us a grist. Socialists should remember, too, that, although coöperation is not carried into the business of life as much as they would like to see it, or as we hope and believe it may be, still it is this principle, in its present defective development, which holds society together. Certain classes, at least, coöperate to maintain society in working order; and there is always some risk, in attempting to introduce any new combination which the people is not fitted for, that the substance which we hold may be lost in grasping at an imposing shadow. In searching for the means of making extensive experiments, the Socialists, we believe, first looked to the large capitalists for aid. They hoped that wealthy men would throw into the common stock the "accumulated labor," in the shape of capital, which they have in possession, and count the ready willingness and ability to labor of the crowd of poor members as an equivalent; but we suppose they have nearly abandoned that hope now, and look rather to extensive combinations among the middle classes for the means to make a beginning. We apprehend, however, that they will be equally disappointed here, as the world now stands. The middle classes are all following zealously the path which the capitalists have trod. They all strive to make themselves capitalists, and it is competition which prevents a greater number from becoming so. They are not thinking of any new combination, or great copartnership, of any kind, but, on the contrary, of each securing a particular part for himself, by subdivision.

This brings us back to the point at which we digressed to look at the position of the Socialists, that is, the present condition, and probable progress, of the most intelligent and wealthy middle class in the world, that of the United States. Assuming the proportion of landholders to be now four fifths of the whole population, it is evident that the middle classes, including, as they do, a large proportion of the city population, must constitute about as large a proportion of the whole people, as the lower classes do in some of the least favored countries of the Old World; and yet, as the population spreads over the continent, it seems inevitable that these classes should increase more rapidly than the others. For although, in the cities and manufacturing towns, the number of daylaborers may grow faster, it is hardly conceivable that

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this should offset the growth of the rural population, owners of the soil, especially as the greater portion of the immigrants join that class. There are three leading objects which our people seem to follow with a sort of instinctive keenness, the extension of the population over this continent; the acquisition and possession of individual property; and the general diffusion of common education. The people of all the States, and parties, excepting so far as slavery interferes, agree about this; and the rapidity with which these ends are approached is matter of surprise to the people of Europe, and of exultation to our own. It cannot be denied that this restless activity does not work out good alone; that it raises the intelligence of the people faster than it does their moral character; that their minds become sharpened, rather than enlarged, so that, were it a final development, it must needs be pronounced a very defective one.

We believe it, however, to be a state of growth which must be passed through, and a useful one. It equalizes men in intellect, knowledge, and property. No large class of our freemen can become either stupidly brutalized, excessively ignorant, or entirely dependent from poverty. It does, in short, just what is needed to enable men, at some future day, to undertake projects of mutual insur, ance and coöperation on a large scale, with some chance of success; and it is, we believe, only by this process of equalization, requiring many generations for its completion, that society can be prepared for any new combinations superior to those the world has already tried.

Distribution of power, knowledge, and comfort, and securities for individual proprietorship, appear to be the leading ideas of the age, ideas which have not yet worked out their full results in this country, and are only beginning to make themselves felt in Europe; and we cannot see any reason to suppose that the people of Europe are likely to jump over this stage of progress, which republican institutions are so rapidly unfolding in America. Whatever may come afterwards, it seems to us evident that some process of more equal distribution, based upon free competition, must be the first step towards social improvement in the old country; that this must be accompanied by a generally extended education, and a considerable share of political freedom; and whether this

be done under one form of government now in use, or another, how distant must be the period when any new principle of coöperation can become the ruling one!

It is true that England seems now to be moving, in some respects, in an opposite direction, and approaching a condition which the Socialists see impending over us everywhere, that of an "Industrial Feudalism." But England appears to us, in this, to be acting in opposition to the spirit of the age; and we believe she will be compelled to retrace her steps.

As for the symptoms of this movement towards feudalism which socialists see in other countries, and even here, we confess we cannot perceive them. They say that when the land is all taken up, and population becomes excessive, the liberty of the mass is thereby practically restrained, whatever the laws may be, and all the property falls into the hands of the few, leaving the multitude to compete for the privilege of serving them at such wages as will keep body and soul together; that the state of affairs will occur soon in the country at large, which is beginning to show itself among the poorest classes of laborers in our great cities. It may be true, that, if Massachusetts were walled round so that no man could escape by sea or land for many generations, the effect might be to roll up large fortunes in few hands, at the expense of the many; but how is this State, or any other free state, to be shut in by any walls but the walls of ignorance?

