,libraries7       ,barbara ,weinstock   
,lectures on ,the ,morals of ,trade     
,,social ,,justice ,,without            
,,socialism4 ,by ,john ,bates ,clark4   
,,the ,,conflict ,,between ,,private    
,,monopoly ,,and ,,good ,,citizenship4  
,by ,john ,graham ,brooks4              
,,commercialism ,,and ,,journalism4 ,by 
,hamilton ,holt4  ,,the ,,business      
,,career ,,in ,,its ,,public            
,,relations4 ,by ,albert ,shaw4         
,,social ,,justice ,,without ,,socialism
    ,,by  ,,john ,,bates ,,clark        
,,professor ,,of ,,political ,,economy  
,,at ,,columbia ,,university    ,,boston
 ,,and ,,new ,,york ,,houghton ,,mifflin
 ,,company ,the ,riverside ,press       
,cambridge #aiad  ,,copyright1 #aiad1   
,,by ,,the ,,regents ,,of ,,the         
,,university ,,of ,,california  ,,all   
,,rights ,,reserved  ,published ,april  
#aiad     ,,barbara ,,weinstock         
,,lectures ,,on ,,the ,,morals ,,of     
,,trade  ,this series will contain      
essays by representative scholars and   

men of affairs dealing with the various 
phases of the moral law in its bearing  
on business life under the new economic 
order1 first delivered at the           
,university of ,california on the       
,weinstock foundation4     ,,social     
,,justice ,,without ,,socialism   ,it is
 currently reported that the late ,king 
,edward once said1 ,we are all          
,socialists1 now3 and if the term       
,socialism meant to-day what ,his       
,majesty probably meant by it1 many of  
us could truthfully make a similar      
statement4 ,without any doubt1 we could 
do so if we attached to the term the    
meaning which it had when it was first  
invented4 ,it came into use in the      
thirties of the last century1 and       
expressed a certain disappointment over 
the result of political reform4 ,the    
bill which gave more men the right to   
vote did not give them higher wages4    
,the conditions of labor were deplorable
 before the ,reform ,bill was passed and
 they continued to be so for some time  

afterwards4 ,a merely political change1 
therefore1 was not all that was wanted1 
and it was necessary to carry democracy 
into a social sphere in order to improve
 the condition of the poorer classes4   
,the term ,socialism1 therefore1 was    
chosen to describe a play of forces that
 would act in this way on society       
itself1 and was an excellent term for   
describing this right and just tendency4
 ,the name was quickly adopted by those 
with whose practical plans most of us do
 not agree2 but its original idea was   
democracy carried into business1 and at 
present that is the dominant tendency of
 all successful parties4 ,for six months
 we have been living under what may be  
called triumphant democracy1 not because
 the ,democratic ,party has beaten its  
rivals and come into control of the     
,government1 but for a much deeper      
reason1 namely1 that a democracy carried
 into industrial life is the dominating 
principle of every political body that  
can hope for success4 ,every party must 

show by its action that it values the   
man more than the dollar4 ,to this      
extent we are all democrats and wish the
 ,government to act for the people as   
well as to be controlled by the people4 
,when we differ1 it is in deciding on   
the means to carry out our common       
purpose2 and here we differ very widely4
 ,some would use the power of the ,state
 to correct and improve our system of   
industry1 and these constitute a party  
of reform4 ,others would abolish that   
system and substitute something untried4
 ,for private capital they would put    
public capital and for private          
management1 public management--either in
 the whole field of industry or in that 
great part of it where large capital    
rules4 ,these are ,socialists in the    
modern and current sense of the term4   
,one difference of view which was       
formerly very sharp is now scarcely     
traceable4 ,every one knows that we must
 invoke the aid of the ,state in order  
to make industry what it should be4 ,the

