Socialist lyceum course

              SOCIALIST LYCEUM COURSE
FIVE LECTURES
"How We Are Gouged" ARTHUR BROOKS BAKER
"Why Things  Happen to Happen" W. HARRY SPEARS
"The War of the Classes" FRANK BOHN
"The Trust Busters" PHIL H. CALLERY
"Socialists at Work" A. W.  R1CKER
DIRECTION     of
NATIONAL SOCIALIST LYCEUM BUREAU
CHICAGO
SOCIALIST VOTE OF THE WORLD
IN the table below, the figures are approximated where official records  could not be had. Under the heading "1911" the vote given is that of the latest election. In most countries the Socialist strength has greatly increased since compiling these figures, especially in the United States.
Had you thought of Socialism as something to be disposed of in the dim and distant future? Were you leaving the issues it presents to be met by your grand-children?
Read these figures and wake up!
Socialism is here! It is standing up in solid ranks of militant voters and demanding attention.
It is the head and front of a world crisis.
It is a stupendous threat a threat of millions of votes. Disregard it and the answer is—more millions of votes.
Today neither the emperor of Germany nor the president of France can plan a single important act without consideration of the Socialist vote, ever threatening to overwhelm the existing government.
How long before this will be the case in America? A sprinkle of towns elected Socialist officials in 1910, quite a shower of them in the spring elections of 1911, still more at the fall elections.
Socialism is growing. No matter whether you like it or not, you have it to meet. To meet it intelligently, you must understand it. Read our literature and attend this Lecture Course—"not to believe or disbe¬lieve, but to weigh and consider."
SOCIALIST LYCEUM COURSE
IT HAS BEEN the invariable history of great new developments in human thought, whether religious, philosophical, scientific or political, that they are preceded by clouds of rumor; that they are much talked of before they are much known about, and thus the popular mind is always filled with misconceptions of them until these are dispelled by more intimate contact.
Socialism shares the same fate. People hear about it, and read about it, and even write and talk about it with great vigor and many words, and still are far from understanding it. For this reason the National Socialist Party, working through the various state and local branches in America, has organized a Lyceum Course of five lectures by the best speakers in the party service. Each lecturer has taken a definite task, and his work is so related to the others that the whole series of five lectures constitutes a liberal education in Socialism.
That you are not a Socialist is the very reason why you should hear these lectures. They are expressly intended for people who do not fully understand Socialism.
That you know a little about Socialism and don't like it is the best reason why you should not miss a single number of this Lyceum Course. Socialism has plenty of people fighting it. But they waste a great deal of ammunition because they don't understand it.
Socialism is growing so fast that its friends must move themselves to keep abreast of its progress. It is coming to power so rapidly that its opponents cannot afford to waste a single argument on discarded theories or out-of-date ideas as to what Socialism stands for.
Friend or foe, you owe it to yourself to KNOW what we want, why we want it, and what methods we are using to get it.
A FREE LYCEUM TICKET
The Socialist Local of this City, in co-operation with the State and National organizations of the Socialist Party and with a large number of Socialist Publishers, has arranged that every person purchasing one dollar's worth of subscriptions to Socialist Periodicals or books shall receive free, as a premium, a SEASON TICKET for the course of five lectures. With a subscription of twenty-five cents will be given a single admission ticket, for one lecture. This offer holds good only for sub¬scriptions ordered through the local Socialist organization, and not to those sent direct to publishers. For list of available papers and books, see last page.
CONCERNING THE LECTURE TITLES
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SUBJECTS—BY ARTHUR BROOKS BAKER
1-HOW WE ARE GOUGED
THE FIRST LECTURE starts with the assumption that you know you're gouged.
Everybody is aware that something is wrong. The politician who represents the "Interests" will give you many clues to follow. He'll tell you it's low tariff, or high tariff, or cheap money, or dear money, or hard times, or too much prosperity, or spots on the sun. He will ask you to remedy conditions by throwing out of office a certain set of public servants and putting in their places another set of public servants. You have done this often—so often that you're getting tired of it—and still the patch-reformers insist that if you will just this once elect some new officials everything will be lovely.
The Socialist thinks our trouble is not bad men, but a bad system. The first lecturer will devote his time to showing you what is wrong with the present system of making and distributing goods, leaving it to those who will follow him to point out just how the Socialists propose to build up a better system.
Nearly everything we use is made by machinery. Experts tell us that the productiveness of human labor has more than doubled in the last twenty years. Has your share of prosperity doubled within that time?
You are gouged. You know it. Stung. You can feel it. The Socialist lecturer has a message for you about that gouging.  Hear it.
2-WHY THINGS HAPPEN TO HAPPEN
THERE IS such a thing as the seed of events. In a liberal sense it is true that "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." And this is just as true of nations as of individuals. Events do not take form without a mold, nor substance without material. They do not come from nowhere and out of nothing. The lec¬ture title is put that way to make you think. Things don't just "happen to happen."
In former days, what people didn't comprehend they blamed to fairies, and to chance. Now, we understand that events are not caused by fairies, but by natural forces; that they do not occur by chance, but in accordance with laws as sure in their operation as the law of gravity.
