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The middle classes have done a great deal for English 
life ; they are characteristic of England, they possess a con- 
trolling voice in the affairs of their country, they probably 
make the greatest contributions, good and bad alike, to 
national life. Therefore we can hardly do better than choose 
the middle classes for purposes of examination. England’s 
problem lies in them. The greatest features of modern life 
which fall under the following heads are mainly the concern 
of the middle classes. 
Take in the first place the power of wealth. It has been 
said that the first of all English games is money-making, 
and wealth has been exalted into an object of worship by 
this generation. We are living at a time when philanthropic 
and educational institutions cry aloud for money and brains, 
and at a time when the contrast between riches and poverty 
has become a most striking feature, and we see that wealth 
is being lavished upon pleasures which carry with them 
no trace of public service and bring in no return to enrich 
the character of the spenders. The greatest periods in the 
history of our country have not been characterised by an 
excessive regard for wealth and a selfish pursuit of the indul- 
gences to which it can minister, and there is great danger 
that this selfish indulgence will unfit us not merely for ex- 
tending, but even for maintaining, the power and influence 
which our forefathers have handed down to us. 
Relaxation is essential and serves a useful purpose, but 
that craving for excitement which pervades modern life and 
which causes so many people to spend far too large a pro- 
portion of their time in bridge, motoring, roller-skating, etc., 
deprives it of much of its purpose. The pleasure of true 
sport is real enough, but it can only be served by manly 
discretion, and now-a-days discretion and discrimination are 
not so common as they ought to be. 
These tendencies poison the wells of idealism, degrade the 
highest objects of ambition, and set up false standards of 
aim and conduct. Wealth has come to be regarded as an 
object of ambition because it provides the means of pursuing 
childish rivalries and perverted emulation. 
Modern conditions tend to undermine the freedom of the 
press. The commercial spirit has invaded this sphere with 
degrading results. There is a demand for scrappy informa- 
tion conveyed in the most sensational form, and the people 
wish to have their opinions ready-made without troubling 
to think for themselves. 
