Page:The Masses, Volume 1, Number 3.pdf/9

SIGNS O F T H E TIMES "Coming Events Cast Their Shadow T

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S I G N S of the times!—a phrase, this, which carries a modern sound, yet which comes down from days re­ mote. F o r that revolutionist carpen­ ter-rabbi whom we of the Occident have uniquely revered for so many centuries, is said to have uttered such a phrase. W h e n leaders of the cultured classes one day derisively de­ manded of him a "sign"—some stroke of super­ human power in proof of his divine mission— he is reported to have turned upon them with this fling: " I n the evening you say, 'It will be fine weather, for the sky is as red as fire.' But in the morning you say, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is as red as fire and threatening.' Y o u learn to read the sky ; yet you are unable to read the signs of the times !" A n d indeed the events which the following years brought upon the Jewish nation proved that the educated had read the signs wrong, while the humble, or a few of them at least, had had true glimpses. Even so we Socialists may now say of the proudly i n ­ tellectual of our own generation, that they, too, have been blind to the greatest impending changes. Years ago the few who learned of M a r x fore­ saw the alternative which would shortly face the nation—foresaw the dethronement of Competi­ tion, and the choice which would then have to be made between Private Monopoly and Social Co­ operation. Today the honored teachers of the people are painfully perceiving that that dilemma is upon us. Hear Senator Cummins, of the great farmer State, the Massachusetts-beyond-Mississippi, cry out that "between a monopoly of selfish interests on the one hand, and Socialism on the other, the American people will certainly choose Socialism." H e is not in love with the alterna­ tive; in almost pathetic terms he makes his ap­ peal for one more desperate effort to destroy monopoly. H e wants Congress to limit the amount of capital which can be held by any one corporation, but he will surely be disappointed, for the people will never consent to any measure of limitation drastic enough to break up the pres­ ent great combinations, and thus "upset busi­ ness" on a vast scale. Imbedded in Senator Cummins' appeal (Edi­ torial Review, February, 1911) I find so strange a passage as this : "It is not intended to take up for examina­ tion at this time the interesting and indeed most important controversy between indi­ vidualism, as represented, for instance, in the philosophy of Herbert Spencer, and Social­ ism, as represented, for instance, in the teachings of K a r l M a r x . I only venture the prophecy that in the end we shall have either competition in full vigor, which means an unending struggle in prices and for profits, or we shall have full co-operation in which all the people will participate. W e are now keeping a middle ground, but we can­ not long hold it, and in my judgment it is not desirable to hold it. Competition has, in a measure, given way to co-operation, but the co-operation is selfish and limited to cer­ tain persons and classes. If competition is to permanently give way it must be to al­ truistic co-operation, that is to say, to co­ operation which will include all men and all women who live under our common govern­ ment." Do not these words sound almost as if Cum­ mins himself had caught, though unwillingly, the breath of life from the coming epoch? If now we look to those paragons of light and leading, our triumvirate of the Highest Culture, ex-presidents of great Eastern universities, we find one of them, him under whose mild sway Co­ lumbia peacefully throve, echoing the Cummins

By R U F U S W. W E E K S cry : "The alternative we seem to be facing is either to iraintain competition by limiting capi­ tal or amount of business, or to have government regulation of price, whether one likes it or not." H e admits, moreover, that "to limit the amount of business a corporation may do was proved im­ practicable a few years ago" ; and Cummins points out that if we were to "establish a govern­ ment tribunal to fix the price of every article bought or sold, we would have drifted into the ante-room of complete State Socialism." Another of our Culture triumvirate, he who ruled at Princeton and now rules at Trenton, seems quite disillusioned, has no hopes of reviv­ ing the murdered K i n g Competition, calmly ac­ cepts the new business systen, and remarks that we must now proceed to rebuild our social and political fabric to fit revolutionized business. T o us Socialists such saying comes as a tantalizing echo of one strain of our own dear tune—Economic Determinism. The remaining one of the triumvirate, he who should have been named first, stoops from Β rah minic heights to bestow generous words upon the toiling comrades of Milwaukee, praising them for what they are trying to effect, though point­ ing out that their attempt is not Socialis only approximate collectivism ! Now comes forward the ex-President of the United States, inventor of the N e w Nationalism, and weekly reviser of its content, and offers a pregnant suggestion : that the trusts should be parted into two sets—the injurious and the others; that "the proceeding should be, in substance, to declare any corporation an injurious monop­ oly, and when that declaration should be definitely affirmed by the proper body, what­ ever it might be, to subject the corporation to thoroughgoing Governmental control as to rates, prices and general conduct." He thinks that "nothing could be more desirable.at the pres­ ent moment than to have the Bureau of Cor­ porations exercise over the oil production of the country, and over the operations of the Sugar Trust, the same thoroughgoing, dras­ tic and radical control that the Government of Germany is now exercising over the potash production of Germany." (Outlook, Jan. 28, 1911.)

