Ye shall know the truth, And the truth shall make you free. -John viii. 32. ΤΟ THE WAGE-EARNERS OF THE UNITED STATES, WHO, SOONER OR LATER, MUST KNOW THE WHOLE TRUTH AND WHOSE DELAY IN KNOWING AND ACCEPTING IT, WHILE IT MAY CAUSE TEMPORARY AND OCCASIONAL ANNOYANCE TO THE PUBLIC, MUST BRING UPON THEMSELVES UNTOLD MISERY AND SUFFERING, THESE PLAIN TRUTHS ARE SPOKEN IN THE HOPE THAT THEY MAY BRING SOME LIGHT AND LIFE. INTRODUCTION. IN seeking an associate to edit the new department of Sociology in the BIBLIOTHECA SACRA, of which I had been editor for several years, Mr. Holbrook was selected, not only because I found that in the main his conclusions agreed with my own, but largely because from long acquaintance I knew him to be a man of exceptionally broad sympathies and wide experience. His early youth was spent in the school of adversity and stern self-denial, where he acquired those habits of self-reliance which carried him, by his own efforts, through a five-years' course of study in Yale College, and secured for him afterwards his marked business success. This experience, together with his literary ability, gives exceptional value to his discussions of all sociological questions. The present papers, republished from the BIBLIOTHECA SACRA, seem fitted for a much wider circulation than can be afforded to them in the pages of such a periodical. They are therefore printed in convenient form, and at a low price, that all may have them within reach. A few additional preliminary words may help the reader to see the general bearing of the specific line of thought pursued in Mr. Holbrook's contributions. I will, therefore, give a brief statement of some of the fundamental facts and principles which should ever be kept in view in our efforts to promote the well-being of society. Ist. Truth does not permit us to overlook the fact that Nature's gifts are neither so prodigal nor so evenly distrib |