PICTURES OF rrHE of the Socialistic Future... · 2019-11-13 · pictures of rrhe socialistic future (ffreti!! abaptrj:r from 3bebel) by eugene richter member of the imperial german

PICTURES OF rrHE

SOCIALISTIC FUTURE

(ffretI!! abaptrJ:r from 3Bebel)

BY

EUGENE RICHTERMEMBER OF THE IMPERIAL GERMAN PARLIAMENT

AUTHORISED TRANSLATION BY HENRY WRIGHT

LONDONS WAN SON N ENS C H E I N & C O.

PATERNOSTER SQUARE1893

CONTENTS

PAGE

I. CELEBRATION-DAY

II. THE NEW LA"VS 4III. DISCONTENTED PEOPLE 6IV. THE CHOICE OF TRADES 8V. A PARLIAMENTARY SITTING I I

VI. ASSIGNMENT OF WORK 16VII. NEWS FROM THE PROVINCES 22

VIII. THE LAST DAY TOGETHER . 26IX. THE GREAT MIGRATION 30

X. THE NEW CURRENCY 34XI. THE NEW D'WELLINGS 37

XII. THE NEW STATE COOKSHOPS 42XIII. A VEXING INCIDENT. 47XIV. A MINISTERIAL CRISIS 49xv. EMIGRATION • 5I

XVI. RETIREMENT OF THE CHANCELLOR 54XVII. IN AND ABOUT THE WORKSHOPS 56

XVIII. FAMILY MATTERS 60XIX. RECREATIONS OF THE PEOPLE 64XX. DISAGREEABLE EXPERIENCES 68

XXI. FLIGHT 72XXII. ANOTHER NEW CHANCELLOR 76

XXIII. FOREIGN COMPLICATIONS 78XXIV. THE ELECTIO~ STIR. 82XXV. SAD NEWS 38

XXVI. THE RESULT OF THE ELECTIONS 90XXVII. A LARGE DEFICIT 93

XXVIII. DOMESTIC AFFAIRS • 97XXIX. A STORMY PARLIAMENTARY SITTING 100

XXX. THREATENED STRIKE I 19XXXI. MENACING DIPLOMATIC NOTES 12 I

XXXII. GREAT STRIKE AND SIMULTANEOUS OUT-

BREAK OF WAR. 124XXXllI. THE CDUNTER-REVOLUTIQ,N BEGINS 126

XXXIV. DISHEARTENINGNEV'rS 129~XXV. THE LAST CHAP'TER • J 3t

PICTURES OFTHE SOCIALISTIC FlJTURE.

CHAPTER 1.

CELEBRATION DAY.

THE red flag of international Socialism waves· frolnthe palace and from all the public buildings of Berlin.If our irnrnortal Bebel could but have lived to seethis! He al ways used to tell the bourgeoi~ie that"the catastrophe was almost at their very doors."Friedrich Engels had fixed 1898 as the year of theultimate triurnph of Racialistic ideas. Well, it didnot conle quite so soon, but it has not taken nluchlong-er.

This, however, is immaterial. The Inain thing is thefact that all our long years of toil and battling forthe righteous cause of the people are now crowned,vith success. The old rotten regime, ,vith its ascend­ency of capital, and its systelu of plundering the work­ing ,classes, has crumbled to pieces. And for the benefitof my children, and children's children, I intend to setdown, in a hUlllble way, some little account of thebeginning of this new reign of brotherhood and uni­Yersal philanthropy. I, too, have not been altogether

A

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without some small share in this ne\v birth of man­kind. All, both in tilue and money, that I have beenable for a generation past to snatch from the practiceof my craft as an honest bookbinder, and all that Iny "family could spare, I have devoted to the furtheranceof our aims. I aln also indebted to the literature" ofSocialism, and to my connection with political clubs,for my nlental culture and my soundness on all social­istic points. ~Iy wife and children are in full accordwith me. Our beloved Bebel's book on wohlen haslong been the highest gospel to lUy better half, Paula.

The birthday of the new socialistic order happenedto be our silver wedding-day; and now, behold, to­day's celebration day has added fresh happiness to usas a" falnily. My son, Franz, has become engaged toAgnes Muller. The two have long known each other,and the strong attachment is mutual. So in all theelevation of mind, inspired by this great day, wehave knit up this new bond of affection. They areboth somewhat young yet, but they are, nevertheless,both good hands Oat their trades. He is a composito,',she a Inilliner. So there is ground to hope it will turnout a good match. They intend to rnarry as soon asthe new regulations in respect of 'vark, arrangenlentsof dwellings, and so 011, shall have reached completion.

After dinner we aU took a stroll unter den Linden.My stars! what a crowd there was! And what end­less rejoicing! Not one single discordant tone to marthe harrnony of the great celebration day. Thepolice is disbanded, the people thelnselves maintainingorder in the nlost exemplary manner.

In the palace gardens, in the square in front, and allaround the palace, vast crowds were gathered, whichsho,ved unmistakable unanimity and steadfastness of

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 3

ailn. "The new Government waS assembled in the pa~ace.

Colleagues, chosen from amongst the forernost leadersof the Socialist party, have provisionally taken overthe reins of GovernUlent. The Socialist members ofthe town council forIn, for the present, the corporation.W'henever, from time to time, one of our new rulerschanced to show himself at one of the windows, or ona balcony, the uncontrollable ecstasy of the peoplewould break out afresh, showing itself in franticwaving of hats and handkerchief.s, and in singing theworkrnen's Marseillaise.

In the evening there was a grttnd illumination.The statues of the old kings and marshals, decoratedwith red flags, looked strange enough in the red glareof so much beng-al fire. "rhe days of these statues are,however, numbered, and they will shortly have togive place to statues of bygone heroes of Socialism.I t has already been detern1ined, I hear, to reillove thestatues of the two HUITlboldts from the front of theuniversity, and to place there in their stead those oflIarx and Ferdinand Lassalle. The statq.e of Fredericthe Great, unter den Linden, is to be replaced by thatof our irnluortal Liebknecht.

Upon our return home we kept up, in our cosyfarnily circle, this double celebration till a late hour.My wife's father, \vho hitherto has not made luuchaccount of Socialisln, was with us on the occasion, andwas very sympathetic and cheery.

We are full of hope that we shall now soon vacateour hUlnble dwelling, three storeys high, and exchangeit for something better. vVell, well, the old place,after all, has witnessed many a quiet joy of ours,no lack of trouble and sorrow, and plenty of honestendeavour as well.

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CHAPTER II.

THE NEW LAWS.

ONE hears the most exquisite stories of the scralnblethere is on the part of the bourgeoisie to get across thefrontier. But where are they to go to? Socialism isnow dominant in all European countries, with theexception of England and Switzerland. TheArnericanstealners are unable to meet the demand there is onthem. Those who can once reach the Americanshores are all right, as the revolution· there was verysoon queUed, and all hope of success cut off for a longtime to COlne. L.et aU such plunderers clear out, say1. It is a good thing that, thanks to the suddennesswith which the revolution caBle at last, they have notbeen able to take nluch with theine All State bonds,mortgages, shares, bills, and bank-notes have beendeclared void. These bourgeois gentry Inay as wellat once begin papering the walls of their ship cabinswith this trulupery. All landed and house property,means of communication, ma<:hinery, tools, stores, andsuch like, have been impounded for the benefit of thenew socialistic State.

The Onward, which has hitherto been the leadingorgan of our party, now takes the place of the oldIrnperial .Advertiser, and it is deli vered at every housefree of cost. AU printing establishments having no\vbecome the property of the State, all the other papershave, as a matter of course, ceased to appear. In allother to\vns a local edition of the On'wcfJrd is issuedwith a sheet of 'local matter for each separate place.

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 5

Provisionally, and until such time as a new Parlia­ment shall have been elected, the conduct of affairs isin the hands of the socialistic .mernbers of the lateParlialuent, who, in the shape of a Committee ofGovernnlent, have to decide on those nUlnerous la\vsit will be necessary to enact in order to establish thenew era.

The old party programme which ,vas settled uponat the Erfurt Conference in 1891, has been prornul­gated as an outline of the fundamental rights of thepeople. This promulgation proclaims that all capital,property, luines and quarries,machinery, means ofcommunication, and all possessions whatever, havehenceforth become the sole property of the State, oras it is now better called, the Community. Anotherdecree sets forth the universal obligation there is on allpersons to work; and all such persons, ,vhether maleor fmnale, from the age of 21 to 65 years, are to enjoyprecisely the same rights. Those who are below 21years of age. will be educated at the expense of theState, whilst those who are above 65 will be luain­tained in a similar manner. All private enterprise andproductivity have, of course, ceased. Pending, how­ever, the new regulations as to supply, all persons areto retain their old post~, and to go on \vorking for theState, as their master. Each person hac:; to render aninventory of all such things as may have reluained tohim after the embargo just spoken of; things whichsome luight be telnpted to regard as private property,such as furniture, old clothes, bank-notes, and thelike. In particular, coins of aU kinds are to be de­livered up. New lnoney certificates are shortly to beissued.

The new Government, thanks to the smart Chan-

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cellor at its head, proceeds with no less energy thandirectness of purpose. Every precaution in the firstplace is to be taken against any possibility of capitalever regaining its old ascendency. The army is dis­banded; no taxes will be collected, as the GovernnJentproposes to raise that which is required for publicpurposes out of the revenue yielded by State tradetransactions. Doctors and lawyers are supported bythe State, and they are required to render theirservices gratis whenever needed. The days of the re­volution, and of the celebration of the saIne, have beendeclared holidays established by law.

It is quite evident that entirely new and glorioustimes are in store for us.

CHAPTER III.

DISCONTENTED PEOPLE.

AG~ES, our prospective daughter-in-law, is quite in­consolable, and Franz is hardly less depressed. Agnesis in fear for her dowry. For a long tilne pastshe has been industriously saving up, and n10reespecially so since her acquaintance with Franz.Her industry was such that she would scarceallow herself time for her meals, and the sumswhich her companions spent in finery, in pleasures,or in short excursions, she devoted to the increaseof her little capital. By these means she had noless a sum than two thousand ll1arks in the savingsbank at the time of her becoming engaged. It waswith no little pride and cornplacency that Franz toldme all this on the evening of the engagelnent day.The young people began to devise schemes as to how

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 7

they could· layout this large sum of money to thebest advantage.

But'now it seems that all 'her industry and econonlYare to prove quite futile. Rendered uneasy by allsorts of reports that reached her, Agnes determinedto go to the bank and give notice of withdrawal.Arrived in the neighbourhood of the bank, she foundthe street filled with excited groups. Old men andwomen, and numerous girls who had been servantsduring the old order of things, complained piteouslyof being cheated, as they said, out of their hard­earned savings. The officials, it appears, had statedthat along with all other values which, by theoperation of the new decrees had been confiscated,the funds of the savings bank were also void.

The nlere rumour of such a thing nearly luadepoor Agnes faint. Summoning courage, however, toenter the bank, she there soon received confirmationof this incredible news. Hastening to us, she heardit rumoured that deputations of bank creditors wereon their way to the palace to seek an interview withthe Chancellor. On hearing this I started off atonce, and Franz went with me.

We found an immense cro\vd gathered in .. frontof the palace. Across Lassalle Bridge (the old KingWilliam's Bridge), streanlS of people kept surg-ing uptowards the palace. It is clear this savings bank

~ question is deeply stirring the public mind. Allthe entrances to the courts of the palace weresecurely fastened. The crowd in front made variousefforts to obtain forcible entrance, but in vain. Sud­denlyseveral gun-barrels from inside bristled throughloopholes in the doors, which loopholes I had some­ho\v never noticed before.

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Who can say what might haye been the endof all this if, at this critical lTIOment, the Uhancellorhad not appeared on the scene and thus restoredorder? He stepped out upon the balcony of themiddle portal, and in a clear and sonorous voice,declared that the savings bank question should re­ceive the immediate consideration of the Committeeof Government. He begged all true patriots and con­sistent Socialists to confide fully in the justice andwisdom of the representatives of the people. Loudhurrahs greeted our Chancellor as he withdrew.

Just at this llloment several fire brigades cametearing along at a gallop from different directionstowards the palace. There being now no police tosumtnon, the authorities had in their eonsternationtelegraphed from the palace, reporting a great firethere. The arrival of the gallant fellows \vas greetedwith much laughter. By and by the crovvd dis­porsed in a more good-humoured and pliant mood.It is only to be hoped that the Governlnent will dothe right thing in this business.

CHAP~rER IV.

THE CHOICE OF THADES.

BIG red placards on all the hoardings remind peoplethat in accordance with the regulations of the ne\vLabour Law, all persons of both sexes, between theages of twenty-one and sixty-five years, are required­within three days to register themselves with a viewto being told off to some trade. The old policestations and various other public offices COlne in

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 9

nicely for this purpose. rrhe attention of wonlen andgirls is especially called to the fact that on theirentering upon work in one of the numerous Stateworkshops, they are forthwith relieved from allhousehold toil, such as taking care of children, thepreparation of meals, nursing the sick, washing, etc.,et.c. All children and :}"oung people are t.o be broughtup in State nlaintenance houses and in public schools.The chief rneal of each day will be taken at the Statecookshop of the district. Sick people must all be sentto the hospitals. Washing can be done solely at thegreat central washhouses of the State. The hours of\vork, for both sexes, both in trades and in State orpublic deparhnents, are fixed at eight hours for thepresent.

Docunlentary evidence is in all cases required as aproof of the capabilities of persons to perform theduties they enter themselves for; and in each case thebusiness hitherto followed has to be stated as well.Entries as clergymen cannot for a moment be enter­tained, seeing that by a resolution come to at theErfurt Conference of 1891, and which is now acceptedas a fundamental law of the State, it is strictlyprohibited to devote any national funds· to religiousor ecclesiastical purposes. Such persons, ho,vever,who, nevertheles~, wish to follow this profession, havefu1l1iberty to qualify thernselves for it in their leisurehours, after having worked the normal number ofeight hours in some branch which is recognised by theS~tate as a trade.

After the publication of this intelligence, the lifein the streets reselnbled that on a mustering day in agarrison town. Persons of the same trade formedthemselves into knots and groups, and having decor-

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ated themselves with some tlign of the trade chosen,marched through the streets singing and shouting.There "yere numerous groups of women and girls, whopainted in the liveliest colours the delights they anti­cipate frOlu the trades chosen, now that they haveonce got rid of all housework. One hears that agreat nlany persons have chosen an entirely differentline from the one hitherto followed. Many seem tofancy that the mere choice of a trade is identical withbeing already installed in it, but such is, of course, byno means the case.

So far as we as a family are concerned we meanto nlake no change, but to relnain faithful to thoseold trades 'we have got to like; so my son Franz, myfuture daughter-in-law Agnes, and I myself haveentered our naines accordingly. My "vife has regis­tered herself as an attendant at one of the children'shotnes. By this lueans she proposes still to exerciseher luaternal care over our youngest child Annie, fouryears of age, whom V\7 e shall now, of course, have toyield up.

I may here mention that after the tumult in frontof the palace, the Ministry deemed it prudent to re­introduce a body of police, which is to be four thousandstrong, and to station them in part at the arsenal,and in part at the neighbouring barracks. With aview to avoiding all unpleasant reminiscences, theblue uniform will now be discontinued, and· a brownone substituted for it. In place of a hehnet thepolice are to vvear large Rembrandt hats with redfeathers.

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE.

CHAPTER V.

A PARLIAMENTARY SITTING.

I I

IT was only with considerable trouble that Franz andI managed to-day to squeeze ourselves into the Housesituated in Bebel Square (the King's Square of olddays). A settlement was to be arrived at in respect ofthe savings bank funds. Franz informs me thatamongst the 2,000,000 inhabitants of Berlin, there areno fewer than 500,000 depositors in the savings banks.No wonder, then, that the whole neighbourhood of theHouse, the entire expanse of Bebel Square, and thesurrounding streets, were densely packed with personsmostly of the poorer clad sort, who awaited withbreathless interest the decision of the House. Thepolice, however, soon began to clear the streets.

As the general election has not yet taken place,and as all the seats of those melUbel's who ,vereelected~by the so-called better classes were declared

lvacant, we found, as a,matter of course, no othermembers present save our old colleagues the provedpioneers of the new order.

At the request of the Chancellor, the head of theStatistical Department opened the debate in a speechdealing largely ,vith statistics, and· showing the realmagnitude of the question in hand. He said therewere eight million depositors in the savings banks,with an aggregate of more . than 5,000 millions ofmarks. (Hear, hear, from the Left.) The yearly sumformerly paid in interest amounted to more than 150millions of rnarks. Of the deposits, 2,800 million

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marks were invested in rnortgages, 1,700 millionsin bonds, about 400 millions in public institu­tions and corporations, and the balance of 100 minionswere floating debt. All bonds had· been repudiatedby la\v. (Quite right, from the Left.) With thetransfer of all landed property to the State, allmortgages "vere, as a Inatter of course, annulled. It,vas, hence, clear that there were no funds out of whichthe claims of the savings bank depositors could besatisfied.

At the close of this speech a mernber of the Rightgot up. "Millions of honest worklnen and trueSocialists," said he (uproar from the Left), "will feelbitterly disappointed \v hen, in place of getting thefull re\vard of labour as expected, they see thenlselvesdeprived of those savings they had by dint of arduous·work been enabled to put by. By what nleans hadthose savings been effected? Only by means ofcontinuous effort and exertion, of economy, and ofabstention from certain things, such as tobacco andspirits, which many other worlnnen often indulged in.(Dproar from the Left.) Many a one had imaginedthat by putting by these savings he waq laying upS0111ething for a rainy day, or providing for his oldage. The placing of such persons on precisely thesarrle ·footing with those who have not shown a morselof thrift, will be felt by rnillions to be an injustice."(Applause from the 'Right, and loud cries of approvalfrom the galleries.)

The President. ~hreatened to have the galleriescleared if such cries were repeated, and at this therewere cries, "'Ve are ·the nation."

The President: "The nation is in possession of apower of veto, but it possesses no right to take part

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 13

in the debates in Parliament. Disturbers will beejected." (General approbation from all sides.)

A member of the Left now followed: (( A realSocialist of pure water never yet had bothered him...self about savipg anything," said he. (Contradictorysigns from the Right.) "Nobody who had allowedhimself to follow the doctrines of econOllly so muchpreached by the bourgeoisie had the least right toreckon on any consideration at the hands of thesocialistic State. Let it not be' forgotten, too, thatsome of these savings were in reality only stolen froruthe working-classes. (Dissatisfaction from the Right.)It should never be said that Socialism had hung upthe big thieves, but let millions of little ones escape.Why, the various inveshnents of this very savingsbank capital had helped to foster the old systelu ofrobbing the people. (Loud applause from the Left.).None but a bourgeois can say a word against theconfiscation of the savings bank funds."

The President here called the last speaker to orderfor the grave offence implied in designating a memberof the socialistic Parliament by the terrn bourgeois.

Amidst breathless suspense the Ohancellor rose tospeak. "Up to a certain point justice compels me tosay that both the honourable members "vho have justspoken are quite right in what they have advanced.A good deal lllight be said on the side of the moralityof these savings, but equally much may be ad­vanced as to the demoralising effects they have ex­ercised in the form of accumulated capital. Let us,however, above all things, never suffer a longing lookat the past to divert our gaze froill the great times inwhich ,ve Iive. (Hear, hear.) We lUust settle thisquestion as Socialists who know what they are about,

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and without any adnlixture of sentirnent. And inview of th is I say that to hand over 5,000 millionlna'tks to a fractional eight millions of the popula­tion "'lould be a building up of the l1e\v social equal­ity on a foundation of inequality. (Applause.) Thisinequality would inevitably soon Inake itself feltthroughout all the various branches of consunlption,and thus upset aU our carefully conceived plans forharmonising production and consumption. These fund­holders to-day ask for a return of their savings: withprecisely the saIne right others Inight corne to-morro\v-those, for instance, who had sunk their savings innlachinery and tools, in business stock, in houses orland-and dernand that their capital be refunded.(Signs of approval.) How are we then to set boundsto a possible reaction against the social order of thingsnow established? \Vhatever pleasures those personswho had put by their little savings had prolnisedthemselyes as the fruits of their thrift, and their ab­stinence, they would now reap a hundred tirnes greaterreward in the consciousness of knowing that all alike\vill now share those great benefits \vhichwe are aboutinaugurating. But if you take from us these fivo111illiards, reducing by this alnount the capital 'whichought to work solely in the interests of the public atlarge, then my colleagues in the rninistry, and myself,will be no longer in a position to accept the responsi­bility of carrying out those socialistic rneasures whichit was our airn to see accolnplished." (Loud and long­continued applause.)

A great number of members had signified their in­tention of speaking. But the President said it washis du ty to remind the House that, reckoning the tinlespent on committee meetings, and that which the law

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE.

allowed to each Iueluber for reading and preparation,the maximum eight hours had, as a rnatter of fact,already been reached, and that under these circum­stances the debate could not be continued before thenext day. (Cries of" vote, vote.") A resolution toapply the closure was proposed and passed. Upon thevote being taken, the House, with only a few dis­sentients, passed to the order of the day, and the sit­ting was over.

There were loud cries of indignation from thegallery, and these spread to the street outside. Thepolice, however, soon.managed to clear the space aboutthe House, and they arrested various noisy persons,amongst WhOIU were a good n1any women. It is saidthat several melllbers who had voted against the bankmonies being refunded to the owners were shanlefullyinsulted in the streets. The police are stated to havemade merciless use of their ne~v weapons, the so-called"killers," a weapon on the English pattern which hasjust been introduced.

Within our four walls we had an abundant displayof resentment and ill-feeling. Ag-nes rejected all en­deavours to tranquillise her, and it was in vain thatmy wife sought to comfort her with the thought ofthe opulent dowry which the Government nleant allnewly married couples to receive.

"I won't have anything given to llle," she criedpettishly; "ali I want is the wages of my o,vn labour;such government is worse than robbery." .

I much fear that to-day's events are not at allcalculated to strengthen Agnes' hold on socialisticprinciples. My father-in-law has likevvise savings inthe bank, and we dare. not venture to tell the oldgentleluan that his bank book is mere waste paper.

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He is far from being 'a miser. It was only the otherday he mentioned that he let interest and compoundinterest accUlllulate; we should find at his death thathe had been really grateful for all our tender care ofhim. In very deed one requires to be as firlnlygrounded as I alll in socialistic principles to stand such

- reverses without in the least losing heart.

CHAPTER VI.

ASSIGNMENrr OF 'VORK.

THE union between Franz and Agnes is suddenly putoff indefinitely. The police have to-day distributedthe orders relating to the occupations of the people,vvhich orders are based partly upon the registrationlately made, and partly upon the plan organised bythe Government for regulating production and con-surnption. '

True, Franz is to reillain a compositor, but, unfortu­nately, he can't stay in Berlin, but is sent to Leipsig.Berlin requires now hardly one-twentieth part of thenUlnber of compositors it fornlerly employed. Nonebut absolutely reliable Socialists are allowed on theOnward. Now Franz, through SOIne unguarded ex­pressions in Palace Sqnare over that unfortunatesavings bank business, is regarded with SOlne sus­picion. Franz "vill have it, too, that politics have hadsomething to do with the assignlnent of labour; andhe says, for instance, that in Berlin the Younkershave been completely scattered as a party. One hadto go as a paperhanger to Inowrazlaw because there,vas a scarcity of paperhangers there, whereas in

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 17

Berlin there are too many. . Franz quite lost allpatience, and said it seemed to hiln that the old lawagainst the Socialists, with its expatriation, had cometo life again. 'VeIl, we must excuse a little haste inan engaged young man who sees himself suddenly,and for an indefinite period, cut off from the girl ofhis heart.

