72 THE LAWS OF SOCIAL INEQUALITY 



they gain the almost unlimited confidence of the community. 

 It is thus that commercial power is slowly and surely accumu- 

 lated, until finally merchant princes become a stern reality. 

 Yet every enterprise, great or small, has its master spirit the 

 main axis or stem from which the lesser branches proceed ; for 

 the laws of nature remain invariably the same. Men will pay 

 homage to merit. They ever will cheerfully subordinate them- 

 selves to superior ability. 



Nothing, therefore, can be more erroneous than the idea that, 

 in order to preserve the present system of inequality, it is 

 necessary to keep a certain portion of the human race in igno- 

 rance. This is very bad policy, as well as a violation of the 

 natural rights of man. Let us look at the tree again; for 

 nature is best interpreted by a reference to nature. We have, 

 in every tree, a deeply interesting and instructive combination 

 of industrial forces which illustrates clearly a perfect system of 

 mutual dependency and subordination. No part of the tree is 

 unemployed or unimportant. The poorest branch and bud-scale, 

 stipule and starvling shoot, as well as the powerful branch with 

 its innumerable branchlets, rich in sap and luxuriant in foliage, 

 have helped to build up that tree. Each has labored to the 

 extent of its capacity, and has done some good to the commu- 

 nity, although it may be only a little. 



In like manner it is for the interest of society that all the 

 varied talents of its individual members should be called forth 

 and employed. Some authors have written on human perfect- 

 ibility as if all men could be made philosophers, statesmen, 

 orators, poets, etc. But this is contrary to all analogy. Among 

 all the forms of life, there is variety in the degrees of develop- 

 ment, and man is no exception. All men are subject to the 

 same general laws, yet it is undeniable that there is an indi- 

 viduality about each, and that their mental capabilities and 

 dispositions are as dissimilar as their faces. Life, in fact, is but 

 the unfolding of the peculiar laws of the individual organism. 



As we progress in science and civilization, more and more 

 of this individual talent will be evolved. Any institutions 

 which are calculated to call it forth, are a blessing to the world. 

 They ought to be encouraged. The men who found them will 



