthe existing system .

The function of capital under al l social systems andat all historical epochs is fundamentally the same ; it is

simply wealth used for the production of more wealth .

But the historical , legal , and poli tical cond it ions underwhich it is util ised vary indefinitely

,as do also the

technical forms in which i t is embodied .

N0 real excuse can be offered for the ignorance orconfusion of language of controversialists who maintainthat the object of socialism is to abol ish capital. So farfrom abol ishing capital

,socialists wish to make it stil l

more effective for social well- being by placing it undersocial control . What they wish to abolish i s the existing system

,in which cap ital is under the control of a

class. It would be a considerable gain in clearness ifthis system were always call ed capital ism .

We have already remarked upon Lassalle ’s theory ofthe State

,and his treatm ent of the Iron Law of Wages .

Our further criticism of h is social- econom ic posi tion canbes t be brough t out by reference to his controversy w i thSchulze-Del i tzsch

,the econom ic representat ive of G er

man Liberalism .

In general i t may be said that Lassalle meets the


one - s ided ind iv idual ism of Schulze by a statem ent of

the social is tic theory,wh ich i s also one—sided and ex

aggerated. His view of the influence of the communityas compared w i th that of the individual i s the m ostprom inent e xam ple of th is . The only accurate socialphilosophy i s one which gives due attention to bothfactors ; bo th are of suprem e importance , and eithermay fitly be the s tarting - point of investigation andd iscussion .

H is theory of conjunctures is overstated . It is to aconsiderable degree wel l founded ; in the great economicstorms wh ich sweep over the civilised world the fateof the indiv idual is largely determ ined by conditionsover wh ich he has no control . Yet now as ever thehomely v irtues of industry

,energy

,sobriety

,and pru

dence do material ly determ ine the ind ividual career.For our present purpose

,however , it is more im portant

to cons ider Lassalle’s polem ic against the practical pro

posals of h is opponent . Lassalle contended that theun ions for provid ing credit and raw material woul d

benefit the hand-workers only,whereas hand- labour is

destined to disappear before the'

large industry . But,

we may ask , why should not such methods of mutual

help be u til ised for assoc iations of work ing men evenmore than for isolated workers ? These unions maybe regarded as affording only a very partial andl im i ted relief to the workm en

,but why should the

principle of associa tion am ong workm en stop there ?The system of voluntary co - operation must begin

som ewhere ; i t began most naturally and reasonably


1 1 8 H ISTORY OF SOC IAL ISM

of a too rap idly increasing populat ion . We may suppose

that th is increase of population would be met by a sti l lgreater increase in the produc t of labour

,al l going to the

workers . But for the schem es of Schulze there wouldbe this great advan tage that

,the cap i tal and experience

of the workers having been acquired by their own exer

tions,they would have all the superior train ing requisite

for the solution of the population question , and all otherquestions

,wh ich can be obtained only from a long course

of social d iscipl ine .

Lassalle would have done wel l to remem ber h is own

statement,that the only real poin t of difference between

them was,that one believed in State help , and the

o ther in self help .

’ And we may further ask,Do the

two exclude each other ?

In fact,the con troversy

,considered purely on i ts

meri ts,was barren enough . Yet i t led to profitable

results,inasmuch as it d irected the m ind of Germany

to the questions in volved,and led to a more thorough

d iscussion of them .

Better, however, than any argum ent wh ich can beurged is the verdic t of history on the merits of thequestion , as already pronounced duri ng the period whichhas elapsed since the date of the controversy. In 1 885 ,j ust twenty one years after the bitter controversybetween the two representatives of State help and selfhelp , the societies established by Schulze in Germanyalone possessed one hundred m i llion thalers of capitalof the ir own . It w i ll be remembered that th is is theamoun t of the loan required by Lassalle from the S tate

FERDINAND LASSALLE 1 1 9

to bring his produc t ive associations into opera tion .

I f the workm en fai l in producti ve association,i t

wil l not be,as Lassal le m aintained

,for wan t of capi tal .

Product ive associa tion w i th S tate cred i t i s thereforenot the only way ou t of the w i lderness .Must we go further and say that Lassal le’ s m e thod

of State help was not the righ t m e thod a t all ? I t iscertain that the Government of Germany

,though

organ ised on the principle of un iversal suffrage,has not

granted the cred i t demanded by Lassalle,and that h i s

agi tation in this matter has failed owing,i t might be

alleged,to h is early death

,and to the fact that s ince h is

time German socialism has prem aturely m oved on international

,and even anti-national

,lines

,thus al ienating

from itself the sympathies of the Emperor and h isChancellor . We need not say how v ery improbable i tis that the Germ an Governm ent would have guaranteedits cred i t

,however subm iss ive and conciliatory the

at ti tude of the Social Dem ocrats m ight have been . The

Social Democrats them selves,though they gave a place

to Lassalle ’s scheme on the Gotha programme of 1 875 ,seem now disposed to attach little or no importance toi t . It does not appear in the Erfurt programme of theparty , which was adopted in 1 891 . In short

,Lassalle ’s

agitat ion has in the point imm ediately in question beena failure. At the same t ime

,i t would be absolutely

incorrec t to assert tha t experience has pronouncedagains t his scheme

,inasm uch as no Governm en t has

ever seriously taken i t in hand .

Like ‘many o ther p ioneers,Lassalle has no t aecom

1 20 H ISTORY OF SOCIAL I SM

plished what he intended , yet he has ach ieved greatresults . 1Ve cannot qu ite accept the d ictum of Sch iller,tha t the world ’ s hi story is the world ’s j udgment . We

are not prepared to bel ieve that all th ings that havesucceeded were good

,and all things that have fail ed

were evil ; or that th ings are good or evil only in so faras they succeed or fail . S t il l, we may well sum up thecontroversy between Lassalle and Schulze by statingthat in 1 885 the societies founded by the latter had in

Germany a membersh ip of with a cap ital ofand at the election of 1 890 the Social

D em ocracy of Germany,originated by Lassalle

,polled

votes . Both have done great th ings,which

are destined to be greater still. In th is , as in so m anyother instances

,the course of h istory has not respected

the narrow l imi ts prescribed to it by controversialist s.We need no t

,however

,ins ist further on the details

of Lassalle ’s controversy wi th Schulze-Del i tzsch . Much

more important is it to recal l the lead ing aspects of h isteaching. What Lassalle con templated and contendedfor was a democracy in wh ich the claim s of Might andRight should be reconciled

,a dem ocracy of working

m en,guided by science

,and through un iversal suffrage

consti tu ting a State wh ich would rise to the h igh levelof i ts function as representat ive and promoter of freedom

, cul ture , m oral i ty , and progress in the fullest anddeepest sign ificance of those grea t ideas . Above al l ,

thi s dem ocracy was to be a soc ial democracy,in wh ich

the pol i tical idea should be subord inate to the social ;hence the duty o f the S tate a t least to in i tiate the solut ion



before they can hope to see such an ideal as that ofLassalle realised . That the ideal was a noble one , andthat the gratitude of all lovers of progress i s dueto h im for his energetic and eloquent advocacy ofit , notwithstanding certain unworthy passages in hiscareer

,few will deny .

CHAPTER VI

RODBERTUS

To those who identify socialism w i th the ex trem erevolu tionary sp irit

, Rodbertus is naturally an enigma.

Everything characteristic of Rodber tus is an expresscontrad iction of their notion of a soc ialist . He was aPrussian lawyer and landowner

,a qu ie t and cultured

student,who disliked revolut ion and even agi tation .

It was a marked feature of his teaching also , tha the meant the socialist developmen t to proceed onnational l ines and under nat ional control . Ye t i t i simposs ible to give any reasonable account of social ism

that will exclude Rodbertus . Clearly the only righ tway out of the dilemma for those who are caught in i tis to widen their conception of the subject ; andRodbertus will become perfectly clear and intelligible .

Karl Johann Rodbertus , by some considered to bethe founder of scien tific socialism,

was born at G reifs

wald on 1 2th Augus t 1 805,h i s father being a professor

at the universi ty there . He s tud ied law at Gottingenand Berlin

,thereafter engaging in various legal occu

pations ; and , after travell ing for some time , he bough t

the estate of Jagetzow,in Pomeran ia

,whence h is nam e


of Rodbertus - Jagetzow . In 1 836 he settled on this

estate,and henceforward devoted h is l ife ch iefly to

econom ic and other learned studies,tak ing also some

interest in local and prov incial affairs .Af ter the revolution of March 1 848 Rodbertus was

elected m ember of the Prussian National Assembly, inwhich body he belonged to the Left Centre ; and forfourteen days be fi lled the post of Minister of Publ icWorship and Education . He sat for Berlin in theSecond Chamber of 1 849, and moved the adoption ofthe Frankfort imperial constitu tion

,wh ich was carried .

Then cam e the fai lure of the revolutionary movem entin Prussia

,as elsewhere in Europe

,and Rodbertus

retired into private l ife . When the system of di v idingthe Pruss ian electora te into three classes was adopted

,

Rodbertus recomm ended abstention from voting. Hisonly subsequen t appearance in publ ic l ife was h iscand idature for the first North German D iet

,in wh ich

he was defeated .

H is correspondence w ith Lassalle was an in terestingfeature of h is l ife . At one time Rodbertus had somein ten tion of forming a social party w i th the help ofthe conservative social i st Rudolf Meyer and of Hasenclever, a prom inen t follower of Lassalle ; but noprogress was m ade in th is . Rodbertus was ne itherd isposed nor qual ified to be an agitator

,being a m an

of a calm and cri tical temperamen t,who bel ieved that

society could not be im proved by violen t changes,bu t

by a long and gradual course of developm en t . He

warned the work ing men of Germany against connect


1 26 HISTORY OF SOC IAL ISM

the landholders and cap ital ists to compel the workmento d iv ide the product of their labour w i th those nonwork ing classes

,

“ and in such a proportion that theworkers only obtain as much as can support them in

l ife. Thus the Iron Law of Wages is establi shed . Hence

also Rodbertus deduces his theory of comm ercial crisesand of pauperism

,and in the following way : In spite

of the increasing productivity of labour,the workers

obtain in general only sufficient to support the ir class,

and therefore a small er relative share of the nationalincome . But the producers form also the large massof consum ers

,and

,with the declin e of the ir relative

share in the national income,must decline the relative

purchasing power of this large class of the people . Thegrow ing production is not met by a correspondinglygrowing consumption ; expans ion is succeeded by contraction of production

,by a scarcity of employment

,

and a further decline in purchasing power on the part

of the workers . Thus we have a commercial cris isbringing w ith it pauperism as a necessary result . Inthe meantime the purchasing power of the non-producing capitalists and landholders continues relativelyto increase ; but , as they have already had enough tobuy all the comforts of l ife

,they Spend the more

in the purchase of luxuries, the production of whichincreases .

A fundamental part of the teach ing of Rodbertus ishis theory of social development. He recognised threestages in the econom ic progress of m ankind : (1 ) theancien t heathen period in which property in human

RODBERTUS 1 27

beings was the rule ; (2) the period of private propertyin land and cap ital ; (3) the period , still remote , ofproperty as dependent on service or desert . The goalof the human race is to be one society organ ised on acommunistie basis ; only in that way can the princip lethat evg xmamhe m warded accord ing to his work berealised . In this commun istic or socialistic State ofare future

,land and capital will be national property

,

and the entire national production w ill be under nationalcontrol ; and means w ill be taken so to est imate thelabour of each cit izen that he shall be rewarded according to its precise amount . An imm ense staff of S tateofficials will be req uired for this function . As we havealready said

,Rodbertus believed that this stage of

social development is yet far di stant ; he thought thatfive centuries w ill need to pass away before the ethicalforce of the people can be equal to it .From what we have already said , i t w ill be understood

that by his temperamen t,culture

,and social pos ition

Rodbertus was entirely averse to agitation as a m eans ;of hastening the new era ; and in the m easures wh ichhe recommends for mak ing the transi t ion towards i t heshowed a scrupulous regard for the existing interestsof the cap italists and landholders . He proposed thatthose two classes should be left in full possess ion oftheir present share of the national income , bu t that theworkers should reap the benefi t of the increas ing production . To secure them th i s increment o f produc tionhe proposed that the State should fix a normal work ingday for the various trades , a normal day

’

s work , and a

1 28 H ISTORY OF SOC IALI SM

legal wage,the amount of wh ich should be rev ised

periodically,and raised accord ing to the increase of

production,the be tter workman receiving a better wage .

By measures such as these,carried ou t by the State in

order to correct the evils of com pet ition,would Rod

bertus seek to m ake the transi t ion into the social isticera .

The econom ic work of Rodbertus i s therefore anattem pt m ade in a temperate and sc ientific sp irit toeluc idate the ev i l tendenc ies inherent in the compet it ivesystem

,especially as exem plified in the Operation of the

Iron Law of Wages . The remedy he proposes is a Statem anagement of production and d istribut ion

,which shall

e x tend m ore and m ore,till we arrive at a complete and

un iversal socialism—and al l based on the principle that,

as labour i s the source of value,so to the labourer should

all weal th belong.

I t is hardly necessary further to dwell on the theoriesofRodbertus. The general ou tlines of h is teaching areclear enough

,and the detail s could be properly treated

only in a work specially devoted to h im . In some

leading features h is econom ic posi t ion is the same asthat of Marx and Lassal le . The chief difference l ies inthe appl ication of their princ iples . We have seen thathe expects the Prussian or German State to adopt h istheories , bu t the interest we can have in the very re

mote real isat ion of them in th is way naturally cannotbe very great . It was unreasonable to believe that thepeople of Germ any would make no use of their newlyacqu ired pol itical rights to promote their social claims ;


CH A PTER VI I

KARL MARX

THE greatest and most influen tial nam e in the h istoryof social ism is unquesti onably Karl Marx . He and h isl ike -m inded compani on Engels are the acknowledgedheads of the ‘

scientifie and revolutionary’ school of

socialism,which has its representat ives in alm ost every

country of the civilised world,and is generally recog

nised as the most serious and form idable form of thenew teach ing .

Like Ferd inand Lassalle , Karl Marx was of J ewishex traction . I t is said that from the time of h is father

,

back to the sixteenth‘

century,his ancestors had been

rabbis . 1 Marx was born a t Treves in 1 8 1 8,where h is

father belonged to the legal profession . Both parentswere highly cultured and raised above -the traditionsand prejud ices of their race . In 1 824

,when Marx was

s ix years of age,the fam ily passed over from J udaism

'

to the profession of the Christian faith .

Brought up under very favourable circumstances,

ardent and energet ic,and endowed w i th the highest

1 Franz Mehring , Gesch ichte dcr Dcatschen Sozialdentokratie, part

i. p . 1 56 .

KARL MARX 1 31

natural gifts,the young M arx speed ily assim ilated the

best ' learning that Germ any could then prov ide . Atthe un ivers i ties of Bonn and Berl in he stud ied law toplease h is father

,but follow ing hi s own ben t he gave

h is t im e much more to h istory and ph ilosophy . Hegel

was st il l about the zen ith of h i s influence,and Marx

was a zealous student,and for som e t im e an adherent of

the reign ing school . In 1 84 1 Marx finished his studiesand gained the degree of doctor wi th an essay on theph ilosophy of Ep icurus . Th is was destined to close hisconnection with the Germ an universi t ies . He had intended to set tle at Bonn as teacher of ph ilosophy

,bu t the

treatment wh ich h is friend Bruno Bauer as teacher oftheology in the sam e un iversity e xperienced at thehands of the Prussian m inister Eichhorn

,deterred him

from following out his purpose .

In truth,Marx ’s revolu tionary temperam en t was

little su ited to the rou tine of the German man of learn

ing, and the poli tical condit ions of Pruss ia gave no scopefor free activity in any department of i ts national l ife .Marx therefore could only enter the ranks of the opposition

,and early in 1 84 2 he joined the staff of the Rhenish

Gazette,publ ished at Cologne as an organ of the extrem e

dem ocracy . He was for a short tim e ed itor of the paper.During h i s connect ion with i t he carried on an unspar

ing warfare against the Prussian reaction,and left i t

before i ts suppress ion by the Prussian Governm en t ,when i t sough t by com prom ise to avo id tha t fa te .

In the sam e year,1 843, Marx m arried Jenny vo n

VVestphalen,who belonged to a fam ily of good pos ition


in the official circles of the Rh ine country . Her brother

was subsequently Prussian m inister. It was a mosthappy marriage ; Through all the trials and privationsof a revolutionary career Marx found in his w ife a brave

,

steadfast,and sympathetic com panion .

Soon after h is m arriage Marx removed to Paris,

where he applied him self to the study of the questionsto which h is life and act iv ity were henceforward tobe en tirely devoted . All h is l ife he appears to have

worked with extraord inary intensity . At Paris hel ived in close in tercourse w i th the lead ing Frenchsocialists ; w ith Proudhon he often spent whole n ightsin the discussion of econom ic problem s. H i s m ostin tim ate associates

,however

,were the German exiles.

Arnold Ruge and he ed ited the Deutsch -Franz’

o’

sische

J ahrbitcher . He m et also the greatest of the Germanex iles

,Heine

,and is said to have had a share in

suggesting to the poe t the writ ing of the celebratedIVintcrmarchen .

Most important of al l these meetings in Paris,how

ever,was that w ith Friedrich Engels . Friedrich Engels

was the son of a m anufacturer at Barmen where hewas born in 1 820. Brough t up to h is father s bus iness

,

Engels had res ided for some tim e in Manchester.When he m et Marx at Paris in 1 844 the two men hadalready arrived a t a com plete comm unity of v iews,andfor nearly forty years continued to be loyal friends andcomrades- in-arm s .

Early in 1 845 , Marx , at the instance of Prussia, wasexpelled from Paris by the G uizot M inistry . Marx



under the nam e of the Comm un ist League ; and a congress was held

,wh ich resulted

,in 1 847 , in the fram ing

of the fil anif csto of the Oomnmnist Party, wh ich waspublished in most of the languages of Western Europe

,

and is the first proclam at ion of that revolut ionarysocialism armed w ith al l the learn ing of the n ineteenthcen tury

,but expressed with the fire and energy of the

agitator,wh ich in the International and o ther move

ments has so startled the world .

During the revolutionary troubles in 1 848 Marx

returned to Germany,and along with his comrades

,

Engels,Wolff

,etc .

,he supported the most advanced

democracy in the New Rhenish Gazette. In 1 849 he

settled in London,where he spent h is after- l ife in the

elaborat ion of h is econom ic v iews and in the real isationof h is revolutionary programme . In 1 859 he publ isheda I G itih' dcr p olitischen Oekonom ic. Th is book wasfor the most part incorporated in the first volume of

h is great work on capital,Das Kap ital, wh ich appeared

in Much of h is later l ife was spent in illhealth , due to the excessive work by which he undermined a constitution that had originally been excep

tionally healthy and vigorous . He d ied in London,

March 1 4 , 1 883. It was a time of the year which hadbeen marked by the ou tbreak of the Commune at Paris

,

and is therefore for a twofold reason a notable period inthe history of the proletariat .S ince the death of Marx his grea t work

,Das Kap ital ,

1 An Engl ish translation O f vol . i . by Messrs . Moore and Avelinghas appeared , Engels being editor. There are translations also of

vols . ii. and iii.

KARL MARX 1 35

has been completed by the publ icat ion of the secondand third volumes

,which have been edited by Engels

from manuscripts left by his friend . But nei ther ofthese two volumes has the h istorical interes t wh ich mayfairly be claimed for the first . In 1 877 Engel s pub

lished on h is own accoun t a work called Herrn Eugen

D ithr ings Uni wa'

lzung (Zer IVissenscha/t,1 a controversial

treatise agains t D iihring (a teacher of ph ilosophy inthe univers i ty of Berlin) which has had considerableinfluence on the development of the Germ an SocialDemocracy. Engels d ied in 1 895 , after loyal and cons istent service in the cause of the proletariat

,wh ich

extended over more than fifty years .

The causes which have variously contributed to therise of German socialism are sufficiently clear. W i thth e accession of the rom anticist Frederick W ill iam IV .

to the throne of Pruss ia in 1 840 German l iberal ism

rece ived a fresh expans ion . At the sam e time theHegelian school began to break up , and the in terestin pure phil osophy began to wane. I t was a time ofdisi llus ionm ent

,of dissatisfact ion with idealism

,of tran

sitiou to realistic and even to materialistic ways o f

th ink ing. This found strongest expression in theHegel ian left

,to which

,after the ideals of the old

religions and ph i losoph ies had proved unsubs tan tial ,there remained as solid res iduum the real fac t of man

w ith his pos itive interes ts in th is l i fe . The devo tion

Th is book o f Enge ls , Eugen Duhr ing'

s Revol zttiouis ing of Sc ience,

is better k nown in its much shorter form ,Is

'

ntwic/l'

elung drs Soziul ism cw

von der Utop ie zur IVisscnsc/taf t. Eng . tr. Social ism : Utop ian and

Seient ij ic.


and en thus iasm wh ich had previously been fixed on

ideal and Sp iritual concep tions were concentrated onhuman i ty . To adheren ts of the Hegelian left, who hadbeen del ivered from in tellectual routine by the m ostintrep id spiri t of cri ticism

,and who therefore had littl e

respect for the conventionalisms of a feudal society , i tnaturally appeared that the interests of hum an i ty hadbeen cruelly sacrificed in favour of class privilege and

prejudice .

The greatest th inkers of Germany had recognisedthe noble elements in the French Revolution . To re

cogn ise also the noble and prom ising features of Frenchsocial ism was a natural th ing

,especially for Germans

who had been in Paris , the great hearth of the newideas. Here they found them selves definitely and consciously in presence of the last and greatest interest ofhumanity , the suffering and struggling proletariat ofWestern Europe

,wh ich had so recently made its definite

entry in the h istory of the world. Thus socialism

became a social,pol i tical

,and economic creed to Karl

Marx and h is associates . But they felt that the theorieswhich preceded them were want ing in scientific basis ;and it was henceforward the twofold aim of the schoolto give scient ific form to soc ialism

,and to propagate

i t in Europe by the best and most effec tive revolutionary methods .The fundamen tal principle of the Marx school and of

the whole cognate socialism is the theory of ‘ surplus

value —the doctrine,nam ely

,that

,after the labourer

has been paid the wage necessary for the subsistence



tha t in a broad and general way i t had indeed becomethe comm on property of social ists . The h istorical importance and scien tific worth of the writings of Redbertus should no t be overlooked nor are they likely tobe when so much atten t ion has been given to him byA . Wagner and other d istingu ished Germ an econom ists.But in the great work of Marx the socialist theory

is elaborated w i th a fulness of learn ing and a logicalpower to wh ich Rodbertus has 1 10 claim . With Marxthe doctrine of surplus value receives i ts w idest application and development : i t supplies the key to h ise xplanat ion of the history and influence of capital

,and

consequently of the present econom ic’

era,wh ich i s

dom inated by i t . I t is the basis,in fact

,of a vast and

elaborate system of social ph ilosophy . In any case itis an absurdity as well as an h istorical error tospeak of Marx as having borrowed from Rodbertus .

Marx was an independent th inker of grea t original ityand force of character

,who had m ade the economic

developm ent of modern Europe the study of a laboriousl ifetime , and who was in the habi t , not of borrowing,bu t of strongly asserting the results of his own researchand of impress ing them upon other m en .

The grea t work of Marx m ay be described as an

expos i t ion and crit icism of cap i tal . But it is also indirectly an exposi t ion of soc ial ism

,inasmuch as the

historical evolution of cap ital is governed by naturallaws, the inevi table tendency of wh ich is towardssoc ial ism . It is the great aim of Marx to reveal thelaw of the econom ic movem ent of modern tim es . Now

,

KARL MARX 1 39

the economic movem ent of m odern times i s dom inatedby capi tal . Explain , therefore , the natural h istory ofcap i tal

,the rise

,consol idat ion

,and decl ine of i ts supre

macy as an evolutionary process,and you forecast the

na ture of that into wh ich it is being transform edsociali sm . Hence the great task of the Marx school i snot to preach a new econom ic and social gospel

,not to

provide ready -m ade schem es of social regeneration afterthe fashion of the early social ists

,nor to counterac t by

alleviating measures the wr etchedness of our presen tsystem

,but to explain and promote the inevitable pro

cess of social evolution,so that the domination of cap i tal

may run i ts course and give place to the higher system

that is to com e .The characteristic feature of the regim e of capi tal

,

or,as Marx usually calls i t

,the capital istic m ethod of

production,is

,that industrial operations are carried on

by individual capital ists employ ing free labourers , whosesole dependence i s the wage they receive . These free

labourers perform the function fulfilled in o ther sta tesof socie ty by the slave and the serf. In the dev elop-3

ment of the cap ital istic system is involved the growth ofthe two classes

,—the cap ital ist class

,enrich ing i tself on

the profits of industry,which they control in the ir own

interest,and the class of workers

,nom inally free , but

w i thou t land or capital,d ivorced

,therefore , from the

means of production,and dependen t on thei r wages

the modern proletariat . The grea t aim of the capi talist is the increase of weal th through the accumulationof h is profi ts . Th is accumulation is secured by the


appropria tion of what the social ists call surplus value .The h istory of the cap i tal istic m ethod of production isthe h istory of the appropriation and accum ulat ion ofsurplus value. To understand theg apitalistic _systemi s to understand surplus value . W ith the analysis of

'

value,therefore

,the great work of Marx begin s .

The weal th of the societies in whic h the capital isticm ethod of production prevails appears as an enormouscollection of comm od ities . A comm od ity is in the first

place an external obj ect adap ted to satisfy humanwants ; and th is usefulness gives i t v alue in use, makesi t a use value. These use values form the material ofwealth

,whatever i ts social form may be . In modern

socie t ies,where the bus iness of product ion i s carried

on to meet the demands of the market , for exchange,these use values appear as exchange values. Exchangevalue is the proportion in wh ich use values of differen tkinds exchange for each other. But the enormous m assof th ings that circulate in the world market exchangefor each other in the most d ifferent proportion . They

must,however

,have a common qual ity

,or they could

not be com pared . Th i s comm on qual ity cannot be anyof the natural properties of the comm odities . In thebus iness of exchange one th ing is as good as another

,

prov ided you have i t in sufficient quantity .

Leav ing out of considera t ion , therefore , the physicalqual it ies tha t give commodi ties use value

,we find in

them but one common characteristic—that they are allproducts Of hum an labour. They are all crystallisedforms of human labour. It is labour applied to natural



of the sm al l means of product ion then extant, and theyproduced for their own needs and for the ir feudalsuperior ; only the superfluity went into the generalmarket . Such production was necessarily small , lim ited ,and techn ically imperfect . Towards the close of the

Middle Ages a great change set in,caused by a rem ark

able comb inat ion of circumstances—the downfall of the

feudal system and of the Ca tholic Church, the d iscoveryof America and of the sea route to India . Throughthe breaking—up of the feudal houses w i th the ir numerous retainers

,through the transform at ion of the old

peasant- hold ings in to extens ive sheep -runs,and gene

rally through the prevalen t appl ication of the comm erc ial system to the managemen t of land

,instead of the

Catholic and feudal sp irit,the peasantry were driven

off the land ; a m ultitude of people total ly destitute ofproperty were thrown loose from their old means oflivel ihood

,and were reduced to vagabondage or forced

into the towns. I t was in this way that the modernproletarians made their tragic entry in his tory .

On the other hand, there was a parallel developmentof the cap i talist class , brough t about by the slavetrade ,by the exploitat ion of the Am erican colon ies and of boththe Ind ies

,and by the robbery

,violence

,and corruption

which attended the transference of the land from theCatholic and feudal to the m odern regim e. The open

ing and ex tens ion of the vast world m arket,moreover”

gave a grea t st im ulus to industry at hom e . The oldguilds having already been ex propriat ed and d issolved

,

the early organ isa tion of industry under the control of

KARL MARX 1 43

an infant capitalism passed through i ts firs t painful andlaborious stages

,till

,with the great mechan ical 1uven

t ions,w i th the appl icat ion of s team as the mo tive

power,and the rise of the factory system towards the

close of the eighteen th cen tury,the great industrial

revolution was accom plished,and the cap italistic method

of production attained to i ts colossal m anhood .

Thus the capi talistic system was establ ished . Andwe m ust remember that in all its form s and throughall the stages of its h istory the great aim of the cap ital istis to increase and consolidate h i s gains through theappropriat ion of

i

surp lus value . We have now to inquire how th is surplus value is obtained ?The starting-poin t of the cap italistic system i s the

cir culation of wares . As we have seen,the cap italistic

method of production is dominated by e x chang e . If

exchange,however

,consisted merely in the giv ing and

receiving of equ ivalents,there could be no acquis ition

of surplus value . In the process of exchange theremust appear something the u t il isa tion of wh ich by thebuyer yields a greater valuethan the price he pays

for it .

The th ing desired is found in the labour force of theworkman

,who

,being desti tute of the m eans of produc

t ion,must have recourse to the owner of these , the

capitalist . In other words,the workman appears on

the marke t with the sole commod i ty of wh ich he has

to d ispose,and sells i t for a speci fied t im e at the pric e

i t can bring,wh ich we call h i s wage

,and wh ich i s eq uiva

lent to the average m eans o f subsis tence requ ired to


support himself and to provide for the future supply oflabour (in his family) . But the labour force of the

workm an,as utilised by the cap ital ist in the factory or

the m ine,produces a net value in excess of his wage;

that i s,over and above his ent ire outlay , including the

wage paid to his workm en,the capitalist finds h imself

in possession of a surplus, wh ich can only represent theunpaid labour of h is workm en . This surplus is thesurplus value of Karl Marx

,the produc t of unpai d

labour.

This appropriation of surplus labour is a very Old

phenomenon in human society . In all the forms of

society which depended on slave—labour,and under the

feudal regime,t he apprOpriation of the results of other

men’

s labour was open,undi sguised

,and compulsory.

Under the capital istic system i t is d isguised under theform of free contract . The effect is the same . For theworkman who is unprov ided with the instruments oflabour

,whose working power is useless without them

,

this compulsion is not less real because it i s concealedunder the forms of freedom . He must agree to thisfree contract or starve .

t is the surplus value thus obtained which thecapital ist seeks to accum ulate by all the m ethods avail

\able. These m ethods are described by Marx with

great detai l and elaboration through several hundredpages of h is first volume . H is account

,supported at

every step by long and cop ious citat ions from the besthistorical authorities and from the blue -books of thevarious parliamentary comm iss ions

,is a lurid and ghastly



v idual’

s own labour, property under the cap italisticsystem is the product of other men ’s labour. Thisis the contradiction which runs through the entirehistory of cap italism . Here we have in germ all theantagonism and confusion of the present t im e. Theincom pat ibility of social production and capitalistic appropria tion must more and more declare itself as thesuprem acy of the system e x tends over the world.

The contradiction between social product ion andcap italistic appropriation naturally appears in the 00 11 1trast between the human be ings concerned in it . Forthe appropriators form the bourgeoisie, and the social

workers constitu te the proletariat,the two historic

classes of the new era . Another conspicuous and important resul t is that

,whil e we have th is organisation

in the factory, we have outside of it al l the anarchy ofcompet it ion . We have the capi tal ist ic appropriators ofthe product of labour contend ing for the possession Ofthe m arket

,w i thout system at ic regard to the supply

required by that market—each one filling the marketonly as d ictated by his own interest

,and trying to outdo

hi s rivals by all the methods of adulteration,bribery

,

and intrigue ; an econom ic war hurtful to the bestinterests of society . Wi th the development of thecap ital is tic system m ach inery is more and more perfec ted, for to neglect improvemen t is to Succumb in thes truggle the improved mach inery renders labour superfluous

,wh ich i s accordingly thrown idle and exposed

’

to

starvat ion ; and th is is en tirely satisfactory to.

t he

cap i tal ist class, whose interest it is to have a reserve

KARL MARX 1 47

arm y of labourers d isposable for the t im es when

industry i s specially act ive,but cast out on the s tree ts

through the crash tha t must necessarily follow .

But as the techn ique im proves the productive powerof industry increases

,and continually tends m ore and

more to surpass the available needs of the marke t,

w ide as it is . Th is is all the more inevitable,because

the consump tion of the masses of the population is re

duced to the minimum requ is ite merely to main tainthem in l ife . It i s another con tradiction of the cap italistic system that on the one hand its inherent laws tendto restrict the market which on the o ther hand i t i sready by all means fair and foul to e x tend . The con

sequence is,that the market tends to be overstocked

even to absolute repletion ; goods w i ll not sell , and acomm ercial crisis is established

,in wh ich we have the

remarkable phenomenon of w idespread pan ic,m isery

,

and starvation result ing from a superabundance of

wealth—a“ crise pléthorique

,

” as Fourier cal led i t,a

crisis due to a plethora of weal th .

These crises occur a t period ic intervals,each one

severer and more w idespread than the preceding, unti lthey now tend to become chron ic and permanen t

,and

the whole cap i talistic world staggers under an atlan teanwe igh t of i ll-d istributed weal th . Thus the process goeson in obed ience to i ts own inheren t laws . Produc tionis more and m ore concen trated in the hands o f nmmm o th

cap ital is ts and colossal j oin t - s tock c ompan ies,under

which the pro le taria t are o rgan ised and d rilled in tovas t indus trial arm ies . lo t as cri sis suc ceeds c ris is ,


unt i l panic,stagnat ion

,and d isorder are un iversal, it

becomes clear that the bourgeoisie are no longer capableof controll ing the industrial world . In fact, the pro

ductive forces rise in chron ic rebellion against theform s imposed on them by capi talism .

The incompatib ili ty between social production andanarch ic distribu tion decidedly declares i tself. A longcourse of hard experience has trained the moderndemocracy in the insight necessary for the appreciationof the conditions of i ts own ex istence. The socialcharacter of production i s explicitly recogn ised. The

proletariat seizes the pol it ical power,and through it at

last takes complete control over the economic functionsof society . I t expropriates the private cap italist

,and

,

appropriating the means of p roduct ion , manages themin its own interest

,wh ich is the interest of society as a

whole ; soc iety passes into the social is tic stage througha revolution determ ined by the natural laws of socialevolut ion

,and not by a m erely arbitrary exercise of

power. It is a result determ ined by the inheren t lawsof social evolut ion

,independent of the will and purpose

of indiv idual m en . Al l that the most powerful andclear-s ighted intel lect can do is to learn to d ivine thelaws of the great movem ent of society

,and to shorten

and alleviate the birth -pangs of the new era . The

e ff orts of reactionaries of every class to turn the wheelof history backwards are in vain . But an intell igentappreciation of its tendencies

,and a w ill ing co-Operation

w i th them , w ill make progress easier , smoother, andm ore rap id .



product ion and the correspond ing grade of h istoricaldevelopm ent of the producers . ’ And then he goes onto assume that the share of each producer in the m eansof l iv ing may be determ ined by h is labour time .

LabOur time w ill at once serve as measure of the shareof each producer in the common labour

,and th erefore

also of hi s share in the portion of the common productwh ich is devoted to consum ption .

’

Another important indication by one who has fullright to speak for Marx is contained ln Fr. Engels ’

view s regard i ng the S tate . After the proletariat haveseized pol itical power and transformed the means ofproduction into State property

,the State wil l cease to

exist . In the Old societies the State was an organ isat ion of the exploiting class for the maintenance of theconditions of exploitation that suited it . Officially the

representatives of the whole society,the exploi t ing class

only represented itself." But when the State at lastbecomes the real representative of the whole society itrenders itself superfluous . In a society which containsno subject class

,from which class rule and the anarchy

of production and the coll isions and excesses of thes truggle for ind iv idual ex istence have been removed

,

there is noth ing to repress,and

‘

no need for a repressingforce l ike the S tate . The first act wherein the Statereally appears as representative of the entire societythe appropriation of the means of production in thename of society—i s also i ts last independent act asS tate . In place of the governm en t over persons

,there

1 Das Kap ital , i . 48 .

KARL MARX

w ill be an administrat ion of things,and the con trol of

producti ve processes . The State i s not abol ished ; i td ies away .

1

In effect,these two indications of opin ion po in t to a

cond it ion of society which i s not fundamen tally differen tfrom that contem plated by the anarch ist school . Bothlook forward to a period when m en will live in freeassociations

,and when the adm in istration of soc ial

affairs w il l be conducted without the exercise of com

pulsion .

I t w ill have been seen that what Marx and h i s schoolcontemplate is an economic revolution brough t about inaccordance w i th the natural laws of h istoric evolution .

Bu t in order to understand the full import of th isrevolution in th e mind of Marx

,we must remember

that he regards the 'economic order of socie ty as thegroundwork of the sam e

,determining all the other

form s of social order. The entire legal and pol iticalstructure

,as wel l as philosophy and religion , are con

s tituted and con trolled in accordance w i th the economicbasis . This is in harm ony w ith his m ethod and h isconception of the world

,which is the Hegelian reversed

‘ For Hegel the thought process . which he transform sinto an independent subject under the nam e idea , is thecreator of the real

,which forms only its ex ternal man i

festation. With me,on the contrary , the ideal is

no thing else than the m aterial transform ed and translated in the human brain .

’ H is conception of the worldis a frank and avowed materialism .

1 Umwa lznng rter IVissensc/rq fl , pp . 26 7 , 2 68 .


And to a world thus understood he applies the

d ialectic method of investigat ion . Dialect ic is a wordcurrent in the Hegelian and other ph i losophies . It

sounds rather out of place in a material istic view of the

world . In the system ofMarx it m eans that the business of inqu iry is to trace the connect ion and concatenaw

t ion in the l inks that m ake up the process of h istoricevolut ion

,to investigate how one stage succeeds another

in the developm ent of soci ety,the facts and forms of

human l ife and history not being stable and stereotypedth ings

,but the ever-chang ing man ifestations of the

fluent and unresting real,the course of which i t is the

duty of science to reveal . Both Marx and Fr. Engels,m oreover

,are fond of expressing the developm ent of

capitalism in the language of the w ell-known Hegel ianthreefold process thes is

,antithesis

,and synthesis .

Pr ivate property resting on a m an ’s own labour of theform er t im es is the thes is . The property resting onother men ’ s labour of the cap ital istic era is the negation of th is ind iv idual property . The expropriat ion ofthe cap ital ists by the proletariat is the negation of thenega tion

,or synthesis . But how far th is use of the

Hegel ian terms is merely a form of l iterary expression ,or how far it is a survival in Marx of a real bel ief inHegelian ism

,i t is not easy to determ ine . 1

The whole pos i t ion of the Marx school may becharacterised as evolutionary and revolut ionary social ism

,

based on a materialistic conception of the world and of

hum an history . Social ism is a social revolut ion deter

See Preface to second ed ition o f the Kap ital , p . xix.



production . The proletaria t seizes political powerand transform s the m eans of production into socialproperty .

(9) The State , wh ich has h i therto been anarrangemen t for hold ing the producing class insubjection

,w il l becom e superfluous

,and d ie a

natural death . Henceforward,governm en t w ill

consist sim ply in the control of industrial processes .

The work of Marx is a natural h istory of capital,

especially in i ts relat ion to labour,and in its most

essential features is a developmen t of two of the lead ingprinciples of the classic econom ics— that labour is thesource of value, bu t that of th i s value the labourerobtains for him self merely a subsistence wage

,the

surplus being appropriated by the explo it ing capitalist.Marx ’s great w ork may be described as an elaboratehistorical developmen t of th is glaring fundamental contradiction of the Ricard ian economics, the contradictionbetween the Iron Law of Wages and the great principlethat labour i s the source of weal th . Mar x ’s concept ionof labour is the sam e as that of Ricardo

,and as a logical

exposition of the h istoric contrad iction between the twoprinciples

,on the basis of Ricardo

,the work of Marx is

quite unanswerable . I t is obvious,however

,that the

definition of labour assum ed both in Ricardo and Marxis too narrow . The labour they b roadly pos i t as thesource of w eal th is m anual labour. In the early stagesof industry

,when the m arket was sm all and limited

,

and the technique was of the sim plest and rudest

KARL MARX 1 55

description,labour in that sense m ight correc tly enough

he described as the source of value . But in modernindustry

,when the m arke t is world -w ide

,the techn ique

most com plex,and the competit ion mos t severe

,when

inventiveness,sagaci ty

,courage

,and decision in in itia

t ive,and sk ill in m anagem ent

,are factors so importan t

,

no such exclusive place as has been claimed can beass igned to labour. The Ricard ian principle

,therefore

,

falls to the ground .

