Shall you complain who feed the world—Who clothe the world, who house the world?Shall you complain who are the worldOf what the world may do?As from this hour you use your power,The world must follow you.As from this hour you use your power.The world must follow you.[324]
Shall you complain who feed the world—Who clothe the world, who house the world?Shall you complain who are the worldOf what the world may do?As from this hour you use your power,The world must follow you.As from this hour you use your power.The world must follow you.[324]
Others remind them of their grievances, and urge them to drive the rich man out of the country:
Think on the wrongs ye bear,Think on the rags ye wear,Think on the insults endured from your birth;Toiling in snow and rain,Bearing up heaps of gain,All for the tyrants who grind ye to earth.
Think on the wrongs ye bear,Think on the rags ye wear,Think on the insults endured from your birth;Toiling in snow and rain,Bearing up heaps of gain,All for the tyrants who grind ye to earth.
Your brains are as keen as the brains of your masters.In swiftness and strength ye surpass them by far,Ye've brave hearts that teach ye to laugh at disasters,Ye vastly outnumber your tyrants in war.Why, then, like cowards stand.Using not brain or hand,Thankful, like dogs, when they throw ye a bone?What right have they to takeThings that ye toil to make?Know ye not, boobies, that all is your own?[325]
Your brains are as keen as the brains of your masters.In swiftness and strength ye surpass them by far,Ye've brave hearts that teach ye to laugh at disasters,Ye vastly outnumber your tyrants in war.Why, then, like cowards stand.Using not brain or hand,Thankful, like dogs, when they throw ye a bone?What right have they to takeThings that ye toil to make?Know ye not, boobies, that all is your own?[325]
Arise, unite each scattered band,To sweep all masters from our land,Then shall each mine and loom and fieldIts produce to the workers yield.[326]
Arise, unite each scattered band,To sweep all masters from our land,Then shall each mine and loom and fieldIts produce to the workers yield.[326]
Others, again, urge the workers to seize all property and to make the rich man work for them.
They're never done extollingThe nobility of work;But the knaves! they always take good careTheir share of toil to shirk.Do they send their sons and daughters,To the workshop or the mill?Oh! we'll turn things upside down, my lads;It will change their tune, it will![327]
They're never done extollingThe nobility of work;But the knaves! they always take good careTheir share of toil to shirk.Do they send their sons and daughters,To the workshop or the mill?Oh! we'll turn things upside down, my lads;It will change their tune, it will![327]
We'll drive the robbers from our lands, our meadows and our hills;We'll drive them from our warehouses, our workshops and our mills;We'll make them fare upon their bonds, their bankbooks and their bills,As we go marching to liberty.[328]
We'll drive the robbers from our lands, our meadows and our hills;We'll drive them from our warehouses, our workshops and our mills;We'll make them fare upon their bonds, their bankbooks and their bills,As we go marching to liberty.[328]
Some Socialists believe that they will come to power suddenly and by violence, and abolish private capital at a stroke. Others are inclined to think that they will only gradually abolish it. Karl Marx was of the latter opinion. Therefore he wrote in his "Manifesto": "The first step in the revolution by the working class is to raise the proletariat to the position of ruling class to win the battle of democracy. The proletariat will use its political supremacy to wrest, by degrees, all capital from the bourgeoisie, to centralise all instruments of production in the hands of the State—i.e.of the proletariat organised as the ruling class; and to increase the total of productive forces as rapidly as possible. Of course in the beginning this cannot be effected except by means of despotic inroads on the rights of property and on the conditions of bourgeois production: by means of measures therefore which appear economicallyinsufficient and untenable, but which in the course of the movement outstrip themselves, necessitate further inroads upon the old social order, and are unavoidable as a means of entirely revolutionising the mode of production. These measures will of course be different in different countries. Nevertheless in the most advanced countries the following will be pretty generally applicable:
1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.2. A heavy progressive or graduated income-tax.3. Abolition of all right of inheritance.4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.5. Centralisation of credit in the hands of the State by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.6. Centralisation of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State.7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State; the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.8. Equal liability of all to labour. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a more equable distribution of the population over the country.10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, &c."[329]
1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income-tax.
