With the adoption of the plan, it was to become a punishable
offence,--indeed, it was to be classified as treason,--for any
resident of Trigger Island to "forage" for necessities. He could
do what he pleased in respect to the non-essentials, but when it
came to foodstuffs of any kind or description, he was guilty of a
felony if he failed to turn all that he produced or secured into
the general stores.
"Strikes me," said Randolph Fitts in council meet-ing, "that we
are arriving at the most exquisite state of socialism. This comes
pretty close to being the essence of that historic American dream,
'of the people, by the people, for the people.' Up to date, that
has been the rarest socialistic doctrine ever promulgated, but we
are going it a long sight better. 'From the people, by the people,
to the people.' What do you call that but socialism?"
"Are you speaking to me?" demanded Percival.
"In a general way, yes."
"Well, it's not my idea of socialism. So far as I've been able to
discover, socialism is a game in which you are supposed to take
something out of your pocket and put it into the other fellow's
whether he wants it or not. This scheme of ours is quite another
thing.
Pages:
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378