the greatest possible efficiency of society
towards some end in itself good. Society of course may be organised
with great efficiency for bad or doubtful ends. A purely military
organisation, however admirable for its purpose, may imply a sacrifice
of the highest welfare of the nation. Assuming, however, the goodness
of the end, the greatest efficiency is of course desirable. We may, for
our purposes, assume that the efficiency of a nation regarded as a
society for the production of wealth is a desirable end. There are, of
course, many other purposes which must not be sacrificed to the
production of wealth. But power of producing wealth, meaning roughly
whatever contributes to the physical support and comfort of the nation,
is undoubtedly a necessary condition of all other happiness. If we all
starve we can have neither art nor science nor morality. What I mean,
therefore, is that a nation is so far better as it is able to raise all
necessary supplies with the least expenditure of labour, leaving aside
the question how far the superfluous forces should be devoted to
raising comparative luxuries or to some purely religious or moral or
intellectual purposes. The perfect industrial organisation is, I shall
assume, compatible with or rather a condition of a perfect organisation
of other kinds. In the most general terms we have to consider what are
the principles of social organisation, which of course implies a
certain balance between the various organs and a thorough nutrition of
all, while yet we may for a moment confine our attention to the purely
industrial or economic part of the question. How, if at all, does the
principle of equality or of social justice enter the problem?

We may assume, in the first place, from this point of view, that one
most obvious condition is the absence of all purely useless structures,
whether of the kind which we call "survivals" or such as may be called
parasitic growths. The organ which has ceased to discharge
corresponding functions is simply a drag upon the vital forces. When a
class, such as the old French aristocracy, ceases to perform duties
while retaining privileges, it will be removed,--too probably, as in
that case, it will be removed by violent and mischievous methods,--if
the society is to grow in vigour. The individuals, as I have said, may
or may not deserve punishment, for they are not personally responsible
for the general order of things; but they are not unlikely to incu