Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/352

* SOCIALISM. 298 SOCIALISM. enormous circulation. It is an organ of that wing of the party led by Millerand and Jaurfes, and aims to harmonize and unite the various Socialist groups. There is also a daily paper, L'Action, Socialist, anti-Ministerialist, and vio- lently anticlerical. It has a large circulation. A monthly called La Revue Sockiliste seeks to do an educational and scientific work among the French Socialists like that which Die neue Zeit aims to acconi]ilish in Germany. Le Socialiste, the weekly organ of the Parti Ouvrier Frangais, and Le Moiivement Socialiste, are also important periodicals. Russia. For a half century most radical and revolutionary agitation of one kind or another has been carried on in Russia, and the two most familiar names among the international leaders of anarchism, Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kra- potkin, are those of Russian exiles. Early in the second half of the nineteenth century this agitation took the name of Nihilism (q.v.), which was a kind of political anarchism rather than economic anarchism. One aim which has in the past been prominent in Russia among radical economic reformers is to connect social and economic reconstruction with the Rvissian agricultural village called the mir (q.v.). It has been hoped liy these leaders that Russia could pass directly from the early stage of economic de- velopment into socialism, without passing through modern capitalism as an intermediate stage. During the jiast few years, under the leadership of George Plekhanoff, a resident of Switzerland, Marxian socialism has made some progress. The Socialists, having no field for political activity, turn their attention to labor agitation, ancl it is said by them with apparent truth that the great strikes in Russia during the past ten years have to no inconsiderable degree been an outcome of modern social democracy. The entire Socialist activity is secret and no names of Russians living in Russia can be men- tioned. The agitation in large part proceeds from foreign countries, and the socialist litera- ture is smuggled into Russia and secretly circu- lated. Russia is regularly represented at the International Socialist Congress. England. While Socialist ideas probably have as much influence in England as in any country, and possibly even a greater influence, they find expression rather in a molding of the thought of other political parties than in any distinct so- cialist party. The chief power of socialism has been seen in the social reforms which have been accomplished in England during the past. twenty years. There are at present three organizations in England which may be regarded as at once political and Socialist. There is first the Fa- bian Society (q.v.), whose members aim, not only to carry on a propaganda for socialist thought, but to promote the election of Socialists in any way which may seem most feasible at the proper time and place. It is essentially an op- portunist organization in its practical tactics. There is next the Independent Labor Party, formed in .Tanuary, 1803, the object of which is "the collective ownership and control of the means of production, distribution, and exchange." Finally, there is the Social Democratic Federa- tion, among whose adherents H. M, Hyndman (q.v.) and H. Quelch are prominent. This lat- ter organization represents Marxist socialism in England and is the oldest body, dating from 1S81. In this connection special mention must be made of the Labor Representation Committee, which seeks to promote "the representation of the interests of labor in thj House of Commons." The Socialists claim that they had about 50,- 000 votes in 1900. Keir Hardie represents the Socialists in Parliament and there are three other members with Socialist afliliations. In local elec- tions, Socialists have frequently been success- ful, and for some time the London County Council has been to a very appreciable extent under the influence of Socialists. It may be said that the greatest trade unions have to some extent been brought under the influence of socialism. This is seen in the adoption by the Trade Union Congress at Belfast in 18!13 of a resolution demanding collective ownership and operation of industries; in other words, pure socialism. This can be interpreted to mean more than it really does. It indicates a dis- appearance of avowed hostility to socialism on the part of trade unionists; it shows that the name socialism is no longer feared, and that it meets with a certain sympathy. The trade imion movement has in England become in the main indifferent to active socialism, but may be described as having mild Socialist inclinations. HTOdman and Quelch have been mentionea as leaders of the Social Democratic Federation. E. Belfort Bax may also be mentioned as prominent in this group. The Social Democrat, a monthly journal, and Justice, a weekly, edited by Quelch, are organs of the Social Democratic Federation. Mr.' and IMrs. Sidney Webb, G. Bernard Shaw (q.v.), and Edward R. Pease are leading members of the Fabian Society, the last named being its secretary. The organ is the Fahian l^cws. Keir Hardie and J. Ramsay MacDonald are prominent members of the Independent Labor Party, the organ of which is the Independent Lahor Part if Neirs, which, like the Fabian- Xeus, is a monthly periodical. Robert Blatchford, the editor of the Clarion, is a popular socialist writer without special affiliations for any one of these three groups. Jap. . a Japanese by the name of Tarui at- tempted to organize a Socialist party in 1882; in 18!>2 the Eastern Liberal Party, which mani- fested an interest in labor problems, was founded, but these early attempts at socialistic organiza- tion were of little importance. The Socialist Association was organized in 1900, taking as its model the English Fabian Society. This associa- tion founded a social democratic party, which issued its manifesto April 20, 1901, but was sup- pressed by the Government the same day. Fabian and opportunist socialism seem to have a stronger hold in Japan than JIarxian socialism. Canada. A Canadian Socialist League, organ- ized in 1901, is the chief representative of so- cialism in the Dominion. There are also in Canada several branches of the Socialist Labor Party of the United States. The Socialist move- ment, in general, in Canada, is closely connected with the trade union movement, over which it appears to be exercising increasing influence. The Socialists claim a vote of about .5000. The United State.s. Although communism (q.v.) gained an early foothold in the United States, it exercised practically no infliience upon the movement now represented by the Socialist