424 THE QUESTIONS OF THE DAY. 



State control of all gifts of nature, including the earth unci 

 everything which it produces. No private ownership recog- 

 nized in anything not the product of the labor of the producer. 



State control and operation of all instruments of produc- 

 tion, including f^ictories and machinery. I do not understand 

 tills to include such implements as individuals might requiie 

 in their daily labor for themselves, but between these and tlie 

 large plants which the state would own and operate, there is 

 no closely drawn line. 



State or municipal control and operation of all public 

 means of transportation. 



State or municipal control and operation of all public util- 

 ities, including street railways, telegraphs, telephones, water 

 and ligl)ting plants, and the like. 



The above are the essential fundamental doctrines held by 

 all true Socialists, In minor points there are differences more 

 or less wide between different "schools." The platform of the 

 "Socialist Labor party" differs from true Socialism in not 

 excluding private ownership of land and instruments of pro- 

 duction, or the "exploitation" of labor. 



The ranks of Socialism include many most excellent men. 

 While I am not a Socialist, I recognize that it is a movement 

 not to be slightly reckoned with, or its arguments to be hastily 

 put aside. It is making progress, in America, among the 

 more emotional of the intellectual classes who contribute to the 

 already enormous volume of Socialistic literature, and among 

 the best class of artisans who look to it as promising relief 

 from intolerable burdens, and who supply the numbers at 

 Socialist gatherings. 



There is implied in all Socialistic writing* the doctrine 



*In the present stage of discussion upon social questions the issues are 

 badly mixed, and individuals who profoundly disagree upon fundamental doc- 

 trine are found heartily working together for the accomplishment of immediate 

 ends. Trade unionism is almost contradictory to Socialism, and yet Socialists 

 are always found hand in hand with organized labor. The public ownership of 

 public utilities is an essential part of the Socialistic program, which is accepted 

 by great masses of men who are strongly opposed to its more radical demands. 

 A great number, also, who are not Socialists, favor the nationalization of rail- 



