Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-02-15


friends, Monday afternoon, at th'
house of the leader of the class
Mrs. j. H. Robertson. In many respects
both the speaker and his utterances
| were source of surprise to the major
ity of the ladies, and they soon found
! that their pre- conception of a socialist
as a person who rants over the wrongs
Nof the workingman and foams at the
mouth at the mention of capital and la
Dor, had to be entirely reconstructed tc
suit the occasion. The whole speech
was temperate and sane and without
recrimination, and was delivered with 9
| quiet earnestness more lasting and per
| suasive in its effect than any oratorica
| display could have been Indeed the
| spirit of tolerance and forbearance, en-
| tirely disassociated from bitterness, ol
| threats Or class feeling or the least hint
! of desire for revenge, which Mr.
Brush showed throughout his address
! in relating even the most fearful in.
stances of oppression, or in depicting
most enthusiastically the hopes and ac-
complshments of socialism, was alto.
gether the most noteworthy feature oi
the afternoon.
1t would be difficult to give an ade-
quate idea of what Mr.. Brush said He
spoke for about an hour and quarter
| while the so ladies before him listened
with deep attention. Among the points
| which he especially emphasized were
| mat socialism is not a class question
| but that 1t touches all the classes of So
ciety equally; that the fault Of our mod.
ern industrial system cannot be laid
upon the shoulders Of any one class, fol
| the Workingnen are as mercenary and
as false to their own, as socially ambi-
tiouS and as sharp at bargain as are
| the merchants and manufacturers; that
there are very few large fortunes ac-
quired rapidly that are not the result OF
| fraudulent practices; that American
| politics are corrupt because capital
wants them so; that socialism offers nc
panacean for the existing evils, but that
1t is the next step in social development
and that it is Inevitable.
| There was a time, said Mr. Brush
when people were held in chatteI
slavery, but that condition gave way
naturally to higher state-feudaliem-
| just as industrialism Is destined to be
replaced by socialism. We are now al
the point where we can see the earlier
signs OF this great change. The very
first steps were taken long ago. and now
socialism invites you to reason on the
matter and see if you think there is any
escape from it. Socialism is an unfold
ing of the mind, and this process OF
evolution has ever been accompanied
with struggles.
Mr.. Brush expressed himself as entire
ly opposed to force or violence. If there
had lain any possibility of righting
wrongs by such means, the French rev.
| a cricy 10.
cess instead of the monumental night
mare it is Just the same ignorant,
brutal spirit which the French nobility
displayed then is rampant now. He was
of opinion that the north had won a
very slight victory over the south in the
civil war, because there is no victory
but an ethical victory" If, after the
war, the north had gone to the south
and said: 1--WE have had to go to war
with you, but now LET us do all we can
for you. We insist upon paying you for
the slaves you have lost'--if they had
said that. they would have achieved a
social victory.
Concerning machinery, Mr., Brush
held no less unusual opinions In the
first place, if he could have his way, the
machinery of modern industrialism
should be made into refuse, then
burned, and the world should return to
hand labor. He said that he regarded
the substitution of machine labor for
hand labor one of the most demoraliz-
ing forces in modern society. But So
cialism recognizes the value of ma
chinery and holds that most of it is
the property of all, since most of it is
the invention of dead men, who cannot
hold property. They leave their ideas,
their machines, to humanity
clans, most of whom he regarded as
corruptionists. Men Of integrity will
not enter politics; or if they enter them
they soon leave; or if they remain they
are speedily sidetracked. The policy of
the government is dictated by the cap
italists. No one should be surprised at
the De LONE letter. Everybody knows
that Mckinley is just what De LONE
called him, and that he Mckinley
sugar trust case, for instance, and that
he has simply been playing it on the
country to give the capitalists time to
decide what they would like to have
done. The reason why Mckinley made
so few speeches during his last CAM
paign was that he half expected to be
nominated by the silver party, and ST
had prepared a lot of silver speeches,
which as events turned out, he could
not use.
Other important and exceedingly in
teresting opinions and facts in Mr..
Brush's address must be omitted here.
After he had concluded, questions were
asked him, which elected more positive
and personal statements than had been
previously expressed Every one re-
mained for little informal reception.
The Academy of the FineN Arts in
Philadelphia has bought from the sixty
seventh annual exhibition which closes
on February %, the picture by Mr.
Brush, entitled Mother and child" and
valued at $1,000. This canvas occupys the
place of honor in the exhibition, and it
received the popular vote at the public
reception given by the Civic Club. as
the best picture in the exhibition. The
artists and public thus unite in award
ing it the foremost place among a col
lection of American pictures unequaIed
in this country. The picture represents
mother holding baby in her arms in
the manner of a madonna, and at the
right is the head of boy as part of
the family group. While the spirit of
the picture is that of the early madon-
mas, the picture is distinetively modern
and American, and it IS this which
gives its strong appeal To the public
The canvas is one Of Mr.. Brush's finest
works. 1t is the fourth Mother and
child" which he has painted, others be-
ing in the possession OF Mrs Potter
Palmer of Chicago, and Mr. J. Mont
gomery Sears of Boston. The fourth pic
ture is owned by the Museum of the
Fine Arts, Boston.
St. Valentines night did not PASS