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human race by the vast inequalities of wealth and poverty without a
tear. "Millionaires," he says, "can only grow amid general prosperity."
In other words, if there be not millions in the country the millionaire
cannot put his hand upon them. That is obvious enough. His second text
cannot be so easily accepted. "Their wealth is not made," he asserts
dogmatically, "at the expense of their countrymen." At whose expense
then is it made? Does Mr Carnegie vouch for the probity of all his
colleagues? Does he cover with the aegis of his gospel the magnates
of the Standard Oil Company, and that happy firm which, with no other
advantage than a service of cars, levies toll upon the fruit-growers of
America? Was the Steel Combine established without inflicting hardships
upon less wealthy rivals? An answer to these simple questions should be
given before Mr Carnegie's second text be inscribed upon the walls of
our churches. It is not enough to say with Mr Carnegie that trusts obey
"the law of aggregation." You need not be a Socialist to withhold your
approval from these dollar-making machines, until you know that they
were not established upon ruin and plunder. Even if the millionaire be
the self-denying saint of modern times, it is still possible to pay too
high a price for his sanctity and sacrifice.

It is the favourite boast of the sentimental millionaire that he holds
his wealth in trust for humanity,--in other words, that he has been
chosen by an all-wise Providence to be the universal almsgiver of
mankind. The arrogance of this boast is unsurpassable. To be rich is
within the compass of any man gifted or cursed with an acquisitive
temperament. No one may give to another save in humbleness of spirit.
And there is not a millionaire in America who does not think that he is
fit to perform a delicate duty which has eluded the wise of all ages.
In this matter Mr Carnegie is by far the worst offender. He pretends to
take his "mission" very seriously. He does not tell us who confided
the trust of philanthropy to him, but he is very sure that he has been
singled out for special service. It is his modest pleasure to suggest a
comparison with William Pitt. "He lived without ostentation and he died
poor." These are the words which Mr Carnegie quotes with the greatest
relish. How or where Mr Carnegie lives is his own affair; and even if
he die poor, he should remember that he has devoted his life, not to the
service of his country, but