I have been engaged for more than a dozen years in studying political economy and _Socialism_, and in trying, as a Socialist, pressman, and author, to explain _Socialism_ and to confute the arguments and answer the objections of non-Socialists, and I say, without any hesitation, that I have never yet come across a single argument against practical _Socialism_ that will hold water. I do not believe that any person of fair intelligence and education, who will take the trouble to study _Socialism_ fairly and thoroughly, will be able to avoid the conclusion that _Socialism_ is just and wise. I defy any man, of any nation, how learned, eminent, and intellectual soever, to shake the case for practical _Socialism_, or to refute the reasoning contained in this book. And now I will address myself to Mr. John Smith, a typical British workman, not yet converted to _Socialism_. Dear Mr. Smith, I assume that you are opposed to _Socialism_, and I assume that you would say that you are opposed to it for one or more of the following reasons:-- 1. Because you think _Socialism_ is unjust. 2. Because you think _Socialism_ is unpractical. 3. Because you think that to establish _Socialism_ is not possible. But I suspect that the real reason for your opposition to _Socialism_ is simply that you do not understand it. The reasons you generally give for opposing _Socialism_ are reasons suggested to you by pressmen or politicians who know very little about it, or are interested in its rejection. I am strongly inclined to believe that the _Socialism_ to which you are opposed is not _Socialism_ at all, but only a bogey erected by the enemies of _Socialism_ to scare you away from the genuine _Socialism_, which it would be so much to your advantage to discover. Now you would not take your opinions of Trade Unionism from non-Unionists, and why, then, should you take your opinions of _Socialism_ from non-Socialists? If you will be good enough to read this book you will find out what _Socialism_ really is, and what it is not. If after reading this book you remain opposed to _Socialism_, I must leave it for some Socialist more able than I to convert you. When it pleases those who call themselves your "betters" to flatter you, Mr. Smith (which happens oftener at election times than during strikes or lock-outs), you hear that you are a "shrewd, hard-headed, practical man." I hope that is true, whether your "betters" believe it or not. I am a practical man myself, and shall offer you in this book nothing but hard fact and cold reason. I assume, Mr. Smith, that you, as a hard-headed, practical man, would rather be well off than badly off, and that with regard to your own earnings you would rather be paid twenty shillings in the pound than five shillings or even nineteen shillings and elevenpence in the pound.