SOCIALISM. 295 SOCIALISM. tional institutions, as are judged to be fitted for further educatiou. "(8) Free administration of the law and free legal assistance -, aduiini.stration of the law by judges elected by the people; appeal in criminal cases; compensation to persons accused, impris- oned, or condemned unjustly; abolition of capi- tal punishment. "(9) Free medical assistance, and free supply of remedies ; free burial of the dead. "(10) A graduated income and property tax to meet all public expenses which are to be raised by taxation; self-assessment; succession duties, graduated according to the extent of the in- heritance and the degree of relationship ; aboli- tion of all indirect taxation, customs duties, and other economic measures which sacrifice the in- terests of the community to the interests of a privileged minority. "For the protection of labor, the German Social Democrats also demand, to begin with: "(1) An effective national and international system of protective legislation on the following principles: "(a) The fixing of a normal working day, which shall not exceed eight hours. "(b) Prohibition of the employment of children under fourteen. "(c) Prohibition of night work, except in those branches of industry which, from their nature and for technical reasons or for reasons of public welfare, require night work. "(d) An unbroken rest of at least thirty-six hours for every workman every week. "(e) Prohibition of the truck system. "(2) Supervision of all industrial establish- ments, together with the investigation and regu- lation of the conditions of labor in the town and country by an Imperial labor department, district labor bureaus, and chambers of labor; a thor- ough system of industrial sanitary regulation. "(3) Legal equality of agi'icultural laborers and domestic servants with industrial laborers; repeal of the laws concerning masters and servants. "(4) Confirmation of the rights of association. "(5) The taking over by the Imperial Govern- ment of the whole system of workmen's insur- ance, though giving the workmen a certain share in its administration." This is printed in the annual reports of the Proceedings of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, office of the Vorwiirts, Berlin. The present translation is taken from the 'Blue Book,' giving the report of the Royal Commission on Labor in Cierniany, published in London. 1893. For the sake of greater accuracy, however, a few changes have been made by the author. It is possible to state in a very few words the most es.sential facts in the history of social de- mocracy in Ciermany, since the adoption of the Erfurt Programme. One of the main subjects which have agitated the party has been the atti- tude toward the peasant proprietors, the small farmers, and this same question has agitated social democracy in France and the LTnited States. The support of the small proprietor is essential to the success of social democracy. A programme of confiscation of all land would arouse the hostil- ity of the smn^ll farmer. The most conservative wing of the party, therefore, advocates conces- sions to small farmers, proposing to permit them to hold landed property even under socialism. G. H. von Vollraar, member of the Reichstag and a leader among the Bavarian Social Democrats, is foremost among those who advocate concessions of this sort. This conservative programme, how- ever, has never been ollieially adopted. Kduard Bernstein, who has already been mentioned as a leader of the conservative Socialists, was elected to the Reichstag from Breslau in February, 1902. So large a p:uty must participate in practical politics in order to live, and must, tlierefore, have reforms to urge for the immediate future. Wo have thus, along with the statement of general principles, the so-called immediate demands. This separation of the social democratic plat- forms is found in all countries. Considerable emphasis has been given to the innnediate demands, but it is a mistake to sup- pose that the ultimate goal of complete socialism has been at any time lost sight of. All the lead- ers have this in mind, but doubtless there are many acting with the Social Democratic Party in Germany, as elsewhere, who are chiefly inter- ested in immediate demands. The vote of the Social Democratic Party, and the number of members elected to the Reichstag since the foundation of the German Empire up to the present time, are given in the following table, taken from Braun, Die Parteien des Deutschen Reichsiagcs (Stuttgart, 1893) : ELEOTION IN Total num- ber of Social DeiiioLTatic votea Percentage of total number of votea cast Members elected 1871 1874 124.C55
- 151.952
493,288 437,158 311,961 649,990 763,128 1,427,298 1,876,738 2,107.076 3.011,114 3. 6.8 9.1 7.6 6.1 9.7 10.1 19.7 23.3 27.18 81.75 2 9 1877 12 1878 1881 12 1884 1887 1890 11 35* 1893 1898 1903 4* 66 t 81 • In the by-election in the 22(1 district of Saxony, held in 1892. a thirt.v-sisth member was elected. t Later elections to supply vacancies gave the Social Democrats tw.T additional members, making 58 in all. One or two comments upon the vote east are needed. The vote fell off in 1881. owing to the severe repressive measures following the Anti-So- cialist Law. In 1890 the Social Democratic Party became the largest in the German Empire, cast- ing about 20 per cent, of the votes. With some fifteen parties in Ciermany, this is less significant than in a country with two great parties, but, nevertheless, it means a great deal. Another point to be considered is that the Socialists do not have a number of representatives in the Reichstag corresponding with the number of votes ca.st. This is due to the way the electoral districts are arranged, whereby the Conserva- tives (largely made up of landed proprietors and other favored classes) and Agrarians elect a much larger number of members relatively. The official organ of the Social Democratic Party is the daily VorwarfK of Berlin, of which also a weekly edition, called the SnrUthlrmokrat, is published. Oi'c neue Zeit. a weekly magazine published at Stuttgart, is the so-called scientific organ of German social democracy, discussing questions of principles. Both these organs rep-