I tried to offer Franz a little comfort by remarkingthat in the very next house a married couple hadbeen separated by the action of this law. The wifegoes toOppeln in the capacity of nurse, the husbandto Magdeburg as a bookkeeper. This set nlY wifegoing, and she wanted to know how anyone dared toseparate husband and wife? It was infamous, and soon. The good soul entirely forgot that in our newcOIDnlunity marriage is a purely private relationship,as Bebel lucidly explained in his book onWOlnan.The marriage knot can at 3Jny tilne, and without theintervention of any official whatever, be tied andagain untied. The Government is hence not at allin a position to know who is married, and who is not.In the registries of nalnes we find therefore, as mightbe logically expected, that all persons are entered intheir Christian names, and the nlaiden names of theirlllothers. In a well-considered organisation of pro"duction and consumption, the living together ofmarried couples is clearly only practicable where thescale of occupation allows of such an arrangement;not vice versa. It would never do to make the or­ganisation of ,labour in any ,vay dependent upon aprivate relationship which might be dissolved at anymoment.

My wife relninded me that in old times appoint...ments which were not quite agreeable to their holders

B

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had often been annulled, or exchanges made; wemight anyhow make an effort to get Franz exchangedback to Berlin.

It occurred to 111e that an old friend and colleaguewhose acquaintance I had first made when in duranceat Ploezensee, under the law against the Sociali~ts,

held now an influential position on the Labour Organ.:.isation Board. But on going there I found this de­partment at the town hall besieged by hundreds or'people who had conle on a similar errand, and I ,vasunable to obtain entrance to the room. FortunatelyI encountered in the corridor another colleague whois on the same Board. I told him what we had soluuch at heart, but he advised me to let the grassgrow a little over the part Franz had taken in thetumult in front of the palace, before applying for hisrelnoval back to Berlin.

I further took advantage of this opportunity to COlTI­

plain that although my choice of the bookbinder's crafthad been confirmed, I was now no longer a master asformerly, but only a journeyman. But he told me thereV\~as really no help for this. It appears that in con­sequence of the systern of doing everything on a largescale the demand for snlall masters is much less thanever it was before. He went on to say that in con­sequence of a big mistake having been discovered inan account, there would be a vote of credit broughtin to appoint 500 controllers; and he advised me toapply for one of these posts, or to try for a place aspubUc .checker. I mean to follow his advice.

My wife's wishes have so far been acceded to thather services as attendant at one of the Children'sHomes are accepted. But, unfortunately, she is notappointed to the one where our youngest born will

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE.

be. They say that, as a matter of principle, nlotherscan only receive appointrnents as nurses and attend­ants to such ,homes where their own children are notinmates. By this means it is intended to prevent anypreference being shown to one's own children, andany jealousies which other mothers might feel. Thiscertainly sounds very fair, but Paula cannot fail tofeel the hardships of it. This is always the way withwomen, and they are so inclined to put their privatewishes before State reasons.

Agnes is no longer to be a milliner, but has got anappointment as a seamstress. There will be no greatdemand for fine head-gear, or gew-gaws of any kindnow. From all I hear the new scheme of &upply aims'solely at the production of all articles len rrnasse.Hence it follows, as a matter of course, that therewill be but a very limited deluand for skilled labour,tas.te, and ,what more or less approaches to art intrade. But it is all the saIne to Agnes, ·and she' saysshe doesn't care what they do ,vith her so long as she

, can't share her lot with Franz. They forget, as I toldthem, that even Providence itself could not serve allalike to their full content. "Then they should have1eft each one to look after himself," interrupted Franz;" we could never have been so badly off under the oldsystem."

In order to pacify them somewhat, I read to them,out of the Onwarrd a statement in tabular formdealing with the selections of trades people had made,and with the labour assignments to them. A greaternumber of peraons had registered themselves as game­keepers than there are hares within forty miles' cir­curnference of Berlin. From the nUlnber of entriesmade the Government w9uld have no difficulty in

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postinJ a hall-porter at every single door in Berlin:every tree could have its forester, every horse itsgroOlTI. There are a great lIlany more nurse-girlsthan kitchen-maids registered; more coachmen thanostlers. The number of young women vvho have puttheir names down as waitresses and public singers isvery considerable, but this superabundance is balancedby the paucity of those who desire to beconle sick­nurses. There is no lack of salesmen and saleswomen.The same rernark applies to inspectors, managers,foremen, and similar positions; there is even noscarcity of acrobats. The entries for the more ardu­ous labours of the pavior, the stoker, the smelter aremore sparse. Those who have manifested a desire tobecome cleansers of sewers are, numerically, not astrong body.

·Under these circulnstances, what has the Govern­ment to do in order to bring their scheme for organ­ising production and consunlption into SOlne sort ofharmony with the entries made by the people?Shou1d Government attempt a settlen1ent by fixing alower rate of wages for those branches which showedany over-crowding, and a higher rate for those labourswhich were not so coveted? This would be a sub­version of the fundanlental principles of Socialism.Every kind of labour which is useful to the corn­munity (Bebel always taught) must appear of equalvalue in the eyes of the comluunity. The receipt ofunequal wages ,vould soon tend to favour inequalitiesin the style of living; or it \vonld enable the betterpaid ones to effect savings. By this latter means, andindirectly, in the course of time a capitalist classwould grow up, and thus the whole socialistic systemof production be thrown into disorder. Government

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 21

had under its consideration the suggestion to effect asettlement of the difficulty by fixing working-daysby varying lengths. The objection to this was thatsome violence must then inevitably be done to thenatural and necessary dependence of various occupa­tions upon each other. That matter of supply anddemand, which played such a prominent part underthe old reign of capital, is not to be suffered underany circumstances to come up again.

Government reserves to itself the right to directcrirninals to do the more disagreeable kinds of work.It has furthermore adopted the counsel which Bebelused to give, viz., that of allowing more variety ofwork to the same individual. Perhaps in the courseof time ,we may see the same workmen, durin6 dif­ferent hours of the saIne day, engaged in the mostdiverse and manifold occupations.

For the present no other plan seemed feasible thanthat of a lottery. The entries for each trade were setapart by themselves, and from these entries the ap­pointments required for each branch of trade by theGovernment organisation schen1e were settled by asimple drawing of lots. Those who drew blanks inthe first lottery cast lots again and again until theygot a trade; and in this way the vacancies were filledup in these branches of labour for which there hadbeen a scarcity of applicants. I understand that akind of labour they do not at all relish has, in thisway, fallen to the lot of a good lnany people.

Franz says there always have been horse-rafflesand. dog-raffies and all kinds of raffles, .but this is thefirst time that man-raffles have taken place. He saysthat even at the very beginning the Government are soalt their wits' end that they have to resort to a toss-up.

22 PICTURES OF

"But can't you see," I said to hirn," that for thefuture all things are to be arranged on an entirelyne\v and different basis? For the present we arestill feeling the after effects of the old system ofexploiting, and of the dominion of capital. Oncelet the spirit of Socialislu be fully awakened, andenjoy universal sway, and you will find that the Inostarduous, disagreeable, and dangerous labours will bethe very ones which will draw the greatest nUlubersof volunteers; and the reason is quite obvious.These volunteers ,vill be sustained by the lofty con­sciousness that their labours are for the good of thepublic at large, and they will no longer have thereflection that they minister to the vile lust ofgain of unprincipled plunderers."

But_ I could not get the young people to see thingsin this light.

CHAFTER VII.

NEWS FROM THE PROVINCES.

ALL young filen of the age of twenty are required toenrol thenlselves within three days. Agnes' brother]s alllong this nUluber. The" National Bulwark," asit is called, is to be organised and arrned with allspeed. The spacious buildings of the War l\finistry\vere to have been converted into a vast infant'sschool for the sake of the fine gardens adjoining.(Thi~ school was to have been, too, the scene of my\vife's labours.) It is, however; now determined toleave things as they were.

The internal affairs of the country render it neces-

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 23

sary that the National Bulwark should be called,outearlier than had been intended, and also that theorganisation be on a far larger scale than had been atfirst contemplated. The New Provincial Councillorsare constantly sending urgent requests for nlilitarya.ssistance to aid them in the work of establishing thenew la,vs in country districts and in small tOV\TllS

Hence, it has' been decided to establish at convenientcentres aU over, the couutry, a battalion of infantry, asquadron of cavalry, and a battery, In order to en­sure better security the troops are cornposed ,of menchosen from districts lying far asunder.

These country boors and louts must- be brought toreason. They actually go the length of objecting tothe nationalisation-or as ,the official term runs, thecommunalisation-of their private means, their pos­sessions in the shape of acres, houses, cattle, farmstock and the like. Your small owner in the countrywill insist on remaining where he is, and sticking fastto what he has got, in spite of all you can tell him ofthe hard lot he has from sunrise to sunset. Peopleof this sort could be left quietly where they are, butthen the mischief is) it would greatly interfere -withthe vast scheme for the organisation of production.So there is no other- way 'than to cOInpel these thick­headed people by sheer force to see what is to theiradvantage. And when the whole organisation isonce in full swing such persons will soon be convincedof the benefits that have been conferred upon themby Socialism.

Upon its becoming known that all the big landedestates and large farms bad been declared State pro.,.perty, aU farol servants and agricultural labourers atonce attached themselves zealously to our side. :But

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thE:}se people are now no longer content to renlain "'''herethey were. A great desire £01' a change has con1eover them, and they all luake for the larger towns,chiefly for Borlin. Here, in Frederick St.) and unterden Linden, Inay now be seen daily the IU03t out­landish-looking individuals froIn the remotest partsof the country. Many of them arrive with wives andfaInilies, and with the scantiest Ineans. But theynevertheless clamour for food and drink, clothing,boots, and what not of the best and dearest. They hadbeen told, they say, that everybody in Berlin lived onthe fat of the land. I wish such were only really thecase!

But, of course, we can't do with these backwoods­men here, and they are to be bundled off back towhere they can1e fron1, which will cause some littlebitterness. It would be a pretty state of things ifthe magnificent scheme of the Government for regu­latingproduction and consumption were to be madesixes and sevens of in this fashion by a capriciouswandering to and fro of people from the provinces.\Ve should have them at one time s\yarming downlike flights of locusts upon the stores accumulatedhere, to the neglect of necessary labours in their ownparts; whilst at other times, when the fit took thmnnot to conle, we should behold all the stuff that hadbeen got in in anticipation of their visit, spoiling onour hands.

It would unquestionably have been better if thoseregulations which have only just been issued hadbeen issued at the very first. According to theseregulations no one can now temporarily leave hisplace of residence without first providing himselfwith a leaye-of-absence ticket; and no one can make

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE.

a permanent removal without receiving such direc­tions froln higher quarters. It is, of course, intendedthat Berlin shall still ren1ain a much-visited capital;but people are not to corne and go in a ct.1pricious,airnless,w'ay, but only, as the Onward sinlply andclearly sets forth, in a manner which shall accordwith the carefully prepared calculations and plans o£the Government. '.The.so~ialistic ~t~te or, as ,ve nowsay, the OommunIty, IS In earnfst as respects theobligation on all persons alike to work; and it, there~

fore, is fully detern1ined not to permit any vagabond~

ism of any kind, not even any railway vagabondism.Yesterday the Chancellor lnade another telling

speech in that convincing lllannerwhich, as theOnward truly relnarks, is so peculiarly his own. Thequestion had been raised in the House whether anattelnpt should not be made to tranquillise the dis~

affected country districts by, aggregating local pos~

sessions into local groups, instead of irnpounding suchpossessions for the benefit of the whole COlnmunity?These detached groups were to be called Local Pro­duce .Associations, each inhabitant of a district beinga unit ,of the local group. " It is high time," said the'Chancellor, in his speech, "that errors such as these-errors which reach back to the time of Lassalle,and which were fully disposed of at the Erfurt Con­ference of 1891-should be set at rest for ever. Itis evident that the results of the establishment ofvarious Local Produce Associations would be to intro­duce competition between the severttl associations.Then, again, the varying nature of the quality of theland must inevitably tend to produce gradations ofprosperity and non-prosperity, and in this way toopen a kind ", of back~door to the return of capital.

26 PICTURES, OF

A well-digested scheme for the regulation of produc­tion and consuluption, and an intelligent distribu­tion of the craftsmen in each several departmentover the whole State, are things vvhich cannot admitof any individualism, any competition, any personalor local independence. Socialisnl can never consentto do things by halves." (Loud applause.)

CHAP~~ER VIII.

THE LAST DA.Y TOGETHER.

I HAVE had rather a bad time of it to-day with nlYtwo won1en folk, my wife and Agnes. It was mother'sbirthday, a day whose return I have for the lasttwenty-five years greeted with joy. On the presentoccasion, alas! there was nothing but heaviness inour hearts. To-morrow Franz is to set out forI-leipsig, and on the same day we Inust yi~ld up ourother two children. Grandfather is to remove intothe Refuge for People of Advanced Years.

I t will readily be understood that there was nlorethought of all these matters than of the birthday.My vvife's heart was full to overflowing, especially atthe sight of grandfather. "Socialisrn," said he, "isa calamity for all of us; I have foreseen this allalong." I tried to cOlufort hirn by describing to himthe e::1SY, agreeable life he would lead at the Refuge.

"What is aU that to Ine?" he cried, full of im­patience. "When there I shall have to live andsleep and eat with strangers. I shall no longerhave my daughter about me to look after me. Ishall not be able to have Iny pipe whenever and

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 27

wherever the humour takes me. I shall be no longerable to have gaInes "Tith Annie, or to listen to thetales Ernst brings home from school. I shall never

. hear how things nre going on in your workshop. Andwhenever I become ill I shall be left quite to myself.Old trees should be left where they are, and neverbe transplanted. And I am sure the end won't belong in coming to me."

We tried to reassure him by promising to visit,him very often.

" Such visits," said he, "are only a doing of thingsby halves. YOll are never alone and really at yourease, and you are constantly getting di~turbed byother people."

We got little Annie, grandfather's pet, to do thebest she could, in her confiding way, to solace him.The child was the only cheerful meluber of the com­pany. Somebody had told her a lot of tales of allthe - cakes, pretty dolls, clever dogs, picture-books,and similar delights. which were to be had' at theChildren's HOlues. So she was never tired of talkingof these things.

Franz manifests resignation, and quiet, firmresolution. But I don't like to see this in him.It looks to Ineasthough he were devising. some plansor other which he is deternlined not to betray.Whatever such plans. may be I trust they are not atvariance with our socialistic principIes.

My second son,Ernst, does not much betray whathis thoughts and feelings are. Towards his mother,however, he has been especially tender, and this as ageneral thing is not at all his way. We had meantto apprentice hilu to some ·trade now, and he hadlooked forward to this with much pleasure. He has

28 PICTURES OF

a skilful ha,nd, and would push his way onwards ata trade; but he has not Inade all the progress inschool matters that one could have wished. Butnow it must be otherwise, as lads of his age, one andall, have to be kept at school a few years longerbefore they can receive a technical training.

Upon everyone of her birthdays 1110ther treats usto a prime, juicy loin of veal, which Franz play­fully calls our historical joint.

"When you corne to see me, as I hope you willsoon," said my wife, sadly, as the joint appeared on thetable, " I shall not be able to set roast veal before you,for I shall then no longer have a kitchen of my own."

"I have the greatest respect itnaginable for yourroast joints," I replied; " but it would never do to giveup our ideals on such grounds. So far from therebeing any lack of roast joints in the future we shallhave thelll even more frequently than hitherto, andmany another delicacy in addition."

"True enough," she answered; "but we shall notenjoy these things together. One gets his meals here,another there. The distress caused to the individualheart by all this tearing asunder is poorly compensatedfor by knowing that the public at large live better.I don't care a straw about the joint, but I do careabout the social life of the fan1ily."

"Ah, I see," I said jocularly. "It is not lor thesake of the pennyworth of cake, but only for the kindregards which accolnpany it. Never mind, old lady;rest assured we shall not have any the less regard forone another in the future, and we shall have rnoreleisure to show it than \\"e have had so far."

" Well, I am sure of one thing," she said. " I woulda great dea;l ra;ther work ten or twelve hours a day at

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE.

home for you all, than eight hours for other people'schildren, who are nothing to me."

After a short silence, she asked, querulously:"What I want to know is, why must things be

so ? "A.nd Agnes, who always seconds my wife when she

gets on to such su~jects, repeated the question evenrnore querulously. Whenever these two talk a duetthere is very little chance left for me, especially \vhenFranz remains neutral, or, what is worse still, keepsnodding approval to Agnes."

(( Have you then so entirely forgotten those de­lightfullectures by Miss W.," I asked, "those lectureson the emancipation of women, and on the equalityof women's rights in all respects with the rights ofmen ? You found those lectures at the time as in­spiring as Bebel's book."

"Oh, Miss W. is an old maid," they replied, "whohas never had more tluin· her one furnished room."

"She may none the less on that account be in theright," I ans\vered. " The principle of equal rights,equal obligations, irrespective of sex, constitutes thebasis of the socialistic Community. Our platform isthe total independence of the wife from her husband,and this end is to be obtained by securing to womenan equal and independent income for services donea\vay from their own homes: no more householdserfs, and no more slavish services on the part ofwives or servants. .Hence we endeavour to reduceall household work to a minimum by transferringthis as far as possible to great central establishmentsconducted by the State. We must have no children andno elderly persons about the homes, so that these, bytheir varying TIU 111ber in different families, may again

3° PICTURES OF

give rise to all the gradations of wealth and poverty.These are the doctrines which Bebel taught us."

"I daresay all that is very nicely and mathemati­cally worked out," said grandfather; "but it cannever bring happiness. And why not? Becausehurnanity is something more than a flock of sheep."

"Grandfather is quite right," cried AgneR. Anathen she clasped Franz round the neck, and hungupon hiln, and said she never had the least wish to beemancipated from hinl.

Under these circumstances there ,vas at once an endto· all reasonable argument.

But, after all, I wish to-morrow, with all its partings, 'vere well over.

CHAPTER IX.

THE GR.EAT MIGRATION.

IN place of the cab which we had expected to fetchaway grandfather and the children, a furniture-vanpulled up before the house in the early morning. Anofficial who accolDpanied it said that we had no occasionto lllove out before the evening; his instructions atpresent were merely to fetch the furniture.

"Fetch the furniture?" said my wife in arnaze..n1ent. "I thought that household goods were to re­main private property."

" Certainly, my good woman," answered the man." Weare by no means instructed to take all the thingsaway. All that the Cornmunity lays clainl to is whatis comprised in this list."

And he handed us the inventory we had had to

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 31

give in previously, and also showed l us a copy of theOnward, with a bye-law of the Government, whichwe had someho\v, in the agitation of the last fe\vdays, quite overlooked.

My wife remained like one petrified, and it waslong before she could somewhat recover herself. Theofficial was rneantilne very patient and civil, and didall-he could to reconcile her to the necessity of thestep.

H !1y good lady," he said, "",~here in the world arewe otherwise to get such a quantity of furnituretogether as will be required for the many Stateestablishments for the education of children, the careof old people, the nursing of the sick, the providingthe people with meals, and so on? "

" Then why not go to rich people," my wife asked,"to people who have great big mansions stuffed asfull as they can hold with the most beautiful furni­ture..? "

" We do that as well," he replied, srnirkingly. " InZoological Gardens St., Victoria St., Regent St., andthat district there is quite a procession of furniture­vans. All traffic for other vehicles than these hasbeen stopped for the present. Noone is to retainnlore than a couple of beds, and as much other furni­ture as he can stowaway in two or three good-sizedrOOU1S. But even then ,we have not a sufficiency.Only just imagine, we have here alone over 900,000persons belo\v the age of twenty-one who have to behoused in Children's Homes and in schools. Thenyou have another 100,000 persons over sixty-five "\\~ho

have to be provided for at the Refuges. In additionto all this, there are to be ten times as many beds asheretofore in all the hospitals. Now tell.Ine where

32 PICTURES OF

are we to get all these things from, and not steal.And tell me further what would be the good of allthese beds, and tables, and cabinets to you whengranny yonder, the young gentletnan here, and thelittle girl are no longer inmates of the house? "

My wife wanted, at least, to know what we shoulddo when they all came to visit us.

" Well, you will still have six chairs left," was thereply.

"Yes, but I mean when they stay overnight? " mywife asked.

"There will be some difficulty about that, as youwill find very little rOOln at the new place!" heanswered. .

It no\v came out that my good wife had sufferedher imagination to lead her into supposing that at thenew distribution of residences we should, at the veryleast, receive a neat little villa somewhere at theWest End, and be then able to furnish one or two sparerOOlns for our friends. I must say, though, that Paulanever had any grounds for letting her imaginationtake these lofty flights, inasmuch as Bebel alwaystaught that dornestic affairs should be on as smalland frugal a scale as possibIe.

Paula tried to find comfort in the thought thatgrandfather and the children vvonld at least sleep intheir own old beds at their new places. She hadfully meant, in any case, to send the cosy easy-chairto the Refuge for her father's use.

But the official shook his head at this."That is not quite \vhat is intended," he said.

"The collected articles will be sorted out, and thebest use consistent with fitness and harmony made ofthem. The furniture in these places would be some..

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 33

\\

what of a lTIotleycharacter if each inmate were tobring his own lumber with him."

This only served to· cause renewed lamentations.The easy-chair had been our last birthday presentto grandfather. It was as good as new, and the oldgentlenlan always found it so comfortable and easy.Little Annie's cot had been slept in by all thechildren, one after another. It had been relegated tothe lumber attic, and brought down again, time aftertime, as occasion required. The large wardrobe,which we subsequently gave up to grandfather, hadbeen amongst the very first things we had boughtwhen we got married, and this we obtained by weeklypayments. It took us no end of labour and economyto get our few things together. The looking-glasswas a heirloom from my fat.her. He always used tosha\7ehimself before it. I reulember knocking offthat bottom corner asa boy, and getting a goodthrashing for it too. Thus, one way and another, apart of our very life's history clings to every 'piece offurniture about the place. And now all these thingsare to bec()[ne mere broker's gear, and to be scatteredfor ever! .

But our regrets were unavailing, and we had to lettheln load the van with our furniture. Towardsevening another official came to fetch away grand­father and the children. But we were not permittedto accompany them, the official saying with someasperity, that there must be an end somewhere to allthese partings. And I cannot say that the man wasaltogether in the wrong. The fact is, all this displayof feeling is not quite in character with the victoriesof reason of modern times. Now that the reign ofuniversal brotherhood is about beginning, and millions

o

34 PICTURES OF

stand locked in a fond elubrace, we must strive to letour gaze wander fa;r beyond the petty narrow linlitsof past and vanquished times.

I tried to point this out to my wife when the othershad all gone, and Paula and I were left alone. Butoh, dear! it is dreadfully quiet and desolate in thehalf-empty rooms. We have never known quiet likethis since the first year of our marriage.

"I wonder whether the children and grandfatherwill have good beds to-night! 'J my wife said pre­sently. ".And whether they will be able to sleep.Poor little Annie, indeed, was nearly asleep when theman came to fetch her. 1 wonder, too, whether herclothes have been delivered all right, and whetherthey have put her long night-gown on, so thatshe won't take cold. The child has such a way ofkicking the coverlet off in her sleep. I had laid hernight-dress quite on the top of the other things, witha little note for the attendant."

I fear we shall, neither of us, be able to sleep a winkto-night. It is only by degrees that one can get usedto these things.

CHAPTER X.

THE NEW CURRENCY.

TRADE is very brisk' with the photographers. Allpersons between the ages of twenty-one and sixty-fiveyears, that is to say, all those who are not inmates ofState establishments, have received instructions tohave their likenesses taken. This step is an essentialpart of the Government plan for the introduction ofthe new currency. The old system of bank-notes

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 35

and coins is to· be abolished,. and so-called moneycertificates issued instead.

In a leading article on this innovation, the OnttpaTdvery truly remarks that the .Minister of Exchangehas displayed much sagacity and prudence in solvingthe problem of procuring a means of exchange whichshall fulfil all the legitimate duties of such a mediuIll,and at the same tilne not allow of the resuscitation ofa capitalist class. Unlike gold and silver, the newcurrency possesses no intrinsic value, but it consistssimply of orders or chequef) drawn on the'State asthe sole possessor of all articles of sa]e.

