,the ,camel    and the ,needle's ,eye   
,spiritual ,perfection    ,a ,dialogue  
,by ,thomas ,clune    7,arthur          
,ponsonby7    ,fscap4 #hvo4 #as4 nett4  
,post-free #as4 #b;d4      8,there is   
sound reasoning and deep thought in this
 book40--,dundee  ,advertiser4 8,a      
thoughtful dialogue40--,the ,times4 8,no
 one  can read it without gaining a     
broader outlook on the truths of        
religion40--,methodist ,times4 8,many of
 the religious problems  and            
difficulties always cropping up are     
skilfully and earnestly                 
considered40--,aberdeen ,journal4       
,,london3 ,a4 ,c4 ,,fifield             
,the ,camel and the      ,needle's ,eye 
,by      ,arthur ,ponsonby1 ,m4,p4      
,published ,december1 #aiji             
,reprinted ,january1 #aiaj              
,reprinted ,october1 #aiaj              
,london      ,a4 ,c4 ,fifield1 #ac      
,clifford's ,inn1 ,e4,c4      #aiaj     
,,william ,,brendon ,,and ,,son1 ,,ltd4 
,,printers1 ,,plymouth              ,,to

      ,,my ,,wife          ,contents    
,preface        ,chapter ,i             
,extreme poverty a consequence of       
extreme wealth--,pity or        contempt
 for the poor--,money ideal strong among
 the poor--        ,the different phases
 in making a fortune--,the general      
tendency of society--,relations between 
rich and poor--        ,dis-sympathy and
 class hatred--,the social problem      
#aa        ,chapter ,,ii      ,money as 
a supreme concern--,intensity of belief 
in money--        ,definition of        
,contention--,the impulses which act as 
the motive power of money-making--,the  
limitation of        human              
capacities--,money and happiness--,money
 as        responsibility--,the national
 wealth and welfare                 #bg 
,chapter ,,iii      ,definition of the  
limit--,those whose means are above the 
limit--,income translated into terms of 
subsistence--,the        case of the    
rich man--,his establishments--,his     
servants--        ,his                  

luxuries--,extravagance--,vanity--,sport
--,racing--                             
,yachting--,condemnation of excess      
#dc        ,chapter ,,iv      ,the rich 
man's charities--,his generosity--,his  
hospitality--        ,his land--,the    
,feudal ,system--,his                   
responsibilities--,the                  
agricultural problem                    
#ga        ,chapter ,v      ,the rich   
man's children--,his sons' education at 
school and        university--,his      
daughters--,love and                    
marriage--,refinement        of the     
aristocracy--,their alliance with the   
plutocracy--        ,smart society--,its
 general characteristics                
#he        ,chapter ,,vi      ,the rich 
man as a business man--,the conduct of a
 successful                             
business--,money-making the             
incentive--,money no measure of         
merit or worth in men--,or in works of  
art--,financiers--        ,the power of 
money--,imperialism--,political power-- 

,experiments of                         
millionaires--,gifts--,money            
administered by        corporations or  
the ,state                              
#aja        ,chapter ,,vii      ,the    
deceptive process of the growth of      
riches--,the relaxation        of       
effort--,the love of ease--,the power of
 convention--        ,the disadvantages 
of abundance--,surfeit--,difficulties in
        a rich man's life--,waste of    
talent and capacity--,england        as 
a nation deeply infected with the belief
 in money           #aai        ,chapter
 ,,viii      ,the problem of            
riches--,necessity of a scientific      
investigation        into the lives of  
the rich--,interdependence of riches and
        poverty--,analysis of           
expenditure on houses1 servants1        
clothes1 food1 amusements--,impressions 
of a poor crowd and        a rich       
crowd--,tragedies                       
#aci        ,chapter ,,ix      ,religion
 and money--,attitude of                

clergy--,emphatic condemnation        of
 riches by ,christ--,notable texts and  
sayings--,want of                       
conviction--,importance attached to     
dogmatic religion--        ,necessity   
for stronger denunciation               
#afc        ,chapter ,x      ,results of
 influence of money--,no motive in lives
 of the        rich--,money as our      
master--,if money ideal could be        
discarded--,possibility of change of    
ideal for all classes      #agi         
,preface      ,my original intention was
 to collect together a number of essays 
on  some of the most important bearings 
of the question of the expenditure  of  
riches4 ,after corresponding with those 
whom ,i had invited to join me  in this 
undertaking1 ,i became aware that in    
spite of our substantial  agreement on  
main principles it would be difficult to
 secure uniformity  in the treatment of 
the theme1 and impossible to carry on   
any sustained  argument through the     
varied contributions of different people

 writing  from different points of view4
 ,accordingly ,i came to the conclusion 
that ,i must renounce the co-operation  
of men well qualified to speak1  whose  
knowledge and experience would have     
given their opinions special  weight1   
and work out my own argument unaided4   
,had ,i approached the subject from the 
standpoint of a scientific  economist1  
,i should have hesitated to enter upon  
such a formidable  task4 ,the more      
special knowledge a man has1 the more   
conscious does he  become of the        
impossibility of dealing adequately with
 his subject4  ,but my object has been  
to write as one knowing no more than    
others who  take any interest in human  
affairs and watch the play of social    
forces1  as one who is no spectator in  
the combat he describes1 and who1 being 
himself infected with the malady he is  
studying1 is perhaps the better  able to
 diagnose it4 ,i do not speak as a      
preacher to his congregation1  as a     
teacher to his pupils1 as a moralist to 

his disciples1 or even as  a politician 
to his audience1 but as one man         
submitting his opinion for  what it is  
worth to another4    ,at the same time1 
,i am compelled by a deep conviction in 
the truth of  my argument which passing 
years and the course of events only     
serve to  strengthen1 and if1 by the    
brief suggestions contained in these    
pages1  ,i can succeed in inducing      
anyone to examine more closely this     
branch  of the ,social ,problem1 which  
in my opinion is too often dismissed as 
negligible1 ,i shall be amply repaid4   
,my thanks are due to those who have    
kindly assisted me in collecting  the   
facts and figures in ,chapter ,,viii and
 in other parts of the book1  and also  
to ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,j4 ,l4 ,hammond1 who 
read through the ,,ms4 and  made        
valuable criticisms and suggestions4    
,a4 ,p4          ,the ,camel and the    
,needle's ,eye          ,chapter ,i     
,extreme poverty a consequence of       
extreme wealth--,pity or      contempt  

for the poor--,money ideal strong among 
the poor--,the      different phases in 
making a fortune--,the general tendency 
of      society--,relations between rich
 and poor--,dis-sympathy and class      
hatred--,the social problem4            
,frederick the ,great's father1 on the  
occasion of great court  festivities    
used to lead his wife from the brilliant
 scene of gaiety  to an adjoining       
chamber1 where he made her lie down for 
a few moments  in her own coffin1 so as 
to give her a sharp reminder of the     
vanity  and transitory nature of all    
human pleasure4 ,an even more effective 
reminder for those who in ,london spend 
their money on a life of  pure          
self-indulgence would be afforded by a  
walk at midnight along  the ,embankment 
from ,westminster to ,waterloo ,bridge4 
,no prearranged  stage management is    
necessary for the sight they are to see4
 ,it is a  long run1 every night and all
 night1 and has gone on ever since the  
,embankment was constructed4 ,as they   

pass along they can see the seats       
packed closely with men and women       
leaning against one another in an       
exhausted or half-drunken slumber4 ,they
 can see the ragged and filthy  bundles 
of humanity lying round the parapet at  
the foot of ,cleopatra's  ,needle1 or   
the rows of wretched caricatures of men 
and women lined  along the wall under   
the shelter of the bridges4 ,if they go 
late  enough1 there is a strange silence
 which at first gives the impression    
that the place is deserted4 ,but it only
 means that these waifs and  strays1    
these wretched outcasts1 are enjoying   
the few hours' reprieve  given even to  
them by the blessed oblivion of sleep4  
,the moon shines on  them from over the 
river1 but no melodrama can reproduce   
that scene2  estimates are drawn up of  
their number1 but no statistics can give
  an adequate analysis2 books are       
written on their condition1 but no      
language can describe it4 ,a man who    
sees this squalid throng for the  first 

time must be deeply impressed1 but it   
strikes even more anyone  who sees it   
constantly1 and he must be less than    
human if he can pass  without a poignant
 pang of shame4 ,but nine out of ten of 
those who do  pass along will tell you  
these wretches only have themselves to  
blame1  and it would be better if they  
could be stowed away somewhere out of   
sight4    ,this1 which is only one of   
many similar scenes throughout the      
country1  is not described by way of    
presenting a dramatic contrast1 but as  
an  integral part of the problem of     
riches4 ,these nocturnal spectres of the
  ,embankment and the knots of          
bedraggled starvelings at the workhouse 
gates are the counterpart of the        
millionaire1 the necessary concomitant  
to balance and complete the picture4    
,the shameful waste of money one  end   
produces a shameful waste of human life 
the other end4 ,one species  of parasite
 on the social body breeds another      
species of parasite4  ,they are as much 

a part of the train of a rich man as his
 butlers and  gamekeepers4 ,they are the
 natural1 though perhaps to him         
invisible1  consequence of his          
misapplied and squandered thousands4    
,the rich  must take their full share of
 the responsibility1 because the wealth 
represented by growing incomes is being 
increasingly ill-directed and  wasted1  
and the inevitable outcome is to        
aggravate the problem of  unemployment1 
to extend still further miserable       
conditions of living1  and to nurture a 
neglected class devoid of moral and     
physical stamina1  who fall out as      
incompetents and wastrels in the great  
struggle for  existence4 ,there are some
 who complain of any relief from the    
,state  being given to the unemployed   
poor as only encouraging their continued
  existence2 but the maintenance of the 
unemployed rich by those who  are       
instrumental in producing the national  
wealth is a far graver  question4 ,the  
unemployed pauper is a deplorable1 but  

in each case a  solitary and isolated   
outgrowth of circumstances too strong   
for him  to resist4 ,whereas the        
unemployed capitalist is1 on account of 
his  riches1 the centrifugal point of a 
whole set of dynamic forces of the      
gravest consequence4 ,they radiate from 
him1 vibrate far and wide into  the     
vital concerns of others1 and continue  
to operate harmfully so long  as he     
attempts to manipulate his riches       
single-handed4 ,he constitutes1         
therefore1 a social danger4    ,this is 
no place to give a picture of poverty4  
,it has been done often  enough of late 
years and with faithful accuracy1 so    
that society has no  excuse for ignoring
 the real state of affairs1 though in   
their stampede  after money they have   
little time to give it a passing        
thought4 ,to  reflect about it and speak
 of it is to display foolish pessimism2 
to  describe scenes of poverty is to be 
guilty of sentimentality and bad  taste4
    ,and what are the prevailing        

sentiments of the fat parasites towards 
their lean colleagues8 ,either pity or  
contempt4 ,their whole faith  and all   
their actions naturally breed contempt  
for poverty1 although  they make some   
effort to conceal it4 ,it is quite in   
consonance with a  belief that money    
makes people refined1 generous1         
dignified1 gracious1  subjects of       
reverence and models for emulation1 and 
that those who have  no resources cannot
 aspire to these notable qualities4 ,but
 their pity1  which is the mainspring to
 their so-called charity and is reserved
 more  especially for the destitute1 is 
misplaced1 and would be better applied  
to themselves if only they could see the
 true position they fill in the  general
 design of human society4               
8,epargnez aux pauvres votre piti10 says
 ,anatole ,france1 8ils n'en    ont que 
faire4 ,pourquoi la piti et non pas la  
justice8 ,vous tes    en compte avec    
eux4 ,rglez le compte4 ,ce n'est pas une
 affaire de    sentiment4 ,c'est une    

affaire conomique4 ,si ce que vous leur 
donnez    gracieusement est pour        
prolonger leur pauvret et votre         
richesse1    ce don est inique et les   
larmes que vous y mlerez ne le rendront 
pas quitable4444 ,vous faites l'aumne   
pour ne pas restituer4 ,vous    donnez  
un peu pour garder beaucoup et vous vous
 flicitez4 ,ainsi le    tyran de ,samos 
jeta son anneau  la mer4 ,mais la ,nmsis
 des dieux    ne reut point cette       
offrande4 ,un pcheur rapporta au tyran  
son    anneau dans le ventre d'un       
poisson4 ,et ,polycrate fut dpouill de  
toutes ses richesses40    ,together with
 the pity there is a lurking misgiving  
that they do owe  the poor something1   
so1 in blind ignorance and in fear of   
the full  amount of their debt being    
demanded of them1 they pay out driblets 
either with ostentation and             
self-congratulation or else trying      
almost  pathetically1 yet in vain1 to   
pump into their gifts some of the       
sentiments which they conceive should be

 associated with pure charity4    ,as   
for those whose incomes fall below the  
limit1 the money ideal  affects them    
just as strongly as it does the rich    
themselves4 ,there  is more excuse      
because there is a greater want of      
education2 there is  more excuse also   
because1 knowing from their own         
experience that money  can keep off     
starvation and prevent the physical     
suffering produced by  want1 and knowing
 also that more money means more        
comforts and a wider  scope for         
activity1 they fall naturally into the  
error of believing  that every          
progressive increase in money brings a  
proportionate  increase in happiness4   
,the large mass whose incomes are the   
wrong side  of the limit are all of them
 in want in various degrees1 and their  
desire for more money is therefore      
legitimate and only to be expected4     
,the want of it they know by experience 
means misery1 the possession of  it they
 conclude must mean happiness4 ,but they

 are seldom1 if ever1  taught that they 
can frustrate their own ends by pinning 
their whole  faith on purely material   
acquisition2 on the contrary1 the       
general  opinion round them leads them  
to suppose that money should rightly be 
the sole aim and object of their        
ambitions4 ,the education1 if it can be 
called by that name1 which they receive 
from the cheap press presents  them with
 inviting pictures of wealth1 ease1 and 
luxury4 ,they read of  men who have     
amassed great fortunes1 of incidents in 
the careers of  millionaires1 of        
charitable gifts bestowed by the        
munificent rich1 of  the positions1     
success1 titles1 and fame achieved by   
men through money4  ,their eye falls on 
alluring advertisements for expensive   
goods4 ,they  are encouraged to bet and 
gamble1 and to enter absurd competitions
  made attractive by the figures of a   
large sum of money being printed  in    
bold type at the head of the newspaper  
column4 ,their appetite is  whetted1    

their wants increase1 they resolve to   
try and make more money  by the swiftest
 means possible4 ,any ideal of service  
and any noble  ambitions for achievement
 fade away1 and are discarded as too    
laborious  and difficult and as         
requiring too much effort and toil4 ,if 
they have  actually suffered in the     
lowest depths1 if they have ever felt   
the  sharp pinch of starvation1 the more
 readily do they accept the doctrine    
preached to them so loudly and so       
persistently that to become rich is  not
 only the highest1 but the most         
practical and sensible ambition for  a  
man to set himself4    ,tantalising     
rewards lead a man on to hurry blindly  
along a path beset  with traps and      
snares4 ,on the various stages of his   
journey he loses  some of the finer     
qualities with which he may have been   
originally  endowed1 but which he finds 
impediments and encumbrances in his     
progress towards the inviting but       
illusive goal4 ,here he drops caution1  

there self-respect1 here consideration  
for others must be sacrificed2  there1  
again1 scrupulousness and even honesty  
must be cast aside4 ,the  man who       
8rises10 who 8makes his pile10 who      
8succeeds10 goes up the  ladder of      
wealth1 the rungs of which are vanity   
and applause1 mistaking  it for the     
ladder of life1 the rungs of which are  
service1 sacrifice1  and resolution4    
,there are bags of gold at the top      
within sight2 it  matters not that some 
of the rungs are dangerously weak4      
,others have  reached the top or near   
it1 why should not he8    ,every step   
forward is marked by outward signs and  
changes4 ,the cottage  with its simple  
adornments is exchanged for the villa   
with its walnut  suites and art         
knickknacks2 this is followed by a      
larger detached  villa which requires   
several servants2 the dogcart and       
groom-gardener  are soon transformed    
into a motor-car and chauffeur2 the male
  servant with livery adds the necessary

 importance2 the butler becomes         
indispensable for the town residence1   
with a country seat as well for         
shooting and entertainment2 and so on1  
more and more display until the         
ultimate goal is reached1 with1 strange 
to say1 no real satisfaction  or        
contentment4 ,new friends are made on   
the road and old friends are  dropped4  
,each advance signifies a fresh         
endeavour to live in the same  style as 
those on the next higher level1 with    
whom it becomes a duty  to associate4   
,meanwhile the man's powers of digestion
 and those of  his family do not        
increase1 nor does their mental         
equipment4 ,even his  capacity for      
enjoyment he finds has its limits and   
appears to become  further restricted4  
,but he knows he will be judged1 even as
 he has  judged others1 by the quantity 
and quality of his worldly possessions1 
and he follows obediently the model and 
example the rich have set up4  ,there   
are some who see the emptiness of this  

course2 there are some who  have the    
character not to desire to alter the way
 of living to which  they have been     
accustomed2 but are there any who would 
condemn the  accumulation of riches and 
resist the incessant temptations that   
are  put in their way of making more8   
,when the poor man1 with a bare living  
wage1 fails to keep a decent  home1     
drinks1 or spends his money foolishly1  
he is ruthlessly  condemned as          
thriftless and intemperate4 ,but who is 
setting him the  example of thrift and  
abstemiousness8 ,anyhow1 not the rich   
man1 to whom  the very words are        
meaningless4 ,if he drops out from      
incompetence1 from  weakness1 or from   
viciousness1 if destitution becomes his 
lot1 his  nature becomes crippled1 his  
character warped1 his mind embittered1  
and he finds himself dragged down lower 
still and trodden under by  his         
fellow-men in their thoughtless and     
brutal stampede for lucre4  ,truly1 8the
 destruction of the poor is their       

poverty40 ,the general  pressure of the 
multitude is downward and destructive1  
not because  there is any inherent      
depravity in their nature1 either       
individually  or collectively1 but      
because of the narrow confines of the   
course into  which they are driven and  
because of the oppression to which they 
are subjected4 ,there is no time to     
stop1 pick up1 and shield those  who    
have started on the journey with the    
hideous handicap of disease  and        
incompetence created by degraded and    
disgraceful homes2 these  unfortunates  
must go to the wall1 because the        
potential energy and  pressure of       
society is not concentrated on the      
uplifting of the feeble  and the        
recovery of the outcasts1 but on the    
rush forward with the rich  in the      
forefront as leaders--a desperate rush  
towards some seductive  dream of        
prosperity1 some purely selfish         
satisfaction of animal  appetites and   
material pleasures4 ,the slow and often 

discouraging  expedients of relief1     
restoration1 and help are passed over   
when  success1 conquest1 and triumph are
 in sight4    ,a plutocracy may not ever
 actually govern the country2 a greater 
calamity could hardly be conceived1 but 
the rich are1 nevertheless1  our        
leaders1 and every rich man is setting  
up a pattern which1 without  his being  
aware of it1 perhaps hundreds of        
thousands are anxious to  copy4 ,the    
poor admire and like the rich1 and the  
rich know it4 ,in their  humility1 and  
sometimes envy1 they watch them with awe
 as beings of  another and more glorious
 world4 ,they read of them in their     
novelettes2  an atmosphere of splendour 
and romance surrounds them4 ,they see   
them in  their brilliant settings1 they 
hear of their great doings1 they know   
of the magnificence of their            
establishments1 and as the chasm between
  them is still unbridged1 they are     
spellbound by the fascination which     
only the mysterious and the unknowable  

can give4 ,they see no connection       
whatsoever between the position of the  
rich and their own1 nor do the  rich    
themselves acknowledge that there is    
any4 ,the ignorance of the  rich about  
the poor is profound1 but it is nothing 
to the ignorance of  the poor about the 
rich4 ,the chasm between the two is     
never spanned4  ,those who live with the
 rich approve their methods and are     
blind to  sights they do not want to    
see4 ,they are heedless and unconscious 
of  the world of toil and privation1 or 
only apprehend it occasionally when  a  
beggar or tramp somehow manages to evade
 being tucked away out of  sight and    
thrusts himself before their unwilling  
gaze4 ,even then they  become accustomed
 to the sight of these unfortunates1    
whose existence  they believe is due to 
the bad management of public            
authorities4 ,and  those who study the  
far side of the chasm are so much       
preoccupied and  aghast at the tangled  
confusion that confronts them that they 

only  have time to cast a glance of     
contempt at the self-indulgence and     
luxurious living which seems too distant
 to be real1 too ridiculous  and wicked 
to be quite true1 and they refuse to    
regard it seriously as  a component part
 of the various enigmas they are        
attempting to solve4  ,even economists1 
who are occupied with dissertations and 
discussions on  production1 consumption1
 and distribution1 seldom turn their    
attention  seriously to the moral       
impulses that cause1 and the fashions   
and habits  that control1 the great     
accumulations of capital and the        
appalling  waste which results4    ,a   
writer1 describing the state of the     
country in #ahea1a declared  that the   
great social evil of the time was 8the  
separation between the  rich and poor1  
the dis-sympathy of classes1 the mutual 
disgust which  appears to threaten some 
sort of violent revolution in society at
 no  very distant period40 ,but when he 
goes on to describe what he considers   

to be the desirable relationship1 he    
says1 8,what one wants to see is a  kind
 and cordial condescension on the one   
side1 and an equally cordial  but still 
respectful devotedness on the other40   
,luckily there are now  many more people
 than there were at that date who know  
this to be as  ridiculous as it is      
impossible4 ,but there are still1       
unfortunately1  a good many whose ideas 
this singularly nave opinion faithfully 
represents4    ,this 8dis-sympathy0 will
 amount to something very much more like
 class  hatred whenever the poor begin  
to open their eyes4 ,it is a mistake to 
suppose that antagonism between classes 
is produced by the inflammatory         
speeches and writings of agitators4 ,the
 masses herded into our towns  to become
 miserably poor1 unemployed and         
unemployable1 rapidly lose  all         
self-respect1 and are too much stupefied
 and even brutalised by  their condition
 to be alive to the injustice of our    
social system or  to seek to attack     

those whom they suspect are responsible4
 ,they are  dumb1 cowed1 and easily     
driven4 8,sweat the poor10 says an      
anonymous  writer in #ahib1 infuriated  
by the injustice of things1 8sweat the  
poor  and grind their faces and         
accumulate wealth--only let us have no  
cant  about it40#b ,it is the rich as a 
class who1 by their manner of life1  by 
their refusal to undertake most of the  
patent responsibilities of  citizenship1
 by their squandering of the national   
capital1 and by their  determination to 
suck up from the labour of others       
sufficient to allow  them to live in    
idleness themselves1 it is they that    
help to find the  fuel for the flame of 
class hatred1 a flame which one day may 
burst out  into a mighty conflagration4 
,a ,canadian journalist1 writing on his 
recent visit to this country1 has       
declared that it was not 8the statesmen 
or pro-consuls or heroes or  scholars0  
or our great historic institutions that 
left the most abiding  memories4        

8,frankly1 the thing that impressed me  
most1 the thing that  stands out as the 
background of every reminiscence1 was   
the bloodless1  mirthless1 hopeless face
 of the common crowd 444 the social     
problem  everywhere is appalling1 almost
 to the point of despair4 ,wherever we  
went it forced itself upon us4 ,the     
least dangerous aspect of it was  that  
hollow-eyed procession of the homeless  
of ,london kept moving along  the       
pavements by the police in the early    
dawn waiting for the opening  of the    
soup kitchens40#c ,and he speaks in the 
same way of ,sheffield1  ,manchester1   
,glasgow1 and ,edinburgh4    ,the last  
hundred years will be memorable as an   
era of almost miraculous  advance in all
 that concerns material progress4 ,and  
yet we have to  admit1 as the ,report of
 the ,poor ,law ,commission shows1 that 
so far  as pauperism and destitution are
 concerned our attempts at cure and     
prevention have completely failed4 ,here
 again we find the same fons  et origo  

malorum4 ,every step forward in methods 
of production1 in  new inventions and   
improved machinery1 is a tangible       
material gain  for some one4 ,but in the
 case of the pauper1 be he veteran1     
invalid1  incompetent1 or child1 there  
is nothing that can be transformed into 
immediate profit4 ,there is no money in 
it4 ,therefore it has been  impossible  
to rouse the public sympathy and        
interest4 ,fortunately many  are now    
beginning to see that the prevention of 
neglect and waste in  human life means  
wealth to the nation that cannot be     
estimated in sums  of money4    ,the    
problem of social reorganisation is one 
of the greatest complexity4    ,drink   
and slum dwellings doubtless aggravate  
the evil and make bad  worse4 ,the land 
and our system of industrial            
organisation are the  regulating forces 
that drive our population into these    
hideous social  conditions4 ,but it is  
time we traced back these forces to     
their source  and examined their origin4

