Edmond Kelly

March 28, 1851 (age 57)

Blagnac, France

Kelly's professional career began in the office of Coudert Brothers, New York City, for which firm he went to Paris several years later as its representative. In 1883 he obtained his License en Droit from the École de Droit and opened an office of his own, continuing his practice there until 1891. During this period, and again, from 1899 to 1907, he represented a number of well-known American corporations, among them the American Contracting & Dredging Company, which worked the east coast of the Panama Canal, and the Equitable Life Assurance Society. He was also counsel for the United States Embassy. As a lawyer Edmond Kelly ranked high, but it was not his professional achievements which distinguished him from among his contemporaries. There was in him a subdued, yet tense, strain of emotionalism which responded sharply to the human aspects of the maladjustments of our social order. It was as a champion of the powerless and a crusader against the political evils of his time, that he stood out from the rank and file. In the autumn of 1892, Kelly met George Haven Putnam and asked to be brought into personal contact with some of the "cranks" of New York. Putnam himself was already known as one of the severer critics of the corrupt political machine that ruled the city, but he lacked the optimism to begin the battle. This optimism Kelly supplied. Also, Kelly possessed the gift of wit and persuasive speech; his, too, was the plan of campaign. Very much as he first proposed it, it was later carried into effect; good government clubs organized, one in every assembly district, centralized in a general association whose permanent headquarters served as a clearing house for the local clubs. Judged from a close viewpoint, in the matter of time, Kelly's movement seemed a dismal failure. He apparently felt this most keenly himself. Beyond contributing to the overturn of Tammany in 1894 and bringing about the election of half a dozen aldermen of a higher type, the movement accomplished nothing immediate. The general mass of the citizens remained indifferent. The press was mildly sympathetic, or cold. Yet the central association survived as the City Club. Kelly wrote extensively, ever showing a growing tendency in the direction of Socialism, whose main principles, at least, he finally accepted. He wrote as a seeker and a questioner, rather than as a teacher, and his works were appreciated by those who were thinking along parallel lines. His published writings include: Evolution and Effort (1895); Government, or Human Evolution (2 vols. , 1900 - 01); A Practical Programme for Working Men (1906); The Elimination of the Tramp (1908); and Twentieth Century Socialism (1910).

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Government or Human Evolution: Individualism and Collectivism (Classic Reprint)

(Excerpt from Government or Human Evolution: Individualism...)

The Elimination of the Tramp: By the Introduction Into America of the Labour Colony System Already Proved Effective in Holland, Belgium, and ... to Adapt This System to American Conditions

(Excerpt from The Elimination of the Tramp: By the Introdu...)

Twentieth Century Socialism: What It Is Not; What It Is How It May Come (Classic Reprint)

(Excerpt from Twentieth Century Socialism: What It Is Not;...)

Excerpt from Twentieth Century Socialism: What It Is Not; What It Is How It May Come Each of the two volumes on Government was devoted, as Evolution and Effort had been, to establish ing firmly a specific proposition. When Mr. Kelly began writing the first volume, which bore the sub-title J us tice, he was a lecturer in the Faculty of Political Science at Columbia University and was intensely interested in the movement for the reform of municipal politics in New York city. Believing that adequate organization was the chief need, he had founded the City Club and the subsidiary Good Government Clubs. In the dis cussions which this movement called forth, he says One fact stood out with startling conspicuousness. Not one out of a thousand was able to formulate a clear idea as to the principles upon which he stood; upon one measure he was an Individualist; upon another, a Col lectivist; one day he was for strong governmental action; the next for liberty of contract; and of those who pre sented the claims of expediency and justice respectively, no one was able. To say what justice was. It seemed, therefore, to Mr. Kelly that on the theoret ical side we needed first, and above all else, a clear con ception of justice as an end to be attained. For con elusions already arrived at in Evolution and Effort made it impossible for him to believe that justice is satisfied by merely rewarding every man according to his per formance. Seeing in evolution possibilities beyond present attainment, he believed that a way should be found to enable every man to achieve his potential performance. Thus his notion of justice, derived from the principle of evolution, became substantially identical with that which had been set forth two thousand years ago by Plato in The Republic. TO quote Mr. Kelly's own words: Justice may, then, be described as the effort to eliminate from our social conditions the effects of the inequalities Of Nature upon the happiness and advancement of man, and particularly to create an artificial environment which shall serve the individual as well as the race, and tend to perpetuate noble types rather than those which are base. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Evolution and Effort, and Their Relation to Religion and Politics

(Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)

Government; Or Human Evolution: Ace Justice (Classic Reprint)

(Excerpt from Government; Or Human Evolution: Ace Justice ...)