And i t is not h istorically true to m aintain,as Marx

does,that the profi ts of the cap ital ist are obtained simply

by appropriating the products of unpaid labour . In

initiating and m anaging,the cap i talist i s charged w i th

the most d i fficul t and importan t part of the work ofproduction .

’

As a natural consequence,i t follow s that

Marx is also h istorically inaccurate in roundly explaining capital as the accum ulation of unpa id labourappropriated by the capital ist. In past accumulation ,as in the control and m anagem en t of industry generally ,the cap i talist has had the lead ing part . Cap i tal , therefore

,is not necessarily robbery

,and in an econom ic

order in wh ich the system of free e xchange i s the ruleand the mutually beneficial interchange of u til i ties , noobj ection can be raised to the principle of lend ing and

borrow ing of m oney for in terest . In short , in h istheory of unpaid labour as supplying the key to hisexplanation of the genesi s and developm en t o f

'

the

cap italistic system,Marx i s no t true to hi s tory . I t is

the perfectly logical ou tcom e of c ertain of the leading principles of the Ricard ian school

,but i t does no t


g ive an adequate or accurate accoun t of the facts of

econom ic evolution .

In h is theory of unpaid labour Marx is not consistentwith the general principles of h is own phi losophy ofsoc ial evolu tion . With h im h istory is a process determ ined by m aterial forces

,a succession of orderly

phenomena controlled by natural laws . Now we may

waive the objection suggested by the principle enunc iated in the Marx school itself

,that it i s not legitimate

to apply ethical categories in j udgment on economicprocesses that are merely natural ; which , however ,

Marx does with “ revolutionary em phasis throughoutsome hundreds of pages of h is great work . It is moreim portant to po int out

,in perfect consistency with the

principles of the School , that the energy and inventiveness of the early capital ists especially were the mostessential factors in determin ing the existence anddevelopment of a great economic era

,and that the

assertion of freedom was an indispensable condition inbreaking the bonds of the old feudal order

,wh ich the

new system d isplaced . Instead,therefore

,of living

and growing rich on the produce of unpaid labour,the

cap i talist had a great social and industrial function toperform, and played a great part in historic evolution .

The position and function of the workman was subordinate.

In short,Marx has not suffi ciently recognised the

fact that the development of the new social forcesbrought w ith it a new set of functions : that of in itiatingand directing industrial enterprise . These functions are



of Ricardo ’s great work) , by whom the principle wasapplied to revolut ionary purposes . Its s implicity andseem ing e ffectiv eness must have made it most attraetive . AS pos ited by the class ic economy, and appliedby the socialists

,Marx accepted the principle . I t was an

unanswerable argumentnm ad hominem when addressedto an econom ist of the Ricardian school ; but it Shouldhave broken down when confron ted with historical fact .Nevertheless i t was m ade

,and continued to be , the

foundation - stone of the system of Marx,and is really

its weakest point . His doctrine of surplus value is thevitiating factor inhis history of the cap itali st ic system .

The most obvious excuse for him is that he borrowed itfrom the classic econom ists .Fr. Engels sums up the ach ievement of hi s friend

Marx in the two great d iscoveries—the m aterialisticconception of h istory

,and the revelat ion of the secre t

of the cap italist ic method of production by means ofsurplus value . Material ism i s a very old theory of theworld . It is 11 0Wgiven up by com petent th inkers

,and

we need not d iscuss it here . Nor need we say that itis a grave exaggerat ion to m a intain that all social instibutions

,includ ing ph ilosophy and rel igion

,are to be

expla ined by reference to the econom ic factors . H istoryis a record of the activ i ty of the hum an mind in verym any d irections . Men have had various interests

,wh ich

have had a substantive,and so far

,an independent

value,though they must also be regarded as an organ ic

whole . I t is abso lutely impossible to account for all byreference to any one .

KARL MARX 1 59

Nevertheless,it i s a great meri t of Marx that he has

1[so powerfully called a t tent ion to the vast im portanceof the economic s ide of h istory . The econom ic fac torsin the life of mank ind have been sadly neglected

,even

by ph ilosoph ic h istorians. Such neglect has been partlydue to the scarci ty of material relat ing to this aspectof their subj ect

,partly ow ing to false conceptions of the

function of the h istorian,ch iefly because their public

was a high -bred class,which had no particular wish to

read about such unfashionable top ics as those connectedwith the daily toi l of the lower orders . In th is waythe true causat ion of h istory has often been overlooked

,

or totally misconce ived,and results have

,in thousands

of instances,been traced to conventional and imaginary

agencies,when the real origin lay deep down in the

economic life of the people . We are now beginn ingto see that large sections of h istory w il l need to berewrit ten in this new l igh t .To proceed w ith our cri t icism of Marx . I t i s a

feature of h is m a terialistic concep tion of h is tory tha th is language respecting the inev i table march of societywould som etimes suggest a k ind of fatalism . But th isi s more than counterbalanced by h is strong assertionof the revolutionary w ill . On both sides we see overs tatem en t . The most prominent feature of h is teaching,however

,i n th is reference, i s the exceSsive stress wh ich

he lays on the virtues and possibi l i t ies of the revolu

tionary m e thod of action . The cm lut io n he c on tem

plates i s attended and d istu rbed by grea t h istoric

breaks,by ca tac lysm and catastrophe . These and o the r

1 60 H I STORY OF SOC IALI SM

features of h is teach ing,to wh ich obj ection must be

m ade,were m ost pronounced in h is early writings ,

especially in the ~Manifesto of the Commun ist League,

but they continue to be visible throughout his l ife .According to his latest teaching

,a great revolutionary

catastrophe is to close the cap italistic era ; and thism ust be regarded as a very bad prepara tion for thet ime of social peace wh ich is forthw ith to follow . The

proletariat,the class wh ich is to accomplish the revo

lution ,he described as oppressed

,enslaved

,and degen

erate. How can such a class be expected to perform so

great an h istoric function w ell and successfully ?

Bu t the m ain defect of h is teaching l ies in the

arb itrariness and excess ive abstractness that characterise h is method of investigation and presentation ; andthis defect particularly attaches to the second greatdiscovery a ttributed to h im by Fr. Engels—h is theoryof surplus value .

We shall better understand the posit ion of Marx ifwe recall som e of the im portant c ircumstances in hisl ife and experience. As we have seen

,h is fam ily passed

from the profession of Judaism to Christian ity whenhe was six years of age

,and he thus lost the traditions

of the faith of his ancestors without living into thetrad it ions of the new faith . Like m any Jews in asim ilar posi tion the trad i t ions of the past therefore hadli ttle influence on Karl Marx

,and he was so far well

fitted to take a w ide and unprejudiced V iew of humanaffairs . Wi th h is great endowm ents and vast knowledgehe should have been one of the freest -heads in Europe .



accord ing to the freest and purest conception of thesubject . The study of h istory, in the h ighest sense ofthe word

,requires a modest attitude towards obj ective

fact which is not easily attained in the philosophy of

the schools.

Marx was a German,tra ined in the school of Hegel ;

and he passed most of his l ife in laborious seclusion,

in ex ile and revolt against dom inant ideas and institutions. Though a materialist, he does not show suffi cientrespect for facts

,for history . In reading his great

work we feel that the facts are in chronic rebellion

aga inst the formulas to wh ich he seeks to adapt them .

Adam Smith,the founder of Pol itical Economy

,was

also academic at the outset of his life ; but he was a

Scotsm an of a period when the ablest Scotsmen weretrained by French clearness and common sense. Andhe was not in revolt, like Marx , but in full sympathy

with a cause whose time had come,whereas Marx

represented a cause wh ich'

had not yet attained to anyconsiderable degree of clearness . In learn ing andphilosophic power

,Marx will compare favourably with

Adam Smith ; but in h istoric reasonableness, in respectfor fact and reality , Smith is decidedly h is superior.In Sm ith ’s great work we see philosophy controlled byfact

,by h istoric knowledge and insight. The work of

Marx,in many of its most important sections

,is an

arb itrary and artificial attempt to force his formulason the facts of h istory . Whether the fault lay in theHegelian ph ilosophy

,or in Marx

’

s use of it,there can

be no doubt that its influence has inflicted most serious

KARL MARX 1 63

damage on what migh t otherwise have been a splend idhis torical work .

We are therefore obliged to say that the hi storicalwork of Marx does not by any means rise to thehighest concept ion of h istory . It is deficient in thefree outlook

,in the clear perspective

,in the sympathy

and im partiality wh ich should characterise the besthistorical

'

ach ievements . The historical work of Marxis placed at the service of a powerful and passionatepropaganda , and of necessity i s d isturbed and troubledby the funct ion wh ich i t i s made to serve .

In dealing w ith history we must accep t facts andm en as we find them . The facts are as they are ; andthe m en of h istory are not ideal men . Like other m en

Marx had to work under hum an lim itations . The

great task of his life was to rouse the prole tariat of theworld to a sense of its posit ion

,its m ission

,and destiny

,

to d iscover the scientific conditions under which a newera in the evolution of the human race could be inaugurated and carried on by the working classes of alllands . I t was a mixed task in wh ich science andpractice were combined

,and in which the purely

scient ific study of h istory naturally suffered in thepartnersh ip w ith a very strenuous revolutionarv

pract ice.We need not say that it was no t the faul t of Marx

that b e adopted the revolutionary career. He was

born at a tim e and in a coun try where men of inde

pendence and original ity of character of necessi tybecame revolu tion is ts . In face of the European renc


tion Marx never m ade any concession or compromiseHe never bowed himself in the house of Rimmon .

Seldom in the history of human thought has therebeen a man who travel led righ t ahead in so straigh tforward a path

,however form idable the opposit ion and

however apparently hopeless surround ing circumstancesmigh t be . Publ ic Opin ion had no weight with him ;neither idle sentim en t nor amiable weaknesses foundany place in his strongly -marked ind ividuality .

In view of such a career spent in the unflinchingservice of what he regarded to be truth

,and in the

greatest of human causes,it would be m ean and dis

graceful not to Speak of Marx in terms of profoundrespect . His sincerity, his courage, his self- abnegation ,hi s devotion to his great work through long years ofprivation and obloquy

,were heroic . If he had followed

the broad and well-beaten highway of self- interest,

Marx,with his except ional endowm ents both for

thought and action ,m ight easily have risen to a

foremost place in the Prussian State . He d isdainedthe flesh -pots of despot ism and obscurantism so muchsought after by the average sensual m an

,and spent

forty hard and laborious years almostWholly in exileas the scient ific cham pion of the proletariat. Many

men are glad to l ive an hour of glorious life. Feware strong and brave enough to live the l ife hero icfor forty years w i th the resolution

,the courage

,and

cons istency of Karl Marx .

In the combination of learn ing, philos0phic acum en ,

and l iterary power,he is second to no econom ic thinker



The econom ic social and poli t ical form s wh ich werethe progressive and even adequate express ions of thel ife of one era

,becom e h indrances and fetters to the

l ife of the succeeding t imes . This,the school of Karl

Marx says,is precisely the cond ition of the present

econom ic order . The ex isting arrangements of landlord

,capital ist

,and wage - labourer under free competi

t ion are burdened w ith contrad iction and abuse . Thel ife of soc iety is being strangled by the form s whichonce promoted it . They m aintain that the really vitaland powerful tendencies of our tim e are towards ah igher and w ider form of social and econom ic organisation— towards socialism . Here

,as we believe

,is the

central point of the whole question . The place of

Marx in h istory w ill depend on how far he has madea permanent contribution towards the settlementof it.

During his l ifet im e the opinions of.Marx were

destined to find expression in two movements,wh ich

have played a considerable part in recent history—theInternational and the Social Dem ocracy of Germany .

O f the International , Marx was the insp iring and controlling head from the beginning ; and the Germ anSocial Democracy, though originated by Lassalle , beforelong fell under Marx ’s influence. Marx wrote the

fam ous inaugural address of the International anddrew up its statutes , maintain ing a m oderation of tonewh ich contrasted strongly wi th the outspoken vigourof the comm unist manifesto of 1 847. But i t was notlong before the revolutionary socialism which underlay

KARL MARX 1 6 7

the m ovement gained the upper hand . The International no doubt afforded a splend id opportuni ty forthe propaganda of Marx . The fortunes of the International and of the Germ an Social Dem ocracy wil l besketched in subsequent chapters .

CHAPTER VIII

THE INTERNATIONAL

IT is an inevitable outcome of the prevalent historicforces that the labour question has become international .

From the dawn of h istory there has been a widening circle of communities with internat ional relations .Civilisat ion had its earliest seats on the banks of theNile and the Euphrates . The Greeks and Phoenicianscarr ied i t round the shores of the Mediterranean . The

Romans received it from the Greeks,and

,after adding

to it a valuable contribut ion of the ir own,handed i t on

to the nat ions of Western and Central Europe . TheChristian Church spread over the countries in whichthe Roman peace preva iled

,but did not confine itself

to the l im its of the emp ire .Am idst the group of nations who thus participated

in the Greco-Roman culture and in the Christ ian life,

there has always been a special degree of internationalsympathy : ideas and institutions have been largelycomm on to them all . Feudalism and the Church

,

ch i valry and the Crusades,all these were in ternational

in their influence .


1 70 H ISTORY OF SOC IAL ISM

tions of the great m arkets and exchanges in any dailypaper as a proof of th is . In a small space round theBank of England

,financ ial transact ions are carried on

wh ich powerfully affect the en t ire world . Even thevery simple breakfast of an ord inary c itizen is a greatinternational function

,in which the productions of the

most d iverse countries com bine to appease his wants .The m e thods and appliances of th is m odern industry

have been developed in England s ince the m iddle of theeighteenth century . Not many years ago England wasstill the supreme

,alm ost the exclusive

,representat ive

of the new industry ; now it is becom ing the commonpossession of all countries dom inated by Europeanculture

,and is rap idly gaining ground in the long

isolated nations of the East . The com petit ion forbusiness am ong the cap italists of various coun triesgrows more intense every year. Once carried on chieflyor entirely for local needs

,production has now to work

for a market of wide and often incalculable extent .

Under these circum stances , we need not be surprisedthat labour

,the prim e factor in industry

,has inter

national in terests and relations of the most seriousim portance . Its antagonism to cap italism must declareitself on the internat ional arena . In the competitive

struggles of the last sixty years,the cheap labour of one

nation has not seldom been thrown into the scale toweigh down the dear labour of another. Irishm en ,Germans

,Belgians

,and I tal ians have often rendered

unavail ing the efforts of English and French workm enfor a h igher standard of living. Con t inuous emigration

TH E INTERNATIONAL 1 7 1

from Europe depresses Am erican labour. The Ch ineseand o ther Eastern races

,habi tuated to a very low

standard of subs istence,m enace the workm en of

Am erica and Austral ia . The great industry wh ich isnow being establi shed in the East w il l be a m ostserious danger alike to work m en and cap ital ists inthe Western World .

The cap i tal ists of m ost coun tries have long sough t toshield them selves against the consequences of com petition by protection

,by combinations tacit or avowed

am ong themselves,of w ide and frequently international

magn i tude . In v iew of the facts that we have ind icated,

in v iew of the example thus se t them , why should notthe working m en seek to regulate their internationalinterests ?

Efforts towards the internat ional organisation oflabour have proceeded chiefly from men who , banishedfrom the ir own country by reactionary governments ,have carried to o th er lands the seeds of new though t ,and

,meeting abroad those of l ike mind and l ike fate

with themselves,have naturally planned the overthrow

of their comm on oppressors . The origin of the famousInternational Association of \Vork ing Men was largely

due to such a group of exiles .

In 1 836 , a number of G erman ex iles at Paris formedthem selves in to a secre t society

,under the nam e o f the

League of the J ust, the principles of wh ich were com

niunistic .

l Being involved in a rising at Paris in 1 830,

Enlhul l rmgcn ubcr den Comm '

im 'isten - l’

rozcss m Kola,vo u Karl

Marx , lCinleitung von Fr. Enge ls , p. 3 .


they removed to London . Here they met with work

men belonging to the nations of Northern Europe,to

wh ich German ‘ is a common speech,and the League

naturally began to assume an international character.This was not the only change which the League

underwent . Its members began to understand thattheir real duty under the present circumstances wasnot conspiracy or the stirring up of revolutionary outbreaks

,but propaganda . The bas is of the League had

been a sentimental communism , based on their mottothat ‘ all m en are brothers . ’ From Marx they learnedthat the emancipation of the proletariat must be guidedby scientific insight into the conditions of i ts ownexistence and its own history ; that their communismmust indeed be a revolutionary one

,but it must be a

revolution in harmony with the inev itable tendencies ofsocial evolution . The cardinal point in the theoryworked out by Marx and now impressed upon the

League,was the doctrine that the economic conditions

control the entire social structure,therefore the main

thing in a social revolution is a change in economi ccond itions.

a

The group of ex iles put them selves into communicat ion with Marx

,and a Congress was held in London in

1 847, w i th the resul t that the association was reorganisedunder the name of the Commun i st League .

The aim of the League is very com prehensively statedin the first articl e of its constitution : ‘ The aim of the

League is the overthrow of the bourgeoisie, the rule ofthe proletariat , the abolition of the old society resting



whole of society for ever from explo itation,Oppression .

and class struggles—th is pervad ing thought belongsexclusively and a lone to Marx .

’

The h istory of all society hitherto has been theh i story of class struggles ’ ; such is the keynote of theman ifesto .

‘ But it is a d istingu ish ing feature of thepresent t im e that it has simpl ified class antagonisms ;the entire hum an society more and more div ides itselfinto two great hostile camps

,into two great confl icting

classes,bourgeoisie and proletariat .

’ The manifesto isfor the most part

_an exposition and discussion of these

two classes,the historical cond itions under which they

have grown up,their mutual relations

,past

,present

,

and future .

It would not be easy to give a brief analysis of theman ifesto

,nor is it necessary

,as we have

,in our chapter

on Marx,already given an account of the sam e views in

their maturer and more ph i losoph ic expression . The

manifesto is a treat ise instinct w ith the fiery energy andenthusiasm of a young revolutionary party

,and its

doctrines are the doctrines of Marx in a crude,exag

gerated,and v iolent form . In such a pamphlet

,written

for propaganda,we must not expect the self- restraining

moderat ion of statemen t,the clear perspective

,or the

high jud icial chari ty wh ich should characterise a soberh istorical expos ition .

The Iron Law of Wages i s stated in its hardest andmost exaggerated form . To the charge that they desireto abolish private property

,its authors reply that in

div idual property,the produce of a man

’

s own labour,is

THE INTERNATIONAL 1 75

already abol ished. W hat they desire to abolish is theappropriation of other men ’s labour by the capi talist .To the charge that they w ish to abol ish the fam ily

,they

reply to the bourgeoisie with a tu guogue ye have

already abol ished it by the exploitation of women andchildren in the factories

,which has broken up the

family ties,through the prevalence of prosti tution and

the common practice of adultery . The charge of abolishing patrio tism they repud iate in the same manner : theworkman has no country .

We cannot understand the man ifesto unless we re

mem ber that it was drawn up by young men l iving inex i le

,and that i t was written in 1 847

,shortly after

som e of the earliest inqu iries into the condition of labourboth in England and the Continent had revealed factswhi ch ought to fill every human heart w ith sorrow andindignation .

As the manifesto of the first international combination of workm en

,i t has a special historical importance

,

and claims special attent ion . And apart from tha t,i t i s

one of the most remarkable u tterances of the n ineteenthcentury .

‘ The manifesto,

’ says Fr. Engels ,‘was sent to the

press at London a few weeks before the February Revolu tien . S ince then it has m ade the tour of the world .

I t has been translated into alm ost every tongue,and in

the most d i fferen t countries still serves as the guid ingstar of the proletarian m ovem ent . The ohl m o t to of

the League,Al l men are brethren , was replaced by

the new battle-cry,

“ Pro letarians of all lands unite,


which openly procla imed the international character ofthe struggle . Seventeen years later th is battle - cry

resounded through the world as the watchword ofthe Internat ional Work ing Men ’s Association

,and the

militant proletariat of all lands has to -day written it onits banner . ’ 1

The Revolution of 1 848,as we have already seen

,

2

was a ris ing of the people in France,Italy

,Germany

,

Austria,

“ and Hungary against ant iquated pol iticalarrangem ents and inst itutions . It was partly an interruption to the operat ions of the League

,as it was far

too weak to exerci se any great influence on the course

of even ts but i t was also an opportunity,as its

members found access to the land of their b irth,and in

m any parts of Germ any formed the m ost resolute andadvanced wing of the struggl ing democracy during tha ttroubled period .

After the triumph of the reaction it became clearthat the hope of effective revolut ionary activity hadagain for a t im e passed away. A period of .unexam pledindustrial prosperity set in . Capitalism was about toenter a far w ider phase of development than i t had yetseen

,a fact wh ich abundantly showed that the time was

not favourable for an active propaganda in the interestsof the proletariat . When capital ism has become ah indrance to progressive social development

,when it is

obviously too weak and narrow a framework for furtherevolution

,only then i s there hope of successful effort

against i t. So reasoned Marx and h is associates . He1 Enthul lungen , Introduction, p . 1 1 .

2 P . 47.


1 78 HISTORY OF SOCIAL I SM

repressed . The found ing of the Social Democracy ofGerm any by Lassal le

,and the appearance of the Inter

nat ional on a wider and worth ier scale under the auspicesof Marx

,were a clear proof that the working classes of

the most advanced countries of Europe now m eant to

claim a better share in the m oral and material inheritance of the hum an race . We have now to sketch the

growth of the m ovem ent,wh ich is properly styled the

International .1” Appropriately enough

,the event wh ich gave the first

occas ion for the found ing of the International Associat ion of Work ing Men was the Internat ional Exh ibit ionof London

’

in 1 862 . The workmen of France sent a

deputation to v isit the Exh ib ition . This vis it had theapproval and even pecuniary support of the Emperor

and it was warm ly commended by some of the leadingParisian journals as a means not only of acqua intingthe workm en w ith the industrial treasures of the Exhibition

,but of removing from the relat ions of the two

countries the old leaven of international d iscord andj ealousy . In the course of their v isit the French delegates were enterta ined by som e of their Engl ish brethrenat the Freemasons ’ Tavern

,where v iews as to the identity

of the interests of labour,and the necessity for common

action in promoting them,were interchanged .

In the follow ing year a second deputation of Frenchworkm en crossed the Channel . Napoleon was interestedin the Poli sh insurrection of 1 8 63

,and it was part of

h is pol icy to encourage thd express ion of opin ion infavour of an intervention in Poland by the Western


Powers . At th is v isit wishes for the restorat ion ofPoland and for general congresses in the in terest oflabour against capital were expressed . Noth ing decis ive

,

however,was done til l 1 864 ,

when on the 28 th Septembera great public meeting of work ing men of all nationswas held in St . Mart in ’ s Hall

,London . Professor

Beesly pres ided , and Karl Marx was present . The

meeting resul ted in the appoin tm ent of a provisionalcomm ittee to draw up the constitut ion of the new association . Th is comm ittee consisted of fifty representa

tives of diflferent nations,the English forming about

half of its number. At the first meeting of the com

m ittee the sum of three pounds was collected,a humble

beginning of the finances of an association wh ich wasdes igned to shake the world.

The work of drafting the constitut ion was first of allundertaken by Mazzin i

,but the ideas and me thods of

the Italian patriot were not suited to the task offound ing an interna tional associat ion of labour. Thestatutes he drew up were adapted to the political

conspiracy,conducted by a strong cen tral authori ty ,

in which he had spent h is l ife ; he was strongly opposedto the antagonism of classes

,and h is econom ic ideas

were vague . Marx,on the other hand , was in en tire

sympathy with the most advanced labour m ovem enthad indeed already done m uch to mould and d irect i t ;to him

,therefore

,the duty of draw ing up a cons titu

t ion was transferred . The inaugural address and thestatutes drawn up by him were unan im ously adop tedby the comm it tee .


In the inaugural address 1 three points were particularly emphasised . First

,Marx contended that

,not

withstanding the’

enormous development of industry

and of nat ional weal th since 1 848,the misery of the

masses had not dim inished . Secondly, the successfulstruggle for the ten - hours work ing - day meant thebreak - down of the political economy of the middleclasses

,the competit ive operation of supply and dem and

requiring to be regulated by social control . Thirdly,

the productive association of a few dari ng hands hadproved that industry on a great scale

,and with all the

appliances of modern science, could be carried on without the existence of capitalist masters ; and that wagelabour

,like slave- labour

,was only a transitory form

,

destined to disappear before associated labour,which

gives to the workman a d iligent hand , a cheerful spirit,and a joyful heart .The num bers of the workmen gave them the means

of success,but it could be realised only through union .

It was the task of the International to bring about suchan effective un ion , and for th is end the workm en musttake international pol itics into their own hands

,mus t

watch the diplomacy of their Governm ents,and uphold

the s im ple rules of moral i ty in the relations of privatepersons and nations . ‘ The struggle for such a policy

form s part of the struggl e for the emancipation of thework ing class ; proletarians of all lands , unite !

’

The pream ble to the statutes contains impl ic itly the

1 For the official documents connected with the International, see

R . Meyer’s Emancip ationskampf des v ier ten Stand es, vol . i . 2nd ed .



follow the same aim - v iz . the protection , the progressand the complete emanc ipation of the working class . Itwould be a mistake to regard its organisation as one ofexcessive centralisation and dictatorial authority. I t

was to be a means of union , a centre of information

and initiative,in the interests of labour ; but the exist

ing societies which should join it were to retain theirorganisation intact .A General Council

,having its seat in London

,was

appointed . While the president, treasurer, and generalsecretary were to be Engl ishmen

,each nation was to be

represented in the Council by a corresponding secretary .

The General Council was to summon annual congressesand exercise an effect ive control over the affairs of theAssociation

,but local societies were to have free play in

all local questions . As a further means of union,it was

recommended that the workm en of the various countriesshould be un ited in nat ional bodies

,represented by

national central organs,but no independent local

society was to be excluded from direct correspondencewith the General Council . It w ill be seen that thearrangem ents of the Association were so made as tosecure the efficiency of the central d irect ing power onthe one hand

,and on the other to allow local and

national associations a real freedom and abundant scopefor adapt ing them selves to the pecul iar tasks im posedon them by their local and national position .

As in founding,so in m ting the In ternational ,

Marx took the leading part. The proceed ings of thevarious congresses m ight be described as a d iscussion

,


elucidation , and fi ll ing up of the programm e sketchedby hi m in the inaugural address and in the sta tutes ofthe Associat ion . Men represen ting the schools ofProudhon (who died in ofB lanqui, and of Bakun inalso exercised considerable influence ; but the generaltendency was in accordance with the views of Marx .

It was intended that the first congress for finallyarranging the constitution of the Association shou ld beheld at Brussels in 1 865

,but the Belgian Governm en t

forbade the meet ing,and the Counci l had to conten t

itself with a conference in London . The firs t congresswas held at Geneva in Sep tem ber 1 866

,six ty delegates

being present . Here the statutes as drafted by Marxwere adopted . Among other resolutions i t decided onan agitation in favour of the gradual reduc tion of theworking day to eight hours

,and it recomm ended a m ost

com prehensive system of educat ion,intellectual and

techn ical,wh ich would raise the work ing people above

the level of the higher and m iddle classes . Socialis ticprinciples w ere set forth only in the most generalterm s . With regard to labour the Interna tion al d idno t seek to enunciate a doc trinaire system , bu t onlyto proclaim general principles . They m us t a im at free

cc - operation,and for this end the decis ive power in the

State must be transferred from cap ital ists and landlords

to the workers .

The preposal of the French delegates for the exclus ionof the intellectual proletaria t from the Assoc iation ledto an in teres ting d iscuss ion . th i s prole taria t tobe reckoned among the workers ? Am bi tious talkers

1 84 HISTORY OF SOCIAL I SM

and agitators belonging to this class had done muchmisch ief. On the other hand

,their exclus ion from

socialistic activity would have deprived the labourers ofthe services of most of their greatest leaders, and theintellectual proletariat suffered from the pressure of

cap ital quite as much as any other class of workers .The proposal for their exclusion was rej ected .

The second congress,held at Lausanne in 1 867, made

considerable progress in the formulating of the socialistictheories . I t was resolved that the means of transportand commun ication should become the property of theState

,in order to break the mighty monopoly of the

great companies,under wh ich the subj ection of labour

does violence to human worth and personal freedom .

The congress encouraged co—operative associations andefforts for the rais ing of wages

,but emphatically called

attention to the danger lest the spread of suchassociations should be found compatible w ith theexisting system

,thus resulting in the format ion of

a fourth class,and of an entirely m iserable fifth .

The social transform ation can be rad ically and definitely accompl ished only by work ing on the whole ofsociety in thorough accordance with reciprocity andj ustice .

In the th ird congress,held at Brussels in September

1 868,the social istic principles which had all along been

im plicitly contained in the a im s and utterances of theInternational received most expl icit statement. Ninetyeight delegates

,represen ting England

,France

,Germany

,

Belgium,Italy

,Spain , and Switzerland , assembled at



sol idarity of the workers of all lands for this strike ofthe peoples against war.

At the Congress of Basel in September 1 869, l ittleremained for the International to accomplish in furtherdefining the social istic position . The resolution for

transform ing land from private to collective propertywas repeated. A proposal to abolish the

.

right of

inheritance failed to obtain a m ajority,for whil e thirty

two delegates voted for the abol it ion,twenty- three were

against it,and seventeen declined to vote .1

If we now turn from the congresses of the Inter

national to consider the history of its influence inEurope

,we shall see that its success was very consider

able. A conference of delegates of Engl ish TradeUnions wh ich met at Sheffield in 1 866 most earnestlyenjoined the unions to j oin the International ; and itrepeatedly gave real help to the English trade unionistsby preventing the im portation of cheap labour from the

Continent . It gained a substantial success in theeffectual support of the bronze—workers at Paris duringtheir lock - out in 1 867. At the beginning of 1 868one hundred and twenty - two work ing men ’ s societiesof South Germ any

,assembled at Nuremberg

,de

clared their adhes ion to the International . In 1 870Cameron announced himself as the representative of

American workmen who had adopted itsprinciples .

It soon spread as far east as Poland and Hungaryi t had a ffiliated societies

,with journals devoted to its

1 Oscar Testu,L

’

l uternatiouale, p . 1 53.

THE INTERNATIONAL 1 8?

cause,in every country of Western Europe . The lead

ing organs of the European press becam e m ore thanin terested in its movements ; the Tim es publ ished fourleaders on the Brussels Congress . I t was supposed tobe concerned in all the revolut ionary movem en ts andagitat ions of Europe

,thus gain ing a world -historic

notoriety as the rally ing-point of social overthrow andruin . Its prestige

,however

,was always based m ore on

the vast possibilities of the cause i t represented than oni ts actual power. Its organ isat ion was loose

,i ts finan

cial resources ins ignificant ; the Continental un ion istsj oined i t more in the hepe of borrow ing than of contributing support .In 1 870 the International resolved to m ee t at the old

hearth of the revolut ionary m ovem ent by holding i tsannual congress in Paris . Th is plan was renderedabortive by the Franco-German war. The war, how

ever,helped to bring the principles of the Association

more prominently before the world . During the AustroGerman struggle of 1 8 66 the International had declaredits emphatic condemnation of war ; and now the a ffi l iatedsocieties of F ance and Germany

,as well as the G eneral

Counc il at London,uttered a solemn protes t agains t a

renewal of the scourge . Som e of i ts German adherents

l ikewise incurred the wrath of the authorities by venturing to protest agains t the annexation of Alsace andLorraine .All w il l agree that i t is a. happy om en for the

future that the democracy o f labour as represen ted bythe International was so prom p t and courageous in i ts


denunciation of the ev i ls of war . It gives us ground tohope that as the influence of the democracy prevails inthe council of nations the passi on for war may decl ine .On this high theme no men have a better right to Speakthan the workers

,for they have in all ages borne the

heaviest of the burden of privat ion and suffering imposedon the world by the m i litary spirit

,and hav e had the

least share in the miserable glories wh ich victory mayobtain .

The relation of the International to the rising of the

Commune at Paris in 1 871 is often misunderstood . I t

is clear that the International,as such

,had no part either

in originating or conduct ing the Comm une ; some ofthe French m embers joined i t

,but only on their indi

vidual responsibility . Its com plicity after the event is

equally clear. After the fall of the Commune,Karl

Marx,in the name of the General Council

,wrote a long

and trenchant manifesto commend ing it as substantiallya government of the work ing class

,whose measures

tended really to advance the interests of the workingclass . The Paris of the workers

,w i th its Comm une

,

will ever be celebrated as the glorious herald of a newsociety . Its martyrs will be enshrined in the greatheart of the working class . History has already nailedits destroyers on the p illory

,from wh ich all the prayers

of their priests are im potent to del iver them .

’ 1

The Commune was undoubtedly a rising for theautonom y of Paris

,supported chiefly by the lower classes .

I t was a protest against excessive centralisation raised

1 Der B urgerlcr ieg in Frankreich.



rally led to wide-spread confus ion and uncertainty inthe French mind ; and those who undertook to d irect it ,whether in Paris or elsewhere

,had painfully to grope

their way towards the renovation of the'

country . At at ime when it could hardly be said that France had aregular governmen t

,the Commune seized the opper

tunity to make a new polit ical departure . The trueh istory of its do ings w il l

,we hope

,be written after pas

s ion and prejudice have suffi ciently subsided to adm itof it . The story of its rise and fall was only one phaseof a sad series of troubles and d isasters

,which happ ily

do not often overtake nations in so terrible a form .

From this point the decl ine and fall of the Association must be dated . The English trades un ions

,intent

on more practical concerns at home,never took a deep

interest in its proceedings ; the Germ an social ists wered isun ited among themselves

,lacking in funds

,and

hampered by the pol ice.It found its worst enem ies perhaps in its own

household . In 1 8 69, Bakun in , with a following ofanarch ists

,had joined the Internat ional

,and from the

first found themselves at variance with the majority ledby Marx . It can hardly be m ain tained that Marxfavoured a very strongly central ising authority

,yet

,as

his v iews and methods were naturallyentirely repugnantto the anarch ists

,a breach was inevitable .

The breach cam e at the Hague Congress inSeptember 1 872 . S ixty-five delegates were presen t

,

including Marx h im self,who w ith h is followers

,after

an imated discussion,expelled the anarchist party

,and

THE INTERNATIONAL 1 9 1

then removed the seat of the G eneral Counci l to NewYork . The congress concluded wi th a meeting a tAm sterdam

,of wh ich the chief feature was a remark

able speech from Marx .

‘ In the eigh teen th century,

’

he said , ‘ kings and potentates used to assem ble at theHague to d iscuss the interests of their dynasties. Atthe same place we resolved to hold the assize oflabour —a contrast wh ich w ith world-historic force didundoubtedly mark the march of t ime .

‘ He could no tdeny that there were coun tries

,like America

,England

—and,as far as he knew its inst itut ions

,Holland also

where the workmen could attain their goal by peaceful

means ; but in most European countries force must bethe lever of revolution

,and to force they mus t appeal

when the time cam e . ’ Thus it was a principle of Marx

to prefer peaceful methods where peaceful me thods arepermitted

,but resort to force mus t be made when

necessary . Force also is an econom ic power. He

concluded by ex pressing his resolve that in the future ,as in the past

,his l ife would be consecrated to the

trium ph of the social cause .The transfer of the General Counci l of the Marx

Internat ional from London to New York was thebeginning of the end . I t surv ived jus t long enoughto hold another congress at Geneva in 1 873, and thenqu ietly exp ired . The party of destruc tion , styl ingthemselves autonom is/s and led by Bakun in , had ablood ier his tory . The programm e o f th is p arty , as we

shal l see in our chapter on Anarch ism,was to overturn

all existing insti tutions,w i th the v iew to recons truc ting


them on a communal basis . Th i s it endeavoured torealise by the great communal risings in Southern Spainin 1 873, when its adherents set up their special form ofgovernment at Barcelona

,Seville

,Cadiz

,and Carta

gena—at the last - m entioned place also seizing onpart of the iron-clad fleet of Spain . The risings w eresuppressed

,no t w ithout d ifficulty

,by the national

troops . The autonom ists had a lingering ex istencet ill 1 879.

In its m ain practical aim,to serve as a common

centre for the com b ined efforts of work ing m en of all

nations towards the ir universal emancipation,the

International had only a m oderate and transitory

success . It was a great idea, for which the t im es werenot ripe . How effectually organ ise so many m illionsof working men

,of different countries

,at different

stages of social developm ent -men ignorant of eachother ’s language

,with little leisure

,w ithout funds for

travel l ing and purposes of propaganda ? I t was i nev itable that some such effort should be m ade ; for weneed not repeat tha t labour has international interests

of vital and supreme importance . And men m ight haveexpected tha t the attempt would be renewed. But on

the vast scale contemplated by the Internat ional it wasat least premature, and inasm uch as it drew theattent ion of the workmen from practical measures tofar - distant and perhaps utopian aims

,and engaged

them in revolutionary schemes for which the tim eswere not ready, even if they were otherw ise desirable,its influence was no t salutary .


_f‘


In b eginn ing these h igh endeavours , men have alwaysbeen like children groping in the dark . Yet thefailures of one generat ion have frequently shown theway to success in the next . The International at

tempted the great task of the present epoch of theworld in its most diffi cult form . We need not besurprised that its success was partial ; and we maywith confidence expect

.

that the lessons taught by itwill prove most helpful for the future.

In truth the International had only suffered a briefeclipse. The v arious socialistic societies all over theworld continued to be fully conscious of the international character of the movement in which they were

engaged . Without a formal organisat ion they repre

sented the claims and aspirations of the sam e class,

had common sympathies , and pursued like aims .

While differing greatly in m ethods of action,and even

in principle,they felt that they belonged to the same

stream of historic effort and tendency .

The internat ional movement soon began again to find

expression in congresses represent ing the different coun

tries. Such was the congress at Ghent in 1 877, wh ichwas not marked by any noteworthy feature . Greaterthan any social ist congress previously held were thosewhich assembled at Paris in 1 8 89

,the centenary of

the Revolution , on the 1 4th of July, the anniversaryof the fall of the Bastille . There were two congresses

,

one representing,as far as any difference of principle

was concerned,the more uncompromis ing Marx school

,

the other consisting of delegates who are not indisposed


to co- Operate with o ther dem ocratic parties . Bu t thecleavage of principle was by no means defin i te ; thed ifference between the two meetings originated largelyin personal m atters , especially as regards the Frenchsocialist parties

,wh ich issued the invitat ions . The

immediate occasion of disagreemen t related to themanner of proving the mandates of the members .Both congresses advocated an energetic collectivism

,

whil e both also urged more practical measures for theprotection of labour, such as Sunday rest, an eigh thours working- day

,etc . The Marx congress consisted

of 395 delegates , and the other congress of about sixhundred delegates from the various countries of thecivili sed world .

International Congresses followed at Brussels in 1 89 1,

at Ziirich in 1 893,and in London in 1 896. Beth at

Brussel s and London there was much disorder,caused

chiefly by the presence of a considerable number of

delegates with anarchist sym pathies,and proving too

clearly that the International of Workers was like theConcert of Europe

,not yet ready to march.

After being alarmed by an International of Workers ,the world was agreeably startled by the proj ec t foran In ternational of Governm en ts . In 1 889 the SwissGovernm ent brought forward a proposal for an In ternational Conference on Labour of the countries mosiinterested in industrial competi tion . The questionassum ed a new aspect when

,early in 1 890, the young

Germ an Emperor issued rescripts,one of wh ich

contained the sam e proposal . Naturally,the mat ters


presented for discussion by the Emperor covered only asmall part of the ground occup ied by the Internationalof Workers . The protection of adult labour, except inmines

,was excluded from the business of the conference.

Sunday labour,the protect ion of women

,chil dren

,and

young persons,were the chi ef questions laid before the

meeting. There can be no doubt that the conferencegave a much-needed and a beneficial stimulus to legislation for the protection of labour in civil ised countries

,

though it by no means reali sed the sanguine expectat ions that many formed regarding it.The main result of the conference has been the

recognition by the Governments of the fact that thereare labour questions of vast importance

,and that these

questions have international aspects which can no longerbe ignored . Let us hope that it may be the beginningof better things . In the course of human improvementwe may hope that the question of the needs and rightsof labour will ever take a large place beside the concernsof war and diplomacy

,and that it will eventually

supersede them . The workers have a grow ing influenceat the elections in civ ilised countries . I t is their dutyto press their just claims on the Governments , and so

to bring about that desirable consummation .