3. Abolition of all right of inheritance.
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
5. Centralisation of credit in the hands of the State by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.
6. Centralisation of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State.
7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State; the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.
8. Equal liability of all to labour. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a more equable distribution of the population over the country.
10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, &c."[329]
Marx's programme has served as a model to the English Socialists, as the following demands of some ofour Socialists will show: "The things you will be working for will be something like this. Shorter hours is the first thing, then a tax on landlords, then abolition of the House of Lords and the Monarchy, then more Home-Rule and more Local Government, then extension of municipal operations, the socialisation of coal stores, dairy farms, bakeries, laundries, public-houses, cab-hiring, the slaughter of cattle and the sale of butcher meat, the building and letting of houses—in short, the taking over by the local bodies of as many departments of production and distribution as need be. By this time the Class War will be shaping for a last great engagement."[330]
"As stepping stones to a happier period we urge for immediate adoption: The compulsory construction of healthy artisans' and agricultural labourers' dwellings in proportion to the population, such dwellings to be let at rents to cover the cost of construction and maintenance alone. Free compulsory education for all classes, together with the provision of at least one wholesome meal a day in each school. Eight hours or less to be the normal working day in all trades. Cumulative taxation upon all incomes above a fixed minimum not exceeding 500l.a year. State appropriation of railways with or without compensation. The establishment of national banks which shall absorb all private institutions that derive a profit from operations in money or credit. Rapid extinction of the National Debt. Nationalisation of the land and organisation of agricultural and industrial armies under State control on co-operative principles. By these measures a healthy, independent, and thoroughly educated people will steadily grow up around us, ready to abandon that baneful competition for starvation wages which ruins our present workers, ready to organise the labour of each for the benefit of all, determined, too, to take control finally of the entire socialand political machinery of a State in which class distinctions and class privileges shall cease to be."[331]
The Social-Democratic Federation demands the following immediate reforms: "The socialisation of the means of production, distribution, and exchange to be controlled by a democratic State in the interests of the entire community, and the complete emancipation of labour from the domination of capitalism and landlordism with the establishment of social and economic equality between the sexes. Abolition of the Monarchy. Democratisation of the governmental machinery, viz. abolition of the House of Lords, payment of members of legislative and administrative bodies, payment of official expenses of elections out of the public funds, adult suffrage, proportional representation, triennial Parliaments, second ballot, initiative and referendum. Foreigners to be granted rights of citizenship after two years' residence in the country, on the recommendation of four British-born citizens, without any fee. Canvassing to be made illegal. Legislation by the people in such wise that no legislative proposal shall become law until ratified by the majority of the people. Legislative and administrative independence for all parts of the empire.
"Repudiation of the National Debt. Abolition of all indirect taxation and the institution of a cumulative tax on all incomes and inheritances exceeding 300l.
"Extension of the principle of local self-government. Systematisation and co-ordination of the local administrative bodies. Election of all administrators and administrative bodies by equal direct adult suffrage.
"Elementary education to be free, secular, industrial, and compulsory for all classes. The age of obligatory school attendance to be raised to sixteen. Unification and systematisation of intermediate and higher education, both general and technical, and all such education to befree. Free maintenance for all attending State schools. Abolition of school rates, the cost of education in all State schools to be borne by the National Exchequer.
"Nationalisation of the land and the organisation of labour in agriculture and industry under public ownership and control on co-operative principles. Nationalisation of the trusts, of railways, docks, and canals, and all great means of transit. Public ownership and control of gas, electric light, and water-supplies, tramway, omnibus, and other locomotive services, and of the food and coal supply. The establishment of State and municipal banks and pawnshops and public restaurants. Public ownership and control of the lifeboat service, of hospitals, dispensaries, cemeteries and crematoria, and control of the drink traffic.
"A legislative eight-hour working day or forty-eight hours per week to be the maximum for all trades and industries. Imprisonment to be inflicted on employers for any infringement of the law. Absolute freedom of combination for all workers, with legal guarantee against any action, private or public, which tends to curtail or infringe it. No child to be employed in any trade or occupation until sixteen years of age, and imprisonment to be inflicted on employers, parents, and guardians who infringe this law. Public provision of useful work at not less than trade-union rates of wages for the unemployed. Free State insurance against sickness and accident, and free and adequate State pensions or provision for aged and disabled workers. Public assistance not to entail any forfeiture of political rights. The legislative enactment of a minimum wage of 30s.for all workers. Equal pay for both sexes for the performance of equal work.
"Abolition of the present workhouse system, and reformed administration of the Poor Law on a basis of national co-operation. Compulsory construction by publicbodies of healthy dwellings for the people, such dwellings to be let at rents to cover the cost of construction and maintenance alone, and not to cover the cost of the land. The administration of justice to be free to all; the establishment of public offices where legal advice can be obtained free of charge."[332]
Mr. Blatchford suggests the following: "The public maintenance and the public education of children. The public provision of work for all. The taxation of the land and of all large incomes. The confiscation of unearned increment. Old-age pensions. The minimum wage. Compulsory land cultivation. Universal adult suffrage. The second ballot. The payment of election expenses. The nationalisation of the railways and of the land. The nationalisation or municipalisation of trams, gas, water, bread, liquor, milk, coal, and many other things. The abolition of hereditary titles and of the House of Lords."[333]
The general policy which the Socialists should follow was summed up by Marx in the following way. "The Communists everywhere support every revolutionary movement against the existing social and political order of things."[334]"Socialism is the only hope of the workers. All else is illusion. Workers of all lands, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains. You have a world to win."[335]
"This is the final struggle. The extinction of classes must follow the overthrow of the last form of class domination and the emancipation of the last class to be set free. Rally then, fellow workers, to the standard of the international class-conscious proletariat, the Red Flag of Social-Democracy. 'Workers of all countries, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains, you have aworld to win!'"[336]"The land of England is no mean heritage."[337]
"What has hitherto prevented the workers from combining for the overthrow of the capitalist system?A.Ignorance and disorganisation.—Q.What has left them in ignorance?A.The system itself, by compelling them to spend all their lives upon monotonous toil and leaving them no time for education.—Q.What account have they been given of the system which oppresses them?A.The priest has explained that the perpetual presence of the poor is necessitated by a law of God; the economist has proved its necessity by a law of Nature; and between them they have succeeded in convincing the labourers of the hopelessness of any opposition to the capitalist system.—Q.How is it that the labourers cannot see for themselves that they are legally robbed?A.Because the present method of extracting their surplus value is one of fraud rather than of force, and has grown gradually."[338]
The philosopher of British Socialism well sums up the aims and policy of the Socialists. He says: "What is vital in Socialism? In the first line, I take it, come
"1. The collectivisation ofallthe instruments of production byanyeffective means;
"2. The doctrine of the Class War as the general historical method of realising the new form of society;
"3. The principle of internationalism, the recognition,i.e.that distinction of nationality sinks into nothingness before the idea of the union of all progressive races in the effort to realise the ideal of true society as understood by the Social-Democratic Party;
"4. The utmost freedom of physical, moral, and intellectual development for each and all consistent with the necessities of an organised social State.
"The Socialist's adhesion to the doctrine of the Class War involves his opposition to all measures subserving the interest of any section of capitalism. This coupled with his 'Internationalism' leaves him no choice but to be the enemy of 'his country' and the friend of his country's enemies whenever 'his country' (which means of course the dominant classes of his country, who always are for that matter his enemies) plays the game of the capitalist. Let us have no humbug! The man who cannot on occasion be (if needs be) the declared and active enemy of that doubtful entity, 'his country,' is no Social Democrat."[339]
"Justice being henceforth identified with confiscation, and injustice with the right of property, there remains only the question of 'ways and means.' Our bourgeois apologist, admitting as he must that the present possessors of land and capital hold possession of them simply by right of superior force, can hardly refuse to admit the right of the proletariat organised to that end to take possession of them by right of superior force. The only question remaining is, How? And the only answer is, How you can."[340]
[279]Page 17.
[279]Page 17.
[280]Blatchford,Merrie England, p. 100.
