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conspiracy of silence which , if not another and more subtle form of calumny , is a testimony to our strength , that our principles should be clear as the dawn of their fulfilment , which we do but herald and prepare . To return to the Daily Neios . Our business is chiefly with the second half of its analytical explanation .
" Socialists , " says the Daily News , " are craftytheorists , who seek to promote their views by argument and experiment . What these views are it is not so easy to define ; for almost every expounUer of socialist or communist views has a separate theory of his own . Closely examined , however , the intellectual stock in trade of all of them will be found to be substantially the same . It is neither very rich nor very varied , consisting of one truth imperfectly apprehended , and of one gross fallacy . The truth is , that there is an associative instinct in man quite as powerful and ineradicable as the instinct of emulation and
competition ; and that theoretical and practical politicians have too exclusively directed their attention to the latter , and have almost entirely overlooked the former . The fallacy ( like most fallacies ) has its origin , not in the reason , but in the passion and the will . The desire of acquiring property is strong in most men , and the power of gratifying it is generally proportioned to the strength of the desire . This desire to possess , howevei * , does not originate simply in a craving to have ; it springs from a wish to direct the application and distribution of property . Men who by planning ,
and toiling , and pinching , have scraped together property , believe that they have a right to dispose of it as they please in setting other men to work or relieving their necessities . Now , there are always among those who , being more disposed to reflect than act , are least able to acquire property , a good many who persuade themselves they could expend it better than those who have earned it . It is this flattering estimate of their own abilities that makes most Socialists and Communists . They see that the property which is called into existence by the heads of a few and the hands of many is in fact consumed by all ; they see that its distribution and consumption is regulated by those who contribute head-work towards production ;
they believe that themselves could regulate consumption and distribution better ; and therefore they try to persuade society to take from the producers of property all power to regulate its distribution , and to attribute that function to wiser and more competent headsthat is , to themselves . Such is the modest impertinence of Socialism . The instinct which prompts men to acquire and preserve private property is too ' universal and too strong to be argued out of them . The Socialists have undertaken an impossible task , and of course will not succeed . Again , Socialism is an opinion , a faith , and that cannot bo eradicated by prohibitionary laws or force , though Red Republicans may be put down . "
The show of candour in this passage does not disguise its disregard of truth . Either the writer is ignorant of what he professes to describe so authoritatively , or he is informed , and deliberately sets aside his better knowledge : in either case ho disregards truth . This accusation against a contemporary , for whom we entertain at least a professional respect , we malce with regret , but wo make it deliberately and without qualification .
There does not exist the diversity of theories attested by tho writer . A diversity of plans does exist , and some Socialists hold certain auxiliaries to bo essentially necessary to tho establishment of an associative practice . Robert Owen holds the dogmatic belief that man ' s character is made " for him" by circumstances within Inn own control , and that ho should be fitted for socialist practice by a previous education under the influence of " favourable circumstances . " John Mintcr Morgan believes , with more support from strict reasoning , that associative practice can
only be rendered possible where men arc swayed by tho higher motives , including religion , lint these distinctions of method , or plan , or circumstance , < lo not annul tho oik ; radical fact on which all Association or Socialism turns—that concert in tho division of employments is an essential , olomont to the truest and most productive economy . The theoretical Communist holds further , that if economy wore perfected by association , labour would bo minimized , and tho euro to possess separate property would expire ; that property would bo not destroyed , but ho developed ap jo extend its benefit to all . With almost a single exception , and that of the most transparently pimihottctcd kind , it would bo difficult to ruko uuany evidence that Socialist * become 00 in tho deturo
to dictate or dispense . The Socialist says to any given number ot men engaged in industrial occupations—If you cease to keep separate from one another , if you come to a common understanding , if you cease to compete and begin to work in concert , you will not work to waste , but will all of you make more than you now do . Amongst the working classes , speaking generally , the Socialists are distinguished for orderly demeanour , intelligence , and industry . If , in a public meeting , you see a man rise , with a better external appearance than the average , to counsel candour
towards opponents , and moderation with perseverance in action , the chances are ten to one that that man is a Socialist . The insinuation that Socialists are actuated by the desire to possess other men ' s earnings is on a level with the same insinuation levelled in . Blachivood and the Quarterly , years back , at Radicals like the Daily News . It is a species of reckless aspersion , which degrades him who casts it . The pretence that " property called into existence by the heads of the few and the hands of the
many , is in fact consumed by all , " is idle talk . How much of the great landowner ' s property goes into the hands of the cottagers on his estates ? How much of a great millowner ' s hundreds of thousands sterling , or material luxuries , is available to his workmen P We do not envy either of the two the luxury enjoyed in the midst of want ; and in many cases amassed to the one by the screw of the want upon th 6 many . But we do say that if the many perceived their own interests and their own powers they would not
continue to let the benefits of combined work go into the hands of the few ; they would not continue to work like beasts of burden or draught-horses , passive and helpless , without will of their own . It is not the working men , however , whom the Daily News most injures by its prevarications , but its own clients . The awe-stricken servants of the Burmese Emperor conceal from him the reverses which his empire sustains at its frontiers and portals ; they tell him not the defeats of Martaban and Eangoon ; and thus he is
prevented from taking counsel with reality , or giving any veritable exertion to defend his own territory . Meanwhile , the power of Britain is steadily eating into his domain . Thus it is that the Daily Netvs serves its own Grand Llama , its idol king , by consoling it with tales of what " naughty Socialism" is not , and assuring the great ruler that the abhorred influence will never prevail ; although that influence has already invaded not only the frontiers of the factory system , but is establishing its footing in the very pages of orthodox economy .
