almost, in spite
of his self-advertised respect and sympathy for the honest, sober
working man." In the same article we read: "Total abstainers are
capable of viler actions than those of certain drunkards, while the
profoundest depth of ignorance and incapacity to think are attributes
of millions of total abstainers."[869] When Mr. John Burns advised the
workmen to help themselves by abstaining from drink and gambling, the
whole Socialist press raged, and he was called a traitor to the cause
and an agent of capitalism.

Only rarely does a Socialist rebuke drunkenness. In "Socialism for
Christians" we find a passage: "As long as you have a democracy sodden
in drink you will have a democracy under the hoofs of capitalists.
There is no hope for the democracy as long as it is content to grovel
before the great pewter pot which it has made into a god."[870]
However, that passage was not penned by a professional Socialist, but
by a clergyman, an outsider, and an amateur in Socialism.

While British Socialist leaders try to degrade the masses and to
increase their misery by encouraging them to waste a very large part
of their wages in drink, instead of spending the money on necessary
food and clothing, on sufficient living room and furniture, foreign
Socialists try to elevate their followers and to combat the drinking
evil among them. The foremost Belgian Socialist, who constantly
agitates against drunkenness, wrote:

"How often have we not found in Socialist pamphlets, or in our
newspapers, statements such as the following: 'Misery produces
alcoholism,' or 'Drink is a consequence of capitalism, and will only
disappear with the capitalistic system itself.' These are comfortable
theories indeed, but they unfortunately come in conflict with the
facts. The labourer must not only regard alcohol as one of the causes
of poverty, demoralisation, and degeneration, but as a canker which
destroys his strength and powers of resistance. We therefore address
to all our comrades this warning: The more earnest you are and the
stricter towards yourself, the greater will be the authority you bring
to bear upon the branding of this evil. Everything which decreases the
consumption of alcohol increases the helping powers of labour
movements, raises the moral tone of the working class, and gives it
fresh strength in its struggle for emancipation. Therefore all
Socialistic societies should break away from out-of-date ideas with
regard to alcoh