Every labourer in the.service of the State receivesonce a fortnight a series of money certificates in theform of a coupon· booklet. The name of each holderis printed on the cover, and with a view to prevent- .­ing the use of the coupons by other persons, it isenacted that. the photograph of every individualholder be attached to his book of coupons. It is

. evident that the Governn~ent orders regulating thehours of labour for all persons alike, and prescribingfor all persons the same scale of remuneration, willprevent the return of social inequalities consequentupon the gradations of faculty posse"ssed by differentpeople, and the use made of these faculties. But, inaddition to this, care must be taken to prevent,through inequalities in the. scale of consumption, all~ccunlulations of value in the hands of such personsas are of a thrifty turn, or whose requiretnents aresmall. This was a self-evident· danger, and, if disre­garded, would in due time have the effect of produc­ing a capitalist class,which would, by degrees, bringinto subjection those less thrifty persons who were inthe. habit of consuming aU their income.

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To obviate the misappropriation and ulisuse ofnloney certificates, it is expressly understood thatcoupons are not, under any circumstances, to be de­tached by the holders, but that they only then havetheir representative value when detached by the Statevendors or other similar officials appointed for thispurpose.

All payments are to be made on the spot in coupons.~rhus, for instance, it is the business of the hall porter,stationed in each house, to detach daily a dwelling'sCOll pon from the booklet of each person resident inthe house.~he new distribution of dwellings is to take place

ilnmediately before the opening of the State cook­shops, an arrangell1entby which the further necessityfor private kitchens will be obviated. When theseare opened, the equivalent for a dinner will be de­tached by the Government official in the shape of adinner coupon; that for the allowance of bread (onepound and a half daily, per head), in the shape of abread coupon, and so on. The several coupons in thebooklets represent, of course, different values, veryconsiderable latitude being left to the taste of eachholder as to how he likes to enlploy his coupons. Allpurchases are to be rnade at the State magazines andshops, and care is to be taken that the vendors inevery case detach none but coupons of exactly theright value.

As each coupon bears the same number as the out­side cover, and every holder is entered in the Govern­Inent registry, it is an easy matter at any time tolearn from the collected coupons the way in whicheach person has expended his income. The Govern­ment is thus, at any moment, in a position to observe

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 37

whether· persons spend their income on dress, or oneating and drinking, or ho\v they spend it; andknowledge of this kind must lnaterially lessen thedifficulty of regulating production and consumption.

Every purchaser has the fullest liberty either toapply to his own use such wares as he has obtainedin exchange for coupons, or to resign them to the useof other persons. Nay, he may even beqneath thingsto others. The calumny that has often been hurledat Socialisn1, that it altllS at the distinction of allprivate property, is thus, as the Onward pointedlyshows, fully refuted, and refuted in a manner thatought to Dla.ke the enemies and calumniators ofSocialism blush with shame. Socialisnl never wishedfor more than to see such bounds set to iudividualcaprice as should· prevent the formation of privatecapital, and of a system of plundering.

Those persons ,vho, at the expiration of the fort­night, have not used up all their coupons, get therelnnant entered to their credit in the new booklet.But, of course, even here it is necessary to draw theline somewhere, and to concert measures to preventthese successive remnants heaping thems~Ives up toactual capital. A sum of sixty marks is regarded asbeing nlore than sufficient to enable its possessor toindulge himself in the gratification of all reasonabledesires. Any more considerable savings than sixtymarks are forfeited to the State.

CHAPTER XI.

THE NEW DWELLINGS.

THE uni.versal dwelling-house lottery has taken plac~,

and we are now in possession of our new· home; but

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I cannot exactly say that we have bette:red our posi­tion. We used to Iive S.W., at the front of the house,on the third storey. Oddly enough, a dwelling hasfallen to our lot on the very saIne premises, only ithappens to be at the bnck of the house, and quite inthe back-yard, in fact. I t is like wise on the thirdstorey. My wife's disappointment is considerable.She had given up all thought of a snlall villa, but shestill clung to the hope of getting a neat suite of roonlSon an elegant flat.

I have always been rather choice in the .matter ofhaving a nice horne. Hitherto w'e have had twogood-sized rooms, two srnaller ones, and the kitchen,for our falnily of six persons. True, the two smallerchambers in which grandfather and the children usedto sleep can no\\'" be dispensed with, and the kitchen isnow no longer a necessary part of a d"Telling, inasmuchas the State cookshops are on the eve of being opened.But I had none the less ventured to hope that at leasttwo or three neat and pretty rooms would fall to ourshare; but instead of this, we have got only a smallroom. with one window, and a little poky garretsimilar to those in which servants used to sleep. Therooms are, too, sonlewhat darker and lower than ourold ones. This is the whole extent of the accommoda­tion.

Nat that I would by any means convey that therehas been the least unfairness. Our municipal body isquite straightforward, and none but rogues can givemore than they are possessed of. It was set forthonly yesterday, at a meeting of the Council, that ourcity has only one million rooms for its two rnillions ofiilhabitants. But the demand for space for variouspublic and benevolent purposes has, in the socialistic

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 39

Conllnunity, immensely increased, and the spacehitherto employed for such purposes only suffices tocover a slDall fraction of the present requirements.In the first place, rOOlll had to be found, in schoolsand various houses of nlaintenance, fora million ofpeople, young and old. Furthermore, accommodationhas been provided in hospitals for 80,000 people.

But it is clear that such public interests must takeprecedence of private ones. Hence it is 0nly naturaland right that the best and largest houses, more par­ticularlx at the West End, have been appropriated tothese purposes.. In the inner city, shops and inaga-

,zines are crowded together, and Inany of the· basementsof these are fitted up as State cookshops for theInillion inhabitants who are not consigned to publicinstitutions. Back-yard premises in suitable situa­tions are being adapted as central wash-houses forthis million. It will thus be seen· that the settingapart of so much separate space for separate purposeshas had the effect of materially curtailing the accom­lDodation£or private dwellings.

At the commencement of the new regime it wasfound, as already stated, that in round numbers onernillion rooms were at the disposal of the authorities.Of these, after deducting the requirements of thevarious public institutions, some 600,000 more or lesssmallish rooms remain, to which, however; Inu~t beadded several hundred thousand kitchens (now becoulesuperfluous), attics, and garrets. As there are onemillion persons to provide for, it is at once seen thatthe. space allotted is about one room per head ; and inorder to observe the utmost impartiality in the disposalof these rooms, they were assigned by lottery, eachperson from the age of twenty-one to sixty-five years,

4° PICTURES OF

irrespective of gender, receiving a lottery ticket.And, indeed, this systern of raffling is an excellentmeans of regulating the principle of equality wher­ever the essential features are disproportionate. Thesocial democrats in Berlin, even under the old regime,had introduced this system of raffling for seats at thetheatres.

U pan the cornpletion of this casting lots for re­sidences, exchanges of the rooms that had fallen tot,he various ticket-holders were permissible. Thosepersons who desired to remain together, such as mar­ried couples, for instance, but who had got theirquarters in different streets, houses, or storeys, were"allo\ved to exchange as best they could. For lIlypart, I had to put up with a tiny room, a nlere cup­board of a place, adjoining the room vvhich had fallento my wife's lot, and, in order to get this cupboard, Ihad to give up IT1Y nice room in a neighbouring houseto a young man to whonl the cupboard had fallen;but the Inain thing, after all, is that we do not getseparated.

Not that all married couples have, by any Ineans,yet been succes8ful in obtaining a satisfactory ex­change of rooms. There ITlay be even SOUle who donot take any particular pains to secure this end.Marriage is a private affair; and, therefore, officially,there can be no lotteries of larger dwellings formarried people, and of smaller ones for those who aresingle. 'Vere such the case, then, the termination ofa marriage contract, for instance ("vhich ought to beattainable at any Inomellt), might have to be put offuntil single ramus for the individuals concerned wereprocurable. As it now is, each compound dwellingfornled by the two halves to a Inarriage contract can,

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 41

at a IIl;oment's notice, on the termination of the con­tract, be resolved into its original halves. All youhave to do is to make a division of the furniture, andthe thing is settled.

Thus we see that everything in the new Com­munity has been settled in a logical and sagaciousmanner. All the arrangelnents guarantee full per­sonal liberty to every man and every wornan; andhow humiliated must those feel who used to nlaintainthat Socialism Ineant the subjugation of the in­dividual will.

Not that considerations of the above kind are per­sonally of any moment to my better half and me;whether happiness or sorrow comes we shall sticktogether to the end of life's journey~

On our removal here we had, unfortunately, toleave a number of our things behind us. The newquarters were too small to stow avvay even theremnant that had been left to us after the day of thefurniture-vans. As a matter of course, we havestuffed our little place.as full as it will hold, so thatwe can scarcely lnoveabout. But the fact is, thisold servant's closet of mine is so ·wretchedly smallthat it is precious little that I can get into it. It hasfared no better with numerous persons. At thegeneral relnoval vast numbers of things were leftstanding in the streets, for the simple reason thattheir owners could find no room for them in their newdwellings. 1'hese things were collected and cartedaway in order to augment as far as possible the stillsparse outfit of the nUlnerous public institutions.

However, we ,do not allow this to distress us in theleast. The problen1 is to supersede the old-fashionedsystem of limited·and meagre private existences, and

42 PICTURES OF

to organise, in the new society, the life of the ~eneral

public on such a vast and grand scale that all thosebodily and mental good things, which were once onlyenjoyed by a favoured class, shall now be within thereach of everybody. '1'he opening of the State cook­shops to-morrow is to be followed by the opening ofthe new popular theatres.

CHAPTER XII.

THE NEW STATE COOKSHOPS.

1r \vas, indeed, a wonderful achievement that to-day,in Berlin, one t!J.ousand State cookshops, each onecapable of accommodating 1,000 persons, shouldhave been opened at 'one stroke. True, thosepersons who had inlagined that it would be like thetable d'hote of the great hotels of the past days, \vherea pampered upper class continually revelled in everyrefinement of culinary art-such persons, I say, mustfeel SOlne little disappointment. As a matter ofcourse, we have here likewise no triln, swallow-tailedwai tel's, no bills of fare [L yard long, and no suchparaphernalia.

In the State cookshops everything, even to thesnlallest details, has been anticipated and settledbeforehand. No one person obtains the smallestpreference over others. The picking and choosingamongst the various State cookshops cannot, of course,be tolerated. Each person has the right to dine atthe cookshop of the district in which his dwelling issituated. The chief meal of the day is taken be­tween 12 o'clock anJ 6 in the evening.. Everyonehas to report hilnself at the cookshop of hi~ district,

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 43

either during the lllid-day rest or at· the close of theday.

I am sorry to say that I can now no longer takemy meals with my\vife except on Sundays, as I havebeen accustomed to do for the last twenty-five years,inasrnuch as our hours of labour are now entirelydifferent. .

Upon entering the dining-roolu an official detachesthe dinner coupon fronl your book of money certifi­cates, and hands you a nUlnber which indicates yourturn. In the course of time others get up and goaway, and your turn comes, and you fetch your plateof victuals froln the serving tables. The strictestorder is maintained by a strong body -of policepresent. The police to-day-their nunlber has nowbeen augmented here to 12,OOO-rather gave thenl­selves airs of importance in the State cookshops, butthe fact is, the· crowd was a very big one. It seemsto llle that Berlin proves itself to be on too small ascale for the vast undertakings of Socialism.

As each one takes his place just as he comes fromhis work the groupssometilues have a somewhatInoUey appearance. Opposite to me to-day sat amiller, and his neighbour was a sweep. The sweep ­laughed at this more heartily than the miller.' Theroom at the tahles is very cramped, and the elbowsat each side hinder one much. However, it is not forlong, the minutes allowed for eating being verystingily measured. At the expiration of the meagrelyappor~ionedminutes-and a policeman with a watch inhis hand stands at the head of each table to see thattime is strictly kept-you are relnorselessly requiredto make YOOln for the next.

It- is an inspiring thought to reflect that in every

44 PICTURES OF

State cookshop in Berlin on one and the saine dayexactly the same dishes are served. As each establish­ment knows how many visitors it has to count upon,and as these visitors are saved all the embarrassmentof having to choose from a lengthy bill of fare, it isclear that no tirne is lost; \vhilst there is also none ofthat waste and loss consequent upon a lot of stuffbeing' left, which circunlstance used so much to en­hance the price of dining at the restaurants of theupper classes. Indeed, this saving may well be reck­oned amongst the most sig'nal triuluphs of the socialisticorganisation.

From what a neighbour of ours, who is a cook, tellsus, it had originally been intended to serve up variousdishes on the same day. It soon appeared, however,that there would be a manifest want of equality insuch. an arrangenlent; inasmuch as those persons who,frolll any reason, were prevented from coming in goodtime would not have the chance of dining off suchdishes as were" off," but would have to take whatever,vas left.

All the portions served out are of the same size.One insatiable fellow to-day who asked for lllor0 wasrightly served by being heartily laughed at; for whatmore deadly blow could be levelled· at one of thefundamental principles of eqnality? For the samereason the suggestion to serve out srnaller portions towonlen ,vas at once indignantly rejected. Big, bulkyInen have to put up with the same sized portions, andto do as best they can. But, then, for such amongstthem ,vho, in their former easy circumstances, used tostuff themselves, this drawing in of their belt is quitea good and wholesome thing. For the rest people canbring with thenl from their homes as nluch bread as

THE S0CIALISTIC FUTURE. 45

they like, and eat it with their. meals. Furthermore,any persons ,vho find their. portions· larger than theycare for are not prohibited froIn giving a part to theirneighbours.

According to what our neighbour the cook says, itappears that the Ministry of Public Nourishment hasg-rounded ~ts bill of fare C?U the experience gatheredby scientific research as' to the, nunlber of grains ofnitrogenous matter and of hydro-carbonaceous matterthat it is necessary to introduce into the body in orderto keep the same intact. Each person's daily portionis about one-third of a pound of meat, with eitherrice, groats, or some vegetable or other, to which isgenerally added a plentiful supply of potatoes. OnThursdays we get sauerkraut and peas. Posters an­nounce what is to be cooked on each day, and theseposters give you the bill of fare for the whole week,just as they used to announce the plays at the theatresfor the entire ,veek.

Where, I should like to know, in the whole world,has there ever been a people every individual of whichwas assured, day by day, of his portion of flesh-meat,as is no,v the case with us ? Even a king of France,runlinating once on such matters, could fonn to hiIn.­self no. higher ideal than that on Sundays everypeasant should have his fowl in the stew-pan. Then,too, we must remember that outside the system ofnourishrnent provided by the State it is left to thetaste of everybody to treat hirnself to whatever hefancies both in the rllorning' and evening-that is tosay, provided it be within the bounds of the moneycertificate.

No more poor, starving, wretched, homeless creatures!For every Ulan, as the day COlnes round, his portion of

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beef! The thought of having attained such ends asthese is so inspiring that one can readily pardon anytrifling inconveniences which the new systeln hasbrought with it. True, the portions of Ineat ",rould benone the worse for being a little larger, but then ourcircumspect Government adopted the wise plan of notdealing- out, at the comnlencement, more ~neat thanhad previously on an average been consumed here.Later on these things will all be different, and in pro­cess of time, when the new arrangements shall havernore and lnore approached completion, and the periodof transition is past, we shall have everything on avaster and more magnificent scale.

But there is one thing which hinders Illy pinionst.lking the lofty flight they otherwise would, and thatis the concern which my good wife shows. She is be­conle very nervous, and her state gets worse day byday. During all the twenty-five years of our l11arriedlife we have never had so many painful scenes andexplanations as since the beginning of the new era.The State cookshops, too, are. not a bit to her taste.The food, she says, is barracks' rations, and a poor sub­stitute for the wholesome fare people used to have attheir own homes. She complains of the meat beingdone too nlLlch, of the broth being watery, and so on.She says, too, that she at once loses all appetite byknowing beforehand what she has to eat during awhole week. And yet how often she had complainedto l11e that, \vith the high prices of things, she was ather wits' end to know what to cook. Formerly shewas rejoiced, \vhen we now and then took a day's ex­cursion, to think she was released for that day frornthe bother of cooking anything. Well, this is the waywith women, and they always have sOlnething to say

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 47against whatever they have not had a hand in cook­ing. My hope is, however, as •soon as my ,vife shallhave paid visits to the children and her father at theBenevolent Institutions, and have found them heartyand ~ontented, that that equanimity will be restoredto her which in old times never deserted her even inour severest trials.

CHAPTER XIII.

A VEXING INCIDENT.

OUR Ohancellor is not made so much of as he used tobe. I am sorry to see this, because it is impossible tofindanywhere a more capable, energetic, and activeState leader, or anlore thorough and consistentSocialist. But, then, it is not everybody \vho is as un­biased as I am. There are a great many people whodon't quite care for the new order of things, or whoare somewhat disappointed in their expectations; andall these persons lay the blaIne on the Ohancellor.This is especially the case with wonlen since theuniversal removals and the introduction of the Statecookshops. There is even talk of a party of re-a~tionbeing formed amongst women, but I am thankful tosay Iny wife is not of this number, and I hope togoodness that Agnes is not.

The report has been assiduously circulated againstthe Chancellor that he is at heart an aristocrat. It iseven said that he does "not clean his boots himself,that he suffers a servant to brush and clean hisclothes, that he sends someone from the Treasury tofetch his meals from the State cookshop of his

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district, instead of going there himself. Such thingswould, indeed, be grave offences against the principleof equality; but it is a question, after all, whether thecharges are true.

Anyhow, this dissatisfaction which has cl~al'ly

been nourished b.y the Younkers, a." party cOlnposedrnainly of flighty youths for whom nothing is goodenougb, has just culminated in an outburst of publicfeeling which was manifested in a very blameworthyand ugly spirit. The unveiling of the new allegoricalmonument in cOlnmeluoration of the great deeds of theParis Commune of 1871, took place yesterday in thesquare, which was formerly Palace Square. Sincethen the square has been conti.nually beset by crowdsanxious to view this lTIagnificent n1onun1ent. Re­turning fronl a carriage-drive, the Chancellor had topass the square. He had almost reached the entrance tothe rrreasury, 'when all at once, from the neighbour­bood of the Arsenal, hissing, shouts, and general tumultensued. In aU probability the mounted police (whichis now re-instated), had shown rather too great zealin procuring a passage for the Ohancellor's carriage.rrhe tU1TIult increased in fury, and there were cries:"Down with the aristocrat; dovvn with the proudupstart; pitch the carriage into the canal! Thecrowd evidently felt greatly irritated at the now rarespectacle of a private carriage.

The Ohancellor, with ill-concealed anger, neverthe­less bowed courteously in all directions, and gaveorders to drive on slo""vly. All at once, ho\vever, hewas saluted by a lot of lTIud and dirt which emanatedseemingly from a group of women, and I saw him freehimself, as far as possible, from this dirt, and noticed,too, that he forbade the police to attack the women

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 49

\vith their truncheons. Scenes such as this, andwhich· are totally unworthy of Socialism, certainlyought not to occur. And I have been glad to hearto-day, from various quarters, that it is intended toprepare great ovations for the. Chancellor.

CHAPTER XIV.

A MINISTERIAL CRISIS.

THE Chancellor has tendered his resig-nation. Allwell-intentioned persons must sincerely reg-ret thisstep, especially after yesterday's event. But theOhancellor is said to be in an overwrought and nervousstate. And, indeed, this can scarcely be wondered at.for he has had a hundred times nlore thought and workthan any chancellor under the old system had. Theingratitude of the mob has deeply wounded him, andthe incident of yesterday was just the last drop whichhas made the cup run over. .

I t has come out, however, that the boot cleaningquestion was really at the bottom of the ministerialcrisis. It is now· known that the Chancellor somelittle time back handed over to the Cabinet an elabor­ate~emorandum, which rnemoranduln, ho",,"'ever, theother minif3ters always contrived to persistently shelve.The Chancellor insists now on attention being paid tohis memorandum, and he has had it inserted in theOn?vard. He demands that class differences be in­stituted, and says that for his part he cannot possiblydispense with the services of others. The nJaximumeight hours' day simply cannot and does not exist fora chancellor, nor cuuld otherwise exist than by hav-

D

5° PICTURES OF

ing three chancellors to govern in shifts of eighthours each of the twenty-four. He urges that he, asChancellor, lost a lot of valuable time each morningover cleaning his boots, brushing his clothes, tidyingup his room, fetching his breakfast, and sirnilar offices;and that, as a consequence, matters of grave State im­port, which he alone was in a positIon to attend to,were subjected to vexing delay. He had no otherchoice, he says, than either to appear occasionally be­fore the ambassadors of friendly powers minus abutton or two on his coat, or to, himself, (the Chan­cellor, as is well known, is not married,) do such smallrepairs as were too pressingly urgent, or too trifling,to be sent to the great State repairing shops. Heargues further that by having a servant to performsuch little offices much valuable time would have beensaved to the public. rrhen again the having to takehis meals at the one appointed State cookshop wasvery irksome, by reason of the crowd of suppliantswho daily organised. a hunt after him. As for hiscarriage-drives, he never took them except when, fromthe lirnited time at his disposal, it was otherwise quiteimpossible to obtain a ulouthful of fresh air.

All this sounds, of course, very plausible, but thereis no denying that a proposition of this kind isdiametrically opposed to the principle of social equal­ity, and that it would only too strongly tend to intro­duce the system of household slavery once more. Thatwhich is demanded by the Qhancellor for himselfothers might with equal right demand, and we shouldsoon have his colleagues in the Cabinet, and others,such, for instance, as heads of Government depart­ments, directors of the numerous State institutions,mayors of towns, etc. etc., nlaking the salne preten-

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE.

sions. On the other hand, however, it certainly doesseem a pity that the whole vast machinery of theState, upon whose smooth working such mighty issuesdepend, should now and then come to a stop becausethe Chancellor has to sew a button on, or to polishhis boots before he can receive someone in audience.

This is a question of greater moment than is ap­parent to everyone at first sight. But that such anexcellent Chancellor, and such a consistent Socialistshould in the course of his career be tripped up by asturnbling-block of this kind cannot be too nluch re­gretted.

·CHAPTER XV.

EMIGRATION.

r:rHE lninisterial crisis called forth by the boot-polish­ing question is not yet over. Meantime, a decree hasbeen issued against all emigration without the per­mission of the authorities. Socialisrn is founded uponthe principle that it is the duty of aU persons alike tolabour, just as under the old regime the duty tobecome a soldier was a u~iversally recognised one.And just as in the old days young men who were ripefor luilitary service were never allowed to. emigratewithout authority, so can our Governnlent similarlynot permit the elnigration from our shores of suchpersons as are of the right age to labour. Old personswho are beyond ,vork, and infants, are at liberty togo away, but the right to emigrate cannot be concededto robust people who are under obligations to theState for their education and culture, so loag as theyare of \vorking age.

At the beginning of the new order of things scarcely

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any other persons than gentlemen of private means,with their families, showed any desire to get acrossthe borders. True, the working powers of thesepeople had been originally taken account of as afactor in the general sun1; but it soon turned ou~

that the labour done by such persons as had neverbeen accustomed to harder work than cuttin~ offcoupons, or signing receipts, ,vas of such little valuethat further assistance from these quarters could wellbe dispensed with. These people were hence quite atliberty to go. rrhemain thing was to take care thatthey diel not take Iuoney or money's worth with thelUover the frontier. Then again, the emigration ofnearly all the painters, sculptors, and authors was athing that could be viewed with the most perfectequanimity. The new system of working on a grandscale, and more or less on one and the same pattern,was not at all to the taste of these gentlemen. Theyraised objections to working with others in thegreat State workshops, for the good of the State ingeneral, and to being subjected to the supervision ofofficials. Let all such malcontents go! 'Ve shallhave no lack of poets, who, in their leisure hours, willgladly sing the praises of Socialisln. It had beenintimated to artists and sculptors that they would nolonger be able to lay their works of art at the feet ofinsolent wealthy upstarts, but would have in futureto dedicate them to the nation at large. And thatdoes not at all suit these servants of Malumon.

