Vickipedia

SOCIALISM, the name given to a class of opinions opposed to the present organization of society, and which seeks to introduce a new distribution of property and labor, in which organized cooperation rather than competition should be the dominating principle, under the conviction that the happiness of the race, and especially of the classes without capital, would be benefited thereby. Historically considered, Socialism, like many of the significant phenomena of our age, is a product of the French Revolution. That terrible outburst of popular discontent is most properly regarded as an anarchic attack on the social system that had its roots in the feudalism of the middle ages. The furious hatred of the court and the aristocracy, the passionate love of the ‘ people,’ of ‘ humanity,’ of ‘ liberty,’ though called forth by special circumstances, and never formally worked out into a theory of social life, virtually contained in themselves the germs of all later proposed organizations. In the middle ages, the right of freely and fully enjoying life, property, and political independence was limited to a favored few; while the great masses were condemned to dumb servitude, and a perpetual minority. Even the industrial population did not recognize the Socialistic idea. The members of the different guilds or fraternities claimed exclusive right to exercise certain branches of industry, and probably the great majority of the inhabitants of a town remained in a disregarded and dependent state. Amid such social conditions, resting, as they did, on a belief in the necessity of different distinct ranks, the free action of individual life, and even the vital progress of the whole community, became well-nigh impossible.

We have not space here to trace the course of the various minor reforms that weakened the authority of the medieval theory of life; but we must not omit to notice the speculations of the political philosophers of the 18th c. in France, England, and Germany, as operating powerfully in favor of a new social system, in which the idea of humanity (assuming, at the French Revolution, as we have observed, the concrete form of the ‘ people ‘) stands out prominently. Nevertheless, the first shape that the modern spirit of industry took, was not Socialistic, in the strict and proper sense of the term: it was rather individualistic, and found, as it still finds—for it is yet the prevailing theory—its natural expression in such proverbs as, ‘ A fair field, and no favor;’ ‘ Everyone for himself, and God for us all.’ But still, even this lawless individualism is to be regarded as a protest against the false class-legislation of preceding times, and as an assertion of the absolute right of each member of society to a share in the general welfare. That it has not universally commended itself to civilized mankind, as a perfect system, is demonstrated by the appearance and temporary popularity of such schemes of society as those of Owen (q. v.), Fourier (q. v.), St. Simon (q. v.), and the enthusiasm excited at intervals in different parts of Europe by the promulgation of extreme communistic opinions. See communism. It is objected to Socialism, under its various forms, that it makes human happiness too much dependent on material gratifications; that it robs man of that energy that springs from ambition; that it unphilosophically ignores an individualism and inequality to which Nature herself has given her inviolable sanction; and that, by the abolition of social rewards and punishments, it neither holds out any hope to the industrious, nor excites any apprehension among the indolent. On the other hand, we must admit that the vigorous assertion of Socialistic principles has led men to a more liberal and generous view of humanity as a whole. Moreover, it has forcibly called public attention to numerous evils that have sprung up along with the modern development of industry, for which no remedy—not even a name—had been provided; to the vital interdependence of all classes; and to the inadequacy of the individual or ‘ selfish ‘ system, as it has been called, to redress the wrongs or cure the evils that inevitably spring from its own unchecked operation. The recent spread of Socialistic opinions in Germany, taken in connection with the two attempts made on the life of the emperor, has led, in 1878, to special and stringent legislation designed to check the growth of Socialism. In 1878 it was computed that there were in Germany 75 Socialistic publications, with 135,000 regular subscribers.