[280]Blatchford,Merrie England, p. 100.
[281]Clarion, October 11, 1907.
[281]Clarion, October 11, 1907.
[282]Sidney Webb,The Difficulties of Individualism, p. 10.
[282]Sidney Webb,The Difficulties of Individualism, p. 10.
[283]Fabian Essays in Socialism, pp. 26, 27.
[283]Fabian Essays in Socialism, pp. 26, 27.
[284]Blatchford,Merrie England, p. 99.
[284]Blatchford,Merrie England, p. 99.
[285]Blatchford,What is this Socialism?p. 1.
[285]Blatchford,What is this Socialism?p. 1.
[286]Socialist Annual, 1907, p. 39.
[286]Socialist Annual, 1907, p. 39.
[287]Kirtlan,Socialism for Christians, p. 15.
[287]Kirtlan,Socialism for Christians, p. 15.
[288]Tillett,Trades Unionism and Socialism, p. 12.
[288]Tillett,Trades Unionism and Socialism, p. 12.
[289]Manifesto of the Socialist Party of Great Britain, p. 9.
[289]Manifesto of the Socialist Party of Great Britain, p. 9.
[290]Basis of the Fabian Society.
[290]Basis of the Fabian Society.
[291]Blatchford,Real Socialism, p. 10.
[291]Blatchford,Real Socialism, p. 10.
[292]Macdonald,Socialism, p. 103.
[292]Macdonald,Socialism, p. 103.
[293]Keir Hardie,From Serfdom to Socialism, p. 11.
[293]Keir Hardie,From Serfdom to Socialism, p. 11.
[294]Ethel Snowden,The Woman Socialist, p. 3.
[294]Ethel Snowden,The Woman Socialist, p. 3.
[295]Sorge,Socialism and the Worker, p. 9.
[295]Sorge,Socialism and the Worker, p. 9.
[296]Blatchford,Real Socialism, p. 3.
[296]Blatchford,Real Socialism, p. 3.
[297]Macdonald,Socialism, p. 103.
[297]Macdonald,Socialism, p. 103.
[298]Blatchford,What is this Socialism?p. 2.
[298]Blatchford,What is this Socialism?p. 2.
[299]Socialism made Plain, p. 10.
[299]Socialism made Plain, p. 10.
[300]Blatchford,The Pope's Socialism, p. 3.
[300]Blatchford,The Pope's Socialism, p. 3.
[301]Hobart,Social-Democracy, p. 7.
[301]Hobart,Social-Democracy, p. 7.
[302]Gronlund,Co-operative Commonwealth, p. 94.
[302]Gronlund,Co-operative Commonwealth, p. 94.
[303]Jaurès,Practical Socialism, p. 3.
[303]Jaurès,Practical Socialism, p. 3.
[304]Socialism Made Plain, p. 8.
[304]Socialism Made Plain, p. 8.
[305]Gronlund,Co-operative Commonwealth, p. 105.
[305]Gronlund,Co-operative Commonwealth, p. 105.
[306]Jaurès,Practical Socialism, p. 5.
[306]Jaurès,Practical Socialism, p. 5.
[307]Kautsky,The Social Revolution, p. 10.
[307]Kautsky,The Social Revolution, p. 10.
[308]Sidney Webb,The Difficulties of Individualism, p. 10.
[308]Sidney Webb,The Difficulties of Individualism, p. 10.
[309]Bax,The Ethics of Socialism, pp. 75, 76.
[309]Bax,The Ethics of Socialism, pp. 75, 76.
[310]Ibid.p. 83.
[310]Ibid.p. 83.
[311]Blatchford,The Pope's Socialism, p. 6.
[311]Blatchford,The Pope's Socialism, p. 6.
[312]Muse,Poverty and Drunkenness, p. 9.
[312]Muse,Poverty and Drunkenness, p. 9.
[313]Facts for Socialists, p. 7.
[313]Facts for Socialists, p. 7.
[314]Guyot,Pretensions of Socialism, p. 16.
[314]Guyot,Pretensions of Socialism, p. 16.
[315]Davidson,The Old Order and the New, p. 9.
