A CRITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF EDWIN JAMES BRADY - Mallacoota ...

Brady based his political beliefs, before looking at the ways in which he saw these
principles being implemented in social, political and legal reforms, must take into
account this strange mixture of religious and political (specifically socialistic) ideals.
In a series of articles in 1910 Brady attempted to define his view of socialism and to
explain his preoccupation with it. This statement of credo revealed a socialistic
fervour which doubtless replaced the Roman Catholic religion from which he had
been early estranged. He saw the symbol of socialism, the red flag, coming to finish
what the Cross had begun:
If the churches were any longer militant and Christian they would drape their
altars with the red flag of Socialism, they would bear it aloft in their
processions, make it a feature of their ceremonies………If the Master were
here to-day ye would still find him a Socialist, still fulminating against the
Rich and the Pharisee, still demanding justice for the poor, still paying the last
with the first, still proclaiming the Brotherhood of Man. 1
Viewed in this light, socialism was more than just a political theory for Brady. To
him, it was the universal panacea. It was to usher in the millennium if applied to the
social and economic problems of mankind. It was the only possible cure for personal
difficulties and for the maladies of a sick world because “it stands for the future
physical and moral welfare of the Human Race”. Acknowledging that it might not fill
a man’s purse to adopt socialism, he yet saw it filling the mind and expanding the
heart in altruism and true Christianity.
His detailed and highly emotional analysis of the reasons for his espousal of socialist
dogma reveals several unusual features. Pointing out what he considers to be
inescapable weaknesses of the existing capitalistic structure, he yet views the
socialistic alternative through a halo of rose-coloured light. For example he
subscribes to socialist principles because “competitive civilisation is inherently vulgar
and cruel, while socialistic civilisation would be artistic and humane” – surely a
hypothesis untenable in theory and certainly not support by any examples from
socialist countries then existing. He many be on firmer theoretical ground, certainly
he has more company, in seeing Darwinian theory applying to development other than
the biological – in fact to societies – so that advanced forms develop out of more
elementary ones. And by an examination of the ills of the contemporary society, of
that form of individualistic capitalism which exists in Australia, Brady points to the
economic hardship, the unemployment, the difficult working conditions, bad living
conditions, low wages, poverty and lack of security for a large portion of the
population – in short a society where the “have-nots” exceeded the “haves”. He
hypothesises that just as society has reached its existing state from less complex
forms, so it will continue to evolve; and the further stage in this evolution will mean a
more equitable distribution of the fruits of production, with all sharing in the common
wealth. This amelioration must come about, both because of weaknesses inherent in
capitalism and the basic advantages of socialism. Capitalism’s weakness is due to a
basic premise that exists in spite of its splendid organisation – the exploitation of
labour, so that “the comfort, security and well-being of the Many at present are made
subject to that of the Few.”
1
“Why I An a Socialist”, The International Socialist, 27.8.1910. Other articles in the same series
appeared in 1.10.1910 and 8.10.1910.
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