fulcrum around which the relations between
the sexes turn, any attempt at coercion, moral or material, in these
relations must necessarily become repugnant to the moral sense of the
community."[903]

The foregoing statements lead to the inevitable conclusion that "The
transformation of the current family form into a freer, more real, and
therefore a higher form, must inevitably follow the economic
revolution which will place the means of production and distribution
under the control of all for the good of all."[904]

Another authority informs us "Socialism, Communism, or whatever one
chooses to call it, by converting private property into public wealth
and substituting co-operation for competition, will restore society to
its proper condition of a thoroughly healthy organism, and ensure the
material well-being of each member of the community. It will, in fact,
give life its proper basis and its proper environment. Socialism
annihilates family life, for instance. With the abolition of private
property, marriage in its present form must disappear. This is part of
the programme."[905] A distinguished Fabian proclaims: "The Socialist
no more regards the institution of marriage as a permanent thing than
he regards a state of competitive industrialism as a permanent
thing."[906] The leading book of the Fabian Society states: "The
economic independence of women and the supplanting of the head of the
household by the individual as the recognised unit of the State will
materially alter the status of children and the utility of the
institution of the family."[907] The leading periodical of the Fabians
says: "Of all the stupid theories regarding the family, the most
stupid is the belief that it is natural. On the contrary, the
trinitarian family organisation is plainly a work of art, a
deliberate device of man's. Nothing is more plain than the fact that
the hierarchy of the family has been employed, and is still employed,
as a model for the hierarchy of the State and of human society
generally; in other words, as a prop of aristocracy."[908] A leading
member of the Independent Labour Party tells us: "I do not believe it
is desirable to cultivate the family idea as at present understood,
which in the main is designed to teach the children to think more of
their own family than any other; I want to see the broader family life
of society taught in the spirit of the West Country motto, 'One for
all and all for each.'"[909]

Marria