Toilers and Idlers. By John R. McMahon. Wilshire Book Co. Cloth, 195 pp. $1.00.

Of the writing of Socialist novels there is no end, nor will be until Socialism shall be here and men's minds shall be reaching out for something more This is distinctly better than the mass of Socialist stories. It is a strong, well-written work to begin with. The writer knows the craft at which he works, something which cannot be said of many Socialists who will try to write novels. He also understands Socialism, something that cannot be said of many writers who try to put Socialism into their novels.

Otis Rensen, living upon an income whose very source is scarcely known to him, blase, and worn out for lack of something to do, is strolling by a foundry and decides to apply for a job. He gets it, and discovers he is working in his own establishment, which he has never visited. He becomes more and more enamored with his work, or rather with the problems with which his work is surrounded, joins the union, enters into the class struggle from the 'side of the men, and then at the dramatic moment steps onto the other side of this same struggle and establishes a co-operative foundry.

So much for the sociological plot. On the whole it has one grave defect in that it looks for leadership and guidance to the proletarian movement to come from the capitalist side. It may. Stranger things have happened, and the age of miracles may still be with us. But we have our doubts.

The characters are not mere dummies upon which to hang lectures. Rensen has real blood in him, meets and discusses and solves some real problems. One of the strongest figures is Sonia, the anarchist organizer of the "Ladies Shirt Waist Union." She is a distinct contribution to the characters of literature. So is Zienski, her anarchist lover, whose philosophy is most sadly mixed, but who makes one like him and regret the author's action in killing him in an endeavor to blow up Rensen's foundry.

There is a thumb nail sketch of "Bohemia" that is refreshing in its truthfulness in comparsion with most of the rot that is printed about this famous locality, or atmosphere. The cheap tawdry posing of those who make such a pretence at being sincere, and the tinsel slap-stick character of actors and dialogue are excellently displayed.

There is a romance, of coure, and it has features enough to give it interest by itself, aside from the moralizing that runs through the book.

On the whole the work is a distinct addition to the literature of the Socialist movement.

PUBLISHERS' DEPARTMENT

THE BRAINS BEHIND THE VOTE.

The year 1908 is the year of a presidential election in the United States. In a few months the country will be in a whirlwind of excitement over how the people shall vote in November.

The issues of the campaign are still to be shaped. It seems reasonably certain that Taft or whoever is the Republican nominee will defend the mild policy of trust-busting which has been practiced by Roosevelt. Bryan will doubtless be the Democratic candidate, but the unknown quantity in our forecast is his platform. Will he advocate government banks and railways, thus appealing to the small individual producers and petty capitalists against the big capitalists, or will he choose a platform hard to distinguish from that of the Republicans?

The size of the Socialist vote this year will probably turn on this. In the former case, the chances are that it will be relatively small; in the latter case it will probably be much larger than four years ago.

But the real strength of the socialist movement of the United States, when the smoke blows away, will not be measured by the vote but by the brains behind the vote.

We are not going to elect a socialist president this year. But with millions of interested voters listening to our arguments, we have the chance of our lives to start new brains to applying the socialist philosophy in a way that will count later on.

By all odds the most important means to this end is the circulation of immense quantities of socialist books that are really scietific and will give people with brains the clue to using their brains in an effective way. The object of the co-operative publishing house of Charles H. Kerr & Company is to put such books within the reach of the working men and working women of America at the lowest possible prices.

OUR RECORD FOR 1907.

During the year just closed, we circulated books to the amount

of $22,168.31 as compared with $17,086.03 for the year 1906. And during the year we increased our capital stock from $22,430 to $26,380.

Both of these figures can and should be doubled during the year 1908. We have passed the stage of experiment. We no longer have to urge socialists to send us their money in the hope that possibly it may enable us to supply the socialist books that are needed. We have the books now, and our co-operative plan offers more of the best socialist books for a given amount of money than can possibly be obtained in any other way.

Without the work that we have done, few of the most important writings of European and American socialists could be bought by American workingmen. We now offer an excellent library at prices far below those at which other sociological books are sold.

We have now published two of the three volumes of the greatest of all socialist books, Marx's “Capital.” And Ernest Untermann has nearly completed the translation of the third volume, a larger book than either of the others. To print this book involves a cash outlay of two thousand dollars. A profit-making house, if it were to publish this book at all, would probably charge $5.00 for it. We intend to publish it at $2.00, with our usual discount to stockholders, But only a small part of the necessary money can be raised from the advance sales of the book. For the rest we must depend on new stock subscriptions, and the sooner these can be secured, the sooner the volume can be published.

NEW BOOKS IN PRESS.

American Communities and Co-operative Colonies. By William Hinds. Second revision, cloth, 600 pages, $1.50.

Of the first revision of this work, published five years ago, Morris Hillquit said in his "History of Socialism in the United States," it is "altogether the most elaborate and complete account of American communities." The present revision is still more deserving of this high praise. The author has amplified or rewritten many of the descriptions in the earlier edition, to make them more complete and up-to-date. He has added accounts of two new cooperative experiments in Massachusetts, one in Wisconsin, one in Michigan, one in Georgia, one in Illinois, one in New Jersey, one in Washington, D. C., two in New York and three in California. The number of illustrations has been doubled, sources of information on most of the experiments have been added, together with a full index in which are included the names of persons who have founded colonies or have been prominent in promoting the colony movement. There are not less than 170 pages of new matter. Of the newly described colonies, the following will attract most attention:

The House of David, at Benton Harbor, Mich., with its membership of over 700, and their peculiar doctrines and customs.

