A COMMUNISTIC PROPHET.*
THERE are men who lack the courage of their convictions.
Of these is not Mr. Frederick Engels. He has the courage both of his convictions and his predictions. In 1845 he wrote a book, from the communistic point of view, on the condition of the working class in England, which he described as being so bad that it could not well be worse, imputing all their woes to the greed of capitalists and the selfishness of the bourgeoisie, meaning thereby all who do not earn their bread by the sweat of their brow. This book, which has been long out of print, is now republished, with a preface dated January, 1892, wherein the author reaffirms his opinions, and protests anew that what he calls the capitalistic system is alone responsible for the evils which he exaggerates and deplores ; the inference, of course, being that if this system were replaced by State Communism, violently or otherwise, the working classes would be made happy as by the stroke of an enchanter's wand, and everything be for the best in the best of possible worlds. This conclusion, be it observed, is unsupported either by argu- ment or evidence ; for, like the traditional judge, Mr. Engels offers no reasons for his judgments, and lays down the law with the unhesitating confidence of an infallible Pope de- livering himself of a new dogma. Nevertheless, his book is well-timed and was perhaps worth republishing, if only to show what foolish things a clever man may say. Mr. Engels has a swift and vigorous style ; he testifies in many instances as an eye-witness, and his description of the condition of the working classes at the period in question, though not always accurate, is vivid and picturesque.
By comparing his account of past times with our own knowledge of the present, we see bow great are the strides we have made since 1844, how much better off are the masses, how much pleasanter their lives, how much brighter their prospects,—and all without that cataclysm which Mr. Engels foretold and apparently desired. He asserted (writing in 1845) that by 1852 or 1853 (there is nothing like being exact) the English people would have had " enough of being plundered by the capitalists, and left to starve when the capitalists no longer required their services ; " and then he goes on :—
" If, up to that time, the English bourgeoisie does not pause to reflect, —and to all appearance it certainly will not do so,—a re- volution will follow with which none hitherto known can be com- pared. The proletarians, driven to despair, w11 seize the torch which Stephens has preached to them (sic); the vengeance will come down with a wrath of which the rage of 1793 gives no true idea. The war of the poor against the rich will be the bloodiest ever waged. Even the union of a part of the bourgeoisie with the proletariat, even a general reform of the bourgeoisie,
would not help matters These are inferences which may be drawn with the greatest certainty ; conclusions, the premises for which are undeniable facts, partly of historical development, partly facts inherent in human nature. Prophecy is nowhere so easy as in England, where all the component elements of society are clearly defined and sharply separated."
Why prophecy should be easy because the component elements are sharply defined, is not made plain to us. This, however, is a mere detail ; if we are unable to follow
Mr. Engels's arguments, that is no reason why we should not accept his conclusions ; and it is evident, from the tone of his preface, that neither the failure of his forecasts nor the logic of facts has disturbed the serenity of his self-confidence. The bourgeoisie are still his abhorrence ; and if they treat the working man better than they did in days gone by, it is with the object of getting more work out of him, or for some equally sordid reason. Even the improvement, which our author admits, " makes more evident the central fact that the cause of the miserable condition of the working class is to be sought, not in these minor grievances (such as have been re- dressed since 1844), but in the capitalistic system itself." The alternative of the capitalistic system is the suppression of private capitalists, and the organisation of industry by the State. The State would become the universal employer, pro- ducer, and paymaster. Factories. machine-shops, newspapers, farms, and, we presume, every other enterprise now worked on the " capitalistic system," would be " run " by Govern- ment officers in the interest of the community. It passes
• The Coedit on of the Working Class in England in1844. With Preface written in 1892. By Frederick Engels. London : Swan Sonnenschein and Co.
comprehension how people of culture, men who can think like Marx and write like Mr. Engels, are able to per- suade themselves and others of the feasibility of State socialism. Everybody who knows aught of human nature, or has any acquaintance with affairs, knows that no such system could by any possibility succeed, that it could not even be initiated without a degree of confusion and coercion, confisca- tion and oppression from which the mind shrinks in dismay. And yet there are millions in Germany, and probably as many in France, who believe that with the triumph of social democracy would begin an industrial millennium, an era of uninterrupted prosperity. The rank and file believe it partly because they think any change would be for the better, partly because they are told so by their leaders ; their leaders believe it, either because they are incapable of reasoning, or because, like some mediaeval saints, they ignore reason and despise facts. Able man as he is, it does not seem to occur to Mr. Engels that when he assails the existing economic system, and asserts that some other system which has never been tried would remove the evils he sets forth, the burden of proof rests with him. He cannot know that the cataclysm which he desires would produce the result which he predicts. He only thinks so, and The Condition of the Working Class so abounds with anticipations which have been falsified by the event, that a better title for it would be " The Vanity of Prophesying." In 1845, he denounced Free- trade and the Repeal of the Corn Laws, because, in his opinion, they would be followed by a fall of wages. They have been followed by a rise of wages, probably greater than ever previously took place in so short a time, a rise which has coincided with a 20 per cent. diminution, in the textile and engineering trades, of working time. Forty- eight years ago the factory day was twelve hours ; it is now nine and a half, and the purchasing power of money is greater than it was then. With more thrift and less drink, the working class of this country would be as well off as the mass of mankind can hope to be,—or probably ever will be. For years past the tendency has been for profits to fall and wages to rise ; and the extinction or serious diminution of the capital, which so greatly rouses communistic ire, would be the utter ruin of wage-earners.
Another communistic theory, one which Mr. Engels proclaims in almost every chapter of his book, is that society is divided into two distinct classes, bourgeoisie and proletarians ; and as the latter are defined as depending on their day's work (when they can get it) for their day's food, the former category must include all who have aught to lose, whether they be " hands" who have saved money, or factory - masters who have made for- tunes. Socialists contend that the proletarians are in the majority. But this is a pure assumption. We, on the con- trary, contend that the Haves outnumber the Have-nots ; and even the Have-nots in this country, whatever they may be in Germany, are a long way from believing that a general cataclysm would improve their condition. In truth, Socialism of the sort advocated by Mr. Engels, though a noisy creed, is a hopeless cause. Even in Germany, where the governing classes so much dread it, and its votaries are so many, a social revolution is altogether inconceivable. Whether the bourgeoisie outnumber the proletarians or not, they are, at any rate, a powerful minority; dispose of all the wealth of the com- munity and all the forces of the State, and include the ablest and most energetic members of the community. The issue of a contest waged under these conditions could hardly be doubtful ; and a Communistic revolution without a contest is not in the nature of things. One chief function and raison d'être of Governments is the encouragement of thrift by the protection of property ; and as the chief object of militant Socialists is the suppression of private property, an object which can be attained only by despoiling individual owners, they would be resisted to the death not alone by the constituted authorities, but by every man who has aught to lose.
Nevertheless, the teachings of gentlemen like Mr. Engels do an infinity of mischief. We make no doubt that he is a humane man, who would shrink with horror from the idea of putting a single capitalist to death. Unfortunately, behind him and his like are men who accept their doctrines in blind faith, and scruple not to carry them into effect. The Paris insurrections of 1849-1872, which cost the lives of thousands, were due to the teachings of Communistic prophets, and the outrages which have lately terrorised the French capital, are causing so much confusion in the United States, and will inevitably, if repeated, provoke cruel reprisals, are the handiwork of fanatics who have sat at the feet of the cultured advocates of anarchy and disorder.
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