If only a number of otherwise independent peasants could be
forced to give enough of their time to the proprietor of a factory
to-day, the entire use of wage-capital would in his case be gone. The
same thing is true of slavery. Like the peasant proprietor, who gives
part of his time to his overlord, the slave is provided with the
necessaries of life independently of his obedience to the detailed
orders of his master. His master feeds him just as he would feed an
animal; the industrial obedience is insured by the subsequent
application of force.
These two coercive systems are the only alternatives to the wage-system
that have ever been found workable in the past history of the world. We
will now consider the system which some of the most thoughtful
socialists of to-day are proposing as a substitute for it in the
hoped-for socialistic future. The school of English socialists, of which
Mr. Webb is the best-known member, have given to the world a volume
called _Fabian Essays_. This volume was republished in America, and to
the American edition a special preface was prefixed with a view to
emphasising the essentials of a socialistic conception of society, and
bringing the details of the socialistic theory up to date.
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