Going a block or two further, the Socialist agitator meets Bill Brown, and asks him why he does not carry a red card. Bill replies that he is opposed to the Socialist party because of its friendliness for the A. F. of L. “I am opposed to violence, but I am an industrial unionist,” he asserts, “and shall have nothing to do with an organization that stands for craft unionism.” What does the Socialist agitator do? From his pocket he extracts a pamphlet written by Eugene V. Debs, in which Mr. Debs expounds the doctrines of industrial unionism and shows that it is impossible for a Socialist to be a conscientious craft unionist. So, realizing that, as Socialism’s foremost advocate, Eugene V. Debs ought to know what Socialism means, Bill Brown signs up. A few moments later, our Socialist agitator comes face to face with Joe Black. “Come, Joe,” he says, as he grasps his hand, “you are a good Radical. Why aren’t you in the Socialist party?” But Joe shakes his head. “Not for mine!” he asserts, emphatically. “I want nothing to do with a party that is opposed to direct action. How is the worker to get what he wants unless he takes it? I believe in _The Revolution_, but not in the milk-and-water kind of revolution the Socialist party preaches.” “That’s where you are mistaken, Joe,” replies the Socialist agitator. “Why, some of our leading Socialists believe just exactly as you do. Here”--and the agitator draws from his pocket a copy of the Haywood-Bohn pamphlet on “Industrial Unionism”--“take this with you and read it. It will show you how we Socialists stand on the question of the industrial revolution.” So Joe Black lines up, too. I might continue in this strain indefinitely, for there is scarcely a question at issue upon which Socialists do not disagree so widely that those who preach Socialism can manage to be all things to all people. But, you ask, what _does_ Socialism mean? Let me answer your question by first telling you what Socialism does not mean. In this way, we shall more quickly get to the real meaning of the term. I have met Socialists who told me that Socialism means absolutely nothing but the promotion of a reform program: that it means shorter hours and better pay, the elimination of child labor, the government ownership of inter-state industry, the municipal ownership of municipal utilities, and so on. If you read the program of “Immediate Demands” in the Socialist platform, you may get the idea that this definition of Socialism is a correct one. But you would be mistaken. The “Immediate Demands” of the Socialist party are not Socialism, and no real Socialist pretends that they are. Indeed, in the platform of 1908, the Socialists themselves repudiated this idea. Let me quote the closing paragraph of this program: