It's All Settled Now
THE OPEN CONSPIRACY. By H. G. Wells. (Doubleday Doran).
IT has long been apparent that H. G. Wells was possessed by a commendable desire to reform the world. Not only has he dealt with the evils of the present and the rosy possibilities of the future, but taking all the time for his province he has endeavored to reform the past, as careful readers of his revised “Outline of History” may have noted. If it can be said that the Wellsian world in its various amended forms is always suspiciously well adapted to the temperamental biases and interests of Mr. Wells himself, the fact should be no more surprising than that of family likeness. It is reported on high authority that an even greater author modeled his creatures after his own image.
However, the full scope of Mr. Wells’ scheme of reformation, as set forth in the volume here noted, can scarcely have been suspected even by his most enthusiastic disciples. In “The Open Conspiracy,” the world-maker not only reveals the sort of world he has planned for us, but furnishes a set of “blue prints,” together with detailed specifications. Nothing is left to do but to build the perfect world as planned.
It is not to be assumed by any casual reader of the foregoing that this is a scheme hastily conceived. Far from it. As early as 1918 Mr. Wells published what he then secretly intended, but now openly grows, to be the first part of a “provisional Bible” for the religious movement he is inaugurating. This was “The Outline of History.” The second part of this Bible of the new world will be called “The Science of Life,” and it will “give the data for personal conduct within a biologically conceived world society.” (Mr. Wells began his career as a biologist). The third part will be entitled “The Conquest of Power,” and this “will present the collective economic policy” of the new world.
Thus positively everything has been arranged and nothing whatever has been left to chance or to the blunderings of unscientific intellects. “If you want something done well,” says the old adage, “do it yourself.”
As to the new world that has been planned for us, a brief description should suffice here. There will be no nations, no races, no drawing of the color line in social matters. There will be a central power in control of this world commonwealth, and those who wield that power will be very wise and good. War will be unthinkable, for the simple reason that the world will be a unit. Also, there will be no social classes with conflicting interests. Population will be limited by scientific birth-control, and consequently there will be more than enough of everything for everybody, production and distribution of necessities and luxuries being under the control of the wise and good central power. The chief interest of this world society will be scientific research.
To the unilluminated, Mr. Wells grants all this may seem at first a bit fantastic. How shall it be realized? That sounds like a poser, but it isn’t at all. Mr. Wells has the answer ready, and it is very simple indeed — as simple as all the rest of the book. Here is the answer. All over the world there are to be found men and women, scattered loosely about who are gifted with a fine religious sense. These, upon reading Mr. Wells’ latest volume, will proceed at once to organize little clubs for the purpose of mutual encouragement and the discussion of ways and means. the first act of such clubs will be to declare their unalterable intention never to serve in any war. (Of course, they might serve in a war of self-defense, but — you know — never in at unrighteous war. This point, however, is now rendered unimportant, war having been outlawed quite recently.) To proceed, there will be a natural fusing of these clubs into associations, and many movements already on the move will be persuaded to join “the Open Conspiracy” movement. Socialists, Communists, Birth Controllers, Pacifists, and the like will fall in line. There will be much talk on a high plane and abundant propaganda. And so, the new “world commonwealth” will come into being in a perfectly natural way with scarcely a shock and the central control of the world-society will function in accordance with the highest wisdom and goodness. As a further safeguard, this central power will be supervised by the people, who, also, will be both good and wise. No doubt every hamlet will have at least one monument to the creator of this perfect world and the sole author of its “provisional Bible” which, by that time, will have ceased to be regarded as provisional.
