at once in the industries not centralized." (Page 74.) How widely does this position differ from that taken by Mr. Bryan himself in his definition of individualism: "The private ownership of the means of production and distribution where competition is possible, leaving to public ownersdip those means of production and distribution in which competition is practically impossible"? Yet on the next page of his book Mr. Bryan says he is “inclined to believe . . . it is difficult as yet to know just what proportion of the three million socialist voters (in Germany) believe in 'the government ownership and operation of all the means of production and distribution." (Italics ours throughout.) Why should they?

With socialists, collectivism is a means, not an end. The end is a social state in which exploitation shall have been extirpated, and opportunity, initiative, freedom and fellowship made possible for the least and lowest. To the extent that collectivism will further this end it is desired, but no farther.

Again, socialists are democrals-the democrats of the world. They demand the ballot for all adults, irrespective of sex, race, color, or creed. Their platform declares for "popular government, including initiative, referendum, proportional representation, equal suffrage for men and women, municipal home rule, and the recall of officers by their constituents." They are democrats not only in politics, but in industry: they would abolish autocracy from both, and make both directly responsive to the people's will. How much, therefore, of the land and capital "government" would at any time own and operate would necessarily depend upon the decision of the voters at the ballot-box. Can so sturdy a democrat as Mr. Bryan object to this?

And now as to individualism.

Of this, there are several varieties. There is the individualism of the plu

and who "asks simply to be let alone"; and of the anarchist who would abolish all government that he may do as he pleases. Again, there is that of Webster's dictionary, "Self-interest, selfishness." Finally, there is individualism as defined by Mr. Bryan.

Let us consider individualism in its best and broadest sense: as the love of liberty, the desire to develop one's powers and individuality, to live a complete life, to realize one's largest possibilities, and fulfil his destiny. In what circumstances can this high end best be attained?

Suppose, first, that life be conceived of as a race. The question arises, How may this race be made fair? Here are the track and the contestants. In modern society, however, a few of the runners own the track and fix the rules of the race. They decree that they themselves shall ride in automobiles or airships, but that the multitude shall go on foot, and shall, in addition, begin miles behind the owners' starting point.

The plutocratic individualist says such a race is fair, and that "the fittest will survive."

The single-tax individualist says all the runners should have equal rights to the track, and should start "scratch."

The socialist says, "Yes, and if automobiles or flying machines are to be used by some they must be equally accessible to all." What does Mr. Bryan say?

More specifically, the plutocratic individualist desires no equalization of existing conditions. He wants them “let alone."

The equal-rights-to-land individualist takes the position defined by Herbert Spencer in 1850. This prince of individualists, in laying the foundations of his social philosophy, prescribed as the absolutely essential prerequisite to the "substantially equal footing" desired by Mr. Bryan, free access to land; and, in Chapter IX. of his Social Statics, outlined and advocated the single-tax. Without this, in his view, individualism would

be a farce and "competition," to use Mr. Bryan's words, would "not be worthy of that name"; for "one party," the landowning class, would be "able to arbitrarily fix the terms of the agreement" upon which the landless might exist, "leaving the (latter) with no choice but to submit to the terms prescribed," or vacate the planet. This is, of course, the position of Henry George, and, presumably, of Count Tolstoi, from whom Mr. Bryan quotes.

The socialist agrees that we can do no less than this; but he maintains that we must do more. We must enforce equal rights to the use not only of land, but of tools as well. Where their centralization necessitates their collective ownership, let them be collectively owned; other wise, let them be individually owned. Whatever else may be necessary to make the race fair he would insist upon; and he specifies, for use while needed, graduated taxation of incomes, inheritances, franchises and land values, state insurance, pensions for aged and exhausted workers, complete education for all children, and the free administration of justice. He is not planning to convert society into a great penitentiary. He is not a bureaucrat, but a democrat; not a slave-driver, but an emancipator, demanding a "square deal" and an equal chance for the least and lowest; he is a socialist because he is an individualist, and can see no scope or opportunity for true individualism short of socialism. Can Mr. Bryan ?

If an historical example of socialism is sought, it may best be found by turning to Athens in the Age of Pericles, the Old World's greatest democrat, but substituting for the ancient slave the modern machine. Here, for the free population, the problem of making a living was practically solved, and time could be given to higher things than drudgery. Competition, however, as seen in the Olympic games, so far from being "entirely exterminated," reached its highest and finest type. Athletes, artists, poets, sculptors, philoso

phers-deathless geniuses in all fields of endeavor-devoted their best years to preparation, and then entered the contest in the presence of the whole people. What grander opportunity could fairminded individualists ask?