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BE MORTUIS . Peatii balances tho account of all men , and sometimes the balance is not exactly what we have expected , even when the whole of tho details havo been before us , Tho poor old Miser I ^ eild , whose tenants took him for a needy man , has suddenly developed , in articulo mortis , a fortune of 400 , 0 ( X ) £ . ; and not being powerful in the inventive art of knowing what to do with his money , ho could think of nothing better than to leave it to the Queen . He has doubled her salary for twelvo months . Even that , however , is not so base a
disposal as sonic men might devise . The philosopher who cut ofFhis son with a shilling and loft a museum to a nation , was still morb a pauper than tho man who could possess 400 , 000 / . and find nothing to do with it for himself or others . Sir James Parker had risen by his own ability and professional virtues to 0110 of the highest stations in tho country . He had helped to maintain tho very high character of tho . Knglrsh . Bench , and beyond that had contributed his
sha . ro to the influences of Law I it ; form ; nevertheless , now that his life has finished , and nothing more remains for him to add to his achievements , one in struck with the comparatively tamo result of ho much labour as that which himself and his teachers compressed into the education of his life . Ho will stand as ono amongst a very long Hcrics of honourable Jt ) nglinh lawyers ; one of an endless- row of caryatides supporting tho vast national pediment .
In a much low or position , working iji a much humbler sphere , as a subordinate to the Board of Trade ; still 1 more notably working in his own closet , through tho humbler instrumentality of tho publisher , Q . ii . Portyr filled a position between the oilicial man and tho professional writer , It would be dimoult to dufluo hia exact
station in society . He has not been a yerv T p markable man while he lived amongst us in an way . His industry in a particular branch of literature was self-moving ; but there are few men who , single-handed , have contributed bo much for the service of others . If Porter did not help to develope new laws in ecpnomy , he per formed the next best service , of bringing up th " old laws to , their most perfect form , and rendering
them compact and intelligible in their application to actual facts ; thus presenting to the students of economy in the real business of life a text book as a new point of departure . In this way he has furnished a stand-point for the men who have stepped beyond him , and his Progress of the Nation will grace the shelv es of . every library in the indefinite future , as one of those standard books , the mastery of which is necessarv
to comprehend the history of the country . He did not amass four hundred thousand pounds to present to the Queen ; nor had he attained the exalted professional rank which made him a vice-keeper of a sovereign ' s conscience ; but posterity will recognise him as a servant of its own .
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HINTS TO NEW M . P . 'S . BY AN EXPERIENCED " STBANGEB . " IV . Gentlemen , —I have by this time assumed that you agree with me in the several propositions I have brought forward ; first , that only those who are " men of the world , " and have an endurin g physique , should go into the House of Commons ; secondly , that all men , qualified by body , brains , and worldly tact , have an equal chance of success in the House , if they will study and conciliate the requirements of a busy assembly , bent , not upon theorising , oratorising , or showing off , but simply and solely on practical government j and , thirdly , that only those are wanted in the House who are content , for the sake of the direct
advancement of their views , to merge their individuality into the organization of " a party . " It has taken three epistles to you to make these three points palpable and plain ; and whatever doubts you may have originally had , are now , I would hope , removed b y a careful consideration of the personal illustrations with which I have furnished you . I am not talking abstract maxims , I am succeed
only giving you a list of the men who — men whom you know and can study , ' at your leisurp , and . whom reflection will induce you to imitate 1 Look at the House of Commons from the right point of view—as a club , composed , principally , of members of the governing classes , tolerably honest , but intensely prejudiced , and managing to combine what they regard as public good
with an immense amount of private-family-classprofit . Tho relations of tho majority of tho House to their constituents are not rigorous : they depend for their private comfort , personal position , and party prosperity but slightly upon the opinions of the voters who voted for them ; and their constituents being , again , but a section of tho vast public , tho ' ' member" who is ranked among tho Whigs or tho Tories never thinks and never acts with tho sense of national
responsibility—with a defcrenco to national will , ne got into Parliament to rise or fall with tlic " party ; " and lie has , consequently , a lax morale about public affairs . His own existence in rarliament is a job—a sham ; and English public life—a series of jobs and shams—does not startio him ; and his conscienco is comforted with tno reflection that , somehow or another , tho country takes caro of itself , in spito of tho inadequacy and dishonour of the Government . Ho finds tlio political differences between himself and " the Honourable gentleman opposite" exceedingly sJlfc'u * while ho is sure tho said honourable gentleman is , privately , and apart from his politics and ci - durance l of all the shams andjoDS ,
, nay , appause , tlUriUlCO , JUIJ , JI-UJHHUMIJ , U 1 UU mu ww ; ' a high-spirited , high-minded , good-temped " English gentleman . Thorp is , then , no hW » 1 political animosity botween " Conservative w » -Liberal Conservative , " and there is « pn {? Pflu 01 * J no exalted tone in public " life . The W ngs ^ tho Tories arc on tho same connmttooH «• gether ; they dino together ; they oven m » y " ' long to tho mime duff . They meet at connno houses ; their families become interlaced ; " » when those aro tho conditions ot poJiticiu vvi sition , there is too much social friendliness abou it , to allow it to bo very , honest or wj national . Whigs and Tone * «¦ T ^ proceed from the iiuue clwf \ and , excep * *
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n : gf 4 T H E L E A D E R . [ Sato ****
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 11, 1852, page 874, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1951/page/14/
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