◆¹ But in the case of Trade Unionism, just as in that of Socialism, because the extent is limited to which it can raise the labourers’ income, it does not follow that within these limits its action may not be of great and increasing benefit. ◆² Thus Mill, whose general view of the subject coincides broadly with that of Professor Marshall, points out that though a Union will never be able permanently to raise wages above the point to which in time they would rise naturally, nor permanently to keep them above a point to which they would naturally fall, it can hasten the rise, which might otherwise be long delayed, and retard the fall, which might otherwise be premature; and the gain to Labour may thus in the long run be enormous. Unions have done this for Labour in the past; and with improved and extended organisation, they may be able to do it yet more effectively in the future; and they have done, and may continue to do many other things besides—to do them, and to add to their number. It is beyond my purpose to speak of these things in detail. In the next chapter, I shall briefly indicate some of them; but the main points on which I am concerned to insist are simpler; and the next chapter—the last—will be devoted principally to these. CHAPTER V _Of the enormous Encouragement to be derived by Labour from a true View of the Situation; and of the Connection between the Interests of the Labourer and Imperial Politics._ [Sidenote ◆1 Let me again remind the reader of the object of this book.] [Sidenote ◆2 It is to show that the labourer’s income depends on the general forces of production firstly, and secondly on those of distribution.] ◆¹ The object of this work, as I explained in the opening chapter, is to point out to the great body of the people—that is to say, to the multitude of average men and women, whose incomes consist of the wages of ordinary Labour—the conditions which determine the possibility of these incomes being increased, and so to enable them to distinguish the true means from the false, which they may themselves adopt with a view to obtaining this result. ◆² And in order to show them how their present incomes may be increased, I have devoted myself to showing the reader how their present incomes have been obtained. I have done this by fixing his attention on the fact that their present incomes obviously depend upon two sets of causes: first, the forces that produce the aggregate income of the country; and secondly, the forces that distribute a certain portion of this amongst the labourers. And these last I have examined from two points of view; first exhibiting their results, and then indicating their nature. Let me briefly recapitulate what I have said about both subjects.