But the Athenians remembered their sane rule of measure in all things." Victory they rewarded not with the power to exploit and debauch the community, but with a simple wreath of wild olive; and defeat meant not servitude, madhouse, or suicide, but opportunity to try again. And in this atmosphere of stimulus and encouragement, achievement attained a pinnacle of perfection which has been the despair of all subsequent ages. Such opportunity and stimulus, socialism, it is believed, will afford.

Nevertheless, to compete is not the chief end of man. There is a plane upon which competition seems a sacrilege. Jesus, e. g., was no competitor. He was willing to die, but not to fight; and his chief exponent said: "The child of God must not strive." And there are higher pursuits than toiling for the meat which perisheth. A society which casts its inspired and illumined souls, its artists, poets, seers, and prophets, into the swinelike scramble of the market place, and compels them to choose between "gauging beer-barrels" or huckstering wares and rotting with wife and children in garrets and poorhouses, is writing a dark page into its history. Is it not possible so to adjust our economic and social mechanism that the choicest flowers of the race will be permitted, each in his own way, to blossom and bear his appropriate fruit, unhampered by want or the fear of want, and coerced by no competitive necessity? And will not the condition resulting from such adjustment make not against, but for, the finest individual character and the most "harmonious development of the human race"? For such a condition the socialist, for one, watches, works, and waits.

THOMAS ELMER WILL. Washington, D. C.

"S° "SO are to

O YOU are going to Jamaica, where the black men are so many, and so black, that the sun sets at two o'clock in the afternoon," was the remark of a traveled friend, to whom I had told my plans. My visits there, of nearly two months, brought me in contact with more black men and brown, than I had ever before seen, especially in numbers so preponderant as compared with the whites.

After some experience of travel in every Southern state east of the Mississippi, except Florida, it was natural to observe with interest the appearance and conduct of the colored race, to study with some care their habits, development and tendencies, and to contrast their conditions, opportunities and civilization with that of the colored race in our own country.

Meeting at Jamaica "all sorts and conditions of men" under favoring circumstances gave unusual facilities for observation, and for arriving at just conclusions.

In

The first impression so derived was of the absolute justice obtaining, as between the white race and the colored. This was apparent in many ways. fact, the white officials, in adjudging the colored people, were like the old Indian who stood up so straight that he leaned over backward. An English resident, a justice of the peace, said that if a white man and a colored were brought before him for similar offenses, in case of conviction he inflicted a severer penalty upon the white man, for the reason that he was presumed to know his duty better than the colored man, and was deemed to have offended against greater light.

In reading the various newspapers, in attendance at court and at the legislative council of the island, and in conversation

generally, it was nowhere observed or charged that the colored race was discriminated against. As the Colonial Secretary said: "Every man on this island has absolutely an equal chance."

Another impression was of the mutual consideration and courtesy exhibited by and between the races. Most of the principal wholesale and department stores, as well as the smaller ones, and the shops, are owned or managed by colored people. It was extremely rare to find a white clerk anywhere. In the largest wholesale and retail drug house in Kingston, apparently no white person was interested or employed, and there seemed to be as high a degree of skill and care as would be shown in any similar store in any of our cities.

The Archbishop of the B. W. I., in ministration in his chapel, was ushered in and out by a black man, who also read the service very effectively. The Bishop and a leading rector of the Church of England were similarly attended at the Half-Way Tree Parish Church, where the Governor-General has his pew, as do many of the wealthier residents. Whites and blacks attend the same church indiscriminately. The cashiers and managers of the leading hotels were generally black men, as were practically all the attendants. My tailor was a black man, and skilful.

In the Legislative Council, which is charged substantially with the conduct of affairs of the whole island, a majority of the elected men were colored, many of them of the deepest black; of all the members, nominated or elected, by common consent by far the ablest speaker was a black man, with distinctively the features of the negro. The Governor, always presiding at the Council, surround

ed by the Colonial Secretary, the Director of Public Works, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and other officials, listened and made reply to the black members with the same patience and courtesy that he did to the most eminent white men. While in attendance, a feature of the Education Bill was up for discussion, which involved manual instruction in agriculture. The colored race, composing so much the larger portion of the population, mindful of the pit from which they have been dug, are particularly suspicious of any legislation that may be regarded as likely to return them to their former bondage, or relegate them to an inferior position in the scale of civilization. The black orator was ablaze at once. "Why this preference for agriculture over other industries and studies?" he asked, and, looking at the Governor and the officials surrounding him, he said: "If you are so fond of the hoe, take the hoe yourselves." The parties so addressed seemed to admire, rather than deprecate, the personal di

rectness.

The wife of the Mayor of Kingston is said to be colored, and the Governor at his levees invites impartially all officials, white, black or brown.

