\ DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Treasure %oom UTOPIA Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from Duke University Libraries http://www.archive.org/details/realityorlawordeOOsand REALITY: or law and ORDER VS. ANARCHY AND SOCIALISM A REPLY TO Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward and Equality BY GEORGE A. SANDERS, M. A Author of "Orations, Addresses, and Club Essays," etc CLEVELAND: TTbe JBurrowfl JBrotbctfl Company, publishers, mdcccxcviii f Copyright, 1898 BY George A. Sanders ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Tkts book is copyrighted in foreign countries in accordance wtth the provisions of their laws and of the International Coi,y. right Law. ^-^ „^ ^ I Q N To Law and Order wisely and lovingly administered in the interests of all the people, world without end, I dedicate this book GEORGE A. SANDERS 50^219 CONTENTS Preface ..... Dreaming and Dreamers Character and Culture the Basis of Civili ZATION .... The Present Industrial System Some Real Statistics for Dreamers and Pes simists .... Evolution — In Law Mammonism, Its Perils and Advantages The Masters of Bread Brotherly Love What God Might Have Done Index ..... PAGE 9 II 57 79 93 113 149 183 203 213 229 50^819 PREFACE In these days of feverish unrest and of fierce con- flict along some lines of thought and action, it gives pain to the patriot and humanitarian to read or hear of anything that adds fuel to the flame. I have read with deepest interest Mr. Bellamy's books, Looking Backward and Equality^ and can only conclude that they quicken the pulse of the unrestful and offer no cooling waters to quench the flame. I was born and reared on a farm among the rocks and hills of New England, and know from experi- ence what hard, long-continued manual labor means. I am not a millionaire, a bloated bondholder or plutocrat, or president of any corporation. My deepest sympathies are, and always have been, with the poor, the laborers, and those who suffer under any and every form of oppression. I will at all times support, to the extent of my ability, any and all measures, legal, governmental, or industrial, that promise permanent or even temporary relief: but from a careful study of Mr. Bellamy's theories as laid down in his books reviewed, they offer neither temporary nor permanent relief for the poor and the laborers. If they assured relief it could be obtained only through a social and anarchistic revolution. There are no evils now existing that could at all compen- sate for such unimagined misery and suffering as this would produce. I endeavor as far as possible to evade the shadows and enjoy the sunshine, and will 10 PREFACE probably be called too sanguine and optimistic by- many; but, while painfully conscious of the vast amount, in the aggregate, of the sufferings of the race, yet I rejoice with those who see much in this beautiful world of joy, beauty, and hope ; and I must still believe in the wonderful progress made in hu- man achievement, that God still reigns, that all possible perfection of the race will be attained under the present forms of development, that science, intellection, and true altruistic love will solve all the serious questions that now hinder our individual and race development. My aim in this book has been to do absolute justice to all men, all interests, and all questions considered; to suggest a better understanding of all the vexed problems of capital and labor; to quicken and energize the patriotism of the citizens of our mighty Republic ; and to arouse a genuine brotherly love for the poor, the suffering, and the laborers of the nation, for their culture and highest possible development. If I have in any degree accomplished this object, I' shall feel that I have not written in vain. To this end I invoke the charitable consideration of the reading public. G. A. S. DREAMING AND DREAMERS ^^MctJiinks I see in my mind a noble ayid puissant nation rousing herself like a strong man after sleep, and shaking her invincible locks. Methinks I see her as an eagle meiv- ing Jur mighty youth, and kindling her tindazzled eyes at the full mid-day beam, purging and unsealing her long- abused sight at the fountain itself of heavenly radiance; while the ivhole noise of timorous and flocking birds, with those also that love the twilight, flutter about, amazed at what she means.'' — MiLTON. Dreaming is a most delightful experience, and oftentimes beneficial. To be freed from every pos- sible limitation of the flesh, the blood, and this mortal existence ; to be borne away on the six wings of seraphic flight; to allow the imagination, that noblest of all powers of man, absolute freedom; to annihilate all limitations of time and space; and to choose one's own ideals without any question as to whether they can ever be realized, is the most luxuri- ous and enchanting of all possible experiences. There have been dreamers in every clime, lan- guage, and race. Their revelations have often been a great uplift and a precious heritage to their fellow mortals. The distinguishing prerogative of the dreamer is his power to invade fearlessly the realms of the mys- terious ; to rend the veil of the future and unknown ; and to exhibit, to the dimmer vision of the ordinary 12 REALITY mortal, the beautiful pictures of the coming realities that lie concealed in the yet — to him — unexperi- enced future. These pictures are far more enchanting, inspiring, and instructive than the old tales of the Witch of Endor, or the uncanny appearances of the returning ghosts at the midnight hour. In fact, they partake largely of the same nature ; for they claim superior knowledge of the Infinite to reveal the hitherto un- knowable and to forecast the future possibilities of moral, intellectual, and spiritual attainment. Any- thing that lies concealed from mortal vision beyond the veil is gratefully and joyously received, and is most acceptable, if there is the remotest possibility of its ever being realized in the life and experience of the race. Hence, seers, prophets, and dreamers in all ages have received the reverence, admiration, homage, and even worship of their contemporaries, because of their supposed superior endowment of a power not possessed by ordinary mortals, — by which they communicate with the gods, spirits, and ruling forces of the universe, and give us their dreams as the evidences of these exalted endowments. DIFFERENT KINDS OF DREAMERS. Some claim that this supernatural power comes to them, by withdrawing for long intervals from the contaminating influence of their social environment, and by starving the body with long fasts. The spirit is thus freed from mortal limitations ; and pre- pared for communion with, and companionship of, the spirits of just men made perfect, and of the gods who inhabit and control the invisible and un- revealed realms and experiences of some future life. DIFFERENT KINDS OF DREAMERS 15 Some, like Mahomet, come forth with a fully organ- ized system of life and conduct which they claim will lead to an eternity of future bliss and joy, pictured in their visions, and, for a time at least, experienced by them ; or, like Brig-ham Young, they are directed where they can find a code of conduct, which will meet all the desires and necessities of the race. Some, like John the Revelator, see a new Heaven and a new Earth, in which sin shall be no more, nor sighs nor tears, where love shall reign supreme, and where every mortal shall find rest in the exalted com- panionship of those his earthly experiences, culture, and development have made him worthy of and capable to enjoy; or, like Paul, are taken to the third heaven and permitted to see the things it would not be proper to reveal. Others claim to reach the same end through powerful stimulants, benumbing drugs, electricity, Christian Science, magnetism, or the power of hypnotism, by which the exalted spirit is released, and for a time escapes the limitations of its mortal coil, and on the wings of limitless fancy seeks its highest ideals. Marie Corelli, in her charming Romance of Two Worlds, describes in what manner she had been care- fully prepared for her wonderful journey by Dr. Casimir, the Persian Magician, who had administered to her from the little bottle containing the life-giving elixir; and how with her guardian angel she left the sleeping mortal, and on the wings of the immor- tal flew tireless through the vast universe of rolling worlds and whirling spheres, all inhabited with happy sentient beings of different forms, attain- ments, and activities ; heard and was enraptured with the sweet, thrilling music of the spheres: but when 14 REALITY they seemed to be approaching the great center of the universe, she was informed by her guardian .angel and guide, that she was fitted to go no far- ther, that she must return to earth and learn to love. She reached the bounds of fancy when she had reached the limits of her powers of comprehension ; and learned the great lesson of universal ethics, that to reach the heart and center of the universe she must prepare herself for its comprehension through the perfected experiences of its ruling power — love itself. Her journey was to demonstrate the univer- sal power of electricity, which she calls the soul of the material universe ; and 3^et she was taught what is the central power in the realm of both matter and spirit. She was absent from the body, in her little outing, about two days ; and learned the necessity of the greatest experience possible to the race, that, to love and enjoy the companionship of the Creator and His universe, she must show her desire for them and her worthiness of them, by loving and serving her mortal companions, His creation. His children, in their earthly pilgrimage. THE INFLUENCE OF DREAMS. The influence of these dreams is in proportion to the credulity of their readers, the extent with which they grasp and follow out the dominant natural forces of the nobler faculties for the culture and develop- ment of the race, and the possibilities of realizing their ideals in the individual and race life. Bunyan, Mahomet, and John the Revelator have had an inconceivable influence upon human destiny. Their following since their dreams has been almost unlimited, because they reached the depths of hu- THE GREAT MODERN DREAMER 15 man thought, feeling, hope, and aspiration. Their dreams bound together, in an eternal embrace, the present and the future life. They appealed with the strongest possible motive — a life of everlasting bliss in heaven, or paradise, as the certain reward of a righteous life on earth ; thus moving upon the regnant forces in every life — the moral, intellectual, and the spiritual. Their dreams were universal in extent and appli- cation ; they reached and controlled the most refined and exalted in intellect and scientific attainment, the most potent in wealth and power, and the hum- blest toiler and slave. They broke down the bar- riers of caste, station, avarice, and ambition; and all who came under their potent spell were elevated to the same plane of perfected experience, through a supreme love for each other, for their Creator, and for a righteous life. Time or the method used in each case to produce the ecstatic conditions necessary to obtain the vision, prophecy, or dream, seems not to have been a vital necessity with most of the great dreamers. THE GREAT MODERN DREAMER. But with the great modern Dreamer in Equality, time seems to have been an important factor. Per- haps it was because the dream had more to do with the present life and with active mortality, than with the life beyond the river, and with the conditions and environments of the great majority who have already passed all mortal experiences; more to do with the baser materialism of the race, than with their moral, intellectual, and spiritual natures. One hundred years is a long time to lie dreaming; 16 REALITY and the reading public can easily be pardoned for expecting mighty results from such a prodigious effort of the fancy ; and especially when the dreamer was a cultured millionaire, and lay incubating his fanciful dream for a hundred years in the highly electrified atmosphere of Boston culture. A dream of a century's duration should produce astonishing and marvelous results, especially when covering the closing era of the nineteenth century; nor is the reading and thinking public greatly disappointed, for he is easily at the head of all dreamers, at least as far as the hypnotic influence and the time of his dreaming is concerned. The records of the mythic period, and history since the days of Herodotus, nowhere intimate an effort of the fancy, a free and unlimited struggle for ideals, a dream, of one hundred years. Bunyan's dream, or allegory, is briefly and quickly narrated ; John the Revelator requires but twenty- two short chapters to give to the world his most potent and all-inspiring vision ; while the modern Dreamer uses four hundred and twelve pages, closely printed, to explain his dream, — and that too in this era of electric thought and action and in the environ- ment of Boston, the claimed Athens of the New World. Perhaps the magnitude of his task requires a more specific explanation than that of the other dreamers. WHAT "EQUALITY" PRESENTS. Equality presents a wonderfully interesting dream, from the Genesis to the last page of the Revelation. It is a very happy conception, very cleverly writ- ten for the object in view, and timely in its appear- WHAT '' EQUALITY'' PRESENTS 17 ance. It is wisely connected with that exceedingly- popular book, Looking Backward. It treats in a very interesting manner a great variety of subjects, usu- ally considered dry and uninteresting to many who read for amusement rather than for instruction, and even to students and scholars because of want of sufficient data to judge of the accuracy of statements on which to form correct and satisfactory conclu- sions. It shows great research, much earnest thought and investigation on the great social, religious, polit- ical, and economical questions that are receiving so much careful study and investigation from all scholars, scientists, and politicians the world over at the pres- ent time. These subjects, so vital to the welfare of the race, are made exceedingly interesting and attractive by the unique and charming manner of their treatment and presentation; the characters, or dramatis pcr- soncc, are well up in their various parts; and most of the illustrations are well chosen for their intended purpose. Dr. Leete, Mr. Barton, Kenloe, and dear, lovely Edith act well their parts. The Dreamer has them thoroughly prepared, in the history of the miserable past and the experi- ences of the perfected future, to meet readily every conceivable objection that could be advanced ; while the scholars at Arlington seem to have been so well crammed and tutored that they neither fizzle nor flunk. This, however, would be expected; since the Dreamer suggested the question to the teacher, and answers for the scholars were all well prepared to support the theory designed to be estab- lished. 18 REALITY KENLOE'S "BOOK OF THE BLIND." Kenloe's Book of the Blind, already prepared for the emergency, is very happily introduced; and every opponent of the theory of economic equality, and the question of equalization as the basis of hu- man welfare, is summarily disposed of by arguments from their own lips; or when the overwhelming argument cannot possibly be found, he is straight- way laughed and ridiculed out of court. The introduction of this book, said to be nearly one hundred years old, is one of the many brilliant gems of Equality. It is most interesting read- ing, as showing the line of argument to sustain the theory of economic equality. As to the cause of its compilation. Dr. Leete says: " But Kenloe, moved by a certain crabbed sense of justice, was bound that they should not be forgotten. Accordingly he took the pains to compile, with great care as to the authenticity, names, dates, and places, a mass of ex- cerpts from speeches, books, sermons, and news- papers, in which the apologists of private capitalism had defended that system, and assailed the advocates of economic equality during the long period of revo- lutionary agitation. Thus he proposed to pillory for all time the blind guides who had done their best to lead the nation and the world into the ditch." Wonderful Kenloe ! who had lived through the great Revolution, had witnessed the tremendous wave of Altruism that swept the whole world into the embrace of brotherly love, except Kenloe, with his unforgiving spirit and want of love ; whose chief aim in compiling the Book of the Blind was to ' ' pil- THE DREAMER'S ARGUMENT 19 lory for all time ' ' those who had advocated and up- held an industrial system, which has made possible our present most marvelous civilization, and upon which it seems destined to rest for the eons of the future for anything that appears in the Book of the Blind. "EQUALITY" AND ITS INFLUENCE. Equality will be much read and studied ; and will do much good in quickening thought and inves- tigation, in remedying the delinquencies of govern- ment, in checking the avarice and oppression of private capital or combined wealth, in rapidly per- fecting laws that will insure the laborer his full share of the increment and give wealth its proper increase, protection, and distribution, — and above all in arousing and quickening the warmest sym- pathy of every patriot into the immediate enactment and vigorous enforcement of all laws for the most ample protection of every interest of the laborer. THE EFFECT ON THE READER. As the entranced reader closes the book, comes down from the delightful realm of fancy and imagi- nation of the world's chief Dreamer, touches the cold environment of the actual realism and the stern facts of his everyday life, he will say: " Can his ideals be reached; and, if his premises be granted, will his picture of perfected humanity in the year two thousand be realized in the experience and life of the human race?" The stern answer of logic, reason, and experience of the race, and the develop- ment of the fundamental principles upon which all the progress and civilization of the race have de- 20 REALITY pended, must reply, with the accumulated power of the world's consensus of opinion, of the laws of God and nature, that the Dreamer's premises are false and his conclusions erroneous; that the cause he advocates is entirely inadequate to produce the effect he claims ; that the simple question of main- tenance was settled, centuries before our modern civilization was born, by the South Sea Islanders, the North American Indians, the Africans, and many other tribes; that every person must provide for his own support and maintenance, and that of those he has brought into the world. That question was then rightly settled for all time. All progress of the race and all civilization ever have rested, and, from the great fundamental principles that underlie and control all individual and race action, ever will rest and have their basis, in the culture or character of the race, and not upon any industrial system of economic equality of wealth. The whole argument is for the establishment of one idea of minor and comparatively insignificant importance, not even primal in its nature and ex- tent ; and, when compared with the other first great principles that are involved in race progress and civ- ilization, it is entirely insufficient as a basis to support the structure that he has attempted to erect upon it. The argument is subtile and fallacious. It is often illogical, and the 7ion-sequitnr frequently appears. It opposes and seeks to overthrow, along most lines of human activities, the fundamental principles to which our present civilization is indebted. It inverts the philosophy of reasoning, makes the minor the major premise. It attempts to prove that the less is the greater; that the valuable achievements in history NO EVIDENCE OF PERFECTED HUMANITY 21 and in individual experience are positively evil, be- cause not reached by an economic basis of equality ; that maintenance is far more important in race de- velopment than freedom of thought, freedom of speech, freedom of will and action, and individual liberty. It is the most subtile, insinuating, captivat- ing exhibition of special pleading extant in litera- ture. If the reader but grant the premise, he will be pretty sure to accept the conclusion. The whole argument is most pessimistic. It seeks by every possible theory, argument, insinuation, ridicule, sarcasm, and the denial of statistics and indisputable facts to belittle all race progress; all civilization, and those who have perfected it; all principles and policies by which it has been attained — and all be- cause it has not been achieved through his theory of economic equality, which is exalted, expanded, and magnified beyond fair recognition of its influence on the progress of the race. The spirit of the argument is one of hatred and u.ncompromising hostility towards capital, and all who labor for it, or possess it. It is an utter refusal to acknowledge it as anything else but an evil, and that always. It asserts that its possessors are thieves and enemies of humanity. It ferments un- rest among the people, tends to divide them into classes of capitalists and laborers, of the wealthy and the paupers, without affording any plausible means of changing these relations, or bringing about the perfected humanity claimed to exist in the year two thousand. The author offers no proof that humanity will reach such conditions, for there is no way of obtaining any evidence on the subject. That part of his argument is all a dreani; and the statements 22 REALITY of Mr. Barton and Dr. Leete, as to what would then exist, are only a part of the Dreamer's fancy, and are no evidence whatever of any then existing con- ditions or facts. There is little doubt but that his view of perfected humanity will be reached and greatly surpassed in the next one hundred years ; but along the lines of thought and action, science and love, now in full operation among the races of men. To accomplish this wonderful change he introduces no new scientific principle, intellectual or moral force. He does, however, with heroic audacity and assumption, claim that Christ's dream of his earthly kingdom has never been understood; that love in its essence and re- forming power has never been correctly experienced, appreciated, and applied; that teachers of morals and ethics, since the Star of Bethlehem and the world-transforming scenes on Calvary, while claim- ing some special powers of inspiration and interpre- tation from God, Christ, and the Holy Ghost, were all mistaken traitors both to Christ and humanity. They were dishonest hirelings selling their man- hood, their honor, their love for a mess of potage to the capitalists. All were ignorant dreamers in theory and hypocrites in practice, while dealing with the most sacred treasures of the universe. Speculating upon the credulity and ignorance of the people at the behest of the capitalists, who paid them liberally for their ignoble, base, and depraved servi- tude. The Dreamer in careful detail describes too much on many of the subjects treated, especially about the perfected conditions of humanity, which exist only in his hypnotized fancy and newly discovered HEREDITARY AND ACQUIRED WEALTH 23 theory. But he fails to inform us what capitalist paid the martyr Stephen when he prayed for his murderers that they be forgiven, ' ' Lord, lay not this sin to their charge; " nor who paid Paul, Gamaliel's pupil, one of the most cultured of his era, a master logician and orator, a mighty seer, and one of the noblest and grandest of men. Does any one, not dreaming and in his right mind, for a moment be- lieve that Paul, and all the other apostles, and the innumerable host of white-robed martyrs in all suc- ceeding ages, were hypocrites, ignorant of the power of love and the gospel they preached, and that they were hirelings of the capitalists of their era? He, like all special pleaders for one idea, proves too much. These worthies knew whereof they spoke; they were conscious of the truth of their message, and of the power of love in their age and in their hearts, and this message has lost none of its truthful, life-giving energy and hopeful inspiration in the present time. Innumerable hosts in all nations and tribes of the earth believe in, experience, and con- stantly enjoy this divinity of the heart. Honest, grand, noble men were they who would scorn the im- putation that they were hirelings to, or are in any way influenced in, their wills, soul-experiences, or ethical relations by any capitalists, or any combina- tion of wealth the whole world ever had or ever will have. HEREDITARY AND ACQUIRED WEALTH. It is asserted that it is immoral to receive and pos- sess wealth by inheritance and that such wealth is received only by accident of birth. This may as well be said of any hereditary possession, faculty of mind 24 REALITY or soul, and excellency of bodily powers. No one would claim that it is immoral to inherit strength of body, beauty of form, features, eyes, or hair; nor great intellectual endowments, extraordinary music- al or poetical powers, nobility of soul, and moral strength. Yet these are according to fixed laws of transmission, the product of the wisdom, forethought, and prudent labor of the parent or near ancestor. They are not the accident of birth, but of wise plans and careful persistent effort in their fulfillment. In all such matters it is the better part of wisdom to form well, than to be obliged to reform as soon as the offspring is born. A vast amount of suffering and mortification, of money, time, and labor spent in efforts to reform the race, could be much more wisely and effectually used in its formation, so that none but healthy, well-endowed children be allowed to increase the census. Why is it any more immoral for the parent who has earned wealth by hard labor and self-sacrifice to transmit the same to the child of his love and affections? GOD HIMSELF RECOGNIZED THE RIGHT TO HOLD PRIVATE PROPERTY. God himself, if the Scripture narrative be true, recognized the right to hold private property. In the Decalogue, handed down to Aloses on Mount Sinai, written it is claimed by the finger of God himself on the tables of stone, one of the commands is, " Thou shalt not steal." Here is the reco2"nition of the sacred right of holding and possessing private property. There has never been any question or doubt as to the meaning of this command. Stealing " THO U SHAL T NOT STEAL " 25 is the taking of that which belongs to another with- out permission or recompense. Christ recognized this same right to private property when he said, " Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's." Ao-ain when Christ called Zaccheus to come down from the sycamore tree, and informed him that he would abide with him that night, he hastened down, feeling as greatly honored by the invitation as the Jews were dumfounded. Zaccheus was despised by the Jews as a tax gatherer and an officer of the hated Roman Empire, which then ruled over the Jewish nation. It was the first opportunity for Zaccheus to vindi- cate the uprightness of his motives and life ; an op- portunity which this invitation of Christ had given him. For the Jews at once reasoned that the great Messiah would not be found supping and abiding with an immoral and unworthy host. In reply to the thoughts of the Jews, and their frequent charge that he was a thief and extortioner, he said: " The half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold." The original text conveys the idea that this was the habit and the continuous practice of Zaccheus. The Mosaic law, claimed to be inspired directly by God himself, in a detailed code recognized the right to hold private property received by inherit- ance or accumulated by personal or organized effort. Every great teacher of morals and all nations have ever recognized the sacred right of holding property. ^Morality has been defined as a code of rules for the behavior of men as they are; or otherwise, that it is a code of rules of behavior for men as they should be. 26 REALITY For those who do not admit the Scriptures as au- thority it may be said, that inheritance of property and holding the same, under the above definition, cannot possibly be immoral, since it has been the rule of action among all nations since the first man left the Garden of Eden to go into business for himself and accumulate- some money for himself and his heirs. INHERITED AND ACQUIRED WEALTH. In addition to the assertion that it is immoral and an accident of birth to receive and hold property by inheritance, the Dreamer declares that property made or accumulated by labor, trade, or any effort on the part of the producer is obtained by rascality, and he who possesses it is a rascal. There is only one other method of obtaining property and that is to steal it, which violates the Decalogue. The inev- itable conclusion is, then, that it is a crime by the moral law and the laws of the race to hold or possess wealth in any form; that the holders of property, whether donated or an inheritance or accumulated by labor, are moral and civil criminals. In fact, he asserts that all private capital is stolen from the general fund, whatever that may mean. PAGANS AND SAVAGES RECOGNIZE THE RIGHT TO HOLD PRIVATE PROPERTY. The fact is, the right to private property was recognized before any formal law existed. The fic- tion is, that property is the creation of law. School- craft informs us that the American Indians recognized it, where there was no regular formulated govern- ment ; that game taken in private traps was private property ; and crops grown upon the land belonged LOCKE'S PERTINENT QUESTION 27 to the parties raising them, though not the land it- self. They recognized this right in the fullest sense of the word, without any other authority among them than the decisions of the Elders, according to the customs of their forefathers. The English common law, which fully recognizes the right to private property, is little else than the embodiment of the customs of the realm. Herbert Spencer says, in Social Statistics, page 400: " How mutual limitation of activities originates the ideas and sentiments implied by the phrase ' Natural Rights,' we are shown most distinctly by the few peaceful tribes which have either nominal governments, or none at all. Beyond these facts which exemplify scrupulous regard for one another's claims among the Todas, Santals, Sepchas, Bodos, Chakmas, Jakuns, Arafuras, etc., we have the fact that the utterly uncivilized Wood-Veddahs, without any social organization at all, think it perfectly in- conceivable that any person should ever take that which does not belong to him, or strike his fellow, or say anything that is untrue." In his dream, Bellamy must have been thinking of M. Proudhon, who asserts, " All property is rob- bery." If we cannot obtain and possess property and have a right to it, then it follows that a man can have no right to the food he consumes to sustain life. If we have no right to the food before eating it, when does that accrue? Locke asks a pertinent question when he enquires: " When does the food begin to be his? When he digests? or when he eats? or when he boils? or when he brings it home? If no previous acts can make it his property, neither can the process of assimilation do it, not even absorption 28 REALITY of it into the tissues. Wherefore, pursuing- the idea, we arrive at the curious conclusion that, as the whole of our bones, muscles, skin, etc. have thus been built up from nutriment not belonging to our- selves, we have no property in our own flesh and blood, have no more claim to our own limbs than we have to the limbs of another, and have as good a right to our neighbor's body as he has to his own. Did we exist after the same fashion as those com- pound polyps, in which a number of individuals are based upon a living trunk common to tliem all, such a theory would be rational enough ; but until Com- munism can be carried to that extent, it will be best to stand by the old doctrine." But it was absolutely essential for the Dreamer to establish the immorality of receiving property by inheritance and accumulation : or he and his support- ers would be found violating all the moral law there is, becoming actual thieves themselves under the Decalogue and God's command " Thou shalt not steal," when by political intrigue they obtained possession of all the railroads, mines, telegraph and telephone systems in the beginning of the transition period; and later when they took pos- session of all private capital and accumulated wealth by arbitrary power and compulsion ; when they refused utterly to recompense in any way the owners and possessors of these vast properties, the private capital, and accumulated wealth of the whole country, because, forsooth, it would be wrong and immoral to recognize the right ever to receive or hold inherited property, private capital, or accumu- lated wealth. Even the '' uncouth, unlettered, boor- ish farmers," after they have been duly cultured, IS OUR GOVERNMENT A FAILURE 29 must have at least a moral platform on which to stand, and justify themselves for participating in the grandest steal of the ages. The world has never witnessed in the most de- praved raids of robbing bandits such disregard and plundering of the sacred rights of others under the garb of brotherly love and moral rectitude. If there are sentient beings there, interested in the affairs of the human race, then there must be weeping in heaven and exultant joy in sheol over the utter de- pravity of fallen men, who would attempt to cover such crimes against God and His children with the sacred mantle of morality. God never forbids to one generation what He endorses and approves in another. He and His moral law are the same yes- terday, to-day, and forever. OUR GOVERNMENT A FAILURE. His argument is against the Government in this country, because he claims it has failed to carry into effect the supposed guarantees of the Constitution, granting its subjects the right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This simply pledges the power of the Government to protect the lives of its citizens in all lawful pursuits and against foreign enemies. It protects liberty of conscience to worship according to its dictation, without interference of any priest- hood or state religion; and protects them in any lawful employment and the pursuit of any pleasures or happiness not hostile to the laws of the land, and not inimical to the rights of all other citizens, all citizens being equal before the courts and under the Government. But it nowhere promises to sup- port the citizen or any class of citizens, or guaran- 50 REALITY tees their maintenance. This would be entirely be- yond the intention and scope of the prerogatives of the Government as intended by its originators. It simply offered protection for the exercise of the God-given right and prerogative of self-mainte- nance. In fact it was not supposed at that time that any American citizen would be found under his flag so devoid of self-respect, independence, and honor, as ever to ask or expect maintenance by the Govern- ment. It might as well be claimed that the Govern- ment should provide each subject with so many cat- tle, sheep, horses, so many acres of improved farm land, one of Ignatius Donnelly's air-ships, and a Pullman palace car for an outing now and then. This would have utterly destroyed that individu- alism, that pride of character, self-respect, and citi- zenship, which was the very object of the originators of free government, supported by the free will of the citizens, to foster, encourage, and develop. Washington, Hamilton, Jefferson, and Jackson would have crimsoned with shame at the suggestion that the Government of this Republic through its Constitution should ever guarantee food, clothing, and shelter to any of its subjects. The opportunity for every citizen, and equality before the law with every other citizen, to earn his maintenance in a lawful manner, was all it furnished, promised, or guaranteed. The Declaration of Independence begins by de- claring: " We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are en- dowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." This is the opening of the WUA T OUR GO VERNMENT G UARANTEES 3 1 Declaration of Independence adopted July 4, 1776; but the Constitution was not adopted until Sept. 17, 1787, and this declaration nowhere appears in the ' Constitution. In this part of the Declaration of In- dependence the Government guarantees nothing. It is but the commencement of a list of grievances against the king of Great Britain. The statement is made, in the face of indisputa- ble facts, that our Government is a failure, notwith- standing the admission of scholars, statesmen, and students of .economics of other nations and most abundant statistics to demonstrate that it has been the most magnificent success of any government or nation since the historic period began. This state- ment is made, because there are found, relatively, a few, who have failed to meet the stern requirements of success everywhere — too ignorant and incompe- tent to put forth the little effort necessary for simple maintenance. Honesty, self-reliance, intellectual capacity, and moral power are not created by statute laws, or put into the race by constitutional requirements. All that ought to be done by the wisest and most hu- mane governments is, to furnish an opportunity for all to exercise and develop these faculties of their subjects. This our Government has most wisely and amply done. Gladstone, one of the foremost statesmen of this century, says, " The American Constitution is, as far as I can see, the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man." Lord Salisbury, the present English Premier, says, " The Americans have a Senate — I wish we could institute it here — marvelous in its 32 REALITY Strength and efficiency. . . . Their Supreme Court gives a stability to their institutions, which under the system of vague and mysterious promises here we look for in vain." ALL MEN ARE NOT BORN EQUAL. The advocates of Social Democracy, Communism, and Anarchy are mistaken, when they claim that all men are born equal and must remain so for the great- est development in life. In fact, inequality is the rule of life, by both birth and culture. Using that term in its usual significance, all men are not born with equal capacities and powers of head, heart, and body ; nor is it possible for them ever to become equal and remain so through the varied experiences of life. It is impossible to show by science, revelation, or sound philosophical reasoning, any point from the earliest protoplastic life until death ends the scene, where any two human lives are equal. There seems to be no way of ascertaining the causes which make men unequal in important respects. The conditions demanded cannot possibly be obtained. They are unnatural and contrary to every known law of crea- tion and development. Demands for equality are not in accord with the ante- or post-natal laws and conditions of life. They are opposed to the doctrine of hereditary forces and contrary to all experience in every department of life and culture. Scarcely anything is known of hereditary forces. After the most careful investigation of germ-cells in the laboratory of reproduction, little is known of the causes which differentiate persons. Prof. E. B. Wilson says, in the Cell in Development and Inheritance, p. 330: " After tracing all the trans- EQUALITY OF COMMUNISM 33 formations through which the cells pass on the way from inception to new individuals in plant, animal, and human creation, we cannot close our eyes to the fact that we are utterly ignorant of the manner in which the idioplasm of the germ-cell can so re- spond to the play of the physical forces upon it as to call forth an adaptive variation." Though unable to explain the phenomena, we know the fact exists, of wonderful diversities of powers in the same family and with the same envi- ronment. One member may inherit a fine physique, strong from birth in muscle and nerve power, a sound body for a sound mind to inhabit; while another from the same parentage may inherit a weakness all through his body. Then, again, members of the same family and practically the same environment are not equal at birth. One enters life with the most favorable environment and another with the most unfavorable. It would be a miracle contrary to all laws of development if they should ever be- come equal in the experiences of the head, heart, and body. There can be no equal opportunities for per- sons so unequal at birth. Even the aim of Communism — the equality of pains and pleasures, not of consumable things and tasks — can never be realized ; for the simple reason that no two human beings, much less the whole race, have the same capacities or powers for suffering pains or enjoying pleasures. What is pain to one may be sweet relief to another, under exactly the same line of development and environment. What may give exquisite pleasure to one, may afford great pain to another; and this too when the things, the capaci- ties, powers, experiences, and qualities of experiences 34 REALITY are subject to comparison. There are many experi- ences which cannot be compared, there being no likeness or similarity for comparison in quantity or quality, and no possible standard for testing the quantity or quality or the extremes reached in the development. Joy and grief are never weighed with scales, nor hope and fear measured with a yardstick, nor the temperature of a soul tormented with shame and remorse taken with a thermometer. There is no possible way of equalizing or compar- ing the musical genius of Blind Tom with the intel- lectual achievements of Gladstone. The great musical talent and culture of Paderewski cannot be com- pared with the historical genius of Herodotus. Their mental and heart endowments were so different at birth, and evolved along widely different lines ever since, that at no point were they ever on an equality. Nor is there any possible method of weighing or com- paring their progress, to determine whether the ratio of use and development of native powers had been equal or the same in kind and degree. This would be true and possible should we attempt to equalize comparable things, quantities and quali- ties which are similar and which are developed along the same or kindred lines of experience and growth. But even this can only be approximately done. The intellectual powers of Bismarck and Gladstone, both distinguished for great mental strength and acumen, cannot be accurately compared or equalized ; for, while the attainments of both have been great in many lines of growth, yet there is no standard for comparing or weighing or estimating the mentality either possesses, though each has become distin- guished along lines of mental action. EQUALITY AND HISTORY 35 Human life is made up of thought, feeling, and action. The intellectual and mental life is the think- ing, planning, and reasoning. It is the work of the head. The life of feeling, emotion, vSympathy, and love is the work of the heart. The will power puts into action the forces of the head and heart. Men are great in proportion to the possession of the intellectual and the sympathetic, and the man- ner of using these forces of the head and heart in the varied activities of human life. No two have ever been found with the same amount of head and heart power at birth, and no two were ever endowed with the same courage and energy in putting into action their powers. The result of life's experiment must be different in every life. No two can be equal, or exactly like any others, in the possession and use of life's forces. Some men are conspicuous for greatness of intellect, for cere- bration ; some for unlimited sympathies and altruis- tic tendencies and relations ; while others surpass in clever and ever successful action in putting into effect the thoughts of the head and the sympathetic emotions of the heart. Some one of the powers of the head or heart usual- ly predominate, or a conspicuous skill and wisdom in carrying them into effect. The elder Napoleon, Julius Caesar, and Bismarck were men of tremendous head power. They were men of surpassing mentality, great thinkers, plan- ners, and reasoners, yet largely devoid of the altruis- tic and sympathetic emotions of the heart ; while they possessed in a large degree the courage of their con- victions and the power to carry them into effect. Von Moltke and Wellington were not conspicuous 36 REALITY for great intellectual powers, nor for altruistic sym- pathies, but were marked in history for persistent effort, wonderful self-control, undaunted courage, and heroic action in the hours of greatest danger. Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Socrates were highly endowed with all three of these potent forces, — thought, feeling, and successful action. In their lives they seemed to have reached the goal of satis- factory human effort. Yet these men cannot be compared with each other, the}'- were so entirely unlike in their capacities and lines of development; much less could they be considered on a basis of equality. These men have a most conspicuous place on the world's scroll of fame, because they were great in the realm of thought and feeling and sufficiently cour- ageous in action. Shakespeare easily towers above all in intellectual greatness, while at the same time he is universal in his feelings and his altruistic sympathies and rela- tions. He sounds the depths of the human heart as no other ever has done. He plays with great ease and familiarity' with the whole range of human thought, hope, fear, worship, and passion ; and hence receives a response from every one who reads him. Lincoln in five years went from comparative ob- scurity to w^orld-wide fame and celebrit)^ It was not a miracle, nor alone the result of environment. The opportunity came, and he was prepared by en- dowment and culture to improve it to the uttermost. A weak man would have failed ; and the magnificent opportunity, the greatest in history, would have made the weakness and failure the more conspicuous, as was the case with the many generals who preceded EQUALITY OF SOCIAL DEMOCRACY 37 General Grant in the command of the armies of the Republic in the War of 1861. The advocates of Social Democracy insist on the equalization of opportunity by the opening of all the doors of life's activities by the civil and political powers of the nation. The fact is in this country the doors of opportunity are all practically wide open to all those who are prepared to enter. And they certainly, in justice to the nation, ought not to open to any others. There can be no equality of opportunity to any, except those fully equipped to embrace the opportunity, fully discharge all its duties, and appre- ciate and enjoy its emoluments. This will apply to every pursuit of life and the educational efforts that make the necessary preparation for it. Education and suitable employment practically cover all grounds of complaint. The educational opportunity, in this country at least, is not only given but usually forced upon the rising generations through the public schools. But owing to the varied desires for culture and the different capacities of the scholars, the re- sults are not at all the same. This is true in the colleges and universities as much as in the public schools. Neither the fine scholars nor the dullards are benefited to the high- est degree, because of their varied powers and capa- cities and the utter impossibility to equalize the effort sufficient to meet fairly the capacities of the scholar and of the dullard. The best educational thought of to-day is back to the Socratic method of the in- dividual contact of the scholar with his instructor. The class system, or the equalization method, is a confessed failure, when compared with that of indi- vidual contact. This is a fair illustration of the utter 38 REAUrV failure of equalized opportunity. There can be no such thing, except in a most general way, because of the inequality of men both by birth and culture. The importance, however, of education is emphasized ; for the reason that along the whole line of human activ- ities, with the same environment, it makes the differ- ence between success and failure. With it success is always probable, without it failure is quite certain. This is true of every calling of manual labor, intellectual employment, or any other human activ- ity. There can be no successful equalizing of oppor- tunity, because of the insurmountable variety of ca- pacity and attainment in the human family. All successful training in every department is achieved by selection, and is on the individual and not collec- tive, and on the masses. There would be little ground for complaint against our laws or form of government, if the right men were in the right places, and superior knowledge and fitness for official positions were insisted upon. But, sad to say, the tendency is oftentimes to fill very im- portant positions with mere political rubbish, which cannot possibly be equalized; for there is nothing with which it can be compared. Methods, it is to be hoped and expected, will change, by which superior- ity of gifts and fitness for the position will always be a necessity for every candidate for office. Economic evils, like most others in the body poli- tic, largely arise from the unprincipled and incom- petent men occupying positions they are not qualified by nature and culture to fill. It does not relieve the situation, because the leopard fails successfully to do the work of the kangaroo, since his long legs are where his short ones ought to be. IV//A r LECKY SA YS 39 Society ought not to be continually humiliated by the failure of incompetent officials, when there are men in abundance to meet successfully the demands of every official trust. The solution of every polit- ical question that now vexes the people is in their own hands. It is simply to elect competent, honest officials. They exist in abundance in every community ; but they have not been seeking office in every possible way, for the last two or ten years or more, for a lifetime. When will the dear people open their eyes and choose their own officials, and not be compelled to vote for men who are ever seek- ing to serve themselves at the expense of the people? Superior gifts and powers should always be in- sisted upon in all officials. The public service is greatly varied and always requires different capaci- ties and cultured powers ; hence the most gifted and thoroughly equipped should ever be selected for official positions in a free government. It is therefore apparent that any effort to recon- struct society on any theory of equality of all classes of its varied citizenship is contrary to the plan of the Creative Power, opposed to all primal laws of growth and development, and must therefore fail. This is true of what are termed natural as well as civil or political powers and privileges, though not, perhaps, in the same degree. It would be most in- equitable to compel the law of equality where only inequality by birth and culture existed. Lecky says, in Democracy and Liberty, Vol. II., p. 369: " But proposed changes which conflict with fundamental laws and elements of human nature can never, in the long run, succeed. The sense of right and wrong, which is the basis of respect for the 40 REALITY obligation of contract ; the feeling of family affection, on which the continuity of society depends, and out of which the system of heredity grows ; the essential difference of men in aptitudes, capacities, and char- acter are things that can never be changed, and all schemes and policies that ignore them are doomed to ultimate failure." Inequality or variety is one of the most conspicu- ous thoughts of the creative plan in the universe of God. It is emblazoned on the very brow of the uni- verse in most brilliant forms, to be read by all gen- erations and in all ages of history. It is the fact of creative power, while equality is the attempted fiction of men. It is the eternal Reality, while Equality is a dream of passing idealists. It is empha- sized all through the universe, from the glowworm to the suns in the solar system. The planets, the moons, the comets, the asteroids, and the Milky Way • — all have different dimensions and orbits of motion. It is written all over the geography of our little sphere ; in the gentle hill and the towering moun- tain; in the joyful, babbling brook and the solemn, mighty river; in the Smillie's Mirror Lake at Red- lands, California, and the largest ocean of the world ; in the tiny willow twig on the banks of the marshy rivulet and the great redwood trees of California; in the tiniest minnow and the whale and the mega- lichthys. All vegetable, floral, and tree life bear emphatic testimony of its universality throughout all creative life. Mankind and all animal life are no exception to its universal existence. Every age and nation have their big men physi- cally ; have their men of large capacity ; and their great men of vast intellectual, moral, and spiritual THE EFFECTS OF INEQUALITY 41 power, dominating the experiences of the human race. Inequality differentiates men in their conduct and attainments. Unequal gifts and powers and the use of them can only account for a holy Pascal and a murderous Guiteau ; a Shakespeare and a Feejee Islander; a Caesar and a Bonaparte, and an arrant coward. It accounts for Abraham, the Father of the faith- ful, leaving his Ur of the Chaldees, wandering to Haran, and then to old Canaan of the better Judean civilization to establish his nation and realize his hopes and aspirations. It explains the migrations of the modern Father Abraham who left his Ur of Kentucky for the free soil of Illinois, where he be- came the leader of the greatest Republic of all his- tory in the establishment of a permanent govern- ment of the people, by the people, and for the people. It explains the tremendous struggle at Vicks- burg, Gettysburg, and Appomattox, where one of the greatest enemies of the race, human slavery, went down into a grave from which there is no resur- rection by means of the sword of the loftiest spirit of Altruism. It throws a light upon all scientific re- search, upon all philosophical effort to unravel the mysteries of race culture and development, upon all ethical, religious, and spiritual manifestations, hopes, and aspirations. From no other standpoint can the manifestations of God in the creation of the universe and in the history of the human race be explained. Inequality of gifts and powers and the opportuni- ties and use of them is the sesame that explains all revelation and scientific development in what we call evolution and culture. If, therefore, inequality of 42 REALITY gifts and powers is a fundamental fact, the plan of God in all creation and development, how infinitely futile must be all efforts of men to reduce to an equal- ity these God-given natural gifts and powers, in all attempts to develop the race into a so-called perfected humanity ! It is simply an effort to leave the Crea- tor out of the problem of race culture and develop- ment, to make supreme the wisdom of man over that of his Maker, and must, in the ultimate result, utter- ly fail. Herbert Spencer says: " Our first principle re- quires, not that all shall have like shares of the things which minister to the gratification of the faculties, but that all shall have like freedom to pursue those things — shall have like scope. It is one thing to give to each an opportunity of acquiring the objects he desires; it is another and quite a different thing, to give the objects themselves, no matter whether due endeavor has or has not been made to obtain them. Nay, more, it necessitates an absolute viola- tion of the principle of equal freedom. For when we assert the entire liberty of each, bounded only by the like liberties of all, we assert that each is free to do whatever his desires dictate, within the prescribed limits — that each one is free, therefore, to claim for himself all those gratifications, and sources of gratification, which he can procure with- out trespassing on the spheres of action of his neigh- bors. If, therefore, out of many starting with like fields of activity, one obtains, by his greater strength, greater ingenuity, or greater application, more grati- fications and sources of gratification than the rest, the moral law assigns him an exclusive right to all those extra gratifications and sources of gratifica- THE CLASSES AND MASSES 43 tion, nor can the rest take from him without claim- ing- for themselves greater liberty of action than he claims, and thereby violating that law. Whence it follows that an equal apportionment of the fruits of the earth among all is not consistent with pure justice." THE CLASSES AND MASSES. In the classification of our citizens, in this coun- try at least, and undoubtedly the world over, the Dreamer is wrong. He declares that all the capital and wealth of the world are owned by one-tenth of the population, and nine-tenths are paupers in abject moral depravity; that under the forms of law it might all be owned by one man. This last asser- tion is too dreamy and absurd to notice. The face of the assertion refutes and denies the statement. As to the other declaration, nine-tenths of the people owning the wealth and one-tenth having no visible wealth, would have been much nearer the truth. This statement is often made in the classification of the capitalists and toiling masses — the meaning in- tended to be conveyed is, that one-tenth of the popu- lation own and enjoy all the wealth of this country, while the other nine-tenths are the toiling masses, held in abject and hopeless slavery by the capital- ists and the wealth of our land. He wisely refrains from using any reliable statistics to prove this as- sertion, although there is an abundance of them on this subject. Perhaps it would be asking too much of a dreamer to descend to the use of vulgar statis- tics, sometimes truthful, to prove the results of a fanciful dream. It is stated, " Before the Revolution very few peo- 44 REALITY pie had any property at all and no economic provision save from day to day." The reverse of this is the truth. Most of the people in this land have some money and property and are profitably employed, at least earning enough to maintain themselves and those dependent upon their efforts. Even in these times of general depression in most lines of business, two-thirds or three-quarters of the laboring classes have found employment and at least living wages during the last three or four years of what are called hard times, or as he designates them, panics, gluts, crises, and over-production. NO CLASSES AND MASSES. The farmers composing nearly one-half of the population, included always with the toiling masses, are reluctantly admitted to be small capitalists. It will be assumed that any one, possessing or own- ing a farm or home or a sufficiently large interest in the farm or other property or wealth that does not compel daily labor to meet daily expenses, must be considered a small capitalist; and those who are compelled to labor for wages to meet each day's maintenance are, for the purpose of this discussion, classed as daily laborers. This is the only fair clas- sification, and if so, what becomes of the nine-tenths of the toiling inasses? Laborers who are paid by their employers stipu- lated wages for their services are embraced in the term of laborers ; while all other laborers, whose income proceeds from the sale of their products of the farm, the mill, the mine, or other business, and who are dependent upon the profitable conduct of the business where more or less capital is invested, are capitalists. THE FARMERS 45 Many, who work for wages, own their homes and have property in many other forms, and are what are called well-to-do small capitalists. Henry George and many other writers make different classifications, but for all practical purposes this is sufficient. It will thus be seen that the toiling masses include only those who are obliged to labor for daily mainte- nance, and are relatively but a small fraction of the population. THE FARMERS. The argument is most unfair and unjust to one- half of the population — the farmers. It pictures the farmer as " the most pathetic figure in history." In the ages of slavery his was " the lowest class of slaves." He endured more than the poverty of the wage-earner without his freedom from care, and all the anxiety of the capitalist without his hope of compensation. If the crops failed, the farmer perished; if they prospered, the middleman took the profits. Standing as a buffer between the elemental forces and human society, he was smitten by the one only to be thrust back by the other. Bound to the soil, he fell into a commercial serfdom to the cities well nigh as com- plete as the feudal bondage had been. By reason of his isolated and unsocial life, he was uncouth, unlet- tered, out of touch with culture, without opportuni- ties for self-improvement, even if his bitter toil had left him energy or time for it. For this reason the dwellers in the towns looked down upon him as one belonging to an inferior race. In all lands, in all ages, the countryman has been considered a proper butt by the most loutish townsman. The starving proletarian of the city pavement scoffed at the farmer 46 REALITY as a boor. Voiceless, there was none to speak for him, and his rude, inarticulate complaints were met with jeers. This cruel, unsympathetic, grossly exaggerated, absolutely untruthful, dark and besmirched picture of one-half of our population and their condition, is a fair specimen of the modern Dreamer's treatment of all the great religious, intellectual, moral, and in- dustrial forces, that have made our present civiliza- tion and will direct and control all future progress of the race. Yet these lowest of slaves, poorer than the wage-earner, the constant prey of the middle- man, these buffers between the elemental forces and human society, serfs to the cities' commerce, un- couth, uncultured, unlettered, belonging to an infe- rior race in all lands and ages, a proper butt for the most loutish townsman — these farmers were the most potent factors in the great claimed Revolution, and its most willing and ardent supporters. The reader is instantly prompted to ask, whence this mighty, marvelous change ; this incomprehensible up- lift of this mass of down-trodden, " uncultured, unlet- tered, boorish human rubbish," comprising one-half of our population, to the perfected humanity of the twentieth century? The Dreamer's answer is " Cul- ture;" for he claims they had no economic system. In all ages and among all nations farming has ever been considered the most healthy, ennobling, and honorable of occupations ; nor has the calling lost any of these exalted characteristics in the present day. The farmers of to-day are the most patriotic, honor- able, and upright class of our citizens. They keep fully abreast of every wave of modern improvement, they scorn with righteous indignation the untruthful WHA T THE Y ARE 47 picture of their condition, the uncalled-for, inappro- priate, and degrading epithets applied to them and their noble calling. They are, as a class, honorable, prosperous, happy, and contented. They are by far the greatest producers ; and their condition is prob- ably the most satisfactory, in every respect, of any class of our citizens. Worshipful, moral, patriotic, ambi- tious, eager for every form of culture and develop- ment, the most enthusiastic supporters of schools, colleges, and universities, ever replenishing the effete and exhausted life of the cities with their healthy blood, clear intellects, and sound morals. No worthy cause or the flag of our country ever appeals to them in vain. They are the bone and sinew, brain and heart, of our best individual and national life. They comprise one-half of our population and that prob- ably, everything considered, the better half. They possess on an average more culture and develop- ment along many lines of human activity than any other class, not even capitalists excepted. The pic- ture given in the dream never was literally true in any period of historic development. To-day, it has scarcely a semblance of truth in any part of it. The farmers of to-day cannot be recognized in it. The marvelous inventions of the last few decades have largely freed them from the drudgery of much se- vere manual labor, have brought a good market for every product to their very door, and made farming one of the most independent and honorable as well as lucrative of occupations. THE EDUCATORS. But, while the Dreamer is severe to make his point in his treatment of one-half of our citizens, 48 REALITY the farmers, his description of them is lenient and merciful when compared with his denunciation of the noble mothers and women, the religious and moral teachers, the presidents and professors in the colleges and universities and the public schools, and that ines- timable power for good, the modern journalistic press. All this vast army, — generally upright and cultured in physical, mental, and soul force; patri- otic and altruistic; the very yeast of the universe, constantly lifting the race to higher and ever more exalted planes of life, experience, and love, — are all with a stroke of the pen disposed of, cast aside, and hurled into ignominious oblivion, as dishonest, traitorous, absolute slaves, begging at the feet of capitalists for such a maintenance as they may be pleased from their avarice to spare them, to sustain their miserable existence. The picture of the farmer is very dark, but no X-ray can discover any relieving shade in the pic- tured villainy of these men and women. According to the Dreamer, very little could be expected from the "unlettered, boorish farmer;" but these men have had the best of scholastic, philosophic, scientif- ic, artistic, and moral training. Some of them even claimed to have been divinely inspired, possessing the choicest culture that earth and heaven can afford. Yet they are guilty of having committed the unpardonable sin against the Good Spirit. They sinned against light and knowledge. They failed miserably ; because, with all their education, culture, and opportunity, they did not discover the foun- dation of civilization, the economic basis of the equal distribution of wealth, and advocate its acceptance by the people. For they were all found opposing this THE EDUCATORS 49 theory during- the transition period, and it is so recorded in Kenloe's Book of the Blmd. They fell down and worshiped the Golden Calf, sold them- selves to capital. They utterly missed the greatest opportunity; and there is more forgiveness for " boorish farmers " and stingy, avaricious capitalists, because they did not sin against such light, culture, and opportunity. It is possible that the length of the dream and the mysterious hypnotic influence had something to do with this greatest of discoveries. It is certain that the Dreamer has not only surpassed all the other dreamers, seers, and prophets, but also all the moralists, inspired and uninspired, all the philos- ophers, scientists, economic writers, and teachers on all subjects since the morning of time, in his discovery of the elixir of national and individual life — the economic basis of the equal distribution of wealth, which, once adopted, he claims insures everlasting national life and perfected ethnological conditions. Whence, asks the reader, comes this infinitely superior wisdom and knowledge of these ethical, social, commercial, and economic conditions of the race ; and is the Dreamer's economical theory of the equal distribution of wealth the panacea of all human woe and suffering; and is it practical in a popular government, resting upon the free will of the people? If so, it is the greatest discovery of all time and of all history, and should be accepted at the earliest possible moment. But a proposition and an undemonstrated theory, which negatives all primal forces of nature and law, the accumulated experiences of history, which nulli- 50 REALITY fies and overthrows and considers as only evil all that has been attained by the constant and hitherto con- sidered successful efforts of the scholars, scientists, philosophers, moralists, artists, and teachers who have made our present the noblest civilization in history, should have a more solid foundation to rest upon than a dream or fancied ideal. It should have its roots in the best soil of human experience and the very best thought of the past and present. The consensus of the world's thought and experience is now overwhelmingly against the proposition and the theory. What is to change this almost universal consensus of opinion, based upon ages of the most careful investigation of these subjects from every possible point of view? In America at least, public opinion, which usually controls, is strongly opposed to paternalism, nation- alization, and the centralization of all the powers of the Government, the sources of production, and of the wealth of the nation. This consensus of opinion is, that the Government has too much power al- ready, granted or assumed. The complaint now is, that its vast political power, through its immense and ever-increasing patronage, corrupts its agents and destroys the free action of the will of the peo- ple. The complaint is just and well founded, the result of over a century's experience. If this be true in the infancy of our nation, what may be ex- pected in its manhood or mature age ? The feeling is bitter against the corrupt political combinations of the agents of the Government in the cities, the State Legislatures, and Congress, and of their monop- olies for passing laws for their own pecuniary and political interests and for the sacrifice and destruc- HIS REMEDY 51 tion of the will of the people. There is most ample ground for this bitter feeling of hostility to the law- makers in the City Council, the State Legislature, and Congress, because of their corrupt practices for their personal pecuniary interests, and for the utter disre- gard oftentimes of the popular will and the political interests of the people. HIS REMEDY. Yet the Dreamer proposes to increase this growing evil by centering in the National Government not only vastly more political power, but also to give it the ownership and control of all the sources of pro- duction in the farms, the mines, the mills; all the seas and rivers and lakes; all channels of traffic, commerce, distribution of products, and travel of the people. With such a vast army of Government officials required to care for and operate all these interests, the corruption, financial frauds, and pecu- lations would be appalling. For the relatively few small corporations, monop- olies, and trusts that now exist, limited in their influence and power by State and national laws, scat- tered as to location and operating along different lines of production and of capital, he proposes to substitute a vast combination, a national monopoly of all the governmental powers of all the States and the nation, all the combined sources of production,- and the capital and wealth of the whole country. He proposes absolute and unlimited political, com- mercial, and financial power, without any check upon the corrupt conduct of this monster monopoly and combine, save the possible loss of a Government position. 52 REALITY This check the people now have in full and free exercise ; but it has proved inadequate to produce official honesty and integrity, and to protect the people from corrupt legislation by their own chosen officials. Bad as the condition now is, his remedy is infinitely worse, and would enlarge and extend the evil a thousandfold. It is claimed that the will of the people and fre- quent elections will protect them from the dishonest and corrupt practices of the officials, and purify the political atmosphere; that the electors, the press, and the formative powers of public opinion will be- come emancipated and independent, not influenced by, or subservient to, private capital and wealth. History and experience do not confirm this assertion. The pathway of the race is strewn with the wrecks of republics, where the liberties of the people were entrusted to their representatives to be exercised through a centralized power only to lose them, and all control of the governmental power which their indifference and want of political sagacity had estab- lished. This proposed, ponderous, all-embracing machine would soon control every interest of the people through its almost numberless officials, without the slightest regard to the wishes of the people ; while the elections, if any were ever held, after the first, would be Mexicanized, a mere farce, and matter of form. Many conscientious electors refuse now to vote, well knowing that the local, district, county, or State political machine will find some way to defeat their candidate and render ineffective their ballots. If this be true, when all the political machines of all the THE GREAT REVOLUTION 53 cities and all the States controlling all the wealth and every source of power and influence are all cen- tralized in one vast combine, called the National Gov- ernment, in full and absolute control of our Re- public, with the interests and powers of the citizens absorbed and submerged into a heartless political despotism, the fate of the Republic is at once apparent. The future historian has only to write, as has been done of the Roman Empire, " Died from too much pov/er centralized in a paternal government." But, in dreams, fundamental principles and his- toric experiences have little potency. The great discoverer and Dreamer rises to the emergency. He is wealthy, at least, in fertile resources to meet every occasion. He proposes to change the desires and strengthen the will of the people by the develop- ment of the altruistic principle, so that even politi- cians will be affected and controlled by it. A great revival is to take place. Just how it is to originate or whence its impelling power, is a little dreamy and uncertain. But, it is only fair to say, it is intimated that the " boorish, unlettered, and uncultured farm- ers " were the first to recognize the discovery, that the basis of all civilization is the economic theory of the equal distribution of wealth. All ordinary and time-honored influences in getting up this re- vival and speeding on the Revolution were ignored. Ministers and teachers of every class had nothing to do with it, except vigorously to oppose it. No subscriptions were taken or hats passed for funds to defray current expenses. The great journal- istic press, the schools, colleges and universities, the almost innumerable benevolent and missionary institutions, although organized on altruistic prin- 1 .> 64 REALITY ciples and for the express purpose of reviving and cultivating brotherly love, had nothing to do with it, save to oppose it with all their power and influence. Yet, coming from nothing and nowhere, it moved into majestic grandeur and irresistible power; until that tremendous wave of altruistic enthusiasm ex- ultantlv rolled over the whole world, submergfinof the entire race like the great flood of Noah, sweep- ing every mountain top, and deluging every lovely plain with brotherly love. For the first time, it is claimed, the dream of Christ as to His Kingdom on Earth was comprehended and explained by the Dreamer. And who could be ex- pected to explain dreams better than a real hundred- year dreamer? The true doctrine of the Golden Rule, and the functions which love and acceptable service render the Creator by the exercise of fraternal love to His children, was for the first time correctly understood and practically applied. This true in- terpretation of Christ's dream and the doctrine of brotherly love, claimed as entirely new, fresh, and original, was universally accepted at once with great joy and unexampled enthusiasm by the suffer- ing masses the world over. No such religious fer- vor and acclamations of joy had ever been manifested and heard, since the Jews received their Messiah with shouts of " Hosanna to the Son of David" in the palm-strewn streets of old Jerusalem. All men of every nation, tongue, and clime were saluting and ofreeting each other with the most enthusiastic ex- pressions of joy and brotherly love. Hallelujahs, Selahs, and Amens echo and reecho round the globe with more regularity, triumphant tone and speed, than did the roll of the British drum in the old times EFFECT OF THE REVIVAL 56 of former wickedness, inexpressible poverty, and misery. The Czar of Russia hastened to break his sword ; to declare that he was no longer a heartless despot but a living, loving brother, and would never go to war again but would embrace the whole East and as much of China as he could encompass; while all his subjects drank too freely of vodka, amid the joyous acclaim of the silvery bells of all his vast em- pire ; and the priests gave thanks in Greek to God and the Czar, the father of their venerable church. John Bull hesitated for a brief time ; but fearing the Czar might obtain an advantage in the exercise of this newborn fraternal love hastened to Egypt, to Africa, to China and India to embrace every- thing in sight, followed the line of the continuous roll of his drum around the world, embraced every- body and everything not previously embraced by the head of some great Christian power. The Queen was able to do but little in the active manifestations; but the Prince of Wales, as usual, did a vast deal of embracing all through the British Isles, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, while every official and soldier and citizen of the British Empire was telegraphed to do his whole duty in famine- stricken India. The Kaiser and all the crowned heads of Europe, soon convinced that it was the right thing to do, cheer- fully gave away their robes of royalty to some pass- ing tramps, disbanded their armies, sunk the noble war-ships of the navy, and were last seen taking a schooner of beer preparatory to going to work as farmers under the new era at $45.00 a month. The greatest joy and exultation was everywhere -j6 reality manifested throughout the animate world, nay, even the stars ceased to move in their courses. The music of the spheres was unheard. Those with good eyes thought they saw the battlements of heaven covered with bright angels and celestial spirits, when the unspeakable Turk, the Sick Man of the East, the Sultan, emerged from his harem and informed the houris of his joy that he too was going to embrace the warriors of Greece and the treacherous Armen- ians. It was a mighty effort; but the tremendous wave of enthusiastic brotherly love had completely cleansed the Sultan's heart from centuries of Greek and Armenian blood, renewed his wasting energies; and, when he had embraced the Archbishop of the Armenian Church and hundreds of their leading men, he was last seen sobbing on the bosom of the King of Greece, trying to have him accept as a token of his brotherly love and affection fifty millions of good bonds, guaranteed by John Bull and the Kaiser, as an indemnity for expenses in the last war. At this time the reporter left the scene to revise his notes for the morning's first edition of the Chronicle of the New Era. This is the sublime climax of the hundred-year dream — the result of the great revival and the tre- mendous wave of enthusiastic brotherly love. It is thrilling, inspiring, and sublime ; but the sad- dest part of it all is, — it is only a dream. CHARACTER AND CULTURE THE BASIS OF CIVILIZATION ^'■Know ye not that they wJiich ru?i in a race run all, . hit one receiveth the prize ? So run, that ye may obtain. " — I. Cor. ix., 24. The Dreamer in Equality has not found, nor does his wonderful dream suggest, an antidote for all the ills and sufferings of the human race. His economic basis — the equal distribution of wealth — does not reach and satisfy the necessities of life. It is not a new theory ; it is but an incident in the race development, and not the primal cause of its success or failure. It carries with it probably more evil than it remedies, while its advantages are few and limited, confined to the energies of the race along only one line of development, and that far from all- embracing; it is basilar and most unnobling, utterly impractical, contrary to natural law — a dream of idealists. Its claimed results are magnified a thou- sandfold by a hypnotized imagination ; a pin point developed into a mountain. If there is any comprehensive basis of human ac- tion that can account for the civilization of the race, it is the character or culture existing in and arising from the education of the whole man, intellectual, moral, and spiritual. This, embracing the freedom of will, the intellectual and moral forces, and their normal development, makes the character and th-.- 58 REALITY man independent entirely of the question of simple maintenance. The culture of these forces in the individual, community, or race, always has and al- ways will dominate all other minor forces that may aid in individual and race development. Mainte- nance is a very minor incident in the development of these forces; and occupies relatively only a very small fraction of time and effort, when compared with what is necessary for the development of these primal forces in the perfected man and race. In every great race in history, a combination of these forces has ever been triumphant and must ever be regnant; because always controlling all other forces — as a general proposition — that tend to build up or destroy the world's civilization at any period in its history. No one ever asks, what amount of labor or its product — wealth — it took to build the pyramids. Only what they were built for — what was the inspir- ing motive, what the life thought, projected into their marvelous structure? Modern scholastic re- search has utterly failed to discern the purpose of their erection. It was the grand conception of mas- ter minds in science, architecture, and sentient knowledge, controlled by almost omnipotent power, never since equalled, that produced those silent in- terpreters and unrivaled monuments of a civilization, w^hose greatness they can only measure, and which would have utterly perished from the knowledge of men without them. Money, capital, wealth, or any industrial system was not the basis of their structure or the civilization they represent. There was a scientific thought, a conception of strength and beauty, a sentient knowledge of eternity and how to THE ETHNOLOGY OF THE HEBREWS 59- obtain it, utterly foreign to wealth and all material- ism, and as far removed from and above these, as are their originators and makers from the present race of architects and builders. The Greek civilization, undoubtedly the noblest in artistic, intellectual, and perhaps spiritual attain- ment, was achieved from and through the develop- ment of these forces. Its scholarship, its philosophic and poetic triumphs were inspired by conscious love of strength and beauty existing within the Greek heart, and not by any industrial system based upon the idea of financial equality. In fact, they despised wealth and its pursuits; and sought only the develop- ment of sentient life in physical, aesthetic, intel- lectual, and spiritual development. Again, that most wonderful race, the Hebrews, — whose early history is filled with poets of the lofti- est inspiration and sweetest song, seers of keenest vision, prophets who could ken the future with unerring certainty, and philosophers who claimed intimacy with the fountain head of all philosophy, — reached a civilization which embodied the noblest ethnological conceptions and perhaps the best pa- triotic national spirit ever manifested and formulated into national life and politics. And yet their civili- zation was not based upon any economical system ; nor was wealth, or its production, a primary consid- eration among them. Their personal and national relations to their conceived Maker and to each other, in their intellectual, religious, and social life, were of transcendent importance, as compared with their industrial or commercial life. Contact with the world in the succeeding ages has given them the reputation of being too much interested in the ques- «0 REALITY tions of producing and accumulating wealth, without sufficient regard to the methods employed. Yet the fact remains that, under the greatest temptations at times to depart from the lofty ideals of their early historical teachers and leaders, they have kept themselves a distinct race; and have through the centuries refused steadfastly to intermarry with the Gentiles or barbarians, go after other gods, or lower their high ideals to be reached in individual and national life. The Roman Empire is perhaps the most con- spicuous monument of power in the world's history, where the greatness was due almost entirely to the development of the nobler and more exalted powers of man. Its preeminence was reached through the full-orbed culture of its great men. In the better days of that mighty people, their sociology left lit- tle to be desired beyond what was incorporated into their national, and was experienced in the daily, life of the citizens. Her system of jurisprudence, prob- ably copied largely from the Greeks, has ever been the admiration of the statesman and the study of the scholar. Every possible fruit of the intellect be- longed to her scholars. Her theologians and religious teachers were perhaps as thoroughly versed in all psychological knowledge and experience as any be- fore or since. The sensuous, chaste, and powerful monuments of her art and sculpture have ever awakened and quickened into new life every one so fortunate as to behold them. Her literary attain- ments, prose, poetry, scientific research, and philo- sophical inquiry, have seldom if ever been equalled or surpassed ; while the lofty consensus of her citi- :zens wrought out and made effective a political or THE ROMAN CULTURE Gl governmental polity, which subdued and dominated the then known world. All this, and vastly more, was achieved through the development of the better life forces of the people, evolved on constantly more exalted planes of experience, and without any economic basis of equality of wealth. In fact, in the better days of the Republic the power of private capital, or accumulated wealth, was only known and felt as an auxiliary force to be used always as a willing servant, and never as a dictatorial master. It was used only for sustaining her vast armies and fleets that covered every land and sea; for the extension of her commerce and trade ; for the conducting of her vast governmental enterprises, and the establish- ing of her libraries ; for the creation of her splendid monuments of art and science which ever spoke to, aroused, and inspired her citizens to a better life and a more perfected humanity. All this was wrought by the will and the free choice of her noble citizenship. High ideals along the lines of human activity were incorporated into and made realities in the thought, life, and enjoy- ment of the people. It was the condemnation of this lofty, sentient life of the people that made Rome forever the synonym of centralized power. Wealth did not conceive, originate, or perfect this mighty empire, nor in its days of glorious achievement did it have any potent voice in deciding its destinies. The lives of her subjects found happy and joyous expression in her vast enterprises of commerce and trade, in the justice of her laws, in the invincible valor of her soldiers and sailors, in the thousands of battles where the numbers of the opposing forces were seldom ever considered, in the high character <62 REALITY of her citizens, in the brilliant achievements of her statesmen, her scholars, artists, and poets. All this touched the sentient life of the people, and their will voiced the destinies of the Empire. But in the passing centuries the principle of central- ized power was carried too far. Every force tended to increase its power, while the voice of the throb- bing life of the citizens grew weaker and less potent in national affairs. Rome became paternalized and centralized; it was this, chiefly, that destroyed the Roman Empire. Individuality was submerged in centralized, national power. Wealth and consequent luxury did their part ; but it was only a secondary part, an indirect auxiliary force which possibly accelerated her decay and de- struction as a first class power in the world. It was, therefore, the culture of her citizens that originated, erected, and maintained the Roman Em- pire and all it stands for and represents in its history and achievements. The life of man consists in what he makes of it through his seeing, feeling, thinking, acting, and enjoying what there is in it for his sensuous experi- ence. The world is full of beauty for the eye, of the grandest music for the ear, of most soul-thrilling manifestations of thought to arouse, interest, and satisfy his intellectual aspirations, and of every shade of moral, ethnological, and spiritual manifesta- tions for those who will patiently and reverently seek them from their great Author. But the economic basis of industrial systems, the production and accumulation of wealth, has very little to do with all of these most thrilling soul- experiences, that enter into, enlighten, and transform WHAT IS LIFE 63 every life, and that dominate human activities. Wealth, money, and financial systems have no soul, no conscience, no eye to see, ear to hear, reason and judgment to appreciate. They have no sense of beauty or of power. No voice of suffering can touch them, or thrill of joy and beauty arouse them. They are dead, heartless, and cold as stone ; and have just about as much to do with the basis of civiliza- tion as stones, or any other materialistic substance that is devoid of animate life. They never knew the joy of authorship, the Godlike uplift that Newton experienced when he first realized the dis- covery of the law of gravitation ; that filled every chamber of the soul of dear old Shakespeare with constant delight when he had finished the greatest work of uninspired man ; or that satisfied Richard Wagner when he laid down his pen, filled with harmonies and dripping with melodies, when he had finished his marvelous, heaven-ordained, and angel-inspired works, and triumphed over his ene- mies forever. Wealth can be produced and gathered up by men, but it has no power to make men. It is ever inani- mate, and always the creature of law. And what is law but the will of men? The will of man, then, always controls wealth. It can produce it, give it a value, or utterly destroy it. The created is never greater than the creator. If this be so, — and there is no possible escape from it, — culture, which is the con- dition, the character, the what a man or community or state or nation is at any given time, is and ever must be the basis of all civilization among the races of men. What then becomes of the theory that the economic basis, equality of wealth, is the 64 REALITY cause of the perfected condition of the human race one hundred years hence, in the year two thousand? The cause is entirely inadequate to produce such an effect. The law of cause and effect is and must be in full force, since the days of miracles have passed awa}'. This law is a part of the universe, an eternal rule of action, and recognized as such by all evolutionists. It is as fixed and permanent a force in the development of all human activities, as the law of gravitation is in the administration of the forces of nature. The economic basis is entirely inadequate to pro- duce such stupendous claimed results; and more so, because the development of the physical, intellect- ual, and spiritual forces of man does not depend, in any important sense, upon wealth or any industrial theory. In fact the distinguished geniuses of the world have been too poor to cast a respectable shadow. There is, perhaps, but one faculty of our being which feeds upon it ; and that is the faculty or pas- sion of avarice, not at all a necessary function or adjunct to a full-orbed development, but recognized as a deformity of character and a hindrance to the highest and most desirable culture. Growth must ever be along lines fixed by the Creator. Physical culture must be along the lines of muscular exercise. No man ever became an athlete by lying upon his back in the shade, and examining the photographs of the various paraphernalia of a well-equipped gymna- sium, and reading of the proper positions and exer- cises necessary to produce the proper physical de- velopment desired. No musician was ever prepared to be master of his chosen instrument and bring out SOME THINGS WEALTH CANNOT DO 65 its sacred treasures of melody and harmony, by read- ing the program of what is or can be produced when the artist has possession of his instrument. To become the cultured artist, requires long and weary years of laborious effort and deep study in overcom- ing the mysterious relations of the musical tones to each other, the harmony to the melody ; and in study- ing the thought of the author so as to properly com- prehend the theme and to be able sympathetically to bring out the passion, the reverence, the sorrow, and the joy expressed in the theme. Then it takes years of hard practice to master the instrument, and make it ever and always obedient, and instantly re- sponsive to the will. The muscles of the arms, limbs, and fingers must have their proper exercise and special training. The ear must be cultivated to detect the least waver from the pitch, and the eye practiced to read the phrases or page at a glance, while even the touch must not be neglected. It is evident that mere wealth can do nothing whatever along any of these lines of culture. It could only, at best, furnish food and covering for the body, which is an insignificant affair, compared with the intellectual and soul pabulum needed for the development. This is true of every exercise of the body, mind, and soul, and all the great and varied faculties of each. They must grow and develop upon what they feed, in full accord with the inevita- ble law of nature and creation. Great thinkers, philosophers, poets, artists, and full-orbed men and women, do not feed upon bank bills, silver and gold, nor yet on government bonds ; nor can any industrial system aid or assist in any marked degree such a development and culture. 