BY JOSEPH BIBBY

(Editor, Bibby's Annual)

When Confucius was asked how he would reform the world he replied, "By calling things by their right names." It is obvious that today we are still troubled with the activities of movements which are inaccurately labeled, and this is especially true of the use to which we put the word "Socialism."

When collective movements appropriate titles or slogans and attach them to activities which have no particular connection with their descriptive titles, a sense of deception is indicated which is lamentable, inasmuch as without the guiding spirit of truth and honesty no individual, class or nation can achieve any worthy attainment. Herein, as we see it, lies the weakness of the movement labeled "Socialism," as many of its activities actually retard instead of enhancing social progress.

A true Socialism, it need hardly be said, should direct thought and attention to methods of attainment animated and directed by the spirit of goodwill and fellowship. Nor should it seek advancement by methods which conflict with individual liberty and freedom. It would make its appeal to reason and justice, and in this way would seek to bring about that state of unity and harmony, which is ever an indispensable condition of collective happiness and progress.

The desire to establish a better social order is commendable, but it is necessary first of all, to have a clearer understanding of those laws of Nature which Confucius termed "The ordinances of Heaven," if that object is to be realised. Men and nations rise to higher attainment not by cultivating the spirit of antagonism within or without, but by developing within themselves those qualities in the character which produce alike industrial and social harmony.

The first important question is whether or not the present system of free exchange of services and commodities is in full harmony with this principle, and whether growth from within or compulsion from without is more likely to bring about the desired conditions. It may truthfully be said that the method of "free exchange" does much to encourage development of that individual initiative and resourcefulness from which it is known that human progress ever proceeds: nor, on the other hand, can anyone doubt that activities which rest on compulsion, or upon reliance from outside assistance, have very little to contribute to this end.

The methods of coercion have been tried out on a somewhat extensive scale, during the last two decades by the European family of nations, and not the least by our own; and today we are all paying a heavy price for a common ignorance of the laws which determine both international and social well-being. The trouble arose in the first instance with a nation which attempted to advance its own interests by quarrelling with its neighbours and thus forcibly trying to obtain a "better place in the sun" for itself. The experience has proved that it is just as foolish to expect international welfare as a result of war as it is to expect that strife in the ordinary family will conduce to the happiness and well-being of the primary group. We must never forget that "we are members one of another," and that no member of any collective group can be harmed without the others having to share in the loss and suffering. It is needless to say that if the energy employed in the destruction of life and prosperity had been directed into creative channels, the peoples of Europe would all be enjoying a fuller and more prosperous life than they are today.

This disastrous experience has, we think, made it clear to all that nations like individuals have no true interest apart from the good of their neighbonrs. Other experiences have demonstrated the folly of any separate class attempting to advance a sectional welfare by methods which conflict with the larger good. The truth of this contention is very applicable to our own industrial conditions. As a method of attainment, quarrelling between one section of an industrial group and another is just as inimical to the general good, and as futile to their own well-being, as is war between one nation and another. The further conclusion forced upon us is, that if better industrial conditions are to be brought about, it is necessary to establish a Socialism which answers to its title in deed as in word, and which makes its appeal to the spirit of goodwill and fellowship, rather than that of class antagonism. We clearly need a philosophy of life which also includes in its purview the good of the world community, as well as one which encourages the growth and development of the social virtues, for the self-seeking spirit is everywhere inimical to the welfare of every individual, class and nation.

Those who are keen to discover the fundamental cause of the world's troubles today will find it in the lack of fellowship and goodwill between rival nations and between the varied groups within each nation. Almost every nation has come to believe that they are patriotic in the measure that they think of their own national interests alone; and many also believe they are true Socialists when they are taking account only of sectional interests.

We cannot afford to live any longer in air-tight compartments which lack the oxygen of a wide and generous outlook. We must peer beyond sectional interests and recognise that each nation and each class must work harmoniously with each other if good results are to be achieved.

This is imperatively true of our own nation, for our geographical position is such that our very existence depends upon our ability to sell the products of our labour in the open markets of the world. To do this successfully it is obvious that we cannot afford to waste on industrial strife the energy which could be so much more profitably employed in efforts to increase our individual and collective efficiency. This as much in the interests of each worker and administrator as in that of the public good. It is only as we succeed in bringing the spirit of service into our every-day work, that we can succeed in turning out goods of such a quality and value as will command a ready sale in the world's market. We may gibe as much as we like about the evils of free exchange of services and commodities, and the law of supply and demand, but we have no power to alter natural laws, and we doubt very much if a better method than free exchange would prove of any advantage; for coercive methods do nothing to produce the necessary conditions of unity and harmony.

Our only hope, therefore, lies in abjuring strife and improving our skill and ability. It will not be a popular slogan to preach to the ordinary working man or to the average Capitalist, but there can be no doubt that if we wish to recover our former prosperity and find a free market for our products, we shall have to rely more on efficiency, thrift and good fellowship, and less on quarrelsome methods. We shall also have to regard ourselves as an industrial community in which each one of us has his part to play in the general movement towards better conditions, and where individual slackness and inefficiency, either on the part of master or man, will be regarded by public opinion as a crime against the commonweal.

