moral one. We have to inquire into
the dominant conception of the good life, the number of those upon whom
it is intended that good shall be conferred.

In the light of this conception it is obvious enough that Smith's view
is impossible. No mere conflict of private interests, however pure in
motive, seems able to achieve a harmony of interest between the members
of the State. Liberty, in the sense of a positive and equal opportunity
for self-realization, is impossible save upon the basis of the
acceptance of certain minimal standards which can get accepted only
through collective effort. Smith did not see that in the processes of
politics what gets accepted is not the will that is at every moment a
part of the state-purpose, but the will of those who in fact operate the
machinery of government. In the half-century after he wrote the men who
dominated political life were, with the best intentions, moved by
motives at most points unrelated to the national well-being. The
fellow-servant doctrine would never have obtained acceptance in a state
where, as he thought, employer and workman stood upon an equal footing.
Opposition to the Factory Acts would never have developed in a community
where it was realized that below certain standards of subsistence the
very concept of humanity is impossible. Modern achievement implies a
training in the tools of life; and that, for most, is denied even in our
own day to the vast majority of men. In the absence of legislation, it
is certain that those who employ the services of men will be their
political masters; and it will follow that their Acts of Parliament will
be adapted to the needs of property. That shrinkage of the purpose of
the State will mean for most not merely hardship but degradation of all
that makes life worthy. Upon those stunted existences, indeed, a wealthy
civilization may easily be builded. Yet it will be a civilization of
slaves rather than of men.

The individualism, that is to say, for which Adam Smith was zealous
demands a different institutional expression from that which he gave it.
We must not assume an _a priori_ justification for the forces of the
past. The customs of men may represent the thwarting of the impulses of
the many at the expense of the few not less easily than they may embody
a general desire; and it is surely a mistaken usage to dignify as
natural whatever may happen to have occurred. A man may find
self-realization not less in working for th