SCIENCE AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS 265 



for the ultimate success of democracy is this persistent de- 

 mand for individual opportunity which can scarce be secured 

 under aristocratic forms of government, whether such forms 

 be landed or capitalistic. 



The betterment of his material environment is important 

 not alone for man's physical gratification. Such betterment 

 enables men to devote their attention to that which is not 

 bread. The " misery of boots," as one writer aptly de- 

 scribes it, must be overcome before the individual can 

 realize his spiritual desires. 1 The proposal to fill men's 

 stomachs as a stimulus to their morals is worthy of attention, 

 even though experience shows that great material prosperity 

 is not conducive to the spiritual advancement of individuals 

 or of nations. A degree of prosperity is indispensable, though 

 an excess may prove disastrous. Luxury, if we mean by this 

 the comforts over and above the necessities of life, may be 

 taken as one of the measures of civilization. 



Hence, the most obvious application of science to the 

 problems of society lies in this direction. Science has estab- 

 lished a control of nature, through which the material wel- 

 fare of mankind can be permanently secured. In civilized 

 lands, men can, if they will, produce enough for the entire 

 population to eat and to wear. The problem is no longer 

 how to produce the necessities of life, it is how to distribute 

 them. In production, we are far ahead of our power to 

 effect a just distribution. The socialist is largely correct in 

 his contention, that if we would deal fairly in distribution no 

 man would be obliged to work long hours in shop or mine, but 

 could devote a fair measure of time to his spiritual interests, 

 and that under such a system many social problems would 

 disappear. The first claim for science, as having important 

 applications in the problems of society, is, therefore, its 

 stabilization and extension of material factors which are 

 indispensable. This value should not be mmimized, since 

 it lies at the basis of civilized life, although it is easy to cite 



i Wells, H. G., "This Misery of Boots." 