[315]Davidson,The Old Order and the New, p. 9.
[316]Dearmer,Socialism and Christianity, pp. 17, 18.
[316]Dearmer,Socialism and Christianity, pp. 17, 18.
[317]Marx and Engels,Manifesto, p. 22.
[317]Marx and Engels,Manifesto, p. 22.
[318]Gronlund,Co-operative Commonwealth, p 105.
[318]Gronlund,Co-operative Commonwealth, p 105.
[319]Macdonald,Socialism, p. 105.
[319]Macdonald,Socialism, p. 105.
[320]Socialism, For and Against, p. 9.
[320]Socialism, For and Against, p. 9.
[321]Davidson,The Old Order and the New, p. 158.
[321]Davidson,The Old Order and the New, p. 158.
[322]Bebel,Woman, pp. 231, 232.
[322]Bebel,Woman, pp. 231, 232.
[323]"Veritas,"Did Jesus Christ teach Socialism?p. 2.
[323]"Veritas,"Did Jesus Christ teach Socialism?p. 2.
[324]Social-Democratic Federation Song Book, p. 56.
[324]Social-Democratic Federation Song Book, p. 56.
[325]Ibid.p. 30.
[325]Ibid.p. 30.
[326]Independent Labour Party Song Book, p. 33.
[326]Independent Labour Party Song Book, p. 33.
[327]Social-Democratic Federation Song Book, p. 43
[327]Social-Democratic Federation Song Book, p. 43
[328]Independent Labour Party Song Book, p. 7.
[328]Independent Labour Party Song Book, p. 7.
[329]Marx and Engels,Manifesto, pp. 21, 22.
[329]Marx and Engels,Manifesto, pp. 21, 22.
[330]Leatham,The Class War, pp. 13, 14.
[330]Leatham,The Class War, pp. 13, 14.
[331]Socialism Made Plain, p. 10.
[331]Socialism Made Plain, p. 10.
[332]Programme,Social-Democratic Federation.
[332]Programme,Social-Democratic Federation.
[333]Clarion, October 18, 1907.
[333]Clarion, October 18, 1907.
[334]Marx and Engels,Manifesto, p. 30.
[334]Marx and Engels,Manifesto, p. 30.
[335]Motto of The Socialist, weekly, taken from Marx and Engels'Manifesto.
[335]Motto of The Socialist, weekly, taken from Marx and Engels'Manifesto.
[336]The Class War, p. 2.
[336]The Class War, p. 2.
[337]Socialism Made Plain, p. 10.
[337]Socialism Made Plain, p. 10.
[338]Joynes,The Socialist Catechism, p. 5.
[338]Joynes,The Socialist Catechism, p. 5.
[339]Bax,Essays in Socialism, pp. 101, 102.
[339]Bax,Essays in Socialism, pp. 101, 102.
[340]Bax,Ethics of Socialism, p. 82.
[340]Bax,Ethics of Socialism, p. 82.
Before investigating the attitude of British Socialism towards the working masses, it is necessary to take note of its doctrines regarding work.
