Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/351

* SOCIALISM. 297 SOCIALISM. The Socialists elected 7 members of Parliament in 1901. The Socialist vote was 39,000. A con- siderable nuiiibcr of Socialists have been elected to membership in municipal councils. The So- cial Democratic Party controls the radical and progressive elements in Holland, both in city and in country. Belgium. A socialistic association was found- ed in ISUO, and a labor party with a mi.ed so- cialistic and anarchistic programme was estab- lished in ISOS. The International Workingmen's Association had sections in Belgium, but in 1872, when the schism between the Socialists and an- archists took place, the Belgian sections joined the anarchists under Bakunin. The modern social-democratic movement in Belgium may be said to date from 1S7G, when party groups were organized under a physician, Dr. DePaepe, who was a convert from anarchism. The present party, called Parti Ouvrier Beige, was formally established in 1885. In 1893 great socialist demonstrations took place, and a general strike was inaugurated with the purpose of securing universal suffrage. This effort was successful ; and universal, but unequal, suffrage was granted to all males over t^venty-five. Some of the voters, on account of educational or property qualifica- tions, now have two or three votes. In the elec- tion which took place in 1894 the Socialists polled 335,000 votes and elected 32 members of the national Parliament. In 1902 the number of Socialist votes cast was, in round numbers, 470,000 and the nundjer of Deputies elected 34. Another general strike was inaugurated under Socialist auspices in April, 1902, in order lo coerce the Government to grant, not only uni- versal, but equal suffrage. The demonstrations and strike were unsuccessful. There are several peculiarities in the socialist agitation in Belgium which render this country one of the most interesting and important in the history of modern social democracy. First may be mentioned the close connection with the trades union movement. This, however, is not such a distinguishing feature of Belgian social de- mocracy as is its connection with the cooperative movement. The Socialists in Belgium have start- ed numerous cooperative establishments which have achieved a remarkable success. More than 200 of these are now affiliated with the Socialist Party, thus bringing it into connection with the daily economic life of the masses. The two chief cooperative establishments are the Maison du Peuple of Brussels and the Vooruit in Ghent. The Maison has a membership of 25,000 and property exceeding in value 2.000,000 francs. These are great retail establishments, resembling the modern department store. The masses show that they are closely attached to these coopera- tive stores, thi-ough which the Socialist agitation is actively carried on. There are several strong Socialist periodicals in Belgium having a large circulation. The of- ficial paper in Brussels, Le Peuple, claims a cir- culation of 70,000. L'Eeho du Peuple, an evening issue from the ofliee of Le Peuple, is also an offi- cial organ. A monthly review called L'Avenir Social is published. France. The Socialist Party in France did not gain any considerable following until after 1890. Its late appearance is doubtless due to the frequent revolutions in that country and its dis- ordered and unsettled condition, which rendered it more favorable for anarchistic and revolu- tionary movements. With the firm establish- ment of the RejJublic and the lapse of a gener- ation since the last revolution, the relatively ordered and legal means of modern social de- mocracy have found a more fruitful soil, and anarchistic tendencies have been pressed into the background. The early Utopian socialism was practically dead in 1860. The International Workingmen's Association gained some inllnence in France during the uprising of the Paris Com- nuuic, which, however, was only partially social- istic. The International Association did not, however, exercise any considerable inlluence and soon disappeared. So far as it continued to exist, it fell under anarchist influences under the leadership of anarchists like ElisCe Reclus and Prince Krapotkin. A Socialist paper pub- lished by a group of students made its appear- ance in 1870. and three years later Jules Guesde, who formerly had been anarchistically inclined, founded a Socialist Labor Party in France. He was soon joined bv a former comrade in anarchy, Dr. Paul Brousse". In 1889 the total Socialist vote was only 91,000 in round numbers out of a total of 6,847,000 votes; two years later the vote rose to 549,000, or nearly 9 per cent, of the total vote cast. This vote includes those who voted for the so-called Socialist Radicals, who, while having strongly socialistic leanings and generally acting with the Socialists, may not be regarded as full socialists, inasmuch as they do not ac- cept the entire socialist programme." In 1893 the Socialists increased their strength in the French Assembly threefold, the number of Deputies ris- ing from fifteen to fifty. It thus became in that year a great political party. The next great event in the history of French socialism was the appointment of A. Millerand to a Cabinet position as Jlinister of Commerce under Waldeck-Rousseau in June. 1899. This was the first time in the world's history that a socialist had attained such a prominent position in government. The acceptance by Millerand of this position gave rise to fierce dissensions with- in the Socialist ranks. His opponents held that he had placed himself outside the control of the party by participating in the actual administra- tion of a capitalistic government. Millerand's position, however, was sustained by Jean L^on Jaur&s (q.v.). It is noteworthy that the pro- posal to censure Millerand for his acceptance of a Cabinet position has not been indorsed by the Socialists in their convention. There are four or five factions among the French Socialists. We have, first, the Minis- terialists or independents led by Jaur^s and Millerand ; next, the Marxists under the leader- ship of Jules Guesde. The latter form the party called Parti Ouvrier Francais. They constitute the two chief divisions and the other factions may be grouped about them in their ten- dencies. W'e have also a group called the Allemanists from their chief, Jean Allemane, taking, like the Ministerialists, a position of op- portunism. There is, besides, a small group called the Blanquists, of a more revolution- ary character. We have also the Socialist Rad- icals already mentioned, who act with the Socialists. The principal Socialist publication of France is La Petite RipiMique, a daily with an