The Japanese movement, which is directly affiliated with the international move ment, has existed since 1899. The government has pursued Socialists with a brutal persecution which culminated in the hanging of 12 in 1910 and the imprisonment of a large number of others. As was natural, persecution drove Anar chists and Socialists together and led to recipro cal violence. In spite of the persecution many of the foremost scholars of Japan have identi fied themselves with the Socialist movement and it maintains a press of considerable im portance in which Socialism is taught indi rectly through discussion of current questions.
There are also strong Socialist movements in Bulgaria, Serbia, Rumania, Greece, Hun gary, Poland, Portugal, Canada, Argentine, Brazil, Chile, South Africa and New Zealand. In fact it is now impossible to name a section of the world where capitalism has reached that Socialism has not followed like a shadow. There have been many compilations of the total Socialist strength. The following, prepared by the information department of the Socialist party of the United States, while not at all points agreeing with the figures given else where, is probably as close an approximation to the situation in 1914 as can be obtained.
In addition to the vote and membership figures as given above, there are also Socialist movements in Armenia, Bolivia, Chile, China, Cuba, Iceland, Japan, Newfoundland, Persia, Turkey and Uruguay.
United The industrial condition of the United States prevented the appearance of any strong Socialist movement until within comparatively recent years. The presence of an ever-moving frontier led to a social stratifica tion by geographic stages which was constantly changing and which, therefore, prevented the appearance of any such continuous class struggle as a Socialist philosophy presupposes. The pres ence of free land and the expanding market meant a large opportunity for individual ad vancement, both from the ranks of laborers to capitalist and from small capitalist to large cap italist. The Socialist movement is peculiarly a product of the industrial proletariat, and while the population of the United States remained largely rural such a movement could gain no great strength. Again, the existence of chattel slavery throughout the South, prior to the Civil Was, created an economic contest between these two forms of industrial organization which overshadowed the still somewhat indistinct con trast between laborers and capitalists. But though these industrial conditions prevented the growth of Socialism in the Eastern sections they gave the greatest encouragement to the growth of a Utopian Socialism, and so it came about that for many years the United States was the experimental ground on which were tested the various theories of European Utopians.
These movements are often confounded with latter-day Socialism. They really had practically no connection save that both have the idea of collective production. But the collective produc tion of the colony is to be a scheme worked out in our present society, while the collective pro duction of modern Socialism is simply one phase of the coming social stage. William Weitling came to America in 1849 and succeeded in or ganizing something of a Socialist movement in New York in the years immediately following. His movement, however, was of short duration as was also that of Joseph Weydemeyer, who came shortly after him and who was a personal friend of Marx and Engels. The Civil War wiped out nearly all traces of both of these movements. After the War the influence of the ((International)) extended to America. This in fluence was first seen in the National Labor Union in which William H. Sylvis was the most prominent worker and which practically disap peared with his death in 1869. During the next three years numerous sections of the ((Interna tional') were organized throughout the country, and on the removal of the °International)) to this country some attempt was made to revive it, but its last convention was held in Phila delphia 15 July 1876, and this convention for mally dissolved the organization. On 4 July 1874 the Social Democratic Workingmen's party of North America was organized with a rather indefinite Socialist platform. This grew in strength during the next few years and in 1877 the name was changed to the Socialist Labor Party of North America. Following the extensive labor troubles of 1876 and 1877 this party grew into national prominence and suc ceeded in electing minor officials in several States. But it was still too indefinite to pro• tect itself from anarchistic influences which crept in and which nearly wrecked the party until finally those influences reached their cli max and their end in the Haymarket incident in Chicago. The work of organization had now to be practically all done over again. In September 1887 the Sixth National Convention of the Socialist Labor party, held at Buffalo, N. Y., took up the work of reorganization. The Socialist elements in the labor movement were still rent with internal feuds, but by 1889 a steady upward growth began to be seen. Meanwhile, certain other movements which have undoubtedly contributed to the strength of Socialism had developed. The Greenback party and the Henry George movement both contained many of the ideas of Socialism and undoubtedly proved a means by which many were led to adopt the Socialist position. In 1892 the Socialists for the first time nominated a Presidential ticket consisting of Simon Wing of Boston, Mass., and Charles H. Matchett of Brooklyn, N. Y.