COLLECTIVISM AND LAND NATIONALIZATION 25 I 
selves, society should take care of them. In the intellectual 
world there should be a social distribution of knowledge to all, 
and in the material world a social appropriation of the land and 
of a large portion of the wealth acquired by past generations, 
and transformed into capital. 
Society should give, at the expense of all, a thorough theore 
tical and practical education to the young, who would thus be 
enabled to learn, by means of the physical sciences, how to act 
upon matter, so as to turn it to the best advantage, and, by 
lueans of the moral sciences, how to behave towards their 
fellow-men. When they leave the establishments of public 
education, on coming of age, the youths should go through a 
sort of probation or apprenticeship for active life, by passing a 
certain period in the service of the State, thus repaying for the 
protection accorded to them during their minorities. When 
those of full age enter into society as active members, each of 
them should receive as a portion a sum of money taken from 
the State surplus. At this time three different careers would 
open before the worker : he could either work on his own 
account, or in association with others, or, if he should wish to 
avoid all risks, he could hire himself to another worker who 
Would direct the enterprise. If he should choose either of the 
first two careers, society should give him either land or capital 
to turn to account. For this purpose, the land would be 
divided into farms of greater or less dimensions according to 
the locality, the wants of the inhabitants, and the requirements 
of agriculture. The farms, with the plant necessary to work 
them, should be let to the highest bidder, who should be for- 
hidden to sublet Society should also lend capital, so as to 
oblige private capitalists not to exact a higher rate of interest 
than that fixed by law. 
Colins further designed certain other measures intended 
oither to assure the predominance of labour over capital—in 
other words, to raise wages as high as possible—or to stimulate 
the activity of each individual member of society to the highest 
degree. Measures of the former kind were, the abolition of 
perpetual interest, and the substitution of annuities during the 
life of the creditor as a means of repaying debts ; the prohibi-