12

THE  SOCIALISM  OF  TO-DAY.

tion,  because  it  lessened  the  force  of  individual  interest  as  an
incentive  to  work,  and  it  did  not  lend  itself  to  the  varied  combinations ­
  which  arise  from  the  modern  organization  of  trade.
“  Associated  ownership  ”—that  is  to  say,  the  same  as  exists  in
the  modern  joint-stock  companies—is,  according  to  Mario,  the
form  which  best  suits  intensive  production.  It  unites  the  permanent ­
  character  and  the  powerful  means  of  production  of
corporate  ownership,  to  the  advantages  arising  from  the  capability ­
  of  division  and  transfer,  and  the  individual  nature  of
parcelled-out  private  property.  Hence  the  ever-increasing  part
assumed  by  commercial  and  industrial  societies  in  the  economic
world.
Mario  sets  forth,  with  remarkable  analytical  force,  the
advantages  offered  by  associated  ownership,  as  well  for  the
increase  in  the  productivity  of  labour  as  for  the  improvement
of  the  condition  of  the  labourers.  He  did  not,  however,  foresee
all  the  obstacles  which,  in  the  present  state  of  things,  prevent
its  becoming  as  general  as  might  have  been  hoped,  if  only  the
best  side,  which  the  author  throws  into  such  bold  relief,  were
taken  into  consideration.  The  solution  which  he  reaches  is  in
reality  borrowed  from  Fourrier  ;  the  Utopia  of  communistic
phalansteries  appears  from  time  to  time  as  the  ideal.  Nevertheless, ­
  he  has  studied  Political  Economy  most  profoundly,  and
in  his  deductions,  often  very  ingenious,  he  scarcely  ever  ignores
economic  principles.  Unlike  most  reformers,  he  insists,  as
strongly  as  J.  S.  Mill,  that  the  population  question  in  reality
governs  all  others.  Like  Mill,  or  J  oseph  Gamier,  he  says  :
accomplish  the  best  imaginable  reforms,  spare  nothing  in  order
to  better  the  condition  of  the  lower  classes,  adopt  laws  the  best
calculated  to  further  the  growth  of  wealth  and  its  equitable  distribution, ­
  yet  all  your  efforts  will  be  in  vain,  if  the  population
increases  faster  than  the  means  of  subsistence.  Industry  will
in  vain  multiply  her  manufactured  articles  ;  they  are  merely
accessories.  The  essential  thing  to  know  is  whether  each  year
agriculture  can  obtain  from  the  soil  sufficient  produce  to  enable
everybody  at  least  to  be  fed.
Mario  is  entirely  right  on  this  point,  but  he  relies  too  much
upon  preventive  measures,  which,  as  experience  has  shown,