99 99 99 99 99 ---------------------------------------- ------------------- ,transcriber's ,note3 ,bold text is represented like so4 ,obvious typographical errors have been corrected4 ,for a complete list1 please see the end of this document4 ---------------------------------------- ------------------- 99 99 99 99 99 ,why ,i ,am ,opposed to ,socialism ,illustration ,original ,papers by ,leading ,men and ,women ,illustration ,,edward ,,silvin ,illustration ,,sacramento1 ,,california ,u4,s4,a4 ,copyright1 #aiac ,by ,,edward ,,silvin ,,index ,,to ,,authors ,adams1 ,thomas ,sewall #cf-cg ,allen1 ,alfred #bg ,allen1 ,john ,robert #eb ,anderson1 ,rasmus ,bjorn #dd-de ,andrews1 ,martin ,register #bf ,arford1 ,fremont #ca ,barr1 ,granville ,walter #cb-cc ,barstow1 ,george ,eames #da ,baxter1 ,james ,phinney #de-df ,beard1 ,daniel ,carter #bj-ba ,bell1 ,mackenzie #bb ,benington1 ,arthur #h ,bigelow1 ,edward ,fuller #cj ,binney1 ,charles ,chauncey #bc-bd ,boyd-,carpenter1 ,william ,b4 #aa-ab ,brazier1 ,marion ,howard #ag ,brown1 ,mrs4 ,m4 ,mc,clellan #g ,brownscombe1 ,jennie #db ,burke1 ,john ,butler #ai-bj ,cavanaugh1 ,john #cb ,cazalet1 ,edward ,alexander #ag-ah ,clark1 ,john ,bates #h-i ,crowell1 ,john ,franklin #cd ,cutler1 ,james ,elbert #dd ,eggert1 ,charles ,augustus #e-f ,ellis1 ,george ,washington #df-eb ,ellis1 ,horace #aj ,emerson1 ,samuel ,franklin #df ,esenwein1 ,joseph ,berg #ac ,ferguson1 ,charles #de ,field1 ,walter ,taylor #dj ,gaines1 ,clement ,carrington #ci ,garvin1 ,lucius ,fayette ,clark #ab ,giering1 ,eugene ,t4 #ec ,hastings1 ,william ,granger #bj ,heald1 ,g4,h4 #ce ,hovey1 ,lewis ,r4 #ad-af ,jefferys1 ,upton ,s4 #bj ,kelly1 ,robert ,lincoln #ce-cf ,kizer1 ,edwin ,dicken #ag ,krout1 ,mary ,hannah #ad ,ladd1 ,george ,trumbull #cf ,ladd1 ,horatio ,oliver #ba-bb ,leckie1 ,a4,s4 #dj ,lee1 ,elmer #da-db ,levermore1 ,charles ,herbert #bb ,leveroni1 ,frank #dd ,lightner1 ,ezra ,wilberforce #dc ,linn1 ,walter ,r4 #cg ,long1 ,john ,luther #ab-ac ,mc,connell1 ,francis ,j4 #g-h ,mencken1 ,henry ,louis #f-g ,nevin1 ,theodore ,williamson #bi-cj ,owen1 ,douglas #bg-bh ,painter1 ,franklin ,verzelius ,newton #bh-bi ,penrose1 ,stephen ,beasley ,linnard #af ,post1 ,louis ,freeland #cj ,purrington1 ,william ,archer #ah ,raymond1 ,george ,lansing #i-aj ,russell1 ,isaac ,franklin #be-bf ,scheffauer1 ,herman #ch ,screws1 ,william ,wallace #ai ,super1 ,charles ,william #ac-ad ,terhune1 ,william ,lewis #cg-ch ,thayer1 ,william ,roscoe #bi ,tutt1 ,john ,calhoun #ca ,walker1 ,albert ,h4 #cj-ca ,white1 ,william ,allen #cc-cd ,wilcox1 ,lute #cd ,wilson1 ,alonzo ,edes #bd-be ,the gentle reader1 who is inclined to say why he is opposed to ,socialism1 is cordially invited to contribute his thoughts to the future editions of this little book4 ,why ,i ,am ,opposed to ,socialism ,eggert1 ,charles ,augustus4 7,author and ,college ,professor47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism1 first1 because it is not an inductively obtained system1 but an ism that postulates qualities in the individuality of a nation which no nation1 or community even1 has yet developed to a sufficiently high state to make this ism fit to be seriously tried4 ,second3 ,much of what ,socialism teaches will be put to the test by society anyhow1 for society is based on interest1 on financial considerations1 and it has been found very long ago1 that co-operation cheapens products1 while steadying employment4 ,third3 ,as a working system ,socialism is based on the limited intellectual powers of a large number of people who will not receive systematic instruction1 or cannot4 ,any large school shows how large the proportion of children is who must eventually be1 as adults1 members of this number1 and1 by exercising their right to vote for their officers and leaders1 will make a scientific and economical management exceedingly difficult1 if not impossible4 ,tried on a limited scale it amounts only to co-operation--different from ,socialism4 ,fourth3 ,the existing system is based on the rewards held out to individual effort1 thus furnishing leaders who1 by accumulating capital through self-denial1 great moderation in the pursuit of pleasure1 and strenuous work1 will be eventually enabled to establish large combinations1 factories1 corporations of all sorts1 which1 as history and daily experience prove1 pay even the unintelligent laborers higher wages and furnish them more security than they could possibly have obtained if left to themselves as ,socialistic organizations4 ,in order to obtain the best results1 however1 a protective tariff must keep out undue foreign competition4 ,fifth3 ,differences of opinion on these points can be settled satisfactorily only by a close and careful study of the history of business1 and the leading ,socialists1 ,marx1 etc41 have been shown to be palpably and grievously incapable of such study4 ,sixth3 ,socialism would lead to governmental art1 science and literature1 that is to say to the counterfeit of real art1 science1 and literature4 ,it would be the rule of the unintelligent and largely of the demagogues 7for such would stand a better chance than the honest and thoughtful1 for election to offices74 ,seventh3 ,socialism could not be established 7as an ism7 except by robbery4 ,good men would not lend themselves to such business4 99 99 99 99 99 ,mencken1 ,henry ,louis4 7,author of ,the ,philosophy of ,friedrich ,nietzsche1 editor of ,the ,players' ,ibsen1 part-author with ,robert ,rives ,la,monte of ,men vs4 the ,man4 ,member of the editorial staff of the ,baltimore ,evening ,sun47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because1 in general1 it means a vain and costly attack upon the immutable natural law that the strong shall have advantage over the weak4 ,i do not defend that law as perfect1 nor do ,i even maintain that it is just4 ,if ,i had the world to make over ,i should probably try to find something to take its place1 something measurably less wasteful and cruel4 ,but the world is as it is and the law is as it is4 ,say what you will against it1 you must at least admit that it works1 that it tends to destroy the botched and useless1 that it places a premium upon enterprise and courage1 that it makes for health and strength1 that it is the most powerful of all agents of human progress4 ,would brotherhood1 supposing it to be achieved1 do as well8 ,i doubt it4 ,brotherhood would help the soft man1 the clinging man1 the stupid man4 ,but would it help the alert and resourceful man8 ,answer for yourself4 ,isn't it a fact that difficulties make daring1 that effort makes efficiency8 ,do not functions develop by use8 ,does the cell act or react8 ,meanwhile1 ,i grant all schemes of brotherhood one indubitable merit4 ,socialism shares it with ,christianity4 ,it is this3 that they are eternally impossible of carrying out1 that men cannot actually live them4 ,the ,beatitudes1 after #b1jjj years1 are still mere poetry4 ,no human fiat will ever repeal the law of natural selection4 ,no rebellion of slaves will ever break down that great barrier which separates slaves from masters4 99 99 99 99 99 ,brown1 ,mrs4 ,m4 ,mc,clellan4 7,lecturer and ,reformer47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism-- ,first3 ,because it is unnatural4 ,men are born free1 but far from being equal in competency mentally1 morally1 or spiritually to use with advantage to self or others1 the proceeds of earth1 or the elements1 or labor2 even under the same civil1 social1 and educational opportunities 7often in the same family7 some are incompetent to make ends meet4 ,second3 ,because it is impracticable1 unjust1 and detrimental to development and ennoblement of the human race1 which is the manifest object of human creation4 ,third3 ,because it destroys the ultimate power of individuality1 which is the unit of ,state organization and social protection4 ,the individual is the axis of reality in all the objective changes for human uplift4 ,fourth3 ,because the ,spirit of ,god is the humanizing power in the world1 given to individual spirits as a complete fact1 large or small1 but personal in dynamic currents of bodily gifts as varied as the offices of the human organs4 ,fifth3 ,because civilization is the fruit of developed individual consciousness in a concrete1 unsharable experience of free personality which makes the vital push for progress in the world2 even a social consciousness so-called1 must turn on the axis of the individual4 ,sixth3 ,because the only historic and scientific demonstration of ,socialism is original barbarism4 ,set the pot in the midst of the group and let each use his paw4 99 99 99 99 99 ,mc,connell1 ,francis ,j4 7,bishop of ,methodist ,episcopal ,church1 ,denver1 ,colorado47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because it goes farther than is necessary4 ,the real reforms for which ,socialism stands are very important1 but ,i think these can be secured without accepting the extreme puttings of ,socialistic doctrine4 ,within the past twenty-five years we have reached many of the results of the ,socialistic programme and yet without adopting extreme ,socialism4 99 99 99 99 99 ,benington1 ,arthur4 7,journalist47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because ,i believe that the ,state was made for man1 not man for the ,state4 ,because every one of the infinite number of projects of ,socialism tends to discourage individual effort2 hence1 in a really ,socialistic ,state there would be no incentive to achievement in art1 literature1 science1 discovery1 etc4 ,the dull level of mediocrity would prevail2 stagnation would take the place of progress4 ,because the leading ,socialists and all the ,socialist newspapers ,i have ever seen attack religion4 ,because ,socialism would abolish the home and make the ,state responsible for the bringing up of children4 ,the result of this would be to substitute a breeding farm for matrimony4 ,love--which cannot be abolished--would have no place in the scheme of things2 it would struggle against institutions1 either secretly in spite of them and contrary to them1 or openly in rebellion4 ,this is true not only of sex love1 but of parental and filial love4 ,because it is contrary to all the principles upon which the ,united ,states of ,america have won success in the world4 ,it is an exotic importation from lands in which liberty is stifled1 brought here by persons who do not understand ,american institutions1 taken up as a fad by a few dreamers4 ,because men always cease to be ,socialists as soon as they have won success in life2 suggesting that ,socialism is merely a vague expression of the discontent of some1 the disappointment of others4 99 99 99 99 99 ,clark1 ,john ,bates4 7,professor of political economy and author47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because it would soon impoverish workers4 ,the income to be divided would be smaller than is supposed by advocates of ,socialism1 and it would grow smaller per capita as the number of workers increased4 99 99 99 99 99 ,raymond1 ,george ,lansing4 7,author and ,university ,professor47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because ,i think it founded on a misconception of the requirements of human nature2 and this1 mainly1 for three reasons3 ,first3 ,a great many people will not practice diligence and thrift1 unless stimulated to do so by a possibility of obtaining1 possessing and using something that they can call their own4 ,this is something that ,socialism theoretically1 and so far as it has been applied1 practically1 would deny them4 ,second3 ,a great many will not work at all1 when their only inducement is that others wish them to work1 or need their help4 ,socialism1 if established1 would be obliged--merely to secure support for the community--to force such people to work against their own wills4 ,this would inevitably involve the re-establishment of a system of human slavery4 ,third3 ,all a man's mental and moral development in this world--to say nothing of what may come after death--needs training4 ,according to a law apparently divine1 but certainly human1 this training1 whether in home1 school1 business or society1 is imparted by means of discipline4 ,the discipline is mainly derived from the circumstances of life in which one finds himself placed1 and1 in such cases1 is always accompanied by dissatisfaction with one's alloted place1 and by actual suffering4 ,the ,socialist aims to escape from this dissatisfaction and suffering by making a change in his circumstances--such a change1 for instance1 as would make a king a servant1 or make all men kings or servants4 ,but history and experience show that kings1 whose friends die1 courtiers flatter1 and enemies trick1 are no more free from the sufferings attendant upon discipline than are servants4 ,the truth seems to be that to occupy a different position in life means merely to be placed in a different part of the same apparently divine and certainly social machine which--as some have faith to believe--is at work grinding out of the coarse grain of humanity what shall1 some day1 prove to be its fine flour4 ,one who has the wisdom to apply this theory to life1 will1 in no position that a man can fill1 feel either too haughty