第77章

AsregardswhatIhavesaidinthischapterconcerningSocialism，I

wishtocallespecialattentiontotheadmirablebookon“MarxismversusSocialism。”whichhasjustbeenpublishedbyVladimirD。

Simkhovitch。WhatIhave，hereandelsewhere，merelypointedoutinroughandreadyfashionfromactualobservationofthefactsoflifearoundme，ProfessorSimkhovitchinhisbookhasdiscussedwithkeenpracticalinsight，withprofundityoflearning，andwithawealthofappliedphilosophy。CrudethinkersintheUnitedStates，andmoreoverhonestandintelligentmenwhoarenotcrudethinkers，butwhoareoppressedbythesightofthemiseryaroundthemandhavenotdeeplystudiedwhathasbeendoneelsewhere，areveryapttoadoptastheirownthetheoriesofEuropeanMarxianSocialistsofhalfacenturyago，ignorantthatthecourseofeventshassocompletelyfalsifiedthepropheciescontainedinthesetheoriesthattheyhavebeenabandonedevenbytheauthorsthemselves。WithquiethumorProfessorSimkhovitchnowandthenmakesanallusionwhichshowsthatheappreciatestoperfectionthisrathercuriousqualityofsomeofourfellowcountrymen；asforexamplewhenhesaysthat“ASocialistStatewiththefarmeroutsideofitisaconceptionthatcanrestcomfortablyonlyintheheadofanAmericanSocialist。”oraswhenhespeaksofMarxandEngelsasmen“towhomthinkingwasnotanirrelevantforeigntradition。”Toomanythoroughlywell-meaningmenandwomenintheAmericaofto-daygliblyrepeatandaccept——muchasmedievalschoolmenrepeatedandacceptedauthorizeddogmaintheirday——variousassumptionsandspeculationsbyMarxandotherswhichbythelapseoftimeandbyactualexperimenthavebeenshowntopossessnotoneshredofvalue。ProfessorSimkhovitchpossessesthegiftofcondensationaswellasthegiftofclearandlogicalstatement，anditisnotpossibletogiveinbriefanyideaofhisadmirablework。Everysocialreformerwhodesirestofacefactsshouldstudyit——justassocialreformersshouldstudyJohnGrahamBrooks’s“AmericanSyndicalism。”

FromProfessorSimkhovitch’sbookweAmericansshouldlearn：First，todiscardcrudethinking；second，torealizethattheorthodoxorso-

calledscientificorpurelyeconomicormaterialisticsocialismofthetypepreachedbyMarxisanexplodedtheory；and，third，thatmanyofthemenwhocallthemselvesSocialiststo-dayareinrealitymerelyradicalsocialreformers，withwhomonmanypointsgoodcitizenscanandoughttoworkinheartygeneralagreement，andwhominmanypracticalmattersofgovernmentgoodcitizenswellaffordtofollow。

Nonationcanclaimrightswithoutacknowledgingthedutiesthatgowiththerights。Itisacontemptiblethingforagreatnationtorenderitselfimpotentininternationalaction，whetherbecauseofcowardiceorsloth，orsheerinabilityorunwillingnesstolookintothefuture。Itisaverywickedthingforanationtodowrongtoothers。Butthemostcontemptibleandmostwickedcourseofconductisforanationtouseoffensivelanguageorbeguiltyofoffensiveactionstowardotherpeopleandyetfailtoholditsowniftheothernationretaliates；anditisalmostasbadtoundertakeresponsibilitiesandthennotfulfilthem。DuringthesevenandahalfyearsthatIwasPresident，thisNationbehavedininternationalmatterstowardallothernationspreciselyasanhonorablemanbehavestohisfellow-men。Wemadenopromisewhichwecouldnotanddidnotkeep。Wemadenothreatwhichwedidnotcarryout。Weneverfailedtoassertourrightsinthefaceofthestrong，andweneverfailedtotreatbothstrongandweakwithcourtesyandjustice；andagainsttheweakwhentheymisbehavedwewereslowertoassertourrightsthanwewereagainstthestrong。

AsalegacyoftheSpanishWarwewereleftwithpeculiarrelationstothePhilippines，Cuba，andPortoRico，andwithanimmenselyaddedinterestinCentralAmericaandtheCaribbeanSea。AsregardsthePhilippinesmybeliefwasthatweshouldtrainthemforself-

governmentasrapidlyaspossible，andthenleavethemfreetodecidetheirownfate。Ididnotbelieveinsettingthetime-limitwithinwhichwewouldgivethemindependence，becauseIdidnotbelieveitwisetotrytoforecasthowsoontheywouldbefitforself-

government；andoncehavingmadethepromiseIwouldhavefeltthatitwasimperativetokeepit。WithinafewmonthsofmyassumingofficewehadstampedoutthelastarmedresistanceinthePhilippinesthatwasnotofmerelysporadiccharacter；andassoonaspeacewassecuredweturnedourenergiestodevelopingtheislandsintheinterestsofthenatives。Weestablishedschoolseverywhere；webuiltroads；weadministeredaneven-handedjustice；wedideverythingpossi