AMBA’SSADOR is a title by which the highest order of diplomatic ministers is distinguished, and the person holding such a high commission may be defined to be an officer sent by one sovereign power to another to treat on affairs of state. In a less restricted sense, writers on public law employ the term to denote every kind of diplomatic minister or agent. The credentials, or letters of credence, of an A. are addressed directly by his own sovereign to the sovereign to whom he is sent, and with whom he has the privilege of personal communication. In the performance of all his diplomatic duties, an A. is understood to represent, not only the affairs, but the dignity and the power of his master; and by the law of nations, he has many important rights and privileges, the chief of which is exemption from the control of the municipal laws of the nation wherein he is to exercise his functions, an exemption that is not confined to the A. himself, but is extended to all his suite, including not only the persons employed by him in diplomatic services, but his wife, chaplain, and household generally. But there is a dispute among legal writers whether this exemption extends to all crimes, or whether it is limited to such offences as are mala prohibita, as coining, and not to those that are mala in se, as murder. The law of England appears to have formerly allowed the exemption in the restricted sense only; and in the year 1654, during the Protectorate of Cromwell, the Portuguese A. was tried, convicted, and executed, for an atrocious murder. But, now, according to the general practice of this country, as well as that of the rest of Europe, it is considered that the security of an A. in conducting the intercourse of nations, is of more importance than the punishment of a particular crime, and therefore few examples have happened in modern times where an A. has been punished for any offence. In regard to civil suits, it was at one time held and laid down by Sir Edward Coke that an A. to the English court was answerable for any contract which was good according to the law of nations. The full exemption of an A. from legal process in civil cases was first recognized by 7 Anne, c. 12, a statute whose history is thus related by Blackstone. ‘ In the reign of Queen Anne, an A. from Peter the Great, Czar of Muscovy, was actually arrested, and taken out of his coach in London, for a debt of £50, which he had there contracted. Instead of applying to be discharged upon his privilege, he gave bail to the action, and the next day complained to the queen. The persons who were concerned in the arrest were examined before the privy council (of which the Lord Chief-justice Holt was at the same time sworn a member), and seventeen were committed to prison, most of whom were prosecuted by information in the Court of Queen’s Bench, at the suit of the Attorney-general; and at their trial before the Lord Chief-justice, were convicted of the facts by the jury; reserving the question of law, how far those facts were criminal, to be afterwards argued before the judges; which question was never determined. In the meantime, the Czar resented this affront very highly, and demanded that the sheriff of Middlesex, and all others concerned in the arrest, should be punished with instant death. But the queen (to the amazement of that despotic court) directed her secretary to inform him, that she could inflict no punishment upon any the meanest, of Her subjects, unless warranted by the law of the land; and therefore was persuaded that he would not insist upon impossibilities.

To satisfy, however the clamors of the foreign ministers, who made it a common cause, as well as to appease the wrath of Peter, a bill was brought into parliament, and afterwards passed into a law (the 7th Anne c. 12), to prevent and punish such outrageous insolence for the future; and with a copy of this act elegantly engrossed and illuminated, accompanied by a letter from the queen, an A. extraordinary was commissioned to appear at Moscow, who declared, that though her majesty could not inflict such a punishment as was required, because of the defect in that particular of the former established constitutions of her kingdom, yet, with the unanimous consent of the parliament, she had caused a new act to be passed, to serve as a law for the future. This humiliating step, says Blackstone, ‘ was accepted as a full satisfaction by the Czar; and the offenders, at his request, were discharged from all further prosecution.’

But although an A. is not amenable to any tribunal of the country he resides in, he cannot misconduct himself with impunity. He must respect the laws and customs of the country in which he is officially resident; and if he violates or offends these laws and customs, he may be complained of to the court or government which he represents; or if the offence is of a very serious nature, his recall may be demanded, or the sovereign to whom he has given such offence may dismiss him peremptorily, and further require that he be brought to trial in his own country. It hardly need be added, that if an A. is guilty of an offence which threatens the safety of the state, he ceases to enjoy the privileges of the exemption in question.

There are some other and inferior privileges which are very generally allowed to ambassadors: they are, for instance, permitted the free exercise of their religion; they are, in general, exempted from direct taxation, they have special letter-bags, and they are usually allowed to import their goods without paying any customhouse duties—a privilege, however, which, being liable to abuse, has sometimes been limited.

Ambassadors are of two kinds—first, those who reside regularly at the court to which they are accredited; and, secondly, those who are sent on special occasions, when they receive the designation of ambassadors extraordinary. The employment of permanent ambassadors originated in modern times. Her Majesty’s diplomatic corps includes only five ambassadors in the more restricted sense of the word, who are accredited to the courts of Vienna, Paris, St. Petersburg, Constantinople, and Berlin respectively. Inferior diplomatic agents receive the title of charge d’affaires, minister plenipotentiary, or envoy (q. v.).

AME’NDMENT is a term used both in judicial and parliamentary proceedings. In the former, it is a power of correction ( any errors in actions, suits, or prosecutions, which has been greatly extended of late, and which has largely improved and simplified the administration of the law, both in England and in Scotland. In parliament, the word A. is used when it is intended to oppose vary, or qualify a question or resolution; and in the case of bills, it is employed as a courteous method of dismissing the bill from any further consideration, by moving that instead of ‘now,’ it be read at the end of three months, six months, or any other term beyond the probable duration of the session. It is also competent to a member to move as an A. to the question a resolution declaratory of some principle adverse to that of the bill, provided it is strictly relevant, as was done successfully, in 1859, by Lord John Russell, when he moved and carried, as an A. to the motion for the second reading of the Reform Bill of Lord Derby’s government, a resolution declaratory of a principle which the supporters of that measure considered to be subversive of it. See AMMENDMENT in AM. SUPP.