ay be
quickened by wise action on the part of the workers.

For the present I shall be satisfied, friend Jonathan, if you get it
thoroughly into your mind that the source of terrible social evils, of
the poverty and squalor, of the helpless misery of the great mass of
the people, of most of the crime and vice and much of the disease, is
the "buy cheap and sell dear" idea. The fact that we produce things
for sale for the profit of a few, instead of for use and the enjoyment
of all.

Get that into your mind above everything else, my friend. And try to
grasp the fact, also, that the system we are now trying to change was
a natural outgrowth of other conditions. It was not a wicked
invention, nor was it a foolish blunder. It was a necessary and a
right step in human evolution. But now it has in turn become
unsuitable to the needs of the people and it must give place to
something else. When a man suffers from such a disease as
appendicitis, he does not talk about the "wickedness" of the vermiform
appendix. He realizes, if he is a sensible man, that long ago, that
was an organ which served a useful purpose in the human system.
Gradually, perhaps in the course of many centuries, it has ceased to
be of any use. It has lost its original functions and become a menace
to the body.

Capitalism, Jonathan, is the vermiform appendix of the social
organism. It has served its purpose. The profit idea has served an
important function in society, but it is now useless and a menace to
the body social. Our troubles are due to a kind of social
appendicitis. And the remedy is to remove the useless and offending
member.

VII

FROM COMPETITION TO MONOPOLY

It may be fairly said, I think, that not merely competition,
but competition that was proving ruinous to many
establishments, was the cause of the combinations.--_Prof.
J.W. Jenks._

The day of the capitalist has come, and he has made full use
of it. To-morrow will be the day of the laborer, provided he
has the strength and the wisdom to use his opportunities.--_H.
De. B. Gibbins._

Monopoly expands, ever expands, till it ends by
bursting.--_P.J. Proudhon._

For this is the close of an era; we have political freedom;
next and right away is to come social
enfranchisement.--_Benjamin Kidd._

I think you realize, friend Jonathan, that the bottom principle of the
present capitalist system is that there must be one class