* * * * * Society, then is a matter of convention: _Nature_ did not frame it. Nor does _Nature_ impose upon us the relation of Husband and Wife. Why do we adopt the present marriage system, which differs in so many respects from Nature, and from former practices of the human race? Simply because we believe it to be _an improvement_. We _know_ it is better than the promiscuous intercourse of the sexes: we _believe_ it to be better than Polygamy; we _hope_ that it will some day be a more radiant success than the Divorce Courts would seem to indicate. Now as to the land. Undoubtedly, the earth was given to the human family as a home for the family. Undoubtedly, Nature teaches that the earth belongs in common to the entire human race. Thus it was in the beginning. But, just as the wild horse became the property of the bold tribesman who caught it and tamed it; just as the natural fruit of the forest belonged to him who gathered it; just as the cave or hollow tree became the dwelling of the first occupant, so the well in the thirsty plain became the property of him that had dug down to the waters; and the pasturage which one had taken up might not be taken away from him by another. Mine was the bark hut which my labor had built; mine the canoe which my hands had hollowed out; mine the bow and arrows which I had fashioned; mine the herds and flocks, the goats and asses which I had tamed and reared and cared for till they had multiplied. Should the idler, or the thief of the tribe, take from me that which my labor had produced? Must _my_ canoe belong to the whole tribe? Must my garment which I had made out of the skins of the wild beast belong to the sloth who loafed in the tent while I risked my life in the woods? _Nature said_, NO! Nature, speaking through elemental instinct said: “That which _your_ labor made is _yours_.” Yours the hut, yours the canoe, yours the garment of skins, yours the bow and arrows—and that was the beginning of _Private Property in Personalty_. * * * * * But look again at the ways of Nature and of the tribe. Pasturage failed after awhile; natural fruits were no longer sufficient to sustain life; game disappeared from the forest; fish grew scarce in the streams. Something had to be done to make good the shortage. The soil was there, suggesting cultivation. The products of Nature must be supplemented by human industry. But before the soil could be cultivated, the trees had to be cut away; cattle and wild beasts had to be fenced out; the virgin earth had to be made the bride of toil before the fruitful seed would bring forth harvests. Now _who was to do the work_? The Idler wouldn’t; the Feeble couldn’t; the Hunter didn’t; _the strong, clear-headed Laborer made the farm_.