Workmen's advocate., 1890-11-22
SOCIAL REFORM.

question. Prominent single .taXers, anarchists, woman sutfragists, proteC' tionists; free traders, trade unionists, Knights of Labor, altruists and social ists were called upon to state, in short articles, why they believed as they did, On the side of Socialism appeared l.au, renee GrunMnd and Brunette G. Has, kell. We quote from the first:
 WHY. l, AS A SOCIALIST, CANNOT ACCEPT
 ANARSHISM.
 am Socialist, because l am an evo- lutionist. Socialists are convinced that they see the drift of our COuntry's deve- lopment towards National Centralization and social cooperation, and deem it their duty to make the march of this evolution easy by removing the obstacles As a Socialist, 1 believe it is not merely useless to rebel against evolution, but that it is our great privilege 10 conform to it and to help it along. Conversely, am opposed to every form of Anarch ism because admittedly, l think may say all Anarchists insist that our present civilization is in the wrong direction, and therefore want to reverse the wheels of present progress, or at least to turn our development in another and unnatural direction. This really Is an exhaustive reason, and one based on a proposition to which think no Anarch- ist will put in a disclaimer.
 But l am ready to go further say, then, l am d Socialist because l insist on Order and System, and, next, because l want Freedom. which Saxon word In my mouth means true Liberty. l am diametricalIy opposed to Anarchism, first, because in spite of the disclaimer of its advocates, it will, necessarily, lead us into confusion CTuCkers scheme more than Most's), and, secondly, be. cause it will surely throttle freedom (Most s more than Tucker's), though Anarchists, undoubtedly. are perfectly honest in considering themselves paru- sans of "Liberty", par ercclience,
 Under Most's scheme there will be less confusion, but undeniably also less Freedom. He proposes a "confedera- tiOn of autonomous communes." If this means anything, 1t means, virtually, a federation of innumerable small states, which, if ifexperienCe counts for anything, will, without fail, be far more oppres. sive than National organizations.
 We quote from the second:
 WHY I, AS SOCIALIST, CANNOT ACCEPT
 COMMUNISM.
 The Communist procaims: "From al, ,n I,;. tz nh cording to his needs.' The shibboleth is, of one, 'Liberty,' of the other, Jus tice." The Communist is UtOplan; the Socialist an apostle of Realism; and yet, under the UtOpian rule the Ideal would die; and above the Roots of Reality and Facts as they are (rtdehcet: Truth) Romance would bloom and blossom again in this world as in the fabled Heroic Age.
 In the South Sea Islands, where con- ditions combine to make life unlabori- Ous, where sun and sky and fruitful soil join in an unhounded harvest, where labor is needless and law is unknown, Communism flourishes as It has always done in primeval tropical tribes where foCd-getting was easy, Here in these islands the natives have a dish called 'p0i,' A huge calabash is filled with the tart paste and each of the tribe when hungry sticks his own dirty finger into the common bowl, whirls 1t around rapidly, Eithdraws it from the mixture and stri ps 1t off cleanly in his mouth, returning it then to the dish for more. A truly COmmunistiC meal. A Socialist would prefer a spoon and d separate dish, believing that all men can be brothers without crossing fingers in the same kettle of 'pOi."
 Socialism is no cut and dried plan for regenerating society; Communism is, Socialism, based upon historical evolu tion, simply says that the next stage of society will be that of collective effort; that all men will join together to regulate. ecOnomize and utilize all of the natural resources and tools of produc- tion, giving to each his exact due-no more, no less. Communism urges So- ciety to remodel human nature and human affairs at one fell blow. One is simply prophecy of Natures ineyit- able tendency; the other is the apothe- osis of Ignorance attempting an impOs- sibility.
 All Nature Gncluding the human so- cietary organism) progresses toward complexity of structure and detail of function. A Communist orchard, each tree having seven branches, each branch having seven twigs, each twig having seven apples, Is as impossible as Com munistic society and not bit more lu- dicrous. The devotion of its apostles to their astonishing conception is only explainable by recalling our own idiocy, when as children we puzzled over how many really ,cere going to St. Ives when on the journey thither one met the man with the seven wives, kits. cats and sacks.
 And indeed, that Communism is a childish concept, study of primitive