William Morris a Marxist for our time

By Paul Hampton
William Morris is probably best known to most people these days as the creator of kitsch Victorian
wallpaper designs. Morris was certainly a prominent nineteenth century artist, poet and all round
polymath and it is impossible to do justice to the force of his personality.
Howeer the Morris that should matter most to us, and the Morris that has most contemporary
releance is the man who, in his last years, shortly before his !"
th
birthday became an actie
reolutionary socialist and remained so to the end of his tumultuous life. Morris# Mar$ism and his
prescient iews on socialist ecology are the subjects of this appreciation.
William Morris% a political life
Morris was born on &' March ()*' in Walthamstow, then a illage on the edge of +pping ,orest to
the north west of -ondon. He was born into a wealthy middle class family who wanted him to join
the church. +er the dissident, he gae up .$ford /niersity to take up art and poetry.
0n ()1( he founded the Morris, Marshall, ,aulkner and 2ompany, which did paintings, decoration,
metalwork, stained glass, jewellery, sculpture and furniture for wealthy Victorians.
His political actiity dated from the struggle to stop the 3ory goernment going to war with 4ussia
between ()51 and ()5). His 6Appeal to the Working Men of England7 8()559 blamed capitalists for
the war and set him on the road ia liberalism and radicalism to the socialist moement.
0n :anuary ())* Morris joined the ;emocratic ,ederation, a small 4adical group led by Henry
Hyndman, which would soon become e$plicitly socialist 8it became the <ocial ;emocratic
,ederation, <;, in =ugust ())'9. 0n >oember ())* Morris spoke at .$ford /niersity,
scandalising the audience by calling on them to join the struggle against capitalism.
,rom then onwards Morris became a leading spokesperson for socialism as well as political
journalist, publishing articles in the <;, paper Justice. Howeer in ;ecember ())' Morris, +leanor
Mar$, +rnest Belfort Ba$, +dward =eling and others ? fed up with Hyndman#s dictatorial behaiour
and jingoistic politics @ resigned from the <;,. 3hey set up the <ocialist -eague and published the
paper, Commonweal.
3he <ocialist -eague was diided, between with +leanor Mar$, =eling and Ba$ who faoured
standing candidates for parliament and local councils to adance socialist propagandaA and others,
including Morris, who opposed such parliamentary tactics. Morris and his close comrades in the
Hammersmith branch eentually broke with the <ocialist -eague at the end of ()B", but continued
to work in the Hammersmith <ocialist <ociety until ill health took its toll. He remained committed to
socialism until the end, telling an =merican correspondent, 60 hae >.3 changed my mind on
<ocialism7 in one of his last interiews, gien in :anuary ()B1. 8Paul Meier, William Morris: The
Marxist Dreamer, (B5) p.&"(9
When William Morris died on * .ctober ()B1, apparently his doctor pronounced that the cause of
death was 6simply being William Morris and haing done more work than most ten men7.
3he political commitment of William Morris
William Morris is perhaps uniCue in being claimed by almost eeryone on the left as an inspiration.
,rom 3ony Blair to the old 2ommunist Party of Dreat Britain, from ,abians to anarchists, Morris is
held to hae been an historic precursor.
Howeer Morris was Cuite simply, as +dward 3hompson put it, 6an outstanding member of the first
generation of +uropean 2ommunist intellectuals7, on a par with Plekhano or -abriola. 8William
Morris: Romantic to Reolutionar!, (B51 p.$9 >ot for nothing did 3om Mann recall nearly forty years
after Morris# death that he 6was to me the outstanding man among the intellectuals of time7 8Dail!
Worker, &' March (B*'9.
Morris was probably the most actie propagandist for socialism in Britain during the ())"s. He
spoke at oer one thousand meetings between ())* and ()B" and may hae been heard by as
many as &!",""" people. 0n ())' alone he wrote *' for articles for :ustice and some '!" pieces for
Commonweal newspaper, ranging from short news pieces to serials such as "ocialism from the
Root #p and $ews from $owhere that eentually ran to book length. He also wrote for the socialist
journal Toda!, published seeral socialist books and pamphlets, and wrote for the %ammersmith
"ocialist Record 8()B(@B*9. He edited oer '"" copies of Commonweal, which published 8largely
funded by his fortune9 as a monthly from ,ebruary ())! until =pril ())1 and then as a weekly until
he was deposed as editor in May ()B". 8>icholas <almon, William Morris: &olitical Writings, (BB'
p.$li, pp.1&!@11)9
0n one of his first lectures after becoming a reolutionary socialist, Morris warned his audience what
to e$pect from such a commitment. 0n Art and "ocialism 8&* :anuary ())'9 he argued% 6Eou will at
least be mocked and laughed at by those whose mockery is a token of honour to an honest manF
Eou will run the risk of losing position, reputation, money, friends een% losses which are certainly
pin pricks to the serious martyrdom 0 hae spoken of... >or can 0 assure you that you will foreer
escape scot@free from the attacks of open tyrannyF <o on all sides 0 can offer you a position which
inoles sacrificeF7
>eertheless he urged 6those of you who are coninced of the justice of our cause, not to hang
back from actie participation in a struggle7. Morris saw himself primarily as a propagandist for
socialism, with the intention of 6making <ocialists7 ? conincing and educating a layer of socialists
through open air meetings, lectures, socialist newspapers and books.
He summed up his attitude in Commonweal, (" >oember ()))% 6G=gitateH +ducateH .rganiseH#
=gitate, that the workers may be stirred and awakened to a sense of their position. +ducate, that
they may know the reason of the eils that they suffer. .rganise, that we and they may oerthrow
the system that bears us down and makes us what we areA that there may be no futile waste of
indiidual effort, but that the army of the reolution may moe forward united, steadfast and
irresistible, Gthe the ,reedom of the Peoples and the Brotherhood of Man#.7 8<almon, William Morris:
Journalism, (BB1 pp.'51@559
0n a number of significant respects, in his understanding of capitalism and class struggle, on the
working class as the agent of its own emancipation, on the state and reolution, and on what
socialism and communism would look like, Morris was a pretty orthodo$ follower of Mar$ and
+ngels.
Morris on capitalism and class struggle
Morris understood capitalism in Mar$ist terms, as a class society, but also as a system that
prepared the ground for socialism. 0n another lecture early in his socialist life, Art and 'a(our 8(
=pril ())'9 he paraphrased the Communist Manifesto%
6I2apitalismJ has strengthened and solidified the working class, has collected them into factories
and great towns, has forced them to act together to a certain e$tent by the trades unions, and has
gien them a certain amount of political power% what they need now to enter on the last stage of the
modern reolution of labour is that they should understand their true positionF when they
understand that they themseles can regulate labour, and by being absolute masters of their
material, tools, and time they can win for themseles all that is possible to be won from nature
without deduction or ta$ation paid to classes that hae no purpose or reason for e$istenceA when
this is understood, the workers will find themseles compelled to combine together to change the
basis of <ociety and to realise that <ocialism the rumour of whose approach is all about us.
8+ugene -emire, The #npu(lished 'ectures of William Morris, (B1B pp.((5@(()9
Morris read 2apital and understood its importance of socialists. -ooking back in his article, %ow )
*ecame a "ocialist, (1 :une ()B', he e$plained about his own Mar$ist education. 6Well, haing
joined a <ocialist body 8for the ,ederation soon became definitely <ocialist9, 0 put some conscience
into trying to learn the economical side of <ocialism, and een tackled Mar$, though 0 must confess
that, whereas 0 thoroughly enjoyed the historical part of 2apital, 0 suffered agonies of confusion of
the brain oer reading the pure economics of that great work. =nyhow, 0 read what 0 could, and will
hope that some information stuck to me from my readingA but more, 0 must think, from continuous
conersation with such friends as Ba$ and Hyndman and <cheu.7 8=- Morton, &olitical Writings of
William Morris, (B5* p.&'&9
He understood that 6the basis on which G<ociety# is built, to wit, IisJ the safe and continuous
e$pansion of the e$ploitation of -abour by 2apital.7 8Commonweal, 5 =ugust ())19
0n the Manifesto of the "ocialist 'eague 8,ebruary ())!9 he argued that, 6the conflict between the
two IclassesJ is ceaseless. <ometimes it takes the form of open rebellion, sometimes of strikes,
sometimes of mere widespread mendicancy and crimeA but it is always going on in one form or
other, though it may not always be obious to the thoughtless looker@on.7 8<almon (BB1 p.*9
,rom that position, Morris belieed that the working class was the central social agent of change
and that it was the job of socialists to help raise up the labour moement and make workers self@
conscious of their condition and interests.
Morris on working class self emancipation
3he theme of working class self@emancipation runs through his writings. =s the constitution of the
<ocialist -eague put it% 6the liberation of the workers will be brought about by the workers
themseles7. 8Meier (B5) p.&'&9
0ntroducing the first issue of Commonweal, ,ebruary ())!, Morris wrote% 6-astly, a word of appeal,
to the workers chiefly. 0t is not only that whateer we say is professedly directly in their interest%
much more it is that through them alone, through the slaes of society, we look for its regeneration,
for its eleation from its present corruption and misery.7 8<almon (BB' p.)&9
0n a lecture entitled, Monopol!+ or, %ow 'a(our is Ro((ed 8&" ,ebruary ())59 he argued that 6it is
the workers themseles that must bring about the change7. 0n -Common."ense "ocialism-, a reiew
in 2ommonweal 8() :une ())59, he chastised the author for being 6incapable of conceiing of the
class@struggle, or the historical eolution of industrialism, or of understanding that the real point at
issue is when and how the workers shall emerge from their condition of pupillage and be masters of
their own destinies.7 8<almon (BB' p.&!)9
Morris retained this idea een as his political organisation fell apart. =s he put it in the Dail!
Chronicle 8(" >oember ()B*9% 6GBy us, and not for us#, must be their motto7.
8=. Briggs, William Morris, "elected Writings and Designs, (B)', p.('!9
Hal ;raper, in his seminal study, The Two "ouls of "ocialism 8(B119, championed the conception of
socialism from below, i.e. of socialism as essentially the self@emancipation of the working class. He
described Morris as 6the leading personality of reolutionary socialism in that period7. He argued
that 6Morris# writings on socialism breathe from eery pore the spirit of <ocialism@from@Below7 and
are 6peraded with his emphasis from eery side on class struggle from below, in the presentA and
in the future.7
;raper was absolutely right. 0t was working class self@liberation that demarcated Morris from most of
his contemporaries and places him centrally within the real Mar$ist tradition.
Morris on working class political representation
Morris was no dilettante on matters of organisation. .nce he had decided to become a socialist he
joined the ;emocratic ,ederation and became a leading actiist and public spokesperson. 3his
entailed speaking at open@air meetings, selling papers and other literature and giing educational
lectures on a regular basis. ,ar from being a <unday socialist, he became a dedicated semi@
professional reolutionary.
3he issue of party democracy was one of the reasons behind the split with the <;, in late ())'.
When the <ocialist -eague was set up, it specifically subordinated the paper Commonweal to the
control and superision of the organisation, rather than treat it the personal property of the editors.
8+dward 3hompson (B51 p.1)!9
He emphasised the need to 6make <ocialists7 by patient propaganda. But <ocialists also had to
interene in e$isting struggles, in the unions, for free speech, on 0rish Home 4ule etc. =s he put it in
/ur &olic! in Commonweal 8March ())19% 60 say that our business is more than eer +ducationF
3his educational process, therefore, the forming a rallying point for definite aims is necessary to our
successA but 0 must guard against misunderstanding. We must be no mere debating club , or
philosophical societyA we must take part in all really popular moements when we can make our
own iews on them unmistakably clearA that is a most important part of the education in
organisationF7 8<almon (BB' pp.(&!@(&19

Morris also continued to speak and work alongside the <;, and other socialists when a member of
the <ocialist -eague. =s he e$pressed it in the same article, 6when the principles and tactics held
are practically the same, it seems to me a great mistake for <ocialist bodies to hold aloof from each
other.7 He was to write one of his best@known articles, %ow ) *ecame a "ocialist, for Justice in
()B', when he reconciled to some e$tent with the <;,.