or too humiliated to sympathize with everybody1 and to do his best everywhere to alleviate suffering1 lessen oppression1 equalize opportunity1 enthrone justice1 and prove himself1 in every sense of the term1 a fellow-man4 ,the result upon individual consciousness and conscience of this attitude of mind is the most important of any that can be exerted in order to secure human welfare4 ,it differs from ,socialism in being derived--as ,socialism is not--from a recognition of the exact and entire truth--a truth that includes1 both that which is material and spiritual1 philosophical and religious4 99 99 99 99 99 ,ellis1 ,horace4 7,president ,vincennes ,university47 ,socialism originally meant to become an effective protest against the tyrannies of all forms of monarchy4 ,if it had succeeded in its ambition we all had been ,socialists4 ,but it failed utterly4 ,its failure may be traced to certain fundamental errors as to the means it should employ to realize its purpose4 ,it presumed that most practices it found in the economic world were inherently bad because they had been employed by heartless men in furthering their individual interests4 ,socialism denies the accepted maxim relating to competition--in spite of the evidences of history which have fully established the fact that1 in every realm of human activity1 competition has been one of the mightiest factors for individual1 community1 national and racial prestige4 ,socialism would deny to virile1 purposeful1 masterful leaders of men the privilege of leadership because1 forsooth1 some such leaders have misused authority reposed in them4 ,in lieu of this practice1 it would constitute society at large the rightful leader in all economic matters--because some evidences appear which indicate that society possesses some attributes of stability4 ,fatal--both of these deductions4 ,there are many thousands of good ,socialists1 but few substantial economic contentions behind them4 99 99 99 99 99 ,boyd-,carpenter1 ,william ,b41 ,b4,a41 ,f4,r4,g4,s4 7,publicist1 ,address3 ,wynstones1 ,ascot1 ,england47 ,the world has always sighed after novelty4 ,even ,st4 ,paul found that the ,athenians of old longed to hear some new thing4 ,the craze for novelty1 or an increasing curiosity are the symptoms of the decline of a philosophic outlook on life4 ,it is the idea that a change means reform4 ,now reform can never be a change in the substance1 but rather an application1 a direct and precise application of a thought-out remedy for a particular and authentic grievance4 ,nor is innovation a real reform--we have to change our clothes because they are wet1 but this does not mean we reform ourselves or our clothes4 ,woman makes an innovation in the shape of her clothes or her hats--she does not reform her clothes or her hats4 ,but ,socialists and syndicalists demand the immediate alteration of the capitalists' system of production--by which they mean1 if they mean anything1 such a reform as will give to them1 as a political party within any ,state1 the power of using the forces1 political and capitalistic within the ,state on behalf of their own section of the community1 unless they mean this1 they cannot hope to benefit wages and employment4 ,if they do not mean this1 they are hoodwinking workingmen and merely are seeking a change1 not a reform4 ,change is impermanent--therefore transitory change is merely the expression of want of tone in the political health of a people4 ,but ,socialism and syndicalism by seeking the benefit of the many workers at the expense of the few capitalists1 is creating a form of injustice1 which in their main doctrines ,socialists assert they are hoping to avoid4 ,injustice to any section of a community is the creation of inequality again in a community4 ,if we cannot reform with equity1 let us not reform at all4 ,as we put back the hands of the clock's progress1 so we recreate inequalities4 ,life at best is a matter of compensation2 it is the disturbance of this balance which makes for injustice and inequality4 ,then again1 ,socialism has been tried and has always resulted in the re-erection of the capitalist system4 ,the ,revolutions of ,france--#aghi1 #ahcb1 #ahdh1 #ahga--;all were to usher in the millennium4 ,but ,france is capitalistic today and amongst the wealthiest nations on the earth4 ,the ,german ,revolution1 #ahdh1 or the ,spanish ,revolution--all began in high hopes of republics to be ruled by ,democrats4 ,all these countries have gone back to what the world has tried and found stands best the test of time4 ,nations1 like individuals1 are impatient and do damage in fits of temper for which many years of steady care are required to effect the repairs4 ,the world wants more religion in active life and more ostracism of the irreligious4 ,the fear of public disgust is the beginning of ordered honesty4 ,the strength of a public opinion is the poor man's friend4 ,to complain of the age in which we live2 to revile the possessors of power2 to lament the past2 to conceive wild hopes for the future1 are the common dispositions of the vast majority of men4 ,they are also the attributes of laziness and the form of a vulgar levity4 ,a nation must have all classes--grumblers and saints1 happy and querulous1 in order to make strong men4 99 99 99 99 99 ,garvin1 ,lucius ,fayette ,clark4 7,ex-,governor of ,r4,i47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because its theory is not proved to my satisfaction4 ,the public ownership of all artificial instruments of production1 means that no interest upon capital should go to individuals4 ,this means that the person who builds a boat to let should not own it1 and that the payment made by a borrower for its use should not go to the builder1 but into the public treasury4 ,socialism asserts that if one person catches fifteen fish1 another ten1 and third but five1 they are not each entitled to the proceeds of the sale of his fish4 ,this is in violation of the natural law that the value produced is the just reward of labor4 ,land values1 being earned by the community1 belong to the community2 and economic rent should be taken by the community 7in lieu of taxation7 for public purposes4 ,the ,socialist does not distinguish between the artificial and the natural instruments of production--two things wholly different in kind4 ,he confuses the just return to capital with the unjust return to monopoly4 99 99 99 99 99 ,long1 ,john ,luther4 7,author and ,playwright47 ,i don't know what you mean by mere ,socialism4 ,i wish ,i did4 ,i wish you did4 ,but1 the deuce of it is that no two persons seem to mean the same thing--or else no one knows what any one means4 ,if it means an honest brotherhood1 wherein it is recognized that all are not equal1 to the end that those who are more or have more shall help those who are less and have less1 ,i am for it with all my heart4 ,if it means that the vicious shall profit from the just--no4 ,if it means that the loafer shall live without work--no4 ,for that means that some one else--many--must be working in his stead4 ,if ,socialism means that genius and idiocy must sleep in the same bed and be equals ,i am very much against it4 ,we are not all equal4 ,we are not even born equal4 ,no pronunciamento can make us so4 ,and if ,socialism of the ,mc,namara and ,ettor and ,giovannitti sort means to make us so1 it might as well quit now as later4 ,it is trying to amalgamate unamalgamables4 99 99 99 99 99 ,esenwein1 ,joseph ,berg4 7,author and ,editor ,lippincott's ,magazine47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because1 with all its attendant weaknesses in its present unperfected state1 competition is the best known stimulus to ambition4 ,human nature can never be essentially altered by either legislation or a new social system1 therefore we shall always need competitive incentives to make us do what we can4 ,our present system needs decided modification1 but it does not need the reversal that ,socialism proposes4 99 99 99 99 99 ,super1 ,charles ,william4 7,retired ,college ,president47 ,socialism is advocated in so many different forms that it is difficult to deal with the term intelligently without prefixing a somewhat lengthy definition4 ,every government is at present adopting some of the features of the ,socialistic creed4 ,i am opposed to ,socialism in so far as it hinders individual initiative and enterprise4 ,no community ever made a great invention1 or an important discovery1 or created a great work of art1 or planned a great enterprise4 ,the first step forward must always be taken1 or at least proposed1 by some one person4 ,i believe the ,state should protect those who cannot take care of themselves1 especially children1 and those who have proved unable to stand the strain of modern economic conditions4 ,those who are weak should not be left to lie helpless along the path of progress4 ,but ,i do not believe government has a right to dictate how many hours an adult shall labor1 or what wages his employer shall pay him4 ,the men who have done and are still doing great things in the world have not worked a certain number of hours in twenty-four1 but all the time4 ,socialism1 to a certain extent at least1 puts a premium on inefficiency4 ,it is a serious objection to ,socialism that it has proved a failure wherever it has been tried4 ,it is a return to primitive conditions4 ,the prospect of getting something for nothing is a strong incentive to idleness4 ,most men are naturally lazy4 ,the power of the ,state to create value is very limited4 ,if it provides an army of officials whose constant and ubiquitous interference with production limits the collective output1 they must be paid from the earnings of individuals4 ,this must increase the cost of living4 ,laws should be passed and enforced to help the weak and restrain the wicked1 but they should not put too heavy a clog on those who are by nature qualified to succeed4 ,you cannot promote the prosperity of a community by taxing the strong for the benefit of the weak1 either directly or indirectly4 ,the ,state should be particularly vigilant against giving any encouragement to the lazy1 the shiftless and the willfully inefficient4 99 99 99 99 99 ,krout1 ,mary ,hannah4 7,author47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because it is impossible and un-philosophical4 ,all the measures advocated by ,socialists today--or most of them--were advocated by the ,french in the ,revolution of #aghe1 with disastrous results4 99 99 99 99 99 ,hovey1 ,lewis ,r4 7,editor1 ,the ,record1 ,haverhill1 ,mass47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because it is unscientific1 unwise1 and would destroy liberty and progress for the human race4 ,the bed-rock theory of ,socialism is that under the present system1 wealth and industry concentrates into fewer and fewer hands1 that the big fish eat the little fish1 and so on until society is confronted with a great proletarian class on the one hand1 with nothing but their labor power1 and on the other a few very rich plutocrats who own all the means of production and exchange4 ,that this theory is unsound and unscientific is proved in a thousand ways by every blue book of every industrial nation on earth4 ,the number of wealth-owners in ,europe has increased twice as rapidly as population during the past twenty years4 ,in the ,united ,states we find that ownership of land1 railways1 banks1 bonds1 industrial stocks1 etc41 have actually increased three or four times as rapidly as the population4 ,for instance3 ,in #aija1 the year of the organization of the ,steel ,trust1 so-called1 there were just about fifty-five thousand men and women who owned all the iron and steel plants in this country1 and at this time the ,steel ,company did seventy per cent4 of the iron and seventy-five per cent4 of the steel production of the nation4 ,today the ,u4,s4 ,steel ,company produces only forty-five per cent4 of the iron and steel1 and in place of fifty-five thousand owners of the iron and steel business1 there are now over three hundred and fifty thousand owners4 ,seventeen years ago the ,great ,northern ,railway was owned by one hundred and twenty-two stockholders2 today that same railroad has eighteen thousand owners4 ,an investigation by the ,new ,york ,journal of ,commerce1 a short while ago1 proved that two hundred and thirty-one industrial and railway corporations had ten years ago less than two hundred and thirty thousand owners1 but those same companies now have eight hundred and thirty-five thousand owners 7round numbers74 ,like illustrations could be cited to fill pages of this book4 ,this shows that the so-called scientific theory of ,marx ,socialism is a myth1 a dream1 an imagination from the brain of ,karl ,marx4 ,socialism would be unwise because it would be an attempt to change human nature by economic and political processes4 ,this world has progressed in just that proportion as it has got away from things ,socialistic4 ,the imperialistic ,socialism of ancient ,rome destroyed that greatest of nations2 the barbarian ,socialism of ,peru1 with thirty million followers1 was destroyed by a handful of ,spanish adventurers4 ,the ,socialization of railways1 the municipal ownership of a