them, and will augment their misfortunes, while pretending to those who are perishing before him that he has other occupations by which he will seek a means to save them.
A true man, one for whom life consists in doing good, could not use such language; and if he made such a response, his conscience would ever reprove the falsehood; he can find no defence for it save in the crafty and diabolical theory of the Division of Labor.[1]
Among all the doctrines of human wisdom, from that of Confucius to that of Mahomet, we find this idea strongly expressed only in the Gospel. We there find ourselves convinced of the necessity to aid men, not by a theory of division of labor, but by means that are simple, natural, and indispensable. It is the Gospel which teaches us to minister to the sick, the prisoners, and those who perish with cold and hunger.
But we can only do this directly by at once laboring ourselves, for the sick and the famished
- ↑ Tolstoï has discussed the theory of the division of labor, showing its disastrous effects, in What should be done, at page 104 of the French translation, and those following it.
Without doubt, according to Tolstoï, the division of labor exists in human society, but the question is how to render it just. It has made in our day an admirable progress, but, by some unhappy chance, it has aggravated instead of ameliorating the condition of the greatest number, who are the laborers.
How then shall we make a just distribution of labor? To preserve life by a manual labor, common to all, is the first duty; which is to be personally fulfilled, yet in a manner that aids our neighbor also.
