the Bad, the Otherwise
And a Few Laconics ByL. a. l.
more impressions from a
LITTLE TRIP.
T
HERE are some of us who
have not taken th e Socialists,
as a body, in a serious
enough vein to make a study
of what they claim as a creed.
There are others of us who confound
the socialist theory with that of the
anarchist, and are prone to think,
very much because of the attitude of
the socialists themselves, that bombs,
strikes and the like are the basis on
which the doctrine rests. When Mr.
Webster compiled his famous dic
tionary, he gave th e meaning of the
word “socialism” as a “doctrine that
a community of interests is the best
form of society.”
When one gets beyond the horizon
of one’s daily life, the novelty and
the diversity of ail one meets wakens
a keener sense of interest than is
possible from reading tons of books
and trying to digest thereby the
opinions and arguments of others.
So it is, if one wants to get the fal
lacy of the socialistic argument, as
we have had it illustrated daily to
us for years, one needs only to travel
through those States where mining
is the principal or the only industry.
The ramifications of the question
are many, but one may safely begin
with the old ougbear “equality,” for
which the socialist is ready to lay
down his life, all of his time and
most of his money.
