The Ideal State 251 



fore we believe, ere long, we shall find a reform of our 

 legal system demanded by the Liberal party, notwith- 

 standing the overwhelming preponderance of legal 

 members in Parliament. The law must be systematised 

 and decisions by our senators made final, whether in 

 favour of rich or poor ; and the legal instrument must 

 become part of our civil service. Indiscriminate legal 

 action will not be allowed ; it will not be possible ; all 

 will be regulated as other departments of State are at 

 the present time, with one certain result — a gradual and 

 increasing diminution of actions at law, and conse- 

 quently of legal officials, and thereby no small saving 

 to the coffers of the State. 



We have now reached a point in this discussion in 

 which it becomes necessary to consider the lines upon 

 which further development must proceed. We have 

 found that much has been done in the way of social 

 evolution under the influence of Christian ethics, and 

 we have indicated certain reforms requiring immediate 

 attention, such as a State medical service with a 

 ministry of medicine, the drastic alteration of our legal 

 system, which must become part of the ordinary Civil 

 Service, a universal minimum wage, the nationalisation 

 of land, mines, and railways, and reform of the poor 

 law on the lines of the Minority Report. On further 

 examination we are forced to the conclusion that all the 

 evils of our system in methods of government are 

 financial ; it is as true to-day as when first uttered, 

 that " the love of money is the root of all evil." It will 

 therefore be found that on investigation of such things 

 as poverty, unhappiness, or injustice, in every instance 

 " greed " or " Mammon " is the fount and origin of 

 the misery. La misere depends solely upon the desire 

 for huge dividends, and we have already referred to 

 Huxley's dictum that if this were to remain a char- 

 acteristic of our advancing commerce and civilisation 