Hegel , and the m ighty struggles of the War of Liberation in 1 8 1 3, d id much to restore the national consciousness of

‘

Germany . But the disunion continued,

and in her industrial organisation she was far beh indEngland and France . Feudalism surv ived

,especially

in the regions east of the Elbe,far in to thenineteenth

century . The power - loom was not introduced,even

into the more progressive Rhin e country,t il l the middle

of the nineteenth century.

The results of the War of Liberation were,for the

German people,most disappointing . After throwing

off the French yoke,citizen and peasant alike found

that the enthusiasm and devotion w ith which they hadspent blood and treasure had been in vain . The

Germ an princes took to themselves all the fruits ofvictory

,and the old abuses continued to flourish under

the old regime. The only considerable reform s werethose which had been established in the Rhin e countryby the hereditary enemy

,the French

,and which the

German reaction did not venture to abolish .

In these circumstances we need not wonder that aprofound and brooding d iscontent began to occupy thebest Germ an minds . A Fatherland which was d isun ited _at home and weak abroad , princely despot ismswhich fostered serv ility and raised a barrier to progress,backward methods and in st i tutions which were all themore galling when contrasted w ith the pre-eminencewhich Germany had attained in l iterature and philosophy—how could any patriot be satisfied with such awretched condit ion of affairs ? Thus it happened that

THE GERMAN SOC IAL DEMOCRACY 1 99

G ermany took a lead ing part in the revolu tionarytroubles of 1 848 . Both at Vienna and Berlin the oldregime was for a time overturned ; and a nationalParliamen t m et at Frankfort. Bu t the German re

form ers were not un ited ; they had no clear aims ; andthere was l ittle or no material strength beh ind them .

The reaction had been taken by surprise. But itw ielded the organised military power

,and so was able

to ac t wh ilst the Liberals talked and proposed . Before

the troubled year had come to a close the reaction wastrium phant both in Vienna and Berlin .

Then a time of darkness which could be felt, andwhich apparently was as hopeless as ever, followed inGerm any. Parliaments were dispersed . Many who

had shared in the struggle were put to death orim prisoned . In 1 849 Switzerland counted within herborders as many as German refugees

,most of

whom eventually found a home in America . I t

appeared as if only one fai lure the more had beenmade in the toilsome march of human progress.But i t was not an entire fa i lure . The revolut ionary

d isturbances had at least proved tha t m any of the oldinsti tutions were untenable

,and must in whole or in

part be rem oved . It was found necessary to make some

concession s to Liberal ism . Much of the old feudal ismwas se t aside .

Above all , both in the m iddle and work ing classthere had arisen a new sp iri t which only awaited theopport un i ty that was sure to com e . The opportunityarrived a few years afterwards

,when the forces wh ich


have m ade the Germany of to-day came into action .

In the new circumstances i t was an interesting questionhow far the bourgeoisie and the work ing class couldmarch together .

‘

It is a stand ing charge broughtaga inst German Liberalism by the Social Democrats,that it has never led the progressive forces against thereaction with any degree of courage or resolution .

They maintain that in the revolutionary struggles of1 848 the German Liberals never trusted the workingclass

,that when the choice came to be made between

the reaction and a strenuous democrat ic policy supportedby the proletariat

,they preferred to transact with the

reaction,and so committed tw fi w

Qf progress . On th is question largely turns the hi storyof recent German politics . I t is a wide and complicated question which can be rightly answered onlyby due consideration of the facts

i

of the historicalsituation .

The m iddle class had triumphed _both in France andEngland . But the industrial revolution which naturally brings with it the rule of the middle class

,was in

Germany much later than in France and England . In

1 848 the German m iddle class was stil l in its infancy,

and had neither the insight nor the material means tolead the democracy against the reaction with anyprospect of success ; nor was i t reasonable to expectthat it should .

Further, i t may be maintained that the Germ anworking class

,following the example of their French

brethren , has been too ready to en ter on revolutionary



and they turned to Lassalle,with the result which we

have already briefly narrated . As tim e went on thegulf between Liberals and Democrats widened

,and the

democratic working men became Social Dem ocrats . Itwas a breach which may fairly be regarded as extremelyhurtful to the sound pol itical development of Germany.

On one hand i t has led to the result that the Germanmiddle class has never w ith resolution and comprehen

siveness of purpose led the democracy along the pathon which a really free Germ an State m ight have beenestablished . Partly from cho ice

,partly from the

necessities of its posi t ion,the German middle class has

followed the policy of mak ing for itself the best termsi t could w ith the reaction ; and the socialists say thatthis meant the sacrifice of democratic ideals to thematerial interests of the m iddle class. The treason of

the bourgeoisie,’ the abdication by the bourgeoisie of i ts

historic place at the head of the democratic movem entthese phrases sum up the worst accusations broughtby the Social Dem ocrats against the German midd leclass .

On the other hand , the working men , finding themselves neglected or repudiated by those who

,according

to the natural laws of historical development,should

for a time at least have been their leaders,gave ear

,i t

may be prematurely, to m en of revolutionary views andan tecedents l ike Lassalle and Karl Marx ; and in thismanner was form ed a r y which in

many ways has not had relation to

the main stream of German life . It is in fact the re

THE GERMAN SOC IAL DEMO CRACY 203

action which has profited by the div is ion be tween thebourgeoisie and the working class .

We shal l now return to the hi story of the Universal“ forking Men ’s Association wh ich

,as we have seen

,was

founded by Lassalle in At the dea th of thefounder in 1 864 the membership of the Associationamounted to 4 6 1 0, a small num ber, but we mustrecollect that it had existed for only about fifteen

months .

Lassalle,in his w ill

,had recommended as hi s successor

Bernhard Beeker,a man totally unqualified for such a

diffi cult post. At the founding of the Association ithad been though t good that the president shouldexercise a species of d ictatorsh ip . Thi s arrangementmigh t be suitable so long as the office was fi lled by a

Lassalle. It was not easy to get a competent man ofany kind . In such a novel organisation we need notsay that there were hardly any members of abil ity andexperience . Lassall e ’s choice was therefore extremelylim ited . The most capable of his adherents undoubtedlywas V on Schwe itzer

,a young man who belonged to a

patrician house of Frankfort.

on the Main,bu t his

reputation was so far from stainless that the Germanworkmen for some t ime refused to have any th ing to dowith h im . Becker was elected

,and conduc ted the affa irs

of the Associat ion w i th more energy than w isdom ,

The best authority for the facts c onnec ted with the develo pmento f the G erman Social Dem oc racy is Franz Meh ring

'

s Grsc/u'

clctc dcr

Deutschen Sozial -dcm o/cratic.


while the Countess Hatzfeldt,as the intimate friend of

Lassalle,used her wealth and social position to control

its fortunes in a way little calculated to satisfy theself-respecting German working men . It was a time

of confusion and uncertainty in the Associat ion ; ofsuspicion

,j ealousy

,and contention among its leading

members . There would be no profit, however, innarrating the squabbles which disturbed the progressof the Association in its helpless infancy.

Indeed,if we consider the matter with some measure

of sympathy and impartial ity,it would hardly have

been natural had i t been otherwise . Let us try to

real ise from what low estate the German workingmen were now endeavouring to rise . We must re

member that the German workman had no share orexperience in government

,either local or national : The

right of combination,of free speech in a free meeting

,

and even of free movement,had been denied him for

generations . He could hardly turn to the right handor the left

i

w ithout com ing into coll ision with the policeand the courts of law . He had no leaders whom he

could trust . Tu ew w wan exag era e s here of social and

political action every th ing to learn . Under conditionswhich were most try ing and uncerta in they had toshape out a policy which suited their interests andideals ; they had to learn

’

to know each other and towork in un ion , and they had to find trustworthy andcapable leaders.Nameless misery and degradation prevailed in too



its list of contributors the names of MWBut even here the evil fortune of the Association clungto it. In a series of articles on Bismarck, Schweitzerhad given expression to Views regarding that statesmanwh ich were h ighly d ispleasing to the two revolutionistsin England

,and they publicly renounced all connection

with the paper. Following Lassalle, Schwe itzer hadshown hi s readi ness to j oin hands with the Conserva

tives of Prussia when circumstances made it advisablein the interests of the Social Democracy . Such a policy

met with no favour in the eyes of Marx and Engels .

They demanded from Schweitzer the same energeticopposition to the feudal and reactionary party as heshowed to the Progressists . Schweitzer claimed theright to shape his tactics in accordance w ith the situat ion of affairs in Prussia

,wh ich he knew better than

men l iving in exile . A socialist who could take alucid and comprehensive view of the theories whi ch . he

professed,a man of the world of real insight and tact

,

Schweitzer,by his articles in the Sozialdemokrat, ren

dered effectual service to the Association and to . thesocial ist cause in Germany at a most critical t im e intheir history .

During those years the pol i tical condition of

Germany was most uncertain and chaotic,and the

Association had to grope its way through the darknessas best it could . It was a new party con

~

posed of

members who had no experience of common action,

and who had with much labour and perplexity to workout a set of common conv ictions . Under the circum

THE GERMAN SOC IAL DEMOCRACY 207

stances a clear line of policy was impossible . The firs tmighty step out of th is pol i tical chaos was made in1 866, when Bismarck , after defeating Austria , established the North German Confederat ion . The elec tionsto the North German Diet

,which was now established

,

were based on universal suffrage. The first NorthGerman Diet met in 1 867, and in the sam e yearSchweitz er was elected presiden t of the Associat ionfounded by Lassall e . How were the Social Democratsof Ger many to relate themselves to the new order of

things ? Before answering this question we must saysomething of important movements which were pro

ceeding on the Social Democratic side .The adherents of the Un iversal Working Men ’s

Association were drawn chiefly from Prussia andNorth Germany . In Saxony and South Germanythere had meanwhile grown up a new working men ’

s

party,from which Schweitzer encoun tered the most

strenuous opposition . Under the influence of the newl ife which prevailed in Germany in the years following

1 860,many workmen ’s un ions were es tabl ished . As it

was dangerous to make too open a profession of apoli tical obj ect these un ions adop ted the name of workmen’ s educative associations

Some of these working men ’s associations had a ttachedthemselves to Lassalle

,but from the fi rs t m any had

held aloof from him . Many of these associations hadbeen founded and promoted under l iberal dem ocra ticinfluences

,and their aim may generally be described as

pol it ical and educational rather than econom ical ; but

208 H ISTORY OF SOCIAL I SM

i t would be more accurate still to describe them ashaving no clear aims

,and as on the look - out for a

policy rather than“ possessing one . It is certain thatas Saxons and South Germans they were to a largedegree insp ired by the hatred to the growing ascendencyof Prussia which prevai led around them .

Shortly after the founding of the Lassall e Association a Union of the working men ’ s associat ions whi chcontinued loyal to the Progressist party was foundedat Frankfort in 1 863

,and was intended to form a

bulwark against the influence of Lassalle . But this

Union of associations speedily began to move in thedirection of democracy and through democracy tosociali sm . Two men were chiefly responsible for thisresult

,Wilhelm Liebknecht and Ag gusLB ehel .

Liebknecht had taken an active part in th e revolutionary disturbances in Germany in 1 848 , had been amember of the group of ex iles that gathered roundKarl Marx in London

,and from him had imbibed the

principles of internat ional revolutionary socialism . He

had joined the Universal Association of Lassalle,but

he never enjoyed the entire confidence of h is chief.Liebknecht counted Luther among his ancestors , andwas descended from the learn ed middle class ofGermany . His friend

,August Bebel

,was a working

man,who, bei ng left an orphan at an early

been educated at charity schools . Brought __1_1p _to . the

handicraft of turner,Bebel cont inued with the most

laudable diligence and thoroughness to educate h im self.By his acqu irements

,hi s natural talen t and h is force of


H I STORY OF SOC IAL I SM

roadway by which the workmen marched into theenemy ’s camp .

Thus two so cialist parties were established inGermany, the Lassalle Association

,wh ich had its

membership chiefly in Pruss ia,and the Eisenach Party

,

which found support in Saxony and South Germany .

Both part ies were repr esented in the North GermanD iet

,in wh ich at one time as many as s ix social ists sat .

They now had a tribune from wh ich to address theGerman people

,but i t cannot be sa id that they were

particularly grateful to B ismarck for the opportun itywh ich he had given them . To m en of the revolutionary

party of 1 848,whose ideal had been the unification of

iGermany under the free in i tiat ive of the people, th ework of B ismarck could not appear a very delightfulconsummation

,even though it was accompanied w ith

the gift of un iversal suffrage . Schwei tzer regarded theNorth German Confederation as a very unpleasant andvery unwelcome

,but yet irrevocable fact

,with which

the Social Dem ocracy would need to find a way ofgetting on

,on whose basis they would have to establ ish

themselves as the extrem e oppos it ion if they w ished tocontinue a political party .

Liebknecht,on the other hand

,looked upon the

North German Confederation as a reactionary work ofviolence and injustice that must be overthrown . In

order not to strengthen it he repud iated all practicalparticipation in the legislative measures of the D iet .The parliam entary tribune was only a platform fromwh ich he could hurl h is protest aga inst the new arrange

TH E GERMAN SOC IAL DEMOCRACY 2 1 1

men t of th ings among the masses of the German people .

In his opin ion the creat ion of B ismarck m ean t thedivision

,weakening, and servi tude of Germ any

,and

history would march over its ru ins .During the Franco -German War of 1 870-71 the

flood of patriotic enthusiasm for a tim e almggsu nb

m er i A t the commencem en tof hostil ities Liebknech t and Bebel refrained from votingon the question of a war loan ; they disapproved al ikeof the policy of Prussia and of Bonaparte . The othersocialist deputi es

,including Schwe itzer

,voted for it

,as

the victory of Napoleon would mean the overthrow ofthe social ist workmen in France

,the supremacy of the

Bonapartist soldiery in Europe,and the complete dis

integration of Germany. But after the fall of theFrench Empire al l of them voted against a further loanand recommended the speediest conclusion of peacewith the Republic, without annexation of French territory . Such vi ews did not mee t with much acceptancein Germ any

,either from Governmen t or people . Several

of the social ist leaders were thrown in to prison . Atthe firs t election to the German Re ichstag in 1 87 1 thesocialists counted only votes

,and returned two

members .

Soon afterwards Schwe i tzer announced h is inten tionof retiring from the leadersh ip of the Un iversal Working Men’ s Association . He had been defeated at thegeneral election . H i s posi tion at the head of theAssoc iation

,which

,as we have seen

,was a species of

d ictatorship,was no longer tenable . H i s trials and

2 1 2 H ISTORY OF SOCIAL I SM

struggles with the Prussian pol ice and courts of j ustice,

the troubles he experienced in the m idst of h is ownparty

,the persecution and calum ny wh ich he endured

from the opposing Eisenach party,the sacrifice of t ime

and money,of health and qui et

,whi ch were inseparable

from such a post , had made it a very uneasy one . He

had conducted the affairs of the Associat ion w ith a tact,

insight,and appreciation of the situation to which his

successors in the leadership of the German social istshave apparently never been able to attain . He died inSwitzerland in 1 875 .

About the same time , in the spring of 1 871 , camethe tidings of the great rising of the work ing class inthe Commune at Paris . Mass meetings of German

workmen were held in Berlin,Hamburg

,Hanover

,

Dresden,Leipzie, and other large towns, to express their

sympathy with their French brethren in the strugglewh ich they were waging . In the Reichstag Bebel made

ch wh ich contained the follow ing passage Be

ed that the entire European proletariat, and allhave a feeling for freedom and independence inheart

,have their eyes fixed on Paris . And if

is for the present crushed,I remind you that the

struggle in Paris i s only a

’

s

’

rfi'

al l affair of outposts,that

the main conflict in Europe is still before us,and that

ere many decades pass away the battle - cry of theParisian proletariat

,war to the palace

,peace to the

cottage,death to want and idleness

,will be the battle

cry of the entire European proletariat . ’ 1

1 See Mehring , Geschz'

ckte.


Ni

2 1 4 H ISTORY OF SOC IAL I SM

easy,and the fusion of the Eisenach and Lassalle parties

was e ffected in a congress at Go tha in 1 875 . At thiscongress regular m em bers were represen ted , of

whom 9000 belonged to the Marx party and to

that of Lassalle. The un ited body assum ed the nam eof the Socialistic Work ing Men

’ s Party of Germ any,

and drew up a programme,which

,as the m ost im

portant that t il l that time had been published by anysocialist ic organi sation

,deserves to be given entire . 1

The union of the two parties thus accomplished was

the start ing-point of a new career of prosperity for theGerman Social Democracy. At the election of 1 877 thenew party polled nearly half a mill ion votes, and re

turned twelve members to the Reichstag. This result

was largely due to the adm irable organ isation to whichthe soc ial istic propaganda had now attained. A staff ofsk ilful

,in tel ligent, and energetic agitators advocated

the new creed in every town of Germany,and they

were supported by an effective machinery of newspapers

,pamphlets

,treatises

,social gatherings

,and even

almanacs,in which the doctrines of socialism were sug

gested,inculcated

,and enforced in every available way .

At all the great centres of population—in Berlin,Ham

burg,and in the industrial towns of Saxony and on the

Rh ine—the Soc ial Democrats threatened to become thestrongest party .

Such a rate of progress, and the aggress ive attitudeof the spokesm en of the party

,naturally awakened the

apprehensions of the Germ an rulers . They resolved to

1 See Appendix .

THE G ERMAN SOC IAL DEMOCRACY 2 1 5

mee t i t by special legislat ion . The Soc ial Democra tprogramm e contained noth ing that was absolutely ia

consisten t wi th the idea of a peaceful developmen t ou tof the exist ing state . As we have seen

,it i s a principle

of the Marx socialism that its realisa tion depends 0 1 1

the inheren t tendencies of social evolu tion ; bu t theprocess can be hastened by the intelligen t and energeticco -operation of l iv ing men

,and as this co-operation may

take the shape of revolutionary force,and was actually

in Germ any assuming a most aggressive and menacingattitude

,both on the platform and in the press

,i t was

inevitable that the German Governm ent should adoptmeasures to repress it .

The occasion of the anti- socialist legislation was foundin the attempts of Hodel and Nobiling on the Emperor

’

s

life in 1 878 . It is need less to say that ne i ther attemp twas authorised by the Social Democra tic party . The

two men had no official connection w i th the par ty .

Both were weak in character and intellect . The ir feeblebrains had been excited by the socialis t ic doc trineswhich were ferm enting around them . No further respons ib il ity for their acts attaches to the Social Democratic party

,whose principles and interests were on

t irely opposed to such attempts a t assass inat ion .

The B il l introduced after the attempt of Mode l was

rej ected by the Reichstag . 0 11 the a ttempt of Nobiling

the Government dissolved the Reichstag and appealed

to the country,w i th the resul t that a large m ajori ty

favourableto excep tional legislation was retu rned . At

the general election the social is t vo te decl ined from


to M ari ta—SWs eedily carried by the new Reichstag.

m m discussions whichtook place in connection with the exceptional legislation was the attitude of B ism arck . Now when thegreat statesman is no more it is specially necessary tostate that he approached the subj ect of social ismwithan open-m indedness which does him honour. He feltit his duty

,to make himself acquainted with all the

facts relating to his office,and took particular pains to

understand the new social and econom ic problems whichwere engaging the attention of the country .

In a sitting of the Reichstag on Septem ber 1 7, 1 878 ,he did not hesitate to express h is sympathy and evenrespect for Lassalle . He expla ined how he had m et

Lassalle three or four t imes at the request of the latter,

and had not regretted it. Referring to baseless rumoursthat had been circulated to the effect that he had beenwil ling to enter into negotiation with the agitator

,he

stated that their relations could not have taken theform of a pol it ical transaction

,for Lassalle had nothing

to offer him,and there could be no bargain when one of

the parties had nothing to give . ‘ But Lassalle hadsom eth ing

,

’ B ismarck went on to say,

‘ that attracted

m e exceed ingly as a private man . He was one of the

cleverest and most am iable men w ith whom I ever met ;a man who was amb it ious in great style

,and by no

means a republican ; he had a very strongly markednational and monarchical feel ing

,the idea wh ich he

strove to real ise was the German Empire,and therein



against wh ich the State and society must arm themselves .

As we have seen,i t was Bebel who had used , the

object ionable language in the Reichstag ; but Liebknechthad never been backward in the frank and uncompro

m ising expression of views of a s im ilar nature . Suchview s were not

,the passing feeling of the hour ; they

were the statem en t of firm and settled conviction,and

may fairly be taken as representative of the bel iefs andconvictions of the German Social Democracy in general .The Social Democrats were hosti le to the ex isting orderin Germany, and they did not hesitate to say so . In

these c ircumstances it is hardly necessary to say tha ta collis ion w ith a Government l ike that d irected byBismarck was inevitable .

Bism arck h imself was a Prussian Junker who hadbecome a great European statesm an , but in many wayshe remained a Junker to the end of his lif e . Withrare sagacity and s trength of will he had shaped thereal forces of h is t ime towards the great end of unitingthe Fatherland and restoring it to its fitting placeamong the nations of Europe . To use his own words

,

he had lifted Germany into the saddle, and his task

afterwards was to keep her there . The methods,how

ever,by which he had accompl ished the first part of h is

task,w ere scarcely so suitable for the accomplishment

of the second .

In the now un ited Germany he found two enem ieswh ich appeared to m enace the new structure wh ich hehad so laboriously reared

,the Black International

,or

THE GERMAN SOC IAL DEMOCRACY 2 1 9

the Ul tramontane party , and the l ied In ternational , orthe Social Democrats . These enem ies he tried to suppress by the h igh -handed methods wh ich had beenfam iliar to him from his you th . He was about fifty-sixyears of age when the German Em pire was establ ished .

I t was too much to expect of hum an nature that heshould at so la te a time of l ife break away from hisantecedents as Prussian Junker and statesman

,and

adop t the me thods wh ich would make Germ any a free

as wel l as a united State .Yet it i s only right to say that he wen t a consider

able d istance on this desirable path . Bo th as realiststatesman and as patriot he wished to have the Germ anpeople on his side . When he attempted to suppress the

Social Dem ocracy by methods wh ich are no t worthy ofa free and enlightened nation

,he d id so in al l serious

ness,as a German patriot. He was a man work ing

under the human limitations of his birth,anteceden ts

,

and pos ition . On the other hand,the Social Dem ocrats

had endured oppression for many generations from theclasses wh ich Bismarck represented . They had now

risen in anger ou t of the lower depths of socie ty as anorgan ised party

,demanding tha t the hered itary oppres

s ion should cease . Considered in th is aspec t the an tisocialis t legislation of B ismarck was only a new phase

in a secular process . Tim e has no t yet fully revealedthe m eans -by which a process of this k ind can bebrough t to a close .The ant i - social is t law s cam e in to fo rce in O ctober

1 878 . Social is t newspapers and m ee tings were a t once


suppressed,and the organisation of the party was

broken‘

up . Generally,it may be said that during the

operat ion of the laws the only place in Germany inwhich the right of free speech could be exercised bythe social ists was the tribune of the Reichstag

,and the

only organisation perm itted to them was that formedby the representatives of the party in the Re ichstag.

As t ime went on the minor state of siege was established in Berl in

,Hamburg

,Leipz ig

,and other towns

,and

the police did not hes itate to exercise the power therebyput into their hands of expelling Social Democraticagitators and others who might be obj ect ionable to them .

For som e t ime confus ion,and to some extent dismay

,

prevailed among the Social Democrats . But ere longthey found that their union and their power did notdepend on any formal organisation . As Marx hadtaught

,the organ isation of the factory necessarily brings

w ith it the organisation of the proletariat . A welldrilled working class is a natural and inevi table resul tof m odern industrial evolution

,which no fiat of the law

can d isturb,if the workmen have the intelligence to

understand their pos it ion and m ission . Thus theGerman workman realised that the un ion in wh ich betrusted was beyond the reach of repress ive laws

,how

ever cunn ingly dev ised and however brutally exercised .

The wan t of an organ , however, was greatly felt,and accord ingly, in September 1 879, the Socialolemo

erat, I nternationa l Organ of the Socialdem oeraey of

German Tongue, was founded at Zurich . From 1 880

it was -Edfi ard -Bernstein with ’ féal ’ abil‘ity



against B ismarck w i th a vo t ing power three times as

great as it had been when the ant i - socialist law s werepassed . The s truggle had proved the ex traord inaryv i tality of the movement. The Social Democrats hadshown a patience

,resolution

,discipl ine

,and

,in the

absence of any formal organ isation,a real and effective

organ isation of mind and purpose which are unex

ampled in the annals of the labour movement since

the beginning of human society . They had made asteady and unfl inching resistance to the most powerfulstatesm an s ince the first Napoleon

,who w ielded all

the resources of a great m odern State,and who was

supported by a press that used every available meansto discredit the movement ; and , as a party, they hadnever been provoked to acts of violence. In fact

,they

had given proof of all the high qual ities wh ich fi t men

and parties to play a great rote in history. The Social

Dem ocrat ic movement in Germ any is one of the mostnotable phenomena of our t ime.After the anti - social legislat ion had ceased the

Social Democratic party found that its first task wasto set its house in order. At a party meeting at Hallein 1 890 an organ isation of the s im plest kind was

adopted. The annual meeting form s the highes t representative body of the party. The party direction wasto consist of two chairmen

,two secretaries

,one trea

surer,and also of two assessors chosen by a Board

of Control of seven m embers . The Sozialdemokrat,which

,as we have seen

,had for some tim e been

publ ished in London,was d iscontinued

,and the


Vorwa‘

rts of Berl in was appointed the cen tral organ ofthe party .

In 1 89 1 , at the party m eeting at Erfurt , a new pro

gramm e , superseding that of Gotha , was adopted ; andas i t may fa irly be regarded as the most developedexpression of the Social Democratic principles yetput forth by any body of work ing men , we givei t here entire for the perusal and study of ourreaders . l

‘ The economic development of the bourgeois socie tyleads by a necessity of nature to the downfall of thesm all production

,the basi s of which i s the private

property of the workman in his means of production .

I t separates the workman from his means of product ion,

and transforms him into a proletarian w ithout property,

whilst the means of production becom e the monopolyof a comparatively sm all number of cap ital ists andgrea t landowners.

‘ Th is monopol ising of the means of production isaccompan ied by the supplanting of the scattered sm al lproduction through the colossal great production , bythe developm ent of the tool into the mach ine

,and

by gigantic increase of the produc t ivi ty of humanlabour. iut al l advantages of th is transforma tion arem onopol ised by the cap i tal ists and great landowners .For the proletariat and the sinking in termed ia te grades—small tradesmen and peasant proprie tors—it m eansinc reas ing insecuri ty of their ex istence

,increase of

1 O ur tr. o f the p rog ramm e is tak en from the I ’i 'o loko ll o r sho rthandrepo rt o f the party m ee t ing a t S tuttgart , 1 898 , to wh ich it is prefixed .


m isery,of oppress ion

,of serv itude

,degradat ion

,and

exploitation .

Ever greater grows the number of the proletarians,

ever larger the army of superfluous workmen,ever

wider t he chasm between exploiters and exploited ;ever bitterer the class struggle between bourgeoisie

and proletariat,which d iv ides modern society into two

host ile camps,and is the common characterist ic of all

industrial lands .‘ The gulf between rich and poor is further widened

through the crises wh ich naturally arise out of thecap italistic method of production

,which always become

more sweeping and destructive,wh ich render the

general insecurity the normal cond ition of society,and

prove that the product ive forces have outgrown theexisting society

,that private property in the means of

production is incompat ible w ith the ir rational appl icat ion and ful l development .

‘ Private property in the instruments of product ion,

whi ch in former times was the m eans of assuring tothe producer the property in his own product

,has now

become the means of expropriating peasant proprietors,

hand-workers,and small dealers , and of placing the

non-workers,cap italists

,and great landowners in the

possess ion of the product of the workm en . Only the

conversion of the capitalist ic private property in them eans of production—land , m ines, raw m aterial

,tools

,

m achines,means of communication m into social pro

perty,and the transformation of the production of wares

into socialistic produc tion,carried on for and through



d it ion of the workmen of every single land alwaysgrows more dependent on the cond ition of the workm enin other lands . The emancipation of the working class

is therefore a task in which the workers of all civ ilisedcountries are equally interested. Recognising this theSocial Democratic party of Germany feels and declaresitself at one w ith the class- conscious workers of all

other countries .

The Social Democrat ic party of Germany thereforecontends

,not for new class privil eges and exclusive

rights,but for the abol ition of class rule and of classes

themselves,and for equal rights and equal duties of all

without dist inction of sex and descent. Proceedingfrom these views it struggles in the presen t society

,

not only against exploitation and oppression of thewage - workers

,but against every kind of exploitation

and oppression,whether directed against class

,party

,

sex,or race.

Proceeding from these principles the Social Democrat ic party of Germ any now demands

1 . Universal , equal , and d irect suffrage , with vote byballot

,for all men and women of the Empir e over

twenty years of age . Proport ional electoral system ;and

,till the introduction of this

,legal redistribu

tion of seats after every census . Biennial legis

lative periods . Elections to take place on a legal

day of rest . Payment of representatives . Abol ition of all l imitation of pol itical rights

,except in

the case of d isfranchisement .

2 .D irect legislation through the people, by means of

‘ 3.

‘ 8 .


the righ t of proposal and rej ection . Self-governmen t of the people in Em p ire

,State

,Prov ince

,

and Comm une . O fficials to be elec ted by thepeople ; respons ibil i ty of officials . Yearly grantingof taxes .Training in un iversal military du ty . A people ’sarmy in place of the stand ing armies . Dec isionon peace and war by the representatives of thepeople . Settlem ent of all international d i fferencesby arbi tration .

Aboli tion of all laws wh ich restrict or suppress thefree expressmn of op in ion and the right of un ionand mee ting.

Abol i t ion of all laws wh ich,in publ ic or priva te

m atters,place women at a d isadvantage as com

pared with men .

Religion declared to be a pri vate m atter. N0 publicfunds to be appl ied to eccles iastical and rel igious

purposes . Ecclesiastical and rel igious bod ies areto be regarded as private associations wh ich m anagetheir own affairs in a perfectly independen t m anner .

Secularisation of the school . Obligatorv attendancea t the public people ’s schools . Education , theappl iances of learn ing

,and m aintenance free in

the publ ic people ’ s school s,as also in the higher

educational insti tutions for those scholars , bothm ale and fem ale

,who

,by reason of their talen ts ,

are though t to be sui ted for further instruc tion .

Adm inis tration of jus tice and legal advic e to be free .Justice to be adm in iste red by judges chosen by

H ISTORY OF SOC IAL I SM

the people . Appeal in crim inal cases. Compensation for those who are innocently accused

,im

prisoned,and condemned . Abolition of capital

punishment .‘

9 . Medical treatmen t , includ ing m idw ifery and the

1 0.

means of heal ing,to be free . Free burial .

Progressive income and property taxes to .meet

all public expenditure,so far as these are to be

covered by taxat ion . Duty of making one’ s ownreturn of income and property. Succession duty tohe graduated according to amount and relationship .

Aboli t ion of all indirect taxes, customs, and otherfinancial m easures which sacrifice the collect iveinterest to the interests of a privileged minority .

For the protect ion of the working class the SocialDemocratic party of Germ any demands

1 . An effective national and international protectivelegislation for workmen on the following bases

(a) Fixing of a norm al working day of not morethan eight hours .

(b) Prohibition of money m ak ing labour ofch ildren under fourteen years .

(e) Prohibit ion of n ight work, except for thosebranches of industry which from their

nature,owing to techn ical reasons or

reasons of public w elfare,require night

work .

(d) An unbroken period of rest of at least thirtysix hours in every week for ev ery worker.

‘

(e) Proh ibition of the truck system .



than a generation . I t will be seen that the materialistic concep tion of history and the theory of surplusvalue of Marx are not expressed in the programme ,though they may be taken as underlying it by thosewho emphasise those two lead ing principles of Marx .

The Social Democracy of Germ any,therefore

,is not

committed to the special theories of Marx to the extentthat is comm only supposed

,though the general lines

on which the programme is constructed owe the ir

e lucidation greatly more to him than to any other man .

The various points of the programm e w ill,we may

be assured,be subj ects of discussion and of educat ion

for the industrious and intelligent work ing class ofGermany for many a year to come . It embodies their

thoughts and interests,their aspirat ions and ideals

,in

the social economic and polit ical sphere,but it repre

sents no fixed system of dogma . I t is meant to be aliving creed

,m irroring a l iv ing movemen t.

We have thus briefly sketched the rise . of the

German Social Democratic party from 1 863 to 1 890.

It is a short period,but full of change and trouble.

The party has come V ictoriously through a very hardschool . We have seen how low and feeble were thebeginnings of the party. We have seen also how hardat every step of its career has been its experience of

the German police . Indeed the Prussian and Germanexecutive has left no m eans untried to suppress anddestroy the movement .Looking back on the development of the party we

cannot doubt that at certain decisive stages greater


wisdom and ins ight m ight have been shown by itsleaders . The ascendency of Prussia should have beenrecogn i sed as an inevitable fact which unquestionablymade for progress in the unificat ion of Germany . In

th i s aspect a t least the work of Bism arck was profoundlyprogressive . We may safely assume that the unificationand regeneration of Germ any would never have beenaccom pl ished by a talking apparatus l ike the FrankfortParliament of 1 848 ; and we can see no other force thatcould have succeeded excep t the m il itary power ofPrussia . And we may further add that the presentpol icy of the Social Democratic par ty in refusing tovote for the budgets

,if it were seriously to weaken

the German executive,would in the ex ist ing state of

Europe be disastrou s in the last degree . That m en

like Liebknecht should hate the Junker party as thehered itary oppressors of the poor was na tural ; butthe Junkers have had and stil l have a great h istoricfunct ion as the heads of the forces pol itical and m ili tarywh ich have again m ade Germany a nation . Their wayof m ak ing the new Germany has not been the idealway,

le t us say ; but i t has been the way of fact ,and no exercise of revolutionary im pat ience of Marxor Liebknecht has been able to arrest or reverse thefac t.

Trained in the school of advers ity,the Germ an Soc ial

Democratic party has been obl iged to learn circumspec tion and to acqu ire all the v irtues o f d iscipl ine ,pa tience

,sobriety

,and sel f-con trol . Som e o f i ts m em

bers , among whom Most and I-Iasselman were prom i

232 HISTORY OF SOCIAL I SM

nent , strongly urged a policy of anarchic resistance toauthority

,but this tendency was strenuously opposed

by the vast majority . Most and Hasse lman , on refusing to submi t to the par ty disciphne, were eventuallyexpell ed . Every attemp t to encourage the theory orpract ice of anarch ism in the German Social Democraticparty has been sternl y and almost un animously suppressed by the party . I t succeeded onl y to a slightdegree in cases where i t was promoted by the ag ents ofthe German police for the ir own evil ends .

A most wholesome effect of the adverse experienceof the Social Democrat ic party was that i t s ifted fromtheir rank s all who w ere not thoroughl y in earnest in

the cause of the work ing man . It is a grave misfortuneof new movements like socialism that i t attracts fromthe m iddl e and upper classes all manner of faddists andcrotche ty enthusiasts and adventurers

,vapid and futile

talkers,acrid and morbid pessimi sts

,who join the

m ovement,not from real love of the cause

,but because

i t gives them an opportuni ty to scheme and harangue,

and to lash ou t at the v ices of the existing society.

From this dangerous class the German Social’

Dem o

ratic party was saved by the ant i-socialist legislationt a tim e when socialism was becoming fashi onable .

It is a most sign ificant feature in the developmentof the Germ an Social Democracy that it has attainedto i ts presen t advanced position w ithout the help ofany leader of commanding talen t. I t has had manyloyal chiefs . For over fifty years

,during which ex ile

,

privation,d iscouragement

,prosecution

,and im pr ison



over to the Social Democracy under the severe practicalteaching of the strike .

The cause of the German Social Dem ocracy hastherefore called forth the m ost ent ire devotion amongall ranks of its members . When Liebknecht and Bebelwere condemned to two years ’ im prisonm en t in a

fortress after the great trial at Leipz ig, in 1 872 , theywere glad

,they said

,to do their two years because of

the splendid opportunity it had given them for socialisticpropaganda in the face of Germ any . During the fortn ight the trial had lasted they had in the course oftheir defence been able to d ispel prejudices and misunderstandings

,and so to educate German op in ion in

soc ial ism .

But the l 0th of March 1 878 saw a demonstrat ionwhich of al l the events and incidents in the h istory ofthe Germ an Social Democracy may well be regarded asthe most deeply significant . It was the funeral ofAugust He insch . August Hein sch was a simple workman

,a compositor ; but he had deserved well of the

proletariat by organising its electoral v ictories in Berlin .

He had died of consumption,called by the socialists the

proletarian malady,because it is so frequently due to

the insanitary cond itions under which work is carried0 11 . In the case of August Heinsch the malady was atleast aggravated by h is self-sacrificing exertions in thecomm on cause

,and the workmen of Berl in resolved to

honour his memory by a solemn and im posing demonstration. As the body was borne to the cemeterythrough the w orking men ’ s d istricts in East Berlin

,

THE GERMAN SOC IAL DEMOCRACY 235

black flags waved from the roofs and windows , and thevast crowds of people

,reckoned by the hundred

thousand,who fi l led the streets

,bared their heads in

respectful sym pathy . Many thousands of workmen

followed the b ier in serried ranks to the last resting

place .

Of all the achievements of the German SocialDem ocracy it may be reckoned the m ost signal that i thas so organ ised the frugal

,hard -working and law

abid ing proletariat of the Fatherland,and has insp ired

them w i th the spirit of intelligent self- sacrifice in theircomm on cause . The programme and principles of theparty have received mod ification in the past

,and w il l

no doubt receive i t in the future,for the Germ an Social

Democracy i s a reali ty and a movement instinct w ithv itality . The new times will bring new needs

,wh ich

w ill requ ire new measures . They w il l bring also , wehope , a w ider and clearer vis ion and a m el lower wisdom ,

as w i thout w isdom even organ i sed power is of li ttleavail .In v iew of the loyalty and devot ion of the working

m en,i t is all the more incumbent on the leaders of the

G erman Social Democratic party tha t they should new

gu ide i t along paths which w ill be w ise,prac tical

,and

frui tful . I t has too long been their ev i l fortune orthe ir own del iberate choice to s tand apart from themain m ovem en t of G erman li fe . They have had l ittle

p art in the work of State , m un ic ipali ty , or countrycommune . The party began in oppos i t ion to the grea tco-Opera tive movem en t of G e rmany


It is most important that the theories and ideals ofthe German Social Dem ocrat ic party should be fairlytested and corrected by their appl ication to the practicalwork of soc iety. The leaders of the party agree intheir preference for legal and peaceful methods . Inthis point they and the representatives of the existingorder might find common ground which m ay form a

bas is for better relations in the future .



Dresden in 1 849. But the hands of the reactionary

Governm ents and of their police were heavy on the baffledenthusiasts of the revolution . Bakun in had a fullshare of the ir bitter experience . As he tells u s himselfin his work on Mazzin i

,he was for nearly e ight years

confined in various fortresses of Saxony,Austria

,and

Russia,and was then ex iled for life to Siberia .

Fortunately,Murav ieff

,Governor of Siberia

,was a

relative,who allowed him cons iderable freedom and

other indulgences . After four years of exile,Bakun in

effected his escape,and through the greatest hardships

made his way to Cal iforn ia,and thence to London in

1 860.

Bakun in thus passed in prison and in ex ile thedreary years of European reaction which followed therevolutionary period of 1 848 . When he returned to

London he found that the forward movement hadagain begun . It was a tim e of prom ise for hi s owncountry after the accession of Alexander II . to thethrone . In the Kolo/col he assisted Herzen to reuse

his countrymen and prepare them for a new era ; bu t theimpatient temperament of Bakun in could not be satisfiedwith the comparatively moderate counsels followed by his

friend . The latter years of his l ife he spent,ch iefly in

Switzerland,as the energetic advocate of international

anarch i sm . In 1 869 he founded the Social Dem ocratic

All iance,wh ich

,however

,dissolved in the sam e year

,

and en tered the main International . He attempted a

rising at Lyons in Septem ber 1 870, soon after the fallof the Second Emp ire

,but with no success whatever .