Some folks think the Socialists are just a lot of people who have had a beau¬tiful dream and are trying to make it reality without knowing how. That is the big mistake. Socialists are the only people who have made a science of human affairs. They know why things "happen to happen." Our lecturer will tell you about it in an entertaining way, using language that you can understand without the dictionary.
3-THE WAR OF THE CLASSES
MEMBERS of the same class frequently fight each other. Workmen fight each other for the jobs, authors and lawyers and doctors fight one another for pop¬ular confidence and patronage, business men fight for rrofits, and capitalists fight among themselves for possession of the "best" investments. That struggle we call "competition."   It is based on what people call "individualism."
But when workmen, organized and unorganized, unite against their employers for better working conditions, more light, safer machinery, higher wages, or for any purpose in which their interests as workers are identical; and when the employers of labor, organized and unorganized, unite to further their common interests as employers and resist these demands, then we have a Class War.
Some people object to the use of the word "class," but we cannot change the condition by giving it another name. Others object to the word "war," but when we contemplate the real facts—that thousands are killed by preventable accidents, thousands by preventable disease (and of these latter the majority are women and children); that millions in property are destroyed, millions of workdays wasted in idleness and in useless labor—if we don't call this war, what shall we call it?
4-THE TRUST BUSTERS
THE SPIRIT of the times is combination, and this, with the legal efforts to pre-vent it, will be discussed by the fourth lecturer. As noted under the previous title, people are driven to unite with those of their own occupation. In the case of the man who has only his work to sell, we find that he becomes personally identified with others of his kind in the Labor Union, Medical Society, Farmers' Union, etc. But in the case of business, and especially corporate business, the union is more com¬plete, and Small Business loses its identity entirely and becomes merged into Big Business. Combinations of Capital are often so welded together that they combine, under one management, a Monopoly of a certain commodity which is a popular necessity. For twenty years there has been a howling chorus demanding that the power of Monopoly to control prices be interfered with by law. Political plat¬forms have promised to smash the trusts, and spectacular "investigations" and court proceedings have contributed much entertainment. But not a single trust has been smashed, and the politicians whose fullness of promise is rivaled only by their empti¬ness of results, have come to be called "Trust Busters."
During all this waste of indignation the Socialists alone have stood solidly in favor of concentration of industry, insisting that it is a labor-saving device of incal¬culable value; and every objectionable feature may be removed simply by changing the trusts from private ownership for plunder to public ownership for service.
5-SOCIALISTS AT WORK
THE PEOPLE have learned, by hard experience, to suspect the good faith of all
political platforms. A great many voters agree that the Socialist platform is the best of all—in fact, that "it is so good you can't enforce it—it won't work."
Here, as everywhere, an ounce of fact is worth a ton of theory. In most places the Socialists have only talked about their program, and the people have not entrusted to them the powers of government. In other places they are already in control, or partly in control, and the work they do when elected to office is the standard by which they should be judged—not the work of any one Socialist official, but of Socialist officials in general.
You find them raising the general standard of existence by increasing the wages and improving the working conditions of the poorest government employees. You find them raising the general standard of health by giving especial attention to public hygiene among the great masses of the people, where destructive diseases have had their breeding places. You find them raising the standard of physical efficiency and education by preventing illegal employment of children and striving always (unfortunately against much opposition) to abolish child labor. You find them establishing old age pensions wherever they have the power, and supporting every measure for municipal and state ownership of monopolies.
The spirit is different, this esteem of men, women and children as something infinitely more valuable than franchises, or profits, or the tariff. It brings new results wherever Socialists are elected to office.
Under the title "Socialists at Work" the last lecturer will tell you what we have done and are doing, and why you will want to have a part in the work.
ARTHUR BROOKS BAKER
TO SAY that the world likes to laugh is another way of asserting that people enjoy being joyful Mr. Baker possesses a remarkable gift for saying serious things in hilarious language. According to his formula, "the idea that goes down with a giggle can be digested with less wear and tear of the gizzard." He thinks that an hour of laughter, if devoted to the assimilation of a single new thought, is well spent for both speaker and audience.
Arthur Brooks Baker grew on the farm and was educated in a newspaper office. For the past fifteen years he has been a printer, writer, editor, publisher and lecturer, and has maintained a constant effort tcr keep the world from taking itself too seriously.
In the present lecture he will discuss, in inimitable language, the grotesque disproportions of modern life, its wastes of time and money in vain pursuits, the ingenious methods which people devise for gouging, stinging and skinning each other, and the utter foolishness of it all from the viewpoint of an impartial outsider. He will invite the audience to take, for the time being, that impartial view; to separate from their various occupations as butcher, baker and candlestick maker and resolve them¬selves into a committee of the whole to laugh at the ludicrous mixture of funny noises, funny smells, funny actions and funny people—the thing we call "modern civilization."