Most thinkers, from the time of King Solomon, Socrates, and Confucius down to the present age, have seen in work conscientiously performed a blessing; many, probably most, British Socialists declare it to be a curse and a vice. The leading English philosopher of Socialism, for instance, tells us: "To the Socialist labour is an evil to be minimised to the utmost. The man who works at his trade or avocation more than necessity compels him, or who accumulates more than he can enjoy, is not a hero but a fool from the Socialists' standpoint."[341]A leading French Socialist informs us: "Through listening to the fallacious utterances of the middle-class economists, the workers have delivered themselves body and soul to the vice of work."[342]When Mr. Victor Grayson, M.P., a Socialist, in a speech ventured to refer to work as "one of the greatest blessings and privileges ever conferred on humanity," one of the Socialist papers wrote: "Victor Grayson is simply an agent of the capitalist class. Is Mr. Victor Grayson, M.P., trying to allure the capitalist class by picturing work as a blessing, or is he trying to get the worker to look upon work through a rosy mistconjured from the brains of the capitalist's agent who is saturated with capitalist philosophy? It is time the Beatitudes were extended or revised. How would this do?—'Blessed is the worker who works (for the capitalist), for he shall inherit the kingdom (of starvation and misery under capitalism).' 'Blessed is work in itself, because it enables (the capitalist) to live in peace and happiness.' Since work is a blessing, it follows that whatever saves work is a curse. All the beautiful machinery which the working class have shed their life blood to produce, to develop which an army of them have been sacrificed under capitalism by the capitalists; this which the workers of ages and ages have contributed their mite towards; have laboured long and suffered silently to create; this is an evil!!!"[343]
British Socialists do their utmost to convert the workers into shirkers by teaching them not only that work is an evil in itself, but by constantly admonishing them, "on scientific grounds," to work as little as possible during the time they are employed. "It is the interest of the employer to get as much work out of his hands as possible for as little wages as possible. It is the interest of the workers to get as high a wage as possible for as little labour as possible."[344]"The workers have been taught by the practical economists of the trade-unions, and have learnt for themselves by bitter experience, that every time any of them in a moment of ambition or good will does one stroke of work not in his bond, he is increasing the future unpaid labour not only of himself, but of his fellows."[345]
The Independent Labour Party has issued a leaflet entitled "Are you a Socialist?" in which the question occurs, "Do you believe that every individual should havesufficient leisure to cultivate his higher faculties and enjoy life to the fullest extent?" and the answer is, "If you say 'Yes,' join the Independent Labour Party and help to carry its principles into effect."[346]
Many Socialists promise the workers that the Socialist State of the future will abolish the curse of work by greatly diminishing the hours of labour. A leading English Socialist writer says: "It is as plainly demonstrable as that twice four make eight that a due system of organised effort would enable your 43,000,000 of people to win from Nature an overflowing superfluity of all that man desires, without one-fourth the effort put forth now to win a beggarly subsistence so far short of what your community requires that 13,000,000 of your people live continually upon the very verge of starvation."[347]A leading American Socialist promises somewhat vaguely, "A few hours of work will secure to everybody all necessaries, decencies, and comforts of life."[348]William Morris tells us that four hours' work will suffice, and that it will not all be "mere machine-tending."[349]Morrison-Davidson prophesies that the "hours of labour will probably not exceed a minimum of two and a maximum of five daily."[350]Hyndman feels quite certain that "two or three hours' labour out of the twenty-four by all adult males would be enough to give the whole community all the wholesome necessaries and comforts of life,"[351]and Bax thinks that "In a perfectly organised Socialist State men never worked more than two or three hours a day."[352]Yves Guyot wittily says: "There is no reason why their demandsshould not go further. Zero alone can bid them defiance."[353]It is worth noting that many Anarchists also promise a great lessening of the hours of labour when the State has been destroyed. Kropotkin, for instance, requires only from four to five hours' work.[354]Agitators desirous to secure the support of the workers cannot be too lavish in their promises.
In the Socialist State of the future a few hours' work every day will give boundless prosperity to all, for "Wealth may easily be made as plentiful as water at the expense of trifling toil."[355]"Under Socialism, nineteen-twentieths of the people will be better off materially than they are to-day, for they will be equal partners in all the productive and distributive wealth of the community."[356]"Comparative affluence would be enjoyed by each member of the community."[357]
In the Socialist commonwealth of the future "all wages will be immediately increased," for "the social community will apply itself to raise all salaries of workers and peasants."[358]"In a Socialist State you will have everyone paid a living wage. The surplus will be dispensed by the State, bringing happiness to the whole community."[359]
