Foreword
In this work the author presents his own views in his own manner. Hence he employs the first person singular in preference to the impersonal “we” of journalism or of official production. The articles have been written at various times in Ireland and America and have already attained a wide circulation through being reprinted in various Socialist journals in both countries. Constant requests to the author to have them collected and published in a more permanent and accessible form have induced him to make this selection in the hope that they may be thought not unworthy of a place in at least the fugitive literature of the Socialist movement.
A word as to the plan of the work may not be amiss here. Section 1 is light, satirical, jesting and serious by turns, and follows the usual form of attack and defense, argument and rebuttal, experienced by a Socialist workman in factory, workshop or mine before he has destroyed the prejudices and won the serious consideration of his fellow workers. Section 2 is serious throughout, and is an an attempt to deduce from actual every-day experiences and from historical facts the probable correct answer to the question put by the worker when he realizes the necessity of a change, viz: How must we act? How are we going to do it?
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