    ,what is it that induces a great    
people to arrange their society on  this
 uneconomic1 wasteful1 and              
life-destroying model8 ,what common     
impulses inspire the class that is in   
authority and command to support  and   
maintain such a system8 ,put on one side
 tyranny1 rapacity1 greed1  and         
covetousness1 which are vices that no   
one wants to defend4 ,what is  at the   
back of this thirst for huge profits and
 high dividends1 this  capture of the   
land1 this amassing of great            
possessions1 this passion  for pleasure1
 this love of power and patronage1 this 
respect for  wealth1 this subservience  
to riches8    ,lurking in the spring    
head1 far away from the broad river1 we 
shall find the poison that is polluting 
the waters--our devouring1              
indestructible1 overpowering belief in  
money4          ,chapter ,,ii           
,money as a supreme concern--,intensity 
of belief in      money--,definition of 
,contention--,the impulses which act as 

the motive power of money-making--,the  
limitation of human                     
capacities--,money and happiness--,money
 as responsibility--,the      national  
wealth and welfare4      ,religion is   
said to be one of the supreme concerns  
of the human race1  and there can be no 
doubt that it forces itself into the    
calculations  of every one of us4 ,it is
 a matter about which we fight and      
differ1  about which we interest        
ourselves in various degrees in         
proportion  to the development of our   
spiritual and emotional nature1 and     
which  only a minority conscientiously  
consider to be of vital consequence4    
,but there is another concern which     
enters equally surely into all our      
calculations1 for which we fight without
 differing1 about which we  interest    
ourselves in various degrees in         
proportion to the development  of our   
material nature1 and which only a small 
minority consider not  to be of vital   
consequence4 ,after the satisfaction of 

our animal  appetites it is our first   
preoccupation4 ,to some it presents     
itself  as the very first consideration 
on which even the satisfaction of  their
 appetites must depend4 ,all great human
 efforts at progress1  whether they     
issue from religious1 political1        
scientific1 social1 or  economic        
sources1 get checked and thwarted sooner
 or later1 because  of the universal    
acceptance of a dominant principle1 so  
powerful and  so insinuating that it    
permeates the views and convictions of  
men1  whether they be of high or low    
degree1 and irrespective of their creed 
and nationality4 ,this bond that unites 
all civilised humanity is not a  great  
uplifting ideal nor a divine            
inspiration4 ,it has more the nature  of
 a malignant and infectious disease by  
which we are all contaminated4  ,it can 
be expressed in one single and familiar 
word--,,money--that is  to say the      
unqualified belief in money as a means1 
money as an end1  aim1 object1 ideal2   

money as representing the method of     
securing  a greater degree of physical  
wellbeing1 money as power1 money as     
pleasure1 money1 therefore1 as          
happiness4 ,it is a deep-rooted and  at 
present ineradicable conviction which we
 hold without doubt and  without        
question4 ,a little money1 we argue1 is 
obviously indispensable1  a little more 
money we are all of us continually      
declaring that we  want1 a good deal of 
money we are convinced brings a decided 
increase  in happiness1 and a vast      
amount of money must therefore mean a   
great  power for good4    ,this belief1 
which amounts almost to an instinct1 may
 vary in  intensity1 it may cloak itself
 under many insidious disguises1 but it 
is very rarely if ever completely       
absent4 ,it takes all conceivable       
forms1 from undisguised greed to        
simulated contempt4 ,there are those    
who devote their lives to amassing more 
money2 there are those who1  having     
sufficient1 assume outwardly an         

indifference as to its power1  while    
they retain inwardly a profound and     
unwavering faith in it2 and  there are  
those who struggle for it so as to avoid
 social and sometimes  even actual death
 from need of it4 ,it insinuates itself 
into the minds  of men who have no      
confidence in material advancement      
because they find  that our whole social
 system is based on this belief1 and if 
they do  not want to be left behind in  
the struggle they must accept the creed4
    ,not only by individuals separately1
 but by the people collectively  it is  
accepted as a concern of supreme        
importance4 ,our lives1 our  marriages1 
and therefore our very birth are        
regulated by it1 our  occupations1 our  
industries and our arts1 everything but 
death depends  on it1 and even death    
itself can be hastened or postponed by  
it4 ,so  national is the reverence for  
it that our holidays are not fixed on   
saints' days1 or to commemorate episodes
 from the rich part of our  history1 but

 they are ,bank holidays4 ,the closing  
of our banks is the  one signal that for
 twenty-four hours we are free4    ,the 
multifarious aspects of the theme are   
most bewildering4 ,as ,sir  ,henry      
,taylor said1 8,so manifold are the     
bearings of money upon the  lives and   
character of mankind1 that an insight   
which should search  out the life of a  
man in his pecuniary relations would    
penetrate into  almost every cranny of  
his nature4 ,for if we take account of  
all the  virtues with which money is    
mixed up1 honesty1 justice1 charity1    
frugality1 forethought1 self-sacrifice1 
and of their correlative vices1  it is a
 knowledge that goes near to cover the  
length and breadth of  humanity40    ,it
 is certainly true that the amazingly   
extensive nature of the subject  might  
lead one away into perfectly relevant   
discussions of almost every  field of   
human activity2 and nothing renders     
argument so unsatisfactory  and         
inconclusive as to have unlimited scope4

 ,but in these pages the  issue must be 
narrowed down and the question confined 
so far as  possible to a very brief     
examination of one particular aspect of 
the  subject1 which will be created by  
formulating a deliberate contention  and
 pursuing it by argument into some of   
the main channels of this  perplexing   
problem4 ,even so it is likely that deep
 water will be  reached1 but1 after all1
 a suggestion need not be driven to its 
utmost  limits in all directions in     
order to establish its significance4    
,in choosing a direct point of attack   
against this generally accepted  belief 
we shall treat the matter more or less  
from a practical point of  view4        
,without getting involved in abstract   
philosophic propositions1  without      
entering too far into the sphere of     
economics and politics1  without        
preaching high morality1 though the     
words and teachings of  preachers must  
be quoted1 an endeavour will be made1 by
 working out a  definite line of        

reasoning1 to submit as a whole some of 
the simpler  and perhaps more personal  
considerations which have no doubt      
already  occurred to many who have given
 the subject thought and reflection4 ,no
  maxims will be laid down as to how    
money should be made1 spent1 saved1     
lent1 borrowed1 invested1 given or      
bequeathed1 for the object is to  strike
 at the root principle and shatter the  
ideal which underlies  all those        
transactions1 which colours men's       
characters1 influences  their desires   
and aspirations1 creates artificial     
class contrasts1 and  contributes       
largely to the general social confusion 
and chaos4    ,briefly1 then1 our       
contention is3 ,that no individual is   
capable of  possessing1 spending1 or    
administering more than a certain       
definite  amount of money1 which can be 
roughly described as a full competence1 
without producing positively harmful    
effects on himself as well as  on those 
affected by his actions4 ,in other      

words1 the 8rich man0 is  an            
impossibility in any decently organised 
economic ,state1 and the  accumulation  
of capital in individual hands is       
detrimental to the  public good4 ,that  
is what is meant by the saying from     
which the title  of this volume is      
taken4    ,it may appear at first sight 
to be an extreme view1 because we have  
got so much accustomed to believing that
 a great deal of good can be  done with 
money1 and a great deal of happiness    
derived from it1 that to  be confronted 
with an uncompromising negation on such 
a time-honoured  tradition may seem     
almost absurd4 ,the argument is         
purposely intended  to be completely    
comprehensive1 and a case will be       
presented without  exaggeration which   
will cover as much of the ground as     
possible1  dealing with typical rather  
than exceptional instances by way of    
illustration4    ,we find in human      
nature three characteristic impulses    
which serve as  the mainspring and      

motive power in the gaining and spending
 of money3  the passion for acquisition1
 the instinct for absolute property1    
and the desire to excel4 ,no one would  
suggest that the passion for            
acquisition can be destroyed3 it is     
neither possible nor desirable1  but it 
can be prevented from running wild1 and 
it can be controlled1  though it does   
not seem to have occurred to many people
 that such  control is expedient4 ,the  
instinct for absolute property is very  
much  overestimated1 and this arises    
from the fact that we are accustomed  to
 a system which hardly allows any       
satisfactory intermediate stage  between
 property and positive need4 ,the       
craving for complete possession  on any 
considerable scale only enters into the 
minds of those who covet  their         
neighbours' possessions4 ,what a man    
wants and has every right to  expect is 
security in the enjoyment of his        
necessaries and comforts1  but this is  
precisely what in the vast majority of  

cases he does not  get2 and his want    
remaining unsatisfied is converted into 
a craving for  absolute property4 ,the  
desire to excel1 which can undoubtedly  
be one  of the finest human qualities1  
is in itself vitiated by the measure  of
 money1 which sets up an utterly false  
standard of excellence and  converts    
pure ambition into a desire for material
 pre-eminence4    ,however far we may   
travel1 the problem will be continually 
resolving  itself into some variation of
 the question as to how these impulses  
had best be regulated1 and to what      
extent they have broken out beyond      
their legitimate bounds4 ,but although  
the causes of the faith in money  may be
 reduced to moral and psychological     
terms1 there are economic as  well as   
moral results1 and it is not the        
metaphysical origins1 but the  practical
 results which must be looked into4     
,at the outset we must acknowledge that 
our capacities of all kinds  are        
strictly limited1 whether moral1        

intellectual1 or physical4  ,an         
occasional saint1 an occasional genius1 
or an occasional giant  stretches the   
limit beyond its normal point1 but the  
limit still  remains4 ,and yet we are   
foolish enough to believe that in regard
 to  the possession1 expenditure1 and   
administering of riches there is no  sum
 of money1 however large1 which we are  
not competent to deal with1  and we are 
convinced that it is quite easy and     
unquestionably within  the capacity of  
almost anyone to spend with benefit to  
himself and to  others sums of money    
greatly in excess of what can cover in  
the widest  sense his personal          
requirements4 ,whereas not only is it   
not easy1  but as inquiry will show1 it 
is purely and positively impossible1 as 
impossible as it is to acquire vast     
knowledge with a limited brain          
capacity1 or to endure more than a      
certain amount of physical strain  with 
a limited muscular capacity4 ,we are    
inclined also to think that  men who    

have money and men who make money are   
ipso facto easily  capable of spending  
the money properly1 though we generally 
make the  mental reservation that if we 
had it ourselves we should spend it a   
great deal better4 ,but the inheritance 
or accumulation of money does  not imply
 by any means a special ability for     
spending it wisely4 ,to put  it plainly1
 such men have not1 nor have we1 nor has
 anyone this ability  except in a very  
limited degree1 far more limited than is
 generally  supposed or ever admitted4  
,the case against riches has been argued
 again and again on religious  and moral
 grounds for over two thousand years1   
from ,confucius to  ,tolstoy4 ,but we   
are less impressed by the truth of it   
now than ever  we were2 and we still    
hear it stated by high authorities that 
it is  a benefit to the community to    
contain men of great wealth4 ,the whole 
delusion arises from the indestructible 
confidence in what money can  do4 ,and  
yet all of us see clearly enough by the 

roughest and most  general observation  
that happiness does not increase with   
riches1 that  money indeed has very     
little to do with happiness1 though it  
has a  good deal to do with misery4 ,but
 many of us are inclined to believe     
that our own individual case is rather  
different1 and that more money  added to
 our ample competence1 and a consequent 
further enjoyment of  material          
possessions1 must undoubtedly make us   
happier4 ,and when we  have got the more
 and the desired result is not attained1
 we never  pause in hesitation to       
consider whether perhaps the more has   
interfered  with rather than augmented  
our happiness1 but we are persuaded that
  the reason we find ourselves still    
discontented is simply that the  more is
 not enough4 ,enough never comes to     
those who have encouraged  the longing  
for more4 ,nothing short of actual      
experience can help to  eradicate this  
belief1 but there are few who would care
 to embark on  an experiment in the     

direction of less4 ,and yet it could    
quite well be  demonstrated that a      
reduction of income1 provided always    
that the loss  does not reduce the      
income below a competence can lead to an
 increase  in happiness--happiness      
being1 of course1 distinguished from    
pleasure4    ,it may require a very rare
 philosophic resignation and an equally 
rare breadth of view to refuse to be    
deluded into regarding the  possession  
of money as an absolute essential4      
,moreover1 there are a  great many      
qualifications to be taken into account 
arising from natural  characteristics1  
habit1 temperament1 and tastes4 ,but    
broadly speaking1  if a man has the     
courage to regard a reduction of income 
not as a loss  but a gain1 if he can use
 the opportunity to kill the instinctive
  but disturbing craving for more which 
unfortunately seems engrained  in us    
all1 in fact1 if he can eradicate the   
germ of the disease1 the  limitation of 
his desire to satisfy transient and what

 are really  artificial needs will      
certainly increase his power of         
enjoyment and his  happiness4 ,on the   
other hand1 if he treats the lowering of
 his means  as a calamity1 which is the 
usual case1 lamenting his fate1 railing 
against fortune and encouraging the     
longing for gain--an attitude of  mind  
which is only the outcome of his        
unlimited faith in the power of         
money--the result1 naturally enough1    
will be despair4    ,but it might be    
shown as well that a type of man does   
exist1  exceptional no doubt1 who1 being
 capable of spending without hurt to    
himself or to others more money than he 
has actually got1 can enrich  his life  
in the broadest sense by an increase of 
fortune1 and may  therefore become the  
happier for it4 ,he is a man who is     
indifferent to  the enjoyment of        
material possessions and probably would 
be regarded in  the eyes of the world as
 the last man who was competent to use  
money  properly4 ,but even he would be  

entirely overwhelmed by anything like a 
large increase of fortune1 and would be 
as incapable as any one else of         
disposing of it without inflicting      
injury4    8,could not riches be used   
well80 asks ,jean ,marie in ,stevenson's
  ,treasure of ,franchard4    8,in      
theory1 yes10 replied the doctor4 8,but 
it is found in experience  that no one  
does so4 ,all the world imagine they    
will be exceptional  when they grow     
wealthy2 but possession is debasing1 new
 desires spring  up1 and the silly taste
 for ostentation eats out the heart of  
pleasure40    ,money is1 after all1     
responsibility and nothing else4 ,we are
 all of  us capable of undertaking a    
certain amount4 ,some of us are capable 
of undertaking a good deal4 ,no one is  
capable of undertaking more  than a     
relatively limited amount4 ,but the     
trouble is that most of us  think       
ourselves capable of undertaking far    
more than we properly can4  ,autocrats  
are ceasing to exist not so much because

 certain monarchs  proved themselves    
dangerously incapable1 but because the  
world has  learned that no conceivable  
human being has the capacity to rule a  
country single-handed4 ,we do not yet   
admit this incapacity with regard  to   
the autocrats over capital1 although it 
is equally true1 and when  we do so we  
shall find considerable difficulty in   
dethroning them4    ,another important  
inference to be deduced from the        
argument here set  forth is that the    
surplus money which no individual does  
or can spend  beneficially remains in   
his hands in stagnant unproductivity1 is
  deflected from other remunerative     
channels1 and is therefore the chief    
cause of the existence of some of the   
gravest economic ills which we  have to 
face in our social life4 ,money cannot  
rest1 it is an active  instrument for   
producing good or for producing evil4   
,its presence in  one quarter may not   
produce visible evil1 but its consequent
 absence  in another quarter will       

produce very visible and very positive  
evil4  ,the word consequent must be     
emphasised because wealth is like       
water--to  pump it up artificially on   
one side is to lower it automatically on
 the  other4    ,money in its character 
of potential wealth seems also to have  
this  peculiar characteristic4 ,it has  
no positive value in itself4 ,the       
greater part of its value is given to it
 by its possessor1 and in  proportion as
 it accumulates in the hands of an      
individual its value  is rapidly        
depreciated4 ,an electric current of a  
certain power will  perform certain     
specified functions4 ,decrease the power
 and it ceases  to produce the required 
effect4 ,increase the power tenfold or a
  hundredfold and you will be no nearer 
achieving the desired result4  ,that is 
to say1 in addition to the change in    
value effected by the  change in        
individual ownership1 there is actual   
deterioration1 produced  by             
accumulation1 whoever the individual may

 be who is responsible for  that        
accumulation4    ,as with individuals1  
so with the ,state4 ,national wealth1   
which in the  highest sense of the word 
means the enrichment of the lives of the
  people1 depends not on how large a    
number of incomes there are of over  ten
 thousand a year1 but on how small a    
number there are of under two  hundred a
 year4 ,the real riches of a nation are 
not to be measured  by vast calculations
 of commercial statistics1 but by the   
absence of  destitution and the high    
level of healthy life which the people  
enjoy4    ,but we must accept the       
situation as it is4 ,the rich have got  
their  riches1 and the problem to be    
considered here is not how to deprive   
them of their riches1 but how to prevent
 all men1 rich and poor alike1  from    
confiding blindly in money1 as they do  
at present1 and from  striving towards a
 false ideal which spoils their highest 
endeavours1  blunts their moral         
susceptibilities1 poisons their         

happiness1 and  produces a state of     
social disorder which is highly         
prejudicial to  the common good4 ,a just
 appreciation of the essential fact that
 money  can only be made out of people's
 labour and the wear and tear of their  
lives would in itself do much to prevent
 the growth of the spirit which  leads  
to these alarming contrasts in riches   
and poverty4 ,but men's  ideals and     
their moral outlook can only be altered 
in the long run by  repeatedly exposing 
the actual fallacies in the views they  
now hold and  constantly emphasising the
 disastrous results of the actions for  
which  this waste of money is           
responsible4          ,chapter ,,iii    
,definition of the limit--,those whose  
means are above the      limit--,income 
translated into terms of                
subsistence--,the      case of the rich 
man--,his establishments--,his          
servants--,his                          
luxuries--,extravagance--,vanity--,sport
--,racing--,yachting--                  

,condemnation of excess4      ,a more   
precise definition must be given of the 
limit of income referred  to in the last
 chapter as 8a definite amount of money 
which might be  roughly described as a  
full competence40    ,every man         
requires1 though he by no means always  
gets a certain income  to satisfy his   
own needs and those of his family4 ,in  
addition to this  he can profitably     
spend more so as to add to his general  
utility by  conveniences and comforts1  
he can satisfy his artistic             
proclivities1  his desire for further   
knowledge1 his taste for sport or       
amusement1  all to his own and the      
general benefit without hurt or         
hindrance to  anyone4 ,but after        
allowing the broadest scope for the     
satisfaction of  these legitimate wants 
there is a definite point beyond which  
he cannot  safely go4 ,that is to say1  
if he acquires1 or if by inheritance he 
finds himself burdened with money beyond
 this limit it will inevitably  react   

detrimentally on himself and on others4 
,and this for two reasons3  firstly     
because he is1 as a normal human being1 
incapable of dealing  with so great a   
charge1 and secondly because the money1 
while in his  possession1 is being drawn
 away from other channels where there is
  special need for it4    ,so long as   
money encourages healthy effort a man   
may be sure the limit  has not been     
reached1 the moment money tends to relax
 effort the  limit has been passed4 ,it 
must be described as healthy effort1 as1
  of course1 money-making may increase  
the undesirable efforts of the          
speculator1 the gambler1 and the thief4 
,but who is to decide what is  healthy  
effort8 ,the man himself4 ,no one else  
can4 ,and he knows to a  nicety4 ,every 
man or woman has a different standard1  
and the level of  the limit varies in   
each individual case according to       
ideals1 capacity1  and temperament4 ,but
 it will not depend at all on what is   
one of the  strongest and often the most

 excusable inducements for spending     
money1  namely1 environment1 or the     
conventions of the particular stratum of
  society to which the man belongs4 ,the
 limit for one will not be the  limit   
for another1 and a man can only become  
aware that this limit  exists at all by 
observing very closely what actually is 
the effect  that his money is having on 
his life and character1 instead of      
blindly  accepting his already excessive
 income or every increase of his fortune
  as a natural and unquestionable       
blessing4    ,the main brunt of the     
attack must clearly fall on those whose 
incomes are above the limit4 ,they are  
in numbers a small minority1  but the   
amount they possess is incredibly large4
 ,the present income  of #a1bej1jjj     
people1 assessed to income1 reaches the 
vast sum of  #hej1jjj1jjj a year4       
,taking the whole population of these   
islands1 it  is roughly estimated that  
there are #a millions who can be classed
 as  rich1 #c millions comfortably off1 

#ch millions as poor1 of whom some #ab  
to #ac millions are in constant need4   
,the existence of the #a millions  is   
one of the chief causes of the condition
 of the #ch millions4 ,in  other words1 
excess above the limit causes want below
 the limit4 ,the  #c millions           
8comfortably off0 are most of them      
occupied in trying to  become identified
 with the select #a millions4 ,if we    
could estimate the  amounts in income   
which these classes represent the       
figures would be  even more startling4  
,the world has certainly never seen     
larger fortunes  than exist to-day1 nor 
has it seen more extensive and more     
inexcusable  poverty4 ,the average rate 
of luxurious living in the small        
minority is  higher than it has ever    
been1 and the dangerous and degrading   
effect  of want on individuals and on   
the general community has never been  so
 widespread or so intense4 8,the rich10 
to use a simple term1 are  nearly all   
actuated by the same motive4 ,they      

accept what they have and  what they    
make as their own1 to be spent on       
themselves1 according to  their own     
caprice1 or on others1 if they are so   
inclined1 casting an  occasional sop to 
some charity or philanthropic scheme as 
a salve to  their consciences4 ,there   
are1 it must be acknowledged1 a few1 a  
very  few who regard their riches as a  
trust and endeavour to the best of      
their ability to divert the greater part
 of it back into remunerative  channels 
without exceeding a reasonable sum for  
their own personal  wants4 ,but as a    
class they insist that efforts to alter 
our social  system are fruitless1       
disturbing and doomed to failure1 the   
division of  the world into rich and    
poor being a ,providential decree1 and  
if the  rich can get service from the   
poor without their grumbling1 that is   
the  most desirable arrangement that can
 be conceived4 ,to this a reply may  be 
given in the words of ,professor        
,marshall3      8,now at least we are   

setting ourselves seriously to inquire  
whether    it is necessary that there   
should be any so-called #8lower class'  
at    all3 that is whether there need be
 large numbers of people doomed    from 
their birth to hard work in order to    
provide for others the    requisites of 
a refined and cultured life1 while they 
themselves    are prevented by their    
poverty and toil from having any share  
in    that life40    ,the case would not
 be quite so bad as it is if it were    
only 8the  requisites of a refined and  
cultured life0 that they were made to   
provide4 ,but this point must be        
considered later4    ,in order to       
appreciate fully the responsibility     
which the possession  of riches entails1
 let us translate an income into terms  
of actual  sustenance for human beings4 
,by this means it is possible to arrive 
at a more or less positive measure4     
,there is so much that is relative  in  
most human requirements that they cannot
 serve as a standard or  as a reliable  

quantity to be used in calculating any  
equation4 ,but  the requirements of a   
human being can be measured in terms of 
actual  sustenance1 because they can be 
estimated with something approaching    
precision4    ,take a man with #bj1jjj a
 year1 and say we deduct even as much as
  #cjjj for himself and his family4     
,with his remaining #ag1jjj he has  the 
power of furnishing #agj people with    
#ajj a year apiece4 ,it is not  for a   
moment suggested that he should do any  
such thing1 as he would  be quite unable
 to select #agj worthy people1 and even 
if he could make  the choice the #agj   
people1 on the reception of this private
 dole1  would soon become unworthy4     
,this calculation is only taken to serve
 as  a measure of his power4 ,what might
 be the income or1 more correctly       
speaking1 the means of existence of #agj
 lives1 is vested in one man1  who is   
under the impression--and no one        
attempts to dispute it--that  he is     
capable of disposing of this sum in a   

way that is generally  beneficial4      
,now let us state the case fairly from  
the point of view of the rich  man1     
taking a reasonable and more or less    
representative type4 ,he  may have      
#aj1jjj1 #ej1jjj1 or #ajj1jjj a         
year--that only alters his  activities  
in scope1 not in quality4 ,let us say he
 has two or three  country houses and a 
house in ,london4 ,his 8position0       
requires him to  keep up a certain      
establishment1 and this means the       
employment of some  forty or fifty      
servants1 grooms1 gardeners1 chauffeurs1
 etc41 who1 he  readily tells you1 will 
be thrown out of employment should any  
of his  money be taken from him4 ,if we 
take the case of a landlord1 he will    
also have tenants1 bailiffs1 farm       
labourers1 and gamekeepers dependent  on
 him4 ,he keeps the home farm and lets  
out the other farms on his  estate to   
tenant farmers4 ,part of his land is    
built over and brings  him in           
substantial returns in the shape of     

rent4 ,his villages are in  good order  
and the cottages kept in proper repair4 
,some thousands of  acres or so he keeps
 for shooting4 ,he may have a deer      
forest on one  of his estates1 and      
perhaps also a grouse moor or a river4  
,whether he  keeps a racing stable1 a   
pack of hounds1 or a yacht depends on   
his  particular fancy4 ,he will         
acknowledge that he spends a certain    
amount  on luxuries1 but that 8is good  
for trade10 as great numbers of people  
have to be employed in the manufacture  
of these luxuries4 ,he is kind to  his  
poor relations1 whom he entertains and  
helps2 and his subscription  list to    
hospitals1 charities1 and philanthropic 
works is a large one4  ,he enjoys       
himself in an unostentatious but        
suitably expensive way1  and his various
 responsibilities allow him to lead a   
life consisting  of occasional rushes of
 activity and prolonged intervals of    
leisure4  ,he most probably finds he can
 spare a certain amount of money for    

speculation1 with a view to adding more 
to the sum total of his income4  ,he    
looks forward to handing down to his    
children sufficient means to  make each 
of them independent1 and meanwhile has  
his boys educated in  the large public  
schools1 where they can associate with  
boys who are  similarly situated4       
,what possible harm can there be in all 
this8 ,so far from being  parasitic1 he 
counts himself as a beneficent agent in 
the general  industrial activity1 at the
 same time appearing as a credit to his 
society and a notably refined product of
 the class of which he is a  member4    
,above all1 he is popular1 and gains    
ostensibly the respect and  regard of   
his friends1 his neighbours1 and his    
dependents4 ,a favourable  case has     
purposely been made for him1 because if 
we accuse him of  self-indulgence and   
greed1 and describe him as a gambler1   
spending his  substance on objects which
 are generally admitted to be pernicious
 and  unworthy1 the case could not be   

defended at all4    ,the fundamental    
theory which makes this man's position  
untenable  has already been             
explained--namely1 that after he has    
satisfied his  legitimate requirements  
all the surplus money he keeps is being 
held  back from serving urgent needs2   
and1 moreover1 the method in which he   
spends the surplus is directly or       
indirectly harmful to himself and       
others4    ,we call the money his as if 
by some miracle he had made it4 ,often  
enough he has not helped even by the    
smallest exertion to create  it4 ,the   
wealth has been and is being daily and  
hourly produced by  the exertion of     
numberless people who are either        
employed by him or  employed in         
furthering enterprises in which he has  
invested his money4  ,it will be said   
that his share as the wise dispenser of 
capital1  without which labour and      
enterprise could not be set in motion1  
is an  all-important part of the general
 process of business4 ,but he invests   

