THE FARMER AXD SOCIALISM. 427 



based on the faith of the state which conveyed its title to the 

 individual. In old countries the state has condoned the orig- 

 inal robbery, just as it has condoned the robbery of all unearned 

 increment, and upon the faith of the state's guaranty those who 

 have saved have invested their savings. It is right that this 

 faith should be respected, just as it is right that national debts 

 shall be honestly paid, not because one generation is bound by 

 the engagements of former generations, but because it is for 

 the good of all generations that they should consider them- 

 selves so bound. All this Socialism denies. But, regardless 

 of ethics, and if the unquestioned title to all land now rested 

 in the state, we should favor its alienation to individuals, and 

 ccmsequent private ownership of land upon the ground of 

 expediency, because land will yield more to private owner- 

 ship than to the ownership of the public, and it is desirable 

 that the most be made of it. But, while thus disputing, in 

 })art, the validity, and absolutely the wisdom of this Socialistic 

 contention, we should be prepared to join heartily in the pro- 

 motion of all measures for assuring to the public all future 

 increment of value unearned by individuals. 



But it is not with regard to abstract but concrete Socialism, 

 as advocated by its votaries of to-day, that I wish to write. 

 This, as I have said, centers about urban life and the welfare 

 of artisans, inevitably so, because there only is there a suffi- 

 cient concentration of those for whose labor there is insufficient 

 market, and also, as is claimed, logically, because the needs of 

 that class must be the basis of the standard of life. It is this 

 contention of these societies that I wish specially to traverse. 

 I deny that, assuming a uniform basic standard of life, the 

 needs of the urban resident must be the standard, and assert 

 that, on the contrary, it must be the needs of the farmer. 



Concrete Socialism is in some respects exemplified in trade 

 unionism, meaning by that expression the aggregate of the 

 demands of organized labor. It does not profess to be 

 Socialism, and it may be that the majority of those belonging 

 to these organizations would not call themselves Socialists. 

 Their objects, however, it is safe to say, have the hearty 

 approval of all Socialists, as a stepping-stone to further 



