840 SOCIAL STRUCTURE 



lished, and ere anybody in these states seemed to realize the dangers 

 of the enormous power of combined capital does not touch im- 

 mediately the present question. It is the actual and real relation 

 of the state to individuals which best reflects itself in the lack of 

 power over property, as pointed out by Mr. Morgan, or in other 

 words, in the subservient position which the governments hold, 

 in all countries more or less, toward the wealth-possessing classes. 

 I do not say although maybe I think that this ought to be 

 different; "je ne propose rien; f expose." It is merely as a theoret- 

 ical question that I touch upon this point. But I am not prepared 

 to deny that it is also the great practical problem of social struc- 

 ture to reconstruct the state upon a new and enlarged founda- 

 tion; that is to say, to make it, by common and natural effort, a 

 real and independent being, an end in itself, a common wealth 

 (spelled in two words) administered not so much for the benefit of 

 either a minority or a majority, or even of the whole number 

 of its citizens, as for its own perpetual interests, which should in- 

 clude the interests of an indefinite number of future generations, 

 the interests of the race. It cannot be overlooked that there are 

 at present many tendencies at work in this direction, but I believe 

 they are in part more apparent than real. The problem, we should 

 confess, is an overwhelming one; and I for one do not feel at all 

 sure that this splendid and transcendent civilization of ours w r ill 

 overcome its difficulties; that there will be sufficient moral power, 

 even if intelligence should rise to a sufficient height, for solving 

 in a truly rational way the "social question" as a question of social 

 structure. 



To sum up the argument, I put it in the form of a few theses 

 or propositions: 



(1) The object of sociological theory proper, in distinction from 

 either biological or psychological, though these be never so closely 

 connected with it, is the corporation, for the most part represented, 

 as it is, by a constituted body. 



(2) Religious faith makes some of the most important corpora- 

 tions appear as real, organic, mystic, and even supernatural be- 

 ings. Philosophical criticism is right in discovering and explaining 

 that all are creations of man, and that they have no existence except 

 in so far as human intellect and human will are embodied in them. 



(3) But nominalism is not the last word of a scientific philo- 

 sophy. The existence of a corporation is fictitious indeed, but still is 

 sometimes more than nominal. The true criterion is whether it be 

 conceived and felt as a mere tool or machine, without a life of its 

 own, or as something organic, superior to its temporary members. 

 The true nature, however, of this conception is legible only from facts. 



