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THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
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TORONTO
SOCIALISM
A SUMMARY AND INTERPRETATION OF
SOCIALIST PRINCIPLES
BY
JOHN SPARGO
AUTHOR OF "THE BITTER CRY OF THE CHILDREN," "THE
COMMON SENSE OF THE MILE QUESTION," "CAPITALIST
AND LABORER," "THE SOCIALISTS, WHO THEY ARE
AND WHAT THEY STAND FOR," "THE SPIRITUAL
SIGNIFICANCE OF MODERN SOCIALISM,"
ETC., ETC.
_NEW AND REVISED EDITION_
New York
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1913
_All rights reserved_
COPYRIGHT 1906, 1909,
BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
Set up and electrotyped. Published June, 1906. Reprinted
November, 1906; December 1908.
New and revised edition, February, 1909; January, 1910;
May 1912; March, 1913.
Norwood Press
J. S. Cushing Co.--Berwick & Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.
To
ROBERT HUNTER
WITH ADMIRATION AND AFFECTION
PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION
A new edition of this little volume having been rendered necessary, I
have availed myself of the opportunity thus afforded me by the
publishers to revise it. Some slight revision was necessary to correct
one or two errors which crept unavoidably into the earlier edition. By
an oversight, an important typographical blunder went uncorrected into
the former edition, making the date of the first use of the word
"Socialism" 1835 instead of 1833. That error, I regret to say, has been
subsequently copied into many important publications. Even more
important were some errors in the biographical sketch of Marx, in
Chapter III. These were not due to any carelessness upon the part of the
present writer, but were reproduced from standard works, upon what
seemed to be good authority--that of his youngest daughter and his
intimate friend, the late Wilhelm Liebknecht. It is now known with
certainty that the father of Karl Marx embraced Christianity of his own
free choice, and not in obedience to an official edict.
These and some other minor changes having to be made, I took the time to
rewrite large parts of the volume, making such substantial changes in
it as to constitute practically a new book. The chapter on Robert Owen
has been recast and greater emphasis placed upon his American career and
its influence; in Chapter IV the sketch of the Materialistic Conception
of History has been enlarged somewhat, special attention being given to
the bearing of the theory upon religion. All the rest of the book has
been changed, partly to meet the requirements of many students and
others who have written to me in reference to various points of
difficulty, and partly also to state some of my own ideas more
successfully. I venture to hope that the brief chapter on "Means of
Realization," which has been added to the book by way of postscript,
will, in spite of its brevity, and the fact that it was not written for
inclusion in this volume, prove helpful to some who read the book.
The thanks of the writer are due to all those friends--Socialists and
others--whose kindly efforts made the earlier edition of the book a
success.
YONKERS, N.Y.,
December, 1908.
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE vii
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Changed attitude of the public mind toward Socialism--Growth of
the movement responsible for the change--Unanimity of friends and
foes concerning the future triumph of Socialism--Herbert Spencer's
pessimistic belief--Study of Socialism a civic duty--Nobility of
the word "Socialism"--Its first use--Confusion arising from its
indiscriminate use--"Socialism" and "Communism" in the _Communist
Manifesto_--Unfair tactics of opponents--Engels on the
significance of the word in 1847--Its present significance 1