SOCIALISM. 293 SOCIALISM. (New York and London, 1S04) is an at- tempt to analyze socialism carefully, to examine its strong and its weak features, and to Jire- sent, as opposed to socialism, a programme of social reform. It has a bibliography of sev- eral hundred titles. The same author's French and German Socialism (New York, 1883) is a brief historical presentation of socialism in these two countries. Consult also Woolsey, Commu- nism and Socialism, Their History and Theory (New York, 1880). SOCIALIST PARTIES. Politically organized socialism or social de- mocracy is a movement which is coextensive with modern industrialism. Wherever a system of production is found which is perhaps somewhat loosely termed capitalistic, we find a Social Demo- cratic Party. In this article, however, atten- tion will chiefly be given to the Social Demo- cratic Party of Germany, since in Germanj' that party is more highly developed and far more powerful than in any other country, and has a position of intellectual leadership. Influences from the Social Democratic Party of Germany, both with respect to theory and tactics, radiate throughout tJie entire industrial world. Social democracy is not a German movement, but a world movement, which has, however, its highest development in German}'. Several reasons may be adduced to explain the preeminence of German social democracy. Wage- earners in that country did not begin to share in political power until after the middle of the nine- teenth ccntur}', and so, having formed no politi- cal affiliations, were more easily induced to at- tach themselves to socialism, which had already been eloquently presented to them by Ferdinand Lassalle. Again, the hostility of the Government to labor organizations had the effect of turning toward political action the energy that might otherwise have been expended in labor agita- tion. The third reason for the leadership of Germany is found in the fact that the great in- tellectual leaders of socialism have been Germans. Jlarx and Lassalle have already been mentioned, and we may also mention Rodbertus (q.v. ), a man who belonged to the landowning class of Ger- many, and who did not take part in socialist agitation. German social democracy represents an amal- gamation of two movements, one starting from Ferdinand Lassalle, the other from Mar.K and Friedrich Enpels (q.v.). Before the time of Marx and Lassalle, Wilhelm Weitling (q.v.) had exercised a certain influence in Switzerland, Ger- many, and the United States, but the socialism which he advocated was of the French Utopian character, and had little permanent influence. The activity of jSIar.x began in the forties, and was continuous from that time until his death. In 1846 Marx belonged to a secret international communistic society called the Kommunisten- bund. It was for this society that, with Engels, he prepared the Communist Manifesto. In 1848 Marx was active in Germany, where a numlier of labor unions had been established which, united into a federation, came imder socialistic influ- ence. The chief field of his activity was the Rhine Province, and it was there that Marx con- ducted his celebrated New Rhenish Gazette (Weue Rheinische Zeitunrj). The reaction soon tri- umphed, and Marx finally found his way to Eng- land, where he made himself, in 1850, the head of a German communistic society, which, how- ever, was short-lived. Wc must now turn our attention to Fcidinand Lassalle, who is to be regarded as the real founder of the Social Democratic Party, al- though it soon passed under the influence of Marx and Engels. The agitation of Lassalle began in 1802. In 1863, under his influence, the Universal German Laborers' Union (Der allge- meine deutsche Arbeiterverein) was founded in Leipzig. The membership was small, and the chief demand was for universal and equal suf- frage, although it soon became plain that this was demanded simply as a step toward socialism. Lassalle's chief practical economic demand was for Government subsidies to aid in the establish- ment of productive cooperative associations. Theoretically his arguments centred about the so-called iron law of wages: that wages under the capitalistic system of production naturally fall to a minimum, which barely supports the life of the laborer and his family. The practical de- mand and the theoretical argument of Lassalle have been rejected by the German Social Demo- crats, but his eloquence was instrumental in lay- ing the foundation of the party. After the death of Lassalle, in 1864, the International Labor Association (Internationale Arbeiterasso- ciation) was established in accordance with the principles of Marx, and the Social Democratic Labor Party ( SocialdemokratischeArbeiterpartei) was founded in the same year. This party, under the leadership of Wilhelm Liebknecht and August Bebel (qq.v. ), entered into opposition to the party established by Lassalle. The Social Democratic Labor Party met in Eisenach in 1869 and became known as the Eisenach Party. At the election for the Reichstag in 1874, when about 340,000 votes were cast, these were divided with approximate equality between the followers of Lassalle and those of Marx. In 1875 the two parties united and establi-shed what is known as the Gotha programme, which was a compromise. The year 1878 witnessed two at- tacks upon the life of the German Emperor, and then followed the Anti-Socialist Law, which re- pressed the public agitation of socialism. While the law was in force German socialist congresses were held on foreign soil, and their literature was largely printed in Switzerland. The party in- creased in power, however, the chief result of governmental repression being the welding to- gether of the difl'erent factions into a compact party. The Anti-Socialist Law (Ausnahmegesetz) expired on October 1, 1890. A certain tendency to violence seems to have developed during this period, for at one of the congresses the ex- pression to struggle for the attainment of ends "with all legal means" was changed to "all means." The first public congress of the Ger- man Social Democracy, after the expiration of the Law of Exception, was held in Halle, October 12-18, 1800. Liebknecht and Bebel domi- nated the congress and worked for a revision of the Social Democratic platform. This bore fruit the following year at the Erfurt congress, where the Erfurt Programme was adopted. The peculiar ideas of Lassalle were entirely expunged, and the doctrines of Marx gained a complete triumph. The Erfurt Programme is at the present day the most important official utterance of social de-
