Outlook for Social Organination 125 



something of that patience by which Nature 

 climbs through suffering to her goal. 



2. The Basis of Improvement 



But no one can be content thus to withdraw 

 except temporarily from the more pressing 

 problems of the day. The mind which has been 

 awakened by the social conscience demands a 

 task that shall contribute, how^ever slightly and 

 slowly, toward universal righteousness. We 

 cherish a reasonable faith that the ends of evo- 

 lution may be materially hastened ; that, indeed, 

 only by participation can progress be attained 

 at all, since intelligent effort is now the prime 

 agent of evolution. Yet the practical answer 

 to the question of what to do is not an easy 

 one. Only by pointing out certain general 

 policies may an answer be suggested. 



The policies that will intelligently further 

 social progress must, in the first place, be based 

 on a realization of what present society is, in 

 both its good and its evil aspects. Commer- 

 cialism and militarism are a part of the struc- 

 ture of society as it now exists. They cannot 

 be banished by an edict. Worldly wisdom 

 adapted to actual emergencies must rule in the 

 everyday affairs of life, even while the saints 