 rule that would bid the ,state keep its
 hands off the entire field of business1
 the extreme laissez-faire policy once  
dominant in literature and thought1 now 
finds few persons bold enough to        
advocate it or foolish enough to believe
 in it4 ,in a very chastened form1      
however1 the spirit that would put a    
reasonable limit on what the ,state     
shall be asked to do happily does       
survive and is powerful4 ,it seeks a    
golden mean between letting the ,state  
do nothing and asking it to do          
everything4 ,it is this plan of action  
that ,i shall try to outline1 and it    
will appear that even this plan requires
 that the ,state should do very much4   
,under an inert government the          
industrial system would suffer          
irreparably4  ,the thing first to be    
rescued is competition--meaning that    
healthful rivalry between different     
producers which has always been the     
guaranty of technical progress4 ,that   
such progress has gone on with          

bewildering rapidity since the invention
 of the steam engine is nowhere denied2 
and neither is it denied that           
competition of the normal kind--the     
effort of rivals to excel in productive 
processes--has caused it4 ,it has       
multiplied the product of labor here    
tenfold1 there1 twentyfold1 and         
elsewhere a hundredfold and more4  ,this
 increased power to produce has rescued 
us from an appalling evil4 ,without it1 
such a crowding of population as some   
countries have experienced would have   
carried their peoples to and below the  
starvation level4 ,machinery now enables
 us to live2 and if world-crowding were 
to go on in the future as it has done1  
and the technical progress should cease1
 many of us could not live4 ,poverty    
would increase till its cruelest effects
 would be realized and lives enough     
would be crushed out to enable the      
survivors to get a living4 ,of all      
conditions of human happiness1 the one  
which is most underestimated is progress

 in power to produce4 ,hardly any of    
those who would revolutionize the       
industrial ,state1 and not all of those 
who would reform it1 have any conception
 of the importance of this progress4 ,it
 is the sine qua non of any hopeful     
outlook for the future of mankind4  ,i  
am to speak1 however1 of justice in the 
business relations of life1 and it might
 seem that this shut out the mere       
question of general prosperity4 ,the    
most obvious issue between different    
social classes concerns the division of 
whatever income exists4 ,whatever there 
is1 be it large or small1 may be divided
 rightly or wrongly2 but ,i am not able 
to see that the mere division of it     
exhausts the application of the         
principle of justice4 ,while it is      
clearly wrong for one party to plunder  
another1 it is almost as clearly wrong  
for one party to reduce the general     
income and so1 in a sense1 rob          
everybody4 ,a party that should         
systematically hinder production and    

reduce its fruits would rob a myriad of 
honest laborers who are ill prepared to 
stand this loss and have a perfect right
 to be protected from it4  ,every man1  
woman1 and child has a right to demand  
that the powers that be remove          
hindrances in the way of production1 and
 not only allow the general income to be
 large and grow larger1 but do          
everything that they possibly can do to 
make it grow larger4 ,it is an unjust   
act to reduce general earnings1 even    
though no one is singled out for        
particular injury4 ,on this ground we   
insist on trust legislation1 tariff     
reform1 the conservation of natural     
resources1 etc4 ,i am prepared to claim 
that it is in this spirit that we demand
 that private initiative1 which has     
given us the amount of prosperity that  
we have thus far obtained1 shall be     
enabled to continue its work without    
being supplanted by monopoly4 ,in a     
general way ,i should include public    
monopoly as well as private among the   

things which would put a damper on the  
progress of improvement and lessen the  
income on which the comfort of laborers 
in the near future will be dependent4   
,monopoly of any sort is hostile to     
improvement1 and in this chiefly lies   
the menace which it holds for mankind4  
,it is a fairly safe prediction that1 if
 a public monopoly were to exist in     
every part of the industrial field1 the 
per capita income would grow less1 and  
that it would be only a question of     
time1 and a short time at that1 when the
 laborers would be worse off than they  
are now4 ,though1 at the outset1 they   
might absorb the entire incomes of the  
well-to-do classes1 the amount thus     
gained would shrink in their hands until
 their position would be worse than     
their present one4 ,they would have     
pulled down the capitalists without more
 than a momentary benefit for themselves
 and with a prospect of soon sinking to 
a lower level than as a class they have 
thus far reached4  ,the impulse to      

