Part 955

The doctrine of Mr. Henry George, set forth in his famous book, "Progress and Poverty," published in 1880, is stated in his own language as follows: "We have traced the want and suffering that everywhere prevail among the working classes, the recurring paroxysms of industrial depression, the scarcity of employment, the stagnation of capital, the tendency of wages to the starvation point, that exhibit themselves more and more strongly as material progress goes on, to the fact that the land on which and from which all must live is made the exclusive property of some. We have seen that there is no possible remedy for these evils but the abolition of their cause; we have seen that private property in land has no warrant in justice, but stands condemned as the denial of natural right—a subversion of the law of nature that as social development goes on must condemn the masses of men to a slavery the hardest and most degrading. … I do not propose either to purchase or to confiscate private property in land. The first would be unjust; the second, needless. Let the individuals who now hold it still retain, if they want to, possession of what they are pleased to call their land. Let them continue to call it their land. Let them buy and sell, and bequeath and devise it. We may safely leave them the shell, if we take the kernel. It is not necessary to confiscate land; it is only necessary to confiscate rent. Nor to take rent for public uses is it necessary that the State should bother with the letting of lands, and assume the chances of the favoritism, collusion, and corruption that might involve. It is not necessary that any new machinery should be created. The machinery already exists. Instead of extending it, all we have to do is to simplify and reduce it. By leaving to land owners a percentage of rent which would probably be much less than the cost and loss involved in attempting to rent lands through State agency, and by making use of this existing machinery, we may, without jar or shock, assert the common right to land by taking rent for public uses. We already take some rent in taxation. We have only to make some changes in our modes of taxation to take it all. What I, therefore, propose, as the simple yet sovereign remedy, which will raise wages, increase the earnings of capital, extirpate pauperism, abolish poverty, give remunerative employment to whoever wishes it, afford free scope to human powers, lessen crime, elevate morals, and taste, and intelligence, purify government and carry civilization to yet nobler heights, is—to appropriate rent by taxation. In this way, the State may become the universal landlord without calling herself so, and without assuming a single new function. In form, the ownership of land would remain just as now. No owner of land need be dispossessed, and no restriction need be placed upon the amount of land any one could hold. For, rent being taken by the State in taxes, land, no matter in whose name it stood, or in what parcels it was held, would be really common property, and every member of the community would participate in the advantages of its ownership. Now, insomuch as the taxation of rent, or land values, must necessarily be increased just as we abolish other taxes, we may put the proposition into practical form by proposing—To abolish all taxation save that upon land values."

_H. George, Progress and Poverty, book 8, chapter 2._

"Mr. George sent his 'Progress and Poverty' into the world with the remarkable prediction that it would find not only readers but apostles. … Mr. George's prediction is not more remarkable than its fulfilment. His work has had an unusually extensive sale; a hundred editions in America, and an edition of 60,000 copies in this country [England, 1891] are sufficient evidences of that; but the most striking feature in its reception is precisely that which its author foretold; it created an army of apostles, and was enthusiastically circulated, like the testament of a new dispensation. Societies were formed, journals were devised to propagate its saving doctrines, and little companies of the faithful held stated meetings for its reading and exposition. … The author was hailed as a new and better Adam Smith, as at once a reformer of science and a renovator of society."

_J. Rae, Contemporary Socialism, chapter 12._

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: A. D. 1883-1889. State Socialistic measures of the German Government.