street railway1 a gas plant or an electric lighting plant1 has1 as a rule1 proved a failure when all the facts are taken into consideration4 ,this wild yell of the ,socialists1 that labor receives but a small part of the wealth it produces1 has no foundation in fact and is but the uncouth and unintelligent expression of minds who were never made for statistical insight or investigation4 ,the promise of the full value of your production is a false promise and known to be such by every intelligent ,socialist4 ,the workers today do far less work1 with less hours1 and yet receive twice as high wages compared fifty years ago4 ,this is due to organization and invention of the few4 ,that is1 a small minority of society have organized industry and made economic production possible2 they have made two blades of grass grow where one grew before4 ,the ,socialists would reverse this1 for it is absolutely certain that under the blighting influence of economic ,socialism1 production would go down4 ,politically1 ,socialism would destroy liberty4 ,a pure democracy leads straight to despotism4 ,nothing is more despotic than the bossism of the ,socialist parties of the world today1 and if ever the nations of the world go to ,socialism1 they will go to a regime of mob rule directed by a ,socialist oligarchy1 and then the liberty of man will be absolutely destroyed4 99 99 99 99 99 ,penrose1 ,stephen ,beasley ,linnard4 7,president1 ,whitman ,college47 ,i am not in favor of that very attractive theory1 ,socialism1 first1 on psychological grounds4 ,it rests upon an unscientific analysis of human interests and motives4 ,it overlooks or undervalues strong tendencies of human nature4 ,it may be called a theory for angels1 not for men4 ,second1 on practical grounds2 it cannot work well because it can supply neither sufficient motive nor sufficient machinery to secure efficiency1 either in production or distribution4 ,i applaud the moral impulse which is found in many ,socialists1 but ,i do not approve their solution for great economic problems4 99 99 99 99 99 ,kizer1 ,edwin ,dicken4 7,college ,president47 ,i am in favor of that which means the correcting of the evils that allow one man to prey upon another when that preying is personal or enters into the effect of the preyer1 in combination with conditions to be remedied by economic changes4 ,but the very radical differences manifest among the ,socialists themselves1 i4e41 those who accept ,marx1 and those who deny him in his main statements2 the revolutionist1 who insists upon a revolution1 by blood1 if necessary1 and the evolutionist1 who looks for a more gradual development1 would make me hesitate to cast my lot with such a divided army4 ,again ,i am not quite certain that ,i am willing to give first place to the forces that the scientific ,socialist places as fundamental in the affairs of men4 ,i must also confess to a lingering of the older theory of individualism that constrains me to believe that at least a part 7those for example who by brain or circumstance are leaders7 of mankind1 will be personally regenerated by a high spiritual motive before the ,socialist ideal is possible to think of even4 ,also1 radicalism never reaches in practice what it aims to perform4 ,a little less of the ultimate1 with destructive acts that undermine man's faith in his present creation1 and a little more of the doing the task before us is what is needed4 ,if ,socialism is inevitable1 as some think it is1 we can neither help nor hinder3 evolution of moral and spiritual forces entirely rule the average man out of the contest4 99 99 99 99 99 ,brazier1 ,marion ,howard4 7,journalist and ,lecturer47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because ,i do not favor anything likely to develop anarchy4 ,socialistic agitation tends to promote unrest and discord4 ,if granted my divine right to vote1 ,i might look into it more closely and get another point of view4 99 99 99 99 99 ,cazalet1 ,edward ,alexander4 7,president of the ,anglo-,russian ,literary ,society1 ,imperial ,institute1 ,london47 ,socialism has been defined as the name given to schemes for regenerating society by a more equal distribution of property and especially by substituting the principle of association for that of competition4 ,a great statesman and author1 ,m4 de ,tocqueville1 branded ,socialism as an energetic and pernicious appeal to the lower passions of mankind2 as a system of which the basis was a thorough mistrust of liberty1 a hearty contempt of man individually4 ,the shrewd and experienced ,l4,a4 ,thiers in his treatise ,de la ,propriete1 also combats the maxim3 ,la propriete c'est le vol4 ,he depicted the universal poverty and barbarism that would follow from such notions being adopted4 ,robert ,owen1 the enthusiastic and practical ,socialist1 was not successful in his colony of ,new ,harmony in ,united ,states4 ,the improvement of his workmen's material interests in the ,new ,lanark ,mill in ,scotland1 finally proved a disappointment4 7,see also ,why ,i am in ,favor of ,socialism47 99 99 99 99 99 ,purrington1 ,william ,archer4 7,lawyer and ,author47 ,i do not know of any practicable scheme of ,socialism1 or of any satisfactory definition of the term upon which ,socialists agree2 an accurate definition is the necessary basis of intelligent expression of opinion4 ,apparently1 ,socialists in general believe1 or at least preach that the ,state should own the material and means of production1 to the end that all should share what is now enjoyed by the few4 ,i doubt if the proposed means would achieve the desired end4 ,at present the ,united ,states ,government supplies us with postage stamps4 ,the stamps will not stick4 ,socialism will be practicable1 if ever1 only when ,the roughs1 as we call them1 grown loving and dutiful1 ,worship the true and the good and the beautiful4 ,and preying no longer1 as tiger and vulture do1 ,read the ,atlantic1 as persons of culture do4 ,that day is far distant1 and even when it comes the man of brains will assert his individualism4 99 99 99 99 99 ,screws1 ,william ,wallace4 7,editor ,the ,montgomery ,advertiser47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because ,i believe in conservatism4 ,we are drifting too far already away from precepts and principles which guided us safely as long as they were adhered to4 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because ,i believe in individualism4 ,each man in the community should do something for it instead of each man in the community expecting the community to do something for him4 ,i could give many other reasons1 but these are enough to convince me that ,socialism engrafted in our laws would be dangerous to government and society4 99 99 99 99 99 ,burke1 ,john ,butler1 ,m4,a4 7,author and ,scientist47 ,my sympathies are very much on the side of ,socialism1 but intense as those sympathies may be1 they cannot counteract the convictions1 still more strong1 that the hope of its realization is futile4 ,a lease for capital is all ,i can plead for equivalent to that for copyright4 ,there cannot be any doubt1 in my mind at least1 that ,socialism1 that is1 the distribution of wealth equally for the benefit of the individuals composing the community1 desirable as this might be in accordance with the spirit of equality and fraternity1 is yet at variance with the principles of freedom and of justice4 ,and unjust as the existing system may be in giving an unequal start in life to individuals1 to insist that those who work effectively and those who do not1 should share equally the benefits of their combined labors is surely more iniquitous still4 ,nay1 more1 that the individual should not possess the power to accumulate and dispose of the fruits of his own work1 is perhaps still more at variance with the true principles of liberty4 ,a ,socialistic state1 however perfect ideally1 to commence with1 would be in an unsteady state of equilibrium1 and the inequalities with which ,nature1 as distinct from man1 has endowed us1 would1 ,i fear1 sooner or later1 disturb that unstable state and bring things back to the condition where only the struggle for power and its consequent supremacy would prevail1 through the rule of the strong in character and intellect4 ,hence1 heredity as a gift or privation of ,nature1 like wealth and penury in the existing state of things1 prevents the ideal of equality otherwise desirable4 ,such being inevitable1 the accumulated effects of industry and talent will ever seek and obtain protection from the hands of the fortunate and the strong4 ,a lease of the rights of property and capital generally1 equivalent to a copyright1 for works of genius is all ,i ever hope for in the interests of humanity1 so that with the lapse of time wealth might be redistributed broadcast for the benefit of the ,state and mankind4 99 99 99 99 99 ,hastings1 ,william ,granger4 7,lawyer47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because like ,comte1 ,i am unable to accept the teachings of any of the senseless sects who attack those bases of the ,state1 property and the family4 ,if we are to have ,states1 we must have families4 ,at best1 if we are to have anything like our present existing ,states4 ,if we are to have families1 we must have property1 and private property if they are to be private families4 ,it is as certain as that we must have public property if we are to have any ,state4 99 99 99 99 99 ,jefferys1 ,upton ,s4 7,editor1 ,post-,telegram1 ,camden1 ,n4,j47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because ,i think that in the final analysis it palsies individual initiative1 attempting to set aside nature's law of competition and the survival of the fittest4 ,i cannot agree with the proposition that ,socialism is a practical panacea for industrial and economic conditions that have existed since man began to acquire property4 ,while human nature remains as it is1 ,i question whether it is possible to successfully apply ,socialism to ,state and nation4 99 99 99 99 99 ,beard1 ,daniel ,carter4 7,author and ,artist47 ,i do not believe in ,socialism because ,i am an individualist4 ,i think that the old ,american idea is broad enough to admit of all the necessary reforms without reverting to the ,socialism of ,marx4 ,both ,socialism and ,anarchy are off-springs of monarchial forms of government evolved by people under the tyranny class and official oppression4 ,as long as the opportunities in this country were free to all1 neither the seed of ,socialism nor of ,anarchy could take root1 but when the opportunities were absorbed by a few1 it produced a condition similar to that of a monarchial form of government1 and the seed of these exotic plants1 ,socialism and ,anarchy1 both found a soil suited to their growth4 ,there is nothing the matter with our form of government4 ,it has produced the greatest success the world has ever witnessed1 has developed a manhood1 a self-reliance and a self-respect to be found on no place else on the face of the earth1 and ,i see no reason why we should change that form of government1 because some people have monopolized the opportunity for labor and produced an unsatisfactory condition economically4 ,there is but one opportunity to labor1 and that is the land4 ,we can free the land without changing our form of government1 by simply taxing it to its full rental value1 and doing away with all other forms of taxation4 ,this will immediately take the burden off of labor1 and while not reducing our present millionaires to the ranks of plain1 honest men1 it will effectually prevent the growth of any more millionaire monstrosities4 7,see also ,why ,i am in ,favor of ,socialism47 99 99 99 99 99 ,ladd1 ,horatio ,oliver4 7,clergyman4 ,author and ,educator47 ,i do not favor ,socialism because it is an effort to reform society against the nature of man4 ,no man is created equal to another1 or every other man4 ,he is an individual who makes his place in the world by his special individual traits and powers4 ,by these he uses the powers of others1 and material and moral instruments and forces around him to accomplish his ends4 ,he concedes to others what he cannot or does not wish to hold or acquire for himself in the influence and possessions of this life4 ,the inequality of man in this world is everywhere manifest4 ,the advantages won in this life are the result of effort and character1 not of any distribution based upon the principle of equality of man4 ,the differences in man's condition1 make the interest and the incitements of life4 ,collectivism is an absurd theory of distribution of the good of life1 because it cannot preserve equal conditions1 even in one generation4 ,the weak1 the lame and the lazy must fall behind the strong1 the able1 the ambitious4 ,the apples on a tree are of different sizes1 and soundness1 because of the vigor of the buds1 leaves1 branches and location which have contributed to their growth4 ,so it is in all ,nature1 and in man4 ,the prizes of life belong to those who win them by merit of their powers1 their diligence and their effort4 ,a common opportunity is the highest condition ,nature and society can offer to the individual4 ,life is rich in and through its varieties4 ,religion