Page:The fallacy of danger from great wealth.djvu/25

Rh benefit, if any, is to be derived from any such control.

The way to have money or wealth to use in the payment of wages is by saving, as already above explained. The government itself has no means of saving; for it earns no money (at least where the government carries on no industry), but receives taxes taken from persons who have earned money. Will individuals save more or less money if what they save is to be "controlled," not by themselves, but by the government? Perhaps it is not wise to say that all men are naturally lazy. But we may safely assume that most men like to get a living with the least possible effort. If, then, the government is to step in and "control" what a man saves and invests, is he going to earn enough to save anything? If the government is going to control a man's capital,—that is, all that a man can save, all that he earns beyond what is needed for his support,—is he going to earn anything beyond an amount sufficient for his support? Why should he? What would be his motive? To the extent that the government undertook to "control" wealth, there would be a tendency to decrease future saving.