ANARCH ISM 239

At the Hague Congress of the Interna tional he wasoutvoted and expelled by the Marx party . H is activityin later years was much impaired by ill -health . He d iedat Berne in 1 876.

In the ir preface to Bakunin ’s work,God and theState,

h i s friends Cafiero and Elisee Reclus afford us someinteresting glim pses of the personality of the agitator.Friends and enem ies know that the m an was great byhi s think ing power

,his force of will

,and his pers isten t

energy ; they know also what lofty disdain he fel t forfortune

,rank

,glory

,and all the m iserable prizes wh ich

the majori ty of m en are base enough to covet . ARussian gentleman belonging to the highest nob ility ofthe emp ire

,he was one of the fi rst to enter in that

proud association of the revolted,who knew to detach

themselves from the traditions,the prej udices

,the

interests of race and class—to contemn their ownhappiness . Wi th them he fought the hard bat tle oflife

,aggravated by prison

,by exile

,by all the dangers

,

and all the bitterness wh ich devoted men have toundergo in their troubled ex istence . ’

They then go on to say how ‘ in Russia among thestudents

,in Germany among the insurgents of Dresden

,

in Siberia among h i s brethren in ex i le,in Am erica

,in

England , in France , in Switzerland , in I taly , amongmen of goodwi ll

,h is d irect influence has been con

s iderable . The original i ty of h is ideas,h is p ic turesq ue

and fiery eloquence,his unt iring zeal in propagand a

supported by the natural m ajes ty o f h i s appearance,

and by h is strong v ital itv ,gained an entrance fo r h im


in all the groups of revolutionary socialists,and his

activity left deep traces even among those who,after

having welcom ed i t,rej ected it because of differences

in aim or method.

’

But it was mainly by the volum inous correspondence with the revolut ionary world

,in

which he spent whole nights,that his activity was to be

explained . H is publ ished writings were the smallestpart of his work . His most important treatise

, God

and the State, was only a fragment . My life itself is

a fragment,

’ he said to those who criticised his wri tings .Noth ing can be clearer or more frank and compre

hensive in its destruct iveness than the social ism ofBakunin . I t is revolutionary socialism based on

materialism,and aim ing at the destruction of external

authority by every available means . He rejects all the

ideal systems in every name and shape,from the idea

of God downwards ; and he rejects every form ofexternal authority

,whether emanating from the will of

a Sovereign or from universal suffrage. The l iberty of

man,

’ he says in his Dieu et Z’

Etat,cons ists solely in

th is,that he obey the laws of Nature

,because he has

himself recognised them as such , and not because theyhave been imposed upon him externally by any foreignwill whatsoever

,human or divine

,collective or indiv i

dual . ’ In this way will the whole problem of freedom

be solved : that natural laws be ascertained by scientificdiscovery

,and the knowledge of them be universally

d iffused among the masses. Natural laws being thusrecognised by every man for him self

,he cannot but

obey them,for they are the laws also of his own nature ;



associations of cult ivators and industrialists . It looks

forward to the final solution of the soc ial questionthrough the universal and international solidarity of theworkers of all countries

,and condemns every policy

grounded on so-called patriotism and nat ional j ealousy.

It demands the universal federation of al l local associations through the princ iple of freedom .

Bakunin’ s methods of realising h is revolutionaryprogramme are su i ted to his principles. He would

make all haste to sweep away the political and social

inst itut ions that prevent the realisation of his plans forthe future . The spirit of destruction reaches its climaxin the Revolut ionary Catechism

,which has been

attributed to Bakunin,but which contains extreme

statem ents that do not : consist with his acknowledgedwritings . It is at leas t a product of the school ofBakunin

,and as such is worthy of attention . The

spirit of revolution could not further go than it does inthis document . The revolutioni st

,as the Catechism

would recommend him to be,is a consecrated man , who

will allow no private interests or feelings, and noscruples of religion

,patriot ism

,or morality , to turn

him aside from h is m iss ion,the aim of which is by all

ava i lable means to overturn the ex ist ing society . His

work is merc iless and universal destruction . The

future organ isat ion will doubtless proceed out of themovement and l ife of the people

,but it is the concern

of com ing generat ions . In the meantim e all thatBakun in enables us to see as promise of future reconstruction is the free federat ion of free associat ions

ANARCH I SM 2 43

associations of which we find the type in the Russiancommune.

The influence of Bakunin was fel t ch iefly on thesocial ist movement in Southern Europe . The im

portant risings in Spain in 1 873 were due to h i sactivity . In the later revolutionary movement of Italyh is influence superseded that of Mazzin i , for there , aselsewhere

,the purely political interest had yielded to

the social in the minds of the most advanced .

The doctrines of Bakunin have also left their markon the recen t social history of France and FrenchSwitzerland . About 1 879 the anarchist propagandashowed signs of activity in Lyons and the surrounding industrial centres . Some disturbances amongthe miners at Montceau-les-Mines in 1 882

,also pro

voked the attention of the police and Government,

w i th the resul t that six ty- six persons were accused of

belongi ng to an international association with anarch istprinciples . Of the accused the most notable was PrinceKropotkine

,who

,with the eminent French geographer

Elisee Reclus and the Russian Lavroff,may be regarded

as the greates t recent e x ponents of anarchism.

There is no m ore interesting figure in the recentrevolutionary history of Europe than Prince Kr0pot

k ine. Like Bakun in,he belongs by birth to the

highest aristocracy of Russia ; his fami ly , it was sometim es said among his fam iliar friends , had a better rightto the throne of that country than the present dynasty .

A man of science of European fam e , of k indly na tureand courteous manners

,i t may seem s trange tha t he


should be an avowed champ ion of the most destructivecreed now extant. A few of the lea ding facts of hisl ife

,as he gave them in his defence at the trial at Lyons

in 1 883, may throw some light on that question .

1

His father was an owner of serfs,and from his child

hood he had been witness to scenes like those narratedby the Am erican novelist in Uncle Tom

’

s Cabin. The

sight of the cruelties suffered by the oppressed classhad taught him to love them . At sixteen he enteredthe school of pages at the Imperial Court

,and if he

had learned in the cabin to love the people,he

learned at the Court to detest the great . In the armyand the administration he saw the hopelessness ofexpecting reforms from the reactionary Russian Government . For some time afterwards he had devotedhimself to scientific work. When the social movement .

began,Kr0potk ine j oined it. The demands made by

the new party for more liberty m et with a simple

response from the Government : they were thrown into

prison,where their treatment was terrible . In the

prison where the Prince was detain ed nine lost theirreason and eleven committed suicide . He fel l seriouslyill

,and was carried to the hospital

,from wh ich he made

his escape. In Switzerland,where he found refuge

,

he witnessed the sufferings of the people caused by thecrisi s in the watch m anufacture ; everywhere the likem iseries

,due to the l ike soc ial and political evils .

Was it surprising that he should seek to rem edy themby the transformation of society

1 Fraces des Anarchistes, p . 97.



As one of the accused ma i ntained , even a Govern

m ent based on universal suffrage gives them no scopefor effective action -in the del iverance of the poor, as ofthe eight m il lion electors of France only some half a

m il lion are in a pos it ion to give a free vote . In sucha state of affairs

,and in vi ew of the cont inued misery

and degradat ion of the proletariat , they proclaim thesacred righ t of insurrection as the ultima ratio ser

oorum .

Perhaps the m ost striking feature of the trial wasthe defence of Emil e Gaut ier before the Court ofAppeal . Gaut ier was described by the Publi c Prose

cutor as a serious intelligence gone astray , a li cent iatein law who had passed brilli ant exam inat ions

,a power

ful orator who m ight be cons idered as the apostle of theanarchist idea in France . He was

.

only twen ty-um e

years of age. In hi s defence Gaut ier described wi thpassionate eloquence how he

,the son of a law

officer (huissier) , had been converted to revolut ion andanarchism by the sight in court of the daily miseries ofdebtors and bankr upt-s and other vict ims of a capitalistsociety . As Voltaire is sa id to have had an attack offever at every ann iversary of the m assacre of St .Bartholom ew

,so he

,far away in Bri ttany

,was seized

w ith a fever of rage and of b i t ter ind ignat ion when thecalendar brought round the accursed dates at whichbills and rents became due .The leadi ng principles of anarchism are m arked by

great clearness and simpl ici ty,and may be summed up

as the rej ection of all external authori ty and of all

ANARCH I SM 247

private appropriation of land and capi tal . Al l humanrelations w i ll depend on the free ac tion and assent ofthe individuals concerned . Free association s w i ll beformed for industrial and other purposes

,and these

associations w il l w ith a like freedom enter in to federaland other relations with each other . The process of

social reconstruction is,in short

,the free federation

of free associations .

Considered as an historic soc ial ist movement,anarch

ism may therefore be set forth under these three heads

( 1 ) Economically it is collect ivism ; (2) i t is a theory ofrevolutionary action

,which is certainly its characteristic

feature (3) i t is a theory of the relat ion of the individualto law or governm ent .As regards the first point

,its coll ect ivism i s common

to it with the prevalent socialism,and therefore need

not detain us here . Nor need much he said in the wayof criticism of the details of the ultra - revolutionary

programme of the anarch ists . In our chapter on Marxwe have already indicated that the materialism wh ichis common to both school s cannot now be regarded

as a tenable or admiss ible theory of the world . The

materialism of both schools sprang from the Hegelianleft . It should now be considered as dead

,and should

in al l fa irness be set as ide in d iscuss ion for or againstsocial ism . Wi th regard to religion and marriage , it ishardly necessary to state that progress l ies

,no t in the

abol i tion,but in the purification and elevation of those

great factors of hum an l i fe . Bakun in ’s cri t icism ofrel igion i s s imply a tissue of confusion and m iscon


ccp tion. Marriage is a fundam ental institution , on thepurity and soundness of wh ich social health and socialprogress must above all things depend : in this matter,m ore than almost any other

,society must and should

insist on the maintenance of due safeguards and regulations . Free love is a specious and delus ive theory,which would tend to bring back social chaos . It wouldcertainly establish a new slavery of women

,whose

needs and rights would be sacrificed in the name of ahollow and disastrous freedom .

With regard to the thir d leading principle abovementioned , the negation of governm ent and externalauthority

,the anarchy of Bakunin is essentially the

sam e as that of Proudhon . But in Proudhon theprinciple was set forth in paradox

,whereas Bakunin

expounds it with perfect frankness and d irectness, and

with a revolut ionary energy which has seldom beenequalled in history . What they both contem plate is a

cond ition of human enlightenm ent and self-control inwhich the ind ividual shall be a law to himself

,and in

wh ich all external authority shall be abolished as adespot ic interference with personal freedom . It i s an

ideal to which the h ighest religion and philosophy lookforward as the goal of man

,not as one

,however

,which

can be forthwith reached through the wholesale destruction of the present framework of society

,but through a

long process of ethi cal and social improvement. Theerror of the anarchists consists in their impatientins istence on thi s proclamation of absolute freedom inthe present debased condition of the great mass of the



by evi l ins titutions and reactionary Governments yetthese

,too

,are merely the outcome of such human

nature as was once prevalent in the countries where

we now find them . They have outlived their t ime .We are certainly right to get rid of them

,as of other

evi l habits and cond itions of the past , but it is bestdone when done wisely and reasonably . And it can

not be done in any wise or effectual manner exceptthrough a wide organic change in the human beingsconcerned .

A moral and rational freedom is therefore the goalof the social development of the world

,and it is a goal

towards which we must str ive even now. But i t is agoal that l ies far ahead

.

of us . For the present,and in

the future with wh ich we have any pract ical concern,

society cannot be maintained withou t adequate laws,

sanctioned and enforced by a regular Government . Theelim ination of the baser elements from hum an characterand human society proceeds w ith most regrettableslowness . In the meantime, therefore, we must hold

them in check by the best avai lable methods . We mayimprove our laws

,our police

,and magistrates

, but we

cannot do without them .

I t is an interesting fact that socialism has taken itsm ost aggressive form in that European country whosec i v ilisation is m ost recent . The revolutionary opinionsof Russia are not the growth of the soi l

,and are not the

natural and normal outcome of its own social development : they have been im ported from abroad. Fall

ANARCH ISM 25 1

ing on youthful and enthusiastic temperam ents wh ichhad not previously been inoculated w ith the principleof innovation

,the new ideas have broken forth w ith an

irrepress ible and uncomprom is ing vigour wh ich has

astonished the older nations of Europe . Another peculiarity of the s ituation is that the Government is anau tocracy served or controlled by a camarilla which hasoften been largely fore ign both in origin and sympathy .

In this case,then

,we have a revolut ionary party in

Sp ired by the sociali sm of Western Europe fight ingagainst a Government wh ich is also in many ways anexotic

,and is not rooted in the mass of the people .

The history of Russia turns on two great institutions,

the Tzardom and the mir. The Tzardom is the organof Russian poli tical life

,wh i le the mir is the social

form taken by the agricultural population,and is the

economic basis of the nation generally .

No reasonable man can doubt that the Tzardom hasperformed a most important function in the historicaldevelopment of Russia . It was the central power wh ichun ited the Russian people and led them in the long

,

severe,and successful struggle aga inst Tartars , Turks ,

Lithuanians,Poles

,and Swedes . Without i t Russ ia

would in all probabil ity have suffered the same fate asPoland , which was d istracted

,weakened

,and finally

ru ined by the anarchy and incurable selfishness of i tsnobles .

As in other countries,so in Russ ia

,the cen tral power

was established through the subject ion of princes andlords who were crushed by the strong am l merciless


rule of the Tzars . Am ong those Tzars , too, were menof originality and courage l ike Peter the Great , whoforced the people -out of the old-world grooves which

they loved so much ; and when other m eans fai led thev

d id not hesitate to employ the cane,the knout, and the

axe of the executioner to urge their nobles into the

paths of Western progress . We need not say that theTzars were not moved by benevolent reasons thus to

benefi t their subj ects . The h istoric Tzars were notph ilanthropists or human itarians. The aim of theirreforms was political

,to provide the Russian nation

with better means and appl iances for the struggle w ithher neighbours .

Wh ile the nobles were unable to make head againstthe Tzardom

,the clergy were neither able nor d isposed

so to do . In Russia the clergy were not backed by agreat international power like thePapacy. They were

nursed in the trad it ions of Eastern Greek despotismand had no inclinat ion to resist their rulers . Thepeasants were not a political power

,except at the rare

intervals when desperation drove them into rebellion .

Thus the circum stances of Russia have combined toestablish an autocracy wh ich has performed the greatesthistoric functions

,and wh ich has had a power and

sol id ity without example in the rest of Europe . It hasma intained the nat ional existence against fi erce andpowerful enem ies

,it has in every generation extended

the borders of the Russian power,and has been a real

c entre of the national l ife,satisfy ing the needs and

aspirations of the people,not in a perfect manner by



social form assumed by people sett l ing down into agriculture. I t was the social un it as determ ined byobvious local economic and historic condi tion s . Inmost countr ies the vi llage comm un ity has been reducedto a shadow of its former self

,partly through the opera

ti on of natural economic causes , but largely also because

the central power and the classes conn ected therewi thhave crushed it out . The local life of England in par

ticular has been repressed and starved through thewant of the most elementary resources and opportunities.It has been recogn ised as a most pressing du ty of statesmen to revive and

'

restore it in accordance w i th theprevalen t cond i tions

,but it w i l l be long before the

capaci ty and habit of common act ion can be againadequately acqu ired .

Owing to a variety of causes , which we canno t explain here

,the Russ ian m ir has cont inued to survi ve.

I t gave to the m ass of the Russ ian people their ownform of social l ife and of self-government ; and it waseconom ically self-sufii cing . The mir drew from the

so i l,wh ich i t held in common occupation

,the means

“

for its own support and for the support of the nation asa whole . The relations of the members of the m ir toeach other were substant ially conducted on terms ofequality and freedom ; but in view of the nobles andthe Tzardom they w ere serfs till their em ancipation in1 861 . The mir was a social - econom ic arrangem ent

,

convenient both for the noble proprietors and for theTzardom . I t afforded to the central Government thenecessary taxes and the necessary recruits ; and there

ANARCHISM 255

fore the Tzars did not d isturb it , but rather sough t tofix and solidify i t

,and thereby make i t more efficient as

a source o f supply both of soldiers and m aterial m eans .Thus for centuries

,full of movement in the poli tical

history of Russia,the m ir has w i th littl e change en

dured as the social and economic basis of the nationall ife .In Russia

,therefore

,we find only two institu tions

that have had a real vital ity and a specific influence,the Tzardom and the peasant community. Nobles andpriests have exercised a substantive power only when

the Tzardom has suffered a tem porary lapse . The

m iddle class has always been inconsiderable .It was into a nation thus consti tuted that the most

advanced revolutionary opini ons of Western Europe atlast found

'

their way. The spirit of revolt had indeednot been unknown in Russia in former t imes . Amonga peasantry sunk in immemorial ignorance and m isery

,

and harassed by the incessant tribute of men and taxeswh ich they were forced to pay

,discontent had always

been more or l ess prevalent,and i t had somet im es

broken out in open rebell ion . During the reigns ofthe great Catharine and of Alexander I . a sent im entalLiberalism had been fash ionable in the upper classes .But i t was not a very practical matter, and was not aserious danger to the autocracy . At the beg inn ing ofh is reign Nicholas had to face a rising among the Guardsat St. Petersburg ,

led by Liberal officers of h igh birth .

He suppressed it in the speediest and most summary

manner. T ill h is death,in 1 855 , Nicholas ma intained


a regime of repression at home,and was the champion

of absolutism in Europe .

Many circumstances comb ined to render the access ion of Alexander II . a new departure in Russianh istory . The old m ethods of governm ent had beenthoroughly discredited by the fail ures of the Cr imeanwar. There was a general feeling that the ideas andmethods of the West

,which had proved their superiority

dur ing the struggle , must be tried in Russia. As theyoung Emperor recognised the necessity of a new

policy,great changes were made

,and all went well

for a t ime . Alexander carried the emancipation of

the serfs,instituted new court s of law and a new

system of local governm ent,and gave a real im petus

to education . It was not long, however, before theEmperor began to hesitate in view of the Liberalforces which he had let loose

,and which threatened

to overturn the whole fabric of Russian society . Likehis uncle

,Alexander I .

,the young monarch had not

resolution enough to persevere in a pract ical andsystematic course of reform .

The changes already m ade,and the prospect of

changes st il l to come, roused into action all the con

servative instincts and prejudices of old Russia. The

insurrection of Poland in 1 863,which called forth the

sympath ies of many Russian Liberals,provoked also a

powerful reaction in old Russian circles . An attemp tby Karakozoff on the Em peror’s life in 1 866 may be

regarded as the turn ing-point of h i s reign . Ideas ofsteady reform and of gradual temperate change have



prevalent form among those who were reckoned themost advanced th inkers ; i t was clear, simple, and

thorough . It was par ticularly well su i ted to a state ofculture which was superficial

,without experience or

d iscipline .In the words of Turgenief, who has portrayed the

movement in his novel,Fathers and Sons, the Nihilists

were men who bowed before no authority of any kind,

and accepted on faith no principle,whatever veneration

may surround it . ’ They weighed poli tical institut ionsand social forms

,religion and the fam ily

,in the balances

of that negative criticism,which was their prevailing

characteristic, and they found them all wanting. Withrevolutionary impatience they rej ected every th ing thathad come down from the past

,good and bad alik e .

They had no respect for art or poetry,sentiment 0

“

romance . A new fact added to our positive knowledgeby the dissecting of a frog was more important thanthe poetry of Goethe or a paint ing by Raphael .Nihil ism as represented by Bazarof

,in the novel of

Turgenief, is certainly not an attractive picture . Wem ay respect his courage , honesty, thoroughness, andindependence ; but h is roughness, cynicism ,

and indifference to family feelings are very repellent . Throughthe early death of the hero we are prevented from ob

serving what might have been the further developmentof his character. We feel sure that if the story of this

typical life had been continued,we should have seen

very considerable changes in a m ore pos i t ive direction .

The mood of universal negation can only be a tempo

ANARCHISM 259

rary phase in ind ividual or national development .Negation may be the physio, i t cannot be the die t , ofthe m ind.

N'o movemen t for emancipation can be a purelynegative th ing ; and no movemen t can be adequately

described by reference to a single characteri st ic . TheN ihilists found a w ider v iew of the world in thewritings of Darw in , Herbert Spencer and J . S . Mill ;and they had also at an early period felt the influenceof Saint-Simon

,Fourier , Robert Owen , and latterly also

of Lassalle and Marx . From the first,Nihilism seems

to have involved a broad and real sym pathy wi th thesuffering classes . They wished to recall the attentionof men from windy verbiage about art and poetry

,from

a sentimentalism wh ich was often spurious,and from

the clatter of the parliamentary machine,whose grind

ing was solely for the benefi t of the wealth ier classes ,to the question of dai ly bread for all

,

’ to the commonpeople perish ing for lack of elementary knowledge . Andthey insisted strongly on the equal rights of women .

It is evident that Nihilism could only be a’

passing

phase in the h istory of Russia,and that it had a whole

som e and beneficial side as well as a repellent one . Ina country which was oppressed by an enormous burdenof immemorial prejudices and abuses

,a powerful dose

of negation was calculated to have a most salutaryoperat ion . But the movement could not long l ive onnegations merely . As tim e went on

,the s truggle for

emancipation in Russ ia began to assum e a m ore pos itivecharacter.


In this way the revolu t ionary movem ent en tered on

i ts second stage,the stage of social ist ic teach ing and

propaganda . Events in the West had k indled theimagination of the youthful cham p ions of l iberty inRussia , the rise and progress of the In ternat ional, theterrible struggle at Paris under the Commune

,the

grow th of the German Social Democracy . A pos it iveand far-reaching ideal now drew the aspirations of theenthusiasts for liberty

,the deliverance of the proletariat

,

represented in Russia by an ignorant and wretchedpeasantry . The anarchic socialism of Bakunin was

unquestionably the controlling element in the new

Russian movement . Beside i t we must place the influence of Lavroff

,another em inent Russian ex i le

,who

represented the more temperate phase of anarchism,

shading off into the recogn i tion of a constitutional andgradual development of the theory . In its second stagealso the revolutionary movement of Russia was a mixedphenomenon . The anarchism of Bakun in cont inued

,

however,to be the characterist ic feature

,and thus the

negative factor was s t il l prominent enough .

From Bakun in also proceeded the practical watchword at th is stage of the revolutionary movement

,

‘ to

go among the people ’ and spread the new doctrines .

And this course was unwittingly furthered by theaction of the Governm en t . Early in the seventies

,

hundreds of young Russians of bo th sexes were studying in Western Europe

,particularly at Zurich in

Switzerland . As the ir stay there exposed them to

constant contac t w ith revolut ionary Russian exiles,and


262 H I STORY OFS OC IAL I SM

socialist m iss ionary was enough to arouse the uncon

querable suspicion of the poor people of the country.

The success of the miss ionaries was limited . With

all his strong susp icion and h is narrow range of ideas,the -peasant could not easily understand the meaningand purpose of those strange men teaching strangethings. The trad i tions of the past

,as they came down

to him dim and confused,contained many a bitter

memory of disappointed hopes . He was apathetic aswel l as suspicious . Moreover

,the teacher often de

l ivered h is message in half-digested formulas whi ch hada meaning only as connected with the economic development of Western Europe

,and which did not rightly

attach themselves to anyth ing with in the experience ofthe Russian Peasantry.

Above all,the propaganda enjoyed only a very brief

period of activity . The teachers w ent about their work

with very li ttle circumspection,in the careless free-and

easy way which seems so natural to the Russ ian tem

peram ent. Consequently,the Governm en t had no

difficul ty in discovering and follow ing up the traces ofthe propagandists . Before the year 1 876 had ended ,nearly all of them were in prison . More than 2000

were arrested during the period 1 873-76 ! Many

were detained in prison for years,ti ll the investigat ions

of the police resulted in 50 being brought to trial atMoscow and 1 93 at St . Petersburg at the end of 1 877.

Most were acqui tted by the courts,yet the Government

sent them into ex i le by admin istrative process .The adverse experiences which we have recorded

ANARCH I SM 2 63

brought the attempts at peaceful propaganda to a close,

and the revolutionary party decided on the propagandaof action . They resolved to settle among the people

and prepare them for a ris ing against the Government .Where peaceful teaching had failed

,they sought to

force a way by violent methods . It was a desperatepol icy to pursue among a people who had not beenable even to understand the aim s of the revolutionaryparty.

I t is very characteristic of the circumstances of

Russia that the most successful attempt at thus organising a scheme for revolutionary action could gain theadhesion of the peasantry only by pretending that ithad the sanction of the Tzar. J aeob Stephanov itz, one

of the prominent members of the revolutionary party ,gave it out in South -Western Russia that he had anorder from the Tzar to form a secret society among thecommon people against the nobles

,priests and officials

who were Opposing the imperial wishes to confer landand freedom 0 11 the peasants . Those to whom he ad

dressed himsel f could hard ly believe that the Em perorwas se powerle ss

,but he d id eventually succeed in

forming a society of abou t a thousand m embers . Whenthe plot was discovered by the pol ice

,the peasants were

naturally enraged a t the deception which had been

pra ctised on them . I t should be added that such am ethod o f action did not mee t with the approval of th eparty as a whole .

Like the peace ful propaganda,the propaganda of

action failed to gain a firm foo ting among the people .


At every step the revolutionary party found the organsof the central power ready to suppress their efforts inthe most summary way . They were 11 0Wconvincedthat they must directly attack the autocracy and itsservants

,and as they had received no mercy they

decided to show none ; and thus began the resolute,systemat ic

,and merciless struggle of the revolut ionary

party against the Tzardom . For th is end they naturallymade a great change in their mode of action . They

adopted a strong organisat ion instead of the lax d iscipl ine or total want of discipl ine comm ended by Bakunin .

Affairs were conducted by a secret central committee,

who with unsparing energy carried out the new aimsof the party . The firs t great act in this the th ird stageof the {ussian revolut ionary movem ent was the assassination of General Trepoff, Prefect of Police , by VeraSassoulitsch ,

at St . Pe tersburg,in 1 878 . The occasion

of the deed was the flogging,by comm and of Trepoff, of

a political prisoner personally unknown to her. Herobj ect was to avenge the cause of outraged hum an i ty onthe servant of the autocracy . At the trial she wasacquitted by the jury

,to the great surprise of the

Imperial Court. An attem pt by the police to apprehendher 0 11 leav ing the place of trial was frustrated by themob

,and she succeeded in mak ing her escape to

Switzerland .

The public gave the most um nistakable proofs of

sym pathy w i th Vera Sassoul itsch ; and the event naturally e x cited great enthusiasm and emulation among theeager Sp irits of the revolut ionary party . I ’elice officials



sentative of a poli tical system wh ich , by its historicevolution

,its nature and position , has exercised an

absolute and often merciless mastery over its subj ects,and the men that cut him off were youthful enthusiasts,who with revolutionary impatience were eager to applyto the belated circumstances of Russia the most extremetheories of the West.The historian has often to regret that more wisdom

is not available for the management of human a ffairs,

and we may believe that a moderate measure of wisdomand patience m ight have prevented the fatal collisionbetween the Tzar and the revolutionary party . The

Tzardom,as we have seen

,has performed a great and

indispensable function in the national life of Russia . It

still seems to be the only pract icable form of government in such a country . N0 class is advanced orpowerful enough to take i ts place . The mass of theRussian people are not yet capable of self-governmenton a wide scale . There is no large educated class . Them iddle and industrial class

,in the modern sense of the

word,are st ill com paratively sm all and unimportant ;

and it is probable enough tha t if there had been aninfluential m iddle class

,and if the aboli tion of serfdom

had been effected under their auspices,the peasants

would have received less favourable treatment thanthey experienced from the autocracy . The best avail

able form of government for Russia seems to be an

enlightened Tzardom , and the Em peror Alexander I I .was personally both enlightened and well- intentioned .

At the same time the position of the Tzardom cannot

ANARCH ISM 267

very long be tenable in i ts present form . Russia l ieswhere it is

,in close prox im ity to progressive countries .

In the past the Russian people have been largelydisciplined by Germ ans ; they have learned much fromEngland

,and have perhaps shown the greatest social

and Sp iritual affinity to the French . Th is intercoursew i ll go on . The strongest and most watchful Tzarcannot maintain a Chinese wall of separation betweenhis country and the rest of Europe . Nor can the Tzarsexpect to have the benefit of the science of Wes ternEurope for m ilitary purposes

, and at the same time

succeed in shutting it out from influencing the socialand political life of their people . It is inevitable,therefore

,that the liberal ideas of the West will con

tinue to dissolve and disintegrate the old fabric ofRussian ideas and institutions . One of two results

appears necessary,either that the Tzars must strenu

ously follow the path of reasonable and energetic re

form,or they may risk a revolution which w ill sweep

away the present central power.

For Russia, as for other countries , there are but two

alternatives, progress or revolution . If the latter con

summation were to happen,it does not

,however

,follow

that the cause of freedom would have any great directand immed iate furtherance . In the circumstances ofRussia the man who w ields the m il itary power m ust besupreme. A new ruler resting 0 11 the army might benot less an autocrat than the old . We can but say

that the present policy of the Tzardom i s seriously re

tarding and arrest ing the natural and national develop


ment O f Russ ia,and that i t tends to provoke a cata

strophe wh ich may endanger its own existence . Theindustrial progress now being made in the countryrenders it only the more necessary that her politicalinstitutions should make a corresponding advance .It remains now to say a word about the revolutionists

who have played so rem arkable a part in the recenth istory Of Russia . The members of the Russian revolu

tionary party have been drawn from nearly all classes

O f the people . Som e,as we have seen

,belonged to highly

placed aristocratic fam il ies ; some have been sons Of

priests and Of the lower Offi cials . More recently therural classes suppl ied active adherents to themilitantparty . One of the most notable features Of the movement is the influence exerted in it by women . It was

Vera Sassoulitsch who Opened the death - struggle withthe autocracy in 1 878 . A lady Of high birth

,Sophia

Perovskaia, by the wav ing O f a veil gu ided the m en

who threw the fatal bombs at the assassination ofAlexander II .But whether aristocrats or peasants

,men or women

,

the m em bers of the Russian revolutionary party havebeen rem arkable for the ir youth . The large majori ty

of those engaged in the struggle had not attained to theage Of twenty -five. In view O f their extreme youth

,

therefore , we need not say that they had more enthusiasm than w isdom

,and more O f the energy that aims

a t immed iate success than of the considerate patiencethat knows how to wa i t for the slowly maturing fruitso f the best and surest progress . Hav ing regard to the



pretation . The peasants whom they desired to instructin the new teach ing m ight inform upon them . Their

comrades in propaganda migh t be induced or coerced tobetray them . It was Often fatal even to be suspected

,as

the police and the other organs Of Governmen t were onlytoo disposed to take the most rigorous measures againstallWho were charged with revolut ionary Opinion . Norcould the accused appeal to the law with any confidence

,

for the ordinary tribunals m ight be set aside,and his

fate be dec ided by administrative procedure ; that is ,he could be executed

,or condemned to prison or exile

in Siberia,without the pretence Of a legal trial . In such

c ircum stances it was natural that resolute cham pionsOf l iberty should be driven to secret consp iracy inits extremest form

,and to violent act ion Of the most

mercil ess character.Wh ile, therefore, historical accuracy obliges us to

emphasise the fact that the aims Of the revolutionary

party far exceeded all that is included in liberalism andconstitutional government

,it is only just to explain that

they resorted to violent methods only because the mostelementary pol itical rights were den ied them . In the

fiercest mood Of their terrible struggle w ith the autocracy

,they were still ready to throw aside their

weapons .

In the address sent by the Executive Committee toAlexander III . , after the death Of h is father

,in March

1 88 1,they O ffered to give up their v iolen t mode Of

action,and subm i t uncondit ionally to a National

Assem bly freely elected by the people . They meant

ANARCH I SM 271

under a consti tutional governmen t to have recourseonly to constitutional methods .

W ith regard to the number Of those concerned in theRussian revolut ionary movement

,i t is not easy to speak

w ith precision . There is no proof that the anarchist

Op inions have gained a large body Of adherents in thecountry . The numerical strength of the party directlyengaged in the struggle with the Tzardom has alwaysbeen comparatively small . On the other hand

,the

movement has evidently met wi th a very w ide sympathy in Russian society . In the absence Of preciseinform ation

,we may quo te the words Of one who has a

good righ t to speak for the revolutionary party .

The Russian revolutionarymovement is really a revolution sat generals, carried on , however, not by the mass

Of the people or those feel ing the need of it,but by a kind

Of delegat ion , acting on behalf Of the mass Of the peoplewith this purpose.

‘NO one has ever undertaken,and perhaps no one

could with any certainty undertake,to calculate the

numerical strength Of this party— that is to say,Of

those who share the convict ions and aspirations ofthe revolut ionists . Al l that can be said is

,that it is

a very large party,and that at the presen t moment i t

num bers hundreds of thousands,perhaps even millions

of men , disseminated everywhere . This mass of people ,wh ich m ight be called the Revolutionary Nation

,does

not, however, take a direct part in the struggle. I tentrusts its interests and its honour

,its hatred and its

vengeance,to those who m ake the revolution their sole


and exclusive occupat ion ; for under the cond i tionsexistm g 1n Russia

,people cannot rem ain as ord inary

c i t izens and devote themselves at the same t im e toSocialism and the Revolution .

The real revolutionary party,or rather the m i li tant

organ isation,is recru i ted from this class Of revolutionary

leaders .

’ l

1 Stepniak , Underground Russia , p . 264 .


274 HISTORY OF SOCIAL I SM

Observe the con trast between the tendency which moreor less emphasises S tate au thority and the need Of

central isation,and that other tendency which regards

the local body as cardinal and decisive. As we haveseen

,that contrast was perfectly clear in the earliest

French socialism,in the schools Of Saint-Simon and

Fourier. While cal ling on the State to furnish creditfor productive associations

,both L. Blanc and Lassalle

strongly insisted that these associations should beself-governing and self-develop ing. The centralisingtendency was very marked in Rodbertus. Though it

cannot be maintained that the Marx school insist excessively on the claims Of authority , yet in the conductOf the International they had a severe struggle w i ththe anarchist following Of Bakun in . It is simply the

Old question Of authority and order in relation to individual and local freedom

,wh ich always reappears under

the newest conditions,and which cannot be solved on

absolute principles .

Notwithstanding these general features Of resemblance

,i t would be a serious m istake to identify social

ism with any Of its forms,past or present . They are

only passing phases Of a movement which will endure .If social ism has given proof Of a pers istent vitality

,it

has also undergone many transform ations,and will in all

probabil ity undergo m any more . Our task now is to

inquire into the sign ificance,tendency

,and value Of

the general movem ent.

The problem before us is one of h istorical interpre~

tation in the widest sense Of the word. I t i s no t an

THE PUR I FI ED SOCIAL I SM 275

academ ic quest ion wh ich can be set tled by the scholarlycomparison Of texts and system s .

If the sociali stic m ovement were com plete andfinished

,it would be merely a subject Of sympathetic

analysis and general isation by the historian . But the

socialistic movement is not com plete ; i t is in process

Of mak ing—probably only in its early-stage . It is a question

,therefore

,wh ich must be treated not only in the

light Of history and human nature , but with special

reference to the now prevaili ng forces—industrial,

poli tical,social

,and ethical. For on these will depend

the future course Of the movem ent and its prospects ofsuccess . While socialism has a past , i t has also a profound significance for the present and the future . The

great task for the student is to find out the rational

meaning and purport Of socialism,its probable s ig

nificance for the present time and the time coming.

For the rational interpretation of socialism we cannot too Often emphasise the fact that it is not anabstract system

,but a thing in m ovement. It is not

wedded to any stereotyped set of formulas,whether of

Marx or any other,but must be rooted in real ity

,and

,

while moulding facts,i t must adapt i tself to them .

Above all,we must ever rem em ber that it claim s to

represen t the asp irat ions after a better l ife Of the toilingand suffering mi llions Of the human race .Even a cursory review Of the h istoric social ism is

enough to show tha t,while it has been prol ific O f new

thought in economics,i t has been d isfigured by every

k ind O f extravagance . In general,i t has been far too


artificial,arbitrary

,and absolute in its treatment Of

social questions . As we have seen , the early theoristsespecially were profoundly ignorant of the laws governing the evolution Of society . Many later socialists Of

great influence have laid excessive stress on revolutionas the lever Of social progress . Few Of them have

really appreciated the bearings Of the population question on the great problems Of society . Most of them

have been far too absolute in their condemnation Of

competition . In fact their general position consistsfar too much in a sweep ing condemnation Of the presentsociety

,forgetful the while that it is only out Of the

present that the future,in which they place their hopes

,

can proceed .

The current socialism,too

,has very prematurely

shown a tendency to degenerate into a stiff and barrenorthodoxy

,which seeks to apply narrow and hal l

'

d igested theories,without adap ting or even reasonably

understanding them,to circumstances for wh ich they

are not suited ; This is particularly apparent in theattempts to introduce into England and Am erica formulas and modes Of action wh ich have grown up in thevery different atmosphere Of the European cont inent .It has no t su fficiently recognised the fluent and manys ided variety Of modern l ife , which cannot be embodiedin any formula

,however comprehensive and elastic .

Finally,social istic speculation has in many cases

tended,not to reform and humanise

,but to subv ert the

fam ily,on the soundness Of which social health above

all things depends . It has not understood the solid ity



their expos ition and interpretation Of the subj ect are

m arked by that excessive love Of system which is

usually characteris tic Of Germ an specialists . They

have brought to thediscussion O f the historic socialismthe same systemat is ing spirit w ith wh ich Germaneconomists have treated Adam Sm ith . The economists

Of the Fatherland have reduced the teach ing Of AdamSm ith to a set Of abstract propos itions , and so havetransform ed i t beyond recognition . In l ike mannerAdolf Wagner laboriously sum s up sociali sm in abstractlanguage

,whereas i t i s above all th ings a concrete

movem ent,inst inct w ith change and w i th human pas

sion . In h is Baa and Leben des sozfialen Kemers

Scha’

ffie’

s construction of social ism is an elaborateattempt to conceive society as transform ed and dominated by a single principle .Such a po int of View can never accord with the

actual development Of h istoric forces . In the past thegreat econom ic eras have been remarkable for the endlessvariety of forms which they have assumed . Feudal ismwas not a stereotyped system

,but took a special form

in each European country,and in each country it

changed from age to age. The com pet itive system hasnever entirely and exclus ively d ominated any society

,

and has been endlessly modified by custom and the tradit ions of the past , by national and social interests, and bymoral cons iderations . Adam Smith

,the great expounder

O f natural l iberty , d id not put it forth as an abstractand exclusive principle

,but set it in the light of historic

fact, and reserved a large sphere where private enter

THE PURI FI ED SOC IAL ISM 279

prise needed to be supplemented by the action of theState . We can only say Of the com petitive system tha ti t has

.

been norm al or prevalent over the most advanced

coun tries of the world for a considerable t ime . Wemust conce ive social ism in the same way as claim ing

,

when certain historical conditions have been realised,

to be the norm al or prevalent type Of econom ic and

social organisation .

In fact,they have had too exclusively in V iew the

theories Of Marx and Rodbertus. In his conception Of

socialism Wagner has been chiefly influenced by Rodbertus . Schaffle, in his Quintessenz des Socialismas

,

appears as the interpreter of the Marx social ism . Even

the less absolute presentation Of the socialistic theories

by Lassalle should have been sufficient to bring out thecontrast between socialism in movement and socialism

in the abstract.

This is very nearly equivalen t to saying that botheconomists have been too much influenced by the Prussian type Of government and theory O f the State . Withregard to the two socialists

,Rodbertus and Marx , we

are not surprised that the former should be Prussianthroughout in h is way O f thinking

,but i t i s a notable

instance Of the irony Of circum stances that Marx shouldbe so largely controlled by habits Of speculation which

he had learned in Germany in h is you th . He was toa great degree Prussian and Hegel ian in his pol iticaland phi losophical habi t O f m ind till the end of his l ife .I t is natural enough that the conception o f socialismformed by Wagner and Schiillle should be of a s im il ar


character . For them socialism is a system Of centrali

sation,Of management from above (eon obea herab)

under a bureaucracy. Such a view may su it peoplethat are used to a centralising autocracy and bureaucracy associated with mil itarism

,but it is entirely

opposed to Engl ish ideas . An industrial and economicsystem which woul d remind us at every step Of the

Prussian army,the Prussian police and Prussian Official

ism,is not attractive to those who have breathed a freer

air.Prussia has had a great m iss ion to perform in modern

history . From its geographical position and the cir

cum stances attendant on its r ise and progress , we cansee that it required a powerful army

,a strongly cen

tralised government, and an industrial system entirelyd ifferen t from laissez-f aire. We must respect the greatvocations Of the different historic peoples

,among

which Prussia has been one of the first. But that is no

reason for expressing social ism in terms suggested bythe Pruss ian form Of government

,or for supposing that

the claim of socialism to control the econom ic organisation O f the future w ill depend on its conforming to thePrussian type Of State . I t is to be devoutly hoped thatthe type O f governm ent rendered necessary by thestruggle for ex istence among the nat ions on the European continent will not become universal .

But we must now consider a question which isvastly more important than any of the criticisms nowO ffered. What may be regarded as the sol id and



poor m os t powerfully before the c iv il ised world . I t is

one Of the enduring results Of social istic agitation anddiscussion that the interests Of the suffering members

O f the human race, so long ignored and so fearfullyneglected

,have become a question Of the first magnitude ,

the foremost question in all progressive countries . Itis th is question which gives a substantial basis and areal meaning to the great democratic movement, whichi t would be the gravest Of all errors to regard as amerely polit ical struggle . The cause Of the poor is

likely to be the burning question for generat ions, lending to political questions their interest

,seriousness

,and

unspeakable importance.

Fourthly, Socialism has given us a searching eriticism of the existing social-economic system . It may be

said to have laid i ts diagnosing finger On all the sores

of society . The only Objection that can be rationally

taken is that the diagnosis has been an exaggeratedone . All fair-m inded judges will

,however

,adm it that

the socialistic criticism Of the existing competitivesystem is largely

,if not substantially, j ustified on the

following points1 . The posi tion Of the working people

,who are the

overwhelming m ajority in every soc iety,is not in har

mony with e th ical ideas . It has Often and largelybeen a pos it ion Of degradation ,

demoralisation,and

m isery. Norm ally, i t is not consistent w ith what mustbe s triven after as a des irable condition for the mass Ofhuman i ty , for i t is insecure, dependent and to a largedegree servile . The workmen have no reasonable con

THE PUR IF I ED SOC IAL ISM 283

trol Of the ir dearest interests ; have no guarantee O f asettled home

,O f daily bread , and O f prov ision for O ld

age. I t is a delusive freedom that has no sol id econom ic basis .

2 . The prevailing competi tive system is to a largedegree anarchy

,and this is not an accident , bu t a neces

sity O f its nature . This anarchy has two great andbaneful modes of expression : strikes , which are a form

O f industrial war, carrying m isery and insecurity overlarge sections Of population

,and sometim es menacing

the industrial and social l ife Of a whole nation and thegreat crises

,which at tim es have even a more disastrous

influence,spreading like a storm over the entire civilised

world,overthrowing honourable houses Of business

,

and exposing to hopeless ruin and starvation millionsOf honest people who are in no wise responsible for

their fate . And the times Of crash are succeededby protracted periods O f stagnation , which for allconcerned are scarcely better than the crises whichcaused it .3. The phenomena Of waste

,which are always more

or less a feature Of the competitive system,are par

ticularly m anifest during the great industrial andcommercial crises . Not only are the products Of

industry intended for consumption wasted in vastmasses , but the productive forces themselves , such asmachinery and shipping

,are sacrificed enormously

,

whilst great numbers of people are idle and starv ing .

4 . The prevailing system also leads to the largedevelopm ent O f an idle class O f the most motley

284 H I STORY OF SOCIAL I SM

description . Those conversant w ith the history ofrevolutions know how influent ial an overgrown idleclass has Often been in forcing them on .

5 . The ex isting competitive system also necessari lyleads to a vast amount Of inferior, inartistic production in all departments . Cheapness is too conspicuousa feature O f every branch Of industry .

6 . Our moral standards in every department Of thenational l ife have been lowered and corrupted by theexcessive prevalence of a commercial and mercenary

Sp iri t. NO rank,profession

,or calling has escaped its

influence .

7. Thus we are led to the general result, that inequal ities Of condit ion

,and the too prevalent anarchy

and insecurity as well as the unworthy status O f theworkers under the competi tive system

,are a permanent

source of trouble and even danger to socie ty . The

c ircum stances of the workmen have im proved ; but itis doubtful whether the improvement has kept pace w iththe ir advancing enl ightenment and the growing senseOf their rights and needs . Here again we must em

phasise the fact that the progress of democracy is notmerely a political matter. It means sti ll more thecontinual developm ent Of intelligence and Of higher

and finer needs in the mass O f the people,a fuller

consc iousness of the claim s of labour,a greater capa

ci ty for organ isat ion,a w ider moral and intellectual

horizon . In the con tras t between their m oral andin tellectual growth 0 11 the one hand

,and their insecure

and inferior pos i tion as precarious wage - labourers on



labour. According to social ism the industry Of thefuture should be carried on by free associated workers

rationally uti l ising a united capi tal with a view to anequ i table systeni O f distribution . As we have alreadyhad occas ion to say

,no formal statement can righ tly

give expression to the mean ing of a great historicalmovem ent . But in such language we believe the contrast between the O ld order and the new can be mosts imply and at the same t ime with due adequacy expressed .

The same type Of industrial organisation has'

been

well set forth by J . S . M ill in these words : The form

of associat ion,however

,wh ich

,if mank ind continue to

improve,must be expected in the end to predominate

,

is not that which can exist between a capitali st as chi efand workpeople w ithout a voice in the management

,

but the association Of the labourers them selves on termsOf equality, collectively owning the capital w i th whichthey carry on their Operations , and work ing undermanagers elected and removable by themselves .”1 Mi ll ’sView of the subj ect

,it may be remarked in passing

,was

derived from the study Of French and English sociali sts.His good sense saved him from the utop ian extrava

gance Of these writers,and as he had l i ttle sympathy

with the peculiarly German ways of thought,he shows

no tendency to the abstractness Of the Specialists Of theFatherland . The result is a concept ion Of socialismwhich is at once intrinsically more reasonable

,more

adapted to the Engl ish mind and to un iversal ity,than

M il l ’s Political Economy, People’

s Ed ition, p . 465 .

THE PUR I FI ED SOC IAL I SM 287

any other O ffered by prom inen t econom ists . And inth is connect ion we need hardly add tha t by the Engl ishm ind we mean the mind of the Engli sh - speaking

people ; also , notw ithstanding all that may be said tothe contrary

,that the English type of society has the

best claim to universal ity,because it has best succeeded

in reconciling and realising the fundamental requirem ents of order and freedom .

The simple expression Of the socialistic theory w ill,

no doubt,in the course of propaganda and discussion

,

long con tinue to be overlaid and obscured by a mass ofdetai l

,sometimes utop ian

,som etimes all too abstract

and systematic. It will be well,therefore

,to keep the

simplicity Of the type in v iew,but a few explanations

may be necessary more fully to elucidate it .

The true meaning Of socialism,when rationally under

stood,is given ia the dominating tendencies of social

evolut ion . On the one hand, the effect of the industri al revolut ion has been to concentrate the means bothOf production and distribution in imm ense masses .Capital can now be moved and controlled only on alarge scale . The day for the small capital

,and the

successful control of it by indiv iduals,has passed away.

It may continue under exceptional circumstances,but

i t can no longer expect to be the norm al or prevalen tform Of industry. On the other hand , the body O f the

people, represented by the modern democracy, canlegitimately claim that they shall no longer be excluded from the control O f their own economic andsocial interests . I t is a rational and equ i table demand


that the prevalent d ivorce of the workers from landand capital Should cease . Th is d ivorce can be term i

nated,and the mass of the people can be restored to a

partic ipation in the ownership and con trol of land andcap i tal

,only through the principle of association . This

is the basis O f social ism as given in the normal anddominan t forces of the social evolution Of our time .

As we said in the introduction,socialism is the ch ild

of two great revolutions—the industr ial revolution , andthe vast social and polit ical change embodied in themodern democracy .

Social ism,rationally interpreted

,is therefore s im ply

a movement for uniting labour and capital through theprinciple of association . It seeks to com b ine labourand capital in the same industrial and social groups .In such a group the present distinction betweenlabourers and cap italists would cease

,and the workers

becom e producers,equitably d isposing Of the entire

produce.

Such an industrial associat ion would be self-governing. Social ism is an attem pt to establish a free self

govern ing type Of industry, and would therefore seekto realise in the soc ial—economic sphere the principlesalready recogn ised in the pol it ical . It i s a free selfgovern ing form O f industry

,corresponding in the

econom ic sphere to the democratic system in politics ;industry of the people

,by the people

,for the people .

But wh i le a rational soc ialism seeks to establish industrial freedom ,

it aims also at prom ot ing and securingindustrial peace by term inating the struggle between



garded as a special instance Of the arbitrariness andabsoluteness Of the current socialism ,

when it main

tains that al l capital m ust pass out of individual ownership . I t may safely be main tained that such a condition Of things i s no t possible , and that

,if it were

poss ible,i t is en tirely undesirable

,because m ost l ikely

to repress ind iv idual freedom,and affording indefinite

scope for social tyranny . Under any conceivable systemof society the free development Of man is likely to beprom oted by the possession of reasonable private means.The only Objection that can be rat ionally allegedagainst private property is when it involves inj ustice toothers—a possibility which

,under socialism

,is amply

provided against by the prevalence of soc ial controlover econom ic processes .The v iews just stated are no t unwarranted by the

historic socialism . Am idst much that i s m ost ex

travagant , Fourier has the merit at least Of Offeringthe strongest safeguards for indiv idual and local freedom . Fourier provided that every worker should havethe Opportunitv O f gaining and maintaining a capital ofh is own, bu t under such Social regulation that it wouldno longer involve wrong to others ; and further, bearranged that the owner should have perfect freedomto transfer h is services and h i s capital from one asso

ciation to ano ther. These are features of Fourier ’ssystemwhich have been too much neglected by seientific social ists so called ; and in these respects he ismuch less utop ian than his cri tics .In no question is the arbitrariness Of the historic

THE PUR IF I ED SOC IAL I SM 291

socialism more apparent than in the artificial attemptsmade to formulate a just m ethod Of d istribut ion orremuneration . We have in previous chapters ind icatedthe different methods proposed in the schools Of Sain tS imon

,Fourier

,and Lou is Blane. Noth ing has SO

m uch tended to give a u top ian air to social istic specu

lation . Our ideas Of ju stice canno t well be expressedin a single formula, however com prehens ive . It hasbeen the endeavour more or less Of all m oralists andl egi slators S1nce the origin of human society to eluci

date it and reduce it to some kind of reasonable form,

but w ith only very imperfect results ; and socialistsare not now l ikely to succeed in a task wh ich i s reallyimpracticable . Progress in the reali s ing of j ustice canbe attained only through the col lect ive enlightenm entand moral experience Of the race ; and it w ill alwaysfall Short Of our ideals

,for our ideals rise as we

approxim ate towards a realisat ion of them,and so ever

leave us behind in the race after perfection .

lVe need not say,however

,that it is an obv ious

im plicate in every equitable theory Of distribution tha trem uneration must general ly depend on work or desert .The normal income Of the future must be based onservice rendered to society by all able m embers .

Regard w il l be had to the needs of the d isabled .

I t Should be em phasised,moreov er

,tha t social ism

m us t assert the suprem acy Of moral ity over all theeconom ic processes— product ion and exchange as wellas d istribut ion . Production should be ra tional andsystematic . Above al l

,d istribu tion should he equ i table .


In'

these respects soc ial ism is fundamentally opposed tothe one-Sided conception Of compet it ion which has beenso prevalent . It seeks to supersede the existing com

petitive system Of industry by a new order,in wh ich

reason and equity shall prevail .It Should also be clear that socialism suppl ies the

much-needed complem ent and corrective O f the principleof natural l iberty advocated by Adam Sm ith . The

principle of natural l iberty had a great h istorical value,

and when rightly understood must always be regarded

as a prime factor in every theory Of soc ial progress .But it can be applied Only under Obvious l im its

,pre

scribed by reason and m oral ity . The natural l ibertyof struggl ing indiv iduals would

,if unchecked

,land us

in social chaos . The true freedom Of human beings isa rational and eth ical freedom . Such principles oughtto preva i l in the commercial relations of nations witheach other

,as well as in every other department Of our

industrial and social life .Social ism

,then , s imply means that the normal social

organ isat ion Of the future w ill and should be an

associated or co-operat ive one . It means that industryshould be carried on by

_free associated workers . Thedevelopment Of socialism w ill follow the development ofthe large industry ; and it w ill rationally, scientifically,and system at ically use the mechanical appliancesevolved during the industrial revolut ion for the promotion of a higher l ife among the masses of the people .

I t is a new type of industry and econom ic organisa

t ion the practicab il ity of wh ich must be decided by the


CHAPTER X II

SOC IALI SM AND THE EVOLUTION THEORY

THE idea of evolut ion has had a great influence in thehistory Of social istic Speculation . Beginni ng w ithSaint - Sim on most social ists have recogn ised threestages in the econom ic development of m ankindslavery

,serfdom

,and wage - labour—wh ich last they

believe w il l be d isplaced by an era Of associated labourwi th a collective capital . The idea of developm entmay indeed be regarded as essential to socialism ,

inas

m uch as it m ust contemplate a succession of social

economi c changes in history.

Marx and Lassalle were both trained in the school of

Hegel,and naturally applied to the problems Of society

the Hegel ian theory of developm ent . The principlethat econom ic categories are h istorical categories

,so

m uch emphasised by Lassalle,was by h im,

as it was by

h is fellow - labourers,merged in the w ider and more

fundam ental conception Of evolut ion,h istorical econo

m ics thus becoming evolutionary econom ics .Som e Of the later sociali sts see in the theory of

evolut ion associated w ith the name Of Darw in a su itableexpress ion of their ideas of development . Followers

SOC IAL I SM AND THE EVOLUTION THEORY 295

O f Marx have found special points of attraction inDarw ini sm. Darwin h im self was

,Of course

,not a

materialist ; but many Speculators have not unreasonably recognised ia his teachings an affinity w ithmaterialism

,wh ich Obv1ous1y accorded well with the

materialistic concept ion of h istory held by Marx . The

struggle of classes,wh ich Marx regards as the key to

history,is

,we need not say

,also an al l ied feature .

But the Darw inian conception of development hasto many students suggested the strongest reasons fordoubt and host ility w ith reference to sociali sm . How

does the theory Of the struggl e for existence consistwith the harm ony Of interests con tem plated by socialism ? Is it not utop ian of the Marx school to bel ievethat the struggle Of classes

,which has hitherto charac

terised the course of history , can be brought to a closeby a great revolutionary act ?Compet ition

,that be‘te noire Of the socialists

,is

s imply the social-econom ic form Of the struggle forex istence . Is not competition

,therefore

,the prim e

condition Of social progress ? And is not social ism,

therefore, inconsistent with progress ?Thus we are confronted wi th the twofold problem

,

whether sociali sm does not deny the card inal principlesof evolution

,and thereby also deny the prime cond it ion

O f social progress ?These questions are of cons iderable com plex i ty .

And their import w il l be better understood if we cons ider them in relation to ano ther quest ion wi th wh ichthey are in tima tely connec tedpand wh ich i s even m ore


fundam ental—the population quest ion . The Darwin iantheory O f evolu t ion rests on the Mal thus ian theory Of

population,and can be fully appreciated only by refer

ence to it .

In th i s place we need not discuss the theory ofpopulation as a whole

,but merely in so far as it bears

on our present inqu iry . The theory of Malthus is so

rem arkable for its simplici ty that no worthy excuse canbe O ffered for the misconcept ions regarding it whichhave been prevalent. The seeds of life

,so runs the

theory Of Mal thus, have been scattered throughout theworld w ith a profuse and l iberal hand . All li v ingth ings tend to multiply indefin i tely . An imals—eventhe leas t prolific—would , if their increase were notchecked

,fi l l the ent ire world . But as the means Of

subs istence are l im i ted , the struggle for ex i stence inevitably ensues, wh ich is Obviously all the m ore in tensebecause so many an im als are them selves the means ofsubsistence to others .SO w i th man . If h is natural powers Of increase

were exercised w ithout check,it is only a question of

time when the globe i tself would be too sm all for thenumbers Of hum an beings

,even though equ ipped w i th

the m ost effective means Of cul tivation . In poi nt Of

fac t, population has almost always pressed on the avai lable means Of subsistence . The only important except ions are found in new countries

,when Opened up to

colon ists who have brough t w ith them the superiorm e thods of explo i tation developed in more advancedciv ilisat ions .



benefit of their labour as slaves . In this way beganthe insti tution Of slavery

,on wh ich ancient civilisation

rested . The warlike tribes that overturned the RomanEmpire found that they could more easily and conveniently ut il ise the labour of the vanquished underthe various forms Of serfdom . In modern tim es free

workers,destitute of cap i tal

,are ready under a system

Of competition to perform the labour of society for awage that renders them the customary subsistence .In the earl iest stages the struggle was one for bare

existence,not far rem oved above the lower animals ;

but as tim e went 0 11 , it began , as we have seen , to takea higher form . The m ain motive power

,however, has

always been the self-regard ing principle in which thes truggle originated . On the whole it was only a more

rational and enl ightened self - in terest which di ctatedthe change from exterminat ion tO

'

Slav ery,from slavery

to serfdom , and from serfdom to the system of com

petitive free labour. Idealism ,the longing for a better

l ife, has always had a cons iderable power in humanaffairs , and we hOpe that its influence wil l never ceaseto grow and prevail . Yet i t coul d not be seriouslymaintained that the peoples who instituted slavery

,

serfdom , or the com petitive system,w ere in the main

actuated by ideal or h igh ethical m otives. It is ourduty to recogn ise w ith thankfulness that the inevi tabl eprogress Of soc iety has brought w ith it a h igher life

,

even though i t be merely due to a m ore enligh tenedself- interest .

Thus, whi le in its early stages i t was a struggle for


m ere ex istence,in later tim es i t has becom e m ore and

m ore a struggle for a privileged or superior ex istence .

The victors in most historic struggles have reserved tothemselves the loft ier functions Of governmen t

,war and

the chase,and the vanqu ished have been constrained to

prov ide a subs istence both for their masters and themselves by means Of labour. Life st il l is a struggle forthe best places in society . And it is a particularobj ect Of struggle not to belong to the class Of manual

labour.

The competitive system i s the latest form Of thestruggle for ex istence . I t is not an accident

,but the

outcome of the prevalent h istoric forces . The time

had come when free labour was found to be more

efficient than servile labour. The feudal system,Of

wh ich serfdom was a part,went down before the

strongly central ised State . The competit ive system isthe form assum ed by the struggle for existence insocieties wh ich were con trolled by powerful centralgovernmen ts ; i t i s industrial freedom under conditionsOf legal i ty enforced by s trongly cons tituted governments . In earlier and less settled states Of society thestruggle for ex istence used to be decided by moredirec t and forcible me thods . In other days men slew

their rivals ; at the presen t t ime they undersell them .

And we need no t say that the compe t i tive system

has been a process Of selection,bring ing to the fron t , as

leaders of industry and also as heads Of society , thefi ttes t m en.

The struggle for ex istence,therefore

,has con tinued


through human history,and does sti ll continue . And

we may feel assured that under the pressure Of an

ever- increas ing pop ulation it w ill cont inue . The onlyquestion i s regard ing the form it is l ikely to take 1nthe h istoric cond it ions wh ich now tend to preva i l al l

over the world .

For no conclusive solution Of the populat ion questionis poss ible under any system . It has been a funda

mental d iffi culty s ince the beg inning Of hum an society,

and more than anyth ing else may be regarded as thekey to h istory . The migrations

,wars

,and conques ts

recorded in history have for the m ost part had theirorigin in want caused by the pressure of populat ion onthe extant means of subs istence . NO doubt , am bition ,vanity

,susp ic ion

,and restlessness have played a very

cons iderable part of the ir own in the m i litary annal s Ofthe race

,but not nearly so large a part as i s generally

supposed . H istorians have not given anything likeadequate attention to the econom ic factors which haveOften so dec isively Operated in human affairs .In its m ost comprehensive form

,indeed

,the popula

tion question does not concern the imm ed iate future,

for the world is not nearly replen ished with humanbeings . In all the countries dom inated by Europeanc iv il isation

,weal th has

,ow ing to the vast mechanical

development of the last hundred years,increased much

more rap idly than populat ion . But the question i sone wh ich does already practically concern the morepopulous centres ov er large areas of the world . In

many of the O ld seats Of populat ion,both in Europe



the improvement in material and econom ic conditions

will go hand in hand with eth ical advancement ; thatthe happiness of mankind will not be wrecked by theirrational and unrestrained grat ifica tion of a singlepassion . If the mass of the people remain as theyare

,ready to sacrifice their own happiness and that of

posterity to animal inst inct,the population question

cannot be solved,and the best hopes of human progress

must be unfulfilled .

For socialism,as we have explained it

,i t may be

claim ed that it gives the strongest guarantees that thedifficulty will receive the best and most rat ional treat ~

ment . As socialism generally means the supremacyOf reason and morals over the natural forces

,SO with

reference to the population question it means thatnatural appetite should be controlled by nobler andm ore rat ional feelings and principles . Under a socialistic system every member of the commun ity w ill beinterested in this as in every other serious question .

The general enl ightenment and the social consciencewil l most powerfully co-operate w ith the light and theconscience Of the individual to effect a reasonable anda beneficent solut ion

,as far as possible .

But we must now return to the questions with whichwe started—the relation Of socialism to the strugglefor ex istence , and to social progress as dependent onthe struggle for ex istence . As we have seen

,the

Darw in ian theory of the struggle for existence has thewidest appl ication to hum an soc iety and human history .


But the struggle for ex istence is not the sole principleOf social progress . Social progress proceeds from theinteraction

,the balance and harm ony

,Of m any prin

ciples. The general question of social development,in

wh ich that of progress is involved,must be regarded in

the light of the following considerations . Only we

must premise that they are not a contradiction Of the

Darwinian theory ; they are to be taken as a complement Of it

,and a

' correction Of the narrow and onesided conception Of the theory .

1 . The political , social , and ethical developm ent ofmank ind is largely a record of the endeavour to placethe struggle for existence under regulat ion . Progresschiefly and supremely cons is ts in the grow ing controlof eth ical principle over all the form s Of selfishness

,

ego tism,unscrupulousness

,and cruel ty called forth by

such struggle. In other words , progress m ainly consistsin the growing supremacy Of law

,order

,and moral ity

over the excess Of the self-regarding principle in wh ichthe ind ividual struggle has its root . We do not saythat this exhausts the meaning of the ethical developmen t Of man

,but it i s a most im portant aspect of it .

Thus the eth ical factor is the decis ive one in hum anprogress

,but i t has advanced p art p assu w i th the

general social and pol itical progress . We see i t in thecrudest and most elem entary form s when man emergedfrom the darkness O f pre - historic tim es

,and i t has

gradually developed into a noble complex o f ideal s ,informed by a grow ing knowledge and by w iden ingsympath ies . In short

,hum an progress has been a


continual effort towards the realisation O f the true,the

beautiful,and the good

,in such measure as was attain

able by each succeeding generation Of the race .

Not that the struggle for ex istence is herebyabolished . The struggle

,and the re gulat ion Of it too

,

are carried forward into a further stage of progress,to

be con t inued on a higher social and eth ical plane . Thehuman struggle generally is on a higher plane than thean imal one wh ich Darwin describes . It is a struggleon the plane Of an intell igence which never ceases todevelop

,amongst beings who pursue social and ethical

aim s w ith growing clearness and energy. If the resultsstil l fall so far below our aims

,i t is because our intelli

gence and means Of perform ance,though enlarging

,are

still very im perfect .What we call natural selection in the an imal world

is in hum an h istory transform ed,elevated

,and idealised ;

i t becomes social select ion . We m ay call it natural, ifwe please ; only, we m ust remem ber the greatly alteredcharacter Of the agen ts concerned in it . Wh i le at everystage we see moral and in tellectual grow th

,we must

particularly remem ber that the new soc iety for wh ichsocial ists strive w il l consist Of associated free beingsac ting under the regulation and stimulus of high ethicaland art istic ends and ideal s .Noth ing

,therefore

,can be more narrow and one

sided than to consider the struggle for ex istence as thesole lever Of hum an progress . Such one - s ided ins istenceon the idea of struggle is to deny the whole ethicaldevelopm ent Of the world .



bonds—a state Of th ings wh ich is st ill far from beingrealised

,but i t is in process .

In the evolu tion Of l iv ing things two factors havebeen dec isive

,the development Of brain power and the

developm en t of the social principle . We need scarcelyadd that the two are intimately connected , and furtherthat the brain power Of man i s closely co- ordinatedw ith his physical development . The supremacy of

man is due to h is brain power and to his readinessto associate for common ends

,far more than to his

strength or hardihood,in wh ich he is greatly excelled

by o ther animals . The ent ire history Of civilisation

bears w i tness to the potency Of the two factors ; fori t is a tru ism to say that the comm unities and racesthat have excelled in brain power and in the familyand social moral it ies have prevailed . A rational

socialism m ight be defined as the mastery Of associatedhum an in telligence over the resources of nature forthe general good . In th is respect

,also

,the success O f

socialism would s im ply m ark the continuous developmen t Of man along the tested and approved lines Of

progress .

It is no doubt one Of the many exaggerations Of

Lassalle,due partly to h is func tion Of agitator

,that he

laid excessive em phasis on the principle Of commun ityas the l ever of progress

,compared with the individual

principle . Progress has always depended 0 11 the actiont l l Cl interaction O f both principles . I t is rather an idlequestion , wh ich of the two is the more important ; l ikethat other question , whether the great man makes the

SOC IAL ISM AND THE EVOLUTION THEORY 307

age,or the age m akes the great man . The man and

the age make each other .We know the great influence Often exerted in history

by exceptional bra in power or character,and both are

often associated w i th a prominen t indiv idual . Bu thigh ind iv idual capacity is usually

,if not always

,found

in an age and communi ty with a high average Of talen t .

Well-organised and well—endowed societ ie s are mos tlikely to produce the strongest and fines t individuals

,

and it is only in such societies that the greates tind ividuals are likely to find adequate scope for theirpowers. We cannot form a just est imate Of our

subj ect unless we give due we ight to both principles,

but obviously the danger to society l ies in the excessivedevelopm ent Of the indi vidual princ iple . H istory hastoo Often witnessed the abnorm al development of privateselfishness

,so overgrown as to weaken and finally

dissolve the soc iety in whi ch it acted,thus accomplish

ing i ts own destruction . Thi s is indeed the Open secretof the ruin of

i

most communities that have ex isted .

We should seek in va in for an instance Of a commun i tyru ined by excess ive regard for the public good . Ahappy and wholesome individual development can besecured only by heal thy relat ion and due subord inationto society and the common weal .It w ill be seen

,then

,that the principle O f social ity or

of association plays a specially important part in hum andevelopm en t. Ye t in close connect ion w i th i t we againObserve the wide operation of the struggle for ex is tence .

The struggle for ex i stence is not'

only a struggle O f


individuals against each other. It has also been a

struggle Of tribe against tribe,of city against city, of

nation aga inst nat ion , and race against race . In theexisting society it is

,m oreover

,a struggle Of classes

against each other. Considered in this aspect , whichis too obvious to require illustration

,the struggle for

existence has assumed the most com pl icated form s,and

has had the greatest influence in the hi story Of the

world . And the intensity of the struggle has calledforth some Of the highest human qual ities—inv entiv eness

,capacity for organisation

,submission to

discipline,enthus iasm

,heroism , and self-sacrifice. The

struggle,hateful though it be in many respects

,has

been one Of the great train ing schools Of the humanrace.

Modern European history is an impressive example

Of the importance Of this struggle for existence . Theprogress of Europe is greatly owing to the fact that inth is continent we have a group Of comm unities whichare closely related

,yet independent

,and rivals . In

every department Of activ i ty they learn from each other,

and spur one another on by continual em ulation . Each

must follow i ts rivals in the adoption Of every new

improvement, under penalty of decline and even ruin .

Comm un ities l ike China and India in the old world,and

the native States O f Mex ico and Peru in the new world,

w ere isolated,and therefore stationary .

Under the exist ing cond it ions,a social organisation

favourable to the developm ent Of the intelligence,

energy , and enthusiasm of the m ass O f the people is



rightly understood,may be regarded as a new phase Of

the discipl ine of hum an ity . For the transition intosocialism

,if attainable at all

,will be more d ifficult

than m any suppose . It must be gradual , preparmg theminds and morals

,the hab its and institutions

,of the

m ass Of the people for a higher form of social- economiclife . As isolated individuals

,the work ing class have

no prospect of success . They can make progress onlyby practis ing the virtues Of comb inat ion

,foresight

,

self-control, self-denial, discernmen t in choosing theirleaders

,loyalty

,unwearying perseverance in well - doing.

These qual ities have been already cultivated in themby means Of their trade - unions and cO - Operativesocieties . The process Of socialistic evolution w illcarry on the process of social - economic educat ion .

Socialism must therefore be regarded as providingan economic and social discipl ine for all m en who have

the requisite insight,and particularly for the working

class,who are its special representatives and promoters .

It w ill O ffer fresh scope and Opportuni ty to the work ingclass as a whole. But it w il l also be a process Of

social selection ; for, while invit ing all , it w il l attractthe fittest and most worthy

,and lead them on to

h igher things .

CHAPTER XIII

RECENT PROGRESS OF SOC IAL ISM

DURING recent years the organised socialism has madenotable progress in nearly al l parts O f Europe . The

Germ an work ing men stil l continue to form the vanguardOf the proletariat O f the world . At the general elect ionO f 1 893 the Social Democrats polled vo tes

,

which was an increase of nearly on the largefigures of 1 890. At the general elect ion of 1 898 the

Social Democratic vote rose to abou t Theirseats in the Reichstag increased from 4 8 to 56, out O f atotal of 397.

There is no change to record in the principles o f

this powerful party. I ts tactics,wh ile rem ain ing

essentially the same,naturally vary to some degree

accord ing to circumstances . It adheres to the Erfurtprogramme . I ts s ingle -m inded aim i s the advocacyand promo tion Of the in terests and ideals O f thework ing class of G erm any w i thout comprom ise andw ithout alliance w i th o ther parties

,though i t i s ready

to co-operate w i th them in particular questions . Theparty consi stently refuses to vote for the imperialbudge ts

,no t only because they are des igned for the


support of m i l itarism,but because they are so largely

m ade up of ind irect taxes that throw an unfair burdenon the poorer classes . TO the high tariff, wh ich ,after long discussion

,cam e into Operation in 1 906

,

they Offered the most strenuous resistance . The SocialDemocrats are also in general Opposed to the colonialpol icy of the emp ire . They are the champ ions Of thedemocratic rights Of the people , of free speech , Of a

free press,and especially O f the right of combination

,

which was lately threatened by the Emperor. In al lm atters relating to factory legislation and the better

protection Of the work ing class in i ts da i ly life andvocation they are forward both to make suggestionsthem selves and to assist any legislation wh ich is reallyfitted to contribute towards these important ends.They cla im

,in fact

,to be the representat ives and advo

cates in the w idest sense of the work ing class of Germ any

,and are Opposed to all measures which tend to

strengthen the clas s S tate to wh ich they are so en tirelyOpposed . Wh ile express ing a preference for peacefulm ethods

,they still regard as probable a great crisis or

catastrophe by which they wil l gain pol i tical powerand so real ise their collectiv ist ideal . Such a cris is will

,

they say,be brought on no t by them bu t by the ruling

classes, of which the class S tate i s the represen tative .At the Annual Congress at Stuttgart in 1 898 the

busts of Marx and Lassalle appeared on the platformam idst laurels and palm s . The busts of Lassal le

,Karl

Marx,and Engels were grouped am idst ferns and flowers

round an allegorical figure O f Liberty on the platform at



legislation and the co-Operative movement in Englandwere not only good results

,they were the victories of

new principles . As we have seen,he bel ieved that in

America,England

,and Holland the workmen m ight

attain their goal by peaceful means . In a milder timeit would only be cons isten t that th is m i lder side Of

Marx Should be m ore emphas ised by his followers .The necessity for a crit icism Of Marx as a condi t ion

of the further development of his teach ing has recentlybeen pointed ou t by Eduard Bernstein

,form erly editor

of the Sozialdemolcm t, This cri ticism he attempted ina mem orial addressed to the Congress at Stuttgart

,

and more fully in 1 899 in a book Die Voraussetzungenales Sozz

'

alz'

smns and die Aufgaben der Sozialolemooratz’

e.

Bernste in’ s crit icism is appl ied more or less to al l thelead ing pos itions of Marx , h is materialistic conceptionOf history

,h is d ialectical method

,his theory O f surplus

value,h is revolutionary concept ion of social develop

ment wh ich looks forward to a great catastrophe as theclose of the capitalistic era . He m aintains that statisticsdo not favour the theory that a social catastrophe i s1mm 1nent as the re sult of a class war carried on by acontinually increasing host of impoverished and degraded proletarians against a d im in ish ing band Of the

colossal m agnates of capitalism,and has greater fai th

in a peaceful evolution through the democratic transformation Of the State

,the extens ion of m un icipal

socialism and of the co-operative movem ent. We need

not say that we believe that these cri ticism s are in theright direction.

RECENT PROGRESS OF SOC IAL I SM 31 5

Bernste in ’s book m ade a great stir in Germ any,and

rece ived a l imited support at the Hanover meeting .

But a resolution,wh ich was m oved by Bebel in a long

and able Speech , and wh ich affirm ed the old pos i tionsof the party aga inst Bernstein

,was carried by an over

whelm ing majori ty .

The abstract collect ivism Of the German SocialDemocratic party is not fi tted to ensure success amongthe peasantry . Yet at the election of 1 898 they gainedground in m any agricultural districts east Of the Elbe.We may presume that these results were Obtainedch iefly among the purely labouring class as distingu ishedfrom the men who own their farms . But they donot despair of also w inn ing over the peasant owners

,

many Of whom are heav ily burdened w i th m ortgages .The peasan t owner is Often proprietor only in nam e

,

be ing really caretaker for the mortgagee,and there

fore merely a dependent of the cap i tal ist.A ll previous successes of the Germ an Social Dem o

crats were ecl ipsed by the triumph at the generalelection of 1 903

,when they counted votes ,

and returned 8 1 members . Of the en tire pol l theyhad 32 per cent

,or nearly one - th ird . I t was an

increase of

The number of their seats in the Reichstag nevercorrespond to the ir votes at the elect ions . There hasbeen no Redistribution Act s ince the found ing of theEm p ire

,and the strength O f the party l ies in the towns ,

wh ich hav e grown enorm ously since 1 87 1 . Even underthe most favourable circum stances they hav e l it tle


d irect influence on the legislation of Germany,and st i ll

less on the executive . wh ich depends on the Emperorand h is m in isters . The rOle prescribed to them bytheir circumstances i s v igi lant scrut iny and outspokencriticism . They are an oppos i t ion party. In fact

,

they are more and m ore becom ing the only effectiveopposition party in Germany .

At the Jena meet ing O f 1 905 the bust Of Liebknecht,

who died in 1 900, held a place of honour on the platform bes ide those of Marx and Lassalle . Changes oforgan isat ion aim ing at greater energy and efficiencywere introduced . This meeting elected a party direction

(Parteivorstand) Of two cha irmen , four secretaries anda treasurer

,with the two assessors chosen by the

Board of Control. It thus cons isted of nine members .The Board Of Control

,wh ich acts as check on this

execu tive,also num bers n ine mem bers . Among the

subj ects discussed w ere the dearness Of meat and othernecessaries O f l ife caused by the German protectivesystem

,and the question O f the general strike

,intro

duced in a masterly speech by Bebel,who advocated

i t as a poss ible resource in case universal suffrage bewithdrawn

,or the right O f comb inat ion be infringed by

the Government. A resolution in th is sense was inprinciple adopted by a very large m ajori ty. It was

confirm ed at the Mannheim m eet ing in 1 906 .

The German Social Democrats do not insist onuniversal suffrage in the hope of exerci sing any imm ed iate influence on the Governm ent or in the Reichstag.

They regard it rather as an instrum ent of agitation and



there are not only battal ions but whole regim en ts inthe arm y which consist Of Social Democrats

,and when

the Reserve and the Landwehr are called out,whole

brigades are formed Of them 1 The rais ing of the tariffhas been to the party a most helpful subject Of

agitation,wh ich they have used to the uttermost .

M olkenbuhr,one Of the ir leaders

,looks forward to the

doubl ing of their adherents in a few years.At the general election of 1 907 the party had

votes,but ow ing to the more act ive com bina

tion against it Of other parties i t returned only 43members. The congress at Nii rnberg in 1 908 was

notable for the first serious Opposition to the rigiddiscipl ine of the party. The claim of the South G ermanm embers to vote for the budgets of their governmentswas maintained by a minori ty Of 1 1 9 against 258 .

It was not til l 1 894 tha t a Social Democratic partywas founded in Holland . I t is making progress : inthe general elect ion Of 1 897 it counted votes

,

and returned 3 m embers ou t of 1 00. In 1 901 i t hadvotes

,and returned 7 m embers, and there was

besides an independent socialist member. It had

votes and 7 members in 1 905 . An interesting

feature Of the Dutch movement is the sympatheticrecept ion which social ism has met among the artistand intellectual class generally . I t is curious thatanarchism has had considerable influence

,which

,how

ever,is decl ining .

In Denmark the social democratic movem ent began

1 Protolcoll O f the party m eeting at Jena, p . 298 .

RECENT PROGRESS OF SOC IAL ISM 31 9

in 1 871 , and i t continues to have a strong and growinginfluence . At the general election Of 1 903 the partyreturned 1 6 members out Of 1 1 4

,polling votes .

In 1 906 i t polled votes and returned 24

m embers to the popular chamber. For some tim ebefore 1 902 half of the members Of the m un icipalcounci l of Copenhagen were socialists . The mayoralso was one Of the party . Denmark may stil l righ tfully be regarded as the most progressive country inEurope. Even in Norway and Sweden the socialistsare gain ing ground . They claim to have wielded aconsiderable influence in securing the peaceful separat ion Of the two coun tries .NO country in Europe has during recent years

had a more interesting social history than Belgium . In

hardly any country has the work ing class endured suchm isery. Ignorance

,long hours of labour and low

wages , the want of political righ ts and of organisation,

have for generations tended to keep the workers inthe lowest estate. Al l the more remarkable

,therefore

,

is the awakening which has re cen tly taken place . The

Belgian socialist party can now muster at the poll s

a voting strength of about half a m i ll ion,and in a

chamber Of 1 66 i t returns about one -fifth. In 1 900 ithad 33

,in 1 902 it had 34

,in 1 904 only 28 , in 1 906

i t had 30,and 34 in 1 908 . The organisation of the trade

unions i s wel l developed . But the distinctive featureo f the social movement Of Belgium is i ts co- Operat iveundertakings . These are alfiliated to the socialistmovement

,and form an adm irable tra ining on i ts m ore


pract ical s ide . The Belgian socialist party is special lyfortunate in such leaders as Anseele and Vandervelde.

