e future must be the exploitation of the earth by man
_associated to man_. The practical aim of Socialism is that industry is
to be carried on by associated labourers jointly owning the means of
production. Here, again, the all-pervading ideal is--the general good of
society--the happiness of the greatest number. The reduction of all aims
to a common level, the equalising of social conditions, the direction and
control of all private interests and personal endeavours, are to be means
to one end--the material good of the community. Socialism is not,
however, confined to an agitation for material welfare. The industrial
aspect of it is only a phase of a larger movement. On its ethical side
it is the outcome of a strong aspiration after a higher life.[10] The
world is awakening to {106} the fact that the majority of the human
family has been virtually excluded from all participation in man's
inheritance of knowledge and culture. The labouring classes have been
from time immemorial sunk in drudgery and ignorance, bearing the burden
of society without sharing in its happiness. It is contended that every
man ought to have an opportunity of making the most of his life and
obtaining full freedom for the development of body and mind. The aim to
secure justice for the many, to protect the weak against the strong, to
mitigate the fierceness of competition, to bring about a better
understanding between capital and labour, and to gain for all a more
elevated and expansive existence, is not merely consistent with, but
indispensable to, a true Christian conception of life. But the question
which naturally arises is, how this reformation is to be brought about.
Never before have so many revolutionary schemes been proposed, and so
many social panaceas for a better world set forth. It is, indeed, a
hopeful sign of the times that the age of unconcern is gone and the
temper of cautious inaction has yielded to scientific diagnosis and
courageous treatment. It must not be forgotten, however, that the
exclusively utilitarian position tends to lower the moral ideal, and that
the exaggerated emphasis upon the social aspect of life fails to do
justice to the independence of the individual. The tendency of modern
political thought is to increase the control of government, and to regard
all departments of activity as branches of the state, to be held and
worked for the general good of the community. Thus there is a danger
that the ind