THE STATE VERSUS THE MAN. 177 



the command, If any would not work, neither should he eat, is simply a Christian 

 enunciation of that universal law of nature under which life has reached its 

 present height, the law that a creature not energetic enough to maintain itself 

 must die; the sole difference being, that the law which in one case is to be arti- 

 ficially enforced is in the other case a natural necessity." 



This passage ought to be transcribed at the commencement of 

 every treatise on social science as the supreme aim of all sociological 

 research ; only the delusion, borrowed from the old political economy, 

 which consists in the belief that this dictum of science and Christian- 

 ity is in practice in our midst, ought to be suppressed. 



Is it not a fact that, everywhere, those who can prove by authentic 

 documents that, for centuries past, their ancestors have thriven in idle- 

 ness are the richest, the most powerful, the most sought after ? Only 

 at some future date will this dictum of science and Christianity be 

 brought to bear on our social organization, and our descendants will 

 then establish an order of things which will create economic respon- 

 sibility, and ensure to each the integral enjoyment of the produce of 

 his labour. The difficult but necessary work of sociology is to en- 

 deavour to discover what this organization should be, and to prepare 

 its advent. Mr. Shaw Lefevre's speech shows very clearly the road 

 that ouerht to be taken. 



Mr. Herbert Spencer thinks, however, that this road would lead us 

 directly to a condition of universal slavery. The State would gradu- 

 ally monopolize all industrial enterprises, beginning with the railways 

 and telegraphs as it has already done in Germany and Belgium, then 

 some other industries as in France, then mines, and finally, after the 

 nationalization of land, it would also take up agricultural enterprise. 

 The freedom enjoyed by a citizen must be measured, he says, not by 

 the nature of the government under which he lives, but by the small 

 number of laws to which he is subject. The essential characteristic of 

 the slave is that he is forced to work for another's benefit. The de- 

 gree of his slavery varies according to the greater or smaller extent to 

 which effort is compulsorily expended for the benefit of another r in- 

 stead of for self -benefit ; in the regime which is approaching, man will 

 have to work for the State, and to give up to it the largest portion of 

 his produce. What matters it that the master under whose command 

 he labours is not an individual, but society ? Thus argues Mr. Herbert 

 Spencer. 



In my opinion, the State will never arrive at a monopoly of" all in- 

 dustries, for the very simple reason that such a system would never 

 answer. It is possible that some day a social organization such as M. 

 Albert Schaffle, formerly Finance Minister in Austria, has explained, 

 may grow up, in which all branches of production are placed in the 

 hands of co-operative societies. But, be that as it may, men would be 

 no more slaves in workshops belonging to the State than in those of 

 merchants or manufacturers of the present day. Mr Herbert Spencer 



VOL. XXVII. 12 