not to promote enterprise1 but to get   
high dividends2 and an elaborate  system
 has been set up in order to tempt him  
to put his money into  concerns that are
 by no means always sound or of the     
smallest public  utility4 ,capital would
 exist and flow far more freely without 
the large  capitalist4 ,he acts as a dam
 to the stream2 a certain amount escapes
  back into the main channel1 but much  
more is checked and diverted into       
stagnant and putrefying pools of his own
 creation4 ,the free flow of  blood is  
life-giving2 the clotting or coagulation
 of blood produces  disease4    ,let us 
take the various points raised by his   
case seriatim4 ,many  acutely           
controversial problems are opened1 and  
it will be difficult to  detach the     
particular actions of the rich man      
without generalising1  to some extent1  
on the problems themselves4 ,it is no   
argument against  our main contention to
 say that people with costly tastes     
have1 while  gratifying them1 been able 

to exercise powers of a high order1 for1
  obviously1 it is in spite of their    
shortcomings in this respect that  they 
have succeeded1 and not because of them4
 ,if some men with means  have done     
valuable public service and performed   
admirable work in many  different       
spheres of life1 this they have done as 
men naturally gifted  with high         
accomplishments1 not as rich men4 ,here 
we are only concerned  with their works 
and deeds in their latter capacity4     
,it does not affect our argument whether
 our typical example has been  brought  
up to regard this way of living as      
natural and necessary for  a man of what
 is called his 8position0 7that is to   
say1 the purely  artificial place which 
a rich man is able to take up in the    
community  solely on account of his     
riches71 or whether he has made the     
money  for himself and is simply aping  
the habits and customs of those who     
already possess it4 ,the distinction    
between the vieux riches and the        

nouveaux riches is one they can fight   
out between themselves4 ,the  former    
scoffs at the latter while all the time 
he is setting him1 and  consciously     
setting him1 the example he is to       
follow4 ,it is not the  gaining1 but the
 spending of the money that must occupy 
our attention  here4    ,our friend's   
houses are only a detail in the upkeep  
of his position4  ,they may be historic 
castles1 sham 8ancestral halls10 modern 
8palatial  country residences10 or      
8fashionable mansions0 in town4 ,does it
 ever  strike the owner as1 let us say1 
a curious arrangement that he should    
have several houses of fifty to a       
hundred rooms apiece while some         
millions of his fellow-men do not own   
one room8 ,does he know that in         
,england and ,wales alone #ejg1gfc      
people occupy one-room tenements1  #dh4d
 of which are classified as overcrowded1
 while #ab1deh1aej are  occupying       
tenements of two1 three1 or four        
rooms8#d ,in any case1 he  would        

indignantly refuse to admit that there  
was any remote connection  between these
 two sets of circumstances4    ,when we 
come to the staff necessary for the     
maintenance of these large              
establishments we touch a problem of    
employment which must be examined  more 
closely4 ,it is not sufficient to state 
baldly that these people  are employed1 
and that if the opening were not        
available for them they  would be       
unemployed4 ,the immediate result of    
their being discharged  would no doubt  
in some cases be unemployment4 ,that is 
just the mischief  of uneconomic        
employment4 ,if a large number were     
simultaneously  dismissed there might be
 temporary unemployment on a large      
scale1 as  it would amount to           
dislocation1 like the extinction of some
 dying  industry4 ,but the eventual     
readjustment would subsequently be by   
that  much the stronger and better      
adapted to the real requirements of the 
community4 ,to employ a man in useless  

and unremunerative work can be  regarded
 in some aspects as worse than not      
employing him at all4 ,it is  not       
intended1 however--and1 indeed1 it would
 be impossible--here to  enter into a   
discussion on the whole problem of      
unemployment1 but there  is undoubtedly 
a very great economic waste that largely
 contributes to  the gravity of the     
problem1 arising from the fact that a   
large number  of people are being forced
 to devote their labour and energy to   
work  which is1 so to speak1 final and  
sterile4 ,it is precisely the same with 
regard to the production of expensive   
luxuries4 ,the employment of a  large   
retinue is only another form of the     
possession and enjoyment of  articles of
 excessive luxury4 ,the employers and   
possessors have all  disagreeable       
burdens and every sordid worry lifted   
from them1 their  smallest and their    
most extreme desires for pleasure met1  
their special  appetites satisfied1     
their peculiar vanities titillated1 and 

their  artificial position safeguarded  
and maintained1 without their giving    
more than a passing thought to the mass 
of people required to carry on  this    
work4 ,plenty of examples might be      
quoted in contemporary as well  as past 
history to show that after generations  
of the enjoyment of 8the  vile joys of  
tainting luxury0 men deteriorate1 both  
physically and  mentally4    ,as for the
 particular line of life which domestic 
service offers  under modern            
circumstances1 it is not too much to say
 that it is1  as a rule1 very           
demoralising1 more especially for the   
men4 ,and its  demoralising tendency    
increases in proportion to the size of  
the  establishment4 ,the single general 
servant lives a life of hard work  but  
genuine service on four to eight        
shillings a week1 often living in       
friendly relations with master or       
mistress1 and really lifting from  them 
the burden of necessary domestic duties 
which they with limited  incomes and    

professional work of their own cannot   
possibly find time  to perform2 and this
 remains true in other small households4
 ,in the  large house the faithful old  
family servant1 who is more of a friend 
than a servitor1 is rare in these days  
of ostentation4 ,the butler1 on  wages  
of fifty to sixty shillings a week1     
which together with board and  lodging  
represents from #bej to #cjj a year1 has
 a life of leisure1  ease1 and excessive
 comfort1 seldom having to exert himself
 even up to  his limited capacities4    
,male house-servants are often chosen   
for their  looks2 their work is very    
light physically1 they are overfed1 and 
being  under-educated1 can hardly be    
blamed for becoming demoralised4 ,these 
able-bodied men1 whose muscles1 if not  
their minds1 might be devoted  to some  
really serviceable purpose1 are still   
increasing in numbers4  ,over #be1jjj   
more male servants have got employment  
in the last ten  years1 the total number
 now being #bbg1iie4 ,even deducting the

 single  indoor servant1 the single     
coachman or gardener1 this means a large
  increase of ornamental male           
attendants4 ,female servants are        
becoming  more difficult to secure in   
the higher grades1 because the class of 
women from which they are drawn value   
their liberty and are not so  ready to  
sacrifice it for food and comforts4 ,in 
fact1 they are showing  signs of        
impatience of control1 and of preferring
 the risky though  exhilarating struggle
 of independence4 ,but still large      
retinues of men  and women exist solely 
employed in keeping up huge houses to   
satisfy  the vanity and minister to the 
comfort of a comparatively few rich     
people4 ,no work of a more hopelessly   
barren1 profitless1 and1 indeed1        
degrading character could be found for  
them4 ,a system of tips deprives  their 
smallest acts of what might be an       
obliging and disinterested  intention4  
,arrangements are organised with        
tradesmen to defraud the  employers in  

what is thought a perfectly legitimate  
way2 the actual  waste of food is       
appalling1 and by extras1 gratuities1   
perquisites1  commissions1 and pickings 
a considerable amount is added to the   
wages  of the upper servants4 ,in these 
large establishments immorality exists  
more as a rule than as an exception1 but
 it can be kept secret1 for  these      
communities of private servants--like   
everything else connected  with the     
lives of the rich--cannot be made the   
subject of investigation4    ,if        
assistance to those who need it is the  
object of domestic service1  it is      
striking to note that on the money      
basis1 generally speaking1 the  wrong   
people are served4 ,who in the community
 most require and should  specially have
 the help of servants8 ,the old and     
infirm1 the weak and  ill1 the very     
young and the hard-worked4 ,service     
under such conditions  raises itself to 
the level of one of the highest         
occupations that can  be imagined4 ,but 

this is not our system4 ,a man or woman 
may be ill1 old  or over-worked1 without
 being able to get the assistance of a  
single  soul4 ,another man or woman may 
be young and healthy and have at his  or
 her command a retinue of thirty        
servants or more1 solely because  they  
have money and servants are forced1 by  
economic pressure1 to  devote their     
lives to the menial task of furbishing  
up the endless and  complicated appanage
 of wealth4    ,now let us turn to the  
inanimate luxuries1 taking into account 
only  indisputable luxuries--that is to 
say1 articles of high price which  have 
no special artistic value1 to which much
 labour has been devoted  and which are 
not produced to serve any legitimately  
useful purpose4  ,luxury has been well  
defined as 8that which creates imaginary
 needs1  exaggerates real wants1 diverts
 them from their true end1 establishes  
a habit of prodigality in ,society1 and 
offers through the senses a             
satisfaction of self-love which puffs up

 but does not nourish the heart  and    
which presents to others the picture of 
happiness they can never  attain40      
,bond ,street catalogues abound with any
 quantity of examples4 ,furs at  one    
thousand guineas1 fifty-guinea          
dressing-bags1 twenty-guinea hats1      
thousand-guinea tiaras1 fruit and       
vegetables out of season1 cigars at     
three shillings apiece1 ruinously       
expensive wines1 and fantastic foods  of
 all descriptions4 ,there is no need to 
exaggerate1 for all those  articles can 
be bought for much higher prices than   
those quoted4 ,a  great amount of       
skilled labour of a high order goes to  
the production  of these luxuries1 and a
 great amount of labour of the lowest   
and most  cruelly sweated description is
 also enlisted for their production1    
and incredible as it may seem1 it is on 
the ground that they give  employment   
that these luxuries are defended4 ,it   
was calculated in  #ahhde that1 even    
giving a liberal extension of meaning to

 the term  8necessaries0 and 8comforts0 
of life1 over six millions of manual    
labourers1 who with their families      
constitute thirteen millions of the     
population1 were engaged in producing   
what1 in contradistinction to the       
above1 must be classified as luxuries4  
,a prominent statesman1#f expressing the
 views of his class1 said a few  years  
ago3 8,the more human wants are         
stimulated and multiplied1 the  more    
widespread will be the inducement to    
hire4 ,therefore all outcries  and      
prejudices against the progress of      
wealth and what is called luxury  are   
nothing but outcries of prejudice       
against the very sources and  fountains 
of all employment40    ,on such an      
argument as this the defence of luxuries
 generally rests4  ,the essence of the  
fallacy lies in the fact1 which cannot  
be repeated  too often1 that labour     
spent on such articles is unremunerative
 and  unproductive1 because its ultimate
 result is only to gratify various      

forms of vanity and greed4 ,to exemplify
 by a concrete instance what is         
unremunerative and what is remunerative1
 let us take a hundred-guinea  ball-gown
 and a pair of boots4 ,it is not        
possible to estimate the  number of     
people employed in producing the        
ball-gown4 ,there is the  silk1 satin1  
or whatever the principal material may  
be2 there are the  trimmings of chiffon1
 hand-embroidery1 lace1 braid1 beads1   
sequins1  ribbons1 etc41 etc42 some     
hundreds of pairs of hands1 including   
factory-workers1 dressmakers1           
sempstresses1 etc41 will have touched   
some part of the gown before it is      
delivered to the wearer4 ,to what end   
are all these specialised departments of
 labour concentrated8 ,the gown  is worn
 a few times in the one season2 the     
wearer has the satisfaction  of feeling 
as well dressed as ,a4 to ,f41 and far  
better dressed than ,f4  to ,z4 ,in     
fact1 the net result of all this        
expenditure of energy is the  generating

 of a rather foolish pride1 the         
encouragement of conceit on  the one    
side and envy on the other1 and the     
hardening of a nature into  ways of     
worldliness and vanity4    ,as for the  
boots4 ,again1 many more hands than can 
be calculated  have helped to produce   
them1 but they are directly and         
immediately  serviceable to the         
purchaser1 to whose activity the wearing
 of boots is  an essential1 and in      
general they minister to the efficiency 
of human  machines4    ,but if balls are
 not wrong1 ball-gowns must be worn4 ,it
 is a question  of degree2 and here     
again we get to the theory of the limit 
which  in this conjunction can be       
expressed thus3 ,in relation to human   
needs1 in relation to human powers of   
enjoyment1 in relation to the           
beneficial effects of pleasure1 even in 
relation to the dictates of  fashion1   
there is a distinct limit not to be     
expressed in figures up  to which       
expenditure 7in this particular case on 

dress7 is legitimate  and relatively    
productive1 beyond which it becomes     
progressively  unremunerative and       
harmful4 ,a hundred guineas1 by any     
conceivable  method of calculation1     
greatly exceeds this limit4    ,to      
assert that the purchase of luxuries is 
good for trade is quite as  ridiculous  
as to say that a man can benefit the    
building and furnishing  trade by       
burning down his house once a year4 ,we 
do not want to create  more artificial  
wants before we have satisfied the      
crying human needs  which already exist4
 ,there is no loophole through which a  
reasonable  defence of the senseless    
expenditure1 which goes on in an        
increasing  measure1 can be made4       
,luxurious living has never been quite  
so blatant  and unashamed as it is      
to-day1 and the effete epicureanism and 
decadent  effeminacy it produces stand  
out in rather sharp contrast to more    
hopeful signs of progress and moral and 
intellectual refinement and  vigour     

which1 happily1 are visible around us4  
,a lady writing in a review in the early
 'seventies describes life  in the      
country house1 with its futile routine  
of heavy meals1  sport1 card-playing1   
and vacuous inanities which take the    
place of  conversation1 all very much as
 it is to-day4 ,the writer speaks with  
dismay of gowns costing sixty guineas   
and of #ajjj a year spent on  clothes4  
,but these figures are almost negligible
 compared with the  sums spent nowadays4
 ,it is only through occasional actions 
in the  courts that the outside public  
get an idea of what is actually spent1  
and it is surprising that there are not 
more disclosures1 considering  the      
mountainous debts that are piled up in  
,west ,end shops4 ,but the  shopkeepers 
are very reluctant to lose a really     
leading customer1 and  they know how to 
meet the inconvenience of not being     
promptly paid4 ,a  typical case may be  
given of an article of clothing1 the    
cost price of  which was nine guineas1  

being sold for #bh #gs4 ,there may be   
delay in  payment1 but there appears to 
be compensation in the profit4    ,when 
one hears of the woman who spent last   
year #cf #es4 on a hat1 or  another who 
gave #abej for a sable cape1 it is not  
the isolated action  of criminal folly  
that chiefly strikes one1 but it is that
 the hat and  the cape act as indicators
 of the sort of price such women are in 
the  habit of paying for their clothes1 
a large supply of which are in the      
market ready to meet this artificial    
demand4 ,moreover1 the habit of         
extravagance1 especially as regards     
female clothing1 is catching and  runs  
through all classes once the example is 
set4 ,it is a common enough  and very   
depressing sight to see absurdly        
elaborate clothes1 which are  cheaper   
imitations of the latest fashions1 worn 
by women of the lower  middle-class1    
whose deplorable want of education is   
shown by their  inability even to       
pronounce their mother tongue4 ,they    

watch the rich1  and gather from what   
they see that fine feathers make fine   
birds1 and  it is not on them that the  
blame should rest4    ,vanity exists and
 insists on being satisfied4 ,it is no  
good blinking  the fact4 ,luxuries1 in  
one form or another1 will continue to be
  produced4 ,but there is no reason why 
we should not stem the current  lest it 
swell to danger point4 ,there are many  
well-known historical  examples of the  
enervating and degenerating effect of   
luxury on  national life1 and the modern
 tendency towards an increased          
production  of these indulgences should 
be combated not only as a moral         
weakness1  but as an integral factor in 
the general economic problem4 ,when  one
 considers what real comfort of living1 
with all the necessary  intellectual and
 artistic equipage1 opportunities for   
amusement1  and domestic convenience1   
can be secured to-day at a comparatively
  moderate sum1 it makes the wild and   
profligate extravagance the more        

inexcusable and the more futile4        
,anyhow1 let us abandon once and for all
 the foolish and ignorant  attitude of  
regarding this display as a desirable   
form of industrial  stimulus which      
should be fostered and encouraged4      
,preaching and  writing against it has  
never been of the smallest avail1 but it
 has  been necessary to deal with it    
here as a very important1 if not        
predominating1 element in the analysis  
of the rich man's conceptions of  his   
duties4    ,in addition to luxuries of  
establishment1 clothes1 and food there  
is  a complicated ritual of sport which 
in this country reaches an almost       
incredible pitch4 ,it has been estimated
 that forty-five millions are           
permanently invested in the apparatus of
 sport1 and an income of over  forty    
millions spent annually upon it4 ,we    
need not discuss all the  intricacies of
 the numerous branches of sport1        
observing where its  effect is healthy  
and where harmful4 ,no one will contend 

that the most  expensive forms of it are
 by any manner of means the best4 ,but  
the  most obvious harm to be noted in   
this connection is the amount of land   
which is taken away from agriculture for
 sporting purposes4 ,landlords  often   
keep up their shooting at a great loss1 
amounting to something  like five to ten
 pounds per bird shot1 all for the sake 
of having the  shooting and asking      
friends down for a few days in the year 
to enjoy  it4 ,it is gravely regarded as
 an essential part of the education of a
  young man in this particular world to 
learn how to shoot4 ,no question1  even 
with respect to his education or        
possible professional career1 is        
treated with more seriousness than the  
moment he first handles a gun1  and     
family advice is sought as to how and   
when encouragement can be  given to the 
development of this essential           
qualification which1 coupled  with a    
knowledge of bridge1 will make him a    
desirable visitor in any  country house4

    ,at card-playing1 which occupies a  
vast amount of time in the lives of  the
 rich1 sums amounting to hundreds are   
often lost or gained by one  person in  
one evening4 ,but of the various sinks  
which help to drain  away their money1  
horse-racing almost holds the first     
place4 ,there  are no statistics to show
 how many people have been ruined by it1
 or  how many have been lured into a    
life of gambling by their success in    
the betting ring4 ,but its popularity is
 certainly on the increase1 as  we can  
see by looking at the number of horses  
that have run under the  rules of racing
 in the last thirty years4 ,in #ahgh    
there were #bjig2 in  #aijh this figure 
had risen to #cgjf4 ,the number of      
larger race meetings  advertised in     
advance have more than doubled since    
#ahha 7#gh in #ahha1  #afd in #aiji74   
,some sort of estimate of the money     
spent on it1 apart  from betting1 can be
 gathered from the amounts won4 ,in     
#aijh the winning  owners secured       

between them nearly a quarter of a      
million pounds1  the sums won by the    
first thirty-six amounting to #bdf1jja  
#aes41 the  largest total secured by one
 owner being #bf1bdf4g    ,the populace 
are invited to join in this pursuit1    
though1 of course1  they must be railed 
off to prevent too close contact with   
those who  come in coaches and          
motor-cars4 ,the crowd is vaguely       
supposed to be  having a good time1 and 
any attack on horse-racing is met by    
hackneyed  arguments about 8keeping up  
the national sport0 or 8improving the   
breed  of horses10 and perhaps1 again1  
the objection of unemployment for       
jockeys and bookies might be dragged in4
    ,it does not appear1 however1 to be 
a good method of improving the  human   
breed4 ,in observing the crowd on a     
race-course1 whether it  be the         
well-dressed portion or the ill-dressed1
 the betters or the  bookies1 neither a 
deep knowledge of humanity nor a very   
close power  of observation into        

physiognomy is required to note the     
prevalence of  a remarkably low type4   
,but a still more vivid impression of   
what the  pleasures of racing mean can  
be gained by going out on the road in   
the  evening towards the scene of a     
large race meeting when the people are  
returning4 ,brakes and carts in endless 
procession will pass you loaded  with   
men shouting in the excitement of       
semi-drunkenness1 or with heaps  of     
humanity sodden and silent in complete  
intoxication4 ,outside every            
public-house on the roadside traps await
 those who are squandering  their gains 
on further refreshment or soothing the  
despair of losses  in the temporary     
oblivion of drink4 ,the localities where
 there is an  annual race week suffer   
considerably1 the inhabitants become    
infected  by the gambling and betting   
mania1 and during the actual days of the
  races the place is infested by the    
lowest dregs of the riff-raff who       
journey about from one race meeting to  

another4 ,this so-called sport  produces
 the lowest possible type2 it degrades  
many who take part in  it with sinister 
rapidity1 it encourages fraud and       
deception1 it is  a canker of rottenness
 in public life1 and it receives the    
highest  sanction and patronage4        
,many people are present at a race      
meeting without being conscious  that it
 is attended by any evil consequences4  
,they go to meet their  friends1 perhaps
 putting an occasional sovereign on a   
horse to give  them some interest in the
 racing4 ,to them the crowd is a natural
 part  of the proceedings1 the heavy    
bets of the ring an amusement4 ,to have 
been there is something to boast of1 and
 conveys the idea that they  have       
associated with smart people4           
,thoughtless1 as in so many of their    
other pursuits1 they accept the whole   
proceeding as a recognised sport  and   
they inquire no further4 ,the philosophy
 of these people is the  prevailing     
philosophy3 8,do not examine below the  

surface1 or you are  bound to find      
something disagreeable4 ,take things as 
they come2 skim  the cream off the top2 
avoid that which is unpleasant or       
difficult to  explain2 and above all    
things1 do what others do40             
,yachting1 which also runs away with a  
great deal of money1 comes under  a very
 different category4 ,it is a           
health-giving and often strenuous       
occupation1 and the seamen employed are1
 anyhow1 deriving incidentally  some    
positive benefit from the life they     
lead4 ,nevertheless1 out of  the #dfee  
private yachts registered in the current
 year 7an increase of  over #cejj in the
 last forty years71#h only a very small 
proportion  are actually navigated by   
owners who have any knowledge or love of
  seamanship4 ,the great majority are   
floating houses of luxury 7viz4 a       
#gjj-ton steam yacht1 for which #be a   
day is paid for coal when in  use71 or  
racing yachts1 mere toys used to        
minister to the fanciful  pleasures of  

the rich4    ,but in expressing the     
strongest disapproval of these excessive
  luxuries1 it is not for a moment      
suggested that people should rush into  
the opposite extreme--live in discomfort
 and adopt the craze for 8the  simple   
life10 which is only an inverted form of
 vanity and ostentation4  ,there are    
many of the lesser luxuries which give  
great pleasure and  sufficient honest   
gratification to justify their          
existence4 ,there  may even be some     
reluctance in condemning extravagance1  
because the  nature of the extravagant  
man is far preferable to the economical 
and  cautious disposition which         
sometimes sinks into niggardly meanness4
  ,moreover1 any attempt at excessive   
restrictions and unnecessarily harsh    
discipline in the upbringing of children
 invariably leads to a violent  reaction
 in the direction of profligacy and     
extravagance4    ,let human nature be   
allowed free play in all directions2 but
 it is  not taking up the attitude of an

 ascetic or of a prig to condemn        
unhesitatingly unnatural excesses1      
reckless licence1 the extremes of       
self-indulgence and greed1 the exercise 
of which by some few involves  the      
neglect1 misery1 and ruin of so many    
others4    ,thieves when they steal use 
violence and are pronounced enemies of  
society4 ,these few people1 by a silent 
conspiracy in which we all seem  to     
acquiesce1 are also stealing and are    
equally enemies of society4             
,chapter ,,iv      ,the rich man's      
charities--,his generosity--,his        
hospitality--,his      land--,the       
,feudal ,system--,his                   
responsibilities--,the agricultural     
problem4      ,we must now turn from    
what the rich man spends on himself and 
consider  what good and what harm he    
does by his subscriptions and donations 
to  philanthropic and charitable        
objects4    ,in so far as he himself is 
concerned these gifts do not involve any
  element of personal sacrifice2 the    

moral benefit which is by way of        
falling on a giver is therefore nil4    
,the exertion of writing a cheque  or   
banker's order and the satisfaction of  
imposing a tax on himself  complete the 
transaction on his side4 ,occasionally  
the sight of his  name published at the 
head of a list with a large figure next 
it  gives him a further agreeable       
sensation1 and he can become famous as  
a household word of generous            
philanthropy without the very smallest  
personal inconvenience4 ,but as an      
instance of pure charity--that is1      
loving sacrifice--the poor woman who    
gives a penny from her meagre  store is 
on an entirely different plane4 ,the    
picture presents itself  to the present 
writer of a woman at the doorway of a   
wretched tenement1  with her child in   
her arms1 giving to a passing vagrant   
who was  suffering from hunger and      
fatigue a penny from the few coins she  
had  in her purse4 ,the expression of   
her face as she handed him the money    

was the most sublime illumination of    
pure charity--no subscription  list in  
the newspapers1 no public recognition1  
and the sacrifice1  not of luxuries1 but
 of something that she and her baby     
needed4 ,that  something went with her  
penny1 and in return she received       
something  else for which there is no   
price1 no name1 and no description4     
,from  such an experience as this the   
rich are for ever cut off4 8,probably   
the  most generous people in the world10
 says ,j4 ,d4 ,rockefeller1 perhaps     
realising that charity is something he  
can never reach1 8are the very  poor1   
who assume each other's burdens in the  
crises which come so often  to the hard 
pressed40    ,the rich man's so-called  
charity therefore must be to a large    
extent  mechanical and conventional4 ,he
 gives because others with the same     
means give1 and the charity touts know  
how a list headed by ,lord ,a4  with a  
substantial sum will produce equally or 
perhaps even more  substantial sums from