66 REALITY If maintenance, or property necessary for it, is the basis of and is essential to civilization, it certainly cannot be criminal or immoral to seek for and possess it for those who aspire to become civilized and reach the Pisgah peaks of a perfected humanity. Otherwise it were criminal and immoral to grow and develop, — to become cultured; and mere physical existence would be the only normal and moral life for the race. A certain amount of property or wealth is abso- lutely necessary to support mere physical existence. How much, depends upon the environment — the climate, the social relations, the density of the popu- lation, and the spontaneous products of the earth, air, and the waters. One school demands that the Gov- ernment procure this property required for mainte- nance, be it more or less ; while another contends that nobler results are achieved, when each individual is left to develop his own faculties and powers in pro- curing his own maintenance. The Government does not need this discipline — the individual does. It is, perhaps, not so much a question of principle, as the wisest choice and use of methods for the highest good of all. The standard of excellence — the methods and means to obtain it in a community or nation, at least in a free government — must ever be measured by the culture of the individuals com- posing it. This standard, with its inethods and means, will always be found much higher and better where maintenance is earned by each, than where it is provided, given, or bestowed by a paternal govern- ment. The effect is the same as the effort to relieve Trampism by benevolent gifts, which often increase the evil, the dependence, and poverty by weakening the powers and efforts for self-support. THE PRESENT SYSTEM 67 If then that cause be so utterly inadequate for the claimed effects, and the premises wrong, the con- clusion must certainly be fatal to the Dreamer's theory that the perfected civilization of the twentieth century is largely due to his economic theory of equality in wealth. We believe most enthusiastically in the theory of a constantly perfecting humanity, beautifully and plausibly as it has been made to appear a hundred years hence. We believe the condition of the hu- man race will then far transcend the charming pic- ture given us in Equality; but it will take place along lines already drawn, and in full accord with nature's laws, largely as they are now being inter- preted. There will be changes of methods, means, and application, in the use of nature's powers, and possibly the discovery of new and unheard-of laws of nature. It is worthy of notice, that even the Dreamer does not introduce, to accomplish the mighty trans- formation, any new forces of nature or scientific improvement. An increasing knowledge and a proper application of nature's laws will accomplish it all even under the present industrial system in far less time than the Dreamer has fixed, if the rate of progress and human advancement made in the last forty years is continued and improved upon, as may be reasonably expected. The present industrial system of wages, coopera- tion, and profit-sharing is a vast improvement on that of chattel slavery. And it may be reasonably ex- pected that the advancement of the race along other lines will soon check and forever wipe out any in- justice that is now apparent. Fair, just, and honora- 68 REALITY ble wages will be paid for labor given. The rapacity, oppression, avarice, and cruelty of capital will be checked and overcome by the demands of the peo- ple under existing and improved legislation, the use of improved methods and means, made to meet every new condition or emergency that may arise. Just what new methods and means will be used, the condition of the people will always determine ; the culture of the people will usually invent the wisest and best methods and means for growth and develop- ment along all lines of progress demanded for each period of time. His picture is far too highly colored. It is full of half truths and misleading suggestions. The Dreamer is a prince of special pleaders. His colors are the most vivid possible, or the darkest that can be found. He deals entirely with extremes. The contrast is forced to the farthest extent, no matter what laws of nature or art are violated, and even truth itself is not fairly considered. He evidently does not believe with Carlyle when he says, " Lying is not permitted in this universe." Schopenhauer in his palmiest days of anger, sor- row, and hatred of all light, happiness, and joy, was never more pessimistic than the Dreamer in Equal- ity. He presents the picture of woman, of the priesthood and clergy, of the presidents and profes- sors in our colleges, universities, and teachers in our public schools, all of them, with every sense of honor and manhood gone, — the abject slaves of capital; while nine-tenths of the race are actually starving and in the lowest stages of the most abject moral depravity. No, the picture is not true. Our people are the DR. L YMAN BEECHER'S REPL Y 69 freest, most contented, and prosperous people on the face of the earth. They live contentedly in the sunshine ; most of them have peaceful, happy homes and fully believe "God's in his heaven, all's well with the world. ' ' Most of them believe in the reply of old Dr. Lyman Beecher, who when asked how he was getting along in his old age said, " Oh, I am doing a thousand times better than I used to, be- cause I have made up my mind to let God manage his own universe," Some men of great ability — would-be reformers — are so busy with their little muck rakes, raking over the mud and dt'bris of the past, that they fail to see or will not admit the wonderful race progress of the past and the glorious achievements of the pres- ent. Such men cannot or will not see the sunlight of to-day, and enjoy its precious light which would surround them with an environment of joy and beauty. Like Dr. Beecher, in his younger days, they are trying to manage God's beautiful, grand world in their own way, and it is needless to say it cannot be done with their puny muck rakes; hence their efforts are usually miserable failures. To say, in the full view of the magnificent achievements of the race in this closing of the nineteenth century, that the American Government and the rest of the world is a miserable failure, is to deny God's univer- sal and beneficent reign among men. And to say it, is to affirm that He has created a world and a race that He could not control, and from which He has therefore withdrawn His interest and rule. No wonder the grossest pessimism is the result. But Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians has a better conception of the reign of God and the life of 70 REALITY man, when he says: " Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain." Life, to Paul, seems to have been an experience, in which all should strive for the prize — although but one could obtain the honor of leading all the runners, — " So run that ye may obtain." This implies that there is a prize for all runners, for all who make the effort ; and this prize lies in the judgment, the effort, the training of every faculty and power in the contestants, in the exercise and culture that always come from ear- nest efforts for culture and development of every faculty and power called into exercise. The crown for the leader in the race, whether of myrtle, thorn, or laurel, would soon fade, wither, and perish. But the accumulated power obtained by the effort to lead in the race, to live a better, fuller and more noble, joyous life, was the possession of every run- ner, obtained by every racer, and became a perma- nent possession, the increased power to enjoy an enlarged life. LIFE AMONG THE SANDWICH ISLANDERS. If the object of life is contentment, happiness, and the enjoyment that comes from the gratification of the physical man, there have been millions who have reached it without any aid from wealth or industrial systems. In that charmingly written and beauti- fully illustrated book, The Islands of the Pacific, by Rev. James M. Alexander, is described the native inhabitants, their life and its conditions, before they were influenced or affected by foreigners, as well as their theories and civilization. They were mostly of the Polynesian stock, and were remarkable for THE SAND WICH ISLANDERS health, symmetry, and the development of their physique. Those of Samoa and the Tonga Islands seemed to have reached the finest physical develop- ment known to the race. They surpassed even the Spartans of Greece in her days of glorious achieve- ment. The men on these Islands averaged five feet nine and ninety-eight one-hundredths inches in height, and were proportionally developed, while their women were relatively strong in all physical cul- ture. They were almost entirely free from the lead- ing fatal diseases, had pure, rich blood, were healthy and happy. They had none of the gymnastics, Del- sarte, or military culture of modern times, or the hardy Grecian practices for muscular development. They were the children of the sunlight, the air, and the water. They obeyed the simple laws of nature in a natural way, and were content and happy. And yet they had no commerce or trade, no debts or mort- gages to pay, no competition, profit-sharing, cooper- ation, or any economic or industrial system whatever. They made from the grasses and the barks of the trees what clothing they desired, lived on the palm, breadfruit, and tropical products that grew spontane- ously in their favored clime, and upon the products of the sea. Herman Melville, in his Typce, giving a description of his experiences for some five or six months on one of the Marquesas Islands, says he never saw such a happy and contented people. There was scarcely a sick person on the island, and rarely a death, which was usually from old age or some accident. There were among them no doctors, law- yers, or systems of theology, science, or evolution to disturb the serenity of their lives. An occasional landing of a foreign ship, or visit 72 REALITY from some friendly or hostile neighboring tribe, was all that disturbed the peaceful tenor of their exist- ence. This writer doubts very much whether the efforts to civilize them by the missionaries, and for- eign thought and life, was not a positive wrong in- stead of a blessing. They had no money or any sys- tem for using it, and knew nothing of its value or claimed benefits. The Sandwich Islanders were sup- posed by Captain Cook, when he first landed among them, to number at least 300,000. Now, after a century's civilization, they number about 30,000. These children of nature could not stand the ele- vating and destroying forces we call civilization any more than the North American Indians. Their des- tiny, like that of the natives of this continent, will doubtless in another century be the same — absolute extinction. ^Nlight will be accepted as right, and the powerful will extinguish the weak, and the survival of the fittest will again prevail. These South Sea Islanders, and especially the Samoans and the Tongans, were, according to Mr. Alexander's statement, the finest physically devel- oped of the human race; and if the object of life is contentment, happiness, and serenity, they had reached the goal, and that too without any knowledge of how to produce wealth or enjoy it when accumu- lated. The economic basis and an equal distribution of wealth had therefore nothing whatever to do with their happy and contented lives, and it is certainly a serious question whether a civilization that wholly extinguishes the race in a century or two is desir- able for it. The race in which every one runs strengthens not THE DIVINE ESSENCE IN ANIMATE LIFE 73 only the individual powers, but the collective forces of social and national life. The race, too, is run along every line of human thought and activity. This constant effort is a struggle for the promotion of partial truth to pure truth. As Goethe says: " Truth reveals itself in degrees, and we can pro- gress from an incomplete to a more and ever more complete comprehension of truth. Truth is not a thing, not an object which we either have in its entirety, or have not at all. Truth is a matter of spiritual growth, and the development of truth on earth is not more than the progress of the human race." Lessing said, " If God in His right hand held all truth, and in His left hand solely every living aspi- ration after it, yet with the condition of eternal error, and if He gave me the choice, I would, with human- ity, choose the left hand, and say, ' Father, give me this; the pure truth, after all, is for Thee alone.' " Pure truth, then, is God's law of divine life and of all race progress. The development of truthful relations and conditions is ever towards the Godlike. God is a unit and all forces in His universe are ruled and developed in accordance with this universal law. All progress, therefore, is only putting into exercise the divine that exists in every human heart. Our love and admiration for the birds and the beasts is because we see the divine in their creation. Our joy in nature's forces, the mountains, the ocean, the great rivers, the rolling clouds, the sun, and the stars, arises from the fact that they manifest God, superior to any possible conception or production of man. We are in touch, through what we may call a fel- low-feeling or sympathy, with a kindred manifesta- 74 REALITY tion called love, or the divine essence, found in a greater or less degree, as we are able to discern it, throughout all animated life. Many animals mani- fest as strong affection for their young as any moth- er of our race, and will exhibit as much courage and fierceness in their defense. Call it what you will, it answers to our idea of love. It is an affection, a sympathy, an interest in and an admiration for a similar sentiment or experience in our own life. This wonderful power of attraction is found to run through not only all mere animate life, but also all through human life and experience. Pliny thought plants sympathize with each other, and his view is doubtless fully supported by modern science. Henry F. Rubison, in the Mcchanisvi of Sym- pathy, says: "It is an agreement of affections or inclinations or a sameness of natures, which makes persons pleased with one another or with the same subject of thought. . . . We never expect, as we enter the inorganic world, the world of coal and iron, to see manifestations of sympathy; yet the chemist finds here what appears to be warm sym- pathy and enduring affection. Many of the most pleasing experiments in chemistry and physics de- pend upon the apparent fact of sympathy." Dr. Marion Good says: " It exists between atom and atom, and the philosopher calls it attraction. It exists between iron and loadstone, and every one calls it magnetism." So that chemistry and physics present a sportive, poetical way of telling the story of the human heart, its life, its intelligence, its emo- tions. The most acceptable conception of the Creator is that He is omnipotent, infinite, benevolent, and benefi- SCHOPENHA UER'S DECLARA TION 75 cent; that He is love, manifested at all times and throughout all of His creation. No finite intelligence or spiritual conception can even faintly fathom its heights or depths, or trace its workings through this world, much less the universe. The late la- mented Prof. Henry M. Drummond had a noble conception of this idea, when he declared that love was the most potent force in the world. If God is love — and this is revelation and experience — it is both scientific and philosophic that He should be the greatest power operating through and upon His cre- ations. Undoubtedly this has been the experience of many noble souls, and those of most perfect culture in the development of their lives along the paths of time. To many living along the lower planes of develop- ment there may be some truth in Schopenhauer's declaration that ' ' Life is an oscillation between want and ennuiy But such a philosophy is hardly worth investigation, much less a constant practice in life, if for no other reason than that it furnishes no noble incentives for action or enjoyment in life. Life was given for a more exalted purpose, or it is not worth living. The ethics of life are based upon physical, moral, and intellectual endeavor. And while, owing to the limitations of our present individual and race environments, none can hope to reach ultimate truth, the divine form, yet the ideal is not a beyond. As has been well said by another: "It is an imminent presence which can find its incarnation in man, and the ideal ceases to appear as an implacable condem- nation of our shortcomings, as soon as it dominates our entire being. He whose will is determined by this ideal can say of God, ' I and my Father are one.' God is no longer above, but with him." 76 REALITY Culture is therefore but a constant effort to find sympathy, affection, and love itself ; or God operating in all of the universe which He has created and con- trols. This has ever been the trend of all the lead- ers in the upward march of the civilization of the race, along every line of human progress. The world is not left coldly desolate. We are no father- less children left starving and alone upon the deserts of time. The warm divine love of the all-loving Fa- ther penetrates strongly through every life's experi- ence, evidencing a unity of plan and purpose in the creation and in the control of the entire universe ; and it is the unit of the creation, preservation, and control. This ethics of culture has been realized to a greater or less extent by the master minds that have civilized the race in thought and achievement. Menes, Moses, and Confucius in laws, jurisprudence, and governments; Aristotle, Plato, and Aurelius in philosophy; Socrates, Mahomet, and Christ in theol- ogy; Rubens, Angelo, and Raphael in art; Dante, Milton, and Shakespeare in poetry; and Wagner, Bach, and Beethoven in music, were among the great pioneers of our civilization. All modern theology and religious thought came from Christ and Calvary, and are stories of self-denial, sacrifice, and love for all the race — Altruism in its fullest extent, though doubtless all but the atonement theory had been taught by other prior systems of theology. Yet Cal- vary, with all it signifies, stands as the basis of the consensus of religious thought in all civilized nations ; and the same may be said as a general proposition regarding the great leaders, through whose thought has come down to us practically all we possess of civilization along all other great lines of human THE LEADERS IN CIVILIZATION 11 progress. They stand upon the mountain peaks of the earlier beginnings of all modern achievements; and, like vast heliographs, have ever flashed their celestial inspirations from generation to generation, until now the whole world from the mountain top to the most extended plain is flooded with the glory of the highest culture yet known, responding to love, the dominant force in the universe. This glory of a per- fected civilization has been rendered possible only through the culture of the individual along the dominant lines of human action, the will, the judg- ment, the reason, the moral and intellectual forces of the race ; and this culture is the basis of all civiliza- tion, and has very little to do with industrial systems or wealth and its accumulations. It is admitted in Equality that the cause of the industrial Revolution was the growth of intelligence and the diffusion of knowledge among the masses. If this culture was the cause of the Revolution which inaugurated the economic basis of an equal distribution of wealth, then it was the cause of the perfected humanity claimed to exist in the year two thousand by virtue of the acceptance and practice of that system. The culture that preceded this indus- trial system was the admitted cause of it ; therefore our claim is admitted and established that culture is and ever must be the basis of all human progress and civilization. " For liberty man is created; he's free Though fetters around him be clinking. Let the cry of the mob never terrify thee, Nor scorn of the dullard unthinking. Beware of the slave when he breaks from his chain, But fear not the free, who their freedom maintain." — The Open Court, April, 1897. 78 REALITY " And a God too there is, a purpose sublime, Though frail may be human endeavor ; High over the regions of space and of time One idea supreme rules forever: While all things are shifting and tempest-pressed, Yet the spirit pervading the change is at rest." — Schiller.. THE PRESENT INDUSTRIAL SYSTEM The wage system, cooperation, and profit-sharing are the chief methods for producing maintenance, capital, and wealth by means of labor. Innumerable efforts have been made in all civilized countries to find some industrial system or other relation of capi- tal to labor that would ameliorate or become a sub- stitute for the wage system. All other systems have, however, to a greater or less degree, failed; and from the extended experiences of the past it seems destined to remain as long as capital has prof- itable employment for the working man, and as long as the laborer has nothing but his labor to sell. The poor always have existed, and always will exist, from the very nature of the case. The differ- ence of heredity, physical and mental endowments, and culture seems to render this a necessity. If all wealth were equally distributed among the population to-day, to-morrow it would be found practically in the same hands it had been before the distribution. There would be changes, of course. Some foolish rich men of to-day, who could not tell how their wealth came, and who would not have the ability to use or hold it, would find themselves poor men, having lost even their pro rata in the distribution ; and some shrewd poor men would be found to have added to their pro rata of the equal distribution. But prac- tically society would find itself on the morrow, finan- cially, where it had been yesterday, before the equal 80 REALITY distribution of wealth took place. A few relatively would gamble into their possession in one day and night immense fortunes, and many would obtain a full competency. Most conservative people, as now, would retain their pro rata, and add a little to it; while a relatively few of the careless and improvi- dent, would wake up from a restless and unrefresh- ing sleep without a dollar, their pro rata all gone. They would be obliged to beg or sell their labor for a breakfast to commence the new day and the new era of equal distribution of wealth. Lamentable as it may appear, and much as all would desire to change it, it must remain as long as the conditions of life and the capacities of men remain as they now are. Science, culture, law, and love may ameliorate somewhat these relations ; but no very radical change can be effected and wrought into permanent rules of life and action, while the varied capacities, aspira- tions, and desires of the race continue as they are at present, and have been in all the past. Our sympathies are greatly wrought upon by the politicians, the agitators, and the reformers over individual and local suffering, until we are led to believe that the mole hill is a mountain. We so easily forget that there is eternal serenity and sun- shine above all the dark and gloomy clouds floating above and around us. The great majority of the race are living in comparative peace and enjoyment of life and its opportunities, with their reasonable wants fairly supplied. Great as is the combined poverty and suffering in the world, relatively there is far less than one would suppose after reading a morning metropolitan news- paper. They have not a word to say about the hun- OUR NEWS-GATHERERS 81 dreds of thousands of contented people who have peacefully, healthily, and happily slept during the , night ; but with electrical energy they have searched the world over, and display in the most conspicuous headlines every burglary, murder, and suicide that can anywhere be found, minutely describing how the theft was effected, how the murderer overcame his victim, and by what method the suicide departed. In fact they could do little more if their special mission was to instruct the thief how best he could steal, the murderer what weapons are the safest and most certain to finish his victim and leave no traces of the crime, and the suicide what drugs or other means will most effectually, in the briefest time, and with the least pain land him on the other side. The action of the police and the governmental officials is left for further elaboration and display in the even- ing edition. In fact, good, honorable, happy, and joyous life is so common as not to be noticeable, while crime and extreme poverty are so rare, and relatively so infrequent, that it becomes the most startling theme of news. A first-class murder, a suicide, a polygamist with eight wives found, and more shadowed, seem of more importance to most of the newspapers than the passage of the National Tariff Act, or an arbitration treaty with some foreign nation. Would it not be better, nobler, and wiser for these wonderful news-gatherers and educators of public opinion to give us more of the great, the good, the happy and contented, and less of the horrid facts and details of the thief, the murderer, and the sui- cide, by which the young and uninitiated are fully and minutely instructed in all the details of the most horrid, destructive, and successful crimes? 82 REALITY Christ was wiser than Bellamy. He spoke of a fact, while Bellamy dreams. He said, " Ye have the poor always with you," and this statement has heen most emphatically true. It touches a far-rea- soning principle, and the question always is what to do with this poverty. It is a necessity arising from the method of creation, and the varied endowments and different capacities of the individuals that make up the race. It is a potent reality and must be met with something more practical than dreaming the- ories. Since the destruction of chattel slavery, facts and long experience seem to sustain the wage system as the most acceptable, and it has been by far the most general in use. The chief merit of this system is, that its returns to the laborer are fixed in amount, and usually cer- tain at periods agreed upon, while the laborer is in no way responsible for the capital involved or the management of the business. Where there is the confidence and respect that should exist between the employer and employee, as there was in this coun- try before the agitator, reformer, and the politician appeared to ferment discord, little friction existed, and the relations were mutually pleasant and profit- able. The only serious problem in this question is, at times, the unpardonable avarice of the employer and the folly of the laborer — the employer offering the lowest possible wages, and the laborer demand- ing the highest possible price for his services. Between these extremes lies the battle ground of the centuries between capital and labor under the wage system ; this is the despair of the philosopher and the student of economics, and oftentimes the UNIVERSAL SYMPATHY FOR LABORERS 83 •death of philanthropy. In a relatively few cases, where the laborer must work or perish, the employer seems to have the advantage ; for if the price of labor be not satisfactory, he at times can live upon pre- vious accumulations without it. But it must be remembered that the great heart of the people beats strong and warm for the laborer, that he always has the sympathy of the people, and this is well-nigh omnipotent in this country. The generosity and beneficence of the people seldom permit starvation and extensive poverty in civilized communities. This boundless charity can be safely relied upon. It is not so much with individual ex- treme cases we have to deal as with great principles that will prevent and relieve suffering as a rule. The daily laborers and their families, even during strikes, are always cheerfully supported by the beneficence of the people in every emergency. The laws are largely made for the laborer and generally in sym- pathy with him, and capital is thus soon compelled to pay fair wages or retire from the market and from business that requires labor for its support. The extreme cases of severe and protracted conflict between labor and capital, under the wage system, though frequently appearing and greatly exaggerated by a certain class of writers and agitators, are but ripples on the great ocean of commercial transactions between labor and capital. The great army of labor- ers under the wage system have no very serious diffi- culty in obtaining good fair wages and usually all the business will warrant, when left to settle their controversy under the great and universal law of demand and supply, which must ultimately settle all such questions. Arbitration and the courts and an 84 REALITY ever-advancing public opinion and the sanctified common sense which has always characterized the American people will usually meet fairly, justly, and honorably all of these questions. The solution of the labor question and the conflict between capital and labor must always finally be solved through the ballot box, in this country at least. The laborer will, by culture, understand his rights and through combination legally enforce them ; not by strikes, boycotts, and violence, but through legal enactments and the courts. In this he has every advantage numerically, and the active sympathy of all good citizens who are always ready to see that any just claim he may have shall be faithfully and vigorously enforced through the laws and courts of the land. The laborers, as a class, are noble, upright, patriotic, and honorable citizens. They only demand what they think they are honestly entitled to. The difficult problem is to decide just what they are entitled to, and just how much capital shall receive. This ques- tion, demand and supply, arbitration and the courts, are ever open and ready to settle. Labor ought to be satisfied with this forum, as it has the votes to elect the legislatures and make its own laws — the votes to elect the officials to execute the laws and compel their enforcement. This being so, why resort to violence, strikes, lockouts, and boycotts, and thus lose the sympathy of public opinion, which is unquestionably with labor and against capital, yet is more strongly, if possible, opposed to all violence, Socialism, and Anarchy? In the system of cooperation the laborer has to furnish his own pro rata of labor, of the skill in management, and the capital ; and then he receives THE COOPERATIVE SYSTEM 85 his share of the profits. Capital, skill, and labor are the three factors indispensable in the cooperative effort. The capital may be borrowed for a promis- ing venture, and the labor always found ; but the executive skill is the most difficult to find and the relative value of it always an uncertain element. Most of the cooperative ventures have found it nec- essary to borrow capital, but their weakness usually lies in refusing to employ and adequately pay the skilled executive ability to make the business a profitable one. In France only five per cent of the business ven- tures succeed. Out of lOO business men lo make money, 50 vegetate, and 40 fail entirely. Most fail- ures undoubtedly occur for want of skill and execu- tive ability in the management. Cooperation is popular in certain lines, such as large combinations in dairy districts for the butter and cheese product, and where there is little friction between the em- ployer and employee. In Germany and this country, where large sugar beet interests are involved, large landed interests and their owners and the necessary labor in raising the beets share with the large facto- ries, necessary to convert them into sugar, in the profits of the enterprise. In the profit-sharing system the capital is usually furnished by the management, contracted wages paid for the labor, interest on the capital and expenses and a per cent given labor out of the profits. If there are no profits the laborer has still received his wages, and has no responsibility as to furnishing the capital, skill, and executive ability in the management. The cooperative and profit-sharing systems appeal to the laborer for his active sympathy and good will and 86 REALITY his best efforts to make the business a success, to enhance his share of the profits. But in cooperation he assumes the risk of a diminution or loss of capital and of regular payment of wages, while in the profit-sharing system he risks only the possible loss of his share of the profits. The cooperative enterprise generally proceeds- from laborers and small capitalists, or more fre- quently those seeking salaried positions as experts in managing such enterprises. The profit-sharing sys- tem proceeds generally from capitalists who have had trouble with their labor and desire to conciliate the laborers, or from charitable and humane motives and a desire to share the profits with the labor that aided in its production. On the whole, the advantage to the laborer is with the wage system, inasmuch as the laborers cannot usually furnish much capital or the skilled labor and executive ability necessary to conduct the cooper- ative enterprises successfully. And as the profit- sharing system is entirely dependent upon the action of the capitalist, no other system has been found, since the curse was pronounced upon the race and the doors of Eden closed, by which as a whole the laborer has been able to sell his labor with so little anxiety and risk and to receive as much and as prompt pay as by the wage system. There can be no possible suggestion or better advice given to the laborer of to-day than Channing gave. It lies at the very foun- dation, and on it labor can safely build an everlast- ing structure against which capital cannot prevail. CHANNING ON LABOR. Some fifty years since, in a lecture in Boston on. The Elevation of the Working Classes, Channing, a CHANNING ON LABOR 87 noted divine of that day, said: " There is but one elevation for a laborer and for all other men. There are not different kinds of dignity for different orders of men, but one and the same for all. This eleva- tion of the human being consists in the exercise, growth, and energy of the higher principles and powers of his soul. A bird may be shot upwards to the skies by a foreign power, but it rises, in the true sense of the word, only when it spreads its own wings and soars by its own living powers. So a man may be thrust upward into a conspicuous place by out- ward accidents, but he rises only so far as he exerts himself and expands his faculties, and ascends by a free effort to a noble region of thought and action. Such is the elevation I desire for the laborer, and I desire no other. This elevation is, indeed, to be aided by an improvement in his outward condition, and in turn it greatly improves his outward lot ; and thus connected, outward good is real and great ; but supposing it to exist in separation from inward growth and life, it would be nothing worth, nor would I raise a finger to promote it." The almost universal unrest that characterizes this age is due not so much to unjust conditions of the industrial systems prevalent and inequitable relations of capital and labor, as these are the result of long experience, world-wide study and investigation, and are the best it has been possible to obtain. It is due rather to the electric atmosphere which pervades all our individual and race life. We talk with electric flashes, do business and travel by steam, compressed air, and electricity. The key of life's music is pitched too high for the slow processes of labor and the ordinary duties of life. The difficulty 88 REALITY is greatly enhanced by continuous efforts to change to an electric basis great fundamental principles that move on a different plane and by their own in- herent power. Competition, demand and supply, and the relations of labor and capital cannot be regulated by electric currents. There is a certain class of writers, publishers, and agitators whose business and profits depend upon the constant agitation of these questions, and whose interest in them is of a pecuniary nature rather than sympathy and benevolence to the laborer. These questions will find their best solution through the culture of all interested in them, a wise use of the ballot, the enactment of just and equitable laws, and the vigorous enforcement of them. " There is no knowledge that is not power." — Emerson. HOW LABORERS INVEST THEIR SURPLUS EARNINGS. "■He is 7iot rich that hath much, but he that hath enough ; nor he indige7it that hath little, but he that craveth more; for we are 7iot rich or poor, Jiappy or unhappy, honorable or mean, so much according to the proportion of that which we possess, as that of which we desire." — William Penn. It is an important fact that large amounts of cor- porate wealth of this country are held and owned by workingfmen, the wag-e-earners and bread-winners of our land. Real paupers never have the means to invest in corporate wealth. The vast accumulations of the Building and Loan Associations are the sav- ings of the laborers. The Savings Banks, with their ever-increasing funds, are almost entirely the accu- mulated wealth of the working classes. In New England, 63 per cent of the depositors are laborers. The banks of deposit. State and National, LABORERS INVEST IN STOCKS 89 are largely represented in their stocks and dividends by the savings of the small capitalists and laborers. These have learned that accumulated wealth is not always an evil, and that these corporations are usual- ly managed by the best financial skill and integrity. If for no other reason, pure selfishness would compel a wise conduct of their affairs in full accord with the best established principles of finance, that the larg- est dividends be distributed among their stockhold- ers, and that the confidence of the business public be secured and retained. G. W. Steevens, who has seen something of Amer- ica, its resources and life, through the keen vision of a foreigner, and who has very cleverly given his impressions in his entertaining and instructive book, The Land of the Dollar, says : " No doubt the Ameri- can has his veneration for the dollar, but it is not so much the dollar he worships as the ability to obtain it." This is a fair criticism. Success in financial matters is fully appreciated ; and the usually wise, conservative, and successful management of these institutions has inspired the confidence of the thinking laborers of America to invest their surplus earnings in the stocks of these, and many similar institutions. Not only is this true of banks and Building and Loan Associations, but with a class of corporations, the management of which has not escaped severe, and oftentimes merited, criticism. The immense railroad companies have sold large amounts of their stocks and bonds to the toiling masses, who have readily invested their small capital in these powerful organ- izations, believing that they have a right legally and morally to exist, and that generally they are k'A 90 REALITY fairly and honorably managed, and as a whole are an inestimable blessing to this country. According to a recent report, there were over fifty thousand holders of the one hundred and seventy millions of the stock of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, showing that a large amount of its stock is in the hands of small capitalists, laborers, teachers, clerks, professional men, and those of limited means. This great railroad is not an exception, but this is, to the greater or less extent, true of many of the leading railroad companies of our country. In fact, though not always to the same extent, the capital stock of many of the large corporations, whose business is general and touches often the inter- ests of the people, is wisely divided in small amounts among the masses, that the dividends may be dis- tributed and enlist the sympathy and active support of as many of the people as possible. The Illinois Central Railroad Company permits its employees, who may desire, to purchase their stock with the surplus of their accumulated wages ; to set aside such a per cent of their wages as they may wish to invest, receiving the same rate of interest thereon as that which the stock bears, until they have a sufficient amount, when the stock of the company is issued to them ; and thus the wage- earner, the laborer, and the employee becomes a full-fledged stockholder, capitalist, and on the di- rect route to become a millionaire and railroad king. This could not occur unless the corporation, whose stock is eagerly sought after by discriminating capi- talists, was disposed to give its employees the best possible opportunity to enjoy all profits and LABORERS' OTHER INVESTMENTS 91 advantages of the corporation, which their labor aids to make desirable dividends. This same principle prevails in many of the mills, factories, and mines all over the land. Intelligent labor can and does constantly find an abundance of such opportunities for safe and profit- able investment, where its hard-earned wages will have the very best of special skill and financial ability to make it the most safe and productive. The investor of his surplus wages thus becomes a partner in the business, and often a prominent offi- cial in the management. But one step further and he is wealthy, becomes a plutocrat, and according to the Dreamer hostile to his fellow workmen and an enemy to the human race. Oftentimes the agitators' and reformers' wonder- ful interest in the laborer is not as great as their avaricious desire for a few shares of the stock of the corporation they so constantly and fiercely denounce. A few shares of stock have been known to chill most effectually their deep sympathy and brotherly inter- est in the toiling masses, and to silence forever their complaints against corporate power and its evil effects upon labor. " They serve God well who serve His creatures." — Mrs. Norton. Is?; SOME REAL STATISTICS FOR DREAMERS AND PESSIMISTS THE SAVINGS BANKS. In a most remarkable series of articles on Progress of the United States in the North American Review , May, June, July, August, and September, 1897, Mr. M. G. Mulhall, F.S.S., gives the following statements and tables for the year 1 894 : Discounts. Dollars States. Mtllzons Dollars. Population, per Head, New England 554 5,000,000 iii Middle 1050 15,000,000 70 South 220 20,000,000 II West 1026 29,000,000 35 2850 69,000,000 41 He says: " New England stands for one-fifth of the banking power of the Union, although her popu- lation is only one-fourteenth; that is to say, each New Englander represents in banking matters as much as three ordinary American citizens. The savings banks returns afford eloquent proof of the industrious and thrifty habits of the people. New England counting 2,082,000 depositors, equal to 42 per cent of the population as compared with 22 per cent in Great Britain. The amount of de- posits compares with the same in European countries thus : ^4 REALITY Dollars Millions Dollars. per Inhabitant. New England 755 151 Great Britain 648 18 Prussia S50 27 France 754 19 "At least two-thirds of the depositors evidently be- long to the working classes, since the number of the former is equal to 63 per cent of the adult popula- tion, male and female ; hence we may conclude that the toiling millions are much better off in New Eng- land than in Europe." .... In 1890, the National Banks transacted 70 per cent, other banks 30 per cent of the total discounts. On this basis the discounts of the several States in 1894 would be as follows (as we have only returns for the National Banks in that year), and the sub- joined table also shows the amount of savings banks deposits in 1 894 : Millions Dollars. Dollars per Inhabitant. Discounts. Deposits, Discounts. Deposits, Savings Banks. Savings Banks. Maine 30 53 46 81 New Hampshire 16 71 41 186 Vermont. . . . iS 28 54 84 Rhode Island .51 69 146 J98 Connecticut . . 65 134 87 176 Massachusetts . 374 400 166 178 New England . 554 755 iii 151 He says of manufactures: " This is by far the most important of all New England industries, and shows a rapid increase in each decennial period, the value of output having quintupled since 1850, viz. : Millions Dollars. Product. Wages. 1850 283 77 J890 1499 415 NEW ENGLAND 95 " The magnitude of this industry is such that, rela- tive to population, no European country rivals New England in her manufactures, as the following table shows : nr-ii- T^ r, DoZ/ars MtUwns Dollars. Poptdation. per Inhabitant. New England . . . 1499 4.700,000 319 Great Britain . . , 4022 35,100,000 115 France 2860 38,500,000 74 Germany 3310 52,200,000 63 Belgium 566 6,400,000 88 " The ratio that corresponds to New England is three times that of Great Britain, four times that of France, five times that of Germany. The relative progress, moreover, has been much greater in New England than in Great Britain, viz. : Millions Dollars. Dollars per Capita. 1850 1890 1850 1890 New England ... 283 1499 "^ "^ Great Britain . . . 2285 4022 m uj " British manufactures have done little more than keep pace with population, while those of New Eng- land show a ratio per inhabitant three times as great as in 1850. Massachusetts stands for 60 per cent of the total and Connecticut comes second, but with reference to population Rhode Island shows a higher ratio of manufactures per inhabitant than either of the preceding States." .... When we observe that New England turns out more boots and shoes than Great Britain, France, or Germany, it is easy to understand the marvelous development of manufactures in this part of the New World. Nor is it less satisfactory to see that the wages of operatives have risen in higher ratio than the output. The number of hands employed was 3 1 3,000 96 REALITY in 1850 and 885,000 in 1890. The ratios of product and of wages were therefore as follows : Dollars per Operative. ^Increase per cent. 1850 1890 Product 903 1694 87 Wages 246 469 91 Wages averaged in 1890, per week, exactly $9.00, the average throughout the United States having been $9.30. These rates are much higher than those in Europe ; and as the cost of food is less, the New England operative is in a much better position than factory hands in Great Britain, France, or Germany. THE MIDDLE STATES. In the Middle States the population in 1897 was 16,020,000, an increase of 150 per cent, almost double the rate of progress in New England, but far less than the average for the Union, which has been 212 per cent in that time. The progress in manufactures has been much more rapid than in New England, the output having multiplied eightfold, and the sum paid for wages ninefold since 1850, viz.: Mtlliotts Dollars. Output. Wages. 