feeling those pervading and perpetual sympathies which unite the parent with the child. Secure in the strength she will derive from her colonies, the old country may be content to see the growth of her commerce arrested, and to leave the task of material development to the elastic energies of her sons. Her strength may be thrown into other spheres of human endeavour. Already the favoured retreat of successful colonists, England may rise to yet higher things. In the conduct of their domestic affairs the colonies may become absolutely independent; but the loss of political importance may be amply compensated to the old country if she becomes, in a larger sense than now, the social centre of the whole Empire, a seminary of learning for all her sons, the home of literature and the arts, the Athens of the Anglo-Saxon race.

racy of

Saxon

From a political point of view my visits to our dis- Confedetant possessions in Hong Kong, the Straits Settlements, the AngloCeylon, and Aden were perhaps the most satisfactory peoples. feature of my recent voyage round the world. The evidences of prosperity and good government in those scattered dominions of the Crown redound greatly to the honour of our country; and when I combine with these more recent experiences recollections of a former journey to Canada and the United States, I see the most reassuring indications of great and beneficent destinies for the Anglo-Saxon race. We cannot hope nor even desire for our densely crowded little island the monopoly of the trade of the world. We cannot wish to concentrate in our own metropolis the responsibility of governing the vast and growing communities of the

Antipodes and the New World. We can, however, retain, and retain for ever, our proud position as the mother country of the great Anglo-Saxon brotherhood. If we help our children in a large and unselfish spirit, now, in the days of their youth, they will not forget old England, if she becomes less vigorous in the lapse of ages. I invite all those who are unnerved by their dread of Panslavism, or their fears of Teutonic ascendency on the Continent, to realise the grand but not impracticable vision of the power which might be created by a federation of all the Anglo-Saxon peoples. We are one in history, religion, and race; and the sea, the great highway of nations and the cradle of our hardy northern ancestors, unites us. If all unworthy jealousies be repressed, and all our natural ties be cultivated in the spirit of sympathy and kindness, we shall never want an ally in the day of need.

289

CHAPTER XIV.

ON THE ACCUMULATION OF CAPITAL, AND THE LAW
OF WAGES.

Nothing generates discontent so much as fluctuation in profits and wages; for human nature is so constituted that a man will expect to have always what he has once received.—JOHNSON.

Nessun maggior dolore

Che ricordarsi del tempo felice
Nella miseria.

DANTE, Inferno, v. 121.

gress of

MANY false notions have been accredited by a terse Social proand easily remembered phrase. The generally ac- the masses. cepted, but ill-founded belief, that the poor are growing poorer and the rich richer, rests on this shallow foundation. If we look back to the beginning of the present century, and follow the improvements which have been effected in the dwellings, food, clothing, and education of the people, it will be evident that real progress has been secured in the social condition of the masses.

We read in the Chapters on Socialism' by the late Mr. Mill, recently published in the Fortnightly Review,' that it has yet to be proved that there is any country in the civilised world where the ordinary wages of labour, estimated either in money or in articles of consumption, are declining; while in many they are, on the whole, on the increase; and an in

U

Unequal distribution of wealth.

Argentine

Colonies.

crease which is becoming, not slower, but more rapid. There is much evidence of improvement, and none, that is at all trustworthy, of deterioration in the mode of living of the labouring population of the countries of Europe.

While, however, we congratulate ourselves on the strides that we have made, we still see an inequality in the distribution of wealth, which would scarcely be accepted in any ideal scheme of society, and greater than is consistent with the degree of perfection, to which we may reasonably venture to hope that human institutions may be brought. These inequalities arise from differences of character, capacity, and opportunity. Some are inherent in human nature itself; others arise out of the conditions in which individuals are placed.

In an uninhabited country, where every man is free to take for himself as much land as he can cultivate, the same inequalities are observable as in an old country. They arise from the unequal strength and diligence of the cultivators, from the unequal fertility of the soil, from the division of the property of one man amongst numerous successors, and the devolution of the entire inheritance of another upon a single heir. 'The intelligence,' says Turgot, and activity, and especially the forethought of some, in contrast with the indolence, inaction, and dissipation of others, are most powerful causes of inequality in the condition of various individuals.'

I can speak of these things not only in theory, but by the light of practical experience gained by watching

Nature gave to each

the results of colonisation in the Argentine Republic.
Large numbers of colonists were sent out from all
parts of Europe. To each was allotted an equal area
of land; for each a house was built, a well dug, and
seeds and implements provided.
an equal portion of sunshine and of rain; and at the
end of a short term of years you find some in penury,
many struggling to maintain a bare subsistence; a
few, but only a few, had prospered. The unsuccessful
naturally regard themselves as the victims of unde-
served misfortune, and view with envy the growing
prosperity of their neighbours.

Accumu

In an old country, where the accumulations of past lations of generations devolve on a few fortunate individuals, the wealth formed by inequality is far greater, and the seeming injustice saving. more flagrant. But when we come to examine the process by which an accumulation of capital is commenced, we shall see reasons which should tend to mitigate the natural antagonism of labour and capital.

Usurers and money-lenders have been at all times odious. It is so easy to borrow money; it is so hard to be obliged to pay it back. The sense of relief from pressing necessity soon passes away. The same want is again felt. The former debt is still due. The lender has parted with what was more or less a superfluity; to the borrower the loan seemed indispensable; and though justice may incline wholly to the lender, though he claims nothing more than his just debt, humanity, and pity, and sympathy are always on the side of the debtor.

In order, however, to do justice to capital, let us