We do not want uniformity in earning and spending， more than elsewhere， only unity of spirit. Some writers praise the emulation that is determined to have as fine things as others have， but while this has its uses it is a social impulse of no high kind alla keeps the mass of men feeling poor and inferior. Our dignity and happiness would profit more if each of us were to work out life in a way of his own without invidious comparisons.
We shall never be content except as we develop and enjoy our individuality and are willing to forego what does not belong to it. I know that I was not born to get or to use riches， but I am willing to believe that others are.
An essential condition of better feeling in the inevitable struggles of life is that there should be just and accepted "rules of the game" to give moral unity to the whole Much must be suffered， but men will suffer without bitter ness if they believe that they do so under just and necessary principles.
A solid foundation has been laid for this， in free countries， by the establishment of institutions under which all class conflicts are referred， in the last resort， to human nature itself. Through free speech a general will may be organized on any matter urgent enough to attract general attention， and through democratic government this may be tested， recorded and carried out. Thus is provided a tribunal free from class bias before which controversies may be tried and settled in an orderly manner.
It would be hard to exaggerate the importance to social peace of this recognition of the ultimate authority of public opinion， acting slowly but surely through constitutional (308) methods. It means a moral whole which prescribes rules， directs sane agitation into healthy and moderate chan eels， and takes away all rational ground for violence or revolution If men， for instance， believe that a particular kind of socialistic state is the cure for the evils of society， let them speak， print and form their party. Perhaps they are right；at least， they get much wholesome self-expression and a kind of happiness out of their aspiration and labors. And if they are partly wrong， yet they may both learn and impart much to the general advantage.
But we have made only a beginning in this. Our ethics is only a vague outline， not a matured system， and in the details of social contact梐s between employer and workman， rich and poor， Negro and white， and so on梩here is such a lack of accepted standards that men have little to go by but their crude impulses. All this must be worked out， in as much patience and good will as possible， before we can expect to have peace.
Where there is no very radical conflict of essential principles， ill feeling may commonly be alleviated by face-to-face discussion， since the more we come to understand one another the more we get below superficial unlikeness and find essential community. Between fairly reasonable and honest men it is always wholesome to "have it out，" and many careful studies of labor troubles agree regarding the large part played by misunderstandings and suspicion that have no cause except lack of opportunity for explanation.
"The rioting would not have taken place，" says a student of certain n.iriing disorders， "had not the ignorance and suspicion of the Hungarians been supplemented by the (309) ignorance and suspicion of the employers； and the perseverance of this mutual attitude may yet create another riot." [3] There is a strong temptation for those in authority， especially if they are overworked or conscious of being a little weak or unready in conference， to fence themselves in with formality and the type-written letter. But a man of real fitness in any administrative capacity must have a stomach for open and face-to-face dealing with men.
And a democratic system sooner or later brings to pass face-to-face discussion of all vital questions， because the people will be satisfied with no other. An appearance of shirking it will arouse even more distrust and hostility than the open avowal of selfish motives； and accordingly it is more and more the practice of aggressive interests to seek to justify themselves by at least the appearance of frank appeal to popular judgment.
Endnotes The Spirit of Laws， book v， chap. 3. Leaves of Grass， 71. Spahr， America's Working People， 128.
