Norwich bulletin., 1920-11-17
BEGINS LECTURE COURSE
 ON WHAT IS SOCIALIS4I?''

Before a fairly large audience which gathered Tuesday night at inc Irmmun- ity House on Church street in spite of 1he extremely stormby weather. Rev Alex ander H. Abbott, pastor of the United Congregational church, da,'vHre thG :IIsr of a series of six lectures on WEa. |; Socialism. Rev. MT. Ab5o-ts .oIjc of the evening was Social and PoliticaI Eff fleets of the Industrial al4d French I;ey- olutions.
 The lecturers introl" ;tory remarks dealt briefly with Hillquitt's 'in- Production" to the pamphlet Present Day Socialism. the vote in he iasc election, socialist propaganda the general ISno- rance of the public on socialism, ani ihe spirit with which we atte1i, anG an swer to the question, "Wnat is Social ism? Approval or dis lop:0val of Pny ideas. movements or :l;t.tutIlas should proceed from a sincere attempt at fair understanding, said Rev. Alr. Abbott. The lecturer said that he has chcsen the historical method in his research 10 get at the facts connected with so- socialism and that he woul1 use history only as various historical movements relate to socialism.
 Said Rev. MT Abbott: I am not an expert on socialism. I am simply a searcher Out of my searching I hope to discover something which will clvc me a clearer idea of so ,i1iism. Ae first dealt with the industrial re yunI:ion aft CT giving a glimpse of fife in the world | before this revolutionary period. Speak ing of Europe he said tha, on the con- tinent before this time absolHtism pre- | vailed in government al1 thAl :n indus l try the domestic system was in use. That is, everything was made in the | home.
 The industrial revolution was a rcyolu- | tion which completely ehange1 the face of modern Europe, and of the new world | for it introduced new race If men 1 the men who work with machinery in- stead of with their hanls who cluster 1 together in cities, instead of spreading over the land in villages and nam ats The industrial revolution arose fro'1 tlie changes produced by the application o1 machinery to the problems of production
 Rev. Mir. Abbott then wenr .ln to S nm mariZe mechanical inventions from 173; when Kay invented the flying shuttle" | up to the present time when steam re placed water power in mills anG fac tories to a large extent Factories 1T the early days s.re located near s.rsam. but when steam replaced water as pow CT the mill naturally located near coa | deposits. Side by side with invention: came the eXchar E. of products and there by development of transportation lines The hamlet and village, decl a d anc towns and industrial centers spran.y u rapidly, due to the shift in population
 The subdivision of labor was an en tirely new thing to England Nolhin like it had ever happened before anl th world had to adjust itself to it. Tht thousands that focked to the inddstris centers had to go into the factories an sell themselves for whatever they coII get and their wages were abnormal, low. The projection of the class strlg gle took place in that period. FaUda lism had gone. A new set of owner had sprung up and the doctrine of 'Lais sez faire" or hands off was adopted The attitude of the factory owners Wa of course the government ought to pro tect us, come to our defense but in ou economic life the government ought t let us alone.
 With the growth of industrial cen ters came the necessity or food. Up t this time there was the feudaI metho of agriculture in vogue. Something ha
 to be done with the agricultural prob lem and the agricultural revolution re l suited.
 The third phase of the lecture deal
 with the French revolution which Rev
 MT. Abbott said was more than a singl
 movement in the history of France or , l Europe. It was not merely a politica . reconstruction in which despotism wa
 overthrown and nations liberated; it wa , as well a social. economic and mora , epoch, which formulated the principle f and together with the intellectual and 1T
 dustrial revoutiolns prepared the COT l ditions of modern society
 t The immediate cause of the revolutio . was the financial difficulties of the gov Tn n
 the king called the Estate General Ma r. 5, 17S9. Under Mirabeau this tran l. formed itself into the Nations Assembl
 among other things, abolished feudalis l. and decreed that all taxes should l. collected from all citizens and all pro
 erty. Enormous estates belonging {
 the Catholic church were confscate
 The opposition of the king, the nobl r and the clergy were aroused and Lou - XVI appealed to other nations 70 T a store the ancient regime. The lectur = went on to tell of the events leading l + to the dethronement of Louis and of N = poleon's exploits.
 Some of the effects of this revolutio
 ary period were then dealt with by tl
 speaker. Summed up they were as fc
 lows:
 l. Accelerated the rate of progress l n violence and bloodshed contributed p sr litical democracy and destroyed econ Il mic feudalism. The status of the pea
 ant was raised and the middle class
 were elevated to power.
 e Lecture two will deal with the grow
 of political democracy in Englan
 France and Germany during the fir . half of the 18th century
 The course given by Rev, Mir. Abbo
 Is under the auspices of the Wthien
 Guild of the United Congregation
 church.
 Victory Medals Ready for Issue.