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THE  SOCIALISM  OF  TO-DAY.

ultimate  aim,  which  is  social  progress,  can  be  better  attained
with  such  assistance  than  by  individual  efforts,  whether  it  be
a  question  of  the  improvement  of  harbours,  the  facilitation  of
means  of  transport,  the  development  of  education,  the  encouragement ­
  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  or  the  promotion  of  any
other  object  of  general  utility.
The  intervention  of  the  State  ought  not  to  be  always
rejected,  as  the  rigid  Economists  wish,  nor  always  admitted,  as
certain  Socialists  demand;  each  case  ought  to  be  separately
examined,  having  regard  to  the  wants  to  be  satisfied  and  the
resources  of  private  energy.  Only  it  is  a  mistake  to  suppose
that  the  rôle  of  the  State  will  be  curtailed  as  civilization
advances.  It  is  of  a  different  kind  to-day  from  what  it  was
under  the  patriarchal  or  despotic  régime,  but  it  is  ever
extending  according  as  new  paths  open  out  to  human  activity,
and  as  the  appreciation  of  what  is  lawful  and  what  is  not
becomes  clearer.  This  opinion  has  also  been  expounded  in
France  with  great  force  by  M.  Dupont-White,  in  his  book
L'Individu  et  /’État.
The  Katheder-Socialisten  also  blame  orthodox  Economists
for  confining  themselves  too  exclusively  to  questions  touching
the  production  of  wealth,  and  for  having  neglected  those
concerning  its  distribution  and  consumption.  They  assert
that  the  strict  Economists  have  looked  upon  man  as  a  mere
productive  force,  without  sufficiently  considering  his  destiny
and  his  obligations  as  a  moral  and  intelligent  being.  According
to  them,  thanks  to  the  wonders  wrought  by  science,  industry
could  already  produce  enough  for  all,  if  all  labour  were  usefully
employed,  and  if  so  many  human  efforts  were  not  wasted  in
satisfying  spurious  and  even  vicious  desires.  The  great
problem  of  our  times,  what  is  called  the  social  question,  is
primarily  a  question  of  distribution.
The  labouring  classes  wish  to  better  their  lot  and  to  obtain
a  larger  share  of  the  wealth  created  by  the  joint  operation  of
capital  and  labour.  The  important  point  to  discover  is,  within
what  limits  and  under  what  conditions  this  is  possible.  In
view  of  the  evils  which  disturb  and  threaten  the  social  order,
three  systems  have  been  proposed:  first,  a  return  to  the  past