nts, the mass of the human race must be recognised as
capable of keeping themselves alive by the labour of pairs of hands
which, in each case, are undirected by any intelligence superior to, or
other than, the labourer's own. In theory, at all events, therefore,
this self-supporting multitude would be capable of choosing whether they
would continue in this condition of industrial autonomy, with all its
hardships, its scant results, and its unceasing toil, or would submit
their labour to the guidance of a minority more capable than themselves.
Such being the case, then, if by submitting themselves to the guidance
of others they were to get nothing more than they could produce when
left to their own devices, they would, in surrendering their autonomy,
be giving something for nothing--a transaction which could not be
voluntary, and would be not the less unjust because, as all history
shows us, they would be ultimately unable to resist it. Justice demands
that a surrender of one kind, made by one party, should be paid for by a
corresponding surrender of another kind, made by the other party; which
last can only take the form of a concession to labour, as a right, of
some portion of a product which labour does not produce. Labour can, on
grounds of general moral justice, claim this as compensation for
acquiescence, even though the acquiescence may, as a matter of fact, be
involuntary.

Human nature, however, being what it is, these purely moral
considerations would probably have little significance if they were not
reinforced by others of a more immediately practical kind. Let us now
turn to these. The motive which prompts labour to demand more than it
produces is itself primarily not moral, but practical, and is so obvious
as to need no comment. What concerns us here is the practical, as
distinct from any moral, motive, which must, when the situation is
understood, make ability anxious to concede it. For argument's sake we
must assume that the great producers of wealth are men who have no other
motive ultimately than ambition for themselves and their families, and
would allow nothing of what they produce to be taken from them by any
other human being except under the pressure of some incidental
necessity. There is one broad feature, however, which even men such as
these understand--the fact, namely, that for successful wealth
production one of the most essential conditions is a condition of social
stability, or a general ac