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to be above history； as having always existed or as necessity
everlasting。 We test the result of every one of them； and ask of
each： How did it originate； what conceptions of justice have
generated it； what necessity exists for it to…day？
To be sure we also know how to appreciate the value of the
institutions transmitted to us； we know that the sacred
traditions of the past fill our mind with awe； that even the form
of traditional law has a restraining effect on rough characters；
that a lasting condition of social peace is based on the greatest
possible restriction of formal breach of law。 We admit that
institutions must never disappear in form and substance； that
nations can never create anything wholly new； but must always
build on what exists。 In this lasting continuity of the whole we
have a guarantee that the struggle for that which is good and
just will not expire fruitlessly； though this would always
happen； if each generation had to begin this struggle anew； and
was not furnished with the inheritance of tried wisdom and
justice； contained in traditional institutions。 We admit that
every momentary condition of peace in society； as it is preserved
by an existing law of property； inheritance and some other
institutions； is more valuable than a dangerously unsettling war
for a juster law of property and inheritance； when the
traditional law still corresponds to the equilibrium of the
forces existing in society and to the prevalent ideal
conceptions。 In this case every struggle for more just laws is
for the time being hopeless and vain。 It can only harm and
destroy。 Even the most violent revolution can not replace the
mental transformation of men which is the precondition of a
juster law。 The essential point is always that the forces
themselves and the conceptions of justice have changed。 Then only
can a struggle succeed。
Because this will always be； we do not fear； like the
alarmists and the pusillanimous of all times； every struggle for
juster laws。 And on this account we do not see in every
manifestation of the self…esteem of the lower classes a simply
outrageous revolt against the doctrine of the natural
aristocratic organization of society。 Much less should we fall
into the mistake of all aged reformers who； because they have
achieved something； believe that the world's history should close
with them and what they have accomplished。 We know to…day that
history never stands still； that all progress of history is
gained only in the struggle of peoples and of social classes； and
that they cannot always be as peaceful as in a nursery。 And those
who are always ready to dream of a jolly war and its favorable
moral consequences should not forget that the social struggles
within society differ from wars between nations only in degree；
not in kind。 Social struggles can likewise favorably affect
peoples。 I only call attention to the struggles between the
plebeians and the patricians。 There can be no progress in
institutions without certain social struggles。 All struggles
within society are struggles for institutions； and that for the
progress of cultivation the individual will grow enthusiastic；
will even sacrifice his life for that for which classes and
parties fight； is so inevitable； so salutary that now and then we
do not find fault with breaking the formal law in such contests。
There is no worse delusion than that of the older English
economists that there are a number of simple and natural legal
and economic institutions which have always been as they are and
will always remain so； that all progress of civilization and
wealth is simply an individual or technical one； that this is
simply a question of increased production or consumption which
will and can be accomplished on the basis of the same legal
institutions。 This faith in the stability of economic
institutions was the result of the naive overweening confidence
of the older economists in the omnipotence of the individual and
of the individual life。 Socialism then has perhaps over…estimated
the significance of social institutions。 Historical economics and
the modern philosophy of law have given them their due position
by showing us that the great epochs of economic progress are
primarily connected with the reform of social institutions。 The
great messages of salvation to humanity were all aimed at the
injustice of outworn institutions； by higher justice and better
institutions humanity is educated up to higher forms of life。
As little as the social institutions of antiquity have
governed modern history； as certainly as slavery and serfdom have
vanished； as certainly as all past progress of institutions was
connected with apparent success in distributing wealth and
incomes in a more just way and in adapting it more and more to
personal virtues and accomplishments； as certainly as this
increased more and more the activity of all individuals； as
certain as all。this is it； that the future will also see new
improvements in this direction； that the institutions of coming
centuries will be more just than those of to…day。 The decisive
ideal conceptions will be influenced not exclusively but
essentially by distributive justice。 Institutions which govern
whole groups of human beings and the entire distribution of
wealth and incomes necessarily call forth a judgment upon their
total effects。 Inasmuch； indeed； as single institutions concern
only single men and single phases of life； the justice required
will only be a partial one。 Naturally this is always easy to
attain。 A just assessment of taxes； a just distribution of the
burdens for the improvement of highways； of the duty of military
service； a just gradation of wages are much easier to attain than
a just distribution of the total incomes and wealth。 But an
endeavor towards these ends will never cease； all partially just
regulations have significance only in a system of the just
distribution of the total。 And with this we finally come to the
question what can be and what should the State do in this matter？
In our view it will obviously not be a body confined to the
extension of justice in criminal law； in the jurisdiction upon
contracts and further； perhaps； in the assessment of taxes； but
ignoring the just distribution of goods。 What sense is there in
warming up in the legislatures over the hundredth part of a cent；
which a quart of beer or a yard of cloth is raised in price for
the poor man； when one takes the standpoint on principle； that
his wages are to be regarded as something indifferent and remote
from all human intervention。 Our modern civilized commonwealth
indeed cannot remove every injustice； because primarily it
operates and has to operate by means of law。 But it should not
therefore be indifferent to the moral sentiments of men who ask
for justice in distributing wealth and incomes for the grand
total of human society。 The State is the centre and the heart in
which all institutions empty and unite。 It also has a strong
direct influence on the distribution of incomes and wealth as the
greatest employer of labor； the greatest property holder； or the
administrator of the greatest undert