'rhere is, ho,vever, one unpleasant fact in connectionwith the ellligration of all the sculptors, and that is,that the proposed erection of statues to many of thedeparted heroes of our cause seems to be delayedindefinitely. Not even the statues of those memor-

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 53

able pioneers Stadthagen and Liebknecht are com­pleted. On the other hand, the clearance of the salonsof the bourgeoisie has placed a vast anlount of sculptureat our disposal for the decoration of our meeting-hallsand the like.

A word as to authors. These gentlemen whocriticise everything, and whose very business it is tospread discontent amongst the people, may, in fact,readily be dispensed with in a State where the willof the masses is law. Long ago Liebknecht used thoseluernorable words: "He who does not bend to the willof the majority, he who undermines discipline must bebundled out."

If all such gentlemen go of their own accord somuch the better.

If .this had been all, no prohibition of emigrationhad ever been needed. But the incomprehensible partof the business is that it was observed that usefulpeople, and people who had really learnt something,went away in ever-increasing nurnbers to Switzer­land, to England, to Arnerica, in which countriesSocialism has not succeeded in getting itself est~b­

lished. Architects, engineers, cheluists, doctors,teachers,man~gers of works and mills, and all kindsof skilled workmen, enligrated in shoals. The 111aincause of this would appear to be a certain exaltationof mind which is greatly to be regretted. Thesepeople iluagine thenlselyes to be something better, andthey cannot bear the thought of getting only thesame guerdon as the simple honest day labourer.Bebel very truly said : "Whatever the individual manmay be, the COlllmunity has made him what he is.Ideas are the product of the Zeitgeist in the minds ofindividuals."

54 PICTURES OF

Unfortunately the Zeitgeist under the old systemlong went 'wandering about, lost in the rnazes of error.Hence all these mad notions about the superiority ofone man over another.

As Soon as our young people shall have receivedproper training in our socialistic institutions, and shallhave beeoine penetrated with the noble ambition todevote all their energies to the service of the Com­munity, so soon shall we be well able to do withoutall these snobs and aristocrats. Until such tilne,however, it is only ri~ht and fair that they shouldstay here with us.

Under these circumstances the Governlllellt is to becommended for stringently carrying out its measuresto prevent en1igration. In order to do so all the moreeffectually, it has been deemed expedient to send strongbodies of troops to the frontiers, and to the seaporttowns. The frontiers towards Switzerland have re­ceived especial attention froin the authorities. It is an­nounced that the standing arrny will be increased bymany battalions of infantry and squadrons of cavalry.The frontier patrols have strict instructions to un­ceremoniously shoot down all fugitives.

Our Chancellor is an energetic luau, and it is to behoped he will long continue at the head of affairs.

CHAPTER XVI.

~ETIREMENT OF THE OHANOELLOR.

My ardent wish has not been fulfilled. The Chan­cellor's resignation has been accepted, and the Presi­dent of the Chamber has been nominated as hissuccessor. It seeillS the Cabinet waH not able to COlne

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 55

to a unani1l1ous deternlination to accept the respon­sibility of- allowing the' Chancellor to engage a fewservants for his private convenience. The chiefground for this was,' that such an infraction of theprinciple of social equality would lead to altogetherincalculable consequences. Hence the necessity forthe reconstruction of the Cabinet. Let us bear inmind the danger we should run of causing the wholesocialistic edifice to come tumbling about our ears ifonly one single essential key-stone were once tampered,vith. It was in reference to this very identical ques­tion of boot-cleaning that Bebel once wrote: C( No luanis degraded by work,not even when that work con­sists of cleaning boots. Many a man of high birth hasbad to find this out in· America."

The Governnlent was strongly in~lined to followthe method proposed by Bebel for the solution of thisdifficulty in practical life, by turning increased atten­tion to the question of getting clothes brushed andboots cleaned by means of machinery. But the pro­spect of having to wait for suitable Inachinery to doaU' such offices for him did not seem at all to theChancellor's taste, RO he has retired from office.

His successor is stated to be of a lnore conciliatory,but less energetic, character; a man who is deternlinednot to be obnoxious in any quarter, but to makematters pleasant all round.

With somewhat too much ostentation, the newChancellor appeared to-day at the State cookshop ofhis district, duly taking his place in the long row, anddining when it came to his turn. Afterwards he wasto be seen, Unter den Linden, with a large bundle ofold clothes under his arm, which he was taking to thedistrict repairing~shop to have cleaned and repaired.

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CHAPTER XVII.

IN AND ABOUT ~rHE WORKSHOPS.

I AM very glad that I have now received the appoint­ment as checker which Iny friend in office promisedme some time ago. I shall no longer have to be ern­ployed in the workshop. I only wish Franz had thesame good luck, and could get away froln his COlll­

positor's desk. Not for one Inoment that we areabove our trades, but I know that Franz feels exactlyas I do, and the style in which work is now donein all workshops does not suit Franz and me a hit.One does not work merely for the sake of a bit ofbread, and nothing more. Schiller was one of thebourgeois, but notwithstanding this, I always likedthose lines of his:

" 'Tis this indeed luankind doth grace,(And hence the gift to understand,)

First in his inward self to traceAll that he fashions with his hand."

Unfortunately, our luates in the workshops nowa­days are not conscious of any such feeling. So far isthis from being the case that anybody would thinkworkshops are simply places to kill time in, andnothing more. The universal watchword is:

" Don't push on too fast,Lest the laggards be last."

Piece-work and working in gangs have ceased

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 57

This is only natural, as such styles of working couldnever be brought into harmony with the ideas ofequality of wages and of· working hours. But whatFranz does not quite .like, as he writes me,· is the waythey have now of spinning the work out so. In spiteof sure and regular wages, they say:

"Ii: the job is not finished to-day it will be Rnishedto-morrow."

Diligence and zeal are looked upon as stupidityand perversity. And indeed why should one beindustrious? The lTIOSt diligent COl1leS C?ff no betterthan the la7.liest. No one is any longer, so writes Franz,the forger of the links of his o'wn happiness, but othersforge the links which shall fetter you just as it pleasesthem.

This is the strain. in 'which Franz writes, and this. time he is not so much in the ,vr6ng as he usuallyis.

There is no describing the amount of damage doneto material and tools through inattention and careless­ness. It would have driven me crazy if, when I wasa master, I had been plagued with such a crew of work-,men as I now have to work with. The other day it gotrather too lTIuch for me, and, nlY patience being ex­hausted, I made a little appeal to them in thesewords:

(C Colleagues, the COlnmunity expects every man todo his duty. We have only eight hours' work. Youare all old Socialists, and you will remember the hopeBebel used to have that, when the new order of thingscame, the pure moral atmosphere would stimulate everyman to excel his neighbour. Only justreflect, comrades,that we no longer toil for capitalists and plunderers,but for the COIUluunity. And everyone of us gets back

58 PICTURES OF

a part of whatever benefit the Community reaps as awhole."

" Fine preaching!" they said mockingly. "It is apity we have no longer occasion for parsons. Bebelpromised us a four hours' day, and not an eighthours' one. rrhe Community is a large affair. ShallI ,york and slave for the 50 millions whilst theother 49,999,999 take it easy? What could I buymyself with this one fifty-millionth part of the fruitof my additional industry, supposing I were really toget it back ?"

And then they all sang in chorus:

" Is our Oonllnunity not to thy taste 1Get thee gone to another with all possible haste."

Since that, I have, of course, not said another word.Franz has had experiences sirnilar to mine. Thenewspaper in their office is har~ly ever ready forgoing to press at the right time, although they havehalf as many compositors again on it as in old times.The longer the night the greater the quantity of beerwhich is drunk during work, and the greater thenumber of printers' errors.

Lately the foreman was unwell, and Franz had totake his place for a day or two. Franz on one occa­sion respectfully asked the others to make a littleless noise, and upon this the whole body struck upthe" Marseillaise," taking care to especially eU1phasizethe words, " Down with despotisn1."

There are still masters and foremen in the work­shops just as there were formerly, only with thisdifference, that they are now chosen by the workmen.When no longer acceptable to theworklnen they are

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 59

deposed. Hence they have to take care to keep inwith the leaders in a shop, and with the majority.Those persons who, like Franz and myself, do notaltogether go with the masses, are in rather a badfix.. -At one time they get badly treated by themasters, and at another by the mates. And theworst of it is, you can no more get away from such aworkshop than a soldier can escape from the companyin which his drill-sergeant ill-treats him.

The late Chancellor foresaw all this well enough,but he was unable to alter it. The list of penaltiesenacted under· his leadership against all infractionsof the duty of labour is to be seen in all workshopswhere it has not yet been torn down. In this listpenalties are threatened against idleness, inattention,disobedience, carelessness, impertinence to superiors,and a host of offence8. These penalties consist of thewithdrawal of the money-certificate, the reduction ofthe meat rations, the deprivation of the entire mid­day meal, and even of incarceration. But where thereis·none to bring a charge there is no need of a judge.

Directors and managers are chosen just in the sameway as masters and foremen, and they have to lookto it that they do not ruffle those who elect them.

In those rare cases where denunciations do takeplace, .the· judicial proceedings are tedious, and fullof detail, Recently, however, a number of buildersgot denounced by passers-by, who had their patiencetired out by the lengthy intervals of rest taken, andby the careful scrutiny applied to every individualbrick. On another occasion, the inmates of an entireestablisblnent were transferred to another part ofthe country. But, as a rule, this transference to otherparts only arises from political reasons. It is on

60 PICTUR:ES O:B~

this account that the Younkers are now agitating toobtain for all working-men the salne permanencewhich judges enjoy in their office.

This matter of removal to other places has its oddside. The principle of social equality requires thatevery luan, no matter where he be, finds everythingprecisely as it was in the old place. He finds exactlythe same wages, the saIne food, the same dwelling,and so on, as those he left behind him.

Well, Rome was not built in a day. And this veryspirit of selfishness which we see so much of in ourworkshops., what is it other than the evil inheritanceleft us by a state of society in which every manstrove to gain an advantage over every other man?Our new schools and institutions will very SOoncreate that" moral atmosphere " in which the tree ofSocialism will grow and flourish, and extend the wel­come shadow of its branches to the whole hUlnanspecies.

CHAPTER XVIII.

FAMILY MATTERS.

SUNDAY was such a Sunday as I had never spentbefore. My wife got permission at last to visit littleAnnie. It seems that the observance of order in theChildren's Homes necessitates the regulation that par·ents should only see their children in their due turn.How rny wife had pictured to herself the nleetingwith her child! All sorts of cakes, and sweetmeats,and playthings had been got together to take to her.But to rnother's great distress she found she had toleave all these things behind her at the entrance. Itwas forbidden, she learned, for any of the children

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 61

to have any playthings which were not common toall, because this would not accord with their educa­tion, which taught absolute social equality. ThesaIne thing applied to sweetmeats. Such things wereonly too apt to give rise to quarrels and vexations,and to disturb the regular course of ruatters in theHome.

My wife was in perfect ignorance of these newregulations, as for some tilue past she has been en­gaged in the kitchen· of her .Home> and not in at­tending to the children.

Then again, my wife had expected that Anniewould show more lively and tender delight at meet­ing with her mother. But in her new surroundingsthe child was disposed to be less confiding than shehad always been. True, the separation had not beena long one,but there. is a good deal of truth in thecase of young children, in the words, "Out of sightout of mind." Then again, the idea of seeing hermother had constantly been associated in Annie'sInind with the expectation of sweets and playthings.But now she beheld her mother come with emptyhands. Childlike, she soon wanted a change again,and she quickly got away froin the enlbraces of hermother in order to rejoin the other children at play.

My wife found Annie looking somewhat pale andchanged. This is probably due to the different wayof living, and the different kind of nourishment.Naturally,. the strictest order is maintained in theHome. But (and the sanle intention pervades allour institutions) there is no superfluity of victuals,and the large scale of the undertaking does not admitof any pampering of individual children. Children'slooks vary so rapidly, and were Annie now at home

62 PICTURES OF

with us, her looks. would hardly disquieten the ex­perienced mother. But, of course, it is a differentthing altogether when separated, and mother nowpictnres to herself the approach of some diseasewhich she sees herself powerless. to contend against.

A conversation my wife had with one of theKindergarten teachers of the Home threw her intoconsiderable agitation. My wife wa" lamenting theseparation of young children from their parents, ,vhenthis person cut short her complaint by the abruptremark:

" Oh, we hear these doleful cOlnplaints here daily.Even aninlals, devoid of reason, soon get over it whentheir young are taken away. 'Vith how much luoreease ought wornen to become reconciled to it, womenwho are reckoned amongst thinking beings."

My wife wanted to complain to the governor ofthis wonlan's unfeelingness, but I advised her not todo so, because the WOluan would be sure to have herrevenge out of Annie. She does not kno\v what it isto be a mother. And she can't even get a husband,although, as I am credibly informed, it is not for lackof having, on several occasions, ulade use of theequality now enjoyed by women of themselves pro­posing.

Before my wife had returned from the long journeyto the Children's HOlne, grandfather came in. It waswith difficulty that the old gentleman had found hisway up the steep and dark staircase to our new home.I was' really thankful that my ,vife was not present,because her father's complaints would only havemade her heart still heavier.

To say the truth, they were trifling and externalmatters he had to cOlllplain about. But then, old

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE.

people have this weakness· of clinging to old habitsand little ways, and in the maintenance houses allsuch little things are, with SOIne harshness, brokenthrough and swept away. Grandfather fancies, too,his health is not quite so good as it used to be. Nowhe has a pain here, anon he feels a pinching or apricking sensation there, and is often out of sort.s.Externally I saw no difference in hinl, but the fact is,grandfather has now a good deal more time to thinkabout himself than he had in our falnily circle, wherethere was always something to interest him and dis.tract his attention. Reused to be a good deal in theworkshop with me, and here he would try tOI makehin-lseI£ useful. What he did was of no great accountbut then it occupied him. The doing nothing is notat all· a good thing for old people, whereas any littlework, no rnatter how light, keeps up their interest inlife, holds them bound up with the present, and pre­serves them from sudden bodily and mental decay.

The poor old man felt quite strange in our tiny.little new place, and he was much touched, too, bythe. absence of most of the old furniture. I could notlet him go back alone, so I went with him.

It happened, unfortunately, whilst I was away, andbefore Iny wife had returned, that Ernst came to payus a visit. Of course, he found the door locked, buthe told a neighbour's boy, an old playfellow of his,that an invincible longing for home had made himemploy an hour's freedom in rushing off to see hisparents. He can't somehow at all get used to hisinstitution. The everlasting reading, writing, andlearning by heart-in short, the whole business ofstudy is not at all in his way., His wish is to be putto some trade, and only to learn whatever has re-

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ference to that. And I have no doubt whatever ofhis making a good craftsman. But our Minister ofI nstruction is of the same opinion that Bebel was of,that all persons are born with about the same amountof intelli~ence, and that, therefore, they must all alike,up to their eighteenth year (wh.en technical educationbegins), have the same identical training, as a neces- .sary preparation for the social equality of their afterlives.

CHAPTER XIX.

RECREATIONS OF THE PEOPLE.

OPEN-AIR concerts are continually being given in thevarious public squares of Berlin. The ne\v Ohancel­lor is going the right way to work to rnake himselfpopular. In all the theatres there are two perfor­mances on week-days, and three on Sundays, and

.these are all gratis. As a matter of course, thetheatres which our busy, industrious Community in­herited from the bourgeoisie have proved very inade­quate in point of number and size. It has hence beenfound necessary to supplernent theln by the additionof various other large buildings. Amongst others,lnany of the churches are now appropriated to thispurpose. As regards the latter, there are still to befound persons here and there who show some scruples,and who somehow do not seem to be able to cut thenl­selves loose from old and deep-rooted superstitions.But it is perfectly clear that the churches have be­COlne common property; and it is equally clear, fronlthe provisions of the law framed at the Erfurt Con­ference of October, 1891, and subsequently ad?pted,

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE.

that no cOIrnuon property can be devoted to ecclesi­astical or religious purposes.

Naturally, no other plays are given at the theatresthan such as represent the glories of the new order,and which keep the sordidness of past capitalists and

,. plunderers in lively relnembrance. For any consider­able length of time there is, it must be confessed, aneleluent of monotony in this. But, anyhow, it showsup the rightness of, our principles, and .,this is some­times very necessary.

At first, everyone was at liberty to go to anytheatre, just wherever and however he liked. Butthis senseless competition is no\v superceded by awell-devised organisation of the people's diversions.It was found that the representations of classic,socialisti.c plays were made to rows of empty seats,whereas in places where special artistes were en­gaged, the spectators were packed like sardines.They used to fight almost for the best· places. Nowall that is. different, and the Town Qouncil distributesin rotation to the various theatrical managers thepieces to' be represented. The several managers dis­pose of the seats by lottery to such spectators ashave been apportioned to then1 for that particularevening and play, thus following the plan introducedin 1889 at the socialistic Popula.r Free Theatre.

There is a saying, "Good luck in love, bad luck atplay." A.nd we have experienced the truth of this.As luck would have it, my wife and I have lately, onthree successive occasions, got such bad places assignedto us through this lottery system that she could bearnothing, and I found it just· as impossible to see any­thing. She is a little hard of hearing, and I aln veryshort~sighted. Neither of these qualities is in perfect

E

66 PICTURES OFJ

harmony with the idea of social equality as illustratedby the theatre.

Dancing is another of the diversions which arearranged every evening by the city authorities. Theentrance is on the same principle as in the case of thetheatres, and young and old are all equally entitled toappear. The reform of the etiquette of dancingseemed, at first, to present some few difficulties froma socialistic point of view. This reform has, however,been carried out, and the equality of the ladies is no\vthereby asserted that the choice of partners made bythe ladies alternates regularly with the choice Inadeby the gentlemen. Bebel says, indeed, that WOluenhave just ,the same right to seek that men have toseek them. But the attempt to apply this principleto dancing, by leaving it optional to each sex, in everysingle dance, to solicit partners, had soon to be aban­doned, as it was found that the order of the danceswas in danger of becoming involved in inextricableentanglement.

Various interesting letters have appeared in theOnward, which discuss, in a very exhaustive andsuhtle manner, the question whether, in a socialisedcoulmunity, in the dance, such a thing is conceivableas a " right " on the part of certain women to men;or vice versa, a ,right on the part of men to women?The equal obligation all round to labour, as one ladypoints out in t:p.e Onward, clearly entitles all alike toenjoy the same' recompense. One part of this recom­pense is found in joining in those dances which havebeen organised by the State. No lady could find anypleasure in the dance without a partner of the othersex, whilst it is even more apparent that no gentle­man would dance without a lady.

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 67

On the part of this lady, the practical solution ofthe difficulty was sug-gested in the Onward, -that for

- the future all partners at dancing, irrespective of age,heauty, ugliness, and everything else, be chosen bydrawing lots. She contends that precisely -as in asocialised community there are no persons withoutwork, and without shelter, so in the same way theremust never be any ladies at a dance without theirproper partners.

But a professor of Modern Natural Law has sent aletter to the paper expressing the fear that, in processof time, this luethod of organising the selection ofpartners in the dance nlight have unforeseen resultsof an unpleasant kind. He fears it might in tirpe leadto a demand for the recognition of a right of marriage,to a deluand that the State take the regulation ofmarriage into its own hands, by a gigantic universalraffie of men and women. He is strongly of opinionthat, precisely as a marriage-tie is a strictly privatecontract, made without the intervention of any func­tionary whatever, so in the same way Jnust a tmu­poral'Y union between a lady and a gentlenlan in thedance preserve the character of a private contract;and he deprecates the idea of any luaster of theceremonies Ineddling, either by lottery or in any otherway, with such engagements.

As a nlatter of fact though, I understand that alarge number of ladies take the view that a consistentsocial equality demands the abolition of the differencesbetween luarried and unmarried. These ladies havelately joined the party of the Younkers, although inreality they themselves· are for the most part of asomewhat ripe age. Anyhow, the extension of the-right of voting to women may materially tend to

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add strength to the Opposition at the approachingelection.

Preparations are now being made for a speedygeneral election. The vast number of calls which thepreliluinary arrangements for the new socialistic Statenlade upon thetilue and attention of the Governmentdid not admit of the elections taking place at an earlierdate. The right to vote is possessed by all persons ofboth sexes who have passed their twentieth year. Thesystem of election decided upon is the so-called systemof proportional election, which was adopted by theErfurt Uonference in October, 1891. According tothis system, large electoral divisions, with severalcandidates, are constituted, and each political party re­turns to Parliament a number of representatives inproportion to the votes recorded for that particularparty.

OHAPTER XX.

DISAGREEABLE EXPERIENCES.

My wife and Agnes sit up until far into the night,busy with their -dresslllaking in secret. The work inhand is a new dress for Agnes.

As checker, I ought by rights to denounce the pairof them to the proper authorities for over-production,and for exceeding the rnaximum hours of labour.Fortunately, however, they are not amongst the fiftypersons forIning the section which it is my business tocontrol.

The two are even more talkative than usual whenengaged in this work of dressmaking. As far as I canmake out, they have not been able to find what they

TIlE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE.

wanted at any of the magazines, and so they are alter­ing and adapting some other garments to their fancy.They vie with each other in girding at the new Statemagazines. Show-"\vindows, puffing, and advertising,sending out lists of prices; all this sort of thing, itseenlS, has entirely ceased. There is an end to all talk,they' complain, o£ what, novelties are to be had, and

also to all gossip about prices. The saleslnen appointedby the State are all as short in their manner as theofficials on State railways always have been. All Cain..

petition between shops has naturally ceased, and forany certain given article you have to go to one certainmagazine, and to no other. This is a necessity of theorganisation of production and consumption.

It is, of course, a Inatter of the most perfect indiffer­ence to the salesman whether you buy anything ornot. Some· of these salesmen scowl as soon as theshop-door is opened, and they have to rise fronl somethrilling book, or they get interrupted in sorne otherpleasant occupation. .The greater the variety ofgoods you wish to look. at, the more questions youask as to their nlake and durability, the greater doesthe ire of the salesman become. Rather than fetchany article from another part of the magazine, he tellsyou at once they have not got it in stock.

If you wish to purchase ready-made clothing (inthis connection I may remark that all pri vate dress­,making and the like, at honle, outside of the tnaximumeight hours day, is prohibited), the outlook is generallya very poor one. The trying-on reminds you of thedressing-up of recruits in barracks, the tailor being'profuse in his assurances that the number ,vhich cor­responds to your measurement nlust of necessity fityou well. If any garment which has been made to

70 PICTURES OF

order turns out to be tight here, or bag-gy there, itneeds all the eloquence you are master of to convincethe tailor that the garment really is so. If you donot succeed in convincing him,you have either to takethe article as it is and make the best of it, or to fightthe State in an action at law.

Going to law is now a very cheap affair. As re­solved at the Conference of El{urt in October, 1891,

. all law is now gratis. As a necessary result of this,the nUlnber of judges and lawyers has had to be in­creased tenfold. But even this large addition is farfr0111 sufficing for the requirements, as the actionsbrought against the State for the inferiority of thegoods it supplies, for the wretched condition of thedwellings, the bad quality of the food, the abruptnessand rudeness of its saleslnen and other officials are asthe Rand upan the sea-shore.

\Vith the limitations caused by the prescribed eighthours, the courts find it utterly impossible to getthrough the cases set down in the calendar. Nat thatla\vyers and barristers can be reproached with anywish to unduly prolong suits. So far from this beingthe case, there are COInplaints that since the abolitionof all fees, and since their appointment as Stateofficials, lawyers scarcely listen at all to what theirclients have to say. There would appear to be toogreat a tendency to settle all differences sumnlarilyand in batches. Hence, nlany persons who do notfind an agreeable excitement in the mere fact of goingtolaw, prefer, even in spite of the law's gratuitousness,to put up with any injustice rather than subject them­selves to all the running about, loss of time, and vexa­tion. of bringing an action.

