THE RISE OF SYNDICALISM 17 



a leader whose strong will and personal magnetism were allied with an intense belief in 

 his mission to " save souls," of a type rare at any period in history, and unique at any 

 rate in its practical results in these latter days. The fundamental fact in human na- 

 ture that man is a religious animal, and that religion, hot and strong, appeals to factors 

 in human life which are open to no other influences, has been illustrated once more by 

 the success which attended the initiation of his missionary zeal and fervour. Superior 

 people might scoff at what Huxley called a " corybantic " type of revivalist Christianity, 

 but it caught hold of thousands from whose lives the very foundations of social refine- 

 ment and intellectual culture were absent. In this respect indeed the Salvation Army 

 was not original: what was original was the way in which "General " Booth gave 

 organic form, under a quasi-military system, to revivalist methods which have always 

 been emotionally effective, and the extent to which he brought its influence to bear on 

 the most intractable of social problems, the moral and economic wreckage of the under- 

 world of the modern community. Intense faith, profound and tireless sympathy, and a 

 disinterested devotion superior to all criticism on the score of crudity of ideas and 

 methods, could alone have won for " General " Booth the place he came to occupy in the 

 social and religious world towards the end of his life. In the early 'nineties he might 

 have passed away simply as the fanatical hot-gospeller of an insignificant sect of street- 

 corner psalm-singers; it would have been inconceivable then that he should end his life 

 as one far whom a place in Westminster Abbey was thought appropriate, one of the 

 autocrats of the religious world. Whatever may be the future of the vast organisation 

 created under his leadership, such a history is sufficient testimony to the strength of 

 character of the man who brought it into being, and the immensity of the opportunity 

 for social service which he had the genius to grasp and set in motion. " General" 

 Booth was primarily an evangelist, and the immense extension of the administrative 

 work of the Salvation Army, involved in the social and economic enterprises connected 

 with various aspects of the " Darkest England " scheme since 1890, was only made 

 possible, no doubt, by the devoted co-operation of others, within the Army and outside; 

 but all of this depended on the disciplined obedience and passionate religious solidarity 

 which issued from .the evangelical fervour of which he was the fount and origin. In his 

 successor, his son Mr. B ram well Booth {b. 1856), nominated for that position in sealed 

 orders by the founder as long ago as 1880, a new "General " steps into his place, whose 

 long executive experience as " Chief of the Staff" should augur well for the maintenance 

 of the social activities of the Salvation Army throughout the world; and its characteris- 

 tics simply as a religious organisation have long become fixed on lines which will natural- 

 ly follow the inspiration given by their creators. 



LABOUR UNREST AND "SYNDICALISM" 



During igio^is, as may be seen from the historicalaccounts for individual coun- 

 tries in Part II of the YEAR-BOOK, the " Labour Unrest " has been a very conspicuous 

 social feature in all the countries of Western civilisation, both in Europe and America. 

 Generally speaking, the new symptom which has riveted public attention in the unrest 

 of the wage-earning classes has been the rise of what is known as " Syndicalism," under 

 the influence of which has become manifest a further stage of the evolution of ideas, and 

 the evolution of organised action, in the assertion of the claims of Labour as opposed to 

 Capital. In the readjustment of social-economic relations between operatives and em- 

 ployers, notably in Great Britain, America, France and Germany, Syndicalism is a new 

 development, superimposed upon the older ideals and aims represented both in the 

 general theory of Socialism and in the practical work of trade-unionism, whejther of the 

 earlier and more restricted industrial and friendly-society type or of the newer militant 

 political type which is actively represented in the parliamentary Labour parties. For 

 " Syndicalism " which, as a term, is derived simply from the French word for trade- 

 union (syndicat) comprises in itself both an extreme application of .Socialist theory and 

 an extended application of the methods of militant trade-unionism. 1 



1 For detailed accounts of the rise and progress of the modern Labour movement and 

 its ideas and organisation, see especially tne articles in the E. B. on "Labour Legisla- 



