Hillquit, in his various articles, has, of course, like many other Socialists, given his explanation of the detailed method of organization and operation of industries under a Socialist form of government. It reads very nicely and appears attractive, as his statements do till truth's searchlight falls on them, but it does not seem worth while to present his views, for very many of the leading Socialists of the world not only differ with each other as regards the method of organization and operation that they advocate for the Marxian state, but they are also very much at variance with the plan of organization and operation that Hillquit describes.
Eugene V. Debs, in his "Daily Message from Moundsville Prison," published in "The Call," New York, April 21, 1919, tells us what Socialism is:
"The earth for all the people! That is the demand. "The machinery of production and distribution for all the people! That is the demand. "The collective ownership and control of industry and its democratic management in the interest of all the people! That is the demand. "The elimination of rent, interest and profit and the production of wealth to satisfy the wants of all the people! That is the demand. "Co-operative industry in which we all shall work together in harmony as the basis of a new social order, a higher civilization, a real republic! That is the demand. "The end of class struggles and class rule, of master and slave, of ignorance and vice, of poverty and shame, of cruelty and crime--the birth of freedom, the dawn of brotherhood, the beginning of MAN! That is the demand. "This is Socialism!"
In the Preamble to the American Socialist Party Platform, adopted by national referendum, July 24, 1917, we are told: