132 THE SOCIALISM OF TO-DAY. 
(4) Finally, the State ought to place restrictions on the 
tyranny of capital. I attack neither wealth nor the wealthy, 
says the canon, for Holy Scripture says wealth and poverty 
come from God; but what I condemn is the methods by 
which these owners of thousands and millions enrich them 
selves to-day. Whence come these tens of thousands so 
rapidly acquired by those who toil not ? They are deducted 
from the produce of the labour of the workers, who have to 
pay the incomes of these huge fortunes obtained originally by 
gambling on the Stock Exchange or by dishonest speculations. 
In thus speaking. Canon Moufang was plainly inspired and 
embittered by reminiscences of the Schwindeljahre, the years 
of mad speculation which followed 1871 ; but in this case, too, 
it would have been well if he had not confined himself to 
eloquent tirades against “the tyranny of capital,” but had 
indicated the means of putting an end to these iniquities. 
Such is the programme of the reforms which the Canon of 
Mayence calls for from the State. It hardly differs from that 
formulated by the Socialists, except that Herr Moufang more 
often invokes the Holy Scriptures. He is quite right to praise 
the Christian ideal. But what is to be done if the co-operative 
societies consume the capital advanced to them, and if the 
manufacturers cease producing when they are unable to meet 
the wages imposed ? The reforming canon does not concern 
himself with these details. 
A paper founded under the inspiration of Herr Moufang, 
Die Christlich-sociale Blaetter, has developed this programme 
more exclusively on the economical side. Like the Socialists, 
it vehemently attacks the Political Economy of the Manchester 
School, Das Manchesterthum. We must have done with these 
economical theories, says the Catholic journal, which exercise 
so grievous an influence on the public and private life of our 
times. These “ Manchestrists ” classify labour, the principal 
factor of civilization, under the same head as the natural 
agents. According to them, it is only a manifestation of the 
powers inherent in matter, like the attraction or gravitation of 
bodies. They speak of the laws which regulate the production 
and the distribution of wealth in the same way as of the neces-