France,wh ich was so long the foremost nation in

the revolutionary movement,has for the last three

decades yielded the first place to Germany. The

terrible d isasters sustained by the working m en O f

Paris in 1 848 and 1 87 1 quelled their revolutionaryenergy for a tim e . The first working men ’s congressafter the Comm une m et in 1 876, and at the congress O fMarse i lles in 1 879 a socialist party was organised . I trem ained a un i ted party til l 1 882

,when it polled

votes . S ince that year French social ism has

been frui tful in d ivision . In View Of the danger whichin 1 899 appeared to threaten the Republic in connect ion w ith the Dreyfus case

,the socialist parties com

bined in common action for its defence. For this

purpose they formed a permanent comite d’

entente

socialiste. Five important socialist organ isations wereincluded in the agreem en t . The good understandingwas broken when the social ist M i llerand entered theemergency Cabinet Of that year. W i thout going intodetail s

,i t is enough to say t hat there have been two

m ain tendencies in French social ism—the uncom pro

m ising revolutionary school wh ich adheres to Marx ,and an opportun ist or p ossibilist school which hasbeen ready to co-Operate w i th other democratic part ies .The first -nam ed school natural ly obj ected to M illerandentering the Cabinet.Socialism is rap idly becom ing a pow er in France.

According to M. Marcel Fournier, in the Revue P olitigue



was in favour of a graduated incom e-tax,the eight

hours ’ day, and the restoration of m onopol ies' to the

State . What w e m ay call the prevail ing republ icanatmosphere is m ost favourable to social ju stice and

the claims of labour: But i t would be a very seriousmistake to believe that France i s at al l conv incedof the reasonableness or practicabil i ty of the abstractcollectivism of the socialist party . When a m otionfor the substitution of collect ive property for in

dividual property was put to the vote at the close ofthe debate

,it was rej ected by 505 to only 55 . AS at

present advised,France w ill have nei ther clerical ism

nor collectivism .

The soc ialists form a m ajority in m any of the mostimportan t French comm unes, and exercise great praetical influence on their work . Thus they are taking alarge part in the national and local l ife of France.Revolutionary feeling tend ing to anarch ism has

considerable influence i n France,especial ly among the

trade un ions (Syndicate ow ners) .

The Ital ian social ist party defin itely separated itsel ffrom anarch ism and form ed a d istinct organ isation at acongress in Genoa in 1 892 . Its career has been a hard

and troubled one . There has been much di scord in itsown household . The government was for som e years

openly hostile. It has been concerned in m any strikesand popular di sturbances . The working classes of Italy

,

we must remember,were from an educational

,econom ic

,

and pol i t ical point of view at an inferior stage Of pro

gress . Between the various provinces,and especially

RECENT PROGRESS OF SOC IAL I SM 323

between the north and south,th e differences of develop

ment were very serious . Italy has had long to suffer fromthe burden of a div ided and depressed historical past .At the general election of 1 892

.

the party had onlyvotes and returned 6 deput ies . The next elec

tions showed a rap id increase,til l in 1 900 they counted

votes and returned 32 m em bers to the Chamber.On that occas ion an alliance w i th the rad icals and re

publ icans partly accounted for the increase of membersreturned . At the general election of 1 904 the partyhad a voting strength of but returned only 27

members .

For some t im e after 1 900 the Government was notonly sympathetic

,but in some degree dependent on the

party for support. As in other countries,there is a

reform ist or m oderate and a revolutionary w ing in theItal ian social ist party. The latter takes a syndical ist

or trade un ion form and i s largely imbued w ithanarch ism . At the c ongress at Rom e in 1 906 a new

m ovement called integralism became supreme. The

integralists a im ed at combining the best and mosteffecti ve methods of al l sections

,gradual reform when

poss ible,but v iolence also

,and the general strike if

necessary . Thev are an t i -m onarchical and an ti - clerical .The I talian social ists have been act ive not only in

organis ing strikes but in m un icipal work and in co

operat ive undertak ings . A m arked feature in the briefhistory of the party has been i ts success in org anis ingthe peasantry . O ne of these peasan t com binations ,wi th a membership o f held a national congress


at Bologna in 1 901 and form ed a national federat ion .

I n that and the follow ing year m any agrarian strikeswere successful

,and brought a l i ttle im provement in

the hard lot of the rural workers in Italy. I t was anotable awaken ing of labour

,in wh ich the party took a

leading share. When we consider the very backwardcond ition of Italy and the short period during whichthe party has been in existence

,we must regard i ts

success as rem arkable.

After m ak ing some progress the VVork ing-Men ’s

Socialist Party of Spain has declined in recent years .The number of i ts votes for the Cham ber decreasedfrom in 1 904 to in 1 905 . It has

,how

ever,succeeded in sending representatives to a good

number of m unicipalities and communes. The pol i ticaland industrial l ife Of Spain has been in a most depressedcond i tion .

Bes ides the Parl iam entary Socialism,wh ich is based

more or less on Marx,anarch ism has always found a

congen ial so il in Spain,Italy

,and other countries where

m isery and Oppress 1on have been hered itary for somany centuries

,and which even ye t have not learned

hab i ts of self- con trol,of free d iscussion

,and Open

action . It i s such an unhappy env ironm ent that produced the assass ins of Pres iden t Carnot, the Empresso f Austria

,and K ing Hum bert of Italy . Anarchism is

very powerful and widespread in the south O f Spain .

We may note a rapid progress of soc ialism in EasternEurope . Even Servia and Bulgaria have social istparties

,wh ich are affi l iated to the Internat ional . In



was suppressed,and for several years there was com

parative quiet . Among the innovat ing party a feelingset in that they

‘

had been trying to force the m arch ofnatural evolution

,and a tendency prevai led to awai t

the t im e when the econom ic development of the countrywould m ake revolut ionary action pract icable . Under

a very h igh tariff the industrial revolution made rap idprogress . Large factories soon led to the creation of anum erous proletariat

,with the usual strikes . A gigan tic

strike at S t . Petersburg in 1 896 may be regarded as thestarting-po int Of a new revolutionary movem ent aris ingnaturally out of m odern industrial conditions. A SocialDemocratic Party

,wh ich laid great emphasi s on the

doctrines Of Marx,originated in this way. The Russian

socialists were for the first t im e represented at an International Congress in London

,1 896.

Groups of socialists,however

,had been rising up

and tak ing shape all over the country,and it was fel t

by many that they could not wait for the unfolding O fthe econom ic evolution

,and that in the special c ircum

stances Oi Russ ia a strenuous revolut ionary action wasnecessary . Some surviving mem bers Of the old re volu

tionary party helped to supply the nucleus of a SocialistRevolutionary Party

,which was accordingly form ed

towards the end of 1 901 . There were now two

im portant social ist parties in the empire : the SocialDem ocrats

,who emphas ised the need for awa iting the

econom ic d evelopm ent O f Russ ia,including the full

creation of the proletariat,and the Social ist Revola

tionary Party . The first party had l ittle hope of

RECENT PROGRESS OF SOC IAL ISM 327

leading the peasantry into the movement, so long asthey were no t expropriated by the growth of the greatestates . The second party insis ted on an energeticpropaganda among the peasantry as well as an activecampaign against the Tzardom and i ts servan ts .Bes ides these two part ies we find in Lithuania

,

Russ ian Poland,and other parts ofWestern Russ ia

,a

social ist organisat ion of Jew ish workm en cal led theB and . I t is the pecul iar fate O f the Jews in Russ iathat their revolut ionary act ivi ty renders them obnox iousto the Governm en t

,wh i lst the e x actions Of the usurers

and dealers of the same race make them hateful topeasantry and workers . The Jewish quest ion in Russ iacan be understood only by due recognition of both

points .The anarchists also are stil l active in Russia . And

among the peasantry there is an ag rarian movem en t,wh ich may be regarded as the most powerful of all ,though vague and ill- organ ised . As we saw in ourchapter on anarchism

,the revolution in Russ ia was

an exot ic or im portat ion from abroad in the re ign ofAlexander II . I t has now taken roo t in the so i l andvery strongly shows the influence of cond i tions peculiarto the country . Mut in ies in flee t and army, s trikes andpopular ris ings

,m assacres

,assassinations

,eonflagration,

and p illage seem to portend the d issolution Sooner or

later of an ancient society and a long- establ ished autocracy . The socialists have been the most active agentsin the appall ing movem en t .After the decl ine of the Owen ag itation and of the


Chri stian Social ist m ovem en t in 1 850, socialism couldhardly be said to ex is t in England

,and where i t

attracted any attention at al l,it was generally regarded

as'

a revolutionary curiosity pecul iar to the Con tinent,

with l i ttle practical interest for a free and normalcountry like our own . As we have seen

,the English

workm en took a considerable share in the found ing ofthe In ternational in 1 864 and subsequently . But on

the fuller developm ent of the revolutionary tendenciesof that m ovement , and especial ly after the great disaster

of the Commune at Paris,socialism lost the not very

serious hold which it had found among the Englishworking class . There had indeed always been a groupof men who were influenced by personal intercoursewith Karl Marx and Engels during their long residencein this coun try

,but they were mostly of foreign extrac

tion , and had no wide relations with the Engl ish workmen .

About 1 883 Engl ish socialism took a fresh start,

ind irectly through the influence of Henry George,and

directly through the teaching of Karl Marx . By his

vigorous and sympathetic eloquence Henry Georgegained a hearing for op in ions which were not distinctlysocialistic

,but certa inly tended to d isturb the existing

modes of though t . Though it led to l ittle positiveresult

,the ag itation connected w ith his name was

really the beginn ing of a rad ical change in Englisheconomies . A variety of causes , among wh ich we maymention the agrarian agitation in Ireland

,and the

legi slation which was designed to m eet i t,had contri



m ostly young men,clever, ful l of in i tiative, and little

d isposed to bow before accepted authori ty. They are

social ists whose aim has ‘ been first to educate themselves in the econom ic

,social

,and pol itical ques tion s of

the t im e,and then to educate the Engl ish people in

the ir v iews,or

,to use the ir own language

,to per

m eate f’ Engl ish Society w ith progress ive soc ial ist

ideas. The Fabian Essays on Socialism ,by seven of i ts

lead ing members,publ ished in 1 890

,a work wh ich has

been the chief l iterary product of the Soc iety,have had

a great success. By i ts popular lectures and d iscussions

,by i ts tracts and its articles in the monthly

rev iews,as well as by its act iv i ty in the press

,the

Fab ian Soc iety has undoubtedly done m uch toward thepermeation of public op inion w ith a progress ive evola

tionary socialism . The tracts,of which there is now a

large number,have been always able

,generally well

informed,and often brillian t. A tract by one of its

members on the Workm en’s Compensation Act,issued

in 1 898,had a circulation of the first year of

i ts publ ication . Important works on a large scalehave been The History of Trade Unionism and I n

dustr ial Democracy by Mr. and Mrs. S idney Webb .

The wr itings of Mr. G . B . Shaw and of Mr. H . G . \Vells

have done much to startle m en ’s minds out of the oldway of th ink ing . In 1 908 the m em bership of theFab ian Society had increased to 2500 in the Londonsoc iety

,and 500 m ore in local societies . We give i ts

Bas i s in the Appendix .

The Independent Labour Party,formed in 1 89


was an organ isation of social ists w ith a v iew topoli tical action . I t v as to a large ex ten t an offshootfrom Fabian i sm in the prov inces

,and m any of its

leading m embers are Fabians . It has kept i tself inclose touch with trade un ions .Al l sections of recen t English social ism have in

cluded men of real ab i l ity and cul ture,and the move

ment has been marked by s incere conv iction,generous

enthusiasm,and hard work in a great cause . For som e

years after its rise,in 1 883, it had considerable in

fluence in the country. Its miss ion was to rouse menof al l classes out of the individuali stic routine wh ichhad so long been prevalen t. Trade un ion ists and co

operators were the objects of denunciation not less

unsparing than that which they poured upon themiddle class . The d i sturbances in Trafalgar Square in1 88 7 made no l ittl e stir ; and the Dock S trike inLondon

,which was so ably conducted by John

Burns in 1 889,for a time gave the movem ent a

national importance . I t almost seemed at one periodas if Engl ish publ ic opinion was veering round toSocial ism . The reaction which was bound to se tin was certainly due in part to the vehen ience

and extravagance of the soc ialistic orators,and to

their want of sk i ll and insigh t in adapting the irtheories to the atmosphere of the Engl i sh m ind .

I t is clear that recent Engl ish social ism has been

too loyal to Marx . This particularly appl ies to theSocial Dem ocratic Federat ion

,now the Social Dem o

cratic ’arty . But even the Fab ian bas is has im


pl ications wh ich are ultra - revolutionary , and hardlyconsistent w ith a peaceful and orderly evolution .

At the general election of 1 895 , the organisedsoc ialism in England polled only about votes.The m ass of the Engl ish working men still voted w iththe old pol itical parties . On the other hand

,the

Trade‘ Union Congresses,representing over a m ill ion

workers,for several years passed resolutions of a

collect ivis t nature by large m ajorities,show ing that

when the man or m en appear that know how to give

vo ice and form to the half- articulate or laten t socialismof the country it may have a great future.In 1 900 steps were taken towards the political

organisation of labour on a wider scale than formerly .

There was formed a Labour Representation Comm itteein which trade un ions

,the Independent Labour Party

,

the Social Democrat ic Federation,and the Fabian

Soc iety were represented . The Social DemocraticFederation retired

,however

,at the end of the first year.

The new committee had been too recently formed

to take much part in the general election of 1 900.

Yet it then returned two members,and two more at

subsequent by- elections . At the general election of1 906 it had a great success

,and produced an impression

even greater on the national m ind . As there was nodefini te dividing l ine at the election between socialismand labour on the one hand

,or between labour and

l iberalism on the other,it is impossible to speak pre~

cisely as to the results . The comm ittee hadvotes and returned 30 m embers to the House of



of America or in the English colonies . Books like

Bellam y ’s Looking Backward have made a great impression

,but ‘ in a vague way . Labour questions

have,on the other hand

,atta ined to a very h igh

state of development. The.

struggle between tradeun ion ism and the employers’ combinations is carriedon with an energy and comprehensiveness which canhardly be equalled in any part of the old world .

Austral ia has a Labour Party wh ich is well organisedand well led and takes a most honourable place in therecently constituted Commonwealth . It even formedthe government in 1 904

,though it d id not retain power

long . It is,however

,m ost powerful when out of power

,

as it then holds the balance between the other twoparties . The party is to a great degree social istic inaim and tendency . I t was in pow er again in 1 908 .

During recent years we have seen in Am erica atransform ation wh ich i s w ithout parallel in the h istoryof the world . T ill the m iddle of the nineteenthcentury the Un ited States m igh t be described as an

agricultural country,which

,apart from negro slavery

,

had no division of classes,no poverty

,and no social

question . It was a h ighly favoured region wh ich tothe most energetic and enterprising of the workingclasses of Europe had for generations been a Land ofProm ise . The early settlers had in the main brough tfrom England all that was best and h ighest in respectof character

,bel ief

,and institutions . In particular, for

the plan ting of New England the “ finest of the wheatwas s ifted from the most progressive counties of


England ; and as the area of emigration w idened i tembraced the best elem ents in the British Isles and innorth -western Europe

,the best endow ed and the most

progress ive in the world . The country they cam e tolive in had resources

,and offered Opportunities wh ich

were almost boundless . In the developm en t of thecountry from the first settlem ent of Virginia there wasjust enough of difficulty to stim ulate and correct theenergies of a free people .A m arvellous set of new conditions came into

operation in the latter half of the nineteenth cen tury .

The industrial re volution ran its course w i th aston ishing rapid ity and thoroughness , and on a scale absolutelyunprecedented . The Republ ic now has a gigantic

mach ine industry and a vast railway and financial

system organ ised in trusts which are control led by afew men w ealthy beyond example in history

,and i t

has also got a large wage- earning class,the unem ployed

,

poverty and slum s . If the commonwealth has not

already become a plutocracy,it appears to be on the

downward way to i t.I f the wage- earn ing class consisted of fully trained

Am erican c i tizens,the situation would be clearer. I t i s

compl icated by the fact tha t for m any years theRepubl ic has rece ived an enormous number of imm igrants from the

'

less - advanced coun tries of easternand sou thern Europe , and has the very d iffi cul t task ofraising them to i ts own h igh

.

s tanda.rd o f citizensh ip .

The general result i s that Am erica i s con fronted w i ththe vast problem

,wh ich social ism has undertaken to


solve, in its m ost formidable form . Between a highly

organised and gigantic cap ital ism and a continuallyincreasing labour class which is largely composed ofnew immigrants

,and is only partially organised

,a w ide

gulf is fixed . A grow ing chasm threatens to dividethe commonweal th in two . This rent i s m ade manifestin the s trikes

,which degenerate into private war and

even into c ivi l war. Socialists maintain that theyhave been repressed with a severity and brutal i tyknown in Russia alone . As yet the organised socialismhas made only moderate progress . In 1 902 , however,a resolution in favour o f socialism obtained about halfthe votes a t the congress of the Am erican Federation ofLabour

,which numbered over members . At

the presidential election of 1 904 the socialist candidate

Eugene V. Debs received votes,in 1 908 he had

votes. It was widely recognised that the pres idential elect ion of 1 908 turned on the vote of organi sed labour. The Republ ican and Democrat ic candidates both m ade special appeal to organised labour andmade a special effort to ga in its vote . It is obv iousthat the gigant ic growth of the trust system in Americahas quickened inquiry into the most fundam ental quest ions of industrial and social order. The programm e ofthe Kn ights of Labour was for m anv years the nearest

approach to social ism made by any great labour combination in America. But there can be no doubt nowthat Ameri ca contains all the elemen ts which favourthe growth of social ism

,and especially of the labour

organisations which make for socialism .



stances it is not surpris ing that we do not at present

possess a settled political economy .

We m ay best cons ider the growing influence ofsocialisti c ideas on current opin ion under the following

heads1 . On the theory of the State’s relation to labour.

The attitude of m ost governments to the organisedsocialism is naturally unfriendly ; but the acceptedview of the relat ion of the State to the working andsuffering classes has marvellously changed in recentyears . Whereas not m any years ago the policy and

principles of government took l ittle account of the

imasses of the people,i t is now a recogni sed duty of the

iState to care for them . So com plete has the trans

formation been,that it will soon requ ire a considerable

knowledge of history to real ise i t,for the tim es when

the claims of the lower orders were ignored are alreadybeginning to pass out of the m emory of the younger

and most active portion of the community.

2 . The relation of pol i tical economy to socialism .

We have already referred to the influence of socialproblems on the classical pol itical economy of thiscoun try . The development of J. S . Mill ’s econom ic

views from loyal adherence to Ricardo,to a reason

able socialism,cannot be regarded as representative,

seeing that he has so entirely outstripped h is scholars .In recent important works on economics we see indeedonly a moderate recognition of the new influences, but

they do no t comm and the assent of the publ ic as form erly

,the result being that English Pol itical Economy


rem ains in a m ost unsettled problematical and unsatis

factory cond i tion .

Here again Germ any leads the way. The soc ialismof the chair is no t to any large ex tent really socialist ic .But i t includes among its representatives eminentprofessors and other economists

,who recogn ise the

h istorical and eth ical s ides of political economy,who

go far in giving labour problems their due place inthe treatm ent of their subj ect

,and who have made

most important concession s to the sociali stic criticismof the ex isting society and the prevalent pol it icaleconomy. One of the most notable of l iving Germ aneconom ists and sociologists, Al bert Schaffle, is morethan historical ; h is great work Ban and Leben dcs

socialen Korp crs i s a construct ion of society from theevolution point of view . In the same work he has even

expressed h is conviction that ‘the future belongs to

the purified socialism,

’ though later utterances m akeh is attitude som ewhat doubtful . However that may

be,he has brought to the study o f soc ial problem s a

comb ination of learning,of ph i losophic insight directed

by the best l ight of h is tim e,and of sym pathy inspired

by the cause of the poor man,which is not equalled

by any living economis t . No great l i ving econom isthas been so powerfully influenced by social ist speenlation .

3 . The relation of the Christian Church to social ism .

—I t i s a most serious m istake to suppose that therecan be any real antagon ism between the e thical andspiri tual teach ing of Christ ian itv and the principles o f


socialism rightly understood. The difficulty i s how toreconcile the prevalent compet it ive system with anyreasonable conception of Christian eth ics . We can nowsee that Christianity was a strong assertion of the m ora land sp iri tual forces against the struggle for existence

,

which had assumed such a hard,cruel

,and vicious form

in ancient civil isation and in the Roman world . The

Christian Church d id much to soften and then to abolishslavery and serfdom

,into wh ich the peeples defeated

in the struggle for existence had been forced . Aright comprehension of the Christian li fe and of the

spiri t and tendency of Christian history should show thatthe Church should also use its influence against the continuanee of the struggle for existence in the competitive

system,and in favour of the less fortunate who in the

course of that form of struggle have been driven to precarious wage-labour as their only means of livel ihood .

Some of the prom inen t Spokesmen of the Churchhave clearly seen that the competitive system is not cons istent with Christian teaching. As we have alreadyseen

,Maurice and K ingsley denounced the Manchester

school,started the Christian Socialist movement of 1 848 ,

and gave a very considerable impetus to co-operation .

The participation of the Catholic Church of Germany

in the social question dates from the period of theLassalle agitation . In 1 863 Dollinger recomm endedthat the Church should intervene in the movement

,

and Bishop von Ketteler of Mainz lost no t ime inexpressing sympathy w ith Lassalle . In a treatise

entitled Die Arbeiterf rage and das Christenthnm (1 864)


342 H I STORY OF SOC IALI SM

great ; and for several years the Social Democrats madeno progress in Ca thol ic d i stricts .The socialist act ivity of the Protestant Church of

Germ any dates from 1 8 78 . The most importantl i terary product of the m ovem ent is a work by PastorTod t ent i tled Der radikale deutsche Socialismns and die

christliche Gescllschaf t. In th is work Todt condem nsthe econom ics of liberalism as unchristian

,and seeks

to show that the ideals of l iberty,equal ity

,and

fraternity are ent irely Scriptural,as are also the

soc ial ist demands for the abol ition of private propertyand of the wage system

,that the labourer should have

the full produce of h is labour,and that labour should

be associated . The ch ief leader of ’ the movement wasthe Court preacher Stocker

,the head also of the ant i

Sem itic agitation,wh ich i s largely traceable to econom ic

causes . S tocker founded two associa tions—a cent ral

union for social reform,consisting of m embers of the

m iddle classes interested in the enrancipation of labour,and a Christian social work ing m en ’s party. The

former has had cons iderable success,especial ly am ong

the Lutheran clergy . The m ovement m et with them ost strenuous res is tance from the Social Democraticparty

,and was greatly hampered by the ant i- social ist

law of 1 878 .

In recent years al l the sections of the ChristianChurch in England have felt the influence of thedem ocratic m ovement

,and have shown a commendable

interest in social questions . Among Catholics the mostnotable representative of th is new sp iri t was Card inal


Manning. The Report on Socialism made to the

Pan-Anglican Conference,wh ich m et at Larnbetlr in

1 888,by the commi ttee appointed to deal with the

question,was also a rem arkable s ign of the tim es . Th is

{eport accepted what should be regarded as the mainaim of social ism—the reun ion of capital and labourthrough the principle of association . Wi thout expressing an Op in ion on the Report

,the Conference comm ended

it to the cons ideration of the people . The ChristianSocial Un ion

,founded in 1 889 by members of the

Church of England,has done good service . Its aim

is to study ‘ how to apply the moral truths andprinciples of Christianity to the social and economicdiffi cul ties of the present tirne .

’ The late Dr. Westcott,

Bishop of Durham,took a lead ing part in founding

and gu iding i t. It is open to Conservat ives andLiberals , socialists and non-social ists, who accept i tsm ain aim

, as above stated . In a pamphlet on SocialismDr. Westcot t g ives one of the best and finest exposi tionsof the principles of the subj ect which we have read .

The sympathetic atti tude towards labour shown atthe Lanrbetlr Conference of 1 888 was m aintained alsoat the Conferences of 1 897 and 1 908. Very noteworthywas the favourable recep tion g iven to social isticexpressions of op inion at the Pan—Angl ican Congresswhich preceded the Conference of 1 908 , though i twould obviously be a mistake to assum e that i t m ean tthe acceptance of any defini te collectivist economic

creed. A l ike sympathetic feel ing has been shown inmany nonconformi st quarters . Dr. C l ifford

,so em inen t


as a nonconformist leader,is a socialist and member

of the Fabiarr Society .

4 . It is needless to speak of the great revolution incurrent Op inion regard ing labour

,as reflected in the

press and in contemporary l iterature . All is changedsince the time when Carlyle and Rusk in lifted up theirvoices in the w ilderness to an unbelieving generat ion !All that is best

,all that is tenable in the teach ing Of

those two great men is comprehended in socialismrightly understood .

5 . Nor is i t necessary to say anything Of the greatestchange of all

,which has taken place in the opinions

and feel ings O f the masses Of work ing men,who con

stitute the m odern dem ocracy . Few m en,however

,

really understand the new power that has arisen in thegrow ing intel ligence of the w orkers

,in the discontent

,

in the pass ion for im provem ent,

‘

in the hopes andaspirat ions which so deeply move them . I t has not

yet found adequate expression,d irection

,and organ isa

t ion ; but every year it i s m aking fresh advance towardsclearness of aim . A ma in part of the sign ificance ofMarx ’ s activity lay in the fact that he strove to giveutterance and organ isation to th is vast and growingmass

,ot vague and half-conscious sent iment . In the

future we can but hope that i t w i ll receive wise andsalutary gu idance.



2 . The Municipal i ty, or Comm une , which, notwiths tanding certain obj ect ions

,is the m ore conven ien t

word,as i t includes the parish as wel l as the m un ici

pal ity,and wh ich should be regarded as the association

for local purposes . As every one knows how greatlythe range of State and m un icipal action for the cornmon good has been extended in recent years

,we need

not enlarge on th is aspect of our subj ect. But i n

what we“

have to say it w i ll be conven ien t to considerthe State and the local body together

,as they are

really complem ents of each o ther. In a well—orderedcommun i ty there should be no real oppos i t ion betweenthe two . Under the conditions wh ich now prevai lthere can be no flourish ing local l ife excep t in reasonable relation to an efficient central organ ; and thecentral organ can do its part w isely and effectivelyonly by allow ing suitable scope to local energy. NO

absolute rules can be laid down for the relations of thetwo to each o ther ; these nrust be determ ined by con

s iderat ions Of time and c ircumstance . But the problemof their Oppos ition under any regime can be a d i fficul tyonly for unw ise statesm ansh ip .

It m ay not be a new thing in theory, that the Stateshould be an associat ion for the pronrotion of the co rn

mon in terests of all i ts m embers,or that the commune

should be an association for the general good of theinhab itants of a local ity ; but i t is practical ly new .

It is only during the last generation that the peoplewho form the majority of every society have rece ivedany reasonable consideration from the organs of the

TENDENC I ES TOWARDS SOC IALI SM 347

S tate. We have during the last seventy years seen atardy reversal of the Old inj ustice in our own country ,

and for som e years the m ovemen t towards improvement has been growing apace . But our leading sta tesmen seem even ye t to be reluctan t or only half w i llingto advance . The domestic h istory of recent t imes isthe record of concessions made

,not because the leaders

of ei ther of our great parties particularly approved ofthem

,but because they were dem anded by large sec

tions of voters . In fact the ini tiat ive in legislationhas now passed from the statesmen to the democracy .

We can hardly regard it as the outcom e of a ‘ reasoned

and comprehens ive theory of the State when politicianstrained -in the theory and practice of laissez-faire in1 908 passed an O ld Age Pensions B ill

,wh ich under

certain restrictions gave a pension of 5s . a week topersons over 70.

The statesmen of Germany have been more consistent ; for when they inaugurated the ir schemes ofState soc ial ism they frankly proclaim ed the ir adhes ionto its principles . In th is they were encouraged by theold law of Pruss ia

,wh ich recognised the duty of the

State to prov ide subs istence for those who could notmake a l iving

,and labour for those who were out of

employm ent . The pos it ion of the Pruss ian k ingdom

has always been such that i t required to foster thefull strength of the State by all available m eans , andthere fore could not afford to neglect any considerableportion of i ts population . In h i s State social i sm ,

there fore,B isnrarck could appeal w i th some show of


reason to the trad itional pol icy of Prussia . But i t wasreally a new departure.Its leading ‘ principles were announced in an Im

perial m essage to the Re ichstag on the 1 7th of

November 1 88 1 . Besides the repress ive measuresnecessary to restrain the excesses of the SocialDem ocracy

,the Emperor declared that the heal ing of

social evils was to be sought in pos i tive measures forthe good O f the working nian .

’

The measures proposed

were for the insurance of the workmen against accident,

sickness,old age

,and inab il i ty to work

,by arrange

ments under State control . ‘ The find ing of the righ tways and means for this State protection of the working m an is a d ifficult task

,but also one of the h ighest

dut ies that concern every society stand ing on theeth ical foundat ions of the Christian national l ife .

’ The

aged Emperor next went on to say that he would look

back w i th greater satisfact ion on the successes w i thwh ich Providence had v isibly blessed h is reign

,if he

could bequeath to the Fatherland new and lastingpledges of peace at home

,and to the needy greater “

securi ty and larger means for rendering the help towh ich they had a claim . The message also spoke of‘

Organis ing the life of the people in the form ofcorporative associations under the pro tection andfurtherance of the S tate

,to render possible the solution

of problems which the cen tral power alone cannotundertake . ’ The Imperial programme has now been

real ised . It m ay be regarded as the beginning ofbetter th ings to com e. Tire help prov ided by i ts


HISTORY OF SOC IAL I SM

Al l these measures and others wh ich we need notnam e are the outcom e in New Zealand of a great waveof agrarian labour and socialistic feel ing wh ich spreadover the world about twenty years ago . I t has beenwel l described as social ism w ithout dogma . Every

m easure has been examined and approved on its m erits.

The pol icy therefore is al l the m ore valuable as a mass

of testimony to the beneficent tendency of a reasonablesocial ism . The conditions have no doubt been ex

ceptionally favourable. New Zealand is a youngcountry w i th great natural advantages and a smallpopulation which has a very high av erage of intel ligence

,initiative

,and energy . I t is an example

,how

ever,wh ich should be most encouraging to the world

,

as it shows what may be done in a true democracy,where the government is in

_entire sympathy with the

people and responsive to their wishes. The high

honour of carrying out this model legislation belongsto Richard Seddon and h is associates . Seddon was

Prim e M inister of New Zealand from 1 893 to his deathin 1 906 .

3. The co-operative society or association for theordinary purposes of industry .

-CO - operation for some

t ime m ade comparatively l ittle progress in production,

but when we cons ider the low point from which themovem ent started , only abou t s ixty years ago , andhow painfully cap i tal

,experience

,and ski ll had to be

acqu ired by the poor workers,we should rather be

surprised at the advance that has been made in som any progressive coun tries . It i s only a partial

TENDENC I ES TOWARDS SOC IAL I SM 35 1

real isat ion of the social ist ic ideal , but i t is well founded ,solid

,and m ost promi sing . I ts strongest poin t is that

it has ari sen d irectly out of the people and remains

in close touch with them .

In England a co-operative society is usually a groupof workers who manage d istribu tion w i th the ir j oin tcapital in their own interests. The group is entirelydemocratic

,open to every one

,organised on the prin

c iple of one m an one vote,and choos ing their own

committee or executive ; the manager i s a socialfunctionary ; no member can legally hold more than

£200 of cap ital in any society . Production,especially

for domestic consumption , has now made very greatprogress. In 1 907 the m ovement had 1 566 registeredsocieties and members . By that date the £28

wi th wh ich the m ovement started in 1 844 had expandedinto a capital of with an annual turnover of

and an annual profit of I t

provides for the consum ption of one-fifth of the population . The cO-operative movemen t in Great Britain i salready an industrial and econom ic power of no m eanorder . I f i t has not solved the social question

,i t has

at least done much to clear the way towards a solution .

The m ovem ent is also mak ing rapid progress in Germany,

Austria,Belgium

,France

,and I taly

,and i ts greatest

successes are in o ther fields than d istribu tion . I n

Denm ark the co-Operative system is one of the brigh tes tfeatures of rec en t h istory . More recen t]y a co-Operat ivemovem ent of great prom ise has begun in l reland .

The cO -operati ve society,therefore

,i s a. self-govern ing


group of workers,wh ich has already m ade very con

siderable progress in controll ing the economic in terestsof the labouring class. Not a l ittle d isappointment isfelt that it has not accompl ished greater resul ts ; aswe believe

,w ithout good ground. It might reasonably

have been expected that human nature would surviveamong co-operators , and that the self- regard ing prin

cip le would continue to be the mainspring of individualaction . Better social arrangements can only providefor it a more effi cient system of regulation .

It i s particularly regrettable that co - operative

societies have not always had sufficient regard for theiremployees. There can be little doubt that the contrastbetween producers and consumers

,and between the

centralising and de-centralising tendencies in organ i sat ion

,wi l l long be a difficulty among co-operators , who

do not thoroughly understand the new system to whichthey belong. Yet it should also be said that many ofthe obj ections raised by the critics of the movementare real ly due to the fact that they do not understandi ts real nature

,and imagine that they find Old things

where really they m eet only Old names .

The nobles t embod iment of the co-Operative idea

is to be found in one of the oldest seats of industryin Western Europe. This is the Vooruit (Forward)Society

,which was founded at Ghent in a season of

scarci ty by Edouard Anseele and a few weavers in

1 873. I t was started w ith a cap ital of 84 francsand 93 cent imes

,about at first naturally as a

bakery, and has grown till it embraces the economy



real,if partial

,endeavours towards a new organisation

of society suited to the new conditions . They are allm od ifications a nd limitations imposed on the com

petitiv e system,and to them the progress of the last

sixty(years is largely due. Social ism claims to be the

comprehens ive scheme of organisation which embracesin a com plete and cons istent un i ty all these partialefforts .

5 . But the most striking feature of recent economic

history is the continuation of the movement whichbegan w ith the industrial revolution . Through th isprocess the sm all producer was superseded by thecapitalist

,the sm aller cap italist by the larger. And

now the single capitalist is being absorbed by the company

,an increasing proportion of the world ’s business

being so v ast that only a great company can providethe requisite capital and organisation ; whilst in the

large companies, in case they cannot drive each otherout of the field

,there is a marked tendency to bring

about a fus ion of interests . In all this we see a greatconstructive process go ing on as the result Of theinherent laws of industrial development.The movem ent i s act ive in our own country ; but

it is far surpassed in magn itude and activity by similarphenom ena in the United States ofAmerica

,where it

is favoured by special circumstances . Under the pro

tective system the economic development of Americahas proceeded w ithout being disturbed by the industrialpower of England . It is a self- contained and selfsufficing continent w ith a vast area and enormous natural

TENDENC I ES TOWARDS SOC IAL I SM 356

resources. The people have not such a w ide variety ofpol i tical

,social

,l iterary

,and artistic interests as have the

ruling classes of England,and have therefore been al l

the m ore keenly engaged in the exploitation of the newworld that lay open to them . Cap i tal ism in Am ericahas shown an energy

,acuteness

,and fertil ity of re

source wh ich even in England are unparal leled. But

in the various departments Of industry the ch iefs havefound that com pet i tion m ay be su icidal and mutual lydestructive

,and have therefore seen it expedient to

arrange with each other for the regulation of production

,of prices and wages . Hence the trusts, or

great combinations Of cap italists,which now confront

Am erican society and the Am erican Republ ic,and

wh ich,as the latest development of cap italism

,are

well calculated to excite scientific curios i ty in everycountry.

The trust system is,however

,by no means confined

to America. A l ike organisation under the nam e ofcartels or syndicates is

,in proportion to the s ize of

the country,almost equally strong in Germ any. In

forms more or less Open and undisgui sed it is spreadingin England , Austria, and other lands . It may be re

garded as an inev i table stage in the natural history ofcapitalism .

Thus far have we come through the natural grow thof the company . If we consider the nature and develOpment of the com pany ,We shall find th at it is noten tirely undem ocrat ic . The directo rs are

,in principle

at least,elected and rem ovable by the shareholders .

H ISTORY OF SOC IAL ISM

And as the shares are open for purchase by any onea porter may be a shareholder in the railway companyof which he is a servan t

,with

,so far

,a voice in the

managemen t ; But in poin t of fact the compan ies are

Owned and controlled by the cap i tal ist classes, and area developm ent of cap i tal ism . The d irectors are usuallylarge cap i talists. The ir m a in aim is to produced iv idends. The relat ion of the m anagem ent to theemployees cannot have much of a k indly

,human

,and

personal elemen t.

On the other hand , the developm ent of the com panyin a large degree m eans that the real adm in istration ofthe econom ic movem ent is passing out Of the handsof the owner of cap i tal as such . The compap ies are

for the most part managed by paid Official s,who may

or m ay not have a substan tial hold ing in the capital.That i s

,the cap i tal ists do no t really m anage the com

panies in which their cap ital i s embarked. The

manager,w ith a staff of pa id offi cials , has become the

p ivot of the industrial movement. Generally speak ing,

the large company is more am enable to social regulation than a variety of smal l en terprises . And now wesee that the natural developm ent of the company hasprepared the whole organ isation necessary for itscomplete transference to social ownersh ip and control

,

if such a step were deem ed adv isable . A great rai lwayor system of water- supply can be transferred to Stateor munic ipal control w i thout any particular change in

the organisation by wh ich it is worked . In fact,

cap ital ism has prepared or is preparing the mechan ism



transform ation . But the inevitable process of concen tration of industrial Operations already referred tois entirely against the continuance or restoration of thesmal l producer

,whether workman or peasant pro

prietor. Such efforts of continuance or restoration arereactionary : they are economically unsound and mustfail . The economic transformation nrust be sought inthe application of the principle of association to thelarge industry .

7. We are thus brought to the conclusion that the

competitive system , w ith precarious wagelabour as thelot of the vast majori ty of the people

,is not a suitabl e

and adequate form for the social developm ent of thefuture . The competi tive system has led to greatstrikes

,wh ich have been the cause Of widespread

misery,almost as grievous as the suffering endured

during the worst campaigns under the old style of warfare . I t has led to great commercial and industrialcrises

,wh ich have scattered over the civilised world

panic and ru in,followed by long-continued stagnation

and depress ion . Thus anarchy, waste, and starvation

have been its too frequent attendants,while the normal

position of the workmen under it has been precarious

and unworthy of free,enlightened men . England has

had less reason than most countries to regret the prevalence of competition

,for her industrial supremacy

has generally left her victor in the struggl e, and shehas hitherto looked forward to widen ing m arkets as thesolution of her economic troubles . But the rap iddevelopment of Germany and America may teach us

TENDENC I ES TOWARDS SOC IAL I SM 359

that our industrial position is not so secure againstassaul t as it used to be

,and that we may in future

suffer the bi t ter experience of the vanqui shed , whichwe have so long infl icted on others . And we m ay

thus learn that reason and law should control in

dustry and commerce as well as o ther Spheres of

human activ i ty .

In America the developmen t of the trust systemis only another proof of the inadequacy of the com

petitive system . The supporters of the trusts m aintain w ith very good show of reason that unregulatedcom petition i s harmful and may be ruinous to all

concerned,and that they can maintain fair prices

,pay

fair wages,and secure a fair return to cap ital only by

mutual arrangenrent among the producers. Bu t thesystem obviously involves the serious obj ection

,that

the great industrial chiefs who organ ise and d irect thetrusts are thereby constituted suprem e j udges of theirown interests and of the econom ic interests of thewhole Am erican people ; that such combinations fornia huge monopoly in so many of the leading articlesof consumption

,and establ ish an economic

,social

,and

political power which may be a danger to Am ericansociety. In short, we are driven to the result thatwh ile com peti tion has been hurtful or ruinous to thoseengaged in it

,the now prevail ing system of regulation

by capitalism in its own interests i s a serious dangerto the whole people. There is only one right way ou tof such a dilemma. A return to the com pe t itivemethod i s neither possible nor des irable . Monopoly

H ISTORY OF SOC IAL I SM

i s incompatible w i th freedom . The only course

for peoples who des ire to be free is to adopt someform of social ‘

ownership and control . This appearsto be the lesson taugh t us by the dev elopnrent of thetrusts .8 . The success of social ism greatly depends on the

real isation of the two ideal s,wh ich may be regarded as

the m ain p illars of the theory,when applied to practice.

These are

(a) The normal work ing day : the general reductionof the work ing day to eight hours in the immediatefuture

,and eventually to a shorter tim e. Such a

desirable change would be be tter accomplished byvoluntary agreem en t under the pressure of publ icopinion than by legi slation ; but it would be bettermade by legislation than by the cruel and clumsymethod of strikes.