and common sense stand for these principles of individualism in the development and conduct of human life and government4 99 99 99 99 99 ,levermore1 ,charles ,herbert4 7,educator and ,author47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because ,i believe that any plan thus far proposed for the reorganization of society upon a ,socialist basis would result in a tyranny of a majority1 or of a bureaucratic clique or ring1 representing that majority1 which would be meaner and more unendurable than any corporation-ridden party-machine or any ,tammany ,hall that we have ever known4 7,see also ,why ,i ,am in ,favor of ,socialism47 99 99 99 99 99 ,bell1 ,mackenzie4 7,poet1 ,critic and ,lecturer47 ,though a collectivist ,i am not a ,socialist in the ,marxian sense1 because ,i think the private ownership of capital has never until now1 had a fair chance in the work of civilization4 ,throughout the world the people are dimly awaking to insist that property has its duties as well as its rights1 and to insist likewise that property pays its due toll to the commonwealth4 99 99 99 99 99 ,binney1 ,charles ,chauncey4 7,lawyer and ,author47 ,i cannot pretend to much familiarity with ,socialist writings1 but ,i have read with some care the platform of the ,socialist ,party for the recent election4 ,some few of the planks have nothing to do with ,socialism in itself1 and some 7that in regard to child labor1 for instance7 express the views of men of all parties2 but the distinctively ,socialist part of the platform impressed me as co-operation run mad4 ,people seemed to be regarded as masses only1 not as individuals1 although the individualist feeling is one of the strongest in human nature1 and is of the utmost importance in the progress of civilization4 ,if a ,socialist administration of government be possible as a permanent institution 7which ,i doubt7 it would be impossible under the conditions demanded by this platform1 because no man's life or property 7if any individual property be permitted7 would be safe under it4 ,for instance1 the legislative power is to be vested in a ,congress and legislatures composed of one chamber only1 subject to no veto and controlled by no constitution1 for the courts are to be forbidden to question the constitutionality of laws4 ,this would make the legislature all-powerful1 but the fact that no one branch of the government is all-powerful is an important guarantee of our present liberties4 ,worse than this1 although the experience of ages has shown that the greatest safeguard of liberty is the administration of law by an independent and fearless judiciary--that is1 by judges who cannot be dismissed except for official wrongdoing1 and who therefore are not merely free to do right in every case1 but have the strongest incentives to do so--yet the platform proposes to destroy judicial tenure during good behavior wherever it exists1 and to cause all judges to be elected for short terms4 ,if you ask any man of intelligence1 who wants only justice1 whether he would feel more sure of a just decision in a ,united ,states ,court before a judge holding office during good behavior1 or in a ,state ,court1 before a judge elected by the voters of a political party for a short term only1 ,i am confident that he would express much greater confidence in the former4 ,the ,socialist platform asserts that the capitalist class controls the judiciary4 ,this broad assertion is ridiculously false4 ,what is true is that the judiciary is not composed of ,socialists1 that the judges are as yet unwilling to disregard the law1 and to decide in accordance with the wishes of ,socialists4 ,if1 however1 the capitalist class sought to control the judiciary1 it could do so much more easily in the case of judges elected for short terms than in that of judges holding office during good behavior4 ,evidently the ,socialists want a chance to control the judiciary themselves1 whereas what the country needs is a judiciary uncontrolled by any class1 capitalist or ,socialist4 ,the platform declares for collective ownership of all railroads1 telegraph and telephone lines1 etc4 ,the word confiscation is avoided1 but confiscation must be intended1 for surely the ,socialists do not wish to enrich the capitalist class by buying out their interests in public service corporations at a fair valuation4 ,i could criticise the ,socialist platform in many other respects1 especially the tone of violence and hatred that pervades it4 ,there is not a suggestion of ,christianity about it4 ,i shall conclude1 however1 by stating my own experience of local government under the ,socialist ,party4 ,being in ill health last winter1 ,i stayed at ,bordighera in ,italy4 ,the ,socialists controlled the town government1 and were anxious to continue in office1 and therefore not to offend the rank and file of their party4 ,the drunkenness and noise at night were often intolerable1 but all protests were useless1 as the drinkers and shouters had votes1 and the foreign visitors had none4 ,gambling was carried on as openly as at ,monte ,carlo1 without any regard to the well-being of the community4 ,after this slight experience1 ,i was able to understand better what took place under the ,socialist commune of ,paris in #ahga1 which ,i am old enough to remember well4 99 99 99 99 99 ,wilson1 ,alonzo ,edes4 7,editor and ,lecturer47 ,there are many good things about the theory of ,socialism1 but ,i do not believe in the remedy as proposed through the ,socialist ,party4 ,the battle can never be won that way4 ,i also believe that our hardest fight and the first thing to be done is the killing of our greatest common enemy1 the liquor traffic and the business of drunkard making1 by the ,government4 ,the settlement of this problem will solve many of our ills and then we can take up some of these other questions4 99 99 99 99 99 ,russell1 ,isaac ,franklin1 ,,ll41 ,d4,c4,l4 7,chief ,justice of the ,court of ,special ,sessions of the ,city of ,new ,york47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because of its erroneous attitude to labor4 ,labor is not a thing to be avoided1 but rather to be welcomed and encouraged4 ,the only real happiness we ever experience in this world is the intelligent exercise of our faculties4 ,a perpetual motion machine or some fanciful device for saving us from labor1 so far from being a blessing1 would paralyze our noblest powers4 ,i charge ,socialism with economic error and heresy for its attacks on capital and capitalists4 ,capital is indispensable to enterprise4 ,it is the source and mainspring of wages4 ,the laborer cannot pay himself his wages out of the finished product of his toil1 else he would have no quarrel with his master4 ,even public credit1 on which we are building the ,panama ,canal and our city schools1 rests on visible resources in lands1 franchises and personal property4 ,i charge ,socialism with economic error in advocating a rate of wages determined by arbitrary authority1 irrespective of demand and supply4 ,no producer of merchandise for any appreciable length of time can continue to pay more than the market rate of wages and keep out of bankruptcy4 ,the manhood wage--a plan by which we accord to each laborer enough money to support himself1 his wife and as many children as ,god sends to his home--is a delusion and a snare4 ,it directly encourages improvidence and stimulates the growth of population by diverting nature's stern but benignant discipline from the unworthy to the worthy4 ,it paralyzes thrift and temperance1 and puts a premium on recklessness and vicious self-indulgence4 ,i charge ,socialism with fundamental error in preaching the doctrine of human equality4 ,nature abhors equality4 ,men vary infinitely1 from the meanest degenerates to the tallest of the sons of ,god4 ,they can be equal only before the law1 or in the eye of the law1 or as suppliants for justice4 ,intellectually we need patricians and noblemen to encourage us by precept and example and point out the path of progress to better things4 ,a dollar a day1 or one thousand dollars a day1 never will remunerate men like ,edison and ,harriman for their services to a world of workers4 ,socialism trifles with the principles that underlie the institution of property4 ,even animal and sub-human ethics regard the right of the individual to his accumulated store and the home he has builded4 ,the attitude of ,socialists toward the courts of law is undemocratic4 ,in ,america we must reverence the law4 ,it is our only hope4 ,to teach the multitude that justice is bought and sold in this country and that the judgments of our judicial tribunals are knocked down to the highest bidder is to accuse a whole nation of crime4 ,socialism represses individual development4 ,it substitutes for self-direction the authority of the many4 ,but it is in constructive ,socialism that we find the greatest peril and the most monumental folly4 ,utopias innumerable have been conceived by the heated imagination of dreamers of all ages4 ,the monotony of ,utopia would be maddening4 ,no moral crisis can arise in a perfect society4 ,charity and philanthropy1 sympathy1 courage and all the human virtues can have no play in such a spot4 ,competition is not to be decried as vicious4 ,it is really a benignant principle4 ,it is the supreme divine law4 ,to competition among employers the workman looks for high wages2 on competition among sellers he relies to buy what he needs at the lowest figure4 99 99 99 99 99 ,andrews1 ,martin ,register4 7,college ,professor and ,editor47 ,the machinery of government which the ,socialists propose seems to me likely to aggravate the very evils of which they justly complain4 ,the proposal to confiscate the homes of the farmers and work the former owners under some boss chosen by the ,state1 as ,i heard advocated a few days ago1 may be a blessing to the brewers1 but not to the great body of workingmen4 7,see also ,why ,i ,am in ,favor of ,socialism47 99 99 99 99 99 ,allen1 ,alfred4 7,playwright and ,author47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because of their inhumanity towards the poor millionaire4 ,in spite of it all1 they are our brothers4 99 99 99 99 99 ,owen1 ,douglas4 7,author1 ,barrister and ,lecturer47 ,until ,socialists themselves shall have come to some sort of an agreement as to the aims and objects of the ,socialism to be adopted as their creed1 how can one formulate one's objections to ,socialism8 ,the more moderate and reasonable of its advocates profess1 indeed1 indignation and abhorrence at the views of the extremists1 and to reply to the extremists is to call forth charges of gross misrepresentation on the part of the more moderate4 ,but broadly stated1 what ,socialism even in its more moderate form appears to aim at1 is the negation and suppression of the greatest and most beneficent law of nature--law of humanity--which we know as the law of the survival of the fittest4 ,on this supreme law depends1 and always has depended1 and must depend1 the uplifting1 enlightenment and1 in the end1 the highest welfare of mankind4 ,and just as that which is good for the hive cannot be bad for the bee1 so must the welfare of the hive depend on the independent effort of each individual bee4 ,the mainspring of the world's upward and forward progress is the ambition and emulation of the individual worker3 the slothful1 the ill-qualified and the weakling being left behind2 one and the same law1 beneficent if hard1 for all life upon this world1 whether animate or inanimate4 ,the ,socialists' aim is to deprive the individual of stimulus to put forth his best efforts for his own advancement and therefore for the benefit of the human hive4 ,when ,i received your invitation to state my views on this subject1 ,i chanced to be reading ,david ,hannay's work4 ,the ,sea ,trader4 ,at the conclusion he deals with the subject of convoy1 under which all ships1 fast and slow1 good and bad1 were compelled to voyage under armed escort4 ,his remarks on the consequences of the system are so apposite that ,i quote them here3 ,the necessity for keeping together imposed a restriction often of a highly injurious kind1 on the best appointed vessels4 ,since the whole must be kept together1 it followed that the convoy was condemned to sail at the rate of speed of the slowest among them4 ,a quick sailing ship lost the whole advantage of her superiority4 ,she could neither obtain the advantage of being early in the market1 nor make prompt arrangements to unload or reload4 ,she was brought down to the level of the most lumbering tub4 ,of what use was it to build for speed1 to be alert1 to seek for better ways1 when the law stood over you1 fine and imprisonment in hand1 to make you go slow1 to force you to follow the known road6 ,of course1 it meant utter stagnation in shipbuilding2 it was death to advance an improvement4 ,the ,socialist1 in his shortsighted and narrow view1 aims at the same thing over again1 on a universal scale1 with all its dire and retrograde results4 ,he would reduce the well-found1 well-equipped and speedy vessel to the level of the most lumbering tub in the human fleet4 99 99 99 99 99 ,painter1 ,franklin ,verzelius ,newton4 7,author and ,college ,professor47 ,if ,socialism is what its friends say it is1 it should be commended2 if it is what its enemies say it is1 it should be condemned4 ,in developing a sense of social obligation1 ,socialism accomplishes a fine work2 but in expecting a thorough human reformation from altered social conditions1 it betrays the weakness of illiterate credulity4 ,in seeking greater justice and equality in economic conditions1 ,socialism rests on a strong moral basis2 but in seeking no more than greater material ease and comfort1 it betrays the presence of mortality4 ,in demanding individual sacrifice for the common good1 ,socialism emphasizes an important duty2 but in totally submerging the individual in society1 it is guilty of an ancient wrong4 ,the truths of ,socialism are rapidly finding expression in life and government2 its errors will prove its ultimate destruction4 ,the fundamental defect of ,socialism is its materialism2 for there is that in man which transcends food and raiment4 99 99 99 99 99 ,thayer1 ,william ,roscoe4 7,historian47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because ,i have seen no explanation by any of its various1 and mutually antagonistic advocates1 of the way in which it can safeguard the individual4 ,the purpose of life is to produce individuals1 each of whom shall be trained to the highest efficiency--manual1 intellectual and moral--of which he is capable4 ,socialism1 having only the welfare of all 7an abstraction7 in view1 must logically slight or suppress the individual4 ,so1 logically1 it must destroy the family--the unit of civilization--and reduce mankind in their sexual relations below the level of the beasts4 ,what ,i desire is not crazy ,nietzsche's superman--individualism run mad--nor ,socialism which denies the individual4 99 99 99 99 99 ,nevin1 ,theodore ,williamson4 7,editor47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism principally because of its impracticability4 ,theoretically it is beautiful1 but until human nature changes radically from what it is at present1 the plan will not work out in practice4 ,go into any of the small ,socialistic societies1 see the petty wrangling1 the striving for domination--bossing by the stronger leaders1 the self-seeking efforts of all1 weak and strong2 and it will at once be seen that the theory is not a success there4 ,if not successful in these smaller experiments1 how can it be expected to be in the larger field of a nation8 ,my fear would be that if the system could ever be fastened on the national government 7which ,i consider an impossibility7 it would be disastrous--it would take away ambition1 it would have a blighting effect on enterprise1 and would result in the production of the most intolerant bosses1 great and small that the world has ever seen4 ,the resultant slavery of the masses would be shocking1 compared with which the most asserted1 so-called slavery under our modern industrial system would be the perfection of freedom4 ,after all1 isn't ,socialism1 present day ,socialism1 simply an effort of those that have not1 trying to get a share of the possessions of those that have8 99 99 99 99 99 ,bigelow1 ,edward ,fuller4 7,lecturer and ,writer47 ,i am in favor of ,socialism in so far as it contains many good ideals1 and am against it in so far as the methods of obtaining those ideals are non-existent1 indefinite or impracticable4 ,many harangues by ,socialist orators and many tracts1 claiming to set forth ,socialistic doctrines are mostly vague with omission of all practical methods4 ,it may do for the poet to rave about sailing away to the moon1 but if the poet becomes politician he must show the ship and explain how it will make the journey4 99 99 99 99 99 ,post1 ,louis ,freeland4 7,editor1 ,the ,public1 ,chicago1 ,ill47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism in its economic program because it proposes to suppress competition1 and in its tactics because it stands for class warfare4 ,as to competition1 ,i do not believe that it can be suppressed without substituting an intolerable despotism1 and ,i do believe it will operate fairly if divested of the law-created monopolies with which it is now bedeviled4 ,as to class warfare1 ,i regard the real contest as a contest over economic interests and moral ideals1 which neither are nor can be differentiated by any lines of personal class4 7,see also ,why ,i ,am in ,favor of ,socialism47 99 99 99 99 99 ,walker1 ,albert ,h4 7,lawyer and ,author47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because it is contrary to nature4 ,in nature1 progress results from evolution2 and evolution results from fortuitous differentiation and survival of the fittest4 ,socialism proposes to try to make the unfittest survive1 at the expense of the fittest4 ,that also is the proposition of ,christianity4 ,but both those systems are contrary to nature in that respect4 99 99 99 99 99 ,tutt1 ,john ,calhoun4 7,writer47 ,socialism is not feasible4 ,it is a myth of dreamy minds4 ,it has an idealistic atmosphere and is attractive to those who lag in the struggle of life4 ,its worst feature is that it deceives the people who conscientiously seek relief in it4 ,its leadership thrives because its impracticability prevents the experimental tests that would expose its sophistry4 ,there is no way to prove by actual demonstration that the persuasive gospel or philosophy of the men who lead its movements is a mockery4 ,you can't try out ,socialism4 ,it is evasive4 ,no people ever did or ever will grasp it4 ,there is no equality in either civilization or barbarism4 ,the men most conspicuous in the ,socialist movement do not exemplify equality4 ,you find ,socialists among the most destitute4 ,if ,socialism is a legitimate form of government1 why have not the forces of government evolved it8 ,the age of experiment has long since passed4 ,we have had repetition over and over again1 but no materialization of ,socialism4 ,government is purely human1 and until there is a new creation there will never be anything new in government4 99 99 99 99 99 ,arford1 ,fremont4 7,editor1 ,western ,trade ,journal1 ,chicago47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because it does not lead to anything practical or concrete4 ,the theories and plans of the great body of ,socialists are largely chimerical and do not appeal to my idea of bettering the conditions of which they1 and myself as well1 complain4 ,to accomplish what ,socialism is attempting to bring about1 necessitates a revolution of all that now goes to make up human nature1 and nothing short of omnipotence can do this4 99 99 99 99 99 ,cavanaugh1 ,john1 ,c4,s4,c4 7,president ,university of ,notre ,dame47 ,as a philosophy ,socialism is hostile to organized government because organized government stands for restraint4 ,restraint is necessary wherever people live together4 ,socialism wants a so-called liberty which1 in my judgment1 is license4 ,socialism is opposed to religion for the same reason4 ,religion teaches man to be patient and ,socialism can thrive only where men are discontented4 ,socialism is opposed to the home because husband and father in the nature of things are economically dependent upon employers1 and it is characteristic of ,socialists that they wish to flaunt offence in the face of employers4 ,individual ,socialists will deny that these charges against ,socialism are true4 ,such individual ,socialists are sometimes honest1 a fact which only proves that they don't know the inner meaning of ,socialism4 ,socialistic papers like the ,new ,york ,call make no pretense of concealing the true meaning of the ,socialist philosophy4 ,as a matter of fact the vast majority of so-called ,socialists think it is merely a political plan that concerns only the question of capital and labor and government ownership4 ,even as a matter of political policy ,socialism is not convincing2 it could not cure the ills of society which are due to inequalities of talent1 strength1 wisdom and industry rather than to political policies4 ,i am not willing to close this brief statement without adding that capitalists should take care so to deal with labor as to deprive agitators of all excuse and valid argument for ,socialism1 while to the working man ,i say3 ,be wise1 thrifty1 virtuous and industrious so that you may improve your condition4 ,i say with equal earnestness to the capitalist3 ,stop making ,socialists4 ,treat your laboring people like equals rather than inferiors1 and as brothers1 not as aliens4 99 99 99 99 99 ,barr1 ,granville ,walter4 7,writer47 ,the accomplishment of ethics by the enactment of laws always fails1 and always will fail1 except in those cases where there is a strong trend of public opinion to the same end4 ,there are places where murder is not punished1 and other places where only certain forms of murder are punished2 as there are places where the sale of alcoholic liquors and gambling are utterly prevented by the punishment of all who commit these acts contrary to law4 ,socialism is a program of law far ahead of the public opinion of today in this country4 ,therefore it cannot effect itself here and now4 ,there may be in the future a time and place where it will be effective1 and then its laws will be beneficent4 ,but only under the conditions stated1 will it be harmless4 ,the greatest evil in ,america today is the non-enforcement of laws4 ,any law not enforced1 because contrary to public opinion in the governmental unit involved1 becomes malevolent in its effects4 ,in one city whose people believe liquors should be sold1 saloons flourish in spite of a ,state statute prohibiting them1 because conviction of saloon keepers is impossible in that bailiwick2 thirty years of this state of affairs has produced a generation of young men who firmly believe that laws are made to be enforced or disregarded at will--who are germinating the seeds of anarchy4 ,to enact a mass of law which cannot be enforced until the millennium is nearer its dawn1 is to weaken all law4 ,hence1 ,socialism as a political factor is malevolent--as a propaganda1 it is of course beneficent and to be encouraged academically1 exactly as one should encourage the growth of ,methodism or ,presbyterianism while keeping them both out of political matters4 ,socialism seems determined to intrude into politics--is essentially political1 indeed--and its most active writers sneer at the ,american constitution and institutions while they have nothing practicable to substitute except the ,golden ,rule--which excellent rule of action never has been enforced upon any nation1 nor any large group of people1 and which cannot be enforced soon4 ,when it can be enforced1 ,socialism will have arrived4 ,in the meantime1 human nature must be made over--,god speed the day6 99 99 99 99 99 ,white1 ,william ,allen4 7,editor and ,author47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because ,i believe that it attempts to do by legislative enactment1 what must come through an evolutionary process4 ,i believe that we are now ready for a long evolutionary jump1 but not so far forward as some of our ,socialist brethren would like to jump4 ,i desire to go as far toward human justice and good will toward men1 as anyone1 but ,i do not feel that we should start and stop1 because we are not ready to go the whole distance4 ,i would start and go but one day's journey at a time4 99 99 99 99 99 ,crowell1 ,john ,franklin4 7,economist47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism-- ,first3 ,because it fails to provide for the requisites of progress1 and this threatens to cause a stationary civilization4 ,second3 ,because it seems to me to misplace the emphasis by putting the material before the spiritual in human happiness4 ,third3 ,because it is anti-national in its attitude toward liberty and self-government4 ,by means of national citizenship modernity has gained most of its rights and privileges4 ,to show utter contempt for the national flag1 by referring to it as an old rag1 exhibits a personal quality wholly incompatible with true human brotherhood4 99 99 99 99 99 ,wilcox1 ,lute4 7,editor1 ,field and ,farm1 ,denver1 ,colo47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism upon the broad ground that we already have too many loafers in ,america for the future good of the nation4 ,all mankind is ,socialistic to a certain degree4 ,the most of us are inclined to double shoot the turn and ride a free horse to death4 ,we make ,socialism a sort of excuse to shift responsibilities that certainly belong to each and every individual living under a democratic form of government4 ,we are always dodging the little duties that go to make up the ground work of life4 ,socialism seems to inculcate that spirit of inactivity which might be more properly called loaferism and no country can become great with such a dominant spirit prevailing among its people4 99 99 99 99 99 ,heald1 ,g4,h4 7,editor1 ,life and ,health7 ,i am both in favor of1 and opposed to ,socialism1 because ,socialism means very many different things4 ,as one man said3 ,christian ,socialism means all mine is yours1 and the other kind means1 all yours is mine4 ,our present government is partially ,socialistic2 our public schools1 