CONTEMPORARY  SOCIALISM  IN  GERMANY.  3
the  “  General  Association  of  German  Working  Men  ”  was  held
at  Hamburg.
The  congress  of  Gotha  adopted  a  programme  which  very
concisely  sums  up  the  aspirations  of  German  Socialism.  The
following  are  some  of  the  principal  clauses  ;

Labour  IS  the  source  of  all  wealth  and  civilization.  Since  ceneral
proactive  ateur  is  rendered  possible  only  by  means  of  society,  the  entire
produce  of  labour  belongs  to  society,  that  is,  to  all  its  members,  by  the
°  according  to  his  reasonable  needs,  all  being  bound
“  I"  existing  society,  the  instruments  of  production  are  the  monopoly  of
dLi„ri,h.;;orce„'fS:r”‘  “■*  »  i“*
Starting  from  these  principles,  the  German  Socialist  working  men’s
isti  ^  establish,  by  every  legal  means,  a  free  State  and  a  socialth
  ^  ^°^'ety,  to  break  in  pieces  the  iron  law  of  wages  by  doing  away  with
e  system  of  working  for  hire,  to  put  an  end  to  methods  of  making  gain
qualit^  {exploitation),  and  to  abolish  all  political  and  social  ine-“The
  German  Socialist  working  men’s  party  will  act  in  the  first
place  on  the  lines  of  nationality,  but  it  recognizes  the  international  character
the  working  men’s  movement,  and  is  resolved  to  fulfil  all  the  duties  imposed ­
  upon  working  men  by  the  solidarity  of  their  interests  in  order  to
ealize  the  brotherhood  of  all  men.  ’  ’

This  programme  is  almost  the  same  as  that  formulated  in
j  ranee,  m  1848,  by  the  Socialist  group  who  tried  to  apply
^uis  Blanc's  ideas  to  the  factories  of  the  Luxembourg.  Even
he  famous  formula,  “To  each  according  to  his  needs,"  reap-^ars
  here,  although  the  experiment  tried  in  France,  in  the  case
associations  well  adapted  to  ensure  its  success,  had  clearly
proved  that  distrust  and  discord  were  sown  where  the  reign  of
peace  and  brotherly  love  was  to  have  been  established,
fa  ^  ho^how  discuss  this  programme;  I  merely  note  the
g.  German  Socialist  party  does  not  confine  itself  to
ating  general  principles.  Now  that  it  has  gained  foothold  on