"Well, while I am a beggar, I will rail,
And say there is no sin but to be rich."
MR. A. lived in the kingdom of--------. He was a sincere professional
philanthropist. He was absolutely certain that he loved his fellow-men,
and that his views were humane and scientific. He concluded to turn his
attention to taking care of people less fortunate than himself.
With this object in view he investigated the common people that lived
about him, and he found that they were extremely ignorant, that many of
them seemed to take no particular interest in life or in business, that
few of them had any theories of their own, and that, while many had
muscle, there was only now and then one who had any mind worth speaking
of. Nearly all of them were destitute of ambition. They were satisfied
if they got something to eat, a place to sleep, and could now and
then indulge in some form of dissipation. They seemed to have great
confidence in to-morrow--trusted to luck, and took no thought for the
future. Many of them were extravagant, most of them dissipated, and a
good many dishonest.
Mr. A. found that many of the husbands not only failed to support their
families, but that some of them lived on the labor of their wives; that
many of the wives were careless of their obligations, knew nothing about
the art of cooking; nothing about keeping house; and that parents, as a
general thing, neglected their children or treated them with cruelty. He
also found that many of the people were so shiftless that they died of
want and exposure.
After having obtained this information Mr. A. made up his mind to do
what little he could to better their condition. He petitioned the king
to assist him, and asked that he be allowed to take control of five
hundred people in consideration that he would pay a certain amount into
the treasury of the kingdom. The king being satisfied that Mr. A.
could take care of these people better than they were taking care of
themselves, granted the petition.
Mr. A., with the assistance of a few soldiers, took these people from
their old homes and haunts to a plantation of his own. He divided
them into groups, and over each group placed a superintendent. He
made certain rules and regulations for their conduct. They were only
compelled to work from twelve to fourteen hours a day, leaving ten hours
for sleep and recreation. Good and substantial food was provided. Their
houses were comfortable and their clothing sufficient. Their work was
laid out from day to day and from month to month, so that they knew
exactly what they were to do in each hour of every day. These rules
were made for the good of the people, to the end that they might not
interfere with each other, that they might attend to their duties, and
enjoy themselves in a reasonable way. They were not allowed to waste
their time, or to use stimulants or profane language. They were told to
be respectful to the superintendents, and especially to Mr. A.; to be
obedient, and, above all, to accept the position in which Providence had
placed them, without complaining, and to cheerfully perform their tasks.
Mr. A. had found out all that the five hundred persons had earned the
year before they were taken control of by him--just how much they had
added to the wealth of the world. He had statistics taken for the
year before with great care showing the number of deaths, the cases of
sickness and of destitution, the number who had committed suicide, how
many had been convicted of crimes and misdemeanors, how many days they
had been idle, and how much time and money they had spent in drink and
for worthless amusements.
During the first year of their enslavement he kept like statistics. He
found that they had earned several times as much; that there had been no
cases of destitution, no drunkenness; that no crimes had been committed;
that there had been but little sickness, owing to the regular course
of their lives; that few had been guilty of misdemeanors, owing to
the certainty of punishment; and that they had been so watched and
superintended that for the most part they had traveled the highway of
virtue and industry.
Mr. A. was delighted, and with a vast deal of pride showed these
statistics to his friends. He not only demonstrated that the five
hundred people were better off than they had been before, but that his
own income was very largely increased. He congratulated himself that he
had added to the well-being of these people not only, but had laid the
foundation of a great fortune for himself. On these facts and these
figures he claimed not only to be a philanthropist, but a philosopher;
and all the people who had a mind to go into the same business agreed
with him.
Some denounced the entire proceeding as unwarranted, as contrary to
reason and justice. These insisted that the five hundred people had
a right to live in their own way provided they did not interfere with
others; that they had the right to go through the world with little food
and with poor clothes, and to live in huts, if such was their choice.
But Mr. A. had no trouble in answering these objectors. He insisted
that well-being is the only good, and that every human being is under
obligation, not only to take care of himself, but to do what little
he can towards taking care of others; that where five hundred people
neglect to take care of themselves, it is the duty of somebody else, who
has more intelligence and more means, to take care of them; that the man
who takes five hundred people and improves their condition, gives
them on the average better food, better clothes, and keeps them out of
mischief, is a benefactor.
"These people," said Mr. A., "were tried. They were found incapable of
taking care of themselves. They lacked intelligence or will or honesty
or industry or ambition or something, so that in the struggle for
existence they fell behind, became stragglers, dropped by the wayside,
died in gutters; while many were destined to end their days either in
dungeons or on scaffolds. Besides all this, they were a nuisance to
their prosperous fellow-citizens, a perpetual menace to the peace of
society. They increased the burden of taxation; they filled the ranks
of the criminal classes, they made it necessary to build more jails, to
employ more policemen and judges; so that I, by enslaving them, not
only assisted them, not only protected them against themselves, not only
bettered their condition, not only added to the well-being of-society at
large, but greatly increased my own fortune."
Mr. A. also took the ground that Providence, by giving him superior
intelligence, the genius of command, the aptitude for taking charge
of others, had made it his duty to exercise these faculties for the
well-being of the people and for the glory of God. Mr. A. frequently
declared that he was God's steward. He often said he thanked God that he
was not governed by a sickly sentiment, but that he was a man of sense,
of judgment, of force of character, and that the means employeed by him
were in accordance with the logic of facts.
Some of the people thus enslaved objected, saying that they had the same
right to control themselves that Mr. A. had to control himself. But it
only required a little discipline to satisfy them that they were wrong.
Some of the people were quite happy, and declared that nothing gave them
such perfect contentment as the absence of all responsibility. Mr. A.
insisted that all men had not been endowed with the same capacity; that
the weak ought to be cared for by the strong; that such was evidently
the design of the Creator, and that he intended to do what little he
could to carry that design into effect.
Mr. A. was very successful. In a few years he had several thousands of
men, women, and children working for him. He amassed a large fortune.
He felt that he had been intrusted with this money by Providence. He
therefore built several churches, and once in a while gave large sums to
societies for the spread of civilization. He passed away regretted by a
great many people--not including those who had lived under his immediate
administration. He was buried with great pomp, the king being one of the
pall-bearers, and on his tomb was this: