A PLAIN EXPOSITION OF SOCIALISM WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT IS NOT BY ROBERT BLATCHFORD "Words ought not to be accepted because uttered by the lofty. NEW YORK COMMONWEALTH COMPANY 28 LAFAYETTE Place Copyright, 1895, by C. P. Somerby. No. 7, Commonwealth Library. THE SOCIALIST CATECHISM. Reprinted with additions from "Justice." BY J. L. JOYNES. 40 cents per dozen; $2.50 per 100; $20.00 per 1,000. Excellent for Missionary Work. :0: COMMONWEALTH CO., 28 LAFAYETTE PLACE, NEW YORK. Rectors. 5-5-28m.V.P.. VI.-The Bitter Cost of a Bad System...... VII.-Who Makes the Wealth and Who Gets It?............. 45 XVI.-A House Divided Against Itself.......... XVII.-The Survival of the Fittest... 197060 MONTHLY. MAILED AT POUND RATES. Contains Choice Socialist Works by Standard Authors, at prices FABIAN ESSAYS IN SOCIALISM. Nine Parts-Introduction and Eight Essays separately, forming No. II. I. The History and Basis of the Fabian Society. By Mary Forster. With Contents, Preface and Index of the No. 12. II. Economic. By G. Bernard Shaw. No. 13. III. Historic. By Sidney Webb, LL.B., Barrister- at-Law, Lecturer on Political Economy at the City of London No. 16. VI. Property Under Socialism. By Graham Wallas, No. 17. VII. Industry Under Socialism. By Annie Besant. THE TRANSITION TO SOCIAL DEMOCRACY. No. 18. VIII. Transition. By G. Bernard Shaw. No. 19. IX. The Outlook. By Hubert Bland. The Nine Parts, 5 cents each, or 30 cents for all. Cloth, 75 cents. Love and Sympathy the Basis of PREFACE TO THE LAST ENGLISH EDITION. THE sale of "Merrie England" has been so large that a few words of thanks and explanation are considered necessary. Merrie England" first appeared as a series of articles in the Clarion. These articles, with some revisions and additions, were afterward reproduced in volume form. The book met with immediate success, 25,000 copies being sold. Later a much cheaper edition was published, the large sale of which was an agreeable surprise. We did not expect to sell more than 100,000, and 100,000 constituted the first edition. Twice that number were ordered before a copy was published, and then the sale ran up to 700,000. Then an edition at a higher price, though not so high as the original issue, was published specially for the newsdealers, who could make no profit on the cheaper edition. With the sale of this edition, the gross sales of the book in England, Australia, America and other countries, will exceed 1,000,000 copies. It is also being translated into Welsh, Dutch, German, Scandinavian, and Spanish. Now we should be something more or less than men if we were not proud of this success. For, be it said, that this great sale has been accomplished without a shilling spent in advertisements, without any puffs or log-rolling in the press, with very few reviews, and in the face of the bitter hostility and prejudice with which Socialist books are commonly received. Not only that-the book has had a very lukewarm support from the trade; indeed, I doubt if we have sold 50,000 copies through the newsdealers. Hence the true significance of the success of "Merrie England." The immense English sale has been accomplished in less than nine months by the Clarion newspaper and the Socialist organizations of England and Scotland. Two things are hereby made evident: First, that there must be a great demand for Socialist literature; second, that the distributing powers of Socialism are very formidable. And here let me do justice and express my sincere gratitude to my associates and friends for their enterprise and loyal help, and to the Clarion scouts and the members of the I.L.P. and S.D.F. Branches and Fabian societies in the three Kingdoms, for their untiring zeal and industry in selling and distributing the cheap edition of my book. With all it has been a labor of love. |