two years' imprisonment. But escaping, he fled to Lon-
don, where he became acquainted with Sir Thomas More's
Utopia, which made a deep impression on his mind. He
returned to France in 1836 and published his book, en-
titled "A Voyage to Icaria." In this he describes a coun-
try previously unknown, quite as large as France or
England, but more populous and a thousand times more
blessed. " Here crimes are unknown ; it is a second prom-
ised land, an Eden, an elysium, a new terrestrial paradise/'
The whole book was a philosophical social romance, a
dream of dreams. Cabet, who had many followers in
France, was challenged to put his theories to the test, in
answer to which he organized a colony for settlement in
Texas. Failing to make a lodgment in this wilderness, the
company passed up the Mississippi and settled at Nauvoo,
in Illinois, a place which had recently been vacated by the
Mormons. Subsequently he passed into Iowa, and founded
the town of Icaria. Cabet returned to St. Louis, where he
died in 1856. But the town of Icaria continues to exist to
the present time, although but a year ago it passed into
the hands of a receiver for the sale and distribution of the
property. Thus ends one of the most romantic and inter-
esting attempts at communism known to history. The
people of Icaria dwelt and toiled together many years,
sowing seeds and harvesting crops which they put into a
common granary. The men all dressed alike in blue duck



250 ECONOMICS.

suits ; they went to market in blue wagons drawn by ox
teams. They lived a rude, homely, peaceful life ; but the
rising generation, stirred by thoughts of modern life, by
a desire for progress and change, could no longer be held
slaves to an ideal system. For how different was this rude
picture of this slow-going community from the dream that
had been presented! It may be a noble thing for men
and women to withdraw from the sharp competition of
individual interests and combine themselves in an organ-
ization based on equality and brotherly love ; it is a beau-
tiful picture to see in our visions and dreams a group of
people living in ease and elegance, happiness, peace, and
perfect harmony : but how different from the cold, dreary,
prosaic, monotonous life of the actual reality ! And this
contrast, together with the desire to be men and women,
on the part of the younger members of the community,
to mingle freely with others in the pursuit of happiness,
pleasure, and wealth, was sufficient to cause the system to
break down by its own weight.

Cabet advocated a general transition to communism.
He thought it would take fifty years .for such a transition.
The principle of the organization was simple enough.
Cabet says : " If we are asked, what is our science, we
reply fraternity; our theory, fraternity; our system, fra-
ternity." Cabet was the first and greatest pure communist
of France, and Icaria the most ideal community ever in

practice.

Modern Socialism.

Saint-Simon was a socialist. He held that individuals
should organize themselves into natural associations for
the purpose of carrying on production and distribution.



ECONOMICS.



251



The communist believes in equality; the socialist in dis-
tributive justice. Saint-Simon held that men were nat-
urally unequal, and that this inequality was the very basis
of association and an indispensable condition of social
order. He and his followers, then, rejected the system
of community of goods, for this would be a manifest viola-
tion of the doctrine which they taught, namely, that the
purpose of all social institutions should be the moral and
physical amelioration of the most numerous class; that
all privileges of birth, without exception, should be abol-
ished, and that rewards should go to each according to
his capacity, and each capacity. estimated according to its
works. The followers of Saint-Simon were diligent in
their efforts to improve the lot of the people and to relieve
the distressed, but except in theory they ended in failure.

Fourier.

Fourier held doctrines similar to that of Saint-Simon.
The principles advocated by the followers of Fourier were
lofty, noble, and generous in the extreme. They held as
the essential duty of society and of every individual to
regulate their conduct so as to produce the greatest possible
benefit of humanity, and to make this the consistent object
of all their thoughts, words, and actions. The perception
of this duty was dictated to the sages of all times in the
following precepts: To love truth as one's self; To act
toward others as you would wish them to act toward you ;
To give a common support to one another; The per-
petual and gratuitous assistance from nature proves that
man, by the very fact of his birth, carries and never
should lose certain natural rights in the wealth that is
produced. Hence it follows that the weak have a right to



252



ECONOMICS.



enjoy what the processes of nature and the public prosper-
ity place at the disposal of man, and that it is the duty of
the strong to leave to the weak a just share of the general
product.

The influence of Fourierism was very great in America.
Many prominent people, taking up the beautiful doctrine
advanced, tried to put it into practice on American soil.
Among those who encouraged it were: Horace Greeley,
Charles A. Dana, Albert Brisbane, George Eipley, Dr.
Channing, and Margaret Fuller. Altogether, thirty-four
experiments of Fourierism were made in America, all of
which failed or are to-day in a rapidly declining condition.

State Socialism.

