The progress of civilization does not only expose man to new miseries; it induces society to relieve miseries that, in a half savage state, one does not think of. In a country where the majority is badly dressed, badly housed, badly fed, who thinks of giving clean clothes, nealthy food, a convenient home to the poor? In England, where the majority possesses all these things, one views their lack as a horror; society believes that it is a duty to come to the aid of those who are deprived of them, and to cure the ills that are not even perceived elsewhere.
In England, the average standard of living to which one must aspire is set higher than in any other country in the world. This fact alone facilitates the spread of pauperism in this country.
If all these reflections are true, one will easily come to the conclusion that the richer a nation is, the people who resort to public charity must multiply, because two very powerful causes lead to that end: in these nations, the class most naturally exposed to need increases continually, and on the other end, needs increase and diversify without limit; the occasion to find oneself exposed to some of them becomes more frequent each day.
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