Chapter I: Front Matter

NEW WORLDS FOR OLD

A PLAIN ACCOUNT OF MODERN SOCIALISM

_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_

_SHORT STORIES_

The Plattner Story and others
Tales of Space and Time
The Stolen Bacillus and other Stories
Twelve Stories and a Dream

_ROMANCES_

The Time Machine
The Island of Dr. Moreau
The War of the Worlds
The Wonderful Visit
The Invisible Man
The First Men in the Moon
The Food of the Gods
The Sea Lady
When the Sleeper Wakes
In the Days of the Comet

_NOVELS_

Love and Mr. Lewisham
Kipps

_SOCIOLOGICAL AND SOCIALIST ESSAYS_

Anticipations
Mankind in the Making
A Modern Utopia
The Future in America

NEW WORLDS FOR OLD

A PLAIN ACCOUNT OF MODERN SOCIALISM

BY

H. G. WELLS

LONDON CONSTABLE & COMPANY LTD. 1912

_Published March 1908. Popular Edition Revised June 1909. Reprinted July 1909, Sept. 1922_

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

"Undiluted Atheism, theft and immorality.... I know of no language sufficiently potent to express fully my absolute detestation of what I believe to be the most poisonous doctrine ever put forward, namely Socialism."

HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF RUTLAND.

"Let all parties then unite to defeat this insidious Socialism which is threatening the country, and take immediate steps to expose and bring it to light. The country may truly be said to be sleeping over a veritable volcano which the next general election may precipitate, unless steps are taken at once to bring this nightmare into the light of day and force it out of its creeping nocturnal habits."

MR. DUDLEY S. A. COSBY in the _Westminster Review_.

"Many people think that it is possible to conduct a victorious campaign with the single watchword 'Down with Socialism.' Well, I am not fond of mere negatives. I do not like fighting an abstract noun. My objection to Anti-Socialism as a platform is that Socialism means so many different things. On this point I agree with Mr. Asquith. I will wait before I denounce Socialism till I see what form it takes... Socialism is not necessarily synonymous with robbery. Correctly used, the word only signifies a particular view of the proper relation of the State to its citizens, a tendency to substitute public for private ownership, or to restrict the freedom of individual enterprise in the interests of the public. But there are some forms of property which we all admit should be public and not private, and the freedom of individual enterprise is already limited by a hundred laws. Socialism and Individualism,--I am not fond of these abstract phrases. There are opposing principles which enter in various proportions into the constitution of every civilized society. It is merely a question of degree. One community is more Socialistic than another. The same community is more Socialistic at one time than at another. This country is far more Socialistic than it was fifty years ago, and for most of the changes in that direction the Unionist or Tory Party is responsible."

LORD MILNER.

CONTENTS

CHAP.

I. THE GOOD WILL IN MAN
II. THE FUNDAMENTAL IDEA OF SOCIALISM
III. THE FIRST MAIN GENERALIZATION OF SOCIALISM
IV. THE SECOND MAIN GENERALIZATION OF SOCIALISM
V. THE SPIRIT OF GAIN AND THE SPIRIT OF SERVICE
VI. WOULD SOCIALISM DESTROY THE HOME?
VII. WOULD MODERN SOCIALISM ABOLISH ALL PROPERTY?
VIII. THE MIDDLE-CLASS MAN, THE BUSINESS MAN, AND SOCIALISM
IX. SOME COMMON OBJECTIONS TO SOCIALISM
X. SOCIALISM A DEVELOPING DOCTRINE
XI. REVOLUTIONARY SOCIALISM
XII. ADMINISTRATIVE SOCIALISM
XIII. CONSTRUCTIVE SOCIALISM
XIV. SOME ARGUMENTS _AD HOMINEM_
XV. THE ADVANCEMENT OF SOCIALISM.

NEW WORLDS FOR OLD