The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1884-07-20


complete translosmatioa Of society h 70 b
snsosed The United States. w ass rsninded.
possess the immense advantage Of being
able to make . soctalistto oxperiment
without danger Of any foreign iAtsrfsrSncs.
lt@ eselsens poasess. moreover. the privilege Of
carrying on an Unrestricted propaeanda
with tongue and pen. and Of thus educating
and orssnlxins the thoughtful cleas-sishted.
determined minority BY which ell revolutions
are accomplished. Great britain. II 10 pointed
out. has the same advantages. and in addition
the president Of Cromwell's revolution. which
was essentially . popular uprising against
vested righta Moreover. in both countries.
tho elimination OF the economical evolution.
through which the modern industrial system
Ia passing. 10 nearer than else where-shat 10 70
say. division Of labor and concentration OF
wealth are carried further. That Is obviously
fact Of moment, and another fact only second
In Importance IL tho efficient organization Of
workingmsn In both countries. but especially
In Great Britain.
In chapter on tho ministration Of affairs.
Mr.. Gronlund endesvors to meet some Of the
inquiries touching the machinery OF govern
ment Ina sociallstlc state. He 10 too sagscious
to sketch the administrative features Of his
cooperative commonwealth In detail, and he
Insists. indeed. that veritable Socialists do not
new order will be natural outgrowth Of the
established order. but just because II will be .
er'o'oh. and not q ready production OF doc
trinaires. the details Of its mechanism cannot
be predicted. Yoth e 10 clearly OF tho opinion
that. instead Of the present system Of reprssen-
tation. We shall have what Ii technically called
tho referendum. BY which II meant the
submitting all bills Of general nature 10 the
people they are intended to affect before
they have the validity Of laws. ~ already
oxomplined for some years past In 6wlt1eriand
to some extent both In national and cantonal
affairs." Mr.. Gronlund contends that this In
stitution represents exactly the function which
the people are fitted to perform and which It 10
expsdisnt they should perform. They tthe
people, are peculiarly fitted to perform this
function Of ratifying or rather Of retOing. meas
ures with which our Presidents and Governors
are at present improperly intrustsd). while
they are peculiarly unified for the function
with which they are invested. that. namely. Of
selecting men Of whose qualifications they can
know nothing for oflcss OF whose duties they
arc ignorant. The people," continues Mr..
Gronlund should leave the framing Of laws
to the wisest and most competent; but beca use
Ishould not attempt to make my own shoes.
because am no shoemaker. that 10 no reason
why ] sh ould not decline TO buy q certain pair
vi SuOco WHICH tI0 suO0Inuk0T H61 H1Hu0. O0SO
not be . shoemaker to know whether the shoes
pinch me or not. Exactly 30 with certain laws
and institutions; the people arc amply qualified
to say that they do mol wdnt certain laws" As
to the expedenoy OF the referendum, this Is de-
Tended on the ground that tho stability and
goodness OF all laws and institutions depend on
their suitabeness. and tho referendum, will in
sure that tho coat will ut the back. Moreover.
this alone will stimulate and keep alive in the
people an eager interest in public affairs
Voters will naturally remain Indifferent as
LONG as a political campaign means only strife
for candidates. But whom the voters
have measures before them. not merely gon-
eral and. therefore. vague constitutional pro.
visions. but special measures" that directly
and palpably affect them. they may fairly DO
expected to moro and more appreciate the fact
that suffrage 10 not a right at all. but q trust.
What now docs the coming commonwealth
propose to do for woman? Again let Mr.. dron-
lund answer: 1T will protect and hold sacred
every pregnant woman. whatever she may be.
for she will enrich IL with one member
who. at oil events. Is innocent It will
enable all young people to marry who
may desire to enter wedlock. Tho great
majority OF women undoubtedly will
choose marriage. and We believe experience
| teaches that married women exercise greater
influence everywhere. even in public affairs.
than the unmarried. But there always will be
some women whose special vocation will be
tho pubic service: these will be oheerfully en-
rolled among tho public funetionaries. for there
will be use and even need for every one Of
| them. We may add that the co1pera-
| tive commonwealth will relieve women OF all
| drudGery In housekeeping" In a word the
new order. IL We may trust Its present ex-
FOUNDERS assurances. will give all women 10
we'll as men that true luxury OF which the
great multitude now know nothing. to wit.
leisure. tho prerequisite for all development. all
| education"
The greatest novelty embraced In tho scheme
| OF the socialistic State is the ideal OF educa-
| ton. Mr.. Gronlund does not pretend to define
| what will be taught OF how to teach 1t. Here
| again he has too much good sense to suppose
that minute antecedent definitions are prRcti-
cable. Hs denies. indeed. that even those now
deemed best qualified to discuss the sub,ect
| would 10 compStent to form a curriculum for
the schools Of the future. seeing that the pres
emit aim OF education 10 fundamentally differ.
ent from that OF tho coming commonwealth.
On this head the author discourses az follows
Tho end now sought to be attained by edu-
cation is to enable the individual to
| achieve success IN life. TO oct the Bet
| ter of his felloD men In the struggle
for the good things Of this world. That IL the
meaning OF individualism. No matter that In
the nature Of things but few Gun achieve that
success. and that those who do succeed for the
most part consider their success Ill worth the
trouble. that teacher is doomed best who bess
knows how to qualify his pupils for the battle
OF life. That Is why teachers stimulate the
ambition Of their scholars with prizes marks.
&c. The end to be attained by educa-
ton In the coming commonwealth will be a
very different one. 1t likewise will be to quail
lily tho pupils for the battle OF life butthe battle
is to be exclusively directed against nature.
and to be waged In perfect accord with their
follows" Some OF tho more obvious corollariea
from this main principle are outlined ~ Mr.
Gronund. but we must coniine ourselves 70
noting bis root idea; We will only add that the
capital effect OF the education appropriate to q
socalistic common wealth will be the implant.
ing Of the feeling OF common duty.
While Mr.. Gronlund repudiates the idea thai
there can be any such thing ~ sociallstic eth.