saying: Equality of goods is an inevitable consequence of that of our organs and wants."

When anatomists speak of an average size and function of the stomach, of the texture and action of the skin, of the size and substance of the brains, of the amount of air inhaled and exhaled by the lungs, they intend to convey the idea that this average is never much surpassed except in abnormal cases of atrophy and hypertrophy. This uniformity in the size, construction, and function of the various parts of the human body, forms the basis for the natural equality in the satisfaction of human wants.

CHAPTER XVII.-CONVENTIONAL OR SOCIAL EQUALITY. THIS form of equality is superior to that of natural equality,

to which it adds an important supplement, inasmuch as it moulds all imaginable natural inequalities into one compact bond of equality. It powerfully tends to abate the exorbitant claims put forward by the opponents of Communism in favour of superior intellects. Cabet says:--"Superiority of mind, intelligence, and genius are gifts of nature. It is unjust to neglect, or to punish in any manner, him who has received less of this gift. It is rather the duty of society, and the task of reason, to discover the means of levelling inequalities produced by the blind freak of nature. He who by his genius is more useful than others, ought to feel sufficiently compensated by the satisfaction which his well-acknowledged services give him."

Robert Owen, too, considers 'it unjust to reward a man merely because nature has endowed him with some peculiar gift.

Rousseau considers social conventions to have been necessitated by the endeavours of obviating natural inequalities, saying:-"As to the inequalities of physical strength, it is certain that it can be no bar to the enjoyment of natural equality; and there is the greatest probability that in order to obviate this evil recourse has been had to conventions, and civil society has been instituted."

Therefore social or conventional equality is superior to natural equality.

Siéyes says: "Though bodily and mentally unequal, men may by convention make laws for the establishment of an equal distribution of goods."

Rousseau says:-"Social equality is more perfect than natural equality; for in society all men ought to be equal by convention, although they may be unequal in bodily strength and power of mind."

The opponents of Communism deny social equality, but unhesitatingly proclaim in opposition to it civil equality before the law as it now exists in all civilized states.

Mr. Stephen says:-"Laws and moral rules must, from the nature of the case, be indiscriminate, and must in that sense treat those who are subject to them as equals."

Mr. Disraeli, in his address to the students of Glasgow University, said: "There can be civil, but not social equality."

Civil equality is a rightful boast of democracy, when compared with the social inequalities and deprivation of civil right by which the subjects of autocratic states are oppressed; but it loses greatly in its democratic value by comparison with Communism or Social Equality.

Plato's sneer is well applied to this sort of equality, when he says:-"Democracy seems to be a pleasant sort of government, both anarchical and variegated, distributing a certain amount of equality (civil equality) to all alike, both to equals and unequals (rich and poor, master and servants, idlers and industrious).

CHAPTER XVIII.-EQUALITY OF RIGHTS AND DUTIES. HE American Constitution is headed by the words, "God has created all men equal in right." This equality refers to all the civil, social, and political rights which an American citizen enjoys under the sanction of the laws of his country. The promulgation of the civil, social, and political rights, in a communistic state, will take place under the same principle of equality to all, but the rights themselves will be differently defined.

All rights take their origin in the natural rights of man; and of these, says Cabet, there are only two, namely, (1) "his right to existence, and (2) his right to freely exercise all his physical and intellectual faculties."

"If men are equal in the freedom and exercise of their natural rights, they are also entitled to an equal share of justice. For instance, if a a stout and powerful man should want twice as much food as others, he has a just claim, in virtue of his natural right to existence, to demand a double portion of food. But if there is not food enough for all, his claim must be lessened, for he would not be justified in exercising his natural right to the injury of others. In such a case, all will have to abate their demands for food."

The communistic state will also demand from all its citizens an equal performance of the duties incumbent upon each citizen; for, as Cabet says, in a communistic state all people are associates. "In Icaria, all the people are associates, and equal in rights and duties; they form but one family, whose members are all united by the ties of fraternity."