1850 470 loi 1890 3648 937 The manufactures in these Middle States exceed in value those of France or Germany, and fall only 5 per cent below those of Great Britain. Dividing the value among the population, they give an aver- age of $253.00 per inhabitant, as compared with $110.00 in Great Britain and $75.00 in France. There is, in fact, no country in the world where the THE MIDDLE STATES 97 output of manufactures shows so high a ratio to popu- lation as in the Middle States, except New Eng- land. Comparing the census returns of 1890 with those of 1850, we see that the rise in wages has sur- passed that in value produced. The number of oper- atives in 1850 was 418,000 and in 1890 it was 1,810,- 000, the ratio corresponding to each being therefore as follows: Dollars per Operative. Increase per cent. 1850 1890 Product 1120 2017 80 Wages 240 517 115 This shows that the workman now receives a larger share of the profit resulting from manufac- tures than he did fifty years ago. Wages in 1890 averaged $9.94 per week, or ten per cent more than in New England, the difference perhaps being accounted for by the higher cost of living in the Middle States. How much faster the manufactures have grown than the population is shown from the fact that in 1850 they were 470 millions of dollars, and in 1890, 3,648 millions of dollars; in 1850, per inhabitant, $71.00, and in 1890, $258.00. For the reason already given respecting New Eng- land that the discounts of the National Banks are 70 per cent of the total, the sum for the Middle States will be 1, 197 millions, equal to §77.00 per inhabitant, as compared with $1 1 i.oo in New England. In this business of banking, Massachusetts is relatively ahead of New York, viz. : Discotctits. Millions Dollars. Dollars per Inhabitant. New York 688 106 Massachusetts 373 166 98 REALITY In like manner the savings banks deposits average $99,00 per inhabitant in New York, and $178.00 in Massachusetts. The six Middle States give an average of $660.00 of house property per inhabitant, which is double the ratio found in Great Britain, and hence it may be affirmed that the people of these States are, on the whole, the best-housed community in the world. The accumulation of wealth during the forty years averaged $38.50 per inhabitant. The average wealth per inhabitant has almost quadrupled in forty years, a marvelous proof of the progress of these States, unparalleled in Europe ; for McCulloch lays it down that only prosperous nations can double their wealth in that interval. The accumulation in the Middle States per inhabitant has been $10.20 per annum higher than in New England, and exactly double the average accumulation yearly in Great Britain in the interval of i860- 1895. Agricultural wealth forms only 1 5 per cent of the total in the Middle States, whereas it is 25 per cent in the whole Union. The average of real estate in European states is 46 per cent. In the Middle States of our Union 47 per cent of the total wealth is covered with insurance, while the insured property in the whole United States is 28 per cent of the wealth. These Middle States are equal in area to the United Kingdom of Great Britain, in population to Spain, in manufactures to Germany; their mineral output more than doubles in value that of France; and as regards wealth the single State of New^ York is equal to Belgium and Holland put together. In agriculture they represent 14 per cent of that of the United States, 27 per cent of the wealth, 33 THE PRAIRIE STATES 99 per cent of the mining, 39 per cent of the manu- factures, 44 per cent of the banking, and 55 per cent of the foreign trade of the Union. The aver- age of the six foregoing industries is 35 per cent, while the population is only 22 per cent of that of the Union. Hence two persons in the Middle vStates exercise the same influence in American progress as three persons in the United States generally. THE PRAIRIE STATES. In the above interval of forty years, the rate of increase in the whole Union was 165 per cent for white Americans, and 105 for colored people. The population in 1890 was: Born in Prairie States. Immigrants. Total. Americans (white, including chil- dren of foreign parentage) . . 12,100,000 5,771,000 17,871,000 Negroes 280,000 151,000 431,000 Foreigners .... 4,060.000 4.060,000 Total Population . 12,380,000 9,982,000 22,362,000 The growth of the urban population from 1870 to 1890, in 20 years, was four times as rapid as the rural: the former having risen 210 and the latter only 50 per cent. Foreign settlers are relatively most numerous in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Dakota, where they form one-third of the population. They are lowest in Missouri and Indiana, being under 10 per cent. Of foreign immigrants, 40 per cent are Germans, principally in Illinois, Ohio, and Wisconsin ; Scandi- navians, 18 per cent, chiefly in Minnesota; Irish, 1 1 per cent, mostly in Ohio and Illinois, Canadians 100 REALITY having settled largely in Michigan ; while among some four millions of immigrants from Northern Europe the Latin races are almost unknown, the total French, Italians, Spaniards, and Portuguese being only 60,000. These States produce more than two-thirds of the grain, and possess nearly half of the live stock of the Union. The census returns of the grain crops show as follows: Wheat. Millions Maize. Bushels. Oats. Total. Bushels per Itihabitanf. 1850 . 1870 . 1890 . ■ ■ 44 • • 195 • • 321 222 439 1599 46 178 713 312 812 2633 58 62 118 While the grain crop multiplied eightfold, there was also a prodigious increase in the production of meat, to wit : Beef. Mutton. Pork. Total Tons. 1850 . . . 215,000 77,000 342,000 634,000 1894 . . . 1,092,000 128,000 968,ooo« 2,188,000 In forty years the improved area under farms shows an advance of 157 million acres, equal to 13,000 acres daily. In other words, the new farms laid down and improved between 1850 and 1890 exceeded the total superficial area of the German Empire, Holland, Belgium, and Denmark collectively. There has been nothing like this in the history of mankind, nor is there any part of the world where farming is on so, gigantic a scale, the census of 1890 showing a grain crop equal to three tons per inhabitant, or ten times the European average. It is true that since 1890 the production of grain has declined, the aver- age crops for 1893-94-95 being much less. Never- theless, the production of food is colossal as com- FOOD PRODUCTS ' loi pared with that of Europe, for the Prairie States raise nearly as much grain as France, Germany, and Austria collectively. Iowa, the foremost State in the food product, averaged 500 pounds of meat per in- habitant, her grain crop being larger than that of Italy or Spain, although her population was only two millions. In 1890, these States produced more than 50 per cent of the butter of the Union. The production averaged 23 pounds to each inhabitant, while the consumption in the whole Union averaged only six- teen pounds. The production of eggs was sufficient to give 208 per inhabitant, while the average con- sumption in the whole Union was only 157. The following table will show the acreage culti- vated and the hands employed in 1890: States. Hands. Acres. Acres per Hattd. Eastern 1,100,000 46,500.000 42 Southern .... 3,850,000 103,800.000 27 Western .... 3,370,000 207,300,000 62 U°^°° 8,320,000 357.600,000 43 The following table will show the superiority of the farming in these States compared with other States in the Union and certain European states : ^ ^ ^ Per Hand. Hands Tons. Tons. Gram. Meat. Employed. Grain. Meat. Bushels. Pounds. Prairie States . . 3,060,000 49,700,000 2.190,000 650 1610 Other States. . .5,260,000 23,300,000 2,760,000 177 1170 ^°^°° 8,320,000 73,000.000 4,950,000 352 1340 United Kingdom . 2,530,000 7,500,000 1,100,000 117 970 ^^^°^^ 7.220,000 18,100,000 1,200,000 100 370 Germany . . . .9,350,000 17,100,000 1,520,000 72 360 One hand in the Prairie States raises as much food as five can do in most of the advanced countries of 102 REALITY Europe, and this is evidently due in a great measure to the use of improved agricultural machinery ; for it is a strange fact that the reaping hook is still seen in some parts of England, France, and Germany. The wealth has increased in these States ninefold in forty years, the value of farms in the twelve Prai- rie States in 1890 being equal to the agricultural wealth of the Austrian Empire. We find that dur- ing the forty years the average number of persons engaged in farming, according to census reports, was 1,930,000, the increase in farming wealth having been 7,596 millions of dollars, or 190 millions per annum — that is to say, each farming hand increased the public wealth by $99.00 a year. The census returns of manufactures in 1850 and 1890 showed thus: Millions Dollars. Per Operative Dollars. No. of Operatives. Wages. Product. Wages. Product. 1850 .... HI, 000 30 147 270 1324 1890 .... 1,407,000 672 3161 478 2247 The average product per operative rose 70, and wages 'j'j per cent. These States stand for 60 per cent of flour, 55 per cent of meat, and 50 per cent of the lumber produced in the Union. The mining output was valued at 183 million dollars, or one-third of the Union. Three Prairie farmers possess as much wealth as four French, six Germans, or thirteen Austrians, while their taxes are much lighter and they are free from military service. In 1895 these States possessed 94,300 miles of rail- way, representing an outlay of 4,340 millions or $45,000.00 per mile, being one-fourth less than the averaofe cost of American lines. THE SOUTHERN STATES 103 The length of the railways in these States exceeds the aggregate lines in France, Germany, Russia, and Austria. Each inhabitant of the Prairie States has seven yards of railway, against one yard in France or Germany, and two-thirds of a yard in Europe in general. Discounts in 1895 amounted to 840 million dollars, or $33.00 per inhabitant, against $77.00 in the Mid- dle States; savings banks deposits, $4.00 per inhab- itant, against $151.00 per head in New England. The accumulation of wealth has been very rapid, being in 1890 two and a half times as much as in Great Britain. Wealth in these States has multiplied six- fold in 30 years, whereas in the United Kingdom it only doubles in 50 years. Compared with the Union at large, the Prairie -States stand for 36 per cent of population, 47 per cent of agriculture, 34 per cent of manufactures, 31 per cent of mining, and 39 per cent of wealth; all around, 35 per cent of the great Republic. In many respects they surpass in impor- tance five or six European empires and kingdoms rolled into one, and yet men still living can remem- ber when their population did not exceed that of the Island of Sardinia. THE SOUTHERN STATES. The value of the crops and pastoral products in these States is 26 per cent of that of the Union, which divided among the population averages $50.00 per head against $34.00 in the Middle States and $56.00 for the Union at large, in manufactures the output being $39.00 per inhabitant against $253.00 in the Middle States. The mineral output is two dol- lars per inhabitant, while the average in the whole 104 REALITY Union is $9.00 per head. The trade of these States with foreign countries has doubled in forty years, while that of the Middle States has quadrupled. The discounts in banking- in 1895 in the Southern States was $12.00 per head, while the average in the whole Union was $40.00 per inhabitant. The savings banks deposits averaged about 50 cents per head, as against $52.00 in the Middle States. THE PACIFIC STATES. . Although of such recent formation that most of the Pacific States have sprung into existence since i860, they possess more miles of railway than any European state except France or Germany, and their wealth exceeds that of Sweden, Norway, and Den- mark in the aggregate. The share that falls to these States in making up the great Republic may be ex- pressed as follows: Area, 40 per cent; population, 6 per cent; agriculture, 8 per cent; manufactures, 4 per cent; mining, 25 per cent; wealth, 10 per cent of the total. Wealth has increased in these States ninefold in 20 years, the average annual increase being $156.00 per inhabitant; in the whole Union, $39.00. EDUCATION. The New England States spend 14 million dol- lars yearly in public instruction — say, $3.00 per inhabitant, as compared with $1.30 in Great Britain and 80 cents in France. Ninety-eight per cent of Americans in New England can read and write, the average for Americans in the Union being 94 per cent. In 1893, the Middle States spent the sum of $43,000,000.00 on public schools ; that is, only $4,000,- EDUCATION 105 ooo.oo less than the school expenditure of Great Britain. Ninety-seven per cent of the native-born whites over ten years of age are able to read and write. In the Prairie States the ratio" of instruction is higher than in any other part of the Union, viz. : Per cent of Illiterate. Americans. Foreigners. Total Population. Prairie States 3,4 10.6 5.7 Middle States 2.8 14.5 ^.q New England 1.7 is.i 6.3 In the Prairie States each scholar costs $11.00 yearly, against $15.00 in the Middle States and $17.00 in New England ; while in the Southern States the expenditure on public schools is only 84 cents per inhabitant. In the Pacific States the average attendance of school children in the public schools is 5 i per cent of the number of school age, whereas the attendance for the whole Union is only 46 per cent. The returns of public instruction for 1895 showed the average daily attendance of children and the annual outlay as follows: States. Schoolchildren. Outlay, Dollars. Dollars per Child. Eastern . . 2,520.000 66,500.000 26.40 Southern. .2,790,000 20,400,000 7.30 Prairie . . . 3,610,000 77.900,000 21.40 Pacific . . . 470,000 13,500,000 28.70 Union . . . 9.390,000 178,300,000 19.00 These wonderful, instructive, and significant tables have been compiled from public documents and re- ports of public officials, having in charge the various departments to which they refer, by one of the ablest and most distinguished statisticians, Mr. Mulhall, 106 REALITY of London, England, in his Progress of the United States, and are unquestionably reliable. They are introduced only in part to show somewhat of the vast number of laborers employed in these few depart- ments in which labor is profitably engaged, the wages which were paid in the various States for the class of labor employed, and how their surplus earn- ings are to some extent invested. They show be- yond doubt a constant increase and large advance on the ratio of wages to the product in the wages earned, and an almost constant reduction in the cost of all that the laborer consumes; that nowhere in the world is the laborer so well clothed, housed, fed, and paid as in our own Republic, the average weekly wages paid in the whole Union being $9. 30 during the last 40 years, including the four years of civil war. As to the New England States, where the manufac- tures are by far the greatest industry, no population, relatively, in Europe rivals New England in manu- factures. In New England the Savings Banks are expressly arranged for the savings of the laborers. Almost two-thirds of the depositors belong to the working classes, since they are equal to 63 per cent of the adult population, male and female. Of these 2,082,000 depositors, the average deposit per inhab- itant amounts to $151.00. This is only one method of disposing of the laborers' surplus earnings. In the aggregate, immense sums are invested in local and Western mortgages, national bank stocks, rail- road bonds, mill and factory stocks, and in Building and Loan Associations, which for the last fifteen years have become one of the most popular methods of in- vesting surplus earnings among the working classes. WHA T MULHALL '5 TABLES SHO W 107 The reports are limited and far from complete, but from those extant the local Building and Loan Asso- ciations had assets, in 1895, of over one hundred mil- lion dollars. G. W. Steevens, in his The Land of the Dollar, says: " Philadelphia is a city of homes. Of its 200,000 families it has been estimated that seven- eiofhths live in self-contained homes who elsewhere would live in flats or tenements, and that about three- quarters of these own their own homes in which they live. Philadelphia strikes you as above all things a civilized city — a city where the people sometimes have a little leisure. Elsewhere they do business or seek pleasure; here they live. While this equable prosperity came over the center, there grew up a tract of indistinguishable houses round about it. There are 150,000 of them, and you can no easier tell them apart than peas out of a pod. But in these houses the Philadelphia workman lives and dies; his son lives and dies there after him, and his grandson after his son. The acres of little indistinguishable streets that you wander through unprofitably for hours, are the Savings Banks of the thrifty Philadelphian. Thus, while in New England the workman's surplus wealth is invested in bank and corporation stocks, in Philadelphia it is invested more largely in real estate." The tables of statistics of Mr. Mulhall, from which we have copied largely, using his own language as far as possible in statements, comparisons, and explanations, do not by any means exhaust the ar- ticles written by him. They are a magnificent encyclopedia of statements and statistics, most lumi- nous and interesting to every American, on the prog- 108 REALITY ress of the United States — a whole library in five articles. They should be carefully read and studied by every man, woman, and child of the Republic. No fair-minded man, no good citizen, can read these articles, be he multi-millionaire or proletarian, if he is a patriot, without feeling his heart swell with gratitude and pride at the marvelous progress of this nation in the last forty years. These statements and statistics are the work of a foreigner, probably the world's ablest statistician at the present time ; and therefore must be taken as accurate and reliable. They show beyond dispute that the wages paid to over a billion of American laborers, there con- sidered, average weekly, for forty years, the sum of $9.30; that over 63 per cent of the depositors in the Savings Banks, the rules of which prohibit checking against the deposits on demand, at least in the greatest manufacturing center of the world. New England, are workingmen. According to estimates formulated by bankers the deposits in the Sav- ings Banks for 1897 reached the enormous sum of $1,897,000,000.00. Can it be possible that any American citizen, un- less he were dreaming, could class these laborers as paupers, living in abject moral depravity, when on an average all over the United States the weekly wages paid laborers, for over forty consecutive years, were $9.30? Moreover, these tables show that the ratio of wages paid to the product has constantly in- creased, while the cost of articles of necessary con- sumption has constantly decreased. That the con- dition of the American laborer is vastly superior to that of the toilers of the most advanced of European countries. That these laborers are better housed, IVHA T MULHALVS TABLES SHOW 109 fed, paid, and clothed, and enjoy — many of them — what are called the luxuries of life. Many of them have books, magazines, pictures, musical instru- ments, the newspapers of the day, are cultured, refined, well-dressed, take their part in all the sociol- ogy of their community, and are as respected, hon- ored, and beloved as any class of our citizens. To class them among the paupers of society, therefore, is not only unfair, utterly unwarranted and cruel, but absolutely untruthful. These tables show beyond cavil or dispute, or the possible chance of either, that the progress of the United States in the era covered by most of these tables, forty years, has been unparalleled in the world's history. That period includes the greatest internecine war in the records of time, of over four years' duration, in which a million of men perished, and untold millions of property were sacrificed and utterly destroyed in the stern arbitrament of war; and in the face, as the Dreamer asserts, of panics, crises, gluts of the market, and an absolute continu- ous series of boycotts and strikes of under-paid and dissatisfied laborers. All this, it must be remembered, has been accom- plished under the present labor system of competi- tion — wages, cooperation, and profit-sharing. But more, these wonderfully luminous and inspir- ing statistics show the almost fabulous sums paid for the education of the rising generation ; probably over two hundred millions of dollars for the year 1897. They show the vast majority of the American people are fairly well satisfied with their form of government, its courts, and the administration of its laws generally ; that they propose to keep working 110 REALITY undersold Glory" on the same lines until some- thing more positive than dreams can be offered as a substitute for our noble Constitution. Gladstone, the foremost of European statesmen, avers that our * ' Constitution is the greatest production of uninspired man," under which we have already reached the grandest results and civilization known to mankind in history. These tables show that the average number, dur- ing the last forty years, according to the census, engaged in farming was 1,930,000, and that the in- crease of farm wealth was 7,596 millions of dollars, a sum that the Dreamer cannot conceive ; or, in other words, an increase of 190 millions per annum. It will take more than one election, indeed the time will never come, when these noble American farmers, who have increased their farming wealth on an average of 190 million dollars a year for forty consecutive years last passed, will turn over their fertile, prosperous, and beautiful farms to be managed by a Social Democracy combine, a paternal govern- ment of politicians, for S45.00 a month, and no se- curity whatever for that, — only the statements of the Dreamer as to what his politicians are expected to do. It is impossible to conceive any class of American people who can be influenced by such a chimerical scheme. Certainly the farmers of this country will never for a moment think of exchang- ing their magnificent, beautiful, and lucrative farms, according to these tables, and their own free, inde- pendent, and absolute control of them, for any $45.00 a month that the Dreamer may have to offer. Can any citizen believe that such a material civili- zation, that the constitution and the laws under OUR GOVERNMENT NOT A FAILURE 111 which it has been achieved, is a total failure and un- worthy of the most cordial support and admiration? " O, wad some pow'r the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us ! It wad frae mony a blunder free us, And foolish notion." — Burns. EVOLUTION — IN LAW ' ' Those who claim intuition of God, have no other reve- lation to make of him than that with which we are all familiar. We deny, in the self-elected light of any tiew phenomena, any superiority of power, any transcendency in virtue, which zve need in explanation! of the alleged addi- tional resources. ^^ Nothing can by any possibility touch the zvor Id of mat- ter, toucJi the world of mind, without encountering their laws, each thing is there for that very purpose." — Bascom, Evolution and Religion. The contention of the self-elected light in Equal- ity is that the laws which have produced our pres- ent civilization are insufficient to accomplish a per- fected moral, ethical, and economic condition in the world ; that our present civilization is a failure, and that the race is degenerating. The fallacy of this position seems apparent when we compare the pres- ent condition of individual and race attainment with any other former period, or with the beginnings of individual or racial experience. The progress has fluctuated ; rising at times like the ocean waves in the whirling storm to mountain heights, and then again sinking into the placid calm of the level sea. Everywhere the world over there has never been an era in which there has been such intense activity and exertion in the individual life, never such un- fki^ 114 REALITY paralleled effort for perfecting every form and power of national government, for the largest possible liber- ty, protection, and enlightenment of their subjects, as at the present time. Never has there been an era, in which there were so many altruistic and purely benevolent organiza- tions, supported by inspired, consecrated leaders and energetic, self-denying workers, controlling and using fabulous amounts of sanctified wealth for the enlightenment of the ignorant, the uplifting of the poor and the toiling masses ; for the renovating and beautifying of the home life, and the banishment of the dark shadows that everywhere envelop the peo- ple; for filling the world with the sunlight of nobler experiences, a more happy and joyous physical, in- tellectual, and spiritual existence than in the closing years of this century. Everywhere, in accordance with the oriental proverb, the effort is to turn water into wine, sadness into mirth, and sorrow into joy. These vast and powerful organizations have already discovered and penetrated nearly every land; and have brought to the light of a better life people ex- isting amid the darkness of ignorance, squalor, and superstition. They have invaded the slums of the over-populated cities, and are relieving in every prac- tical way the misery and suffering of these unfor- tunate people. It is undoubtedly the consensus of opinion of all competent to judge of the phenomena, and is unques- tionably true, that the wave of civilization has now reached a higher point than ever before in the experience of mankind. In the Death Valley in California there are won- derful mirages which addle the brain and twist the THE DEATH VALLEY IMAGE 115 traveler about, until he is completely lost in the sandy waste. He sees nothing clearly at a distance, the dazzling brilliancy of the sun on the long stretches of glittering sand distorting his vision. Fantastic atmospheric pictures are seen, perfect mirages of streams of water, shady nooks, and inviting green hills. These lure the traveler from his path and cause him to walk around in great circles, piloting him one way for a time, and then inviting him in another, until he is utterly lost and miserably per- ishes. When the Dreamer asserts that all civilization is a failure, he must have some Death Valley image be- fore his vision, his brain addled with the poisonous effects of his pessimistic theories of life and the experiences of the race. He must believe in the schoolboy's definition "that a pessimist is a man who is miserable when he is happy." Of the progress of the race there can be no doubt, and that the trend is a constant move to the higher planes of life. Herbert Spencer says: " No matter what the special nature of the evil, it is invariably referable to some generic cause — want of congruity between the faculties and their spheres of action. In virtue of our essential principles of life, this non- adaptation of an organism to its conditions is ever being rectified ; and modification of one or both con- tinues until the adaptation is complete. Whatever possesses vitality, from the elementary cell up to man himself, inclusive, obeys this law." If we believe the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden and of the fall of man, we must also believe that he struck on his feet, for he has made a pro- gressive march ever since without any economical 116 REALITY theory as a basis of action. The first authentic prod- uct was easily distributed when Eve carried the apple to Adam and he ate, and there was the greatest con- sternation, crisis, panic, and glut in the market ever experienced by the race. No further effort was made to distribute the product of the Garden, but a new industrial system was established — that of wages and cooperation ; the eating of the bread by the sweat of the brow. If the same inspired narrative be true, one-third of the male portion of the race was murdered in the very morning of time. No mirage in the Death Valley can obliterate or obscure the fact that at least the male portion of the race has made vast progress since that time in the cultivation and development of brotherly love, nor has the feminine portion of humanity been neglected. The mark of the Creator's displeasure was placed upon the murderer's brow, and the people have been most careful to see that it was stamped upon the murderer ever since. According to Josephus, Cain escaped the death penalty because of his offering, and because he entreated the Lord, and said, " My punishment is greater than I can bear." The Jewish code prepared by Moses, who is supposed to have been inspired for its preparation, demanded that " the land must not be defiled with innocent blood;" and further : ' ' Deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. Thine pye shall not pity him." " Thou shalt stone him with stones." And again : " If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, .... then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring THE JURY SYSTEM 117 him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place ; and they shall say unto the elders of his city, ' This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.' And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die : . . . . and all Israel shall hear, and fear." What a horrible death for such an offense ! And yet our criminal law is largely based upon this code and the moral teachings of this nation. As a whole there has been a vast improvement in the treatment of criminals. The death penalty, and even imprisonment for what are called misdemeanors and felonies, crimes against property and personal rights, have been constantly changed for the better since the Jewish code was in full force and effect. Public sentiment crystallized into law has removed chattel slavery the world over, which until a comparatively recent period crushed in hopeless bondage and misery its countless millions. THE JURY SYSTEM. The jury system, where for all criminal offenses and most civil actions the right exists for every one to be tried by his peers, was a vast improvement upon all previous jurisprudence. It was the poor man's Magna Charta, his ne plus ultra, originating or receiv- ing its first prominent development in the admirable system of Roman laws. The cause was heard, argued, and determined by the assembled people, often to the number of five hundred; and a majority verdict determined the issues. Later, and in modern times, at least twelve of the jury must agree upon the ver- dict in most of our States. 118 REALITY The fundamental theory in the system was, and is, that a man charged with a crime shall in every case have a fair, impartial trial by his peers — those of similar attainments and knowledge of his busi- ness or occupation. This basic principle of absolute equality before the law has been the bulwark of in- dividual liberty in all enlightened nations, and ren- dered civilization possible. No one principle has been so universal in its application, or so potent and beneficent in its results. It generates self-respect, without which there can be no character building and individual development. It ennobles man, appeals powerfully to his ambition and pride of character, to feel that he is fully equal to every other man in his legal relations. It satisfies him to know that all the power of the State is pledged to hear his conten- tion ; to see that justice is done him, that his person, character, reputation, property, and life are fully and fairly protected by the full power of the State and nation. It places all individuals upon the same plane of equality before the law, and it is the only place or method of civil or social polity where this abso- lute equality can be obtained. It breaks down all barriers of caste, class distinctions, sex, and social re- lations; and is the greatest power in the hands of the poor for the preservation of their liberties, and the protection of their personal and property rights against the insidious encroachments of political in- trigue and the scheming audacity of soulless individ- ual and combined wealth. The jury are sworn fairly and impartially to try the issues when the greatest plutocrat, multi-millionaire, and the poorest and most debased proletarian are parties. The juries are usually fairly chosen ; but practically the well-to-do WHOM THE LA WS FA VOR 119 and wealthy evade this patriotic duty, and the juries, at least in this country, are composed of what the Dreamer designates the toiling masses. It is exceed- ingly rare when a man of wealth or large business or professional interests is found upon a jury. The judges are elected in the several States by the same class of voters. The result is that, as far as any prej- udices, sympathy, or self-interest of any class are concerned, every verdict is toward the release of the poor man from the penalties of a breach of the law, or the oppressions of an avaricious creditor. In this country the aldermen in the cities, the legislators in the States, and the members of the National Congress, together with the President, are all elected by the same voters; and a majority elects, with a few minor exceptions. This majority is al- ways composed of what Bellamy calls the toiling masses. All the lawmakers in the land, being elected chiefly by the anti-capitalistic vote and dependent upon it for their offices of influence and power, are usually willing and anxious to incorporate the wishes of their constituents into the law of the land. The trend, therefore, of the laws and the political power is towards and in the interests of the anti-capitalistic voter. The ratio of this movement is always about in proportion to the progress and the culture of these electors. In other words, capital and wealth can have little influence upon the cultured juror and elector in a country where the ballot is free. It therefore follows without question that, in our country's experience as a free people, the laws have generally tended towards the relief and protection of the middle and poorer classes, and against the capi- talist and wealthy classes. The capitalist and wealthy 120 REALITY class, being as is asserted only one-tenth of the popu- lation, is always in a hopeless minority either among the jurors or the electors, whose representatives make the laws of the land and who are entrusted with their enforcement. On the jury, and at every election, the ballot of the humblest citizen counts for just as much as the Astors', Vanderbilts', and Rocke- fellers' of the country. Corporations, though en- dowed by a fiction of law with personality for certain purposes, are never registered or allowed the privi- lege of casting a ballot under the Australian system or any other at a popular election. To assert, then, that the capitalists and the wealthy men of the country, estimated at one-tenth of the voting population, absolutely control the juries and the electors of this country, is to charge such electors with an ignorance, want of appreciation of the ad- vantages of a free government, a depravity and posi- tive crime, that there are no sufficient facts to sustain. It is an uncalled-for insult to the voters of America, to their moral character, their intellectual attainments, and their patriotism. PROGRESS ALONG INDUSTRIAL LINES. Not only has the political polity of the nation been constantly growing more favorable to the political power and interest of the electors, but the same tend- ency is noticeable in a marked degree along all property and industrial lines. The National Government practically donated one hundred and sixty acres of fine land to each of the homeless citizens who were wise enough to accept it and develop it. Laws have been passed in nearly all of the States reducing the legal rate of interest, the THE POWER OF WEALTH 121 income of capital, fully one-half in the last fifty years. The laws exempt a homestead and the working uten- sils of the laborer, the mechanic, and the professional man, and the necessary stock to make a living from the farm, and several hundred dollars of money, fur- niture, pictures, and food, for a time, from seizure and execution for debts. The mechanic has a lien upon every brick laid, while only a limited part of the wages of the wage-earner can be garnisheed in some of the States for the payment of debts. While the eight-hour law and the limiting and forbidding child labor are not necessarily anti-capitalistic, they are most decidedly in the interest of labor. All this and much more has been enacted in favor of the laboring classes and is anti-capitalistic. In most of the States the laws, made by their own sympathetic representatives, throw every possible safeguard around the laborer to help him in obtaining fair wages, frequent and certain payment, and, in many States, wise and safe provisions for the investment and use of the same. The charge that the laws of our land, made by the representatives of labor, are opposed to the laborer and are nullified and overcome by the capitalists and wealth of our land, must fail utterly for the want of adequate proof to sustain the assertion. Wealth and capital are exceedingly powerful, but they are not omnipotent. Their chief power lies in the culture of their possessors, in their intimate knowledge of all business methods of the people with their intellectual capacity and moral stamina, and in the rapidity with which they can ascertain advantageous conditions and concentrate for speedy action. Capital is prescient, cold-blooded, unsym- 122 REALITY pathetic, and exceedingly timid. It often works through invisible or unknown agents, and is at times exceedingly avaricious, cruel, selfish, and despotic. Yet often it is very generous, patriotic, and generally satisfied with fairly reasonable returns on the invest- ments made. Many of its greatest possessors are the most cultured, benevolent, generous, and charitable of our citizens. After all' the Dreamer has said about its evil power and effects, what would the world be but a barren waste, and the people but starving, un- cultured, depraved paupers, without it? And what would the perfected humanity so delightfully pic- tured in Equality be without the small capital of the farmers, the confiscated wealth of the railroads, the mines, the telegraph and telephone systems, the stolen possessions of the private capitalists, and the accumulated wealth of the land ? It is this very ill- gotten wealth that makes so beautiful, grand, and inspiring the perfected life, happiness, and favorable conditions of the people in the year two thousand. It is that which furnishes their maintenance, enables the paternal government to sustain its numerous families, which could not exist in all their splendor without it. There is little danger to society from the influence and power of wealth, where its possessors must necessarily be few in numbers and where the ballot is free and in the hands of intelligent voters. If the voters were all as well cultured as the capitalists, then the danger would be slight and reduced to a minimum. Eugene V. Debs was right for once when he said to the West Virginia miners: " What you men need is more books and less booze." MONOPOLIES, ETC 123 It is claimed by the advocates of Social Democracy that the theory of our Government is not sustained in its political administration. If, with the present jury system and a free ballot, the nine-tenths of the anti-capitalistic voters cannot control the one-tenth of capitalists, a free govern- ment of the people, by the people, and for the people is an impossibility. Nor could a combination of capitalists and politicians, were such a union pos- sible, overcome the vastly more numerous anti-capi- talistic votes. Such a combination is impractical, since the politician must have a majority of the votes of the nine-tenths of the anti-capitalistic vote to be elected, and but a small fraction of the electors are for sale, no matter how much the capitalists may have for investment in votes. At the Presidential election, when Hayes and Tilden were candidates, any sum of money could have been raised for a single electorial vote ; but not one could be found for sale. At times the politician and the- capitalist may here and there succeed; but as a whole, and with the Aus- tralian ballot and wisely conducted primary elections, the facts will sustain the above theory. It all de- pends upon the culture, the courage, the patriotism, and vigilance of the majority of the electors, whether our free Government is to be continued or become the prey of politicians and capitalists. MONOPOLIES, COMBINES, TRUSTS, AND CORPORATIONS. While recognizing to its fullest extent the evil effects and powerful influence of so-called monopo- lies, trusts, combines, and corporations, they are by no means so powerful, unpatriotic, oppressive, and 124 REALITY dangerous to the people and civil liberty as repre- sented in Equality. There has been a vast improvement through the passing centuries along this line since Jacob obtained a monopoly of the ring-streaked, grizzled, and spec- kled cattle over Laban, the Syrian, in the fertile plains of Gilead. History is full of complaints against them, but we have no such monopolies as were granted by the kings and monarchs of the earlier times, when the powers that reigned by divine right or military might granted the exclusive control of the unlimited profits arising from vast commercial transactions. We have nothing like the East India Company, chartered in 1600 by Queen Elizabeth, which con- tinued until 1873, and which had almost exclu- sive right for 273 years to carry on and enjoy the vast commerce of the Indies, whose name even was the synonym for fabulous wealth; or like the Hudson Bay Company, established by Charles the Second in 1670, continuing its vast operations over two cen- turies until 1870, which had similar powers over an almost unlimited territory in Canada and the Northwest. These and other immense franchises were granted by the kings, for distinguished military or political services rendered, as a personal favor or gift to some relative or friend of the ruling power. No matter what changed conditions or march of im- provements, these privileges and powers continued, and once granted were practically irrevocable. We have nothing of the kind. All of our so-called monopolies, corporations, trusts, and combines are the creatures of laws enacted and enforced by the people and their representatives, and are constantly subject MODERN CORPORATIONS LIMITED BY LAW 125 to their control. They are limited by city, State, and national laws made by the citizens affected by them. They are usually limited by the terms of the incor- porating act, are usually local in their operations, and confined to a particular line of business; and they must confine their operations within the scope granted by the empowering legislative enactment. They have no powers whatever except those granted them, and cannot exist except by legislative author- ity. They are absolutely the creatures of the legis- lative act of the city, State, or Congress granting the power, and always are, or should be, subject to their control. They are seldom, if ever, given the exclusive power to conduct their special business ; but are sub- ject to a general law under which any number of similar corporations, monopolies, trusts, and combines may organize and compete with them for whatever profits there may be in their particular line of trade, mining, or commerce. The risk of similar corporations organizing under these general laws and competing for the profits must always be assumed by them. These general laws were wisely made by the people in their own interests, that great advantages might accrue to them by combinations of accumulated wealth and capital. Thus the people anticipated the future by gigantic enterprises for the development of the products of the country, which no one capi- talist could accomplish, and for which the people did not wish directly to tax themselves. These laws are wise and beneficent and have been exceedingly help- ful to the prosperity of the whole country. The only cause for complaint is the deliberate breach of the 126 REALITY laws by selfish and avaricious men managing the cor- porations, and the fierce competition for great and immediate returns which often denies the laborers who are employed to conduct them reasonable wages, and also the indifference of the people in the rigid enforcement of the laws under which they act. There is little danger to be apprehended from this source to the liberties of the people and the national life, as long as the people and the electors are vigi- lant in protecting their interests and careful to en- force the laws of the land. All the power is in the hands of the people, and every such franchise can at once be revoked whenever it can be shown that any of the terms and conditions of the empowering act have not been strictly complied with. Or, if in the operating of the franchises granted it can be shown that they are inimical to the public weal, the powers can be immediately revoked as repugnant to the Constitution. As a dernier resort the electors can tax them out of existence, for the taxing power is always in the hands of the electors. Washington said : " In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it shall be enlightened." When the business becomes unprofitable by rea- son of taxation or any other cause, they will cease to exist or menace the people. They are to a certain extent the result of the speedy development of the vast resources of our country. In due time they will move in their normal spheres of beneficent action, wisely limited and regulated by sufficient laws, for- mulated and vigorously executed by the wisdom, honesty, and intelligence of the people. They have ALL POWER IN THE PEOPLE 127 a very important place and function in the nation's industrial and commercial life. Owing to the mar- velous quickening influence of inventions in our day, they have had a somewhat abnormal growth and development, influence, and power which will soon be checked and held in proper limitations. Thus it will be seen that the absolute control of these creatures of law is directly and always in the hands of the people, and that they