(6) A remuneration which w i ll ensure a suitablestandard of liv ing ; in other words

,the m eans of a

normal developm ent. A reasonable standard of living,

the competent m eans of a normal development havebeen determ ined by science and are no longer a m atterof utopian guess-work . A fairly definite measure offresh air

,food

,cloth ing, house comfort , recreation , and

O f satisfaction for the affections associated w ith w ife andch ildren const itute the rational needs of the average

man. This i s the moral and scient ific basis o f arational system of d istribution . The competitive wagedeterm ined by the iron law of wages of the oldereconomists should be superseded by a remuneration



ness and of progress,all inquirers worthy of the name

,

are under an imperative obl igation to understand thetrue inwardness of the subj ect.In considering the question of the practicability of a

rational social ism,let us remember that it only proposes

to accomplish on a wider scal e and for a more enl ightened time a task analogous to that undertaken by theguilds for the mediaeval world . The guild was an

organ isation for the promotion of the comm on interests

O f the workers at a time when law and order were notsufficiently establ i shed by strong central governm ents

,

and when the present distinction between labourer andcapital ist had not declared itself. It was a fairly

equ itable organ isation of an industry wh ich was localand associated w ith city l ife, and which worked with avery limited and undeveloped techn ique. Social ism

proposes an equitable organisation of industry for themodern world with its enormous mechanical develop

ment and large industry , under a democracy guided byscience and professing allegiance to the highest moral

ideals.

CHAPTER XV

THE PREVALENT SOCIALISM

IN the Erfurt Programme we have seen that the task ofthe social democracy is to give form and unity to the

struggle of the working class,and to po int out its

natural and necessary goal . Th is goal is the transformation of private property in the means of productioninto collective property , but the change w il l beaccompli shed not in the interest of a class but of theen tire human race . The Erfurt Programm e has beenfollowed by others of a l ike nature in Belgium

,Austria

,

France,and elsewhere . I t‘ may be regarded as the aim

of the social democracy of al l countries to obtain possess ion of political power in order to make the economictransform ation wh ich we have indicated .

A l ike aim has been set forth in the resolutionspassed at International Congresses . In a previous

chapter we have seen that International Congresseswere held at Paris in 1 889, at Brussels in 1 891 , at

Zurich in 1 893, and at London in 1 806. These were

followed by Congresses , at Paris for a second t ime in

1 000,at Amsterdam in 1 904

,and at Stuttgart in 1 907 .

The disorders which prevai led a t the Congresses

364 H I STORY OF SOC IALI SM

of Brussel s and London led to the adoption of'

m easures

for the better p rdering of bus iness and for the betterorgan i sation of the Congresses

,

‘ destined to becom ethe parliament of the proletariat . ’ We shall now givea brief statem en t of the new m easures

,wh ich date in

a general way from the Pari s Congress of 1 900.

As to term s of admi ssion . Al l assoc iations areadm itted wh ich adhere to the essent ial principles ofsocialism : socialisatiorr of the means of production andexchange ; international un ion and action of the workers ;social ist conquest of pol i tical power by the proletariatorganised as a class party . Also all the trade organ i sat ions wh ich place themselves on the bas is of the classstruggle and recognise the necess ity of pol itical action

,

legislat ive and parl iam entary . Anarchists are thereforeexcluded .

An In ternat ional Socialist Bureau hav ing i ts seatat Brussels has been established . It consists of two

delegates from each country and has a permanent

secretary . Am ong other funct ions the Bureau and itssecretary have to organ ise the International Congressesand to arrange the order Of bus iness at them .

At forni er Congresses m uch tim e was spent in

hearing verbal reports,in French

,English

,and German

,

of the progress of social ism in the various countries.The Bureau now invites and receives from the variousnational bodies reports

,wh ich ‘

are printed and laidbefore the Congress . These reports form a m ost

valuable storehouse of information with regard to the

development of social ism throughout the world .



first made it international and revolutionary,and he

claimed also to have made i t scientific . It was scientificin so far as . it was a reasoned and comprehensiveexpress ion of real forces . In the International as wenow have it we may perceive an organ isation of thereal forces which Marx had the insight to foresee andenjo in .

A long series of resolutions hav e been passed bythe various Congresses wh ich have met since 1 889.

If we take these resolut ions along with the elaborateprogrammes that have been formulated by the

various national parties,and of wh ich the Erfurt

programme m ay be regarded as the type, we have aset Of documents wh ich may undoubtedly be consideredoffi cial and authoritat ive. Bo th resolutions and programmes are the result of a long labour of though t anddebate by thei r best m inds . They agree generally inthe ir exposition of principles and tactics. We may,therefore

,have no doubt that they contain a reliable

statement of the prevalent socialism . We give an

abstract of the most important points on wh ich socialistsof all lands agree

(1 ) The goal Of the whole m ovement is an econom icrevolution or transformation—the transference tosoc iety of the means of production

,distribu tion

,and

exchange .

(2) The conquest of polit ical power by the organisedaction of the working class Of all lands is the chiefmeans towards this great end .

(3) The grea t task of the social ist parties at present

THE PREVALENT SOC IAL I SM 367

is education,agitation

,and organisation in the w idest

sense,w i th a view to the phys ical and moral regenera

tion O f the working class,so as to fit it for its great

mission . To rouse the class consciousness of the

workers,to increase their capacity and efficiency for

the class struggle,i s the daily task of international

socialism.

(4) The struggle for equal and direct universalsuffrage, for the popular initiative and referendum ,

is an important phase of the political struggle,and

is fitted to have a good influence on the pol iticaleducat ion of the workers .

(5) The more purely pol itical struggle of theSocialist Parties should go hand in hand with the morepurely econom ic struggle of the trade un ions .

(6) The right of association,of combination

,of free

meeting,Of free speech

,and of a free press

,is an essen tial

part of the worker’s claim of righ ts .

(7) The demonstrat ion of the 1 st of May is speciallyrecommended in all countries as a means of securingan eigh t - hours’ work ing day. The eight - hours ’ dayis most desirable for improving the family life

,the

education,the health

,energy

,intell igence

,and morality

of the working class.

(8) But the eigh t-hours’ day is only the most urgent

part of a large system of protect ive legislation in favourof the working class . Besides an e igh t-hours ’ day foradul ts

,they demand special legi slat ion for ch ildren

,

young people,and women ; proper rest for all ages ;

restriction of n ight wo rk ; abol ition of the sweating


system ; effective inspection of factories, shops , and of

domestic labour,as well as of agriculture.

(9) They are very strongly Opposed to m il itarism,

which they cons ider due not so m uch to nat ional orpol i tical d ifferences

,as to the struggle of the capital ist

classes for new markets . They bel ieve that war w il lend only with the ending of cap i talism . The present

stand ing arm ies are the instrumen ts of the ruling andexplo i ting class, and should be abolished . The ir placeshould be taken by a citizen army or the arm ed nation ;that is

,the entire able-bodied manhood of the people

should be trained and equ ipped on a democratic bas is,

l ike the Swiss army . The Soc ialist Parties Of the

various countries are recommended to vote against ex

p enditure fOr existing army and navy .

(1 0) The m ajori ty at Congresses has w i thout reservecondemned the colon ial system as be ing m erely an

extension of the field of e xplo itation of the cap italistclass . But th i s m ajority has consisted mainly of

nat ions that have l i ttle knowledge of colonies and littleinterest in them . It has ignored the colonial systemof England

,which has so largely . cons isted in the

development of self-governing commun i t ies ; and it hasalso ignored or misunderstood the beneficent work ofEngland in establ ish ing cond it ions of peace

,order

,and

progress in Ind ia . The colon ial system as understoodby the majori ty s imply m eans the exploi tat ion of nat iveand coloured races for the. profi t of the cap italist class.A large m inority

,wh ile condem n ing the present colon ial

policy,th ink that it m ight be made beneficial .



matters which wen t to form the platforms of candidates at the Pres idential election of 1 908. Universal

suffrage and the right of combination,with al l that

these two great righ ts involve; may be regarded as thecentral po ints in the present tactics and policy of international social ism .

The other poin ts in the above statem ent may herebe left to speak for themselves . But if we note thatthe most deeply resented grievance of the workmen isthe use of the police and the mil itary by the executivesof various countries to repress agitation

,we shall the

better understand many incidents of recent history inItaly

,Russia

,and even Am erica.

It w i l l be seen that the task wh ich lies before thesocial democracy is a vast one . As yet even thepol itical part of it is only to a sm all ex tent realised.

At present the working class,though forming the vast

maj ority of the people,has no corresponding representa

t ion in legislatures or influence in government. InEngland the ruling class has long been

,and still is

, an

aristocracy,slowly changing in the course of genera

tions into a plutocracy wh ich has the wisdom to yieldto the ever-grow ing pressure of democracy. France is

now nearer to a real dem ocracy than any other greatEuropean state. In Germany the execu tive dependson the Emperor ; but h i s Chancellor has to find am ajority for legislation and for the budgets in theReichstag

,wh ich is elected by universal suffrage with

an ant iquated distribut ion of seats. The Germanexecut ive is really a bureaucracy w i th the Emperor as

THE PREVALENT SOC IAL I SM 37 1

chief. Governm ent in Austria and Russia i s also abureaucracy of wh ich the Emperor i s the head . In

Italy the dem ocracy is slowly growing. It has very

l i ttle real influence in Spain .

If the Am erican people do not exert themselves veryeffectively i n the immediate future, the Republ ic seemsdestined to be a. plutocracy . A power which appears tobe incompatible w i th a real commonwealth has arisenin a marvellously short t ime . The Oil industry inAmerica goes back only to 1 859. Mr. J . D . Rockefellerentered the trade in 1 865 . I t was organ ised by himand his associates into the Standard O il Company ;and the Company has been the type of further organisation

,has provided the men

,the methods

,and the cap ital

,

by which other great industries have been transformed .

That is to say,Mr. J. D . Rockefeller and the men trained

in his methods have gained control of railways,of

finance and insurance,and even of the basic industries

of steel and coal . The process has naturally gainedenormously in m om entum as it has gone on ; the

cap ital accumulated,and sti ll more the cap ital controlled

by the Trusts , the interests they have absorbed orbrought with in their orbit are gigan tic and continuallyincreas ing. Even the Am erican Senate is declared tobe in their pay. Most ev i l of all symptom s

,when

an em inen t American senator,M r. Ti llm an

,lately

undertook to speak for his order,a main po int in his

defence was,that the House of Represen tatives was

worse than the Senate ! Thus we see the industrialand econom ic power

,wh ich i s also the money power

,


subordinating to itself the pol it ical,

and,indeed

,

threatening all that i s articulate and organ ic in theAmerican people. In 1 908

,at the Ch icago Convention

,

Senator Lodge went to the heart of the m atter : ‘ It is

the huge s ize of private fortunes and the vast extentof the power O f modern combinat ions of cap i tal wh ichhave brought upon us in these later years problem sportentous in their possib il it ies

,and threatening no t

only our soc ial and pol it ical welfare,but even our

personal freedom if they are not bold ly met and wiselysolved .

’

Warn ings have been given by some observers,includ

ing the present writer,that such a condition of things

was com ing.

-In my I nquiry into Socialism ,published

in 1 887, I sa id : ‘ In crossing the ocean the colon i stsleft beh ind them the monarchy and aristocracy

,and

many o ther social forms hoary w ith venerable abuse ;but they carried w i th them an institution O lder and morefundam ental than royal ty or a hered i tary legislaturehum an nature itself. ’ The Old evils of Europe grew

out of human nature . On the other s ide of the Atlanticmeri w i ll stil l be human . Freedom in Am erica seemsthreatened by the dom inat ion of great corporationscom bin ing to obtain the control of industrial opera tions

,

of governments,and courts of j ustice . If unchecked

by,the healthy public Op in ion

,and by the collective

w il l of the American people,such corporations may

establish an econom ic, social , and pol itical tyrannyqu ite as oppress ive as anything ex isting in Europe.It w ill be a m iserable thing for the world if triumphant



contemplated by the founders of the Republ ic.’

Theyhave left their own preper civic work to professionalpoliticians . In the combinat ion of professional pol itic ians ready to be bought and of wealthy cap ital istsready to buy lies the suprem e danger to Americanfreedom . The danger w ill be averted when the peopletake care duly to think the matter out

,and to enter

upon a course of resolute organised action suitable tothe time and its needs.One of the first duties of the people will obviously

be to simplify the cumbrous mach inery of the Constitution

,and to make it a m ore efficien t organ of their w i ll .

In the two great crises of Am erican history , nothingstrikes us so forcibly as the high standard of characterand intelligence which was shown . It may be regardedas a symptom of a really strong race

,that they were

so slow and reluctant to take decis ive measures in thestruggle for Independence and at the time of the Civil

War. We may now see the same natural hesitat ion indeciding how to handle a problem of surpassing gravity .

Such crises are the severest and truest tests of nationalcharacter. All friends of freedom in every part of theworld w i ll fervently hope that the people of Americamay d isplay their historic qual i ties of insight

, high

principle,energy

,and resolution in the m ighty struggle

of Commonwealth against Wealth upon wh ich they areentering .

According to Liebknecht,late leader of the German

soc ialists,

‘ the social dem ocracy is the party of thewhole people

,except large proprietors

,squires,


middle-class capitalists,and priests . ’ We need not

discuss the exactitude of such figures in relation eitherto Germany or any other country . It is a fact whichno reasonable man can dispute that econom ic andpol itical power is in m ost civilised countries actuallyw ielded by a very small m inority . Nor need we stayhere to inqu ire into the methods by wh ich such powerhas been gained . Even as regards England we have notyet an im partial and comprehensive account of the riseof the present econom ic and political order since thel iquidation of the mediaeval system began about them iddle of the fourteenth century . How labour legisla

tion was carried on by the rul ing class in its own

interests for five centuries after 1 349 how Henry VIII .

took his courtiers and privy councill ors into partnershipfor the dividing of the church lands ; how commonswere inclosed ; how even the poor- law becam e anoccasion for the subj ection and degradat ion of labourhow for generations bribery was a normal instrum entof government ; how wealth was gained in the slavetrade, in the East Ind ies, in the jobbing of governmentloans and contracts

,and by the imposition of corn- laws

—all these we vaguely know,but they have not yet been

presented in a form which can sati sfy the canons ofscientific history.

It i s too soon,therefore

,to determine how far the

business of the Standard O il Company has been bu i ltup on its merits how far its success is due to efficien tmanagement and organ i sation by the shrewdes t andablest men

,and how far due to the i llegal and immoral


me thods of which they are accused . At the Ch icagoConvention in 1 908 Senator Lodge said that the greatbody of the people had com e tobel ieve more and m orethat these vast fortunes

,these vast combinat ions of

cap i tal,w ere formed and bui lt up by tortuous and

dishonest means and with a cyn ical d isregard of thevery laws wh ich the mass of the people were compelledto obey . On the other hand the Reminiscences ofMr. Rockefeller reveal a rare com b ination of insight andenergy in found ing and consol idating a new industrywh ich of itself i s sufficient to account for success .In any case

,we in England

,look ing back on our

h istory,have no righ t to po int the finger of reproach at

our American k insm en . There is'

indeed a cynical

theory that our rul ing classes are free from suchreproach only because they have been sated with thewealth they have already gained . With us the strugglehas long been decided ; whereas in Am erica the dustand heat of battle stil l bl ind the eyes of men.

The motives and meri ts of the agents by wh ichgreat h istoric changes are accompl ished

,whether they

be Julius Caesar,Henry VIII or J . D . Rockefeller, form

a m ost interest ing and important subj ect of study .

But far more importan t is the problem we must faceregarding the forces and the issues wh ich they set inmovement . Here we are concerned w i th l ive forces and

urgent issues .Briefly we may describe the situation w i th wh ich

we have to deal as the struggle now proceeding betweenvar ious forms of autocracy , bureaucracy , and plutocracy,



cession of working m en and women , estimated by

the correspondent of the Morning Post at andby socialist organs at marched under the redflag through the streets . Work ceased and traffic

'

was

stopped,whilethe serried ranks passed on . But there

was no tumult, no call for the interference of the

police or the display of m ilitary force. Not a shout

was raised or song sung or voice heard above a whisper.The silence, order, and d iscipline shown by this .vast

host,which was about equal to either of the great armies

that lately contended in Manchuria,were even more

striking than its numbers . Members of parliamentwho witnessed the demonstration from the Reichsrathdeclared that they were more impressed by it than byany political event since Austria became a parliamentary state. Even the most stubborn adherent ofthe old order was bound to feel that a new era hadcome

,and that the demand for universal suffrage

,wh ich

was the object of the demonstration,could no longer be

refused. That very day legislation based on universalsuffrage was announced by the governm ent.The great dem onstration was

,indeed

,a fit subj ect

for meditation in Austria,but not in that country only.

The monition contained in such an even t should betaken to heart by all concerned in all lands . In theordering and organis ing intelligence

,in the self-restraint

and force of character d isplayed by the work ing menof Vienna on that day

,we see qualit ies which are

replete with meaning in their relation to the greatproblems of the present ce

’

n tury.


O r l et us consider the matter from another point of

view . I t i s now about half a century since the soc ialis tagitation began in Germany . During that time theGerm an workm en have received an education in socialpolitics such as no university in the world can furnish .

They have been accustomed to the freest and mostthorough discussion of the widest variety of topics inbooks and pamphlets

,at publ ic meetings and debates

,

in private talks over their beer and co ffee . Great

strikes,elections

,and demonstrat ion s have been obj ect

lessons to them of the most vivid and forcible description .

A new move on the part of the Kaiser,a new speech of

Bebel or Liebknecht has given fresh food for reflectionand d iscourse . Above all , the matters so hand led havecomenear to their hearts

,have touched them in their

everyday l ife in the closest and most real way. They

were no hearsay,conventional

,or traditional subj ects

that thus appealed to them ! Need we wonder thatthe teaching of Marx

,Lassalle

,and Engels has becom e

a possession to them , a theme for m ind and heart ? Theseed has taken root among m illions of m en andwomen remarkable for intell igence

,thoroughness

,and

earnestness . And the process that has thus gone onin Germany goes on more or less all over the world .

The men and women of the labouring democracy,let

us remember, have, m any of them ,known hunger and

privation in every form,not only as an exceptionally

severe occurrence in t imes of strike and unemployment,

but as a chron ic experience . M others have been obligedto work hard too long be fore ch ild -bearing

,and too soon


after it, to eke ou t a scanty fam ily incom e. For asociety that has shown so l i ttle respect even for thesacred funct ion of motherhood

,what can we say but

tha t i t is t ime to repent ? The chi ldren in the sam ecompetit ive society have cried for bread when therewas none to give them

,and have not had rags enough

decently to cover their nakedness .

In a moment of feel ing at the Jena meeting of h isparty Bebel confessed that for years it was h is ideal foronce to eat h is fi l l of bread and butter. During thes ieges of Kimberley and Mafeking our countrym en hada new experience ; they found ou t what i t m eant neverto have enough to eat

,to be always hungry . The

leader of one of the strongest organisations in the world,

one of the foremost orators in Europe,to whom all m en

l isten when he makes a speech,had the experience for

years in the very heart of m odern civ ili sation.

The sam e ch ildren who were thus early acqua i nted

w ith hunger have gene'

to be racked at the m il l oflabour before they w ere eight

,or even s ix years of age .

We need not wonder that they w ere stunted anddwarfed in grow th

,that they were wrinkled

,deformed

,

attenuated,grey

,and decrep i t before their t im e ; and

they have suffered all th is hunger and privation througha long agony of years

,they and their fathers and

mothers before them ,wh ile the classes wh ich have

held econom ic and pol i tical power have wasted the

m eans so much needed for worth ier uses in war and inthe preparation for war

,in the luxury and ex travagance

of society and of courts.



the Czardom and the bureaucracy in the m ighty confl ictwith the growing revolutionary parties wh ich representrural and town workers . It has been an appal l ings truggle

,in wh ich the oldest forms of rule have con

tended w ith the newest forces of change . What

the end may be no man can foresee . So long as theCzardom receives adequate support from the m ilitary

forces it may continue to survive,but the course of the

revolution has shown that the loyalty of army and fleet

has been seriously shaken . The Social ist RevolutionaryParty contemplate a victory of the working class led

by them,and in case of necessity the provisional

establishment of i ts revolutionary dictatorsh ip . Butwe may fear that the anarchy which m ight ensue onthe overthrow of the Czardom m ight lead to thesupremacy of a m i litary chief. In either case thedanger to the neighbouring countries

,and especially to

South-Eastern Europe,already distracted by racial

differences,i s only too obvious .

In a well- inform ed article on the rising of theRoumanian peasantry in 1 907 the Sp ectator said thattheir cause was the cause of a hundred m i llion ofpeasantry in Eastern Europe. The remark was a trueone. The revolt of labour in Russia is for the most parta rising of peasants for ‘ land and l iberty .

’ It has been

a rising ful l of terror,of omen

,and of warning to al l who

undertake the rule and guidance of men . In Eastern

Europe Enceladus has risen . Long buried under heavymountain loads of privation

,of Oppression

,and of neglect

even worse than oppression,he has ri sen to claim his


rights. If well guided he might have been a k indly and

beneficent giant, for the Russian peasant is essentiallygood-humoured and well- disposed . But the powers thatbe have contented themselveswith the exaction of recruitsand taxes

,of labour and rent. They have otherwise done

noth ing for him,and have g iven him no scope for doing

anyth ing for him self. Wi th l ittle l ight or gu idance, toofrequently suffering the worst pri vations of cold andfamine

,and goaded by the sense of immemorial wrong

,

he could not be expected to resist the fiery draughts fromthe winepress of the revolution

,and he comm itted such

excesses as we know ! The Czardom and its servantshave prevailed . The giant has been driven back to hisprison . He is neither dead nor asleep , but lies m eaning

and restless on his bed of pain . He will ri se again '

The Social ist Revolutionary Party declare that it i sfrom no love for sanguinary methods that they have takenup arms . I t was their stern duty before the revolution

,

before the cause of the workers. It was a decision seriousand ful l of responsibi lity. The party wil l not cease toemploy terrorist tactics in the pol i t ical struggle til l theestabl ishment of institutions which will make the w il lof the people the source of power and of legi slation.

’

Its task has been to lead the masses of the peoplein revol t

,and i t has done so w ith a resolution and self

sacrifice seldom equalled in history . I ts membershave been ready to kill and to be killed . There can

be no doubt that the revolutionary feeling in Russiahas increased enormously in depth and w idth since thedays of Alexander II. '

l‘

he -compo si tion o f the second


Duma, which was probably the most revolutionarv

assembly that has ever met on this planet,was a proof

and symptom of the extent to which the sp irit ofrevolt had spread . Out of 500 members 200 belonged

to the left,and of these 60 were social dem ocrats

,

40 social ist revolutionaries,1 5 populist soc ial ists

,and

60 were labour men , the sm all remainder being independent rad icals . But the same spirit of revolu

tion has pervaded rural and town workers,has

penetrated to fleet and army,to the teachers and the

intellectual classes. We may be assured that thedram a of the revolution is not ended . The revolution

has been spread ing among a populat ion ofhaving racial affin ities w i th numerous peoples inCentral and South-Eastern Europe . The Ukase of

November 1 906,which gave the right to every member

of a village commun i ty to claim complete possess ion ofh is present al lotment as permanent private property

,

will,so far as it is operative , tend greatly to aggravate the

unrest. It wi l l d isintegrate the v illage commun ity, breakup old form s of life

,give more power to the v il lage usurer,

and '

in many ways add to the violence of the revolu

tionary forces. Enceladus w il l rise again , w ith' resul ts

to Russia and to Europe that no man can forecast.The d iv is ion into two nations of Rich and Poor

,

wh ich the Earl of Beaconsfield described in his novel,

Sybi l, as existing in England , has becom e international .A chasm more or less w ide and abrup t ex tends.throughout the civ ilised world . Even Japan nowhasan active sociali st party , and when the industrial



which would be gradually changed. So much for thepeaceful transformation of the State .

May we not also expect that social ists will take amore serious and enligh tened v iew of their responsibilities in aspiring to lead organ ised labour

,and may

w e not in the course of time hope for a mod ificationof their aims and methods If these were more reasonable

,they would obviously be more conv incing

,and

the prospects of a peaceful as wel l as a successful issuewould be vastly increased . At present their demandsare often so pu t in elaborate programmes

,in language

more or less technical,that they repel the sympathy

even of reasonable men . To use a common saying,

socialism as frequently presen ted is such ‘ a big order,

’

expressed in al ien language,that men w i th the best

will in the world cannot g ive i t a hospitable welcometo their m inds.

In fact,i t is not a paradox but the plain truth that

social ists are now the greatest obstacle to the progressof their ideal . Nor is this at all strange. The sameth ing has happened in the developm ent of al l greatideals ; men are too l i ttle for them ,

and in their love

for forms and dogm as forget and even repud iate orsuppress the sp irit. For the progress of socialism theth ing most needful now is to throw off the technical

dogmat ic and ultra-revolutionary form which it hasinherited from the past

,and to study the real needs

and live issues of the present.Socialism is st ill coloured to i ts detrim ent by

excess ive loyalty to Marx,and the views of Marx w ere


shaped by a t ime wh ich has passed away . In

the early forties,when the system of Marx was

taking form,idealism had declined

,and a very crude

dogmatic materialism was in the ascendant . The

very active speculation wh ich had previously beendirected to the ideal

,a ttempted to work in the

real and material w i thout due preparat ion on a veryinadequate basis of facts—with strange results ! A fierce

militant revolutionary sp iri t,which in the circumstances

must be regarded as very natural,was preparing for the

troubles of 1 848 . Ricardo,a man singularly deficient

in the requ isite historical and ph i losophical training,

was the reigning power in econom ic theory. Under

such influences the views of Marx were prematurelyshaped in to the dogm atic system which we know . He

continued to hold and develop them without any realattempt at self-cr iticism in riper years

,and he

,an ex i le

l iving in England,forcibly urged them from his study

on the socialist groups and parties of the Con tinent.In his man ifesto of the Commun is t party, Marx

declares that the proletariat has noth ing to lose but itschains . I t has been the unfortunate destiny of himand h is school to forge new chains for the working classin the shape of dogmat ic material ism

,a rigid and

abstract collectivism,and ul tra-revolutionary views

,

wh ich stil l hamper it in the task of emancipation . The

promptitude w ith which the emancipators of the humanrace have provided new chains is strange enough . Stil lstranger is the readiness m en have shown in putting

them on ! As we have seen in a previous chapter,the


followers of Marx have gone farther in this way than

their chief.1

An i ll service was done to the work ing class byutterances on m arriage and the family

,which gave the

ruling classes who keep the workers out of their rightsthe plea that they were maintaining the fundamentalprinciples of social order. The abstract collect ivismwhich is the prominent economic feature of h is schoolsuggests two serious doubts if by a revolutionary actthey took the delicate and complex social m echanismto pieces

,whether they would be able to put it together

again ; and if they d id succeed in putting it together,whether it would work . The same devotion to abstract

collect ivi sm has made his followers unable to draw upa reasonable agrarian policy suitable to the peasantry .

Their host il ity to religion,e x pressed m ost freely in the

early years of the agitation in Germany and elsewhere,

has been a serious h indrance to the ir progress,both

among Catholics and Protestants,especially the

former.

Thus in many directions their propaganda has beenan obstacle to their success in their proper task ofemancipating the working class

,and it has at the sam e

time been a hindrance to the peaceful solution of thegreat struggle. The great central problem has beenconfused by side issues and irrelevant matter. We canbest show how tragic has been the confusion of partsand of issues by reference to rel igion . Love

,brother

hood,mutual service

,and peace are m ost prominent1 See p . 31 3.



wh ich wil l suppress the many phases of an excessive,

disorderly,morbid

,and mal ignant egotism that has done

so much harm‘

in the past—no easy task for human

nature .It i s a very serious result alike of the past history

and of the present policy Of social ists that the practicalwork of emancipating labour has to such a degree beenpostponed to a remote and hypothet ical future. Theyform only a sm al l m inority in the legislatures of theleading European countries . Th is m inority is increasing

,and is l ikely to increase . But there is no present

probab ility Of an increase that would win pol iticalpower by parliamentary action .

According to the prevalent social ism the goal of thewhole movement is to acquire possession of the m eans

of production . Such a conception lays excessive stress

on the dead and passive instruments of labour. I tascribes too much importance to the economic factor.The economic factor is most important

,but the cardinal

thing in socialism i s the living and active principle

Of association , and the essential thing for the work ingman to acqu ire is the capacity and hab it of association .

In other words,the motive power of socialism must

be found in the m ind and character of m en guided byscience and inspired by the h ighest ethical ideals

,and

who have attained to the insight and capacity requisitefor associated action .

But in mak ing those criticism s let us remem berthat the social democracy is still in its unform ed youth .

The socialist parties of mos t European countries have


sprung up since 1 870. They have had,through much

labour and tribulation,to shape their organisation

,

principles,and pol icy . How natural it was that they

should follow a master mind like Marx,who had

manfully and unsparingly devoted his entire life totheir cause ! And how natural too that they shouldhave no trust in other classes

,and refuse all manner

of comprom ise with them l

And we should fai l in an accurate presentation Of

our subj ect if we d id not emphasise the fact that thepresen t position of labour is the result of a vas t effortof practical and constructive work . In all departmentslabour had to start from the very beginning no t manyyears ago. The socialist parties with the ir programmesrepresent a s trenuous and painful process of thoughtand organisation . Through the trade unions the illinformed

,untrained

,suspicious

,and turbulent democ

racy O f labour has been drilled into habits O f comm on

action . How much of enthusiasm and high principle,of persevering toil and pat ient attention to detail has

been put into the co-operative movem entThere are now mos t s ignifican t symptoms that all

the diverse forms of working-class activ i ty are beingconsolidated into one great m ovement. have seen

how in Belgium trade un ions and co-operat ive socie tieswork in harmony w ith the socialist party . SO they

also do in Denmark . In Italy the three classic forms oflabou r activ i ty

,trade un ion ism

,co -operat ion

,and the

Friend ly Society,have come to an understand ing

which is inspired by socialist aim s . ( lone ral ly we may


say that the tendency in all countries is for organisedlabour to become sociali stic .

In nearly al l countries the interests of the ruralworkers have been by socialists neglected or sacrificedfor the industrial workers. This is particularly Observable in agrarian questions and questions of tariff. Theyhave not seen that at least temporary legislation hasbeen required to save the rural workers from ruin by theexceptional competition of cheap farm products fromAm erica. Generally they have considered the interests ofthe workers as consumers rather than as producers. TheSocialist Revolut ionary Party in Russia have

,however

,

seriously faced the agrarian problem in their programme in language of carefully calculated vagueness.Proceeding from the basis of the Old communal ownership, they advocate the socialisation of all land underan administration of popular self-government

,central

and local . ‘ The use of the land will be based onlabour and the principle O f equal ity

,that is to say

,i t

will guarantee the satisfact ion of the needs of theproducer

,working him self individually -Or in society .

’

Rent will be used for collective needs. The subsoil

will belong to the State . In Finland,which is the m ost

social istic country Of Europe,the Social Democratic

Party has also specially deal t with the agrarian question .

While it has h itherto been the too general tendencyof soc ialists to d istrust and oppose the ex i sting system

of government and adm inistration,they are now in

poin t of fact tak ing a larger part in the work of stateand commune . Such work, l ike al l other practical work,



possibi lities of revolution. TO all who shrink from

sudden change the experience of the Labour Party inAustralia should be reassuring. The Labour Party ofthe Commonwealth attained to power in 1 904 and againin 1 908 . But the Party when in power can do very

little. It is only one of three or four parties . When

in power it must depend on ou tside support. Thus dothe desires and ideal s Of m en find their limitations inhuman nature and in our environment . What men

have most to fear as the greatest danger, particularly inEnglish- speaking lands

,is not sudden change, but the

indiff erence and neglect which m ake change slow andinadequate . The efforts of labour to raise itself deserveour entire sympathy and our most careful study.

Force devoid of counsel,whether it be Of the reaction

or of th e revolut ion,w il l only resul t in increase of evil .

Evi l in itself each tends to aggravate and perpetuate theother. We can avert the baneful consequences of bothonly by pursuing w i th temperate energy the course ofwel l - cons idered and beneficent change. To guide the

vast and ever-growing labour movement O f the worldin to paths wh ich shal l be wi se

,righteous

,peaceful , and

happy,this i s the task and

,we hope

,w il l be the achieve

ment of the twentieth cen tury. Happy the m en who

have the good-will,sympathy

,and insight to make a

worthy contribution to th is grea t work !

CH AP T ER XVI

CONCLUSION

IN the last chapter we have seen how in many lands thesocial democracy i s seeking to reach its goal by parliamen tary action

,and how in France

,Italy

,and Russia

the socialist movement tends less or more to assumean aggressive and violent form . We have seen how

socialism is everywhere becom ing the creed of organisedlabour. The social ist parties and the trade unions arethe organised and articulate expression of the labourof the world

,and they are being com b ined into one great

movement. We must, therefore, understand the social istmovement as having its basis and i ts background in avast real i ty which as yet has only partial ly found voiceand organisation . One of the most striking feature s inrecent history is to be found in the symptoms whichso frequently appear of a laten t and undefined socialism ,

which only needs a fitting occas ion to cal l i t forth,and

which forms a serious but incalculable quan ti ty in theforces of our tim e . In these symptom s the seeing eyecan disce rn labour moving uneasily under i ts chron icburden . The unorganised labour breaks out in stree t


riots and agrarian risings . Labour partially organi sedin Russia shows an intense revolutionary energy. While

the prevalent social ism seeks to gain i ts ends by peaceful action the situation contains serious possibili ties ofrevolution

,especially in Eastern Europe .

It behoves all men of good-will in every countryto ponder the extreme gravity of the situat ion whichis being establ ished throughout the civ il ised world.

Are we to face a confused struggle Of the Old sort

between those who have and those who have not,

or are we-to see the blessed and beneficent action Of a

great transforming principle ? Is i t to be a contestfor the possession of political power

,carried on with

violence,and pregnant with incalculable disaster to

all concerned ? O r may we expect to watch the

peaceful progress of a new type Of industry gradually

but effectually realised , under the guidance of m en

insp ired by high economic and ethical idealsIn England we have good ground to hope for a

peaceful solution . Am ong our work ing classes there i sa notable absence of rancour

,and even of b itterness .

But it would be very unwise to count upon the con

tinuance of this spirit, and most unfair to make it anoccasion or excuse for further neglect . It should ratherbe a stimulus to a truer appreciat ion of the posi tionand needs of the work ing class . If we survey Engl ishhistory to the beginning of the nineteenth century

,our

m ain difficul ty is to determ ine whether our sins ofomission or commission have been the greater. Both

have been heinous and enormous . In the village com



When the change came from class legislation tolaissezfairc his position was little improved . Centuri esof oppress ion were followed by generations of neglect.

Thus the Engl ish workers have su ffered in successionfrom evils O f two kinds, from the evil s of oppressionand from the ev il s of neglect . This aspect of Engl i shh istory is summed up and condemned in the single factthat we had ‘no national system Of education till 1 870

,a

fact all the more strik ing because Scotland,though much

later in its pol it ical and econom ic development,had an

enlightened system Of education at a very early date .Factory workers gained much during the nine

teenth century . But even yet the State has hardlydone any th ing substant ial for the rural workers .

Scarcely a vo ice has been raised for a class wh ichhas borne the chief burden of national industry

,of

colon i sation and war,which for so m anv centuries

carried Church and State,aristocracy and squirearchy

,

on i ts much-enduring shoulders. Some of us hopedthat in 1 885 the time had at last com e . We all know

what happened to defer it again . Will the State nevergive heed to such a duty till the demand grows clamorOus and agitation m enacing ? No class has done som uch and received so littl e as the rural workers .Every man connected with the ruling class in Englandshould be asham ed to look one of the peasantry in theface . I t is the continual neglect of the needs andclaims of the people that m akes a peaceful changed ifficult and prepares for revolution .

There are,however

,many very promising symptoms.

CONCLUS ION 399

Am ong these we may note a grow ing spirit of conci l iat ion and of sympathy w i th the claims of labour

,shown

particularly in the friendly and courteous recept ionaccorded to the newly founded Labour Party. In the

ruling and possessing classes we may observe an increasing recognition O f the necessity to make substan tialconcessions to the needs and asp irations of the workers .

One Of the brigh test of recent sym ptoms was the atmosphere

,enlightened

,sym pathetic

,and generous

,wh ich

pervaded the discussions at the Pan-Anglican Congressin 1 908 . It was a s ign of the times . No one couldaccuse the Congress of be ing a revolutionary gathering.

We may expect that the influence of its membersam ong the conservative and influential classes all overthe Engl ish - speaking world w il l have good results .

We have abundant ev idence that the Am ericanpeople have done m uch hard th inking on social politicsduring recen t years. A strik ing instance of i t appearsin President Roosevelt’ s message tO Congress inDecember 1 908 . We may summarise as follows theproposals for social legislation which it contained .

Bes ides the general control of the great corporationswhich he has all along urged

,he advocated superv is ion

of corporate finance,a progress ive inheritance tax on

large fortunes,lighten ing of the burden of taxation

on the smal l man,proh ibi tion of ch ild labour

,dim inu

tion of woman labour,shortening of hours of all

mechan ical labour,an eigh t hours ’ day to be extended

as soon and as far as practicable to the entire work tobe carried on by G overnment . l l e particularly urges the


immediate passing of an effective Employers’ LiabilityAct. Th is is a good beginning

,and i t is a happy om en

that such legislation should be advocated by a manw i th so fearless and stainless a record as Mr. Roosevelt .If the American people are prepared to fol low h im a

beneficent solution of many grave problems is assured.

In the foregoing pages we have d iscussed the S tateas a possible engine Of social ameliorat ion . But we

should not forget that the most hopeful movement ofrecent t imes

,the co-Operative movement

,owes little to

the S tate . The State has very great power,but it has

no magical power. And i t is a grave m istake to regardit too much as the p ivot of soc ial evolution . The Stateitself is only a phase of social evolut ion . We can trace

its rise and progress in h istory,and its record has not

been a good one . While it has been a deci si ve element

Of strength in the struggle for ex istence,it has also too

long and too much been an organ for the e xplo iting ofthe mass O f the people by the ruling minority .

Recent English social ism has given excessive promi

nence to the State ; to the prej udice of the question ,and for two reasons . The State means compuls ion , andi t suggests the Official . Socialism carried out by theS tate suggests bureaucracy

,and is Opposed to freedom .

Such a conception of the subject is most m islead ing andin the h ighest degree prejud icial to progress .In its propaganda the Fab ian Soc iety has too Often

interpreted social ism in term s Of the State and themun icipal ity. Though m ost important, the State and

the mun icipal ity are only h istoric phases of deeper



State included . I t i s a principle of social change wh ichgoes beyond and beh ind the ex isting State

,which will

m odify the State, but does not depend upon it for itsreal isation .

’ 1 To be more prec ise,socialism is a prin

ciple of econom ic organisat ion,w i th the correlated

social and eth ical principles const ituting a great ideal,

to which the State m ust be m ade to conform . How far

the S tate may in this way need to be transformed is aquestion which hardly concerns us at present.In the chapter on the Purified Socialism I attempted

to show how ‘ the true m ean ing of social ism is givenin the dominat ing tendencies of social evolution .

’ 2

Through the fog Of con troversy we should clearly seethat the fundamental principle of soc ialism is markedby extreme simplicity . The keynote of socialism is theprinciple of association . Only by associating for theownership and con trol of land and cap ital can the peopleprotect themselves against the evil s of compe t i tion and

monopoly. Only by association can they control andutilise the large industry for the general good . It means

that industry should be carried on by free associatedworkers utilising a joint cap ital w ith a view to anequitable system O f distribution . And in the politicalorgan i sation of society it has for complement a l ike ideal

,

nam ely,that the old methods of force

,subj ection

,and

exploitat ion should give place to the principle of freeassociation . Through the application and developmen tof the principle of free association i t seeks to transformState

,mun icipality

,and industry in all their departm ents.

