PERSONAL LIBERTY. 435 



spared for a time from the necessity of work, but, as has been 

 well said by Colonel Henry Lee, " under a free distribution of 

 property it is but three generations from shirt-sleeves to shirt- 

 sleeves." 



The entire capital in the richest nation or state, consisting of 

 railways, mills, factories, workshops, and dwellings, together with 

 all the goods and wares of every kind — comprising all that has 

 been saved in a useful form, aside from opening of the ways, the 

 clearing of the land and bringing it into productive condition — 

 will not exceed three or possibly four years' production ; in most 

 states it is less. If all could be reconverted into food, fuel, and 

 clothing, and the world should rest wholly from work, all would 

 be consumed in two or three years. In respect to food, the world 

 is always within a year of starvation, yet there is always enough 

 somewhere. Whether the product of each series of four seasons 

 shall be distributed so that all may share the necessaries of life 

 depends upon personal liberty, upon freedom of exchange, and 

 upon the maintenance of the right of every man " to use his fac- 

 ulties in all lawful ways, to live and work where he will, to earn 

 his livelihood in any lawful calling, and to pursue any lawful 

 trade or avocation." (Judge Peckham, of New York. People vs. 

 Gilson, 109 N. Y., 399.) 



" The patrimony of the poor man lies in the strength and dex- 

 terity of his own hands ; and to hinder him from employing these 

 in what manner he may think proper, without injury to his neigh- 

 bor, is a plain violation of this most sacred property." (Judge 

 Snyder, of West Virginia. State vs. Goodwill, 10 S. E. Rep., 287.) 



In the progress of invention, and by the application of science 

 to the art of material production, all that can be expected or 

 hoped for in the improvement of the condition of the great body 

 of the people is that the more noxious pursuits may be done away 

 with and that the conditions of the most arduous may be ame- 

 liorated ; but the work must go on and in the sweat of his brow 

 man must always eat his bread. The true gain that comes in the 

 course of years is that a part of the time which is at the disposal 

 of men may be saved from the necessity of hard work for the 

 enjoyment of more and more leisure. Whether the leisure 

 hours will be well spent or not will rest wholly upon the indi- 

 vidual. The best definition of leisure that I have ever met is that 

 "leisure consists in the diligent and intelligent use of time." 

 Time saved from the necessary work of life may be worse than 

 wasted or it may be well spent. 



In dealing with this subject we are often brought face to face 

 with a singular paradox. If all were rich, all would be poor alike ; 

 each might then be disinclined to serve the other for compensa- 

 tion, and thus all would be obliged to do all their own work with- 