The electric-car service between Kingston and Constant Spring, and other points, some fifteen miles in extent, appeared to be wholly conducted by black men and brown as motormen, conductors and officials generally, and they rendered the best service I have known. The cars were started and stopped carefully, without jerking, and yet good time was made; the connections in passing were almost invariably on time; the employés were always civil, courteous, and even considerate. Cars were not overcrowded, curtains were lowered to exclude rain or sun, and raised again, quietly and prompt ly. It was suggested that the Metropolitan Railway of New York should keep a constant detail of new men in tutelage to the black electric-car men of Jamaica. There were no "Jim Crow" cars,

either on electric lines or steam railroads. Black men and women with their parcels rode with the whites, side by side, on every seat, and I did not see the slightest shrug of the shoulders or sign of displeasure. Many of the large plantations are owned and managed by the blacks, some of whom are capitalists worth a half million of dollars. The absence of crime and violence was noticeable. The records state that there has never been a case of assault upon a white woman by a black man or colored, and there is no place on the Island where a white woman can not go alone, night or day, with absolute impunity. No instance of lynching of anyone could be found. The absence of churlishness, of jealousy, on the part of the colored people was noticeable. "Morning, master," "Morning, missus"; and it was fine to note the gratification expressed when the salutation was equally cordially returned.

The colored people, in large proportion, exhibited a genuine pride of race. On the cars, if there were loud talking by one of their number, the disquiet of the others was visible. On one occasion two colored men left their seat beside me to go to the rear of the car and quiet a colored women, conversing in loud tones. A young colored man placed a dress-suit case near my feet; an older one said to him: "Too near the gentleman's feet; it may fall over"; and the case was at once farther removed. Other similar instances were noticed.

The editors of the leading newspapers were colored men, and they proved agreeable and instructive. The police were exclusively colored, generally black, and, in their white jackets, wearing white helmets and red sashes, were picturesque. They were very courteous and efficient. They make the rounds of their district at regular intervals, inquire at each house if there is any complaint to be made. If any is made, it is entered in a book, and each householder signs his own complaint, or a statement that he has none to make. During our stay, not the slight

est criticism of the police was heard, or the least hint of corruption. We were assured on every hand that the government of the Island is free from graft; that while personal influence might play some part, money corruption, or anything like it, was wholly unknown. The "Budget" of the Island is open to every one, and is explicit in detail. A large volume, resembling a modern atlas, of about one hundred and fifty printed pages, containing complete tabulated columns of proposed expenditures, and under each heading a carefully detailed list of items, was placed before every member of the Council. Attention was called by the Governor to every page, with inquiry whether any item was objectionable. Sometimes a page would be turned without remark; at other times a single page would be under discussion for days in open Council. The criticisms were published in the daily papers, so that every one could be informed about the various proposed disbursements.

There are fine scholars and accomplished professional men among the colored people.

There has been much miscegenation, owing largely to the presence of so numerous a detail of the British army and navy. When a colored man has nine-tenths of white blood in his veins he is declared white by law. In some of the lighter shades there is a regularity and fineness of features and a delicate tint of light pink bronze that is really classic.

The women of that race do more work than the men. They go by in endless procession down the mountain to Kingston, carrying all burdens upon the head, from a huge bunch of bananas to a postage stamp. With erect forms, they strike out, up and down the hills, with great vigor and endurance. It is to be admitted that there is still much illiteracy and superstition among the colored people, and the marriage ceremony is not considered generally essential, owing partly to the expense and burden of such ceremonies, and partly to the reluctance of the

women to bind themselves hard and fast, under the primitive conditions existing, and the neglect, too often, of the men to do their share in maintaining a family life. And yet it is wonderful how well domestic life is ordered, under all the circumstances.

In looking over society as we found it, we could but admire the just, impartial administration of law, the self-respecting good-will reciprocally shown between the races, the comparative absence of public lawlessness, in such marked contrast with similar race conditions in our own land; the uptrend of a race, which, still having far to go, has gone far, and is evidently going farther.

The evolution of the colored race in Jamaica, and that of the whites in their relation to them, is wonderfully like that of both races in our own South, and the stock arguments and theories of Southern whites, deprecatory of the colored people, have all been made and advocated, and triumphantly answered, in Jamaica.

The planters in Jamaica relied on sugar-cane alone, yielding sugar and rum, and would not adjust themselves to improving conditions. The planters in the South relied on a single crop, cottonand resisted the demands of progress.

When the British fiscal policy abolished the preferential duty on sugar, following the act of emancipation, a large proportion of the estates were abandoned, the finances of the colony suffered, and the population generally were injured. The planters, smarting under their losses, refusing to adapt themselves to the changed requirements, ignored the general interests of the Island, and the claims of the blacks upon them for protection, education and development, and legislated only for their own class. The local government clashed fiercely with that of the empire.

The Southern whites were bitterly opposed to Federal intervention, and to the presence of Federal arms on their soil, and persistently sought and obtained the removal of the troops, while they jealously