Britain for the British

Name: Britain for the British
Author: Robert Blatchford

by Robert Blatchford

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Subjects

Socialism Socialism -- Great Britain

In: History - British·Sociology·Politics

Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #34534.

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For Whom This Book Is Intended

This book is intended for any person who does not understand, or has, so far, refused to accept the principles of Socialism.

But it is especially addressed, as my previous book, Merrie England, was addressed, to JOHN SMITH, a typical British working man, not yet converted to Socialism.

I hope this book will be read by every opponent of Socialism; and I hope it will be read by all those good folks who, though not yet Socialists, are anxious to help their fellow-creatures, to do some good in their own day and generation, and to leave the world a little better than they found it.

I hope that all lovers of justice and of truth will read this book, and that many of them will be thereby led to a fuller study of Socialism.

To the Tory and the Radical; to the Roman Catholic, the Anglican, and the Nonconformist; to the workman and the employer; to the scholar and the peer; to the labourer's wife, the housemaid, and the duchess; to the advocates of Temperance and of Co-operation; to the Trade Unionist and the non-Unionist; to the potman, the bishop, and the brewer; to the artist and the merchant; to the poet and the navvy; to the Idealist and the Materialist; to the poor clerk, the rich financier, the great scientist, and the little child, I commend the following beautiful prayer from the Litany of the Church of England:--

That it may please thee to bring into the way of truth all such as have erred, and are deceived.

That it may please thee to strengthen such as do stand; and to comfort and help the weak-hearted; and to raise up them that fall; and finally to beat down Satan under our feet.

That it may please thee to succour, help, and comfort all that are in danger, necessity, and tribulation.

That it may please thee to preserve all that travel by land or by water, all women labouring of child, all sick persons, and young children; and to shew thy pity upon all prisoners and captives.

That it may please thee to defend, and provide for, the fatherless children, and widows, and all that are desolate and oppressed.

That it may please thee to have mercy upon all men.

That it may please thee to forgive our enemies, persecutors, and slanderers, and to turn their hearts.

That it may please thee to give and preserve to our use the kindly fruits of the earth, so as in due time we may enjoy them.

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

I have italicised the word "all" in that prayer to emphasise the fact that mercy, succour, comfort, and pardon are here asked for all, and not for a few.

I now ask the reader of this book, with those words of broad charity and sweet kindliness still fresh in mind, to remember the unmerited miseries, the ill-requited labour, the gnawing penury, and the loveless and unhonoured lives to which an evil system dooms millions of British men and women. I ask the reader to discover for himself how much pity we bestow upon our "prisoners and captives," how much provision we make for the "fatherless children and widows," what nature and amount of "succour, help, and comfort" we vouchsafe to "all who are in danger, necessity, and tribulation." I ask him to consider, with regard to those "kindly fruits of the earth," who produces, and who enjoys them; and I beg him next to proceed in a judicial spirit, by means of candour and right reason, to examine fairly and weigh justly the means proposed by Socialists for abolishing poverty and oppression, and for conferring prosperity, knowledge, and freedom upon all men.

BRITAIN FOR THE BRITISH: that is our motto. We ask for a fair and open trial. We solicit an impartial hearing of the case for Socialism. Listen patiently to our statements; consider our arguments; accord to us a fair field and no favour; and may the truth prevail.

The Method of This Book

As to the method of this book, I shall begin by calling attention to some of the evils of the present industrial, social, and political system.

I shall next try to show the sources of those evils, the causes from which they arise.

I shall go on to explain what Socialism is, and what Socialism is not.

I shall answer the principal objections commonly urged against Socialism.

And I shall, in conclusion, point out the chief ways in which I think the reader of this book may help the cause of Socialism if he believes that cause to be just and wise.

Forewords

Years ago, before Socialism had gained a footing in this country, some of us democrats used often to wonder how any working man could be a Tory.

To-day we Socialists are still more puzzled by the fact that the majority of our working men are not Socialists.

How is it that middle class and even wealthy people often accept Socialism more readily than do the workers?

Perhaps it is because the men and women of the middle and upper classes are more in the habit of reading and thinking for themselves, whereas the workers take most of their opinions at second-hand from priests, parsons, journalists, employers, and members of Parliament, whose little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and whose interests lie in bolstering up class privilege by darkening counsel with a multitude of words.

I have been engaged for more than a dozen years in studying political economy and Socialism, and in trying, as a Socialist, pressman, and author, to explain Socialism and to confute the arguments and answer the objections of non-Socialists, and I say, without any hesitation, that I have never yet come across a single argument against practical Socialism that will hold water.

I do not believe that any person of fair intelligence and education, who will take the trouble to study Socialism fairly and thoroughly, will be able to avoid the conclusion that Socialism is just and wise.

I defy any man, of any nation, how learned, eminent, and intellectual soever, to shake the case for practical Socialism, or to refute the reasoning contained in this book.

And now I will address myself to Mr. John Smith, a typical British workman, not yet converted to Socialism.

Dear Mr. Smith, I assume that you are opposed to Socialism, and I assume that you would say that you are opposed to it for one or more of the following reasons:--

1. Because you think Socialism is unjust. 2. Because you think Socialism is unpractical. 3. Because you think that to establish Socialism is not possible.

But I suspect that the real reason for your opposition to Socialism is simply that you do not understand it.

The reasons you generally give for opposing Socialism are reasons suggested to you by pressmen or politicians who know very little about it, or are interested in its rejection.

I am strongly inclined to believe that the Socialism to which you are opposed is not Socialism at all, but only a bogey erected by the enemies of Socialism to scare you away from the genuine Socialism, which it would be so much to your advantage to discover.

Now you would not take your opinions of Trade Unionism from non-Unionists, and why, then, should you take your opinions of Socialism from non-Socialists?

If you will be good enough to read this book you will find out what Socialism really is, and what it is not. If after reading this book you remain opposed to Socialism, I must leave it for some Socialist more able than I to convert you.

When it pleases those who call themselves your "betters" to flatter you, Mr. Smith (which happens oftener at election times than during strikes or lock-outs), you hear that you are a "shrewd, hard-headed, practical man." I hope that is true, whether your "betters" believe it or not.

I am a practical man myself, and shall offer you in this book nothing but hard fact and cold reason.

I assume, Mr. Smith, that you, as a hard-headed, practical man, would rather be well off than badly off, and that with regard to your own earnings you would rather be paid twenty shillings in the pound than five shillings or even nineteen shillings and elevenpence in the pound.

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