The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-22

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mental Socialist theories and Of the various
methods proposed for their propagation,
For the purpose OF. this review it will prob
ably suffice to ~oondense the forty-three
pages of tho translator's introduction into
n few sentences, Thus, without paudng
to examine how the conclusion was reached,
we may say that Socialists, though they
differ on many points, all agrees on" the
main definition. Socialism Is the doctrine
that the means Of production Chat is,
capital, lend and raw materials, or" In
other words, al wealth which is used for
the creation of more wealth. should not
be owned by individuals, but by society.
How is this doctrine to be- propagated
until it becomes dominant and accepted In
a given nation? Here Socialists. differ, not
only sharply, but bitterly. On the question
Of method, as it Is called, European Social
lists are separated into two schools: the one
comprises the followers of Kari Marx, who
are called Revolutionists, Marxists, or 0ftho-
dox; the other Is made up of those who at
various times, and from various points of
view are described as Opportunities, Re
formists, Revisionists, or Fabians.' The
distinction is not quite no hard and fast as
might at first sight be imagined. For In
stance, the Revolutionary Socialists do not
necessarily believe in the use of force to OBJ
tain their ends. Indeed, as Prof. Jaures
points out in the book before us, the par
tisans ofthe General Strike "aTeth only So
cialists who hope to win by other h legal
political methods. What the Revolutionary
Socialists do believe in Is the possibility OF
establishing the Socialist system In its en-
tirety after they shall have obtained po-
litical power. They depend Upon the class
warfare" which in some European, countries
undoubtedly exists, to bring about a v
luton. possibly peaceful in character, which
will have for its. object the abolition OF Pri-
vate property in the means Of production
and the substitution Of social or collective
property in its place. Their method OF
action, then is to rouse .non-owners to a
sense Of their position, and to teach them
TO look forward to the day when'they shall
be strong enough to bring about the radical
change just mentioned. ..' & -
The Opportunities, or Reformists, OF the
other hand, think that the coming change,
on which they also count, is too complex
to be instituted all at once as a whole.
Their ultimate ideal il, like that Of the
Rsvolutionists, the collective ownership Of
capital, but they believe that they can best
reach that ideal by introducing reforms
gradually, as the strength Of their party
and economic conditions admit, instead
of hoping to apply a cast iron dogmatic
system summarily as a unit. In their
opinion, the details are too complicated,
the new factors that may have to be con-
sidered in the field OF industrial invention
alone are too diverse for any cut and dried
revolutionary action to meet with success"
The general principle on which Socialists
ought to act is clear enough to the Raform-
lists: it guides them in the practical solu-
ton Of each problem as it presents itself.
BY the light Of this principle they have
formulated in every country party pro-
grammes, which they expect to see'gradu-
! ally adopted. through the application 6f their
Fabian method, by various Legislatures.
The legislative programmes put forward
in different countries by the Opportunist
wing of the Socialist party demand, as a
rule, the same general reforms, namely, a
legal Limitation of the working day; a legal
minimum wage; compulsory insurance
against illness, accidents and non-employ-
ment; old age pensions; compulsory arbitra-
ton on the New Zaland pattern; drastic
amendment of factory legislation, especially
with the object Of 'abofshing child labor;
! the substitution of an income tax or land
tax for all indirect taxation; and, most inn
l. portant. perhaps, OF all, the gradual extern
J sion of the domain Of public services ina
tional and munioipaD, beginning with rail
ways, mines and other natural monopo-
lies Socialists of the Opportunist school
| are also advocates of at least partial dis
| armament and of the extension of lnterIaa-
! tional arbitration, and most of their, party
programmes contain declarations to that
effect. ~.
On the other hand the belief OF the
Marxists, or Orthodox Socialists, in "revo-
lutionary methods has naturally had
certain practical results. In the first place,
1t has made those who hold it Indifferent
to any less sweeI ing social reform, They
are working, as they frankly acknowledge,
for absolute political power and a COM
plete reconstruction OF society. With any
| thing less they are not content, nor are
they deeply Interested in partial modi-
fcations of the existing social order. In
the second place, the stress laid by them
upon the antagonism OF classes makes
the Orthodox Socialists unwilling to enter
into political alliance with other parties
that represent the property owning class,
aver though such an alliance might, and
probably would, result in the gain of GER
tain important advantages for the nom
! owners. 1t is not to be inferred that the
orthodox Marxists always and every
where refuse to indorse the party pro-
gramme of the Opportunist or Reformist
Socialists. While, however, the Revolu-
tionists regard legislative reforms as Of
secondary moment, and some extremists
even look at them 'askanoe, as tending
to weaken the antagonism between the
classes, which they believe to be the in
dispensable instrument Of revolution, the
Revisionists or Opportunists regard such
reforms as necessary steps toward the
establishment of. complete Gollectivism.
The latter hold also that every reform is
not only a positive gain or the hide Of
justice, a positive advance toward their
goal, but also a valuable meanslA4o of edu-
eating the public mind and preparing the
way for the next step. The very great
Importance attached to legislative action
by Reformist Socialists leads naturally
to their adopting a different, attitude to-