I must refer to one or two other French socialists.
Louis Blanc was the first to join social and economic
reform to politics ; he was the first state socialist. Saint-
Simon and Fourier were merely economic and social
reformers. They were not politicians or political organ-
izers; they appealed simply to brotherly love and to jus-
tice, and sought to overthrow self-interest. Louis Blanc
assumed, as his prime principle, the right of every man to
labor, and he therefore held that the government should
build workshops for the employment of the unemployed.
Though of great influence at the time, his career was
short-lived. But it is strange to note how he impressed
upon so many followers in so short a time the great im-
portance and righteousness of his scheme. He found the
aim of life to be happiness and development; happiness
and development combined, he taught, can only be ob-
tained when the state takes hold and regulates social in-
dustry. He says that fraternity means we are all common



ECONOMICS.



253



brothers of one great family, and that it is ordained by
God himself that man should produce according to his
wants. This was his formula of perfection and justice,
and to this end he thought the state ought to acquire public
property by degrees, and after a long time it would grow
into a state of perfect socialism. The whole plan rested
upon distributive justice. It is true that there are places
in the world that need large natures and fine intellect;
there are likewise humble positions which must be filled.
It was a happy ideal that all people could labor together
as one great family in the higher and lower degrees, and
each one receive compensation according to the service
performed and have his wants supplied according to the
station which he filled. It was one more golden dream
to be added to the category of the many which had philoso-
phized about a paradise on earth.

Anarchism.

Proudhon followed Louis Blanc. He hated the rich^
but he felt for the poor, and desired to bring about a social
state which would be of great assistance to them. He
desired to level all organizing power and to develop per-
fect individuality. His theory was contradictory, for the
supposition assumes that perfect collectivism and perfect
individualism can exist at the same time. He startled
the world by asking, a What is property?" and gave the
more startling reply, "Property is theft, and property-
holders thieves." Proudhon was an anarchist. What was
the ideal government in his eyes? No government. He
desired absolute liberty. He rejected communism, but ad-
hered to the prime principles of socialism, and held that
property was the suicide of society. He was an earnest,



254 ECONOMICS.

sincere man; he loved the people, and sought to improve
their condition. He said: "O God of liberty, may my
memory perish if humanity may hut be free ! If I may
but see, in my obscurity, the people finally instructed, if
noble instructors but enlighten them, if disinterested
hearts but guide them !" This ideal anarchist philoso-
phized a government out of existence; the practical an-
archist seeks to destroy by force. The one has a beautiful
theory, the other proposes a horrible actuality.

German Socialism.

Brief mention must be made of the German socialists
represented by strong natures like Ferdinand Lassalle,
Rodbertus, and Karl Marx, who have mingled the doc-
trines of economic life with politics and developed the
social democracy of Germany. They have been, as a rule,
closer students of human society and economic principles
than the French; they have been more systematic, more
analytic, but not less earnest in the advance of their
theories. They have laid great stress on the fact that
labor is the source of all wealth, and that the proportion
of goods falling to the laborer as production advances is
continually decreasing. I have not space to mention the
modern German socialists, one branch of which is led by
Bebel and the other by Liebknecht, and the growth of
social democracy in Germany. Worthy of mention are
the influence of Robert Owen in England in the early
part of this century in developing communistic coopera-
tion, the later societies in England for the advancement
of pure socialism, and the recent growth of the socialistic
labor party. There should be recorded also the history of
the progress of these ideas in America, and the attempts that



ECONOMICS.



255



have been made to establish communism, socialism, and
anarchy in our own country. The works of such men as
Bellamy, the great advocate of state socialism, of Henry
George, the advocate of nationalism in land, and of the
Christian socialists that have sprung up in recent days,
are all worthy of mention.

Socialism in America.

No one can ignore the rapid growth of socialism in Amer-
ica, nor minimize the social tendency of this age. Such
classes of persons, who not only insist on the government
of monopolies but also believe that the government should
own all productive processes, are constantly increasing.
They hold that the railroads and the telegraphs, canals
and water-ways, gas-works and electric lights, farms, tim-
ber lands, mines, mills, factories, and stores, in fact, all
industrial enterprises, should be under the immediate
control of the government. This is pure socialism, and
carried to its extreme limit abolishes the wage system and
establishes an equitable method of distribution. Others
go so far as to advocate that all competition should be
abolished, and that subsistence and support be guaranteed
without protest to every individual.

This is the ultimate conclusion of pure socialism. The
ranks of this army of idealists are recruited by people of
widely different characters and conditions of life. There
are those whose motives for a better life for all humanity
are not to be impugned, any more than the motives of
those who think that free competition, which gives a free
and full play of humanity, will yield the highest and best
return of human profit and happiness. They realize more
clearly to-day than ever before the imperfections of human



256 ECONOMICS.

government, and present with greater earnestness the
ideals of perfect society. The idealists are impressed
more forcibly than ever before that a perfect society could
be realized if the people only willed it. They are seeking
the highest good of the greatest number, and are ready to
sacrifice health and fortune for the advancement of these
ends. Deceived they may be by the socialistic mirage,
yet their earnestness and sincerity cannot be successfully
denied.

