Chapter XVII: How to Initiate an Era of Moral Progress

In Chapters VIII to XII of this volume I have given in briefest outline a summary of the growth during the nineteenth century of the actual social environment in the midst of which we live.

We see a continuous advance of man's power to utilise the forces of Nature, to an extent which surpasses everything he had been able to do during all the preceding centuries of his recorded history.

We also see that the result of this vast economic revolution has been almost wholly evil.

We see that this hundredfold increase of wealth, amply sufficient to provide necessaries, comforts, and all beneficial refinements and luxuries for our whole population, has been distributed with such gross injustice that the actual condition of those who produce all this wealth has become worse and worse, no efficient arrangements having been made that from the overflowing abundance produced _all_ should receive the mere essentials of a healthy and happy existence.

We have seen huge cities grow up, every one of them with their overcrowded, insanitary slums, where men, women, and children die prematurely as surely as though a body of secret poisoners were constantly at work to destroy them.

We see thousands of girls compelled by starvation to work in such an empoisoned environment as to produce horribly painful and disfiguring disease, which is often fatal in early youth, or in what ought to have been, and what might have been, the period of maximum enjoyment of their womanhood. And to this very day no efficient steps have been taken to abolish these conditions.

We see millions still struggling in vain for a sufficiency of the bare necessaries of life (which in their misery is all they ask), often culminating in actual starvation, or in suicide to which they are driven by the dread of starvation. Yet our Governments, selected from among the most educated, the most talented, the wealthiest of the country, with absolute power to make what laws and regulations they please, and an overflowing fund of accumulated wealth to draw upon, do nothing, although more people die annually of want than are killed in a great war, and more children than could be slaughtered by many Herods.

And while all this goes on in the depths, where—

"Pale anguish keeps the heavy gate,
And the Warder is Despair"—

a little higher up, among the middle-men distributors of the necessaries and luxuries of life, bribery, adulteration, and various forms of petty dishonesty are rampant.

And higher yet, among the great Capitalists, the merchant Princes, the Captains of industry, we find hard taskmasters who drive down wages below the level of bare subsistence, and who support a more gigantic and widespread system of gambling than the world has ever seen.

And, finally, our administration of what we call "Justice" (and of which we are so proud because our judges cannot be bribed) is utterly _unjust_, because it is based on a system of money fees at every step; because it is so cumbrous and full of technicalities as to need the employment of attorneys and counsel at great cost, and because all petty offences are punishable by fine _or_ imprisonment, which makes poverty itself a crime while it allows those with money to go practically free.

_Taking account of these various groups of undoubted facts, many of which are so gross, so terrible, that they cannot be overstated, it is not too much to say that our whole system of society is rotten from top to bottom, and the Social Environment as a whole, in relation to our possibilities and our claims, is the worst that the world has ever seen._

Such are the evil products of the social environment we have ourselves created in the course of a single century. We have seen it going from bad to worse, and have applied petty remedies here and there during the whole period; but the evils have continued to increase. It has now become clear to the more intelligent of the workers that if we wish to improve it—if we wish to prevent it from getting even worse than it is—we must deal with the root-causes of the evil and, so far as possible, _reverse the conditions which are so demonstrably bad, such hideous failures_. And, fortunately, this is by no means so difficult as it may seem to be, because a large body of our thinkers and a considerable number of our workers see clearly what these root-causes are, and, less clearly, how to remedy them. They will, however, give their energetic support to any Government that devotes itself to the task of remedying them. The following are my own views as to how the problem must be attacked in order to solve it thoroughly and permanently.

_The Root-cause and the Remedy_

If we review with care the long train of social evils which have grown up during the nineteenth century, we shall find that every one of them, however diverse in their nature and results, is due to the same general cause, which may be defined or stated in a variety of different ways:

(1) They are due, broadly and generally, to our living under a system of universal _competition_ for the means of existence, the remedy for which is equally universal _co-operation_.

(2) It may be also defined as a system of _economic antagonism_, as of enemies, the remedy being a system of _economic brotherhood_, as of a great family, or of friends.

(3) Our system is also one of _monopoly_ by a few of all the means of existence: the land, without access to which no life is possible; and capital, or the results of stored-up labour, which is now in the possession of a limited number of capitalists and therefore is also a monopoly. The remedy is freedom of access to land and capital for all.

(4) Also, it may be defined as _social injustice_, inasmuch as the _few_ in each generation are allowed to inherit the stored-up wealth of all preceding generations, while the _many_ inherit nothing. The remedy is to adopt the principle of equality of opportunity for all, or of universal _inheritance by the State in trust for the whole Community_.