No one can study the many activities of the present-day Socialist Trade Union Movement without recognising that it is in many of its activities an anti-social organisation. We have only to consider the history of the South Wales Coalfield, before, during and since the War, to see where wrong principles of action finally lead. The oft-repeated squabblings between the coal owners and the miners which have done so much to prevent the adopting of reasonable measures to meet the exigencies of the times, is largely responsible for this. Instead of calmly considering the question in dispute from all sides in the interests alike of the community and themselves, and then appealing to an impartial arbitrator if they failed to agree, there has been the spirit of mutual misunderstanding and lack of vision. As a result the industry on which the local populace relied for its livelihood has been nearly destroyed. Had the right spirit existed between the leaders of Capital and Labour, true solutions would have been discovered with advantage to everyone concerned.

What applies to this particular industry is equally true of many others, and if we are to find employment for the millions of workers, who are now out of work, it is clear we shall all have to cultivate a new and better spirit. Strikes and kindred bickerings, and Union regulations which interfere with individual liberty, make no contribution to that unity and harmony which, as already said, is a prime condition of collective progress. It may be well, therefore, if we set about to recognise the fact that no permanent gain can be obtained by any industry whose activities are not based on the spirit of service; for service is the keystone of every successful activity.

It is ever true that what is given in the way of extra unselfish service is finally returned in one form or another to the giver and it is ever he who gives who receives. The self-seeking spirit wherever it manifests itself always sets up a hindrance alike to individual and to social well-being.

The only remedy for our present-day disabilities, therefore, lies in the fuller realisation of the truth that the destiny of each nation depends finally upon the service it is prepared to give to the general welfare of the world; and that this must rest upon the character and outlook of its individual citizens. These are facts which our present-day Socialist movement has entirely overlooked. Our economic troubles and world disabilities are, as we see it, directly traceable to the fact that there has been a widespread failure to develop those higher potentialities in our nature. These are always insistently indicating that the true pathway leading to individual and social progress is to place the commonweal before personal or sectional interests.

It is also incontestable that we cannot sell our products in the open markets of the world unless we are prepared to give as good or even better value than the other competing nations. However much a certain section of the public may believe in the coercive method of selling its labour, we have no power as a nation to compel the foreign buyer to purchase our goods. We may be sure that if the price we ask is higher than the market value of the same article, or if the goods do not meet the buyer's needs, he will certainly obtain his requirements elsewhere. We have, therefore, as a nation to decide whether we prefer to maintain uneconomic conditions and be overwhelmed with unemployment, or increase the quality of our service to the point where we shall be able to produce goods of a quality and price which will command a ready sale.

That our present condition calls for serious investigation goes without saying, and, happily, many clear-thinking men of all classes are devoting their thoughts and attention to the subject. One thing, however, has been clearly demonstrated, and that is, if we require an ampler and fuller life, both for the individual, the nation, and not least for the great family of nations, we must seek to develop those latent potentialities which exist in everyone of us. We must also make closer acquaintance with those fundamental laws of Nature, obedience to which is a necessary condition of all true advancement.

Arguing from the known to the unknown, and realising that the same laws govern the organism as in the primary cell, we claim that the well-ordered family–the primary collective group–abounds in valuable suggestion as to how the right spirit might be applied to the larger collective organisations, and good results secured. The outstanding feature is that each family is founded on the principle of ‘free exchange’ and not on compulsion, each primary unit having chosen the arrangement of their own free will. It is also noteworthy that every individual in the group, whilst obtaining the training necessary for his present stage of growth, is at the present time gaining experience and building into the character qualities necessary for the next stage of unfoldment.

Its constitution is also seen to be one of variety, not of uniformity, an hierarchy and not a democracy. It is the spirit of affection which obtains in this primary group that binds the members together, making harmony possible in spite of the fact that the group is constituted on the principle of diversity.

If our hypothesis is correct, the next important consideration is, how may the family spirit be applied with equal success to the larger collective activities, both industrial and international? There should, however, (in theory at least) be no fundamental difficulty, seeing that each industry, and each family of industries, each nation and the family of nations, are all composed of individuals, as in the ordinary family, who in point of development are constituted on the principle of variety and diversity. Each is made up of men and women at many different stages in evolutionary progress; and each is dependent upon one and another, alike for their individual and corporate happiness and well-being.

Nor is there seen to be any injustice in this arrangement when it is realised that those who are now in the higher positions in each collective group, have all passed through the earlier stages of growth and development, and will in due course gradually, and according to the measure of their own efforts, pass upwards and onwards. They who have attained what we call administrative positions within any particular organisation have done so in obedience to the orderly processes of growth and development. Their future advancement to the next higher forms in the School of Life wholly depends upon whether they are equal to the tests which the new situation imposes. Any failure at this point will not only retard individual progress towards still higher attainment, but will impede the general movement towards that higher completeness of human perfection towards which the entire race is slowly moving.

