Socialists teach that the wealth of the few causes the poverty of the many; that therefore the private capitalist should be destroyed. Why, then, are the workers most prosperous in those countries which possess the wealthiest capitalists, such as France and the United States, and why are they poorest in countries, such as Turkey and Servia, where wealthy capitalists do not exist? And may not the destruction of the capitalists reduce Great Britain to the level of Turkey and Servia?
[432] Kautsky, _The Social Revolution_, p. 11.
[433] Blatchford, _The Clarion Ballads_, p. 9.
[434] Blatchford, _The Pope's Socialism_, p. 2.
[435] Bax and Quelch, _A New Catechism of Socialism_, p. 17.
[436] Sorge, _Socialism and the Worker_, p. 11.
[437] Keir Hardie, _From Serfdom to Socialism_, p. 11.
[438] Joynes, _The Socialist Catechism_, p. 3.
[439] Davidson, _The Gospel of the Poor_, p. 54.
[442] Davidson, _The Democrat's Address_, p. 5.
[444] Davidson, _The Gospel of the Poor_, p. 49.
[445] McLachlan, _Tyranny of Usury_, p. 13.
[446] Davidson, _The Old Order and the New_, p. 76.
[447] _Wealth Makers and Wealth Takers_, p. 1.
[448] Sorge, _Socialism and the Worker_, p. 10.
SOCIALIST VIEWS AND PROPOSALS REGARDING TAXATION AND THE NATIONAL BUDGET
To Socialists taxation is chiefly a means for impoverishing the rich and the well-to-do. It is their object to transfer by taxation the wealth from the few to the many, as they believe that the impoverishment of the rich will mean the enrichment of the poor. Therefore they do not aim at economy in national and local expenditure. On the contrary, they wish to spend as much as possible. As money is to be obtained solely from the rich, "An increase in national taxation has no terrors for Socialists."[449] Every increase in expenditure is greeted by them with joy, and wastefulness in national and local undertakings is rather encouraged than condemned. "Socialists look to the Budget as a means not only of raising revenue to meet unavoidable expenditure, but as an instrument for redressing inequalities in the distribution of wealth."[450] Let us first look into the financial views of the Socialists, and then into their positive proposals.
"The purpose of Socialism is to transfer land and industrial capital to the people. There are two ways in which, simultaneously, this object may be carried out. The one way is by the municipal and national appropriation--with such compensation to the existing owners as the community may think fit to give--of the land and industrial concerns. The second method is by taxation. Taxation has its special sphere of usefulness in helping the community to secure some part of its own by diverting into the national purse portions of the rent, interest, and profit which now go to keep an idle class in luxury at the expense of the industrious poor."[451]