These four statements of the existing _causes_ of all our social evils cannot, I believe, be controverted, and the _remedies_ for them may be condensed into one general proposition: that it is the first duty (in importance) of a civilised Government to organise the labour of the whole community for the equal good of all; but it is also their first duty (in time) to take immediate steps to abolish _death by starvation and by preventable disease_ due to insanitary dwellings and dangerous employments, while carefully elaborating the _permanent_ remedy for want in the midst of wealth.

I myself have pointed out how these two ends may be best achieved, and hope to elaborate them. In the meantime, I call attention to Mr. Standish O'Grady's letter "To the Leaders of Labour" in _The New Age_ of November 21st, 1912, in which, after referring to the very natural dread by the rich of any such radical reorganisation of Society, as leading to their own financial ruin (which it certainly need not do), he makes the following suggestive statement, with which I hope all my readers will agree:

"But what they fail to perceive is, that, in a world like this,
made by infinite goodness and wisdom, Right is always the great
stand-by for men and for Nations, and for the rich as well as
for the poor; and that Wrong, sooner or later, ends in misery
and destruction."

That is sound moral teaching. We have been doing the Wrong for the past century, and we have reaped, and are reaping, "misery and destruction." It is time that we changed our methods, which are all (as I think I have sufficiently pointed out) fundamentally Wrong, radically Unjust, wholly Immoral.

We have ourselves created an immoral or unmoral Social Environment. To undo its inevitable results we must reverse our course. We must see that _all_ our economic legislation, _all_ our social reforms, are in the very opposite direction to those hitherto adopted, and that they tend in the direction of one or other of the four fundamental remedies I have suggested. In this way only can we hope to change our existing immoral environment into a moral one, and initiate a new era of Moral Progress.

* * * * *

In Chapters XIII to XVI I have shown that the well-established laws of Evolution as they really apply to mankind are all favourable to the advance of true Civilisation and of Morality. Our existing competitive and antagonistic Social System alone neutralises their beneficent operation. That System must therefore be radically changed into one of brotherly co-operation and co-ordination for the equal good of all. To succeed we must make this principle our guide and our pole star in all Social legislation.

Index

Acquired characters, definition of, 104
characters, on the heredity of, 103

Adaptation, 106

Adulteration, 55

Alcoholism, deaths from, 67
in women, 68
statistics of, 68

America, Central, architecture of, 34

Animals, natural selection among, 75

_Anthropological Review_, 99

Apes, anthropoid, affinity with man, 93

Aquatic forms of life, increase of, 85

Archimedes, 34

Australian aborigines, character of, 33
and Caucasians, 34

Barnardo, Dr., 141

Beaver, 95

Bimana, 94

Brahé, Tycho, 23

Brain as organ of the mind, 94

Bribery, 56

Browning's, Mrs., _Cry of the Children_, 42

Buddha, 8

Capitalism, 152

Caucasians and Australian aborigines, 34

Causes of economic evils, 154

Chambers's _Vestiges of Creation_, 81

Character, definition of, 4
difficulty of knowing good from bad, 5
mental faculties and, 5
morality based upon, 5
not cumulative, 37
of savage races, 32
permanence of, 8
public opinion and, 36
selective agency to improve, 36
subject to variation, 36
transmission of, 4, 7, 36
variability and, 82

Characters, acquired, definition of, 104
acquired, heredity of, 103
innate, 104, 110
heredity of, 110

Chemical trades, evils of, 50

Child labour, evils of, 41, 43

Church, the work of the, 118

Civil law system, 62

Civilisation during 18th century, 40
evolution and, 157
of ancient Egypt, 15, 35
of ancient India, 8
of ancient Mesopotamia, 15

Civilisations, ancient, 112

Classical writers, our indebtedness to, 115

Coal mines, accidents in, 43
child labour in, 43
female workers in, 43
insecurity in, 43
who the, belong to, 45

Commercial system, immorality of our, 55

Companies, Limited Liability, 56

Competition, 154

Conduct, character and, 5
environment and, 6

Confucius, 8

Cook, Captain, opinion of, on natives of Friendly Isles, 32

Co-operation, 154, 160

Criminal law system, 64

Cruciferæ family, increase of, 84

Curr, Mr., opinion of, on Australian aborigines, 33

Cutlery trade, evils of, 50

_Daily Citizen_ quoted, 51, 52

Darwin and heredity, 103
and natural selection, 87, 93, 125
and transference of selection to mind, 99
and variability, 82
on Tahitians, 32

Darwin's _Descent of Man_, 93, 125
_Origin of Species_, 82
theory of Pangenesis, 104

Darwinism and Lamarckism, 78, 81
and variability, 82
objections to, 85, 90
(_See also_ Evolution, Lamarckism, Natural selection, etc.)

