Remember this the next time the soap-box orator calls you a “wage slave.” Ask for specifications. Insist upon his telling you if Socialism would not introduce as hopeless a form of slavery as the world has ever known, and--if not, why not? It is a catchy phrase, the term “wage slave.” It is a telling taunt that does good service for Socialism wherever there are people simple enough to be imposed upon. Yet if you, who are not a Socialist, will study this question you can easily turn the tables upon the limber-tongued agitator in a way to make him very unhappy. In the first place, the use of the term “wage slave” would naturally lead us to suppose that, under Socialism, men will no longer work for a wage; that they will become their own masters, employing themselves and paying themselves the full product of their labor; in a word, that each will be free with a freedom such as man has never before experienced. Knowing that this is the plan proposed by many prominent Socialist thinkers, it is somewhat surprising to find publications purporting to represent Socialism still promising the worker a “wage.” It is true that they have greatly increased the amount of his remuneration until they promise him anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 a year, but they combine to talk about the “wages” he will get. What does this mean? Simply that under Socialism he will still be a wage earner. He may receive labor checks instead of United States currency--or something equivalent in value--but, if such a system were to be carried out, he could have no more freedom than he enjoys to-day and from every indication it is not impossible that he might have considerably less. A man is no less a wage slave because he works for 90,000,000 and himself, than he is when he is employed by a single individual. This is a fact that Socialism overlooks. Under the present system a man is free to choose his own method of livelihood. If he does not like one trade, he can learn another. If he wants to get out of the industrial sphere altogether and enter upon a professional career, there are methods of accomplishing this purpose within his reach, if he is willing to work hard enough to attain that end. It is true that there are certain restrictions under existing labor conditions--the area of selection is not as wide as it might be, yet there is a great deal more scope for the development of individual preference to-day than there could possibly be under Socialism. Let us see for ourselves.