revolutionize the system comes from the 
belief that it is irreclaimably bad4    
,the first thing to be done is to see   
how much reclaiming the system is       
capable of2 and the only sure way to    
test this question is to use all our    
power in the effort to improve it4 ,when
 all such efforts shall have failed1 it 
will be time for desperate measures4    
,our industrial system has many         
faults3--here we are happily agreed4 ,it
 is the inferences we draw from this    
fact that are different4 ,the one that  
,i draw is like one which is recorded in
 a famous case in antiquity4 ,when the  
,macedonian armies seemed about to      
overwhelm ,greece1 ,demosthenes         
encouraged the ,athenians by this very  
sound bit of philosophy3 ,the worst fact
 in our past affords the brightest hope 
for our future4 ,it is the fact that our
 misfortunes have come because of our   
own faults4 ,if they had come when we   
were doing our best1 there would be no  
hope for us4 ,now the evils of our own  

social system which result from mistakes
 or faults are just such a ground of    
hope4 ,every such evil which can be     
cited describes one possible reform1 and
 the longer the list of evils1 the      
greater is the sum total of gain which  
we can make by doing away with them4 ,if
 we cite them all seriatim1 what        
impression shall we get8 ,will it merely
 show how badly off we are8 ,will it    
make us despair for our future8 ,on the 
contrary1 it should fill us with hope   
for the future4 ,we start from the fact 
that we have thus far survived in spite 
of the faults4 ,the worst off among us  
is above starvation and most of us are  
in a tolerable state4 ,if we can remove 
the evils that exist1 we shall make our 
state very much more than tolerable4    
,the greatness of the evils measures the
 gain from removing them4 ,every single 
one that is removed improves the status 
of our people4 ,we can take1 as it were1
 a social account of stock1 measure our 
present state1 measure the extent to    

which we can improve it by putting an   
end to one bad influence1 count the     
number of such bad influences1 and so   
get an estimate of the gains of carrying
 out a complete reformatory programme4  
,it will show an enormous possibility of
 improvement4  ,in the struggle for     
reforms we have the great middle class  
with us4 ,all honest capitalists1 great 
and small alike1 are natural allies of  
honest labor1 and they are interested   
mainly in the same reforms as are the   
members of the working-class4 ,if we    
recognize a necessity for a struggle of 
classes1 it is not one that marshals    
labor against all wealth4 ,the          
contention is rather between honest     
wealth allied with honest labor1 on the 
one hand1 and dishonest wealth on the   
other2 and in a contest so aligned1     
victory for the former party means      
social justice4  ,there is a preliminary
 reform to be carried through as a      
condition of securing most of the       
others4 ,who can estimate the benefit   

which would come from merely making our 
,government what it purports to         
be--government by the people8 ,the      
initiative1 the referendum1 the recall1 
the short ballot1 direct primaries1 and 
proportionate representation are all    
designed to transfer power from rings   
and bosses to the people themselves4 ,if
 they actually do it1 as sooner or later
 those or kindred measures probably     
will1 they will so far restore the      
democracy of our earlier and simpler    
days as to make us look back on the rule
 of rings and bosses as on a nightmare  
of the past4 ,when the ,government is   
thus really controlled by the people we 
can count on having its full power      
exerted for them4  ,what are a few of   
the things that we shall then try to    
get8  ,the working day is too long4 ,in 
some occupations it covers far too many 
hours1 and in most occupations it covers
 more than it ideally should4 ,there are
 doubtless some industries in which     
hours might be reduced with no lessening

 of wages1 because profits are large    
enough to bear some reduction4 ,in these
 cases a strong union might get either  
more pay for a day of the present length
 or the present rate for a shorter day4 
,a universal reduction of the period of 
labor would have to mean a reduction of 
the product of industry1 and without    
immediate improvements in method of     
production it would entail smaller      
wages4 ,improvements1 however1 might    
soon obviate that necessity4 ,with      
machinery growing more and more         
efficient1 the day may be shortened with
 no diminution of wages2 and the natural
 effect of increasing power to produce  
has always been some shortening of      
labor-time coupled with some enlargement
 of pay4 ,within the last one hundred   
years the period of daily labor in some 
types of manufacturing has come to cover
 only a little over one third of the    
twenty-four hours1 instead of more      
nearly two thirds2 while the earnings   
have become much larger than they were  

