CHAPTER IX. 



CONCLUSION. 



TT) EAJDERS who have had the patience to 

 -LV follow the facts accumulated in this book, 

 especially those who have given them a thought- 

 ful attention, will probably feel convinced of the 

 immense powers over the productive forces of 

 Nature that man has acquired within the last 

 half a century. Comparing the achievements 

 indicated in this book with the present state of 

 production, some will, I hope, also ask them- 

 selves the question which will be ere long, let 

 us hope, the main object of a scientific political 

 economy : Are the means now in use for satis- 

 fying human needs, under the present system 

 of permanent division of functions and produc- 

 tion for profits, really economical ? Do they 

 really lead to economy in the expenditure of 

 human forces ? Or, are they not mere wasteful 

 survivals from a past that was plunged into 

 darkness, ignorance and oppression, and never 



