faults. If they had come when we were doing our best, there
would be no hope for us." Now the evils of our own social system which
result from mistakes or faults are just such a ground of hope. Every
such evil which can be cited describes one possible reform, and the
longer the list of evils, the greater is the sum total of gain which we
can make by doing away with them. If we cite them all _seriatim_, what
impression shall we get? Will it merely show how badly off we are? Will
it make us despair for our future? On the contrary, it should fill us
with hope for the future. We start from the fact that we have thus far
survived in spite of the faults. The worst off among us is above
starvation and most of us are in a tolerable state. If we can remove
the evils that exist, we shall make our state very much more than
tolerable. The greatness of the evils measures the gain from removing
them. Every single one that is removed improves the status of our
people. We can take, as it were, a social account of stock, measure our
present state, measure the extent to which we can improve it by putting
an end to one bad influence, count the number of such bad influences,
and so get an estimate of the gains of carrying out a complete
reformatory programme. It will show an enormous possibility of
improvement.

In the struggle for reforms we have the great middle class with us. All
honest capitalists, great and small alike, are natural allies of honest
labor, and they are interested mainly in the same reforms as are the
members of the working-class. If we recognize a necessity for a
struggle of classes, it is not one that marshals labor against all
wealth. The contention is rather between honest wealth allied with
honest labor, on the one hand, and dishonest wealth on the other; and
in a contest so aligned, victory for the former party means social
justice.

There is a preliminary reform to be carried through as a condition of
securing most of the others. Who can estimate the benefit which would
come from merely making our Government what it purports to
be--government by the people? The initiative, the referendum, the
recall, the short ballot, direct primaries, and proportionate
representation are all designed to transfer power from rings and bosses
to the people themselves. If they actually do it, as sooner or later
those or kindred measures probably will, they will so far restore the
democracy of our earlier and simpler days as to ma