Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1894-08-23
AS YOU LIKE II.

Thanks to the illiheral ideas of some of
the men governing the Wisconsin state
university, Prof Richard I. Ely will
probably find fairly good market for
his latest book. This relates to so
cialism and Social Reform" or the
very subject on which some curious
educators and newspapers regard the
tendency of his teachings as danger
Gus, and who favor the Enactment of
laws that would lock up Prof. Ely and
his dupes in state-prison" We have
ourselves been induced thereby to look
into this book, which is plain, we'll
sotten-up little volume published by
! II. Y. Crowcll & Co.
Much to our surprise we cannot find
that Prof. Ely In this volume squarely
indorses any essential part of the
socialist program. He brings together
In an interesting and instructive way,
If not in Il profoundly analytical way,
the views of the various schools of
socialistic thought. He presents these
views undcrstandingly and sympatheti-
cally, and he brings out clearly and
entertaingly what appear to him to
be the strong points and the weak
points in the socialists plan Of new
Industrial order He next proceeds to
pronounce the socialists indictment of
the present industrial system true bill
in many of its important particulars;
and then he goes to work to SHOW that
the ends of the socialist are visionary,
that the socialstic state cannot DOS
Sibly do what Is marked out for it,
and that, by marshaling all industry
under one management, 1t must con-
centrate against the government the
dissa tsfacton which is now scattered
widely over the heads of thousands Of
employ. rs, and so invite constant in
ternal disorder and finally revolution
to say nothing of what it would do in
the way Of paraly ling individual enter
arise. But Prof. Ely comedies the
necessity Of radical industrial reform,
to the extent at least of the gradual
sociallzing OF what are called natural
monopolics, leaving to individual N
terprise a free field beyond.
SO much for Prof. Elys teachings.
at the mental makeup of man who
can say 50. If Prof. Ely is dangerous
and ought to be locked up, then such
men as Rev. DR.. Washington GLADDEN.
must also be put behind the bars, for
he believes and teaches about what
Prof. Ely does. What is the trouble
with these accuscrs? Possibly Ely
q
tlcipating their coming when, in the
preface to this book, he wrote:
1--WE have on the other hand (ovor
against the anarchists class of men
who advocate the claims of wealth in
precisely the same spirit. Every pro-
posal to reform is greeted by them
with ridicule and misrepresentation
every advocate of changes, even in ac-
cordance with constitutional and legal
means, is vililied. They would not
hesitate to use force to maintain ex-
listing privileges. . We have
among us Il class of mammon Worship
erS whose one test OF conservatism or
radica(ism is the attitude one takes
with rcpcct to accumulated wealth.
Whatever tends to the preservation of
the wealth of the wealthy is called
conservatism, and whatever favorS
anything else, no matter what, they
call socialism,"
But this aside, what if Ely were a
sociallSt-one who would bring about
the socialiStc state by peaceful means?
Does he even then become an any more
dangerous character than the civil
service rctOrmcr or the tariff reformcr
or anybody else who sees evils in the
existing state of things and sets about
! to overthrow them and by SO doing
necessarily Is obliged to spread the
I Impression that wrong and injustice
are being done. and so to awaken pop
| ular discomfort over and rebellion
j against the present order of affairs?
Somebody in high place out in Wiscon-
sin seems to have gone daft and par
taken Of the spirit of the ante-bellum
slave-driver. Let Prof. Ely teach, 1t
will be just as we'll for the students as
! counting beads over some lifeless old
/ political economy.