The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-07-01

of socialism will bring with it; and it i.
: not by any means true that all socialist:
lshare his optimism in regard to the
immediate moral effects of socialism y
;, In a chapter on certain misapprehen
'sions of the nature and objects of thu
reform, Mr.. Ely says, in justice to its
many and reputable advocates:
the nature of socialism is that which
traces it to the vaporings of wild and
impractical theorists. 1t Is essential to g
comprehension of the nature of socialism
TO know that it is a system of Industrial
society which has found advocates among
many gifted, learned and very practical
men. The leaders of socialism in the
present century have generally been men
of extraordinary capacity, placing them
lar above the ordinary man. One of the
earliest English socialists, Robert Owen
was at one time so successful in cotton
spinning that he was called the prince
OF cotton SpinnerS, and he amaSSed a
large fortune. The three early leaders
! of the modern German social democracy
4 are Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels and Fer
Il dfnand Lasalle. Karl Marx is recognized
by friend and foe as one of the most
the present century; Friedrich Engels is
lone with whom economic philosophy
i must deal, and it is said, besides, that he
has been more than ordinarily successful
lin business; while the gifts of Ferdinand
I Lasalle attracted the attention of all
with whom he came in contact. Wilhelm
Won Humboldt calling him a miraculous
lchild, and Bismarck declaring In the
Imperial parliament that he was one of
1.-the most gifted and amiable men with
Whom he had ever associated. Bebel and
LLlebkneeht. the political leaders of the
German social democracy, of today, what
ever we may otherwise think of them,
nave talents and qualifications which en-
able them to hold their own with the
! ties.
Another prominent German social
democrat, a manufacturer, has fortune
which, it is said, places him among the
millionaires of his country.
The English socialists today include
men who were trained at the great En-
successful in whatever they have under
taken. Among the extremists we may
even mention man like William Morris,
who was prominently spoken of for the
post of poet laureate when it was made
vacant by the death of Tennyson.
Nor can it be denied that those who
are giving socialism its shape in Switzer-
land, France, the United States and else
where are men who must command our
respect on account of their capacities of
every sort. Whoever would understand
what socialism means today must bear
in mind the unquestionable fact that it
includes in its ranks men of practical
sagacity as well as native talent and
learning"
The professor gives the socialistic opin-
ion of competition and its destructive
qualities with a vividness that Is start
ling, and he advances two illustrations
"The experiences of England and the
United States, the only two great coun-
tries which have tried the competitive
system in the telegraph business, is most
Instructive. 1t is claimed that the cap
italization of the telegraphs of the United
States, large as it is, does not exceed the
amount of capital which has been &C
tually invested, and this estimate would
not seem to be an eXaggeratlon, when
We bear in mind the fact that little
over a generation ago it took page of
an almanac simply to enumerate the
companies which existed in this country.
The Western Union, which is the prin-
cipal company, and which has been the
concern to swallow the others, is cap
italized at 800 100000. If we leave out of
consideration any other company or com
panieS existing at present and deduct
from the Sl0UU0O 900 the $40 600 900 which
it is estimated would be sufficient to
duplicate the plant, we should have
loss of $S0,OO0,000. This, however, is but
fractional part of the loss, because we
must take into account the needless ex-
penSe involved in operating the plants
which have been ultimately absorbed. No
one can tell what the total loss is, but
England tried the competitive system in
the telegraph business until about the
year 1870, when she became convinced
that competition in this line of business
at any rate was a mistake, and pur-
chased the telegraph, making it part
of the postal system"
But the professor is not one-sided:
He admits with perfect freedom that If
socialism is strong in some regards it IS
weak in others. The chapaters which are
devoted to this part of his subject are
specially interesting. Here, for instance,
are two paragraphs in which he very
justly criticiSeS the new movement, be-
cause its advocates are all in the air and
believe that with their theory the gov
ernments of the world can be turned up
side down in a short time and the mil
}enium brought to our doors. He says
Socialism is too optimistic with re-
spect to the possibilities of wealth crea- |
ton under socialism. Socialists describe
a condition of things in which every one
shall enjoy all those comforts and con-
veniences which now fall to the lot alone
of those whom we regard as wealthy.
The possibility of living in condition
of what would now be called luxury is
held out to the masses as an induce
ment to adopt socialism. The necessary
limits to the production of wealth found
in external nature and in the possibilities
of social organization are overlooked.
And to this he adds as follows:
Socialists are too optimistic with re-
spect to the possibilities OF change IN
the near future, or, rather. let us say,
Germ ourselves with it. We here encoun-
ter difficulties in the way of socialism
which are largely psychological in ma
ture. Socialism implies new economic
world. with new habits of thought and
new motives. Whereas men have been
accustomed to view the everyday work
or lie from one SIdnupOllllb llSy must
learn naturally and spontaneously to look
upon it from a different standpoint if
socialism is to work well. This is not
merely a question of improvement in
human nature. but question of those
habits which would enable
men, under radically different social in
stitutions, to appreciate adequately the
line of conduct calculated to promote
their own interests"
The last 100 pages of the book are de- |
voted to a consideration of THE Golden |
Mean, or Practicable Social Reform" and |
here we can follow the professor with |
good deal of confidence. He Is clearly no |
mere theorist or dreamer, and does not |
hope that everything can be changed in |
the twinkling of an eye, but recognizing |
the many evils that exist and the many |
wrongs that are being tolerated, he tries /
to solve the puzzling question on purely /
business principles.
On the whole we regard this work as !
the best that has come from Professor /
Ely's pen. His Labor Movement in |
America and his Problems of Today |
and his Socialism and Social Reform" /
are all admirable and ought to have a |
place in every scholarly library, but in |
this last work he has accomplished bet
ter results than ever before. He has al
ready won fame, and this book. from
which we have made such ample quota
tons, can hardly fail to add to it. We I
have had great pleasure in carefully
reading it, and cheerfully commend it to
our readers.