COLLECTIVISM IN THE UNITED STATES. T HE widespread discontent which has
for years been simmering in the Western States, and which was so conspicuously manifested in Mr. Bryan's nomination and campaign, has now taken a new form,—the organisation of a party of Social Democracy, and the planning of a new Collectivist settlement in one of the Far Western States, probably that of Washington. The movement, apart from its general relation to the whole body of Western discon- tent, has grown specifically from the great railway strike of 1894 which centred in Chicago. That strike, which involved a limited and miniature civil war, was the work of the American Railway Union, a great organisation of railway workers, and the Union itself was the product of Mr. Eugene Debs, himself a fireman on the railway, the city clerk of his native town, and for a brief time a Member of the Legislature of Indiana. Mr. Debs was arrested and imprisoned after the strike, on a somewhat arbitrary order of a United States circuit Judge, and while in prison he seems to have revolved in his mind the general question of labour unions, of strikes, of monopolies, and of the way in which the present laws and property institutions of America can be modified, if not com- pletely changed. In short, Mr. Debs seems to be a typical American revolutionist, of the new kind; uncon- ventional, with immense energy, " dreaming on things to come," and yet with a certain practical turn that differen- tiates the true Westerner from the European Red. Mr. Debs, as the result of his meditations, came to the conclu- sion that Trade-Unionism was, as he would express it, " played out," that the great capitalist combinations of America were too strong for it, as apparently they are too strong for Congress. This is how he put his views in a recent speech :—" Labour Unions cannot be maintained without strikes. Strikes involve a resort to force. Cor- porate power has learned to meet force with force, and, with the leverage of unlimited means and the ability to invoke the aid of the law, the workmen can never win." There is some difference of opinion among American experts as to how far strikes have actually affected the economic position of the workman ; but, so far as the greater strikes are concerned, there is little question that Mr. Debs is right, and that capitalist combination has proved superior in the encounter.
This being Mr. Debs's view as to the strike as a weapon of warfare, he has naturally considered some alternative plan by which working men should be freed from what in his eyes is a powerful tyranny at issue with the spirit of American political institutions. His plan is twofold, —immediate and ultimate. The ultimate plan is the conversion of the United States into a Collectivist Republic, and differs only in detail from the schemes of German Social Democrats. The Collectivist programme outlined by Mr. Debs includes the public ownership of all monopolies, means of transportation and communication, municipal services, minerals and natural gas and oil, the reduction of the hours of labour " in proportion to the progress of production," public works " for the employ- ment of the unemployed," freedom of use of inventions, and the Referendum, Initiative, and Manda,t Imperatif. Some years ago M. Zola, declared that, in his judgment social revolution was far more likely to come from the new countries than from the age-worn soil of Europe, and he specified the United States as likely to lead in the van. On the other hand, it has been usual for those American writers who are best known in Europe to declare that, whatever might happen in the crowded cities of the Old World, America was certain to remain entirely free from the taint of Collectivism, and, as a matter of fact, Collectivism has been hitherto almost entirely confined to the foreign population of the United States, especially the German section, which has its head- quarters in New York. What the movement now initiated by Mr. Debs means is that a native Collectivist party is in process of formation in the United States, which, if anything more than a passing ebullition of temper, portends some great changes in the character of American politics, and which is likely to be of no little influence the world over. But has it a chance ? Before answering that question, let us state what is the immediate plan of action proposed by this revolutionary railway worker.
An object-lesson in the working of Collectivism is to be provided by the formation of a co-operative colony in one of the Western States. It is understood that the Governor of the State of Washington has invited the leaders of the new party to establish their colony in that State. Washington is a magnificent State, one of the finest regions on the globe, with all but unlimited natural resources : rivers, great fiords, forests, mines, and splendid agricultural land. It has only recently been opened up, it has attracted many Scandinavian settlers, and it contains a considerable population more or less in sympathy with the ideas of Mr. Debs, as its State and Federal elections have shown. The colony will begin with picked men of the farming class, to be followed by artisans, and the whole body of immigrants will probably march thither from their homes over more than half a continent. Such, at least, is the scheme, and it is calculated that its success will at once begin to tell in other parts of the Union, that similar colonies will grow up elsewhere, and that thus, on the very soil of the old institutions, with their property ideas inherited from past civilisations, will gradually grow a new social framework in which, in some mysterious way, all will share equally in the gifts of Nature, and will thus escape from the ills and misfortunes which have thus far finally overtaken all forms of human society. That success is certain does not seem to be doubted ; a fervent spirit of optimism prevails which seems to be compounded of the gospel of Jean Jacques Rousseau and the dreams of the more thorough- going Levellers of the days of the Commonwealth.
Now, one of two things, it seems, must happen to such a project. Either these Collectivist colonies must separate themselves from the rest of the com- munity, or they must exchange goods and be in industrial relations with those outside. If they remain separate they are in no respect different from the numerous social communities with whose wrecks the American Continent may almost be said to be strewn. In that case, the ultimate idea of Mr. Debs must be defeated, for such bodies could have no effect whatever on the general economic and political condition of the United States. They would be like the Shakers or the Oneida Community or Economy in Pennyslvania, only without the religious element which has kept many of these brotherhoods together for a time. But, if they are not separate, if they spread and enter into relations with the outer world, which they could only do on the basis of competition, what would happen ? It is quite possible that, under the protection of a sympathetic Governor and Legislature, such colonies might grow and become formidable, if only they could sustain themselves, and might determine the character of the State, Congressional, and Presidential voting in more than one Western State. So far as legal prohibition goes, there would be no prima_ facieground for any interference on the part of the authorities, State or Federal, so long as no definitely illegal action were taken by the colonists. It is even conceivable that they might compete with the great industries, if vast numbers of sympathisers decided to buy their goods and to place a boycott on every article made or provided by a Trust or other monopoly. At present in thousands of cigar-shops in America one sees boxes of cigars with the "Union" label, and thousands of people will buy no others. We do not say that successful competition is probable, but it is con- ceivable in the present temper of millions of farmers in the West. But, on the other hand, the railways could easily boycott the colonists' products, and would do so, and the great stores which exist in every American city might easily refuse to supply Collectivist products. In any case, sooner or later, assuming that the project is fairly successful, some collision would arise, in which public force would prove, as it always proves in these cases, to be the ultinza ratio. If a sympathetic State Executive refused to act, the Federal authorities would interfere, the precedent for such interference having been furnished by Mr. Cleveland during the very strike at Chicago in the course of which Mr. Debs became so prominent a figure in the eyes of his fellow-citizens. We may argue as we please about the individual's right to boycott, and no doubt any given person may refuse to purchase of A or B, or to sell to C or D, and no power can compel him to do so. But when boycotting has become a vast social conspiracy, and is manifestly leading to civil war over a vast region of country such as the States beyond the Mississippi, interference there will be. The danger is that it may become partial, directed to reinforce the claim of one or other party, rather than public and impersonal. With Mr. Bryan in the White House, and a Democratic Congress in existence, Federal interference would be directed against the Trusts and railway corporations ; with President McKinley there it would be directed the other way,—at least so we fear. But some kind of interference it is certain there would be, provided the Collectivist communities became each an imperiuni in imperio, claiming such allegiance as the Mormon Church claimed before the Federal Government suppressed it by law.
But now, has the movement to which the colony in Washington is intended to lead up any kind of chance '? Many Americans of the cultivated class in New York and Boston would smile at the question, but they do not know the West. Senator Lodge, who belongs to the Eastern cultivated class, confessed, after a Western tour last year, that a widespread feeling of discontent existed of which he had previously had no conception. The movement is especially strong among the farmers. Indeed, if they could honestly combine with the city artisan population, a most formidable prospect would open up immediately. As it is, this is not at present likely, but it may be brought about by the despotism of the Trusts. If, as so moderate a journal as the Chicago Tribune has stated, the new Tariff Bill will make the price of clothing half as much again, if the Sugar, Wool, Standard Oil, and other interests, and the railway and wheat com- binations, are insatiable in their demands, this very result may be brought about; and the year 1900 may see a Western Populist President (whether Mr. Bryan or any other) and a Congress, angry and determined, with State Legislatures everywhere west of the Mississippi in com- plete sympathy with what may fairly be called revolu- tionary demands. Even some business men, weary of the everlasting Tariff controversy, and unable, with an ever- changing series of Tariff duties, to carry on their business, might throw in their lot with a new party, especially now that the old party issues are practically dead. The President's eagerness for a Bimetallic Conference with the leading European States shows to the initiated an attempt to " capture " the Western silver vote, which is merely silver and nothing else, and so break up the forces of discontent in the West. We do not for one moment suppose that any complete Collectivist scheme has any chance of adoption in the United States, so long as the average man can contrive to get a fair living up to the rather high American standard. But unquestionably the " squeezing " of the public by the Trusts and " combines " is rendering this more difficult for many, and the despotic temper exhibited by the millionaire class is exasperating not a few who are themselves well enough off. In short, an ugly temper is growing, and the revelations of the Tariff Bill have been as fuel to the flame. America is swift and sudden in action ; and it may well be that, within a few years, a great party will become actually dominant, not wholly Collectivist, but determined to carry out some one great Collectivist scheme,—probably the ownership of the railways by the State. To this end Mr. Debs and his colonists will certainly work.
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