Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 11.djvu/139

 THE POLITICAL SITUATION IN FRANCE 123

from the question of the separation of church and state, and the destruction of the last remnant of the political power of the church, the Freemasons are, however, not entirely agreed on all of these points, some favoring a more thoroughgoing scheme of democratic reform than others.

We must also mention the National Association of Free- thinkers of France, with Ferdinand Buisson, a deputy, as its president. In this association we find Radicals, Socialists, and Anarchists of both sexes. The Grand Orient of France is not open to women. The Association of Freethinkers has members scattered all over the country. Some of these have organized local groups. Their number is still restricted 4,500 the associa- tion being quite young. Its purpose is to search for truth, the liberation of minds from all confessional practices, and the laiciza- tion of education and morals.

Socialism is divided into two great factions the Revolu- tionary Socialists and the Reformatory Socialists. The official name of the former is the " Socialist Party of France ; " the latter is called the " French Socialist Party." The former is known by the initials of the French title, P. S. D. F. ; the latter, as P. S. F. Each of these parties holds an annual congress, and is managed by a committee of delegates appointed by this congress or by the district federations of the group. The groups are many, and those of the P. S. D. F. are well organized and strong. The member- ship of the P. S. D. F. is recruited chiefly from the northern, central, and southeastern parts of France, and from Paris; that of the P. S. F. is scattered all over the country. Independent of these two organized factions, there are the " Revolutionary Socialist Labor Party" (Parti Ouvrier socialist e revolutionnairc, P. O. S. R.), and the "Breton Socialist Federation" (Federation socialiste bretonne, F. S. B.). All these groups together comprise about 1,200,000 members, of whom nearly 425,000 are in the P. S. D. F. Their ideal is the same : the transformation of the present capitalistic division of property into a social division ; that is, into collective or common ownership. The difference is in their tactics. And yet, when one examines the policies carefully, they are more different in form than in substance.