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    DE MORTUIS. Death balances the account o...

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    secondly, that all men, qualified by bod...

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    Socialism And Its Newest Traducer. When ...

    conspiracy of silence which , if not another and more subtle form of calumny " , is a testimony to our strength , that our principles should be clear as the dawn of their fulfilment , which we do but herald and prepare . To return to the Daily News . Our business is chiefly with the second half of its analytical explanation . " Socialists , " says the Daily News , " are crafty theorists , who seek to promote their views by argument and experiment . What these views are it is not so easy to define ; for almost every expounder of

    socialist or communist views has a separate theory of his own . Closely examined , however , the intellectual stock in trade of all of them will be found to be substantially the same . It is neither very rich nor very varied , consisting of one truth imperfectly apprehended , and of one gross fallacy . The truth is , that there is an associative instinct in man quite as powerful and ineradicable as the instinct of emulation and competition ; and that theoretical and practical politicians have too exclusively directed their attention to the latter , and have almost entirely overlooked the

    former . The fallacy ( like most fallacies ) has its origin , not in the reason , but in the passion and the will . The desire of acquiring property is strong in most men , and the power of gratifying it is generally proportioned to the strength of the desire . This desire to possess , however , does not originate simply in a craving to have ; it springs from a wish to direct the application and distribution of property . Men who by planning ,

    and toiling , and pinching , have scraped together property , believe that they have a right to dispose of it as tbey please in setting other men to work or relieving their necessities . Now , there are always among those who , being more disposed to reflect than act , are least able to acquire property , a good many who persuade themselves they could expend it better than those who have earned it . It is this flattering estimate of their own abilities that makes most Socialists

    and Communists . They see that the property which is called into existence by the heads of a few and the hands of many is in fact consumed by all ; they see that its distribution and consumption is regulated by those who contribute head-work towards production ; they believe that themselves could regulate consumption and distribution better ; and therefore they try to persuade society to take from the producers of property all power to regulate its distribution , and to attribute

    that function to wiser and more competent headsthat is , to themselves . Such is the modest impertinence of Socialism . The instinct which prompts men to acquire and preserve private property is too universal and too strong to be argued out of them . The Socialists have undertaken an impossible task , and of course will not succeed . Again , Socialism is an opinion , a faith , and that cannot be eradicated by prohibitionary laws or force , though Red Republicans may be put down . "

    Thc show of candour in this passage does not disguise its disregard of truth . Either tho writer is ignorant of what ho professes to describe so authoritatively , or he is informed , and deliberately sets aside his better knowledge : in either case he disregards truth . This accusation against a contemporary , for whom we entertain at least a professional respect , wo make with regret , but we make it deliberately and without qualification .

    There does not exist the diversity of theories attested by thc writer . A diversity of plans does exist , and some Socialists hold certain auxiliaries to be essentially necessary to the establishment of an associative practice . Robert Owen holds the dogmatic ; belief that man ' s character is made " for him" by circumstances within his own control , and that lie should be fitted for socialist practice by a previous education under tho influence of " favourable circumstances . " John

    Minter Morgan believes , with more support from Btrict reasoning , that associative practice can only bo rendered possible where men are swayed by the higher motives , including religion . Wt thoso distinctions of method , or plan , or circumstance , do not annul lho one radical fact on which all Association or Socialism turns—that concert in tho division of employments is an essential

    clement to the truest and most productive economy . Tho theoretical Communist holds further , that if economy were perfected by _association , labour would be minimized , and fhe care to possess separate property would expire ; that property would be not destroyed , but so developed as to extend its benefit to all . With almost a single exception , and that of the most transparently purehearted kind , it would bo difficult to ruko up any evidence that _ftoeialUta become ao iu the desire

    Socialism And Its Newest Traducer. When ...

    to _dictate or dispense . The Socialist says to any given number of men engaged in industrial occupations—If you cease to keep separate from one another , if you come to a common understanding , if you cease to compete and begin to work in concert , you will not work to waste , but will all of you make more than you now do . Amongst the working classes , speaking generally , the Socialists are distinguished for orderly demeanour , intelligence , and industry . If , in a public meeting , you see a man rise , with a better external appearance than the average , to counsel candour towards opponents , and moderation with perseverance in action , the chances are ten to one that that man is a Socialist . The insinuation that

    Socialists are actuated by the desire to possess other men s earnings is on a level with the same insinuation levelled in Plackwood and the Quarterly , years back , at Radicals like the Daily News . It is a . species of reckless aspersion , which degrades him who casts it . The pretence that " property called into existence by the heads of the few and the hands of the many , is a fact confirmed by all , " is idle talk . How much of the great landowner ' s property goes into the hands of the cottagers on his estates ? How much of a great millowner ' s hundreds of thousands sterling , or material luxuries ,

    is available to his workmen ? We do not envy either of the two the luxury enjoyed in the midst of want ; and in many cases amassed to the one by the screw of the want upon the many . But we do say that if the many perceived their own interests and their own powers they would not continue to let the benefits of combined work go into the hands of the few ; they would not continue to work like beasts of burden or draught-horses , passive and helpless , without will of their own . It is not the working men , however , whom the Daily News most injures by its prevarications , but its own clients . The awe-stricken servants of

    the Burmese Emperor conceal from him the reverses which his empire sustains at its frontiers and portals ; they tell him * not the defeats of Martaban and Rangoon ; and thus he is prevented from taking counsel with reality , or giving any veritable exertion to defend his own territory . Meanwhile , the power of Britain iB steadily eating into his domain . Thus it is that the Daily Neivs serves its own Grand Llama , its idol king , by consoling it with tales of what " naughty Socialism" is not , and assuring the great ruler that the abhorred influence will never provail ; although that influence has already invaded not only the frontiers of the factory system , but is establishing its footing in the very pages of orthodox economy .

