152 EVOLUTION. SOCIAL AND ORGANIC 



individualist arcadia fashioned after Mr. Spen- 

 cer's own heart. A working man would be 

 able to take up the occupation of a sailor. He 

 could embark on the rotten old tub of some 

 greedy shipowner, insured for many times its 

 value, loaded to the gunwales and sure to sink 

 when it got out of sight of land to where the 

 water was a little rougher than plate glass. 

 Of course he would be living under a system 

 of "voluntary co-operation" and "freedom of 

 contract" and if he didn't wish to go to sea 

 he could stay at home and — starve. There 

 would be very little work in port unloading 

 ships, as so many of them would never re- 

 turn to be unloaded. When the insurance 

 money was paid the shipowner could give a 

 banquet and hold forth on the individual right 

 )0f the sailor to get drowned in the interests 

 of commerce without the government meddl- 

 ing about life boats and other expensive and 

 nonsensical appliances. 



If he preferred cO work on "terra firma" he 

 might get a job in a mine with only one shaft 

 which in case of firedamp would be converted 

 into a furnace. Then as there would be no 

 way to get out, no socialistically inclined per- 

 son would be able to dispute his individual 

 right to stay in. If he preferred the white lead 

 industry he might "get in" there, and there 



