This is a very interesting and valuable text on Mutualism. It is slightly dated in some points and a bit off the target when dealing with monetary matters. Nevertheless it remains a powerful exposition of the main tenets of Mutualism and a sincere plea in favour of the freedom and autonomy of the individual.

MUTUALISM - A Social System Based on Equal Freedom, Reciprocity, and the Sovereignty of the Individual Over Himself, His Affairs, and His Products; Realized Through Individual Initiative, Free Contract, Cooperation, Competition, and Voluntary Association for Defense Against the Invasive and for the Protection of Life, Liberty and Property of the Non-invasive.

FOREWORD

In the preparation of this book, the Mutualist Associates specifically delegated the following of their members to assist the author: Henry Cohen, lawyer and publicist, whose lifelong study of the financial question has particularly fitted him for the formulation of the Mutualist idea of Money, Credit, and Exchange; John K. Freeman, educator and student of sociology, whose wide experience in pedagogy and in various aesthetic pursuits has qualified him to speak competently upon the relation of those subjects to Mutualism; Virgile Esperance, entrepreneur and industrialist, whose familiarity with the various processes of pro-duction and distribution has made him capable of treating those problems with genuine ability; Hans Rossner, libertarian and writer, whose philosophical studies and ripe scientific scholarship have rendered his criticism and constructive advice invaluable.

With the division of labor thus indicated, and with the harmonious cooperation of all the collaborators, a comprehensive presentation of ideas has been produced that could have been secured in no other way.

Unlike all authoritarian movements for social betterment, Mutualism requires no compulsory measures for its introduction or maintenance. It is eminently practical, and can be adopted at once in ever-widening circles of social and economic life with great advantage to those who practice it; and it is based on a logical extension of the past history of mankind: the gradual evolution of free society.

Finally, it may be said that, with the exception of Individualist Anarchism, which is not now actively organized in this country, no other proposed remedy for the ills of society has, as one of the cornerstones of its foundation, the unique concept on which Mutualism is built - the principle of equal liberty. No other school has this one certain test by which all transactions between man and man can be measured.

CLARENCE LEE SWARTZ

Los Angeles, California, March, 1927