Part 187

"Of the Socialistic thinkers who serve as a kind of link between the Utopists and the school of the Socialism of historical evolution, or scientific Socialists, by far the most noteworthy figure is Proudhon, who was born at Besançon in 1809. By birth he belonged to the working class, his father being a brewer's cooper, and he himself as a youth followed the occupation of cowherding. In 1838, however, he published an essay on general grammar, and in 1839 he gained a scholarship to be held for three years, a gift of one Madame Suard to his native town. The result of this advantage was his most important though far from his most voluminous work, published the same year as the essay which Madame Suard's scholars were bound to write: it bore the title of 'What is Property?' (Qu' est-ce que la propriété?) his answer being Property is Robbery (La propriété est Ie vol). As may be imagined, this remarkable essay caused much stir and indignation, and Proudhon was censured by the Besançon Academy for its production, narrowly escaping a prosecution. In 1841 he was tried at Besançon for a letter he wrote to Victor Considérant, the Fourierist, but was acquitted. In 1846 he wrote his 'Philosophie de la Misère' (Philosophy of Poverty), which received an elaborate reply and refutation from Karl Marx. In 1847 he went to Paris. In the Revolution of 1848 he showed himself a vigorous controversialist, and was elected Deputy for the Seine. … After the failure of the revolution of '48, Proudhon was imprisoned for three years, during which time he married a young woman of the working class. In 1858 he fully developed his system of 'Mutualism' in his last work, entitled 'Justice in the Revolution and the Church.' In consequence of the publication of this book he had to retire to Brussels, but was amnestied in 1860, came back to France and died at Passy in 1865."

_W. Morris and E. B. Bax, Socialism, its Growth and Outcome, chapter 18._

"In anarchism we have the extreme antithesis of socialism and communism. The socialist desires so to extend the sphere of the state that it shall embrace all the more important concerns of life. The communist, at least of the older school, would make the sway of authority and the routine which follows therefrom universal. The anarchist, on the other hand, would banish all forms of authority and have only a system of the most perfect liberty. The anarchist is an extreme individualist. … Anarchism, as a social theory, was first elaborately formulated by Proudhon. In the first part of his work, 'What is Property?' he briefly stated the doctrine and gave it the name 'anarchy,' absence of a master or sovereign. In that connection he said: 'In a given society the authority of man over man is inversely proportional to the stage of intellectual development which that society has reached. … Property and royalty have been crumbling to pieces ever since the world began. As man seeks justice in equality, so society seeks order in anarchy.' About twelve years before Proudhon published his views Josiah Warren reached similar conclusions in America. But as the Frenchman possessed the originality necessary to the construction of a social philosophy, we must regard him as altogether the chief authority upon scientific anarchism. … Proudhon's social ideal was that of perfect individual liberty. Those who have thought him a communist or socialist have wholly mistaken his meaning. … Proudhon believed that if the state in all its departments were abolished, if authority were eradicated from society, and if the principle of laissez faire were made universal in its operation, every form of social ill would disappear. According to his views men are wicked and ignorant because, either directly or indirectly, they have been forced to be so: it is because they have been subjected to the will of another, or are able to transfer the evil results of their acts to another. If the individual, after reaching the age of discretion, could be freed from repression and compulsion in every form and know that he alone is responsible for his acts and must bear their consequences, he would become thrifty, prudent, energetic; in short he would always see and follow his highest interests. He would always respect the rights of others; that is, act justly. Such individuals could carry on all the great industrial enterprises of to-day either separately or by voluntary association. No compulsion, however, could be used to force one to fulfil a contract or remain in an association longer than his interest dictated. Thus we should have a perfectly free play of enlightened self-interests: equitable competition, the only natural form of social organization. … Proudhon's theory is the sum and substance of scientific anarchism. How closely have the American anarchists adhered to the teachings of their master? One group, with its centre at Boston and with branch associations in a few other cities, is composed of faithful disciples of Proudhon. They believe that he is the leading thinker among those who have found the source of evil in society and the remedy therefor. They accept his analysis of social phenomena and follow his lead generally, though not implicitly. They call themselves Individualistic Anarchists, and claim to be the only class who are entitled to that name. {2942} They do not attempt to organize very much, but rely upon 'active individuals, working here and there all over the country.' It is supposed that they may number in all some five thousand adherents in the United States. … They, like Proudhon, consider the government of the United States to be as oppressive and worthless as any of the European monarchies. Liberty prevails here no more than there. In some respects the system of majority rule is more obnoxious than that of monarchy. It is quite as tyrannical, and in a republic it is more difficult to reach the source of the despotism and remove it. They regard the entire machinery of elections as worthless and a hindrance to prosperity. They are opposed to political machines of all kinds. They never vote or perform the duties of citizens in any way, if it can be avoided. … Concerning the family relation, the anarchists believe that civil marriage should be abolished and 'autonomistic' marriage substituted. This means that the contracting parties should agree to live together as long as it seems best to do so, and that the partnership should be dissolved whenever either one desires it. Still, they would give the freest possible play to love and honor as restraining motives. … The Individualistic Anarchists … profess to have very little in common with the Internationalists. The latter are Communistic Anarchists. They borrow their analysis of existing social conditions from Marx, or more accurately from the 'communistic manifesto' issued by Marx and Engels in 1847. In the old International Workingman's association they constituted the left wing, which, with its leader, Bakunine, was expelled in 1872. Later the followers of Marx, the socialists proper, disbanded, and since 1883 the International in this country has been controlled wholly by the anarchists. Their views and methods are similar to those which Bakunine wished to carry out by means of his Universal Alliance, and which exist more or less definitely in the minds of Russian Nihilists. Like Bakunine, they desire to organize an international revolutionary movement of the laboring classes, to maintain it by means of conspiracy and, as soon as possible, to bring about a general insurrection. In this way, with the help of explosives, poisons and murderous weapons of all kinds, they hope to destroy all existing institutions, ecclesiastical, civil and economic. Upon the smoking ruins they will erect the new and perfect society. Only a few weeks or months will be necessary to make the transition. During that time the laborers will take possession of all lands, buildings, instruments of production and distribution. With these in their possession, and without the interposition of government, they will organize into associations or groups for the purpose of carrying on the work of society."

_H. L. Osgood, Scientific Anarchism (Political Science Quarterly, March, 1889)._

ALSO IN: _F. Dubois, The Anarchist Peril._

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: A. D.1840-1848. Louis Blanc and his scheme of State-aided Co-operation.

"St. Simonism would destroy individual liberty, would weight the State with endless responsibilities, and the whole details of production, distribution, and transportation. It would besides be a despotism if it could be carried out, and not a beneficent despotism, considering the weakness and imperfection of men. So objected Louis Blanc to St. Simonism, in his 'Organisation du Travail' (1840), whilst bringing forward a scheme of his own, which, he contends, would be at once simple, immediately applicable, and of indefinite extensibility; in fact a full and final solution of the Social Problem. The large system of production, the large factory and workshop, he saw was necessary. Large capital, too, was necessary, but the large capitalist was not. On the contrary, capitalism—capital in the hands of private individuals, with, as a necessary consequence, unbounded competition, was ruinous for the working classes, and not good for the middle classes, including the capitalists themselves, because the larger capitalists, if sufficiently astute or unscrupulous, can destroy the smaller ones by under-selling, as in fact they constantly did. His own scheme was what is now called co·operative production, with the difference that instead of voluntary effort, he looked to the State to give it its first motion, by advancing the capital without interest, by drawing up the necessary regulations, and by naming the hierarchy of workers for one year, after which the co-operative groups were to elect their own officers. He thought that if a number of these co-operative associations were thus launched State-aided in each of the greater provinces of industry, they could compete successfully with the private capitalist, and would beat him within no very long time. By competition he trusted to drive him out in a moderate time, and without shock to industry in general. But having conquered the capitalist by competition, he wished competition to cease between the different associations in any given industry; as he expressed it, he would 'avail himself of the arm of competition to destroy competition.' … The net proceeds each year would be divided into three parts: the first to be divided equally amongst the members of the association; the second to be devoted partly to the support of the old, the sick, the infirm, partly to the alleviation of crises which would weigh on other industries; the third to furnish 'instruments of labour' to those who might wish to join the association. … Capitalists would be invited into the associations, and would receive the current rate of interest at least, which interest would be guaranteed to them out of the national budget; but they would only participate in the net surplus in the character of workers. … Such was the scheme of Louis Blanc, which, in 1848, when member of the Provisional Government in France, he had the opportunity, rarely granted to the social system-maker, of partially trying in practice. He was allowed to establish a number of associations of working men by the aid of Government subsidies. The result did not realize expectations. After a longer or shorter period of struggling, every one of the associations failed; while, on the other hand, a number of co-operative associations founded by the workmen's own capital, as also some industrial partnerships founded by capitalists, on Louis Blanc's principle of distribution of the net proceeds, were successful. … I do not refer to the 'ateliers nationaux,' [see FRANCE: A. D. 1848] which were not countenanced by Louis Blanc; but to certain associations of working men who received advances from the Government on the principle advocated in his book. There were not many of these at first. L. Blanc congratulated himself on being able to start a few: after the second rising the Government subsidized fifty-six associations, all but one of which had failed by 1875."