The fixing of prices, Senator Cummins tells us, is the ante-room of State Socialism, but our exPresident thinks not so ; he says : "So far is this kind of collectivism from being necessarily the herald of Socialism, as Socialism is ordinarily defined, that it can more truthfully be described as the preserver and restorer of individualism." W h e n the blind lead the blind, we know on good authority where leaders and led are likely to land. These and their like, who were the people's leaders for so many years, now begin to recognize that they and we are floundering in the ditch, and begin to grope for footing towards firm ground, and that is surely a hopeful sign of the times, especially as their stumbling steps seem headed towards Socialistic ground. The led, too, seem to be turning their thoughts the same way. The proletariat, to be sure, shows as yet scant tendency to set up for itself, but the great middle classes are disposed to doubt whether possibly Socialism may not be some­ thing like what they need. The evidence of this change is strikingly seen in the new attitude of our most respectable magazines. They find that it no longer pays to be silent about Socialism ; even the conservative among them are coquetting 9

Before" with it. The most "high-toned" of all, the At­ lantic Monthlv, in announcing new features for 1911, leads off with this: "Whether for good or i l l , the progress of Socialistic sentiment in this country is the plainest sign of the times, and, during the winter, the Atlantic will approach this subject from several points of view, notably in an eloquent paper of defense by V i d a D . Scudder." Even Harper's Monthly, which has for years avowed its purpose to let alone the disturbing questions of the day, has discovered that such silence is beginning to look stupid, and has lately printed a strong paper by a Socialist, Robert W . Bruère, on "The Perpetual Poor," in which Socialist remedies are more than hinted at ; and, in the February number, the "Editor's Study" speaks thus : "Ours is indeed the living present. Its swift mutations give a new measure to time itself—the measure of our forever renascent purpose and sensibility, the measure of our human consciousness, expanding with each new movement of the more and more intensive life. W h e n we consider the forwardlooking purpose of our time, we are sensibly impressed by immense undertakings, and achievements furthering our material progress, and we know that in this field the modern man is self-sufficient. But the organization of our twentieth-century life, apart from its practical side, where we aim at efficiency, is coming to participate in our creative ideals. W e take note of this, especially, of course, in associate altruistic work, prompted, not by conscience, but by sensitive sympathy. But our creation of a new politics springs from the same beautiful motive, in full harmony with the vital altruism which desires to effect, in so far as possible, the equalization of social opportunity. The organization of business on a non-competitive basis, working hand in hand with this new politics, promises to reach a rhythmic harmony which shall not only transcend arbitrary industrial control, but connote brotherhood and expel war from Christendom." It is worth while to read this again, to enjoy the delicate precision of the phrasing, and then note what the prognosis is. A n alliance is here foreshadowed between B i g Business (viewed as a benevolent feudalism) and the workers, leading on consciously and by peaceful methods to an ultimate democratization of the whole process of production and distribution. O f course it is conceivable that the Revolution may come by this sweet method ; but, even so, the class struggle will be there, in posse, behind the scenes, and its potentiality will be the driving force which makes the capitalist feudalism a benevolent one. B i g Business must not be surprised, either, if a warning cry is raised, equivalent to the antique Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes. I used to wonder why some intelligent and adventurous young king did not dare the great venture of joining with his people to abolish kingship and set up the republic; but no such glorious use of their lives do kings make. What none of them has done, however, has just been ventured by one of our money magnates—nowa-days a mightier order than kings. H e has abdicated, and is now, in weighty sentences, warning his fellows of B i g Business that the axe is laid at the root of the tree, and that unless they hasten to bring forth fruits meet for repentance the tree will fall. H e tells them in some detail what they ought to do, arid the Independent devotes an editorial to his utterances, under the caption " M r . Perkins on the Crisis." The editorial opens thus :