ll, or of universal
_inheritance by the State in trust for the whole community_.

"We have," he finally concluded, "ourselves created an immoral or
unmoral social environment. To undo its inevitable results we must
reverse our course. We must see that _all_ our economic legislation,
_all_ our social reforms, are in the very opposite direction to those
hitherto adopted, and that they tend in the direction of one or other of
the four fundamental remedies I have suggested. In this way only can we
hope to change our existing immoral environment into a moral one, and
_initiate a new era of Moral Progress._" The "Revolt of Democracy"[49]
was addressed directly to the Labour Party. And once again he drew a
vivid picture of how, during the whole of the nineteenth century, there
was a continuous advance in the application of scientific discovery to
the arts, especially to the invention and application of labour-saving
machinery; and how our wealth had increased to an equally marvellous
extent.

He pointed out that various estimates which had been made of the
increase in our wealth-producing capacity showed that, roughly speaking,
the use of mechanical power had increased it more than a hundredfold
during the century; yet the result had been to create a limited upper
class, living in unexampled luxury, while about one-fourth of the whole
population existed in a state of fluctuating penury, often sinking below
the margin of poverty. Many thousands were annually drawn into this gulf
of destitution, and died from direct starvation and premature exhaustion
or from diseases produced by unhealthy employment.

During this long period, however, although wealth and want had alike
increased side by side, public opinion had not been sufficiently
educated to permit of any effectual remedy being applied. The workers
themselves had failed to visualise its fundamental causes, land monopoly
and the competitive system of industry giving rise to an ever-increasing
private capitalism which, to a very large extent, had controlled the
Legislature. All through the last century this rapid accumulation of
wealth due to extensive manufacturing industries led to a still greater
increase of middlemen engaged in the distribution of the products, from
the wealthy merchant to the various grades of tradesmen and small
shop-keepers who supplied the daily wants of the community.

To those who lived in the midst of this vast industrial system, or were
a part