Socialism As It Is | Page 2

fact that some of its factions are essentially anti-Socialist rather than Socialist, and finally, show how all distinctively Socialist activities lead directly to a revolutionary outcome.
I am indebted to numerous persons, Socialists and anti-Socialists, who during the twelve years in which I have been gathering material--in nearly all the countries mentioned--have assisted me in my work. But I must make special mention of the very careful reading of the whole manuscript by Mr. J. G. Phelps Stokes, and of the numerous and vital changes made at his suggestion.

CONTENTS
PAGE PREFACE v
INTRODUCTION ix

PART I
"STATE SOCIALISM" AND AFTER

CHAPTER I.
THE CAPITALIST REFORM PROGRAM 1 II. THE NEW CAPITALISM 16 III. THE POLITICS OF THE NEW CAPITALISM 32 IV. "STATE SOCIALISM" AND LABOR 46 V. COMPULSORY ARBITRATION 66 VI. AGRARIAN "STATE SOCIALISM" IN AUSTRALASIA 85 VII. "EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY" 97 VIII. THE "FIRST STEP" TOWARDS SOCIALISM 108

PART II
THE POLITICS OF SOCIALISM
I. "STATE SOCIALISM" WITHIN THE MOVEMENT 117 II. "REFORMISM" IN FRANCE, ITALY, AND BELGIUM 131 III. "LABORISM" IN GREAT BRITAIN 146 IV. "REFORMISM" IN THE UNITED STATES 175 V. REFORM BY MENACE OF REVOLUTION 210 VI. REVOLUTIONARY POLITICS 231 VII. THE REVOLUTIONARY TREND 248

PART III
SOCIALISM IN ACTION
I. SOCIALISM AND THE "CLASS STRUGGLE" 276 II. THE AGRICULTURAL CLASSES AND THE LAND QUESTION 300 III. SOCIALISM AND THE "WORKING CLASS" 324 IV. SOCIALISM AND LABOR UNIONS 334 V. SYNDICALISM; SOCIALISM THROUGH DIRECT ACTION OF LABOR UNIONS 354 VI. THE "GENERAL STRIKE" 387 VII. REVOLUTION IN DEFENSE OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT 401 VIII. POLITICAL AND SOCIAL REVOLUTION 416 IX. THE TRANSITION TO SOCIALISM 426
NOTES 437
INDEX 447

INTRODUCTION
The only possible definition of Socialism is the Socialist movement. Karl Marx wrote in 1875 at the time of the Gotha Convention, where the present German party was founded, that "every step of the real movement is of more importance than a dozen programs," while Wilhelm Liebknecht said, "Marx is dear to me, but the party is dearer."[1] What was this movement that the great theorist put above theory and his leading disciple valued above his master?
What Marx and Liebknecht had in mind was a social class which they saw springing up all over the world with common characteristics and common problems--a class which they felt must and would be organized into a movement to gain control of society. Fifty years before it had been nothing, and they had seen it in their lifetime coming to preponderate numerically in Great Britain as it was sure to preponderate in other countries; and it seemed only a question of time before the practically propertyless employees of modern industry would dominate the world and build up a new society. This class would be politically and economically organized, and when its organization and numbers were sufficient it would take governments out of the hands of the old aristocratic and plutocratic rulers and transform them into the instruments of a new civilization. This is what Marx and Liebknecht meant by the "party" and the "movement."
From the first the new class had been in conflict with employers and governments, and these struggles had been steadily growing in scope and intensity. Marx was not so much interested in the immediate objects of such conflicts as in the struggle itself. "The real fruit of their victory," he said, "lies, not in immediate results, but in the ever expanding union of the workers."[2] As the struggle evolved and became better organized, it tended more and more definitely and irresistibly towards a certain goal, whether the workers were yet aware of it or not. If, therefore, we Socialists participate in the real struggles of politics, Marx said of himself and his associates (in 1844, at the very outset of his career), "we expose new principles to the world out of the principles of the world itself.... We only explain to it the real object for which it struggles."[3]
But the public still fails, in spite of the phenomenal and continued growth of the Socialist movement in all modern countries, to grasp the first principle on which it is based.
"Socialism has many phases," says a typical editorial in the Independent. "It is a political party, an economic creed, a religion, and a stage of history. It is world-wide, vigorous, and growing. No man can tell what its future will be. Its philosophy is being studied by the greatest minds of the world, and it deserves study because it promises a better, a safer, and a fairer life to the masses. But as yet it is only a theory, a hypothesis. It has never been tried in toto.... It has succeeded only where it has allied itself with liberal and opportunist rather than radical policies."[4]
As the Socialist movement has nowhere achieved political power, obviously it can neither claim political success or be accused of political failure. Nor does this fact leave Socialism as a mere theory, in