 ,lord ,b41 ,sir4 ,c4 ,d41 ,alderman    
,e41 and ,mr4 ,f4 ,the  extraction of   
money from the rich is a business in    
itself1 requiring  considerable skill1  
and the rich are fleeced far more than  
they  realise4 ,in practical ,america   
they take the trouble to teach people   
professionally how to write what they   
call 8letters of appeal40 ,when we  hear
 of subscriptions to charities being    
stopped it may serve to remind  us that 
it is most inexpedient that institutions
 such as hospitals  should be at the    
mercy of the casual caprice of rich men4
 ,nothing could  eventually be more     
desirable than that every one of them   
should cut  off their charitable        
contributions4 ,it might entail a severe
 temporary  shock to the funds of       
charitable institutions1 as over seven  
millions  a year is being spent in      
,london alone on charities1 but at the  
same  time many ill-managed and         
misdirected endeavours would disappear1 
and  the ,state would come to realise   

all the sooner its responsibilities  in 
respect to the maintenance of really    
necessary institutions for  the relief  
of suffering and the nursing of the     
sick1 in the same way  as it is         
beginning to recognise its duties       
towards poverty1 old age1  and          
unemployment4 ,there are other          
enterprises which the ,state should     
undertake that are often delayed in     
their institution owing to the plea     
that the private munificence of rich men
 can be depended upon4 ,it is  certainly
 better that the funds should be        
expended thus than in sheer             
self-indulgence1 but it is evident that 
the money would be far better  spent and
 the object on which it is spent better 
served if the source  were not          
controlled by the whims and fancies of a
 single individual4    ,in regard to the
 more private and personal aspects of   
the generosity  attributed to riches3   
8,surely10 a critic will say1 8if the   
rich man  is benevolent and kindly      

disposed he can in a hundred thoughtful 
ways  help his poorer friends by        
presents1 by attention and timely help1 
by  opening the doors of his houses1    
lending his conveyances1 and showing    
many other attentions which his money   
allows him to do1 thereby  becoming     
justly popular and a source of great    
good40    ,the admiration1 and just     
admiration1 for open-handed generosity  
and  the justifiable dislike of anything
 approaching miserliness in others      
cause an entirely erroneous impression  
that large gifts of money must          
unquestionably be praiseworthy and      
commendable4 ,but this is not the       
question at issue4 ,these are two moral 
qualities1 the one admirable1  the other
 objectionable4 ,the generous           
disposition can show itself in  many    
other ways besides money gifts1 and the 
real man behind the  rich man1 though he
 may be one and the same individual1    
often comes  forward with simple acts of
 thoughtful kindness because the finer  

qualities of human nature cannot be     
stifled even by money4 ,but in so  far  
as the rich man indulges his generosity 
in thoughtlessly giving  away money     
broadcast1 it amounts to a form of      
self-indulgence1 and he  is distinctly  
to blame for not estimating more        
precisely the effect  of his actions4   
,no doubt the harm of unwise and foolish
 actions is  palliated by the purity and
 excellence of the motive4 ,in so far as
  these people intend to show kindness  
they are amply justified in what  they  
do4 ,but let us consider for a moment   
what the effect of their  benevolence   
is4 ,in the first place they are made to
 occupy an entirely  false position as  
dispensers of charity4 ,often1 too1 the 
desire to  patronise and gain the power 
that patronage gives blights the spirit 
of genuine and unadulterated kindness1  
and further1 the recipients  are placed 
in the extremely uncomfortable and      
embarrassing situation  of receiving    
benefits1 presents1 and comforts which  

they know they  are not and probably    
never will be in a position to return4  
,to force  anyone to be under a lasting 
obligation is not the most likely way of
  generating pure gratitude4 ,there are 
many who refuse outright rather  than   
place themselves in this position3 there
 are some who take full  advantage of   
the generosity and1 what is commonly    
called1 8sponge0 on  their benefactors1 
and if the possessors of abundance      
refuse either  from principle or out of 
indifference to give freely they are    
severely  blamed and generally regarded 
as ungenerous and stingy4 ,the virtues  
were once called to a banquet by 8the   
,lord of ,all40 ,they talked and        
laughed and each one knew the other     
well1 but3        8,benevolence and     
,gratitude        ,alone of all seemed  
strangers yet2      ,they stared when   
they were introduced1        ,on earth  
they never once had met40#i    ,in fact1
 the whole atmosphere created1 not by an
 isolated gift which  has cost the donor

 more than actual cash1 but by the habit
 of doles1  bounty1 and patronage is    
unhealthy and disturbing and ultimately 
undermines the foundations of natural   
human relations and mutual  friendship4 
,an excuse will be sought for in the    
plea that the exercise of  hospitality  
is a duty performed by the rich with    
some success4 ,if the  hospitality of   
the rich is ever truly successful it is 
here again the  man1 and not his money1 
that brings this about4 ,crowds of      
guests at  country houses or dinner     
parties who regard their host and       
hostess  as nothing more than innkeepers
 or restaurant proprietors are common   
enough1 and it is a well-known expedient
 for those who are busy  8climbing0 7and
 their name is ,legion7 to use          
hospitality as a means  of getting hold 
of the 8right people40 ,but the small   
gathering met  together in a common     
interest and mutual regard to enjoy the 
warming  intercourse of friendship does 
not require the accompaniment of a      

ten-course dinner nor the surroundings  
of a vast establishment1 and  is1       
happily1 as easily within the reach of  
the poorer sections of  the community as
 of the rich4 ,money1 therefore1 does   
not facilitate  or elevate hospitality4 
,it manifestly tends to lower its       
quality and  depreciate its value4      
,it may be argued further in connection 
with large establishments and           
hospitality that certain noble          
traditions founded on an excusable      
pride of family or race are to be found 
attached to the great historic          
establishments of the nobility4 ,there  
is no great harm in this  sentiment and 
from the archological point of view it  
has a certain  attractive interest4 ,but
 it is too much for the high nobility to
 expect  that they can continue to carry
 on these traditions throughout all     
time1 preserving the habits and customs 
of past ages in a world that  has       
changed and will continue to change4 ,no
 one will quarrel with them  if they ask

 that their lineage and family history  
should be respected1  but money will not
 help them now1 and when they consider  
themselves  entitled to administer      
autocratically their millions in order  
to  preserve their princely dignities1  
they are asking for privileges  which   
the modern economic ,state and the      
growth of democracy are every  year     
showing more and more to be inconsistent
 with good government and  the healthy  
life of the people4 ,and often by their 
riches they only  succeed in reproducing
 a somewhat vulgar travesty of the      
splendour and  distinction of their     
ancestors in bygone ages4    ,the       
typical instance we are examining has   
been described as a landlord  who owns  
villages and keeps his cottages         
carefully repaired 7this1 we  may note  
in passing1 is not by any means the     
invariable practice74  ,he dispenses    
charity to the villagers with           
open-handed generosity1  providing      
thoughtfully the sack of coals in       

winter1 the occasional  pound of tea1   
the knitted waistcoats for the little   
boys1 the scarves  and hoods for the    
little girls1 and what could be more    
idyllic than to  see the children       
bobbing curtsies and touching their caps
 to the people  from the great house8   
,as a matter of fact1 this sham         
feudalism is generally upheld more by  a
 love of power and patronage than by    
kindness of heart4 ,our landlord  is    
consciously proud of having people      
directly dependent on him whom  he can  
order according to his will 7even at    
election time71 whom he  can enrich or  
impoverish as he judges right1 and can  
remove from his  cottages when they do  
not please him4 ,if the result is spick 
and  span to the eye and he is greeted  
by smiles of apparent gratitude  he     
feels1 and it is difficult to           
disillusion him1 that his methods  are  
successful1 and he is induced to believe
 that his actions are  justified and his
 presence in the community              

indispensable4 ,but what  kind of       
impression is in reality produced on    
those who come under  his sway8 ,not    
gratitude1 because they soon begin to   
regard his gifts  as a natural right1   
and knowing that the squire can easily  
afford so  much1 discontent is likely to
 be roused that he does not give more4  
,consequently a whole class of people   
are retained devoid of all the          
self-reliance and energy which          
independence alone can give4 ,without   
their being aware of it1 the yoke of    
subjection is placed upon them  under   
the guise of beneficent charity1        
weighing them down1 creating in  them   
false habits of cringing subservience1  
and indefinitely postponing  the day of 
their liberation4    ,the landlord is   
not the elected chief of a village      
community whom the  people can feel to  
be one of themselves1 chosen by them and
 removable  by them4 ,under such        
circumstances service is no longer      
subservience1  for congregations of     

human beings will always seek out their 
leaders1  organisers1 managers1 or      
controllers4 ,but this landlord has     
imposed  himself upon them1 or is the   
descendant of one who imposed himself on
  their fathers1 who took1 in fact1 what
 was once rightfully theirs1  enclosed  
it or confiscated it4 ,to go no further 
back than the ,enclosure  ,acts1 one can
 note the irreparable wrongs that were  
then committed by  those who had the    
political power in their hands4 ,arthur 
,young reported  in #ahja that 8by      
nineteen ,enclosure ,acts out of twenty 
the poor are  injured1 and in some cases
 greatly injured40 ,the protests made at
 the  time were practically unheeded by 
an aristocracy too much absorbed in     
making its fortune to give a thought to 
the ruin of the classes that  were      
losing their little inheritance in the  
common fields or the common  waste4 ,we 
repeat1 the landlord has imposed himself
 upon them2 this he  can do1 and will   
continue to do1 not because he is       

particularly fitted  by special training
 for the administration of landed       
property1 nor even  because he has a    
strong preference for the pursuit of    
agriculture1 but  simply and solely     
because he has money4 ,to state his one 
qualification  for the position he holds
 is quite sufficient to prove its       
falseness  and absurdity4    ,in the    
argument we are following the underlying
 principle1 which  might be called the  
doctrine of human incapacity1 or more   
correctly1  perhaps1 of human           
limitations1 becomes more evident with  
regard to the  rich man's landed        
property than his other possessions and 
investments1  especially if we are      
inclined to believe that the earth's    
surface and  its minerals1 by their very
 nature1 like light1 air1 and water1    
should  be part of the common           
inheritance of man4    ,can an estate of
 many thousands of acres be developed   
and cultivated  to its fullest extent in
 every corner under the guidance of one 

individual1 who1 even though he may have
 exceptional knowledge of  farming and  
may use skilled agents1 is nevertheless 
concerned with  many other interests    
which he desires to serve8 ,are there   
any of the  large estates which can be  
pointed to as models8 ,are there not    
rather  many estates that serve as      
striking instances of the failure of the
  system8 ,are there not acres upon     
acres of land which might be yielding   
great abundance1 real wealth for the    
nation1 which are either badly  managed1
 neglected1 left as waste1 or kept for  
sporting purposes8  ,there is no need to
 mention the building land which is     
often held up  by them until the efforts
 of the local community have increased  
the  value sufficiently to yield them a 
substantial increment1 because this  is 
a source of income and not an object on 
which they spend money4 ,on  agriculture
 they do spend money1 and they ask1 in  
consequence1 that  the ownership of land
 should be recognised as 8an            

industry40#aj ,they  ask1 8above all1   
the right to select the persons to be   
associated with  the proprietor in his  
cultivation of the soil40#aa ,the good  
landlord  who is something of an        
agriculturist and devotes time and      
trouble to  his property is often in    
despair at his want of success1 which he
  attributes to the burdens on land1 to 
our fiscal system1 or to the            
incompetence of the agricultural        
labourer1 and he is always declaring    
his land to be a drain on his wealth    
rather than a source of income1  but    
never does it cross his mind for an     
instant that possibly he  himself is    
undertaking a task which is far beyond  
his powers and that  his pretensions are
 quite unjustifiable4    ,the           
co-operation of farmers or small holders
 working for the quality  of what they  
produce and not for filling their       
pockets and extending  their estates1   
secure in their independence1 acting    
separately so far  as separate action is

 conducive to good cultivation and      
co-operating  when united action can    
produce better results1 this method1 as 
actually  practised in ,denmark1 for    
instance1 must obviously be superior    
both  for the land and for the people4  
,but the deplorable lack of scientific  
knowledge1 the unprogressive methods of 
our farmers1 the engrained  readiness to
 be controlled by some social superiors1
 makes the rapid  extension of such a   
system impossible4    ,in the meanwhile 
we cannot accept our rich man's plea    
that as a  landlord1 even as a good     
landlord1 his expenditure is profitable4
  ,it is not that he makes nothing but  
mistakes2 it is that he cannot  give    
sufficient time and attention to it2 it 
is that he is by nature  incapable--an  
incapacity which he shares with every   
other mortal--of  deriving from his     
estate of some thousands of acres all   
that it could  produce4 ,it follows that
 his action in keeping to himself large 
tracts  of this unique form of property 

is depriving many of a means of         
employment and countless hundreds of the
 enjoyment of the fruits of  the land2  
it is driving the population from the   
country districts to  overcrowd the     
towns1 add to the number of the         
unemployed1 and swell the  volume of    
crime4    ,the land question with all   
its ramifications is perhaps the most   
complex and vast of the many subjects   
that are touched by the  responsibility 
of riches1 but it is one that more      
completely than  any other illustrates  
the argument1 and is the best evidence  
of the  limitation of the rich man's    
powers4 ,in no field of human activity  
ought it to be tolerated that an        
entirely unfitted and untrained man     
should be put at the head of so         
difficult and highly technical a        
business as the management of land4     
,when this occurs in commerce the       
business collapses1 but in land         
management the owner remains doing      
untold damage and often playing the     

ridiculous part of a territorial        
magnate or a petty monarch1 to his own  
hurt and to the hindrance of his        
subjects4 ,an ,american writer making a 
survey of life in ,england to-day  says1
 8,when one hears1 and one does hear it 
on every hand1 how poor  are            
,englishmen1 one has in this land       
question some explanation of the        
secret40#ab          ,chapter ,v        
,the rich man's children--,his sons'    
education at school and                 
university--,his daughters--,love and   
marriage--,refinement of      the       
aristocracy--,their alliance with the   
plutocracy--,smart      society--,its   
general characteristics4      ,the      
natural desire of every man is to do the
 best he can for his  children1 and in  
this respect the rich man feels that his
 money is  of special advantage to him4 
,but are healthy upbringing and good    
education superior in quality if they   
are expensive8 ,the whole  trouble with 
regard to these children is comprised in

 the fact that  they know they are going
 to have money1 so that from the        
earliest  age they accept their         
elevation from the common herd as a     
matter of  course1 and assume the easy  
assurance and authoritative manner which
  always characterises them4 ,their     
childhood they spend guarded by         
servants1 nurses1 governesses1 and      
tutors1 often without coming much  into 
personal contact with their parents or  
deriving any benefits  from parental    
care and affection1 the strongest of all
 the variety  of influences in a man's  
life2 they also have a more or less     
general  consciousness that anything    
they want can be had for the asking4    
,the  boys are sent to public schools1  
where there are many others in a like   
position1 and where the expense of      
education is greater than in other      
schools1 and its quality rather         
inferior4 ,here they are given a vague  
notion of ancient ,jews1 ,egyptians1    
,greeks1 and ,romans1 and of ,england   

in the ,middle ,ages4 ,but nothing is   
taught them of contemporary history1  of
 ,english literature1 or of how their   
own country is governed to-day1  nor is 
a moment found during those early years 
for a preliminary study  of political   
economy or some elementary exposition of
 industrial and  social problems1 though
 such exposition would be invaluable1 if
 only  to impress on young and          
acquisitive minds the fact that such    
problems  exist4 ,in short1 the world   
they are living in is never explained to
  them4 ,and1 whatever they may learn1  
from start to finish they are           
assiduously kept in a groove where their
 own class is represented to  them as   
the predominating and important section 
of the community1 which  may expect     
service but need not render it4    ,to  
do schoolboys justice1 however1 they    
cannot be accused of being  snobs4 ,they
 care nothing for rank or riches4 ,they 
have their own  particular standard of  
judging who is 8a good chap0 and who is 

not1  and on the whole their verdict is 
shrewd and not unfair4 ,they are  apt to
 be over-severe against breaches of     
their particular code1 and  they are    
very suspicious of any signs of         
originality4 ,it is in this  direction  
that they make many serious mistakes4   
,but that a boy has a  title is a matter
 of complete indifference to them1 or   
whether or not  he be the son of very   
rich parents is a matter about which    
they would  not think it worth while to 
inquire4 ,no distinctions are made2 the 
sons of the rich mix with their         
school-fellows without being conscious  
of occupying any special position1 and  
their school-fellows accept  them       
without even knowing they are the sons  
of the rich4 ,the harm  they do quite   
unconsciously is not of an obvious kind1
 and its very  subtilty prevents it from
 being recognised4 ,they themselves know
 what  the future has in store for them1
 and it necessarily affects their       
attitude towards school work and general

 intellectual training for  after life4 
,they are callous and indifferent as to 
education1 regarding  it not as an      
essential preparation for their life's  
work1 but as a  tedious exercise which  
has to be gone through1 and in which    
they are  assisted by the natural       
curiosity of youth and an instinctive   
dislike  of ignorance4 ,if they are     
popular this view1 accompanied by a     
certain  amount of swagger and a        
preference for and often a proficiency  
in games  and sport1 gives them a       
position which is distinctly attractive 
to the  boy mind1 and their influence   
spreads very rapidly among those who in 
after life have got to work for their   
livelihood4 ,in those schools  where    
there is no disturbing element emanating
 from the presence of  rich leisured    
boys the standard of efficient work--not
 estimated by the  measure of worldly   
success which titles and position       
afford--will be  found to be higher than
 in the few schools which lay themselves

 out to  receive this class of boy4 ,it 
is not to be inferred that the rich     
man's  son never has sufficient ability 
and1 indeed1 industry to distinguish    
himself in the intellectual field4 ,but 
it is the influence and example  of     
those who have been brought up from     
their earliest childhood knowing  that  
they have not to work in order to live1 
that creates an atmosphere  which must  
be unfavourable to the training of boys 
for whom life is not  to be one         
prolonged holiday4    ,at the university
 the superiority of the position of     
richer boys is  first acknowledged4     
,they are free to spend their money and 
make the  display1 in one direction or  
another1 which is to distinguish them   
from their fellows for the rest of their
 lives1 and recruits for their  band of 
toadies and tuft-hunters begin to       
enlist4 ,should they not be  completely 
independent the question of the choice  
of a profession has  to be discussed1   
and is almost invariably regarded purely

 from the  monetary point of view of pay
 and salary4 ,many either enter         
professions  which they allow to occupy 
very little of their time or have no    
profession at all1 and their incomes    
preclude them from deriving any of  the 
unquestionable advantages of            
professional training and discipline1   
without which no man can be expected to 
cultivate the talents he may  possess1  
or acquire knowledge and experience     
which might make him a  useful associate
 in the general activity of the         
community he lives  in4 ,we will not    
enlarge on the sort of life they        
lead--the unrelieved  pursuit of        
enjoyment1 the ,london season1 the      
country house parties1 the  race        
meetings1 the shooting and hunting1 the 
visit to the ,continental               
watering-place to recover from the      
fatigues before starting again1  and so 
on and so on4 ,it is sufficient to know 
that they contribute as  little as      
possible to and extract as much as they 

can from the general  fund of national  
wealth4    ,the girls meanwhile receive 
hardly any real education at all1 except
  in the knowledge of the little world  
which they are taught to believe  is the
 whole world1 and within the walls of   
which they are probably  destined to    
spend the remainder of their days4 ,the 
moment of 8coming  out0 is held before  
them as the one thing to look forward   
to4 ,and when  the longed-for day       
arrives1 it is only the signal for the  
commencement  of an exhausting round of 
pleasures sanctioned by their society   
and  represented to them as being the   
one absorbing business of life4 ,it is  
only charitable to accuse them of being 
uneducated1 otherwise it would  be hard 
to explain psychologically the attitude 
of mind1 of cheerful  acceptance of the 
fate in store for them instead of       
rebellion against  it4 ,if1 in rare     
cases1 they attempt to follow a line of 
their own and  join the professional    
class1 every conceivable obstacle is put

 in their  way1 and the prejudice       
against work which is not the business  
of 8a  lady0 is generally strong enough 
to drive them back into the smooth      
groove of leisure4 ,not infrequently    
this fatal obligatory idleness  crushes 
the spirit out of them4    ,in later    
years love and marriage1 difficult      
enough problems for anyone1  have       
additional snares and pitfalls for the  
children of the rich4 ,it  is true that 
the rich man can marry the penniless    
girl to whom he is  devoted1 and the    
rich girl can accept the man who is     
struggling for  a living4 ,but the far  
more frequent occurrence is for the rich
 girl  to be captured by the man who    
wants her money1 and for the rich man   
to be entrapped by the ambitious mother 
who wants his wealth for her  daughter4 
,not even experience teaches4 ,instances
 could be given of  women who have      
married for money1 and though every page
 of their life  has taught them the     
folly of this irreparable step1 yet they

 refuse to  learn4    ,they spend their 
later life in arranging marriages at all
 costs with  rich men for their         
daughters1 placing insurmountable       
obstacles in their  way if they attempt 
marriages on moderate means1 which must 
entail  their dropping out from the     
ranks of the select4 ,so it is that here
  again money1 far from assisting1      
impedes and even stifles the natural    
preferences of human affections1 and the
 average of unfortunate and  disastrous 
unions is far higher among the rich than
 in any other class4  ,some people are  
apt to believe that the society scandals
 which afford  so much material for     
newspaper reports and gossip give an    
unfair  impression of the frequency of  
these disasters1 which they maintain    
arise just as often in other classes of 
society1 but are not as widely          
reported4 ,this is not the case4 ,in the
 middle and lower professional  classes1
 where marriages have been contracted by
 parties free to  exercise their natural

 choice and where lives are filled with 
work  and occupation1 scandals of this  
description are very rare4 ,it is in    
the class where1 as we have shown1 the  
power to select is restricted  and      
distorted1 where life itself            
deteriorates into prolonged idleness    
and self-indulgence and the natural     
obligations of motherhood are           
disregarded and shirked1 and it is also 
at the very bottom of the  scale1 where 
vice and degradation produced by want   
engender brutality1  where1 in fact1    
there is too much and where there is too
 little1 in the  scum and in the        
sediment1 that married life becomes most
 frequently  intolerable4    ,a critic  
may now begin to insist that it is all  
very well to condemn  the large servile 
establishments1 futile luxuries1        
defective education1  and foolish       
marriages as the outcome of riches1 but 
that1 taking them  as a whole1 the class
 that have the assured possession of    
wealth are  superior in the refinements 

of mind and body to the lower classes1  
and  that as you go higher in the scale 
of society the proportion of mental  and
 physical excellence gradually          
increases4    ,the very use of the words
 high and low shows how completely the  
money standard is accepted              
sociologically4 ,if you have money you  
are  high-class1 if you have not money  
you are low-class4 ,though poverty  may 
militate against refinement1 have riches
 anything to do with it8  ,the two      
principal effects that riches exercise  
on character are  either to weaken it   
into effeteness or debase it into       
coarseness4 ,our  aristocracy1 for      
instance1 so long as they were occupied 
with fighting  or with the              
responsibilities of government--so long1
 in fact1 as they  had some business of 
their own--preserved a certain          
distinction1 and  by a careful process  
of selection and intermarriage1 avoided 
any  coarsening of their breed4 ,this1  
for a time1 may have endowed them  with 

a certain high average of refinement of 
manner and tastes4 ,but  when by the    
changes in our system of government1 and
 later by the  rise of democracy1 that  
is the great mass of the people         
awakening to  a consciousness of their  
own existence1 the aristocracy became   
more  and more cut off from national    
services and had recourse to leisured   
lives of unemployment and pleasure1 the 
characteristics of effeteness  and what 
the ,french call fin de race began to   
show themselves4 ,in  many cases        
downright impoverishment overtook those 
who had squandered  their incomes on    
unprofitable amusement and stupid       
dissipation1 till at  last they seem to 
have come to a determination to         
rehabilitate their  position and        
reinforce their caste by means of       
commercial and ,american  money4    ,the
 plutocracy gained ground immensely by  
the absorption in its ranks  of ancient 
families and long genealogies1 and the  
aristocracy became  increasingly tainted

 with commonness1 losing its distinction
 and  substituting for it ostentation1  
vulgarity1 and the appreciation of      
money for its own sake4 ,they derived no
 advantage physiologically in  the shape
 of health and vigour which any alliance
 with the poorer class  might have given
 them4    ,so far from anything in all  
this indicating that money produces     
refinement1 the exact opposite is       
proved4 ,that a full competence  enables
 a man to appreciate the refinements of 
life is1 after all1 what  we are doing  
our best to show2 but riches--that is to
 say1 anything  beyond the              
competence--can only act as a fatal     
impediment even to this4    ,whatever   
refinement there may be in the upper    
classes is only a  survival1 an element 
that is not being preserved1 but is     
rapidly  waning4 ,their general         
disposition and influence is a source of
 anxiety  to many who are watching the  
signs of the times with attention4 ,a   
recent article in the ,national ,review 

sounded a grave note of  warning4       
8,inherited vitality of race10 said the 
writer1 8which  upper-class women still 
preserve until they dissipate it in     
keeping up  with the procession1 is     
frittered away by parental              
irresponsibility1  often commencing     
before birth1 and by the ever-increasing
 excitement1  restlessness1 and luxury  
of our generation4444 ,greed of money   
is unblushing1 and perhaps most         
shameless amongst mothers and           
daughters4444 ,plutocracy and vanity are
 in possession40 ,out of such  poor     
stuff1 he concludes1 no man of character
 or ability can come  forward in public 
life4    ,another significant result of 
the kind of life of continual           
excitement1  constant change1 combined  
with sensuous ease1 led by these people1
 is  the noticeably declining birth-rate
 among those who are well off4    ,it is
 not worth while here to enter into a   
diatribe against the habits  and        
customs1 the fashions and fancies1 of   

what is known as ,smart  ,society1 which
 is the general aggregate of people of  
affluence2 or  attempt to describe the  
various sets1 the life struggle for     
those in  one grade to lift themselves  
into what they think a higher and       
smarter  grade2 the necessary           
qualifications to enter this society2   
the wild and  ceaseless hunger for      
excitement and amusement which prevents 
any time  being allowed for reflection1 
reading1 or even ordered thought2 the   
cynical and inane quality of the        
intercourse2 the endless gossip2 the    
contempt for anything that is considered
 dowdy2 the accepted low level  of      
morality and network of irregular       
relationships2 the snobbishness1  the   
artificiality1 the want of education2 in
 fact1 all the low  standard of living  
down to which any set of human beings is
 bound to  fall if the key-note of their
 existence is idleness and the          
foundation  of their position is money4 
,they are frightened of thought because 