"Replying once to the accusation made by an opponent in the Reichstag that his social-political measures were tainted with Socialism, Prince Bismarck said, 'You will be compelled yet to add a few drops of social oil in the recipe you prescribe for the State; how many I cannot say.' In no measures has more of the Chancellor's 'social oil' been introduced than in the industrial insurance laws. These may be said to indicate the high-water mark of German State Socialism. … The Sickness Insurance Law of 1883. the Accident Insurance Laws of 1884 and 1885, and the Old Age Insurance Law of 1889 are based upon the principle of compulsion which was introduced into the sick insurance legislation of Prussia in 1854. … The trio of insurance laws was completed in 1889 by the passing of a measure providing for the insurance of workpeople against the time of incapacity and old age (Invalidäts und Altersversicherungsgesetz). This was no after-thought suggested by the laws which preceded. It formed from the first part of the complete plan of insurance foreshadowed by Prince Bismarck over a decade ago, and in some of the Chancellor's early speeches on the social question he regarded the pensioning of old and incapacitated workpeople as at once desirable and inevitable. … {2956} The Old Age Insurance Law is expected to apply to about twelve million workpeople, including labourers, factory operatives, journeymen, domestic servants, clerks, assistants, and apprentices in handicrafts and in trade (apothecaries excluded), and smaller officials (as on railways, etc.), so long as their wages do not reach 2,000 marks (about £100) a year; also persons employed in shipping, whether maritime, river, or lake; and, if the Federal Council so determine, certain classes of small independent undertakers. The obligation to insure begins with the completion of the sixteenth year, but there are exemptions, including persons who, owing to physical or mental weakness, are unable to earn fixed minimum wages, and persons already entitled to public pensions, equal in amount to the benefits secured by the law, or who are assured accident annuities. The contributions are paid by the employers and work-people in equal shares, but the State also guarantees a yearly subsidy of 50 marks (£2.10s.) for every annuity paid. Contributions are only to be paid when the insured is in work. The law fixes four wages classes, with proportionate contributions as follows:

Wages. | Contributions. | Weekly. | Yearly (47 weeks). 1st class 300 marks (£15) | 14 pfennig | 3'29 marks (3s. 3½d.) 2nd class 500 marks (£25) | 20 pfennig | 4'70 marks (4s. 8½d.) 3rd class 720 marks (£36) | 24 pfennig | 5'64 marks (5s. 7½d.) 4th class 960 marks (£78) | 30 pfennig | 7'05 marks (7s. ).

Of course, of these contributions the workpeople only pay half. Old age annuities are first claimable at the beginning of the seventy-first year, but annuities on account of permanent incapacity may begin at any time after the workman has been insured for five years. The minimum period of contribution in the case of old age pensioning is thirty years of forty-seven premiums each. Where a workman is prevented by illness (exceeding a week but not exceeding a year), caused by no fault of his own, or by military duties, from continuing his contributions, the period of his absence from work is reckoned part of the contributory year. … Contributions are made in postage stamps affixed to yearly receipt cards supplied to the insured. Annuities are to be paid through the post-office monthly in advance."

_W. H. Dawson, Bismarck and State Socialism, chapter 9._

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: A. D. 1887-1888. Development of the "New Trade Unionism."

"The elements composing what is termed the New Trade Unionism are not to be found in the constitution, organization, and rules of the Unions started within the last two or three years. In these respects they either conform to the experience of modern Unions, or they revive the practices of the older Unions. There is scarcely a feature in which any of them differ from types of Unions long in existence. In what, then, consists the 'New Trade Unionism,' of which we hear so much? Mainly in the aspirations, conduct, modes of advocacy, and methods of procedure of, and also in the expressions used, and principles inculcated by the new leaders in labour movements, in their speeches and by their acts. This New Unionism has been formulated and promulgated at Trades Union Congresses, at other Congresses and Conferences, and at the meetings held in various parts of the country; and in letters and articles which have appeared in the newspaper, press, and public journals from the pens of the new leaders. … The institution of Labour Bureaus, or the establishment of Labour Registries, is one of the acknowledged objects of the Dockers' Union. Singularly enough this is the first time that any such project has had the sanction of a bona-fide Trade Union. All the older Unions repudiate every such scheme. It has hitherto been regarded as opposed in principle to Trade Unionism. … At the recent Trades Union Congress held in Liverpool, September 1890, the following resolution was moved by one of the London delegates representing the 'South Side Labour Protection League'—'That in the opinion of this Congress, in order to carry on more effectually the organization of the large mass of unorganized labour, to bring into closer combination those sections of labour already organized, to provide means for communication and the interchange of information between all sections of industry, and the proper tabulation of statistics as to employment, &c., of advantage to the workmen, it is necessary that a labour exchange, on the model of the Paris Bourse des Travail, should be provided and maintained by public funds in every industrial centre in the kingdom." … The mover said that 'not a single delegate could deny the necessity for such an institution, in every industrial centre.' The Congress evidently thought otherwise, for only 74 voted for the resolution, while 92 voted against it. … The proposal, however, shows to what an extent the New Trade Unionism seeks for Government aid, or municipal assistance, in labour movements. The most astonishing resolution carried by the Congress was the following—'Whereas the ever-changing methods of manufacture affect large numbers of workers adversely by throwing them out of employment, without compensation for loss of situation, and whereas those persons are in many instances driven to destitution, crime, and pauperism: Resolved, that this Congress is of opinion that power should at once be granted to each municipality or County Council to establish workshops and factories under municipal control, where such persons shall be put to useful employment, and that it be an instruction to the Parliamentary Committee to at once take the matter in hand.' … The proposal of all others which the new Trade Unionists sought to ingraft upon, and had determined to carry as a portion of the programme of the Trades Union Congress, was the 'legal Eight Hour day;' and they actually succeeded in their design after a stormy battle. The new leaders, with their socialist allies, had been working to that end for over two years."

