The Portland daily press., 1893-04-10
THE SOCIAL PROBLEMS


Nicholas Paine Gilman's new book.
Socialism and the American Spirit, bears
for motto these lines from Hosea Big
lows speech in March meetin':
Thet's the old Amerkin idee,
TO make a man a Man an let him be.
1t is still the American idea, as Mr..
Gilman apprehends it, to give to each
man a fair opportunity and no favor over
his fellow-the Napoleonic idea of ca
reer open to talent.
He finds that what he calls ''the Ameri-
can Spirit'' is neither distinctly Socialist
nor Individualist, but that it allows to
both their due weight, itself following
the path it has pursued from the begin
ming between the extremes of paternal-
ism and laissez fare, in government,
drawing upon each as its needs demand,
but constant to neither. 1t is a spirit,
he says, ''at once humane and practical,
conservative and progressive, hospitable
to ideas and acute in criticism of their
working in the concrete" In short it is
Opportunist.
Mr.. Gilman holds that there is a social
order which is distinctively American,
and his book is an analysis of that order
and it's answer to the suggestions of So
cialism. As he himself states the case,
''the leading topic of this book is the
American Spirit as it has been manifested
in our history, and is now compact in
our institutions, and expressed in the life
and literature of the present"
It is large topic, happily treated in
large manner, though with sufficient and
sometimes scrupulous detail. One needs
ripe scholarship, sound Judgment, and
the faculty of clear, precise and winning
expression to attempt with confidence so
difficult and complicated a task. All
these Mr.. Gilman has. He brings to his
subject broad and tolerant, though
wisely inquisitive spirit, and one that in
sists upon explicitness of, statement and
its inseparable accompaniment, precision
in definition. This precision in defni-
ton somewhat restricts and greatly SIM
plifies the discussion, making it pleasant
and profitable to pursue. So many So
phisms and fallacies are cleared away,
so much irrelevant matter simply pushed
aside, that the subject lat once assumes
manageable proportions and the investi-
cation can be prosecuted with hope of
success.
Having defined Individualism and So
cialism and determined the American at
titude toward them, Mr.. Gilman turns to
more constructive work, as he phrases it,
and considers some industrial changes
and reforms which would tend to correct
the present bias toward Individualism
without committing us to the expert
ment of State or scientific Socialism.
Among these the closer union of employ
er and employee, considered at length and
in detail in his previous work on Profit
Sharing reviewed in the PRESS at the
time of its pubiication) still seems to him
one of the most important and most
feasible. Objections made against the
scheme set forth in the first book are
met and, to our mind, overcome. The
province of legislation, it's limitations,
and the reasonable expectations that
may be based upon it, are carefully con-
sidered. A luminous chapter is given
on the functions of the State, and a hope.
full and helpful one on the social spirit.
Finally, in a chapter which is in part
commentary on More's Utopia and in
part plea for the perpetuation of the
ideal of ''the philosophical city, as some
thing to be always reached out for if
never attained, the discussion is summed
up and we are taught our reasonable ex-
pectations. "a number of steps," says
our author Gin the direction of Utopia
have been indicated in this volume" and
he continues:
SIT is perpetual journey, and not all
of these steps together will bring us to
complete felicity. Nevertheless each
step will bring us farther on the way.
We may wisely hope and trust that bet
ter conditions and shorter hours of labor
will gradually prevail; that more equal
division will be made of the profits of
industry; that closer cooperation will
be accomplished of the capitalist, the
employer and the workman; that sound
er systems of taxation will equalize the
burden and the ability of the taxpayer;
that every family will come to own a
home; that education will multiply it's
pervasive powers through every social
grade; that accumulated wealth will be
more and more freely used to strengthen
and adorn the public life; that science,
art. and invention will irresistibly com
bine their offices to humanizesand beauti-
fly the common lot. To a thousand agen-
cies of good we must look for our pro-
gressive deliverance from the evils that
beset US"