Deadly trades, 50

Dell's, J. H., _Dawning Grey_ quoted, 117

_Descent of Man_, Darwin's, 93, 125

Divine influx into man, 92, 115, 119

Divorce, 74

Dutt, Mr. Romesh, quoted, 9

Dwellings, insanitary, 47

Economic advance, evils of, 150
antagonism, 155
brotherhood, 155
evils, causes of, 154
remedies for, 154

Education, effects of, not hereditary, 111, 114
extension of period of, 143
national system of, needed, 146
of the world, 111

Egypt, astronomy in ancient, 18
civilisation of ancient, 15, 35
intellect in ancient, 16

Eighteenth century, stationary epoch, 40, 122

Elephants, increase of, 85

Environment, laws of heredity and, 103
modified by man, 95
not always responsible for specialisation, 106
remedies, 154
social, and conduct, 6
social, character of, 153
social, during 19th century, 40
social, evils of, causes of, 154

Equality of opportunity, 155

Erman, Prof. Adolf, quoted, 26

Euclid, 34

Eugenics, methods of, 127
science of, established by Sir F. Galton, 127

Eugenists, 149

Evil, origin of, problem of, 118
possible solution of, 119

Evolution, a rational theory, 81
acceptance of, 81
and civilisation, 157
Lamarckism and, 81
Chambers and, 81
Darwin and, 81
exposition of, by Spencer, 81
natural selection and, 77
objections to, 81, 90
variability of species, 8, 82
(_See also_ Darwinism, Lamarckism, Natural selection, etc.)

Factory system, development of, 41
evils of, 41

Fertility, law of diminishing, 144, 147

Fines _v._ imprisonment, 65

Friendly Isles, natives of, character of, 32

Galton, Sir Francis, 37
eugenic theory of, 127
on laws of increase of population, 127

Galvanising trade, evils of, 51

Gambling, immorality of, 59
in trade, 58
inconsistent attitude to, 59
Stock Exchange, 59

Genius, not cumulative, 37
not necessarily hereditary, 37;
examples, 38

Gothic architecture, 34

Greece, 121
architecture of ancient, 34

Heredity and genius, 37
and "recession to mediocrity," 38
beneficence of law of, 115
Darwin and, 103
importance of subject, 103
Lamarck and, 104
laws of, and environment, 103
misconceptions regarding, 103
of innate characters, 110

Herschel, Sir John, 82

Homer, 8

Hominidæ, 94

Human nature, faculties of, 100

Imprisonment _v._ fines, 65

India, architecture of ancient, 34
intelligence and morality in ancient, 9, 11, 15
religious conceptions in ancient, 11

Individuation, 142

Infantile mortality, Prof. Petrie on, 140
statistics of, 47, 72

Injustice, social, 155

Innate characters, 104
heredity of, 110

Insanitary dwellings, 47

Intellect in ancient India, 9, 11, 15
permanence of, 15

Intellectual advance not general, 142

Jesus Christ, 116

Justice, administration of, 62
immorality of, 66, 152

Lamarck and evolution, 81
and heredity, 104

Lamarckism, 78, 89
and Darwinism, 78
insufficiency of, as a theory, 80

Land, access to, 155

Language, 28
diversity of, 120
lowest races possess, 31

Law, civil, system, 62
criminal, system, 64
partiality of the, 65

Layard, Sir H., 16

Le Conte, Prof., quoted, 139

Lead glaze trade, evils of, 50

Lead poisoning of workers, 51

Life-destroying trades, 47

Lyell's _Principles of Geology_ quoted, 78

Maha-Bharata, Indian epic, quoted, 8

Malthus, 139

Mammals, classification of, 94

Man, affinity of, with anthropoid apes, 93
and marriage, 133
dignity of, 91
Divine influx into, 92, 115, 119
external differences between, and apes, 93
modifies his environment, 95
moral sense in, 91
nature of, stationary, 102
position of, 91
predominance of mind in, 98
preparation of, for progress, 120
selection transferred to mind in, 99
three great races of, 100
triumph of, over Nature, 95, 150

Marriage, 143
freedom of, insisted upon, 128
man and, 133
women and, 133

Mental faculties in formation of character, 5

Mesopotamia, civilisation of ancient, 15

Mind, brain the organ of the, 94
predominance of, in man, 98
selection transferred to, in man, 99

