132  THE  SOCIALISM  OF  TO-DAY.
(4)  Finally,  the  State  ought  to  place  restrictions  on  the
tyranny  of  capital.  I  attack  neither  wealth  nor  the  wealthy,
says  the  canon,  for  Holy  Scripture  says  wealth  and  poverty
come  from  God;  but  what  I  condemn  is  the  methods  by
which  these  owners  of  thousands  and  millions  enrich  themselves ­
  to-day.  Whence  come  these  tens  of  thousands  so
rapidly  acquired  by  those  who  toil  not  ?  They  are  deducted
from  the  produce  of  the  labour  of  the  workers,  who  have  to
pay  the  incomes  of  these  huge  fortunes  obtained  originally  by
gambling  on  the  Stock  Exchange  or  by  dishonest  speculations.
In  thus  speaking.  Canon  Moufang  was  plainly  inspired  and
embittered  by  reminiscences  of  the  Schwindeljahre,  the  years
of  mad  speculation  which  followed  1871  ;  but  in  this  case,  too,
it  would  have  been  well  if  he  had  not  confined  himself  to
eloquent  tirades  against  “the  tyranny  of  capital,”  but  had
indicated  the  means  of  putting  an  end  to  these  iniquities.
Such  is  the  programme  of  the  reforms  which  the  Canon  of
Mayence  calls  for  from  the  State.  It  hardly  differs  from  that
formulated  by  the  Socialists,  except  that  Herr  Moufang  more
often  invokes  the  Holy  Scriptures.  He  is  quite  right  to  praise
the  Christian  ideal.  But  what  is  to  be  done  if  the  co-operative
societies  consume  the  capital  advanced  to  them,  and  if  the
manufacturers  cease  producing  when  they  are  unable  to  meet
the  wages  imposed  ?  The  reforming  canon  does  not  concern
himself  with  these  details.
A  paper  founded  under  the  inspiration  of  Herr  Moufang,
Die  Christlich-sociale  Blaetter,  has  developed  this  programme
more  exclusively  on  the  economical  side.  Like  the  Socialists,
it  vehemently  attacks  the  Political  Economy  of  the  Manchester
School,  Das  Manchesterthum.  We  must  have  done  with  these
economical  theories,  says  the  Catholic  journal,  which  exercise
so  grievous  an  influence  on  the  public  and  private  life  of  our
times.  These  “  Manchestrists  ”  classify  labour,  the  principal
factor  of  civilization,  under  the  same  head  as  the  natural
agents.  According  to  them,  it  is  only  a  manifestation  of  the
powers  inherent  in  matter,  like  the  attraction  or  gravitation  of
bodies.  They  speak  of  the  laws  which  regulate  the  production
and  the  distribution  of  wealth  in  the  same  way  as  of  the  neces-