THOMAS PAINE, 1737-1809.

NZ Truth, Issue 214, 31 July 1909, Page 3

THOMAS PAINE, 1737-1809.

DEIST, NOT ATHEIST.

Socialist, Not Anarchist.

I (By David Adams.) On June 8, 1809, died Thomas Paine, , great English Revolutionist and Democrat, and forerunner of modern Socialism. Besides innumerable miscellaneous political and theological writings, he wasthe author of two masterpieces, the "Rights of Man" (immortal phrase !') and the "Age of Reason," spending the whole of his life endeavoring to ESTABLISH THESE TWO IDEALS on a permanent basis. He succeeded m laying the foundation, but there is still much work for the builders to do. "The. Rights of Man" and "The Age of Reas-' .on**' are still, alas, somewhat, afar off,, but there are signs that we are" steadily 1 marching towards them. As, a purely literary man, Paine is a model. His style is wonderfully terse and bright, dealing with heavy and difficult subjects m a manner that not only . line educated hut the proletariat could understand. Hence he was the most dangerous man ]to all the" brutal "law and order I ', of his time. Paine is quite right, said Pitt "but what, am Ito do ? As things are, if I were to encourage Tom Paine's opinions, we should have a bloody .revolution." iPitt was -wise;, m bis generation. Ima- ' i gine the BRILLIANCE OF THE MAN : who could write on* political economy m l ; such a manner that his books circulated by the million, m that uneducated Georgian period; this m spite of the fact that ihe Government suppressed as many copies as it could ; and when people were prevented from reading them secretly m their homes, they read them more secretly still, on hill-tops and m open fields, Paine was the people's author — the Blatchford of his time. Paine, too, was. something ,of a scientific man, with mathematics and engineering as specialities, and m this .respect his character vras curiously like that of Karl Marx, combining the active agi-. tator with the student. Thus we find, him m all the 'Bevplutions, ftring -the Am.erican colonists into breaking with King. "George, plastering REVOLUTIONARY PLACARDS on the walls of France, the first Repub- . lican manifesto to appear m France ; we find him later, ever humane, advocating m the Convention the banishment rather than the death of the King to his own great danger, the result being that he was afterwards marked out by Robespierre for death, imprisoned m the Luxembourg, only escaping the "Widow" by a sheer "Providential" accident. While m Luxembourg, expecting death every day, he wrote the work, which lost him most of his friends (even the saintly Washington didn't care to be seen with him afterwards)— the "Age of Reason, 1 ' a very mild work on theology. President Roosevelt has described Paine, through a plentiful lack of knowledge of Paine's book, as a '"dirty little Atheist." As a matter of fact, Paine was very .. cleanly and precise m his personal hah?dts, he was considerably taller than the . stumpy Teddy, and he was NOT AN ATHJBIST. His works contain some of the finest arguments for the existence of God that it is possible to meet with. As for his Biblical opinions, most of the Higher Critics now adopt Paine's ideas, , and comparative passages could be quoted from the works of Paine and R. J. Campbell, most remarkably identical m phraseology. At any rate, no Socialist is called upon to agree with any of Paine's theological ideas, if he does not want to, but

all Social-Democrats should revere the memory of a man, who, as 1 have said, svas a forerunner of Socialism, and whose writings doub fcloss inlluer.ced to a considerable degree the FIRST ENGLISH SOCIALIST ROBERT OWEN. ! Take the following from his programme ■of political reform as contained m the "Rights of Man" : — (1) Abolition of two million pounds - poor rate. • ■ (2) Provision for two hundred and fifty thousand poor families. - , (3) Education for one million and thirty thousand children. (4) Comfortable provision for one hundred and forty thousand aged persons. (5) Donations of twenty shillings eaGh* for fifty thousand births. (7) Allowances of twenty .thousand pounds for the funeral expenses of persons travelling for work, and dying at a distance from tbeir friends. (8) Employment at all times for the casual poor m iyhe-cities of London and Westminster. It will be-seen here that >GPaine antici- ". jpated' in' a v. •■•-•.' !--,t.7.0US MANNER imany of the ideas of modern Socialism. In item 3 he proposes free education ifor children, being the first to make 'such a proposition m a practical form. Item 4 is a provision for Old Age Pen- $ .sions, for which he drafted a complete-' 'scheme, the pensions to commence at fiftyyears of age. Item 5 is the State Endowment-of Mo- ■< therhood, which is about a hundred years \ .m advance even of present-day opinion. - Item 8 is the State remedy for Unein-1 ployment, and Paine's suggestion vritty 'regard to this is still socialistically m; advance of, for instance, Mr Sidney; -: Webb's Labor Exchange palliative. Noti l only does Paine originate these ideas, . "hut he gives elaborate plans DEMONSTRATING THEIR PRACTIC- ! . ABILITY, rgoing .into all the financial details, down ; to the last shilling. All these things were absurd dreams m; Paine's day. We are now m the thick of' the fight lor their realisation. Not only so far, but m other ways, we find Thomas Paine's many-sided character m sympathy with modern Socialist • ideas. An advanced humanitarian, we find him always taking the right side, from' such a thing as kindness .to animals to negro slavery. A wonderful politician, a great hero, one of the first of the great Democrats, the Socialist Party owes itrto itself to combine m the celebration of his:centen- ; ary. . i Comrades, hats oft to Thomas Paine !— '. London "Justice."