_G. Howell, Trade Unionism, New and Old, chapter 8, part. 2._

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: A. D. 1888-1893. Mr. Bellamy's "Looking Backward," and the Nationalist movement.

"The so-called 'Nationalist' movement, originating in an ingenious novel called 'Looking Backward' [published in 1888], is one of the most interesting phenomena of the present condition of public opinion in this country. Mr. Edward Bellamy, a novelist by profession, is the recognized father of the Nationalist Clubs which have been formed in various parts of the United States within the last twelve months. His romance of the year 2000 A. D. is the reason for their existence, and furnishes the inspiration of their declarations. … {2957} The new society [depicted in Mr. Bellamy's romance] is industrial, rather than militant, in every feature. There are no wars or government war powers. But the function has been assumed by the nation of directing the industry of every citizen. Every man and woman is enrolled in the 'industrial army,' this conception being fundamental. This universal industrial service rests upon the recognized duty of every citizen 'to contribute his quota of industrial or intellectual work to the maintenance of the nation.' The period of service' is twenty-four years, beginning at the close of the course of education at twenty-one, and terminating at forty-five. After forty-five, while discharged from labor, the citizen still remains liable to special calls, in case of emergencies.' There are, of course, no such numerous exemptions from this industrial service as qualify very greatly the rigor of the Continental military service of the present day. Every new recruit belongs for three years to the class of unskilled or common laborers. After this term, he is free to choose in what branch of the service he will engage, to work with hand or with brain:—'It is the business of the administration to seek constantly to equalize the attractions of the trades, so far as the conditions in them are concerned, so that all trades shall be equally attractive to persons having natural tastes for them. This is done by making the hours of labor in different trades to differ according to their arduousness. The principle is that no man's work ought to be, on the whole, harder for him than any other man's for him, the workers themselves to be the judges.' The headship of the industrial army of the nation is the most important function of the President of the United States. Promotion from the ranks lies through three grades up to the officers. These officers are, in ascending order, lieutenants, captains, or foremen, colonels, or superintendents, and generals of the guilds. The various trades are grouped into ten great departments, each of which has a chief. These chiefs form the council of the general-in-chief, who is the President. He must have passed through all the grades, from the common laborers up. … Congress has but little to do beyond passing upon the reports of the President and the heads of departments at the end of their terms of office. Any laws which one Congress enacts must receive the assent of another, five years later, before going into effect; but, as there are no parties or politicians in the year 2000 A. D., this is a matter of little consequence. In Mr. Bellamy's Utopia, money is unknown: there is, therefore, no need of banks or bankers. Buying and selling are processes entirely antiquated. The nation is the sole producer of commodities. All persons being in the employment of the nation, there is supposed to be no need of exchanges between individuals. A credit-card is issued to each person, which he presents at a national distributing shop when in need of anything, and the amount due the government is punched out. The yearly allowance made to each person Mr. Bellamy does not put into figures. … Every person is free to spend his income as he pleases; but it is the same for all, the sole basis on which it is awarded being the fact that the person is a human being. Consequently, cripples and idiots, as well as children, are entitled to the same share of the products of the national industries as is allowed the most stalwart or the most capable, a certain amount of effort only being required, not of performance. Such is the force of public opinion that no one of able body or able mind refuses to exert himself: the comparative results of his effort are not considered. Absolute equality of recompense is thus the rule; and the notion of charity with respect to the infirm in body or mind is dismissed, a credit-card of the usual amount being issued to every such person as his natural right. 'The account of every person, man, woman, and child … is always with the nation directly, and never through any intermediary, except, of course, that parents to a certain extent act for children as their guardians. … It is by virtue of the relation of individuals to the nation, of their membership in it, that they are entitled to support.' … The idea naturally occurred to a considerable number of Bostonians, who had read Mr. Bellamy's socialistic romance with an enthusiastic conviction that here at last the true social gospel was delivered, that associations for the purpose of disseminating the views set forth in the book could not be formed too soon, as the forerunners of this National party of the future. Accordingly, a club, called 'The Boston Bellamy Club,' was started in September, 1888, which was formally organized as 'The Nationalist Club,' in the following December."