_W. Graham, Socialism, New and Old, chapter 3, section 5, with foot-note._

{2943}

"In 1848 the Constituent Assembly voted, in July, that is, after the revolution of June, a subsidy of three millions of francs in order to encourage the formation of working men's associations. Six hundred applications, half coming from Paris alone, were made to the commission entrusted with the distribution of the funds, of which only fifty-six were accepted. In Paris, thirty associations, twenty-seven of which were composed of working men, comprising in all 434 associates, received 890,500 francs. Within six months, three of the Parisian associations failed; and of the 434 associates, seventy-four resigned, fifteen were excluded, and there were eleven changes of managers. In July, 1851, eighteen associations had ceased to exist. One year later, twelve others had vanished. In 1865 four were still extant, and had been more or less successful. In 1875 there was but a single one left, that of the file-cutters, which, as Citizen Finance remarked, was unrepresented at the Congress."

_E. de Laveleye, The Socialism of To-day, chapter 5, foot-note._

ALSO IN: _L. Blanc, 1848: Historical Revelations, chapters 5-9, and 19._

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: A. D. 1840-1883. Icaria.

In 1840, Etienne Cabet published in France an Utopian romance, the "Voyage en Icarie," which awakened remarkable interest, very quickly. He described in this romance an ideal community, and eight years later, having continued the propagation of his social theories in the meantime, he undertook to carry them into practice. A tract of land was secured in Texas, and in February, 1848, sixty-nine emigrants—the advance guard of what promised to be a great army of Icarians —set sail from Havre for New Orleans. They were followed during the year by others—a few hundreds in all; but even before the later comers reached New Orleans the pioneers of the movement had abandoned their Texas lands, disappointed in all their expectations and finding themselves utterly unprepared for the work they had to do, the expenditures they had to make, and the hardships they had to endure. They retreated to New Orleans and were joined there by Cabet. It happened that the Mormons, at this time, were deserting their town of Nauvoo, in Illinois, and were making their hejira to Salt Lake City. Cabet struck a bargain with the retreating disciples of Joseph Smith, which gave his community a home ready-made. The followers who adhered to him were conveyed to Nauvoo in the spring; but two hundred more gave up the socialistic experiment, and either remained at New Orleans or returned to France. For a few years the colony was fairly prosperous at Nauvoo. Good schools were maintained. "Careful training in manners and morals, and in Icarian principles and precepts, is work with which the schools are especially charged. The printing office is a place of great activity. Newspapers are printed in English, French and German. Icarian school-books are published. … A library of 5,000 or 6,000 volumes, chiefly standard French works, seems to be much patronized. … Frequent theatrical entertainments, social dances, and lectures are common means of diversion. … These families … are far from the condition of the happy Icarians of the 'Voyage,' but considering the difficulties they have encountered they must be accredited with having done remarkably well." Dissensions arose however. In 1856 Cabet found himself opposed by a majority of the community. In November of that year he withdrew, with about 180 adherents, and went to St. Louis, where he died suddenly, a few days after his arrival. Those who had accompanied him settled themselves upon an estate called Cheltenham, six miles west of St. Louis; but they did not prosper, and were dispossessed, by the foreclosure of a mortgage, in 1864, and the last of the community was dispersed. The section left at Nauvoo held no title to lands there, after Cabet separated from them, and were forced to remove in 1860. They established themselves on a tract of land in Adams county, southwestern Iowa, and there Icaria, in a slender and modest form, has been maintained, through many vicissitudes, to the present day. A new secession, occurring 1879-83, sent forth a young colony which settled at Cloverdale, California, and took the name of the Icaria-Speranza Community, borrowing the name " Speranza" from another Utopian romance by Pierre Leroux.

_A. Shaw, Icaria._

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: A. D. 1841-1847. Brook Farm.