may, for higher prices. It is hardly possible, under such circumstances, that the working-people should be able, by any concert of action, to command their employers and dictate wages.
"It's all wrong," exclaims Reformer, indignantly; "it is slavery that men shall toil to make the rich richer!" Truly, we all wish it might be otherwise; but we are compelled to accept human nature, revolt as we may against the limits of its possibilities. The economical laws have grown out of it in the struggle of life, not by conscious purpose, but by overruling necessity, as resultants of the clashing and divergent forces of individualism and competition. Nobody is responsible; and it may be that these vast accumulations of wealth have their good as well as their evil side. If a large proportion of civilized people have not had the energy and management to push themselves into positions of plenty and comfort, it may be that even making the rich richer has points of advantage which render it a blessing rather than a curse to laboring-men themselves. Let us see.
There is a surplus beyond immediate consumption from the products of all the industries in the world: what shall be done with this surplus? If certain classes of people could have their way, what is now surplus would all be consumed by the end of the year. It is not so consumed now, because those who would like it for consumption can not get it. Not only the ignorant and the improvident would so elect, but the more intelligent, such as are employed in offices and places of considerable trust. Most who live on salaries manage to keep about even; they do not spend more, because their salaries are not greater. Then, if nobody saved—an extreme supposition—what would be the result? Civilization could not advance, the world could not become richer in the comforts of life, because the basis of production, capital, that is, the savings of labor, would not accumulate. Indeed, if there were not savings to be constantly invested for the repair of waste and wear, there would soon be a calamitous falling off everywhere in the comforts of life. It is capital that makes labor tell in successful production; and, without capital, we should be in the condition of barbarians, of savages even. Then, what is the part the accumulator plays? The savings from labor above consumption fall into his hands, where they are largely conserved for use. His capital seeks investment, it utilizes invention and discovery; it establishes industries and employs labor; it distributes the products; and the average of human comfort is constantly on the increase through this means. The savings of labor which have fallen so largely into the hands of the few, making them rich men, have built our railroads, steamships, telegraphs, manufactories, thus in many ways adding to the means of production, and the facilities of commerce at home and abroad. These saved earnings in the hands of men seeking investment for profit have increased the wealth, resources, and refinements of civilization, made abundance possible, and brought it within reach of all, except the unfortunate, or the