are at all times subject to the ballots of the electors. If they break the laws of their incorporation, do anything hostile to the general public welfare, injure any person in his life, liberty or pursuit of happiness, his property or personal rights, they forfeit their right to live, and may be executed by the very legislative power which gave them birth and by the ballots of the electors whom they have injured. If the monopolies, corporations, trusts, and com- bines have injured and are plundering the people, as undoubtedly some of them are, it is because the people and their elected representatives are not cog- nizant of their rights and power, or are too supreme- ly indifferent to protect their rights and exercise their unquestioned prerogatives. In all comparatively new countries, and especially m this age of such rapid inter-communication and transportation, where time and space are practically annihilated by steam, compressed air, and electricity, and where the world is the field of operation, it is not difficult to amass large wealth in a comparatively short time and to accomplish it on a far less per cent of profit on the investment than a quarter of a cen- tury ago. The complaint is that a few, relatively, have 128 REALITY become immensely rich while nine-tenths of the population, the toiling masses, are living in abject poverty. This is but a partial truth ; for, while few have become wealthy, the great mass of the people, nay, probably all, have been greatly benefited by the stimulating of all branches of industrial life and the immense production of wealth which these mighty organizations have caused. By their opening new sources of wealth, operating with the extremes of this country and with every nation and people under the sun, other great branches of industry have been organized and encouraged into a large and active life, and profitable employment given to millions of em- ployees who otherwise must have found little to do or remained in primitive idleness. Our country being comparatively new and unde- veloped, and having relatively little accumulated wealth, it became necessary to borrow from older and wealthier countries, to obtain the vast amounts of capital used in the material development of its unlimited resources. To obtain this, these corpora- tions were compelled to mortgage their properties, franchises, and future anticipated profits. This was usually done by issuing negotiable stocks and bonds that would pass current in the money markets of the world. Often, and usually, their bonds had to be sold at a discount sufficient to tempt capital to invest in them. To meet this and other contingent expenses, more bonds than were required for the actual perfecting and conducting of the business were issued; and usually, it is but fair to say, all bonds, stocks, and other forms of indebtedness were issued that could be floated in the market, thus watering the stock and then endeavoring to make it METHODS OF BORROWING MONEY 129 pay large returns upon the whole issue ; while for the purpose of taxation the valuation was placed as low as possible, and oftentimes returned as a non- paying investment, because the earnings did not pro- duce a large return on the watered stock above expenses. These bonds fluctuated greatly in the money cen- ters, as these great enterprises were more or less suc- cessful ; and created great opportunities for capitalists and the wealth of the nations to speculate in them, as these enterprises became profitable or insolvent. But, according to the Dreamer, only capitalists, plutocrats, and multi-millionaires had any money to invest in bonds, stocks, or any other kind of proper- ty. The " boorish" farmers, the nine-tenths of the toiling masses, having no money to invest in any- thing, and no interest whatever in financial invest- ments, were in no way affected by the profits and losses of these speculators and money kings. According to his assertion these financial transactions were limited entirely to capitalists, wealthy men, bankers, and brokers, the one-tenth of the race. , While the toiling masses were not at all affected by these vast bond and stock speculations, they were benefited beyond any possible computation in the per- manent development of the resources of the country. And while the great majority of the builders of the railroads, the telegraphs, the telephones, the horse and electric car lines, the waterworks, and an almost unlimited amount of permanent public improve- ments, and the men of wealth who furnished the capital, are dead or bankrupt, these exceedingly valu- able, permanent improvements remain for the profit and enjoyment of the people. Moreover, the nine- 130 REALITY tenths of the Dreamer's pauper population had the use of these most valuable means of transportation and rapid communication for the sale of their every product at profitable rates in the best markets of the world, from a cucumber to a blooded horse, and from a quart of beans to a hundred thousand bushels of wheat that the farmers raised, while they furnished facilities for travel in palaces of luxurious splendor over land and water at rates little in excess of cur- rent expenses at home. Wealth, it must ever be remembered, is the prod- uct of labor by some one, somewhere, and at some time. It is therefore entitled, in justice, to the same protection and rewards that labor now claims for itself in producing maintenance, capital, and more wealth. Maintenance, capital, and wealth do not come by prayer, faith, or any hypnotic influence. Only by the most persistent labor, economy, wise and prudent forethought, prodigious energy, and favorable environment can it be accumulated, even in this most favored era of our civilization. The Dreamer asserts that a man cannot honestly be worth a million dollars. Why not? It is easier for a man with the same qualifications and capacities to make ten thousand dollars to-day, than for the Mayflower passengers on the bleak and inhospitable shores of New England to have made ten dollars. It is easier for a man to-day to make one million dollars than for a man of the same capacity at the beginning of this century to have made ten thou- sand dollars. If he was then a merchant, his trade was limited to his own locality. He could turn the products received for his goods but twice or three times a year into cash or other goods, while the mer- MODERN INVENTIONS 131 chant of to-day is behind the times who does not turn his stock into cash or goods a half dozen times in a month. If he had a foreign trade, it took him more months than it now takes days to turn into cash or goods his shipment. The methods of doing business have been so per- fected that the farmer receives the cash for his car load of stock or grain the moment it is aboard the car, and the merchant for his wares the moment they are placed on board the steamer. Modern inventions have entirely changed the con- ditions and relations of every line of business. The dealer in any important line of articles of trade and commerce can transact more business in a day than his grandfather could in a month, and that too grant- ing that the grandfather was much the shrewder man. A great cattle king and dealer in the meat produce in Chicago can, in a few hours, ascertain what flocks and herds are ready for sale the world over; what are the quotations in San Francisco, Honolulu, London, Berlin, Moscow, Calcutta, and Bombay. In a short time he has made his purchases and sales, supplying orders for the Russian Army, the English Navy, the famine-stricken sufferers of India, and the Royal households of Japan and China. He has sold more of the meat produce in a few hours than his grandfather could have sold in a year in the same business ; and made more money, on less than half the per cent of profit, than his grandfather could have made in ten years ; — all this by virtue of modern inventions, which have practically made the whole world accessible and the race one for all business purposes. These men have been in business, some of them, for fifteen or twenty years, and handled 132 REALITY millions of dollars where their ancestors handled ten. To say, then, that no man can honestly be worth a million dollars to-day is an unreasonable and utterly unsupported prejudice against capital. It is too absurd for consideration. It does not fol- low by any means that because a man is worth a million dollars he is a thief and stole it. The hypnot- ic influence on the Dreamer was too powerful, at this point of the dream, and overcame his ordinarily shrewd business sense. Or, perhaps, there was so much in the dream that he forgot just what he did dream on this subject. Either the hypnotic influence or a slip of the memory is the most charitable excuse to offer the reader for such an unwarranted assertion. It is a little singular that while the Dreamer freely admits the inestimable value of inventions in con- tributing to the joyous, happy, healthful, luxurious life of the perfected humanity in the year two thou- sand, he should so strenuously deny the utility of most of these same inventions at the present time. Their influence is to-day past all possible computa- tion in facilitating all kinds of trade and commerce, in relieving millions of weary laborers of a vast amount of manual labor, and affording much pleasure and comfort in travel, and in a thousand ways not conceived by the citizens of this country fifty years ago. He denies that they have been of any benefit to the farmers, and yet a leading metropolitan newspa- per says this morning: " It is estimated that the rise in the price of wheat last week put fifty millions of dollars into the pockets of the farmers, while the gain of six weeks is about one hundred and ten mil- lions of dollars. It is fortunate for the agriculturists COMPETITION 133 that this advance in wheat began before they had sold their crops, so most of it comes direct to them instead of to the middlemen." It is noticeable that this immense sum represents the rise in value on but one farm product in a year, estimated for 1897 at from 575 millions to 600 millions of bushels, and that raised in but a few States, and not the leading farm product ; and especially is it so, when he asserts that the farmers are not capitalists and belong to the toil- ing masses of laborers living in abject poverty. COMPETITION. It is admitted that competition affects labor and the toiling masses of the population only indirectly, when it becomes so fierce in a glutted market that profits can be secured only by reducing the wages of the laborer and the cost of production. If this be true, the toiling masses are but little in- terested in this question, as they are said to care little how much capitalists lose in their contentions be- tween themselves over profitable markets and large gains. But this competition is of vast importance to the nine-tenths, as they are by far the greatest consumers and are vitally interested in the prices of the prod- ucts they must purchase for consumption. That competition does affect the price of the product for the consumers is admitted, when the statement is made that, to save the actual cost in production, at times the wages of the laborer must be reduced. This reduction of the price of all articles of consumption largely offsets, if it does not overcome entirely, the occasional reduction of wages paid. For competition tends constantly to reduce the price of the product to 134 REALITY the consumer to the lowest possible cost of produc- tion, while the rate of wages of the laborer is gen- erally reduced only as a dernier resort. The Standard Oil Company is a good illustration of the benefits of the so-called monopolies to the people. When they organized, crude oils were sell- ing for about double present prices. Now they sell oils carefully refined and graded, to be used on the finest machinery and to oil the axle of the farm wagon, for less than half the price of the crude oil when they commenced business. The people receive almost the entire benefit of this corporation's business. They are reputed to have made large fortunes from their business; but their profits undoubtedly largely come from the specula- tions in their stock and its rise in the markets, caused by wise management of their business, the possession and control of great amounts of capital, and the favorable conditions owing to inventions which give them the whole world for a market. The mass of toiling laborers do not purchase or speculate in their stock. If any pay dear for it, or lose by it, it is the capitalist and not the toiling masses. The public hears of no complaint on the part of their employees. The just inference is that they are well paid and are satisfied. They have not a so-called monopoly of the oil business granted them by law, for the law under which they are incorporated and act is a gen- eral one. Any other company can organize and prosecute the same business. In fact, several com- panies have been, and are now, engaged in the same line of business. But this company has accomplished what the peo- ple so much desire, — furnished them a refined oil for COMPETITION BASED ON SELF-INTEREST 135 less than one-half what they were paying for the crude article before it commenced business. The toiling masses are the ones especially bene- fited by this gain of more than one-half of the price of oils, even while they have no direct interest in the speculations in the stock. Why, therefore, are not these men the people's benefactors? , Competition is the battlefield, the conflict for su- premacy in every line of human effort. There is much to be said for and against it. It rests upon the greatest principle of individual and organized life — that of self-interest, or, in a larger form, self-pres- ervation. It is, therefore, in some form coexistent with the life of the race. No age, nation, or condi- tion of life has been wholly exempt from it. Theo- logians, political economists, scientists, and statesmen have striven in vain to destroy it, to find an adequate substitute for it, or to regulate it by law. It is too pri- mal in its nature, too universal in its application, and too essential in regulating human activities to be ever entirely suppressed or controlled by law or other forces. It is the brake on the wheels of erratic effort, the safety valve which regulates social, pro- fessional, and commercial life. Based largely on self-interest, it has been most active and powerful where the individual has been mo"st free to act, and in nations where the individual influence in commercial life and government polity was most potent. It undoubtedly produces inde- pendence of thought and self-reliant action, quick- ens the perceptions, develops the intellect, gives courage to dare and strength to execute. These are the essential factors necessary to successful individual effort. Hence it is a primal law of progress of almost 136 REALITY universal application. It has been a very potent factor in every important civilization in the world's history. Benjamin Kidd informs us, in Social Evolution, p. 34: " To formulate this as the immutable law of progress since the beginning of life, has been one of the principal results of the biological science of the century. It is the message which pure and abstract biological research has sent to help us with some of the commonest problems of human life." Mr. Kidd says again: "It is an inevitable law of life among the higher forms, that competition and selection must not only always accompany progress, but that it must prevail among every form of life which is not actually retrograding." Some theological writers have designated it as the law of God. Palgrave's Dictionary of Political Econojny asserts that, "It is difficult even to imagine upon what other principle certain complicated transactions of modern trade and industry could be regulated. The difficulty of finding an adequate substitute for it (the motive of self-interest) is an almost invincible ob- stacle in the way of reconstructing society on any but the present individualistic basis." Jevons says, in Scientific Primer, Chap. VII. : " There is no way of deciding what is a fair day's wages outside of competition;" and he might have added, that there is no other way of deciding what is a fair price for any commodity that is for sale. Everything that is for sale is regulated by the law of demand and supply as to the price to be paid, and this is fixed by the competition among the purchasers. It has been the rule of action of all nations distin- guished for the highest grade of civilization and com- COMPETITION BENEFICENT TO ALL 137 mercial effort, and by many considered the chief source of such distinguished preeminence. It seems to be generally admitted that it exists and is most potent among the higher forms of life and the most civilized nations, if not the actual cause of this high- er life and distinguished civilization. If this be true, it cannot be dispensed v/ith. It is necessary to prog- ress and all nobler and higher forms of life and civi- lization, and certainly in a free government where the culture of the individual citizen determines the char- acter, duty, and destiny of the nation. But perhaps its most beneficent and distinguishing characteristic is its absolutely fair treatment of all classes and lines of human effort. It knows no dis- tinctions of race, classes of society, of wealth, capital or labor and poverty, no eras of time or favored na- tions. All time is its opportunity and the race its field of operation. Like the delicate scales in the Egyptian Book of the Dead that weighed the merits and demerits of the departing souls, it ever finds the just equilibrium in the conflicts between the seller and the purchaser, and always tends to a proper adjustment and equalization. It is more conspicuous in the higher forms of life in civilized nations because these always use and involve in their development the energy, the enthu- siasm, the intellectual powers, and the wealth of the people in such nations. The indolent, unenterpris- ing and unaspiring have little occasion for its use, for there are no prizes worthy of competing for among these classes in any community or nation. And yet competition is the friend of every class that has any- thing to buy or sell, and can use its mediatorial power among the poor and unlettered as well as among the 138 REALITY rich and the cultured. It is the laborers' friend, and without it their poverty would be increased. It is the ever-active spirit of competition that maintains the capital which pays the wages of labor. It cheap- ens all commodities of consumption and insures the highest wages. It exists among buyers and sellers, and insures the best possible results under the condi- tions of demand and supply when the sale and pur- chase take place. OPPONENTS OF COMPETITION. Those who are opposed to competition assert that, while it enters into the progress of the world, it is not the only way of making progress; that the spirit of Altruism and self-sacrifice, organization, combina- tion, and cooperation are all great means of progress. No one denies this, yet these are not great funda- mental principles that touch every human activity. They claim that competition is a brutish force and patterns after the animal, while cooperation patterns after the nobler instincts of humanity. Competition, however, does not militate against co- operation. While it may have some influence in furnishing the product, it enters the field usually after cooperation has done its work, made its accumulation ; simply aids it in disposing of its products. Again, it is claimed that competition does not tend to the survival of those most fit to compete in the form of struggle in which the competition takes place, that the State should protect its weakest citi- zens, replace industrial competition by paternal co- operation, and set men free to compete in art, in science, and in learning. Mr. Bryce asserts, in American Commonwealth^ Part IV., Chap. LXXXI. : NOT ALL CAN BE EXPERTS 139- " In no country does one find so many men of emi- nent capacity for business, shrewd, forcible, daring, who are so uninteresting, so intellectually barren, outside of the spheres of their business knowledge." It is claimed that industrial competition produces a survival of the industrial smart with little reference to their morals. The same thing may be said of competition in art, in science, or in any line of special culture. Theologians who compete for the prizes offered by churches are proverbially ignorant of business mat- ters, industrial and commercial life. Musicians sel- dom have any considerable culture outside of the instrument they play or the limited lines of their own compositions. This is equally true of the painter and sculptor; while the scientist, the teacher, and the literary professional are the last men one would inquire of concerning business or commercial life. These objectors forget that life is too short for every citizen to become an expert in every line of human thought and activity ; that the state cannot possibly, even if it would, make all of its citizens experts in every line of human action. History pain- fully demonstrates that there is always a certain " submerged tenth" who have no aspirations to be- come experts in anything that is noble and exalting in character and achievement. They seem to have adopted and to be content with the Chinese ideal of life, — to do as little as possible, and thus achieve perpetual rest at the expense of the state and society. The whole argument against competition aims at the destruction of individualism, the crowning glory and basis of all modern civilization since Luther's 140 REALITY great Reformation. All progress seems to have sprung from or reacted upon individual effort since that time, and this movement has given birth and support to the altruistic spirit that has largely char- acterized all modern civilization. The Socialistic Democracy advocated in Equality asks the Government, or the people through the Government, to support those who cannot or will not support themselves. The people and the Govern- ment have and do constantly aid the deserving poor and unfortunate through many channels of widespread benevolence. The staple argument is that under the Dreamer's Democratic Socialism the people would be the Government and work and manage for them- selves, that every man would then have an oppor- tunity to work. The fact is, the people under the present rcgiuie are the Government, and they now work and manage it ; nor does competition or the Gov- ernment hinder any man who desires to work, but, on the contrary, greatly aids every such laborer, and those who cannot find work are relatively very few. The whole polity of a nation and the primal laws of commercial life cannot be changed for such a minor- ity. In a free country the majority always must rule. The great, all-embracing, stubborn fact still remains that the greatest civilization the world has ever reached has been obtained under the present system ; that competition, while not a panacea for all mis- management and failures in commerce, to say the least, has played an important part in the race cul- ture so far, and that none of its able opponents have even suggested a certain and adequate substitute for it. A great primal principle cannot change lines of LA WS MA Y REG ULA TE COMPE TIT ION 141 natural growth. It does not propose to hold the scales of equilibrium between theologians and hod- carriers, musicians and farmers, painters and me- chanics, who seldom come into competition with each other. But when any of these classes, or any others, bringtheir products into the markets, — whether they be of the muscle, the brain, the heart, or of the aes- thetic culture, — competition is usually the only influ- ence or power that can compel the purchaser to pay a fair price for them. It has always been there for that purpose, and is likely to remain as long as there is anything for the race to buy and sell. It may be regulated and limited by laws and international treaties for limited periods of time and certain prod- ucts, but as a general principle, taken in connection with that other eternal law of demand and supply, no adequate, certain substitute has been afforded or can be found to take its place in the commercial life of the people. The Dreamer's illustration, " The Par- able of the Water Tank," is at once clever, amusing, interesting, and sophistical. This illustration is ex- ceedingly deceptive, in that it omits and does not refer to the most important factor or principle in the whole question or controversy; that is, to the independent choice and free will of the laborer. This is the all-important distinction between free and slave labor. The slave was bound to do his master's will, obey implicitly his commands, and eat and drink what was given him. The free laborer is a party to the contract as to the wages to be paid, the work to be done, the conditions as to the time to be given, and the manner in which the labor is to be performed. He is not compelled to make the con- tract. He is free to do so or not, as his will directs. 142 REALITY The capitalists built a tank with their own labor, or capital, which is the product of labor. They desired the tank filled with water and contracted to pay a pen- ny a bucket to those who were to fill the tank. This, it appears, was a fair price for such labor, as the tank, according to the parable, was filled many times. The tank and the water in it appear to have belonged to the capitalists, to do with as they pleased. There was no direct compulsion, intimidation, or threats on their part. The laborers all exercising the important prerogatives between free labor and slave labor, be- tween free men and slaves, agreed to, and did often, fill the tank for a penny a bucket, and were paid according to their contract. But when they became thirsty and desired water, they were dissatisfied be- cause the capitalists demanded two pennies a bucket, that they might have a profit. This seems a pretty large profit in these days of close margins ; but, if the water was to be retailed a bucket at a time, the ex- pense and time of disposing of their product would be great, and probably leave the capitalists only fair profits on their investments. Doubtless, even in this water-tank transaction, these capitalists were acting under the Golden Rule that, if these laborers had been in their places, they would have accepted five or ten pennies a bucket for water from the tank if the thirst was sufficient to command such a price. Avarice exists among laborers as well as among capitalists. Then again it cannot be inferred, as the parable would lead us to believe, that there were no other tanks of water in existence to quench the laborers' thirst. Nor can it be presumed for a moment that these capitalists had tanked all the water in that whole country. These laborers were free men, and. THE PARABLE OF THE WATER TANK" 143 if Americans, intelligent, thinking men. The ques- tion arises at once in the reader's mind, why did they not take the pennies paid them for filling the tank for the capitalists, and build them a tank of their own, and then have all the water they desired at all times? Or, why did they not go to the source from whence the capitalists procured their water, and drink a full supply? Surely the capitalists did not own all the streams, springs, rivers, lakes, and the clouds the world over; for it is said the rain falls upon the just and the unjust. If these laborers were located where capital was oppressive in its demands for profits, ordinary pru- dence, wisdom, economy, and forethought would have led them to cooperate with the pennies first earned by filling the tank ; to build, and thereafter use and enjoy the water stored in their own tank, or sell it for double the cost of the water to those thirsty about them. It seems that they preferred to trust the capitalists rather than themselves and their fellow- craftsmen. Had they their tank, they would have soon become capitalists themselves, and in full enjoy- ment of all the advantages of the profit system over the wage system. There was no law in existence to prevent this mentioned in the parable, nor to forbid their moving to other localities where the capitalists were fewer and less avaricious. The parable, though very happily chosen, fails to cover the whole question. For, at the same time and over the whole field, capital seldom ever tanks the entire product or controls the whole market. The universal law of demand and supply will meet every emergency, though not always to the satisfac- tion of all interested. 144 REALITY AN ANCIENT MONOPOLY. These capitalists referred to in the tank transaction were generous compared with Joseph, one of the great and good men in early history. It is narrated of him that during the seven years of plenty he purchased, with the king's funds, at the current low rates, all the corn in Egypt and Canaan. He then originated a first- class trust or monopoly, backed by all the capital of the kingdom of Egypt, until storage for the immense accumulations of grain could hardly be found. When the seven years of famine came, the most notable panic and crisis in history, save that in the Garden of Eden, occurred, when it was ascertained that this combine had cornered all the grain in the kingdom. Such a transaction could not occur in these days of electric communication, but according to the inspired narrative it did occur in Egypt and Canaan. The over-production, the glut of the seven years of plenty, had mysteriously disappeared. The crops all failed and the hungry people were compelled to pay to this royal combine panic prices for the necessities of life. This soon took all their money and personal effects ; and, pressed by starvation, they eventually deeded their lands to the combine, and the king had all the capital of the country and all the land. And yet Joseph was a great, good, and shrewd busi- ness man. To the Dreamer he must be unquestioned authority, approved of God, a diviner, and a successful interpreter of dreams. The transaction is endorsed approvingly in the Sacred Book. Verily, the trusts, the combines, and capitalists have some venerable and respected authority for their conduct, even at the present time. ' ' Trade ! is thy heart all dead — all dead, And hast thou nothing but a head ? ' ' VENALITY IN OUR HISTORY 145 CORPORATIONS HAVE ALWAYS EXISTED. To the dreamers, the pessimists, and reformers the present generation is always demoralized and cor- rupt. The past is ever their golden age and the future is to be the realization of their hopes. The glamour of distance makes patriotism more noble, statesmanship more exalted, and valor more heroic. But they are mistaken. We do not live in the world's decrepitude, nor is our patriotism and statesmanship inferior to that of any age or people. All that is best in history and experience we cling to and em- body in our present. We are constantly resurrect- ing from the past all that is worthy of immortality, and incorporating it into the life of the present. These men affirm that the influence and power of our corporate wealth are injurious to and threaten the life of our nation, forgetting that far greater cor- porations, practically without limitations, for centu- ries dictated the laws for Great Britain and threatened to assume the powers of the throne itself. But England is stronger than ever, while the East India and Hudson Bay Companies are only spent forces of the past. They tell us our statesmen are but corrupt and incapable politicians, and that venality characterizes our political action and commercial life, utterly for- getting the early history of the Republic. John Adams wrote in 1776 that the spirit of venality was the most dreadful and alarming enemy America had, and that he was ashamed of the age in which he lived. Washington himself writes, in the fourth year of the Revolution, that idleness, dissipation, and extrav- agance had laid fast hold of most speculation and 146 REALITY peculation, and an insatiate thirst for riches had got the better of every other consideration and almost every order of men. The historian of that era adds : ' ' Men have plunged into stock jobbing, gambling, and other disreputable practices ; counterfeited the public securities, forged official signatures, refused to pay their debts, and fatted upon the common necessities; and love of country was declared to be an illusion." Washington declares that the officers sent him from one of the States "were not fit to be shoe- blacks. " In 1 780, he said that he had almost lost hope ; that friend and foe seemed to combine to pull down the fabric reared at such an expense of blood, time, and treasure. The best men then no longer went to Congress ; only fifteen or twenty transacted the business. John Adams said, in 1777, " I am wearied to death by the wrangles of military officers, high and low." In 1660, the vestrymen of Virginia became a close corporation and imposed taxes at pleasure, and the assemblymen remained in office after their term had expired and voted themselves a salary of 250 pounds of tobacco a day, or about $9,00 per diem, which was an enormous salary in those days, and was a greater salary grab than has ever since been practiced. In Burke's day, in spite of his matchless eloquence, the members of the English House were bought up like sheep ; and the purchase of seats in that body is reported even at the pfesent time a very common occurrence. In the sixteenth century Lord Bacon, the great English philosopher, statesman, and scholar, while Lord Chancellor of the British Government, had VENALITY ELSEWHERE 147 twenty-four cases of bribery and corruption charged against him on which he was impeached, though his salary was over $35,000.00 a year, and he was wealthy besides. The historian avers that Bacon probably spoke the truth when he said that he was the justest Chancel- lor the English Government had had for years. In view of our own history and that of the race on this subject, we may safely adopt the sentiment of Longfellow when he says : " Out of the shadow of night The world moves into light: It is daybreak everywhere." MAMMONISM, ITS PERILS AND ADVAN- TAGES In the progress of race development, there is no doubt that this nation has reached and surpassed in national development in most leading lines all other nations. Gladstone says that we have " a nat- ural base for the greatest continuous empire ever established by man. ' ' Our territory is contiguous and unified by an unparalleled system of railroads, canals, rivers, and lakes. The rivers and lakes have an area greater than Great Britain and Ireland, and include nearly one-half of the fresh water of the globe. Aside from Alaska, the area of the United States is 2,970,000 square miles, and can support a popula- tion estimated at 360,000,000. If all arable land were brought under plow, it would feed 450,000,000. According to Edward At- kinson's figures, 100,000,000 more than at present could be sustained without increasing the area of a single farm, or adding one to their number, by merely bringing our product up to the average stand- ard of reasonably good agriculture, — and then there would remain for export twice the quantity we now send abroad to feed the hungry in foreign lands. If these crops were consumed at home they would feed 1,012,000,000. The agricultural resources are but a small part of our wealth. The metal mined from 1870 to 1880 150 REALITY amounted to $732,000,000.00. More than one-half of the world's supply of silver and gold comes from American mines, while our coal mines are practically exhaustless. Iron is now mined at least in twenty- three States. According to Mulhall's statistics our nation was first in manufacturing in 1880, and ex- ceeded Great Britain by $650,000,000.00. From 1870 to 1880 manufactures increased in France $230,000,- 000.00, those of Great Britain $580,000,000.00, and those of the United States $1,030,000,000.00. This during that decade, and the ratio has not decreased since that time. At the last International Electrical Exposition in Paris there were five gold medals given for the great- est inventions or discoveries, and all awarded to the United States. With the most miles of the best rail- road, telegraph, and telephone systems in the world, as Matthew Arnold says, ' ' America holds the future. * ' The sceptre of power passed from Egypt to Per- sia, from Persia to Greece, from Greece to Rome, from Rome to Great Britain, France, and Germany, and from thence to America. As Bishop Berkeley prophesied, "Population has moved westward," — and as De Tocqueville said, "as if driven by the mighty hand of God." It would seem impossible to account for this fabu- lous wealth, this unparalleled development of our nation and country, save that the Government and its laws and its whole polity have been wisely conceived and most successfully administered. All of this un- rivaled civilization, this inestimable accumulation of wealth, has been accomplished in a little over a century. Why will not the same industry, integrity, character, and culture that accomplished these results WESTERN MOVEMENT OF EMPIRE 151 be able to maintain, preserve, and enjoy them? If success and civilization are so inimical and perilous to character and the higher life of the perfected race, why ever preserve them, and why not return to savage life with its environments? Political op- timism is said to be one of the vices of the American people, and there is a belief among some that " God takes care of children, fools, and the United States." If this be true, then the nation is safe, or at least the agitators and reformers. One thing is true, and that is that the pessimists never in the world's his- tory accomplished anything worthy of mention com- pared with it. There have been those who at every stage of our nation's progress prophesied its dissolu- tion. Slavery, States' Rights, and the Tariff, each in turn, was the rock upon which the good Ship of State was to founder and sink; our Constitution was a rope of sand, and must give way at the very first important test. Yet it withstood the severest possible strain, a civil war the greatest in history, and is stronger to-day than ever because resting upon the will of the cultured citizens of the nation. They prophesied that immigrants would lower the char- acter and high standard of citizenship and imperil the liberties of the people. Yet, with an unprece- dented immigration from almost every country under the sun, the nation has been vastly benefited thereby not only in the great national wealth, but, in the main, in the character and civilization wrought out by these immigrants. In fact, in many sections where these immigrants predominate there is as much patriotism, genuine love of liberty and home, and as great and successful effort to attain a higher civilization, as was manifest in the earlier decades of lo2 REALITY the Republic. Some eleven millions of foreign-born subjects have come to this country. So readily have they become assimilated to our laws and institutions, and so cheerfully, with but few exceptions, have they supported our schools and elevating social forces, that the average standard of our civilization and the character of our people is probably far high- er to-day than at any former period of our national life. But our marvelous growth in national wealth, in the wonderful success of our governmental polity, the unparalleled high average standard of national life and civilization, still leaves room for the pessi- mist and calamity hunter. In a leading magazine a recent writer says : "It would be easy for any specially well-informed person to make up a list of one hundred persons averaging $25,000,000.00 each, in addition to ten averaging $100,000,000.00 each. No such list of concentrated wealth could be given in any other country in the world." This is undoubtedly true, but what of it? Each one of these wealthy citizens has but a single vote in any election or on any jury. The patriotism of the wealthy in this country has been tested time and again. Self-interest, if there were no love for coun- try and nation, will ever make them patriotic as a class. Moreover, is there any deadly virus in the mere possession of wealth that destroys good citizen- ship, nobleness of character, genuine Altruism, and philanthropy ? And yet not only dreamers but some who think they are very wide-awake solemnly inform us that " Mammonism, materialism, luxuriousness, and con- gestion of wealth will be a constantly increasing TENDENCY OF WEALTH 153 peril and the ultimate destruction of our civilization and our nation." The question still arises, why- should the wealthy desire to destroy the nation and the Government that gave them their opportunity and in which they accumulated their wealth? It is illogical and unnatural to burn the ship or train that has given the safe passage over the desert or ocean waste. Another has said, " Accumulated capital is not a slight, but an immense advantage. ' To him that hath shall be given. ' There will therefore be an increasing tendency towards the centralization of great wealth in corporations which will simply eat up the small manufacturers and the small dealers. As the two classes of rich and poor become more distinct, they will become estranged ; and whether the rich, like Sydney Smith, come to regard poverty as in- famous — it is quite certain that many of the poor will look upon wealth as criminal." The answer to the above and all similar statements and theories is that the people, as a whole, are great- ly benefited by accumulated wealth, and its tend- ency to increase is not objectionable but desirable. Up to a certain point it is very desirable that it should eat up the small dealers and manufacturers, for thereby the goods are furnished to the people at lower rates above cost of production. As to whether the rich regard poverty as " infamous," and the poor look upon wealth as " criminal," it can only be said that there always has been and always will be, from the nature of the case, more or less antag- onism between extreme wealth and poverty. This can be eliminated to a certain extent by the character and culture of the parties. The agitators to the con- 154 REALITY trary, there was never less of this feeling of antag- onism, relatively, than to-day. Furthermore, the ex- tent and ability to centralize and accumulate wealth depends not alone upon the wealthy, but upon the intelligence and the vigilance and desires of the anti- capitalistic vote of this country, which is always largely in the majority. The two great overshadowing dark spots on the sun of our prosperity are superfluity on the one hand and dire want on the other. The millionaire and the tramp are the complement each of the other, says a writer. But what of this? We have always had these parties in our civilization ; and certainly in the world's history, at least from the time of Dives and Lazarus, and if the record is true Lazarus is the most to be envied. If the statements of the chorus of complainers be true, we have more millionaires than tramps, which the middle classes and those willing to labor ought to be thankful for. The great danger feared seems now to be from the millionaires, though one writer says, " The classes we have most to fear are the two extremes of society — the dangerously rich and the dangerously poor, and the former are much more to be feared than the latter." There is nothing^ startling in this, no fresh and newly discovered truth. It is as old as time. The rich are feared because they have something to work with — wealth to influence others. A man with $1 ,000,000.00 can at any time hire 100 men to aid him in any lawful enterprise, while the tramp has no money or credit and stands in the enterprise as one to a hundred. But this has always been so, and sometimes an even worse condition obtains ; for in- stance, that in which one tramp who desires to work DANGER FROM MILLIONAIRES 155 is prevented by his fellows. According to the nar- rative referred to, it was not so much the spirit of Dives, for he seemed anxious at least to save his brethren from his torment and suffering, but simply that he had had his good things, and now Lazarus' turn had come. If we believe the narrative, eternal justice will eventually win, even where the reform- ers fail. Dr. Howard Crosby, in the North American Review, says: " The danger which threatens the uprooting of society, the demolition of civil institutions, the de- struction of liberty, and the desolation of all, is that which comes from the rich and powerful classes in the community." It would puzzle Dr. Crosby, or any one else, to show just how or why the rich and powerful classes in the community are to uproot society, and just what motive they could have for doing such a suicidal act. Have they not been most instrumental in making society what it is? This statement was made some twenty years ago, and yet society is deeper rooted and firmer than ever. If he is correct there should be a writ of insano inquirendo issued at once, and these enemies of society speedily sent to the insane asylum for life; or, better still, obtain a writ of injunction from the nearest Federal Court and save the expense to the overtaxed people of a trial by jury. But, further, why should the * ' rich and powerful classes of the community " threaten the demolition of civil institutions, the destruction of liberty, and the deso- lation of all, when they have labored so hard to build up the civil institutions and establish the liberty which they are now accused of threatening to overthrow. Where is the motive for such conduct? Samson had 156 REALITY a motive for pulling down the Temple, and was willing to lose his own life with that of his enemies and the destruction of the Temple their money had built. But while capitalists may be very cold, ava- ricious, heartless, and unsympathetic, even indifferent to poverty and suffering about them at times, few will accuse them of the folly of endeavoring to destroy the very institutions and national liberty by which they have accumulated, possess, and enjoy their wealth. Every community knows very well who the rich and relatively rich are, but the " powerful classes" must include others when used in this connection by such a scholarly man as Dr. Howard Crosby. He means, and can mean, no other than the great middle classes who form public sentiment, and by their honest, enlightened, patriotic vote control the destinies of this Republic. Where is the proof that they ever threaten or attempt to uproot society, demolish civil institutions, destroy liberty, or effect the desolation of all, whatever that may mean? They are and have been the makers and constant uphold- ers of those very political institutions, civil and reli- gious liberty, and all that is grand and noble in our national Government and present civilization. Dr. Crosby and those who think with him along these lines, — whenever they desire to sustain these civil institutions, perpetuate their national liberty, or an}' of the altruistic and benevolent schemes which they continually foster, live and prosper upon, — never think of calling upon the friendly tramp for a con- tribution ; but have the audacity to call always, with great regularity and promptness, upon the rich and powerful classes for the money to support them and their civil and benevolent institutions and national LA IVS OF DESCENT 1 57 liberty ; while they publicly announce that these rich and powerful classes live only to threaten and even- tually to destroy these same institutions which are always largely supported by the contributions of the wealthy. Another writer, in the Christian Union, October i6, 1884, says: " The great estates of Rome in the time of the Caesars, and of France in the time of the Bour- bons, rivalled those of the United States to-day ; but both nations were on their way to the frenzy of revo- lution, not in spite of their wealth, but in some true sense because of it." This was written fourteen years ago ; still our nation has not, as yet, reached " the frenzy of revolution." If this were true, what of it? There is no analogy between the great estates of bygone Rome or France, and those in the United States. The environment in this age is entirely different. Then, all power was in the Caesars or the Bourbons; now, it is in the hands of the electors — the people. Entirely different laws of descent then prevailed, and for the protection of accumulated property. Wealth in this country, as compared with either of those eras, is comparatively powerless, because the environment is hostile to the perpetuity of not only its power, but also of its continued existence in the same line of descent. Here is no feudal system for the preserva- tion of great landed estates, no descent by primogeni- ture, or entailing of estates. The effect is that no gTeat estate is able to hold itself intact for any consid- erable length of time. Two or three generations find the estate dissipated and scattered almost beyond recognition. This is not only true of great personal property estates, but equally so of great real estates. 