* * * * *
If every person who is inclined to attribute to Socialism all the
discontent now prevalent among the laboring classes of this country,
would carefully read Mr. Laurence Gronlund's remarkable book, entitled,
_The Cooeperative Commonwealth_,--an exposition of modern
Socialism,--he would perhaps awaken to a comprehension of the fact that
true Socialism is neither communism, nor lawlessness, nor anarchy. We
wish this book could be scattered, by millions, among the intelligent
people of this land, if for no other purpose than to root out many of
the false ideas which are current, as well as to inculcate a logical
explanation of much that is transpiring at the present moment.
We are told that at least 30,000 laborers are out of work in Cincinnati,
and that full as many are unemployed in Chicago. The same state of
affairs prevails in other large cities. These people, we are also told
by the newspapers, are "exposed to the designs of socialistic leaders,
and liable to embrace their dangerous schemes." Hence, it is to be
inferred, of course, that timely measures should be instituted to "guard
the unreflecting against socialistic theories and measures."
Despair sometimes calls for a desperate remedy. When men are in physical
or financial distress they _are_ apt to lose their heads, so to
speak, and to be subject to the wildest delusions and hallucinations.
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