Latest / Historic Speeches of the UK House of Commons, Vol. 1 / 012 - Speech on socialism 1901

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012 - Speech on socialism 1901 · Historic Speeches of the UK House of Commons, Vol. 1

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  Speaker 1: Speech by care Hardy. This is a LibriVox recording or
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  Speaker 1: LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information
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  Speaker 1: or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Speech given
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  Speaker 1: to the House of Commons in nineteen o one by
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  Speaker 1: care Hardy. I make no apology for bringing the question
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  Speaker 1: of socialism before the House of Commons. It has long
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  Speaker 1: commanded the attention of the best minds in the country.
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  Speaker 1: It is a growing force in the thought of the world,
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  Speaker 1: and whether men agree or disagree with it, they have
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  Speaker 1: to reckon with it, and may as well begin by
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  Speaker 1: understanding it. I begin by pointing out that the growth
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  Speaker 1: of our national wealth, instead of bringing comfort to the
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  Speaker 1: masses of the people, is imposing additional burdens on them.
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  Speaker 1: We are told on highest authority that some three hundred
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  Speaker 1: years ago the total wealth of the English nation was
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  Speaker 1: one hundred million sterling. At the beginning of the last
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  Speaker 1: century it had increased to two thousand millions, and this
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  Speaker 1: year it is estimated to be three hundred millions. While
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  Speaker 1: our population during the last century increased three and a
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  Speaker 1: half times, the wealth of the community increased over six times.
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  Speaker 1: But one factor in our national life remained with us
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  Speaker 1: all through the century, and is still with us. And
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  Speaker 1: that is at the bottom of the social scale, there
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  Speaker 1: is a mass of poverty and misery equal in magnitude
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  Speaker 1: to that which obtained one hundred years ago. I submit
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  Speaker 1: that the true test of progress is not the accumulation
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  Speaker 1: of wealth in the hands of the few, but the
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  Speaker 1: elevation of the people as a whole. I admit frankly,
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  Speaker 1: that considerable improvement was made in the condition of the
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  Speaker 1: working people during the last century. At the beginning of
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  Speaker 1: the nineteenth century, the nation industrially was sick, almost unto death.
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  Speaker 1: It was at that time passing from the old system
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  Speaker 1: of handicraft, under which every man was his own employer
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  Speaker 1: and his own capitalist, and traded directly with his customer,
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  Speaker 1: to the factory system, which the introduction of machinery brought
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  Speaker 1: into existence. During these one hundred years, the wealth of
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  Speaker 1: the nation accumulated, and the condition of the working clafe losses,
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  Speaker 1: as compared with the early years of the century, improved.
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  Speaker 1: But I respectfully submit to the House that there was
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  Speaker 1: more happiness, more comfort, and more independent before machinery began
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  Speaker 1: to accumulate wealth. The high standard of comfort reached by
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  Speaker 1: the laboring classes at the end of the last century
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  Speaker 1: has not brought them that happiness which pertained in England
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  Speaker 1: three hundred years ago, when there was no machinery, no
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  Speaker 1: large capitalists, no private property in land as we know
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  Speaker 1: it today, and when every person had the right to
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  Speaker 1: use the land for the purpose of producing food for
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  Speaker 1: himself and his family. I said that improvement was made
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  Speaker 1: during the last century, but I would qualify that statement
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  Speaker 1: in this respect that practically the whole of that improvement
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  Speaker 1: was made during the first seventy five years. During the
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  Speaker 1: last quarter of the century, the condition of the working
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  Speaker 1: glasses has been practically stationary. There have been slight increases
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  Speaker 1: of wages here and reduction of hours there, but the landlord,
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  Speaker 1: with increased rent, has more than absorbed any advantage that
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  Speaker 1: may have been gained. We are rapidly approaching the point
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  Speaker 1: when the nation will be called upon to decide between
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  Speaker 1: an uncontrolled monopoly conducted for the benefit and in the
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  Speaker 1: interests of its principal shareholders, and a monopoly owned, controlled,
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  Speaker 1: and manipulated by the state in the interests of the
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  Speaker 1: nation as a whole. I do not require to go
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  Speaker 1: far afield for arguments to support that part of my
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  Speaker 1: statement concern the danger which the application of wealth in
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  Speaker 1: a few hands is bringing upon us. This House and
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  Speaker 1: the British nation know to their cost the danger which
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  Speaker 1: comes from allowing men to grow rich, and permitting them
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  Speaker 1: to use their wealth to corrupt the press, to silence
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  Speaker 1: the pulpit, to degrade our national life, and to bring
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  Speaker 1: reproach and shame upon a great people, in order that
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  Speaker 1: a few and scrupulous scoundrels might be able to add
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  Speaker 1: to their ill gotten gains. The war in South Africa
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  Speaker 1: is a millionaire's war. The troubles in China are due
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  Speaker 1: to desire of the capitalists to exploit the people of
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  Speaker 1: that country as they would vain exploit the people of
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  Speaker 1: South Africa. Of The jealousy and bad blood existing between
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  Speaker 1: this country and France is traceable to the fact that
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  Speaker 1: we went to war in Egypt to suppress a popular
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  Speaker 1: uprising seeking freedom for the people, in order that the
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  Speaker 1: interests of our bondholders might be secured. Socialism, by placing
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  Speaker 1: the land and the instruments of production in the hands
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  Speaker 1: of the community, eliminates only the idle, useless class at
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  Speaker 1: both ends of the scale. Half a million people in
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  Speaker 1: this country benefit by the present system. The remaining millions
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  Speaker 1: of toilers and businessmen do not. The pursuit of wealth
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  Speaker 1: corrupts the manhood of men. We are called upon, at
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  Speaker 1: the beginning of the twentieth century to decide the question
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  Speaker 1: propounded in the Sermon on the Mount as to whether
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  Speaker 1: we will worship God or man. Man. The present day
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  Speaker 1: is a Mammon worshiping age. Socialism proposes to dethrone the
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  Speaker 1: brute God, Mammon, and to lift humanity into its place.
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  Speaker 1: I beg to submit in this very imperfect fashion the
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  Speaker 1: resolution on the paper, merely promising that the last has
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  Speaker 1: not been heard of the socialist movement, either in the
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  Speaker 1: country or on the floor of this House. But that
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  Speaker 1: just as sure as radicalism democracized the system of government
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  Speaker 1: politically in the last century, so will socialism democracize the
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  Speaker 1: country industrially during this century upon which we have just entered.
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  Speaker 1: End of speech recording by Sally Ankok, United Kingdom,