第6章

Butwouldthisalonebeasufficientsafeguard?Toeducatetheintelligenceistoenlargethehorizonofitsdesiresandwants。Anditiswellthatthisshouldbeso。Buttheenterprisemustgodeeperandpreparethewayforsatisfyingthosedesiresandwantsinsofarastheyarelegitimate。Whatisreallyominousofdangertotheexistingorderofthingsisnotdemocracy(which,properlyunderstood,isaconservativeforce),buttheSocialism,whichmayfindafulcruminit。Ifwecannotequalizeconditionsandfortunesanymorethanwecanequalizethebrainsofmen-andaverysagaciouspersonhassaidthat\"wheretwomenrideofahorseonemustridebehind\"-wecanyet,perhaps,dosomethingtocorrectthosemethodsandinfluencesthatleadtoenormousinequalities,andtopreventtheirgrowingmoreenormous。Itisallverywelltopooh-poohMr。Georgeandtoprovehimmistakeninhispoliticaleconomy。

Idonotbelievethatlandshouldbedividedbecausethequantityofitislimitedbynature。Ofwhatmaythisnotbesaid?Afortiori,wemightonthesameprincipleinsistonadivisionofhumanwit,forIhaveobservedthatthequantityofthishasbeenevenmoreinconvenientlylimited。Mr。Georgehimselfhasaninequitablylargeshareofit。Butheisrightinhisimpellingmotive;right,also,Iamconvinced,ininsistingthathumanitymakesapart,byfarthemostimportantpart,ofpoliticaleconomy;andinthinkingmantobeofmoreconcernandmoreconvincingthanthelongestcolumnsoffiguresintheworld。

Forunlessyouincludehumannatureinyouraddition,yourtotalissuretobewrongandyourdeductionsfromitfallacious。Communismmeansbarbarism,butSocialismmeans,orwishestomean,cooperationandcommunityofinterests,sympathy,thegivingtothehandsnotsolargeashareastothebrains,butalargersharethanhithertointhewealththeymustcombinetoproduce-means,inshort,thepracticalapplicationofChristianitytolife,andhasinitthesecretofanorderlyandbenignreconstruction。StateSocialismwouldcutofftheveryrootsinpersonalcharacter-self-help,forethought,andfrugality-whichnourishandsustainthetrunkandbranchesofeveryvigorousCommonwealth。

ConcludingRemarksIdonotbelieveinviolentchanges,nordoIexpectthem。Thingsinpossessionhaveaveryfirmgrip。Oneofthestrongestcementsofsocietyistheconvictionofmankindthatthestateofthingsintowhichtheyarebornisapartoftheorderoftheuniverse,asnatural,letussay,asthatthesunshouldgoroundtheearth。Itisaconvictionthattheywillnotsurrenderexceptoncompulsion,andawisesocietyshouldlooktoitthatthiscompulsionbenotputuponthem。

Fortheindividualmanthereisnoradicalcure,outsideofhumannatureitself,fortheevilstowhichhumannatureisheir。Therulewillalwaysholdgoodthatyoumust\"Beyourownpalaceortheworld\'syourgaol。\"

Butforartificialevils,forevilsthatspringfromwantofthought,thoughtmustfindaremedysomewhere。Therehasbeennoperiodoftimeinwhichwealthhasbeenmoresensibleofitsdutiesthannow。Itbuildshospitals,itestablishesmissionsamongthepoor,itendowsschools。Itisoneoftheadvantagesofaccumulatedwealth,andoftheleisureitrenderspossible,thatpeoplehavetimetothinkofthewantsandsorrowsoftheirfellows。Butalltheseremediesarepartialandpalliativemerely。Itisasifweshouldapplyplasterstoasinglepustuleofthesmall-poxwithaviewofdrivingoutthedisease。

Thetruewayistodiscoverandtoextirpatethegerms。Associetyisnowconstitutedtheseareintheairitbreathes,inthewateritdrinks,inthingsthatseem,andwhichithasalwaysbelieved,tobethemostinnocentandhealthful。Theevilelementsitneglectscorrupttheseintheirspringsandpollutethemintheircourses。

Letusbeofgoodcheer,however,rememberingthatthemisfortuneshardesttobeararethosewhichnevercome。Theworldhasoutlivedmuch,andwilloutliveagreatdealmore,andmenhavecontrivedtobehappyinit。Ithasshownthestrengthofitsconstitutioninnothingmorethaninsurvivingthequackmedicinesithastried。Inthescalesofthedestiniesbrawnwillneverweighsomuchasbrain。Ourhealingisnotinthestormorinthewhirlwind,itisnotinmonarchies,oraristocracies,ordemocracies,butwillberevealedbythestillsmallvoicethatspeakstotheconscienceandtheheart,promptingustoawiderandwiserhumanity。