It  has  been  one  of  the  chief  objects  of  the  present  work
to  demonstrate,  and  I  trust  it  has  been  demonstrated,  that
the  institutions  which  are  necessary  to  the  existence  of  ci-
vilized society,  and  particularly  the  institutions  of  property,
and  of  the  system  of  the  division  of  labour,  are  naturally
advantageous  to  the  labourers,  as  well  as  to  the  two  other
classes  of  land-proprietors  and  capitalists,  inasmuch  as  they
are  the  means  of  enabling  every  person,  including  even  the
lowest  labourers,  (so  long  as  they  have  employment,)  to  ac-
quire a  greater  share  of  wealth, — of  necessaries,  conve-
niences, and  luxuries, — than  they  could  do  otherwise  ;  that
is,  in  other  words,  than  they  could  acquire  in  the  state  of
nature.  It  seems  equally  therefore  the  duty  and  the  in-
terest of  every  community  to  guard  against  the  incidence  of
the  case  just  described,  by  providing,  if  possible,  for  all  who
may  be  in  want,  and  thus  to  make  it  the  interest  of  every
individual  without  exception,  and  at  all  times,  to  support
those  institutions  and  laws  which  are  necessary  to  its  exist-
ence and  well-being.
That  this  ought  to  be  done,  if  it  were  possible,  without
introducing  a  greater  evil  than  that  which  it  would  be  there-
by attempted  to  obviate  is  allowed ;  but  this,  it  is  contended,
is  impossible.
That  it  is  not  so  however,  and  that  to  maintain  the  indi-
gent and  necessitous  of  every  description  is  not  that  impos-
sible or  very  difficult  thing  which  it  has  been  represented  to
be,  I  shall  now  proceed  and  endeavour  to  demonstrate.
344         LEGAL  PBOVISION  FOR  THE  POOR    BOOK  II.
SECTION  II.
