They should be turned out neck and crop, the
whole pack of them."
"Don't excite yourself so, Paul," warned Malvine gently, as her
husband grew crimson in the face and ceased to eat.
Wilhelm remained unruffled. "So you think the Socialist Act was
quite justified?"
"Justified! Why, my only objection to it is that it is much too
mild. A State has a right to use every means it can--even the
sharpest--to defend itself against its deadly enemies. To deal
mildly with the enemies of society is to be unjust to us, the
orderly and industrious members of the community, who work hard to
get on, and who don't want to be for ever trembling for their well-
earned possessions, because thieves and vagabonds--as is the way of
all robbers--would like to enjoy the good things of this life
without working for them."
"My good Paul, that is the language of fanaticism, and, of course,
it is useless to try to reason against that. Only let me tell you
this. I do not believe that the Socialists want to rob anybody; I do
not believe that they are enemies to the State and to society. They
too desire a State and a society, but different from the existing
ones; they too have an ideal of justice, but it is not the one that
has become traditional with us.
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