The socialistic banquet was a success. Various members of the upper classes were present, and several representatives of the People. The Young Reformer presided with great ease.
The repast was not formal. Neither were the speeches afterward. We hastened over the material part of the feast, and our host dismissed the waiters abruptly when the coffee had been served.
As I looked around the table in the centre of the great hotel dining-room, I realized that we were a distinctly curious collection of human beings. Each one of us stood for a cause. Representatives of Church and University were sitting side by side with Socialist and Anarchist. Two residents from Barnet House and the head of the Woman’s Settlement were there. Opposite me sat a Single Tax agitator. At my left was a Knight of Labour. There were present also four prominent Trades Unionists, a Temperance woman, a White Ribbon woman, and a Populist.
Our eyes were all fixed upon the Young Reformer as he rapped upon the table and called upon my friend, the Resident at Barnet House, to speak in behalf of Socialism.
The Resident spoke with dignity.
“It is,” he said, “an economic fact that Socialism is inevitable. Whether we will or no, it is coming as surely as the days are moving on. It is equally true that it, as a system, offers to the individual a justice that no other form of government can offer. Under the centralizing system of Socialism, with land and the forces of production in the collective ownership of the People, and monopolies done away, will come at last that granting of equal rights to all that democracy has failed to realize.”
The speaker was enthusiastically applauded.
Then the Altruist was called upon in behalf of the Brotherhood of Man.
An abstract of his remarks can give no idea of their power. The Altruist alluded to our new recognition in this century of the close relationship between high and low. He described certain attempts, both secular and religious, that have been made to recognize this relationship. Then he set forth his hope for the future, when government shall be spiritualized, and the principles of the Christian religion shall be worked into our laws.
The address was eloquent, and the audience was strongly moved.