There are also found within this group of recruits to the
army of socialism, people who represent the basest and
most irritating forms of human selfishness. They desire
state ownership of industries that they may receive more
from the community than they are entitled to receive.
They desire a new regime that they may be in a position
to profit from the toil of others. It is the same sort of
selfishness which prompts the individual to seek piratical
freedom which will enable him to possess all that he can
of this world's goods, by fair means or foul, regardless
of the sufferings of others. The very selfishness of their
own hearts makes them cry out against the selfishness of
others.

The ranks of the socialistic army are also daily recruited
by people who started out fearlessly and honestly for a re-
spectable position in social life, and having been defeated
in their combat, are discouraged and despondent. When
they find many others in the same condition as themselves,
they believe that there is something radically wrong in the
nature of affairs when patience and honest endeavor fail
to reap their just reward. They observe that part of the
people are happy and prosperous, and a part, like them-



ECONOMICS. 257

selves, miserable and poverty-stricken. Victims of the
teachings of the demagogues of the selfish class, they
hastily conclude that this difference of condition is due
to the unjust principles of social organization, and they
turn instinctively to the state for the redress of grievances,
believing that it has the power to equalize conditions of

life.

Inadequacy of Socialism.

We observe, then, that there is nothing particularly
new in this modern doctrine of socialism ; it has historical
foundations. The socialism of to-day is founded upon the
accumulated error of past philosophy and present practice.
Before closing this chapter, let us leave for a short time
the historical current of its onward sweep, and ask briefly,
What are the defects of its philosophy, and what are the
remedies for the evils which it points out ? Granting that
many of the evils which these idealists have pointed out
to us are real; granting that their beautiful theories and
their optimistic plans have given us at times enthusiasm
and warmed our hearts ; acknowledging that they have
had some influence over the philosophy of modern gov-
ernment and are having it to-day; what are the defects
of their system ?

In the first place, the evils which the socialists have
pointed out have been greatly exaggerated, and the times
have been pictured to be much worse than they really are.
Our industrial system under present conditions is not an
unmixed evil. The changes which it has wrought through
invention and discovery, by working immediate injury to
some will work final benefit to all. The rapid movement
of productive enterprise leads to much irregularity in the
-17



258 ECONOMICS.

business world and gives rise to much distress, neverthe-
less, society is in a much better condition to-day than ever
before; and if we consider the evolutionary process by
which society develops, we shall find that justice and
equality are more nearly approximated to-day than ever
before. The search-light of modern investigation, coupled
with the diffusion of learning, has enabled us to see things
more clearly as they are. Consequently, we behold more
clearly the nature of the evils which society has to combat.
If we are faithful in searching out the evil things which
society has to combat, let us be faithful also in searching
out and magnifying the excellences of modern economic
and social life, and we shall see the advantages of our
modern system.

Again, even if the evils which the socialists portray were
greater than they have been represented, there is no assur-
ance that extreme socialism would remedy the defects of
rank individualism. Socialists have been guilty of taking
a partial diagnosis of the case, and consequently have pro-
posed inadequate remedies. In their zeal to reach an
economic millennium on earth they have read history care-
lessly and superficially and have interpreted it falsely.
They have selected from a few economists those systems
which best suited their system, and with insufficient data
have reasoned illogically. They have juggled with half-
knowledge, from which they have attempted to deduce
general principles. Granting that the healthy and volun-
tary cooperation of industrial classes is essential to all
good economic progress, and granting, too, that there is a
continued tendency to monopolistic power in production
as well as in distribution, they have failed to prove that



ECONOMICS. 259

it is necessary for the government to own and manage all
resources of industry in order to secure to the people the
benefits of this monopoly arising out of excessive free
competition. They have furnished no guaranty what-
soever, or even a strong probability, that socialism could
regulate the disorders of economic life.

Perhaps one of the weakest points in the system offered
by the socialists arises from the fact that they offer no
definite plan for the rapid transition from individualism
to socialism. They simply state it will be so, and expect
people to accept the system. One of the most prominent
socialists of the United States in making an address a short
time since drew a fanciful picture showing how socialism
would be accomplished within ten years, and how by that
time all parties would be leaving the system of competition
and rushing forward to adopt state socialism. He held
that the time was at hand when the capitalist and monopo-
list would gladly free themselves from the present ruinous
practice of free competition, and elect socialism. The plan
of the transition, however, was left out, and the possible
results of failure were never for a single instant consid-
ered. He began his peroration with the following words :
" There is a dream hovering in the air," which seemed to
be a fit climax to an illogical and ineffective argument.
The whole plan is a dream, which if ever realized will
be to the generations yet unborn.

