New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-01

Not
Socialism
Those whose eyes are turned tow
ard 2 government of the latter type
are designated in a general way as
Socialists. The words socialism and
Socialist, though less than century
old, have lately become very common
among us, and are so loosely and 50
variously used as to make it diff
cult to think clearly regarding the
ideas for which they stand. Social
ism, in the large, general and vague
sense of the word, means simply So
clal reform. In that sense, every in
telligent and forward stepping man
or woman is Socialist. All of US
who are in our right minds are
anxious to improve social conditions,
to better the public health, to de-
crease the hours and the severity Of
labor, to increase the rewards and
to add to the satisfaction of those
who do the hard manual work of the
world; to increase and make secure
provision against illness, unemploy-
ment and INDECENT old age; to use
the power Of public taxation to build
roads, to multiply schoolhouses, to
aid with information and guidance
those who farm and those who mine;
to bring together collections Of
books, of objects of beauty and Of
art for the information and the
pleasure of the great body of the
people; to improve the conditions of
housing in large cities, and to see to
it that such essentials Of life as
wafer, light and transportation are
furnished, of the best quality and at
the lowest practicable cost. If by
socialism be meant that the indi-
vidual must not live for himself
alone, but must use his powers, his
capacities and his gains for the ben
eft of his community and his fel-
lows, then every American and every
Christian is Socialist, for these
are fundamental to American life
and Christian teaching. All this,
however, is social reform, not So
cialism.
Socialism, in the strict and scien-
tlfic sense of the word, is, however,
something quite different from this.
Soc .alism involves not social reform
but political and social revolution.
1t is the name for a definite public
policy which rests upon ceftain his
torical and economic assumptions, all
of which have been proved to be false,
and it proceeds to very drastic and
far-reaching conclusions, all Of
which are in flat contradiction to
American policy and American
faith. The assumptions of socialism
are these:
First, that all of mans efforts,
both past and present, are to be In
terpreted and explained in terms Of
his desire for wealth and Of the
processes which lead to the satisfac-
ton Of that desire. This assump-
ton excludes at once all moral, re-
ligious and unselfsh considerations
from history and from life and
makes of man nothing but a gain
seeking animal preying upon his
kind wherever he can lay hands
upon him. There have been, and
there doubtless are, many indi-
viduals of this type; but to suppose
that the whole human race can be
brought under such a description is
an outrageous travesty on history,
on morals and on religion. This
assumption would reduce all human
history to the product Of blind gain
seeking forces and would exclude
from it both moral effort and moral
purpose. Under such a theory no
man would make any sacrifice for
liberty or for love, but only for
gain. All human experience con-
tradicts 30 cruel and 80 heartless
an assumption.
Class