THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE 107 



a sparse agricultural population, living in abundance on 

 the produce of its own soil; but, in a densely populated 

 manufacturing country, struggling for existence with 

 competitors, every ignorant person tends to become a 

 burden upon, and, so far, an infringer of the liberty of, 

 his fellows, and an obstacle to their success. Under such 

 circumstances an education rate is, in fact, a war tax, 

 levied for purposes of defence. 



That State action always has been more or less mis- 

 directed, and always will be so, is, I believe, perfectly 

 true. But I am not aware that it is more true of the 

 action of men in their corporate capacity than it is of 

 the doings of individuals. The wisest and most dis- 

 passionate man in existence, merely wishing to go from 

 one stile in a field to the opposite, will not walk quite 

 straight he is always going a little wrong, and always 

 correcting himself; and I can only congratulate the in- 

 dividualist who is able to say that his general course of 

 life has been of a less undulatory character. To abolish 

 State action, because its direction is never more than 

 approximately correct, appears to me to be much the 

 same thing as abolishing the man at the wheel altogether, 

 because, do what he will, the ship yaws more or less. 

 "Why should I be robbed of my property to pay for 

 teaching another man's children?" is an individualist 

 question, which is not unfrequently put as if it settled 

 the whole business. Perhaps it does, but I find difficul- 

 ties in seeing why it should. The parish in which I 

 live makes me pay my share for the paving and lighting 

 of a great many streets that I never pass through; and 

 I might plead that I am robbed to smooth the way and 

 lighten the darkness of other people. But I am afraid 

 the parochial authorities would not let me off on this 

 plea; and I must confess I do not see why they should. 



I cannot speak of my own knowledge, but I have 