at the beginning of the period4         
,normally this progress should continue1
 and long before the dawn of the        
twenty-first century we should see work 
still less severe1 less prolonged1 and  
better paid4 ,where1 as in some         
departments of steel-making1 labor in   
two shifts continues through the        
twenty-four hours1 there is a chance to 
make this gain without appreciable      
waiting2 and elsewhere it should be     
possible to make it without waiting for 
the twenty-first century to come much   
nearer than it is4  ,dangerous and      
injurious occupations still continue2   
and our country is slower than others in
 remedying this trouble4 ,many          
safeguards that are easily obtainable   
are neglected4 ,protection for the      
workers and indemnities for injuries    
when they occur can be insured by       
well-made laws1 properly enforced4      
,sanitary regulations and pure-food laws
 need to be strengthened and more fully 
enforced4  ,our protective tariff bears 

heavily on the poor man4 ,his wardrobe  
contains little or nothing that is made 
of wool1 and he may well sigh for the   
mixed cotton and shoddy of earlier days4
 ,our import duties1 which do1 indeed1  
try to spare his dinner-pail1 should be 
made to spare his wardrobe and the      
modest comforts of his life4            
,commercial crises still occur and are  
followed by hard times2 and while a     
really wise reform of money and banking 
would not wholly prevent them1 it would 
greatly mitigate their severity4#a      
#a ,this was written before the recent  
reforms of import duties       and of   
the banking system had been enacted4    
,emergency employment is desperately    
needed when hard times come4 ,european  
,governments excel our own in providing 
it1 but it is entirely possible to adopt
 their methods and improve on them4     
,our natural resources have been wasted 
in a prodigal way4 ,forests have been   
recklessly cut1 fires been invited and  
the soil itself has been sacrificed4    

,natural gas and oil have been burned   
with no regard for the future4 ,coal and
 other minerals have not been husbanded4
 ,it should be possible for us to cease 
to play the spendthrift with the        
patrimony that nature has given to us4  
,we have the beginnings of a parcel     
post1 but we need a more highly         
developed one that will come nearer to  
the standards maintained in other       
countries4 ,with it we need telephone   
and telegraph systems that can be       
universally used4  ,in our larger       
cities1 we are struggling to get rapid  
transit and shall have to continue the  
struggle2 but we ought to have1 with    
urban railroads1 subways1 and the like1 
measures that would reduce the amount of
 traveling that has to be done between  
homes and places of labor4 ,a free use  
of the principle of eminent domain would
 make it possible to acquire land for   
carrying out any policy of general      
beneficence1 and that1 too1 without     
robbing the owners of it4 ,by resorting 

to this measure much of the             
manufacturing which exposes great cities
 to imminent danger of conflagration    
might and should be moved bodily to     
outlying districts4  ,of all industrial 
abuses of the past the cruelest has been
 the crushing of the life of young      
children by hard and prolonged labor4   
,we are making headway in removing this 
evil1 but much still remains to be      
gained2 and a vast amount is to be      
gained by a comprehensive policy for    
improving the status of working-women4  
,social justice demands some effective  
means of getting legal justice4 ,we have
 courts1 certainly4 ,do they give the   
service that we need and1 in particular1
 do they give it to the poor8 ,we do not
 here impugn the motives of judges4     
,generally speaking1 they are honest2   
but the whole system of court procedure 
is hampered by detailed statutes and    
technical rules1 that mean an amount of 
cost and delay which in itself is the   
very quintessence of injustice4 ,a      

citizen is offered a choice between     
submitting to the wrong inflicted by a  
fellow-citizen and accepting the wrong  
inflicted by a dilatory and crushingly  
costly legal procedure4 ,we probably    
excel some nations in the rightfulness  
of the decisions we can get if we live  
long enough and have money enough to get
 them2 but there are few civilized      
nations that do not excel us in the     
rapidity and cheapness of the process4  
,a ,chinese student in ,columbia        
,university served1 during the first    
year of his residence in ,new ,york1 as 
judge of ,chinatown1 and1 by giving up  
only the ,saturday evening of each week 
to the service1 he settled the disputes 
which arose between ,chinese residents4 
,as he was learned in the principles of 
,confucius1 ,i doubt not he settled them
 justly1 and many a time in that same   
city ,i have sighed for his services for
 native ,americans4  ,the line of       
division between labor and capital ought
 not always to be the sharp boundary    