The law of growth in this connection was well expressed by the Great Master when He said: "For unto whomsoever much is given much shall be required." The parable of the Prodigal Son also poignantly illustrates the disastrous effect upon those who neglect to turn their service to good account in the common interest, and who mistakenly seek their own interests without considering the good of others.

The well-ordered family may thus be seen to offer useful suggestions as to the true methods whereby the other collective organisations might make a better contribution to social progress and incidentally to sectional well-being. It also clearly points to the fact that industrial well-being depends very largely on the type of men who come into the higher positions, and this applies alike to our industrial, political and religious institutions, for they are all constituted on the family principle, and if the best results are to be achieved their activities should be directed by the family methods and spirit which think beyond the interests of the institution or the party to the larger good.

That we live in a world where results come about in obedience to just and orderly law, is obvious from the fact that, were it not so, the Universe would be a chaos whereas it is a cosmos: and this system of orderly progress applies to all human experience. We finally reap as individuals, classes and nations that which we have sown.

Our Poet Laureate saw this very clearly when he wrote: -

If this is true of individual experience–and no one who studies the subject can doubt it–it must be equally true of each industrial and national organism; and the cause of our present social disabilities must, therefore, be sought in the "within" and not in the "without."

That there has been a lamentable lack of vision in many of our collective activities in recent times is proven by our present conditions, and the answer to the problem as to where we have gone astray is not far to seek; for no sensible person would take the wrong turning if he knew that it would lead away from his destination; and it is also obvious that our present troubles might easily have been avoided if, when the cross roads were reached, we had known whither the wrong turning would lead.

The true Socialist will, therefore, first of all address himself to the study of the laws which lead to happiness and well-being. He will know that not until each individual and each class are ordering their activities in harmony with these laws, is it possible to achieve either social prosperity or individual advancement. He will also be guick to recognise that activities animated from the lower self-seeking impulses of our Nature are unreliable guides to conduct, and that it is the inspiration which springs from contact with higher planes of consciousness which ever points the way onward and upward. When this truth is more fully recognised there will come that development of capacities and powers which are the winning force in human progress. The principle involved was well expressed by one of old in the well-known words: "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you."

Another fact which must not be overlooked is that all social progress has its rise with individuals who have passed along the earlier stages in evolutionary progress and have made such good use of their opportunities that they have developed new capacities enabling them greatly to improve their contributions to the common weal. This development has not come along by sudden changes from without, but is the flowering of many lives of strenuous effort directed by sound methods of attainment. They have thus come into closer contact with the Master Mind of the Universe, and have profited accordingly.

As illustrating the outworking of these principles, it will be interesting to consider the experience of two outstanding men of our time who, working along these lines, have made a very substantial contribution to social advancement. We refer to Marconi and Edison. Little is known of the early days of Marconi, but all are acquainted with the useful service he has rendered to society as a result of his work, and especially to the wonderful results achieved in radio communication. The present and all future generations will owe this great genius a debt of gratitude for having developed his capacities to the point which made it possible to make his epoch-making contribution to social progress.

Of Edison's early days we know somewhat more: born a delicate boy, he only remained at school for three months, after which his mother, an "ex-Schoolman," took charge of his education. In spite of his physical handicap, he came into the world endowed with a spirit full of restless desire to know and to achieve. When he was between twelve and thirteen years of age, he began work as a newsboy on a railway between Port Huron and Detroit. Despite his lowly occupation, he had what may be called an inner urge for the study of chemistry; this led him to establish a small laboratory in the baggage car of the train. The demands of the laboratory soon exceeded his earnings, to meet which he fitted up a small printing machine in the car, and produced a weekly paper which he sold to passengers. He was thus enabled to purchase raw material for his studies. His activities on the train, however, finally ended in disaster, for in the process of trying out one of his ideas an explosion occurred which set fire to the car, and at the next station he was summarily dismissed. It took more than this unfortunate happening, however, to deflect him from his chosen career.

His studies have had fruitful results in many directions and not least in connection with that mysterious force known as electricity, which he succeeded in harnessing and utilising in many ways, with immense advantage to numerous industries and to the improvement of our domestic comfort.

It is a commonplace to note that etheric waves and electric forces have been in the Universe all down the ages, but these two men have discovered for us a method of utilising them in the interests of the human race.

It is not too wild a speculation to state that there may be yet other and higher capacities lying latent in each of us, and which are capable of exerting a still wider influence on human progress. Why, for instance, might not some genius discover for us some method whereby the mysterious force known as ‘love’, which has proved such a wonderful unifying force in the well-ordered family, might be applied in the larger collective groups, and so advance the level of social and international well-being? The development of that virtue which suffereth long and is kind is doubtless just as capable of producing that unifying influence, alike in our social and national relationships, as is found in the well-ordered family.

We should then have a true Socialism; one that was in harmony with its name, and also one that is capable of ‘delivering the goods.’

BACK