it  might plunge them into desperation1 
they are frightened of knowledge        
because it might dispel their dearest   
illusions1 they are frightened of  work 
because it might reveal their           
incompetence1 they are frightened of    
progress because it may shatter their   
citadel4    ,one would have imagined    
that the so-called sporting instinct    
which we  are so proud of nurturing in  
our public schools and the spirit of    
fair  play would have made men ashamed  
to continue to lead lives solely and    
systematically devoted to extravagance  
and selfish enjoyment while so  many of 
their fellow-men are condemned to the   
dismal existence of toil  and squalor1  
even if they refused to admit that the  
one influenced the  other4 ,there are1  
of course1 people in this society who   
endeavour1 more  or less successfully1  
to stand up against the drift of fashion
 and are  conscious of the falseness of 
their privileged position1 but they are 
exceptional4 ,it appears to be          

impossible for the very great majority  
to  get the delusion out of their heads 
that1 by pensions and doles1 and        
charities and patronage1 and presents of
 game and subscriptions1 and  the       
employment of people in senseless       
occupations1 they are doing all  that   
can be expected of them to help 8the    
lower orders40    ,if in all this luxury
 there were some trace of splendour or  
magnificence1 if art1 literature1 or    
music were generously patronised1  and  
beauty and good taste appreciated1 some 
slight justification or  excuse for it  
might be found4 ,the rich magnates of   
,renaissance ,italy  or                 
eighteenth-century ,france had1 on the  
whole1 a favourable though  capricious  
influence on art and literature4 ,but   
the rich magnates  of twentieth-century 
,england are chiefly noted for the      
deplorable  vulgarity of their taste and
 their ignorance of the best works in   
painting1 literature1 and music4 ,at the
 best1 some few of them are  collectors1

 and if ever they seek the advice of    
experts to establish  some permanent    
method for the encouragement of the     
arts1 too often  their motive is not any
 profound reverence for artistic beauty1
 but the  spurious fame or titular      
distinctions they can gain by this      
means4 ,the  private collections they   
form are rarely exhibited1 and being    
withheld  from the public view and from 
popular appreciation1 the true function 
of these great works of art is almost   
nullified4    ,taking it as a whole1 the
 manner of living of this set of people 
would not be worth a moment's attention 
were it not that human beings  are being
 sacrificed and talents and capacity    
prostituted1 and that  the example set  
by these few is assiduously studied and 
followed by a  large section of the     
population who aspire to associate with 
those of  higher rank and greater       
wealth4 ,so it is that special notice is
 taken  of all they do2 the limelight is
 turned full upon them1 and nothing can 

surpass the servility of that section of
 the public press that recounts  the    
doings of these parasites1 describing   
with intense solemnity  their           
entertainments and their hunting and    
shooting exploits1 and  giving          
embarrassingly intimate episodes from   
their private lives for  public         
consumption4 ,by publishing broadcast   
these alluring pictures it  attempts to 
glorify their profitless and empty      
existence4    ,from time to time1 in    
sheer exasperation at the senselessness 
of it  all1 men come forward and inveigh
 against society life2 but not only     
does this not make the very smallest    
impression1 but the objects of  their   
invective enjoy abuse and thrive on the 
advertisement it gives  them4    ,the   
life of this society represents the     
outward and visible expression  of all  
the various contributory elements we    
have been trying to  analyse2 it has1   
therefore1 been necessary to allude to  
it in order to  give some general notion

 of the way many of the rich live4 ,and 
it is  done in no cavilling or          
pharisaical spirit1 but with the keen   
desire  to expose a state of social     
corruption which can only be corrected  
in the long run by being brought fully  
into the light4 ,the beauty1  the       
smartness1 and the brilliancy on the    
surface1 like the flowers  and lights   
and jewels of their entertainments1     
produce an attractive  glamour and      
present an alluring picture for those   
who cannot see  further behind the      
scenes1 and form one of the chief       
inducements for  money-making and for   
continuing the fight for material gain4 
,chapter ,,vi      ,the rich man as a   
business man--,the conduct of a         
successful      business--,money-making 
the incentive--,money no measure of     
merit or worth in men--,or in works of  
art--,financiers--,the      power of    
money--,imperialism--,political         
power--,experiments of                  
millionaires--,gifts--,money            

administered by corporations or the     
,state4      ,so far the type chosen has
 been that of an aristocratic landed    
proprietor4 ,but aristocrats and        
landowners are not all rich men1 nor    
are all rich men aristocrats or landed  
proprietors4 ,a large proportion  are   
business men who have made or are making
 their fortunes through  some commercial
 undertaking or from successful         
speculations4 ,once  the business man   
has succeeded he is pretty sure to buy  
an estate1  but there are many rich men 
who do not claim to be engaged in the   
8industry0 of land proprietorship4 ,in  
the argument we have to meet here  it is
 claimed for money that it is the       
mainspring of initiative and  enterprise
 in commerce1 and is the just reward of 
skilful management  and business        
ability4    ,but before proceeding let  
us remember once more the main premises 
of our contention4 ,it may be as        
undesirable as it is impracticable  to  
eliminate the undoubted incentive which 

the desire for more money  creates4 ,but
 it can be curbed before it reaches an  
exaggerated extreme1  and it can be     
rationalised once people understand that
 great riches are  no real reward1 only 
mean excessive burden1 do not minister  
to human  happiness1 and impose a       
responsibility which no living being is 
capable  of discharging4    ,in the     
commercial world it is evident enough   
that the money-making  ideal is far     
stronger and predominates over the ideal
 of securing  perfection in production1 
which implies a proud ambition to       
produce the  best goods under the best  
possible conditions4 ,in the conflict   
between  these two ideals is precisely  
where the danger lies4 ,tricks such as  
extensive and sensational advertisement 
and unscrupulous pushing are1  as we all
 know1 more favoured than the slower1   
more laborious1 and less  certain       
expedients of continually improving the 
methods of production  and conditions of
 labour4 ,many a fortune has been made  

in the vast  expansion of a concern far 
beyond its intrinsic merits simply by   
means  of advertisement4 ,the incentive 
in such a case is solely money-making4  
,the talents required are those of an   
inferior order1 such as astute  business
 capacity and cunning4 ,so far1         
therefore1 as money-making is  the      
ideal1 it is neither to the advantage of
 the business nor to the  advantage of  
the community1 who are the consumers of 
whatever commodity  the business turns  
out1 any more than it is to the ultimate
 advantage1  as already shown1 of the   
man who enriches himself4 ,the ambition 
of  heads of firms to enrich themselves 
personally constitutes1 in fact1  the   
chief deterrent to permanently          
successful commercial enterprise4  ,a   
further step is made in the wrong       
direction when the founder of  a        
thriving business1 having made his      
fortune and established the  reputation 
of his firm1 has his son or successor   
educated at a public  school and        

university1 where he may learn the      
manners and customs of  the leisured    
classes4 ,the result is that when the   
successor1 who has  not received a      
special technical business training and 
is therefore  quite unfitted to keep    
abreast of the acute competition which  
he finds  in the commercial world around
 him1 takes over the business1 it       
rapidly  deteriorates1 in spite of the  
abortive efforts of the new head1 who   
probably thinks that by mere expenditure
 of money the situation can  be saved4  
,in instances such as these no defence  
can be made for the  accumulation of    
capital in the hands of individuals4    
,but let us take a  better type4    ,a  
man by his energy and industry creates a
 successful business4 ,as  his fortune  
grows he makes no difference in his     
private life beyond  that which his     
increasing obligations absolutely       
necessitate4 ,he  judiciously sinks the 
greater part of his profits in his      
business in  order to improve it        

continually in all its branches4 ,he    
makes his son  or successor go through  
the mill1 educating him himself         
technically  in every process connected 
with the work so that in his turn he    
will  be thoroughly fitted to conduct   
the concern in the same progressive     
spirit4 ,this case1 where a man has     
resisted the temptation of taking  full 
personal advantage of his riches to1    
what is called1 8lift0  himself into    
another sphere of society and consort   
with a different  and1 of course1 we    
must say 8higher0 class1 is not common4 
,he has1 so  to speak1 identified       
himself with his work1 absorbed himself 
in its  continuous efficiency1 and1 in  
fact1 very properly treats his wealth as
  a trust created by those who are      
working for him and also by those who   
are consuming his produce1 and he       
therefore returns it to them in the     
shape of more favourable conditions for 
his workers and improvements  in        
machinery and methods of production1    

which permit a better and  cheaper      
article to be delivered to the consumer4
 ,the danger in this is  not connected  
with the conduct of the man himself1 but
 it lies in the  fact that this         
admirable manner of conducting the      
business and dealing  with the profits  
depends solely on the one individual    
will4 ,there is no  security or         
guarantee that his successor will see   
fit to behave in the  same way4 ,the    
money1 being in individual hands1 will  
sooner or later  fall into the less     
worthy grasp of a man whose interest in 
the business  is insignificant compared 
with his desire to cut a figure of      
importance  by means of his riches4 ,our
 ideal manufacturer is not treating the 
money or spending it as if it were his  
own4 ,but nevertheless it is his  own to
 dispose of1 and he will leave his large
 profits to a successor  on whose whim  
and fancy the responsibility of their   
administration  again rests4    ,there  
is no reason why he should not raise    

himself into another plane  and1 after  
resigning the management of his business
 to other hands1  extend his activities 
in another direction and achieve further
 success4  ,for the few1 however1 who by
 force of character and exceptional     
ability  are able to rise to the level  
of their new circumstances1 there are   
many more who1 simply taking advantage  
of their riches1 abandon one  form of   
activity1 which was useful and in which 
they excelled1 for  the sake of         
associating themselves with a leisured1 
ease-loving1 arid  society to which they
 do not naturally belong and which they 
had been  wiser to avoid4 ,there are    
many men who can stand up against       
adversity1  but it requires a character 
of great depth and force to keep its    
balance against success4                
,acknowledged worldly success for which 
full credit is given publicly  is not   
necessarily achieved by the exercise of 
superior intellectual  or business      
ability1 but can be obtained1 just as   

titles and honours1  by the judicious   
expenditure of money4 ,it naturally     
appeals strongly  to people who like    
appreciation and applause1 and after    
all1 who does  not8 ,but the worth of a 
man can no more be estimated by his     
money value  than the worth of an       
article4 ,the doctor who charges a high 
fee is  not ipso facto a good doctor1   
but many of them are astute enough to   
see that by raising their fee they can  
enhance their reputation1 so  easily    
gullible do they know their rich        
patients to be4 ,the same with  lawyers1
 who trade on the folly of those who can
 afford the luxury of  litigation4 ,this
 expensive system reacts upon the       
administration of  justice1 because it  
means that in the majority of cases it  
is only  the rich who can secure the    
best legal skill for their defence in   
the  courts4 ,thus even our boasted     
equality before the law is not immune   
from this universal disease4 ,in the    
scientific and creative world  great    

achievements receive next to no         
recompense and often only very  tardy   
recognition4 ,great services and great  
merit have no price3 a gift  of money is
 no reward for the man who has          
experienced the inestimable             
satisfaction of real achievement unless 
it is to prevent his falling  into      
penury4    ,public opinion is quite     
unable to judge true merit1 so high     
fees1 huge  salaries1 grants1 and       
fabulous prices are reserved for those  
beings  and those things to which       
fashion and popular clamour point at the
  moment4 ,an ,italian old master which 
fifty years ago could be bought for     
fifty pounds or so will now fetch as    
many hundreds or even thousands4  ,a    
mezzotint which a few years back cost a 
trifling sum can now be sold  for fifty 
times the amount4 ,so it is with all    
objets d'art1 plate1  or furniture4 ,the
 price does not represent value nor     
demand1 but the  passing fancy of rich  
collectors who set the fashion of the   

day which  they and the dealers create  
among themselves without reference to   
artistic merit or good taste1 or even   
popular appreciation4 ,by the  fabulous 
prices which nowadays are asked and     
given some estimate can  be made of the 
resources of those who have got these   
vast sums to  play with4 ,so that even  
in the purchase of works of art1 which  
need  not be classed as luxuries1 for   
they can be in the highest sense        
remunerative1 an ever-increasing amount 
of money is absolutely wasted  in       
speculation and gambling4    ,to        
maintain the supremacy of money as a    
standard1 as a test1 as a  reward1 and  
as an incentive1 we have a whole body of
 professions  exclusively devoted to the
 making of it for themselves and for us 
without our having the exertion of      
working for it4 ,and yet they  and their
 army of clerks have to slave in their  
offices1 lending1  borrowing1 broking1  
speculating1 gambling1                  
company-promoting1  constructing        

syndicates1 creating trusts and         
combines1 occupied with  all the        
complicated and involved tricks of a    
trade which of all trades  is the most  
tricky4 ,they must not be too nice or   
too scrupulous4 ,they  must suppress any
 inclination they might naturally have  
to be sensitive  or particular4 ,they   
are occupied largely in trying secretly 
to get the  better of someone else or   
sometimes in manipulations of a dubious1
  or perhaps we ought to say mysterious 
nature1 and their profession1  which is 
avowedly and exclusively to make money  
at all costs1 must of  necessity cast   
some blight on their lives and          
characters4    ,an increasingly large   
share of the wealth of the modern world 
falls  into the hands of stock-brokers1 
company-promoters1 and other            
financiers1 who are the high priests of 
money4 ,such is their power  in         
controlling the money market1           
manipulating prices1 and directing      
gambling operations on the stock        

exchange that they gradually come to    
occupy the place of government not only 
in the world of finance1 but in  the    
industrial world and even to some extent
 in the world of politics4  ,the large  
body of ordinary investors and          
speculators are completely at  their    
mercy1 for only a very few can pretend  
to master or follow the  intricacies of 
this highly elaborated system which the 
large financiers  have set up like a    
huge web to catch all contributions     
coming from  the investments and savings
 of the general public4 ,but the general
  business of private finance is the    
immediate concern of every man1 and  it 
is certainly the subject about which    
most people think they know  something  
and many people know a good deal4       
,mystery pervades it4 ,a man  will tell 
you his professional experiences1 he    
will even confide to you  his domestic  
cares and his moral delinquencies1 his  
religious views he  is ready to lay bare
 before you4 ,but on his financial      

affairs he will  be silent1 and no one  
would dream of committing the           
indiscretion of  questioning him on so  
delicate and sacred a topic4 ,little or 
nothing is  known of how a man comes by 
his money4 ,the industry or ability he  
has  displayed in making his fortune is 
not what is admired1 but his actual     
riches4 ,it never occurs to people to   
inquire if or how a man has earned  his 
money1 all they want to know is if he   
has actually got it4    ,setting aside  
self-indulgence1 the chief pleasure of  
riches is said  to be the enjoyment of  
the power they give4 ,this power1 which 
we are  trying to prove is only a power 
for harm1 is associated with a sense of 
individual superiority4 ,whether in     
charity1 philanthropy1 patronage1  or   
investment producing further gain1 the  
predominant experience for  the         
individual is personal triumph4 ,it is  
not unjust to condemn the  appreciation 
of power such as this as a low form of  
pleasure not only  for its pure         

selfishness1 but because triumph in this
 connection  implies control of other   
individuals and power to gain advantage 
at  their cost4 ,it is a form of        
self-glorification and exultation which 
simply means that to have wealth is to  
have the whip hand4    ,no one hopes for
 or expects complete repression of self1
 but in  any corporate action for a     
common object1 where there is a certain 
necessary self-repression1 the          
satisfaction to the individual is       
unquestionably higher and purer4 ,at any
 rate1 the idealisation of a  personal  
pre-eminence and ascendancy which is    
supported on the clay  feet of material 
possessions is idolatry of the most     
dangerous type4    ,there is1 moreover1 
attached to the possession of wealth    
another  sort of power which is even    
more dangerous from the public and      
national point of view1 but which is    
valued and appreciated even by  those   
who recognise that sheer hedonism       
defeats its own object4 ,it  is the     

pressure which capital can bring to bear
 on the machinery of  government4       
,private commercial interests can       
translate themselves into  political    
influence both in particular            
constituencies and nationally  through  
propaganda and the ,press4 ,they can    
foster the ,imperialist  spirit1 which  
may mean the acquisition of more        
territory and the  opening out of fresh 
markets for the investment of their     
capital4  ,meanwhile these enthusiastic 
,imperialists can pose as patriots1     
although the further filling of their   
pockets1 and not the nation's  honour1  
is their objective4 8,the economic root 
of ,imperialism10 says  a modern        
economist1#ac 8is the desire of strong  
organised industrial  and financial     
interests to secure and develop at the  
public expense and  by the public force 
private markets for their surplus goods 
and their  surplus capital4 ,war1       
militarism1 and a spirited foreign      
policy are the  necessary means to this 

end40    ,imperialism1 which depends on 
rousing the pugnacious and combative    
instincts latent in any people by       
exaggerating international  differences 
and jealousies1 is the national         
expression1 under the guise  of         
patriotism1 of the desire for gain1     
territorial aggrandisement1  profit and 
enrichment4 ,it represents everything1  
in fact1 that  corresponds to the love  
of money-making in the individual4      
,there is  money even to be got out of  
arming your enemies1 and there is no    
squeamishness shown about investing     
money in this way4    ,although bribery 
can influence votes and a few           
constituencies can  still be bought1 the
 necessity of being a man of means in   
order to be  admitted into active       
political life is happily a thing of the
 past4  ,on the other hand1 the         
influence of the capitalist press1 run  
as it  is now1 chiefly as a financial   
speculation1 has in later days grown  to
 be a grave national peril4 ,the power  

here exercised is of a very  distinct   
and far-reaching description4 ,the      
ambitions of capitalism and  the demands
 of shareholders are interpreted as the 
will of the people1  and the worst      
instincts of aggressive arrogance are   
traded upon to  produce at the proper   
moment the scare or outburst of         
jingoism2 at the  same time1 8popular0  
protests can be artificially engineered 
to stand  against any movement which is 
likely to interfere with the ambitions  
of  the wealthy4    ,money1 therefore1  
does mean power1 but power of a         
pernicious  description1 8that of brute 
force1 the power of the bludgeon and the
  bayonet and of the bribed press1      
tongue1 and pen40#ad    ,having         
discussed worldliness1 vanity1 and      
self-indulgence as well as  commercial  
enterprise and speculation1 we must get 
to close quarters  with an aspect of the
 problem which at first sight might seem
 to be  an exception to our general     
condemnation of riches4 ,what is the    

real  effect of money spent by          
millionaires on philanthropic1          
scientific1 or  social experiments1 and 
even educational endowments8 ,are we    
justified  in hailing them as wholly and
 unquestionably beneficent8    ,that    
they should spend their money this way  
instead of on themselves  must be       
acknowledged at once as preferable and  
as a step in a better  direction4 ,they 
gain immense applause from the world by 
their deeds1  although1 of course1 no   
sacrifice whatever is involved4 ,it is  
greatly  to their credit that their     
intelligence should prompt them to      
attempt  to benefit their fellows by a  
national and scientific exploration of  
new ground which may eventually lead to 
some permanent benefit to  the human    
race4 ,but while granting unreservedly  
the purity of their  motives1 we shall  
by a more exact examination of the      
nature1 scope1 and  consequences of     
their action come to the following      
conclusions which  amount to objections3

      7#a7 ,the choice of the particular
 experiment and the decision as to      
whether it shall be embarked on at all  
rests with one individual    will4 ,the 
source of action therefore being an     
uncertain quantity    which cannot be   
depended upon1 this method of initiating
 works for    the public benefit is     
incapable of being organised1           
controlled1 or    even relied upon4     
,indeed1 millionaires are apt to be like
 spoilt    children unless they can have
 the satisfaction of complete control   
over their exploits4      7#b7 ,the     
experiment selected may not be a wise   
one or in conformity    with the ideals 
of real betterment1 even though for a   
time it may    receive the formal       
sanction of popular approval4      7#c7 
,even if the experiment is admittedly   
useful and beneficial1 it    has a      
strong tendency to encourage us1 who    
constitute the community    as a whole1 
to think that as there are rich men who 
are sufficiently    enterprising and    

public-spirited to undertake these      
schemes and works    of general utility1
 it is unnecessary to organise corporate
 effort1    to establish them ourselves4
 ,moreover1 there is limit of           
productivity    in private enterprise4  
7#d7 ,there are social schemes carefully
 conceived and elaborately    worked out
 which fail because the very security of
 certain    financial help and support  
has the effect of weakening initiative1 
choking enterprise1 and preventing the  
growth of the just pride and            
self-reliance which individuals or      
bodies of individuals can only          
develop in an independent struggle with 
the chances and changes of    their     
natural environment4 ,those who are     
supposed to benefit by the    scheme are
 in fact1 oppressed by the shadow of the
 heavy arm of the    financial subsidy  
which dominates the whole situation4    
,this may be    unreasonable1 but it is 
quite natural1 and it shows that money  
poured    out by one hand clogs the     

machinery of commercial and industrial  
life1 falls1 so to speak1 into clots and
 cannot spread itself    effectively as 
a lubricant into the many narrow and    
unseen corners of    the domestic1      
municipal1 or rural life and activities 
of the people4      7#e7 ,lastly1 or it 
should have been said1 primarily1 the   
paramount    objection is that any good 
that may come from the particular scheme
    or experiment is completely         
outweighed by the wrong that has been   
perpetrated and the injury that has been
 inflicted1 in countless    ways and in 
numberless directions1 by the withdrawal
 from healthy    circulation and the    
accumulation of the very riches a part  
of which    is now being returned to the
 community in this doubtful form4    ,it
 would be ungenerous to deny that great 
care and forethought have  been         
exercised by the millionaires who have  
determined to devote a  large part of   
their wealth to some great religious1   
social1 scientific1  or artistic cause4 

,distinct benefits have accrued from    
their action4  ,but emphatically this   
does not mean that surplus wealth in    
individual  hands can be used           
profitably4 ,it means that human        
ingenuity1  intelligence1 and generous  
feeling can to some small extent        
mitigate in  one direction the constant 
and pressing evils which the            
accumulation of  riches has caused and  
is causing in a vastly more extensive   
way4    ,another example about which    
some doubt might be expressed is that of
  a man struggling with his family on an
 income well below the limit1  unable to
 develop his capacities and lead a      
decently useful life  because of the    
constant pinch of want4 ,will not a gift
 of money which  secures him a          
competence without affluence1 frees his 
energies for  higher work1 and liberates
 him from the sordid and painful trials 
of  poverty1 will not such a gift be an 
unqualified advantage to him1 and  will 
not1 therefore1 the giver of that money 

be an exception to the  axiom that      
superfluous wealth cannot be well spent8
    ,the gift and its acceptance are not
 the only determining factors in  the   
problem4 ,if such a case is quite fairly
 stated1 it shows that  the donor was   
not giving part of his superfluous      
wealth1 taking the  definition of       
superfluous which has already been      
given4 ,he is giving  something which1  
as it turns out1 he personally has the  
capacity to  give in a profitable and   
fruitful manner1 and which perhaps      
involves  a certain amount of sacrifice 
on his part4 ,this money therefore      
constitutes part of his competence and  
the gift is justifiable4 ,but  this can 
only be admitted to a very restricted   
extent4 ,he must use the  utmost        
discretion not to give too much1        
otherwise he will overstep the  mark of 
prudence4 ,he may be encouraged to make 
this gift too frequently  and less      
discriminatingly4 ,in short1 the number 
of such cases1 where  the recipient is  

unmistakably benefited by an isolated   
gift of money1  are very exceptional4   
,if we are presupposing that our donor  
has money  to play with and that his    
gift is made out of his superfluity1 in 
this  case1 as in that of the           
millionaire's experiment1 his balance is
 on the  wrong side1 and more harm is   
being done by the retention of his      
surplus  than good is done by his small1
 spasmodic endeavours at charitable     
help and subsidy1 even though now and   
then they may be perfectly well         
directed4    ,capital entrusted to      
companies1 corporations1 municipalities1
 or in the  possession of the ,state1   
need not1 from the bare fact of its     
being  held conjointly by a number of   
people1 be expended in a wise way or  on
 remunerative works4 ,but there is a    
very much better chance of its  being   
well spent in the long run1 where there 
is practically unlimited  capacity in   
the joint efforts and united talents of 
a number of people1  where there is     

disinterested control1 and where that   
control is itself  far from supreme1    
being subject to the direct supervision 
of electors  or of the general          
community4 ,remonstrance1 appeal1 or    
protest in this  case is always possible
 and effectual1 but when an individual  
is the  only dispenser of the funds1 he 
is the sole arbiter and judge1 has      
complete and despotic power1 and is not 
answerable to any superior  authority4  
,further it cannot be seriously         
controverted that money1 circulating in 
small sums in the hands of the mass of  
the people and devoted for the  most    
part to the purchase of the necessaries 
of life1 is infinitely  more conducive  
to productive expenditure than money    
hoarded in large  quantities to be      
administered by a small class for their 
own advantage4          ,chapter ,,vii  
,the deceptive process of the growth of 
riches--,the relaxation      of         
effort--,the love of ease--,the power of
 convention--,the      disadvantages of 

abundance--,surfeit--,difficulties in a 
rich man's      life--,waste of talent  
and capacity--,england as a nation      
deeply      infected with the belief in 
money4      ,there is no more misleading
 and deceptive process than the gradual 
growth of riches4 ,as a man's income    
increases1 fresh obligations arise      
which have all the appearance of        
necessities1 and in satisfying these a  
still further crop springs up1 demands  
his attention1 and occupies more  of his
 time4 ,little by little his standard   
changes2 stage by stage1  almost        
imperceptibly1 what he once regarded as 
a pure luxury becomes to  him an        
imperative necessity1 and all           
unconscious1 he spends his energy  in   
the struggle to keep himself on a level 
with those among whom he  desires to be 
classed4    ,this is all very well with 
people whose means range above the      
limit1  but when we reach those who are 
on the border line1 when we come to  the
 ranks of those whose existence is      

overshadowed by the constant and        
wearing anxiety as to whether their     
small incomes will go far enough1  there
 is an element of profound tragedy in   
their efforts to keep up  appearances   
and to maintain an outward show of      
having money while  necessities1 unseen 
but very pressing1 are sacrificed--the  
service of  doctors and nurses in       
illness very likely denied1 and all the 
small  accessories that go to make life 
in the home pleasanter cut off4 ,we  are
 not aware of the large number of people
 thus situated1 because  their brave    
attempts to delude us are often         
successful4 ,those we know  of have     
perhaps seen better days1 being through 
no fault of their  own thrown into      
penury1 and they may be making pathetic 
and painful  endeavours to keep up a    
show not1 indeed1 of affluence1 but1    
anyhow1  of respectability4 ,as a       
writer#ae recently said with great      
truth3  8,there is little sympathy felt 
in the world of rhetoric for the silent 

sufferings of the genteel poor1 yet     
there is no class that deserves a  more 
charitable commiseration40 ,their       
incomes may not be in themselves        
excessively small1 but the expense of   
conforming to the various little        
conventions to which they have been     
accustomed and the strain of  trying to 
keep up to a level slightly above their 
natural standard  eat away too much of  
their meagre store4 ,their gentility has
 softened  them1 or their middle-class  
respectability prevents them from openly
  ranking themselves among the poor4    
,they know1 too1 that a change in       
circumstances may deprive them of their 
former 8friends40    ,the miseries of   
debt and bankruptcy may often be the    
outcome of an  extravagant or profligate
 disposition1 and need not be directly  
connected with an excess or deficiency  
of means4 ,but this solicitude  to obey 
the rigid1 conventional1 and universally
 accepted measure for  classing the     
community according to their incomes1   

this horror of  dropping in the scale1  
is responsible for much suffering and   
secret  despair1 especially among women 
who have not been trained to work and   
find themselves turned adrift on the    
world with a bare pittance4    ,higher  
in the scale1 where there is an ample   
competence1 the amount  spent on        
appearances is frequently unreasonably  
excessive4 ,the craving  to associate   
with people who are richer and the fear 
of being thought  badly off1 knowing    
that that is the equivalent of becoming 
socially a  pariah1 produces a serious  
deficiency in the more important needs  
of  life1 bitterness at the hardness of 
fate1 stinting1 useless saving1 and     
sometimes eventual impoverishment and   
ruin4    ,but without having actually to
 face catastrophe1 these people1 simply 
by the injudicious and ill-managed      
administration of what they have  got1  
cannot live the full and decent lives   
their circumstances allow  them4 ,this  
is true of a very large well-to-do class

 who cry out for  more money while they 
are spending too large a portion of what
 they  have in things which1 for them1  
are unnecessary extravagances1 but      
which they cling to as indispensable4   
,they are probably slackening their     
exertions in directions where they      
would be all the better for a little    
extra stimulant in the shape of  trouble
 and effort4 ,the constant easy         
satisfaction of their small             
requirements has an enervating and      
weakening effect on their character1    
and there is neither charm nor adventure
 in their lives1 for there  is a point  
when satisfaction almost suffocates4    
,human nature is so  constituted that   
energy increases in proportion as it is 
used4 ,the more  a man has to do1 the   
more he wants to do1 the more he can do4
 ,all kinds  of insignificant little    
daily efforts keep the machine          
perpetually in  motion and in order1    
ready and alert for more work1 and the  
spirit  of disinclination is shut out4  

,relax those efforts1 augment sensuous  
comforts1 and the machine will require  
starting and restarting1  with a        
continual extra spurt and additional    
exertion4 ,the spirit of  disinclination
 insinuates itself1 and indolence and   
apathy creep in4  ,it has been shown in 
the animal world that the spoilt and    
carefully  combed and washed pet is far 
less intelligent than the animal who has
  to look after himself1 scratch his own
 fleas1 and lick the dirt off his  paws4
 ,we are under the impression that if we
 can get rid of the various  irritations
 of daily life1 which are our fleas1 the
 time spent in  scratching will be      
devoted to work of a higher order more  
in conformity  with our powers4 ,but1   
given the time1 somehow we do not manage
 to do  the extra work4 ,the ambition of
 every man who acquires more money is   
not to increase the field of personal   
activity1 but1 on the contrary1  to     
restrict it4 ,the natural tendency is   
towards ease rather than  action4 ,but  

as soon as men find out that ease begets
 indifference and  indolence amounting  
to atrophy1 and leading at last to a    
cessation of  the ordinary powers of    
enjoyment1 and that action is a spur to 
the  faculties1 making them more alive1 
more sensitive1 and more susceptible  to
 enthusiasm and appreciation1 they will 
be on their guard against the  snares   
and wiles that beset the path of        
everyone who makes a special  business  
of smoothing away all the roughness in  
his domestic and social  surroundings4  
,spending money to save oneself trouble 
often produces trouble and worry  of a  
different and very likely more vexatious
 kind1 and at the same  time reduces by 
that much the good effects on the       
character produced by  a certain amount 
of bracing discipline and general       
tightening of the  reins of conduct4    
,precisely in the same way as reducing  
hygienic or  physical exercise          
diminishes muscular efficiency4 ,the    
recurring sense  of accomplishment1     

however trivial and apparently          
insignificant that  accomplishment may  
be1 is invigorating to the nature and of
 enduring  value4 ,as ,carlyle says in  
one of his letters to his future wife3  
8,let  us not despond in the life of    
honourable toil which lies before us4   
,do  you not think that when you on one 
side of our household shall have        
faithfully gone through your housewife's
 duties1 and ,i on the other  shall have
 written my allotted pages1 we shall    
meet over our frugal  meal with far     
happier and prouder hearts than         
thousands that are not  blessed with any
 duty and whose agony is the bitterest  
of all1 #8the  agony of a too easy      
bed'80    ,it is too much to ask that   
everyone should at once recognise what  
sort of expenditure will really be      
repaying and fill their lives  with     
genuine happiness and what is only      
empty1 disappointing1 and  superfluous4 
,but they are wrong when they suppose1  
as they so often  do1 that they are     

suffering from want of money2 and they  
are wrong  in believing that more money 
will cure their discontent4 ,the problem
  for them is more than half solved once
 they come to realise that they  are    
showing themselves to be incapable of   
the responsibility they  already        
possess1 and that more money would only 
mean an increase of  responsibilities   
without any fresh acquisition of        
knowledge as to how  to discharge them4 
,all around them they observe an        
implicit obedience  in small matters as 
well as great to what we may call the   
law of gain4  ,they join in obeying this
 law1 which is nothing more than an     
artificial  convention of an            
ill-organised society4    ,the word     
convention has frequently been used1 for
 it best describes the  fixed authority 
for conduct and ethics which has been   
set up by the  tacit consensus of public
 opinion1 and which people accept and   
obey  without inquiry4 ,this force--for 
it amounts to a force--drives the  great

 body of uneducated1 under-educated1 and
 ill-educated people1 who  never stop to
 inquire or investigate4 ,if a stick is 
put across a gap  in a hedge and a flock
 of sheep is driven through1 the first  
few sheep  will jump the stick1 and     
then1 even after the stick has been     
removed1  the rest of the flock will all
 jump when they come to the gap1 and    
not one will stop to see if there is any
 reason or necessity for the  jump4 ,so 
it is with human beings1 who find it    
easier to do as others  do rather than  
take the trouble to exercise any        
separate powers of  discrimination which
 might convince them of the necessity of
 striking  out a different line of their
 own4 ,one line of conduct may suit a   
large  number of individuals1 but it is 
inconceivable that it should suit all1  
and there is a great revivification of  
the faculties in a man when he  first   
realises that what may be right for     
others need not be right for  him4    ,a
 lady once remarked1 with a sigh1 while 

arranging her drawing-room1  8,one must 
have a silver table10 meaning that a    
small table on which  could be displayed
 various gimcracks of silver was a      
necessity of  fashion in the disposition
 of drawing-room furniture4 ,if she had 
said1 8,i won't have a silver table10   
or1 8,i'm going to have twenty  silver  
tables10 she would have been an         
exceptional and original being          
exercising an independent judgment at   
the risk of being thought  eccentric4   
,but her only desire1 and the only      
desire of the majority of  her fellows1 
is to conform4    ,another cause of     
mischief is that most people have their 
eyes turned  towards those who are      
better off than they are themselves1 and
 they  continually and instinctively    
make mental comparisons which serve     
only to increase their longing4 ,seldom 
do they turn their eyes to  the millions
 who are less fortunate in the way of   
wealth and make  comparisons in that    
direction1 else they might come to the  

unpleasant  conclusion that they have   
themselves already more than enough1 and
  perhaps too much4 ,to live simply they
 foolishly suspect means something      
disagreeable1 unattractive1 tedious1 and
 arduous2 whereas if they  only gave it 
a trial1 they might find that the very  
simplification of  their manner of      
living would set free their energies and
 attract them  to new and absorbing     
interests1 and a kind of happiness might
 become  theirs which far surpasses in  
intensity the greatest pleasures wealth 
ever bought1 and which1 instead of being
 transitory and ephemeral1 is  lasting4 
8,the superior worth of simplicity of   
life10 says ,j4 ,s4 ,mill1 8the         
enervating and demoralising effect of   
the trammels and hypocrisies of         
artificial society1 are ideas which have
 never been entirely absent  from       
cultivated minds since ,rousseau wrote2 
and they will in time  produce their    
effect1 though at present needing to be 
asserted as much  as ever1 and to be    

asserted by deeds1 for words on this    
subject have  nearly exhausted their    
power40    ,asceticism1 pedantry1       
intentional unconventionality1 and the  
affected  8simple life0 have all served 
to damage the force of the arguments in 
favour of plain living2 and it is often 
supposed that it is jealousy  of the    
rich that causes the occasional         
outbursts against luxury4 ,but  anyone  
who can watch for a moment and analyse  
social phenomena will  very soon come to
 the conclusion that there is nothing in
 the lives  of the rich of which anyone 
need be envious4 ,millionaires          
themselves  are the first to admit that 
their money brings them no happiness4   
,the  confession has been made by one of
 them that the very fact of being  able 
without the least difficulty to satisfy 
his smallest or his  largest fancies was
 in itself the very antithesis of       
pleasure4 ,he had  learnt that the      
continuous craving to satisfy human     
wants1 far from  being a misfortune1    

constituted an intrinsic element in the 
production  of happiness4 ,the hope     
perhaps long deferred1 that some        
particular want  might eventually be    
satisfied was a treasure he had for ever
 lost the  power to appreciate4 ,it is  
delay1 and not immediate satisfaction1  
that  enhances the value of acquisition4
 8,millionaires who laugh are rare10    
says ,andrew ,carnegie4                 
,superabundance1 surfeit1 the cloying   
sweetness of excess1 the  consequent    
lack of restraint and reserve must      
encourage the development  of moral     
sickness1 nausea1 and intellectual      
inertia4 ,in all  professions1 arts1    
trades1 and crafts the fixing of a limit
 within  which to operate is the secret 
of the attainment of a high quality  of 
work because it is the recognition of   
human limitations4 ,the same  principle 
holds good for every human being in the 
administration of his  worldly          
possessions and the management of his   
own life4 ,economy should  be the       

key-note rather than profusion1 strength
 lies in reserve rather  than in excess4
    ,we are only saying to a man who is 
sitting before a table laden with a     
vast quantity of different dishes heaped
 with all kinds of appetising  foods3   
8,being an ordinary mortal your         
digestion will not stand more  than a   
limited quantity of that food4 ,if you  
continually eat more than  what is good 
for you1 you will be ill4 ,a certain    
amount of food will  nourish you1 a     
larger amount will simply make you sick4
 ,we do not say  your food is too good1 
nastier food would be better for you1   
nor do we  say that you must never have 
a feast3 but we assure you that if you  
habitually gorge the surfeit will injure
 your digestive powers1 will  destroy   
your own enjoyment of the meal1 and at  
the same time1 by this  thoughtless     
waste1 you are depriving many who have  
an insufficient  quantity of what is    
rightfully theirs4 ,in any case1 you can
 never  manage to eat all these dishes  

by yourself4 ,what good are they to you8
  ,to propose that you should be        
relieved of some of your superfluity is 
the suggestion of a friend and not of an
 enemy4 ,just reflect as you  see this  
huge meal spread before you that the    
great majority of your  fellow-men have 
not more than one meagre and inadequate 
dish40 ,he would  probably reply3 8,i am
 the best judge of what is good for me4 
,the food  is mine4 ,if ,i do not eat it
 ,i am not going to allow anyone to     
deprive  me of it1 but ,i can always    
give part of it away if and when ,i feel
  inclined0--and he will continue with a
 dull gaze of satiated weariness  to    
regard the piles of food before him4    
,this is a fair metaphor1 because we    
have all been forced to learn  the      
precise nature of our limitations with  
regard to the consumption  of food4 ,is 
it unreasonable to hope that in time we 
may become as  conscious of our         
limitations in the consumption of other 
materials no  less important8    ,if the

 rich protest that they have a perfect  
right to amass what  fortune they like1 
and that it is tyranny and an           
infringement of their  liberty to deny  
them this right1 they can be told       
plainly that their  liberty will only be
 respected if they in their turn will   
respect  the liberty of others1 which   
cannot be effectually secured except by 
restraining license4 ,as it is1 they are
 manifestly depriving others  of their  
liberty and elementary rights by the    
outrageous license they  now allow      
themselves4 ,no one cries out louder    
than a rich man if by any  chance he    
loses part of his fortune4 ,the         
reduction of his income from  fifty to  
thirty1 or from twenty to ten thousand a
 year is a catastrophe  for which he    
unceasingly asks the sympathy and       
commiseration of his  friends4 ,the     
dismissal of the second footman is a    
hardship which  requires courage to     
face1 the sale of a corner of the estate
 is the  sign of ruin6 ,he stands in    

striking contrast to those who1 having  
to  face genuine poverty1 often show    
fortitude and pluck in the face of      
bitter misfortunes4    ,but as an excuse
 for the rich man it ought frankly to be
 acknowledged  that his life is made    
extremely complex and difficult4 ,if    
this much  alone were apparent to him he
 might pause in his eager chase4 ,a man 
with work1 with a profession or trade1 a
 woman with a profession or  with house 
and parental duties1 not only have their
 time occupied1 but  have their thoughts
 filled and have fewer alternatives of  
conduct1  while at the same time they   
are not freed from the conflicting      
obligations which make every life a     
serious problem4 ,but the rich man  has 
before him unlimited alternatives       
without any constraint4 ,he  has to     
invent and conceive for himself his     
sphere of usefulness and  select the    
particular form of occupation he thinks 
will suit him4 ,he  suffers from        
misgivings in embarking on one form of  

activity1 that he  might have done      
better to choose another4 ,if he is not 
careful1 idle  business1 the inevitable 
outcome of his estates1 his             
establishments1  his social duties1 and 
other appurtenances of his elaborate    
entourage  will take up the greater part
 of his time and absorb all his         
thoughts4  ,however conscientiously he  
may desire to encourage works of utility
  and throw himself into profitable     
pursuits1 he must find himself          
embarrassed not only with his load of   
wealth1 but with the limitless  horizon 
before him1 the entire absence of any   
disciplinary compulsion1  and the       
withdrawal of the restraints which      
shield the course of a  simpler life4   
,not only is the volume of water larger1
 but there is no  river bed4 ,the       
shifting action of the stream1          
therefore1 is far more  likely to be    
devastating than fertilising4    ,waste 
and loss will everywhere be found in    
money's trail4 ,talents  which under    

free1 unhampered conditions might have  
grown and blossomed  have been withered 
under this golden blight4 ,many men and 
women might  have done valuable work and
 even attained great achievements had   
they been compelled to work for a       
living1 to toil1 to labour1 and to      
strive instead of being choked with the 
glut of riches4 ,with a very  few       
exceptions1 men in the creative arts and
 in science have not been  men who by   
any standard could be described as rich4
 ,the greatest  treasures the world     
possesses in painting1 music1           
literature1 poetry1  and architecture   
are gifts from men who were never       
burdened with  great possessions4 ,no   
genius1 no creative spirit1 no hungry   
inquirer1  no philosopher can exist in  
the hot-house atmosphere and cramping   
conditions which surround riches4    ,on
 the other hand1 extreme poverty has    
very much the same effect1  killing the 
too sensitive and fragile spirit in its 
exertions to be  free1 wasting what     

might be a useful and perhaps remarkable
 life1  and forcing men of high powers  
to stoop to the prostitution of their   
talents in order to gain enough for     
their very subsistence4 ,but in  the    
latter case1 anyhow1 the fight is a     
great and vigorous combat  for existence
 which a man must take up or perish1 and
 which1 if  he succeeds1 equips him with
 strengthened faculties and a richer    
experience for the further stages on his
 life's journey4 ,poverty is  merciless 
and cruel1 but it cannot be denied that 
it is a far better  teacher than riches4
 ,the contest with money has no         
stimulating  effects1 it weakens and    
paralyses a man's moral and intellectual
 fibre1  stunts and smothers his finer  
ambitions1 and if he has the unusual    
strength of character to free himself1  
it can only be done by casting  from him
 deliberately and finally his           
self-imposed burden4    ,art1           
literature1 and music are all suffering 
severely from the  financial taint known

 as commercialism1 which tends to       
popularise  second-rate work1 degrade   
the public taste1 and steepen the       
already  stiff path chosen by those who 
are aiming at a high standard of        
workmanship rather than popular         
recognition4 8,will it pay80 is a       
colloquialism as general in use as      
remarks about the weather4    ,when     
compared with other nations1 it would   
seem that we in ,england  are more      
deeply infected with this belief in     
money than they are  elsewhere4 ,our    
very prosperity1 generally described in 
figures of  material expansion1 may     
account for this4 ,the more money there 
is in  circulation1 the more chance     
there is for larger quantities of it to 
get lodged in a single pocket1 the      
keener becomes the competition to       
acquire it1 the stronger is the power1  
the influence1 and the example  of rich 
men4    ,america cannot be very far     
behind1 where comment is now being made 
on cases of insanity and the suicidal   

mania among the children and            
descendants of very rich people1 brought
 about by the mental and  nervous strain
 and exhaustion to which                
multi-millionaires are subjected  in    
their mad race for wealth4 ,it produces 
in the children what they  call over    
there 8the money twist0 in the brain4   
,nevertheless1 in  his survey of        
,english life the ,american writer      
already quoted says1  8,the struggle to 
get it 7money7 is unparalleled anywhere 
else in the  world40#af ,and this was   
also the verdict of one who wrote a few 
years  ago with an intimate knowledge of
 ,continental life3      8,there is no  
nation in the world that has so acute a 
sense of the    value1 almost the       
necessity of wealth for human           
intercourse as the    ,english          
nation4444 ,in ,england they silently   
accept the maxim1 #8a    large income is
 a necessary of life1' and they class   
each other    according to the scale of 
their establishments1 looking up with   

unfeigned reverence to those who have   
many servants1 many horses1    and      
gigantic houses1 where great hospitality
 is dispensed40#ag    ,in the economic  
structure1 just as in an architectural  
structure1 what  should be aimed at is a
 proper relation between weights and    
supports4  ,one section of our social   
building is too heavily weighted and    
there  is an unnecessary waste of       
material in supplying the adequate      
supports  and buttresses to meet the    
stress1 which is all on the one side4   
,it is  this want of balance and        
disproportionate pressure which tends   
very  materially to imperil the whole   
edifice4    ,does it amount to a        
national danger8 and if so1 how can it  
be warded  off8 are questions that may  
well be asked4 ,but this would carry us 
too  far and involve a discussion as to 
the extent to which legislation or      
taxation or an improved system of       
education might shield us from any      
risks4 ,it lies outside the scope of our

 present argument1 which must  be       
confined to demonstrating the existence 
and universal nature of the  passion1   
its unjustifiable claims and evil       
consequences4    ,how to put a stop to  
the waste caused by an unproductive     
surplus  getting piled up in the hands  
of the rich is nevertheless admitted by 
modern economists to be a matter that   
urgently needs solution4 8,the          
principal problem of modern industrial  
civilisation10 says ,mr4 ,j4 ,a4        
,hobson1 8consists in devising measures 
to secure that the whole of  the        
industrial surplus shall be economically
 applied to the purposes  of industrial 
and social progress instead of passing  
in the shape of  unearned increment to  
the owners of the factors of production 
whose  activities are depressed1 not    
stimulated by such payments40#ah        
,chapter ,,viii      ,the problem of    
riches--,necessity for scientific       
investigation      into the lives of the
 rich--,interdependence of riches and   

poverty--,analysis of expenditure on    
houses1 servants1 clothes1      food1   
amusements--,impressions of a poor crowd
 and a rich      crowd--,tragedies4     
,on all sides it is admitted that there 
is a problem of ,poverty1 but  it has   
never yet been suggested that just in   
the same way there is a  problem of     
,riches4 ,not the problem of how to     
become rich and how to  invest money and
 make more money1 that is the very      
obsession which  ought to be dispelled1 
but the important question of how the   
rich  spend their money1 how they live1 
to what objects they devote their       
riches1 and whether the vast            
accumulations are being disposed of to  
the greatest advantage4 ,the connection 
between riches and poverty is  capable  
of proof1 that is to say1 the           
maladministration of wealth by          
individuals can be shown to be closely  
linked to the disorganisation  of labour
 which creates such evils as sweating   
and unemployment4 ,but  before further  

advance can be made towards any possible
 solution there  must be a dissection   
and analysis of the lives of the rich as
 well as  of the poor1 so that some     
knowledge may be acquired of both sides 
of  the medal which will demonstrate    
their interdependence4    ,we are       
allowed to extract every conceivable    
detail of the most intimate  nature from
 the poor householder1 but any sort of  
inquiry as to how the  rich live is     
regarded as an impertinence4 ,even the  
suggestion that they  should make a     
return of all their income1 as a man of 
moderate means  must do for income tax  
purposes1 is scouted as inquisitorial4  
,we inquire into the lives of the poor  
in order to ascertain the actual  facts1
 so that with a full knowledge of the   
evil we may set to work  scientifically 
to improve their condition4 ,but this is
 really only half  the problem4 ,no     
investigation can be complete unless an 
equally careful  and exhaustive inquiry 
is made into the way the rich live4 ,it 

cannot  be regarded as an inquisitive   
prying into personal and private habits1
  for when the expenditure is on such a 
scale as to have extensive  economic    
consequences it ceases to be of a       
private nature and ought to  be         
investigated on public grounds4 ,not    
only might the inquiry be made  with a  
view to the improvement of their own way
 of living--though they  would refuse to
 admit there was any room for           
improvement--but by this  means more    
light would also be thrown on the       
problem of poverty4    ,it is the       
question of distribution that is        
admittedly the insoluble  difficulty1   
and yet we set to work to examine the   
barren patches and  leave out of account
 the land that is soured by             
over-fertilisation4 ,to  accomplish a   
successful work of irrigation attention 
must not only be  turned to the dry and 
arid land1 but to the marshy1 low-lying 
parts  that have got more of the water  
than they need and require draining1    

otherwise an even flow over the whole   
can never be engineered and the  full   
capacity of the soil cannot be given a  
fair chance4    ,it is absurd to suppose
 that any section of the community1     
whatever  pretensions they may have1 can
 live as they like without affecting the
  lives and wellbeing of their          
fellow-men4 ,riches may set up a fence1 
make those inside it believe that they  
are living in a world apart  and blind  
them to what is going on outside1 but   
riches have no power  to sever the moral
 and spiritual1 as well as the invisible
 economic  ties which bind every        
individual from his birth to his death  
with the  whole of the rest of humanity4
 ,this attitude of aloofness which the  
rich adopt makes it true to say of them 
that 8they are outcasts and  are cut off
 from natural and human relationship    
with the great mass  of mankind40#ai    
,the people who consider the richness of
 the rich  has nothing to do with the   
poverty of the poor are in the habit of 

asserting that even if all incomes large
 and small were added together  there   
would not be enough 8to go round40 ,they
 fail to remember that  money which is  
invested without any return1 or only    
getting a very low  return1 has not the 
same value and cannot go as far as the  
same sum  bringing in a high return from
 a remunerative investment4    ,the     
attacks of a vaguely disparaging nature 
made against the rich  are often beside 
the mark from the lack of accurate      
knowledge of  their position1 their     
habits1 and their methods4 ,but ought   
not the  expenditure of these           
accumulated masses of money to be       
subjected to  some scientific scrutiny8 
,can another 8,personal ,service        
,association0  be established among the 
poor for visiting the rich8 ,it is just 
as  necessary4 ,can a supplement be     
compiled to ,mr4 ,charles ,booth's ,life
  and ,labour of the ,people1 ,mr4      
,rowntree's ,poverty3 a ,study of ,town 
,life8    ,what would be the fate of an 

investigator who dared to pursue his    
inquiries at houses in ,mayfair or      
,belgravia8 ,in response to the bell    
the massive front door would slowly     
open1 and out of the darkness of  the   
hall would emerge the solemn figure of  
an overfed butler flanked  by two giants
 with powdered hair4 ,the investigator1 
note-book in hand1  if he had the       
courage to proceed1 would ask his string
 of queries as  to how many rooms the   
house contained1 how many people1 the   
cost of  living1 the health of the      
children1 the employment of the man1    
etc4  etc4 ,but he would not get very   
far before the incensed and outraged    
dignity of his audience would take an   
active form and he would find  himself  
hurled down the steps into the street4  
,nevertheless1 such a book would be of  
enormous use4 ,it would serve to        
establish a concrete basis from which   
useful economic and sociological        
deductions might be made1 however       
disagreeable some of the disclosures    

