Alfred Russel Wallace 



and the best method of preventing them, were " The Won- 

 derful Century," '' Social Environment and Moral Pro- 

 gress," and " The Revolt of Democracy " ; the two last 

 being issued, as we have seen, in 1913, the year of his 

 death. 



In " Social Environment and Moral Progress " the con- 

 clusion of his vehement survey of our moral and social 

 conditions was startling : " It is not too much to say that 

 our whole system of Society is rotten from top to hottom, 

 and that the social environment as a whole in relation to 

 our possibilities and our claims is the worst that the world 

 has ever seen.'' 



That terrible indictment was doubly underscored in 

 his MS. 



What, in his mature judgment, were the causes and 

 remedies ? He set them out in this order : 



1. The evils are due, broadly and generally, to our living 

 under a system of universal competition for the means of 

 existence, the remedy for which is equally universal co- 

 operation. 



2. It may also be defined as a system of economic 

 antagonism, as of enemies, the remedy being a system 

 of economic brotherhood, as of a great family, or of 

 friends. 



3. Our system is also one of monopoly by a few of all 

 the means of existence — the land, without access to which 

 no life is possible; and capital, or the results of stored-up 

 labour, which is now in the possession of a limited number 

 of capitalists, and therefore is also a monopoly. The remedy 

 is freedom of access to land and capital for all. 



4. Also, it may be defined as social injustice, inasmuch as 

 the few in each generation are allowed to inherit the stored- 

 up wealth of all preceding generations, while the many 

 inherit nothing. The remedy is to adopt the principle of 



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