alone at least three social democratic newspapers are published. Two of the three use the German language; one of these is a weekly only; the other appears in a daily, a weekly, and a special Sunday edition. The third paper is an English weekly, but it announces the appearance of a daily edition in the near future. The motto of one of these papers-Most's Freiheit— is "Gegen die Tyrannen sind alle Mittel gesetzlich "— "All measures are legal against tyrants "-i. e., against our employers, against capitalists, against all classes superior to the laboring class. It is not, however, necessary to take a pessimistic view of our prospects, for it rests with us to shape the future. If we, as a people, become divided into two great hostile camps-those who possess economic goods and those who do not-the one class devoted to luxury and self-indulgence, the other given up to envy and bitterness — then, indeed, dire évils are in store for us; but we have reason to hope better things. The attitude of clergymen like Dr. Howard Crosby and Dr. Rylance, the generosity of our philanthropists, unparalleled in past history, and the noble efforts of noble women to relieve every kind of suffering and distress, lead us to trust that, as new evils arise, strength and wisdom will be vouchsafed us to conquer them, and that among us the idea of the brotherhood of man will ever become more and more a living reality. * * Vide his manly article on the Dangerous Classes in the NorthAmerican Review for April, 1883. CHAPTER II. BABEUF. SOCIALISM, strictly speaking, denotes simply the social system. It is the opposite of individualism. A socialist* is one who looks to society organized in the state for aid in bringing about a more perfect distribution of economic goods and an elevation of human\ity. The individualist regards each man not as his brother's keeper but as his own, and desires every man to work out his own salvation, material and spiritual. His advice to government is expressed in the well-known formula, laissez-faire, laissez-passer, that is, let things take care of themselves, do not interfere in the business affairs of the citizens. While the socialist ascribes to the state numerous functions, the individualist admonishes government to do as little as possible. To the one the state is a necessary good; to the other, a necessary evil. But socialism is also used in a popular sense which renders it nearly equivalent to communism, although the two ought to be distinguished. The central idea of communism is economic equality. It is desired by communists that all ranks and differences in society *The words socialist and socialism were introduced into economic discussion by L. Reybaud, in 1840, in his "Études sur les Réformateurs ou Socialistes Modernes." should disappear, and one man be as good as another, to use the popular phrase. The distinctive idea of socialism is distributive justice. It goes back of the processes of modern life to the fact that he who does not work, lives on the labor of others. It aims to distribute economic goods according to the services rendered by the recipients. We see thus that the word socialist is most inclusive. Every communist is a) socialist, and something more. Not every socialist is a communist. We might call a communist an ex treme socialist, and thus include under socialists both socialists and communists, though it is in general best to make the distinction. We could not include socialists under communists. The socialistic and communistic schemes of modern times may be classified as follows: A. Communism. 1. French and English Communism. 2. Social Democracy. 3. International Communism. B. Socialism. 1. Pure Socialism. 2. State and Professorial Socialism. 3. Christian Socialism. 4. French Collectivism. 5. French Anarchists and Blanquists. 6. Social Democracy. 7. International Socialism, The most general division is that into communism and socialism. As subdivisions, social democracy and the International figure under both of the leading divisions, as these parties include socialists and communists. Under French communism are included adherents of the French Collectivists, Anarchists, and Blanquists. Babœuf and Cabet are perhaps the two leading French representatives of pure communism, Babœuf representing that of the French Revolution.* François Noël Babœuf was born in St. Quentin, in the Department of Aisne, in 1764. He appears to have come of a good family, for his father was a major in the Austrian army. The elder Babœuf devoted much attention to his son's education, and, in particular, took especial pains to give him a good mathematical training; but he died when the young man was only sixteen years of age, and this obliged Babœuf to leave his studies and seek employment. After having filled various subordinate positions, he became a land - surveyor, and was finally elected an administrator of the Department of the Somme; but did not enjoy this post long, for he was soon arrested on a charge of forgery, condemned, and sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment. He escaped to Paris and joined the revolutionary movement. Like Mably and numerous speculative thinkers at that time, he was filled with admiration for the socialistic institutions of the Greeks and Romans. He even called himself Gracchus Babœuf, after the Roman tribune, and founded a paper which he named Tribune of the People, and which was the first social * It does not fall within the province of this work to describe English communism. Its best representative is Robert Owen, about whose life and teachings information is to be found in "The Life of Robert Owen, Written by Himself," and in A. J. Booth's "Robert Owen, the Founder of Socialism in England." Both of the works are interesting and valuable. 1762 is also given as the year of his birth. istic newspaper ever published. He signed his articles Caius Gracchus, and in them he attacked the institutions of civilized society and the party which accomplished the Revolution of Thermidor, executed Robespierre and St. Just, and finally terminated the Reign of Terror. His violent abuse of those in authority and his revolutionary projects led to his imprisonment for a few months in 1795. He improved the opportunity to establish a connection with Darthé, Buonarroti and other Jacobins and Terrorists, of whom there were nearly two thousand in the same prison. Upon their release, they formed a conspiracy, called, after its leader, "the conspiracy of Babœuf." Its object was to overthrow the Directory and introduce the communistic millennium, which they had begun to evolve in the prison. The members of the band called themselves the Equals. They formed a complex and skilfully contrived organization, whose centre was the secret committee of insurrection. This consisted of the following seven members; Babœuf, Buonarroti, Sylvain Maréchal, Felix Lepelletier, Antonelle, Darthé, and Debon. Most of them were journalists. Maréchal was author of a Dictionary of Atheists ("Dictionnaire des Athées"). Paris was divided into districts, in each of which workers and reporters were engaged in propaganda. They did not, however, even know the names of the seven chiefs of the committee of insurrection, a general agent, Didier, acting as intermediary between the committee and other agents. The activity of the leaders was remarkable, and met with a considerable success in winning adherents. In April, 1796, seventeen thousand men were prepared to join them in an insurrection against the Directory and |