=fter breaking with the =narchist leaders of the <ocialist -eague in late ()B", he and the
Hammersmith branch continued to organise and publish. 0n ()B* the Hammersmith <ocialist
<ociety initiated a unity manifesto with the <;, and ,abians. 0n ()B' Morris lamented the lack of
united party, writing in The 'a(our &rophet that, 63he materials for a great <ocialist party are around
us, but no such party e$ists. We hae only the scattered limbs of it7. 8+dward 3hompson (B51
p.5'!9
Morris on the trade unions
Morris also took a close and critical interest in the trade unions. When he first came into political
actiity, unions in Britain mainly represented a small layer of workers scattered across a myriad of
small societies. Howeer this was already changing with the organisation of workers outside of the
traditional skilled sectors, as well as miners and rail workers.
Between ()!" and (B(', the working population in Britain doubled from B to () million. 0n ()!"
trade union membership stood at 1"",""", with the largest organisation, the =malgamated <ociety
of +ngineers haing &(,""" members. /nion membership peaked in the mid@()5"s at around one
and a half million, before falling again. 0t only reied to that figure in the early ()B"s on the back of
>ew /nionism. 8;ick Deary, 'a(our and "ocialist Moements (efore 0102, (BB& p.*19
Morris# iews on unions underwent an eolution, but they remained oerwhelmingly critical. 0n a
lecture Art under &lutocrac! 8(' >oember ())*9 a year after he became a socialist, Morris argued
that 6the 3rades /nions, founded for the adancement of the working class as a class, hae already
become conseratie and obstructie bodies, wielded by the middle@class politicians for party
purposes7. 8Morton (B5* p.)&9
-ike many socialists at the time, he appears to hae subscribed to the iron law of wages, which
meant that wages were drien down to subsistence leel under capitalism, with little hope of
changing the terms of e$ploitation 8The Dawn of a $ew Epoch, 1 :une ())19. He also obsered that
unions at the time did not contest 6the right of the masters to the sweating of labour7 and left
workers to be 6the slaes of the competitie market7. 8/rder and Anarch!, B ,ebruary ())' in
<almon (BB' p.59
0n particular he maintained a isceral contempt for the trade union bureaucracy of the time who held
back the transformation of unions into militant class organisations. "ocialism from the Root #p,
jointly written with Ba$, condemned 6the dead weight of their leaders, who look upon this feeling Iof
discontentJ with the utmost disfaour, and hae done their best to smother it, hampers the possible
deelopment of the 3radesK /nions in this directionA but it eer breaks through these and other
obious obstacles. 8Commonweal, (5 March ())) in <almon (BB' p.1("9
0n particular he criticised the political subordination of unions to Whig@-iberal politicians. 0n
Commonweal on (5 <eptember ())5 he wrote% 6<ocialists are not hostile to trades# unions, but to
those who wish to preent the trades# unions deeloping with the times. 3heir real enemies are
those who would crystallise them into mere societies for guaranteeing of the priilege of capitalism,
and recruiting grounds for Gthe great -iberal party# ? that is, Whig ote preseres. 3his would be an
ignominious end to such an important association of workersA but it need not be dreaded. 3he
trades# unions will deelop, een if in doing so they hae to change their old form and be no longer
recognisable by their once enemies, now their an$ious allies, the Whig politicians.7 8<almon (BB1
p.&)&9
/nder the influence of ,rederick +ngels, +leanor Mar$ and others, Morris came to see the potential
of trade unionism as a form of class struggle.
0n his pamphlet The &olic! of A(stention 8*( :uly ())59 he argued for socialists to support workers#
struggles, making an implicit case for workers# control% 60 say that the real business of us
propagandists is to instil this aim of the workers becoming the masters of their own destinies, their
own liesF -et them settle e.g. what wages are to be paid by their temporary managers, what
number of hours it may be e$pedient to workA let them arrange for the filling of their military chest,
the care of the sick, the unemployed, the dismissed% let them learn how to administer their own
affairs.7 8<tephen 2oleman, Reform and Reolution, (BB1 p.''19
Howeer he constantly linked this struggle for material improements to the goal of socialism% 6=ny
combination among the workmen checks this tendency Iof competitionJ, and is good as far as it
goesA but the partial combination of the trades# unions and the like must deelop into a general
combination, which will at last assuredly destroy the war of classes which is the foundation of our
<ociety of waste, strife and robbery ? at last ? might the workers but see it at once and set on foot
that great combination before the pinch of utter misery which will come of the breakdown of our
short@sighted system of commercial warF7 8&" =ugust ())5 in <almon (BB1 p.&159
He therefore welcomed the Matchworkers strike and praised the work of =nnie Besant in it
8Commonweal &( :uly ()))9. He hailed the dock strike in the summer of ())B, describing it as 6a
strike of the poor against the rich7 and recognised that it represented a 6sign of the times7. 8The
'esson of the %our, Commonweal, 5 <eptember ())B in <almon (BB' p.'!"9
=t the conclusion of the strike, he wrote% 63he dockers hae won their ictoryA for with all drawbacks
it must be called a ictory. 3hey hae shown Cualities of unselfishness and power of combination
which we may well hope will appear again before long. ,or one thing, they hae knocked on the
head the old slander against the lower ranks of labourF these men can organise themseles at
least as well, and be at least as true to their class, as the aristocracy of labourF although mere
combination amongst the men, with no satisfactory ulterior aim, is not itself <ocialism, yet it is both
a necessary education for the workers, and it is an instrument which <ocialism cannot dispense
withF the new epoch of combination is only just beginningF7
Howeer he also went on to point out the limits of the strike% 63he dockers are to hae their Gtanner#
8if companies keep faith with them, which is ery doubtful9, but what will be their position when they
reap the result of their hard won ictoryL -et us be plain on this matter. 3hey will receie precarious
mere@subsistence wages for the hardest of hard work. 3hey will be lodged in hideous and foul
slumsA they will hae no reasonable pleasure, no taste of the comforts and the lu$uries which their
labour helps to win for others. 0n a word, they will still be slaes as far as their material condition is
concerned, though they hae shown that they are not the stuff of which it is safe to make slaes.
,or us, it is our business to make them understand that they neer can be anything else than slaes
till they hae swept away class domination and priilegeF When they hae learned that, their
combination will both be infinitely improed as an instrument, and they will compelled to use it for its
one real use, the realisation of <ocialism, to which this strike has undoubtedly been a step, as part
of a labour struggle, as part of an attack on our enemy ? 2apitalism.7 8Commonweal, &( <eptember
())B in <almon (BB1 pp.1")@1("9
His attitude summed up both the strength and the weakness of his politics. Morris was neer afraid
to speak the truth or to look reality in the face. Howeer on trade union struggles he was often
abstract, offering little by way of strategy for winning disputes, and rather sectarian. 3his was
summed up by the <ocialist -eague +$ecutie 2ommittee, which felt obliged to issue a statement a
month after the dockers struggle, reassuring its members that they 6do not in any way compromise
their principles by taking part in strikes7, but asking them 6not to let the reolutionary propagandist
suffer thereby7. 8+dward 3hompson (B51 p.!*(9
= similar attitude was also reealed by his stance toward laws to reduce the working day. 0n
Commonweal 81 :uly ())B9 he argued% 60 think that Gunpractical# as the Cuestion is, legislation
limiting the working hours of adult males will be forced on the Doernment, and that before ery
long. 0f that legislation were effectie, it would certainly gie more leisure to the workersF .n the
other hand, the masters would be drien to meet the comparatie scarcity of labour by carrying still
further and faster the deelopment of machinery and the organisation of labourF the improement
in machinery would increase the intensity of labourF =ll these would disappoint the hope of those
who think that the eight hours day would gie more employment to the mass of workers. 3he
system of wage slaery and the profit market necessitates Ga resere army of labour#F and no
shortening of the hours of labour will do away with this wretched state of things that does not bring
with it obious reolution, that is to say a change in the basis of society. 8<almon (BB1 p.!B'9
3o the campaign to reduce hours, he counterposed the call for a general strike% 60s it not the time to
press on the workers general combination in this matter of the regulation of wagesLF But suppose
the inert and languishing body of trades# unionism reiified by a Gplan of campaign#, which would
mean the whole mass standing shoulder to shoulder in all strikes 8and much increased in numbers
as it certainly would be9, surely that would be worth a heap of parliamentary legislation, and armies
of paid and lukewarm inspectorsH 8Commonweal, &' =ugust ())B in <almon (BB1 pp.1"(@1"&9
Morris on the state and reolution
.n the reasons for Morris# scepticism about the possibilities of trade unionism was his
understanding of the state. .n the =B2s of the state, he was sharp and clear. 0n 3An empt! pocket
is the worst of crimes4 8Commonweal, (5 :uly ())19 he wrote of the ruling class% 6G3his is mine, and
whether 0 can use it or not, nobody else shall# is the watch@word of propertyA and Mueen, -ords, and
2ommons, =rmy and >ay, :udge, Magistrate, -awyer and Policeman are kept in their places and
paid 8handsomely too9 by <ociety in order to carry out this watchword to its legitimate
conseCuences, that is, the semi@staration and complete degradation of the majority of the people.
8<almon (BB1 p.((&9
He used his $otes on news column in Commonweal to disparage the state. ,or e$ample in ())B he
wrote% 6,or after all, what is their Ithe goernment#sJ businessL 3he defence of propertyA the defence
of the brigandage of the classes7 and later that, 6We are goerned by a bureaucracy i.e. a
goernment of professional officials goerning in their own interests as representaties of the
proprietary classes7. 8<almon (BB1 p.!!&, p.!B)9
Morris was also remarkably sharp on the emerging imperialism of the +uropean bourgeois states
and the tendency of capitalism to generate wars. 3he Manifesto of the "ocialist 'eague in ())!
warned in the language of the day that 63here is competition always, and sometimes open war,
among the nations of the ciilised world for their share of the world market. ,or now, indeed, all the
rialries of nations hae been reduced to this one ? a degraded struggle for their share of the spoils
of barbarous countries to be used at home for the purpose of increasing the riches of the rich and
the poerty of the poor.7 8<almon (BB1 p.'9
0n ())) he published a remarkable article by Belfort Ba$ in Commonweal discussing whether the
imperialist e$pansion into =frica would gie new longeity to capitalism. Morris wrote% 60 must say
that our comrade Ba$#s appeal to us to consider the Muestion of =frica is ery timelyF 3o put the
matter in the fairest way possible ? the present rulers of society are bound by their position to seek
)or new markets in order to work off the stock of wares which they go on producing by means of
partly unpaid labourA they must do this whateer fresh suffering the process entails on the
barbarous population they ciilise, or the ciilised population which they degrade far below
barbarism.7 8<almon (BB1 p.''1@'59
Morris e$pressed his opposition to the British +mpire and its e$pansion. He described the
missionary Henry <tanley as 6the enemy of workmen in Dreat Britain as well as of the naties in
=frica 6and said that if he reached +ngland again that 6the workmen of this country will make some
demonstration against him, and so clear themseles of participation in his crimes7. 8Commonweal,
(* =pril ())B in <almon (BB1 p.!!B@1"9
.n Britain#s inasion of <udan, Morris wrote that 6it would be almost too good to hope for defeat7 by
the Mahdi army. 8Commonweal, && ;ecember ())) in <almon (BB1 p.'B&9
He also e$plained the attitude socialists should take in the eent of a major +uropean war between
the great powers, in terms reminiscent of the internationalists in the ,irst World War%
6Meantime, if war really becomes imminent our duties as <ocialists are clear enough, and do not
differ from those we hae to act on ordinarily. 3o further the spread of international feeling between
the workers by all means possibleA to point out to our own workmen that foreign competition and
rialry, or commercial war, culminating at last in open war, are necessities of the plundering classes,
and that the race and commercial Cuarrels of these classes only concern us so far as we can use
them as opportunities for fostering discontent and reolutionA that the interests of the workmen are
the same in all countries and they can neer be really enemies of each otherA that the men of our
labouring classes, therefore, should turn a deaf ear to the recruiting sergeant, and refuse to allow
themseles to be dressed up in red and taught to form a part of the modern killing machine for the
honour and glory of a country in which they hae only the dog#s share of many kicks and halfpence
? all this we hae to preach always, though in the eent of imminent war we may hae to preach it
more emphatically. 8Commonweal, ( :anuary ())5 in <almon (BB1 p.(5*9
Morris was uneCuiocal about the necessity for working class reolution to put an end to capitalism,
since, as he put it, 6a proprietary class neither will nor can yield its priileges oluntarily7.