that it is4 ,labor should be enabled to 
acquire a modest share of capital and to
 invest it securely4 ,protection for    
small investments is urgently needed1   
and would do much to change a           
proletariat into an independent         
working-class4 ,this is an essential    
feature of the social system we wish for
 and work for4 ,the man who hereafter   
shall correspond to ,longfellow's       
village blacksmith will perhaps be the  
owner of a hundred shares in some       
corporation4 ,in agriculture small      
holdings may always survive2 but there  
may be large ones also1 and in that case
 the farmer of the future may have      
either five acres and a hoe1 or forty   
acres and a mule1 or a hundred and sixty
 acres and a reaper1 or an undivided    
share in a thousand acres and a traction
 engine4  ,if we could carry through    
even the reforms thus far enumerated1 it
 would make us feel as if we had been   
lifted from a slough and placed on a    
plateau abounding in air and sunlight2  

but if we stopped with this1 we should  
leave much to be desired4 ,there are    
still more pressing measures to be      
enacted4  ,nearly the greatest evil we  
are facing is monopoly4 ,this is not the
 universal view4 ,though there are few  
who approve of monopoly1 there are those
 who regard it with toleration and think
 that1 if we accept it and regulate     
prices under it1 we shall fare          
sufficiently well4 ,as yet1 it is in an 
incipient stage of development and has  
by no means revealed its full power for 
evil4 ,if we let it grow freely1 we     
shall find later what it is capable of4 
,wise measures1 adopted even now1 will  
come early enough to prevent it from    
ever growing to maturity4  ,with the    
steel trust1 the ,standard ,oil trust1  
and other combinations before our eyes1 
it seems an absurdity to speak of       
monopolies as being in an incipient     
stage4 ,is it possible that anything    
whatever which these great combinations 
represent can be nipped in the bud8 ,are

 they not already in the fullest flower1
 and big and mature as they are ever    
likely to be8 ,the companies themselves1
 with their vast material plants1       
certainly are so4 ,what we are talking  
about1 however1 is not the mere size of 
the companies1 but the element of       
monopoly that is in them4 ,have they    
such a power that they can safely charge
 anything they please for their         
products8 ,is it as though they were    
licensed by the ,government to be the   
sole makers and vendors of their special
 wares8 ,business men know that this is 
not the case2 and that something puts a 
check on their action4 ,they can make   
their prices higher than they should    
be--higher than it is for the interest  
of the country to have them2 but they   
cannot make them as high as they would  
be under a real and secure monopoly4    
,the point ,i am making is that we can  
destroy such monopolistic power as they 
have4 ,we can liberate competition1     
which has1 in the main1 afforded        

reasonable prices1 and has also         
guaranteed that progress which is       
indispensable for maintaining a human   
life that is worth living4 ,it is to-day
 the only means of insuring a constantly
 increasing power over nature--an       
ability to turn out1 in greater and     
greater abundance1 the things which make
 life comfortable4  ,these combinations 
now possess a power which it is highly  
perilous to let them keep4 ,they can    
disable their rivals by foul play1 which
 would be impossible under proper rules 
of the ring4 ,by securing control of raw
 materials1 by selling goods below cost 
in the territory where a small rival is 
operating and keeping up the prices     
everywhere else1 by forcing merchants to
 boycott independent manufacturers1 by  
getting1 in spite of laws and           
commissions1 some advantages from       
railroads1 and by other similar         
practices1 they can drive competitors   
out of business4 ,yet every one of these
 practices can be defined and           

prohibited1 and resorting to any of them
 can be1 if not wholly prevented1 at    
least made so perilous that the         
practices will become extinct4  ,it is  
possible to give to every competitor a  
fair field and no favor1 and1 in so     
doing1 to infuse again into the         
industrial system the life and vigor    
which competition guarantees4 ,this and 
only this will insure that progress in  
production itself which is the sine qua 
non of future comfort4 ,it may then be  
expected that inventions will continue1 
that machines will become more perfect1 
and that the power of society to pay    
wages will grow larger4 ,labor will then
 be the heir of the centuries1 and under
 proper laws can claim and get its      
inheritance4 ,if the world crowds itself
 fuller and fuller of population and    
progress at the same time stagnates1    
nothing can prevent an increase of      
poverty unrelieved by any bright        
outlook4 ,technical progress1 power to  
make two blades of grass grow where one 

