Kei'itu Qf Retieai, iO/ijOG. 



Leading Articles. 



399 



SOCIALISM AND DEMOCRACY IN GERM' NY. 



In i\\<: .\J oil tidy Review Dr. Louis Elkind discusses 

 the growth of thV Social Democrats in Germany and 

 the much greater spread of Socialistic principles in 

 that country than in France or England, notably 

 than in England. In Germany, still a young indus- 

 trial nation, Socialism has immense power; in Great 

 Britain and the United States as a political force it 

 is much less serious. Vet one would naturally exjiect 

 it to be strongest in the countries in which industry 

 is carried on on the vastest scale. .As Dr. Elkind 

 reminds us, however, some British Colonies have 

 strong Socialistic tendencies. 



Considering the huge number of unemployed, the 

 absence of strong Socialistic undercurrents in Eng 

 land is very remarkable indeed. In any other countr\ 

 these unem|)loyed would have been a serious menace 

 to societ). In Germany, for instance, there is no 

 doubt that the Government would, ojit of fear of 

 serious rioting, have done much more for the unem- 

 ployed than has been done in England. Not that 

 Socialist agitators are wanting in England ; " in 

 some parts of London and provincial centres they 

 nre to be found at almost every street comer." 



WHY S0C1.\1.IS.\I MAKK8 LITTLE WAY IN E.XGLANT). 



Why, then, has Socialism made so little progress 

 in this country? First, replies Dr. Elkind, 



before anyone tan liave a proper uiKlcrBtaiiiling of the 

 meaning and principleH which underlie the theories of 

 Socialism, a more or less considerable amount of seneral 

 education is almost a matter of necessity. In Germany 

 . . . the Socialist Party is to a very large extent com- 

 posed of people wlio have received a higher education, 

 quite apart from the fart that thev belong to what may 

 properly be called the middle clasa. 



There has, in fact, been an enormous over-produc- 

 tion of well-educated people in Germany, who find 

 themselves unable to get work of the kind for which 

 their education has fitted them — " verkommene Exist- 

 enzen " Bismarck called them; " Hungerscandida- 

 ten " the Kaiser nanietl them. And most of these in- 

 tellectual unemployed are Socialists. .Also, the 

 lower German working-class population are better 

 educated and better informed on political questions 

 than corresponding classes in Great Britain. 



THE MIDDLE { L.\S.SKS tiTRONGLY AGAINST IT. 



.Again, one of the chief reasons militating against 

 he spread of Socialism in England is English con- 

 M-rvatism, its force and tenaciousiiess, and the great 

 respect of the mass of the people for established 

 uithority, even for " cai)ital." However, it is not the 

 working classes who are so slow to imbibe Socialistic 

 ! leas ; it is the middle classes who are " bitterly and 

 Si Tenuously opposed to them." They want to rise in 

 the social and economic scale, and do not see how 

 SociaJisni is to help them to do so. Moreover, So- 

 cialism suggests self-sacrifice, and the middle classes 

 are not politically altruistic. The most religious 

 classes (in England, of course, the middle classes) 

 are always most opposed to Socialism, and this ap- 

 plies far more to Great Britain than to any other 



nation. The British Press, too, is a strong pillar 

 of the throne and the power behind the throne, 

 whereas the journalists and editors of the Father- 

 land are constantly getting imprisoned for lese ma- 

 jeste. In the last ten years or so from fifty-fi-ve to 

 eighty German editors went annually to prison for 

 that very political offence. 



WHY SOCIALISM IS GROWING 



Dr. Elkind savs : — 



IN GERMANY. 



I liave had the opportunity of discussing this subject 

 with one of the foremost and ablest German politicians, 

 and he tells me that the rapid growth of socialistic ten- 

 dencies i!i the Fatherland haw never before formed any- 

 thing like such a great and constant source of irritation 

 tfl tlie Emperor as it does at the present time. 



Why is this? The economic condition of the work- 

 ing classes in Germany is generally less favourable 

 than some ten years ago. Wages are higher, but so 

 is cost of living. .And the widespread dissatisfac- 

 tion which results swells the ranks of the Socialists. 

 The chief source of strength of the Social Demo- 

 crats in Germany, Dr. Elkind insists, is still the 

 bourgeoisie ; it is 'juite a mistake to suppose that 

 they are composed entirely of working men. A 

 source of weakness in the party is the fact that it is 

 divided into two camps, one of which advocates 

 "orthodox Socialism," that is, Marxian theories, 

 while the other rejects .Marxianism pure and simple 

 as not practical, and directs its attention mainly to 

 possible work lying to hand — material, mental and 

 moral betterment of the working classes. 



RECOLLECTIONS OF MR. GLADSTONE. 



.A Characteristic Anecdote. 



In the ConihiU Magaziue Sir Algernon West, who 

 became Gladstone's private secretary in 1868, and 

 enjoyed his confidence to the last, writes of " Mr. 

 Gladstone as I Knew Him," a paper of pleasant 

 [jersonal reminiscences. The following anecdote 

 mav he quoted as illustrating his marvellous 

 memory : — 



We were discussing in 1881 the conversion of the malt 

 tax into a beer duty, which he called the greatest finan- 

 cial oiveration in his life, not even excepting the reimpoei- 

 tion of the income tax. 



I had told him tl at the estimated profit of the maltster 

 was three per cent, on each quarter of malt. I am now 

 putting imaginary figures. 



The following day he said. ' I understand that the 

 maltster's profit is four per cent." No. sir," I said, 'three 

 per cent." "I certainly thought it was four"; and then 

 turning to Mr. Young, a famous Inland Revenue official, 

 he said. 'Can you recollect as far back as 1832? Was not 

 the profit then supposed to l>e four i>er cent." "It was 

 then." he leplied. "Ah." Mr. Gladstone said, "I see how 

 four per cent, has got into my mind. I recollect studying 

 tlie question when I became member for Newark, in 1832. 

 and it was that figure then— a gap of nearly fifty years" 



" Some time before the end," says Sir Algernon 

 West. " Mr. Gladstone was aware of his failing 

 powers, and said : ' My great wish now is to be out 

 of all the strife. At my age I ought to be one of 

 those whose faces are set towards Zion, and who go 

 up thither ; for this is only a probationary school — 

 only a probationary school.' " 