might be incidentally4 ,it would not be 
an invitation to the masses  to spoil   
and rob the rich any more than the books
 on ,poverty are an  invitation to the  
rich to largess more of their wealth    
among the poor4  ,indeed1 there is no   
question of spoliation1 it is all a     
matter of  adjustment4 ,the blame cast  
on the rich would no doubt be heavy     
because  they have the power of         
initiative1 education1 and free choice  
to act  differently1 while the poor are 
merely the slaves of the overwhelming   
force of circumstances and the victims  
of a system which they have  neither the
 intelligence to understand nor the     
power to resist4    ,the following      
authentic information1 based on actual  
facts and not  hearsay1 will give some  
small idea of what this suggested       
investigation  might produce4 ,extracts 
are also given from reports on the state
 of the  poor for the sake of           
completeness rather than contrast4      
,for instance1 we read a brief          

description of the household of a man of
  8no occupation03      8,married4 ,two 
rooms2 two children2 parish relief2 ill1
 incapable4    ,two little girls1 one   
consumptive4 ,the rooms are miserable1  
badly    ventilated and damp4 ,this     
house shares one closet with six other  
houses1 and one water tap with three    
others40    ,or of a 8regular loafer03  
8,married4 ,two rooms2 one child4 ,wife 
sews4 ,house very dark on    account of 
high buildings opposite4 ,kept tidy and 
clean4 ,this house    shares one closet 
with two other houses1 and one water tap
 with six    others40#bj    ,surely we  
ought to know the description1 though it
 cannot be so brief1  of the household  
of another man of 8no occupation03      
8,married4 ,two children4 ,four houses4 
,london house1 ---- ,street1 ,w4        
,sixty-two rooms2 one of the country    
houses considerably larger4             
,thirty-six indoor servants3        #a  
house steward4      #b grooms of the    
chamber4      #a valet4      #b under   

butlers4      #c footmen4      #b       
steward's room footmen4      #a gate    
porter4      #a hall porter4      #a    
usher of the servants' hall4      #b odd
 men4      #a house carpenter4      #a  
chef4      #a kitchen porter4      #d   
kitchen and scullery maids4      #b     
still-room maids4      #f housemaids4   
#a linen maid4      #a lady's maid4     
#a housekeeper4      #b nurses4         
,owns about #bj1jjj acres of land4 7,a  
larger staff of servants    than this   
could be quoted4 ,in one country house  
as many as ten    housemaids are kept470
    ,or let us take the inhabitants of a
 six-roomed house3      8,ground floor1 
in the front room lives a widow who does
 repairing    and is very poor4 ,the    
back room is occupied by two            
prostitutes4 ,on    the first floor     
front room live man and wife with seven 
children4    ,he loafs and she washes4  
,they are very dirty and miserably poor4
 ,at    the back live a man and woman   
with two children4 ,he is consumptive   

and does nothing in particular4 ,she    
goes out begging with the    children4  
,on the top floor in two rooms are man  
and wife with eight    children4 ,he    
spends his time about the public-houses4
 ,she does    anything she can4 ,the    
eldest boy1 a decent lad1 is at a       
chemist's    shop1 but he is            
consumptive4 ,six rooms2 twenty-six     
people40#ba    ,the occupation of       
twenty-six of the people who live in    
another house  containing seventy-two   
rooms is as follows3      ,butler 7wages
 #abj71bb valet1 groom of the chambers1 
under    butler1 three footmen1 one     
steward's room footman1 usher of the    
servants' hall1 odd man1 chef 7wages    
#aej71bb kitchen porter1    four kitchen
 and scullery maids1 five housemaids1   
two still-room    maids1 one lady's     
maid1 one needlewoman1 one housekeeper4 
,this staff ministers to the wants of a 
man1 his wife1 and three  children4     
,in the country1 at a stone's throw from
 one another1 we find a man1 a  farm    

labourer1 living with his wife and six  
children in a four-roomed  cottage on   
#ads4 a week1 and another man1 without  
any permanent  employment1 living with  
his wife and a staff of twenty-three    
indoor  servants in a house containing  
over sixty rooms1 with the choice of two
  other large country houses and a      
,london house1 and owning over #ej1jjj  
acres of land1 a great deal of which is 
kept for shooting4    ,in another part  
of the country the medical officer of   
the county  reports3 8,in a house       
consisting of living-room1 bedroom1 and 
a small  scullery live father1 mother1  
three sons1 also three children under   
ten and two men lodgers4 ,seven sleep in
 the bedroom1 which has a low  ceiling  
and has been divided1 and five sleep in 
the living-room2 the  only window of the
 latter room will not open1 and the     
window of the  divided upstairs room is 
near the floor level40    ,the landlord 
and lord of the manor of this district  
lives with his  wife and family in a    

house containing over one hundred rooms1
 and is  attended by a staff of         
forty-four indoor servants4 ,he has the 
choice of  three other country          
residences and a town house1 and owns   
over #ahf1jjj  acres4    ,we find some  
women occupied in the following way3    
8,mrs4 ,b4 and her daughter support     
themselves on shirt work4 ,the    mother
 is a shirt finisher1 the daughter a    
machinist4 ,they work    seven or eight 
hours a day--the daughter's book shows  
an average of    #aas4 #c;d4 over four  
weeks--the mother's #is4 #a;d4 over nine
 weeks4    ,when the mother earns #ajs4 
it means working from #e3cj a4m4 till   
#aj    or #aa p4m4 ,she gets #b;d4 per  
dozen for finishing1 i4e4 #gb buttons   
and #dh bars40#bc    ,or3      8,mrs4   
,c4 is always busy mending1 making1     
washing1 or baking1 and    certainly    
makes the best of all that comes in her 
way4 ,she states    that she can never  
afford money for recreation or for a    
holiday out    of the town40#bd         

,while others are occupied as follows3  
,early cup of tea1 one hour for         
dressing1 late breakfast1 writing       
notes1 two hours shopping1 half an hour 
for dressing1 one hour for    luncheon  
7three courses71 drive1 pay or receive  
calls1 quarter of    an hour for        
dressing1 one and a half hour for tea   
and gossip1 an    hour's rest1 one hour 
for dressing1 one and a half hour for   
dinner    7six courses72 theatre1 ball1 
or bridge2 supper1 bed4    ,we might    
have hit upon the day in the week on    
which an hour or so was  devoted to an  
8intellectual0 lecture or a committee   
meeting for some  charity4    ,the      
annual average estimates of clothing are
 instructive3              ,,female     
s4  d4        ,boots                    
#i     #j      ,dress                   
#h     #j      ,blouse                  
#b     #j      ,aprons                  
#b     #j      ,stockings               
#a     #f      ,underclothing           
#b    #aj      ,stays                   

#b     #f      ,hats                    
#a     #f      ,jacket and shawl        
#b     #f                               
--------                                
#ca    #aj    ,to balance this we find3 
,,female                                
,boots and shoes                     #cj
      ,dresses1 evening and day         
#agj      ,blouses                      
#be      ,aprons                        
#j      ,underclothing                  
#abj      ,hats                         
#de      ,cloaks and furs               
#fe      ,gloves                        
#bj      ,veils1 boas1 scarves1 etc     
#gj                                     
-----                                   
#ede    ,a fair average instance has    
been taken4 ,double this amount is quite
  common4 ,the case might be given of a 
woman who in #aijh spent in gowns1      
coats1 and cloaks alone #bjij in two    
months4 ,on the other hand a woman  of  
the same class1 a peer's daughter1      
living in the top floor of ----  ,road  

at #es4 a week rent has to adjust her   
dress budget to fit in with  an income  
of #fj a year4              ,,male3     
s4   d4        ,boots                   
#aa      #j      ,socks                 
#c      #j      ,coat and waistcoat     
7second-hand7                     #e    
#f      ,trousers                       
#g      #f      ,overcoat 7second-hand1 
#aes41 lasts three years7      #e       
#j      ,shirts                         
#d      #j      ,cap and scarf          
#a      #cbe                            
----------                              
#cg      #c              ,,another      
,,male3                                 
s4   d4        ,boots and shoes         
#ce    #j      #j      ,suits 7day1     
evening1 shooting1 and flannels7        
#ij    #j      #j      ,socks1          
underclothing1 gloves1 handkerchiefs1   
white waistcoats1 etc4                  
#hf    #j      #j      ,hats and caps   
#aj   #aj      #j      ,overcoats       
#ce    #j      #j                       

---------------                         
#bef  #aj      #j    ,a normal case has 
been purposely chosen4 ,the budget might
 have been  given of a man who has ten  
evening suits1 spends #aj a month on    
gloves  and ties1 and pays #bes4 apiece 
for his pocket-handkerchiefs4    ,before
 leaving the subject of clothes1 one or 
two extracts may be  quoted concerning  
those who help to make them3      8,mrs4
 ---- gets #bs4 #f;d4 a dozen for making
 coats and #bs4 #c;d4 a    dozen for    
reefers1 and says ten years ago she got 
#es4 a dozen2    eighteen years ago     
#as41 #as4 #f;d41 and #bs4 a coat2 and  
in her early    days1 when most of the  
work was done by hand1 #es4 a coat40    
8,mrs4 ,k4 makes artificial flowers when
 she can get work4 ,when    visited1 she
 was working at sprays with twenty-four 
small flowers1    leaves1 and stem1 at  
#a;d4 per spray40      8,miss ,b4 makes 
elaborate net blouses with tucks and    
insertion for    #as4 to #as4 #d;d4     
each4 ,the wholesale price for these    

blouses is #hs4    #aa;d41 and the      
retail price #abs4 to #aes40      8,a   
maker of pyjamas was paid #aas4 #c;d4   
for entirely making a dozen    suits1   
but gave up the work and took to        
shirt-making1 because the    employer   
found someone who would do it for #fs4  
#c;d40#bf    ,food offers1 perhaps1 the 
most striking study4 ,in making this    
analysis  it would almost seem necessary
 to remember that the cubic capacity  of
 the adult human stomach does not vary  
to any appreciable extent1  and1 on the 
whole1 appetite is liable to be keener  
with those who  endure physical toil    
than with those who do nothing4 ,again1 
no extreme  instances1 one way or the   
other1 will be given4    ,man1 wife1 and
 child for five weeks3#bg               
s4   d4      ,meat and liver            
#h      #e      ,potatoes and vegetables
              #b      #c      ,fish     
#j      #i      ,bacon1 eggs1 and cheese
              #c      #f      ,suet     
#a      #j      ,butter and dripping    

#b      #i      ,bread                  
#h      #i      ,flour                  
#d      #a      ,rice                   
#j      #f      ,fruit1 jam1 and sugar  
#h      #d      ,milk                   
#c      #b      ,tea and coffee         
#c      #f      ,pepper and salt        
#j      #b                              
---------------                         
#b    #g      #d      ,average for one  
week                 #i      #e    ,or  
man1 wife1 two boys1 and a girl3        
s4   d4      ,food and drink for three  
weeks  #b    #j      #g      ,average   
for one week            #j   #ac      #f
    ,the study of the diet of this      
family reveals a deficiency of #be in   
the  protein and #g in fuel value4#bh   
,household books for one week--seven in 
family1 nineteen servants3              
,butcher                                
#afbi      ,baker                       
#e      ,poulterer                      
#ab      ,dairy                         
#i      ,fruit1 flowers1 vegetables     

#af      ,fishmonger                    
#i      ,grocer                         
#e                                      
---                                     
#gb    7,two dinner parties were given  
during the week47    ,the household of  
an 8unemployed man10 living in ----     
,square1 ,s4,w41 four  in family and    
fourteen servants3                      
s4  d4      ,butcher                    
#ae    #b     #g      ,greengrocer      
#aj   #aj     #j      ,ice merchant     
#a   #ah     #j      ,fishmonger        
#g   #aj     #j      ,grocer            
#e    #e     #j      ,milkman           
#d   #aj     #j      ,poulterer         
#ab    #j     #j      ,baker            
#c   #ag     #j                         
--------------                          
#fj   #ab     #g    ,in addition1 three 
hundred eggs were sent up from the      
country1 as well  as fruit1 vegetables1 
and a little poultry4 ,one or two guests
 were  entertained at luncheon1 but the 
family dined out one night of the  week4

    ,the laundry bill in this house     
averages #ch a month4    ,the cost of   
coal in one household for the year1     
#hjj4    ,other examples3    ,household 
books3 four in family1 twelve           
servants--one week1 #di4    ,household  
books3 five in family1 fourteen         
servants--one week1 #fc4    ,a single   
meal3        ,bread                     
#a;d4      ,cheese                      
#a;d4       lb4 of meat                 
#c;d4      ,potatoes and onions         
#b;d4      ,jam                         
#a;d4       pint of beer                
#b;d4                                   
---                                     
#aj;d4    ,another meal3                
,cantaloup ,glac4                       
,tortue ,claire4                        
,bisque ,nantua4                        
,truites ,saumones ,michigan4           
,mousse de ,jambon  l',escurial4        
,selle d',agneau ,montefiore4           
,poularde ,strasbourgeoise4             
,salade ,indienne4                      

,cailles flanqus d',ortolans4           
,asperges ,verts4 ,sauce ,mousseuse4    
,pches ,framboisines4                   
,friandises4                            
,fanchonettes ,suisses4                 
,hock1 ,claret1 ,port1 ,coffee1 and     
,liqueurs4    ,this dinner for twenty   
people cost #fj1 or #c a head1 without  
wine4    ,if the figures in these       
instances1 with regard to food          
expenditure1  really represented        
quantities consumed1 the dangers from   
overfeeding  in the one set of cases    
would far exceed the dangers from       
underfeeding  in the other4 ,the        
cheerful bell that announces the        
servants' midday  meal no doubt heralds 
the consumption of a vast amount of     
food2 but it  is a debatable point      
whether sheer waste does not account for
 almost  as much4 ,quarts of cream are  
emptied down the sink1 joints and birds 
only half eaten are thrown away1 and the
 pig-tub receives a rich enough         
allowance of vegetables1 fruit1 and     

cakes to satisfy the appetite of a      
large family4 ,in fact1 in one house1   
where the household books averaged  #fc 
a week1 the matter was looked into1 and 
a reduction was made to #cd  without any
 diminution in the number of servants4  
99       99       99       99       99  
,dancing is a form of amusement         
appreciated by all classes4    ,at ---- 
,hall1 ,fulham1 and many other similar  
places the tickets for the  ,saturday   
night dance cost #i;d4 each4 ,if two    
hundred people are present1  the cost   
would be #g #ajs42 allowing #c;d4 a head
 for refreshments 7#b  #ajs471 the total
 amount will be #aj4    ,at ---- ,hotel1
 ,s4,w41 a ball was given lately for two
 hundred people1  costing #abcg4        
,granting that the amount of enjoyment  
derived from these two  entertainments  
is equal1 though in all probability     
there would be  more genuine and honest 
pleasure in the former than in the      
latter1  the two sums simply represent  
the different standards of living4 ,that

  ten or even twenty times as much may  
be spent to give people who are         
accustomed to a higher scale of living  
the same amount of pleasure is  perhaps 
intelligible1 but it seems to require a 
sum which amounts to  one hundred and   
twenty-three times as much4           99
       99       99       99       99    
,two bachelors take a night's lodging4  
,the one1 a working man1 goes to ----   
,house1 ,s4,e4      8,working ,men's    
,hotel1 accommodation for #hjj beds4    
#f;d4 per night4      ,tea1 coffee1 and 
cocoa always ready1 d4 per small cup1   
#a;d4 per    large cup4      ,hot soup  
or porridge1 #a;d4 and #a;d4 per basin4 
,cut from the joint and two vegetables1 
#e;d4 on week-days only2 on    ,sundays1
 #f;d4      ,beefsteak pudding and two  
vegetables1 #d;d40    ,his night's stay1
 with supper and breakfast1 would cost  
rather over one  shilling4    ,the other
 will go to ---- ,hotel1 ,s4,w4 7for men
 who do not work74                      
s4   d4      ,room                      

#j   #ab      #j      ,dinner1 with     
bottle of claret      #a    #g      #j  
,coffee1 liqueur1 whisky-and-soda   #j  
#e      #j      ,breakfast              
#j    #f      #j      ,tips             
#j   #aj      #j                        
--------------                          
#c   #j      #j    7,there are suites of
 rooms in these hotels for three to nine
 guineas a  day1 which are all occupied 
during the season47           99        
99       99       99       99    ,if1   
instead of these few isolated instances 
of the cost of living1  clothes1 and    
entertainment1 a systematically compiled
 list could be  furnished tabulating    
some hundreds of cases1 it would give a 
much more  complete idea of the habits  
and customs of this stratum of society4 
,and  it would show that the cases here 
quoted are fair examples of average     
normal expenditure4    ,in both the     
extremes of excess1 at the top and at   
the bottom1 there are  hopeless         
tragedies4      7a7 ,mrs4 ,l41 a married

 daughter of the deceased1 said the old 
couple occupied a back room for which   
they paid #as4 #f;d4 a week4      ,the  
,coroner4 ,have the old people enough to
 live on8      ,witness4 ,father could  
not work1 and mother sold matches and   
laces    to keep things going as best   
she could1 but1 of course1 she could    
not earn more than about #cs4 a week4   
,the ,coroner4 ,then she cannot have had
 enough to eat1 as after    paying rent 
this old couple have only had #as4 #f;d4
 a week to live    on1 a most awful     
thing to contemplate4      ,witness4    
,no1 ,i don't think she did have enough 
to eat1 and she    had been very bad in 
health also4 ,poor old mother used to   
work very    hard for years at the      
wash-tub1 but her strength failed her at
 the    last2 but she battled on to keep
 dad4      ,the ,medical ,officer said  
death was primarily due to pneumonia and
    pleurisy4      ,the ,coroner4 ,is it
 a case of want8      ,witness4 ,yes4   
,the ,coroner4 ,can ,i class it in my   

report as a death from    starvation8   
,witness4 ,yes4      ,the ,coroner4 ,it 
is a pitiful story and one that is      
getting all    too frequent4      ,the  
jury returned a verdict of 8,death from 
starvation40      7b7 xxx1#jjj a year   
and money accumulating4 ,at first the   
enjoyment    of the pleasures which     
money can give4 ,the money continued to 
accumulate4 ,dawning realisation that it
 did not mean happiness1    that it did 
not mean even health1 and that affection
 and gratitude    cannot be bought4 ,the
 money still accumulating4 ,all wants1  
rational and irrational1 satisfied3 the 
starting of peculiar    fads1 capricious
 gifts1 fantastic charities4 ,the money 
still    accumulating4 ,ennui1          
disillusionment1 gradual exhaustion and 
depression4 ,recourse had to some novel 
form of excitement2 refuge    taken in  
stimulants4 ,the money still            
accumulating1 but slowly    choking4    
,despair1 complete demoralisation1 and  
at last welcome    death4 ,the money    

still accumulating1 to drag down some   
heir and    claim another victim4       
,let us see how the two sorts of crowds 
have impressed two writers4      8,what 
struck every observant delegate was the 
utter blankness of    the faces that    
looked up at us from the pavement or    
down on us    from the windows1 with    
scarcely enough capacity for human      
interest    to wonder who we were and   
what we wanted4 ,never a sign of humour4
    ,stooped shoulders1 hollow chests1  
ash-coloured faces1 lightless    eyes1  
and1 ghastliest of all1 mouths with     
bloodless gums and only    here and     
there a useful tooth4 ,literally        
hundreds of women between    seventeen  
and seventy crowded close to our        
motor-cars that day1 and    the marks   
were on them all40#cj    ,and3          
8,yours is the three hundredth carriage 
in this row that blocks the    road for 
half a mile4 ,in the two hundred and    
ninety-nine that came    before the four
 hundred that come after you are        

sitting1 too1 with    your face before  
you unseeing eyes4 ,resented while you  
gathered    being2 brought into the     
world with the most distinguished skill2
    remembered by your mother when the  
whim came to her2 taught to    believe  
that life consists in caring for your   
clean1 well-nourished    body and your  
manner that nothing usual can disturb2  
taught to    regard ,society as the     
little ring of men and women that you   
see1    and to feel your business is to 
know the next thing that you want    and
 get it given you2 you have never had a 
chance4 ,sitting there    in your seven 
hundred carriages you are blind--in     
heart and soul    and voice and         
walk--the blindest creatures in the     
world 444 and you    are charming to us 
who1 like your footman1 cannot see the  
label    #8,blind4' ,the cut of your    
gown is perfect1 the dressing of your   
hair    the latest1 the trimming of your
 hat later still2 your tricks of        
speech the very thing2 you droop your   

eyelids to the life1 you have    not too
 much powder2 it is a lesson in grace to
 see you hold your    parasol4 ,the doll
 of ,nature6 ,so since you were born2 so
 until you    die60#ca    ,if the       
suggested volume1 ,the ,life and        
,leisure of some ,people1 or  ,riches3 a
 ,study of ,town ,life is ever written1 
any comment on the  carefully tabulated 
investigations would be quite           
unnecessary4 ,as  in the case of the    
books on ,poverty1 the bare statement of
 facts is  eloquent enough by itself4   
,mr4 ,rowntree concludes his book with  
this pregnant phrase3      8,that in    
this land of abounding wealth1 during a 
time of1 perhaps1    unexampled         
prosperity1 probably more than a quarter
 of the    population are living in     
poverty is a fact that may well cause   
great searchings of heart40    ,this    
might be paraphrased3      8,that in    
this land1 where more than a quarter of 
the population are    living in poverty1
 the abounding wealth of the country    

should be    retained by a comparatively
 small number of people1 who squander   
their riches in a way that brings no    
happiness to themselves and    inflicts 
misery and hardships on others1 is a    
fact that may well    cause great       
searchings of heart40          ,chapter 
,,ix      ,religion and money--,attitude
 of clergy--,emphatic condemnation      
of riches by ,christ--,notable texts and
 sayings--,want of                      
conviction--,importance attached to     
dogmatic religion--,necessity      for  
stronger denunciation4        8,the     
religion we profess has for one of its  
most significant    and salient features
 the denunciation of wealth as a trust  
or a    pursuit3 ,christianity condemns 
riches as a snare1 a danger1 and        
almost a sin1 and even ,pagan-nurtured  
sages and statesmen are    never weary  
of pointing out how this disastrous     
passion vitiates    all our estimates of
 life and its enjoyments1 and fosters   
and    exasperates all our social sores4

 ,yet in ,england and ,america1         
perhaps the two most sincerely          
,christian nations in the world--one    
the cradle1 the other the offspring of  
,puritanism--the pursuit    nearest to a
 universal one1 the passion likest to a 
national one    is money-getting2 not   
the effort after competence or comfort1 
but    the pushing1 jostling1 trampling 
struggle for vast possessions or        
redundant affluence40    ,the above is a
 quotation from the ,enigmas of ,life1  
by ,w4 ,r4 ,greg4 ,he  wrote this in    
#ahgc1 and the passage goes on to       
observe that there were  signs of a     
sounder perception which might herald a 
reaction against the  struggle for      
money4 ,his forecast1 however1 was      
wrong1 for even in the  last thirty     
years the scramble has become much      
wilder1 the power of  wealth greater1   
the influence of the wealthy more       
extensive1 and the  millionaire more    
common1 while luxurious living has      
outstripped all  reasonable bounds4     

,the ,christian condemnation of riches  
remains as emphatic as when it  was     
first uttered1 but the ,church continues
 to explain it away or  to disregard it1
 and the clergy as a whole neither      
preach it nor do  they attempt to       
practise the doctrine laid down by their
 ,master4 ,the  clergy of the ,church of
 ,england1 in fact1 are among the       
readiest to  accept the hierarchy of    
modern society founded on the gradations
 and  valuations of wealth4 ,even in the
 village churches the very seats are    
assigned in such a way as to acknowledge
 the worldly standard of means4  ,the   
front rows are reserved for the squires 
and their dependents1  the 8gentry0     
behind them1 the 8poor0 at the back2    
while the vicar  inconsistently declares
 from the pulpit that they are all equal
 in the  sight of ,god4 ,the ,church as 
a profession 7every decade it becomes   
more  of a profession and less of a     
calling7 is arranged on the ordinary    
worldly system of increase of salary    

according to rank and promotion4  ,and1 
indeed1 if it were suggested to them    
that an increase of their  spiritual    
practically implied and necessitated a  
decrease of their  material             
responsibilities1 and that the          
performance of the former is  by their  
own testimony interfered with by the    
existence of the latter1  with a very   
few exceptions they would scoff at such 
a fanciful idea4    ,if confronted with 
the words of the ,gospel on the subject 
of riches1  they shuffle and seek       
excuses by declaring that they are      
figurative1  and that they point to an  
ideal which unfortunately is unpractical
  and not compatible with our modern    
social system1 which in its highly      
8civilised0 development has got beyond  
extreme and uncompromising  maxims of   
that kind4 ,but we cannot get beyond    
what is eternally true1  nor surely     
should we desist from some attempt to   
reach forward towards  it1 however      
unattainable and distant the ideal may  

seem4 ,whatever  doubts ,christians may 
have as to what ,christ's meaning was in
 some of  ,his preaching1 there can be  
no two opinions as to ,his view on this 
point4 ,there is diametrical opposition 
between ,his injunctions and our        
belief4 ,the world says nothing makes   
life easier than to have money and      
possessions2 ,christianity says nothing 
makes life more difficult4 ,as  a body  
the clergy see nothing incongruous in   
taking up this stand on  the side of the
 rich2 they overlook their consequent   
estrangement from  the poor1 and they   
ignore the fact that they are gradually 
drifting  away from any close contact   
and sympathy with the life and soul of  
the  people4 ,the elasticity of their   
religion has amounted in this case1 as  
in others1 to its distortion4    ,long  
before the ,christian era philosophers  
propounded this same  doctrine1 and many
 reformers have done so since4 ,as a    
single instance  we need only repeat the
 words of ,sir ,thomas ,more3      8,for

 where is the justice that noblemen1    
goldsmiths1 and usurers    and those    
classes who either do nothing at all or 
in what they do    are of no great      
service to the commonwealth1 should live
 a genteel    and splendid life in      
idleness or unproductive labour2 whilst 
in the    meantime the servant1 the     
waggoner1 the mechanic1 and the peasant 
toiling almost longer and harder than   
the horse1 in labour so    necessary    
that no commonwealth could endure a year
 without it1 lead    a life so wretched 
that the condition of the horse seems   
more to be    envied8444 ,thus after    
careful reflection1 it seems to me1 as  
,i hope    for mercy1 that our modern   
republics are nothing but a conspiracy  
of the rich pursuing their own selfish  
interests under the name    of a        
republic4 ,they devise and invent all   
ways and means whereby    they may1 in  
the first place1 secure to themselves   
the possession    of what they have     
amassed by evil means2 and in the second

 place1    secure to their own use and  
profit the work and labour of the poor  
at the lowest possible price40    ,would
 he find words to express himself were  
he alive to-day8    ,but of them all no 
one has emphasised so clearly or        
insisted so  strongly on the vanity and 
danger of worldly goods as ,christ did4 
,the rich man consults ,him1 and tells  
,him that all the chief  commandments he
 has observed from his youth4 ,but      
,christ sees what is  amiss1 and the man
 goes away grieving1 8,for he had great 
possessions40  ,then follows the great  
generalisation3 8,how hardly shall they 
that have  riches enter into the        
,kingdom of ,god4 ,it is easier for a   
camel to go  through the eye of a needle
 than for a rich man to enter the       
,kingdom of  ,god40 ,as to whether or   
not the 8needle's eye0 was the name of a
 narrow  gate of the city through which 
heavily laden camels could not pass1    
does not signify4 ,the meaning is clear 
beyond question4 ,in the ,kingdom  of   