It is very sad to have to notice that dishonesty is

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 71

on the increase, even though gold and silver have quitedisappeared. My office as checker lets me into manya secret behind the scenes which I was formerly quiteignorant of. The number of ernbezzlements is nowseven times greater than it used to be. Officials ofall grades dispose of goods belonging to the State inconRideration ot some private lavour or service ren­

dered· to them personally; or else they neglect, in thedue performance of their duties as salesmen, to ex­tract a coupon of the right value from the money­certificates of buyers, in exchange for goods supplied.In order to make good. any deficiency which a lack ofcoupons would betray, recourse is then had to short­ness of weight and measurement, adulteration ofgoods, and so on.

Thefts of money-certificates are also of frequentoccurrence. The photographs with which these areall provided have, in practice, not proved a sufficientsafeguard against the use of the certificates by otherpersons. The prolnises and presents of all kindsrnade to persons in high positions, who have nice andeasy work to give out, or who otherwise possess in­fluence, constitute an evil ,vhich extends to the veryhighest spheres. We never hold a. conference withour head checker without our attention being calledto some fresh dodge or trick in reference to thesematters.

Hitherto. I had always consoled myself with thesure belief that things would get better as soon as wehad survived the period of transition; but now I canscarcely conceal from myself the fact that they getrapidly worse. One of my colleagues tried to explainthe cause of this to-day. His explanation is, thatsince people find the utter impossibility of. improving,

72 PICTURES OF

by honest endeavour and in a IegitimaJte way, thatposition of equality which has been prescribed £01' allpersons alike, their whole effort is no,v directed toget, in a dishonest way, that 'which is in no other wayattainabIe.

CHAPTER XXI.

FLIGHT.

WE have just passed through terrible days. On Sun­day morning Franz arrived here unexpectedly on his,vay to Stettin, to vvhich town, as I take it, he hasbeen 'transferred. My wife appeared not the leastsurprised at his coming, but she showed all the moreemotion at his going away again. She sobbed aloud,hung upon his neck, and seemed utterly incapable ofbearing the separation from her son. Franz partedfrom me, too, as though it were a matter of neverseeing each other more. Agnes ,vas not about at thetime, but I heard that they intended to meet at therailway station.

On Wednesday I chanced to read to my wife someintelligence in the Onward, that once Inore a num­ber or emigrants, in seeking to evade pursuit by thefrontier guards, had been shot down by the latter.She became greatly excited at the ne\,ys, and uponmy saying, in response to her inquiry, that this hadtaken place in the roadstead of Sassnitz, she fainted.It took me sorrle considerable time to bring her backto consciousness. Presently she narrated to llle inbroken sentences that Franz and Agnes had gone offtogether on Sunday, not, as I had supposed, to Stettin,but to Sassnitz, with the intention of leaving Ger-

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 73

many altogether. From the account in the paper, itseeins .that, upon the arrival of the Danish mail­steamer from Stettin,' the frontier guards at onceboarded the vessel, and attempted to .drag the fugitiveemigrants back by sheer force. The emigrants offeredresistance, and there was a sanguinary encounter.

They were anxious hours we spent before our fears

were sOlnewhat set at rest by the appearance of a"new number of the Onward, with a list of the killedand arrested. Franz and Agnes were not in either ofthe lists, but what can have becorne of them?

My wife now related to me the story of the youngpeople's resolve to get away from the country. Itseems that Franz had some time previously confidedto her his fixed determination to leave Germany assoon as possible, as he found the state of affairs un­bearable. Fearing that my well-known respect forthe law rnight lead me to oppose his intentions, heearnestly begged bis mother not to breathe a syllableof his plans to me. All her/ efforts to induce hiln togive up the idea were futile. Seeing his determina­tion' was unalterable, the good mother could no longerfind it in her heart to oppose it. In old days, andquite unknown to me,_ my wife had laid -by sundrygold pieces, and these she gave to Franz ~o make useof as passage-money on a foreign ship.

At first, Agnes had opposed the plan. She wasready, she said, to follow Franz to the end of the worldif needs be; but" she could not see at present, sheadded, ,vhat necessity there was for their leaving all

Ii else that. was dear' to them. But in a short time herown circunlstances became so unpleasant that shealtered her opil).ion. All this I have only just 'learnt.

In old days, in the stillness and purity of the ll1a-

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ternal home, the young- rnaiden used to carryon herbusiness as a rnilliner, selling her wares for the mostpart to a house in a large way. Now she saw herselfobliged to work in a big sewing- establishment, and tospend the whole day with a nurnber of women andg-irls, many of whom had habits and principles not atall to her rnind. Her chaste maidenliness was oftenshocked at a good deal of the talk, and at the farnili­arities bet"veen the girls and the male managers.Sundry cOluplaints she nlade only tended to make herposition still more unpleasant. Her personal attrac­tions likewise soon drew upon her an amount ofoffensive attention frolu one of the head managers.An abrupt repulse on the part of Ag-nes only subjectedher to those pet_ty annoyances and harassments in herwork by which a mean nature seeks its revenge.

I make no manner of doubt that there was plentyof this sort of thing under the old system. But atleast there was then this advantage, that people couldmake a change if anything did not suit them. Now­adays, however, many of the managers seem to lookupon their workgirls as little better than defencelessslaves, who are delivered over to them. Many of thehigher placed officials see all this well enough, but asthey themselves act not a whit differently as regardsthe abuse of power, they are very lenient in respectof all complaints made to them. Under such circum­stances the near relations, or lovers of nlaidens whosehonour is thus menaced, have often no other resourceleft than to take the law into their own hands. Theresult of this state of things is, that cases of personal.chastisement, manslaughter, and even murder arefrightfully on the increase.

Agnes, who only has her rnother left, had no pro-

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 75

tector in Berlin. Her complaining letters to Franzin Leipsig drove him to desperation, and ripened hisresolve to no longer delay the execution of his plans.Agnes coincided heartily with ·his views, and latterlyshe and Iny wife sat up half the night to get allready for the j~urney.

At length the decisive Sunday had been reached,that Sunday which had given rise to so· much anxietyand painful uncertainty to us. The suspense wasterrible, but, at last, at" the expiration of nearly aweek, tlhe arrival of a letter frolu the English coastput an end to our fears.

According to this letter the pair were fortunatelynot on board the Danish mail-steamer. The fisher­luau at Sassnitz, to ","'hose house they had gone ontheir arrival there, is a distant relation of my wife's.The "letter went on to say that the inhabitants of thecoast about there are greatly incensed against thenew order of things, because by" it they have beenlargely deprived of the comfortable living they madeout of visitors to the different bathing-places. Per­rnission to go to watering-places and health resorts isnow only accorded to such persons as are duly reCOln­mended by a properly constituted medical commission.

Our ,vary fisherman strongly opposed all idea oftaking a passage by one of the mail-steaulers, becausea .vigilant look-out had latterly been kept on these.Watching his opportunity, and availing himself ofthe attention of the authorities being engrossed bythe affair of the Danish steamer, he put Franz andAgnes on .board his fishing sUlack, and made for theopen sea. He took them up as far as StubbenkammerPoint, where he feU in with an English goods steamerreturning fromStettin, whose captain readily trans..

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ferred the fugitives to his vessel. The English, whosetrade has been very seriously affected by the neworder of things, never lose an opportunity of havinga slap at our socialistic GovernUlent by giving all theaid they can to persons desirous of leaving thecountry.

So in a short time Franz and Agnes duly reachedEngland, and now they are already on their way toNew York.

Poor children 1 what a deal they must have gonethrough 1 And illy good wife, above all; my wifewho kept all her cares and troubles so long lockedup in her bosorn, quite unknown to me! How shallI ever be able to recompense her for all the iUlmensesacrifices she has Inade as a lTIother ?

CHAPTER XXII.

ANOTHER NEW CHANCELLOR.

THE discontent in the country has now reached itsculmination upon its becorning generally known thatall concerts, and theatres, and other amusements inBerlin are free. The inhabitants of every littleinsignificant bit of a place demand that the nationalpurse provide thern with the same diversions that wehave here; and they base their claim upon the ac­knowledged social equality of all, and upon the rightof all to enjoy the same identical "recompense for thesame labours. They say that even under the best ofcircurnstances they are still placed at a great disad­vantage, as every village can't have gas or electriclighting, heating by hot-air pipes, and the like.

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 77The Onwctrd attempted to soothe the feelings of

the people in the country by graceful and appropriatereferences to the advantages of country life, idyllicremarks upon the enjoyment of nature, and the sweetfreshness of the air. This \vas looked upon as irony,and they wanted to know what enjoyment of Naturethere was dUring heavy rains, or in the long winterevenings?

"What fresh· air do we get in the. cramped littlecottages in the country, or in the stables andshippons ?"

Thus they grumbled in letters to the paper.It was pointed out to them that it had never been any

different. They admitted the truth of this, but thenwent on to say that formerly everyone who did not careto stay in the country ,vas at liberty to remove into atown. Now, however, it waR very different, and thecountryman was tied to his clod of earth until it pleasedthe authorities to dispose otherwise of him. And underthese circumstances they must look to the State to pro­vide them with just the same amusen1ents as the largetowns had. They merely asked for equal rights for all,and no more.

TheOhancellor did not at all know what to do. Thewise government of a people bas unquestionably IT10reknotty points about it than the cleaning of boots andthe brushing of clothes. This scheme of planning re..creations for the people has been about the only thinghe has carried through. But with the best will in theworld he could not possibly have a band of music, acircus, and a company of specialists at every street..crossing. Pondering upon this business, the happythought occurred tohim tohave afew hundred thousand

,Berliners transferred to the. enjoyments of the country

PICTURES Oi?

every Sunday, and a corresponding number of countrypeople brought up to the attractions of the to,vn. Butunfortunatelyfor this social equality the weather provedveryunequal. In rainyweather the Berlin peopleshowedno great liking for damp excursions into the country.But the country people, who had arrived in great num­bers, naturally expected those seats at the variousplaces of alllusement which the Berliners did not care torelinquish.

After the Chancellor had succeeded in thus settingthe townspeople and the country people thoroughly atloggerheads with each other, his retirement was deemedexpedient, in order that the feeling against him mightnot unduly prejudice the coming general elections. InBerlin, as might be expected, the disgust at the stoppageof all further free recreations is universal. Henceforthplaces at the theatres and similar entertainments canonly be had against payment in the coupons of the111oney-certificates.

The Secretary to the Treasury has been appointedas the Chancellor's successor. He is known as a n1anwho goes straight to the point, regardless of all con­siderations, and he also has the reputation of being agood financier. This latter quality will be all themore welcome, as there are all sorts of ugly whispersabroad respecting the disproportion there is betvveenincome and expenditure in the finances of the social­ised Community.

CHAPTER XXIII.

FOREIGN COMPLICA.TIONS.

THE entire navy left by the late Government is tobe got ready for service with all possible speed. In

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 79

addition to this, the standing artny, which had alreadybeen increased to 500,000 men with a view the betterto maintain order at home, and to keep a good watchon the frontiers, has been still further strengthened.These are amongst the first measures taken by thenew Chancellor to avert dangers which menace us£rolll abroad.

In the speech which the Foreign Secretary madebefore the Committee of Government, and in whichhe unfolded the above Ineasures, he calls attention tothe necessity there is for them, in consequence of thedeplorable growth of friction, of complications anddissensions with foreign powers. But it must dis­tinctly be understood. that the Minister for ForeignAffairs was in no way responsible for this unfortunatestate of things. In the socialised Community it wasthe province of this Minister to arrange with foreignpowers. for the barter of all goods between State andState. It resulted from this arrangement that allcomplaints in respect of inferiority of goods, or un­punctuality in supplying them, had to be attended to inthe form of diplolnatic n~tes. .All that tension whichsometimes· ensued from the breaking off of businessconnections, from the jealousies of competition, orfroin similar commercial causes, and which formerlyhad only affected luercantile circles, was now trans­ferred to the direct relations which one nation hadwith another. This is in the nature of the newarrangements.

The Minister went on to say it had been hoped, that the ahnost universal consciousness of having

adopted right principles, and the sentiment of thebrotherhood of all nations, would play' a different part,than had been found to be the case in actual practice,

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toning down differences, and bringing universal peace.He said it need occasion no surprise that the English,that egotistical Manchester race, and their Americancousins, ",,"ould have nothing at all to do with Social­ism. They never could get over it that the socialisticEuropean continent, by the repudiation of all Statebonds, shares, and so all, had shaken off all slavishindebtedness to English holders of continental scrip.But even these inveterate lovers of money ought tosee that Germany had lost unnumbered millions moreby the repudiation than it had gained. This wa,sevident, inasmuch as all the Russian, Austrian,Italian and other bonds in German hands had alsobeen repudiated by the socialistic governments ofthose countries.

These various socialistic governments do not thankus a bit for having, in our lofty consciousness of theinternational value of Socialism, accepted without aInurmur the abolition of all claims for interest on suchforeign bonds as were in our possession. Several ofthese governments have latterly becolne so egotistical,and they show such a want of regard for us, that theypositively go the length of refusing to let us have anygoods except against either money down, or an equiv­alent value in such other goods as they may require.Payment in llloney was no difficulty to our ·Govern­ment so long as any of those stocks of coined and un­coined gold and silver which had become worthless tous·were left. But now that \ve have by degrees got tothe end of our stock of noble metals, we are constantlycOIning across all kinds of obstacles in tlie "vay of theexchange of our goods for commodities which we needfrom other countries, such as corn, timbel", flax, cotton,wool, petroleum, coffee, etc. These obstructions are

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 8r

not confined to the snobbish gentlemen of Englandand America, but they are every bit as numerous onthe part of the neighbourip.g socialistic nations~ Ourrequirements for the articles just mentioned have notdituinished oneatolu under our socialistic form ofgovernment. Quite the reverse. But the neighbour..ing States, with similar views to our OWD, tell us thatsince the introduction of the socialistic form ofgovernment tbeyfind no demand at all for Germangoods, such as velvets, shawls, ribbons, mantles, em­broideries, gloves, pianos, glass and' similar wares.They say that since the restoration of the precisebalance. of social equality, they produce more of thesegoods themselves than there is a demand for.

The English and Americans, in their enmity toSocialism, are everlastingly drumtuing it into us thatour manufactures, from ironware and textile goodsdown to stockings and toys, have so deterioratedunder the new system of' nlanufacture, that they canno longer pay us the old prj ces; and they say thatunless an improvement takes place they will have tolook to other sources of supply. But even as it is,with the enhanced cost of production, we cannot makeour trade pay. All attempts to settle an internationalmaximum working-day have failed, as the varioussocialistic governments allow particular interests toinfluence them, and pretend that in this matter theymust be guided by such special features as climate,national character, and the like.

What is our Government to do in this dilemma?The fact that we, on our part, now r€quire no moresilk, and no more expensive wines from abroad, is buta meagre compensation for the loss of our exporttrade,' amounting to many Inillions. It can occasion

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no surprise that the exchange of diplomatic notespartakes daily of an increasingly irritable character.Already, both on the West and on the East, hintshave fallen that the right thing for Germany to do,seeing she seems incapable of maintaining her popula­tion, would be for her to cede slices of the country toneighbouring States. Nay, the question is even de­bated whether it would not be advisable, as a pre­cautionary nleasure, to lay an attachment on theseborder lands, as security for the bill which Germanyhad run up for goods supplied to her.

Foreign holders· of German bonds who feel them­selves injured by our repudiation, take everyoppor­tunity of indelunifying themselves by laying anembargo on Gerrnan vessels and merchandise. Thenagain, the assistance given by foreign ships to fugi­tives frolu our country, is a permanent cause of angryrepresentations.

In short, the hope that the advent of Socialisuleverywhere would prove synonymous with the reignof eternal peace between the nations, was so far froulbeing realised that the very opposite threatened. TheMinister concluded his speech by saying that theCommittee of Government could hence hardly fail tosee the necessity there was for the navy being againfitted out for service; and it would doubtless alsosanction the increase of the army to a million men.

OHAPTER XXIV.

THE ELECTION STIR.

THE general election is at last to take place, and nextSunday is fixed as the polling Jay. This choice of a day

· THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE.

of rest and leisure deserves the hig-hest commendation,as nowadays a hundred times nlore issues depend up­on the resuIt of an election than was fornlerly thecase. Laws are everything in a socialistic State; thelaw has to prescribe to each separate individual howlong he must labour, how much he has to eat anddrink, how he must be dressed, housed and what not.

This is already very apparent in the addresses toconstituents, and in the election cries. The' numberof parties which advocate particular interests islegion. Many of the addresses issued by the candi­dates bristle with proposals for .the reform of the dailybills of fare, for the increase of the meat rations, forbetter beer, stronger coffee, (since the conlplicationswith various foreign powers, we scarcely ever get anycoffee that is not Inade exclusively of chicory,) forfiner houses, better ,heating apparatus, more splendidlighting, cheaper clothes, whiter underlinen, etc. etc.

Many women are extrelnely indignant at the re­jection of their dernand· that one half of the repre­sentatives in the various divisions be of their sex.The ground for this rejection was that the delnandwas a reactionary endeavour to split up the interestsof the whole Community into separate interests. Thewonlen, however, on their part, fear that, by thro"vingin their lot with the men, and having divisions com­mon to both, rnany of their voters will in the end goover to the filen's side. They fear that the result ofthis, coupled with the other fact that the support ofwomen candidates by men is not at all to be relied

" on, will be that they will be able to carry but a limitednUlnber of candidates.

A large nUlnber of wornen, quite irrespective of age,have no,v tHrown in their lot with the Younkers:

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and this party, the better to render the ne\v alliancepermanent, has inscribed upon its banner the right ofall wOlnen to marriage. rrhese politicians are nowconstantly appealing to Bebel's book on woman, andthey want to ulake out that they are the real genuineBebelites. Their programnle is-A four hours' maxi­mum working-day; four weeks' holiday in the yearfor everybody, with a sqjourn at the sea-side or in thecountry; the re-introduction of free amusements;weekly change in the kind of labour to be performed;and lastly, the monthly duration of all appointrnentsto high offices and offices of State (including the officeof Chancellor), all such appointnlents to be held inrotation by all persons in the State, without distinc­tion. The Government party shows considerableconfidence, although, in reality, the programme it hasissued does not go beyond ordinary commonplace;but it calls upon all other parties, as true patriots, tofurget their differences, and to unite and form a grandParty of Order, in opposition to the party of negationand demolition, which was stealthily increasing, andwhich, under the enticing natne of a Party of Free­dom, sought to ingratiate itself ,vith'the nation. Thisso- called party of freedom demands the re-recognitionof the right of parents to bring up their children,abolition of the State cookshops, free choice of tradesand professions, entire liberty to move about as onepleases, and a better recompense for the higher kindsof labour. Now, it is abundantly clear that the con­cession of demands such as these must of necessityupset all equality, and be eminently calculated to sapthe very foundations of Socialism. The Gandidates ofthe Government party very properly point out in theiraddresses to constituents that the granting of such

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delnands would inevitably open the door to the re­turn of personal possessions, the doctrine of inheritance,

. the sovereignty of wealth, and the plundering systemof bygone days.

But, after all, the amount of excitement shown atthe present election is strangely out of proportion tothe number and Inany-sidedness of the election cries.In old days people took a good deal more interest inan election. People can now say what they think.Following the resolutions passed at the' Erfurt Con­ference, in October, 1891, all such laws as tended to·limit freedom of speech and the right of combinationare now abrogated; but what is the good of a f.reepress so long as the Government is in possession ofevery printing establishment? What is the right ofpublic meeting worth when every single nleeting-hallbelongs to the Government? True, the public halls,when not already engaged, luay be taken by partiesof all shades of politics for purposes of public Ineeting.Only, as it chances, it is just the various Oppositionparties that invariably have such ill-luck in this ,vay.As often as they want a hall or a rOOln, they find ithas been previously engaged, so they are unable tohold· a meeting. The press organs of the Governmentare in duty bound to insert such election notices fromall parties as are paid for as advertisements; but byan unfortunate oversight at the issue of the money­certifioates, there were no coupons supplied for suchparticular purposes. The unpleasant result of thisomission is a total lack of all funds with which topay the expenses of an election. In this respect theSocialists were vastly better off under the old style.They then had large sums at their disposal, and it Inustbe adlnitted they knew how to apply them judiciously.

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The Oppositiun parties cornplain bitterly of thescarcity of persons who, \vhen it comes to the test, havethe requisite courage to boldly face the Goverl1Inentas opponents" either as candidates for Parliament oras speakers at election meetings. The fact that everyobnoxious person Inay be unceremoniously told off bythe Government to SOUle other occupation, or sentaway to a distant part of the country, may havesomething to do with this hanging back. Such sud­den changes involve frequently the endurance ofmany unpleasantnesses and hardships, particularly topeople of riper years. Of course everybody has theright to protest against a transfer which looks likemere caprice on the part of the Government. Buthow can anindividual undertake to prove that thetransfer was not a well-advised step, and not justifiedby other alterations el,ewhere in the general labourschenIe, which rendered this particular appointmentnecessary?

The daily conferences which we controllers havetogether, make it lllore and more clear that the mindsof men, both in the towns and in the country, are in abad ferment. It is in1possible to resist the convictionthat the lnost trifling cause might, at any llloment,suffice to call forth a violent eruption of popular feel­ing in favour of a restoration of the old order ofthings. From all parts of the country reports areconstantly cOIning in, detailing violent collisions be­tween civilians and the troops which ,vere sent out toestablil::lh Socialism. The Governlnent is not evenquite sure of the troops. This is the reason whyBerlin, in spite of the great augluentation of the army,has not received any garrison. But our police force,on the other hand, which has been picked frolu the

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 87

ranks of perfectly reliable Socialists throughout the .whole country, has been increased to 30,000 men. Inaddition to mounted police, the police force is nowfurther strengthened by the addition of artillery andpioneers.

The voting takes place by means of voting-papers,which bear the official stamp, and which are handedin in sealed envelopes. But in view of the system ofespionage in the hands of the Government, whichpenetrates into everyone's most private affairs; inview of the publicity which everybody's life now has,and the system of control that all are subject to; inview of these things, many persons seem to mistrustthe apparent security and secrecy of the voting-papers,and not to vote according to their inillost convictions.In fonner times, somewhat of this sort of thing pre­vailed in small electoral districts. NOvv,however,every single individual is a spy on his neighbour.

rrhere ig, hence, a great deal of uncertainty as tothe result of the elections. If the nation gives ex­pression to its real wishes, we shall see the return ofa majority bent upon a restoration of the old order ofthings. But if these wishes are kept in check by fear,we shall get a parlialuent which is a mere tool in thehands of the GovernUlent.

I do not yet at all know, for my part, how I shallvote. I faney, someho\v, that through my son's flighta sharp eye is being kept on me. I shall mo~t likelyend by giving in a blank voting-paper.

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CHAPTER XXV.

SAD NE'VS.

ANNIE, our dear, precious, little Annie, is dead! Itseems ilnpossible to actually realise· that the pretty,little creature that used to frolic about, so full of lifeand joy, is now all at once cold and lifeless; thatthose young lips which prattled away so sweetly arenow for ever dumb; that those laughing eyes thatused to shine so brightly are now closed in the still­ness of death.

And to-day, too, is her birthday. My wife hadgone in the morning to the Children's I!ome in thehope of, at least, being able to see the child for a fewminutes. With a smile on her face, and her heartbriluful of joy, she inquired for Annie. A pauseensued, and then she was asked again for her nalueand ad.dress. Presently the news was broken to herthat the child had died during the night, of quinsy,and that a message to this effect was now on its wayto the parents.

My wife sank down on a chair perfectly stupefied.But the mother's love for her child soon brought herstrength back again. She refused to credit such athing, to believe that her Annie, hel' child, could bedead; there lnust be a strange mistaJke somewhere.She hastily followed the attendant to the death-rooHl.Ah! there had been no mistake. There lay Annie,our dear little Annie, in that still long sleep fronlwhich no calling, and no kissing, and no bitter agonyof the poor mother will ever awaken her.

