The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-11-24
OUT AND A our.

w AMI - w
The sociological bent which was OBJ
vious in the work of the Woman's
Club last year and which is bearing
fruit in the club program this year, was
obvious in yesterdays literary exer-
cises, when Socialism was interest
ingly discussed, under the auspices of
the science committee, Mrs Laura l.
Conant chairman. Two papers were
presented. MRS. Sarah L. Drury treat
ed of Socialism as a scheme of pro-
duction," While Mrs. Abby l.. Stone
both read paper and made brief ad-
dress on Some favorable views of So
cialism, defining socialism in the mod
ern, scientific sense. Socialism, COM
muniSm and Collectivism are all used
in the same sense, she said. There are
four doctrines which must be accepted
before one can be called, in the scienti-
tic sense, Il socialist. They are: The
common ownership of the instruments
Of productions. such as mines and
railroads; the common management of
the instruments of productions; an
equal distribution Of the income; pri-
vate prOperty-assured in an annual in
come sufficient to satisfy reasonable
needs.
In connection with the first of these
tenets, Mrs. Drury said that socialism
permitted the instruments of pleasure
such as books and pictures, to remain
personal property, but it was question
whether these could be inherited
On the point of the practical manage
ment OF the Instruments of production,
once they We're in the hands of the
people, the socialists, said Mrs. Drury,
are very cautious, but they include the
rights of both sexes to work on equal
terms and the necessity of all persons
taking turns at whatever Disagree
able things may not have been elimin-
ated by machinery. All individuals will
pc placed on the same industrial level
There will be no individual housekeep-
ing, and women win be freed, and will
be allowed to find some useful form of
labor. Money will be abolished, and as
every ones work will be of the same
value, adj that will be necessary will
be to show that one has worked hours
enough to cover the value Of an object
ana 1t Will be ours. According to the
social1stic creed, one hour of working
time of Raphael will be of exactly
the same value as one hour Of the work
ing time OF an ordinary house painter
Opinions vary as to the length of the
future working day; some think it will
be from two to four hours, while others
reduce it to one hour and 81 minutes
Ii we inquire how this scheme Of pro-
ducuon is to be managed we are told
That there will be an executive power
which, if a superfiuity should occur in
any one line of production, would re-
adjust matters by detailing the persons
whose labor had made the superhuity
TO some other branch of labor, and that
Uh1s power would have the prerogative
to effect this transfer without the per-
mission of the transferred. Some Of the
socialists speak Of enrolling all the able
bodied men; others talk Of drafting
them.
But what is this, asked Mrs. Drury,
but a return to medieval serfdom, un-
der which the laborer cannot hope to
own the land he tills, nor to earn a
higher wage, and under which he dare
not show disrespect to authority, or
challenge 1t? Is this a state of liberty
or is it something very different?
Again, if we ask who is to manage
the government, we find that socialists
assume that the government would OBJ
tain the use of ability which now gov
ernments and the owners Of railroads
and mines find it impossible to get. The
present course is to rely on natural
selection to secure the ablest men, but
the socialists propose to do it by ar
tificial means, viz. to vote by such
methods as are now employed in New
York city. The late Henry George was
of opinion that even the municipal
ownership of railroads would give the
chance for jobbery. How much more
50 were the whole government owned
by the state?
The speaker quoted Mr.. Bellamy's
opinion that under socialism the indy
idual would receive an annual income
of $4,000, and added that, even We're all
to start equal, in a few years, owing
to the varying abilities and tastes of
people, we should again see culture,
ostentation and sordid distress side by
side. In conclusion she stated that the
predominant feeling among socialists
seemed to be that the new order could
be effected only by force.
Mrs. Stone prefaced her paper byask-
ing If the present conditions, which in
clude wars strikes, defalcations and
the like, were satisfactory. The war
with Spain cost three hundred millions
of dollars. If we had really gone to
war for humanity's sake, could we not
have spent this for the Cubans in some
more advantageous way?
Mrs. Stone warned her hearers
against placing too much reliance on
the opinions of Edward Bellamy, who,
she said. was not a true socialist. AS d
first step toward a favorable presenta-
ton of socialism, she called attention
to certain wastes in the present condi-
tions showing how millions were an
nually lost to the country through COM
petition. Every business failure, every
financial crisis or panic represents not
only money loss to the nation, but
terrible sacrifice in human energy. If
these conditions were changed so that
the production of wealth, not the de-
feat of a competitor, was the object, all
social classes would work together and
would produce enough to serve the
wants of all. ana with warehouses and
granaries filled, people would not be
going about naked and hungry. At
present, said Mrs. Stone, the proper