8Emigration and Colonisation, *( ;ecember ())5 in <almon (BB1 p.**B9
+er blunt and straightforward, he wrote in #nattractie 'a(our, 8May ())!9% 6,or my part, haing
regard to the general happiness of the race, 0 say without shrinking that the bloodiest of iolent
reolutions would be a light price to pay for the righting of this wrong.7 8<almon (BB' p.)B9
He retained this iew until the end. 0n his last lecture, What we hae to 'ook 5or, 8*" March ()B!9,
he said% 60 cannot for the life of me see how the great change which we long for can come otherwise
than by disturbance and suffering of some kind.7 8+dward 3hompson (B51 p.!"*9
Howeer this did not preent him from denouncing the r@r@reolutionary phrasemongers, who
6preach reolution without class struggle, which is an absurdity and an impossibility.7
8Commonweal, &) <eptember ())B in <almon (BB1 p.1('9
Morris on parliament and bourgeois parties
<oon after the split with <;,, the <ocialist -eague debated its attitude towards standing candidates
for parliament and for other bodies, such as local councils. .n one side were +leanor Mar$, =eling
and Ba$ who like +ngels faoured using elections as a means of making socialist propagandaA on
the other stood Morris and some comrades influenced by anarchism, who opposed such an
interention.
0n his contribution in Commonweal 8:uly ())!9, Morris argued% 60 think that <ocialists ought not to
hesitate to choose between Parliamentarism and reolutionary agitation, and that it is a mistake to
try and sit on the two stools at onceA and, for my part, 0 hope that they will declare against
Parliamentarism as 0 feel assured that otherwise they will hae to retrace their steps at the cost of
much waste of time and discouragementF .n the other hand the object of Parliamentary
institutions is the preseration of society in its present form N to get rid of defects in the machine in
order to keep the machine goingF if we mi$ ourseles up with Parliament we shall confuse and dull
this fact in people#s minds instead of making it clear and intensifying it.7 8<almon (BB' p.B), p.(""9
He maintained this hostility throughout his inolement with Commonweal, asking readers in ()B"%
6What is the aim of ParliamentL 3he upholding of priilegeA the society of rich and poorA the society
of ineCuality, and the conseCuent misery of the workers and the degradation of all classes.7 8<almon
(BB' p.')(9
He described the House of 2ommons as a 6;en of 3hiees7 and famously in his utopian noel
$ews from $owhere 8()B"9 made the historic parliament building a store for manure under
2ommunism.
.f course workers had only recently obtained the ote and there were no Mar$ist MPs in parliament
8as in Dermany9, although a few 4adicals did seek workers# support. Morris was therefore highly
critical of the -iberal Party, which he described as 6a nondescript and flaccid creation of bourgeois
supremacy, a party without principles or definition, but a thoroughly adeCuate e$pression of +nglish
middle@class hypocrisy, cowardice, and short@sightedness, engrossed the whole of the political
progressie moement in +ngland, and dragged the working@classes along with it, blind as they
were to their own interests and the solidarity of labour.7 8"ocialism from the Root #p in <almon
(BB' p.!!(9
=t best, Morris belieed that reolutionaries 6<ocialists may be obliged to use the form of parliament
in order to cripple the resistance of the reactionists by making it formally illegal and so destroying
the power of the armed men on whom the power of the parliament and the law@courts really rests.
But this can only come in the last actA when the <ocialists are strong enough to capture the
parliament in order to put an end to it, and the priilege whose protection is its object, the reolution
will hae come, or all but come.7 8Anti.&arliamentar!, Commonweal, 5 :une ()B" in <almon (BB'
pp.')(@)&9
-ater in life Morris# hostility toward standing for parliament softened, in part because of the
e$perience of getting :ohn Burns and Oeir Hardie elected in ()B&. 0n a lecture The &resent /utlook
in &olitics in ())5 he looked forward to the 6gradual building up of a great labour party7 and as late
as May ()B! he spoke in faour of Deorge -ansbury, who stood for parliament as an <;,
candidate. 8-emire (B1B p.&(*, *&&9
.n his earlier attitude toward standing candidates and parliament, 0 think Morris was simply wrong.
His justifiable hostility to the bourgeois state and its parties was mechanically transformed into
infle$ible tactics to close off aenues for socialist propaganda, and thus conceded important arenas
of national and local politics to the bourgeoisie.
What sort of socialist was MorrisL
Morris has been claimed by a wide spectrum of socialists ? often without careful reference to his
iews. Howeer a comprehensie study of writings indicates that he was not a utopian socialist, nor
an anarchist, not a ,abian state socialist nor a sentimental socialist, as some hae characterised
him.
Morris was neer enamoured by the socialist colonies and e$periments organised by 4obert .wen,
+tienne 2abet and others. He argued that it was not possible 6to establish a real <ocialistic
community in the midst of 2apitalistic <ociety, a social island amidst an indiidual seaA because all
its e$ternal dealings would hae to be arranged on a basis of capitalistic e$change and would so far
support the system of profits and unpaid labour.7 8Answers to &reious )n6uiries, Commonweal,
<eptember ())!9
0n a reiew of =nnie Besant#s Modern "ocialism 8(" :uly ())19, Morris argued that 6although these
I.weniteJ communities were e$periments in association, from one point of iew they were anti@
<ocialistic, as they withdrew themseles from general society ? from political society ? and let it
take care of itself. 3hey were rather modern and more e$tended forms of monasticism7. 8<almon
(BB1 p.("19
3owards the end of his life he was still describing .wen#s e$periments as 6of their nature non@
progressie7 because een 6at their best they are but another form of the mediaeal monastery7.
Wh! ) am a Communist, 'i(ert!, ,ebruary, ()B' 8Meier (B5) p.()B9
Morris was an opponent of the gradualist, reformist ,abian current that grew up during his socialist
years ? and opposed the broader state@socialist trends that affected een the reolutionary left.
0n 5a(ian Essa!s in "ocialism, Morris criticised the reformism of Webb, Bernard <haw and their co@
thinkers 82ommonweal, &! :anuary ()B"9. He wrote% 63he result is, that the clear e$position of the
first principles of <ocialism, and the criticism of the present false societyF is set aside for the sake
of pushing a theory of tactics, which could not be carried out in practiceA and which, if it could be,
would still leae us in a position from which we should hae to begin our attack on capitalism oer
againA a position, it may be said, which might be better or might be worse for us than our present
one, as far as the actual struggle for the new society is concerned.7 8<almon (BB' pp.'!5@!)9
>or was Morris eer an anarchist, despite his friendship with Peter Oropotkin and his joint work with
some anarchists on Commonweal. 0n a debate on socialism and anarchism in the paper in ())B, he
took issue with 6our =narchist@2ommunist friends, who are somewhat authoritatie on the matter of
authority, and not a little ague also. ,or if freedom from authority means the assertion of the
adisability or possibility of an indiidual man doing what he pleases always and under all
circumstances, this is an absolute negation of society, and makes 2ommunism as the highest
e$pression of society impossibleA and when you begin to Cualify this assertion of the right to do as
you please by adding Gas long as you don#t interfere with other people#s rights to do the same#, the
e$ercise of some kind of authority becomes necessary. 0f indiiduals are not to coerce others, there
must somewhere be an authority which is prepared to coerce them not to coerceA and that authority
must clearly be collectie.7 8<almon (BB' p.'(!9
Morris also rejected the terrorism of some anarchists, who were inspired by the e$ample of the
>arodniks in 4ussia and =merican anarchism. 0n May ()B& he wrote in the %ammersmith "ocialist
Record% 60t is difficult to e$press in words strong enough the perersity of the idea that it is possible
for a minority to carry on a war of iolence against an oerwhelming majority without being utterly
crushed.7
.n &1 May ()B!, Morris wrote a letter to Henry :oseph Wilson MP giing his support to the
campaign to get the Walsall =narchists released. 0n this he wrote% 60 should mention, to show that 0
am not biased in this matter, that 0 am not an anarchist, but disagree both with the theory and tactics
of =narchists.7 3he appeal for clemency was unsuccessful.
<ome Mar$ists hae characterised Morris as a sentimental socialist. 3he designation seems to
hae originated with the Derman Mar$ist Oarl Oautsky and was taken up by +ngels.
Oautsky wrote an article in the 5rankfurter 7eitung in early ())' characterising Morris as, 6in strong
antithesis to Hyndman, a sentimental socialist7. Ba$ translated the comment and it was published in
Justice on ( March ())', along with the comment, 6that Mr Morris though a poet and an artist is no
Gsentimental <ocialist# but a robust disciple of Mar$.7
Oautsky wrote to +ngels on (& March ())'% PMorris is supposed to be furious about my article in
the 5ranfurter 7eitung because 0 stamped him as a sentimental socialist IDefQhlssoRialistenJ. 0 must
hae misunderstood Miss I+leanorJ Mar$ whom 0 contacted about Morris. 3o my mind, she said to
me that Morris had read Capital but whether he had understood it was a different Cuestion. Morris
was more a sentimental socialist. =s Morris denies that so strongly, 0 must hae understood Miss
Mar$ wrongly.P 8Engels *riefwechsel mit 8autsk!, (B*! pp.("'@("!. 3hanks to Bruce 4obinson for
the translation9
+ngels replied on &' March ())', reassuring Oautsky that 6the Morris affair is of no significance,
they are a muddle@headed lot7. 8M+2W '5 p.(&(9
+ngels first described Morris as a 6sentimental socialist7 to <orge in =pril ())1. He described Morris
as a 6sentimental dreamer7 to Bebel in a letter in =ugust ())1 and as a 6settled sentimental
socialist7 to -aura -afargue in <eptember ())1. 8M+2W '5 p.''*, p.'5(, p.')'9 Howeer +ngels#
main political criticism was aimed at Morris# hostility to parliamentary action.
+ngels took a more conciliatory tone two years later, sending Morris a copy of the first +nglish
edition of The Condition of the Working Class in England 8,ebruary ()))9. +ngels noted that in the
dispute oer the founding of the <econd 0nternational in ())B, 6Morris has come out openly in
support of our congress7. 0n March ()B' +ngels recommended Morris and Ba$#s "ocialism: )ts
9rowth and /utcome 8originally published as "ocialism from the Root #p in Commonweal9 to
=ugust Momberger and two months later sent <orge a copy.
Was there any substance in the iew that Morris harked back to some preious golden age for his
socialismL He neer denied the influence of 3homas 2arlyle and :ohn 4uskin on the formation of
his ideas, but he broke with their reactionary feudal socialism in ())*.
0n an early lecture, Art and 'a(our 8( =pril ())'9% 60 must e$plain that 0 do not mean that we should
turn back to the system of the middle ages, but that the workmen should own these things that is
the means of labour collectiely, and should regulate labour in their own interests.7 8-emire (B1B
p.((19
Morris was no 6back to nature7 rural socialist. He rejected the old 2hartist back to the land scheme
as 6a kind of half co@operatie half peasant@proprietorship land scheme, which of course proed
utterly abortie7. 8"ocialism from the Root #p, &) =ugust ())1 in <almon (BB' p.!!"9
Morris was a reolutionary socialist
Perhaps a better approach is to accept what Morris said about himself and look at what he wrote
and did for the last thirteen years of his life. 3o do so is to conclude that Morris was a reolutionary
socialist, and one who built on and deeloped Mar$ist politics.
0n an article in Cassell4s "aturda! Journal on () .ctober ()B", Morris wrote% 60t was Oarl Mar$, you
know, who originated the present socialist moementA at least it is pretty certain that that moement
would not hae gathered the force it has done if there had been no Oarl Mar$ to start it on scientific
lines.7 8+dward 3hompson (B51 p.5')9
0n his debate with anarchists in Commonweal, 8() May ())B9, he wrote% 60 will begin by saying that 0
call myself a 2ommunist, and hae no wish to Cualify that word by joining any other to it. 3he aim of
2ommunism seems to me to be the complete eCuality of condition for all peopleA and anything in a
<ocialist direction which stops short of this is merely a compromise with the present condition of
society, a halting@place on the road to the goal.7 8<almon (BB' p.'('9
His conception of socialism was working class self@rule ? and he een hinted at soiet@type bodies.