158 REALITY The only estates in this country of any considerable importance that have passed the second or third gen- eration, or are comparatively intact, are the Girard, the Astor, and the Vanderbilt estates ; and it is prob- ably only a question of a few years, or generations at least, when they will be so divided and scattered as to be of no possible danger to the public by virtue of their concentrated power. The dissipation of great corporate wealth is even 'more rapid. In comparing the effect of accumulated wealth in this country with other nations and eras, it must be remembered that the power to control wealth, the making of the laws of the nation wherein it exists, is always in the majority of the electors, who are always anti-capitalistic and who will not submit to its unjust encroachments or dominion. Hence the possible peril of accumulated wealth, either real estate or corporate, is usually largely over-estimated ; and if it is not always properly checked, confined, and controlled, it is the fault of the anti-capitalistic voters. OLD PRINCIPLES WITH NEW APPLICATION. The struggle is the old one of the intellectual and moral, the ethnological and aesthetic, against the sensual and material in our individual and national life. While the principles are the same underlying this contest for supremacy, the arena is practically unlimited. The marshaling of the forces is, in cer- tain directions, new and comparatively untried. Among the earlier civilizations the kings and mon- archs had resources which we cannot use to engage the attention of, and give employment to, their restive and anarchistic subjects. It was an easy matter to EMPLOYMENT OF THE RESTLESS 159 provoke hostilities with some neighboring or foreign power, declare war, and at once give employment to the ambitious, the bloodthirsty, and unrestful among their people. But we are opposed to war and favor arbitrations for settlement of domestic and foreign complications. In these there is no room for the ambitious, for mere conquest by the warlike and the restless; and though the questions at issue may be settled by peaceful arbitration, the military spirit remains unsatisfied, the lazy still are out of employ- ment, and the ever turbulent spirits have found no rest. The inventions of to-day render it more diffi- cult to employ vast numbers of workmen to be en- gaged for long periods on extensive public works at satisfactory wages. During the period of railroad building the surplus labor found satisfactory employment. Since we can- not indulge in foreign or domestic wars by virtue of having accepted arbitration as a foreign and domestic policy, and having all railroads and great public im- provements necessary for some time to come, the im- portant question is, how can the laborers and the rest- less part of the people find satisfactory employment? The older nations, in their philosophies and meth- ods of life, moved much slower. There was always opportunity for reflection and consideration. It is changed now. The crisis is no sooner upon us than its wise, satisfactory, and permanent solutionis eager- ly demanded. If it is not instantly furnished by our Government policy and officials, the Government is vigorously denounced as a failure, and our civilization and progress heretofore counts for naught with the reformer and agitator. A great disturbance among the subjects of the IGO REALITY Czar, the British Empire, or Germany, is easily allayed by engaging in war, removing a little tax on some favorite article, or extending the franchise. But this nation, like a young and inexperienced mother, gave its best gifts to its firstborn at the first cry of pain or dissatisfaction. Later, when the child had grown and demanded larger gifts, the mother had nothing with which to meet the emergency and the ever increasing demands. Our Government gave at once all it had to give — absolute freedom under its general beneficent laws, and the elective franchise at the birth of the citizen ; and has nothing more to offer to its grown-up, complaining babies, who eager- ly accept the precious and inestimable heritage, while many of them know not how to use or profit by its enlarged liberties and protective prerogatives for limitless development. The evils, perils, and diffi- culties that now confront us are of our own creation, the direct and inevitable results, natural and logical, of our boasted system of free government of the people, by the people, and for the people. God has given us the greatest, grandest, contiguous country on the map of the world, and the richest in productive resources. He has blessed us beyond the prayers, aspirations, most extravagant dreams or hopes of any in its development, until we are the wealthiest and most cultivated nation upon the face of the globe ; the best paid, housed, and fed people in the world, according to the opinion of Mr. Mulhall, the great English statistician. Yet our agitators, reform- ers, and dreamers say we are living upon a volcano, that the dynamite is already laid which will annihi- late us at any moment. The whole world seems to have left the destinies A QUALIFIED ELECTIVE FRANCHISE 161 of the race with us, and is watching the solution of the great question whether man has any self-control ; whether a community of men — a great nation — can govern itself and maintain a government resting upon the free will, choice, and consent of those governed. The difficult part of the problem is that the young, the ignorant, the vicious, and depraved among the people are always theoretically expected to act the part of the wise, the cultured, and the experienced in all their political relations and individual life. Our system of government is perfectly adapted only to the wise, the moral, and the most cultured of man- kind. Upon these there is always placed the tremen- dous burden of furnishing wisdom for the ignorant, experience for the young and inexperienced, and moral power and right action for the viciously in- clined, the depraved, and criminal part of the people. Education, culture, and noble incentives for devo- tion to the country will greatly ameliorate the ever occurring unfavorable conditions, the open disobe- dience to law on the part of the depraved and crimi- nals in the nation. But this burden is constant and can never be thrown aside for a moment. These forces are always of slow growth. It takes time to develop wisdom, character, and experience; to make full-orbed men — always a prime necessity in every age and nation. The world and the reformers, im- patient of this necessary delay, demand an immediate solution of all the great problems that vex the na- tional life. The dreamers and reformers insist on an ideal and perfect government without furnishing ideal subjects and a perfected humanity to be controlled by it. The great difficulty has been, and is, that the elec- 162 REALITY tive franchise should have been limited by an educa- tional and property qualification at least. Such a limitation would have affected not so much the theory and freedom of the principles of the Government, as the application of its principles in the administration of the political affairs of the State and nation. It is manifestly unjust and inequitable that the ignorant, the unlettered, and those who will not educate them- selves should be permitted to vote and take part in the administration of the laws of the nation, when they cannot comprehend the fundamental principles of the Government or the political methods by which it is administered. The State of Connecticut has recently passed, by a great majority, an amendment to its constitution requiring every elector to be able to read, in English, the constitution of the State and nation. This is most wise and opportune and should be followed, as soon as practical, by every State where it is possible. It is equally inequitable that those who have no property should be allowed to vote on propositions of the taxation, and thereby on the control and distribu- tion of the property of the other citizens. From this seemingly unwise extension of the fran- chise has arisen much of the difficulty in the govern- ment of the municipal corporations. In the larger cities the indolent, the vicious, the ignorant, the pauper and criminal classes congregate. There is much in the great cities to be seen, heard, and en- joyed without any expense, and there is always an abundance of this class for comfortable companion- ship. These have but one object in their voting, and that is for the men or the measures that will fur- nish the most employment at the best wages. ELECTIVE FRANCHISE TOO EXTENDED 163 The property owners are thus frequently outvoted by a class who have no taxes to pay and no possible interest in the work to be done, except to draw their often poorly earned wages; and that, too, on works the taxpayers, who pay the bills, would prefer not to have done. This ignorant, irresponsible vote is easily organ- ized and seriously affects the whole body politic. It often fills the board of aldermen in the cities, the legislature in the State, and Congress in the National Legislature. It is the pull and strength of the ward heeler, the agitator, the curbstone politician, the speculator in votes, the corruptionist. It is the weakest part of our Government in its theory, and the most unsatisfactory and dangerous in the admin- istration of its laws. It is at once the despair of the patriot and the philanthropist. It is the richest pos- sible field, a veritable political Klondike, for the cor- rupt and unprincipled politician. This vote is extremely difficult to restrict because of its magni- tude and selfish interests. It cannot be induced to vote away its own power, nor does the vast army of selfish, unpatriotic, ignorant, and corrupt politicians who live and thrive upon it desire its numbers or political influence curtailed or diminished in the least degree. The only remedy for the statesman- ship of the nation is to prohibit the further immigra- tion of this class of subjects, and compel the educa- tion of those already here, and their descendants. As the average attendance in the public schools is only 46 per cent, this will take time, but will eventually be successful. Culture is the most prac- tical solution of the problem. Unquestionably the Government in a certain sense, 164 REALITY having assumed the responsibility, must care for all its subjects, the socialists, the anarchists, and the paupers as well as its most distinguished scholars, philosophers, patriots, and law-abiding citizens. This is true, while only a comparatively small part of its subjects are always prepared to exercise their free will and choice, and vote intelligently at every elec- tion upon the ever varying problems submitted to them under such a free government. Since the quantity of the vote can hardly be changed, or greatly limited, it only remains to affect and change its quality. It is not the number of votes that makes a free government great and strong, but the culture and character of the electors. Education, moral, intellectual, and patriotic, is the only remedy; and the wealth of the nation must meet the enormous expense. The greatest necessity of the age is cul- tured men, to vote and formulate public opinion. National and even individual life is not measured by years, generations, or centuries, but by heart- throbs and actual experience. There is something infinitely better than life, and that is living. A nation or an individual is older now — that is, experi- ences more of all that life can give in a much briefer period than in the earlier civilizations. Abraham Lincoln and General Grant were doubtless older, actually lived longer, and experienced more than Abraham or Methuselah, The citizen who insists on freedom of conscience and a government that has no state religion or priest- craft to enforce; the believer in a free trade or tariff policy or direct taxation to support the Gov- ernment; the advocate of the great law of demand and supply, as the eternal pendulum that must regu- THE DUTY OF CITIZENS 165 late all commerce and trade ; the advocate of arbi- tration for the settlement of all disputed questions of foreign or domestic policy ; the supporters of the theory, that competition will fairly produce for the consumer the commodity he needs at the lowest price, consistent with reasonable profits on the capital in- vested and fair satisfactory returns to the wage- earners who provide it: all these classes of citizens have made possible this vast accumulated wealth and the centralization of it by individuals. They have prepared the way for the monopolies, the trusts ; the combines of the labor unions, the liquor interests, the corporate interests,— the cotton, iron, silver,' coal, and all the innumerable interests of every possi- ble line of commercial, intellectual, and religious organizations. They have prepared the way for even the indolent, audacious tramp combine, as well as the intellectual zeal and aspiration of all educa- tional lines, and the throbbing unrest that is every- where apparent. These organizations, many of them new, and most of them claiming to be original in principle or method of development, have been made possible and brought into existence by our form of free government. Shall we abandon our own offspring — our strength, our firstborn — our Reubens — the excellency of our dignity? Can it be possible that the eternal law, that the creator is superior to the created, must be reversed, that as parents we must submit to the child of our loins, and that too while he is in his infancy? No, a thousand times no! Rather let every American citizen at once assume control of these creations of his power, the children of his par- 166 REALITY entage. Let him ever discharge his duty on all occa- sions ; keep fully abreast of the ever-changing senti- ment of the day ; be fully informed of what is tran- spiring, not only in his own vicinity, but in the State and world at large , and discharge at every election the duty of every true citizen. If he would save the nation, let him vote only for tried, exemplary, and successful men ; and the capacity of man and a nation to govern themselves will be solved in America to the satisfaction of the liberty-loving world. This is the only solution of the vexed question of this era of civilized life in this nation. If what are called the better elements in social life will meet this emergency, all will be well. The triumph of a constantly nobler civilization is absolutely certain. But this requires a vast amount of effort, continuous labor, and expenditure of large sums of sanctified wealth. One of the most hopeful signs of the times is that this effort and wealth is always ready for immediate use. It must ever be remembered that the best govern- ment on earth cannot exist without the most vigilant care and earnest effort in its support. Eternal vigi- lance is the price paid for liberty in this and every other country, and the greatest danger is at this point. " Similia similibus curantur " is as true in politics as in medicine. If the unpatriotic, selfish, avaricious, and mean citizens have formed combines, trusts, and monopolies, then similar combinations must be formed to defeat their purposes. If capital combines to control certain products, the labor that produces those products must combine to meet it upon fair and equal terms. This compels ar- CONVENTIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS 167 bitration and usually a fair settlement. All this, how- ever, is only the great law of demand and supply in its broader application. If a combine of capital is made for a certain purpose, this law requires that an- other combine be at once formed ; so that all transac- tions be absolutely upon an equitable basis, and that all parties, — capitalists, producers, laborers, and con- sumers, — be permitted to share equally in the profits of the combine. It will be seen that all this requires a very fine play of the intellectual faculties, called executive ability. It requires great mental acumen, quick per- ception of changing conditions, -moral courage and stamina to apply conclusions at once. It must have great knowledge of men, their methods of action, and a temperament wisely discerning, which will promptly and discreetly act, and which becomes the pride and distinguishing characteristic of the Ameri- can business man and statesman. CONVENTIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS. One of the distinguishing features of this era is that every human activity manifests itself through combinations. All religious, benevolent, social, in- dustrial, business, and even scientific life have their organizations, combines, trusts, societies, and their conventions are the wonders of the age. Club life in every direction, from the largest city to the smallest hamlet and village, is exercising a mighty influence in the unification of thought and action and the gen- eral uplift of the race. Every conceivable subject is covered by its investigations and aspirations. Com- bination and organization are the sesame and watch- word of the closing years of the dying century. 1G8 REALITY In these multitudinous combinations, why should that of wealth be specially destructive to the per- petuity of our institutions and our national life ? The great mass of wealth in this Republic has not been inherited by its present possessors. Its accumula- tion, in the main, has been characterized by great patience, industry, economy, intellectual power, in- tegrity, and mental acumen. The owners of this wealth have been foremost in developing the re- sources of the nation along every line of growth and progress. They have been the counsellors, advisers, and supporters of all great movements for improve- ment in material, educational, and beneficent enter- prises. They are closely allied with, and are the largest supporters of, the foremost educational institu- tions. They are the upholders and generous bene- factors of the churches, of the altruistic and benevo- lent societies of this age. So closely are they allied in active sympath}^ and practical effort with all the great primal forces of social, moral, intellectual, and scientific life of the nation, and with the vast army that supports these interests, that it will be impos- sible to combine them into one opposing class. The opponents of the present system do not at all ag-ree as to the causes of the suffering and unrest now prevalent. If they did, the remedy would be speed- ily applied. Some claim that it is competition which has reduced wages. Some affirm that it is the heart- less greed and insatiable avarice of wealth which has obtained possession of all the sources of production, and by its power and influence is crushing labor and fattening upon its heart's blood. Others claim it is free trade or protective tariff agitation, the interest or profit paid on capital, or the so-called demonetiza- ASSERTIONS NOT TRUE 1G9 tion of silver in 1873 which has generated the agita- tion, suffering, and unrest in our land. Others even insist that the laws they assisted in making are fatal to the best interests of the people when executed, or that crime and poverty are on the increase because these laws are not vigorously executed. This failure to agrree on the chief causes of the disorder, and to offer nothing better than dreamy theories, would cer- tainly indicate that the time has not come for any radical change of governmental polity or industrial systems. When it does come, the good sense of the majority of the people will cheerfully adopt any changes that make certain better conditions. In their chaotic bewilderment these wiseacres and iconoclastic apostles of unrest challenge every fun- damental principle upon which our modern civiliza- tion is based, and that too in spite of its triumphant success. The voice of reason, experience, tradition, and even religion is no longer authoritative. Time-honored maxims, the theories of political and industrial econ- omists, and the accumulated wisdom and experience of the ages, count for naught. Even the origin and destiny of the race are questioned as never before. All these are summoned to appear and make answer and show cause for their existence to the iconoclastic demands of the reformers. These demands of disorder and anarchistic unrest are largely based upon the bare assumption that all our commercial life exists in base servitude to capital ; that our intellectual culture lives upon the past and is not adapted to present emergencies; that all re- ligious thought and effort is hypocritical and traitor- ous to the spirit of Christ. And, worst of all, in 170 REALITY their opinion of our marvelous material progress, they claim the just rights of the many are being sacrificed to the unjust advantage of the few. All these writ- ers and speakers commence and end with, " The rich are growing richer and the poor poorer." This is their Alpha and Omega. They are certain to please one class, and that is probably the class they flatteringly wish to please. They assert that the dependence of the masses is increasing; that the wealth of the land is rapidly being concentrated in the hands of a few, a relatively small class. They joyfully assert that the good old Ship of State, which has weathered a thousand fearful gales, is destined to be wrecked in the waves of a rising popular senti- ment that will engulf her forever. If these assertions were true, the sooner she sinks the better, and the waves of oblivion close over the most hopeful, favorable, and really successful effort of man to control himself through governmental forms since the race began. But the assertions are not true. If the rich grow richer and the poor poorer, it is in full accord with the universal law of growth and development. The natural tendency of both wealth and poverty is to increase. The very capacities that produce wealth will cause it to grow and increase. And the forces or incapacities that cause poverty will perpetuate and increase it. Wealth must grow and increase, or per- ish. It feeds, lives, and continues potent by its con- stant increase. Poverty usually increases by the absence of any effort to change its conditions. Riches and poverty are relative terms. It may take time to reach the possible accumulations of wealth under the most "favorable circumstances, but TIMIDITY OF CAPITAL 171 the uttermost limits of poverty are soon reached by a relatively few people in every age and nation. There are always ' ' slums ' ' and ' ' a submerged tenth." Wealth and poverty are often both nerveless and cowardly in active life. Poverty is usually devoid of hope, courage, and aspiration, is often satisfied with the careless, contented existence supported by the contributions of the charitable, as is clearly demonstrated by the professional tramp and gypsy wanderers ; while the timidity of wealth has become proverbial. Nothing is more timid than a million- aire except the possessor of two millions, while the plutocrat and multi-millionaire tremble at the beat- ing of their own hearts. We often see the effects of wealth while we forget its laws of action. It is said to be tyrannical and oppressive, but it is the most timid of the great forces in the universe. Like the ostrich, at the first appearance of danger, it seeks to bury itself in the earth, or retires from active effort into the safety vaults of strength and protection until the danger is past. The last few years abundantly illustrate this fact, when a threatened attempt to change the revenues of the Government largely from a protective tariff to a free-trade basis was made. Intimidated again by the threatened change in the standard money by which wealth is estimated, expressed, and counted, it immediately sought safety in retreat and protection in the vaults of the cities. The result was the absolute stagnation of all business, and the revealing of the poverty of the poor and the timidity of the wealthy. This simply stopped the full increase of wealth, but the unfortunate result of 172 REALITY this process was that it often stopped the food sup- ply of the poor. These two causes are amply sufficient to account for the failures in commercial life, the unrest of the people, and the consequent increased suffering among all classes for the past few years. Conditions are now favorable. The revenues of the Government are upon a solid basis and the kind of money to be used is settled at least for a time. The tireless voice of impending calamity, at least on these questions, having spent itself in its own de- struction, capital is again seeking profitable employ- ment. With such an element of timidity in capital, it is difficult to see how it can be a serious menace to the people in a free government. As soon as its en- croachments upon the supposed rights and interests of the people are felt, its opponents immediately in- form the masses of the fact. Its timidity then com- pels its retirement ; and the crisis and panic with their long train of misery and financial disaster immedi- ately following, sorrow and mourning fill the land. The dreamers and reformers charge capital with being selfish, unsympathetic, unchristian, and un- patriotic, because it does not, at such times, relieve the crisis instead of retiring from the field of active operations. But they forget that this would be abso- lutely suicidal; that it remains in active operation as long as it can hold its own or make a fair increase ; and that what is called timidity in action is prescience, the highest wisdom, a necessity to its life and its pres- ervation. The law of its life and increase compels it to remain in active operation, as long as possible, consistent with safety. It thus never voluntarily retires from active effort along lines fully established FROM AFFLUENCE TO POVERTY 173 by the accumulated experience of financial opera- tions. Timidity is therefore a misnomer for the increasing vigilance, wisdom, and financial skill mani- fested in its self-preservation when hostile influences and conditions prevail. And yet this extreme cau- tion which it at times manifests has all the effect on the general public of the too timid operator. FROM AFFLUENCE TO POVERTY. There is no dream or hypnotic influence about this, but a most solemn, sad reality within the experi- ence of a few years. Thousands not only of the wealthy but of the middle well-to-do citizens, includ- ing many happy homes, have been reduced to the ranks of absolute poverty by the process described, and through no special want of wisdom, foresight, or prudence of their own, as the result of the calamity howlers. These wiseacres and iconoclastic reformers usually have little or nothing to lose by creating financial volcanoes, but are ever hoping to gain some- thing from the debris of former operators who go down in the crash. The misery and suffering of these unfortunates is much greater than those who have always lived in ordinary chronic poverty. Only a Lucifer, a Morning Star, — who has tasted and experienced the supernal joys of sufficiency, of power, influence, and satisfaction with his position, attainment, and environment, — can fully measure and appreciate their abject misery and degradation in their fallen estate and condition. The process of reduction from affluence to poverty is the most pitiable experience the race affords. The man who has honestly and fairly accumulated ten thousand, one hundred thousand, or ten millions 174 REALITY of dollars may righteously feel that he is a useful member of the body politic ; and all honorable citizens and right-minded men will agree with ^him. That he should be honored, respected, and beloved for the intellectual acumen, the will-power, the steady nerve and courageous heart that has enabled him so far to surpass the vast majority of his compeers, is the senti- ment of all good citizens in all ages. It is not the wealth that he has, but the superior equipment and exercise of those desirable forces and capacities, that inspires the respect and admiration of his fellow- beings. There is, however, a very hostile feeling, amount- ing almost to hatred of very wealthy men, among many of our citizens who do not reflect or compre- hend how great wealth may be honorably accumu- lated. The men of most brutal instincts and feelings, who in a few hours show the same powers in what General Sherman declared to be " hell on earth " — the battlefield, — are lauded by their countrymen as demigods, first-class patriots, and heroes. But there are noble heroes, patriots, and exalted characters, as worthy of the homage and praise of their associates in other less conspicuous walks of life where the dead and dying are not the stepping stones to glory, as a fortunate conqueror on the battlefields of his country. In all this we are not unmindful that there is much ill-gotten wealth that confers no honor whatever upon its possessor, but forever consigns him to the ranks of the outcasts of society. The distinction is that the great majority of the wealth of the land is in the hands of honorable men. It has been fairly and equitably accumulated by them; and not unjustly, WAYS OF ACCUMULATING WEALTH 175 unfairly, and dishonorably stolen from the " general fund by rascality," as the Dreamer asserts. Envy and jealousy are often the origin of this very general sentiment of hostility to, and hatred of, wealthy men. In 1770, Arkwright and Hargreaves invented a ma- chine for spinning cotton. In twenty years the prod- uct of this spinning machine had increased from 4,500,000 to 37,000,000 pounds a year. The laborers engaged in that occupation had doubled. The year- ly product had been increased eightfold, while the cost of spinning per pound had diminished four-fifths. One, Bakewell, improved the methods of breeding sheep and cattle to an extent that in fifty years the weight of those fatted for the market was increased from 400 to 1,200 pounds, while the fleece of sheep was increased fourfold. Bessemer introduced a process for making steel which reduced the cost from $300.00 to $30.00 a ton in a short period of time. He received $5,000,000.00 in royalties. It has been estimated that within forty years his discovery saved the people the minimum sum of a thousand million dollars. Edison discovered a method by which two messages could be sent at the same time in opposite directions over the same telegraph wire. This invention was equal to the value of one-half the cost of all the tele- graph wires thereafter used. The value of this dis- covery was hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars. Commodore Vanderbilt died leaving an estate val- ued at one hundred million dollars. He did not inherit any of it; but by his great energy, courage, and superior wisdom in building and managing rail- 176 REALITY roads and steamboat lines, in the interest of a better system of transportation and of the people, honestly accumulated his great wealth. These fortunes are not stolen from the people nor their rights infringed upon ; but in most such instances the people are vastly the ultimate gainers, no matter what amount of money such inventors or capitalists may thereby accumulate. It should be observed that the people are free to purchase the proffered in- ventions or reject them. There is no compulsion or law compelling the purchase, and no price can meas- ure the value of such inventions and such great lead- ing lines of transportation, of commerce, and of pas- senger travel. W. H. Mallock, of Great Britain, states that in 1843 the gross income of the entire population, capitalists, landlords, and laborers, was 515,000,000 pounds, of which 235,000,000 pounds went to the laborers. Fifty years later the income of the laboring class was 660,000,000 pounds. The laborers had increased 27 per cent, while their wages or income had increased nearly 200 per cent. So great had been the increase of business through inventions and increased facili- ties, that in forty years the laboring classes were re- ceiving and dividing among themselves more money than all the people of the Kingdom received when the inventions were first used. This immense in- crease in capital and its profits by means of inven- tions, and thereby the development of the world's resources, has furnished an opportunity for many men of keen perceptions, good judgment, and coura- geous heart to accumulate honestly, and with all due regard to the interests of the people, great wealth in brief periods of time. INTELLIGENCE AND WEALTH CONTROL 177 There is another field in which mammoth fortunes have been made, in which capital has not always ren- dered an equivalent for the money received ; — that is, in municipal enterprises. Gas, electricity, water- works, parks; street, elevated, cable, and horse car lines of transportation : many of these have been built far in excess of the actual demands of the peo- ple and paid for at extravagant prices. Many colos- sal fortunes have been accumulated through specula- tions in these enterprises and manipulations of municipal officials, which would not bear the light of an honest investigation or merit any defense. While no one will be found to defend any such ill-gotten wealth, it still must be said that the citizens of the municipality are guilty of gross carelessness and indolence for supinely allowing such plundering of the treasury when it is in their power to prevent it. With such a wonderful record as our history presents in the growth and development of our commercial resources, no better opportunity could have been offered honestly to accumulate immense wealth. NO CLASSES IN AMERICA. There is no such thing as a wealthy class in our nation, nor any such thing as a laboring class, when these terms are accurately used. In the older civili- zations there are, by virtue of the laws and fixed conditions, various classes of titled, governmental, wealth, and labor classes. Wealth and certain titles, and poverty as well, are hereditary in fixed lines of descent. There are wealthy, titled, and laboring classes, which remain fixed for generations. Those born wealthy remain so. Those born poor remain in the laboring classes, nor can either change their 17S REALITY civil and social status. Here there are no fixed classes. A man is wealthy to-day, and to-morrow he may be poor. A man is a day laborer in the morn- ing, and before night is frequently a capitalist, a man of wealth, a millionaire. There is and can be no fixed line of demarcation to determine just when a man is wealthy or poor. It is as movable and uncertain as that which divides health and sickness or indisposition. Most of the wealthy have to labor, to manage and control their Avealth; while many of the poor are strangers to severe, hard, and protracted labor. It will therefore be seen that there is and can be no very great danger of a combine of the wealthy against the great interests of national and social life. If any combination of capital and anti-capital forces ever should occur, sympathy, self-interest, and self- preservation would carry the intellectual forces with the combine of wealth ; and this would soon settle the question of supremacy in such a contest for power and the control of the nation. History records no instance of a great contest where the wealth and intel- ligence of a nation were ever beaten in a conflict for power and supremacy. With the intelligence to ofuide and the wealth to furnish the material neces- sary to support the forces in the conflict, no combina- tion of other forces could be found that could defeat it. This almost unlimited accumulated wealth, now possessed by our nation and its people, might be threateningly dangerous if it could possibly be con- centrated and controlled by a few persons or corpora- tions. But this is impossible under the laws of the land and the fact that the anti-capitalistic vote always controls its accumulation and distribution. ABUNDANT WEALTH IS BENEFICIAL 179 Wealth is so scattered in the hands of millions of people all over the country, and exists in all kinds of property, real estate and personal, that any emer- gency could hardly be conceived that would cause its concentrated use against the nation. The inter- ests of its possessors are so infinitely divided and along so many lines of human activity, that no event save revolution — the threatened triumph of Social Democracy or Anarchy — could furnish a motive for its combination. Any combination against Social De- mocracy or Anarchy would always be a patriotic duty, to which wealth and all patriotism would instantly respond in the interests of all the people and the nation. These vast accumulations of wealth are exceedino-- ly beneficial, as they tend constantly to render the people and our nation independent, financially, of all foreign powers. It constantly reduces the rate of interest and furnishes sufficient money among the people for developing all the resources of the country. It benefits all methods and lines of communication, travel, and interchange of products among all classes of people and all parts of the country. It makes pos- sible the building of homes for the people at lowest cost price, thus reducing rents and the price of liv- ing. It makes low rates of interest; and an abun- dance of capital enlarges our capacities to manufac- ture at competing rates with other nations, who have had heretofore an abundance of capital at lower rates of interest than could be obtained in our younger national life. These lower rates of interest and abundance of capital in foreign countries have been potent factors, heretofore, against American manu- facturers and in favor of foreign nations. A recent 180 REALITY financial writer says: " If American manufacturers could secure as low rates of interest as is paid by their British competitors, a very large part of the $200,000,000 of raw cotton annually exported to Brit- ish mills could be manufactured in the United States, to the great benefit of American labor and investors in mill enterprises. More than this, the Americans would have a better chance at the markets of Central and South America for their cotton goods, markets that belong to them naturally, but which are mainly absorbed by the Germans and British." An abundance of wealth, and low rates of interest that necessarily follow, mean always more abundant production and lower prices for all luxuries, and especially for all the necessities of life which the peo- ple must have. It ever means much better living at the lowest possible cost of production. It means bet- ter public school privileges; colleges, universities, academies of art and science, and most liberal oppor- tunities for the education of all ; more money for all benevolent institutions; hospitals and sanitariums for the suffering and unfortunate ; more musical in- struments and time to enjoy their music ; and better social advantages in every department of life. It means leisure from pressing toil, time for study, reflection, and investigation of great principles and questions of commerce, science, and art. It brings comfort, rest, and repose, so essential to happiness in this life, and now almost unknown. This affects most potently the middle and poorer classes of the people, and is of inestimable benefit to them. The more abundant the wealth, the more it will be disseminated, and the less danger of perilous combinations. PREROGATIVES OF WEALTH 181 How, then, from any fair, equitable, and just view of the case, can the accumulated wealth of the coun- try seriously threaten its institutions, its liberty and perpetuity? Why not charge the unrest of the age to the confessed and obvious partial failure of our educational and religious institutions, whose especial function it is to discover and point out the most suc- cessful methods of true progress and growth, individ- ual and national, and that rest and repose for the present and future that religion ought to furnish? Or challenge the vicious part of the press which daily and hourly parades every crime and the most approved methods for successful criminal action, and the travel and communication with the ends of the earth by electric flashes, which doubtless contribute more to the feverish discontent and unrest that characterize this age than any other force or influ- ence? Conscious of their weakness and failures, these three most potent factors in race progress seek to shield themselves from the wrath and demands of an irritable and suffering people. They join most lusti- ly in the cry of " Stop thief! " and, in accordance with the popular fad of the day, selfishly and irra- tionally charge the crimes and failures of the world and the age to wealth, when it is undoubtedly the most innocent of any of the great powers of civilized life. It is not the province of wealth to originate and formulate the best methods of individual and national growth and development, by which the highest and most desirable civilization must be reached. Its pre- rogative is simply to furnish the means to execute and carry into successful operation these methods. 