Society is naturally self-supporting. The individual and the family, as well for their own good as for the common good, should provide themselves with the necessaries of maintenance, by their exertions and out of their own resources. If the state undertales this provision it cannot justify its action on the ground that by so doing it enables the individual to develop his powers or turns to account for the good of the family and the community forces that would otherwise have been lost or wasted. The result is the very reverse of this. By such action the motive for a sound and well ordered family life is weakened, and a lind of education, the most important to the individual and the State, the education of the child within the family, is discoutenanced and hampered.

By a law of social development, then, the individual and the family under normal conditions have to maintain themselves by the exercise of personal energy and mutual aid; and only on these terms are they competent to render the best service to the community. It should therefore be the chief aim of social effort to help the individual to maintain himself throughout life, and to strengthen the sense of obligation and affection which is inherent in the family. All legislation or voluntary action that has a social purpose should be judged by this standard. It is right or wrong as it promotes or frustrates this aim.