Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1888-09-15
THE HORRID STATE
lNOlVIDUAllST CRITICISM OF
MR.. BElLAMY'S NOVEL,
A Socialists Assistance in the Criti.
cism-Bellamy'S Canopy and the
Critics Umbrella-Indi.
yidual Eccentricity
Versus Order.

II there is any one book calcu-
lated to take the conceit out of an
ordinarily sensible capitalist or indi-
yldualist, it is Edward Bellamy's
novel, "Lookjng Backward" But
the Boston Transcript has a contrib
utor who evidently has been hard up
for "space filler" as the following
extract, which, by the way, comes to
us rj@ an indiyiduaIist's special
mouthpicce, will readily suggest:
"Thor" is passage in Mr.. BeIiamys
looking backward which illustrates
neatly the mistaken position which that
interesting work takes upon social sub
jects. In its Utopian Boston Of the year
2OO0, nobody goes under an umbrella in
shower, because the street fronts Of all
the buildings are provided with water
tight awnings, which are let down over
the sidewalk whenever it rains, and also
across the street crossings. though the
author does not explain lust how the
year 1000 BOstonians manage that, and
under these canopies, provided at public
cost, everybody goes dry-sh0d.
Now, the Listener is peryersely reac-
tiOnary enough to maintain that the
nineteenth century is ahead Of the last
year of the twentieth in this respect
The difference between the individual
istic umbrella and the socialistic side
walk canopy is precisely the difference
between freedom and servtude, With
an umbrella the citizen is free to come
and go where he pleases: he can walk in
the middle of the street if he wants to,
or cut across the corner of the street if
he is in hurry, and be independent of
everybody else, Just as everybody likes
to be, as far as he can, and just as every
body Will like to be as long as the world
lasts, and as everybody ought to like to
be, Under the sidewalk canopy one
would have to follow the beaten path
that the State has laid down for him. or
else 60 in the rain Under his handy
umbrella the citizen can yet all the air
there is, and all the light and not be at
the mercy of State canopy, shutting
out the light and combining the air, TO
say nothing of the drenching leaks that
the beneiCent State, if it is like all other
States that have ever been. would now
and then be sure to provide through
some officials maladministratiOu. The
umbrella serves very well as a symbol Of
civilization, because it is the emblem of
the individual effort, upon the basis Of
which all progress has been made As
such it is the symbol of progress, while
the State sidewalk canopy would be the
symbol Of reaction. lire le jaraliuie."
This attempt at criticising Mr..
Bellamy is splendid example of the
logic and ta1rHeSs which ostentatious
opponents of collectivism continu-
ally use in their "argumcnts' against
State Socialism. In the first place,
one would not be far away from the
truth to infer that Mr.. "Iistener"
has, at some period in his life, and
perhaps several times, felt the need
of just such a protection from a sud
den shower us the one described by
Mr. Bellamy; at least, the expert
ence that | have had with some cx-
treme individualiSts Of my acquaint-
ance has been, that they would run
for some grocer's awning upon occa-
sion, just as fast as any State Social
lst. But perhaps, under the benign
influence of individualism or an
archy Zone follows the other), there
would be no sudden showers; or,
every one would have so much free
dom that he could carry an umbrella
around with him constantly; in
fact, there would be no necessity for
streets and avenues, with their pro-
voklngly confning influences upon
individual aspirations.
"With an umbrella the citizen is
free to come and 90 when he
pleases," says our critical individual
ist. Well, Mr.. "Listener," have
you or any of your school ever read
or heard of a State Socialist wishing
to deprive any individual of an um-
brella, or is there anything in Mr..
Bellamy's Illustration that would
convey such an idea: Under State
socialism if individuals choose to cut
across corners in a rain storm. with
or without umbrellas, or walk in the