Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II. THE PRESENT TENDENCY TO SOCIALISM. The inclination to embrace some form of Socialism is so strong at the present time that a brief examination of its general causes may well precede an inquiry into the compatibility of the developed system with the American Spirit. It is obvious, at once, when we consider the matter, that the extreme interest of the civilized world in social problems is not a token of degeneration. Only in a society that has been rapidly growing in wealth and benevolence would so much time and thought be spent in discussion of the means of making education and comfort universal. As the number of the well-to-do increases, the community at large has more freedom from "looking out for number one:" the milder feelings of human sympathy erect themselves when the struggle for existence loses its bitterness, and the individual career ceases, indeed, with many to be a struggle. There will, always be a sufficient number of imperfectly developed human beings to whom wealth and leisure will mean only persistent self-indulgence and constant search after a novel pleasure. But, with the large multiplication of moderate fortunes, the great body of those who have a competence that allows a measure of freedom from engrossing personal cares will naturally turn somewhat of their attention to the lot of their less fortunate brethren. It is upon hearts madetender by delicate living, upon minds "at leisure from themselves " through the ease of their material conditions, that the "bitter cry " of poverty falls with effect. When the stronger half of mankind is still struggling with nature for an adequate subsistence, it will take little thought "how the other half lives," and will often be slightly concerned whether this half lives a properly human life. If the contr...