PREFACE. 
IX 
years to come, incapable of united action by 
themselves, and requiring the strong guidance 
of the capitalist, or, to use the good old- 
fashioned word, ‘ the master.' 
It is all very well to theorise and plan about 
things as they should be, but we must first 
recognise existing conditions, and then strive to 
better them in the full light of this knowledge. 
This contribution to the political economy 
of the day—the result, as I have said, of an 
intimate practical acquaintance with the subject 
—will, I hope, help in some small degree to dispel 
those communistic ideas, so prevalent in neigh 
bouring countries, from the minds of our work 
ing classes, and incite them and their friends to 
renewed efforts for a better national life in no 
revolutionary or theoretical, but in a thoroughly 
conservative and practical spirit. 
The chapter on ' Labour' appeared in 
Melioi'a, a quarterly review of social science, 
a good many years ago, and formed a small 
contribution to the public opinion which has 
found expression in the extension of factory 
legislation and the early closing movements ; 
that on ‘ Luxury ’ in Fraser s Magazine for 
October 1872. 
The chapter on ‘ Leisure ' was delivered as 
a lecture at the inauguration of the Renton 
a