Money, by convincing us of its indispensable nature and egging us on in the scramble for more, has, however much we may resent it, got the upper hand and has practically enslaved us. A comparison can be made with the modern mania for speed. The rapidity of the means of locomotion encourages a perpetual rush and deludes people into supposing that the faster they go the more they will accomplish. There is a foolish belief that steam, electricity, and petrol have been turned to our own use and have been mastered, whereas these giant forces are playing with us and stirring us, like ants in a disturbed ant-hill, into an almost ridiculous state of flurry and confusion which is detrimental both to our minds and our bodies, and the sum total of our higher accomplishments is more likely to show a decline than an increase from the days before these forces were let loose. But rapid locomotion is at present too fascinating for us to resist. Just in the same way the allurements of money are carrying us away down a steep incline to unforeseen perils. Where and when shall we stop? Some say that society, having got on to this dangerous downward slope, gradual evolution to a healthier state is no longer possible; but, as in the case of the abolition of slavery and the abolition of autocracy, the change can only be brought about by a cataclysmic upheaval. As the power of money augments and vast riches are piled higher and higher, it is becoming the more apparent that an opposing force of bitter antagonism is being created which may one day gain strength enough to sweep away the vampire of capitalism. “Wealth is in the hands of the few rich and the suffrage in the hands of the many poor. In the concentration of wealth and the diffusion of political power lies the great danger of Modern Society. The danger becomes every day greater, and democracy, which seemed to have saved society, is really destined to overturn it.”[34] Perhaps it can save it by overturning it. But at present any such danger would seem remote, as, in spite of the great advances made by organised Labour, the mass of the people, more especially those herded into towns, are sadly lacking in vitality. In the first stages of the rise of democracy there have been thrown to the surface men of great business ability, but of no imagination, and firm believers in money. The process of a deeper and more general enlightenment must of necessity be slow. On the whole, we need have no fear that plutocracy will ever gain complete ascendancy, even though it may have aristocracy, royalty, and at times political power to support it. But it is not so much the attack from without that is likely to destroy the entrenched position of the rich as the rot within which is steadily undermining their stronghold with corruption and decay.