Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 33.djvu/801

Rh be likely to be confined to practical ends, and the resulting disadvantages to society would be very great. It would be impossible to calculate the amount of social benefit that has accrued from the unremunerated intellectual activity of men who have devoted their lives to the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake. Much of this devotion has been made possible by the existence of rich men who have directly or indirectly furnished the means to this end. Many of our schools, colleges, libraries, and art-galleries have been founded or more or less supported by contributions from the rich, and a deeper and richer economic return has been made possible.

But the fundamental objection to socialism is, that the economical disadvantages which its adoption would surely entail would not be balanced by ethical benefits that would repay the loss. The evils of which socialists chiefly complain are due to the inherent defects of human nature as it is. While some of these defects may be increased and intensified by the system of private property and free competition that now obtains, it is altogether unlikely that a change in the system would of itself greatly modify human nature. That requires long time and a co-operation of all the social factors. Moreover, the growth of the sense of social obligation gives promise that these very defects may be lessened and eventually overcome, by a more thorough recognition of our social duties and responsibilities, and the cultivation of a public opinion that will insist upon their performance. The main "justification of the existing industrial system is that it secures more responsible and far-sighted management of capital than could be obtained in any other way"; but when we "attempt to enjoy the rights of property without corresponding responsibilities," we give our opponents their most powerful weapon.

As a first requisite to the establishment of a correct public opinion, it is needful that we should teach more broadly the truth that men have no absolute right to do as they please with their own, and that the obligations which contract imposes are not the only ones to be taken into consideration. Not only must we, in accordance with the law of equal freedom, forbear to interfere with the equal rights of others, but we must also remember that our duty calls upon us to use our rights in such a way as not to demoralize, but on the contrary to conserve, the community in which we live. The test of this is the principle with which we set out—the well-being of society. We may not always be able to decide positively as to what is best in every case for the social welfare, but it is possible for us to do so in many instances; and wherever the absolute exercise of any right, which the principles of political economy otherwise sanction, seems likely to be