'\That avails it to enter into a long account of the

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE.

suddenness with which this malignant disease hadattacked her? It began with a cold which she hadprobably caught at night. At houle the child alwayshad a way of kicking off the bed-clothes in her sleep.But yonder there is no ~other's eye to watch tenderlyat the bedside of each little one amongst so manyhundr~dg. Th~n again, the preseribed ventilationalways causes nlore or-less draught in the bedrooms.Or possibly the child had not been properly driedafter a bath. In all these great establishments agood part of the work must unavoidably be done in a

summary luanne!'. I t is likely enough, too, that thedifferent style of living had Inade the child a littleweaker, and therefore more susceptible than she hadbeen at horne. But what avails now inquiry or

.speculation? All that will never bring our Annieback to life again.

How' will my poor wife be able to stand all· thissorrow upon sorrow? The shock had such a seriouseffect upon her that she had to be taken in a cabstraight from the Children's Home to the hospital.Later on they fetched nle. Annie had been the petof ~he family, the only girl, born some time after thelads. How luany had been our hopes, our drearns, forher welfare, when she should be once grown up?

I Iuust break the news to-morrow to Ernst as bestI can. It will not do for grandfather to get to hearit at all. He can never Dlore tell her stories as shesits on his lap, as she so often used to, and'ask again andagain to be told about" LittleRecl Riding Hood andthe Wolf."

Franz and Agnes in Anlerica have as yet no sus­picion of our sorro.w, and they won't get my letterbefore nine or ten days. Franz loved his little sister

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tenderly, and it was rarely that he omitted to bringher some trifle when coming home from work. Thelittle rogue knew this well enough, and used to run to111eet him on the stairs as soon as there was any signof his coming.

And now there is an end to all these things; anend to these and to so many other things in a fewshort months.

CHAPTER XXVI.

THE RESULT OF THE ELECTIONS.

WITH heaviness such as this in the heart, all politicalluatters seem so inlmaterial and idle to one. The sor­rows of the present moment make one regard all con­siderations for the future with indifference.

Franz has proved to be right in his forecast of theresults of the elections. In his last letter he expressedhis belief that, in a comrnunity in which there \vas nolonger any personal or conlmercial freedolu, even thefreest form of government would fail to restore anypolitical independence. He considered that thosesubjects who are so dependent upon the Government,even in the most ordinary affairs of life, as is now thecase with us, would only in very rare instances have thecourage to vote, no 111atter how secret that votingmight be, in opposition to the known wishes of thosein power. The right of voting, Franz wrote, couldhave no rnore serious significance in our socialisticState of society than such a right has for soldiers inbarracks, or for prisoners in gaol.

The result of the elections shows that the Govern­ment party, in spite of all the "vide-spread discontent

THE SOCIALISTIC. FUTURE.

there is,has secured two-thirds of the votes recorded.And this triumph, moreover, has been obtained with­out any special efforts on their part. The· only ex­ception which must be luade in this connection wasthe transfer of a few leaders of the party of freedom,and of the Younkers, which transfers were obvi­ously made for political reasons, and intended to actas warnings.

·Weighed down by the load of adversity which hasbefallen us as a family, I relinquished my originalintention of giving an adverse vote, and sided withJ,he Government. Whatever would have become ofmy wife and me if, in our present fralue of mind, Ihad been sent away to SOUle far-off little place in theprovinces?

It seems somewhat odd that in the country, wherethe discontent is at its height, the Government hasscored the best results. The only explanation is, thatas people in the country are even more under sur­veillance than is the case in thickly-populated towns,they are· still luore reticent in giving expression toopposition views than townspeople are. In additionto this, the recent increase of the army has sent someterror into men's hearts in the disaffected districts.

In Berlin, the Government party is in a minority.And as, according to the system of proportionalelection now adopted, Berlin fornls only one electoraldivision, the vote of our city is on the side of theParty of Freedolu.

The Younkers have come off very badly, and, inspite of the strong support given them by the

'Woman's Universal Wedlock League, have only suc­ceeded in returning one candidate. It seems prettyclear that the nation has no desire to see any addi-

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tions made to the socialistic edifice now erected.And even this one candidate would scarcely havebeen returned but for the help of friends belonging tothe Party of Freedon1, who supported his electionbecause of the vigorous attacks he made on theGovernlnent.

The Party of Freedom, or the Friends of Freedonl,as they also style themselves, have obtained nearlyone-third of the total number of votes recordedthroughout the whole country. And this result hasbeen obtained in spite of all the efforts nlade by theGovernlnent side to brand them as a party of dernoli­tion, and one that sought only to undermine theestablished order of society.

The relative measure of success which this partyhas obtained is largely owing to the support given bywomen voters, and, indeed, these latter have shown agood deal more activity in the elections than thevoters of the rougher sex. They have made no secretof the bitterness they feel at the present state ofthings, and of their chagrin at the restrictions placedupon private and domestic affair3.

In particular, the regulation rendering it possibleat any moment to give notice of the dissolution ofmarriage, had the effect of making a large number ofdeserted wives specially active in the distribution ofvoting-papers, and in bringing dilatory voters up tothe poll.

Of lady candidates only one has been returned toParliament, this one being the wife of the newChancellor. This lady is not an adherent of theGovernment party, but calls herself an entirely in­dependent luember. In her election speeches she hasrepeatedly assured her bearers that she would, in

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Parliament, follow exactly the same course she hadalways. adopted at home, both towards her presenthusband, and towards the husbands she has hadbefore, and plainly speak out her mind whenever thewelfare of the nation seemed to require it. TheGovernment party did not care to oppose the electionof-this lady, partly out of courtesy to the Chancellor,and partly in order that her return might serve as anillustration of .the equality of wornen's rights '\viththose of nlen.

CHAPTER ·XXVII.

A LARGE DEFICIT.

A DEFICIT of a milliard per month 1. A thousandmillion marks expenditure over income per nlonth !That was the disagreeable message with which theChancellor greeted the assembling of the new Parlia­ment. The only wonder is that this could be keptsecret' until after the elections. But it is now hightime to look into this matter, and see that sonle im­provement is made.

For a long time past there have been signs in alldirections that saInething or other was ,vrong. Whengoing to make purchases you were told, only toooften, that such and such an article had j nst run outof stock, and that a fresh supply would not come infor some little tirne. It now comes out, however, thatthis was due, not to an increase in the dema.nd, but toa decrease in the supply. Things got so bad thatthere was often the greatest difficulty experienced inobtaining the most indispensable articles of clothing.

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In the case of other articles of daily use you hadfrequently either to go without, or to put up withthe most old-fashioned and antiquated things whichhad been left on hand ever so long. All itnportgoods, such as coffee, petroleunl, farinaceous foods,and so on, were so high in price as to be scarcelyprocurable.

Indeed, in no respects can it be said that thepeople have lived in luxury and riot. At dinner, themeat rations have remained nominally the sarne as atfirst, viz. one-third of a pound per head. But,latterly, there have been unpleasant innovations inrespect of including bone, gristle, fat and sinlilar un­profitable matter in the gross weight of the rations.The vegetable part of the bill of fare has been alsolnuch simplified, and is now' restricted to potatoes,peas, beans, and lentils. On Bebel clay the increasedmeat ration and the free glass of beer which had beenlooked for v/ere conspicuous by their absence. Thestrictest economy extends even to the matter ofpepper, salt, and spices. On all hands there are com­plaints that the tastelessness and satneness of thedishes are such as to produce nausea, even in those\vIlo have the Inost robust appetites. What littleconversation there is at meal tilues tends lnore andmore in the direction of talk about sickness andinternal complaints.

So far as appearances seem to indicate, our popu­lation, in spite of the considerable emigration whichhas taken place, n1ay count upon a rapid increase asa result of the undertaking on the part of the State tobring up all children free of cost. But notwithstand­ing this, no measures are taken to meet the delnand,and even here in Berlin there is scarcely any building

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 95

going on. Even the most indispensable repairs areconstantly being postponed. No longer is there asyllal.>le dropped about alterations and improvenlentsanywhere; about the renewal of machinery and stores ;about the building of new mills, or works, or theenlargement of old ones; or about the construction ofnew railways.

All stores for daily consumption seem to havedwindled down to a miniJnum. The only stocks wehave are of such things that there is little orno de­mand for. What other stocks there are consist ofsuch goods as we formerly sent abroad, but whichthere is now, especially in socialistic countries, nolonger any sale for. These goods are gloves, silks,velvets, pianos, wines, embroidered and fancy goods,etc. etc. All such articles may now be had in thehome-markets at less than cost price, for the meresake of getting rid of them.

From month to month the deficit seems to growgreater instead of less, in spite of all attempts tograpple ,vith the difficulty. Even the stocks of rawmaterial and auxiliary material begin to show signsof not being long able to keep the various works fullygoing. Foreign nlerchants everywhere have ceasedsending any goods to Germany on credit, or otherwisethan against an immediate exchange of goods to thesaIne value.

Unpromising a~ this state of affairs looks, the Gov­ernment cannot really be reproached with having re­gulated consumption without a due amount of previousforethought. From the statement made at the open­ing of the new Parliament, it seems that, from prettyaccurate calculations made, the value of the entireproductivity of the country, irnlnediately anterior to

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the Revolution, had been from 17 to 18 milliards ofmarks annually. The Governlnent took this as abasis, and did not even calculate on any possible in­crease in the value of the nation's productivity undera new system of things. It silnply went on theassulnption that this value would renlain at least thesame, and would not diIninish through the luaximulllworking-day being fixed at eight hours. The calcu­lation of the amount of consumption per head of thepopulation was based upon this assumption. Buteven if the Government had proved right, it is quiteevident that the majority of the nation has so far notbeen placed on a better footing, but on a worse one,than it was in before the great Revolution, to saynothing of all the restrictions placed upon personaland commercial liberty.

A short time) however, sufficed to show that thevalue of the nation's productiveness sank down toone-third of what it had formerly been. FroIn 18milliard marks a year it "vent down to six milliards,or from one and a half milliards per month to half amilliard. In this way we have a deficit of a milliardper month. In four Inonths this amounts to a lossequal to the war contribution which France had topay to Gerrnany in the great war of past days.

What will this land us in? and where are we tolook for help? The next sitting of Parliament isawaited with considerable excitetnent and interest) asthe Chancellor intends then to go into the reasons ofthe deficit.

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CHAPTER XXVIII.

DOMESTIC AFFAIRS.

97

I FIND myself still quite solitary at. home, a thing Ihave never known since I was a single young man.

My poor wife still lingers on at the hospital, andthe doctor lately asked me. to make as few visits as Ipossibly could to her, so that. she rnight be kept fromall excit~ment. . For she. no sooner sees nlethan shethrows her arms passionately round my neck, asthough I had just been rescued from some alarmingdanger. When I have to leave her there is a renewalof these agitating seenes, and it is long before she canJ;econcile herself to the idea of Iny going. After theconversations we have had together, her thoughtsnaturally wander back to me and the other Inembersof the faulily; and the more she suffers them to runin this groove the more anxiety and uncertainty doesshe feel on our account. She is constantly fancyingus exposed to all kinds of dreadful persecutions andperils, and is afraid of never seeing us nlore. Theshock her systeul sustained through the death of ourlittle daughter, and through the events connectedwith tqe flight of Franz and Agnes, still affects hermost severely.

My wish was to consult l,our former doctor on hercase.. He knows her system thoroughly well, as hehas attended her, when occasion required, ever sinceour marriage. 'Vhen I called upon him he had justreturned from a youthful suicide, whom he had invain endeavoured to call back to life. He told mehe was extremely sorry to say that his eight hours

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lnaximUlll working-day had just expired, and thatsuch being the case, he was unable, although muchagainst his will, and in spite of the friendship be­tween us, to give any more medical advice on thatday. He told nle that he had already, on twooccasions, been denounced by a younger colleague,who was not able to render a sufficient number ofcoupons to the State Book-keeping Deparbnent, toprove that he had been engaged professionally foreight hours each day. This young man had laid aninfornlation against him for exceeding the hours oflabour, and he had been heavily fined for over­production.

COlnmenting upon the case he had just returnedfrom, the old gentleman enlarged upon the frightfulincrease in the number of suicides in the socialisticCommunity. I asked him whether this one had beena case of unrequited love. He replied in the negative,but went on to say that such cases did sometimesoccur, precisely as formerly, as it would scarcely doto prohibit women by act of Parliament from reject­ing proposals \vhich ,vere not agreeable to them.The old gentleman 'vho, in his younger days, hadbeen an anny surgeon, attribu ted the increase in thenUlllber of suicides to other causes. He told Ine hehad frequently observed that a considerable numberof such suicides as took place in the arlny arose fro In

the simple fact that many young men, although theyfelt perfectly content in all other respects, found theunaccustorned restraints of Inilitary life utterly un­bearable. These young men found life under suchcircumstances unendurable, even although they knewthat in the course of two or three years they "rouldreturn to their accustomed freedom. Hence, it was

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no wunder, he continued, that the irksolne and life­long restrictions of personal freedom which .have re­sulted from. the new organisation of production andconsumption, together with the idea of the absolutesocial equality of all, should have had· the effect withluany persons, and those. by no mea,ns of an inferiororder, o£ so tar robbing life oi all its charms, tha,t at

last they had recourse to suicide as the only way ofescape fronl the restraints of a dreary and monotonousexistence, which all their efforts were powerless toalter. It is very possible the .old gentleman is notaltogether in the wrong.

It is cheering to reflect that we have good newsfronl Franz and Agnes in America. This is the onlyray of sunshine in my life. They write that they havealready left the boarding-house in Ne,v York, in whichthey stayed irnmediately after their marriage, andhave managed to get a humble little h0111e together.Through being an excellent hand at his trade, andthrough-his honourable character, Franz has becolneforeman in a first-class printing concern. -Agnesworks for a large millinery establishment, and itseeU1S that the wages in tbis branch have gone upconsiderably in Anlerica since the cOlupetition on thepart of Gerrnany has fallen so seriously in arrears.r~rhus, by economy, they are enabled to buy one thingafter another for their cosy home. Franz was terribJyupset by the news of his little sister's death, and helnuch wants me to· send Ernst over to hirn, and pro­mises to provide for his future.

No words could describe how sorry I feel forErnst at his school. And, in fact, as a general thing,one hears nothing but unfavourable accounts of theseschools, more particularly of those which are occupied

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by young men of from eighteen to twenty-one yearsof age. rrhese young men all know that upon thecornpletion of their twenty-first year, irrespective ofwhat they have learnt, or whether they have learntmuch or little, precisely the same fate awaits them all.They know they will find exactly the same courseprescribed for them that is prescribed for all alike,and that no efforts or talents will ever avail to enablethem to pass' beyond that prescribed course. Theyknow, further, that the fact of their tastes lying inthis or that particular direction, affords .. not theslightest guarantee of their receiving an appointmentin accordance with those tastes, or even in any ap­proximate accordance with them. The result is, thatalmost without exception they run into all sorts ofextravagance and excess, so that lately such severemeasures had to be taken for keeping them withinbounds as could scarcely be surpassed in reformatories.

But in spite of all this, I dare not yet venture towhisper a word to Ernst about flight. Even if Icould devise a sure way of getting the young fellowon board a foreign vessel, and supposing I had anymeans of recouping Franz for the expense of thejourney, I should still feel incapable of taking such adecisive step for Ernst's future, without bis rnother'sfull acquiescence. And to talk to her of such a thing,in her present frame of mind, might be her death.

CHAPTER XXIX.

A STORMY PARLIAMENTARY SITTING.

I HAVE nDt been in the House since the debate on thesavings bank question. It will be remembered that

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this was prior to the recent general election, and thatthe 110use, or as it was styled, the Conlmittee of Go­vernment, was then cornposed exclusively of thosemembers of the Socialist party who had sat before theRevolution, the seats of all the members of the variousother parties having- been declared vacant, in con­sideration of the fact that all such mmnbers had beenreturned through the influence of capital. To-day,however, the newly elected opponents of Socialisnlsat in their places, occupying the entire left side of theHouse, and numbering about one-third of the seats.

The only lady member who has been returned, theChancellor's wife, sat in the middle of the front Op­position bench. She is a fine, dashing woman, withplenty of energy: to my thinking she was perhaps atrifle coquettishly attired for the occasion. She fol­lowed her husband's speech with marked attention, atone time nodding approval, and at another shaking herhead-she ,vore ringlets, and had red ribbons in herhair-to denote dissent.

The Government side of the House lay under a veryapparent cloud of depression, re~ulting from the newsof the large deficit. The Opposition, on the otherhand, was very lively in its sallies. The strangers'galleries were densely packed, the number of womenpresent being especially large} and the excitementeverywhere considerable.

A debate on the condition of the national financeswas down for the order of the day, and I will endeav­our to reproduce here the main points of the debateas to the causes of the great deficit. The first speakerwas

The Chancellor-" The fact of a considerable dimi­nution in productive values having taken place in our

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country, a diminution so great that those values arenow only one-third of what they were before the greatRevolution, is a fact that it ill becomes us either tobe-laugh or to be..weep, but which we must all endeav­our to grasp and to comprehend. Prolninent alnongstthe causes of that retrogression are the opponents ofour socialistic system."

The Member for Hagen, on the Le£t-" Oh, oh."The Cbancellor-" I need scarcely remind the Mem­

ber for Ilagen that in order to establish Socialism inthe country, we have been under the necessity of in­creasing the police force more than tenfold. In additionto this, we have seen the expediency of doubling thestrength of the navy, and of the standing army, sothat these forces might be in a position to renderadeqnate support to the police in their work of main­taining order and preventing emigra.tion, and nlightalso constitute a sufficient bulwark against dangersfrom abroad. Furthermore, the declaring void aUState bonds and values on the part of the varioussocialistic governments of Europe, has necessarilyaffected whatever German capital was invested in thosecountries, and in this ,yay greatly tended· to lessen ourincome. Our export trade has fallen off to an alarm­ing extent, partly owing to the Socialist order ofthings \vhich now reigns supreme in many countries,and partly to the aversion which the bourgeois nationsshow to our manufacturing system. In respect ofthese various causes it can hardly be anticipated thatthere will be much alteration in the future.

" A fruitful cause, in our view, of the great falling-offin the nation's productive power has been the releaseof young and old persons fronl the obligation to labour(hear, hear, from the Left), and the shortening of the

hours of labour. (Dproar.) We are also further ofopinion that the abolition of all piece-\vork has, un-'doubtedly, contributed to a diminution of manufacture.(Hear, hear, from the Left). One result of the de­moralising effects of the former state of society is,that, unfortunately, the consciousness of the indispens­able necessity that is laid upon all per~ons alike, in a.socialistic community, to labour, has not even yetpenetrated the bulk of the people to such an extent(dissent from the Right), that we should feel justifiedin not laying before you the measure we are about tointroduce, viz. a bill to extend the maximum working­day to twelve hours. (Sensation.) In addition tothis, we propose-at least as a provisional measure,and until such time as a satisfactory balance shallhave been restored-to extend the obligation to workto all persons between the ages of fourteen and seventy­five, instead of, as hitherto,to those between the agesof twenty-one and sixty-five. (Hear, hear, from theLeft.) We shall, however, in these arrangements,make provision for affording facilities .to talentedyoung persons £01" their further culture, and shall alsotake care that decrepit persons are engaged in a kindof labour that shall not nlilitate against their state ofhealth.

" In the next place, we are strongly of opinion thata plainer and less expensive system of national nourish­ment than has hitherto been adopted (dissent from theRight) would very materially aid in reducing the

. deficit. Carefully conducted investigations which wehave recently made have fully established the factthat, providing the rations of potatoes and vegetablesbe increased in a proportionate degree, the custolllaryone-third of a pound of nleat is by no means a requis-

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE, 1°3

1°4 PICTURES OF

ite ingredient of the chief meal of the day, but that'one-tenth of a pound of meat, or fat, is abundantlysufficient."

The Menlber for Hagen-" In Ploezensee!" 1

The President-" I must request the Member forHagen to discontinue these interrnptions." (Applausefrom the Right.)

The Chancellor-" It is a well-known fact thatthere are many estimable persons-I allude to thosepersons who are styled vegetarians-who hold not onlythat meat may very well be dispensed with altogether,but that it is pORitively injurious to the human systeln.(Uproar fronl the Right.)

"One of the main sources, however, froITl which wecalculate upon effecting econolny, is the placing ofnarrower bounds to individual caprice as manifestedin the purchase of articles. A measure of this natureis a necessary and logical step in the direction of socialequality, and we hope, by its means, to put an end tothe irrational rule of supply and demand which evennowadays ,to a great extent obtains, and which somuch tends to place obstacles in the way of production,and to raise the price of things correspondingly. TheCommunity produces, let us say, articles of consunlp'"tion, furniture, clothes, and so on. But the demandfor these articles is regulated by the merest freak orcaprice-call it fashion, taste, or whatever you like."

The Chancellor's lady-" Oh, oh."The Chancellor hesitated a moment, and sought by

means of a glass of water to caIrn his evident irritationat this interruption. He then continued-

"I repeat, the caprice of fashion is directed onlytoo frequently, not to those articles which are- already

1 Ploezensee is a house of· correction in Berlin.

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 1°5

in stock, but to some new-fangled thing which takes thefancy of the moment. As a result of this, those goodswhich are manufactured and exposed for sale by theComlnunity become often so-called shop-veterans, orthey spoil-in short, fail to fulfil the purpose for whichthey were produced; and all this, forsooth, just be­cause these goods do not quite take the laney o£ Mr.and Mrs. X. Y. Z. Now I put the question to you: arewe justified in so far yielding to the caprices of suchpersons, that we offer them a choice of various goodsto one and the same identical end-such as nourish­ment, furnishing, and attire-in order that Mr. andMrs. X. Inay live, and dress, and furnish their housedifferently from Mr. and Mrs. Y.? Just reflect howvastly all processes of m-anufacture would be cheapenedif, in place of having any variety in goods which aredestined to fulfil the same purpose, all such articleswere limited to a few patterns, or, better still, if theywere all made on one single pattern. All losses arising-from goods being left on hand as unsaleable, would beavoided if it were, once for all, definitely understoodthat Mr. and Mrs. X. Y. Z. had to dine, and attirethemselves, and furnish their houses in that mannerwhich had been prescribed by the State.

" Hence, lady and gentlemen, the Government con­templates shortly submitting to your considerationplans for regulating your other meals in a mannersimilar to that which was adopted from the first forthe regulation of the chief meal of the day. It willalso tend to promote more real social equality if allhousehold goods and chattels, such /as bedding, tables,chairs, wardrobes, linen, etc. etc., be declared the pro­perty of the State. By Ineans of each separate dwellingbeing furnished by the State with these variou~ requis-

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ites, all after one identical pattern, and all remaining asa permanent part of each dwelling, the trouble and ex­pense of removal are done away with. And only then,when we shall have advanced thus far, shall we be in aposition to approach, at least approximately, the prin­ciple of equality as respects the question of dwelling­houses, no matter how different their situations andadvantages. This problenl we propose to solve bya universal fresh drawing of lots from quarter toquarter. In this way, the chances which everybodyhas to win a nice suite of apartments on the first-floorfront are renewed every quarter of a year. (Laughterfrom the Left. Applause here and there froln the Right.)

" As an additional aid to the promotion of equality,we propose that in future all persons shall attire them­selves in garments ,vhose cut, material, and colour, itwill be the province of this House to determine be­forehand. The length of time during which all gar­luents are to be worn will also be fixed with precision."

rrhe Ohancellor's lady-" Never, never."The dissent shown by this lnerrlber was taken up

by various ladies in the strangers' galleries.The President-" All marks of approval or disap­

proval from the strangers' galleries are strictly pro­hibited.~'

The Chancellor-" I wish not to be misunderstood.We do not contemplate carrying equality in dress tosuch a length that all diversities will be entirelyabolished. On the contrary, we suggest the wearingof various badges as marks whereby the ladies andgentlemen of the different provinces, towns, andtrades, may readily be distinguished from each otherat a glance. A.n arrangement or this kind will materi­ally facilitate the surveillance of individual persons on

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 1°7

the part of the checkers appointed by the State forthat purpose (hear, hear, from the Left,) and will thusrender the present unavoidable increase in the num­ber of those checkers less large than would otherwisehave been the case. As you are aware, the numberof checkers hitherto has been in the ratio of one tofifty of the population.· But with the aid ot the ar­rangement just proposed, the Government is of opinionthat the appointment of one checker to every thirty ofthe population ,vill abundantly suffice to make ourcountry an orderly one in the truest sense of the word,(disturbance and cries of "Tyranny" froln the Left;the President touched his gong and requested order,)and to ensure on the part of all a rigorous observanceof the laws and regulations resp.ecting the taking ofmeals, style of dress, manner of living, and so on.

"This is our programme. Should it meet with yourapproval, we doubt not that a vigorous carrying outof the same will soon have the effect of doing awaywith the deficit, and of leading the country, on thebasis of social equality, to unimagined heights of pro­sperity and happiness, proportionate to the degree inwhich, in the· course of time, it shakes off and triurnphsover the demoralising effects of a fortner state ofsociety." (Applause from the Right; groans andhisses from the Left.)

The President-" Before proceeding to discuss thelueasures which have been unfolded by the Chancellor,it would be well for such members as may desirefuller information on any of the points noticed, toavail themselves of the present opportunity to directshort queries to the Chancellor."

The Chancellor said he was prepared to answer atonce any questions which lllight be addressed to him.

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A m81nber of the Government party wished theChancellor to be more explicit respecting the forIn itwas proposed to give to the lnorning and eveningmeals; and he further asked whether the measuresconteulplated would have any retrogressive effect uponthe value of the coupons COlTIposing the money-certifi­cates.

The Chancellor-" I aUl thankful to the last speakerfor having called Iny attention to several omissions inmy stateulent. With a vie,v to preventing all over­loading of the digestive organs, we propose to red ucethe bread rations for adults from one pound and ahalf per diem to one pound. The large anlount ofstarch which is a constituent part. of wheat is particu­larly liable to fernlentation, which, as experience hasshown, frequently results in unpleasant internal dis­orders. In addition to this bread ration, and which,as a matter of course, serves for the whole day, eachperson will receive one hundred and fifty grains ofunroasted coffee, and a quarter of a pint of skimmedmilk for breakfast. This will yield one pint of coffee.The Government is fully convinced that a conscienti­ous adherence to these proportions will result in theproduction of a compound which will be free fromthose heating and deleterious effects which frequentlyaccompany the use of coffee as a beverage. (Laughterfrom the Left.)

"The evening Ineal will be composed of a pint and ahalf of soup for each adult, care being taken to securedue variety, so that these soups may not pall upon thetaste. Rice soup, meal soup, barley soup, bread soup,and potato soup will alternate with each other; andin order to obtain still more variety, half a pint ofskiulmed milk will occasionally be substituted for the

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 'IOQ

soup ration. On the three chief political holidays ofthe year-the birthdays of Bebel" Lassalle, and Lieb­knecht-each adult person will receive half a poundof meat, and a pint of beer for dinner.

" I omitted to mention, too, that once a week therewill be an augmentation of each adult person's rationby the addition of a herring. Those persons who pre­fer to consume their herring at the evening meal· areat liberty to do so; and, indeed, this plan has muchto cOlnmend it, seeing that the mid-day meal is alreadyenriched by one-tenth of a pound of meat.

" Such are the proposals which we submit to Parlia­ment for its sanction. In attempting to formulatethe nourishment of the people on siruple and naturalprinciples, we have been guided by the considerationthat such a system would place us in a position to ex­port all our most valuable products, such as game andpoultry, hams, highly esteemed vegetables, the choicerkinds of fish, wine, and so forth. By this means wecalculate upon paying the bill for such imports as werequire for the sustenance of the people, more par­ticularly corn and coffee.

" As regards the nloney-certificates, it goes withoutsaying that an extended application of the plan ofsupplying the people with goods must of necessity _have an effect on the value of the coupons correspond­ing to such application. It is also contemplated infuture to supply every dwelling 'with ,firing andlighting at a fi.xed rate, which will he deducted fromthe money-certificates. Similarly, all washing­naturally up to a certain rnaximum limit-will bedone at the State washing establishments withoutany direct charg-e being made.

" Under these circumstances,and seeing that people

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·will have everything found for them, the Governmentturned its attention to a consideration of the amountit would be judicious and prudent to fix for each per­son's private expenses, for what, in fact, is familiarlydesignated pocket-money, and it appeared to us thatfor such sundry outlays as would be involved in thepurchase of an occasional little extra in the ,yay ofeating and drinking, of tobacco, soap, in amuselnentsor occasional trips; in short, in procuring all that theheart could wish, we should not be wrong in going' tothe extent of a mark per head for every ten days.(Laughter from the Left.) It must be understoodthat the application of this mark is not to be subjectto the sligbtest limitation, or to any sort of officialcontrol. It will thus be apparent that we are farfroin desiring to unduly restrict individual freedomwhen moving in legitimate spheres."

A member of the Party of Freedom wished tokno'w the intentions of the Government in regard tothe greater dilatoriness and lassitude in the perforlu­ance of labour, which would presumably ensue uponthe lengthening of the working-day to twelve hours.lIe also asked for an expression of the Governrnent'sviews on the quest.ion of an increase of the population.

The Chancellor-" As regards offences against theobligation to work, the Government recognises thefact that the extension of the hours of labour totwelve hours renders a further elaboration of thesystem of penalties imperatively necessary; and itproposes to effect this elaboration through a varietyof means. Amongst others, I mention the removal ofthe bed for slighter transgressions; arrest, incarcera-­tion in the dark cell, and the lash for repeated offences."(Hisses from the strangers' galleries.)

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. tIl

The President threatened. to 11ave the galleriescleared forthwith if his warnings were again dis­regarded.

The Chancellor-'( Let me' not be misunderstood asregardsthe lash. 'Ve should not be disposed to re­commend the application of more than thirty strokes.The end which the Government seeks by these meansto attain is to develop the recognition of the necessityof labour, even in those who constitutionally rebelagainst- the doctrine.

(, As respects an increase of the population, we holdfirmly to Bebel's principle in the nlain, that the Statemust regard the advent of every child as a welcomeaddition to the cause of Socialisrn. (Applause fromthe Right.) But even here it will be necessary todraw the line somewhere, and we can' never againallow an unreasonable increase of population to upsetthe delicately-adjusted equilibrium which will beestablished by the passage of the proposed. measures.Hence, as we shall have an opportunity of moreclearly showing when the debate on the budget comeson, we reckon upon largely using the system enlployedfor nourishing the people as an instrument for re­gulating population. Herein we shall be following ahint we are grateful to Bebel for. Bebel said, withno less beauty than truth, that Socialism is a sciencewhich is applied' with unwavering purpose and in­flexible steadfastness of aim to every sphere ofhuman activity." (Loud applause fronl the Right.)

The President-" As no menlber seems desirous ofasking any luore questions of the Chancellor, we canat once pro~eed to discuss the matters before theHouse. I shall follow the plan of nOlninating alter­nately speakers from the two great parties, the Right

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and the Left, and shall begin with the Left. I callupon the Member for Hagen."

The Member for Hagen-" I feel little desire toclosely interrog-ate the Chancellor upon the details ofhis programme. The fruits of the socialistic order(so-called) of things which we have hitherto seen, andstill ll10re those which we may expect from thevarious measures in prospect, are quite enough to fillthe soul with loathing and disgust at the condition ofaffairs which Socialism has brought about in Germany.(Great uproar from the Right; loud applause fromthe Left.) Experience shows that the miserable reali­ties even transcend what my departed predecessorpredicted would be the condition of things if thesocialistic programme were ever actually realised.(Cries frOITI the Right: "Aha, the Falsities man; theSlayer of Socialists.") I notice that the gentlemen ofthe Right have never been quite able to get over the'Falsities of Socialislu,' by the departed member,Eugene Richter.1 It is only to be regretted that thesegentlemen did not suffer themselves to be convertedfrom their errors, so that they could now with un­clouded vision see the connection that all matters ofnational and international econorny have with eachother. This annual deficit of twelve milliard marks,vhich we are now face to face with, means the bank­ruptcy of the social dernocracy. (Great uproar fromthe Right.) The Chancellor is entirely on the wrongtrack when he endeavours to make the opponents ofSocialism in any way responsible for the deficit.

"Gernlany already bristles with soldiers and withpolice in a way that has never been the case before.

1 "Falsities of Socialism," by Eugene Richter. Berlin, 1890.

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But ,vhen all· the affairs of life, large and small, with­out exception, shall be subject to themanagenlent ofthe State, you will have to reckon with an additionalhost of servants appointed to see that the State'sbidding be duly carried out. It is, unfortunately, buttoo true that our export trade is in a ,,"retched plight,but this is attributable solely to the. utter turningtopsy-turvy of production and consumption which hastaken place both here, at home, and in the neighbour­ing socialistic countries. But even this is far fromadequately accounting for a deficit aluounting to somany milliards. The Chancellor considers that apartof the blame attaches to the sh~rtening of the hoursof labour. But before the Revolution took place, thehours of labour were on an average less than tenhours, and in the course of tilne this working-day'would, in the smooth progress of events, have becomegradually shorter in an easy and natural way, andwithout doing any sudden violence to supply. Wemust seek the cause of the retrogression in all ourmanufactures, not so much in a shortening- of theworking-day as in the inferior quality of our goodsnow; in short, in the style of loafing about (Oh, oh,froIn the Right) which has becolue so general. As infeudal times, labour is now again regarded as a kindof villanage, a slavish toil. The system of giving thesame rernuneration for labours of the most diversevalues; the absence of all prospect of bettering one'scondition, no matter how great· one's industry andskill; these are elements which are, inimical to reallove of ,vork for its 0"7n sake.

"Another reason why manufacture is no longer, pro... ductive is, that with the cessation of all private enter­pris~ there has been a disappearance of those careful

H

114 PICTURES OF

circumspect leaders in the field of labour who tookcare that a judicious use was made of all materials,and \vho more or less regulated supply according todemand. Your managers of to-day lack all real anddeep interest in their work; they lack the stimuluswhich, in bygone days, even the heads of Governmentestablishments received from the competition ofprivate firms. This vast deficit teaches us plainlyenough that the man of private enterprise was noplunderer, and no superfluous drone, and that evenpainstaking labour, "'Then not conducted in an in­telligent manner, may turn out to be but a mere wasteof force and ot material. Then again, your systemof working everywhere on a big I::lcale, even in casesto which this system does not in the least adapt itself)operates to retard production.

"What have we come to? In endeavouring to getrid of the disadvantages of the socialistic method ofnlanufacture, you place such restrictions on the freedomof the person, and of commerce, that you. turn Germanyinto one gigantic prison. (Great uproar from the Right;applause from the Left and from the galleries. ThePresident threatened to have the galleries cleared atonce if there were any more manifestations of feeling.)The conlpelling of all alike to work; the equality ofthe working hours for all; the forcing of persons tocertain k~nds of labour utterly regardless of their\vishes and tastes; these are things which we hadhitherto had no experience of outside the walls ofpenitentiarieR. And even in those institutions, themore industrious and skilful inmates had the oppor­tunity given them of earning a trifle in the way ofsometbing extra. The similarity to prison life isfurther nlaintained through the system of each per-

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 115

son's having- to occupy a certain dwelling, just asprisoners have their cells apportioned to them. Thefix.tures which are to form an inseparable portion ofeach dwelling still further enhance the resemblance togaol life. Falnilies are torn asunder. And if it werenot for the fear of Socialism dying out, yon would al­together separate husband and wife, as is done in thelock-up.

" And as it is in respect of labour so is it in regardto rest; and every melnber of this socialistic Com­munity is tied down to the same prescribed nourish­ment. I was justified in calling out' Ploezensee,' asthe Chancellor enlightened us as to his bill of fare. Iwill almost venture to say that the food dispensed inforITler tilnes to the inmates of the prison was betterthan that which it is now proposed to feed the nationon. In order that nothing may be wanting to com­plete the resemblance to a gaol, we have now thesame uniform clothes proposed. Overseers are al­ready provided in the persons of the numerouscheckers; sentinels~ too, are posted to see that thoRewho are condemned to Socialism shall not escapeacross the frontiers. In our prisons the working-daywas a ten hours one, not a twelve hours one. Punish­nlent by the lash, which you have to introduce asan aid in establishing the twelve hours working-day,was no longer resorted to in many prisons, because itwas felt it could be dispensed with. To those ingaol there was, at least, the possibility of an act ofpardon, which might SOIne day open a path to liberty,even to those who had been condemned to life-longiUlprisonment. But those ,vho are handed over toyour socialistic prison are sentenced for life without

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hope of escape; the only escape thence is suicide.(Sensation.)

" Your explanation of all this is, that we are atpresent in a state of transition. Nothing of the sort.Things will get worse and worse the longer thepresent system lasts. Hitherto you have onlydescended the topmost steps of those which lead tothe abyss. The light of day still reaches you onthose upper steps, but you turn avvay froln it. What­ever culture is now extant, whatever schooling, andpractice, and skill, are all due to former systems ofsociety. But in our socialistic schools of to-day, bothelementary, advanced, and technical, our young peoplemake no progress at all, not from any lack of tirne, ormeans of instruction, but Inerely because no one feelsthat he is absolutely bound to acquire certain thingsas stepping stones to future success in life.

" You live upon the capital of culture and ofwealth which descended to you as the result offormer arrangements of society. So far are you,however, frOlTI putting by anything, and from pro­viding for irnprovernents and additions, that youcannot even properly maintain such possessions as wehave, but suffer thelTI to fall into decay. r:rbere arenow no means to keep aU these things intact, becausein destroying the hope of profit, which inducedcapitalists to engage in enterprises, you simultane­ously prevented all further formation of capital,'which in its turn would again have led to newundertakings.

"All higher developnlent of the faculties, no lessthan all material progress, is at a stand-still since theabolition of free competition. Self-interest used tosharpen the \vits of individuals, and bring out their

117THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE.

inventiveness. But the emulation of the manywho strove in the saIne field of labour, constantlyoperated to make common property of the achieve­ments of individuals.

" All the proposals of the Ohancellor \vill prove aspo\verless in making good the vast deficit, as ourattempted organisation, some years ago, of productionand consumption in our prisons proved powerless tocover even a third part of the current expenses ofthose places. In a very short time, in spite of theChancellor'sprograrnn1e, you will fi nd yourselves faceto face with a new and a greater deficit. Hence Icounsel you not to be too greatly elated at the adventof children as being welcome additions to Socialism.On the. contrary, consider rather how you may bestpromote a diminution of population. For it is quitecertain that, even with the beggarly style of nourish­ment which the Chancellor is compelled to place inprospect for us, Germany, on the basis of the presentorder of things, will be able perrnanently to supportbut a very thin and sparse population. The sameapplies, of course, to the neighbouring Socialist coun­tries. The inexorable law of self-preservtttion willhence compel the Socialists on this side, and on thatside, to engage in a deadly struggle, which wiH lastuntil that superfluity of population, which can onlybe supported by such forms and systems as you haveuprooted, shall have succumbed.

"So far as I am a.ware, the hope that Bebel onceexpressed is not yet any nearer its accomplishment­the hope, namely, that in the course of time thedesert of Sahara would, by means of irrigation, beturned into fruitful districts, and prove a favourablecolonising ground to which to draft off the surplus

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Socialist population of Europe. I take it, too, thatthere is as yet no great liking on the part of thoseof your side in politics who are superfluous here, tofollow the other proposition which Eebel was oncegood enough to suggest as an outlet for surpluspopulation. That suggestion was the settling in thenorth of Norway, and in Siberia. (Laughter fromthe Left.)

"Whether or not it is possible to lnake a halt in thepath of progress to destruction, which we have enteredupon, I should scarcely care to venture to say. ManyInilliards in value have already been destroyed bythe Revolution, and it would again require thesacrifice of milliards to restore something like orderto the present disorganised condition of affair~.

" 'Vhilst we in old Europe, thanks to your efforts,are fast hastening to ruin and destruction, therearises on the other side of the ocean, ever mightierand wealthier, a power that is settled on the firm basisof personal property and free cOlnpetition, and whosecitizens have never seriously entertained the falsitiesof Socialism.

"Every day that we delay the extrication of ourcountry froln the wretched maze into which anaberration of mind has led it, takes us nearer andnearer to the abyss. Hence I say, 'Down with thesocialistic gaol regime! Long live Liberty.' " (Loudapplause from the Left and from the galleries. Hiss­ing and uproar froln the Right.)

The President called the last speaker to order forthe concluding remarks contained in his speech, andgave instructions to clear the galleries immediately,by reason of the repeated rnanifestationsof opinionby the occupants.

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. I 19

The clearance of the galleries occasioned no smallamount of trouble. As I had to go with the others, I,unfortunately, can say no more as to t~e further pro..gress of the sitting. But as the Go~ernment has aslavish majority at its back, there can I hardly be anydoubt as to the passing of the variou~ measures pro..posed by the Chancellor. Not even the indignationof the Chancellor's lady at the proposed Regulation ofDress Bill will have a~y effect in altering it.

CHAPTER XXX.

THREATENED STRIKE.

THE Ohancellor's new proposals for getting rid of thegreat deficit have been received on all sides in Berlinwith mockery and derision. To what lengths thisdissatisfaction may yet go there is no foretelling.For a long tilDe past there has been a great spirit ofdiscontent amongst the artificers in metals, and moreparticularly amongst engineers. These men clailll tohave had a large share in bringing about the Revolu­tion, and they complain that they are now shamefullycheated out of what Socialism had always promisedthem. It certainly cannot be denied that before thegreat Revolution they bad over and over again beenpromised the full reward of their labours. This, asthey maintain, had expressly and repeatedly appearedin black and' white in the columns of the Onward.And shall they now put up with it, that they onlyreceive the same wages as all the others ?

They say that if they were to receive the full value

120 PICTURES OF

'of the machines and tools \vhich are turned out oftheir shops, after deducting the cost of raw materialand auxiliary rnaterial, they \vould get, at least, fourtinles as luuch as they do now.

It is in vain that the Onward has endeavouredto point out to them that their interpretation is anentirely false one. Socialism, says this organ, nevercontemplated giving to each labourer in his specialfield the full reward of his work in that particularsphere of labour. It promised the nation as a wholethe full reward of the labours effected by the wholepeople. Whatever these Inechanics might turn outof their shops and lllills, it ,vas quite clear that thethings turned out were not the result purely andsimply of hand labour. Expensive machines andtools were equally necessary to their production. Ina no less degree were large buildings and considerableineans indispensable. All these accessories had notbeen produced by the workmen actually engaged atthe time being. Seeing then that the Communityfinds all these buildings, plans, and means, it wasassuredly only just that the Comlllunity shouldappropriate whatever remained after paying a certainwage calculated at one uniform rate for all persons inthe country.

But these mechanics, sornehow, cannot be broughtto view the thing in this light. They say that if the.State, or the Comluunity, or \vhatever you like to callit, is now to take those profits which formerly werepaid to shareholders for the loan of their capital, itcornes to much the same thing to them in the long'run. If this was to be the end of the affair, the greatRevolution might just as well never have taken placeat all.

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 121

The prospect of the lengthening of the working­qay to twelve hours has made these workmenintbedifferent Inetal trades more· bitter than ever. Twelve.hours a day at a roaring fire, and at work on hardmetals, is a different thing from twelve hours behind acounter waiting for custOITlerS, or twelve hours lookingafter children.

In short, these men demand· the full reward of theirlabour as they understand the term, the ,vorking-daybeing limited to ten hours at the very outside.Several large nleetings of the men have already taken

, place at night on Jungfern Cornmon and WuhICommon, to debate upon the question of a resort toforce should their delllands not Qe .conceded. Thereis talk of the threatened strike embracing 40,000 men,who are engaged in Berlin in the different metalbranches.

CHAPTER XXXI.

MENACING DIPLOMATIC NOTES.

THE socialistic Governments of Russia and France arequite as much at their wIts' ends as we are to knowho,v to OVerC0111e the difficulties that are constantlyarIsIng. Hence they try to appease the ill-humoursof their populations by directing attention to foreignaffairs. One of the first acts of the socialistic govern­ments had been to dissolve the Triple Alliance.Austria sees herself threatened at the present lnonlentby Italy, in Istria and the Italian Tyrol. The oppor­tunity of Austria's being thus engaged on another

122 PICTURES OF

side appears a favourable one to Russia and Francefor their adopting a high tone towards Germany.Accordingly, both powers have addressed simultaneousnotes to our Foreign Office, requesting that withinten days, payment be made of the amount due forgoods supplied.

Now, how is it that France comes to be in the posi­tion of a creditor of ours? As a matter of fact, wehave drawn nothing whatever from France except afew million bottles of champagne which were emptiedin the first intoxication of delight at the success ofthe great Revolution, and before the State had takenthe regulation of consumption into its own hands.Russia, however, has had the perfidy to cede a part ofher claims on us to France, in order to construct acommon basis of operations against us. Our indebted­ness to Russia has now run up to over a milliard, al­though our imports of corn, wood, flax, hernp, etc., fromthat country have only been the same as they were informer times. These are imports which we absolutelycannot do without. But the unfortunate part of thebusiness is, that those manufactures which we hadbeen in the habit of sending to France and Russia, inthe way of exchange for iInports, have of late nearlyall been returned to us, on the pretence of their notbeing at all up to the nlark, of the price being toohigh, and so forth. If such a thing had happened tous in former times, we should sinlply have paid theRussians in Russian bonds or their coupons, of whichthere was then no scarcity in Germany. But havingnow no bonds, and no stock of noble metals to fallback upon, \ve are rather bothered by the lack of aconvenient means of exchange.

Our good neighbours are only too well aware of

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE.

this. Hence they take no great pains in their diplo­matic notes to conceal 'the threat, that in case theclaims are not promptly settled) they will be conl­pelled to take possession of parts of Posen and EasternPrussia, and of Alsace and Lorraine as pledges. Bothpowers expressed their readiness to waive their claimsfor payment, provided Germany were disposed toyield up possession of these provinces.' Is not that apiece of unparalleled irnpudence ?

There is no lack of well-drilled men, of ll).uskets,powder, and shot in Germany. The former regimetook good care to provide an abundance of thesematerials. But in other respects we are not so wellprepared; and it seems that in consequence of thedilninution in the out-put of coal, and of the dwindlingaway of the stocks, there is a scarcity of this materialwhich would most seriously hamper the transport oftroops by rail. Great cOlnplaints are also made by themilitary authorities as to the scarcity of meat, flour,oats, and sinlilar stores.

l\leantilue, France has annexed Luxemburg. At thedissolution of the Custom's Union, this Duchy had been,so to say, cut quite adrift. One party in the Duchytook advantage of the ill-humour at the severance· ofthe old commercial relations with Gerrnany to call inthe French. The latter lost no time in responding tothe call, and they soon reached the territory by wayof Longwy. It is said that French cavalry has alreadybeen seen on the Germano-Luxemburg frontier closeto Treves~

124 PICTURES OF

CHAPTER XXXII.

GREAT STRIKE AND SIMULTANEOUS OUTBREAK OF WAR.

ALL the iron-workers in Berlin and the neighbourhoodcan1e out on strike this morning, upon the refusal oftheir demands to receive the full reward of their labour.The Government nlet the strike with a pro1npt orderto at once stop the dinners and suppers of all those onstrike. In all the State cookshops the officials havethe strictest instructions not to honour the coupons ofthe iron-workers. The sarne suspension of the couponsapplies to all restaurants, and all shops whence, inaccordance with the Government regulations, thesepersons in ordinary times derive their supplies. Thevarious shops and places in question are closelywatched by strong detachrnents of police. By thesemeans it is hoped that those on strike will, in a veryshort tirne, be starved into submission, inasmuch as thefew crunlbs and parings which their wives and friendswill be able to give them from their rations will be ofvery little avail.