grows now1 and to do it in the various  
departments where men labor1 is the sole
 condition of a sound hope for the      
future of the wage-earner4 ,it will be  
as necessary under ,socialism as under  
the present system2 but under ,socialism
 it will be difficult to get4 ,in so far
 as it is possible to judge1 it depends 
on the preservation of normal           
competition in the general economic     
field4  ,leaders of the ,industrial     
,workers of the ,world have recently    
announced an intention of forcing the   
hours of labor downward from ten hours  
per day to eight1 six1 and finally1     
four1 while at the same time the pay    
will be forced up in a more or less     
corresponding ratio4 ,they have also    
announced an intention of making capital
 useless to its owners1 by crippling its
 productive power1 and so making it     
easier to seize it4 ,it goes without    
saying that a four-hour day and high    
wages can never come by a war which     
destroys most of the income to be       

divided4 ,make the figures more moderate
 and allow time enough for it1 and it   
may be made to come by the diametrically
 opposite plan of making industry more  
and more fruitful4 ,the ten-hour day    
succeeded the twelve- or fourteen-hour  
one of former times in exactly that way4
  ,the division of the social income is 
of vital importance as well as the      
general size of it4 ,i have claimed for 
the regulation of monopoly that it is   
nearly the greatest of possible reforms4
 ,perhaps the very greatest is a change 
in the mode of adjusting wages4 ,they   
are fixed at present in a               
rough-and-ready way1 though not without 
some reference to what labor produces   
and what employers can pay1 and not1    
therefore1 without the action of a      
principle which makes1 in a powerful    
way1 for justice4 ,any method1 however1 
which involves many strikes and         
lockouts1 is bad economically and worse 
morally4 ,the contests are always       
costly1 and they easily run into violent

 warfare2 but underneath all these      
struggles and the hates and horrors that
 result1 there is working1 if we will   
see it1 a law that makes for peace      
founded on justice4 ,it tends in the    
direction of a fair division of products
 between employers and employed1 and if 
it could work entirely without          
hindrances1 would actually give to every
 laborer substantially what he produces4
 ,in the midst of all prevalent abuses  
this basic law asserts itself like a law
 of gravitation1 and so long as monopoly
 is excluded and competition is         
free1--so long as both labor and capital
 can move without hindrance to the      
points at which they can create the     
largest products and get the largest    
rewards--its action cannot be stopped1  
while that of the forces that disturb it
 can be so4 ,in this is the most        
inspiriting fact for the social         
reformer4 ,if there are inspiration     
points on the mountain-tops of science1 
as well as on those of nature1 this is  

one of them1 and it is reached whenever 
a man discovers that in a highly        
imperfect society the fundamental law   
makes for justice1 that it is impossible
 to prevent it from working and that it 
is entirely possible to remove the      
hindrances it encounters and let it have
 the first play4 ,nature is behind the  
reformer1 often unseen1 always          
efficient1 and1 in the end1 resistless4 
,to get a glimpse of what it can do and 
what man can help it do is to get a     
vision of the kingdoms of the earth1 and
 the glory of them--a glory that may    
come from a moral redemption of the     
economic system4 ,it is a redemption    
that man and nature can together bring  
about if only man himself is worthy of  
this alliance4  ,differences of mere    
interest between the various social     
classes are inevitable4 ,there will     
never be a time when1 in the division of
 any common property1 the mere bald     
interests of the claimants are alike4   
,when two fishermen own one boat and    