The whole world is open to an educated and free population. It is a mistake to point to the cities as an illustration of growth now going on, or likely to take place, among the whole people. The condition of the great cities is rather European than American. Both the upper and lower classes are necessarily acted upon, very powerfully, by European, and especially English influences. The danger of cramping, to the extent of robbing the people of their liberty, taking into view their character, and the extent of the continent, appears to be indefinitely removed; and, at all events, does not influence the present movements of the nation.

If "Industrial Feudalism" cannot be said to be approaching in that direction, we think it equally difficult to find any present appearance of it in the numerous corpo

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rated bodies which are cited as evidence of its growth. These corporations are so various, and their stock is held by so many persons of all classes and parties, that there is no class feeling among the stockholders. The capital is bound together, and made to act more effectively towards a given end, than it otherwise could; but the individual stockholders are not bound together by any sympathy. Each one holds or sells his stock irrespective of the interests, or wishes, of the rest, and looks upon it, as he does upon any other piece of property, with the idea of individual proprietorship entirely predominant in his mind. Men hold stock in various companies, established for various purposes, and often with conflicting interests as bodies. In short, we can see nothing in these moneyed corporations, taking them altogether, which tends to bind any one part of the community in an attempt to hold any other part of the community in dependence. It is true, that where machinery is employed, as in the factory, the steamboat, or the locomotive, the capital which helps to create and sustain it gains by the introduction of this new competition with the mere laborer.

The machine tends to depress wages, by acting the part of a number of new hands; but this does not show that it must tend to produce "Industrial Feudalism," unless it were likewise shown that the machinery were now falling into the hands of a few great capitalists; which is not the case. The truth is, that the machine tends, by competition, to reduce wages in a given state of the selling market; but soon, by reducing the cost, it stimulates the sale, and a demand for additional labor springs up. So the thing goes on growing, with alternations of dulness and activity, and without any assignable limit.

Practically, we do not find that our labor-saving machines are falling into the hands of a smaller class, but the reverse. Our railroads, factories, steamers, and sailing vessels, belong to an increasing body of citizens; that is, chiefly to the middle class, into which the laborers are constantly pushing themselves. The few very rich men among the stockholders are exceptions to the rule. It is surprising to find how large a portion, even of our New England cotton-factories, is held by women and children, and other persons of moderate means, in small sums. But, if we take the labor-saving machinery of the whole

country into view, it will be found, we apprehend, that a much larger share of it is held by persons of moderate means than by the rich. Instead of the concentration of power which is feared, we see almost everywhere a tendency to subdivision and equalization. In political, financial, and industrial matters, as well as in social life, free competition has a levelling tendency, but not a degrading one. The hill-tops, more ornamental than useful, are cut down, and the extensive morasses filled up, until all becomes fair arable land, above the reach of floods, and capable of bearing good crops. The great evils of competition do not begin to show themselves until its freedom is invaded, either by the laws of the land, or by other circumstances. This may happen under a liberal government, and does now actually happen in our cities; where the wages are depreciated, principally because a crowd of laborers, without intelligence, knowledge, or energy enough to bring their labor to a better market, is constantly imported from abroad. This may happen the world over at some future day, unless men, foreseeing it, provide a remedy in season; but we cannot believe that the natural limits to the beneficial action of competition are nearly reached, either in Europe or in this country; there, because the legal restraints upon it are not yet removed, and it is therefore only beginning its natural and free action; here, because it is still the pervading idea of the people,-one constantly brought into activity in new quarters, and the great stimulus to the growth of the middle class, which has yet plenty of room to extend itself.

S. H. P.

ART. VII. MEMOIR AND WRITINGS OF THE LATE DAVID HALE.*

If our readers would see a Christian paraphrase of Horace's "Justum ac tenacem propositi virum," we advise them to make acquaintance with the memorials of David

Memoir of DAVID HALE, late Editor of the Journal of Commerce. With Selections from his Miscellaneous Writings. By JOSEPH P. THOMP SON, Pastor of the Broadway Tabernacle Church, New York. New York: John Wiley. 1850. pp. 520.