Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1889-04-27
THE PROPHETS END
SOCIALIST SCIENCE AND ITS
VICTORIES.
Necessity, the Great Teacher-Prepar.
ing for the New Order-The
Concentration of Capital.
Exit Middle Class.
The Victorious.

About ten years ago, the editor of
the Chicago Arbeiter Zeitung and
VorbOte found great pleasure in pub
fishing at least once week the fol-
lowing: "Ere this decade has elapsed
the working people will have ap.
peared in the streets, and will have
overthrown the capitalistic system. !"
What glorious prophecy.
Socialists, as rule, are not super
stitious. They do not believe in the
prophets of olden times. They do
not 60 to church every Sunday and
pray to God that he may save the
perishing. Followers of the scien-
tific teaching of evolution of matter
and of man, they have severed them
selves from the superstitious unset
entific philosophy of the past.
But alas. the prophet of the pres
ent, the prophet of the coming saliva
ton, found and finds his followers
who, with the same enthusiasm as
the early Christian, believe that eve"
will soon overthrow the capitalistic
system.
Notwithstanding the scientific
clearness and unambiguity of mod
ern socialism, there is, | think,
necessity for some kind of enthusi-
asm other than commonly y met with
in our world of business, that one
may become socialist and remain
in the ranks of those who oppose
the present system of commercial
ism.
Socialism is science. 1t treats
of the present system of political
economy. 1t sought and found the
laws which govern the present State
both economically and politically,
and points out the final solution of
this system and it's substitution by
the cooperative society.
But with all the knowledge Of
history and the laws that underly its
development, no man is capable of
pointing to certain day, month or
year when the present system of
society will have outgrown itself,
and when we will adopt the new
order of things.
There should be, then, no room
for prophets.
But the prophet of ten years ago
found his followers, who believed in
the grand revolution they were 60
ing to fight, and "prepared' for the
occasion. To-day we know what
fallacy that prophecy was; and in
spite of the sad occurrences, we
have still our prophets and their
believers.
Are our organizations free from
this Utopian augmentation? | think
they are not. From reports | read
now and then, | find that at most
places our men are trying hard to
unite incompatible theories. To
what fallacies such Utopian reason
ing may lead, Chicago has demon
strated. In order to gain trihe
temporarily, the reyolutionist of to-
day compromises with the meanest
mercenary of the capitalistic class
tomorrow.
Over and over again we were COM
PEELED to listen to denunciations Of
those who do not believe in the
prophets and their fallacies. Over
and over again We were accused of
lack of enthusiasm and faithfulness
to the cause. | think that it re-
qulres great deal more of earnest
and deep-felt enthusiasm and faith
fulness to remain with a party when
you are of the strong conviction
that the party's aims will not be ac-
complished for many years to come,
than if you were a victim to the no.
ton that your party would be in
power after few years.
The prophet, then, Of ten years
ago was an ignorant, dreaming fel-
low. The capitalistic system has full
sway yet, and nobody can, with any
degree of certainty, point to the