THE FARMER AND SOCIALISM. 425 



that organized man can override, and, as applied to himself, 

 repeal the fundamental law of nature that no species can 

 endure, except by the production of more individuals than 

 can be supported, of whom the weakest must die, with the 

 corollary of misery before death. Competitive society tends 

 to the death of the weakest; Socialistic society would tend to 

 the preservation of the weak. 



There can be no question of the grandeur of this concep- 

 tion. To no man is given nobler aspirations than to him who 

 conceives of a just distribution of comfort in an existence not 

 idle, but without struggle. It would be a Nirvana glorious 

 only in the absence of sorrow, but still perhaps a happy ending 

 for our race. It may, after all, be our destiny. Nor can any 

 right-minded man forbear his tribute to the good which 

 Socialistic agitation has done. No man can tell how much 

 misery it has prevented or how much it will prevent. So, 

 also, while we may regret the emotionalism which renders 

 even so keen an intellect as that of Karl Marx an unsafe 

 guide, w^e must, when we read his descriptions of conditions 

 for which he sought remedy, confess that he had been less a 

 man had he been less emotional. The man whom daily con- 

 tact with remediable misery will not render incompetent to 

 always write logically is not one whom I should wish to know. 

 But it is the mission of such men to arouse action, and not to 

 finally determine its scope. The advocate may not be the 

 judge. 



Recurring to the fundamental principles of Socialism, as 

 stated on page 423 — and I may say that disregarding the 



roads. There are multitudes of non-Socialists who favor nationalization of water, 

 which is Socialistic doctrine, who are strong supporters of private ownership in 

 land. In regard to land single taxers and Socialists have many more points of 

 agreement than of divergence. No program could command the support of the 

 multitude of earnest men who are found in the ranks of Socialism which did not 

 contain a great deal of good, but the supporters of some one or more of the 

 demands of Socialism may be very far from being Socialists. To be a Socialist 

 one must favor the abolition of profit and interest, state ownership of all gifts of 

 nature, of all means of production, and of all public utilities, and of such 

 control, by the state, of individual life and effort as shall be ultimately found 

 essential to the accomplishment of the ends of Socialism. 