182 REALITY It is, howevei:, the imperative duty of the statesman- ship, the scholarship, the religious teaching, the public press of the age to originate and formulate the best possible methods to meet and satisfy the ever- increasing demands of the people for obtaining the highest possible civilization in individual and national life. Wealth has never been slow or parsimonious in adopting and supporting any plausible methods for race elevation. It is safe to predict that in the future, in this re- spect, its past will be fully sustained. It is as necessary to noble, progressive living, high intellectual and moral development, as the sun is to warm and fructify the earth. It has to do with these infinitely more than with mere material development of national resources, and must be considered an absolute necessity to the greatest individual and race culture and attainment. Wealth is an unspeakable blessing to any nation and people who are so fortu- nate as to possess it in unlimited abundance. THE MASTERS OF BREAD In Equality, it would seem, the cruel, despotic, tyrannical power of wealth cannot be expressed in ordinary language, and the Dreamer invents terms to meet the supposed occasion. Capitalists and men of wealth are too tame expressions. While the great Revolution commenced in 1873, a quarter of a century since, yet the terms used and the conditions described should in the due course of time have been understood before 1873. He says, in one of the most graphic, thrilling, vivid, and yet most untruthful pictures in the book: " Everywhere men, women, and children stood in the market-place crying to the ' Masters of Bread ' to take them to be their servants, that they might have bread. The strong men said : ' O Lords of the Bread, feel our thews and sinews, our arms and our legs. See how strong we are. Take us and use us. Let us dig for you. Let us hew for you. Let us go down in the mine and delve for you. Let us freeze and starve in the forecastles of your ships. Send us into the hulls of your steam- ship stokeholes. Do what you will with us, but let us serve you, that we may eat and not die ! ' " Then spoke up also the learned men, the scribes and the lawyers, whose strength was in their brains and not in their bodies: ' O Masters of the Bread,' they said, ' take us to be your servants and to do your will. See how fine is our wit, how great our knowl- edge. . . . Masters of Bread, give us to eat, and 184 REALITY we will betray the people to you, for we must live. We will plead for you in the courts against the widow and the fatherless. We will speak and write your praise.' " The priests and Levites also cried out: * Take us, masters, to be your servants and to do your will, for we also must eat, and you only have the bread. We are the guardians of the sacred oracles, and the people hearken unto us and reply not, for our voice to them is as the voice of God. But we must have bread to eat like others. ... In the name of God the Father will we forbid them to claim the rights of brothers, and in the name of the Prince of Peace will we preach your law of competition.' " And above all the clamor of the men were heard the voices of a multitude of women: ' Pass us not by, for we must also eat. ... If you will not take us for our labor's sake, yet look upon us; we are women, and should be fair in your eyes. Take us and do with us according to your pleasure, for we must eat.' " And even the children cried out in supplicating tones to the Masters of Bread, who took for their use or pleasure such of the men, women, and children as they saw fit ; "and there was left a great multitude in the market-place for whom there was no bread." He further describes the above as " the last refinement of indignity put upon human nature by your eco- nomic sj^stem." And further he describes, in graphic language, what we were coming to — had not the Rev- olution come — whereby a few persons, comparative- ly, would become sole owners of the land and machin- ery of the nation, hold the people absolutely in their power, and compel them to do as they desired. THE TOUCHING PICTURE 185 World-conquest by a few individuals was like to be realized by economic means. This most highly-colored, hypnotic, and imagina- tive gathering of men, women, and children must have occurred in the early part of the Revolution and the great transition period, and before the present year; for it was the immense misery and unbearable suffering of all the amazingly patient people that stirred up the mighty waves of altruistic, brotherly love, and rolled them onward with irresistible power until the final climax, when all embraced and with an "all hands around" in this mazy dance swept the race into the perfected humanity of the year two thousand Anno Domini. It must therefore have oc- curred within the memory of the present generation. For, have we not been definitely informed in the century dream that at the last election — that of 1 896 — a large political party endorsed the platform of a prior political party, which had in its plank their be- lief that the nation should own and operate all the interstate corporations, the railroads, the telegraphs, the telephones, and the mines? That only one more election — that of 1900 — would be necessary to give the advocates of this planked belief the political su- premacy? That then, legally and without any remu- neration to those who had built these railroads, tele- graphs, and telephones and developed and worked these mines, the nation would be prepared officially to perfect under the guise of law the most stupendous theft in all history? That, through an anarchistic and utterly debauched political power, this theft was to be achieved? That, what no military force on earth ever attempted or could accomplish, what no com- petitive or economical system could ever hope to at- 186 REALITY tain, would thus be accomplished within the next three years? This wonderful gathering was not local and com- posed of a few disgruntled sufferers of the pauper, laboring, and farmer classes — the toiling masses — but embraced men, women, and children. It was composed of the strong men of developed thews and sinews; the learned men, scribes, lawyers, men of fine wit and great knowledge ; the priests and Levites, the guardians of the sacred oracles, the voice of God to the people, to which they never reply; and the lovely fair women, who called attention to the fact that they were women and should be fair to behold, who begged to serve in any capacity or minister to the pleasure of their cruel, unsympathetic, and utter- ly unprincipled rulers. The gathering was universal, as it included all classes, and every community had its market-place. What a mighty host, gathered the world over, and with one purpose, the wailing cry and insatiate desire for bread, " for we must eat or die." The records of earth or heaven or deepest hell never furnished such an assembly, and for such a purpose. Neither the battle in heaven, when one-third of its angelic sons were forever banished into everlasting night and misery, nor the most terrible anguish, death, and de- struction on the battlefields of the world, ever fur- nished such a woeful spectacle as these innumerable and world-wide bread beggars. The joyous in heaven must have wept, and the tri- umphant tone of the everlasting song ceased its rap- turous strains, while the glorified harps and the in- struments of the grand chorus of eternal praise were dumb at the spectacle. How could there be happi- NEW NAMES INVENTED 187 ness and joy in heaven when the same loving Father permitted such misery and weeping among the whole people on earth ? Better a thousand times order an- other deluge, and at least sweep all the capitalists and men of wealth from the face of the earth, and let the waves and not the products of earth compete with each other in their utter destruction. This meeting was too unique and remarkable to be re- ported in the ordinary language, and the capitalists are given a new name, " The Masters of Bread," " The Lords of Bread." These new-coined epithets lend an exquisite tinge and coloring to the mournful picture, most powerfully appealing to every person, when they think that every market-place the world over is filled with starving men, women, and innocent children. So mighty and omnipotent were the " Masters of Bread" and these " Lords of Bread," that the muscular athletes, the brawny men of the shops, the mines, and the soil, the iron workers, the men of the diamond field, the powerful pigskin kick- ers, the boat and yacht racers, the pugilistic cham- pions of the ring, were all enthusiastically anxious to dig in the mines, to freeze and starve in the hulls of ships and roast in stokeholes. If these brawny men of developed thews and sin- ews were so hungry for bread, why did they not take it and satisfy their hunger? For physically they were abundantly able to do so; and w^e know at this era the land was full of wheat, dough, and unleavened bread, sufficient to satisfy all the hungry stomachs in every market-place in the world ; and that the " Masters of Bread " and the " Lords of Bread " did not have, nor ever did have, any power to keep them from satisfy- ing this supposed hunger. An injunction could have 188 REALITY been easily obtained from any Federal or State court, on the ground of public policy, prohibiting these ' ' Lords of the Bread " from locking up the staff of life from this starving multitude. No court would dare to refuse such a demand from all classes of the people assembled in every market-place of the nation. Or, if they were so anxious to die that they were willing to freeze or starve in the hulls and roast in the stoke- holes of the ships, why not nobly perish and give up the ghost in the market-places, in the presence of their suffering companions? Doubtless this would have cast a halo of glory over their miserable exit, and afforded much pleasure to their unfeeling, om- nipotent, despotic masters, the lords of wheat, dough, and baked bread. Unfortunately for the artist who painted this strik- ing and wonderful picture, and fortunately for those who are invited to gaze upon it, it purports to de- scribe an assemblage of our own day and times; and he audaciously asks the people of this day to believe in what it attempts to portray as a literal experience. THE LAWYERS. The wit and wisdom of the lawyers and the scribes, whoever they may be, are called upon, as is the cus- tom, to grace the assembly. They are represented as piteously begging of these ' ' Masters of Bread and " Lords of Bread " for a few crumbs of the loaves they have usually been credited with making and baking. They must certainly have lost their wits and forgotten their wisdom, and it is supreme folly in the artist to credit this to them in his picture. For in every age the capitalists have been compelled to employ the wit, follow and pay for the wisdom of PRIESTS AL WA YS PRO VIDEO FOR 189 the lawyers, in all the production, accumulation, and the baking of this universal necessity — bread. We know from actual experience, and careful and ex- tended observation that, during this era, the lawyers did not lose their wits or fail in their wisdom. They were never more prosperous and successful. It has ever been a primal axiom of the profession, when they have aided the " Lords of Bread" and " Mas- ters of Bread " to prepare and bake their bread, — and there are few loaves prepared and baked without their aid, — to first satisfy their own hunger beyond future want from each loaf before it is delivered to the Masters and Lords of the loaves. We never heard of but two lawyers who perished for want of bread. One was in Maine and the other in New York City. Misfortune and sickness over- cam.e them ; they were too proud to beg for bread ; and as a noble and generous community knew not of their necessities, they were reported as having per- ished from starvation. It is, therefore, safe to say that there were no lawyers in this miserable, univer- sal assembly in all the market-places of the world, joining in that supposed mighty wail for bread or death. If there had been, relief would have come at once through their fine wit, great knowledge, and profound wisdom. THE PRIESTS AND LEVITES. As to the priests and Levites, — the guardians of the sacred oracles, the voice of God, to whom the people listened and dared not reply, who promised in the name of the Father to forbid the people to claim the rights of brothers, and in the name of the Prince of Peace to preach competition, — it is barely possible 190 REALITY that, having exhausted every effort toward a spirit- ual, Christian, and moral manhood upon the " Mas- ters and the Lords of the Bread," they had been deserted by them ; and were, at least some of them, found in that assembly bewailing their fate and actu- ally crying for bread. We read from the text-book of the priests of this era something about casting pearls before swine, and being rent therefor. Per- haps this was such an occasion. At any rate, if they really preached these infamous doctrines the artist charges them with, they ought and richly deserve to go hungry ; and possibly a few of them might have mingled with that wailing, universal crowd in every market-place, but of course only to minister to the spiritual necessities of those whose souls had still a chance for salvation. If history and the general consensus of the people can be relied upon, the priests are always ready to procure from heaven the necessary rain and sunshine and the favorable winds to germinate and fructify the wheat ; they can be relied upon to see that it is properly harvested with thanksgiving and praises, duly thrashed and winnowed, kneaded and baked; and few there be who can remember of a single loaf passing into the hands of the omnipotent " Masters and Lords of the Bread ' ' before the priests had been fed and fully satisfied. While a lawyer here and there may starve, no one can recollect, nor do those omnivorous gatherers of the startling events of life ever chronicle, such an ignominious fate for the priests. If there were no other life lines thrown out, their everlasting supporters and friends, the women, would rescue them at the peril of their own lives. In the picture given of the vast assembly of starv- SAD CONDITION OF WOMEN 191 ing mortals in every market-place, the artist says of the women : ' ' And above all the clamor of the men were heard the voices of a multitude of women cry- ing to the Masters of the Bread: ' Pass us not by, for we must also eat. . . If you will not take us for our labor's sake, yet look upon us; we are women and should be fair in your eyes. Take us and do with us according to your pleasure, for we must eat.' " And again, after the " Masters of Bread " had taken for their use and pleasure such as they saw fit, " there was left a great multitude in the market-place for whom there was no bread." The only construc- tion that can be placed upon this language is, that the great majority of the women of our fair land had deliberately gone to the market-places everywhere, and bartered their honor and beauty for bread. Men of all classes of society were there, but high above all the clamor of these stalwart, brawny men of toil, these lawyers, priests, and scribes, were heard the voices of a multitude of women. If this were true, the women must have far out- numbered the men, as their piteous wail for bread " was heard above all the clamor of the men," and that too at any cost of their honor and womanhood. X If this were true, the majorit}^ of the women of this generation had sunk in morals far below any pagan or savage tribes mentioned in the annals of history. The picture is too horrible to look upon. If intended to represent the women of this generation, there is not a semblance of truth in it. Possibly there are relatively a few women in the period contemplated who would sell themselves for bread, or its repre- sentative ; but not openly, in every market-place in the land. To say that multitudes in every market- 192 REALITY place would deliberately do so, is a monstrous un- truth and an infamous charge, utterly unsupported by any conditions or facts that ever did or ever can exist. If intended to represent possible conditions, purely imaginative, the picture is a lamentable fail- ure. For all art is based upon truthful representa- tion. It is untruthful in perspective, outline, and color. Such conditions never did and never can exist even in pagan or savage life, much less in civilized communities in the last quarter of this clos- ing century. This utter destruction of all that is noble, exalted, and honorable in men, and all that is sacred, holy, and lovable in women; this complete extinction of the intellectual, the moral, the sesthetical, and spirit- ual, all that distinguishes the human from the brute creation : we are coolly asked to believe was caused by " Competition," and was " the last refinement of indignity put upon human nature by your economic system." This generation, — before whose eyes this vast assemblage of unprecedented suffering convened in every market-place, and of which assembly every adult now living was portrayed as a piteous, suppli- cating, wailing member, — all know that simple com- petition and our industrial system never did nor ever could produce any such results, nor any state of so- ciety and commercial life tending toward such a dia- bolical consummation. We have already shown in this book, by some of the best thinkers of the ages, that the Dreamer's theories and conclusions on competition and indus- trial systems are wholly untenable ; and that these causes are absolutely inadequate to produce such stu- pendous results. THE CHIEF QUESTION IN MARRIAGE 193 In addition to the above very serious and utterly- untruthful charge, one of the most striking and un- satisfactory impressions made by Equality upon the reader is the low, debased, and unworthy view taken of the women of our land. The attempt to novelize the story by the introduction of lovely Edith is practically a failure. The chief function that characterizes her as a wom- an is the manifestation of great inquisitiveness. This at all times and everywhere is admitted to be one of the dominant, though not the most lovely, character- istic of her sex. She seems simply to act as an ever convenient interlocutor of the Dreamer and the other characters — a sort of wound-up clock ready to strike when the time arrives. Largely devoid of those innumerable feminine manifestations, — the fanciful, humorous, witty play of the head and heart forces that grace with beauty and render interesting the successful novel, — she appears rather to have been in- troduced to indicate that he once respected and rever- enced woman — for it would seem impossible that he ever could have loved one — to awaken, inspire, and revive a flame of a former love experience before Sawyer hypnotized him. There is little freshness of incident, difference or variety in the speeches of the several characters. In the labored discussions, all tending to the same end, it is asserted that women are inferior to men by reason of a claimed dependence upon them for main- tenance ; that there can be no equality of the sexes except along moral lines. Yet he claims the ine- quality was caused by the purely secular question of support; that to obtain this support, they were compelled to be persona grata at all times and places, 194 REALITY and the whole aim and end of their life was to be pleasing and acceptable to the men ; that the reflec- tions from their mirrors were far more important than those of the head and heart. Such a necessity- being ever upon them, their inferiority was constant- ly and painfully manifest and acknowledged. He asserts that women, who are wholly engaged in a con- stant effort to please these superior men, could not from the very nature of the case become the mothers of a noble race ; that all the great, sacred, and enno- bling questions concerning motherhood, art, science, literature, government, and religion were completely obliterated and submerged in the mere questions of fashion, etiquette, and how best to appear most at- tractive on all occasions. It is affirmed that since maintenance by men was an imperative necessity, marriage was the only proper and honorable destiny of the woman. The perma- nent and all-eno^rossing thought was, therefore, whether the proposed male could be easily pleased and support them in an acceptable manner. The debasing, belittling, and ever degrading influence of such an insignificant theme for constant reflection is at once apparent. But there is no evidence that this was the case to any considerable extent. There have always been some weak and frivolous women as well as men. It must also be remembered that the won- derful dream occurred Amio Domini 1887, only some ten years since ; and that the women described were the mothers of to-day, the adult women of this generation. Very many happy marriages exist where the hus- band had no means of supporting a wife when mar- ried, and their conditions have not materially ALL A VENUES OPEN TO WOMEN 195 changed ; and yet very many good people manage to exist, live upon what is called love, and are happy and contented. The theory that marriage for support is a neces- sity in this era for women, is wholly erroneous. While the question of support is always of more or less importance, it is a mere incident of minor con- cern, when compared with many others of vastly more interest and consideration as to duty in life. It is beyond dispute, that a happy marriage is the acme of human bliss and the highest possible attain- ment of men and women in all ages, classes, and nations. The vastly more important questions that conduce to this result are those of temperament, in- tellectual and moral adaptation, of personal inspira- tion, magnetism, and all those subtle forces of mind and heart which elicit admiration, attraction, and in- fluence over each party ; which arc summarized in the term "love," and which always generate and enlist perpetual esteem, respect, and reverence. Given these, the question of mere support vanishes as a trivial incident, an afterthought, and is hardly worthy of extended consideration. Under the favorable laws and conditions of social life and the great leveler, public opinion, the spheres of woman's activities in this generation have been so broadened and enlarged, that they are no longer de- pendent upon the men for their support, and are for this reason no longer inferior. They can now pos- sess, use, and own their own property. Practically every avenue to support and affluent wealth is opened wide to them, the same as to men. All business, professional, literary, scholastic, and artistic life has opened its doors to them ; and generally at the same 196 REALITY remuneration, for the same fidelity and service ren- dered. This was practically the case in 1887. To affirm, therefore, that marriage for support is a necessity, is doing a great injustice to the ability, that rare sense of refinement and appreciation of the higher and nobler faculties of the intellect and heart which dominate and distinguish the women of this generation. To marry for support indicates a pover- ty of resources in the appreciation of, and the capacity to enjoy, the higher forms of social life. But a small fraction of the women of this era will voluntarily confess such inferiority in these attainments, as to be moved by the very lowest consideration for forming such a relation. Long since have a great majority of the marriageable women of this era passed the lower stages of sociology. A hook skillfully baited by a count, a prince, or a man of vast wealth, at- tached to a line skillfully thrown upon the matrimo- nial sea, will occasionally catch an inexperienced, verdant schoolmaiden, even now ; but the cultured, aspiring, full-orbed women are not caught with such bait, nor that kind of Izaak Walton. Such a motive is no longer the chief influence to such a relation among the noble women of the land. They come within that universal law of the cul- tured, by which the satisfaction of wants and desires among them continually opens the circle of larger wants and desires, until the satisfaction of those larger and more exalted circles of wants and normal aspirations becomes a necessity for their content- ment and happiness. By each satisfaction of a want, an aspiration, a hope, or even fancy, the vista is ever broadened until the whole being is controlled by this law. LIMITATIONS OF WOMEN 197 Atavism may affect a few ; but in social life the later and larger wants and aspirations are more up- lifting towards the ever- widening circles which always still lie beyond them, inviting from these opening vistas of the future gratification and full satisfaction. This involves the nobler faculties of the intellect, the deepest yearnings of the heart, and the more delicate manifestations of the fancy and the imagina- tion. It is the basis of the ever-present inquisitive- ness of the sex. It is an effort to follow the stray sunbeams to the source of all the light, and the pulsa- tions of an experienced pleasure to the source of all joy — perfected love. It is the regnant characteristic of the women of this era that, as a class, they are honestly inquiring after, seeking for, and aspiring to, better conditions of social life and happiness, — a most praiseworthy pursuit ; and every honorable man will ever bid them Godspeed in their effort. Mere maintenance has little to do with this effort, and no industrial system can materially affect or con- trol it. At best it is but the lowest and first step in the limitless ladder of ascent, and is comparatively of little significance. If the spirit and will-power exist, there is scarcely a limit to their ascending process. It is not a necessity, for the reason that women are abundantly able to take this first step in the ascent. Many of them not only support themselves, but oftentimes the men they marry and others dependent upon them. The time has long since passed when it w 'S ignoble and unwomanly to do this. In the battle of life they are usually credited with greater emotional power, keener intellectual perceptions, more vivid imaginations, a finer fancy, poetical and artistic conceptions than men. Their rule is trium- 198 REALITY phant in the Kingdom of the Heart and the Imagina- tion, and they excel as seers and prophets, and can dream without being hypnotized for a hundred years. The most significant fact and crowning glory of the last quarter of this century, including the closing period of the wonderful dream, is the tremendous volcanic uplift and emancipation of woman, — and this in every department of her social, intellectual, artis- tic, spiritual, and industrial life. The hidden sources of this miracle of the ages, this fulfillment of the dreams of the noble and ex- alted of the bygone centuries, is still an undiscovered mystery. Yet its mighty potency is everywhere felt and acknowledged. It has come upon the race with a movement as un- obtrusive as the gilded rays of the rainbow, in its picture of beauty, after the weeping storm ; as deli- cate and imperceptible as the hidden play of woman's finest fancy ; as serious and impressive as her most sacred heart yearnings; as exalted as the loftiest aspirations of her towering intellect; and deep and profound as the most spiritual research and experi- ence, of her heart. It thrills and vibrates through all the life of the universe, from stone to star. Fifty years ago, woman was practically limited to washing, teaching school, or marriage. Even then it was often a serious question which was the most desirable. Now she may choose her own course, de- termine her own position and destiny in the world's social, intellectual, spiritual, and industrial life. It is to her great credit and the utter confusion of the pessimists and false prophets, that she has en- tered every possible field of human activity with the most commendable self-reliance, enthusiasm, and zeal ; MARRIAGE NOT A NECESSITY I9y until even now she is the successful competitor with man in most of the leading activities of the race. The avidity with which women have embraced every opportunity, and their triumphant success in achieve- ments hitherto considered impossible for them to un- dertake, has been the miracle and admiration of this generation. OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE BEST EDUCATION. In a recent report of an educator in England, out of 162 universities examined, 139 freely admit women on the same terms as men. This is the practical condition in Scotland, Wales, Australia, India, Canada, France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Greece, Italy, and the United States. The great sinners of Europe in this respect are Germany, Austria, and Russia. In this country every college, university, or art in- stitute for special training of any considerable im- portance is filled to overflowing with women students ; and the records show that with the same curriculum their standing is fully equal, if they do not surpass, on an average, the male students. While this is true of the literary and specially scholastic institutions, the still more marvelous and universal phenomenon, along educational lines at least, in this country, is the recent club life everywhere vigorous and amaz- ingly successful. Every city, village, and hamlet has its well organ- ized, well attended, and well conducted clubs. These embrace a careful, systematic, and thorough investi- gation, not only of subjects peculiarly interesting to the sex, but those heretofore relegated to and sup- posed to be interesting and profitable only to men. 200 REALITY Those anxious to confine women to their supposed sphere have been amazed and confounded at the zeal, enthusiasm, thoroughness, and grand success of this literary club life along the lines of human thought and action. In view of this brilliant and unparalleled move- ment, how infinitely pessimistic, debasing, and un- true is it to declare that marriage for support is a ne- cessity for the women of this era, and to demonstrate that they are inferior to men ! The hope among all right-minded men is that this grand movement may continue with unabated energy, enthusiasm, and suc- cess, until they effectually demonstrate their superi- ority to men in the better solution of the many great questions that now sorely vex our social and national life. It is the rising sun of a glorious day for the whole race, the Bethlehem Star that points with brilliant rays to the source from whence cometh the salvation of the weary world. It will dissipate the fearful, horrible shadows of death so graphically pictured in the universal gathering in Equality, and hush the clamorous wail of misery said to have been heard in every market-place for bread at any price from the starving women of this generation. THE EFFECT OF THIS CULTURE. The effect of this amazing change in the status of women in the intellectual, social, artistic, poetic, literary, and industrial realm upon the future of the race, is under serious consideration. But only the pessimists are greatly alarmed. The effect can only and always be beneficial. In their uplift the men will be compelled to participate, and the effect can- EMANCIPATED WOMAN 201 not be other than elevating and refining, resulting always in higher types and conditions in every walk of life. Love, the most potent force in the universe, the divinity within the heart, has always dominated the sex, and no amount of culture will change this reg- nant power. Men, heretofore, have been the prin- cipal recipients of this choicest product of heaven and earth. Those who by proper character and cul- ture are worthy of it in the future have little cause to fear. Even inferior men are probably more worthy of woman's love and attention than poodle dogs, birds, or even books, art, or the fashions of the day. Culture, breadth of knowledge, and an enlarged experience will make women more wise and discreet in selecting the happy objects of their affection. It is, however, entirely safe to affirm that very few will find it a necessity to marry for support, and thus demonstrate their inferiority to and dependence upon men. Those men who believe and advocate such an unworthy theory will be coolly left to pass under hypnotic influences, as best they can, the passing centuries in unutterable dreamy isolation, compared with which outer darkness would be brilliant sun- light. There is a far greater shout that fills the air than ever rose from the miserably despondent, universal gathering in the market-places of Equality. In jubilant tones it echoes from every mountain peak, rings through the valleys, and rolls across the lakes and oceans. It is the triumphant song of eman- cipated woman. All the nobler and more exalted manhood of the world most heartily joins in this 202 REALITY mighty All Hail to the emancipation of woman, and to the coming salvation of the race from the thraldom of oppression in every form, the sway of peace and prosperity, the perfection of human happiness through the peaceful triumph and reign of a per- fected humanity. Heaven's most benign influences seem to have inspired this movement, and its bless- ings continually crown its progress. The women of this generation have risen to the emergency; they have only to obey the maxim '' Carpe diem,'' and the evening of this century and of all time will ring the triumphant song of the morn- ing: ** Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." BROTHERLY LOVE Equality presents another beautiful picture that will ever arouse and unify the sympathy of all its religious and worshipful readers. After the water- tank allegory, in which the capitalists had em- ployed the priests and soothsayers to deceive and calm the turbulent masses of the people, he says that they als^ secured mighty men to fight the people ; then the agitators came and told the people that they could change this condition ; and they did so. "And there was no more any thirst in that land, neither any that was ahungered, nor naked, nor cold, nor in any manner of want ; and every man said unto his fel- low, * My brother,' and every woman said unto her companion, ' My sister,' for so were they with one another as brethren and sisters which do dwell to- gether in unity. And the blessing of God rested upon that land forever." This pleasing spectacle of all the people calling each other by the endearing name of brother and sister and living in unity with the blessing of God upon the land forever, was the direct and immediate result of what he calls the people changing their prior existing conditions ; that is, through the advice of the agitators, possession was taken of all public corporate property and wealth without the consent of the owners or any remuneration whatever. He seems to desire the reader to believe that this changed condition from the wage and profit system 204 REALITY to his theoretical industrial system based upon the equal distribution of wealth, was the immediate cause of this unity among the people, and the descent of the blessing of God upon the land forever ; as if both were a new experience to the race and had no prior existence because no such conditions had ever pre- vailed. The fact is, the use of these endearing epithets is as old as time itself. God himself, if the inspired narrative be true, taught directly the doctrine of the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man in the Garden of Eden, when he asked Cain, the first- born of the race, " Where is thy brother Abel? " and Cain replied, "Am I my brother's keeper?" The same great universal doctrine has been the basis of Buddhism and most of the great religions of the past and the present age. It has given birth to Socialism in its varied forms and many other kindred organizations in different nations. The aim is to have such an equality of property, opportunity, privilege, and power that no member can claim superiority in any possible direc- tion. The most notable experiment in this country was Brook Farm, in Massachusetts, in 1840-44. This had in its membership some strongly endowed and highly cultured men and women. But it soon lamen- tably failed ; as all organizations based on these prin- ciples always have, when applied to any community of importance in numbers and commercial power, since Christ and his Apostolic Church tried the experiment. Probably the ablest apostle of the opposition to the present order, Ex-Governor John P. Altgeld, said in an able speech on May 30, 1897, at Philadelphia, that GOD CANNOT BLESS UNJUST ACTS 205 the world was not yet ready for Socialism. This is a great truth ; and from such a speaker, and at such a time, bravely uttered. He might have added that the world and the race never have been and never will be ready for it, until the whole structure of the race is radically changed. The people may be brought to dwell in comparative unity and agree- ment along certain limited and well-defined lines of thought and conduct, and the blessing of God will rest upon them as it always does upon His children — the whole race. He is no respecter of persons, time, or nations. He rules the universe in accordance with the fixed beneficent laws which operate upon all alike within the sphere of their application. All that live righteously, whose actions are based upon and whose conduct in life is governed by and conforms to these beneficent laws, are always blessed and forever in their obedience to them. The mis- take is to suppose that a just God can approve and bless forever an act of injustice. It is inconceivable to suppose a large or small frag- ment of the race can grow and prosper and receive forever the blessing of God, when they have taken their neighbors' property and wealth without their consent or any remuneration therefor. When hav- ing committed an iniquitous act of injustice and deliberately broken a command of the Decalogue, — recognized alike the world over by the savage, the pagan, and all religionists — by all men in fact, and in all ages, — it is not unreasonable that they could be sufficiently united to shake hands over the diabolical transaction and call each other brother and sister. It is not singular that they sought the closest alli- ance and yearned for sympathy and companionship. 206 REALITY All criminals have such experiences, and fear isola- tion, lest it afford conscience — the divine light in the heart — an opportunity to work, and the moral charac- ter time to recover from the shock and reassert itself upon the throne of the judgment and reason. The mere calling of every man "brother" and woman " sister," because of a forcible change of the indus- trial system in the community where it is effected, is not sufficient evidence that genuine brotherly love exists there to any alarming extent. In the Brook Farm experiment, in which distin- guished men like Greeley, Emerson, Parker, Dana, Geo. W. Curtis, and others, and women, like Margaret Fuller, of marked distinction of character and cul- ture, took a prominent part, they thus greeted each other. The Quakers, the Mormons, the great Meth- odist denomination, and many others, all greet each other as brothers and sisters. It is a beautiful cus- tom, and well might be practiced by the whole race. But does it always insure unity of action and the real love and affection it is supposed to indicate in their ecclesiastical, family, and national relations; and does it always secure the blessing of God forever? Every one knows that it is little more than a favored custom, has no real power and abiding effect upon the character and life of those who practice it. Are they any more distinguished for charity, benevolence, and brotherly love, than the Presbyterians, the Con- gregationalists, the Catholics, or any other sect of religionists, who seldom or never use these terms? GOD MUST BE JUST. If God is the Father of the race, — and He has al- ways so revealed Himself in the creation, in the con- CHRIST'S KINGDOM ON EARTH 207 science of every heart, in the Garden of Eden, and all down the stream of time throughout his works ; and if all the so-called seers and interpreters who have assumed to explain His relation to the race are His children, — and few there be that doubt this; if He is a God of justice, as all concede who believe in Him at all as God : then He cannot be claimed to bless for- ever a fraction of the race, a very few of His children, who deliberately break His command and steal or take without consent or remuneration property or wealth which belongs to another fraction of His race, or other children of His family, under the guise of brotherly love and the specious plea that the term has never been properly understood and practiced. There has never been any doubt about its meaning ; and the happy, imagined, perfected humanity of the year two thousand gave it the same interpretation and application it has to-day and ever has had. It simply means unselfishness, the exercise of the altruistic spirit, the doing to all other persons just what you ask them in return to do to you ; to sym- pathize with and to aid every less fortunate, or any person in all reasonable methods in your power ; to carry into practice the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount and the Golden Rule. This is practical brotherly love in all ages, and as inter- preted by all revelators and teachers. There can, therefore, be no new revelation as to the brotherly love, its basic principles and application in actual life, either by any of the great teachers or the great Dreamer. The doctrine is too old, too well estab- lished, too long in actual practice to admit of any new revelations concerning it. P 208 REALITY THE DREAMER BELIEVES IN ANARCHY AND SOCIAL- ISM, THOUGH HE HARDLY DARE ADMIT IT. The Dreamer thoroughly believes in the most pro- nounced Socialism and Anarchy, though he does not quite say so. He plays skillfully with beautiful pic- tures of great sympathetic power, and brings show- ers of tears from suffering and susceptible women ; he deals in finely wrought literary periods, elegant phrases, and new revelations ; and boldly asserts that the intellectual wisdom and prayerful devotion of the long-drawn past has never yet discovered the spirit of Christ, or been able to interpret His dream of His Kingdom on Earth. We must come to the conclu- sion that Christ was a poor revelator, utterly unable to express His own views of His own Kingdom, which no one for a moment believes ; or, that the race was too stupid and depraved to converse with its own Creator and the Light of the World, which the race will never admit; or, that the Dreamer is utterly mistaken when he claims a new revelation as to the doctrine of brotherly love and its application, which everybody will be inclined to believe. WHAT HIS UTOPIAN SCHEME LACKS. The Utopian scheme lacks the first principle of honesty, that which must be the basis of every char- acter, be it personal or national, which appeals to a just God for vindication and His blessing upon it forever. We could all readily endorse, accept, believe in, and support a large part of his social and industrial readjustment scheme; unite all our prayers to a just God for His blessing forever, and call each other brother and sister as an audible token of our sincer- THE FIRST UTOPIAN PROPOSITION 209 ity ; if he would include the capitalists, or honestly remunerate them for their wealth forcibly taken from them. They are our brothers, a constituent part of the race ; pray to the same God — or at least some of them do, — and all of them ought to, for if any one needs the consolations and aid of prayer in these days of virulent hostility it is the capitalist. There is a mighty host of them ; for, as far as the principles under investigation are concerned, all are capitalists who have sufficient to keep them and their depend- ents from being a pecuniary burden to the commu- nity in which they reside. The first proposition of the scheme is to strip these brothers who have large corporate wealth without their consent or any remu- neration, deny them all the advantages of brotherly love, and then expect a just God to bless forever the transaction. This of course implies His disapproval and curse upon His other children, the capitalists, who were only guilty of accumulating a few more grains of the golden material, with which the streets of heaven itself are supposed to be paved, and over which the Deity and the celestial hosts are supposed to travel. Certainly, Herr Most and his host of gen- uine socialists, anarchists, and dynamiters could do no worse. Under the doctrine of eminent domain, when the interests of the whole people or nation demand it, individual and corporate wealth, by due process of law, may be condemned and taken by such power, its fair cash value ascertained and paid for to the pos- sessors thereof. Only bandits and robbers ever ad- vocate or attempt to justify such a proceeding as the Dreamer actually proposes, in this closing of the nineteenth century when civilization has reached 210 REALITY the crest of the highest wave in history, — to take the wealth of the world without the approval of its own- ers and without compensation or process of law, and that, too, at the instigation of a very small fraction of the race. It is the most anarchistical, world-wide scheme of plunder ever suggested to the bewildered gaze of the people. The second proposition of this Utopian plan is to compel all small capitalists to come in and adopt the scheme : the farmers composing one-half of the popu- lation, the vast multitude of salaried and professional men and women, the comparatively small merchants and traders, the followers and supporters of the press of the land, by destroying the money of the land and all the wealth and property held by individuals. The second proposition is, in spirit and principle, the same as the first. The method differs a little, but the end sought is the same ; and the only reason, apology, or excuse offered for these operations is, that it is the fulfillment of Christ's dream of His King- dom on Earth and the doctrine of brotherly love un- der the new revelation, the only duly revised and correct one, inspired by the hypnotic dream in the Boston vault, Afino Domini 1887. Those endorsing this Utopian scheme have usual- ly nothing to lose, but everything to gain. The promised forty-five dollars a month payable in gov- ernment script, and a certificate claimed to be worth four thousand dollars which it is averred would be more valuable than gold, would probably be good wages for all this class, for the perpetual privilege of thus exercising this brotherly love. If our conceptions of a just God are at all correct, the misty halo of beauty, happiness, peace, and pros- THE SECOND UTOPIAN PROPOSITION 211 perity, which dreamily envelopes the perfected race in the year two thousand, cannot dim his vision to the dishonor and injustice practiced in the transition period when the world's wealth was forcibly taken. He is ever cognizant of the motives, principles of action, and heart-throbs of human experience. He cannot be deceived by cunningly used epithets to indicate the presence of brotherly love that does not exist. A just God cannot be expected to bless for- ever such a Utopian scheme, whose very founda- tions were laid in injustice and dishonor, and where a large majority of the race were deliberately ex- cluded from the enjoyments of the blessings of broth- erly love. The Dreamer is a fairly successful philosopher, but not a thinker and reasoner. In Equality, his reasoning is fatal to the success of his Utopian scheme of a perfected race by means of his economic industrial system, based upon an equal distribution of wealth. WHAT GOD MIGHT HAVE DONE " It is manifest that the moral law must be the law of the perfect man — the law in obedience to which perfection consists. There are but two propositions for us to choose between. It may either be asserted that morality is a code of rules for the behavior of men as they are; or otherwise, that it is a code of rules for the behavior of men as they should be. . . . Pure rectitude can alone be its sub- ject matter. Its object must be to determine the relations in which men ought to stand to one another — to point out the principles of action in a normal society. It must aim to give a systematic statement of those conditions under which Jiuman beings may har7noniously cooperate, and to this end it requires, as its postulate, that such human be- ings be perfect.'' — Spencer, Social Statistics, p. 25. All the agitators, reformers, dreamers, and apostles of unrest seem not only dissatisfied with the laws that govern the universe, but with the creation itself. They are anachronisms born out of time, and place as well; neither satisfied with creative power and favorable environment, under which others they condemn live, thrive, and prosper, nor with the re- sults they or their fellow-mortals achieve. With their contentions the worshipful and enlight- ened minds have little sympathy, believing, that the Creator was all-wise, all-loving, and beneficent when He made the earth and placed the race upon it, and that it is still fulfilling its creative destiny. The 214 REALITY very terms they delight to use in designating their employment, indicate this spirit of unrest and dis- obedience and a constant effort to change the race destiny, to place it as far as possible upon their ideal theories, and develop it along their lines of supposed progress; as if finite man could make an advance upon Deity, reform His laws, and improve the gov- ernment of His universe. This is ever futile; for the Creator is omniscient, eternal, and omnipotent, while they are very finite — the butterflies of a June day, enjoying a beam of sunlight for a moment and then disappearing. How evanescent and utterly insignificant their existence and efforts, when compared with the vast cycles of creative power even in our little world, and the inconceivable scope of wisdom and love that made the azalea on the mountain top or the humblest flower that blooms forever unseen ! How can they challenge the Deity for not making a different, bet- ter, and happier race with some other laws of devel- opment than simple growth? God's law is growth. Man can only manufacture, and to a limited degree make combinations. If the creative power is infinite and omniscient, then it is illimitable and might have a race of per- fected humanity needing no reformation or growth. Doubtless a race could have been made without the powers of extended thought, reason and judg- ment, and the will ; cast in the tallow-dip mould of sameness and mediocrity; all of the same shape, size, color of eyes, and hirsute appendages. What a tiresome and unsatisfactory race to view! The first glance one of satiety, for you would have seen all when you had