792 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



may, for higher prices. It is hardly possible, under such circumstances, 

 that the working-people should be able, by any concert of action, to 

 command their employers and dictate wages. 



"It's all wrong," exclaims Reformer, indignantly ; "it is slavery 

 that men shall toil to make the rich richer ! " Truly, we all wish it 

 might be otherwise ; but we are compelled to accept human nature, 

 revolt as we may against the limits of its possibilities. The economi- 

 cal laws have grown out of it in the struggle of life, not by conscious 

 purpose, but by overruling necessity, as resultants of the clashing and 

 divergent forces of individualism and competition. Nobody is respon- 

 sible ; and it may be that these vast accumulations of wealth have their 

 good as well as their evil side. If a large proportion of civilized people 

 have not had the energy and management to push themselves into posi- 

 tions of plenty and comfort, it may be that even making the rich richer 

 has points of advantage which render it a blessing rather than a curse 

 to laboring-men themselves. Let us see. 



There is a surplus beyond immediate consumption from the prod- 

 ucts of all the industries in the world : what shall be done with this 

 surplus ? If certain classes of people could have their way, what is 

 now surplus would all be consumed by the end of the year. It is not 

 so consumed now, because those who would like it for consumption 

 can not get it. Not only the ignorant and the improvident would so 

 elect, but the more intelligent, such as are employed in offices and places 

 of considerable trust. Most who live on salaries manage to keep about 

 even ; they do not spend more, because their salaries are not greater. 

 Then, if nobody saved — an extreme supposition — what would be the 

 result ? Civilization could not advance, the world could not become 

 richer in the comforts of life, because the basis of production, capital, 

 that is, the savings of labor, would not accumulate. Indeed, if there 

 were not savings to be constantly invested for the repair of waste and 

 wear, there would soon be a calamitous falling off everywhere in the 

 comforts of life. It is capital that makes labor tell in successful pro- 

 duction ; and, without capital, we should be in the condition of bar- 

 barians, of savages even. Then, what is the part the accumulator 

 plays ? The savings from labor above consumption fall into his hands, 

 where they are largely conserved for use. His capital seeks invest- 

 ment, it utilizes invention and discovery ; it establishes industries and 

 employs labor ; it distributes the products ; and the average of human 

 comfort is constantly on the increase through this means. The savings 

 of labor which have fallen so largely into the hands of the few, making 

 them rich men, have built our railroads, steamships, telegraphs, manu- 

 factories, thus in many ways adding to the means of production, and 

 the facilities of commerce at home and abroad. These saved earnings 

 in the hands of men seeking investment for profit have increased the 

 wealth, resources, and refinements of civilization, made abundance pos- 

 sible, and brought it within reach of all, except the unfortunate, or the 



