The Ideal State 273 



energy, of freeing work and ennobling it, showing forth 

 the usefulness of effort and the grandeur of work, thus 

 giving them a passion, a soul, a conscience. Does not 

 this show clearly the subtle influence of the altruistic 

 ethical evolution moulding men and history and guiding 

 them towards a higher and higher spiritual plane ? 

 The labour organisations are to protect the young 

 workers from temptation and lead them into life. 

 Surely a movement of this kind with such noble ideals 

 ought to be encouraged by every possible means, and 

 advised wherever it may appear to deviate from the 

 path of true altruism. It ought to be observed, how- 

 ever, that never before in the history of trade or busi- 

 ness has it been considered that the care of the youth 

 morally came within its province. Seldom has the rich 

 employer taken steps to guard the unwary and the 

 inexperienced setting forth on life's precarious journey, 

 with its many pitfalls, particularly in its first stages. 

 It must be evident to all — he who runs may read — that 

 the social betterment of the working classes must of 

 necessity mean a moral betterment, for both the social 

 and the moral are phases of the spiritual evolution 

 which is the fount and origin of the whole propaganda. 

 The reader will be interested to learn how the work- 

 men have proceeded in one or two instances where 

 Syndicalism .has taken concrete form. The Industrial 

 Union of the Bottle Blowers of Italy had been in 

 existence for ten years ; it was a Socialist organisation 

 endeavouring to realise its aims by political action. 

 In Italy the bottle-making industry now lies between 

 the factories of the Industrial Union and the Bottle 

 Trust. A strike occurred against one glass manu- 

 facturer who refused the demands of the Bottle Blowers' 

 Union, to which all workers in the bottle industry, 

 whatever their trade, belong. After a year of struggle, 

 the members of the Union raised funds, some even 