,god upon earth1 that is an ideally     
constituted human society1 there  is no 
place for a man encumbered with riches2 
his presence would  assuredly disturb   
the even balance of the whole4 ,rousseau
 saw that it  was a condition of good   
government that no citizen should be    
rich  enough to buy another1 and no     
citizen poor enough to be compelled to  
sell himself4#cb ,if all the social     
organisation of humanity1 the           
arrangement of which rests apparently to
 a great extent in our control1  were so
 constituted as to allow each man a full
 competence1 far from  its producing a  
deadening equality as some pretend1 it  
would free  the human race to make the  
most of its varied natural capacities   
and  talents which are now mostly lost1 
and a competition of achievement and    
service founded on altruism would take  
the place of a competition for  gain and
 profit based on egoism4 ,the ideal may 
be unattainable for the  present because
 we have drifted so far from it1 but    

that is no reason  for discarding it    
altogether and turning our faces in the 
exactly  opposite direction4    ,there  
are many other equally noteworthy       
sayings in the ,gospels1 staled  by     
custom and familiar to most of us in the
 same way as the ,church  service       
becomes familiar to children without    
their understanding one  single syllable
 of what it all means4    8,lay not up  
for yourselves treasures upon earth1    
where the moth and  rust corrupt1 and   
where thieves break through and steal40 
,and again1  8,the seeds that fell among
 thorns1 and the thorns grew up and     
choked  them1 and they yielded no fruit4
 ,these are such as hear the ,word1 and 
the cares of the world and the          
deceitfulness of riches and the lust of 
other things entering in1 choke the     
,word and it becometh unfruitful40  ,and
 yet again the parable of the rich man  
and ,lazarus4 ,these are not  mere      
fantastic and rhetorical figures of     
speech1 but are a few of the  many      

instances of the reiterated insistence  
on the supreme importance  of the       
dispersal of the riches heaped in the   
hands of the few4 ,it is  needless to   
multiply texts to prove that it is one  
of the cardinal  doctrines of ,christ's 
teaching4 ,he was profoundly impressed  
with the  impediment1 the handicap1 the 
burden of wealth1 the undischargeable   
responsibility which weighs men down and
 incapacitates them from  participating 
in a juster and more perfect arrangement
 of society4 ,and  down through the ages
 many a great mind has strongly endorsed
 this  lasting truth which1 let it be   
remembered1 though the world is blind to
  it1 is as strictly utilitarian as it  
is moral4    ,there is nothing in the   
least complex about this teaching4 ,it  
is almost  self-evident2 far easier to  
teach and far simpler to preach than the
  intricate speculative tangles of dogma
 which are cast like nets from  pulpits 
over the minds of congregations4 ,but   
there is this difference1  that while   

the latter is only an intellectual      
effort on the part of the  preacher or  
on the part of some other divine who has
 prompted him1 the  renunciation of     
worldly riches cannot be preached by any
 man who makes  no attempt to practise  
it4    ,the clergy are like the rest of 
us1 they do not really believe in  it2  
they cannot therefore act as if they    
did2 they are persuaded  in their inmost
 hearts that to be richer must mean to  
be happier1  and so they take refuge in 
what is for their congregations the less
  comprehensible and for themselves1    
therefore1 the less embarrassing  side  
of their religion4 ,accordingly1 from   
our moral physicians we can  get no     
guidance1 on the contrary1 with a very  
few notable exceptions1  they encourage 
the fallacious belief in money-making1  
and slur over  this important part of   
,christ's message4 ,why did ,he         
associate with the  poor and choose ,his
 disciples from among their ranks8 ,not 
because ,he  hoped to enrich them1 but  

because their deficiency in worldly     
goods  made them fertile ground for the 
seed of ,his doctrine of self-sacrifice 
and humility4 ,if we reject ,his        
teaching1 well and good1 we can discard 
this with the rest1 but it is just those
 who do the most lip service to         
dogmatic ,christianity who calmly ignore
 this unqualified essential4    ,it     
would be unfair to insist that no       
,churchmen are aware of these  dangers4 
,occasionally a voice speaks out boldly4
      8,we are not in touch with the    
mass of the labouring people10 says     
the ,bishop of ,birmingham4 8,is not the
 reason of this because we are    the   
,church of the rich rather than of the  
poor--of capital rather    than of      
labour8 ,by this ,i mean that in the    
strata of ,society the    ,church works 
from above rather than from below4 ,the 
opinions and    the prejudices that are 
associated with its administration as a 
whole are the opinions and prejudices of
 the higher and higher    middle classes

 rather than of the wage earners4444    
,capital and    labour are names now for
 great class interests and organisations
    representing men in many1 and the   
,church finds itself in fact and    on  
the whole moving in the grooves which   
are precisely those from    which       
,christ warned us off3 it finds itself  
expressing the point    of view which is
 precisely not that which ,christ chose 
for ,his    ,church4444 ,our whole      
system of ,church charity expresses a   
bounty    administered out of benevolent
 feeling1 by a wealth which makes no    
apology for enjoying itself to a poverty
 which it makes no pretence    to       
share40#cc    ,or the ,bishop of        
,manchester to the ,church ,congress in 
#aijh3      8,i suggest that our        
religious revival may lead us to a new  
appreciation of the spirit of           
brotherhood--one of the great    ideals 
of the democratic movement4 ,secondly1  
,i suggest that our    religious revival
 may take the form of a mission to the  

wealthy    and prosperous4 ,it is the   
curse of riches that they blur and even 
conceal altogether the heavenly vision4 
,they tend to make pleasure    the      
business of life4 ,a man's wealth is    
measured by the time and    money that  
he can spend on amusement4 ,so the      
outlook1 not only of    the rich1 but of
 all classes1 becomes narrowed and      
confused40    ,and of course other      
instances could be quoted1 but the main 
body of the  ,church shows no           
disposition to follow4 ,they are bound  
to the governing  classes1 and the      
governing classes have the money and    
therefore the  power such as it is4     
,the ,free ,churches on the whole are   
bolder1 for they deal with a  simpler   
class4 ,but neither do they tirelessly  
condemn money-hunting1  because1 being  
poor themselves1 they are far too       
dependent on the large  subscriptions of
 the richer members of their            
congregations4 ,but not  even by        
building chapels can a rich man justify 

himself1 though he may  be blessed as a 
benefactor by his co-religionists4      
,the ,roman ,catholics too1 who anyhow  
in their churches do not give any       
special privileges to rank1 have their  
tongues tied by the lavish  donations of
 rich and noble patrons which they are  
only too glad to  receive4 ,to emphasise
 the ,christian condemnation of the rich
 man would  therefore not be politic or 
in accordance with what they conceive to
 be  their best interests4    ,it is not
 as if ,christians of all sects and     
denominations could not  discover texts 
and arguments enough in their ,bibles to
 support them  were they to alter this  
course and advance courageously along   
the  straight way4 ,the best words ever 
uttered on the evil and folly of  riches
 are to be found in its pages in the    
,old ,testament as well as the  ,new4 ,a
 collection of these sayings would form 
the strongest indictment  of wealth that
 could be framed4    ,there is the great
 ,proverb1 8,a good name is rather to be

 sought than  great riches1 and loving  
favour rather than silver and gold40 ,or
 the  passage from ,job1 8,though he    
heap up silver as the dust and prepare  
raiment as the day1 he may prepare it1  
but the just shall put it on  and the   
innocent shall divide the silver10 and  
8,will he esteem thy  riches8 ,no1 not  
gold nor all the forces of strength40   
,or the ,psalmist's  warning1 8,if      
riches increase1 set not your heart upon
 them40 ,or the  words of ,ecclesiastes1
 8,there is a sore evil which ,i have   
seen under  the sun1 namely1 riches kept
 for the owners thereof to their hurt40 
,but we must resist the temptation of   
making a collection of quotations  here4
 ,the declarations of this truth are    
well known1 even though they  may not be
 accepted or appreciated4 ,the truth    
about money may still be  looked upon as
 impracticable ,utopianism2 one day it  
may be discovered  to be sound          
economics4 ,the practice of restraint   
and renunciation is  not only           

theoretically sound1 but both           
subjectively and objectively  expedient4
    ,there is1 we must confess1 a       
recurring note in modern thought1 the   
constant use of which is amounting      
almost to a popular mannerism4 ,it  is a
 method of reasoning which inclines men 
to spurn deep convictions  or strong    
single-minded purpose as clumsy1        
uncouth1 and unphilosophic1  and to     
welcome in their place involved         
generalisations and a spirit of         
abstract compromise and theoretical     
balancing4 ,whether this tends to a     
more profound acquisition of knowledge  
and a more exact and scientific         
adjustment of mental conceptions1 is not
 for us to say1 but that it  casts a    
weakening spell over personal initiative
 and greatly impedes  decisive action is
 clear beyond doubt4    ,as for the     
,church1 it is failing in its mission1  
because it refuses to  insist equally on
 the two aspects of the message it has  
undertaken to  deliver to mankind4      

,if religion is received in a purely    
dogmatic sense1 it can appeal only  to  
our emotions and to the spiritual       
cravings of the more mystical  side of  
men's natures4 ,this is only confusing  
and quite unsatisfying  to our more     
rationalistic inclinations1 which prefer
 a simple and  direct ethical teaching4 
,christianity combines the two          
elements--the  mystical and the         
rational--and fuses them together4      
,unfortunately  there is a proneness to 
detach the former as all-important and  
sufficient in itself and to neglect the 
latter4 ,the former has been  built up  
gradually in successive centuries of    
varying and imaginative  speculation1   
and however much it may appeal to the   
religious-minded1  it is valueless when 
broken off from the latter4 ,the ethical
 precepts  for duty and conduct are1 on 
the other hand1 immutable1 and in their 
pristine simplicity carry all their     
original force of authority and  lose   
nothing from being divorced from        

dogmatic teaching4 ,it requires no      
heights of spiritual exaltation to      
accept ,christ's explicit precepts  as  
to sacrifice1 humility1 altruism1 and   
the renunciation of worldly             
possessions1 but men are encouraged by  
the ,church to seek consolation  in a   
fog of doctrinal obscurantism4 ,christ  
no doubt foresaw that we  should take   
refuge in the incomprehensible in our   
failure to accept  what to the humblest 
intelligence was perfectly              
comprehensible when he  said1 8,not     
every one that saith unto me1 ,lord1    
,lord1 shall enter into  the ,kingdom of
 ,heaven1 but he that doeth the will of 
my ,father which is  in ,heaven40       
,his immediate successors were not      
handicapped by considerations for or    
subservience to those in authority who  
held the worldly power1 and they  spoke 
with no uncertain voice4    ,what is    
wanted in the ,church to-day is         
something of the uncompromising  spirit 
of those bygone days4 ,not condonation1 

or at the most  half-hearted criticism1 
but wholesale denunciation in words of  
splendid  vehemence such as the passage 
in the ,epistle of ,st4 ,james3         
8,go to now1 ye rich men1 weep and howl 
for your miseries that shall    come    
upon you4 ,your riches are corrupted and
 your garments are    moth-eaten4 ,your 
gold and silver is cankered2 and the    
rest of them    shall be a witness      
against you1 and shall eat your flesh as
 it were    fire4 ,ye have heaped       
treasure together for the last days4    
,behold1    the hire of the labourers   
who have reaped down your fields1 which 
is of you kept back by fraud1 crieth3   
and the cries of them which    have     
reaped are entered into the ears of the 
,lord of sabaoth4    ,ye have lived in  
pleasure on the earth1 and been wanton2 
ye have    nourished your hearts1 as in 
a day of slaughter4 ,ye have condemned  
and killed the just1 and he doth not    
resist you40          ,chapter ,x       
,results of influence of money--,no     

motive in lives of the      rich--,money
 as our master--,if money ideal could be
      discarded--,possibility of change 
of ideal for all classes4      ,only the
 surface of the subject has been        
touched1 only a few of the  many heads  
into which the discussion might be      
divided have been  considered at all1   
and only some of the more patent dangers
 have  been very briefly indicated4 ,but
 enough has been said to support the    
original contention and to bring us     
fairly to the conclusion that in  all   
directions the influence of the money   
possessed by individuals  beyond the    
limit of what constitutes a full        
competence is harmful  and noxious4 ,it 
has a hardening1 crippling1 and         
deadening effect on  the highly         
susceptible and sensitive organism of   
human vitality1  like varnish would have
 on the wings of a butterfly4 ,it       
substitutes  patronage for fraternity1  
arrogance for humility1 indolence for   
effort1 vanity for love1 the spirit of  

submission for the spirit  of           
independence1 an artificial class       
society for a natural society  of mutual
 respect and affection4 ,it saps        
vitality by surfeit and  superabundance1
 and at the same time stunts healthy    
development by  misery and want4 ,it is 
a false and vicious standard for        
estimating  worth4 ,greed and ,cupidity 
are its parents1 ,envy and ,jealousy its
  children4    ,but it is easier to     
disregard all this and to go on in what 
appears  to be the natural and1 indeed1 
inevitable course4 ,we must take the    
world as it is1 is the common cry1 not  
as it ought to be1 and unless  we are   
prepared to be submerged and trodden    
under1 we must follow in  the throng and
 push forward and struggle with the     
rest4 ,some of us are  able to feel     
resentment at ,a's riches1 but1 alas6 it
 is not because  he is rich1 but because
 he is rich4 ,it is said that the       
craving  to satisfy material wants is as
 inseparable a part of human nature as  

any other appetite4 ,this may be so to  
some extent1 but it is clearly a  matter
 of proportion4 ,after the appetite has 
reached a certain point  it is no more  
natural than gluttony1 drunkenness1 or  
any other form of  debauchery4 ,in far  
too many cases that point has long been 
passed and a  state of society has been 
evolved to suit the new order1 and not  
only  to excuse1 but to extol and       
strengthen the power of money4    ,let  
men live1 whatever kind of life they    
choose1 without interference1  let them 
indulge their hobbies and amuse         
themselves within bounds2 but  let them 
recognise that there are bounds1 and    
that the inter-cohesion  of the isolated
 atoms in the whole mass of human life  
is such that  every step they take over 
those bounds they are depriving someone 
else of living the life they choose1    
indulging their hobbies1 and  amusing   
themselves4    ,the rich are mostly     
unconscious of the harm they are doing4 
,there is no  deliberate intention in   

any of their actions4 ,they travel      
carelessly  along the broad road laid   
down for them by custom1 and they never 
count  the costs or examine the         
consequences4 ,their lives1 more        
especially  those of their women1 are   
entirely aimless and certainly devoid of
  any determined motive4 ,as long as    
they are allowed to pursue their  course
 undisturbed1 making or spending the    
money which they look on as  their own  
in any way that suits their fancy1 they 
make no complaint4  ,they ask the ,state
 to guard them securely in the enjoyment
 of their  great possessions1 and they  
employ the energy they derive from them 
in poisoning the springs of national    
prosperity4 ,the moment it is  suggested
 that some small share of their gains   
should be taken by the  ,state for the  
general benefit and for safeguarding the
 security of  others besides themselves1
 they1 including even those of them who 
have  declared their wealth to be a     
burden1 send up a wail of execration and

  protest with all the force they have  
at their command4    ,this condition of 
things1 as it has been shown1 brings no 
happiness  to the rich and it brings    
great mischief to the ,state4           
,individual  energy is dissipated and   
human capacity is misapplied in a       
society  where effort is so ill-directed
 in the extremes of riches and poverty2 
while the social power of the community 
is wasted in a society where            
capitalists control so many of the      
sources of wealth4    ,money1 by        
convincing us of its indispensable      
nature and egging us on  in the scramble
 for more1 has1 however much we may     
resent it1 got  the upper hand and has  
practically enslaved us4 ,a comparison  
can  be made with the modern mania for  
speed4 ,the rapidity of the means  of   
locomotion encourages a perpetual rush  
and deludes people into  supposing that 
the faster they go the more they will   
accomplish4 ,there  is a foolish belief 
that steam1 electricity1 and petrol have

 been  turned to our own use and have   
been mastered1 whereas these giant      
forces are playing with us and stirring 
us1 like ants in a disturbed  ant-hill1 
into an almost ridiculous state of      
flurry and confusion  which is          
detrimental both to our minds and our   
bodies1 and the sum  total of our higher
 accomplishments is more likely to show 
a decline  than an increase from the    
days before these forces were let loose4
 ,but  rapid locomotion is at present   
too fascinating for us to resist4 ,just 
in the same way the allurements of money
 are carrying us away down a  steep     
incline to unforeseen perils4    ,where 
and when shall we stop8 ,some say that  
society1 having got on to  this         
dangerous downward slope1 gradual       
evolution to a healthier state  is no   
longer possible2 but1 as in the case of 
the abolition of slavery  and the       
abolition of autocracy1 the change can  
only be brought about by  a cataclysmic 
upheaval4 ,as the power of money        

augments and vast riches  are piled     
higher and higher1 it is becoming the   
more apparent that an  opposing force of
 bitter antagonism is being created     
which may one day  gain strength enough 
to sweep away the vampire of capitalism4
    8,wealth is in the hands of the few 
rich and the suffrage in the hands  of  
the many poor4 ,in the concentration of 
wealth and the diffusion of  political  
power lies the great danger of ,modern  
,society4 ,the danger  becomes every day
 greater1 and democracy1 which seemed to
 have saved  society1 is really destined
 to overturn it40#cd ,perhaps it can    
save  it by overturning it4 ,but at     
present any such danger would seem      
remote1  as1 in spite of the great      
advances made by organised ,labour1 the 
mass  of the people1 more especially    
those herded into towns1 are sadly      
lacking in vitality4 ,in the first      
stages of the rise of democracy there   
have been thrown to the surface men of  
great business ability1 but of  no      

imagination1 and firm believers in      
money4 ,the process of a deeper  and    
more general enlightenment must of      
necessity be slow4    ,on the whole1 we 
need have no fear that plutocracy will  
ever gain  complete ascendancy1 even    
though it may have aristocracy1 royalty1
  and at times political power to       
support it4 ,but it is not so much the  
attack from without that is likely to   
destroy the entrenched position  of the 
rich as the rot within which is steadily
 undermining their  stronghold with     
corruption and decay4    ,a cataclysm1  
in the shape of a social revolution1 is 
too apt to lead  to reaction1 and the   
fundamental alteration of social        
relations would  only be delayed        
thereby4 ,this1 however1 in a smaller or
 larger degree1  is the course of       
advance that progress takes4 ,rising1   
falling1 and yet  advancing in a spiral 
shape4 ,history never repeats itself    
exactly1 the  path never passes over the
 same point2 but a cyclical resemblance 

occurs in the course of events which    
sometimes makes us feel we are  only the
 sport of circumstances4 ,and yet at the
 same time1 within us  there seems to be
 stored up a latent power strong enough 
to break  away and make great changes if
 our efforts could only be united in    
sympathy and fortified by agreement4    
,the tendency of society may be         
downward and in the wrong direction1 but
 the natural trend of human  endeavour1 
free and unfettered1 is upwards towards 
a better state1  and there are          
encouraging indications that in the     
future1 the distant  future1 perhaps1   
this power will prevail and we shall all
 unite in a  better purpose4 ,at this   
moment certainly there is no room for   
despair  when we see around us a growing
 indignation and impatience with social 
injustice4 ,never before has            
humanitarian impulse been so well       
fortified  by scientific theory in its  
attempt to cope with the evils of       
poverty  and destitution4 ,all we want  

is an equally scientific discernment of 
the evils of riches and waste4    ,if   
the money ideal could only be discarded 
with the same universal  alacrity and   
conviction with which it is now clung to
 and cherished1  the change and         
improvement in our social life would be 
as miraculous  and yet as natural as the
 change from the dark chill of winter to
  the sunshine of spring4 ,but it will  
not be by bitter vituperation  and      
invective that the change can be brought
 about4 ,the attack must  be directed   
not against particular individuals1 not 
against isolated  follies1 nor against  
single instances of wicked extravagance1
  thoughtlessness1 and cruelty1 but     
against the stereotyped system which  is
 responsible for it all4 ,the awaking to
 a different faith must take  place just
 as much among the poor as among the    
rich4 ,the former must  be taught to    
recognise that cringing submission to   
so-called superiors  is neither to their
 own nor to anyone else's advantage2 the

 latter  must learn that to isolate     
themselves in a fool's paradise of ease 
and thoughtlessly to assume impossible  
responsibilities is fatal to  their own 
happiness and to the welfare of their   
fellows4 ,and the large  medium class1  
who are well-to-do but not rich1 living 
modestly but not  poor1 must be shaken  
from their indolent and self-complacent 
position  of spectators securely railed 
off from the arena where the combat  is 
taking place2 thanking heaven they are  
not among the victims and  secretly     
admiring the assailants1 though proudly 
conscious that they  themselves can be  
exonerated from all blame4 ,there are   
too many in this  class who1 to put it  
plainly1 hate the poor and reverence the
 rich1  and they will be the last to be 
reached or influenced by the cleansing  
spirit of enlightened thought4    ,any  
transformation must proceed from within4
 ,the effectual resistance  to what     
seems to be the compulsion of modern    
conventions and habits can  only arise  

from a clearer knowledge and a more     
complete comprehension  of the falseness
 of these conventions and the           
worthlessness of these  habits4 ,in     
order to combat vanity1 selfishness1 and
 love of ease1 not  only a change of    
front and ideal is essential1 but there 
must also be a  supreme and sustained   
effort to stand up against and head back
 the dead  weight of opinion which has  
gained impetus from never being checked4
  ,there must be sincere and deep-seated
 conviction4 ,without this any          
political or social revolution will     
fail4 8,the mightiest changes have  come
 from religious and moral changes in    
men's hearts40    ,the fervent devotion 
to the service of ,mammon acts as a     
baneful  influence working havoc and    
destruction in men's lives4 ,instead of 
ignoring or excusing it1 attention must 
be called to it loudly1  repeatedly1 and
 emphatically by all who are convinced  
of its dangers  and wish to warn their  
fellows against its deadly infection4   

,,the ,,end          ,,footnotes      #a
 ,johnston1 ,england ,as ,it ,is4    #b 
,the ,social ,horizon1 #ahib4    #c     
,manchester ,guardian1 #bi ,september1  
#aiji4    #d ,public ,health and ,social
 ,conditions 7,cd4 #dfga71 #aiji4    #e 
,a4 ,wylie1 ,labour1 ,leisure1 and      
,luxury4    #f ,the late ,duke of       
,argyll4    #g ,ruff's ,guide4    #h    
,hunt's ,list4    #i ,turgenief4    #aj 
,mr4 ,pretyman1 ,house of ,commons1     
#aiji4    #aa ,lord ,lansdowne1 ,house  
of ,lords1 #ad ,august1 #aijg4    #ab   
,price ,collier1 ,england and the       
,english4    #ac ,j4 ,a4 ,hobson1       
,imperialism4    #ad ,william ,cobbett1 
,advice to ,young ,men4    #ae ,e4      
,gosse1 ,father and ,son4    #af ,price 
,collier1 ,england and the ,english4    
#ag ,p4 ,g4 ,hamerton1 ,human           
,intercourse4    #ah ,j4 ,a4 ,hobson1   
,the ,industrial ,system4    #ai ,miss  
,llewellyn ,davies1 letter to the       
,press1 #aijg4    #bj ,rowntree's       
,poverty4    #ba ,booth's ,life and     

,labour of the ,people1 ,vol4 ,,ii4     
#bb ,butlers and chefs could be quoted  
with wages of #bej and #cjj4    #bc     
,west ,ham3 a ,study in ,social and     
,industrial ,problems4    #bd           
,rowntree's ,poverty4    #be ,rowntree's
 ,poverty4    #bf ,west ,ham1 pp4       
#bgj-f4    #bg ,booth1 ,vol4 ,i4    #bh 
,rowntree's ,poverty4    #bi ,odd       
shillings omitted4    #cj ,mr4 ,j4 ,a4  
,macdonald1 ,toronto ,globe1 ,september1
 #aiji4    #ca ,john ,galsworthy's ,a   
,commentary4    #cb ,social ,contract1  
,,ii4 #aa4    #cc ,sermon at            
,barrow-in-,furness1 ,oct41 #aijf4      
#cd ,arnold ,toynbee4                   
,transcriber's ,notes      ,punctuation1
 hyphenation1 and spelling were made    
consistent when a  predominant          
preference was found in the original    
book2 otherwise they  were not changed4 
,simple typographical errors were       
corrected4    ,page #aei3 ,the quotation
 from ,john ,galsworth 78,yours is the  
three  hundredth carriage44407 is       

missing some text1 and in other ways is 
not  a faithful reproduction of the     
original4