surveyed one. Then there would THE PLEASURES OF DEVELOPMENT 215 have been no exhilarating play of the intellect be- tween minds of different attainments ; no kneeling at the feet of inspiration ; no intensity of yearning pray- er for something better in the beyond; no angel- winged faith for the pure, the true, and the more holy; no sweet, loving trust in a stronger creative power that holds up the sinking spirit ; for the idea of growth and development is unknown. There would have been no exquisite flights of the fancy into realms of what is to come ; no thrilling of every emotion, by the almost incontrollable throbbings of the passions, in what we call love ; none of the un- speakable bliss of courtship, the ardent, audacious, determined wooing of the dear charmer of the heart ; for the reformers, men and women, are all alike, all cast in the same mould. Take, O ardent lover, the first one you meet and be satisfied to quench your passionate love, your infinite yearnings, your soul's highest aspirations with such specimens of reformed loveliness ! " Ah! " cries the reader, in a wonderful burst of pent-up enthusiasm, " Give us, O Creator, your in- finite ideal; let the Dreamer have his perfected, machine-made man. " Give us the formative law of growth, and let us work out our destiny ; and when the end comes, con- sign us to the place of our choice, the abode we have prepared for ourselves by our use of the faculties given us and the culture of them developed in each individual life." The race could have been made full-orbed in some starlit planet among the circling spheres, and dropped upon our earth by some gigantic celestial parachute. But with such a perfected race the re- 216 REALITY formers and agitators would not be satisfied ; for then, like the silversmiths of old, their calling would be gone. Then there would have been no innocent, unbiased infancy ; no noble and ever advancing manhood ; no full-crowning, ripened maturity of age ; no morning and evening ; no glory and splendor of the rising and setting sun ; none of the blissful joy of new developments, or fresh new truths experienced, and the sweet, grand triumphs of victorious progress. The whole race would be reduced to the dead level of commonplace and inaction. They insist upon a per- fected race, but are utterly unwilling to use the Creator's laws and methods to obtain it. They want the millennium glory, but must have it in their era, and in their own way, and cannot await the Creator's plans for consummating it. In fact there can never be such a millennium of sinless humanity on this earth, as is often preached, prayed for, and expected by many devout souls. The everlasting conditions of life forever render this impossible. For, as long as the race must be perpetuated by constant new- born infants of more or less vicious hereditary tendencies, the world will always be filled with youthful ignorance, middle-aged sin, extravagance, reformatory bewildering experiments, and the fol- lies of the aged. Any one who expects the millennium perfection and glory under the laws that do now, and are destined to rule this world, is doomed to certain disappoint- ment. In fact, whenever a claimed perfect man or community has appeared, it has always been a signal for calling the police and preparing for the worst — crucifixion and death. It is but a fancy of the dreamers, reformers, and NO MILLENNIUM FOR THIS WORLD 217 idealists, without a possibility that it can ever be realized; because the fundamental laws of the uni- verse, growth and development, are forever opposed to it. The highest perfection in all directions always finds an illimitable field beyond for greater growth and more infinite expansion. The wise will prefer to be in sympathy with the Creator, to work along the lines of His appointment, and devoutly, lovingly trust His wisdom and power for the desired results. The law is clearl)'- written upon every page of revelation, nature, and human experience. The forest trees and all vegetable and plant life obey it. The progress of Creation is evolved through it, while as far as we know every force and power of the uni- verse is in full accord with it. Man in every depart- ment of his life is no exception to it. It is the all- important condition of life, and it must be obeyed ; or a dwarfed, insignificant, unrighteous existence is the unenviable result. Throughout all nature the infinite variety in the same species, the ever constant change caused by the different degrees of growth and attainment, and the joy and newborn delight they furnish, ever approve the Creator's wisdom in all His creation, and certify to His infinite skill in adopting as the one great law of the universe this universal law of growth and development. It is His plan, and the primal source of all happiness and prosperity. INDIVIDUALISM. Henry George says, " Individual liberty is sacred." There is much in nature and humanity that is very beautiful and worthy of admiration ; much that is 218 REALITY sacred and holy in the universe, worthy of all rever- ence and worshipful adoration and praise. But the most beautiful, mysterious, and sacred thing to each individual is his own personality. Hence every person dreads, fears, and instinctively opposes every- thing which tends to merge his personality into a community, a body politic, or even to lose itself in a nationality. Self-preservation is the first and greatest law of universal life, and the most pressing duty in life is the highest possible development of this personality. It is the source of the greatest pleasure and keenest delight, as well as the discharge of a universal duty. Were it not for this, annihilation at death would have little of dread and terror for any one. Nor does the theory of absorption into Deity satisfy its aspirations. It is not the eternal peace and un- ceasing rest of Nirvana that can satisfy its yearning hopes and inspire it to a better life here. But it is the infinite search after, the insatiate desire for, the fullest development of the divine within every life which immortality promises, that nerves every noble soul for the most heroic struggle, and gives rest and sweet peace even while the battle is raging. So dear is this individualism, this personality, to each possessor, that aid from any other making the same fight is seldom ever sought, desired, or accepted, much less can it be received from a community, na- tion, or soulless government. Its greatest source of power, the rapidity of growth, lies in its own unaided efforts. It often yearns for the sweet, refreshing in- fluences of a genuine sympathy ; but always spurns all material protecting aids that would undermine its courage, dim its vision, destroy its faith and hopes. INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCE EVER NEW 219 or tend to merge its identity into other forces or organizations. The pathway that the vista' of life ever opens is the same that the race has trod since the morning of time, and yet it is absolutely new and fresh to every coming pilgrim. In this sense, it is a blessed provi- sion of the law of growth that others cannot live our lives for us. It is the greatest charm of existence. No two lives ever have exactly the same experiences. Their hopes, fears, faiths, aspirations, prayers, and the vigor, power, and intensity of their efforts while in pursuit of the same ends and along the same gen- eral lines of thought, belief, and action, are different because of varied and different capacities, endow- ments, and environments. Love, rectitude, and pure truth are unchanging and eternal. Yet to the degree one lives in, comprehends, and enjoys these, his experiences are ever fresh and new, and can never be fully known or experi- enced by another. This holy of holies cannot be reached most effectually by aggregate power. Na- tions and governments do not make, renovate, and perfect individuals as much as the individuals uplift, develop, and perfect national life. The aggregate excellencies of the nation rest upon, and are the con- sensus of, the culture of its citizens. The salvation of the individual citizen makes possible the saving and perfection of the race. It is not sufficient that the saviors and regenerators of the race make their sacrifice and die once for the race. The sacrifices and efforts must be constantly made, and their regenerating power felt and experienced every moment of time by each individual. This 220 REALITY saving power and uplift will always be in proportion to the comprehension and absorption of the divine salvatory process in the individual life. The nation does not save its citizens ; at best it only affords a partial opportunity for them to work out their own salvation, to evolve their own character and destiny. It is the individual citizen who constantly saves, regenerates, and gives the nation its power, influ- ence, and perpetuity. The dominant characteristics of national life are only the expression of the regnant forces of its citi- zens, the consensus of the experiences of its ruling subjects. The earlier civilization of the Egyptians and Par- thians was conspicuous for its commerce, and some- thing of art in form and color. The Arabians and Syrians were contemplative, passive, and submissive to the exhibitions of power in life and nature, and were fatalistic in belief and practice. The Grecian civilization was dominated by the in- tellect, philosophy, literature, and language; and by the development of the aesthetic love for strength and beauty as manifest in their marvelous achievements in all forms of art, and of the keenest perceptions of the divine in man and nature; until their pantheistic belief became so sensitive that, after they had reared altars to all the gods they could think of, they reared an altar, in Paul's day, to the unknown God. The Roman civilization was characterized by will- power formulated into law ; while the Judean was a kingdom of the heart, the emotions, and affections. All these civilizations were reared upon the will- power, the culture, and development then attained by their subjects. THE GIFT OF PERSONALITY 221 The Judean, it will be observed, recognized and embraced most that was embodied in and character- istic of all its predecessors ; and through it must there- fore come the perfected civilization of the race. The culture of the heart forces and the emotions embodies the commercial instinct ; the love of strength and the intellectual in all forms of philosophy, art, and lan- guage; the control of the will, the formulation of it into law, the development of the worshipful for the Creator, and the divine in nature and man. This embraces all the possible powers of the race, and there is nothing beyond. From it and through it must come all that there can be of a perfected human- ity on earth. " No life can be pure in its purpose, or strong in its strife, And not be purer and stronger thereby. ' ' — Owen Meredith. The movement is ever from the individual to the community and nation. And while the reflex influ- ence from the government on the individual is often valuable and important, yet the officials of the nation seldom represent the highest individual life, even in a free country where the representatives of a nation are chosen by the ballots of the citizens. They are usually the leading and best citizens only in theory, and seldom represent more than an average of the individual culture and attainments of the electors who give them their official positions. This wonderfully mysterious, sacred, holy per- sonality, the possession of every human being, is therefore too valuable a gift to ever be entrusted to another; much less to a curious, inquisitive commu- nity, a nation, or a heartless, unsympathetic, and 222 REALITY often unprincipled assemblage of politicians called a government. It is the law of nature and must be obeyed. One is made a mathematical prodigy, or inventor; an- other a philosopher, a Bacon, or a Brahma; another a poet, a Homer ; a musician, a Beethoven ; a Raphael, or a Rothschild. As in nature, — the geology and the geography of the world's structure is composed of the seas, the lakes, and the rivers, of the great valleys and the sky-piercing mountains; each works to its greatest possible attainment, and all work for each other and the whole cosmos. The Alps, the Hima- layas, and the Sierras work among and form the clouds which scatter the dew and the rain to water and fer- tilize the valleys. They give birth and force to the babbling brooks and mighty rivers, the seas and the vast foliage of the forests that clothe the hills and the mountains ; and ever change and vitalize the at- mosphere and render possible life for the animals and the human race. So, in the structural life of the mind and the spirit of the race, some — a very few relatively, — like the mountains of the earth, tower high above their fellow-mortals, with their heads forever above the clouds and mists that envelope the great mass of the race. This law of the universe concerning thought and feeling, by which each life operates along the lines of its own structure and develops its own gifts of mind and heart, renders forever individuality the most sacred possession of humanity and the choicest gift of the creative power ; and woe be to the man, or force, that in any way tends to obstruct, submerge, or destroy its action in accordance with the Creator's OBEDIENCE TO LAW INSURES SUCCESS 223 plan. He is opposing- nature, humanity, and the Deity, and must fail in any such attempt. One of the greatest objections to the perfected humanity of the year two thousand is, that all of its regnant forces tend constantly to destroy individual- ism and thus the growth and constant development of the race. Philosophers may and do greatly differ, as to what its demands are, and how best to meet them in the individual and national life. But if fail- ure comes, or only unsatisfactory success be attained, it is and always must be attributed to an unwilling- ness or inability fully to meet its demands, and not from any want of power or adaptation in the law to accomplish the ends for which it was instituted. Her- bert Spencer says : ' ' The rate of progress toward any form, must diminish with the approach to the complete adaptation ; since the force producing it must diminish; so that, other causes apart, perfect adaptation can be reached only in infinite time." There are many things entirely beyond the ken of man; and it is not only folly and disobedience, but impiety to seek their solution. Why, in all nature, the strong should ever feed upon the weak; and why the hawk should thrive upon the dove and sparrow, the larger fish should eat and grow upon the smaller and weaker ; why the lion should devour the fawn or the lamb ? This law of might sustaining right, of the survival of the fittest all through nature and among men, seems to have but one lesson ; and that is always em- phasizing the grandeur and majesty of the greatest possible individual development and growth, grant- ing to him that hath, and taking from him that hath not even that which he seemeth to have. 224 REALITY It would seem from this that the prize of the uni- verse is to obtain the greatest possible growth and development; that all things, even inferior life, must yield to the largest ultimate beauty, strength, and power. The Creator seems thus to honor all success along all lines that develop those powers which most accord with His nature and designs. As far as we may know, all the powers of the universe are designed to aid in the development of the Godlike in the race. The fact that His is a moral nature and His a moral government appeals to and draws out the virtue, strength, and the moral qualities of the subjects, as the sun and the air bring out the fragrance and beauty of the flowers. He seems to delight in the strength and beauty of a full-orbed character as the towering perfection of the race. To render such a perfection possible, those striving for it must be tested, tempted, buffeted, strengthened, and developed in what we call the schools of adversity. Disappointed hopes and ambi- tions, the loss of the most beloved and fondly cher- ished idols, suffering, pain, and the loss of health seem necessary to change the affections, the desires, to prepare the way for the sweeter, purer, and more exalted pleasure of such a perfected character. The oak is made strong by a thousand mighty winds that drive deep its roots into the firmer soil and strengthen its towering branches. So character is broadened, deepened, and made stronger and more lovely by temptations withstood, passions subdued and controlled, and the firm resistance to every thought and emotion that degrades and destroys. Henry George's somewhat sad experience touched LUCIFER CAST OUT OF HEAVEN Tlfi the sentimental nature of the people. He was popu- lar, it was said, because, while the clever man played the political fiddle by note, he played it by ear. Bascom says : ' ' The suffering of the world is an inseparable part of its discipline. It is the disclosure of failure, complete or partial. It corrects our errors, gives tone to our social life, and is the background of our spiritual joys." The strong character is not the one that escapes the temptation and the conflict, as asceticism fully proves, but the one that meets its full force, conquers, and subdues it. The seat upon the throne is for him that overcometh, and none other. Morality and im- morality, sin and holiness, can never enjoy each other's society. Even the ambitious Lucifer, the Star of the Morning, could not remain in heaven, the abode of a moral God. The only possible justification of war is the prin- ciple of the destruction of an inferior life and civili- zation ; the removal of powers and forces that degrade and destroy; the discipline of suffering and sacri- fice, that make way for and make possible the new and higher order of civilization and race develop- ment that is supposed to follow it. No sacrifice of life, wealth, and happiness was deemed too great to remove slavery, and save our Republic as a nation of free men, and make possible the nobler civilization impossible to be obtained under the old regime. If we interpret correctly the manifestations of the Creator by His works, He is better pleased with one noble character who has become more like Him in the struggle of life, than a hundred who have failed in the great mission of life — character building. Hundreds of animate life perish where one ever 226 REALITY comes to absolute perfection ; and this is probably as true of the human race, as of what is called the infe- rior animal, floral, and forest life. The Creator undoubtedly could have made a race of perfected men and women, like those described in Equality, in the 3'ear two thousand, who had not sufficient individual force and will-power even to arrange for their maintenance, and whose whole aim seemed to be how to enjoy the wealth of the world they had confiscated. He might have manufactured them as a watch factory turns out watches by nicely adjusted machines, all alike, and all keeping good time in accordance with their environments. In such a society, the noblest and most Godlike power given the race — the will, — the choice to do righteousness and be good because it is right and Godlike, seems to be denied the very necessity of its growth and movement towards its Maker. In such a sociology the prevailing sentiment must ever be, " Let us be happy, for to-morrow we die." It is a conventional world of torpid inaction. The wild storms of temptation, struggle, and triumphant vic- tory never ruffle its placid calm and treacherous serenity. The inspiring motives that lead through constant effort to perfected character are not there. An individual there is honest because there is no motive or advantage to be dishonest. He obeys the Golden Rule because he would not be at all benefited if he trampled its precepts under his feet. He may be truthful because it is the best policy, and because he would lose caste and gain nothing by telling lies. He would be a machine man, like the watch, a good timekeeper, but lacking all the essentials of a well- developed character. There would be no merit in PURE TRUTH, RECTITUDE, AND MORALITY 227 such a life or such a state of society. If the Creator had made such a race, doubtless He could have found some place for them, provided He deemed them worthy of immortality. But if the Creator be a moral being, — the author of a race, governed by the moral, because the greatest and most Godlike principle, created for and destined to the companionship of this moral Deity, — He can receive into His fellowship none but those perfected in their moral character. There has never been discovered any way for develop- ing moral character except by the free will, the exer- cise of a choice for it, because it is the highest possi- ble attainment to become like its Maker. A man to come within this rule must have the opportunity to commit any possible sin, and freedom to decide whether he will commit the sin or not. There is no need of any more Lucifers experimenting in heav- en. One example is sufficient to demonstrate forever, what must be the nature and the character of those acceptable to, and prepared for, the companionship of a moral Deity. Our best conceptions of God are, that He is pure truth, pure rectitude, and pure morality in all of His relations to the race; that He can only rejoice in, favor, and bless all efforts honestly made that tend towards perfected character. Morality, rectitude, and truth in social life must therefore always have a relative significance ; and exist or be wanting as the race lives morally and rightly, or is of imperfect character and life. Spencer says: " These are for perfect beings, where growth and development are unknown, and have nothing to do with deranged functions and mor- bid actions. They have to do only with the normal 22.S REALITY life, and cannot recognize a wrong, a depraved, or disordered condition of life." This seeming impossibility of the race to attain to pure truth, pure morality, and a perfect character has made necessary in the philosophy of many the various sacrificial, remedial, and atoning systems, whereby the strength of perfection may supplement and aid the imperfect but earnest souls, and in time and due experience render them meet companions of a per- fect Deity. THE END INDEX Adam, fall of, first panic, ii6. Adams, John, ashamed of the age, 145 ; wearied by military wrangles, 146. Agriculture, of Middle States, 98 ; Prairie States, 100-03 ; compar- ative statistics of U. S. , Gt. Brit- ain, and Europe, loi ; South- ern States, 103; Pacific States, 104; increase of wealth from, in forty years, no; through re- cent rise in price of wheat, 132 ; resources of U. S., 149. See also Farmers. Alexander, James M., description of the inhabitants of the Islands of the Pacific, 70. Altgeld, John P,, on Socialism, 204. Altruism, proposed remedy for political corruption, 53 ; present era organizations, 114; not de- stroyed by wealth, 152, 168. Anarchy, demands, 169; taught in Equality, 208. Arkwright, Sir Richard, value of invention for cotton-spinning, 175- Arnold, Matthew, "America holds the future," 150. Art, benefited by wealth, 180. Atkinson, Edward, agricultural statistics, 149, Australia, educational opportuni- ties of women, 199. Austria, grain production, loi ; agriculture, wealth, and taxes, 102 ; railroads, 103 ; educational opportunities of women, 199. Bacon, Francis, bribery and cor- ruption cases, 147. Bakewell, Robert, improvement in cattle-breeding, 175. Ballot, solution of labor question, 84, 88; free weapon for the masses, 119, 122, 157, 178; elec- torial votes not for sale, 123; franchise should be limited by educational and property quali- fication, 162-63. Banks, National, returns for 1890, 1894, 94. See also Savings Banks. Bascom, John, on laws of matter and mind, 113; on suffering, 225. Beecher, Dr. Lyman, reply of, 69. Beggary, universal, pictured in Equality, 1 83 - 92. Belgium, comparative develop- ment of manufactures, 95; wealth less than New York State, 98; area compared with farm-land in the Prairie States, 100; educational opportunities of women, 199. Bellamy, Edward, "The Dream- er," length of dream, 15-16, 49, 54 ; suggests both question and answer, 17; chief of dreamers, 19; false premises, 20; de- 230 INDEX scribes, and proves too much, 22-23; on property rights, 26- 29; wrong classification, 43; unfair argument against farm- ers, 45-49; against educators, 48, 68; proposed Government monopoly, 51; altruistic teach- ing, 53 ; has no new antidote, 57, 67; theory of perfection, 67; an extremist and pessimist, 68 ; Christ wiser than, 82 ; hostility between labor and capital, 91, 109; economic system, 49, 67, no, 209; failure of civilization, 115; evil of wealth, 122, 130; capitalists the only investors, 129; on inventions, 132; Social- ism of, 140, 208 ; deceptive illus- tration, 141 ; Joseph an author- ity, 144 ; description of Revolu- tion, 183-92, 203-04; untenable conclusions on competition, 192; unworthy view of woman, 68, 193; false reasoning, 211. See also Equality. Bessemer, Sir Henry, value of steel-making process, 175. Bonds, why issued by the U. S. , 128. Brook Farm, failure of, 204; greet- ings at, 206. Brotherhood, pictured in Equal- ity, 203, 205, 207; true mean- ing, 207. Bryce, James, on intellectual bar- renness of business men, 139. Building and Loan Associations, supported by laborers, 88, 106; assets in 1895, 107. Bunyan, John, influence upon hu- man destiny, 14; brief narra- tion, 16. Burns, Robert, "O wad some pow'r," III. Business, perfection in methods, 131 ; increase through inven- tions, 176. Cain, escaped death penalty, 116; doctrine of brotherhood taught to, 204. California, Death Valley mirage, 114. Canada, educational advantages of women, 199. Capitalists, and railroads, 90; do not control juries and electors, 120; their chief power, 121; power among voters, 123; fur- nish means for public improve- ments, 129, 168; in " Parable of the Water-tank," 142-44; not liable to destroy national insti- tutions and liberty , 156, 172, 178; benefited by invention, 176, tyr- annous ' ' Masters of Bread, ' ' 183-93; unjustly represented in Eq Utility, 209. See also Wealth. Cells, transformation and varia- tion, 32. Channing, William EUery, on labor, 86. Character, basis of civilization, 57; how perfected, 224-25. Children, clamor for bread, 184. Citizenship, right discharge of voting privileges a duty, 166. Civilization, character the basis, 57; Greek, Hebrew, and Roman, how achieved, 59-62, 220; pio- neers in law, art, theology, 76; high point now reached, 114; competition necessary to, 137, 140; right use of ballot re- quired, 166; early Egyptian, Parthian, Arabian, and Syrian, 220. Classes, division of wealthy and INDEX 231 pauper in Equality, 43; most to be feared, 154, 155; respon- sible for present conditions, 165; division of rich and poor more marked, 170; not fixed in Amer- ica, 177. Clubs, for women, 199. Commerce, proposed Govern- ment control, 51; Egyptian and Parthian, 220. Communism, aim cannot be re- alized, 33. Competition, effect on labor, 133, 168; on progress and civiliza- tion, 135-38; arguments against, 138-41 ; preached by tue priests in Equality, 184, 189. Connecticut, savings banks sta- tistics, 94 ; development of man- ufactures, 95 ; qualifications for voting, 162. Constitution of the United States, pledges protection, 29; oppor- tunities to earn maintenance, 30; Gladstone's opinion of, 31, no; stronger than ever, 151. Contentment, without wealth, 70. Conventions, feature of this era 167. Cooperation, indispensable fac-' tors, 85; risks, 86; not opposed by competition, 138. Corelli, Marie, dream in RoDiatice of Two Worlds, 13-14. Corporations, cannot cast a bal- lot, 120; not so dangerous as Equality represents, 123; lim- ited by law, 125 ; future of, 126- 27; municipal, difficult to gov- ern, 162. Crime, paraded in the newspa- pers, So-Si, 181. Crosby, Howard, on dangers of wealth, 155, 156. Culture, must be along fixed lines, 64 ; constant effort to find sym- pathy, 76; remedy for antago- nism between poverty and wealth, 153, 161, of American people, 160; solution of immi- gration problems, 163; greatest necessity of the age, 164; effect on woman, 200-01. Dakota, foreign population, 99. Debs, Eugene V., on needs of workingmen, 122. Declaration of Independence, not in the Constitution, 30. Denmark, area compared with farm-land in the Prairie States. 100; wealth compared with Pacific States, 104; educational opportunities of women, 199. Dreamers, different kinds of, 12; views of the present, past, and future, 145 ; insist on ideal gov- ernment without ideal subjects, 161 ; theories of the causes of suffering, 168-69 : charges against capital in a crisis, 172; dissatisfied with creation, 213; expect perfection, 216. Dreams, influence of, 14. Drummond, Henry M., noble con- ception of the force of love, 75, East, The, education, 105. See also New England, names of Eastern States. East India Company, early mo- nopoly, 124; spent force of the past, 145. Economics, unknown among Sandwich Islanders, 71-72; in Garden of Eden, 115. Edison, Thomas A., value of tele- graph improvement, 175. 232 INDEX Education, statistics of the U. S., 104-05, 109 ; will ameliorate un- favorable conditions, 161 ; nec- essary to voters, 162-64; sup- ported by wealth, 180; should formulate methods of progress, 181-82; woman's opportunities for, 199-200. Educators, denunciation of, in Equality, 47-49; opposed to economic revolution, 53. Elective franchise. See Ballot. Equality, what it presents, 16-19; influence, and effect on the read- er, 19; argument fallacious, il- logical, pessimistic, 20-22, 68, 208, 211; assertions concerning hereditary and acquired wealth, 23, 26, 28, 122, 129, 130, 132, 175; concerning failure of the Government, 29, 113; division of capital and wealth, 43, 129; in- appropriate epithets applied to farmers, 45; denunciation of educators, 47; Book of the Blind, 49; proposed Govern- ment control of sources of pro- duction, 51, 185; economic Rev- olution of the nations, 55-56, 183-94. 203; its cause, 77; exag- gerated evil of corporations and monopolies, 123 ; arguments against competition, 140; " Par- able of the Water-tank, " 141-44, 203; " Masters of Bread," 183- 202; unworthy view of women, 193 ; dream of brotherhood, 203- 06; teaches Anarchy, 208-10. Evolution, inlaw, 113-23; through competition, 136; of woman, 196-202; of national life, 219- 28. Farmers, "uncouth, unlettered. boorish," 28, 45; small capital- ists, 44; "most pathetic figure in history," 45; what they are to-day in reality, 46; crowned heads in Equality prepare to work as, 55; in Prairie States, 100-02 ; average number and wealth for last forty years, no; direct gain from rise in price of wheat, 132. Food, production in Prairie States, 100-02; in entire U. S., 1^9; con- trolled by ' ' Masters of Bread ' ' in Equality, 183-93. Foreign population. See Immi- gration. Foreign trade, of Middle States, 99; Southern States, 104. France, percentage of successful business ventures, 85; compar- ative banking power, 94 ; manu- factures, 95, 96, 150; mineral output compared with Middle States, 98; agricultural statis- tics, 101 ; wealth and taxes, 102; railroads, 103, 104; amount spent for public instruction, 104 ; revolution caused by wealth, 157; educational opportunities of women. 199. Free trade, supposed cause of suf- fering, 168 ; of panic among the wealthy, 171. Free will, noblest power of man, 226-28. George, Henry, on individualism, 217; popularity of, 224. Germany, sugar beet interests, 85 ; table of manufactures compared with New England, 95 ; agricultural statistics, 101 ; wealth and taxes, 102 ; railroads, 103, 104; method of allaying INDEX 233 disturbance, i6o; market for cotton goods, 1 80; educational opportunities of women, 199. Gladstone, William E., opinion of the American Constitution, 31, no; of natural advantages of the U. S., 149. God, justice of, 206-07, 211; creative wisdom, 213-17, 226; delights in perfection of charac- ter, 224-2S ; man's best concep- tion of, 227. Gcethe, Johann Wolfgang von, on truth, 73. Good, Dr. Marion, on manifesta- tions of sympathy, 74. Government, United States, fail- ure according to Equality, 29- 31; opinion of Lord Salisbury, 31 ; public opinion opposed to centralization of powers be- cause of corrupt legislation, 50 ; monopoly proposed in Equal- ity, 51, 185; donated land for homes, 120; enlightened through public opinion, 126; managed by the people, 140; has nothing more to offer, 160; difficult problems, 161-67. Grain, production in Prairie States compared with Europe, 100-01 ; rise in price, 132. Great Britain, comparative bank- ing power, 94; progress of manufactures compared with New England, 95 ; area equal to Middle States, 98; agricul- tural statistics, loi ; accumula- tion of wealth compared with Middle States, 103 ; amount spent for public instruction, 104 ; manufactures compared with U. S., 150, 180; method of allaying disturbance, 160; in- come increased by inventions, 176; educational opportunities of women, 199. Greece, character of civilization, 59, 220; educational opportuni- ties of women, 199. Hebrews. See Jews. Holland, with Belgium less wealth than New York, 98 ; area com- pared with farm-land in the Middle States, 100 ; educational opportunities of women, 199. Hudson Bay Company, early monopoly, 124, 145. Humanity, future perfection of, 67, 213, 221, 223; in 2000 A. D., 185, 223, 226; interpretation of brotherhood, 207. Ignorance, of voters, 162-63. Illinois, foreign population, 99. Immigration, to Prairie States, 99; benefits of, 151; prohibition of ignorant class, 163. Immortality, hope of nerves the soul, 218. Income, increase through inven- tion, 176. India, educational advantages of women, 199. Indiana, foreign population, 99. Individualism, sacredness of, 217- 23. Industrial system, established in Garden of Eden, 116; progress through laws favoring laborers, 120-21; Revolution pictured in Equality, 183-92, 203, 208. Inequality, rule of life, 32; of ca- pacities and endowments, 33- 36; of opportunities, 37-38; con- spicuous in the Creator's plan, 40 ; consistent with justice, ac- 234 INDEX cording to Spencer, 42-43; of the sexes, 193. Interest, effect of low rates on manufactures, 180. Inventions, influence on monopo- lies, 127; on business methods, 131, 1 75; utility denied in iE"^7^rt'/- ity, 132; medals awarded the U. S. for, 1 50 ; effect on wages, i5g, 176; valuable improve- ments in cotton-spinning, steel- making, etc., 175; cause of in- creased income, 176. Iowa, food production, loi. Italy, educational opportunities of women, 199. Jacob, early monopolist, 124. Jesus Christ, his dream of an earthly kingdom not under- stood, 22, 208; interpreted by Bellamy, 54, 210; source of mod- ern theology and Altruism, 76 ; recognized necessity of pover- ty, 82. Jevons, Wm. S., on necessity of competition, 136. Jews, civilization, 59, 220-21 ; se- vere laws, 116. Joseph, early monopolist, 144. Jury system, advantages, 11 7-19. KiDD, Benjamin, on competition, 136. Laborers, when capitalists, 44; how benefited by wage system, 82-84; true elevation, 87; in- vestment of surplus earnings, 88-91, 107, 108; condition in the U. S., 106, 108, 109, 160; inde- pendent choice, 141 ; benefited by inventions, 176. Land, ownership, in Philadel- phia, 107 ; in feudal and modern times, 157. Law, insufficiency according to Equality, 113 ; Jewish and mod- ern compared, 1 16-17; equality through jury system, 118; tend- ency to protect the poor and la- boring classes, 1 1 9-2 1 ; supports, yet limits, monopolies, 124; in- differently enforced, 126, 169. Lawyers, prosperity of, 188-89. Lecky, William E. H., on pro- posed changes which conflict with fundamental laws and elements of human nature, 39. Leisure, effect of abundant wealth, 180. Lessing, Gotthold E., on aspira- tion to truth, 73. Liberty, man created for, 77 ; pro- tected by jury system, 118; en- dangered by wealth, 155. Life, Schopenhauer's definition of, 75 ; high tension and unrest, 87; measured by experience, not years, 164. Lincoln, Abraham, high endow- ment, 36. Live stock, in Prairie States, 100; improved method of breeding, 175- Locke, John, on man's right to food and his own person, 27. Looking Backward, popularity, 17- Mahomet, influence upon human destiny, 14. Maine, savings banks statistics, 94. Mallock, Wm. H., statistics of in- come, 176. Mammonism, perils and advan- tages, 149-58- INDEX 235 Manufactures, increase in New England, 94 ; in Gt. Britain and Europe, 95 ; Middle States, 96 ; Prairie States, 102 ; Southern States, 103; Pacific States, 104; benefit from wealth, 179; from low rate of interest, 180. Marriage, vs. self-support for women, 194-202; factors of hap- piness in, 195. Massachusetts, banking statistics, 94, 97, 98 ; development of man- ufactures, 95 ; Brook Farm ex- periment, 204, 206. Masses, toiling, relatively small fraction of population, 45 ; cause of Revolution in Equality, 77; better off in New England than in Europe, 94; present efforts to uplift, 114; power as jurors and electors, 119; benefited by production of wealth, 128, 176, 180; by public improvements, 129; by invention, 175-76. " Masters of Bread," 183-202. Melville, Herman, experiences among Marquesas Islanders, 71- Meredith, Owen, on pure purpose, 221. Methodists, mode of greeting, 206. Michigan, foreign population, 100. Middle States, banking statistics, 93. 97. 99. 103, 104; population and manufactures, 97 ; average wealth per inhabitant, compar- ative mineral output, agricul- ture, and trade, 98-99; educa- tion, 104, 105. Mines, possession by political in- trigue, 28, 185; proposed Gov- ernment control, 51; output of Middle States, 98 ; Prairie States, 1850-90, 102; Southern States, 103 ; Pacific States, 104 ; entire U. S., 1870-80, 149. Minnesota, foreign population, 99. Mirage, type of pessimist's dream, 114-15. Missouri, foreign population, 99. Money, standard, effect of pro- posal to change, 171. See also Wealth. Monopolies, national, proposed by Bellamy, 51; not so dangerous as represented in Equality, 123 ; improvement since earlier times, 124, 144; limited by law, 125; future of, 126-27, 166; ben- efits illustrated by Standard Oil Company, 134. Mormons, mode of greeting, 206. Moses, law of, 116, 117. Mulhall, M. G., statistics of U. S. Savings Banks, 93 ; manufac- tures, 94, 150; education, 104- 05 ; his articles should be read and studied, 107-08; wealth and culture of our nation, 160. Municipal government, difficul- ties, 162; speculation and, 177. Murder, penalty, 116. Negroes, rate of increase in the U. S. for forty years, 99. New England, laborers bank de- positors, 88, 106; comparative banking power, 93-94, 97; de- velopment of manufactures, 95, 106; ratios of product and wages, 97; amount spent in public instruction, 104. See also names of States. New Hampshire, savings bginks statistics, 94. New York State, banking statis- tics, 97; wealth, 98. 236 INDEX Newspapers, exaggerate crime and poverty, 80-81, 181. Norway, wealth compared with Pacific States, 104. Officials, incompetence, 39 ; cor- rupt practice, 51. Ohio, foreign population, gg. Organization, tendency to, 167-68. Pacific States, railroads, popula- tion, agriculture, manufactures, mining, wealth, 104; schools, 105. Palgrave, R. H. Inglis, on ne- cessity of competition, 136. " Parable of the Water-tank," in Equality, 141-44. Parliament, purchase of seats in, 146. Penn, William, on riches and pov- erty, 88. Perfection, of humanity. See Hu- manity. Pessimists, view of past, present, and future, 145; accomplish nothing, 151. Philadelphia, a city of homes and leisure, 107. Politics, machine methods, 52; despotism fatal to the Republic, 53 ; theory of government sus- tained by, 123; corruption in Revolutionary days, 145 ; through ignorant, irresponsible vote, 163; condition m igoo, ac- cording to Equality, 185. See also Ballot. Population, slow growth com- pared with manufactures in Middle States, 97; per cent of increase of white and colored in the U. S. during forty years, gg; how large the U. S. can support, 149; westward move- ment, 150. Poverty, relative, exaggerated by the newspapers, 80; neces- sity of, 82 ; according to our de- sires, 88; infamy of, 153; sup- posed causes, i6g-73. Prairie States, population, immi- gration, agriculture, gg - loi ; dairy produce, loi ; wealth and manufactures, 102 ; railroads and banks, 102-03 ; schools, 105. Priests, preach competition in Equality, 184, i8g. Profit-sharing, in Germany, 85; not opposed to progress, log. Progress, based on culture not upon industrial systems, 20; truth, God's law of, 73 ; influ- ence of Middle States on Ameri- can, gg; Mulhall's articles on, 107; unparalleled in the U. S., log; fluctuation, 113; Spencer on law of, 1x5, 223 ; since Adam, 116; along industrial lines, 120- 23 ; accompanied by competi- tion, 136; based on individual effort, 140; aided by wealth, 180. Proudhon, Pierre Joseph, on prop- erty rights, 27. Prussia, comparative banking power, g4. Pyramids, what motive inspired, 58. Quakers, mode of greeting, 206. Railroads, possession by political intrigue, 28, 185; classes of stockholders, 8g-go; in Prairie states, 102 ; compared with Eu- rope, 103, 104; in Pacific States, 104- INDEX 237 Real estate. Sec Land. Reformers, iconoclastic demands, i6g; charges against capital, 172; dissatisfied with creation, 213, expect perfection, 216. Religion, supported by wealth, 168; challenged by Anarchy, 169; should furnish repose, and formulate methods of progress, 181, 182. Revolution, pictured in Equality, 183-92. Rhode Island, savings banks sta- tistics, 94 ; development of man- ufactures, 95. Riches. See Wealth. Roman Empire, died from polit- ical despotism, 53 ; character of civilization, 60-62, 220; wealth caused revolution, 157. Rubison, Henry F., on manifesta- tion of sympathy, 74. Russia, railroads compared with Middle States, 103 ; method of allaying disturbance, 160; edu- cational opportunities of wom- en, 199. Saint John, dream of, 13; their influence, 14; brief narration, 16. Saint Paul, not a hireling, 23 ; con- ception of the reign of God, 69. Salisbury, Marquis of, opinion of American Senate, 31. Samson, motive of destruction, 155- Sandwich Islanders, life among, 70-72. Savings Banks, accumulate wealth through the working classes, 88 ; statistical tables for 1894, 93-94; deposits in Prairie States compared with New England, 103 ; in the South compared with Middle States, 104 ; estimated deposits of 1897, 108. Schiller, Johann C. F. von, on sublime purpose, 78. Schools, in the U. S., 104-05; for- eign element in, 163. Schopenhauer, Arthur, definition of life, 75. Science, benefited by wealth, 180. Scotland, educational opportuni- ties of women, 199. Self-support, question settled, 20; constitutional right to opportu- nity of earning, 30 ; essential to civilization, 66; women's oppor- tunities for, 195-99. Ship of State, not destined to wreck, 170. Slavery, bondage of chattel, 117; distinction between free labor and, 141. Smith, Sydney, regarded poverty as infamous, 153. Socialism, brotherhood doctrine of, 204; world not ready for, 205 ; taught in Equality, 208. South, The, banking statistics, 93, 104; agricultural, loi, 103; man- ufactures and mining, 103 ; ed- ucational, 105. Spain, population equal to Middle States, 98. Speculation, in municipal enter- prises, 177. Spencer, Herbert, on natural rights, 27; first principle re- quires not like possessions but like scope, 42 ; law of progress, 115, 223; ot perfection, 2.13, 227. Standard Oil Company, benefits to consumers, 134. Steevens, George W. , on Ameri- 238 INDEX can veneration for wealth, 89 ; Philadelphia a city of leisure, 107. Stephen, martyr, not a hireling, 23- Strikes, public sympathy lost by, 84. Suffering, causes of, 168-72; nec- essary for discipline, 225. Sweden, wealth compared with Pacific States, 104; educational opportunities of women, 199. Switzerland, educational advan- tages of women, 199. Sympathy, manifested in chemis- try, physics, plant life, 74; lost by resort to violence, strikes, etc , 84. Taxation, remedy for monopoly, 126; imposed by Virgfinia ves- trymen, 146; property-holders should control, 162-63. Tele'graph, possession by political intrigue, 28, 185; system im- proved by Edison, 175. Transportation, furnished by cap- ital, 130. Travel, facilities contribute to un- rest, 181. Trusts, not so dangerous as rep- resented in Equality, 123; limited by law, 125; future of , 126^27. 166. Truth, the law of race progress, 73- United States, average wages in 1890, 96, 106; food supply, agri- cultural statistics, loi, 103; min- eral out'put, increase of wealth, 104; education, 104, 105, 109, 199; marvelous progress, 108, 109, 149-51, 160. Unrest, causes of, 87, 165, 168-72, 181. Utopia, Bellamy's dream of, 208- II. Vanderbilt, Commodore, wealth not inherited, 175. Vermont, savings banks statis- tics, 94. Virginia, corruption of vestrymen and assemblymen, 146. Wages, improvement on chattel- slavery system, 67; efforts to find a substitute, 79 ; chief mer- it, 82 , compared with coopera- tion, 86 ; statistics of average in iSgo, 96, 97, 106, 108; affected by competition, 133, 136; af- fected by invention, 159, 176; Utopian substitute for, 210. Wales, educational opportunities of women, 199. War, old-time employment for the unrestful, 158-60; brutality and heroism, 174; only justification, 225. Washington, George, on force of public opinion, 126; on specu- lation in Revolutionary times. 145 ; almost loses faith in the Republic, 146. Wealth, hereditary and acquired, 23; right of private property as taught in Scripture, 24-26; among savages, 26 ; division of ownership according to Equal- ity, 43, 175, 211; not the basis of civilization, 63; certain amount necessary to support existence, 66 ; equal distribution impracticable, 80 ; American veneration for, 89; accumula- tion in Middle States, 98; Prai- INDEX 239 rie States, 102, 103 ; Gt. Britain, 103, 176; Pacific States, 104; its chief power, 121; why easily amassed, 127, 130, 131; product of labor, 130, i68; concentra- tion among American million- aires, 152, 158; increase desir- able, 153, 179, 180; cause of Revolution. 157; comparatively powerless because not protected by laws of descent, 157, 158; not destructive to national prog- ress, 168, 174-82; law of in- crease, 170; cowardice of, 171- 73 ; honorable accumulation, 173-77; dishonest acquirement in municipal enterprises, 177; power when allied to intellect, 178; does not originate but ex- ecutes methods of growth, 181- 82 ; tyranny in parable of " Mas- ters of Bread," 183-92. West, The, banking statistics, 93 ; agricultural, loi. See also Pa- cific States. Wilson, E. B., on variation of germ cells, 32. Wisconsin, foreign population, 99. Women, barter honor for bread, 184, 186, 191 ; misrepresented in Equality, 193-98; opportunities for self-support, 195-99; higher education, 199-200. Wood-Veddahs, morals, 27. Young, Brigham, code of con- duct, 13. r Date DUE 1 FORM 33S 40 M 9-42 335 S215R 500219