ABSTRACT
Gentlemen, In the last session you saw the outline of the material organisation of the future unfurl before your eyes. By the simplicity of its mechanism and ease of movement of its different parts, you understood the impressive increase in power which society could acquire once composed of associated workers. We tried to show you the influence which the foundation of such an order of things could have on the morals and happiness of men. Perhaps your hearts opened up for a moment to the hope of seeing the disappearance of the profound misfortunes which, like a terrible disease, ravage the lower classes and do not spare even the upper classes. But quickly lapsing into the scepticism and discouragement proper to our time, some of you no doubt exclaimed: ‘A dream, a dream, this is not the future of humanity!’ No, gentlemen, this is not a dream; it is the future of humanity and we are bringing you the indisputable proof of its fulfilment. We are going to examine the transitional measures which society has at its disposal. A very important thing will appear from this scrutiny and will, we dare to say, be of a nature to make a strong impression on your minds and give you great trust in our promises. You will see, in the transitional measures whose adoption will lead directly to establishing Saint-Simon’s doctrine, the worded expression of desires which vaguely stir the most progressive men; in it you will find a sure remedy to all the sufferings of the agricultural, manufacturing and commercial industries; you will find the satisfaction of the needs of the majority and the gradual improvement of the lot of the toiling classes. Gradual improvement, this is the unvarying line of conduct that we have drawn up; it is the most suitable for religious men, men of proGress to whom the future belongs; it is the most appropriate for men who come to save the whole of humanity and not just such-and-such a people or such-and-such a class; if the most numerous class arouses our sympathy, it is not because we wish to exclude the others, but because it is today beset by all suffering, by all misfortunes; and because we are
sure that the best way to improve the deplorable situation also of the upper classes consists in associating the toiling masses with them. We need to look especially only at the financial means which will be needed in the transformation of relations of workers among themselves, and first with those of workers and idle owners. But, gentlemen, we must first warn you against the absolute importance that you may be tempted to give to these means; other more powerful means exist and are those we practice every day: preachinG and teaching, to which we will shortly add the moral and vocational education of youth. Their power will be such that they will greatly hasten the application of our credit measures and will be able to considerably shorten the duration. But before going into the details of the transitional means, we will show you the successive decline of social importance and of the idle rich, and the growth of the importance and wealth of workers.