PRESS COMMENT
University of Oklahoma.—He was abun¬dantly appreciated and drew rounds of applause for his frequent sallies of wit and humor, and his telling points. As an entertainer Mr. Baker ranks very high in the estimation of all who were present.
Sun, Alfred, N.Y.—The lecture was not the work of an amateur, but of a master.
Herald, Erie, Pa.—"That was the best thing we have had here for a long time." The foregoing remark, made at the close of the lecture last evening, voiced the pleasure and appreciation with which Arthur Brooks Baker's lecture was heard by an audience which packed the lecture room to the doors.
Times, Erie, Pa.—Mr. Baker made an ex¬cellent impression in Erie. His address was pro¬nounced one of the best ever heard here.
Boston Journal.— Arthur Brooks Baker de¬livered a witty address before a large audience at the Public Library.
Alexander Irvine, New York City.—He is clear and convincing. He possesses both wit and humor. He is a real teacher, and a splendid entertainer.
Times, Buffalo,. N.Y.—Mr. Baker's address was a departure from what an audience would ex¬pect in a lecture on such a subject, being of a highly humorous character, and those who were fortunate enough to be present were delighted.
Statesman, Boise, Idaho.—Mr. Baker gave a lecture that was at once illuminative, entertain¬ing and inspiring. He approached his subject from a most original standpoint. The lecture was sprinkled with bursts of wit and humor that kept the audience jolly, and as an entertainment was far out of the usual run of public functions of the kind. His visit has been an educational and liter¬ary treat to all who have had the pleasure of hearing him.
Tribune, Salt Lake City, Utah.—The lec¬ture was highly interesting, and throughout his discourse Mr. Baker had the undivided attention of the audience.
Wheeling, West Virginia; Intelligencer-Mr. Baker is a charming talker and both instructed and amused his hearers. Register — Mr. Baker delivered a most excellent lecture. News—One of the most interesting lectures ever heard in Wheeling.
FIRST LECTURE-"How We are Gouged"
ARTHUR BROOKS BAKER
W. HARRY SPEARS
MR. SPEARS was born in Selkirk, Ontario, of Irish-American parents.  He was educated in Caledonia Collegiate Institution, and learned the printer's trade. For a number of years he was identified with news¬paper work in Canada, being at one time editor of the St. Catherines Evening Journal. He came to the United States in 1889 and held several newspaper positions in Buffalo and Niagara Falls, both as a local man and correspondent for New York papers and Reuter's news service of London.
In 1900 Mr. Spears became identified with the Socialist movement, and has been an active worker in the party ever since, having seen service in several official positions in the party organization.
In 1910 he formed a plan for establishing Socialist papers on the co-operative principle, with one central publishing house, and located at Findlay, Ohio. His work in this line has achieved unusual success, and he is now the manager and editor-in-chief of over one hundred papers, published in as many different towns, with the purpose of educating non-Socialists toward a better understanding of the Socialist movement.
Mr. Spears is an entertaining speaker, with a vitally interesting message to deliver to you. The events of the day, the year, the century, which appear to the average person as so many "happenings", he will show to be related to one another in logical sequence; he will ask you to take a hand in making the things "happen" that you want to happen.
PRESS   COMMENT
The Mansfield, Ohio, Educator.—W. Harry Spears, of Findlay, Ohio, spoke at Central park last Saturday night to a multitude. Comrade Spears is an unusually brilliant speaker, holding the large audience until after ten o'clock through his fervent and sincere oratory. The meeting was a huge success and we predict much good will result.
The Kenton News-Republican.—W. Harry Spears gave the bulk of the argument for that side and presented it in a very strong manner, be¬ing a speaker of ability and putting up his argu¬ments in a way that made them interesting to even those who did not agree with them. He used the evils of capitalism as the foundation for considerable argument, and he, too, hit the trusts, monopolies and big interests, claiming that Social¬ism would remedy those evils. He argued that the day of competition is past, and that under Socialism a system of co-operation would be in¬augurated. He dwelt considerably upon capitalism and its crime and remedy. The main point which he endeavored to prove was that Socialism would be the solution for the present evils in that it would  do away with the amassing of wealth, the practice of corruption in politics and govern¬ment and that it would bring about a system of co-operation instead of competition.
Ft. Wayne, Indiana, Journal-Gazette.— W. Harry Spears, who is general manager of the Socialist Co-operative Publishing Company, spoke on "Starving Midst Plenty." Mr. Spears enjoyed the undivided attention of the assembled crowd throughout his speech and was interrupted at times by the cheers of approval from his audience. Mr. Spears is a very effective and interesting speaker, and is well able to hold the attention of any audience. He is well informed on the sub¬ject on which he spoke and was convincing in his arguments and exposition.
The Kenton, Ohio, Daily Democrat.—W. Harry Spears, editor and manager of the Socialist Co-operative Publishing Co., of Findlay, was the most forceful speaker of the evening. Gifted with no little share of oratory and with a line of talk that had the essence of reason and reliability, this speaker won plenty of applause from his admirers. He spoke for forty minutes.
SECOND LECTURE-"Why Things Happen to Happen"
W. HARRY SPEARS