Just a few words in conclusion, in justification of the romantic accessories introduced into the exposition of so serious a subject. I might appeal to the example of my illustrious predecessors, of whom I have already mentioned Bacon, the clearest, the acutest, the soberest thinker of all times. But I feel bound to confess that I had a double purpose. In the first place, I hoped by means of vivid and striking pictures to make the difficult questions which form the essential theme of the book acceptable to a wider circle of readers than I could have expected to reach by a dry systematic treatment. In the second place, I wished, by means of the concrete form thus given to a part of my abstractions, to refute by anticipation the criticism that those abstractions, though correct _in thesi_, were nevertheless inapplicable _in praxi_. Whether I have succeeded in these two objects remains to be proved. THEODOR HERTZKA. VIENNA: _October_ 1889. FREELAND A SOCIAL ANTICIPATION _BOOK I_ CHAPTER I In July 18 ... the following appeared in the leading journals of Europe and America: 'INTERNATIONAL FREE SOCIETY' 'A number of men from all parts of the civilised world have united for the purpose of making a practical attempt to solve the social problem. 'They seek this solution in the establishment of a community on the basis of perfect liberty and economic justice--that is, of a community which, while it preserves the unqualified right of every individual to control his own actions, secures to every worker the full and uncurtailed enjoyment of the fruits of his labour. 'For the site of such a community a large tract of land shall be procured in a territory at present unappropriated, but fertile and well adapted for colonisation. 'The Free Society shall recognise no exclusive right of property in the land occupied by them, either on the part of an individual or of the collective community. 'For the cultivation of the land, as well as for productive purposes generally, self-governing associations shall be formed, each of which shall share its profits among its members in proportion to their several contributions to the common labour of the association. Anyone shall have the right to belong to any association and to leave it when he pleases. 'The capital for production shall be furnished to the producers without interest out of the revenue of the community, but it must be re-imbursed by the producers. 'All persons who are incapable of labour, and women, shall have a right to a competent allowance for maintenance out of the revenue of the community. 'The public revenue necessary for the above purposes, as well as for other public expenses, shall be provided by a tax levied upon the net income of the total production.