holy ideal that he has partially explained in his books, "A Dream of John
Ball" and "News From Nowhere," and more fully in many lectures. His
sympathy was ever with the workingman and those who grind fordone at the
wheel of labor. To better the condition of the toiler was his sincere
desire. But socialism to him was more of an emotion than a well-worked-out
plan of life. He believed that men should replace competition by
Co-operation. He used to say: "I'm going your way, so let us go hand in
hand. You help me and I'll help you. We shall not be here very long, for
soon, Death, the kind old nurse, will come and rock us all to sleep--let
us help one another while we may." And that is about the extent of the
socialism of William Morris.

There is one criticism that has been constantly brought against Morris,
and although he answered this criticism a thousand times during his life,
it still springs fresh--put forth by little men who congratulate
themselves on having scored a point.

They ask in orotund, "How could William Morris expect to benefit society
at large, when all of the products he manufactured were so high in price
that only the rich could buy them?"

Socialism, according to William Morris, does not consider it desirable to
supply cheap stuff to anybody. The socialist aims to make every
manufactured article of the best quality possible. It is not how cheap can
this be made, but how good. Make it as excellent as it can be made to
serve its end. Then sell it at a price that affords something more than a
bare subsistence to the workmen who put their lives into its making. In
this way you raise the status of the worker--you pay him for his labor and
give him an interest and pride in the product. Cheap products make cheap
men. The first thought of socialism is for the worker who makes the thing,