But people may inquire: If it is so illogical, what
harm can it be to have this dream ? Why not keep before
the people a perfect ideal government? The harm is to
the toiling wayfarer on the dusty plains who sees in the
distance the mirage, and travels on with hope of presently



260



ECONOMICS.



being in the shady groves by cool waters where rest can
be obtained and thirst quenched. He comes to the spot
but to see it recede in the distance, or the whole vision
to dissolve. The man who is toiling to build a home for his
family, and beholds year after year the failure of all his
plans, sickened with deferred hope, is taught that the cause
of this condition is imperfect government or imperfect in-
dustrial system, turns readily to a plan which will relieve
his present exigencies and yield him what he terms a just
and fair return for his labor. As a result of this belief he
becomes more and more discontented with his lot, and the
social world of toil becomes more distasteful to him as he
persuades himself that injustice is being done him by
the government. Failing to realize his hopes for imme-
diate relief by means of socialism, he enters the field of
expectancy, then of pauperism and vagrancy. Thousands
go down to join the ranks of paupers and vagrants every
year on account of false hopes held out to them by the
theories of socialism. The evil effects of teaching a per-
nicious doctrine are great.

Again, socialism fails to account for the present condi-
tion of human nature as revealed by past history and pres-
ent conditions. It has made no allowance for the contin-
uance of the selfish greed of humanity. Socialism once
established, will there not be an endless struggle for place
and preferment, a struggle for supremacy, ending in ex-
cessive dominance of man over his fellows ? And will there
not be a much larger opportunity for this dominance and
selfish aggrandizement than there is now? Have we any
guaranty that human nature will be changed in the twink-
ling of an eye from hard, selfish, grasping impulse to that



ECONOMICS.



261



of noble, brave, and generous disposition which impels
the individual to share all good with his fellows ? Such
an assumption is a vain delusion, a dream, and could only
bring about political and social revolution combined, which
would end in the spilling of blood in the struggle for daily
bread, a revolution such as the world has never yet seen.
The assumption that, because free competition in the
industrial world has led to increased selfishness and arbi-
trary dominance of certain ones who accumulate great
wealth from others, and that if we could change the man-
agement of all industries to the political power, namely,
the state, we should be relieved from these evils, is entirely
false; for it assumes that selfishness does not exist in
political circles and is not manifested in the political affairs
of the state. Every one knows that selfishness is more
evident to-day in the common political life than in the in-
dustrial, and that selfishness occurs not only on the part of
those already in power, but is just as prominent in those
outside of power, who are waiting for an opportunity to
elevate themselves regardless of justice to others. The
political conditions of the day are indeed far worse than
the economic conditions, for tho former consist in the re-
placement of one spoils system for another, while in the
economic world we do see some potent signs of the pro-
gressive regulation of principles of justice and equality
in the production and distribution of goods. To place
everything under a political hierarchy means the concen-
tration of selfishness and the removal of the last check 2
called competition, from the field of operation. To illus-
trate this fact, we need only to point to the dangers of con -
centrated selfishness in the political management of our



ECONOMICS.

large cities during the past forty years. Here we see the
enlarged power of human government in the hands of indi-
viduals struggling selfishly for the largest possible indi-
vidual gain. We observe frequently the same tendency
in the increased centralization of our national government.
While in the smaller communities of local government,
where less selfishness is concentrated, the will of the people
is more nearly expressed. But the political dangers of
socialism are entirely overlooked by the socialists. They
have not accounted for the vagaries of human nature, which
have existed from the time when man first began to
struggle with his fellows for subsistence.

Reforms Proceed from Local Government.

It is also to be observed in the history of the development
of government that all reforms have proceeded from local
conditions to the central government, and not in an op-
posite way. If this is universally true, are not socialists
moving in the wrong direction in trying to establish
a general law which shall regulate individual practice
rather than trying to modify individual and local practice,
thus seeking to reform the central government ? Recogniz-
ing this as a natural method for all reforms, it would
seem more rational for socialists who are desirous of bene-
fitting humanity to establish themselves on some of the
cheap lands of America and begin to apply their social-
istic doctrine, and this would put matters to a practical
test. Communists have tried this experiment again and
again, and in nearly every instance have failed, until
communism has become almost a thing of the past. If
socialism should succeed, working along the line of natural
development of reformatory methods, from the local to



ECONOMICS.



263



the central government, the people of the United States
would hail with joy any complete system whose success
could be demonstrated. If they failed, the dream would
be exploded. Economic experiments where the doctrine
of socialism could be tested in practice are highly desirable
at the present time. Those countries like New Zealand,
which have advanced too rapidly with changes toward the
state control of industries, have usually regretted it.

Another gross error into which the advocates of this
system have fallen is based upon the teaching of the Gospel,
which has been claimed by some as a powerful force in the