0n a lecture on What "ocialists Want 81 >oember ())59 he wrote% 60n the <ociety which we
<ocialists wish to see realised labour will be free% no man will hae to find a master before he sets
to work to produce wealth, a master who will not employ him unless he can take from him a portion
of what he has produced% eery man will be able to keep himself by his labour, and the combination
of all these workers will supply those things which can only be used by the public, such as baths,
libraries, schools, great public buildings, railways, roads, bridges, and the like. 3here will be no
political parties sCuabbling incessantly as to who shall goern the country and doing nothing elseA
for the country will goern itself, and the illage, municipal, and county councils will send delegates
to meetings for dealing with matters common to all. 3he trades also will hae councils which will
organise each the labour which they understand and these again will meet when necessary to
discuss matters common to all the trades% in short life and labour Iwill be organisedJ in the least
wasteful manner, and the ordinary citiRen will learn to understand at least some part of this
organisation.7 8-emire (B1B p.&*(9
Beyond a short@lied workers# state, Morris also had his own conception of life under 2ommunism.
0n The &olic! of the "ocialist 'eague 8Commonweal, B :une ()))9, he wrote that% 63he -eague
holds that the necessary step to the realisation of this society is the abolition of monopoly in the
means of production, which should be owned by no indiidual, but by the whole community, in order
that the use of them may be free to all according to their capacity% this we beliee would necessarily
lead to the eCuality of condition aboe@mentioned, and the recognition of the ma$im Gfrom each
according to his capacity, to each according to his needs#. 8<almon (BB' p.*1"9
0n his noel $ews from $owhere 8()B"9 Morris recorded his own, idiosyncratic ision of the future
after the abolition of classes. Whateer the details of his description ? and he can certainly be
criticised for his representation of women, for e$ample ? there is little doubt that he enisaged a
society of freedom and eCuality. <uch a ision ? a rational grounded utopia, apparently so distant
for us @ is precisely what is needed today.
Morris ? from conserationism to socialist ecology
William Morris was one of the outstanding Mar$ists in the period after Mar$#s death. Morris
propagated basic reolutionary socialist ideas on the nature of capitalism, class struggle, the state,
trade unions and on party organisation, helping to educate the new layer of working class militants
who rebuilt the British labour moement in the period of >ew /nionism and beyond.
Morris also made a distinctie contribution to the deelopment of Mar$ist ideas, for e$ample on the
nature of work and on the ision of a classless, communist society. But arguably his most significant
contribution ? and certainly one with great contemporary releance, was his conception of a
socialist ecology.
Morris# ideas hae long been recognised in this respect. 0n his )ntroduction to &olitical Writings of
William Morris, the <talinist historian =- Morton wrote% 63he working out of a truly self@renewing
ecological basis for the earth may well be the ne$t great task before humanity, a task impossible for
capitalism, possible though still not easy through <ocialism. 3he profound wisdom of Morris can be
of immense alue to us in attempting it.7 8(B5* p.*"9
0n this respect Morris was a pioneer and an innoator ? he eoled from conserationism to
integrate ecology within a Mar$ist framework. His iews hae much to teach us today in our age of
climactic conulsion.
Morris had a lifelong commitment to the conseration of the built and rural enironment. -ooking
back on his life of more than si$ty years, Morris told the Dail! Chronicle 8&* =pril ()B!9 of his
childhood, growing up near +pping ,orest and e$ploring the +sse$ rier marshes% 60 was always a
loer of the sad lowland country7, 6with the great domed line of the sky, and the sun shining down.7
8Paul 3hompson, The Work of William Morris, (BB( p.19
0n ()!' at the age of &", Morris traelled through >orthern ,rance. 3he historian Paul 3hompson
argues that this e$perience shaped the future landscape of his socialist noel set in the classless,
communist future, $ews from $owhere. Morris wrote detailed descriptions of the fields and attacked
the need to trael there by 6a nasty, brimstone, noisy, shrieking railway trainF erily railways are
=B.M0>=30.><7. 8(BB( p.)9
Morris later joined the fight to presere +pping ,orest from railway schemes, which were finally
defeated between ())" and ())*. He was actie in the 2ommons Preseration <ociety in the late
()5"s and early ())"s. 3he <ociety was responsible for legislation obliging landowners to take
account of the public interest, and for the preseration of public spaces such as Wimbledon
2ommon and Hampstead Heath. He was also actie in the Oyrle <ocieties, an early urban
enironmental pressure group founded in ()5!. More famously, he was a founder and committee
member of the <ociety for the Protection of =ncient Buildings 8<P=B9, known as =nti@<crape. 8Paul
3hompson (BB( pp.)@("9
0n March ())&, Morris supported a campaign against the -ondon and <outh Western <pring Water
2ompany sinking a well at 2arshalton, which would hae greatly affected the flow of the 4ier
Wandle. 0n the same month he added his name to a petition opposing the <ubmarine 4ailway
2ompanyKs plan to build a 2hannel 3unnel.
Morris on poetry, art and nature
Morris made his name as an artist and as a poet, and his commitment to conseration was
e$pressed through his work. His mode of e$pression was particularly influenced in this respect by
:ohn 4uskin, and many of his early pronouncements bear a striking resemblance to those found in
4uskin#s writings.
=boe all Morris articulated the horror at the effects of the industrial reolution. ,or e$ample in his
well@known poem, The Earthl! &aradise 8()1)@5"9, he wrote%
,orget si$ counties oerhung with smoke,
,orget the snorting steam and piston stroke,
,orget the spreading of the hideous townA
3hink rather of the pack@horse on the down,
=nd dream of -ondon, small and white and clean,
3he clear 3hames bordered by its gardens greenA
3hink, that below bridge the green lapping waes
<mite some few keels that bear -eantine staes,
2ut from the yew wood on the burnt@up hill,
>ature was also integral to Morris# conception of art. 0n his first public lecture, The 'esser Arts 8'
;ecember ()559, where he eCuated beauty with nature% He wrote% 6+erything made by man#s
hands has a form, which must be either beautiful or uglyA beautiful if it is accord with >ature, and
helps herA ugly if it is discordant with >ature, and thwarts her.7 8Morton (B5* p.**9
+en at this early stage, Morris understood that modern industrial capitalism 86commerce79 was the
root of enironmental degradation. He wrote% 60s money to be gatheredL 2ut down the pleasant
trees among the houses, pull down ancient and enerable buildings for the money that a few sCuare
yards of -ondon dirt will fetchA blacken riers, hide the son and poison the air with smoke and
worse, and its nobody#s business to see to it or mend it% that is all that modern commerceF will do
for us herein.7 8Morton (B5* p.!*9
=nd een at this early stage, Morris had a conception of the role of science and art in enironmental
protection and improement. He wrote% 6Eet there are matters which 0 should hae thought easy for
I<cienceJA say for e$ample teaching Manchester how to consume its own smoke, or -eeds how to
get rid of its superfluous black dye without turning it into the rierF7
,or Morris, art was crucial to the relationship between humanity and nature% 63hat art will make our
streets as beautiful as the woods, as eleating as the mountain@sides% it will be a pleasure and a
rest, and not a weight upon the spirits to come from the open country into a town, eery man#s
house will be fair and decent, soothing to his mind and helpful to his work% all the works of man that
we lie among will be in harmony with nature.7 8Morton (B5* p.!*, p.!!9
3hese themes were deeloped during the first fie years of his political actiity, the period before he
became a reolutionary socialist.
Morris e$horted 6those of you who are real artists7 to 6follow nature7 8The Art of the &eople, (B
,ebruary ()5B9 and argued that, 6loe of nature in all its forms must be the ruling spirit of such
works of art as we are considering7 8The 'esser Arts of 'ife, &( :anuary ())&9. He urged humanity
to rediscoer 6the greatest of all gifts to the world, the ery source of art, the natural beauty of the
earth7 8"peech to the 8!rle "ociet!, &5 :anuary ())(9.
Morris argued for action by conserationists to protect the countryside. His conception was largely
negatie, dwelling on the damage that humanity had done to nature. He wrote% 63here is one duty
obious to us allA it is that we should set ourseles, each one of us, to doing our best to guard the
natural beauty of the earth% we ought to look upon it as a crime, an injury to our fellows, only
e$cusable because of ignorance, to mar the natural beauty, which is the property of all menA and
scarce less than a crime to look on and do nothing while others are marring it, if we can no longer
plead this ignorance.7 8The &rospects of Architecture in Ciilisation, (" March ())(9
He e$pressed this in terms familiar to the stereotype of a conserationist% 6=gain, 0 must ask what
do you do with the trees on a site that is going to build oerL ;o you try to sae them, to adapt your
houses at all to themLF Pray do not forget, that any one of you who cuts down a tree wantonly or
carelessly, especially in a great town or its suburbs, need make no pretence of caring about art.7
8The *eaut! of 'ife, (B ,ebruary ())"9
But he also had a more millenarian, catastrophist iew on where the destruction of the enironment
was leading. He argued% 6Mankind, in striing to attain to a complete mastery oer >ature, should
destroy her simplest and widest@spread gifts, and thereby enslae simple people to them, and
themseles to themseles, and so at last drag the world into a second barbarismF a thousandfold
more hopeless, than the first.7 8The *eaut! of 'ife9
3here were neertheless elements of social ecology in his outlook at the time. 0n The *eaut! of 'ife
he railed against adertising hoardings, 6the daily increasing hideousness of the posters with which
all our towns are daubed7, arguing for a boycott% 60 think make up our minds neer to buy any of the
articles so adertised7. 0t was in this lecture that a e$pressed one of his best known dictums for
ecological liing% 6Hae nothing in your houses which you do not know to be useful, or beliee to be
beautiful.7
0n The &rospects of Architecture in Ciilisation, Morris outlined the reasons for political action on
ecology, arguing that we are 6responsible to posterity for what may befall the fairness of the earth in
our own days, for what we hae done7. He also set out some of his ideas on urban planning%
6.nce more neglect of art has done itA for though it is conceiable that the loss of your neighbouring
open space might in any case hae been a loss to you, still the building of a new Cuarter of a town
ought not to be an unmi$ed calamity to the neighbours% nor would it hae been once% for first, the
builder doesnKt now murder the trees 8at any rate not all of them9 for the trifling sum of money their
corpses will bring him, but because it will take him too much trouble to fit them into the planning of
his houses% so to begin with you would hae saed the more part of your treesA and 0 say your trees,
adisedly, for they were at least as much your trees, who loed them and would hae saed them,
as they were the trees of the man who neglected and murdered them. =nd ne$t, for any space you
would hae lost, and for any unaoidable destruction of natural growth, you would in the times of art
hae been compensated by orderly beauty, by isible signs of the ingenuity of man and his delight
both in the works of nature and the works of his own hands.7
=nd he began to articulate a conception of a different kind of society with a more harmonious
relationship to ecosystems% 6I/ntilJ we hae clear sky oer our heads and green grass beneath our
feetA until the great drama of the seasons can touch our workmen with other feelings than the
misery of winter and the weariness of summerF unless they make up their minds that they swill do
their best to gie us back the fairness of the earth.7
0n Art and the *eaut! of the Earth, 8(* .ctober ())(9 he implored his audience to 6turn this land
from the grimy back@yard of a workshop into a garden7. He also tied together his conceptions of art,
conseration and social betterment%
6We must learn to loe the narrow spot that surrounds our daily life for what of beauty and sympathy
there is in it. ,or surely there is no sCuare mile of earthKs inhabitable surface that is not beautiful in
its own way, if we men will only abstain from wilfully destroying that beautyA and it is this reasonable
share in the beauty of the earth that 0 claim as the right of eery man who will earn it by due labourA
a decent house with decent surroundings for eery honest and industrious familyA that is the claim
which 0 make of you in the name of art.7
Morris infused his socialism with ecology
<ometime in ())&, William Morris decided he was no longer a radical and began to associate
himself e$plicitly with socialism. He stated in %ow ) *ecame A "ocialist 8(1 :une ()B'9 that by the
summer of ())& he was ready 6to join any body who distinctly called themseles <ocialists.7
8+dward 3hompson, William Morris: Romantic to Reolutionar!, (B51 p.&1)9
0n :anuary ())* Morris joined the ;emocratic ,ederation and began his agitation for socialism ? a
commitment that he would maintain to his death. He continued to be a dedicated conserationist. 0n
his celebrated lecture Art under &lutocrac!, deliered at the 4ussell 2lub at .$ford /niersity in
>oember ())*, at which he unashamedly urged the audience to join the socialist cause, Morris
repeated some of his earlier themes.
