In this way only can we
hope to change our existing immoral environment into a moral one, and
_initiate a new era of Moral Progress._" The "Revolt of Democracy"[49]
was addressed directly to the Labour Party. And once again he drew a
vivid picture of how, during the whole of the nineteenth century, there
was a continuous advance in the application of scientific discovery to
the arts, especially to the invention and application of labour-saving
machinery; and how our wealth had increased to an equally marvellous
extent.
He pointed out that various estimates which had been made of the
increase in our wealth-producing capacity showed that, roughly speaking,
the use of mechanical power had increased it more than a hundredfold
during the century; yet the result had been to create a limited upper
class, living in unexampled luxury, while about one-fourth of the whole
population existed in a state of fluctuating penury, often sinking below
the margin of poverty. Many thousands were annually drawn into this gulf
of destitution, and died from direct starvation and premature exhaustion
or from diseases produced by unhealthy employment.
During this long period, however, although wealth and want had alike
increased side by side, public opinion had not been sufficiently
educated to permit of any effectual remedy being applied. The workers
themselves had failed to visualise its fundamental causes, land monopoly
and the competitive system of industry giving rise to an ever-increasing
private capitalism which, to a very large extent, had controlled the
Legislature.
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