BOOKS OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1800, 12 July 1913, Page 9

BOOKS OF THE DAY.

"THE NATION'S LIBRARY." Socialism and Syndicalism. An advance copy of tho initial volume on "The Nation's Library," to which brief allusion was made last week in tlieso columns, has been sent me by the publishers, Collins Bros, and Co., Loudon. The special feature of that series of new books —not reprints—is tho topicality of the subjects' dealt,'with. The authors will instruct'lis,, or at least hopo to do so, on the burning; questions of the day. Tho first volume is entitled,'"Socialism and • Syndicalism," tho author" being one of the ablest of English exponents and defenders cf Socialistic theories and projects, Mr. Philip Snowden, M.P. Mr. Snowden is a : most enthusiastic Socialist, but he is no wild, unreasoning extremist, and lib does not disguise his view that the ideals of himself and his friends are not likely to be fully realised for some years to come, j The Socialistic Ideal. •,'Let us see what, according,to Mr. Snowden, is the Socialist's ideal. The <tuthor , payS: i Tho ideal of Socialism is a demo- i cratic, educated, self-reliant commun- I lty, in which all "the individuals oo- i ■ operate together to promote the high- j est development and the greatest ', 'happiness of all. This is surely an i idea) worthy of human effort. It is " not an impracticable ideal. -Wo who i inherit tho knowledge' of tho past i may move with firm step where others : trod with hesitating feet. •To rescue I from material poverty and physical f disease the.countless millions of under- , I fed and undersized workers of tho i . world is a task which might well en- I list the effort of this age. But to open I the gates of an intellectual Eden to i tho vast masses who aro now con- • I deraned to ignorance outside, and to i bring tho joy and (fellowship of life ] into their hearts and homes, is a still ] worthier work. That is the call which 1 Socialism makes—that is the promise 1 which Socialism gives. ' j Wdrk and Wages. 1 That Socialism should be til popular < cre ( ed with so many of the underpaid ' British workers is not surprising. Mr. J Snowden devotes considerable space to an ■ indictment of an industrial social system f in iwhich, while many of tho rich are t growing richer, so many moro of the poor c ore drifting into a state of apparently .] ftuite helpless poverty. He says: In a lecture delivered in May, 1911, /' Professor Bowley estimated that about | j 8,000,000 men axe employed in regular < occupations in: tho United Kingdom, and that their full weekly wages when j in ordinary work wero as follow: 4 per cent, under 155.; B,per cent, between 15s. and 205.; 20 per cent, between 20s. afld 255.; 21 per cent, between 255. and 80s.; 21 per cent, between 30s. and 355.; 13 per cent, between 355. and 405.; 7 per cent, between 10s. and 455..; and G per cent, over 455. Thirty-two per cent, of the number earn, according to' j this estimate,' less than 253. a week. , But an examination of the. Board of Trado Returns on 'Wages shows conclusively • that Professor Bowley has I largely niimbeii of better-paid * '•tforkrifeM;'' •' " ' 1 Whether a complete absence of compe- j tition, under tho Socialist system, would J be Accompanied;'by'any,'Substantial' im- .? provement in the condition of the workers J has jet to bo proved. Political questions 1 have no place in this column, anil I must ? leave, to others tho consideration, of. Mr. s Snowdcn's general arguments as to the e revolution and reformation in politics f which, so.he claims, Socialism, once in . practice," would* bring about. Suffice it to j say that' Mr. Snowdcn's presentment of ? the case' for Socialism is marred.by no. 5 such extravagant abuse of thoso who differ from his views, a,s is too freqiiently .to be Encountered ill Socialistic literature.- •• ■Concerning Syndicalism. j As will be seen by tho title of Mr. ' Snowden'a book, tho author treats of Syn- 1 dioalism as well as Socialism. Mr. £ Snowden is strongly opposed to Syndicalr j ism, and quotes, with evident approval, > the opinion of a German £ "the General Strike is General Nonsenso." ' The worst feature in Syndicalism is, he 1 contends, its enmity, to tho State, "The 1 attitude of philosophic Syndicalism to the *. State is." ho says, "not one ot mere pas- j Hive indifference to its existence, but of • active hostility to it." The general j strike is, he considers, quito impossible as i en effective weapon. j They (the Syndicalists) counted too t much on- the public inconvenience i which' would immediately result from i a general stoppage of work. The i miners' strike of 1912 was a great dis- s illusionment in that respect. It re- s vealed resources possessed by the com- j munity which had never been imag- 6 ined. It had been confidently as- t sorted -that a general strike of miners I .would' paralyse the whole country in i a week or two at the most. Some- ' ' thing of <the same sort was predicted 1 as the result of tho strike of v trans- ' ■. port yorkers, but tho long strike of the London dockers in 1912 caused no 1 inconvenience of which tho general public was aware. In every general j strike which has taken place it is the t workers' who have suffered most. So ( it would bo in tho general striko ] which is the dream of tho Syndical- j ists. A general striko which was be- j gun unexpectedly,.as in the case of tho ( first postal strike in Paris, might f very conceivably wring concessions. t But it would simply teach the capital-. a ists and the community to be prepar- s ed for the next. Tho second postal c strike was a signal failure for that i reason. ■ c Another objectiou to Syndicalism is, ac- f cording to the author, that it considers industrial organisation from the point of ', view of, the producers only. In view of J certain resolutions passed by the Labour j Confurence now sitting in Wellington, j the whole of Mr. Snowden's most detailed ( examination of Syndicalism deserves to ] be carefully read by all who aro ilitcr- j .ested in the industrial problem and its . Telation to general politics. 1 Mr. Show- ( den's book, which consists of sorno 260 t odd pages is furnished with a full index, < and a well compiled and useful biography ] is an excellent feature. s i A Notable Scries, i The print or these volumes of "The Na- ' lion's Library" is admirably bold and f clear, and the biuding, a scarlet art canI'ns, is both stout. ..and tasteful. Sup- ' plies of tho first six : volume's in this li- , orary will, I. understand, be on sale ' locally before very long. The wide scope of. itho series is shown by tho fact that < the author of the second volume, "Sane Trade Unionism," is. none other tr.an Mr. W. V. Osborne, famous in connection with the Osborno judgment, and, I believe, as staunch an advocate of Individualism as is.Mr. Snowden .of Collectivism. Tho four remaining volumes in'the first batch are "Industrial Germany," by ,Win. Harbutt"-Dawson, who has - written so much and so well upon political, social, and industrial conditions in Germany; "Modern Views on Education," by Thiselton Mark, B.Sc., D. Litt.; "Tho Practical Side of Small Holdings," a subject bound, as time goes on, to bo of more and more interest to Now Zealanders as well a= the English people; and "Eugenics —A Science and an Ideal," by Eugene Schuster, M.A. As to tho general trend of those books I hope to give my readers [further information as tho volumes appear. "The Nation's Librnrv bids fair to bo a very interesting and valuable addition to tho literature of social and political questions.. Published in tnglaud at a shilling net. the *ew Zealand price of each volume will be, I sunuose, Bi;tcanpe'ne<i.