He said% 60 can myself sympathise with a feeling which 0 suppose is still not rare, a craing to escape
sometimes to mere >atureF 0 can deeply sympathise with a weary man finding his account in
interest in mere life and communion with e$ternal nature, the face of the country, the wind and
weather, and the course of the day, and the lies of animals, wild and domesticA and manKs daily
dealings with all this for his daily bread, and rest, and innocent beast@like pleasure.7 8Morton (B5*
p.1*9
0n #nder an Elm.Tree+ or, Thoughts in the Countr!."ide, published in Commonweal 81 :uly ())B9,
he described his joy at the countryside%
6Midsummer in the country N here you may walk between the fields and hedges that are as it were
one huge nosegay for you, redolent of bean@flowers and cloer and sweet hay and elder@blossom.
3he cottage gardens are bright with flowers, the cottages themseles mostly models of architecture
in their way. =boe them towers here and there the architecture proper of days bygone, when eery
craftsman was an artist and brought definite intelligence to bear upon his work. Man in the past,
nature in the present, seem to be bent on pleasing you and making all things delightful to your
sensesA een the burning dusty road has a look of lu$ury as you lie on the strip of roadside green,
and listen to the blackbirds singing, surely for your benefit, and, 0 was going to say as if they were
paid to do it, but 0 was wrong, for as it is they seem to be doing their best.
=nd all, or let us say most things, are brilliantly alie. 3he shadowy bleak in the rier down yonder,
which is N ignorant of the fate that Barking 4each is preparing for its waters N sapphire blue under
this ruffling wind and cloudless sky, and barred across here and there with the pearly white@flowered
water@weeds, eery yard of its banks a treasure of delicate design, meadowsweet and dewberry
and comfrey and bed@straw N from the bleak in the rier, amongst the labyrinth of grasses, to the
starlings busy in the new shorn fields, or about the grey ridges of the hay, all is eager, and 0 think all
is happy that is not an$ious.7 8<almon (BB' p.'&19
0n $ews from $owhere, he has +llen e$press his what he would later call his 6deep loe of the earth
and the life on it7% 6. meH . meH How 0 loe the earth, and the seasons, and weather, and all things
that deal with it, and all that grows out of it, @ as this has doneH7 8Morton (B5* p.&'' and (B1)
p.*B(9
Howeer 0 would argue that his conersion to socialism deeloped his ecological politics in a
number of significant respects. 0n particular Morris deeloped a more sophisticated conception of
the relationship between nature and human society, a more adeCuate e$planation for the causes of
ecological degradation, a notion that the working class could become the ital social agency in
ecological as well as wider politics and a positie conception of socialism as a more ecologically
sensitie as well as a freer, more eCual and non@e$ploitatie mode of production. He also gae
more concrete responses on the nature of work under socialism 8including on factories and
machinery9, on forms of energy, on transport, on housing and urban life, and on lifestyle politics,
that repay reading today.
Morris on the nature ? society ne$us
Morris had read Mar$#s Capital in ,rench by ())' ? an authorised +nglish edition was still to be
properly translated at this time. 3he first fruits of this reading were contained in the lecture, #seful
Work ersus #seless Toil, 8&( :anuary ())'9. Morris e$presses the primacy of nature in terms ery
similar to Mar$, arguing that 6>ature does not gie us our lielihood gratisA we must win it by toil of
some sort of degree7 and that 6Wealth is what >ature gies us and what a reasonable man can
make out of the gifts of >ature for his reasonable use. 3he sunlight, the fresh air, the unspoiled face
of the earth, food, raiment IclothingJ and housing necessary and decentF7 8Morton (B5* p.)1, p.B(9
He also summed up the nature@society ne$us in the language of the time% 6Men urged by their
necessities and desires hae laboured for many thousands of years at the task of subjugating the
forces of >ature and of making the natural material useful to them. 3o our eyes, since we cannot
see into the future, that struggle with >ature seems nearly oer, and the ictory of the human race
oer her nearly completeF 3hus then hae the fruits of our ictory oer >ature been stolen from us,
thus has compulsion by >ature to labour in hope of rest, gain, and pleasure been turned into
compulsion by man to labour in hope @ of liing to labourH What shall we do then, can we mend itL
8Morton (B5* pp.B*@B'9
Morris repeated this theme in a lecture, %ow We 'ie and %ow We Might 'ie 8*" >oember ())'9.
He argued that humanity#s progress had been broken and halting 6and though he has indeed
conCuered >ature and has her forces under his control to do what he will with, he still has himself to
conCuer, he still has to think how he will best use those forces which he has mastered. =t present
he uses them blindly, foolishly, as one drien by mere fate. 0t would almost seem as if some
phantom of the ceaseless pursuit of food which was once the master of the saage was still
haunting the ciilised manA who toils in a dream, as it were, haunted by mere dim unreal hopes,
born of ague recollections of the days gone by. .ut of that dream he must wake, and face things
as they really are. 3he conCuest of >ature is complete, may we not sayL and now our business is
and has for long been the organisation of man, who wields the forces of >ature.7 8Morton (B5*
p.('19
Morris came close to identifying the dichotomy between nature and human society that Mar$ called
in 2apital the 6metabolic rift7. 3his was most eloCuently e$pressed in "ocialism from the Root #p,
jointly written with Ba$ and published in Commonweal 8(B May ()))9%
62onseCuently, with the deelopment of material ciilisation from the domination of things by
persons to that of persons by things, and the conseCuent falling asunder of <ociety into two
classes, a possessing and dominating class, and a non@possessing and dominated one, arose a
condition of <ociety which gae leisure to the possessing or slae@holding class, the result of which
was a possibility of obseration and reflection amongst the upper class. =s a conseCuence of this a
process of reflection arose among this class which distinguished man as a conscious being from the
rest of nature. ,rom this again arose a dual conception of things% on the one hand was man, which
was familiar and known, on the other nature, which was mysterious and relatiely unknown. 0n
nature itself grew a further distinction between its isible objects now regarded as unconscious
things, and a supposed motie power which acted on them from behind, which was conceied of as
manlike in character, but aboe mankind in knowledge and power, and no longer a part of the things
themseles, but without them, and moing and controlling them.7 8<almon (BB' pp.1()@1(B9
Morris also e$pressed this idea in his fiction. 0n $ews from $owhere, he has 2lara sum it up% 6Was
not their mistake once more bred of the life of slaery that they had been liingL @ a life which was
always looking upon eerything, e$cept mankind, animate and inanimate @ Knature,K as people used
to call it @ as one thing, and mankind as another. 0t was natural to people thinking in this way, that
they should try to make KnatureK their slae, since they thought KnatureK was something outside
them.7 8Morton (B1) p.*159
=nd Morris belieed that through the socialist reorganisation of society the reconciliation of human
society and nature would be affected. Humanity would be 6set free from intestine warfare among
ourseles for the nobler contest with >ature, and should find that she also when conCuered, would
be our friend, and not our enemy7. Attractie 'a(our, 2ommonweal, :une ())! in <almon (BB'
p.B59
>ot that socialism was simply a panacea for all ecological problems. 0n a lecture, "ociet! of the
5uture 8(* >oember ())59 raised the possibility of more profound changes in humanity#s
relationship with the enironment, where socialism would be 6a society conscious of a wish to keep
life simple, to forgo some of the power oer >ature won by past ages in order to be more human
and less mechanical, and willing to sacrifice something to this end.7 8Morton (B5* p.&"(9
Morris on the causes of ecological degradation
Morris held to a materialist appreciation of the connection between human productie actiity and
the ruination of the enironment. 0n a lecture The Dawn of a $ew Epoch, first deliered on 1 :une
())1, he e$pressed the matter succinctly% 6-ike all other systems of society, it IcapitalismJ is
founded on the necessity of man conCuering his subsistence from >ature by labour.7
He continued to make general statements about the link between modern society and
enironmental degradation. ,or e$ample in an article, #nattractie 'a(our, published in
Commonweal, May ())! he argued% 60t is no e$aggeration to say that our ciilisation has destroyed
the attractieness of labour, and that by more means than one% by lengthening the hours of labour%
by intensifying the labour during its continuanceA by the forcing of the workmen into noisy, dirty,
crowded factoriesA by the aggregation of the population into cities and manufacturing districts, and
the conseCuent destruction of all beauty and decency of surroundings. 8<almon (BB' pp.)B@B"9
=nd he made the link between the conspicuous consumption of the rich and the destruction of
nature. 0n "ociet! of the 5uture 8(* >oember ())59 he argued% 6What brings about lu$ury but a
sickly discontent with the simple joys of the loely earthLF <hall 0 tell you what lu$ury has done for
you in modern +uropeL 0t has coered the merry green fields with the hoels of slaes, and blighted
the flowers and trees with poisonous gases, and turned the riers into sewers, till oer many parts
of Britain the common people hae forgotten what a field or a flower is like, and their idea of beauty
is a gas@poisoned gin palace or a tawdry theatre.7 8Morton (B5* p.(B*9
Howeer more significantly, Morris e$plicitly connected ecological destruction with the political
economy of capitalism. .n the most superficial leel, he identified the pursuit of profit as the
principal cause of this damage.
0n an early article in the Justice newspaper, Wh! $ot:, published on (& =pril ())', he wrote% 6Why
are men huddled together in unmanageable crowds in the sweltering hells we call big townsL ,or
profitKs sakeA so that a resere army of labour may always be ready to hand for reduction of wages
under the iron law, and to supply the sudden demand of the capitalist gamblers, falsely called
Porganisers of labourF Why should any house, or group of lodgings, arranged in flats or otherwise,
be without a pleasant and ample garden, and a good play@groundL Because profit and competition
rents forbid it. Why should one third of +ngland be so stifled and poisoned with smoke that oer the
greater part of Eorkshire 8for instance9 the general idea must be that sheep are naturally blackL and
why must Eorkshire and -ancashire riers run mere filth and dyeL Profit will hae it so% no one any
longer pretends that it would not be easy to preent such crimes against decent life% but the
Korganisers of labour,K who might better be called Korganisers of filth,K know that it wouldnKt pay.7
8<almon (BB' p.&!@&19
-ater in that year, he e$pressed the same sentiment in the lecture, %ow We 'ie and %ow We
Might 'ie 8*" >oember ())'9% 6=nd once for all, there is nothing in our circumstances sae the
hunting of profit that dries us into it. 0t is profit which draws men into enormous unmanageable
aggregations called towns, for instanceA profit which crowds them up when they are there into
Cuarters without gardens or open spacesA profit which wonKt take the most ordinary precautions
against wrapping a whole district in a cloud of sulphurous smokeA which turns beautiful riers into
filthy sewers, which condemns all but the rich to lie in houses idiotically cramped and confined at
the best, and at the worst in houses for whose wretchedness there is no name.7 8Morton (B5*
p.(!*@!'9
=s well as this general point about profit, Morris also e$plained how the drie to accumulate infects
all aspects of life, including the pursuit of knowledge. Morris argued that the ruling class 6allows
learned men to seek out the secrets of nature and to subdue her forces because those matters can
be turned to the adantage of the profit market7 8Art and the &eople, (& :une ())*9 and that
6science is allowed to lie because profit can be made out of her7. 8The Worker4s "hare of Art, =pril
())! in <almon (BB' p.)19
Morris also pointed to concrete e$amples where profiteering led to both enironmental degradation
and to the loss of human life. ,or e$ample, on *( May ())B in :ohnstown, a steel company town in
Pennsylania was deastated by the worst flood in /< history. .er &,&"" were killed, with many
more made homeless. Morris wrote an angry account in Commonweal 8(! :une ())B9% 63he dam
aboe what was once :ohnstown in Pennsylania turns out to hae been the crowning triumph of
what we call in +ngland jerry@building i.e. building not for the use of the public but for the profit of the
speculator. 3he crowd of unfortunate people who were lost in that stupendous tragedy hae in fact
been sacrificed to the demon of profit@mongering to which hundreds and thousands of the
disinherited classes are sacrificed eery dayF 3o the demon of profit they were sacrificed, and also
to the demon of waste% for it seems that huge mass of water, held temporarily in check by its jerry
built dam, was in fact a pleasure lake, the property of a fishing club.7 8<almon (BB1 p.!)'9
Morris made a further step forward in Commonweal by e$plicitly identifying the bourgeois class as
the agent of enironmental ruin. 0n The Worker4s "hare of Art 8=pril ())!9 he wrote that 6the
adance of the industrial army under its Gcaptains of industry# 8sae the markH9 is traced, like the
adance of other armies, in the ruin of the peace and loeliness of ItheJ earth#s surface, and nature,
who will hae us lie at any cost, compels us to get used to our degradation at the e$pense of
losing our manhood, and producing children doomed to lie less like men than ourseles. -ater in
his $otes on $ews column 8&) ;ecember ())B9, he accused the middle class of making 6the
beautiful garden@like countryside of +ngland into a mere hell of barrenness for the people who feed
youH = hell from which the country people flee to that other hell of the city slumsF7 8<almon (BB'
p.)!, (BB1 p.1'&9
3herefore Morris deeloped a rudimentary appreciation that it was capitalism that was the cause of
ecological degradation. 3his was the first step in deeloping a socialist responseA a necessary step
but only a start. What else was needed was a societal alternatie and a social agent for carrying out
the transformation.