_N. P. Gilman, "Nationalism" in the United States (Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oct., 1889)._

The Nationalists "have very generally entered into the Populist movement, not because they accept that in its present form as ideal, but because that movement has seemed to give them the best opportunity for the diffusion of their principles; and there can be no doubt that they have given a socialistic bias to this movement. They have also influenced the labor movement, and, with the Socialistic Labor Party, they have succeeded in producing a strong sentiment in favor of independent political action on the part of the wage-earners. Especially noteworthy was the platform for independent political action offered at the meeting of the American Federation of Labor in Chicago in December, 1893."

_R. T. Ely, Socialism, page 69._

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: A. D. 1894. The American Railway Union and the Pullman Strike.

In May, 1894, some 4,000 workmen, employed in the car shops of the Pullman Company, at the town of Pullman, near Chicago, stopped work, because of the refusal of the company to restore their wages to the standard from which they had been cut down during the previous year and because of its refusal to arbitrate the question. While this strike was in progress, the American Railway Union, a comparatively new but extensive organization of railway employees, formed by and under the presidency of Eugene V. Debs, met in convention at Chicago, and was induced to make the cause of the Pullman workmen its own. The result was a decision on the part of the Union to "boycott" all Pullman cars, ordering its members to refuse to handle cars of that company, on the railways which center at Chicago. This order went into effect on the evening of June 26, and produced the most extensive and alarming paralysis of traffic and business that has ever been experienced in the United States. Acts of violence soon accompanied the strike of the railway employees, but how far committed by the strikers and how far by responsive mobs, has never been made clear. {2958} The interruption of mails brought the proceedings of the strikers within the jurisdiction of the federal courts and within reach of the arm of the United States government. The powers of the national courts and of the national executive were both promptly exercised, to restore order and to stop a ruinous interference with the general commerce of the country. The leaders of the strike were indicted and placed under arrest; United States troops were sent to the scene; President Cleveland, by two solemn proclamations, made known the determination of the Government to suppress a combination which obstructed the United States mails and the movements of commerce between the states. Urgent appeals were addressed by the leaders of the American Railway Union to other labor organizations, with the hope of bringing about a universal strike, in all departments of industry throughout the country; but it failed. The good sense of workingmen in general condemned so suicidal a measure. By the 15th of July the Pullman strike was practically ended, and the traffic of the railways was resumed. President Cleveland appointed a commission to investigate and report on the occurrence and its causes, but the report of the commission has not been published at the time this is printed (November, 1894).

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: A. D. 1894. The Coxey Movement.