fish together1 each one is interested in
 taking the whole catch4 ,they divide1  
however1 by a fair rule and live in     
peace4 ,any similar division may proceed
 in harmony if what the parties want is 
justice4 ,till recently ,american       
workmen have lived with their employers 
without hating them2 and if wages can be
 fixed now by some appeal to the        
principle of justice1 they can live with
 them in that way again4 ,this means a  
better method of adjudicating claims    
than by a crude test of strength4 ,there
 is no time to discuss a scheme by which
 this can be done4 ,i must claim that it
 can be done1 and take the              
responsibility of proving it when more  
time is available4 ,there are beginnings
 of a good method in ,new ,zealand1 in  
,australia1 and in ,canada1 and the     
point ,i am making now is that if we get
 a plan which works well in the ,united 
,states1 we shall save a deplorable     
waste and do more to revive the spirit  
of fraternity than we can by any measure

 ever attempted4 ,struggles of classes  
there may be1 as there are between      
buyers and sellers everywhere2 but this 
need not make the parties enemies4 ,its 
effects do not need to extend to the    
heart and character and to put distrust 
and hatred in the place of confidence   
and good will4 ,the moral effects of    
this reform will be the best ones1 but  
the economic effects also will be vast  
and beneficent4  ,i am not predicting a 
complete millennium merely as the result
 of the reforms ,i have described4 ,that
 would require also the moral perfection
 of the human race4 ,not a little moral 
improvement is to be expected as the    
effect of these measures1 but it is too 
much to claim that they will repress all
 vice and crime1 reclaim all criminals1 
and give to the race generally a keen   
devotion to duty4 ,a belief in a ,state 
where even this will be realized is     
deeply implanted in human nature1 and   
,socialism itself might easily get a    
major premise from it4 ,the syllogism   

would run thus3 7#a7 ,a better ,state is
 bound to come4 7#b7 ,it cannot come    
under the system of private capital4    
7#c7 ,therefore that system must be     
abolished4 ,so would we all say if the  
minor premise were true--,the good      
,state is impossible under private      
capital4 ,we claim that it is possible  
and that we can see how to realize it4  
,we can trace the forces which1 without 
revolution1 will make work lighter1 pay 
better4 ,we also can make a syllogism1  
and it reads thus3 7#a7 ,the present    
,state is tolerable4 7#b7 ,every reform 
will make it better1 and there are many 
to be made4 7#c7 ,the coming ,state will
 be whatever we have wit and energy     
enough to make it4  ,our plea for the   
justice of the coming system will not   
convince any man who starts with the    
assertion that capital ought to have no 
return whatever1 and that interest is   
robbery1 and that the men who bring     
empty hands to the mill should take all 
the product of it4 ,to most men's       

instinctive judgment this view does not 
appeal4 ,the general verdict is that it 
is right for capital to get something4  
,if we are fishing together from the    
shore and ,i make a canoe which         
multiplies my catch by five1 ,i have a  
right to the extra return which my new  
instrument gives me4 ,if my neighbor    
asks me to lend it to him and ,i do so1 
,i deprive myself of the extra product  
,i have been getting by means of it1 and
 it is right for him to pay me interest 
on the cost of the boat4 ,he can do it  
and make money by the transaction4 ,if  
his catch is now five times what it was1
 he can afford to pay me a part of the  
extra return and still be better off    
than he was before4  ,if my share is    
still large1 other men will make boats  
and offer them for hire4 ,they will     
compete in lending them till a modest   
percentage of the cost is all that any  
owner can get4 ,the borrowers will then 
get the major benefit4 ,this implies    
competition and shows the necessity of  

preserving it4  ,if1 in lieu of lending 
my canoe1 ,i persuade another man to    
take it and fish for me1 ,i shall have  
to give him more fish than he was       
originally catching2 and the more the   
boats multiply1 the larger the share    
which will have to be given to the men  
who are hired to work them1 and the     
smaller the share which will be kept by 
the owner of any one boat4 ,under a     
normal condition1 multiplying capital   
means in itself higher wages4 ,higher   
wages mean that laborers1 in the end1   
begin to get boats of their own1 or     
shares in boats1 and that the           
laboring-class and the capitalist class 
are more and more merged4               
,invention--that is1 devising and       
introducing canoes--and accumulation of 
capital--that is1 active                
canoe-building--mean for laborers higher
 pay and a chance to save capital4  ,do 
you tell me that this is a primitive    
,state1 an ,eden of the past and        
hopelessly vanished from the present    

