THE SOCIALISTS OF THE CHAIR. 269 
or the most dexterous prevails, and in the struggle of conflicting 
interests, nobody troubles himself with the dictates of morality 
and justice. It is precisely in England, where all restrictions 
have been abolished, and where the most absolute industrial 
liberty reigns, that the war of classes, the antagonism of 
masters and workmen, is seen in the most glaring form and 
under the most alarming aspect It is also in this country, 
for so long the home of laissez faire, that, latterly, the inter 
vention of the State has been most frequently invoked to 
suppress the abuses of the powerful and to protect the weak. 
After having disarmed the central power, new duties are 
every day conferred upon it. Is not this a proof that the 
economic doctrine of absolute liberty affords no complete 
solution of the problem ? 
The new Economists do not profess that horror of the State 
which led their predecessors to call it, at one time, a canker, 
at another a necessary evil. For them, on the contrary, the 
State, representing the best of the nation, is the supreme organ 
of right and instrument of justice. Emanating from the living 
forces and intellectual aspirations of the country, it is charged 
with favouring their development in all directions. As history 
proves, it is the most powerful agent of civilization and progress. 
The liberty of the individual ought to be respected and even 
fostered, but it should be subordinated to the rules of morality 
and equity, and these rules, which become more and more 
strict in proportion as men’s ideas of the good and the just 
become purer, ought to be enforced by the State. 
Industrial liberty is an excellent thing. Free trade, free 
labour, and freedom of contract have largely contributed to 
increase the production of wealth. All obstacles to liberty, if 
any still exist, must therefore be overthrown ; but it is the 
duty of the State to interfere whenever the manifestations of 
individual interest come into conflict with the humane and 
civilizing mission of political economy so as to bring about the 
oppression and degradation of the lower classes of society. 
The State has, therefore, a double mission ; in the first place, 
to maintain liberty within the limits marked out by law and 
morality ; and secondly, to lend its assistance wherever the