(Éirigh, June 1970, p.21)
Labour in Ireland, Connolly’s best-known work, represents one of the few attempts made in Ireland at the turn of the century to give a reasoned explanation of socialism. In this work, Connolly refers to ‘Karl Marx and his great work on “Capital”.’ It is very doubtful, however, if Connolly went as far as Marx did in his theories. He spoke, for instance, of ‘the crude Communism of 1848,’ and quoted with approval another Irish socialist, Devin Reilly, who wrote,
‘We are not Communists – we abhor communism for the same reason that we abhor the poor laws system founded on the absolute sovereignty of wealth. Communism destroys the independence and dignity of labour, makes the working-man a State pauper and takes his manhood from him.’
If Connolly did lavish praise on Marx it is quite likely that he did not realize the full implications of Marx’s doctrines. Would Connolly have agreed with Lenin’s statement that ‘We do not believe in an eternal morality’? Would he have agreed with Engels in saying, ‘We reject, therefore, every attempt to impose on us any moral dogma whatsoever as an eternal, ultimate, and for ever immutable law’? Connolly was not a man of this sort. Why, then, did he employ so much Marxian terminology?
The truth of the matter seems to be that he was not a professional philosopher and did not use the language of philosophy. He was calling for reform – reform was badly needed – but in doing so he employed phrases which conveyed the impression that he was bent on the destruction of every vestige of the existing social system.
He reacted against the injustice of capitalism by denouncing it in such a way as to lead many sincere people to think that he was utterly rejecting any system of private property.
Marx’s materialism held no charms for Connolly, Robert Lynd, who knew Connolly well, had this to say of him,
Socialism was not for him a means towards a vast cosmopolitan commonness. It was a means towards a richer individual life both for human beings and for nations. True Internationalism, he saw, involved a brotherhood of equal nations as well as a brotherhood of equal citizens.
Perhaps the best verdict of all on James Connolly was that offered quite recently, namely, that he spoke ‘the language of Pope John in the vocabulary of Karl Marx.’