The Civic Federation of New York, an influential body which aims, invarious ways, at harmonising apparently divergent industrial interestsin America, having decided on supplementing its other activities by acampaign of political and economic education, invited me, at thebeginning of the year 1907, to initiate a scientific discussion ofsocialism in a series of lectures or speeches, to be delivered under theauspices of certain of the great Universities in the United States. Thisinvitation I accepted, but, the project being a new one, some difficultyarose as to the manner in which it might best be carried out—whetherthe speeches or lectures should in each case be new, dealing with somefresh aspect of the subject, or whether they should be arranged in asingle series to be repeated without substantial alteration in each ofthe cities visited by me. The latter plan was ultimately adopted, astending to render the discussion of the subject more generallycompre[Pg viii]hensible to each local audience. A series of five lectures,substantially the same, was accordingly delivered by me in New York,Cambridge, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. But whilst this plansecured continuity of treatment, it secured it at the expense ofcomprehensiveness. Certain important points had to be passed over. Inthe present volume the substance of the original lectures has beenentirely rearranged and rewritten, and more than half the matter is new.Even in the present volume, however, it has been impossible to treat thesubject otherwise than in a general way. At almost every point a reallycomplete discussion would necessitate a much fuller analysis of factsthan it has been practicable to give here. Arguments here necessarilyconfined to a few pages or to a chapter, would each, for their completeelucidation, require a separate monograph. Most readers, however, willbe able to supply much of what is missing, by the light of their owncommon sense; and general arguments, in which, as in block plans ofbuildings, many details are suppressed, have for practical purposes thegreat advantage of being generally and easily intelligible, whereas, ifstated in fuller and more complex form, they might confuse rather thanenlighten a large number of readers.
The fact that the fundamental arguments of this[Pg ix] volume weredisseminated throughout the United States, not only at the meetingsaddressed, but also in all the leading newspapers, has had the valuableresult, by means of the mass of criticisms which they elicited, ofillustrating the manner in which socialists attempt to meet them; andhas enabled me to revise, with a view to farther clearness, certainpassages which were intentionally or unintentionally misunderstood, andalso to emphasise the curious confusions of thought into which variouscritics have been driven in their efforts to controvert or get roundthem. I may specially mention a small volume by Mr. G. Wilshire of NewYork—a leading publisher and disseminator of socialisticliterature—which was devoted to examining my own arguments seriatim. Tothe principal criticisms of this writer allusions will be found in thefollowing pages. Most of my socialistic o