1 I nquiry into Social ism , 3rd edition, p . 1 33.

2 See pp . 2 87, 288 .

CONCLUS ION 403

Socialism rests on the great ideal s of freedom and

justice , O f brotherhood and mutual service . I t may

well claim to be the heir of the great ideals of thegreatest races . The Hebrew ideal of truth

,righteous

ness,and mercy

,which on its ethical side was widened

and deepened into the Christian ideals of love,brother

hood,and mutual service

,and the Greek ideal of the

true,the good , and the beautiful, all may and should

be accepted by socialism,and they should be supple

mented by the Roman conceptions of law ,order

,and con

tinuity,but with far w ider aims and m eanings . In its

law of mutual service,by which it at once asserted the

interdependence of the members of the social organ ismand a profound conception of social duty

,Christianity

went deeper,both in philosophy and practice

,than

the French Revolution with its watchwords Of l iberty,

equali ty,and fratern ity . Al l these ideals

,though not

seldom abused and d iscredited in the rough school Ofhuman experience

,are in their essence profoundly true

and real,and they al l meet and are summ ed up in a

worthy conception of the great soc ial istic ideal .These ideals

,i t wi l l be seen

,go together ; and it

should be specially observed that freedom for the massof mankind can be won and m a intained only by associat ion . In the competi tive struggle the victors are few ;the m any are defeated and become subj ect. I t i s a

delusion to suppose that freedom and com petition are

really com pat ible .This truth has received striking exemplification in

the recent h istory of America. In the course of a


s ingle generation the country has passed under a systemOf competi tion from industrial freedom to what looksvery like industrial oligarchy. The men who could

best adapt themselves to the conditions of competitionhave won ; and the trusts which they have organisedare the natural results. The oligarchy appears to bethe very unwelcome but very natural result Of the

free struggle for success which has been the acceptedsystem and the ideal of the American people.Rightly understood

,socialism wil l thus be seen to

embody the highest conceptions of life,ancient and

modern,and the highest aspirations of Christ ian ethics

interpreted and applied by the experience of centuries.The failures wh ich we have experienced in realis ing ourideal s are no excuse for lowering them . They are far

reach ing ; they are limited by Obv ious natural facts, andcannot be realised in a day . But we should rememberthat every step forward brings us nearer to the goal .This great ideal remains

,therefore

,as a far-shining

goal to provoke and encourage the endeavours of mento attain it. We cannot lower it, but we should begrateful for every sincere attempt to reach it

,for every

successful step towards it . For the rise and growth ofsocial ism a lower and

,as som e would reckon

,a m ore

solid foundation i s all that we need . The necessary

m inimum i s an enlightened self- interest. Sociali sm

does not a im at the ex tinguish ing or superseding of theself-regarding principle—that i s impossible and absurd.It seeks to regulate it, to place it under social guidanceand control . When and so far as the m ass of the people



socialism . O f al l the absurd it ies entertained aboutsocialism by its cr itics

,and apparently also by some

O f its adherents , the most grotesque is the idea thatevery th ing will be done by the d irect action of theState . I t will rather be the aim O f a reasonable

social ism to diminish and ligh ten the pressure Of theState as an engine of compulsion and coercion

,and

to Offer suitable scope for the free action of the individual and the fam i ly

,for free association and

voluntary agreement. For this reason one Of the

most urgent needs of such a socialism will be to promote local autonomy

,and also to foster what we may

cal l the autonomy of the individual and the family, butin a living organic relation to the whole community.

We must therefore regard social action as proceedingnot only from above downwards

,but also from below

upwards,and indeed mutually and reciprocally through

all the members and departments Of society,from the

centre to the extremities and from the extremities tothe centre. But even this i s only a very imperfect

explanation of an organic process which expresses itselfin a consensus O f l ife and action.

The federal idea also very imperfectly expresses therelation that the parts may bear to each other and tothe whole in a great society, but it helps us to understand . This federal concep tion may have a great

future,in Austria-Hungary

,in Russia

,and in the

Balkan Peninsula,for the solution of pol itical difficulties .

The British Emp ire is being transformed into a freeassociation of free S tates . And we may add that the

CONCLUS ION 407

h ighest directing agency in the Empire,the British

Cabinet,i s a combination of the leading men of the

stronges t party for the time being, who in the main

hold the same political views,and who are united

,

not accord ing to a s tatute or a written constitution,or

any kind O f form al contract, but by what for want of a

better name we may call a gentlemen ’s agreement . TheBritish Cabinet may be regarded as a free associationof gen tlemen

,the Premier presiding p rimers inter p ares.

As regards socialism,one of the most urgent needs

for the promoting of local and individual autonomyis fully to reconstitute the hom estead and the villagecommunity. The homestead w i ll satisfy the mostnatural crav ing for individual property and for afamily and ancestral hom e

,with all the beneficent

and sacred association impl ied in such a home . ‘ The

area of the homestead should be sufficient to employand support a fam i ly .

’ In my book Progress and the

Fiscal P roblem (p . 1 72 ) I have spoken of such a

homestead as a freehold . But it matters comparat ivelyli ttle what legal term we employ

,provided the

occupancy be perm anent and not dependent on thew il l of offic ials connected with the central government .There should

,however

,be som e guarantee that the

social cond itions of occupancy be fulfil led .

’ Tax or

ren t might reasonably be paid into a social fund forcol lect ive needs . Here

,as in o ther m atters

,one of the

d ifliculties in elucidating a reasonable social ism lies inthe fact that we have to use O ld words to express factsand institutions that may be expected to become new ,


or at least to undergo a material change in the courseof social development. For such words

,i t should be

Observed , have not a final and conclusive meaningwhich can be stereotyped and put into a definition in adictionary or legal enactment

,but can only be unfolded

in actual human use and in the process of changinghuman h istory . It is meant that the homestead andthe village community be restored to a full and beneficent life under modern cond itions and to servemodern needs .Of the State for the near future the most desirable

type undoubtedly is one which,while provid ing a strong

and efficient central organisat ion,gives a real and

substantial autonomy to the various parts and membersof which it may be composed . And it will be one ofthe noblest functions O f such a State to train to ah igher social and pol itical l ife the peeples which arenew subj ect and by som e are reckoned inferior . Thisduty Great Britain is performing in India and Egypt .The Un ited S tates of America have undertaken a l ike

Office in Cuba and the Ph il ippine Islands . It migh teven be possible under wise guidance to lead peoplesl ike the Kaffi rs d irect from the warl ike and tribalstage into the industrial and cc -operat ive stage . Someday

,perhaps

,the best solution for racial difficulties in

America may be to give some kind of special autonomyto the negroes in the hot regions where they are mostthickly planted near the Gulf of Mex ico .Progress in these high matters w i l l obviously

depend on the growing insight and sympathy of the



the prevalent political economy in so far as it is a correct description and analysis of the prevalent economicsystem . The aim of socialism is to show why and howthat system should and must pass away , and is passingaway and we may believe that this is a much worthiertask

,from the point of view both of science and the

public good,than the microscopic investigation of the

conditions of the competi tive system,which constitutes

so large a port ion of the current political econom y.

Anyhow the practical aim of social ism is to removeand abolish the cond i t ions under which the so-called

laws Of pol i tical economy had their validity. Regardingthe assumption so Often made by economists that individual self- in terest is the solid basis on which sciencemus t build

,we can only say that it is not science

,but

a one—sided and erroneous conception Of human nature,of human society

,and Of soc ial evolution , which

Obviously requires the most serious correction .

With regard to the populat ion question,and the

question O f the strug lo for existence so intimatelyor

connected w i th it,we can no longer ignore the practice

Of limi tation of fam il ies,which has now become so pre

valent. It cannot be regarded as a satisfactory solutionof the population question . In the past it has been one

Of the surest signs of a stagnant and decadent nation .

NO race or nation , in which the rights and dut ies ofmotherhood or the fam ily m oral ities are slightly valued,can hope permanently to m aintain a h igh standard Of

life and worth . We may most surely forecast the

future of a class or nation from the manner in wh ich

CONCLUS ION 4 1 1

the rights and duties of mo therhood are observed byi t. To use the language Of biology , race su ic ide is themost unfavourable variation wh ich classes and na t ion scan inflict upon them selves . But we are no t in th isbook concerned w ith the general question . “ 7hat we

have to note here is that the practice Of l im i tingfam i l ies

,having become so prevalent

,w i l l tend to

d im inish the intensity of the struggle for existence,

wh ich i t is the aim Of socialism to regul ate . For thisreason we must recogn ise i t as a fact which has an

important bear ing on our subj ect .It was a theory of the Marx school that the bourgeoisie,

in the course Of the developm ent of cap i talism,would

be ‘ no longer capable of controlling the industrialworld .

’ 1 The recent development of the trust system

in America and Germany has shown that the bourgeoisie

are only too capable of doing so on the vastest scale .The leaders of the trusts are show ing that they can

regulate production,wages

,prices

,and the markets , not

for nations only but for the world . O ligarch ies showedtheir capacity in Rome

,Carthage

,Ven ice , and Holland

for centuries . They cam e to ru in at last, but the causesof their ruin were w ider and deeper than mere want O f

capacity . Wi th these we are not concerned here . The

concern of socialism is that the ol igarchy or plutocracywhich is foreshadowed in the gigantic trust systemshould not be al lowed to gain a permanen t footing , bu tshould be regulated and transformed in the way requiredby the public good . The trust is a m enace alike to

1 See p . 1 48 .


labour and to society. With the growth of the trustsystem free competi tion really ceases to exist

,and the

alternative l ies‘

between a gigantic system Of monopoly

and social ism.

We believe also that Marx made a serious m istakein holding that the further development of capitalismwill be m arked by the growing ‘ wretchedness

, Oppres

s ion , slavery , degeneracy, and exploitation 1 of the

working class . Facts and reasonable expectations combine clearly to indicate that the democracy

,on which

the social evolut ion Of the future depends,is m arked

by a grow ing intellectual,moral

,and pol itical capacity

,

and by an increasing freedom and prosperity ; and all

these things make it only m ore ardent and capable forfurther progress and for the great tasks that lie beforeit. Social progress must in the last resort depend onthe character and capac ity Of the human beings concerned in it . The dem ocracy

,the representative and

promoter Of the new order,shows a growing fitness for

its world -historic m ission . The claim of socialism to be

the dominant form of social organisation in the futuremust ultimately be its efficiency to fulfi l the great endsof social union

,and the decisive element in th is effi

ciency must be the fitness of the agents who are to

realise it.

This is a point of supreme and far - reaching im

portance which it w i ll be wel l for us to ponder. Al lsocial problem s in the long run resolve them selves intothe que stion of human character. The moral forces

1 Kap ital, p . 790.


4 1 4 HISTORY OF SOC IAL I SM

TO use the words of John Milton,it was a strenuous

l iberty wh ich was cherished and maintained by ourPuritan forefathers

,the fathers and founders of the

American Commonwealth . We know with what solem

nity and earnestness, with what grav ity, del iberation ,and foresight they entered on the long struggle againstStuart tyranny. If the Amer icans and We are tosucceed in the com ing struggle against plutocracy

,an

abundant m easure of the h igh and virile qualitieswhich characterised their forefathers and ours w ill beneeded.

Happily signs are not want ing that a sp irit andcharacter strenuous and capable of the task of reforma

t ion w il l be forthcoming. In all civilised countries,

and especial ly in America,men have been accomplices

in the sin of mammon -worshi p : success in the strugglefor wealth

,with its many base and unscrupulous inci

dents,has been far too highly esteemed. There has

been,especial ly in America

,a great moral awaken ing,

wh ich we may expect to have good results amongall classes. As regards the working classes

,we have

seen how long and hard in most countries has been

their discipline of pr ivation and sorrow. The repre

sentatives of labour have for generations undergone astern and severe training in prison and ex i le . In Russiato-day they have been sufi

’

ering and inflicting horrors

which have been far worse.

But as we have repeatedly had occasion to point out

in th is book,their training in constructive work

,in

political organisation,in trade unions

,and co-Operative

CONCLUS ION 4 1 5

societies has been vastly more effi cacious . Most prom ising of all , as we have seen , is the cO -operat ivemovement

,because it best com bines the col lective use

of the means of production and exchange w ith ind ividualfreedom and responsibil ity . In the vast and ever

w idening co-operat ive movem ent we can see a newsociety rising in the m idst of the old. Every year i t

w idens and grows,and we hope i t w il l grow and w iden

til l the Old,with al l its fal se and base ideals , its un

reason,its m ilitarism

,i ts mismanagement

,waste , and

extravagance has been put away. Hearts have been

burning w i th the sacred fire of noble ideal s in thepromoting of th is grand work . Imagination s have been

haunted with beaut iful dream s,wh ich have not been

vain . But we should prize not less the patient and persevering in tegrity wh ich

,through a mult i tude of petty

and prosaic details,i s bearing the movement onward

to an ever higher position in the world . At Ghent andother places we may already see both in spirit andmaterial ou tline the city that is to be

,the new society

that is ris ing to make l ife happy and beautiful for thepeople who have mourned so long ! In the appl icationof the co-operative principle to agricul ture we can atlast see an ending to the Oppression of the tiller of theso i l by the usurer and m iddlem an

,which has been a

stain on civilisation s ince it began thousands of yearsago in the val leys of the Euphrates and the Ni le .The day is com ing

,perhaps it m ay be near at hand ,

when we shal l be able to discover and to apply the

true tests o f greatness . When,w i th their help

,we


are able to write h istory in a really scientific m anner,

we shal l find that the Napoleons and the others,the

records of whose doings now fi ll our l ibraries,were not

great at all,but the reverse of it

,and that the true

heroes and benefactors of the n ineteenth century w erethe poor weavers of Rochdale and Ghent

,who started

and carried forward the co-Operative movement. Al lhonour to them for what they have done !And yet al l that they have done is only the solid

and hOpeful‘

beginn ing of the realisation Of our dreams .For the ideal i s superb and exacting . Men are slow to

move towards it. They find it hard even to understandand appreciate its beauty and excellence . Let usfervently hope that after the way towards a good andbeautiful l ife for humanity has been so clearly pointedout

,an ever- increasing multitude may have the wisdom

to walk in it.

We believe that the transition to a reasonable

socialism will be m arked by a long and testing process

of social selection . From the beginning of the movement social ist ‘

theories have been subjected to the

tests of discussion and of experience . Social ist partieshave also undergone very severe trial in debate

,organ

isation,and action . Trade unions and labour parties

have been obliged to go through a very hard courseof discipline and of suffering.

I t should be part icularly Observed that these testsm ore and more belong to the dom ain of intelligence , ofmoral character

,and of skilled organisat ion . Success

in the struggle for exi stence depends on fitness or


4 1 8 H I STORY OF SOC IAL ISM

need to be dev ised. The weak and disabled will receivesu itable gu idance and support. But we may be assuredthat all normal ly constituted m en will be ready torespond to all natural and reasonable calls.Social service will be the main field for emulation

,

r ivalry,and ambition

,and here the struggle for a higher

li fe may be carried on under the better cond itions wh ichwill prevail. We may call i t competi tion if we w ill,but it will be compet it ion on terms that differ entirelyfrom those which exist under the present system . It

w il l be competition for social distinction and rewards .The reticence, secrecy, and hypocrisy, the j ealousy and

detract io'

n,which are now so common w ill pass away .

Men w i l l be able to live sincerely and Openly. Theirrecord wil l be an open and publ ic one

,which their

fellow-citizens will be able to read and estimate fairly .

An d we should avoid the grave m istake of confound ingthe human qual ities that m ake for success in thepresent competition with the qual i ties that would meetwith approval under the new system . The qualit iesthat command success at present we all know. The

qualities that would meet with favour under a reason

able socialism will be those wh ich answer to the greatideals we have spoken of

,and particularly those wh ich

fit men for the best social service.The waste and demoralisation

,the injustice and

cruelty,wh ich are so rife under the present system will

pass away. But the new era will work for m uch m ore

than the mere abol ition Of evil . It w ill m ake for thepositive and integral developm ent of the highest human

CONCLUS ION 41 9

l ife. Natural capacity in al l the forms that are consistentw i th social good will have free scope for unfoldingitself. We may believe that in the majority of livesthe exercise of natural endowm ent w i ll be in d irectconformity with the requ irements Of social service . Itw i ll obv iously be for the good of society that each wil ldo the work for wh ich he is best fitted . Sp iritualteaching

,scient ific discovery

,li terature

,art

,and music

wil l all be duly prized and rewarded as m odes of socialservice . But if the asp irant wishes to do his share ofsocial work in the form of som e ord inary craft

,in order

to devote his am ple leisure to a special pursuit entirelyof his own choos ing

,he will be free to do so. In th is

matter freedom w ill be an interest of the firs t order.The lesson taught by much recent experience and

the goal of m any convergent tendencies seem nu

doubtedly to be,that society should control industry

in its own interest . An industry carried on by freeassociated m en would be in perfect accord with otherforms and methods of progress

,ethical

,political

,and

econom ic . The purified social ism may be regarded as

the co-ordination and consummat ion of every otherform of hum an progress

,inasm uch as i t appl ies to the

use of man all the factors of scientific,m echanical

,and

artistic developm ent in harmony w ith the prevailingpolitical and eth ical ideas .I t is therefore a most desirable form of organ isat ion .

And many large and grow ing symp toms show that i ti s practicable . I t is a type of organ isation wh ich maytake shape in a thousand diverse ways

,accord ing to


the differences in h istoric conditions and in nationaltem perament. Within its lim i ts

,as we have seen

,there

w ill be reasonable scope for ind ividual developm entand for every variety of l ik ing and capacity cons istentw ith the well-being of others ; but exceptional talentand the generous enthusiasm which is i ts fi ttingaccom paniment wi ll m ore and m ore find the ir properfield in the serv ice of society

,an ideal wh ich is already

largely realised in the democratic state .In a rat ional social ism we may therefore see a long

and w idening avenue of progress,along wh ich the

improvem ent of mank ind may be cont inued in a peaceful and gradual

,yet most hopeful , sure , and e ffective

way. Such a prospect Offers the best rem edy for theapathy and frivol ity

,cyn icism and pess im ism

,which

are now so prevalent ; and i t is the most effectualcounteract ive to restlessness

,d iscontent

,and al l the

evils and excesses of the revolutionary sp iri t . Under i tthe soc ial forces wi ll consciously and d irectly work forsocial ideals . The ideal w i ll be made real , and m ightand righ t w il l be reconciled . The real forces which

operate in modern history w i ll be shaped by benefieent

ideals,t i ll

,as Tennyson s ings

,

Each m an find h is own in al l m en’s good ,

And all m en work in noble brotherhood .

May we not w ith Saint-S imon hope that the goldenage is not behind but before us ?


422 APPEND IX

moral laws,which it is their m ission to teach

,and which

enjoins that in the future each man should be placedaccording to his capaci ty

,and rewarded according to his

work.

‘ But in virtue of this law they demand the abolitionoi

'

all the privileges of birth w i thout exception, and con

sequently the destruction of the right of inheritance, thegreatest of those privileges, which at present comprehendsthem all

,and of which the effect is to leave to chance the

distribution of social privileges am ongst the small numberof those who can lay claim to them , and to condemn them ost num erous class to depravation

,ignorance, and m isery .

‘ They demand that all the instrum ents of labour,land

,

and capi tal, which at present form the divided stock of

private proprietors, should be exp loited by associationswith a suitable gradation Of functions, so that the task of

each may be the expression of his capaci ty,and his riches

the m easure of his services .‘ The Saint-Simonists do not attack the institution of

private property,ex cept in so far as i t consecrates for

som e the impious privilege of idleness—that is to say, ofliving on the labour of others ; except as it leaves to theaccident of birth the social status of individuals.

Christianity has delivered wom en from slavery,but it

has nevertheless condemned them to an inferior position,

and in Christian Europe we still see them everywheredeprived of religious

,political

,and civil rights .

‘ The Saint-Sim onists announce their final liberation,

their complete emancipation, but they do not aim atabolishing the sacred law of marriage proclaim ed byChristianity ; on the contrary , they desire to fulfil thislaw,

to g ive it a new sanction, to add to the authori ty andinviolability of the union which i t consecrates.

‘Like Christians they demand that a single man beunited to a single woman ; but they teach that the wifeshoul d becom e the equal of the husband, and that, according to the special grace with which God has endowed hersex, she should be associated in the ex ercise of the triplefunction of religion, the State. and the fam ily, so that

SOC IAL I ST ICWORK ING MEN ’S PARTY OF GERMANY 423

the social individual,which hi therto has been the man

only,may henceforward be man and woman .

‘ The religion of Saint-Simon seeks only to abolish thesham eful traffic

,the legal prostitution

,which

,under the

name of m arriage, at present so frequently consecrates theunnatural union of self-sa

‘crifice and egotism

,of intelligence

and ignorance, of youth and decrepitude .

Such are the m ost general ideas of the Saint-Simonistson the changes which they demand in the arrangements ofproperty and in the social condition of women .

’

PROGRAMME OF THE SOCIALISTIC lVORKING

MEN’S PARTY OF GERMANY

GOTHA, May 1 8 75 .

I . Labour is the source Of all w ealth and all culture,

and as useful work in general is possible only throughsociety

,so to society

,that is to all its members

,the entire

product belongs ; while as the obligation to labour isuniversal, all have an equal right to such product, eachone according to his reasonable needs.In the e x isting society the instrum ents Of labour are a

m onopoly of the capitalist class ; the subjection of theworking class thus arising is the cause of m isery andserv i tude in every form .

The emancipation of the working class demands thetransformation of the instrum ents of labour into thecommon property of society and the co-operati ve controlof the total labour

,wi th application of the product O f

labour to the comm on good and just distribution of thesam e .The em ancipation of labour m ust be the work of the

labouring class,in contrast to which all other classes are

only a reactionary mass.II . Proceeding from these principles

, the socialisticworking m en’s party of Germany aim s by all legal meansat the establishment of the free state and the socialisticsociety

,to destroy the Iron Law of Wages by abolishing

424 APPEND IX

the system of wage-labour,to put an end to exploitation

in every form,to rem ove all social and political inequality .

The soc ialistic working m en’s party of G ermany

,though

acting first Of all within0

the national lim its,is conscious

of the international character of the labour movem ent,

and resolved to fulfil all the duties which this imposes onthe workmen

,in order to realise the universal brotherhood

of m en.

In order to prepare the way for the solution of thesocial question

,the socialistic working m en’s party of

Germany demands the establishm ent of socialistic productive associations w ith State help under the dem ocraticcontrol of the labouring people. The productive associations are to be founded on such a scale both for industryand agriculture that out of them m ay develop the socialisticorganisation of the total labour.The socialistic working m en’s party of Germany de

mands as the basis Of the StateI. Universal, equal, and direct right of electing and

voting,w ith secret and obligatory voting

,of all citizens

from twenty years of age,for all elections and delibera

tions in the State and local bodies . The day of electionor voting must be a Sunday or holiday .

II. Direct legislation by the people. Questions of warand peace to be decided by the people .III. Universal m ilitary duty . A people’s army in

place of the standing arm ies.IV. Abolition of all e xceptional law s

,especially as re

gards the press, unions, and m eetings, and generally of alllaws which restrict freedom of thought and inquiry .

V . Adm inistration of justice by the people. Free just-ice .

'

VI . Universal and equal education by the State. Com

pulsory education . Free education in all public places ofinstruction . Religion declared to be a private concern .

The socialistic working m en’s party demands wi thin thee x isting society( 1 ) Greatest possible ex tension of political rights and

liberties m the sense Of the above demands.


426 APPEND IX

upon capital and labour, and the removal of unjust technicalities

, delays, and discrim inations in the adm inistrationof justice.VI . The adoption Of m easures providing for the health

and safety of those engaged in m ining,manufacturing, and

building industries ; and for indemnification to those en

gaged therein for injuries received through lack of neces

sary safeguards.VII. The recogni tion by incorporation of trades-unions,

orders,and such other associations as may be organised by

the working m asses to improve their condition and protecttheir rights.VIII. The enactm ent of laws to com pel corporations to

pay their employees weekly,in lawful money, for the

labour of the preceding week,and gi ving m echanics and

labourers a first lien upon the product of their labour tothe e x tent of their full wages .IX . The aboli tion of the contract system on national

,

State,and m unicipal works .

X . The enactm ent of law s providing for arbi tration between employers and employed, and to enf orce the decisionof the arbitrators .XI. The prohibition by law of the employm ent of

children under fifteen years of age in workshops,m ines

,

and factories .XII . To prohibit the hiring out of convict labour.XIII. That a graduated incom e- ta x be levied.

And we demand at the hands of the CongressXIV. The establishm ent of a national m onetary system

,

in which a circulating m edium in necessary quanti ty shallissue direct to the people, w i thout the intervention ofbanks that all the national issue shall be full legal tenderin paym ent of all debts, public and private and that theGovernm ent shall not guarantee or recognise any privatebanks

,or create any banking corporations.

XV . That interest-bearing bonds, bills of credi t or notesshall never be issued by the Governm ent, but that , whenneed arises

,the emergency shall be m et by issue of legal

tender,non-interest bearing m oney .

BAS IS OF THE FAB IAN SOC I ETY 427

XVI . That the importation of foreign labour undercontract be prohibited .

XVII. That in'

connection with the post-office, theG overnm ent shall organise financial exchanges

,safe de

posits and facilities for deposit of the savings of the peoplein small sum s.XVIII. That the Governm ent shall obtain possession

,

by purchase, under the rights of em inent domain, of alltelegraphs

,telephones

,and railroads

,and that hereafter no

charter or licence be issued to any corporation for construetion or operation of any m eans of transporting intelligence

,

passengers or freight .And while making the foregoing demands upon the

State and National Governm ent,we w ill endeavour to

associate our own laboursXIX . To establish co—Operative insti tutions such as will

tend to supersede the wage system , by the introduc tion ofa cO-operative industrial system .

XX . To secure for both sex es equal pay for equal work .

XXI . To shorten the hours of labour by a generalrefusal to work for more than eight hours .XXII. To persuade employers to agree to arbi trate all

differences which may arise between them and theirem ployees

,in order that the bonds of sympathy between

them may be strengthened and that strikes may be renderedunnecessary .

BASIS OF THE FABIAN SOCIETY

The Fabian Society consists of socialists.It therefore aim s at the reorganisation of society by

the emancipation of Land and Industrial Capi tal fromind ividual and class ownership, and the vesting of them inthe communi ty for the general benefit . In this way onlycan the natural and acquired advantages of the country heequitably shared by the whole people .The Society accordingly works for the ex tinc tion of

private property in land and of the consequent ind ividualappropriation, in the form of rent of the price paid for

4 28 APPENDIX

perm ission to use the earth,as well as for the advantages

of superi or soils and sites.The Society , further, works for the transfer to the

comm unity of the adm inistration of such industrial capitalas can conveniently be managed socially . For

,ow ing to

the m onopoly of the m eans of production in the past,

industrial inventions and the transform ation of surplusincom e into capital have m ainly enriched the proprietaryclass, the worker being new dependent on that class forleave to earn a living .

If'

these m easures be carried out,w ithout compensation

(though not w ithout such relief to expropriated individualsas m ay seem fit to the community), rent and interest w illbe added to the reward of labour

,the idle class now living

on the labour of others w ill necessarily d isappear,and

practical equality O f opportuni ty w ill be maintained bythe spontaneous action of econom ic forces w ith m uch lessinterference w ith personal liberty than the present systementails.For the attainm ent of these ends the Fabian Society

looks to the spread of socialist opinions,and the social and

political changes consequent thereon , including the establishm ent of equal ci tizenship for m en and wom en . It seeksto prom ote these by the ‘

general dissem ination of knowledge as to the relation between the individual and societyin i ts econom ic

,ethical

,and polit ical aspects .

The work of the Fabian Society takes,at present, the

following form s( 1 ) Meetings for the discussion of questions connected

w ith socialism .

(2 ) The further investigation of econom ic problem s, andthe collection of facts contributing to their elucidation .

(3) The issue of publications containing information onsocial questions

,and argum ents relating to socialism .

(4) The prom otion of socialist lec tures and debates inother societies and clubs .(5 ) The representation of the Society in public con

ferences and d iscussions on social questions.


430 I NDEX

Bismarck , his work in German history, 79 his historic insight, 94 ;

his relation to the German Social Democracy , 2 1 6 , etc . ; his Statesocialism

,347.

Blane, Louis, his m ethod of remuneration, 9 ; his activ ity during the

Revo lution o f 1 848, 42 life and theories, 43 points of agreement

with Lassall e, 273, 274 .

Bourgeoisie, the m idd le or capitalist class, 4 1 , 98 , 1 39 , etc . ,1 72 , etc .

its position in Russia, 255, 266 a theory of Marx,4 1 1 .

Capital , aim of socialism Wit h regard to i t,8,9 , 1 0, etc . ; contrast

between labour and capital , 2 5 individual cap ital , an institutionin Fourierws system 38, 40 ; how regarded by L . B lane

,45

,46

, byProudhon ,

56 ; how to be obtained by th e productive associationsof Lassal le, 1 08 ; a h istoric category , 1 1 3 ; word wrongly used bysocialists, 1 1 4 ; exposition of capital by Marx , 1 38, etc. ; its

international relation to labour,1 71 , etc . ; its place in anarchism ,

241,245 its p lace in a reasonable social ism , 290, etc .

Capitalism , correct nam e for the prevalent economic order as con .

trol led by capitalists, 1 1 5 , 1 4 1 , 1 45.

Catholic Church , its societies and their property , 1 6 ; how related toSaint -Sim on

,25, 29 its social activity, 340.

Chartism ,its import, 42 , 70.

Christian socialism ,in Eng land , 71 in Germany, 342 .

Christian Social Union,343.

Christianity , relation to socialism , 1 0, 7 1 , 339, 389 .

C lifford,343.

Col lectivism, economi c basis of the prevalent socialism ,

1 2 its p lace inL . B lanc ’s system , 46 ; goal of Lassal le’s scheme, 1 1 1 ; economic

basis of anarchism,2 47, 249 goal of the social democratic m ove

m ent , 229 ; i ts abstractness criticised,290 ; the goal of inter

national social ism ,369.

Colonial system,368 .

Commune,the

,its p lace in Fourier

’

s system , 31 ; at Paris , 1 88 ; itsp lace in anarch ism

,243

,273 its general p lace in socialism , 289,

346.

Communism , its relation to social ism , 1 6, 1 8 .

Communist Party, formation. 1 33, 1 72 ; its manifesto, 1 73, etc .

,

366 , etc .

Conjunctures, Lassal le’s theory o f, 1 1 2 .

Cc -operative movement , real ly founded by Owen, 70 ; promoted by

Christian socialists in England , 7 1 ; m ovement in Germany andits relation to Lassal le, 8 4, 1 06 , 1 07, 1 1 6 ; comm ended by the

International , 1 80, 1 84, 1 85 its recent progress, 350, etc .

INDEX 43 1

Darwin, relation o f his doctrine of development to economics, 28 1

relation of his teaching to that o f Marx , 294 relation of h is theoryto socialism

,295 , etc .

Democracy , socialism its econom ic comp lem ent, 1 0 ; one of the con

ditions necessary for the growth of social ism , 1 8 ; the politicalbasis o f L . Blane’s schemes

,43

,etc . ; developm ent of

,47 ;

democracy of workers,99

,1 20 ; how trained for its great task ,

1 48, 1 60 ; its importance, 28 4 , 2 87, 288 ; its place in socialevolution,

357, 381 , etc.

Denmark,31 8 .

D istribution, problem of, how solved in various schools of socialism ,

9 ; such m ethods criticised, 29 1 ; m oral and scientific basis of,

360.

Donniges, Fraulein von,91 .

Empire , the conception of, and socialism ,406 -409.

Enfantin ,26, 27, 29.

Engels , Fr. , 73, 1 30, 1 32, 1 35 ; his exposition of the function of the

State , 1 50.

Fabian Society , origin and aim s, 329, 330 ; som e o f its views criticised,331

,400, 401 its basis

,427.

Feudali sm , in relation to socialism , 1 1 , 1 9, 2 4 its overthrow by the

capitalist c lass, 97, 1 42 ; not a stereotyped system ,278 evolved

by the struggle for existence, 298 .

Fourier, m ethod of remuneration,9 ; adm itted private capital , 1 3 ; a

founder of social ism , 1 5 grew up under the imm ediate influenceof the French Revolution, 1 8 l ife and opinions, 31 contrast to

Saint-S imon and the centralising socialism ,31

,2 73, 274 ; his

safeguards for individual and local freedom ,290.

George, Henry , 328 .

Hegel , influence on Lassalle, 74 on Marx

,1 31 , 1 5 1 , 1 52 , 1 6 1 , 2 79 ;

his doctrine of development , 294 .

Held ,Adol f, definition of socialism , 5 .

Hol land, 31 8 .

Hom estead ,its place in a reasonable socialism

,407.

Hyndman,328 .

Independent Labour Party , 330, 332 .

India. 368 , 408 .

Individuality under socialism , 1 1 , 307, 406 , 420.

432 INDEX

International , its aim, 6 ; Marx and the International , 1 66 ; history ,

1 68 ; influence in it o f Bakunin,1 90 ; influence of it on the

Russian revolutionary m ovement,260 ; revival, 363, etc.

I taly,322

,38 1

,39 1 .

Janet, Paul , definition of socialism, 5 .

Jaurez,32 1 .

Keir Hardie, Mr. , 333.

Kent, Duke of, 66 .

Ketteler, B ishop , 88 , 340.

K ingsley , 7 1 .

K ropotk in ,Prince

, 243, 244 .

Labour Party in Britain, how founded , 332 -333 ; its strength and

character,333.

Larissa -f airs, 4 econom ic optim ism imp lied in it , 1 4 entirely un suitable to Prussia

,

'

2 80 i ts adherents in England , 347 influence onlabour

,398 .

Lassal le,at

’

Paris, 42 ; on the power of lying , 49 ; his life, 73 ; histheories , 95 ; his relations to Marx

, 95 ; Rodbertus , 95, 1 24

position of the Social Dem ocrat ic Party at his death,203 ;

Bismarck ’s relation to him ,2 1 6 h is influence on the revolutionary

party in Russia,‘

2 59 ; points of agreement with L . Blane,273,

274 ; his presentation of socialism,279 ; exaggerated estimate of

the influence of the social principle, 306 his Iron Law o fWages,considered in relation to the evo lution of capitalism ,

409.

Laveleye, definition of socialism,5 .

Lav roff,2 43

,260.

Leroux , Pierre , 26 .

Liebknech t,W.

,208

,2 1 0, 21 8 , 233, etc .

,31 6.

Lodge, Senator, on the very serious situation established by the

trusts,372 , 376 .

Lud low, 71 .

Malthus,relation to Owen

,69 his theory and the population

question ,296 struggle for ex istence , 297.

Manch ester theory o f the S tate,1 02 .

Marx , Karl , his relation to the existing State, 6 ; his schoo l the m ost

influen tial form of contem porary socialism ,1 5 Proudhon

’

s rightof aubac

’

ne,com pared with the theory o f capital , 56 ; his theory

of surplus value enunciated by the Chartists, 71 com parison of

his character w ith Lassal le ’s,92 relation of his theory of surplus

value to Lassal le’s Iron Law ofWages, 1 03 col lectivism common


434 INDEX

Plato, 1 6 .

Political economy , its relation to social ism , 1 4 historical and ethi calconception of, promoted by soc ial ism , 2 8 1 its relation to social ismagain considered , 338, 339, 409

-41 0.

Progressist party in Germany, 79, 83, 208 .

Proletariat , the class excluded from land and capital and dependenton wage

-labour, 8 ; brought into active historic contrast to the

bourgeoisie, 41 ; its share in the risings at Paris,1 848

,50 ; its

position conditioned by the developm ent of capitalism , 1 39 and

necessary to it , 1 41 ; its great role in the final dissolution of

capital ism , 1 48 , etc . its emancipation, the great aim of inter

national socialism , 1 72 ; Marx the seientific expounder of the

conditions of its existence and of its emancipation, 1 73, etc . the

Commune at Paris considered as a struggle for its del iverance ,1 89 ; how existing in Russia, 260 ; the dem ocracy still mainlya proletariat, 357 Marx ’s theory of its future developm ent ,

4 1 2 .

Proudhon,one of the leaders of the socialism of 1 848, 42 ; life and

theories,51 theory of surp lus value underlies his extravagances ,

1 37 ; the founder of anarchism, 56, 237 ; his influence in the

International , 1 33 h is exposition of anarch ism ,248.

Ralahine, 67.

Reybaud , 4 .

Rockefel ler, 371 , 376 .

Rodbertus, his general conception of social ism , 1 3 relation to Lassal le,95 , 96 ; life and theories

,1 23 ; relation to Lassal le and Marx ,

1 37 too abstract and Prussian, 279 .

Roosevelt, his proposals for social reform , 399.

Roseber, 5 .

Rousseau, 1 8 .

Russia, the developm ent of socialistic opinion ,2 1 ; anarchism ,

237 ;

revolutionary opinion, 2 50, etc . renewal of revolutionary activity325-327 its repression, 382 -384 .

“

7 “(Saint-S imon, one of the h istoric founders o f soc ial ism , 5 etc . h i s

life and opinions, 22 ; represented the principle o f authority inthe developm ent of socialism ,

274 the golden age, 420.

Schaffle, definition of socialism , 1 2 ; too abstract and Prussian in h is

conception of socialism , 277 ; his high rank as an econom ist,

339.

Scheel, 6 .

Schul ze-Delitzsch , his schemes , 84 ; Lassal le ’s treatm ent of him ,86 ;

INDEX 435

Lassal le’s criticism of his schemes,1 07 ; the same exam ined,

1 1 5,etc .

Schweitzer, 203 , 207 , etc .

Shaw,G . B . , 330.

Sm ith,Adam, in relation to freedom , 1 7 compared with Marx, 1 62

h is principle of natural liberty , 278 , 292 .

Social Democracy,its programm e in Germany , 9 as taught by L .

Blane, 48 ; by Lassal le, 8 4, etc. ; German, 1 97, etc. , 31 1 , etc . ;

its general aim , 363,

'

ete.o

Social Democratic Federation, 329 .

Social selection, 304 , 41 6 .

Social workshops of Louis Blane , 45 , 48 .

Social ist League, 329 .

Socialist Revolutionary Party in Russia, 326 , 382 .

Sp ectator , 382 .

S tate , in relation to social ism ,6 ; historic relation to property , 1 6

its p lace in Saint-S imon, 31 ; in Louis B lane, 44 ; in Lassalle,1 01 , etc . in Rodbertus, 1 27 its role as exp lained by Fr. Engels,1 50 ; Bakunin ’

s relation to it,240 ; two opposing tendencies

with regard to it in socialist movem ent, 274 ; its p lace in

socialism ,345 , etc . further discussed, 400, 401 , 405 -409 .

Stepniak’

s estimate of the numbers of the Russian RevolutionaryParty

,27 1 .

Strike, general , advocated by Bebel to m eet certain emergencies ,31 6 .

Surplus value, theory of, as held by Chartists , 7 1 as held by Owenites

,Rodbertus, Proudhon, etc. 1 37 ; its developm ent by Marx

,

1 38 , etc . criticism of Marx ’s theory of it, 1 54.

Times,the

,and the International , 1 87.

Trade unions and socialism, 367, 369, 391 -405.

Trusts,how they have grown in Am erica, 335 -337 ; a remedy for the

evils of competition, 354-355 ; not confined to Am erica, 355 ; a

proof of the inadequacy of competition, 359 , but a natural resul to f it

, 404 a m enace to labour and to society,4 1 1 .

Turgenief, his novel , Fathers and Sons, 2 58 .

Tytherley, 67.

Tzardom ,its great function in Russian h istory , 2 5 1 , 266, etc .

Vienna, great demonstration, 377 .

V illage community , its p lace in h istory , 253 in Engl ish h is tory , 397should be restored to l ife under modern conditions , 407.

Vol taire, 1 8 , 246.

436 INDEX

Vooruit, at Ghent , 352 .

Wages, Iron Law o f,1 03

,etc . , 384 .Wagner, definition of social ism

,1 2 ; justly charged with abstractness

,

Webb, S idney, 330.Wells, H . G .,330.Westcott, 343.Wil liam I . ,Emperor,Wil liam Emperor, 1 2 1 , 1 95 .

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Documents

· PREFACE THE aim of the present book is twofold : to set forth the leading phases of the histori c so cialism, and to attem pt a criti cism and interpretation of the movement as