our public roads1 our postoffice department1 and more and more of our public work is becoming socialized4 ,another form of ,socialism1 although not political1 is the co-operative bodies seen in the garden suburbs of the cities of ,england1 and the co-operative stores1 etc4 ,it seems to me that the cry against capital is not well taken4 ,turn ten thousand anti-capitalists into a new undeveloped country and let them develop it6 ,the first thing they will require is capital4 ,and after a while if a few of the more energetic ones begin to do things it will be because they have accumulated a little capital4 ,however1 ,i can understand that this capital might be held co-operatively by the laborers as it is in some institutions1 rather than by a few4 ,but the present conditions which get a monopoly of franchise on public utilities or a monopoly of natural wealth of the country1 whether of mines or forests or water power1 is all wrong4 ,we need more of public ownership1 less of larger corporations fattening their stockholders by squeezing the prices to the highest limit and wages to the lowest limit4 99 99 99 99 99 ,kelly1 ,robert ,lincoln4 7,president1 ,earlham ,college47 ,i feel that the tendency in our country is toward a more ,socialistic form of government and with this movement ,i am in entire sympathy4 ,this means1 however1 that these tendencies will be incorporated in our government by the process of evolution and not by that of revolution4 ,in other words1 that we will hammer these questions out one at a time and adopt them only as they are proven to be practicable in every-day experience4 ,since ,socialism presumably stands for an extensive program which is to be adopted in toto and without due deliberation and tentative experience ,i cannot become a member of that party4 ,let those who wish to advocate the cause in this wholesale way1 have every possible opportunity of doing so1 but recognize that as a matter of fact1 forms of government and even public opinion are changed very slowly with the process of the sun4 99 99 99 99 99 ,ladd1 ,george ,trumbull4 7,university ,professor47 ,i believe in the spiritual unity of the race1 and in the duty of nations and individuals to treat each other like brothers1 and sons of a common father4 ,i detest all class hatred and all arrangements1 political and social1 for securing and promoting class interests at the expense of the public welfare4 ,i am the enemy of all systems of bossism1 or monopoly1 or control by other than natural laws and moral principles1 of the opportunities of the individual to labor1 to enjoy the fruits of labor1 and to develop himself and help others4 ,thus far ,i am a ,socialist4 ,i do not believe1 however1 in any of the definite schemes for equalizing the rewards of labor1 irrespective of the merits of the laborer and the excellence of his work4 ,i do not believe in communism1 either in the sharing by compulsion1 of goods2 and certainly not1 in the sharing of the privileges of the family life4 ,nor do ,i think that the control of government1 whether of city1 ,state or ,nation1 by any ,socialistic ,party1 would1 in the large and the long run1 improve matters4 ,i fear it would make bad matters even worse4 ,the only way to improve society is to make the men and women who compose society1 intellectually1 morally1 and religiously1 better men and better women4 ,i want1 first of all1 to be improved in all these ways myself2 and next1 to help the next fellow to improve himself4 99 99 99 99 99 ,adams1 ,thomas ,sewall4 7,professor ,political ,economy47 ,if ,socialism means primarily the ownership and operation by the ,state of the principal industries1 ,i am opposed to it because a long experience in ,state and public work convinces me that public work is1 comparatively speaking1 inefficient work4 ,the cause of this inefficiency lies deep in the nature of democratic government and will never1 ,i think1 be removed4 ,the individual public servant is neither lazy nor inferior1 but the conditions of his work make it impossible to get the same results as he could in private employment4 ,the spirit of public work is more equitable4 ,greater consideration is given to the humane factors4 ,more of this spirit will have to be injected into private industry4 ,the result will be not public industry1 but private industry animated by a new ideal and conducted under the guardianship of the ,state rather than by the ,state4 ,industrial life is not simple2 it is very complex1 and no simple solution is to be looked for4 ,the quasi-public industry managed by private individuals1 deeply impressed with the feeling of their public trusteeship1 is the ultimate ideal4 ,with the deeper and better spirit of ,socialism ,i am altogether in accord4 ,most ,socialists think that the strength of the movement lies in their tactics2 their specific provisions for government ownership2 their philosophical doctrines2 but the contrary is the truth and the one enduring thing in ,socialism is the religious zeal and high ideals of its best exponents4 99 99 99 99 99 ,linn1 ,walter ,r4 7,editor ,harrisburg ,telegraph1 ,harrisburg1 ,pa47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because the progress of the world has been made under individualism4 ,any system which has a tendency to discourage or repress personal initiative is a system which can produce no good to the country4 99 99 99 99 99 ,terhune1 ,william ,lewis4 7,publisher47 ,socialism1 to my mind1 means the overthrow of all the advancements of the past one hundred years or more4 ,the man of brains and energy would stand but little show or encouragement under a government controlled by ,socialism or ,socialistic ideas4 ,i believe that1 the man who is capable of making his way in this world1 is smart and energetic enough to build up a business and with it a fortune1 is entitled to all he can possess through honest efforts4 ,i do not believe in government ownership of public utilities1 but ,i do believe in a controlling power of the government to in some way supervise these corporations so they will be obliged to keep in the path of honesty in all their transactions with the public4 ,individual freedom is the watchword of our great country4 ,when we lose that1 we lose ourselves4 99 99 99 99 99 ,scheffauer1 ,herman4 7,author47 ,i am opposed to theoretical ,socialism wherever it threatens to interfere with the full and unhampered development of the individual or to lower his worth4 ,being a mass philosophy1 ,socialism must logically strive to sacrifice the individual to that mass4 ,i hold that it is only through the channels of a free1 noble1 self-restrained individualism that man may naturally attain to his supreme development in happiness1 culture and power4 ,theoretical ,socialism is a splendid fallacy that shines like a truth when contemplated beneath the skies of the future already reddened by the sanguine color of the creed4 ,but it is a fallacy based upon another fallacy1 that of the virtue in the sovereign mass or democracy1 which in turn is based upon certain fallacies of ,christianity4 ,these systems of the multitude amount to mob rule1 and will never evolve the highest type of men--the intellectual and moral samurai of whom ,h4,c4 ,wells has written1 the rulers by nature1 training and fitness1 the men who1 in ,nietzsche's phrase1 are to surpass men4 ,in practical matters ,socialism may be said to be already operative1 and largely operative for good4 ,it is correcting many ancient evils and bringing a certain degree of order and balance into the world4 ,that is its chief value--an industrial and economic one4 ,it is a means and not an end4 ,for in the last analysis of human things it will be undone by that iron fiat which decrees that every man must be an end in himself and unto himself4 99 99 99 99 99 ,gaines1 ,clement ,carrington4 7,president ,eastman ,college47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because ,i believe that ,socialism is an impracticable form of governmental administration1 and therefore must1 if it should ever come to power1 fail as a system of government4 ,in support of this view ,i suggest the following considerations3 ,first3 ,a free democratic government1 a government by the people in any form1 must necessarily be controlled by parties4 ,second3 ,parties are held together by the interests of the organization4 ,these interests in the end are opposed to the interests of the people in that any party must support itself by what its organizers and promoters can get out of the people1 which is another way of saying that every party is held together by the cohesion of public plunder1 the private interests of its organizers4 ,that policy is always most popular with the party in power which promises most profit to its leaders4 ,the leaders are controlled by the policy which seems to serve their interests best1 and not by the principles of righteousness or altruism4 ,third3 ,hence in the administration of ,government by a party the success and policy of the party must dominate its action rather than the interests of the people whom the party would govern1 because this success is the thing most necessary to the continuance of the party in power4 ,the effort to succeed leads to corruption notwithstanding the apparent purity of its principles or promises of its platform4 ,conclusion3 ,since the three principles enunciated seem to be the fundamental law of party government1 and since the principles of ,socialism are in contravention of this fundamental law1 it is believed that ,socialism cannot permanently succeed as a method of party government4 ,it is further believed that the principles of ,socialism are in contravention of the natural law that no creature may advance in any direction except by the law of competition of all its vital forces1 principles1 and powers4 ,mr4 ,darwin calls this the law of natural selection and survival of the fittest1 and says conclusively that this natural law governs and directs the development and progress of the material world1 and that it applies with equal force to man's nature1 and to his progress as a member of the moral1 social1 industrial1 and political world4 99 99 99 99 99 ,leckie1 ,a4,s4 7,editor1 ,the ,joliet ,herald1 ,joliet1 ,ill47 ,we may oppose or improve human legislative enactments1 but not natural laws4 ,socialism1 in its logical perfection1 would attempt this4 ,the species improves and advances only through the struggle for existence 7or preferment74 ,the law of the survival or supremacy of the fittest is immutable in natural conditions4 ,remove from the petted squirrels the necessity of providing their winter's food1 and they become unable to do so when the necessity again arises4 ,ambition in competition1 carried if you will1 to the extreme of cupidity and greed1 are instincts as natural as that of self-preservation4 ,without the incentive of reward in preferment1 power or wealth1 we should have no progress4 ,any enforced leveling of talent or ability would curb and eventually stop human advancement4 ,possibly we are advancing too fast2 the advance of ,socialism may be a working of the natural law of compensation1 destined to put a brake upon the wheels of a too rapid progress4 99 99 99 99 99 ,field1 ,walter ,taylor4 7,author47 ,i am opposed to such ,socialism as emphasizes class-consciousness and the entire abolition of private property4 ,true ,socialism should make absolutely no distinction between classes1 but should hold mankind as a common brotherhood4 ,i am opposed to the entire abolition of private property as removing one of the strongest incentives to labor and progress4 ,we need social reform badly enough1 and a check upon inheritances and large accumulations of private property1 but ,i believe the remedy for most of our social evils lies in encouraging the wage-earners to become small farmers and small artisans and in protecting them by stringent legislation against the encroachments of large business4 ,i am heartily in sympathy with the spirit of ,socialism1 but not with its methods4 99 99 99 99 99 ,barstow1 ,george ,eames4 7,business man47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism1 first1 because the ,all-,wise ,one in ,his inscrutable wisdom in arranging for ,his people for occupying the promised land1 provided that every man should go and take up the land alloted to him4 ,second3 ,the ,creator knew what would best contribute to the social and economic order of humanity in all time to come4 ,third3 ,socialism means a community of property4 ,i am opposed to such a social and economic order1 believing same to be against the public welfare4 ,society has now too many drones1 lazy and idle from choice4 ,such class would be largely increased under ,socialism4 ,the subject's agitation reveals such product4 ,fourth3 ,what is needed in these days is an increase of social justice1 not social injustice4 ,fifth3 ,a man should enjoy life1 liberty1 and the pursuit of happiness1 and can only do this as he is at liberty1 under wise laws1 to exercise his full capacity for himself2 leaving to himself the right to contribute to others as he may choose4 ,sixth3 ,there are some vital questions to be solved for the betterment of the people at large1 