Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1890-01-04
SOCIALISM.
FIRST MEETING OF THE GILL
CAGO ECONOMIC CON-
FERENCE.

CISiVHl SHuUUs VI LOHuUH, LCCIuIcS
on the SOcialistic Movement in
England to a Large and Mixed
Audience of Capitalists, Politi.
clans, and Wage. Workers.
The Recital Hal. of the Auditorium
building in Chicago was filled to over
flowing last Sunday evening, when the
initial meeting of the Economic Con-
ference took place. Many persons could
not gain admittance. In commenting
upon the "make up" of the audience
the Chicago Tribune observes;
Probably nowhere in Chicago could
so many divergent views on social and
economic questions or such great con-
trasts of wealth and social position be
found in one building. Ferd. w. Peck
elbowed George Schilling, Franklin
MacVeagh made way for Mrs. Parsons,
ex-Ald. Manierre and Tommy Morgan
rubbed shoulders with Fl. D. Lloyd and
Lyman j. Gage. Capitalists, clerks, and
wage-workers, trades-unlonists, Social
lists, and personal liberty men filled the
hall"
LYMAN j. GAGE,
as Chairman CT the Economic Club,
welcomed the visitors to the first of a
series of meetings which he hoped would
be both pleasant and profitable. A great
public awakening on the subject of
economic laws and social problems had
occurred within the last few years. This
extended through all ranks of society,
,Nven to the humblest. The Economic
S!ub consisted of twenty-four persons,
some professional men and others drawn
from industrial pursuits. 1t included
the ultra-c conservative and the ultra
radical, the ldisSez-fdire philosopher,
and the progressive reformer. The man
who looked back, and forward as well,
realized that the time had come when il
was recognized, not only that the injury
-f sAs avas the conceIa i of ali, but THAI
the happiness of one was the concern of
the community. He found as his neigh
Dor in the club one who held that pri-
vate ownership of land was running the
country; on the other hand he found
the ardent champion of unrestrained
personal liberty; again he found the
advocate of State, National, and muni-
cipal cooperation as opposed to the
competitive system; in word he found
representatives of every divergent
branch of thought on economic and
social questions. The one principle
uniting the members was that by friendly
conference better understanding could
be had between those who held different
views and represented different classes.
SOCIALISM IN ENGLAND.
Aid. Manierre was named as Modar-
ator, and introduced Percival Chubb of
London, who spoke of socialism as it is
understood in England. He said the
English Socialists had taken hold of
practical politics, and with good results,
They held that poverty was an eradica-
BILE quantity. In London, the weaIthiest
city of the world, there had often been
300, 200 of the people in receipt of work
house relief. One family in four had to
live on a guinea week, and one in ele-
ven of the population accepted poor law
relief during the year. Infantile morta-
lity was heavy in proportion to the po-
verify of the laborer. While 10000 dock
laborers fought for work at the rate of
fourpence per hour, a small class ap-
propriated more than a third of the
annual earnings of the English people in
the shape of rent and interest. An idle,
rich, and luxurious class drew e450 000,-
600 from the profits of labor The Eng
lish Socialists demand naturalization of
land and of the means of labor for the
benefit of the people at large.
The political feature of socialism was
a realization of true democracy, and not
the creation of a series of centralized
governments. Socialism must be uni
versal but each nation would have to
work out its salvation according to its
historic past and its political surround
ings.
Many English Socialists have aban-
doned the idea, still prevalent on the
Continent of Europe, that the change
from the existing system could be
effected at blow through general
uprising of the proletariat all over Eu-
rope. Still there is a small but infuent-
ial body of revolutionary Socialists, of
whom the chiefs are William Morris and
Prince Krapotkin, and this body the
lecturer thought tt be entitled to re-
spect, although differing from them as
to methods.
THE SOCIALIST PLATFORM
is to work politically to attain the initial
legislation leading to the gradual trans
fer of all the industries from private
hands to those of the State, through the
organization of national workshops.
When he spoke of the State he meant