earth2 that it is a lost ,paradise whose
 gates are forever barred8 ,the whole   
point of the economic study of which ,i 
have given the briefest outline is that 
it is practicable to create in complex  
modern life the most essential condition
 of this primitive life--its tendency   
toward justice4 ,in the ,scriptures the 
primitive ,eden was a garden1 but the   
,new ,jerusalem is a city4 ,what we have
 before us for study is a vast          
centralized economic system suggesting  
the city2 and we have to see what can be
 made of it4  ,it is something extremely
 good4 ,the late ,edward ,atkinson was  
fond of saying that1 if improvements are
 allowed to do their best1 the time will
 come when1 as he expressed it1 it will 
not pay to be rich4 ,the workers will be
 so comfortable that the care of a great
 capital will more than offset any      
additional comfort a man can get by     
owning it4 ,grotesquely exaggerated as  
this claim may appear to be1 it was     
based on serious economic study4 ,there 

are forces at work which1 if they have  
free play1 will carry human life very   
far in the direction of the ,state so   
described1 with its comfort1            
contentment1 and fraternity4  ,that     
fraternity is possible in spite of sharp
 contention is clear whenever athletic  
teams meet and celebrate a game which   
has been a victory for one and a defeat 
for the other2 and the parties that     
contend in the great industrial field   
may be equally brotherly if they play   
fairly4 ,foul play always means enmity1 
and fair play1 friendship4 ,the finest  
possible type of character grows up in  
the course of keen but honorable        
rivalry4 ,the noblest manhood that can  
anywhere be developed would come from   
competing vigorously in the market and  
living together as brothers when the    
contest closes4 ,the beaten man may not 
enjoy his defeat1 but he may act rightly
 and feel rightly toward the victor4    
,develop in these economic contests the 
sense of justice--let both parties seek 

to follow a rule of right--and men's    
hearts1 at least1 will not need to be   
embittered4 ,you will then see a        
contest1 which1 when it is waged with   
bombs and bludgeons1 looks like a       
,sheol1 so changed that it shall open   
the way to a transformed world and make 
the hope of a future ,eden no day-dream1
 but a scientific deduction from cosmic 
law4 ,we may build a new earth out of   
the difficult material we have to work  
with1 and cause justice and kindness to 
rule in the very place where strife now 
holds sway4 ,a ,new ,jerusalem may      
actually arise out of the fierce        
contentions of the modern market4 ,the  
wrath of men may praise ,god and his    
,kingdom may come1 not in spite of1 but 
by means of the contests of the economic
 sphere4  ,socialism can have no        
monopoly of beatific visions4 ,it offers
 much in that direction4 ,it draws a    
picture of a future ,state of great     
riches and general equality2 and the    
picture is glorified by a vision of     

general brotherhood4 ,to some this seems
 more attractive than any other which   
imagination can create4 ,i confess to a 
preference for a prospect which assures1
 before all else1 the continuance of    
progress1 and shows humanity striving to
 make forward steps and actually making 
them so long as the universe shall      
exist4 ,as between a stationary paradise
 and a progressive purgatory1 ,i should 
prefer the latter1 for the sake of the  
permanent well-being of the human race2 
but what ,i should choose in preference 
to either is a progressive paradise4    
,the capacity for further improvement is
 the essential trait of the best        
condition now in sight4 ,the reformer   
can point to his delectable mountains   
and trace an unending route to and over 
them1 as they rise range beyond range   
and lose themselves in the distance4    
,men are1 in general1 following the     
route1 and each generation advances     
beyond the point attained by its        
predecessor4 ,every step is forward and 

upward1 and the nearest goal will soon  
be reached and passed4 ,our descendants 
will reach a better and more distant    
goal and then press on to something     
remoter and still better4 ,again and    
again barriers seemingly insurmountable 
will be passed4 ,the impossibility of   
to-day will be the reality of to-morrow1
 and the dazzling vision of to-day will 
be the reality of the future and the    
starting-point for still grander        
achievements4   ,the ,riverside ,press  
,,cambridge 4 ,,massachusetts ,u 4 ,s 4 
,a