THE PRINCIPLE OF HOPE

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the limit to concessions of course, one which was repeatedly susceptible and only reluctantly recognized. Especially something as subversive as the eight­hour day
stood outside human civilization; it flowed from laziness and lechery, it testified only to ‘the awful growth of selfishness among the mass of the people’. Even in 1887, at
the end of the so­called Haymarket revolt in Chicago, four workers were hanged whose sin had been to proclaim the eight­hour day. The American general public
regarded them as common criminals. Until the labour movement which was gaining strength finally gave a new impetus to love of mankind, an even more unpleasant one
than sinking competitiveness and deteriorated soldier material. Germany was regarded as the centre of the labour movement at that time, its social democracy at least
successfully gave this impression, the law against the activities of the Social Democratic Party* had not been any use, instead the ancient Roman remedy of throwing
panem et circenses to the plebs now recommended itself to the upper classes, so that they hoped to prevent revolutionary acts by part payments. There thus arose the
widespread social welfare legislation under Wilhelm II (England, undaunted by its Labour Party, and especially America followed very slowly), and finally 1918 was to
be swaddled and duped before it was suffocated. The eight­hour day was the minimum demand of the class­conscious proletariat; there was nothing for it but to
consider this demand with a wink. But then the crisis came and brought a lot more capitalist free time, namely unemployment. Then came ultimately the legacy of crisis
and no revolution: fascism, and it again brought the twelve­hour day to light. Such is the circle, this is how it finally had to turn out: slave­driving to war production, with
mass graves for relaxation; unemployment in peace, with famine for wages.
All kinds of alleviation through benefaction
At least the poor man has the advantage of looking dirty. He is not a pretty sight, he seems reproachful even when he is silent. The poor man may tug at the heartstrings
but not of course at the pursestrings; the master does the latter in order to alleviate the misery off which he lives. Especially when, as noted above, sentimental feeling
accompanies and embellishes economic interests. Also the ruling class, with this feeling, often describes very exactly the ugly existence of poverty, it denounces from
time to time
* Bismarck—s law of 21 October, 1878.