The British national revenue amounts at present only to a little more than 140,000,000l.By the abolition of the private capitalists and landowners the Socialist Government of Great Britain "would at once find themselves in possession of a revenue amounting to some 900,000,000l.per annum, and would probably be puzzled for a time how to dispose of it and prevent themselvesbeing buried under its accumulation."[360]This is neither a joke nor a misprint, for the well-known writer, author of countless Socialist pamphlets, continues: "After a variety of attempts to dispose of it by dividing into good fat salaries among those of your community who had had least to do with its production, after the usual custom, I believe means would be employed ultimately for inducing them to keep it under by increasing the wages of the workers, which is another way of saying that those whose labour had produced the wealth would be allowed to enjoy it, which would be something quite novel."[361]
The Socialist Government would not only diminish the working hours making them from three to five hours a day, but would also double and treble wages, partly in order to get rid of the glut of money flowing into the National Exchequer, partly because the workers would presumably receive the whole produce of their labour (see Chapter IV.) in the form of wages as soon as the private capitalists were eliminated. Repairs, renewals, replacement of capital losses, and the extension of national industry, which are at present effected out of the savings of private capitalists, would, under the Socialistrégime, apparently no longer be required, and direction, supervision, and distribution would apparently no longer cost anything. The workers are quite seriously told by the philosopher of British Socialism, collaborating with the editor of "Justice": "Under present conditions the total wealth produced would, if equitably divided, amount to a value equal to more than 200l.per year per family. But to suppose that any mere distributive readjustment is what is meant by Socialism is to entirely misunderstand what Socialism really involves. Socialism means the complete reorganisation of production as well as distribution. With production scientifically and socially organised, the productivity of labour would be quintupled, and theamount of wealth would be increased in proportion."[362]In other words, there would be 1,000l.a year for each family. Another Socialist more plainly states: "At the present hour it is calculated that the wealth of the United Kingdom exceeds 2,000 millions per year. This divided among forty millions gives 250l.per family. It is said that the abolition of waste labour and the absorption of the idle classes would quadruple the production. One thousand pounds per year per family is a very good standard of comfort under a co-operative system of living."[363]
The two estimates agree in this, that the Socialist family of five should receive in wages 1,000l.per annum, or about 3l.10s.per working day. In another chapter we shall learn that in the Socialist State only the young and strong would work, and they would work, as we have seen in the foregoing pages, between three and four hours a day. In other words, the worker who earns now, say, 10d.an hour, would, under the Socialist commonwealth, receive 1l.per hour. Who would not be a Socialist?
A leading German Socialist has endeavoured to gauge the effect of Socialism upon the working classes. In making his calculations he has borne in mind the necessity of providing for the wear and tear of capital, and for other expenditure, and he has arrived at the conclusion: "A generous sick insurance will have to be set up, as well as an invalid and old-age insurance for all incapacitated workers, &c. Thus we see that not much will remain for the raising of the wages from the present income of the capitalists, even if capital were confiscated at a stroke, still less if we were to compensate the capitalists. It will consequently be necessary, in order to be able to raise the wages, to raise at the same time the production far above its present level."[364]
The value of high wages lies in the produce they buy. It is of course quite clear that a nation, in order to consume more, must also produce more. It would be interesting to know whether leading Socialists, such as Messrs. Bax, Quelch, and Hazell, who must be acquainted with the sober estimates of the German Socialists, honestly believe that under a Socialistrégime1,000l.per annum will be available per family, or whether these statements have only been made to obtain supporters on the not very honourable principle,Vulgus vult decipi, decipiatur.
Let us now look into the practical proposals of the Socialists to the workers.
In the official programme of the Social-Democratic Federation[365]the following "Immediate Reforms" concerning the workers are demanded:
"A legislative eight hours' working day, or forty-eight hours per week, to be the maximum for all trades and industries. Imprisonment to be inflicted on employers for any infringement of the law. Absolute freedom of combination for all workers, with legal guarantee against any action, private or public, which tends to curtail or infringe it. No child to be employed in any trade or occupation until sixteen years of age, and imprisonment to be inflicted on employers, parents, and guardians who infringe this law. Public provision of useful work at not less than trade-union rates of wages for the unemployed. Free State insurance against sickness and accident, and free and adequate State pensions or provision for aged and disabled workers. Public assistance not to entail any forfeiture of political rights. The legislative enactment of a minimum wage of 30s.for all workers. Equal pay for both sexes for the performance of equal work."
It will be noticed that imprisonment is to be inflicted upon employers who allow their men to work overtime.Would there also be imprisonment for workers working undertime? Similar demands have been made by other Socialist bodies. Let us look more closely into some of those demands which are to be fulfilled forthwith.