SOCIALISM IN ENGLAND BY Henry H. M HYNDMAN LONDON KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH & Co., i PATERNOSTER: SQUARE 1883 w PREFACE. THE object of this book is to give a sketch of the social and economical development of England from the fifteenth century to the present time. In doing this, it has been necessary to treat of political economy from a point of view which of late years, at any rate, has very rarely been taken by English writers. Political economy is that branch of human knowledge which deals with the production and the distribution of wealth; but the relations in which such production and distribution are carried on vary greatly in different ages and in different countries. Moreover, the manner in which wealth is produced, the power, that is, which man has over the forces of nature, is the basis of the whole social, political, and religious forms of the period at which the examination is made. Forms of social intercourse, custom, law, political institutions, and religion no doubt influence even economical methods long after their origin has been forgotten, and constitute the conservative side of human society, keeping back the changes made necessary by the more or less rapid modification of the system of production below; just as in the evolution of species the hereditary tendency struggles with the growing adaptation to altered conditions of life. My endeavour has been to apply these theories without fear or prejudice, and certainly without the slightest bias in favour of any existing political party, to the history of our own country. Hitherto the history of England, and particularly the history of our industry, our commerce, and our conquests, has been written almost exclusively from the middle-class point of view. Middleclass histories are still the text-books at all our schools and universities; middle-class political economy likewise finds favour in all directions. Even men who pride themselves upon their sympathy with the democratic system of our ancient Anglo-Saxon village communities have failed to see beyond the limits of their own class when treating of the affairs of the last two hundred years. At most the landlord class has been denounced as the chief cause of the degradation and impoverishment of the mass of the people during the period of the greatest increase of national wealth. In beginning with the fifteenth century I have of course evaded the necessity of explaining in full the feudal system based upon serfdom; and the earlier portion of the work makes no pretence to be a detailed historical record even of the struggles of the people. Later periods are treated more thoroughly. My indebtedness to the famous German historical school of political economy headed by Karl Marx, with Friedrich Engels and Rodbertus immediately following, I have fully acknowledged throughout. The chapters which deal with "Labour and Surplus Value" and "The Great Machine Industry" seemed to me essential to a right understanding of our economical growth, though strictly speaking they are not historical. What a flood of light Marx's researches in this field have thrown upon the whole record of our development is not yet understood in this country. My references to the "Capital" are to the French edition, for the reason that French is unfortunately much more commonly known in England than German. An authorised |