ld
have no individual reward proportionate to the efficiency of his
labor, but only his numerical proportion of the product of all
laborers, I fear the efficiency of all classes of laborers, manual
and mental, would fall to the "irreducible minimum."

The foregoing statements and inferences lead to the question, how far
should society go in undertaking to regulate the conduct and restrict
the freedom of the individual,--that freedom which would be his if he
were alone in the world? It may be thought that this is a question of
expediency for economists and sociologists, and so it is largely, but
it is also a question of rights and hence of justice, since every
action or non-action of society affects the freedom of the individual
in the gratification of his desires or, in other words, in his pursuit
of happiness.

CHAPTER IV

JUSTICE THE EQUILIBRIUM BETWEEN THE FREEDOM OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE
SAFETY OF SOCIETY

The question stated at the close of the last chapter is most important
and, in a sense, is perhaps the crux of the whole matter. Not only may
error in the solution of the question injuriously affect the material
interests of individuals and hence of society as a whole, but it may
cause unhappiness far greater than that caused by any material loss,
viz., a sense of injustice. As said by the English judge, "Injustice
cuts to the bone."

At the outset I accept Herbert Spencer's theory that the idea of
justice contains two sentiments, positive and negative; the one the
sentiment of the individual that he has the right by nature to the
unimpeded use of his faculties and to the benefits he acquires by
such use; the other the consciousness that the presence of other
individuals with similar claims of rights necessitates some limitation
of his own claims. Out of those two sentiments is evolved, I think,
the idea of justice or injustice according as they are or are not in
equilibrium. They suggest the definition that justice is the
equilibrium between the full freedom of the individual and the
restrictions thereon necessary for the safety of society. The
restraint of personal conduct within too narrow limits, the necessity
of which cannot be made clear, excites resentment, stimulates angry
passions, and hence causes unhappiness through a sense of injustice.
Restraint within necessary limits only, the necessity of which can
be seen, arouses no resentment; on the contrary, it satisfies the
individual, favors