The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1885-03-29
Cs-epsras,.a versu. ssc,.,,....

In Working People and Their Employers. by
WAsHINGroN GLADDEN. Funk 4 wagnalrsl we
have a series OF lectures written for work Ing
men and actually delivered to them. and in
which the problem raised by the present rela-
lions Of capital and labor 10 discussed from
the point Of view OF their sincere we'll wisher.
The author 10 not Socialist: indeed. the aim Of
his lectures 10 to advocate cooperation. which
many Socialists repudiate. and incidentally
to retute the doctrines OF Karl Marx. so far as
these are not critical. but positive and remedial.
Yet no writer on the subject not oven Marx
himself. sees more clearly or arraigns more
stsrnly the inequalities and miseries resulting
from the present social systeua. or insists more
earnestly that remedy Of some kind must
be found. This remedy. a. We have
said. Mr.. GLADDEN. sees In cooperation.
though at the same time he recognizes the in
decisive and often unsatisfactory results OF the
experiments In cooperative production that
have hitherto been made. He is too candid
and cear-sighted to claim for tho cooperative
principle the virtues Of . panacea; at best 1t
would be to his thinking only q palliative of
acute disorders. not drastic Alternative Of the
social constitution. We apprehend. therefore,.
that these lectures will be- read by working
people, not. indeed. with resentment (ior tho
authors sympathy with labor is PATENT. but
with a sense OF deep discouragement at the
pessimstic view taken of their situation.
The author. ws repeat. IL not one OF those
exasperating writer's on economical questions
who. because they can point out great practical
difficulties in the reconstruction OF society
upon socialistio PRINCIPLES. assume that We
should be justified in remaining passive. ii not
content, under tho grievous imperfectons Of
the existing state OF things. He sees and de-
clares that under the wages system the hard
al, IL l.!
outlook is by no means cheering" II no wsre
asked by Socialists how far the present method
OF industrial administration rebounds TO the
equal benefit OF the people. or to an equitable
distribution OF the wealth OF the country. he
would answer frankly: Not to any worry salts
factory extent. That injustice and inequality
bear heavy rule in their affairs is altogether
too plain" He quotes with approval certain
memorable words OF Prof. Cairnss. that
cannot DO set too often before tho eyes
OF those who fancy that improvement In
tho relations OF labor to capital is a
matter that can safely bs ignored or deferred.
When l look" says Prof. Cairnes. Into the
nature Of those economic forces on the play OF
which the actual distribution ofwealth in Eng
land and other countries depends. can ind
no assurance that the action OF those forces
shall DO in the lines OF moral right. The aSon-
cies in operation are essentially out OF tho
mora. sphere: ami il 1t should in fact, happen
that the results arising from their free action
in any given case proved to DO in strict accord.
ance with tho claims OF moral justice. and
with so-called natural rights. l do not see that
We should be justified in regarding the coinci-
dence as other than fortunate accident In
point OF fact. tho practical consequences aris-
ing from the conditions OF industries in this
and other civilized countries are not such as
fn- ~ I chN RpA - ala
with any standard OF right generally accepted
among men," But the evils which Socialists
attribute to vice OF our economical system
would. for the most part. DO ascribed by Prof
Cairnes and by the author Of these lectures to
vice in human nature. For example: 1t
must DO owned that equity docs not rule to any
great extent In any OF the relations Of human
beings. How many. households arc there in
which the members all deal with one another
Justly? Not only In tho distribution OF wealth.
but in all the other affairs Of human life. great
injustice prevails. Men are not just: the great
majority OF Thorn are governed In their conduct
not by the principles Of equity but by their
selfish interests and passions. These traits Of
human nature will not DO eradicated by a new
social organization. Give the nation in its coll
lectivs capacity all tho machinery In the world.
and 1t will not be able to make n single citizen
less oxtortionate or more honorable" Mr..
Gladden's conclusion IL. then. that under no
system OF industry 10 1t reasonable to expect
that the wealth OF . nation will be eauitably
distributed until Avast Improvement shall have
been wrought in the moral condition Of the
people; and improvements OF this nature arc
wrought slowly and not by political agencies"
Socialism means. Of course. the nationalist
ton OF capital. But how IL tho Government to
get possession Of . nations capital1 The au-
thor does not share the optimistic expectation
that individual owners will voluntarily give