EDITOR'S TABLE. 



267 



be marked inequalities of fortune, while, 

 in ten years, there would be million- 

 aires at one end of the scale and beg- 

 gars at the other. This, we believe, is 

 what many object to, though they do 

 not always avow it to themselves. The 

 cry seems to go up from the multitude, 

 " Save us from the strong man, or we 

 shall take the law into our own hands 

 and make an end of his wealth, if not 

 of him!" The common idea of the 

 capitalist is that he is a man who ab- 

 sorbs into his own personality and pos- 

 sessions all the richest juices of the la- 

 boring man's organization. The work- 

 ing-man toils, and the capitalist reaps 

 all the best fruits of his toil, leaving to 

 the former a mere subsistence, and a 

 more or less precarious one at that. A 

 fact, however, that is generally lost 

 sight of is that, but for the capitalist, 

 labor would not be so productive as it 

 is. The share taken by the capitalist 

 is not deducted from a total product 

 which would equally have existed had 

 he never appeared upon the scene with 

 his experience, his talent for direction, 

 his enterprise, his pecuniary resources, 

 but from a product in large part prob- 

 ably due to his personal usefulness. 

 "What an army under a skillful general, 

 and with a well-supplied commissariat, 

 can accomplish, is something very dif- 

 ferent from what it can accomplish 

 without any superior leadership. This 

 obvious truth should certainly be taken 

 into account in striking the balance be- 

 tween the capitalist and those whose 

 labor he employs. 



If, then, the secret aspiration of the 

 laboring class, or at least of a large 

 portion of it, is, to be protected against 

 the competition of men of subtiler 

 brains and stronger resolution, the 

 question may be asked, What is the 

 secret thought of the capitalist class, 

 the men who have these superior re- 

 sources, or whose fathers had them, 

 and who consequently rule in the in- 

 dustrial world? If it is true that labor 

 would not be so productive as it is, that 



wealth would not be created in the 

 same quantity, but for the organizing 

 power of the captains of industry, it is 

 also true that all wealth is a social 

 product, requiring a concurrence of ef- 

 forts to produce it, and a social medium 

 to give it its value. What would the 

 wealth of the Indies have been to Rob- 

 inson Crusoe on his desert isle? His 

 man Friday was a greater fortune to 

 him than would have been the riches 

 of the Rothschilds. These considera- 

 tions suffice to show that, in whatever 

 light the holders of great wealth may 

 regard themselves, they should regard 

 themselves not as mere irresponsible 

 giants of finance, at liberty to toss 

 about millions as it may please their 

 vanity or their ambition, but as bound 

 to lives of social usefulness. The secret 

 thought, we fear, of too many very rich 

 men is, that they are absolutely irre- 

 sponsible to society, and quite at liberty 

 to dismiss from their minds every other 

 aim than that of adding to their already 

 great possessions. Their secret prayer 

 would be, to be delivered from all bond- 

 age to public opinion, so that they 

 might pursue an unchecked career in 

 gratifying their selfish ambition. Crip- 

 ple or debauch public opinion, and the 

 watering of stocks, the making of cor- 

 ners, and all the rest of the diabolical 

 jugglery of the modern financial world 

 can be carried on without apprehen- 

 sion, as without a qualm. But public 

 opinion, we trust, is not going to be 

 permanently crippled or debauched. 

 True, there is an altogether inordinate 

 social admiration of great wealth, as 

 Mr. Spencer has forcibly pointed out; 

 but the feeling, on the whole, is grow- 

 ing, that great wealth means propor- 

 tionate social responsibility. It is not 

 to be concluded from this that the chief 

 business of the capitalist is to endow 

 hospitals, libraries, or universities. By 

 no means ; it is well that every one in 

 the community should contribute to 

 these things according to his ability, 

 and realize for himself the blessedness 



