Produced by Jeff G., Jeannie Howse and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net * * * * * +------------------------------------------------------------+ | Transcriber's Note: | | | | The original from which this text is transcribed uses an | | unusual capitalization style which has been faithfully | | reproduced. | | | | Obvious typographical errors have been corrected in this | | text. For a complete list, please see the bottom of this | | document. | | | | With no copyright notice, the 1951 intro falls under Rule | | 5, and is therefore public domain. | | | +------------------------------------------------------------+ * * * * * WHAT SOCIAL CLASSES OWE TO EACH OTHER By WILLIAM GRAHAM SUMNER First published by Harper & Brothers, 1883 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE FOREWORD 5 INTRODUCTION 7 I. ON A NEW PHILOSOPHY: THAT POVERTY IS THE BEST POLICY 13 II. THAT A FREE MAN IS A SOVEREIGN, BUT THAT A SOVEREIGN CANNOT TAKE "TIPS" 25 III. THAT IT IS NOT WICKED TO BE RICH: NAY, EVEN, THAT IT IS NOT WICKED TO BE RICHER THAN ONE'S NEIGHBOR 38 IV. ON THE REASONS WHY MAN IS NOT ALTOGETHER A BRUTE 51 V. THAT WE MUST HAVE FEW MEN, IF WE WANT STRONG MEN 63 VI. THAT HE WHO WOULD BE WELL TAKEN CARE OF MUST TAKE CARE OF HIMSELF 71 VII. CONCERNING SOME OLD FOES UNDER NEW FACES 88 VIII. ON THE VALUE, AS A SOCIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLE, OF THE RULE TO MIND ONE'S OWN BUSINESS 97 IX. ON THE CASE OF A CERTAIN MAN WHO IS NEVER THOUGHT OF 107 X. THE CASE OF THE FORGOTTEN MAN FARTHER CONSIDERED 116 XI. WHEREFORE WE SHOULD LOVE ONE ANOTHER 132 FOREWORD Written more than fifty years ago--in 1883--WHAT SOCIAL CLASSES OWE TO EACH OTHER is even more pertinent today than at the time of its first publication. Then the arguments and "movements" for penalizing the thrifty, energetic, and competent by placing upon them more and more of the burdens of the thriftless, lazy and incompetent, were just beginning to make headway in our country, wherein these "social reforms" now all but dominate political and so-called "social" thinking.