concerning social1 economic and industrial order2 but1 their best solution will not be found in ,socialism4 ,many noble and patriotic men and women are devoting money and life to these ends1 and will in due time accomplish1 through wise laws1 the purposes for which they strive and which will be for the healing and uplifting of the peoples of the earth4 99 99 99 99 99 ,lee1 ,elmer4 7,physician1 ,author1 ,inventor1 ,lecturer and ,editor47 ,life is experimental and whatever man wishes to try in the hope of bettering his condition will neither hurt him in the long run1 and probably not better him4 ,each new generation of men is largely unmindful of the experiments of men in the past1 and feels that it has a solution for human trial1 and disappointment1 only to find when it is put to the test that1 after all1 it will not accomplish what was expected from it4 ,man banded together for a common interest1 will not go far before he meets reverse and disappointment2 he will fall out with his associate and quarrel with him2 differences will arise which will lead to dissatisfaction and dissolution of the plan4 ,man is primarily selfish and imaginative1 and seeks to operate independently and erect for himself1 his family and his affairs4 ,man has so much power and invention that he will not long consent to remain within any set limitation2 he will break out and will prefer to fight his own battle4 ,anything like common interest and division of labor1 under ,socialism or whatever name1 will become unsatisfactory1 if not to the generation which starts it1 certainly to its children4 ,any system will suffice1 were man always in health1 intelligent in the selection of food and in the care of his body4 ,were man willing and able to practice self-control1 to avoid self-debasing habits1 to abstain from tobacco1 liquor1 drugs and venery1 it would not much matter what form of government prevailed4 ,social form is less important than individual conduct4 ,it will always be a struggle for man to survive the perils of life1 such as temptation1 indulgence1 weakness1 accident and disease4 ,the test is personal and continuous1 and cannot be shifted to the shoulder of society4 99 99 99 99 99 ,brownscombe1 ,jennie4 7,artist47 ,i believe in a more rigid enforcement of our existing laws4 ,they are a precious heritage from our forefathers2 a resume of the wisdom of the ages4 ,where time and altered conditions have made it desirable to amend them1 they should be amended by the wisest and purest statesmen of our land1 guided by the trend of public thought4 ,i believe that the great need of this time and of all times1 is not ,socialism1 better laws or absence of law1 but capable1 industrious and honest men and women1 who strive to abide by and enforce the ,golden ,rule in all matters of character and conduct4 ,our duties are of more consequence to us than are our rights4 99 99 99 99 99 ,lightner1 ,ezra ,wilberforce4 7,journalist7 ,some of the most profound of thinkers1 some of the grandest of men and women1 have written in regard to ,socialism2 some on the one side and some on the other4 ,if in the mind of the majority of the most earnest and thoughtful and reasoning men and women the majority shall one day say that what is called ,socialism is a stride in the process of slow evolution which has brought us to the measure of civilization now recognized1 then whether or not we are yet living when that time comes1 we must accept that condition as one of the processes of evolution and try the experiment4 ,i don't believe that at this time anybody can say clearly whether he or she is a ,socialist except in vague theory4 ,there are too many bases for doubt1 as there are in regard to the finality of the political systems in active operation today4 ,one thing that can't be doubted is that from the date of the ,republic of ,plato1 the ,utopia of ,moore1 the writing of ,jean ,jacques ,rousseau1 the ,voyage of ,icaria of ,etienne ,capet1 the essays of ,proudhon1 ,st4 ,simon1 ,fourier1 ,das ,kapital of ,karl ,marx1 the tremendous labor of ,liebknecht1 ,bebel1 ,lassalle1 ,singer1 ,william ,morris1 the ,english artist1 poet and philosopher1 ,john ,ruskin1 and a host of others1 the increase in numbers of the supporters of the ,socialist ideal has been one of the most remarkable of economical evangels4 ,yet with all this ,i think that a long process of educational work would be necessary to prepare mankind for the experiment1 if it be possible to make it a success4 ,william ,morris1 before he had declared outright for ,socialism1 wrote his ,earthly ,paradise3 ,dreamer of dreams1 born out of my due time4 ,why should ,i strive to set the crooked straight8 ,every thoughtful person recognizes the crooked1 even though he may himself be a crook3 and even many of the crooks1 and certainly all the rest of us1 desire with our might to make the crooked straight and to have an ,earthly ,paradise1 and to hope that ,at last1 far off1 some good will come to all4 ,we are groping1 and to grope earnestly and vigorously is to find4 ,we shall find2 we must find2 or chaos will come again4 ,it must not be the invention of mere dreamers1 however4 ,in this age it is the practical business man who builds for permanency4 99 99 99 99 99 ,cutler1 ,james ,elbert4 7,university ,professor47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism as a method or system because of the impracticability of any particular program thus far formulated by ,socialists4 ,in the formulation of a ,socialist program of action some important principle of social progress is invariably either wholly disregarded or treated superficially by general statements which lack point and application4 ,the inability of the ,socialists to agree among themselves as regards a program or plan of action plainly indicates the limitations under which ,socialism labors in this respect4 7,see also ,why ,i am in ,favor of ,socialism47 99 99 99 99 99 ,leveroni1 ,frank4 7,counsellor at ,law47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because-- ,first3 ,it is pure theory4 ,second3 ,it is impractical4 ,third3 ,it leads to nowhere4 ,fourth3 ,it tends to destroy and it does not supply anything in the place of that which it destroys4 ,fifth3 ,it is opposed to ,christianity and to ,christian marriage and to settled economic theory4 ,sixth3 ,its theory of distribution of property is fallacious as it overlooks human nature1 it takes away the initiative in man1 it compels the community to provide for the laggard and drone4 ,seventh3 ,it aims to destroy the family which is the center of civilization1 it aims to place the education and training of children directly in the care of the ,state1 which would be detrimental to the home life and love that ought to exist between parent and child4 99 99 99 99 99 ,anderson1 ,rasmus ,bjorn4 7,editor1 ,college ,professor and ,translator47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism on account of its attitude to ,christianity4 ,its attitude to ,christianity manifests itself in the fact that it is not only a political party1 but also a theory or philosophy of life4 ,its principles and aims are wholly materialistic4 ,it makes earthly happiness the main purpose and highest ideal to be attained4 ,i have in mind ,socialism as taught by its great promotor1 ,karl ,marx4 ,socialism refuses to consider anything beyond the grave ,it deals exclusively with things pertaining to this life4 ,it refuses to answer1 nay1 it insists that it is not necessary to answer the great question to every soul3 ,if a man dies1 shall he still live8 ,it says we do not know and it is not worth while investigating4 ,denying all connection between morals and religion1 it builds its moral life on a weaker foundation than that built on ,christianity4 ,socialism is selfish4 99 99 99 99 99 ,ferguson1 ,charles4 7,author1 ,editorial ,staff1 ,new ,york ,american47 ,i am not in favor of ,socialism because ,socialism is a state of mind in which men are absorbed in the problem of the division of goods4 ,the true and wholesome preoccupation of mankind should be the creation of goods4 ,it is of course important to divide right1 but the right division cannot possibly be worked out until the problem is envisaged from the engineering point of view4 ,the tools must belong to those who can use them4 ,and the genius of our redemption requires that all wealth shall be made fecund or reproductive--that there shall no longer be any dead wealth--that there shall be nothing but capital and tools4 99 99 99 99 99 ,baxter1 ,james ,phinney4 7,author and ,ex-,mayor of ,portland1 ,me47 ,there is an unchristian ,socialism which embodies the spirit of an utterance all too familiar3 ,do to thy neighbor as he does unto you4 ,it is impatient and intolerant of restraint1 and1 ignoring individual freedom1 would resort to force to compel men to obey its arbitrary commands2 indeed1 it would destroy the fabric of society in the vain hope of rebuilding a perfect structure upon its ruins4 ,what this spirit would do for the world may be read in the pages of history4 ,to achieve its ends1 it would employ cruel agencies1 and the structure it would rear would partake of its own imperfections1 for the unchangeable law is1 men are known by their works4 ,may ,god deliver us from this kind of ,socialism1 and1 in ,his good time1 establish that1 the beauty of which ,he sent ,christ to reveal to men4 7,see also ,why ,i am in ,favor of ,socialism47 99 99 99 99 99 ,emerson1 ,samuel ,franklin4 7,college ,professor47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because it is a mechanical reconstruction of society1 instead of an organic development4 ,because it is an economic readjustment of society instead of morals4 ,because it is based upon the essential antagonism of social classes instead of essential co-operation4 ,because it is a passing reaction against the present transitional system of industry4 ,because it fails to recognize the importance of the individual in all social movements4 ,because it would result in a dead social uniformity1 instead of a rich social variety4 ,because its ideal is in reality drawn from the mediaeval and superseded social past1 instead of evaluating the forces of the present4 ,because it is saturated with a false and vicious economic philosophy4 ,because it misconceives the social function of war1 national rivalry and industrial conflict in the social economy4 ,because it fails to evaluate the spiritual forces of society4 99 99 99 99 99 ,ellis1 ,george ,washington4 7,lawyer and ,writer47 ,in so far as ,socialistic theory is concerned1 beginning in ,plato's ,republic1 reasserted in ,sir ,thomas ,moore's ,utopia1 embraced in the latter part of the eighteenth century in ,europe by ,fourier1 ,baboeuf1 ,saint ,simon and ,cabet1 and later in the ,united ,states by ,greeley1 ,dana and ,hawthorne1 ,i regard as important contributions to literature1 whose chief value is inspirational rather than practical4 ,these theories involve such complete reconstruction and reorganization of society that their attainment are placed far into the indefinite future1 yet their value as social and intellectual ideals serve a very useful purpose in human progress4 ,i accept in part what is called ,christian ,socialism in so far as it desires to bring more and more the ,christ-spirit to bear in the commercial and business world1 but ,i am opposed to the substitution of co-operation for competition in the present state of human development4 ,co-operation may be all right when society has slowly developed by evolution up to the point where competition is not needed to keep economic and social conditions on a natural and normal basis1 but under present conditions it leads to economic monopoly and social poverty1 as a few selfish and commanding industrial spirits get control of the whole plan of co-operation to the detriment of the great masses4 ,to prevent this situation competition is the greatest natural check on monopoly and one of the best protections of the people4 ,the advocates of this phase of ,socialism ,i think are correct in their contention that ,socialistic schemes will not solve the labor problems without that inner development through education and applied ,christianity1 yet ,i submit that they are in error when they insist that the powers of the government should not be invoked except to remove hostile legislation4 ,i heartily concur in ,professional ,socialism1 called by ,professor ,ely1 ,socialism of the ,chair4 ,it repudiates the doctrine of laisser-faire1 and in the study of political economy adopts the historical method4 ,it not only repudiates the laisser-faire principle1 but it demands the aid of the ,state to bring about a better distribution of the products of labor and capital4 ,it especially desires that the laborer should have a larger share in the products of his toil1 and helps the solution of the labor problems through the assistance of the government in factory acts1 sanitary measures1 public parks1 savings-banks1 shortening of the hours of labor1 and other similar measures designed to elevate the laboring people4 ,such a course ,i think is more than justified by the present economic and social conditions in the ,united ,states4 ,the use