I go still farther. When spoliation becomes a means of subsistence for a body of men united by social ties, in course of time they make a law which sanctions it, a morality which glorifies it.
It is enough to name some of the best defined forms of spoliation to indicate the position it occupies in human affairs.
First comes war. Among savages the conqueror kills the conquered, to obtain an uncontested, if not incontestable, right to game.
Next slavery. When man learns that he can make the earth fruitful by labor, he makes this division with his brother: "You work and I eat."
Then comes superstition. "According as you give or refuse me that which is yours, I will open to you the gates of heaven or of hell."
Finally, monopoly appears. Its distinguishing characteristic is to allow the existence of the grand social law—service for service—while it brings the element of force into the discussion, and thus alters the just proportion between service received and service rendered.
Spoliation always bears within itself the germ of its own destruction. Very rarely the many despoil the few. In such a case the latter soon become so reduced that they can no longer satisfy the cupidity of the former, and spoliation ceases for want of sustenance.
Almost always the few oppress the many, and in that case spoliation is none the less undermined, for, if it has force as an agent, as in war and slavery, it is natural that force in the end should be on the side of the greater number. And if deception is the agent, as with superstition and monopoly, it is natural that the many should ultimately become enlightened.
Another law of Providence wars against spoliation. It is this:
Spoliation not only displaces wealth, but always destroys a portion.