ety there must be,
first, a class inequality, a superior class and an inferior class (as
measured by power); and, second, the outlets must be closed whereby the
strength and ferment of the inferior class have been permitted to escape.

That there are even classes in the United States is vigorously denied by
many; but it is incontrovertible, when a group of individuals is formed,
wherein the members are bound together by common interests which are
peculiarly their interests and not the interests of individuals outside
the group, that such a group is a class. The owners of capital, with
their dependents, form a class of this nature in the United States; the
working people form a similar class. The interest of the capitalist
class, say, in the matter of income tax, is quite contrary to the
interest of the laboring class; and, _vice versa_, in the matter of
poll-tax.

If between these two classes there be a clear and vital conflict of
interest, all the factors are present which make a class struggle; but
this struggle will lie dormant if the strong and capable members of the
inferior class be permitted to leave that class and join the ranks of the
superior class. The capitalist class and the working class have existed
side by side and for a long time in the United States; but hitherto all
the strong, energetic members of the working class have been able to rise
out of their class and become owners of capital. They were enabled to do
this because an undeveloped country with an expanding frontier gave
equality of opportunity to all. In the almost lottery-like scramble for
the ownership of vast unowned natural resources, and in the exploitation
of which there was little or no competition of capital, (the capital
itself rising out of the exploitation), the capable, intelligent member
of the working class found a field in which to use his brains to his own
advancement. Instead of being discontented in direct ratio with his
intelligence and ambitions, and of radiating amongst his fellows a spirit
of revolt as capable as he was capable, he left them to their fate and
carved his own way to a place in the superior class.

But the day of an expanding frontier, of a lottery-like scramble for the
ownership of natural resources, and of the upbuilding of new industries,
is past. Farthest West has been reached, and an immense volume of
surplus capital roams for investment and nips in the bud the patient
efforts of the embryo capi