Morris on the working class as the agent of socialist ecology
Perhaps Morris# most significant breakthrough was to identify working class action and the socialist
moement more generally as the essential social agents in protecting the enironment. 4ather than
appeal generally for upstanding people in general to protect nature, his message was e$plicitly
aimed at and designed to mobilise a specific class ? the working class.
3he first breakthrough in this respect came ery early in his conersion to socialism. 0n a letter to an
unknown correspondent, 8' <eptember ())&9, he looked forward to a time 6when the workmen of
some manufacturing district will strike to compel their masters to consume their own smoke7. 8Meier
(B5) p.'&!9
He made the point more e$plicitly in public when he deliered his lecture Art: a "erious Thing at the
annual distribution of priRes of the -eek <chool of =rt on (& ;ecember ())&. He said% 60 hae taken
note of many strikes, and 0 must needs say without circumlocution that with many of these 0 hae
heartily sympathised% but when the day comes that there is a serious strike of workmen against the
poisoning of the air with smoke or the waters with filth, 0 shall think that art is getting on indeed7.
8-emire (B1B p.!(9
-ater, writing in Commonweal on &1 ,ebruary ())5 he appealed 6to all <ocialists to do their best to
presere the beauty and interest of the country. 0t is true that it is a part of that wealth in which the
workers under our present system are not allowed to share. But when we hae abolished the
artificial famine caused by capital, we shall not be so pinched and poor that we cannot afford
ourseles the pleasure of a beautiful landscape because it doesn#t produce ironstone, or of a
beautiful building because it won#t do for a cotton mill, and that pleasure will not then be confined to
a few well@to@do people, but will be there to be enjoyed by all7. 8<almon (BB1 p.&""9
Morris did not go on to discuss the potential contradictions in workers fighting to defend the
enironment ? for e$ample the impact on jobs and wages. Howeer he was one of the first to put
the working class at the centre of ecological action and with that step he went beyond the bounds of
most of latter@day green actiists.
,or Morris, the wider point of working class action was to take power and to create of a socialist
society. 0n #nattractie 'a(our 8May ())!9 he affirmed 6the hope of reolution, of the transformation
of ciilisation, now become on the face of it a mere corruption and curse to the world, into
<ocialism, which will set free the hands and minds of men for the production and safeguarding of
the beauty of life7. 8<almon (BB' p.B"9
.ne of the strengths of Morris# Mar$ism was in the way he laid out the basic conditions a socialist
society would meet. 0n an early lecture, Art and "ocialism 8&* :anuary ())'9 he summed up what
he called 6the due necessaries for a good citiRen7 and that these would not be bought at the cost of
damage to the enironment. 3he conditions were%
6,irst, honourable and fitting work% which would inole giing him a chance of gaining capacity for
his work by due educationA also, as the work must be worth doing and pleasant to do, it will be
found necessary to this end that his position be so assured to him that he cannot be compelled to
do useless work, or work in which he cannot take pleasure.
63he second necessity is decency of surroundings% including 8a9 good lodgingA 8b9 ample spaceA 8c9
general order and beauty. 3hat is 8a9 our houses must be well built, clean and healthyA 8b9 there
must be abundant garden space in our towns, and our towns must not eat up the fields and natural
features of the countryA nay 0 demand een that there be left waste places and wilds in it, or
romance and poetryNthat is =rtNwill die out amongst us. 8c9 .rder and beauty means, that not
only our houses must be stoutly and properly built, but also that they be ornamented duly% that the
fields be not only left for cultiation, but also that they be not spoilt by it any more than a garden is
spoilt% no one for instance to be allowed to cut down, for mere profit, trees whose loss would spoil a
landscape% neither on any prete$t should people be allowed to darken the daylight with smoke, to
befoul riers, or to degrade any spot of earth with sCualid litter and brutal wasteful disorder.
63he third necessity is leisure. Eou will understand that in using that word limply first that all men
must work for some portion of the day, and secondly that they hae a positie right to claim a
respite from that work% the leisure they hae a right to claim, must be ample enough to allow them
full rest of mind and bodyA a man must hae time for serious indiidual thought, for imaginationNfor
dreaming eenNor the race of men will ineitably worsen. +en of the honourable and fitting work
of which 0 hae been speaking, which is a whole heaen asunder from the forced work of the
2apitalist system, a man must not be asked to gie more than his fair shareA or men will become
uneCually deeloped, and there will still be a rotten place in <ociety.7 8Morton (B5* p.(&5@(&)9
What would ensure that these conditions were metL =gain, Morris was perfectly clear ? the
common ownership and democratic control of the means of production was crucial. 0n the lecture
Monopol!: or, %ow 'a(our is Ro((ed, 8&" ,ebruary ())59, he argued that 6those raw materials and
tools would be the property of the whole community, and would be used by eery one in it, on the
terms that they should repair the waste in them and not engross undue shares of them7. He made
the same point in one of his last lectures, entitled Communism, and gien to the Hammersmith
<ocialist <ociety in ()B*% 63he resources of nature therefore, and the wealth used for the production
of further wealth, the plant and stock in short, should be communised7. 8Morton (B5* p.&*!9
Within this perspectie, science and technology are put to ecological rectification. 0n #seful Work
ersus #seless Toil, 8&( :anuary ())'9, he argued that under socialism% 6<cience duly applied
would enable them to get rid of refuse, to minimise, if not wholly to destroy, all the inconeniences
which at present attend the use of elaborate machinery, such as smoke, stench, and noiseA nor
would they endure that the buildings in which they worked or lied should be ugly blots on the fair
face of the earth.7 8Morton (B5* p.("'9
0n short, under socialism 6ciilised man will no longer seem 8as he does now9 to be the enemy of
nature, to shame her and befoul her, and turn her rest and order and beauty into feerish ragged
sCualorA the house shall be like a natural growth of the meadow, and the city a necessary fulfilment
of the alleyF of days made up of unwearisome work, and of leisure restful but not acant7. 8Art: a
"erious Thing in -emire (B1B p.'B9
0n another early article, The Dull 'eel of 'ife, published in Justice, 8&1 =pril ())'9, he was een
more e$plicit about the aims of socialism% 63o use the forces of nature by means of uniersal co@
operation for the purpose of gaining generous and eCual lielihood for all, leaing them free to enjoy
their lies, and to emulate each other in, producing pleasure for themseles and othersF7 8<almon
(BB' pp.*"@*(9
Morris also laid bear how the relationship between nature and humanity would be reconciled under
communism in his fiction. 0n $ews from $owhere 8()B"9 he dreamt that 6+nglandF is now a
garden, where nothing is wasted and nothing is spoilt, with the necessary dwellings, sheds, and
workshops scattered up and down the country, all trim and neat and pretty7.
He went on%
6<aid 0% G.ne thing, it seems to me, does not go with your word of Ggarden# for the country. Eou hae
spoken of wastes and forests, and 0 myself hae seen the beginning of your Middlese$ and +sse$
forest. Why do you keep such things in a gardenL and isnKt it ery wasteful to do soL#
GMy friend,# he said, Gwe like these pieces of wild nature, and can afford them, so we hae themA let
alone that as to forests, we need a great deal of timber, and suppose that our sons and our sonsK
sons will do the like. =s to the land being a garden, 0 hae heard that they used to hae shrubberies
and rockeries in gardens onceA and though 0 might not like the artificial ones, 0 assure you that some
of the natural rockeries of our garden are worth seeing#.7 8Morton (B1) p.&!', p.&!19
0n short under communism, 6the spirit of the new days, of our days, was to be delight in the life of
the worldA intense and oerweening loe of the ery skin and surface of the earth on which man
dwells7. 8Morton (B1) p.*(59
Morris on work under socialism
=nother of Morris# contributions to Mar$ism was his positie conception of work under socialism. >ot
for Morris @ as for his contemporary Paul -afargue ? the right to be laRy. He was fond of ;aniel
;efoe#s dictum about working to lie, not liing to work, but what he really wanted was the
transformation of work, firstly to minimise the amount of necessary labour, to share that labour out
eCually and to make it as bearable as possibleA and secondly to free up time for work of an
indiidual#s own choosing.
0n "ocialism from the Root #p 8! May ()))9, he elaborated this conception of work at greater
length%
63o make the matter of production under 2ommunism clearer let us consider the arious kinds of
work which the welfare of 2ommunal <ociety would demand.
,irst, there would be a certain amount of necessary work to be done which would be usually
repellent to ordinary personsA some of this, probably the greater part of it, would be performed by
machineryA and it must be remembered that machinery would be improed and perfected without
hesitation when the restrictions laid on production by the e$igencies of profit@making were remoed.
But probably a portion of this work at once necessary and repellent could not be done by
machinery. ,or this portion olunteers would hae to be relied uponAF =s e$amples of this
necessary and usually repellent work, we may gie scaengering, sewer@cleaning, coal@hewing,
midwifery, and mechanical clerkKs workF ;isagreeable work which a 2ommunal <ociety found itself
saddled with as a surial of past times, and which it found out not to be necessary, it would get rid
of altogether.
<econdly, work in itself more or less disagreeable, and not absolutely necessary, but desirable if the
sacrifice to be paid for it were not too greatF rough occupationsF such as sea@fishing, e$ploration
of new countries, etcF
3hirdly, we come to a kind of work which we may well hope will take a much higher position in
communal life than it does at presentA we mean work that has in it more or less of artA and we
should here say that the ery foundation of eerything that can be called art is the pleasure of
creation, which is, or should be felt in eery handicraft.7 8<almon (BB' pp.1('@1(!9
3he duration of necessary work was important. =s the Manifesto of the "ocialist 'eague, published
in ,ebruary ())! e$pressed it, 6the essential work of the world will be reduced to something like two
or three hoursF7 8<almon (BB1 p.19
But it was the transformation of work that mattered most, reaching right down to the indiidual
workplace. 0n an early article, A 5actor! As )t Might *e, published in Justice, 8(5 May ())'9 he
wrote that% 6.ur factory then, is in a pleasant place% no ery difficult matter, when as 0 hae said
before it is no longer necessary to gather people into able sweltering hordes for profitKs sake% for all
the country is in itself pleasant or is capable of being made pleasant with ery little pains and
forethought. >e$t, our factory stands amidst gardens as beautiful 8climate apart9 as those of
=lcinous, since there is no need of stinting it of ground, profit rents being a thing of the past and the
labour on such gardens is like enough to be purely oluntary.7
=nd he was clear that the factories of the future would be ecologically calibrated% 6Well, it follows on
this garden business that our factory must make no sordid litter, befoul no water, nor poison the air
with smoke. 0 need say nothing more on that point, as PprofitP apart it would be easy enough.7
8<almon (BB' p.**, p.*'9
Morris on machinery and workplace safety
.ne of the great myths about Morris is that he was hostile to technology. =t best this myth is based
on a ery partial reading of his writings, and the e$traction of his comments about the limits of
machinery in socialist society. 3ypical of this genre was his comment on +dward Bellamy#s utopia
'ooking *ackward, which he reiewed in Commonweal, 8&& :une ())B9.
