Economic Advantages of Federation 385 



possibility of a solution of the problem of poverty 

 by increasing production and diminishing enorm- 

 ous waste. The problem of misery cannot be 

 solved simply by a redistribution of wealth. Any 

 plan for abolishing poverty by redistribution 

 without increasing production would be but a 

 drop in the ocean. Out of every ten inhabitants 

 of the world, nine never have enough to satisfy 

 their hunger. And the same proportion lack 

 shelter meeting the most elementary requirements 

 of decency and sanitation. Income tax statistics 

 of all countries show that out of every 10,000 per- 

 sons in the world, 9999 are unable to spare as 

 much as twenty dollars per year for the satisfac- 

 tion of their intellectual or artistic life, and millions 

 of men even in the richest countries are not able to 

 buy as much as a single book a year. 



A study of the fundamental statistics of wealth 

 and production shows that humanity considered as 

 a whole is plunged in the deepest misery. The av- 

 erage income per person and per day for the whole 

 human race has been calculated by Jean de Bloch 

 to be about ten cents.' But if all the fortunes 

 in excess of $2000 should be confiscated and given 

 to the poor it would add only ten per cent, to their 

 income. The most elementary analysis of the 

 statistics shows that no plan for redistribution 

 can solve the problem of poverty. 



When we consider the increase of prosperity 

 in France, which resulted from its unity and the 



' See Jean de Bloch, The Future of War, 1898, volume iv. 

 25 