Monier-Williams, Sir M., 11

Monopoly, 155

Moral degradation, indications of, 67
progress, definition of, 1
progress, initiating new era of, 150
progress through new form of selection, 125
sense in man, 91

Morality amongst the ancients, 8
based upon character, 5
based upon human nature, 4
evolution and, 157
in ancient India, 9
no definite advance in, 36
product of environment, 3
savages and, 31
standards of, varying, 2

Morals, definition of, 1

Natural selection, among animals, 75
and evolution, 77
and origin of species, 82
explanation of, 75, 87
modification of, by man, 96, 99
modified by mind, 93
new form of, 125
process of, 112
two modes of, 125

Nineteenth century, environment during, 40
movements during, 122
reaction against forced civilisation during, 41

O'Grady, Mr. S., quoted, 156

Oliver's, Sir T., _Diseases of Occupation_, 53

Organic nature, development of, 109
indivisibility of, 109

_Origin of Species_, Darwin's, essential features of, 82

Origin of species, natural selection essential factor in, 82

Overcrowding, statistics of, 48

Owen, Sir Richard, and man's affinity with apes, 94

_Pall Mall Gazette_, reply to, 76

Pangenesis, theory of, 104

Park, Mungo, 101

Petrie, Prof., quoted, 139

Plato, 8, 116

Poor Law, immorality of the, 65

Population, increase of, laws governing, 141
social reform and, 138

Poverty, 130, 143, 151

Polynesian races, character of, 33

Preventable deaths, responsibility for, 43

Primates, 94

Proctor, Mr. R. A., quoted, 18

Progress, moral, definition of, 1
moral, how to initiate era of, 150
moral, through new form of selection, 125

Prostitution, 73

Pyramid of Gizeh as observatory, 23
purpose of, 17
structure of, 19

Quadrumana, 94

Rawlinson, 16

Reade's, _Martyrdom of Man_, 113

"Recession to mediocrity," heredity and, 38

Religious conceptions in ancient India, 11

Remedies for economic evils, 154

Reproduction, 142

Rich, dread of, to social reorganisation, 156

Rome, 121

Savage races, morality of, 31

Selection, artificial, 105, 127
free, in marriage, 133

Selection, natural, action of, transferred to mind in man, 99
amongst animals, 75
and origin of species, 82
explanation of, 75, 87
modification of, by man, 96, 99
modified by mind, 93
process of, 112
two modes of, 125

Selection, new form of, 125
sexual, 125

Selective agency to improve character, 36

Sherard's, Mr. R. H., _White Slaves of England_, 51 (_note_)

Slavery, 2, 115

Slums, 47, 151

Smyth, Piazzi, on Pyramids, 18

Snowden, Philip, 53

Social environment and conduct, 6
character of, 153
during 19th century, 40
evils of, causes and remedies of, 154
reorganisation, the rich and, 156
reform, 143;
and over-population, 138

Socrates, 8

Species, increase of, 82, 84
origin of, natural selection, and, 82
variability of, 82

Speech as proof of intelligence, 28
lowest races possess, 31
origin and development of, 29

Spencer, Herbert, 89, 99, 103
exposition of evolutionary argument by, 81
on laws of increase of population, 141

Stanley, Hiram M., quoted, 128

Struggle for existence, 85, 86

Suicide, statistics of, 70

Survival of the fittest, 85, 87, 139

"Survival value," 39

Swedenborg, 137

Tahitians, character of, 32

Tinning trade, evils of, 51

Unhealthy trades, 50

Universe, development and purpose of, 119

Variability, character and, 36
basic law of nature, 96
explanation of, 82
of species, 82
purpose of, 90

Vedas, quoted, 11

War, 74

Wealth, increase of, 41, 150

Webb, Mr. Sidney, quoted, 65

Women and marriage, 133
excess in numbers of, 134, 147
future status of, 147
in trade, 151

Workmen's compensation, Prof. Petrie on, 139

Writing as proof of intelligence, 28
origin and development of, 29

Zoophytes, 95

Zymotic diseases 47

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TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

The following corrections have been made to the original text:

Page 26: Nile as a human being, with desires,[comma missing in
original]

Page 113: to luxury and civilisation[original has
"civilisa/tion" split across a line break without a hyphen]

Page 161: Le Conte[original has "Coute"], Prof., quoted, 139

[139:A] Professor Joseph Le Conte[original has "Coute"], in
_The Monist_

In the Index, entries repeated across page breaks and columns have been removed.