Morris wrote sarcastically% 60n short, a machine@life is the best which Mr Bellamy can imagine for us
on all sidesF this ideal of the great reduction of the hours of labour by the mere use of machinery is
a futility. 3he human race has always put forth about as much energy as it could under gien
conditions of climateF and the deelopment of men#s resources, which has gien him greater
powers oer >ature, has drien him also into fresh desires and fresh demands on nature, and this
has made his e$penditure of energy much what it was before. 0 beliee this will always be so, and
the multiplication of machinery will just multiply machines.7 8<almon (BB' pp.'&*@'&'9
=side from his obseration of energy and climate, Morris# point about the malleability of human
needs and on the capacity of machine use to meet them is realistic, rather than dismissie.
More importantly, he anticipated the objection about getting rid of machines and answered it in a
number of different places. 0n an early article, Work )n A 5actor! As )t Might *e, published in
Justice, 8*( May ())'9 he positiely commended the use of machinery under socialism, where 6the
most ingenious and best approed kinds will be used when necessary, but will be used simply to
sae human labour7. 0t was the use of machines under capitalism that Morris abhorred, not
technology per se. =s he put it% 6M achines once used for mere profit grinding but now used only for
saing human labour, it follows that much less labour will be necessary for each workmanA all the
more as we are going to get rid of all non@workers, and busy@idle peopleA so that the working time of
each member of our factory will be ery short, say, to be much within the mark, four hours a day.7
8<almon (BB' p.'"9
He was een more e$plicit in the lecture %ow We 'ie and %ow We Might 'ie, deliered later that
year% 6Before 0 leae this matter of the surroundings of life, 0 wish to meet a possible objection. 0
hae spoken of machinery being used freely for releasing people from the more mechanical and
repulsie part of necessary labourA and 0 know that to some cultiated people, people of the artistic
turn of mind, machinery is particularly distasteful, and they will be apt to say you will neer get your
surroundings pleasant so long as you are surrounded by machinery. 0 donKt Cuite admit thatA it is the
allowing machines to be our masters and not our serants that so injures the beauty of life
nowadays. 0n other words, it is the token of the terrible crime we hae fallen into of using our control
of the powers of >ature for the purpose of enslaing people, we care less meantime of how much
happiness we rob their lies of.7 8Morton (B5* p.(!!@!19
What Morris did highlight were the haRards associated with industrial production. 0n Commonweal,
8&* .ctober ())19 he commented upon a case of white@lead poisoning that had been reported in
the press that week. He wrote% 6<tripped of erbiage it amounts to this, that a man was killed by
being compelled to work in a place where white lead was flying about, and that no precautions were
taken to preent his dying speedilyF 0t is Cuite impossible that the man#s employers did not know
the risk he ran of this speedier death, and the certainty of his being poisoned sooner or later.7
8<almon (BB1 p.('19
0n another article three years later 8&& :une ())B9, he wrote about a tram@car incident in which a
boy was killed, which emphasised what we now call corporate accountability rather than indiidual
culpability of driers. He wrote% 6We hae nothing to say about the men who hae been arrested%
een if they should be proed to be guilty of carelessness, yet after all it is not they who would be
the real criminals, but rather ourseles, who allow monopolist companies to work our railways for
profit, with the necessary conseCuence of low wages and long hours and shorthandedness among
the underlings out of whose pay and leisure the monopolists hae to scrape up a diidend. What
can come of such a system but misery and disaster on all handsL 8<almon (BB1 p.!)59
Morris on energy
Morris had less to say of contemporary releance on energy, which is hardly surprising since
renewables were barely een dreamt of when he was politically actie.
He did howeer maintain an aersion to the coal industry, and e$pressed this sentiment in terms
that are strikingly prescient to the concerns about the Oingsnorth deelopment. 0n an article in
Commonweal entitled Coal in 8ent 8) March ()B"9, he wrote% 63he news that coal had been
discoered in OentF 3he threat of the creation of a new black country on the ruins of the rural
beauty of some of the most beautiful country in +ngland, and close to -ondon also, must impress
most well@to@do people.7
He added% 6But to non@<ocialist workers 0 must point out that whateer gains may be made will pass
by themF and will but destroy the beauty of the country which will one day be theirs in reality, and
not in name only as it is now. = few rich men will be richerA that is to say, they will waste more of the
labour of the workers than they do now.7 8<almon (BB' p.'1', p.'1!9
;espite his aersion to coal, Morris knew where he stood a short time later when miners came out
on strike. He wrote in The 9reat Coal "trike, 8&& March ()B"9% 6-et us look at it from the same point
of iew, and understand that it is a battle, not a mere business dispute. 0f the miners act well
together, and if they are supported by the sympathy of their brother workers, een those who will
suffer by the strike, they will now for the first time understand their power, and a weapon for the
hand of reolution will be fashioned, which will be irresistibleA which can only be resisted by the
brute@force in the hands of the upper classes N i.e., the army and police. 3his instrument, the
striking@power of the coal miners backed by the assent of their fellow workers, being once ready,
there will be nothing between us and reolution but a knowledge on the part of the workers of what
to claim, which can be nothing short of an abolition of the monopoly of the resources of nature N
i.e. the land and all that is on it which is used for the reproduction of wealth.7 8<almon (BB' p.'1B9
.n alternatie energy sources, Morris held out the hope that electricity 8along with wood9 would be
a iable alternatie to coal. =pparently he wrote to Bruce Dlasier% 6,or myself, 0 should be glad if we
could do without coalF We could get plenty of timber for our domestic fires if we cultiated and
cared for our forests as we might doA and with water and with power we now allow to go to waste,
so to say, and with or without electricity, we could perhaps obtain the bulk of the motie power which
might be reCuired for the essential mechanical industries.7 8Meier (B5) p.**"9
He e$pressed a similar idea in :ustice on (& =pril ())', in the article Wh! $ot:% 6F it seems
probable that the deelopment of electricity as a motie power will make it easier to undo the eils
brought upon us by capitalist tyranny when we regain our senses and determine to lie like human
beingsA but een if it turns out that we must still be dependent on coal and steam for force, much
could still be done towards making life pleasant if uniersal co@operation in manufacture and
distribution were to take the place of our present competitie anarchy.7 8<almon (BB' p.&'9
Morris on transport
.n transport, Morris was een more a prisoner of his time. ;espite his conersion to socialism he
remained hostile to rail transport, describing 6the beastly sewers through which run stink@traps
under the name of carriages ? the whole of which arrangement is dignified by the name of the
Metropolitan and ;istrict 4ailways7. 8Commonweal, May ())1 in <almon (BB1 p.5(9
Perhaps we should put this down to the fact that trains in his day were priately run steam engines
powered by coal. Morris continued to oppose the e$tension of the railways into the countryside,
though in his socialist years by emphasising the unscrupulous profiteers behind the e$pansion
plans. When some capitalists sought to run a line through the -ake ;istrict in ())5, he wrote in
Commonweal% 6.f course, as things go now, the -ake railway is not a Cuestion of conenience of
the =mblesiders, or the pleasure of the world in general, but profit of a knot of persons leagued
together against the public in general under the name of a railway company.7
He picked up the argument again two weeks later. 60t seems to me that our friend in his enthusiasm
for railways in unconsciously playing into the hands of the capitalist robbers, who are the only
persons who will be really benefited by it as all things go. 0n the first place this railway is meant to
be the first step in the inasion of the -ake 2ountry and will certainly not stop at =mbleside if the
projectors can help it. 3he Cuestion is nothing less than this, is the beauty of the -ake country, and
the natural wish people hae to see it and enjoy it, to be handed oer to be e$ploited without
limitation by a company who looks upon the public as so much material for e$ploitationL7 8<almon
(BB1 p.&"", p.&"19
3he only hint of something different came somewhat surprisingly in $ews from $owhere, where
after seeral journeys on in a horse drawn carriage the isitor to the communist future came upon
mysteriously powered rier barges.
He wrote% 6+ery now and then we came on barges, laden with hay or other country produce, or
carrying bricks, lime, timber, and the like, and these were going on their way without any means of
propulsion isible to me @ just a man at the tiller, with often a friend or two laughing and talking with
him. ;ick, seeing on one occasion this day that 0 was looking rather hard on one of these, said
P3hat is one of our force@bargesA it is Cuite as easy to work ehicles by water as by land.P
0 understood pretty well that these Pforce@ehiclesP had taken the place of our old steam@power
carryingA but 0 took good care not to ask any Cuestions about them, as 0 knew well enough both that
0 should neer be able to understand how they were worked, and that in attempting to do so 0
should betray myself, or get into some complication impossible to e$plainA so 0 merely said, PEes, of
course, 0 understand.P 8Morton (B1) p.*'B@*!"9
Morris on town and country
Morris apparently disliked urban liing before he became a socialist, and he appears to hae carried
oer this attitude into his socialist actiity. 0n an early article in Justice, entitled Wh! $ot: 8(& =pril
())'9 he lamented that under capitalism, 6it is difficult to see anything which might stop the growth
of these horrible brick encampmentsA its tendency is undoubtedly to depopulate the country and
small towns for the adantage of the great commercial and manufacturing centresA but this eil, and
it is a monstrous one, will be no longer a necessary eil when we hae got rid of land monopoly,
manufacturing for the profit of indiiduals, and the stupid waste of competitie distribution7. 8<almon
(BB' p.&'9
>owhere was this hostility e$pressed more clearly than on -ondon. 0n a lecture The Depression of
Trade, 8(& :uly ())!9 he said% 6While 0 speak to you -ondon is practically undrained% a huge mass
of sewage, which should be used for fertilising the fields of Oent and +sse$ now and especially the
latter actually passing out of cultiation, a wall of filth is accumulating at the mouth of the 3hames
garnering up for us who knows what seeds of pestilence and death.7 8-emire (B1B p.(&(9
Morris had just finished reading the noel After 'ondon by 4ichard :efferies. He wrote to Deorgina
Burne@:ones in =pril ())! that, 60 read a Cueer book called After 'ondon coming down% 0 rather liked
it% absurd hopes curled around my heart as 0 read7. 3he story inoled a cataclysmic meteor strike
that affected sea leels and wiped out cities and most of the population. =ccording to Paul Meier,
6the description of the former site of -ondon was especially impressie. 3he ruins are buried in a
pestilential swamp where there is nothing but decay, feer@laden miasmas, choking phosphorescent
mists, where the stagnant water, penetrating deeper and deeper into the ground, brings up as foul
gases the contents of millenary sewers replete with e$cretion of hundreds of millions of human
beings. 0n this ast accused region no life can e$ist dreams of enturing there7. 8(B5) pp.1)@5"9
=s far as his ision of the future is concerned, he dreamed of the countrification of the capital. 0n
"ociet! of the 5uture, 8(* >oember ())59 he imagined 6a few pleasant illages on the side of the
3hames might mark the place of that preposterous piece of folly once called -ondon7. 8Morton (B5*
p.(B59 0n $ews from $owhere, -ondon had completely changed and was coered in forests.