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    De Mortuis. Death Balances The Account O...

    DE MORTUIS . Death balances the account of all men , and sometimes the balance is not exactly what we have expected , even when tho whole of the details have been before us . Tho poor old Miser Neiid , whoso tenants took him for a needy man , has suddenly developed , in articulo mortis , a fortune of diOO , 000 _/ . ; and not being powerful in the inventive

    art of knowing what to do with his money , ho could think of nothing better than to leave it to the Queen . He has doubled her salary for twelve months . Even that , however , is not so base a disposal as somo men might devise . Tho philosopher who cut off his son with a shilling and left a museum to u nation , was still more a pauper than tho man who could possess < UX ) , < _XXM . and lind nothing to do with it for himself or others .

    Sir James Parker had risen by his own ability and professional virtues to one of the highest stations in tho country . He had helped to maintain the very high character of the English Bench , and beyond that had contributed his share to the influences of Law ' . Reform ; nevertheless , now that his life has finished , and nothing more remains for him to add to his achievements , one is struck with tho comparatively fame result of mo much labour as that which himself and his teachers compressed into the education of his life . Ho will stand as one amongst a very long series of honourable English lawyers ; ono of an endless row of caryatides supporting the vast national pediment .

    In a much lower position , working in a much humbler Hnhoro , as a subordinate to tiio Board of Trade ; still more notably working in his own closet , through the humbler instrumentality of the publisher , G . It . Porter filled u position between the ollicial man and the professional Wider , it would bo difiioult to define his o * uCt

    De Mortuis. Death Balances The Account O...

    station in society He has not beeaaverv r _* markable man whde he lived amongst us in way . His industry in a _particular bran _^ of literature was self-moving ; but there are \ men who , single-handed have contributed _^ much for the service of others . If Porter did not help to develope new laws in economy , heW formed the next best . service , of bringing un + 1 old laws to their most perfect form , and _rlndS to actual facts ; thus presenting to the _student of economy m the real business of life a text book as a new point of departure . Ia this wav he has furnished a stand-point for the men who have stepped beyond him , and . his _Progress of the Nation will grace the shelves of everv library in the indefinite future , as one of those standard books , the mastery of which is neceasamr to comprehend the history of the country . _jf e did not amass four hundred thousand pounds to present to the Queen ; nor had he attained the exalted professional rank which made him a vice-keeper of a sovereign ' s conscience ; but posterity will recognise him as a servant of its own "

    Secondly, That All Men, Qualified By Bod...

    secondly , that all men , qualified by body , brains , and worldly tact , have an equal chance of success in the House , if th ey will study and conciliate the requirements of a busy assembly , bent , not upon theorising , oratorising , or showing off , but simply and solely on practical government ; and , thirdly , that only those are wanted in the House who are content , for the sake of the direct

    HINTS TO NEW M . IVS BY AN EXPERIENCED " STRA . NGEE . " IV . Gentlemen , —I have by this time assumed that you agree with me in the several propositions I have brought forward ; first , that only those who are " men of the world , " and have an enduring physique , should go into the House of

    Commonsadvancement of their views , to merge their individuality into the organization of " a party . " It has taken three epistles to you to make these three points palpable and plain ; and whatever doubts you may have originally had , are now , I would hope , removed b y a careful consideration of the personal illustrations with which I have furnished you . I am not talking abstract maxims , I am only giving you a list of the men who succeedmen whom you know and can study , at your leisure , and whom reflection will induce you to imitate .

    Look at tho House of Commons from the right _^ oint of view—as a club , composed , principally , of members of the governing classes , tolerably honest , but intensely prejudiced , and managing to combine what they regard as public good with an immense amount of private-family-classprofit . The relations of tho majority of tho House to thoir constituents aro not rigorous they depend for their private comfort , personal position , and party prosperity but slightly upon the opinions of tho voters who voted for them ; and their constituents being , again , but a section of tho _Y'lst public , tho " member" who is ranked among thc Whigs or the Tories never thinks and never acts with tho sense of national

    responsibility—with a deferonco to national will . 11 ° got into Parliament to rise or fall "with the " party ; " and he has , consequently , a lax moral " about public affairs . His own existence in I » fliament is a job—a sham ; and English public life—a scries of jobs and shams—docs not startle him ; and his conscience is comforted with tiio reflection that , somehow or another , tho country takes care of itself , in spite of thc uxadoquuvy and _diahonour of the _Government . He finds tho ho

    political differences between himself and " the - nourable gentleman opposite" exceedingly _ehgh , while he is sure tho said honourable gen Menu " is , privately , ami apart from his politics aim <"'' durance , nay , applause , of all the sham s _ainl joUB , a high-spirited , high-minded , go <> d-tenipcre < English gentleman . There is , then , n <> » liaV ] {[ political animosity between " Conservative »| j "Liberal Conservative , " and there is « on » cqu _««»< j no exalted tone in public life . The WJngH » £ the 'Tories iro tho committees wio ioriOB ui Diwm

    » <> _u same _ 'u on um . _» ' « - " j _„_ gefher ; they dine together ; they even mixy long to fhe same club . They meet at « ' _™ , m " ;( 1 houses ; their families become interlaced ; when these are the conditions of political o _\\ sifion , there is too much social frioi . » Um « H _« _»" it , to allow it to bo very honcbt or w national . Whigs and Tories , ad _» "' proceed from the lame d « # _t j and , e _* _wv *

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 11, 1852, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_11091852/page/14/