The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-08-08

T HE first socialist I ever knew brought
long intimacy to a sudden close by SHINING
me. Peace to his ashesl
He was OF elegant tastes cultivated mind
and luxurious habits, and these characteristics de-
veloped in due course of time a craving for liquor
and opiates the indulgence in which stimulated his
social and conversational qualities the very high
est degree
He lived in a simpler older day, when socialism
wag practically unknown and professional socialists
had not begun to swell their purses and adorn draw
ing rooms A deep student OF the classics and with
a mind well equipped for the digestion OF what he
read, my friend became firm believer in the theory
that II not right that some men should be
brilliantly wealthy and others bitterly poor and that
it would be better for the world if its wealth could be
redstributed in a manner
In time this idea of the redistribution Of property
took such strong hold on his imagination that he
undertook to equalize of fe's inequalities by
marriage. His wife, woman of fine character and
breeding easily persuaded her mother, the holder of
the family purse strings, TO build beautiful house
in their native town and install the socialist its
nominal head. The finest room in this mansion be-
came his library, and here, before cheerful wood
FIRE, surrounded by books, which he reads less and
less as sloth and dying ambition crept over him,
have listened TO some of the delightful and
vincng talk that has ever fallen upon my ears.
At this time I was in his employ the managing
editor Of a small monthly periodical owned by him
and addressed TO the high brows" of his day and
generation; and If IS hero to his
valet what he be to his managing editor? / am
bound TO say that long as the magazine
Quoted at loss relations fairly pleasant,
but, ike many young and inexperienced manager,
] was foolish enough to hand him in a small monthly
profit with the natural result that he began by de-
handing more and very soon worked himself into
the belief that l holding back from him that
which should have BEEN hiss.
But let it be forgotten that during all this
unhappy period when ] struggling TO squeeze
out for him little money it was my privilege
to listen almost nightly to the most beautiful and
uplifting conversation imaginable
His mother in law was bitterly opposed to liquor
and opiates, do l blame her when | recall the
circumstance that induced this prejudice but there
always an odd bottle concealed in the hollow of
papier mache History Of England" that stood in
inoonspicuous place the book Shelf and ofttmes on
winter nights he would take down this precious
volume and hide II in sort of cave of books erected
on his writing table and arranged that at the
sound of approaching footsteps two glasses could
be hastily concealed in il and the opening blocked up
with The Descent Of Man"
was young then and a little liquor went a long
way with me. that generally after glass two
] would find the tears coming to my eyes as
brotherhood of humanity and of how wrong it was
to underpay the work people or accept higher in
terest than per cent ,on invested funds SO
beautiful his ideas, so generous his emotions
and so fine his language that had known then
as do now, that his prudent mother in laws for
was invested in bank stock, 1 am quite sure
that his talk would have lost particle of its
rnpressiveness and charm.
Once I woke up. but that only for moment.
1t when he paused in the midst OF harangue
the duty OF giving others to ask whether Jen-
kns, our foreman, had drawn certain $40 that had
been due TO him for some time l replied that he
had not asked for It and it quite possible
that he had forgotten all about it.
Then don't give II TO him." exclaimed my friend
the socialist. lie doesn't deserve it anyway. and
besides money should go to him who needs it the
Bring it to me tomorrow. Well, as | was
just saying, my dear boy, the day is coming when
the capitalist won't make all the money and the man
who tolls with his hands will receive fair share for
his labor"
1t makes but little difference at this late day to
what extent he skinned me. but it quite up
the limit OF his opportunity. But have long since
credited him with the fact that he taught the