His communist fiction also e$pressed his preference for the countryside. He wrote% P3he change,P
said Hammond, Pwhich in these matters took place ery early in our epoch, was most strangely
rapid. People flocked into the country illages, and, so to say, flung themseles upon the freed land
like a wild beast upon his preyA and in a ery little time the illages of +ngland were more populous
than they had been since the fourteenth century, and were still growing fast. .f course, this inasion
of the country was awkward to deal with, and would hae created much misery, if the folk had still
been under the bondage of class monopoly. But as it was, things soon righted themseles. People
found out what they were fit for, and gae up attempting to push themseles into occupations in
which they must needs fail. 3he town inaded the countryA but the inaders, like the warlike
inaders of early days, yielded to the influence of their surroundings, and became country peopleA
and in their turn, as they became more numerous than the townsmen, influenced them alsoA so that
the difference between town and country grew less and lessA and it was indeed this world of town@
bred folk which has produced that happy and leisurely but eager life of which you hae had a first
taste. 8Morton (B1) pp.&!*@&!'9
/nder communism, Morris faoured the interpenetration of the town by the countryside, and ice
ersa to some e$tent. 0n one of his later lectures, Town and Countr! 8()B&9 he e$pressed this more
theoretically% 63own and country are generally put in a kind of contrast, but we will see what kind of
a contrast there has been, is, and may be between themA how far that contrast is desirable or
necessary, or whether it may not be possible in the long run to make the town a part of the country
and the country a part of the towns. 0 think 0 may assume that, on the one hand, there is nobody
here so abnormally made as not to take a pleasure in green fields, and trees, and riers, and
mountains, the beings, human and otherwise, that inhabit those scenes, and in a word, the general
beauty and incident of nature% and that, on the other, we all of us find human intercourse necessary
to us, and een the e$citement of those forms of it which can only be had where large bodies of
men lie together.7
Howeer it would be a mistake to interpret these comments as making Morris wholeheartedly
opposed to urban life. 0n "ociet! of the 5uture he recognised that 6the aggregation of the population
haing sered its purpose of giing people opportunities of inter@communication and of making the
workers feel their solidarity, will also come to and end7. 8Morton (B5* p.(B19
.f course these factors are precisely those that make urban liing so significant for workers and for
socialists. 0t is hard to imagine this being much different under socialism. 0t is a tribute to Morris#
ision that he tried to conceie of a different relationship between town and country ? though 0#m not
coninced he was able to work it out.
Howeer it is clear that Morris did not enisage socialism as isolated rural liing, preferring it seems
small town communities. 0n Commonweal, 8(5 =ugust ())B9 he argued that 6the liing in small
communities is not in theory an essential of this great change though 0 hae little doubt that it would
bring about such a way of liing and abolish big cities, whichF 0 think much to be desired.7 8<almon
(BB' p.''!9
0nstead he adocated town planning under socialism. 0n the lecture Makeshift, 8() >oember ()B'9,
he argued% 6the centre with its big public buildings, theatres, sCuares and gardens% the Rone round
the centre with its lesser guildhalls grouping together the houses of the citiRensA again with its parks
and gardensA the outer Rone again, still its district of public buildings, but with no definite gardens to
it because the whole of this outer Rone would be a garden thickly besprinkled with houses and other
buildings. =nd at last the suburb proper, mostly fields and fruit gardens with scanty houses dotted
about till you come to the open country with its occasional farm@steads. 3here would be a city for
you.7
=nd despite his personal tastes, Morris came to see that under capitalism, some reforms should be
adocated to alleiate the worst e$cesses of the system. 0n Communism, 8()B*9 he said% 6Who can
Cuarrel with the attempts to reliee the sordidness of ciilised town life by the public acCuirement of
parks and other open spaces, planting of trees, establishment of free libraries and the likeL7 8Morton
(B5* p.&&)9
Morris on housing and liing conditions
Morris was more coherent when commenting more concretely on housing under socialism. 0n The
%ousing of the &oor, an article published in Justice, 8(B :uly ())'9, he wrote%
60t might be adisable, granting the e$istence of huge towns for the present, that the houses for
workers should be built is tall blocks, in what might be called ertical streetsA but that need not
preent ample room in each lodging, so as to include such comforts of space, airA and priacy as
eery moderately liing middle class family considers itself entitled toA also it must not preent the
lodgings haing their due share of pure air and sunlight, necessaries of life which the builders of the
aboe mentioned bastilles do not seem to hae thought of at all. 3his gathering of many small
houses into a big tall one would gie opportunity for what is also necessary to decent life, that is
garden space round each block. 3his space once obtained, it would be a small matter to make the
gardens far more beautiful, as they would be certainly far more cheerful, than the sCuare gardens of
the aristocratic Cuarters of the town now areA it would be natural to hae cloisters or coered
walking or playing places in them, besides such cheap ornaments as fountains and conduits. 0nside
the houses, besides such obious coneniences as common laundries and kitchens, a ery little
arrangement would gie the dwellers in them ample and airy public rooms in addition to their priate
onesA the top story of each block might well be utilised for such purposes, the great hall for dining in,
and for social gathering, being the chief feature of it.7
0n fact he made better housing one of the foundations of a more ecologically sound system. He
went on in the same article% 63he possession of space and pure air, with the determination not to
lie in the midst of ugliness, which relief from an$iety and oerwork would gie our mechanics, who
are ingenious and ready witted still in spite of their slaery, would supply the stimulus for such town@
houses being made proper dwellings for human beings, een in the transition period between the
anarchy of to@day and the social order which is to come. = fair portion of the earthKs surface, due
leisure for the e$ercise of thought, ingenuity, and fancyA that is all we ask for making our dwellings
healthful, pleasant, and beautiful.7 8<almon (BB' pp.!(@!&9
=long with changes in housing, he also foresaw wider changes in liing arrangements ? such as
communal eating and other public serices. 0n %ow We 'ie and %ow We Might 'ie, 8*"
>oember ())'9, he told his audience% 6=s to what e$tent it may be necessary or desirable for
people under social order to lie in common, we may differ pretty much according to our tendencies
towards social life. ,or my part 0 canKt see why we should think it a hardship to eat with the people
we work withA 0 am sure that as to many things, such as aluable books, pictures, and splendour of
surroundings, we shall find it better to club our means togetherA and 0 must say that often when 0
hae been sickened by the stupidity of the mean idiotic rabbit warrens that rich men build for
themseles in Bayswater and elsewhere, 0 console myself with isions of the noble communal hall
of the future, unsparing of materials, generous in worthy ornament, alie with the noblest thoughts
of our time, and the past, embodied in the best art which a free and manly people could produceA
such an abode of man as no priate enterprise could come anywhere near for beauty and fitness,
because only collectie thought and collectie life could cherish the aspirations which would gie
birth to its beauty, or hae the skill and leisure to carry them out.7 8Morton (B5* p.(!'@!!9
Morris on lifestyle politics
Morris was a political actiist, and although his personal life was informed by his socialist politics, he
did not see lifestyle or consumer behaiour as a substitute for political action. =nd he was no 6back
to the land simple@lifer7, despite moing in circles where alternatie liing was practiced ? +dward
2arpenter being the most prominent e$ponent.
3his was well summed up in his attitude toward egetarianism, which in the ())"s was seen by
some socialists as a touchstone of their reolutionary conictions. ,or Morris, egetarianism was a
personal matter, one of priate conscience and not a precondition of socialism. 0n Commonweal,
8&! <eptember ())19, commenting on an e$change of iews that was taking place on
egetarianism in the paper and within the wider socialist moement, he wrote%
60t seems to me that there is no need either to attack a egetarian or to confer a ote of thanks on
himF But a man can hardly be a sound <ocialist who puts forward egetarianism as a solution of
the difficulties between labour and capitalF there are people who are egetarians on ascetic
grounds, and who would be just as tyrannical as other ascetics if they had a chance of being so.7
8<almon (BB1 p.('"9
He returned to the theme two years later, no doubt because the discussion continued to preoccupy
many socialists. He wrote% 60 hae not a word to say against egetarianism oluntarily practiced on
the grounds that its suiting the health of the practiser, or of the natural sentiment against Gcorpse@
eating# as a friend of ours has called itA but in most more or less laudable associations that are not
<ocialist there lurks a snake in the grassA and the reptile is not lacking in the erdant meadow of
egetarianismF because it would lead to simplicity of life, and because it would be a remedy for
poerty.7
=nd on the good life, he was clear% 6<implicity of life ? good, most good, so long as it is oluntaryA
but surely there is enough oluntary simplicity of life, i.e. hard fare, alreadyA and to lie poorly is no
remedy against poerty, but a necessity of it.7 8Commonweal, 1 .ctober ())) in <almon (BB1
p.'15@1)9
=ccording to +dward 3hompson, when he was told that a young middle class acCuaintance had
retired to the woods to lead a natural life, he only grinned and remarked, 6let us know when she
comes out7. 8(B51 pp.5"*@5"'9
3he significance of Morris# socialist ecology
3he opinions of William Morris on what we now call ecology are important in any assessment of him
as a political thinker in his own time. His iews indicate a degree of originality and creatiity that
mark him out een among the best of his Mar$ist contemporaries, such as Paul -afargue, +leanor
Mar$, Deorgi Plekhano, Oarl Oautsky, =ugust Bebel, +dward =eling, +rnest Belfort Ba$ and
+duard Bernstein. =s such they establish a socialist tradition on ecology after the death of Mar$ that
informed both the <econd and 3hird 0nternationals. 0t is no surprise that Wilhelm -iebknecht
translated $ews from $owhere into Derman, or that -enin possessed a copy of the book in
4ussian. 8Meier (B5) p.!559
Morris did not add anything that was not at least latent ? and often e$plicit @ within Mar$ and +ngels.
But Morris did not hae the benefit of reading much of their ecological oeure ? for e$ample the
third olume of Capital or the Dialectics of $ature. >eertheless Morris did draw a number of
conclusions that mark him aboe most ecological thinkers een in our own time. Morris understood
that it was capitalism, defined in terms of the e$ploitation of waged labour by capital, which was the
root cause of enironmental degradation. But he drew from this understanding not some ague and
generic anti@capitalism, but a clearly defined conception of socialist democracy and a clearly defined
social agent @ the working class ? to carry through the necessary social and ecological
transformation. ,rom ())& he was committed to the idea that communism was the only mode of
production compatible with social and ecological harmony.
Morris did not fully answer the main ecological Cuestions of his own time, and it would be foolish to
think that he prefigured all of the key issues in our own. Howeer there is enough in his responses
to eeryday eents as well as his more profound reflections to demarcate him from the indiidual
lifestyle reformism that passes for much of the green moement. =boe all Morris was a
reolutionary socialist who saw the need for working class politics, both in theory and in practice. He
was a pioneer and an inspiration to his contemporariesA he should remain so for us.
4eferences
Many of Morris# works are aailable on the Mar$ist 0nternet =rchie www.mia.org
Boos, ,lorence. G=n =esthetic +co@communist% Morris the 4ed and Morris the Dreen#, in William
Morris% 2entenary +ssays, eds. Peter ,aulkner and Peter Preston. /niersity of +$eter
Press, (BBB
Briggs, =sa ed, William Morris% <elected Writings and ;esigns, Harmondsworth% Pelican, (B1&
2oleman, <tephen ed, 4eform and 4eolution% 3hree +arly <ocialists on the Way =head% William
Morris, :ohn 2arruthers, ,red Henderson, Bristol% 3hoemmes Press, (BB1
+nnis, :ane William MorrisA the first Dreen socialistL
http%SSleonora.fortunecity.co.ukSWilliamMorris.html
-emire. +ugene, ed 3he unpublished lectures of William Morris, ;etroit% Wayne <tate /niersity
Press, (B1B.
Meier, Paul, William Morris% 3he Mar$ist ;reamer, =tlantic Highlands% Harester Press, (B5)
Morton, =- ed, 3he Political Writings of William Morris, >ew Eork% 0nternational Press, (B5*
Morton, =- ed, William Morris, >ew Eork% 0nternational Press, (B1)
.K<ullian, Paddy, G3he +nding of the :ourney% William Morris, >ews from >owhere and +cology#, in
2oleman, <tephen and Paddy .K<ullian eds, William Morris and >ews from >owhere% =
Vision for .ur 3ime. Bideford, ;eon% Dreen Books, (BB"
<almon, >icholas ed, William Morris% Political Writings, 2ontributions to :ustice and 2ommonweal
())*@()B", Bristol% 3hoemmes Press, (BB'
<almon, >icholas ed, William Morris% :ournalism, 2ontributions to 2ommonweal, ())!@()B".
Bristol% 3hoemmes Press, (BB1
3hompson, +dward, William Morris% 4omantic to 4eolutionary. -ondon, (B!!
3hompson, Paul, 3he Work of William Morris, .$ford% .$ford /niersity Press, (BB(
3hompson, Paul, Why William Morris Matters 3oday% Human 2reatiity and the ,uture World
+nironment, -ondon% William Morris <ociety, (BB(