Would these gentlemen have us reject everything that comes from Europe? If so, why do they not reject the Declaration of Independence, which, though written by Thomas Jefferson, yet breathes the spirit of Rousseau and Voltaire, at whose feet he was proud to sit? Why do they not reject the constitution of the United States which is heavily saturated with the political principles of the English? Why do they not reject the English common law, which assuredly is not American? Why do they not reject the multiplication table, the works of Shakespeare and the wireless telegraph?
Why don’t they? Because they are not fools. They are foolish, let us hope, only when they are talking about Socialism. On this subject, their brains curdle. They do not ask whether the principles upon which it is based are true. Truth is not the test. The test is the place where the principles were first proclaimed. If it could be proved that they were first proclaimed at Muncie, Indiana, by a gentleman who was born there immediately after the landing of Columbus—then we might expect these patriots to become Socialists even if Socialism had not a leg to stand upon. But since Europeans chanced to hit upon Socialism before we did, precisely as they chanced to hit upon many another good thing before we did, these gentlemen do not want Socialism, even though it be true.
Well, let them reject it. Let them reject the sun, the moon and the stars, if they want to. None of them was made in America. Let them reject the Mississippi River because it was discovered by De Soto, a foreigner. Let them reject the Pacific Ocean because it was discovered by Balboa, another foreigner. The march of the sun and planets will probably not be seriously disturbed, even if some gentlemen do reject them. Possibly the Mississippi River may flow on. Certainly, the Socialist party in America will not disband. It’s busy.
I cannot tell my correspondent what percentage of Socialists have three generations of ancestors who were born in America. I do not know. I do not care. I do not know why he should care. I know some Socialists who have fifteen generations of ancestors who were born in America. I have seen some Socialists when they had been in this country only fifteen minutes. So far as I could discover, they were precisely like the Socialists who had lived in this country, in person or by proxy, for 300 years. They all believed that poverty was unnecessary and that Socialism would remove it.
Either that belief is true, or it isn’t. Whence it sprang or by whom it is expressed makes no difference with its truth or falsity. Yet, men who think they can think, write or speak as this gentleman has written. They mean well, of course, but they are suffering from ingrowing Americanism. They are turning their eyes upon themselves and their backs upon the world. If America ever reaches the point where it will reject truth, simply because it comes from abroad, while accepting error for no other reason than that it is made at home, America will not be worth bothering about.
CHAPTER VII
SOCIALISM THE LONE FOE OF WAR
Ask the first man you meet if he is in favor of war and he will tell you he is not. Mr. Wilson is opposed to war. The Czar of Russia is opposed to war. The King of Italy is opposed to war. The Sultan of Turkey is opposed to war. The King of England and the German Emperor are opposed to war. Every king and emperor in the world is opposed to war. Mr. Roosevelt, Mr. Bryan, Mr. Morgan, Mr. Carnegie, Mr. Taft—everybody, everywhere, is opposed to war.
Yet, Mr. Taft, not so long ago, flung an army in the face of Mexico, and dispatched powerful warships to the coast of Cuba. The King of Italy, not so long ago, attacked, by land and sea, the people of Turkey. Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Bryan, a little longer ago, enlisted in the war against Spain. Mr. Morgan, only a few years ago, helped to furnish the sinews of war with which Japan fought Russia. At this moment, the King of England and the German Emperor are threatening their respective nations with bankruptcy in order to augment their enormous machinery for the slaying of men. And, Mr. Carnegie, having grown rich, in part by the manufacture of armor-plate for warships, is now using some of his money to further a peace-movement that brings no peace.
Plainly, here is something mystifying—a world that wants to stop fighting and cannot. Why cannot it stop fighting? Mr. Wilson cannot tell you. Mr. Morgan will not tell you. Mr. Roosevelt has not told you. Mr. Bryan and Mr. Carnegie seem not to know. No one who should know seems to know. Yet, they must know. Common sense says so. The men who make wars know why they make them. Wars do not happen—they are made. Somebody says: “Bring out the guns.” Somebody says: “Begin shooting.” Somebody knows what the shooting is about.
What is it about? Be careful, now. Don’t answer too quickly. Don’t say “the flag” has been insulted. Don’t say “the national honor” has been impugned. These are old reasons, but they may not be true reasons. We Socialists are willing to stake everything on the statement that they are not true reasons. If we are right, we are worth listening to. War is hell. During the 132 years that we have been a nation, we have had war hell at average intervals of 22 years. We are already preparing for our next war. We are arming to the teeth. It may not last so long as the Civil War, but it will be bloodier. We have all of the most improved machinery for making it bloodier.