

And State Papers 133 



which, under changed circumstances, denies the right 

 of property because this right is in the hands of oth 

 ers. In a purely material civilization the bitterness 

 of attack on another's possession is only additional 

 proof of the extraordinary importance attached to 

 possession itself. When outward well-being, in 

 stead of being regarded as a valuable foundation on 

 which happiness may with wisdom be built, is mis 

 taken for happiness itself, so that material prosper 

 ity becomes the one standard, then, alike by those 

 who enjoy such prosperity in slothful or criminal 

 ease, and by those who in no less evil manner rail 

 at, envy, and long for it, poverty is held to be shame 

 ful, and money, whether well or ill gotten, to stand 

 for merit. 



All this does not mean condemnation of prog 

 ress. It is mere folly to try to dig up the dead 

 past, and scant is the good that comes from asceti 

 cism and retirement from the world. But let us 

 make sure that our progress is in the essentials as 

 well as in the incidentals. Material prosperity with 

 out the moral lift toward righteousness means a 

 diminished capacity for happiness and a debased 

 character. The worth of a civilization is the worth 

 of the man at its centre. When this man lacks 

 moral rectitude, material progress only makes bad 

 worse, and social problems still darker and more 

 complex. 