The Roycrofters of East Aurora, N. Y., of which Elbert Hubbard of world-wide notoriety is the founder.

The Helicon Home Colony of Englewood, N. J., with its plans for solving the "servant problem," and making a children's heaven, founded by Upton Sinclair, author of "The Jungle.”

A Polish Brook Farm in California, founded more than twenty years ago by Madame Modjeska and her Polish friends, including the author of "Quo Vadis."

Admitting that the greater number of colony experiments have utterly failed to realize the hopes of their founders, and that political Socialism now largely absorbs and will continue to absorb the interest of those striving for better social conditions, the author of "American Communities" tells us of existing experiments that have continued for 64, 120, 175 years, affirms that such colonies antedated political Socialism, and that their history forms an integral part of the general history of Socialism. He is fully persuaded that they are yet to be greatly multiplied, for as soon, he says, as political Socialism becomes dominant in any country, "there will be a grand hustle for congenial conditions and associations," which can best be realized in communities and co-operative colonies.

We may concede all this while still holding that the active agents in the overthrow of capitalism must be the revolutionary trade unions and the Socialist party, or whatever party is the political expression of the united struggle of the working class. We recommend and circulate this book of Mr. Hinds because it is full of interesting and valuable data regarding the economic conditions which must be reckoned with in the work of tearing down and rebuilding.

Copies of this book will be ready by the time this issue of the Review is in the hands of its readers, and orders should be sent at

once.

Evolution, Social and Organic. By Arthur Morrow Lewis. Cloth, 50 cents. We expect to have this ready for delivery before the end of January. It will contain ten of the lectures delivered by Mr. Lewis at the Garrick Theater, Chicago, and a large sale is already assured for the book among those who have heard the lectures. But the demand should be ten times greater from those who have been unable to hear them.

This is distinctively a socialist book. It is a survey of the progress of scientific thought from the time of the early Greek philosophers down to our own day, but if any reader does not see the connection between this line of thought and socialism, he had better read it and find out. In the book the connection is shown plainly enough. We have an occasional complaint to the effect that we should confine ourselves to the publication of books intended to "make socialists." Now as for this, books don't make socialists; it is economic conditions that make them. But when economic conditions have brought a man to the point where he is ready to join the Socialist Party, it becomes a matter of some importance that he be able to get hold of books that will give him a clear idea of what socialism is, and fit him to talk about it intelligently. A few good propaganda books like those by Spargo, Vail, Blatchford and Ladoff are enough to convince a doubting inquirer that he should vote the socialist ticket, but a man who stops with such books will not be likely to understand socialism in a way to fit him to talk on it intelligently.

For socialism is not a scheme that can be tried on when a majority of the voters happen to take a notion some day. Socialism is the organized movement of the working class of the world for

taking control of the world, and on its theoretical side it is modern science applied to social problems. It is thus absolutely necessary for a man to know something about evolution before he can understand the elementary principles of socialism. We have therefore no apology to offer for advertising Evolution, Social and Organic as a socialist book. It is a book that ninety-nine per cent of the socialist party members would be benefited by reading.

Human, All Too Human. By Friedrich Nietzsche. Library of Science for the Workers, Vol. 8. Cloth, 50 cents. Ready about January 31.

Here, no doubt, is a non-socialist book. At least, that is the way we prefer to classify it. (So, by the way, is "American Communities," mentioned above, of which we sold one large edition without a sigh nor a protest from any one. And isn't it a little curious that our materialistic comrades who are so often called intolerant never raised the least objection to an avowedly Utopian book like "American Communities," while our religious friends shudder at the publication of the writings of Frederick Engels and Joseph Dietzgen? But to resume.)

Seriously, we always try to describe our books in such a way that they will be bought only by those who will enjoy them, and we hope to do so in this case. Take our word for what this new book is, and if you are disappointed, we will exchange it for you.

We obtained the manuscript in a curious way. The translation was made years ago for a New York house which formerly published scientific books, but after various changes has now gone into the publication of an entirely different line. They offered us the manuscript for a surprisingly small sum. We came near sending it back unread, for we had heard a good deal about Nietzsche that isn't so, -perhaps some of our readers have heard the same things. Fortunately we began reading the manuscript, and couldn't stop till the end was reached.

Here is what the book is. The author starts out with what is virtually the Marxian theory of determinism, and applies it with the most brilliant literary workmanship ever brought to bear on his theme, to human relations in this transition age where old institutions and ideals are crumbling and the new are yet unborn.

Simply as literature, whether you agree or disagree, the book is great. But we do not recommend it to those who love their present theological conclusions so tenderly that they can not hear them discussed without pain. The author's sub-title is "A Book for Free Spirits." Those who believe with Engels that the object of the socialist movement is to realize the completest possible freedom for the individual will find much to enjoy in Human, All Too Human.

The Scarlet Shadow, by Walter Hurt, is a story in which many real events connected with the Haywood case are intermingled. It is published by the Appeal to Reason at $1.50, and we have made a special arrangement by which we can supply copies at the same discounts as if we were the publishers.