26o

THE  SOCIALISM  OF  TO-DAY.

as  the  means  of  production  have  been  improved,  there  is  need
of  more  capital  ;  this  capital,  represented  by  mortgages,  shares,
and  bonds,  permits  its  holders  to  live,  not  on  rent,  but  on
profits  and  interest.  The  rate  of  interest  tends  to  diminish  in
proportion  as  the  amount  of  capital  increases,  but  the  total
amount  of  interest  is  augmented.  It  follows,  as  Rodbertus  has
shown,  that  the  total  share  of  wages  diminishes  relatively  to
that  of  rent  and  interest.
Collectivism  applied  to  land  only,  and  having  no  other
effect  than  to  make  rent  payable  to  the  State,  would  be  of
comparatively  easy  application,  for  it  would  leave  the  present
organization  of  Society  entirely  intact.  But  it  would  be  by  no
means  the  same  thing  with  Collectivism  universally  applied,  as
demanded  by  most  contemporary  Socialists.  An  outline  of
this  system  was  presented  by  M.  de  Paepe  to  the  Congress  of
the  International  at  Brussels  in  1868,  and  also  to  that  at  Bâle
in  1869  ;  but,  so  far  as  the  author  is  aware,  the  only  publication
in  which  the  scheme  has  been  explained  and  treated  in  a
scientific  way  is  a  little  pamphlet  entitled  Quintessenz  des
Socialismus.*  It  is  an  extract  from  a  large  work  on  Sociology  :
Bau  und  Leben  des  Socialen  Körpers,  by  Dr.  Albert  Schæffle,
former  Minister  of  Finance  in  Austria,  and  one  of  the  most
eminent  of  German  economists.
Let  us  endeavour,  with  the  aid  of  Dr.  Schæffle’s  analysis,  to
get  a  true  idea  of  the  Social  state  desired  by  the  thorough-going
Collectivists.  We  must  beware  of  confounding  this  system
with  the  ancient  communistic  Utopias,  the  ideal  of  which  was
a  Trappist  monastery,  with  common  labour,  common  living,
and  the  common  enjoyment  of  produce  quite  irrespective  of
individual  work  done,  as,  in  fact,  takes  place  in  family  life-Collectivism,
  on  the  contrary,  admits  of  the  breaking  up  of  the
community  into  families,  and,  by  apportioning  remuneration  to
produce  obtained,  it  seeks  to  preserve  the  incentive  of  private
interest.  In  a  Collectivist  State,  there  would  be  as  many
co-operative  societies  as  there  are  principal  branches  of  labour  :
agricultural  societies,  transport  societies,  and  manufacturing
societies  of  all  kinds.  Farms,  mines,  railways,  factories,  work-*
  Translated  into  French  by  M.  B.  Malón.