CHAPTER XIX.-EQUALITY IN THE CLAIMS TO HAPPINESS.

THE

HE claim to happiness is a correlative to man's natural right of existence. Babeuf says:-"Nature has given to each individual an equal right to the enjoyment of all the goods of life." The equality of these claims is beautifully argued by Mr. Mill, who says: "The principle of utility, or the greatest happiness principle, is a mere form of words without rational signification, unless one person's happiness is counted for exactly as much as another's. Those conditions being supplied, Bentham's dictum, 'Everybody to count for one, nobody for more than one,' might be written under the principle of utility as an explanatory commentary."

Mr. Mill also states that equality of goods must be the inevitable consequence of the satisfaction of these claims, saying:-" The equal claim of everybody to happiness, in the estimation of the moralist and the legislator, involves an equal claim to all the means of happiness."

COMM

CHAPTER XX.-EQUALITY OF THE AGES.

OMMUNISTS view this form of equality under two aspects; first, in relation to the equality, which is common to all the four ages, and secondly, in relation to the equality to be established amongst the members of different ages.

All human beings, of whatever age, have the same claim to the satisfaction of their natural wants. Children, youths, young and old persons, all want food, shelter, sleep, recreation, and enjoyment. The satisfaction of these wants may vary within an unimportant fraction for the various ages, the same as for each separate individual, but, on the whole, the quantity of food consumed by children, young and old people, the cloth used by each class, the shelter required by all, will vary very little in quantity and quality. It is rather remarkable that children in robust health can eat quite as much as grown-up persons, and that they wear out in their careless way quite as much clothing as adults. There is therefore a natural equality common to all the ages, and the claims derived from it can be satisfied by an almost equal distribution of food, cloth, shelter, and other means of rendering the life of all healthy, comfortable, and joyous.

When Robert Owen says, "Nature has defined the only true inequality that can justly exist; it is the inequality proceeding from age," he seems to have overlooked the natural equality common to all the four ages. His statement, however, does not exclude the equality which may reign amongst the members of each age.

The realization of the equality of membership in each age is the great purpose of the communistic doctrine, and it is at once an answer to Mr. Stephen's statement that "the difference of ages is a distinct case of inequality." How all children and youths are maintained and educated on the principle of equality, how they are all equally and gradually accustomed and trained to the performance of the duties of life, how manhood is kept to activity by equally sharing all the dangers and hardships of physical labour, and how old age may enjoy repose, has been detailed in previous chapters. Nothing is more praiseworthy than the regard which Communism pays to

each of the four ages of men, by appointing to each duties commensurate with its physical and intellectual growth and decline. The communistic organization will in this respect show a marked contrast with the present state of society, in which youths and old men are often seen to break down under the burden of heavy physical labour, whilst robust manhood is but too frequently engaged in work and occupations which would be better fitted for children and old age.

Equality in the treatment of children is especially demanded on account of the utter helplessness of infancy, childhood, and youth to work out their own destiny; and as no one can know beforehand what special aptitudes and talents the children may possess, all educational appliances and systems of training must be worked on a plan of absolute equality. In a communistic state no more children will be born with silver spoons in their mouths. The same liberal education will be provided for all.

age of three years, associated for some This is done for a

Of this education Cabet says:-" After the and as soon as children can speak, they are hours every day to take a walk or to play. double purpose; first, it is highly conducive to fortify health, and, secondly, it is greatly valued by communists as the first means of awaking in children the instinct of sociability, by which they will become attached to each other, and which, when they grow up, will develop itself into the strong feeling of fraternity and equality."

Babeuf expects the same benefits from education enjoyed in a communistic state, saying:-"The children being educated in common, and living constantly together, will soon learn to commingle their happiness with that of others, being removed from the contagion of self-interest and ambition."

Cabet lays the greatest stress upon the necessity of education, saying:—" Without education, community life is impossible, for it is chiefly education which prepares us both for the duties and enjoyments of life."