SOCIALISTS ON MOTIVE 285 



has been due. These rewards have been defined in Book iv 

 a recent Handbook of Socialism as the pleasure of 

 "excelling" " the joy in creative work" the satis- such as the 

 faction which work for others brings to " the instincts ex 

 of benevolence," and, lastly, " social approval" or the 

 homage which is called "honour" ing honour. 



If the socialists, however, confined themselves to 

 maintaining that the desire of such rewards as these 

 constitutes a sufficient motive to exceptional activity 

 of certain kinds, they would not only be asserting 

 what nobody else would deny, but they would be 

 putting forward nothing which, as socialists, it is 

 their interest to assert. The ultimate proposition 

 which, as socialists, they aim at establishing is not 

 that certain kinds of exceptional men do certain 

 kinds of exceptional things, in obedience to the 

 motives in question ; but that because some excep- The funda- 

 tional men, endowed with certain temperaments, I^n is, wT 

 are motived by them to activities of certain specific S*aST Brd * 

 kinds, other exceptional men will be motived by stimulate 



t great men to 



them with equal certainty to other activities of a weaith-pro- 

 kind totally different and more especially to the 

 activities which result in the production of wealth. 



Here is the fundamental point on which the 

 socialists join issues with their opponents. Their 

 opponents, they say, assume that the sole reward 

 or advantage, the desire of which will stimulate the 

 monopolists of " business ability " to exert that 

 ability in the production and augmentation of 

 wealth, is a share of wealth for themselves pro- 

 portionate to the amount produced by them an 