Excerpt from Government; Or Human Evolution: Ace Justice During the winter of 1891 - 1892 a few New York citizens met for the purpose of. Considering how, if at all, Tammany Hall - which was then in undisputed pos session oi the city - could be overthrown. Previous combinations to that end had failed, owing in great part to lack of permanence. The majority, who desired good government for the general benefits good government confers upon the many, were governed by an insignifi cant minority in the interests of that minority, because, in the first place, the majority were so scattered that they did not have an Opportunity for collective action, and because, in the second place, the majority were so busy that they did not have the time necessary to cope with the practical politician who made politics the business of his life. The practical politician attends to politics every day of every year; whereas the amateur attends to politics, if at all, only a few weeks before election. It was conceived that no permanent organisation in favour of. Good government could be maintained unless the organisation had a per manent abiding-place, and as no single roof could cover an organisation large enough sensibly to affect politics the original plan was to begin by organising a single central social club to this end, and to organise thereafter a series of affiliated clubs which would work in co operation with the one first organised. The first club, called the City Club,' was successfully constituted in 1892, and was composed of the wealthiest and most public spirited men in the city but this club once organised, its governing body declined to undertake the responsibility of organising affiliated clubs. Those bent on carrying out the original plan, however, proceeded by individual initiative to organise other clubs for a similar purpose, and in a few months not a district in the city was without one. They styled themselves Good Government Clubs,' and were distin guished by letters of the alphabet. The combination of clubs so organised undoubtedly contributed to the overthrow of Tammany Hall in 1894, but the lack of centralisation, owing to the refusal of the governing body of the City Club to carry out the original programme, soon made itself felt. Every club undertook to manage the political affairs of the district in which it was situated, without regard to the others and it frs quently happened that Bills drawn up under the auspices of one set of these clubs were bitterly opposed by others, so that when the day for discussmg these Bills before the Legislature arrived, Good Government Clubs A, B, C, D, and E would be found joined in eager support of measures that Good Government Clubs P, Q, B, S, and T were equally bent on defeating. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Edmond Kelly Edit Profile

lawyer sociologist

Background

Edmund Kelly was born on March 28, 1851 at Blagnac, near Toulouse, France, of American parents, Robert Edmond and Sarah Kelly.

Education

Kelly attended King's School, in Sherborne, Dorsetshire, England. Then he came to New York with his parents, in 1868, and studied at Columbia College, graduating in 1870. Then he followed a science course at St. John's College, Cambridge University, in England graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1875 and finally a regular law course at Columbia, where he obtained the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1877.

Career

Kelly's professional career began in the office of Coudert Brothers, New York City, for which firm he went to Paris several years later as its representative. In 1883 he obtained his License en Droit from the École de Droit and opened an office of his own, continuing his practice there until 1891. During this period, and again, from 1899 to 1907, he represented a number of well-known American corporations, among them the American Contracting & Dredging Company, which worked the east coast of the Panama Canal, and the Equitable Life Assurance Society. He was also counsel for the United States Embassy.

As a lawyer Edmond Kelly ranked high, but it was not his professional achievements which distinguished him from among his contemporaries. There was in him a subdued, yet tense, strain of emotionalism which responded sharply to the human aspects of the maladjustments of our social order. It was as a champion of the powerless and a crusader against the political evils of his time, that he stood out from the rank and file. In the autumn of 1892, Kelly met George Haven Putnam and asked to be brought into personal contact with some of the "cranks" of New York. Putnam himself was already known as one of the severer critics of the corrupt political machine that ruled the city, but he lacked the optimism to begin the battle. This optimism Kelly supplied. Also, Kelly possessed the gift of wit and persuasive speech; his, too, was the plan of campaign.

Very much as he first proposed it, it was later carried into effect; good government clubs organized, one in every assembly district, centralized in a general association whose permanent headquarters served as a clearing house for the local clubs. Judged from a close viewpoint, in the matter of time, Kelly's movement seemed a dismal failure. He apparently felt this most keenly himself. Beyond contributing to the overturn of Tammany in 1894 and bringing about the election of half a dozen aldermen of a higher type, the movement accomplished nothing immediate. The general mass of the citizens remained indifferent. The press was mildly sympathetic, or cold. Yet the central association survived as the City Club.

Kelly wrote extensively, ever showing a growing tendency in the direction of Socialism, whose main principles, at least, he finally accepted. He wrote as a seeker and a questioner, rather than as a teacher, and his works were appreciated by those who were thinking along parallel lines. His published writings include: Evolution and Effort (1895); Government, or Human Evolution (2 vols. , 1900 - 01); A Practical Programme for Working Men (1906); The Elimination of the Tramp (1908); and Twentieth Century Socialism (1910).

Achievements

Kelly was known mainly as the writer of numerous books on religion, unemployment an politics. The most important of his published writings included: Evolution and Effort (1895); Government, or Human Evolution (2 vols. , 1900 - 1901); A Practical Programme for Working Men (1906); The Elimination of the Tramp (1908); and Twentieth Century Socialism (1910). He was also noted for overturning the Tammany machine that wrought corruption in New York City.