There is more bad news to follow. An order hasjust been issued to reduce the bread rations of the en­tire population by one half, and to do away with themeat rations altogether. It is hoped by these measuresto effect such a saving as will enable the Governluentto, at least to S01ne extent, provision the frontierfortresses. For, in the meantime, the threatened dis­traints in Germany have actually begun to take place.From the Grand Duchy of Luxelnburg-, French cavalryhas advanced across the Gerlnan frontier, passed the

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 125

Moselle, and interrupted" the traffic on the Treves and.Diedenhofen, and Treves and Saarlouls lines. Otherdivisions of the French army, with Longyon, Conflans,Pont-it-Mousson, Nancy, and Luneville as their basesof action, have crossed the Lorraine frontier with theintention of besieging Metz and Diedenhofen, andmaking a demonstration in the direction of Morchingen.Both of these fortresses are stated· to have but oneweek's provisions at the outside. '. The same may besaid of Koenigsberg, Thorn, and Graudenz, againstwhich points Russian columns are now on the march,with a view to seIzing territory as security for theirclaims. The tactics appear to be, to attack EasternPrussia on the East, and on the South at the saInemoment, so that upon its. subjugation the eastern lineof attack upon Germany may be much shortened onthe one hand, whilst on the other hand the suppliesof horses for the Gernlan army from Eastern Prussiawill be cut off. As far as possible, the reserves hastento the frontier. But it has unfortunately transpiredthat there i::3 a great lack of even necessary articles ofclothing for lllany of the reserves. In consequence ofthe great falling off in manufacture in many branches,after the Revolution, large quantities of underclothing,boots, and other articles intended for the army, had tobe diverted to the civilians, seeing that the regularsupply did not k0ep pace with the demand.

But enough of this. I find I shall henceforth beno longer able to give the same full account of eventsas they happen. The twelve hours day comes intoforce to-IT10rrOW, so I shall then not have much timefor writing. I propose, therefore, to finish off thisnarrative as soon as possible, and to send it to Franzand Agnes in the New \Vorld. ~fay it long remind

126 PICTURES OF

them, and their children, and children's children, ofIne and of the present stormy times, and, indeed, InUlst get it off with all possible speed, or it may be toolate. I notice that I aln regarded with such in­creasing suspicion that a search might be Inade, andIny papers confiscated at any moment.

CHAprrER XXXIII.

THE COUNTER-REVOLUTION BEGINS.

THE iron-workers en strike have no intention ofbeing starved out. Paying a visit to my father-in­law, I discovered on the way horne that a number ofthese 111en were about attempting to storm the breadmagazine. Grandfather is located at the Refuge forElderly People, into which Bellevue Castle has beenturned. 1'he bread nlagazine is just opposite BellevueCastle, on the other side of the Spree, and betweenthe river and the railway embanklnent. Finding allthe entrances well secured, the men on strike setabout climbing over the high wan which surroundsthe Inagazine. But as soon as any of thenl reachedthe top of the wall, they were picked off by the sen­tinels stationed inside, and had thus to pay for theirtemerity "rith their lives.

The men next took to the railway embankment,which commands a view of the grounds round themagazine. They comnlenced tearing up the rails, andcutting the telegraph wires, but the musketry-firefrom the magazine in a short tirne killed and \tvounded

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE. 127

so many that the besieging force'was soon dislodgedfrom this position.

Their next move was to make for the houses inLuneburg Street, behind the embankment. Havingestablished themselves in the top storeys of thosehouses, a rattling fire soon began froln the top windowson· the one hand, and from the magazine on the other.But it soon became clear that the besieged, thoughsmall in point of number, were possessed both ofbetter weapons and more ammunition.

Presently fresh detachments of the rioters at­tempted .from Heligoland quay to make a breach inthe walls surrounding the magazine. In the mean~

time, however, and quite unperceived, police rein­forcements had been promptly brought up throughthe grounds of Bellevue Castle. These reinforce­~ents took possession of the foot-bridge, whichis almost concealed by the railway-bridge, and fromthis position opened a murderous fire upon the massof mostly. unarmed persons on Heligoland quay.Uttering wild cries of vengeance, and leaving greatnumbers of killed and wounded behind theIn, the mobdispersed in all directions. It is said that artilleryhas been sent for to cannonade Luneburg Street fronlthe other side of the Spree.

Leaving this scene of carnage, I entered the Zoo­logical Gardens with the intention of making for thesouth-west side of the city by a circuitous route.The streets in all directions were full of people in thewildest state of excitement.. No outrages have so farbeen committed in the south-west portion of Berl~n,

but from what they say here it seems that the iron­workers have been more successful in their attackson the bread stores in Temple Yard and in Kopenick

128 PICTURES OF

Street than was the case with the Bellevue nlagazine.They say, too, that nunlerous rifles and stores ofammunition have fallen into their hands. It is verydifficult to get hold of any really reliable ne\vs, butfrom all accounts the riot on the right side of. theSpree seems to be getting rapidly general.

The police force has of late been fixed at 30,000men. None but fanatical SocialiHts may serve, andthese are chosen fr01n all parts of the country. Theforce is also supported by strong detachlnents ofartillery and cavalry. But they are dispersed allover the city, and ,vhat can they, after all, effect if thetwo million inhabitants really rise in a general revolt ?The smokeless powder of nowadays greatly facilitatesthe taking of a true aim frolll an ambuscade, whilstthe modern forlll of rifle is singularly calculated toprove serviceable to those indoors when used undercover of the houses.

Detachments of police, some on foot and SOUlemounted, are continually hurrying with all possiblespeed towards the centre of the city. FraIn all ap­pearance the whole of the armed force available isbeing drawn together in the neighbourhood of thepalace and unter den Linden. What will be the endof it all ?

And poor old grandfather? I found him veryc1ulland apathetic. In the entire absence of a faulilycircle and of surroundings to call forth his interest,his faculties show a very marked decay. He told luethe saIne things several times over, and repeatedlyput the same questions to Ine which I had just beforeanswered. He even mixed up the persons and genera­tions of his own family. A cheerless old age indeed!

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

DISHEARTENING NEWS.

129

TO-DAY has been the saddest dayoi an my life. Ongoing' to see my· wife I found that she talked inco­herently and wildly, and did not recognise file. Thedoctor said he must convey the sad intelligence to methat the death of her child and the severe shocks of thelast few months had so deeply affected her mind as toleave now no prospect of recovery. She fancies herselfconstantly. exposed to the persecutions of all kinds ofdemons. It has been held advisable to send her to theAsylunl for Incurables, and she is to be taken there,to-day.

For five and twenty long years we have shared allour joys and sorrows with each other, and have lived .together in the closest affinity, both of heart and mind.And now to behold the partner of my life, all dazedand bewildered, the dear, kindly eyes not even recog­nising me, is worse than death's separation.

On all sides the storm of revolt increases in fury.But what are all such things to me now, with illy

load of grief and sorrow? There has been SOlne fight­ing in Eastern Prussia, and also in Alsace and Lor­raine, and our side has everywhere had the worst ofit. Our troops had to contend with many disadvan­tages. They were badly clothed, and insufficientlynourished; and when, after wearisome forced marches,they canie face to· face with the enerny, they wereunable, in spite of all their bravery, to m.ake a per­manent stand.

130 PICTURES OF

In Berlin, the riot continues to spread. 'The entireregion on the right bank of the Spree, and manyother parts of the city and suburbs are quite in thehands of the rioters. The latter are reinforced by anuninterrupted strealn of people from the provinces,and it is also said that portions of the army fraternisewith the people.

It is hence evident that the revolution was not longin spreading beyond the limits of the iron-workersand their particular demands. It aims now at theabolition of Sociali~m. And the more I reflect, themore I feel inclined to anathematise Inyself for having,for so many years, aided in bringing about such astate of affairs as we have experienced during the lastfew months. My only motive was the sincere beliefthat Socialisrn would cause a better order of things forfuture generations. I believed so then, but I now seethat I did not comprehend the whole question. Buthow can my boys ever forgive me for having helpedto bring about those events which have deprived themof· their Inother and their sister, and utterly destroyedour happiness as a family?

But now I must speak to Ernst, be the conse­quences what they may. I feel myself impelled tohim, so that I may warn him against going out at alljust now. Young lads like he is are only too apt togo forth and to nlingle in the sin and excitement of atime like this. I have leisure enough now to visitErnst even in the day-time. Suspected of no longerbeing sound in politics, I have been deprived of myplace as a checker, and told off as a night-scavenger.I only hope my work there will not turn out to be ofa horrible nature.

THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE.

CHAPTER XXXV.

THE LAST CHAPTER

To l\Ir. Franz Schmidt, New York.

"My DEAR FRANz,-Be a man, and prepare your­self to bear with fortitude ,the sad news this letterconveys. Our dear father is no longer amongst theIivin~. Like many other innocent victims, he hasfallen a sacrifice to the great rising which has ragedfor the last few days in Berlin. r

" Father had left home with thle intention of callingupon me, and warning me to onl no account mix my­self up with the comlnotion in ~he streets. Close toour school there had shortly pefore been a fightbetween the police and the riot~rs, and some of thepolice had taken refngein oursc~ool.Allthis was ofcourse quite unkno,vn to father. A party of therioters lay in concealment, and in all probability oneof these, on seeing him, took him for a governmentmessenger; anyhow, a shot fired from an upper win­dow struck him, and he expired in the course of a fewminutes. You may fancy my horror when theybrought him into ORr house, and I found it was IllY

own father."He fell a victim to the solicitude he feJ t for the

welfare of his family. In the hope of seeing a betterfuture for those dear to hinl, he had allied himselfwith the Socialists, but recent events had entirelycured him of his errors.

" Respecting the sad state of our dear mother, fatherwrote you lately him~elf, and also mentioned about

132 PICTURES OF THE SOCIALISTIC FUTURE.

poor old grandfather. In all my wretchedness andloneliness,my thoughts are continually turning to you,Franz, across the ocean, as my only human refuge.By the time I post this letter I shall, I hope, havealready crossed the German frontier. Towards Hollandthey say the frontier is pretty open. When once there,I shall be able to make use of the money you sent me.

"Things here are in a frightful condition. Sanguin­ary defeats on the fields of battle towards the frontiers,anel in the country nothing but anarchy and threateneddissolution. How all these things have come about,and got into such a muddle, you will best gather fronlthe diary which father kept down to the very daybefore his death, and which I will bring with me.

"With best love to you both," Your lonely brother,

" ERNST."

POSTSCRIPT.

"IF it be true that 'good wine needs no bush,' it istrue that a good play needs no· epilogue. Yet to goodwine they do use good· bushes; and good plays provethe better for the help of good epilogues. What acase am I in then, that am neither a good epilogue,nor cannot insinuate with you in behalf of a goodplay."

Amongst the various writers who of recent yearshave painted, for the world's benefit, pictures of thestate of society which they conceive would resultfrom a widely extended Socialism,.Bellamy andMorris take pronlinent rank. Perhaps by the time,in .the twentieth century, that Socialism is realised,human nature will have undergone such an extra­ordinary and phenornenal transformation that theviews of above-named sanguine gentlemen will proveto have been justified. Let us hope such will bethe case.

Meanwhile the talented and clear-sighted Memberof Parliament for Hagen, Eugene Richter, pictures tohimself a somewhat different state of things as theresult of the establishment of Socialism. And hislittle book may be read, perhaps not quite withoutadvantage, as a slight contribution to the literature ofthis subject, as presenting the consummation in adifferent light, and as an expression of what some willdoubtless regard as eccentric and extreme views.

In treating a prosy subject .0£ this kind, the mind

POSTSCRIPT.

has a natural craving to get away now and then frolnthe dry detail of statistics and political economy, andto escape, if only for occasional 1110ments, into anatmosphere of lightness and laughter. So far asEnglish readers are concerned, it is to be regrettedthat Richter did not see fit to arrange his matter in aless dry and ponderous way, and to introduce anelement of fun and ridicule into his treatrnent of thesubject. The English are firmly persuaded that theGermans quite lack all sense of humour. It needhence occasion no surprise that this nation, with thatstolidity conventionally ascribed to it by the English,have, nevertheless, read this little book with avidityin editions of hundreds of thousands.

OPINIONS OF THEON THE

PRESS

SOCIAL..

SCIENC·E SERf ES... • The Principles of St(tte InterferenGe' is another of Messrs. Swan Sonnen.

schein's Beriesof Handbooks on Scientific Social Subjects. It would befitting to close our remarks on this little work with a word of com·

.m.endation of the publishers of so many useful, 1lolumes by eminentwriters on questions of pressing -interest to a large number of the com·munity. We have now received and read a good number of the handbookswhich Messrs. Swan Sonnenschein' have published in this series, and' canspeak in the highest terms of them. They are' written by men of con..slderable knowledge 0,1 the subjects they have undertaken to discuss; theyare concise; they give a fair estimate of the progress which recent dis­cussion has added towards the solution of the pressing_ social' questionsof /to-day, are well up to date, and are published at a price' within theresources of the public to which they are likely to be of the most use."­Westminster Review, July, 1891.

II The excellent I Sooial Soience Series,' whioh is published at as Iowa priceas to place it within everybody's reach."-Review of Reviews.

.• A most useful series.... This impa"tial series welcomes both just writersand unjust."-:-Manohester Guardian.

U Concise in treatment, lucid in style and moderate in price, these books oanhardly fail. to do much towards spreading sound views on economio andsocial questions."-Review of the Ohurches.

It Convenient, well-printed, and moderately-priced volumes."-Reynold's News­paper.

.{'l'here is a certain impartiality about the attractive and well-printed volumes_which form the series to which the works noticed in this artiole belong.There is no editor and no oommon design beyond a desire to redress thoseerrors and irregularities of society which all the writers, though they mayagree in little else, concur in aoknowledging and deploring. The systemadopted appears to be to select men known to have a claim to speak withmore or less authority upon the shortcomings of oivilisation, and to alloweach to propound the views which commend themselves most strongly tohis mind, without reference to the possible fiat contradiction which maybe forthcoming at the hands of the next contributor."-Literary World.

.. I The Social Science Series' aims at the illustration of all sides of social ar.. jeconomic truth and error."-Scotsman.

SWAN SONNENSCfIEIN & CO., LONDON.

SOCIAL SCI ENCE ,S·ERI ES.SCARLE71 CLOTH, EACH 28. 6fl.

E. BELFORT BAXo

Dr. KATE MITCHELL.

Edited by H. S. SALT.

C. S. LOCH, Secretary to Charity Organisation. Society.

"A perfect little manual."-Athenreum."Deserves a wide circulation."-Scotsman.

Thoreau's Anti-Slavery and Reform Papers."An interesting collection of essays."-Literary World.

Self-Help a Hundred Years Ago. G. J. HOLYOAKE." Will be studied with much benefit by all who are interested in the amelioration

of the ('ol1flition of the pOol'."-lIfm"nipg Post.The Ne',il Yorl( State Reformatory at Elmira. ALEXANDBH. WINTER

With Preface by HAVELOCK ELLIS.~'A valuable contribution to the literatnre of penology."-Black and White.

19.

17.

18.

1. Work and Wages. Prof. J. E. TIIOROLI: ROGERS."Nothing that Professor Rogers writes can fail to be of interest to thoughtful

people."-Athenreum.2. CivilIsation: .its Cause and Cure. :EDWARD CARPENTER.

'" No passing piece of polemics, but A. permanent possession."-Scottish Review.8. Quintessence of Socialism. Dr. SCHAFFLE.

"Precisely the manual needed. Brief, lucid, fair and wise."-British Weekly.4. Darwinism and Politics. D. G. ·RITCHIE,M.A. (Oxon.).

New Edition, with two additional Essays on HUMAN EVQLUTION."One of the most suggestive books we have met with."-Literary World.

o. Religion of Socialism. E. BELFORT BAX.6. Ethics of Socialism. E. BELFORT BAX.

" Mr. Bax is by far the able~tof the English exponents of Socialism."-WestminsterReview.

7. The Drink Question."Plenty of interesting matter for reflection. '-Graphic.

8. Promotion of General Happiness. Prof. M. MACMILLA:N."A reasoned account of the most advanced and most enlightened utilitarian doc·

trine in a clear and readable form."-Scotsman.9. England's Ideal, &c. EDWARD C.A.RPENTER.

" The literary power is unmistakable, their freshness of style, their humour, andtheir enthusiasm."-Pall Mall Gazette.

10. Socialism in England. SIDNEY WEBB, LL.B.If The best general view of the subject from the modern Socialist side."-Athenreum..

11. Prince Bismarck and State Socialism. W. H. DAWSON." A succinct, well·digested review of German social and economic legislation since

1870."-Saturday Review.12. Godwin's Political Justice (On Property). Edited by H. S. SALT-

"Shows Godwin at his best; with an interesting and informing introduction."­Glasgow Herald.

13. The Story. of the French Revolution." A trustworthy outline."-Scotsman.

14. The Co-Operative Commonwealth. LAURENCE GRONLUND." An independent exposition of the Socialism of the Marx schooI."-Contemporary

Revie~v.

15. Essays and A.ddresses. BERNARD BOSANQUET, M.A. (Oxon.).II Ought to be in the hands of every student of the Nineteenth Century spirit."­

Echo." Noone can complain of not being able to understand what Mr. Bosanquet

means."-Pall Mall Gazette.

16. Charity Organisation.

SOOIAL. SCIENCE SERIES-(Oontiitued).

Dr. LUIGI PIZZAMIGLIO. Edited b~, F. J. SNELL.

" Dr. Pizzamiglio has gathered together nn<'l. ~oupe<'l. a wide array of fac.ts annstatistics, and they speak for themselves." -Speaker.

88~CollectiYismand Socialism. ~ By A. NACQUET. Edited by W. HEAFORD."An admirable criticism by a ,veIl-known French politician of the New Svdalism

of Marx and La!':Qalle ., -Daill/ Chi onicle.

~o.· Common Sense about Women. , T. W. HIGG~NSON." An admirable collection of papers, advocating in the· most. liberal spirit the

.emancipation ofwomen.",:-Woman's Herald.

21. The Unearned Increment. W. H.· DAWSON."A concise but comprehensive volume."-Echo.

22. Our Destiny. LAURENCE GRONLUND."A very vigorous· little. book, dealing with the influence of Socialism on morals

and religion."-Daily Chronicle.gS.The W9'l'king-Class Movement in 'America.

. . Dr. EDWARD and E. MARX AVELING." Will give a good idea of the condition of the working classes in America, arid of

tb~ various organisations which they baveformed."-ScotsLeader.. 24. Luxury. Prof. EMILE DE LAVELEYE.

" An eloquent plea on moral and economical grounds for simplicity of life."­.Academy.

~5. The Land and the' Labourers. Rev. C. W. STUBBS, M.A."This admirable book should be circulated in every village in the country."­

ManchesteT Guantian.~6. The Evolution of Property. PAUL LAF.ARGUE.

"Will prove interesting and profitable to all students of economic history."­Scotsman.

27." Crime and its Causes. W. D01;GLAS MORRISON."Can hardly fail to suggest to all readers several new and pregnant reflections on

the subject."-.Anti-Jacobin.

~8. Principles of State Interference. D. G. RITCHIE, M.A."An interesting contribution to the controversy on the functions oftha Stat~:'­

Glasgow, Herald.29~ OermanSocialism and F. Lassalle. W. H. DAWSON.

" As a biographical history of German Socialistic movements during this centuryit may be accepted as cOlllplete."-British Weekly. .

80. The Purse and the Conscience. H. M. THOMPSON, B.A. (Cantab.).II Shows common sense and fairness in his arguments."-Scotsman.

8L Origin of Property in Land. FUSTEL DE COULANGES. Edited, with anIntroductory Chapter on the English Manor, by Prof. W. J. ASHLEY, M.A."His views are clearly stated, and are worth reading."-Saturday Review.

82. The English Republic. W. J. LINTON.. Edited by KINETON PARKES." Characterised by that vigorous intellectuality which has marked his long life of

literary and artisticactivity."-Glasgow Herald.33. The Co-Operative Movement. BEATRICE POTTER.

"Without doubt the ablest and most philosophical analysis of the Co-Operative.Movement which has yet freen produced."-Speaker.

54-Neighbourhood Guilds. Dr. STANTON COIT."A most suggestive little book to anyone interested in the socialquestion."­

Pall Mall Gazette.85. Modern Humantsts. J. M. ROBERTSO~.

"Mr. Robertson's style is excellent-nay, even brilliant-and his purely literarycriticisms bear the mark of mucb acumen."-Timcs.

86. Outlooks from the New Standpoint. E. 13ELFORT BAX,U Mr. Bax is a very acute and· accomplished student of history and economics.'

-Daily Chronicle.37. Distributing Co-Operative Societies.

SOCIAL SCIENCE SERlES-(Continued).•

89. The London Programme. SIDNEY WEim, LL.B."Brimful of excellent tdeas."-Anti-Jacobin.

40. The Modern State. PAUL LEROY BEAULIEU."A most interesting book; well worth a place in the library of every social

inquirer."-N. B. Economist.41. The Condition of Labour. HENRY GEORGE.

"Written with striking ability, and sure to attract attention."-Newcastle Ohronicle.42. The Revolutionary Spirit preceding the French Re:volution.

FEr~Ix RocQUAIN . With a Preface by Professor HUXLEY." The student of the French Revolution will find in it an excellent introduction to

the study of thatcatastrophe."-Scotsman.43. The Student's Marx. EDWARD AVELING, D.So.

" One of the most practically useful of any in the Series." -Glasgow Herald.44. A Short History of Parliament. B. C. SKOTTOWE, M.A. (Oxon.).

"Deals very carefully and completely with this side of constitutional history."­Spectator.

45. Poverty: Its Genesis and ExOdus. J. G. GODARD."He states the problems with great force and c1earness."-N. B. Economist~

46. The Trade Policy of Imperial Federation. MAURICE H. HERVEY."An interesting contribution to the discussion."·-Publishers' Circular.

47. The Dawn of Radicalism. J. BOWLES DALY, LL.D."Forms an admirable picture of an epoch more pre~nant, perhaps, with political

instruction than any other in the world's history."-Daily Telegraph.48. The Destitute Alien in Great Britain. ARNOLD WHITE; MONTAGUE CRACKAN­

THORPE, Q.C.; W. A. McARTHUR, M.P.; W. H. WILKINS, &c."Much valuable information concerning a burning question of the day."-Times.

49. Illegitimacy and the Influence of Seasons on Conduct.ALBERT LEFFINGWELL, M.D.

"We have not often seen a work based on statistics which is more continuouslyinteresting."- Westminster Review.

50. Cemmercial Crises of the Nineteenth Century. H. M. HYNDMAN." One of the best and most permanently useful volumes of the Series." -Literary

Opinion.51. The State and Pensions in Old Age. J. A. SPENDER and ARTHUR ACLAND, M.P.

" A careful and cautious examination of the question."-Times.52. The Fallacy of Saving. . JOHN M. ROBERTSON.

"A plea for the reorganisation of our social and industrial system."-Speaker.53. The Irish Peasant.· ANON.

"A real contribution to the Irish Problem by a close, patient and dispassionateinvestigator."-Daily Chronicle. ..

54. The Effects of Machinery on Wages. Prof. J. S. NICHOLSON, D,Sc."Ably reasoned, clearly stated, impartially written."-Litem1'Y World..

55. The Social Horizon. ANON."A really admirable little book, bright, clear, and unconventional."-Daily

CMonicle.56. Socialism, Utopian and Scientific. FREDERICK ENGELS.

"The body of the book is still fresh and striking."-Daily Chronicle.57. Land Nationalisation.A. R. WALLACE.

"The most instructive and convincing of the popular works on the subject."­National Reformer.

58. The Ethic of Usury and Interest. Rev. W. BLISSARD."The work is marked by genuine ability."-North B1,itish A{j1'icultumlist.

59.. The Emancipation of Women. . ADELE CREPAZ."By far the most comprehensive, luminous, and penetrating work on this question

that I have yet met with."-Extractf1·om Mr. GLADSTONE'S P1'eface.60. The Eight Hours' Question. JOHN M. ROBERTSON.

DOUBLE VOLUMES, Each 35. 6d.1. Life of Robert Owen. LLOYD JONES.2. The Impossibility uf Social Democracy: a Second Part of " The Quinte.~sence

of Socialism"~ Dr. A. SCHAFFLE.3. The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1811. FREDERICK ENGELS.4. The Principles of Social Economy. YVES GUYOT.