of machinery has enormously increased the productive capacity of the laborer for his employer1 but his wages have not increased in proportion as they should4 ,invention and machinery have multiplied many times the power of labor1 but capital takes practically all of the product1 while the lot of labor is little better than in the hand-made era4 ,by this ,i do not mean to even imply that higher wages would solve the labor problem1 and while it would help some1 ,i wish here little more than to call attention to this abnormal phase of the economic situations in the more modern ,states4 ,i am opposed to what is known as the ,socialism of today which had its beginning in ,frederick ,engels and ,karl ,marx during the last century and which is now established in both ,europe and ,america1 and whose propaganda has tended to meet with favor and increasing acceptance during recent years4 ,the central fact of this school is that the means of production and distribution should be owned by the community and administered by it4 ,speaking of ,socialism1 ,john ,stuart ,mill said3 ,what is characteristic of ,socialism is the joint ownership by all the members of the community of the instruments and means of production2 which carries with it the consequence that the division of the produce among the body of owners must be a public act performed according to rules laid down by the community4 ,in an address by ,j4,w4 ,mac,kail1 ,socialism is defined as having two principal divisions1 economic and moral2 and he sums them up thus3 ,on the economic side1 its central idea is the communization1 the placing in the hands of the community1 under the common control and for the common good1 of the wealth which the community has inherited or created1 and of the machinery for preserving and increasing that wealth4 ,on its moral side1 its central idea is the brotherhood of mankind1 and the unimpeded exercise by all of the highest functions and faculties of which their nature is capable4 ,the moral side of ,socialism as expressed by ,mac,kail is sound and should be more generally adopted by all enlightened peoples1 for it is essentially ,christian in its nature and influence4 ,but1 ,i cannot bring myself to accept1 under my present information and experience1 the economic side of ,socialism as defined by either ,mac,kail or ,mill4 ,my reasons for its rejection are many1 but ,i will only give one or two of the most important4 ,in the first place1 ,i think that this school of social propagandists have located what they call the social disease in the wrong portion of the social body1 and thus are offering the wrong remedy4 ,the idea of the ownership of the means of production and distribution carries with it too largely the implication that poverty is the chief1 if not the principal1 cause of all our social and economic ills4 ,i think this is a mistake1 and too much emphasis is thus placed on this phase of our social troubles4 ,as a matter of fact1 society suffers quite as much1 if not more1 from ignorance1 crime1 intemperance1 vice1 immorality1 etc4 ,this is more than confirmed by the students of sociology4 ,and inasmuch as this is the case1 the crux of our social problems is much more than economic1 and any social program which therefore1 is purely economic will hardly meet our social requirements4 ,no doubt poverty is a great source of social misery1 but the greatest social wrongs are not confined to the very poor4 ,more money per capita will doubtless register some beneficial effects in most of the other departments of society1 and this is likewise true of more per capita intelligence1 morality1 practical ,christianity1 culture1 etc4 ,my opinion is that these social evils can only be removed finally by the development of the individual on the one hand and society at large on the other1 through the intellectual1 moral1 religious and economic forces of society4 ,all the social forces1 in the largest sense1 must change and develop human nature1 in culture and civilization1 and ,i cannot believe that the mechanical change of private ownership to community ownership of the means of production and distribution1 would be sufficient to cure the ills of society or put them on the road to quicker cure1 than they are at present4 ,moreover1 there is danger in the adoption of ,socialism in the present state of individual and societary development4 ,in the ,united ,states the rise and development of ,american industry discloses the fact that in most all the lines of business1 capital has been organized and so concentrated as not only to crush out competition1 but to create such a monopoly as to enable the stockholders and directors to fix such prices to consumers as the big corporations and trusts deem advisable from time to time1 not in accord with the laws of supply and demand or the cost of production1 but in accord with their desire and ability to command the tribute of the consuming public4 ,the representatives of these large interests1 themselves1 have combined and through liberal contributions and the influence of their industrial and economic importance have built up a system of political bosses1 in complete control of the two dominant old parties1 and both the bosses and the interests have united to pervert the local and national governments in the ,united ,states from their true functions in the interests of the people to advance and promote the welfare of special interests to the neglect and detriment of the great majority4 ,and thus a few leaders in ,american industry have secured possession of the great natural resources of the country1 have obtained a monopoly of the business opportunities of the great ,american market1 and have utilized the power of the governments to protect their unfair and unjust advantages1 in the freest and greatest democracy of the world4 ,the contest to overthrow this sinister and selfish government of the few is exceedingly difficult1 because of the minor and supposed divergent and individual interests1 social and political divisions of class and party prejudice1 and a general intellectual inability of the mass to fully grasp the importance of the problems involved1 so essential to that united action on the part of the people1 necessary to meet the situation4 ,the people now have the means at their command to have the government administered in their interests and to control those industrial concerns which have proved a menace to the general welfare1 but they must be educated as to how to use them4 ,and to place the means of production and distribution into the hands of the community1 in the present development of society1 is simply to make it easier for the few to exploit the many1 and it is especially dangerous because the leaders would have sufficient numbers in their employ and administration to make it next to impossible to dislodge one set when once in power1 without a resort to arms and revolution4 ,the example of the ,federal office-holders in the great majority in voting and using their influence to protect their individual positions1 without regard to the larger interest of the public1 is such as to make all patriotic citizens acquainted with the facts wish and desire that their numbers be not increased to any such extent as would be the case in the community ownership of industry and business4 ,the history of ,american large cities1 shows for the most part1 that these urban governments are controlled and administered by one set of selfish political leaders after another1 whose power is predicated upon party machinery1 held together mainly by party patronage1 favoritism and public graft4 ,and thus to put industry and business under the administration of the government is to more than multiply the dangers to the public of those industrial and political leaders1 who have made representative government in the ,united ,states little more than a mere form4 ,economic ,socialism would not only place too large a machine at the disposal of political leaders to be used against the people1 but it would stifle initiation and tend too much to hold society in a static condition4 ,under individual ownership of industry and business1 under the laws of legitimate competition1 initiation is encouraged by offering increasing rewards to those who adopt new methods and invent new things to advance human welfare by lightening the burdens of life and labor4 ,the spirit of rivalry and competition maintains a constant and steady demand for the best that can be produced for the people in all lines of industry and business1 which is among the strongest incentives to new thought and invention4 ,man is naturally a conservative being and without some stimulant will be content with conditions as they came down to him from the past4 ,it is true that in spite of economic incentives there will appear now and then an individual who is inspired by higher motives for the advancement of the race1 but the great masses of the people still require the power and pleasure of possession1 individual ownership1 and the more material rewards of industry and business4 ,and so it appears to me that ,socialism would tend to bring society to a stagnant condition1 arrest human progress most seriously1 and discourage in the future those human benefactors1 who1 in the past have blazed the way for the marvelous development and advancement of modern society4 ,finally1 after waiving many other objections to ,socialism1 it might be well to observe that in the present state of society1 if we were to inaugurate the industrial ,socialistic regime1 we would have still with us all the great social problems to be solved1 perhaps in different form1 with some additional ones with entirely new features and surrounded with new conditions4 ,to my mind the different social problems constitute the problem of civilization and through the coming ages must be worked out together4 ,all devices and schemes which do not include the individual development and social progress at large are so much wasted efforts that might be better spent4 ,the final and ultimate solution of all human problems is necessarily educational and will have the best results if society is permitted to evolve in its natural and normal way4 ,all the uplifting forces of society must be utilized to develop the social wants and economic demands of the masses1 through increased social and industrial opportunities4 ,the people must be brought into contact with an increasing variety of economic and social phenomena1 carrying with the process an ever growing demand for the consumption of the best there is in life and mind4 ,and until the perfection of human nature1 every age will have its problems and its vices1 in spite of what we think and do4 99 99 99 99 99 ,allen1 ,john ,robert4 7,university ,professor1 ,minister and ,author47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because ,i believe it will have an injurious effect upon the development of individual power and character2 since it will withdraw the stimulus to achievement by destroying its rewards1 and since it will weaken the attractiveness of virtue by trying to destroy the pains that follow vice4 ,i do not believe that ,socialism will develop great individuals like the present conditions even1 unjust as many things now are4 ,i am opposed to ,socialism on the other hand because ,i believe it will be deleterious to society as a whole1 because it will eliminate the entrepreneur at the top1 and ,i can conceive of no way whereby at the bottom of the social ladder it can have the disgusting and unpleasant work done1 which1 however1 must be done for the well-being of the race4 ,i am for applied ,christianity1 which in common with ,socialism denies the right to use property merely for personal aggrandizement and pleasure4 99 99 99 99 99 ,giering1 ,eugene ,t4 7,editor1 ,the ,wilkesbarre1 ,pa41 ,record47 ,i am opposed to ,socialism because ,i believe the discontent which it represents can be very appreciably lessened1 if not altogether removed1 by other means that have not yet been given sufficient trial4 ,socialism appears to be striving after something unattainable under such a form of government as we deem to be the safest and best4 ,it cannot be made to work out satisfactorily until human nature has changed1 and we are not yet near the millennium4 ,theoretically it is appealing4 ,practically it is hampered by limitations that suggest economic destruction1 both of that which is good and of that which is bad4 ,we are now in the midst of an evolution4 ,the higher moral standards now in the process of establishment should suffice4 99 99 99 99 99 ,why ,i ,am in ,favor of ,socialism is a publication similar to this1 and the price is also the same3 paper1 fifty cents2 cloth1 seventy-five cents4 ,it will be sent to any address on receipt of the above mentioned price4 ,address3 ,edward ,silvin1 ,sacramento1 ,california4 99 99 99 99 99 ---------------------------------------- ------------------- ,typographical errors corrected in text3 ,page #ab3 advoted replaced with advocated ,page #ba3 monarchal replaced with monarchial ,page #dc3 ,jean ,jacque ,rousseau replaced with ,jean ,jacques ,rousseau ---------------------------------------- ------------------- 99 99 99 99 99